The Select and Start News Report: 03.19.07
Posted by Vincent Chiucchi on 03.19.2007
Is NiGHTS 2 coming? Is PS3 going to cure cancer? Is paying $130 worth it to get a miniature Halo spartan helmet? Is the Izuna Drop really that awesome? Find out in this week's report.
Welcome to the Select and Start: Site 411, my little slice of heaven for video game news. But this week, the news is really light compared to last week's GDC newsfest. I don't know if it's because of St.Patrick's Day (a holiday created by men to forget how much crap they spent on Valentine's Day), the snow that suddenly shows up and disappears every other day, because it was just plain slow, or because I'm too "busy" with Hotel Dusk. Either way, here's what I was able to scrap up this week.
Big News
TYPICAL APRIL FOOLS PRANK...OR DREAM COME TRUE? [credit: Evil Avatar, Kotaku]
In the Official Nintendo Magazine, there's a teaser photo that next month, a game long overdue for a sequel finally returns in next month's issue:
Some photoshopping magic later, look at what the picture could possibly be:
That's right everyone. If it turns out to be real instead of some kind of April Fools joke, then NiGHTS is coming back with an exclusive title for a Nintendo system! But since I've been let down too many times before, I'm going to go with the "April Fools Prank" side of the story.
HELP CURE CANCER WITH THE PLAYSTATION 3 [credit: Gamespot, GameDaily, GameSpy, Gamasutra]
A while back there were reports about the PS3 program designed to help fight cancer: Folding@home. At a press event held during the week, more info came along with news about a 1.6 firmware update. Here's a brief summary:
The Folding@Home project is organized by the people of Stanford Universiry and will integrate idling, online PS3s into a distributed-computing project studying the causes of various diseases, such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, cystic fibrosis and many cancers. Simulations of protein folding can take 30 years on regular PC's, but with the power of the PS3, it can go faster. The software will be part of Sony's upcoming 1.6 firmware update to be released by the end of March.
"Millions of users have experienced the power of PS3 entertainment. Now they can utilize that exceptional computing power to help fight diseases," said Masayuki Chatani, Corporate Executive and CTO Computer, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. "In order to study protein folding, researchers need more than just one super computer, but the massive processing power of thousands of networked computers. Previously, PCs have been the only option for scientists, but now, they have a new, more powerful tool -- PS3."
Wow. Technology in video games sure as come a long way. I remember a time where a certain console was blamed for the disease known as "Nintendoitis", and now these consoles can possilby cure cancer. What an age we live in.
GAMESPY TAKES A WII ONLINE [credit: GameSpy, GameDaily, Gamasutra]
GameSpy announced that it will provide middleware multiplayer technology for the Nintendo Wii, including such community features as matchmaking, rankings data, and friend rosters. The first online Wii title, Pokemon Battle Revolution, will be using such features come June 25th.
Glad to see some positive news about Nintendo's online service after the constant rumors about shafting third party developers until 2008.
TAKE-TWO AND ROCKSTAR ANNOUNCE "BEATERATOR" [credit: GameSpot, GameSpy, Gamasutra]
Oh great, Take-Two and Rockstar are in the news again. Let's see...Take-Two losing money? Nope. Jack annoying them again? Huh, no. Okay, it seems they're announcing a new game. Probably full of blood and sex and all that M-Rated goodness right? I mean it's got "BEAT" in the name, meant for like "BEATing people over the head with a baseball bat", right?
Nope. Turns out they're working with Timbaland to create a music game for the PSP. "Beaterator" was a flash based app letting users create their own hip-hop mixes on Rockstar's site, but now they'll be creating a PSP version. The details, however, were very little, as pretty much nothing more then the announcement was made.
And speaking of Rockstar, quick reminder: It'll be about 10 days from now until the GTA4 trailer debuts.
HALO 3 DIFFERENT PURCHASE OPTIONS [credit: GameDaily, 1UP, Diginews]
As reported a long time ago and once again reported this week, Halo 3 will come in three different purchase varieties. Here are the details of the differences.
Standard Edition - Just the game. $59.99.
Limited Edition - Comes in a metal collector's case and includes a bonus disk with: Behind-the-scenes, Making of Halo 3 documentary, an "audio-visual calibration tool", and a Halo fiction and art book. All for just $69.99
Legendary Edition - Comes in a freaking spartan's helmet and contains a second bonus disk featuring: re-mastered cinematics from the first two Halo games w/developer commentary, exclusive content from "Red vs. Blue" and "This Spartan Life", "Day in the life at Bungie" featurette, and a collection of Halo 3 storyboard art featuring key cinematic scenes in the game. All this can be yours for a measly $129.99.
$129.99 for all that?! You might be thinking "It's too expensive for a game! That's madness!" But the case...
IS SPARTAAAAAAAAAAAAN! [source of pic: Gamingbits.com]
Tidbit News
-The newly resurrected Acclaim Games has announced that it's had it's one-millionth registered user for their free MMO games such as BOTS, 9Dragons, and 2Moons. Acclaim currently funds these games through in-game ads and microtransactions. As long as this means that Maple Story isn't the only free MMO out there, I'm all for it. [credit: Gamespot]
-Seems major retailers like Best Buy are going to stop carrying the 20GB PS3 models. [credit: Joystiq]
-With the release of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl for the DS, GameStop has a product listing for a headset specified to be released the day after. [credit: GameSpot]
-Microsoft has announced that Konami's hit platformer Castlevania: Symphony of the Night will be released in its next regular Xbox Live Arcade update on March 21st. [credit: Gamasutra]
-Independent game developer Telltale Games has announced a publishing partnership with niche adventure game publisher The Adventure Company to bring the complete "season" of six serialized Sam & Max PC adventure titles to retail worldwide this August. [credit: Gamasutra]
-In lawsuit news, a screenwriter named William L. Crawford III filed a suit against Midway claiming they ripped off a screenplay he wrote from 1998 for the game Psi-Ops, which was released back in June 2004. Usually I regard this as stupid guy with stupid lawsuit, but here's the kicker: The US Copyright Office's Web site lists "Psi-ops" as a copyrighted screenplay registered by Crawford on March 26, 1998. It also has a listing for "PSI-OPS : the mindgate conspiracy" registered by Midway on July 9, 2004. Damn. [credit: GameSpot]
-In odd news, Traveller's Tales will be supporting British charity Comic Relief with a special code that addds red noses to the characters in Lego Star Wars II. To get the code (on any system), simply donate money to the charity through Traveller's Tales website. [credit: Gamasutra]
-We've heard a lot about the DS Opera browser for some time, but now we finally get a release date (for America). Mark June 4th on your calenders DS owners. [credit: Gamasutra]
The Other Crap
PROGESS GAMING: Hotel Dusk: Room 215
A very interesting adventure game. There was this one puzzle in the game where you have to solve it by actually closing the DS and then re-opening it. That alone makes me think this game was pretty innovative. So far I'm in the middle of Chapter 8 and should be finished shortly.
Guys who all carry a secret that will lead me to find Bradley
You know season comes after Spring? Summer. And you know what great games come out during the Summer? Diddly squat!
Now if you excuse me, I've got to go finish Hotel Dusk. Oh, and here's the CGI part 2 recap. Direct TV Championship Gaming Invitational 2007, Part 2 (originally aired 2/11/2007)
Your hosts are Stryker, Tommy Tallarico, and Jonathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel. It's the second night where we wrap up the DOA4 and PGR3 tournaments, as well as see Fatal1ty take on Stermy in Quake 4. We start with the DOA4 semi-finals featuring the DOA4 champ.
DOA4 Semifinal: Emmanuel "Master" Rodriguez vs. Andrew "Swoozie" Thorne
Master chooses "Ryu" and Swoozie chooses "Kasumi Chan". The stage is Gambler's Paradise.
Round 1: Master starts off with a strong combo and bashes Swoozie into the road sign. Master teleports behind Swoozie but Swoozie strikes with a 4-hit combo. Master hits a high kick that knocks Swoozie's health into low territory, but Swoozie knocks Master to the other side of the road. Master throws Swoozie down and finishes him with the face stomp.
Round 2: Swoozie starts with a 4-hit air juggle, and Master tries fighting back but Swoozie hits a counter hold. Master quickly hits a couple kicks and backs away. After a couple hits on each other Master hits the patented Izuna Drop (spinning driver). A sweep kick and a counter later, Master is leading 2-0.
Round 3: Swoozie starts off with a high throw and an amazing 6-hit combo. Master comes stronger though, as he gets a critical hit, then hits a combo (I can't tell how many hits because his damn picture below his name blocks the screen) that knocks Swoozie into the sign and depletes half his health. Master then hits a strong kick that knocks Swoozie into the sign again, then he teleports behind Swoozie and does another combo that knocks Swoozie into the sign yet again to lead 3-0.
Round 4: Master is starting off strong by laying many critical hits. Swoozie gets backed into a corner, but Swoozie gets behind Master and pulls off a 6-hit combo. Swoozie is now going really aggressive as he traps Master in the corner and goes to town on him. Master isn't able to get in one hit as Swoozie keeps on coming until he eventually wins.
Round 5: Master starts off with a combo, then hits a small air juggle just when a car comes and knocks Swoozie into the air! Master gets him in mid-air and hits a combo that knocks Swoozie into the wall, altogether draining 80% of his health in one shot! Master hits another combo and quickly ends this.
Round 6: Both are hitting each other blow for blow, then Master knocks Swoozie down as he barely gets hit by a car. Swoozie hits the high throw 6-hit air juggle, but Master retaliates with his axe kick combo. Master then grabs Swoozie and finishes it the match by, how else? With the bitchin' Izuna Drop!
After the break, Stryker talks about the H2i program that measures the players hand to eye coordination. Here were the top five scores from this year's CGI:
Before the next match we learn a bit about the mysterious Ryan "Offbeat Ninja" Ward, who used every last cent he had to make it to the World Cyber Games. In the end, he won the tournament in Italy and won $15,000.
DOA4 Semifinal: Ryan "Offbeat Ninja" Ward vs. Daniel "King" Roberson (Master's student)
Offbeat Ninja chooses "Ein" and King chooses "Ryu" (in classic ninja garb). The stage is a temple.
Round 1: King throws down Ninja, who strikes back with a couple kicks. Both are blocking each others attacks and are dealing minor blows to each other so far. Ninja hits a combo knocking King back into a wall, depleting a good chunk of health. King hits a double kick and backs away. King hits a 5-hit combo and pulls off a counter hold. Both are at very low health. King goes for the finishing blow, but Ninja blocked and hits a critical blow to win. More slow paced then previous fights.
Round 2: Ninja does a 6-hit combo that knocks King into a stack of pots. King fails to counter as Ninja hits another high hitting combo. Both are now blocking each other's attacks until Ninja stomps King's face in. Ninja tries a jump kick but King quickly hits a 5-hit combo and knocks Ninja into a wall. King tries to corner Ninja at the wall but Ninja hits a throw, leaving King at very low health. King however gets in a 6-hit combo and Ninja once again stomps King's back to the ground, this time for the win.
Round 3: After blocking each other's attacks Ninja starts off with a powerful combo, then hits a judo chop bringing King down to nearly 50%. Both hit minor blows until Ninja grabs King and rams him into the giant pots. King starts getting aggressive and hits a string of low combos to knock Ninja's health down to 40%. King is at very low health but hits the double leg kick, then jumps up and does an impressive throw that knocks Ninja down to very low health. But once again, Ninja does the back stomp and takes it 3-0.
Round 4: Ninja starts off with a critical hit combo that knocks King into a wall. Ninja rams him into the wall again, but King hits a semi-throw and backs away. King then throws down Ninja and counters Ninja's kick. Both are keeping themselves at a distance, so King tries a couple teleports. But it screws up and Ninja hits a counter throw and stomps King again to make it 4 in a row. Could we see a shutout here?
Round 5: King hits a quick combo, Ninja grabs him and rams into a wall. Ninja hits a double punch, King throws him down. King backs away, Ninja comes running at him and avoids King's high kick, then hits his usual back stomp. Ninja hits a 2-hit combo that leads to the back-breaking counter throw. King hits a couple kicks and then a 5-hit combo. Both players are once again taking their distance away from each other. King makes the move by getting a critical hit and a counter hold for the win. It's not over yet.
Round 6: King hits a quick combo and throws Ninja down the steps of the temple. Ninja however quickly fights back with his powerful back-breaker counter throw. King does his face stomp and both back off again. Ninja hits a critical blow and pulls off a high combo knocking King into the wall, bringing him down to low health. King is kicking Ninja towards the stairs to finish him off. He sweep kicks Ninja and kicks him down the stairs, and Ninja is down to less then 1% health! A quick hit and King takes another win.
Round 7: Both start off by taking their distance, really playing defensive this whole match. Both hit minor blows, Ninja hits his back stomp. Ninja counters King's attacks and hits another back stomp. Ninja hits a quick combo but gets thrown down by King. King hits a 4-hit combo and finishes off King with the usual back-breaker.
With Ninja going to the finals, this sets up a Canada vs. USA match. Before that we get a player tip from the champ himself, Master. He shows us how to do that powerful Izuna Drop. It's requires doing a half circle forward, then a half circle upward, then a full 360 forward. Damn, that's as complicated as Akuma's "Raging Demon". But with the damage it does, it's worth it.
We're about to go to the PGR3 finals, but before that we hear about the budding rivalry between Ch0mpr, best racer from America, and McLaren, best racer from Europe. Ch0mpr however is the current world champion, and McLaren wants to dethrone him. Except what they seem to be forgetting is that the champ at CGI is Phantom, so they both might just love to him.
PGR3 Finals: Christopher "McLaren F1" Hogfeldt vs. Sean "Max1mus" Heffelfinger vs. Wesley "Ch0mpr" Cwiklo vs. Brian "Bboyle" Boyle vs. Joe "Phantom" Tackett
The race is 2 laps in London.
As we begin, the drivers get cramped coming into the first turn and a couple get bumped. In 1st after the turn is McLaren, followed by Ch0mpr in 2nd and Max1mus in 3rd. We get a detailed replay of that 1st turn incident. Bboyle was in first but he went through the left side and got hit by Max1mus. McLaren went through the right and was on the inside, thus was able to pull away into 1st. Back to the race, McLaren is still winning. McLaren makes a small mistake by cutting a corner and turns into a wall, allowing Ch0mpr to catch up quickly. We're going into Lap 2 and McLaren bumps into a wall again but is still in 1st place. McLaren extends his lead and doesn't screw it up as he finishes first and takes the CGI Championship.
McLaren is presented with his Mountain Dew trophy and his check for $10,000, which is about 70,000 Krona in Sweden. He then get a look at WoW Burning Crusade from one of it's designers.
It's now time for the Dead or Alive 4 finals. Will Master lose his title to the mysterious Offbeat Ninja? This is going to get ugly.
DOA4 Finals: Emmanuel "Master" Rodriguez vs. Ryan "Offbeat Ninja" Ward
Master is of course "Ryu" and Offbeat Ninja is "Ein". The stage is the Wrestling Arena.
Round 1: Master starting off with his axe kicks, but Ninja throws him into the electric ropes. Master sweep kicks Ninja and double-leg kicks him towards a turnbuckle, then kicks him in the back of head. Ninja corners Master but Master quickly frees himself. Master is going to finish him but Ninja hits a counter blow knocking some serious health off. Ninja hits a couple powerful kicks, then hits a 4-hit combo brining master to low health. He goes for the finishing blow but Master throws him down and takes the win.
Round 2: Master starts off with some hits but Ninja counter holds and backs away. Master charges and waits to counter, but Ninja blocks and hits another quick combo. Both block each other's attacks, but then Master knocks Ninja into the electric ropes. Ninja hits a quick 2-hitter but Master gets behind him and pulls of a 10-hit juggle knocking Ninja into the ropes. Master gets behind Ninja again, but this time Ninja grabs him and hits a powerful throw, knocking Master to low health. Ninja hits a double fist and ties it up.
Round 3: Master starts off with two back of the head kicks. Master hits an uppercut and throws Master into the ground. Ninja strikes back with his back-breaker throw, but Ninja kicks him across the ring, hits another throw, then jumps off the ropes and hits a quick combo for the win.
Round 4: Both exchange minor hits until Master throws Ninja once again. Ninja tries attacking but Master counter throws with the Izuna Drop. Ninja is now playing defensively, trying not to get caught in another counter. A quick couple hits and Ninja does the judo chop. Master however pulls off a high combo knocking Ninja into the ropes, bringing him to less then 1%. Ninja hits a 2-hit combo and backs away as time ticks away. Ninja hits a back stomp and starts to make a comeback, but Master quickly hits him once to end it.
Round 5: Ninja hits a sweep kick, Master does the same. Ninja blocks his attacks and hits a counter hold, then a 4-hit combo into the ropes. Master throws Ninja down, then hits the back-head kick sending Ninja into the ropes. Another throw down on Ninja, and he counters Master's charge just in time. He pulls off his critical hold and both are have nearly equal health. Master pulls off another combo and is now winning 4-1.
Round 6: Ninja pulls off a 5-hit combo that knocks Master into the ropes, blocks Master's attack, then hits another 2-hitter into the ropes and then a 6-hitter into the ropes, knocking Master down to low health already. Master stops his perfect, but Ninja still pulls off the win.
Round 7: Both exchange quick hits, Master starts off his combo but is cut off by Ninja's counter hold. Both are blocking and exchaning minor hits, until Ninja hits a 5-hit combo while cornering Master at the turnbuckle. Ninja stomps him to the ground, gets a critical hit and backs away. Master starts going aggressive until Ninja stops him with a counter hold, punching Master way across the ring for another victory.
Round 8: Master starts off with the freaking Izuna Drop! Ninja pulls off a counter hold, and then another counter hold knocking Master across the ring and taking 50% of his health. Master throws Ninja down and both are blocking each others attacks. Master knocks Ninja high into the air...but no Izuna Drop! But Master kicks the double leg kick combo and wins! Master is the two time CGI DOA4 Champion! He truly is the Master. And he's even throwing some money to his fans.
Now that the official tournaments are over, it's time for the special Quake 4 challenge. Whoever has the most points in 10 minutes will be the winner.
Quake 4 Challenge: Alessandro "Stermy" Avallone (2nd place finisher at the Electronic Sports World Cup) vs. Jonathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel (12-time World Champion in 5 different games).
Fatal1ty goes to the top level as Stermy grabs a rocket launcher and starts firing. Fatal1ty is firing from above and Stermy goes after him, but Fatal1ty kills him in the air scoring the first frag. Fatal1ty goes to the floating island, grabs the rail gun, and uses the scope to frag Stermy with one shot. Stermy starts shooting with his machine gun, but then grabs the rockets and kills Fatal1ty from below. Fatal1ty grabs the rail gun and gets another frag, then goes to the top to get the Quad-Damage boost and annihilates Stermy.
We get some highlights of the match, where Stermy and Fatal1ty would trade kill for kill until Fatal1ty got really aggressive and did a cool 180 rail jumping kill. We resume play with Fatal1ty winning 21-14 with 1:30 to go.
Fatal1ty grabs the shotgun and kills Stermy and takes the Quad-Damage. The QD quickly expires as both make it to the rail gun island fighting for that powerful gun. Stermy grabs it and kills Fatal1ty, bringing the score to 22-15. He frags Fatal1ty again with the rail gun, then goes after him with the rockets. He quickly switches to the rail gun and gets Fatal1ty again. Fatal1ty is at a distance and is taking him out with the machine gun. He kills Stermy and goes for the rail gun. He fires aggressively and gets the yellow armor. Both are firing rockets at a distance and Fatal1ty quickly pulls out the rail gun for the frag of the match. Fatal1ty wins 24-17.
Fatal1ty talks about his plans to continue brining pro gaming into the mainstream and make it a global sport. Fatal1ty is then presented with his Mountain Dew trophy.
After the break we get the same preview for the Championship Gaming Series coming this spring to DirectTV and Master gets his trophy along with the $10,000 check. But not only that, because of that 80% damage combo that he did on Swoozie, he also wins the Signature Trophy award. God damn this guy is good.
And with that, the 2007 Championship Gaming Invitational is over. It was awesome to watch and I'm really anticipating the Series.
