News hit over the past couple of days that Blizzard Entertainment would not be attending E3 2008. There was a bit of disappoitment across the lands, but the news didn’t have enough time to settle before another bomb hit: Activision and Vivendi are pulling out of the ESA altogether.
Rich Traylor, the VP of communications and research for the ESA said the following:
“While the Entertainment Software Association remains the preeminent voice for U.S. computer and video game publishers, we can confirm that Activision and Vivendi Games opted to discontinue their membership. The ESA remains dedicated to advancing our industry’s objectives such as protecting intellectual property, preserving First Amendment rights, and fostering a beneficial environment for the entire industry. Our high level of service and value to members and the larger industry remains unchanged.”
Meanwhile, to make things even more interesting (as if they weren’t already), Blizzard has announced that they will be holding their very own press event during the first day of E3.
Rockstar’s hit, Grand Theft Auto IV, which is flying off the shelves left and right across the world, has hit a bit of a bump over in the United Arab Emirates. Indeed, authorities have now banned the game due to its offensive content, and there’s little hope that the decision will be overturned.
Given the game’s violent content it’s entirely likely that the UAE won’t be alone in the banning festivities. Other countries are likely to slap the game with a ban any day now.
The ban isn’t really halting all sales across the UAE, however. On launch day, a Dubai airport sold out of GTA IV copies, and they’re expecting another shipment in a couple of months.
The rumor for the Xbox 360 Blu-ray disc drive has been all over the place for a while and Microsoft has done its best to squash those rumors by denying everything. However, this was a rumor that simply wouldn’t die, and now a recent development has added fuel to the fire. Pegatron Technology has come forward and claimed the title of manufacturer for the product, stating that Microsoft ordered a Blu-ray equipped Xbox 360 to be shipped in Q3 of 2008.
Not a price diet though, which is what you might have been hoping for. No, the big black box is actually going to undergo a slimming process that sees it shed some pounds and become a little bit more efficient in the process.
Heat sink maker Furukawa Electric has developed a “third generation” unit for the PS3 that is smaller, lighter, and cheaper. These advances have lead to slight changes in the architecture of new PS3’s, which will use separate heat sinks to cool the Cell processor, and the graphics chips. Combined, these two heat sinks will still weigh in 30% lighter than the previous, clunky single unit.
Let’s all keep our fingers crossed that by cutting manufacturing and assembly costs that some of the addition financial wiggle room will trickle down to consumers and we’ll see price cuts for PS3 hardware. This downsizing trend has sparked rumours that the PS3 might follow in the path of the PS2, with a skinny mini version of the console being release at some point in the future.
And hey, following the PS2 pattern, after than we need a pink PS3! It’s only fair.
Father’s Day may be a way’s off yet, but if you’ve got a cool dad, or are a cool dad and are looking for a way to put a funky spin on a traditional gift idea (the tie), look no further than this Guitar Hero necktie.
Just don’t be surprised if you have co-workers grabbing your faux guitar, rocking out randomly and nearly strangling you in the process.
Say what you will about the particular company in question, but man is it nice to see a game company (other than Nintendo) with some positive press and market strength. All too often we get caught up in the negatives, with companies being swallowed in mergers, or downsized drastically, or in legal/political hot water…but Ubisoft has been sitting pretty like a sort of publishing ivory tower.
The company recently announced Q4 growth in the range of 217m Euros, a 10% hike over last year’s numbers and roughly a third higher than had been forecasted. The top three reasons for the over-achieving come from very different areas of gaming, demonstrating that portfolio diversity can be very effective for padding the old coffers.
Rainbow Six Vegas 2 saw 2 million units fly out the door
Assassin’s Creed continues to perform well, now surpassing the 6 million sold mark
Ubisoft’s casual games unit Games For Everyone, also helped the cause, racking up ~230 million Euros in sales
The rosy numbers have lead Ubisoft to adjust it’s full 2008 forecast somewhat, upping expected profit measures to 12% of sales from 11% and reconfirming a 1 billion Euro sales forecast. They’ve also announce, contrary to pink slip precedents, that they will be looking to hire 900 new staff by the end of March 2009. New recruits will be sought in upcoming studio openings in Asian areas, as well as four hundred slots being created in existing development studios.
Sad news for those still without Wiis and hoping that their patience/inability to find a Wii would translate into some saved cash…Nintendo has announced that it won’t be chopping the price on the little white console, or it’s portable cousin, the Nintendo DS, in 2008.
President Satoru Iwata addressed analysts’ questions by saying that “Our earnings projection for the year is not based on hardware price cuts, and I don’t think we are going to need them”. Basically: people will buy both the DS and Wii for the price we’ve set them at dumbasses. Why would we lower the prices and cut into our profit?
The two Nintendo powerhouses, which have been tops on the hardware lists for quite a while, still generally retail for less than their competitors, making them a very attractive option, even at their current full price. Sure, lowering the price would make them fly off the shelves faster, but considering the rate these things are going…. rapidity isn’t exactly an issue.
Nintendo hopes to double the Wii’s hardware sales this year, shipping upwards of 25 million units, while downsizing its expectations for the older DS, with a conservative estimate of 28 million units.
Play-Girlz Tipster Scarlett writes in with the following very important public service announcement: “What’s the point of having a big gun if it’s always soft? Projectile Dysfunction is a serious issue affecting millions.”
We all know them, the wusses camped out in the corner of a room hoping that you’ll blindly stumble into them because that’s the only way they’re going to mark a kill. Their situation is a pathetic and saddening one, but now there’s help! Very well patterned after a Viagra ad, the ET Quake Wars parody suggests “Stroyent” for avatars having difficulty “getting and maintaining enough health and/or ammo for destruction”.
Stroyent, or more properly humanifil killemal, may just help your in-game impotency and up your game to a whole new level!
Rejoice Stargate fans! Your chance to try out Cheyenne Mountains (very very) long awaited MMORPG Stargate Worlds, is at hand. The official website has a rather well-hidden means of recruiting gamers to the open beta. The beta isn’t scheduled to begin until the fall, but if you want in on the action, I would suggest signing up early to avoid bitter, crushing disappointment.
To sign up for the beta, go to the Stargate Worlds website, create an account, and watch for the little check box on the form that says “by clicking this box, you are signing up for our beta test for Stargate Worlds!” It’s at the very bottom of the registration page, where they also ask you to sign up for newsletters, email spam, and things of that nature.
Why so hard to find the sign up? Well have you ever been on the receiving end of thousands upon thousands of beta requests? It’s messy, difficult to manage, and you get a huge proportion of people who take up spots in the beta but never actually use it as it’s intended…to improve the gaming experience prior to release. What Cheyenne is doing is performing an early selection whereby only those who read the registration form closely enough to care actually see the beta box and sign up. Well, those people and also anyone who reads Play-Girlz…
This has got to me some sort of new low, or manifestation of further neuroses for Jack Thompson. He’s taken his crusade against “murder simulator” GTA IV to a whole new level by writing a scathing, critical letter…to Rockstar head honcho Strauss Zelnick’s mom. Apparently Thompson is under the impression that everyone is still imbilically attached to their mother’s, even into middle age, and finds the harrassing of innocent older women to be an acceptable way to further his cause.
Some choice cuts from the letter include Thompson questioning Mrs. Zelnick’s parenting skills and philosophies:
“Maybe you, Mrs Zelnick, were so taken by your handsome son that you spared the rod and spoiled the child. That would explain why he has brought you, by the way he presently acts, to shame.”
And even more baffling, pinning the apparent crimes of the son onto the completely uninvolved mother…wtf?
“Your son, this very moment, is doing everything he possibly can to sell as many copies of GTA IV to teen boys. If you trained up Strauss to do this, then shame on you,”
“The pornography and violence that your son traffics in is the kind of stuff that most mothers would be ashamed to see their son putting into the hands of other mothers’ children”
“Your son, this very moment, is doing everything he possibly can to sell as many copies of GTA IV to teen boys. If you trained up Strauss to do this, then shame on you”
Lastly, and most hilariously, was Thompson’s link in to Mother’s Day:
“Happy Mothers’ Day, Mrs Zelnick, which this year is May 11, two weeks after your son unleashes porn and violence upon other mothers’ boys. I’m sure you’re very proud.”
If only all of this were a joke… If you want to protest the game, you go right ahead, but you leave people’s moms out of it Jack. I can feel a whole round of “Yo’ Mama” jokes welling up in the internets.
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News hit over the past couple of days that Blizzard Entertainment would not be attending E3 2008. There was a bit of disappoitment across the lands, but the news didn’t have enough time to settle before another bomb hit: Activision and Vivendi are pulling out of the ESA altogether. 
Say what you will about the particular company in question, but man is it nice to see a game company (other than Nintendo) with some positive press and market strength. All too often we get caught up in the negatives, with companies being swallowed in mergers, or downsized drastically, or in legal/political hot water…but Ubisoft has been sitting pretty like a sort of publishing ivory tower.
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