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VGN for August 26th, 2005
Video Game News:
More Cell news relating to the PS3
By Martyn Williams, IDG News Service MacCentral
Thu Aug 25, 9:41 AM ET
The four companies developing the powerful Cell processor that will sit at the heart of the PlayStation 3 released detailed specifications for the chip Thursday as part of a drive to get it adopted in a wider range of consumer electronics and computer products.
IBM Corp., Toshiba Corp., Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE - news). and Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI), which are developing the chip together, published details on the Internet of the architecture of the “broadband engine” that sits at the heart of the processor. Details of the media and streaming acceleration processor and software programming language specifications were also made available.
“It’s aimed to accelerate the creation of Cell-based applications,” Nanako Kato, a spokeswoman at SCEI, said of the move to offer more information about the chip. SCEI is the Sony unit responsible for the company’s PlayStation games consoles.
The PlayStation 3 is expected to launch in the first half of next year and be the first Cell-based product on the market. Toshiba has said it’s looking at using the Cell in high-definition TVs, and Mercury Computer Systems Inc. has a deal with IBM that could see the Cell employed in computer systems.
Halo PWNS Hollywood
Wed Aug 24, 8:05 PM ET
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT - news) has signed a deal with two film studios to make a movie based on its popular space-based video game series "Halo," a spokesman for Universal Pictures said on Wednesday.
Universal and Twentieth Century Fox agreed to pay Microsoft $5 million plus a percentage of movie ticket sales. The total price being paid is capped at 10 percent of domestic box office receipts.
The deal ends months of speculation over which studio would win the right to make a "Halo" film, which came to Hollywood last spring highly-touted by Microsoft and its representatives at Creative Artists Agency. Messengers delivered a script to the studios wearing costumes and toting laser guns.
But several studios balked at an initially high asking price, which at the time published reports pegged at $15 million plus 15 percent of box office receipts in the United States and Canada.
Under terms of the final agreement, Universal will oversee the film's production and domestic distribution, while Fox will handle international distribution.
Universal spokesman Paul Pflug said the studios are aiming for a summer 2007 release of a movie based on "Halo" and "Halo 2," a science fiction series about an alien-fighting warrior named Master Chief.
Will the Revolution be Intarwebized?
Posted: 13:14 on 21 Aug 2005
By: Chris Leyton
IGN ignites rumours of a Revolution announcement ahead of a European event this week...
A quick browse of the internet recently reveals intense speculation that Nintendo will shortly reveal information on the Revolution. This appears to stem from IGN’s Matt Casamassina, suggesting this to follow shortly after the Leipzig Games Convention.
Now the last thing Nintendo needs is another MegaTon fiasco, however it could be worth noting that a European event is scheduled for August 25th, in which we’re promised "Christmas will come early"!
If such an announcement were to figure then similar events would have to be planned across the globe, and to present knowledge this isn’t the case.
What I've been playing:
Sid Meier's Pirates!
What can I say, I'm addicted.:)
Anime News:
Provided by VGN listener Tasha! Thanks!
According to the newest issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children will not be released in North America in September as previously reported.
Instead, EGM reports that Advent Children will be released "this holiday season." No further details about the date are mentioned.
Details about the release are however included in the article. There will be two releases, a single disc UMD release and a 2-disc Special Edition DVD. The 2-disc set will include extra trailers, bonus features and behind-the-scenes material, but not Last Order Final Fantasy VII. The short Last Order OAV will be included in the Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Ultimate Edition, which will retail for 29,500 yen (~US$270) and is to be released on September 14.
Anime Swim Reschedules
New episodes of Samurai Champloo, and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex on November 19.
On Saturday, October 8 InuYasha will take the 11 p.m. spot, followed by Fullmetal Alchemist, which will move its premieres to 11:30 p.m.
Samurai Champloo will begin repeats Saturday, October 8 at 12:30 a.m., leading up to new episodes beginning November 19.
The second-season premiere of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (2nd GIG) has been moved to Saturday, November 19 at 11 p.m.
Convention Corner:
Dragon*Con!! I'll be gone for next week's VGN, I'll be in Atlanta instead. Until then!
posted by: Gary1059 at 07:16 |
link | comments |
VGN for August 19th, 2005
Video Game news:
By ELIZABETH M. GILLESPIE, Associated Press Writer
Wed Aug 17, 8:05 PM ET
SEATTLE - When Microsoft Corp.'s new Xbox video game console comes out this fall, consumers will be able to choose between a fully loaded system and a more basic version without a hard drive, wireless controller and other features.
The premium Xbox 360 console will sell for $399.99 in the United States, Canada and Mexico — nearly triple the price of the current system — and 399.99 euros in continental Europe, Microsoft announced Wednesday. Meanwhile, the scaled-back version, dubbed "Xbox 360 Core System," will go for $299.99, and 299.99 euros in Europe.
Various accessories, like a 20-gigabyte detachable hard drive and wireless controller that will come standard with the premium version, will be sold separately and can be added to the less expensive "core" console.
Other features that can be added to that console include a wireless controller and TV remote, a headset for the Xbox Live online service, and an Ethernet cable for high-speed Internet connections.
Microsoft said it remains on target to ship the new Xbox to stores in North America, Europe and Japan this holiday season, ahead of Sony's PlayStation 3, which is slated to replace the market-leading PlayStation 2 sometime next spring.
Thu Aug 18, 9:41 PM ET
TOKYO - Japanese video-game maker Nintendo Co. said it will launch its latest hand-held game player, the cell-phone sized GameBoy Micro, in Japan on Sept. 13 and the United States on Sept. 19.
The company is expanding its portable offerings in part to counter sinking sales of its Nintendo GameCube amid rival offerings such as Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE - news).'s PlayStation and Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox.
The GameBoy Micro, to be priced at $109 in Japan and $99.99 in the United States, has a two-inch screen and comes in four colors — black, silver, blue or purple, the company said Thursday.
Posted: 10:27 on 16 Aug 2005
By: Jon Wilcox
Nintendo announces the delay of Twilight Princess until 2006...
With the launch of Xbox 360 at the end of this year it seemed that Nintendo’s ace card in the pack would be the return of Link in Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, which had been pencilled in for a ‘Winter 2005’ release. However Nintendo has today made a sudden announcement that the highly anticipated GameCube title (currently sitting in the number 8 spot on the TVG User’s Most Anticipated List) will be now be globally released during an unspecified period in 2006…
With big name GameCube titles drying up faster than a bucket of water in the Sahara, this delay will come as a massive blow to Nintendo – and the fans. In the statement, Nintendo citied the reason for the delay was down to the desire to add further unspecified elements to Twilight Princess and further enhance the game, which at the very least is re-assuring to hear that Nintendo will take such action to make sure a game is as good as it can possibly be.
By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID, Associated Press Writer
Wed Aug 17,12:55 PM ET
WASHINGTON - Violence in video games is bad for children's health. So says the American Psychological Association, which is calling on the industry to cut it back.
Research indicates exposure to violence in video games increases aggressive thoughts, aggressive behavior and angry feelings among youth, the association said in a statement issued Wednesday.
In addition, the APA statement said, this exposure reduces helpful behavior and increases physiological arousal in children and adolescents.
The statement said that studies of video games and interactive media show the perpetrators of violence go unpunished 73 percent of the time.
"Showing violent acts without consequences teaches youth that violence is an effective means of resolving conflict. Whereas, seeing pain and suffering as a consequence can inhibit aggressive behavior," psychologist Elizabeth Carll, co-chair of the APA Committee on Violence in Video Games and Interactive Media, said in a statement.
Gary's Rant on the APA:
*ahem* Hey, when you decide to start regulating your own denizens, and disown those court shills who make it a side job excusing the aberrant behavior of lunatics (I'm very aware of the implied hypocrisy using that word entails) who deserve more than just sedation and therapy as their punishment for crimes committed, I may just listen to you again. When you deem it necessary or even worthy of your notice to come here to Florida and help fix the massive problems this state has with REAL mental illness in the eyes of the law, I might be able to take you, or your opinion of another industry seriously. Thanks!
Posted: 11:09 on 15 Aug 2005
By: Chris Leyton
US gaming magazine chats with id Software's Todd Hollenshead...
During a recent interview with the US gaming magazine, Game Informer, id Software CEO Todd Hollenshead revealed a little about the developer’s future plans and their thoughts on the next-generation of consoles.
Revealing that their next title after Quake 4 will be for the Playstation3 and Xbox360, Hollenshead reported that Co-Founder, Technical Director and videogame legend John Carmack’s impression of both systems was “great” for the Xbox360 and “pain in my ass” for the more demanding Playstation3.
Hollenshead however did suggest that dev-kits for the Playstation3 are still in the early stages and could become easier to work with, although he believes that there will not be any drastic changes.
Given the project’s early stages its unknown as to whether the game will make a debut at E3’06; so it’s probably not worth hanging on for further information just of yet.
What I've been playing:
Sid Meier's Pirates!
And that's it!
Anime News:
From Anime Gaijin America...
Hi folks,
Its that time of the month again! Its time for Anime Explosion!
Tomorrow night (Friday the 19th) Anime Gaijin and Loews Cineplex will be hosting a FREE midnight showing of:
Inu Yasha Movie 4 "Fire on the Mystic Island"
An immortal island, the Horai Jima, has been protected by 'Meido no Kama' that has a spiritual power to resist the flow of time. The island used to be an eternal paradise where monsters and human beings were living together.
However, the monsters outside the island wanted the spiritual power, and they attacked the island and destroyed the paradise it once was. 50 years before Inuyasha was sealed by Kikyo, they had fought against the monsters on the island. That incident begins to affect on the present. The Horai Jima appears again. In the island, there are children who are half human and half monster. They know about Inuyasha's past and they want Inuyasha to help them. Then, Sesshomaru suspects the movement in the island, and he begins to act as if he were led by his great father.
If you missed this movie at AFO, here's another chance to see it on the big screen!
Loews Cineplex is located at Universal Citywalk, at Universal Studios Orlando.
Hope to see you all there!
Convention Corner:
Dragon*Con is almost here!!!
Tales From Dragon*Con: an ATM machine, scotch, me and a Pirate. Ugliness ensues.
posted by: Gary1059 at 07:25 |
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VGN for August 12th, 2005
Videogame news:
MICROSOFT POWERS DOWN PERIPHERALS
Xbox 360 accessories must be authorised or won't work on the system
12:08 The geek culture has been taking verbal pot-shots at Microsoft's aggressive business strategies for some time now, but new information surrounding 3rd party Xbox 360 add-ons has arisen to suggest their fears were true.
C|net is reporting that contracts between Microsoft and peripheral makers 'Mad Catz' Interactive refer to a 'security feature' inside the next-gen machine, which validates each device connected to the console and decides whether the system will accept or reject it.
The move not only allows Microsoft to control the type of input devices available on the system (making Xbox modding a more troublesome process), but also means the company can now demand royalties from sales of 3rd party peripherals, should they so choose. Whilst this is good news for Microsoft, smaller manufacturers are likely to find the measures restrictive.
Thanks to VGN listener Aaron for contributing this article!!
Nonstop Online Gaming Kills S. Korean Man
Wed Aug 10, 1:20 PM ET
A South Korean man died of apparent heart failure after playing an online computer game for 50 hours nearly non-stop, authorities told the Reuters wire service on Tuesday.
The 28-year-old man, only identified by his family name of Lee, was 28, and had been recently fired from his job because he'd missed too many workdays due to constant gaming.
Lee reportedly began playing Starcraft, one of the many online games offered to Koreans, on August 3, and paused only for bathroom breaks and short naps on a makeshift bed at an Internet caf in Taegu, the country's third-largest city.
"We presume the cause of death was heart failure stemming from exhaustion," a Taegu provincial police official told Reuters
Anyone want Ice for your Hot Coffee?
Wed Aug 10, 1:09 PM ET
What some users have called the world's "least-downloaded patch ever" was released Tuesday by Rockstar Games, maker of the under-fire "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" video game.
The patch, which is for the Windows version of the popular game, "prevents and removes the 'Hot Coffee' modification," said Rockstar in a statement on its Web site.
Grand Theft Auto stirred up a firestorm of criticism in July when the so-called "Hot Coffee" modification, or "mod," was published by an independent programmer and widely distributed on the Internet. The mod unlocked graphic sex scenes present in the game, but disabled by Rockstar. In reaction, the video game industry's rating board changed the game's rating from "Mature 17+" (M) to "Adults Only 18+" (AO). Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and other legislators also got in on the act, calling for a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigation of Rockstar.
Lists of record-breaking 130 participants and preliminary game lineup unveiled; four next-gen console games expected so far.
TOKYO--With the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 expected to be on playable public display for the first time, this year's Tokyo Game Show is possibly the most anticipated since 1999, back when the PlayStation 2 made its public debut. According to the Computer Entertainment Suppliers Association (CESA), the primary Japanese game-industry organization that organizes the Tokyo Game Show, the number of exhibitors for this year's TGS, as of August 7, has just about reached 130 companies at 1,429 booth units, breaking last year's record of 117. So far, 73 of the companies have announced a total of 166 games and products for this year's show, including mobile games and peripherals. 30 of those are online games.
Four next-generation console games are already set to be exhibited by third-party publishers, although it's unclear whether any will be playable. Konami is scheduled to show off the PS3's Metal Gear Solid 4 and the female fighter Rumble Roses XX for the Xbox 360. MGS 4 was initially announced at E3 in May, although no actual in-game screens were shown (or have been released since). Koei will also have two next-generation console games on display: Ni-Oh for the PS3 and Dynasty Warriors 5 for the Xbox 360. The list of next-generation console games should lengthen once Sony and Microsoft reveal lineups for their booths.
Disney Mobile working on "exact reproduction" of Don Bluth's animated arcade classic.
More than two decades after Dirk the Daring debuted in the original Dragon's Lair, the bumbling knight is poised to make his return to the arcades, and anywhere else you can bring your Sprint PCS or Verizon Wireless mobile phone. Disney Mobile is promising that Don Bluth's Dragon's Lair, developed by MMJ Games, will be "an exact reproduction of the classic arcade game," with 25 levels of pushing-a-button-in-the-direction-of-a-flashing-item gameplay along the way to rescuing the fair Princess Daphne from the fire-breathing dragon Singe. Gamers will also be able to post their high scores and compare them against others on a competitive leaderboard.
What I've been Playing:
Red Ninja. Ouch.
Psychonauts--thanks Cybertron!!
Ninja Gaiden with Hurricane Packs.
Incredible Hulk Demo. Wow.
Anime news:
AFO this past weekend. Vid? Let me check on it...
Con corner:
Dragon*Con is weeks away!!!
Next week "Tales from Dragon*Con" returns!!
posted by: Gary1059 at 07:14 |
link | comments (2) |
VGN for August 5th, 2005
Video game news:
Fighting the Grid Lock on the Grid Iron.
Down and dirty
Midway Games intends to play rough with its upcoming football video game, "Blitz: The League."
BY HIAWATHA BRAY
The Boston Globe
This year's National Football League season is shaping up as the least competitive in years -- if you're a computer gamer. That's because there's only one official league-sanctioned video game this year -- the 2006 edition of Electronic Arts' popular football simulator, "Madden NFL." Thanks to some hard bargaining between the league and the world's largest computer game company, EA Sports now has an exclusive lock on NFL gaming titles.
That's bad news for gaming rival Take 2, which finally broke Madden's hold on the pro football gaming market last year with its superb "NFL 2K5" game. Take 2's game was as good as Madden, at half the price, and sold millions of copies.
EA responded with the nuclear option -- an NFL licensing deal that bars Take 2 from the market.
Midway Games also makes pro football video games. Unlike Take 2, Midway has no intention of bailing out of the business. Nor does the company plan to challenge EA's exclusive deal with the NFL.
Instead, Midway is developing a different kind of football video game. "Blitz: The League," which debuts in October, will combine sports action with seamy off-the-field drama.
Mike Bilder, the game's executive producer, said that Midway had planned to drop its licensing deal with the NFL even before the EA lock-down.
"Over the years, the NFL has gotten more restrictive," Bilder said.
"Blitz" has never been a straight-up sports simulator like "Madden." Born as a coin-operated arcade game in 1997, it featured exaggerated athletic moves and exceptionally violent tackling.
There'll be plenty of innovation in this year's "Blitz." The game offers an entirely fictional football league, with teams like the Chicago Marauders and the New York Nightmare. In addition, "this is the first football game with a story mode in it," said Bilder. Along with the hard-hitting games, players follow the lives of the team's manager and key players throughout the season.
The game begins after your team has just lost the championship game. A vicious hit by an opposing linebacker (played by NFL Hall-of-Famer Lawrence Taylor) has ended the career of your star quarterback. Now you must rebuild by drafting new players and molding them into a team.
Thanks to VGN Listener Aaron for sending this one in!!
RETRO SHARE METROID PRIME 3 DETAILS
Posted: 20:33 on 04 Aug 2005
By: Chris Leyton
Retro Studios provides a glimpse of Samus’ return on the Revolution..
As details of Xbox360 titles and to a lesser extent the Playstation3 come thick and fast talk of the Nintendo Revolution has slowed down to bordering on comatose, while Miyamoto-san and his team presumably busily work around to clock to re-invent the way we play videogames.
That silence was today broken, well almost, as details of Metroid Prime 3 became apparent during an interview with Retro Studios on Luminoth Temple.
Naturally the team goes nowhere near to discussing specifics, although suggest that they want to take full advantage of the new functions of the Revolution and its controller. The game will be displayed from the same perspective as its predecessors, while suggesting that the Phazon substance will resurface and form a dominant role within the game.
Once again Kenji Yamamoto will compose the soundtrack, however work has yet to begin on this.
And that’s about it… but at least it gives the indication that certain developers are in the midst of Revolution development and presumably no more than they’re letting on about its revolutionary aspects.
Greg Sandoval
Fri Jul 29,12:52 PM ET
SAN FRANCISCO (AP)--Tara Teich enjoys nothing more than slipping into the role of a female video game character. But the 26-year-old software programmer gets annoyed by the appearance of such digital alter egos as the busty tomb raider Lara Croft or the belly-baring Wu the Lotus Blossom of “Jade Empire.”
Don't even get her started on the thong-bikini babes that the male gunmen win as prizes in “Grand Theft Auto,” which was sent to stores with hidden sex scenes left embedded on the discs by programmers.
Rockstar Games belatedly took responsibility for the scenes this week after the industry's ratings board re-rated the game “Adults Only.”
“I wish they were wearing more clothes,” says Teich, a lifelong game enthusiast who now helps create games. Why, she asks, must women in video games always look like Las Vegas show girls?
Yee-Haw. More money!
Fri Jul 29,12:15 PM ET
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Members of the Screen Actors' Guild overwhelmingly approved a new contract covering their work in video games, the union's Web site said on Friday.
The vote was approved by a margin of 81.2 percent to 18.8 percent late on Thursday and sent a strong message to SAG's national executive committee, which in June narrowly voted to nullify a previous SAG member vote approving the agreement.
The contract with video game companies, including industry giant Electronic Arts Inc., was jointly negotiated by SAG and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.
The agreement won higher wages and better benefits for union members, but failed to secure residual payments for a union actor whose voice or likeness appears in a video game.
Thanks again to Aaron for contributing this article!
Posted: 15:17 on 03 Aug 2005
By: Jon Wilcox
Several reports from several sources as speculation surrounding PS3 continues to build...
In contrast to what appears to be a relatively steady and calm progress towards the launch of Xbox 360 at the end of 2005, speculation surrounding Sony’s PlayStation3 console continues to build.
After SCEI boss Ken Kutaragi announced that people will feel the need to work longer hours to afford the next-gen console, speculation that the price of the PS3 will be relatively higher than previous console launches have been strengthened by comment from NVIDIA CEO, Jen-Hsun Huang. Speaking to Beyond3D at his company’s ‘Editor Day’, Mr Huang made comparisons between the $499 plus price tag of the GeForce 7800 GPU and PlayStation3, commenting that:
“We need to price it at a level the enthusiasts will buy it at, that's the way that we think about pricing. We think about the pricing of this in the same way that Sony thinks about PlayStation 3's - its not about how much is costs, its about what is the price it needs to sell at, and we need to figure out how to make money underneath that.”
Meanwhile the US edition of PlayStation Magazine has reported that the PS3 will not be supporting PSone and PS2 memory cards, instead it will solely rely on the HDD and Sony’s Memory Stick Duo cards, currently used on PSP. The magazine also states that third-party peripherals for the two older platforms will not be supported either, although the PSP will be used as a Wi-Fi remote control unit that could be used to organise and manage various media stored on the next-gen machine. With various suggestions going around as to what media types would be supported by PlayStation3, PSM is keen to stress that at the moment the final specification of the machine is yet to be set – although the option to play games in 480p and 480i (current non-HDTV standards) will be available to players without high-def equipment.
What I've been playing.
Nothing!!! I've been preparing for AFO. I need some game time soon.
Anime:
Hope to see you guys out there!!
posted by: Gary1059 at 07:42 |
link | comments |
