Monday, February 11, 2008
News
German Hardware Sales Show 360 Isn’t Their Cup Of Tea
11:30PM Luke Plunkett | Courtesy of GfK, some sales numbers are in for one of Europe’s most important gaming markets: Germany. Covering the holiday sales period (Nov-Dec), they show that while some consoles (like the Wii) performed as expected, others did not. Just look at those 360 numbers, for example. Dire. Note: for some reason, no PSP numbers were provided. 1) DS – 653,000 2) Wii – 339,000 3) PS2 – 184,000 4) PS3 – 136,000 5) 360 – 56,000 Nintendo hängt Konkurrenz ab [Euro am Sonntag, thanks MDawg!] [Pic] More »
Yellow Dog Linux Shipping With Yellow Dog PS3s
10:30PM Luke Plunkett | Terra Soft’s Yellow Dog Linux is already a favourite with the type of people who like to mess around with their PS3. Now, it’s been made available to people who aren’t so keen to mess around with their PS3. If that sounds more like you, you can buy PS3 consoles directly from Yellow Dog’s site, which are 80GB units that come with Linux pre-installed, allowing you to (almost) enjoy stuff like PC games on your PS3 straight out of the box. [Yellow Dog PS3, thanks Hatchetforce!] More »
FIFA 08, Now Shipping Across 94 Versions
9:30PM Luke Plunkett | Need an example of how important EA Sports games are to EA’s bottom line? Consider how much work went into shipping FIFA 08. As part of his keynote address at DICE, EA boss John Riccitiello told us just how many versions of the game they got out the door. Now, for a game like Mass Effect, you ship 5,6 versions, or SKUs: US, PAL (with a few different European versions), Japanese and Asian editions. If it’s a dual-platform game like, say, Skate, you can expect to ship double that. FIFA 08? It shipped across an absolutely ridiculous 94 SKUs. Which, I guess, is what happens when you release a game in 20 languages across 16 countries on seven platforms. Nintendo, you could learn a thing or two about that kinda localisation effort. More »
New Mortal Kombat Movie Sounds Awful Already
8:30PM Luke Plunkett | How do you make a new Mortal Kombat movie suck harder than the last sucky Mortal Kombat movie? I’ll tell you: you hire Chris “Mink” Morrison to direct, whose last movie was 2005’s Into The Sun. With Steven Seagal. Note that’s fat, crazy 2005 Steven Seagal, not chubby, hilarious 1988 Steven Seagal. This new film won’t be a sequel to the 1995 movie, nor its 1997 sequel; rather it will, according to the director, be a “re-envisioning (if that is a word) of the Mortal Kombat franchise from top to bottom”. Oh, and it’ll also be borrowing from the original’s “pioneering spirit”: Todays audience is a savvy, involved group so the film must be A plus plus in every area in order to capture the magic of the first film…The original Mortal Kombat game was born a child of many visual loves by the creators at midway so this latest version borrows heavily from that pioneering spirit and must be thought out and executed at the highest level in order for it succeed in today’s market place. Uh…right. Repeat after me: “straight to DVD”. Director talks Mortal Kombat reboot [Moviehole] More »
EA Decide To Leave Multiplayer Out Of Aussie Medal Of Honor Game
7:30PM Luke Plunkett | Last week, Medal Of Honor Heroes 2 was released in Australia for the Wii. Except…something was different. Something was…missing. Online play! Despite every other version of the game featuring 32-player online support, and EA’s local marketing for the game saying the exact same thing, when the game shipped and people started trying it out, it was quickly discovered that, for some reason, the Australian version had no online play whatsoever. EA have since issued an apology for the mixup, and are offering a full refund for anyone who is upset over the omission, but sometimes an apology just doesn’t cut it. Way to make Australians feel like fourth-rate consumers, EA, it’s not like other publishers don’t do enough of that already. Multiplayer mix-up leads to EA refund offers for MoH 2 in Australia [GameSpot] More »
Comment + Excellence = Lost Odyssey
3:00PM Logan Booker | Counting today, there’s only three days left to make your award-winning comment and snag yourself a copy of Lost Odyssey, thanks to Microsoft.
With just five boxes to give out, you’re going to have to channel Twain, or Garfunkel, or someone creative if you want to be in with a chance.
If you’d like all the terms, conditions and peanuts, be sure to check out the original announcement post. It’s packed with flavour, I promise.
Make A Top Comment, Win Lost Odyssey [Kotaku AU] More » 
Come Get Your February Oz Game Bargains
2:00PM Logan Booker | Anthony from the Economical Gamer has again kindly compiled some gaming bargains for Kotaku AU. If you’re looking to make a few purchases this month, it’s highly recommended you check these out.
Included in the list is the EB Games Assassin’s Creed offer from last week, in case you missed it.
All the deals you could ever wish for after the jump.
Economical Gamer [Thanks Anthony] More » Weekend Note: Red Eye
12:49PM Flynn De Marco | To: Ash and Luke From: Flynn Subject: I am like a writing zombie Ahoy gents! I hope this letter finds you well. As for me, I took a Red Eye out of SF last night and ended up getting two hours of sleep. The plane was late and I arrived just in time to put heads down and start writing. Needless to say I am absolutely brain fried and exhausted. So in the interest of getting some sleep I’m going to get right to the goods. Some things you might have missed this weekend… A former Marine goes missing, Call of Duty may have been a factor Apple puts out a trademark for handheld games A kid burns down a church/school and then brags about it on GameFaqs. And now I must beg off. My pillow is calling and Professor Layton is compelling me to help him solve some puzzles. Hopefully I can help before I pass out. Goodnight! More »
News
12:30PM Logan Booker | Oh dear. Where has the “Purchase” button for Bioshock disappeared to? Why is Civilization IV so much more expensive than the identical US offering?
2K Games isn’t chucking an Activision and a THQ is it?
We’ve hit up the local PR for some answers, but understandably it’s not in control of the pricing or title listings for Australian Steam users. Our request has however been forwarded to those in the know, and we hope to have a reply for you guys later today or tomorrow.
In the past, Activision blamed Steam for similar shenanigans, and THQ was unwilling to comment on its activities. Maybe 2K Games will step up to the plate and be straight with us.
2K too good for Australia now!? [Steam Powered forums, thanks Cam]
More »
2K Games & Steam: Civ IV Twice As Expensive, Bioshock Dumped
12:30PM Logan Booker | Oh dear. Where has the “Purchase” button for Bioshock disappeared to? Why is Civilization IV so much more expensive than the identical US offering?
2K Games isn’t chucking an Activision and a THQ is it?
We’ve hit up the local PR for some answers, but understandably it’s not in control of the pricing or title listings for Australian Steam users. Our request has however been forwarded to those in the know, and we hope to have a reply for you guys later today or tomorrow.
In the past, Activision blamed Steam for similar shenanigans, and THQ was unwilling to comment on its activities. Maybe 2K Games will step up to the plate and be straight with us.
2K too good for Australia now!? [Steam Powered forums, thanks Cam]
More » 
