Game Over For PS3 Creator
Ken Kutaragi, the inventor of the PS3 is dead. To Sony, that is.
News of his "retirement" from the company precedes an upcoming report where the company will announce that its gaming division lost more than 2 billion dollars. Whoopsie.
The company's decision to include the proprietary next-generation blu-ray player resulted in a $599 price tag for the next-gen console. Depending on which numbers you believeSony lost between 2 and 3 hundred dollars on every PS3 unit it produced, helping to kill both the console and the stereotype that all Japanese are wonderful business people.
Adding to the systems woes were early shortages of critical equipment and a very strong showings from Nintendos imaginative and inexpensive Wii.
Ken was always a foreward thinking manand at the time of his departure from Sony he was thinking three flops into the future:
"As a matter of course, I have the vision of Playstation 4, 5 and 6, which will merge into the network."
There's no telling how much you probably wouldn't have spent to not own one of those pricey future machines.
Ken leaves Sony with great memories of the PS2, the costly question mark that is the PS3 and presumably his own bloody pinky in a folded up handkerchief.
If Anything is Going to Get Me to Buy a PS3, Lair is it
If youre like me (a huge geek) then youve wanted to be a dragonrider for as long as you can remember. Well, it looks like youre finally going to get your chancebut only if you own a PS3. I dont, yet, (still waiting for the price to come downa lot) but if there was one game that could convince me to buy a PS3, Lair would be it.
Check out IGN's interview with Julian Eggebrecht, president of Factor 5, the company developing Lair. Some highlights:
On using PS3 as the platform,
When we thought of hundreds of dragons in air, thousands of troops and creatures on the ground, a gritty, dark, and photo-realistic style, and taking controls to a new level there really was no other option than the PS3
On using dragons,
They fight, they get personal, they bleed, they scream. And all of that takes place in air and on the ground as well, so imagine riding and controlling this awesome beast and doing seamless, close-up battles everywhere you want to go in your game world.
On controlling your dragon,
If you pull on the reigns (the PS3s SIXAXIS controller), the dragon does a 180 turn, if you punch it in a direction, you dash towards your enemies, if you dodge with the controller, the dragon on-screen dodges. If you latch onto certain objects in the game, you can tear them apart by wildly shaking the controller. On the ground, you stomp your enemies by ramming it down
On jumping off your dragon and, well...
The trailer from E3 shows one dude jumping off of his dragon and annihilating another dragon -- is this something that players will be able to do with regularity in the final game?
Absolutely.
Check out the trailer yourself.
Overall, this game looks totally badass. Lair takes off this spring.
Wii Fatigue
After enduring the cold, the clock, and the marine layer, the doors to Target finally opened at 8AM. About 45 people took off running, including a woman who appeared to be in her late 60s. The Target employees began yelling at us for running, threatening not to redeem our Wii tickets for consoles; the children pushed aside. A few of my comrades and I ducked into the little girls clothing aisle and sprinted towards the back of the store to the electronics department. Amazingly, the old woman had beat us all to the single Wii kiosk containing the few games they had on one side, and extra controllers on the other. I grabbed an extra controller and nun-chuck, Zedla, Redsteel, Madden 07, and made my way to the checkout counter to redeem my Wii.
That being said, I spent the rest of the day playing with my Wii. Hell, I played with my Wii 'till I passed outonly to awake to sore arms, a tender neck, and an aching upper back. In the course of a single day I had exhausted muscles I never knew existed. And I'm no n00b to fitnessI walk and jog with my dog everyday, I work out every now and again, and participate frequently in the greatest of workouts one can do while in a bed, car, or airplane bathroom (you know what I'm talking about, teehee). Yet, I have been defeated by the Wii. Now it mildly hurts to sword fight ninjas and I no longer have the will to battle giant venus fly traps.
While motion sensing controllers may sound neat, and are extremely fun, I fear for the younger generations. I mean, I always got made fun of in middle school for how defined my "masturbating" muscles were on my forearms, but now a whole new Wii generation will be made fun of before they even know how to masturbate. However, the true tragedy here concerns those who do know how to masturbate, but won't want to because their arms will be so fricken sore from playing their Wiis all day. Or maybe that's exactly what they want us to doget exhausted, stop looking at porn, and be too tired to pull our trigger fingers.
So put down the Wii-mote or Sixaxis for a few minutes (your masturbating muscles will thank you) and share with us your next generation console stories.
Hurray for Google Image search!
PS3 Line Violence Erupts
It's a rough gig getting a Playstation 3. As if it weren't bad enough that the machine will set you back over 500 bucks and Sony, due to a "blue diode shortage" in the game console's Blu-Ray drive is way under delivering on this initial shipment, but you also just might get your ass kicked getting one.
Multiple reports are surfacing today of PS3 line violence. In West Bend, Wisconsin, the 60 people waiting for the 10 available units went berserk jostling for line position, requiring police and and ambulance to be dispatched to the scene.
A Palmdale, California Wal-Mart's PS3 line was a chaotic mess as police had to move the line from inside the store to the parking lot, causing angry line waiters to wreck everything in their path in the process.
In Lexington Kentucky, three people and a local news reporter were the victims of a drive-by BB shooting. Since no one lost an eye or anything though, this is actually pretty funny.
Did anyone mention to these Mensa members that the PS3 will have almost no games available at launch (at midnight tonight) and will cost 500 plus bucks?
Ahh, the joys of natural selection.
If you really want to find out how few PS3's will be available in your area, try this tracker.
Increase Your Odds of Finding a Next Generation Console
Forgot to pre-order that Wii or PlayStation 3? Don't feel like kicking kids with your steel-toed boots at Toys"R"Us to get the last console?
Lucky for you someone with less of a life than you has put together a website tracking shipments of the PS3 and Wii. Simply enter your zip and the site will present retail locations and the number of units being shipped to those locations on launch displayed neatly via Google Maps.
Enjoy.
EB Cancels PS3 Pre-Orders; eBay Gets Bombed
Over the weekend, PS3 pre-order winning bids on eBay soared up to $2000 a piece. I'll be honest, I was hoping to jump onto that rickety bandwagon of cash prizes and set out pre-sunrise Sunday morning to numerous Toys R Us in hopes of obtaining the coveted $50 pre-order receipt. Alas, the sleeping baggers won, and I went home with a little richer, a little sadder and with a vanilla soy latte in hand. Now, I may be glad for that, because according to Evil Avatar, EB Games stores in Canada are about to receive notice of all PS3 pre-orders sold on eBay. This unfortunate list of doom means all pre-order numbers specified are not to be honored come launch date November 17th. EB Games' move was facilitated by eBay's new policy surrounding pre-sales, which basically allows for one pre-sale per account, and a photo of the receipt must be listed.
According to frantic and furious forum posts on eBay over the weekend, PayPal accounts with money from a PS3 pre-sale were being locked in their entirety.
In possibly related news, the eBay PayPal Headquarters blew up last night. Okay, maybe a window just shattered, but there was still a bomb. At 7:31pm, authorities were called to the building after a bomb exploded outside an exit at the PayPal building. 26 employees were inside the building at the time, but thankfully no one was hurt. This is likely just an impeccable coincidence, but if I had listed a PS3 pre-order, pocketed two grand and then blew it all away on coke and hookers before even picking up the PS3, I'd certainly want to blow some shit up.
PS3 Pre-orders Sell Out Nationwide; Wii Pre-orders this Friday
Want a shiny new Sony Playstation 3 or Nintendo Wii when they come out next month? Well, there's good news (if you want a Wii), and bad news (if you want a PS3).
Tuesday saw the first and seemingly only day of Sony Playstation 3 pre-ordering at U.S. Gamestop/EB Games stores. All pre-orders were sold within minutes. There is a possibility that this pre-order comprises the total of the first PS3 shipment, leaving many gamers out in the cold come November 17th.
Kotaku is among the handful of gaming and tech sites that have been tipped about the Gamestop/EB Games Nintendo Wii pre-order this coming Friday, October 13th. Reports that Nintendo is exceeding production expectations indicates that there might be more available Wii consoles at launch than the PS3.
Major retailer Best Buy is not taking pre-orders for either console.
Xbox360 Fans React to "Gears of War" Footage with Fainting, Near Riot
We obviously didn't come to see this shitty movie
Gears of War, easily the most anticipated Xbox360 game this side of Halo 3 was shown to lucky gamers last week at The Match Made in Hell, a four-city Gears preview held after a showing of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre : The Beginning. The preview and game play are drawing almost unanimously rave reviews from the fanboy faithful in attendance. No, not fainting or a riot, but pretty damn close.
Gears of War is first person shooter with heavy horror and team game play elements. The games lush graphics and the recent announcement that it would support multiplayer game play brought Gears of War's anticipation level to a fever pitch.
The game means much more to Microsofts Xbox360 platform than your average holiday season title. When the Xbox360 launched in November of last year, it drew criticism for not being a large enough step graphically from the original Xbox to warrant the Next Generation moniker. By default, Gears has inherited the responsibility of being the first true Xbox360 next generation title, the first to really use the 360s full processing horsepower. With Novembers release of Nintendos groundbreaking Wii console, and Sonys controversy-plagued PS3, the need for the 360 to shine has never been more vital for Microsoft.
Will Gears cement the 360s strong lead on competitors Sony and Nintendo in the current phase of the console wars, or will it end up being just another FPS death orgy? Well know soon enough; Gears of War goes on sale November 7th.
here's a look:
Sony Shafts Europe with PS3 Launch Delay
Come November 11th and 17th anyone in Japan and the US with a mysteriously large wad of cash will be able to pick up their beloved PS3 at their local electronics shop. Sony fans in the UK, Russia, Africa, and Australia have been anticipating joining their geek brothers in sweet solidarity on those same days. All was right with the world. Today Sony has sadly announced that due to a lack of fancy blue laser diodes they will not be making their previously set production goals.
London, Wednesday 6 September 2006 Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) today announced that it would revise the launch date of its PLAYSTATION® 3 computer entertainment system in the PAL territories of Europe, Russia, Middle East, Africa and Australasia from 17th November 2006, as previously announced to March 2007.
Launch dates for Japan and North America will remain the same, which are November 11th and November 17th respectively.
The revision of the launch date in the SCEE territories is caused by the delay in the mass production schedule of the blue laser diode within the Sony Group, thus affecting the timely procurement of key components to be utilised in PLAYSTATION 3.
The previously announced PLAYSTATION 3 shipment forecast of 6 million units globally within the fiscal year ending 2007 is not changed.
Sony already has an uphill battle to face with the steep price tag of its PS3 and could have benefited from the hilariously loose spending habits regularly found around the holiday season. Consumers in those regions are now left with the more affordable and readily available Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii. Good luck Sony! You'll get it right one of these days.
PS3 Will Ship Without HDMI Cable
After shelling out over $600 for a PS3, which is specifically marketed as a high definition system, consumers will also have to buy their own HDMI cable, so they can experience PS3 games and blu-ray DVDs in all their 1080p glory, because the PS3 will ship without an HDMI cable.
North American gamers planning to purchase a 60GB PlayStation 3 will need to purchase a HDMI cable if they want to see those fancy graphics at their finest.
That's according to the specs page on the official US PS3 website, which notes: "HDMI cable not included. Additional equipment may be required to use the HDMI connector."
Sony has long promoted the 60GB PS3's HDMI output as a key feature of the machine.
It seems a little ridiculous to exclude an HDMI cable in the 60GB PS3, since it's the model that will have HD output (the 20GB model does not), but it actually makes financial sense for Sony, as stevo777 at Slashdot points out:
I'm thinking they finally realised that market penetration still isn't that high for 1080p TVs, or any other Hi-defs for that matter. Took a cue from Nintendo, probably. It would be a huge waste of money if you sold 3 million PS3's at an additional loss of the 6 bucks (18 million loss!) for the cable and maybe only 200,000 of those buyers can use them at release. So if they sell those 200,000 cables at a $15 profit, then that's 3 million back in their pockets (a buck for every system sold).
I'm sure Sony will, of course, offer "official" HDMI cables at a significant markup, as will retailers. If you're looking to pick one up, though, you can buy one for as little as nine bucks online.
Indiana Jones Hates on the Chinese
Newly released trailer from game developer and publisher LucasArts, reveals that everyones favorite archaeologist (because there are so many to choose from) is in fact a terrible and violent racist. View, if you dare, his viciously and eerily lifelike new fighting techniques powered by the groundbreaking euphoria technology from NaturalMotion Ltd. I apologize in advance for the interminable amount of German narration throughout this shocking video.
Imagine a swaying rope bridge. With euphoria in action, characters visibly attempt to balance themselves, their feet stumbling, their arms flailing, and their hands reaching for security as the unpredictable movements of the bridge threaten to send them plummeting to their doom. Perhaps they all survive. Perhaps they all fall. The use of euphoria means the action isn't scripted - it's simulated - so you'll never be able to predict exactly what will happen, no matter how many times you've experienced a certain scenario.
I was able to finesse my way into LucasArts closed door event at E3 this year and when not openly mocking the horde of grown men stealing Stormtrooper Lego pieces from the complimentary fun bin, I could be found staring in awe at the Indy presentation. The idea of playing through the same levels repeatedly should no longer give players that feeling of repetitive dread as each and every fight could possibly result in drastically diverse exchanges. Lucky for us, LucasArts The company that killed Sam & Max II is going to be employing the use this unrivaled technology in a host of its future games for 2007.
"NO TICKET!"
PS3 Launch Title Resistance To Have Largest Disc Size Ever
World famous game developer Insomniac recently revealed that their unreleased Playstation 3 title "Resistance: Fall of Man" will be over a record breaking 22 gigabytes. Theyve so far managed to fit their previous Ratchet & Clank games on human sized media but are now apparently employing technology seized from crashed flying saucers or developed by the maddest of scientists.
Schneider offered some distinguishing stats. The game currently takes up 22 Gigabytes of memory on a Blu-Ray disc, the new disc format supported by the PS3 that is one-half of a VHS-vs.-Betamax format war erupting between tech companies throughout the year. While the music and vocals in "Resistance" take up only about 1 Gigabyte of disc space, graphics, level data and programming code occupy most of the remaining 21.
Be sure to check out the trailer and assorted screenshots to find out just how in the hell this technological marvel/travesty could have happened. Then again, anyone that has ever played a game from Insomniac is well aware of their near unrivaled deployment of the most insanely enjoyable weapons youll ever get your pervy digital hands on. No longer content to let players summon mini black holes or blast people into B. Arthur clones; affluent PS3 owners will enjoy the following means of destruction.
The "augur" blasts energy that slows through a cover of sandbags but eventually punches through. A sniper rifle comes equipped with a slow-motion viewpoint that allows players to juke between incoming energy bullets before firing from long range. The rocket launcher can leave its fired rocket suspended in mid-air until it finds a target and lets the journey end.
The "sapper" shoots goo. Fired on walls, it drips down onto enemies, sapping their life energy, naturally. This armament, Schneider said, couldn't be done last-gen. He pointed to the sapper's goo, including the "level of interaction between the globules from a physics standpoint."
He and Phillips did a developer cheat, nearly freezing the game world as they had Hale launch a bomb called the "hedgehog" which is like a sea urchin radiating 50 spikes. With the game slowed and the hedgehog gliding through the battlefield, Schneider talked about each of the 50 connected spikes probing the game world with their own artificial intelligence, assessing where they're about to make contact with the game's environment, when to ricochet and where to go. He pointed to enemies reacting with smooth, retreating animations. He noted the metal-on-metal ping as the hedgehog hit steel and said a different sound would have triggered if it tapped wood. He showed how the hedgehog figured out when to suddenly extend its spikes into a waist-high obstacle and erupt toward nearby enemies.
Sounds fun, guys. This just may be worth the hilarious $500-600 price of admission. Further, I salute you for guaranteeing that only all-star astronauts and superhero organizations using top secretly fast internet connections will be pirating your 22 GB sized game.
Thanks for the heads-up, MTV!