Breaking Windows

News from the VGVN:

Thanks in part to the swift action of New Mexico members, the New Mexico House Business and Industry Committee rejected the bill on a 9-0 vote. Many New Mexico legislators had never heard a constituent defend video games. By taking this step, members across the country can actively participate in defending future legislation.

I didn't think that bill held any water.

Don't forget to download "Dream On" now through 11:59pm (Pacific Time) Monday, February 18th. After that it is not free, though I cannot find how much it will cost.

The most notable item here however is the fact that Sony can in fact put DLC on their PSN Store on a day that is not Thursday. This is a concept that Sony should embrace more regularly. You know, like on Tuesdays when Rock Band has new songs.

Title Update is out. Some nice fixes, really. Why the hell is Quickplay Co-op just now hitting the PS3 version? Xbox 360 owners got a Day One Title Update with the feature.

Yet again, PS3 owners get things late. You know, like ports of 360 games one to six months after the fact, with the added bonus of bugs and frame rate issues.

I am looking at Xbox Live Marketplace content for Rock Band, and Punk Pack 01 has an EC icon on it.

Yea, punk is so for babies!

Wait a minute, it must have been a glitch in The Matrix, now when I leave and come back to the detail page for Punk Pack 01 it says T for Teen. Really strange.

OK, this is priceless, and possibly the funniest thing I have heard in a while. Matt, working at a retail chain, should get even more enjoyment out of this. Who is the bigger idiot? The guy who buys it or the guy who sells it?

Hey all,

I just wanted to officially talk about the sudden influx of broken street date bundles that are being sold. First of all they aren't "real" versions of the game, they are demos for the store that are getting accidentally sold. Retailers don't have bundles sitting in the back room just waiting for November 20th. These demo builds are kind of hobbled - for one the drums don't have kick pedals. Some of the demos don't have mics. And the build isn't a full-real retail version of the game. It is hobbled a bit and, obviously, the bass drum autoplays since there is no pedal that comes with the demo.

I guess what I am saying is beware of any auctions that might show up the next few days, and please alert me to them if you see them as it is quite obviously a huge mistake. I know how badly y'all want to get your hands on the game but it is only 19 more days until it comes out.

Thanks,
Sean

I can see the jokes/headlines now... "The most expensive demo ever!"

Do you think this will become a collectors item?

You know I haven't had a good rant in a while. I think it is time.

I have a beef. I don't have Microsoft Word 2007. I have a PC with Office XP on it And you know what? My PC is dead right now (and I am willing to bet that Office XP will not open a .docx file). But I use a Mac all day. I have Office 2004. It does a really good job of opening .doc files, it allways has.

Why on Earth would Microsoft put some of the GDC fact sheets out in Microsoft Word 2007 .docx format? That is just plain stupid. Frankly, I am a little disappointed in Microsoft over this.

Maybe someone will read this who can post actual word documents, that can be read by any version of Word before 2007 (but I doubt it). I am sure (read: probably not) when Office 2008 ships for the Mac, it will read .docx files, but that is little help to me right now.

Couple this with the fact that the two games I am most looking forward to, and looking for information on (Forza 2 and Mass Effect) both have their fact sheets in .docx format.

How about putting the releases up in PDF format? Wouldn't that be a grand idea? I would have thought PDF was the standard by now.

Thank you Microsoft for making my job of covering your games that much easier.

I always knew there was a connection between them, but now my Wii can be a giant monster thanks to Pipeworks software. Mecha Gigan FTW!

DJ 1: "Can't you get water poisoning, and like... die."

Check it out, only 30 seconds into the clip. Then of course this is this wonderful sound bite:

DJ 1: "Maybe we should have researched this before."

DJ 2: If it gets dangerous for somebody, their body will automatically throw it up. And if you throw up the water, you are automatically out of the contest.

But this takes the cake at 1:00 into the recording:

Caller: "I want to say that, um, that those people that are drinking all that water can get sick and possibly die of water intoxication."
DJ 1: "Yeah, we're aware of that."
DJ 2: "They signed releases, so we're not responsible. It's OK."

YouTube after the break. I have to wonder when/if they pull this though.

Once the jury hears this recording, I don't see how they won't convict.

1UP has a pretty funny look at the top 10 WTF moments of 2006. The Wii takes the number one spot.

Closely linked with the superb Intothegame.com that I plug at least once a week, Gamerspacelive is just what the title says. Look at this way. If you're going to be stalked by a pedophile, at least he'll be a gamer, possibly one that enjoyed Bully a little too much.

I played around with it tonight and set up a quick profile. It's a basic interface, not that much different from MySpace. Some nice features, though nothing revolutionary. It's small and cozy for now which is definitely a plus compared to the other sites like it.

So says the SVP of Sony's marketing team. There's a great quote about the selection of UMD movies in there:

We didn’t really talk to the studios well enough to tell them who the PSP consumer was and what type of content they might be interested in. On Golden Pond doesn’t make a lot of sense on PSP.

Neither did the price point, but that didn't stop you from trying to sell them at $25 a piece, now did it?

Accuses retailer of "sour grapes"

In a statement issued to GamesIndustry.biz, Sony has denied any responsibility for the closure of Lik-Sang - accusing the online retailer of "sour grapes".

Didn't see this one coming (joke). Lik-Sang's rage filled press release and prior statements on last week's court rulings were sure to catch the ire of Sony. But it can be hard to separate business from emotions when something like this happens.

For some reason, the new Rainbow Six: Vegas demo is not available in North America. This is yet another reason to setup a Japanese or European Xbox Live Account (it doesn't cost you a penny).

And I highly recommend you grab the demo. The smoke and the blur do not look terribly good, but I am to assume that this demo was created many months ago.

The game plays good, and the controls feel great. Is it worth setting up a Japanese account for? Yep.

UPDATE: Circumvent region lockout from the Xboxic Wiki.

Strolling by Major Nelson's site today I noticed this. EA is selling more cheats on Xbox Live Marketplace, this time for The Godfather.

Only one item, the favors mission pack, is really legit. The MobFace Apparel Bundle is free, but the rest will cost you an arm and a leg.

There is no level 4 weapon in the game, so that is also a legit upgrade, too - it is just overkill. What is the point? I have the level 3 weapons and I do just fine.

Hired Assassin (250 Points) gives you a crew member that seems to be better than what is available in the game right now (as he will cost you $10,000, and the crew member I can hire right now only costs me $5,000). But again, what is the need? The level 4 crew member I hire does just fine.

But this one is baffling: In-Game Money - $50K/$100K/$250K. That will cost you 40, 75, and 150 Points for in-game money. I am at the point in the game where I rake in at least 80K a week from all the business I own in New York. Rob every bank once a week, and you have no problem getting $250K "the old fashion way."

So now we have a new low on Marketplace. EA is selling fake money for real money.

Read it strait from the horses (severed) mouth.

Lik-Sang.com, the popular gaming retailer from Hong Kong, has today announced that it is forced to close down due to multiple legal actions brought against it by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Limited and Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Sony claimed that Lik-Sang infringed its trade marks, copyright and registered design rights by selling Sony PSP consoles from Asia to European customers, and have recently obtained a judgment in the High Court of London (England) rendering Lik-Sang's sales of PSP consoles unlawful.

So much for that partnership I setup for Blogcritics!

I found this out when I got up today because Matt emailed me, and I got an email of my order being canceled. I was in line (in the front of the line too) to purchase a Japanese Wii. So much for that.

But this is major news, I did not think the lawsuits by Sony would topple Lik-Sang. I wonder how Play-Asia feels right now about selling Sony products?

No matter how this plays out in the press, it is going to be a major black eye for Sony, as many, many people used Lik-Sang to buy games. What a sad day.

And it doesn't matter if Sony has every right to defend itself. Right now, that is besides the point. As if Sony needed to give people another reason to hate them, well, here is another reason.

Man, if you don't like alphabet soup, this blog post is not for you!

Today saw some surprising news in the video game biz. Konami now owns Into The Groove. Since Konami owns the ITG IP, will they kill it?

In even bigger news, the WWE has sued THQ. SEC filings show that THQ has sold WWE games in Japan/Asia. This is apparently a bad thing.

THQ will fight grapple the suit. The WWE franchise is a major part of the THQ bottom line, this could turn out very much badly.

Umm... bull shit! IGN interviewed Mizuguchi on Lumines Live! and his answers are nothing short of degrading to gamers. Here is a very insightful answer:

IGN: What do you think people's reactions are going to be when they see the core game -- and all these additional packs? Are you worried that people will feel they're getting charged too much? Or that they're going to complain that all these packs should be put into one game?

Tetsuya Mizuguchi: (Long pause.)

It seems that the stress of bringing Xbox Live back online after over a day of being down has been causing major problems.

I cannot download anything, even though Major Nelson is reporting that Live is back online.

Some people are online and playing Lumines Live! and that is great. But there are a fair share who are not.

They should have just said that Live would be out for 36 hours, or something like that. Then I would not mind. It is 11:35 AM EST when I am writing this, and I have been trying since 8:30 AM.

I can connect and see my friends list (not many people online, usually only one) and even listen to a voice mail and friend request a friend just sent me last night.

I just cannot access anything on Xbox Live Marketplace. No big deal, I have work to go to. I just hope all is resolved when I return this evening.

I understand you are all working very hard (and want to thank the Xbox Live team). It compounds issues exponentially because Lumines Live! is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, release on XBLA so far.

You may or may not know that Blogcritics is an official news source for both Google News and Yahoo News. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that 'Nintendo Wii' is a hot search term right now. My article only hit #3 using Yahoo, but is #1 using Google (at the moment).

So what is the lesson in all of this? Chose your headlines wisely.

Yes, the rumors are true: Oblivion is heading to PlayStation 3, and an upcoming cover story in Official PlayStation Magazine has the exclusive first look.

As much as I hate the magazine, especially the design, I cannot wait for my next Official PlayStation Magazine to arrive.

Of course they had to add new content, and that is a new faction called Knights of the Nine.

I will have no problem at all playing through this again on the PS3, and PSP. I look forward to doing a head-to-head between the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions.

Today I received NBA 2K7, and will be getting NBA Live 07 soon, so will be able to write an Xbox 360 head-to-head on the two big names in basketball.

After the break you will find the information on the ESPN integration from the EA press release. It is absolutely unreal what they have done (finally) with the ESPN license they (sadly) bought from 2K Sports.

I only played one game in NBA 2K7 this morning, and it is immediately obvious that the game play has been tweaked. Nothing spectacular mind you, but things feel better. There was only one charging call (a problem with the series) and the new Isomotion moves are great.

I just can't wait to see all this ESPN content in NBA Live 07.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Sony Corp. said on Wednesday it would delay the European launch of its PlayStation 3 (PS3) video game console by about four months to March and cut its target for shipments this year by half.

This gives the Xbox 360 a two Christmas lead in PAL regions, and a four month lead for the Wii across the pond too.

At the expense of my Brit friends, this gives me a little more hope that the PS3 launch in the US will not be so bad. Yea right! It is still going to be hard to find a unit at launch.

Why do I want to get a PS3 you ask? Well, I don't want it, but I need it for review materials at Blogcritics. If it was not for my job there, I seriously doubt I would spend the $600+ for it. I would rather put that money to better use, like purchasing every single launch title for the Wii.

Now we have many questions, of course. Will software developers regard November as a soft launch, and use the extra four months to polish their games? That is the first thing that comes to mind.

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Special thanks to Andy for pointing this news out.

UPDATE: Joystiq is now reporting, via the International Harold Tribune, that the US will only get 400,000 units for launch, while Japan sees only 100,000. Those numbers just don't seem right. You would think that the US would get the shaft here, not Japan.

Sony can't seem to get any good news lately about the PlayStation 3. Joystiq is now reporting that there will be no HDMI cable in that $600 box. Read the FAQ for yourself (why the hell do they have to put this shit together in Flash?).

You might have read our series on the Back Compat debate, and I feel this is another step in the right direction. Backwards compatibility of Xbox games is very important. Major Nelson has the list of new and updated games.

Of note are Sid Meier's Pirates. This is a game that I sold to pay for my Xbox 360. I will go and buy it back now that it will work on my 360. This is a title that I have completed 100% of the optional quests on, but I will play again now that it works on my 360.

Burnout 3: Takedown and Namco Museum 50th Anniversary Arcade Collection are also nice additions. Lego Star Wars II, and a couple other new or soon-to-be-released titles are also on this list. This is a very smart move by Microsoft.

Still no Psychonauts, but the list is growing at a good pace. With 267 original Xbox titles, Microsoft is well on their way to their goal. The August '06 update added 39 more titles, and updated compatibility for nine others.

As result of trying to enact a law banning the sale of violent videogames (which was found unconstitutional), the State of Illinois must pay the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), game industry trade group, $510,528.64 in attorney fees.

Wow, that is a great use of tax payers money. Good job Illinois!

After last years fiasco with Madden on the PSP (the game would lock up everytime after a franchise game in week 2 and they recalled it a week before Christmas), you would think they would learn.

Nope.

This years debut of NCAA on the PSP has an unbelieveable, impossible to miss glitch. I don't have the game yet to test this, but it's been confirmed by everyone, including IGN who re-did their review. Why is it impossible to miss?

How can testers not see that when a runner is touched on a running play, that's where the ball is spotted? Clarification: Not tackled, touched. In other words, if you break a tackle say 2 yards in the backfield, and run for 20 afterwards, the ball is considered down in the backfield. EA's response?

"During running plays the ball will be spotted at point of first contact where the tackle is initiated. The ball will not be spotted where the player is ultimately taken down."

That's from their FAQ on the game. Seriously. They act like it's a proper gameplay feature, which is utterly baffling. After looking through various message boards, it seems that the glitch is around 50% of the time, which is enough to ruin the running game entirely.

Once I get my hands on a copy, I'll do a full write up on this for Blogcritics. Until then, I think fans have a reason to complain.

Update: Someone on the EA forums has a video up of the glitch. Might want to look around the same forum too. Lots of heated bitching!

Between their latest hearing on video game violence where they blasted the ESRB and this Battlefield 2 machinima video, our government is really starting to show their ignorance toward video games. ABC News has their broadcast online now.

And does it ever look incredible. Check out the screens and the trailer too. Now, give me Mad Dog Mcree!

Oh, and for $60 they can keep their HD Dragon's Lair.

I've received two press releases in the past two days, each asserting that one of the portable consoles is currently kicking the ass of the other...

So, who's lying? In a sense, neither of them are. Sony points out that PSP just squeaked by Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance in hardware sales this past May: 160k units, 146k units, and 152k units respectively. Of course, the question is: once the Game Boy Advance stops selling, to where will those dollars migrate?

Funny thing is, I got the same two press releases. I just think that Nintendo hired a better writer.

(That was a joke, people.)

From the attack-of-the-bullet-points department:

• After going on sale May 15, New Super Mario Bros. sold at a nonstop rate of roughly one every four seconds nationwide during the reporting period.
• New Super Mario Bros. emerged as the No. 1 game of the month, even though it was in stores for just 13 days of the four-week reporting period.
• Just two days after Nintendo DS Lite went on sale in the United States on June 11, the new lighter, brighter portable system sold more than 136,500 units, with many retail outlets reporting sellouts.
• By comparison, DS Lite is outpacing 2003's launch sales of Nintendo's juggernaut Game Boy Advance SP by more than 12 percent.
• Major retailers report that sales of Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day tripled over the previous week.
• Retailers also report that New Super Mario Bros. sales doubled over the previous week.

A recap is up for those of you who missed it or can't get video.

As promised, it's up on Blogcritics.

In case you missed it, we've posted a rundown of Sony's E3 press conference over at Blogcritics. You can expect the same for Nintendo and Microsoft.

If this thread on CAG has anything to say about it, then yes. They're the only site that has this posted as of right now, but it seems to be limited to Circuit City stores. It has been pulled from their site too and the only version still up as of now is the CE version on the PC. Why would only CC pull copies, and without reason? Let the completely un-fact based speculation commence.

Nintendo has announced the name of their next generation console, code named Revolution. Rumored for months to be named “Go,” today Nintendo announced “Wii.” That is Wii, pronounced “we.” Wii symbolizes Nintendo’s goal of creating games for everyone, and bringing people together. The “ii” not only stands for two people, but for the console's two unique controllers.

While I, and many others, have grown to like the name “Revolution,” Nintendo will not be keeping the code name as they did with the Dual Screen. “Wii” makes sense on so many levels. Without even reading the introductory text, I immediately was able to connect with the “ii” in the name. This is the universal appeal Nintendo is going for, and is exactly what they need as we step even closer to the next console war between Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony.

The world will find out a lot more about the Nintendo Wii at next month’s E3 expo in Los Angeles. Wii can only wait and see.

A few expected this to have a chance because of its wording, but Gamepolitics is reporting it failed to make it.

The best part here it to listen to Rep. Hogue's statements, which can be found on this site. You'll need RealPlayer (look for HB0257SO1), but it's obvious from his speaking that he does not understand what he's trying to prevent, and sounds dangerously close to Jack Thompson's usual pointless ramblings.

Those crazy Koreans are at it again. A war (really) has broken out in Lineage between Chinese "mining" companies and Korean players of the game. It's so bad, they're patrolling their borders in the game! Gamepolitics covered it if you want the whole story, but this is bizzare.

Following on from our news last Friday about the ABC News debacle surrounding the supposed dangers of DS Pictochat to children, its come to our attention that ABC News were informed beforehand of the facts, but chose to ignore them and publish a misleading report clearly aimed at frightening parents and causing a moral panic.

If you missed this ABC News (Channel 6) story spreading FUD you should read it. It makes the Spong article even better. This is just bad journalism folks. I take it fact-checking is not what it used to be.

According to the complaining parties, Activision's advertising was misleading because "the graphics used in the [advertisement] were superior to that of the game itself."

Now there is a revelation! You mean video game commercials show footage that looks better than actual game play? No shit sherlock!

Get ready for jaggies in your commercials folks. Especially if groups like the Advertising Standards Authority starts to scare publishers the world over.

This is the game of the year, no questions asked. When Jack Thompson ran his mouth about he would donate $10,000 to charity if a company would make a game to his specifications, someone did. He said it was satire.

Now someone really did make that game, and it's hilarious. Created by "Thompsonsoft," this is the game for anyone who has followed the gaming violence situation with intense frustration. The opening cinema alone is worth the free download, PC only.

Popular maker of online game World of Warcraft cites a gamer for harassment for using the term 'GLBT'; other gay guilds request clarification.

In other words, stay in the closet. And keep your Real Life (RL) out of the game world.

Here’s a piece pointing out good news that might potentially be bad news: There are now 330 films available or coming soon for the Sony PSP, versus 100 games. Also, as of Aug. 31, Sony had sold 9 million PSP games and 8 million UMD movies, according to Home Media Retailing.com. So it seems Sony’s portable game playing device is being consumed primarily as a movie player.

Wow. A three to one ratio. That is bad. Oh and "Great Movie Device Also Plays Games" is just spot on.

Los Angeles city attorney Rocky Delgadillo announced yesterday that his office has filed suit against Take-Two Interactive, claiming the publisher "engaged in unfair business practices by hiding pornographic material in a game which received an M rating."

Alright. I am pissed at this point. When is this shit going to stop? And where is the "pornographic material." I mean seriously folks. The "girlfriend" was wearing a t-shirt and a thong. Carl was wearing a hoody and jeans. That is not pornography. Dead or Alive 4 is more pornographic the Hot Coffee. Nevermind the amount of work you have to do to input the codes to get it working on the console version of the game.

This Hot Coffee crap is going to ruin Rockstar before long. Their stock price is in the gutter, a member of their board of directors just resigned - I can't imagine why.

The suit alleges that Take-Two was fully aware of the Hot Coffee minigame when it made the game and that it manipulated the Entertainment Software Ratings Board rating process into giving the game an undeserved M for Mature.

...it says that the company marketed the game "in a fashion that encourages the creation and use of mods" to boost its counterculture image and popularity.

It bears mentioning that Delgadillo is currently running for another office, hoping to be elected the Attorney General of California this November.

I say you send rdelgadillo@atty.lacity.org a - nice - long email.

Fresh content! Keep these Xbox Live Arcade games coming.

Marble Blast Ultra is ready for download for all you Xbox Live Arcade fanatics out there. It costs 800 Microsoft Points (roughly $10) and features 60 single player levels, 12 Achievements, 20 Easter Eggs, and eight-player multiplayer mayhem in 10 different levels on Xbox Live.

We've reported before about how Call of Duty 2 had impressive sales numbers, but who knew it sold so well that it broke into the top 20 grossing titles of 2005? Practically everyone who managed to get a hold of Microsoft's next-gen console must have had this title on their wish list since it blew away a lot of strong competition from popular titles on both the Xbox and the far more prevalent PS2.

Now there is a statistic to be proud of. Not only is CoD2 the top selling Xbox 360 game, but it made it onto a rather exclusive list after only being out for less then two months in 2005. It outsold games like Resident Evil 4 on the GameCube! (That came out in January 2005.) The real clincher is that it made more money then every single PC game released in 2005.

Heck, I just ordered it myself. The demo of the game was frustrating as hell. Here I find out it is late in the game. Why they put a demo out like that I have no idea. But this weekend I played through the training mission and part of the first mission and I am sold. The smoke and fire effects are like nothing you have ever seen before in a video game.

Matt was right about the T (Teen) rating by the ESRB. This is a brutal game with a lot of blood and bodies flying everywhere. I am sure the T rating made for higher sales, however.

IGN has obtained an official Top 10 List of Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) games. Here it goes:

1. Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved
2. Gauntlet
3. Smash TV
4. Bejeweled II
5. Zuma
6. Bankshot Billiards
7. Outpost Kaloki
8. Mutant Storm Reloaded
9. Joust
10. Wik: Fable of Souls

Of those, I own Geometry Wars, Smash TV, Bejeweled II, Zuma, Bankshot Billiards and Mutant Storm Reloaded. Odd that Bankshot Billiards is sitting so high at #6 as this is a $15 title. All other XBLA games, so far, have been of the $5 variety.

I can tell you why Bankshot Billiards is so high on this list: it is a great game.

This proves a point that people are willing to pay $15 for a XBLA game too. I expect Street Fighter II Hyer Fighting to be $15 too. I hope I am wrong, because $5 is a great price point for the XBLA.

In short, I play XBLA games as much as I play the $60 Xbox 360 games. But are they worth $15? Maybe. I think they are a great deal at $5 and hope they stay at that price point.

Someone on Digital Press reported they had the same problem about a week ago, but we all thought it had something to do with the Fight Night demo. Not so as Gamespot is reporting.

As soon as the Xbox 360 game console was released in the United States last month, the media filled with reports of widespread problems with the system overheating and crashing — but those reports may have been overblown.

I posted this here for two reasons. I think Dan did a good job on it, and Matt was interviewed for it. And as much as he though he was, he does not sound like an idiot in his quotes that Dan used. So good choice of the quotes Dan!

I have to say, I am still getting the error messages telling me to put the game disc in a Xbox 360. I have to give it 20 minutes with XBL Arcade, that or twiddle my thumbs, then I can play my next game. That is just lame. The next time it happens I am going to call Microsoft.

Wow! I'm so relieved we can all play Barbie Horse Adventure. I was worried. Seriously though, it's a nice list, but it sounds like an awful lot of work for an almost useless feature.