Archive for November, 2007
Posted by: in PS3 News
PlayStation 3 owners who hopped online to snag the new PlayStation Network title, Pain, might have noticed a few issues. You’re not alone — I experienced issues, too. Two characters (a creepy looking Santa, and the scantily clad female, Cookie) wouldn’t load for instance, giving me an error message which told me to re-download and install Pain to correct the problem (that didn’t work).
It’s because of these problems, as well as issues with the online leaderboards (there were none) and a broken video on the community, that Pain has been removed from the PlayStation Store. But never fear, the problems are being fixed, and the game should be placed back online shortly.
"It is something that should be working today," said Scott Groyl, PR specialist with Sony Computer Entertainment.
And I can’t wait either — I spent some time with the game last night, and its premise of using a slingshot to launch a character into things and racking up score based on damage is intriguing. Think Burnout’s crash mode … just with a person. I just wish that person was wearing less clothing, so I’m glad they’re working hard to fix this problem.
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Posted by: in PS3 News
Up until now, Sony has always had the "yeah, whatever" attitude when it came to sales figures, as their competition has been out-pacing them for about a year. Recently, holiday sales, advertising campaigns, and sales cuts have brought some solid sales numbers to Sony’s camp, and they finally have some sales figures to be proud of. Maybe this is why Sony has taken issue with Microsoft’s claims that the Xbox 360 outsold the PS3 2-to-1 duing the week beginning November 18th.
Yesterday Microsoft claimed to have sold 310,000 consoles, proudly boasting that they sold twice as many next-gen consoles as Sony did during the holiday weekend rush. Not long after the news got out, Sony rep Kimberly Otzman blasted off an email to The Seattle Post-Intelligencer:
"It’s (Sony Computer Entertainment America) policy not to disclose our unit sales numbers until NPD numbers are officially released which will be December 13th. However, I can assure you that Microsoft’s estimates of our PS3 unit sales numbers are way off and they did not outsell PS3 2:1 during Black Friday week."
Who’s lying here? Maybe no one is. Microsoft did originally state that the figures were based on retail estimates, but it will be interesting to see if they stick to their guns when the NPD numbers hit. We’ll bring you more on this as it comes down the line.
[Via Next-Gen]
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Posted by: in PS3 News
Variety.com reports (via Japanese press reports) that Sony Computer Entertainment plans to launch an on-demand high-definition video service in Japan.
Set to hit early next year, the first available content will be motor-racing videos and a BBC car documentary, aimed at fans of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, which is available this December. Each download is said to cost $1.85.
Kicking off the service (and to further promote GT5 Prolugue), Sony will be offering free content — "The GT-R Legend Inside Story I" documentary will be available for free through Decemeber 6. Sony plans to add pictures and other video content from the massive Sony Pictures Entertainment library, as well as from other studios.
If anything, this is great news for fans of Spider-Man, who have been looking for yet another format to purchase the movie on. Can’t get enough of that Spidey.
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Posted by: in PS3 News
Sony has a long, storied history with TV ads for this generation of gaming hardware. From the creepy to the annoying to the obviously-aimed-at-slow-children, they’ve been running the gamut of misfires in trying to promote their consoles.
Recently they dropped three new spots that are easily their best yet. The first (see above) is both simple and direct and as a bonus it doesn’t stray toward unnecessary symbolism either. Its blend of Brechtian pantomime with post-modern technolust is exactly the sort of thing the PlayStation 3’s demographic gets wood over.
Even more impressive is how unintrusive the spot manages to be to those it isn’t marketed to. Remember that evil baby ad? It actually managed to kill old people. This one will merely make them want to wear a poofy shirts, at most.
Hit the jump for two more ads.
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Posted by: in Xbox360
Filed under: Hacks, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Video, Rhythm
 We’re sure other people have done it as well, but for those aspiring electronica performers who haven’t yet made the plunge, YouTube member luksy has posted a video explaining how he used a handful of programs to turn the Rock Band drum kit hooked up to a PC into a working electronic drum kit.
Remember, this is just one example of how you can do it. We’re working at finding the perfect setup for using our MacBook (via OS X) as a sound module for our 22-key midi keyboard and Rock Band drum set simultaneously - any suggestions would be appreciated. With the proper drum kit sound silencers, this can make for a pretty handy (although fairly minimal) portable gig setup. Video after the break.
Continue reading Today’s craftiest video: Rock Band drums as real drum kit
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SPONSORED BY: Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World. AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, as well as new civilizations, units, and technologies. http://www.ageofempires3.com/
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Posted by: in Xbox360
Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Rhythm
See anything curious in the above picture, snapped from the front page of kate spade’s website? Yep, it’s the Rock Band Stratocaster controller (from the PlayStation 3 version we’re guessing, based on the lack of a wire). It’s a pretty interesting and minor detail for the picture - and perhaps some crafty product placement. Check out the highlights for today:
Joystiquery
Joystiq Poll: Most missed Xbox 360 back compat titles
Off the Grid reviews Ticket to Ride
Reminder: Win a $5K gaming PC from Falcon Northwest
Today’s most trance-inducing video: Space Invaders Extreme
X3F Week in Review: November 23, 2007 — November 29, 2007
News
Itagaki expects Ninja Gaiden 2 demo ‘at some point’
Two Worlds expansion to tempt you in 2008
GameTap Thursday: Tryptophan coma
SOE blueprints India studio
Nintendo promotes fiber-optic internet in Japan
New Silent Hill V details finally surface
MTV muses on gaming with girlfriends/boyfriends
Queen’s gambit finds Chessmaster on XBLA in January
FlOw dev discusses blossoming new project
Lawsuit targets MS and Bungie for ‘faulty’ Halo 3
Blacksite: Area 51 director says development was ‘f*cked up’
Professor Layton and the Mysterious Village dated Feb 18
Producer: Metal Gear Solid 4 must sell a million copies day one
New Codies racer aims to ‘make racing exciting again’
Mark Rein excited about UT3 mods on PS3
Sega beefs up Steam offerings: Universe at War and more coming
BioShock creators form spinoff Bay Area studio
Sony America drops ad agency of 13 years — now?
Hudson layoffs target mobile division, half of total staff
CNBC examines Xbox 360 failures, MS reports 310,000 units sold last week
PSN Thursday: Heap on the ‘Pain’ with Resistance maps and Motorstorm vehicles
Sony updates PSP to firmware 3.73, identical to 3.72
Culture & Community
Ars Technica defends Nintendo from Greenpeace goose egg
Cheap mod quiets Rock Band drums
Life in a Game finishes second episode
Samuel L. Jackson hosting Spike TV Video Game Awards again
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Posted by: in Xbox360
Filed under: Features, Microsoft Xbox 360
It seems like only a week ago we were writing a wrap-up post just like this. Oh wait, we were. This week we must stress that we have an awesome Fancast featuring James Silva, creator of the Dream-Build-Play winner The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai for XBLA. The game sounds awesome. Give the Fancast a listen and find out why. Oh, and while you’re at it, why not get your shot at winning a Dead Samurai T-shirt?
Community Stuff:
News:
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SPONSORED BY: Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World. AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, as well as new civilizations, units, and technologies. http://www.ageofempires3.com/
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Posted by: in Xbox360
Filed under: Microsoft Xbox, Microsoft Xbox 360, Polls
On Tuesday, Microsoft dropped another 84 original Xbox games onto our 360s, bringing the grand total of backwards compatible games up to 465. With each back compat update, they get closer and closer to hitting every major Xbox title that anyone would care to play again. Couple that with the newly announced Xbox Originals service - digitally distributed Xbox titles for your Xbox 360 - and there’s a whole new way to monetize those old games. We imagine increasing that library of older titles is, now more than ever, a priority for Microsoft.
To that end, let’s help out the “back compat ninjas” (as they’re known) and identify and rank the games we want to see running on the 360. We’ve started by gathering every single game Joystiq readers listed here, and dropping them into this fancy UnSpun poll. Want to add another? Click on “Add an item to this list” at the bottom of the poll. Something on there that shouldn’t be? Ask us to yank it in the comments. Something ranked higher or lower than it should be? Well, that’s where you come in.
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SPONSORED BY: Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World. AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, as well as new civilizations, units, and technologies. http://www.ageofempires3.com/
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Posted by: in Xbox360
Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, First Person Shooters, Online
The always talkative Epic Games VP Mark Rein is exuberant about the open system for downloading Unreal Tournament 3 mods for the PlayStation 3. “It’s fantastic! I can’t understand why people are so nervous about what Sony… no, Sony’s wonderful,” said Rein in a lengthy interview with Gamasutra. Rein also noted how this advantage is why the game landed on the PS3 first, before they resume Xbox 360 development next year.
Rein also lauded the freedom in having an open system for mod downloads and stated that they will encourage modding through sponsored contests much like they have in the past (note: ironic to this situation, Rein’s last name means “to restrain or control”). He did add, however, that they have an ability to “blacklist mods that do bad things.” The two interviewers seemed befuddled by the freedom of the system, giving Rein more of a chance to assert his gospel.
The next challenge for Epic is to try an accomplish that same openness on Microsoft’s closed system Xbox Live. “They may or may not embrace it. We don’t know,” he said “That’s why we’ve made the game for the PlayStation 3 first, because we knew exactly what the boundaries were going to be.” Unreal Tournament 3 is due out December 10.
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SPONSORED BY: Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World. AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, as well as new civilizations, units, and technologies. http://www.ageofempires3.com/
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Posted by: in Xbox360
Filed under: PC, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Driving
We hate to be the ones to break it to you, but you know those racing games you think excite you so much? Well, they really don’t. But don’t worry, because according to Codemasters‘ game design chief Ralph Fulton, the studios’ newly announced racer Grid aims to “make racing exciting again.” How? Well, according to Fulton, the game, which is the latest in Codies’ Race Driver franchise, is not about collecting cars or tweaking suspensions, but rather about “the drama, the rivalries, the aggression and the crashes.” Sounds like someone’s a fan of Burnout.
Due sometime in the middle of 2008 for the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC, Grid is being developed on a refined version of the engine used to make Dirt, and will include a variety of different circuit and drift vehicles, new and old. Grid aims to test your driving prowess on both real life tracks as well as in street races “on the fringes of legality” in cities such as Detroit and San Francisco, as well as in the neon underworld of the Far East. Forget Burnout. It sounds like Need for Speed has passed the baton.
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