Archive for November 7th, 2006
Gizmondo Dude Gets Served
It’s been a wild ride, but it’s over. Former Gizmondo don and career thug, Swedish born Bo “Fat” Stefan Eriksson has been sentenced to 3 1/2 years after pleading guilty to embezzlement and drunken driving chargers. Eriksson’s California mansion has been seized and once he serves his time, Bo will be deported. What caused the plea? The Swede’s attorney says:
Essentially, it was what Stefan wanted to do. Stefan believes he can be successful in the future. He wanted to move on and ultimately be out of jail in a year.
And hopefully never ever return to the gaming industry again.
Bo Gets Jail Time [Yahoo, Thanks G.P.!]
Official Wal-Mart launch details
Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Business
Joystiq has been in contact with Wal-Mart corporate to get Wii and PS3 launch details. We’ve got something old, something new, something rumored and a bunch of stuff true.
The old: We can confirm almost everything from our previous post on Wal-Mart Wii and PS3 launch details from the “Wal-Mart Wire.” The dates, the times and the ticket information is on point. The Wal-Mart stores should only give out the number of tickets for units they have. No word yet on official numbers per store, but Wii numbers should be no less than 20.
The new: Wal-Mart corporate says, “We currently have plans for a Thursday, Nov. 16 midnight event to launch PS3. In addition, Wal-Mart store #890 in Orlando, FL will host the Playstation Patrol truck Friday-Sunday.” As for the Wii, Wal-Mart corporate says they are currently not accepting online pre-orders due to the popular demand, but are evaluating options for additional pre-orders before the official launch on Nov. 19. The Wii pre-order is online only, not in stores. They will let Joystiq know when a decision is made regarding the pre-order. Although the “Wal-Mart Wire” speaks directly to a midnight launch for the Wii, as does the poster above, details and confirmation can not be given at this time.
The rumor, not confirmed by corporate: If there isn’t one already, all Wal-Mart stores should have a cardboard display case with free books called a “Wii Buyer’s Guide” within the next couple of days. These will be replaced with the “Playstation 3 Buyer’s Guide” by the 17th or when all the “Wii Buyer’s Guide” are taken. The picture above is from the December issue of the Wal-Mart monthly flyer (tab) and pertains to electronic items from Nomember 12-19 (not to be confused with the weekly sale ones). A Wal-Mart employee tells us, “My store has already cleared shelf space for the PS3 and Wii accessories. Something interesting to note is that they have also restarted carrying Gamecube accessories, right next to the space cleared for the Wii. It’s the first time I’ve seen Wavebirds on sale in over a year.”
All the information regarding Wal-Marts launch details are not ironed out, but we’ll update as we receive and gather more info.
[Thank you Mr. Ninja for the updated scan]
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Atari Founder Bitchslaps PS3
Atari founder and industry legend Nolan Bushnell had some pretty unkind things to say about the PS3 and Sony in general in a recently posted interview over at Red Herring. In the interview, which mainly deals with his restaurant endeavors, Bushnell forecasts the PS3’s doom.
I think Sony shot themselves in the foot… there is a high probability [they] will fail. The price point is probably unsustainable. For years and years Sony has been a very difficult company to deal with from a developer standpoint. They could get away with their arrogance and capriciousness because they had an installed base. They have also historically had horrible software tools. You compare that to the Xbox 360 with really great authoring tools [and] additional revenue streams from Xbox live… a first party developer would be an idiot to develop for Sony first and not the 360. People don’t buy hardware, they buy software.
Ouch. A shining endorsement of the 360 and a stunning condemnation of the PS3 from one of the founding fathers of gaming. Will Sony prove him wrong?
Atari Founder Likes Xbox360, Disses PS3 [Red Herring]
DoA 4 Sells A Lot, Itagaki Still Fucked
With all that’s swirling around that hard-drinkin’, ass-grabbin’ game designer, Tomonobu Itagaki, we’d like to point out that his hard-kickin’, tit-shakin’ game Dead or Alive 4 has sold quite well. The Xbox 360 game has sold over a million copies worldwide.
Congrats. Um…
While many think the Japanese just love Dead or Alive and that the series is super famous here, that’s just not the case. It’s popular with a very, very niche market. Yet, Microsoft has been pushing Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 like all hell, inadvertently pushing the console into a niche market as well. Stuff like this doesn’t really help, either.
DoA Sells Well [Famitsu]
Early Exit Polls - DS Lite Wins Landslide Victory
Looks like gamers have really come through on the voting front, really making a good showing at the polls. Unfortunately it’s the Time Magazine 2006 Gadget of the Year Online Poll, which as of this writing has the DS Lite 40% ahead of its closest competitor, the Apple Macbook Pro.
Looking at the competition I can’t say I am all that surprised. When given the choice between playing Pokemon Ranger and having my iPod Nano calculate my caloric burn from inside of my specially designed shoes, Pikachu pretty much has that one nailed down. If only the Macbook Pro cost $1850 less it might have stood a chance against the shiny pink portable. Yes, my DS Lite is pink. It makes me feel pretty.
TIME: Gadget of the Year [via Joystiq]
Namco Puts Do On Your Cellphone
Namco has announced that arcade classics Mr. Do and Mr. Do’s Castle are on their way to mobile devices next summer. Twenty-four years after its original release in North American arcades by Universal, Mr. Do remains the definitive dropping fruit on dinosaurs while collecting cherries game as well as an excellent excuse for random poo jokes, as indicated in the title of this post.
I’m really enjoying the growing trend of classic arcade games being ported to cellphones. titles you wouldn’t waste five minutes on in your snazzy next-gen console system are amazingly entertaining in the bathroom at work. Insert your own Mr. Do joke here. Even I have my standards.
Namco Does Do [IGN Wireless]
Today’s hottest game video: PS3 porn
Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Video
Today’s most watch YouTube video is the Robot Chicken Mario mash-up, so we go to the second-place finisher: more voyeuristic PS3 porn brought to you by Kotaku. This badly lit, handheld footage — they know that turns us on even more — shows the PS3 being whisper quiet.
The PS3 sits like a theatre star in a dressing room, feigning indifference, batting its lashes, knowing we’re watching but not letting on. We look only from the corner of our eye, hoping the PS3 doesn’t catch us. The only thing disturbing the moment is the narration of Brian Crecente, but he tries to be unobtrusive, speaking in hushed tones of wildlife documentaries.
Experience the clip after the break.
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Today in Joystiq: November 7, 2006
Joystiquery
How-To: Transcode & stream videos on Xbox 360
Joystiq Impressions: Multiplatform games on Sixaxis
Joystiq impressions: Lord of the Rings Online
Metareview - Guitar Hero II (PS2)
Metareview - Gears of War (Xbox 360)
Microsoft’s Scott Henson on TV and movies
Readers pick best webcomic: killer DS FTW
Today’s hottest game video: PS3 son
News
Get out the vote against anti-game politicos
Disney forms Nintendo games studio
Montreal International Game Summit starts this Wednesday
Exclusive Target Wii DVD for only a penny
First Gears of War reviews roll in
Sony criticizes Xbox 360 movie and TV downloads
Editor explains retracted NWN2 review
Scalding sake: Itagaki charged with sexual harassment (by real woman)
DS Lite leading in Time’s Gadget of the Year race
Duck Hunt, others get ESRB’s thumbs-up, zapper imminent
BBC looking for writers for Wii launch coverage
Call of Duty 3 cheaper to import
Guitar Hero is a hit … even with real rock stars
Culture
British could accidentally make Taurens
What is next-gen? CliffyB asks, Joystiq answers
Downloadable videogame sheet music
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Microsoft’s Mysterious 70 GB Hard Drive [Update]
Is this the PS3 60GB HDD killer? Though there’s been nothing official from Microsoft, reader Plaid Ninja snapped this photo at the Xbox Live event, and it shows 70 gigs of free hard drive space. A shoot in the dark, but we imagine these should be out soonish to take advantage of Microsoft’s downloadable content service. Expect Sony to counter with even bigger hard drives until we end up with 300 GB HDDs. It’s like the space race, but with game consoles. How dorky!
Eds Note: Microsoft is officially saying they aren’t doing one at the moment. And this could be a dev kit HDD. Stay tuned.
Bigger Drive [Plaid Ninja's Flickr]
First 4 Figures Releases New Metroid Prime Figure: Trace
First 4 Figures is making quite a name for themselves in the game world by producing amazingly well executed limited edition figures. You’ve no doubt seen their Fierce Deity Link and The Skull Kid figures here and you may have read that they are working on a Metroid series.
The first of these figures, Trace, is now available for pre-order. He stands 10.5 inches high and there will only be 1,500 made. This bad boy can be all yours for a mere $89.99 and take his place on your shelf next to your collectible Star Trek plates.
More Here [First 4 Figures]
Call of Duty 3
Achievements List.
Tony Hawk’s Project 8
Achievements List.
Gears of War
Achievements List.
Buena Vista Announces Nintendo Focused Game Studio
The Walt Disney Company’s Buena Vista Game unit announced today the creation of a new game studio dedicated to creating games for the Nintendo DS, GBA, and Wii. Disney said that Nintendo is the perfect partner as Nintendo gamers are generally closer to their target demographic, a statement that will no doubt be thrown about in forum fanboy ‘kiddy’ arguments for years to come.
Based in Salt Lake City, Fall Line Studios will primarily produce games based around Disney’s existing character, movies, and television properties.
Hopefully this means we’ll be some quality titles. Aside from the Kingdom Hearts franchise from Squeenix, Disney’s game offerings have been pretty abysmal. I mean, Disney’s Extreme Skate Adventure was passable, but Disney’s Hide and Sneak and Disney’s Pk: Out of the Shadows were complete garbage. It’s like they were developed for five year-olds.
Buena Vista Opens Nintendo-Only Studio [1UP.com]
Rumor: Play.com Can’t Fill Wii Pre-Orders
Poor KJ. he woke up this morning feeling fine. His pre-ordered Wii was coming in a week and a half and all was right with the world. Or was it? Imagine his dismay upon checking his email and receiving this nasty surprise!
Due to a European shortage of the Nintendo Wii Consoles, we regret to inform you that Play.com will be unable to supply your pre-ordered Nintendo Wii at launch.
European shortage? Unable to supply? These are definitely not phrases you want to hear regarding the precious system that you’ve been waiting months for. Sorry, KJ, we feel your pain.
I tried to get a hold of someone at Play.com to confirm the shortage, but at the present time, no one has gotten back to me. Has anyone else received a letter like this from them? See the entire email after the jump.
Dear Customer,
Due to a European shortage of the Nintendo Wii Consoles, we regret to
inform you that Play.com will be unable to supply your pre-ordered
Nintendo Wii at launch. As an Official distributor of Nintendo
products we are guaranteed more stock before Christmas, but Nintendo
have informed us, along with all other official Nintendo retailers,
that the console will not be freely available until next year.
All pre-orders will be fulfilled on a first come, first served basis
and we will fulfil your order as soon as we can.
If you no longer wish to keep your pre-order with Play.com please
login to your account and remove the item from your Outstanding
Orders.
Kind Regards
PLAY.COM
Give the Gift of System Failure
Time has their 2006 Tech Buyers Guide up and running, a handy shopping resource for the gadget head in your family. The video games section lists the hottest consoles of the season, though I suggest you steer clear of number three.
A broken 360? Awww mom, that’s the same thing I got for Christmas last year!
Update - Yes, I realize now that four red lights means the AV cable is unplugged, but I realized it far too late. Imagine, if you will, one of the lights being out. I’ll be under this here rock if you need me.
Time’s Tech Buyer’s Guide 2006 [Time - Thanks Ryan!]
Guitar Hero is a hit … even with real rock stars
Filed under: Culture, Sony PlayStation 2
Confession: I avoided playing Guitar Hero for close to a year because I was too prideful as an actual guitarist to give it a shot. I’m now addicted to the game. But this post isn’t about my amateur-self enjoying Red Octane’s highly addictive rhythm title, it’s about real rock stars enjoying the game. The Wall Street Journal reports: “Mr. Davis, Korn’s lead singer, is part of an unlikely but growing fraternity: Rock stars who are also avid players of Guitar Hero … From superstars like Korn to up-and-comers, Guitar Hero has quickly become a fixture on tour buses and in recording studios.”
In addition to Korn, the article mentions Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, country star Rascal Flatts, My Chemical Romance, The Donnas, and Incubus all as active players of the game. When bands are sacrificing studio and tour bus time to play a video game that mimics one enjoying studio and tour bus time, you know you’ve struck a chord (ba dum bum psh).
[via Slashdot]
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Namco Bandai and EA Form Unholy Alliance
A match made in hell? Namco Bandai announced today that they have entered into a deal with Electronic Arts to handle North American and European distribution, sales, and marketing of the eagerly anticipated PC title, Hellgate: London. The game, developed by the former Diablo development team members of Flagship Studios, features a combination of first and third person game play along with randomly generated items, events, and dungeons - pretty much as close to Diablo 3 as you’re bound to get anytime soon.
You know, it’s nice getting to write a story about Electronic Arts without having to use the term ‘asshats’.
Partnering with EA frees Namco Bandai to focus on developing the title with Flagship, as well as work on the merchandising of the property including books, manga, toys, and comics. That’s an awful lot of brand marketing for a game that already has a million copies sold just on the phrase ‘from the creators of Diablo’.
Namco Bandai, EA Partner For Hellgate: London [Gamasutra]
Call of Duty 3 cheaper to import
Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, First Person Shooters, Online
Play-Asia’s got Call of Duty 3 for $48 (includes shipping — from Hong Kong). That retailer down the street? Oh, well, they’ve got it for $59.99. We think the choice is clear. Don’t you?
[Note: Call of Duty 3 is region-free.]
[Via 1UP]
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Slime As A Stud
Kotaku reader and Japan resident Kat sends along these Dragon Quest stud earrings she found in front of Sendai Station. Neat if you like DQ, I guess. That, and if your ears are pierced.
