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In case you (gaming gods forbid) missed our Live Blogging of any of the five press conferences that kicked off E3 2009, here’s your chance to get back in the action.

For your convenience we offer the complete Live Blogs as well as easy-to-digest bullet-point recaps of each Live Blog, by the Live Bloggers. Read. Soak in the E3 game goodness. Enjoy.

• Microsoft press conference [Live Blog] [Recap]
• EA press conference [Live Blog] [Recap]
• Ubisoft press conference [Live Blog] [Recap]
• Nintendo press conference [Live Blog] [Recap]
• Sony press conference [Live Blog] [Recap]

Don’t forget to check out all of our great E3 2009 coverage as well at E3.Gamertell.com. We also have a mobile version at m.Gamertell.com that has recently been re-optimized for the Nintendo DSi web browser.

Full Story » | Written by PJ Hruschak for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Seems like June 2, 2009,  is a busy day for press conferences. Sony’s going to be holding it’s E3 2009 media briefing after Nintendo’s at 11 a.m. PST (1 p.m. CST, 2 p.m. EST). We’ll be live-blogging the entire conference right here, so you can get all the latest information.

So, bookmark this page and be ready to refresh so you don’t miss out. The PSP Go may already have been announced via Qore, but Sony probably has other exciting secrets to reveal.

Also check out all of our great E3 coverage, including live, from-the-floor reporting.

Read [Gamertell: E3 2009] Site [Sony] Site [E3 Insider]

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On June 2, 2009, Nintendo’s going to be holding it’s official E3 2009 media briefing. It starts at 9 a.m. PST (11 a.m. CST, 12 p.m. EST). Be sure to join us here at Gamertell, as we’ll be live-blogging the entire event.

Be sure to bookmark this page and stop back then, to find out everything Nintendo has in store for the coming year! And, on the day of the conference, keep refreshing the page to make sure you don’t miss anything!

Also check out all of our great E3 2009 coverage including from-the-floor reporting.

Site [Nintendo] Site [E3 Insider] Read [Gamertell]

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Is it pronounced YOU-bee-soft or or OO-bee-soft? However you pronounce it, the company makes some great games and we hope 2009 will prove to be another great year of releases.

The press conference begins at 5:00 p.m. (PT) on Monday, June 1, 2009, and we’re typing away to squeeze out all the goodies the company’s press conference has to offer.

Refresh the page a lot so you get all the updates.

Read [Gamertell: E3 2009]

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Shortly after the conclusion of Microsoft’s E3 2009 press conference, EA will be taking the stage to show it’s wares. Once again we will be live blogging the event to provide you with all the breaking news as it happens.

It all goes down today (June 1, 2009) at 2 p.m. PST. EA probably has the biggest list of games at E3 2009 and hopefully it will announce some new titles that will extend it’s grasp.

Read [Gamertell: E3 2009]

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Microsoft’s E3 2009 press conference has just wrapped up and it’s safe to say it came out swinging. Of the avalanche of announcements that were revealed, a few stood out as being the best in show.

The Hideo Kojima mystery has finally been solved as he will be bringing a brand new Metal Gear game to the Xbox 360. Metal Gear: Rising will star Raiden and carries the tagline Lightning Bolt Action.

Another big announcement was Microsoft’s experiment called Project Natal. Project Natal uses a sensor that replaces the Xbox 360 controller. Natal can recognize your voice, face and body movements that are then shown on your television screen. The Xbox 360 dashboard will also be controllable through Natal. Big names including Steven Spielberg and Peter Molyneux came out on stage to show their support for Project Natal.

Project Natal won’t be shipping in 2009 according to Kuto Tsunoda, the creative director of Project Natal during a television interview with G4. Tsunoda also took a shot at the Wii by saying, “This isn’t a game where you wind up on the sofa using preset waggle commands.”

Of course there were a lot of other announcements and we’ve summed it up for you below.

• The full album for Abby Road will be available shortly after the release of The Beatles Rock Band.
• “All You Need is Love” will be an exclusive Xbox 360 downloadable song.
• Shadow Complex from Epic is announced for XBLA. It will be released in the Summer.
• Joy Ride for XBLA will be free and released in the Winter 2009.
• First two Modern Warfare 2 map packs are exclusive to Xbox 360
• Crackdown 2 is officially announced.
• Left 4 Dead 2 is officially announced for a November 17, 2009, release.
• Splinter Cell Conviction gets a Fall 2009 release date.
• Forza Motorsport 3 launches in October 2009.
• Halo 3: ODST is coming September 22, 2009.
• Halo Reach is announced for a 2010 release. Those who buy Halo 3: ODST will be invited to the Halo Reach multiplayer beta.
• Alan Wake is coming in 2010.
• Last.fm is a music service coming to the Xbox 360 this year. It’ll be free to Xbox Live Gold members.
• Instant On 1080p HD is a streaming video service launching Fall 2009.
• Zune Video launches Fall 2009
• Microsoft teams up with Facebook and Twitter to bring the networks to the Xbox 360 in Fall 2009.
• Facebook Connect will let you take screenshots and enter text from games and post them to your Facebook account.
• Metal Gear: Rising announced. No mention of Xbox 360 exclusivity.
• Project Natal is announced offering controller-free game control.

Read [Gamertell] Also Read [Gamertell: E3 2009]

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E3 2009 is less than a day away and Gamertell is going to live blog all the exciting news that will come out of Microsoft’s press conference.

The press conference will begin at 10:25 a.m. Pacific Time (12:25 p.m. Central Time or 1:25 p.m. Eastern Time) on Monday June 1, 2009. We’ll be providing you with all the announcements as they happen. (Note that the start time was moved from 10:30 to 10:25 a.m. to accommodate “a very special last-minute surprise.”)

Microsoft has done a good job keeping most of its major announcements a secret so far which means we can expect anything to happen.

Read [Gamertell: E3 2009]

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Don’t miss any of Gamertell’s E3 2009 coverage including from-the-floor reports and Live Blogs of the press conferences at E3.Gamertell.com.

Full Story » | Written by PJ Hruschak for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

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Sony’s PlayStation 3 Home is expanding new worlds to explore and have added extra features to an existing worlds.

The newest location on the map is the Godfather II Casino featuring two floors of poker tables that can seat up to eight players for an interactive game of Texas Hold’em Poker complete with a lounge area, bar and smokey ashtrays on the table. There are a few video screens that offer a peek at the game in the main lounge and a few screens hanging over the bar. Of course this is only the first of many things to come from Electronic Arts.

According to the PlayStation blog, while players are trying their virtual hands at Texas Hold’em Poker, EA is working with Sony on the upcoming Sports Complex.

According to the video posted below, the complex when completed will have a racing game, golf and more poker games for players.

For a glimpse of the anticipated Sports Complex, check out this video:

For Resident Evil fans, Capcom has worked with Sony to update Home world with souvenir shops and a new mini-game. The new souvenir shop will offer male and female costumes of the game’s main characters, Chris Redfield and Sheva Alomar. The costumes are also available at Threads located on the second floor of the mall and cost:

• Sheva’s Bio-terrorism Security Assessment Alliance (BSAA) uniform costs 49 cents for her wig and BSAA headset, cost 99 cents for her uniform top, pants, boots and gloves.
• Chris’s BSAA uniform cost 49 cents for the BSAA headset, cost 99 cents for his uniform top, pants, gloves and shoes.

In the Resident Evil world players waiting for their copy of Resident Evil 5 can play the new BSAA training mini-game. Just find the butcher in the back of streets of Kijuju near the games launching point and ask to train. You will be given a quest to find as many infected beetles in the area and bring them back to the butcher for a cool item you can place in your apartment.

If you happen to be the proud owner of the game can ask the butcher to launch you into the game and join members of the Capcom staff and PlayStation HOME community management teams in a co-op game on Thursday, April 16, 2009 for a zombie-slaying event between the ours of 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. PST or 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. EST.

Fans of Street Fighter 4 can find action figure dolls at furniture store located on the second floor of the mall. Fans can display one of four of the following action figure dolls in the apartments:

• Chun-li action figure doll cost $1.99
• Ken action figure doll cost $1.99
• Ryu action figure doll cost $1.99
• Guile action figure doll cost $1.99

Another item can now be found in Xi: The Hub if you complete one of the latest puzzles. A new Xi T-shirt will be awarded to players who have searched through Miguel’s Con Cafe’ blog and discover Miguel’s birthday and then type the answer into your holopad to receive the item.

It’s a lot easier than the new quest which is play all three games in Alpha Zone 1 over again, except in expert level for the next butterfly and fragment. I’m not going to lie to you: If you thought playing Maximum Tilt in normal mode was hard, try it in expert level. The motorbike won’t be the only thing screaming as you try to pass the clusters of trees without crashing. It took me three days to beat the score recommended to unlock the puzzle. So I would suggest playing the Hexoplex mini-game race and the new text adventure Corrupted first.

The next puzzle revealed is a task to read a short story called “The Sentinel” by Arthur C. Clarke (which was later made into a film called “2001: A Space Odyessy”) for answers. With each week passing the puzzles and challenges get harder, but if anyone needs a clue or hint, just simply search the PlayStation forums for help.

Site [PlayStation] Site [PlayStation Home Blog]

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There are several events taking place in PlayStation Home this week.

Players had been previously invited to to post ideas for future Home spaces (much like the new Backstage with Guitar Hero, Warhawk and Resident Evil worlds). An announcement was posted last night (April 7, 2009) that new Home worlds will be coming soon (most likely based on users’ suggestions).

In the Home World Mall new outfits have arrived and can be purchased at Threads on the second floor. Due to popular requests for new game related items more Street Fighter 4 items have been added for male characters. I’m not sure when the female version of these clothing items will be available but we hope soon.

The four new Street Fighter 4 outfits include E. Honda, Blanka, Zangief and Dhalsim and a Resistance 2 Special Research Project Agency uniform. These items can be purchased with real US dollars using the PlayStation Network Card available at various game and electronic stores.

Street Fighter 4 Costumes include:

• Dhalsim’s upper body, lower body, bracelets, anklets and earrings cost 99 cents each.
• Zangief’s mohawk wig, upper body, red wrestling briefs and boots cost 99 cents each.
• E. Honda’s wig, upper body and lower body cost 99 cents each.
• Blanka’s huge orange spikey hair wig, green upper, lower body with shorts, hands and feet cost 99 cents each.

Resistance 2 costumes include:

• S.R.P.A. Uniform top and pants cost 99 cents each. Uniform gloves and boots cost 49 cents each.

In the world of Xi, a new teleport pad has opened in the HUB. Players who have already solved the first two puzzles now have access to a third area.

Within the new area there are two rooms to explore. The first room is a race against time to complete six mini-games within six minutes total to earn the next butterfly needed to solve the mystery of Xi. New clues have suggested that Xi has spilled out into the real world encouraging gamers from across the world to unit and work together to solve the clues hidden within the videos.

The first video that appeared (seen below) is only part of a clue:

The new game unlocked this week is Maximum Tilt, a virtual motorcycle game that will have players weaving in and out of the woods to keep up with a helicopter using only the Sixaxis controller’s tilt function to glide around trees for a fragment needed to solve the mystery of Xi.

Another game just released today is a game similar to the original text-based adventure game Zork for the Commodore 64 called Caverns of the Bandit King. Before walking into the caverns you might want to ask around for a lamp or you’ll likely be eaten by a grue. In this new adventure you must find the kidnapped daughter of a duke, out smart a group of bandits and get rid of their leader while avoiding capture, a pack of wild wolves and a nasty beasts that want to pick your bones clean.

Site [PlayStation] Site [PlayStation Home Blog]

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Since I’m such a huge fan of 1up and the writing of one Mr. Jeremy Parish, and I know I’m not alone in this - I thought it appropriate to throw some love to the newest 1Up blog. Cleverly/cutely called “The Grind”, the newest endeavor is focused on all things RPG related. Definitely go over and have a look - and pay special attention to the awesome post on What to expect from Final Fantasy XIII.

After the gutting of 1Up, I was terrified that the editorial was going to go to the dogs, but I’m loving the new blog focus. There’s plenty of great new stuff on that site, and it warms my little 1Up-loving heart to see new things thrive. I still miss 1Up Yours though - and that will never change.

Read [1Up]

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Gadgetell is at the International Consumer Electronics Expo 2009, Live Blogging the keynote address by Howard Stringer. Stringer is the Chairman and CEO of the Sony Corporation.

Click on over and check out the Sony Keynote Live Blog.

Also check out all of Gadgetell’s great CES 2009 coverage.

Live Blog [Gadgetell]

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With all of the detractors that have made news in the gaming industry, there has always been one individual who has stood in our defense.

That individual is Henry Jenkins, a professor at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) who not only has his own blog but has frequently spoken in defense of video games in article after article.

Now, the renowned media scholar is taking his knowledge over to the University of Southern California, where he expects to expand on his research methods, which not only cover video games but also includes media literacy, civic media, creative industry and fan/culture research.

According to an article on GamePolitics, Jenkins felt that he needed to leave the proverbial nest at MIT and place himself “in the heart of the entertainment industry.”

I personally wish him the greatest success in his new field as he is an individual whose work I have admired. Some of his more notable works include Fans, Bloggers and Gamers and Convergence Culture, both books that I have read from cover to cover and would recommend wholeheartedly to anyone who desires to learn more about the media and how it affects the lives of individuals.

In referring to the reason that he chose to leave, Jenkins jokingly makes a reference to Green Lantern, saying that “even he needs to recharge his power ring now and again.” He then added that “when I did this position, I used to have the body of a 37-year-old. Aliens have since switched it with the body of a 50-year old.”

Here is hoping that this new post will provide him with the vigor that he needs.

Read [Gamepolitics] Via [Confessions of an Aca-Fan] Also Read [PBS] Also Read [Gamasutra]

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Well shiver me timbers, another pirate game called Age of Booty by Capcom is coming our way soon.

To share some of Capcom’s excitement, Capcom’s own John Diamonon dropped by the PlayStation blogs today (October 10, 2008) to talk about Age of Booty.

“I’m glad to be back here with the PlayStation Posse and talk about a game that I’m looking forward to – Age of Booty. No, it’s not an online dating game. It’s a casual, pirate-themed, online strategy game from some of the makers of Halo. Actually, I consider this more of a multi-player party game because it’s really easy to play and allows for a lot of smack talk. Yarrr!”

He didn’t comment if the new game will use the Trophy system or not, only that the game costs $10 for all platforms (Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network and Windows) and will allow up to 8 players for online matches with four local matches and will have more map packs available in future expansions.

The game is rated E for Everyone and contains alcohol reference, mild fantasy violence and mild suggestive themes. The release dates are October 15, 2008, for the Xbox LIVE Arcade and October 16, 2008, for the Playstation Network. No dates have been announced for the PC version of the game yet.

The game is a casual strategy game that lets players control their own pirate ship as they sail the virtual seas on a quest to loot and capture towns or sink their enemies during their travels. Players can use the loot they gain to customize and upgrade their ships, take on 25 different challenges and seven pirate alliances to gain fame alone or with a group of friends. Players can also create and share their own custom maps with other players using the map creation system in the game.

Read [Capcom-Unity] Read [PlayStation Blog] Site [Age of Booty Official Web site] Site [PlayStation Network Store]

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I just bought a PlayStation 3 console when I read the rumors of a PlayStation 4 coming out soon and all the mind blowing possibilities of the theoretically new console. I could barely afford the PS3 much less worry about what its going to cost for a PS4. But, based on what Paul Holman (Sony Vice President of Technology) told TechEBlog in 2006, the PS4 will not be out until at least 2010.

Then there’s the rumor that the future PS4 will use the same existing cell processor that the current PS3 uses, according to a Japanese tech news site PC Watch. I’m not sure about that because if this rumor does prove to be true, I’d be sorely disappointed. For the most part, why invest in all these upgrades for the PS3 coming out soon only to purchase a PS4 which as we experienced with the PS3, having limited to no backwards playability again?

They just came out with a PS3 Bluetooth headset for the console, not to mention a possible controller that will function like the controllers of a Wii. Sony is still upgrading the PS3 and making it more backwards compatible for those of us still clinging to our PS2 to play our favorites.

What I found out about the new upgrades, which are done through firmware installs, will make the PS3 more media centric and help players become more social with the newest firmware upgrade using the trophy system. This current feature works like the Xbox 360 Achievement system that is displayed in your new profile complete with bronze, silver and gold trophies depending on a player’s game rank. According to Arstechnia this will encourage the social aspect of gaming.

The director of PlayStation Network Operations, Eric Lempel explains the newest update on his blog with a video on the PlayStation Blog website.

According to the blog, the games currently using the Trophy system include:

• BUZZ! Quiz TV
• LittleBigPlanet
• MotorStorm Pacific Rift
• NBA 09 - PS3
• PAIN
• PixelJunk Eden
• Resistance 2
• SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation
• Warhawk

To add to the excitement of the new update, Lempel wrote that the players currently using Playstation Network will have their friend’s list doubled to 100. Seriously, with all this investment in the PS3 continues to grow. In future firmware updates, the introduction of third-party applications may evolve according to PlayStation’s website further upgrades coming to the PS3 include a wireless keyboard which can snap over the system’s Sixaxis or DualShock 3 controller. Date of release for this item is unknown at this time but will give PSN users the same capability of downloading music and videos to their PS3.

Read [GameCyte] Read [TechEBlog] Also Read [Smarthouse] Also Read [Arstechnica] Also Read [PlayStation Blog]

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Gamertell staff writer Mark Rollins is heading to the fifth annual Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle, WA, this weekend (August 29 - 31, 2008) and will be providing regular updates. Check back often for from-the-floor goodness and in-depth looks at:

• The demo of the new game by Hidden Paths
• Ken Levin’s keynote address
• Partying with Cryptic Studios
• New Champions Online game
• An interview with Pirates of the Burning Sea, Flying Labs
• Jumpgate Evolution
• Electronic Arts
• South Peak
• Garage Games
• Gamecock
• Meteor Games Twin Skies
• ...and so much more!

Read [Gamertell] Site [Penny Arcade Expo]

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Although of the official keynotes and press conferences for E3 2008, that doesn’t mean you still can’t enjoy the informational goodness they provided.

Here’s a quick-link list of our coverage of all the the press conferences and two keynote addresses from E3 2008. Enjoy!

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

• Nintendo press conference: [Live Blog] [Recap]
• Sony press conference: [Live Blog] [Recap]
• Ubisoft press conference: [Recap]
• Capcom press conference: [Recap]

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

• E3 Keynote by Gov. Perry: [Recap]
• Take-Two press conference: [Recap]
• “State of the Industry” keynote by ESA CEO Mike Gallagher: [Recap]
• Konami press conference: [Recap]

Don’t miss any of our E3 2008 coverage at E3.Gamertell.com.

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Capcom officially ended the second day of press conferences for E3 2008 (4:30 p.m. PT, Tuesday, July 15, 2008) by going in a completely different direction.  Rather than showing the audience some screenshots of their new title Flock or discussing the gameplay and the controversy surrounding Resident Evil 5, they instead decided to premier the mini trailer of Lost Planet: The Movie and talk about it. 

After showing the CG’ed trailer the company rolled out some of the people working on the film to discuss it which included, Avi Arad (producer of the first two Spider-Man films) and (the voice of Solid Snake himself, and writer/co-writer of the first two X-men film) David Hayter.

Most of the conference ended up being a love fest between the writers and the company about how great of an adventure the game was, which led to its eventual production into film.  Not much surrounding the plot of Lost Planet was revealed, however, there was some information given about the film with an eventual release date, here’s a quick recap gathered from the Live Blogs on the net (linked below).

• Lost Planet: The Movie has a tentative release date of 2/11/09 and will be released through Warner Bros.
• Capcom wants to continue its venture into films riding the successes of Resident Evil and…. Street Fighter (What!?).
• Their aim was to not only turn the franchise into a film, but to work together to develop games with idea of converting them into movies.
• There will be more Lost Planets games, eventually.

Read [Kotaku ] Also Read [Entertainment Weekly] Also Read [1UP]

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Headed up by Sony CEO, Jack Tretton, Sony’ E3 2008 press conference (July 15, 2008) was an on-stage affair with plenty of monitors and montages.

The biggest news was that the company is moving most of its focus to the 80GB PS3 and dropping the price to $399.99. There was also plenty of talk about downloadable content (in terms of videos) through the PS Network on PS3 - starting tonight - that can be transfered to PSP.

Here’s a quick recap of the stuff and goodness that was Sony’s press conference that took place today courtesy of our Live Blog:

• More teasing for Playstation Home: “It is the binding factor for the PSN - games, content, social network, and more together for the PSN.”
• A lot of talk about the PS Network video delivery service, which starts tonight (July 15, 2008) and already has content available for download.
• It will allow you to download content directly to your PS3. They’ve already formed partnerships with Sony Pictures, MGM, Lion’s Gate, Warner, Disney, Paramount, Turner and Fox Pictures. Carious TV stuff will be offered as well as movies. Content will be in SD (standard definition) and HD. TV shows will be $1.99 and Movies will be available for rental and purchase (rentals from $5.99 and purchase from $9.99).
• After you download the content on your PS3 you can then move it to your PSP via USB (maybe even wirelessly?) and bring it around with you. You also can watch the content at multiple devices at once.
• Resistance Retribution for PSP is coming in Spring 2009.
• Other PSP highlights: Star Wars Force Unleashed, Madden NFL 09, LocoRoco 2, NBA 09 The Inside, Super Stardust Portable, Lego Batman The Video Game, Patapon 2, Buzz Master Quiz, Valkyria Chronicles
• You’ll be able to capture footage from your game and then send it over to Google/YouTube.
• A few moments were spent with Little Big Planet.
• DC Universe Online footage is unveiled with the heroes in action.
• The 80GB PS3 is the primary focus for Sony now. The 80GB will be available September 2008 for $399.99.
• PS3 games for the holidays: God of War III, Infamous, MAG (an MMO)
• MAG can have 256 players, 8 player squads (led by proven leaders), characters grow through three levels, soldiers are fine-tuned, leading to an “intense and long lasting shooter experience for PS3”

Read [Gamertell]

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Bookmark this page and plan to press REFRESH a lot (either by hitting F5 or CTRL+R). We’re Live Bloggin’ Sony’s E3 press conference. It starts at 11:30 a.m. Pacific time (2:30 p.m. Eastern time), Tuesday, July 15, 2008.

While you are waiting, make sure you check out the rest of our E3 2008 coverage.

Full Story » | Written by Adam Berger for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Bookmark this page and plan to press REFRESH a lot. We’re Live Bloggin’ Nintendo’s E3 press conference. It starts at 9:00 a.m. Pacific time (Noon Eastern time), Tuesday, July 15, 2008.

While you are waiting, make sure you check out the rest of our E3 2008 coverage.

8:55 am (PT) Tuesday, July 15, 2008 - Things are about to get started, so it’s time for those last minute predictions. Will we see the oft-rumored Animal Crossing Wii or a Kid Icarus game? Will third parties have any real Wii presence? Will Reggie do anything ridiculous? Bet on that last one.

9:04 am - The Kodak theater is awash in the warm glow of anticipation. I’m wondering if the big N is going to gloat about its mainstream success as much as it did last year?

9:06 am - It begins. It looks like we’re starting quite similar to last year, with large screens showing people enjoying the Wii.

9:07 - Cammie Dunaway is onstage now, she apparently broke her wrist snowboarding. That’s no fun.

9:11 - Introducing pro snowboarder Shaun White, he’s demoing a snowboarding title on the balance board. Game will be out this fall.

9:14 - Satoru Owata has just taken the stage, he’s talking about his first E3 as Nintendo’s president in 2003. Wii haters can basically kiss his butt at this point.

9:15 - he’s talking about how the company has changed the paradigm with casual games and bridge games.

9:17 - Internal teams that work on Mario and Zelda games are at work at new games. That was… cryptic.

9:18 - Pictures of old people, women, children playing games. Games are no longer just a holiday item.

9:20 - Owata: Nintendo wants to “break the psychological barrier” surrounding games. Lofty.

9:23 - Nintendo is the pioneer in forming new paradigms -  I think it’s announcement time!

9:24 - Katsuya Eguchi is onscreen, talking about Animal Crossing, the community aspects of the title

9:24 - Animal Crossing: CityFolk is announced, video is demonstrating the game. It’s set in a city with auction sites, a “happy room academy”, a fashion designer, beauty salon

9:26 - You can send letters with pics to other players in the game and via wii message board. There’s also microphone support - Wiispeak - players can communicate in realtime within the game.

9:27 - Focus on game is in creating your own world, communicating with each other.

9:29 - It’s Reggie time! Reggie is onstage talking about Animal Crossing and how the company is pleased with the massive sales (10 million for Wii, 20 million for DS, according to May NPDs)

9:31 - Reggie: by this holiday, total DS worldwide sales to exceed 100 million systems, total US software sales are up 29% from last year.

9:32 - Reggie: “there seems to be an unlimited number of people out there waiting to get into our game”

9:34 - Another quotable: “when those June NPD numbers are released on Thursday, we wont be surprised if the wii is the best selling console in north America”

9:34 - 19 third party games have exceeded 400,000 copies in sales… and that was the bit about third party support. Reggie’s claiming that Wii is great for core, casual, and “new paradigms” in games. 3 new games to be highlighted.

9:36 - Star Wars: The Clone Wars trailer, showing motion controlled lightsaber battles

9:37 - Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party trailer, a party game, looks family friendly, showing kids playing it, giggling.

9:38 - Call of Duty: World At War trailer, targeted more to the core gamer, has co-op mode.

9:40 - Cammie Dunaway is back onstage to talk about portable games (and their success). In 2005, 30% of handheld game recipients were female, that’s gone up to almost half in the last year.

9:41 - Guitar Hero: On Tour Decades and Spore are on their way for the DS - trailers and interviews. GH will have songsharing between versions of the game

9:42 - Spore Creatures interview - “hitting on core elements - layer creativity and sharing” has the creature creator at its center.

9:44 - Pokemon Rangers due on November 10th of this year

9:45 - Big core gamer announcement: custom version of Grand Theft Auto - Chinatown Wars is coming to DS this fall! Grand Theft Auto on DS - that’s huge!

9:46 - Nintendo is testing the DS for PDA-like uses and connectivity features - example using the DS at a baseball park to order food, compete in trivia with other fans.

9:47 - using DS as cookbook, software (Cooking Navi) coming this November in the US

9:47 - Reggie is back to build on the idea of the DS as a new device, demonstrating the Wii Remote’s “Wii Motion Plus” advancement

9:49 - Wii Sports Resort announced - Wii Motion plus remote will be packed in with the game - showing off three of the new activities:

9:49 - Disc Dog activity, Cammie is demoing the frisbee/Nintendogs looking minigame. Reggie is showing off a jet-skiing game, he looks pretty funny, game looks like a Mii-enhanced Waverace.

9:52 - Fencing looks interesting as well, like Wii Boxing with much more precision.

9:54 - Cammie and Reggie are dueling - Reggie wins, calls himself “The Regginator”

9:54 - Cammie wins a round, Reggie calls her the “Caminator”

9:55 - Wii Sports Resort launches globally next spring.

9:55 - big announcement, there’s smoke and lights onstage… ahh, it’s the Wii Music title. Someone is drumming furiously, interface looks simple, interesting. Balance board used as a pedal, Wii-mote and nunchuk as the sticks

9:56 - Miyamoto is onstage, playing the sax on a Wii-mote. They’re jamming.

9:57 - Miyamoto:  “I’d like to introduce you to Wii Music” the game has been in development for a long time, since the original Wii Sports and such. Great social experience, it’ll be a different style of music game than the norm - they designed the game for everyone.

10:00 - No complex notes or charts to follow, just use your body and press the buttons with relatively forgiving timing - looks very easy, newbie-friendly.

10:01 - over 50 different instruments will be available, including piano, violin, guitar, percussion instruments,

10:03 - Demonstrating the drums, using the Wii balance board - mode includes lessons - you can learn the drums in a few weeks.

10:05 - game will also record videos of your performances. You can make unique music videos. They’re going to play a song for us now, how nice.

10:06 - Denise Kaigler is on the marimba, wind section is the teehouse team. Bands have six parts, demonstrating group play, with the Mario theme. It sounds… wacky.

10:07 - Reggie and Cammie just returned to the stage - basically recapping. Snowboarding, Animal Crossing, Motion Plus, etc.

10:09 - “Nintendo simply brings more smiles to more faces.”

10:09 - Oh, Reggie just busted out the “fad” myth. No fads here.

10:10 - Reggie just closed down the party. And that’s it for us - check back later for a full recap of the event and the biggest announcements!

Full Story » | Written by Danielle Riendeau for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Electronics Arts (aka EA) held its E3 2008 press conference today (3:00 p.m. PT, July 14, 2008) and, as usual, they had plenty of stuff to talk about.

Or, really, they had plenty of people there who talked about stuff. EA’s format was for exec John Riccitello to introduce developers and let them talk about the games.

The biggest announcement was that EA will be producing id’s game, Rage. There was also another Will Wright Spore sighting and a new game in the Sim franchise, SimAnimals.

Here’s a more complete list of happenings gathered from various Live Blogs:

• Rod Humble introduced a new game, SimAnimals, and teased the upcoming Sims 3, “Imagine you lived your entire life inside your house, and then someone opened the door.”
• Glen Schofield talked about Dead Space (Xbox 360, PS3) featuring zero-G and “strategic dismemberment.”
• Patrick Soderland from EA Games Euro demoed Mirror’s Edge
• Will Wright talked about Spore and had a (gasp) PowerPoint presentation. Not much new except that 2 million creatures are currently in existence thanks to Creature Creator.
• Peter Moore introduced Bill Walton who presented the EA Sports games including NBA Live 09 and the “Dynamic DNA” feature that is promised to help create more realistic acting players. “Team DNA” will help teams work together.
• Nanea Reeves talked about EA Online games and Nucleus which is cross platform (mobile/others).
• Natalie Gulbis showed off the new Wii “All-Play” including a golf game vs. Moore.
• Shawn Fanning (Napster’s creator) talked about Rupture and “Social Achievements” which be added to many of EA’s games.
• Travis Boatmn talked about EA Mobile and iPhone games with Tetris, Scrabble and Sudoku on display.
• BioWare’s Greg Zeschuk showed a Dragon Age: Origins trailer.
• Valve’s Gabe Newell talked about Left 4 Dead (November 4, 2008, for PC and Xbox 360) and how the game will adjust to players’ levels.
• id’s John Carmack was on stage to announce that EA will be publishing Rage. (Sorry Activision)

Read [Gaming Nexus] Also Read [Operation Sports] Read [GameSpy]

Full Story » | Written by PJ Hruschak for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Welcome to Gamertell’s Live Blog of the Microsoft E3 2008 press conference. It starts at 10:30 a.m. Pacific time (1:30 Eastern time) today - Monday, July 14, 2008.

10:27 a.m. (PT), Monday, July 14, 2008 - It looks like we have a few minutes before this thing gets going. Now’s the time for that last minute bathroom break or snack attack before we commence with the furious refresh-button fun.

10:31- And we’re starting. Don Mattrick is on stage giving the welcome.

10:33 - We’re treated to a strange, ‘50s style video, with… robots. Interesting.

10:37 - We’re looking at FallOut 3, it looks like the ‘50s stuff was all a clever atomic age ruse. Gameplay footage looks pretty nice, despite a little slowdown on my end.

10:42 - The music is quite interesting. I’m getting a sort of BioShock-meets-Half Life vibe here.

10:44 - So Fall Out 3 will have downloadable content… but no details yet.

10:45 -   Oh, time for some big guns. Jun Takeuchi just came out to show off Resident Evil 5

10:46 - This will be the first playable demo of the game. Chris Redfield (the protagonist) is looking pretty tough with tons of gear.

10:47 - We’re now looking at Sheva, the new playable character, and how she can team up with Chris to take down the baddies.

10:48 - the teaming-up mechanic will be integral to the gameplay in RE5. Also, we’re getting a look at a new, super-creepy enemy… and the demo is over. What a tease!

10:48 - RE 5 will come out worldwide (simultaneous release) Friday the 13th of March 2009

10:49 - here comes Peter Molyneux to talk about Fable 2. He’s telling us that it’s finished.

10:50 -We’re watching a Fable 2 trailer. It’s very cinematic, showing off the landscapes, a super-detailed town, and a bird poop surprise for some moppets on the street. Nice.

10:51 - Peter’s demoing the game, demonstrating co-op over live. You can invite other players into your game on the fly, at any time in the story.

10:52 - you can get married in Fable 2, have a house, a family, what have you. Peter’s going off about the ability to make real decisions and affect everything in the world - and this will carry over into co-op.

10:53 - It’s coming in October

10:54 - Time for a Gears of War 2 trailer - and Cliffy B is coming to the stage

10:56 - According to Cliff, it’s the most anticipated game of any platform this holiday season. He’s demoing it live now, the set pieces look fantastic.

10:58 - There’s plenty of fire, baddies, the Gears cover system in full effect. The game is looking hot - literally.

11:00 - Marcus is making his escape in a crappy old elevator, then goes back into the warzone. Awesome stuff, and it’s giving me yet another BioShock flashback.

11:02 - New mode announced,  called horde - a multiplayer mode where up to 5 players can take on wave after wave of enemies. The game is set for worldwide release November 7, 2008.

11:03 - Mattrick is back. He’s borrowing Nintendo’s rhetoric with the family games/casual games shtick.

11:05 - It’s a numbers game… this is sort of like the cheerleading section of the presentation.

11:07 - Consumers have spent over $1 billion on Xbox live. Most impressive.

11:08 - New movie/TV partners for Xbox Live: NBC and Universal Studios. It’s montage time.

11:09 - It’s all starting today - HD video library has expanded to include MGM International and Constantine Film.

11:10 - New Xbox Live interface looks very Mii-esque. It’s coming this fall.

11:12 - Avatars announced - it’s like the Mii-killer.

11:13 - So Rare designed the avatars. This makes sense. Rare is giving an interview on how cool and customizable they are.

11:14 - Xbox interface will be redesigned from the ground up with channels and the avatars and “live party” for chats and games.

11:16 - Xbox Live primetime coming this fall, 1 vs. 100 game show announced. it’s like TV-meets web 2.0 and videogames

11:19 - Geometry Wars 2: Retro Evolved trailer looks bright, sexy, Galaga Legions announced

11:18 - Uno Rush announced, has avatar/party support. Parties can jump from game to game.

11:20 - GLADOS (from Portal) just announced Portal: Still Alive for Xbox Live Arcade, with new levels and achievements this fall.

11:22 - SouthPark teaser for Xbox Live. Nothing more than a tease.

11:24 - Xbox community games coming in the fall as well, and a new media partnership with Netflix. And there’s applause.

11:25 Xbox Live subscribers can take advantage of entire Netflix library at no extra cost - that’s very cool. And you can watch live with your party.

11:25 Shane Kim takes the stage. Talking about popular games, upcoming GTA IV content.

11:26 - Rare trailers, Banjo- Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts has a very cartoony, adorable video. They have remixed tunes from the N64 games in the background, and it’s showing off the vehicle-construction aspect.

11:27 - Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise looks gorgeous, as ever. Trailer is framed as an Animal Planet special, it’s kooky, but it works. 2 new areas available (snow and desert).

11:30 - The original Banjo-Kazooie will be made available on Xbox Live alongside the new game.

11:30 - New games announced: party-game: Scene IT? Box Office Smash using the 1-button controller.

11:32 - New game -You’re in the Movies - where you actually make lame, hilarious B movies using the camera and doing actual motions, looks funny, very family-oriented. This is very Wii-esque.

11:35 - The dancing game is almost as hilariously embarrassing as Reggie at last year’s E3.

11:37 - the mini-game scenes are put together digitally into a very funny short film. I think I want this game.

11:38 - Directors mode allows you to edit, share with the world. Xbox 360 vision camera announced for this holiday.

11:39 - Music games time - Guitar Hero World Tour - new drums with cymbals, 80 songs, new dlc

11:40 - Music studio allows players to use a music creator and share your tracks with the world.

11:41 - REM trackpack coming first to Xbox 360, and new Metallica partnership announced.

11:43 - Lips trailer shows hipsters partying, singing, enjoying life. It’s a karaoke game with a very funky presentation.

11:44 - Lips will be available this holiday. Keiichi Yanno, the creator is extolling its features. You can sing from your own music collection, you can plug in your zune or ipod. New wireless mics announced.

11:45 -Duffy is performing “Mercy” onstage, her music is in the game. Background visuals are… interesting. A step up from Guitar Hero, anyway.

11:49 -We’re talking Rock Band 2 now, the exclusive September release on Xbox 360. Alex from Harmonix is onstage talking about the music. Full setlist is up. 84 songs (all masters)

11:50 - Axle Rose debuts first track from Chinese Democracy, Bob Dylan’s Tangled up blues, AC/DC will be in the game.

11:53 - 20 bonus tracks will be available for download this fall, all dlc from the original game will be “seamlessly integrated” and almost all Rock Band 1 tracks will be compatible with the new title

11:55 - Final guest, president of Square Enix, Yoichi Wada.

11:57 - Infinite Undiscovery will be released September 2, North America, Sep. 5th In Europe, and the 11th in Asia.

11:58 - Star Ocean: The Last Hope hits in Spring 2009, The Last Remnant comes this holiday season, November 20th. Playing the Last Remnant trailer now, graphics look great, almost hand-painted and hyperreal.

11:59 - Wada: “The Last Remnant will also be available on Games for Windows”.

12:00 (Noon) - Mattrick is back again, championing the console. Oh, Wada interupts him for another announcement!

12:01 p.m. - It’s a faraway angle, hard to make out, but there are swooping shots of… airships?, cinematic music.

12:02 - Panzer Dragoon, is that you?

12:03 - No, it’s Final Fantasy XIII - what a coup…

12:04 - Crowd seems pleased. So does Mattrick and Wada. Wada is giving more info…

12:05 - Wada thanks everyone, Mattrick looks smug. Saying that many PlayStation franchises are coming to the 360. Rub it in!

12:06 - ...And we’re done. Check back tomorrow for our continued liveblog coverage of E3 2008! Thanks for reading.

Read [Gamertell’s E3 2008 Coverage]

Full Story » | Written by Danielle Riendeau for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

March 27, 2008 - 1:41 pm ET - My wife brings in a box from Bawls that had been sitting outside for a little while. I guess that makes the contents naturally chilled. Besides the obvious “Fragile” sticker, it has a blue round sticker that reads, “BOUNCE WITH BAWLS”.

1:43 - I open the box and see that Bawls has shipped an actual case (16) of Bawls’ latest product, called G33K B33R. I snap a few pics and check out the label:

1:49 - I open the first bottle. It’s a screw-top cap (ooh, classy). I sniff the brew and it certainly smells like regular root beer.

1:50 - First Sip. It tastes like root beer. Nothing special and slightly less fizzy than your average root beer. I attribute that to the shipping conditions since the bottle had a little top fizz when they arrived. Unless of course the extra caffeine is weighing down the bubbles.

1:52 - Second sip. Still has that root beer taste. No hint of any extra ingredients, though my tongue is starting to tingle a little more than normal.

I read the ingredients list. Pretty short with nothing special except that caffeine is listed as its own ingredient. The line after the eight ingredients reads: “Warning: This product contains high levels of caffeine.”

I read that line to my wife and she says, “Are you sure you should be drinking that. It is 2 o’clock and you’ll probably never go to sleep.”

We typically go to bed at 2 am.

1:54 - I decide nature wasn’t quite cool enough today and pour it in a glass over ice. It produces a nice head that lingers for a while. The head is a little less thick and less sweet than standard root beer. It’s also white and not quite the color of the beverage, which has the typical dark, caramel color of root beer.

1:57 - A few more sips. No surge of energy but my teeth start to ache from the sugar (I don’t normally drink colas/sodas/pops or even put much sugar in my coffee or tea).

1:58 - I offer a sip to my wife who flat out rejects it. She is breastfeeding, after all, and we’d like our Baby Gamer to sleep sometime today.

2:00 - The ice seems to have diluted the brew and slightly mellows the flavor.

2:01 - I start to feel slightly more awake. I had a small (late) breakfast and starting to think I should have eaten something heavier than a home-made corn muffin, decaf coffee with milk (no sugar) and a Kroger’s cinnamon roll (yeah, yeah - breakfast of a friggin’ champion).

2:04 - Now I can discern a very slight fruity taste with each sip, likely the guarana. I check online to see what the heck guarana even is. Here’ is what Guarana.com offers:

Guarana (pronounced gwa-ra-naa) is a berry that grows in Venezuela and the northern parts of Brazil. The name ‘Guarana’ comes from the Guarani tribe that lives in Brazil. Guarana plays a very important role in their culture, as this herb is believed to be magical, a cure for bowel complaints and a way to regain strength… Guarana contains a high amount of guaranine, a chemical substance with the same characteristics as caffeine. This makes Guarana a stimulant similar to coffee…

Theoretically, it is possible to overdose on caffeine or guarana. The fatal dose has been estimated at 10 grams of pure caffeine / guaranine (taken at once!). Guarana seeds contain maximal 10% caffeine, so when you would swallow at least 100 grams guarana seeds at once, things start to look ugly. Our advice: don’t even think about it.

So, it’s a berry with fruit qualities. My pallet has served me well. I’ll be sure not to drink more than one bottle so I don’t overdose.

2:08 -  About 2/3 through the bottle and starting to feel it a little more. I’ve gotten used to the sugary consistency (the ice mostly diluted the top).

2:10 - I take a small sipping break and notice that my mouth has a sugary root beer coating. Not unpleasant or overpowering. The back of my tongue is also a little dry, likely due to the sugar.

I hold the bottle and notice the bumpy texture all around the bottle, making it look and feel a bit spikey much like other Bawls products. The bottle is brown, reinforcing the root beer-ed-ness of the product. I also notice that my hand is slightly shaking (which is not normal).

2:15 - Back to drinking. The fizz is almost gone now, which seems pretty fast for a root beer. I check the label and carbonated water is the main ingredient, which likely indicates this is a flavored beverage instead of brewed.

2:23 - About an inch to go in my glass of brew. The fizz is gone, the root beer flavor is much more faint (I’m probably desensitized to it and the ice melting like contributes) and I’m pretty awake.

2:26 - I down the last few swallows. There is none of the froth residue left on the glass typical of a brewed root beer. Instead there are a couple dozen small specs of bubbles evenly distributed along the non-sipping side. The ice is also smooth, unlike ice let at the end of most sodas which look a bit pitted. There is also minimal root beer - sorry, G33K B33R - flavor left on the ice.

2:32 - My heart rate seems to be slightly elevated, though I’m not edgy. I’m certainly awake. I do get a small headache that goes away and momentarily returns a few times.

2:25 - My temples feel a bit tight (pre-headachy) for a few minute and then it goes away. I’ve definitely been hit sooner and harder by a larger coffee than by G33K B33R.

2:39 - I check Guanara.com‘s Facts page again to see what I can expect from the beverage. (I also notice that my typing is getting less accurate and more erratic).

A few more facts about Guarana from the site:

• quickens perceptions (good for gaming)
• delays sleep (good for marathon LAN parties)
• helps with endurance-based activities (aka videogames)
• can help to recover from a hangover
• impairs the appetite (read: less money spent on snacks)
• will lead to more frequent visits to the toilet (oh no - very bad for gaming)
• causes a higher blood pressure and an increased heart rate (of course, so do good games)
• can make you feel jittery and may prevent sleep at all (OK for today but bad for tomorrow)

Another danger, besides the one listed earlier, is, “As with all stimulants, dependency may occur.”

Well crap, now I might be addicted. OK, not really.

2:43 - I notice I’m feeling a little light headed and know I should have eaten something more substantial. Of course, many gamers will likely not be dipping their hands into snack bowls while gaming (grease and crumbs do not help thumb controller).

2:50 - I feel a small heart rate surge and my headache is a little worse (though still pretty small).

2:54 - Suddenly I have a craving for Cheetos. OK, that might be unrelated or maybe just a soda-and-snack association.

3:06 - Now I’m thirsty (likely a result of the sugar) and have a bigger headache. I start drinking a glass of ice water.

3:40 - First post-G33K B33R pee. Clear, relatively unscented. About 10 seconds long (aren’t you glad you read this far?) Heart rate sill slightly higher than normal but steady. Headache still kickin’.

4:08 - Actually might have to pee again. Hope it’s not psychological from reading all the info on it, otherwise I’ll be completely dehydrated by the end of the night. Headache is starting ti dissipate but a small odd stink has developed way back in my throat as well as a very small stomach ache. It would certainly not keep me from eating those Cheetos I was craving earlier.

4:12 - Headache makes a small resurgence.

4:15 - Another potty stop. Second verse, same as the first. Headache has settled back to slight status again. Stomach is normal and I’m almost through my glass of water.

4:18 - Just burped and, ugh, it was acid-y with a hint of root beer. Wishing I had coated that with the fake-y cheese goodness of Cheetos, Doritos or something more flavorful. End of the water helps. Headache continues to rise and fall. Luckily, no dizziness.

4:23 - Starting to feel my pulse pick up again. Headache is clearly at my temples now. Going for more water.

4:31 - Ugh, another acid-y burp. At least this one was flavorless, which I hope indicates the G33K B33R is pretty much settled or working its way out.

4:36 - Headache seems to have (at least momentarily) gone. I feel only slightly jittery and strangely, simultaneously tired and energetic. Also experienced another damn acid burp and (dammit) and I have to pee again. I hope that’s not a psychosomatic reaction to reading about the effects of guarana.

4:44 - Third verse, same as the first. I’m convinced that either A) I cannot hold my water or B) expect a few extra quick trips to the WC when drinking G33K B33R . The headache made a quick and slight reappearance and went away. The small stomach annoyance has turned into simple hunger.

5:07 - Finally had a normal., non-acid-y burp. Ate a bit of home-made pasta salad and did a couple quick chores. I definitely have more energy but also got a little sweaty at the back of my neck while emptying the dishwasher, which is unusual. Heart rate seems normal.

5:16 - Starting to feel a bit more settled down. Think I’ll play some Space Ace (Blue-Ray) and see if my reaction time is better than yesterday.

5:55 - Fourth verse, longer than the first. Headache is completely gone now, as are the acid burps and any sign of a weird stomach. Still pretty awake but starting to get that got-up-a-little-too-early feeling.

6:15 - I don’t do much better on Space Ace today than I did yesterday. If anything, I do a bit worse even on the easiest setting. Space Ace is an older arcade game which requires a lot of quick and precise movements.

6:24 - Feeling pretty normal now. We’ll see how awake (or tired) I am much later.

8:16 - Had a few moments of slightly accelerated heart rate in the last hour while sitting at the computer, but it passed after a few minutes. Actually starting to feel a little tired, possibly experiencing a little bit of caffeine withdrawal since I’m not usually tied at this time.

11:10 - Now I have that over tired, somewhat edgy feeling and a slight burn way back in my throat, which are typically symptoms of being up too late. Since I’m usually up for a few more hours, it’s a little unusual though not uncomfortable.

March 28. 2008 - 11:00 am - Fell asleep last night with no problem. No crazy dreams (well, no crazier than normal), though I did wake up with a slight headache. No after tastes or stomach oddities.

CONCLUSIONS:

• G33K B33R tastes pretty good, just like a regular ol’ root beer with the slightest hint of fruit. It would probably work pretty well in an ice cream float.
• It’s best cold and consumed right away, otherwise it loses much of its fizz. Ice may actually help bring out the tiniest guarana flavor.
• Avoid drinking it on am empty stomach, otherwise you might get extra jittery or, later, a few tastes of acid.
• Plan to take several trips to the rest room. Make sure your game has a Pause function and the other gamers are amiable to a few pee breaks.
• Follow it with water to help avoid a caffeine burst and maintain hydration (and avoid large headaches).
• One or two in a day might be OK with no adverse effects, especially if you are used to caffeine. If you are at all sensitive to caffeine, act like an old person and avoid drinking within 4-5 hours of going to sleep.

Read [Guarana.com] Product Page [G33K B33R]

Full Story » | Written by PJ Hruschak for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

As an active member of several women gamer sites, I know there are a lot of women who game online and offline both with computers and consoles. So where does Kate Muir of Times Online get the idea that console gamers are boys and that my console is merely a toy?

This has been the topic of the week in the forums of some women gaming sites and I couldn’t agree with them more as they question where the heck Muir got her information or if she even games or knows what she’s talking about. In her article, Muir writes “Xboxes were toys for very big boys indeed,” and that men (at least in the UK) are “infantalised by night in a virtual world,” clinching her stereotypical views with, “Who knew that the generation who first became addicted to Pac-Man and Super Mario would turn out to be boys who never grew up? Man-teens sitting before their kiddy consoles like huge manatees.”

Gaetano Prestia of Blog Critics Magazine seems to have figured out Muir’s information.

“She seems to have written an article based on a few Google searches and by eavesdropping on men who are talking about games. “...why men need to grow up” is purely a sarcastic attempt to in some way give Muir some recognition for an article that is written well and at least attempts to get its point across in a good manner, albeit unsuccessfully,” he wrote and continued to examine Muir’s research. “She did mention that, upon her extensive research deep into the Google empire, 48 per cent of males between the ages of 18 and 34 had played a console at least once in their lives. Muir was critical of this. I don’t know why, but it seems as though she cannot understand that video games and the consoles on which they can be played are aimed at a young adult and, in most cases, male audience. She seems worried that young males are spending up to three hours a day, alone, playing video games on their “Xboxes”.”

It seemed to me that her article targeted the male gamer as the main audience, not even mentioning that women also game. Prestia wasn’t the only male offended by her article and even a few women gamers have made comments about the stereotypical tone of the article.

“I really appreciate you trying to force your 1950s television view of the world on everyone. Grow up and learn to live with change,” wrote one reader Chris of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Howard Reese of London added “Just because people play games does not make them immature, and I think that this article is overly stereotypical about the “Gamer” demographic.”

One interesting point made by a female gamer from Texas calling herself Svea wrote:

“I’m a 29 year old woman, and I play games on a regular basis. My 35 year old husband also plays. Over the past 5 years we have gone on regular gaming “dates”, we have friends whom we game with, and overall we’ve saved WAY more money the past few years as gamers than as the “normal” people described in this article. We have life plans that include our careers, children, homemaking, and other familial obligations. But right now, we are managing our time to include active gaming, while planning for the future like any other normal adult. This article appears to just perpetuate the idea that geeks, nerds, or “gamer” types are anti-social, childish or immature. Sorry folks, that’s not the way it is. Even grandma can play the Nintendo Wii (and get some excellent cardio-vascular exercise while she’s at it). Like it or not, video games are now part of “popular culture”. Just like the telephone and television, methinks they are here to stay!”

I totally agree with Svea, I mean, what are you saying Muir? Women have ADHD and can’t just as well as pick up a game and pl… oooh look! Shoes!

Read [Blog Critics Magazine Online] Read [Times Online UK]

Full Story » | Written by Lucy Newman for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Xfire announces an opportunity for Xfire users to chat live with up and coming independent game developers at 5 p.m. EST (2 p.m. PST) on January 24, 2008. The developers will answer questions about game design and all the obstacles and challenges an independent company must face to break into the game industry.

Then on January 25, 2008, at 5 p.m. EST (2 p.m. PST), users can attend the 12th Xfire Debate Club meeting. The topic of discussion is the current state of independent games where users can learn about the issues involved in the development and making of a game as well as ask their own questions and talk about what the future may hold for the indie game genre.

For current and new Xfire users, participation in the debate club meetings will increase their chances of promotion of up to 8 total ranks and ten indie game prize packs will be given away during both sessions. Each pack includes one copy of Chronic Logic’s Gish, one game from Amaranth Games, one game from Rampant Games and a one Xfire T-shirt.

Moderator for the event is freelance game journalist John Bardinelli of JayIsGames. Guests include:

• Jay Barnson of Rampant Games
• Geoff Benson of uTime Games, Inc.
• Xinghan (Jenova) Chen of thatgamecompany
• Corvus Elrod, a contract writer for games and animation
• Amanda Fitch of Amarantha Games
• Nils-Holger Henning of Bigpoint
• Chris Pasley of Kongregate
• Josiah Pisciotta of Chronic Logic, LLC

Xfire is a free instant messaging and server browser program for PC gamers that offers peer-to-peer file download capabilities and in-game messaging that is compatible with most of today’s popular games. Those wishing to attend the panel can log onto the Xfire website and download the free program and register for the debate club.

Site [Xfire]

Full Story » | Written by Lucy Newman for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

If you ever want to read something that is so funny yet thought provoking, you have to check out a commentary-style feature on Gamer Help called Video Game Karma-geddon by Barf Deity.

It’s not what he says that makes it so funny, its that you can so totally identify who he’s ranting about and the supporting photos.

His first rant, titled “Online Griefers,” features an old photo of Hilter and a description of the people he’s identified as Online Griefers.

“The Crime: Online griefers are responsible for the following, plus a whole lot more: Acting like an idiot online; spouting racial and homosexual slurs to random strangers; cheating with hacks; team killing; in short, ruining the online experience for everyone else while also being a giant ball of failure.”

Wait. It gets better when he suggests a form of punishment befitting of the crime. For the online griefer, Deity suggests they receive the same abuse they unleash on the internet world only for real in the real world, but in a more colorful way.

The one that got me going fell under the title: “People who buy up Wiis so they can sell them on eBay.” I’m sure Wii is used as an example because I remember my search for the PS3 60GB console and not finding a single on in the stores. Yet, strangely there’s an overabundance of them on eBay for far more than the system really costs and those priced below $200 were either broken or missing key pieces of the system to make it work in the first place.

But just as the previous title, it gets better when Diety suggests that:

“everyone guilty of doing this will come down with a stomach virus that gives them explosive diarrhea and large amounts of smelly gas,” he wrote. “The good news is that there is a cheap and readily available medication that will alleviate the symptoms for 24 hours. The bad news, for them at least, is that every store is sold out and the only way to get the medication is on eBay, where the price per pill has nearly quadrupled. We suggest you stay close to the toilet and keep the windows open, jerks.”

His next target is fanboys, which he describes as the kissing cousin of the online griefer except that a fanboy expresses fond hatred for game consoles they do not own. Diety’s solution to the matter? Filling their hateful blogs with rosy praises for the very consoles they claim to hate. “This will utterly confound the fanboys, and soon enough people will remember how to converse like actual human beings and not chemically-imbalanced lab monkeys,” Diety explained in his blog.

But just so the griefers and fanboys won’t feel singled out for a good mob beat-down, Diety goes all out for lazy developers publishing garbage bin games, know it all politicians who really don’t know it all, irresponsible parents and pirates. For the full and colorful effect, you simply must check out Diety’s Video Game Karma-geddon. You’ll relate to what he’s saying in at least one of the categories, if not two or three.

Read [Gamer Help]

Full Story » | Written by Lucy Newman for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Gadgetell is live at what may be Bill Gates’ final CES keynote address.

Will he talk about the Xbox game systems or the future of videogames? Check out the live coverage going on right now!

Oh, and keep smacking that REFRESH button at the Gadgetell Live Blogto get up-to-the-minute updates during the keynote address. Oh yeah, it’s that live.

Read [Gadgetell Live Blog] Read [Gadgetell]

Full Story » | Written by PJ Hruschak for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

GameDaily recently gleaned a piece of Brier Dudley’s larger Seattle Times column where he speculates things Bill Gates will talk about in his upcoming, and likely final, CES (Consumer Electonrics Expo) pre-CES keynote address (until he retires and needs speaker fee pocket change to buy an island).

The only gaming element of Dudley’s predictions is that Gates may announce that the Xbox 360 will get revamped to include DVR capabilities as well as an internal HD DVD drive.

His other, far less exciting and non-gaming CES predictions concerning Gate’s keynote include:

• Reminding everyone that Microsoft has been working on touchscreen tech. Basically, to remind everyone that Apple ain’t the only cool touchscreen kids in town.
• Mention Microsoft’s mobile software.
• Note media enter will be updated.
• Some nondescript mention of streaming.
• No mention of Zune. (!?!)
• Bragging about deals with automakers.

Dudley has drafted a fairly safe prediction list that draws on stuff that Microsoft has already done. The Xbox element may be the biggest leap, but even that has been floating around the web for at least a year (as Dudley mentions).

To be fair, the column is for a publication that caters to a readership that goes well beyond the hardcore gamer demographic, albeit in a pretty dense area of the country for game development. Besides, no one likes to be wrong and one medium leap prediction is enough for most to accept.

For more on Bill Gates’ CES 2008 keynote, and live coverage of CES 2008, check out Gadgetell’s dedicated CES 2008 page. Gates’ pre-CES keynote will take place 6:30 p.m., Sunday, January 6, 2008, a the The Venetian’s Palazzo Ballroom in Las Vegas, NV.

Read [Seattle Times] Via [GameDaily] Site [Gadgetell at CES 2008]

Full Story » | Written by PJ Hruschak for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

According to Multichannel, games and technology network G4 will be offering live video coverage for the consumer electronics show (CES) 2008. Beginning at 7 PM on January 7, 2008, and continuing the next night at the same time, Attack of The Show hosts Kevin Pereira and Olivia Munn will be on hand to show off gadgets and gaming news from the show floor. The network will also broadcast Bill Gates’ keynote address. According to the article, G4 will be showing “four hours of primetime programming devoted to giving viewers access to the complete CES experience”

The G4 website will also host live video from the event, along with live-blogs and video demonstrations of new products.

This seems to be the new norm - live video streaming and broadcast footage made E3 much more accessible last summer, so it makes sense that CES would benefit from the same, considering its larger scope.

Read [Multichannel]

Full Story » | Written by Danielle Riendeau for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Often when people think of women in gaming, they either think of the digital super cute, super sexy or super barbaric women found videogames often portrayed as the damsel in distress or weak. On October 25, 2007, the Xfire Debate Club logged on for their ninth meeting to discuss issues women face trying to get into the gaming industry or as a gamer.

The eight million strong gaming community, Xfire, invited nine successful women of the gaming industry to speak with the Xfire community on the topic of women in the gaming culture, game marketing, portrayal of female characters in videogames and the online gaming experience as women to name a few. Xfire is one of the fastest growing online gaming platform and community in the world helping gamers to easily connect, chat and play with their friends online

The eight women in the gaming industry who attended include:

• Colette Bennett, Editor, Destructoid
• Amber “AthenaTwin” Dalton, Clan Leader and Founder, PMS Clan
• Robyn Fleming, Senior Editor, Cerise Magazine
• Jasmin Kassner, Founder, PixelTamer Games
• Helen Kennedy, Senior Lecturer, University of the West of England
• Lesley Smith, Freelance Games Journalist

Leigh Alexander, Staff Writer of Gamasutra was unable to make the panel.

“Women play an increasingly important role within the gaming industry as gaming becomes ever more mainstream,” said Frederic Descamps, senior director of marketing at Xfire. “We are thrilled to welcome this panel of experts, each of whom brings a unique perspective and approach to issues facing women in the industry.”

Helen Kennedy, a feminist researching and writes about women and how they game and play, moderated the event and began the debate by asking the panel about the specific challenges each of them faced as a gamer and as a professional.

“I think most women have had at least a few irritating conversations about whether they really play games,” responded Fleming.”... and when you do something gaming-related for work, the assumptions just keep right on coming - only now it’s about you as a professional as well as a hobbyist. I think there are lots of gaming communities that are ready to take women seriously as players.”

Bennett agreed and added, “I know personally (that) people still don’t really believe women play games,” she said. “Or if they do, they play girl-specific games. Personally I feel you just have to let these stereotypes roll off you. I think women are very much judged because of the fact that we are women; a stereotype that is hundreds of years old won’t just go away because a girl shows up and says she can beat you at a game.”

During the debate Bennett mentioned that the image of women in general is always an issue to some communities.

“I think the image of women in games versus women who play games in real life is always an issue,” Bennett explained adding that to avoid the harassment some women hide their gender when playing online. “Women are still being heavily objectified in most games. Whether we like it or not, it has an impact on how we are viewed in general. Well, the internet gives you the ability to create yourself as you wish (to a degree.) You don’t have to identify as female if you don’t want to. Hiding your gender seems pointless, but some women will do it so they won’t be harassed.”

Dalton agreed and added, “Offline is more friendly I think than online,” she said. “Online, where people hide behind anonymity, is where women are really harassed more I think.”

Kassner disagreed stating that she has been playing MMOs for a long time to include Ultima Online for 9 years and has never been harassed. Kassner added that in Germany women are widely more accepted as gamers than elsewhere.

Dalton was quick to tell Kassner that her perfect gaming experience won’t last once the male gamers start see more and more women coming out and saying “look we are here, we play just like you do.”

Kennedy asked the ladies if they had experienced any pressure as gamers professionally and as competitive gamers. The panel all agreed, Fleming pointed out that there is even pressure for women to be the right kind of female player to earn acceptance within gaming groups.

“Sometimes there’s pressure to be ‘one of the guys,’ and not remind your fellow players that you are ... a woman,” Fleming explained. “And other times, the pressure is to be cute or sexy, or to play the damsel in distress, etc.”

Bennett agreed and said even as a female journalist in the gaming industry there is pressure, but not as much as the ugly treatment competitive female gamers often go through just to enjoy gaming.

“I think the image of women in games versus women who play games in real life is always an issue,” Bennett added. “Women are still being heavily objectified in most games. Whether we like it or not, it has an impact on how we are viewed in general. Games became important to me when I was 8 years old. I think girls of today may have to contend with what their parents think of gaming and if they believe in the negative media that people like Jack Thompson support. If that doesn’t stand in the way, they may be able to discover the gaming culture naturally. It scares me because when I think of what games represented to me, and how they made my childhood and young adulthood so much better, I fear that girls growing up may be cheated out of that because of the media image of gaming.”

Kennedy focused on how negative media has scared many potential young female gamers and created the “Pink Poison” most young girls are given as alternative games.

“The pink poison problem (are those) games that are targeted at women (and) are always in pink boxes and advertised as for women only,” Fleming explained. “I kinda like the pink ... but I hate the way it’s marketed.”

Smith agreed and added that “pink consoles are a bane, I personally hate them intensely and yet the major manufacturers continue creating them,” she said. “I think women don’t really care about the colour, it’s the console and games that matter but the industry can’t understand they do not need to make special ones just for us.”

Dalton agrees the whole usage of color to make a system or game women specific is a lame attempt by the gaming industry to make them feel apart of the culture when it actually separates them.

“We are a viable market companies should be targeting as consumers, employees, etc.,” Dalton explained and said although she likes pink consoles but more of a fashion or personalization choice not because its for women. “We are individuals that like all different things, brought together by a love of gaming. I think they all work together, have the games we like and have the way to make it as personal as we like it. It is about personal preferences, and neither is wrong. (It’s not just about) color, fashion is a natural companion for male and female audiences ... personalization is key. Women on the forefront is still underdeveloped, and we owe it to the next generation to be able to say ‘yes you are a girl’ and that is fine to play.”

The debate then turned its attention to the new line of girl-specific games from UbiSoft called the Imagine series. The series was released in October 2007 as the first games in the Imagine line for the Nintendo DS system. The game series for girls include Imagine: Fashion Designer, Imagine: Animal Doctor, Imagine: Babyz and Imagine: Master Chef. With an upcoming release of Imagine: Figure Skater to be released in early 2008.

Smith calls this new line a “prime example of how not to do games for women.”

Kassner told the panel that companies should stop being gender specific and just produce good games.

“What I really want to bring across is that in front of the PC we are all the same. No matter what color, what gender or what sexual preferences. We have this unique opportunity to be all the same: Gamers,” Kassner said. “Why does the marketing still cling on to the old fashioned values of male or female and stuff. Its stupid. By marketing a game to guys you loose females players and vice versa. Marketing peeps have to come into the present and realize that they can just market good games.”

Bennett added that she couldn’t blame a videogame company because they only produce what the public wants based on a survey, but even the survey needs to broaden.

“Well, the hard thing about trashing the Ubisoft line is that it is based on a survey of what girls in a certain age range wanted (supposedly),” she said. “I don’t like the idea that these games are being pushed at little girls, but at the same time how do you market Contra to an 8-year-old girl? I think all PR and marketing ideas are directly linked to the bottom line. Money. Which is what makes it difficult to ever escape these stereotypes.”

When challenged by the panel over her Contra statement Bennett explained her opinion further.

“What I am getting at is that when I was growing up, I played all kinds of games, Contra and Barbie games alike,” she said. “I got to choose what I liked. In today’s day and age, it seems much more important to be marketing at certain groups since gaming has become such a powerful industry.”

Smith added that the whole pink issue is purely based on the childhood idea that pink is for girls and blue for boys which is outdated. The panel agreed that this type of marketing strategy separates women and men in gaming and often times turn female gamers into targets.

“I think it’s a case of there are no such thing as women or men games, there should be just gamers,“mith said.

The panel agreed that because a lot of women don’t have a problem with the sexualized images they use as avatars or screen names which separates men and women gamers, and often open themselves up as targets.

“I’ve received too many random rape threats just for having a female name on an online game,” Fleming said surprising the panel and the audience. “It doesn’t happen to every woman, but it does happen to many. When I’m playing a game, I often like to have a female avatar but that’s as far as I tend to go and I still get that crap.”

The group agreed that the gaming experience is getting better with monitoring to prevent harassment but as far as the gaming industry, they agree there needs to be more women in the gaming industry. At the end of the discussion Kennedy asked each panelist one final question. If they could improve the contemporary game culture what would they change?

Lesley Smith: “Stop segregating women, make games and magazines for gamers not for one gender or the other.”

Colette Bennett: “More emphasis on creativity and breaking the mold. We have enough FPS, RPG, Platformers, etc., etc. Try to strive for genre hybrids or new genres altogether.”

Robyn Fleming: “More variety of female characters in all kinds of games.”

Jasmin Kassner: “Marketing should change to ‘Global’ in a sense of no sexism, racsim, etc…”

Amber “Athena Twin” Dalton: “Make development groups more diversified, all races, backgrounds, lifestyles to appeal to all aspects of gamers.”

Site [Xfire Debate Panels] Read [UbiSoft] Site [PMS Clan] Site [Cerise: Gaming Magazine for Women]

Full Story » | Written by Lucy Newman for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Sony Press Conference - 11:30 a.m. (PT), Wednesday, July 11, 2007

11:32 a.m. - CEO Jack Trenton appears to the crowd as a digitized character on the giant screen, showing off Playstation Home.

11:38- Trenton expecting to sell 10 million PS2 units this year, God of War 2 has sold 2 million copies and 160 games are expected to ship this year for the PS2.

11:41- A montage of upcoming PSP games are shown including SOCOM Navy Seals: Tactical Strike, Wipeout Pulse, Syphon Filter: Logan’s Shadow, NBA 08, God of War: Chains of Olympus, Silent Hill Origins, Patapon, Tiger Woods 08, Sonic Rivals 2, Sims 2: Castaway, SWAT: Target Liberty, Final Fantasy Tactics and Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicals.

11:47- CEO Kaz Hirai comes out, showing off new PSP model which weighs 33% less, has a more powerful battery and can be hooked up to High Definition Television to watch movies and play games.

11:53- Jack Trenton comes back to announce new PSP Entertainment Pack for $199 including a free game and Family Guy UMD movie. PSP now comes in ice silver color as well as black and BIG SURPRISE! Chewbacca comes out with a new Star Wars PSP model which is white with Darth Vader on the back. This new model comes with the game Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron and will retail for $199.

11:58- Phil Harrison comes out to talk about the Playstation Network, says 80 games are in production.

11:59- A video of a new Playstation Network game called Echochrome is shown, looks like a Lemmings-inspired type of puzzle game where you lead the player’s character through a 3D maze.

12:02 p.m. - A video of upcoming PS3 games available through the Playstation Network and Blu-Ray Disc shows Wipeout HD,  Pain (a game where the intention is to hurt yourself apparently), Warhawk and SOCOM Confrontation.

12:08- Jack Trenton continues to show off the Playstation Home service, showing new clothes options for the player’s avatar as well as loctions where the avatar can call home.

12:12- Announces that any game whether it be on the PS3 hard drive or disc can be loaded through the Playstation Home service.

12:15- Trenton talks about new 80GB model coming in August for $599, and that the 60GB model will now be $499.

12:19- NC Soft now a part of third-party support and all games will be exclusive to Sony.

12:21- Announces Ubisoft game Haze, a PS3 exclusive.  Haze looks to be a revolutionary FPS game allowing the player to play dead to avoid enemies, take out enemies with guns or hand to hand combat and has amazing graphics.

12:24- Trenton shows a video of Unreal Championship 3 and announces it will be an exclusive game for PS3.

12:26- Video montage is shown of upcoming PS3 games: Call of Duty 4, Assassin’s Creed, Kane and Lynch: Dead Men, Resident Evil 5, Burnout Paradise, Madden NFL 08, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, The Simpsons Game, Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock, Medal of Honor: Airborne, Rock Band and last but not least, the exclusive Medal Gear Solid 4. New trailer introduced by Hideo Kojima. Announces it will be the final game in the series and all stories in the saga will be finished and complete.  It will be Kojima’s final game.

12:36- Long trailer for Medal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is shown, combat looks amazing, graphics are unbelievable.

12:43- Hideo Kojima says the trailer represents real time graphics and gameplay, and says and demo of the game will be shown next week at the Tokyo Game Show.

12:45- A video of PS3 exclusive game Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction is shown.

12:47- More videos are shown of upcoming games accompanied with long game feature descriptions. Folklore, Heavenly Sword, NBA 08, Little Big Planet and Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune.  All of the game’s creators talk of the PS3 powerful hardware allowing them to display amazing graphics and gameplay.

12:54-  A video of another PS3 exclusive is shown by developer Sucker Punch called Infamous, a seemingly Grand Theft Auto type of game but with much darker content.

12:58- A video of Gran Turismo 5 is shown, showing off the game’s amazing graphics.

12:59- Seems like they saved the best for last. Announcing that everything is in real time, they show the trailer for Killzone 2. This game is jaw dropping. It’s graphics are unlike anything seen before on a home console.  The video shows off amazing combat and life like atmosphere, but OUCH! signs of slowdown in the framerate. Not too bad though.

1:04- Jack Trenton wraps up the press conference thanking the crowd.

Full Story » | Written by Jeff Panasen for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Wednesday, July 11, 2007, 9:00 a.m. PST

9:00 a.m. - We’re starting with a talking NES, then a montage of the media coverage the Wii and DS have received.

9:05 - Reggie takes the stage “My name is Reggie” yearly growth up 114%.

9:10 - More talk of the expanding market, especially older players, female players “this is where potential lives.”

9:12 - In Japan expansion of older and female players even more pronounced. More stats regarding Nintendo’s wild expansion into the nontraditional markets.

9:15 - DS is past the 40 million mark worldwide – sold out worldwide for all 33 weeks since lite release. “Nintendo is not a fad.”

9:18 - Montage – Donkey Kong, people playing Wii, more mainstream media clips about Wii/DS, YouTube videos from fans

9:20 - New controller – the Wii zapper! Uses both the wii remote controller and the Nunchuck attachment. Will work with Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles. Also Ghost Squad and Medal of Honor games in development taking advantage of the new zapper.
9:21 - Wii Zapper will be packaged with software, priced at $19.99.

9:23 - Soul Caliber Legends, World Wrestling Smackdown vs. Raw, Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword for DS

9:26 - Smash Brothers Brawl detail – launch will be December 3rd of this year.

9:28 - Video of two Hylia webmasters, discussing hardcore gaming on the Wii. Demoing Phantom Hourglass for DS, Game has been well received in Japan – big surprise.

9:30 - Demo of Metroid Prime 3 – Wii-mote control. Demonstration of visor switching on the fly by holding minus button and gesturing. Looks relatively intuitive.

9:33 - Reggie’s back onstage, discussing online strategy – another “media” montage about DS wi-fi, Wii channels.

9:35 - Virtual console 5.6 million downloads from the 112 available titles. Mentioned WiiWare again. New channel announcement – “check Mii out” a sort of voting/swapping channel for Miis.

9:38 - Mario Strikers Charged online, Madden 08 and FIFA 08 will be fully online, with leagues and a new “party mode” Dragon Quest Monsters will feature online battles,  Guitar Hero 3 as well.

9:40 Mario Kart for Wii announced – will be online 1st Quarter next year. Online multiplayer battle mode and racing. Fanboys/fangirls just collectively wet themselves.

9:41 - Custom Wii-Wheel will make its debut with Mario Kart for Wii. Will come packed in with the game.

9:43 - Montage about older players – the elderly enjoying Wii bowling and brain age DS. Nintendo is courting toddlers, moms, students, etc. They’re really hawking this “all demographics” idea this year.

9:44 - Nintendo president Iwata is onstage now, discussing the nontraditional titles like Nintendogs, Brain Age, Wii Sports and DS cookbook software in Japan.

9:47 - According to Iwata, the next immediate challenge for Nintendo is destroying the barrier between non-traditional and veteran gamers. “Games are for everyone.”

9:49 - Goal is to design games that allow players of all skill levels to play together. Miyamoto coming onstage soon to demo a new title that shows off this quality. That’s a tease.

9:50 - Video montage of couples/families who play together – featuring Super Mario Galaxy, Brain Age 2.

9:55 Brain Age 2 will launch August 20, 2007. Now featuring Super Mario Galaxy – discussion of new mechanics, changing gravity and direction to explore the levels. Release date announced: November 12th of this year.

9:57 - More peeks at new titles; Mysims and High School Musical both for DS and Wii. Rayman Raving Rabbids 2. Discussion of “improvement” titles like Flash Focus a vision training title, MyWord Coach for improving vocabulary and MyLife Coach.

9:59 - Yet another media montage, this time the focus is on wii sports and the new “improvement” phase.

10:02 - Miyamoto takes the stage, along with trainers demonstrating the exercises from WiiFit.

10:06 - The game works with a floor pad, features several exercises and activities, with sports, dancing, stretching, and mii integration. There are four categories - Aerobics, muscle conditioning, balance exercises, and yoga positions. The floor pad is the “wii balance board” it measures weight and balance shifts.

10:10 - Doing a “body check” on Reggie. Most halarious. The board measures center of gravity, Body Mass Index, etc. and tracks it over time.

10:13 - Miyamoto and Reggie are Competing in the soccer goalie game – Reggie is definitely winning. He must’ve practiced. Gets smacked in the face by a shoe in the game - everyone laughs.

10:16 - Reggie’s wrapping up the conference with, “This is Nintendo’s time to lead”, more comments about market expansion, citing newer modes of entertainment (YouTube, Flickr, etc.).

10:18 - One final media montage and we’re done.

Thanks for being here and enjoy the rest of E3!

Full Story » | Written by Danielle Riendeau for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Microsoft Press Conference - 8:30 pm (PT), Tuesday, July 10, 2007

8:30 pm Alright folks, looks like we’re getting some live feed via 1up.com. Funky techno beats and what looks like a panorama shot of the Microsoft screens. The feed is pretty choppy so bear with me.

8:33 Looks like they’re starting off with some Halo stuff. There’s a starry sky and stormy nebulae on the main screen.

8:35 I believe they have a live band playing the Halo theme, and quite a pretty violinist as well. Screenshots of the game intermixed with shots of the band playing live. Pretty stunning.

8:38 More screen shots of the game. The band finishes. Then they start again. Peter Moore takes the stage.

8:40 Moore takes the stage and moves through the pleasantries. “Greatest Holiday lineup ever…”

8:41 Rock Band demo starts. Similar in presentation to guitar hero but with four different instruments including drum set and vocals. (Editor’s Note: Moore played along side the band. It was pretty damn funny).

8:43 Second of accidental pauses by Moore. Poor guy.

8:44 Rock Band is Xbox live compatible and you can create bands through Xbox Live.

8:45 New Viva Piñata that looks like fusion frenzy

8:46 Mass Effect demo. Some recycled footage, Looks like a much more cinematic Halo type story. Game play looks pretty smooth with lots of cool explosions.

8:48 Moore goes into some business presentation stuff. 360s are selling more games than anyone else, more than Sony and Nintendo combined.

8:50 Some additional crushing business numbers 2.4 billion in retail, more than the other two combined. Moore makes a great joke about tattoos.

8:52 Perfect storm of GTAIV, Madden, and Halo 3 echoes Holiday 2004.

8:53 Montage of upcoming games including Katamari, The Simpson’s Game, Bioshock, Madden, Tony Hawk, Crash Bandicoot, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Rock Band, and a lot of other games. There must be something like twenty titles.

8:56Jeff Bell takes the stage and talks some family gaming. Opens with SceneIt? as a family oriented game. Debuts a buzzer-like controller that nods to regression gaming. 

8:58 Naruto, Rise of a Ninja. Cell shaded action game based on a TV show on cartoon network. Heavy on fighting. Looks like the new Dragonball Z.

9:00 EA saber-rattling and an impending montage of sports related games. Claiming they will now run twice as fast on the 360. Reggie Bush comes out onto stage. He plays Jeff Bell. Gain of six. Reggie tears into the left side and scores on Jeff. Embarrassing. 

9:03 XboxLive numbers, 7 million members. New member every eight seconds. Claiming to cross ten million by next year.

9:04 XboxLive Arcade. Over 100 titles by the end of the year. Bomberman Live, Hexic 2, Sonic the Hedgehog, War World, Wing Commander Arena, Track and Field, Chess, Golden Axe, Switchball, Boku Suduko, and many others.

9:07 Xbox Live movies, 125 million dollars spent on downloadable content since launch. Disney goes to Xbox live: Tarzan, Hercules, Atlantis, Emperor’s New Groove, Sky High, The Waterboy, Unbreakable, The Brothers Grimm, The Queen, and others.

9:10All movies previewed will be available tonight for download in HD. Future Disney movies will be available.

9:11 Shane Kim takes the stage. Talks about partnering with great third parties, standard of Microsoft joining with great developers.

9:13 Brian Woodhouse and Craig Howard take audience through PGR4. Bikes are to be included in the new game, some impressive footage of a rain-swept course at night. They show the latest trailer. Lots of sweet racing shots of PGR4. Lots of new cars and phat techno beats.

9:18 Alan Wake, Too Human, Fable 2, and Halo Wars. Announcement of Halo movie with Peter Jackson.

9:19 Lost Odyssey demo, sweeping RPG that looks like it might give Final Fantasy a run for its money. Blue Dragon, Mass Effect, Lost Odyssey as trio of holiday RPGs.

9:20 Gears of War for Windows with new content, a game editor, and other “big surprises.”

9:21 Cliffy B takes the stage. #1 game on platform and xbox live. Five new single player chapters, new multiplayer and other stuff. Cliffy fights the giant with a cannon strapped to its back. I think he’s playing it on easy cause he’s just getting hammered.

9:25 Moore takes the stage again and talks about Games for Windows Live. More than a dozen Live Enabled titles that will be cross PC XBox. Lots of talk about Games for Windows and their exciting new titles. Flight simulator X, Thrillvile, Bee Movie Game (again) Hellgate London, Age of Empires III, Stranglehold, Gears of War, Bioshock, Crysis, Universe at War, Blacksite Area 51, World in Conflict, Age of Conan, Lost Planet, Kane and Lynch, Company of Heroes, Zoo Tycoon, Viva Pinata and others.

9:30 Call of Duty 4. Trailer is all game play footage. Ukraine as the battlefield, looks like re-imagining of soviet conflicts. I think I caught a nuclear explosion in there. Definitely some nukes in there and some smart-bomb type things.

9:33 Call of Duty 4 developers come out and give the old ‘one two how do you do.’ Jason West shows some more cutscenes and in game footage. Players start in a radiation infested field. A player in cameo appears to come out of the ground in front. Scope and held breath footage looks pretty neat. The soundtrack is sad strings, and the game has a Ghost Recon feel but looks a little more stylish. The terrain graphics look amazing. Visit charlieoscardelta.com for details about Call of Duty 4 beta.

9:39 GTAIV trailer #2. This has been available for a while on Xbox Live. Exclusive episodes will be released for Xbox360 in Spring 2008.

9:42 Resident Evil 5 will launch for the 360 sometime next year. July 26, 2007, full trailer available.

9:43 Assassins Creed developers come out and demo the game. Ubisoft Montreal Studio shows Jerusalem from the very top of a cathedral when the character jumps down and lands in a cart of hay. The game looks pretty slick. The fight physics really look amazing as well. The main character chases the bad guy and performs some neat acrobatics. That one was a jaw dropper.

9:50 Here comes the Halo stuff. Looks like a live action short. Lots of heavy drums and footage of troopers gearing up for battle. Announcement of Halo 3 merchandise.

9:55 Moore makes closing remarks and ends with a new Halo 3 trailer. Looks like New footage, burning earth and the Master Chief looking particularly stoic. Another montage of Halo 3 footage. We can see some giant gamers in there and Cortana in obvious distress.

Well, that looks like the end of it. Thanks for joining us, and happy E3!

Full Story » | Written by Sam Cotts for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »