Thursday, March 6, 2008
News
Cut Scott Steinberg And He Bleeds Sony
11:30PM Luke Plunkett | Scott Steinberg used to be a Sega man. Not anymore, though. He’s a Sony man now. And don’t you forget it. Yeah, I know, as a corporate exec he’s trained – nay, expected – to beat the company drum, but in an interview with Next-Gen Steinberg goes beyond drumming. And the interview’s all the better for it! Third parties have started to move from the de facto 360 SDK. Of course people designed their next-gen games on it because that was the only one there. The PS3 shipped and so they said, ‘let’s port our 360 games to the PS3.’ But now companies are recognising that ‘hey, if I start on the PS3 and then port down to the 360, my 360 game is going to look better than if I had just designed it for the 360.’ That it? Oh no. Not for Steinberg. He’s just warming up! [Microsoft] had a great crescendo moment with Halo and it helped catapult them into a pretty strong position towards the back end of last year, but they were still within a stone’s throw of where they were with the original Xbox. To me that speaks of a failure to broaden their reach beyond the core first person shooter player who was in their back pocket for Xbox. The question for us is ‘are they really going after the PS2 demographic? Are they stealing share from us?’ And the answer is no.Hit the link below and there’s plenty more of it. You may call it bravado. Unnecessary, even. I call it a return to good times. Last few years, executives have been boring. Nice to see one trying to bring back the shit-talking glory days of 2003-2005, spice things up a little! Sony: We Will Conquer All [Next-Gen] More »
Five Very Dirty Shoko Nakagawa Doppelgangers
11:00PM Brian Ashcraft | Certainly, you haven’t forgotten admitted-cat-head-swallower Shoko Nakagawa. Besides being a
Army Of Two Refused Classification In… Yes, Germany
10:30PM Luke Plunkett | Last time I ever give the USK (Germany’s classification board) any credit. German gaming site areagames is reporting that the Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle have refused EA’s Army of Two classification, effectively banning the title from retail sale in the country. A quick search of the USK’s website seems to confirm this, as the title doesn’t turn up in classification searches (nor do other “banned” titles like Dead Rising). Anyone able to point out what makes this so different from the 1,943 “men with guns” games they’ve seen fit to OK over the past twelve months? Army of Two nicht in Deutschland!? [areagames] More »
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Cosplay Haruhi Suzumiya Dance on Ice and in Snow
10:00PM Brian Ashcraft | We’ve done so many Haruhi Suzumiya, that we’ve become jaded. From inmates to global nerds, we’ve seen it all! Well, almost. Here a motley crew of cosplayers brave the snow and ice of Gunma Prefecture for some Haruhi. The dancing isn’t great. Hell, it’s not even good. But, it is in the freezing cold, and that alone is worth something. What exactly, no clue. More »
Have You Finished Shadow Of The Colossus?
9:30PM Luke Plunkett | If not, go away. Best case, this will mean little to you, worst case, it’s a major spoiler (hence the click-through). If you have, though… please, click right on through for some delightful artwork. More »
Yes, Females Play Video Games (More Should Make ‘Em!)
9:00PM Brian Ashcraft | More data! CNN points out that according to the Entertainment Software Association, 38 percent of gamers are females and spend an average of 7.4 hours a week playing video games. What’s more, they spend the rest of their time, doing other things. Not surprised! Sony Computer Entertainment’s Torrie Dorrell points out: Women are out there in significant numbers playing MMOs, action games, first-person shooters. What is lacking in the equation are women behind these games. Dorrell is dead right. But things are changing — slowly. Wooing women gamers [CNN via CVG via GamesRadar] More »
EA Need History, Geography Lessons
8:45PM Luke Plunkett | I’m sure that EA did OK at school. But just OK. Sure, they passed stuff like sports and marketing with flying colours, but other subjects were more of a struggle. Like geography. And history. Above is the back of the box for a Central European version of Army of Two. Says to register at EA Support you must be 13 or older in Hungary and…Czechoslovakia. Which hasn’t existed since, oh, New Years Eve 1992. Way to keep up with current events, EA! Army of Two w Polygamii! [Polygamia] More »
Why Michael Atkinson’s Opposal Of An R18+ Rating For Games Does Bugger All To Protect Kids, Promotes Crime
8:30PM Logan Booker | Today, State Parliament heard Attorney-General Michael Atkinson’s arguments against an R18+ rating for video games.
Actually, that’s not quite true. According to News.com.au, Atkinson was interrupted shortly after bringing up the use of drugs in the game Narc, which was refused classification back in 2005. However, News.com.au was able to get a hold of the full speech from his office.
If you haven’t been following the saga, the R18+ rating for games will again be looked at during the next meeting of Attorneys-General, scheduled for later this month.
Unfortunately Atkinson is the AG for South Australia, and he’s been against the rating since the beginning of time… possibly longer. His reasoning is, essentially, that every reasonable measure should be taken to prevent children from playing games containing adult content. Without the backing of every AG, there’s no way the R18+ rating will be approved.
While noble, Atkinson’s arguments against the rating are flawed. More » 
Resistance for PSP Is “Possible”
8:00PM Brian Ashcraft | We sure liked Resistance. It’s a good game! So good that some people wish that they could take it will them on the bus and train and shoot-up aliens. That’s be super! But is it going to happen? Insomniac Games bossman Ted Price says: Sure. I think that’s possible… I think Killzone demonstrated that it doesn’t have to be a first-person shooter. I think Killzone: Liberation was a fantastic game, but a very different game from the original. Anything is possible. You heard that? Non FPS Resistance on PSP, cats living with dogs, mass hysteria — anything is possible! Ted Price Part 2 [MTV] More »
