Gary's Blog

Just a place to find out what's on my mind, or what's occupying my time whilst I avoid actual "work."

 

VGN for November 25th, 2005

Video Game news:

50 Cent says it's okay to play his game, kids.

Tue Nov 22, 5:06 PM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Rapper 50 Cent, once shot nine times on the street in a gang incident, said on Tuesday parents should buy their children his new video game, rated 'mature' for blood, gore and sexual themes, and use it as a teaching tool.

 
The industry rating for "50 Cent: Bulletproof" means it has been deemed "not suitable" for those under the age of 17.

"Just because it is rated mature doesn't mean you shouldn't buy it for your kids," the rapper, whose given name is Curtis Jackson, told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday. "Play the game and explain to them what they are playing."

In the game, released just weeks after the popular rapper's movie, "Get Rich or Die Tryin'," hit the screens, 50 Cent is depicted making his way through New York's underworld with armed guards and guns blazing.

Last summer the American Psychological Association, responding to studies showing that violent video games can increase aggressive behavior in children, adopted a resolution recommending that all violence be reduced in video games and interactive media marketed to children and youth.

The rapper, who has a 9-year-old son, defended violent video games as entertainment. "I think everyone knows that a game is a game. There's the part where you actually press start on the controller -- after that you are playing a game."

Nintendo takes a hit.

Thu Nov 24,12:32 PM ET
 

TOKYO (AFP) - Nintendo has announced that a slump in both game console and software sales sent its net profit down 21 percent in the first half to September.

The Japanese company, the world's largest maker of portable game consoles, said its group net profit came to 36.6 billion yen (308 million dollars) in the six-month period, down from 46.5 million dollars a year earlier.

Sales fell 6.2 percent to 176.36 billion yen with pretax profit down 28.3 percent at 56.8 billion yen.

Nintendo blamed the decline on a slump in sales of its flagship Gameboy series portable game consoles and stand-alone game console, the Gamecube, amid tough competition with its domestic rival Sony's PlayStation Portable.

For the year to March 2006, Nintendo stood by its previous forecasts of net profit of 75 billion yen, pretax profit of 125 billion yen and revenue of 500 billion yen.

"In the video game industry, the handheld game market performed well," Nintendo said on Thursday.

Some Xbox 360s have problems, some don't.

Wed Nov 23, 9:39 PM ET
 

REDMOND, Wash. - Microsoft Corp. said Wednesday it had received isolated reports of technical problems with its popular new     Xbox 360 videogame system.

Some owners complained that their systems were crashing during game play, sometimes with error messages popping up. On http://www.xbox-scene.com, a site dedicated to Xbox gaming, a member called jsgongwon reported that he could not finish the first lap of "Project Gotham Racing 3."

"It's a few reports of consoles here and there not working properly," said Molly O'Donnell, a spokeswoman for Microsoft's Xbox division. "It's what you would expect with a consumer electronics instrument of this complexity .... par for the course."

Gaming fanatics lined up for hours Monday to be among the first to purchase the next-generation system, which was in short supply despite its starting price tag of $299.99. Microsoft hopes to sell 2.5 million to 3 million of the new systems in the first 90 days.

O'Donnell urged anyone with Xbox problems to call 1-800-4myXbox or go to http://www.xbox.com. If the problems can't be resolved immediately, Microsoft said it will pay to ship the console overnight to a repair center, overnight it back once it's fixed, or ship a replacement.

So, don't be scared.

Xbox 360 on Ebay.

By Lisa Baertlein
Wed Nov 23, 6:01 PM ET
 

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp.'s scarce new Xbox 360 has sold out at most stores with many new owners flipping the video game consoles by the thousands on Web auction site eBay Inc. for almost twice the retail price.

Big retailers, including Best Buy Co. Inc. and Target Corp., reported running out of Microsoft's next-generation game system at most, if not all, of their stores following its North American debut on Tuesday.

By Wednesday afternoon, 10,700 Xbox 360s had traded on eBay at an average price of $781, a spokesman for eBay said. The basic unit retails for $300. A premium package that includes accessories and a hard-drive that allows gamers to play existing Xbox titles costs $400.

An eBay search for the term "Xbox 360" returned nearly 27,000 listings. When sorted for items priced above $300, the number of listings shrank to just over 16,000.

Microsoft spokeswoman Molly O'Donnell said the company is resupplying retailers with Xbox 360s as quickly as possible.

"They'll be supplied on a week-to-week basis," she said.

Despite the shortages and strong demand from gamers willing to pay top dollar for the latest technology, some sellers were apparently asking too much.

One sought-after Xbox 360 premium console was listed with a starting bid of $1,200 and a "Buy It Now" price of $2,500.

That auction expired on Wednesday without attracting an offer.

What I've been playing:

Gun!  Awesome game although I'm stuck!

Far Cry: Instincts

Land of the Dead

posted by: Gary1059 at 08:15 | link | comments |