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New Xbox Experience is yours November 19

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Microsoft, Xbox 360, Xbox Live

New Xbox Experience

At the Tokyo Game Show, finally let everyone in on the date that their current Xbox experience would be ending, and the would be, er, beginning. We knew it would be coming in the fall, but the firm date is November 19th. We hope you’re ready to spend hours working on that perfect Avatar, because we are going to so own you in 1 vs. 100, despite having never seen it on television. The New Xbox Experience will go live for all gamers across the world at the same time - no staggered launch here, folks. We must admit, we’re looking forward to it.


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PS3 Finally Gets Rumble…in Spring ‘08

Posted by Steve Van Neil Categories: Accessories, Hardware, PlayStation 3, Sony

DualShock3

At Sony’s pre-TGS press conference, Kaz Hirai announced that rumble is coming back to the PS3 in a big way, in the form of the new DualShock 3 controller.  Gamers have been clamoring for force feedback ever since Sony first unveiled the PS3’s Sixaxis controller sans rumble.  We just couldn’t properly enjoy shooting aliens without the little vibration telling us that we were shooting aliens.  At any rate, Sony heard the call and is making amends. 

“We have not made any changes to its outward appearance and design, but it does have vibration,” Hirai said.  And fear not, motion control fans…the waggle feature isn’t going anywhere.  The wizards at Sony have found a way to include both features.

Which brings us to the catch: the DualShock 3 will be available this year, but only in Japan.  Everyone else will have to wait until next Spring.

Read More | Eurogamer

Nintendo To Have Booth At Tokyo Game Show

Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Role Playing Games, Square Enix

Dragon Quest XI Website Kotaku is indicating that in contrast to past shows, Nintendo will be exhibiting at the upcoming Tokyo Game Show. Typically the company has maintained its own separate shows, preferring to have an exclusive arena to advertise their upcoming software and hardware. This year, though, will apparently bring Nintendo to the show floor; according to Kotaku, the company is committing to this presence largely due to Square Enix showing off Dragon Quest IX for the Nintendo DS. This huge event, apparently, is enough to overcome Nintendo’s general avoidance of the show; having Nintendo and the latest Dragon Quest at the show may mean mayhem for show attendees.

Read More | Kotaku

Sony Europe Issues Overheating Denial

Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, PlayStation 3

Cooling FanSpeaking with Gamesindustry.biz, Sony of Europe has issued a complete denial of any overheating problems with the Playstation 3. Now, one could understand if Sony stated that gamers won’t have problems with the PS3 once they get their console home, but the statement includes this:

As could be seen on the TGS floor by the tens of thousands of media and public attendees, both the hardware and software worked flawlessly

This statement would seem to be categorically untrue, unless the images of the Tokyo Game Show worker attempting to cool off an overheating Playstation 3 with a clip-on fan have some other explanation. Many people have reported that the facility for the Tokyo Game Show was unbearably hot, due to the large amounts of hardware present, lack of any real air conditioning, and the massive swarms of bodies. So one could expect that ambient temperatures would be higher than a normal operating environment, and this would cause issues with the hardware. But to claim that there were no issues, when problems were reported by Kotaku and others seems laughable.

Read More | GamesIndustry.biz

Microsoft’s Tokyo Game Show Presentation

Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade

Xbox 360 Core JapanMicrosoft just conducted their Tokyo Game Show presentation, and Kotaku was able to live-blog the event. Some of the key announcements include:

  • Core System, Hard Drive, Live Vision Camera, and Wireless Headset availability on November 2nd
  • HD DVD drive to be available on November 22nd, for 20,790 Yen (~$176)
  • HD DVD drive will support full 1080P.
  • Xbox Live Arcade Titles: Yie Ar Kung Fu to be Japan exclusive. Gyruss, Rush’n Attack, New Rally-X also announced for Live Arcade.
  • Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 will ship November 15 in the US and November 22 in Japan
  • Peter Moore promises 50 exclusive titles for Japanese market
  • Tri-Ace’s upcoming Infinite Undiscovery gameplay was not shown

Kotaku has a bunch more detail from the conference. It certainly looks like Microsoft is still actively trying to penetrate the Japanese market, but even with all the hardware and software announcements, they still do not have a really compelling offering for the Japanese gamer.

Read More | Kotaku

Sony Releases New PS3 Screenshots

Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Action, Fighting, PlayStation 3, Screenshots, Simulation, Sports

Heavenly Sword

Ahead of the upcoming Tokyo Game Show, Sony has released a ton of high resolution screen shots from some of the games they will be showing at the Tokyo Game Show, and Game Watch has them all online. Many of the screens look like 720P screen grabs. Among the new screen shots shown are a couple of shots of a game tentatively titled Afrika. Lair, the dragon-based action adventure was also updated, and apparently the game is now supporting the Playstation 3 tilt controller. Gamers can also check out screen shots of the upcoming Unknown Realms title from Game Republic and Formula One Championship. Finally, Sony also released a bunch of screens for both Heavenly Sword and MotorStorm. MotorStorm and Formula One both look remarkable well-detailed at this point, and the action shots of Heavenly Sword also show promise. Of course, one can not determine framerate from a still, but the games do look like they are in better shape than Sony’s hardware production.

Read More | Afrika

Read More | Lair

Read More | Unknown Realms

Read More | Formula One Championship

Read More | Heavenly Sword

Read More | MotorStorm via Game Watch Japan


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