GamePro is opening up a new site meant to educate parents about video games. The blog features a mother and a father character who write about particular games and why they may not be appropriate for children. Where it gets weird is that they then have a child character write on behalf of why he or she'd like to play the game, which leads to someone (presumably not a real kid) writing in childspeak about how Scarface is a neat game.

Industry and multi-console news:

• Gamespot's PS3 page has been overtaken with a 360 theme. The other category pages are perfectly normal.
• Square Enix and Sony BMG have announced a "mobile dance game" called Destiny's Child Groove. How exactly one makes a dance game for a mobile phone is unclear.
• An article in the Harvard Business Review advocates reverse product placement for video games. That is, taking fictional game products and making real brands out of them, like the infamous FFXII Potions.
• Ebay has released sales figures for the PS3 and Wii. The PS3 was sold in 14,000 different auctions; the Wii in 26,000.
• Video: Interviews with young kids in Toronto's Regent Park neighborhood on why they play GTA San Andreas.
• Colts tight end Dallas Clark wasn't happy with a recent Madden 2007 ad that he felt made him "look like a punk." In response, the commercial's creators (who happen to be Rooster Teeth, the creators of Red vs Blue) made a new ad they felt would be more to his liking.

PC news:

• Episode 2 of Sam & Max hits GameTap December 21, and will be available for sale on the Telltale Games website on January 5.

Nintendo news:

• Reggie Fils-Aime says that the Wii is on target to meet the 4 million shipped by the end of 2006 promise they made. It could even exceed that, though he admits that would be "challenging based on manufacturing capacity." He also says the GBA has "at least one more holiday season in it."
• In an interview conducted within Second Life, Reggie talked about further Mii customization in the future and the possibilities of Wii MMOs.
• Nintendo's online store has restocked Wii component cables.
• I can only pray that any of you who waited in line for a Wii were not standing next to this guy.
• Impress the ladies with the new Nintendo Family Tree t-shirts.
• Pokemon Battle Revolution will allow players to save data to their remote and carry it over to someone else's Wii.
• For anyone trying to find a Wii this past week or so, this ancient Toys R Us commercial will seem oddly familiar. Otherwise, you can just laugh at dad dressed like Samus.
• Retrozone is taking pre-orders on special ports that will allow you to use NES and SNES controllers with the Wii.
• A particular new brand of PC looks a lot like a Wii.
• The full list of VC games hitting Japan by the end of the year has been released. All told, they'll get 20 more titles than America by the end of 2006.
• Yesterday's Wii update stops the Wii Shop from being used as a browser.

Sony news:

• The president of Namco Bandai says a PS3 game must sell 500,000 copies to turn a profit.
• Kaz Hirai and Jack Tretton have been promoted to president of Sony Computer Entertainment and president of Sony Computer Entertainment America, respectively.
• The CEO of EA has said that Sony only sold 200,00 units at launch due to even more shortages than were anticipated.

Microsoft news:

• Microsoft has issued a patch for the 1080p VGA problem. Joystiq says it still needs work.
• More Halo 3 beta details: On December 4, North American gamers can go to halo3.com and sign up for a chance to be a part of the beta, which starts in spring.
• They also sent out a screenshot from the trailer that will air the same day during Monday Night Football, if you're desperate.

  Posted by Bill at 4:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Industry and multi-console news:

• A group of Christian organizations is protesting the Left Behind games for promoting religious intolerance. Now if they'd just protest the books and movies too. And maybe Kirk Cameron.
• The newest MediaWise report from the National Institue on Media and the Family shows more retailers keeping kids from buying M rated games than ever before, but derides a continued trend of "parental ignorance" about what their kids are watching and playing.
• Sim City and Spore creator Will Wright will be on the Colbert Report December 4.
• The Onion gives the final word on the PS3 vs. Wii debate.
• Y'know, there were some people who thought maybe Uwe Boll would do better with comedy than his previous, "serious" efforts. This clip doesn't do much for that theory.
• 1up has put up a third installment of the worst game ads of all time.
• 1up also has an interesting feature comparing PS3 and Xbox 360 graphics through screenshots and video.
• A charity event will be held at Brooklyn's Barcade next Wednesday. You can get drunk, play Guitar Hero, win prizes and raise money for sick kids.
• Sydney, Melbourne and Singapore are getting game concerts in December. I have no idea why they're playing mostly game music with a little bit of Disney stuff thrown in.
• LucasArts confirms the KoToR series will continue. But can someone make it not suck?

PC news:

• 3D Realms' Scott Miller wants Steam to break away from Valve as a seperate company. "I’m not a big fan of using Steam, because I’m not a fan of a strong competitor of ours having access to our download stats and revenue totals. I’d rather keep that private. Not only that, but we’re lining their pockets as well."

Nintendo news:

• Outside of its normal Monday schedule, Ecco and Golden Axe have been added to the Virtual Console.
• Reggie says that Nintendo is "exploring all the rights issues" to try to get Goldeneye on the Virtual Console.
• Reggie also expects Mario Galaxy to come out sometime between March and Christmas. That narrows it down.
• An Ubisoft want ad seeks designers for "continuation of the Red Steel project." Not a confirmation of a sequel by any means, but it's hard to imagine what else it would be.
• New party characters and bosses have been discovered in a leaked version of Final Fantasy VI Advance.
• First gameplay details for Suda 51's Wii title Heroes, whose name has been changed to No More Heroes.
• Nintendo's safety page warns about wrist straps breaking. This is possibly the first time the sentence "If you are having so much fun that you start perspiring, take a moment to dry your hands," has appeared in official company information.
• Some Australian retailers are halting Wii pre-orders because they can no longer guarantee stock.
• A new website has opened up, devoted to archiving various Wii accidents.

Sony news:

• Sales of PS2 and PSP hardware are up following the shortage of PS3s. The PSP particularly has seen a spike of 280%. If I can't get a PS3, I'll get something with the Playstation name on it, by God!
• The Magic Box has new screenshots of Dawn of Mana.

Microsoft news:

• Contrary to what the demo would make you think, the final version of Lost Planet will use larger text for people with SD TVs.
• Rare is holding off on developing downloadable content until Viva Pinata proves to be successful.
• And how can it not be, with things like Genji "massive damage" jokes in it. I'm sure the joke was fresh when they coded it.

Posted by Bill at 4:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Next Generation

"Does it take you a few minutes to get used to the [Red Steel ] control scheme? Yes. Once you get used to it does it play extremely well? Absolutely."

"Are we feeling good about our success? Do we think we can have more success in the future? Absolutely.”

“Would I love to see it on virtual console? Absolutely."

YouNewb

"Do I think the industry is suffering from a lack of originality? A lot of the same old content? Sequelitis? Absolutely. Absolutely. As a consumer, is it challenge to parse through all the different choices available to find those great games out there? Absolutely."

"But do we work hard, especially with our licensees to give them counsel, to try to make the games as good as they can be? Absolutely."

"But is there a lot of dreck, especially on the competitive platforms? Absolutely."

Spong

"Here in the Americas, will it be challenging [to buy a Wii through launch period]? Absolutely."

Is it necessary for you to talk like this? No, it's not. Does it get annoying real fast? Absolutely.

Posted by Bill at 2:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Industry and multi-console news:

• A new study suggests violent video game effects "linger in the brain."
• The state of Illinois has yet to pay the half a million they owe after the ESA successfully sued them for introducing an anti-game law they knew would be shot down. The ESA is now considering taking action to collect.
• A grandmother in Pennsylvania is filing a complaint with the FTC after she reserved two Wiis in October, only to be told when she went to pick them up that she had to buy games with them as a part of a bundle. The bundle rule was implemented two weeks after she had put in her pre-orders.
• Konami has released a Plug 'n' Play Strawberry Shortcake Dance Dance Revolution game. The two brands were practically made for each other.
• Scarface: The World Is Yours has sold one million copies. Guess they have to start working on Scarface 2: The World Is Still Yours.
• 11,500 FFXI accounts are being banned for use of third party tools and real world money trading.
• An art student in Australia decided to make a bronze Dreamcast controller for a school project.
• Korean game companies don't care about your grades when considering applicants. "We rarely look at the name of the university they graduated from or the grades they earned."

PC news:

• For the next five days, a WoW chat room will be giving away Burning Crusade beta keys every 18 minutes.
• After a long silence, the Black Mesa Source project has updated with new screenshots and new information. The mod is a total conversion of Half Life 2 to remake the original Half Life.

Nintendo news:

• Nintendo has announced they sold 600,000 Wiis and 454,000 copies of Twilight Princess in the first eight days of their availability.
• The big Virtual Console library update for Monday was... Super Star Soldier. And... that's it.
• Informit provides a how-to guide to add an external antenna to your Wii.
• Comparison photos suggest that Mario 64 runs at a higher resolution in the Virtual Console than it did on the N64.
• Video: The Colbert Report puts the Wii at number one on the ThreatDown. I can't imagine this is at all related to the big Wii giveaway Comedy Central had over Thanksgiving.
• Video: Testing the range of the Wii remote. Turns out it's about 400 feet.
• MojoDojo presents the best GBA titles you aren't playing.

Sony news:

• The average sale price for a PS3 on Ebay is $1186.39.
• Sony's John Hight says there's a size limit of 500 megs on downloadable content on the PS3 to keep download times reasonable. He also mentions that classic games are likely to be added to the Playstation store in the future.
• Two suspects have been arrested in connection with the armed robbery of a waiting line for the PS3 in Connecticut that resulted in one person being shot.
• It also turns out that one person was not a gamer but an Ebay profiteer. I wonder how many people will think he deserved it now.
• A PS3 firmware update has been released, bringing it up to 1.11. It doesn't add anything interesting.
• Killzone has shown its head again, in the form of a Dutch newspaper article talking about the game's development. Its budget is apparently higher than that of the most expensive Dutch movie ever made.

Microsoft news:

• Applications are now being accepted to be a part of the Shadowrun 360 beta.
• Mad Catz has revealed a arcade stick for the 360.
• Micro Center has extended its $100 mail-in rebate on 360s through the holidays.
• StripClubDj has become one of the few (the only?) to have broken 100,000 gamer points.
• Texas Hold 'Em will receive a patch tomorrow that should fix several cheating methods as well as make the game faster. They're also wiping the leaderboard to remove cheaters.
• Double Dragon, with online co-op, has been confirmed as coming to Xbox Live Arcade.
• Finally, the perfect solution for red rings of death has been found.
• Fake Live accounts made to access content in other regions are now being blocked from downloading. From the wording of this post, it sounds as if the main concern is non-US players making fake accounts to access US content. Whether that means they'll ignore Americans doing the same to get UK or Japanese content is unclear.

Posted by Bill at 4:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Industry and multi-console news:

• GameSetWatch takes a look at old game publisher newsletters, from the days in which companies like Acclaim actually cared to talk to you.
• The UK edition of OPM says that Silent Hill 5 is coming, and it will be similar to SH2 in gameplay.
• A survey conducted by retailer Game Crazy says 85% of parents "aren't confident they have enough information to select the proper video game for their child." You just have to read a bloody box, how is the ESRB not making this clear to everyone?

PC news:

• A Chinese student in Japan was arrested for selling over a million dollars worth of MMORPG items, which is outside the scope of what is allowed under a student visa. For future reference: If you're a student, sending 100 million yen back home to China looks a touch suspicious.
• In the realm of legal game millionaires, a language teacher who sells virtual property in Second Life has sold more than one million dollars worth of real estate. That's real money, not Linden Dollars.

Nintendo news:

• Apparently Target is selling Twilight Princess soundtracks (!) that contain 1/6 scale sword and shield replicas (!!).
• What do you need to make your own real, life sized Master Sword? Why, just $3,300 and the e-mail address of a blacksmith in Scotland.
• A website has already opened for players to share Wii save games.
• The Wall Street Journal has an article about Wii players finding themselves sore and worn out. Nintendo's Perrin Kaplan notes that "If people are finding themselves sore, they may need to exercise more." Ice burn?
• A post on Nintendo.com's forum suggests how to use a Mac Airport with the Wii.
• The first hole in Wii Sports Golf is an update of the first hole in NES Golf.
• Elebits will be the first game to use WiiConnect24.
• Just in case anyone says Nintendo products never fail: The disc-spitting Wii. If you could only amp it up and attach it to your wrist, you could play real-life Tribes.
• Mario Galaxy is being reported to run at 60 fps.
• It's been shown that TV remotes can be used to replace the sensor bar, but candles work too.
• A not at all scientific poll on Kotaku says that six percent of respondants had their remote strap break. It's even been caught on video now.
• That said... STOP THROWING YOUR REMOTES THROUGH THINGS GOD

Sony news:

• GamersReports and a thread at NeoGAF suggest that some PS3 controllers are having problems. I'd ask if anyone here has had this problem, but.. is there anyone here who even has a PS3?
• The official line on the PS3 720p issue is now that they're "looking into the issue and haven't stated any actions that will be taken regarding it." A Sony spokesman had previously said that a patch was in the works.
• Hideo Kojima admits that he misses rumble.
• Sony has signed a deal with EMI Music UK to allow users to download music videos to their PSPs.
• PS3-themed Nike Air Max shoes currently fetch $4000 on shoe auction site Blue Sole. Yes, an auction site for shoes.

Microsoft news:

• Bungie has posted a lengthy dissection of three recently released Halo 3 screenshots.
• Microsoft's Robbie Bach says that Sony is "spread really thin" with trying to compete against the 360 with the PS3 and the DS with the PSP at the same time. This is supposedly why the Zune was not a handheld gaming machine.
• An adapter that allows unofficial mouse and keyboard support for the 360 is in the works.
• That silly-assed Gears of War ad propelled the Gary Jules cover of Mad World to number one on the iTunes sales chart.

Posted by Bill at 4:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

The level of utter crap coming out this week is remarkable.

• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent (Wii) - The newest installment of the stealth franchise gets a remote-wiggling version. $49.99 at EB Games.
• The Lord of the Rings - Battle of Middle Earth II: Rise of the Witch-King (PC) - 600 megs of this game's install is taken up by the text on the title screen. $29.99 at EB Games.
• Harley Davidson Motorcycles: Race to the Rally (PS2, PC) - I guess rally drivers have to get to the track somehow. $29.99 for PS2, $19.99 for PC.
• The Sims 2: Pets (PSP) - When you're tired of your virtual spouse, get a virtual dog. Just like in real life. $29.99 at EB Games.
• Catz (DS) - Umm...
• Horsez (DS) - Err...
• Hamsterz Life (DS) - AAAAUUUUGGGGGHHHHH

Nobody could keep release dates straight this week. Three different sources were giving me three different dates for pretty much everything. But there's nothing really coming out anyway, so I guess it doesn't matter. The full release list is here, at Gamasutra. I'm not linking to Gamespot's release schedule anymore because it seems the Gamasutra list is compiled by an actual human. Plus, they also have lists for Europe and Japan if you're one of those weird foreigners.

Posted by Bill at 1:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Woooaaaahhhh this update is XTTTREEEEEEEEMMMMEEEE!!!! Hang ten! Cowabunga! Catch air! Gleam the cube! Post no bills!

Woooahhh, I'm being chased by the back of a car with guns attached for some reason! This is so gnarly! And XTREME!

I know, dude! It's 'cause I'm controlling it with MY MOVEMENTS! And also my face! That's what makes it so XTREME!!

HOLY GOD THAT'S SO XTREME

hey am i doin this right

wtf no

Dudes, you gotta be more like me! I'm so XTREME my fingers bleed when I play the hottest video games like Bubsy and Hatris! That's why I wear these XTREME gloves my mom bought me!

GRRRRR BUY THIS CONTROLLER TOO KID it'll make you kinda xtreme i guess

MMAAATTTLLOOOOCKKKKK

wait i mean

SEGA

wait i mean

XTREME

XTREoh god oh jesus its raining balls

i dont wanna be xtreme anymore

Posted by Bill at 3:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

You'd think Thursday would be the day for no news, but nope. It's today. Maybe all the newsmakers are out shopping.

PS I haven't made new banners or written new articles yet because I've been wasting my life away in FFXII. This is both sad and appropriate.

Industry and multi-console news:

• The first video game magazine targetted for women has the unfortunate name of Play Vanilla.
• An audio specialist in the games industry says that bad writing is what leads to bad performances, not the actors. That may be more the case these days, but a few years back, both sides were equally awful.
• Two Gamestop employees have been arrested after it was determined they faked an armed robbery to steal PS3s.
• SNK is planning downloadable Neo Geo games for the PS3 and possibly the 360. Microsoft hasn't agreed to their offer yet, but once MS sees that the PS3 is getting the games, they'll no doubt want them on the 360 too.
• Let's compare and contrast console screens of death. Oddly enough, the PS3's is the only one that's really blue.
• The DMCA exemption for game archiving has been renewed, meaning that you're allowed to circumvent copy protection for "Computer programs and video games distributed in formats that have become obsolete and that require the original media or hardware as a condition of access, when circumvention is accomplished for the purpose of preservation or archival reproduction of published digital works by a library or archive."

Nintendo news:

• There's a trailer and new screenshots up for Sims on the Wii.
• Three new ads and a poster for Animal Crossing: The Movie. It's funny to see that even Japan uses those stupid "interviewing people as they come out of the movie" ads. The film hits theaters in Japan December 16, so I'd expect a shaky-cam fansub by a few days afterwards.

Sony news:

• Rule of Rose's UK release has been cancelled following complaints from politicians. Once again, it's a game that would've gone entirely unnoticed anyway if someone hadn't thrown a piss fit.
• GameSetWatch has a look back at the design history of Yasumi Matsuno, the man behind games like FFT, Vagrant Story, and FFXII.

Microsoft news:

• Microsoft promises to refund any money lost during the technical difficulties the Live Video Marketplace has been experiencing.
• British gangsters stole a truck containing $1.4 million worth of 360s.
• IGN has a look back on the highs and lows of the first year of the 360's life.

Posted by Bill at 4:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Industry and multi-console news:

• How the end of net neutrality could kill online gaming.
• GameSetWatch points out a couple rare auctions currently on Ebay: Silent Hill Lost Memories and a Tekken gameplay laserdisc, which I'd want to own just to say I have a Tekken gameplay laserdisc.

PC news:

• The image of Gears of War in a PC display was a mistake due to artists using various Microsoft Game Studios boxes to fill in the shelves.

Nintendo news:

• Gamespot has comparison shots showing the difference between composite and component cables.
• A magazine scan shows the first images of the Sims on the Wii. It looks more like Animal Crossing or Harvest Moon than the Sims.
• A market analyst says Nintendo will be shipping 150,000 to 200,000 Wiis a week for the rest of the year.
• I have no idea if this is real or not, but nonetheless, it's a very well done Wii commercial designed as a throwback to the video game ads of the '80s.
• You DIY types can make a homemade wireless sensor bar and component cables.
• If you really get off on screwing with the Wii instead of just playing the damned thing, you can also hack the Wii Shop into a semi-workable browser.
• You can also do the reverse, and screw with Firefox to access the Wii Shop on your PC.
• Kotaku has an open letter from someone with muscular dystrophy to Nintendo about how Wii games could be made more accessible to the disabled.
• 1up has a rundown on which VC titles are worth your money. Personally, I can attest to having played the hell out of Wario's Woods on an emulator during senior year in high school, but that was the SNES version.
• The Wii Shop Q & A mentions an update button for games. This might exist only for bug fixes, or it might only apply to future original games. But of course what everyone is talking about is that it could be used for enhancements to classic titles.

Sony news:

• Sony has released 42 new Motorstorm screenshots.

Microsoft news:

• The Lost Planet multiplayer demo is up on Live.
• The first pack of downloadable content for Test Drive Unlimited is now available.
• Microsoft expects the slow download speeds many are experiencing when trying to download TV shows and movies over Live to "be resolved soon."
• Gamespot has an interview about the 360 version of Command & Conquer 3.
• What do you know, DoA Xtreme 2 has a pole dancing scene in it. Itagaki, you card. The best part is that it's more funny than arousing.

Posted by Bill at 4:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Industry and multi-console news:

• Gamestop says they have already received their second shipments of Wiis and PS3s, and expect to be resupplied with both on a weekly basis.
• German politicians want a ban on violent video games.
• Joystiq has a handy chart showing the downward slope of Ebay auction prices for next-gen machines.

PC news:

• Blizzard has unbanned the Cedega users who got caught up in a wave of hacker bans.

Nintendo news:

• A possible workaround is being offered for the WiiConnect errors some people have been having.
• If you want to play old games on your new system without all that awful money exchanging, people already have emulators working on the Wii.
• Turns out the secret Animal Crossing gift for the 19th was a Zelda sword.
• Wii pre-orders at Amazon.co.uk sold out in seven minutes, becoming the fastest selling pre-order item in their history.
• TG-16 games Bonk's Adventure and Bomberman '93 have both been added to the Virtual Console.
• Speaking of which, this post goes into great technical detail on how the VC emulates games exactly, with the correct resolution, unlike previous game compilation discs and other attempts at commercial emulation.
• If you'd rather Wii Sports had a real case, you can download and print out a cover to use with a case of your choosing. If you don't have a white DVD case around, you can use the Wii trailer DVDs that Target is selling for a penny.
• The Wii can apparently grab photos from whatever Bluetooth device you have laying around.
• The Wii damage keeps rolling in: Now someone has cut his hand after doing an overhead swing (in tennis, presumably) and smashing into the light fixture on the ceiling.
• The producer of Castlevania doesn't want to make a game with "gimmicky controls where you swing the controller like a whip."
• Video: The Wii remote can actually be used with TV remotes in place of the sensor bar.
• Go Nintendo has a list of little easter eggs to be found in the Wii's interface and Wii Sports.

Sony news:

• Sony says they're working on a fix for the 720p problem.
• Sony has revealed some details on the Playstation game downloads for the PSP. They will range from $5.99 to $10.99 and between 140 and 550 MB.
• They still intend to ship one million PS3s by the end of the year, saying that manufacturing is "now running smoothy" and that consoles are being airlifted on "a constant basis."
• Wired's Game Life blog complains that Genji has a game killing bug.
• Boston's transit police want GTA ads removed from subway trains.
• Eurogamer has put up the third part in their history of the Playstation brand.

Microsoft news:

• Xbox Live Gold will be free for Australians this weekend.
• Microsoft's TV and movie download service on Xbox Live starts today.
• Keep in mind, however, that TV shows purchased on the service can do nothing but sit on your 360 HD. They can't even be transfered to Microsoft's Zune.
• Gears of War has sold one million copies in two weeks, becoming the fastest selling 360 game.
• Two more former PS3 exclusives are now heading to the 360: Koei's Fatal Inertia and Bladestorm.
• Bungie talks about how matchmaking will be improved for Halo 3.
• The Knights of Nine Oblivion expansion is available on Live now.

Posted by Bill at 4:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Industry and multi-console news:

• CNN explains how the motion control in PS3 and Wii controllers works.
• Tecmo has responded to the allegations of sexual harrassment against DoA creator Tomonobu Itagaki, saying they undertook a one-month investigation into the matter and found that it hadn't taken place. But, they say, the employee and "others involved" mixed "personal affairs with their corporate responsibilities." Whatever that means.
• This year's Spike TV Video Game Awards will be streamed online as well as broadcasting live.
• Video: BBC's Newsnight discusses the Wii and PS3. What a miserable group of people.
• Gamestop reports a 3.0 software tie ratio for the Wii, and a 1.5 tie ratio for the PS3.
• Quoth Bill Gates: "Sony can make 80,000 bricks, and people would buy them." He's right, y'know.
• Graveyard BBQ discusses how things changed for them after winning last year's Be A Guitar Hero contest and having their song appear in the game.

PC news:

• The opening movie to WoW's Burning Crusade will debut during the Spike TV VGAs.
• The original Sid Meier's Railroad Tycoon has been released for free.
• FiringSquad has an interview about Half Life 2: Episode 2.
• Valve and Turtle Rock Studios have announced Left 4 Dead, a co-op multiplayer zombie shooter.
• Blizzard has created its first TV commercial for World of Warcraft, and it's Office Space themed.

Nintendo news:

• The Zelda retrospective series is finished, with all six parts available for anyone who missed them.
• Slate presents Why you shouldn't buy the Wii. Of course, then a different Slate writer says the Wii is better than the 360 and PS3.
• An insane, rambling, possibly intoxicated woman auctions off a a bag of popcorn and a drink with a BIG RED STRAW. Oh, and a Wii.
• Don't you people have any bloody grip? Someone just accidentally chucked their remote through their laptop's screen. For God's sake, use the strap.
• New screenshots of Final Fantasy VI Advance. Kind of disappointing that it doesn't look any different visually aside from the character portraits during dialog, but I suppose there wasn't much they could do with it.

Sony news:

• Bloomberg reports that the number of PS3s shipped to the US by the end of the year may be as low as 200,000.
• Phil Harrison's official response to the PS3's 780p issue is play around with the TV.
• An unfortunate Ebay bidder bought three Playstations instead of a Playstation 3.
• Elsewhere, an auction for a PS3 and games goes for 99 cents.
• Kotaku covers some other Ebay silliness, including two different auctions that used photos of semi-nude women to try to sell their systems.
• What once was frivolity is now reality: Someone really made a grill out of the PS3.
• Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops has been given a December 5 release date.
• Game studio Climax has expressed concern over the PSPs future.
• To counterbalance what the New York Times said yesterday, here's a Fox News review of the PS3 calling it worth the wait and the price.
• The PSP 3.0 firmware is now available.
• Taco Bell will pay $12,500 Taco Bell Bucks to the first person to give them their PS3. It's for charity, but I think the gamer in question is still getting a raw deal. A bucket of rocks is better than a lifetime supply of Taco Bell food. And tastier.
• Eurogamer has put up the first and second parts of its "total history" of the Playstation.

Microsoft news:

• Susquehanna Financial Group has released a report calling the Xbox 360's high attach rate "alarming" because it may indicate that current owners are continuing to buy games, but system sales aren't keeping up.
• Microsoft has indicated that Gears of War will be a trilogy. Or more likely, it will be goes-on-as-long-as-people-still-buy-them-ogy.

Posted by Bill at 4:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Industry and multi-console news:

• A behavioral research firm says there are serious flaws with current in-game ads, which can only mean they need to be more obnoxious and in your face.
• Machinima.com has an interview with the people responsible for South Park's WoW episode on how it was put together.
• Guitar Hero is coming to mobile phones? Eh?
• An accurate portrayal of console line-ups in comic form? Sources say.. maybe?
• Some kind of art photo project thing: Gamer hands.
• All sorts of mainstream whiny twats are talking about how horrible people are for the PS3 line-ups and the media coverage they garnered while troops are dying heroically in Iraq and wank wank wank....

PC news:

• Second Life was shut down for a period earlier today due to a worm. The note "An attack of self-replicators is causing heavy load on the database, which is in turn slowing down in-world activity. We have isolated the grey goo and are currently cleaning up the grid" sounds like it was copied out of a sci-fi novel.
• The FBI conducted multiple raids to close down Lineage II pirate group L2Extreme.

Nintendo news:

• The previously Japan-only Wii Play is coming to America.
• The United States Air Force warns that they have a shortage of Whee consoles.
• Reggie Fils-Aime predicts there will be one million Wiis sold in North America by early December and another million before the second week in January.
• The mysterious Wii start-up disc is gone from the final package; Nintendo managed to load the software onto the machine before shipping. However, there have been a few people claiming that their system is still asking for the disc and won't work otherwise.
• Likewise, updating on WiiConnect24 has bricked a few consoles.
• The first person in line to get a Wii at the Nintendo World Store was a man named Isaiah Trifore Johnson, who wore a Power Glove as he shook Reggie's hand.
• An SA forum goon has already managed to chuck a remote at his TV, putting a large crack in his formerly beautiful 60" screen.
• All four Wii Would Like To Play commercials are up on Nintendo's site.
• Popular Science broke open a Wii and took pictures of its guts. They intended to be able to put it back together afterwards, but things didn't quite work out that way.
• Naturally, the system's been out for a day, and people are already looking into how to hack the Wii. Apparently, the Gamecube Freeloader already works on it.
• Somebody put a Triforce on top of the Great Dome at MIT.

Sony news:

• If you want to sell two PS3s over Craigslist, don't agree to meet at 1 in the morning in a McDonalds parking lot.
• Ubisoft has confirmed that its PS3 FPS Killing Day has been cancelled.
• Prices seem to be cooling a bit on PS3 auctions.
• Newsweek claims that Ken Kutaragi is to blame for losing exclusivity for GTA and Assassin's Creed.
• Armed men robbed an Ohio EB Games of all its PS3s before it even got a chance to open. There's something wrong when people would rather steal consoles than, oh... cash.
• Along the same lines, another thief was caught when he wanted to break into an EB, but accidentally broke into a jewelry store instead.
• Just in case you think Sony-bashing is reserved for Internet trolls: even the New York Times says the PS3 "just isn't that great."
• Sony says the next shipment of PS3s is hitting North America sometime in the middle of this week. They expect an additional 4 or 5 shipments by the end of the year, with each containing about a quarter of the number of units available at launch.
• Sony has a searchable compatibility database for the PS3.
• Adam Carolla did a bit on those waiting for the PS3 on his radio show, calling them hilarious names and insinuating that they perhaps had not engaged in sexual congress in quite a long time! Oh ho, what jest! Then he offered a free trip to a brothel for anyone who'd leave the line. No one did. This is clearly because they're all losers and not because they don't want to go hang with skanks.

Microsoft news:

• Halo 2 has finally been ousted as the most popular game on Live by Gears of War.
• Tomobnobu Itagaki says he already had some ideas for Dead or Alive 5. Every game news site has taken this to mean "DoA5 confirmed!", when really it sounds like he hasn't even started on it.

Posted by Bill at 4:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

There is, of course, the whole line of Wii titles that went on sale yesterday (and in some cases, a little earlier):

• Excite Truck
• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
• Call of Duty 3
• Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam
• Marvel Ultimate Alliance
• Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2
• Trauma Center: Second Opinion
• Madden NFL '07
• Rampage: Total Destruction
• Happy Feet
• The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy
• Avatar: The Last Airbender
• Cars
• SpongeBob SquarePants: The Creature from the Krusty Krab
• Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz
• GT Pro Series
• Monster 4X4 World Circuit
• Rayman Raving Rabbids
• Red Steel

Perhaps wisely, there isn't much else coming out while people play with all their new toys.

• Superman Returns (360, PS2, Xbox, DS) - Missed the movie's release date by just a smidge, but the big Superman game is finally out, with missions both original and based on the movie. $39.99 on PS2 and Xbox, $29.99 on DS, and $59.99 on the 360.
• Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas (360) - What happens in Tom Clancy's Vegas is probably some sort of surgical military operation. $59.99 at EB Games.
• Star Wars: Best of PC (PC) - A collection of past Star Wars PC hits, including Knights of the Old Republic, Empire at War, Battlefront, Jedi Knight II, Republic Commando and a 14-day Galaxies trial. $39.99 at EB Games.
• Lawnmower Racing Mania 2007 (Xbox, PC) - Licensed, I'm not even kidding, by the US Lawn Mower Racing Association. Sometimes I wish I was a different species. $19.99 at EB Games for the PC version; Xbox version not found.
• Sneak King (360, Xbox) - If you're not tired of the Burger King yet -- perhaps you're a regular at YTMND -- then you can get this game at your local BK for $3.99. Also available are Pocket Bike Racer and Big Bumpin'.

A bunch of crap hunting games and Pimp My Ride for the PS2 -- which is apparently a strategy game -- are to be found at the full release list.

Posted by Bill at 3:42 PM | Permalink

Our long national nightmare is almost over. In just one more day, I'll have no occassion to type the word "launch" for another five years. In the remaining time, on the eve of the launch (there it is again!) of Nintendo's latest console, let's take a quick look back on where we (and they) were ten and then five years ago.

Oops. Looks like they weren't doing well. The N64 launch was pretty miserable, though the sheer awesomeness of Mario 64 was able to carry it for a lot of people. It's easy to forget that the Virtual Boy had debuted a year earlier (many people deliberately try to forget the Virtual Boy), and the first major failure on Nintendo's part no doubt shook the confidence of many fans.

For the record, of the "Missing in Action" list at the bottom: Body Harvest came out in October 1998, Buggie Boogie was cancelled, Ken Griffey became Major League Baseball Featuring Ken Griffey Jr and shipped May 1998, Goldeneye shipped August 1997, and Mario Kart 64 hit February 1997. The N64's early library was kind of a mess.

Presented here: The aforementioned shaken confidence, in convenient pie chart form. It's strange to see how few were willing to wait it out; either you were with Nintendo or against them. Then again, this was a survey conducted on the Internet in 1996, a harsh realm where refraining from making a rushed yet definitive judgment was a sign of weakness.

Elsewhere, Sega had their own problems, replacing the much anticipated Sonic X-Treme with a Saturn port of the unpleasant Sonic 3D Blast. Later, they cancelled X-Treme altogether. Also, how the hell did Wipeout XL get to be more anticipated than Final Fantasy VII?

On Sony's side, rumblings began over the mysterious and exciting Playstation 2. Sure, the PS2 ended up selling 111 million units worldwide, but just imagine how many more they would've sold if it still had a chipset called Highlander instead of Emotion Engine. If you'd like to compare the rumored specs to the final, the PS2 Wikipedia entry has many letters and numbers arranged in such ways as to be meaningful to some.

Onward and upward to five years ago and the Japanese Gamecube launch, of which EGM paints a less than rosy picture. The Gamecube was the first Nintendo console to launch without a Mario, and that undoubtedly had some effect on sales. Note that the Cube launched in Japan in September and in the US in November, and all told Nintendo planned to have 2.2 million units shipped out worldwide by the end of the year. They plan to ship almost twice that before the end of the year for the Wii.

Of course, there was one other issue that effected the Japanese Cube launch, and that was the September 11th attacks just three days prior. This page isn't really related to launches of any kind, I just threw it in as a reminder of how things changed in the wake of the event.

The supposed "minor" edits of GTA3 included changing the police car color scheme from NYPD to LAPD and the removal of Darkel, a "revolutionary urchin" who was to give you some of the darker, more.. well, more terrorist-y missions. I think that may mark the first use of the word "terrorist-y", I'd like that noted for the record.

Metal Gear Solid 2 also removed a scene of Arsenal Gear crashing through buildings in New York, and Propeller Arena was cancelled completely, not seeing the light of day until a disc image was leaked years later.

EGM had a long feature comparing the Xbox to the Gamecube, but I didn't scan it all because most of it's pretty obvious to us now -- which system has online, what the games look like, etc. But I've put up the last page, where each editor explains which console they chose and why. In the end, EGM picked the Xbox as the "winner" for which console you should pick up at launch if you can only get one. To be honest, I think both systems had a long suckage drought during their early years -- the Gamecube had no software, and the Xbox had a lot of software but it was all crap.

I think Nintendo has, at least in part, learned from their past mistakes with the Wii. It's important that people seem to be excited about the system itself and its possbilities, whereas people mainly looked to the N64 and especially the Gamecube as that thing you had to get to play Mario and Zelda. How well Nintendo's little experiment will work out is still unknown, but I'd say they've got a much better chance than they've had in the last ten years.

Posted by Bill at 1:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Industry and multi-console news:

• Gamasutra asks various people in the game industry which system they'll be buying.
• At least one Best Buy cancelled their PS3 and Wii launches, citing safety concerns.
• Car games are usually the easiest to make photorealistic, as titles like PGR3 and even Gran Turismo 4 showed. But something about these new Colin McRae: DIRT shots looks.. off. They're a little plastic-y. And the lighting doesn't seem harsh enough.

PC news:

• The most recent issue of PC Gamer includes a picture of a Games for Windows display rack with Gears of War on it. Oops?

Nintendo news:

• N-Philes has new Wii interface screenshots, including the first I've seen of what the weather channel will look like.
• The DVD-enabled Wii is back to being unconfirmed for territories outside the US, despite the deal to make them being refered to as "worldwide."
• Another one of the rare, gold 1990 Nintendo World Championship NES cartridges has shown up on Ebay for a mere $15,000.
• MSNBC invites a group of six gamers to try out the PS3 and Wii and declares Wii the winner.

Sony news:

• Costco's website has collapsed as thousands of people try to get in to buy a PS3.
• In case you hadn't checked, Ebay currently shows 14,200 auctions for PS3s. Funny thing is, when I started writing this post a couple hours ago, it was 11,700. Some auctions are resorting to being amusing to gain attention.
• At least one person has found his system dead on arrival. Red ring of death round two?
• Time Magazine declares the PS3 "not worth the hype."
• Sony has updated their Open Platform site for people to install Linux on their PS3s.
• Some are declaring Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire to be the worst next-gen launch game after it received a 2/10 from 1up.
• Take Two announced they have 20 games in the works for the PS3, including 7 from Rockstar.
• PC Gamer gave away a $7500 custom-built Falcon PC to one gamer waiting in line on the condition that he agree to never own a PS3.

Microsoft news:

• Demos for NCAA March Madness 07, Rainbow Six: Vegas multiplayer and Cars can now be found on Xbox Live. The latter two are Gold only for a few days.
• Game Trailers has a new Mass Effect trailer that was supposed to air on MTV during Gamer's Week but was cut for time.
• An Xbox 360, despite looking a little rough and having a tire mark over top of it, survived a car wreck and still works fine.
• Continuing to say goodbye to the original Xbox, Eurogamer lists the Xbox's cult classics. It doesn't fill me with a lot of hope for the list as a whole that the few mentioned that I have played were not very good. I mean, Munch's Odyssee? Shenmue II? Beyond Good and Evil? (zing!)

Posted by Bill at 4:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)