The Select and Start News Report: 09.08.08
Posted by Vincent Chiucchi on 09.08.2008
Square-Enix and Tecmo decide to see other people, Xbox 360 cuts its price below the Wii, Dead Space may not actually be banned, new Halo 3 achievements, and more.
I'm so freaking glad to finally have my own computer back.
Big News
TECMO DOESN'T ACCEPT SQUARE-ENIX'S PROPOSAL; BOTH START LOOKING AT OTHER COMPANIES [credit: GameDaily, Gamasutra, GameSpot]
Last week it was announced that Square-Enix was attempting a friendly acquisition of Tecmo, who've been in a rut ever since Itagaki left, sued the company, and then the president decided to resign for personal reasons. After letting Tecmo know of their intentions, Tecmo responded by saying they have no interest in being with Square-Enix and have recently announced a merger with Koei. Analysts believe merging with Square-Enix would've been better since a Tecmo-Koei merger would make a company less than 1/3 the size of Square-Enix. After receiving their letter of rejection, Square-Enix withdrew their offer and announced they have intentions for other companies (nobody specific though), both in and out of Japan.
Well so much for my dreams of a Final Fantasy Xtreme Beach Volleyball game. Still, I think that one day soon we'll see a merger of Japanese companies that'll be as big as Activision Blizzard or EA and whatever company they attempt to swallow up next. My guess is that it will involve either Sony or Nintendo.
Speaking of Tecmo, they settled their overtime lawsuit by the two employees representing the entire company. No word on what the settlement was.
XBOX 360 GETS PRICE CUTS ON ALL SKUS WORLDWIDE; CHEAPEST NOW AT $199 [credit: Gamasutra, GameDaily]
After rumors were going around last month that the Xbox 360 was going to see further price cuts even after the E3 announcement, Microsoft has cut the price of the Xbox 360 across all SKUs around the world. In Japan, where the console is gaining a bit of momentum lately, the Arcade model is now ¥19,800 ($183), making it the cheapest of the big three consoles. The Premium and Elite models are said to be seeing cuts as well. Here in the US, the Arcade Model will now be $199, the standard ("Pro") 60GB model will now be $299, and the Elite 120GB model will now be $399. Many analysts believe this is a great move considering Rock Band 2 is going to be released next week.
So the Xbox 360 is cheaper then the Wii now. Despite that, I don't think there's going to be an immediate spike in sales considering it's for the Arcade model, which seems more for the casual audience. Plus Don Mattrick, senior vice-president of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business, seems to be satisfied with the Xbox 360 taking second place, furthering the instense feud between Microsoft and Sony.
DEAD SPACE BANNED IN THREE COUNTRIES...O RLY? [credit: GamePolitics, Gamasutra]
Earlier this week it was reported that Dead Space is being banned in Germany, Japan, and China because of it's high levels of violence. As it turns out however, this might not actually be true. GamePolitics looked into this story and posted several reasons why this might be false:
-Why would the game be banned in Japan, the country that gave us Resident Evil?
-Does EA actually distribute console games in China due to piracy concerns?
-Why haven't the countries' censorship bodies officially announce it yet?
-Australia, who have banned many games over violence, did not ban Dead Space.
-The BBFC, who banned Manhunt 2 a while ago, also did not ban Dead Space.
-EA gave no press release concerning the situation.
GamePolitics attempted to contact EA about this, but they have not yet commented.
The moment I heard about this I thought "Well Australia is definitely going to ban it," but they actually didn't. This news story apparently started by someone who works at EA, so either that person is a liar or each country has yet to confirm that they are actually banning the game. Maybe EA is lying to get lots of free press, much like Rockstar does for whatever violent game they release.
NEW HALO 3 ACHIEVEMENTS [credit: Destructoid, CVG]
As part of the latest update for Halo 3 coming soon, the game will have 30 new Achievements for players to attempt. Here are some of the achievements based on the Legendary difficulty:
-Vidmaster Challenge: Lightswitch (0 points) – Get to the rank of Lieutenant in any playlist in the new EXP progression system.
-Vidmaster Challenge: 7 on 7 (0 points) – Enter into any ranked or social playlist with 7 EXP on the 7th of the month.
-Vidmaster Challenge: Annual (0 points) – After 9/25/08, complete Halo on 4-player Legendary LIVE co-op, with Iron, and everyone in Ghosts.
-Double Double (25 points) – On a Legendary map, get two Double Kills during any ranked or social match.
-Poor Yorick (25 points) – On a Legendary map, get 3 Oddball melee kills during any ranked or social match.
-Came…From…Behind (50 points) – On a Legendary map, get 3 assassinations during any ranked or social match.
-Defend This (50 points) – On a Legendary map, get a flag melee kill during any ranked or social match.
-Flag Dropped (25 points) – On a Legendary map, get 2 flag carrier kills during any ranked or social match.
-Road Rage (25 points) – On a Legendary map, get 5 Warthog chaingun kills during any ranked or social match.
-Look Both Ways (50 points) – On a Legendary map, get a Splatter Spree during any ranked or social match.
A game getting new achievements after getting released? I think this is the first time I've seen a game do that. I could (very likely) be wrong since I'm not really into Xbox 360 games.
Tidbit News
-Two Alberta teenagers who kidnapped a family's cat and microwaved it to death have been sentenced probation for one year, must perform 100 hours of community service, will see a therapist, now have a 9 p.m. curfew, and are not allowed to play violent video games for one year. Only violent games? When I was a kid I would be banned from playing all video games for less shit then this. [credit: GamePolitics, Destructoid]
-11-year-old Audrey Plique saved her family when their car swerved off the road and rolled over four times before stopping on it's side with the roof smashed in and back window broken out. Audrey helped her family out of the car immediately because, after playing GRAND THEFT AUTO, she knew the car might blow up. That's right people: GRAND THEFT AUTO helped a girl save her family! Where's the mainstream attention for THAT?! [credit: GamePolitics, Kotaku]
-Along with the release of the new PSP-3000, Sony Japan has announced that a network service will be available for PSP owners to download software from the PlayStation Store directly to the PSP without needing a PS3 or PC. So far this only applies to Japan. [credit: GameDaily, Gamasutra]
-EA Partners exec David DeMartini says that the company is planning to work with more Japanese developers, especially the ones considered to be in the Top 20. Funny, I don't remember Derek Robbins making a list about that yet. [credit: Gamasutra, GameDaily]
-Sony Japan announced that they will be releasing a Bluetooth wireless headset for the PlayStation 3 on October 3rd, with a worldwide rollout expected to follow shortly thereafter. Although any USB headset is compatible with the PlayStation 3, the new device will be promoted for use in games such as Resistance 2 and MotorStorm: Pacific Rift. [credit: Gamasutra]
-The Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) 08 saw a recond attendance for the fifth year in a row with nearly 58,500 attendees, making it the largest such gaming event in North America. [credit: GameDaily, Gamasutra]
-Police in Watertown, Wisconsin believe that an attempt to imitate Halo may have played a role in the death of an 11-year-old Joshua Nimm from an accidental gunshot. According to police, after playing Halo, Nimm took the gun and tried to recreate some of the things that had occurred in the game and didn't realize the gun was loaded. [credit: GamePolitics]
-THQ announced that the Connecticut Superior Court has dismissed most of the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)'s claims against THQ and Jakks Pacific. The claims relating to WWE's allegations that the video game license between WWE and THQ/Jakks Pacific was void based upon Jakks Pacific's alleged bribery of WWE's licensing agent Stanley Shenker and employee James Bell were thrown out. [credit: GameDaily]
-With GTA IV being a huge success for Take-Two and with GTA: Chinatown Wars coming to the DS, will Take-Two make a Wii version of the series? Take-Two CEO Ben Feder did not have any comments other then he currently likes the working relationship with Nintendo. [credit: GameDaily]
-According to a preliminary tally released by conference organizers, a majority of the 462 games that will be featured at the upcoming Tokyo Game Show will be PC, Mobile, and Nintendo DS games, with Action being the primary genre. [credit: Gamasutra, CVG]
-As a result of the recent GTA copycat murder in Thailand, Thailand's Ministry of Culture recently held a conference to conjure up ideas to deal with unregistered gaming stores and "dangerous games." As of now, Hitman: Blood Money, Killer 7, and 50 Cent: Bulletproof are being listed as banned. [credit: GameDaily]
The Weekly Guitar Hero/Rock Band Updates
Every week it seems a new tidbit of info comes out for these two games, so now I'm giving them they're own section.
-You know how Harmonix announced that all the songs you downloaded for Rock Band would work with Rock Band 2? Well, there's a catch: You have to pay 400 MS Points in order to it. The reason being that Harmonix only licensed the songs for the first game, so licensing for the second game costs extra. Plus a few songs won't be able to be ported over. [credit: GameDaily]
-Activision announced that three classic rock songs will be re-recorded exclusively for Guitar Hero World Tour. The songs are Pretty Vacant by the Sex Pistols, Overkill by Motorhead, and Kick Out the Jams featuring MC5's Wayne Kramer, Jerry Cantrell of Alice and Chains, Gilby Clark formerly of Guns 'N' Roses and ex-Oingo Boingo keyboardist Richard Gibbs. [credit: GameDaily]
-The Smashing Pumpkins' latest single "G.L.O.W." will be debuting on Guitar Hero World Tour before being released for sale. [credit: GameSpot]
-Billy Corgan, Ozzy Osbourne and Jimi Hendrix will all be playable characters in Guitar Hero World Tour. [credit: GameSpot]
Gaming Calendar
September 9th - TNA iMPACT! (Multi)
September 14th - Rock Band 2 (Xbox 360)
September 16th - Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen (DS)
September 18th - Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (PC)
September 22nd - Sim City Creator (Wii, DS)
September 23rd:
-Disgaea DS
-Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure (DS)
September 29th:
-Kirby Super Star Ultra (DS)
-Wario Land: Shake It! (Wii)
October 3-5 - E for All 2008 to be held
October 9-13 - The Tokyo Game Show 2008 to be held
October 14th:
-Dead Space (X360)
-SOCOM: Confrontation (PS3)
October 21st - Fable II (X360)
October 26th - Guitar Hero World Tour (Multi)
October 28th - Fallout 3 (Xbox 360)
October 2008:
-LittleBigPlanet (PS3)
-Bioshock ported to the PS3
-Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3 (Xbox 360, PC)
November 4th:
-Left 4 Dead (PC, X360)
-Resistance: Fall of Man 2 (PS3)
November 7th - Gears of War 2 (X360)
November 11th:
-Eternal Poison (PS2)
-Call of Duty: World at War (Xbox 360, PC)
November 14th - Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts (Xbox 360)
"A game getting new achievements after getting released? I think this is the first time I've seen a game do that. I could (very likely) be wrong since I'm not really into Xbox 360 games."
They get them all the time, though it's usually as a part of new DLC. I think 250 points is the max available for post-launch Achievement addition though, and the list of Halo 3 ones is something like 750 points, so that might represent a shift in policy.
Those teens that microwaved the cat...that had nothing to do with games. At all. Why would they be banned from playing games, but not banned from - for example - watching a violent movie?
Posted By: Rod Oracheski (Registered) on September 08, 2008 at 12:41 AM
I supplied them with that top-20 list. They begged and begged until I finally caved and gave them what they want. Of course, the contents are totally confidential.
I also was paid exorbitantly.
Posted By: Derek Robbins (Guest) on September 08, 2008 at 07:30 PM
"October 14th:
-Dead Space (X360)"
it's on PS3 too.
Posted By: Guest#7414 (Guest) on September 09, 2008 at 05:50 PM
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