Latest Gear Live Videos
More Blizzard MMOs On The Way?
Posted by George Hatzidimitriou Categories: MMORPG, PC, Rumors,
In a recent presentation to Wall Street, a Vivendi Universal Games representative made a rather shocking announcement, stating that in the future, “All Blizzard franchises will become MMOGs.” The representative claimed that they now have a model in place to develop a Massively Multiplayer Online Game in 3 years for $50 million, as opposed to the 4 1/2 year development time and similar cost of World of Warcraft. The presentation later went on to explain Vivendi’s new two tier strategy for their on-line titles - short session (2 hours or less) on-line games such as the upcoming FreeStyle (an on-line basketball title scheduled for 2007) and long session games (more than 2 hours), which titles such as World of Warcraft most likely fall into.
Various message boards were quickly set ablaze with both regalement and anger. While some people lamented the loss of a true Starcraft sequel, others welcomed the prospect of a Starcraft themed MMO (can anyone say Galaxy of Starcraft?)
Speculation was quickly put to rest however, as a Blizzard representative had this to say on the official World of Warcraft forum:
Nothing in that rumor is true in regards to Blizzard. If I had to guess, there was some confusion between what Vivendi has planned for its its game division versus what Blizzard has planned. While Blizzard is owned by Vivendi, their game division operates seperately from Blizzard.
-Eno
While comforting to hear for the time being, could this be a sign of internal conflict between Blizzard and Vivendi?
Read More 
| F13
Advertisement
More Halo 2 Vista Details
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: First Person Shooters, PC, Xbox Live,
Bungie.net released some more details about how Halo 2 will interact with Windows Vista, from project lead Jo Clowes. Microsoft confirms that Halo 2 will support their new Live Anywhere service, but still will not allow cross-platform play between Xbox and PC users. However, Live Anywhere users on Vista will be able to view people on their Friends lists on Xbox Live. Microsoft offers other improvements in the Live experience on Vista, aligning the game more along the lines of what gamers expect from PC-based gaming. These improvements include the ability to set up dedicated servers, and to define custom online game configurations.
In terms of content, it was confirmed that all the original content from the Xbox version of Halo 2 would be present in the Vista version, plus gamers will get a map editor, and potentially a few new maps. Further, with integration into Windows Vista’s game browser UI will allow management of dedicated servers and favorite game types. It was also mentioned that once Live Anywhere launches for mobile users, friends list and achievements can be accessed, but there are no plans for a mobile Halo 2. While the new gaming features in Windows Vista are interesting, one has to wonder if releasing Halo 2 after 2+ years will really drive the adoption of the Live Anywhere platform. Still, the Xbox game is still dominating the Live charts after all this time, so the game’s popularity could continue while gamers wait for the release of Windows Vista.
Read More | Bungie
Gamasutra Podcast On Next Generation Development
Posted by George Hatzidimitriou Categories: Culture, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360,
Gamasutra has updated their weekly podcast with the first in a two part roundtable discussion focusing on the various challenges developers are facing with next generation console development on the PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii.
Featured are:
- Brian Eddy of Midway Games (Stranglehold / Xbox 360, PS3)
- Nicolas Eypert of Ubisoft Paris (Red Steel, Wii)
- Todd Howard of Bethesda Softworks (Oblivion, Fallout 3 / Xbox 360)
- Bryan Intihar (Previews Editor of EGM)
- Aubrey Pullman of Microsoft Game Studios (Forza Motorsport 2 / Xbox 360)
- Evan Wells of Naughty Dog (Unnamed Next-Gen Title / PS3)
Thankfully, the discussion stays away from overtly technical talk, instead opting to focus on staffing, budget and management issues. The panelists all seem to agree that due to limited budgets and an ever increasing amount of required development time, developers must choose more carefully which areas of graphics,physics and AI to specialize in rather than striving for all around perfection. Other topics include middleware, specialization of staff, the definition of “next gen” and what is undoubtedly every one’s biggest concern, realistic trees in video gaming.
Read More | Gamasutra
How To Spot Pirated DS Cartridges
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Culture, Internet, Nintendo, Nintendo DS,
It appears that the first pirated DS games are beginning to make their way overseas, so eBayers beware! GBA carts could often be difficult to pick out (sometimes the only way to tell was by looking inside the cart above the metal contacts), but for now it appears that the pirated DS carts are pretty shoddy and easy to pick out. Keep an eye out for any game with black contacts or deeply recessed lettering on the back of the cart. And of course, if you see labels that are poorly aligned and/or look like they were printed on an inkjet, that might be a give-away.
A description of what you should look for in pirated games, along with helpful photos, can be found over at 4 color rebellion. With the DS lite getting so popular these days, it’s no doubt we’ll be seeing more of these in the months to come.
Read More | 4 Color Rebellion
Resolving HDTV Lag In Games
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, Nintendo Gamecube, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox, Xbox 360,
The Xbox 360 has sought to usher in the era of high definition gaming, and many gamers have purchased HDTV sets to go along with their new Xbox 360s. However, while HDTV offers spectacular pictures at stunning resolutions, there are some issues, the most vexxing of which is HDTV lag. IGN.com tries to dissect the problem, and offer up some solutions to the issue. There are basically two areas where HDTV lag can occur: first, when resolutions other than the native resolution of the television are used, the TV will have to alter the signal to display correctly on the set. This will sometimes require scaling the image up or down in resolution, and may also require converting the signal from an interlaced signal to progressive, or vice-versa, depending on the television type. This conversion takes a finite amount of time, and depending on the television, will either be so quick as to be unnoticeable in gaming, or can be long enough to affect the ability to play games at all.
The second issue occurs when there are additional filtering options offered by the TV. One of the more common is Samsung’s DNIe, but most of the high end HDTV manufacturers will have their own proprietary signal filter that will attempt to improve the picture seen by the user. This process again takes time. Usually it doesn’t take that long for signal processing to occur, but combined with the time taken to scale the image in the previous examples, this can again cripple gaming.
IGN proposes a few solutions to this problem. First, if the gamer hasn’t bought an HDTV set, try to test the set first with some timing intensive games in the store first. Obviously, it will be difficult to bring your dance pad in to work through some 10 foot Dance Dance Revolution tracks, but fighting games are notoriously twitch sensitive.
If you already have a set, try and set your HDTV to as close to native resolution as possible. With some consoles, this will be next to impossible. The Gamecube supports 480P resolution on some games, but most will be 480i. The Playstation 2 will have even fewer 480p games. Most original Xbox games are also 480p, but some will support 720p and higher resolutions. The Xbox 360 should offer native support for most resolutions, including 480p, 720p, and 1080i. Relying on the Xbox 360’s internal scaler should help resolve the issue in most circumstances.
They also recommend turning off any image enhancement filters on the TV. Some sets offer a “game” mode that passes the signal through without any additional filtering, and this may help as well. Finally, if none of these help, it may be necessary to purchase hardware that has a faster scaling engine than the one in the television set. IGN has a couple of recommendations, including the Micomsoft XRGB boxes that are usually available from import stores like Lik-Sang or NCSX.
Read More | IGN Gear
Printer Friendly Xbox 360 Backward Compatibility List
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Retro, Xbox 360,
Microsoft has been making progress at getting more games on the Xbox 360 compatibility list, and as such, remembering which individual games will work and which will not is getting to be more of a chore when raiding the bargain bins for older original Xbox titles. Now, thanks to Major Nelson, with the printable list gamers no longer have to wonder if it was Sneakers or Conker that was compatible. (Unfortunately, it was Sneakers.)
Read More | Major Nelson
Second Xbox 360 Firmware Hack Released
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Mods/Hacks, Xbox 360,
Commodore4Eva, the hacker behind the modified firmware releases on the original Xbox, and the Xbox 360 Samsung drives, has released a firmware that allows Xbox 360 users with the Hitachi DVD-ROM drive to play backup software. Both current drives should now be able to be modified to run backups, and there are several firmware swapping mod solutions on the way that will take advantage of this. This particular firmware is for the 47D version of the Hitachi drive, and a release for the 46 version should be coming soon. The hack is definitely not one for novices, and of course, will void the warranty of your Xbox 360.
Read More | Xbox Hacker
While US politicians continue to attack the video game industry on a state and national level, some European nations have begun to embrace the medium. In the UK, the Food Standards Agency has released “Foodbusters,” a game aimed at teaching kids between five and fourteen about “the importance of food safety.” Not to be outdone, France has released “Cyber-budget,” a simulation where players control their country’s finances, in an effort to increase “awareness of the difficulties faced by budget makers.” Meanwhile, the Nordic Council of Ministers has allocated two million DKK (about $338,000 USD) for Nordic developers to create “games for children and young people.” The French government offers a similar funding deal for French developers.
Read More | Bloomberg
Clinical Trial On The Effects of Gameboy Before Surgery
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Culture, Nintendo, Nintendo Gamecube, Portable/Mobile,
Young patients in New Jersey may have something to look forward to for calming their nerves soon. As part of a clinical trial, the New Jersey University of Medicine and Dentistry is testing the effects of playing Gameboy games before surgery on levels of anxiety. The researchers theorize that playing Gameboy before surgery might be as effective as certain anti-anxiety drugs in helping young patients cope with stress.
There seems to be a lot of interest among the medical community these days into the uses in videogames in hospital environments. With studies possibly showing that doctors should play Super Monkey Ball before operating and children should play Gameboy before surgery, maybe we can look forward to a day where gaming consoles are a standard fixture in doctors’ offices.
Read More | Community Dispatch
FTC On Violent Games: There Remain A Number of Concerns
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Culture,
The Federal Trade Commission, in recent testimony before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection, testified that while progress has been made in terms of M-rated games and their advertising towards minors, “there remain a number of concerns relating to video games and how they are marketed.” The testimony also stated that more work must be done in self-regulation of the industry, including better restriction of advertising to minors, and retail-level ESRB rating enforcement. Undercover operations at the retail level have continued; the latest operation whose results were released in March indicated that while the number of minors able to purchase M-rated games dropped, 42 percent of the shoppers were able to purchase an M-rated game.
The latest report underscores the need for better education, in both the retail channel and for parents, and hopefully, the ESRB’s ongoing campaign will improve things in the future. Without improvement, the video game industry may be targeted for further regulation.
Read More | FTC
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.