The Select and Start News Report: 03.26.07
Posted by Vincent Chiucchi on 03.26.2007
NiGHTS is getting a sequel, DBZ is getting an MMO, and Thompson is getting crazier by the week.
Welcome to The Select and Start News Report, and I pretty much had my worst weekend yet. A combination of a bad stomach, sore throat, and these "fever chills" put me out of action of nearly three days straight. What's worse, I still didn't get my copy of Jump Ultimate Stars in the mail. Despite this however, there was a couple news reports that got me feeling good, so let's get to it.
Big News
2D OCARINA OF TIME CREATOR DIES [credit: Kotaku]
Even though the news was going to seem totally positive this week, Sunday there was very tragic news. Richard Denton (aka Dampe), creator of the long awaited fan-made 2D Ocarina of Time, died Friday in a tragic car accident. By the request of his family, the game, the official site and forums have been closed down. The project will not be continued by anyone.
R.I.P. Richard Denton.
SONY: "SORRY ABOUT THAT DELAYED LAUNCH OF THE PS3. HERE, HAVE A HI-DEF TV FREE OF CHARGE" [credit: GameSpot, Gamasutra, GameDaily]
As everyone knows by now, Sony has had many problems leading to the UK PS3 launch. It almost seemed definite that Sony was going to have a crappy launch day in the UK. So what does Sony do to make up to the many UK fans they've pissed off over the past several months? By giving away FREE HDTV's.
That's right. For anyone that bought a PS3 at the main London launch event were given a FREE 46" Bravia HDTV. Sony even gave them free taxi rides to get them home safely. Despite this however, the turnouts for the console were lower compared to that of the Wii.
Now correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the PS3 actually cost a lot less then a Hi-Def TV? I can't imagine that Sony was actually willing to lose money on giving away Hi-def tv's to get the PS3 moving. Of course I think it's an awesome move on their part, but doesn't this hurt them financial wise or something? I don't know, I'm not a financial expert, and they've probably already lost too much money on the $1200 PS3 bet. It also makes me think that maybe if they did that same deal here in America, maybe those PS3's would actually start moving off the shelves.
FATHER THOMPSON PRAYS FOR TAKE-TWO. [credit: Joystiq]
Last week there was news about Thompson trying to sue Take-Two again. I didn't report it because it was the same old shit that will likely end the same way: Thompson loses, he pisses off a court, court almost finds him in contempt.
But folks, it seems that even though Thompson is likely to lose his job as a lawyer, it seems he'll be working as a priest. Father Thompson sent out this letter "praying" for Take-Two to try and sue them and refers to a psalm in the bible.
Dear Gamers and Gamer Publications on the Internet and Elsewhere:
I have been praying, literally, that Take-Two and its lawyers would do something so stupid, so arrogant, so dumb, even dumber than what they have to date done, that such a misstep would enable me to destroy Take-Two. With the filing of this SLAPP lawsuit last week, my prayers are finally answered. [Stupid...like pissing off a Florida judge and calling him names that would lead you to contempt? Or how about assuming that Midway copied you into Mortal Kombat when it was really a create a character model?]
This lawsuit, filed in US District Court for the Southern District of Florida, is, without a doubt, the single dumbest thing I have ever seen any lawyers do in my thirty years of practicing law [excluding the stupid crap Thompson did himself] -- while in continuous good standing to do so with The Florida Bar, I might add, the shock radio and video game industry's efforts notwithstanding.
I encourage folks to read Psalm 35, a Psalm of David, which is brilliant in its entirety (since God Himself wrote it) [oh great, he really thinks God wrote it], but for those who don't own a Bible or who think their hands will catch on fire if they touch one [I heard Holy Water can burn sinners. Doesn't the bible do the same thing? And besides, I don't need the bible. I learned everything I needed from Passion of the Christ], here is the salient [Is that a made up word?] portion that applies to this lawsuit:
7 For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit,
which without cause they have digged for my soul.
8 Let destruction come upon him at unawares;
and let his net that he hath hid catch himself:
into that very destruction let him fall.
9 And my soul shall be joyful in the LORD:
it shall rejoice in his salvation.
[Personally, I would've gone with a "Wile E. Coyote" reference to make it easier to understand. You know how some people can be when they interpret things wrong.]
The pit Take-Two has dug for itself will be patently clear next week when I strike back. Oh, and by the way, the entire Take-Two management and board will be gone on March 23, so this pit-digging comes at a very bad time indeed.
Amen, and Praise be to God Almighty, maker of Heaven, Earth, and yes, the maker even video games. [So wait, if God makes video games, and Thompson hates those who make video games...yeah, it's amazing how Thompson knows big words and yet is completely clueless when it comes to the word "logic". I bet he thinks Judas took the 30 silver he got for helping crucify Jesus to buy GTA.]
MY DREAM COME TRUE...THE GREATEST NEWS I HAVE EVER RECIEVED [credit: 4Gamer.net, Destructoid]
As you might already know, I'm a big fan of the Dragonball series (except GT), and there was once a time where I imagined if DBZ could become an MMO. Making your own character, go around the world and fight other people...it'd be like an MMO fighting game. But of course it was only a dream.
That is, until I saw this:
And it was official: Dragonball Z is getting it's own MMO, set to come out in 2008. My response?
YEEEEEEEESSSSS! YES! YES! YES! This is the best freaking news I have ever heard! Finally an MMO I might actually throw my life away to! I'm just so excited that it's not an April Fool's joke!
IT'S OFFICIAL: NEW NIGHTS GAME FOR THE WII [credit: livenintendo.com, spong.com]
After what was thought to be an April Fools joke by Nintendo Magazine, it's real this time. NiGHTS, the cult Sega Saturn title originally released in 1996, is FINALLY getting a sequel! The speculation was confirmed by an anonymous person working close to the project. The game will be a true sequel and not some kind of remake of the first game. Also, the game will come from a new studio not within Sega.
Finally...FINALLY...about freaking time! I will of course be buying this on the spot.
Tidbit News
-By getting a 999,999 hit combo in God of War 2, someone discovered a secret God of War website that counts down to something. What it's counting down to is anybody's guess, but IGN has confirmed that it has nothing to do with the PSP version announced. Click here to see it. [credit: Evil Avatar]
-After losing money several quarters in a row and controversy over the back-dating of stocks, Take-Two Interactive is considering putting the company on sale due to shareholders trying to remove current CEO Paul Eibeler and several other executive staff. [credit: GameDaily, Gamasutra]
-With Gears of War being a huge success for Microsoft, a movie based on the game is already in the works. Hopefully the movie will see the light of day unlike Peter Jackson's Halo. [credit: GameDaily, Variety.com]
-Mist of Chaos recieved scores of 4, 3, 4, 5 from Famitzu magazine, making it the worst PS3 game to date. [credit: Kotaku]
-3D Realms CEO Scott Miller has admitted that the company has screwed up Duke Nukem Forever. Better late then never...sort of. [credit: 1UP]
-Microsoft has stated that if Blu-Ray does wind up beating HD-DVD, they will start supporting the format, though they are still strongly behind their HD-DVD format. [credit: GameDaily]
-Sen. Fred Upton reintroduced his "Video Game Decency Act", which would forbid companies to hide mature content in their titles. This is not to be confused with Brownback's "Truth in Video Game Rating Act." [credit: GameDaily]
-PS3 has been losing some exclusive titles to the competition, and now another title could be on the list: Final Fantasy XIII. Sony Computer Entertainment France president Georges Fornay says that PS3 exclusivity of the game is still in discussion. [credit: GameDaily]
-Reports have been surfacing about Xbox Live users getting their accounts "hijacked" and having their credit cards used to buy unauthorized Microsoft Points. Microsoft, however, has said to have found "no evidence" of a security breach on their service and says that these were just a few isolated incidents. [credit: Gamasutra]
The Other Crap
PROGESS GAMING:
Who hell the cares about what I'm playing now?! Think about what I'll be able to play in the future: DRAGONBALL Z ONLINE! WOOOOOOO!
WHATEVER HAPPENED TOO...
While working on my Gaming Trends column, I remembered about the Evo: Phase One that I reported inn my very first news report. It was supposed to released it October but I've heard very little since then. I checked the website's forum and new news posts are few and far between. In fact, one of the last posts made in the forum was someone declaring that this machine was going to be a failure. That post was made in Febuary 15th. He hasn't gotten a reply since.
So it's safe to assume that in the end, the Evo: Phase One is going to be a major failure. I'll be waiting for the eventual drunk car crashing and Swedish mafia ties stories to come in any week now.
