Gamertell

After getting shut down, resurrected by new owners, moved to a new venue and taking place two month earlier than normal, the Mid-Ohio-Con (aka MOC) was this past weekend (October 4-5, 2008) at the Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, OH (USA). The convention is typically a showcase for Ohio area comic book artists and stores with a smattering of additional celebrity guests and other goodies.

There were two videogame booths a the MOC, one for Ninja Gaiden and the other was promoting Soul Calibur IV. There were a few celebrities, several big-name comic artists, the Batmobile and costumes aplenty…

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Check out the gallery: Mid-Ohio-Con 2008

mDisney, Disney’s mobile video game, graphics and ringtone division, has just announced that it is going to be publishing Com2uS developed, Disney-themed mobile games. The partnership was announced today (September 10, 2008), at the 2008 CTIA convention in San Francisco, California. So far only one game has been announced, Disney Puzzle Family, and it will be released before the end of September, 2008.

Disney Puzzle Family sounds like a standard puzzle game, but it also has some collection elements to it. It is actually a compilation of five different puzzles, each one representing a different member of the family mentioned in the title. By playing and excelling in the games, players can place on leaderboards, win against friends and customize their five family members with different Disney paraphernalia…

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This weekend (August 15 - 18, 2008), Disney is going to have a Free Preview Weekend event running in its Pirates of the Caribbean Online massive multiplayer online rpg (MMORPG) to lure new users into the game. If you’ve ever been intrigued by the tv commercials, now may be your chance to give it a try.

Pirates of the Caribbean Online has two versions, Basic Access is always free, but Unlimited Access costs a $9.95 monthly fee. During this promotion, all Basic accounts will temporarily become Unlimited accounts. People who are already Unlimited users will still want to log in this weekend though, as all shops in the game will have a 50% discount on items to customize characters…

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Disney Interactive Studios and Magenta Software is going to be releasing a family quiz game for the Wii and PS2 for the 2008 holiday season. Disney Th!nk Fast is going to be a quiz game (like Buzz!) hosted by Aladdin‘s Genie. Like the Buzz!, the PS2 version will come with four buzzer controllers.

While Disney Th!nk Fast is billed as a quiz game, it will consist of both trivia questions and mini-games. Players will choose a Disney character as an avatar, then answer some of the game’s 5,000 questions in 15 rounds to see who really knows their Disney trivia. Also - to make the game playable for all ages, all multiple choice questions will have picture answers so no-one is left out.

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Fashionably late - on the second day of E3 (July 15, 2008), Disney Interactive has officially unveiled its video game lineup for the event. The company will be showing its wares in Meeting Room 309 at the event. As expected, the titles mainly cater to the younger generation of gamers and many new incarnations in popular franchises.

The games below will all likely be billed as family friendly, all ages titles. Some of the most anticipated titles include Pure, Disney Sing It and High School Musical 3: Senior Year DANCE!. Too bad Disney Sing It‘s description doesn’t mention any classic Disney tunes - if it had songs from the original, animated movies, then I’d want it.

So in Disney Interactive’s own words, from its press release, game descriptions of all its forthcoming titles…

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Now that we’ve looked at the games that have made the Prince of Persia series so popular, it is time to take a look at where the franchise is heading.

Prince of Persia: The Next Generation

As the franchise moves forward, the Prince is set for yet another transformation. After the Sands of Time trilogy came to a close, Ubisoft decided that the series needed a new direction. And while we still don’t know very much about the upcoming Prince of Persia title for…

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It looks like Disney is serious about extending its reach in the gaming industry. According to the Salt Lake City Tribune, the company’s Disney Interactive line, which owns Utah-based Avalanche Software and Fall Line Studios, will be expanding both studios. Avalanche was acquired in 2005, and Fall Line was created as a “sister studio” in 2006 to take advantage of the new opportunities afforded by the success of the Wii and DS.

The article focuses on the growth and job opportunities for locals, but the implicit meaning here highlights Disney’s expansion into the industry as a whole. While the company has strictly stayed in the land of licensed titles (basically marketing tie-ins to established franchises like Kim Possible, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc.), we can always dream that the expansion could result in better, more original games. Remember Aladdin on the Genesis?

Read [SLC Tribune]

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It always is both humorous and enlightening to visit a major retailer and discover what games they decide are appropriate for girls. In the case of Toys R Us the selection can be viewed from the comfort of your home. This takes away some of the fun of mocking the titles with friends, but also provides a better chance to display the sad truth of what retailers sort into the girl’s categories.

To begin with, nearly all of the games Toys R Us has listed in the section feature some combination of horrible graphics, lackluster soundtracks and uninspired stories. There are few original properties here with challenging gameplay. Instead shoppers enter the land of Barbie and Disney, with titles like Hannah Montana: Spotlight World Tour, Zoey 101, Barbie Island Princess, Bratz the Movie, Dora the Explorer: Animal Adventure and Disney Princess: Magical Jewels. I had the misfortune of trying a Disney Princess game once, and I still have recurring nightmares of being trapped and surrounded by talking chipmunks, frantically holding the ‘B’ button down while moving in an attempt to run.

Also, the section suggests that girls only own, or have access to, a DS, Wii, PS2 or PC. There is only one Xbox title in the entire section - DDR Ultramix 2. Apparently PS3s and Xbox 360s are too complicated for young girls, or at least the offerings displayed hint at that. While there are few PS3 titles available, there certainly have to be at least one or two appropriate Xbox 360 titles.

The idea of a separate section of video games for girls isn’t a bad idea, but perhaps a major retailer like Toys R Us should take a closer look at what they’re recommending. Rather than just herding the latest Disney or Barbie games into one section, they should make an attempt to look at recent releases and have a wider selection of games. Perhaps include some girl power titles like Super Princess Peach, Touch Detective 2 1/2 and Pokemon Diamond/Pearl tossed in to balance things out a bit.

Read [girl_gamers] Site [Toys R Us]

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Bob Iger, CEO of Walt Disney Co. has revealed plans for the company to try and grab a bigger piece of the video game pie.

Walt Disney Co. plans to transition its tried and true method for developing its music devision, which is reported to produce $100,000,000 in annual income, to the video game industry. The New York Postreports that, “In games, Disney has visions of even bigger dollars. Disney has been steadily increasing its spending on video game development, rising from around $100 million in 2006 to a projected $175 million in 2008. Within five years Disney reportedly is looking to spend as much as $350 million.”

Iger is reported to have told investors, “We intend to use [a multi-platform approach] to do exactly what we did in the music business to our video games business, but on a much larger scale.” And with the successes of the High School Musical and Hannah Montana soundtracks, this move could shape up to be big.

It is clear that the Disney CEO believes so. In 2007, Disney acquired several game studios and shipped 20 million published and licensed games. In regards to the Disney giant’s ability to enter the video game market Iger commented:

“We are a publishing company on the outside of the video games business. But where they [other companies] may not have a cable channel, or a movie company, or even a record business, or a radio business, or online - we have all of those. We intend to use them fully.”

I’d say they’ll be a major player. I just hope they don’t ship a bunch of low quality games as has been the trend in the past.

Via [New York Post]

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Nintendo DS Disney gamers will be able to interact with one another via DGamer, to launch in North America in May 2008, Disney Interactive Studios announced today at E3 2007 (July 12, 2007). DGamer uses the DS’s wi-fi connection and the DGamer Channel on Disney.com to allow players to chat, make friends, trade items and vote in polls. They can also create a personal avatar, view their friends’ high scores and vote in polls.

DGamer will first appear in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Spectrobes II and Hannah Montana 3. In each of these games, players can customize their…

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