As if you don't waste enough of your time in a gamer's haze, here's Kotaku: a gamer's guide that goes beyond the press release. Gossip, cheats, criticism, design, nostalgia, prediction. Don't get a life just yet.
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Brian D. Crecente | Email | AIM - Associate Editor, Japan:
Brian Ashcraft | Email | AIM - Associate Editor, West Coast:
Michael McWhertor | Email | AIM - Associate Editor, East Coast:
Michael Fahey | Email | AIM - Associate Editor, Oceania:
Luke Plunkett| Email | AIM - Associate Editor, Weekends:
Flynn De Marco | Email | AIM
Hands On: Lair For PS3
Last time I was presented with the opportunity to get my hands on Factor 5 and Sony's Lair, I had to rush it. Not out of disinterest, mind you, but pure time crunch. The Tokyo Game Show floor is thicker with meaty gamers than even E3 was during its busiest days. Later, during my time at the PlayStation Lounge at Sony HQ, I opted to hound Phil Harrison and Ken Kutaragi for caught-on-tape potential embarrassment instead of actual gaming. What I had played, I'd liked.I'd personally love a "Lair demo" on the PS3 store.
GameStop Burning the Midnight Crusade
In one short week millions of World of Warcraft players will take their first trembling steps into The Burning Crusade, and GameStop stores across the country will be opening at midnight on Monday the 15th in honor of the forthcoming expansion."Trust me, there are very few of those playing WoW. Maybe in the sense of acting out elf-on-elf fantasies in Goldshire, but genuine roleplayers in that game are few and far in-between."
I think they couldn't cope with all the "LOLZ NEWB LERN2PLAY" roleplaying on the same server.
The Descent Blu-ray Watchable on PS3 Only
It looks like Blu-ray still fresh off the production line, is already starting to run into format issues. Movie The Descent on Blu-ray is only playable right now on the Blu-ray player packed into the Playstation 3, 1Up reports. The problem lies in the BD-Java technology that Lions Gate Entertainment used for the movie's extras. The version they packed in isn't supported by Sony's BDP-S1 or Pioneer's Elite players.I'm crying foul here. No way in hell is that movie watchable on any format or system, regardless of technical specifications.
Sure it will run, but so will your blood after you gouge yourself at the crappiness of the movie.
Big, Exciting Wii Games of 2007
Site Next Generation has a good list of upcoming 2007 titles. Games we'll be all going gaga over or be sorely disappointed by. Stand-out titles include: Wario Ware: Smooth MovesDragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of MirrorsSonic and the Secret RingsSuper Mario GalaxyThe SadnessSuper Smash Bros. BrawlMetroid Prime 3: Corruption That's actually my shopping list. Yours?Mainly SSB:Brawl and probably Battalion Wars 2, if MP3:Corruption has Online then definitely Corruption as well.
Hands On: Halo 2 For Vista
At the Microsoft booth in Central Hall, a slew of games are available, from Rail Simulator to Luxor 2, every taste is accounted for. Okay, that was uncalled for. There was Halo 2, which, as you recall, is exclusive to the Windows Vista operating system. Despite being a port of a two year old game, it still drew plenty of curious gamers. I waited about fifteen minutes for my chance to compete in a few rounds of Halo 2 multiplayer.Anyone who doesn't own this game already in the US has probably already played it at a friends house or just doesn't care that much. There are probably not any PC holdouts looking to score Halo 2 when it's released. At least not more than like 10 people total.
Like Gears? Prepare For More
Robbie Bach on Gears at CES yesterday: That title is now a Halo-like franchise. We think it is an evergreen platform that we can continue to leverage for a long, long time. You mean milk to within an inch of its life? I liked Gears, I really did, but it's no Halo. If there's going to be more games in the Gears franchise, they're going to need to sit down and work out a way to flesh the thing out."Neither company really has any benefit as a result of Epic being bought out by MS, except for the fact that PS3 will probably lose Unreal Tournament 2007."
Besides, MS can just buy another exclusive if they want to. It's not like Epic has any love for the PS3.
Gates: Xbox is a PC
The most surprising part of today's conversation with Bill Gates was when he not only fessed up to the Xbox being a glorified computer, something Microsoft has been denying since 1.0 launched, but said that Microsoft wouldn't have gotten into gaming if it was only ever going to be about the gaming. "The reason we got into Xbox was not just for gaming," he said. "It's a general purpose computer.You gotta admit that PC users are getting screwed as far as price goes.
They might get better stuff than everyone else, but they don't call it the "cutting" edge for nothing.
I'm Meeting With Bill Gates
So in about one hour I will be sitting down with Bill Gates (yes, that Bill Gates) and four other bloggers to talk about everything. Most of which I can post straight away, though I'm told some of the info will be under embargo until after his keynote. This is, or course, what roused me from my slumber in the cold confines of Denver Friday. There are only a handful of people who I would jump on a plane to interview on such short notice and Gates likely tops that list."I guess the editor does not want to reveal himself who is interviewing him. I'm guessing Crescente, but he's probably too cool for Bill Gates."
Nah, he said who it was earlier. Crecente doesn't get out of bed to blog about just anyone. Check the "We're at CES" story mentioned on the main page.
Probably just forgot to sign off his post.
We're at CES
And by we I mean Michael McWhertor and I. And by Michael McWhertor and I, I mean I'll be here for exactly 11.5 hours today, the day before the show starts. So really Mike's at CES. But don't worry, you're in capable hands and of course team Gizmodo is covering all that non-gaming stuff that will happen here, which I like to call crap I don't care about.I'd like to know more about the external graphics card from Asus, personally. Stuff like expected price, performance, when it will be available... etc.
It probably won't be worth it to anyone with a desktop already.
Halo 3 Beta Via Crackdown Not For Core Owners
Sorry, Core Pack Xbox 360 owners, but you really should have known better. Those of you sporting an Xbox 360 sans hard drive are going to be, unsurprisingly, shut out of the Halo 3 beta if you purchase your copy of Crackdown hoping to secure a spot. We're basing that on the new boxart for the North American release of Crackdown, courtesy of this week's Bungie update.I can see where the core pack fills a niche that Microsoft wanted to fill. However, it doesn't fill it by providing a reasonable product at an affordable price. It basically gives you a damagingly underfeatured version of the regular system just to justify the higher price of the regular system.
Which is why most people call it the tard pack. It is a gimped version to justify the price on the more expensive model.
Now if that product fits your needs better than others go ahead and save the money. No one's judging the people who bought it. Everyone has personal reasons and we all occasionally don't make the best decision, for whatever reason. However the product is what's being critiqued here and it deserves the anger of those who purchased it most of all.
As for the 3rd Rev, I foresee a horribly overpriced HDMI 360 with marginally useful features and a highly unjustifiable markup. Microsoft knows it can introduce a "Top of the Line" model because it's got the games to provide entertainment, as well as the accessories to fill every need (that we've been trained to need, of course).
$599 anyone?