2/29/08

Hawty McBloggy Invites You to Play reports a one of a kind Xbox 360 signed by members of RoosterTeeth and Bungie Studios was sent in for repairs. He got his 360 back, but only after someone scrubbed the the signatures and art off the case. Weak.

Edios is laying off a quarter of it’s workforce, 800 people, and is killing off 14 projects. They also say that they’re going to focus on improving existing franchises. Get ready for Tomb Raider 92.

Also, hot off Digg: If you go to best buy and bring in your 360 with an extra $60 GeekSquad will install your game for you! What an awesome service.

The New Layout is Up!

 

Woooo! After a bit of work the site has been upgraded, including a new layout! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

 

Down Time

 

The site will be going down briefly for system maintenance. This should take no more than 30 minutes. Be calm, all is going according to plan.

 

2/28/08

 

The Decatur Daily news paper has a headline that reads “Video Game Killing?” but it may as well read “Mentally Unbalanced Moron Kills an Old Guy.” So get this, dude amasses tons of gear (scanner, night vision goggles, a phaser, socks stuffed with rope, and a wrapped mallet), so it’s apparent that he put some thought into the crime. However instead of taking the non-lethal phaser in to commit his crime, he stabs the elderly man over 70 times, takes out his eye, and shoots him (probably not in that order). I’ve never played a video game that has you playing a sadistic, idiotic, killer. His “video games made me do it” defense seems like a poorly thought out plea, hoping to score an insanity verdict. All that I can say is I’m happy Tennessee has the death penalty.

 

NSFW WARNING: I found this via Kotaku. I’m sure that’s not officially sanctioned Halo gear, but I’m looking forward to receiving my order.

 

God of War PSP demo update

A while back I talked about the locking up on my PSP. I wasn’t sure if it was a software or hardware problem. Well the folks over at Video Game Outsiders are reporting the same problem, so I’m pretty sure it’s a problem with the demo. I hope they have it fixed up before the game launches.

2/27/08

 

GameSpot is one lighter, though Jason Ocampo says it has nothing to do with the Gerstmann incident. I don’t know how true it is, maybe he was tired of being the last editor around. I can’t imagine GameSpot’s in good shape these days.

 

Apparently some investors are upset about the Activision/Blizzard merger. I don’t understand their problem, which is a big reason why I don’t mess around in the stock market.

 

I’m still working on upping the presentation of the site. I might “go for it” and pay some pros to do it, I’m sure I’d get a higher quality product out of the deal. I’m getting some promo-schwag in soon, I’ll probably run a contest to get some of it out the door. I even have some tricks up my sleeve for the video reviews. Change is coming!

 

2/26/08

 

You did it. You finally did it. Damn you all to hell! (Please don’t sue me, Fox.) MKR Group decided that Dead Rising ripped Dawn of the Dead off. I hope Time Warner doesn’t take a look at Cloverfield to see a monster running amok in New York City, then they might have to sue to protect the copyrights on King Kong. Am I the only person who thinks there’s room in this world for two zombie-filled malls? Hell, I live within a quarter mile of the first and biggest malls in the country, I need to prepare for the actual zombie attack. Let me have Dead Rising 2, MKR. Please?

 

Itagaki-san is a bad ass. That’s it. Nothing much to say about it, other than “Don’t mess with Itagaki.”

 

You ever wonder why Windows Live! fails? Well here’s a hint. If this actually happens I think Steam will surge onto a lot more PCs. Right now I think of Steam as an FPS fan’s app, but that’s less true every day. Add an iTunes proxie and it’s a done deal.

 

2/25/08

 

In a press release Take 2 claims EA offered to buy Take2 at $26 a share. Understandably the offer was refused since the stock market values Take 2 at $25.83 (as of the time of this writing) and are weeks away from releasing their biggest cash cow, GTA.

 

I see EA and Vivendi rushing to become huge mega-coperations in a mixed light. On one hand the one console future is a lot more likely if large companies exist to create a standard. On the other hand a lot of great games can and will get the life sucked out of them by the corporate process. Sad, but true.

 

SCE Wordwide Studios president Phil Harrison is stepping down this month. Who’s taking his place? Kaz. Kaz. The PS3 does look like it will have a good year in ’08, but I wonder if Kaz will be able to keep it going in ’09.

 

Also some site news: It seems like we’ve lost Josh. I’m not sure what happened, but I wish him well. I spent most of my weekend working on an upgrade to the site which is not yet done, and yes that is why I missed my review this week. My goal is to have a review up of all three Phoenix Wright games up sometime midweek for you, in preparation for Apollo Justice a little later on. I’m still on the first disc of Lost Odyssey, and for me to review it now would be unfair. Good thing I’m not in print.

 

Update:
I couldn’t forgive myself if I never posted this. Veronica Belmont, Leo Laporte, and Merlin Man join Jonathan Coulton in performing “Still Alive” in Rock Band. I had a nerdgasm watching this.

 

Jonathan Coulton performs “Still Alive” in Rock Band from Joy Stiq on Vimeo.

 

2/22/08

 

I’m writing this a little in advance, but I doubt anything could top this for a lead story. “Still Alive” is going to be DLC for Rock Band. Finally something I want to sing! Look at me writing, there’s science to do…

 

I know at least one programmer reads this site, and I want to make sure he’s aware of this. The XNA beta launches this spring, allowing indie/garage developers to share their games over Xbox Live. As a fan of the entirely unsupported PSP homebrew scene I’m anxious to see what these capable people can do with documented and “free” architecture. It does cost $99/year to get the ability to distribute over XBL, but I’m sure there will be ways around paying to get your game played.

 

I try not to talk about Jack Thompson, but the word document GAmePolitics.com has up is worth violating the embargo. Apparently it doesn’t take a whole lot to prepare a legal document in Florida. It makes me wonder why lawyers cost so friggin much.

 

2/21/08

 

Here’s a quick run down of the Choice awards from GDC.

 

Game of the Year: Portal.

 

Best Game Design: Portal.

 

Best Visual Art: Bioshock.

 

Best Technology: Crysis.

 

Best Writing: Bioshock.

 

Best Debut: Crackdown.

 

The list goes on and Gamasutra has the write up, but I don’t see Mass Effect anywhere on it. Blasphemy I say!

 

I say this all the time, but I really wish I had $20,000. If you’re in to the idea of collecting video games, this looks like the place to be.

 

For the other two Zune owners who might be reading this, XNA is coming. I’m rocking an 80 gig Zune, and I’ve been wondering how well the pseudo-ball would work for gaming. I’m not a great programmer, but I’ll try to take a look at the calls Microsoft provides, we may get some cool homebrew features out of the deal. For those of you who haven’t used one of the new Zunes, the controls can be pretty sensitive. Hopefully that will change when the patch hits.

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