Tales of Innocence DS Trailer

My apologies for the lack of updates last week. My exams didn't exactly make it very easy for me to update the the blog amidst all the last minute cramming I had to do. Anyhow, that's all over now, so I hope to get back to a more regular schedule starting today.

Let's start out with something nice and promising. That there is the trailer for one of the new Tales of games heading to Nintendo platforms. More specifically, it's the trailer for Tails of Innocence on the Nintendo DS.

Considering that's a DS game, I'd say it looks pretty damned good. Of course, the stretching and blurring effect resulting from its "YouTubeness" probably helps make the sharp edges a little easier on the eyes, but in general, I quite like the style. It's not quite as childish as Final Fantasy III, but it isn't really "mature" either. It's just ... Tales, I guess. And that suits me just fine!

Unfortunately, the games were announced last week while I was too busy cramming to be worried about the blog, so I didn't get a chance to rejoice at the announcement. Let's just say that the initial reaction involved me taking off my pants and Googling up a picture of Tales of Symphonia.

[ADVANCE]

Second Life used to advertise Shigurui anime

Quick update: Looks like Second Life has finally managed to find its place in the world of entertainment: Advertising.

According to anime!anime!, the creators of freaky new samurai anime Shigurui plan on using Japan's Second Life servers to promote the show. As noted by Anime Online:

They'll be introducing the world of Shigurui on the Manatee Resort Island this July. The Manatee Resort Island was created and is run by DigiSonic, who is partnering with WOWOW for the project.

The verdict on Shigurui? After watching the first episode and asking more than a couple of friends what they thought of it ... in all honesty, I think it comes across as one of those shows that is more likely to make you uneasy than immersed.

I'm still trying to screw up the guts to watch more of it.

[ADVANCE]

Peter Moore quits Microsoft; heading up EA Sports

Of all the bad things that could possibly happen to Microsoft at this point in time, this is possibly among the worst. Several sites have recently managed to confirm that everyone's favourite tatoo'd Microsoft exec (mostly because there aren't any others) Peter Moore has recently been stolen from them by Electronic Arts.

Moore will be replaced by Don Mattrick, ex-EA president and currently the external advisor for Microsoft. He will take over Moore's job starting July 30th, and Moore himself will stay on at Microsoft until August to help make the transition easier. While this might sound like a fair trade, don't let the press releases fool you. The truth of the matter is, executives with charm and the ability to captivate audiences are extremely rare. Reggie and Peter Moore are two such executives, and we've seen their ability to influence crowds of gamers several times in the past. Losing Moore at this crucial stage may not exactly spell gloom and doom for Microsoft, but I'm fairly certain we'll start noticing the changes sooner or later.

Gamespot and various other industry observers did some snooping around EA's Securities and Exchange Commission filing when they struck the deal with Moore. The results were nothing short of mindblowing.

Feel free to skip past the blue text if you aren't interested in numbers:

According to an 8-K form filed with the SEC this afternoon, the 52-year-old Moore will receive "a one-time bonus of $1,500,000 (minus applicable taxes) in recognition of the future compensation value he would be foregoing [sic] by leaving his position at Microsoft." Though the bonus is technically for his first two years as president of EA Sports, he will receive it in the next 30 days. If he leaves EA before July 17, 2009, he will have to repay a prorated amount.

Moore will also receive $330,000 in moving expenses which will have to be repaid in full if he leaves EA before one year. But, given Moore's pay package, that would seem unlikely. He will receive $550,000 in base annual salary and up to $412,500 in annual bonuses--meaning he could potentially earn $962,500 every year before taxes.

According to the 8-K filing, the publisher also offered Moore "a stock option to purchase 350,000 shares of the company's common stock" as well as 50,000 restricted stock shares. Some 24 percent of the first batch of the stock will vest after the first year of Moore's hire, with the remainder vesting at 2 percent per month going forward. The restricted stock will vest 50 percent after two years, with the other 50 percent vesting four years after the executive's hire date.

Like I said before, it is entirely possible that this could affect Microsoft negatively. Case in point: Sony's Jack Tretton himself took the time out to comment on the situation:

Moore's move was also greeted with kind words from a former archrival. Sony Computer Entertainment America president Jack Tretton issued a statement warmly welcoming Moore to EA Sports, which develops a range of PS3 titles. "We wish Peter the best of luck in his new role at Electronic Arts and look forward to working with him," he said. "We have an outstanding relationship with EA and their sports products have been incredibly successful on all our platforms. I am sure this will continue with Peter now at the helm."

Ahhh, irony. You never cease to amaze. Maybe this also finally explains why Moore has been talking up the Wii for so many months now. Seeing as how Electronic Arts is focusing heavily on the Wii, it only makes sense that he wouldn't poop all over the console like he usually did on the PS3. That said, it will be interesting to see how Moore settles into his now job, now that he's "sort of" in bed with the enemy.

[ADVANCE]

Square Enix contemplating Wii Balance Board RPG

Not really news as such ... more of pondering and speculation. But those always make for interesting posts, don't they? IGN hit up Motomu Toriyama, the man behind Final Fantasy X-2 for a rather interesting interview concerning the localized version of Final Fantasy XII Revenant Wings for the DS.

Most of the interview is just what you'd expect. Increased difficulty, extra content blah blah ... if you're interested, you can read the full interview at the link above. Me? I'm more interested in this juicy excerpt:

Do you have interest in using the microphone or Wi-Fi in future DS titles?

Toriyama: We're definitely interested in the multiplayer and local connection element. And we'd like to look into it for the future. We don't know about the mic function so much because it might not be too convenient if you're playing on the train. Right now we're mostly interested in Wii Fit. We're really intrigued by it.

Is there going to be a Final Fantasy-themed fitness game?

Toriyama: There are no actual plans to take Final Fantasy into the fitness genre, but that whole system and mechanism of using your weight and balance to control games is something we're interested in incorporating into future RPG titles

First off, thank God they aren't contemplating a Final Fantasy fitness game. Moving on, a proper Square Enix RPG making use of the Wii Board and Wiimote? Tell me more, Square ... tell me more.

I have to say, while I was disappointed with Nintendo's E3 conference, the Wii Balance Board is, again, a device that has limitless potential in my eyes. Combined with the Wiimote and Nunchuk, the Balance Board could be the device that ends the graphics vs gameplay debate once and for all. Snowboarding games, skating games (How about some Wii-exclusive Tony Hawk EA?) ... there are a ton of possibilities.

And now Square Enix turns around and says they're considering a role-playing game? Orgasmic.

[ADVANCE]

Weekend rant: Games I missed at E3

It's pretty late at night here, and I have exams beginning this week, so you might not see too many updates for the next few days. I'll get back to the regular updating schedule (something I haven't been able to do in nearly a month) shortly after they're done with. In the mean time, here's a short rant on the stuff I was really hoping to see at E3 but didn't:

Alan Wake: Where the hell did this game go? When was the last time we saw it? Like, two years ago? I've even forgotten who is developing the title, and at this point, I'm not even sure it matters amidst all the other amazing stuff coming out this year. Hopefully Alan Wake is still in development and will make it to Leipzig or one of the other many gaming conventions taking place throughout the remainder of this year.

Final Fantasy XIII: Come on, you didn't really expect me to leave this off the list, did you? I wish I had some clue what Square Enix was up to in their top secret underground Japanese headquarters. While I love the Tetsuya Nomura interviews both in and out of Famitsu regarding this game, I think it's about time we see some in-game mechanics. I'm fairly certain we will at TGS, though.

Disaster: Day of Crisis: Now, I know Nintendo has confirmed they're still working on the title, but that still doesn't explain why we haven't seen the darned thing in what seems like forever. Seriously guys, I fully believe that Monolith is doing a bang-up job on the title, but could we please be reminded of its existence every now and then?

Diablo III: This one's just on here because I was hoping against hope that Blizzard would debut it at E3. Naturally, they weren't planning any such thing, seeing as how BlizzCon is just a while away.

Archaic Sealed Heat: Another very promising DS title that was missing from Mistwalker's E3 line-up. Then again, I suppose they did have to, once again, confess their undying love for all things Microsoft.

I suppose majority of the Japanese titles are all being preserved for TGS. Apart from those, most of the stuff at E3, it seems, was stuff we'd already heard about. No real shocking announcements this time around.

[ADVANCE]

Sony Computer Entertainment: A shift in focus

Despite the fact that people are still slamming Sony due sheer hatred and anti-fanboy tendencies, I don't really think it makes a difference at this point. Over the past six months or so, Sony has observed the market, observed the competition, observed themselves, and have taken a step or two in a direction that is sure to redeem their image as well as their losses over the next year or so.

One of these steps was, of course, the removal of Ken "Father of the PlayStation" Kutaragi. While Kutaragi may very well be the hardware equivalent of John Carmack and Shigeru Miyamoto, his over-confidence and outright arrogance wasn't exactly doing wonders for the company. The same goes for our good buddy Kaz Hirai, who was also mostly absent from Sony's E3 press conference this year, save for a couple of introductory lines he threw at the audience to set up Phil Harrison's part.

The absence of the devious duo isn't all that has changed about Sony, though. Judging from the interviews they have given all throughout E3 this year, it seems the company's focus has shifted completely to allow for a more "Nintendo-like" structure. This is evidenced even further in a GamesIndustry.biz interview with David Reeves, president of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.

Speaking to GI.biz about Sony's humbler, more relevant press conference this year, Reeves had some interesting things to say.

Was that humbler approach taken because you think Sony has appeared arrogant in the past?

I think they have. Not deliberately, but at E3 last year and maybe the year before, the presentations they did to a European and a Japanese perspective - yes. To an American perspective - no, because the difference in cultures is you have to go, 'Ra-ra, I'm the best.'

We in Europe, and especially the Japanese, don't necessarily accept that. You have to say, 'We're doing our best, but we're not the best.'

If you ask me, he hit the nail on the head. Europe and Japan are not countries where the marketing of a game is considered more important than the actual product itself, while the Americas are. Considering that the U.S. market is saturated with Xbox 360s, Sony is being most wise to realize the importance of the European and Japanese markets to their company's success.

Moving on to tackle the question of exclusivity, David had an equally interesting response to give.

As you say you've got Metal Gear Solid and Gran Turismo, and then Microsoft's got the likes of Halo. Then there's this murkiness around titles like GTA IV, where extra content is coming out on 360, and Microsoft is saying 360 is the only place where you can get the full GTA IV experience. Why didn't you get that content?

It's just a question of money. If Microsoft wants to pay USD 50 million just for that... Then I would say they're quite desperate. But as Jack Tretton said, we're really not in the business any more of buying exclusivity. We're more in the business of developing, from Phil Harrison's area, new IPs. We want to move on.

It's too easy to look at and say, 'We must get the GTA franchise.' By the time you've got it the world's moved on, and they'll be talking about some other game. I've got children who are 11 to 15 years old, and those kids are looking forward and not necessarily looking back.

They're the kids who are going to be buying it - the new franchises, but not necessarily the old ones that we signed up to E3 four or five years ago. They're not going to drive the market in the future; it's going to be the new ones.

Once again, an accurate and believable answer. I know this bullshit with the price drop and the 60GB model is annoying the hell out of a lot of people, but at least for the time being, Sony is back in my good books, solely due to the fact that they are more aware of their consumers' needs and their position in the market. Whether or not their humility is faked doesn't really matter ... as long as the gloating is left for long phone calls among their execs back at the office, I'm OK with it.

I'd recommend giving the entire interview a read if you've been feeling particularly spiteful towards SCE of late. Surprisingly, they even had a few good words for Nintendo. The actual, direct rivalry seems to be completely between Sony and Microsoft.

[ADVANCE]

Blizzard confirms third dev team; Working on a new game

E3 2007 coverage over at Gamespot and IGN has been handled really well this year. Thanks to E3's new (and underwhelming) format, the number of sneak-peeks and hands-on previews at Gamespot alone were enough to satisfy my cravings for the rest of the month. However, it seems that, while both Gamespot and IGN might have had the best hands-on experiences this year, neither really managed to get their hands on any extraordinary news ... something the smaller sites have managed to do.

Case in point: The Carmack story over at Gamepro, and now this story over at Gamasutra:

Talking to Gamasutra, Frank Pearce, founding member and senior vice president of product development for Blizzard revealed that the company has a third team hard at work on a new title, separate from World of Warcraft and StarCraft II.

According to Pearce, the company's current employee headcount worldwide is 2,700. Not surprisingly, the majority of those workers are part of World of WarCraft customer service. Dividing up the rest among development teams for WoW and StarCraft II, Blizz has 135 people on the WoW team, 40 on the SC II team and 85 people on the cinematics team. (Not surprising)

However, there is a third game development team which currently consists of 40 people, and although Blizzard wouldn't say what exactly it is they are working on, they did say it was "totally awesome".

Much to their credit, Gamasutra did manage to confirm this new game wasn't StarCraft Ghost. Is it Diablo III? Probably. Will we find out at BlizzCon? Almost definitely.

[ADVANCE]

John Carmack, Fountainhead and DS development

Among the game engines receiving a significant amount of media attention these days is id's Tech5 engine, which was debuted at Apple's World Wide Developer's Conference. Competing with Epic's Unreal Engine 3 and Crytek's CryEngine 2. You'd think that competing with those big names in the industry would ensure id was completely focused on driving Tech 5's potential ahead, without much concern for their other, smaller ventures.

Not so. GamePro were lucky enough to get an hour of private talk time with the ever-elusive John Carmack at E3 this year, and while there wasn't much mention of Tech5 (hit up Gamespot for talk of Tech5 licensing), they did discuss id's progress in the portable gaming zone. More specifically, development for cell phones and the DS.

"We've got a sneaky plan for IP. Orcs & Elves is a new IP [intellectual property] that we're going to migrate from the mobile platform to the Nintendo DS. This is a first for gaming...for the first time, we're actually going to port the game up, instead of down. In the process though, we're exploring a new way to develop new franchises...in the process, we're going to pull our IP forward."

"We think it [Orcs & Elves] is great - it's one of the best."

But it seems Carmack's ambitions go well beyond upscaling a cell phone game for the DS. Speaking regarding DS development, he reveals a new engine for the portable, which is currently in development:

"I had a blast doing the DS engine...Twice a year, I lock myself into a hotel room and start coding. This year, it was like going back in a time warp. Here I am 10 years later and the beauty is that I actually know now what I would have done differently then."

"..."Nintendo's engineers made some classic rookie mistakes with the 3D...but I love the architecture from a programming perspective."

"Fountainhead is pretty close to tapping out the value of my engine...they're hacking beyond the core design...I'm going to have to redesign it and revisit the cell phone engine."

"Fountainhead" refers to Fountainhead Entertainment Software, a cell phone game developer founded by Carmack's wife, Anna Kang. Currently, their portfolio consists of Doom RPG and the Orcs & Elves games. Whether or not this progressive leap is because Fountainhead is headed up by Carmack's wife is an interesting question, but one that doesn't really matter at the moment.

I'm also curious as to what exactly these "rookie mistakes" are that Nintendo has been making during DS development. I figured Square Enix and Nintendo were the two developers who knew the DS's graphical hardware better than anyone else. It should be interesting to see how this new DS engine turns out, and what it offers over Square's FFIII engine and Nintendo's Metroid Prime: Hunters engine.

As far as games are concerned, while he didn't go into too much detail, Carmack did touch upon what uses they have in mind for his new technology.

"We're talking about doing a Quake Arena-type DS game...it feels like a good fit for the DS. I'm psyched to experiment with network play."

id and Nintendo. Never saw that one coming. Me? I'm excited. What does everyone else think?

[ADVANCE]

Post-E3 thoughts and ponderings

Apart from Sony, no one really had much to reveal at E3 this year. I wonder if that was because they were "testing the waters" as far as the new format of the show was concerned. No telling what exactly it could have been, but it just seemed really dull on all fronts this year.

Microsoft

"And now, I would like to present...a new console for all of Halo nation .... the HALO 360."

*cricket cricket cricket*

*clap*

I think that pretty much sums up how Microsoft's conference went this year. Apart from the crazed fanboys, there weren't too many people who seemed very excited or very convinced by Microsoft's bullshit about market growth ... especially when Nintendo's own chart showed Microsoft's contribution to market growth was a mere 2%.

The fact that nearly every game at the Microsoft even was also at the Sony conference didn't help them much either. Still, Mass Effect and Lost Odyssey looked very cool.

Nintendo

In a word, disappointing. The near complete lack of anything new at the show coupled with nearly a half hour of Reggie gloating shamelessly gave off the impression that Nintendo is exactly where Sony was last year.

The Metroid demo looked decent, as did journalists' impressions of Super Mario Galaxy. Apart from that, they had what ... a brief mention of Mario Kart Wii? A response to all the queries about online that would have been as good as a "No. Fuck you." had it been any more defiant in its presentation?

That, and still no HDD announcement? Not even a mention of the Monolith Soft game? Or Disaster?

Wii Fit was really cool, though. I love the idea of the Balance Board, and I think the potential for such a device (especially combined with the Wiimote and Nunchuck) is limitless. More innovation please, Nintendo.

Surprisingly, despite the fact that the conference was filled with your typical high and mighty, snobbish journalists, Nintendo still got a ton of applause. I guess they deserve it, but honestly, I really was expecting a bit more from the show.

SONY

Everyone who said Sony's presentation this year at E3 would be the best can give themselves a little pat on the back.

Surely enough, Sony Computer Entertainment, who had the most to lose, really outdid themselves this year in the form of a highly entertaining and content-filled E3 Business and Media Summit press conference. Assuming all of you reading this have already watched video coverage of the event, these are the parts that really made me root for Sony throughout all of E3 this year:

1. The absence of Kaz Hirai: I'll be honest. I think this was the best decision that could have been taken this year. The absence of the devious duo from Sony's press conference alone made me feel more "in touch" with the company's goals.

I admit, I didn't know what to think of Jack Tretton earlier, but you know what? He's OK. I loved how Tretton and Phil Harrison made a genuine effort to sound enthusiastic throughout the entire conference, and not elitist and indifferent to their consumers like their Japanese counterparts. Sure, you could argue that they had no choice, but they made a solid effort, and it paid off, and that's what counts.

2. Chewbacca: Yes, it was cheesy. Yes, I loved it.

3. Software: Sony's first-party line-up looks mighty strong this year. Sure, they didn't announce much we hadn't already seen before in one form or another, but what really made the difference was how more than half of the titles Microsoft hyped to all hell in their own conference were just given a short 30-second trailer each; almost as if Sony were saying, "Oh yeah, we got those, to. Next."

Kudos to the company on managing to keep Metal Gear exclusive, and of course, Unreal Tournament 3's absence from the 360 at the game's launch is going to put the hurt on Xbox profits. Heavenly Sword and Gran Turismo 5 both looked magnificent, as did the new Wipeout game. I wasn't quite sure what to think of Killzone 2 from the trailer at the conference itself, but I'm definitely willing to give the game a chance.

Nicely done, Sony. It's good to know I wasn't entirely wrong about your company vision.

[ADVANCE]

Weekend rant: E3 cometh.

It's almost finally here. The biggest event in the gaming industry, reduced to a mere shell of its former self ... or so people say. Personally, I'm going to reserve judgment until all the shows are actually over. I think E3 Business & Media Summit will still be as exciting as the Electronic Entertainment Expo as far as revelations and information is concerned.

It isn't surprising to log on to any videogame site and see a bunch of E3 predictions staring back at you on the front page. A lot of sites are extremely enthusiastic about the show, and while some of their predictions are just outright outrageous, some could prove to be spot on once the event commences. Of course, all the bigger sites probably already know what they will be seeing at the event ... they're just not allowed to say it.

OK, let's get this over with. My own E3 predictions as far as the big three are concerned. I'd love to do this by publisher/developer, but despite the reduced numbers, there are still quite a few of them attending the event.

Sony: The company with the most to prove this year. I wouldn't be surprised at all if Sony's press conference turns out to be the most exciting of the three. Hopefully, the price drop rumours are true and a price drop will indeed be in effect the day after their conference takes places. After all, what better way is there to take advantage of impulse buyers?

As far as software is concerned, I'd expect to see a ton of Metal Gear Solid 4 info. Hopefully, we'll be seeing more than just another teaser trailer for the Final Fantasy XIII games. I also expect Square to release info on the other titles in the Fabula Nova Crystallis series.

Killzone 2. You know it's coming. Hopefully, the fact that Bioshock is multiplatform will also be revealed. As far as info from Sony itself is concerned, it's pretty obvious the new PSP model will be revealed during their press conference. They probably won't drop UMD, but I'm fairly certain they will adopt another, additional format to decrease load times and costs. I'd expect to see more of PlayStation Home and God of War: Chains of Olympus as well.

But these are games we've all heard about before. What about the ones we have no clue about? In that regard, I hope we'll be seeing that new game from the creators of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus at the event as well. Devil May Cry 4 and GTA IV will probably be present in some form as well. Oh, and the new Rachet & Clank game of course.

Coming back to hardware, I think now would be a good time to show off their new rumble technology as well. A demonstration of sorts showing off the PS3-PSP connectivity would also be much appreciated.

Personally, I think Sony is going to come through in a big way.

Nintendo: God damn. I swear to God, there is nothing harder than Nintendo predictions. Sure, we'll be seeing Mario Galaxy and it'll rock, and maybe we'll see some Smash Bros. Brawl footage as well ... everyone knows about that stuff. But what about the crazier announcements? It's not Nintendo without any crazy announcements.

The Nintendo press conference is likely to be a very different event this year. Considering the audience will consist mainly of members of the press and retailers (and not Nintendo fans and fanboys), I'd expect the crazy applause to be absent from their conference this year. I would love to be proven wrong, though.

A new role-playing game from Monolith Soft. Metroid Prime 3 with kickass controls, being played with the Blaster add-on. Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles. Mario Kart Wii. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles. Archaic Sealed Heat and Phantom Hourglass for the DS. Those are the titles I'd expect to see really shine at the event. There will probably also be some sort of demonstration of WiiWare as well as tons and tons of casual games.

Coming to hardware ... a new DS? Doubtful. Very doubtful. A new storage format for Wii announced alongside the DVD-capable Wii? More likely. Also, did I mention the rumours about a Nintendo franchise being brought back to life? This is the event everyone is going to have their eyes on, despite the fact that it probably won't be the best.

You might want to watch out for a ton of gloating at the event, though. And numbers. Lots of numbers.

Microsoft: Halo 3. GTA IV. Mass Effect, which I'm really looking forward to learning more about. Gears of War for the PC. And Ninja Gaiden 2. Assassin's Creed. Blue Dragon. Lost Odyssey.

Those are the games on the 360 that I'd expect to see. After all, what else could they announce? A price drop? Unlikely. MGS 4 for the 360? I sure as hell hope not. The PS3 needs all the help it can get. In terms of actual games, I'd expect either Microsoft or Nintendo to have the most announcements.

On the software side, I'm really excited about Eternal Sonata and Lost Odyssey. I'd love to see more of both those titles. Alan Wake has been in limbo way too long as well, so I sure hope it makes some sort of appearance this time around.

As far as hardware is concerned ... every other site has had its crazy prediction, and this is mine: I believe Microsoft will reveal a portable with Halo playable on it at the event. And no, I really don't know anything I'm not letting on to ... this is pure speculation based on some gossip I heard last year.

And that's that from me. What do you guys think?

[ADVANCE]

Enjoy a haircut at Hello Kitty Studio Wonder

This is just one of several factors that indicate the Otaku culture is increasingly gaining acceptance in Japan. Sadly, it's also the kind of thing you would probably not see outside of the Land of the Rising Sun.
Here are the details from Q-TARO blog:

As you can see the salon is completely pink and decorated with Hello Kitty stuff. Even the chairs are shaped like Kitty-chan. Kids can watch anime while they get their hair cut and blow dried. I took this pictures very quickly because I didn't want to be mistaken for a pedophile.

1) Out in front there's a grossly human looking Kitty 2) And as you can see the prices are not cheap. ¥26,050 for the works including straightening natural perm! If you can't make it out to Lalaport there's another one in the Yokohama Sogo Department store.

Now, don't get me wrong. I am in no way attempting to endorse Hello Kitty. I just think it's insanely cool that an establishment of this sort is actually not only acceptable, but also popular in Japan.

I wonder how long it will be before the otaku culture is popular enough in other Asian, European and Western territories for something along these lines to come up. I eagerly await the day I can walk into a salon where the barbers are dressed like something out of Hentai Kamen.

Or is that asking for a bit too much?

More pictures here.

[Via Anime Online]

[ADVANCE]

Details on Steven Spielberg's *GASP!* Wii party game!

Go Nintendo has excerpts from an MSNBC article about Steven Spielberg's Wii game, which he finally decided to shed some light on. Here's the bit that counts:

A true artist can find inspiration anywhere. But not many get to find it while playing Wii Tennis against Nintendo’s legendary designer, Shigeru Miyamoto. For director Steven Spielberg, however, that’s just another day out of the office. “Afterwards, we were talking about the Wii and I said, ‘Wouldn’t it be fun if we could dot-dot-dot?’ ” Spielberg says of his meeting with Miyamoto at a 2006 videogame conference. That dot-dot-dot turned out to be an action-puzzle simulator—code-named PQRS—that neatly blends the creativity of the building-blocks game Jenga with the charm of a Saturday-morning cartoon. It runs on top of a physics program that lets you manipulate blocks with the Wii remote as if it were an extension of your hand. Or, as Spielberg explains for all the non-geeks out there, “It just seemed like a great thing for the entire family to play together over Christmas. Although you don’t need the excuse of a holiday to enjoy it.”

Apologies in advance if this comes across as rather bitchy, but I find that kind of lame. Spielberg, one of the masters of cinematic direction is going to spend his time creating a *gasp!* party game on the Wii? How incredibly unique!

I'm sorry, I'm not even going to bother with the "Well, you never know ... maybe it'll be a good title..." this time around. I'm just incredibly sick of all these crazy party games and mini games and family games. This comes across as a complete waste of potential in my opinion.

[ADVANCE]

"Why the Xbox 360 Failed" - Asian manufacturers spill the beans

It should come as no surprise to anyone that apart from North America, no one really gives a damn about the 360. The United Kingdom? Sure, they're OK with it. The rest of Europe? Not so much.

The same goes for Asia. The 360 sells around 3,000 units every month in the Land of the Rising Sun. Blue Dragon couldn't boost 360 sales for long. Gears of War was in the top ten for a while. Halo 3 shows up at the very bottom of Famitsu's most wanted lists every now and then. These are the best games the 360 has to offer. If they can't do the trick, nothing can.

However, it seems the lack of variety on the 360 isn't the only reason the console has all but failed in the Asian market. According to lifestyle site Smarthouse, one thing the 360 has failed to deliver consistently is quality.

Asian Xbox 360 manufacturers are blaming poor console design cheap components and a lack of testing coupled with a manic obsession by Microsoft to beat Sony as the reason for the Xbox 360 "Red Ring Of Death" probems.
Two years ago In a desperate quest for supremacy in the gaming console market and in an effort to beat Sony and then later Nintendo with their Wii console, Microsoft committed themselves to getting the Xbox 360 to market some 12 months ahead of the new Sony PS3. They also stripped costs out of the unit in an effort to undercut Sony.

According to Smarthouse, the return rate on the 360 in Australia is over 30%. In Asia, manufacturers are being pressured to reduce costs of production by 15%. They cite poor product design and using cheap components in an effort to undercut Sony as the cause for the Microsoft's recent problems.

Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's entertainment and devices division, however, seems to think this is a good thing.

Despite adding to the continuing losses for the entertainment and devices division, Microsoft executives pointed to a silver lining: "Most customers are going to look at it and say, 'Great, Microsoft stands behind the product,'" Bach says. "Ultimately, it becomes a positive thought in people's minds."

So, creating a problem and then fixing it is a legitimate business strategy? Good to hear, Bach. And that isn't all. There's also that little matter of the 360 scratching discs you put into it, which took Microsoft an entire year to admit.

I like how the U.S. is just willing to roll over and hail the 360 as the console that will "win the war" (so to speak) despite these glaring issues. In my opinion, the 360 is far from winning any wars this generation. Microsoft has already almost saturated the North American market, and the signs are starting to show. The PS3 and Wii are both performing reasonably well (well, the PS3 is) worldwide, which is something Microsoft has not been able to do. It won't be long before consumers are required to choose between the PS3 and 360, and if Sony's dedication to quality, efforts to make up for the high pricing and general support from fans worldwide are any indication, it's only a matter of time before the PlayStation 3 outsells Microsoft's defective box.

That, and not everyone cares for multiplayer games where you run around killing everything that isn't you. Microsoft gets a "C" for planning and an "A" for execution. The execution referring to how well they've been able to pull the wool over so many peoples' eyes.

[ADVANCE]