Games Blog

ONE: Who's Next running on a Nokia N93

2006-05-19T11:17:00.000+03:00

This is a fighting game called ONE: Who's Next running in real time on a Nokia N93. It's more like a technological demo. I'm not sure how playable it can be on a mobile phone keyboard. Looks like a mix of GTA3 and Tekken.

Hip-Hop celebrity 50 Cent speaks about Bulletproof at E3

2006-05-14T10:03:00.000+03:00

Those at the GameSHOUT had the opportunity of an exclusive interview with Hip-Hop celebrity 50 Cent. The main subject, as it was expected, was about his latest Bulletproof gaming project, which fortunately for the star has sold over 2 million copies. The video game '50 Cent: Bulletproof' is for the Sony PSP (PlayStation Portable), Sony PS2 (PlayStation 2), and for the Microsoft Xbox.

According to the interview, video games and music make a great team as the game '50 Cent: Bulletproof' will feature not only 50 Cent and G Unit’s Tony Yayo, Lloyd Banks and Young Buck, as well as Eminem and Dr. Dre, who will be making their debuts as the characters "McVicar" and "Grizz."

At some point GameSHOUT asked Hip-Hop celebrity 50 Cent - probable what we all ask ourselves - what was it like seeing himself in a video game and as a answer 50 Cent said that its exciting because for him gaming is different, thanks of its hours of playing over and over again.

Waiting Line for Nintendo Wii @ E3

2006-05-12T10:55:00.000+03:00

It's amazing but all this people here are waiting just to play a few minutes with the upcoming Nintendo Wii!

Paris Hilton at E3 to promote ‘Paris Hilton’s Jewel Jam’ video game

2006-05-12T10:20:00.000+03:00

As it was announced, Paris Hilton appeared on May 11 at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in the Los Angeles Convention Center, in order to introduce her mobile phones game, ‘Paris Hilton’s Jewel Jam’. Not long ago Paris Hilton Entertainment Inc. signed a deal with video game maker Gameloft to develop and produce a series of mobile phones featuring the Hilton heiress.

At E3, Paris Hilton came, as usually, late to unveiled her new video game which she called it ‘Diamondquest’. Yes, it wasn't her best day saying the wrong name of her game among fans and photographers. Flying with a green mini-dress and with the boobs half out, Paris Hilton 'advised them' to download the game, although ‘Paris Hilton’s Jewel Jam’ which can be played on a cell phone, will be available this summer.

Sorry I’m late. I’m really excited to have my new video game, ‘Diamondquest.’ Thank you all for coming, and you can download the game.
- said Paris Hilton -

World of Warcraft turned into movie

2006-05-11T13:45:00.000+03:00

Good news on games filed, more exactly for the fans of the game World of Warcraft, because Blizzard Entertainment Inc. has negotiated a deal with Legendary Pictures concerning the feature film development of Blizzard's popular "Warcraft" games. World of Warcraft is just one of the popular game titles being turned into movies and its official site will be keeping their fans and players updated on the progress whenever possible.

Unlike other video games, Warcraft's hard part has already been done for the writers of the screenplay: the history of the world, the creature designs, and even many of the main characters have already been created in detail. However, we have to admit that Legendary Pictures did a wonderful job with Batman Begins and Superman Returns, it shouldn't be too hard to make this good game, a good movie also.

Sony uses PS3 for Blu-Ray, not for better Games

2006-05-10T21:00:00.000+03:00

Much hype is floating about the next generation gaming consoles around the internet. Will Playstation 3 take the lead? Will Xbox 360 do better? Such questions are being debated in all the major forums and blogs of the world. At this point of time can Sony afford to loose its fans? Can Sony take the chance of increasing the prices due to reasons which may not benefit the majority of its crowd? Well, that is what is happening. Sony is planning to release the Playstation 3 with support for Blu-Ray format DVDs. Though some argue that like other brands Sony too is planning an unique feature to its console, but is it at the expensive of loosing its fans!

It is most definite that as of now games won't benefit from Blu-Ray DVDs. Though larger amounts of data would be loaded on a single DVD, it hardly matters as one or two DVDs is anyways the maximum any game would require. The Blu-Ray does have a substantial edge over the consoles in the sense of its future security and ability to support a variety of DVDs. However Sony must realize that in a price sensitive market where profits are anyways cut-throat it can't afford chances with something which isn't fully cooked. It would be a much better idea to provide Blu-Ray DVD compatibility in future models of the console, when they would have greater need.

As of now Sony should focus on providing better graphics and physics for its games. After all who cares what DVD format the game is in, the graphics is the first thing considered by all followed by physics units. Moreover it would be a good idea to consider a price reduction as well as that can help rocket sales.

Whatever Sony may say, Blu-Rays are not going to play or make better games, at least not in the near future!

Lucas Arts moves in video games area

2006-05-10T18:42:00.000+03:00

Lucas Arts new game is about to challenge reality. It is said that Lucas Arts had lost some of its skills involved in making games but the new released Lego Star Wars tries to prove that a new tendency has appeared in the industry of games. Although this company seems to be interested in applying success stories and movies in the produced games, the tradition regarding success stories is kept. Lucas Arts is not exclusively a Star Wars game publisher, but they are intending to release a new game with a title frame belonging somewhere between the ending of Episode III and including also some elements from the beginning of Episode IV. It seems that the new released game will be available for PC but also for Xbox. So gamers from all over the world, let's challenge again the reality.

Xbox 360 also for blogging

2006-05-07T21:58:00.000+03:00

For those who have a passion for gaming and blogging, can now combine them with the help of XboxVoice.com which can give your Xbox 360 the ability to blog all by itself. It seems you enter your gamertag at the site, and based on what you do on Xbox Live, Xbox360voice will automatically create a blog for your Xbox 360. Not only that each day your Xbox 360 will blog an entry, even if you don’t game, but you can also subscribe to an RSS feed to your own, and others Xbox 360's blogs.

Reservoir Dogs to be made video game

2006-05-07T21:49:00.000+03:00

The movies turning into video games or vice versa, are more and more in fashion. It seems even Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs is to be made into a computer game for the Xbox, PlayStation 2 and PC.

According to the news the video game, which will follow the original plot of the movie 'Reservoir Dogs' and will also feature the full soundtrack from the movie, is set to be released this autumn. Gaming and movie fans will follow the progress of a diamond heist and enabling the player to take on each of the five iconic Reservoir Dogs characters.

Sony cuts price of PlayStation 2 to $129.99

2006-04-25T11:10:00.000+03:00

Sony announced that they've reduced the retail price for the PlayStation 2 from $149.99 to $129.99. PlayStation 2 new price will be most for those who want to save money, because Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony and Nintendo will launch their next-generation consoles this year, making it real expensive for gamers.

PlayStation 2 is the most popular gaming platform in North America, Europe/PAL territories and Japan/Asia, with more than 101 million PlayStation 2 units and approximately one billion pieces of software for the PlayStation 2 have taken worldwide, making it the fastest-selling gaming platform in the world.

Over 260,000 daily users for Nintendo DS : Wi-Fi Connection

2006-04-25T10:41:00.000+03:00

According to Revogaming.net, which has a great report about the incredible success of the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, 264,400 unique users are logging onto the Wifi Connection every day, and usually receives above 300,000 users on weekends.

Company's own website, at www.nintendowifi.com, displays a chart for each of its games, as well as an overall chart, showing how many people are logging on each day for the previous two weeks. In less than four months, the Nintendo WiFi Connection service, which offers free online multiplayer for a host of Nintendo DS games, has over a million unique users.

Here is the list of how each game performs:

Animal Crossing: Wild World 116,901 (44.2% of total)
Metroid Prime: Hunters 70,954 (26.8% of total)
Mario Kart DS 59,544 (22.5% of total)
Tetris DS 15,842 (6% of total)
Tony Hawk: American Sk8land 1,159 (0.4% of total)

Sony PSP to update Firmware v2.7

2006-04-25T10:15:00.000+03:00

Its official, Sony has announced firmware update, v2.7, to owners of its PSP game, unfortunately only for Japanese PSPs starting today. The update includes support for Macromedia Flash 6 for the PSP web browser and will also include additional support for Apple's AAC music format, as well as the ability to save podcasts directly to the PSP's memory stick. But most important the update allows users to select both Simplified and Traditional Chinese as the PSP's native language.

ABC to launch ‘Lost’ game

2006-04-25T09:14:00.000+03:00

According to TV.com, ABC will be launching a massive interactive game based on its hit series Lost. The game "The Lost Experience", which will also feature new characters, is set to become the largest interactive game ever based on a TV show.

Although the story of the game will be different from the one seen in the show and users will have to watch the show for clues and other information for the game, the network hopes that the game will appeal to both fans and non-fans of the TV show.

ABC is hoping that teaming will bring the "The Lost Experience" to continents, each part of the world will be receiving different clues.

Microsoft to upgrade Xbox 360 CPU

2006-04-24T22:12:00.000+03:00

Microsoft Corp. said has signed an agreement with Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing of California for upgrading CPU (Central Processing Unit) products for Microsoft's Xbox 360 game consoles. Chartered will upgrade the CPU used for Xbox 360 games console early next year. Technical specifications of the new chip have not been announced. However, Chartered said that the CPU will also be based on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology.
Currently, the chip is made on a 90nm process. However, IBM has announced that it is rolling out 65nm processes making the 360 processor smaller and more efficient, meaning it should produce less heat.

Japan Nintendo DS sales over Sony PS2 / PSP

2006-04-24T20:53:00.000+03:00

Nintendo DS is phenomenal in Japan, which continues to grow in sales against Sony PS2 , PSP hardware. The Nintendo DS Lite sold 140,969 units from Apr. 10 – 16, reported Media Create Co.. While the former Nintendo DS model sold 37,204 units for a total of 178,173 DS hardware units sold that week. On the other side, Sony's PS2 console sold 27,549 units and PSP sold 26,340 units in the same period.
Lets not forget that Nintendo is having success also with Brain Training, Animal Crossing, and Nintendogs for the Nintendo DS.

Microsoft to sponsor World Cyber Games

2006-04-19T22:45:00.000+03:00

The WCG announced that Microsoft will be the sponsor of the annual World Cyber Games for the next three years. Although Microsoft will be a primary game sponsor, Samsung Electronics will remain the official worldwide sponsor of the WCG.

Beside the fact that, only one game selected for this year's WCG ("Project Gotham Racing 3") is a Microsoft product, all PC games will be played on the Windows operating system, and all console games will be played on the Xbox 360. The deal will also let Microsoft providing software and hardware for all the WCG events, including both the U.S. and World Championships.

More women play games then men

2006-04-19T22:10:00.000+03:00

According to the New York Times' study, 65% of women between 25 and 34 years old and only 35% of men in that same age are playing video games. However there is a big difference because while women choose to play so-called "casual games" found on Pogo.com, MSN.com, or Yahoo.com, men chooses portable players or consoles for playing games.

With different gaming preferences, many people believe it's because women wants less competitive and complicated games because features violence - the games that men enjoyed.

Superman Returns: The Videogame Voice Cast

2006-04-19T12:15:00.000+03:00

EA and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment have announced that Superman Returns: The Videogame will be voiced by the cast of the upcoming film. The game will launch with the film on June 28, and feature the voice and likeness of Brandon Routh (staring as Superman / Clark Kent), Kevin Spacey (as Lex Luthor), Kate Bosworth (Lois Lane), Parker Posey (Kitty Kowalski), and Sam Huntington (Jimmy Olsen).

Superman Returns: The Videogame will be based on the movie and the game is being developed by EA for release on the Xbox 360.

Gameloft making Paris Hilton mobile game

2006-04-19T11:58:00.000+03:00

Gameloft announced that it has signed a long term licensing agreement with Paris Hilton Entertainment Inc. Paris Hilton is set to become a gaming icon following deal with Gameloft to develop and produce a series of mobile phones featuring the Hilton heiress. Mobile phone gamers fans of Paris Hilton will be able to have the new game when it launches this summer.

Mobile games based on such a significant personality as Paris Hilton will be an excellent addition to our diverse slate of games.
- said president of Gameloft -

PlayStation 3 not for public at E3 Presentation

2006-04-15T09:22:00.000+03:00

It seems that Sony has no desire to change its strategy for E3 presentations. Sony Computer Entertainment America said us that the PlayStation 3 would be in playable form at E3. However, company officials stated that a massive open floorplan packed with hands-on units was not part of the plan. According to Bowling, the press will be able to see everything in Sony’s schedule. As for the fans, they’re going to play on the new console if they prove to be patient enough.

Advertising in online game Project Entropia

2006-04-12T07:26:00.000+03:00

Although the virtual world Project Entropia has only 400,000 registered users, the publisher of online science-fiction game is giving players the tools to put up their own advertising in the game and to create almost anything they want. With a sophisticated economic model, the game, created by MindArk PE AB of Sweden, features advertising billboards. Players can create animated ads and buy time on the billboards, through a PowerPoint-like system but also having the possibility of promoting in-game events like fashion shows and hunting competitions, as well as businesses like stores and hunting grounds, said Marco Behrmann, MindArk's directory of player relations.

Meanwhile in more than 100 games, ads like The Coca Cola Co. and Warner Bros., distributed by Massive will show up on billboards in Project Entropia.

Lara Croft Videogame Gets World Record

2006-04-10T22:08:00.000+03:00

Angelina Jolie's digital alter-ego Lara Croft has been awarded a Guinness World Record as the Most Successful Human Videogame Heroine. During the past ten years the archaeologist heroine appeared on the cover of over 200 magazine covers and sold over 28 million videogames.

Lara has been recognised as "transcending the boundaries of videogames and becoming a recognisable figure in mainstream society". The new videogame 'Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend' which features the voice of 'Spooks' actress Keeley Hawes as Lara, will be on the PSP and Xbox 360 consoles alongside other videogame formats.

Nintendo DS and DS Lite to Dominate Japan

2006-04-10T10:08:00.000+03:00

Nintendo DS once again topped the video game market in Japan for the month of March. Strong sales of both the original DS and DS Lite along with the software boost the Japanese game industry. The new figures from publisher Enterbrain show that the DS and its new version the DS Lite have sold a combined 560,000 units in March—380,000 of those sales were for the DS Lite. This DS total was actually higher than sales of Sony's PS2 and PSP combined.

Not only did the strong performance of the Nintendo DS help Nintendo to reach its highest annual profit in four years, but it also boosted the total hardware market in Japan by 48.5 percent over March 2005. The DS was represented in the top software sales with six titles in the top ten. Even though it's been out for five months, Nintendo's Animal Crossing: Wild World for DS managed to place second on the chart with 2 million units sold in March.

Nintendo to release 'Brain Game' in Europe and US

2006-04-07T11:15:00.000+03:00

Nintendo is to release its popular game 'Brain Age' in Europe and the US. The US version will go on sale April 17 while sales in Europe - where the game will be sold in English, German, French, Italian, Spanish and Dutch versions - are planned to begin in June, according to the spokesman. In Japan, Nintendo has sold two million copies of 'Brain Age' and another 1.9 million of 'Brain Age 2'. Made to be played on Nintendo's portable DS console, 'Brain Game' features math problems, memory exercises and brain teasers to improve the mind.

Michigan violent games law struck down

2006-04-07T10:05:00.000+03:00

A Michigan State law, which would have restricted the sale of violent games to minors, has been struck down of a court for being against the US Constitution. The law, which was signed by Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, was aimed at protecting children from playing violent games like Grand Theft Auto. (Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas unlocked a hidden sex minigame which critics like Hilary Clinton pointed how inappropriate some games can be for minors.)

The move was opposed by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), representing the computer and video games industry, which applied for a permanent injunction against the law. Michigan’s argument was that because video games were interactive they were less entitled to protection under the First Amendment which guaranteed free speech.

PlayStation 3 European pricing revealed

2006-04-07T09:15:00.000+03:00

In a radio interview, one of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe's top executives had said that the PlayStation 3 would be priced in the $600-plus range, according to French source of the comments not American source who translate it that the PlayStation 3 would cost below $500. However, Sony has made no official announcement of PlayStation 3 pricing.

Fornay said that PlayStation 3 price should be seen as inexpensive considering the fact that the console will also play Blu-ray movies. The executive also confirmed that Sony would be going for a simultaneous launch of the console in November of this year.

North America release of Mario Bros and Nintendo DS Lite

2006-04-07T08:07:00.000+03:00

Nintendo officially pushes the Mario Bros game to May 21th for North America, although there are some rumors that say it will be on May 15the. According to Nintendo’s official Mario website, the North American release date of the hugely anticipated New Super Mario Bros falls around the same time the new DS Lite is set to be released in North America. With the E3 starting on May 9 and then the new DS Lite and Super Mario Bros game (one of the DS' biggest games of the year) to be released a few weeks later.

Mario stamps in Japan

2006-04-07T07:56:00.000+03:00

In Japan you can now pre-order a 10-stamp sheet of 80-yen stamps with Mario and assorted characters all over them. Althought they're due out next month, for those interested can find pre-order auctions up on eBay.

Meanwhile, Japan's demand is still very strong, having sold nearly 120,000 units just over two weeks ago. Nintendo's financial noted that the company had to sell units intended for export to meet Japanese demand.

Toshiba First Gaming Laptop

2006-04-05T12:27:00.000+03:00

Toshiba launched the gaming laptop market with its Satellite P105-S921 notebook powered by an Intel Core Duo T2400 (1.83GHz) processor. Screen sizes will vary from 14.1" to 15.4", and go up to 17" in the desktop replacement models, none of them, will have integrated TV tuners, nor options for USB ones. The P105-S921 include a 160GB hard drive, a DVI-D output port, and a 1GB of RAM and also Dual Mode Touchpad that embeds illuminated icons.

Toshiba is the first company to unveil nVidia's latest GeForce Go 7900 GS 3D graphics chip. This privilege supposed to be for Dell, who, is also set to reveal an Nvidia-powered XPS notebook this month.

With the price tag $1999, it's not exactly the lightest notebook on the market at 7.2 pounds, but with such impressive features, it was never intended to be.

Sony Playstation3 will be region free for games

2006-04-02T22:34:00.000+03:00

Sony's PlayStation DVD games are finally going to be free, according to our CNET sister site in the U.K. The multiregion approach makes DVDs usable by anyone in the world. Games are cheap on eBay, but the new multiregion setting will make PS3 games truly portable throughout the world, and of course that will have a dramatic affect on the prices for used games.

Microsoft also chose to release some Xbox 360 games as region-free. However, the software vendors that created the games got to choose if they wanted the games restricted to specific regions or not.

Adults spend more time gaming than teens

2006-04-02T21:54:00.000+03:00

According to a recent study by Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) the adults spend more time playing games than teens. The CEA Study sees that adults will buy 19 million Next Generation consoles the first year. The study also reveals a substantial number of adult gamers, particularly those within the 25-34 age range, are interested in creating a dedicated gaming room. However, the survey results also suggest female gamers outnumber male gamers in the 25-34 age category due to high rate of online games.

Sony PlayStation 3: Controller Redesign

2006-04-02T21:30:00.000+03:00

At the GDC 06 in San Jose, Sony's president of the Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios division Phil Harrison announced that the upcoming PlayStation 3 controller boomerang will be unveiled at E3 in May, mentioning in a speech that was mainly about the Xbox Live-like PlayStation Network Platform.

Sony will launch the PS3 early November, which is more accurate than the earlier announced November release date. The Sony Online network will also focus for the PS3 to distribute movie and music content onto the PS3.

SEGA Game: Desert Bus

2006-04-01T11:48:00.000+03:00

11 years after the planned Waxy.org has posted a torrent download of a SEGA game called Desert Bus (810MB) originally developed in 1995 by Absolute Entertainment with the assistance of magical funnymen, Penn and Teller.

Desert Bus is the worst game ever made by Sega, the players says there is no scenery or even other cars on the road, just plain desert, for 8 hours. To beat Desert Bus you have to be patient enough because the game will take a road trip across the desert from Tucson, Arizona to Las Vegas on an 8 hour a journey at least... in real time.

Free Xbox Live Gold Weekend

2006-03-31T10:26:00.000+03:00

According to the news, Microsoft will offer free access to its Xbox Live Gold service from March 31 through April 2, and anyone with an Xbox 360 and broadband Internet connection may play multiplayer games for free via Xbox Live. Normally, online multiplpayer functionality is reserved only for Gold-level subscribers, who will get more features: enhanced gamer feedback, better friends list management, access to more sophisticated online game play and more.

The Verizon sponsored Free Xbox Live Gold Weekend and will feature 72 hours of nonstop events, being the largest programming effort of online Xbox multiplayer games ever.