Nintendo: No downloads for Smash Bros. Wii, DS version possible?

An earlier rumour stemming from Japan indicated that Super Smash Bros. Brawl on Wii would eventually let users download new content to the game using the WiiConnect24 service, as well as via buying content using traditional download methods and Wii Points. However, it has now been confirmed in a new interview with Masahiro Sakurai that nothing of the sort is coming.

Talking with IGN’s Wii Channel, Sakurai-san, who worked with HAL Laboratory for thirteen years before leaving to set-up his own independent company ‘Sora’, started off by pointing out that Sora is in fact only made up of two people, himself included. The team that created Smash Bros. itself was made up of external partners and key Nintendo staff. As for whether Sora has 100% sworn its allegiance to Nintendo, Sakurai rather candidly said “I have no particular ties to them and, of course, any company that comes along to me afterwards and says, ‘Hey, we have an interesting project for you,’ I’m going to look at that and going to help with that job.” So Sony and Microsoft fans hoping to see the talented developer’s work on the Xbox 360 and / or PlayStation 3 might still get the chance.

Quickly moving on, he nearly slips up and confirms his involvement in another Smash Bros. game by saying the following:

“I feel like anything I’ve considered I’m probably going to think about when — I mean if — another game was to come out in the series and so I’d like to keep a lid on that for now. and not disclose anything I’ve been thinking about there.”

But could that have just been an honest ’slip of the tongue’ mistake or if he already tied down to a future project by Nintendo and Satoru Iwata? Clearly there are aspects that were not possible to include in this edition, such as Voice Chat,

“Well, when I first started making Smash Bros. Brawl, I thought it would be wonderful if online battles between friends had voice chat and potentially keyboard based chat as well. But there are all sorts of rules and regulations regarding communication on the Wii platform and so it was apparent to me that it just wouldn’t come together, we weren’t going to be able to do it, so we decided to cancel that feature. I’m very sorry about that. But if you’re really desperate for it, you could set up Skype by your game station and go at it with a friend if you like.”

From: Nintendic

ELECTRONIC ARTS BIDS FOR MAKER OF 'GRAND THEFT AUTO'

Another extraordinary, technology-driven takeover was proposed Sunday, this time with an iconic Silicon Valley company as the aggressor and with the most controversial video game of all time as the ultimate prize.

Electronic Arts of Redwood City, for decades the dominant independent game developer in the world, revealed a $2 billion bid to buy New York-based Take-Two Interactive Software, publisher of the infamous and wildly popular "Grand Theft Auto" game series.

Take-Two immediately rejected the offer, just as it rejected previous approaches from EA that were made privately but detailed Sunday when EA went public with its bid of $26 a share. EA's next step may become clear during a conference call scheduled for 5 a.m. today.

EA Chief Executive John Riccitiello, reached by the Mercury News late Sunday at a dinner in New York with key EA investors, said Take-Two's resistance surprised him and noted that EA's bid represented more than a 60 percent premium over Take-Two's stock price on Feb. 19, when EA first made the $26 per share offer.

"The Wall Street Journal sold to (News Corp.'s Rupert) Murdoch for a 60 percent premium, and Microsoft's got a 60 percent premium out for Yahoo," Riccitiello said. "Those are big premiums, and they happen only in the rarest of circumstances."
But Riccitiello said crucial timing was involved in trying to make a deal happen quickly. He said a deal made now could close by summer, enabling EA to effectively marshal all of its distribution and marketing resources on behalf of the next "Grand Theft Auto" game in time for the 2008 holiday season.

More from: Mercury News

Activision Offering Refunds For Guitar Hero III (Wii)

As our bat-eared readers discovered when the game was first released, the Wii edition of Guitar Hero III, though advertised as possessing Dolby Surround Sound capabilities, could only duplicate one channel of audio through multiple speakers (a.k.a. mono sound). Incensed, Nintendo's virtual troubadours demanded action -- Activision responded with a somewhat less-than-timely disc replacement program. Now, four months after the game was released, Activision has announced another method of atonement for their single-channel sins.

Instead of replacing your half-mute disc with a standard one (though this option is still available), you can now replace said disc with cold, hard cash (or warm, soft cash, depending on your local climate and the weariness of the bills you receive). While we're sure this policy will be exploited by those who tire of faux rocking and simply want the cash, it's refreshing to see Actie-V face their shortcomings so directly -- if not a tad unpunctually.

Source: Joystiq

Super Smash Bros DOJO on Nintendo Wii Future Updates

31st January, 2008. Super Smash Bros. Brawl has officially gone on sale in Japan. Is everybody having fun with it?

However, Smash won’t come out in North America for a bit, and sadly, Europe has an even longer wait until the game is released.

For the past eight months or so, the Smash Bros. Dojo has served as a source of basic information for the game, but with the release of Brawl, the Dojo will take on a new role.

From here on out, the Dojo will begin to introduce the hidden characters, hidden stages, and additional features in Brawl that have gone unmentioned until now. I’d like to continue to add on to the Dojo so that players of Brawl can come back to this website following its completion and view Smash Dojo as a sort of guide for the game.

I plan on continuing to update for another two months, so please continue to enjoy the site.

Just remember, I’ll be posting information on hidden characters and other in-game secrets, so you should take caution when viewing the site if you want to save those surprises for later.

From the official site here

Indiana Jones video game now in production

LucasArts title had been sidelined by Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

The new Indiana Jones action game has only just gone into production, according to a LucasArts source.

Eurogamer was told at the Game Developers Conference that the title has been in pre-production for about two years, but found itself sidelined by Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.

But now that's changed, and actual production work is now underway - although it will not be out this year.

Indiana Jones uses NaturalMotion's "euphoria" technology to handle complex CPU-based dynamic processing in order to generate "unique game experiences", according to CEO Torsten Reil.

Source: GamesIndustry

Nintendo to introduce “Pay to Play” service for some online Wii games

Thus far, Nintendo's Wi-Fi Connection service has been free for all games. But that's going to change in the future, at least for some games.

Nintendo project leader Takashi Aoyama revealed at GDC that Nintendo will be instituting a "Pay to Play" feature for some Wii games in the future.

This seems a bit strange, as Nintendo has always taken a firm stance in the past about their online service being completely free.

Fees will be paid for with Wii Points, and to avoid confusion, Pay to Play games will have a red icon instead of the blue "Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection" icon.

No specific games have been announced to use this service yet, but if I had to guess, I'd say that there's a fair chance that the next Animal Crossing game (if it features online) will use this service. It just seems like a perfect fit.

That's merely speculation on my part, though. One thing's for sure though. It'll be interesting to see how this service pans out for Nintendo.

Source: siliconera

Xbox LIVE Arcade Reveals Its Community's Pick for Best Games With Inaugural Awards at GDC

Xbox LIVE Arcade Reveals Its Community's Pick for Best Games With Inaugural Awards at GDC

At the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2008 today, Microsoft Corp. celebrated the success of its industry-leading Xbox LIVE Arcade platform with the inaugural Xbox LIVE Arcade Awards. In January, more than 26,000 people voted for their favourite Xbox LIVE Arcade games, and this week Microsoft announced the winners at a private developer reception at GDC.

The finalists in each award category were chosen by a panel of select industry journalists, and the winners for the first six categories were determined by popular vote, with the final four categories decided by sales and gameplay data, Metacritic score or staff vote. Following are the winners for each category:

Xbox LIVE Arcade Award Winners

• Best Overall Arcade Game: “Bomberman Live” (Hudson Entertainment)
• Best Classic Game: “Castlevania: Symphony of the Night” (Konami Digital Entertainment)
• Best Original Game: “Pac-Man: Championship Edition” (NAMCO BANDAI Games)
• Best Family-Friendly Game: “Pac-Man: Championship Edition” (NAMCO BANDAI Games)
• Best Competitive Multiplayer Game: “Bomberman Live” (Hudson Entertainment)
• Best Cooperative Multiplayer Game: “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” (Ubisoft Entertainment)
• Best-Selling Game: “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” (Ubisoft Entertainment)
• Most-Played Game: “Worms” (Team17 Software Limited)
• Highest-Rated Game: “Castlevania: Symphony of the Night” (Konami Digital Entertainment)
• Xbox LIVE Arcade Staff Choice: “Pac-Man: Championship Edition” (NAMCO BANDAI Games)
  

“The Xbox LIVE Arcade business is currently the strongest it’s ever been, thanks to the content provided by the diverse range of talented developers attached to the platform,” said Marc Whitten, general manager of Xbox LIVE at Microsoft. “The Game Developers Conference is the perfect venue to recognise the successes of Xbox LIVE Arcade developers, and as we move further into 2008, gamers can expect to see even more quality content land on Xbox LIVE Arcade.”

Xbox LIVE Arcade is home to the world’s most innovative independent developers, with more than 25 independent studios serving as the creative fuel behind the original games that represent more than a quarter of the Xbox LIVE Arcade library.

In addition, the number of Xbox LIVE Arcade players has grown 145 percent since this time last year, and together players have logged more than 115 million gaming hours worldwide. The business as a whole has experienced a 150 percent year-over-year growth in unit sales.

With 14 Xbox LIVE Arcade games clocking in with a Metacritic score of 80 or higher and seven of those games available only on Xbox LIVE Arcade, the platform has established itself as the go-to source for quality pick-up-and-play gaming. There are currently more than 116 games available on Xbox LIVE Arcade, with new content added on Wednesdays.

Lost Sword Of Toledo – Now on sale in the UK

Kalypso Media Group are pleased to announce the adventure game "Agon – Lost Sword of Toledo" is now available in stores in the UK.

Also today, Kalypso Media release ten new screenshots from the game, showing picturesque settings in the Spanish town, as well as mysterious items and scenes to give an insight into the dark secrets of the Toledo locals to be investigated by the player and Professor Hunt.

Professor Samuel Hunt finds himself in the middle of another adventure in the latest episode of the Agon series. This time set in the peaceful and picturesque Spanish city of Toledo the British Professor will have to uncover many secrets that have been taken to the grave if he is to unravel the mystery and discover the location of the historical sword.

A mysterious music box, an iron door in the church that has not been opened for a hundred years, an unfinished painting, some strange letters and of course the fourth manuscript from the John Gillam Codex are found. But will the Lost Sword of Toledo be found?

"AGON: The Lost Sword Of Toledo" will be published by Kalypso Media Ltd in the UK on 22nd February 2008.

Why HD DVD Lost – 10.5 Million PS3 sold by Sony

There are sure to be different reasons why HD DVD failed to win the HD movie spat with Blu-ray but there’s no doubting that what the biggest was: 10.5 million PS3 consoles.

Recent sales figures show that 10.5 million PS3s with in-built Blu-ray drives have now sold worldwide. That does not include sales of dedicated Blu-ray players. When you compare that to estimated sales of just 1 million HD DVD players, you can see the scale of the problem the format faced. PS3 sales in the UK alone recently topped 1 million.

With the PS3 predicted to outsell the Xbox 360 in 2008 – no doubt aided somewhat by the end of HD DVD – it seems we’ll all be Blu, on one platform or another, by Christmas.

Source: Gizmodo

Microsoft XBox 360 HD DVD player discontinued - get it cheap

Microsoft issued a statement that it is discontinuing the XBox 360 HD DVD player.

This comes at no surprise after Sony's Blu-ray format won last week.

Microsoft could get a bit more official on this topic, as they have a responsibility towards their customers who paid $200 for the now worthless HD DVD drive.

In the statement there is no word about Blu-ray plans, only that Microsoft continues to give consumers the choice to enjoy digital distribution of high definition movies and TV shows directly to their living room.

We will see if the Xbox 360 is just a Halo 3 gaming device or if Microsoft can catch up to Sony's PS3 again in the living room media hub discipline.

The good news is that they'll still continue to support and repair your player based on the standard warranty, but chances are you'll get little future use out of that player now that no movies will be made for it.

What's still unclear is whether there will ever be a Blu-ray add-on to the 360 that's cheap enough to sell the Xbox + Blu-ray package at a comparable price to the PS3 ($399ish).

We're guessing that something along these lines will hit within the year.

Source: Gizmodo