Archive for December, 2006:
South Korea Lifts Censors
Since the ESRB was established, there have always been censorships, bans, and things of that nature to stop video games from being too violent, too graphic, etc. The infamous attorney, Jack Thompson, has also been fighting companies like Rockstar Games, trying to ban titles such as Grand Theft Auto and Bully. Every part of the the United States has been seeking to make things a lot more family oriented and safer for everyone. South Korea, however, is not taking the Western route at all.
Previously, controversial games such as Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory depicted the North and South Korean conflicts. For that, they were banned and were not allowed to be sold. Recently, the Korea Media Rating Board has lifted the banishment of these games, and will be available at retail in 2007. After reviewing the content, they have decided to allow the games due to “freedom of expression.” We should really see more of this in other parts of the world.
Read (GameSpot)
HD-DVD Decrypted
A hacker known by the alias muslix64 has decrypted the AACS of an HD-DVD, using the Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive This allows you to view the HD-DVD on software using your computer, or back-up the content files, just in case. The hacker also says that you will need a certain encryption keys for each movie. Currently, it is unknown how he even got them in the first place. The source code will be released in January.
The same encryption keys used on the HD-DVD format are similar to those used on Sony’s Blu-Ray format, so this is one step closer to decrypting that, too. Besides having full high definition on the formats, digital rights management was one of the reason for abandoning the DVD format. If both standards are fully cracked, could this mean the end of the format wars? Or could Sony’s offer to talk with Toshiba create a new format that could use an even greater encryption, and offer even better features and quality? It seems that with every new format war, there’s always the same winner: The Pirates. Video of Full Metal Jacket being decrypted after the break.
Read (TeamXbox)
Coming Soon: Ocarina Of Time 2D
Finally, the long awaited N64 classic The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time 2D fan remake is progressing. A SomethingAwful.com forum member created a topic with new info about the game, and has posted the following:
Daniel Barras, an old friend of mine, has announced that Release Candidate 1 of OoT2D will be released soon. He’s waiting on his laptop to be airmailed to him (and he probably needs to put a couple finishing touches on it).
The game is basically the 2D translation of Ocarina of Time for N64. It will include everything from the original game, and i BELEIVE he was intentionally coding in the glitches found in 1.0 gold cart, but i’m unsure if this will still be a feature. It will also include a special dungeon and 3 extra items (i think it’s armor, boots, and another sword. The only thing i can say for sure is the armor).
I’ve played a quick beta of the 2D remake, and I must say, it’s pretty fun. You can view a handful of screenshots and information here.
Read (SomethingAwful.com)
Blair’s Wife Gets A PS3
Many of this site’s UK visitors will know that on boxing day, Tony Blair took his family on a shockingly expensive, one week holiday. While no one is begrudging him a holiday, there has been a small up-roar over photos of his wife, Cheri Blair buying a PS3 while on holiday. This is quite a hot topic, as Sony recently shut down online retailer Lik-Sang to stop imports.
I think it is quite safe to say that the Blairs have little reason to flog the console on ebay, so it also brings up the question of, which members of the family are secretly gamers?
Read (Kotaku)
PSP Upgrade To Have 60GB HD?
According to Engadget, Samsung apparently has introduced their new N-Series line of 1.8 inch hard drives today, and there is indication that the 60GB hard drive may end up being used with the PSP in the near future. Details are very scarce at the moment, thanks to machine translation, but this may mean that a new version of the PSP is coming out with support of a 60GB HD. Engadget hopes to see that this will be announced at CES next month, with actual details we can understand.
Read (Via Engadget)
WarioWare 12-player Multiplayer
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WarioWare Smooth Moves supports up to twelve players, yes 12 players. You simply share the same Wiimote and pass it to the next guy/girl.
Via Siliconera
PS3s Getting Returned To Stores
As anticipated, a lot of people bought one or more PS3 console simply to sell them again (usually on eBay), for a decent profit. But selling PS3s online isn’t as lucrative as it was; the auction price has fallen sharply. This leads to a lot of disappointed entrepreneurs returning the consoles to the store where they bought them, and some are shifting their focus over to the Wii.
The PS3 isn’t selling out as fast as a few weeks ago, and rumors indicate that several stores across North America have them in stock, but no one is interested. One things is that the auction price is falling, but that there are consoles available all over the country, considering the short supply, is quite surprising.
[Thanks, Isa]
Worms Coming To XBLA In January
Official Xbox Magazine is reporting that the legendary turn based strategy game, Worms, will be released on Xbox Live Arcade in January. The game was announced this November, where the game was in “final stages of certification” at Microsoft. We all remember Worms as the highly addictive 2D game that took away hours of our lives. It has gone to inspire other games such as Gunbound: World Champion.
“…both free and premium priced downloadable content is already in the works, and the game itself will allow for a more pick up and play experience.”
Via Evil-Avatar
Gears Of War Dead Guy On Toilet
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/bUvfTM8h3a0" width="475" height="360"/]
Well, not the most interesting news of the day, but apparently there’s a secret dead guy sitting on a toilet somewhere in the multiplayer map “Rooftops”. On a sidenote: When will people stop using stupid rock music in YouTube videos?
Japanese Software Sales For 12/18-12/24
Latest Japanese sales numbers released form Media Create once again show the DS at the top, this time though, challenged by the new PSP title Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops. Other than that, it’s mostly DS and Wii titles, with one PSP and one PS2 game represented.
- Pokemon Diamond, DS, 209,379
- MGS: Portable Ops, PSP, 178,370
- Pokemon Pearsl, DS, 164,670
- New Super Mario Bros, DS, 154,107
- Wii Sports, Wii, 152,756
- Seiken Densetsu 4, PS2, 152,062
- Hoshi no Kirby Sanyo, DS, 149,350
- Oshare Majo Love And Berry, DS, 139,382
- Haimete no Wii, Wii, 137,495
- Jump Ultimate Stars, DS, 134,551
Tekken 5 Arrives On The PS3
Sony has released Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection on the PlayStation Store, basically an update of Tekken 5, now supporting 1080p, new characters and a new game mode. The game weighs in at 830 MB, and costs 2,000 Yen, or $17. However, it’s only available in Japan and Hong Kong at the moment. The game features the new Ghost Battle mode, in addition to Arcade Battle and a Versus Mode (offline).
Via mygamingden.com
STALKER Release Date Revealed?
According to German site PCGames.de, STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl has finally received a release date, March 16, 2007. The open ended FPS taking place years after the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl has been in development for over 5 years, and recent previews suggest that the game indeed looks dates. In other words, the “revolutionary” gameplay will have to make up for the visuals. Nevertheless, STALKER is one of the most anticipated games of 2007, we’ll see if the PC shooter manages to deliver.
Via PCgamer.de
God Of War II Enters Beta Stage
The smash hit game of 2005 was without a doubt God of War from the creative team at Sony’s Santa Monica development studio. Since that time gamers have been anxiously awaiting the day they could rip through their digital enemies as the ultra cool Kratos once again. Well according to Cory Barlog, the director of God of War II, the highly anticipated sequel to what many regard as the best action game ever on the PS2 platform, that day will be very soon. He informed the gaming press that the game is now in Beta and that the development team is readying a demo for Kratos crazed factions to sink their “chaos blades” into.
Some extremely lucky SCEA employees were given the chance over Christmas to take home copies of the beta and tear through the game to discover bugs so that these bugs could be addressed. The original God of War was hailed for being almost completely bug free; a feat rare for such a large scale epic game. There are talks of a demo being made available in late January or early February.
Well I know I cannot wait for that beta being perhaps the biggest Kratos fan around. I never thought a game could be better than the original, but after seeing the God of War II trailer I came to realize that thankfully I was dead wrong. This might be one of the most played PS2 games on the PS3 for quite a while.
Read (Cory’s Blog, via YouNewb)
Wii for Sale at Amazon Tomorrow
Early tomorrow, Amazon will have the Wii in stock and will be selling it sometime between 7am and 11am PST. We don’t know if it’s a bundle or just the system yet, all we know is that it’s something involving the Wii console. Quoting the product page on Amazon,
Wii Available for Purchase 12/29: The Nintendo Wii will again be available for purchase on Amazon.com on 12/29, Friday morning, at some point between 7am and 11am PST. We will be limiting purchases to one per household. We anticipate that we will sell through our inventory very quickly as demand for this product continues to be very high. At this time, we do not have any information on future Nintendo Wii offers, but we will post updates on future availability on this page.
Via Kotaku
Introversion Announces New PC Game
The British indie-developer Introversion has announced their fourth game, Subversion. Their previous games were quite successful, both Darwinia and Decfon managed to impress gamers and critics, despite being low-cost productions. Introversion’s Chris Delay says about the new game,
What there will be none of are promises, of any kind. We are not going to tell you what features will be in the final game, nor will we be telling you how the final game will play. We ourselves do not yet know. In fact we will not even be telling you what we are aiming for, as our direct experience with Darwinia taught us how often those aims can change and how different the final game can be to its inspiration.
He goes on to point out that promises usually lead to disappointments, and that the images provided aren’t screenshots of the game, although screenshots and videos will be released in the future.
Read (Introversion.co.uk)