Showtime to enter gaming realm January 4, 2007 8:30 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in News, Video Games.add a comment
CBS-owned cable channel Showtime is gearing for a second quarter launch of a online gaming-service ala GameTap called On Broadband.
The service will offer on-demand and downloadable games as well as reviews and cheats for PC users equiped with a broadband connection.
“While it might not seem like a natural, when you think about it, it makes a lot of sense for Showtime,” Showtime chairman and chief executive Matthew Blank told the AP. “We are used to dealing with a premium customer. We have the marketing and promotional expertise to be in those businesses.”
No specific game titles or content for the service have been announced yet.
Battlestar Galactica to be made into a RPG December 28, 2006 4:26 am
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Battlestar Galactica, News, Science Fiction, Video Games.add a comment
Battlestar Galactica, the hit Sci-Fi/Drama currently airing on Sci Fi Channel, will be made into a RPG (Role Playing Game) according to a report on the Gaming Report website.
Margaret Weis Productions has reached an agreement with Universal Studios Consumer Products Group to create role playing products based on the series.
“When we established our company we made the commitment to produce character- and story-focused role playing games using the best source material we could find,” says Margaret Weis, New York Times best-selling author and game publisher. “Battlestar Galactica is the kind of science fiction that we do best, where the drama and characters are more important than the guns and the gadgets. The very survival of the human race is at stake in the series and exploring the story possibilities in the setting can make for some very exciting games.”
The game book will be set in space, just like the series, and focus on the same challenges of survival that face the Galactica fleet every day, including the hard choices they are forced to make.
Follow the link to the source below for more details on the project.
Source: [GamingReport] — Margaret Weis Productions Officially Announces Battlestar Galactica RPG
Nintendo Announces VC releases for Christmas Day December 21, 2006 11:57 pm
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The Virtual Console is a part of the Nintendo Wii videogame system that allows users to download, for a fee, classic video games from past Nintendo systems (Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo 64) and former competitors Sega Genesis and Turbografx-16.
The VC currently has a catalog of over 30 games to download which range in price from 500 Wii points for NES games (100 Wii points = $1 U.S.) , 600 Wii points for Turbografx-16 games, 800 Wii points for Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis games and 1,000 Wii points for Nintendo 64 games.
Nintendo has been adding to the console every Monday and this Christmas morning will be no different as the console is set to get an additional 5 games: Super Mario Bros. (NES), Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (SNES), Super Castlevania IV (SNES), Toe Jam & Earl (GEN) and R-TYPE (TG-16).
All games will cost 800 Wii points, with the exception of Super Mario Bros. which will sell for 500 Wii points.
Nintendo has also let slip that the following Monday (New Years morning) they will be releasing Baseball (NES) and Urban Fighting at 500 (NES) Wii points each.
Burger King Xbox games enjoy strong sales December 21, 2006 11:49 pm
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According to a statement from Microsoft, more than 2 million of the Burger King-related Xbox 360/Xbox games have been sold in just four weeks since their November 19th launch in North America.
The three games (developed by Blitz), “Pocketbike Racer”, “Big Bumpin” and “Sneak King” cost only $3.99 with the purchase of a BK Value Meal at the U.S. food chain.
Russ Klein, president of global marketing, strategy and innovation for Burger King had the following to say:”We created the BK Xbox games as a unique form of all-family interactive entertainment, and we’re thrilled with the response thus far. Most video games are considered a blockbuster when they reach the 1 million mark in sales, and this collection has achieved twice that.”
Wii Browser Live in Europe and Australia; U.S. Friday [UPDATE] December 21, 2006 11:23 pm
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The Wii Browser (powered by Opera) for the Nintendo Wii (currently in beta) has gone live in a few regions such as Europe and Australia.
It will go active in the U.S. Friday and the download will be free of charge. A final version of the Opera Browser for the Internet Channel is expected by March 2007. It will continue to be free of use until June, when it will cost users 500 Wii points (100 Wii points = $1).
UPDATE: The Internet Channel (browser) is now active in the U.S. I’m actually typing this on my Nintendo Wii right now.
Dragon Quest IX Exclusive to Nintendo DS December 16, 2006 12:06 pm
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In a somewhat surprising move, SquareEnix has decided to release their next game in the successful “Dragon Quest” RPG series exclusively on the Nintendo DS handheld.
The game, now titled Dragon Quest IX: Hoshizora no Mamoribito (translated to Protectors of the Sky), was originally expected to be released for the Sony Playstation 2, Sony Playstation 3 or the Nintendo Wii.
The game has a tentative release date set for December 31, 2007 in Japan with an international release to other territories, including the U.S., also expected sometime in 2007.
Gears of War reaches 2M units sold December 15, 2006 12:31 pm
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Gears of War for the Xbox 360 is now the fastest-selling next-generation game of 2006.
The game has sold 1 million copies in the US alone, and another 1 million in other territories worldwide.
Both Microsoft (Publisher) and Epic Games (Developer) released a comment:
“‘Gears of War’ clearly has won the battle for the title of the must-have game of the year,” said Jeff Bell, corporate vice president of global marketing for the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft Corp. “Its phenomenal success is one of many reasons why Xbox 360 is the ultimate place to get together with friends to play this holiday.”
“We’ve always held high hopes for ‘Gears of War,’ but we never expected such an overwhelmingly positive response from critics and gamers all over the world,” said Michael Capps, president, Epic Games. “I can’t describe how stoked our team is right now. Our fans can absolutely count on Epic to keep delivering new gameplay through Xbox Live.”
The game has also done very well online, where it is being played by about 1 million users, about half of its audience.
Nintendo to replace Wii-mote straps December 15, 2006 12:25 pm
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Nintendo this morning has announced a program that will allow customers to voluntarily exhange their current Wii-mote straps (which are said to be defective, or simply break too easily) with new straps with a larger diameter string.
The original straps measured at 0.024 inches (diameter), while the new straps have a more sturdy 0.04 inch diameter.
The company will be replacing up to 3.2 million original straps (all new consoles and individual Wii-motes ship with the new strap) in a move that is expected to cost the company several million dollars.
Nintendo is stressing, however, that this is not a recall, just a voluntary upgrade if you will of your current Wii-mote strap.
Those interested can contact Nintendo here to get your replacement strap.
HD DVD/Blu-ray war heats up and system hardware sales for November December 15, 2006 12:16 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Blu-ray Disc, Hardware Sales, HD DVD, News, Nintendo Wii, Sony Playstation 3, Video Games, Xbox 360.add a comment
With November out of the way, sales data is starting to trickle in for the Playstation 3 and Microsoft Xbox HD DVD add-on, one front of the High-Definition format war.
For the month of November, Sony sold 197,000 Playstation 3’s in the U.S., while Microsoft sold an impressive (for an add-on) 42,000 HD DVD add-on’s for its Microsoft Xbox 360 player.
It should be noted that while Sony had more PS3’s sold, it’s impossibile to gauge how many of those owners of the system are using the console as a Blu-ray device. On the other hand, it can easily be assumed that all 42,000 owners of the HD DVD drive are using that device specifically for HD DVD movie playback, since the device isn’t used in any form for video game playback (the Xbox 360 is equiped with a regular PC DVD drive, hence the need for an add-on).
Elsewhere on the video game front, Nintendo sold 476,000 units of its new Nintendo Wii console, taking an early lead on the Playstation 3 by more than double the units.
Nintendo is said to be having no problems with their production of the unit while Sony is having issues but are still promising 2M PS3’s shipped by the end of the year (Sony originally were hoping to have 400,000 units for the U.S. launch, but were only able to supply half of that).
For the month, console sales were paced by the Playstation 2 at 664,000, the Microsoft Xbox 360, which has been out since last Christmas, at 510,000 and the Nintendo GameCube at 42,000.
On the portable front, Nintendo’s DS was the best seller with 918,000 sold, followed by the Nintendo Game Boy at 641,000 and the Sony Playstation Portable at 412,000 units sold.
Here are the installed base figures as of November, 2006 for all current video game systems in the U.S. (Console and Portable):
PS2: 35.8 million
GBA: 34.3 million
DS: 7.6 million
PSP: 5.7 million
Xbox 360: 3.4 million
Wii: 476 thousand
PS3: 197 thousand
SEGA acquires rights to “Alien” franchise for Video Games December 11, 2006 7:25 pm
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SEGA of America, SEGA Europe and Twentieth Century Fox Licensing & Merchandising today announced an agreement to bring the “Alien” movie franchise to next-generation gaming systems.
Multiple titles will be developed, including a first-person shotter and a role-playing game, with the first game hoped to be released in 2009.
“As a direct result of Fox’s efforts over the past 27 years, Alien has become one of the most recognized franchises in the motion picture industry,” said Simon Jeffery, President and Chief Operating Officer, SEGA of America, Inc. “SEGA will utilize the power of next-gen systems to blend the time-honored story with leading edge design technology to deliver a riveting and suspenseful gameplay experience.”
Alien premiered in 1979 and spawned three sequels. The franchise has grossed more than $557 million worldwide and has one numerous rewards including two Academy Awards.
Firefly to become video game December 11, 2006 1:30 am
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“Firefly”, the short lived (2002), but critically acclaimed and fan-loved Science Fiction series, will be resurrected once again (the show spawned a theatrical movie titled “Serenity” last year), but this time in video game form.
Wired.com is reporting that Multiverse has struck a deal with Fox Licensing to turn the show into a MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) in the vein of Star Wars Galaxies and Eve Online.
“We see virtual worlds as an extraordinarily promising new entertainment medium,” said Adam Kline, Fox Licensing’s vice president of media enterprises in an e-mail. “We believe Multiverse can deliver an experience that will remain true to the original series, while enabling a whole new level of personal involvement for fans.”
The online game will feature many different characters, not just the central characters.
“Television series can be really good properties to turn into MMOs, because when you make a TV series, not only do you need great characters, but you need to create a full, rich, compelling place,” Bridges says. “If you’re doing science fiction, you have to really think it out and create an incredibly rich environment that is compelling in its own right, and worth exploring and going back to week after week. That’s what Joss Whedon did with Firefly.”
Multiverse hopes to have a playable version of the game ready by 2008.
Source: [Wired] — Firefly Reborn as Online Universe
Playstation 3 Launch (and cost details) November 17, 2006 11:39 am
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in News, Sony, Sony Playstation 3, Video Games.1 comment so far
The first of two new console launches (the Nintendo Wii on Sunday being the other) is happening today.
The Playstation 3 will be available today, to those who’ve pre-ordered or are waiting in line, in two varieties; a $599.99 version which contains a 60GB harddrive, a multimedia reader and WiFi built in and a $499.99 version which contains a 20GB harddrive, no multimedia reader and no WiFi built in.
Demand is expected to be high, but unfortunately Sony will not be able to meet it with expected shipments somewhere in the neighborhood of 150,000 to 200,000 (they previously were shooting for about 1M, before cutting it to 400,000 and now halving that).
Supplies throughout the holiday season are also expected to be low as Sony as reports indicate Sony will only be able to supply around 500,000 to 800,000 units by the end of the year in North America (halved from the previous estimate of 1M to 1.2M).
According to a report at iSupply Corporation, the 20GB version of the Playstation 3 costs the company $805.85/console (a $306.85 loss/console) to produce, while the 60B version costs the company $840.35/console (or a loss of $241.35/console) to produce.
Needless to say, this is a very expensive launch for the company, and they have a lot riding on it.
Free Blu-ray Movie to Be Bundled With PS3 October 20, 2006 10:06 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Blu-ray Disc, HD DVD, Microsoft, News, Sony, Video Games.add a comment
On launch day, The Playstation 3 will be bundled with a free Blu-ray movie, “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby”, the Nascar racing comedy starring Will Ferrell.
That addition was one of many announcements given at a Sony’s Gamers’ Day conference yesterday, including free online gameplay from launch.
The Sony Playstation 3 will go on sale November 17th in two flavors; a full-featured WiFi enabled version with a 60GB hard drive for $599.99 and a non WiFi enabled 20GB version for $499.99.
Microsoft is expected to release their HD DVD Add-On for $199.99 in mid November. That will enable Xbox 360 users to add HD DVD playback (the other high definition optical disc format). It will also be bundled with a free movie, the 2005 hit “King Kong”.
EA Purchases the Maker of the Battlefield Franchise October 3, 2006 2:38 am
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Electronic Arts will acquire DICE Studios ( Digital Illusions CE) for the approximate price of $23.9 Million.
The deal had been in the works since the 2004.
More information about the deal and its history can be found at Hollywood Reporter.
Xbox 360 HD DVD Disc Drive – Price and Release Frame October 1, 2006 11:22 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in HD DVD, High Definition Optical Disc, Microsoft, Movies, Video Games, Xbox 360.3 comments
Microsoft has announced its price point ($199.99) and release frame (mid November) of its HD DVD Disc Drive for the Microsoft Xbox 360 Core or Premium Console.
The add-on device will be capable of outputting the formats full 1080p resolution, and will connect via USB 2.0.
At current prices, an Xbox 360, equipped with the required add-on to play the movies, will run anywhere from $499.99 to $599.99, the same price range as the formats competing Blu-ray technology from Sony.
This November, Sony will release the PS3 in two models, one for $499.99 and one for $599.99. Both models will be capable of playing back full 1080p Blu-ray movies.
Neither console will be capable of paying both formats.
Currently, Toshiba and RCA sell HD DVD units for $499.99 to $799.99, while Samsung has the only Blu-ray player out at $999.99.
More hardware manufactures are expected to release their own units come holiday season.
The Full Press Release is viewable below:
Nintendo Wii price and launch details announced. September 14, 2006 1:48 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Nintendo, Video Games.1 comment so far
Nintendo this morning in a news conference held in New York, released details on the launch of their new next generation console called Wii (pronounced we).
The system will carry a suggested retail price of $249.99 and launch on November 19th of this year. It will come bundled with the following:
- The Wii console with hardware stand and support plate (purpose unknown)
- One Wii remote (Wiimote) controller with a wriststrap
- One Nunchuck attachment
- A sensor bar, with a stand
- A/V cable, currently unspecified, assumed to be a Component Video connection
- AC adaptor
- 2 double A batteries to power the Wiimote
- 1 free pack-in game, “Wii Sports”
Earlier in the morning in Japan, Nintendo announced that in the Japanese market the system will not come bundled with a free game and will be priced at 25,000 Yen (approximately $213). It will launch in Japan on December 2nd.
For the full press release from Nintendo, please continue reading:
IBM has begun shipping chips for the Wii to Nintendo September 8, 2006 12:10 am
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Nintendo, Video Games.add a comment
“IBM Corp. says it has begun shipping processor chips for Nintendo Co. Ltd.’s forthcoming video game console, to be called Wii.
Many of the details are still shrouded in secrecy, but the deal gives IBM the triple crown in suppling the key brain chips for the latest versions of the three leading video game consoles: the Wii, Sony Corp.’s forthcoming PlayStation 3, Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360.”
IBM has really pulled off quite the trifecta in securing contracts for creating the CPU’s of all three console manufactures.
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