Gamertell

FROM APPLETELL - Do the iPhone and iPod touch really have the power to threaten the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP handheld gaming platforms? Of course not. Here’s why…
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Sony confirmed and announced it’s new PSP-3000 model at Leipzig 2008 earlier this month which offers improvements including a brighter screen and a built-in microphone. One thing that has become quite troubling over the years, however, is the number of must-have PSP titles compared to the Nintendo DS. Even though the PSP continues to show strong hardware sales, Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Patcher thinks the new hardware changes are signs of a much larger problem.

Speaking with Das Gamer Patcher said:

“Sony over-engineered the PSP, and as a result, it’s become a no-man’s land. You can’t make a title of Playstation 3 or Xbox 360 quality for it, but you can…

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The American leg of US World Cyber Ggames 2008 will take place at the Samsung Experience in New York, NY, on May 31, 2008,  and June 1, 2008. At stake are cash and prizes worth more than $20,000 along with a place in the WCG USA National Final. The first leg or the WCG 2008 US Open will include some of the best gamers in America who have their sights set on qualifying for the WCG 2008 Grand Finals in Cologne, Germany, in November 2008.

The Grand Finals will have…

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With Grand Theft Auto IV‘s release is less than a month away (April 29, 2008), developer Rockstar Games is still trying to guarantee that gamers have a all-encompassing, all-great gaming experience. To this end, Rockstar has launched Rockstar Social Club, a new website that will provide gamers leaderboards, performance-based competitions and awards.

Rockstar Games announced in a press release that GTA IV will be the first title supported by the website it plans to support all of subsequent titles as well. The registration for the service will commence April 15, 2008, and all you need to sign up is an Xbox Gamertag or a Playstation Network ID.

As for GTA IV-specific Social Club features, Rockstar is promising the following…

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Blizzard Entertainment recently announced its 2008 World of Warcraft Arena Tournament with more than $200,000 in cash prizes.

The competition is based on World of Warcraft‘s arena system except separated from the live realms to provide a more secluded area for professional-level players to compete with their individual skills and strategy. Consisting of two rounds of regional qualifiers, the winners of the regionals will go on to compete in the live regional finals and a chance to compete in the global world championship.

By being separated, those who compete in the standard arena for…

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Starting December 6, 2007, game fanatics worldwide will be able to watch the highly anticipated Championship Gaming Series. The nine-day event will be broadcasted on television via DirecTV in the US; BSkyB’s Sky One, Sky Two and Sky HD in England; ESPN STAR in Asia; SKY in Mexico and Brazil; DirecTV throughout the rest of the Latin America; and satellite carriers across mainland Europe through various broadcast partners.

CGS, headquarters in Los Angeles, Calif., is the only worldwide professional video gaming league launched earlier this year (January 2007) and features teams of the world’s best gamers from North America, Latin America, the United Kingdom, Europe, Middle East, Asia and Australia, who will compete professionally in the inaugural CGS World Finals.

Gamers will compete for a chance to battle and win $1,000,000 total prize purse with $500,000 to be awarded to the World Champion team. The event will be a monumental first in the history of gaming according to CGS commissioner Andy Reif. will be televised from Sony Studios in Los Angeles. “The CGS World Final represents a watershed moment in the history of pro gaming and we are proud to broadcast to more than 350 million viewers globally,” said Andy Reif, CGS commissioner and CEO. “Fans worldwide will soon find out which team will claim its place as the first CGS World Champion and take home the top prize of $500,000.”

In addition to the team-based competition, CGS will hold an Individual World Final tournament with top CGS league players from six different regions competing for individual championships as well as a World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Area featuring a premier event with American and European gamers battling for prizes up to $30,000 starting December 8, 2007.

During the tournament each CGS team, consisting of ten athletes who specialize in an official League game, will select five players for the five-on-five match of Counter-Strike: Source, two players for the mixed doubles tam for Dead or Alive 4 and Project Gotham Racing 3 for the two-versus-two competition; and one player to compete in the FIFA 2007 one-on-one match.

Prize distribution for the CGS World Final will be as follows:

Team World Final 1st place will receive $500,000 2nd place will receive $150,000 3rd and 4th place winners will receive $70,000 5th through 8th place winners will receive $30,000 9th through 12th place winners will receive $15,000 The tournament’s most valuable players will receive $25,000

Individual World Final 1st place winners for the Dead or Alive 4 competition will award $5,000 to one male and one female athlete 1st place winner for FIFA 2007 will receive $5,000 1st place two-player team in the Project Gotham Racing 3 competition will each receive $5,000 1st place five-player squad in Counter-Strike: Source will award $5,000 to each squad member

World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade two-versus-two world championship 1st place two-player team will receive $15,000 each

The total grand prize purse for the event is $1,075,000 and the CGS official teams participating in this event includes: Berlin Allianz, Birmingham Salvo, Carolina Core, Chicago Chimera, London Mint, Mexico City Furia, Rio Sinistro, Seoul Jinhwa, Singapore Sword, Stockholm Magnetik, Sydney Underground and Wuhan Dragon.

Beginning with the CGS World Final press conference on December 6, 2007, the World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade and the Individual World Finals will be available via webcast on the CGS website. The game schedule is as follows:

December 6: First round day 1
December 7: First round day 2
December 8: WoW:BC 2v2 CGS Championship
December 8: Individual World Final
December 10: Quarterfinals day 1
December 11: Quarterfinals day 2
December 13: Semifinals
December 14: Final

For more information, to view the webcast or check on the status of your favorite team, login to the CGS web site. Please note the site may be off line or running slow while they prepare for the upcoming championship events.

Read [CGS E-Sports] Site [DIRECTV 101:Gaming Series page] Site [Championship Gaming Series]

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The highly controversial, first ever Miss Video Game 2007 took place in Montreal, Canada, this past weekend. The finals of the event were held at Festival Arcadia, a Canadian gaming event, and organized by Edmond-based Titan Gaming.

The five finalists in the competition were Adelle Moore (Syracuse, NY), Lauren Berggren (Mandeville, LA), Tiffany Greene (Simpsonville, SC), Héléne Bronnec (Chateaubourg, France) and Yvonna Lynn (Dallas, TX). On November 9, 2007, the five women competed against one another Mario Kart 64 and Counterstrike. Berggren took an early lead with first place wins in both games. On day two of the festival the women competed against each other in Guitar Hero and Brain Age II. During breaks between matches, they will be greeting and taking pictures with fans. The final challenge was in Nascar 2008.

Mark Donovan, Titan’s representative describes the competition as being “...designed to help create a supportive community for female gamers.”

On November 11, 2007, Berggren, a 20-year-old from Louisiana, was announced as Miss Video Game of the year after winning four of the five challenges. As such, she gets the title of Miss Video Game 2007, a seven-day/six-night trip for two to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, $1,000, and a Wii console. Greene took second place and Bronnec was third while Lynn was the first runner up and Moore was the second.

The Miss Video Game 2007 competition has been a controversial competition ever since it was first announced in the last quarter of 2006. Many Girl Gaming sites, like GamingAngels.com, message boards, like Not Addicted and communities including Girl_Gamers have debated the authenticity, credibility, and motivations of the competition and Titan Gaming.

The debate was mainly due to two reasons. The first was when representatives from GamingAngels began asking Titan Gaming questions about the nature of the competition and how it would be run. Initially there were few responses, the methods seemed unprofessional and investigation revealed that, while the contest had been announced, there was no information on the parent company Titan Gaming anywhere. Another reason was the requirements offered by Titan Gaming for contestants and the way they would later be judged:

Be Miss Video Game Requirements:
1. Must have Personality
2. Must be a female? (No wigs and makeup guys)
3. You Play Video Games like it’s your job.
4. Loves the beach

Many female gamers found the criteria offered by Titan Gaming derogative. While it may have been a lighthearted attempt on Titan’s part to be humorous, it instead made many woman gamers hesitant.

The questionable actions on Titan’s part continued, with an online voting portion which began January 20, 2007. All female contestants would have their profiles and pictures online at an official site. Rather than competing against each other to determine which is a better gamer, it became a beauty pageant. Visitors to the site would look at the brief profiles and pictures and vote based on that. The online gameplay competition wouldn’t actually begin until three months later, on April 30, 2007. In the online gaming portion of the competition, the women faced off against each other in Counter Strike.

The five finalists were chosen based on their performance in the online gameplay, but also by which were found to be more visually appealing by website visitors. The finalists were chosen May 26, 2007. The contest began with 500 women entering, then narrowed down to 48 finally to the last five.

It is nice that these five women are getting recognition as real gamers, but I have to question if this is the proper manner to find approval. The whole competition was conducted more like a beauty contest rather than an official gaming competition. Do you think a Mr. Video Game 2007 would have a photo round where they would have fellow gamers voting online based on whether their profile is appealing and they look nice? I think not.

They probably also wouldn’t have to “love the beach” as one of their entry requirements. Perhaps Titan Gaming is hurting women more with Miss Video Game 2007 than helping them.

Read [Canadian Press] Also Read [Comic Book Bin] Also Read [Not Addicted] Via [The Average Gamer] Also Read [GamingAngels] Site [Miss Video Game]

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Okay, all you lone wolves out there, its time for you to howl ‘cause it’s all about you during this years upcoming Million Dollar, Halo 3 Tournament. X Factor announced last week (November 8, 2007) that it will maintain the original tournament format for its $1,000,000 Halo 3 Competition.

Though public outcry was said to be fierce for the tournament to expand to include team based gameplay, X Factor announced that 4 vs 4 competitions will not be included in the tournament scheduled for Tuesday, December 18, to Saturday, December 22, 2007, at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Dallas, Texas.

At the counsel of its partner, The Cyberathlete Professional League (CPL), X Factor decided to keep the FFA (Free for All) format of competition for the December 2007 tournament. X Factor VP of Operations commented, “Changing the format of the Halo 3 Competition just six weeks before the event seems counterproductive to us. At minimum it will certainly dilute our focus. We thank the CPL for advising us on these critical matters and we hope the community realizes all they do behind the scenes to support e-sports.”

However, don’t be worried that the public outcry fell on deaf ears. X Factor has already announced that they are planning a second Halo 3 tournament sometime around spring break 2008 that will include both team and FFA competition formats.

So don’t get your panties all in a bunch. You’ll get your 4 vs 4 action soon enough. Otherwise, registration is still open for the $1 million FFA so there’s still time for you to step up to the line.

Via [CPL News] Tournament Site [Extreme Winter Championships]

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SpikeTV has announced the nominees for its Video Game Awards show. The nominees were chosen by SpikeTV’s advisory panel, made up of two dozen game journalists, that were released between November 16, 2006, and December 1, 2007.

So far, BioShock and Halo 3 has received the most nominations with seven each, including nominations for Game of the Year and Xbox 360 Game of the Year. No Wii or PS3 exclusives have been nominated as Game of the Year. The “Most Addictive Game” category will be selected by online voters polled on the official VGA website.

The show is scheduled to air December 9, 2007, gamers still have a chance to cast their votes for most addicting game at iFilm through the event’s sponsor Mountain Dew.

Here is the complete list of the nominations for this year’s Video Game Awards:

Game of the Year:

Best PS3 Game:

Best Wii Game:

Best Xbox 360 Game:

Best Handheld Game:

Best PC Game:

Best Shooter:

Best Action Game:

Best Rhythm Game:

Best RPG:

Best Driving Game: DiRT Forza Motorsport 2 Need for Speed ProStreet Project Gotham Racing 4

Best Military Game:

Studio of the Year: Bungie Studios Harmonix Irrational Games Valve

Best Graphics:

Breakthrough Technology:

Best Individual Sports Game:

Best Team Sports Game:

Best Game Based on a Movie or TV Show:

Best Soundtrack:

Best Original Score: BioShock God of War 2 Halo 3 Mass Effect

Best Multiplayer Game:

Most Addictive Game:

Read [Game Industry Biz] Site [SpikeTV VGA 2007] Vote [Most Addictive Game]

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The international game competition Game&Game World Championship (GNGWC) kicked off second season with the preliminary round in Europe earlier this month (August 2007). The international event has gamers from Korea, Europe, Southeast Asia, Japan and the US competing in preliminary rounds in each country and then against each other in the finals on December 1, 2007, in Seoul, Korea.

The six first place winners from each preliminary event (one for each PC game in the competition) will be sent to Korea to compete in the finals while runners-up winners will receive a digital camera, MP3 player or a DVD player. Some regional runners-up winners for specific games will…

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