The Select and Start News Report: 05.19.08
Posted by Vincent Chiucchi on 05.19.2008
Sega teams up with Platinum Games, Wii Fit calls a little girl fat, Banjo and Kazooie making their return, Guitar Hero starts imitating the Guitar Hero imitator, Konami attempts to reclaim the music game throne, Nintendo loses a lawsuit, and THE WORST PS3 AD EVER! All that and more!
Welcome to the Select and Start News Report, where all gamertags, regardless of how ridiculous it sounds, are allowed.
Big News
COMPANY WITH BAD GAMES TOO MANY PEOPLE BUY TEAMS UP WITH COMPANY WITH GOOD GAMES NOT ENOUGH PEOPLE BUY [credit: Gamasutra, Joystiq, GameDaily, 1UP]
Sega has announced a four title deal with Platinum Games, the company with people from the former Capcom studio Clover Studios that were behind Okami, Devil May Cry, Viewtiful Joe, God Hand, and other titles. Set to come out in 2009, these are three of the four games that have been announced.
MADWORLD: This is a Wii-exclusive action title by Atsushi Inaba. The graphics take on a black and white tone as you go head to head with other combatants in a over-the-top ultraviolent bloodfest using environmental weapons complete with sports commentary. The game is also directed by Shigenori Nishikawa, who also worked on Dino Crisis 2 and Resident Evil 4. The graphics look weird with it being all black and white, but the premise sounds fun.
Infinite Line: A DS space RPG being made by Inaba and Nude Maker's Hifumi Kouno, the creator of Steel Battalion. Sega says the game will give players the ability to "control, build, outfit and customize more than 150 spaceships," with over 200 characters, and multiple controllable ships. That's all the details at this point, and so far it doesn't seem that interesting to me.
Bayonetta: This one is being done by the man who created Okami, Viewtiful Joe, and Devil May Cry, Hideki Kamiya. This is an action title with a witch named Bayonetta battling angels in a modern setting. Kamiya says this title is going to be about all-out action, and wants this title to move the action genre forward. Considering this guy is behind some great titles, Bayonetta is already looking promising.
The only thing known about the fourth game in this deal is that it will be done by the creator of Resident Evil, Shinji Mikami.
GUITAR HERO IV TO FEATURE VOCALS AND DRUMS, SORT OF LIKE ANOTHER GAME I KNOW... [credit: GameDaily, GameSpot]
Remember some time ago when Activision said it was no surprise that Guitar Hero would have imitators when talking about Rock Band? You know, the game created by the people who created Guitar Hero in the first place before Activision bought Red Octane? Well, I couldn't help but think of that quote when Activision announced that the next official sequel to the Guitar Hero series will have, along with song creations, VOCALS and DRUMS. The drums will require a separate peripheral and based on it's design, won't be compatible with Rock Band (likewise, Rock Band's drums won't work with GH4).
The song creation sounds cool, but vocals and drums? In a game called GUITAR Hero? Okay, the DS Guitar Hero was one thing, but I don't mind it so much because it brings something unique to the DS, so it still could be a great game. But Guitar Hero IV is now going to feature singing and drumming, which last time I checked, wasn't the whole damn point of the series and looks to be a desparate attempt to not lose any of it's fans to Rock Band. At this rate, here's where I think the GH franchise is going:
KONAMI ANNOUNCES ROCK REVOLUTION, MORE DDR GAMES [credit: Gamasutra, 1UP, GameDaily]
Speaking of music, the guys who started the music genre in the first place announced Rock Revolution, their own version of the guitar/bass/drum style of gameplay. Rock Revolution will also have it's own drum set that has six pads and a pedal. Also announced was three new titles for Dance Dance Revolution to celebrate the series' 10th Anniversary: Dance Dance Revolution X for the PlayStation 2, Dance Dance Revolution Universe 3 for the Xbox 360, and Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party 2 for the Nintendo Wii. DDRX will have a fitness program, DDRU3 features modes to make your own songs and fight bosses, and DDRHP2 incorporates the Wii and Nunchuk along with the Miis.
Oh great, ANOTHER drum set?! I'm pretty sure because this thing uses six pads instead of four that it's not going to be compatible with the other games as well, and the other drums won't work for Rock Revolution. There just isn't going to be enough room for these peripherals anymore. Other then that, Rock Revolution will probably be a great game. As for DDR, that franchise is only 10 years old? After releasing about a kajillion games? Wow.
WII FIT TELLS 10-YEAR-OLD GIRL SHE'S FAT [credit: Destructoid, Yahoo!]
While Wii Fit has become extremely popular in the UK and Japan, it's popularity and credibility here in the US might take a nosedive after this story broke out. A 10-year-old girl from South-East Britain was playing Wii Fit and according to Wii Fit's built-in BMI, she was considered fat. This of course made the girl and her father extremely upset. Nintendo officially apologized, but said that the resulting figures may not be entirely accurate for younger age groups.
I find this story to be hilarious. Also, I think the BMI is just complete crap. I inputed some numbers of athletes who are nowhere even close to be considered fat, yet based on the BMI calculator, they'd be obese. Do Matt Morgan and John Cena look like fatasses to you? Screw the BMI.
BANJO AND KAZOOIE RETURN TO THE XBOX 360 [credit: Gamasutra, Destructoid, 1UP]
Ever since Rare jumped ship from Nintendo to Microsft, the Banjo-Kazooie franchise looked to be laid to rest as Rare would stumble for a while until finally hitting success with Viva Pinata. Well, after laying low from the consoles for about eight years, Banjo and Kazooie are coming back in Rare's upcoming Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. This one however isn't going to be like the last two games, as most of it will have you create vehicles for Banjo to use as he goes around looking for the puzzle pieces. According to BK creator Gregg Mayles, the game will consist of "around 80% vehicles."
Nice to see this series make a comeback, and at least it isn't going to attempt to be some kind of Mario clone. Though the last time I saw a popular talking animal suddenly driving around in vehicles, the game was atrocious.
Speaking of Rare, they're also making a Viva Pinata game for the DS. A Microsoft game on a rival's handheld?! That's sure to cause a scan...oh, Microsoft says there's no conflict over it.
This week's lawsuit is all about the one thing that seems to fuck over big companies countless times: PATENTS. This week's victim of patent infringement was Nintendo, who have been ordered to pay $21 million to Anascape Ltd., an East Texas company, for infringing on a patent with its Gamecube and Wii Classic controllers. The lawduit was originally filed back in 2006. The decision was made by a federal jury ruling in favor of Anascape. Microsoft was also part of this lawsuit but settled with Anascape outside of court. Nintendo will of course appeal the decision and expects the court to "significantly" reduce the penalty.
I need to make a patent for a DualShock 4. Then wait several years until Sony makes one and sue their asses for millions.
Tidbit News
-19-year-old Gamer John Tyler Hammons was elected mayor of Muskogee, a city of 38,000 in Oklahoma. Hopefully this means the state won't waste it's tax dollars on creating asinine censorship laws that the ESA will fight (and win) against. [credit: GamePolitics]
-Speaking of video gaming mayors, Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert (R) played some Guitar Hero III at a charity event for children's education. Why can't we have more politicians like this? [credit: GamePolitics]
-CBS has bought out CNet, the company that owns GameSpot, for $1.8 billion, at $11.50 per share, a 45% premium over CNet's closing stock price on Wednesday. Expect games related to CBS programming to start receiving higher scores then usual. [credit: Joystiq, Gamasutra, GameDaily]
-At Microsoft's recent media event, they're "confident" that the Xbox 360 will live out a 7-year life span, which I find surprising considering some Xbox 360s can't even live out a 7-month life span. [credit: CVG]
-Grand Theft Auto 4 has officially received the "Highest Grossing Video Game in 24 Hours" and the "Highest Revenue Generated by an Entertainment Product in 24 Hours" records from the Guinness World Records committee. Niko Bellic celebrated by getting drunk and driving in order to score points. [credit: GameSpot]
-In the race to reach 10 million units sold in the US, the Xbox 360 has won, though still losing the global race to the Wii. Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices VP Don Mattrick said that history has shown that the console to reach the 10 million mark wins the console battle. [credit: Gamasutra, CVG]
-Sony seems to be having a good week sales wise. PSP is still the best selling console of the week in Japan, their video game division has seen a 26.3% sales increase, saw a year-over-year growth of 410% for PS3 software sales in April (mostly thanks to GTA4), a 68.6% year-over-year growth for PSP software sales, and in that month, the DualShock 3 had sales of $10.9 million. 2008 is looking pretty good for Sony. [credit: GameDaily, Gamasutra]
Gaming Calendar
May 19th - Wii Fit to be released
May 20th:
-Haze (PS3) to be released
-Blast Works (Wii) to be released
May 27th:
-Mass Effect ported to the PC
-Hail to the Chimp (PS3, X360) to be released
-Death Jr.: Root of Evil to be released
Spring 2008 - Heroes of Might and Magic Kingdoms (PC) to be released
June 3rd - Ninja Gaiden II (X360) to be released
June 12th - Metal Gear Solid 4 (PS3) to be released
June 28-29 - Blizzard's Worldwide Invitational convention to be held
June 2008 - Guitar Hero: Aerosmith (PS3, X360) to be released
July 8th - Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon (Wii) to be released
July 22nd - Final Fantasy IV DS to be released
August 1st - EA Land (PC, formerly The Sims Online) will close down
Summer 2008 - Air Traffic Chaos (DS) to be released
September 7th - Spore (PC) to be released
September 2008 - TNA iMPACT (Multi) to be released
October 2008 - LittleBigPlanet (PS3) to be released
October 3-5 - E for All 2008 to be held
October 9-13 - The Tokyo Game Show 2008 to be held
November 2008 - Gears of War 2 (X360) to be released
Fall 2008:
-Resistance: Fall of Man 2 (PS3) to be released
-MySims Kingdom (DS, Wii) to be released
-Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (DS) to be released
This ad is worse then EVERYTHING
Oh man, not even the Bible could get as bad as this. Remember those "This is Living" commercials for the PS3 that were so nonsensical that it caused the Wii to sell millions of units? We just might have a new champion for "Worst PS3 Ad". Granted, Sony has not actually approved of this and has since cut ties with the company that came up with it. The ad shows a mysterious naked man whose penis is actually a thumb. But, when you first look at it, it doesn't exactly look like a thumb. In fact, even when I KNOW it's a thumb, it still looks like a penis to me. Since the ad is totally NSFW, I've censored it with something just slightly less horrifying.
The Video of the Day
From the people that gave you the thumb dick also created this commercial:
Mega Man 9?
My friends tell me that there is a Mega Man 9 but it was only released in Japan. I'm thinking they got their info wrong, but they insist it actually exists. If anybody has solid proof that there is a Mega Man 9 out there, please let me know.
That's just embarrassingly low, for the both of us. I've seen that ad and made sure I didn't comment on it.
Posted By: Mark Salmela (Registered) on May 19, 2008 at 12:56 AM
its actually called Rockman & Forte in Japan, but apparently, it's not Mega Man 9 which is bizarre. they released it here in the US for the gba as Megaman & Bass. awesome game, awesome music. the SNES version is better in my opinion but the gba version is just as good
Posted By: zer0vrs (Registered) on May 19, 2008 at 01:18 AM
People shouldn't use WiiFit as an indicator of their weight anyway. Use a set of scales for that.
And how did a 19 year old become a mayor. Why can't I be a mayor?
Posted By: Brent (Guest) on May 19, 2008 at 04:51 AM
"Niko Bellic celebrated by getting drunk and driving in order to score points."
That's funny right there, I don't care who you are.
Posted By: Toddo (Guest) on May 19, 2008 at 12:44 PM
