Friday, February 8, 2008
Ride A Train, Get A DS
11:30PM Luke Plunkett | Japanese rail company JR East is in a pickle. They run a shinkansen between Hiroshima and Tokyo that takes four hours from end to end. Flying between the two cities only takes 90 minutes, and JR’s business is suffering as a result. In an attempt to lure customers back to their trains, they’ve struck a deal with Nintendo where if you travel with JR East between February 14 and March 28, you’ll get free use of a DS during your trip. Eight games will be on offer for customers to choose from, and they can pick any two. Great idea, JR East! Maybe in April you can offer ice cubes to Eskimos. Free DS Rentals For Train Riders in Japan [IGN] More »
Sega Superstar Tennis Won’t Take Wii Online
11:00PM Brian Ashcraft | With all those SEGA characters like Ulala, Sonic, Amigo and Alex Kidd, you’d think that Sega Superstars Tennis isn’t missing anything. It is: Online! The Sumo Digital developed Wii tennis title “doesn’t have any online play to speak of” says IGN after getting hands-on with the title. The Xbox 360 and PS3 versions, however, do have online play. And if that’s not enough of a kick in the pants, the motion controls are not “particularly responsive.” Insert sad face. Superstars Tennis Hands-on [IGN via Infendo] [Pic] More »
New England Manager Bans Gaming
10:30PM Luke Plunkett | Newly-appointed manager of the England football team, the astute, snappily-dressed and very Italian Fabio Capello, has wasted little time in stamping his authority on the perennially underachieving national side. Gone are visits from friends and family before a game. Gone are mobile phones once the team’s checked into a hotel for a match. And gone are videogames. Capello believes the England team’s obsession with their consoles had contributed to a “PlayStation culture”, which was distracting them from the job at hand. Sounds harsh, but then if I was being paid millions of dollars a year to play football and all I had to do was not play games a day or two before a match, I think I could manage. Capello bans England from playing games [MCV] [Image: Getty] More »Return of the Dead Beaver Case Mod
10:00PM Brian Ashcraft | Previously we featured the Compubeaver, and it is again in moving pictures. Well, the pictures are moving, but the dead beaver is very still. Dead, too. Compubeaver [Boing Boing] More »
News
Activision Must Innovate With Tony Hawk’s 10
9:30PM Luke Plunkett | Not everything went Activision’s way last year. Tony Hawks Proving Ground, for example, looked rubbish compared to Skate, and sales reflected this, with EA’s new series outselling Hawk’s 2:1. Which when you consider the market for skate games didn’t increase (the majority just opted for EA’s better game) poses a problem for Activision. So they’ve sworn that the next Tony Hawk’s will be innovative. Just like the last one was meant to be. And the one before. Ever hear about the boy who cried wolf, Acti? Ended up eaten by, well, a wolf. Food for thought. More »Car Surfing Comes to Saints Row 2
9:00PM Brian Ashcraft |
PAL PlayStation Store Updates Continue To Underwhelm
8:30PM Luke Plunkett | EVERYDAY SHOOTER WATCH: Two months and counting. As for what did turn up, well, Go! Skydiving managed an on-time appearance (and to be honest looks like a good time-waster), and is joined by demos for Conflict: Denied Ops (a week late) and Turok (3 weeks late), as well as DLC for Folklore and a Chinese New Year’s pack for MotorStorm. In the PSP/PC store, just one addition: a WipEout Pulse DLC pack. More »
News
Holy Smoke, Fifteen Million Steam Accounts
8:00PM Brian Ashcraft | Wowzers. It’s only been three and a half years, but developer Valve has announced that its content delivery platform Steam has racked up 15 million subscribers. What’s more, Valve adds that Steam-based sales have jumped 158 percent over the holiday season compared to the previous one. Very impressive — and encouraging to see PC gaming’s still going strong. Well, for Valve at least. Steam Reaches 15 Mil [Game|Life] More »
News
Relax, Viacom (Probably) Aren’t Buying Take-Two
7:30PM Luke Plunkett | That rumour yesterday about media giants Viacom swooping for troubled publishing house Take-Two? Most likely bogus. Both Reuters and Variety are pouring cold water on the suggestion, with Variety’s Ben Fritz reiterating something we heard a lot of yesterday: if Viacom were going to go for a publisher, it wouldn’t be one as costly and cumbersome as Take-Two. It’d be Midway, who are equally vulnerable, and who Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone happens to have a controlling stake in. That and his daughter, Shari Redstone, is chairman (chairlady?) of Midway. Viacom’s not making a bid for Take Two [Variety] More »
