Latest Gear Live Videos
It’s tough to believe that 2005 is about over as we browse through all the ‘year in review’ and ‘2005 award’ stories. The latest story of that nature has been posted over at Next Generation where their top games are listed within 9 different genres. There aren’t any numbered rankings to be found - so you don’t have a ‘#1 game’ to agree or disagree with, but we feel they’ve done a top-notch job with the feature, and that it’s certainly worth checking out.
Read More 
| Next Generation
Advertisement
Okay, so if you were wondering just what exactly you get when you order your free Xbox Live Diamond Card, other than the membership card decked out with your Gamertag, here is a sampling:
- Hollywood Video: Rent one movie or video game and get a 2nd rental free.
- Etnies: Save 20% off Etnies skate shoes and apparel for surf, BMX, and snowsports.
- Save up to 15% on Cambridge Soundworks speakers and other audio equipment.
- Buy one sandwich and get a second one free at Carl’s Jr., Quiznos Sub, and others.
- Save 10% off hot DVDs and CDs at SamGoody.
This is just from the splash page shown after you register for the card. There are more vendors to come after the program launches next year.
The Free Xbox Live Diamond Card
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Xbox Live,
Microsoft has just announced the latest initiative they are using to get peeps to sign up for Xbox Live Gold - that being the Xbox Live Diamond Card. Any Gold Live subscriber is able to sign up to receive a free Diamond card, decked out with their Gamertag, which can be used in retail locations for in-store discounts. In order to qualify, you must have purchased at least one year’s worth of Xbox Live.
Read More | Xbox Live Diamond Card
The second annual Seattle Game Conference is scheduled for Saturday February 4th, 2006. The conference is designed for anyone interested in getting into the videogame industry.
It’ll cost you $45 if you purchase a pass in advance online, otherwise it’s $60 at the door. As shown in a schedule on the linked page, the day will be filled with a couple of lectures, some networking, and a resume workshop. Additionally, attendees are encourage to “bring plenty of resumes” because “a number of hiring managers will be on site.” The conference should make for a great experience, and be sure to post if you’re considering going.
Read More | The Game Initiative
Next Generation has posted a chapter out of “Smartbomb”, a new book on the videogame industry. The chapter discusses why Microsoft made the Xbox in the first place and how it happened.
While this makes for an interesting read, it doesn’t come close to the detail of Dean Takashi’s “Opening the Xbox”. I read Takashi’s book shortly after its release and found it extremely compelling. In fact, I found myself rooting for the Microsoft guys working on the Xbox by the time I was done reading it. The book does a great job describing everyone involved, along with their strong dedication to succeed. I highly recommend this one if you haven’t read it yet.
And while I haven’t read Smartbomb in its entirety yet, I’ve heard it’s a great book - so if you’ve got some time on your hands pick it up as well!
Read More | Next Generation
Next Generation has put together an interesting feature discussing the five biggest “howlers, blunders and goofs” of 2005.
Here’s the list: (In order from bad to worse)
5. Nintendo’s Revolution Revelations
4. EA and Madden Next Gen
3. Sony’s PSP Launch
2. Microsoft’s Xbox 360 Launch
1. Hot Coffee
We knew Hot Coffee would be at the top of the list, and the four other topics do seem in place. The 360 shortages were (and still are) horrible, the PSP’s launch didn’t go over as well as Sony would have liked, and Next Gen Madden really doesn’t do much better than the current gen versions of the game - and that “Madden Next Gen” commercial shown earlier this year was a joke. As for the Nintendo Revolution’s controller, we’re not sure if we completely agree with it being a huge blunder - but then again we haven’t tried it out so who knows, it could be a huge dud. But then again, this is Nintendo we’re talking about and they certainly do know videogames.
If you’d like to read Next Generation’s reasoning behind the blunders, just make the jump.
Read More | Next Generation
EA Doubts Xbox 360 Installed Base
Posted by Brandon Gribin Categories: Corporate News, Xbox 360,
So much for Microsoft getting a big head-start. It doesn’t matter if everyone and their mom wants a 360 this Christmas - if they’re not on store shelves, no one’s going to be able to buy them. Microsoft decided to launch so far ahead of the PS3 to get a good head-start but it’s starting to look like when it comes down to it, the company may not have that much of a lead.
EA is apparently upset with the 360 shortages because it isn’t able to sell as many games as projected. After EA issued a price warning, we all knew things aren’t going well for the company this holiday season.
Moving on, the linked story also mentions that Best Buy should be receiving more 360s today - which will go on sale tomorrow.
Read More | GameDaily
EA Tried to Acquire Exclusive NHL License
Posted by Brandon Gribin Categories: Corporate News, Sports,
Last December, EA acquired the exclusive license to produce NFL games. Many videogame fans became upset with EA since Visual Concept’s NFL 2k series wouldn’t be made anymore. Midway was actually able to stick it big with its newest Blitz title which sold above expectations.
Based upon a GameDaily story, Electronics Arts also tried to obtain the exclusive rights to the NHL license. EA was turned down though by the hockey league because the league believes that “choice is good” and consumers should have more than one option for a hockey game. It must have taken a lot to stand up to EA, but was it the right decision for the NHL? Theoretically, more hockey games on the market means competition within the genre, so you should expect to see better hockey games than what we’d be seeing had the license been exclusively given to EA.
Of course EA makes the argument that it would still work to make the best hockey game possible not only to save face but also because its newest sports games compete with older iterations in the series. After all, if you have Madden NFL 2005 but 2006’s version is hardly any different, why on earth would you go out and buy 2006?
Read More | GameDailyBiz
New Picture of the PS3 and Xbox 360 Side by Side
Posted by Brandon Gribin Categories: Hardware, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360,
Makes the Xbox 360 look a lot bigger, huh? And yes, the consoles are shown to scale - see the ethernet ports.
Read More | flickr
Still don’t have an Xbox 360 but want one without having to pay way too much? The guys over at ‘Addicted to Digital Media’ have found a fool proof way to score a machine online at MSRP. Basically, the method involves tracking 360 availability. While we haven’t tried it out since we already have ours, the method looks solid, so check it out if you’re still looking.
Read More | Addicted to Digital Media
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.