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Thursday, September 02, 2010

The scope of the class action lawsuit facing Sony over its removal of PS3 Linux support could include over 10 million consoles, potentially reaching billions of dollars in refunds if everything goes the lawyers’ way.

Leading western RPG developer Bioware has said that hit corridor crawler Final Fantasy XIII “isn’t an RPG.”

Disappointment barely describes the icy response facing the latest gameplay footage of the upcoming Strike Witches shoot ‘em up for the Xbox 360 – some say it would barely pass muster as a freeware doujin game, let alone an $80 release.

Incredulous Strike Witches fans are still wondering if the entire game is actually intended as a perverse extra to the Yoshika Nendoroid included with the $100+ edition, but sadly this seems unlikely.

The US Air Force is less than pleased with Sony for removing the PS3’s Linux support, although unlike most Sony critics it does actually use the OtherOS feature, in a supercomputing cluster of PS3s which it complains is now doomed by a lack of replacement units.

An article at Wired discusses the difficulties involved in transferring games that were purchased and downloaded online when users replace their Wii or DSi. "Neither the Wii nor Nintendo’s portable DSi consoles have an upgrade path for downloadable content, since games are tied not to user accounts but to specific machines. It’s impossible for a user to copy content from an old console to a new one. Even some Wii owners whose machines have malfunctioned said it was difficult, or impossible, to get Nintendo to transfer the software licenses at its headquarters." One gamer, who bought the recently released black Wii console, explained that she got Nintendo to transfer her games, but needed to "mail both of her Wii consoles to Nintendo, and wait two weeks," hardly a convenient solution.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that video game industry revenue fell by 26 percent in April, adding more concerns about the health of the industry in the worst year-over-year decline since July 2009. But the big news is that the decline in portable sales makes up 61 percent of the overall monthly decline, suggesting that the Nintendo DS platform is losing steam but also reflecting the growing clout of the iPhone platform as the iPhone and iPod Touch continue to draw in more casual gamers, the iPad offers a bigger screen experience, and Apple announces the 'Game Center' — a social gaming hub with console-like online gaming features. Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata is understood to have told his senior executives recently to regard the battle with Sony as a victory already won and to treat Apple, and its iPhone and iPad devices, as the 'enemy of the future.' 'If Nintendo's future mobile platforms are to be any kind of success, the company will have to figure out how to take on the ease of use afforded by the App Store,' writes Nicholas Deleon. A large part of Nintendo's faith in reviving its efforts hinge on the 3DS, which may ship in the fall, the first truly major handheld introduction for Nintendo since the original DS in 2004. He adds, 'Maybe Nintendo should just release a phone?'

By: Stephen Neveaux
(Staff Writer)

This is the third installment to the Wind Waker story line, Spirit Tracks takes a new approach to the Legend of Zelda franchise. The storyline takes place 100 years after Phantom Hourglass. The back story is that a great evil was sealed away within the land long ago. The train tracks, referred to as spirit tracks, are what help keep the demon sealed away. In the present, you play Link, a young boy working on getting his conductors license. While en route to Hyrule Castle, the spirit tracks mysteriously disappear, and it falls on your shoulders to restore the spirit tracks and save the world... again.

Activision has been served a lawsuit from 38 plaintiffs, including present and former Infinity Ward employees, demanding up to half a billion dollars. The plaintiffs are seeking compensation for 'unpaid bonuses, royalties, profit sharing and future profits from games such as Modern Warfare 3 and punitive damages.'

When Microsoft finally discontinued Xbox Live support for Halo 2 on April 15, it was the end of an era. Gamers from around the world who spent inordinate amounts of time fragging each other in Halo 2's many levels were forced to say goodbye.

However, as most left for newer alternatives, some refused to let go just yet.

"Throughout the past week, a small group of dedicated Halo 2 players kept their Xbox's on so that they could enjoy the game for a while longer," Bungie Community member "Joe Campbell" wrote in a forum. He said even though Microsoft has turned off support for Halo 2, the players have been able to keep playing the game because they haven't turned their consoles off and maintained a constant connection to Xbox Live since April 15.

"As long as we don't turn off our Xbox's, or lose connection, we can stay online," Campbell wrote. "Our Xboxes have been on for nearly 12 days straight."

Staying online for 12 days has been difficult. The original group was much larger, but due to dropped Web connections and consoles overheating because of constant use, gamers have been dropping out "at a rapid rate." As of this writing, there are 14 gamers currently playing Halo 2 even after support has been discontinued.

The gamers who are left say they plan to keep Halo 2 for as long as possible. Campbell said he and his fellow Halo 2 gamers "will keep playing until we are all forcibly removed."

To prove that the players are actually still able to access Halo 2 and take on each other online, some have been live streaming the bouts between players. One gamer, "Z0mbie," has more than three hours of footage showing the last remaining people playing the game over Xbox Live.

There's no telling how much longer the remaining 14 gamers will be able to hold out until they are forced to bid adieu. But they expect the end to come by way of "Microsoft, Bungie, our Xbox's overheating, or just lagging out."

But don't think that they're doing this for accolades or prizes. According to Campbell, he and the rest of the gamers continue to play Bungie's classic "not for competition, not for a prize, but for the love, and memory of Halo 2."

Capcom’s shooting things action game Lost Planet 2 is packed full of jiggling thong clad maidens, thanks to a rather overactive physics system.

Gameplay videos taken by the desperate demonstrate the effects:




Some have complained that it is hard to concentrate with all this going on, not that sales look likely to suffer.

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