The Select and Start News Report: 04.02.07
Posted by Vincent Chiucchi on 04.02.2007
Between Mario & Sonic being in the same game, PS3 doing good in the UK, and Xbox 360 getting better, can you guess which of these reports is false?
Welcome to a joke of a news report everyone. Yeah April Fools was yesterday but it was today when I was typing it, so as far as I'm concerned, this is the April Fools edition of the Select and Start News Report. And wow do I have a joke of a news item to start with.
News that actually matter
THIS HAS GOT TO BE AN APRIL FOOLS JOKE
Apparently in the spirit of April Fools, some idiot posted a story about how Mario and Sonic are actually going to be in the same video game. Honestly, I can't believe people would actually FALL for this! C'mon, REALLY think about it! Mario and Sonic in the same game? I can't believe they'd make us fall for that! I mean the NiGHTS sequel was farfetched enough, but Mario and Sonic finally coming together in an Olympics video game? Ha! Best April Fools Joke I've ever...
...what? Are you serious? It's real? It's not a joke?! Mario and Sonic, two of the biggest freaking rivals in video game history are going to be together in THE SAME GAME?!
Yes, it's true. It's all true. Sega and Nintendo are joining forces to bring Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games to the Wii and DS this Christmas. The game uses an official International Sports Multimedia (ISM) license, the interactive entertainment software licensee of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The game will feature events such as table tennis, swimming, and the 100m dash. Other characters will include Luigi, Knuckles, Yoshi, Tails, and likely many more.
A lot of people are wondering if this was the best choice of a crossover, and while it'd had been cooler to see them first crossover in a Smash Bros. type of game, I guess we can make do with the Olympic games.
[credit: Gamasutra, GameDaily, GameSpot, Kotaku]
SONIC TAKES A LONG VACATION [credit: 1UP]
Speaking of Sonic, that Olympics game might be the last you hear of him for a while, as Sega has decided to take a hiatus from Sonic games to figure out what to do with the hedgehog after the disappointing reviews of the PS3/Xbox 360 games.
Sega president Simon Jeffery says the Wii game (Sonic and the Secret Rings) was one of the first steps towards reinventing Sonic, but Sega won't be "bringing another game out on the other platforms for quite some time, because we feel that it is time to reinvent Sonic, to make Sonic contemporary again. At the same time, even the recent 360 and Playstation 3 games have sold extremely well. Sonic is still an extremely endearing character; there's still a lot of love for Sonic out there in consumerland."
So I guess that means Sonic is going to rehab. Let's hope that when he comes out, he'll have a good platformer for us to play, and that he won't shave his head and start calling himself the anti-hedgehog or something.
PS3 CONQUERS THE UNITED KINGDOM [credit: GameDaily, Gamasutra]
You'd think a delay until March and getting rid of backwards compatibility would mean a disastrous launch for Sony's PS3 over in the UK. But instead, the PS3 is enjoying some success.
Over the launch weekend Sony sold 165K units of PS3, beating the Wii for fastest selling console. The #1 game to be sold was Resistance: Fall of Man, with MotorStorm as #2. 6 PS3 games made the top ten and 13 of them made the top forty, including Formula One Championship Edition, Ridge Racer 7, Virtua Fighter 5, and Genji: Days of the Blade.
What does all of this mean? It means I don't know shit anymore. Either that or there is no logic when it comes to the video game industry. Or maybe there's just no logic in the UK.
After Take-Two Interactive held it's annual meeting, the results came in: The company will have a new CEO and a new board of directors. This change was from the result of stockholders who were sick and tired of Take-Two's constant PR disasters. the scandels from "Hot Coffee" and backdating stock, and the constant financial problems.
Strauss Zelnick was named chairman and Benjamin Feder became acting CEO. Also on the Board are Jon J. Moses, Michael Dornemann, Michael James Sheresky and John Levy, who is an incumbent, independent director of Take-Two. Grover C. Brown, an incumbent, independent director, was also elected as a director at a meeting of the new Board of Directors held right after the stockholders meeting.
So does all this equal a good thing or a bad thing? Wedbush Morgan analyst Micheal Pachter says he's not optimistic about the changes. "We are not optimistic that the changes made yesterday will have an immediate impact on Take-Two's operations, and our views about the company's value remain unchanged...we believe that the company is unlikely to reduce its operating expenses sufficiently, given that its current cost structure would require the new management to cut $150 million per year in order to return to 2002 - 04 levels."
And while Take-Two says it's not going to have any layoffs, Pachter believes that they should. He also wasn't happy with their new choice for a CEO. "We also have difficulty endorsing Mr. Feder's choice as acting CEO. Mr. Feder appears to have no meaningful experience managing a large organization, nor does his resume suggest that he has any practical experience in the video game industry...Mr. Feder's appointment as acting CEO with support from former CEO Paul Eibeler suggests to us that Take-Two will be run similarly to the way it has been run in the past, leading us to the conclusion that Take-Two shareholders likely will be required to wait more than a year before the proposed turnaround will make any meaningful impact."
Even though Pachter is disappointed in Take-Two, Todd Greenwald of Nollenberger Capital was positive about it and believes Take-Two will focus on Rockstar. "We believe TTWO now becomes a turnaround story, with shares driven by management changes (starting with the search for a new CEO) as well as a variety of moves to extract value...We believe the board will consider selling the distribution business as well as parts of 2K games, 2K Sports, and Globalstar with the ultimate goal of putting more focus on the crown jewels of the company, which lie in the Rockstar studio. We note that within 2K the Irrational (Bioshock) and Firaxis (Civilization) studios stand out as the most valuable and least likely to be sold."
XBOX 360 GOES ELITE [credit: GameDaily, 1UP, Gamasutra, Joystiq]
Microsoft has confirmed that they will release their Xbox 360 Elite come April 29th. Their Xbox 360 Elite comes with the new 120GB Hard Drive, an HDMI port, a high-def cable, a wireless controller, a headset, one month of XBL-Gold, and is now black rather then white.
The 120GB Hard Drive will also be sold separately for $179.99, though when it comes to transfering your data from the 20GB Hard Drive to the 120GB Hard Drive, there are some certain conditions that you have to follow according to Joystiq:
-You cannot put the data from two or more 20 GB hard disks onto one 120 GB hard disk. If you attempt to move multiple drives, only the last one you move will be stored.
-You can only move data from the 20GB Hard Disk to the 120 GB Hard Disk. Transferring data in the other direction, or any other combination, is not possible.
-Any data stored on the 120 GB hard disk will be automatically deleted.
-Any data stored on the 20 GB hard disk will be automatically deleted after it is moved over.
-Once you move the data over, it cannot be placed back on the original hard disk.
So guess what? If you own more then one 20GB Hard Drive, especially when they suggested that you do so, you're fucked. Don't you just LOVE Microsoft's marketing?
GAMESTOP: "YOU'RE CAUSING A WII SHORTAGE ON PURPOSE!" NINTENDO: "THAT'S SOME OLD BULLSHIT GAMESTOP!" [credit: Gamasutra, GamePro]
COO of GameStop Dan DeMatteo says that, in his opinion, Nintendo intentionally halted production of the Wii until now, the beginning of the new fiscal year, because Nintendo already reached their numbers. Following this remark, Nintendo VP George Harrison said that is not at all the case, saying that demand was just way stronger then what Nintendo prepared for.
Intentional shortages? I'm going to take Nintendo's side and believe that it's because of very strong demand, but is this another bullshit marketing scam that we should expect for future video game consoles...or actually now?
News I'm too lazy to talk about
-Because Ray Kelly has nothing better to do, he's apparently pissed that GTA IV is going to take place in New York City. Hey Kelly, don't you have bigger problems to worry about then GTA IV? Like, say, actual Grand Theft Auto? Or some "insane" black guy planning to blow up your building? [credit: Evil Avatar]
-Officials from IDG World Expo, organizes of the E for All expo (aka "the new E3") announced that Nintendo of America has signed up as an "anchor exhibitor" for the event. [credit: Gamasutra, Gamespot, CVG]
-Namco Bandai is developing a new series of arcades games using a brand-new arcade board. [credit: Gamasutra]
-Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata made Baroon Online's Top 30 CEO's list. He is the only video game related CEO on the list. [credit: GameDaily]
-Got Marvel: Ultimate Alliance for the Xbox 360? Activision will be soon releasing new downloads for you to buy. New heroes and villians to play as/fight against are Incredible Hulk, Magneto, Hawkeye, Sabretooth, Doctor Doom, Cyclops, Nightcrawler and Venom. What? No Juggernaut bitch?! [credit: GameDaily]
Nothing to do with anything
QUICK WRESTLEMANIA 23 RESULTS
Just finished watching WM23, and here are thoughts off the top of my head.
Money in the Bank Match - This was an awesome opener with the right man going over. Even though Jeff Hardy did that awesome spot, I thought it was stupid of Matt to not immediately go after the briefcase after Jeff took out himself and Edge. That's why you're stuck in the lower-midcard Matt! I give this match a B.
Kane vs. Khali - Kane tried his best but not eve he could carry Khali to a decent match. At least it didn't drag so match. Still I'd give it a D.
World Heavyweight Title (Batista vs. Undertaker) - This was an awesome title match, which almost makes it feel stupid that they put it in the middle of the freaking card. I give it a B.
ECW Originals vs. New Breed - Felt too short to mean anything really. Nothing so bad but nothing so good either. C.
Women's Title/Lumberjill Match (Ashley vs. Melina) - The lumberjills didn't do shit. Wasn't as bad as Kane vs. Khali but could've been so much better. D.
Billionaire Hair vs. Hair Match - Who didn't see the ending to this match coming? Hell even my mother knew that McMahon was going to lose anyway. Funny yet SOOOOO predictable. It gets a C.
MVP vs. Benoit - I didn't really pay attention to this match since it felt like a throwaway match.
Cena vs. Micheals - I was half-asleep during this match and it didn't even look like I missed much. I'll need to rewatch this match.
Overall I'm amazed at all the filler content they added just to make this reach 3:45 for EIGHT freaking matches, and not any of them went twenty minutes. Couldn't have they put in some Tag Title matches? Or make the other matches a whole lot better? It was a good show but man did it DRAAAAAAAG at times.
THE GAME I AM CURRENTLY TRYING TO COMPLETE: Jump Ultimate Stars
Just went through the entire adventure mode and still currently unlocking new planets. Will probably have it all done soon.
SOME GAME THAT ISN'T A VIDEO GAME I PLAYED THAT YOU SHOULD BE PLAYING TOO
This weekend I came across a nifty puzzle game called Bloons.
Bloons has you throwing darts to pop balloons. At first it's easy, but then the later levels has you popping special balloons and having to solve some tricky puzzles. There are 50 levels so it'll keep you going for a while.
Alright suckas, it's Spring Break and that means I won't be bringing you a news report next week, because even I need to relax for a while, ya know? Or maybe you don't. That's why I'm telling you.
