The Select and Start News Report: 06.23.08
Posted by Vincent Chiucchi on 06.23.2008
A lot of people don't seem happy at Tecmo, many tidbits involving EA, new info on E3 and E For All, Metal Gear Solid 5 could be a prequel, PS3 updates gives gamers trophies, and more!
Greetings. Today may be the last Select and Start News Report you read if I wind up being drafted to another brand.
Big News
TECMO MAY BE DOA [credit: Joystiq, GameDaily, Gamasutra, 1UP, Destructoid, The Escapist]
Ever since Itagaki left Team Ninja and sued Tecmo for unpaid bonuses, many Tecmo employees apparently felt the same way. Last week it was rumored that about three dozen people were about to leave, but now it could be everybody! Another lawsuit has been brought against the company from two Tecmo employees, developers Hiroaki Ozawa and Tatsuki Tsunoda, seeking 8.3 million yen (approx. $77,000) for unpaid overtime on behalf of the company's 300 employees. The suit claims that Tecmo illegally put employees on a "flexible hours" schedule about four years ago that saw them get no extra pay for overtime work, exceeding in over 100 hours per month, and that Tecmo had created false documents to cover up the accounting documents.
It seems like the employees were unhappy for a while at Tecmo, but they just needed the right moment to call Tecmo out on their bullcrap, and Itagaki leaving them was it. Tecmo seems to realize this, and so they've placed a gag order on Itagaki, preventing him from saying anything else about Tecmo, including projects or finances and critizing the company to news outlets. As for the new lawsuit, Tecmo claims it is just from those two employees and does not represent all 300 employees. Tecmo also released this statement:
"It is unfortunate that false and inaccurate reporting of our organization and employees' actions have caused some unrest among our development staff members. Tecmo, LTD. would like to assure its partners and loyal fans that its teams continue to focus and work on several projects to be released and announced in the future. The company is committed to providing high quality, entertaining products for our fans around the world."
More news is sure to develop over the next couple of months.
METAL GEAR SOLID 5...SNAKE EATER 2? [credit: 1UP, ShackNews, ActionTrip]
So while Metal Gear Solid 4 will wrap up the story of Solid Snake, Konami has stated that more Metal Gear games will still be made, like say...Metal Gear Solid 5? According to MGS4 producer Ryan Payton, if there were to be a MGS5, the story would focus on Snake's father and protagonist in MGS3, Big Boss.
"I'm happy we could wrap up Snake's story in MGS4...because it gets to the point where if we continue on with Metal Gear Solid 5 with more Solid Snake adventures, we'll get to the point where the game has absolutely no basis in reality. I do like the idea that this character has had four or five big missions and then that's when it ended, rather than have 20 missions where there's no chance in hell a secret agent could ever survive. He's had four or five really big missions, and that seems a little more realistic to me."
No basis in reality? This is a series with giant walking nuclear tanks, a boss who knows what video games you love to play, and then there was the ending to Metal Gear Solid 2. Besides, James Bond has had over 20 missions and you don't see him trying to retire! No wonder Major Zero loves the guy so much. But anyways, as for Metal Gear Solid 5, I figured they would start focusing on Raiden again, unless something big happened to him in MGS4.
EA...STUFF [credit: GameDaily, Gamasutra]
I noticed a lot of headlines that had the letters EA in it, so here's everything going on with them:
-They've once again extended the deadline for trying to buyout Take-Two. They still have not made their offer any higher. They still claim this buyout has nothing to do with GTA4. Interest in this story waning...waning...waning...gone.
-11 year veteran of EA Neil Young has left the company to pursue a new project. Young has worked on numerous properties over the years, including Majestic, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Sims 2, Medal of Honor Airborne and Boom Blox. After recently founding EA Blueprint, Young has decided to form his own independent studio. EA wishes him the best.
-Speaking of Boom Blox, the Wii puzzle game sold only 60K units during the May NPD period, much less then the 250K some analysts were expecting. Despite that, EA CEO John Riccitiello says he was pleased with the initial sales of Boom Blox.
-EA Asia VP Chris Thompson has said revenue from online gaming in Asia should grow by 10 to 15 percent over the next four years, with total online sales reaching 60 percent of EA's global business by 2013.
-In an interview with CVG, Peter Moore says that the EA Big label is leaving in favor of EA Sports Freestyle, since the Big label was somewhat restricted. He also says that Rock Band is becoming a cultural phenomenon and will change the way people will think about games. Wasn't the Wii supposed to have done this by now?
MICROSOFT JOINS E FOR ALL, HAS E3 LEAKED; NINTENDO SAYS CORE GAMERS WILL LIKE E3 TITLES [credit: Gamasutra, GameDaily]
Jeez, you can't keep anything a secret from the public with the internet these days. Seems someone leaked out all the games, media, and other announcements that Microsoft was planning to unveil at E3. For games there's Forza Motorsport 3, Silicon Knights' hack-and-slasher The Crucible, and Singstar-style games Lips. They'll also be showing off their new Mii-like avatars that will replace Gamerpics by the end of the year. Since I don't use Xbox Live, I don't really care. So while their E3 might be ruined, Microsoft may have a better time at E For All 2008. The IDG World Expo announced that Microsoft will be attending the 2nd annual event. Microsoft (and some other big name companies) did not appear last year.
Meanwhile, Nintendo said that they will be announcing several new titles for the Wii that core gamers will be interested in. Nintendo hasn't made any big announcements for their Fall line-up and many hardcore gamers think the Wii is trying to cater more to casual gamers while they get left out in the cold.
After looking at the Fall line-up for the Wii, they really do have nothing big coming out. But I believe I remember saying they were going to announce something big at E3 about a couple months ago, so we'll just have to wait and see. I just hope it involves something that does NOT include yet another peripheral attachment.
IT'S "EVERYBODY WHO OWNS A PS3 GETS A THROPHY" DAY [credit: GameSpot, Gamasutra, GameDaily]
Sony has confirmed that it will introduce it's new trophies feature for the PS3 (basically they're style of Achievements) with the V2.4 firmware update. Also included in the update will be an in-game XrossMediaBar (XMB), a feature that would allow players access to friends' lists, messages, and game invitations much like the 360's blade menu system. No date has been given for the release, and as of right now they are currently on V2.36.
So now Sony is taking a page from Microsoft. I think eventually all three consoles are basically going to have the same thing. Moving avatars, in-game chat, a way to show off your friends; not even online features are exclusive anymore!
[credit: Gamasutra, GameDaily]
Reuters is reporting that Anthony Puzo is suing Paramount for revenue from the Godfather game. Son of the late Mario Puzo claims that Paramount agreed in 1992 to give the Godfather author a share of the revenue of "audio-visual products" that feature elements of the Godfather movies. Anthony Puzo filed his complaint in Los Angeles Superior Court on June 18, claiming $1 million in damages.
Man, it seems nobody can follow their agreement to pay people these days.
Tidbit News
-Best Buy intends to begin selling pre-used video games, starting with trials in six of the company's Future Shop stores in Canada and eventually moving to other stores and online. With them following the same plan GameStop basically does, will this cause a significant dent in GameStop's profits? Sterne Agee & Leach analyst Arvind Bhatia, no. [credit: Gamasutra]
-Infogrames announced the company's results for the last fiscal year. The publisher managed to cut its net loss in half, from 103.1 million euros ($159.9 million) last year to 51.1 million euros ($79.2 million) this year, with operating losses also cut down to 45.5 million euros ($70.5 million) from 61.8 million euros ($95.8 million) the year previous. Revenue took a slight dip for fiscal 07 - 08, down to 290.7 million euros ($450.9 million) from 305.3 million euros ($473.5 million) the previous fiscal year. [credit: GameDaily]
-You know how the Wii Update V3.3 killed off homebrewing and region unlocking because it fixed the Twilight Princess hack? Well it's already been cracked again. You may now go back to your imported gaming. [credit: Joystiq, 1UP, Slashdot]
-The Championship Gaming Series (CGS), once exclusive to DirecTV's 101, is now coming to G4. Starting July 16, G4 will be showing the CGS 2008 North America Finals and the CGS 2008 World Finals. So if you're into pro gaming, be sure to check it out.
-Silicon Knights' Denis Dyack thinks there is going to be only a handful of big publishers in the future with companies like Activision Blizzard and EA buying out everybody else. With EA desparate to buy Take-Two (and lots of people wanting them too), this could very well happen. Still don't believe the whole "one console future" theory though. [credit: GameDaily]
-In a survey of who 500 people thought was the most innovative brand, Sony ranked at #1, beating out Apple at #2. Microsoft ranked at #3, and Nintendo ranked at #7. Great; now Mark Salmela is probably going to annoy us for weeks about this. [credit: CVG]
-Want all the information about Metal Gear Solid you can handle? Head over to the PlayStation Network and download the "MGS4 Database", a free, downloadable package offers a Kojima-certified knowledge dump of all things Metal Gear Solid, including a complete storyline, character profiles, and relationship diagrams. The information extends through the final installment in the series, but information pertaining to or resolved by MGS4 will be blacked out until the final game has been finished to prevent spoilers. [credit: GameSpot]
-SCEE President David Reeves says piracy is a problem for the PSP, but also admitted that PSP hardware sales have benefited from the problem. By piracy, do you also mean those who try to import a foreign version of the PSP? [credit: GameDaily]
Gaming Calendar
June 23rd:
Battlefield: Bad Company (PS3)
Top Spin 3 (Multi)
Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath (X360)
June 24th:
Alone in the Dark (Multi)
Hail to the Chimp (PS3, X360)
Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift (DS)
June 28-29 - Blizzard's Worldwide Invitational convention to be held
June 29th - Guitar Hero: Aerosmith (PS3, X360)
Q2 2008 - Heroes of Might and Magic Kingdoms (PC)
July 8th:
-Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon (Wii)
-Activision and Vivendi to have merger vote
July 15-17 - E3 Media & Business Summit to be held
July 22nd - Final Fantasy IV DS
August 1st - EA Land (PC, formerly The Sims Online) will close down
August 2008 - Tales of Vesperia (Xbox 360)
Summer 2008 - Air Traffic Chaos (DS)
September 2nd - Infinite Undiscovery (Xbox 360)
September 5th - FaceBreaker (X360, PS3)
September 7th - Spore (PC)
September 16th - Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen (DS)
September 22nd - Sim City Creator (Wii, DS)
September 2008 - TNA iMPACT (Multi)
October 2008:
-LittleBigPlanet (PS3)
-Bioshock ported to the PS3
-Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3 (Xbox 360, PC)
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)
Fall 2008:
-Resistance: Fall of Man 2 (PS3)
-MySims Kingdom (DS, Wii)
Videos of the Day
Jack Thompson The Movie, Directed by Uwe Boll:
New Sonic Unleashed Trailer:
Call of Duty 5 Trailer:
My fear of Red Ring
So even though I have an Xbox 360 that I got for Christmas, I barely play it mostly because I believe I'm going to get that Red Ring of Death for having the gall to play video games on it. I've been thinking of getting Dead Rising because I've been wanting to play that for a while, but it wasn't for the possibility that the Red Ring will make me think I've wasted my money...am I being too paranoid?
A mystery for the ages
So I recently bought the Mega Man X Collection, and I've noticed something aside from how Capcom seemingly hates gamers (X4 with Zero is HARD!). Why is it that when a character goes off screen, he dies? In the Jet Stingray level, if you get caught by one of those steel things and go to far left, you're apprently crushed to death. But by what?! And why is it in the Adventure Mode of SSBB does that happen even when there's clearly flooring and walls they can touch?
I guess that's video game logic for ya.
WWE Draft
Tonight is the WWE Draft, and here are my "Likely to be wrong but would like to see it happen" predictions:
RAW:
John Cena to Smackdown
Umaga to Smackdown
Carlito to ECW
Charlie Haas to ECW
ECW:
CM Punk to Smackdown
Kofi Kingston to Raw
SMACKDOWN:
MVP to Raw
Rey Mysterio to Raw
Chuck Palumbo to ECW
Vladimir Kozlov to ECW
I figure if they really want to change up the rosters, I would think they would switch a couple of their main eventers around. I'm also considering ECW and Smackdown separate since that's the way they're going with it.
That's all for this week, and if you can't get enough lists, stay tuned Wednesday when I post the 5 stupidest things everybody's favorite lawyer has done.
Why wouldn't you play your 360? If it dies, it dies - inside of a year (three for the RRoD) it'll get fixed for free. I'd think you'd WANT it to break before then :P
Posted By: Rod Oracheski (Registered) on June 23, 2008 at 12:46 AM
Ummm, about the draft, What about The undertaker to RAW?
Posted By: Hank (Guest) on June 23, 2008 at 01:24 AM
Rod,
You make that sound like a good thing ("You realy want to play your 360, because it will break and Microsoft will pay for it"). Isn't that a bit of backwards thinking? What keeps the replacement from breaking? How many times can your 360 break under warranty until you are paying for another replacement (that will break)?
Here is an idea (jot it down if you must), why doesn't Microsoft release product that doesn't fail? *facealm* I know, I know that it is an idea that is TOOO crazy to work (I mean Sony and Nintendo must have made deals with Satan to have a much, MUCH lower failure rate).
Posted By: David (Guest) on June 23, 2008 at 01:44 AM
Of course Sony is #1. Its the best and always has been the best.
Haters and Xbots hate it because it has The Game of Forever, MGS4. A godly came whose's caliber will never be stained by the likes of the pos 360 or the Wii.
Everyone will bow to the might of the PS3
Posted By: Snake211 (Guest) on June 23, 2008 at 02:01 AM
The point - and I notice you've been missing it a LOT lately, Dave - is that there's really nothing to fear about playing the 360. If it breaks, then it's fixed for free. If it DOES break and get fixed, you get another year's (and 3 year's) worth of warranty - something you'll note that Sony doesn't do.
And yeah, Microsoft has apparently dropped the failure rate to 'normal' standards with the new hardware configurations, so I guess they have released a product that doesn't fail.
Posted By: Rod Oracheski (Registered) on June 23, 2008 at 02:54 AM
"-SCEE President David Reeves says piracy is a problem for the PSP, but also admitted that PSP hardware sales have benefited from the problem. By piracy, do you also mean those who try to import a foreign version of the PSP? [credit: GameDaily]"
Cough ... Lik-Sang ... Cough.
Posted By: WadeMcG (Guest) on June 23, 2008 at 03:10 AM
Unless you can back it up with a linked factthat they fixed the RROD problem, there's NO proof whatsoever its gone. I'm sorry The PS3 has beaten the 360 in sales for May, that doesn't mean you can make up FUD, you xbot.
And really? Having a system breaking down on you is a good thing now? You crazy M$ fanboys. LOL
Posted By: Snake211 (Guest) on June 23, 2008 at 03:40 AM
I've had my Elite for 2 years, no RROD here. Play it almost every day too. Hrm.
I love how people get so worked up about consoles. They are games, people. Go play them instead of giving the companies verbal fellatio.
Posted By: OmegaSox (Guest) on June 23, 2008 at 11:10 AM
I'm glad that you are one of the people that didn't have a RROD. The 16.4-33% that suffer hardware failure may not be as forgiving as you. My Xbox 360 suffered a drive failure (not RROD). Fortunately, I was covered by the 1 year warranty (this happened in August of '07).
Rod,
If it breaks AGAIN and I have to pay for repairs, you need to front me that money. Last time I checked, if your system breaks and they repair it....they fulfilled their warranty obligation. Therefore, you will have to pay for it again.
Posted By: David (Guest) on June 23, 2008 at 01:55 PM
Dave, if you actually had to get yours repaired (since you never really played any games on it to begin with) you'd have noticed they extend your warranty - they even mention it.
Posted By: Rod Oracheski (Registered) on June 23, 2008 at 02:12 PM
Pre-used games... wouldn't that be NEW games?
Posted By: JT (Guest) on June 23, 2008 at 09:36 PM
