Friday, December 14, 2007
In The Wake Of The Swollen Goat
11:40PM Luke Plunkett | To: Crecente From: Luke Re: Cash Money Busy day indeed. And a busy night! Had to work and pack, because I’m off to Sydney for the weekend. Managed to get some tickets for the Clutch show happening at the Metro. Which for me at least is very, very exciting, especially since a whole load of friends I haven’t really seen since I left Sydney are going to be there. Between old friends and good music the bureau is forecasting GOOD TIMES. Here’s what you missed while you were counting money and discreetly disposing of dead hookers: Intel have had a gutfull of control pads PS Store cards are better late than never This Warhammer Online business might get a little crazy More »
Nintendo Triples Wii Distribution Workforce, I Talk With Reggie
11:17PM Brian Crecente | According to the cutline of a photo Nintendo just released,the company has tripled its distribution workforce to meet consumer demand for the holidays. Nintendo’s current production run is 1.8 million Wii systems a month, almost twice what was produced at launch last year. Nintendo president and natural quote-machine Reggie Fils-Aime is doing a press phone call this morning to discuss the Wii supply and demand issue. I’ll be sitting in on the call and should have a chance to ask at least one question about this. Is there anything in particular you guys wanted to know? More »
News
Bionic Commando Devs Working On “AAA Hollywood Sci-Fi Brand”
11:00PM Luke Plunkett | You know GRIN? Swedish developers. Did the PC versions of GRAW, and are now busy working on Bionic Commando for Capcom. They’re also busy opening a new studio in Gothenburg, Sweden, filled with new staff. None of whom are working on Bionic Commando. In fact, nobody knows what they’re working on. We do have a clue, though, and it’s a doozy: The new studio is working on a very, very big Hollywood sci-fi brand. It’s a real triple-A thing. AAA Hollywood sci-fi? Doesn’t leave us much wiggle room. Especially when you consider most of the good franchises are already being worked on. 2001, maybe? Logan’s Run? Total Recall? Robocop? Oh, shit, please be Robocop. Bionic Commando Dev All GRINs [Next-Gen] More »
News
Nintendo Losing Money On Every Wii Not Sold
10:00PM Luke Plunkett | That’s right. Bet you all thought that Nintendo were rolling in the benjamins right now. Yen too, and Euro, and Pounds Sterling. Technically, you’d be right, they are. But consider how much the demand for Wiis outstrips the supply. Then consider that the family walking into a store with $US 250 to spend on a Wii will, when they can’t get a Wii, go spend that $US 250 somewhere else, where it won’t end up back in Nintendo’s back pocket. You could easily argue that scenarios such as that, which are playing out across the globe, are indeed “costing” Nintendo money. How much money? Some analysts put the ballpark figure at around $US 1 billion. And that’s just on hardware, and that’s just for the holiday season. Other analysts, like James Lin from MDB Capital Group, put it even higher, somewhere around $US 1.3 billion. So, Nintendo, you worried? More »
Godzilla Contest
9:00PM Luke Plunkett | We’re giving away a copy of Godzilla Unleashed (on PS2, DS or Wii, up to you). We’re also giving away a limited edition Godzilla poser. Well, not giving them away. You’ve gotta earn ‘em. And the only way to earn ‘em is to pretend you’re Godzilla. Do things Godzilla would do. Like Steve here. Steve’s done what Godzilla would do. He’s also followed our conditions of entry to the letter, namely included a sign that says KOTAKU, taking a photo of his deeds, including his name and sending it off to kotakucontestATgmailDOTcom. Think you can do better than Steve? Entries close on December 19. Godzilla Unleashed [Official Site] More »
Has Anyone NOT Signed Up For The Warhammer Online Beta?
8:55PM Luke Plunkett | Look, an MMO based on Warhammer was always going to be popular. Not as popular as one based on 40K, but hey, still pretty popular. But this popular? You’re all getting carried away, and you’ll regret it come morning. EA have announced that 500,000 people have signed up for Warhammer Online’s beta program. Reminder: this is just a beta. More »
PS3 DivX Support “Coming Soon”
8:50PM Luke Plunkett | The 360 now has DivX support. Hurray! As for the PS3, though, well, we know they’re working on it, but it’s not here yet. Which is a shame, because although I’ve got both, I’d much rather watch my porn movies home movies on my PS3. Mostly because, when running, my 360 sounds like a large helicopter choking to death. Which is awfully distracting. If you’re like me (or just have a PS3 and want in on the action), our cohorts at Gizmodo met with the DivX crew today to talk all things DivX. While there, they asked about the PS3: …their particular emphasis on saying it was coming soon leads us to believe it’s “coming in a week or two” soon, as opposed to “4 months down the road” soon. So long as the frantic winking coming across the table wasn’t actually a come-on by the DivX people, that’s some good news. PS3 DivX Update Coming ‘Very Soon’ [Gizmodo] More »
Sony Hear You, Say They’re Workin’ Hard On In-Game XMB Support
8:11PM Luke Plunkett | Every time a new round of PS3 firmware shows up, more fingers are crossed for in-game XMB support than anything else. So every time a new round of PS3 firmware shows up and it’s not included, folks get sad. Cheer up, kids! Sony know you want it, and they’re working on it, PSN boss Eric Lempel telling Shacknews: We are looking at a number of enhancements related to accessing some of the XMB features during gameplay, including messaging your friends. While there’s no timeline to announce at this point, we’ve heard loud and clear from consumers that in-game XMB access is one of the most requested PS3 enhancements. There, now doesn’t that make you feel better? Sony Acknowledges In-Game XMB Access as ‘One of the Most Requested PS3 Enhancements’ [Shacknews] More »
Google Zeitgeist Shows Most-Searched Game Consoles
8:11PM Luke Plunkett | Google’s Zeitgeist 2007 is a snappy little feature the monolithic net masters are running which captures the spirit of 2007’s times in the form of search results. Of interest to you readers, fanboys and casual videogame industry observers is their data on consoles, and which of the big three was most sought out by searchers. For most of the year, it’s the “Xbox”, with the Wii following close behind. The PS3, well, it’s happy doing its own thing. Then we get to October. More people, normal people, start hitting up Google. The kind who want/NEED to know where they can get a Wii, and how much it’s going to cost them. As you can see, there are many, many people like that. Gamers Rule [Google Zeitgeist, thanks balls187!] More »
