Archive for October 3rd, 2006
Dance Dance Revolution Supernova
Dance the night away with new songs.
Half-Life 2 Episode 2: Somebody Dies!
According to the latest CNN Money story on Episodic Gaming, in the next Half-Life 2 episode, someone dies!
It also lets them take some risks. For example, in the next episode of “Half-Life 2″ (due in the first quarter of next year) Valve plans to kill off one of the franchise’s regular characters.
Making such a move, particularly with characters that have become beloved in a major franchise is a risky one. But Newell said by introducing such a shocking twist, it can help the “Half-Life” story from becoming “just another watered-down serialized narrative.”
“I think we want them to care about these characters and want them to trust that we’re doing something smart with these stories,” he said. “We want them to be genuinely be worried about the characters, so you won’t think ‘Well they won’t do something to these characters, because they’re too important.’ If nothing matters, then nothing you do matters - and you’re moving away from being in a world and back to being in a shooting gallery.”
Yeah, no duh someone dies. I mean, doesn’t the Half-Life 2: Episode Two trailer flat out tell you that Alyx has been killed, and that the Vortigaunts are “preserving” her, implied less for necrophillia than for necromancy? It’s not really going to be huge drama if you kill off a character just to bring her back to life, Valve. And as for killing off Barney or Dr. Klein, didn’t you kill those guys off a thousand times each in Half-Life 1?
Changing the way video games are made [CNN Money]
Mark Rein says second-gen GoW on 360 looks better than first-gen PS3 titles
Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Business
Epic’s Mark Rein put on his publicity cap, started voicing strong opinions, and dropped a naughty word at London’s game developer conference today. While speaking about his company’s highly anticipated Gears of War for the Xbox 360 he said, “Sony says the next generation starts when they say so - bullsh!t (or as the British might say, bollocks!)!” He also stated that the second-generation Xbox 360 title will look better than PS3 launch titles. Plausible, but sure to stir up the fanboy bees nest while garnering calculated publicity.
Mark-ditty got specific, however, on expected play time for Gears. He estimates a 12.5 hour completion (contrary to the previously stated 10 hours) and also promised some surprises for the game, also known as cliffhangers. To be fair, the game (we played at E3) has got … well, game. So keep droppin’ dem bombs, Mr. Rein.
Listen to what else Mark has to say:
- Gears of War ain’t easy, defends Epic
- Epic’s Rein talks Gears, UT2007
- Wii graphically the low man on the totem pole
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Cheapy On Bloomberg (Again!)
After that mind numbingly stupid British news program we posted yesterday, it’s nice to see this: The mainstream media talking video games intelligently and not blaming them for society’s ills. There’s even added CheapyD bonus! The best part? When the anchorwoman geeks out and drops Sakaguchi’s name. Bummer that Bloomberg is still shying away from saying CheapAssGamer on air. We so want to hear them say “Ass.”
Find Cheapy’s First Appearance Here [CAG]
Free Gothic 3 soundtrack clips available
Filed under: PC, Adventure, RPGs
Piranha Bytes is treating fans to the musical stylings of composer and sound designer Kai Rosenkranz, with some free MP3 downloads from the Gothic 3 soundtrack. In this new installment of the popular role-playing series, Rosenkranz is backed by a full symphony orchestra, as well as Hollywood vocalist Lisbeth Scott (whose credits include Kingdom of Heaven and Munich). Gothic 3 ships next month and promises to consume hundreds more hours of your life, so hurry up and finish Oblivion.
See also: Morrowind soundtrack now available
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PS3: Dual Shake is dead, long live Sixaxis
Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Business
It’s official, Sony has decided not to use our clever “Dual Shake” moniker. Instead, they’ve announced the final name of their (somewhat) new PS3 controller today: Sixaxis, in light of the interface’s “six degrees of freedom” initiative. The dual-shock-less controller supports both wireless and USB wired connectivity, Bluetooth capabilities, and will sell in Japan for ¥5,000 ($42) on its November 11 launch.
Two additional accessories were also priced: A memory card adapter used to upload PS and PS2 data to PS3’s hard drive (as expected) for ¥1,500 ($13) and a state-of-the-art Blu-ray/DVD controller for ¥3,600 ($31) for would be movie watchers. Both will be available at launch.
(Courtesy Sony of Japan)
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PS3 Controller’s Name Revealed
Well, Luke called it. Sony’s wireless PS3 controller has been dubbed SIXAXIS. The Bluetooth supported, USB outfitted controller will be packaged with the PLAYSTATION 3 or can be purchased in Japan for 5,000 yen (US $43) starting November 11th. It is possible to switch the SIXAXIS from wireless to wired controller via USB. According to SCEI, The wireless controller can be operated for up to 30 hours when fully charged.
That same day, Sony is also selling a USB Memory Card Adaptor. It will go for 1,500 (US $13) and can be used to transfer PS2 or PSX game data for the PS3 harddrive. Moreover, Sony announced sales data for the BD remote. Previously, we posted the system’s Blu-ray Remote Controller. This will drop on December 7th for 3,600 yen (US $31).
PS3 Peripheral Presser [SCE]
Joyswag X06 Winner
Filed under: Joyswag
After poring through over 50 entries for our X06 swag giveaway, we finally narrowed it down to a winner. The winning entry (above) combines our love for Legos, Star Wars, and dismembering Totem Ball players into one excellent graphic. Congratulations to our winner — we’ll be in touch shortly to arrange shipment of the swag. To everyone else, please continue reading to enjoy some close-but-no-swag entries.The Original:
The Runners Up:
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The Jumbo NES
This giant NES console measures in at 8 ft. wide, 3 ft. high, 3 ft. long and weighs in at a whopping 400 pounds. Don’t know much else about it, except for one word: HOSS.
More Here [Cathode Tan]
The PLAYSTATION 3 INTERFACE
See these icons? If you’re planning on buying a PLAYSTATION 3, get familiar. Sony Computer Entertainment has a full list of the interface icons and a quick rundown of what they mean. Here’s a recap:
- User: Save your game data and browser preferences for each individual user.
- Settings: Make using the XMB (Cross Media Bar) convenient with individual settings for sound, BD/DVD, time/date, music, network, chat, display, security, etc.
- Photo: View slideshows in full HD. Download pics as well.
- Music: Listen to CDs or Super Audio CDs on the Multi-Channel. Play music on the HDD.
- Video: Enjoy full HD with Blu-ray Disc. It tops out at 7.1 ch.
- Game: Play PSX/PS2 games on the PS3.
- Network: Connect to your PLAYSTATION Network account, download and hit the PLAYSTATION Store. There’s an icon for “Remote Play” as well.
- Friend: Add buddies to your friends’ list, check your message box and chat.
Totally reminiscent of the PSP, sure, but not bad. Not bad at all.
PS3 Interface Icons [PlayStation Japan, via Gizmodo Japan]
Readers pick best webcomic duo
Filed under: Culture, Online, Polls
For the recent weekly webcomic wrapup, we tried pairing up the gaming comics by their joke, as we found many trends amongst the contenders. Of course, that nullified the impact of the poll. As the cost (both of time and energy) has exceeded its benefit, we’ll probably return to the old format for a few weeks — but hey, at least we tried.
The comedic pair of Penny Arcade and Digital Unrest (with a passing mention of Press Start to Play) were voted the best webcomic pair of the week for taking on Mario Hoops. Second place went to TGS jokes (PA and Fanboys) and third place was claimed by Square Enix satirists (VG Cats and Dueling Analogs).
Then again, Questionable Content was really cool. It’s a shame we didn’t make it an option; they might have earned bragging rights (”Hey, look at us! We were called cool by a lowly game blog! Woot!”).
Thanks to everyone who voted, and be sure to let us know of any game-related webcomics you stumble upon this week!
There are a multitude of ways one might try to figure out individual winners. Below, we chose to add the total number of votes for each category the cartoon was in and then divide by the number of appearances:
- Penny Arcade: (235 + 205 + 179) /3 = 206.33
- Fanboys: (205 + 176) /2 = 190.5
- VG Cats: (176 + 193 ) /2 = 184.5
- Digital Unrest: (96 + 235 + 139) / 3 = 156.67
- Extra Life: 139
- Dueling Analogs: (96 + 179 + 62 + 193) / 4 = 132.5
- RPG-TV (including DA cameo): (193 + 62) /2 = 127.5
Here’s the breakdown:
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Here It Is, The PS3 Remote
This I personally hadn’t previously seen before. At CEATEC JAPAN 2006, Sony showed off the PLAYSTATION 3’s remote control. It looks similar to the PS2 remote and guess what? It does pretty much the same thing! It’s supposed to be used for toggling and video functions—in this case, watching Blu-ray discs. Looks like any old remote, no?
More Here [Famitsu]
