Gamertell

I found myself in line at my local supermarket the other day when I noticed a large munitions dump of annoyingly orange 2 liter bottles glaring at me from the end of the checkout line. The bottles contained Mountain Dew’s brand spanking new Halo 3 themed drink, innovatively titled Game Fuel. Now, I pride myself on being something of an intellectual. My friends call it arrogance mixed with a little antisocialism, but you and I know better—I’m a pretty smart guy, actually. So why was I thinking about buying two liters of Game Fuel? I didn’t even need one liter of Game Fuel, much less a conveniently packaged set of two.  Did I think it would taste good? No. Was I thirsty? Absolutely not, and I had just bought beer. Was it because there was a life-sized cardboard replica of the master chief positioned strategically next to the display, his helmeted visage gazing stoically into the distance? Maybe. Was it because each bottle featured a special Halo 3 design, 40% more caffeine, and a burst of citrus flavor? You bet ‘yer ass.

When I got home I set the bottle on the table. I looked at the Game fuel, and the Game Fuel looked at me. It must have been my imagination, but I fancied that the bottle fairly shook, vibrating ever so slightly as the pent up energies and anti-gravity physics that any Halo 3 product must surely contain railed to be free of the thin plastic prison binding it. I knew it was time to finish the fight, as they say. So I poured out a couple of fingers of the stuff and down the hatch it went.

As I’ve said, I consider myself something of an academic, but I’ve never felt as stupid or as disgusted by something at the same time as when I took that first, putrid slug of Game Fuel. My eyes watered, I briefly lost the capacity for speech.  I’m proud to say that I maintained bowl control, but it was a close call, let me tell you.

“How does it taste?” asked my girlfriend. “Good,” I spluttered, eager to avoid the I-told-you-so look for as long as possible. The finish was killing me, something in-between the way you’d think plastic fruit would taste and the smell of an overflowing port-a-potty on a hot and humid summer’s day. My girlfriend left the room and I took the opportunity to scour my tongue with paper towels to try and get the taste out. I turned away from the kitchen sink and there it was, still looking at me—a mostly full two liter bottle of Game Fuel. What the hell am I going to do with the rest of this? I thought.

Several ideas occurred to me, the most obvious of which was the radiator fluid substitute because I imagine that’s what radiator fluid would taste like if you carbonated it. Then I thought that the bottles could be used in some massive abstract art piece; the color of the liquid is quite extraordinary, it’s like getting punched in the retina just looking at it. Pouring it out over any sort of vegetation or where it might make it into the water table was out of the question for me, no way. I’m an environmentalist for your information, and Game Fuel can’t be good for plant life.

So it comes to this: Is anyone out there willing to offer Game Fuel disposal services? Millions of young gamers around the world will strip away the first few layers of stomach cells playing the most anticipated game of the season while drinking the least digestible beverage of all time. There’s going to be extra, and you know it. Perhaps Gamertell’s next contest will be to see who can come up with the most inventive way of getting rid of the stuff? Send suggestions, please. And for the love of God, be quick about it…it’s still watching me.

Just the very thought of Youtube for games, where game developers (including hobbyists, homebrew and indie) will upload games for others to play, is exhilarating. It will take gaming to a whole new level. All this might just translate into reality, if Microsoft has its way.

Chris Satchell, who heads Microsoft’s XNA operations, has lent credibility to rumors of a Youtube like service for game distribution. He confirmed that Microsoft plans to launch such a service, although he didn’t reveal more about it.

He compared the service with music-it will act as the radio station for the musicians (XNA game developers), who already have the instruments (XNA) to create the music but need to be heard. It is going to be an “open distribution” of gaming content.

Gaming has evolved backed by advances in software and hardware technology alike, but the next giant leap might come through a move like this, which is less technical but more strategic. A technology is as good as its use, therefore, strategies need to be constantly made to make optimum use of even the most sophisticated technology. Make basic games development as easy as capturing a video and then give these developers a platform ala Youtube.

Read [Developmag] via [CVG]

Just like Halo 3 it’s difficult to keep Wedbush Morgan’s leading video game analyst Michael Pachter from making news. Pachter wrote in his latest research note to investors that Halo 3 is going to sell about 3 million copies in the first 12 days after its launch. With all due respects to his insight, this prediction is just an inflation of the obvious. However, he has eruditely prescribed Sony a way in which it can counter the phenomenal Halo 3.

Pachter believes that Halo 3 will drive XBOX 360 sales, and expects 400,000 units of the console to sell in September, which would be a record number for a non-holiday month.  The Halo 3 driven rise in 360 sales will adversely impact PS3 sales a lot more than the Wii’s, as Wii is comfortably on top. So, Sony needs to find an answer to Halo3.

A possible answer to Halo 3 will be a cheaper 40 GB PS3 SKU and a PS2 price-cut according to Pachter. The analyst believes that Sony might soon announce a 40 GB PS3-- which will retail for $399 (affordable by PS3 standards)--and a drop in PS2 prices to $99.

Though rumors of both the 40 GB PS3 and PS2 price-cut have been doing the rounds in the media, but an official word from Sony has been missing. Pachter finds the Tokyo Game Show-which kicks off on September 20, barely a week ahead of the Halo 3 launch- to be an ideal platform for Sony to confirm these rumors-if at all it plans to. Pachter said that if Sony makes the announcement next week at TGS, then the PS3’s sales might register a higher than 18% growth that he predicted earlier.

Pachter has spoken, but the ball is still in Sony’s court. Halo 3’s rampant advance will have to be stopped before its too late, if Sony doesn’t want to loose whatever little momentum it has gathered in the console race. As of now, without any exclusive title in Halo 3’s league, Sony can only stop more gamers from buying the 360 by announcing a PS2 price-cut or offering a cheaper PS3 SKU.

Read [Next-Gen]

Since the rumors about Nintendo’s North America Marketing Department’s key executives quitting by the end of the year began, Nintendo ignored the chatter and blogs that speculated the reason is because the execs did not want to move from their current location in Redwood, Washington to new offices in New York and San Francisco.

In response to the chatter Nintendo of America’s president Reggie Fils-Aime admitted to the company’s relocation and the mass resignation of its staff.

“Virtually all of the employees affected by the relocation plan have now responded with their decisions, and approximately four of every ten have agreed to make the move to either New York or the Bay Area…

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On the Xbox forums. many users have reported that phishers - sites or companies that pose as other sites/companies to get login information - have squeezed vital account details from many XBOX Live users and sabotaged many Live accounts.  Now Microsoft has accepted that phishers pose a threat to XBOX Live security and is taking steps to extenuate the problem to protect user interests.

Microsoft is taking steps to prevent the phishers from further imperiling Xbox Live and fraudulently assuming control over user accounts. Microsoft is working closely with the customer support staff, retraining them and briefing them about ways to get around the problem…

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During the Royal Television Society’s Cambridge Convention held September 14, 2007, Electronic Arts’ chief executive officer, John Riccitiello, stood up for the gaming industry after ITV’s executive chairman, Michael Grade, attacked the industry calling it a “moral vacuum.”

“Those acts of violence [shown in games] exist in a moral vacuum, whereas in films and television, it is set in a moral context, with real consequences, such as pain,” argued Grade.

Riccitiello, who attended the conference as a guest speaker, returned the volley by claiming that…

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The US video game industry hit a purple patch in August 2007 as revenue shot up to a staggering $1 billion, according to a NPD Group report. This is a 46% rise from the industry’s revenue of $679 million in August, 2006. It seems that Christmas has come early for the video game industry, and it only can get better from here.

The industry earned its billion dollars in August 2007 on back of strong Wii hardware and Madden NFL 08 sales, both of which are bankable and consistent performers…

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FASA Studio, the developers behind Shadowrun, has been shut down and most of its employees have been relocated throughout Microsoft Game Studios. The news was posted the night of September 12, 2007, in Shadowrun’s forum by Mitch Gitelman, manager of FASA studio:

“It is my sad duty to announce that FASA Studio has officially closed its doors. Today was the official last day of employment for those of us who had not moved on to other positions within Microsoft Game Studios. While the rumors have been circulating forever, we chose to…

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With the increasing popularity of MMOGs (Massive Multiplayer Online Games) and the growing user community, the technologies behind them have to evolve in order to accommodate hordes of players living and interacting in a virtual world. As hundreds of thousands of users conduct raids and battles, powerful computer clusters have to keep track of every move and action users make. As the users keep on coming, companies have to figure out ways of keeping these worlds running smoothly.

While different companies employ different architectures to simulate these virtual environments, all of them are working to develop a solution in which all the players could really share a single virtual world. In case of the popular World of Warcraft, Blizzard uses what they call “shards,” which are copies of the same world running in different machines. Users of WOW, which now total over 9 million, are distributed amongst these shards to…

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