July 2009
Monthly Archive
Deals31 Jul 2009 09:57 am
Weekend Deals: 7/31–8/02
LITB Gaming News – re: [Q1 results] AND ANOTHER THING
Why is it that even though Nintendo made a profit and Sony (nor Microsoft, who’s Q1 results were released a few weeks back) didn’t, that today’s news is giving the usual rabble such hope that this is the beginning of the end for all Nintendo hardware?
Hell it’s not even the HARDCORE GAMING JOURNALISTS and their disdain of the Wii’s success that’s the biggest interest to me today but the Apple Fans rejoicing over the dip in DS hardware sales and attributing that to their glorious iPhone.
I mean sure the iPhone’s been great for small developers getting their games to a wider audience since it’s launch, but I haven’t exactly seen it catch on with the younger audience that portable gaming sustains itself on. Young adults and older have latched onto the iPhone gravy boat yeah but not so much with the kids. – The Ben
LITB Gaming News – It’s the first quarter reports time y’all!
Yup, two of the big three today, SONY and Nintendo announced their results for the first Quarter of 2009. The results for both….were expected if you kept your expectations low and didn’t see the gaming industry as “RECESSION PROOF” contrary to what some analysts were saying around this time last year. The Wii went down from five million shipments to two million, the DS got a boost thanks to the DSi, and every Sony platform saw drops as well, though not as sharp as the Wii experienced.
Well no that previous statement’s wrong. In a twist of irony concerning Sony still celebrating the PS2′s longevity, the PS2 managed the one increase in today’s report, from 1.5 million to 1.6 million. I’m sure Sony is still happy to have the longest and best selling console in history still going, but if the PS3 is supposed to follow the ten year life cycle of it’s forefathers, shouldn’t it have started to gain the crazy traction the PS2 did once the BIG games started coming out?
In any case it’s not good news for anybody, but at least things aren’t dire all around the industry. The barrage of third party studio closings the industry saw over the past year has seemingly slowed, and hopefully everyone’s taken precautions so that this generation doesn’t become the one known for the death of the plucky and independent third part studio. – The Ben
Editorial&News29 Jul 2009 05:55 am
LITB Gaming Thoughts – Wait I thought you guys wanted a blanced release schedule.
One of the themes this month in gaming news seems to be the constant reminder to gamers by the press about how all the anticipated games they’re looking forward to this fall are now to be pushed back to 2010 for release. Just to name a scant few out of the many that have already been delayed include Bioshock 2, the next Splinter Cell, almost every big name title that isn’t a yearly sequel (Madden, Guitar Hero, Call of Duty) seems to be making the shuffle for quality/polish reasons.
The press seems more worried about this prospect than the gamers but why? Aren’t these the same gaming journalists that complain that the holiday season is too packed with games and there’s “Too much to play!” every Christmas? Weren’t they also the ones delighted that this past spring was chock full of meaty and polished hardcore titles like Street Fighter IV, Resident Evil 5 and a load of other titles with merit?
Why such a panic over this? Many gaming podcasts seem to have “Whatchu been playing?” segments in which the hosts go on about playing games in their backlog and going back to old favorites longer than they discuss the current new hot game of the month. So what’s the problem if not every year can be “BEST YEAR FOR GAMES EVER AAA” in your end of the year writeup? – The Ben
Life Inside The Box27 Jul 2009 12:00 am
Life Inside the Box – 052 – Fun and Financing
Back from vacation Kyle joins Brian, Stephen, and Kevin for this weeks episode. First up it’s what you been playing. Then its straight into the news where the fate of Indie games on XBLA is discussed, and the guys muse of what they think about Valves’ player funding ideas. This week’s Elevator pitch is for Uncharted 2, with Naughty Dog Studios, Arne Meyer.
Backwards Compatible Volume 5 is delayed again but will return for real next week (Lets just be hopeful.) when all the hosts can get together everyone should play through level 7 “Deadly Cargo” for the show next week, so if you’re keeping up, make sure to check Google Checkout or Amazon for your copy, and get right in to the action.
Deals24 Jul 2009 09:28 am
Weekend Deals: 7/24–7/26
LITB Gaming News – For five dollars you can be an ELITE Madden player.
IGN reports on EA’s struggle to separate the noobs from the pros with this endeavor new to the Madden franchise this year. The feature grants ELITE status to Madden players who pony up the five dollars which grants them private lobbies, private leader boards, an your name is encrusted in gold whenever you’re online in the game.
This isn’t the first time a company has tried out something like this, 2K games has something similar with NBA2K10. It seems the next big experiment in microtransactions is going to be this new “Pay for pro-servers” feature. But at only five dollars, how many of these players are really going to “pro” players? – The Ben
LITB Gaming News – Take Two Boss Strauss Zelnick a bit of a douche.
Here’s an interesting article Kotaku noted early this morning, a recent report in Market Rap goes into detail concerning the chairman of Take Two Interactive, Strauss Zelnick.
While the developers of Take Two produced series such as Bioshock and most importantly Grand Theft Auto have always been outspoken, they’ve always had their work in the product to back it up. More notably however are Take Two’s business department, almost just as notorious in their ways with words and actions within the industry. Strauss Zelnick from reading this report, appears to be one of the main causes of Take Two’s recent appearance in the industry towards potential suitors such as EA when it comes to buyouts.
The report goes into detail about how Zelnick benefited from resisting EA’s offer by claiming there were other potential parties that never emerged. The article claims that, “…in a two year period, Mr Zelnick managed to, on three occasions, make vital statements that were within a matter of weeks proven to be either fabricated or just incredibly incompetent (or worse). Mr. Zelnick managed to resist and reject a buyout offer that was triple the company’s current share price while claiming other interested parties who never emerged. And Mr. Zelnick, meanwhile, tripled his management company’s compensation for these efforts because, after all, he does not engage in regrets and does not “take responsibility for the market.”
The Market Rap article gives the impression that Zelnick is more interested in his own profitable future than that of the company he’s head of, and ends the article with this note:
These statements and others strongly suggest that investors should proceed with extreme caution with any investment that involves Strauss Zelnick. His performance so far as an executive manager of a publicly traded company is one of the worst I have ever seen in my professional investment experience.
Take Two’s always been a maverick in the games industry both in development and marketing, and with Zelnick at the helm it seems like that reputation isn’t likely to soften any time soon. – The Ben
LITB Gaming(Movie?) News – Yeah Sam Raimi is going to direct the World of Warcraft movie.
A late night reveal from Harry Knowles and confirmation by Blizzard told the world that Sam Raimi will be directing the World of Warcraft movie. The guy knows what the audience for this movie will and won’t like, so it’s not like it’s going to be one of Uwe’s flicks or even worse, the Mario Bros. Movie. It’s a good choice for a director all things considered. Could have been a lot worse, but I can’t name anyone who would be a better pick for director off the top of my head. – The Ben
Life Inside The Box20 Jul 2009 12:00 am
Life Inside the Box – 051 – Big Ethics in Little Podcast
This week Kevin, Brian, and Stephen are joined by Ben McDougal from Gathering of Gamers for this weeks what you been playing. Then its straight into the news with alot of questions about ethics in gaming and what are gamers rights, with stories about another possible Eidos Scandel as well as a Command and Conquer 4′s plans for Online all the Time. This week’s Elevator pitch is for Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack In Time, with Community Manager for Insomniac Games, Brian Intihar.
Backwards Compatible Volume 5 is delayed again but will return for real next week (honest we really, really, really, swear really this time) when all the hosts can get together everyone should play through level 7 “Deadly Cargo” for the show next week, so if you’re keeping up, make sure to check Google Checkout or Amazon for your copy, and get right in to the action.
Life Inside The Box19 Jul 2009 03:29 am
Airships and Loudspeakers announce the arrival of FFIV’s OCRemix debut.
By Brian Perry
It’s not often I get two things I love mixed together. It’s like mixing peanut butter and chocolate, or steak and shrimp. Now Final Fantasy IV’s soundtrack has gloriously been redone by the folks at OC remix. The forty-six track remixing of Nobuo Uematsu’s work spans three disks taking us back through the tale the dark knight’s journey to learn his past, and save the world.
If you are a fan of OC Remix, or even the Final Fantasy IV score take a moment to grab a copy
Deals17 Jul 2009 12:00 pm
Weekend Deals: 7/17–7/19
Editorial&News16 Jul 2009 09:04 pm
LITB Game News – Namco-Bandai launches Arcade in HOME.
Today Namco-Bandai launched their Arcade Museum Home Space for the PS3 Home service, to coincide with the release of their Arcade Museum game available on the PSN to either demo for free or download.
Having been absent from HOME since, well since I first checked it out months ago, I went to check out Namco’s new digital hangout and see what it was like. I have to give it to them, it’s an arcade. A bit too pristine to recall the authentic arcades of decades past but it sets the mood right with dim lighting, game posters adorning the walls and….anime girl soda machines? Yes, in bringing the entire arcade space over to the states Namco even kept these bizarre Idol M@ster soda machines that let you play a chance mini-game to win various Idol M@aster related things to adorn your own personal Home space and/or avatar.
So I chose one of these soda machines to see what it was all about, why so many Helghast Helmet adorned persons were crowded about it, and played the little mini-game for kicks. My first try, I won a mask of a girl’s face from the game for my HOME Avatar. I’m talking creepy, unsettling mask of anime big-eyed horror.
Actually in the expressionless avatar world of HOME, it’s not as creepy as it would be in real life. In fact it fits right in with the Street Fighter IV costumed people running around the HOME Mall dancing in synchronicity. i’ll give the HOME service one thing, it’s definitely unique in that sense. – The Ben.
LITB Game News – June NPD Sales shows numbers.
Fresh off of NeoGaf we’ve got the NPD sales results for June of 2009 and the results are…pretty much what most people expected.
PlayStation 2 152.7K
PlayStation 3 164.7K
PSP 163.5K
Xbox 360 240.6K
Wii 361.7K
Nintendo DS 766.5K
PROTOTYPE (360) 419.9K
UFC 2009:UNDISPUTED (360) 338.3K
EA SPORTS ACTIVE BUNDLE (Wii) 289.1K
TIGER WOODS PGA TOUR 10* (Wii) 272.4K
WII FIT (Wii) 271.6K
FIGHT NIGHT ROUND 4 (360) 260.8K
FIGHT NIGHT ROUND 4 (PS3) 210.3K
MARIO KART W/WHEEL (WII) 202.1K
RED FACTION:GUERRILLA (360) 199.4K
INFAMOUS (PS3) 192.7K
Nothing really shocking, the biggest thing last year had over this year was the PS3 doing it’s best since launch with MGS4 releasing worldwide. Since then it’s pretty much hovered around the 200K mark. Seeing it sell on par with the PS2, PSP and 360 shows that people are slowly migrating to the “Next-Generation”, but at a pace slower than we saw last generation.
Hell, if most industry analysts from 2004 saw the industry as it is today they’d wonder why whisperings of the “NEXT-Generation” haven’t started yet. After all it was what, 2003 or so when Sony first started talking about the cell-processor? 2004 was our first look at Next-Generation Console Graphics with Oblivion running on a 360 engine? Times have certainly changed when every console maker is looking to make their current system new and interesting to potential consumers than starting the hype machine for a new console cycle. – The Ben
LITB Gaming News – Why would Apple want to make a console anyway?
In a recent Pachter’s Podium…my god, Industry Gamers has it’s own monthly Pachter interviews now. Why would you do that?
Anyway, in the Article among a few “safe” bets such as Wii Sports Resort and Modern Warfare 2 being the top sellers of 2009, Pachter again sheds light on a prediction he’s been increasingly certain about lately in interviews. That which is according to him, a gaming console by Apple is inevitable. He states that Apple would enter the console gaming industry mostly due to the fact that Microsoft is already there, much like how one of the biggest reasons Microsoft entered the gaming industry was simply because Sony was there taking control of the living room.
It’s a good theory, but like any theory there’s always a few holes to spot. There’s the fact that even if Apple could bleed as much money as Microsoft did to simply “get their foot in the living room door”, would they want to bleed that much money? The console gaming industry and it’s audience is vastly different from the PC industry as Microsoft learned. Console Gamers aren’t as willing to take the company line when something breaks or there’s a new “Gotta Have it! SKU” when consoles are concerned. note that I said consoles it works more successfully with handhelds than with consoles.
In the article Pachter states that, “What Apple cares about is getting into the living room, and an Apple TV with games has a higher likelihood of succeeding than an Apple TV without.” So going by his logic, Apple just wants to follow what Microsoft did a decade ago. It took Microsoft almost ten years to effectively “beat” Sony and at the end of the day is the ideal living room entirely owned by Microsoft? No, because a lot of people like to have a little bit of something from different brands. The entire “All in one box” dream is tempting for some, but if that box breaks (and as we’ve learned this generation ALL TYPES OF BOXES, no matter how advanced or how many functions they perform can and will break) you’re stuck unless you get it repaired or buy a new one.
Owning the living room isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. Owning a small section of the living room can be profitable enough and in Apple’s case, owning the pockets of the people in the living room has been more successful to them than any other living room takeover.
Besides, they already tried with the Pippin, no do-overs Apple.
Okay well, Microsoft did try it with the MSX before the Xbox. That’s right, Metal Gear was a Microsoft franchise first! – The Ben.
Life Inside The Box13 Jul 2009 12:00 am
Life Inside the Box – 050 – The Golden Podcast
This week Kevin, Brian, and Stephen gather round for another great round of what you been playing . Then it’s the news as they dip back into the well of “How crazy can sony seem?”, along with an discussion about the future of shooters, is Cliffy B right that RPGshooters are more and more on the horizen?. This week’s game pitch is Battlefield 1943 with Producer Gordon Van Dyke from DICE.
Backwards Compatible Volume 5 is delayed again but will return for real next week (honest we swear really this time) when all the hosts can get together everyone should play through level 7 “Deadly Cargo” for the show next week, so if you’re keeping up, make sure to check Google Checkout or Amazon for your copy, and get right in to the action.
LITB Game News – Game and Watch Titles coming to DSi Ware, one title at a time.
Kotaku reports that while the DSi still doesn’t have any sort of Virtual Conso-Handheld system in place to distribute old Game Boy games from yesteryear, the process is slowly starting from the very beginning, with the old Game and Watch games each individually making their way to the DSi Ware Store in Japan this month.
While it is interesting to see these games get a release on a system that can actually emulate many of their original dual screen designs perfectly, it is pretty lame that seven years ago you could buy one Game Boy Advance game for thirty dollars (or four dollars used these days, that’s what I got my copy last month for) that had twenty G&W titles included. These days it seems like the entire Game and Watch Gallery series was a part of a dying breed of Nintendo Compilation titles. To those who stuck with the original Gamecube release of Animal Crossing building a library of NES titles, seeing the Virtual Console offer each of those NES games for five bucks a title seems outrageous.
But then again, aside from the titles that you may have missed the first time around, the Virtual Console is meant more for the types of gamers that don’t scour every inch of a game and know the ins and outs of every compilation. Buying Super Mario Bros. and just Super Mario Bros. for the GBA for twenty dollars in 2004 seemed like a scam to hardcore gamers who had both Super Mario All Stars on the SNES and Super Mario Bros. Deluxe Remake for the Game Boy Color, but the quick GBA port didn’t need hardcore gamers. Sales for it were monstrously higher than most new titles that came out during that time period.
So while the G&W releases for the DSi are lame to gamers such as I who already have most of the G&W series via the GBA and GBC iterations, potential consumers who don’t know and care about the fact that there’s been better deals for the titles, they don’t give a damn. – The Ben
Deals10 Jul 2009 09:30 am
Weekend Deals: 7/10–7/12
By Brian Perry
The weekend has come around and it’s time to play, so here’s your weekly guide to what’s on sale at your favorite downloadable services.
Impulse - This week’s Impulse buys:
Impluse is having a huge sale this week, here are some highlights:
[blippr]Nikopol – Secrets of the Immortals/[blippr] $12.49
[blippr]Chains/[blippr] $3.99
[blippr]The Entente – World War I Battlefields/[blippr] $7.49
[blippr]Operation Matriarchy/[blippr] $7.49
[blippr]Battle Mages Bundle/[blippr] $12.49
[blippr]Pacific Storm Bundle/[blippr] $12.49
[blippr]Vigil Blood Bitterness/[blippr] $2.49
[blippr]Dark Matter/[blippr] $4.99
[blippr]Shadowgrounds Survivor/[blippr] $7.49
[blippr]Shadowgrounds/[blippr] $4.99
[blippr]Space Hack/[blippr] $7.49
Steam - Weekend Deals:
[blippr]GRID[/blippr] $14.99
Good Old Games –
[blippr]Earth 2140 Trilogy[/blippr] $4.79
[blippr]Earth 2150 Trilogy[/blippr] $4.79
[blippr]Earth 2160[/blippr] $4.79
[blippr]Gorky 17[/blippr] $4.79
[blippr]Septerra Core[/blippr] $4.79
[blippr]Knights and Merchants[/blippr] $4.79
[blippr]Jagged Alliance 2: Wildfire[/blippr] $4.79
[blippr]Jack Orlando: A Cinematic Adventure[/blippr] $4.79
Direct2Drive
ArmA: Armed Assault – Combat Operations $14.95
Overlord 2 $34.95 (Use Code: 01C044CC90F242286C56FA604A71221D)
Warhammer Online $29.95
Burnout Paradise: Ultimate Box $29.95
The Godfather Bundle (Includes Godfather 1 and Godfather 2) $44.95 10% off
XBLA
N+ 400 msp
Deals&News09 Jul 2009 02:50 pm
LITB Gaming News – Daggerfall open to all for free.
In honor of the fifteenth anniversary of the Elder Scrolls series, Bethesda has made Daggerfall, the second title in the series free for download.
There’s nothing redone in the game as it’s being released “as is” according to the developers on the developers’ blog. That means everything people loved and hated about Daggerfall back when it was released more than ten years ago is still intact. There’s installation instructions available on the site and if you feel lost, there’s always the bevy of handy Elder Scrolls related wikis for all your questions and needs.
Also of note, Arena is still available to download for free if you want to go all the way back to where the series started. Of course, Arena was considered primitive back when Daggerfall was out. Try either or and see how they hold up today. – The Ben
Reviews08 Jul 2009 12:38 pm
Hitting the Road, with The Oregon Trail.
By Brian Perry
When a childhood game remake is being announced it’s a lot like remakes of TV and movies, nine times out of ten you expect the worse. Gameloft’s Mobile remake of The Oregon Trail however bucks the trend. Many people often remember The Oregon Trail as the pinnacle of Edutainment. The treat at the end of computer lab during elementary school with it’s boxy graphics and epic journey along across the nation in hopes of reaching Oregon before the period ended and you were shuffled back to English or Math. Thankfully Gameloft’s rendition was ported to the iPhone, and iPod Touch portable devices allowing you to take the adventure with you from meeting to meeting or class to class.
To add to the original games charm the new mini games update the older hunting portion of the trail, utilizing the iPhone’s touch functions to aim and shoot in the classic hunting, and to cast and reel in the new fishing modes. Each mode adds variety to the food gathering portions of the game keeping the trek fresh, and the wagon well supplied. Additional games for repairing the wagon, with a DDR style timing game, or a Simon Says telegraph game for money, spice up the Trails stops as well as provide the player with opportunities to make and save money on the Trail.
The game does however suffer from one fatal flaw, it’s nostalgia wears off when you can play it any time you want rather than just once a week at the end of computer lab. A full trail run can last around 1-2 hours however the trail just in real life doesn’t change between sessions, making the game fun in small does but not something to fill the endless hours of commuters or regular “quick session” gamers.
The Oregon Trail received quite a bit of a face lift since its first inclination in 1974 including a surprisingly good soundtrack, new graphics, new mini games, and the ability to save between sessions, The Oregon Trail has actually been able to stand out as a decent game on its own right, instead of just a rehash of childish dreams.
Score 7/10
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39.99 (Xbox 360)