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Valve’s Gabe Newell Speaks About the Orange Box and Wii
Posted by Paul Hamilton Categories: First Person Shooters, PlayStation 3, Release Dates, Wii, Xbox 360,
Game Informer has an interview up with Valve‘s Gabe Newell where he discusses the upcoming Orange Box which will include Half-Life 2 plus Episodes 1 and 2, Portal and Team Fortress 2. From the interview:
Episode Two was really helped by Episode One, believe it or not. I think that we’ll continue to get the hang of it. It’s a pretty big deal to throw a bunch of wrenches into your development process and say, “We’re going to try to do this differently now.” We’ve learned a lot. If we’re right, the fans we’ll let us know, and if we’re wrong, they’ll let us know. (laughs) I think they’re going to be pretty happy. I think they’re going to be really, really happy with the Orange Box in what we’ve been able to pull off, and a lot of it is based on their feedback from what we did with Episode One.
Newell also briefly weighs in on the Wii, casually dismissing the lesser hardware specs compared with the other next gen consoles saying, “I think it’s more interesting than just graphics chip – CPU combination. It’s the machine I have at home.”
Click to continue reading Valve’s Gabe Newell Speaks About the Orange Box and Wii
Read More 
| Game Informer
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July NPD: Wii Reigns Supreme, Xbox 360 Edges Out PS3
Posted by Steve Van Neil Categories: Corporate News, Microsoft, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Portable/Mobile, PSP, Sony, Wii,
According to the latest NPD report, the video game industry generated almost a billion dollars of sales in the month of July. Nintendo’s Wii led the charge with an absolutely astounding 425,000 units sold. The Wii was followed by the PS2, which sold 220,000 units. The Xbox 360 sold 170,000 units, once again beating the PS3, which sold 159,000 units. On the portable side of things, the Nintendo DS sold a whopping 405,000 units, while the PSP moved 214,000 units. Overall console sales are up almost 43% from this period last year.
All of this begs the question: Where are people finding the Wii in such great numbers? I haven’t seen one in a store since the beginning of the year, but somehow Nintendo keeps selling hundreds of thousands of them every month.
Read More | Next Generation
Killzone 2 Footage Shows the First-Person Cover System
Posted by Paul Hamilton Categories: First Person Shooters, PlayStation 3, Sony, Trailers,
New footage of a developer demo for Killzone 2 showcases, in addition to the very grey but attractive graphics, the ‘Lean and Peek’ cover mechanic. Essentially it works like the cover system in games like Rainbow Six Vegas or Gears of War, but doesn’t compromise the first-person perspective to do so. It maps the left shoulder button to the cover snap (like hitting ‘A’ in Gears) but pulls low cover up to cover about half the screen and still allows for blind fire as well as snap-up firing. With high cover you use the analog stick to lean out and take your shots. Check out the video above for the full scoop.
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Sony Believes PS3 Price Drop Helped Boost Sales
Posted by Paul Hamilton Categories: PlayStation 3, Sony,
Sony has examined the most recent NPD numbers and, happy with what they saw, are attributing their 61% jump from the previous month’s numbers to the PlayStation 3 price drop they announced just prior to E3. They are quick to point out that anticipation for some actual exclusive titles like Heavenly Sword and Warhawk may have helped drive interest in their slow-out-of-the-gate console.
Despite the predictably upbeat tone of Sony’s blog post, some have had a less than enthusiastic response to July’s NPD numbers since many analysts predicted that Sony was going to beat the Xbox 360‘s sales in July largely because of the price drop. That the PS3 was still unable to overtake the 360 in sales in spite of a comparatively more affordable price has some worrying that Sony just doesn’t have enough market draw to convince consumers to take the plunge. What is plainly obvious now is that Sony drastically overestimated the price the market would bear: It’s wallet-busting PS3 has lagged in sales from the beginning while Nintendo’s $250 Wii has flown off store shelves consistently for almost a year and as soon as the price went down on the PlayStation, it saw an improvement in units moved.
Read More | PlayStation Blog
PS3 to Get PlayTV Tuner DVR Accessory
Posted by Paul Hamilton Categories: Accessories, PlayStation 3, PSP, Sony,
Sony announced in a Leipzig press conference a new digital tuner to be released in early 2008 for the PlayStation 3 that will allow it to display and record TV, effectively turning the console into a PVR. In addition to the PS3 recording and playback functionality, the tuner will also be able to transmit the signal locally or via WiFi to a PSP adding Slingbox-like capabilities to the accessory.
So far there has been no announcement of pricing of the unit, dubbed the PlayTV.
Read More | Computer and Video Games
Half Life 2: Episode Two Stage Demo Video
Posted by Steve Van Neil Categories: Action, First Person Shooters, PC, PlayStation 3, Puzzle, Trailers, Xbox 360,
At the Games Conference in Leipzig, developer Valve walked the audience through the latest chapter of Half Life 2, due to arrive on Steam and as part of The Orange Box this fall. This video shows off Episode Two’s soft lighting effect, “cinematic physics,” and new enemies. Interestingly, the updated physics and lighting systems will make an appearance in the console versions of Episode One as well, so if you are first experiencing Episode One on your PS3 or Xbox 360 through The Orange Box, you get to bask in the more up-to-date technology.
And since I don’t see people dancing in the streets on a daily basis, I figure there must be some confusion out there about what this mysterious Orange Box really is. It’s quite simple, really. The Orange Box is the gaming deal of the millennium. On October 10th of this year, gamers will be able to buy one box which contains Half Life 2, Half Life 2: Episode One, Half Life 2: Episode Two, the multiplayer-based Team Fortress 2, and the puzzle game Portal…all for the price of one game. It’s scheduled to hit the PS3. Xbox 360, and PC, not to mention the global economy, all on the same day,
Read More | Valve
New Devil May Cry 4 Trailer
Posted by Steve Van Neil Categories: Action, CAPCOM, Fighting, PC, PlayStation 3, Trailers, Xbox 360,
Capcom has just released a new trailer for its highly anticipated action game sequel. The clip runs about two minutes and contains no actual gameplay footage. Strangely, it does show cinematic footage of our hero Dante getting thrown, punched, and kicked in the face over and over again in what appears to be a training exercise. Devil May Cry 4 hits next year, with this and lots of other bits of weirdness, on PS3, Xbox 360, and PC.
Read More | Capcom
New Gran Turismo 5 Prologue Video
Posted by Steve Van Neil Categories: Driving, PlayStation 3, Simulation, Sony,
Fresh off the Games Conference show floor in Leipzig, Jeux-France provides us with some footage of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue in action on the PS3. Check out the game’s in-cockpit view, which is looking nice. Also feast your eyes on some spins, crashes, and drifting maneuvers that look, well, like every other racing game ever invented. Ahem…what I mean to say is, Kazunori Yamauchi’s multi-million selling racing franchise knows no equal, and this PS3 iteration looks to be following in the footsteps of its illustrious predecessors.
Read More | NeoGAF
Unreal Engine Under Fire Again
Posted by Steve Van Neil Categories: Corporate News, PlayStation 3, Politics, Xbox 360,
First, Silicon Knights sued Epic Games, alleging that Epic’s Unreal Engine 3 had done “serious damage” to SK’s long-delayed Too Human. Later, Epic fired back with a countersuit, in which Epic claimed that Silicon Knights wanted to use the engine without paying for it.
Now, longtime Epic partner Digital Extremes, in the middle of development of its similarly delayed Dark Sector project, has come forth with its own complaints. Game director Steve Sinclair explained, “A lot of promises were made about the Unreal III engine, particularly on PS3. But as we see now, the time frames haven’t been met and now a lot of games using it are being held up.”
Now that two developers are on the record about problems with Unreal Engine 3, we wouldn’t be surprised to see loads of developers come out of the woodwork with similar grievances, both real and imagined. The situation is likely to become ugly really soon.
Read More | http://computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=170446
Clive Barker’s Jericho Gets New Composer and Trailer
Posted by Paul Hamilton Categories: First Person Shooters, Games for Windows, Music, PlayStation 3, Trailers, Xbox 360,
Clive Barker and Codemasters upcoming first-person scare-shooter, Jericho, has a new trailer featuring blood-soaked gameplay and some tantalizing story hints. Codemasters also announced that God of War composer Cris Velasco is attached to the project and his work is featured in the new trailer.
Barker gushed about the addition of Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences award-winner Velasco, whom he hand-picked, saying, “[His] music for Clive Barker’s Jericho is exquisite. Filled with yearning, dark energy, threat and redemption, it is the unstoppable engine in the terrifying ghost train of Jericho.”
Jericho is scheduled for a late October release, “just in time for Halloween.”
Read More | Codemasters
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