The world has often looked to Europe for the latest trends to emulate. Apparently, the latest trend in Europe is cheaper, less-functional versions of gaming systems we probably already bought like three years ago. Following yesterday's news of a new Europe-only version of Sony'sPSP handheld that ditches wi-fi functionality and costs less, Nintendo has hopped aboard the train with a new version of the Wii that ditches GameCube support and also costs less.
Set to release this Christmas and effectively replace the Wii model currently on store shelves, this new SKU will remove any backward compatibility for GameCube titles, as well as the ports used for plugging in GameCube controllers. This of course means that if you're particularly fond of using the GameCube controller for any of your Wii games, you might finally have to bite the bullet and buy a Classic Controller.
Oddly enough, the new console also is designed to exclusively sit horizontally. The original model could be turned vertically or horizontally, so presumably this means that Nintendo may have just removed the plastic holder that let you set it vertically from the bundle package.
Nintendo hasn't announced a price for this smaller, sleeker, slightly neutered Wii bundle yet, but did assure that it will be out in time for this Holiday season. Again, this is currently only pegged for release in Europe at this time, but as with all things European, it seems likely that at some point, Nintendo of America will bring its own version of this bundle to the U.S. Though like all things we steal from Europe, it'll probably just be a less interesting, artistically bankrupt facsimile designed to cynically capitalize on the European version's rabid fans.
It'll be just like The Beatles and The Monkees all over again. Literally just like it.
It's been rumored all morning, and Sony just confirmed it: The price of the PlayStation 3 has just been reduced globally. Effective immediately, the PS3 hardware will retail starting at $249 in North America, ¥24,980 in Japan, and €249 in Europe.
This actually brings the price of Sony's current-generation home console in line with the base model of its upcoming handheld device, the PlayStation Vita, which will retail for $249 in its wi-fi only model. The 3G supported model will release at $299.
Again, this price drop takes place as of right now, so if you happen to go to your local retailer and find the console still at an old price, feel free to raise a stink.
If you're one of those staunchly stingy European types who out and out refuses to buy any new technology until it's gone through a minimum of four hardware revisions, has stripped out arguably its most useful feature, and dropped to a price that effectively says "seriously, just buy one of these goddamned things," then has Sony ever got a piece of news for you.
Like this, but cheaper, and less useful.
Inexplicably dropped as an addendum to Sony's PlayStation Vita portion of its Gamescom press conference, new Sony Computer Entertainment Europe head Jim Ryan chestily announced that a new piece of PSP hardware will be hitting stores in the near future. This new model will retail for 99 Euros (according to a statement from Sony, this model is only for Europe, with no American release planned), and will actually drop all wi-fi functionality from the hardware. Presumably, ad-hoc play will continue to exist, but any online connectivity will be dropped. Again, Sony has yet to specify the exact schematics of the device at this juncture.
So, there you go. Sit here and marvel at the fact that Sony pretty much just announced the PSP Go in reverse. Excitedly, even. Now excuse me, I have to return to deciphering why the hell there is a dance crew busting a move to wobble bassy electro tracks to ostensibly promote the PlayStation Move. It's just been that kind of press conference, people.
The long, painful battle between Microsoft and Portuguese board game maker Rui AlÃpio Monteiro over the European naming rights to Double Fine's downloadable mech combat game Trenched has finally come to an end.
Microsoft's head trademark legal adviser, shortly before his abdication of power.
Microsoft signaled the end of hostilities today in Cologne, Germany at the opening of Gamescom, announcing that its legal forces would recede back to American borders. Instead, Microsoft will release Trenched in Europe this September under a new name, Iron Brigade, effectively surrendering the trademark to the name Trenched (and all derivations thereof) to General Monteiro.
Europe has suffered mightily during this time of conflict, with thousands of players unable to purchase Double Fine's alternate history World War I mech combat tower defense shooter due to the conflict with Monteiro's trademark, which stems from his board game, titled Trench. His trademark effectively blocked any advance by Microsoft into major European territories. Ultimately, a direct legal assault must have appeared too costly to Microsoft, and instead, the publisher chose American exile for the Trenched name.
In the end, this war likely could have been avoided altogether had someone at Microsoft's legal team simply done their due diligence and investigated the trademark ahead of time. Instead, countless Euros were lost due to an error in judgment so massive, it altered the very fabric of a downloadable game's branding.
From the ashes of this conflict, we can only hope that Microsoft works diligently to rebuild that branding, so that European players may recognize that this new Iron Brigade is, in fact, that Trenched game they wanted to play like three months ago, but couldn't because of that whole trademark thing. A Herculean task, no doubt, but one that must be done with vigor and determination. Otherwise, substantial profits will assuredly be lost to the flames of war.
Snipes' likeness is in the game, but not his voice.
Never one to be deterred by a small thing like a 36-month prison sentence for tax evasion failure to file his taxes, progressively burning out action star Wesley Snipes is still finding ways to tarnish is good name from behind bars.
His most recent assault on his own career comes in the form of his new iOS game, Julius Styles: The International. In what might be the game development equivalent of Lil' Wayne recording verses from a prison phone, Snipes and his production company oversaw the creative production of the title with developer Lapland Studio.
A sort of isometric spy thriller featuring the titular character of Snipes' own invention, the game involves more puzzle-solving and storytelling than standard spy action. This, along with just about every other creative decision regarding the game and the property, was something Snipes took credit for in this recent interview with IGN.
I thought it would be fun to play a super-smart, cool, adventure-seeker, who uses his mind, a bit more than his muscle, to win. A Ronin, someone who lives by his own code of ethics, admired by men, loved by the ladies. I figured since I couldn't be a guy like that in real life, I darn sure could be one in a movie. Except, unlike previous characters, who often have a military special-ops/spy background, I needed a twist for this guy. Then after reading a book titled "Confession of an Economic Hit Man" it all clicked. Julius Styles would be an urban-born math wiz, a dot-com mega-millionaire, who loves the art of the deal. 'A facilitator': a man who gets his thrill from finding creative solutions to very, very difficult problems. A guy who uses his unique cache of skills and connections to get shit done... with 'style', hence the nom de guerre (which may or may not be his real name).
As radically brilliant as an urban Will Hunting meets Wesley Snipes meets Thomas Crown meets Wesley Snipes again may sound, the resulting game doesn't quite show off the level of pizzazz that Snipes seems to have wanted. Instead, the game is a desperately dull mishmash of clumsy, barely responsive touch controls, and puzzles that offer as much intellectual satisfaction as, well, pretty much any Wesley Snipes movie made after 2003.
I spent a little over an hour playing through the thing yesterday, perhaps out of some bizarre feeling that I owed at least that much to the man who was once so thoroughly entertaining in landmark films like Blade, Demolition Man, and Money Train. By the end of it, I had physically deleted the game off my phone, as I simply couldn't bear to look at the icon ever again, taunting me with the $2.99 I had idiotically paid for it. We don't tend to review iOS games around here unless there's something we feel really strongly about recommending, so consider this your due warning: No amount of involvement from Wesley Snipes makes this game worth your time or money.
Fortunately--or unfortunately, depending on how much faith you put in the man's modern endeavors--Snipes has other game ideas on tap, which he was extremely eager to share in great detail with IGN.
A fantastic animated project titled Omandi Mech 5, which is a futuristic sci-fi action adventure centered around a family of warrior scientist whose son is resurrected in the body of a giant hero robot, a MECH. Along with the allied freedom fighting forces of N.A.R.A., they battle pre-human evolution beings, who set out to reclaim the surface planet and reduce the earthlings to beasts of burden and FOOD. I screened about 18 minutes of footage, in motion graphic format, for exec at EA, who loved it. No firm deal as of yet, but prospects look great.
There are also plans to build a feature and video game around the 'graphic novel' concept Antoine Fuqua and I created titled "After Dark". The graphic novel, produced in partnership with Radical Comics, is currently on the market. We were fortunate to have some real heavy weights join the team on this one, guys like Peter Milligan, Jeff Nentrup and Francesco 'Matt' Mattina. The book is released through Radical Publishing.
It's very much worth reading the entirety of that IGN interview, if only to get the full measure of how remarkably deluded Snipes is regarding his own sense of personal persecution and the status of his career. He does, at the very least, have some positive things to say about the game industry as a creative force, and the potential merging of the different entertainment mediums into a kind of intertwining melange. So hey, at least we've got Wesley Snipes on our side, right?
Have you ever had a leftover or gifted game sitting around your hard drive, and wished to yourself, "Man, I sure do wish I could trade this to a friend for a sweet in-game item in Team Fortress 2!"? Then friends, does Valve ever have a sweet new offer for you!
Today marks the launch of the Steam Trading beta, a new system within the Steam client that allows users to trade everything from random in-game items to full games with each other at the drop of the hat. Unless of course the thing you're trading is a hat. Then you probably shouldn't drop that.
This seems fair.
Users can opt in by going to their settings tab and selecting the "opt into Steam Trading beta" option. Once you're in, you can set up a trade with anyone on your friends list that has also opted in, or anyone residing within a group chat you happen to be in. Currently, the only title that supports in-game item trading is Team Fortress 2, but Portal 2 is expected to receive support next, and Valve aims to add support to several third-party titles as well. As for full games, any game that has been gifted to you, or came as part of a package release as an extra copy can be traded away, meaning it's now easier to regift than ever before.
The idea of trading digital copies of games does present an interesting theory. While the current scope of Steam Trading is limited to games that haven't been opened on a users' PC, what's to stop this concept from morphing into a method of online used game sales? Yes, issues like install keys, DRM, and whatever else probably make that a difficult prospect beyond the scope of games purchased within the Steam client, but even still, it's an interesting concept to think about.
Regardless, that's probably a ways off, if it ever happens at all. Right now, you'll just have to stick to trading hats for unwanted gifted copies of AquaNox 2: Revelation. Seriously, if anyone wants this copy of AquaNox 2, I will just give it to you. I sincerely have no idea how my dad even found that thing on Steam, let alone thought I would want it.
THQ has been on something of a "strategic re-alignment" tear lately, first closing down Homefront developer Kaos Studios alongside the publisher's UK studio, Digital Warrington, and then just a short bit ago announcing that the Red Faction series would no longer be pursued, due to less-than-stellar sales.
Alive no more, it seems.
That house-cleaning continued late yesterday, with THQ's announcement that 200 employees would be laid off following the closure of two Australian studios, as well as the elimination of development employees from the company's Phoenix studio. While all of these employees are apparently eligible to apply for other global positions within THQ, no citation was made as to whether they would be given any kind of specifically preferential treatment, or even assisted were they to pursue another job with another team.
All of this comes as a result of the usual culprit, known as "strategic re-alignment" of the publisher's portfolio. In corporate speak, that typically translates to, "This stuff isn't selling, so we're doing something else." In this case, the company plans to move away from "licensed kids titles and movie-based entertainment properties." It also plans to no longer pursue the MX vs. ATV franchise, after the previous entry, MX vs. ATV Alive, failed to produce significant sales.
The move is interesting, given that at the company's most recent press event, titles like Puss In Boots and Barbie Jet, Set and Style were among the titles pushed as part of the publisher's holiday catalog. Perhaps from here on out, these will be the aberration, while titles like Saints Row: The Third, WWE '12 and, god help us, Deepak Chopra's Leela will become the norm.
That said, while it's always lousy to hear about developers losing their jobs, this rings especially lousy given the current state of the game development scene in Australia. Often echoed throughout articles on the situation at Team Bondi were comments from Australian developers who bemoaned the lack of employment options within the country. Now the country has two less places to go--possibly three less, if the Team Bondi sale rumors turn out to be true.
How would you like to not only procure yourself a 3DS a few days early, but also get all those free games that are supposed to be a bonus to those impatient sillyheads who willfully became "Nintendo Ambassadors" when they paid too much for the system at launch six months ago? Then get to Walmart, stat.
A Joystiq user has provided visual evidence that Walmart has already gone ahead and made that price drop official, a solid three days ahead of Nintendo's planned August 12 drop. This means that anyone buys today and sets up their eShop connection can get all those free bonus games all immediate like.
Far be it from anyone at Whiskey Media to incite anarchy by actively asserting that people should subvert the rules of order set forth by our retail overlords but...wait, what am I talking about? That's pretty much all we do. If you were planning on getting a cheap 3DS, get your ass to Walmart stat!
Few topics rankle the feathers of the video game enthusiast these days quite like that of pre-order bonus content. Whether it's lamenting the excising of content from a game for the sake of releasing it later as a bonus (or paid DLC), offering unlocks for content that's already on the disc, or tossing so many confusing, bizarre options out there that invariably, everyone is going to end up disappointed, there isn't an awful lot to like about pre-ordering games these days.
One of the more extreme examples of pre-ordering insanity comes from WB Games and developer Rocksteady's upcoming Batman sequel, Arkham City. We've heard over the last few weeks about a variety of different pre-order options coming our way, including everything from various Batman character skins, to Joker-oriented challenge maps and even the boy wonder himself. Robin, as a playable character. But between all these different pieces of content, as well as the various retailer exclusivity deals attached to them, figuring out where, how, and why to pre-order has apparently been something of a headache for would-be players.
We know this, because a moderator on the official Arkham City forums actually went to the trouble of creating a pre-ordering guide for anyone trying to figure out where to get the content they want. Yes, that's right: a guide to pre-ordering a game. I'm not completely certain if this is the last sign of the apocalypse before the Horsemen come down and start inflicting plague, pestilence and pre-order bonuses on the screaming, writhing masses, but it certainly looks like it.
The list is especially confusing because different regions have different retailers, and thus the exclusivity deals change depending on which portion of the planet you dwell within. Take a look at this list, and do your best not to go boss-eyed.
The pre-order Robin model.
ROBIN
GERMANY -AMAZON
FRANCE- MICROMANIA
HOLLAND - GAMEMANIA
BELGUIM - GAMEMANIA AND SMARTOYS
ITALY - GAMESTOP
NORDICS- GAMESTOP
NORTH AMERICA - BESTBUY
CANADA - BEST BUY
AUSTRALIA - JB HIFI
MEXICO - GAMERUSH
BATMAN 1970S SKIN
UK- SHOPTONET
FRANCE- AMAZON
ITALY- FNAC
AUSTRALIA - EB GAMES
JOKER DLC MAP (CARNIVAL)
GERMANY - MEDIA MARKT
FRANCE - GAME
HOLLAND AND BELGIUM - FREE RECORD SHOP
ITALY - MEDIA MARKET
US - GAMESTOP
AUSTRALIA - EB GAMES
CANADA- GAMESTOP
ANIMATED SERIES SKIN
GERMANY - SATURN
FRANCE- CASINO
HOLLAND- BART SMIT
BELGIUM - FNAC
ITALY- FELTRINELLI
AUSTRALIA - JB HIFI
BATMAN BEYOND SKIN
UK - GAMESTOP
GERMANY - MULLER GE PLAYART AUSTRIA
FRANCE- AUCHAN
HOLLAND- MICROMEDIA
BELIGUM - HORELEC
ITALY- OPENGAMES
AUSTRALIA - GAME
MEXICO - GAMERS RETAIL
BATMAN YEAR ONE SKIN
GERMANY - EXPERT
FRANCE - FNAC
BELGIUM - DREAMLAND COLRUYT
ITALY- BLOCKBUSTER
Pre-order costumes
BATMAN EARTH ONE SKIN
GERMANY- GAMESTOP
FRANCE- JEUX VIDEO & CO
HOLLAND- GAMEWORLD
BELGIUM- BEMS
ITALY - CIDIVERTE
AUSTRALIA - JB HIFI
US
AMAZON - $10 Amazon credit and Arkham City Comic (print version of the 5 digital comics)
WALMART- $ 10 egift card
Congratulations. If you managed to get through all of that and make it to the other side unscathed, you get your baby brother back and David Bowie will sing you a nice ballad.
The worst part of all of this? It isn't even the complete list. Several territories and retailers aren't even finalized yet, meaning that more layers of obfuscation will be added to the process before we even get within punching distance of playing this game. We've reached out to WB Games for any info as to whether these pieces of content will become paid DLC in the foreseeable future or not, but as of yet have not received a response. I'll update this story if they get back to us.
In a piece of news that really hammers home exactly how absurd international espionage can be, the New York Times reported over the weekend that the North Korean government has found a new way to bolster its never-ending war against the fascist capitalist system (not to mention bolster Kim Jong-il's personal cognac and Blu-ray collections in the process): gold farming.
"Yo, you got Minesweeper on that thing?"
Yes, the current illegal activity of choice for every lazy dirtbag tired of emailing people at random about cheap dick pills and Nigerian princes has now become an officially sanctioned practice by the Great Leader and whoever happened to be in the room at the time to nod approvingly at his divine suggestion.
According to the NYT piece, the South Korean government has specifically accused the North of setting up hacked computers to mine gold in both Lineage and Dungeon Fighter, two MMOs that are still quite popular in South Korea. Evidently, Seoul police recently arrested a group of five (four South Koreans, and a Chinese resident) who are tied to a group of hackers based in Northern China. These hackers set up the accounts and computers to mine the gold, then sell it over the web. Over the course of two years, the group amassed profits of roughly $6 million, 55% of which was distributed among the group itself. A portion of that 55% was forwarded to agents in North Korea, on order from the government.
The most screenplay-ready part of this story is the detail that explains where these hackers came from. Evidently, nearly all are graduates from North Korea's most prestigious science universities, which apparently are at least capable of teaching nuclear science, computer hacking, and probably air conditioning repair also, thus making them the world's most dangerous equivalent of a DeVry Institute. Anyway, all the hackers report back to a "shadowy" section of the North Korean government called "Office 39." This is the same section of the government believed to be dealing in illegal weapons and narcotics trafficking for the sake of amassing more funds for Kim Jong-il's assorted nefarious schemes. So now we can add gold farming to the category of things used to fund nuclear terrorism. Awesome.
Unsurprisingly, the North Korean government rebutted the claims, and blamed the accusations on an invented South Korean conspiracy, which of course sounds totally reasonable.
By the way, that image comes from the Tumblr blog "Kim Jong-il Looking At Things" which is just about the best thing ever.
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