Mild news storm brings forward confirmation of compatibility

These days it seems like unless it's in formal writing that there is some level of freedom to start jackhammering companies apart. Such was the case recently with an early statement by Sony noting that for the coming round of music titles that there will be cross compatibility (Rock Band 2, Guitar Hero: World Tour and Rock Revolution) people of course were glad to hear this in general since it means that the need for 3 kits isn't there and people can just mix and match what they want and have a successful kit from there and just get the games they want to play as a result.

The news was good of course and then we got the media spin since it's always easier to just assume instead of ask apparently. Gamasutra was blasted for their comment of:

Similar music game peripheral enforcement has yet to be enacted (or at least officially announced) on the Xbox 360 platform.

Microsoft this afternoon though has noted that they also in fact do feature cross compatibility and that their brief reply on the matter should be taken as an official confirmation for those unsure of things. So I guess gamers really do get rewarded on both sides of the fence without having to pick up 3 sets of hardware pushing probably well into the $400+ mark just to game, plus anyone who has grown used to something like the Rock Band kit can continue on the path to glory without having to adapt for strange placement or odd pad sizes.

It's good to see companies trying to work around and grab a central standard for hardware since it really does benefit everyone in the end to be able to play whatever they want without a second thought, plus people with just one or two parts to a kit can share and build a full band for the game.

New "Meet the Team" video now available

As promised, Valve has released a "Meet the Team" video with their Heavy Update.

In addition to new weapons and play modes, the development team has posted "Meet the Sandvich."  It does seem like a filler but will make you chuckle, even if you were expecting a video about an actual class.  Personally, I was banking on the Medic, considering the relationship between Heavy and Medic.

If you've been seeing sandwiches all over the new update and haven't got a clue, take a look at "Meet the Scout," the video that debuted with the Pyro Update.

Aside from learning that the Scout is a self-absorbed dullard, we get to see the Heavy's relationship with this complex snack:

Min-mobo has CrossFire support

Taiwan's Diamond Flower Incorporated -- much more commonly known as DFI -- will be releasing a micro-ATX motherboard with gamers in mind. As you are probably aware, micro-ATX boards are smaller-than-normal size motherboards that are most often used in home theater PC's, or PC's with more specialized purposes than a general PC.

While there have been a number of micro-ATX motherboards that are well-suited for gaming, not many can boast support for CrossFire. The LAN Party Jr. P45-T2RS has dual PCIe x16 slots, and is capable of sustaining a high FSB. Taiwan's infamous over-clocking website/brand/person named Coolaler recently overclocked one of these motherboards to 600 FSB with some exceptional cooling.

This board is currently on sale in China for about $190 USD. Seems like there is a good chance this board will make its way States-side, but no telling when.

A good idea for our contemporary transition from dual to quad cores

Some German technology enthusiasts at www.hardware-infos.com are reporting on a new feature that will be coming in the next series of CPUs coming from Intel, the recently named Core i7 series (or Nehalem.)

This new speedy processors will have a 'Turbo' feature. Long long ago, in this galaxy, PC computers used to have a 'turbo' mode which was this physical switch you could flick when you wanted to kick things into high gear with some extra processing power. This turbo feature was removed, (with the introduction of the first Pentium if I recall correctly), probably because most users just left there computer in turbo mode all the time, so having two separate modes was unnecessary. 

But this new Turbo mode is a bit different. Basically it is much like the on-the-fly overclocking you can do with the AMD Spider platform, and some other setups. With this new turbo mode, if only one or two of the four cores of your i7 are being used, the frequency of the active cores with be raised, as needed. This is a great idea because at this point in time, relatively few applications are actually capable of of supplying four threads to the four cores of your CPU. For example, the vast majority of games do not support quad-cores, so in this turbo mode, raising the speed of the two active cores running your game will grant you a performance increase, without subjecting the unwilling to fiddle with, and tweak, their BIOS settings.

As the Google translator says, adapting from the original German on Hardware-Infos: "This is done by the function of the heavily congested cores with more supplies and the clock Nichtstuenden goes to sleep banished. How high the bar syringe fails, will depend on the performance of the host processor."

Exactly how high the bar syringe fails is unknown at this point.

PC Gaming Alliance sheds light with Horizons Report

How PC gaming is doing these days is something of a touchy subject today for people. Some say it's doing crap, some say it's great. Some say, who cares if half the money made comes from World of Warcraft? Others (i.e. myself), say one or two games can't be responsible for half (or more) of the industry. That's a pretty limited scope. If WoW was the only game making great profits on the PS3, 360 or Wii, in theory, would gamers say the same? I doubt it. Pretty sure they'd be whining, "Where's my [insert totally awesome console killer app here]?" (and rightfully so, there are a good many).

Anyhow, the PC Gaming Alliance (PCGA) is here to tell you how things are going with its first "Horizons" Report, an exclusive research study of the PC industry, with a global perspective. Speaking at the Games Convention Developer's Conference (GCDC), PCGA prez Randy Stude revealed some interesting numbers: $10.7 billion was what came of computer gaming last year, with retail sales accounting for 30 percent of total revenues. This proved an increase over years previous, and was driven mostly by online revenues from Asia, the world's largest market, which evidently is responsible for nearly half of total global sales at this point.

Online PC gaming, now, generated $4.8 billion in revenues, about double the worldwide retail sales for PC titles. Digital distribution is on the rise, too, with those sales getting up to $2 billion. Advertising via websites, portals, and the games themselves made $800 million.

"Our analysis clearly shows incredible growth in online PC gaming, proof that this industry is far stronger than anyone has reported," said Stude. "Today's consumers shop where they live - online."

David Cole of DFC Intelligence - a "strategic market research and consulting firm" - says there's yet more room for growth as broadband gets bigger and better:

"By pioneering new business models, the PC has quietly remained the single leading platform for games, not only in terms of consumer usage, but revenue generation. The most fascinating thing about PC gaming is its ability to attract such a diverse audience, both demographically and geographically. The real key has been the rapid growth in penetration of broadband-connected PCs in all markets around the world. Broadband-connected PCs are the key driver of growth for PC gaming. DFC Intelligence estimated that by the end of 2007 less than one-third of households in the top 20 markets for games had a high-speed Internet connection. That clearly indicates that there is still plenty of growth to come. The initiatives of the PCGA will be a key enabler of growth as they will help the industry identify key trends and opportunities in this rapidly emerging market."

Things appear to be looking up for PC gaming in any case, though it could certainly stand to regain some of its previous success in North America and Europe. Will upcoming titles like Diablo III, Starcraft II, and Street Fighter IV help it become comparably as popular in its own right as consoles are these days?

2008 shows bright future

Media Control GfK -- the "single, most comprehensive, accurate, multi-format, entertainment data source for Europe and Asia" -- has let loose some statistics on European video game sales, and the results are pretty spectacular. Note that these cover the first six months of 2008 as contrasted with the same period the year previous:

The firm attributed the increases to the "growing range of attractive games" for the current generation of consoles, which have now "heavily penetrated the European marketplace", as well as the continent-wide success of the Nintendo DS (its brain training games have dominated the software charts over there this year).

Ulrike Altig, Media Control GfK’s managing director said, “The game console has left the children’s room and made its way in the living-room."

Last month sales monitor Chart-Track reported similar findings: software sales during the same time periods saw an increase of 42 percent (to 31.1 million units), generating £738 million.

It's hefty, alright

Gamers who wondered how much that beast of a game Crysis cost to make: wonder no more.

At the Games Convention Developer Conference (GCDC) in Leipzig, Germany, it was revealed by CEO and President of the game's developer Crytek, Cevat Yerli, it cost €15m ($22m) to create. In spite of this, the game made more than what they put in, he said, stating "if it wasn't profitable I wouldn't be able to stand here."

Yerli has said in the past the developer has "learned their lesson" with Crysis, citing it to be the most pirated game in the company's history:

"I believe that’s the core problem of PC Gaming, piracy. To the degree PC Gamers that pirate games inherently destroy the platform. Similar games on consoles sell factors of 4-5 more. It was a big lesson for us and I believe we wont have PC exclusives as we did with Crysis in future. We are going to support PC, but not exclusive anymore."

If they're making profits on such an expensive game, can piracy really be the "core problem" of PC gaming? Gamers are not as simple folk as some developers would like to believe -- surely there is more than one reason console games sell better, a big one being standardized configurations, and uh, you know, generally less expensive machines (in the long run, anyway).

Two new maps, three old favorites

Along with the highly anticipated Heavy Weapons Guy update, Valve is adding an Arena Mode to Team Fortress 2.  According to the developers, Arena matches are designed to be shorter, ending whenever one team wipes out the other or the central point is captured by either RED or BLU.  It's the closest TF2 has ever come to having a "team deathmatch" map.

Speaking of maps, Arena Mode will come in five explosive flavors.  Two of these maps, Lumberyard and Ravine, are completely new while familiar settings Well, Granary, and Badlands have been extensively revamped to suit the new mode of play.  The (or "A") Heavy Update site provides excellent descriptions for each new map, detailed as a tourist's sightseeing guide:

Lumberyard has an unbalanced structure, with one half of the map climbing up towards a large mountain peak, while the other dips down into a valley. A series of rooftops at the map’s center serves as the key battleground area, with lateral flanking being the key maneuver at ground level. When the capture point becomes active after 60 seconds, multiple entrances open up into the central control point, which becomes the focus of the fighting as the match nears its end. Lumberyard is one of the few Arena maps without water, and contains only a single health kit. The kit sits on a log above a deadly pit, making it a great ambush spot for Pyros, Demomen, and Soldiers to send unwary enemies to their deaths.

In contrast to Lumberyard, Ravine has a far more open ground level with emphasis on control of four key choke points. A series of canals in Ravine’s lower level provide an excellent opportunity for stealth kills and flanking maneuvers. Like all arena maps, the capture point in the middle becomes active after 60 seconds.

It may be worth noting that Health pick-ups are limited in TF2 Arena, and some maps won't have any Health packs at all.  This makes the game more challenging, and the Medic may become an even more valuable asset alongside Engineers, who can construct Health dispensers.  Water is also scarce in Arena, so Pyros might get to have a little more fun than usual. 

That being said, the maps are also designed to give each class an area to dominate, ensuring that no one is left out or forced to play a class they dislike simply for the sake of victory.

Playable demo shows off early level in the game

LucasArts has announced a playable demo for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed to be released this Thursday, August 21 on LIVE and PSN.

According to Team Xbox, the demo will allow gamers to explore an early level from TFU -- the TIE Fighter Construction Facility while it's under siege by Jedi forces and the Jedi general Rahm Kota.  This will also double as a tutorial designed to teach players how to use the Force Grip ability.

For those unaware, TFU fits chronologically between Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and the classic Episode IV: A New Hope, following the adventures of Darth Vader's secret apprentice as he aids the Sith Lord in his quest to purge the galaxy of Jedi.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is scheduled to hit shelves September 16, 2008 for multiple platforms.

Media speaks against the Public Health Ministry's actions

Ever since the terrible murder in which 19-year-old Polwat Chinno stabbed taxi driver Kuan Pohkang with a knife, the Thai government and various media outlets have been pointing fingers at Grand Theft Auto and other violent games.

A recent editorial in the Bangkok Post is saying otherwise, however, criticizing the officials who've banned video games at the word of a confessed killer.  They're calling Polwat's claims a poor excuse, more of a "novel legal defense than a credible motive," and say the government's hasty decision to pull GTA IV from retail shelves and arcades only confirms their lack of knowledge in the matter:

Tens of millions of people around the world play that game - tens of thousands in Bangkok.

Early evening on any given day, the top floors of the city's many shopping malls are filled with youths playing a myriad of computer games - many of them violent.

An earlier ban on this particular violent game would not have saved the murdered driver. More to the point, there is no evidence or reason to believe the ban will save any lives in the future.

The Public Health Ministry quickly assembled a list of Top 10 Violent Games - not by research or reason, but by a quick Googling in which bureaucrats accepted the first hit, an obscure list from a local US politician trying successfully to get his name in the newspapers and his face on the TV news in an election cycle...

The problem is most parents and few politicians have a clue about such things. Many are technologically illiterate. Mr Polwat's mother gave him 100 baht a day to play video games, but had no idea what he was doing - or what was happening to his mind in the process.

Instead, the editorial suggests that officials should be finding more constructive methods of dealing with the alleged threat of violent video games on their society.  A ban will only hurt their economy because pirates and other people involved in underground distribution now have another hot game for their inventory. 

As an alternative, the Bangkok Post proposes a government funded "think tank" that would help educate adults and the older generations in such matters, which would build public awareness and prevent such crimes in the future:

The first is to discover whether computer games and similar technology really can drive a disturbed person to murder, and what to do about that.

Even more important is to better inform the "old" generation about the technology revolution, of which video games are such a tiny part.

... Weaker people, [Nectec director Pansak Siriruchatapong] said, can become so immersed in games they lose track of reality. Like many, Dr Pansak opposes outright censorship. That does not rule out regulation, however. Many countries have a ratings system of games. For example, Grand Theft Auto boxes and wrappers all carry a large, black M-for-mature.

While outright censorship is ineffective, careful regulation may be a more helpful measure.

First trailer and new screens come out for Tomb Raider fans.

It's been a fair bit of time since we last saw a full fledged update to the Tomb Raider series, Underworld makes the leap this time with next-generation focuses on graphic potential while trying to bring back some fans to the series while maintaining a decent success to fractured skull and spine ratio. The game demonstrates a vareity of new spaces and environment changes, the screens derail any pessimism about the resolution given that they're around 5120x2880 and really pushing the PC crowd around at that point for screen space.

The game takes on the jungle environments, tomb levels and of course some twists into more modern facilities, the game from the trailer and screens seems to look great but that tends to always be the problem with the series, the game may look quite nice but the execution becomes problematic when you're trying to actually pass through the game. One can only hope that as the game progresses we'll see more active gameplay demonstrations instead of tailored bits connected together to make it all seem like a cakewalk.

Prequel gets approval to gold status, ship date still on schedule

Those who have followed the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series know that Clear Sky has been a bit of a ride to this point, the game has taken up challenges in becoming more graphically complex in delivery and also in attempting to put together the pieces prior to the original game, often is it that companies rush onto sequels or alternate realities but GSC has kept to their original developments and it seems like it should pan out well.

Players will step into the year 2011 and be faced with the events prior to the third campaign of Strelok to the Zone center, allowing players to have an alternative look at the original title through this early take on the situation and even play out their own fate by letting players become a mercenary in the field to find which avenue really offers the best reward for them in this zone war of factions.

For those new to the game, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. allows people to fight and live out their game through each day, time cycles constantly and overall there is a strong RPGFPS element that is rarely found in gaming these days unless you go back to older titles (Fallout series, System Shock, etc) the visual system compliments this and the AI system also helps support this with NPC's working on independent thought cycles that have been given an updated since the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R. hit the streets, any battle can change in the moment so going back later hoping to maybe side with another group might not work out since the outcome is not pre-determined. The company does admit for returning players, there is a direction later in the game that can be found where the game starts to force a singular path to stay in line with the original title though. It makes sense for a prequel trying to force a specific timeline though, I just hope that this time the game is capable of picking up a larger audience.

Here's a quick gameplay clip from Clear Sky for those interested.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky hits the Streets on September 5th 2008.

Next game "nothing like anything else we've ever made before"

Ah, Denis Dyack. Love him, hate him, or both, the Silicon Knights' (SK) head always has something interesting to say. He's been making the interview rounds lately, talking about Too Human, legal battles, the future of the industry, and other stuff. I prefer to stay out of the drama, so I'll keep it simple.

Talking to CVG, Dyack says future titles in the SK line-up will be "fresh", in multiple ways. This is a tradition they've kept up since inception, and things aren't changing in that respect:

"We've been lucky enough to make Legacy of Kain, Eternal Darkness, Too Human and if you look at all of those they're all really different," said Dyack. "The next game that we're going to announce, not including the sequels to the trilogy, it's nothing like anything else we've ever made before.

"We want to continue to do that to keep fresh. That's really what's important, and making sure that we continue to make new IPs but also continue to innovate in the genres that we try to... create content in, I suppose is the best way to describe it."

The developer is reported to be working on a new property with Sega, its first partnership with a non-platform maker in a decade. So it's said, they used Epic's Unreal Engine 3 to make the title, against the terms of the licensing deal.

In any case, it's great to see a developer in the position to be able to consistently create innovative titles, and be proud to say so.

"Don't like the game? Bring it back."

There are advantages to capitalism: giants like GameStop can afford to defy the traditions of economics once in awhile. Example: it seems a deal has been struck between LucasArts and the retail outlet's Canadian arm whereby if you pre-purchase the title and don't like it upon playing, you can return it inside a week for in-store credit, no questions asked. Pretty cool.

I guess the idea is to get writers like me writing articles like this and boost gamers' confidence in how good the title will be. Well, you got me, LucasArts, GameStop, you got me.

My only thought now is why they decided to put it on any system but the Wii/DS; it just seems absurd to buy it on any other platform given the gameplay, graphics be damned.

Details on the deal are below.

Any chump with a plastic guitar can rock

It's a bit different from my usual Sunday Specials, but a month-old news tidbit has piqued my interest, and I feel it is worth mentioning in place of the typical Sunday free-for-all.

A boy in Raleigh, North Carolina has recently dropped out of school to pursue his love of Guitar Hero, as no doubt most of you have already heard from one source or another.

So this kid, Blake Peebles, is making gaming news everywhere because of his parents' decision to let him leave school and focus on his Guitar Hero III hobby.  Apparently, Peebles is pretty good and holds top 10 scores for about 20 songs.  He thinks he may be one of the top 15 or 20 players in the nation. 

Uh, yay?

Now before anyone freaks out too much, Peebles is still getting an education (whatever good that'll do him) through some tutoring arrangement.  It's an agreement between the boy and his parents, who agreed to let their middle child leave North Raleigh Christian Academy.  According to his mother, he's a lot happier now:

Inside his upstairs bedroom, Blake's environment is set up specifically to make him a better gamer. There is a PlayStation 2, a Nintendo Wii and an Xbox 360. He also has a stack of plastic guitars, but no real ones. Blake doesn't play an actual guitar, a skill that doesn't really transfer to playing the virtual kind, anyway.

The frame for his bed is on the back porch, with the box springs and mattress on the bedroom floor. That puts his bed at a more comfortable level for sitting to play "Guitar Hero III" for extended periods. At the moment, he plays just a few hours a day, but that number will increase as the California competition nears.

That "California competition" should be taking place right about now, in mid-August, and Peebles is hoping to get the name "Dreminem" out there to advertisers and sponsors.  I'm sorry, but that Gamertag isn't much more impressive than his real name, and he might have been better off calling himself "Peebles" on LIVE.

Blake's parents don't believe in "one-size-fits-all parenting," which may be why they beat the crap out of their consciences and parental instincts to let him drop out.  Got too tired of his whining, or something.  Then again, he has an 18 year old brother who's an honor student and football player at the academy, and a 13 year old sister with a development disability; perhaps the Peebles believe in experimenting with creative methods of upbringing.

Not surprisingly, Blake Peebles story has sparked much criticism from the gaming community, and his parents faced much of the same from within their own.

Every gamer dreams of being a professional, fragging and dpsing for real money.  But anyone who has tried (and even succeeded) will tell you how hard competitive gaming is.  Enjoyable?  Yes, but there's a reason not every joker out there can get in on it.  So can a 16 year old boy from a nowhere-town do what so many of us have attempted?  I'm genuinely curious.

What's the big deal, really?  The boy is getting an education through alternative means while trying to push his his hobby in a productive direction  Why does this whole thing smell so terribly wrong?  If he succeeds in making the Major League Gaming, then he could be earning up to $80,000 a year, or average out between $20-30,000.  Maybe there's just too many of that "if" flying around, and his parents are getting a little too creative.

He's won up to $1,000 in prizes, including gift certificates, gaming equipment and chicken sandwiches courtesy of Chick-fil-A (oh joy), but the self-proclaimed Guitar Hero champion isn't banking on just one game.  "The next big game that comes out, I'm just going to focus on that one," he says.

I'm secretly hoping (shh, don't tell anyone) reality will hit him in the face hard enough to knock that smirk right off.

If reality doesn't do it, I just might have to.

Getting unique games out there job in itself, says dev

Gamasutra has officially become one of my favourite gaming websites. They always seem to have great, in-depth interviews conducted by very knowledgable people, and talk about stuff that actually matters. Not to say every interview should be like that, but it's good to see sometimes, and I like to think it betters the state of things as a whole in the end. Interviews unbound by linearity are my personal favourites. Yours?

Case in point is Mekensleep, who talked to them recently about their title Soul Bubbles, that oddity of a game released for DS not long ago. The majority of you are probably not familiar with it, it being one of those little known, little covered titles. These are the kind of games I like to be sure to pay attention to and talk about, assuming there's substance behind it, which, often, there is. Anyhow, a developer overview is here to give you a good idea of what the game is about (it's better seen and explained):

Having tried out the game, I can say it's terribly charming and addictive, in a very strange way. The masks feature gives it a particularly novel quality, similar to (in multiple ways), what we saw in Majora's Mask, albeit with a pretty well completely different gameplay approach. Come to think of it, the whole game faintly reminds of it - the fairies, and just the general feel of it which I can't really put my finger on. The music is great, the animation is great..it's just a really beautiful game (you'd almost think I was being put up to this, hey?).

But moving along, Mekensleep's creative director Oliver Lejade chat with Gamasutra is great all over, but the bits I find particularly interesting focus on the state of the DS, troubles with retailers, the challenges of releasing a unique game, stuff like that. Much like Sega of America's president Simon Jeffrey, I like how Lejade says it like it is. Speaking about how the DS is being killed "by lack of originality", he says it's not just the publisher's fault, but also the distributor's (retailer's):

"They have selection companies that decide what they're buying, and how many quantities they're taking from the publishers, and how they're exposing it on the racks. So the problem is, these committees, they have the publishers come in and present their games, and there are lots of publishers coming in, who have a lot of games to present, and when the publisher comes in and says -- basically a publisher has about five minutes per game, to explain what the game is about.

So when you're selling a license? It's easy. You say, "Oh, well, we're making this game that's Spider-Man 3, it's going to be blah-blah-blah," they know what Spider-Man is, they know they're going to be signing X quantity of it, mechanically. So that's fine.

You're saying, "Oh, this is a game about little girls, pink ponies, and you know that little girls are going to buy this," it's X number of units are going to go, it's an easy sell. But when you come in with an original game, that they don't have any clear reference to the gameplay of something that has been done recently, that has no license, then it's a very hard sell. And if you have only five minutes? I can't explain Soul Bubbles in five minutes. It's not doable -- and I made the game."

What happens from here he says is the comittee rejects it or accepts only a few units:

"So this comes back to the marketing team, and the publisher, who then forms this image that it cannot sell that type of game; which goes down to the buying arm of the publisher, who doesn't want to buy these types of games anymore, because they don't know how many they'll be able to sell.

And even if they do like the game, they know that they're going to have a selling problem to the distribution. So I think distribution is largely responsible for what's happening right now. And it's not just -- it's very obvious on the DS, but it's true for all distribution."

I've never seen the problems associated with making a truly unique and innovative game spelled out so clearly before, so a hearty pat on the back to you, Lejade, sir.

Now, the thing about grievenaces like these is if no solution or hope is offered, everyone just gets sad and complacent. Well, they touch on digital distrubution following that bit, which I think could represent the light at the end of the tunnel thing. He says different people run those networks, and things operate differently. Naturally, as this is the reason WiiWare, XBLA and PSN succeed as well as they do. So you know, applause to the respective companies for urging a new model (Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony: take a bow). Could this be the entire future of gaming? Do you want it to be?

Expansions/DLC, a demo (lack thereof), copy protection and heaps more

Spore's executive producer Lucy Bradshaw (pictured above) had a live chat on Eurogamer yesterday with gamers about Will Wright's shortly coming (September 7) project, and it didn't dissapoint.

Firstly, though the game is quite large at present, there will be additional content:

"When we started Spore, we were thinking about how we'd make an engine that had the possibility of expansion, so yes, we'll add to the experience. I think, however, we have a very cool opportunity to take Spore in a few different directions too. The editors are so cool and fun, that we want to advance those as well as the gameplay that we put into the core game."

The "flora editor" looks to be one of these additons in the future, so there's that to look forward to!

On a demo, in short: no. They're not planning one; the Creature Creator (and some videos) is all you get, though really, that's plenty, ain't it?

Copy protection - this will be implemented, and is something they feel is required:

"We do have copy protection, it is a necessary part of our biz, but we've worked to make it something that does not punish the legit owners. You need to authenticate once at the first install. This happens online. You can install on three separate computers and you do need to register for the online features."

I'm going to have to disagree with Bradshaw on this one (with it being necessary and with this not punishing owners), but with a face like that, it's hard to stay mad. In either case, I like that they're being open and speaking directly to the gamers about it.

Tons more details, mainly focusing on the features of the game are available for your perusal via the source: easter eggs, cheats, aesthetics, Spore the Musical, day/night cycles, etc. For anyone pumped for Spore, it's essential Saturday reading.

And her name is "Natascha"

In addition to the Heavy's new boxing gloves, cleverly dubbed "Killing Gloves of Boxing" or K.G.B., Valve has announced the Heavy's second unlockable weapon.

Her name is "Natascha," and anyone struck by her bullets will be slowed for an instant, thus severely limiting the target's options when faced with an approaching Heavy Weapons Guy. 

Valve recommends Heavy players use Natascha against fleeing enemies, or as a useful tool when coming around corners to surprise other players, which is about as welcome a surprise as turning the corner to find a Level 3 Sentry pointed at you.

A word of caution, though: check for enemy Heavies wielding Sasha first because Natascha deals less damage than her predecessor:

The Heavy's second unlockable, Natascha, slows enemies with her bullets. Anyone damaged by her will move slower for an instant, encouraging them to find cover or turn and face the Heavy, mano-a-tiny-itty-bitty-mano. Unfortunately, Natascha is slightly weaker than Sasha, so she takes longer to finish off a victim. As a result, Natascha's great against fleeing cowards, such as Scouts & Medics, and less great against anyone actively trying to kill her master. Heavies that like to jump around corners and surprise groups of startled enemy crybabies will also find her very useful, although they should look for a Sasha-wielding enemy Heavy before they leap.

For those who don't remember Sasha, Valve's "Meet the Heavy" video provides a humorous refresher while reminding us exactly why no one likes going one on one with this deceptively friendly individual:

Court cases just aren't going the recording industry's way

You often hear in the news that the RIAA is suing this person or that person for sharing music online. But have you read many news stories where the RIAA won any of these court cases?

The latest battle lost by the RIAA has been in the Atlantic Versus Anderson case. It has been dragging on for 3 years now. The court has ruled in favor of Anderson here, and now the RIAA has to pay Tanya Anderson, a disabled single mother, $107,834 for his legal expenses incurred in the courtroom wranglings.

The legal crux in the matter of the Atlantic Versus Anderson case was that the courts have ruled that making songs available on P2P networks does not constituent copyright violation.

Generally the RIAA sends out warnings to filesharers, saying that they will be sued unless they pay a fine for any suspicion of P2P music-sharing. Many people, fearing the sizable legal entities supporting the RIAA, will pay these fines. However, if someone refuses, and the battle goes to court, more often than not (at least so far) the court has ruled in favor of the defendants.

But how many people actually fight these cases? You'd probably be surprised at the numbers: the RIAA has pursued legal action towards about 40,000 people since 2003, and only about 5% of these people have fought back. Most opted to pay fines -- usually ranging between $3000 and $4000 -- while many others ignored the notices, hoping that they would go away, only to find out later that the court made default judgments against them. 

Unfortunately, most people do not have the assets available to challenge the RIAA's charges in the courtroom. Likewise, probably many people targeted by the RIAA do not realize that they would have a very good chance of winning these court cases, if they were brought to court.

Activision Blizzard says there's plenty of rewards which music games will bring for artists with major labels outside of standard royalties

Warner Music Group CEO Edgar Bronfman raised some hairs with publishers of music games earlier this month when he lamented that the producers and distributors of such enterprising entertainment aren't paying what they should for the licensed music tracks which keep their titles afloat. Bronfman suggested that the music industry should receive higher royalties from the gaming industry for use of music from artists under major record labels.

Guitar Hero publisher Activision Blizzard is one of the first companies which wouldn't take WMG's suggestion sitting down. It sorta helps that Activision Blizzard is has French media conglomerate Vivendi SA as a majority shareholder; Vivendi in turn owns Universal Music Group, the largest group of labels in the recording industry and one of WMG's rivals. Criticizing Bronfman's comments as "one-sided", Activision Blizzard CEO Robert A. Kotick explains that music games bring more value to artists outside of the business models hawked by labels. As many of you will have already guessed, a real benefit for artists having their works in music games is increased exposure. Kotick further confirms that the publisher will continue to work with labels which do "recognize and appreciate how much we can add value to their artists."

"I think his view was ... that [Warner Music] should be compensated the way they might for a performance on iTunes," said Mr Kotick. "But this is an entirely different business that is very technically complex.

"We're introducing a whole new group of artists to new audiences that is resulting in their iTunes downloads being exponentially higher than they would otherwise be, [as well as] new album sales and new merchandising opportunities."

Kotick stresses that "capital and resources" must still be invested into the production of music games to ensure that artists' tracks are quite simply, fun to play in-game. So once again it's a whole different kettle of fish when it comes to value of licensed music tracks in rhythm action games.

WMG has since clarified that it has "enormous respect" for the gaming industry, and more importantly its contribution to increasing exposure for the music industry. According to a WMG spokesperson:

We hope that our partners in the gaming space appreciate not only the value of their own contributions but also those of the recording artists, songwriters, record labels and music publishers on which their games are significantly based.

All recent updates to be included

EA and Criterion have announced Burnout Paradise as an upcoming addition to the PlayStation Network. 

Originally released in January 2008, the sixth Burnout title has been retail-only thus far, but will soon be available for download on PSN for $29.99 with all updates released thus far by Criterion already incorporated.  This decision falls in line with the "Year of Paradise," an initiative to evolve gaming with the regular release of DLC that pushes games beyond their original retail form.

Gamesutra quotes Criterion studio manager Fiona Sperry on what the developer hopes to accomplish:

"Our mission at Criterion is to provide the most entertaining gaming service possible. In order to do that, it's key that we have the ability to deliver content to players in ways that work for them - through quick and easy download or via traditional bricks and mortar."

The first update was free and made available through XBL and PSN earlier this month.  The download pack included three new modes, vehicles, and 70 challenges, and Criterion will soon be adding motorcycles and Trophy support in their upcoming update.

Hey guys, we could lay down some copper pipe here, I'm just saying -- said some engineer

Sometimes the stuff that appears fairly obvious afterwards, is the last thing people notice when trying to solve a problem.

These days, labs upon labs' worth of scientists and engineers are trying to figure out new methods of power production. Most people seem to be coming to grips with that fact that the days of all the handy oil-stuff just oozing out of the ground for our enjoyment are coming to an end.

One particular person at the Worchester Polytechnic Institute (a place so far known only for numerous breakthroughs in sauce technology) had an interesting idea. The scientist engineer guy realized that the human race has put a massive amount of time and energy and money into building highways and roads that stretch this way and that. Roads are terrific for getting around, and parking on -- but perhaps there is more we could do with them, he wondered. Like maybe help solve a energy crisis or some such, he hypothesized. 

The idea is that asphalt roads soak up a great deal of sunlight, and get warm -- especially, obviously, in the summer months. If copper pipes were laid underneath the asphalt, you could flow some water through the pipes, and the heat of this water evaporating could be used to propel turbines which in turn could be used to generate electricity! Or, for new buildings, they could maybe use the under-road pipes just to make hot water, instead of using gas furnaces to heat it up. Because, as everybody knows, hot showers are important.

The research project looking into this idea is being directed by a guy named Rajib Mallick. He is really excited about this idea. Here is what he said on the matter: “Blacktop [asphalt] stays hot and could continue to generate energy after the sun goes down, unlike traditional solar-electric cells. In addition, there is already a massive acreage of installed roads and parking lots that could be retrofitted for energy generation, so there is no need to find additional land for solar farms. Roads and lots are typically resurfaced every 10 to 12 years and the retrofit could be built into that cycle. Extracting heat from asphalt could cool it, reducing the urban ‘heat island’ effect. Finally, unlike roof-top solar arrays, which some find unattractive, the solar collectors in roads and parking lots would be invisible.”

One possible problem with this might be thievery, however. Already troublesome poor folk all over the place are stealing stuff like manhole covers, and wiring from foreclosed homes to sell as scrap. (Actually, here in Vancouver a crack-abusing person stole a bronze statue last week, and tried to sell it as scrap, unsuccessfully.) Miles of copper pipe out in the middle of nowhere might be an easy target for criminals. Pipe on busier roads and highways would probably be safe though. 

Anyways -- this Dr. Mallick character is optimistic: “Our preliminary results provide a promising proof of concept for what could be a very important future source of renewable, pollution-free energy for our nation. And it has been there all along, right under our feet.”

Way to go roads!

Wii 'flooded with crap', EA 'needs to do something about hardcore gamers'

Sega of America's president Simon Jeffery ain't shy. Speaking with VentureBeat, aside from the usual discussions (i.e. Sega is doing pretty good now!), he had some advice for the industry, and specifically, Electronic Arts and Nintendo.

Speaking about EA, he disagrees with its CEO John Riccitiello in that publishers/developers don't need licensed content as part of one's portfolio, saying "I think part of the reason they have left it behind is they are not good at it." In talking about EA's shift into more mature titles like DeadSpace, Jeffery says the company has its struggles in that realm:

"EA has always struggled with the hardcore gamer. I think they look at “Gears of War” and “Halo” and wonder why they can’t do that. EA has to do something about that. They have tried on and off over the years. It’s just like Activision had to come out from doing hardcore games and do more for the masses."

Moving on to the Wii, he says it's a very "cost effective platform to experiment with", but the state of things isn't too pretty:

"There is a lot of crap coming out for the Wii in general. But if it’s not a good game, it doesn’t sell. That flood of crap will die down as publishers become more coherent. The Wii is a great opportunity for hitting hardcore gamers. No one is doing that. With “Mad World” from Platinum Games, we are trying to show that millions of Wii games want to move on to mature games. They don’t have to have an Xbox 360 to do that."

Of course, to some extent the company is responsible for some of that crap (in this writer's opinion, anyway), but hey, times are hard and they've put out enough gaming gold over the years, so I'll give Sega a break.

Earlier in the interview, VB asks Jeffery his thoughts on the trends among big publishers and layoffs. Contrary to what I'd figured was happening, he says "the rich are getting richer, [...] but the poor are getting richer too":

"That makes sense. We are doing well at No. 6. We’re very profitable and doing what we want to do without being forced to fight with Bobby Kotick of Activision Blizzard all of the time. What Bobby is doing is extraordinary in overtaking EA. And staying so profitable. EA has the size and magnitude, but their profits are gone. They have big overhead too. Activision Blizzard is raining money now. The big hits will be bigger, just like in the movie industry. But the movie industry’s independent hits are still thriving and it will be the same in the game industry."

I guess it ain't all hopeless!

New action IP announced by People Can Fly studio in Poland

In the world of gaming things always take wild turns, Epic today announces that they'll be publishing their latest IP not with Midway but through the marketing power of EA on their latest title for the PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.

Little is really known at this point about the game, given the timing they'll still be using Unreal Engine 3 as a base though and primary development control will be handled through Epic given that the engine is quite versatile in how the original code can be ported to the major platforms with ease. For older FPS gamers one of the biggest things to get hyped around is the idea that People Can Fly are behind the game, the same people that brought the absurdly active killing fields in Painkiller where all you did was make bodies explode or fly through the air with a handful of weapons and it was great fun. Since then the company has been a bit dormant, the last work they did was a partial update for Epic with Gears of War on the PC, apparently it was enough to get Epic on board though to pick up the team.

For gamers this means Epic will currently be under the EA Partners label, they're not selling the company over entirely of course, most of the focus is just on the marketing power and distribution range of EA in the world scope while being able to retain their quality of development and production without heavy pressures to meet ship dates.

Given this is the preliminary announcement I'm sure we'll see more from Epic and People Can Fly in the future on the mystery title. I'm a bit giddy to find out what it is since they spent quite a large amount of time making Painkiller the frag fest that it was.

Plenty of Civ to look forward to

PC gamers who prefer to download their titles are likely familiar with GamersGate. In case not, it's a "leading digital distribution platform", in the vein of other popular services like Steam.

Well, the company has scored a pretty big name for their service: 2K Games, the dudes behind (as publisher and/or developer) the BioShock series, the 2K Sports franchise, Civilization Revolution, and tons more.

As of now, this effectively releases just Sid Meier's Civilization III: Complete and Shattered Union for digital distribution, but others are planned of course, including Sid Meier’s Railroads!, CivCity Rome and Sid Meier’s Pirates! Presumably, BioShock will be made available promptly (it's been on Steam for awhile), as well as the rest of the series in the future. Some 2K Sports titles would be great, too, no?

"2K Games publishes some of the best PC games in the world and we are happy to welcome them to GamersGate,” said Theodore Bergquist, CEO on GamersGate. "This further confirms the position of GamersGate as the leading download portal in the world.”

Top new releases: Fire Emblem DS and Tales of Vesperia

It's that time again, where Japanese sales tracker Media Create has released their hardware and software sales rankings for the week of August 4, 2008, ending on August 10, 2008.  Four new releases make their way into the top ten, amidst some familiar looking titles.  On the hardware side, two sales streams have crossed once again, with the Nintendo DS overtaking Sony's PlayStation Portable, and Microsoft's Xbox 360 outselling Sony's PlayStation 3 for only the second week in their lifetimes.

The top seller this week is last week's top seller, Sega's Phantasy Star Portable for the PlayStation Portable, leading the way with 148k copies sold.  The runner-up is Nintendo's new release, Fire Emblem: New Shadow Dragons and the Sword of Light, for the Nintendo DS, clocking in at 145k copies sold.  Rounding out the top five are Nintendo's rhythm game Rhythm Tengoku Gold (NDS - #3 - 130k), the latest game from Namco Bandai, Tales of Vesperia (360 - #4 - 108k) and new million-seller Dragon Quest V (NDS - #5 - 73k).

Looking at the hardware, two of the streams have crossed: the DS and PSP, and the PS3 and 360.  The drop in PSP sales may be a result of a dropping off with no significant new games released this week.  The DS did see Fire Emblem DS enter the fray, but with the install base the DS has, its ability to push handhelds could not have been high, with the amount of hardware sold essentially the same as last week.  Thanks to NBGI's Tales of Vesperia and its bundle, the 360 has one of its best weeks in the nation, and outsells the PS3.  It was reported that the 360 Vesperia bundle saw some shortages, and that in all probability prevented Microsoft's console from overtaking the Wii this week.

Looking at the software, Sega's Phantasy Star Portable continues to sell, reaching roughly 490k in total sales for the two weeks it has been on the market, closing in on that 500k copies shipped figure earlier reported by the publisher.  Last week's #2, Nintendo's Rhythm Tengoku Gold, also continues impressive sales, with roughly 367k copies sold, and is still aiming to do better than its GBA predecessor.  The developer/publisher's Fire Emblem DS also sold well in its opening week, but is still unknown whether it will keep pace with others in the top ten.  As always, Nintendo's Wii Fit (WII - #8 - 27k) and Mario Kart Wii (WII - #9 - 23k) still continue to sell.  Square Enix's Dragon Quest V has finally passed the million mark, becoming the latest million seller for the DS.  Whether it will surpass Dragon Quest IV DS's sales will remain to be seen.  Namco Bandai's latest RPG in the longstanding Tales series, Tales of Vesperia, single-handedly pushed sales for the consoles, with an opening week of 108k, which includes sales of the 360 bundle.  With its opening of 108k, it is now the owner of the best opening week for the Xbox 360, besting Blue Dragon's 80k opening.  Next week should see the PS3 version of Soul Calibur IV (PS3 - #10 - 23k) break the 100k mark.

For the games/consoles breakdown, there are 25 Nintendo DS games in the top fifty, 12 Wii games, 5 PSP, 3 games each for both the PlayStation 2 and 3, and the 360 bringing up the rear with 2.

Nintendo's Fire Emblem: New Shadow Dragons and the Sword of Light and Namco Bandai's Tales of Vesperia headlined the new releases this week with their respective strong sales.  The other new games to break into the top ten were Sega's Sangokushi Taisen Heaven (NDS - #6 - 33k), which also released with a limited edition, and NBGI's Summon Night 2 (NDS - #7 - 30k), both for the Nintendo DS.  Only three of the DS's new releases didn't chart, while both of the new Wii releases did to low numbers.  The PSP's new releases were mostly budget priced rereleases.
 

What to look for next week:

• With a weak list of new releases, the top ten should look to be mostly the same, with the only differences being sales numbers and positions
• Expect the 360 to already be coming down to Earth, and should match up with PS3 numbers

Overclocking industry wastes no time cranking up the potential.

The HD4870X2 and 4850X2 have made their debut now, and everyone is already pleased to see how far these things are going in the realm of performance, but for those who are struggling to accept the figures presented, CoolIT has gone ahead and launched their new liquid cooling system for the 4870X2 with a current report of a 13.5% increase in clock and a healthy 11% jump in the memory speed.

Right now the current figures report a stable 880MHz GPU and 1GHz GDDR5 report from their samples, of course enthusiasts have their ways of using alternative cooling solutions through these outside of basic water treatment and given that AMD helped co-develop the system it seems like they should have quite a nice starting point for where the sensitive spots are with the X2.

For 3DMark fans they upped their lab score from X7125 at stock to X8148 which is quite a nice leap by them. Personally I can't wait to see what people in the field start doing with these coolers since the initial reports are usually a decent baseline for what to expect without a huge investment into mixtures. As usual with many CoolIT systems, we don't have a pricing figure to give out but their website will have it available to the masses come September. Those looking to invest in it should keep in mind that the cooler is a dual drive bay solution though so some space will need to be available for it.

With EA's NCAA Football 09 leading the way for software