New Doom 3 For Xbox 360 And PlayStation 3 Supports Head-Mounted Displays 
Far Cry 3 And The Stranger In A Strange Land 
Why Robin Makes Batman Better 
Resistance: Burning Skies: The Kotaku Review 
Harley Quinn's Revenge Is Batman: Arkham City's Bad New Ending 
High Scores And Egos: There's Always A Bigger Doodle UPDATE: Many GameStop employees have written to say that the metallic silver DS will be sold at their store. Some said exclusively but others disputed this. The $US 25 is indeed a pre-order minimum price. More as it warrants.
A tipster sent us the attached SKU query (full size mobile phone pic after the jump) which claims a metallic silver DS drops in less than a month (Sept. 7). Also looks like the PS2 “Family Value Pack” that includes the console, Lego Batman and the Justice League: New Frontiers DVD, for $US 149, has a street date of Sept 23.
DS Fanboy reported the metallic silver rumour last month saying it would arrive in September, but didn’t specify a date.
Fair warning, this is not a full screen shot, so if you work at a Best Buy and want to nitpick what’s not shown on the screen.
Rumour: USA to be Awarded Silver [DS Fanboy]
The list of what was fixed is a doozy, but hopefully it puts an end to the shamefully embarrassing problems that plagued the release of NCAA Football 09 — nearly a month after its release.
My favourite fix? “Ball carrier will no longer run out of bounds when changing hands and heading towards the sidelines”. Also “WR screen routes improved”. That’s good, because your shithead coach in Campus Legend mode loves to call it on third-and-long. Xbox 360 Fanboy, among other sites, has the full list of what was fixed. This also means that roster files are working. I got mine last night via EA Locker.
The first time I fired up Braid on my laptop, I was immediately struck by the lovely and lush environments — ‘It’s like stepping into a children’s book!’ — that gelled together in a visually pleasing way. Puffy clouds and suns hovered over pale mountains, forests made up of brilliant yellows — whatever it’s other merits or lack thereof, I loved the visual look of the game. David Hellman, who created the art for Braid, goes through the process of creating the visual look of Braid, from “programmer art glory” to finished product:
IGN has published the full list of PS3 trophies for Rock Band 2, with images. They don’t have the values for each trophy, but If you’re going for all of them to achieve platinum, it’s going to take a while. You can peruse the full list on the jump.
Via Terra Nova comes a fascinating paper by Richard Heeks that covers the historical, social, and economic aspects playing into real money transactions. I’ve just had time to take a quick gander at the paper, but unlike a lot of information out there, this appears quite comprehensive and with a more unbiased position than we usually see:
This paper reviews what we know so far about gold farming, seeking to provide the first systematic analysis of the sub-sector. It assembles available data at the sectoral, enterprise and worker level. Five main analytical lenses are then applied. Economic analysis shows how exchange rate variations and scale economies do and do not impact gold farming; and the strong influence of information failure in the purchase of virtual items: known as “real-money trading”. Analysis from the perspective of industrial sociology charts the commoditisation and globalisation of the sub-sector, while value chain models identify resource dependencies and power inequities. Enterprise analysis investigates enterprise entry, existence and progression, and outlines the competitive forces shaping the sub-sector’s development; particularly threats. Developmental analysis investigates the impact of this sub-sector in macro and micro terms. Finally, there is a sociological analysis of the role played by perceptions and other social forces.
I’ve got it saved for future reading, and from what I’ve seen, it’s definitely worth a look if you’re interested in issues of RMT and gold farming. It is long (and academic!), but think about wading through if you’re feeling inspired.
Current Analysis and Future Research Agenda on “Gold Farming” [IDPM Working papers via Terra Nova]
A month later, E3 quotes, comments and tidbits are still coming out in dribs and drabs. Here’s one: Outspoken Epic honcho Mike Capps, in a lengthy video interview elsewhere, is a bit pissed at the fact reviewers hated on Gears of War for the PC.
“Because what we did was take a great game, Gears of War 1 for Xbox 360, made it run at higher resolutions and added three new hours of really good gameplay and it got lower reviews. I think that’s bullshit, and I don’t understand it. I can’t figure out what it is”.
Voodoo Extreme, in the post and the comments, puts forth a fine explanation: 1) The game had bugs at the outset that needed patches. 2) Multiplayer matchmaking via Windows Live was terrible, should be better now that they’ve done away with the gold/silver distinction.
But bottom line, as one commenter points out ,it’s probably the fact that it’s not a simultaneous release with the 360 title, not even close. Because when reviewers go checking out a port, if the new-and-better isn’t slap-you-in-the-face obvious, they’re probably going to spot what doesn’t work and harp on it.
It does make me wonder what kind of reviews we’ll see for Grand Theft Auto IV for the PC.
Lower Review Scores for Gears PC is “Bullshit,” Says Capps [Videogaming247, via Voodoo Extreme]
Gamers of a certain vintage (likely older than 30) will recall The Goonies, a 1985 film that taught everyone that obnoxious suburban mcmansion growth can be stopped if you believe in yourself and have access to pirate treasure. In a podcast at ButtonMasher, Insomniac’s Brian Allgier completely proffers Ratchet and Clank: Quest for Booty will feature Goonies-style “Pirate Puzzles,” and it sounds like one is taken from the scene where (God I love it that I get to type this) Andy plays the bone organ.
