The Select and Start News Report: 10.22.07
Posted by Vincent Chiucchi on 10.22.2007
Sony officially releases 40GB PS3, MMO's really are bad for you, Halo equals money, a future where only one console exists(?), and more
Welcome to the Select and Start News Report. I don't have any catchy intro this week, so I'm going to say is keep an eye out for Zack and Wiki. It just might be the best Wii game to come out not created by Nintendo, and we all know the Wii can really use a game like that right now.
Big News
IT FINALLY HAPPENS: SONY RELEASES 40GB PS3 [credit: GameDaily, Gamasutra]
We've seen it happen in other countries, and we've heard the rumors for so long. But now, FINALLY, the 40GB PS3 is officially coming to America at a $399 price tag. The 40GB PS3 will be available November 2 and come with a Blu-Ray copy of Spider-Man 3. It also only has two USB 2.0 ports instead of four and has no backwards compatibility. The 80GB PS3 will be slashed to $499.
So now the PS3 has become the same price as the original price of the Premium Xbox 360. The loss of backwards compatibility, apparently from I've seen, is not that big of a deal to gamers because they'll just stick to their PS2 anyway. So folks, when you finally get the chance to buy the PS3 at a decent price, just remember to not get rid of that PS2.
N TO THE O TO THE S TO THE OPPOSITE OF MISS [credit: GameSpot]
Joshua Smyth, a professor of psychology at the prestigious Syracuse University in New York, recently proved in a study that MMORPG games do disrupt a gamers social life along with lowering their overall health and poorer sleep. Smyth drafted 100 student volunteers and divided them into four groups. He then tasked each group with a different style of gaming--arcade, console gaming with Gauntlet: Dark Legacy on the PlayStation 2, PC gaming with Diablo II, and MMORPG gaming with Dark Age of Camelot. His findings indicated that those playing DAOC averaged 14.4 hours of playtime a week, more than twice as much as the second-highest group, Diablo II.
Really? Because you know what, I think I could've proven that just by talking about that one episode of Tyra Banks with the WoW addict, or point out how some people have actually died because of their marathon MMO sessions. Maybe I should ask for a bunch of money to do pointless research. Either way, I now have even more reasons to not play MMORPGs.
Just how successful was Halo 3 in September? Here are the numbers:
-Halo 3 was such a huge success that it's being blamed for the not-huge success of movies over the October 5 weekend, which got only $80 million, a more than 25% drop year-on-year and the movie industry's worst performance for an October weekend since 1999. Well it doesn't help that there was barely any good movies to watch that weekend.
-Halo 3 has also dominated the country of Canada in September, selling nearly 182,000 copies of all three editions combined.
-So just how many copies did Halo 3 sell altogether? According to the NPD numbers, 3.3 million. Second place was Wii Play with 282,000.
-Thanks to Halo 3, game sales for September reached $1.3 billion, a 74% increase compared to last year. However, Nintendo was quick to add that the September numbers also rose because of the Wii, which sold more units that month then any other month so far.
-It also turns out sales for the Xbox 360 actually did go up thanks to Halo 3, selling 527,800 units that month, beating out the Wii's 501,000.
September was a hell of a month thanks to one game. But looking at the calendar, we've got many games coming out in November along with the cheaper PlayStation 3. Just imagine how big the numbers are going to be when AAA titles like Mario Galaxy, Call of Duty 4, and Rock Band are all out.
Last week Infogrames decided to restructure the Atari board of executives after losing money for so long. Investors, however, weren't too happy with this, claiming that Atari entered into distribution agreements that unfairly favored majority shareholder Infogrames. Coghill Capital Management, who own 1,264,145 shares in Atari, demand that Atari's Board of Directors need to reconstitute itself with a majority of independent directors, re-establish an independent audit committee, and "put an end to the sweetheart agreements with Infogrames".
And so I kick back and relax, waiting for the inevitable news report that Atari goes out of business. Or at least until their stock becomes as worthless as Phantom Entertainment's.
ONE CONSOLE TO RULE THEM ALL? [credit: Gamasutra, GameDaily]
Executive vice president and general manager of Electronic Arts International Gerhard Florin thinks its time that we only have a single open gaming platform, stating that the feud between multiple consoles create unnecessary difficulties for developers and consumers. Florin suggests that the continued use of dedicated consoles will last for up to 15 years. By then, bandwidth would be so much greater that gamers will get all of their game files by downloading to streaming, and that consumers will be buying set-top boxes rather then consoles.
Sorry Florin, but as nice a future that would be where we don't have consoles always competing against each other, the problem is that as long as there's a company out there that thinks they can make lots of money from the hardware side of things, then there's always going to be more then one console. It's been that way since the early days, when Magnavox had the Odyssey and so came the Channel F and the Atari VCS (2600). Then after the video game market crashed Nintendo came along with the NES, but then SEGA wanted to jump in and made the Master System. Then Nintendo and SEGA were battling each other until Sony jumped in, and then Sony and Nintendo were battling each other until Microsoft came in. Now we have a three way rivalry because Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft can, or at least they think they can, make money. So until everyone decides to build a universal console like companies build DVD players, there will never be only one video game console. That's how the industry was formed and that's how it's going to stay unless extreme radical changes are made.
Tidbit News
-According to surveys from The NPD Group, kids from ages 2-17 are spending more time playing video games, with the PC being the most played game system. Ages 6-8 are also most likely the time when a kid goes from casual gamer to core gamer, with total weekly gaming hours jumping 75%. [credit: GameDaily, GameSpot]
-Microsoft and Bungie announced that Seth Green of Family Guy and Robot Chicken fame will voice the role of Joker in Mass Effect.
-BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) has made Will Wright, creator of The Sims, the first representative from the video games industry to be inducted into their fellowship. The "fellowship" is the highest accolade the organization grants any individual for their creative work, which up until now was only reserved for TV and movies. Congratulations to Will Wright on this achievement. [credit: GameDaily, Gamasutra]
-Target is doing a special offer for Guitar Hero III, where you can buy the game with not one, but TWO controllers for $109.99. Frikin' Sweet! [credit: Gamasutra, GameDaily]
-Janco Partners' analyst Mike Hickey says that EA could be benefiting from the BioWare/Pandemic Studios buyout because consumers may shift from the Wii to the Xbox 360 due to the Wii being limited in both hardware and software and the Xbox 360 having games such as Halo 3 and BioShock. [credit: GameSpot]
-Majesco Entertainment announced that it has settled with several lawsuits involving their shareholders. In total, Majesco will be giving an untold amount of cash along with $2.5 million in common stock. [credit: Gamasutra, GameDaily]
-BioWare was recently named one of the Top 10 best companies to work for in 2008 by The Financial Post in Canada. [credit: GameDaily, GameSpot]
-David Dreger, known by his gamertag "Knuckles Dawson," had his 681-day Xbox achievement streak end on October 4. For the past 681 days, David would get at least one achievement every day over the past 681 days. The self proclaimed "achievement whore" says the streak came to an end when playing a good game of Halo 3 with his friend. [credit: Joystiq]
-Marketing and media magazine Advertising Age named Nintendo of America marketers of the year. Perrin Kaplan, VP of marketing and corporate affairs (but soon to be leaving), says that Nintendo saw that gamers were getting bored even before gamers realized it. This coincides with Reggie Fils-Aime recently being voted Grand Marketer of the Year by BrandWeek. [credit: GameDaily, Gamasutra]
-Activision announced that they're about to release a video game version of Dancing with the Stars for the Wii and PS2. Even though it'll thankfully be a rhythm game, why do I have the feeling it's still going to suck? [credit: GameSpot]
-The PC version of Gears of War has gone gold and is expected to hit store shelves on November 2. [credit: GameSpot]
-SEGA has announced "Sega Superstar Tennis", a tennis game featuring infamous Sega characters such as Sonic, Ulala (Space Channel 5), and Amigo (Samba de Amigo). I wonder if Mario will make a surprise cameo in the game. [credit: GameDaily]
-To those in the UK: If you buy an Xbox 360 HD-DVD player from now until January 31st, 2008, you'll get five HD-DVD movie titles for free (through a mail-in form). [credit: Gamasutra]
-Sony has reached a deal with Toshiba in which Sony will sell its Cell chip production facilities to Toshiba. This is part of Sony's plan to scale back heavy costs and to make more funds available for other parts of Sony's business. [credit: GameDaily]
The Other Crap
THE WALL OF PROTEST
The Video Game Voters Network is creating a "Wall of Protest" to represent the widespread opposition against the government's regulation of video games. Head over to the site and submit a protest picture.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
After a 9 year hiatus, Capcom will be bringing back Street Fighter in 2008 with Street Fighter 4. Here's the trailer they showed at their gaming event:
619 ON HEROES
On last week's episode of Heroes, the hero from New Orleans (forgot her name) has the power apparently to perfectly mimic somebody's actions/motions. So when the place she works at is getting robbed, she suddenly busts out a 619 on the guy because she saw the move on TV. And people thought watching wrestling was BAD for you! Well, maybe TNA wrestling, which by the way is about to dig itself a grave from what I've read for the 10/25 spoilers.
FINLAY VS. MATT HARDY #154
Speaking of wrestling, just how many freaking times are they going to have Matt Hardy vs. Finlay on Smackdown?! I mean you've even merged with ECW now! Find them some new opponents!
WEEKLY SMASH BROS. ROUNDUP
Stuff confirmed through Dojo:
-Meowth. Meowth returns from the original Smash Bros. to cast some Pay Day. Also, I've just learned that thing on it's forehead isn't a coin.
-Little Mac. Little Mac comes in and assists you by uppercutting the nearest foe into oblivion. But damn, he really is little.
-How to use the Wii Remote. In case you actually want to use something besides the Wavebird.
-Home Run Contest. it's back, this time with improvements such as "You can't fall off the damn platform" and "2 Player battles, both online and off".
-Peach's Final Smash. Everyone falls asleep and lots of peaches come down for you to recover with, unless you want to beat the crap out of everybody instead.
-New Pork City. From Mother 3, this stage is as big as Hyrule Temple from Melee. There's also an enemy that appears called the Chimera, where touching it makes you instantly die. I just hope that douchebag Pokey doesn't make an appearance in this game.
Stuff confirmed through other videos:
-Zero Suit Samus's Final Smash. She transforms back into Samus. Simple as that.
-Meta Knight's Final Smash. The screen goes dark and the game nearly stops, then suddenly Meta Knight slashes an opponent for major damage.
-Ike's Final Smash. He knocks an enemy into the air, beats the living crap out of them, then slams them back down to the ground. Almost looks like Link's Final Smash.
-Alternate Costumes. Many characters were shown with different looks. Some of the most intriguing ones were Bowser with a golden shell, Link looking like Dark Link, Meta Knight almost looking like Kirby (or maybe it was Kirby with Meta Knight's power), and Sonic looking exactly like Shadow.
-Smash Coin? Some weird gold looking coin thing appeared in Adventure Mode several times, and it MIGHT be an item that turns enemies into a trophy.
-Lightning Bolt. The item from Mario Kart is used in the game, and just like in Mario Kart, everyone in this one will get turned into a mini. I wonder if the Blue Shell will be in this game as well...
Also, from I've seen of Pit's Final Smash, apparently each of those things that fly around and hit you deal exactly 22% damage.
GAMING CALENDAR
October 26th - Crysis Demo to be released
October 28th - Guitar Hero III to be released
October 30th - Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction to be released
October 31st
-Hellgate: London to be released
-Dementium: The Ward to be released
November 2nd
-Tabula Rasa to be released
NEW: -40GB PS3 to be launched for $399
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:
-Mass Effect to be released
-Kane & Lynch to be released
-Mario & Sonic at the Olympics to be released
-Uncharted: Drake's Fortune to be released
November 23rd - Rock Band to be released
February 2008 - No More Heroes to be released
February 10th, 2008 - Super Smash Bros. Brawl 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
