Friday, January 4, 2008
Wii GH3 Owners, Please Sign Here For Your Replacement Discs
11:30PM Luke Plunkett | Anyone who would like their 20th century copy of Guitar Hero III exchanged for a copy of the Pro Logic II one they originally paid for, your time has almost come. If you head on over to Activision’s support site, you can pre-register for the replacement disc’s mailout campaign, which means you’ll be notified as soon as it kicks off. After that, you should be well on your way to enjoying the game in surround sound. Hopefully, that’s not too far away. Until then, you’ll just have to soldier on. Activision Support [via Go Nintendo] More »
Real Madrid Signs Game Development Deal
10:00PM Kotaku US Edition | Spanish football powerhouse Real Madrid have signed a deal with Virgin Play, who will now be developing three “properties” for the club, spread over consoles, mobiles and online. This marks a return to the specialist football arena for Real Madrid, who last featured in an exclusive title during Codemaster’s ill-advised “Club Football” series on the PC and last-gen consoles. Anyone left wondering why they’re commissioning a move like this need only read the following: …the three properties offer brands the opportunity to be integrated within each game, not only through product placement but also with plot integration – enabling players to have a more realistic gaming experience and brands to get closer to a targeted audience. In other words, advertising sold as a probably-rubbish football game. Enjoy! Real Madrid signs deal with Virgin Play [GI.biz] More »
How To Bring Vomiting Zombie Blood Back To Metal Slug 3
9:00PM Kotaku US Edition | Metal Slug 3 on XBLA should have been a slam dunk. But no. No, a way has been found to balls it up, and that way is in taking the game’s trademark zombie-blood-vomiting and…changing its red colour to white. Yeah, white. We’re as slack-jawed as you over the move. Not to worry, there’s an easy workaround – just set your 360’s native language to Japanese and your rivers of crimson will be back before you know it. Red blood in XBLA Metal Slug 3 [insert credit] More »
Like Icarus, This PSP Charger Draws You Closer To The Sun
8:00PM Luke Plunkett | It’s one of life’s great conundrums. Handheld devices can normally only be charged while inside the home, but you only ever really use them outside of the home. If your charge runs flat on the road, or on the train, or the bus, well, you’re up shit creek and you’re minus one paddle. Or you would be, were it not for this dandy little solar-powered PSP charger. $US 28 to harness the power of the sun itself sounds like a fair deal to us. Pending confirmation that it actually works, that is. PSP-2000 Solar Battery Charger [DealExtreme, via PSP Fanboy] More »
PAL Virtual Console Update Update
7:00PM Luke Plunkett | Pretty slim pickings this week. There’s not the customary three games on offer. Heck, there’s not even two games on offer. Just one. A single, solitary game. But proponents of the saying “quality trumps quantity” will be high-fiving across Europe and Australia, as that one game is Harvest Moon for the SNES. It’s not my favourite Harvest Moon (A Wonderful Life somehow holds that honour), but with some Wii points change lying around and no new games to play I may just settle in for a weekend of tedious, back-breaking virtual labour. More »
How To Actually Enjoy The Simpsons Game
6:00PM Luke Plunkett | The Simpsons game was a great concept. Had some good moments. Pity those were all cutscenes, then, and not the parts you actually got to play. Which leaves Simpsons fans in a pickle – how to enjoy the animated sequences and gags without having to submit yourself to cash expenditure and hours of gameplay? YouTuber TheCockCrew’s got your back, and has gone and filmed the entirety of the game. Cutscenes and all. Links’ below, if you’re at all interested in saving yourself a few hours time. TheCockCrew’s Videos [YouTube, via GSW] More »
Anyone Want To Be In A Mega Man Movie?
5:00PM Luke Plunkett | Eddie Lebron’s an amateur filmmaker. And by amateur, we mean he makes fan flicks. He’s “best” known for his unofficial Ghostbusters 3 project, entitled Ghostbusters: Generation, but is now setting his sights on something a little closer to our hobby of choice. Dude’s making a Mega Man movie. And he needs your help. Lebron’s looking for non-union actors for the project, so if you’re a guy between the ages of 18-50, a “perky” female aged 18-24 or an obsessive Mega Man fan who’s just gotsta be in on this, roll on up to the auditions being held in NYC on January 12. Auditions for Non-Union Film – NY [via io9] More »
Microsoft Offering Free XBLA Game As Compensation For XBL Downtime
4:20PM Luke Plunkett | The downtime Xbox Live has suffered since Christmas has really pissed holiday gamers off. Occassional dropouts here and there are understandable, but nearly two weeks of severe issues? That’s tested a lot of people’s patience with a service they’ve paid good money for. Something Microsoft are at least aware of, as they’ve offered both a sincere apology and a freebie: every single Xbox Live member (we’re assuming that’s Gold and Silver subscribers) will now be scoring a free Xbox Live Arcade game. Specifics on which game/games, and how you get hold of it, aren’t yet available, but will be coming out shortly. A word of advice, guys: make it Rez HD and this might (might) just blow over. Click through to see Marc Whitten, Xbox Live’s GM, grovel for your forgiveness. More »
Explaining Away The Flood Of Crappy Wii Games
4:00PM Luke Plunkett | In case you’re oblivious to the rows of unfamiliar, familiar (PS2 rehashes) and cheap shovelware lining the Wii’s software shelves, know this: there’s a glut of awful games coming out for the Wii over the next few months. What began as a trickle at the system’s launch is cascading into a churning, roaring river of shit, as publishers strive to make a quick buck from the system’s ever-increasing popularity. But – provided you’re the type to get upset at this kind of behaviour – should you really be blaming them? Paul Rinde, CEO of Destineer, one such “gold rush” publisher, says no: Let’s put it this way. There has not been a Wii title we’ve offered [retailers] that they’ve not agreed to support so far…With DS, retailers are being more selective. It’s a more mature system…. There are a lot more titles for the DS so retailers are a little pickier. And I think going into 2008 with Wii titles they will start to do that as well. So if you’re somehow feeling angry, and upset, and betrayed, and any other negative feelings over the amount of crap winding up on the Wii, remember: it takes two to tango. Three, if you want to count Average Joe Public, to whom a $US 20 game is better than a $US 50 game because it saves him $US 30. Nintendo Drought Turns Into Nintendo Flood [MTV] More »
