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NYLatenite's Gamer's Paradise News Archives
Friday, 8 September 2006
IBM DELIVERS FIRST SET OF WII CHIPS

Gamasutra is reporting that IBM has announced that they've completed and shipped out the first run of cpu's for the Nintendo Wii. Nintendo has also confirmed the receipt of the processors and is now gearing up for the Wii launch.

"The first chips are in our possession, Today's milestone marks the final stage of our drive to reach both core and nontraditional gamers with an inviting, inclusive and remarkable gaming experience." -Genyo Takeda, Senior Managing Director/General Manager, Integrated Research & Development Division, Nintendo Co., Ltd.

With the brain of the Wii now in full production, Nintendo should be able to have some solid facts regarding the launch date and release numbers come their press event in New York City on September 14th. Still no word on how they're doing with the rumored Wiimote problems though.

For more information on this story, check out the referenced Gamasutra article at this link. I'm hoping that there will be a chance to go hands on with the Wii at the upcoming Digital Life '06 expo, as I still think I really need to see the console in action before I make any decisions as far as grabbing one at launch - there are just too many things I feel haven't been addressed in most of the reports floating around the 'net.


Posted by nylatenite at 2:23 AM EDT
CIVILIZATION CHRONICLES COLLECTOR'S PACK ANNOUNCED

2K Games has announced they'll be releasing they'll be releasing every version of Sid Meier's Civilization (excluding the Civilization IV: Warlords expansion) in one package under the title Sid Meier's Civilization Chronicles. That's right - every version - here's what you get for $70.00;

"With more than six million units sold, Sid Meier's strategy and simulation-driven Civilization is recognized as one of the greatest gaming franchises of all time, and now for the first time, the entire series is compiled in one behemoth package. The set will include: Sid Meier's Civilization I, Sid Meier's Civilization II, Civilization II: Fantastic Worlds, Civilization II: Conflicts in Civilization, Civilization II: Test of Time, Sid Meier's Civilization III, Sid Meier's Civilization III: Play the World, Sid Meier's Civilization III: Conquests and Sid Meier's Civilization IV.

The Civilization series has a long and critically acclaimed lineage and Sid Meier's Civilization Chronicles is a showcase of Sid Meier's brilliant franchise that will include extras and additions that fans will love:

  • Civilization: The Card Game: An original tabletop card game designed by Civilization IV lead designer Soren Johnson, featuring more than 250 custom cards and rules based on Civilization IV.

  • The Chronicles of Civilization: A 96-page book containing the history of Civilization, as told through interviews with past Civilization designers, an interview with Sid Meier and lead designer Soren Johnson, an article by journalist and author Steven L. Kent on the significance of the series in the computer gaming industry, and other original literature.

  • Video DVD: DVD content includes a detailed presentation by lead designer Soren Johnson and artist Dorian Newcomb about the creation of Civilization IV, complemented by gameplay footage of every iteration of the game, game trailers from the Civilization series and more.

  • Even more! Other exciting extras for fans and newcomers alike include printed tech tree posters from each game, wallpaper images, podcast MP3s and more!" -Take2 press release

The set is due to release some time in October, and If it weren't for the fact that I already own every single version listed there, minus the Civ III expansions, I'd be tempted to pick this one up - I'd love to see the card game and Chronicles book - hopefully I'll be able to grab a copy via Ebay. Check out the official press release from Take2 here for more details.


Posted by nylatenite at 2:06 AM EDT
FIRST EPISODE OF SAM & MAX: SEASON ONE DATED

Telltale Games has announced that the first installment of Sam & Max: Season One will be premiering exclusively on the Gametap service on October 17th with the downloadable version following on November 1st.

"Today we can definitively tell you that the wait is... well, not over, but, you know almost over. In a little over a month, on October 17, people in the United States can sign up for GameTap and play the pilot episode of Sam & Max: Season 1 in all its glory. And as of November 1, the episode will be available for purchase from Telltale's site for anyone and everyone who wants it. That's right, folks. Sam & Max are on the verge of taking over the world." -Telltale Games

Telltale is still determining how much they're going to charge for each episode, but they do promise they'll have an answer on that end soon. What they did reveal though, was a bit more information about the game's pilot episode, now entitled "Culture Shock";

"Those little red-and-white clad guys who have been creeping into the new screenshots? They're the Soda Poppers – former child stars who have been out of the TV scene since the seventies, and in and out of trouble almost as long. They're on the loose in Sam & Max's neighborhood, and it's up to our unscrupulous crime-fighters to figure out why. And we do mean unscrupulous. To get to the bottom of the ever-thickening plot, you'll have to throw heavy objects, hit people over the head, shoot stuff (in point & click style, of course!), and drive around like a maniac. Oh, and don't forget about faking mental illness and outsmarting a deviously clever bell-bottom-wearing foe. That's right, kids, we've got it all in Culture Shock. And this only the first episode!" - Telltale Games

I've been curious about the Gametap service for awhile now, and it seems to me that October 17th will be the perfect time to take them up on their free trial offer. I can't wait to see everyone's favorite dog and rabbity-thing team in action once again. Here's to hoping the game is not only worlds above Telltale's previous efforts with Bone, but that it sells well enough to show LucasArts the error of their ways. Check out the full press release from Telltale Games here.


Posted by nylatenite at 1:34 AM EDT
XBOX 360 NHL '07 DEMO NOW AVAILABLE

A demo of Electronic Arts NHL '07 is now available in the Xbox Live Marketplace. The demo features a playable "shootout" mode designed to help players get used to the control scheme. The demo weighs in at 541.39mb.


Posted by nylatenite at 1:15 AM EDT
MAME32 .108.3 RELEASED

Following in the footsteps of the command line version, the Windows GUI port of MAME v.108u3 is also now available.

Check out the official MAME32 page here for more details and the download links.


Posted by nylatenite at 12:49 AM EDT
MAME V.108U3 RELEASED

The third interim update to MAME v.108 is now available. No major updates in this version according to the changelog, just a few bug and driver fixes.

The updated files can be found at the official MAME page at Mamedev.org. You can Click here to see what's new in this update.


Posted by nylatenite at 12:48 AM EDT
Thursday, 7 September 2006
FORZA MOTORPORT 2 DELAYED UNTIL 2007

1UP.com is reporting that in a post at the NeoGAF forums, Che Chou, Microsoft's community manager for Forza Motorsport 2, let slip that Forza 2 will not be available this holiday season and has been pushed back to 2007. According to Chou, Microsoft will announce the corrected release date at the X'06 event in Barcelona, Spain.

I can't say I find this news overly surprising, as I've often said that it was somewhat surprising that there was nothing in the way of actual game footage available yet, and we were closing in on the games projected release date. In fact, other than a few screenshots released in the past week at the official Forza site, there's been nothing other than pre-rendered images of the game. Still, any time a game is delayed so it can be done right, I say bravo.

For more information, click here to head over to 1UP.com and here to check out the original post at the NeoGAF forums.


Posted by nylatenite at 2:03 AM EDT
DEVIL MAY CRY 4 INFORMATION LEAKED

TrueGameHeadz is reporting that they've gotten an early scoop on what Capcom plans on announcing this friday in regards to Devil May Cry 4. According to the TGH article, the game will be taking place between the first and second games, and interestingly, Dante will not be the main character in the game. Here's the information they've managed to compile from Famitsu magazine;

  • "Nero has devilish right arm. He can draw enemies toward himself and then throw them.
  • He starts to realise his powers in DMC4. DMC4 portraits Nero when he earns his powers and hereafter.
  • They chose Nero because Dante was overused (3 games) & they wanted to put the new users and the old fans in the same starting line for DMC4.
  • Nero looks like Dante because the silver hair and red coat is more like a symbol to the DMC series
  • “Dante is grim and he can’t settle down. As story progresses the situation changes, how’s that?” says Kobayashi meaning that Dante might be playable.
  • They introduced the right arm draw-throw system because in DMC3 when you beat the enemies, combos brake. Besides expect the sword and weapons this system provides multiple choises and the fun expands, However depending on the enemy you can’t draw and throw everyone of them.
  • The combo system has as base the one from DMC3 & they are revising/reworking details according to the fans’ comment-remarks.
  • Nero’s sword has a bar. The sword has somekind of a driving force in it. It’s a new way/element to enjoy the sword handling.
  • In TGS there will be real time footage. " -TrueGameHeadz

How come I suddenly find myself thinking of Raiden and Metal Gear Solid 2? For more information, head on over to TrueGameHeadz at this link to check out the article.


Posted by nylatenite at 2:02 AM EDT
MEMO TO ELECTRONIC ARTS: THE NFL SEASON STARTS TONIGHT

Dear Electronic Arts,

I don't know if you guys are aware, but the NFL season starts tonight, and last time I checked, you still haven't corrected that fatigue issue in the Xbox 360 version of Madden NFL'07, nor have you updated the rosters to reflect all the player changes since the game has launched. It's bad enough that the 360 version of the game is once again a HUGE disappointment, but could you at least make it look like you're trying?

One last thing, while you're at it, why not drop the act and admit the Hall of Fame players in franchise mode is a huge mistake too and make it so you can turn that wonderful "feature" off.

Stuck with you until 2009,

-G.P. "NYLatenite" Fornasiero

Seriously, I realize Electronic Arts pretty much has a stranglehold on everything but high school football, but c'mon, throw us a bone - could we get those updates some time this century, or are you guys trying to figure out how you could charge for them? Somehow I doubt they'd be taking things this casually if there was some competition.


Posted by nylatenite at 1:35 AM EDT
SONY CONFIRMS PLAYSTATION 3 NEWS

Well folks, I wasn't able to get any updates posted today due to there just being too much to get done at work, but Gamespot has reported that Sony has confirmed both the European launch delay and the much lower number of Playstation 3 launch units in North America and Japan. In addition, there are reports floating around the internet now that Sony is also having problems getting games to run at decent frame rates in 1080p, and that many developers are now scaling their games back to 720p.

To make life easier, here are the key things going on at the moment;

  • Sony confirms that they are indeed having serious problems with blue laser diode production
  • Sony has announced that the Playstation 3 European launch has been delayed until March 2007
  • Sony has cut the number of units available for the North America and Japanese launch from 2 million units to 500,000 units
    • North America cut to 400,000 units
    • Japan cut to 100,000 units
  • Sony lowers the number of units available by the end of 2006 from 4 million to 2 million units.
  • 1 million to 1.2 million of those 2 million units will be allocated to the North American market.
  • Sony states they still plan on having 6 million units available by March 2007
  • Microsoft and Nintendo release statements showing they plan on taking full advantage of the delay.
    • "Wii is on track to ship in Q4, Nintendo plans to ship 6 million systems to retailers around the world between its launch in the fourth quarter of 2006 and the end of its fiscal year on March 31, 2007." - Nintendo
    • "We know how challenging it is to pull off a global launch, particularly with unproven technology, so it's not surprising that Sony has backed away from their previously announced launch plans. Europe remains a priority for us and that is why gamers have been able to experience Xbox 360 from day 1 and why we're confident we're going to have a great holiday, regardless of what competitors are or are not in the market. Xbox 360 will have over 160 high-definition games including Viva Piñata from Rare, Gears of War from Epic, Pro Evolution Soccer 6 from Konami and FIFA 2007 from EA, a robust and continuously growing online gaming community in Xbox Live, fantastic entertainment capabilities, optional HD-DVD movie playback capability and a great-value price." -Microsoft
  • Rumors circulate that many developers are scaling back their games to 720p because they can't get them to run at a decent frame rate at 1080p.
  • Just as a point of reference, the Xbox 360 global launch figure was 1.5 million units.

Needless to say, it has not been a good day for Sony, and I can't imagine ANY of the third party developers are happy with this latest bit of news. With the high cost of developing next-gen software, the already low launch numbers and the fact that the Playstation 3 isn't even in production yet (meaning there's still a LOT that can go wrong), I've got to imagine that there are going to be a lot of companies getting burned come November 17th. Just like the Xbox 360 launch, unless your title is a must-have, by the time there's a good sized install base, your game is going to be considered a has-been and will quickly be outshone by the newer titles.

For more information on this story, here are some links you can check out;

Now it remains to be seen if Sony can even live up to it's current estimates. Want to sound off on the issue? Why not drop a line in the comments section?


Posted by nylatenite at 1:30 AM EDT

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