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Media Watchdog: Gamers Were Mean To Us!

Kev Lochun — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 19:37:09 +0000

Remember the furore over Madworld in August? Mediawatch UK were at the centre of it, after their director complained that it would wreck Wii’s family image. Now they’re complaining that gamers aren’t happy about their moral compass.

In their autumn newsletter, the watchdog pointed fingers over all the “hostile emails” they received:

“Within hours of these remarks being published a rain of hostile emails from gamers poured into our office telling us to ‘shut the f*** up’, suggesting that we have ‘got our knickers in a twist’, demanding, as though we were on trial for an heinous crime, to know
what right we had to impose our ‘narrow minded bigotry’ on them and stopping them playing an ‘adult’ game of their choice.

“Others, of a more sober character, asked reasonably why we should be so concerned about games when there was so much violence in films and on television! We were also accused us of being ‘cowards’ for not responding properly to belligerent strictures and one ‘emailer’ observed glibly that “violent acts are not a symptom of video gamesand films, but rather the human condition”. Another said: ‘If you don’t like violent content, don’t view or use it’.”

He then complained about feature artcles in the gaming press were responsible for “grossly exagerrating the significance of our comments”. But surely that’s what Mediawatch want isn’t it? Surely they are doing this to get their voice heard and get games banned?

They are right in that abusive emails aren’t doing the gaming community any favours, but it’s telling that the only respondents that appear to come off well in their eyes are the ones who said ‘yes, games are bad — but TV and film are worse’.

Source: Mediawatch (via GP)

Maguire: Says Rivals Are Past Their Best

Kev Lochun — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 18:47:24 +0000

Everyone knows Sony is pretty duff at doing anything with any sense of expediency. Now Sony UK managing director Ray Maguire has admitted as much — but has reiterated that PS3 is only just starting to get going.

It all sounds a bit like the tortoise and the hare. Is he going to mention the ten-year cycle?

Speaking to GI.biz, Maguire said:

“Yes, we might take a bit longer sometimes to bring a product to market, but when we do, we bring you the most powerful gaming platform ever to hit – and it will be something that will around for a very long time.

“It’s nowhere near even halfway through its lifecycle, and I could argue that some other competing formats are on their way down right now.”

He could argue, but actually he doesn’t provide anything to back up this prediction. Instead he uses Home to make a point about quality control, quipping that Sony hasn’t worked out how to “have a child in less than nine months”.

“Getting it right is more important than getting it out quick, and I think it’s very difficult to make that decision, to hold something up, but again I think it was the right decision to make sure that we were defining along the line where it is that we’re trying to go to.”

That’s quite an interesting assertion following the release of LittleBigPlanet and all the hurdles it’s had — not least the obviously incomplete moderation process.

Last week, Maguire claimed that third-party devs would start developing multiplaform titles for the PS3 and then ‘downgrade’ them to others. What are the bets for next week’s Maguire Missive folks?

Source: GI.biz

West Gets Valkyria Chronicles DLC — Lets You Be The Bad Guys

Kev Lochun — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 17:49:06 +0000

Sega’s unhyped tactical rpg only went on sale yesterday in the US — it’s been out in Europe for a week — but we’ve already been promised that DLC from Japan will make it over to both territories.

The first is an extra hard skirmish mode, while the second, a new mission, turns the storyline on it’s head: The original campaign has you defending your homeland (Gallia) from invasion. Now you get to lead that invasion yourself.

Based on this article from Famitsu the new mission is rather meatier than its name implies, boasting three original battles, new story sequences and new voice acting. If special conditions are met (we don’t know what they are yet) you’ll be rewarded with Selvaria’s special gun, Ruhm (‘glory’ in german) which you can also use in the Gallian battles.

No word on price yet, but Valkyria Chronicles’ US producer, Christopher Kaminski revealed on the official Playstation blog we’ll be getting both early next year.

Sources: Official Playstation blog, Famitsu (thanks Siliconera)

EA Revives Red Alert 3 for PS3 — With Extra Bits

Kev Lochun — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 18:53:21 +0000

It was out on hold after EA deemed PS3 “too exotic and tough” to develop for, but it seems like they’re ready for another crack at it. Producer David Silverman has announced that people are already working the PS3 version. And it isn’t just a port.

Silverman says it was delayed until the Xbox 360 version shipped because EA LA was concerned that they couldn’t keep the quality up, but he reckons it will be worth the wait for PS3 owners.

“We’re looking at doing some really cool things with the PS3 version. Since it is shipping later we’re putting in a lot of cool content and really taking advantage of both the 1080p nature and the high-defness of Blu-Ray and also the fact that it can hold just so much more space.”

Hopefully this will be a bit more than shinier cutscenes - but Silverman wouldn’t be drawn on anything else, adding that he had “already said too much”. What a tease.

Source: Videogamer

US Air Force offers free Midway PC Games

Kev Lochun — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 21:08:20 +0000

Time to stir up some more patriotism! The Suffering: Ties That Bind, Rise & Fall: Civilization at War and Area 51 — a rather inspired choice — all up for grabs as the US Air Force dangles the carrot.

There’s no pretence here: a prominent link to US Air Force marketing site tells you this is an attempt to reach potential recruits. Mercifully you don’t have to sign-up for anything, but the games are full of ads, which is setting off some downaloaders’ anti-virus software. Conspiracy theorists best avoid, or don their tin foil hats.

I can’t see the logic in sponsoring these games — all over two years old — in the week we get sequels to Resistance and Gears, but free is free i guess. Download them here.

Source: GP

Ray Maguire’s Vision: In Touch or Insane?

Kev Lochun — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 21:07:09 +0000

The boss at Sony Computer Entertainment UK believes that third party developers will start developing multiplatform titles with the PS3 in mind and downgrading them to other consoles. But is he right?

Speaking over on videogamer.com, Maguire says:

“I think we now have an install base which is big enough for any third party to want to develop for. Now the decision making part of development is which do you lead your development on?

“Is it easier to lead with the most powerful, both in terms of AI and graphics, i.e. PS3 and then just remove part of the functionality for the processors that aren’t quite as strong? I would imagine that’s very much part of the thought process now from a studio development point of view.”

I’m not entirely convinced that this is the developers point of view yet. There’s nothing wrong with the PS3 install base, but it after the latest round of 360 price cuts and — at least in the UK — an incessant campaign of TV ads it is getting trumped at retail.

In the last week Red Faction: Guerrilla developer Volition revealed that they had so many problems developing for the console they had to bring in someone from Sony to help keep it on schedule. Also this week, Red Alert 3 has landed on PC, and will be out soon on Xbox 360. it was originally announced for PS3 as well, but was cut after they discovered it was “exotic and tough” to develop for.

This represents the bulk of developers at the moment it seems. For every dev like Konami or Media Molecule that is really committed to push what PS3 can achieve, there are a score more who look at the larger install base of Xbox 360, factor in the reduced development time, and come realise they’ll be quids in. More so if they follow the template Eternal Sonata has laid down. When it moved to PS3, it boasted new characters and extended chunks of plot, bringing with it the opportunity of secondary sales to the same gamers.

Much as I love the PS3 — and this isn’t intended to be fanboy baiting — I can’t help but think that to achieve this Sony either need to cut the price to encourage sales or (more plausible) provide more help to developers. Kojima only achieved what he did with Metal gear Solid 4 after getting early access to PS3 before the console launched after all. What do you think readers?

Source: Videogamer.com

New nVidia 270 Driver Boosts 3D Performance 6x And More!

UK Retailer Slashes Game Prices – by two pence

Kev Lochun — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 19:35:27 +0000

Publishers are pleading UK retailers not to start a price war. It’s a serious request, but some retailers can’t help taking the piss. And I’m not talking about obscenely low prices.

Several UK supermarket chains have waded into the games retail business, bringing with it a string of aggressive pricing campaigns. Non-specialist entertainment and homewares retailer Woolworths recently got involved, cutting Wii hardware bundles by £20.

A Woolworths spokesman told MCV earlier today:

“We are always looking for ways to cut prices on our games.”

They weren’t joking. Woolworth’s website now boasts ‘Cheap Charts’ where you can nab a bargain all for two pence cheaper than specialist retailer GAME.

Titles include Haze, Condemned 2 and Mass Effect. It seems a flagrant attempt to hook consumers, most likely the ones buying Christmas gifts, who wouldn’t usually go to a specialist retailer. Calling it the Cheap Chart might have done it, but showcasing a two-pence saving is embarrassing. How can anyone think they are getting a sweet deal? The same section also boasts token one and two pound discounts.

This tomfoolery aside, the price wars are a serious issue for publishers, and there are larger price cuts being made. Activision’s UK MD Andy Brown told MCV:

“We recognise the short-term pressure on retail, especially if we are on the edge of a recession. But I believe retailers should drive growth by developing improved in-store solutions, rather than forcing the prices down.

“The overall strategy needs to be sustainable.”

At least you can’t fault the two-pence initiative on that front.

Sources: MCV, Woolworths

Bungie: Maddie Reference “An Unfortunate Coincidence”

Kev Lochun — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 19:32:35 +0000

Bungie have confirmed that the line “Maddie, where are you?” – which we spotted in the new Halo 3 campaign trailer released yesterday – is not related to missing British toddler Madeleine McCann.

Over on Bungie.net, writer Luke Smith said:

“As always, all of the characters in our games are fictional. Any similarities between real life and the characters in our games are purely coincidental.

“That said, this is both an unfortunate and untended [sic] coincidence.”

Which is what was expected, and mercifully the mainstream rags haven’t picked up on it. But do you believe it’s genuine or a sly bit of PR?

Bungie Releases Teaser for New Halo 3 Campaign

Kev Lochun — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 18:30:14 +0000

Following a 12-hour countdown, Bungie has posted a 60 second teaser trailer for their new Halo game – “a new Halo 3 campaign experience”.

The CG trailer is massively cryptic. Seen through the eyes of the Superintendent, an apparently abandoned cityscape gets bombed to hell and back and left in a smoky ruin. Though close up, these ‘bombs’ are pods.

But that’s pretty much it, aside from the the ‘Prepare to Drop’ tagline and the Halo 3 logo. We only know it’s a campaign by helpful description from Xbox Live Marketplace. What we can tell from the trailer however:

00:09 – Well, that’s a pod alright
00:13 – Notice the evacuate sign on the left… and in small letters under it: “City of New Mombasa”
00:36 – For one frame “Maddie, Where Are You” appears. Speculation about that is rife across the web that this ia a reference to missing schoolgirl Madeleine McCann. We can’t imagine it being true, but can’t recall any Maddie from Halo either…
00:36 again – The Flood are almost certainly involved. ”Danger: Flood Zone” appears in the next frame. It’s a fair guess this isn’t a public maintenence issue.

Naturally, more predictions are already being made, but it’s all conjecture. Cast your bets.

Mirrors Edge Out in November – Demo Promised Before

Kev Lochun — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 23:16:38 +0000

But only on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. DICE announced today that Mirror’s Edge will ship for consoles on November 11, with the PC version to appear later this winter.

The game’s prologue – a tutorial and early chunk of the single-player story – will be released as a demo through Xbox Live Marketplace and PlayStation Store at some point before the game’s release. And if you’re keen enough to pre-order Mirror’s Edge, from the 26th September you’ll be given a code to unlock a time trial mode in the demo too.

Source: DICE

Spore is “Biggest Attack on Christian Values to Date”

Kev Lochun — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 14:30:10 +0000

It’s nothing to do with penis monsters. No, today’s scapegoat is evolution. One militant creationist – who describes herself only as a “good Christian woman” – has set up a blog to campaign against Spore. Did we also mention that Will Wright is evil and that she’s killing EA on the stock market? I’m not joking.

The site, Anti Spore, only appeared in the world on 8 September, after its creator’s son asked for a copy of the game. She regales:

It looked innocent enough at first and has “E for Everyone” ESRB rating. But don’t be mislead, apparently ‘everyone’ means everyone they want to teach evolution to.

This entire game is propaganda aimed directly at our children to teach them evolution instead of creationism.

I created this blog to find support for and follow my progress in letting Electronic Arts know that their biggest attack on Christian values to date will not be tolerated.

We can not allow the gaming industry to invade our homes and poison the minds of our children.

After all, their billions in revenue and all the advertising in the world are no match for the power of God.

Ironically, Anti Spore is very much moving into realms of propaganda itself. Remember that Will Wright chap? GCW does. She used to like him. Now he’s evil.

He created Sim City, a fantastic game that celebrated the earth that God created for us and allowed you to use all your God given abilities to make an ideal society. But if you ever felt like you had too much power, God would come in with a tornado or an earthquake and put you back in place.

You would think that as a member of the Episcopal Church, a smart man like Will Wright would not be capable of creating Spore. However, we must be reminded that the Episcopal Church is the only church in America that ordains homosexuals on a regular basis.

It goes on. GCW feels sick that none of the 8,500 EA employees had “enough Jesus” to make a stand against Spore, despite the rather obvious fact that most of them will have had nothing to do with it. But perhaps the biggest point of misguidedness came in a post on 9 September, when she noted that EA’s stock dropped.

“Today EA’s stock is down almost a dollar. I hope that the information about Spore I am making available helped in some small way.”

Pity she hasn’t been looking beyond her remit to notice that the knock-on from EA’s SecuROM DRM in Spore and Red Alert 3.

EA “More Lenient” With Red Alert 3 DRM – FIVE Activations Instead of Three

Kev Lochun — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 17:02:13 +0000

It’s a corporate shafting dressed up like an act of goodwill. Following the Spore DRM backlash, EA had the smarts to head off any possible speculation about Red Alert 3. It will feature the same SecuROM protection, but give owners two extra activations before they have to ring up EA customers services and try their best not to sound like a pirate.

Chris Corry, Red Alert 3 premier executive producer, posted on the EA forums earlier today:

In the case of Red Alert 3 (and all PC titles coming out of EA), we will use SecuROM – the same copy protection that the EALA RTS group has used on our last three titles. This time around, however, the copy protection will be configured to be more lenient than we’ve supported in the past.

In a separate post, he added:

You can uninstall/reinstall on the same machine multiple times (no OS change, no hardware change) without risking anything. And in fact simply reinstalling your operating system would not generally require you to use an additional license either.

But if you reinstalled the OS and made a variety of other hardware changes all at the same time, that would appear to the SecuROM system like a new machine and you would need to use a new license at that point.

So good news if you like keeping your hard drive free of games you don’t want to play. But lets say that – as Corry puts it – life happens, and you max out your five installs. On several occasions he promises that customer service will grant additional authorizations on a case-by-case basis with good reason. The problem is customer services aren’t paid to think, they’re paid to follow a script.

The larger question looms – should consumers have to risk anything after they’ve paid full price for a game? The concept of ownership here is being translated into one of extended rental – while pirates keep the DRM-free version as long as they choose.

For EA’s part, the announcement is rather smart. Everyone who cares about being treated like a pirate or concerned about the invasive nature of SecuROM will get their ire out of the way early – probably leaving sites like Amazon free of the damning reviews plaguing Spore.

Source: EA forums

Gordon Freeman Spotted at CERN

Kev Lochun — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 17:22:30 +0000

WWGFD? Ask him. Judging by this pic from CERN he’s already watching over us. Which is just as well, since the research centre is due to switch on its Large Hadron Collider (LHC) tomorrow – possibly recreating Half-Life’s Black Mesa balls-up within the month.

This actually couldn’t come at a better time. Some people are so fearful of CERN creating a black hole underneath the France/Switzerland border that a legal challenge was mounted in the European Court of Human Rights earlier today. The court has already denied an injunction to prevent the LHC being turned on at all. Now critics have alleged that the experiment itself violates the human right to life.

At least with this picture, both they and the judges will know that the ultimate safeguards are in place. Doubly so if anyone has had the common sense to pass on Reddit’s crowbar.

Source: Popgive

Mom Claims GTA Helped 11 Year Old Rescue Family From Car Wreck

Kev Lochun — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 23:28:03 +0000

A Canadian woman has praised Grand Theft Auto for giving her daughter the presence of mind to rescue the entire family after their car crashed.

Eleven year old Audrey Plique led her dazed parents and two siblings from the wreckage after it rolled over.

“She just knew, from playing Grand Theft Auto,” said mother Karen Norris. “She saw on there that when a car rolls over, it can blow up. She knew that could happen to us.”

So GTA might just be recognized for doing some good in the world. It sounds like a great feel-good story–- but it’s a double-edged sword.

We suspect that the kid learned to not leave people in peril from TV, or even from her own common sense. Also, if you take this story at face value, GTA is responsible for changing the behaviour of an impressionable person.

This is the exact assumption made by people who take any “GTA made me do it” crime story as gospel, and there are far more of those stories out there. Hold this up as a banner reinforcing the good of games all you want, but ultimately it’s reinforcing the negative.

Source: The Times of Ottawa

Tecmo’s Team Ninja Working On Three Titles

Kev Lochun — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 20:58:59 +0000

Speaking at Tecmo’s Autumn Conference, new president Yasuharu Kakihara has revealed that Team Ninja are not only still together following Itagaki’s departure, but that they’re very busy indeed.

Three new titles are being worked on, but there’s no word on what they are. It’s a bit too soon for Ninja Gaiden 3, but it’s about time for Dead or Alive 5, isn’t it? He did however bring up Team Tachyon’s Rygar: The Battle of Argus– more details about it will be revealed at TGS 2008.

President Kakihara also engaged in a formal bit of corporate back-slapping, affirming that Tecmo is a world class developer and would be aiming to expand in the future. Though I’m not sure dreams of expansion are going to sit with Square Enix.

Source: Inside Games (translated by Google)

Square Enix Worried About Japanese Gaming Biz, Eyes Up Tecmo

Kev Lochun — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 16:51:54 +0000

Square Enix has confirmed it has approached Tecmo’s board to make a friendly takeover – and it’s doing it for the good of Japan, by the sound of the official spiel.

The JPY 22.3 billion (USD 205 million) offer comes off the back of Itagaki’s departure and president Yoshimi Yashuda’s resignation, which Square Enix believes have left the company rather vulnerable. Apart from all the usual guff about how brilliant and beneficial the move would be, their statement included the following:

“The game industry in Japan is standing at a critical juncture whether it continues to be a centre of the video game industry in the world, or not.”

“Tecmo is a group of excellent creators with proven track-record in the global market, which is a precious human resource of Japan. We, however, cannot be optimistic about the future of this significant resource, given the current circumstances.”

Tecmo have until September 4th to decide. If they accept, they’ll be getting the same deal as Taito, becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of Square Enix but keeping their own organization and brand. If not, Square Enix has stated it will not pursue a hostile takeover – so it won’t turn into a protracted mess like EA’s attempts to acquire Take 2.

Of course, this isn’t going to be as altruistic as it appears. If Final Fantasy XIII breaking exclusivity tells you anything, it’s that Sqaure Enix wants sales in the Western markets. Sales that Tecmo could easily supply with future installments of Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden.

Will Wright Loves Phallic Spore Creatures

Kev Lochun — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 22:44:38 +0000

You didn’t think I was actually going to show a penis creature?

You might have thought Will Wright might have pulled a facepalm when people started creating genitalia based creatures. Not so – he thinks they’re ace.

“When you give players creative control, you have to expect they’re going to do the unexpected,”

says Wright, though I would argue that creating a walking phallus is far from surprising.

“It’s amazingly explicit, especially when those creations are animated. We just have to make sure those people aren’t messing up the experience for others.”

Wright also revealed that possible console versions wouldn’t be direct ports, but would be tied to each platform’s strengths – arguing that the difference between a keyboard, controller, and Wii remote was case enough. He also mused on the possibility of a sequel, even though the full game hasn’t been released yet.

“I don’t think we could design a sequel to Spore until the fans showed us what they like,” he says. “I think there’s going to be a fair amount of learning over the next few months. What’s important for me is what sort of stories the players are using the game to tell. Games that have the longest legs are the ones with the most narrative density.”

Best hope the players can get past this particular brand of storytelling.

Grinding Is So Last-Gen; Tales of Vesperia DLC Lets You Buy Level Ups

Kev Lochun — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 00:35:51 +0000

No matter how much you love RPGs, grinding often turns into a majorly time consuming pain in the ass. Good old Namco Bandai knows how you feel – so it’s going to let you buy character levels for Tales of Vesperia as DLC.

While that seems rather handy if you’re regularly getting pasted, you can’t help but feel this rather defeats the point. Really, what you are doing is paying Namco Bandai once to buy the game, then paying them a bit more so you don’t have to play it so much.

How far can you go down this path? Chances are in a month you will be able to pay to simply watch the ending as DLC and decide right off the bat if you want to invest your time finding out how it happened.

Still, at least it’s more useful than Oblivion’s horse armour. Here’s the DLC list:

- LV Up +10 (1) 300 Microsoft Points
- LV Up +5 (1) 200 Microsoft Points
- 300,000 Gald (1) 300 Microsoft Points
- Skill sets 80 Microsoft Points
- HP Recovery Cuisine Recipe Set 100 Microsoft Points

Source: Kotaku

Taito Denounces 9/11 Space Invaders Art, Cites Misuse and Threatens Legal Action

Kev Lochun — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 00:10:40 +0000

The conversation I envisaged at Taito about this tribute, celebrating 30 years of Space Invaders, never happened it seems – parent company Square Enix has come out of the flutter, claiming the exhibit at Leipzig was planned without Taito’s knowledge or consent.

But they didn’t pass comment on the art’s message. According to their press release:

“Taito is seriously considering all available options–including legal actions against the infringer and, if necessary, the Games Convention exhibitor involved–in order to end this unauthorized and impermissible misuse of the Space Invaders content and to protect Taito’s intellectual properties.”

It’s since come to light that the Computer Game Museum in Berlin, which is running the exhibit, didn’t see fit to get sign off for the project. From their own website:

“Note: The artwork “invaders!” is not approved by Square Enix/ Taito.”

No doubt that will come back to bite them if Taito decide to unleash the lawyers.

GC 08: Space Invaders Takes On 9/11 – Aliens Blow Up World Trade Center

Kev Lochun — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 23:17:53 +0000

“What do you think would be best to celebrate 30 years of Space Invaders? Oh I know, let’s go to Leipzig and parody the destruction of the World Trade Center!”

How I would love to have sat in on that meeting when Taito decided that this was a good idea, let alone a fitting tribute to a classic title. But they did, and according to Kotaku you can see a non-interactive display of typical Taito invaders zapping the Twin Towers at Leipzig right now, apparently replete with leapers in all their 8-bit glory.

Yet it’s not meant to be a game – it’s an art exhibit.

It’s the work of French-American artist Douglas Edric Stanley, who sees Space Invaders as a “social tale that can be related to historical tales without losing its poetic power.”

Actually, I wish I was making this up. Taito have yet to comment. More on Stanley here.