Friday, May 2, 2008

Microsoft Orders Another Manufacturer To Produce Blu-Ray Xbox This Year?


"A report from Taiwanese news source Economic Daily News says that Pegatron Technology—a recently formed subsidiary of Asus that shouldn't be confused with the Decepticon leader—has received an order from Microsoft to manufacture a Blu-ray equipped model of the Xbox 360. According to the report, Pegatron says that it plans to begin production on the HD version of the Xbox 360 soon, with plans to ship within the next six months, aiming for a pre-holiday release.

It won't be the first time we've heard talk about Microsoft gloming on to the format, as the DigiTimes recently pegged manufacturer Lite-On as a Xbox 360 Blu-ray drive maker and Sony executives hinted that its competitor was feeling Blu to the Financial Times. MS CEO Steve Ballmer recently went on record about the move away from HD-DVD, saying the company will "support Blu-ray in ways that make sense..."

Full article source

Students of marketing will know this is a controlled way by Microsoft to hype their next product. This is an uncomfirmed rumor at the time of this writing but it seems plausible if a manufacturer is saying this.

VGChartz: PS3 Surpasses 12 Million Consoles Sold Mark

What this headline doesn't tell you is that the xbox (as of this writing) is far ahead of the ps3 by 6 million units. The Wii still outsells all others with sales of 24 million units.

Full article source

Dan Houser: Proclaims Loyalty To Hardcore Gamers

"Dan Houser’s [Rockstar Games Chief] hardcore. He swears in interviews. And he ain’t playin’ no Peggle, foo’.

“Fuck all this stuff about casual gaming,” he told the New York Metro.

He actually said, “F***,” apparently, but we’ve filled in the blanks for you.

Wii, apparently, isn’t casual gaming.

“I think people still want games that are groundbreaking,” he added. “The Wii is doing something totally different, which is fantastic..."

Full article source

As much as I admire Mr. Dan Houser's enthusiasm, we all know the ultimate motivation for business, any business is money, and there may just not be enough $ in tailoring games to hardcore gamers compared to casual gamers.

Alledged Cheater Completes GTA 4 In 17 Minutes On Xbox Live?!


"According to the Rockstar Social Club’s ‘100% Club’ - which lists everyone who’s completed the game, obviously - a certain ninjaraiden2003 has completed GTA IV on the Xbox 360 in 17 minutes and 15 seconds.
Now with all those stories circulating the web about cheating, the question has to be asked: Is this some kind of workaround or simply an anomaly..."

Full article source

I bet you it's a glitch. A commentor did mention that someone played all of GTA prior to release and then on release day played the final part.

Assuming ANY of that is even remotely true, Xbox live most likely has some kind of mechanism to detect early play before official release.

Tutorial: Get Your Grand Theft Auto 4 On PS3 To Run At 1080 Pixels

You'll need a 40 inch or greater screen and preferably connected via the HDMI port. This tutorial is for the Playstation 3.

Full article source

The Top 5 Reasons Why Super Smash Brothers Sucks (A Lot!)


"Lackluster story mode

At first, Subspace Emissary was the ultimate fan boy extravaganza, a 2-D side scrolling adventure game featuring Nintendo characters working together to thwart evil. The problem is that it never seems to end. Making matters worse, the story doesn't make any sense. Not that we need video games to be the bastion of life's sensibilities, but they don't need to be goofy, either. Furthermore, we grew tired of the mindless hacking. Run up to enemies and mash buttons. We get it..."

Full article source

The real reason is because this game is under the grand shadow of grand theft auto 4. On top of that, the netcode for this game sounds like it could use much work. Graphics are great though.

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Jack Thompson & Video Games Get A Bad Rap


"WIth the release of Grand Theft Auto IV on Monday, violence in video games and its effect on the people playing them has once again garnered media attention.

Lawyers, pundits and politicians with far too much time on their hands have no qualms about saying that playing violent video games can lead to real-world violence and/or aggression.

Quite frankly, it's an argument that's played out."

Full article source

Blah blah blah. I always get a chuckle whenever idiots like anti-gamer groups or Jack Thompsons get uppity and anal-angry about video games.

If it weren't for video games, there would be much less incentive to produce more powerful machines and computers, which allows humanity to do things that we couldn't do previously, increasing our technology and advancing our civilazation.

But maybe these ignorant fucks don't see the big picture. Game on everyone and laugh at these non-evolved retards.

Wii Exposed: The Secrets The Nintendo Wii Doesn't Want You To Know


"Nintendo’s latest entrant into the console war has no doubt been the company’s most successful entry since the original Nintendo Entertainment System in the 80s. The Wii has managed to continually sell out in stores since its release in November of 2006. In just a meager year and half, its already managed to outsell its predecessor, the Gamecube.

It shattered the PS2’s record of selling 10 million consoles in the US by a near 4 months. It currently holds the most market share out of the next gen systems. Nintendo, without a doubt, must be extremely proud of Miyamoto’s latest brain child.

That being said, there..."

Full article source

No offense to this author but he fails to see that the Wii is for CASUAL GAMERS, not us hardcore gamers. We demand a lot of shit that doesn't make these companies money. On the other hand, enter the casual gamer market, where it's easier to market to them and they buy games based no, like the author so succintly puts it, on brand name.

These are totally different people. They do not demand or WANT high graphics, violence, lots of things to do, etc.

And the proof is in the Wii's sales numbers, and Nintendo is just making too much money to cater to us.

The Wii Price Cut


"It is looking more and more like Nintendo may have no option to make the Wii cheaper at retail, despite what Satoru Iwata says. Here’s why:

  • It has been at the same price for a long time now, during which it has become a lot cheaper to make. Especially with the volumes they are churning out. And they were making a profit in every unit from the beginning. So there is plenty of room to drop the price.

  • They are ramping up..."
Full article source

What I want to know is, how is demand? This is a simple supply and demand issue. If the United States markets are still willing to pay this price and still almost sell out, then don't drop the price. According to the article, international sales are not as good so maybe drop the prices overseas.

Activision-Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick Scared Of EA/Take 2 Merger

"Activision boss Bobby Kotick has expressed concerns about the possibility of a merge between EA and Take-Two.

"That's concerning, sure," he told Reuters. "When you think about one company in control of the sports category, with no competition from anybody else, that could be a challenge..."

Full article source

THAT fucker (Bobby Kotick) FAILS to mention that his fucking game, World Of Warcraft, completely dominates the MMO market. He practically has NO fucking competition and every new MMO that is out is basically another fucking WoW clone.

This asshole is so full of shit it's *infuriating*.

When was the last time you played a game that was DIFFERENT from the fantasy cartoon MMO market?

When was the last time a successful non-fantasy MMO hit the market?
Exactly.

I hope if this merger goes through, Take 2 will still be what it always was and maybe finally come out with a GTA mmo or something. One can only hope...