Find Our Latest Video Reviews on YouTube!
If you want to stay on top of all of our video reviews of the latest tech, be sure to check out and subscribe to the Gear Live YouTube channel, hosted by Andru Edwards! It’s free!
Latest Gear Live Videos
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
Gallery: Reggie Talks Wii, DS At D.I.C.E.
Advertisement
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
Gallery: Metal Gear Movie In Development At Sony Pictures
Aquazone: Worse Microtransaction Offender Than EA
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Culture, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Marketplace,
While Electronic Arts has been busy monetizing nearly every facet of its Xbox 360 releases, from tutorials to unlockable items and cheats, a Japanese developer has stepped up to try and take the crown away from EA. 1up reports that Frontier Groove, publishers of AquaZone recently released 18 new fish for their aquarium simulator to the Xbox Live Marketplace. Should a user wish to purchase all 18, the cost will run over 5000 points, more than $60. 1up also discovered that the size of each download is the minimum size allowed by the Xbox 360, 108K, which strongly suggests that gamers are paying for content that is already on the retail disc. Interestingly, AquaZone has been one of the weakest supporters of the Gamerscore program, and is probably one of the reasons that Microsoft is enforcing new standards for that as well.
Read More | 1up
Gallery: Aquazone: Worse Microtransaction Offender Than EA
UK Gamers Get Horrible Playstation 3 Bundle
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Culture, Hardware, PlayStation 3,
GamesIndustry.biz is reporting that UK gamers looking to pre-order the Playstation 3 through retailer HMV are being forced to partake in a particularly onerous bundle. An e-mail sent to customers indicates that those who would like to place a pre-order for the Playstation 3 can do so only when also purchasing a 4 GB PSP package. The bundle includes the new PSP, two PSP games and the Playstation 3, but retails for almost 675 GBP, around $1330 US. According to Gamesindustry.biz, Sony was less than sympathetic towards its fanbase, stating that “his is just one of a number of value added incentives that retailers will be offering to mark the launch of PS3.” This bundle seems to be the oddest choice; hardcore fans of Sony’s hardware will likely have already purchased a PSP, and the pricing puts this above the casual fan’s price range. Add this together with no actual guarantee that the Playstation 3 will be available, this action would seem to be the definition of HMV “biting the hand that feeds it.”
Read More | GamesIndustry.biz
Gallery: UK Gamers Get Horrible Playstation 3 Bundle
Microsoft Standardizes Gamerscore
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Culture, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade,
Microsoft’s Gamerscore and Achievements program has been remarkably successful, with people going so far as to pay for additional Achievements. Still, there seems to be uneven support for the program from game developers. Now, Microsoft is moving to standardize the program so that gamers can expect a more uniform experience. A post on the Gamerscore blog lists some of the changes to the program.
First, base points will be standardized for game titles. A retail disc-based game is required to have 1,000 Gamerscore available; Live Arcade games are required to have 200 Gamerscore. Microsoft says that this base score can come in a combination of regular and add-on content as long as the add-on content is free. Game publishers will also have the option of adding another 250 Gamerscore to disc games from paid or free content as well. By standardizing the program, it seems Microsoft is strongly encouraging developers to think about Achievements when developing the program and further differentiate Xbox 360 titles from their counterparts on competing systems. Hopefully, any Achievements added in the new program won’t be superficial tack-ons to meet a points goal.
Read More | Gamerscoreblog
Gallery: Microsoft Standardizes Gamerscore
Show your Wii and Beatles fandom with a “Biitles” shirt
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Culture, Nintendo, Portable/Mobile, Wii,
Sometimes an item appears that’s so spectacularly nerdy and off-the-wall that it just HAS to be blogged. This is definitely one of them… if you happen to be a fan of Nintendo and the Beatles, and think it’s a good idea to represent John, Paul, George and Ringo in Mii form, then this is definitely the shirt for you!
If you’re a little more surreptitious about your fandom, you can still enjoy having Mii-ized version of the Beatles on your Wii. Over on the NerdyShirts website, they’ve got their Wii number posted on the description and their “Biitles” are ready to mingle! I might be adding them as friends later this evening… maybe I can even convince them to perform in the background while I’m Wii bowling.
Read More | NerdyShirts.com
Gallery: Show your Wii and Beatles fandom with a “Biitles” shirt
Has Microsoft Turned The Corner In Japan?
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Culture, Xbox 360,
Microsoft has perennially struggled in Japan in the console market. The original Xbox did miserably in Japan and for the first year of its launch it seemed like the Xbox 360 was going to follow in its footsteps. However, the past few months have seen some fairly high profile titles hit the console along with some extremely aggressively priced hardware and software bundles. Gamasutra is reflecting on these releases to try and determine if Microsoft has indeed turned things around in that territory.
The site looks to the recent launch of Blue Dragon and its related hardware bundle as well as the release of Gears of War in Japan to try and find out where the truth lies. Blue Dragon was probably one of the strongest releases, but after the initial release spike, the game dropped off the sales charts fairly quickly. Similarly, Gears of War broke the top ten in sales for the week it was released, but very next week had the game dropping off the top 30 entirely. Reports in Japan had Microsoft badly undershipping the title, which would effectively kill sales, if true. But overall this seems to reflect on efforts by a company that still doesn’t really understand the culture, and this is quickly killing any temporary successes. Much of the feedback that Gamasutra received for their article seems to show a company that is badly out of sync with their target market, putting marketing money into badly conceived campaigns that fail to reach the consumer.
Read More | Gamasutra
Gallery: Has Microsoft Turned The Corner In Japan?
Compete: Wii Interest Led Xbox 360, PS3 This Holiday
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Culture, Hardware, Internet, Nintendo, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360,
Microsoft’s Andre Vrignaud linked to an interesting study of online next-generation console interest published by online metric provider Complete. The analysis shows relative online interest in the three next-generation consoles as tracked via the Compete toolbar technology. According to the tracking numbers, both the Wii and the PS3 peaked around their launch date, with the Wii running up slightly more user interest. The Xbox 360 hit its popularity peak for the three months from November to January right around Thanksgiving, which would tie in somewhat to a number of promotions run around the Xbox 360 at this time. After the holiday season, all three consoles tail off in online click-through. The Wii still leads, but the Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360 match nearly exactly. Further, it appears that Playstation 3 searchers are transferring to either the Xbox 360 or the Wii.
Overall, though, it is hard to gauge how accurately this tracks real-world purchasing. First, given that Compete gets its tracking numbers though the number of users that have installed the Compete Toolbar, it is hard to say how accurately this reflects the general Internet public. Secondly, given the difficulty in acquiring either a Playstation 3 or a Wii and both consoles’ lack of availability online, one would have a hard time tying an online visit into a retail conversion. A longer period of observation tied with real-world sales numbers as all consoles become readily available at retail will give a better indication of the correlation between online visits and actual sales numbers.
Read More | Compete via Ozymandias.com
Gallery: Compete: Wii Interest Led Xbox 360, PS3 This Holiday
Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) is Back, and Much Much Bigger
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Corporate News, Culture, E3, Release Dates,
With E3 cancelled (or at least significantly altered and shrunken), and an uncertain new “E for All” expo taking its first baby steps, THE gaming convention for the hardcore is shaping up to be next year’s Penny Arcade Expo, and the organizers seem to know this…
This year, PAX will move from its humble roots in Bellevue, WA to the larger and significantly more prominent Washington Trade and Convention Center. The event will be held from August 26th-28th and expects to see about 30,000 gamers converging on the Center as one sweaty, black-T-shirted mass.
It should be interesting to see how many developers and publishers decide to exhibit this year, given that this is now THE major venues for gaming companies to meet with their consumers.
Read More | PennyArcadeExpo.com
Gallery: Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) is Back, and Much Much Bigger
IPTV Confirmed For Xbox 360
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Culture, Hardware, Internet, Xbox 360,
Microsoft confirmed via press release that an IPTV client will be coming to the Xbox 360 during the holiday 2007 season. IPTV will integrate with the Xbox 360 and Xbox Live to allow services like video on demand and digital video recording to work with Xbox Live features like voice chat and instant messaging. Microsoft’s partners for the launch include AT&T in the US, BT in the UK, and Deutsche Telekom in Germany.
The full press release continues after the jump.
Click to continue reading IPTV Confirmed For Xbox 360
Gallery: IPTV Confirmed For Xbox 360
Advertisement
© Gear Live Inc. {year} – 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.