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Revolution

Satoru Iwata has indicated that first party Nintento Revolution games will be priced at $50 or less. Further, he suggests that $50 is really the high point in pricing that the customer will accept. There does seem to be some resistance to the $60 price point for Xbox 360 games, particularly when some titles offer significantly less content than their previous-generation counterparts for more money.

Game publishers complain that its the amount of money that they are spending to deliver these hi-definition experiences that necessitates these price increases, but that fails to explain the price differentials between PC and console versions. Elder Scrolls: Oblivion offers very nearly the same graphical experience on the PC and the Xbox 360 (assuming that the end user has the appropriate PC hardware) but the PC version of the game is still $10 less. Not being a game publisher, its difficult to understand the actual budget allocations for games, but it would seem for the end user that there would be vastly more expenses in developing for a PC platform where there is little control over the game environment, particularly in tuning and testing.

Certainly, there are gaming experiences on the Xbox 360 that can’t really be duplicated on the current generation, such as the new Ghost Recon game and the Xbox 360 version of Fight Night, but at least at this point, these seem to be the exceptions, rather than the norm.

Read More | Game Over


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Crysis

DailyGame has screenshots from Crytek’s upcoming PC Shooter, Crysis, and a link to the GDC Trailer. DailyGame gives the visuals high praise, and from the screenshots, it is easy to see why. The trailer was apparently promoting ATI technology, and its probably best to not think about what kind of monster CPU/GPU combination was running this demo. Screenshots and trailers never really tell the whole story, but it is easy to get caught up in the level of detail in the environments in the game, matched with Far Cry style gameplay.


Read More | DailyGame


World of Warcraft 1.10Today Blizzard released the 1.10 patch for World of Warcraft. Highlights of the new patch include:

  • Weather Effects added to several areas, including Elwynn Forest, Tirisfal Glades, Dun Morogh, Darkshore, Alterac Mountains and more..
  • New High Level Armor Sets
  • Large Revamp of Priest Talents
  • “Relics” have been added for the Druid, Paladin, and Shaman classes to use in the ranged slot.
  • “Final Destination” Flight Paths—users can now select a flight path to automatically go to a destination that requires multiple flights.
  • Experience to Gold for L60 characters—users at L60 will now get gold compensation instead of experience.
  • A bunch of other stuff, including UI tweaks, class related changes, and raid changes.

The flight plan changes will definately make it easier to travel great distances, and the Level 60 changes give a little more motivation to get one’s characters up to the level maximum, particularly in preparation for the new level caps and content in the upcoming Burning Crusade expansion.


Read More | Patch Notes Mirror via WorldofWar.net


Xbox Live FriendsXbox Live’s Major Nelson has announced the new Xbox Live Friend Management features on Xbox.com, with a few screenshots showing off the new interface. Now it is possible to send and receive friend requests, and manage friend your list over the web. You have the option of simply entering the Gamertag of someone you want to add to you list, or you can send a friend request while viewing another’s profile. Any requests sent your way canbe accepted or rejected through the new interface as well. The new features will be particularly useful when one is trying to add friends when not near the Xbox 360; remembering if it was 0blivi0n or Oblivion or 0b7lv10n to be added doesn’t have to wait until you get home.


Read More | Xbox.com via Major Nelson


Odama

Nintendo recently launched the preview site for their upcoming Strategy/Pinball/Microphone game Odama. The site currently features a short trailer highlighting gameplay and some of the unique features in the game, as well as some downloadable wallpapers. The gameplay looks very…unique, and features some of the wry humor that Yoot Saito is known for.

Both Gamespot and IGN have previews of the game from last November, hopefully we’ll see some updates before the game hits retail on April 10.


Read More | Odama


The Elder Scrolls IV

If there is one thing that is a constant in the world of video games, it’s the argument of console vs. PC.  In the past, the PC has usually won on terms of image quality and the sheer number of polygons that can be smoothly processed, but times are changing.  With the introduction of the Xbox 360, and the eventual release of the PS3, the lines are more blurred than ever.  So if visuals can no longer pick an easy winner, then certainly game availability is a deciding factor.  A good argument if there ever was one, and one that remains credible as progress marches forward.  However, what happens when a game is released for both platforms, at the same time?  Now, it comes down to not only visuals, but gameplay differences, hardware capabilities, and so forth.

A game that has recently been released to the salivating hordes of RPG fans, on both the PC and Xbox 360, is The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.  Ars Technica has done a review of the game on both pieces of hardware, and while I don’t totally agree with the way the review was done (separate reviewers were used for each platform), it still provides some interesting insight into areas where one system is “better” than the other.  One platform did score higher than the other, and . . . well, you’ll just have to read the review to find out.

Regardless of the outcome, the game has great visuals and overall gameplay, and looks to be a hit for RPG fans everywhere, no matter what it’s played on.


Read More | Ars Technica
Read More | The Elder Scrolls Official Website


Xbox DivX

We haven’t held back on our complaints regarding the lack of DivX support on the Xbox 360. While a hack was created back in January, it was too time consuming to set up for the average user. Finally, thanks to our friend Jake Ludington, you can watch your DivX content on your Xbox 360 with minimal fuss. Using a free product called MCE Video Encoder, you can convert DivX, XviD, and other video files on the fly, sending them to the Xbox 360 in easy fashion. Also, it supports fast-forward and skip ahead along with the standard play and pause features you would expect to find in a standard video product. Check out MediaBlab for all the information, including screenshots and instructions.


Read More | Jake Ludinton’s MediaBlab
Read More | Gear Live


For those of you who don’t know, God of War is one of the most incredible games on the PS2, and Sony has announced that a sequel is on the way.  Here is a look at some God of War II footage from the GDC.


PS3 ControllerWell, it seems that crazy boomerang controller that Sony showcased alongside the PS3 will be getting thrown out the door. Sony’s president of the Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios division, Phil Harrison, has announced that the current design is being shelved for an updated look that will be revealed later this year at E3.  Hopefully, Sony makes an appealing controller that doesn’t have an extra 3-inches on the bottom of each side grip.


Read More | CNN


DescriptionNintendo today announced that over 1,000 Sega Genesis and (Hudson/NEC) TurboGrafx games will be available for download to play on the Revolution’s Virtual Console. This rounds out the offering to date—a pantheon of legacy systems including games from the NES, SNES and N64 systems.

Perhaps even more exciting was the announcement that game developers can choose to distribute their games expressly through the Virtual Console, (as opposed to relying on an expensive hardcopy distribution model), opening the floodgates to smaller, independent developers and increasing the potential gamespace by an order of magnitude at the very least.

The new forms of innovative software that can be created by any size developer will be made available for download via Revolution’s Virtual Console service.

Nintendo has held for some time that their goal is not to compete directly with the graphics or pure processing power of the Xbox 360 or the PS3, but rather to target an entirely new demographic, currently untapped—mainstream everyone—those intimidated or otherwise turned off to video games. Too much of the non-game-playing public finds themselves longing for the days of Space Invaders and Pac-Man, intimidated by the extreme graphics and complex gameplay found in the current generation’s offerings. A console that can play tens of thousands of simple classics and (hopefully) hundreds of new, creative offerings using a completely different, wholly intuitive controller could very well do some amazing things to the market as a whole.

My only hope is that we’ll see some of the great third-party SNES classics released for the Revolution. Chrono Trigger and Earthbound would suit my fancy just fine. (That, and that they don’t rename the Revolution something completely ridiculous. I’m looking in your direction, “Nintendo Go.”)

We’ll be live at E3 in May, bringing you our hands-on coverage of the Revolution, so stay tuned.


Press Release | PR Newswire


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