The Select and Start News Report: 10.01.07
Posted by Vincent Chiucchi on 10.01.2007
Jack Thompson could be losing his license, companies interested in buying SCi/Eidos, and other news that I swear have nothing to do with Halo 3.
Welcome to the Select and Start News Report, where I'm trying my best to not mention anything about Halo 3. We know what it is, we know how much it's loved, and all the news can be summarized pretty much by reading The Full Circle. So with that in mind, was there anything else going on that had nothing to do with Halo 3?
Well, somewhat.
Big News
And now it's time for news about everyone's favorite lawyer...
[credit: Slashdot, GamePolitics]
Good old JT is in the news again, this time because he's trying to stop Halo 3 in his fight against Norm Kent, who runs the National Gay News website, he submitted evidence which included pornographic images of gay men having sex which come from sites listed at NGN. Judge Jordan was not too pleased at what Thompson did and sent this message:
The attached exhibit, which includes several graphic images of oral and genital sex between adult males, was filed electronically in the docket in this case, without prior permission from the court...to the extent that the other attorney's alleged conduct is in any way relevant...there was no need for Mr. Thompson to file these graphic images in the public record. A simple reference to the website and its alleged links would have sufficed...through his actions, Mr. Thompson made available for unlimited public viewing, on the court's docketing system, these graphic images. For this reason, by October 5, 2007, Mr. Thompson shall show cause why this incident should not be referred to the court's Ad Hoc Committee on Attorney Admissions, Peer Review, and Attorney Grievance for appropriate action.
But the really messed up part is that this isn't the first time Thompson has done this. Apparently he got in trouble for the exact same thing back in April. C'mon JT, you know better then that, don't you?
I hope not.
WHO'S BIDDING FOR SCI/EIDOS? [credit: Gamasutra, GameDaily, GameSpot]
The bidding for game publisher SCi, owners of Eidos Interactive (the guys behind Tomb Raider and Hitman), has had some new bidders last week. At first SCi/Eidos confirmed a bid from an unknown source, later turning out to be Ubisoft. But now two new bids have emerged; one from media conglomerate Time Warner and a "Chinese company" with no name given. There are also rumors that EA could be bidding for Eidos, but that would complicate the issue since EA holds 25% of the voting rights for Ubisoft. All this speculation of who's going to get the company has seen SCi's share price continue to rise, with the company now valued at around 300 pounds million ($607 million).
In other SCi/Eidos news, they recently posted a loss of 30 million pounds ($60.7 million), blaming the loss on "timing of product launches and weaker retail prices on old generation platforms." The company also believes that the PS3 needs to drop it's price so it can get a better audience.
Tidbit News
-Okay, here's ONE bit of Halo 3 news: At a Best Buy near Microsoft headquarters, Bill Gates himself checked the ID of the person buying the first copy of the game the store had. He also autographed the game. [credit: GameDaily]
-Fuck VH1. Guitar Hero III is what really brings the bands back together. Activision persuaded The Sex Pistols to get back together in order to record the master track for "Anarchy in the U.K.", along with other tracks not yet revealed. [credit: GameDaily]
-People at Infogrames recently stated that they will reveal their plan to finally make the black hole of losses known as Atari profitable. [credit: GameDaily]
-Seeds, the company created by many former Clover Studios staff members, have announced a new partnership with ODD Corporation and a studio rename to Platinum Games. [credit: Gamasutra]
-Have you heard the news that some kid murdered his sister because he got interrupted during a game of BioShock? Yeah well that was fake. Plus, who the hell cares about BioShock anymore? It's all about Halo 3 now! [credit: Destructoid]
-Nintendo has become so successful as of late that they are now the second most valuable stock in Japan with a market value of ¥8.39 trillion ($73.38bn) and shares up 3.1 percent on Tuesday at ¥59,200 ($518.01). [credit: Gamasutra]
-The open beta for Nexon's (the guys that do Maple Story) Kart Rider is going to start tomorrow, October 2. A lot of people were excited for this at Digital Life, so there's no doubt it's going to be become really big here. Plus, unlike Maple Story, it's not an unbalanced piece of crap. [credit: Gamasutra]
-The rumors of the $399 PS3 continues, as Newsweek's N'Gai Croal says "Sony placed a sizable order for 40 gigabyte hard drives" and that profit and losses on hardware are now handled by different regions of Sony, meaning each region can set the PS3 price to their liking. So if Croal's sources are correct, he says we could be seeing a $399 40GB PS3 in North America by Thanksgiving, with the 80GB PS3 being reduced to $499. [credit: GameDaily]
-Speaking of companies buying other companies, Activision has announced that it has acquired UK developer Bizarre Creations (PGR, Geometry Wars) in their ongoing strategy to enter new genres. Bizarre assured fans the new ownership will be "hands off" and does not represent financial trouble within the developer itself. [credit: Gamasutra, GameDaily]
-Electronic Arts' EA Link digital content shop has been shut down, with a new EA Store put in its place. Additionally, a new EA Download Manager application is now a required install to purchase and manage downloads of games. [credit: Gamasutra]
-Clive Barker's Jericho is apparently too violent for a game in Germany, so the game has received no rating by the Unterhaltungssoftware Selbskontrolle (USK), meaning that the game won't be advertised or sold in any big retail chains and those under 18 can't buy the game (at first I said it can't be sold here, but Axel quickly corrected my mistake). Codemasters, publishers of the game, will not alter the game in any way and will be released in the US with an M rating. This is yet another game to suffer this fate in Germany, joining Dead Rising, Manhunt 2, and Gears of War. [credit: Gamasutra, GameDaily]
-The Championship Gaming Series (CGS) announced that its 2007 World Championship heads to Los Angeles from December 6-14. The worldwide league plans to highlight 12 top teams who will battle for a $1 million total purse, with $500,000 going to one 10-member World Champion team. [credit: GameDaily]
-In the latest news on the Silicon Knights vs. Epic lawsuit, Epic filed a court document saying that Silicon Knight's latest counterclaims should be disregarded because "Silicon Knights' arguments are factually misplaced and at odds with the law." [credit: Gamasutra] The Other Crap
ARE YOU LISTENING TNA?!
This is something funny I heard in Smackdown vs. RAW 2007 that I forgot to mention a couple weeks back. In season mode there's a storyline where Trish Stratus cheats her way into becoming the WWE Champion, and JR gets pissed about it because she's not allowed to win that title. He says it'd be like if a Super Heavyweight won the Cruiserweight title, or if a singles competitor won the Tag Team titles! Sound familiar?
DIGITAL LIFE EXPO
I went to the Digital Life Expo over the weekend, and I'll talk all about it Wednesday in a special column. Videos of new games, other electronics I came across, and what I wound up going home with.
CHRIS JERICHO COMING BACK?
So a lot of the hints based on that "Save us 222" ad during RAW has people thinking that Jericho is coming back to WWE. Even though the evidence is supportive to the theory, after reading the "Happy-Go-Sucky News Report", it made me remember something about Jericho:
A couple years ago Jericho had that picture on his website, which he admitted to putting on there to mess with our heads. This ad from WWE and/or Jericho could very well be the same thing. Overall, I think Steve Sullivan puts it best:
Keep your mind closed. An open mind is a toilet bowl for Vince McMahon to poop in.
WEEKLY SMASH BROS. ROUNDUP
I can't believe it's already just going to be two months until the game finally arrives. Here's the new stuff that we learned from last week:
-Trophies. Looks like the stickers aren't going to replace them. You still collect them, they still have bios, but now there are thumbnail pictures to look at too.
-Diddy Kong's Final Smash. Diddy Kong gets his rocket barrels on and flies everywhere shooting with a more powerful peanut gun. It ends in a big explosion and any peanuts that missed foes can be eaten for health.
-Mr.Resetti. Instead of actually assisting, he just bitches forever about how GameSpot gave Halo a 9.5 he should've been a character in the game instead of an assist trophy.
-Pokemon Trainer's Final Smash. Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Charizard all come out at once doing three of the biggest Pokemon attacks: Hydro Pump, Solarbeam, and Fire Blast. A text box even pops up and says that the attack is "Super Effective!"
-Tourney Mode. The tournament mode from Melee is back and looks a lot easier to customize.
GAMING CALENDAR
October 9th
-Half-Life 2: Episode 2 "orange box" to be released
-Fury to be released
October 11th - Microsoft to release Xbox 360 Elite in Japan
October 19th - Tabula Rasa to be released
October 26th - Crysis Demo to be released
NEW: October 28th - Guitar Hero III to be released
NEW: October 30th - Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction to be released
Delayed one week.
October 31st
-Hellgate: London to be released
-Dementium: The Ward to be released
November 5th:
-Area 51: Blacksite to be released
-Call of Duty 4 to be released
November 12th - Super Mario Galaxy to be released
November 16th - Crysis to be released
November 20th:
-Rock Band release date?
-Mass Effect to be released
NEW: Kane & Lynch to be released
NEW: Mario & Sonic at the Olympics to be released
NEW: Uncharted: Drake's Fortune to be released
Holy crap! November 20th is suddenly becoming the biggest day of the gaming year.
December 3rd - Smash Bros. Brawl to be released
February 2008 - No More Heroes to be released
March 1st, 2008 - Metal Gear Solid 4 to be released
March 8th, 2008 - God of war: Chains of Olympus to be released
April 2008 - Grand Theft Auto IV to be released
Guys locked up at King Koopa's Coney Island Disco Palace
[credit: Slashdot, GamePolitics]
