VGN for July 8th, 2005

Friday, 08 July 2005

VGN for July 8th, 2005

Video game news:

Posted: 16:49 on 07 Jul 2005
By: Jon Wilcox
Latest release dates from Atari indicate a third increase in the price for Xbox 360 titles...
In their latest release schedule, Atari has indicated that the Recommended Retail Price for the forthcoming Xbox 360 title Test Drive Unlimited will be 59.99 Euros (£41), around the increasingly normal price of game of around £30. Although Atari’s price structure cannot be taken as generic for other publishers, the RRP does fall into the price range speculated in past months.

Xbox Modder goes away

Posted: 10:55 on 05 Jul 2005
By: Jon Wilcox

Cambridge graduate given Community Service Order after supplying chipped Xbox consoles...

In the first conviction of its kind in the UK, a 22-year old Cambridge graduate has been sentenced to 140 hours of Community Service by Caerphilly Magistrates Court in Wales after being found guilty illegally modifying Xbox consoles.

Fitting the machines with 200GB hard-drives filled with 80 pre-installed games, the offender would charge £380 for each modified console, whereas the estimated retail cost for the unmodified console and games would be an approximate £3000. Discovered by an internet investigator from ELSPA in October 2004 who then informed Caerphilly County Borough Council Trading Standards and Gwent Constabulary, the offender has also been ordered to pay costs of £750 and the forfeiture of all equipment seized including three tower PCs, two printers, three Xbox consoles and 38 hard-drives.

Hackers arrested in FBI bust
By Shannon McCaffrey, Knight Ridder
Tue Jul 5,11:01 AM ET

WASHINGTON - The Justice Department seized hundreds of computers and arrested four people in an international crackdown on Internet pirates illegally distributing copyrighted video games, software and first-run movies, such as the latest episode of ``Star Wars.''

Agents executed 90 search warrants in the United States and 10 other countries as part of Operation Site Down. The raids, which began Wednesday, shut down at least eight major online distributors and seized pirated works worth more than $50 million, authorities said.

Sony battles PSP hackers
By Lisa Baertlein
Tue Jul 5, 8:28 PM ET

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Hackers have cracked piracy protections on Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE - news).'s PlayStation Portable in the United States, the latest chapter in the company's battle to block unauthorized game use on its new hand-held device.

The world's top maker of video game consoles rolled out a downloadable fix for the software flaw that opened the door for the latest attack by hackers, who quickly cracked the original version of the PSP shortly after its release in Japan late last year.

In their latest move, hackers have enabled PSP users to download some games from pirate Web sites onto removable memory sticks and then to insert the games to run on the PSP.

Video games, good for students?

By CATHERINE SHAROKY
WASHINGTON, July 5 (UPI) -- Teachers in a Redmond, Ore., school have found by using video games in their classrooms, not only do students enjoy exercise more, they also produce better schoolwork and developed stronger interpersonal skills.

The vehicle for the improvements is a pilot program sponsored by the music-video game company RedOctane in Sunnyvale, Calif.

The five-month trial at Vern Patrick Elementary School is allotting time each day for third- and fourth-grade students to play "In The Groove," a Playstation 2 music-video game that involves stepping on a floor mat attached to a game console and following patterns of arrows shown on a TV screen. The arrows direct players to step in a certain direction and, as the arrows change position faster, the players must remember the patterns and begin to dance.

What I've been playing:

MechAssault on Xbox Live

Halo 2 on Xbox Live--Thanks Cybertron!!

Anime and Conventions:

Anime Festival Orlando 6 E-mail me for info on this year's MXC at AFO! gary@orock1059.com

Dragon*Con