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.
Read the rest of the post at OnThisIsland
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.
Read the rest of the post at OnThisIsland
Anger, frustration, shock, sadness and shame.
I’ve read Shake Hands with the Devil by the Canadian Lt Colonel Romeo Dallaire. He was the military commander of the Force Command of the UN in Rwanda during the genocide in 1994. It is his testimony of what his experience during the events that led to 800.000 people dying in 100 days.
This book will put your life in perspective.
I also recommend watching Hotel Rwanda which tells the story of a Rwandan hotel manager during the madness.
It’s a fighting week here at Game Releases.In the Blue corner for the HD console generation there is UFC 2009: Undisputed on the PS3 and 360. I didn’t even know about UFC until a few months ago when i visited a friend’s place and he was watching a fight on satellite (aka dreambox) with some friends. When i suggested that it reminded me of WWE i was immediately verbally attacked and told “This is the s…man!”.
Well, the s… has been made into a videogame and a quite competent one at that.
Read the rest of the post at OnThisIsland.
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.
E3 is in June and therefore a lot of companies are holding off from announcing new games or other major news until then. There are rumours of course but i think it’s best to wait until we have the official announcements. So let’s have a look at some trailers and short previews of upcoming games instead.
Read the rest of the post at OnThisIsland.
The videogame world has its Halos, Guitar Heroes, Metal Gear Solids and Super Marios and we are grateful for them. But it also has those small budget games and which are usually developed by one or two persons. A lot of them are not any good but there are some that deserve our time. I stumbled on a handful of these games which i have thoroughly enjoyed and i hope you do too.
Read the rest of the post at OnThisIsland.
Sanctification - The religious ceremony in which something is made holy.
Now you can’t say that there was nothing worthwhile in this week’s Game Releases post. At least you have learned a new word.
Read the rest of the post at OnThisIsland
As the world holds its breath and moves to contain the swine flu, one question is on everybody’s mind. Which game will earn the game of the week title for 27 April to 1 May 2009? In contrast to the vaccine for the swine flu we have found the answer.
Read more the rest of the post at OnThisIsland - Link
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
