“We are all mad here , you know “, Said Cheshire cat .” I am mad , you are mad . “

“How do you know that I’m mad ? “ , said Alice.

“Of course you are mad”  , said Cheshire cat, “Only mad people come here “ .

                                                                                                                  Alice ’s adventures in Wonderland

If you have not heard from the new ambitious project currently being worked on by Lionhead studios called Project NATAL you need to check out the video bellow :

The first thing that crossed my mind while watching this part of Microsoft Press Conference at E3 09 was a hybrid of sadness and excitement . Almost all of us have seen the movie Matrix . The world of everything and nothing ; this rabbit hole seemed so amazing yet fake back when the movie was released . Being able to live in an imaginary world with people whom you like for as long as you want without having to worry about the dangers , frustration and hardships of real life is something that makes anyone happier .

Playing video games for many of us has always been the way to relieve ourselves of the stress and problems of real life . However, playing video games despite the solid frame-rates , dynamic shadows , superb textures and terrific animations can never take us completely out of this world or help us immerse ourselves deeply in a fictional world . After all , all we do is pressing ,holding and moving bunch of buttons .

Another fact is the nature of video games which regardless of the genre , number of endings , alternative game plays are literally linear and the gamers eventually observe the credit screen in the end . But what if a game starts and never ends ? That way the term “game “ would not be appropriate anymore .  Try to imagine that you can interact  with an endless world full of probabilities and opportunities !!!

Many of you agree with me that after coming home full of stress and anger because of  your professor , employer , cab driver ,your own mistakes.. etc,  nothing like crushing Zombie’s skulls in Dead Rising or tearing apart terrorists in Call of Duty or running over pedestrians in Grand Theft Auto makes you feel better !!!! .

Now try to imagine coming home with all the aforementioned problems and turning on your TV and talking to someone who has all the time in the world to listen to you , respond to you , make you laugh , force you into doing something relatively silly , ask your opinion , scrutinize your work , ask you about your shi** or wonderful day ….. .  It’s breathtaking even thinking about this issue .

Once again we come across the idea of everything and nothing , sanity or insanity ! There is no doubt that Project NATAL is nothing less than a ground breaking revolution and the grounds for this idea are not limited to a small boy in a small place by a lake . Project NATAL  and responsive AI can eventually and after years of progression help humanity reach levels of interactions that can only be described as magic even in the contemporary world .

Although we should never forget the sad side of this innovation ; The need to create such technology implies the deep level of loneliness of the modern world that is taking us farther and farther from each other . Maybe humanity will reach a point where it only interacts with fictional characters and places !!!

Nevertheless this technology that was debuted at this year’s E3 deserves a huge round of applause and only time will tell the benefits and harms of this plan , ….. this fabulous fable ……..

“ Wake up Alice dear “ said her sister  “ You’ve been asleep a long time “ .

“ Oh , I’ve had a very curious dream  “ Said Alice and she told her sister all about the strange adventures in her wonderful dream .

Daniel      

Electronic Entertainment Expo 2009 will start in less than 2 weeks and already the speculations and rumors are skyrocketing . While not every rumor can be taken seriously , the history of video gaming industry clearly proves that some rumors are genuinely based on leaked sources and are indeed true . This blog entry contains all the rumors and speculations about all three major manufacturers/ publishers (Sony , Microsoft and Nintendo ) and a quick analysis regarding the validity of each story by evaluating them in three categories : hardly true , probably true and definitely true .

SONY

The electronic giant Sony is finding itself in trouble . The latest financial report suggests that Sony has lost more than a billion dollars in revenue due to the economical crisis . As a result Sony needs to do whatever it can to remedy the loss and generate money . You can not expect the company’s main expensive console (PS3) to sell well when the unemployment and inflation rate are so high . The rumors about Sony were quite interesting yet predictable .

1- PS3 Price drop

                               TRUE OR NOT TRUE , THAT IS THE QUESTION .

 Thanks to PenguinDust  for correcting me  : In this terrible economy a price drop for the console not only is the best move to insure better sales but is in fact a necessity. However , this act may not make financial sense for Sony and lead to even more loss so  the rumor is probably true  .     

2- PSP Go ( a new PSP with better resolution and no UMD drive )

                               TRUE OR NOT TRUE , THAT IS THE QUESTION .

As a handheld console that sees the shadow of DS over its head , PSP still is a magnificent device for all the hardcore gamers out there . Have you ever noticed how useless the UMD drive is ? well presumably the heads in Sony have asked the same question from themselves , now they are trying to answer that very question by shipping a new console . The rumor is definitely true   .

3- Team ICO ‘s new project to be revealed at E3 .

                               TRUE OR NOT TRUE , THAT IS THE QUESTION .

The buzz around Team ICO’s new title has never ceased and many gamers including me can not wait to see the next project of this artistic developer . People keep saying that we will finally hear about this wonderful project at E3 , I think that would be the appropriate time for Sony to reveal its next most important exclusive title after MGS4 at this year’s E3 . The rumor is probably true .

4- Gran Turismo 5 to be announced officially at E3 .

                               TRUE OR NOT TRUE , THAT IS THE QUESTION .

Gran Turismo 5 has been under development for quite a loooooooooong time now and the announcement of the final version of GT5 is nothing less than life-saver for Sony . So will Sony announce and later publish the game within a year ? I’d say it’s probably true.

5- New Twisted Metal to be announced at E3 .

                               TRUE OR NOT TRUE , THAT IS THE QUESTION .

 Sony has indeed a lot of great games to announce but a new Twisted Metal game seems hardly true .

                           
Microsoft

 After experiencing a prosperous year at the end of 2008 and the beginning of 2009 Microsoft has been trying to stay low and that is enough reason for millions of gamers around the globe to feel excited . This secrecy has led to numerous rumors and speculation and has made waiting for E3 even harder . In a statement Don Mattrick, senior vice president for the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft said : “Microsoft is gearing up for a big presence at E3 which will completely transform how people think about home entertainment,"  Here are the rumors floating around the net :

1-  Metal Gear Solid 4 to be announced for Xbox 360  

                               TRUE OR NOT TRUE , THAT IS THE QUESTION .

 Well I have already posted a blog solely about this issue , you can read it here   . MGS4 on X360 seems plausible for both Konami and Microsoft but this would not be a great move for Sony , so even though we won’t see the game coming to X360 this year the chances are MGS4 will be released for X360 in 2010.  I’d say the rumor is probably true . 

2- “Xbox Fluid “Motion-sensing controls for Xbox 360

                               TRUE OR NOT TRUE , THAT IS THE QUESTION .   

We know that Microsoft wants to become as close as possible to its main rival Nintendo . Forget about NXE , motion-sensing controls is the next step . As you see in the photo the new product is a type of sensor along with a motion detecting camera  that will allow gamers to control their games using only their bodies .  This device that detect movement and interaction in 3D space was demoed during  last year’s CES and is  manufactured by 3DV.  It’s worth mentioning that Microsoft was trying to buy 3DV !!! .  The aforementioned device is not that advanced compared to the contemporary technology so I’d say the rumor is probably true.

3- Grand Theft Auto IV’s second DLC

                                      TRUE OR NOT TRUE , THAT IS THE QUESTION .   

As you may recall Microsoft was planning to release two episodic DLCs for GTAIV ,  one at the beginning of 2009 and the next at the end of 2009 . So typically this DLC should hit Xbox-Live in forth quarter of 2009 and therefore Microsoft must announce it at this year’s E3 . The rumor is definitely true  .   

4- Forza Motorsport 3 to be revealed at E3 .

                                    TRUE OR NOT TRUE , THAT IS THE QUESTION .   

Considering the fact that FM 2 was one of the best racing games on X360 and the fact that the developers had enough time to work on a new title we can assume the rumor is Probably true .

5- Lost Planet 2, Assassin's Creed 2, BioShock 2, Halo 3: 0DST, and new Splinter Cell  to be shown at E3 .

                                        TRUE OR NOT TRUE , THAT IS THE QUESTION

 I do not think this needs any proof , definitely true .

6- A new game from Lionhead Studios code-named “Richter.” To be revealed at E3

                                  TRUE OR NOT TRUE , THAT IS THE QUESTION

posted by  PenguinDust  : The Twitter report that surfaced from a student attending a forum hosted by an animation director at Lionhead this last April strongly suggests that the studio would be officially presenting a new IP at this E3 and that Peter Molyneux would do the unveiling.  Molyneux, himself almost spilled the beans at a this past GDC when he nearly revealed the title.  Back in October, in an interview with Kikizo, he said that Microsoft wants to "shock and awe" the game press when they first show the new IP and the game will receive major attention when it is shown.  Considering how Microsoft has been keeping everything they can pretty close to their chest, I think that the new IP will be a key focus of their press conference this June. The rumor is definitely true .

Nintendo

I should admit that it’s really hard for me to get excited about Nintendo’s keynote because they did not have a solid presentation last year (Like they need it !!! they keep breaking sales records anyway !!! )

There has not been as much speculations and rumors on Nintendo’s front and that is not really surprising considering the fact that their best selling games including Wii fit , Wii sports and Mario kart are all old games !

 So what are the rumors ?

1- Speaking proudly about how cool Wii and DS are !

Well the first one is not really a rumor .  Since Nintendo has targeted the casual market you can not expect them to start their keynotes with a surprise, now can you ?

2- Motion plus is the ultimate gaming experience and the greatest innovation in video game history !!!

The second one is no rumor either , I’d say Nintendo will save at least 10 minutes of its show entirely for this matter .

2-  New Zelda and Mario games to be announced at E3 .

                                        TRUE OR NOT TRUE , THAT IS THE QUESTION

The last Zelda game has been out for almost 3 years now thus a new Zelda game is perhaps the only game that may turn Nintendo’s keynote into something engaging and worth following . Also Mario galaxy was one of  the best Mario games and sold quite well so a sequel after 2 years sounds logical .
The rumor is probably true  .

3- Pikmin 3 to be shown at E3 .

                                        TRUE OR NOT TRUE , THAT IS THE QUESTION

The game has been confirmed as "in development" so a demonstration at E3 is a must . The rumor is definitely true .

4- A new Metroid Prime game with motion plus support .

                                        TRUE OR NOT TRUE , THAT IS THE QUESTION

Since the game would be one of the best to show the motion plus capabilities , a sequel to Metroid Prime is nothing less than swell . The rumor is probably true  .

5- Red Steel 2 to be officially announced at E3 . 

                                        TRUE OR NOT TRUE , THAT IS THE QUESTION

 As big of a disappointment the first game was , a sequel may not sound so interesting but this time waving swords using motion plus coupled with new environment destruction feature may actually turn this game into a playable and enjoyable experience . the rumor is definitely true .

6- Zelda: Spirit Tracks to be shown for DSi .

                                        TRUE OR NOT TRUE , THAT IS THE QUESTION

The game is expected to be released at the end of the year so an E3 presentation is inevitable . The rumor is definitely true .

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And that was a look at sum of all major rumors out there . As you see E3 2009 looks so hot and be sure that you will be exploded with excitement and emotion more than once during the event .

So let’s get ready for the biggest gaming event of the year !!!  

The rumor of Metal Gear Solid 4 on Xbox 360 has been floating around ever since the ambitious title was first announced for PS3 . Many of us constantly heard this rumor and never believed it ,however, recently Kojima himself and Microsoft have been acting secretly .

Game of Honor just posted this article :

“Early this morning an article from Kombo written by Matt Furtado stated that they received an email from an unknown publisher which we would like to know from whom. Although it's concerning the upcoming Kojima project, A new patch that will feature Raiden in an upcoming downloadable content update that will take control of Raiden through a total of 2 new chapters or more in the near future.

            What is this man doing in front of Microsoft logo ?!!!

Kombo also stated that trophies are finally be making a debut and speaking of debut. It looks like the XBOX 360 will be experiencing Metal Gear Solid early as spring 2010. The 360 version will come packed with the downloadable content. Kombo also stated that PS3 owners will have it exclusive for several months before the 360 title is released.

Here at Game Of Honor; as much as we love rumors, we would rather get the truth instead of false information. Were all gamers at heart so I for one speaks for everyone when I say "Enough Of The Rumors". It's not a bad effort from Kombo to create such hits to achieve on there site. But Kombo had nothing to back up there sources. We love what we do; get the truth.

so contacted our friends at Kojima Productions on this matter and there reaction toward it.

Kojima Productions :  "unfortunately we are still not working on a 360 version of MGS4. How ever, Were revealing something"     

A quick look at the response and to be precise the term “ Still “ tells us that MGS4 is probably planned to be released on XBOX 360 . MGS4 on 360 is yet to be officially announced by either Microsoft or Kojima Production although many gamers expect Microsoft to officially announce it at this year’s E3 .

On another note here is IGN’s Daily Fix regarding this issue :

Latest Conficker worm was activated on April 1 as predicted but fortunately [or unfortunately ] so far the worm has not caused any havoc or severe difficulty for already infected computers .

During the first hours of April fool’s day Conficker C ‘s master computer gained control of 5 million infected computers (zombie PC ) but as of now the worm’s author has not attempted to upload any form of data to the infected computers .

Unlike general public ‘s initial thought , “Conficker C “ never harms the victim’s HDD or delete any file for that matter . However , security experts said “Conficker's motive is probably financial, The worm's author could steal financial information, shut down Web pages, track keystrokes or send spam from infected computers. In other word They have full administrative-level rights to run anything they want on all of the infected machines “

The worm’s author has probably decided to keep a low profile due to the heavy surveillance that is currently being held by thousands of computer experts around the globe but we probably will see more worm related issues in coming weeks or months .

“Computer and Internet users should not panic “ said an expert  “The easiest way for computer users to see if they're infected is to try to access Windows updates from microsoft.com.  If you can reach the site and if your system updates are working, it is unlikely your computer is infected” he said.

As many of you already know the worm is primarily designed for Microsoft Windows and mac users are completely immune to the attack .

The worm uses the zombie machines to generate 50,000 URLs in a single day and thus make itself impossible to track . 

Most of us are already aware of the financial conflict and therefore concerned about the tax dollars and the way they are being spent in the current market  . To be more precise  , we can feel the impact of the ongoing recession in our daily lives .  A recession that has started with reckless spending and miscalculations of giant companies like AIG to begin with .

Obama ‘s administration tried to step in and solve the problem in long term and prevent any future recessions . That was where the $ 787 billion bailout came into play .
Many business experts including Ali Velshi  expressed their concerns regarding this bailout by stating that $ 787 billion may not actually be enough to solve all the problems and it could merely increase the budget deficit and debt of our nation .

Despite all the worries concerning the bailout money and the fact that taxpayers should liquidate this money , people were somewhat relieved until they were informed  of AIG ‘s greedy attribute .

In March 2009 AIG revealed that they were paying out $165 million in executive bonuses. Total bonuses for the financial unit could reach $450 million and bonuses for the entire company could reach $1.2 billion .  

With foreclosure and unemployment rate so high this revelation was nothing less than a catastrophe simply because taxpayers no longer trust the government .

Imagine that you should pay your hard-earned money as tax so the executives in AIG can receive millions of dollars in bonuses and spend it on fancy cars and boats !!!

In this regard Senator Chuck Grassley said "I would suggest the first thing that would make me feel a little bit better toward them if they'd follow the Japanese example and come before the American people and take that deep bow and say, I'm sorry, and then either do one of two things: resign or go commit suicide."

To make things even more intolerable  I should mention that these bonus awarded executives are actually the ones whose actions contributed  to the financial crisis and recession !!! .

Senator Richard Shelby said "These people brought this on themselves. Now you're rewarding failure. A lot of these people should be fired, not awarded bonuses. This is horrible. It's outrageous."

Fortunately the AIG’s case is currently being investigated in 20 states and Liddy and other executives are to appear in court of law and bring with them "original or copies of documents regarding the AIG Financial Products Corp. retention bonus plan and any related contracts or agreements." If things go right AIG’s executives will be forced to pay all the money back  .  The court appearing is scheduled on Thursday .