Just when the members of the Blu-ray Disc Association were settling down to enjoy the fruits of victory, another challenger has entered the ring -- oh wait, it's just NME, makers of VMD, so it's really more like "remained in the ring and basically ignored." The company just issued a press release saying "All indications are that VMD can fill the void left by HD DVD," and that "The way is now clear for VMD to be embraced by the industry." We suppose that's true -- the Asian bootlegging industry really hasn't weighed in with a format choice yet, has it? In any event, VMD players have apparently been shipping to the US for a month now, so all you HD DVD fans out there looking to back yet another losing horse can probably find one -- start at the shadiest retailer you can think of, and then move downwards.
features
Platform: Sony PlayStation 3 and X-Box 360
Pages: 176
Co-op strategy: Whether human or AI, you'll always have a partner. Prima details how to take advantage of the integral cooperative play.
Maps: The world's hot spots are confusing places. Prima's guide has the recon to keep you on task and safe.
Equipment Customization: Shotgun or sub-machine gun? Laser sight or rifle stock? You want the right tool for the job and Prima can give you the intel on what gear will serve you best.
Battle-tested tactics
Tips to make the most of Aggro and the full range of tactics at your disposal
Stats on all weapons and upgrades
Preview of the Army of Two: Dirty Money graphic novel
description
Prima has the intel you need to fight hard, stay strong, and cash in.
features
Platform: Nintendo DS, Nintendo Game Boy Advance, Nintendo GameCube, Sony PlayStation 2, Sony PlayStation 3, WII, X-Box and X-Box 360
Pages: 656
features
This strategy guide features a comprehensive walkthrough of the entire single player campaign.
In-depth area maps.
Detailed information on vehicles, weapons and additional equipment.
Expert multiplayer strategies.
Platform: Xbox 360, PS3
Pages: 144
features
Famitsu Wave Magazine
Japan's No.1 selling video game magazine
Check out all the latest game news every month
Includes a DVD disc featuring latest game footage
description
The Famitsu Wave is Japan's No.1 selling video game magazine. It features all the latest video game news and pictures from Japan's upcoming video games.
Each magazine includes a DVD disc with video game footage. The DVD disc is NTSC Region 2 encoded.
30 Days of Night (~Josh Hartnett, Melissa George, ...) US US$ 38.96
Dragon Tiger Gate (~Donnie Yen, Nicolas Tse, ...) HK US$ 27.90
Ice Age HK US$ 27.90
Independence Day (~Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, ...) HK US$ 31.90
Initial D (~Jay Chou, Anthony Wong, ...) US US$ 29.95
Perfect Blue Blu-Ray (~Junko Iwao, Rika Matsumoto, ...) JPN US$ 56.90
Perfect Blue Blu-Ray [Limited Edition] (~Junko Iwao, Rika Matsumoto, ...) JPN US$ 84.90
Sakura No Michi JPN US$ 37.90
The Rundown (~The Rock, Seann William Scott, ...) HK US$ 27.90
To Kill A King (~Tim Roth, Dougray Scott, ...) US US$ 29.98
Tsai Chin In Concert Hong Kong 2007 Karaoke (~Tsai Chin) HK US$ 39.90
When SCEA released God of War II last year, the game's instruction manual teased the soon to be released PSP entry, God of War: Chains of Olympus. Now it's the PSP's turn to toy with your emotions, as the manual for the on-the-go Kratos quest fires back with a tease of the PlayStation 3 chapter. IGN has photographic evidence of the PS3 sequel teaser ad which opts not to put a release window on the thing, merely announcing that it's "coming soon."
Considering rumors are pointing to a 2009 ship date for God of War III and Sony has a habit of showing these games a year (or more) in advance, we'd say that if you want a Kratos fix in 2008, it's probably going to be on UMD.
Petroglyph's Creative Director Adam Isgreen is an RTS veteran, having worked on loads of Command & Conquers and, more recently, Universe at War. But he isn't worried that RTS titles making their way to consoles will in some way dilute the experience. In fact, he believes just the opposite:
...you could look at the transition of RTS from PC to console as "dumbing down" of the genre, but really that's completely inaccurate. The evolution of RTS from PC to console is all about re-discovering the core fun of the genre while stripping away the redundancy, over-complication, and bloat that has been attaching itself to RTS games over the years.
He continues:
If anything, I'm glad that console is becoming dominant for gaming because it's going to force some evolution on a genre that has been fairly static for quite some time. We need to grow the RTS market and bring in new players, not isolate it further into eventual niche obscurity.
The only problem is that while all of that sounds great in theory, the practice of running an RTS without a mouse a keyboard hasn't worked out so great yet.
Which is exactly why we all need Halo Wars to be really, really good.
We know, we're getting tired of Apple Blu-ray rumors as well -- they're right up there with refreshed Cinema Displays in terms of rumor persistence -- but until Steve and the gang actually shove a drive into a machine we're stuck with them. The latest says that Apple is actively pressing Sony for slot-loading BD-R drives but quality control issues are gumming up the plan. Reportedly, this latest ho-hum MacBook Pro refresh was to feature BD-R drives, but all Sony could muster up were Blu-ray / DVD±RW drives, which Apple refused. That seems a little odd, frankly -- now that the format war is over and the competition's already shipping mid-range laptops with slot-load BD-R drives, you'd think Apple would want to cash in that Blu-ray Disc Association membership card with whoever can supply the drives. As always, we'll see when we see -- it's gotta happen sometime, right?
We know that most of you haven't read an instruction manual since the days of Gyromite -- not that we can judge you. Aside from the occasional steamy Sonic the Hedgehog fanfiction, we try to avoid video game literature as well. Lucky for us, IGN recently cracked the narrow spine of the God of War: Chains of Olympus instruction manual and discovered this treat on the back cover -- an advertisement for a new God of War game for the PS3, presumably the third chapter in the series.
While the series' tremendous sales success and God of War II's cliffhanger ending didn't leave much room for doubt that the threequel was on it's way, we didn't think we'd be hearing from our good pal Kratos so "soon" after the release of Chains. Ah, well; no rest for the familicidal, as they say.
Spotted this over at gp32x.com and thought it would interest many of our coders from many homebrew scenes, heres the post from Mr Lou
Hello fellow game-developers
I'm writing you because I'm creating a site at www.indiegamemusic.com which I plan to become a link between indie game developers and musicians. This letter is an invitation to you as an indie game-developer, to participate in the design phase with your suggestions and ideas so that the site will end up being something you would like to use.
The idea
In short, I want to make it easy for the indie game-developers (you) to find good music for your games, free for freeware games and cheap for resale. A few steps I have in mind so far, is that you
* go to indiegamemusic.com
* click "Search", and input your search criteria
* listen to results and find contact information to the artist
Your search criterias may be
* a specific format (mmf, midi, mod, xm, s3m, mp3, ogg etc)
* a specific license (free for freeware? available for non-exclusive resale? available for exclusive resale?)
* max file size
* style
* category (music, sound-scape, sound-effect, loop part)
* max channels or polyphony
* max price
* maybe preferred bpm
So... That's the idea. What do you think? If this sounds like an interesting project to you, feel free to participate with ideas and feedback at mr_lou@vip.cybercity.dk
Some of the things I'd like some feedback about is
* how should payment happen? Paypal? Bank-transfer? Game-developer contacting artist and agreeing their own method of payment?
* what stuff would you like to be able to search for? are there some of the above mentioned search criterias you don't need? why?
* what formats are you mostly interested in, and why?a
* and of course: do you think you'd use such a tool like IndieGameMusic.com?
Sony's PS Eye-based motion-tracking system that uses head movements as game controls, and which was recently shown at GDC, was merely a tech demo. This means it is unlikely to be coming to a shop near you soon.
A Sony representative told SPOnG this morning, "We have no details on the tracking software. As far as I'm aware it was developed by someone at SCEA and was shown at GDC as a technical demo of what is possible with the PS3 and PS Eye."
If 2006 was the year of the Xbox 360 and 2007 was the year of the Wii, 2008 is shaping up to be PlayStation 3's turn in the spotlight, as it stokes demand in the $19 billion computer gaming industry with some hotly awaited game titles.
Nintendo's Wii outsold Sony's more expensive PS3 console 4-to-1 in Japan this month, but the PS3's maiden victory over the Wii last November showed that under the right conditions, the tables could turn.
Exclusive PS3 titles like puzzle-solving, community-based game "LittleBigPlanet", production improvements that will give Sony room to cut prices, and the recent victory of its Blu-ray technology in the high-definition DVD format war, should drive demand for the games console.
"2008 will be a turning year for the PS3," said iSuppli analyst Pamela Tufegdzic. "Sony is offering a better forthcoming software pipeline with blockbuster titles like "Gran Turismo 5", which will boost PS3 sales this year."
By:Nikole
I'm going to do my best to leave me opinions out of this and make it as unbiased as I can, because I mostly want your opinions on the matter.
I was reading an article on bingegamer.net. The author Allison Boyer was discussing her experiences while playing XBL. She complains that she doesn't like using her mic due to the fact that she has a woman's voice, as most women do. The problem with having a woman's voice you ask? You get comments like these:
"Ooo, your voice sounds sexy, Ooo, I'll protect you baby, Ooo, you up for some fun?
She says that while playing she will either get killed non-stop by guys thinking its funny to kill a girl or be protected by players who think its chivalrous to keep her from harms way. The bottom line being: "I'm a girl. I like to play video games. STOP RUINING IT FOR ME."
There, a simple painless little article stating how this girl felt she was being harassed and treated differently on live. Hardly breaking news or any kind of oddity. But the part that strikes me is the comments she received. The article went up today and there are already 50+ comments, the majority of which being negative and involving the world kitchen and/or sammiches. [Guys get some new jokes!!!]
* "-Get back to the kitchen" x9000!!!!
* -"grow some balls "
* "Get over it. You know the nature of how online play is on xbox live and PSN. You know what to expect. All that one can do in your position is endure it. You can't change anything by writing a piece crying about how annoying people are towards you when you play online. I get irritated at the idiots who only know how to swear all day and talk over the mic just to hear themselves say something in the game. But I don't care that much to write a cry me a river style article. If I want to play online then that is what I have to expect. It is the "nature" of playing a game online."
* -"The irony in this article is amazing. The jerks pick on you because you act like a little girl, in fact you ARE a little girl (no i don't care about your real age, someone who cries about the ean people on the internet is as naive as a 8 years old). Instead of whining you should understand that xboxlive is full of morons and the fact that you're a girl is just one more reason to add to a countless list for acting like a complete idiot. I hope you're just a troll playing the old "EHI AIMMA GRRRL GAMER!!!" card for some easy baiting. In that case it was a pleasure to feed you. tl;dr Cry me a river, build a bridge and get over it."
* -"Don't wear your mic or turn on mute. Seriously, why so many words for a non-issue? And I'm really sure the fellas are waiting in lines to tap your sh--, sister"
* -"Cute arguement, but one article on the next isn't anything more then a gossip. I appologize but no ones going to look at this and change their ways for it, ethier way it was clevar and I got a few laughs out of it."
* -"WAHHH. Like any woman, all you can f------ do is bitch. Grow some f------ ovaries, and either kill the m----------- trying to kill/protect you, or, hey, tell them to f--- off. Jesus christ, do you honestly expect the internet to feel sorry for you? Why? Because you have a f------ hole between your legs? GTFO, you stupid, worthless, hypocritical c----. Seriously. Just get the f--- off the internet right now. You belong in the kitchen anyways."
I'm gonna avoid bitching about the obvious idiots she has to deal with. I don't see how this will ever change for xbl or anywhere on the internet as long as people can hide behind the anonymity of the internet.
Am I the only one that thinks this is ridiculous?
And guys, is this how you really are and how you really view girls?
Does talking about these issues actually bring about change for the better?
Is there really anything that can be done to stop stupidity on the internet?
In a little over two weeks Armored Core For Answer will be released in Japan on both PS3 and 360. The publicity campaign the game has received has been pretty thorough, as From Software utilised the whole Web 2.0 approach by having Japanese bloggers espouse the game's virtues (something Famitsu has got in the act on with their crazy 360 blogger, Jamzy). Even the redoubtable Toshifumi Nabeshima, essentially regarded as the father of Armored Core by the Japanese fanbase, has done the rounds online pimping the game as best he can.
Features-wise, it's all a bit over the top still as For Answer comes across as being like Shadow of the Colossus but with guns and robots (traveling at 2000 km/h, obviously). A few things have fallen by the wayside though, namely the transformable AC's but other things like Dolby 5.1 in-game and full online co-op have partly made up for that (though there's always the possibility that Famitsu initially misquoted the whole transformation aspect, as a lot of the Arms Forts do transform into different modes rather than the AC's themselves).
One of the more interesting aspects of the game's production though is the use of Isaku Okabe as a military adviser (he recently did something similar for the truly excellent Gundam 00). Again, From Software didn't miss a trick and they had him put in front of a camera and explain the nitty gritty military aspects of the game.
For those that want to catch up with the deluge of materials that have been unleashed online, then the official site is a good port of call as is the Armored Core Wiki (the Next Reports are especially worth a gander). GameTrailers has also leeched the movies from the official site if you have trouble streaming them. All we need to do now is wait for the Western release and the subsequent reviews undertaken by gamers that have had their hands replaced with flippers.
It's been more than a year since the accidental shooting of 18-year-old Peyton Strickland by Cpl. Christopher Long, a deputy of New Hanover County, N.C., during a raid of Strickland's rented home in early December, 2006. The sheriff's Emergency Response Team was serving a warrant for Strickland's arrest in connection with his suspected involvement in two PS3's being stolen from a University of North Carolina Wilmington student. Long mistook the sounds of his own team using a battering ram for gunshots, and opened fire on the unarmed teenager.
Long was not charged with a crime, but the Strickland family recently received a small amount of closure on the matter -- a $2.45 million settlement from New Hanover County, and a public apology from Sheriff Sid Causey, who admitted that Long "made a mistake as to the existence of a deadly threat".
The Strickland family will put the $2.45 million into a charitable foundation to provide need-based scholarships and other grants. "The Stricklands were not interested in money," said Strickland family representative Joyce Fitzpatrick. "That cannot bring their son back."
It's not much of a shocker to learn the latest (and final) installment in the Metal Gear Solid series is a sizable one -- MGS games have a history of being big (and beautiful). However, a recent interview with series creator Hideo Kojima revealed a startling fact about MGS4 -- Kojima complained that a few features had to be cut from the game so it would fit on a Blu-ray disc. As format fanatics already know, that means the game takes up nearly 50 gigabytes of space.
If true, this is bad news for anyone who hoped to see anthropomorphic cow-bots on the 360 (unless that data was divided between about five dual-layer DVDs), but it could also mean a painfully long installation time for PS3 owners as well. We can only imagine that 49 of those gigabytes are taken up by thousands of variations on just three lines of dialogue -- "Snake? SNAKE? SNAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE!?"
Already widely considered the most authentic baseball game available, MLB 08 THE SHOW is set to provide fans with the most realistic baseball experience to date with innovations such as a more immersive Road to The Show mode, enabling gamers to play both offense and defense from the created player's perspective.
Fall of Liberty will take players to new battlegrounds in World War II ?ones born from a changed moment in history that led to the Nazi invasion of 1950s America. Presenting this scenario as a powerful and realistically crafted alternate history, Fall of Liberty will deliver an explosive action experience in a world where famous real-world locations appear startlingly different under Nazi occupation.
Research company iSuppli has stated its belief that Sony will push through another price cut for the PlayStation 3 at some point during this year, leading up to a big Christmas for the console.
Analyst Pamela Tufegdzic told Reuters: "We anticipate Sony will have another price slash on the PS3 this year, and come Christmas, consumers who originally bought the Wii will likely purchase the PS3."
Following on from predictions last month around a strong performance for the console this year Tufegdzic reiterated that "2008 will be a turning year for the PS3 - Sony is offering a better forthcoming software pipeline with blockbuster titles like Gran Turismo 5, which will boost PS3 sales this year."
Currently Sony loses money on each console sold due to high manufacturing costs, although that's not an unusual move by hardware companies in order to get as high an installed base as possible and sell more software.
However, Sony has stated that it expects manufacturing costs to fall below sales prices this year, a move which might prompt the company to ponder a price point change.
Sony has finally whisked over its list of PlayStation Store updates for last Thursday. Well, "list" is a bit strong.
For those with a PS3 it consists of two trailers - one for Haze and one for Conflict: Denied Ops.
Meanwhile, those with a PSP can get the final WipEout downloadable content pack plus a video of Patapon.
Actually interesting is the Go!Messenger service for the handheld that was included in a firmware update and should now be on your CrossMediaBar (XMB).
This lets you chit-chat with friends when you're near a wireless broadband connection. If you have a camera, then you can send voice and video messages too.
We saw this coming. The prices of older PS3 models (20 and 60GB versions) have doubled in Japan as their PS2 backwards compatibility feature becomes a sexy object of desire.
The PS2 backwards compatibility of earlier PS3s was scrapped in the more recent 40GB SKU as part of Sony's effort to reduce production costs.
Now, fearing that PS2-playing consoles may become somewhat of a niche, desperate gamers are snapping up consoles for up to twice their typical value.
20GB consoles, which previously sold for around 15,000 Yen in Japan have been marked up as much as 40,000 in some second-hand shops. The same shops are also giving premium cash back to those willing to sell off their full-fat consoles, according to Hobby Blog.
We're holding onto our 60GB consoles like precious babies.
As a passenger of Oceanic flight 815, you survived the crash and find yourself on an uncharted island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. As you begin to unravel mysteries of the island, you begin to discover secrets of your own. You will have to understand your past mistakes in order to survive and find your way home
38 percent of gamers are female, according to a report by the Entertainment Software Association, sourced by CNN technology.
According to the ESA, girl gamers spend 7.4 hours a week playing games, in-between hiding every television remote and moaning that we've left the toilet seat up.
Studies and sales data have shown that women are more likely to play casual handheld games such as the DS, along with "social games" like The Sims, where women apparently make up more than 55 percent of players (and not just because you can cook and clean!! Sorry, we had to).
"Women are out there in significant numbers playing MMOs, action games, first-person shooters," said Sony Online Entertainment marketing lady Torrie Dorrell. "What is lacking in the equation are women behind these games."
Despite the fancy new figures pointing to the amount of women playing games, they represent just under 12 percent of the industry, according to the International Game Developers Association.
Courtney Simmons, another PR women at SOE, said she wants to see "more women making games," and, "making more games that women want to play."
The MMO developer isn't sitting idly on its dream either; to help balance the sex equation it's setup G.I.R.L., Gamers In Real Life, a scholarship program to attract more young women to careers in game development.
"There is a lack of understanding about how women play," said Simmons, adding that she believes that women are being "gamed down to."
What about Jade Raymond? She makes games for girls, right? Stabbing Knights with throwing knives is wicked.
Videogames allow the simulation of rape, and are the cause of real-life murders, according to one MP in a parliamentary debate on Friday.
Members of Parliament attended the debate to discuss the merits of a Private Member's Bill on violence in films and videogames, and decide if it would receive a Second Reading.
The Bill seeks to reform the BBFC in order to make it "accountable to Parliament and the public in a way that should encourage a return to more responsible decisions," in the words of its sponsor, Julian Brazier, Conservative member for Canterbury.
He was supported by Keith Vaz, Labour member for Leicester East, who has a long-standing connection with the violence issue following his stance on the murder of Stefan Pakeerah in 2004 in which he cited Rockstar's Manhunt as an inspiration - and he brought that particular example to light once again.
"As the House knows, my concerns about these issues arise from the brutal killing of Stefan Pakeerah, a 14-year-old Leicester schoolboy who was murdered in a savage attack in which he received 50 blows with a claw hammer - an attack that mirrored exactly a scene in the videogame Manhunt," he told the debate.
"I was not the first to say that; Giselle Pakeerah, his parent, has from the very beginning maintained and strongly believed that the fact that Warren Leblanc had a copy of Manhunt and that other children were looking at those scenes of violence led to the attack on Stefan."
The Minister for Culture, Media and Sport, Margaret Hodge, later pointed out that there had been no evidence to support Mr Vaz's ongoing claims.
"They may have made that statement, but the rationale for the statement is less clear," she said. "The game was discovered not in Warren Leblanc's possession but in the victim's possession.
"It does not feature the use of a hammer, and it was not considered by the police to be a contributory factor. No such connection was ever suggested in court.
"Indeed, the prosecution and defence barristers insisted in court that the video game had played no part in the killing. It was reported that Leblanc was motivated by fear of a gang to which he owed money."
Mr Vaz, who complained in part of his speech that proponents of his argument have been "pilloried in the press that is sponsored by the videogames industry," went on to discuss the differences between films and videogames.
"That is quite simple: videogames are different because they are interactive," he said. "People who are watching a film at the cinema cannot participate in what is happening on the screen, or if they do they are removed from the cinema.
"However, someone sitting at a computer playing a videogame, or someone with one of those small devices that young people have these days, the name of which I forget…PlayStations or PSPs, something of that kind…Well, whatever they are called, when people play these things, they can interact.
"They can shoot people; they can kill people," he said, before adding: "As the honourable gentleman said, they can rape women," referring to Mr Brazier's earlier comments on films - not videogames - which appear to glorify the act.
Ed Vaizey, Conservative member for Wantage, questioned that last point later on - addressing Mr Brazier as Mr Vaz had left already -"I checked the point with the BBFC and found it to be completely unaware of any such videogame," he said.
"Is the honourable gentleman aware of any videogame that has as its intention the carrying out of rape or that allows the game player to carry out such an act? The BBFC and I are unaware of any such game."
Mr Brazier replied that he was unable to comment on "the rape in games issue".
Following the session, which lasted almost five hours and ended before proceedings had been completed, the vote on whether or not the Bill will proceed to a Second Reading will now take place when the debate resumes on Friday, when Ms Hodge will complete her response to the various remarks made during the first session, including those belonging to Mr Vaz.
As well as a CMS Select Committee investigation into the effects of violence on the internet and in videogames, the Byron Report set up by the Prime Minister is due to report before the end of this month.
Talks of an in-game XMB are so frequent that we've got a keyboard macro dedicated to the phrase, but the waiting will finally be over this summer, according to SCEE big shot Ray Maguire.
Speaking to MCV of his glee at PS3 having reached 1 million sales faster than both the PSOne and PS2, Maguire said: "Our momentum will continue with the introduction of in-game communication in the summer, firmware update 2.4 and the strongest line-up of games through our third party partners and our own studios."
In-game XMB access is a must because at the moment you can't access your friends list during a game, which is nothing short of madness.
But the gem in that statement - the imminent arrival of "in-game communication", should rectify these issues and the confirmation of a "summer" release helps to nail down the previously vague "2008" promise.
We wonder what other goodies will be in Firmware 2.4, and we also wonder when we became such firmware geeks. Read our huge '10 Steps to Perfect PS3 Firmware' feature to see what we mean.
SEGA Superstars Tennis is a game that brings together some of the most treasured and well known characters from the SEGA universe, in some of the most unusual courts and outrageous settings ever imagined.
SEGA Superstars Tennis has over 15 playable SEGA idols including Sonic the Hedgehog, AiAi from Super Monkeyball fame, Ulala of Space Channel 5 and Amigo from Samba De Amigo. In addition to their own unique attributes, each character will also come equipped with their own superstar tennis skills, putting a whole new spin on each match played!
Exhibition mode offers the chance to challenge Sonic, or the character or your choice, to a match on one of many courts, including Sonic’s home court of Green Hill Zone, or Amigo’s Carnival Park court. Wherever you play there will be a host of SEGA celebrities cheering you on from courtside and by partaking in crazy doubles matches with your choice of partner, you could end up playing against some pretty unusual couples! Prove your SEGA hero is the shining star of SEGA Superstars Tennis by collecting silverware in the Tournament Mode. There will also be the opportunity to unlock a host of exciting extras which will be announced in the near future!
Complementing the Exhibition and Tournament modes, there will also be new and innovative ways of enjoying some of SEGA’s classic titles, plus platform exclusive ways to play the game, including online modes for X360 and PS3 versions!
“SEGA Superstars Tennis has the potential to be one of the most fun and accessible sports games ever.” commented Gary Knight, European Marketing Director. “The fantastic Sumo Digital team has had access to a wealth of SEGA IP and you’ll be surprised at the gaming icons that will be making an appearance!”
Available on the PS3, PS2, X360, NDS, and Wii, SEGA Superstars Tennis will release in early 2008.
PSW got one thing right, and that's our collective: Huh? The UK magazine would have us believe that Crytek's "hard-worked" code monkeys have confirmed -- "in many interviews" -- that Crysis is coming to PS3 later this year. Not true. But we can count this latest report as another adherent of the 'Crysis 1.5' theory, which here evolves into rumor of a hybrid-port that combines aspects of the original PC Crysis and its sequel into "almost 50% new game." Assuming that a Crysis-brand product will eventually land on PS3 (what else is the console version of CryEngine 2 good for?), we'd be curious to know how much of the alleged 'newness' would translate into better gameplay. Are we really talking Crysis 1.5 -- or just Crysis Lite? (Remember, Far Cry's leap to console had plenty of 'new,' just not any better.)
The time-honored tradition of stodgy men arguing over things they know nothing about continued in England during last Friday's game censorship debate in the House of Commons, with MP Keith Vaz showing us how it's done while speaking in defense of Julian Brazier's bill to add a censorship level above the British Board of Film Classification. In comparing the interactivity of video games to movies, Vaz unleashed this little gem:
However, someone sitting at a computer playing a video game, or someone with one of those small devices that young people have these days, the name of which I forget-- [Interruption.] PlayStations or PSPs, something of that kind.
"Well, whatever they are called, when people play these things, they can interact. They can shoot people; they can kill people. As the honourable Gentleman said, they can rape women."
The gentleman he is referring to is the bill's author Julian Brazier, though being completely off-base when quoting someone else doesn't excuse you from being off-base in the first place. The man can barely remember what these horribly offensive rape-machines are. When you have to struggle to remember what you were talking about in the first place it's probably a good indicator that you should sit down and shut up.
Luckily for British gamers, the House isn't completely full of uninformed idiots. Conservative MP Edward Vaizey actually took the time to check this claim out with the BBFC.
"Is the honourable Gentleman aware of any video game that has as its intention the carrying out of rape or that allows the game player to carry out such an act? The BBFC and I are unaware of any such game."
Look? Sense! What could the bill's author counter sense with, but more nonsense?
"I cannot comment on the rape in games issue, but I can tell the House what Stefan Pakeerah's father said after Warren Leblanc had murdered his son. He said that "Manhunt" is a game using weapons like hammers and knives...The object of Manhunt is not just to go out and kill people. It's a point-scoring game where you increase your score depending on how violent the killing is. That explains why Stefan's murder was as horrific as it was."
Aha! While I cannot comment on games that allow you to rape women as I know of none, look at this puppet on my other hand! It is a murderous puppet, with a hammer in hand! A video game puppet! Take that!
Taken, and rebutted by Minister of State Margaret Hodge, who explained that not only was the game found to have played no part in the murder, it was the victim who owned the game and not the attacker.
Perhaps the real story here isn't that Mr. Vaz decided to claim erroneously that video games let you rape women, but rather the fact the the House of Commons debates had people present with enough sense to challenge the claim. Good show!
Woe be the PC game developer these days, as various reports put piracy rates in the U.S. at approximately 70-85%.
Pirates?! I'm supposed to be fighting a hydra!
It's no wonder that Epic Games is dumping PC games for the greener pastures of console gaming: piracy rates for the U.S. market alone are hovering around 80%!
And beyond the U.S., the piracy picture becomes even larger and more menacing -- especially if you're an independent developer without "Madden-sized advertising budget," said THQ Director of Creative Management Michael Fitch, who laid out his case against piracy and hardware manufactures in an epic rant at the Quarter to Three forums.
In the post, Fitch attacked pirates, the PC software security model and everything in between. In Europe, he said, piracy rates approach 90%. In Asia, those figures are "off the charts."
"I didn't believe [the data] at first. It seemed way too high. Then I saw that Bioshock was selling 5 to 1 on console vs. PC. And Call of Duty 4 was selling 10 to 1. These are hardcore games, shooters, classic PC audience stuff. Given the difference in install base, I can't believe that there's that big of a difference in who played these games, but I guess there can be in who actually payed for them," Fitch said.
These are hard numbers for any PC developer to ignore, and from the tone of Fitch's message board rant the other day, things are likely to get much worse before they get better. Or should that be "if" they get better?
The Oscars were a non-event this year for Sony -the studio took home only one gold statue-but Sir Howard Stringer was in town with plenty to celebrate. The globe-trotting Sony Corporation chief was fresh off his company's triumph in the high stakes, high-definition video player wars.
On February 19, Stringer was en route from Tokyo to London to attending a movie premiere and then a party for his 66th birthday when Toshiba held a press conference announcing that it would stop producing its less expensive, Microsoft-backed HD DVD players and would cede the battle to Sony-led Blu Ray.
It was somehow fitting that Sir Howard's next stop on his world tour would be Hollywood, because it was here that the Blu Ray battle was ultimately won-Toshiba only threw in the towel after the Warner Brothers studio decided last month to stop releasing its DVDs in both formats and to go exclusively with Blu Ray.
The victory was not only crucial to proving Stringer's strategy of showing that Sony's entertainment, electronics and games businesses could work together but - perhaps more critically-helped exorcise the ghosts of its failed Betamax video tape format that has haunted the halls at Sony for two decades. "I was a pain in the ass on this," Stringer told me. "Because of the Betamax experience, we made it clear to everyone that this was a Sony corporate mission."
Indeed, the pathos behind the Betamax saga can't be overstated. The early years of Sony's ownership of the Columbia movie studio in the early 1990s were legendarily disastrous and held up as the ultimate clash of cultures.
Brian Roberts, now the head of America's giant cable company Comcast, recently recounted to Stringer his first visit to Sony as part of a US cable industry group. Then Sony chief Akio Morita grew enraged when asked whether he was unhappy with buying Columbia, which had resulted in a $3.2-billion write-down in 1994. "You Americans don't understand." Morita shot back.
"We clearly had the best product with Betamax-but Hollywood picked VHS." In an email, Roberts recounted the encounter as very un-Japanese in its emotion. "And I vividly remember, with fire in his eyes what he said next: 'That will never happen to Sony again."
Fast forward a decade or so to 2005, when Sir Howard was the surprise choice to lead troubled Sony as its first non-Japanese CEO. Here was a former journalist and media executive who moved easily in Hollywood circles.
Sony had already taken the huge gamble of deciding to build a Blu Ray player inside its PlayStation 3 game console, which was a big factor in getting the big studios Disney and Fox to commit exclusively to it. (The idea was that such a move would help the technology gain consumer acceptance and provide consumers a bargain way to buy a Blu Ray player since a PS3 alone was less than half the price of the first Blu Ray players).
The only problem was that by building a new, unproven technology into a highly-anticipated game unit led to the kinds of production delays and cost increases that were hobbling Sony.
The PS3 came out in late 2006 to a mixed reception, and, initially, no one was sure whether anyone who bought one really cared whether it came with a newfangled video player. And, unlike the advent of video-cassette recorders which were first introduced to let people record their favorite TV shows, the progress form regular standard to high definition represented a leap in picture quality, but not in how people actually consumed entertainment.
Of course, any new product lives or dies by its relationship with retailers and its appeal to consumers. Stringer contends that Blu Ray was a better, more advanced technology with more storage capability that would come in handy down the road. HD DVD had the advantage of cheaper players and mighty backers from the get-go. The result was that sales of high-def video players came a steady trickle, with most consumers not wanting to commit to a format that might end up quickly obsolete.
It's now clear, though, that the biggest factor behind Sony's success was its efforts to get as many of Stringer's Hollywood mogul pals as possible to commit and stay exclusively to Blu Ray. And, he said with a laugh: "Nobody does anybody a favor in this town."
When it began selling the players nearly two years ago, Sony had signed on Walt Disney and Fox, and later wooed Lion's Gate and secured the library of MGM by leading a consortium to buy that studio. That left Warner Brothers, Paramount and Dreamworks (which subsequently merged) and NBC Universal to win over. The latter was exclusively supporting HD DVD from the get-go, while Viacom-owned Paramount/Dreamworks jolted Sony last August and announced it would no longer release discs in both formats and was going with HD DVD.
Both camps knew that Warner Brothers was planning to make a decision about whether to continue supporting dueling formats by the end of 2007. If it went with HD DVD, the stalemate would have gone on for years-or worse, other studios might have followed its lead. Before Warner's announcement, Blu-Ray had about 46pc of the market for new releases exclusively, while HD-DVD had around 24pc. Warner, which released movies in both formats, represented about 20pc of the market in DVDs last year.
What was clear going into the last quarter of the year was that consumer confusion over which format to buy was holding sales of next-generation DVD players back at a time when the DVD market overall was running out of steam, and with it an important source of studio profits.
Sony went into high gear. The avuncular Sir Howard worked the phones with top executives at Warner Brothers and its owner, Time Warner (which also owns Fortune, where I work). To jump start use of the PS3 as a low-cost movie player, it began throwing in free Blu Ray discs of Sony flicks like Talledega Nights with new PS3s. Also, newer versions of the PS3 released last year began to include remote controls to bolster the device's appeal to home cineastes. Sony made sure to put a few extra billboards touting Blu Ray strategically around Tinseltown where key execs would see them.
Never mind the Hollywood ending, Sir Howard can only imagine how much bigger the headlines would have been had Sony come out on the losing side again. And he acknowledges that he still has a marketing challenge ahead convincing consumers that they need a HD player to go with their fancy new high-def displays.
Indeed, no sooner was the format contest decided that critics were wondering if people will just hold out for a next-generation video of HD video on demand that bypasses video players entirely. Asked if he might offer trade-ins for the 1 million people who have bought soon-to-be-obsolete HD DVD gadgets, Stringer grimaces. "Steady," he jokes: "If I have any more success, I'll be bankrupt."
After escaping from the political intrigue behind the battle of Sekigahara, Miyamoto Musashi, the strongest swordsman of Japan gave up his sword and identity and hid himself under the facade of Kiryuu Kazumanosuke, a hit man who owned an establishment called Tatsuya in Kyoto, Gion. Gion is an entertainment district where the rich and powerful buy sexual favors from the poor and powerless.
One day a girl, Haruka, came to Kiryuu with the job request “please kill Miyamoto Musashi for me.” and at her request Kiryuu journeyed to find his impostor and to reveal the secrets behind the battle of Sekigahara.
From Sekigahara, Gion to Funajima, bridging the gap between the legendary swordsman Miyamoto Musashi and the current hit man Kiryuu, the game takes its players through an epic plot filled with action, rivalry, sexual desire and political intrigue.
Over in Japan today sees the release of the first Satin Silver PS3 in the 40GB Option, its bundled with the game Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan and priced at Price: US$ 499.90 (~253.79 GBP)
Over in Japan today sees the release of the first Satin Silver PS3 in the 40GB Option, its bundled with the game Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan and priced at Price: US$ 499.90 (~253.79 GBP)
Sony UK told Eurogamer today that it has nothing to say about reports its American friends have been showing off a PS3 video store to retailers.
Kotaku, which was bang on with its other reports from the Destination PlayStation conference that brought us news of the Metal Gear Solid 4 release date and bundle, reports that the video store was shown off at the same time.
Apparently Sony Pictures-owned films are included, it uses a similar interface to SingStar PS3's SingStore, and North America will be first to see it.
If it does launch, it will give Microsoft something to think about; at the moment Xbox Live Video Marketplace rides alone across the money-coloured waters of downloadable film and TV rentals, delivering the likes of Outbreak and Analyze This to whoever has the hard disk space.
After a year undercover, Sony has finally broken its silence on its PS3 instalment of SOCOM, though it looks like you'll have to buy a magazine to get the full story.
The next issues of US mag EGM apparently has the full blow-out on Confrontation, which will be available as a download on PSN, as well as traditional retail means.
"The dev team is really excited that the world can finally see some of their hard work," posted design director David Seymour on the PS Blog.
"This has also been a huge relief to SealTeam-6, who has the unenviable job of telling SOCOM's huge, hungry fan base every week that: a) yes we are still working on the game, and b) no, there is no new information we can share at this time."
No new info without mag purchase then, but Dave did offer description on the two released screenshots:
"[The first screenshot] is indeed Crossroads, the most fan-requested SOCOM map. This shot is taken from our new OTS camera, but the player is backed up into a wall here so it might look a bit confusing. This is the right in front of the SEAL spawn, looking down the street in the direction of the warehouse.
"[The second] is a brand new map, which has a 16 player core area and an expanded footprint for 32 player matches. This ruined shopping center is a great sniping location, and is a hotly contested control point in our internal sessions."
Strong debuts from four new releases have failed to shift Sega's Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games from the top of the Chart Track All Formats top ten.
Ubisoft's Lost: The Videogame enters the top ten at three, just ahead of THQ's first-person shooter Frontlines: Fuel of War at four.
Microsoft's long-awaited Xbox 360 RPG Lost Odyssey breaks into the charts at six, while Electronic Arts' mega-franchise The Sims hits the number ten spot with the latest expansion pack, The Sims 2: Freetime.
DS Lite hardware sales were also up this week by 24 per cent, thanks to a boost from the white DS bundled with Nintendo's Brain Training software, with the original Dr Kawashima's Brain Training sitting at the top of the DS charts for the 41st time since release.
The full top ten follows:
1. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games
2. Dr Kawashima's Brain Training
3. Lost: The Videogame
4. Frontlines: Fuel of War
5. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
6. Lost Odyssey
7. More Brain Training from Dr Kawashima
8. FIFA Street 3
9. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008
10. The Sims 2: Freetime
Army of Two throws gamers into hot spots ripped from current day headlines where they will utilize unique two-man strategies and tactics while seamlessly transitioning between playing with intelligent Partner AI (PAI) and a live player. When one man is not enough, it will take an army of two to fight through war, political turmoil and a conspiracy so vast it threatens the entire world.
UK retailers are looking forward to continued growth in 2008, with GTA IV leading the way.
"We expect the market to continue to grow based on increase availability of hardware, publishers spreading their release schedule across the year and product innovation," Patrick Kelly, Zavvi's head of games, told GamesIndustry.biz.
"The expectation is that publishers will continue to push the capabilities of next generation hardware and we’ll see some outstanding games during 2008," remarked Play.com's head games buyer, Gian Luzio.
Marc Dean, the home entertainment buyer for Morrisons, agreed.
"We expect developers and publishers to continue broadening the market with more family and mass market products," he said.
Although the retailers think that 2008 will see family/social gaming take a larger slice of the pie - with titles such as Wii Fit and Rock Band - they all agreed that the biggest release of the year will be Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV.
Despite some analysts predicting that the PlayStation is poised to have a bright year, the retailers didn't see an end to the "console wars" any time soon.
"The release schedule for 2008 is looking strong for all three formats and pre-orders for cross platform titles such as GTA IV and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed suggest a very level playing field," Luzio said.
"It's unlikely that the console battle will be won or lost in the space of a year."
"I really hope that PS3 comes through for us - it has not peaked as we expected," admitted tgrav.com's Matt Holland.
"However, with more titles launching on the format and some fabulous peripherals I am hopeful that with Sony's support we can deliver some great numbers for them."
"I'm sure Sony are delighted with recent announcements regarding Blu-ray versus HD DVD, but that is only one aspect of the console battle," said Tim Ellis, head of games for HMV.
"Consumers are lucky to have three strong home console propositions with their own USPs and I'm sure we'll still be debating what's best in a year's time."
The complete interview with representatives from various UK retailers can be read here.
Previous rumour reports of the PlayStation Network getting a huge overhaul in April would appear true as SCEA's director of product development confirms: "you will see a pretty big change in the PlayStation Network in the early part of April.
The rumour emerged from a retailer-only presentation, in which Sony was said to have unveiled plans to give the PlayStation Network a makeover, as well as demonstrating a new Video Store.
Sony has since remained cagey on the subject, however SCEA's John Hight has told Gamasutra: "We give [Sony's PSN team] a lot of feedback based on how our customers are reacting to things, and I think you will see a pretty big change in the PlayStation Network in the early part of April, where we roll out some new interface stuff largely based on customer feedback."
Hight held back on exactly what these changes would entail, but did tease: "Simplification, cutting down on the number of mouse clicks, making it easier to find stuff that you want to find... that's kind of an outgrowth of us having more content now, so we have to make sure that you can get at it easily."
It's like our favorite old-school commercial: "Mr. Owl, how many Playstation 3s does it take to simulate a collision between two black holes?" Apparently, the answer is 16.
A group at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth hopes to use a cluster of 16 PS3s to run the simulation, specifically looking at the properties of the gravity waves emitted by the collision. The cluster -- nicknamed the PS3 Gravity Grid -- was built with a partial donation from Sony, who must like watching really big stuff collide as much as we do.
Similar simulations have been run before (most notably by NASA), but this marks the first time the super-calculation has been performed using a game console. Like our colleagues as PS3 Fanboy, we admit that most of the technical jargon presented here is way over our heads. We're sure some of you will "get it," though, and not just resort to Tootsie Roll references.
Nintendo will once again look upon the Spanish and German software sales charts with satisfaction as its platforms accounted for the top four places in both charts, and 15 of the combined top ten lists as well.
Few of the titles will come as any surprise, with Spain dominated by Wii Play, Mario & Sonic at the Olympics and the Brain Training titles, with Call of Duty 4 and Unreal Tournament 3 marking the only non-Nintendo platform entries in the top ten.
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi, Big Brain Academy and Triiviial - all for the Wii - completed the top ten for the week ending February 24 according to data compiled by Media-Control GfK International.
Meanwhile in Germany, Mario & Sonic took top spot for the DS, with the Brain Training titles in second and third, and Prof Kageyama's Maths Training in fourth.
Call of Duty 4 was fifth, with Wii Play and Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings in sixth and seventh. World of Warcraft, along with the Burning Crusade expansion, and Super Mario Galaxy finished the list.
The full charts are as follows:
Spain
1. Wii Play (Wii)
2. Mario & Sonic at the Olympics (DS)
3. More Brain Training (DS)
4. Mario & Sonic at the Olympics (Wii)
5. Call of Duty 4 (PS3)
6. Brain Training (DS)
7. Unreal Tournament 3 (PS3)
8. Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi (Wii)
9. Big Brain Academy (Wii)
10. Triiviial (Wii)
Germany
1. Mario & Sonic at the Olympics (DS)
2. More Brain Training (DS)
3. Brain Training (DS)
4. Prof Kageyama's Maths Training (DS)
5. Call of Duty 4 (PC)
6. Wii Play (Wii)
7. Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings (DS)
8. World of Warcraft (PC)
9. World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (PC)
10. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)
A massive haul of around 30,000 counterfeit DVDs, CDs and Wii Playstation discs worth around £500,000 have been seized.
They were destined for car boot sales around Staffordshire and the Black Country.
The raid was carried out at the regular Cocksparrow Lane sale at Huntington near Cannock last Sunday.
The operation involved Trading Standards officers and police.
Three people were arrested and have been questioned and three vehicles impounded by police on suspicion they were involved in the distribution of counterfeit goods.
The £500,000 haul included fake Wii Playstation discs and many DVD films which have yet to be released at the cinema.
Several thousand cigarettes and a quantity of rolling tobacco was also seized.
Councillor Carol Dean, cabinet member for safer and stronger communities said: “We need to get the message out there that it is not acceptable to sell these counterfeit goods and that there is a real risk of being caught.
“It is important for consumers to think about the consequences of buying counterfeit products as this can really affect local businesses who struggle to compete with counterfeiters who sell products that legitimate businesses are unable to - such as unreleased films.”
Similar operations are set to take place in the county in future months.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown is set to meet the mother of Stefan Pakeerah, a 14 year-old whose murder in 2004 sparked a row about Rockstar's videogame Manhunt.
Despite repeated evidence showing that the perpetrator of the crime, 17 year-old Warren Leblanc, was not in possession of the game, and despite prosecution and defence lawyers - as well as the police - pouring scorn on the link, the Prime Minister is going to discuss violent videogames with Giselle Pakeerah today, according to the Leicester Mercury.
The move follows ill-advised comments made last Friday in a Parliamentary debate by Leicester East MP Keith Vaz - a long-time critic of one of the most popular entertainment pastimes for a wide cross-section of the population - as rape-simulators.
This allegation was shot down by Conservative MP Ed Vaizey, who pointed out that neither he, nor the BBFC, had ever encountered such a game.
And Minister for Culture, Media and Sport, Margaret Hodge, dismissed links between the Pakeerah murder and Manhunt: "They may have made that statement, but the rationale for the statement is less clear," she said.
"The game was discovered not in Warren Leblanc's possession but in the victim's possession. It does not feature the use of a hammer, and it was not considered by the police to be a contributory factor.
"No such connection was ever suggested in court. Indeed, the prosecution and defence barristers insisted in court that the videogame had played no part in the killing. It was reported that Leblanc was motivated by fear of a gang to which he owed money."
The Byron Report, due later this month, and the CMS Select Committee are both investigating the effects of internet and videogame violence.
Both Keith Vaz and colleague Julian Brazier are set to meet the Prime Minister later today to discuss tougher regulations for videogames.
But Gundam Musou Special for the PS2 is crowned the new number 1
Gundam Musou Special for the PlayStation 2 went straight in at number one in the Japanese software chart for the sales week ending March 2, according to data from Media Create, although Nintendo platforms accounted for seven of the top ten titles.
It sold around 150,000 copies, twice the number that the number one game sold last week - although that title was Super Smash Bros Brawl, which has now been out for some time, and is expected to break the 1.5 million sales mark by the end of March.
Wii Fit took third place, breezing past 1.6 million sales in the process, while the second new entry of the week, Soma Bringer for the Nintendo DS, was in fourth.
Some moderately good news for Microsoft took the form of Xbox 360 music title The Idolmaster: Live for You, which sold 44,000 copies on its first week on the chart, while the previous week's number two, Etrian Odyssey II: The Royal Grail, fell to number six.
Musou Orochi for the PlayStation Portable, Harvest Moon: Shining Sun and Friends for the DS, and Wii Sports and Winning Eleven Play Maker 2008 for the Wii finished up the top ten.
The highest PlayStation 3 title was Lost Planet: Extreme Condition, falling from number seven to number 17.
The full top ten is as follows:
1. Gundam Musou Special (PS2)
2. Super Smash Bros Brawl (Wii)
3. Wii Fit (Wii)
4. Soma Bringer (DS)
5. The Idolmaster: Live for You (360)
6. Etrian Odyssey II: The Royal Grail (DS)
7. Musou Orochi (PSP)
8. Harvest Moon: Shining Sun and Friends (DS)
9. Wii Sports (Wii)
10. Winning Eleven Play Maker 2008 (Wii)
We're not terrifically interested in paying top dollar for what is tantamount to a glorified demo, so we aren't that excited for the April 17 release of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. But, as Gary Coleman taught us, it takes diff'rent strokes to move the world, so far be it from us to withhold the torrent of GT5P news we were bombarded with this morning.
