Gamertell

Comic-Con 2008 started off (July 24, 2008) with a bang as Will Wright took to the podium to deliver his keynote. Wright is the mastermind behind The Sims games and the soon to be released Spore.

During his speech, Wright talked a lot about what personally interests him. Given the nature of Spore there’s no surprise he’s into such things as aliens and the novel/film 2001: A Space Odyssey. Apparently he felt right at home with his fellow otaku offering detailed insights on why videogames should be considered art. Wright sees newer kinds of media to be the scorn of older media forms. They all take on a process that eventually ends up as being a way for one to artistically express oneself. In a way, that is what he was gunning for with Spore.

Click through for the highlights from Will Wright’s keynote speech…

MORE »

The San Diego Comic-Con is looking sweeter by the moment. Brainy game designer Will Wright (The Sims, Spore) will be making the opening day speech at his very first appearance at the event.

Wright will speak this Thursday (July 24, 2008) from 11:30 a.m.  to 12:30 p.m. in room 6CDEF, about his upcoming opus Spore and the MashON Spore Comic Book Creator, which allows players to take their Spore creature and…

MORE »

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.

• Repricing of select Greatest Hits PS3 games starts this week
• Big fat PAX 2008 recap
• Nintendo announces a ton of Wii games for 2008, 2009

Yeah, it’s a bit of a weird choice for a videogame keynote address, but Texas Gov. Rick Perry took the stage and talked today (9:15 a.m. PT, July 16, 2008) at E3 2008.

In his defense, Perry was pretty gushing about the videogame industry in a recent interview with the San Antonio Express-News, giving kind words to the money making power of the industry and expanding demographics of games.

According to the GamePolitics Live Blog (via Twitter so don’t blame me for the clicking), there were approximately 50 people who attended Perry’s keynote. That’s a pretty small crowd for a politician’s speech but likely because he’s not a name in the game industry and there are so many games to play at the Expo.

Even so, here’s bullet point style recap of Perry’s rather upbeat keynote…

MORE »

FROM APPLETELL - Brian Greenstone of Pangea Software announced two games for the iPhone at the WWDC keynote today. Already favorites on the Mac, Enigmo and Cro-Mag Rally will both be available for $9.99 each.
MORE »

During the Game Developers Conference, Microsoft announced a new video game sharing feature for Xbox Live that will allow gamers to play and rate community developed games. They can also share theses games with any of their Xbox Live friends.

Microsoft believes that the new “open distribution” service will be a boon for community game development, allowing any level developers to almost instantly reach 10 million Xbox Live users. With the announcement of this new service, seven games created using XNA Game Studio 2.0 have already been announced…

MORE »

Microsoft has had a forgettable start to the year with the Xbox 360 finishing third for the first time on US sales charts in January 2008. The news of Blu-ray triumphing in the HD format war has only aggravated its woes, although it is putting up a brave pretense. But at the Game Developers Conference, Microsoft gave itself a few reasons to cheer by announcing a stellar games lineup, which includes the much awaited Gears of War 2, Fable 2, Ninja Gaiden 2 and Too Human.

Cliff Bleszinski, the lead designer at Epic Games, took center stage just as…

MORE »

So Bill Gates gave his final CES keynote address yesterday at CES (January 6, 2008). I still contend he’ll be back in some form, likely in 5-10 years with another keynote and charging a hefty speaker fee (a la President Ronald Regan’s $1+ million per appearance).

Gaming wasn’t tops on his list of stuff to chat about, but he did spend several minutes with the Xbox 360 (and in terms of Billy-G’s income, that’s about $1600 per minute).

From the Gadgetell Live Blog of the keynote:

10:25 PM: “In the US, the Xbox business is in a ‘very, very good place.‘ I’m excited to announce tonight that we have passed the 10 million user mark on Xbox Live. We’re brining ABC shows to Xbox Live, and expanding the video content available. In addition, MGM Studios is putting content on Xbox Live as well.“

He did make mention if IPTV which is the biggest Xbox 360 news from CES so far.

The IPTV will IPTV be available through the console Christmas 2008. According to Engadget, the IPTV service will include live streaming broadcasts and record a show while you play a game. During his keynote, he flipped between gaming and TV. No word on the cost or whether or not you’ll be able to record your game.

Gates also mentioned an HD-DVD player add-on for Xbox 360, though that’s not really that new unless, of course, it turns out to be an internal device.

Read [Gadgetell]  Also Read [Engadget and Engadget]

• Walmart’s Cyber Monday 2008 video game deals
• Configure your BMW on a Microsoft Surface
• New details about the Jasper-chipped, Red Ring of Death-free Xbox 360s

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]

• Walmart’s Cyber Monday 2008 video game deals
• Configure your BMW on a Microsoft Surface
• Amazon’s Thanksgiving weekend, Cyber Monday 2008 game deals

Check out the gallery: Gadgetell's Live Blog of Bill Gates' final CES keynote

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]

• Configure your BMW on a Microsoft Surface
• Amazon’s Thanksgiving weekend, Cyber Monday 2008 game deals
• Walmart’s Cyber Monday 2008 video game deals