The Select and Start News Report: 12.09.08
Posted by Vincent Chiucchi on 12.09.2008
Kojima hints at new Metal Gear game possibly for Xbox 360, the future not looking good for Midway, Australia allows uncut PC version of Grand Theft Auto 4, companies showing interest in Eidos, and more.
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Big News
METAL GEAR 360? [credit: VideoGaming247, Giant Bomb, 1UP, The Escapist, GameSpot]
One question that has been constantly asked about Metal Gear Solid 4 is if it will ever appear on the Xbox 360 in the future. Despite Kojima bragging about the size of the game, Konami never ruled out bringing the game to the Xbox 360, yet at the same time all Konami basically says is that they're only thinking about bringing it to Xbox 360, and that's it. But last week, Kojima Productions posted up the image you see above, and right away the speculation began as to what it might be, with the likely canidate being MGS4 for Xbox 360. Konami has no comment about this.
My guess is that it's going to be Metal Gear Online for Xbox 360. Why not Metal Gear Solid 4? Because if the game is so big that it really needs the space of a blu-ray disc to fit it all in, I really don't think it's coming to Xbox 360. MGO, however, is a lot more likely to run on an Xbox 360, and that system does have the best online service of the three consoles. I've seen guesses that based on the first symbol looking like "i", it could be a Wii, DSi, or even an iPhone version of Metal Gear, but I seriously doubt any of those systems will be seeing Metal Gear. Another guess I've seen is a new Metal Gear AC!D game since the "i" in acid is replaced with "!". Maybe it's an online Xbox 360 version of Meta Gear AC!D? The only two people who really know what this means right now are Hideo Kojima and Psycho Mantis, and both love to screw with us.
In case you haven't noticed, Midway is basically lying in it's deathbed right now waiting for someone to mercifully put it to an end. They've had layoffs, a delisting warning from the New York Stock Exchange, and last week Sumner Redstone has sold his controlling stake in Midway Games (87%) to private investor Mark Thomas in an effort to ease the debt on the company, ease the pressure on the Redstone family and "potentially contribute to a final deal." Redstone sold the company for only $0.0012 a share, totaling $100,000. Thomas will assume $70 million of senior secured and unsecured debt, while Redstone will save around $800 million in taxes.
Sucks to be Midway. As for what will ultimately happen to them, I have a feeling they'll be bought up by one of the two companies who have made headlines over the past several months from buying other people. You know who I'm talking about. (And if you don't, where the hell were you?!)
Speaking of which...
EA/UBISOFT, SQUARE-ENIX, AND WARNER BROS INTERESTED IN BUYING EIDOS [credit: 1UP, GamePolitics, Joystiq, GameDaily, Gamasutra]
A report from the UK Daily Mail says that SCi Entertainment, officially calling themselves Eidos now, is now being put up for sale, and is rumored to be a target of acquisition from EA and Ubisoft. Both companies are said to have approached SCi to initiate negotiations, likely spurred by a 92% drop in SCi's stock price over the past year. SCi is said to be waiting to see how well Tomb Raider: Underworld does before taking any action on the matter. Later in the week, it was then reported that Square-Enix is also interested in acquiring the company, making this the second time this year SE had tried to buy another company (earlier they wanted to merge with Tecmo). Meanwhile, Warner Bros., who already own 20% of the company is also interested in buying the company.
Just like Midway, SCi/Eidos have had severe money problems, so I would not be surprised if they get brought by another company. Odds are since Warner Bros alreadys own part of the company that they'll be the ones to buy Eidos, with EA/Ubisoft being the second most likely candidate in buying them.
GTA4 FOR PC ALLOWED IN AUSTRALIA...WITH NO CHANGES?! [credit: Destructoid, GameSpot]
With Australia having no 18+ rating for games, many games with over-the-top violence wind up getting banned until the content in their games get changed. So imagine gamers' surprise when the PC version for Grand Theft Auto 4 got the MA15+ rating without having to make any edits. The console version of GTA4 in Australia was toned by removing some of the prostitution options.
Apparently porn is no problem for Australia as long as it stays on the PC. But really, why did Australia decide to leave the PC version of GTA4 alone? This is the country that has no problem giving a violent-heavy game the refusal of classification. Are they simply more lenient with PCs then they are with consoles? Did they suddenly have a change of heart right after getting F.E.A.R. 2 banned?
Tidbit News
-Press copies of the DS Animal Crossing game that had all content unlocked to show off features relating to the upcoming Wii version had one character constantly use the word Nigga. Apparently this happened because you can train characters to say catchphrases. Nintendo apologized for not realizing the slip-up and have asked the press to return their copies of the game. [credit: The Escapist, 1UP]
-This week's PC game that's pissing gamers off to the point that they decide to go to Amazon.com and start posting 1-star reviews to vent their frustrations is: Grand Theft Auto 4, for using everyone's favorite copy protection program SecuROM and having a lot of performance issues including poor frame rates, short draw distances, crashes, and missing textures. Rockstar recently said that they are working on a patch to fix it all up. [credit: GameSpot, GameDaily]
-During a profile piece on 60 Minutes, it was revealed that olympic gold-medalist and world record holder Michael Phelps is getting his own video game. No details about the game have been given, but odds are it's likely going to be something like Mario and Sonic, only with Michael Phelps name on the cover. [credit: GameSpot, Joystiq]
-Microsoft has declared victory on Black Friday by claiming the Xbox 360 has outsold the PlayStation 3 on that day three-to-one. The console saw a sales increase of over 25 percent compared to last year during the same period. They also boast having the highest game attach rate with 8.1 games per console. Meanwhile, it was also being reported that the Wii did even better then the Xbox 360, but Nintendo's not competing with Microsoft and Sony, so nobody cares. [credit: GameDaily, Gamasutra, Destructoid]
-The Entertainment Merchants Association has recently proposed an idea for preventing disc thefts with "benefit denial technology," where games and DVDs that are shipped at retail would be inoperable until they're activated upon purchase. This idea, going under the name "Project Lazarus", is similar to how the apparel industry uses security tags in many cases containing sealed vials of permanent dye that break if forcibly removed from an item of clothing, thereby staining and ruining the garment and also making it unsuitable for return or resale. [credit: GameDaily, Gamasutra]
-The United States Patent and Trademark Office has suspended Nintendo's application to trademark the term Wii Remote, since the word Remote is too common to be trademarked. So does this mean Nintendo will finally call the thing the Wiimote like everyone else has in the first place? [credit: GamePolitics]
-Despite falling on hard times, Midway has been hyping up a game that Wheelman creative director Simon Woodroffe says looks just as good or even better then Gears of War 2 and the game is like Gears but with a totally different set up. Trying to claim a game is better then the FPS flavor of the month huh? Remember how well that worked when Sony did that with Killzone by calling it a Halo killer? [credit: Joystiq, GameDaily]
-Microsoft has officially announced that the Xbox 360 Arcade will now have 256MB of internal memory rather then coming with a memory card holding the same amount of data. [credit: GameSpot, GameDaily]
-According to the latest data from Famitsu, 535,379 units of the DSi were sold during its first month of sales in Japan. [credit: GameDaily]
-According to Macquarie Securities analyst David Gibson, who recently spoke to Forbes, each Wii sold brings in $6 of operating profit for Nintendo, compared to Microsoft breaking even with every Xbox 360 being sold and Sony losing money with the PS3. [credit: GameDaily, VideoGaming247]
-Activision CEO Bobby Kotick was named a finalist for the 2008 MarketWatch CEO of the Year award. The CEO was honored because of his instrumental role in the merger between his company and Blizzard. Unfortunately, the award went to Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner. [credit: GameDaily]
Gaming Calendar
December 9th:
-Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 (PS2)
-Rygar: The Battle of Argus (Wii)
-Six Flags Fun Park (Wii)
December 12th - Sonic Unleashed (PS3)
December 16th - Rise of the Argonauts (PC, PS3, X360)
December 22nd - -Rock Band 2 ported to PS2 and Wii
January 6th, 2009 - Star Ocean: Second Evolution (PSP)
January 13th, 2009 - Lord of the Rings: Conquest (X360, PS3, PC, DS)
January 21st, 2009 - Skate 2 (X360, PS3)
February 17th, 2009:
-Street Fighter IV (X360, PS3)
-Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride (DS)
-Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned (X360)
February 28th, 2009 - Tabula Rasa to be shut down
March 3rd, 2009 - Star Ocean: The Last Hope (X360)
March 13th, 2009 - Resident Evil 5 (X360)
March 17th, 2009 - Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume (DS)
Survivor: Gabon Watch
So as things are getting down to wire, it looks like Ken might not be one of the people who make it to the finals because it looks like everyone else is catching on to Ken's strategy of lying and blindsiding the best guys. Next week I think either Bob or Ken are going to get eliminated if they don't win the immunity challenge, and that sucks because I like Bob because of his talent and intelligence (as proven once again when he won both competitions in the latest episode), and I want Ken to win because he's the pro gamer.
Videos of the Day
Australia will go to any lengths to ban violent games, yet they expose their children to THIS?!
That's all for this week, and remember, 411Games is hiring for new writers. Send a sample of your work to Ashish and Ramon, and also, don't think you shouldn't submit something because you think you're writing is bad.
Metal Gear Solid 4 for the 360? Well, that could be a possibility because of the green. Keep in mind, the power symbol is on the Wii and the PS3 as well. So, does that mean the Wii is getting Metal Gear Solid 4, as well?
We do not know anything about what the green represents. It could have something to do with the game taking place in a jungle. *shrugs* Like your point, it is mearly speculation...
Posted By: Antonio Damasio (Guest) on December 09, 2008 at 04:11 AM
The Metal Gear equation is Metal Gear Ac!d on the iPod Touch...just think about it for a second.
Posted By: Drew Robbins (Registered) on December 09, 2008 at 08:01 AM
I was going to go with Metal Gear Acid on the Iphone, but it could be on the Ipod touch as well.
Quick question for ya Vincent. You have March listed as the release date for RE:5 on the X360. Is it not releasing on the PS3 on the same day?
Posted By: Toddo (Guest) on December 09, 2008 at 12:43 PM
Toddo, iPod Touch and iPhone are practically the same, just one of them lacks the capability to make phone calls. I'm pretty sure they share the same store.
Posted By: Drew Robbins (Registered) on December 09, 2008 at 05:38 PM
I didn't know RE5 was coming to the PS3. I haven't really updated anything for games coming in 2009.
Posted By: Vincent Chiucchi (Guest) on December 11, 2008 at 10:47 AM
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