On Gear Live: Steve Jobs to WSJ: App Store rakes in $30 million in first month

Xbox Live Arcade Drops Select Prices For One Week

Posted by Paul Hamilton
Categories: Casual, Downloadable Content, Sports, Xbox Live Arcade

Xbox Live Arcade SaleMicrosoft announced that starting at midnight GMT on Wednesday, they’ll be reducing prices for a select number of Xbox Live Arcade titles for one week, ending at 11:59 Tuesday October 2nd. This is similar to the Labor Day sale they ran earlier this month where they dropped the prices on Gauntlet, Zuma and Dig Dug.

The titles featured this time around are Bankshot Billiards 2, Hardwood Spades and Frogger.

The price reductions are less dramatic here, the earlier labor day sale halved the prices of the games while these are marked down less severely: Bankshot Billiards 2 normally goes for 1200 ($15.00) Microsoft Points but has been reduced to 900 ($11.25); Hardwood Spades and Frogger are both usually priced at 400 Microsoft Points ($5.00) but have been dropped to 300 ($3.75). Still, if you were considering any of these games as possible purchases, now might be the time to jump on them. Perhaps combined with the Best Buy/Halo 3 Live promotion you can have yourself a few days of super-cheap online gaming.

Read More | Gamerscore Blog

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Xbox Live Free For Three Days During Halo Launch

Posted by Paul Hamilton
Categories: Xbox 360, Xbox Live

Xbox LiveIn the midst of all the hype about the Halo 3 launch, one thing that is often overlooked is that not everyone who has a 360 is necessarily equipped to play the game in its entirety. Whether you’re staunchly against paying for an online service like Xbox Live or you just can’t afford it, for a few days at least it won’t matter.

Best Buy is sponsoring a three-day free-for-all granting all Xbox 360 users access to the Gold Service starting on September 25th and ending on the 27th. That means that Silver members get to experience Halo’s online multiplayer without charge for at least a handful of days after they pick up their copy of the game. Even if you’re not into the whole Halo thing, that doesn’t exclude you from taking advantage: Best Buy’s “the first hit is free” style promotion extends to all parts of the service so those without full access to Live could use the time to play some Gears of War online, check out the Call of Duty 4 beta (if it’s still up and running) or just use the time to play some free Uno.

Read More | Bungie.net

Games With Online Multiplayer Sell More

Posted by Paul Hamilton
Categories: Corporate News, Downloadable Content, Internet, Microsoft, Nintendo, PlayStation 3, Sony, Wii, Xbox 360

Multiplayer, Globe with Halo 2 Lobby

A research paper from Electronic Entertainment Design and Research has been released that suggests that games with online support can be crucial to a game’s retail success. Not surprisingly, another way to boost sales is to create a quality game (defined as those with a 90+ score on Metacritic), with these well-reviewed titles outselling the average release well above 5-to-1.

While making good games typically means making good money, naturally, it is a bit surprising to see the report indicate that sales can be doubled by dropping in an online mode. With online games selling twice the number copies that offline titles do, it’s curious to note that over half of games released don’t offer even basic online support.

Click to continue reading Games With Online Multiplayer Sell More

Read More | Ars Technica

MarioKart on Wii Supports 16 Players Online

Posted by Paul Hamilton
Categories: Driving, Internet, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Wii

Mario Kart Wii

’s popular arcadey racing game, is inevitably coming to the . When it does, a blurb clipped from the Official Nintendo Magazine UK says it will support 16 players in the popular battle mode.

Mario Kart solidified the WiFi features of the handheld unit and it’s quite possible that the Wii version is being positioned to do the same.

As with earlier versions the Wii Mario Kart will include updated versions of older tracks (in this case Wii translations of DS tracks) as well as all new racing locations. Mario Kart for the Wii is scheduled to be released next spring.

Read More | Go Nintendo via Evil Avatar


Burnout Paradise Gets Previewed

Posted by Paul Hamilton
Categories: Action, Driving, Electronic Arts, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Burnout Paradise Screenshot

Tom Bramwell has a preview for the upcoming that is surprisingly thoughtful and critically considered as far as previews go. He discusses the challenges faced by in re-inventing a popular series practically from the ground up and asks some pertinent questions where they ought to be asked. For example, when the topic of the Crash mode comes up and Criterion mentions that they have scrapped the original concept of the popular mode, Bramwell presses the point, getting Criterion rep Matt Webster to confess they don’t yet know exactly how it will all work out:

Asked whether they’re opting for a Burnout 3 approach of trying to manoeuvre the car in slow motion between power-ups and Crashbreakers, or a Burnout Revenge “golf swing” of perfect start and target cars, Webster admits it’s not all there yet. “We’re still throwing ideas around. I think we’ll be talking about it more in the coming weeks.”

The preview isn’t about sticking it to the Burnout devs, though, it reads more like a fan of the series seeing drastic changes and slowly coming to the realization that if executed properly, these could make for a remarkable game. Among the more exciting aspects of Criterion’s open-world approach to Burnout is the focus on seamless online play that works the way most gamers prefer, by putting the folks in your Friends list first.

Burnout Paradise is scheduled to hit shelves early next year for and .

Read More | Eurogamer

Guitar Hero III’s Wii Online Woes

Posted by Paul Hamilton
Categories: Music, Nintendo, Wii

Wii Guitar Hero III Online?Despite packaging the as an internet-ready and capable device, they seem to still drag their feet whenever it comes to online gaming. The latest evidence of this is the eerie quiet surrounding the online features of the upcoming , broken by The Bits Bytes Pixels and Sprites when they contacted a Red Octane PR specialist, Bryan Lam about what Guitar Hero III will be like online with the Wii. He distressingly told BBPS, “We’re working closely with Nintendo for an online solution, though at the moment we’re unable to confirm the status of the online multi-player.”

Considering the other GHIII versions are all set to have online modes and there ought not to be any technical hurdles, this can really only mean Nintendo is having a hard time letting go of the secret to their ultimate online strategy which is so secret not even the consumers can figure out what it is. Online versus and co-op modes may be bad enough as possible omissions from the Wii version, but a follow-up from BBPS suggests that the same hurdles exist for downloadable content as well. While it’s difficult to determine why Nintendo would want to feature-deprive third party developers from online action, it’s even less comprehensible why they would cut off money-making endeavors like song packs as well.

Read More | The Bits Bytes Pixels and Sprites via 4 Color Rebellion


PlayStation Store Gets an Update Including Super Puzzle Fighter II

Posted by Paul Hamilton
Categories: Downloadable Content, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Network

PlayStation Store
The has some new content, possibly due to the flood of owners hitting the service looking for their download. Among the other new items are Turbo HD Remix for $9.99 (comparable with the download of the same game made available last week) and online add-on for $9.99 or the whole game and add-on for $29.99.

Sony is also putting up some new demos for NASCAR 08, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2008 and All-Pro Football 2K8 plus additional videos and trailers. Warhawk is available from the PlayStation Store for $39.99 or as a retail box which includes a bluetooth headset for $59.99.

Read More | PlayStation Blog

Console Downloads Feature Space Bounty Hunters and Also Giraffes

Posted by Paul Hamilton
Categories: Adventure, Nintendo, Platformers, Retro, Third Person Shooters, Virtual Console, Wii, Xbox 360, Xbox Live Arcade

Space Giraffe Logo

People with virtual currency burning pixelated holes in their alternate reality pockets can check out the and the Virtual Console this week for some new (or perhaps old) titles. The most exciting offerings this week look to be the Jeff Minter shooter Space Giraffe and the wonderful classic, Super Metroid.

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Read More | Nintendo Press Release

EA’s Skate Demo Rescheduled

Posted by Paul Hamilton
Categories: Downloadable Content, Electronic Arts, Release Dates, Sports, Xbox 360, Xbox Live Marketplace

skate.

After postponing the demo for their upcoming skateboarding game —originally scheduled for August 15—publisher has settled on Tuesday, August 21st as a new release date. One of the anticipated features of the game that was to be available on the demo is the video capture and upload capabilities. It was reportedly technical problems with this functionality that delayed the demo’s release in the first place, but EA believes they have hammered out the issues. This allows players to make video clips of their game play and upload them to share with other players online.

Skate is challenging the long-running and popular skateboard series and is scheduled for release on September 12.

Read More | IGN

Age of Conan Delayed Until ‘08

Posted by Steve Van Neil
Categories: Corporate News, Games for Windows, Games for Windows Live, MMORPG, Release Dates, Xbox 360, Xbox Live

age of conan

Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, Funcom’s highly anticipated PC/ online RPG, is bowing out of the crowded Fall ‘07 release window.  Based on the press release, it sounds like given the scale of the game, the development team just needed more time to polish and perfect the experience.

“We naturally regret that we have to push back ‘Age of Conan’. However, after careful consideration, and analysis of recent Beta feedback, we believe that the new release date is in the best interest of the gamers, our company and our owners,” said Trond Arne Aas, CEO of Funcom.

You have to respect a developer that delays a game to make it better, and doesn’t just shove it out the door for the sake of the company’s shareholders.  At any rate, MMO players can now look forward to slashing their way through the world and characters of Robert E. Howard on March 25th, 2008.

Read More | Kotaku

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