Video game skills do not usually transfer to real life skills
Man in his 30s attempts to outrun cops in a car because he did it in GTA. Instead of putting age restrictions on games, there should be an IQ test. Is anyone else waiting for the guy who played too much Trauma Center to show up in the news?
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Too good to be true? |
Two Revolution games announced
Red Steel is coming to the Revolution, and check out the fake screen shots. Maybe they’re not polished, who knows. The game seems to be another attempt by Nintendo to convince gamers that they can appeal to an older crowd. The choice of a FPS is slightly odd, though. They tend to do terribly in Japan and if the Revolution is to stand a chance, my guess is that it’d have to repeat the DS’s and Allied Forces strategy of dominating the homeland.
In addition to Ubisoft’s Red Steel (the sword and gun fighting FPS) another title has been officially announced for the Revolution. Coming from the unknown Polish developer Nibris, Sadness sounds like it’ll be a survival horror game. It’s unknown if Sadness will be a full blown AAA title or if it’s an example of what Nintendo hyped: small developers making small games for the Revolution. I’m hoping it is the latter, and of course, that the game is good. The best way for Nintendo to combat Microsoft’s Live Arcade is to get small companies on board with the Revolution.
Checking Nibris’ website does little to answer questions about Sadness. It seems like a site redesign would’ve been more timely before they announced a new game.
Analysts predict PS2 price drop
God, I hate analysts. Everyone who breathes with their mouth closed knows that the PS2 price will drop. This just in: Whitehouse warns of impending terrorist attack within the next decade.
Revolution to launch with 20 games
“Launch” is such a vague word these days. It now refers to an unspecified number of months after a system debuts and is commonly used preceding the word “window.” Imagine 20 games on actual launch day then imagine having the willpower to not buy the system. I can’t do either. The Revolution will have 20 games in its launch window, no doubt, which means five at launch then a slow trickle for the nine months.
The good news is that a third of the launch titles will be from Nintendo. Good in terms of quality, at least. It may not be a great sign of third party support, though. I wonder what Lionhead was developing before the takeover.
Civ IV finally finished, despite being released six months ago
In a perfect world, games are released after the developer is done making them. In a perfect world, I stop complaining about unfinished games.
Microsoft expanding into new territories
Bill is bringing his system to the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and Africa. Good idea. For some reason profitable markets tend to be ignored by game companies. Western Europe is just getting solid support now, sort of. Last I checked (probably a month ago) Shadow of the Colossus had just come out and they didn’t have Wario Ware: Twisted. That does make it really easy to look cool on European message boards, though. “Oh, you just got that game? That’s cool. I beat it six years ago.”
DS continues to murder PSP in homeland
The DS outsold the PSP by over 6 to 1 last week. I’ve gotten some complaints over mentioning these weekly sales but that is quite a large margin. Numbers for all regions are hard to come by but I am beginning to doubt the claims that the PSP is winning globally. From what I’ve read, the DS is winning in Japan and Europe, and the PSP in Australia and the US. If anyone has global stats for units sold, not shipped, please let me know.
As for American DS sales, how does Nintendo plan on making Brain Age a hit if people haven’t heard of it? Maybe my parents live in a cave, but they don’t know what a DS is. And I admittedly watch little TV, but I’ve never seen any DS commercials. I’ve run into a few talking squirrel PSP spots, though.
Duke Nukem Forever to actually come out
The people behind the game seem to want to get the whole mess over with. “Honestly, at this point we just want to finish it.” They may have wanted to run that comment through the PR department first.
Games will make you an alcoholic pothead
This just in: There was no violence or drug use before GTA. Also, studies using test groups of 100 are always conclusive.
In game ad agency sucks Massively
CEO of Massive, Inc. Mitch Davis predicts in game ad spending to reach $1.7 billion by 2010. Massive could learn a thing or two from the Marketeer.
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Subtle. |
Neverwinter Nights 2 coming in September
Obsidian’s last game wasn’t really finished (KOTOR 2 had cut story lines and dialog because Lucas Arts wanted it shipped on time, or if you’d rather blame the developer because you’re some sort of fascist, then it was because Obsidian couldn’t make deadlines). Let’s hope this one is.
PS3 rumors abound
Rumors are always true. These ones say that the PS3 guts are too big to fit into the sleek case Sony has been showing off. If this is true, it really shouldn’t matter that much. So they make a case that’s a little bigger, the Xbox was a full tower PC and it sold well.
The next rumor is that Sony is still negotiating with parts manufacturers. This means that production won’t begin any time soon. And finally, the PS3 Operating System is rumored to use 25% of the system’s core and 18.75% of the system RAM. Apparently this is a shitload for a game console. I think the PS3 will be the leader of the coming generation, but then I also thought that about the Saturn. No, wait, I didn’t.
Best FPS ever not coming to XBox Live Arcade
Want to steal Nintendo’s thunder, MS, then port their systems best games to Live Arcade. If the 360 had an online version of GoldenEye, I’d probably start saving my pennies today. It’s a pretty devious idea, though, for MS to get the rights to any big Nintendo game that Nintendo didn’t make. The Nintendo virtual console would look pretty dumb if Castlevania, Final Fantasy 6, Chrono Trigger, Conquer’s, GoldenEye, etc were only available on Live Arcade. Of course this would cost too much and MS probably doesn’t see the Revolution as much of a threat. Also, leaders don’t react.
Games that defined the Dreamcast
Sonic Riders, Shadow the Hedgehog, Shining Tears, Shining Force Neo, Virtua Quest, Sega Classics Collection. Ok, you should now feel sick to your stomach. Shenmue, Skies of Arcadia, Samba De Amigo, Jet Set Radio, Chu Chu Rocket, Crazy Taxi. Now you should feel better. When the DC died, most of Sega died with it. Relive the golden days with this masturbatory article that tells us nothing new and offers no insights. It still made me a little teary eyed.
If Nintendo’s new-fangled controller works half as well as they say it does, I will the first person in line to buy a FPS on the revolution. It will be like duck hunt, only you’re aiming at people! Better still, there’ll be no annoying 6 year olds watching you at the arcade.