Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period.
An IGN translation of statements made by Nintendo president Satoru Iwata says there are over 100 games proposed for WiiWare. WiiWare is Nintendo's answer to independent and smaller games development which is becoming more prevalent in the industry. We aren't aware nor have seen too many of these WiiWare games, but expect that to change dramatically in 2008.
But if you think it's easy getting a development kit for the Wii, think again. Those currently creating games for WiiWare have been vetted. To even get a developer kit you must have (or be) a known publisher or have "a name." Even then Nintendo is keeping strict control over development kits. With any luck Nintendo will have a better time getting third-party games sold if people don't actually have to go to retail.
Not a single bad thing will be said about Wing Commander II and edutainment classic Typing of the Dead's addition to GameTap this week. Wing Commander II is a fantastic example of grand storytelling outside of the adventure genre back in the early '90s. Has the game held up purrr-fectly over the years? No. But the Kilrathi as antagonists are still awesome and we pray that someday EA will bring back a real Wing Commander game with the Kilrathi in top form. GameTap also brings Typing of the Dead to subscribers this week, and if in this day and age you still don't know how to type properly, TotD will help you greatly. Typing of the Dead is the ultimate in edutainment -- well, next to Number Munchers. New subscriber games this week are:
Wing Commander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi (PC) - Kittie's got claws. The Kilrathi destroy the TCS Tiger's Claw (the carrier from the first game) and after much backstory it's time to come back and euthanize some evil space cats. A big story and solid gameplay make it sad to see what has happened to the franchise in the last ten years. This is real Wing Commander.
Typing of the Dead (PC) - Demons. Zombies. Creatures. Typing. It's all in there and it works really well. Now we just need that sequel.
F-22 Lightening 3 (PC) - A flight simulator where you pilot an F-22. But why would you do that when you've got space cats and a galaxy to save in Wing Commander?
After the break we have GameTap's updated list of free games. Like we said last week, we're now bolding the new free titles entering rotation. Of course, the week after we say that, it appears the list is identical to last week. No bolding for you. So go ahead and play some Ghosts N' Goblins (not to be confused with Ghouls N' Ghosts which is subscriber only) and finish off Hitman: Codename 47 while you still can for free.
According to website Twitch, Fox Studios pulled the director of the Hitman movie off the project in post-production and will re-edit the film to receive a PG-13 rating. There is no official word yet that this is true, but the story goes director Xavier Gens was yanked off the project because the film he submitted to executives would have guaranteed an R rating. Apparently post-production of the film has now been handed over to Nicolas DeToth, the man who edited the hell out of Live Free or Die Hard to receive a PG-13 rating. Essentially they are turning a hyper-violent (mature?) movie and watering it down for the kids -- if true, there's something wrong in that, on so many levels.
Our friends over at Cinematical put it this way: "See, here's how I know Hollywood is a lunatic bin: Whomever hired Mr. Gens for this job had to know two things: 1) The director's first film -- Frontiere(s) -- is so amazingly and powerfully violent that it almost becomes parody. 2) The video game? You know, the one that this new Hitman movie is BASED ON? It's a pretty damn violent game. Like, really violent." Not only is it violent our Cinematical friends, but the games are all rated Mature, the video game industry's version of an R rating. Oh well, guess we'll just skip the movie in the theater and wait for the unrated version on DVD.
Video game concert series Video Games Live announced 25 new shows across the US today, with a couple in Canada and one in London, England. Tickets are on sale now for most of the shows. The newly designed concert now includes music from Halo 3, BioShock, Conan, and StarCraft II.
A list of venues can be found after the break. If you've never attended a Video Games Live concert it's definitely worth it. Although composers like Beethoven, Mozart and Vivaldi are tired, if Video Games Live plays Chopin from Eternal Sonata does that make him hip again? Hmmm. Anyway, Video Games Live is a recommendable evening of entertainment to attend when it comes to your city.
Valve may have the most deficient understanding of episodic gamingEVAR(!), but they are masters of smoke and mirrors marketing. Valve made us completely lose focus on Half-Life 2: Episode 2 being in The Orange Box (YAY!) by bundling so much gaming goodness in the package, that instead of us cracking jokes about their episodic incompetence, we end up calling The Orange Box the gaming value of the year -- 'cause it is with Half-Life 2, Episodes 1 and 2, Portal and Team Fortress 2. Sure, if you've played Half-Life 2 on your PC it might not be such a fantastic value, but for console owners (minus those that played Half-Life 2 on the original Xbox) this is their first go at HL2 and its episodes.
GameTap(100/100): "If your PC isn't quite up to snuff, the Xbox 360 version is a good substitute. Occasional framerate hitches, plus one minor gaffe with the gamepad (weapon selection) are the only things dragging down the 360 version. That, and it has freaking 99 Achievements spread across all five games. Due to the delay of the PS3 version, we haven't played it yet, but we'll update you when we do."
Team Xbox(96/100): "So, is The Orange Box the best bargain in gaming? While there might be longer games (Oblivion, for example) or games that pack more titles onto a single disc (any of the 'classic' compilations), this is a near-perfect blend of varied games. ... Although this is undeniably one of the must-own games for the Xbox 360, we have a few questions. Will we be getting Episode Three over Xbox Live? And where's our Counter-Strike: Source?"
IGN(95/100): "There's nothing else available on any console like The Orange Box. Though you could argue that Half-Life 2 is old news by now, there are still four components of the Box brand new to consoles. That so much great content is offered at the standard single-game price is astonishing ... And all on one disc. While Portal and TF2 may not be strong enough to stand on their own, coupled with the Half-Life titles, The Orange Box really is one of the best games ever released."
Nintendo keeps the public relations love parade with the Wii going as they introduce MyWiiStory.com. The site is designed as a place for Wii owners to post "real-life anecdotes" about the way the Wii has changed their life. Like the time the Wii ran into the street and saved the family cat right before it was about to get hit by a car, or the time the Wii baked that amazing lasagna your in-laws are still raving about. "Everyone's a gamer and every gamer has a Wii story to share," said Nintendo's US Marketing Lead George Harrison, as he continued preparing to leave the company and contemplating whether he'll wear his tiny Speedo when he takes that trip to Ibiza he's always wanted.
The site isn't active yet, but feel confident in knowing it'll be comment policed to be only the happiest Wii place on earth. Expect the stories to be a demographic spread expounding the brilliance of the Wii. Some of the preview quotes we received were things like the mom who discovers video games for the first time with the Wii, or the bone cancer victim bowling again ... no, seriously, there's a cancer victim in there: "'I always liked to bowl, although I wasn't very good at it, but I had to stop 4 years ago when I was diagnosed with bone cancer. ... Thanks to Wii I am able to enjoy one of my life's pleasures again.' -- Randy Bhaga" We can't wait for the Wii story that helped some kid come out of the closet or solve gang violence.
GameTrailer's Final Fantasy retrospective finished looking at the Roman numeral games in the franchise weeks ago, but there are still many titles to cover that have the Final Fantasy name attached to them one way or another. This week they move into the Final Fantasy Legend, The Crystal Chronicles, and the Kingdom Hearts saga.
Let's just skip past the Final Fantasy Legend games because those aren't really Final Fantasy games (although what really is?), they were just given the name to capitalize on the Final Fantasy brand in the west and are actually the Saga series. Next on the list is the endearing Crystal Chronicles. If the GameBoy Advance required multiplayer were done today using the Nintendo DS, it really wouldn't be such a big deal considering everyone and their mother has a DS that could link up wirelessly with the Wii. The smart man's modern Gauntlet, Crystal Chronicles really is a great multiplayer experience if you have the GBAs. Finally, the retrospective covers Kingdom Hearts, where the peanut butter of Final Fantasy meets the chocolate of Disney. Kingdom Hearts now stands alone with its own separate world and rules to continue down its own path as more additions to the series are guaranteed to come along.
Next week the Final Fantasy retrospective will cover all the remakes of the Roman numeral series we've seen over the years.
An official Konami advertisement for Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles in magazines talks about "the Beaumont family's quest to destroy Dracula," the only problem being that anybody who has played a Castlevania game in the last 20 years would know it should be the Belmont family. Oops! The error is kind of funny considering the amount of eyes that probably saw the ad before it was sent out, and it's not like we're talking about a new franchise here.
We could go into a spiel right now about the incredible amount of people in the industry who know next to nothing about the products they're hawking -- but why bother getting serious. This reminds us of another hilarious ad from earlier this year for Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam on the Sony Wii. Good times in advertising.
PopCap Games, who you may know from a multitude of casual titles, will soon release two "greatest hits" compilations at retail for PS2 and Xbox 360. PopCap Arcade Volume 1 will be for Xbox 360 and feature Bejeweled 2, AstroPop, Feeding Frenzy and Zuma at a retail price of $30. The PS2 version, PopCap Hits Volume 1, has Bejeweled 2 and AstroPop for $20.
The Xbox bundle will save you $10 off of buying those four games from Xbox Live Arcade. For PS2 owners retail is the only way to purchase those titles and $10 is the normal cost for each on XBLA. And before any wise guys get smart, the answer is: No, there was absolutely nothing in the press release about Wii compilations.
Sure these little character profiles of the Team Fortress 2 cast are almost all style and no gameplay, but frankly this is one of the few times we're OK with that. Why? Well, because Valve doesn't really need to do too much convincing when it comes to purchasing The Orange Box.
It's not hard to come to the conclusion that The Orange Box is probably the best value in gaming this holiday, especially if you never played Half-Life 2 or are a pure console player. So keep goofing around Valve, give us more character profiles even after The Orange Box comes out stuffed with Half-Life 2, Episodes 1 and 2, Portal and Team Fortress 2. The citrusy goodness starts tomorrow for PC and Xbox 360 -- PS3 needs a little longer to ripen.
MTV's Multiplayer blog has posted answers to frequently asked questions regarding the corporate fustercluck (MTV/EA/Harmonix) published rhythm game Rock Band. We could bother to put the question and the answer, but if y'all can't figure out what the original question was you can hit up Multiplayer:
No other hardware combinations have been announced yet beyond the standard (guitar, drum, mic) bundle. And yes, the bass guitar is just a second guitar controller which you probably have lying around ...
... because Harmonix will keep an "open platform philosophy" and games will be compatible with third-party controllers "that conform to the various platform controller standards."
If you're short on guitars but want to play head to head, the online play will be both cooperative and competitive.
Now, we don't have insta-access to Rock Band like MTV's Multiplayer blog, but we can try to get some questions answered too -- we're scrappy like that. So if you have some lingering Rock Band questions (and there are plenty good ones still left), leave 'em in the comments and we'll try to get some answers. And automatic name calling to the people who ask questions already answered by bullet points above.
Karaoke lovers who had Nov. 13 circled on their calendars for the next-generation of SingStar to arrive -- um, just ignore that announcement was ever made. SingStar PS3 has been delayed and is currently residing in limbo until further notice. Sony told GI.biz that the game needs further testing and no specific "release period" will be given.
Reasons for the delay are not given, but the prominent theories are licensing issues and PSN problems. Sony says this delay will give them more time to test the SingStar PSN content "to ensure that it is as rich, simple and accessible a SingStar experience as possible." Don't fret Euro SingStar faithful, by the time the PS3 version comes out you'll be able to purchase a cheaper PS3 model and play all your PS2 SingStars on it too ... oh wait, no you won't. Oh well, there's always the SingStar PS2 bundle.
Sony announced today the 40GB PS3 will go on sale in Japan beginning Nov. 11. The 20GB and 60GB models, both still available in Japan, will have a 5,000 yen ($43) price cut next week. This means that the prices for the PS3 in Japan will be 20GB at 44,980 yen ($384), 60GB at 54,980 yen ($469) and 40GB at 39,980 yen ($341) yen. The 40GB is cheaper than the 20GB version, however it will lack backwards compatibility, memory card slots and a couple USB ports.
Sony is also unleashing a white version of the 40GB PS3 model for Japan in ceramic white. It will cost the same as the regular black PS3. A white DualShock 3 controller will also be available to purchase beginning Nov 11. If Sony can't offer consumers backwards compatibility, might as well razzle dazzle 'em with new colors.
This isn't a story we get to tell very often, but it's certainly an interesting one for gamers to keep in mind when shopping at online retailer Amazon.com. Last night we were tipped that Amazon.com's prices on Guitar Hero III inflated significantly from the $99 we had adjusted to over the last couple months. We checked with GH IIIpublisher Red Octane, who told us that the prices hadn't changed. In truth, Amazon was no longer offering GH III directly from "Amazon actual" and their system defaulted to a third-party retailer who had included shipping into their price -- that explained the new, higher price. So, why did Amazon decide to stop offering GH III directly? They weren't sure anymore that they could guarantee supply on future pre-orders (because that's technically all you can do at this point), so rather than disappoint customers with possible delays they pulled the pre-order offer.
A representative for Amazon tells Joystiq, "Our third party vendors control their own list prices, which can factor in shipping and sales tax costs. Ultimately, the choice lies with the customer to decide who they want to purchase from so that they get the best shopping experience on Amazon.com." For the best example of how things can go when Amazon isn't the direct seller, a "new" Wii is currently on Amazon for $370. That is currently the cheapest you can get it from an authorized third-party retailer. When it becomes "in stock" again for "Amazon actual" it'll be the normal $250. Just a little something to be aware of when shopping from one of the top retailers on these intertubes.
Jesse Divnich, an analyst at prediction market simExchange, believes the rumored $399 40GB PS3 will have little impact on the sales of Xbox 360. He says the new Xbox 360 bundles and "teh Haloz 3" will keep momentum going on the console for a while. Although he does believe there will be a slight dip in October sales as consumers wait for the new bundles which won't release until late in the month.
Divnich believes the buzz around the Xbox 360 is high enough now to deflect any effects if a cheaper PS3 is introduced to the market. Divnich says, "The cheaper price point will only be drawing customers who already planned on purchasing the PS3 but were deterred by the price." We'll get a better feel for the real impact of a 40GB model once Sony officially announces it for the North American market and see how it does at retail.
