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The Story Of Doodle Jump: Brotherly Love And Digital Snacks Good news, European and Asian PlayStation 3 owners; the region-locked demo for Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune is region-locked no more. Christophe Balestra, co-president of developer Naughty Dog issued an update on the game’s status at the official PlayStation.blog today, begging your forgiveness for the oversight. According to Balestra, the limiting of the demo to those in North America only wasn’t intentional, simply a product of being unaware that access to the PlayStation Store was a global affair.
Balestra says that when he learned of the news, he hopped in his car, carefully obeyed the speed limit on the drive back to the office and remedied the situation. Apparently, the values for hate_PAL and hate_JAPAN were both set to TRUE. Oops! It’s a simple mistake.
Sure, you’re gonna be on the ugly end of another 1.2 GB download, but I think you’ve whined enough. Enjoy!
Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune Demo Back on the World Map [PlayStation.blog]
When we caught wind of retailer Gamestop calling those who had pre-ordered The Elder Scrolls Travels: Oblivion, informing them of its cancellation, it sounded rather grim for the PSP release. Normally, Gamestop isn’t in the business of wiping products from its database and phoning customers when there’s a chance a product still has some life in it.
So, we got in touch with Bethesda Softworks to get confirmation, expecting a nice eulogy attached alongside the response. The official word? “We haven’t changed our stance that we are not talking about this title right now,” says Pete Hines, V.P. of Marketing and Public Relations at Bethesda.
Finally! Some closure.
Are we having fun living in the HD Era yet? Sony isn’t, as it considers the war with HD-DVD a “stalemate” now that Paramount and Dreamworks have left the Blu-ray camp. Despite a decent penetration of PlayStation 3s capable of playing the hi-def format, the Microsoft endorsed HD-DVD format is holding its own. And although Sir Howard Stringer wishes he could magically turn back time and fight for a unified high-def disc, he doesn’t consider winning the format war “all that.” Oh, yes, he did.
According to the Associated Press’ report on Stringer’s speech, sales of the PlayStation 3 have doubled in the U.S. following the recent price cut and that it has taken the number one spot on the European charts.
We have no idea exactly how Sir Stringer is quantifying that. Probably with some crazy equation that involves an intricate pounds to dollars to yen to volume. There’s probably a 1 carried in there. Unfortunately, since the NPD group has decided to deny publication of hardware sales going forward, we’ll have a less clear idea on how it’s actually faring in North America.
Sony CEO sees ‘stalemate’ in disc fight [AP/Yahoo]
There has been no shortage of speculation on a PlayStation 3 release of critical and commercial darling BioShock, but 2K Games, Microsoft and Ken Levine have done their best to smash any rumours about such a port. And while we’re growing quite tired of being emotionally torn apart at the seams by a potential PS3 version, the rumour has cropped up one more time. This time the source of the talk is EGM’s long running editorial nom de plume Quartermann. “There’s a change in the tide, as the world of Rapture may be Cell-enabled in 2008″, Quartermann writes.
Will we be at all surprised when BioShock is finally officially confirmed as the latest table scrap to be handed down from the plate of exclusivity? Nope. We won’t be surprised by the infighting when presented with a side-by-side comparison video in the comments either.
Cat helmets? Who needs ‘em? Not the Japanese. They’re fare more interested in “playing” a largely hands-free sequel to The IDOLM@STER on the Xbox 360. They’re also sure to line up for the ultra limited edition release of the Xbox 360 exclusive, known as The IDOLM@STER: Live For You! which will come with a special doll of virtual pop star Miki Hoshii. Only 3,000 units of the game’s high-end edition will be shipped and at a premium price of 26,040 yen. That’s about $US 230. Yes, that’s expensive. No, that doesn’t include a console.
The premium package does come with an anime-stuffed DVD and a pre-paid exclusive card. Fortunately, the doll also comes with detachable cat ears, which seem perfect for placing on the head of one of your tinier, less fortunate pets. Full-sized pics of the Miki doll, ideally suited for men who like dolls, at Game Watch.
The IDOLM@STER: Live For You! [Impress Game Watch]
Speaking of cameos, the latest episode of ABC legal drama Boston Legal featured a brief guest appearance by THQ and Volition’s Saints Row. A portly William Shatner as chronic nutjob Denny Crane is seen getting his virtual hooker on, probably at the behest of some nerdy writer on the show’s staff. Either that or a production assistant was tasked with getting “one of the Grand Thefts for the Nintendo PlayStation so Mr. Shatner can keep busy between takes.” Surely, THQ didn’t pay for this kind of product placement. I hope.
Thanks for the tip, Greg!
Over at a site called BFAds.net they have posted a number of Thanksgiving weekend circulars. The Best Buy one shows a great deal: Buy an Xbox 360 system for $US 349 and get a free copy of Guitar Hero II. The PS3, on the other hand, is $US 399 with Spiderman 3 and Open Season Blu-Rays. But the best deal of all? Orange Box for $US 25 for the PC. Now that’s value.
Black Friday Ads [BFAds.net, via NeoGAF]
I love cameos. I even like Cameo. Word up, I often find myself saying, when waxing about code words. So when Infinity Ward throws in a none too subtle nod to the magnificently named super computer from WarGames, the WOPR, into a game like Call of Duty 4 it’s like candy. That’s another Cameo reference, by the way. Anyway, for those who aren’t in their thirties and saw the Cold War thriller starring a young Matthew Broderick in the theater, reader Joseph was nice enough to send along a snap of that, too.
This week’s worth of updates at the official Smash Bros. Dojo is nothing short of a delicious info smoothie, only soured lightly by the reminder that Metroid‘s famous Norfair location makes for an insufferable level. We’re introduced to only one new character, but it’s a fairly substantial one, despite that he’s only an Assist Trophy. I’m staying on the positive tip, so I won’t whine about the lack of pics of you-know-who. I’ve simply got a pair of thumbs up and sore cheeks from the week-long smile. The Dojo Dump is below…
