The Full Circle 360 News Report 08.08.08

Posted by Joe Roche on 08.08.2008

It's a triple 08 version of The Full Circle and this week we've got news about Mass Effect DLC, Burnout: Paradise "bike update", the new Madden cover curse featuring Brett Favre, Ghostbusters: The Video Game is still coming out, and some Xbox Live Marketplace news. It's all inside The Full Circle plus I'm going to rant about the end of the hot coffee debacle to close out the week with the Hot Button.



After the most mentally exhausting week of my life I am happy to be back, writing The Full Circle and for the first time in two and a half months not studying obscure Massachusetts legal distinctions. I apologize for not having a column last week but I couldn't find a replacement and my brain melted on Wednesday and Thursday so it was impossible for me to get anything posted. Luckily (or unluckily if you're a video game news fan) there wasn't a whole lot going on last week – and that trend somewhat continues into our current situation. However, it's Friday morning and I am happy to be back and bring you around The Full Circle.

XBLM Cash Bonanza



It is difficult to argue that Xbox Live isn't one of the biggest selling points that Microsoft has during this current generation run. However, as it turns out I don't think anyone really anticipated how much of a benefit it has been to the company as it was revealed this week that since 2005 the Xbox Live Marketplace has accounted for $240 million in revenue, including $180 million in the last twelve months. There were some other statistics released including a nugget about games that release DLC within the first 30 days of their release which sees an additional $21 million in revenue.

The success of the Xbox Live Marketplace is one of the things that Microsoft must continue to tout. They were at the forefront of the expansion and possibilities with the online marketplace and it's obviously paid major dividends for them up until now. I do think that with Community Games coming, and the Netflix expansion, as well as the new fall design Microsoft should see even further revenue generated through Xbox Live.

Tales of Vesperia Special Edition



There are places in this world that the Tales of Vesperia series is a pretty big deal. I can only speak for myself but I am comfortable in disclosing that one of those places is not this particular 411Games contributor's home. I downloaded and played the Tales demo from Xbox Live, and it's just not my thing. I'm not saying it isn't a good game, because I am sure that there are plenty of people who swear by the series, but it's just not my cup of tea. With that said – the latest installment of the Tales series will be receiving super special treatment. If you're reading this in an Asian country and you love Tales then you'll be getting a pretty expansive special collectors edition of the game. However, if you're in the good old U.S. then all you have to look forward to is spending $10 extra on a metal case and a soundtrack CD. The CD will contain 14 tracks from the Tales series, and if you're a big enough fan that might be enough to get you to plunk down the extra cash – but don't expect to see me driving down the street blasting Tales music out my car windows any time soon.

Gears of War 2: F**k It Edition



For whatever reason this has turned into a story so I am obligated to talk about it for a second. Apparently when Gears 2 drops on November 7th there will be some way for parents to set the parental guidelines of the game which will remove blood and swears and replace them with sparks and bible passages. I can't confirm, or disconfirm the bible passages thing but I'm pretty confident on the sparks from blood switch. I guess if your parents would rather see you chainsaw a Locust horde in half while sparks fly out all around you instead of blood this is good news. Frankly I like my Marcus Fenix dropping eff bombs, and dripping blood.

No Goldeneye Coming



Goldeneye on XBLA has been long rumored, even confirmed and seen and then shot down just as quickly. Speaking with videogamer.com Nick Burton from Rare has basically come out and said that while producing the game for XBLA was incredibly difficult, there is no end in sight, and little chance that the game will ever see the light of day. Apparently there are numerous license holders for the Goldeneye franchise (duh) and to get them all in agreement has been on the border of difficult and impossible. Burton didn't seem too optimistic in the interview and I tend to think that while it'll always bee there in the back of our minds, Goldeneye on Xbox Live will never become a reality. I know some people are disappointed by this, but frankly I always thought Goldeneye on the N64 got way more credit then it was due, and I challenge anyone to go back and play it today and tell me that it holds up. Frankly I think that game will go down in the annuls of history as something that only made sense if you were there at the time – like the Grateful Dead.

Burnout Bike Update



Well for those of you who are waiting anxiously for the chance to experience brutal motorcycle crashes in Burnout: Paradise I have good news, and bad news. The good news is that the update which will bring two motorcycles to Burnout: Paradise has been dated and looks to be released for FREE in September. On the flip side, there will be no motorcycle crashes in the game apparently as the idea of a lifeless limp body tumbling through the air at 100 miles per hour apparently set off some alarms somewhere. The update is going to give you the FV1100 street bike, and Japanese Firehawk racing bike and hopefully doesn't run into the same delays as the Cagney update – in which case you won't be racing motorcycles until Santa has come and gone.

Madden Cover Flop



Remember all the interest around Brett Favre being named the first non active NFL player to grace the cover of the Madden football franchise. Well that train has left the station and now instead of having homage to John Madden's favorite player, the cover art for Madden 09 will serve as a constant twist of the knife to Packers fans if Aaron Rodgers falls on his face and the Jets show significant improvement from their 4-12 record last season. As you probably know by now since it's been the lead story on every sports channel all morning Brett Favre is now a member of that other team that plays in New York and as such the picture of him in a Packers jersey is both inaccurate and saddening for hundreds of thousands of Packers fans who just want to see #4 throwing interceptions and ill advised shovel passes to unsuspecting offensive lineman for one more year. So while there are no plans to change the cover to reflect the change in Favre's address you will now have a great gag gift to give you Packers fan friends when they start the season 1-4.

Ghostbusters Will Be Published



When Activision announced that they would be dropping a slew of high profile games that Vivendi had been working on there was some audible grumbling from a corner of the video game globe that has been anxiously awaiting Ghostbusters. Well for those of you who just can't get enough Harold Ramis fear not – because the developers of Ghostbusters have promised that the game will see the light of day even without Activision. Variety (the source I always use for video game news) has reported that the game will potentially be released next year to coincide with the 25th Anniversary of the original films release, and since this is supposedly a direct continuation of the franchise that would seem fitting. I guess only time will tell – but more then that I wonder who is really looking forward to this game. I loved Ghostbusters I and II but nothing that I've seen from this game has got be excited in the least bit. Frankly I hope I'm wrong.

More Mass Effect DLC



I'll admit that "Mass Effect" was a game that I absolutely loved when I first got around to playing it. I'm pretty sure that I played through the game in a handful of days and then started on my second time through when for whatever reason I just stopped, and haven't picked the game up since. After I stopped playing BioWare released "Bring Down The Sky" a DLC mission for the game which I have purchased and downloaded but never gotten around to playing through – and they might not be done. According to MTV Multiplayer Blog in an interview with Greg Zeschuck the Co-Founder of BioWare admitted that there has been some talk of some new DLC for the first installment of the Mass Effect trilogy. I will say that from the interview it doesn't look very convincing that there will be some DLC although I'd say that as BioWare gets closer to Mass Effect II they might throw something out there to tie the two stories together. Either way you'll have to just sit back and wait to learn more about potential DLC for Mass Effect.

THE HOT BUTTON

Has the Grand Theft Auto "Hot Coffee" ordeal finally ended?

The last time we heard about the dreaded "hot coffee" problem it was learned that Take Two Interactive and Rockstar Games had agreed to a settlement of the claim which would have paid a mere $26,505 divided among all 2,676 plaintiffs in the class action. Of course this number is ridiculously small when you look at it individually (about $10 per person) so the lawyers in the class action filed a $1.3 million action in legal fees. However, on August 1st the entire settlement and class action was thrown out by U.S. District Court Judge Shirley Wohl Kram due to the fact that each of the plaintiff's claims arose out of the consumer protection laws of their individual states. What this means in plain English is that the Federal Court couldn't hear the class action, because it never should have been allowed. As such each plaintiff must bring their case against Rockstar and Take Two in individual state courts if they want to be granted a judgment.

A little history on Judge Kram – she was appointed in 1983 by Ronald Reagan to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. I only mention that because I know there will be those, like Jack Thompson who will proclaim Judge Kram to be a raving liberal who wants digitized sex scenes to be available in every form of entertainment across the board regardless of the age of the consumer.

So what does this mean for the hot coffee dispute? Well in the short term it means that the lawyers for the plaintiffs have until September 5th, 2008 to make a decision on how they want to move forward. However, in actuality it probably means that the entire ordeal has finally come to an end. I find it very difficult to believe that these lawyers are going to be willing to continue in each state of the country to argue a case that is worth $10 for their client. I understand the hours that must have been spent on this case by the attorney's although I'm unsure if the total amount of money spent was $1.3 million (I highly doubt that it was). I have a feeling that the 2,676 plaintiffs who brought this case under the penalties of perjury and swore that they bought Grand Theft Auto: San Andres, and were deeply offended by the sex scene allowed by the hot coffee cheat only to be awarded $10 in compensation will struggle to find the will power to bring this case of action all over again in state court. Granted there will be those who will fight on to the bitter end, but in the mean time I think it's finally time for us to shut the door on the whole hot coffee ordeal.

Which leads me to my final thought – what actually happened? The publicity and the backlash from people like Jack Thompson, and Fox News about the simulated sex scenes of Grand Theft Auto made this entire situation into seemingly a front page story. But in the end, when it's all wrapped up and looked back upon what will have happened? Rockstar and Take Two will have apologized – period. This is another case of the vocal minority of people taking a small issue that rationally minded people couldn't have cared less about and turning it into a tidal wave of coverage and controversy when all they're really doing is arguing with themselves about how right they are, and how morally superior they are to those who are too stupid to realize they're being brainwashed by video games.

Hopefully this message is sent out to people like Gert Axelsson in Lulea, Northern Sweden who blamed the destruction of plants in a park he is supposed to oversee on Grand Theft Auto. I hope someone in his family, neighborhood, or church group can go up to Gert and explain to him that sometimes people do stupid things, but that doesn't always have to be attributed to video games. Of course this entire tirade might just be due to the fact that there wasn't much news this week, and my brain has completely fried after the bar exam last week, in which case let's just forget this ever happened and I'll be back next week fully refreshed and ready to go.

Punching Out
Nintendophiles by Theo Frasier. I'm going to have to agree that admitting Nintendo is out of ideas for the Wii might not have been the best business decision.

The PC Centric Extravaganza by Chris Evans. Now that QuakeCon is over can I go back to ignoring PC gaming for another year?

The 10th Hour by Derek Robbins. The Top 10 Wii games, which according to Theo Frasier might be the last Top 10 list on Wii games we'll ever need to see.

The Hall of Shame by Vincent Chiucchi. You can keep your Shaq Fu, I'll be over here playing Barkley Gaiden.

The Negative Edge News by Tommy Coloma. Can the iPhone be a gaming contender? I'm thinking no based solely on the fact that Apple will wind up releasing a new iPhone every eight months.

The Wonder Years by Owen J. Brimfield. I'm not even going to pretend that I knew Alfred Chicken was a real thing until I read this column.