02.28.07

Marketplace Update and Some Laughs

Posted in Xbox 360 News at 1:26 pm by UNSCleric

New Arcade Title: Alien Hominid HD
Price: 800 Points
Single Player, Xbox LIVE Multiplayer 2-4, HD (High Definition). Buy the full version of Alien Hominid HD, the award-winning classic from the Behemoth. Includes 16 full levels in beautiful high-definition, 7 mini-games, and 50 all new PDA levels. With completely hand-drawn graphics, this one-of-a-kind Xbox LIVE Arcade title will make your console happy again!

Winning Eleven Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 Demo
Play as thousands of the best professional soccer players with the #1 soccer game in the world. New leagues and teams give you unmatched realism with amazing next generation graphics. You can even play the game in English or Spanish!
Size:  1.2 Gb

Battlefield: Bad Company Teaser Trailer (720p)
Get a flavor for the tone, the destruction and the action that awaits in Battlefield: Bad Company.
Size:  130 Mb

In other news,

Sony hopes to resolve PS3 “shortages” by May
Joystiq.com - 2/28/06

Apparently all the PS3s you see in stock don’t really exist. Perhaps they’re just empty display boxes, or Sony is just really quick to replace huge piles of the console; they sell out fast and get restocked even faster. But don’t worry, you should be able to find a PS3 in a few months, says Sony chief executive Jack Tretton. “April or May is when we feel like we’re going to catch up to demand and have product fully in stock across North America and stay there.”

Tretton continued by telling Reuters that the console was still out of stock in “some areas” and that the, ahem, shortages were “a testament to the fact that we’ve been able to manufacture and ship units on a greater pace than any previous console.” Since we seemingly live in make-believe land, let’s pretend Sony didn’t even say this.

Sony’s Phil Harrison also had some more dumb stuff to say a couple days ago:

Talk to the people who run GameStop, talk to the people who run BestBuy, and they’ll tell you that the demand is unprecedented and that they give us kudos for managing to keep a very sophisticated supply chain moving.

More on that here.  There’s also news that Sony doesn’t plan to cut the price of the PS3 for another two years.  That must work out good for Sony,take out things that cost money, but still charge the same outrageous price (especially overseas). My three month old post on PS3 problems still gets comments to this day as well, with people reporting more problems every week, so that’s another fun thing to throw into the PS3 nightmare the gaming industry is currently having to endure.

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02.26.07

GRAW 2 Multiplayer Demo & MLB 2K7 Demo

Posted in Xbox 360 News at 5:24 am by UNSCleric

 Tom Clancy’s GRAW 2 Multiplayer Demo

Demo the Outpost map with 16 players, new game modes, and a coop mission. Experience 8 new MP maps and a 6 mission campaign.

Major League Baseball 2K7 Demo

It’s a whole new ballgame! Major League Baseball® 2K7 redefines the pure baseball video game experience with true, next-generation details, all-new throwing mechanics, and a revolutionary presentation system.

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02.25.07

TMNT: Confirmed for Xbox Live Arcade

Posted in Xbox 360 News at 1:34 am by UNSCleric

The arcade classic, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, is now up on Microsoft’s PartnerNet. The game is a port of the original with the addition of Achievements and 4 player co-op online and offline.

No price or date have been announced.

Alien Hominid will be the Arcade title this coming week as well.

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02.24.07

"PS3 is proof positive: bad things happen when gaming isn’t the focus"

Posted in PS3 Related at 3:59 am by UNSCleric

From Arstechnica.com -

In May of last year I wrote a rather long editorial on Sony’s decision to go with Blu-ray, wherein I demonstrated that no matter how you slice it, Sony’s decision to go with Blu-ray made the console considerably more expensive than it would have been otherwise. I suggested that Sony should have abandoned Blu-ray or, at most, should have made it an add-on, such as the HD-DVD drive for the Xbox 360. The reason is simple: by pushing the console’s price into sky-high territory, Sony was stretching themselves dangerously thin.

Almost a year later, it’s completely obvious that Sony has stretched itself too thin. As we learned this morning, Sony is now bifurcating their product line even further, delivering a lesser product to the European market in order to save a few bucks. Dumping some of the dedicated hardware for backwards compatibility should save Sony a few greenbacks (or yen, as the case may be), but it screws gamers. And for what? How much cost is Sony saving by scratching this hardware?

There have been several “tear down” estimates for PS3, the best of which comes from iSuppli. They estimate the cost of the Emotion Engine in the PS3 at $27. That’s the chief hardware component providing PS2 backwards compatibility. Did Sony just jack with the PS3 over $27? Even if the cost were twice as much, would it be worth it?

With the PS3, Sony has let its video entertainment aspirations dictate the design of a gaming console, and the results are now plain for us to see: when the going gets rough, the gaming functionality gets going (going, gone!) out of the box. Buh-bye. Sure, now Sony will use software to provide some backwards compatibility, but not full compatibility. They’ve got a stop-gap measure in place, and we’re hoping that it works really well because who wants to keep an old PS2 sitting around once you have a PS3?

How many other ways has Sony shown ill-placed deference to their media aspirations? They did add HDMI to the low-end unit a few months before launch, which is great news for non-gaming uses such as watching Blu-ray movies in 1080p. It also increased the price on the low-end unit, of course. Then there’s the HD scaler: hard-locked resolutions are more media-oriented than the more gamer-friendly variable resolutions.

If Sony thought of the PS3 as a gaming machine first and foremost, they would have never let this happen. When their vision for the PS3 became one of pushing Blu-ray rather than delivering the top-notch gaming experience they’re known for, they went astray. Removing more gaming functionality isn’t going to set them on the right path.

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02.22.07

SAW III: Now Available

Posted in Xbox 360 News at 8:40 pm by UNSCleric

SAW III is now available in the Xbox Live Video Marketplace.

Jigsaw has disappeared; and with his new apprentice Amanda–the puppet-master behind the cruel, intricate games that have terrified a community and baffled police–he has once again eluded capture and vanished. While city detectives scramble to locate him, Dr. Lynn Denlon is unaware that she is about to become the latest pawn on his vicious chessboard. One night, after finishing a shift at her hospital, Lynn is kidnapped and taken to an abandoned warehouse where she meets Jigsaw, bedridden and on the verge of death. She is told that she must keep the madman alive for as long as it takes another one of his victims, Jeff, to complete a game of his own. Racing against the ticking clock of Jigsaw’s own heartbeat, Lynn and Jeff struggle to make it through each of their vicious tests, unaware that he has a much bigger plan for both of them.

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Lost Planet Sales & New Xbox 360 Platinum Hits

Posted in Xbox 360 News at 3:51 pm by UNSCleric

The first bit of news today is that Xbox 360 exclusive Lost Planet was the top selling game for January.  You can be sure that Capcom is looking at those figures when thinking about Devil May Cry 4’s future and that Konami is also taking note when it comes to their big name titles.  Nobody is going to ignore the system with the biggest install base, especially when that same system is the one with the best developer tools and support, not to mention the premiere online platform.

There was also an official announcement of more games joining the $29.99 Platinum Hits line, there are the following:

• Battlefield 2: Modern Combat (Electronic Arts)
• Burnout Revenge (Electronic Arts)
• Call of Duty 2 (Activision)
• Dead or Alive 4 (TECMO Inc.)
• Fight Night Round 3 (Electronic Arts)
• Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (Ubisoft)
• Top Spin 2 (2K Sports)
• Rockstar Games presents Table Tennis (Rockstar Games)

This goes into effect on March 16th.

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02.21.07

Unreal Tournament 3 Trailer

Posted in Xbox 360 News at 12:25 pm by UNSCleric

Unreal Tournament III marks the return of the world’s premiere first-person shooter. This is Unreal Tournament like you’ve never seen it before!

The “Winter Gamer’s Day” trailer is now available in the Xbox Live Marketplace.

UT3 will be released for the Xbox 360 this fall.

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02.20.07

Crackdown: Now Available

Posted in Xbox 360 News at 10:49 am by UNSCleric

At this time, all stores should be either selling Crackdown, or be minutes away from opening and having it for sale.  Unlike most games, Crackdown was given to retailers early so that everybody could get it as soon as possible.  It’s one of those rare times that a game is actually available on what was supposed to be its ship date.

Crackdown pushes the action-driving hybrid genre into the next generation with the first ever truly 3-D playground. Enforce justice by any means necessary in Pacific City, a crime-ridden urban center primed to explode and ready for you to explore. Enter an interactive world where anything can be used as a weapon as you clean up the streets the only way you know how. Your way.

Developed by Scotland’s Real Time Worlds exclusively for Microsoft Game Studios and the Xbox 360™ console, Crackdown is the brainchild of Dave Jones, the creative genius behind many innovative game titles.

• True next-gen visuals: Harnessing the amazing power of Xbox 360, Crackdown players enforce justice against the backdrop of a crime-ridden metropolis that is massive in scale and meticulous in detail. The game’s unique presentation employs a highly stylized rendering technique that turns it into a living, breathing graphical novel.
• Double the mayhem: From the initial conception, Crackdown has been built to feature a dynamic and engaging co-op experience for double the action, carnage, and intensity.
• Free-form gameplay: For the first time ever, every inch of an urban playground has been designed for you to explore and exploit. Use any route necessary as you take down the crime syndicates, going under, around, or through the environment however you choose.
• Over-the-top action: Get the job done, no matter what it takes. Any strategy or tactic is acceptable, so long as you re-claim the streets. Unleash the awesome powers of your agent, developing his full genetic potential, becoming faster and stronger, learning bone-crushing moves, using outrageous weapons, and defying certain death at every turn.
• Environmental weaponry: Low on ammo? Never a problem. Thanks to an amazing amount of props and a deep physics system, you can use whatever you get your hands on as a weapon: Trash cans, vehicles, even people. Set the scene for mass destruction with a game that remembers your actions better than you do. Gather vehicles to assemble barricades, build epic piles of explosives, push it to the limit. Crackdown can take it.

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02.19.07

Marketplace Content Update (2/19)

Posted in Xbox 360 News at 6:30 pm by UNSCleric

Movie Trailers:
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Disturbia
300 (Trailer #2)
Zodiac
Shooter

Game Trailers:
BlackSite: Area 51
Fuzion Frenzy 2
Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2
John Woo Presents Stranglehold
NBA Street Homecourt
skate.

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02.17.07

EA Looking To Purchase 2K Sports

Posted in Xbox 360 News at 3:33 am by UNSCleric

Yep, I just got sick too.

In an article about publisher Take-Two and their financial problems, analyst Michael Pachter from Wedbush Morgan Securities has forecast what would be the ultimate death of sports games.

From GameSpot -

Pachter also evaluated the chances of the company being acquired, broken up and sold in pieces, or being taken over by activist investors. While he described all three scenarios as “unlikely,” he did suggest that the publisher’s currently unprofitable 2K Sports operation might be an acquisition target for its fiercest rival, Electronic Arts. According to Pachter, EA is the most likely buyer for 2K Sports because few others would be willing to go head-to-head with the Madden NFL publisher in the sports genre.

“It is clear to us that Take-Two’s sports business would have tremendous value to EA, as it would give EA a monopoly on football, basketball, baseball, and hockey,” Pachter said. “It is arguable that EA would benefit by as much as $1 billion if it were to obtain an exclusive; this does not mean that it is willing to pay $1 billion.”

Given the few potential suitors who would be interested in going toe-to-toe with EA in the sports genre, Pachter said EA could pick up the division for roughly $200 million. An EA representative declined to comment on the speculation, while a Take-Two spokesperson had not returned GameSpot’s request for comment as of press time.

Related: The Next-Gen Infowar: Electronic Arts  /  Digg

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Halo 3 Update

Posted in Halo at 2:36 am by UNSCleric

Bungie has a new weekly update posted, and this one has a few interesting things in it.  You can read the full update here.

Several months ago, work began with folks over the MGS Marketing team to develop the “brand identity” for Halo 3. This basically refers to the look and feel that will come to represent the game to fans and customers around the world. The first step was the logo itself which is followed by promotional imagery and the actual box art itself. If you recall back to Halo 2, we had a series of images that were used on everything from print ads to billboards that were dubbed the “Golden Campaign.” These images featured Master Chief against a fiery orange (golden) sky and the three pieces grew in intensity as the marketing campaign progressed.

For Halo 3 we’re taking a similar approach and building three distinct visual pieces that will be used in the months leading up to launch. These visuals are meant to convey various elements of the game and ultimately build awareness and create excitement – much in the same way you might see a major motion picture positioned and marketed.

Even though we showed Halo 3 for the first time last May, the official marketing campaign for the game is just now starting to begin. With this kickoff comes the first phase of visual identity – what is creatively being referred to as the “teaser piece.”

Several folks on the Bungie team have been working with our MGS partners and external agencies to make this imagery and subsequent pieces look really awesome. Soon you will start to see this popping up all over the place. We’ve seen comps of this plastered on bus stops, billboards and even the sides of skyscrapers. We hope you like it because you’ll be seeing a fair amount of it in the weeks ahead. Eventually we’ll graduate to phase two which will feature new imagery that’s in development right now – and it’s shaping up to be really sweet.

A lot of it is going to follow this in tone and style, but I can tell you that these images ratchet up the excitement and atmosphere with each successive poster.

Wallpaper sized horizontal treatment 1024×768
Wallpaper sized horizontal treatment 1280×768
Wallpaper sized horizontal treatment 1280×1024
Wallpaper sized horizontal treatment 1600×1200
Wallpaper-sized vertical treatment

They then go on to talk a bit about the campaign’s development, and more details on the beta.

There are still many details of the Halo 3 beta to be finalized but one thing we did want to confirm is that the beta will not be starting next week. Crackdown will be available in stores starting Tuesday, 2/20, but the Halo 3 multiplayer beta start date is still being finalized. We’re still aiming for a Spring release, but it could be more like late Spring.

As soon as we have some firm details we’ll be sure to pass them along. In the meantime, enjoy Crackdown itself, which is a blast to play (especially co-op). And don’t forget that we still have new Halo 2 hotness coming in the form of brand new multiplayer maps still slated for release this Spring. We’ll have more to say about all of this stuff in the weeks ahead.

Looks like there’s still two or three months left until the beta begins.  Fortunately, Crackdown comes out this Wednesday!

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