WcS Anjo the roaring side of gaming…

Why is it that each game nowadays seems to have a sequel?

It’s like the gaming industry loves beating something to death, or at least in hopes that it will twitch enough to have people spend a bit more $$ for a game that will be basically the same concept that has been released several times.

Take Grant theft auto. It started with a very original concept. After releasing the game and its bastard child to several platforms later, it gets tiresome. I actually enjoyed Saints Row. I enjoyed it so much did I believe whole heartedly that there shouldn’t have been a sequel released. Then again, it is a common known fact that I rarely get what I want in the world of gaming. There was a second one released. After a lot of hubub, from the fact that the first saints row stood up as an original from the grand theft auto series, the second one was greatly compared with the Grand theft auto series.

With Saints Row 3 being released in 2012, I am indifferent to it. I honestly don’t expect it to become anything more then another Grand theft auto carbon copy. With that being said, the world will end at 2012 and I believe that Saints Row will be to blame.  If we are lucky, we will all die before this GTA wanna be game will be released.

Image source: www.shamusyoung.com

I don’t know about you guys. But I am a known coward.

I don’t know why, maybe it’s because I never really been exposed to horror as a child. My biggest fear are zombies. I don’t know why. The slow moving ones that keep coming after you to feast on your delicious brain makes my skin crawl.

Even spoofs scare the be jebus out of me. So there, a tiny confession on what will scare me to the point of spasms.

There are MANY gaming related online Comics out there.

some good, some painfully bad.

I am here to spare you from the really bad ones by posting one of my personal favorite.

VG cats have been entertaining us internet geeks for several years and they are definitely worth the visit.

www.vgcats.com

enjoy!

With Star Trek online launch being just around the corner, it is a good time to test out the game “for free” before buying.

The free beta period will be  during January 12-26.

Link:

http://www.startrekonline.com/openbeta

My personal philosophy is that if you can try a game before buying it, you should.

Things today can be over hyped and you are never really sure whether you’ll like the game or not.

So take it from me, try it before you buy it.

Just like marrige

Live long and Prosper.

Anna

Final Fantasy XIII breaks Nintendo domination to take the top spot worldwide this week (with just a Japanese release so far) as PS3 hardware increases 50% in the weekly data for 13th to 19th Dec 09

After more than 3 years of eager anticipation, Final Fantasy XIII launched to an enormous 1.5 million units in Japan this week – enough to just top the worldwide chart and end the recent weeks of Nintendo domination. Final Fantasy XIII has already sold more than twice as much as any other PS3 title in Japan after only 4 days of release and pushed hardware in Japan to a PS3 record of 240,000 units.

Compared to previous Final Fantasy releases, XIII has the lowest debut for a mainline Final Fantasy for 15 years but this has to be put into context. Firstly, the popularity of Final Fantasy has decreased a little since the late 90s peak and secondly the 4.3 million PS3 userbase in Japan will limit the potential sales of the title compared to previous instalments. Looking at the table below, it can clearly be seen that the first Final Fantasy title on a given platform tends to have a lower first week to total ratio than latter titles; mainly due to the smaller userbase at that time and the fact that sales will be spread out a little more when the userbase is small and new owners come on board in the 1-2 months following release to buy the game. The on future releases, all fans already own the hardware and so the games become more and more frontloaded. That said, I would estimate that including budget re-releases and international versions, total sales for the game should hit around 2.3m units, giving a similar performance overall to Final Fantasy X-2 with the ratio at around 65%.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Wii Fit Plus and Wii Sports Resort continue to sell in huge quantities this week; all titles increasing from last week. New Super Mario Bros. Wii continues to sell at a record-breaking rate for a Nintendo title – we will have more on this next week.

Moving on to hardware and the first note is that the last two weeks of Wii sales have been adjusted in the Americas. On the 6th December, Walmart offered a $50 giftcard deal with all Wiis sold. Initially, our feedback showed that many users weren’t picking up Wiis until the Sunday so most of the large boost from this deal was added to last weeks sales. Further investigation has showed that most Walmarts actually only offered the deal on the first day and that over 80% of all Wiis sold under the deal were actually sold during the week ending the 6th so sales for the last two weeks have been adjusted accordingly.

Most consoles saw the typical 20% holiday increases expected this week with the exception of PS3 which topped 1 million units for the first time since launch on a 50% increase – mainly down to the 240,000 units sold in Japan this week. Wii on the other hand saw the smallest increase due to inflated sales last week from the back end of the Walmart giftcard deal. Year-on-year, sales are down overall with PS3 being the only console to see an increase.

Original Article :news.vgchartz.com/news.php?id=6306

EA started marketing their latest production “Dantes Inferno” (The Devine Comedy book series, written as a pundit against the Church back in the old days).

In their marketing campain they’ve released this : http://www.humanxmastree.com/ (not for youngsters)

The theme of their Christmas campaign revolves around the 7 deadly sins.

Get your gory ornament, I dare ya!

With the internet supplying us with news and information usually more reliable and quicker then printed media, is it even worth printing a magazine?

Yes and no. I do get all my information through the internet, that is where I base my no. However, my yes comes from the fact that most people I know have magazines in the bathroom. I wonder if people who write for gaming magazines comprehend the fact that most people read it while visiting a restroom.

Where am I going with this?

Electronic Gaming Monthly announced that they will be relaunching in March this upcoming year.

The magazine was closed by publisher Ziff-Davies earlier this year but later re-acquired by founder Steve Harris who had sold the magazine rights to Ziff in 1996.

“With our new weekly digital format, and the premium enhancement that newsstand purchasers will receive, we’re changing the value proposition in a new and meaningful way,” explained Harris. “Not only does the digital companion allow us to offer additional content that is complementary to the print magazine, but it also gives us a way to communicate with our readers and update the print product in an ongoing manner.”

EGM had been running for twenty years prior to its closure. The relaunch issue will include a special cover story highlighting the best games of the year as well as the return of many popular EGM personalities.

Source: Gamesindustry.biz

Fans of Mega Man rejoice when Wii announced that they will be releasing Mega Man 10 in the classic 8 bit pixel style for the Wii Market place.

One new addition to the game is Sheep Man. I can’t Imagen on how Mega Man in sheep drags will prevail against the forces of evil. I guess we can only wait and see.

A release date is yet to be announced.

Source: Nintendo Power

Well, its a good day to live in the UK if you work with gaming development.

The UK government is “investing” 10 m to gaming developers.

And they say in America that socialism is bad. If we had socialized healthcare then maybe our government wouldn’t need to use their money to bribe persons with “different healthcare interest” and spend our Tax dollars into video game development instead!

This project is aiming to create 30 new gaming companies and support 80 others while creating 400 game related jobs around the country. Also boosting the skills of 300 workers within the industry!

“This is a great day for the games industry and really good news for Dundee,” said Jim Murphy, Secretary of State for Scotland, on a visit to Abertay. “Dundee has always been a city of innovation and has a well-earned reputation as the heartland of Scotland’s gaming industry.

“This investment now confirms Dundee as one of the key centres in the UK as well, and will allow Abertay University to grow Scotland’s international reputation for its talents in video games creation.”

“This is fantastic news for the UK videogames industry and I would like to commend the government for this initiative. This investment will help support a cross section of the videogames industry in the UK,” added Mike Rawlinson, director general of ELSPA.

“The UK videogames industry is one of the country’s most dynamic and creative industries and a leading player in the videogames industry globally. I am sure that this investment will stimulate further innovation and skills training in the UK and help the industry maintain its current momentum.”

So in conclusion. The UK goverment invests 10 M into the Gaming industry. While we invest billions in bailout money to maintain the bonuses for the co-operate executives.

Life sucks somewhat fierce right now.

Source: Gamesindustry.biz

It is official.

Sega has confirmed that they will release a collection containing Sonic the Hedgehog and it’s two sequels along with Sonic & Knuckles for Nintendo DS in March 2010.

The collection set will be called Sonic Classic Collection and is going to be according to Sega, optimized for the DS.

I enjoy that classics such as Sonic are being re released, the only beef I have is when they call these things classic makes me feel old.
I remember how I used to be able to complete Sonic with my eyes closed. Now when I try to play Sonic (the first one), I can barely complete the first level. It’s seems to me as my reaction time has severely been lowered by the years.

I am an old fart that cannot even complete games I used to be good at.

Damn you Sonic!

Image source: Kotaku