Australians, New Zealanders, your time to shine. Call of Duty 4 beta registrations are now open over at the Xbox Australia site, but spots are limited, so you might want to make snappy with the sign-ups. I’ve been on it for about a week now, and I’ll tell you this: I’m having a whale of a time. And for reference, I normally hate MP shooters. Can’t stand ‘em! Those successful in getting in will be able to get cracking on September 11. Call of Duty 4 AUS/NZ Beta SIgn-Ups [Xbox Australia] More »
Best part of Japan’s Eternal Sonata Xbox 360 bundle? It has an Eternal Sonata alarm clock. But! The alarm clock has no batteries. So spend a couple hundred bucks, but don’t get free batteries for your free alarm clock. That’s kinda odd, wouldn’t you say? More »
Nintendo honcho Satoru Iwata doesn’t just like to talk Nintendo games. He talks other stuff. Deep stuff. Stuff like reproduction and DNA and how this factors in why we compare out strengths and weaknesses. I’ll let Iwata say it. It sounds better: This is my personal theory, but all living creatures bear the task of passing down their DNA through reproduction. To reproduce, there’s the necessity to show your superiority. The individuals who can do this well are the ones that were able to pass down their DNA… So I think it’s natural for us to try to show that we’re better than others. That’s why we tend to compare our strengths with other people’s weakness. This happens in any type of social organisations, such as in companies.
Way more interesting then hearing him drone on about old people playing Wii Sports! Conversation with Iwata [Itoi's Site] More »
Sometimes blockquotes say it better. This is one of those times: Peter Marks has been a part of the Bungie community, both inside and out, for more than ten years. Myth players knew him as BNA Mordia. Halo PC players knew him as Lud. Bungie fans of Halo know Peter’s work, Hang Em High and other popular levels. Unfortunately, Peter has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. He is doing what he can to fight it, with doctors pulling every trick in the book to defeat it. With his physical being in the care of professionals, close friends and family have been giving him much love and support to give him a much needed lift in spirits.
Bungie has an open letter to Peter Marks where people can show support, which is something he cannot get enough of right now. Hang in there Peter, stay strong and finish the fight. An Open Letter to Peter Marks [Bungie] More »
People are curious. We poke at shit, it’s what we do. That goes double for internet types, and double double for internet gaming types, who simply will not rest until they’ve scrounged through every last line of code in a new game, looking for hidden secrets and spoiling PR and marketing parties the world over. Take BioShock, for example. Some cats have gone through the code of the PC version and found reference to four new plasmids, which form part of a “Downloadable content anouncement”. The four plasmids are “Machine Buster”, “Vending Expert”, “Sonic Boom” and “EVE Saver”. Vending Expert sounds handy, but Sonic Boom? Sounds like plain old-fashioned good times. Why you have not seen an editor – Theory [2K Forums, thanks MDawg!] More »
Ever since we heard Black College Football: The Xperience (yes, the Xperience) included half-time shows that lets players “step into the boots of a drum major,” our interest was piqued. We so love rhythm games! Sadly, this clip, the first of the game I believe, doesn’t show that. Instead, it has text telling me to “EXPECT MORE THAN JUST A VIDEOGAME” and an a football player reminding me “This is how we do it.” Though, the clip does have some marching band music. Half way there!
Another game gets another Hollywood movie. *Shudder* This has been long in the works, but like it or not, Capcom hasn’t given up on the Street Fighter film adaptations. According to Variety, cinematographer-turned-director Andrzej Bartkowiak (Romeo Must Die, Exit Wounds, and Cradle to the Grave) will take the upcoming movie’s helm, and the production will commence early next year. The script is getting a polish by hot scribe Justin Marks (Voltron, Green Arrow and He-Man). Good creds or not, just don’t make it suck, ‘kay guys? And put Jackie Chan in it. Thanx. Street Fighter Director [ICv2, Thanks Ming!] More »
There’s been no official announcements from SCE Australia, but Aussie journo Jason Hill is reporting that Sony’s PlayTV service for the PS3, which allows PS3 users to use their console as a HD personal video recorder, will be available in Australia in early 2008. Hopefully. Only potential snag is a conflict between some of Australia’s commercial TV networks, who have been reluctant to allow PVRs access to their program scheduling, but that shouldn’t pose too big a problem. Hopefully. It’s playtime [The Sydney Morning Herald, thanks Lachlan!] More »
That Heavenly Sword/F1 PS3 starter pack? It’s official. Official for France, and France only. It’ll launch there on September 19, same day as Heavenly Sword. As for everywhere else, SCEE were most helpful in clearing up some of the muddly-duddlys surrounding these bundle packs, telling us: To remove any confusion, the Starter Pack, with an extra controller and two titles is a SCEE wide initiative and has been launched in all of our territories. The choice of which titles to include in the Starter Pack, and the freedom to change the titles is up to the individual markets based on their unique market conditions.
OK. So from here until they stop offering these packs, expect each SCEE territory (and that’ll include Australia and NZ) to start mixing and matching their bundled games. Who knows, one of them might even get it right (HINT: Pro Evo will go down well). More »
