Latest Gear Live Videos
Adult and youth gamers alike often brag of marathon gaming sessions wherein they play hour after hour. Some gamers go further, quipping that given their druthers they’d wile away every single day playing, 24/7. Is this much devotion healthy? Such extreme habitual gaming can morph into a serious disorder. In fact, the problem is becoming so prevalent that some doctors in Europe were inspired to open the first detox clinic for gamers. Debate rages within the medical field as to whether video game addiction is on par with serious disorders like drug addiction, and whether it should be classified as “addiction.” Regardless, the problem can be a serious one, as it’s been shown that addicted gamers tend to have corresponding mental health issues, like depression.
Read More 
| NBC 15
Advertisement
Team Xecuter Xbox 360 Connectivity Kit Review
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, Mods/Hacks, Xbox 360,
Maxconsole.net managed to get a hold of the new Xbox 360 Connectivity from Team Xecuter, and they ran it through a few tests. There are two items included in the kit: a hard drive adapter, and an optical disc drive adapter. The hard drive adapter is a fairly standard connectivity kit for the Xbox 360 hard drive, except that it allows both USB and SATA connectivity with the same cable. The connector also features an LED to let you know its operating, but it is hardly the clean solution that the Datel kit is. However, the second part of the set is more interesting; it is an optical drive adapter that allows the user to remove the DVD-ROM drive from the Xbox 360 and use standard PC power to connect it to the host computer, so that the Xbox 360 doesn’t have to be near the PC and powered on to work with the DVD drive. The connector has a toggle switch to allow selecting either normal or debug mode (for using the drive without any add-on software) and has a SATA connector to allow firmware manipulation, so that gamers can have access to their legitimate Xbox 360 software backups. Maxconsole gives the kit a favorable review, only dinging the optical drive adapter for not supporting USB at this time, and the complexity of the firmware patching process, which is more of a software issue than anything else. The kit retails for $29.95, and is available now.
Read More | MaxConsole
Have Online Games Taken “Reality” Too Far?
Posted by Thea Davis Categories: Culture, PC, Role Playing Games,
The online games arena seems to be doing everything imaginable to facilitate gamers abilities to reach out and touch each other, virtually and/or viscerally. In the coming months, a number of “erotic games” – some of which allow players to use web cams to interact intimately within game play or schedule offline hook-ups – will be released. (One title has just debuted.) This spate of “erotic game” releases is framing a growing debate among sexual health experts.
Many experts fear that users will be unable to draw a line between the virtual world and the real world. They say that using technology as an enabler of communication and interaction can be beneficial, but using technology as a substitute for human contact can lead to a serious imbalance. Both sides seem to agree that consenting adults are “entitled” to participate in such games, but the naysayers express a certain wariness when a discussion of the level of commitment required to qualify as a hard-core “erotic gamer” is broached.
Read More | ABC News
John Woo’s Stranglehold Will Launch With PS3
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Action, Fighting, PC, PlayStation 3, Release Dates, Xbox 360,
It had been suspected for a while, but today IGN confirmed with Midway that John Woo Presents Stranglehold will launch on November 17th with the Playstation 3. Of course, the title will also be launching for the Xbox 360 and the PC at the same time. This is great news for fans of gunfighting, slow-mo and Chow Yun Fat, and appears to be one of the stronger launch titles for the PS3.
IGN earlier had a chance to play through a demo and was impressed with the completely destructible environment and free-form gunfighting controls. This sounds like one of those games that’s going to be a great way to demo your brand-spanking new PS3 to your jealous friends on launch day.
Read More | IGN PS3
Today Core Design disappointed Tomb Raider fanboys worldwide today when they formally announced that Lara Croft won’t be coming to the PSP. Core Design confirmed that latest Lara Croft adventure had been in progress, but a recent assessment by SCi Entertainment, the new owner of Edios, called for the project to be cancelled. The game was set to be a remake of the original Tomb Raider called Tomb Raider: 10th Anniversary Edition. 1Up raises a good point by questioning the decision to scrap Tomb Raider while Edios went ahead with Reservoir Dogs the Game. Many fans of Lara will miss this remake
port, but the PSP needs another port like Duke Nukem Forever needs another delay.
Read More | 1Up
GamePro’s Eleven Most Groundbreaking Controllers
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Culture, Hardware, Nintendo, PlayStation 2, Xbox,
GamePro has a list of what they feel to be the eleven most groundbreaking controllers of all time. Most of the controllers on the list aren’t that controversial, but we thought you might be interested, so here they are:
- The Zapper (NES)
- Dreamcast Controller
- Nintendo Wavebird (Gamecube)
- Super Nintendo Gamepad
- Atari 2600 Joystick
- Nintendo 64 Controller
- Wii Remote
- Xbox Controller Type S
- Playstation Dual Shock
- Keyboard and Mouse
- NES Controller
Its hard to argue with the likes of the Zapper and the Dreamcast controller. Even the Atari 2600 controller was groundbreaking in its own, breakable, hand-cramping way. But while the concepts behind the Wii controller are innovative, it remains to be seen whether this controller will really alter the industry in a meaningful way. It certainly pushed Sony to adopt motion-sensing, but it’s hard to consider this a real breakthrough until the console actually ships. Similarly, the Xbox Type S controller may be best known for being released in response to the horrible feedback that the original Xbox “Duke” controller got; while it is a well executed controller, there isn’t a whole lot new that it brings to the table. Its amazing to see how many of the controller breakthroughs come from Nintendo; they weren’t always the first to implement a control scheme, but they usually were the first to make such things usable and gamer friendly.
Read More | GamePro
Nacho Libre comes to the Nintendo DS
Posted by Josh Smith Categories: Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Portable/Mobile, Release Dates, Sports,
Fear not luchadors, Nacho Libre is coming to the Nintendo DS game system. The game is based on Nacho Libre which features Jack Black and opens on June 16th. The game will be the first wrestling game on the Nintendo DS in the US.
Players can play as Nacho or more than 10 other luchadors, all with their own unique abilities. The game also features a range of over-the-top wrestling attacks, four play modes, themed Touch Screen mini-games, 4 player wireless matches and numerous arenas from the movie in which players can battle to be the ultimate Luchador.
Nacho Libre was developed by Budcat Creations, who have previously worked on Madden 06 for the PC and Psychonauts for the Playstation 2.
Read More | Majesco
Interview With Matt Lee, Xbox 360 Game Technology Group Developer
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360,
Ars Technica has a fairly in depth interview with one of the developers from Microsoft’s Game Technology Group, Matt Lee. In his words, his job “is to help game developers make better Xbox 360 games.” There are a ton of technical details in the interview, ranging from improvements in the Altivec units on the PowerPC cores, CPU multithreading issues, and procedural world generation.
Somewhat interesting are the perspectives on the video game market; as a developer, the marketshare statements might not hold a lot of weight. Bandied about is the 10 million unit head start, as if that were fact at this point. With the PS2 outselling the Xbox 360 in May, and an average of 250,000 Xbox 360 units sold by month, if Xbox 360 sales remain the same for the rest of the year, that targets an additional 1.5 to 2 million Xbox 360s in the United States; Europe might add a similar number, and Japan’s sales will be negligable. Add to this the fact that Wii and the Playstation 3 ship in November, and Sony’s marketing machine will be intense. So 10 million sounds good, but is probably as optimistic as Microsoft’s original holiday projections for the Xbox 360. Saying that “Both the Japanese and US markets are reaching saturation at this point” may have some weight in that there aren’t a lot of ways to incrementally add new gamers, but the existing core gamer demographic is still a battle to be fought every generation. Add to this the strong drives that Nintendo is making with its “Blue Ocean Strategy” in all three territories seems to indicate the opposite; that there are new opportunities, just not in the standard game development genres.
Lee also takes some time to discuss the PS3 architecture. Given that he probably doesn’t have a Sony NDA signed or a development kit, he’s probably working off much of the same information as the general public. There might be some insight he has talking with developers experienced on both platforms, so the commentary is interesting from that light. Porting from PS3 to Xbox 360 and vice-versa will be difficult, Lee predicts, but that’s hardly a revelation; the original PS2 and Xbox consoles saw some spectacularly bad cross-platform ports in their day, most notoriously with some of Midway’s releases. The Xbox 360’s unified memory architecture may be somewhat of an advantage, but its hard to tell at this point. It is, however, interesting to get a technical review through Microsoft-colored glasses.
Read More | ArsTechnica
Xbox Pioneer Ted Hase Leaves Microsoft
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Corporate News, Culture, Xbox,
Ted Hase, the last of the original team of four that pitched the concept of the Xbox, has left Microsoft after sixteen years. Originally, Hase, Otto Berkes, Seamus Blackley, and Kevin Bachus were the group that spearheaded the drive towards the Xbox. Blackley left in 2002, and last known reports have him working as an agent at the Creative Artists Agency in Hollywood. Kevin Bachus was CEO of Infinium Labs for a while, trying to lend them some credibility, and has since moved on. Berkes currently works on the Origami project for Microsoft. Ted Hase left the Xbox project early on in its inception, as the box shifted from a Windows-based machine to a dedicated games console, and has since worked on projects that would ultimately become the Windows Media Center operating system.
All four of the team members were instrumental in getting buy-off on the original Xbox project, and the fact that the original was such a success and that their replacements on the team have been able to get the Xbox 360 out the door so quickly is a testament to the level of trust that was built up in the platform. Hase will certainly have a number of opportunities waiting for him as he leaves Microsoft; he might be a good match for Apple, as they try to drive towards media center-like features in their hardware.
Read More | Mercury News
Tim Schafer Calls for Psychonauts on Xbox 360 Backwards Compatibility
Posted by George Hatzidimitriou Categories: Xbox, Xbox 360,
The always charismatic Tim Schafer, founder of Doublefine Studios and of Monkey Island fame, posted this amusing call to action this week, pleading for fans of the cult hit Xbox title, Psychonauts to help get the game added to the Xbox 360’s backwards compatiblity list by sending emails to Microsoft’s backwards compatibility team and voicing their support through whatever methods necessary.
“I want you to get up. I want you to walk over to your window right now. I want you to open your window up, and then I want you to stick your head out, and then I want you to take in a nice breath of fresh air, and then I want you to close that window and walk back to your computer and click on this link and send Microsoft a heartfelt message. Something to the effect of, “I am a 9-year-old boy in the hospital, dying of consumption, and my last wish is to play Psychonauts on my XBOX 360!” (Please, try to make up your own disease.)”
Apparently that entails posing as a terminally ill child with a dying wish. A noble cause if I ever saw one. Rock on Tim.
Read More | Double Fine
Recent Galleries
Playfeed Categories
Playfeed Shows
Advertisement
© Gear Live Media, LLC. 2007 – User-posted content, unless source is quoted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Public Domain License. Gear Live graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, videos, articles, blogs, forums, scripts and other service names are the trademarks of Gear Live Inc.