School finals + Sore throat + Piece of crap DVD recorder = A bad week overall. Didn't have time to recap the SpikeTV awards, but I'm pretty sure you already know how muched it sucked anyway. I'll try to get that done for next week though for all the non-Christmas celebrating readers out there. As for this week, we've got news aplenty where no matter what side you're on, you'll have something to laugh at the competition for.Big News
WHOEVER WINS, THE FANS WILL PROBABLY LOSE [credit: Gamespy, Gamasutra, Team Xbox]
Sega has recently picked up the licensing rights to the Alien movie franchise. The developers for the RPG game will be Obsidian, the people behind Star Wars KoToR II and Neverwinter Nights 2. The FPS game will be developed by Gearbox, the people behind Brothers in Arms. The games will be released on the PC and the next-gen consoles.
Even though the developers making these games have made plenty of good games before, being based on a license already makes me think to not get excited at all. Hell, I don't think I can ever get excited anymore after what happened to Sonic.
ASSASSIN'S CREED PLOT REVEALED: SNAPE KILLS ASSASSIN [credit: IGN, 1UP]
A lot of people are getting hyped up for Assassin's Creed. Even though plenty of videos and news were released on how the game plays, nobody exactly knows what the story is. Except Kristen Bell (star of Veronica Mars), who wound up LEAKING THE STORY! If you want to know what her exact words were, highlight the space between the *SPOILER* tags.
*SPOILER*"It's actually really interesting to me. It's sort of based on the research that's sort of happening now, about the fact that your genes might be able to hold memory. And you could argue semantics and say it's instinct, but how does a baby bird know to eat a worm, as opposed to a cockroach, if its parents don't show it? And it's about this science company trying to, Matrix-style, go into people's brains and find out an ancestor who used to be an assassin, and sort of locate who that person is."*SPOILER*
I think somebody is going to be in deep shit for letting the story leak like this! Don't they make these people sign some kind of confidentiality clause or something?! I'm glad she's not doing any work for Metal Gear Solid 4.
EUROPE TO SUFFER ANOTHER PS3 DELAY? [credit: Next Generation, Gamepro.com, GameDaily, Gamasutra]
It's bad enough that European gamers have to wait until March 2007 to sell their PS3's on eBay, but things could get even worse. Lots of rumors have spread across the internet that Sony is going to delay the launch of the PS3 in Europe all the way back to September 2007.
When asked about a March release, Phil Harrison says that "given that all of our previous statements about launching in Europe simultaneously with the US and Japan turned out not to be the case, I would not like to make any definitive statements on that."
"All speculation is without foundation," said Sony CEO David Reese in a statement released by SCEE. "We're still on schedule to launch PS3 in March throughout the PAL territories."
Well, look at this way Europe: At least you won't be suffering from mass riots that lead to senseless beatings, shootings, and even deaths. Speaking of senseless death...
POLICEMAN OF STRICKLAND SHOOTER FOUND NOT GUILTY OF MURDER; IDIOT CHECKS WRONG BOX [credit: Next Generation, ABC News, GameDaily]
According to the Associated Press, 34-year-old Cpl. Christopher Long, a 12-year vet of the sheriff's office (who was fired after this incident), mistook the sound of a police battering ram hitting Strickland's front door for a gunshot. He opened fire, hitting 18-year-old Peyton Strickland once in the shoulder, while another bullet ricocheted and hit the suspect in the head. Strickland's German Shepard, Blaze, was also killed.
Peyton Strickland and two of his friends were suspected of stealing two PS3s from a college student they had followed to the local Wal-Mart. Strickland was at the home of his friend Ryan Mills, who because had the tendency to carry a gun, apprending Strickland and his friends was considered high risk.
Okay, seriously, is the reason why cops wind shooting everybody is because they keep confusing something for a gun shot?! Also, if your a 12 year "veteran", shouldn't you know the difference between what sounds like a gun and doesn't?! I can understand arming yourself when you're about to break into a home where they have guns, but to make a mistake like this has got to be asinine! Am I crazy for thinking this?
But it gets worse: Christopher Long was indicted with second-degree murder and had his bail set at $50,000, until his charge was rescinded because of a paperwork error. Yes, you read that right: A PAPERWORK ERROR! The grand jury foreman had accidently CHECKED THE WRONG BOX initially.
It's bad enough this dumbass cop gets away with murder (even though he was fired), but the fact that someone CHECKED THE WRONG BOX has got to be one of the most stupidest ways to find someone not guilty I've ever heard.
SONY SAYS WII IS A "NOVELTY" [credit: 1UP, IGN]
So the Wii has been selling like crazy and people are liking the Wii Remote. But it all just a gimmick that won't last very long? Sony seems to think so. SCEA Sr.Director of Corporate Commications Dave Karraker says "We feel very confident that the PlayStation fan is going to wait until they can get a PlayStation 3. If they do pick up a Wii, it's as more of a novelty."
Despite how I feel about Sony, I kind of agree about the Wii being a novelty. But I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing, because I think the Wii can continue to do well if Nintendo can keep that novelty going. The DS touch screen was seen as a novelty, but it kept giving us great games using it. So I figure if the Wii Remote gives us plenty of great games down the line, it's one novelty I'll be glad to have.
GEARS OF WARS SELLS 2 MILLION [credit: Gamasutra, Team Xbox]
Even since being released November 7th, Gears of War is has sold over 2 million units worldwide, making it the fastest selling Xbox exclusive in history. Gears of War is still the most played game on Xbox Live.
The hype continues to have been worth it. If only Sonic's hype had been...*sniff*.
SONY SAYS IT'LL STICK TO SHIPMENT NUMBERS; THEO AND JOSHUA LAUGH ASSES OFF [credit: Gamasutra, GameDaily, Gamepro.com]
The year is about 2 weeks from ending, and yet Sony still believes that despite the constant manufacturing problems, it will still ship 2 million PS3s by the of the year and 6 million by the end of the fiscal year according to Sony's president Ryoji Chubachi. Sony America PR boss David Karraker says that the production problems have been resolved.
I think these guys are liars. Or just stupid.
NINTENDO TO REPLACE WII STRAPS; ANDREW AND JOSHUA LAUGH ASSES OFF [credit: IGN, GameDaily, Gamasutra]
Because so many people swing the Wii Remote like maniacs, their Wii straps are breaking off. Nintendo has finally taken action, recalling 3.2 million Wii wrist straps and offering free replacements of stronger wrist straps. The recall will set Nintendo back several million dollars.
I remember a time where you didn't need no damn wrist strap to play a damn game. Get a grip stupid!
MICROSOFT TO GET SUED FOR FALL UPDATE; THEO AND ANDREW LAUGH ASSES OFF [credit: Next Generation, GameSpy]
Last week there was a tidbit mention about the fall update for the Xbox 360 that screwed up some consoles and somebody was trying to sue. This week we've got more details: The plantiff, Kevin Ray, downloaded the update and it screwed up his Xbox 360. Because it happened after Microsoft supposedly said they fixed it, Microsoft has decided NOT to repair/replace for free and so he's suing them in a class-action lawsuit with others who suffered the same problem. They are suing for $5 million.
Catching fire, glitching games, faulty updates...is there anything the Xbox 360 can't fuck up?
WORST WII INJURY YET [credit: Kotaku, Joystiq]
Check out the injury that this poor girl suffered at the hands of her wreckless boyfriend. The boyfriend's story below:
"After guzzling a copious amount of 'wife beater' (Stella Artois), I returned home to find the girlie in mid battle with a Zelda 'Boss'. In my inebriated state, it was instinctual to become her knight in shining armour. I proceeded to take the controllers off her and fight the beast myself. Unfortunately, my courage was far greater than my skill. Having taken a good kicking, Liz then tried to intervene with disastrous results. She approached me from the side, appearing from my blind spot, whilst I was performing a slashing movement. I hit her with full force right in her eye!"
The Wii: Do more then beat your friends AT games. Beat them WITH games! As for the soon to be ex-boyfriend, he should've read the Japanese Wii manual.
Tidbit News
-Blue Dragon is being sold in Japan with the Xbox 360 core system as a bundle for $256. So Japan ignores a console and they get it for cheaper. My fellow Americans, we need to do this with PS3. NOW! [credit: Gamepro.com]
-Speaking of Blue Dragon, this week it completely outsold Zelda: Twilight Princess and all other Wii software in Japan. The Japanese really love their RPGs (and Akira Toriyama apparently). [credit: Evil Avatar]
-The popular PC game "Age of Conan" will be coming to the Xbox 360 as well. [credit: IGN]
-Microsoft has publicly acknowledged the issues affecting some Xbox 360 wireless headsets. For anyone experiencing issues, call 1-800-4-MY-XBOX. [credit: Team Xbox]
-The Detroit Tigers' Joel Zumaya was taken out of three games this year not for exertion on the field, but rather from playing too much Guitar Hero. I wonder what excuse A-Rod (more like B-Rod! Zing.) will come up with. [credit: Gamepro.com]
-This video shows the graphical differences of playing PS1/2 games on PS2 and PS3. Take a guess on which console the games look really bad on. [credit: Evil Avatar]
-Lawrie Sanchez, manager of the Northern Ireland soccer team, says that it's Playstation's fault that his players suck. "When we all grew up, we didn't have Playstation, or PS2 or 24-hour TV....so we played football (soccer). If my son played football (soccer) as much as he does with his Playstation, he'd be a better player if 's a fact of life". [credit: Kotaku]
-The FTC has spoken out against viral marketing, which has happened plenty of times in the video game industry (such as "i love bees" for Halo). With the FTC investigating into this, Sony recently shut down their site alliwantforxmasisapsp.com. Though when you have a site with a bad white rapper talking about buying a PSP, that actually wants me to NOT buy a PSP. Squirrel please! [credit: Gamasutra, Gamepro.com]
-Chicago Venture Partners is investing money into the Phantom console. Even though it's a measly $250,000, the fact they're giving money to this "console" is just...wow. [credit: Gamasutra]
-Valve Software's director of marketing Doug Lombardi says the company will be putting in-game ads for it's titles, starting with Counter-Strike. Like you have any time to pay attention to ads when Counter-Strike rounds last like 30 seconds when you're constantly getting your ass kicked. [credit: Gamasutra]
-Angry-Gamer.net (no relation to Damian Sarcuni) has given Trackmania: United, which they say is a great game, a 0/10 for using Starforce copy protection. Starforce has been known to be overly protective and is considered malware.[credit: Joystiq]
-Two new Final Fantasy Tactics games are coming. One for the PSP which is an updated version of the Playstation original, and something called "Final Fantasy Tactics A2 Fuuketsu no Guurimore", which I assume is FFT Advanced, though no console has officially been announced (though I assume it's for the DS). This is part of Square Enix's "Ivalice Alliance", which is like that terrible FF7 thing except for FF12. [credit: IGN]
-Wal-Mart has been asked to drop the Christian based video game "Left Behind", where you must either convert the non-christians or kill them. I remember a time when christian games were released, everyone ignored them because they sucked. [credit: Slashdot]
-The CEO of Evolution Studios, who just finished making Motorstorm, says that they are already planning for the PS4, even though millions around the world are still planning on how to find a damn PS3. [credit: Gamepro.com]
-Virtual Console Friday has begun in Europe. The games released are Urban Champion (Europe exclusive, and they can keep it!), Solomon's Key and Pinball for the NES, Columns, Gunstar Heroes, Ristar and Dr. Robotonik's Mean Bean Machine for the Mega Drive/Genesis, and Alien Crush for the Turbografx. [credit: IGN]
The Other Crap
NiGHTS 2! (SORT OF) [credit: EGM]
Since NiGHTS 2 is never going to come, a person named "Jan3d" on 1UP's blog made a trailer for the fictional game himself. Check out the awesomeness here!
MY LIFE WILL SUCK OR RULE COME JANUARY 2ND
For that is the day I might get called up for jury duty. It will either suck if I wind up getting bored to death, but then again it might be worth it because I can finally bring justice to this world due to a little something I have called "common sense" and "not checking the wrong freaking box". I'm gonna need to start playing Phoenix Wright a lot more often.
"STUFF" FROM ACROSS THE SECTIONS
Because I wasn't talented enough to write whole columns for them.
Wrestling: I've completely stop watching Smackdown, I barely know what's going on in ECW, and RAW right now is disappointing because John Cena, the brand's champion, has no opponent.
Movies/TV: In anime related news, Prince of Tennis is coming to Toonami. I can already hear complaints about the terrible English dubbing.
In sad news, Peter Boyle passed away. He played "Frank Berone" on Everybody Loves Raymond and he was my favorite character on the show. R.I.P.
Music: Downloaded the latest album by AFI and the TNA Turning Point theme, Endwell's "I'm Frozen and You're Dead". That song is addictively bad.
Politics: I haven't paid attention to the news lately.
Sports: Thanks to the Knicks and Nuggets I now have a new sports riot video to watch. It's one of my favorite guilty pleasures.
They are the guys of 411Games who say...NEE!
The other news writers:
Tommy Coloma with The Negative Edge
Shawn Struck with The Code
Theo Fraser's Nintendophiles
Andrew Mellick's SIXAXIS
Joshua Richey's Xbox-A-Gogo
Columns:
Jordan Williams looks at how hyped Smash Bros. Brawl is (and why Sonic should stay away).
Steve McHugh does a retro review of Zombie Revenge.
Will Scott tries to fix Star Wars Bounty Hunter
Top 5 Console Launch Titles
Reviews:
Red Steel by MK
WWE Smackdown vs. RAW 2007 (PS2) by Sean Garmer
Excite Truck by Ramon Aranda
X-Men: The Official GAme (Xbox 360) by Chris McCarver
Call of Duty (PS3) by Andrew Mellick
Need for Speed: Carbon (PS3) by Caleb Newby
Nintendogs: Dalmation and Friends by Shawn Struck
Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom by Andrew Mellick
Previews:
Izuna: Legend of the Unemployed Ninja by Shawn Struck
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow Over Chernobyl (PC) by Armando Rodriguez
Winter is about to begin, next week I get a bunch of games for Christmas, and now we end it all with the MLG playoffs. Happy holidays everyone.
The Boost Mobile MLG Pro Circuit 2006, Week 6Week 6's Tournament is in New York City from the Digital Life Expo, and this week we're in the playoffs. 8 teams are going to the Las Vegas Championships, and right now here are the teams:
1.Final Boss: 9600
2.Carbon: 7185
3.Str8 Rippin: 6640
4.Legendz: 5460
5.Xit Woundz: 5400
6.Storm Ventures: 5300
7.Shook One Gaming: 4640
8.Level 1 Winner
Sundance talks to Carbon about beating Final Boss last week. Ghostayame, despite being the new guy, fit into the team perfectly and was a big factor in topping the best team in the MLG. A lot of people thought dropping Strongside was a bad idea, well now we see who was wrong! Carbon's confidence to beat Final Boss was really high once they beat them in CTF 5-1. Despite having to go to college and back to high school, Carbon will still stay together. Sundance points out how Carbon has matured a lot over the years.
The tournament began with the Level 1 brackets where the winner gets the #8 seed for Las Vegas. Then we'll have the Level 2 brackets where the players will compete to keep or improve their seeding and play for a $30,000 prize. In the Level 1 brackets, FBI GamerGraffix defeated Vanity Gaming to earn that #8 seed. The team almost couldn't compete in the first place because of sponsorship problems. Unfortunately for them, they had to fight Final Boss in the first round and got their asses handed to them. Final Boss then swept against Legendz. Carbon also swept ShookOneGaming and then swept Storm Ventures (what the hell happened to Str8 Rippin?!). So now Carbon and Final Boss will get their rematch.
Sundance interviews Final Boss about how they will turn things around for this week. Walshy says Final Boss thought they'd have it easy against Carbon last week but underestimated them. Walshy doesn't consider them earning 2nd, but rather losing. It was a combination of not being prepared and being off their game, but Walshy also says it's due to Carbon's unpredictable nature. Final Boss' goal is to try to swept the rest of the series. The Winners Finals was a Best of 5, and the winners of the first two games was Final Boss, showing what made them the top team. In Game 3, Carbon ran away with the victory in Team Ball, but Final Boss beat them in Game 4 and advances to the Championship. It didn't matter though as Carbon destroyed Str8 Rippin in the Losers Finals and will face Final Boss for the championship and the cash prize.
Final Boss began the championship by winning the first game and now lead 4-1 in the series. Carbon was now showing signs of weakness and things looked as if they'd get worst. But they found their focus in the 2nd game and beat them in CTF very easily. In Game 3 Carbon focused on taking out The Orge Twins and won. Carbon and Final Boss had a close game, but Carbon was able to take the game and tie the series 4-4. In Game 5 they went into sudden death overtime for CTF, but Final Boss was able to take the game and now lead 5-4. Is Final Boss going to be dethroned or will they remain MLG's best team?
We now get the Player Tip of the Week from Eric "Ghostayame" Hewitt, about controlling the rockets on Beaver Creek. The rocket launcher is a powerful weapon but hard to control at the blue base. To use it well, position yourself at the bottom of the left ramp near the battle rifle spawn. Then look up, shoot the glass, and zoom in on the brightest star. Just down and to the right are two smaller stars. Put the center of your rentical in between these two stars and throw a grenade. The grenade shoot hit the rockets, so run out and grab them when they fall to you.
Game 6 of the Championship Finals: Final Boss vs. Carbon
It's Team Slayer on Midship. The only power weapon is the Sword and whoever controls the Pink Tower gets a huge advantage.
We start with Orge1. He tries to take out Shockwave but fails and Carbon pulls ahead early. On respawn he makes way to Pink Tower and beats down Shockwave along the way. He starts to go on a killing spree as Final Boss now has the lead. He goes to the very top but is shot down. Gandhi is taunting Final Boss by killing Saiyan until Orge1 comes out and kills him. Final Boss takes the tower and Orge1 has the sword. He gets a 2nd killing spree when Walshy distracts Carbon and Orge1 slides in for the double kill. He switches to the sword but is killed off before doing anything with it. We now switch to Shockwave who's starting slow. Carbon is now fighting their way to take back the Pink Tower. He scores a double kill and Ghost helps him get the sword. Shockwave slicks Orge2 to take the lead, then takes out Walshy, then escapes to recover. Shockwave sees Walshy from afar and puts some shots into him. Now he's hunting for him and takes him out with the sword. Carbon continues their streak and are now leading 33-30. Strongside gets naded from out of nowhere and now we go over to Walshy. He kills Ghost, then Karma, but gets taken down as they're losing by 3. Walshy respawns and takes out Shockwave but then dies by Gandhi. Over to Karma, he's starting to rack up kills and Carbon is now winning 46-37. Karma starts going on a killing spree and they win it 50-39. We now head into the decisive Game 7.
Game 7 of the Championship Finals
It's Team Slayer on Beaver Creek. The power weapons are the Sniper and Rockets, and the Overshield is there as well. The teleporters are also behind each others bases.
We start with Gandhi inside the base. The teams start shooting as they go after the power weapons. Gandhi grabs the rockets and launches one at Orge2 for a frag. Orge 1 is then fragged but Gandhi is sniped by Saiyan. On respawn he gets a Triple Kill and goes after Walshy who is finished off by Karma. Over to Ghostayame, he has the sniper and gets two headshots in a row, then shoots down Saiyan from mid-air. Ghostayame has gone from a nobody to the Week 1 Player of the Week to being a vital part of Carbon. Amazing. Ghost is protecting the Overshield by getting a double kill and then grabs the OS himself. He takes out Orge1 with the help of the OS but is finally taken down by Saiyan. We switch now to Walshy as Carbon is winning 21-14. Walshy gets a double kill and grabs the Overshield but is teamed up on by Carbon and is taken down. Over to Orge1, he stops Shockwave from sniping and grabs the rockets. He stops Shockwave from grabbing the OS with a rocket and heads to the blue base. Orge1 kills Karma and is now on a killing spree. He waits by the teleporter, but nothing happens so he goes through and shotguns Karma. We switch to Ghostayame who has the sniper rifle. He grabs the OS and is off to kill as many as possible. Ghost heads to the sniper tower and takes out Final Boss along the way. The score is now 38-33 Carbon. Ghost is now in position and pulls a no-scope snipe on Saiyan. He heads down for the OS but Walshy kills him. We switch to Karma who dodges Orge1's rocket and shoots him down. He continues to protect the blue base, Orge1 gets up close and Karma BXR's him to take away his rockets. Using one to take out Walshy, Carbon is 6 kills away from victory. It soon becomes 46-40, then 47-40. Karma leaves the base as Carbon is now 2 kills away. The crowd is cheering for Carbon to take this game away. Karma gets a body shot with the sniper rifle on Saiyan, finishes with the grenade. Carbon rush out to get the final kill and Carbon has once again defeated Final Boss! We see the final kill as Shockwave chased on Orge2 into the creek, and we get a replay of Ghost sniping Saiyan without the scope.
Carbon is now taking home $30,000 for winning the playoffs, but how do Final Boss feel? They'll be taking $20,000, but Walshy is almost at a lost for words. He does however say that they finally now have competition. Here are the season point standings heading into the grand championships.
1.Final Boss: 12800
2.Carbon: 11185
3.Str8 Rippin: 9440
4.Xit Woundz: 7800
5.Legendz: 7660
6.Storm Ventures: 7380
7.Shook One Gaming: 6600
8.FBI GamerGraffix.com: 5860
The FFA Winner is, as if you couldn't tell by now, Ben "Karma" Jackson from Team Carbon.
Will Final Boss and Carbon continue they'll rivalry in Las Vegas? Or will one of the other teams be the ones who fight for the championship? It all goes down next week for the final MLG tournament of the season!
