Archive for October, 2006
Clips: PS3 Def Jam Icon
It looks like this video showing Def Jam Icon gameplay on the Playstation 3 was probably taken during Electronic Arts little San Francisco dealio a few weeks back. Graphics look amazing, though a bit stuttery. I like the over the top hits in the game too.
New Street Fighter Film Coming - Starring Chun-Li
Studios aren’t willing to back the Halo movie but they’ll jump on a Street Fighter movie staring some unknown Asian broad? We doubt it. But Variety says Hyde Park Entertainment and Capcom are preparing for another round of Street Fighting—did anybody actually see the first? Poor Raul Julia—hiring Justin Marks as the writer.
The movie should hit theatres like a kick to the teeth in 2008, the 20th anniversary of the Street Fighter series. Now that Ming Na’s a bit too old to don the tights, who do you think will star? Kelly Hu? Grace Park? Jason Chen?
Capcom prepara otra película basada en Street Fighter [Meristation]
‘Street Fighter’ packs Hyde Park punch [Variety]
Sony Cuts Japan Launch Numbers
100,000 consoles for Japan? Sony was just joshing! Bwahahahahahahahahahaha. The Land of the Rising Sun will actually only be getting 80,000 machines. Isn’t that so funny? The demand for the machine is at fever pitch, with Tsutaya Online burning through pre-orders in six minutes and game seller Geo taking a few days to clear house. In hopes of avoiding angry mobs, many stores like Yodobashi Camera, however, are not taking pre-orders. Let’s take a quick inventory: A pushed back launch with fewer consoles than originally announced. What. A. Disaster.
Fewer Consoles [Nikkei]
Halo Trilogy Theme Hits Live, Cereal Next?
For a mere 150 points you can flick back and forth between blades looking at pictures of a game that’s not due to hit stores until next year. Or, you could wait until the Halo 3 faceplate hits stores and get the Halo Trilogy Theme for free.
It’s good to know that Microsoft realizes the potential of their chief brand. Slap a Halo 3 on anything and people will line-up around the block to buy it. We’ve got the book, the graphics novel the two games, an upcoming movie. The action figures. Where’s my goddamn Master Cheif cereal, now with fruity Flood flavor?
Halo Trilogy Theme [Major Nelson]
Rumor: More Best Buy Wii Stock Numbers
Best Buys nationwide will have 24 to 120 Wii’s per store, according to the company’s Retail Stock System WhoDigs reports.
It’s unclear how they got their hands on, what I believe to be an internal inventory report, but they say that the remote stores will have as few as 24 of Nintendo’s consoles per a story while the larger, busier locations will get as many as 120 each. That seems to match up well with what our own Mole is saying.
The report goes on to say that each Best Buy will have about 60 copies of Red Steel and 30 copies of Trauma Center: Second Opinion.
The site also reports that Best Buys will start receiving their shipments on Oct. 28 or 29. What the… Where the heck is my review unit then? Actually, I’ve heard that reviewable PS3s and Wiis could be hitting your favorite magazines and sites as early as this week. Finger’s crossed, breath held.
I can’t wait to see the first picture of a hundred Wii’s sitting on a palette in some crud-filled back room.
Best Buy Wii Inventory Uncovered
Xbox 360 Cooks Your Breakfast
This experiment doesn’t say anything about the 360’s heat “problems”, since the heatsink is supposed to get super hot and dissipate heat, but it is cool nonetheless. We’d like to see him put on some bacon, toast, and finish up with nice porterhouse.
The Death Jr. Plant
Just got a copy of Death Jr. II: Root of Evil in the mail for the Playstation Portable. It came with this kick-ass bit of swag. It’s a bean with a death’s head carved into it. I’m supposed to plant it, nurture it and then wait for it to sprout and consume my right hand while I’m sleeping.
They say it’s just going to grow into a plant with a death’s head logo on it, but I don’t believe them.
Power Stone Collection
Bonus items!
DVD-capable Wii Coming?
Remember what we said about more Wii surprises and revelations coming? The latest Edge magazine may have some of the Wii-tails we’ve all been waiting for.
Some of the more interesting items are how Nintendo signed CNN on as the news channel for the Wii in the US and Japan, how Sega shifting development from PS3 to Wii, and how Nintendo planned to launch the Wii for £150 in the UK and $200 in the US, but retailers didn’t want it to be a bargain bin system.
Nintendo’s also planning to release a DVD-capable Wii in 2007 after disabling DVD playback in the first-generation Wiis. It’s doubtful that adding this feature will spur any more sales, since even your grandma has a DVD player by now.
Hit the jump for the Laurent Fischer interview.
Wii and DS tidbits in the new Edge magazine #1 [NeoGaf via Aussie Nintendo]
- He doesn’t expect all of society to immediately jump on board from day 1. At first it will probably be mainly the hardcore and casual gamers buying it, but little by little he expects more people to come on board through word of mouth, advertising etc… much like the DS. He says word of mouth has played a huge part in the DS’s success in Europe.
- He says in Europe the DS has done a wonderful job of capturing the female gamer and the casual gamer, but getting the non-gamers still has some way to go yet. NOE’s goal is to get the DS selling as fast as it is in Japan where on a weekly basis they’re still not able to fulfil the demand, becaue they’re attracting such a broad audience. “In Europe I don’t expect us to be in that position for some time, but we’re on the way. It will take one year, certainly and with the Wii it will take the same time. We know it’s a long way to get out of the videogaming ghetto”
- He says when creating games Nintendo doesn’t say “this is going to be a gamer’s game and this is not.” He says a lot of hardcore gamers enjoy Brain Training, because it’s something different and another good example is Animal Crossing. Nobody at Nintendo thought Animal Crossing would be a very massmarket game. It started out as a hardcore game with people around the world going crazy for it, then it became a bridge between the hardcore, casuals and the wider population, which included females and people looking for a different concept. In Japan they were surprised by the strength of Animal Crossing’s sales and every week NOE says “WOW” at the sales. He said on the GameCube it only sold 150,000 in Europe but the DS game has already passed 850,000
- He says for months and months he had to sit and see journalists politely smiling when he told them DS is stronger than the PSP, but he knew from the start it would take off eventually, because he tested it on the people around him. He said his wife kept stealing his DS which has never happened with their other consoles and his neighbour - an awful old lady - became addicted to Zoo Keeper. She’d played Tetris long ago and now she was hoooked on Zoo Keeper. “If there was one person who wouldn’t play a videogame, it was her”
- He says he’s not worried that people can download the old (Virtual Console) games on the PC. He says it’s important to be able to play them on your TV screen and doesn’t think playing a NES game on the PC is something you’ll really love. “Of course, you can play them on your PSP via emulation too! [laughs] Actually most PSP owners I know are using them for Nes and SNES games”
Amazon honors Wii test pre-orders, actual pre-orders to recommence
Filed under: Nintendo Wii, Online, Business
Amazon has decided to honor “several pre-orders” for Wii that slipped through the cracks as the site performed system maintenance on Friday. Pre-orders were accidentally reactivated for testing purposes during an unspecified window of time, and anyone who happened to purchase the non-item will be entitled to a Wii console, though not necessarily at launch.
Amazon’s video games editor also confirmed that the site will re-launch pre-orders on a future date — Amazon briefly offered pre-orders in September. Interested parties can sign-up to be notified of pre-order availability on Wii’s product page. Anyone reading get lucky this past Friday?
[Thanks, killcount]
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This Day in Gaming, October 30th
1987: NEC Releases TurboGrafx-16 (PC Engine) in Japan. It was the first console to support CD-ROMs and while it was met with success in Japan, competition from the Genesis and lack of 3rd party software support hurt the system in the US. We remember Bonk and thinking we would pay to see him go head to head with Sonic. A tidbit I didn’t remember: the TG supported only one controller natively. To support more, players had to purchase a multi-tap. Who out there rocked a TurboGrafx? Our mom said we can sleep over.
1995: id Software and GT Interactive release HeXen for PC. We loved the addition of magic and innovative use of mid-word capital letters.
1997: Activision releases Nightmare Creatures for PS in the US. We were pumped when the game came out, but let’s face it, the game is not as scary as Resident Evil and lacks the tight control of Tomb Raider. But Nightmare Creatures was still way better than its once-greenlit film would have been.
Have gaming history, trivia, or famous birthdays you’d like to see in TDIG? Drop us a line at tdig@kotaku.com
We (don’t) wait for the Wii (Kingston, NY edition)
Filed under: Culture, Nintendo Wii
I don’t normally do the launch day thing, but I figured I’d give it a go this time. My plan was to hit up my local Toys R Us before it opened on Sunday morning, secure my preorder for the Wii, and essentially be done with the stressful portion of the process.
Of course, I just had to stop by TRU the night before, just to see if anyone was silly enough to camp out. Sure enough, at 11pm on Saturday, there were already ten people in line, setting up tents and prepping a grill for the long night ahead.
I could have made my stand right there. I had the option of gathering supplies at home, and returning in under an hour, bundled up with my DS and a nice comfy stool to sit on. I also knew someone staying at the hotel across the street, and even had the option of crashing at their place, waking up early Sunday morning to drag my weary bones over to the store at some ungodly hour.
But why bother?
At that point the absurdity of the whole thing far outweighed the fun of it. I can understand camping out for the console itself: At the end of a long waiting period, you would go into the store, be handed the big, shiny box, and you would know that you’re going to be playing it as soon as you get it home.
But with preorders, you do the same amount of waiting, and all it leaves you with is a receipt. You’re cold, run-down, deprived of sleep, and all you have to show for it is a slip of paper saying “come back in three weeks.” Where’s the fun in that?
This post is for all those who didn’t wait out in the cold. You might camp out on the actual launch day, or you might not. Maybe you’re not an early adopter; maybe you’re still saving your pennies; or maybe you’re just waiting for Brawl. Whatever the case may be, you spent Saturday night indoors, and you’re no worse the wear for it. Kudos.
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Sega Idoru Eats Sega Cake
We were so worried! It’s been months, literally MONTHS, since we last heard from our favorite irritating freakazoid Yuko Ogura. But, here she is, promoting Sega stuff and celebrating her birthday. Know that this event took place on yesterday, and Ogura’s birthday is November 1st. (No way, she’d get caught dead at Sega on her actual b-day!) Yuko, who claims to be from outer space, played the piano and did a few numbers from her Sega-sponsored TV show. And those moppets in Love and Berry clothes? Droids, all of ‘em.
Happy Birthday Ogura [Game Watch Impress]
Phantom Console Frightens Children
Ever wonder what happened to the Phantom gaming console? Apparently it went back in time to terrify Brazillian children into bouts of bowel-shaking squeals. This time around they’re using Freddy Kreuger, Nazis, Ninjas and a bad Jason knock-off to do the scaring instead of voluminous lies, empty plastic consoles and a perpetually changing launch date.
ScummVM update improves point n’ click emulation
Filed under: Nintendo DS, Hacks, Mac, PC, Portable, Sony PSP, Retro, Adventure
It’s been four months since the last update for ScummVM, the multiplatform point-and-click emulator. Just released v0.9.1 adds official support for DS and GP2X, with a GP32 port promised soon, but bug-fixes for existing versions (e.g., Dreamcast, PS2, PSP) are not be overlooked. Highlights include:
- Fixes for Humongous Entertainment games, including better support for international versions
- Improved detection for the FM-TOWNS version of Indy3
- Fixes for The Feeble Files (more non-English versions are supported)
- Parts of the Kyrandia engine have been rewritten (requires less CPU power)
- PSP, PS2, and WinCE ports have been “greatly improved”
- PalmOS port is up-to-date; features separate build for Tapwave Zodiac
- WinCE port supports 2002 devices again
Is this new version gonna keep you from updating your PSP’s firmware for the holiday flood of titles? Are you running ScummVM on a different portable?
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Cooking Mama Confirmed for Wii Early 2007
Majesco just confirmed that they’re bringing their popular DS cooking game to the Wii.
Cooking Mama: Cook Off will be shown off at about 10,000 retail demo kiosks next month, but it won’t hit stores until early next year.
Since its introduction last month, Cooking Mama for the Nintendo DS has won people over with its fun, addictive gameplay and innovative use of the Touch Screen,” said Ken Gold, vice president of Marketing. “Cooking Mama: Cook Off for the Wii console similarly integrates the unique Wii Remote while layering on new features — including multiplayer and a full range of international cuisine — that fans are hungry for.”
The game will let players use the Wii Remote to mash, slice, chop and stir up more than 300 recipes from 10 countries. The game will also support a two-player kitchen competition. This sounds like a easy slam dunk for Majesco, but maybe that’s just because I haven’t had breakfast yet.
Citizen Siege: Oddworld studio’s new game & CG film project
Filed under: Action, Adventure, Business
Lorne Lanning has confirmed that work has begun on Citizen Siege, the new project from his Oddworld Inhabitants studio. “Citizen Siege was conceived as a game and film from the very beginning,” Lanning told GamesIndustry.biz, revealing that John H. Williams will produce the CG animated feature, and Lanning himself will direct. The game concept is currently being shopped around to publishers.
Lanning is interested in merging the game and film mediums, hoping that Citizen Siege will become a reference point for future ventures. The idea is that both parts are created simultaneously, influencing each other’s courses; rather than one providing the basis for the other. While doing so, it will be important for Lanning and has team to create the right distance between the game and movie. If the finished products demand consumers invest in both, Citizen Siege will have lost a huge chunk of its potential demographic; the group that exclusively watches films — and does not play games.
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Tetris! Weightlifting! Phidgets!
Hey flabby people, here’s a game to stay away from! Better yet, it’s only a prototype. That means, you’ll never have to avoid it, because it probably won’t come out. Anyhoo, here’s the skinny:Tetris Weightlifting uses Phidgets infrared distance sensors and a Tetris clone. Players are seated and hold two handle grips—each has a button which can be used to rotate piece. Pulling the handle in the direction corresponds with on-screen movement. I just imagine this contraption to dish out pulled muscles like candy.
Tetris Muscle Game [Make via Cathode Tan]
Silver PS2 Announced
Sony today announced the release of a new, limited edition silver Playstation 2. The console, soon to be outdated by the Playstation 3 on Nov. 17, will sell for $130 and include a silver PS2 controller. Funny enough, the controller, with its heft and shakeyness, will soon be cutting edge among Playstation console controllers.
Sony also reminded us that they did, in fact, make a killing with the Playstation 2 and plan to continue to do so. To date Sony has sold more than 111 million of the consoles and 1.12 billion games for it.
“Six years after its initial launch, the PlayStation 2 continues to enjoy nonstop success, outselling all other consoles,” said Jack Tretton, executive vice president, co-COO, Sony Computer Entertainment America. “The
introduction of this limited edition model is sure to be a hit this holiday season with die-hard PlayStation fans and new gamers alike.”
Silver PS2 announced for $129
Filed under: Sony PlayStation 2, Business
Sony announced today via press release that a “limited edition” silver PS2 will now be offered to North American gamers for $129.99 as it already has been to both the European and Japanese public. The shiny goodness includes a silver controller and integrated Ethernet port just like the black slimline edition. While the release makes no mention of an available date, expect the new color to hit stores before the Thanksgiving holidays. From the release: “To date, more than 111 million PlayStation 2 units and more than 1.12 billion pieces of software for the PlayStation 2 have shipped worldwide, making it the fastest-selling gaming platform on the market.”
Should be interesting to see how well this little fellow sells next to all three next-gen consoles this holiday season. According to NPD, the PS2 has outsold the Xbox 360 every month (excluding April) since the latter’s US launch. Live in our world, play in Sony’s (for now).
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