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With all the news about various companies suing the videogame machine makers over violating patents, here's news of one of the fights that originally brought this issue to the forefront. In 2002, Immersion Corporation sued both Sony and Microsoft over the vibration technology used in their controllers (originally brought to gaming by the Nintendo 64's Rumble Pak in 1997). Immersion felt that the specific tech used by Sony and Microsoft infringed on their patents and sued them for millions. It prevented Sony from putting out the controller they wanted in the PlayStation 3 until they settled the case with Sony's payment. Now Microsoft after an earlier payout settle a subsequent case with legal foe Immersion.
Read More »OK, now that you've gotten a taste of Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe in the last post, check THIS clip out. It's Batman villain supreme, The Joker, delivering a character-appropiate fatality to his vanquished foe. With your developer guide talking his way through the footage shown in the screen behind him, watch The Joker in kombat mortally wound his deluded challenger. Your only question will be: Was it 'TOASTEEE!' enough?
Just in case you're curious about how this crossover title which merges the worlds of Mortal Kombat and DC Comics together, check THIS clip out. A sampling of footage showing DC's superheroes and supervillians facing off against Mortal Kombat hardened warriors. For the PlayStation 3 and the XBox 360 on November 10, 2008. Round One...Bite!
I've been leaving out mention of one revolutionary title. Well maybe not revolutionary but funny perhaps? The creators of Homestar Runner, the almost 9 year old Flash internet cartoon, and developer Telltale Games have produced a episodic game called Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People for the WiiWare service and Windows on the PC. Crazy surreal internet humor is all over this creation judging by the title alone. With the first episode, "Homestar Ruiner", already released on August 11th, the new episode "Strong Badia the Free" is ready for September. Let's see what The Brothers Chaps (Matt and Mike) and Telltale Games have come up with now.
I want to get you pumped up for the September 7th release of Spore for the Mac, PC, and DS. So here's a trailer of the Civilization stage for you to chew on. Will Will Wright be right? All signs point to yes. Expect big DS sales of this title.
Want a taste of the latest Valve production, Left 4 Dead? Not blowing you any steam. This multiplayer cooperative first person shooter gets to the source of horror. Not digging my corny puns? Well then check out this video and judge for yourself.
This is what popularity does to you. You are challenged by everyone who didn't possess or utilize your abilities in backlash. The Chaos Principle dictates that some beings go against the accepted and admired contingent simply for the preservation of dissent. It's actually a safety feature in nature. It makes sure some of a species survives if the popular path leads to ruin. But sometimes in practice it can get very irritating if you're under siege of this cosmic effect.
Nintendo hit the jackpot with their Wii idea going against the raging tide of naysayers ending up the market leader in virtually every region of the world proving the nays wrong at every turn. Now that 'Wii as leader' is confirmed suddenly Nintendo faces countless lawsuits for having that forward vision due to their current popularity. Another one has just come down against the playing card/toy company from Kyoto, Japan.
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They have the technology. They can build it better, faster, stronger. The PlayStation Portable joins Andre Benjamin from Outkast and sci-fi writing conventions with the naming of the new PSP model, the PSP-3000. Hmm, strange. It doesn't really look any differently from the old PSP—both original or Slim and Lite varieties. But that's just on the external. Inside the PSP-3000 has an enhanced LCD screen with anti-reflection technology to cut down glare in well-lit places (like outside), a new built-in microphone, Skype service packed in, and a video-out port which with separately sold cable will allow PSP-3000 owners to play on TVs that don't have progressive scan unlike previous models.
There's a little more. Watch...
Read More »Ready to see some LocoRoco 2 action? Well here you go. The PlayStation Portable's right hand Roco with all the colorful aesthetics and memorable music you've come to expect. I wonder if they're thinking about making this a cartoon on Nickelodeon or something...
LocoRoco 2, the upcoming sequel to the unique imaginative PlayStation Portable game LocoRoco, will add a new layer to the gameplay this go 'round. Where the first was only a single player game, LocoRoco 2 will add in multiplayer capabilities. Specifically, that means a 4-player mini-game included within the 6 new mini-games available. Perhaps they will expand this one single 4-player play larger throughout the rest of the game. Perhaps not. But I'd vote on expanding this idea in order to encourage more sales of both the PSP and LocoRoco 2. It's only in Sony's best interests.
In compos mentis, Wired.com.
From South Korea's NCSoft is this new MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) called Aion: The Tower of Eternity. Based in a fantasy world of gods and grunts, the 3 races of beings fight militarily in order to rise ranks to lead their factions. See the trailer, make your judgments, and leave your comments.
Remember Elebits, that innovative launch title for the Wii which let you cathartically tear your house asunder to look for magical sprites? Well, there's a sequel in the works and it's called Elebits: The Adventures of Kai and Zero for the DS. And from this year's Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany comes this new trailer displaying the multiplayer mode (this game will use the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection for online capability). Watch and see for yourself.
The cross-media project known as Star Wars: The Force Unleashed will branch into the worlds of comic books, novels, action figures, roleplaying game sets, videogames, and much more. To be playfully pejorative, it's every nerd's wet dream. The September 16th North American launch date for this massive project is swiftly approaching but to get your excitement up just a little more before then, check out this "world exclusive trailer" to the videogame of probably the most expansive multimedia production in history. Judge for yourself as always.
(if this trailer is 'world exclusive', then how did WE get it? Oh well.)
Here's the debuting trailer for The Godfather II, the game sequel based off of the movie sequel with a very similar name. PlayStation 3, XBox 360, and PC owners pay attention. Wii owners...just hope that you will get an edition of your own before long. No input from me. You make up your own mind on what you see.
Time to channel my inner teenage Joey Lawrence: "Whoa!" Goichi Suda, the former undertaker turned vividly imaginative game designer known by his nickname Suda51 (see Wikipedia for details on nickname's origin); Shinji Mikami, the nickname-less lovingly creative game producer of the beloved and defunct Capcom's Clover Studio; and Electronic Arts, the once artist-minded computer game company now corporate videogaming behemoth founded by Trip Hawkins, have joined forces.
What does a partnership between Suda51, Mikami, and EA produce? A brand new game the likes of which we have never seen before. Continue...
In North America, Microsoft's XBox 360 is a formidable market contender but in Japan it is little more than a console pretender. A virtual non-entity in the face of overwhelming Nintendo dominance with their DS and Wii machines not to mention the 360 also being under Sony's shadow there as well with the PlayStation posse. The lean mean green machine is lucky to clear 5,000 a month leading some speculators here to wonder if a national attitude of ethnocentric preservation prevents Japanese customers from readily wanting to buy a machine from a foreign land. Hometown boys or bust, goes the questionable logic.
Well, this week at least the curse has been lifted. The XBox 360 actually made semi-competitive sales in the land of the rising sun! Read on for details...
Will Wright's videogame masterpiece in the making, Spore, is set to light up PC and Mac screens with its uncategorizable style of play. But the Hall of Famer from the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences isn't content to use the usual avenues to promote the coming September 7th release of Spore.
Are you ready for Spore: The TV Show? Spore: The Motion Picture? If so, read on...
Here's the introductory cinema for the upcoming Mega Man 9 on Wii's WiiWare, XBox 360's XBox Live Arcade, and PlayStation 3's PlayStation Network for September. All made presentable for speakers of the English tongue. So sit and watch this ol' school styled intro and pay attention because there's a surprise in the clip that I'm sure any Capcom fan will love.
Jenga is a pretty fun game. Teaching you about skyscraper structure by learning how to take a block from the bottom to the top without crumbling the tower of Jengosity. Well now cool idea meets cool idea with the introduction of Donkey Kong Jenga. This collector's edition is styled in the look of the original 1981 arcade with its pixelized red girders, blue ladders, Mario, Pauline, and Donkey Kong. It can be played the old fashioned Jenga way OR in this new way where you use a spinner to decide how many spaces to move the Mario playing piece (which sticks on side of Jenga blocks) and when to remove blocks. In the DK-styled Jenga play, the object is as same as the original arcade game: to climb to the top to save Pauline from this renegade ape named Donkey Kong. If you wanna get your hands on this one, keep an eye out for September 24th when it releases.
Thanks by the barrel-full to NeoGAF.com.
Who would have ever thought that videogames could be studied for deeper philosophical content? There's a new book coming out (November 28th) called The Legend of Zelda and Philosophy which takes the magical mystical world of Hyrule and studiously scans it for all of its philosophical worth. Take the product description from Amazon.com for example:
"With both young and adult gamers as loyal fans, The Legend of Zelda is one of the most beloved video game series ever created. The contributors to this volume consider the following questions and more: What is the nature of the gamer’s connection to Link? Does Link have a will, or do gamers project their wills onto him? How does the gamer experience the game? Do the rules of logic apply in the game world? How is space created and distributed in Hyrule (the fictional land in which the game takes place)? How does time function? Is Zelda art? Can Hyrule be seen as an ideal society? Can the game be enjoyable without winning? The Legend of Zelda and Philosophy not only appeals to Zelda fans and philosophers but also puts video games on the philosophical map as a serious area of study."
It's like a college course on Zelda! Zelda 101. Now that's a class I would like to take. Just goes to show you that videogames are more than mindless entertainment. There's cultural significance in this pastime and it's nice that this is recognized. Heh, I've learned many things about life from cartoons. Knowledge is everywhere.
Go go GoNintendo.com!
I've been bringing you so much Star Trek Online news lately that I might as well finish you off with some game footage. Here's the debuting trailer for Star Trek Online and as always judge for yourself if you like what you see. Prosper and live long...and maybe you just might be able to play it.
25 year old Japanese Olympic swimming star Kosuke Kitajima captured his 3rd Olympic gold medal Monday breaking the world record with a new 58.91 second time on 100 meter breaststroke. It took lots of dedication and mental/physical training to achieve such a headsmacking effort in this overall record breaking Olympic ceremony. But there was something else that helped push Kitajima over the edge of excellence. Something unlikely. A game called Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games for Nintendo's Wii of all things!
Listen for yourself as Kitajima breaks it down in this excerpt:
"See, Mario does the breaststroke. And thus, it's perfect mental training for envisioning the actual Olympic hall."
Endorsements don't get any better than that, folks. They just don't. Bringing home the gold for the country in record fashion and paying tribute to one of the country's sparkling jewels is the Wheaties box times 1000 for this Olympian. Nintendo no doubt will put this in their commercials creating once again a frenzy that ensures massive buyings and consequential lack of stock for what is becoming the most popular home console in history. Amazing!
Thanks to Yomiuri Sports through Kotaku.com.
More to follow...
Read More »Here it is folks. The moment you've been waiting for. Leonard Nimoy, Mr. Spock himself, intros the presentation for Star Trek Online. Watch and be amazed!
Shigeru Miyamoto and genius are an encyclopedic pair. Look up one and you're bound to find the other. Instrumental to Nintendo's success over the decades, his very day-to-day life inspires new gaming ideas and concepts. Miyamoto plays with his pet puppy, here comes Nintendogs. Miyamoto relaxes in his personal garden, here comes Pikmin. Miyamoto goes to a gym, here comes Wii Fit. Miyamoto wants to spruce up his banjo skills, here comes Wii Music. Obviously the gold mind lurking in that friendly-faced skull is of immeasurable value to his company and as a result according to The Times (from the UK) he's been banned from discussing his hobbies in public.
Interested? Keep reading...
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One source of envy for any gameplayer living in North America is the variety of system styles people in Japan get compared to their own. Maybe the game companies figures it's a cultural thing that works better hometown than overseas but you tend to get a little jealous when you get basic and they get deluxe. Well looks like Nihon is throwing us a bone with the pending arrival of a limited edition Pokémon DS coming to all points in North America.
Wanna know the details? Then click the link below that begins with the word "Read"...
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The protests of late author Mario Puzo's family and director Francis Ford Coppola aren't going to discourage Electronic Arts from once again turning the novel and movie classic The Godfather into videogame form. EA confirms that The Godfather II will be arriving in February of 2009 for the PlayStation 3, XBox 360, and PC.
But there will be changes in this sequel. Want to know which ones? Then 'Read More'...
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PlayStation series SOCOM (Special Operations Command) finally gets its PlayStation 3 entry named SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation. And now the tactics-centric third person militaristic shooter at last has a price and a release date for the anticipators...well at least for those living in the continent of North America.
Read, read, read...
Read More »The Call of Duty series has never featured a co-operative play mode before so the interested are curious on how the next in the war-minded first person shooter franchise will pull it off. Never fear, Call of Duty: World At War is here. Judge for yourself as always and leave comments on your thoughts of the footage. Make commentary, not war.
No one escapes the pirates in the world of digital entertainment. Businesses quietly seethe as the stealthy ones break open the profit piñata full of goodies for all the gameplayers to pick from. Always one step ahead, maybe even two or three, no one escapes the pirates. But Ubisoft is trying their best to prevent the peglegs from storming the deck of their Assassin's Creed flagship.
The details follow after you click 'Read More'...
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Talk about undoing long-laid plans. 20 years of the Madden franchise was to be celebrated complete with X-shaped Roman numerals and a cover of Green Bay Packers great Brett Favre with his gridiron face on. But an interception change all the plans of procedure when Favre was traded to the New York Jets yesterday. The printing press and shipping logistics were already underway and this happens? What to do? What to do?
Read on to find out...
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"Play long and prosper" will be the corruption of the old Vulcan saying when Star Trek Online makes its viewing debut this Sunday, August 10th, at the annual Star Trek Convention held in Las Vegas, Nevada. And Trek fans will be delighted to know that none other the man who played Mr. Spock himself, Leonard Nimoy, will do the introduction before the game shows a sampling of itself to the world. Mr. Nimoy will introduce the debut showings from the stage of the Gene Roddenberry Theater. And all of this broadcasts from the official Star Trek Online website at 1:30 PM Pacific Daylight Time (or Pacific Standard Time one hour back) which corresponds with 4:30 PM Eastern Daylight Time.
Practice separating your middle and ring fingers in your Vulcan salutations and be sure to check out the footage.
Affirmative, Wired.com.
What does that crazy headline mean? Just a little info about pre-order goodies for the upcoming October PlayStation 3 release LittleBigPlanet from developer Media Molecule and publisher Sony. With a pre-order of LBP, PS3 owners can have the opportunity to play as a SackBoy in the guise of Kratos from God of War or a SackGirl in the form of Nariko from Heavenly Sword. SackBoys and SackGirls are the characters you play just so you know.
There's more though...
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Inevitability strikes gameworld once again. Grand Theft Auto IV will steal the hearts of PC owners come this November. To be specific, November 18th for North America and November 21st for Europe. The PC GTA IV (wow lots of initials there) will have in store "newly expanded multiplayer" exclusive for the PC contingent. Clarify please, Rockstar. Oh? It's a surprise? Well, then. Hopefully the PC version can avoid the criticisms found in the console version performance wise. Maybe the end sentence of Rockstar Games founder Sam Houser's PC GTA IV praises can give some relief: "The game looks and plays beautifully on PC and we can't wait for people to play it." Let's hope that's so, Mr. Houser.
Hmm, it's true after all...Crime Pays.
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Sorry for that headline. I'm stuck in the 1980's for some reason. Interested in the new sequel to breakout skateboarding game, Skate? Sure you am. As always, I leave it up to you to decide if what you see is up to snuff so enjoy the debut trailer to Skate 2 and leave comments. With every comment, an angel gets its wings. It's true.
When a gaming generation begins to get long in the tooth, everybody starts throwing around the words "price drop." Well some say were saying that before this generation even started but that's another matter. The XBox 360 is holding steady with the three models—Arcade, Premium, and Elite—making sly price stumbles (or price cuts if you rather use that the blade-like analogies) as they introduce new models to maintain the market margin. But the system needs a shot in the arm with strong competition from Nintendo (and to a lesser extent Sony) so where and when is that next price plummet coming?
Click the Read More thingy...
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Tricky wording from Microsoft's Taiwanese Entertainment and Devices Division General Manager, Grace Chou. She says at a recent Microsoft game exhibition in Taipei that Asia will see Final Fantasy XIII on the XBox 360. Before this the implication was that only the Americas and Europe 'n' PALs would see the once PlayStation 3 exclusive on Microsoft's green machine. But now "Asia" will see the XBox 360 version too. Does this include Japan, also part of Asia? Or will that particular island be exempt? That's left unclear but speculation is that the few and proud Japanese XBox 360 players can import the general Asian version for home play provided no region locking is involved. Daddy Warbucks is still trying to fight the good console fight, bless his heart.
Thanks goes to Kotaku.com.