The Electronic Software Association (ESA) has announced that after 12 years of service, founding president Douglas Lowenstein will be resigning in early 2007 in order to found a new trade association in the investment industry. The ESA will begin a search for a replacement immediately.

"I have been honored to represent the amazing companies of the ESA, to serve as their advocate and to be part of an industry which is having such a profound and positive effect on our culture and the world of entertainment," Mr. Lowenstein said. "Like our industry, the ESA has grown and matured and is now stronger and more robust than ever before. The future of video games and its trade association is very bright indeed."" - ESA press release

I'd be willing to bet even money that somewhere along the way, Jack Thompson tries to say that he was somehow responsible for Lowenstein resigning.

Click here for the full text of the press release.

Posted by nylatenite at 1:50 AM EST

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

Just some PlayStation 3 game updates from around the web;

• Virtua Fighter 5 has been given a U.S. release date of February 20th, 2007. (Source: Kotaku)
• flOw appears to have been delayed until January 2007. (Source: IGN)
• Gripshift has also be delayed until January 2007. (Source: Game|Life)

Those of you who are really curious about flOw should head over to the game's original flash site here and see what all the fuss is about.

Posted by nylatenite at 1:50 AM EST

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

ArsTechinca is reporting that on December 14th, Sony applied for a patent governing a "hand-held controller having detectable elements for tracking purposes." - In short, Sony is applying for a full-ranged motion detecting controller along the lines of the Wii. Here's the general explanation of what it is they're looking to do according to the patent application;

"Some embodiments provide a tracking device for use in obtaining information for controlling an execution of a game program by a processor for enabling an interactive game to be played by a user. The tracking device comprises a body having a section to be oriented towards a screen when a progress of a game provided via execution of the game apparatus is displayed upon the screen; and at least one photonically detectable ("PD") element assembled with the body, a position of the photonically detectable element within an image being recordable by an image capture device when the section is oriented at least partly towards the screen, wherein positions of the PD element at different points in time are quantifiable to quantify movement of the body in space." - Sony U.S. patent application # 20060282873

The patent application goes into greater detail in other sections, but it appears that the device will either be designed as a controller itself, a piggy-back device for existing controllers (#2 in the claims section of the patent application) or as a wearable attachment that would work in conjunction with a controller. The application further states that the device would use LED's and texture scanning for positioning information and would be able to track velocity in addition to movement.

While the application doesn't give any specifics as to how it would all work, at least not in layman's terms, and the application may not be anything more than Sony just thinking out loud, it is something to keep an eye on. The one thing that I'd love to see Sony file a patent application for would be some type of new vibration feedback system. (Sony, just pay Immersion, or whoever holds the "rumble pack" feedback patent already and get the Sixaxis shaking!)

For more details, check out the ArsTechnica article here and U.S. Patent Application 20060282873 here.

Posted by nylatenite at 1:49 AM EST

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

Computerandvideogames.com (CVG) is reporting that they've received word from Konami that despite the rumors, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, currently remains a PlayStation 3 exclusive;

""Konami has no plans to bring Metal Gear Solid 4 to the Xbox 360 at this time," a Konami representative told CVG, reiterating that the Hideo Kojima stealth-em-up was still "exclusive to PlayStation 3."" - CVG

Now what's interesting to note is the wording - "at this time", which implies that Konami isn't ruling out porting the game over to the Xbox 360 at some point in time. Admittedly, the full statement would also seem to imply that said port isn't currently in the works. My guess is that we'll see something along the lines of Metal Gear Solid 2, where the game debuted on the PlayStation 2 and was later ported over to the Xbox as a special edition.

For more information, check out the CVG article at this link.

Posted by nylatenite at 3:23 AM EST

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

Just a quick note here - Xbox Live Director of Programming, Larry "Major Nelson" Hyrb, is back online following several days of power outages caused by storms in the Seattle area last Thursday. Welcome back Major, we missed you.

So what was the first new post following the Major's "I'm back" announcement? Namely that Xbox Live Gold members can download a free Santa Claus suit for their Saints Row toon. (Xbox Live Silver members will gain access to the download after December 25th)

Posted by nylatenite at 3:22 AM EST

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

For those of you who aren't aware, Xbox Live director of programming Larry "Major Nelson" Hyrb has been offline for a few days now. The Major was able to update his blog Saturday with a quick explanation of his absence. As has happened to many in the Seattle area, following the huge storm that hit the area Thursday night, the Major has been without power at home and at the office and has been advised it may still be a few days before power is restored.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for all in the affected area - here's to hoping that you guys get power back soon and that the damage isn't too bad. (Personal note - this includes the owner of the blasted Pirate Penguins Fantasy Football team - I'm keeping my fingers crossed until you resurface!)

Posted by nylatenite at 1:07 AM EST

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

Microsoft and Epic Games have announced that Gears of War has sold more than 2 million copies worldwide during it's first 6 weeks of release. I'd ramble on some more about how great Gears is, but instead I'll be lazy and let the press release do the talking for me;

"REDMOND, Wash. — Dec. 15, 2006 — A video game champion has been crowned; “Gears of War” made history today by becoming the fastest-selling next-generation game of 2006 and the fastest-selling exclusive Xbox® game ever.

Microsoft Game Studios and Epic Games, Inc., today confirmed that “Gears of War,” the Xbox 360™-exclusive title, has sold more than 2 million copies worldwide since its release six weeks ago, with a stunning 1 million copies sold in the U.S. alone.

"“‘Gears of War’ clearly has won the battle for the title of the must-have game of the year,” said Jeff Bell, corporate vice president of global marketing for the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft Corp. “Its phenomenal success is one of many reasons why Xbox 360 is the ultimate place to get together with friends to play this holiday.”

“We’ve always held high hopes for ‘Gears of War,’ but we never expected such an overwhelmingly positive response from critics and gamers all over the world,” said Michael Capps, president, Epic Games. “I can’t describe how stoked our team is right now. Our fans can absolutely count on Epic to keep delivering new gameplay through Xbox Live®.”

In addition to being the must-have video game of the holiday season, “Gears of War” continues to rage on the Xbox Live battlefield as well, with more than 1 million unique gamers engaging in 10 million online gameplay sessions and unlocking an impressive 7 million achievements.* On top of being the No. 1 title on Xbox Live, “Gears of War” has driven new members to the network; paid registrations per day have skyrocketed more than 50 percent since the game’s launch." - Microsoft press release

Well done Gears, well done. Click here for the full text of the press release.

Posted by nylatenite at 1:07 AM EST

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

We're now two weeks away from the end of 2006, and with most people finishing up their holiday shopping, it appears most publishers have wisely chosen to avoid releasing anything in the middle of the maelstrom. PSP owners are really the only ones with anything worth looking forward to with both Metal Slug Anthology and Bubble Bobble Evolution finding their way to retail.

Still, with all the titles that have been released in the last two months, not to mention all the other great titles of 2006, I'm sure there are at least a few worthy games out there vying for your hard earned cash.

Well, let's get on with it, shall we? Here's what should be hitting store shelves this week;

• Alexey's Dwice - PC - 12/19/2006
  
• Fly the Airbus A380 V2 - PC - 12/19/2006
• Metal Slug Anthology - PSP - 12/19/06
  
• Wizard's War Chest - PC - 12/19/2006
  
• Bubble Bobble Evolution - PSP - 12/20/2006
  
• Model Train 3D - PC - 12/20/2006
  
• Rapala Trophies - 360 - 12/20/2006
  
• Paws & Claws Pet School - PC - 12/21/2006
  
• Hipsoft Puzzle Game Collection - PC - 12/23/2006
  

Please keep in mind these are only estimated release dates and could change at any time.

Posted by nylatenite at 1:06 AM EST

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

Amazon.com has been running a promotion all month long in which four items were listed in limited quantities at a steep discount, and customers were advised to vote on which of those four deals they would like a chance to buy. The winning item would be listed with the promotional discount intact and randomly offered to those that voted for it. The losing items would also be randomly offered to those that voted on it, though at a slightly less spectacular discount;

While the promotion itself is over, Amazon has decided to make one last "special edition" vote as a way of saying thanks to it's existing customers. While there are no discounts to the price involved this time around, they're putting both models of the PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Wii up for voting. There's no winning or losing item this time around though - you just vote for the system you'd like a chance to buy, and wait until tuesday to find out if you were one of the people randomly selected to get the console. If selected, you'll probably have 24-48 hours to take advantage of the deal before it's rescinded. The voting ends at 11:59pm PST tonight, so be sure to get your vote in if you're still looking to buy one of those consoles immediately. (In other words, if you don't plan on buying one, don't muck up the works by voting as I doubt Amazon will re-list the unused inventory, and you could very well wind up declining a buy option that someone desperately searching for one of these consoles could have used.)

Click here to head over to the Amazon Customers Vote: Special Edition page to see all the rules and to place your vote.

Posted by nylatenite at 1:45 PM EST

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink

In response to the ever growing number of broken Wiimote strap stories popping up everywhere, including the mainstream news, Nintendo has announced that they will be replacing the original Wiimote straps for anyone who wishes the newer, stronger strap being used on newer runs of Wii consoles.

In a story over at Kotaku, it appears that during an interview with the Associated Press regarding the strap issue, Nintendo announced that in response to the growing number of reports, they would be offering stronger replacement straps to any Wii owners that wanted one. Those of you out there with the flimsier strap can head over to this site to fill out the replacement request form.

While we're on the topic of the Wiimote strap, let me say that initially I believed many of the stories about broken tv's, windows and even some of the black-eye stories related to the strap breaking, but after reading today's edition of the NY Daily News, I really am moving more towards the "most of these stories are bullshit" camp. Allow me to elaborate;

This article appeared in the paper, and while the News generally did a decent job of covering the whole thing, there was one image that just stuck out as being a completely staged photograph - here it is;

I tracked the image back to this post over at wiihaveaproblem.com, and the poster claims this damage actually occurred while playing the bowling game included in Wii Sports. Sorry, but I draw the line at this one. Unless a hurricane passed through this guys house while he was playing the game, I defy you to rationally explain how he managed to drive his Wiimote straight through the frame of a standard TV with a near perfect knife throw. I don't buy it, and even if the guy provided video of it with his original post, I still would call shenanigans on this one.

Those of you looking for a little more on the articles mentioned in this post should check out the following sites;

• Kotaku - AP: Nintendo "Recalls" 3.2 Million Wii Straps
• NY Daily News - Wii straps out of control
• Wiihaveaproblem.com - Human Cyclone of Activity Impales TV
• Nintendo - Strap Replacement Form

Posted by nylatenite at 4:13 PM EST

Updated: Saturday, 16 December 2006 4:18 PM EST

Share This Post

Post Comment | Permalink