atari finds a new way

Most people associate Atari with clunky black cartridges and antiquated systems with 20 buttons on the controller, not giving much consideration to the fact that Atari is in fact still developing games for current consoles. Granted, they may not be releasing groundbreaking games today when compared with other modern competition, but one thing you can say for Atari is that they understand the importance of reinvention. Where others focus on how to develop games in new ways, Atari is setting its sights on new strategies in game marketing. The process of developing and selling a video game is a long and expensive one - Atari's idea is that streamlining presentation can better highlight important aspects of games during the selling of games to interested buyers/publishers. With considerations to conference calling rather than in-person presentations and using HD video tools to better show off the impressive elements of a game's design process, Atari is definitely thinking smarter when it comes to game marketing and development.

Polycom Telepresence Changing the Game for Atari

xbox live or playstation network?

With last month's console price drops for both the Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360, the debate of which system to go with rages on. The PS3's new claims of "It only does everything" are, well, kinda true. At the same time, the Xbox offers a highly populated online gaming community that the PS3 hasn't really developed as well (yet anyway). For a price of course. This article goes into both sides of the next-gen console debate in a lot of depth, including the differences in the online services as well as the hardware advantages to both systems. So if you're considering taking the plunge to buying a new $299 gaming system, check out this article for the lowdown on both options.

Xbox Live or Playstation Network, the Facts

this is kind of an outrage

Nintendo is probably my favorite of the Big Three game publishers but I'm a little pissed off this weekend after discovering two pretty annoying slights that they've pulled with regards to Wii Sports Resort and the MotionPlus Controller. First, don't get your additional MotionPlus at GameStop (as we did of course); turns out Nintendo is pricing the controller add-on at $25 at GameStop whereas every other freaking retailer is selling it at its MSRP of $19.99. Hella lame. Second (and more grievous in my opinion) offense: when we bought our copy of Wii Sports Resort, it came bundled with one MotionPlus and we bought one extra for the above ripoff of $24.99. Now, not even a month later, there is a "limited" Wii Sports Resort bundle for $60 with TWO MotionPlus controllers. As it should have been originally considering that WSR's true value definitely comes in multiplayer mode. So being the loyal Nintendo brand fans and Wii players that we are, we dropped an extra $20 overall on our purchase of WSR and the MotionPlus add-ons that supposedly will be an important feature of tons of new great Wii games. So anyway, like with many other annoying life-isn't-fair moments, lazy gamers who don't want to support new innovative products are getting rewarded for holding their money until the companies have a chance to respond to the dumbass decisions they made in the first place. Hella. Laaaaaame. Boo on you, Nintendo, I hope this isn't a trend you're adopting.

250 GB xbox 360 and PS3 bundles on the horizon

Once the dust has cleared after the recent price drops on the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3 there will be more new bundles arriving on the market than ever, including a reported 250 GB hard drive Xbox 360 that will be released with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 for $400, the previous price of the 120 GB Elite. While many gamers buy into the idea that bigger is always going to be better and more space is better than less, some feel that the systems are cheapening what they offer as far as performance and hardware by simply adding more storage space and charging more. This is an interesting argument and it's totally possible that such measures are desperate attempts to keep up with the ever-changing desires of today's gamers. Our systems are a 20 GB 360 and an 80 GB PS3 and while the PS3 does require installing a lot of data, we still have plenty of space although we don't really download much or store music on either system. What will be truly ridiculous will be when the next next generation of game systems is defined in terms of terabyte hard drives. Most likely the PSN and Xbox Live will have seriously kicked into gear with offering more stuff to download by then.

The 250 GB Xbox 360 is a mistake, and it's one that the PS3 should avoid making

wii price drop?

The rumor mill is grinding away as busily as usual and it's only going to get crazier with the impending 2009 holiday season looming ahead of us. One of the latest (and greatest!) claims on the internet these days is that the Nintendo Wii is going to follow the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 in receiving a price drop before Christmas. Scanned images of circulars for several major retailers have leaked online (see Target's for the week of 9/27 at right), indicating that Nintendo's game console will most likely be dropping $50 off its pricetag and hitting shelves at $199 starting in October! I for one hope this is true and think it is a great move on Nintendo's part... the Wii's sales have slowed to a crawl and with the 360 Elite and the PS3 Slim priced only $50 more than the Wii, something for sure has gotta give. Personally I think Nintendo would be very smart to rebundle the Wii with a MotionPlus controller add-on and a copy of Wii Sports Resort for $250 - I mean, who really wants Wii Sports these days? Anyway, if you've never had a Wii before, consider investing in one at the reduced price as there are a lot of great games coming out, some of which should use the fantastic MotionPlus technology.

console price drops abound

Hot on the heels of Sony's announcement of the new PS3 Slim model priced at $299 with a 120 GB hard drive, Microsoft has made its official announcement regarding its own video game console price drops this month. The $299 Pro system, equipped with a 60 GB hard drive, will be dropped to $249 and subsequently phased out while the $399 120 GB Elite system will be reduced to $299. The no-frills Arcade system will remain at $199. Also, there are no plans for a competing Xbox 360 Slim model in response to Sony's slimmer console, according to Aaron Greenberg, the Director of Product Marketing for Xbox 360 and XBLA. So, if you've ever considered taking the plunge into console ownership, now might be the time since for $299 you can have your pick of the 360 or PS3, both with a monster 120 GB drive.

Microsoft confirms price cut, denies "Xbox 360 Slim" rumors

xbox 360: epic fail!

The new issue of Game Informer includes a feature article profiling the sales and durability numbers of the hardware consoles from the three major game companies. The magazine conducted a survey asking gamers to report incidents of hardware failure, quality of customer service received, and instances of repeat purchases of the same console. The results were not so good for Microsoft, whose Xbox 360 console is now in the spotlight for highest rate of failure, fewest customers satisfied with service, and most repeat purchases compared to the Sony PS3 and the Nintendo Wii. The report also indicated that on average a 360 took about a month turnaround to be repaired whereas the Sony and Nintendo consoles trended more towards a week. I have been lucky (knock on wood) to not have suffered a Red Ring of Death but have often theorized that this hardware failure is responsible for Microsoft's gleefully high hardware sales numbers, and this study seems to be implying the same thing. The 360 may have some good game titles going for it but its dependability and customer service are sorely lacking. Still, only 3.8% of respondents said a hardware failure would make them not buy another 360, so until Xbox gamers learn to value their hard-earned money and stop wasting it with Microsoft, the company really has little motivation to alter what has proved to be a crazy successful business model of shoddy manufacturing and guaranteed repeat purchases.

playstation 3 slim announced!

It's been grinding in the rumor mill for some time now but today the official announcement came that a PS3 Slim model will be hitting store shelves this September. For some reason Kmart was the first source ("accidentally") to announce the arrival of the $299 PS3 Slim and is listing it as a presale due ou September 1st. The new Playstation 3 SKU will come with a 120 GB hard drive; existing PS3 products will likely be seeing a companion price drop in the very near future as there will be little reason to buy the 80GB "bulky" version for the same price as this new slimline model. Personally I am happy to keep my backwards-compatible bigger machine but for anyone who hasn't invested in a Playstation 3 yet, this certainly makes it an easier prospect when it comes to finding physical space for it. The one we have is a beast!

gaming news from all over

BioWare creative officer says violence not required in games with good stories, but seems to occur more often than not. I think the distinction between games involving some fighting and games with realistic violence is an important one here.

Police are still searching for 2 gunmen implicated in video game store robbery. The men stole merchandise and over $1,000 in cash from a GameStop just before closing time armed with a rifle and a pistol.

Monster Hunter Freedom Unite is setting PSP sales records. The Capcom title has sold over 3.5 million copies since its release in October 2008 and is the first PSP title to reach this sales level.

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars will be Adults Only in Japan. The M-for-mature DS game will be the first title on Nintendo's handheld console to receive the Japanese Z rating when it launches there this fall.

Sony CEO Howard Stringer dismisses claims that the PS3 is still too expensive. "I [would] lose money on every Playstation I make," Stringer responds to calls for a price drop.

pedometer no worky

So I've really been enjoying using Personal Trainer: Walking to keep track of my daily walking/step activity and one of the best things about it is wearing the pedometer all day as a motivator to rack up the steps. I had one of my busiest days in awhile yesterday between work and finishing up a move to a new apartment so I was really looking forward to seeing my daily activity last night, but unfortunately when I took the pedometer out of my pocket the little green light was no longer flashing. Not sure what happened but it totally stopped working - it won't connect to the DS cartridge at all, making both the pedometer and the game pretty much useless. Luckily I bought this game not too long ago and am good about keeping receipts so I should be able to get a new one but I'm a little concerned that I'll have the same thing happen with a new pedometer... Hopefully not as the boyfriend's is working just fine. I'm a firm believer in the quality of Nintendo products so hopefully it's not a matter of shoddy craftsmanship. Boo.

iphone bone controller

This is silly. Apparently iPhone apps/games have gotten so popular that some people feel you just can't enjoy them without a controller instead of the touch-screen controls of the iPhone itself. To these people, I'd like to say, "console game systems!" but I digress. Anyway, you can now get a bone-shaped iPhone game controller called the GameBone Pro made by Australian company 22Moo. The concept art for this thing is bad and there don't seem to be any photos of the real thing out there yet. I think carrying this bone thing around might negate any coolness you'd earn by having an iPhone in the first place.

Gamers bone up on the iPhone

new xbox360 features on the horizon

It's been a big year for game and game hardware development and all of the major developers have interesting and cool new stuff up their sleeves for the coming year in gaming. Even with its groundbreaking Project Natal motion-control system in the works, Microsoft knows it needs to keep up with the Joneses (or in this case Nintendo and Sony) when it comes to exciting upcoming offerings from its Xbox360 system. BloodyDisgusting.com, an excellent source for news on horror and scary games, takes a pretty in-depth look at the 360 and what it will have to offer in the near future. Personally having gotten acquainted with my PS3 at this point it's hard to see a lot of these ideas as anything but direct-response competition with Sony but still, turning the game console into a more varied multimedia machine in my opinion is a very good direction to be going in.

On a side note since I've tagged this post with Microsoft, am I the only one seriously hating on Bing and its retarded commercials where someone asks someone else a question and the person goes into a zombie-like state of rattling off quasi-related web hits supposedly from Google? I'm sorry but if you Google "foods you can't eat while pregnant" literally every single hit on the front page is relevant and useful. Try again, Microsoft. At right: everyone's favorite red ring of death.

playing wii could help treat parkinson's

Since the Wii's release it has been lauded as not just a cool game system but also a revolutionary tool that can aide in keeping people healthy, active and mobile. Now a researcher at the Medical College of Georgia has released a study that concludes that using a Wii can tremendously improve the treatment of Parkinson's Disease, a degenerative nervous system disease, by encouraging hand-eye coordination, precision movements and general activity. The full-body movements of Wii games like Wii Sports bowling and tennis help to promote continued use of physical motion in patients with advanced Parkinson's:

Studies have shown that exercise and video games independently can increase the production of dopamine, a neurotransmitter deficient in Parkinson's patients. He suspects that's the case with the Wii’s exercise effect. Dopamine also helps improve voluntary, functional movements, which Parkinson’s patients "use or lose," Dr. Herz says.

Nintendo Wii May Enhance Parkinson's Treatment

xbox 360 project natal bundle?

Rumors are flying when it comes to discussion of the future release of Project Natal for the Xbox 360. Now it looks like there will most likely be a newly released 360 bundle that comes with Natal and some minor system/hardware upgrades, but that Natal will also be compatible with existing 360 units. I hope this is the case because it will suck if Natal doesn't work with current 360s. Either way, I think we can expect to see some serious trade-in deals from GameStop on upgrading to the new hardware, plus it would certainly make sense for the standalone 360 units still selling to get another price drop, in my opinion.

Aaron Greenberg, director of product management, told Eurogamer: “I think part of the excitement about this announcement is that in many ways we are delivering a next generation experience this generation. With that said, I can confirm that Natal will run on Xbox 360 so no new console investment will be necessary.”

Rumor: Speculation Surrounding a New 360 Gets Added Fuel

nintendo ds as a learning tool

The Nintendo DS arguably already has the distinction of being the console with the widest variety of "game" software including fitness programs, photography manipulation and language teaching tools, along with actual games, of course. Now Nintendo is taking the DS one step further towards education. Nintendo announced today in Japan that it will partner with Sharp to develop a new educational tool called Nintendo DS Classroom, which will allow a teacher's PC to communicate with DS or DSi units in a classroom using special DS cartridges. Sounds like DS Classroom can be used to give tests and receive real-time answers as well as conduct classroom surveys over the connection. It seems like an obvious plan to eventually integrate math and vocabulary games and other learning software into the usage of this system, which could really keep kids more focused on learning in the classroom. Plus, just as many girls are into the DS as boys (possibly more even) so teachers wouldn't even need to worry about gender and teaching effectiveness. I say bring it on!

IGN: DS in the Classroom

project natal has people all astir

New games and hardware price drops are always nice to hear about but the lasting effect from this year's E3 is definitely the buzz surrounding Microsoft's Project Natal for the Xbox 360. The possibilities it offers do seem pretty revolutionary (although some of the ideas floating out there certainly walk the line between innovative and gimmicky) and I think we've only seen the tip of the iceberg thus far. Check out this interview about Project Natal with Shane Kim, Microsoft's corporate vice president for Xbox.

Project Natal will "reinvent the industry" - Microsoft

project natal is pretty cool!

Motion controls are all the rage these days and everyone's got something in the works, but the one that really has people talking after E3 this week is Microsoft's Project Natal, a camera-based motion control system (unveiled by Stephen Spielberg!) whose tagline is "you are the controller"! This thing is cool. Project Natal lets you control your on-screen character with.. well, just you. You move around and a camera senses your motions, and also appears to be able to recognize your voice and face. I'm pretty curious to see this thing take off commercially and I can't wait to see the games available with this technology! Natal is clearly a major innovation to look forward to in the video game industry. Watch Peter Molyneux's E3 presentation on Project Natal with Claire and "Milo" below. Crazy stuff!

playstation 3 price cut at e3?

Seems like you can't read anything these days without mention of the economy and coverage of this year's E3 convention is no exception. Some of the major announcements are expected to be hardware price cuts, including the Playstation 3, which currently sells for $399 for the 80GB system (or $499 for the 160GB, which currently comes bundled with Uncharted, apparently). This article does claim that the PS3 currently sells for "over $600" but I assume the purported price drop will place the PS3 in a little easier competition price-wise with the Xbox 360. Still glad we got our backwards-compatible PS3 because I'm loving my PS2 games.

Video Game Industry Fighting Fit For E3

wii sports the highest selling video game ever

Nintendo recently announced that Wii Sports has taken over the coveted spot of best-selling video game of all time, having sold over 45 million copies worldwide. The previous record holder was of course another Nintendo title, the classic Super Mario Bros. on the NES, which sold 40.2 million copies during its run. Both game titles have been sold in a bundle with Nintendo hardware which makes a lot of sense considering the vast sales numbers. Still, it proves my previous point that Nintendo knows what's up with bundling games to consoles in a way that Sony and Microsoft just haven't succeeded at yet. I'm sure Wii Sports Resort will be nearly as big a hit as its predecessor, especially since it will most likely come with a Wii MotionPlus accessory bundle.

Wii Sports: The Best Selling Video Game of All Time

ps3 to dominate 3 to 5 years from now?

As the saying goes, when the video game market gives you lemons, make lemonade! Outgoing President of Sony Europe, David Reeves, calls the Playstation 3's market success a "tortoise and hare situation", predicting that the PS3 will slowly begin to steamroll the Xbox 360 and eventually reach a dead heat in sales. I guess he believes that there is real strength and promise in the selection of upcoming PS3 titles will eventually have people wondering why they ever doubted the system in the first place.

People will say PS3 took a while to get going but it really caught up very quickly and confounded many of the critics from the first year," he said of the consoles position on the market.
"When I see the line-up ahead, when I see what's lined up on the new product side, I'm very, very optimistic for what I see for PlayStation's future in the PAL territories," he added.

I have heard rumors that Sony is planning a re-release of the backwards-compatible Playstation 3 that plays most PS2 games. I could see potentially buying one at that point but the PS3's current price tag and fairly threadbare game library just aren't enough to get me yet. I guess we'll see if Reeves' predictions play out or if his optimism is just wishful thinking.

PS3 to be dominant in 3 - 5 years, says Reeves