The Select and Start News Report 05.07.07
Posted by Vincent Chiucchi on 05.07.2007
Some news, some rants, and the guys who made "Mystery at Mansfield Manor" are back.
Welcome to the Select and Start News Report, where the PS3 jokes are like beating a dead goat. My computer decided to commit suicide, so I pretty much spent last weekend trying to save my data. Thank [insert diety here] I saved all my important stuff and so once my computer is fixed everything will be back to normal.
So with that in mind, nothing seemed pretty big this week, so instead we've got lots of Tidbit News for today.
Tidbit News
-Hideo Kojima recently tried a demo of Super Smash Bros. Brawl (playing as Snake of course) with Sakurai (playing as Mario) and says that the game feels very complete. During their matches though, Kojima had so much respect for Mario that he couldn't try knocking him out. You're such a wuss Kojima! [credit: Evil Avatar]
-Monolith, the company who makes Xenosaga and Baten Kaitos, were bought out by Nintendo. Namco Bandai sold 80% of the company's stock to Nintendo while still retaining 16% for themselves. Right now Monolith is working on an action title for the Wii called "Disaster: Day of Crisis." I find this to be very good news for Nintendo. The RPG is a really strong genre, and by having an infamous RPG developer under their control, I believe that within the next year or so we'll be seeing something big come from this. [credit: GamePro, GameDaily, Gamasutra, GameSpot]
-Despite the Tokyo Game Show being one of the biggest video game expos in the world, Nintendo has never had a booth at the show (though they do sponsor and make major announcements at the show). But this year, Nintendo is renting a large scale booth rumored to be to appeal to third-party publishers. Another factor is the release of Dragon Quest IX for the DS. [credit: Gamasutra]
-IDC research analyst Billy Pidgeon says that the Wii shortage is going to continue until 2009, and that consumer interest will drop unless Nintendo addresses this issue. Meanwhile, Japan is still suffering from a DS Lite shortage. Somewhere out there, there are Gamecubes sitting on the shelf begging for someone to take them home, or at least end their misery. [credit: Gamasutra]
-STILL didn't buy Guitar Hero II for the Xbox 360? Well it's too late now sucka! According to analyst Bill Kreher from AG Edwards, he surveyed 100 Gamestops and 99 of them were sold out. But who knows? Maybe you might find one in an unexpected place. Sears maybe? [credit: Gamasutra]
-Nintendo dominated the 2006 Famitsu magazine awards, with Pokemon Diamond/Pearl tieing FF12 for Game of the Year. Pokemon Diamond/Pearl also took the prize in the Best Hit category, Wii Sports won the innovation award, New Super Mario Bros. won the magazine's 'rearrange' award, and Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess won the High Performance award. [credit: Gamasutra]
-With Nintendo games and Nintendo consoles at an all-time high right now, Kaufman analyst Todd Mitchell thinks that with Nintendo's shortages and popularity, third-party developers are going to be cheated out of profits. This is almost sounding like what happened to the Gamecube. [credit: GamePro]
-Human Head Studios, the people who made Prey, saw their Wisconsin office go up in flames. The good news is that no one was hurt and that no significant data was lost. As for the cause, some witnesses say that during the fire, they saw a suspicious man walking away, mumbling something about a red stapler. [credit: GameDaily, Gamasutra]
-Thanks to the people who bought the PS3, the Folding@Home project has enabled computing power to double. I can see the headline now..."Video Game Console Cures Cancer." Who knows...maybe the 8th generation of consoles will cure world hunger. [credit: Gamasutra, GameDaily]
-It's been confirmed that a new God of War game is coming to the PSP. Entitled "God of War: Chains of Olympus", the game takes place before the frist GoW. Those with a Playstation Underground account can sign up for a free demo of the game. [credit: Gamespot, GameDaily]
-Oh for the love of...Blizzard is making a deal with First National Bank to create a World of Warcraft Visa card. The more you spend on that Visa card, the more credit you get towards the game ($0.01 cent for every $1 spent). Visa: It's everywhere you want to pretend to be. [credit: GameSpot]
-Nintendo Korea is treatening legal action against people in South Korea that try to sell copied or pirated games, since you know...it's illegal. Then again, Nintendo thinks selling imported games is also illegal. [credit: Gamasutra]
-Several players in Second Life have created an RPG called "Midgar", based on Final Fantasy VII. So of course issues are coming up on whether or not Square will try shutting it down or not. My guess is Square will shut it down because it's embarassing to know that these modders can create a better FF7 spin-off then Square themselves. [credit: Slashdot]
-A Mexican Wow player by the name of Bronco Carson was constantly killing a certain character in the game. That certain character A) Decides to stop playing, B) Report him to the admin, C) Has her husband and a couple other guys find out where he lives and beat the holy crap out of him. Screw that Visa crap, THIS is a function needed in the game! [credit: ActionTrip
-A student at the Houston-area Clements High School was arrested, expelled from graduation, and was sent to an "Alternative Education Center" for making a Counter-Strike map based on his High School. Many people think they're going too far with the punishment, but honestly, WHAT THE HELL WAS THIS KID THINKING?! "I'm going to go make a Counter-Strike map of my school! Just because someone killed 32 people at THEIR school doesn't mean they'll immediately have a problem with what I'M doing, right?" Idiot. [credit: Slashdot]
-Viva Pinata won top honors in the Parents' Choice Award Program, basically for being the best game targeted to babies. I guess now Xbox 360 is the new "kiddy" console. [credit: Gamasutra]
-If you ever wondered who wins in a fight between PS3 and Xbox 360, it's the PS3. How? Simple: PS3 overheats so badly that the heat it emits is powerful enough to completely kill an Xbox 360. Don't believe me? Here's John Davidson's to prove it. [credit: 1UP]
-Bioware's upcoming RPG Mass Effect has been delayed to September...even though it didn't actually have a release date in the first place. [credit: CVG]
-Sony is starting to do a new ad campaign with the slogan "Dude, Get Your Own". Dudes at Sony, you need to hitting up that carpet and quit listening to cheese and think of something MORE ORIGINAL! Sqiurrels please. [credit: GameDaily, Gamasutra]
-In other "I'm surprised they haven't gone out of business yet" news, Atari laid off 20% of it's employees. [credit: Gamasutra]
-Even though GTA4 is coming to the Xbox 360, Rockstar says that the development hasn't been easy. While PS3 has the hard drive right out of the box and Blu-Ray has more storage, some Xbox 360's may not have a hard drive and it's in the DVD format. No doubt someone at Sony is laughing, knowing they were right with having the advantage of a hard drive and Blu-Ray right out of the box. [credit: GameDaily]
-According to a survey done by AlixPartners LLP, Sony was ranked #1 amongst consumers as the Most Powerful/Trusted Brand based on their AlixPartners Brand Power Index. [credit: GameDaily]
The Other Crap
OTHERLY GAME PREVIEWS
Several months ago I mentioned about this interactive movie game site called "Mystery at Mansfield Manor". Turns out that the site has been doing some good success, because the people behind that movie-game are now making an entire site for it.
Moviesyouplay.com Format: Interactive Movie Genre: Mystery (at least for MaMM)
Press Release:
SR Entertainment Inc. inks partnership deal with Stonehenge Media Group Inc. to create the world's first interactive online movie portal MoviesYouPlay.com
TORONTO, April 23 /CNW/ - With the popularity of its first online interactive movie, Mystery At Mansfield Manor, SR Entertainment Inc. has signed a long-term partnership agreement with Stonehenge Media Group Inc. to create the world's first interactive online movie portal MoviesYouPlay.com. The new Toronto-based company will focus on creating and acquiring interactive movies to meet the growing demand for better online entertainment.
"We see online interactive movies as one of the most exciting new game applications to hit the internet and mobile markets" says Glyn Evans, CEO of Stonehenge Media Group Inc. "As soon as we played the original game we knew we had a hit. The addictive nature of the concept, combined with ease of play, will undoubtedly attract a massive audience."
"I'm thrilled about the partnership," says Rory Scherer of SR Entertainment Inc, "Stonehenge provides the perfect combination of technical and creative expertise to take the games to a whole new level. Our existing customers will now have access to more advanced and higher quality interactive movie games."
MoviesYouPlay.com develops, acquires, and retails original interactive movie games for internet and mobile applications.
Stonehenge Media Group Inc. is a digital media company instrumental in the development of new media including DVD, HDTV and web based video. Stonehenge is Toronto's leading producer of High Definition DRTV, in-store video and broadcast television programming worldwide. www.stonehenge.ca
SR Entertainment Inc. is the creator of the original interactive movie game concept and the Mystery of Mansfield Manor web site. MysteryatMansfieldManor.com is the original beta test site for the Online Interactive Movie concept. Enthusiastic players describe the game as combining the best elements of the film version of the popular game "Clue" and the "Choose your own Adventure" book series.
For further information: Glyn Evans, Stonehenge Media Group Inc., (416)
537-2100 ext 220
I was originally going to make a rant about how ripped off I feel about ordering Wrestlemania 23 since the matches at Backlash and FREE TV were done better, but instead, I'm going to link to Larry Csonka's 3R's of Backlash where he basically said the same thing I was feeling. As for my rant, I sent it to Csonka and he wound up posting it.
But while I'm on the subject of feeling ripped off, I'd also like to mention that TNA's Destination X left such a bad aftertaste (all those gimmick matches and NO FEUD WAS RESOLVED) that I didn't bother ordering Lockdown, one of TNA's big 3 PPV's. Even though I'll definitely order Slammiversary (Samoa Joe better win that damn title), I'm not sure what PPV's I'll order from TNA after that point. I like TNA and I really, REALLY want to support them, but it's becoming so hard to become a fan of something they're screwing up for basically no reason.
Here's the latest example: Sting vs. Angle. A lot of people hated TNA for giving it away for Free TV, but TNA tried defending themselves by saying it was to get a better rating.
Even if I were to agree with TNA, they STILL screwed up. If they wanted to pop a rating with this match so bad, why the hell was it the OPENING MATCH and it only went FOUR MINUTES and ended IN A FREAKING DOUBLE DQ INTERFERANCE?! That higher rating TNA wanted so badly was thrown out the window because after that match, there was basically NO POINT to the rest of the show. If TNA really wanted to use that match to get a higher rating, they should've done it as the main event two weeks from the official announcement (with them doing two tapings at once, one week doesn't cut it) and have that match go 20 to 30 minutes. Maybe then the TV rating would've been higher. But honestly, I'm just speculating.
So then who's to blame for this fiasco? Vince "Gimmicks mean nothing to me" Russo for likely being the one behind this idea, or Jeff Jarrett and Dutch Mantel for not trying to stop this? Honestly, I think all three of them need to go. TNA needs to go back to the original writing team or start a new one from scratch. You know, I don't think Paul Heyman is doing much these days...
BANNERS? WE DON'T NEED NO STINKING BANNERS!
The more I start see banners for other columns around this site, the more I feel tempted in getting one myself. Should I get a banner? Tell me what you guys think.
PROGRESS GAMING
Upcoming Season's Title: Final Fantasy XII
I got FF12 for Christmas but between Guitar Hero II and the Wii, never started playing it. So I figured this summer I'm going to focus solely on this game. Will I actually complete this game instead of getting bored 40 hours in? Will I be able to stay awake during the 30 minute cutscenes? Stay tuned all Summer to find out!
The thought of long cutscenes just reminded me of a game I played a long time ago; Star Ocean 2. I decided to start as the catgirl (I don't remember her name and I don't care), and 30 minutes later I forever hated Star Ocean 2. See, once I picked the catgirl, those 30 minutes I wasted were for cutscene after cutscene after fucking cutscene! Of course, since the catgirl was a mage instead of a fighter, she got her ass kicked in the first battle. Man did that game ever suck.
GAMING CALENDAR
Week of May 7th - Xbox Live Dashboard Updates
That's this week, hence the bold lettering.
May 16th - Halo 3 Beta to be released
June 5th - Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary to be released
They're taking the first game which for a while was the only good game and remaking it using a somewhat improved TR: Legend engine. Should be a decent game.
