Chinese Piracy (The Next Generation), A Roundup

I like to keep an eye on what's going on in China with regards to piracy issues - especially now that Nintendo has been aggressively going after people who pirate and China's homegrown CDC Games is taking a stand, as well. Steven Davis, the security guru over at PlayNoEvil, spoke with Frank Yu, who formerly worked for Microsoft in China, about the current state of piracy in regard to the current generation of consoles. I'm never exactly surprised by the extent to which stuff is pirated in China (I'm still a little boggled that it's easy to purchase films that have been outright banned by the government - bootlegged, of course), but it does make me wonder exactly how much companies can do when the motto seems to be 'If you make it, they will come and pirate it (sometimes with the help of government entities!)':

I know the pirates and the modders in China. They are able to chip the Japanese Wii but the US Wii has more protection (Editor's Note and, presumably not hacked because of the availability of the Japanese Wii). For games like Paper Mario, that needed a firmware update on the Internet which even modded Wii's could get. On the new Metroid, the Internet update does not seem to work for modded Wiis this time...(no doubt) a solution is being created.
Yes, the Xbox 360 hardware is totally broken for pirated games...however, if you leave your mod chip active MS will detect it and shut you out of Xbox Live. I have heard rumours of mod chips that can be switched off so that it toggle between a modded Xbox and an unmodded one to go on Live. I have brought many MS Xbox people to the shops here in China that do the modding (its not illegal to install the chip as far as I know but it is illegal to technically sell the console) (Editor's Note: Frank used to work for Microsoft in China). Folks at MS are always impressed by the speed and workaround that hackers and modders do to the motherboard. Of course we don' t tell them we're MS...there are a lot of foreigners who go to these shops too.

Not too much demand for PS3 here...ergo no modding or pirated games that I know of. The whole DS library is available on DVDs here for perhaps USD 12 for the whole set. You still need a Supercard or R4 mod/car for the DS but there is no need to install anything, its just a cartridge like any other game with a slot for a Micro SD memory card.

NINTENDO WII SHORTAGE - PRICES SKYROCKET

Still available on Amazon.de at €248,89 (£178).

With the release of several highly anticipated games such as Super Mario and the run up to Christmas the prices of the Nintendo Wii have skyrocketed over the last few months especially in the UK and the US. Many high street shops are struggling to meet the demands and certain online shops such as Amazon have started putting limits on the amount of consoles a household can purchase in a month. Thats not to say they cant be found using other means ..
NINTENDO WII SHORTAGES!

With the release of several highly anticipated games such as Super Mario and the run up to Christmas the prices of the Nintendo Wii have skyrocketed over the last few months especially in the UK and the US. Many high street shops are struggling to meet the demands and certain online shops such as Amazon have started putting limits on the amount of consoles a household can purchase in a month.

Sony have recently taken advantage of this shortage and started cutting the price of their Playstation 3 console and have seen their sales increase dramatically.

However many people neglect other means of aquiring these items like online auctions such as Ebay who currently have around 5k units on the US site.

Another option for european buyers, especially those in the UK who are experiencing massive shortages, is online stores such as Amazon.de. The german branch of the famous store is still providing the units at around €249 which converts to around £170 far cheaper than the prices found on the high street. These units only need a cheap plug adapter and they will work fine in the UK. The delivery time is fast and should arrive in plenty of time for Christmas.

No DVD player Wii this year

Nintendo Japan has posted in their site's Q&A section that they will not be releasing a DVD-ready Wii in 2007. They claimed to need to focus on current production to meet worldwide demand (even though such a Wii model would and will have nearly identical hardware.)

But we'll shed no tears over this news. Why anyone would want to play DVDs on their Wii is beyond us. And from the way Nintendo is dragging their feet on the matter, they don't seem to understand the impulse much either.

Nintendo Wii Tops in Downloadable Games

Nintendo Wii has the greatest number of games available for download, though Microsoft's Xbox leads in original titles.

Nintendo Wii currently has the greatest number of games available for download, though all are re-released titles says, Electronic Entertainment Design and Research.

While Nintendo's Wii leads in the quantity of downloadable games, Xbox 360 offers the greatest number of original downloadable games over Xbox Live Arcade, the research found.

Additionally, 84 percent of downloadable 360 games have online functionality compared with 45 percent of PS3 titles and zero percent for Wii games.

Only 12 percent of downloadable games are original titles, says EEDAR, especially given Nintendo's lopsided contribution of older games.

In terms of median game prices, PS3 titles are the cheapest at $5.99, followed by Virtual Console games at $6, and Xbox Live Arcade games at $10, the most expensive of the three. Furthermore, 80 percent of the downloadable content on the PlayStation 3 is free compared to just 29 percent on Xbox 360.

"In an environment with crippling production costs, publishers have new ways to dramatically impact their financial gain, while making gamers happy, if they understand how to utilize the new generation of console storefronts," the report said, adding that games with downloadable content sell 114 percent more on average.

Super Mario Galaxy: Can Nintendo Keep Everyone Happy?

Friday 16th November sees the release of Super Mario Galaxy for Nintendo’s Wii console. Some say it is the product launch of the year, though I’m not sure Apple would agree. The release of a Mario game is always a high profile media event, given his status as one of the most recognisable company mascots of the past 20 years, but Nintendo have a more difficult job this time around.

For those that don’t follow the video gaming industry – which this year grossed more than the movie and music industries – Nintendo are in first and second position with their best selling DS and Wii consoles. Both machines have brought new gamers into the fold, so with Mario Galaxy they have to cater for two distinct groups: the long-standing gamers who have played every Mario game since Donkey Kong and also the more recent group of people who have never owned a home console before being captivated by the Wii and will be playing this game as their first Mario game and possibly their first game other than Wii Sports.

Nintendo, and their video design guru Shigeru Miyamoto, seem to have relished the challenge. Company head Satoru Iwata has been posting a steady stream of interviews with various team members in an attempt to show the amazing amount of thinking that has gone into the game. Technical details take a back seat and it reads more like an analysis of the psychology of a gamer.

So, have they managed to do a good job? Well, review compilation site Metacritic – a site that collates reviews from all over the internet into one easy to read page of excerpts and an average score – currently lists the game as its highest ever, with an average score of 98 out of 100. Popular opinion has never been so unanimous.

Sounds like there’ll be quite a few people reaching for the stars this weekend.

Super Mario Galaxy Launch Party Diary

Although much has been said about the fever of Wii mania, nothing drives home Nintendo's timeless popularity like a Super Mario launch party. And I'm here to tell you: the Super Mario Galaxy launch party was Mario-rific!

While many people might expect a younger demographic waiting in line for Super Mario Galaxy, I was pretty surprised about the type of people standing in line. In addition to families, a lot of men and women who were kids at heart filled the line, a few of whom were even dressed up and donned in full Italian plumber wardrobes. There were also a lot of Metroid tattoos and Zelda T-shirts, and everyone wore a wristband given to them by Nintendo employees to indicate their place in line.

And I've never seen so many Nintendo DS systems in one place before. Everyone I saw had a fully charged DS ready to kill time. Everyone.

Not that anyone could actually hear the games they were playing; the on-site music was so loud that it was easily audible two blocks away. The DJ just fed into it, too, letting everybody know how cool Mario was and how close it was to midnight, when Mario Galaxy would officially go on sale. The line was pretty long, and part of the road was closed off for Mario's (and our) safety. Safety was the last thing on people's mind, though, with the wild entertainment and Super Mario Galaxy demos available well before launch.

Among those wild activities were a Velcro Wall and a Bungee Run for kids, and Nintendo even offered copies of Super Mario Galaxy for the high scorers. The kids stuck around for a while, but the low temperature in New York City had the parents hitting the line solo waiting to buy the game for the holidays. But I bet the wait will be unbearable.

The first guy in line had been camping there since 8am that morning, and he even had a sign letting everyone know he was first in line when the Wii launched. Meanwhile, I had arrived at 9:00, and there were already 323 people in front of me. There was no way the Nintendo World store could hold all the Mario maniacs, so when the doors finally opened, Nintendo only let in about 20 people at a time.

All in all, the Super Mario Galaxy launch event was pretty cool, and I was surprised with the kids' ability to stay awake out of pure love for Mario. It seems as though the children are getting a new kind of role model. But then again, who wouldn't want to look up to a mushroom-loving plumber?

New DS Lite model "rumour and speculation"

Nintendo denies analyst claims of slimmer new DS with larger screens

Nintendo has responded to an analyst's claims that it has completed work on a new version of its DS Lite handheld, maintaining that it is "rumour and speculation and we are not commenting further."

Evan Wilson, from Pacific Crest Securities, is quoted in a GameSpot report as saying that the new model was "thinner, has on-board storage, and larger screens," and would lose the GBA port to accommodate the changes.

The report continued that any new version of the hardware wouldn't be unveiled for some time, "until sales begin to tail off in all three major geographies."

While Nintendo has a history of periodically refreshing its handheld consoles, such as the GameBoy Advance and also the DS, it's possible that a new edition may come as some point, but the company is refusing to be drawn further for now.

World of Warcraft subscriber base now stands at 9.3 million

The company's financial statement attributed the results to a continuing strong performance from World of Warcraft, including The Burning Crusade expansion as well as the Chinese version released late in the third quarter.

The active global subscriber base for the game now stands at 9.3 million, the company said, with another expansion, The Wrath of the Lich King, due in the first half of 2008.

Overall Vivendi figures, including the company's other TV, music and telecoms subsidiaries, were up 11 per cent to EUR 5.42 billion for the quarter and 8 per cent to EUR 15.6 billion for the first nine months.

Ship Simulator 2008

The much anticipated sequel to the surprise simulation hit of last year will not only add new harbours and many new vessels, but also much desired things like advanced weather conditions and open sea missions. Ship Simulator will amaze you with its progress and will rock your simulated world.
Ship Simulator 2008 will include the following new features:

- Dynamic ocean waves, with realistic ship motions
- Long distance travels , open ocean voyages between ports
- Visible damage system
- Thirty new complex and challenging missions
- Extensive day, night, and weather systems
- Three new environments: San Francisco, Southampton/Cowes/Solent, and Marseille
- Six new ships, each with walkthrough functionality and interactive bridge controls
- Controllable container crane
- Advanced vector graphic sea chart based on realistic 3D seabed models, with full-screen display option, transparency setting, and level-of-detail on text & depth readings
- Advanced damage system showing dents and holes in the ships after severe collisions
- Free-roam mode where players can choose a ship, an environment, set all weather, day & time parameters and get sailing
- Realistic bow splash water, with support from an advanced physics simulation model
- Extensive mapping options for keys and joystick buttons
- Advanced rope system, which allows you to connect and disconnect player ships to other ships or mooring boulders at will (anchoring is now also possible)
- Addition of icebergs which cause damage when you collide with them

Features currently under development

- Mid-mission save function
- A system for sinking ships when damaged below the water line
- Advanced system for scoring and ranking in different ship type classes, linked to your on-line profile on the forum
- Two extra player ships: jet-ski and hovercraft
- Additional language versions of the game (French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Polish and more)
- Set waypoints yourself in free-roaming mode
- Multiplayer functionality, so you can sail around in your favourite environment every day with your Ship Simulator friends
- Mission editor, so you can create your own adventures and share them with your fellow players on the forum These features will be released in free downloadable patches and updates later this year. ons, and start sailing!

Minimum System Requirements For Ship Simulator 2008

Microsoft Windows 2000, XP or Vista
2.4 Ghz Intel Pentium IV or AMD processor
1 GB RAM (XP), 2 GB RAM (Vista)
4x CD-ROM/DVD-ROM drive
Approx. 500 MB free hard disk space
NVIDIA GeForce 5900 or ATI 9600 Pro / X600, 128MB memory
DirectX 9.0 compatible sound card
Mouse with scroll wheel
Optional controllers: Joystick, Joypad or Steering wheel

Releasedates
- UK, Scandinavia, Portugal: OUT NOW
- France, Australia/NZ: September 28th 2007
- Italy, Spain: October 5th 2007
- USA and Canada: Q1-2008

Dungeon Explorer Warriors of Ancient Arts

Title: Dungeon Explorer Warriors of Ancient Arts
Launch Date: February 2008
Platforms: Nintendo DS
Genre: Action RPG
ESRB: E10+ / Fantasy Violence
Publisher: Hudson Entertainment, Inc
Developer: HUDSON SOFT., LTD
Legal Lines: 2007, 2008 HUDSON SOFT. “Dungeon Explorer” is a trademark of HUDSON SOFT CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective companies. Published by Hudson Entertainment, Inc. Distributed by Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc.

Game Description

Train, Battle, & Slay the Demon Lord.

Embark on a journey to rediscover and learn the lost Ancient Fighting Arts of Westoria Kingdom, a land plagued by a legion of undead and monstrous soldiers, ruled by a nefarious Demon Lord. Legend foretells a hero who will rise up and wield the powers of the lost Fighting Arts to destroy the bringer of death, restoring peace to a once beautiful and great kingdom.

Key Features

• Choose your Fighting Style – Discover over 60 different fighting styles across 8 lost Ancient Fighting Art schools. Become a balanced warrior and study techniques from all 8 schools or become a specialist and dedicate your focus to one of the lost Fighting Arts.

• Epic Battles – Wage battles against legions of different creatures, including undead soldiers, mutated monsters, and even an army of ancient automatons brought to life by dark magic. Strategy in battle is the key to survival.

• Choose your Hero – 3 Races and 3 Classes to choose from, each with their own unique strengths and weaknesses.

• Epic Journey – Uncover the conspiracy to release the Demon God from his sealed prison

• Choose your Weapon – Choose from hundreds of different types of weapons, armor, and equipment and upgrade them as you progress through your adventure.

• Epic Multiplayer Adventure – Battle the Demon Lord’s minions alone or join forces with up to 2 other friends via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.