Archive for October 9th, 2006
Fight Night Round 3 Gets PS3 Facelift
Fight Night Round 3 hits the Playstation 3 on Dec. 12, EA Sports announced today. Besides updated graphics, the PS3 version of the game will include a new Get in the Ring, first-person mode.
Get in the Ring mode allows gamers to experience the fight through the eyes of the boxer from the moment they step into the ring until someone is KO’d. The unique first person view can be played on or offline, throughout the career mode or in single bouts. For the first time ever, gamers will truly experience the sensation of the sport with different visual and audio effects occurring throughout the fight such as ear ringing, restricted vision, flashes of bright light, color shifts and blur effects that simulate the sense and feeling of getting punched.
The PS3 version will also have ESPN Integration, which deliver the latest scores and news with streaming radio, ESPN motion, live ticker updates, and ESPNEWS; and new split-screen fights. Sounds kinda cool, though not overwhelmingly different than the 360 version. I wonder if EA will be releasing a first-person update for the 360?
Rumor: Leaked PS3 Pre-Order Memo
GameStop/EB Games isn’t playing around with the PS3 pre-orders. In a recent memo, leaked to us by a friendly mole, corporate walks store managers through the pre-order process and stresses that people will be disciplined if the rules are broken. SEXY, I wonder if they’ll use a ballgag?
Other interesting tidbits include the fact that online pre-orders will be available as bundles only and that stores can’t reserve above their “reserve quantity.” There is also an interesting mention of the Wii in the memo. I’ll make sure to post once I get to the bottom of that tidbit. Please keep in mind this is a supposed to be leaked document, but we have no way of verifying it.
From:*********
Subject: PS3 reservation plan and reservation allocations!!!
Date: 10/09/06 3:26pm
Attention store personnel:
On Tuesday, October 10, 2006, you will begin taking reservations on the Sony PS3 under SKU 020072 (PS3 Premium Edition) and SKU 020071 (PS3 Core Edition). YOU MAY NOT BEGIN TAKING RESERVATIONS FOR THE PS3 PRIOR TO October 10, 2006. Reservations are to be processed on a “first come, first serve” basis for your customers. Under no circumstances are reservation “places in line” to be held for customers. Our online reservation program will be activated at a future date: online reservations will be available as “bundle-only.”
No forced bundles or any other customer “requirements” are allowed (our online reservation policy may vary). Reservations will be limited to one system reservation per household (customer is allowed to reserve 1 Wii and 1 PS3 if desired)
As these systems are in short supply and high demand, all stores are being allocated on their reserve quantity. Stores are not allowed to reserve above their assigned reservation allocation for any reason. Reserving above your assigned qty can result in disciplinary action.
Your assigned allocation for the PS3 is “16″ units TOTAL between the 2 system choices. You are only allowed to reserve “16″ units TOTAL of PS3. No more than 2 of these systems can be set aside to be purchased by store employees.
Please use the tracking form below to insure that you only reserve 16 units. Please record each customer’s name and phone on the form below each time you complete a PS3 reservation.
As you process each reservation, you will need to communicate the following message to each customer:
Reservations/Purchases are limited to 1 per household.
The reservation guarantees the customer a place in line only: it does not guarantee that the system will be available at launch.
Gamestop is not responsible for allocation shortfalls or shipping delays caused by the manufacturer.
Online product pricing and availability will vary and be fulfilled independent of store reservations.
As a service to your customers, please try to capture each customers correct e-mail address when processing the reservation. This will allow us to send updates to the customer as more games and accessories become available for their system.
PS3 Pre-Orders Start Tuesday at EB, GameStop
Holy Next-Gen, Playstation 3 fans, why are you reading this and not camped out at a game store?
I’ve just confirmed with my local EB Games that starting tomorrow morning EB Games and GameStop will be taking pre-orders for the Playstation 3. The pre-order will essentially hold your place in line on launch day, according to the guy I talked to. So if you’re the first person to land a pre-order tomorrow you’ll be the first person to get a PS3 from the store on launch day.
This is what the chains’ website is saying:
Limited PlayStation 3 Pre-Order
GameStop and EB Games will begin accepting limited pre-orders for the PlayStation 3 console on Tuesday, October 10, on a first come, first served basis. Due to extremely limited supply, we expect to deplete this allocation very quickly, most likely in minutes. We will not accept additional pre-orders at this time. To avoid an unnecessary trip we strongly recommend you call your local store to determine availability. A $100 reservation deposit is required, which can be funded with cash, credit or trade. As we cannot control production and shipping issues by the manufacturer, a reservation deposit does not guarantee receipt of a system available to purchase at launch. Reservations/Purchases are limited to 1 per household.
Our limited online pre-order program will be announced at a later date, after software and accessory availability dates are confirmed. Online product pricing and availability will vary and will be fulfilled independent of store reservations.
The two stores I checked with were opening at their normal time tomorrow, but they said they were getting tons of calls. “You might want to camp out over night,” one employee told me.
Those Bully Boys: Wired Begins the Pointing and Laughing
I laid into the kid with a flurry of punches, including a punishing uppercut I’d been taught by an alcoholic Vietnam vet. Wham, wham, wham: Pretty soon I’d pummeled my opponent into the ground. And for my brutal finishing move?
I leaned over and gave him a hand up. I lectured him about the importance of not bullying defenseless kids, and he apologized, promising that he wouldn’t be such a meanie any more.
So starts a slightly spoiler-ridden, but very good article about the truth of Bully (Canis Canem Edit if you’re nasty), Rockstar’s latest progeny. The thrust of the piece is clear: by reacting solely to the title of the game, all those protesters and Jackasses were only setting themselves up for embarrassment. In Bully, you are not the bully. You’re morally sound. You get in trouble for hitting girls.
So what does this say about Rockstar? I posit that this was some serious ninja shit by the R* boys, and that they knew exactly what they were doing with this title, and the near complete dearth of actual marketing. I think they knew that all they had to do was whisper the sweet B word into the ether, and it would eventually reach the right ears: ears attached to empty heads and load mouths. And I’m not talking about bloggers, shockingly.
Rockstar has struck a huge blow for the cause. They gave the enemy a shovel and just watched them dig. When the game comes out it will be important to keep covering it, rubbing it in that the Jackasses were wrong.
We have an opportunity here to take some serious territory. Don’t let me down.
Bully for You [Wired]
Duct Tape Freeman for the Hallowin
As a lead-in to my own, possibly game-related Halloween costume, I proffer this pretty decent Gordon Freeman and crab, constructed primarily of cardboard and duct tape. Looks pretty good for tape and boxes, huh?
Gordon Freeman Costume [Aeropause]
Kotakucomp Number Whatever: Now We Clothe You
Our furry friends over at Way Of The Rodent have pointed us in the direction of their wardrobe for sale at Wear Of The Rodent, and have pushed over an armful of plastic-wrapped, fresh-smelling, hot off the inkpress teeshirts to clothe some Kotakuites with.
Lucky or what!
So here’s the deal: you send in your name (no addresses, fleshy pictures or anything else, thank you, Florian is more delicate than he sounds) to this email address right here. You can do this once each day that we’re running this comp, which is all week (Monday through Friday, thanks eagle-eyed readers). Each day we will pick out a winner, who will later receive that teeshirt of their choice via a paper packet pushed through the door.
Complicated, we know, but we have to keep your game-addled brains alive somehow.
Enter here, naked people!
Microsoft: “We Won’t Give Up” (And We Have Loads of Cash)
The video game industry? Cut throat. Take Microsoft. Since the company entered the fray, it has lost hundreds of millions of dollars on the Xbox and the Xbox 360. Is Microsoft concerned? Nope! Microsoft COO Kevin Turner points out:
People forget. Steve [Ballmer, Microsoft CEO] reminds me it took seven, eight, or nine years before Windows was profitable. People forget that. We’re in it for the long term. This is a company committed to invest for the long term. We would like to make money quickly. But that’s not what changes the world. That’s not what innovation allows you to do. Regardless of what you look at, it takes a lot of years. This is a company that is committed to sticking to things that we believe in. Certainly, this is a space we believe in.
That company must have wads of cash, sitting around the office to throw up in the air whenever something bad happens to Sony. No joke.
Microsoft In For the Long Haul [Next-Gen]
Mysteeeeerious Sony Ads from Behind the Curtain
These come from deep in the bowels of Sony itself, via blindfolded carrier pigeon that’s signed an NDA.
What the hell is it?! There are hints.
So I’ve attached some png’s of the playbeyond site, it’s currently just a graphic featuring the clock stopped at 3 but it will become something much more when it goes live. Yes this will be an ARG of sorts. That’s all I can say for now… drop me a line in future and I might be able to tell you more.
Stay tuned, Kotaku Scouts. I’ll be bringing you updates when I can. Hit the jump to see them all full size.
Today in Joystiq: October 9, 2006
News
Trailer for Rockstar’s LA Noire is Ellroy-esque
Some BAFTA winners baffle; GRAW is game of the year
Games shipping this week
Sunday NY Times says Spore is special
MS: “This is a space we believe in” despite losses
Japanese first-party PS3 games ¥5980 ($50 USD)
Japanese PS3 interest rising
The Burger King Achievements
Download Vista RC2 now
PS3 pre-orders open tomorrow at EB Gamestop
HD young, gamers on standard-def
Rumors & Speculation
Online gaming to become MySpace?
Sunlight: Wii’s biggest foe
Culture
LEGO + CGI + stop motion animation + Donkey Kong
Lost rarities — the hard to find gems of console gaming
The top five comfort games
Gamer auctioning XBL gamertag for PS3
Xbox France shows its advertising mojo
Custom Second Life figures
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Clips: Wii Games You’ll Never See
College Humor sent us another bit of original game humor today. This one shows a baker’s dozen of Wii games you’ll never see at a store. My favorite is Tea Time, though I’d bet money a tattoo artist game is going to hit the Wii eventually.
WoW Fanboys Attack South Park
I personally loved the South Park episode of World of Warcraft, but it looks like the WoW hardcore, i.e. the real-life, chip-eating shirtless guys, are picking the show apart in a Wiki article.
The fanboys have listed all of the inconsistencies from the show in a series of streaming, savant-like diatribes. Some examples:
“He [Randy] incorrectly suggests that he is a hunter.”
…
“Cartman’s character is the main tank and wields an Unyielding Maul. He is the leader of the boys’ group and is always the last killed. His armor color is the same as his jacket. He is a warrior, but when you see his actionbar, it looks like a Rogues actionbar (It has Eviscrate and Stealth).”
…
“Trailers for this episode show Stan and Kyle in what appears to be the Undercity, right after Kenny is killed. In the airing of the show, they were in Goldshire.”
…
“This guy’s character is shirtless and wears a helmet, boots and gloves. EDIT: He is seen casting Fire Blast and Arcane Explosion in Westfall(mage only spells). However, summoning scorpions is not possible with a Mage.”
Now Matt Stone and Trey Parker get to taste what William Shatner has been putting up with for most of his life.
World of Warcraft comes to South Park [ Wikipedia, via 1Up ]
Super Marius Velocipede
Earlier I posted a Mario/Alice in Wonderland mashup teeshirt design intended for Threadless, but what I did not do was delve deeper into the other works by the same artist.
Here is one of a pair of Super Marius designs, both several months old at this point and unfortunately unvoteable. Neither of them made the finals and are not currently available on shirts, which is a pity.
Fortunately, and in no small part thanks to you readers, I bet, the design was voted a 3.12 which is usually good enough to get printed. I’ll keep an eye out and post if it becomes available.
Sachka’s Threadless Submissions [Threadless, via GayGamer]
Previously on Kotaku: Alice in Marioland
Wii Rampage: George, Ralph, Lizzie? Where Are You?
Rampage 1.0 is not a timeless game, but I believe firmly that the mechanic itself is. Timeless in the sense that it will always be fun, but also in that after a certain amount of time logged smashing, eating, falling, climbing, punching, vomiting and being electrocuted, you cease to comprehend the meaning of “time” and enter a grit-toothed, glassy state.
The Wii edition of Rampage will fix this by implementing a control mechanic in which the player must grasp the wiimote and actually scale objects that are the same dimensions as the skyscrapers they represent. In the manual, friendly diagrams portray a man turning his couch on end and securing it with cinderblocks and molding putty. Children under the age of 12 are reminded to get adult help.
These screenshots are a little offputting. The only original character I can spot is a dog thing that might be Ralph, but also might be a beaver. No George or Lizzie in sight, and the available characters seem to include a plucked leghorn, a Mars Attacks-style alien, a giant enemy lobster, a mummy made of colon, a vaguely sexually offensive poodle, a fanged flea, a fat gargoyle in a towel, a nude Rocksteady, and a badass tarantula that is already my pet character.
I can’t wait to punch you off my highrise when we’re supposed to be in co-op mode.
54 Rampage Wii Shots [Computer and Video Games]
The Triforce Adonis
This classic portrait is from the BMEzine blog, ModBlog, which is home to all manner of grotesque and exciting specimens and womens.
Says Shannon Larratt, ModBlog’s primary contributor:
Since people have mentioned I need to post more guys, let me give you Neek, with his triforce tattoo by Roma Pavel Angel at Angel Tattoo Studio in Moscow, Russia.
Neek is a geek, doy, and therefore I won’t judge him too harshly for that adolescent undergrowth clouding his otherwise chiseled jaw. He’s a fine figure of manhood however you cut it, but I wish he would.
I will gently proffer the opinion, nay, the advice, that men under the age of 40 with fat-free throats unafflicted by severe underbite are doing themselves a vast disservice by allowing those oh-so-ironic curlies to sully their adonic visages.
Geek Love [ModBlog]
HD young, gamers on standard-def
Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, Business
HDTV is the future of gaming, but when will that happen? As Joystiq writers, we mostly play games on fancy HDTVs, but Gamasutra reminds us that we’re in the minority; HDTV adoption has been increasing, but the market is still in its infancy.
A series of interviewed analysts discuss the conditions needed for HDTVs to be common and if Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo have the right approach to the new technology. The analysts don’t offer any concrete answers, but share the opinion that movies will continue to drive the transition because they’re much more common than games.
The next-generation console war is about HD — or lack of it — as much as anything. We’re disappointed that the Wii won’t run higher than 480p, but maybe Nintendo and its developers are saving by omitting something most gamers lack. Or if consumers want a Blu-ray player combined with a game system, Sony will likely be the next-gen champion.
See also: Capcom aware of Dead Rising standard-definition woes
See also: Mea culpa for 360’s King Kong
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PS3 pre-orders open tomorrow at EB Gamestop
Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Fighting
And they’ll likely close 10 seconds after. In what is sure to result in a pulsating mass of pushy gamers waving their hundred dollar bills in the air, PS3 pre-orders are opening at Gamestop and EB Games stores tomorrow. According to an e-mail sent to online customers, Tuesday, October 10 will be the supply and demand doomsday that has been anticipated and dreaded by countless gamers across the world — Europe excluded, of course (not that they mind).
The message goes to great lengths (it has bolded text) to point out that supplies are “extremely limited” and that you’ll have to part with $100 in cash, credit or trade in order to secure your PS3. And by “secure,” we mean “a reservation deposit does not guarantee receipt of a system available to purchase at launch.” The full e-mail text:
“GameStop and EB Games will begin accepting limited pre-orders for the PlayStation 3 console on Tuesday, October 10, on a first come, first served basis. Due to extremely limited supply, we expect to deplete this allocation very quickly, most likely in minutes. We will not accept additional pre-orders at this time. To avoid an unnecessary trip we strongly recommend you call your local store to determine availability. A $100 reservation deposit is required, which can be funded with cash, credit or trade. As we cannot control production and shipping issues by the manufacturer, a reservation deposit does not guarantee receipt of a system available to purchase at launch. Reservations/Purchases are limited to 1 per household.
Our limited online pre-order program will be announced at a later date, after software and accessory availability dates are confirmed. Online product pricing and availability will vary and will be fulfilled independent of store reservations.”
Good luck.
[Thanks to everyone that sent this in!]
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Custom Second Life figures
Filed under: Culture, Business
Wired News mentions that a new company, Fabjectory, will turn a Second Life avatar into a seven-inch, real-world figure. Once your desk is littered with figures, we can only imagine that you’d perform a puppet show, doing voices for each character. Yes, that’s what we imagine.
Prices are about $100 for most figures to $200 for complicated jobs with lots of appendages or other extra work. Fabjectory creates an computer model of the avatar, then uses a 3D prototyping machine to produce the real-world figure.
While unconfirmed, Spore may offer a way to order plastic versions of your creatures directly through the game. (As part of its marketing, EA has sent real-world versions of creatures reporters created.)
We welcome these third- and first-party figures. We just know our World of Warcraft, Second Life, Spore, and Everquest characters will be friends.
See also: Our one of a kind Spore figurine
See also: Spore figurines at E3
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The Ultimate Game Desk
My desk? Tiny. In the corner of my cramped (yet carpeted with two balconies and mountain/factory views) Japanese apartment. I need a better set-up. I need the ROCCAFORTE and its all caps spelling. A drunken weekend in Milan tells us that “ROCCAFORTE” is Italian for fortress “BIG AND EXPENSIVE.” Made by Japanese company M-S-Y, this US $500 plus beast features loads of mini-tables for peripherals and extra monitors and speakers. Ladies and gents, we have a winner, a BIG AND EXPENSIVE one.
ROCCAFORTE Is Large [Gizmodo Japan]
This Day in Gaming, October 9th
1997: LucasArts releases Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II for PC in the US. Fanboys, ATTACK!
2002: Microsoft releases Whacked! for Xbox. I guess this is some sort of online party game. But what is should be is an early 90’s spoof where the player walks around a mall and calls everything they see “whacked”. It would be like Dead Rising - minus the zombies, plus the scrunchies.
2002: A 24-year old South Korean man dies in an Internet Café after gaming for 86 hours without food or sleep. He is found in a restroom. Let’s all raise a glass tonight for someone who sure, sounds a little crazy, but was also more of a gamer than any of us will ever be (hopefully).
Have gaming history, trivia, or famous birthdays you’d like to see in TDIG? Drop us a line at tdig@kotaku.com
Download Vista RC2 now
Gamers on the bleeding-edge (read: will sell blood for DirectX 10 video card) can download Windows Vista RC2. Microsoft says that this will be the final public update before Vista ships to retail; freeloaders, this is your last chance.
Vista claims to be a significant update for gamers, but we’re staying skeptical until its final release. Microsoft wouldn’t hype DirectX 10 and other game technologies just to sell copies, would it? No, rhetorical us, that’s cynical.
Use a product key from the RC1 installation, or get a new one from that site if you’re new to the Vista expedition. Vista hasn’t destroyed any of our computers, but be sure to back up important data or run Vista on a non-critical PC.
See Also: Download Vista RC1 for free, stress your PC and wallet
[Via Engadget]
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