Sony has posted a pair of excellent videos for the (what should be) excellent Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time. I know a lot of PS3 gamers are going gaga for Uncharted 2 (and rightfully so), but I’ve always preferred Insomniac’s games and am super looking forward to this one. Anyway, check out the vids and let me know what you think (please)!
Continue reading “Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time Videos”
It looks like Microsoft is going the Club Nintendo route and will be implementing an affinity program in the near future. Such programs can be used effectively to retain customers and build brand loyalty. Kotaku got its hands on one of the invites for the pilot. Here’s an excerpt:
This is an exclusive pilot rewards program. That means that the people who get in get stuff. Cool stuff. You want cool stuff, right? Sure you do, we all want stuff. Especially cool stuff. Well, you’ve only got until October 21, 2009 to let us know you want cool stuff, because after that, the doors close and someone else gets the cool stuff.
I’m an absolute sucker for affinity programs. Whether it’s fast-food joints, grocery stores, airlines, etc., I almost always get a card and almost always spend more than I ought to trying to gain points. There’s a 99-percent chance that Microsoft will sucker me into this one too.
What do you think of programs like this and Club Nintendo? Do they make you more loyal to the company? Do you think Microsoft will loudly introduce some really cool benefits so that it can quietly raise the price of Xbox Live?
North Vista Primary School in Singapore has introduced a new element to its physical education classes — the Nintendo Wii. Using Wii Sports, the school has students playing games for two weeks of the program. Principal Phua Kia Wang elaborated on the decision to add gaming consoles to gym class:
The usual games concept in PE seemed insufficient, and may not be relevant when the kids go home. For instance, when they go home, does everyone have a basketball court (to play in)? Will they have the people to make up the teams to play with? We don’t want what we teach in school to be so isolated from real life.
Does anyone else find it hilarious that a principal is using the Wii so that kids don’t feel isolated from “real life”? Ha! Wang does have a point though — in cities like Singapore, a lot of kids have easier/more access to a Wii than a basketball court or tennis court. While I loved gym class as a boy, I would have had way more fun in “playing games” class — I’d ace that mofo for sure!
Source via Game Politics
Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Joe Girardi’s interesting bullpen management, the sexy Motorola Droid for Verizon, or what games you’ll be buying this week, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
By now, most of you will have had time to think about the September 2009 NPD Group console sales figures. Sony did very well for itself, selling loads of systems thanks to the PS3 price cut and the introduction of the PlayStation 3 Slim. While the Nintendo Wii will end up being the sales winner this console generation (barring some catastrophe like Romulans attacking Earth to steal every Wii on the planet), some feel that second place is up for grabs.
Xbots will argue that the 360 has way too big a lead in North America. The company will continue to sell its exclusives and sell more third-party games thanks to a larger installed base. Improvements to Xbox Live will cement the console’s position of having the best online console-gaming experience.
Members of the Sony Defense Force will point out that this is a marathon, not a sprint. This console generation is far from over and Sony has superior first-party games lined up for 2010. With the console’s price cut, the PS3’s capabilities — Blu-ray playback, built-in Wifi, etc. — clearly make it a better value than the 360. With better games and better hardware that’s now at a competitive price, it’s only a matter of time until the PS3 surpasses the Xbox 360.
Certainly there are still too many variables, too many years, and too many unannounced games that will shape the remaining years of this generation, but it’s still fun to play analyst. So pretend for a few minutes that you’re Wedbush Morgan’s Michael Pachter or EEDAR’s Jesse Divnich. I want to know which console you think will end up grabbing the silver medal this console generation. Do you think it’ll be Microsoft’s Xbox 360 or Sony’s PlayStation 3? Pick a side and state your case (please!).
Continue reading “Coffee Talk #7: PS3 vs. Xbox 360 — The Race to #2”
A pair of Oddworld classics for the PlayStation are coming to PSN on 10/22 — Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee and Oddworld: Abe’s Exoddus!!! I’m a huge fan of these two games and the developer, Oddworld Inhabitants, so I was thrilled to read company co-founder Lorne Lanning on the PlayStation Blog. He wrote:
It was only about six years ago that I told our agent at the time, “Larry, don’t you get it!? Our classic Abe games are history. The systems that played them are gone and they aren’t coming back. Ours is a disposable medium and we don’t have a Turner Classics channel.” He looked at me with this defeated expression and said, “Dude, that’s the most depressing thing I’ve ever heard you say.” He believed me, and I too believed it at the time.
Six years later and I have to admit it’s great being proved wrong.
It’s great to have two of the most imaginative and entertaining PSone games on PSN. Any of you guys and gals going to download them? I highly recommend it.
Continue reading “Oddworld Inhabitants Invade PlayStation Network”
VentureBeat has a great feature on Ubisoft’s upcoming Assassin’s Creed short films that are being used to hype Assassin’s Creed 2 and expand the game’s brand. Taking over the front page of YouTube in eight countries on October 27th, the first of three short films is a huge deal. The site reported:
Assassin’s Creed: Lineage, created by acclaimed Hollywood special effects studio Hybride Technologies (which Ubisoft acquired last year) and Ubisoft Montreal’s Ubisoft Digital Arts (UDA), will make its global debut on Oct. 27 on the front page of YouTube in eight countries.
The movies, which total about 38 minutes in length, feature live actors working in front of green screens. The same actors did voice work on Assassin’s Creed II. Their faces were digitzed and used in the game. The films tee up game, which takes place in Florence and Venice during the Italian Renaissance.
While the movies were expensive to make, they can help transform Assassin’s Creed into a mainstream franchise instead of one that’s revered only by gamers. While it remains to be seen if AC will get that kind of crossover appeal, Ubi is doing everything in its power to make it so. With the Prince of Persia movie already in production, it would be remarkable if Ubi could add another mainstream feather to its cap.
Continue reading “Assassin’s Creed Movies Hitting YouTube on 10/27”
EA Sports’ Peter Moore has always been one of my favorite gaming executives. He’s smart, fun, and extremely quotable. In a recent interview with IGN, Moore laid the smack down on physical media and talked up digital distribution. He said:
I’d say the core business model of video games is a burning platform. Absolutely. We all recognize that, and we’ll recognize it 10 years from now when we tell our grandkids. We’ll tell them we used to drive to the store to get shiny discs that have bits and bites on them and we’d place them in this thing called a “disc tray,” and it’d whirl around…and they’ll go “What?”
I love this analogy, simply because I’ve been dreaming about telling my unborn children all about eight-track tapes. Moore’s example of telling grandchildren about physical discs is sort of the same thing. He doesn’t stop there though! Moore gets a bit more macabre by talking about physical media and digital distribution in terms of death:
Continue reading “EA Sports President Peter More Talks Digital Distribution and Death”
In today’s Coffee Talk, reader RRODisHere pointed out this interesting tidbit from Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter. On an episode of Gametrailer’s Bonus Round, Pachter said:
Microsoft wants you to never play a game again on your PC and play everything on your 360.
You really want to hook every gamer who has a 360, you want them to buy all their games on 360, play everything multiplayer, pay you 50 bucks a year so that, in a couple years, it’s a 100 bucks a year. That’s going up — we all know that. It’s a profit deal.
While it’s normal for prices to go up, this is one case where it might be a tough sell. There’s no doubt that Microsoft offers the best online console gaming experience with Xbox Live. It’s so good that the company justifies charging its customers $50 a year to use the service. That said, Sony’s PlayStation Network is getting better and better all the time. If both services continue to improve and Sony’s continues to be free, it will be difficult for Microsoft to raise the price of online admission to $100.
Then again, I could be totally wrong. I’ll ask you what RROD asked earlier — would you pay $100 for Xbox Live? I don’t think I would. The service is good, but not $100 good. Hit the break for the full video.
Continue reading “Michael Pachter Says Xbox Live Going Up to $100”
While it’s not as big as last week — with Brutal Legend and Uncharted 2 leading the way — there are some significant titles shipping this Tuesday. The two biggest games on the list are Borderlands and WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010 (which will likely go down in history as having the best writing in any videogame made by man). Here are this week’s PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation Portable, and Nintendo DS releases…along with some brief commentary. I’ve taken out most of the garbage and kids games (unless I found them funny).
Are you picking up any of this week’s releases? If so, leave a comment and let me know which ones.
PlayStation 3
Bakugan
Borderlands — Super looking forward to this one. It looks stylish and smart, but I’m not sure how well it will sell. I’m hoping the best for Gearbox though.
FIFA Soccer 2010
Madagascar Kartz
WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010 — The Mickie James storyline is one of the most heart-wrenching experience you’ll ever find in a videogame.
Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, the Anaheim Angels forgetting how to play baseball, fun with Google Wave, or how you’re going to utterly conquer this week, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
Is there a movie, comic book, or novel that you think would make a fantastic game? I’m sure there is. All of us have “dream games” that have yet to be made. Some of our visions are outlandish and unrealistic. Others seem so obvious that it’s dumbfounding as to why they haven’t been made.
One of my dream games has been teased, but never fully delivered. I want to play an action-adventure as Drizzt Do’Urden from R.A. Salvatore’s novels. Drizzt has made cameos in Baldur’s Gate, Baldur’s Gate II, and Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone. You could play as him in the Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance series, but he was merely a bonus character set in an adventure that had nothing to do with his storied exploits.
I want the full-on Drizzt treatment. I want an adventure that takes advantage of his history in Menzoberranzan and his adventures with the Companions of the Hall. I want cameos by Jarlaxle and Artemis Entreri. I want dynamic action that’s full of twirling scimitars and impossible acrobatics. Just for the hell of it, I want a “dog button” like the one in Dead to Rights, but instead of some lame-ass canine, Drizzt’s magical panther, Guenhwyvar, appears.
RPad.tv reader Ieyke recently wrote about one of the games he wishes for, saying, “Assassin’s Creed+MGS4-guns-white robes=awesome stealthy ninja.” Let’s use his formula to talk about our dream games. I guess mine would be:
Drizzt Do’Urden + Prince of Persia – Gimmicky Time Shifting = Awesome Drow Ranger Action-Adventure.
Using the Ieyke formula, tell me about your dream game. (Hit the break for some inspirational music that will help you write about your dreams.)
