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Limited Edition Revenant Wings DS Announced
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Culture, Nintendo DS, Role Playing Games, Square Enix,
With a new release in the Final Fantasy franchise hitting the DS comes another limited edition DS bundle. When Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings launches for the DS in Japan on April 26th, a special limited edition package including a laser etched Nintendo DS and the game will be available, selling for 21840 Yen, about $180 US. So, Japan gets yet another limited quantity release of the DS tied to a highly anticipated release, while other territories have to deal with the small color selection available. Expect huge lines in Japan for this release; Revenant Wings may be even more popular than the Final Fantasy III and Nintendo DS combination.
Read More 
| Famitsu
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Reggie Talks Wii, DS At D.I.C.E.
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Culture, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Wii,
Dean Takahashi of Mercury News was able to talk with Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime at the DICE Summit in Las Vegas. Post-holiday, Fils-Aime seems to be confident about Nintendo’s success with both the Wii and the DS, and he discusses everything from sales figures, to those who label the Wii as merely a novelty, and the culture that is surrounding the Wii. According to Reggie, DS sales continue to grow beyond Nintendo’s ability to make more handhelds, “making millions a month, but the demand is above that.” He also believes that the Wii has the staying power to grow beyond the Xbox 360 user base, and that the upcoming release of Wii Play will drive sales further. Given that Nintendo still can’t seem to supply enough Wii consoles for the channel, this seems like a hard thing to judge. Reggie loves the inroads that the Wii has been making into pop culture, such as the Conan O’Brien / Serena Williams Wii Tennis battle. Apparently, online development kits have also made their way to developers at this point as well, so gamers can expect online play in the future. Overall, Reggie’s comments reflect a company that has done phenomenally well over the past holiday; Nintendo’s continued success depends on their ability to execute and stay on target.
Read More | Mercury News
Metal Gear Movie In Development At Sony Pictures
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Culture, PlayStation 3,
Gamespot talked with Yair Landau after speaking at the recent D.I.C.E. Summit in Las Vegas, where the Sony Pictures Entertainment vice-chairman confirmed that SPE would be developing the Metal Gear movie. There were no real details given about the live-action translation of the series, but Landau discussed the potential challenges in translating the series in an effective way for the fans of the series. Landau also discussed the possibilities of exploring other franchises in cinema form, including the Everquest series. Given the track record of movie translations of video games, it is hard to be optimistic. Still, having a large studio like Sony Pictures Entertainment should be a plus and the already movie-like nature of the Metal Gear Solid series should also help. This partnership would also seem to strengthen Kojima’s affinity for Sony platforms as well.
Read More | Gamespot
Rockstar, Activision jump on Wii Bandwagon w/ ManHunt, Guitar Hero
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Action, Activision, Corporate News, Music, Survival Horror, Take2, Wii,
Even with a strong launch and a significant amount of buzz, it’s still too early to say that Nintendo will necessarily become a favorite of third-party publishers. If today’s news is any indication, though, they’ve definitely made some headway. Yesterday, Rockstar Games (yes, THAT Rockstar Games of GTA fame) announced that they will be producing Manhunt 2 for the PSP, PS2, and Wii. While Manhunt definitely isn’t the best game Rockstar’s ever produced, this might mark the company’s first baby-steps towards producing more games for Nintendo’s consoles. Similarly, Activition recently announced strong support for the Wii, including a version of Guitar Hero that will likely be tailored to take advantage of Nintendo’s motion-sensitive Wiimote. From the company conference call:
The key difference in our strategy versus the prior cycle, is that in addition to full support on Sony and Microsoft platforms, we will aggressively target the Nintendo platforms consistent with our multi-platform strategy and Nintendo’s expected growth. In fiscal 2008, we will double our offerings on the DS and the Wii, including Spider-Man, Shrek, Transformers, and Guitar Hero.
With production costs for “truly” next-gen titles on the Xbox 360 and PS3 skyrocketing, it’ll be interesting to see if studios decide that they can make more money producing content for Nintendo’s fledgling console.
Read More 
| Take2 Games
Update: Fixed the headline, Killzone is definitely NOT heading Wii-ward. What was I smoking…
Read More | Activision Investor Relations via The Tanooki
EA Wants Xbox 360 1080P Bragging Rights
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Electronic Arts, Sports, Xbox 360,
After Sega bragged about bringing true 1080P to the Xbox 360 for the first time, EA stepped up today to say that they would actually be the first to have a 1080P native title. Representatives from EA talked to Gamasutra, and they noted that the upcoming February release of NBA Street Homecourt would support the full 1080P resolution on the Xbox 360 at 30 frames per second and would beat Virtua Tennis 3 to market by a month. Perhaps during the two weeks before Street is released, someone else will step up and steal the 1080P crown yet again.
Read More | Gamasutra
Oblivion PS3: Improved Load Times, Graphics Over Xbox 360
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories:
IGN recently got some hands on time with the Playstation 3 version of Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, and they had some interesting observations. The game is scheduled to ship March 13th, roughly a year after the Xbox 360 release, so one would expect some upgrades for this release. Overall, IGN’s experience with the PS3 version was improved over the Xbox 360 release, including better load times, improved draw distances and sharper textures. It sounds like whatever issues Bethesda had with the PS3 Blu-Ray drive have been resolved, and they have spent additional time optimizing the release for Sony’s Cell architecture. The improved draw distances and frame rates may not stay exclusive to the Playstation 3, however, as Bethesda has promised that their improved shader code will also be hitting the Xbox 360 in the upcoming Shivering Isles expansion pack. In regards to expansions for the Playstation 3, IGN found that of the eight add-ons that Bethesda has made available, only the Knights of the Nine quest will be included in the retail release for the Playstation 3. Other modules might be added later through the Playstation Network, but Bethesda has made no promises regarding availability for neither the downloads nor the upcoming Shivering Isles expansion on the Playstation 3. At the very least, though, it appears that Bethesda has taken their time on the release and gone beyond making the game a simple port from the previous versions of the game.
Read More | IGN
Half-Life 2: Episode Two Delayed Again
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Electronic Arts, First Person Shooters, PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360,
EA and Valve Software officially announced the Half-Life 2: Episode Two packages that will be available at retail for the PC, Xbox 360, and the Playstation 3. Gamespot reports that two retail SKUs will be available, the Orange Box, which will include Half-Life 2, Episodes 1 & 2, Team Fortress 2, and Portal. This box will be available on the PC, Playstation 3, and Xbox 360. The Black Box, only available for the PC will include Half-Life 2: Episode 2, Team Fortress 2, and Portal. Pricing was not discussed for either set. Slipped into the announcement was a change in the release date; the game is no longer set for a summer release and is now targeted for the fall or winter quarter. One of the supposed advantages of the episodic release format was a shorter development cycle between releases; now it appears that Episode 2 will hit retail around 18 months after the release of Episode 1. We know Valve likes to release things when they are ready, but the continued delays are getting to be tiresome.
Read More | Gamespot
Major Nelson Wants Your Marketplace Ten Commandments
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox Live Marketplace,
Microsoft’s Larry Hryb, aka Major Nelson has a post on his blog asking gamers for their “Ten Commandments” of the Xbox Live Marketplace. Unsurprisingly, a number of the complaints range around some common issues users have with the Marketplace, such as:
- Charging to unlock content already on the disc (the fantastic 108kb downloads)
- Charging for content that other platforms get for free
- Releasing broken content
- No price reductions for content, ever
- More consistent Marketplace releases
If gamers have any requests for changes, improvements, or rules that the Xbox Live Marketplace should abide by, submit them to Major Nelson now; Microsoft has listened in the past, they will listen now.
Read More | Major Nelson
Tekken Dark Resurrection Promised “This Month”
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Fighting, Internet, Namco, PlayStation 3,
Tekken: Dark Resurrection for the Playstation 3 will officially be available to US customer this month, according to a report on 1up. Namco has not offered any pricing or an exact availability date, but the release time frame will put the game squarely against Sega’s upcoming Virtua Fighter 5 release on February 20th. Of course, the Tekken: Dark Resurrection download will more than likely cost less than half of the retail Virtua Fighter release, which should Namco’s sales. Namco also clarified that the release will not include online battles, but their statement leaves open the possibility that such a feature could be added in the future. North American availability has trailed the Japanese release by almost two months; online gamers have speculated that this might mean additional gameplay modes and content, however, at this time it looks like this is not the case.
Read More | 1up
Microsoft And Old Spice Reward Gamerscore
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade,
Microsoft announced today that they are teaming up with Old Spice to bring Xbox Rewards to online gamers. The rewards program requires a Windows Live ID and Xbox Live gamercard, but gamers only need either a Gold or Silver level subscription. Rewards challenges will be split into three levels according to Gamerscore: Level 1, from 0 – 4,999 Gamerscore, Level 2 from 5,000 – 9,999, and Level 3 at over 10,000 Gamerscore. The first challenge starts February 12th, and requires that gamers increase their Gamerscore by 1,500 points by April 12th. Rewards depend on the user’s current Gamerscore Level:
- Level 1
- The popular Xbox Live Arcade game Contra (rated: E10+) from Konami (Retail Value $5.00)
- Exclusive Old Spice Level 1 Xbox Rewards gamer picture
- An experience upgrade to Xbox Rewards Level 2
- Level 2
- The popular Xbox Live Arcade game Contra (rated: E10+) from Konami
- Exclusive Old Spice Level 2 Xbox Rewards gamer picture
- 100 Microsoft Points
- An experience upgrade to Xbox Rewards Level 3
- Level 3
- The popular Xbox Live Arcade game Contra (rated: E10+) from Konami
- Exclusive Old Spice Level 3 Xbox Rewards gamer picture
- 200 Microsoft Points
- Old Spice T-Shirt (Estimated Retail Value $10.00)
- A copy of Fuzion Frenzy 2 game (rated: E10+) (Estimated Retail Value $50.00)
Microsoft promises to be watching out for “foul play,” so those looking to cheat the program with copied game saves might have issues cashing in their prizes. It will be interesting to see how well this incents the Gamerscore program in the future; the best rewards are at Level 3, which is initially tied to Gamerscore, however, if each challenge increases the gamer’s level in the reward program, more people may be hitting the highest level faster than Microsoft expects. If Microsoft later adjusts the level system or the prize levels, this may cause disillusionment with the program.
Read More | Xbox.com
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