R¥UÐØ™
Holy Priest/Priestess
Poor Inuyasha...
Posts: 4,592
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Post by R¥UÐØ™ on Aug 17, 2005 20:47:13 GMT -5
www.square-enix.co.jp/dvd/ff7ac/The greatest Final Fantasy Advent Children website! It has everything! It does go slow but it rocks! Oh and its in japanese. I could read a little of it but Im not sure you guys can... Oh! And speaking of Advent Children, rumors are saying that Tom Cruise is the voice of Vincent. I dunno... Ok im out peoples.
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Post by kirara on Aug 17, 2005 23:52:04 GMT -5
YEAH! *bangs head* I love Zelda. Ive also heard the new KH2 song. IT ROCKS!!! Now in news the PS3 is now priced at $399. VERRRY BAD SONY!!! IT BETTER BE A BUNDLE OR I WILL BE PISSED! ry.....get the PSM magizine unless u want me to scan and post the article on it........................
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R¥UÐØ™
Holy Priest/Priestess
Poor Inuyasha...
Posts: 4,592
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Post by R¥UÐØ™ on Aug 19, 2005 17:02:49 GMT -5
No thats okay... Namco announced today that Urban Reign will feature guest appearances by characters from the Tekken series of fighting games. Marshall Law and Paul Phoenix will join Urban Reign's main protagonist Brad Hawk as he takes on a tough gang in back alleys, dive bars, parking lots and other urban battlegrounds. Urban Reign will be available for PlayStation 2 this September. Legendary fighters Marshall Law and Paul Phoenix put their pursuit of the King of Iron Fist title on hold to help Brad Hawk clean up the streets of Green Harbor in Urban Reign. Marshall and Paul will be playable characters in the game's free and challenge modes, and also in the game's different multiplayer modes – complete with classic moves from the Tekken series. Urban Reign puts players in the middle of a full blown turf war in gang-controlled Green Harbor. Victory on the streets means doing whatever it takes to achieve victory, and players will be able to take on the city's thugs with vicious double-team attacks, unlockable special moves and more than 30 street weapons including bats, blades and 2x4's. Up to four players can also duke it out in the game's different multiplayer modes via the PlayStation 2 multitap. For more information about Urban Reign, visit urbanreign.namco.com~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In an open letter to participants on the Xbox website, Majesco announced the cancellation of the Advent Rising “Race to Save Humanity” contest. The contest was originally conceived as an Xbox live feature where players would search certain levels for a hidden prize token. This would eventually lead to one player winning a promised one million dollars. "After careful assessment of the technical issues identified with the Advent Rising 'Race to Save Humanity' contest, Majesco Entertainment and Xbox Live have determined there to be no technically feasible solution that would allow the contest to continue in a fair and secure manner," Majesco states in the letter. "As such, we apologize for any inconvenience, but we must unfortunately cancel the contest." As a consolation Majesco is offering anyone who purchased Advent Rising two free games. Available titles include: BloodRayne 2, Guilty Gear X2 #Reload, Psychonauts, Raze’s Hell, and Phantom Dust. For full details on the offer, visit www.xbox.com/en-US/promotions/adventrising.htm~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TOP STORY... for me so far When it was first announced that the team behind 2001’s ICO would be working on another adventure title, many assumed it would be a sequel to the cult classic. But when Sony later revealed that the game would be a completely new IP called Wanda and the Colossus, many fans were understandably concerned. “What the hell?” they cried. “The title sounds like a muppet movie.” Since Sony actually wants the game to sell a few copies in the U.S. this time, they settled on the more badass and mysterious sounding Shadow of the Colossus. As screenshots and movies have filtered out to the gaming public, few can deny how impressive these stunning giants are. But doubts still remain on Shadow’s pacing. After all, gamers are accustomed to wading through scores of enemies before reaching a more powerful boss character. Will they embrace a system that involves hunting down 16 creatures alone in a wide open wasteland? Shadow’s story begins with a young warrior journeying to a legendary temple with the hopes of bringing his recently departed love back to life. Dark forces within the temple agree to help him as long as he will fulfill a simple quest – slay every last one of the terrifying ancient beasts roaming the surrounding countryside. Our hero accepts the challenge, but don’t these kinds of deals always have some sort of catch? While the preview build we played didn’t reveal much more about the story, it did give us the opportunity to take on the first three colossi. And what mighty battles they were. As you head out of the temple for the first time on your mighty steed, it’s impossible not to just rip into a full gallop through the wide open plains. Every minute detail is there. Your poncho ripples in the wind along with your horse’s tail and mane. Mounting and dismounting the horse looks entirely realistic, as do the various stages of speed from trotting to full gallop – kicking up dust and dirt chunks all the way. As you ride along, your hero bounces in the saddle and uses the stirrups to balance himself. Try stopping quickly and the horse will almost sit down as he skids to a halt. Tapping X will increase your speed and pulling back on the left analog stick will slow you down. This sort of auto drive system will help you focus on such feats as launching arrows from horseback or jumping onto a speeding colossus like in an old west train robbery. Shadow’s soft, muted colors and rich use of light really lend it a visual style all its own. In particularly bright areas you can raise your sword and the reflected light will point in the general direction of the next colossus. Just like ICO, the environments are so awe inspiring and far reaching that this game will have you sightseeing just as much as slaying. The right-analog-controlled camera dramatically sweeps around your character to capture everything from mountain peaks to deep crystal ravines. On this build we noticed some slight pop up on small details like rock formations or foliage, but the overall draw distance is staggering. Sony could have had all of the battles take place in closed off arenas. Instead, you fight these giants with far off bridges, cliffs, and castle ruins as your backdrop. As you try to track down the next colossus, music completely drops out in favor of ambient noise like horse clip clopping and your character’s random grunts as he climbs rocky precipices. When you eventually stumble upon one of the incredible beasts, black bars appear at the top and bottom of the screen and a quick cutscene (complete with sophisticated score) displays the intimidating majestic giant. Outside of some mild platforming and exploration, most of the puzzle solving aspect of Shadow is actually centered on taking out the colossi. Just figuring out how to climb onto these things without becoming a stain on the bottom of their feet is tricky enough. How Sony was able to produce such large, detailed, and interactive creatures at a smooth frame rate is a programming enigma. The outer textures of these bad boys consist primarily of impenetrable solid rock and prairie grass hair. Out of the three we saw, two colossi were humanoid in form while another was kind of bull shaped. Most of the mounting strategies so far range from shimmying up a hairy leg to tricking the colossus into picking you up somehow. Now take a moment to visualize a bee landing on your arm. You scream and run around like a little girl, right? I know I do. And the colossi feel the same way about your pesky ass. They’ll shake and scratch at your character until they can fling him off, which usually ends up being a 500 foot toss to the ground. To avoid this fate, grip on to the creature’s hairy hide with the R1 button. A pink circle gauge in the bottom right corner of the screen shrinks as your hero’s grip tires out. When the grip meter is close to empty the controller will start to pulse, warning you to rest. This introduces a strategic element to the proceedings. You not only have to find decently flat area to recharge your gauge, but you also must time your rests between the monster’s violent shakes. If you really have a death wish, hit the square button twice to stab into the beast’s tender flesh. The longer you wait between taps the stronger the attack will be. But holding your sword aloft leaves you open to an easy shake off. You can strike anywhere on a colossus except the stone areas, but you’re basically wasting your time unless you dig that blade into a weak spot. These are handily indicated by a glowing blue-green emblem. Slicing one of these areas will produce an intense fountain of black oil blood, and the colossus shakes like a mother. Shadow’s other primary weapon, the bow and arrow, also proved useful in its own way. Shoot a creature in one of their soft spots to get some attention, or use arrows to help solve puzzle elements. Oh, and every arrow stays lodged in the colossus until you kill it. After you take out a colossus, its black soul overtakes your character and transports him back to the temple. Here, the statue corresponding to that specific monster shatters and a creepy black shadow hovers over your unconscious body. After your brief rest, it’s time to bloody your blade once again. Everyone who’s concerned about the length of Shadow of the Colossus should just chill out. Slaying the first three monsters took a few hours, and they’re logically the easiest to figure out. So imaging fighting 13 more and there’ll be plenty of game to satisfy everyone. Obviously, if you’re a dirty cheater and look up how to beat every boss, the game will be dramatically shorter. But those people have only ripped themselves off. Shadow of the Colossus is one of those rare games that I would dare anyone to play and not be amazed. Classic fairy tales, The Neverending Story, Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man – I keep getting flashes of these great childhood moments as I play through the game. Yet it’s all mixed up with a sophisticated adult art style and method of play. The only drawbacks I could find were random camera complications and sometimes wild horse controls. But I seriously can’t wait to take out the rest of these monsters – especially the final colossus, who is rumored to make the rest of the enemies look like little babies in comparison. And with 16:9 widescreen and progressive scan support I won’t have any choice but to steal from my Xbox 360 fund this October when Shadow of the Colossus releases.
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R¥UÐØ™
Holy Priest/Priestess
Poor Inuyasha...
Posts: 4,592
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Post by R¥UÐØ™ on Aug 19, 2005 17:17:50 GMT -5
MORE NEWS! Just because you beg for it. Nintendo is announcing new pricing for the Nintendo DS of $129.99 MSRP, effective August 21. The $20 price drop comes just ahead of the Aug. 22 U.S. launch of Nintendogs. "The new price and the arrival of a mega hit like Nintendogs give Nintendo DS a one-two punch that will thrill consumers," says Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of sales & marketing. "Consumers know Nintendo offers the best in the hand-held video game industry, and this news should make them very happy." In addition to Nintendogs, Nintendo DS's upcoming titles include Advance Wars: Dual Strike on Aug. 22, Trace Memory on Sept. 26, Metroid Prime Pinball on Oct. 24 and Mario & Luigi 2 in Q4. Nintendo is also using the price drop to promote the upcoming Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, the wireless gaming service to launch later this year with a Mario Kart racing game and an Animal Crossing community-building game. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Im so fucking pissed with Nintendo's move about this next segment. We've just received word from Nintendo of America that The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess will be delayed from the promised holiday 2005 release to sometime after the conclusion of the fiscal year - which is March 31st. The reasoning behind the delay is the development team has requested extra time add new levels, and increase the quality of the game. Considering this was truly Nintendo's big title for the holiday season, not only is this a blow for fans, but it's a blow for the company. The official statement is as follows: "Our development team has decided to take extra time to add some incredible new elements to The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. As a result, the game will now launch in 2006 globally. We recognize there may be some disappointed fans, however we firmly believe this additional time will result in a much more enjoyable gaming experience. GameCube fans will have a variety of Nintendo games to choose from this holiday season, including Battalion Wars, Mario Superstar Baseball, Fire Emblem and Super Mario Strikers." While this may come to a shock to Nintendo gamers across the globe, Nintendo has thrown us a bone with some new screenshots. Doesn't that make you happy? Huh? Yeah, we're weeping too. When Zelda will be released is still a mystery. We've been reassurred from Nintendo that this delay will not only make the game better, but even longer. We just got off the phone with Nintendo and they're telling us that we'll be seeing more of the game in the coming months. This decision did not come lightly to the company, and the team wouldn't have decided to delay the release of the game unless it wouldn't benefit the game completely in the long run. We'll have more on this when as it develops. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ !n the wake over Nintendo fans jumping out their windows due to the Zelda delay, Nintendo has announced the release date for the Game Boy Micro. The Micro will be released on September 19th. Unfortunately, STILL no price point has been given. Rumors still set the unit at over a $100 price point, but until we get confirmation from the big N, we'll keep that as a rumor. Word from Nintendo is that they'll be officially announcing everything Game Boy Micro in the coming days. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I JUST GOT THIS EMAIL!!! The full details of Nintendo's latest handheld have finally been released. Game Boy Micro starts shipping to stores nationally Sept. 19 at an MSRP of $99.99. The smallest Game Boy ever will come in both silver and black versions, each with three removable faceplates. "Game Boy goes anywhere, and now it fits anywhere," says George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. "The incredibly small size of Game Boy Micro belies the powerful technology shrunk into a hip new casing with an intensely bright screen; and at under $100, it's a must-have." Game Boy Micro measures just 4 inches wide, 2 inches long and 0.7 inches thin. It weighs 2.8 ounces, about the weight of 80 paper clips. Yet it boasts the same power as previous Game Boy Advance models, complete with the ability to play all Game Boy Advance games, a library of more than 700 titles. Game Boy Micro features a 2-inch screen, and Start/Select buttons that glow with the neon-like blue found on many cell phones. The black Game Boy Micro will include one faceplate with a Flame design of fiery yellow double helixes on an orange background. It also will come with a green Camouflage faceplate and a silver faceplate. The silver Game Boy Micro will include an Ammonite faceplate with a dark blue swirling pattern. It also will come with a Ladybug faceplate that features a ladybug on a large pink gerbera daisy, and a black faceplate. The faceplates also include a protective cover for the Game Boy Micro screen. For pictures of the new handheld, go to www.gameboy.com~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ All about Nintendo huh? Well I learned a rumor going around that the Revolution will be priced at $299 instead of $399 like the 360 and th PS3. The Rev (aka Revolution... Im too lazy to type it.) will also be a DVD player with DVD Playback. Smart move Nintendo. Also it will be able to download MP3 files from your MP3 Player and the computer. THATS NOT ALL! 8 wireless controllers, wireless plugins such as the AUX plugs, the outlet plug, and the online jacking bud. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thats about all I have for now... Ill look for more.
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Post by kirara on Aug 19, 2005 23:49:41 GMT -5
AND EVEN MORE NEWS ONLY RYUDO ISNT TYPING IT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!! yea...i kno.....that was a little..........out there..........anyway, i read an article on KH2(cuz i kno u ppl love KH2 and SORA!!! U BETTER OR I'LL BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF U!!!!!!!!!!!!!!).......anyway, please excuse my constant randomness.......................and here's what i found out, in the article(duh! but yea, i am just messin' with ya!):
this is the exact article so dont think stupidly, "y is she quoting this?", if ya do......*ahem* it wont be pretty(not w/ my amount of pateince lately, ppl......yea..im quite cranky 2day.....dont argue w/ me....)
"Kingdom Hearts II"
"Can Square-Enix Make RPG Magic Again?"
"When Squear-Enix announced the first Kingdom Hearts, the concept of a role-playing game starring Disney characters sounded about as appealing as those direct-to-video sequels Disney keeps pumping out. Everyone expected a watered-down adventure full of squirrels and flowers and joy, but instead Square-Enix provided an epic adventure that demonstrates how to smartly use Disney's library of heroes, fools, and villians. No surprise that a best-selling game with a cliff-hanger ending is finally being continued with a grander, more animated, and more colorful sequel. So far, director Tetsuya Nomura has been very tight-lipped about the story. He steadfastly refused to talk to us about Mickey, Riku, and that weird blonde-haired kid that keeps popping up in the game's trailers; he wouldn't even tell us how the game begins. Which as much as it frustrated us, makes sense: Why spoil the story of a game that's going to be a little darker and more complex than its predecessor? We're not going to ruin any mysteries, but we will show you where Sora's story will take you......"
-OPM Magazine(September Issue#96) (YEA PPL!!!! 4 MORE ISSUE'S UNTIL ISSUE# 100!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
umm.....im planning on posting the rest of the article later on........ so until then! MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yea......anyway..............until then ur just going to have to clench the edges of ur seats..........yea.....dont worry im not trying to torment u on purpose..................lol!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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R¥UÐØ™
Holy Priest/Priestess
Poor Inuyasha...
Posts: 4,592
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Post by R¥UÐØ™ on Aug 28, 2005 17:25:00 GMT -5
HOLY GOD! THEY JUST LAUNCHED THE SOUL CALIBUR III WEB SITE! HERE IS THE ARTICLE! Namco today announced that the official Web site for Soul Calibur III has gone live at soulcalibur3.namco.com. As the official destination for the game on the Internet, the site provides a detailed overview of the new features included in Soul Calibur III, in-depth profiles and video clips of the characters in the game and even hidden content for visitors to discover and unlock. A detailed look at the game’s Character Creation mode will teach visitors the first steps in creating their own formidable warrior, while an introduction to the new Chronicles of the Sword mode will prepare fans for this new real-time strategy game. Soul Calibur III will be available exclusively for the PS2 on October 25 THE SITE IS UNBELEIVABLE! PLEASE GO TO THE SITE!
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R¥UÐØ™
Holy Priest/Priestess
Poor Inuyasha...
Posts: 4,592
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Post by R¥UÐØ™ on Sept 3, 2005 13:18:20 GMT -5
Lets kick it off with some Sony ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Today at the European Game Developers' Conference in London Phil Harrison, vice president at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, cast doubt on a multiple SKU launch plan for the PlayStation 3. According to British gaming site gamesindustry.biz, Harrison called any possibility of a two SKU strategy "unlikely." "Are there two versions of the Xbox 360 that people want to buy, is my question," Harrison said. "I don't know." "This is my personal view, not my corporate view, but when I look at those formats, I think it just confuses the audience. They don't know which one to buy, developers don't know which one to create for, and retailers don't know which one to stock." "So I think we wouldn't take that strategy. We wouldn't create confusion," Harrison explained. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sega has revealed in the latest Famitsu a list of several new arcade games utilizing their new Lindbergh arcade board that will premiere during the JAMMA arcade show in Tokyo. After Burner, House of the Dead 4, Power Smash 3 (Virtua Tennis in the U.S), Psy-Phi, and Virtua Fighter 5 will be displayed. Sega also published a spec listing for the Lindbergh board: CPU: Intel Pentium Processor 3.0Ghz with 1MB L2 Cache, Hyper Threading Compatible, 800MHz FSB Memory: 184pin DDR SD-RAM PC3200 512 Megabytes x 2 (Dual) GPU: NVIDIA GPU, 256 bit GDDR3 Memory 256MB. Vertex Shader 3.0 and Pixel Shader 3.0. Able to output same or different video streams to two screens Sound: 3D Audio Synthesizer Chip, Max 64 channels, 5.1 channel output compatible Input/Output: *Video: Analogue D-Sub 15 pin, Two DVI-I Terminals *Sound: 5.1 Channel (front 2 channels use RCA Connectors), SP-DIF (optical) *LAN: On board: 10/100/1000 BASE-TX. JVS I/O Connector *Serial: 2 Channel (switch between 232C and 422) *USB: 2.0 x 4 We'll have more about the Sega arcade lineup after tomorrow's JAMMA show. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nintendogs has sold around 250,000 units within its first week of release. Retailers are reporting that Nintendogs, made exclusively for the hand-held Nintendo DS, has sold out in numerous locations across the country, and Nintendo will deliver more shipments as soon as possible. The three versions of Nintendogs and the DS unit itself consistently rank at the top of Amazon.com's best-selling list of all video game products. "Nearly 15 percent of all DS owners bought Nintendogs in just a week, a virtually unprecedented adoption rate for any title on an established system," said Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of sales and marketing. "And it's also helping sell new DS hardware. Coupled with a price drop to $129.99, retailers are reporting DS sales up between one and a half and three times previous levels, and last week DS comfortably outsold our portable competitors." Nintendogs lets owners train and care for lifelike puppies using the DS system's touch screen and microphone. It launched in the United States on Aug. 22. For downloads, video diaries and Nintendogs extras, visit www.nintendogs.com~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Square Enix announced today that Romancing SaGa will ship to retailers on October 11, 2005, exclusively for the PlayStation 2. Romancing SaGa, the latest in the SaGa series, blends technology and creative vision together to produce a world of wonder. A thousand years ago, Saruin was imprisoned. Now the barriers that contain him are weakening, and his foreboding shadow threatens to swallow the world of Mardias once again. Who will rid the world of Saruin's scourge? A mysterious minstrel appears and guides the group to adventure, at times shielding them from adversity. Occasionally, the minstrel forces grave choices upon them, which change their world and twist the plots they encounter. Romancing SaGa reclaims the renowned features of the series and boasts all new elements enhancing gameplay, bringing the player even deeper into the story. The free-roaming scenario system gives gamers a choice of eight intriguing playable characters, each with their own unique adventures and individual goals. Depending on the character and actions chosen, the plot and the subsequent events differentiate dramatically. This free-roaming scenario system promises the ultimate in open-ended adventure. Romancing SaGa will be available at North American retailers for a suggested retail price of $39.99. Romancing SaGa is rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and older. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hurricane victims from Louisiana to Alabama need your help, and Bungie is doing their part in helping flood victims due to the damage created by Hurricane Katrina. The gulf states have been devastated, and by purchasing a special T-shirt through Bungie.net you'll be contributing money to the American Red Cross's Hurricane Relief effort. The shirts are white, and have a picture of Master Chief kicking a flood, and the caption reads, "Fight the Flood." For each $19.95 t-shirt purchased, at least $15 will go to flood victims. For more information, and to buy the shirts, click this link. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hell yeah we're happy! I'm off! That's right, me and some "new friends" are playing games all weekend, and grilling. That's about it. Brats and Halo and Burgers and Kingdom Hearts. I'll be back on Tuesday for normal-ness. Have a wonderful weekend! Go play something... GOOD
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R¥UÐØ™
Holy Priest/Priestess
Poor Inuyasha...
Posts: 4,592
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Post by R¥UÐØ™ on Sept 7, 2005 19:49:17 GMT -5
Look out for this one guys!!!
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G4 is celebrating the 10th anniversary of Sony PlayStation with a special episode of Icons. On September 8th, Icons will pay tribute to Sony PlayStation by taking a look back at how this ground-breaking console was developed, featuring commentary from industry insiders including Kaz Hirai, President & CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA); Phil Harrison, Executive VP of Development, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE); Andrew House, Executive Vice President, SCEA; and Bernie Stolar, Former Executive VP, 3rd Party Business Development and Licensing, SCEA.
Other notable guests include Anatole Brown, Executive Editor, Tips & Tricks Magazine; Steve Kent, Author, The Ultimate History of Video Games; Lorne Lanning, President, Oddworld Inhabitants; Ted Price, President, Insomniac Games; Peter Dille, Senior VP Worldwide Marketing, THQ; Chris Charla, Executive Producer, Foundation Nine Entertainment; and Chris Morris, Video Game Columnist, CNN/Money.
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R¥UÐØ™
Holy Priest/Priestess
Poor Inuyasha...
Posts: 4,592
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Post by R¥UÐØ™ on Sept 7, 2005 20:02:07 GMT -5
~~~
It seems like everyone’s jumping on the classic arcade bandwagon these days, and, unlike most bandwagons, this is a very good thing. This allows longtime gaming companies to show off their heritage, and at the same time provides an outlet for gamers trying to recapture their past without resorting to naughty emulation. This fall, a slew of classic gaming compilations are on the way from companies like Capcom, Tecmo, Midway, and Namco. In our two-part analysis, we are going to travel back in time to find out which gaming gems should be unearthed and which should just stay buried. Today we’ll take a look at Tecmo Classic Arcade and Midway Arcade Treasures 3.
Tecmo Classic Arcade
Originally released a year ago in Japan as Tecmo Hit Parade, TCA is finally coming to the U.S. this September. Featuring 11 titles in total, this game marks Tecmo’s first foray into the classic compilation fold. Like most comps, the only thing Tecmo had to do was craft a new spicy menu system, throw in a poster and art gallery, and call it good. So how does the menu system flow? All the titles are displayed on the main screen where you can check on the gaming controls, and switch options like zooming in on the screen and setting difficulty and amounts of lives. Most games are playable with 1-2 people, but Tecmo Bowl goes all the way up to 4 players at once. Let’s move on to the games, shall we?
Plieads (1981)
As the earliest and weakest of the shooters, this title sounds more like a nasty STD than a game about attacking aliens. Your ship starts out on the ground blowing away weaving bad guys just like Space Invaders. Unfortunately, even after you blast off into space your ship can only move from left to right. I only played through the first level before getting bored, and not once did I find any sort of powerup for my wimpy pea shooter. We must move forward in time to find some decent shooter mechanics.
Star Force (1984)
Just three years later we can see a huge leap in Tecmo’s shooter skills. Star Force is also top-down but at least now you can move around freely all over the screen and gain some mild powerups. A multitude of enemies is always attacking in a mix of organized patterns or random erratics. Your ship flies through deep space over interstellar islands, destroying buildings and cannons along the way. Watch out for tiny letters scattered throughout the levels. Blowing them up can lead to bonus points and powerups.
Strato Figher (1991)
With this side-scrolling space shooter, Tecmo finally delivers the most modern age gaming experience of TCA. Your ship can score a multitude of powerups from the plentiful drop ships like shielding, homing missiles, three-way shots, and speed boosts. Enemies range from small fighters to mechs to giant ship you take apart piece by piece. The real trick about this game is that you can aim you ship to the left or right with the press of a button. This mostly comes into play during boss battles when you fly all around them and blast them from every angle.
Senjyo (1983)
This basic vanilla tank game has you sitting in one place rotating 360 to take out other attackers in a bleak desert-scape. Senjyo at least features a slightly unique quasi 3-D effect as enemy tanks creep up and down hills towards you. This game could have been much improved if they had separate movement and aiming controls. You basically have to throw yourself directly into harm’s way to line up a decent shot. Also, where are the powerups? I was shooting off the same slow boring fireballs the whole time.
Bombjack (1984)
Bombjack is a little dude that will jump to any height to collect as many cherry bombs as possible. Only after he grabs every single one will he move on to the next stage. The trick to getting the most points is to always go after the one bomb with a lit fuse. After grabbing this bomb, another fuse will light, and so on. When you score a certain amount of points, a flashing “P” coin will float around the screen. If you touch it, every enemy will temporarily turn into a coin. Sometimes it can be frustrating that you can’t really have much control over Bombjack’s wily jumps, but it’s possible to tap the jump button to slow his descent and gain back a little control.
Rygar (1986)
Ever since his resurrection in 2002, Rygar the shield chucker has regained a little recognition. So it’s always good to look back on the game that started it all. Both the character design and synthesizer sound of this port remind me a lot of old Sega Genesis games. Enemies aren’t really all that difficult, it’s the clunky controls that are the problem. Never in my life have I wanted the precision and simplicity of an original NES controller more than I did with this game. But I don’t think that would help things here all that much. Rygar’s shield and chain attack animation takes so long to complete that you’re dead meat if two enemies are coming at you from both sides. You can just tell this game was made to eat up quarters. Fortunately, Rygar continues from the location he died at so it won’t be too tough to see the entire game.
Tecmo Cup (1985)
This soccer game was originally designed for use with a trackball so it ends up coming off a little simplistic when using an analog stick. The kick button works both for shots and passes. But you’re more likely to kick the ball out of bounds or to the other team than to one of your teammates with this inaccurate aiming system. It’s better just to run the ball downfield with one player. Goals are relatively easy to score, and I imagine it’s this way because players used their quarters for minutes on the clock rather than buying a set number of matches. You can just play for a couple of minutes, taste some victory, and be on your way.
Tecmo Bowl (1987)
Forget next-gen, Tecmo Bowl was taking it widescreen all the way back in the eighties. This eternal battle between the Wildcats and Bulldogs is the godfather of football gaming, and is still just as easy to pick up and fun as it was back then. Who needs QB vision anyway? Before the snap your Quarter Back will use real voice samples!! (Okay, so maybe that used to be a bigger deal.) Select your intended receiver before the play and throw out that long bomb for a touchdown. Ball carriers run slower than the defense, but they can break tackles if you hit the jump button fast enough. This is definitely the crown jewel of the collection, and Tecmo knows it. They even put a little “Featuring Tecmo Bowl” note underneath the title on the opening trailer. I just have this feeling that most people are way more familiar with the NES version of Tecmo Bowl and might be disappointed with the lack of options in the arcade version. I guess these people will have to wait until the Revolution’s download service, huh?
Swimmer (1982)
If you can’t tell by the lame title, this is hands down the worst game in the collection. You play this guy who swims (surprising, isn’t it?) downriver to collect random pieces of fruit against the perils of killer logs and crabs. Your character can dive underwater to avoid these dangers, but you never really know where he’s going to pop up. This game could have really used some kind of underwater shadow to indicate the location of your swimmer. Plus, I like to be able to control to some degree the length of time he’s underwater. So many times you’ll pop up into a face full of log, and there’s no way around it. Just play this game once so you can at least gauge how much hatred to aim at it.
Solomon’s Key (1986)
Solomon’s Key plays like an ancestor of Mario Vs. Donkey Kong in that you use puzzle solving skills to grab a key and get out a door for every stage. Solomon can create and destroy blocks to protect himself from enemies and to get where he needs to go. Use fireballs to dispatch zombies, ghosts, and flame-spitting heads, but beware, you can only hold three at a time so you have to depend more on your smarts than weapons. This game belongs on the shortlist of titles in TCA that actually have some depth.
Pinball Action (1985)
This game just confuses me. Why would anyone back in ’85 want to play a video game version of pinball when there was probably a real pinball machine sitting right next to it? This mediocre pinball game starts out on the primary purple board. From here you can unblock passages to three other colored boards. But if you lose a ball in one of the new boards you’re sent back to the same boring main board all over again. This is just one of the many things that annoy me about Pinball Action. First, the ball doesn’t launch from the side. It shoots straight out from between the paddles. Second, the “shake” button doesn’t really affect anything, and no matter how many times you hit it you’ll never trigger a tilt. And last of all, the paddles have zero analog action. No matter how hard or soft you press the button, those paddles swing up the exact same way every time. Pinball is a game of finesse. How do they expect us to play like this?
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Overall, you’ll probably only spend any decent amount of time with Tecmo Bowl, Rygar, Solomon’s Key, and Strato Fighter. The rest of these you’ll probably play for a good ten minutes and move on. But I guess that’s what they were originally designed for afterall. If a decent amount of these titles trigger a spark of nostalgia for you, then by all means go out and grab Tecmo Classic Arcade. Otherwise, you might just want to pass this one by.
Midway Arcade Treasures 3
When I heard the next Midway Arcade Treasures compilation was going to be dedicated to their past racing titles I was ecstatic. Midway Arcade Treasures 3 is multi-generational trip down memory lane. Some of the games, like Off Road Thunder: Mud, Sweat ‘N Gears and Badlands, I had never played. But on the other side, some of my favorite games from my childhood are here too. Games like Super Off Road and San Francisco Rush. As I popped the disc into the PlayStation 2, I had a momentary flash of a movie-like sequence signaling a flash-back. I was a little curious as to why the game was controlled with the analog stick if it was so old, but then it dawned on me that the steering wheels a lot of racing game fans use utilize the left thumb stick for the steering. So if you have a wheel, be sure to hook it up for these great oldies.
Badlands (1989) & Super Off Road (1989)
When I was little Super Off Road was easily one of my top five favorite arcade games. I remember the restaurant by my house had a machine in it so I could be found there more than not. The original game made its transition to the PS2 quite well. Once again, I spent the money I had won from my first race on pure Nitro. Upgrade was probably the way to go. You can put your winnings into Nitro, Tires, Acceleration, Shocks, and Top Speed. Although there are four trucks on screen, I did battle mostly with the grey truck and that’s the exact thing I remember most about when I played it in the arcade. As a bonus, Midway threw in an alternate track pack for Super Off Road full of a ton of extra tracks and a new Dune Buggy!
Badlands plays almost exactly the same as Super Off Road. It takes the race out of the arena and sticks it in what looks like a post-apocalyptic future. Racing your station wagon against two other “drones”, you earn wrenches instead of money. You can spend those wrenches on Missiles, Shields, Turbo, Tires, and Speed. Those missiles come in handy when you find yourself in last place and need to do a little road clean-up. The interesting thing about the tracks in Badlands is that you can slide around a corner and slam into a wall and take it out. If you do this in the right spot, a missile or two may fall out. Free weapons!
Hydro Thunder (1999) & Off Road Thunder: Mud, Sweat ‘N Gears (1999)
Hydro Thunder easily boasts the nicest graphics of eight games on the disc. It runs a steady frame-rate and sounds crisp. There are three tracks and three boats to choose right off the bat and all rated easy. There are also medium and hard rated tracks and boats which you can gain access to by ranking 3rd or better on all three of the easy tracks. As you race through the tracks, there are various chances to fill up your Nitro tank which is represented by a gauge that will warn you when you get low on the juice. Even set on easy, I had quite a tough time getting just third place. The AI is very set on winning the races and it never seems like there is quite enough Nitro for my little boat, aptly named Miss Behavin’.
Off Road Thunder plays very much like Hydro Thunder, sans the fluids. The racing feels so much like its liquid counterpart I found myself just sticking with Off Road Thunder because it has more race modes. The vehicle and track selection pretty much mirrors Hydro Thunder except you can play easy, medium and hard right away. The Rally mode is just a good old fashion off road race with mud, bumps, and jumps that propel you out of the stadium – standard fare. The Flag mode is really more of a game of tag where you just run into an opponent and steal the flag and try and hang on to it. The chaos of both modes makes the third, Destruction, the best to play because at least you will get points for smashing into other trucks.
S.T.U.N. Runner (1989) & Race Drivin’ (1990)
Both S.T.U.N. Runner and Race Drivin’ were clearly early attempts at bringing the arcade racing into the 3rd dimension. S.T.U.N. Runner sticks you in the cockpit of a futuristic racer with weapons equipped. The game runs quite fast and sometimes gets to that speed where you feel helpless. The game takes place about 50% in tunnels and 50% on a flat track. If the controls were more responsive, S.T.U.N. Runner would be a great game. Unfortunately, they aren’t even close. If feels like sometimes the button commands would not even register and I would end up smashing into one of the indestructible cars on the track. One cool thing, however, is if you clip your wing on something, then it will break off. It’s a very interesting look into some of the first damage physics in racing games.
Race Drivin’ is almost a complete polar opposite of S.T.U.N. Runner when it comes to gameplay. It seems Race Drivin’ was an early attempt to create a driving simulator, but I think 1990 was a bit too soon. I remember playing this game on SNES when I was younger. The game pretty much demands selecting manual transmission as only one of the cars is automatic. Shifting works pretty well unless you forget to use the clutch. Yes, a clutch! But before you can even get the car up to speed to shift, you must first hit the ignition. This is the first racing game that I have lost time in because I forgot to start my car. As the car slowly gains speed, it loses steering ability. Soon, I was unable to make it around the corner without driving through a cow, off a cliff and blowing up. This went on for about 7 minutes when I finally finished my first lap. Getting discouraged, I decided to move onto other games.
San Francisco Rush The Rock: Alcatraz Edition (1997) & San Francisco Rush 2049 (1999)
Ahh yes, the Rush games. When I heard about Midway Arcade Treasures 3, this was all I could think about. I remember playing the heck out of San Francisco Rush for the N64 then going to an arcade once and just kicking butt like a Street Fighter pro. Alcatraz Edition is a very bittersweet game to take home, but in the end, it should stay in the big wood cabinet over at the arcade. Since these are arcade originals, you have to use the steering wheel to make your selections. And for some reason it just does not go over so well in this title. After spending a little time figuring out how to get into my racer, I hit the streets of San Fran. Racing feels, for the most part, smooth except when things on screen get chaotic and the frame rate hiccups and messes up your sweet slide around a corner. I still remember the tracks well and I took one of the many shortcuts up to a secret this game is famous for – the giant hidden halfpipe in the sky.
Rush 2049 came out really great. In the end, I spent about 80% of my time playing 2049 because it is the most enjoyable of the titles. When you select your car, you also choose your engine, body weight, tires, rims, wing, paint and more. Racing starts off nice and fast and the tracks have a multitude of secret paths. Up to four players can race in this one and players can even create profiles.
Now when I said I spent 80% of my time playing Rush 2049, I secretly meant I spent that time playing the Stunt Mode. Now maybe it’s just me, but there is something very addicting about getting your car up to 160 MPH, launching it off a giant pyramid, getting huge air, then pushing a button to unleash glorious hidden wings. Then you can throw your car into a super flip and try to crank it back to a decent landing. That alone earned this mode its own paragraph.
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When it comes down to it, anyone who spent enough time in an arcade in their past will find something they love on this disc. I know I did. Just make sure you have yourself a racing wheel for most of it as it seems the game was tailor made for one.
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Capcom Classics Collection is full of 22 Capcom oldies, and most of them are top-notch. While we’re only allowed to talk about 12 of the titles, we still think you find plenty to get excited about. Nice touches abound like game instructions on load screens, a rapid fire toggle, screen stretching, the ability to save game settings and high scores, an art gallery, and remixed game soundtracks. And don’t forget to click on the game titles below to see videos of all the games.
1942 (1984)
So classic! This seminal World War II shooter is back in action and it rocks the Kasbah. Battle an endless array of enemy craft like huge bombers and crazy kamikaze biplanes. Watch out for the string of orange fighters because if you can blast them all you’ll get some great powerups like bigger shots or a couple of wingmen to help you out. The only thing that doesn’t really hold up over time is sparse music. It basically consists of one annoying note that sounds like a buzzsaw.
1943 (1987)
Only one year later and the Allies have completely revamped their war strategy. All of the little things are here like actual music, more detailed backgrounds, and 2-player simultaneous action (instead of 1942’s back and forth 2-player mode). Beware of the cloud cover this time around because you never know when an enemy fighter will pop out. Power-up attacks are greatly expanded, but now you have to deal with limited ammo. Also, your plane now has a life gauge so there’s more room for mistakes than with 1942’s one-hit kills.
Bionic Commando (1987)
The Bionic Commando will parachute into any danger no matter the odds. His upgradeable gun can mow down waves of purple soldiers and green insectoids, but like his Capcom cousin, Megaman, he can’t aim up or diagonally. Fortunately his bionic arm can fire off in any direction. Use it to stun enemies, cross chasms, climb buildings, and grab floating power-ups. It’s a little weird to get used to not having a jump button, but it doesn’t take long before you’re swinging through enemy bases like a champ.
Final Fight (1989)
Ever since the neutered SNES version of Final Fight came out in 1991 I’ve longed for a direct arcade port. Sure, there have been other versions on Sega CD, GBA, and the like. All I ever needed Capcom to do this whole time, however, was cut and paste the arcade code. It only took 16 years, but we finally got it. The original risqué boss names, level transition animations, all three main characters, and those short skirted back flipping girls are all welcomed back with open arms. Now if only Game Informer’s home state of Minnesota could elect a brawler politician like Mike Haggar… oh wait, nevermind.
Forgotten Worlds (1988)
Forgotten Worlds makes me think “flying Contra.” The main character floats from left to right and even has the no-shirt-blue-pants look going on. The really cool part about this game is you can actually aim separately from your movement controls with the right analog stick. You can also fly into a shop to buy health, permanent weapon upgrades, and better defense. I was actually quite surprise at the overall quality of this co-op title since I don’t ever remember seeing it in the arcades. Maybe Capcom should rename it “Forgotten Gem.”
Ghosts & Goblins (1985)
If you grew up playing games in the eighties, the name Ghosts & Goblins only brings one thought to mind – incredible challenge. Equipped with quite possibly the worst suit of armor ever constructed, our hero braves demons, zombies, and ogres to rescue his fair lady. Use a variety of lances, torches, and knives to slay the army of foul creatures. However, the game’s classic limitations are still here: no directional aiming, no shooting from ladders, limited jumping control, etc. But you just can’t stay mad at G&G when it’s still so much fun.
Ghouls & Ghosts (1988)
Without a cheat sheet does anyone really remember which of these games is which? All right, so what does three years of innovation bring? Our noble knight can thankfully shoot up, he can power-up to a golden suit of armor, and with his suit he can charge up a super attack i.e. a lightening storm. You’ll also notice that the animations and background received a big overhaul. Your character no longer runs like a crazy man, and intense wind effects will blow trees in the background. Be careful when opening chests, though. You never know when there’ll be a power-up inside or an evil magician waiting to change you into an old man or a duck.
Gunsmoke (1985)
Based on the ridiculously long-running television series, Gunsmoke, this wild west top-down shooter doesn’t let up from the get go. Aim towards the front, right, left, or even simultaneous left and right shots with the four face buttons. Blast open barrels to receive speed boosts and weapon power-ups. You can even summon a horse that will help you move faster and take a bullet for you, which is handy because much like the old west it only takes one bullet to kill a desperado. The huge downside of this game is the lack of two-player co-op. Gunsmoke could have been great with some more friendly fire onscreen.
Legendary Wings (1986)
Not even co-op play can save this piece of poop. Legendary Wings starts out with a weak top-down shooting element where you get rewarded with power-ups for slaying strings of enemies. A small targeting reticule in front of your winged hero allows you to line up ground bombing attacks, but you have to be laser precise because the explosion’s about as big as a Black Cat fire cracker. Wings tries to innovate with an alternate underground side scrolling element, however, horrible and sparse control options make this more of an excursive in frustration than anything else. Oh, and every time you lose three lives it automatically forces you to a high score screen to enter your name and then you finally get to the continue countdown. This gets old fast and really breaks up gameplay to the point that Wings will go straight to the “never played” file with many gamers.
Mercs (1990)
If you’ve ever played SNK’s Ikari Warriors you’ll feel right at home with Mercs. This title even features 3-player co-op! Blow up enemy soldiers, encampments, and vehicles in your quest to rescue the president. You can even hijack vehicles, rundown enemy soldiers, and launch missiles at sniper towers. My big complaint is that you can’t lock your aim. Your Merc can only shoot in the direction he’s running. But, overall, Mercs will have you and your buddies taking out terrorists for a while.
Street Fighter II Championship Edition (1992)
This first update of Street Fighter II in an endless string of updates throughout the nineties adds the four boss characters (Balrog, Vega, Sagat, and M. Bison) as playables. Championship Edition is a great bonus for anyone who hasn’t already bought Street Fighter Anniversary Collection. Just remember that the PS2 controller works ten times better with 2-D fighters. Trojan (1986)
I can’t really figure out what some dude with a sword and shield is doing walking around a bleak futuristic cityscape chopping up cyperpunks, but that’s the basic story here. Use the shield to block axe chops and flying daggers. However, stronger attacks will knock away your weapons and only the power of bare knuckles will save you. This is another example of bad control and uninspired gameplay. Thankfully, these types of games are in the minority in Capcom Classics Collection.
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CCC is definitely full of a ridiculous amount of awesome games. Most of the best ones we were able to talk about, but there are still some sweet gems left that must remain unrevealed for now. This CCC has twice the games of most collections, and for the most part they’re some of the best arcade games ever. For $20 this is a must-have.
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I should get more stuff by the end of the week K??? If you need something (about games) you want me to get some news or give the people a heads up about a great game then just IM me. Dont know how you say? Click my name at the right of this post and it will say "Send Personal Message" on a little bar over my statistics and stuff. After that just write your stuff and click "send". Not that hard. Also I might not be on next week due to family drama. Well.... My new catch phrase!!! ""GAME ON!!!""
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R¥UÐØ™
Holy Priest/Priestess
Poor Inuyasha...
Posts: 4,592
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Post by R¥UÐØ™ on Sept 7, 2005 20:03:23 GMT -5
Ijust had to shorten that whole post because the Proboards v4 program can only take 25,600 characters per post... HOW RETARDED!!! Anyway see yah and ""GAME ON!!!""
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R¥UÐØ™
Holy Priest/Priestess
Poor Inuyasha...
Posts: 4,592
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Post by R¥UÐØ™ on Sept 16, 2005 15:07:08 GMT -5
HEY GUYS! Im back and ready to kick this thread's ass again. I'm wasting no time to talk all about what has happened at TGS ( Tokyo Game Show ) so far.
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R¥UÐØ™
Holy Priest/Priestess
Poor Inuyasha...
Posts: 4,592
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Post by R¥UÐØ™ on Sept 16, 2005 15:27:13 GMT -5
TOP STORY Nintendo Revolution's cotroller Has Nintendo lost their mind?After months and months of Revolution controller speculation, trademark questions, fake documents, and the loads of other crap that typically floats around the internet, for the most part it can all end today. On the eve of the Tokyo Game Show I was invited to an extremely exclusive behind closed doors appointment hosted by the legendary Shigeru Miyamoto to get a demonstration and go hands on with the Nintendo Revolution controller. Before you read any further I urge you to erase any thoughts of what a video game controller should be. If you thought Nintendo was changing the way people played games with the Nintendo DS, the Nintendo Revolution controller will totally blow your mind – just as it did mine. No, seriously – that’s it! What simply resembles a remote control is the main core of the Revolution controller. While Nintendo cringed every time the word “remote” came out of our mouths, that’s exactly what it looks like at first glance, and that’s how I will refer to it through out this feature. Trust me, I was in the same boat as you when we first saw it. Nintendo’s philosophy stays in line with what they’ve been saying recently in interviews. Simplicity is key. Nintendo wants people of any age and gamer type to pick up this controller and be able to play a game – whether you’re a hardcore gamer, or that hardcore gamer’s Mom who has never played a videogame before. As Miyamoto explained, “It’s not meant to be technologically advanced controller scheme-wise. We want to use new technology for new gameplay experiences.” Nintendo wants to completely stray away from the general controller paradigm - two hands on a controller. Miyamoto also joked, “Technology mothers buy tends to succeed.” The controller has been in development since the launch of the GameCube by the same R&D team that has created the GameCube controller, as well as the past number of Nintendo controllers. Miyamoto’s role was industrial design. Even though Nintendo’s main intention is simplicity, and the ability for anyone to be able to pick up and play with it, Nintendo wants to keep the size small, so it wouldn’t be obnoxious to have four of these sitting on your coffee table. Before the Nintendo faithful leap out of their windows, quite a bit of explanation is in order. In most instances, you do hold the controller just like you would a remote control. The main A button is just under the directional pad, and the B button rests on the underside of the controller which can be easily pressed by the user’s index finger. Not only is the D-pad used for movement, but the Revolution controller can control movement by raising and lowering, but also by twisting, turning, and moving the controller left, right, up, down or forward and backwards. Miyamoto calls this type of control “freehand style.” Rumble is still part of the package, and as you can see, the Revolution controller is completely wireless. For the Revolution to recognize this movement there’s a separate thin bar with two black sensors that pick up how the controller is positioned. We’re assuming one bar will be used for all controllers. The bar itself doesn’t have to be part of the setup at all, and the controller’s movement will be detected as long as the two sensors are centered on the TV. These sensors can be above or below the TV, so depending if you have your TV on a stand, case, or even mounted on the wall, as long as you center the sensors and space them out accordingly and the bars are on the same horizontal plane, the controller’s movement will be detected correctly. Also, since the Revolution controller uses these sensors and not light gun or regular RF technology, the setup will work with regular analog televisions, as well as HDTVs or computer monitors. The controller itself is currently working wirelessly from about 10-15 feet from the receivers, which is less than the Wavebird, but should be a good standard for most living rooms. This distance could eventually change as well. Since the Revolution controller is wireless, it will be powered by batteries. If this setup will use standard or rechargeable batteries has yet to be determined. The models we toyed with are prototypes, and the final design could change. There’s always the possibility that the controller could be charged through the port on the bottom of the controller. Even though Miyamoto said battery life should be rather lengthy, I’m hoping all this can be recharged. Battery life was great with Wavebirds as well, but if you didn’t use your Wavebird for a while it would still drain your batteries dry. Hey Nintendo! Mothers like to buy rechargeable things! While Nintendo would not go into detail on what the power or home buttons would do, we can assume that the controller will be able to power the Revolution console on and off. Most likely the controller will instantly shut off when not in use for a specified time, and when turning the console off with the controller, the controller itself will be powered down to minimize battery drain. The Home button is a complete mystery at this point. Finally, at least four of these types of controllers will be compatible with the Revolution, and with the four small lights on the bottom of the controller, players will be able to figure out which controller number they are. You’re probably wondering where the heck the analog stick is. Iwata-san stated that the company wanted to move in the direction of having a number of different peripherals, and with the expansion port at the bottom of the controller a number of different peripherals will be able to connect wirelessly. The only device they demonstrated was an analog stick setup, where your thumb can move the analog stick while your index and middle finger can press either of the two Z buttons (Z1 and Z2) which rest just under the top of the controller. Miyamoto called this design – the Nunchuck style of controller. It is also possible to use two analog sticks together as well for games that could take advantage of it. Drum Mania or Taiko Drum Master anyone? How about a boxing game? Since the Revolution will be able to download the entire history of Nintendo titles, as you can probably notice that by holding the controller horizontally, it will feel much like a NES controller. But what about for SNES or N64 games where there are more buttons or a need for a second analog stick? The Revolution controller can rest in a sort of controller shaped cradle which could add different buttons or control sticks to mimic the controller’s predecessors. For example the analog stick portion would work quite well in the center of a N64 shell. Whether or not these shell cradles will come in the box, or if third parties will make shell cradles is also not determined. Not only that, but the expansion slot will enable any controller type to be hooked up to it allowing for wireless gameplay including dance pads, konga drums, and the like. No specific peripherals have been announced, but the possibilities are virtually endless. The Revolution Controller test drive: After we got the explanation of the controller, it was time for some hands-on usage. Nintendo created a number of demos to use with the Revolution controller that weren’t fully utilizing the power of the actual Revolution. Miyamoto said what we were about to experience would be GameCube quality or lower. This whole meeting was mainly to focus on how the actual controller worked, not to show the power of the Revolution. Each of these demos showed how the different functions of the controller functioned, regardless of how crude they were. Cubes Cubes was a multiplayer game that more or less crossed Asteroids with a shooting gallery, which is quite funny since one of Nintendo’s earliest ventures many years ago was a mechanical shooting gallery. By pointing the controller at the screen you could move your cursor around, and by pressing A you would fire a shot. Transparent cubes were worth 1 point, and solid cubes were worth 10 points. Cubes was an easy way to get the simple gist of how the remote style controller worked and felt, and within seconds after getting the cursor on screen I was blasting cubes out of the sky and racking up points. Unfortunately, I wasn’t quite as fast as Miyamoto-san. Fishing The main screen shows a very simple-looking hand drawn pond with fish where you use the Revolution controller as a fishing rod. This demo showed how the depth of movement of the controller works. To move the rod around the pond you move the controller left, right, forwards, and backwards. By lowering the controller you can dip the hook into the water. If you got a fish on the line the controller would vibrate. Once the controller indicated you had a fish you would pull the fish out of the water by quickly flipping the controller up – just as you would with an actual fishing rod. Could this be something that would work with Animal Crossing’s fishing element? Kuru Kuru Kururin A Game Boy Advance and GameCube game that unfortunately never was released here, Kuru Kuru Kururin has you pilot a rotating propeller through an obstacle course. Walls and objects along the path will cause your propeller damage, dwindling your stamina meter. Unlike the real game, however, nabbing coins in your path increases your Stamina meter. There are also springs along the path that will change the direction of your always rotating propeller. Pointing the cursor at the propeller you gain control of it to navigate it through an obstacle course. While you can’t stop your propeller from rotating, you can speed up the rotation by pressing A. Since I’ve played all the Kuru titles previously it didn’t take too long for me to get the gist of the whole game and fly around the course. I think Miyamoto and the rest of the team was rather surprised how good I was at the game, but what can I say? I’ve got mad Kuru skills. I can already say that I want this to be released as a full fledged game. Air Hockey A simple air hockey/pong type game whereby moving the controller up, down, left, or right moved your player’s bar, and by twisting the controller you would rotate your bar to angle shots. This demo was rather tricky and didn’t feel as comfortable as the other ones. But there’s also the possibility that I had too much coffee today. Basketball This demo was a very quirky game of basketball. If you can picture a soft sort of basketball court, by pressing the B trigger you make an indent in the court that the ball would roll into. By letting go of the B button and pressing A launches a shot. Navigating the ball was rather simple, but since two players were making indents at the same time the ball got launched around more like a soccer ball at times. Airplane Pilotwings returns! This by far was my favorite demo of the lot. Set in the Isle Delfino level of Super Mario Sunshine, this demo lets you pilot an airplane through rings. You can hold the controller like a remote control, but the easier way to pilot the plane is by holding it like you would hold a paper airplane that you were about to throw overhand. By pointing the controller up or down raises and lowers your plane, and by moving the controller left or right and twisting it at the same time turns your aircraft left or right. Pointing your controller up for a long time would cause your plane to do a loop. Diving under the bridges, doing a loop, and then barrel-rolling through a few rings took a bit of practice, but once I got used to it the experience was extremely fun. Find The Pokemon Much like Where’s Waldo, this demo featured a big picture full of different Pokemon, and you must find one specific Pokemon with your cursor. Since the picture is rather large, you can move your cursor in and out to perform zooming functions. Once you find the specified Pokemon you zoom in on it to capture it. After playing the previous demos navigating the picture was quite simple. Metroid Prime 2 Retro Studios took a few weeks to adapt an early level of Metroid Prime 2 to the Revolution controller with the Nunchuck style add on. By moving the main Revolution controller you direct where Samus looks, and the analog stick moves Samus forward, back, and strafes left and right. Pressing the A button on the main controller makes Samus jump, B fires/charge shot, and the Z1 and Z2 button on the analog stick controller deals with scanning. Miyamoto said this will be how Metroid Prime 3 will work. While it does sound rather confusing, in practice it was quite simple. Granted this was still a very basic setup, but it was more to demonstrate how Metroid Prime or a first person shooter type game would play with the remote style controller and Nunchuck analog stick. Even though the lock-on function was available, you didn’t need it because you could look wherever you wanted – just like a normal first person shooter with a mouse. This control style might finally quell all the Metroid haters out there who want non-lock-on aiming in Metroid Prime. Even though the control was very different, just as the other demos, within moments it felt like old hat. Unfortunately something seemed a little off once in a while with the point-look system, and at times it would twitch up – but as I said these are very early crude demos just made to demonstrate how this could work in a game situation. This could really take Metroid Prime into a whole new level, as well as change how we play first person style games as we now know them. We know “Touching Is good” – But “Is Feeling Better?” I’ve always been a fan of Nintendo’s controllers – especially the N64 and GameCube controllers. And while everything felt weird at first, within a few seconds it felt comfortable. But that’s always how a Nintendo controller feels right away to me. Even though the controllers are very ergonomic and light, regardless of what you’re holding up in the air for a while that items is going to feel heavy and your arms are going to get tired – much like playing an EyeToy game where your arms are raised for a while. When playing the Metroid Prime 2 demo, they let me sit down in a chair. I rested my wrists in my lap like I would with a normal controller and had a slight space between the nunchuck and remote style controller and everything felt fine and operated consistently as if I were playing with a normal controller. But most importantly – it was comfortable. While I do have hardcore gamer friends, many of them are more into games like EyeToy or Donkey Konga. We’ll come back to my place after going out and throw in one of those two games and play for hours. Depending on the games Revolution has, I can honestly see my more casual gamer friends totally digging how easy it is to pick up and play. How the hardcore will fare is an unknown, but at least for me, I can’t wait to see how Nintendo fleshes it all out. Has Nintendo Lost Its Mind? The big question is: do I actually like it? At this point I have to say, regardless of how strange this whole concept is, it’s pretty damn cool. The demos we got to play, and the explanation about the whole concept from Miyamoto was really helpful to understand what they’re trying to get at. By just looking at pictures of this thing I’d probably think Nintendo was off its rocker. Just like the Nintendo DS you need to “touch it” and get your hands on it to really get it. But until I actually get my hands on a final Revolution title and see how it all comes together, I don’t have a final verdict per se. Just like all consoles and controllers – it’s always about the games. It’s obvious Nintendo has decided to get the heck out of the way of Sony and Microsoft and let them battle each other. Nintendo has always had this “we’re going to do our own thing” attitude, but now they’ve taken that beyond the next level. As Miyamoto said, “Nintendogs is setting the example of what we want to do with Revolution.” Revolution is going to be all about completely different styles of gameplay. But as I just said, we didn’t see any actual Revolution games so how this will all play out in the end will be determined by final product and games. I have to admit, my head started spinning as I walked out of the demo. How is this going to work with the expected Nintendo favorites? Mario? Zelda? Smash Bros? Animal Crossing? F-Zero? Mario Party? With Nintendo titles this could be very interesting, but could the Revolution corner itself into just having Nintendo-made games? My biggest concern is third party support. Nintendo said that they’ve been working with third parties and that third parties are really excited about the controller. But seriously, is this the controller you’re going to play Madden with? If I were a third party developer who’s porting a game to the different systems and wanted to make games for Nintendo as well, that’s three more teams – Nintendo Revolution, DS, and Game Boy Advance. You can port a game to Xbox 360 and PS2/PS3, and dumb it down for PSP. But moving a standard game to a Nintendo console now is going to need special work. Sure, Electronic Arts and other larger third parties can take that chance, but smaller developers and publishers have to be a little nervous about taking that leap of faith. But then again, it could offer up some interesting third party exclusives. Well at least now it’s finally unveiled. But even though we now have the answer to what Revolution’s controller is all about, it’s seemingly raising more and more questions. Unfortunately, Nintendo was reluctant to answer a lot of questions from “Is this going to be the DVD remote as well?” to “How much will each controller cost?” to “Will the Nunchuck be boxed in with the regular controller?” While this meeting is supposed to compliment Iwata’s TGS keynote speech tomorrow, we’re wondering when we’ll get more answers and indications of how revolutionary the Revolution gaming experience will be. The meeting itself overall was a pretty intriguing experience. Along with Miyamoto was quite a few people from NOA and NCL, and it was if we were guinea pigs for their little experiment and we were in some sort of Nintendo-esque Petri dish. They were analyzing our every move, emotion, laugh, and frown to see what we thought. It’s obvious Nintendo is taking a huge chance here with this style of game control, even more so than they did with the Nintendo DS or – dare I say it – the Virtual Boy. But I understand why they invited a select few gaming journalists to come out to see how this whole concept works in practice. If I was just like you, sitting at home looking at these screenshots, I would also be saying, “What the….” While this whole Revolution controller concept is quite crazy, once you play with it for a few seconds, it all comes together. Nintendo is taking a massive blind leap into the unknown, but as you’ve seen with games like Pokemon, Pikmin, Nintendogs, Electroplankton, and Animal Crossing, Nintendo doesn’t want to play the same way as Microsoft and Sony. They truly want to create a gaming Revolution. If Nintendo can successfully pull this off, who knows the realms of gaming we’ll touch in the coming years
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R¥UÐØ™
Holy Priest/Priestess
Poor Inuyasha...
Posts: 4,592
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Post by R¥UÐØ™ on Oct 2, 2005 15:59:25 GMT -5
Sorry about the huge delay in my reviewing, but for some reason I couldn't log in... INUGIRL!!! Anyway not much has been happeing in gaming.... Except the Revolution controller. No new PS3 or Xbox 360 stuff.... but I will update as long as something comes up... okay? If you're annoyed then PM me... See yah!
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R¥UÐØ™
Holy Priest/Priestess
Poor Inuyasha...
Posts: 4,592
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Post by R¥UÐØ™ on Oct 20, 2005 21:06:07 GMT -5
Hey guys... Sorry Ive been out for so long but the damn police got me... for 3 weeks... in bars... for possesions of something that wasnt mine... anyway... Im too lazy to look for game news HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Jk... just go to www.gameinformer.com/ for some shit
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R¥UÐØ™
Holy Priest/Priestess
Poor Inuyasha...
Posts: 4,592
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Post by R¥UÐØ™ on Nov 21, 2005 23:41:13 GMT -5
Man its been a long ass time since I've done a post here. Well anyway, tomorrow the highlight of the year the Xbox 360 is released. Im not that excited about and you shouldnt be either. The graphics arent that great. Everyone just wait until April for the PS3 got it? Thank you...
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R¥UÐØ™
Holy Priest/Priestess
Poor Inuyasha...
Posts: 4,592
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Post by R¥UÐØ™ on Nov 28, 2005 21:48:35 GMT -5
Yes! Glorious news!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ While very few companies historically haven't made money on console hardware, Microsoft is losing money on each Xbox 360. According to a BusinessWeek study, Microsoft is losing around $125 for each hard drive Xbox 360 package, and $76 per core package.
iSuppli, the company commisioned to do the study took apart an Xbox 360, examined the contents, and analyzed the cost of each of the components. iSuppli concluded that each console itself cost $470, and this is without the universal media remote, headset, ethernet cable, power supply, and wireless controller. Factoring in everything that comes in the box and iSuppli believes that the total cost would be approximately $525 per console without labor. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nintendo of America today sent out an official “Save The Date” e-mail to certain editors telling them to save May 9, 2006 for Nintendo’s annual E3 Press Briefing. According to the invitation, “You’ll hear all the incredible details about Nintendo’s upcoming games and hardware, including our next home console, code-named Revolution.”
So will Revolution actually be playable at E3 2006? All signs point to yes. Nintendo has stated previously that when Revolution is finally unveiled in its entirety they want to have it playable with games. Looks like the Revolution will begin on May 9th, 2006. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Not that any of these games will shock you - well for making this list - but the Family Media Guide has released their official list of 2005's Most Violent Games. The company's trained video game analysts document instances in games where there is sex, profanity, violence, and substance abuse using a "database-driven technology employing approximately 4000 rules and algorithms governing millions of potential rule combinations." Wouldn't that alone make people violent?
This list will be used by the National Institute on Media and the Family (NIMF) 10th Annual Video Game Report Card which will be released next week.
Without further ado, here's the list:
Resident Evil 4 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas God Of War NARC Killer 7 The Warriors 50 Cent: Bulletproof Crime Life: Gang Wars Condemned: Criminal Origins True Crime: New York City
For more information, head to the Family Media Guide website.
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R¥UÐØ™
Holy Priest/Priestess
Poor Inuyasha...
Posts: 4,592
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Post by R¥UÐØ™ on Nov 29, 2005 20:34:35 GMT -5
Following Blizzard’s merging of its North Studio with it’s headquarters, a new studio is created by three former Blizzard employees. The new studio Hyboreal Games, located in San Carlos, California is made up of Developer and Artist Michio Okamura (Diablo, Diablo II), Game Designer Eric Sexton (Diablo, Diablo II), and Lead Programmer Steven Woo (Diablo II). There first project is titled Starfall, and is currently in development. The studio intends to focus on PC development, stating their driving tenet is, “our games should be fun for everyone.” For more information head to the developers new website. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sony has recently released a new firmware for it's PSP which adds RSS support, WMA playback, and more. The update will bring your system software up to version 2.6. Included in the 2.6 Firmware update is as follows: Network: RSS Channel has been added as a feature under Network. Volume Adjustment has been added as an option in the LocationFree Player control panel. Simplified Chinese GB18030 and Traditional Chinese (Big5) have been added as options to Encoding under View in the Internet Browser menu bar. Copyright-protected video data provided by a content provider or other services can now be downloaded directly to a Memory Stick Duo using the Internet Browser. Music: Music data in Windows Media Audio format can now be played under Music. (WMA9 Professional, WMA9 Lossless and copyright-protected WMA files are not supported.) Note: You must activate the Enable WMA Playback setting to play music data in WMA format which can be done under system settings. A connection to the Internet is required to activate this setting. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Following his work on Prince of Persia Warrior Within, award-winning composer Inon Zur recently recorded the orchestral score for Prince of Persia The Two Thrones. Zur conducted the Hollywood Studio Symphony Orchestra at the Eastwood Scoring Stage, Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California. The team members for Zur’s recording session included: Simon Pressey – Ubisoft Artistic Audio Director, Dori Amarilio - mixing engineer and co-producer, Paul Taylor – orchestration and music preparation, Debbi Datz-Pyle - orchestra contractor, and Greg Deenan – Warner Bros. studio manager. Simon Pressey, Artistic Audio Director said, “Inon has really out done himself; His music brings to life the dramatic emotion of the Prince of Persia’s epic story, seamlessly blending the powerful majestic beauty of the symphony with evocative, exotic eastern ethnic instrumentation that’s totally authentic for the world of the Prince. The Hollywood Studio Orchestra, unlike any other in the world, has an innate sense when interpreting music for picture; The result is spectacular and moving in the same instance. The professionalism of the crew at the Eastwood scoring stage is unparalled, and the sound indescribably beautiful.” Additionally, Zur collaborated with Stuart Chatwood, who composed the music for Prince of Persia The Sands of Time. Commenting on the collaborative component of the game’s score, Pressey added, “The combination of Stuart’s music that is laced with unforgettable melody and in-the-pocket ethnic groove, and Inon’s turn-on-a dime powerfully descriptive orchestration is making this the soundtrack that I’ve always wanted for the series. The collaboration between them has been wonderful with selfless exchange of ideas which makes for the sum being greater than the parts. I hope everyone enjoys the music as much as I am!” For more information visit www.princeofpersiagame.com. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sony Computer Entertainment America announced today MLB '06: The Show which will be available exclusively for the PS2 and PSP, and will be released Spring 2006. New features for both platforms include the all-new Rivalry Mode which allows players to set up and maintain multi-game rivalries, while tracking stats for the life of the rivalry. In addition a King of the Diamond Mode brings players a classic playground duel where a pitcher and batter from opposing teams square off in a head-to-head mini game that showcases the intensity of the duel. Also Rex Hudler joins Matt Vasgersian and Dave Campbell in a new Three-Man Booth for commentary. "By presenting gamers with all the finer details and nuances from the diamond, such as personalized player rituals and batting stances, broken bats, wild pitches and check swings, MLB'06: The Show delivers a true-to-life experience," said Scott Rohde, director, sports product development, Sony Computer Entertainment America. "With enhanced features and new gameplay modes, MLB'06: The Show provides baseball fans with an opportunity to truly feel what it's like to play in the Bigs." The PlayStation 2 version will also have a new Game Time Decisions feature which provides scenarios in which users will need to take full control of their team and decide which players to place in the line up at critical times. Additionally, the new 40-Man Roster feature offers the ability to take full control of a team's roster and manage all 40 players for each and every game. MLB'06: The Show now offers head-to-head gameplay for both King of the Diamond and Rivalry Mode to go along with 32-team tournaments, live sports tickers, downloadable rosters, instant messaging and more. Additionally, the implementation of a new online news service provides users with MLB updates on news and events from around the league or their favorite team. Returning gameplay elements for PlayStation 2 include, Release Point Pitching, the Pitching Confidence Meter, Guess Pitch, EyeToy functionality, and Career Mode with the all-new Career Spotlight feature that underscores accomplishments and showcases them in the limelight. MLB'06: The Show for the PSP will have an all-new Career Mode for gamers to create a player and take them out to play anytime, anywhere, and a Season Mode that now offers multiple seasons. With a new Historical Greats option, you'll be able to take on baseball legends. And finally, the PSP version will utilize a new online news service that gamers can get the latest MLB news feeds online or save them to the Memory Stick Duo. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ctivision announced today that the company has signed an agreement with Spider-Man Merchandising L.P., a limited partnership between Marvel Entertainment, Inc. and Sony Pictures Consumer Products Inc., to extend its exclusive worldwide publishing rights to Spider-Man motion pictures through 2017. The license grants Activision the right to publish entertainment software products based on subsequent Spider-Man movie sequels or new television series. Under its current agreement with Spider-Man Merchandising, Activision will develop and publish interactive entertainment games based on Columbia Pictures/Marvel Entertainment, Inc.'s upcoming feature film Spider-Man 3, which is set for release in May 2007. "This agreement allows Activision to continue bringing our own brand of interactive magic and vision to this unique, evergreen property and to build on the success we have already achieved with the Spider-Man movies," said Mike Griffith, President and CEO, Activision Publishing, Inc. "Games based on this phenomenally successful property bring the film's popular characters to life and allow consumers to extend their experience with original missions and additional Marvel characters beyond those of the Spider-Man movies." Tim Rothwell, Worldwide President, Consumer Media Group, Marvel Entertainment, added, "Activision has done a tremendous job in translating Spider-Man into compelling, top-selling interactive games. Given their performance and long-term commitment to the franchise, as well as their creative excellence Activision is the ideal partner for movie-based Spider-Man games, a business that complements our recent extension of their interactive license for 'classic' Spider-Man." According to Bruno Maglione, President, Marvel International Inc., "Activision has consistently demonstrated their ability to execute Spider-Man theatrical games on a global basis. We are pleased that both Marvel and Activision will be extending our relationship for many years to come on this important franchise."
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R¥UÐØ™
Holy Priest/Priestess
Poor Inuyasha...
Posts: 4,592
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Post by R¥UÐØ™ on Nov 30, 2005 17:47:00 GMT -5
Final Fantasy VI is here!
Final Fantasy IV, originally released as Final Fantasy II in the US for the Super Nintendo, has long remained a cherished installment among series fans. The GBA version marks the first time we've seen it in handheld form on these shores, though the game was released overseas on the WonderSwan Color platform. The game makes a sharp conversion to the Game Boy Advance with some graphical enhancements and new touches, while keeping intact the classic gameplay, characters, and story.
So, what can you expect from this version? First of all, it has all the updates that you might have already seen if you've played the game from the PlayStation Final Fantasy Chronicles package. All the battle stage backgrounds are spruced up with some detail and depth, from rocky caverns to grassy plains and from golden deserts to dark forests. Character sprites are sharp and look right at home on the GBA's small screen, as do the multitude of monsters you'll encounter as you run about saving the world, with all their fearsome teeth and tentacles nicely detailed. Dialogue between the main characters--Cecil, Rosa, Kain, Rydia, and so forth--all features character portraits along with the text for added personality. And while the art for the portraits tends to be on the simplistic side depending on the character, it makes for a nice little eye-pleasing addition.
Spells and such all carry at least some rudimentary graphical effect to them that rounds out battle visuals nicely--and Kain's dragoon jump still launches him neatly offscreen. Nothing has been untowardly mucked with here, so far as visual effects go, and the resulting package makes for a very nice handheld presentation. The sound is also really nice, with none of the tinny or mangled notes that might be expected from a less-than-solid conversion. All the old tunes are here and reproduced quite well, so you'll experience the game with a backdrop of rich music.
The battle system also retains its traditional feel, with an active turn-based method that lets each character attack based on their initiative, but doesn't let you just sit around waiting to move. By default, battle is paused while you sort through menus to attack and to select spells to cast, though you can also set the system to be completely active and not pause for anything. Either way, fights tend to flow right along at a nice brisk pace as you pummel monsters through the many random encounters you'll experience. In another aspect true to the nature of the game, the encounter rate is pretty high--sometimes to the point where you'll exit one fight only to take one step right into another.
At least hacking away through all these monsters is made quick and simple by the multitude of abilities and powerful spells each character brings to bear. Cecil can utilize his dark knight powers early on in the game that let him attack a whole screen's worth of enemies at once, while magic users can wreak havoc with their destructive black magic (fire, blizzard, thunder--the gang's all here) on either a single target or on a group of foes. Kain can use his dragoon jump, Edward can strum his harp to either attack or heal, and Rydia can summon creatures to aid the party, from chocobos to titans. Each member of your party will bring something unique to help you mow down the local flora and fauna.
Of course, all these familiar character abilities, along with the storyline, will be old hat to fans. For those of you not in the know, though, Final Fantasy IV begins in the kingdom of Baron, a nation with a powerful military headlined by the elite Red Wings and their fleet of airships. The Red Wings are lead by Cecil, a warrior who studied the dangerous dark arts in order to become a powerful dark knight, so that he might better protect his king and his people. All is not right with the king, however, who sets about ordering the Red Wings to retrieve crystals, which are sacred artifacts held in scattered locations across the world. To seize the crystals, the Red Wings are forced to slaughter innocent people, an act that doesn't sit right with Cecil at all. This puts him at odds with his sovereign, who promptly strips him of his command and sends him on a mission to deliver a bomb ring to the village of Mist, accompanied by Cecil's longtime friend, Kain.
The mission turns out to be one of genocide, as the bomb ring detonates and destroys the town, which harbored a culture of people trained to summon monsters. One girl, named Rydia, survives the devastation, and Cecil's attempts to protect the child turn him ever further from Baron. It soon becomes apparent that the king's lust for the crystals has dire repercussions for the rest of the world and all the people in it, so Cecil and his growing band of friends fight to protect the crystals from harm and to stop the encroaching madness.
It's a story with plenty of twists along the way, along with death, betrayal, romance, and sacrifice--in short, the foundation for the Final Fantasy series' storytelling style is laid down here. The way the tale is told hasn't changed all that much in the GBA version, though the occasional line or monster name might have been tweaked. The really important thing is that Tellah's famous "You spoony bard!" line has survived unscathed, so this version definitely retains its cred.
Final Fantasy IV for the GBA looks to be a very worthy version of this classic role-playing game, and those looking for a nice title to warm their handheld system this holiday season should definitely keep their eyes on this release. The game is currently scheduled for release sometime this December, so keep watching this gamespace for the latest news and our full review.
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R¥UÐØ™
Holy Priest/Priestess
Poor Inuyasha...
Posts: 4,592
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Post by R¥UÐØ™ on Nov 30, 2005 17:50:54 GMT -5
Annual survey shows Microsoft making mindshare headway with Japanese gamers, but still trailing Sony by a wide margin.
TOKYO--Despite a disappointing showing in Japan with the original Xbox, it appears that Microsoft is making progress in establishing a presence with gamers in the Far East. A survey of Tokyo Game Show 2005 visitors indicated that interest in Microsoft's Xbox 360 was higher than the Nintendo Revolution.
The report was conducted by the TGS host Computer Entertainment Suppliers Association (CESA), which found that 23 percent of surveyed visitors said they were looking forward to picking up the Xbox 360. While that figure doesn't come close to that of Sony's PlayStation 3, which caught the interest of 70 percent of surveyed showgoers, it did beat out Nintendo's Revolution, which only garnered interest from 20.9 percent of those surveyed.
CESA's report neglected to mention that the Xbox 360 was the only playable next-generation console during TGS 2005, which could well have factored into the survey's results. Another likely influence on the figures was Nintendo's unveiling of the gyroscopic Revolution controller during a TGS keynote speech.
The survey also revealed other figures that reflect the taste of Japanese hardcore gamers (or at least, the kind interested enough to visit a game show). When asked which currently available game machines they wanted, the top three picks were all new handhelds. The PSP ranked first with 35.7 percent of the surveyed gamers hoping to purchase it, followed by the Nintendo DS (13.7 percent) and Game Boy Micro (9.7 percent).
Nearly 60 percent of the surveyed visitors said that the body colors of game consoles are a "very" or "fairy" important factor. With multiple answers allowed, the top color of choice was black at 47 percent, followed by white (26.9 percent) and silver (23.5 percent). Surprisingly, color models based on old consoles such as the Famicom weren't too popular, with only 10.2 percent reporting an interest in them.
Another peek at Japanese gamers' attitudes toward the next generation of systems came earlier this year with a July survey conducted by marketing research company Infoplant. That survey showed 60 percent of polled Japanese gamers were most looking forward to the PlayStation 3, with 8 percent most eager for the Revolution, and only 2 percent reporting greatest interest in the Xbox 360.
CESA's TGS 2005 survey was taken from a sample of 1,084 visitors between the ages of 10 to 49 (male: 80.4 percent, female: 19.6 percent). Detailed figures are available in CESA's TGS 2005 visitor's survey report, which is available at the organization's official site. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Producer hints that Konami's racy wrestler will be released "by the warm season" across the Pacific.
While there hasn't been much information released on Rumble Roses XX for the Xbox 360 since the Tokyo Game Show, its development seems to be going smoothly. In interviews with Famitsu Xbox 360 and Dorimaga, Rumble Roses XX producer Akari Uchida reveals that the game is already 76 percent complete, and he expects it to come out by the "warm season"--which presumably means spring or summer.
According to Uchida, dialogue for Rumble Roses XX has already been recorded by the same voice actresses as the original PlayStation 2 Rumble Roses. Uchida hinted that there are also new voice actresses, though he avoided from stating whether they'll be used for new characters.
Uchida confirmed that Rumble Roses XX can by played online via Xbox Live with four players. He revealed that the game allots 50,000 polygons per character, meaning there's a total of 200,000 polygons used for the player characters. He added that the wrestlers in the game will actually look better than previous images featured in magazines, since the game will use effects such as bump mapping. Uchida also said that players won't encounter lag issues when playing Rumble Roses XX online.
Uchida revealed that a mud-wrestling ring won't be included in Rumble Roses XX, although a new mode will replace it. The game will introduce the series' first animal character; a huge panda that can perform wrestling moves.
A new update on the official Rumble Roses XX site reveals new costumes for wrestlers Dixie and Benikage, and a new trailer shows previously unseen real-time footage from the game. In addition, Rumble Roses XX's developers have also launched a Japanese-language blog where they comment on the game's progress. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Japanese release of anticipated Xbox 360 game slides from January to spring due to quality assurance issues.
A week after Japanese retailers reported that Ninety-Nine Nights will be delayed from January to spring 2006, the rumor has been confirmed by the game's producer, Tetsuya Mizuguchi. No North American release date has been announced for the game.
In an interview with Famitsu Xbox 360, Mizuguchi commented that he is pushing back Ninety-Nine Night's release date to ensure its quality. While he admits that the delay will cause consternation for gamers and retailers, he decided that releasing a game of inferior quality would disappoint even more people.
Famitsu Xbox 360's article features a co-interview with Mizuguchi, founder of Q Entertainment. and Sang Youn Lee of developer Phantagram. The two studios are working together on Ninety-Nine Nights, which is about 80 percent complete as of the time of the interview. Currently, the developers are working on giving more realistic movement to the armies in the game. By tuning the game's artificial intelligence, Lee hopes to make individual characters more responsive to situations so that they move more naturally as a group.
Looking back at his project, Mizuguchi revealed that he originally had two game ideas for the Xbox 360. He decided to go with Ninety-Nine Nights, which was originally called "Fantasy Core." Lee revealed that his studio was originally planning to make its own game called "Strident," but he decided to work with Mizuguchi after they met together. Lee commented that it took just about a week before he settled on Ninety-Nine Nights, turning down offers from other companies. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sony's PS2 reaches 100-million-sold mark nearly four years faster than original PlayStation console.
TOKYO--Sony Computer Entertainment announced today that, as of November 29, total worldwide shipment of PlayStation 2 consoles has reached 100 million units. Divided into territories, the company shipped 22.22 million units in Japan and Asia (launch date: March 4, 2000), 40.65 million units in North America (launch date: October 26, 2000), and 37.14 million units in Europe and PAL regions (launch date: November 24, 2000).
SCE comments that the shipment of 100 million PS2 units since launch comes three years and nine months earlier than it did for the original PlayStation from 1995, which reached the mark in nine years and six months after its release. SCE also notes that the original PlayStation was the first game console to ever ship 100 million units.
SCE says that more than 14,000 games are currently available for the backward-compatible PlayStation 2, of which 6,200 are PS2 titles. The cumulative shipment of PS and PS2 games has reached a total of more than 1.87 billion units as of September 2005. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [UPDATE] Xbox 360 may not get its fight on as expected; online retailers list December 14 as new release. Tecmo expects to make announcement next week. Fortuitous fighting fans that finagled a newfound Xbox 360 had a fantasy: Beat the bejeezus out of each other on November 22, the day the console launched. Those hopes were dashed when the console's lone fighter, Dead or Alive 4, was moved from its original place in the launch lineup to December 1.
Gamers cracked their knuckles and gritted their teeth at the news, but the extra week would give them more time to do a few push-ups and practice some roundhouse kicks. Soon after, online retailers began listing the game as being available on December 7, which was again met with various acts of pent-up aggression and splintered two-by-fours.
Next-gen fighting fans, prepare to have plenty of willing sparring partners--DOA4's hopeful release may be postponed once again to December 14. Both GameStop.com and EBGames.com are listing the game as shipping two weeks into December, more than three weeks after its originally planned release date.
EB Games was first to proclaim the game's initial delay through e-mails to customers who preordered the Xbox 360. The game has also missed its launch date of December 10 in Japan, moving back to December 17.
Dead or Alive 4 is rated M for Mature and will retail for $59.99. For more on the game, go a few rounds with GameSpot's previous coverage.
[UPDATE] Tecmo has not officially announced a release date for the game, so retailer projections should not be considered be-all and end-all. A representative from the company has told GameSpot that an official statement concerning the game's status will likely be made next week.
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R¥UÐØ™
Holy Priest/Priestess
Poor Inuyasha...
Posts: 4,592
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Post by R¥UÐØ™ on Nov 30, 2005 17:55:11 GMT -5
Film Critic Roger Ebert is often praised and booed for his movie criticisms, but now gamers have something to be peeved about as well. In his Answer Man section on the Chicago Sun-Times website someone questioned his beliefs on why he feels that video games an inferior medium to film and literature. "Q: I was saddened to read that you consider video games an inherently inferior medium to film and literature, despite your admitted lack of familiarity with the great works of the medium. This strikes me as especially perplexing, given how receptive you have been in the past to other oft-maligned media such as comic books and animation. Was not film itself once a new field of art? Did it not also take decades for its academic respectability to be recognized? There are already countless serious studies on game theory and criticism available, including Mark S. Meadows' Pause & Effect: The Art of Interactive Narrative, Nick Montfort's Twisty Little Passages: An Approach to Interactive Fiction, Noah Wardrip-Fruin and Pat Harrigan's First Person: New Media as Story, Performance, and Game, and Mark J.P. Wolf's The Medium of the Video Game, to name a few. I hold out hope that you will take the time to broaden your experience with games beyond the trashy, artless "adaptations" that pollute our movie theaters, and let you discover the true wonder of this emerging medium, just as you have so passionately helped me to appreciate the greatness of many wonderful films. Andrew Davis, St. Cloud, Minn. A. Yours is the most civil of countless messages I have received after writing that I did indeed consider video games inherently inferior to film and literature. There is a structural reason for that: Video games by their nature require player choices, which is the opposite of the strategy of serious film and literature, which requires authorial control. I am prepared to believe that video games can be elegant, subtle, sophisticated, challenging and visually wonderful. But I believe the nature of the medium prevents it from moving beyond craftsmanship to the stature of art. To my knowledge, no one in or out of the field has ever been able to cite a game worthy of comparison with the great dramatists, poets, filmmakers, novelists and composers. That a game can aspire to artistic importance as a visual experience, I accept. But for most gamers, video games represent a loss of those precious hours we have available to make ourselves more cultured, civilized and empathetic." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The US contingent to the 2005 World Cyber Games' Grand Final in Singapore returned as overall champions after winning two gold medals and one silver. Capturing the world champion title for the first time, medals for the US team came in Counter-Strike, Halo 2 and WarCraft III: Frozen Throne against a field of 700 of the world's best gamers representing 67 countries. The Grand Final culminated eight months of competition that saw 1.25 million gamers attempt to qualify for the right to represent their country in one of eight games (six PC, two Xbox) and a share of the more than $2.5 million in prizes. As the World Cyber Games is an open tournament, it has always featured a mix of amateur competitors and the world's top pros. More than 55,000 gaming fans witnessed 1,000 matches officiated by 47 referees during the course of 5 days. Highlight matches held on the main stage regularly drew crowds of 2,500. 530,000 spectators followed the action via the online broadcast. "This has been the most successful Grand Final to date," said Hank Jeong, CEO of International Cyber Marketing, global organizers of the World Cyber Games. "The crowds voted with their feet, and we earned the right to say we are the biggest competition of its kind in the world. As we continue to pioneer the e-Sports category, we are seeing a great variety of nations becoming more competitive. The World Cyber Games has truly evolved to become the gaming equivalent of the Olympics." Kyle Miller (Washington DC), Ronald Kim (Dallas, TX), Sal Garozzo (New York, NY), Josh Sievers (Des Moines, IA), and Mike So (Los Angeles, CA) comprise Team 3D, who repeated as gold medalists in Counter-Strike for the second year. Now candidates for the World Cyber Games' Hall of Fame, Team 3D upended an upstart Kazakhstan in the final after an exciting run on both sides of the bracket. Dan and Tom Ryan, a set of 19 year-old twin brothers from Pickerington, Ohio, who play under the gaming alias Ogre Twins, dominated the Halo 2 event making easy work of Canada in the final. Dennis Chan of Sunset Beach, CA took the silver in WarCraft III. A seasoned veteran, Chan made waves in the gaming community by upsetting reigning WarCraft champion Manuel "Grubby" Schenkhuizen of the Netherlands in the semifinal. Chan couldn't carry that dominance through the final however, when faced with a fierce Xiaofeng Li of China and boisterous partisan crowd. Next year's Grand Final will be held in Europe - Monza, Italy, home of the Italian Grand Prix - for the first time ever, and so the refrain began as the final curtain came down in Singapore, "See you in Monza." Full results for all matches, as well as highlights, photos, medalists' info are available online at www.worldcybergames.com. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sony Computer Entertainment America announced today the Spring 2006 release of Pursuit Force for the PSP. The title is being developed by BigBig Studios. Pursuit Force will bring Hollywood-style movie action with high-speed vehicle chases and thrilling shootouts. In Pursuit Force, players take the role of a young rookie police officer, responsible for tracking down and thwarting five criminal gangs in and around Capital City. "Pursuit Force is an original IP exclusive for the PSP system that introduces a number of innovative features sure to make it one of next year's most wanted titles," said Susan Nourai, director, online and product marketing, Sony Computer Entertainment America. "With superb production value, a huge variety in missions, and the groundbreaking gameplay mechanic of leaping between moving vehicles, Pursuit Force delivers intense action that adds depth to the ever expanding lineup of PSP software." We'll have much more on this highly anticipated title in the coming weeks. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THQ today announced MX vs. ATV Unleashed: On the Edge for the PSP and MX vs. ATV Unleashed for the PC. The releases expand on the franchise's overwhelming success, allowing Windows PC gamers to personalize their racing experience with an all-new track editor. Both titles, anticipated to release in early 2006, will allow gamers to race with a collection of new vehicles and chose between new tracks, challenges and mini-games. "Rainbow Studios is taking their mastery of the off-road genre to new heights, redefining the genre they built for Windows PC and bringing the duel between four wheels and two to the PSP system for the first time," said Dave Miller, Senior Global Brand Manager, THQ. "Gamers can now build their personalized vision of the ultimate off-road environment on their Windows PC, take it online and race against all challengers." "We're looking forward to bringing the Unleashed experience to the handheld market as well as returning to our off-road development roots on the PC," said Scott Novis, President, Rainbow Studios. "Both titles will possess the unmatched game-play elements that define a Rainbow Studios title and provide exciting new content at the same time." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The latest issue of Famitsu is reporting that Myst is coming to the PSP. Only showing a few screenshots of the game in action, there's not much known about the title. Apparently when the game is released it will also include a new age - the Rime Age. Concidering that the game has graced quite a number of different consoles in the past, we're betting the game will also make it stateside. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and Senator Joseph Lieberman are planning on introducing legislation titled the Family Entertainment Protection Act which will restrict the sale of mature videogames to minors. “I have developed legislation that will empower parents by making sure their kids can’t. walk into a store and buy a video game that has graphic, violent and pornographic content,” said Senator Clinton. Clinton has reiterated that this isn’t about restricting video game entertainment, but “this is about protecting children.” Yesterday on Capitol Hill, the National Institute on Media and the Family released its tenth annual Video and Computer Game Score card. Unfortunately, it revealed that retailers were apparently more relaxed in selling mature rated games to minors, and boys as young as nine 42% of the time could pick up a Mature rated game according to the audit. Here’s a summary of the Family Entertainment Protection Act: I. Prohibition on Selling Mature and Adults Only video games to minors • The centerpiece of this bill is a prohibition against any business for selling or renting a Mature, Adults-Only, or Ratings Pending game to a person who is younger than seventeen. This provision is not aimed at punishing retailers who act in good faith to enforce the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) system. That’s why retailers would have an affirmative defense if they were shown an identification they believed to be valid or have a system in place to display and enforce the ESRB system. Similar prohibitions have become law in the last several months in California, Michigan, and Illinois. II. Annual Analysis of the Ratings System • Since the bill relies on the video game industry to continue rating the appropriateness of games for minors, this bill requires an annual, independent analysis of game ratings. This analysis will help ensure that the ESRB ratings system accurately reflects the content in each game and that the ratings system does not change significantly over time. III. Authority for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to Investigate Misleading Ratings • Part of the genesis of this bill was the revelation that the makers of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas had included, through embedded code that was discovered and made accessible to the public, sexually explicit content inconsistent with the game’s Mature rating. This bill requires the FTC to conduct an investigation to determine whether what happened with GTA: San Andreas is a pervasive problem. It also includes a Sense of Congress that the Commission shall take appropriate action if it determines that there is a pervasive problem. IV. Authority to Register Complaints • This bill requires the Bureau of Consumer Protection (BCP) of the FTC to ensure that consumers can file complaints if they find content to be misleading or deceptive and requires the BCP to report on the number of such complaints to Congress. V. Annual Retailer Audit • This bill authorizes the FTC to conduct an annual, random audit of retailers – sometimes referred to as a secret shopper survey – to determine how easy it is for young people to purchase Mature and Adults Only video games and report the findings to Congress. We’ll have more on this when it breaks. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you're still bummed out that Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter slipped from the Xbox 360 launch and is also delayed on the PC, Ubisoft wants to make it up to you. The Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter developers will be online for 2 live chats with fans. First, the PC live chat will be held December 1st at 6:00 PM (French Time) with the participation of Mathieu Girard (Producer), Bo Andersson (Executive Producer and military expert), Ulf Andersson (Lead Game Designer) and Simon Viklund (Sound Designer) The second chat will focus on the Xbox 360, and will take place December 7th at 6:00 PM (French Time). Christian Allen (Lead Multiplayer Designer) and Gilles Matouba (Game Designer) will be on hand. This IRC chat will take place on Ubisoft's chat site, at irc.ubisoft.com on channel #POP. However, if you're not familiar with IRC software, you can easily join the chat by following the steps below: 1. Go to chat.ubisoft.fr2. Enter a username (whatever you wish) 3. You don't require a password 4. Select the GhostRecon channel Chat times around the world: 9:00 - San Francisco 11:00 - Chicago 12:00 - New York, Montreal 17:00 - London 18:00 - Paris, Munich For more information visit the game’s official website at www.ghostrecon.com.
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R¥UÐØ™
Holy Priest/Priestess
Poor Inuyasha...
Posts: 4,592
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Post by R¥UÐØ™ on Dec 4, 2005 1:55:04 GMT -5
Smash Bros. creator returns for Revolution version
Series founder will direct next-gen edition; Nintendo opens special Tokyo studio to bolster game's development. According to the latest issue of Japanese game bible Famitsu, Nintendo has opened an office in Tokyo dedicated solely to the ongoing development of the Revolution update in the Super Smash Bros. series. Heading up the new studio is the series' original creator, Masahiro Sakurai. He returns to the Nintendo organization after a two-year absence.
According to Famitsu, Sakurai was persuaded by Nintendo president Satoru Iwata to return to Nintendo over conversations that took place at the E3 Expo held earlier this year.
Preparing a new Super Smash Bros. game with such short notice was not easy for Sakurai, given the game's tight development schedule. In a column written for Famitsu, Sakurai said he hopes to have a team of 50 developers working on the title. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The NPD Funworld numbers aren't out until next Thursday, but that hasn't stopped the leading lights of the game-analyst world from getting their market-prognostication on. First out of the gate was Wedbush Morgan Securities' Michael Pachter, who predicted that $715 million in game software was sold in North America in November 2005.
While that may seem like a kingly sum, it is in fact a 16-percent drop from November 2004's $849 million in software sales. That month saw a slew of wildly popular releases, including Halo 2, Half-Life 2, and Metal Gear Solid 3. It also came only three days after the launch of the second-highest-grossing game of all time, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
November 2005 did see a number of high-profile current-gen releases, including Tony Hawk's American Wasteland, Star Wars: Battlefront II, WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2006, Mario Kart DS, Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones, and Half-Life 2 for the Xbox. However, with the exception of 50 Cent: Bulletproof and Gun, hardly any were original properties. This worries Pachter, who is "concerned that consumers are uninspired by the sequel-driven slate of new games released this quarter."
What about the Xbox 360 launch, you say? Pachter counter-intuitively says that the launch of the next-gen console is actually a factor in the lagging game sales, "in part due to a supply/demand imbalance for the Xbox 360." That said, 360 games such Perfect Dark Zero, Call of Duty 2, and Project Gotham Racing 3 dominated the NPD console charts during the last week of November, meaning the final numbers might be less gloomy.
As for individual publisher's fates during November, Pachter predicts that Electronic Arts will come out on top with $125 million, down 6 percent from the same period last year. Far behind on the analyst's list is Activision with $65 million, a modest 3-percent increase over last year. THQ is pegged to get the bronze, with $40, a 44-percent decline thanks to an absence of Pixar movie tie-in titles.
According to Pachter, Take-Two Interactive will take fourth with $30 million--44 percent below its San Andreas-bolstered November 2004 take. Behind it will be Atari with $25 million (+2 percent) followed by Midway and its $12 million haul (+15 percent). Bringing up the rear of Pachter's list is Majesco and its paltry $4 million take, a whopping 71-percent decrease compared to last year.
But while informed, analyst notes are not infallible. In fact, Wedbush Morgan's November report admits that its previous report was overly optimistic. "Our most recent forecast predicted US console and PC software sales growth of 6 percent for 2005, and we now acknowledge that our forecast is too high in light of the weaker-than-expected October and likely weak November sell-through data." The company now expects overall 2005 sales to be "flat to slightly positive."
Wedbush Morgan also estimates that, as of October 2005, there are 86 million total current-generation consoles and handhelds in the US. Speaking of current-gen machines, the report also said to look out for a PlayStation 2 price cut early next year. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The official story: Microsoft and Universal reps have not responded to requests for comment.
What we heard: Earlier this year, thousands of nerds' heads exploded when they heard the rumor that Peter Jackson was going to direct the film adaptation of Halo. While that turned out to be false, the Lord of the Rings director did sign up to executive-produce the high-profile project, which is being cofinanced by Fox and Universal.
Since then, speculation has run amok about which filmmaker would be entrusted to bring one of gamedom's holiest of holies to the big screen. This week, IESB claimed to have a possible answer. According to an IESB reporter named Chupacabra, as in the famed Mexican vampire creature, word was leaked at the recent King Kong press junket that Jackson is in talks with famed Mexican horror director Guillermo del Toro to helm Halo.
It's not surprising that Jackson and del Toro would collaborate. Both have similar backgrounds, having made their bones in horror (Dead Alive, Chronos) before moving onto big-budget blockbusters (Lord of the Rings, Blade II). Also, both have shown dramatic flair and characterization skills in the art house thrillers Heavenly Creatures (Jackson) and The Devil's Backbone (del Toro).
So will del Toro direct Halo? If he is indeed in talks, that will depend on two factors: First, whether he wants the job. Second, whether Fox and Universal executives are comfortable with a director whose last project, Hellboy, performed below expectations. Given Halo's high profile and del Toro's self-professed love of games, the answer to the first question would almost certainly be "yes." As for the second, the executives in question might do well to remember that Jackson's sole Hollywood project prior to Rings was the box-office dud The Frighteners. We know how that turned out... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tecmo's Tomonobu Itagaki says postponement was necessary to maintain balance in online gameplay; more details on game released.
Though Tecmo has confirmed the delay to Dead or Alive 4, the company has chosen not to give too many details as to the reasons behind the later release date, which has yet to be set.
The latest issues of Famitsu Xbox 360 and Dorimaga, however, give some insight into possible causes. The two magazines feature interviews with the game's producer, Tomonobu Itagaki, conducted before news of the delay was confirmed.
Itagaki told Dorimaga that at the time, DOA4 was already 95 percent complete, but there were still some system tune-ups and game balance issues that needed work. Since DOA4 is being created with a focus on online play, Itagaki indicated he wanted the game fully balanced before it left his hands.
He told the magazine the "last five percent is the most crucial point in development," and that the team was working around the clock to make sure the game was released in perfect condition.
In Famitsu Xbox 360, Itagaki commented that while many developers choose to release their games in an unfinished form and distribute patches afterwards, it's a methodology he despises. However, that doesn't mean that the team won't release its own patches after the game's release if needed.
Itagaki also confirmed for Famitsu Xbox 360 that DOA4 will feature a total of 22 characters, including Elena, Genfu, Ein, Leon, Tengu, and Spartan 458, a guest character from Bungie Studios' Halo.
When asked about how the collaboration with Bungie came about, Itagaki revealed that he kicked off the relationship around the time when Halo 2 and Ninja Gaiden were being developed. Itagaki said he often gets collaboration offers from other studios, but this was the first time he reached out and requested such an arrangement.
His said his developers are working on Spartan 458 with "the same care" they put into the game's original characters. Itagaki debunked rumors that Spartan 458 plays identically to Bayman, commenting that she will be a speedy character that's easier to control.
In terms of other characters, Itagaki said that Elena isn't selectable from the start. Players will need to clear the game with 16 other characters in order to unlock Elena. Beating the game with her will lead to a "grand finale," which Itagaki calls the "true ending" to DOA4.
For gamers still in need of closure, Itagaki also revealed that Ayane was the winner of DOA3 in terms of the series' storyline. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Digital Jesters isn't likely to win any developer popularity contests these days. Last month, Bet on Soldier developer Kylotonn cut its ties with the company, alleging multiple breaches of contract. Earlier this week, Digital Jesters became part of the new DJ Group publishing venture, a move that it turns out has rubbed a couple of more developers the wrong way.
French developer Monte Cristo, named in the DJ Group's press release as one of its brands, issued a press release insisting this was not the case.
"Monte Cristo is an independent company which has appointed Digital Jesters to distribute part of our portfolio of games in the United Kingdom. This is our only link with Digital Jesters," company CEO Jerome Gastaldi said in the release. "In addition, our relationship with Digital Jesters is currently at a standstill. Despite firm commitment from a representative of the new investors, their financial promises are not being met at the present time."
Yesterday, Seattle-based Super X Studios terminated its own publishing agreement with Digital Jesters for the upcoming safari adventure Wild Earth, albeit with a little less outward hostility than shown by Kylotonn and Monte Cristo. The game is complete, but according to a statement from Super X Studios president James Thrush, "the company we signed with, Digital Jesters Limited, will not be able to fulfill its publishing role as its staff and assets are being subsumed by the new DJ Group publishing company. We wish them well on their new venture but as of this moment we are looking to place Wild Earth, which is now completed, with another publisher." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The launch of the Xbox 360 not only brought with it long lines, mass console shortages, and panic among parents, but it was also accompanied by a barrage of promotions, advertisements, and marketing. The creative types responsible for marketing the console came up with a clever ad that touted the 360's communal feel.
Problem is, hardly anyone saw it.
The commercial, dubbed "Standoff," begins with two normal men exchanging "You gotta problem?" looks at each other while passing in a busy building. One brandishes a "handgun"--literally, his hand with fingers bent to form the shape of a gun--and points it at the other gentleman. The targeted individual returns the favor, and soon everyone in the building is wielding some form of imaginary weapon and pointing them at one another in a tense moment.
One pulls his "trigger" and accompanies the shot by saying, "bang!" and a faux fragfest ensues. The shooting spills out into the street, and all types of people get involved in the action, taking aim at each other and collapsing when they are "shot."
The ad never made it to television, and was seen only in brief appearances at Microsoft's promotional events, such as the Zero Hour launch event in Southern California. It did, however, flourish on the Internet, where several Web sites have hosted it.
Being the hotbed of speculation that it is, Internet users came to their own conclusions about the ad's fate. Some thought that even the gestures of shooting people could have been deemed too violent, so Microsoft's lawyers pulled it. Others believed that either the FCC or television networks didn't approve the spot, keeping it out of the public.
When contacted about the ad, Microsoft told GameSpot, "While these particular rumors are not substantiated, Microsoft did make the conscious decision to only preview the ad to select audiences and not to air on network TV. The ad is called Standoff and we did 'preview' it with the lucky gamers who attended the recent Zero Hour launch event in Palmdale, Calif., which presented an ideal hard core gaming audience to introduce this ad spot to." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If the previous list of playable games that will be displayed at this weekend's G.A.M.E. (Games and Music Experience) event wasn't enticing enough, the two heavyweight additions announced today should tip the scales. Tecmo's Dead or Alive 4 for the Xbox 360 and Nintendo's...wait for it...The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for the GameCube will both be playable to the public beginning today.
DOA4 is the first next-generation fighting game and won't be in stores for a few weeks (its release date is still in flux). The franchise is well known for its flagrantly feminine femme fatales, who deftly beat on each other and look good doing it.
The latest in one of gaming's most popular franchises will also set up shop at G.A.M.E. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, easily one of the most anticipated games of 2006, is making a rare public appearance at the event. This new Zelda adventure, not scheduled for release until April 2006 at the earliest, features an older Link and a darker presentation and storyline.
Other playable titles at G.A.M.E. not yet in stores include Star Wars: Empire at War for the PC, Pursuit Force for the PSP, Animal Crossing: Wild World for the DS, and Yoot Saito's Odama for the GameCube.
G.A.M.E. is open to the public and runs through the weekend at San Francisco's Moscone Center. The event celebrates music and gaming, and will feature top musical acts such as Hieroglyphics and Meat Beat Manifesto performing live, as well as several game kiosks with the best games of 2005, highly anticipated upcoming titles, and some retro classics. Oh, and Flavor Flav will be there.
Fanboys and fangirls of all sects will have something to tout, as G.A.M.E. will showcase the Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, DS, PSP, PC, and Game Boy Advance. Consider yourself old-school? The Sega Genesis, NeoGeo, Atari 2600, and other classic consoles will be dusted off for some pixilated pleasure. For tickets and more information on G.A.M.E., head over to the official Web site. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Microsoft's Xbox 360 launched across Europe today, and early reports are echoing those of the system's American launch last week. According to an article in The Times Online, limited supplies of the system sold out within minutes of the 12 a.m. launch.
Earlier this week, a Microsoft exec confirmed that projections of 300,000 units available at launch weren't far off. As disappointing as the lack of 360 systems was for gamers who didn't get their hands on one of the launch units, it seems retailers were perhaps even more agitated by the situation.
"Our gripe is that they have seriously underestimated demand and haven't produced enough to go round," Asda Supermarkets nonfood director Tony Page was quoted as saying in the article. Meanwhile, a spokesman from DSG International, the company that owns Brit retailers Currys, Dixons, and PC World, said a few of the core systems actually made it onto store shelves, but they were "rarer than hen's teeth."
And much like the American launch, online auctions for the console are fetching drastically higher than retail prices on eBay. Prices on premium systems, which retail for 279 pounds ($483) in the UK and 399 euros ($467) elsewhere in Europe went as high as 820 pounds ($1,421). Core systems, which retail for 209 pounds ($362) or 299 euros ($350) were pulling in as much as 471 pounds ($816).
Microsoft is no doubt hoping for a trifecta of frenzied 360 launches when the company completes its worldwide rollout of the console by releasing it in Japan December 10. That may prove difficult, as the system has seen two of its most anticipated Japanese launch titles, Dead or Alive 4 and Enchant Arm, suffer delays in the last month. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SAN FRANCISCO--Aside from camping out for consoles on launch days or the rare massive LAN party, gamers rarely congregate face-to-face. However, when a convention hall is rented out, filled with the newest games and hardware, and accompanied by some of the Bay Area's best musical acts, gamers huddle by the thousands.
To the delight of gamers, The Game and Music Experience, G.A.M.E., opened its doors today in the City's vast Moscone Center convention hall. The event, hosted by GameSpot, is designed to give gamers hands on time with the latest releases in the gaming industry as well as exposure to some of the area's up-and-coming and established musical acts.
For gamers, hundreds of stations are set up to demo today's greatest hits, including more than a dozen Xbox 360 titles, tomorrow's blockbusters such as The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, and some old classics for good measure. The show floor features just about any system a gamer could want, from the most recent handhelds to today's current-generation systems to the recently released Xbox 360.
Attendance was steady all night, as packs of the golden demographic, gamers ages 18-34, streamed through the front doors. G.A.M.E. isn't for the faint of heart, as enough stimuli was packed into the hall to draw comparisons to a mini-E3. In addition to the hundreds of gaming systems available for public use, other happenings drew plenty of attention.
GameSpot Live took over the center of the floor to do what it does best--providing live coverage of the event for gamers who couldn;t make the trip. Producers invited audience members on to the stage to battle GameSpot editors in games, held tournaments for a variety of prizes, including a tricked out GameSpot Scion replete with a plasma screen and game consoles, and talked with game developers about their titles.
But it wasn't just about games. A main stage featured DJs and bands performing half-hour sets of tunes for audiophiles, taiko drummers performed a traditional (and loud) demonstration of the Japanese art, and Twentieth Century Fox gave free screenings of Grandma's Boy, a comedy from Adam Sandler's production company scheduled for release next year.
Most gamers spent their time huddled around the new Xbox 360s, getting some hands-on time with Microsoft's next-generation console. No matter what the game, it was rare to see a white controller without a pair of hands on it. Dead or Alive 4, which hasn't yet hit store shelves, appeared to be the main draw as gamers button mashed through round after round of one-on-one fighting.
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Star Wars: Empire at War used their wildly popular brand names to keep their stations constantly occupied as well. Both games will be released in 2006.
The floor was divided by genre, allowing fans of sci-fi, war, and sports games to jump from game to game without trudging from one end of the hall to the other. The format is also handy to compare like games to each other, making that crucial purchasing decision all the more easy.
GameSpot readers will also have a chance to meet their favorite GameSpot editors, who will be present on the show floor for the duration of G.A.M.E.
G.A.M.E. continues through Sunday, and there are plenty more events going down. In addition to the wealth of playable games, musical acts Meat Beat Manifesto, Hieroglyphics, and J-Boogie's Dubtronic Science will be getting their groove on throughout the weekend.
For more information on the event, check out G.A.M.E.'s official Web site.
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R¥UÐØ™
Holy Priest/Priestess
Poor Inuyasha...
Posts: 4,592
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Post by R¥UÐØ™ on Dec 4, 2005 15:49:04 GMT -5
The game industry scored a victory on Friday when US District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly declared a pair of Illinois game restriction laws unconstitutional, Game Politics reported. The Violent Video Games Law and the Sexually Explicit Video Games Law (SEVGL), introduced last December by Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia (D-Aurora), were set to go into effect January 1, 2006. Had they stood, the laws would have limited the sale and/or rental of games with violent and sexually explicit content. Retailers caught renting or selling such games to persons 18 or under would have been fined up to $1,000 for violating the statute. The Illinois Retail Merchants Association joined the Entertainment Software Association and the Video Software Dealers Association as a co-plaintiff in the suit, which was filed in United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. In a 53-page ruling, Judge Kennelly defended games as a protected form of free speech, dismissed the state's scientific evidence suggesting causal links between violent games and violent behavior. He called the wording of the laws unconstitutionally vague. In particular, he took the Sexually Explicit Video Games Law to task for parroting the language of traditional obscenity laws, but omitting key parts that ensure a work's merit as a whole be taken into consideration when determining its legality. He specifically brought up the recently released action title God of War, and mentioned the title's mini-game in which main character Kratos has implied sexual relations with two women. "Because of this one scene, a game such as God of War, which essentially parallels a classic book like The Odyssey, likely would be prohibited for minors under the SEVGL, because the statute allows a game to be regulated based on one scene without regard to the value of the game as a whole. Such a sweeping regulation on speech--even sexually explicit speech--is unconstitutional even if aimed at protecting minors." Last month a Michigan law imposing restrictions on the sale of violent games to minors was temporarily blocked. A pending California gaming law set to go into effect January 1, 2006 has also precipitated a lawsuit from the ESA and the VSDA, but no ruling has been made in that case as of yet. In other game legislation news, New York Senator Hillary Clinton said she will introduce federal legislation to restrict the sale of violent games to minors when Congress next reconvenes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kingdom Hearts II fans can finally check out the official website in English! The site includes character profiles on Sora, Donald, and Goofy, a summary of the story from past KH games, a preview on four worlds appearing in the game, and some downloadable wallpapers. Sora-philes can also look forward to upcoming information about the battle system. Head on over to na.square-enix.com/games/kingdomhearts/kh2/ for more information. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Square Enix has enlisted beverage maker Suntory to develop a Final Fantasy XII themed drink to coincide with the Japanese release of the game next spring. The product is said to incorporate elements of herbal tea and Square Enix is calling it "potion" for now. Planned quantities of this special edition drink have not been released, but they will most assuredly be in short supply. There are currently no announcements about a U.S. release so get ready to pull the importing trigger. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Get-Well Gamers Foundation, a California-based public charity dedicated to bringing electronic entertainment to children in healthcare facilities, today announced a major donation from Microsoft that will enable it to pursue its mission of giving this holiday season. The donation consists of hundreds of popular videogames, games consoles and equipment. All platforms, including Xbox, PlayStation and Game Boy Advance, are represented, along with a wide variety of game genres, from sports and adventure to racing and fantasy role-playing games. Controllers, documentation and other accessories are also available and, as with the rest of the donation, will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. Among the most popular titles on offer: • Blinx The Time Sweeper • Disney's Tarzan • Enter the Matrix • Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events • Madden 2003 • Midway Arcade Treasures Vol. 1 • Project Gotham Racing • Simpsons Hit And Run • Star Wars Episode One Racer • X-Men Legends 2 “The breadth of what Microsoft has given us is astounding,” said Ryan Sharpe, President of Get-Well Gamers. “There’s truly something here for children of every age level. My only hope is that enough healthcare facilities step forward in time for the holidays.” Get-Well Gamers draws its mission from the personal experiences of Mr. Sharpe, who suffered several life-threatening illnesses as a child and was confined to medical facilities for months at a time. “Studies have shown that playing video games is one of the best ways for patients to dull their pain receptors and shortens the length of their hospital stays,” he adds. “But, for me, the most tangible proof – and inspiration – has been my own medical history. Games really kept my mind alert and helped me forget my physical condition.” Although still a college student, Mr. Sharpe runs Get-Well Gamers in his spare time and, since its founding in 2001, has established an affiliate network of children’s healthcare facilities across the United States. Still, given the size of their recent donation, Get-Well Gamers needs the involvement of healthcare professionals this holiday season. To find out how you can get involved, or to make a tax-deductible donation, please contact Get-Well Gamers directly at getwellgamers@gmail.com or (714) 963-1950. You can also visit them online and make a PayPal contribution at www.get-well-gamers.org~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Half-Life 2: Survivor will be appearing in Japanese arcades this March. The game features two joysticks, two pedals (for jumping and aiming), 5.1 surround sound, and 8-player network play. Survivor will include multiplayer, co-op, and a single player mode. Players will also be able to save game data on a smart card that will track their rankings and progress. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Shigeru Miyamoto recently made a presentation at the Digital Interactive Entertainment Conference in Kyoto, Japan an hinted that the remote style controller might not be all Nintendo has in store for the Revlotion. Kotaku, a gaming blog, reported that near the end of his speech Miyamoto vaugely stated that the Revolution will have another trick up its sleeve. “There’s another secret. But I’m not going to go into that here. That’ll be for a later date,” Miyamoto said. It's not likely that we'll hear much more about this "secret" until Nintendo's pre-E3 Revolution press conference on May 9, but we'll keep you posted.
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R¥UÐØ™
Holy Priest/Priestess
Poor Inuyasha...
Posts: 4,592
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Post by R¥UÐØ™ on Dec 6, 2005 17:44:25 GMT -5
Late last week, the Web was afire with rumors that Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy) would direct the film adaptation of Halo, the wildly popular Xbox and PC shooter. The choice seemed very plausible, given del Toro's visual flair and the fact his career path mirrored that of the project's executive producer, Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson.
However, now word has emerged that del Toro has not been selected--from Jackson himself. Speaking to the popular film site Dark Horizons, Jackson flatly said that no one has been chosen to direct Halo. "We're talking to some people but we're going to be shooting that next year," he said. The film is set for a summer 2007 release.
Jackson also told Dark Horizons that he turned down the director's chair because he needed some time off, but his love of the game still made him want to be involved in the project. "I want to have the fun but not the hard work. I just want to be part of the creative team but not actually have the pain," he joked. "Hopefully it won't suck." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For all the differences people may have in color, culture, or creed, there's a certain amount of comfort to be found this holiday season in the knowledge that regardless of who we are or how different we may seem, none of us can find an Xbox 360 on store shelves.
Microsoft celebrated the second of five announced worldwide 360 launches on Friday, and today the company is chalking it up as a resounding success, claiming day-one sellouts throughout the region.
"Xbox 360 sales have been tremendous this weekend" said Lisa Morgan, UK managing director of the specialty retailer GAME. "We have sold out almost all of our initial allocation over the weekend, and have seen great sales on games and accessories too."
Chart Track is reporting the 360 as the fastest-selling home console ever in the UK, beating out the previous holder of that distinction, Nintendo's GameCube. Of the region's 15 launch titles, 10 were in the top 40 list of UK game sales across all formats. Premium editions of the console outsold the core version 2 to 1.
Microsoft is reporting its trio of launch games--Perfect Dark Zero, Project Gotham Racing 3, and Kameo: Elements of Power--as top-selling titles, along with FIFA: Road to the World Cup, Call of Duty 2, and Peter Jackson's King Kong. On the accessory side, the company says gamers snatched up its wireless networking adapter, wireless controllers, and replacement faceplates in high numbers.
For consumers who weren't able to get their hands on one of the consoles, Microsoft is promising to have more 360s in stores by Christmas, citing its desire to ship 3 million consoles worldwide in the system's first 90 days. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gamers tired of The Surreal Life reruns can now make their own lives a little more surreal with Nintendo's new bill-paying, garbage-dumping, bug-collecting, zoological life sim. Nintendo confirmed today that it has shipped Animal Crossing: Wild World for the DS to retail.
Wild World, like 2002's life sim Animal Crossing for the GameCube, once again drops gamers into a small town populated by anthropomorphic animals and asks them to make a living and spend their time however they see fit. The DS version of the game retains the open-ended approach of the original, but sports a number of new features and tweaks to the gameplay.
Chief among the new features is the game's Wi-Fi compatibility, which lets players travel around the world to visit each other's towns and chat, trade items, or play games together. The game is also controllable entirely using the DS touch screen, from navigating menus to customizing clothes. Up to four players can also share a house in the same town, though only one can play at any given time. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TOYKO--Namco announced that it will hold its second closed beta testing of the PC role-playing game Tales of Eternia Online from January 16 to February 6. The test will mainly serve to work out final adjustments to the game and server capacity assurance, possibly hinting that Namco is coming close to making an official launch date. The company originally planned Tales of Eternia Online's launch for spring 2006, but in January, it was postponed to an unspecified date.
Registration for Tales of Eternia Online's second beta test will begin on December 13 through its official site. 50,000 registrants will be picked for the test, and they'll be notified by mail after January 5. Users that miss out will still get a chance to try out the game before the general public, as Namco also plans on holding an open beta test later on.
Characters that are created during the closed beta test period can be carried on to the open beta test, although the experience points, skills, and items earned during the test will be reset. Namco hasn't announced if characters from the open beta period can also be carried on to the launch.
Gamers that register for Tales of Eternia Online will also get an additional bonus. Namco is giving out ceramic white PSP Value Packs bundled with a copy of Tales of Eternia to 10 lucky registrants, regardless of whether or not they win a spot for the beta test. 500 additional registrants will also get a free QUO card worth 500 Yen ($4.13), a prepaid card that can be used for shopping. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Supplies of the Xbox 360 remain tight in North America and Europe, but that's not stopping Microsoft from continuing its plans to introduce the console around the world in record time. The game publisher adds Japan to the list of 360-equipped regions with its launch this coming Saturday, and Reuters is reporting that the system's Far Eastern exposure is going to increase early next year.
Alan Bowman, head of Microsoft's Asian Xbox operations, has said the console is slated for a Korean release February 24, 2006, followed a week later by March 2 launches in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore.
There was talk of delaying these launches in order to meet US demand for the system, but in the end, Bowman said, Microsoft stuck to its guns.
"Believe me, that conversation happened," he told Reuters. "We wanted to make sure within the first six months that we could get the 360 into all existing Xbox 1 markets."
Where Microsoft is going exclusively with a hard-drive-equipped model of the 360 in Japan, gamers in these new markets will have the same choice of core or premium systems as their European and North American counterparts. Bowman said the prices for the Asian systems will be in line with those from other regions, which currently range from $299 for an American core system to 279 pounds (about $485) for a premium Xbox 360 in the UK. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In-game advertising has come a long way since Pizza Hut hit gamers over the head with falling billboards in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game for the NES, but it's never been clear exactly what impact such product placement has on gamers. A new study from game publisher Activision and media research group Nielsen Entertainment suggests that not only do in-game ads work, but ads tied in to the gameplay (as in the Ninja Turtles example) work especially well.
The study is the fourth part of an ongoing attempt by Activision and Nielsen to quantify the effect of in-game advertising with a standardized set of tools. The big finding the pair are reporting this time out is that just having a product in a game is good, but having a branded product tied in to the gameplay somehow (as in the Puma sneaker hunt in Activision's True Crime: New York City) is better. More pervasive advertising like this, the study suggests, improves brand awareness and can actually improve a gamer's perception of that brand.
The study also found that integrated advertising often improved the gameplay experience for players. Activision and Nielsen surveyed 1,350 male gamers ages 13-44, having them play MTX Motortrax, Tony Hawk's Underground 2, Need For Speed Underground 2, and NHL 2K6, some with ads enabled, and some stripped of advertising entirely. Activision and Nielsen report that "many" of the study's participants said that advertising enhanced their enjoyment of the games, and that gamers remain generally receptive to the practice.
The principal goal of the Activision-Nielsen partnership is "to demonstrate the ability of video games to build and enhance brand awareness, association, and appeal by conducting an in-depth evaluation of various levels of advertising integration within games." Previous reports from the pair have found that video games are eroding TV viewership in the 13-to-34-year-old male demographic and that in-game ads improve brand awareness, recall, and interest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ GameSpot took its first swing at delivering a gaming trade-show atmosphere to the general public this weekend, offering attendees a chance to get their hands on prerelease games like The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for the GameCube and Dead or Alive 4 for the Xbox 360 while enjoying diversions like live music, taiko drumming, and lowrider hopping. According to the event's organizer, it was a solid hit.
From Friday through Sunday, thousands of people attended the Games and Music Experience (G.A.M.E.) at San Francisco's Moscone Convention Center, said Peter Shaw, president of Centric Events Group, which presented the event in partnership with GameSpot and Clear Channel Communications.
"I would say that all walked away from there thinking it was just a fantastic experience," Shaw said. "They loved it. Most of them had never seen a trade show, so that was a completely new experience for them, and watching what they were doing, they were completely absorbed in gameplay the entire time."
G.A.M.E. was not the first time someone had the idea to bring the multiday gaming binge of an event like the Electronics Entertainment Expo (aka E3) and open it up to all gamers, Shaw noted, saying that event sponsors were pleased with how the weekend went. E3 is only open to registered members of the game industry, not the general public.
"There've been many attempts to do this over the last few years and for the most part they've failed pretty badly, usually because they've never actually happened," Shaw said. "I think we got incredible kudos for pulling this off at all, for pulling it off in the way we did, because we delivered exactly what we said we would, and for making it as turnkey as we did. Publishers could rely on us for all of the details and all they had to do was give us what they wanted to show their customers."
While the turnkey approach to putting the show together appealed to sponsors and publishers, it only amplified the challenges of staging an event like this for the first time, Shaw said.
"The whole challenge of managing hundreds of game stations, making sure they were all working, it was just a big logistical challenge. Unlike a trade show, where you had exhibits taking care of themselves, we did the entire thing. It was like one gigantic booth with lots and lots of moving pieces."
As for where all of gamers in attendance came from, Shaw said, "I think the biggest source of where [attendees heard] about this from was word of mouth," Shaw said. "The whole community-building effect was a big reason of why we wanted to do this in the first place and it worked really, really well. The GameSpot audience, those who were in New York or Chicago or other cities, for that matter, would want to see this in their town and we had e-mails to that effect. The determining factor in the end is going to be a business call. And in terms of what we built and the impact we had, there's a need and response to this that's very positive."
Not everything was positive. Shaw added there were lessons learned from the inaugural G.A.M.E. that would be used to make future shows that much better. In particular, he said he would like to move the music stage closer to the heart of the show floor.
Overall, Shaw said he was pleased with the weekend as a whole and cited the beaming looks on attendees' faces as the highlight of the event for him.
"My own son was there and spent a lot of time helping in the three days of building up the show," Shaw said. "But then he got to play games on Saturday and was there from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and didn't realize he'd been playing games for 10 hours without eating or drinking anything. Everybody's expression was really, really positive."
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R¥UÐØ™
Holy Priest/Priestess
Poor Inuyasha...
Posts: 4,592
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Post by R¥UÐØ™ on Dec 6, 2005 17:47:02 GMT -5
HO HO HO! Revolution news people!
TOKYO--Though it seems like Nintendo unveiled just about everything concerning the Revolution's controller at September's Tokyo Game Show, there are still some surprises in store, according to one of the company's most significant strategists.
At the Digital Interactive Entertainment Conference held in Kyoto, Japan, Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo's chief game designer and creator of the Mario and Legend of Zelda franchises, gave the keynote speech. He talked about the history of controllers for Nintendo's various consoles, from the pre-NES systems to current consoles like the GameCube. He ended his lecture with words toward the future, specifically the Revolution, stating that there's more to its controller than what's already known.
"The [Revolution's] controller still has another secret," stated Miyamoto. "But it's something that we'll reveal next year."
As a southpaw, Miyamoto takes into consideration gamers who "are in their right mind," as the saying goes. One of his first game projects at Nintendo in 1979 was to design an Arkanoid-style game machine called Breakout. Although he had had only two years of work experience at Nintendo at that point, he made sure the machine was designed to accommodate both left- and right-handed players.
Sharing a piece of Nintendo history, Miyamoto explained that the cross-shaped direction pad that's used for Nintendo's game consoles was originally created for the Game & Watch version of Donkey Kong in 1982. Up until then, Nintendo's Game & Watch series had used just two buttons for controlling the character. Donkey Kong required more-complicated controls since the original arcade version used a joystick. As a solution, Nintendo came up with the cross-shaped pad, which offers a similar control to the arcade version but comes in a flat compact design that allows the Game & Watch to be folded and closed.
Miyamoto said that the rise of complex controllers was one of the factors that contributed to video games' increasing complexity. Looking back at the SNES, he explained that its interface featured six main buttons, a vast difference from the two-buttoned NES. According to Miyamoto, the number of buttons on the SNES's controller was influenced by Capcom's arcade hit Street Fighter II. To simplify the controller as much as possible, the L and R buttons were set on the controller's sides.
Nintendo's first solution to the complication of controllers was introduced with the GameCube, which featured a giant A button that overshadowed all the others. While the console's controller has been a target of criticism, Miyamoto explains that it was Nintendo's way of saying that gamers should be able to play games by using only a single button.
Nintendo's challenge to simplify game controllers reached a new level last year with the launch of the DS, which featured a touch-sensitive screen that users could intuitively control with just a stylus. Miyamoto commented that the handheld gained a lot of female players in their 20s, and the DS succeeded in expanding its audience beyond gamers, which was Nintendo's long-term goal.
With the Revolution, Nintendo is trying to make a console that fits in with the living room, rather than a machine that focuses on high hardware specs. Miyamoto revealed that the Revolution's controller is purposely shaped in the form of a TV remote because it's something that everyone in the family will touch. He hopes the controller will introduce a more effective and fun way to play games. As an example, he pointed out that its nunchaku add-on can be used for first-person shooters. Players would use their left hand to move and their right hand for actions.
In addition to Miyamoto, the Digital Interactive Entertainment Conference featured a number of other big-name guests, including "the father of video games," Nolan Bushnell; Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima; and Pac-Man creator Toru Iwatani.
Bushnell, founder of Atari and creator of Pong, criticized the current game industry on the same two points often stated by Nintendo. He said that the rise of development costs is not allowing game makers to take on new challenges or delve into new innovations. He also said that today's controllers are getting as complicated as a PC's keyboard, and general consumers are reluctant to use them. Bushnell complimented the Revolution's controller during his lecture, saying that it's "on to a good idea."
Kojima also complimented the Revolution's controller during a discussion at the end of the conference. Speaking with Miyamoto and Valve Software's Robin Walker, he praised the controller, saying that he had a hard time restraining himself from leaking information before its official announcement. He added that the idea of making a game controller out of a remote control struck him completely by surprise.
Iwatani, whose speech preceded Miyamoto's, didn't comment on the Revolution or its controller directly. Instead, he shared his thoughts that the future of gaming may lead far from the living room, which goes against the visions of Nintendo. Iwatani explained that more and more people are starting to have a PC in their own room; as a result, he believes that in the future, games will be played on PCs rather than living room TVs. Iwatani speculated that PCs may soon come with a universal gaming chip in their motherboard. The chip would have all the functions needed to play games. Users would simply download games, and they wouldn't have to worry about compatibility problems, since all hardware functions would be embedded in the chip. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In the crowded field of dreams that is game licensing and publishing, "If you buy the rights, they will come" is a phrase Take-Two Interactive is counting on. In January, the Grand Theft Auto publisher and parent company of 2K Sports purchased the third-party rights to Major League Baseball-branded games during the flurry of sports-licensing deals that began with Electronic Arts acquiring the NFL license.
In a move about as predictable as intentionally walking Barry Bonds with first base open, 2K Sports announced Major League Baseball 2K6. Officially the second iteration of the franchise under the licensing deal (Major League Baseball 2K5: World Series Edition was released in October), the game will take its swings this spring on the Xbox 360, Xbox, PlayStation 2, PSP, and GameCube.
By owning the third-party rights to MLB games, Take-Two threw out EA from competition. Only console manufacturers Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft can make MLB games, and only for their own consoles. So far, Sony is the lone first party that has announced a baseball game, MLB '06: The Show for the PS2 and PSP, for the upcoming season. Nintendo may jump into the game, as Nintendo Pennant Chase Baseball was pegged to take the field before being canceled late in development. EA, not content to watch from the dugout, fought back and announced MVP 06 NCAA Baseball, a collegiate take on the sport.
With fewer competitors in the market, 2K Sports has expanded its usual platform roster to include the Nintendo GameCube, PSP, and Xbox 360. In recent years, 2K's baseball titles only played a doubleheader on the Xbox and PS2. The Xbox 360 version marks baseball's debut on next-generation systems.
The game will feature new animations, enhanced commentary, and "flashback replays." It will also bring back game modes, features, and New York Yankees captain Derek Jeter as the cover athlete, who previously posed for the cover of last season's 2K baseball game. 2K Sports will announce more features as MLB 2K6 approaches its release date. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Buena Vista Games, the multimedia arm of The Walt Disney Company, today announced that it has shipped its 2 millionth unit of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. The multiplatform game, released in mid-November on the PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, DS, Game Boy Advance, and PC, is the biggest self-published title to date from BVG, formerly known as Disney Interactive.
Narnia is based on the upcoming film of the same name, which is a silver-screen adaptation of C.S. Lewis' popular fantasy book. Players will assume the role of the story's quartet of heroes--Peter, Edmund, Susan, and Lucy--and take on the wicked White Witch and her army of mythological beasts.
Demand for the game may increase over the weekend, as the Walt Disney Pictures film opens this Friday. The movie was cowritten and directed by Andrew Adamson (Shrek), and stars Tilda Swinton (Constantine, The Beach) and Jim Broadbent (Gangs of New York).
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe was developed by Traveller's Tales and retails for $49.99 on the Xbox, PS2, and GameCube, and $39.99 on the PC, all of which are rated T for Teen. The E10+ for Everyone 10 and Older-rated DS version sells for $34.99, and the E for Everyone-rated Game Boy Advance version sells for $29.99. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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R¥UÐØ™
Holy Priest/Priestess
Poor Inuyasha...
Posts: 4,592
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Post by R¥UÐØ™ on Dec 6, 2005 17:52:30 GMT -5
Sega today announced a worldwide partnership with International Sports Multimedia, exclusive licensee of the International Olympic Committee, to become the publisher of the Official Video Game of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. This agreement will allow Sega to publish a range of interactive entertainment software titles based on the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games As part of the worldwide partnership that will conclude in 2009, Sega secures the exclusive rights to publish console, PC/Macintosh, arcade, and handheld games worldwide. In addition, Sega will publish mobile phone games in Asian markets. "We are delighted to be working with Sega on what will be a historic Olympic Games," said Raymond Goldsmith, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ISM. Sega's broad publishing capabilities and rich heritage in video games ensures that consumers worldwide will share a more immersive Olympic experience." "Sega is excited to become the publisher for the Official Video Game of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and we are committed to creating innovative content for an unprecedented number of interactive entertainment platforms," said Hisao Oguchi, President and Chief Operating Officer of Sega. "This project will enable Sega to further enhance our global entertainment business and drive sales in critical Asian markets like China that offer an extremely high growth potential." The Official Video Game of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games will include a wide variety of featured sports, such as aquatics (diving and swimming), archery, baseball, basketball, boxing, canoe/kayak, cycling, equestrian, fencing, football (soccer), gymnastics, handball, field hockey, Judo, modern pentathlon, rowing, sailing, shooting, softball, table tennis, Taekwondo, tennis, triathlon, volleyball, weightlifting, and wrestling. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sumthing Else Music Works recently announced their latest release: Age of Empires III Original Soundtrack. The soundtrack album, developed by Ensemble Studios and Microsoft Games Studios, is now available at US retail outlets through Nile Rodgers’ Sumthing Else Music Works label. The Age Of Empires III Original Soundtrack features an original musical score composed by long-time Ensemble Studios musicians Stephen Rippy and Kevin McMullan whose previous work includes other titles in the Age of Empires series as well as Age of Mythology. Stephen Rippy, Music and Sound Director at Ensemble Studios said, “Age of Empires III is a game with an epic topic – it covers the colonization of the Americas over a period of some three hundred years, so it needed to have an epic-sounding score to match. Using a full orchestra and choir as well as some more period-inspired instrumentation, the music follows the story of Morgan Black and his descendants as they battle the Circle of Ossus for a foothold in the New World.” The soundtrack also features a bonus DVD that includes fourteen tracks remixed in 5.1 surround, a behind-the-scenes video of the studio session, the Age of Empires III cinematic trailer, and five exclusive bonus tracks. For more info, visit www.sumthing.com~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Coinciding with the launch of Amped 3, DC Shoes has produced 150 limited edition pairs of the Amped 3 Park LE Snowboard Boots for sale late November at select snowboarding shops across the country. The third in the series, Amped 3 features the DC Mtn. Lab terrain park property and house in the games' highest level, making this the first time a private park and residence have been featured in a video game. "It's quite an honor to have your own private home and terrain park represented as the highest level in a video game," said DC President Ken Block. "When Gunny (Park Developer Chris "Gunny" Gunnarson) and Nate Larsen (Art Director of the game's creator, Indie Built) approached me with this idea, I was immediately on board. It's absolutely amazing to have my home immortalized like this!" Nate had this to say about involvement with DC: "We've been super stoked on Ken's support from the beginning like the limited edition Amped 3 Park LE Boot, having the game in the bonus features of the DC Mtn. Lab Video and more," said Nate. "We love going to the Mtn. Lab and being based here in Utah made it easy for us to work with Gunny and Ken to document and design the Lab as the highest level in the game." The final level of Amped 3 has all the elements of DC's private snowboard park represented, including the rope tow, stair feature, rails, forked aspen and the road gap. It also incorporates the house and surrounding countryside along with DC Pros Travis Parker and Devun Walsh as game characters. While in Utah at the Lab this past fall, Devun Walsh and Travis Parker went into the studio for photos and voiceovers to be recreated as DC pros in the game. The Amped 3 Park LE Boot is a special edition of DC's Park Boot, and comes with a special box that holds the Amped 3 game in its lid. The black/pink boot colorway is available only in this exclusive promotion, which matches the colors and graphics in Amped 3. Because the Park Boot has been built for park riders, the Amped 3 Park LE ties in perfectly with the game's theme, specifically the final level at the DC Mtn. Lab. The Amped 3 Park LE Boot will be available at exclusive snowboard shops in late November and retails for $189.99. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Naked Sky Entertainment announced that RoboBlitz will be available to gamers through the Xbox Live Arcade on Xbox 360 in Spring 2006. RoboBlitz is a fast-paced action game featuring puzzle-solving and physics-based weapons. Players play through 15+ levels of high-intensity action as Blitz, a multi-talented robot on a mission to save its factory from a band of invading mechanical brains. “With RoboBlitz, Naked Sky brings to Xbox Live Arcade an enjoyable action title combined with imaginative design,” said Ross Erickson, Xbox Live Arcade Games Portfolio Manager. “It’s terrific to see a game that delivers both thrilling gameplay and cutting-edge technology that really demonstrates the power of Xbox 360.” RoboBlitz combines the power of the Unreal Engine 3 and Ageia PhysX to deliver a new gaming experience. The core gameplay is supported by advanced physics simulation, which offers players a world built entirely from the latest in game technology and robot control theory. RoboBlitz does all this while having a total download size under 50MB, thereby enabling its distribution via Xbox Live Arcade. Xbox Live Arcade delivers full-featured downloadable games on both Xbox videogame and entertainment system from Microsoft and Xbox 360. “Releasing RoboBlitz through the Xbox Live Arcade on Xbox 360 puts us at the heart of digital distribution,” said Naked Sky CEO, Tian Mu. “Xbox Live Arcade is a new, cost-effective way for independent developers like Naked Sky to get our console games to market.” For more information on RoboBlitz, visit www.nakedsky.com~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Alienware has opened its first retail location at Dadeland Mall, located at 7535 N. Kendall Drive in Miami. The new location allows customers to try out the latest Alienware products, speak face-to-face with technology experts, and sign up to take instructional classes, custom configure and buy Alienware systems. The public grand opening of the Alienware retail location will take place on Saturday, December 10th, while a press event will be held on Friday, December 9th. Alienware co-founder and CEO, Nelson Gonzalez, will be present that day to answer questions from the media. Visitors to the public grand opening will have the opportunity to win an Alienware Area-51 system with monitor and speakers. In addition, several lucky customers will win Alienware's new CE-IV digital audio player, and the first 100 visitors will receive a free Alienware t-shirt. "The mission of our new retail location is to create an exuberant user experience that has been thrilling thousands of Alienware customers since 1996,” said Nelson Gonzalez, CEO for Alienware. "The new retail location represents an opportunity for customers to see the entire line of Alienware systems, as well as never-before-seen products, in a more personal and interactive manner." “Microsoft is pleased that Alienware is offering consumers a retail experience,” said Kevin Eagan, general manager of the OEM division at Microsoft. “Customers who visit Alienware’s retail location will have the opportunity to test drive Alienware’s highly advanced Windows-based systems before they make purchasing decisions.” Alienware’s retail location is in Dadeland Mall at 7535 North Kendall Drive in Miami, FL, space K121 in between Macy’s and Nordstrom. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2K Sports announced today that Major League Baseball 2K6 is slated for release in early spring 2006, and will featuring New York Yankees All-Star shortstop Derek Jeter as the cover athlete and official spokesperson. Major League Baseball 2K6 will be the exclusive and only officially licensed Major League Baseball video game to appear on every major gaming console including the Xbox 360 and Xbox, PS2, PSP, and from a long absense from Nintendo console development - the GameCube. "We've assembled an amazing team to deliver the highest quality baseball title on every major video game platform," stated Greg Thomas, president of Visual Concepts, a 2K Sports studio. "2K Sports has pushed the boundaries of our entire line-up of games this year and Major League Baseball 2K6 will be no exception." "With Major League Baseball 2K6, 2K Sports has captured the essence of our National pastime," stated Derek Jeter. "It's been a great pleasure and honor to represent the finest baseball game on any video game system. I'm really impressed with the new graphics and features that Major League Baseball 2K6 will bring to baseball fans everywhere." Major League Baseball 2K6 includes new features such as a new movement system and realistic player collisions on the infield and outfield. New broadcast elements include flashback replays, and a unique player morale system. 2K Sports will be announcing more features in the near future. For more information, scoot on over to www.2ksports.com. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thousands of gamers lined up at stores in the 16 European launch countries on the evening of December 1st to be some of the first European gamers to get their hands on an Xbox 360 which resulted in a sell out across the region in its first day at retail. Top-selling games included Perfect Dark Zero, Project Gotham Racing 3, Kameo: Elements of Power, FIFA Road to the World Cup, Call of Duty 2, and Peter Jackson's King Kong. "The demand for Xbox 360 has been incredible and we are well aware that many gamers are disappointed to have not got their Xbox 360 on day one," said pointed to have not gotten their Xbox 360 on day one," said Neil Thompson, Senior European Regional Director, Home and Entertainment Division. "We are working around the clock to manufacture as many Xbox 360s as we can and are replenishing retail stores in Europe in the weeks coming up to Christmas. We remain committed to delivering up to 3 million consoles to consumers worldwide in our first 90 days alone. Consumers should check back with their retailers frequently." "The arrival of Xbox 360 marks the industry's leap into the next generation, and EA's launch line up is right at the forefront," said Gerhard Florin, Executive Vice President and General Manager for International Publishing, Electronic Arts. "We're delivering five of the world's most popular franchises right out of the gate to give consumers spectacular versions of their favourite games that truly unlock the magic of the new console. And more quality entertainment is on the way - we will continue to deliver a slew of games in the months ahead that combine the power of the 360 with EA's innovation in graphics and gameplay." At Activision, Roger Walkden, Vice President, UK, Emerging Markets & European Marketing, said; "Activision is thrilled to have worked with Microsoft on the launch of Xbox 360. Our four launch titles, Call of Duty 2; Quake 4; Tony Hawks American Wasteland and Gun are already selling through well. The next generation of videogames consoles offers Activision the opportunity to maximise on the technological advancements offered, benefiting both our development teams and consumers." Currently 15 games are on sale in Europe. Just as in North America, even though the console is sold out, Microsoft is promising restock from now until the Holiday. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nintendo of Europe's Senior Marketing Director Jim Merrick will be stepping down from his position, and will be returning to Nintendo of America. While Nintendo of America has confirmed that the former NOA then NOE Merrick will be returning to the states, his position still is to be announced. Merrick has been rather outspoken on DS and Revolution technologies in the recent past, so it will be quite interesting to see if this changes anything one he heads back to the often quiet Nintendo of America.
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