Gamertell

Ah, obligatory end-of-the-year lists. How I love and hate you. So much work yet (we hope) so fun to read.

Here’s a recap the more interesting, note-worthy, popular or simply weird stuff we’ve reported during 2008. Here’s the second installment in this holiday two-parter, covering July through December, 2008. If you want the first part, then click over and give it a looksie.

July 2008

• Gaming veteran Neil Young leaves EA to develop for the iPhone
• PS3 Firmware 2.40 provides Trophy System.
• Next PS3 firmware update crashes systems.
• Then fixes it.
• Harvest Moon turns 10.
• EA brings Hasbro’s Scrabble to Pogo, later to Facebook.
• Super Monkey Ball available on iPhone and iPod Touch.
• E3 2008. Some companies go (while others do not).
• E3 press conferences by Nintendo,  Sony and Microsoft.
• Konami files lawsuit against Harmonix.
• Sony swears it will not cut the price of the PS3.
• WiiMote MotionPlus attachment announced.
• Sony decides to reduce the price of the PS3.
• Sony’s Playstation video store goes live.
• The Dark Knight in theaters.
• Archie Comics the fortune teller of video games.
• Comic Con 2208.
• Hasbro sues makers of Facebook game, Scrabulous.
• Librarians start to take gaming seriously.
• Twitter on DS.
• Nintendo finally sues someone.

August 2008

• Spore leads to “sporn.”
• A protein named after a Pokemon.
• Nintendo confirms production of possible Wii follow-up system.
• MADD mad about Beer Pong.
• Best Buy’s sign blunder stirs up interesting blog chatter and the store denies the typo.
• Some Atheists get cranky about Spore’s religion creation feature.
• We get the first Need for Speed: Underground game footage online.
• PSP-3000 is confirmed and Sony lets loose some details.
• Sony also announces the 160 GB PS3.
• American Express puts on some gamer hate in national ad campaign.
• There’s going to be a second PAX on the East coast.
• Stardock drafts the Gamer’s Bill of Rights.

September 2008

• The Watchmen legal nonsense starts to really heat up.
• But, hey, there might be a new Ghostbusters movie!
• First DSi rumors come out.
• Jeff Green leaves 1UP.
• Nintendo promises to solve that pesky short storage problem.
• Muslim Massacre (the game) creates controversy throughout the internet.
• A Microsoft game system finally outsells a Japanese system in Japan! For at least one week.
• Music in games starts outselling other music sales.
• Max Payne’s actor has never played - and will never play - Max Payne.
• Anti-game lawyer Jack Thompson is finally disbarred.
• Nintendo releases the pink ribbon DS Lite.

October 2008

• Gerard Way says “No way” to Umbrella Academy video game.
• Nintendo announces Club Nintendo North America.
• DSi? Do not want.
• Fat Princess!?
• VH1 create a realty Rock Band show.
• We interview Ladytron.
• Molyneux says PC game market in “tatters.”
• Tokyo Game Show still has Booth Babes.
• PSP-3000 released.
• Controversy delays LittleBigPlanet release, again. Finally releases October 27, 2008.
• Nintendo’s WiiMusic release party is a dud.
• People believe E3 2009 will be open to the public, even though it really won’t.
• WalMart sick of carrying instrument controllers for games.
• Reflexive is acquired by Amazon?
• E for All gets canceled, finally.
• Max Payne movie hits theaters.
• LittleBigPlanet servers go down.
• World of Warcraft reaches 11 million-user mark.

November 2008

• Beatles music heard in a video game.
• Guitar Hero cross-promotions officially become useless.
• Someone creates a Gradius level in LittleBigPLanet but then levels disappear due to copyright issues.
• THQ closes five studios, starts wave of game companies shutting down studios.
• Christian Children’s Foundation refuses a GenCon donation.
• Atari finally decides to pick up the Ghostbusters game.
• Valve launches Steam Cloud service.
• Circuit City files for Chapter 11.
• ESA raids illegal game marketplace in Mexico.
• A faked Sam’s Club Black Friday ad gets circulated with an unbelievable bargain then parent company (WalMart) freaks, makes everyone pull the image.
• Inflatable fruitcake!?
• Jack Thompson gets another job complaining about games.
• Dance Dance Revolution: The Musical with “barely-clothed young actors and buckets of free beer.”
• PETA launches Cooking Mama: Mama Kills Animals and Majesco responds nicely. It all worked so well that PETA plans to make more games.
• DSi is released in Japan and one company lowers the price.
• mGamertell launches for mobile devices.
• 7-11 starts selling games.
• Midways server desisting notice by the New York Stock Exchange.
• Reuters shuts down its virtual branch in Second Life.

December 2008

• Halo Trilogy five-disc set released.
• Details are discovered regarding the Jasper-chipped, Red Ring of Death-free Xbox 360s. We even got our hands on one.
• You can have your baby at the Hello Kitty hospital. No, really.
• Spore illegally downloaded 1.7 million times.
• Sony’s Home launches December 11, 2008. Take a tour.
• Sony declares that Netflix is not important to gamers so it won’t be available through the PS3 (any time soon).
• EGM en Español shuts down.
• North American Club Nintendo is live.
• Spielberg comments on cruddy cut scenes in video games.
• EA shuts down Black Box and lets 1000 employees go.
• LittleBigPlanet in-game store launches.
• Nintendo promises streaming video via Wii (in Japan).
• Sony discourages groups in Home based on potentially negative keywords.

Biggest Non-News:

• Seven reasons I’m not buying Final Fantasy Tactics A2
• An open letter to Nintendo about Wii Sports’ Bowling game.