Halo 3 gamers going ballistic over scratched game discs

Microsoft and Bungie pulled of what appears to be a successful launch of the third installment of Halo. However, by noon today, reports about scratched game discs were surfacing. Retailers confirmed the damaged DVDs to be a "known problem."

One of our readers pointed us to what appears to a slowly but surely developing issue for the first batch of Halo 3 copies: Some buyers of the Limited Edition silver tin box of Halo 3 are complaining about game disks that were scratched enough to prevent the game from loading. Pictures of the damaged disc have been posted on NeoGAF.

Three stores of three major retail chains confirmed to TG Daily that there in fact is a "known problem" with "damaged discs." As we were told, the DVDs are not mounted correctly inside the box, which causes the disc to "slide around" and scratch. The store managers declined to comment how widespread the problem is, but one employee told us that there in fact a "good portion" of all Limited Edition Halo 3 disks "is not functional".

All three stores said they are allowing buyers to open the tin box before a purchase to make sure the game disk is not damaged.

Microsoft confirmed the problems with the Limited Edition box and posted information about a replacement program on its Xbox website. The program covers the the Halo 3 Limited Edition disc and Essentials Disc until December 31 of this year.

Microsoft demos in-game advertising

Microsoft showed off its Massive advertising platform in Times Square in New York on Tuesday.

The tech giant wanted to show the advertising world, which is gathered in New York for the annual Advertising Week conference, exactly how the dynamic in-game advertisements work.

Flashing high above 43rd Street were clips from a series of games that showed avatars stopping to view a movie trailer for the Hollywood blockbuster 300. A Toyota advertisement also lined the outfield wall in a baseball game that's played on Microsoft's Xbox game console.

"The idea is to have advertisements appear and fit in naturally to the games just as they would in real life," said Jay Sampson, vice president of North American and Asia Pacific sales for Massive, Microsoft's in-game advertising marketplace. "But these advertisements are also dynamic. So the ads can be updated or changed by the advertiser at any time."

Microsoft, which bought Massive in May 2006, is a leader in placing dynamic advertising in games. The market is filled with many smaller players, such as a company called Double Fusion. But it's also attracting other big technology names, including Google, which bought AdScape Media for $23 million earlier this year.

Analysts say the in-game advertising market is worth about $514 million today. And dynamic in-game dynamic advertising, which allows advertisers to change the advertisements at will, is expected to reach $675 million by 2012 in the United States, according to consumer research group Parks Associates.

Microsoft sees its early lead in the in-game advertising market as a strategic opportunity that fits well into the company's overall advertising strategy.

"Emerging media, like in-game advertising, is a huge component of our overall strategy," said Matthew Carr, senior director of Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions. "We're already in a leadership position here. And we see this as being where the future growth will be."

Source:CNet

British Academy Video Games Awards

Nominations Announced

Wii Sports leads the way with seven BAFTA nominations

London, 25 September 2007: The British Academy of Film and Television Arts today announced the nominations for The British Academy Video Games Awards in association with PC World. The Awards ceremony will reward the individuals behind the very best in artistic, creative and technical innovation in video games, and will be held at Battersea Evolution on 23 October.

Wii Sports which enables players to try their hand at a range of sports including baseball, tennis, boxing and golf received the highest nominations with seven, for Best Game, Casual, Gameplay, Innovation, Multiplayer, Sports and Strategy and Simulation. Crackdown, Gears of War, Okami and God of War 2 all secured five nominations each, while Guitar Hero II garnered four.

The nominations in the Best Game category exemplify the breadth of genres for players to enjoy today; from squad action and adventure in Kane and Lynch: Dead Men and Gears of War to battling mysterious undersea creatures in Bioshock, countering alien invasions in Crysis to rocking away in Guitar Hero II or enjoying a workout, playing Wii Sports.

In the Sports category, Colin McRae’s racing game Colin McRae: DiRT, is joined by the off-road rally racer MotorStorm, FIFA 08, Football Manager 2008, Wii Sports and Virtua Tennis 3.
In the Innovation category the nominations spanned the sensory experience of aquatic critters in flOw, the nature adventure game Okami, the quirky role-playing Super Paper Mario, the card battle game The Eye of Judgement, Trauma Center: Second Opinion, and Wii Sports.

This year’s nominations show the real diversity of today’s video games and their increasing appeal to both sexes and all ages, exemplified by the fact that the forty three different games nominated are rated 3+, 7, 12, 15, 16 & 18. This year’s categories have been fine-tuned to encapsulate the ingredients which contribute to making the video game one of the most exciting and engaging moving image art forms of today’s popular culture. The Academy will recognise excellence in Artistic Achievement, Technical Achievement, Gameplay, Innovation, Original Score, Use of Audio, and Story and Character as well as achievements in the genres of Action & Adventure, Casual, Multiplayer, Sports, Strategy & Simulation plus Best Game.

This year’s Awards will include the publicly-voted PC World Gamers Award and a new BAFTA Ones To Watch Award in association with Dare to be Digital. Online voting for the PC World Gamers Award will be live on October 3 at www.obsessedwithgames.co.uk

A FULL LIST OF ALL NOMINATIONS ACCOMPANIES THIS RELEASE

Notes to editors:
The Awards will be broadcast on both E4 and Channel 4’s T4 – date to be confirmed.

About BAFTA:
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is the UK’s leading organisation dedicated to the recognition and promotion of excellence in the fields of the moving image. Renowned for its high profile Film & Television Awards ceremonies, the prestigious BAFTA mask has long been seen as a symbol of excellence.

About the judging process:
Games were entered by both developers and publishers into all the categories listed in this release and were initially whittled down by BAFTA games members and a carefully selected list of industry experts via a secure website.
The reduced list of titles for jury consideration was then divided into released titles and pre-release titles. The released titles were sent to jurors’ for them to play in their own homes. The pre-release titles were played on test units in a secure room at BAFTA by every juror over a period of some five weeks.
Once every juror had played every game, each category jury convened to create the 6 nominations in each category. The voting is done on paper by each juror, confidentiality papers are signed and the results in each category are not known until the envelope is opened on the night.

XLEAGUE.TV Gets Ready For Halo 3 Launch

WORLD'S BIGGEST GAME NEARLY HERE!!

With everyone excited and anticipating the launch of Halo 3, it is clear to say XLEAGUE.TV cannot wait for the latest Bungie classic to hit the shops. Not only will gamers be able to take on the role of Master Chief once again, using the newly added “Man Cannon” and re-emergence of the “Assault Rifle” but they can also get the chance to pit their skills against the best, Live on Television, and win upwards of £10,000. Not bad eh?!

The whole world has been waiting for what seems like an eternity for this game to be unleashed, and XLEAGUE.TV is obviously no exception. The 4 vs 4 Team League registration opens on 26th September to coincide with the game’s release. “The launch of Halo 3 is a landmark in the gaming world. The prize fund of £10,000 is a significant increase to our previous prize funds, but we felt it necessary to give such a game the prominence it deserves” Ray Mia, XLEAGUE.TV Channel Manager.

The prize breakdown is as follows:

1st Place - £5000
2nd Place - £2500
3rd Place - £1500
4th Place – £1000

XLEAGUE.TV is the UK’s first dedicated eSports channel and fully integrated website launched in May 2007. The revolutionary channel, which broadcasts on Sky channel 279, offers a comprehensive range of services to its members including leagues and tournaments, customisable user profiles, match scheduling and club and team creation. By competing on www.xleague.tv, gamers can win the opportunity to be invited to the studio for the chance to play on television.

Check out www.XLEAGUE.TV or tune into Sky Channel 279.

About XLEAGUE.TV:

The channel was launched at a cost of £5 million and is part of the Portland Media Group. XLEAGUE.TV has a wealth of In-house facilities include production, post-production and play-out, as well as an advertising agency, a media buying and planning department and a modelling agency.

Nintendo becomes second most valuable stock in Japan

Investor confidence rises ahead of Christmas sales

Nintendo stock has become the second most valuable in Japan following investor confidence in the company's performance ahead of the crucial Christmas period.

As noted by Reuters, the games giant has passed Canon and sits behind only the Toyota Motor Company to become the second most valuable traded company. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group has a bigger market value than Nintendo, but shares are currently suspended due to a imminent share split.

Shares in Nintendo were up to 59,200 JPY on Tuesday, or 3.1 per cent, bringing its market value to 8.39 trillion (GBP 36.4 million).

GAME profits up

Sales up 45 per cent, profit at £6.2 million

GAME has reported soaring profits for the first six months of 2007, driven by the new consoles on the market.

First half profits were GBP 6.2 million compared to a loss of GBP 5.6 million for the same period last year, with group turnover at GBP 482.4 million, up from GBP 272.9 million in 2006, with expansion and the acquisition of Gamestation central to the rise.

"The strong performance reported today is a result of our hard work in getting GAME properly positioned ahead of the new technology cycle," commented Peter Lewis, chairman of GAME.

"We have a fast growing international business and are well placed for further organic growth. We look forward to the key Christmas trading period when our store portfolio will exceed 1,120 across the UK, Continental Europe and Australia," he said.

Like for like sales were up 45.6 per cent as the company benefited from strong sales of all new consoles and associated software.

The company now intends to focus its efforts on its strongest retail territories – UK and Ireland, France, Spain and Portugal, Scandinavia and Australia.

GAME continues to integrate the Gamestation business into the Group's infrastructure at an approximate cost of GBP 5 million, and the company also revealed the cost of compliance with the Office of Fair Trading's review of the Gamestation acquisition will be an additional GBP 4.5 million.

Sony dismisses £299 PS3 rumours

Talk of entry level console shot down by SCEE

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has told GamesIndustry.biz that recent chatter about an entry level 40 GB PlayStation 3 is just "rumour and speculation".

Numerous websites and blogs have suggested that Sony is due to unveil a scaled-down console for around GBP 299 in the UK, with USB ports and backwards compatibility functions removed.

Although the US and Japan has seen PlayStation 3 price cuts this year, the console currently retails in the UK for GBP 425, complete with an extra controller and two first-party games.

Halo 3 Last One Standing video

SORRY THIS VIDEO HAS BEEN REMOVED FROM YOUTUBE - you can still view it here on the Discovery Channel web site - SORRY nothing I can do...

A brand new live action Neill Blomkamp Halo 3 short available over at Discovery.com

Gamers scramble at Halo 3 launch

Halo 3, one of the most anticipated and heavily marketed video games in history, has gone on sale at thousands of stores across the US, Australia and New Zealand.
More than 10,000 US shops opened their doors to sell the title which is Microsoft's key weapon in the console wars with Sony and Nintendo.

More than 15m copies of the first two titles in the series have been sold.

Microsoft hopes day one sales of the game will top £70m ($140m).

If the game does bring in more than $140m, it will earn more in 24 hours than the opening box office takings of any movie in history.

However, sceptics point out that video games cost upwards of £40 ($80), while cinema tickets are much less.

In New York, about 500 people turned out for the midnight launch.

Gamer Alex Escobar, who was one of the first in the queue, told Reuters news agency: "It is worth it. It is time to finish this fight," echoing the tagline for the science fiction game.

Shane Kim, corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios, said the hoped for success of Halo 3 was an essential element in the competitive console market.

He said: "Halo 3 is the biggest franchise for Xbox. The game is going to drive a lot of Xbox 360 sales and Xbox Live subscriptions this Christmas."

More from the BBC

Starting at Midnight the Worldwide Wait for "Halo 3"

Highly anticipated game expected to register the biggest day in retail entertainment history.


Starting tonight “Halo® 3,” the final chapter of Microsoft Corp.’s epic video game trilogy, finally goes on sale around the world. By the end of the week, fans in 37 countries will be playing the game Wired magazine recently called “a cultural touchstone, a Star Wars for the thumb stick generation.”

In the United States, more than 10,000 retailers across the country are opening their doors at midnight tonight solely to sell copies of the game and accompanying Xbox 360® consoles and accessories. With nary a pirate, a spider or a wand in sight, day-one sales of the highly anticipated video game are expected to shatter entertainment sales records and top the biggest entertainment launches of all time.

“The excitement and demand for ‘Halo 3’ has transcended a typical video game release and we’re preparing dedicated registers for its midnight release in our 24-hour stores,” said Darin Dickson, video game merchandise buyer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. “It’s clear that this is one of the most anticipated games of the year and that 12:01 am Sept. 25 will be a memorable moment for thousands of gamers.”

The conclusion of “Halo 2” left unanswered questions around the fates of the beloved protagonist Master Chief™ and his artificial intelligence sidekick Cortana® as they struggle to save humankind from destruction at the hands of the alien coalition known as the Covenant. The legions of dedicated fans lining the streets tonight are waiting for the chance to be among the first to own the coveted final chapter in the “Halo” trilogy and unearth the well-kept secrets of the storyline.

“Our customers have been waiting for ‘Halo 3’ since the day after ‘Halo 2’ launched in 2004,” said Jill Hamburger, vice president of movies and games at Best Buy. “‘Halo 3’ is going to bring the experience to new levels, and we are excited to help our customers get the best possible game playing experience.”

Developed by Bungie Studios, the “Halo” franchise is exclusive to the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system and optimized for the Xbox LIVE® online entertainment network. The more than 7 million Xbox LIVE users will get a continually evolving gaming experience with “Halo 3” and its online multiplayer and cooperative gameplay for Xbox LIVE Gold users, the much-talked-about Saved Films feature that enables players to capture and save their favorite moments on their hard drives, and Forge, an innovative map editor that enables infinite customization options.

“With ‘Halo 3,’ Bungie Studios has further mastered the art of marrying fantastic gameplay with the intangibles that make the experience extraordinary for gamers, evoking incredible emotion through its story and character development,” said Shane Kim, corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios. “That emotion is at the heart of what makes this more than a game and why ‘Halo’ connects with its audience in the way other great stories like ‘Star Wars’ resonated with theirs. But unlike the static experiences of a great film or novel, ‘Halo 3’ offers a dynamic and social interactive entertainment experience that enables players to finish the fight themselves.”

Regional Marquee Events and Global Celebration

More than 10,000 retailers are planning events and opening their doors at midnight to celebrate this third installment in the billion-dollar franchise. In New York, Seattle, Miami and Los Angeles, Microsoft and retail partners are hosting marquee launch events that will feature contests and appearances by local celebrities and celebrities and professional athletes who are fanatical about the “Halo” franchise.

The marquee launch events will be held at the following stores:
• New York: Best Buy, 529 5th Ave, New York, N.Y. 10017
• Seattle: Best Buy, 457 120th Ave NE, Bellevue, Wash. 98005
• Los Angeles: GameStop, 1000 Universal Studios Blvd, Universal City, Calif. 91608
• Miami: Circuit City, 8575 Northwest 13th Terrace, Miami, Fla. 33126

A list of retail outlets opening at 12:01 a.m. can be found at http://www.xbox.com/unitetofight.

More than 1.5 million copies of “Halo 3” have been sold before a single store opens its doors at midnight, making this the fasting pre-selling game in history, surpassing the previous record-setting pre-sales of “Halo 2.” Well beyond just a U.S. phenomenon, the launch of “Halo 3” is a worldwide celebration that is releasing in 37 countries and available in 17 languages.

Made exclusively for Xbox 360, “Halo 3” will be made available in three versions: Standard Edition at $59.99 (U.S. ERP*), Limited Edition for $69.99 (U.S. ERP*), and the ultimate collector’s item, the Legendary Edition at $129.99 (U.S. ERP*). The Legendary Edition will be released in limited quantities and arrive in a highly collectible Spartan helmet case, along with two bonus discs full of exclusive content. The Limited Edition will ship in a sleek metal collector’s case and include the first bonus disc found in the Legendary Edition, as well as a special “Halo” fiction and art book. And for those who crave nothing more than the highly anticipated third chapter to one of the greatest gaming trilogies of all time, the Standard Edition will consist of the “Halo 3” game.

In November 2004 the world’s view of video games changed forever with the release of “Halo 2,” which generated a record-setting $125 million (U.S.) in sales within the first 24 hours and changed the way people think about interactive entertainment. Three years later, it remains the most-played game on Microsoft’s Xbox LIVE online gaming and entertainment network, with nearly 1 billion hours of online gaming logged to date.