Microsoft’s slim-sized Xbox 360 will be on store shelves already this week, so what don’t we know? And is it a steal of a deal or not?
Microsoft – Xbox – Xbox 360 – Project Natal – Video game
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Play a video game, win money. That is the ultimate dream for gamers, and 2K Sports looks to make it a reality.
2K sports have announced that they are saying that they will offer one million dollars to the first player who can pitch a perfect game in Major League Baseball...
Bluetooth gadget manufacturer, Parrot, unveils toy helicopter and real-life video game that's controlled with an iPhone or iPod Touch.
No, this isn’t an official ad campaign, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth mentioning. It was created by a Mexican ad agency, Diagonal, and shows how awesome the PS3 is. Take that, mother-in-law. The other ad I liked—there are several—was this one, with the zombies:
I’m sitting here wondering how many graduate students have written papers, if not entire dissertations, on the role of zombies in film. Why are zombie movies so popular (relatively speaking)? Why do people feel no remorse for zombies? In video game culture, zombies are right up there with Nazis as go-to cannon fodder: who could object to shooting a zombie? A Nazi? Or a zombie Nazi? Incidentally, I’ve come up with a clever PS3 ad campaign of my own: 29 seconds of dramatic God of War III footage (I saw the game the other day, and boy does it look good), then the PS3 logo flashed across the screen for one second. No fancy concepts, no extreme nonsense. Just let the game sell itself. Mad Men: Technology Edition (I smell College Humor bit).
Would you buy a video game out of a vending machine? I certainly would, if only to avoid the phony human contact thrust upon me at GameStop. So these POP247 whiz-bangs are great. Too bad I’ve never seen one here. They’re starting to appear in the UK, home of formerly good football team Liverpool FC. Sony and Universal are behind the machines, and they dispense, yes, titles from said studios. It’s not just video games, either, but DVDs and Blu-ray discs, too. In the future, they may even provide a way to push downloadable content, like PSP Go games. Let’s be honest: the most exciting part about this post was the completely unnecessary dig at Liverpool FC. Without Torres and Gerrard that team would be fighting for top-flight survival this year. Fact.
Did you know that, at one point, Sony considered constructing the PS3 Slim around the concept of network storage? That is, instead of there being local storage (hard drive, memory cards, etc.) you’d store all of your data on Sony’s servers then retrieve said data over the Internet. Now that would have been radically different. Of course, Sony decided against the idea, primarily because it would have cost too much money to set up and maintain the required servers. It’s a shame, because as slim as the PS3 Slim turned out, it could have been so much slimmer! Well, all of this according to a recent interview with Nikkei Electronics Asia. Sony also said that it could have made the PS3 Slim even slimmer by moving the power supply (see: the Xbox 360’s power brick) outside the system. That was ixnayed, too, because it would have made it “harder to use freely.” I don’t know about you, but when I place a video game console in its spot, it doesn’t leave that spot until the next generation rolls around. So I officially don’t understand why Sony didn’t go with the power brick idea—it did with the PS2 Slim! Now, the network storage thing, yeah, that I can understand. Money aside, it’s a pretty foreign concept for console owners. “So I have zero control over my saved games? That’s not cool.” What happens if Sony’s servers explode and an earthquake knocks over the backup storage facility and a tornado destroys the backup’s backup facility? Then what?
It’s so, so easy to hate on Wal-Mart, what with destroying this country’s mom and pop culture, importing cheap junk from China, and freaking out whenever employees mention the word “union.” But if you’re a gamer, you really ought to cast aside your prejudices, brave the crowds, and find the games you’ve always wanted for a good $10 less than what you’ll find elsewhere. That’s right: we’re having ourselves a good old fashioned price war. Wal-Mart has taken it upon itself to sell video games this holiday season (not sure if it’s a permanent thing or not) for $10 less than you’ll find at GameStop, Best Buy, Amazon, etc. Sixty dollar games become $50, $50 games become $40, and so on. I don’t know if there’s any $40 games any more. And credit to PC World for using the word “rubbish,” which is right up there with my favorite words this years, in describing the games you won’t find. You will find Halo: ODST for $10 less, but you won’t find Barbie Goes to Hollywood and Gets Mixed Up With the Wrong Crowd. How have the likes of GameStop responded? Oh, by seeing the value of their stock go way down. GameStop stock tumbled 8.26 percent after word got out that Wal-Mart was meaning to eliminate the so-called “next-generation tax.” In conclusion, if you’re so viciously anti-Wal-Mart that you won’t shop there for any reason whatsoever, then it may make sense to do your video game shopping there. And if Wal-Mart is good enough for Ric Flair, then it’s good enough for me.
By now you’ve already heard about Nintendo Monopoly, but let’s add two more video game-themed board games to the list: Halo Risk ($40) and Donkey Kong Jenga ($25). With Halo Risk, you’ll set out to conquer 42 territories of Arcadia instead of the various territories of Earth. There’s room for five players spread across two Covenant armies, two human armies, and an army made up of The Flood. Halo Risk is $40 at ThinkGeek. If you’re not down with playing a single board game like Risk for 10+ hours straight, then maybe Jenga’s more your speed. Except this is no ordinary Jenga, as you can play using “the Donkey Kong rules and race your Mario to the top of the tower to rescue Pauline before the structure collapses to the ground.” You can play the normal way, too, if you don’t deal well with change. Donkey Kong Jenga is $25 at ThinkGeek.
Nintendo has announced that its Wii video game console has sold over 6 million units in the UK in less than three years to become the fastest-selling UK console ever. "Figures released today courtesy of the UK's leading independent music, video and software performance and sales tracking company, Chart Track-GfK, show Nintendo's home console, Wii, has now sold more than six million units in the UK alone since launch." The Nintendo Wii was released in the UK on December 8, 2006 and went on to claim the record in the week ending November 28, 2009.
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Rumor no more! Are you standing? Then sit down. Are you sitting down? Then stand up, then sit down again, for there’s huge news to share: Michael Jackson is now confirmed to have written the music for Sonic The Hedgehog 3. There’s a magazine in France called Black & White. It’s Michael Jackson’s official magazine over there. Check out the cover:
Looks great, right? Right. In the latest issue, composer Brad Buxer said the following:
So there you have it, Michael Jackson did, in fact, write the music for Sonic The Hedgehog 3, as the rumor had gone for so many years. Surely this belongs in that “shocking moments” thread on NeoGAF. via Reddit
There’s almost a comedy about this next story: Australia has banned another video game because it’s too violent. (What is it with Australia and banning violent video games?) The game is CrimeCraft, and it has been refused classification by the ratings board down there. The game was refused classification because “there is insufficient delineation between the ‘fictional drugs’ available in game and real-world proscribed drugs.” In other words, the in-game drugs aren’t “fake enough” for the Australian Classification Board. CrimeCraft is sort of an FPS MMO. You’ll recall that this same board refused classification for several other games, including Left 4 Dead 2 and Risen. No, I’ve never heard of Risen. I wonder, what is it about this board that makes it so ornery? You never hear about the ESRB refusing to rate a game here in the U.S. I could go on, but Australia is so far from me, you know.
In your face, parents all over the world. After pleading with your children to quit rotting their brains with non-stop video game playing, your suggestion of playing a board game instead has backfired on you with the Nintendo edition of Monopoly. Longtime Monopoly fans will find the traditional streets replaced with Nintendo characters. Mario – easily Nintendo’s most recognizable face – can be found in the place of Boardwalk, the standard game’s most expensive property. Other features include Nintendo-themed player tokens, a special 60-minute speed play mode, power-ups and invincibility instead of houses and hotels, and a slew of other enhancements and changes that ought to help bridge the gap between Nintendo fans and Monopoly nuts. Available for $34.99 at ThinkGeek.
Machinima.com has become quite the growing viral attraction in the last year. They hover around 60 million monthly video views spread across their network, up from just 20 million a year ago, with most of the views coming from their hilarious YouTube channel and the website itself. Machinima’s makes their own content, as well as showcasing the content of private contractors, ans has many popular series including Halo’s “Red vs. Blue.” This announcement comes just before Machinima’s Inside Gaming Awards, which will air on December 15th. Nominations for the Inside Gaming Awards, which include 18 categories such as Game of the Year, Best Weapon, and Best Multiplayer, will open on November 27th.
At least 2 million Xbox Live users have logged into Facebook this past week, which I guess means the feature is a bit of a success. (You’ll recall that Microsoft launched Facebook and Twitter to so much enthusiasm last week.) Mysteriously, Microsoft didn’t reveal the number of people who logged into Twitter. Is this the end of Twitter? No, of course not. Maybe it just means that Xbox Live users don’t see any value in using Twitter when there’s no way to click all those bit.ly links? In related “social” news, Microsoft says that around half a million Last.fm account were created with the launch of Xbox Live-Last.fm compatibility. Needless to say, these applications weren’t a total waste of time on Microsoft’s part. I’m still not convinced of the value of using Facebook or Twitter from the couch—don’t you have a Facebook or Twitter application on your phone in your pocket?—but I’m decidedly non-plussed by all these newfound “social” applications. It doesn’t help that, generally speaking, I’m an anti-social jerk :-) Now, there’s a larger point to be made here about whether or not we actually want our video game consoles to become little more than low spec PCs. If you had a top-of-the-line PC, why would you want to buy the PS3 version of, say, Fallout 3 when you can grab the PC version, what with all those mods and whatnot? Maybe I should save my beans and buy a gaming-worthy PC in the next year, and actually play games like Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead 2, Fallout 3, and Call of Duty the way they were meant to be played? I’m very much considering it. Too bad I know *nothing* about what makes a good gaming PC these days.
Short and to the point: Manny Pacquiao beat Miguel Cotto in round 12 on Saturday night via TKO. So EA Sports’ prediction was right in that Pacquiao won the fight. And where was EA Sports’ UFC prediction? Oh, that’s right: it told Dana White to take a hike when he approached them about making a UFC video game back in the day. Smart move, EA.
As of next Tuesday, November 17, you’ll be able to access Twitter and Facebook on your Xbox 360. The software update is free, like previous updates, and also includes Last.fm and Zune video compatibility. “What are you doing?” “Losing to 12-year-olds in Modern Warfare 2 over and over again! Not fun.”
The idea, I guess, is that you’ll be able let your friends know just how much fun you’re having while playing the latest game, or streaming the latest Netflix release, without having to go through the trouble of whipping out your phone or walking over to your computer. I see it as a convenience and nothing more. It may also mean that there’s nothing you can to do stop Twitter’s worldwide dominance. This is what the Twitter interface looks like in motion: Note that the Xbox 360 isn’t the only video game console whence you can tweet or alter your Facebook status. The PS3 and Wii come with a built-in Web browser, and a stand-alone Facebook interface for the PS3 was leaked just yesterday. And while the Twitter and Facebook support will get the most attention, I think it’s the Zune HD support that’s most interesting. Say what you will about the Zune HD—Devin liked it, and I went out and bought it I was so impressed—but the idea of an instant-on, HD, 5.1 surround system movie service certainly intrigues me. Of course, its success now depends on what type of movies are released for it.
Activision’s Modern Warfare 2 racked up $310 million in sales across the U.S. and UK during the first 24 hours of availability. That makes it the biggest video game launch ever. Hooray for war simulators! It works out to 4.7 million units sold across the two countries. These are Activison’s own numbers, by the way, not some wacky Wall Street analyst or anything like that. (Official worldwide numbers aren’t available yet.) That said, an anylsyt for the Cowen Group said that he expects to see the final worldwide number to clock in at around 7 million. That really is ridiculous when you think about it: 7 million copies (maybe) of that game sold within 24 hours. That’s just under 300,000 copies sold per hour. In other words, it’s a good time to be an Activision stockholder right now.
Consider this a friendly reminder. Tonight at 9pm ET on CBS (in the U.S.; I’m sure there will be plenty of streams, though, which you can find on your own) two of the big stars from EA’s upcoming EA Sports MMA video game will hit each other very hard. Fedor Emelianenko, the big Russian guy who could well be the best MMA fighter of all time (or is that Sakuraba?), will fight Brett Rogers, of whom I know nothing. There’s actual a reasonably interesting story vis-à–vis video games and mixed martial arts. A few years ago, UFC approached EA with the idea of making a video game. UFC declined, saying that it didn’t consider MMA to be a real sport, which, let’s just say, really upset UFC president Dana White. UFC later signed a deal with THQ to make the video game, which has been both a critical and commercial success. The success of THQ’s game is said to have sparked EA’s interest in making its own MMA game. EA then started signing fighters to a deal, before announcing that Strikeforce would be the game’s main promotion. So yeah, I’ll be watching Fedor tear apart Rogers tonight. If only it were easier to place bets online from the U.S! I am spending the day watching old Fedor fights, courtesy of alt.binaries.mma. Hopefully Mr. Emelianenko comes out to that Era song again, and not some generic rock nonsense. The beauty of this post is that maybe six of you have any idea of what I’m talking about.
Writing about tech is so peculiar. On one hand we’re expected to be enthusiastic about the things we cover; no one wants to see us being negative and dismissive about every little thing. That’s no fun. On the other hand, you don’t want a bunch of ninnies bleating on about how great this year’s piece of plastic is compared to last year’s. How is that useful to anyone? A bit of skepticism is necessary so we don’t come across as cheerleaders for this or that company, or for this or that device. You can’t be objective if you worship the ground that the two Steves—Jobs and Ballmer—walk on. I bring this up not as a condemnation, but rather a recognition: much of this is quite silly. The Motorola Droid comes out today, and my first reaction was, “Eh, so what?” That’s not a popular opinion, of course, and a quick trip to Techmeme will confirm that for you. (Techmeme is a king-making Web site that’s really, really influential for some reason. You can’t fight city hall.) I just can’t get excited over the launch of a device that should have come out years ago. I can recognize its importance to Verizon Wireless (the Droid being the first non-BlackBerry smartphone worth its salt that’s available on VZW), and its place within the wireless industry, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to sit here and be all, “Woo, a phone is available! Hooray for the corporations behind it~!” Look at the unemployment numbers that the Department of Labor released today. A full 10.2 percent of Americans are out of work right now. That’s a big deal, and will most certainly affect consumer electronics’ companies bottom line this holiday season. How many of these people (or people in similar, dire economic circumstances) are looking forward to a new smartphone? Or a new HDTV? Or a $150 video game? I’m actually surprised that I haven’t seen more made of these unemployment numbers. The holiday shopping season starts pretty soon (if it hasn’t already!), and I really do wonder how many of the companies we write about will fare. Not to pick on the Droid again (it’s just in the news today, so it’s in my head), but how many people are prepared to buy the phone for themselves or a family member, and then commit to paying a minimum of $70 per month just to use the thing? How many copies of DJ Hero will be under so many Christmas trees when mommy and daddy are having a tough enough time paying the bills as it is? I’m not saying these things won’t sell at all, but I haven’t noticed too many stories in the tech press that so much as hinted at the tough times these companies might have. Not everyone can swing $200 + $70 per month (for one line!) on a basic communication device. I mean, does a $200 smartphone sound any better than a freebie phone you can grab with a $40 per month contract? As impressive as Android 2.0 is, I don’t know if I’d say it’s any more important than putting food on the table for your kids. (Incidentally, a comment over at TechCrunch made a similar point, that, you know, providing for one’s family is more important than having the latest version of Android in your pocket.) I write about this stuff with a few things in mind, one of which is that this is all largely for funsies. It’s fun to see that latest super-thin netbook, or to see what new developments that are in the e-book front. It’s fun to tease the Apple TV for being a useless hunk of junk, and it’s fun to predict to what degree that Apple tablet will destroy its competition. But don’t think I assume that all of you have tons of disposable income to throw around to buy the latest widget, one that’ll be obsolete within six months. I completely lost track of this some time ago, yes. I just sometimes feel that the whole tech world gets caught up in the hype of THIS THING or THAT THING without considering what’s happening in the real world. A tech bubble, if you will. Just know that I recognize it (as do the rest of the CG guys), and try not to get caught up in it. That’s all. Image swiped from Drudge. Can’t beat bold, red font.
The market for video and computer games featuring erotic content, the so-called eroge, is huge in Japan. As a lot of smaller and independent software companies are battling it out in a highly competitive field, you often come across a lot of bizarre stuff (I’ve heard). School girl- or tentacle-themed games, for example, are especially popular (although the bulk of the latter are being shipped to a person called Bohn Jiggs who lives in Brooklyn/New York, as my industry contacts told me recently). Another of those strange erotic games, called “My Boyfriend Is the President”, hit Japanese stores on October 30. The plot: Aliens brainwash the entire human population into thinking their leaders are in fact cute girls. I’m not sure what the developers were smoking, but I’m sure this game will become as big as the next Final Fantasy.
Now some Japanese geek with too much time on his hands took the original theme song of the game and made his own promo trailer for the movie (caps above). Even the pope makes an appearance. It’s just weird, as you can see here: And here’s the original game trailer with English voice-over, which is just a little less bizarre:
While there’s no hard numbers, an analyst over at Capital Markets has called the sales of DJ Hero “modest.” Usually you want phrases like “brisk pace” and “exceeding expectations” when you release big ticket games like DJ Hero, but it doesn’t seem to be happening here. You already know why: the game is too expensive. It’s asking a lot of consumers to spend at least $120 on a video game ($200 for the special edition), the genre of which may be played out, when the economy still hasn’t picked up for the average person yet. Or maybe the DJ culture isn’t as attractive as the whole rock and roll culture? It should be noted that the game isn’t necessarily bad, with our own Greg Kumparak saying it “doesn’t suck horribly.” High praise from the big man. I also don’t recall seeing a big marketing campaign behind the game. Maybe people just don’t know enough about it? Whatever the reason, the game isn’t quite a huge hit.
Look at the AP, trying to stir up controversy where none exists. I’m sure by now you’ve seen the leaked Modern Warfare 2 footage (the video is down right now) that shows a terrorist situation inside an airport. The AP (and HuffPo) is making a big deal out of the fact that you can shoot civilians inside the airport. And? Are they trying to go with that weak argument, “Oh, violent video games make people violent”? How can people still believe that? Let’s face facts: Modern Warfare 2 will be the biggest game of the year, no doubt. It actually pains me to write that, seeing as though I was sorta “meh” toward the first one. (I just don’t like modern warfare setting. How about an FPS that takes place during the American Civil War, or from inside the trenches of the Somme? Now that would be interesting.) As such, it’s not as if gamers are going to see this footage and say to themselves, “Well! This crosses a line! I’m now going to deny myself a genuinely fun gaming experience because the AP thinks it’s too violent!” What probably will happen is some guy who’s a casual gamer at best will hear about all this controversy, then, as he’s doing his holiday shopping at Wal-Mart, sees the game and says, “Hey, that’s that terrorist game. Let me check that out.” Bam, more money in Activision’s pocket. Never mind that the game is rated (here in the U.S.) M, for players 17 and older. If you cannot distinguish between real life and video game silliness by age 17 then you probably have bigger problems.
Nintendo's Wii Fit Plus exercise-oriented video game secures the British Department of Health's seal of approval.
Digital Contents Expo Tokyo: Augmented tabletop video game with pinching gesture recognition (video)
The Koike Laboratory from the University of Electro Communications in Tokyo was responsible for one of the most spectacular booths at the Digital Contents Expo that ended in Tokyo yesterday. They developed an “augmented tabletop video game with pinching gesture recognition”. The device is basically a touch screen running an action game. The game has been around for a while now, but the latest version I saw at the event was just awesome. Just have a look at the video I took at the expo yesterday.
Nicholas here, fresh off freaking out over Shogun Rua’s loss last night. (I hate to use the word “robbed,” but Mr. Rua was 100 percent robbed last night. Later today: watching Dream 12!) I just wanted to draw your attention to a New York Times essay I just stumbled upon. It’s about the Internet, and our increased dependence upon it. It’s pretty short, so it won’t kill you to read the whole thing. The basic thesis, nearest I can tell, is that the Internet has taken over our lives; that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Is it harmful to spend 20+ hours playing an online video game at the expense of “real life” contact, or at the expense of school or work? Yeah, probably. But, as the Internet, and computers in general, move away from a work/school-only phenomenon and converge with our lesser activities (entertainment and the like) we become susceptible to, well, losing ourselves in it. That is, “Man alive, I’m been here three hours, and all I’ve been doing is looking up old Ric Flair promos on YouTube, and then doing the related Wikipedia shuffle. I went from looking up Starrcade to the concept of sovereignty in just a few clicks! And I have articles to write, (and Dream 12 to watch)!” Yes, the essay is a little hinky. The question becomes how to properly allocate your time online between the pointless and the slightly less pointless. Do you download an application that kicks you offline, and keeps you there? Do you study/work from a place that has zero Internet access? Or do you embrace the fact that, well, this is how we do things from now on: working right alongside 18 tabs about the history of Nintendo and the Monday Night Wars?
Video game rental service Gamefly launched its GameCenter App in the App Store Thursday. This free application gives iPhone and iPod touch users access to data...
The Stage-Gig speaker system is being debuted at the College Music Journal (CMJ) music festival in New York City. Modeled as a stage monitor, the Stage-Gig gives you a 6.5″ woofer, silk tweeter, all with 40 watts of output power. It has two sets of RCA plugs so you can theoretically chain as many of these units are you could possibly want. If you don’t have any better speakers, these offer you a simple, plug-and-play upgrade for your game console. XBox, Playstation, Wii, anything that uses RCA audio outputs will work. Look for it in early November and expect to shell out $99.95.
Sony will add a second higher capacity slimline PlayStation 3 to its video game console lineup on November 3.
 Photo credit: Dan Winters It’s a bit surreal. A soldier assigned to the Reaper and Predator program may see combat at 2:00pm, and then go home at 5:30pm and stop for Taco Bell on the way home. Esquire managed to get some really excellent access at the site, and spent some time with the the people responsible for helping defend the ground troops in Afghanistan.
Start by going to the 2009 Video Game Expo today, tomorrow, and Sunday. Then either at 3:00 or 7:30 on Sunday, swing by the Kimmel Center and catch the magical sound shower that is… Video Games Live. It’s a full orchestra that plays music from video games. You will like it. Speaking of Magical Sound Shower, here’s Video Games Live playing songs from OutRun. You’ll recall that OutRun is one of the greatest games in the history of gaming. That is all. Video Games Live [VideoGamesLive.com] Video Game Expo 2009 [VideoGame.net]
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Philadelphites (Philadelphanaes? Philadelphonistas? Philadelphonzos?) – Philadelphians! You have your weekend all mapped out for you, assuming you’re a geek.