Say what you will about the terrible anime series or the potential animal cruelty factor of a game that is basically a non-stop onslaught of cock-fights, Pokemon was one of if not the most influential game of Nintendo's portable game strategy. 

Apparently created by a fan collective, Pokemon Online is a completely non-Nintendo project that aims to turn the Pokemon universe into a working MMORPG complete with quests, an open world, and opf course a great deal of pokemon fighting.

Taping into the most interesting, if basic aspects of the Pokemon games, this could prove an interestijng template for Nintendo to pay attention to--could the future of Pokemon reside in the MMO genre, and if so can Nintendo match fan expectations?

So much stuff.

Weeks like this, the hardest part isn't finding the news, it's elevating the cool from the merely exciting.  Major announcements left and right, gargantuan displays of corporate might, spectacular screwups.

More after the break...

Continue reading "Josh Talks The News"

If tech-types have a national pasttime, forgoing activities like football and baseball that take us away from our screens, it's speculating on what Apple might do next.

So it's no surprise that, given the intense attention being given to game consoles, someone would opine that the House that Steve Jobs Built might be thinking about throwing its hat into the gaming ring.

Prudential Financial analyst Jesse Tortora did just that Monday, according to an article reported at AppleInsider.com.

Tortora says he believes Apple is already working its busy little noggins on how to capture some of the gaming market, given that the company has recently announced that it will make video games available on iPods via the iTunes Store.

From the article:

"The game console device could be morphed out of some combination of the MacMini and iTV, while the handheld player could be developed as an enhancement to a future version of the widescreen iPod," the analyst explained.

Question is whether the market is already oversaturated. If a handheld device, Apple would have a hard time wresting the market share from the Nintendo DS. If a home console, its arch-rival Microsoft pretty much owns that game, with Sony and Nintendo already biting at its heels.

The pervasiveness of the iTunes Store and Apple's history of slick, efficient electronic devices does give Apple a distinct advantage over any other new contender thinking of entering the field, but would it be enough?

Of course, this is all speculation by one analyst. It also could be a crock of bull.

[From AppleInsider]

This story hasn't made much of the general news, yet.

I say "yet" because it's only a matter of time until it gets turned into a set of brass knuckes with which the gaming industry will be pummelled by the anti-gaming lobby.

Researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis recently undertook a study wherein they hooked up 44 adolescents ranging in age from 13 to 17 to a magnetic brain imaging system. They were then put in separate groups: Some played the teen-rated shooter Medal of Honor: Frontline and others played driving game Need for Speed: Underground.

What did they find? How will it become the new ammo for the anti-gaming lobby?

I'll tell ya after the jump...

Continue reading "Anti-Gaming Lobby Gets New Ammo"

Microsoft is worried, ladies and gents. Worried that people in Europe and America are getting things that they just shouldn't have. A fully fledged and quite well-stocked media marketplace simply should not be in the hands of the Europeans! And a demo (which is actually rather good) of Rainbow Six: Vegas should by no means be played by people in America before those in Europe!

In case you were unaware, you can become one of the chosen millions with access to this or that piece of content simply by creating an Xbox Live Silver account in another country. People based in the UK, for example, may want a US account to download South Park or some such show.

However, up to this point, it's all been above board with MS, who hadn't really spoken up about said problem. According to German site Xbox Archiv, a confidential plan was leaked to them, presumably via Microsoft. It has taken down the article since, and attempts to contact Microsoft's UK representative have been met with a stern "no comment."
While some people are put off by this account hogging (Gamertags are bloody hard to come by, though I think I had a lucky break with Refridgeron), it's more about contractual details between Microsoft and, say, Comedy Central. I think Eurogamer said it simplest.

Via Eurogamer

So, of the 37 people I know who acquired a PS3 today (in some form or another), only three of them purchased with the intention of keeping them.

Where do the rest go? Ebay.

At the time of this writing, there were 13,490 new PS3 auctions currently up (and 23 used), and that number is going up by the minute

I'll admit it, I had a PS3 preorder that I've since picked up and tossed onto the EBay stack, and in doing that I gotta tell ya -- I wonder if there enough demand to support this insanity.

Even more odd, the image I've attached with this post was pulled from EBay almost immediately after I grabbed it to be replaced with a faux-gold cell phone. Does EBay know something we don't?

And here's the real question: With the majority of Playstation launch titles getting rated as "meh" or lower (the notable exception being Resistance, which is getting nines), and with the supply the way it is, do we really think there are 15,000 people out there who WANT a PS3 and don't already have it?

I really don't know.

This is extremely funny. Kotaku has posted up a rumor about how Best Buy is repositioning its store around to make the customer have a very easy time picking up his/her PS3/Wii along with accessories. The launches will be days apart, but the routine will be the same. Basically, this is how it'll go.

1. Customer enters store
2. Customer reaches front of line queue
3-5. Customer seeks end to end solution
Software table - All PS3/Wii software titles
Accessories table - All PS3/Wii accessories
Services table - Geek Squad, PRP, GamePro, GameFly
6. Customer trades ticket for hardware unit
7. Customer pays for everything
8. Customer exits

Funny. Personally, I don't like launches of any kind because it requires too much effort to get something that, in a few weeks, won't mean so much to me. That, and the prices are not low enough for me to justify buying anything. I like to wait.

I spent the better part of the day clearing out some old boxes of junk in the garage, and coming across some of my older gaming stuff I noticed something that often isn't associated with modern gaming any more:  paper manuals that are almost as interesting as the games themselves.

Continue reading "The sad slow death of the manual"

Gamespot reports:

"The trademark, filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office on June 29, is littered with selected keywords and phrases used to describe the company's new endeavor. Among the trademark's listed descriptions are "video game controller in the form of an electronic toy guitar, sold as a unit," "stand alone electronic game machines with electronic toy guitars," and "coin-operated video games.""

As a Guitar Hero freak, I'd actually love to see a competitor on the market. Sure, it'll be another $70-$80 game with another weird contoller, but it's always nice to have alternatives (not that I'm leaving GH or GH2 behind anytime soon). Here's hoping Konami doesn't pull a "Karaoke Revolution" with this one and just totally screw it up or make it an arcade-only game.
While we're on the subject, though, how about some suggestions as to what Konami should add and/or take out of the Guitar Hero formula for Guitar Revolution? I'd love to be able to do string bends and pick slides just like I do on my real guitar, and it's not too far-fetched for Konami to throw those features into a controller. Also, give us some of that crazy Japanese rock, Konami - we can handle it, and some rythym/music game enthusiasts (me) are tired of you "Americanizing" your US ports too much.
What are your suggestions, dear readers? Leave them in the comments section and maybe we'll have some of our ideas put in the game (right after pigs start sprouting wings and flying).

Game ON!
-Matt

Xbox-Scene Reports:

"We received this image from a source who wishes to remain anonymous. An Xbox 360 motherboard with a HDMI-port, interesting... Our source has seen 3 of these motherboards already, so it looks like Microsoft might prepare a new Xbox 360 version with a HDMI-port... A digital output would certainly come as good news for those out there with new HDTV-sets and it could be pretty useful for the HD-DVD addon too, certainly if those movies will ever be HDCP-protected. However people who already paid $400 for their 360 might feel less happy if Microsoft releases this soon."

Speculation and technical discussion after the jump.

Continue reading "New 360s With HDMI Coming Soon?"