The Select and Start News Report: 02.11.08
Posted by Vincent Chiucchi on 02.11.2008
HD-DVD getting cheaper and dying(?), PS3 starting to get a Greatest Hits list, competitive eating joins the consoles, ex-marine goes missing after playing Call of Duty 4, and more
Welcome to the Select and Start News Report. Please wait 20 minutes for it to load before reading.
Big News
ANOTHER NAIL IN HD-DVD'S COFFIN? [credit: GameDaily, GameSpot, Gamasutra]
Ever since Warner Bros decided to go exclusively with Blu-Ray (causing HBO and New Line to do the same thing), there's been a lot of talk about if the format wars is coming to an end. There's also been plenty of word from Microsoft that they MIGHT consider Blu-Ray, but are still supporters of HD-DVD. Meanwhile, HD-DVD players and movies have seen price cuts and special sales. This week, another price cut occurs for HD-DVD: The Xbox 360's add-on. The HD-DVD add-on is now $129, cut down from $179. According to Microsoft, this is because of the success of the HD-DVD rather then it's supposed demise. You also get five free movies with the add-on.
It really looks like they're trying to sell in order to jump ship, but who knows? Maybe cheaper HD-DVDs could be the solution. Blu-Ray saw a spike basically because the PS3 was a cheap Blu-Ray player for a while. But that's a small possibility. By this rate, Blu-Ray might be the format winner by the end of this year.
PS3 GETS NEW COLOR, GREATEST HITS [credit: Gamasutra, GameDaily]
Sony Computer Entertainment Japan (SCEJ) have announced that the PS3 will have a line-up of budget priced titles for it's greatest series called "PlayStation 3 The Best". The first five titles announced as The Best are Folklore, Resistance: Fall of Man, Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Mobile Suit Gundam: Target in Sight (aka Crossfire) and Ridge Racer 7. Also available soon will be a new "Satin Silver" colored version of the 40GB version of the console. No word on when the US or Europe will be starting it's own "The Best" line-up or have the new silver color.
Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire is considered one of the best in Japan? Will the Japanese just about buy anything with the name "Gundam" on it? Or do us Americans just don't know how "good" of a game it really is?
YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME [credit: 1UP, GameSpot, Gamasutra]
Mastiff Games, a San Francisco-based publisher, has acquired the video game licence for the Major League Eating competitions. The league oversees "big time events" such as the July 4th hot dog eating contest form last year. The publishers say it will play like a fighting game, where players will use offensive and defensive weapons including burps, belches, and mustard gas.
I don't have anything against competetive eating. In fact, I went to that hot dog eating contest last year and loved it, especially since Chestnut beat Kobayashi. But really, I think this is going to turn out terrible because competitive eating can not translate well into a video game. Odds are this competetive eating game will just be a glorified button masher.
EX-MARINE GOES MISSING AFTER PLAYING CALL OF DUTY 4 [credit: GamePolitics, Destructoid, Joystiq]
Eric Hall, a former Marine who was badly injured in Iraq, is missing from his home in Florida. Hall's family fears that his post-traumatic stress disorder may have been aggravated by playing Call of Duty 4. According to friends, Hall was playing the game, then he said he got up and had to go. He left his home on a motorcycle, which was found on the side of a road. Hall was not only seriously injured in Iraq, but he also witnessed his friend get decapitated right in front of him. Since then Hall had been suffering from flashbacks and hallucinations.
Playing a game like Call of Duty 4 when you go through something like that? Definitely something he shouldn't have been doing. Regardless, I wish Hall's family and friends the best in finding him safe.
And now it's time for the latest news from one of the biggest controversies of 2007:
[credit: GameDaily]
Yet another staffer has left GameSpot over the Jeff Gerstmann firing; Ryan Davis, a close friend of Gerstmann. This is what Davis had to say in a blog post about Jeff leaving GameSpot back in December:
"It's been almost 8 years since I started working at GameSpot, and Jeff was there for nearly all of my fondest and most memorable experiences on the job. ... Simply put, I would not be in the video game business at all were it not for Jeff Gerstmann, and I am loathe to imagine what I might be doing with my life right now without the focus I've earned from having this ridiculous job. ... But now, Jeff's gone, and I'm not afraid to say that it absolutely breaks my heart. I felt the departure of Rich Gallup from the site earlier this year in my bones, but this goes deeper. Jeff was a rare constant, and this marks the end of an era for both GameSpot and myself, a fact that doesn't seem to be getting any less upsetting for me."
GameSpot Editor-in-Chief Ricardo Torres, who a couple of weeks ago talked about wanting to regain gamers' trust for the website, said that Davis is leaving because Davis thought it was time to move on, and staying with GameSpot would just bring everybody down, though he admits that Gerstmann leaving was a big factor for him.
Tidbit News
-Capcom have announced details of the company's financial third quarter, with net sales rising by 4.8% to ¥51.66 billion ($484.5m) but net income dropping by 17.8% to ¥3.57 billion ($33.5m). Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles is almost reaching one million units in sales, Monster Hunter still continues to do very well in Japan, and they expect Devil May Cry 4 to sell nearly two million units by March. [credit: GameDaily, Gamasutra]
-Konami has announced total corporate sales up slightly to $902.1 million and profits up 22.7 percent to $109 million in its third quarter. Sports games played the most significant role in Konami's third-quarter performance, with the publisher calling out World Soccer Winning Eleven 2008, Jikkyou Pawafuru Major League 2, and Jikkyou Pawafuru Puroyakyu 14 as top sellers in Europe and Japan. [credit: GameSpot, Gamasutra]
-The Writers Guild of America, who apparently are ending their strike soon, are creating a new category for their 2008 Writers Guild Award for video games. The initial nominees for this award are "Crash of the Titans" by Christopher Mitchell, "Dead Head Fred" by Dave Ellis and Adam Cogan, "The Simpsons Game" by lead writer Matt Selman and others, "The Witcher" by lead story designer Artur Ganszyniec and others, and "World in Conflict," by Christofe Emgard and others. [credit: GameDaily]
-Apparently there was a Grand Theft Auto movie quietly being made in the works between Take-Two and an unamed movie studio, with Eminem being in the starring role. But now that project has fallen apart as the last minute. Rockstar says they weren't involved in this project in any way, and they are currently not interested in making a GTA movie. [credit: GameSpot]
-Call of Duty 4 won the overall game of the year and console game of the year awards as the 11th annual Interactive Achievement Awards held during the 2008 D.I.C.E. Summit. It also won action game of the year and outstanding achievement in online game play. [credit: GameDaily]
-The Wii has been great for Nintendo, but horrible for arcade owners. Namco is going to close 20% of it's amustment arcades due to what they cite as the Wii's success. Sega Sammy Holdings recently announced plans to close around 100 of its arcades, while Capcom also stated that it's arcade division has been "stagnant". [credit: Gamasutra]
Saving Private Ryan Rant (not game related)
So as I was working on this my dad had Saving Private Ryan on and I watched a couple parts. I watched the beginning where all those soldiers are on the beach where the three brothers die, and at one point during the whole shootout, a guy gets shot on his helmet. So what does this guy do? He TAKES OFF the helmet to check out the bullet hole, and then gets shot through the head while I was sitting there thinking "Don't take off your helmet you idiot!" Later on I see this scene where a soldier decides to help a little girl even though the commander says not to. This guy also takes off his helmet, gets shot in the back or leg or something and falls to the ground, not able to get up. The enemy sniper has a very clear shot of shooting this guy in the head because he's got no helmet, but apparently felt sorry for the guy because he was holding up an envelope or something decides to find and shoot someone else. The enemy sniper is quickly killed by another sniper, and I'm thinking he's an even bigger idiot then the people who take off their helmets.
I've never been in a war and I hope I never to go a war and go through something like Eric Hall, but I'd think if I was in the middle of a battle, I wouldn't take off my damn helmet!
Gaming Calendar
February 12th - Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney to be released
February 26th - Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors to be released
March 2008 - WiiWare service to be released?
March 4th - Army of Two to be released
March 8th - God of war: Chains of Olympus to be released
March 9th - Super Smash Bros. Brawl to be released
March 11th
-Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates to be released
-Condemned 2 to be released
March 25th - FFVII: Crisis Core to be released
NEW: April 4th - Myst Online to be discontinued
GameTap.com will be shutting down the Myst Online: Uru Live servers due to what GameTap said was for business reasons.
April 25th - Grand Theft Auto IV to be released
Rockstar made it official over the week. Hopefully, unlike the last GTA game and Mass Effect, this won't have any sex scenes of sorts. But then again, Fox will probably still make something up about it.
Spring 2008
-Heroes of Might and Magic Kingdoms to be released
-The World Ends With You to be released
2nd Quarter 2008 - Metal Gear Solid 4 to be released
September 2008 - LittleBigPlanet to be released
October 9-13 - The Tokyo Game Show 2008 to be held
Fall 2008 - Resistance: Fall of Man 2 to be released
Video of the Day
This truly is the "Cruelest Mario", especially for using Action 52 music.
Regardless of the health of the format, the 360 add-on HAD to drop in price - the standalones were cheaper, for crying out loud. Going cheap - with a 'buy it now for $149' ad for HD DVD players during the Super Bowl - might save the format, but I won't hold my breath.
Posted By: Rod Oracheski (Registered) on February 11, 2008 at 05:17 AM
The sniper did't feel sorry for Vin Diesel's character. The sniper was using him as bait. He wanted to tag more soldiers. About the soldier that took off his helmet, he marveled at the fact the helmet saved his life. He thought he was lucky because the bullet didn't penetrate his skull (it to a second bullet to do the job). You are civilian (nothing more/nothing less). You must be a highly decorated soldier to have the nerve to call someone stupid. Oh wait. Your just write for 411mania. I apologize for confusing you with someone important.
Posted By: David R. (Guest) on February 11, 2008 at 11:07 PM
