Game News: November 09, 2006

Microsoft bets on fast Xbox growth in Brazil (Reuters)
   

Reuters - Microsoft is going to start selling its Xbox 360 video game console in Brazil next month after years of planning, a company official said on Thursday.

Samuel L Jackson Back to Host Spike TV 2006 Video Game Awards
   

Spike TV presents an action, adventure, fantasy and sports gamers paradise when mega star Samuel L. Jackson hosts the 4th annual Spike TV 2006 Video Game Awards premiering on Wednesday, December 13 10:00 PM.

Viva Pinata Bursts Into Stores
   

Horstachios, Fizzlybears, Fudgehogs, Mousemallows, Elephanillas and Pretztails are just a handful of the 60 species of wild pinata, coming to homes this holiday season in Viva Pinata, the highly anticipated Xbox 360 game for kids of all ages. Breaking new ground in Xbox 360 family entertainment, Viva Pinata was shipped to stores on Nov. 9, and it will continue to be rolled out to retailers throughout the U.S. and worldwide through Dec. 2. Created by world-renowned video game developer Rare Ltd. and Microsoft Game Studios exclusively for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system, the two-disc Viva Pinata Special Edition invites game-players to escape to Pinata Island, where wild-roaming, living pinata animals are looking for a home.

Wii Need Component Cables
   We recently caught up with Nintendo of America's vice president of marketing and corporate affairs, Perrin Kaplan, to chat about all things Wii. Our first question was naturally related to how we might come by the hotly sought after component cables for the console - a hurdle that haunts our dreams....

More Atari Classics Are On Their Way
   Even more Atari classic titles are making their way to xbox live marketplace.

Atari Founder Disses Sony
   In a recent interview conducted with Red Herring, Nolan Bushnell expressed some astonishing insights into the next-generation console wars. During the interview, the Atari and Chuck E. Cheese founder mostly focused on his recent foray into the world of restaurant entrepreneurship, but managed to fin...

Nvidia Reveals New GPU
   Today Nvidia took the veil off the long anticipated GeForce 8800 GPU and the nForce 680i SLI MCP. The GeForce 8800 is the successor to the half-step GeForce 7950 product family, and is the first fully graphics processor to fully support Microsoft's DirectX 10, the API expected to usher in Windows Vi...

Move Over 'Lumines'
   O-3 Entertainment, publisher of 'Alien Hominid' and 'Konductra,' today announced that a new block busting game called 'Puzzle Scape' is headed to the PSP next month. Puzzle Scape will feature 3D visuals combined with fast-paced gameplay. O-3 is hoping to inject its new game with that necessary but e...

'Medieval II: Total War' Goes Gold
   Sega has announced that 'Medieval II: Total War' for the PC has gone gold and will release on November 14, 2006. Developed by The Creative Assembly, this title spans four and half centuries of the most turbulent era in Western history and gives players the reins to control and command the most reali...

'Sonic' Waits for More Content
   Those craving Sonic action on the day of the PS3 launch will need to wait a little longer than expected. 'Sonic the Hedgehog' for PS3 will now ship sometime this holiday season, instead of on November 17, according to a SEGA representative. The reason being SEGA needs a little more time to incorpor...

'Live' Turns To 'Homecourt'
   It's been forever since we last heard anything about the PlayStation 3 version of 'NBA Live 07' (which was announced at E3 2006 back in May), but that's for good reason. According to EA representatives, whom we spoke with just moments ago, the PS3 edition of 'Live' has been cancelled altogether and ...

Wii's Will Roll
   Ladies and gentlemen, Nintendo's new generation console is all packaged and ready to roll. The Big N recently released official photos snapped from its North Bend, Washington manufacturing plant that showcase both the anticipated little white system and some of its games gliding down the assembly ...

MTV's Massive Gamer's Week Schedule
   MTV today announced Gamer's Week 2.0 - the second annual weeklong multiplatform celebration of video games. Set for the week of November 13th, every single MTV on-air and online screen across MTV, games.mtv.com, MTV2, mtvU, Xfire, and GameTrailers will showcase the hottest in video game culture, dev...

New Date for 'Burning Crusade'
   Blizzard Entertainment has announced that 'World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade,' the highly anticipated expansion to the world's leading subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game, 'World of Warcraft,' will be in stores on January 16th in North America and Europe. The expan...

5WG: Tiger is Better Than Ever
   In video games as well as real life, Tiger Woods is the biggest name in golf. This year, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 on Xbox 360 is expanded and improved, and it's a great title for golf fans of all ages and skill levels.

Hollywood Goes Gaming: Scott Porter Plays Xbox When He's Not Under The Lights
   Catch our interview with TV star Scott Porter, who plays the all-star quarterback on the new NBC football drama Friday Night Lights.

PlayStation 3 to Get Software Update at Launch (PC World)
   PC World - Free download adds support for PlayStation Network online service.

Sony PS3 to launch gaming battle, profit elusive (Reuters)
   

Reuters - When Sony Corp. (6758.T) launches the PlayStation 3 in Japan this weekend, they will likely fly off store shelves in no time. But the road to profitability is expected to be a long and rocky one for Sony's game business.

Elebits delayed in US, dated for UK
   Now pushed back to December, UK release on the radar.
Elebits was originally touted as a Wii launch game over in the US, but it will miss the November 19 launch date, reports IGN.

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Iconic Sonic turns 15, gets friends (Reuters)
   Reuters - Video game publisher Sega went looking for a new friend for the upcoming version of its popular "Sonic The Hedgehog" game and found a metaphor for its role in the $30 billion games business.

40 million PS2s sold in Europe
   PSone loses crown as most popular console in the continent.
A whopping 40 million PS2s have now been sold in Europe according to SCEE, trumping PSone's 39 million unit sales figure. Crazy, crazy numbers.

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Game Programming All in One Book Released
   

Course PTR has announced the release of Game Programming All in One, third edition, which aims to give aspiring game programmers the skills that are needed to create professional-quality games.

WoW is burning! On January 16, 2007!
   Or in other words, the WoW: The Burning Crusade release date is confirmed.
Grab the nearest Tauren and hug him hard (but watch out for the horns) - Blizzard's World of Warcraft expansion The Burning Crusade will be out on January 16, 2007 in Europe and North America.

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Titan Quest expansion details
   New quests, classes a further fresh delights filling an add-on for Iron Lore's PC action-RPG.
An expansion is in the works for Iron Lore's Diablo-esque action-RPG Titan Quest.

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nVidia unveils first DX10 GPU
   PC gaming seriously ramped up with the GeForce 8 - but the initial GFX cards cost a packet.
nVidia's GeForce 8800 GTX GPU is the first DirectX10-supporting graphical processor unit to be announced.

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Worms in "final certification stages" for 360
   Xbox Live Arcade version of Team17's stunner almost finished.
Our recent wish list feature on Xbox Live Arcade titles we'd almost kill for included more than a few shouts for the classic Worms game. And a post on the Team17 forums seems to have confirmed that it's nearly with us.

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Gothic 3 demo out tomorrow
   Prod Piranha Bytes' PC RPG with your +5 sword of exploration in an "immense" demo.
All being well, tomorrow will witness the release of a demo of Gothic 3, Piranha Bytes' giant RPG.

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Nintendo expects Wii shortages
   "Demand will outstrip supply at launch" Nintendo tells CVG.
The Wii launch is just weeks away, and many who pre-ordered are begining to receive those dreaded emails confirming that they joined the queue a little too late, and they won't get a Wii on launch.

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No rumble for N64 VC games
   CVG learns that the Virtual Console will not support force feedback for N64 games.
The Rumble Pak was one of the N64's many great innovations, accentuating in-game crashes, bumps and explosions by shaking the controller.

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PC Gaming goes to the next level
   Hanzo from over at Talk Video Games posted a link to a very informative article regarding the new Direct X 10 compliant video cards.

First off, these things are amazing ! Their performance is off the charts compared to what the top of the line cards can produce today.



Check the entire article HERE.

GTA: The Trilogy heading to PS2
   Around a year after one hit Xbox, a Grand Theft Auto trilogy is to release for PS2.
Rockstar is stuffing three of its finest into one box: GTA 3, GTA: Vice City and GTA: San Andreas for PS2.

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Sony: No Plans To Cut U.S. PlayStation 3 Price (PC Magazine)
   PC Magazine - Sony Corp. has no plans to cut the price of its upcoming PlayStation 3 video game console in the United States, despite a recent cut announced for Japan, the chief of the company's U.S. electronic entertainment division said on Wednesday.

Nvidia launches new high-end graphics chip (Reuters)
   Reuters - Nvidia Corp. unveiled a new computer graphics processor on Wednesday with more than double the power of its predecessor to improve video games and help the company's push into heavy-duty computing.