videogame updates

[kirara]

ok, ABSOLUTELY NO THREAD MAKING OR POSTING IN THIS SECTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ONLY CLOUD AND I R TO MAKE POSTS IN THIS SECTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and........................


CNN had stated the government was trying ban videogames.....................................if u want to find out more about this outrage...............please go here: auritribe.net/cnn/

those bastards.......thats a load of crap................ooh! if i could i would kick all their asses!!!!!!!!!!!!! if u feel the same, then please sign ayumi's petition!!!!!!!! you're voice does matter and if u feel the same, it should be heard!!!!!! so please sign ayumi's petition!!!!!!!!!!!!! go here to sign: www.petitiononline.com/107203/petition.html

[kirara]

inuyasha game news!!!!!!!!!! bandai is releasing "Inu Yasha: Feudal Combat", in september 2005...................the current rating by the ESRB tho is "RP" we have yet to see this game......in september......YIPEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Lord Sesshomaru Sama]

News on the newest Fullmetal Alchemist game!!! Bandai will also be releasing a second Fullmetal Alchemist RPG on the GBA. Fullmetal Alchemist: Omoide no Sonata which means "Fullmetal Alchemist: Sonata of Memories" is release on July 22 theres no current rating right now on the game yet but there will be.

[Lord Sesshomaru Sama]

Another new game released of Fullmetal Alchemist. Square enix will be releasing Fullmetal Alchemist 2 Curse Of The Crimson Stone this game follows the Fullmetal Alchemist tv series. ESRB rated this game t for Teens only. The game was scaled as 7.3 which thats good.

[Lord Sesshomaru Sama]

For the people who like DragonBall Z Budukai games . News of the newest Budukai game DragonBall Z Budukai Tenkaichi release on October 18, 2005. This game was scaled 7.0 out of 10.0 which is good. The game was rated T for Teens only.

[kirara]

thanx for taking over for me lord sesshy!!!!^^

[Cloud Strife]

im belated once again...

Anyway, the Xbox 360 came out on Tuesday and most likely didnt sell as good as the first Xbox. The one good thing is the controller . Its cool but the Revolution controller is much cooler

[Cloud Strife]

Here is better news:

Sony Online Entertainment today unveiled Mobile.Station, a new web portal specifically designed for the PSP. By accessing www.Station.Sony.com, PSP users will be automatically redirected to the new mobile site which features a PSP system-friendly interface, videos, PSP system wallpapers, links to many other popular mobile websites and much more.

Mobile.Station has been designed specifically for use with the PSP system, from its console-friendly user interface to the multiple links to other useful web sites. SOE’s PSP system portal includes three sections, Media, Games and Links. Media has numerous downloadable trailers for both SOE games and Sony Pictures releases formatted for the PSP system screen, screenshots of SOE games, new wallpapers for the PSP system and add-ons for SOE games. The Games section contains information on recent and upcoming titles from Sony Online Entertainment, including both console and PC titles. The Links area will help PSP system users quickly and easily access many other web services formatted for mobile devices, ranging from news and sports to humor, shopping and dining.

Update 2.0 for the PSP system (available from the official PlayStation website, http://www.playstation.com) added an integrated web browser that works with the PSP system’s wireless internet capabilities. PSP system users need to update to 2.0 or higher in order to gain access to the new browser and to visit SOE’s new portal on their PSP system.

Visit the new Mobile.Station on a personal computer at mobile.station.sony.com
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In its first week of availability, 45 percent of people who bought Mario Kart DS already have test driven its Wi-Fi capabilities, setting a new industry standard.

On Nov. 14, Mario Kart DS became the first game to use Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Through the end of Sunday, more than 112,000 people in the United States had purchased the game. In the same time frame, nearly 52,000 unique users had logged onto Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection to play against people from all over the country.

Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection lets users easily connect to the service at no additional charge using both home wireless networks and select Wi-Fi hotspots, without any complicated setup procedures.

Upcoming titles that use Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection include Animal Crossing: Wild World on Dec. 5 and Metroid Prime Hunters on March 20.

For more information about Mario Kart DS and Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, visit www.nintendowifi.com
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Video game publisher RedOctane has announced a strategic partnership with MTV Games for the rock 'n roll video game, Guitar Hero and future generations of the Guitar Hero franchise.

Under this partnership, MTV Games will feature the Guitar Hero franchise in original programming, creative promotions and competitions across a range of its properties, including MTV, mtv.com, MTV Overdrive, MTV2, mtvU, mtvU Über, and MTV 44 ½. This title was released nationwide on November 8th for the PlayStation 2.

"The partnership between MTV Games and RedOctane was motivated by the strong integration of music and gameplay in Guitar Hero," said Kai Huang, CEO of RedOctane. "For the first time rock music is not in the background but instead it IS the game!"

"Guitar Hero is the next best thing to actually being a rock star," said Joseph Varet, Senior Director of MTV Games. "It's a unique game that truly delivers on our audiences' passion for music, perfectly representing the kind of experience that MTV Games was established to create."

In Guitar Hero, choose to be one of six rock characters and perform at concert venues that grow in size as your music career progresses. RedOctane also has an exclusive deal with musical giant Gibson Guitar where a selection of famous Gibson electric guitars is available for characters to play. The game's set list includes over 30 licensed rock songs including tracks made famous by Franz Ferdinand, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Queens of the Stone Age, Audioslave, The Donnas, Sum 41 as well as such legendary artists Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, Ozzy Osbourne, White Zombie, and The Ramones.

The sleek, guitar-shaped Guitar Hero SG Controller designed by RedOctane, is held just like a real guitar and features five responsive fret buttons, a durable strum bar, a working whammy bar, and stylized Start and Select buttons that resemble a guitar's actual volume knobs.

Guitar Hero is rated "T" for Teen and the game/peripheral bundle retails for $69.99. The bundle includes the Guitar Hero game, the Guitar Hero SG Controller, adjustable guitar strap and sticker sheet. Gamers nationwide can buy Guitar Hero at Best Buy, GameStop, and Electronics Boutique (EB), or they can order online through redoctane.com, shop.mtv.com, shop.vh1.com, and shop.vh1classic.com

[Cloud Strife]

Yes! Glorious news!

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While very few companies historically haven't made money on console hardware, Microsoft is losing money on each Xbox 360. According to a BusinessWeek study, Microsoft is losing around $125 for each hard drive Xbox 360 package, and $76 per core package.

iSuppli, the company commisioned to do the study took apart an Xbox 360, examined the contents, and analyzed the cost of each of the components. iSuppli concluded that each console itself cost $470, and this is without the universal media remote, headset, ethernet cable, power supply, and wireless controller. Factoring in everything that comes in the box and iSuppli believes that the total cost would be approximately $525 per console without labor.
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Nintendo of America today sent out an official “Save The Date” e-mail to certain editors telling them to save May 9, 2006 for Nintendo’s annual E3 Press Briefing. According to the invitation, “You’ll hear all the incredible details about Nintendo’s upcoming games and hardware, including our next home console, code-named Revolution.”

So will Revolution actually be playable at E3 2006? All signs point to yes. Nintendo has stated previously that when Revolution is finally unveiled in its entirety they want to have it playable with games. Looks like the Revolution will begin on May 9th, 2006.
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Not that any of these games will shock you - well for making this list - but the Family Media Guide has released their official list of 2005's Most Violent Games. The company's trained video game analysts document instances in games where there is sex, profanity, violence, and substance abuse using a "database-driven technology employing approximately 4000 rules and algorithms governing millions of potential rule combinations." Wouldn't that alone make people violent?

This list will be used by the National Institute on Media and the Family (NIMF) 10th Annual Video Game Report Card which will be released next week.

Without further ado, here's the list:

Resident Evil 4
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
God Of War
NARC
Killer 7
The Warriors
50 Cent: Bulletproof
Crime Life: Gang Wars
Condemned: Criminal Origins
True Crime: New York City

For more information, head to the Family Media Guide website.

[Cloud Strife]

I thought this was kinda funny...
"TALES OF AN MMO NOOB"

Throughout my gaming career I’ve played every genre: racing, sports, action, puzzle, adventure, RPG – you name it. But like many console-centric players, I always shied away from the Massively Multiplayer Online game. Everyone has that co-worker or friend who comes in on Monday and talks about how they spent the whole weekend on a dungeon leveling up their mage. With a shelf full of yet-to-be played games at home, that kind of time sink into one title has just never appealed to me. But now that winter is approaching and several friends are returning or beginning in the World of Warcraft, I decided to give an MMO a shot for the first time. This is my story…

Day 1
To be honest, the first night of WOW did not do much to get my hopes up. My first hour was spent swapping out the four installation discs during commercials of The Amazing Race. Then I had to enter tons of personal information like my phone number, email address, home address, and estimated name of my first born child. This is on top of a twenty digit authentication key. It also didn’t help that my roommate and girlfriend were chatting it up in the background the whole time. This stuff commands complete focus! Somewhere along the line I must have screwed up because they made me do it all over again.

So after this did I get to play anything? Of course not. Next came the 252MB of patch downloads. The lengthy downtime provided ample opportunity to research all of the character classes. After skimming through page after page on the “new players” section of worldofwarcraft.com, I finally settled on an Orc Shaman. This way I can beat down enemies and still cast some magic. Sure my character won’t be as strong as a warrior or have the casting power of a mage, but I’d rather have the variety.

After another hour of fussing around, I finally appeared in a small Orcish village wearing nothing but a cloth tunic and an emasculating man skirt. By this time the hour had passed midnight and I had put up with enough set up for one night. So after taking a quick lap around the village, I signed off and called it good.

Day 2
The next time I logged on it was finally time for adventure. I thought I’d be hitting up a dungeon and slaying some fire breathing dragon, but it turns out the Horde needs me to kill wild boars and ill tempered scorpions to test my mettle. My Orc collected tusks, bug goop, and claws to verify his kills and also make some extra copper from local merchants. Even though he’s a bloodthirsty beast, my character still made some time for a few nonviolent missions. One culinary guru needed 10 cactus apples, so I trekked through the desert to fetch them. And the local foreman had problems with lazy staff members so I had to run around and smack them with a blackjack to get them off their asses.

This was also the first time I had interacted with buddies online. Some were starting new characters and weren’t leveled up enough to survive the journey and others just didn’t want to run all the way to my podunk little town. But that didn’t stop us from forming a guild for future team ups. Chatting is a lot of fun, but the more imps lighting me on fire, the more terse my typed responses get. My favorites are “yeah,” “sweet,” “totally,” and “….” That night I easily bounced up to level 5 and didn’t log off until 1:30 in the morning. It was starting to become clear how the concept of time in the real world loses relevance – in addition to basic human needs like food and sleep.

Day 3
By the third day I was strong enough to take on a cave full of nasties and hit the road in search of bigger and better things. I unwittingly ignored the village chief’s request to deliver a letter to nearby Sen’jin Village in favor of pressing on to the bigger town of Razor Hill. Here I was able to see ultra high level characters for the first time and marvel at their fancy armor and dashing steeds. Seeing those badasses in action really does a lot to inspire you to level up and really invest the time necessary to get you there.

In addition to deciding on a character class, I then learned that you can pick a profession – two in fact. At the time, I wasn’t in the mood to research all nine professions, which range from blacksmithing to alchemy to mining. I really need to start working on some of them, but it almost reminds me of choosing a college major. I want to be sure it’s something I enjoy doing and that it’s useful in my career as an adventurer. Outside of checking the web for hints on the occasional tough puzzle or boss, I’ve never really had to do outside research on a game before. And I’m not so sure that it’s entirely a good thing to put up with.

Later I met up with Game Informer Online's Billy Berghammer and his huge Tauren Hunter buffalo man, and went on my first group quest. We headed out towards a Razormane encampment to kill our quota of foot soldiers. Everything was going just fine. Billy would blast off his rifle or I’d cast a lightning spell to get the midget Tusken Raiders to aggro us (Check it out! Genuine MMO lingo!). But after a while I got impatient and just ran right into the center of their village. This was my first experience with death.

After dying, you are transported to a foggy astral plane similar to the part in Lord of the Rings when Frodo puts on “the one ring.” You have to check out the minimap and follow the arrow to find your dead body. At this point you can resurrect and hopefully escape the danger that got you killed in the first place. After taking a more tactical approach Billy and I were able to complete the quest, and I logged out after four hours at level 7.

Day 4
I dedicated this gameplay session mostly to exploration. There’s something inherently satisfying about uncovering town locations on your world map. Plus you get a little dose of experience just for showing up at a new place. Here I used the auto run function more than ever before. This handy invention allows you to press a button and take off running until you hit it again. The reason you’ll never see this control option in any other type of game is that they actually have to incorporate some kind of pacing. Towns and event locations are miles apart and you can’t hop on any sort of horse or beast until you’ve leveled up quite a bit. Eventually, you can pay Windrider Masters to fly Windriders back and forth to any of the towns you’ve visited. But that still means you have to run your ass all the way over to it in the first place. I’d be very interested to know how much time I’ve wasted just watching my Orc run on some vacant path. After another four hours of questing, I logged off at a solid level 10.

Day 5
While trying to log in, I was confronted with yet another patch update. The description explains that they’re trying to fix some German client problem. C’mon, why do I have to wait so that some German dudes can have some minor tweaks?

With my level 10 benchmark achieved, I was given my first talent point. This could be spent on elemental spell power, casting speed, etc. – however you want to specialize your character. Just when I think I’ve got a basic handle on most of the gameplay mechanics, WOW throws in another new element.

My main quest this session involved trolling through the Thunder Ridge canyons and carefully executing several lightening powered Stegosaurus’. As I approach the heart of the canyons I met up with some other random player on the same quest and we took down Fizzle, the leader of some kind of rebellious group. Afterwards, my teammate took off and I rounded the corner to find that all of the lizards I killed had respawned and were out for revenge. On the verge of death, I stabbed a totem in the ground and ran back to where I killed their leader. Totems are basically sticks that either boost the stats of nearby teammates or somehow harm enemies. The particular one I used, however, served as a dummy that would take the brunt of the enemies’ attack while I escaped.

From here I triggered my Hearthstone and was transported instantly back to the Inn in Razor Hills. These things are so freaking handy, but can only be triggered once an hour. Not only can the Hearthstones get you out of a tight spot, but they’re also great for getting back to your inn of choice to log out. Do you have to be in an inn to quit out of the game? Nope. But it will put you in a rested state, which doubles your experience. The longer you’re away from WOW, the longer your rested state lasts. This is a great trick to pull people back in who’ve taken some serious time off from the game.

In anticipation of my first big group quest, Billy suggested I level up to at least 12. So we burned through several quests to get some loot and boost me to the required experience point.

Day 6
The final day brought me to Orgrimmar for my very first instance. These are basically just giant dungeons that you assault with a party of four other players. I had been to this sprawling city several times before, but it’s so huge that I had no idea there was an enormous underground cave right beneath it.

I met up with Billy’s level 15 Tauren Hunter, Lisa Mason’s level 23 Troll Rogue (a Game Informer editor), and some random level 16 Troll player. When I first checked the levels of the vipers in the dark, magma filled cave I thought I could take them. Then I learned what “Elite” enemies are – uber hard enemies that solid teamwork can help quell. At level 12 I had taken on level 15 and 16 enemies out in the wild and it was not pretty. But I soon realized that having some experienced players on your side can make all of the difference. We slowly but surely cut down masses of subterranean monsters in our quest to assassinate the intimidating boss, Taragaman the Hungerer, and return with his heart.

As we crossed one particular lava pit, however, we somehow triggered a mass attack from some powerful Searing Blade Orcs and were all customarily slain. While our troop of ghosts trotted back to our corpses, Billy called on Adam Biessener’s level 28 Undead Mage (another GI editor) to help out. With his mix of powerful blizzard spells and cocky attitude, we were able to make quick work of the 12 foot tall knight and all of his minions. Well, with one more round of death thrown in for good measure. It seems like Adam needs a little refresher course on aggro.

After a decent chunk of time with World of Warcraft I realized that I have barely scratched the surface of this game. I’ve only really seen the equivalent of one or two countries on a massive continent. And there’s a whole other continent to deal with after that! I’ve heard a lot of complaints about “short” 8 hour video games (which I don’t necessarily have a beef with). I challenge all of these haters to at least give WOW a shot because it seems like you can pretty much play forever and always see and accomplish new things. Even if you max out your character at level 60 over the span of a few months, you can start over with another race and class for a significantly different experience. WOW can dish out as much as you can take, and there’s even an expansion pack on the horizon that’ll push things even further.

Stay tuned over the next few weeks for the upcoming installment of "Tales of an MMO Noob," where I’ll uncover the next wave of challenges WOW has to offer.

[Cloud Strife]

Following Blizzard’s merging of its North Studio with it’s headquarters, a new studio is created by three former Blizzard employees. The new studio Hyboreal Games, located in San Carlos, California is made up of Developer and Artist Michio Okamura (Diablo, Diablo II), Game Designer Eric Sexton (Diablo, Diablo II), and Lead Programmer Steven Woo (Diablo II).

There first project is titled Starfall, and is currently in development. The studio intends to focus on PC development, stating their driving tenet is, “our games should be fun for everyone.”

For more information head to the developers new website.
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Sony has recently released a new firmware for it's PSP which adds RSS support, WMA playback, and more. The update will bring your system software up to version 2.6.

Included in the 2.6 Firmware update is as follows:

Network:

RSS Channel has been added as a feature under Network.
Volume Adjustment has been added as an option in the LocationFree Player control panel.
Simplified Chinese GB18030 and Traditional Chinese (Big5) have been added as options to Encoding under View in the Internet Browser menu bar.
Copyright-protected video data provided by a content provider or other services can now be downloaded directly to a Memory Stick Duo using the Internet Browser.

Music:

Music data in Windows Media Audio format can now be played under Music. (WMA9 Professional, WMA9 Lossless and copyright-protected WMA files are not supported.) Note: You must activate the Enable WMA Playback setting to play music data in WMA format which can be done under system settings. A connection to the Internet is required to activate this setting.
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Following his work on Prince of Persia Warrior Within, award-winning composer Inon Zur recently recorded the orchestral score for Prince of Persia The Two Thrones. Zur conducted the Hollywood Studio Symphony Orchestra at the Eastwood Scoring Stage, Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California. The team members for Zur’s recording session included: Simon Pressey – Ubisoft Artistic Audio Director, Dori Amarilio - mixing engineer and co-producer, Paul Taylor – orchestration and music preparation, Debbi Datz-Pyle - orchestra contractor, and Greg Deenan – Warner Bros. studio manager.

Simon Pressey, Artistic Audio Director said, “Inon has really out done himself; His music brings to life the dramatic emotion of the Prince of Persia’s epic story, seamlessly blending the powerful majestic beauty of the symphony with evocative, exotic eastern ethnic instrumentation that’s totally authentic for the world of the Prince. The Hollywood Studio Orchestra, unlike any other in the world, has an innate sense when interpreting music for picture; The result is spectacular and moving in the same instance. The professionalism of the crew at the Eastwood scoring stage is unparalled, and the sound indescribably beautiful.”

Additionally, Zur collaborated with Stuart Chatwood, who composed the music for Prince of Persia The Sands of Time. Commenting on the collaborative component of the game’s score, Pressey added, “The combination of Stuart’s music that is laced with unforgettable melody and in-the-pocket ethnic groove, and Inon’s turn-on-a dime powerfully descriptive orchestration is making this the soundtrack that I’ve always wanted for the series. The collaboration between them has been wonderful with selfless exchange of ideas which makes for the sum being greater than the parts. I hope everyone enjoys the music as much as I am!”

For more information visit www.princeofpersiagame.com.
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Sony Computer Entertainment America announced today MLB '06: The Show which will be available exclusively for the PS2 and PSP, and will be released Spring 2006.

New features for both platforms include the all-new Rivalry Mode which allows players to set up and maintain multi-game rivalries, while tracking stats for the life of the rivalry. In addition a King of the Diamond Mode brings players a classic playground duel where a pitcher and batter from opposing teams square off in a head-to-head mini game that showcases the intensity of the duel. Also Rex Hudler joins Matt Vasgersian and Dave Campbell in a new Three-Man Booth for commentary.

"By presenting gamers with all the finer details and nuances from the diamond, such as personalized player rituals and batting stances, broken bats, wild pitches and check swings, MLB'06: The Show delivers a true-to-life experience," said Scott Rohde, director, sports product development, Sony Computer Entertainment America. "With enhanced features and new gameplay modes, MLB'06: The Show provides baseball fans with an opportunity to truly feel what it's like to play in the Bigs."

The PlayStation 2 version will also have a new Game Time Decisions feature which provides scenarios in which users will need to take full control of their team and decide which players to place in the line up at critical times. Additionally, the new 40-Man Roster feature offers the ability to take full control of a team's roster and manage all 40 players for each and every game. MLB'06: The Show now offers head-to-head gameplay for both King of the Diamond and Rivalry Mode to go along with 32-team tournaments, live sports tickers, downloadable rosters, instant messaging and more. Additionally, the implementation of a new online news service provides users with MLB updates on news and events from around the league or their favorite team. Returning gameplay elements for PlayStation 2 include, Release Point Pitching, the Pitching Confidence Meter, Guess Pitch, EyeToy functionality, and Career Mode with the all-new Career Spotlight feature that underscores accomplishments and showcases them in the limelight.

MLB'06: The Show for the PSP will have an all-new Career Mode for gamers to create a player and take them out to play anytime, anywhere, and a Season Mode that now offers multiple seasons. With a new Historical Greats option, you'll be able to take on baseball legends. And finally, the PSP version will utilize a new online news service that gamers can get the latest MLB news feeds online or save them to the Memory Stick Duo.
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ctivision announced today that the company has signed an agreement with Spider-Man Merchandising L.P., a limited partnership between Marvel Entertainment, Inc. and Sony Pictures Consumer Products Inc., to extend its exclusive worldwide publishing rights to Spider-Man motion pictures through 2017. The license grants Activision the right to publish entertainment software products based on subsequent Spider-Man movie sequels or new television series. Under its current agreement with Spider-Man Merchandising, Activision will develop and publish interactive entertainment games based on Columbia Pictures/Marvel Entertainment, Inc.'s upcoming feature film Spider-Man 3, which is set for release in May 2007.

"This agreement allows Activision to continue bringing our own brand of interactive magic and vision to this unique, evergreen property and to build on the success we have already achieved with the Spider-Man movies," said Mike Griffith, President and CEO, Activision Publishing, Inc. "Games based on this phenomenally successful property bring the film's popular characters to life and allow consumers to extend their experience with original missions and additional Marvel characters beyond those of the Spider-Man movies."

Tim Rothwell, Worldwide President, Consumer Media Group, Marvel Entertainment, added, "Activision has done a tremendous job in translating Spider-Man into compelling, top-selling interactive games. Given their performance and long-term commitment to the franchise, as well as their creative excellence Activision is the ideal partner for movie-based Spider-Man games, a business that complements our recent extension of their interactive license for 'classic' Spider-Man."

According to Bruno Maglione, President, Marvel International Inc., "Activision has consistently demonstrated their ability to execute Spider-Man theatrical games on a global basis. We are pleased that both Marvel and Activision will be extending our relationship for many years to come on this important franchise."