The Select and Start News Report: 09.15.08

Posted by Vincent Chiucchi on 09.15.2008

Spore suffers the wrath of Amazon bombers, Nintendo claims to be finding a solution for Wii storage, GameStop CEO thinks Digital Distribution isn't a threat yet, full MK vs. DC roster revealed, Guitar Hero: World Tour soundtrack revealed, and more.



It seems that starting next week, Fox is no longer going to air those reruns of Beakman's World, which saddens me because that show to me never gets old. In fact, educational science shows are probably the best TV shows to watch. Mr.Wizard, Bill Nye, Beakman, Brainiac...we need more shows like these damn it!

Big News

SECUROM CAN'T PROTECT SPORE FROM AN AMAZON BOMBING [credit: Evil Avatar, GameDaily, 1UP, GamePolitics]

So the highly anticipated Spore finally came out and was looking to be a major success like the rest of the Sims games. That was until players discovered that the game's DRM protection was SecuROM, a program that many have accused of being malware. Faster then you can say "Terrorist Fist Jab", gamers got on Amazon and posted 1-Star Reviews of the game. Amazon eventually put a stop to this (calling it a site glitch) as the number of 1-Star bashings reached 2,000. Of the 1-Star reviews, this particular one was featured explaining how awful the DRM protection was:

"...the game incorporates a draconian DRM system that requires you to activate over the internet, and limits you to a grand total of 3 activations. If you reach that limit, then you'll have to call EA in order to add one extra activation. That's not as simple as it sounds, since when you reach that point EA will assume that you, the paying customer, are a filthy pirating thief. You will need to provide proof of purchase, reasons why the limit was reached, etc, etc (it has all happened before with another recent EA product, Mass Effect). EA, of course, is not obligated to grant you that extra activation or even provide that service. In a couple of years they might very well even shut down the general activation servers, because 'it's not financially feasible' to keep them running. What you will be left with is a nice, colorful $50 coaster. And you will be required to pay for another copy/license if you want to continue playing."

I find it amazing that PC gaming is still around these days with the problems that keep piling up. On the one hand you have a bunch of pirates who steal games by the hundreds of thousands (like Assassin's Creed) and on the other hand you've got DRM protection problems that screws the mild-mannered user while some pirates still find a way around it (like Spore), making it seem pointless.

Anyway, a limit of three installations? As someone who has had multiple computer crashes, that number is too little. Maybe if it was increased to about 10 installations, and then you can pay a small fee for more installations, that might work. As for the "servers shut down/$50 coaster" scenario, let's face it; it's going to happen no matter what. Just ask anyone who invested into old MMO's like Phantasy Star Online.

NINTENDO WORKING ON STORING SOLUTION; MAY NOT BE A HARD DRIVE [credit: Gamasutra, GameDaily]

Nintendo is an odd company, because I wonder if they're so stuck on the future that they're ignoring the present. They came up with the Miis, new style of controls, and began a boom of casual gaming that others are starting to copy, but at the same time, they seem to be ignoring the big issues of today like online gaming and storage solutions. Earlier this week, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime says that Nintendo is working on a better storage solution for the Wii, but says that the solution won't necessarily be an external hard drive add-on.

I want the people to have the right expectations; We have never said that it will be a hard drive nor have we mentioned how we will fix this issue, but we are going to deliver a better way to store the games.

Miyamoto was interviewed by Club Nintendo about the storage situation, who said Nintendo should be announcing something very soon and that Nintendo is currently researching different technologies.

Honestly, I do not like the words "reaching different technologies," because this makes me think that Nintendo will come up with some crazy solution that, no matter how many times they explain the benefits, people will hate it for making it more complicated then it needs to be. Friend codes anyone?

GAMESTOP CEO SAYS DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION IS NO THREAT; DAVID PERRY RESPONDS [credit: GameDaily, Gamasutra]

Gamestop is pretty much known now as the store that fucks you and the game industry over on used games. But the days of GameStop could be coming to an end once a huge amount of people find out why Digital Distribution is a better solution for getting games and other such goods. But Gamestop CEO Dan DeMatteo doesn't think Digital Distribution will be a serious threat to retail stores until the year 2020, when there's actually a network to do full games. He says that the publishers are "afraid to death of piracy" and actually make more money with their games selling at retail rather then through Digital Distribution. He also points out as consoles get more powerful, the games get bigger, and today a 30GB game downloaded through a T1 line would take you 72 hours.

David Perry, Shiny Entertainment founder and current CCO at Acclaim Games, thinks what Dan DeMatteo said is nonsense. In his response sent to GameDaily, Perry points out that Digital Distribution of full games is happening TODAY, and points out the success Steve Jobs and iTunes have been. He also goes to length about DeMatteo saying "I think the argument that [used game sales] competes with the new games is false. Imagine what new car sales would be like if you couldn't trade in your old car" by pointing out how a majority of GameStop's profits are from used games and that GameStop encourages gamers to buy the used games instead of new ones. If GameStop did this with Ford and cars, Ford would immediately stop being partners with them. As for being afraid to death of piracy, he points out how China, a main source of pirating, saw it's digital distribution business grow nearly 70% in a year. Overall, GameStop's policies is going to speed up digital distribution and if they want to live by 2020 they should buy STEAM, a digital distribution network that does full games.

Dan DeMatteo's speech seemed to be the typical company line junk that they say to make themselves look like they're not afraid of the competition. I totally agree with everything Perry said, and unless GameStop changes their policies and the way they treat it's customers, they're going to go out of business soon.

MORTAL KOMBAT VS. DC LINEUP REVEALED [credit: 1UP]

Here's the full of characters that'll be appearing in the game.

Mortal Kombat:
-Scorpion
-Sub-Zero
-Sonya
-Jax
-Shang Tsung
-Liu Kang
-Raiden
-Kitana
-Kano
-Baraka
-Shao Kahn

DC Universe:
-Batman
-Superman
-Catwoman
-Green Lantern
-The Joker
-Shazam (aka Captain Marvel)
-The Flash
-Wonder Woman
-Deathstroke
-Lex Luthor
-Darkseid

Looks to be a decent size roster, though they really could've added a couple more characters to each side.

EA MAKING UP DEAD SPACE BEING BANNED? [credit: GamePolitics]

So last week it was reported that Dead Space had been banned in Germany, China, and Japan even though nobody from those countries actually said it was, and GamePolitics pointed out how this news didn't seem legit. This week GamePolitics now points out that EA was really hyping the violence factor in the game and that they STILL have not confirmed what the hell is going on, even though it was someone at EA who said the game was getting banned in the first place.

I say EA is making up this whole banned thing because a banned game is like to garner attention from gamers and that attention will lead to better says, also known as The Rockstar Theory.

Tidbit News

-IT'S FINALLY OVER! EA has officially announced that they will no longer be trying to buyout Take-Two. No specific reasons were given, but it looks to be that Take-Two never thought it was getting a fair deal out of this. [credit: GamePolitics, Gamasutra]

-So not only is the Xbox 360's price dropping, but so is the hard drive. Now you can buy a 120GB hard drive for $149. [credit: GameDaily]

-Capcom recently stated that all of it's upcoming major titles are going to be multiplatform from now on. In other words, the same thing they've been doing for years only this time Nintendo might not actually get screwed over. [credit: Joystiq]

-With all SKU's seeing a price drop, Xbox 360 sales have doubled over the weekend and some units had sales at six-fold...at least according to Microsoft. No specific numbers were given, so we'll have to wait a bit to see how well they actually did. [credit: GameSpot, Gamasutra, GameDaily]

-You know that Final Fantasy fighting game (Dissidia: Final Fantasy) that's never going to come out here in America because that would be too good to be true? Cecil and Golbez from FF4 is now in it. [credit: Destructoid]

-Ensemble Studios, known for Age of Empires and the upcoming Halo Wars game, is going to be closed down due to what Microsofy cites as financial reasons. A new studip will be formed by some of the members to support the game after release and many of it's employees will find jobs elsewhere within Microsoft. [credit: GameDaily, CVG]

-Star Wars: The Force Unleashed demo on Xbox Live has set a new record for reaching the one million downloads mark in eight days. Together with the PSN demo, The Force Unleashed has been downloaded over 2.3 million times. [credit: Gamasutra, GameDaily]

-Steve Jobs says that the iPod is the best portable device for playing games. Well it certain isn't the best portable device for music, I can tell you that much. [credit: Gamasutra]

-Ken Levine says that he got some "nasty fucking threats" over the copy protection issue with BioShock. Apparently gamers thought Amazon bombing his game wasn't good enough. [credit: Joystiq]

-Namco Bandai and Infogrames announced a strategic partnership that will see the two companies cooperating on distribution of their titles in Europe and Asia. They will offer the same services for other third party publishers. [credit: Gamasutra]

-Hideo Kojima that massive advertising campaigns like the kind Metal Gear Solid 4 got (like TV spot, movie trailers, and launch events) puts the creativity of video games on the verge of crisis. "Massive advertising campaigns are executed for games before their entertainment values are put into consideration all too often, resulting in sell-off tactics happening without hesitation" says Kojima. [credit: GameDaily]

-To all the gamers out there in Malaysia: The PS3 will be coming your way on September 20th. If you're lucky you might get one of the 150 special launch packages consisting of one PS3 unit, a copy of Soul Calibur IV, a limited edition PS3 tote bag, and a Soul Calibur IV CD holder. [credit: Gamasutra]

-Xbox Live came in at number 7 on Adweek's 4th Annual Digital Hot List, a list that ranks based on content, page views, cultural relevance, and effect on the digital media world. Google was number 1. [credit: GameDaily]

-With the new Harry Potter movie pushed back to Summer 2009, so will EA's Harry Potter game based on the movie. This move led to EA's fiscal 09 revenue to drop $120 million, which sounds like a lot until you find out that EA is expected to make about $5 billion. [credit: Gamasutra, GameSpot]

-You know those old Disney games Capcom made for the NES? Don't expect to be coming over to the Virtual Console, which Capcom says is due to licensing issues. [credit: Destructoid]

Since every week there are new tidbits about these two games, they now have their own section.

-The full setlist for Guitar Hero: World Tour has been released [credit: Destructoid]:

-311 - "Beautiful Disaster"
-30 Seconds To Mars - "The Kill"
-Airbourne - "Too Much Too Young"
-The Allman Brothers Band - "Ramblin' Man"
-Anouk - "Good God"
-The Answer - "Never Too Late"
-At The Drive-In - "One Armed Scissor"
-Beastie Boys - "No Sleep Till Brooklyn"
-Beatsteaks - "Hail to the Freaks"
-Billy Idol - "Rebel Yell"
-Black Label Society - "Stillborn"
-Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - "Weapon of Choice"
-blink-182 - "Dammit"
-Blondie - "One Way or Another"
-Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band - "Hollywood Nights"
-Bon Jovi - "Livin' On A Prayer"
-Bullet For My Valentine - "Scream Aim Fire"
-Coldplay - "Shiver"
-Creedence Clearwater Revival - "Up Around The Bend"
-The Cult - "Love Removal Machine"
-Dinosaur Jr. - "Feel The Pain"
-The Doors - "Love Me Two Times"
-Dream Theater - "Pull Me Under"
-The Eagles - "Hotel California"
-The Enemy - "Aggro"
-Filter - "Hey Man, Nice Shot"
-Fleetwood Mac - "Go Your Own Way"
-Foo Fighters - "Everlong"
-The Guess Who - "American Woman"
-Hush Puppies - "You're Gonna Say Yeah!"
-Interpol - "Obstacle 1"
-Jane's Addiction - "Mountain Song"
-Jimi Hendrix - "Purple Haze (Live)"
-Jimi Hendrix - "The Wind Cries Mary"
-Jimmy Eat World - "The Middle"
-Joe Satriani - "Satch Boogie"
-Kent - "Vinternoll2"
-Korn - "Freak On A Leash"
-Lacuna Coil - "Our Truth"
-Lenny Kravitz - "Are You Gonna Go My Way"
-Linkin Park - "What I've Done"
-The Living End - "Prisoner of Society"
-Los Lobos - "La Bamba"
-Lost Prophets - "Rooftops (A Liberation Broadcast)"
-Lynyrd Skynyrd - "Sweet Home Alabama (Live)"
-Mars Volta - "L'Via L'Viaquez"
-MC5's Wayne Kramer - "Kick Out The Jams"
-Metallica - "Trapped Under Ice"
-Michael Jackson - "Beat It"
-Modest Mouse - "Float On"
-Motörhead - "Overkill"
-Muse - "Assassin"
-Negramaro - "Nuvole e Lenzuola"
-Nirvana - "About a Girl (Unplugged)"
-No Doubt - "Spiderwebs"
-NOFX - "Soul Doubt"
-Oasis - "Some Might Say"
-Ozzy Osbourne - "Crazy Train"
-Ozzy Osbourne - "Mr. Crowley"
-Paramore - "Misery Business"
-Pat Benatar - "Heartbreaker"
-R.E.M. - "The One I Love"
-Radio Futura - "Escuela De Calor"
-Rise Against - "Re-Education Through Labor"
-Sex Pistols - "Pretty Vacant"
-Silversun Pickups - "Lazy Eye"
-Smashing Pumpkins - "Today"
-Steely Dan - "Do It Again"
-Steve Miller Band - "The Joker"
-Sting - "Demolition Man (Live)"
-The Stone Roses - "Love Spreads"
-Stuck In The Sound - "Toy Boy"
-Sublime - "Santeria"
-Survivor - "Eye of the Tiger"
-System of a Down - "B.Y.O.B."
-Ted Nugent - "Stranglehold"
-Ted Nugent's Original Guitar Duel Recording
-Tokio Hotel - "Monsoon"
-Tool - "Parabola"
-Tool - "Schism"
-Tool - "Vicarious"
-Trust - "Antisocial"
-Van Halen - "Hot For Teacher"
-Willie Nelson - "On The Road Again"
-Wings - "Band on the Run"
-Zakk Wylde's Original Guitar Duel Recording

-Stephen Colbert's 80's Supergroup "Stephen and the Colberts" now have their hit song Charlene (I'm Right Behind You) available for FREE download on Rock Band. [credit: 1UP]

-Europe will be getting a price cut on Rock Band's Instrument Edition, bringing the suggested retail price down to ˆ140 in mainland and £110 in UK. [credit: Gamasutra]

-According to an LA Craiglisting, MTV is planning a reality show competition for Rock Band 2. The only details is that they are looking for "four people to form their own band and show us their stuff live on stage for the chance to win the Ultimate Rock Band Experience." MTV has yet to officially confirm this as real. [credit: GameDaily, GameSpot]

-Next week for Rock Band 2, the game will have two albums for downloading: the Rock Band Tour four-pack (consisting of "One of Those Nights" by the Cab, "Hands Down" by Dashboard Confessional, "She's a Handsome Woman" by Panic! At the Disco, and "Natural Disaster" by Plain White T's) and Megadeth's album Peace Sells... But Who's Buying. [credit: GameSpot]

Gaming Calendar

September 16th:
-Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen (DS)
-Star Wars: Force Unleashed (X360, PS3)

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, PS3)
-SOCOM: Confrontation (PS3)

October 21st - Fable II (X360)

October 26th - Guitar Hero: World Tour (PS3, X360)

October 28th - Fallout 3 (X360)

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)

Fall 2008:
-MySims Kingdom (DS, Wii)

March 13th 2009 - Resident Evil 5 (X360)

Videos of the Day

How bad is GameStop getting these days? This guy, a former employee, will tell you in Part 1 of his series against GameStop:

(You can catch the rest of his rants on YouTube under the name WhistleBlowerZero)

Seth MacFarlane presents: Super Mario Rescues the Princess


New Guilty Gear 2 Overture Trailer:


Due to SecuROM, you can only read these guys three times.

News Reports:

Tommy Coloma with The Negative Edge

Derek Robbin's B3yond The Report

Chris Evans PC Centric Extravaganza

Mark Salmela's Nintendophiles

Joe Roche's The Full Circle 360

Columns:

John Curry talks about why Caveman Games deserves a remake. (You know what other Caveman Game should get a remake? Joe and Mac.)

Lets say for some reason you hate Rock Band 2. Know anything else good coming out? Drew Robbins is here to help.

Jordan Williams pays tribute to great evil henchmen, such as the Angry Sun and that fucking line block from Tetris.

Owain J. Brimfield ends his time with 411 with his Top 10 16-bit era games. Thanks for letting us relive the memories Owain.

Rod Oracheski looks at the types of gamers trying to get Achievements.

Reviews:

Madden NFL 09 (Wii) by Sean Garmer

Previews:

Pure (PS3, X360) by Ramon Aranda

Wario Land: Shake It! (Wii) by Jacob Lopez

Features:

Find out more about the racers in Pure.

That's all for this week. Unless the Hadron Collider kills us all, I'll be back in seven.