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Posted Mar 21, 2007 by Tiberius Jonez
While we are redesigning GameJonez and adding all the functionality you, our readers, have requested, we will still be hard at work bringing you the news you want from the world of Gaming.
The GameJonez Blog will be our home during this transition period. Please add GameJonez Blog to your favorites as it will remain an integral part of GameJonez even after we return to GameJonez.com.
We are very excited about the new GameJonez Blog. It features better story tracking, search functionality, more video features and, most importantly, your reader comments for every story.
All new stories will appear there until we are ready to unveil the new GameJonez.
Thank you for your continued support and patience during this exciting time.
120GB Xbox 360 "Zephyr" - It's Black! We have the Pictures Posted Mar 20, 2007 12:00pm by Todd Melanson
In an apparent slip-up by the Halo Wars development team, it appears pictures of the long-rumored 120GB Black Xbox 360, dubbed Zephyr, have made it to the Net, largely unnoticed.
The first picture below appears on the Halo Wars community forums. The Devs had a recent get together with some Microsoft big wigs including Shane Kim to show off their progress with Halo Wars. Well, someone snapped some pics of the group playing the game and sure enough, right there under the flat panel TV sits a black Xbox 360 with a very different looking Hardrive than what comes with the current Premium 360.
The second picture is zoomed in on the area of the 360 itself, and while it's a bit blurry, you can definitely recognize it as a 360, and it is black and the hardrive (white edge) is distinctly larger than the current 20GB version. Where the current 20GB version HDD is only raised in the rear two-thirds of the box and flush with the edge in the front, this hardrive is raised all the way across the end, essentially completing the 360 as a rectangular box.
Clearly if Microsoft is serious about making downloadable HD movies a reality(and they are), a larger HDD is going to be crucial. While it is impossible from these pics to tell if this Zephyr 360 has an HDMI port in the rear, I would bet the farm that it does.
So, the next question is, how much and when?
UPDATE: Joystiq has posted a story revealing the new Xbox 360 in all it's glory. It will show up on store shelves in late April and retail for $479 (ouch babe!). It will include HDMI output and HDMI cables, 120GB HDD and of course, it's black!
So, how pissed off are the early adopters going to be (pretty pissed we think) and will this signal the absolute end of Sony's decade long run of dominance? 2007 sure is shaping up as an interesting gaming year so far!
Visit the GameJonez Blog and tell us what you think.
Halo 3 in September? Posted Mar 16, 2007 12:30pm by Todd Melanson
Halo 3 is arguably THE biggest game expected to hit store shelves in 2007. As we all know, blockbuster videogame titles are infamous for delays and “when it’s done” scheduling, so how is it that Halo 3 might actually be released early rather than late?
After interviewing Microsoft’s Shane Kim, 1UP has managed to deduce that Master Chief will invade your home and place your gainful employment in jeopardy in September, a full two months before the initial assumed release window of November. 1UP’s method of reasoning could simply be dismissed as (sniffing glue) dubious if it weren’t for the fact that IGN has revealed that two independent sources have also confirmed a September release.
It makes you wonder if Sony’s recently announced plan to launch their new HOME online service this “fall” has lit a fire under someone at Microsoft to make sure Bungie gets Halo 3 out in time to put a major damper on Sony’s big online debut. Getting a head start on the competition is a strategy that's been paying big dividends for Microsoft ever since they originally announced plans for the Xbox 360, but how often have you heard about a major game title being released earlier than expected?
Is Sony ready to rumble with the PS3 after all? Posted Mar 13, 2007 at 8:00pm by Todd Melanson
After months of complaints from fans, it looks like Sony may be finally succumbing to the pressure and will support rumble in future games on the PS3. 1UP has broken the story that future God of War titles will feature rumble support. The news was revealed in an interview with GOW developer Cory Barlog who is working on the PSP version for developer Ready at Dawn. He also said the PS3 version would feature 1080p resolution. NICE!
Kratos rocks our world again!
Big changes underway at GameJonez Posted Mar 12, 2007 11:00am by Todd Melanson
You may have noticed over the past week or so a drought of daily news on GameJonez. While we apologize for the recent lack of content, we want to let you know there is a good reason for it.
We have been in meetings brainstorming for ideas and formulating a plan for the future direction of GameJonez, and we are now ready to make some announcements.
Over the next couple months GameJonez will be undergoing some big changes. Our plans include a fresh new look, a metareview department for new releases, a new forums section, reader comments for every story, a more thorough posting of stories to individual console departments and a constantly updated news archive. Eventually, we want to implement video podcasts and video reviews as well. Some features will be implemented as we go, others will be held back until we are confident they are ready for primetime.
We are excited about making these changes and we believe they are key to achieving our eventual goal, which is to compete with the bigboys in gaming news...the Gamespot's, IGN's and 1UP's of the world. However, we are presently a small family-run organization operating with a tiny staff mostly comprised of friends and family, so we ask for your patience and understanding while we implement these changes.
We are currently adding writers to our staff, so if you're knowledgable and passionate about the gaming industry, you can contact us with an example of your writing by emailing our Editor In Chief, TiberiusJonez@gamejonez.com . Please keep submissions to 500 words or less. Typing accuracy does count!
The remainder of this week may be somewhat light on news, as we will only be reporting the really important gaming news so we can get started on our plans, but by next Monday we will be back up to 100% reporting volume. So, please keep checking back daily for all the gaming news fit for consumption and thanks for being a loyal GameJonez reader!!
Peace, Love and Headshots,
Todd Melanson GameJonez Editorial Director
Sony Home for the PS3 - WOW! Posted Mar 7, 2007 5:00pm by Todd Melanson
Sony may finally be delivering something to help PS3 gamers overcome their buyers remorse and something to be genuinely excited about, and its not a new game...although games are a part of it. Yesterday at GDC, Sony unveiled their online community plan for the PS3 called "Home".
Essentially Home is 3D virtual world where every player is represented by a fully 3D avatar that is completely customizable in appearance. Every player will have their own fully customizable "apartment" within the virtual space where they can invite friends to visit for voice or text chat and where they can show-off trophies they won from playing games.
To understand the full scope of Home I highly recommend you check out the video of Sony President Phil Harrison's GDC keynote address at GameSpot.com. Gametrailers has posted a trailer which you can download as well if you'd like to see Home in a little more visual detail.
We have been wondering what Sony was planning to do to compete with Microsoft's outstanding XboxLive environment, and to say we were surprised and impressed by the scope of Sony's plan would be a major understatement. Let's face it, in the past Sony has been a whipping boy when it comes to the online gaming arena, but assuming the execution turns out to be as seamless and immersive as the GDC presentation showed, Sony may actually force Microsoft to think about making some major changes to Xbox Live. Who would have thought that a week ago?
Another very cool part of the demon-stration featured the Home "lobby", a space that included playable pool tables, a bowling alley and playable arcade cabinets. Harrison demonstrated using all three and it looked like a lot of fun.
I can definitely see the whole Home envi-ronment becoming a place where gamers, especially fans of The Sims, spend endless hours chatting, playing and customizing their apartments. This is the first thing Sony has done that actually has me excited about owning my PS3. Now, let's just hope they pull it off with aplomb. Home is set to launch in North America this fall. The Sims coming to Xbox Live? Posted Mar 1, 2007 2:52pm by Todd Melanson
Peter Moore in an interview with Game Informer discussed the future of the 360. The bulk of the interview centers around Microsoft’s future plans to attract more casual gamers to the platform.
What we found really interesting was the last question and answer in the interview: (Peter) Moore: We’ve got a lot of tricks up our sleeves. While the Sims have always been on the Xbox platform from the get-go, we’ve got a lot of stuff we’re going to be doing with Don and we’re excited about that. There’s a bunch of stuff. Stay tuned. The Sims coming to Xbox Live? Now I’ll have to battle my wife for time on the Xbox 360, or maybe we’ll just play together. BioShock misses June, shoots for August 21 Posted Mar 1, 2007 1:30pm by Todd Melanson
Bioshock’s game community site 'The Cult of Rapture' (run by publisher 2K Games) reports today BioShock will not rise to the surface in ‘June’ as was previously confirmed, but instead has been pegged with an August 21 street date.
There was no mention whether the Xbox 360 and PC versions are planned as a simultaneous release. Check back for updates. THQ announces Warhammer 40k MMO Posted Mar 1, 2007 1:20pm by Todd Melanson
On Gamespot, comes the announcement of a Warhammer 40,000 MMO. The Warhammer 40k MMO should not be confused with the orcs and humans Warhammer: Age of Reckoning MMO by EA Mythic, which is expected for this year’s holiday shopping season.
THQ will develop the game in conjunction with Austin-based Vigil Games. In actuality the Warhammer 40k MMO talk is just that at this point -- talk. It could be a loooong time before it ever sees a retail shelf. Study links violent Bible scripture with aggression, like games? Posted Mar 1, 2007 2:26pm by Tiberius Jones
If reading the Bible can make us aggressive, then it goes without saying that video games can do the same, but someone has to say it anyway.
From Gamepolitics, according to BYU (a Mormon school) professor Robert Ridge, "We're not saying that just in and of itself violent media is uniformly bad but oftentimes there is no redeeming context to it. If one reads the scriptures with an understanding of context, both historical as well as with a (desire) to hear what God is trying to teach us, you can read it in a different way." So, in other words, what the good professor is saying is that while the bible uses unabashed violence to teach us to love thy brother, games just teach us to kill our brother without all the warm and fuzzies. Apparently studiers of the Bible can actually decrease aggression with exposure to violence, while gamers can’t tell the difference between fantasy violence and reality.
The new study, which measured "aggression" by how loud a subject chose to blast an obnoxious sound in another subject's ears, is co-written by University of Michigan psychologist Brad Bushman. Dr. Bushman was a member of the American Psychological Association's Committee on Violence in Video Games and Interactive Media which issued a report in August 2005 linking violent games to increased aggression.
Something smells fishy, and it’s not my socks. PS3 owners will be "very happy" next week, says GDC director Posted Mar 1, 2007 12:30pm by Todd Melanson
GDC is right around the corner, so GameDaily's James Brightman sat down with conference director Jamil Moledina to discuss, among other things, possible PS3 announcements. According to Moledina, PS3 owners will be "very happy" come March 7 after hearing Phil Harrison's keynote. "Not to be coy but you'll just have to come to his talk" he told GameDaily. "All I can say is that I stand behind my ['very happy'] comment."
It's possible Moldina has the advance on Harrison's keynote because, after all, it's his freakin' conference. And being that Jamil isn't on Sony's payroll, maybe PS3 owners do have some legitimate good news to look forward to next week. To say they need it is an understatement. PS3 firmware v1.54 adds more USB camera support Posted Mar 1, 2007 12:20pm by Todd Melanson
It may not be the functionality you were hoping for, but today's PlayStation 3 v1.54 update brings additional video-camera support to the console:
The image of the person you are chatting with during (2 person) video chat can now be changed to match the screen size. Directions for using the feature can be found here.
You can now use any USB camera compatible with USB video class (UVC) for video chat Now get to chattin’. Chinese New Year's gaming marathon ends in death Posted Mar 1, 2007 12:10am by Todd Melanson
It seems we get one of these stories out of Eastern Asia every few months. This past Saturday, a 26-year-old man from northeastern China collapsed and died after a "marathon" gaming session. Identified only by his surname Zhang, the man had reportedly spent nearly his entire week-long Lunar New Year vacation playing online games. A doctor ruled the cause of death to be "overwork and obesity" -- Zhang weighed roughly 330 pounds.
Zhang has been classified as an internet addict. Internet addiction is a growing concern for the Chinese government, which has taken action in recent years to address this latest social ill, launching a rehab clinic and testing a system that regulates online gamers' playtime. The government has classified 2.6 million of the country's 20 million internet users under 18 as addicts.
Making a statement on the lack of available Holiday entertainment in China, a young female middle school teacher said of Zhang's death, "There are only two options: TV or computer. What else can I do in the holiday as all markets, KTV, and cafeterias are shut down?" In response, the local government has been urged to organize more "traditional activities" to entertain its citizens during the week of celebration.
Not to sound too harsh, but it wouldn’t hurt to go outside once in a while, and maybe mix in some conversation with real people instead of just cyber-friends. We LOVE the fantasy worlds that gaming presents to us, but you have to have a real life too.
PS3 background downloading already broken? Posted Mar 1, 2007 10:27am by Todd Melanson
There’s no doubt one of our biggest pet peeves with the PS3 has been how badly the system handles downloading files. You can't resume stopped or broken downloads, and you can’t download files in the background, rendering your $600 box absolutely useless for anything other than staring at a download progress bar.
There was supposed to be a fix in line in Sony's upcoming 1.6 firmware update. But, hold up, is it already broken before its release?
The Inner Bits has "obtained" info about the upcoming firmware revision, and it's not looking good. The background downloads are limited to while you are in the XMB. If you launch a game, the system will pause your download because "the PS3 needs extra system resources (primarily memory) to do background downloading."
What? It needs extra resources? The Xbox 360 will pause your download only if you start a multiplayer game due to bandwidth restrictions, but you can download while playing offline games without a problem.
If this turns out to be true, it begs the question: is the choice to use less onboard memory than the Xbox 360 coming back to bite the PS3 in the butt, or is Sony just failing to utilize the hardware’s potential with poor programming? Either way, while Sony has shouted from the mountaintop about the power of the PS3’s hardware, so far they have failed to deliver the goods. Is Sony simply incapable of creating user-friendly software? At the very least, we will have to wait for another firmware version for Sony to get this right. They might want to seriously considering throwing some serious cash at some Microsoft programmers to get this whole online thing moving in the right direction.
Next Gen console war a two horse race says analyst Posted Feb 26, 2007 3:50 pm by Todd Melanson
According to Screen Digest’s Ed Barton, the PS3 will win this current generation console war by 2010, but it won’t be a landslide like the PS2 over Xbox. Gamasutra apparently read the full report, which, at $3260.00, is expensive enough for me to trust the crib notes version. Barton concludes that this generation will be largely a territorial battle with the PS3 dominating in Japan, and the Xbox 360 winning by a small margin in North America. The winner of Europe and Australia is so close we would have to call it a draw.
Considering Sony’s estimated 70% total worldwide market share with the PS2, such an outcome would have to be considered a major victory for Microsoft, further establishing them as a serious force in the console marketplace for as long as they so choose.
This is good news for gamers if you subscribe to the theory that competition drives innovation
THQ bringing Conan to PS3 & Xbox 360 Posted Feb 26, 2007 3:00PM by Todd Melanson
Details are vague at best, but judging from the pics in the GI story, it appears similar to the God of War series in terms of gameplay mechanics. That’s certainly not a bad thing.
Halo to become ongoing Marvel comic series Posted Feb 26, 2007 2:30pm by Todd Melanson
During an appearance at the New York Comic Con, Marvel Editor-In-Chief Joe Quesda announced that Halo will become an ongoing series, capitalizing on last year’s positive reception to the Halo graphic novel. Future adventures of Master Chief will be brought to life by Brian Michael Bendis (Ultimate Spider-Man, Avengers Disassembled) and Alex Maleev (Daredevil Vol.2, New Avengers).
It would appear our favorite helmeted warrior will be in good hands. ;0-) Nintendo stock falls after Japan sells its shares Posted Feb 26, 2007 12:50pm by Todd Melanson
From the NY Time's DealBook, "Shares of Nintendo, the world's largest maker of handheld video-game players, posted the biggest decline in three weeks after the company said Japan's government would sell its stake, about 1.4 percent of the outstanding stock. The stock fell 2.7 percent to 32,950 yen on the Osaka Securities Exchange on Monday."
The total value of the released shares is around $557 million. It makes us wonder if the Japanese gov’t knows something we don’t. flOw: What the heck is it, PS3 killer app or glorified screen saver? Posted Feb 23rd 2007 3:30PM by Todd Melanson
flOw was released to the Playstation Store yesterday and at $7.99, it was an easy decision for me to download it. After all, it's not like we have a wealth of new games arriving daily for the platform.
What is flOw? The most simplistic description would be an evolution/food chain simulator. The gameplay consists of swimming in an underwater world of 'depth' levels each containing a red icon and a blue icon, if you touch the red, you go one level deeper while the blue one causes you to ascend one ‘level’. There are other creatures swimming around, and all of them, as well as your own are comprised of little red circles. By eating the circles within them, your creature changes form, growing larger and more complex with every meal. The trick is figuring out how to liberate the circles from the various creatures as they don't just give them up willingly. In the interest of not spoiling the game, I won’t give away the various ways this is done.
While I found flOw to be interesting and strangely addicting, I’m somewhat confused. You see, flOw isn’t exactly a game. It’s…well, I’m not sure what it is. Apparently I’m not alone. Ryan Block, managing editor at Engadget, believes flOw is the PS3's current killer app, saying it "may be the best, most original gameplay experience" for the console right now and that it looks "absolutely astounding" in 1080p. "It's one of those titles that reminds me of why I used to love games so much back in the day."
GameSpot calls flOw an "attractive screen saver you can steer." While praising the game's audio and visuals, they ultimately liken the experience to that of buying art. "You buy it as something to look at and appreciate from time to time. It's a way to cool out--not something to compete at."
I guess I fall somewhere in the middle. While I wouldn’t say it looks ‘absolutely astounding’, it does look very nice and certainly has a style all it's own rendered in beautiful 1080p. It is also the first truly good use of the sixaxis motion control that I've experienced.
I think it’s more than a screen saver (although it can be used for that if you simply put the controller down), because you do have to figure out strategies to ingest the various creatures you encounter, but it’s definitely not a competitive endeavor. The music is very soothing and has a somewhat hypnotic flavor to it.
Maybe flOw has spurred a whole new genre. We'll call it “Strategic Meditation Art”. Sounds as good as anything we’ve heard to describe it. Regardless, it's certainly worth the $8.
flOw is available now for download on the PlayStation Network for $7.99. Activision, Spark and Courtrooms, oh my! Posted Feb 23, 2007 3:15pm by Todd Melanson Relationships + Lawyers = trouble. Such is the case with the dysfunctional marriage between Spark Interactive, the developer of 2002’s Call of Duty: Finest Hour and the game’s publisher, Activision. It’s a veritable War of the Roses for the gaming community.
Activision’s review of the sequel proposed by Spark, on the other hand, was less favorable, and after the debacle of the first game’s development cycle, they decided to wash their hands of the entire affair and severed ties with Spark.
This is where things get really interesting. Spark is suing Activision, and Activision is counter-suing Spark. Gamasutra has a feature up detailing all the ins and outs of the entire story along with a complete copy of the original contract signed between Activision and Spark, reviewed and commented upon by three industry attorneys. It’s an interesting and cautionary tale worthy of a read, especially if you’ve ever considered starting your own development company.
Xbox 360 Vision camera works with PS3 Posted Feb 21, 2007 2:45am by Todd Melanson
Yep, we tried it and to our delight discovered that Microsoft's camera works beautifully with Sony's console. In fact, we found that the vision camera's image quality was slightly better on the PS3 than it is on the 360. The fact that it works at all was somewhat surprising considering we tried three other USB webcams, and none of them were recognized by the PS3 as being compatible. If you own both consoles it may not seem like a big deal to save the price of the camera, but with all the potential peripherals available for use with the PS3, every little bit helps. Keep in mind you will still need to use a separate microphone as the vision camera does not have a built-in microphone, but a headset mic is preferrable anyway due to the notoriously poor sound quality of webcam mics. With this kind of compatibility between a Sony and Microsoft product, can peace in the Middle East be far off? Lack of dev kits has the Wii facing the same disastrous fate as the N64 Posted Feb 20, 2007 2:45pm by Todd Melanson
On Water Cooler Games, indie developer Ian Bogost addresses the frustration that he and his peers continue to face as Nintendo has again postponed the Wii Independent Developer Program, and he's not pulling any punches: In other words, Nintendo doesn't have enough [development] kits to cover the demand for all those crappy licensed games, let alone more original work-- --The dev kit situation mirrors the Wii itself. Last November I also lamented about the absurd fanboy commitment required to obtain a Wii, and I wondered how Nintendo could claim to appeal to ordinary people if nobody could get a device. Today, three months later, it's still almost impossible to get a Wii -- or a DS for that matter, the two game consoles most likely to appeal to the so-called "non-gamer." I still have a lot of interest in developing for Wii at the studio, but the lack of dev kits combined with the lack of retail units makes me worry. Is Nintendo's story about mass-appeal just marketing rhetoric? At the rate we're going, independent games of any kind won't be a reality until 2008 at least, and we still don't know how likely Nintendo is to license unusual games for the system. Maybe by that time the retail stock situation will have resolved itself, at least. There's no point making games for a machine nobody can buy. Bogost is clearly frustrated, but with a lack of consoles in the retail chain, and a lack of dev kits for those who would like to create games for the Wii, you have to wonder if Nintendo's new console isn't facing the same fate as one of their old consoles, namely the N64. That was another promising system with a loyal fanbase that could never seem to get a steady flow of content to consumers, dooming the system to eventual failure. Back then, competition from Sony didn't seem to concern Nintando and they paid for it dearly. Now, with Sony and Microsoft both competing for the same entertainment dollars and yen as the Wii, it is puzzling to see Nintendo repeating past mistakes. History has shown us that even if Nintendo is able to resolve their production problems, and we assume they will, without games, a console is only as good as the door it is used to prop open. Are video games responsible for the lowest U.S. murder rates in 40 years? Posted Feb 20, 2007 12:00am by Todd Melanson
Christopher Ferguson, A PHD faculty member of the Texas A&M International University's Department of Behavioral, Applied Sciences and Criminal Justice conducted the analysis and released information about it today to Gamepolitics.
Quoting the report: "Results from the current meta-analysis found that there were about 25 recent studies on violent video game effects, with conflicting results. Overall results of the study found that although violent video games appear to increase people’s aggressive thoughts (which it would not be surprising that people are still thinking about what they were just playing), violent games do not appear to increase aggressive behavior."
Recently, I have been conducting my own research into this subject for an article which will appear in the near future on GameJonez. According to the FBI (graph below), the murder rate in the U.S. hit a new 40 year low in 2004. Talk about poetic irony. The best selling video game of 2004? Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
This outstanding article quotes the same FBI stats and has links to the FBI if you would like to check it out for yourself.
Since 1995, the year the PS1 exploded in popularity across the nation, teen violence has dropped dramatically (see graphs below).
So, despite what many mainstream media outlets, misguided politicians and certain self-promoting attorneys would have us believe, there is no epidemic of teen violence in this country. Quite the opposite actually.
In fact, during the decade of the modern video game explosion, violence in America has been declining steadily. Coincidence?
Our conclusion? Video games don't cause violent behavior, they help cure it.
They saw farther: An early history of EA Posted Feb 19, 2007 8:30pm by Todd Melanson
Gamasutra has a great feature on the early history of EA, detailing how a former Apple employee and his cohorts built a gaming giant from scratch. It really is required reading for anyone too young or too jaded to remember what EA used to be.
Miyamoto: on his rise, the Wii name and his non-violent future Posted Feb 15, 2007 5:45 pm by Todd Melanson
In an interview with CNN’s Talk Asia, the man largely responsible for Nintendo’s gaming success discusses his past; starting out drawing pictures and rising to become one of the world’s most respected game designers, and his future; in which he plans to make unique, simple, non-violent games for everyone “5 to 95” to enjoy.
Miyamoto proudly discusses the relative lack of violence in his games, the reasons behind the Wii name, and his thoughts on bringing non-gamers into the gaming fold.
When Miyamoto-san speaks, we listen…and smile. ‘Global’ launch planned for Forza2 – Japan not part of the globe? Posted Feb 15, 2007 5:25pm by Todd Melanson
Turn 10 and Microsoft announced in January that Forza 2 would be released in the US on May 2nd. Today, they announced the racing simulator will also debut in Europe as part of a "global release" in May, but did not specify an exact date.
“After some debate, we felt it was only right for Forza Motorsport 2's online community if we were to release the game on a global level simultaneously.” the release states. Yet, there is absolutely no mention of Japan to be found. Did we miss the memo? Is Japan no longer part of the globe?
Along with the Euro release date, they also released the first of six Forza Motorsport 2 car reveal lists featuring, of course, European exotic cars from Porsche, Maserati, Lamborghini and Ferrari
Perhaps they are just waiting until the next car reveal to announce the Japanese release date? Maybe, maybe not.
Or perhaps that word 'global' is not meaning what they think it is meaning. ;0-)
Guitar Hero 2: more content than ‘ever seen’ on Marketplace Posted Feb 15, 2007 5:00pm by Todd Melanson
So the real question is, should we rejoice, or shudder? If 'content' means 50 songs at $3 each, that’s bad. If it means the songs from the original game for free, or a 20 Song song-pack for a reasonable fee, say $10, that’s good.
Micro-transactions have a way of making publishers greedy, cough (EA!), cough. Let’s hope Red Octane is looking out for their fans, and not just their margins.
Hardcore Gamers on the Decline? Posted February 14, 2007 11:20pm by Tiberius Jones
Slashdot ran a story yesterday asking that question, citing an Ars Technica Opposable Thumbs blog that took a look at the numbers for last year, making the observation that “hardcore gamers are probably not the future.”
Contrasting the relative success of Gears of War and Cars (both sold roughly 2 million copies), with the cost in time and money to create both (Gears was much more expensive), the blog makes a compelling case that hardcore gamers may be on the decline and not as highly coveted by software developers as they once were.
As we certainly consider ourselves to be hardcore gamers, we have mixed feelings about the possibility of being eschewed in favor of more watered-down sequels, crappy movie-licensed games, and sports clones.
Read the full blog – and ready the prozac to combat the inevitable depression. IGN eclipses UK rivals in net ratings Posted Feb 14, 2007 11:15pm by Tiberius Jones
MCV reports that IGN UK is claiming to have attracted over four million unique users in January – making it far and away the most popular games site in the UK. According to traffic figures from Media Metrix/ComScore sent out by IGN today, the firm trounced rival gaming sites CVG, GamesRadar and Eurogamer in the month.
The number is a new record for IGN, and with it, they claim that one in eight UK internet users accesses IGN.
While we understand our current place in the gaming news firmament (hello, is anybody out there?), those are certainly some lofty numbers to shoot for - eventually. Someday…
Read the full story for a complete list of the top 14 UK gaming sites compiled by Media Metrix/ComScore. Nyko Wii Charge Station Reviewed Posted Feb 14, 2007 7:35 pm by Tiberius Jones
Canada accused by ESA and others of harbouring pirates Posted Feb 14, 2007 4:00pm by Tiberius Jones
“Canada's chronic failure to modernize its copyright regime has made it a global hub for bootleg movies, pirated software and tiny microchips that allow video-game users to bypass copyright protections,” the International Intellectual Property Alliance complains in a submission to the U.S. government. The Washington-based group that represents companies such as Microsoft, Apple and Paramount pictures among others says that “The time has come for the United States to send a stern warning to Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government, which has failed to deliver on a promised overhaul of copyright laws and a policing crackdown.” "The industry groups feel very strongly that we need to ratchet this up," IIPA |
