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Final Fantasy XII In Stores On Halloween
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: PlayStation 2, Role Playing Games,
Gamespot reports that the latest in the Final Fantasy saga, Final Fantasy XII will hit the US on October 31, 2006. The game will be released in both Regular and Collector’s Editions, priced at $49.99 and $59.99 respectively. The Collector’s Edition will be available exclusively at Gamestop and EBGames. The package includes a steel case and a Collector’s DVD that features:
- Developer’s Interviews
- History of Final Fantasy featurettes
- Final Fantasy XII U.S. Trailers
- Final Fantasy XII Japan Trailers
- Final Fantasy Art Gallery
So, gamers that are anxiously awaiting the release of this Holiday season’s next generation consoles will have a new Final Fantasy to keep them occupied.
Read More 
| Gamespot.com
Gallery: Final Fantasy XII In Stores On Halloween
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$8.96 Video Game Clearance At Circuit City
Posted by Josh Smith Categories: Hot Deals, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Gamecube, PlayStation 2, PSP, Xbox,
Demolition Man, on the Cheap Ass Gamer forum was able to pull together a list of Xbox, Gamecube, PSP, DS, Gameboy Advance, and PS2 titles included in the newest $8.96 clearance sale at Circuit City. While the sale does not officially start until Sunday July 2nd many people are reporting success picking up games on the list at clearance price. If your local store doesn’t have the clearance games on the shelf don’t yet despair. Some of the Circuit City locations including my local stores have already pulled the clearance games, and are holding them in the back until Sunday.
Xbox:
Burnout Revenge
Far Cry Instincts
Halo Triple Pack
Gamecube:
Batman Begins
Chaos Theory
Dragonball Z Sagas
EA Sports Fight Night Round 2
PSP:
Need For Speed Underground Rivals
Spiderman 2
Tiger Woods PGA
Tony Hawk Underground 2 Remix
World Soccer Tour
Nintendo DS:
Advance Wars
Meteos
Burnout Legends
Star Wars Episode 3 Revenge Of The Sith
Texas Hold Em
Tiger Woods 2005
Gameboy Advance:
Grand Theft Auto
Madden 2006
Mario Golf: Advance Tours
Mario Kart Super Circuit
Mario Party Advance
Playstation 2:
Driver Parallel Lines
Eye Toy
Time Crisis: Crisis Zone
Time Splitters
Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland Collector’s Edition
Head over to the Cheap Ass Gamer forums for the full list which includes many more games.
Read More | Cheap Ass Gamer
Gallery: $8.96 Video Game Clearance At Circuit City
Take-Two: Another Day, Another Lawsuit
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Corporate News, Culture, PC, PlayStation 2, Politics, Xbox,
It has been a bad couple of weeks for Take-Two Interactive Software, but probably good for their lawyers. Take-Two recently announced via news release that the District Attorney of the County of New York had served the company with grand jury subpoenas. The documents, according to the release, cover knowledge of the “hot coffee” content in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, as well as details of financial records relating to:
…termination of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and retention of Ernst & Young LLP; acquisitions by the Company in 2005; certain compensation and human resources documents with respect to the Company and certain of its current and former officers and directors; and documents concerning the activities of the Company’s Board of Directors and Committees thereof.
Take-Two also declares that neither individuals, nor the company are the target of the investigation. Given the controversy over the “hot coffee” mod, and the past problems Take-Two has had with the Securities and Exchange Commission, it seems that the District Attorney believes that there is something worth pursuing.
On top of this, more legal action has been brought against the company, this time due to content in Rockstar’s game, The Warriors. According to the New York Daily News, Roger Hill, the actor who played the gang leader Cyrus in the movie, has filed suit against both Rockstar and Take-Two. The suit seeks $250,000 in damages and an injunction against using his likeness in the game. Take-Two issued a statement to the Daily News that the company has a valid license for any actor’s likeness.
Read More 
| New York Daily News
Read More | Take Two Interactive
Gallery: Take-Two: Another Day, Another Lawsuit
Social Networking Pushes Da Vinci Code
Posted by Thea Davis Categories: Action, Corporate News, PlayStation 2,
For its campaign for the Da Vinci code game, ROKKAN, an interactive agency, used social networking sites like MySpace and YouTube to propel word-of-mouth marketing. ROKKAN, in cooperation with 2K Games, created an online treasure hunt in order to promote the release of the Da Vinci Code game. Interactive internet features like chat and forums allowed players to bond while participating in the treasure hunt. Gamers discussed the game on blogs and sought each other for help with clues and hints. The contest awarded an Xbox game console and six game titles (including the Da Vinci Code game) to the winner. The Da Vinci Code Game website also won an FWA Site of the Day Award. The contest ended 31-May-06.
Read More | PRWeb
Gallery: Social Networking Pushes Da Vinci Code
Depp Lends Voice to Pirates Game
Posted by Thea Davis Categories: Adventure, Corporate News, PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox,
Movie star Johnny Depp is voicing the lead character in Bethesda Software’s new title “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow,” reprising the role he originated in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series. Depp recorded his lines for the game in a Los Angeles studio; the game was also designed in LA. 7 Studios, a company under license with Buena Vista Games (Disney) is the game’s designer. Bethesda, the game’s publisher, released the title yesterday.
Read More | Washington Post
Gallery: Depp Lends Voice to Pirates Game
Tony Hawk’s Project 8 Screenshots
Posted by Josh Smith Categories: PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Screenshots, Sports, Xbox 360,
Team Xbox was able to grab some screen-shots from the latest Tony Hawk incarnation, known as Tony Hawk’s Project 8. The game was rebuilt specifically for the next-gen consoles and from this early look the time spent was well worth it. Tony and friends will be hitting the Xbox 360 and the PS1, PS2, and PS3. Absent from the lineup is an original Xbox version and any showing on a Nintendo console. Project 8 is due out this fall when the drought of Xbox 360 games comes to an end.
Read More | Team Xbox
Gallery: Tony Hawk’s Project 8 Screenshots
Superstar Mode Added To Madden 07
Posted by Josh Smith Categories: PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Sports, Xbox, Xbox 360,
IGN was able to score an interview with David Ortiz who is currently working on the Madden 07 offering for next gen systems. Ortiz confirms that Madden 07 will include Superstar mode, which was one of the many features missing from Madden 06 on the Xbox 360. The new and improved Superstar mode was added after EA heard the complaints of gamers and had already shaped up much of the onfield play. In the new NFL Superstar Hall of Fame Mode you can control a character from their point of view. You don’t choose the plays, and if your position is on the offense, then you can opt not to play defense. The changes to the Superstar mode will definitely mix up your play to play role in the game, David Ortiz explains,
Before every drive, you select your role in the scheme. Using the receiver example, you can play as a Possession Receiver, and this will increase your catching ability and the QB accuracy. You can play as a Burner, and this will send you deep, affecting not only your speed and awareness, but it will also negatively affect the rating of the CB trying to cover you one-on-one. Or you can be the Lone Wolf, forgetting about the team game and trying to rack up as many yards and catches as possible. As a cornerback, your roles are Coverage DB, a Blitz Specialist, or again, the Lone Wolf. This all leads to character development and how you’re viewed as a teammate, adding extra depth beyond simply catching passes over the middle or picking off a pass and trying to take it to the house.
The Superstar mode is a much needed addition to the next gen Madden franchise which debuted with a very lackluster Xbox 360 version last fall. Madden 07 is due out for the Xbox 360 and current gen systems on August 22nd followed shortly by the PS3 release on November 1st. You can also spend an extra $10 to get the “Hall of Fame” edition which includes a bonus video disc chock full of John Madden!
Read More | IGN
Gallery: Superstar Mode Added To Madden 07
New Tales Games Announced
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Corporate News, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PSP, Role Playing Games,
Today, Bandai Namco announced the next games in their Tales RPG series, with new screen shots of the games. Siliconera has some details, and Game Watch Japan has full coverage of the announcement by Bandai Namco in Japan. There are a few remakes in the list, including a “full voice edition” release of Tales of Phantasia for the PSP, a remake of the Playstation 1 game, which itself was a remade version of the original Super Nintendo release. The Playstation 2 will see another remake, this time of the original Playstation game, Tales of Destiny, with redone 2D graphics. Tales of Destiny 2 should also see a home on the PSP, some time in 2007, as a remake of the Playstation 2 game. The PSP also gets a new game in the Tales of the World series. Finally, the DS game, Tales of the Tempest was also previewed.
Read More | Game Watch Coverage
Read More | Siliconera.com
Gallery: New Tales Games Announced
How Much Power Does Your Console Use?
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, Nintendo Gamecube, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox, Xbox 360,
Just in case anyone was wondering how much power a console draws when it is in standby, and when it is running games, DX Gaming has the rundown. They compare several consoles, including the original Playstation, Playstation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360, Gamecube, and the Dreamcast, to determine how much power the consoles utilize when off, when at the “dashboard,” and when in use. It will come as no surprise to anyone who has seen the Xbox 360 power brick that that console was the biggest eater of energy, but there were some other interesting data points.
First was that the Playstation 2 in standby consumes as much power as the Xbox 360 in the same state, 2 watts. When powered on, but running no games, the Xbox 360 is the pig, pulling 145 watts, followed by the Xbox at 61 watts, and the Playstation 2 at 23 watts. While running games, the order of the console’s power hunger doesn’t change. The Xbox 360 boosts up to 165 watts, the Xbox jumps to 70 watts, and the PS2 runs up to 30 watts.
DX Gaming also runs some numbers to try and determine the average cost of a console over a year’s time, as well as the watts drawn per cycle. Gamers might have some issue with the estimate of 14 hours per week, and then the Xbox 360 causes problems in the watts per cycle measurement, since it operates a multi-core CPU, the numbers depend on whether one considers the megahertz rating additive, or in parallel. Still, the numbers are interesting, and give some insight into what might be expected from the Wii and Playstation 3 consoles.
Read More | DX Gaming
Gallery: How Much Power Does Your Console Use?
Build Your Own Racing Game Chair
Posted by Josh Smith Categories: Driving, Nintendo Gamecube, PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox, Xbox 360,
Do you feel full of jealousy any time you spy an arcade racing setup being used to own others in Ridge Racer or Project Gotham Racing 3? Store bought racing chairs are often poorly constructed and expensive or good quality and even more expensive. Over on the ToolMonger blog there is a how-to for making your own racing chair setup for just $80 in parts. All you need after parts is the racing wheel and pedals for your particular system. The project requires welding and isn’t for everyone. If you decide to tackle the project, the original makers recommend a $380 welder, which is quite cheap for a quality welder. Judging from all the required welding it is a good thing that video games are good for hand eye coordination.
If you don’t have the hands on ability to make your own, or are just too busy playing video games, ToolMonger is giving one away! To enter, just post a comment somewhere on their site by July 31st.
Read More | ToolMonger
Gallery: Build Your Own Racing Game Chair
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