Game News: October 30, 2006

Rainbow Six goes Calypso
   Latest video shows off Ubisoft's Xbox 360 casino.
Still trying to recoup our eyesight from this weekend's Golden Joystick celebrations, we've managed - with our dwindled stamina and chicken nugget-filled guts - to upload the latest Rainbow Six Vegas video straight from Ubisoft's loving bosom.

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New screens: Jade Empire PC
   Spot the visual improvements in the Special Edition version of BioWare's RPG.
It's been a fair old while now since BioWare's Jade Empire one-inch punched Xbox, but the Kung Fu- and Eastern mysticism-flavoured RPG really was a very decent game.



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D&D Online free trial with NwN 2
   Extra swords and sorcery action bursting out the Neverwinter Nights 2 box.
Free stuff alert! Punters picking up RPG sequel Neverwinter Nights 2 this Friday will find a little extra beardness in the box - a free trial of Dungeons & Dragons Online.

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85 enhancements hit 360 dashboard
   Microsoft to release 360 dashboard update tomorrow with 85 enhancements including 1080p and HD-DVD support.
Microsoft has revealed that the latest Xbox 360 dashboard update will be streaming across the world tomorrow morning.

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Golden Joysticks: The aftermath
   Here's the final final list of winners from gaming's favourite awards show, as voted for by you!.
Well we're just about over the show, the after party and the enormous Saturday hangovers and we hope you enjoyed the Live stream of the awards show on Friday. That was the first time we've webcast the awards in their entirety and you tuned in in huge numbers to see the people's awards live and as they happened.

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Oddworld creator dipping into movies
   Lorne Lanning to sit in director's chair on sci-fi action thriller.
Lorne Lanning, co-founder of Oddworld Inhabitants - the chaps behind the Oddworld games - is directing a CG animated feature called Citizen Siege.

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New Zelda: TP details arise
   A hands-on preview in UK magazine Edge uncovers several new gameplay gems for the latest Zelda quest, which it deems to be "a fanboy's wet-dream".
As you all should know, the game has a light world and a Twilight realm - areas of Hyrule that have been engulfed in a dark shadow of evil. Apparently, light is returned to Twilight-covered areas of the game by "hunting down shadow insects and collecting the tears of light they've consumed, restoring one of the four great Light Spirits."

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Next Tomb Raider inspired by Croft original
   A Lara anniversary celebrations on PS2, PSP and PC - coming in 2007.
Next year, Lara Croft will be whipping out pistolas and dangling precariously over yawning chasms in latest adventure Tomb Raider: Anniversary.



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World in Conflict: Back in action
   New trailer reveals explosive action in the latest RTS from the chaps behind Ground Control.
Today sees more pimpage of Massive Entertainment's World in Conflict, with a new trailer following in the wake of last week's movie showcasing the RTS. As previously, the new trailer proudly boasts that what's assaulting our eyes is actual in-game footage, just in case we thought it was all dirty spruced up lies.

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Wii DVD Japan only
   Nintendo has "no plans" to release DVD-capable Wii outside of Japan.
The enhanced Wii console, capable of DVD playback - mentioned in the latest issue of Edge - may never see the light of day outside of Japan.

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Sundance Meets Machinima
   The Academy of Machinima Arts and Sciences is proud to announce that the 2006 Machinima Festival will take place not only at the Museum of the Moving Image in New York City, but also within the virtual world of Second Life. Organized and produced...

'Warhammer: Mark of Chaos' Goes Gold
   Namco Bandai has announced that the real-time strategy PC game, 'Warhammer: Mark of Chaos' has gone gold and will be available in stores on November 14th. Developed by Black Hole Entertainment, 'Warhammer: Mark of Chaos' focuses squarely on the battlefield with a real-time combat system that gives ...

Games Releasing This Week
   New Game Releases October 29 - November 5, 2006 GameCube Need for Speed Carbon - Electronic Arts PC 1701 A.D. - Aspyr, Related Designs Jewel Quest Solitaire...

PS3 Q&A
   Sony has posted a question and answer feature at its official Japanese PlayStation 3 site. While the feature doesn't answer the one question we're really wondering -- where can I pre-order the darn thing!? -- there are a few points of interest, which we've translated below. Q: What's the PS3 system...

Xbox Live 6.0
   Beginning the morning of Tuesday October 31, owners of the Xbox 360 will be able to download a free system update that will provide more than 85 new features and enhancements, including support for native 1080p games and movies, faster Xbox Live Arcade game list display times and even more choices w...

'Citizen Siege' Set for Silver Screen
   Developer Oddworld Inhabitants has teamed up with Vanguard Animation, the team behind Shrek, to create 'Citizen Siege,' an animatated CG sci-fi action thriller movie and videogame. 'Citizen Siege' is set in an entirely new universe where 'current global conditions are extrapolated into a frightenin...

'Swords' of Genius
   Genius Sonority is the Japanese developer best known for its work on Nintendo's Pokemon console titles. Well, add another million-selling franchise to the name. The company announced today that it is the mystery developer behind Square Enix's 'Dragon Quest Swords' for the Wii. The studio will be ha...

PS3 Coming Up Short
   What's worse than 100,000 units at launch? How about 80,000? The Nikkei Keizai Shimbun morning edition reports today that due to component shortages, Sony will have only 80,000 units ready for the PS3's 11/11 Japanese launch. This cuts back by a fifth the initial launch target of 100,000. The lack ...

Lara Croft's 'Anniversary' Present
   It's been ten years and Lara Croft is still going strong. Eidos Interactive has announced the next title in the Tomb Raider saga would celebrate a decade of the top-heavy archaeologist's escapades. 'Tomb Raider: Anniversary,' is a completely new adventure that pays tribute to the original 1996 rele...

'Perfect Dark Zero' Platinum Announced
   Early this November, Microsoft Game Studios will be releasing 'Perfect Dark Zero' Platinum Hits Edition which will feature six additional multiplayer maps, including four that are currently available only on Xbox Live Marketplace, and two brand new ones in one convenient package. The two brand new...

$50 Million Grant Announced For Kids And Digital Education
   

Officials from the nonprofit John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation today announced that the organization has set aside a $50 million grant to be dispersed over five years to help examine the impact of technology on children and the ways in which they learn, both inside and outside the classroom.

DigiPen and Womengamers.com Announce Joint Scholarship
   

DigiPen Institute of Technology and Womengamers.com have announced that they will jointly be offering a scholarship for freshmen women who attend the game programming school in September 2007.

Gamasutra Announces Call For Technical Articles
   

Brian Fargo to Speak at IEEE Orange County SIG Event
   

Brian Fargo, Founder of Interplay Productions and InXile Entertainment will present "How to Survive in the Video Game Business" during the IEEE Orange County Game Engineering SIG gathering on Monday, October 23 in Newport Beach, California.

Emagination Game Design Envisions Next Year’s Camps
   

Emagination Game Design has announced a recap of its past year, and is looking ahead to the 2007 summer camps for teenagers interested in hands-on experience for gaining careers in the game industry.

mtvU’S 'Game0RZ Ball Tour ‘06' Begins
   

mtvU, MTV’s 24-hour college network, has announced the “Game0RZ Ball Tour ‘06,” a ten-step tour that brings tournaments, unreleased games, and giveaways to college campuses beginning October 26th at the University of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky.

SMU Holding Free Classes In Game Design, Production
   

The Guildhall at Southern Methodist University will be holding a free October 26th seminar led by SMU faculty on modeling, texturing, animation, and game technology for anyone interested in entering video game design and production.

Beginning Math Concepts for Game Developers Book Released
   

Thomson Course Technology has released the new book Beginning Math Concepts for Game Developers, which provides point-by-point descriptions of central math topics for game developers.

Gamasutra Podcast: 'Game Education Roundtable'
   

Gamasutra's latest instalment of its regular podcast features a roundtable discussion on the state of game education, with participants ranging from Full Sail's Dustin Clingman and Parsons School of Design's Katie Salen to USC's Tracy Fullerton, GameCareerGuide's Beth Dillon, and more.

Michigan State University Launches Serious Game Design MA Program
   

Michigan State University has announced the recruitment of students for the Fall 2007 launch of the Serious Game Design masters degree program (SGD-MA) and Serious Game Design Graduate Certificate.

Splinter Cell: Double Agent - Demo
   The demo for Ubisofts new release for the Splinter Cell franchise is available on XBLive now. The file weighed in at more than 700MB in size and gives users a taste of the game's multiplayer action.

Users will get two mods; a cooperative mode that sees gamers try to hack files and computer-controlled bots try and stop them; and a multiplayer mode that places acrobatic spies versus gun weilding mercs in a game of cat and mouse.

The demo release hasn't gone without problems though. Connecting to matches proved more of a task over the weekend, than playing the game .

According to Ubisoft the problem and has been fixed. The problem was due to server issues that lead from an extremely high demand.

An Xbox 360 single-player demo is supposed to be released soon; and PC demos of the game are expected as well.

Ebay pulls PS3 sale listings
   Not long after the pre-orders for the Playstation 3 were "sold out", you could find listings on Ebay for the next-gen console. With a few listings already having multiple bids ranging from $1200, all the way up to $2500. It seems those listings were violating an Ebay policy that restricts users from selling items that aren't even released yet. According to information obtained, a product listing has to be available to the public within thirty days date of the purchase. Another crucial restriction is Ebays policy on selling items that a person has not paid full price for, and therefore does not own.

We'll keep a close eye out for more PS3 auctions, and see how Ebay continues to handle it now that we are within the 30 day launch window.

4 million users can't be wrong
   Milestones come, and they go. Well, this one keeps going, and going, and... ok, you get the idea. Microsofts highly regarding Xbox Live service has surpassed 4 million users. Xbox Live has been a major selling point for both of its' consoles. Some other noteable statistics for the Live service are;

70+ million pieces of content downloaded in Xbox Live Marketplace's first 11 months.

Over 12 million Xbox Live Arcade downloads in that same 11 montsh.
24 percent of trials downloaded lead to purchases. Currently Uno leads all Arcade titles with 50 percent of the trial users purchasing the classic card game.

Over 2 billion hours, and 9 million text and voice messages are sent over Xbox Live each week

A dashboard update for the Xbox 360 is still outstanding, and should be here this fall season.

PS3 accessories and prices
   Sony has announced prices for some of its' upcoming accessories for the Sony Playstation 3.

PS3 HDMI cable will retail for $49.99. Less expensive than some cables, but a lot more expensive than others. Any HDMI cable will work, so it's really left up to the users to decide whether they need to pay $50 for a cable. Ebay usually has cables ranging from $10 on up.

PS3 Sixaxis controllers will sell for $49.99 each. The controller has built-in Bluetooth wireless connectivity. The PS3 will support up to seven controllers at once, without the need for a next-gen equivalent of a multitap extension. (YAY)

As with every electronic device known to man, or woman for our female readers, the PS3 will also have a remote "Sold Seperately". The Blu-ray Disc Remote can be aquired (retail) for $29.99 and will provide single-button controls for most of the PS3's media functionality.

Since we're on the Blue-ray disc discussion, we might as well mention that Sony is planning, for a limited time, to bundle a BRD movie with the system. While that sounds cool, great, and exciting to have a BRD movie to watch, the choice that Sony made will baffle you: Talladega Nights: The Legend of Ricky Bobby is what you'll be watching ! Gooooo Sony !

Silver PS2 available NOW !
   Sony confirmed today that the silver Playstation 2 is now available in the US. The price stands at $129.99, the same as the black slimline. Sony states these systems will be available while supplies last.

Xbox 360 Fall Dashboard update
   Xbox 360 users will be getting a nice treat tomorrow. Microsoft will start pushing out the new dashboard update via Xbox Live. The most notable updates will be the addition of 1080p and HD DVD add-on support.
It has also been confirmed that existing Xbox 360 games can be upscaled to 1080p.

A slew of other features have been added as well. You can check out the full update here:

LINKY LINK

Sony says you can't import
   Well, the precedent is now set. Sony has successfully sued a grey market import company. Lik-Sang has officially closed their doors after the High Court of London ruled in Sonys' favor. Sony has now been able to establish that it is unlawful to import Sony products, namely the PS2, PS3, and PSP to other territories without consent from Sony.

Lik-Sang is currently still available at www.lik-sang.com, and still seems to have a functional webiste. I doubt that you'll be able to place any orders though. They are working diligently to try and get all the refunds, RMAs, pre-orders, etc. taken care of. They are also working with multiple financial institutions, including PayPal, to get the proper transactions taken care of.

This is a sad day for anyone who enjoys the luxury of paying premium prices to get their hands on hardware and software that is first released abroad.

360 takes 3 out of 4...
   The Xbox 360 is about to be joined by the other two big hitters in the console world. With the PS3 and Wii releases a mere weeks away, Microsoft is enjoying it's place at the top. For the week of the 15th thru the 21st, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Double Agent for the Xbox 360 has taken the top spot at Best Buy. Second place went to Capcom's Dead Rising, which continues to see sale a number worthy of the game itself, and as an Xbox 360 exclusive. The third Xbox 360 game in the top 10 was Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07, which tallied in at the fourth spot.

NFS Carbon PC Demo released
   EA has released the Need For Speed: Carbon demo for PC gamers to take a spin with. The demo weighs in at 666MB (anyone superstitious ?), and can be downloaded from Gamespot here.

The demo is basically the same as the previously released Xbox 360 Demo via XBL, in that gamers will be able to race on three tracks and a test drive in each of the three car classes; muscle, tuner, and exotic. Winning races on the drift and circuit tracks, gamers will net a chance to go head-to-head with rival racer Kenji on a canyon course.

Virtual soccer gets makeover in "FIFA 07" (Reuters)
   

Reuters - Virtual versions of Ronaldinho and Wayne Rooney are dribbling and scoring goals more like they would in real life thanks to a makeover of thousands of international soccer stars in the latest "FIFA Soccer" video game.

Sony Battery Recall Costs $429 Million (PC Magazine)
   PC Magazine - When forecasting its profit margin for the year, Sony expected to take a hit from the upcoming PlayStation 3 launch; companies regularly lose money when making new hardware, so some financial hemorrhaging was to be expected.

Sony's in the Red, Despite Strong Sales (PC World)
   PC World - Battery recalls, PlayStation 3 start-up costs lead to Q3 operating loss.

Battery recall decimates Sony profit (AP)
   

AP - A global battery recall and red ink in its video-game business decimated Sony's profits in the most recent quarter, the Japanese electronics and entertainment company said Thursday.

Judge won't dismiss "Grand Theft Auto" claims (Reuters)
   

Reuters - A federal judge refused a request from Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. to immediately dismiss some claims in a lawsuit accusing it of selling "Grand Theft Auto" video games containing sexually explicit images under the wrong content label.

Microsoft 2006 video game console target holds (Reuters)
   

Reuters - Microsoft Corp. on Thursday said it has shipped 6 million Xbox 360 video game consoles worldwide since releasing the unit about a year ago.

Microsoft profit rises 11 pct (Reuters)
   

Reuters - Microsoft Corp. posted an 11 percent rise in quarterly net profit on Thursday, boosted by a strong performance at its database division and shrinking losses from its Xbox 360 video game console.

"Rogue" has new mission: Xbox, PS3, PC (Reuters)
   Reuters - Video game publisher Bethesda Softworks is bringing Simon & Schuster's best-selling book franchise "Rogue Warrior" to Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC gamers in fall 2007.

Sony Accentuates the Positive (BusinessWeek Online)
   

BusinessWeek Online - The news about Sony these days rarely seems upbeat. Its overheating lithium-ion laptop batteries have raised questions about quality standards, while delays in the launch of the PlayStation 3 video game console have left many wondering if the company's technological edge has dulled.

Game Exporter Says Sony Put It Out Of Business (PC World)
   PC World - Lik-sang.com, an online game and console marketplace, says Sony lawsuits shut it down.

Toys R Us Takes PS3, Wii, Zune Preorders (TechWeb)
   TechWeb - Game players have another chance to get their hands on a Nintendo Wii through a preorder promotion at Toys R Us.

Xbox, Software, Server Raise Microsoft Sales (TechWeb)
   TechWeb - A quick look at how strong quarter sales from entertainment and server software boosted Microsoft Corp. revenue in the just-reported quarter.

Gamemaker courts new controversy - boys kissing (Reuters)
   

Reuters - The video game maker that sparked uproar over a hidden sex scene in "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas," is courting new controversy with its latest schoolyard title "Bully" -- featuring boys kissing.

Nintendo to launch videogame business in Russia: paper (Reuters)
   Reuters - Nintendo Co. Ltd. (7974.OS) plans to launch its videogame business in Russia later this year, competing with Sony Corp. (6758.T) and Microsoft Corp. in a growth market, business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun said on Sunday.

Online gaming firm 888 says in tie-up talks (Reuters)
   Reuters - Online gaming firm 888 Holdings Plc (888.L) confirmed on Monday it has held talks with third parties since the United States effectively banned Internet gambling at the end of September.

China's lawmakers consider banning children from Internet cafes (AFP)
   

AFP - China's lawmakers are considering banning children under the age of 18 from Internet cafes because the centers have become hotbeds for online gaming and crime, state press reported.

Sony, Unsurprisingly, Goes Hunting For Profits (PC Magazine)
   PC Magazine - Sony Corp. said on Monday that it is looking for profits in movies and consumer electronics to offset the impact from price cuts and tough competition for its PlayStation 3 (PS3) game console.

Sony looks for profits elsewhere to offset PS3 (Reuters)
   

Reuters - Sony Corp. (6758.T) said on Monday that it is looking for profits in movies and consumer electronics to offset the impact from price cuts and tough competition for its PlayStation 3 (PS3) game console.

Rockstar's New 'Hot Coffee': Boy on Boy 'Bully' Action (PC Magazine)
   PC Magazine - The video game maker that sparked uproar over a hidden sex scene in "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas," is courting new controversy with its latest schoolyard title "Bully"—featuring boys kissing.

Microsoft Adds 1080p Support With Xbox Update (PC Magazine)
   PC Magazine - Microsoft said it will issue a Halloween update to its Microsoft Live! service on Tuesday, adding more than 85 new enhancements to its online service, including 1080p support.