It's the end of January, and all across the country (Japan as well) playstation 3's are sitting on store shelves.   What do you think Sony is thinking?   Lets be clear here, Sony is very much guilty of having some of the worst PR on the planet, but ultimately do you think they're even capable of recovering from their current position?    With exclusive deals dropping left and right, a higher price point (that grows even more if you're European) I think its important for we as gamers to ask ourselves what makes a console worth purchasing?

Are the games there?  No.   But even so, Sony has managed to sell a fair number (around 600k).   I have my theories though...

With as eccentric as we gamers are, I suspect the fault lies with this guy ... From what I'm told, he has three ps3's and you don't have any cake.

Well, scratch that last part.  But Ryan Payton's blog is real, and he is a real developer at The House That Snake Built.  Swimming amongst a sea of Japanese script, Ryan's blog shows perhaps that even unexpected parties are starting to warm up to the idea of fan interaction in the vein of Major Nelson and David Jaffe (who until recently had his own public blog).

Unabashedly an attempt to put a familiar American face on a very Japanese company, Ryan's first entry claims that he will address primarily issues such as life at the studio and other topics of interest like the Seattle Seahawks, life in Japan, and the general minutae of working for one of the most fmous game studios in Japan.

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...

Here’s a list of the more prominent titles shown at the Vista-centric Games For Windows event that took place in San Francisco this Monday.

Age of Conan
Shadowrun
Supreme Commander
World In Conflict
Hellgate: London
Crysis

I’m not mentioning the others, mostly because they are already released or alternatively, are minor puzzle games.  Browser entertainment stuff for the most part, like the new Vista version of Geometry Wars.  And of course, there were some systems just running Vista on its own, inviting users to take a few minutes to examine some of the new non-gaming features.

With the public launch of Vista steadily approaching (look at that, I said steadily!), one can only wonder if all of the fancy bells and whistles add to the operating system, or merely mask what lies within. It is with that thought process that we bring to you, the dear reader, an in-depth analysis of the operating system and the mysteries that lie within. Some of you might not survive, but for those who do, remember that the fallen gave up so that you might have a better future. And if that doesn't work for you, just consider Darwinism and you're all set.

In all seriousness, the Gamer Andy Lab will be employed to discover how Windows Vista runs on a multitude of setups. From ye olde 386s to a supercomputer with the graphics card of tomorrow, we'll have a performance rating and analysis for your specific rig.

So stay tuned and watch the updates, come Vista you just might find yourself in a sticky situation. And who knows, there might be some sort of giveaway attached as well; that's just how we roll.

Hey all!

Andy here with (finally!) a new episode of Gamer Andy Live!  This is our first episode since switching back to the Recorded format, and yes - I know it's late.   There were some scheduling problems then followed by some editing problems (I'm still getting back into the swing of the recorded shows again) but here it is, and I think the sound quality is pretty good (despite a little echo for the first part) 

To download you can use one of the links below with your favorite podcast/blogcast tool.

According to Japanese site GameBase (here's a poor google translation), Square is planning to add some FFXII characters into the Final Fantasy Tactics title (FFT: The Lion Wars).  This is actually pretty sensible, seeing as FFXII (and for that matter FFXI) are loosely set in the same basic game universe.  Players of FFXII will probably meet at least one FFT:Advanced character during the initial stages of the game, the moogle explorer Montblanc.  FFT:LW will include, at minimum, the character Balthier and it seems likely that a handful of other minor and major characters will manage to show up in some capacity or another.

FFT has always enjoyed some crossover with the other “canon” Final Fantasy games.  Maybe you’ll remember working your ass off to unlock Cloud in Final Fantasy Tactics on the PS1?  The real question worth asking though is this:  is it time for Square to seriously consider putting the entire Final Fantasy franchise into a singular coherent universe?  While there is certainly something to be said for setting each game in its own individual universe, allowing the developers to come up with new gameplay mechanics that don’t damage the experience of other games it has always annoyed me that newly numbered Final Fantasy games have few connecting elements. I would say that in many ways, Final Fantasy games have in some ways gone downhill by being totally separate.

(much) More after the break...

Welcome to another edition of Game Randy: Dubious News, presenting you with the finest in exclusive, breaking stories that might be true but probably aren’t.

Tragedy struck today when a Nintendo press event turned deadly for six attendees.

Nintendo of America President and COO Reggie Fils-Aime hosted a small press conference Wednesay in Los Angeles in which he personally demonstrated unreleased Nintendo software products to a handful of reporters.

Fils-Aime has gained great notoriety since his appointment as NOA President in 2004.  His bold declarations of intent and audacious marketing strategies are seen as representative of the new, maturing face of Nintendo.  Furthermore, his greatly pronounced muscle structure and chiseled build has led many to question why a human behemoth such as himself would take seat in the plodding bureaucracy of an electronic game company.

The event went without incident for nearly an hour until what investigators speculate was a “bit of dust” apparently “caught his nose just right.”  This alleged irritation or a similar factor nonetheless resulted in the explosive reflex.

“It was one hell of a sneeze,” said forensic investigator Kathryn Anderson.  “These past few years of being stifled in the slothly processes of entertainment-sector economics created a surplus of pent-up Reggiramamine in the Manliness Center of his brain.”  A computer-animated recreation was used to crudely illustrate the resulting shockwave.

“This sneeze simply caused a natural expulsion of Reggie Rage,” Anderson continued.  “Those caught in the blast didn’t have a chance.  It’s terribly unfortunate that there were bystanders present, but it really couldn’t be avoided.”

Nintendo has publicly expressed condolences towards the families of the victims.  Special care was taken to remind them that their loved ones’ deaths were not in vain, as they were truly courageous sacrifices in the name of the Glorious Reggielution.

The six journalists in the immediate blast area were killed instantly and are not yet identifiable.  Initial reports estimate that at least a dozen nearby victims have suffered kicked asses, and paramedics have confirmed that as many as four victims have had their names taken.