Friday, September 19, 2008
GTA Weekend Coming to Xbox Live
11:20PM Brian Crecente | Next weekend the Rockstar’s development team is hopping on Xbox Live to take on all comers in Grand Theft Auto IV. The special Xbox Live Weekend runs from Friday, September 26 through Sunday, September 28 in the United States and Canada and is only open to Xbox LIVE Gold members. Members of the team will be online between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Friday to hand out ass-whoopings. There will also be a sweepstakes, which anyone can enter by registering online at www.xbox.com/causechaos before midnight on Sept. 28. You can also register by downloading the free GTA IV Live Weekend Gamer pic before the deadline. Prize packs include Rockstar gear and an Xbox 360 Elite with a 12-month Live Gold subscription card. Another contest, held on Rockstar Games webportal Social Club, will hand out prizes to some of those who sign on to their web accounts anytime between today and September 28. Those prizes include a home entertainment system worth more than $6,000, a GTA-branded Xbox 360 and other GTA merch. Hit up the Social Club for more details on that. More »
Judge Metallica Sound Quality For Yourself
11:00PM Brian Ashcraft | Previously we brought word that the sound quality of the new Metallic CD is a disaster. Ted Jensen, head engineer at Sterling Sound, who mastered the album, allegedly responded to fan concerns, writing “I’m not proud to be associated with this one, and we can only hope that some good will come from this in some form of backlash against volume above all else.” Metallica fans contend that the album is overly distorted, that clipping distortion from the album being mastered too loud, are making for bad impressions.However, the Guitar Hero version sounds great! The above clip compares both the CD and the Guitar Hero version. See if you can spot the difference — and remember, we’re talking about sound quality here folks, not whether or not you actually like Metallica. Metallica’s ‘Death Magnetic’: ‘Guitar Hero’ beats CD? [NME] More »
News
Konami Registers ‘Metal Gear Solid Existence’
10:40PM Brian Ashcraft | While Metal Gear Solid 4 might have brought Solid Snake’s story to a close, you can damn well bet that Konami has no intention of abandoning the MGS franchise. Game site Siliconera brings word that a new Metal Gear Solid trademark has popped up on Japanese Trademark database. Konami has registered game name “Metal Gear Solid Existence” with the picture image. No doubt, there are many more to follow… Metal Gear Solid Existence [Trademark Database via Siliconera] More »
SNK Talk KOFXII’s Gorgeous, Gorgeous Graphics
10:20PM Luke Plunkett | You know one of the key differences between product and art? It’s in the craftsmanship. Lots of people can churn out a 3D model of an alien, few can hand-draw and then animate lush, vibrant, 2D sprites. So those that can, we treasure. And we treasure SNK! Speaking yesterday at the Tokyo Amusement Show, King Of Fighters XII producer Masaaki Kukino spoke at length about not just their upcoming fighter, but its “traditional” graphics: Overall, it’s a very hard process that could take 16 months for even an experienced designer to do alone. In terms of data, the character size is about four times larger [than in previous installments]. But when considering the extra errors that come about in doing the [bigger] pixel art, the trouble is more than four times what it used to be. Each character in KOFXII has around 400 to 600 [sprite] patterns. Every single one of them is hand-drawn, and it’s something that we’re proud of. I’ll only say it here, but we believe that this is something that no other company can imitate, something that only SNK Playmore can do. Amazing. King of Fighters XII knuckles up next year [GameSpot] More »
News
EA Won’t Rip You Off Like Apple Does
10:00PM Brian Ashcraft | Today’s Friday, and Guardian’s Peter Moore week has drawn to a close. And today, instead of telling us how he killed the Dreamcast (bastard!) or how he thinks Rare is now irrelevant (ouch), Moore talks about how EA’s digital distribution and how the end goal is not to become the next Apple: We need to look three years into the future and say it’s going to be a completely different business, because of broadband connections. I am not going to be at the helm of a company that ends up like the music business that refused to stop trying to sell you CDs for £15 because it was a hugely profitable model. And the music consumer says, ‘you know, I don’t want to pay £15 for 12 tracks of which I want two, I don’t want shiny discs anymore’. And so what did the industry do? It started suing its consumers for illegal downloads and, you know, Steve Jobs comes to the rescue to figure out a way to charge you 99 cents or whatever you’re paying in the UK… You’re being ripped off. We’re not going to do that, we’re going to evolve, we’re going to go faster for the consumer, whatever the consumer wants. Big words from Moore. Peter Moore Interview: Part Five [Guardian] [Pic] More »
At Least Harmonix See The Funny Side In European Rock Band Pricing
9:30PM Luke Plunkett | Above, one of the new pieces of gear available in Rock Band 2’s store. It’s a Union Jack bandana. Whose price and item description sound awfully familiar. Cute, Harmonix, very cute. Harmonix makes light of RB’s European pricing with UK bandana accessory [X3F] More »
Elevator Action Returns!
9:00PM Brian Ashcraft | At this year’s Arcade Amusement show in Japan, Taito has resurrected retro title Elevator Action. Dubbed Elevator Action: Death Parade, this isn’t a joystick game, but rather, a light-gun arcade game. The cabinet has surround sound and seems to even have elevator doors! The cabinet should hit arcades sometime next year. This cabinet better play elevator music when those doors are shut. The AM show (JAMMA) Mega Preview Post [Arcade Heroes] More »Here’s How PlayTV Works
8:30PM Luke Plunkett | European? Here’s how PlayTV – the television set-top box and recorder for the PlayStation 3 – actually works. Right down to tracking down to the important stuff, like chimps and the football highlights. American? Here’s how it’d work if you were actually getting PlayTV. But you have TiVo, so you don’t really need it. More »
Cut Content To Return In Warhammer Online
8:00PM Luke Plunkett | In July, a bunch of stuff got cut from Warhammer Online. Sad news. But don’t despair! It’ll be making its way back into the game down the line. And not as paid DLC or a paid expansion, either, just as part of the game’s regular, free updates. Mythic made no mention specifically about just what was due for a reprieve, but since the July cuts were a bunch of playable classes and some cities, we’ll presume that’s what they’re talking about. Warhammer Online’s Cut Content Will Be Added For Free Later [1UP] More »
