Sony has not announced a PS3 price cut so it’s widely expected that it’s holding on for a bigger one right before the Christmas/Thanksgiving shopping season. It was a return to the basics for the wounded Japanese juggernaut. An impressive exclusive lineup of Uncharted 2, God of War III, Gran Turismo 5, The Last Guardian, MAG and Agent. However most of these games are scheduled for a 2010 release.
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I am rather disappointed at Nintendo’s announcements this year. Its major hardcore games are just sequels, Super Mario Galaxy 2, New Super Mario Bros Wii, Metroid Prime Other M. It’s hard to get excited about these franchises even if they are as brilliant as Super Mario Galaxy was.
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Microsoft made an impressive conference by all accounts in this year’s E3. Apart from all the game announcements it has also unveiled improvements to the service it provides to Xbox Live users. Xbox Live is undeniably the X360’s strongest feature and together with the camera controller it has announced could it be headed towards that golden Wii path.
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In case you’ve been wondering why there was no Game Releases post last week it’s because I was in transit. After a long flight from Larnaca airport taking me via Frankfurt I finally arrived yesterday to Los Angeles where the 2009 Electronics Entertainment Expo will take place from 2 4 June. It’s the biggest event in the games industry and I will be there to report directly to you.
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About a month ago i linked to a news story about the French parliament trying to pass a bill which would disconnect people suspected of downloading illegal content.
“The new legislation operates under a three-stage system. A new state agency would first send illegal file-sharers a warning e-mail, then a letter, and finally cut off their connection for a year if they were caught a third time. ”
As this is the first time a country introduces a specific law to combat piracy i am really interested where we will go from here and how successfully can such laws will be enforced.
Read the full news story here at BBC.
Professional Gamer returns with some news and time wasters this week. Again, let me remind you that if you find anything game related which you think is worth sharing feel free to email me (costas.taliadoros@gmail.com) and I will try and include it in a future post.
NEWS
Gfk Chart Track released the UK Lifetime Hardware figures as of 31 January 2009. Link
Wii 4.9m
360 3.2m
PS3 1.9m
DS 8.8m
PSP 3.2m
PS2 10m
The PS3 is lagging behind its two competitors (launched later than both consoles) but it’s believed to be ahead of the 360 in the rest of Europe. While the Wii appears to be the new leader in the current console generatio, and not just in the UK, some dark clouds are starting to appear in the horizon. Japan has traditionally been the country where the console cycle is ahead of the rest of the other countries. Bill Harris at Dubious Quality has an excellent analysis of the lifetime sales in Japan and why Nintendo should be worried. It seems that the financial crisis, lack of good Wii games and the expansion of the market to less hardcore gamers are starting to take effect. Not to mention that the Wii has not had a price cut yet since it’s launch. In Cyprus the Wii is more expensive than the 360.
Read the rest of the post at OnThisIsland - link
I have started a new weekly series of blog posts at OnThisIsland where i will be providing you with information on gaming events, interesting articles, videos and my views on games i am currently playing.
This series will complement the Game releases posts which can sometimes be handicapped by the quality and quantity of what is being released. If any of you out there stumble upon any stuff you find exciting feel free to email me (costas.taliadoros@gmail.com) and i will try to post them in future Professional Gamer posts.
Videos
Starting off this first post are three videos on Halo. You can say what you like about the quality of the Halo series but the Halo fan community is one of the most loyal and creative groups out there. If you like Red Hot Chili Peppers you will love the first one, Halo ((All I Play-Oh)) . The next video can be true of any multiplayer game, The Clan . If your gaming affects your relationship, then you can always Blame Halo 3!
Finally two non-gaming videos which are worthy of your attention. A fantastic promotional video for the Asics shoes brand (Link) and a video on how dolphins make their bubbles! (Link).
”And i find it kind of funny, i find it kind of sad”
MadWorld was no.34 in the UK’s sales charts in its first week of release. In the following week it disappeared from the top 40. From what i have read, the situation is not any better in the US either.
Unfortunately whenever a developer tries to do something bold and different the gamers’ response is “give us something we know and have seen before with a number preferably at the end of the game’s name”. MadWorld could not manage to find an audience even in the Wii’s massive installed base.
For PlatinumGames (developer) and Sega (publisher) this must be a big blow to another attempt to create a new IP with a distinct art style and gameplay. I don’t follow other forms of entertainment as much as i do video games so i don’t know if it’s common but it is really extraordinary how people avoid to venture out of their comfort zone. And sad.
“When people run in circles it’s a very, very
Mad world, mad world enlarging your world
Mad world”
N’Gai Croal is leaving Newsweek (link - his last post). I don’t really know what he will be doing from now on but i really hope he stays within the videogames industry. Videogames need N’Gai’s and other serious journalists’ influence to keep maturing as a medium.
The way i play and see games has changed a lot in the last couple of years as i have tried to keep myself thinking of what i am doing and feeling during a game. It’s not just about enjoying the moments in games now but also trying to understand why. In these couple of years games journalism and critique has started to move beyond reviews. Now people with great writing and thinking skills, who are not just kids who play games for a living, have started to influence the way we see games.
I think a leading figure in this “movement” has been N’Gai. He has always been able to ask the questions to both developers and gamers that were always waiting under the surface but never asked. I remember one post about Manhunt on the PSP. He found the game to be average and had many games lined up to play. Yet he was really hooked on it and could not undestand why. He wanted to know what qualities it had that were not obvious but yet sufficient to keep him playing.
As i was playing Freedom Fighters and Beyond Good & Evil (both of course better than average) recently i kept asking myself, why do i like these games? For the most part i could not answer my own questions beyond that it had cute graphics, tight controls and a friendly user interface. The usual checklist. I could not find the words to explain what i was feeling and thinking. But at least now i am aware of it.
As we ourselves mature it’s important to not be just gamers but also critical gamers. I think people like N’Gai have to take the credit for this new way of thinking about games.
It’s not often that i get excited with the Wii and DS anymore. However this week, two major announcements have caught my eye.
1. The Nintendo DSi will be launched in Europe on April 3rd, two days before the US launch. This is great news as i am really interested to see what kind of applications and games will be made for the DSiWare. Stephen Totilo at MTV Multiplayer had his first hands on encounter with the console. Brief but interesting nevertheless. The price is expected to be around GBP150.
2. Mad World on the Wii also got a release date. March 20th - link. After seeing that first trailer it’s been a highly anticipated title in my book. Probably the only Wii game i know and care about for 2009. The developers are the main guys behind games like Okami and Viewtiful Joe and were part of Capcom’s, now closed down, Clover Studio .
3. The last bit of news is not actually news but what the hell. Last week The House of the Dead: Overkill was released on the Wii. It’s an on rails shooter packed with zombies and it’s the kind of game that should be ideal on the Wii. Especially co-op. I was disappointed with Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles but after reading some mostly positive reviews for The House of the Dead: Overkill i decided to give the genre another try. I will have more comments on this soon. Just need to find the right partner for this one. Someone who will stick after that first try…..
