Archive for November 8th, 2006
Metareview - Elite Beat Agents
Filed under: Nintendo DS, Portable, Rhythm
Purists may scoff at these ‘men in black’ who lack the flair of Ouendan’s male cheerleaders. They may also wince at tracks like Avril Lavigne’s “Sk8er Boi” and Ashlee Simpson’s “La La,” included for Western-aligned palettes. Alas, cultural transitions are often difficult, but at least the series’ unique rhythmic core has not been tampered with.
- IGN (95/100) - “Westerners who’ve played the original Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! might end up a little disappointed that the Nintendo of America version might lack the kitschy Japanese flavor … [but] with new characters, popular Western tunes [IGN 'heart' Ashlee Simpson], and plots that actually make sense, Elite Beat Agents retains the awesome, addictive gameplay core.”
- GameSpot (89/100) - “One of the strangest things about Elite Beat Agents is its soundtrack. The grouping of songs that Nintendo has assembled here is equivalent to someone taking the individual music libraries of a teeny-bopper kid and his or her parents, tossing it all into a jar, shaking vigorously, and then scooping out a random handful of songs.”
- GameDaily (70/100) - “Elite Beat Agents is still a good game that deserves a shot with any music-loving Nintendo DS owner out there. It’s a surprise Nintendo took the chance at releasing this game in the States, but it’s as much of a surprise that it’s actually quite good, and compares well enough to the import classic to make it a recommended buy.”
[We recommend: Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan]
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MIGS06: Swag verdict is so-so
Filed under: Culture
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Today’s hottest game video: PS3 pitchers
Filed under: Culture, Sony PlayStation 3, Business
The Red Steel ad is today’s most watched YouTube game video. We go to number two on the countdown to find this European PS3 ad, touting high-definition pitchers, or at least that’s what it sounds like to these American ears. Oh, she’s saying “pictures.”
Accents aside — we know our accents sound like gears grinding in a failed transmission, stop saying so — the ad doesn’t seem too special. At least it doesn’t have any dolls, and instead features lots of non-sequitur explosions. See the video after the break.
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Today in Joystiq: November 8, 2006
MIGS 2006
Telefilm Canada announces the Great Canadian Video Game Competition
Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s keynote liveblogged (sorta)
Joystiquery
Today’s hottest game video: PS3 porn
Official Wal-Mart launch details
Dave Navarro & Guitar Hero II at Best Buy coverage
Win Guitar Hero II, ‘graphed by Dave Navarro
Metareview - Every Extend Extra
Joystiq corrupts youth with PSP porn — film at 11
News
Wii wins Popular Science’s “best of what’s new”
Fix for 360’s 1080p troubles is being worked on
Nintendo “crushes” final Wii secret rumor
Genji has “tired gameplay” says first IGN PS3 review
Wii Play: Nintendo’s other minigame collection
EA updates LOTR White Council site
Sonic 2 prototype now playable
Atari founder says PlayStation an accident
Halo 3 maps, weapons previewed
GameStop unveils $700 Wii-mega bundle
Microsoft’s Xbox 360 HDD workaround: buy another
Worms 2D confirmed for Xbox Live Arcade
ESRB approves Mario RPG, 12 more VC titles
Red Steel TV spot aired, for the kids
Nvidia releases graphics card with physics ability
Former Gizmondo exec goes directly to jail
The MSM responds to Microsoft’s HD announcement
Rumors & Speculation
Could original, exclusive TV shows be coming to the 360?
When is the real Emergence Day?
Culture
Sony is doing some things right
The Best Buy PS3 camp out begins
Nintendo blogger crossed the line, claims blogmate
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Nintendo blogger crossed the line, claims blogmate
Filed under: Culture, Sony PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360
Blogging on Intendo, Rollin (also of Infendo) criticizes fellow Infendoite Jack for crossing the line from fanboy to propagandist. In a recent post, Jack pointed to a couple low Gears of War reviews (8/10s) to simultaneously slam Epic’s latest and herald Wii.
There’s nothing inherently indecent about this tactic. After all, Jack is writing for Infendo, a Nintendo community site. But Rollin brings up a good point, why are so many of us so sure Wii’s best will best Microsoft and Sony’s best? There’s no question that there is a desire for Wii to succeed — many of us are starving for a change of pace in the industry. But to morph that desire into assurance is dangerous. Wii has not proven anything yet.
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The MSM responds to Microsoft’s HD announcement
Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Business
The mainstream media (or MSM for those of you down with the Web 2.0 lingo) doesn’t cover every video game story out there, so when they dom, we always perk up and take notice. Following Microsoft’s big HDTV announcement Monday night, several major mainstream outlets covered the news. Let’s see what they had to say:
- Time Magazine considers the downloadable space as a whole, where “many companies including Microsoft competitors Apple, Amazon.com and Google are getting into the video distribution business. Microsoft’s ace is that the Xbox 360 is already connected to the TV, a hurdle others try to overcome by marketing multimedia set-top boxes or creating unwieldy hardware partnerships.”
- The New York Times compares Apple and Microsoft’s similar, but oh so different, strategies, writing, “Microsoft will go into the video business with a different business model. Apple, most analysts believe, does not make much money selling iTunes content, but makes up for it by selling more iPods, which are extremely profitable. Microsoft, which analysts say loses money on each Xbox 360 it sells, expects to make up for that shortfall by selling games — and now video.
- Reuters looks to the more obvious competitor. “Sony Corp., which ships its PlayStation 3 on November 17 with its own digital-distribution network, PlayStation Network, also will look to movies, TV content and music down the line but has not yet announced specific deals. Games will be the first focal point, as they have been for Microsoft during the past year with its Xbox Arcade service.”
So, Microsoft got there first (or, rather, they will when the service launches on November 22nd): A high-definition video download service connected to a set-top box already installed in millions of living rooms (and counting). But there’s still more questions than answers in this shady, poorly-lit basement cockfight for living room supremacy. Like: what about the borderline impossibility of future cooperation with Sony Pictures? That would make it hard to be a comprehensive service. What about iTV?
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Former Gizmondo exec goes directly to jail
Filed under: Culture
Former Gizmondo executive, Bo Stefan Eriksson, plead guilty yesterday to embezzlement and drunk driving charges. He will serve 3 1/2 years in prison, have his California mansion seized to pay debts and be deported from the U.S. after his prison sentence is over. So ends the epic of Gizmondo.
The plea comes a week after a Los Angeles jury deadlocked 10-2 of convicting Eriksson on embezzlement and car theft charges. The cars that Eriksson allegedly stole includes the $1 million Ferrari Enzo he obliterated. The Ferrari incident took the Gizmondo story of corruption, from passing fancy, to full-blown prime-time gaming industry soap opera.
See also:
- Wired reports on Gizmondos high-speed crash-up
- Gizmondo’s Colors uses prison sex as game mechanic
- Gizmondo exec’s Ferrari before and after
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MIGS06: Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s keynote liveblogged (sorta)
Filed under: Culture
Tetsuya Mizuguchi, lead designer of Q Entertainment and the brain behind games like Rez and Lumines, started things off at the Montreal International Game Summit with his keynote presentation. A frustrating lack of WiFi kept me from liveblogging the event, so consider this a liveblog with a several-hour lag. The transcript of Mizuguchi’s keynote follows:
9:15 - At that time, Mizuguchi talks about being inspired by architecture, and “call and response” communication. He saw the musical STOMP around that time, remarking: “this is a great musical, with the music, dance.” After that, he went to many musicals, and thought about why musicals are so fun. “How can we design that kind of feeling in the interactive process?” he asks. This led to Space Channel 5.
As a side note, Mizuguchi mentions that during development of Space Channel 5 Part 2, he received a call from an executive producer in America, saying “Michael wants to appear in your game.” Mizuguchi tells us that he had responded “Who’s Michael?” As a result of that conversation, Michael Jackson makes a cameo appearance in the game, as Mizuguchi considers MJ to be a “pioneer of combined music and dance.” His cameo in Space Channel 5 is “Kind of an homage to him.”
Mizuguchi talks about his next inspiration: the art of Kandinsky, raves, and sensorama. He tells us that Kandinsky painted while listening to music, and worked with the concept of synaethesia, or a mixture of the senses. He also discusses a poster he once saw for Sensorama, which advertised “the revolutionary motion picture system that takes you into another world with 3-D, wide vision, motion, color, stereo-sound, aromas, wind, vibrations.”
“The product” Mizuguchi says, “wasn’t successful, but what a concept.” Around this time, Mizuguchi also visited Zurich, and attended his first rave party. He was blown away by the colors and lights changing with the music. He saw “People dancing. Not dancing, but almost jumping, and I thought ‘what is this?’ How can I design this kind of experience in the interactive process?”
Mizuguchi then rolls some footage of Rez. As the audience watches, he slyly pulls out a digital camera, and takes a few photos of the audience’s reactions. The camera is away by the end of the video.
9:30 - He mentions that all the sound and action of the game is pushed into the “light score,” into the game’s inherent rhythm. “So if you don’t have rhythm skill, that is okay.” He shows the trance vibrator peripheral for the game, and can’t help but crack a smile. He calls his experience working on Rez “a long journey to find what is the fun element in this process… I learned a lot from this project”
“People of any language,” Mizuguchi says, “any culture, identify with music.” His next inspiration: Sony’s PSP, the walkman, cities, and African musical instruments. Mizuguchi refers to the PSP as “an interactive walkman,” and discusses the intersection of puzzle game and music. This, of course, leads him into Lumines.
9:45 - Mizuguchi talks about more inspiration: the iPod, and iTunes music store. “iPod and iTunes changed the style of music,” he says. “Customization, edit: this is the new concept.” He shows a Lumines II demo, with Beck’s “Black Tambourine” being played.
For his next inspiration, Mizuguchi shows more Kandinsky, and A-ha’s “Take on Me” music video. “I wanted to make the music in the music video itself,” he says. “Let’s make a very happy thing.” He then plays the music video for “Heavenly Star,” which he created himself. The song is featured in Lumines II, and is a cool pop song, with A-ha-ish animation in the video. “I love music,” Mizuguchi remarks, “and music videos, and games too.”
Mizuguchi then shows his last inspiration, and it is of a decidedly darker tone: war and the media, post 9-11 news stories, and Kurosawa’s Rashomon. “I don’t talk about ‘the war is good or bad,’” Mizuguchi remarks, “and as a professional, how do you watch this kind of time?”
“Everybody has a point of view of justice,” he says. He talks about different perspectives, and the question of “what is truth?” He then shows video of N3: Ninety Nine Nights, a trailer from the perspectives of the human fighters, defeating the evil monsters heroically. He then talks about how you can play as the monsters, too. A new video is shown, this time from the monster’s perspective, as human soldiers wreak havoc on a town, attacking (monster) women and children. The perspective of the story changes, and humans are drawn as the “bad guys.” This is the perspective of justice he was talking about.
10:00 - Mizuguchi ends his talk with a photo of a sponge, labeled 9″sponge.” “The industry allows us to connect, absorb,” he says, “sucking many things.” “I’m retiring soon…” he announces, and the audience reacts as expected.
“…not soon, but, we should work on young talent, as inspiration to the industry.” Phew.
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Nvidia releases graphics card with physics ability
Filed under: PC
Nvidia launched a new line of GPU and motherboard products today, the GeForce 8800 and nForce 680 respectively. The hardware looks good, but these sorts of press events are big on hype; we’ll have to wait until the card and motherboard make it out to the wild for detailed assessments. The wait, at least, will be short; all products will be shipping to retail today.
Nvidia’s 8800 card comes in two versions, costing between $449 and $649, but we weren’t expecting a bargain. For that price, you get a DirectX 10 card that can compute physics tasks in addition to its polished graphic touches. Nvidia also says that the card dynamically allocates its processing power, so idle silicon that would normally be shading a fully-shaded scene, for example, can be used for other 3D tasks. The card also includes a 2D video accelerator to draw HD and other video.
At the San Jose launch event, Nvidia demonstrated the card, creating live smoke and water effects by plotting the 3D movement of the particles, in addition to rendering the graphics. Before the game demos, Nvidia showed a realtime tech demo of an 8800-created version of model Adrianne Curry. This demonstration looked a little creepy, watching the avatar model skimpy clothing with a slightly robotic gait. But when standing still, the character looked realistic; her hair and face were especially believable. Overall, the character didn’t quite look like a real person — the animation probably threw us off. Years ago, “photo-realistic” got undeservedly tossed around so much, the term went out of style, but parts of this demonstration were as close as we’ve seen.
We’re interested in how the GeForce 8800 (and nForce 680) perform in the real world; the event certainly made a lot of promises. As an aside, we also give Nvidia PR kudos for dovetailing the announcement against its multi-day LAN party. The gamer audience, high on Bawls, cheered and pumped its fists with each announcement.
More pictures after the break.
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This Day in Gaming, November 8th
2000: EA releases NASCAR 2001 for PS2 in the US. I once went to NASCAR after winning some free tickets. It’s hot, smelly and a bit repetitive…and hot. But hey, if that’s your thing, then live it up.
2000: Vivendi Universal releases Counter-Strike in pretty boxed form for the PC. This was the first version of the game that did not require Half-Life to play, and thereby the first version of Counter-Strike you actually had to pay for.
2005: Activision releases The Movies for PC in the US. They lost me at “rated T for Teen”, if you know what I’m saying. You don’t know what I’m saying? I meant that I wanted to make porn.
Have gaming history, trivia, or famous birthdays you’d like to see in TDIG? Drop us a line at tdig@kotaku.com
One Login to Play Them All
Sony has confirmed that all PlayStation 3 titles will be using the same central account to utilize online content. Speculation to the contrary has been bandied about since last week, when Insomniac Head Ted Price announced that Resistance would not use the PS3’s centralized buddy system, instead featuring an unique in-game buddy list.
Resistance is using it’s own buddy list system to help facilitate clans, parties, match-making, and ranking - all features that the PlayStation 3 operating system cannot currently handle. Sounds like something that needs fixing to me. Sony’s involvement with online gaming on their platform needs to amount to more than a ‘Hi! My Name Is…’ sticker that never falls off.
PS3 titles to use single online sign-in [GameIndustry.biz]
Learn English At The Local Japanese Arcade
The biggest language school in Japan, Nova, is rolling out arcade games that teach English. Dubbed Nova Usagi no Game de Ryugaku (The Nova Rabbit’s Study Abroad Game), the quiz type title comes courtesy of Konami and is attempting to capitalize on Japan’s recent learning software craze. It doesn’t take a genius to point out that arcade brain games won’t do as well as portable ones.
Rabbit English Game [Konami via FG]
Twilight Princess: Official Kotaku FAQ, Answered!
So you read our Twilight Princess hands-on, but still had a few more questions? That’s understandable…especially for a girl your age. When changes begin to happen in one’s body, all we can recommend is hearty, safe, legal exploration.
So we collected all of your best questions, and like the total jerks we are who never call the next day, posted them after the jump (along with the complete BS we’re referring to as “answers”).
How far, exactly, did you get? First dungeon, second dungeon, etc?
I almost finished the second dungeon after 9-10 hours of play.
Will Twilight Princess stick with the old text based dialog, or will there be voice acting?
Text dialog only - which makes some of the longer scenes seem…longer at times.
Did you ever forget you were merely playing a game?
Actually, this is a great question because I NEVER forgot I was playing a game…but I blame that on being surrounded by journalists and sitting at a demo kiosk. You know the kind of tacit pissing match an environment like that becomes?
I was just wondering if the graphics in the Wii version of Twilight Princess are better, or any different at all?
I never saw or played the Gamecube version (it wasn’t available to us). However, I was told to expect a very similar level of graphics, save for the wide aspect ratio of the Wii version and a mirrored image.
Does the game give you an option to play with the Wii’s “Classic” controller or GCN controller?
From a conversation with PR, I’m 99% certain you can play TP with a Wavebird on the Wii, but only with the Gamecube version of the game. I’m 100% certain you cannot use the Wiimote with the Gamecube version.
I’ve one BIG question unanswered: Is there a way to change the remote controls to a “left-handed” mode?
No. But we had a lefty in our group who was also concerned about this issue. He reported no problems.
Do you have the ability to go anywhere right at the beginning or do you have to unlock certain areas?
You need to unlock certain areas.
Does the cord get in the way when you are doing movements or actions with both the nunchuck and the remote? Do you get slapped in the face with the cord?
The cord does seem short when you first hold the controllers, but I never had an issue with running out of length, probably because swinging the sword only requires a small amount of movement. I predict any games that will require large Wiimote motions will ditch the nunchuck. But what do I know? Maybe getting strangled will be half the fun.
So, are there any notable new weapons or items in Twilight Princess?
Not so far.
The game is supposedly 70 hours long. Did what you play indicate gameplay varied enough to keep the game interesting and fresh for that length of time?
Definitely. Like all Zelda games, Link continuously gains more items and learns new skills/attacks - and there is some neat gameplay that I can’t talk about. But I will say it seemed like there was less room for growth as wolf Link. I hope I’m wrong there.
When you’re aiming…does it go right where you point it with no delay?
Sometimes it felt like there was a slight delay. However, I’m not sure if that was because I was aiming from my arm instead of my wrist. Make sense? When you change the channel on your TV, you don’t pay much attention to the remote’s angle. Now imagine that the remote is aimed a little left and you don’t realize it while you trail an enemy. You could constantly be a step behind your target and not know why.
“In my opinion, the Wii controlls for Zelda: TP ____________”
…don’t define the gameplay experience as they will for other Wii titles.
Can you compare the size of Hyrule to any other game? Bigger than GTA? Smaller than Oblivion? Biggest thing ever?
The scale is nowhere near Oblivion, from the map I saw (which they claimed was the only map…). And while TP has some wide open spaces, it never reminded me of those GTA or Oblivion.
Is there a day/night system like in Ocarina of Time?
No, but there is a world of light (normal) and a world of dark (twilight). Developers probably ditched real time lighting in favor of the theme.
Are Rupees in the game?
Of course. And I was maxed out in the first dungeon and incredibly annoyed when I had to put rupees back in treasure chests.
Is Tingle in the game?
Not that I saw.
I’ve been watching all the videos that have been released online and I see inconsistencies with the animations in the game. Are the game’s animations flawless and smooth or are there hiccups in the fluidity?
They were smooth. I had issues with pixilation, but not the animations.
You and many other reviewers have mentioned the plant whistling method of calling Epona…Will I have a tough time searching before I can call on my trusty steed?
There will be times where finding a plant is either a pain or impossible. Or maybe it’s such a pain it just feels impossible.
How would you say that Twilight Princess stacks up to Links Awakening, musically? Will the theme become a classic and recognizable for years to come?
I’ll admit it - I didn’t pay enough attention to the music. I remember large orchestral scores and being generally impressed, but my favorite sounds were surprises from the Wiimote speaker - even if that speaker sounds pretty crappy.
Are there zombies and motorbikes?
…yeah…sure…
Above all, is this game TOTALLY AWESOME?
The game has an epic feel, no doubt. I’m not taking back my disappointment with some of the graphics and some of the controls, but overall I had a great time playing. Zelda fans will be pleased. (And who isn’t a Zelda fan?)
Best Buy Selling Import DS Games
A reader named Ian sent in this picture of an imported DS game in unfamiliar territory. Ian works at Best Buy, and was surprised to find a shipment of Jump Superstars and ’some Naruto game, which I am assuming is Naruto: Saikyo Ninja Daikesshu 4 seeing as the importfaqs.com website on the sticker in front of the game only lists those two. The $49.99 price tag seems to jibe with the major game importers out there on the interwebs.
Interesting to see Best Buy dip their toes into the import market. The only other major retailer I’ve seen carry imports is Fry’s, which carries not only DS games but imported PSP and PC games as well.
Having played struggled to play Jump Superstars due to its heavy use of Japanese and knowing the amount of parents who do their holiday shopping using cartoon character recognition, I predict many confused children come Christmas. This makes me smile.
Thanks Ian!
America’s First Wii Game TV Ad Is Red Steel And Goofy
Wow, using the Wii-mote looks like WORK—especially when there’s some guy who looks like Gordon Liu making fun of you in a bad accent.
National Geographic Making Video Games
That doctor’s office mainstay, National Geographic is getting its game on. The magazine has teamed up with Destination Software to make playable versions of its movies. First up? March of the Penguins for the DS and the GBA. After that, a Wii/DS/PS2 version of the 2007 film Sea Monster is forthcoming. No word when we’ll be getting that long overdue topless natives title.
National Geographic Games [Siliconera]
Reggie Talks Wii, Secret Announcements And Cartman
With Nintendo’s new console weeks away from launch, company honcho Reggie Fils-Aime does a sit down video interview with CNet. It’s one of those embedded thingies, so you have to click over to their site to see it. Here’s the stand out quotes for the lazy:
- “What’s in the box, that’s set.”
- “No wonderful secret announcements. At least not one that I’m aware of. Then it would be really secret.”
- “You know, it will be tough. The only thing I can tell a consumer is that it’s going to be tough because the demand is so high, not because we’ve stumbled on the production.”
- “There’s never been a product launch with four million units. Ever.”
- “It [South Park] wasn’t something they approached us for permission. Though, we were aware they were working on it. It’s fantastic to be in popular culture in that way. And I’ll tell you this, it’s not gonna be the last. Because we captured the consumer’s imagination, because we’ve captured the imagination of so many people who create entertainment on their own, there’s just gonna be more content coming.”
Does that mean we’ll be seeing a “Pimp My Wii” in the near future? Hooray for stale puns!
Reggie Talks Wii [CNet]
Sonic 2 prototype now playable
Filed under: Hacks, Retro, Action, Adventure
Known only as “drx,” some mysterious mage has resurrected a Sonic the Hedgehog 2 prototype cart and promptly dumped it (for emulation). It’s an early build of Sega’s sequel that’s more akin to the first game than to the final version of Sonic 2. Can you spot the differences?
It’s been suggested that this prototype is the same alpha build that was featured in several episodes of Nick Arcade. Another early build, often referred to as Sonic 2 Beta, was stolen from a toy show in New York back in ‘92. The cart was pirated and sold as a final version in parts of Asia and Brazil, despite only featuring four semi-playable levels.
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Wii Sports, Now Better Looking Than Before
Think after E3 Nintendo just sailed through the summer, chilling out, maxing and relaxing by the pool? No. Nintendo worked. And here’s proof. Reader Matthew sent along this comparison for us to compare. Besides the obvious addition of people, notice how Nintendo ditched the company logo in favor of “WiiSports.”
EA updates LOTR White Council site
Filed under: PC, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Adventure, RPGs
Now that Electronic Arts is dual wielding the Tolkien movie and literary rights, we can expect plenty of return trips to Middle-earth from the über developer. So far, we’ve seen two action platformers, a turn-based RPG, a portable tactics entry, and an RTS series that have each incorporated the look and feel of The Lord of the Rings films.
Scheduled for a late 2007 release, The White Council promises to deliver an Oblivion-style roleplaying experience from the perspective of a human, hobbit, dwarf, or elf. Only this time, the adventure is set 100 years prior to events depicted in the books and films, which puts EA in the precarious position of inventing some believable derivative fiction that won’t upset the Tolkien fan base. To see how things are progressing, check out the relaunched web site that features new details on some of White Council’s characters.
See also: Steve Gray discusses LOTR: The White Council
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