Let there be no more speculation about Microsoft’s stance on HD-DVD. The company issued a statement today that it would no longer manufacture the Xbox 360 add-on following Toshiba’s decision to bail out on the high definition disc format. It reiterated that the death of the HD-DVD format would not “have any material impact on the Xbox 360 platform” but it surely scuttles any talk that the Redmond giant has plans for a 360 with a built-in HD-DVD drive. We expect fantastic deals on the accessory and discs to flood Cheap Ass Gamer within hours.
The full statement from Microsoft is just after this, full of digital distribution good wishes and stiff upper lips. Rest in peace, Xbox 360 HD-DVD player.
For those of you wanting to download and check out some of the XNA community games, be aware that they are only available until tomorrow Sunday, Feb. 23 at midnight. After that you will have until March 9 at midnight to play the games before they expire. So get while the gettings good and download your XNA games now before it’s too late!
[Thanks, Epsicode]
Here we have another look at the new Mario Kart game for the Wii. We get see a bunch of multiplayer gameplay as well as some people “enjoying” the Wii wheel. Something about that wheel just leaves me scratching my head. Perhaps it’s the fact that it’s not attached to anything and just seems to be floating there. I think I’ll stick to driving my Kart with a good old fashioned controller thank you very much.
I think that the Space Invaders icons have to be the most used video game symbols in clothing and accessories. We’ve seen hats, pants, shoes, shirts, man purses, jewelery and all other manner of accoutrement featuring the little pixelated aliens. And now, to complete the entire ensemble we have Space Invaders boxer briefs. These were snapped at Ted Baker in London as evidenced by the label in the box. Someone please make a note to get these for Crecente so he’ll finally have that last piece to his museum collection of decorative video game related underpants.
[via Wonderland]
I got a chance to swing by the SNK Playmore Suite at GDC to check out some of their offerings. Most of what they had going on on their screens were showings of their various game anthologies including Fatal Fury Battle Archives Vol. 2, King of Fighters 98 Ultimate Match, King of Fighters Collection Orochi Saga, Samurai Shodown Anthology, SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1 and World Heroes Anthology. Not a whole lot new here but there were a couple of nice looking trailers for King of Fighters XII and the New Samurai Shodown.
There’s a fun article over at the Escapist talking about the B-list in games, film, and other entertainment (looking in particular at Conan, both the original pulp fiction incarnation and the 2007 game from Nihilistic); the author’s contention is that game developers don’t really ‘get’ the B-list, and why people turn to B entertainment for, well, entertainment. Of course, video games suffer from the odd conundrum of having too much money; most B entertainment manages decent returns on smaller budgets. But what about the pulp fiction/game divide?
Luc Bernard, the mind behind the upcoming Wii-Ware title Eternity’s Child is already hard at work on a new and what is sure to be a very controversial game or the DS. Imagination Is The Only Escape is the story of a young Jewish boy living in France during the occupation by the Nazis in World War II. In order to escape the horrors around him, he imagines a fantasy land that becomes the basis of the game’s world. The adventure platformer will attempt to educate players on the atrocities experienced by many children during the time of the Holocaust.
NCsoft’s Atrix, a casual online game that NCsoft describes as “a lively action fighting game,” is making its way to China after being well received in Korea last year. Shanda has gotten the exclusive license to operate Atrix on the Mainland, part of the alliance between the two Asian giants announced this past November. I wonder if having a ‘strategic alliance’ will preclude any of the messy and protracted legal battles we’ve seen between Chinese and Korean companies? You can expect the game to be popping up on PRC PCs in 2009; full press release after the jump.
Videogamer.com is reporting that an email sent out by retailer GAME indicates that Gran Turismo 5 won’t be arriving on UK shelves until 2009. So it looks like all of you hoping to see some GT racing action on your PS3s this year will be sorely out of luck.
“The legendary “Real Driving Simulator” Gran Turismo 5 is heading to PlayStation 3 in 2009, utilising the uber-console’s raw horsepower to generate an unrivalled level of realism.”
The email goes on to promote the release of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue on March 28th. The “preview” game will feature forty cars, five tracks and will be budget priced at £19.99.
Gran Turismo 5 won’t arrive in UK until 2009 [VideoGamer]
The Chinese game industry is hot hot hot, and money is burning a hole in the pocket of some of the big players like Shanda. Unfortunately, the hot market has led to plenty of companies overvaluing their worth, and despite capital burning a hole in the collective pocket of the big companies, they’re starting to realise that snapping up small companies for massive prices isn’t the giant payoff they’re looking for:
