Did 2D Ocarina of Time creator fake his death?

We reported the passing of Richard "Dampe" Denton last week. Dampe was 15 years old and developing one of several 2D Zelda:Ocarina of Time games currently in the works by various artists. Now it seems we and many other media outlets may have been duped and that the reports of his death may have been erroneous.

Flashman of squidnews is reporting that he has done some pretty thorough research including trying to locate a non-existent police report, contradictory weather reports for the day of the accident (it was sunny when it was supposed to be raining) and the fact that 'someone' has logged onto Dampe's myspace page and has been "sited" in other online areas.

I don't know if Dampe is dead or not. Some of Flashman's research is solid and does make a compelling case for a kid under a lot of pressure just trying to make an escape. And I did find it a bit fishy that his family was so eager to immediately shut down the forums where he reported his progress to fans when you would think they had bigger fish to fry if their son had indeed just been tragically killed.

Digg readers seem to think Flashman is right and many of them are indignant. Heck, maybe Flashman is really Dampe.

I suspect we'll be hearing more about this in the future. We'll keep you updated when and if we learn more.

5 "Solid" reasons why Metal Gear Solid 4 will come to Xbox 360

I recently posted a brief story about Ace Combat 6 no longer being a PS3 exclusive in which I flippently speculated that with all the PS3 "exclusives" that have been lost recently, how long will it be before MGS4 is announced for the XBox 360? I got flamed for my trouble, so I decided to do some more research and try to determine if there really is reason to believe MGS4 will come to the Xbox 360.

The more research I did, the clearer it became that Metal Gear Solid 4 might very well end up on the Xbox 360. Before you start flaming hear me out.

In response to my speculation, one of the aforementioned 'flamers' on Digg.com who goes by "patmos" said , "Hideo has already came out and officially stated that the MGS 4 will not be ported over. Its a fact. Its life."

Well, actually, that's not true, at least not that I could document and I did a lot of searching for such a statement. Hideo Kojima has only been quoted ONCE (that I could find) saying specifically that Metal Gear Solid 4 would not come to the Xbox 360, and that was in this article. That statement was made nearly a year ago. Since that time a lot of things have changed pretty dramatically and so, for several reasons, that statement has to be taken with a grain of salt.

#1) Lack of PS3 Demand - Konami's growing trepidation over the PS3's small installed user base has fueled the fire of MGS to 360 speculation since that quote from Kojima-San. At that time, noone knew that Sony was going to have such a hard time getting people to buy PS3's. It was widely assumed that the PS3 would sell out everywhere for quite some time after launch. Of course since that time we know the truth that Sony is having a very hard time moving PS3's world wide. Despite the fact that many outlets are reporting the PS3 as having the largest initial European launch ever, the fact is they still haven't managed to sell out their allottment of only 220,000 units in the region. That, even after making the European market wait an extra six months for their PS3s; a move that should have boosted demand, not lessened it.

#2) PS3 Production Problems - During an interview with EA's Larry Probst, Newsweek reported the PS3 is going to have production issues through 2008. Assuming demand for the PS3 does in fact pick up, will Sony even be able to take advantage of it in time? The father of the Playstation brand, Ken Kutaragi doesn't seem to think so. In a recent interview with MCV where he laughed off competition from Microsoft and Nintendo in one breathe, in the next he conceded that Sony is still struggling with the production of the PS3’s Blu-Ray drive saying, “Right now, it is an issue, because we can’t manufacture enough blue laser diodes for our PlayStation 3s." Blu-ray diode production problems pushed back the PS3's European launch to March 2007. And while it did launch on time in Japan and North America, its day-one inventory was drastically cut from 2 million units to just 100,000 units in Japan and 400,000 units in the US and Canada.

#3) Plausible Deniability - The fact is Konami has NEVER flat out said Metal Gear Solid 4 is not coming to the Xbox 360. When asked to clear up the speculation several months ago, they did anything but. They gave only an open-ended statement "Konami has no plans to bring Metal Gear Solid 4 to the Xbox 360 at this time." As long as the door is left cracked open like that, Konami can always announce a 360 port without losing face. If they knew for a fact that they were absolutely not releasing such a high-profile game on the 360, they would just end the speculation, but they have clearly chosen not to.

#4) Hideo Kojima doesn't write the checks - Make no mistake, Hideo Kojima does NOT have final say on whether or not MGS4 comes to the Xbox 360, that is completely up to Konami, and it will be a purely financial decision.

#5) Kojima-San is eyeing the 360 and PC - Kojima-San has repeatedly said that he is eager to develop on the Xbox 360 and PC.

From his last GamePro interview:

GamePro: "Is MGS4 still planned as an exclusive PS3 game? Do you have any interest in Xbox 360 development?"

Kojima: "Well, yes, I do have strong interest in creating something for the Xbox 360. In the US and Europe, it is selling, and I think it will sell a lot this year as well. I'm a fan of Gears of War as well, it's very interesting. Frankly speaking, I want to create something on the PC. It's a multi-platform [format]. I've been regularly studying work on the PC anyways, and I want to provide something as a world-wide platform because of the consequences with timing on the PlayStation platforms, MGS4 is actually for the PS3 only so far."

Unlike his statement from a year ago, he now leaves the door ajar for the possibility of MGS4 on the 360.

Conclusion - So, is Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriot coming to the Xbox 360? Obviously that can't be definitively answered at this time, but I am going to go out on a limb and predict that it will. There are just too many reasons to believe, and not enough reasons not to. It won't be two years after the PS3 release either, it will be no more than six months after the PS3 version.

Ok, now you can start flaming!

It should be noted that I personally own both a PS3 and an Xbox 360 and I think they both have their own strengths and weaknesses. I don't care which one sells more consoles as long as I get good games for both of them!

Ace Combat 6 coming to Xbox 360, Metal Gear 4 next?

Confirmed in the Japanese video game magazine Famitsu, Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation is making its way to the Xbox 360 as well as the Playstation 3. Yet another PS3 "exclusive" lost to the competition.

At this rate, it seems like it's only a matter of time before Metal Gear Solid 4 jumps ship. Hideo Kojima has already made numerous statements to the effect that he wants to make a game on the Xbox 360. At the very least Sony has got to be nervous about the possibility.

If it was announced that Metal Gear 4 was coming to Xbox 360, would it change your plans to buy a PS3?

Is 2D gaming dead?

Is 2D gaming dead? It's a fair question and one I've been pondering lately with the advent of Xbox Live Arcade and the other Next Gen consoles offering "classic" games on their respective download services.

I'm in my late 30's and I played a lot of these games when they were first released, and I'm not talking Mortal Combat or Castlevania:Symphony of the Night...I'm talking PacMan, DigDug and Galaga. I love Geometry Wars, but honestly I'm yearning for Microsoft to bring Asteroids to XBLA.

There is of course a danger in releasing the classics...some of them aren't all that classic. Mike Triggs over at UGO has a great writeup asking the same question about the state of 2D gaming and he points out that often times nostalgia wins out over quality with some of these games. In his story, as an example of the bad of classic gaming, he actually sites one of the games I most regreted buying back in 1982...Atari 2600 Football. For those of you who've never played it...let's just say it was no Madden 07. For instance, your entire football team was represented by 4 blocky characters that looked more like Zamboni machines than athletes...it was a horrendous mess of a game. To make matters worse I paid $50 for it back then. That's $100 in today's dollars...ouch! But you know something, for as bad as it was, I had fun with it for a couple of days before it sunk in just how bad it really was. And if it were released on XBLA tomorrow, I'm not sure I wouldn't be willing to shell out $5 for a chance to relive the experience.

I don't know if that's an indictment against my love of games and gaming, or if it's a testament to the incredible nostalgic pull these "games of our youth" hold for some of us.

Even with all the graphical muscle of these Next Gen consoles with there dual core processors and Cell chips, we still sometimes forego another round of Gears of War to play Joust and Galaga and Pacman and Digdug and newer games like Geometry Wars, which is really just good 'ole Asteroids on crack.

Now don't get me wrong, I don't think anyone would release these kind of games as a $40 or more full fledged game...they just wouldn't sell, but I think there is definitely room for 2D games in spaces like XBLA, PSN and Nintendo's Virtual Console.

So, is 2D gaming dead? I would say it's not dead, but it is living in the old-folks home waiting for the last of us who loved it to be lost to the march of time.

Take-Two's CEO and board ousted by shareholders

In a widely expected outcome, during the Take-Two Interactive shareholders meeting a group of investors led by Oppenheimer Funds elected to remove CEO Paul Eibeler and establish a new board of directors. After a spate of PR snafus, internal and external investigations and the infamous Grand Theft Auto 3 "Hot Coffee" scandal, the company's investors had clearly had enough, electing Strauss Zelnick as chairman and instituted Ben Feder, an associate of Zelnick's, as interim CEO. "This is not going to be an easy task," said Zelnick. "But I think, and Ben thinks, that there's an awful lot of good stuff going on at Take-Two."

Reaction in the investment community was positive, though analysts noted the company's turnaround will take a concerted effort. "While the incoming board possesses a wealth of media experience, it faces a number of serious obstacles to a turnaround," Bear Stearns analyst Edward Urban wrote in a client note. Urban said the company might endure "a long and difficult transition." Shares rose four percent, to $21.94 in premarket Nasdaq trading.

Hopefully this move will set Take-Two down the path to regaining some stability so they can focus on what they do best, which is making kick-ass games!

For more, read the full report from The New York Times.

Top Ten Coolest Game Characters - Nintendo is not cool.

Gaming site screwattack.com has posted a cool segment in which they detail their "Top 10 Coolest Game Characters". The rules are simple...only one character per game franchise can make the list and you gotta be LL Cool baby!

Duke Nukem came in as Number 1 on their list, citing Duke's phrases, and his general badassedness (is that a word...it is in the world of Duke Nukem!). They particularly seemed to enjoy one of the cinematics from Duke Nukem 3D. "I'll rip off your head, and..." You remember the rest. :)

Of course Top Ten lists are only fun because noone ever completely agrees with them, and that will certainly be true in this case. This list may actually be more interesting for who DIDN'T make it. Let's just say there are going to be some very irate Nintendo fans.

Check out the entire segment in this clip from Youtube.



No Marcus Fenix? Hmmm. Who do you think should of made the list?

Exigent - embracing and changing the future of gaming!

Outsourcing, it's a dirty word to many American's afraid they are losing their jobs to lesser-qualified workers overseas. Most of us as "techies" have had some kind of experience with outsourcing. Remember the last time you called the customer service department for any major computer hardware or software company? You probably dialed a toll free 800 number from Anywhere, USA and ended up discussing your problem with Farookh Singh in New Dehli, India. In theory, there is nothing wrong with this and many of the people you will deal with in such an instance are very competent and well-trained. However, whether or not you end up having a positive experience during your call is really irrelevant to the company that outsourced their CSR positions to India; their primary objective is to save money.

Which brings us around to gaming. With the costs of game development skyrocketing into the $20-$40 MIL range on some Next Gen titles, many game developers are outsourcing parts of their development process to offshore companies like Exigent in India to offset these costs. It is a rapidly growing segment of the development community and many of the games you will play in the future will be a product of this trend.

Ishaan from Flame War Advance recently sat down and spoke to several of the higher ups from Exigent and they shared a spirited discussion on several topics including:

- The relationship between video games and technology.

- Evolution of art design in games.

- The ugly truth behind screenshots.

- The decline of console gaming.

- Developing on the PS3 vs Xbox 360 vs Wii vs PC

-Microsoft's Game's for Windows (Vista) agenda

Ishaan's "interview" is posted in two parts. You can read part one here. It is a discussion with Exigent's Chief Creative Officer, Paul Steed, who’s an industry veteran and has worked at Origin Systems, EA, Id Software, Wild Tangent and Atari. Paul’s credits include some true gaming classics, including Quake and Wing Commander. He also developed Betty Bad and is not only a regular speaker at GDC, he’s also on the advisor board for the event.

Part two is is a conversation with Jesse Rapczak, the VP of Production at Exigent. Jesse was the co-founder of Artificial Studios, who developed the Reality Engine, which was licensed by Epic in 2005 (Reality Engine/Unreal Engine, get it?). With him, were Albert and Nisha (two of the lead artists on the team).

Both of these "interviews" were conducted in a very relaxed manner and as a result they are very revealing and honest conversations that I found fascinating. They are a tad lengthy but well worth the 15 minute investment of your time.

I hope you enjoy them.

Great work Ishaan!

Grand Theft Auto IV Trailer

Finally...we've been waiting and it's finally here!




Whether or not the final game will look like this, I don't know, but i am hopeful that Rockstar can meet their own expectations. Either way, you know it's going to sell a bazillion copies worldwide come October.

Spiderman 3 The Game - trailer

It's Spiderman, it's cool, it's webtacular, and it's coming May 4th. Check out the trailer below. This trailer is for the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions. The PS2, Xbox and Wii will get a slightly different game.



My Spidey sense is tingling with anticipation!

Nintendo Wii Hits the High Seas - on Cruise Ships

To the list of Nursing Homes, hospitals and bingo halls you can now add cruise ships to the places that the Nintendo Wii can be found entertaining the geriatric set.

Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) today announced it is the first cruise line to offer guests a chance to experience Nintendo's red-hot Wii on board its ships. Wii systems are currently on all NCL America ships and will be rolled out on the rest of the NCL fleet by next month. The systems are equipped with Wii Sports, Wii Play, WarioWare: Smooth Moves and Excite Truck.

"With its active, engaging and inviting game experiences appealing to every age from kids to parents to grandparents, the Wii from Nintendo is a natural fit for Freestyle Cruising," said Colin Veitch, NCL's president and CEO. "With the addition of Wii to our on-board activities, we can now offer bowling, boxing, golf, tennis and baseball across the entire fleet. Cheering, yelling and high-fives will be highly encouraged."

Whoohoo, take THAT Grandma...I own you!!

Max Payne Creator and his Dream Team coming to Next Gen

Samuli Syvähuoko, one of the co-founders of Remedy Entertainment, the company responsible for the hugely successful Max Payne franchise, has formed a new development studio called Recoil Games and begun development on a new Next Gen game.

Syvähuoko has assembled a virtual super group of game designers and artists to get Recoil off to a fast start. The company's founding team members each have an average of ten years of experience in the game industry and hail from a virtual who's who list of developers including Codemasters, Electronic Arts, Guerrilla Games (Sony), Remedy Entertainment, Treyarch (Activision) and Ubisoft both in Finland and internationally.

Recoil's hook is they plan to create games based around a disaster movie kind of theme to create games on an extra-large scale. Sounds risky, but interesting.

From the company's press release:

"Established in January and based in Helsinki, Finland, Recoil Games Ltd. focuses on the creation of action games with the scope, feel and ensemble cast of disaster movies. This is a large untapped area of the industry and Recoil plans to lead the way with its innovative Cinegames design techniques. These games will feature huge stories, and require a large ensemble cast-often working together-to solve the many varied challenges, including internal human conflict, another area most overlooked in today's action games. These games will be released for current and next-generation consoles and PC."

Recoil's first game will be an original IP (intellectual property) utilizing in-house technology as well as licensed third-party tools and is targeted at the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.

It will be interesting to see if a team of such uber-talented people can all work together on a common goal without getting sidetracked by individual agendas. If the game ends up having half the attitude and fun of Max Payne, it'll be one worth watching.

Xbox 360 Elite Video

Short and simple. See the Xbox 360 Elite in all its three dimensional glory in this video interview with Microsoft's Albert Penello.



Check out our earlier story about the official announcement from earlier today for more details.

The "Elite" will hit North American store shelves April 29th and will retail for $479.99 in the U.S..

I'll be in line.

Microsoft marketing 'Gears' in Japan - pay attention Sony

Unlike the horrible and utterly forgettable PS3 ads Sony ran in the U.S. and Europe, the Gears of War ads Microsoft is running in Japan are smart and memorable.

I won't spoil it for you. Watch the videos below.








Now those are some excellent ads. I don't know if they will sell Xbox 360's in Japan...that ship may have already sailed, but at least they are cool.

Gamestop exec says Wii shortages are intentional

Have you been trying to get your hands on a Nintendo Wii only to be met with empty store shelves? You're not alone, and now we may know why. We live in a supply and demand world...when supply is high and demand is low, prices drop. When things are reversed we see $10,000.00 PS3's on Ebay.

That's why it's hardly a surprise to hear R. Richard Fontaine, CEO of GameStop, saying that his company's profits may be about to ride the crest of "a cycle on steroids."

Fontaine believes Nintendo is about to release the floodgates on the Wii supply drought -- a drought GameStop feels may be the result of a well played Nintendo supply-and-demand strategy. Gamasutra has an article up at the moment in which a few statements made by Fontaine and other GameStop executives are quoted, directly following an investor-level financial reports conference.

GameStop's COO Dan DeMatteo also made the following statement to the press: "I believe that next week we get our first allocations of Wii and DSs and we are quite pleased with those numbers. We were concerned about the dryness here in March, but it looks like April is going to be good. [...] I don't think [more shortages] are going to be an issue...and this just my opinion, but I think [Nintendo] intentionally dried up supply because they made their numbers for the year. The new year starts April 1, and I think we're going to see supply flowing."

This is good news if you're looking to get a Wii next month, but is it good for the industry as a whole? These kinds of strategies can cause distrust and sometimes result in lost customer loyalty. If these reports are true Nintendo is walking a fine line between smart economics and poor public relations.

Do you think it's okay for Nintendo to intentionally hold back consoles just to make their fiscal year look better?

America's Next Top Model - The game...seriously!

OK, now I have officially seen it all. I thought I had seen every hair-brained idea for a game there was, Barbie in a game?, check. Barney in a game?, check. America's Next Top Model? surely not. Wait, damnit, check!

Yes, it's true. Artificial Life announced that they will launch a mobile, interactive game for your phones, based on the Tyra Banks hosted reality show. You will be able to create your own avatar and send it through a series of modeling based mini games that will hope to capture the essence of what makes America's Next Top Model the hit that it is.

The CEO of Artificial Life said, "This new version of the America's Next Top Model mobile game has a lot of innovative gaming features. We have integrated show synchronization and IVR technology to make the game play more exciting. America's Next Top Model fans will surely love these newly added features."

Unless IVR is some kind of technology that makes the models want to date me, I really don't see how its going "to make the game play more exciting."

Of course, I've been wrong before...I never thought Nintendogs would be the phenomenon it turned into (how DID I miss that one?). So who knows, maybe America's Next Top Model will be next years Mobile Game of the Year.

With Lost and Grey's Anatomy games right around the corner, what TV show would you like to see made into a game?

I vote Battlestar Galactica...but that's already coming too.

Halo 3 Beta to come preloaded on 360 Elite?

Could Microsoft be planning to offer you another opportunity to get into the Halo 3 beta by preloading it on Xbox 360 Elite hard drives? I've seen some speculation to this effect around the net and I've got to say I think it is totally unfounded.

Think about it...first of all Microsoft assumes a good chunk of Elite buyers will be current 360 owners. Given the fact that transferring your present harddrive contents to the Elite's drive deletes the Elite's original contents, that wouldn't make a lot of sense. Plus, why would MS want to give you any motivation to not buy Crackdown to get the Beta?

Most people are pointing to the Elite's release date of April 29th being the same as the Halo 3 Beta's planned release date of "Spring" as evidence of an 'Elite Halo 3 Beta'...I don't buy it.

Sorry folks, but if you want to get in the Halo 3 beta and you're not related to Bill Gates or Peter Moore, you better go buy your copy of Crackdown now while you still can.

Xbox 360 Elite officially unveiled today

Finally, the Xbox 360 Elite has been confirmed by a mainstream media outlet and should be officially unveiled by Microsoft later today.

The New York Times has the story "revealing" the nitty gritty's, nothing of which is news to GameJonez Blog readers. I've been covering this developing story since the first pictures popped up 10 days ago. I just find it comical that MS felt the need to be so secretive...it's not like Sony and Nintendo are going to run out and redesign their consoles this early in their respective cycles. And with the PS3 European launch happening last week, it might have benefited them to make an official announcement earlier to steal some of Sony's thunder.

Who knows the reasons why they waited, I'm just glad its (more or less) official.

UPDATE: IGN just posted the story that they got "the call" from Microsoft. It's all officially official now, so we can all stop speculating. For your $479.99 you'll get a 120GB hdd, HDMI, and a special cable for transferring old HDD info to new HDD. Black charging stations are coming along with black play n charge kits and black controllers for everyone to buy. The system will NOT be limited edition and yes, future upgrades are a possibility. There will be 3 SKU's; they will NOT be aborting the "Core" system. That's pretty much it. Now go pre-order!

Netflix delivering movies to your Xbox 360 Elite?

Yep, it could be happening. Netflix founder Reed Hastings has joined the Microsoft board of directors this week, indicating a cozy relationship between the two companies. While no actual business deals between the two have been announced, a partnership could benefit them both greatly in the current marketplace.

TiVo and Amazon have joined forces with their on-demand service and Netflix could use a little help getting into people's living rooms with a physical set-top box. And who knows more about getting into customers homes than Microsoft?

The Xbox 360 Elite is expected to arrive in late April. Will Netflix Live be far behind?

Xbox 360 Elite with IPTV could change the world

Nipping at the heels of our "Orb" story below, Gizmodo is reporting that the rumored and unconfirmed and who-cares-'cause-we-all-know-it's-coming Xbox 360 Elite will be IPTV ready out of the box.

This may be a problem for Sony and, to a lesser degree, Nintendo as Gizmodo concludes, "VOD? (video on demand) IPTV? DVR? Media streaming? The 360 is looking more and more like the best convergence box of its generation."

But, could the Xbox 360 Elite really change the world? Make no mistake, Sony and Microsoft are both vying to get consumers to leave the old concept of gaming consoles being just for games behind so they can transition to the elusive and highly coveted "Universal Set Top Box" - an all-in-one media delivery tool that allows consumers to receive every type of conceivable digital content through one easy-to-use interface right into their living rooms.

What's at stake? The first company to deliver this concept to the public in a way that successfully drives widespread consumer adoption is going to have a huge leg up in the Digital Distribution Industry (DDI) moving forward in this century. Century? Yes, this is not some short-term concept we're discussing, this is a serious "Next Big Thing" kinda thing. DDI will be looked back on as being as revolutionary as Radio and TV were when they were introduced. Do you know anyone who doesn't own a TV or a radio?

We're not talking about millions or even billions of dollars in possible revenue here, this could be worth trillions over the next several decades and could fundamentally change the very landscape of entertainment. Imagine no more music stores, no more theaters, no more movies or TV shows on discs. Once enough money is being diverted away from these brick and mortar endeavors and into the DDI, they may all become obsolete and extinct. I predict the change is coming sooner rather than later.

Of course, people may continue to support theaters and the like due to the social aspects of seeing a movie in a large group or they may not. If you and I and all our friends could watch the same movie from our individual living rooms while all being connected together with live voice chat (with the ability to mute the "movie-talker" or "annoying laugh guy")...wouldn't that actually be superior to a theater? We could laugh together at the right times and still be able to eat our own snacks, drink our own drinks and sit in our own recliners. I have to say, that sounds pretty compelling to me!

As with everything else, the market will decide.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance DLC coming to XBLM

Activision plans to release Marvel Ultimate Alliance Heroes and Villains, a multi-part expansion pack for the Xbox 360 version of Marvel Ultimate Alliance in April. Heroes and Villains will feature eight new playable characters: The Incredible Hulk, Magneto, Hawkeye, Sabretooth, Doctor Doom, Cyclops, Nightcrawler and Venom, each complete with new signature powers, skins, dialog, conversations and (whoohoo!!) achievement points.

The expansion will be available via Xbox Live Marketplace and will be released in three packs. The Hero Pack and Villain Pack will each be 500 Microsoft points and the Combined Hero and Villain Pack will be 800 Microsoft points. Heroes and Villains gamer pic packs will also be available for 80 Microsoft points each.

More achievments and more Marvel characters? Count me in!

ORB to revolutionize media streaming for Next Gen consoles

If you own a Xbox 360 and a media center PC, you may have already tried streaming music and video from your PC to your TV. And when you get it working, it's really really cool! However, it's more likely you decided to skip it when you saw the complicated process involved in making it work. Sony fans are even worse off. Let's face it, while the PS3 has the horsepower to play media, it lacks the elegant software to make it a fun experience. The Wii is no better than the PS3 for media streaming currently. That's all about to change for the better.

Orb Networks announced that you and others in roughly 17 million households with gaming consoles worldwide can now enjoy and share all of the digital media on their home PCs directly on their living room TV screen, using the company’s free MyCasting software as the bridge. The announcement is great news for gamers because the Orb MyCasting software works with all three Next Gen consoles, Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii. Steve Jobs is rumored to be scowling as the announcement comes just when Apple is beginning shipping its Apple TV. His buddy, Bill Gates can't be too happy either as Windows users now have one more excuse to hold off on that terrifying Vista upgrade AND Orb has just inadvertently handed Nintendo and Sony a tool that essentially raises their consoles closer to on par with some of the 360's best features.


How Orb Works with your game console:

Download Orb at www.orb.com (Version v2.00.0856 or higher) onto your always-on Windows PC at home. It takes less than 3 minutes to do. For the Wii and PS3, turn on the TV that is connected to your game console and open your Web browser. Using your remote control or controller, log onto your Orb account through your game console at mycast.orb.com. For the XBox 360, go to the media tab and select the media type (video, photos, or music) you want to play on your TV. Click “computer” from the list of options, and you will see a list of the computers running Orb on your LAN. Select one and then pick from the available video, photos, or music. That’s it. Now enjoy, watch and listen to any digital content on your home PC - videos, music, Internet TV and radio or any other online content you programmed in your Orb MyCast application: they are now all airing on your TV screen.

That sounds flippin' sweet! I'm heading to download the software now and will report in later this week with an update.

Top Ten strangest controllers of all time!

Techblog has added another useless but entertaining Top Ten list to the pantheon of David Letterman copycats. The Top Ten strangest controllers of all time.

The list is strange indeed and includes the world's largest and smallest functioning NES controllers, a full-sized train driving dashboard controller for the very lonely and a bloody chainsaw controller (pictured) for hacking zombies in Resident Evil. Can I get one of those for Gears of War? That would be utterly bad-ass!

Check it out, it's a fun story.

Microsoft still in denial of Xbox 360 Elite

Joystiq has posted a story today about Microsoft's continuing silence in regards to the worst kept secret in gaming, the Xbox 360 Elite (formerly referred to as "Zephyr")along with some corroborating evidence of it's existance.

We broke the story of the "Zephyr" (the original 360 was dubbed "Xenon" during development) with photos a week ago and Joystiq posted a story "confirming" its existence about an hour later. I have posted the full GameJonez story below as it originally appeared.

Why is Microsoft bothering to deny its existence? What is the point? Surely there is no strategic importance, unless the ad predicting it's April release is wrong and they are planning some kind of simultaneous release along side a major game, like Forza 2 or Mass Effect, or even Bioshock. Halo 3 would make the most sense financially, but I don't see them sitting on this for another 6 months.

120GB Xbox 360 "Zephyr" - It's Black! We have the Pictures
Posted Mar 20, 2007 12:00pm by Todd Melanson

In an apparent slip-up by the Halo Wars development team, it appears pictures of the long-rumored 120GB Black Xbox 360, dubbed Zephyr, have made it to the Net, largely unnoticed.

The first picture below appears on the Halo Wars community forums. The Devs had a recent get together with some Microsoft big wigs including Shane Kim to show off their progress with Halo Wars. Well, someone snapped some pics of the group playing the game and sure enough, right there under the flat panel TV sits a black Xbox 360 with a very different looking Hardrive than what comes with the current Premium 360.


click to enlarge

The second picture is zoomed in on the area of the 360 itself, and while it's a bit blurry, you can definitely recognize it as a 360, and it is black and the hardrive (white edge) is distinctly larger than the current 20GB version. Where the current 20GB version HDD is only raised in the rear two-thirds of the box and flush with the edge in the front, this hardrive is raised all the way across the end, essentially completing the 360 as a rectangular box.


click to enlarge

Clearly if Microsoft is serious about making downloadable HD movies a reality(and they are), a larger HDD is going to be crucial. While it is impossible from these pics to tell if this Zephyr 360 has an HDMI port in the rear, I would bet the farm that it does.

So, the next question is, how much and when?

UPDATE: Joystiq has posted a story revealing the new Xbox 360 in all it's glory. It will show up on store shelves in late April and retail for $479 (ouch babe!). It will include HDMI output and HDMI cables, 120GB HDD and of course, it's black!

So, how pissed off are the early adopters going to be (pretty pissed we think) and will this signal the absolute end of Sony's decade long run of dominance? 2007 sure is shaping up as an interesting gaming year so far!

Drake's Fortune looks good, really good!

When I initially saw the original video of Drake's Fortune for the PS3 at last year's E3, I thought it looked great but figured the final game wouldn't look anything like that...call me jaded, call me a realist, just don't call me Shirley.

Well, after reading the article about the game in the latest issue of Game Informer and seeing these new screenshots, I am becoming a believer. If these screenshots are accurate, this game looks absolutely beautiful. Maybe there IS some power in that there cell thingy.

Drake's Fortune is billed as a cross between Diehard, Indiana Jones and Tomb Raider. While I am understandably skeptical of marketing speak, if Naughty Dog can pull off that kind of super-hybrid of action and achieve this level of visuals, then they just may have a mega-hit on their hands!

That's assuming of course that Sony starts selling some PS3's.

Guitar Hero 2 rocking April 3rd!

Glue your egg cartons to the walls, warn the neighbors, tease your hair and break out your eye makeup because in case you missed it, Red Octane announced last week that Guitar Hero 2 is finished and will be released for the Xbox 360 on April 3rd.

With downloadable content exclusive to the Xbox 360, a beautiful new guitar controller and more great songs, I can hardly contain my excitement.

I've been waiting for this ever since the game was announced. What will be this year's "Bark at the Moon"? Man, that song was a killer in GH1.

You can't kill Rock n Roll!

CAL announces $5,000 Gears of War tourney!

The Cyberathlete Amateur League (CAL) announced the launch of its first online Gears of War tournament.

The $10 online registration is now open for the Gears of War tournament, which will consist of a four week / eight match season followed by a playoff tournament for $5,000 in cash prizes.

To register online or for more information visit the CAL Gears of War division.

For discussions about rules and formats, visit the official CAL Gears of War forum.

Gears of War has sold more than 3 million units and is the most popular game on Microsoft’s Xbox Live service. Though released in November and available only for the Xbox 360 console, it quickly became the fourth-bestselling game of 2006.

Top Casual Games of 2006

Bob Mandel over at Avault has a nice little write-up on some of the best casual games of last year. If you're looking for a fun distraction and aren't a slave to the technological bells and whistles of the Next-Gen consoles, you may very well find something here to fall in love with...and it won't cost you sixty bones!

MySims Wii preview

If you're unfamiliar with The Sims franchise...well, the very fact that you're here visiting a gaming blog, I'm just going to assume that you ARE familiar with this mega-blockbuster franchise.

From it's roots on the PC to it's past console forays, there's never been a Sims game quite like what is coming to the Nintendo Wii. MySims seems to be an amalgamation of those past Sims games with the added touches of a little Lego Star Wars and Animal Crossing thrown in for good measure. Gamespot got some private time with the game and they have a nice preview up that highlights all the major bullet points.

Customization is one of the key elements of any Sims title and according to the preview, MySims will take this aspect of the franchise to a whole new level.

"As in the previous games in the Sims series, you'll have plenty to choose from when it comes to customizing your alter ego, though it must be noted that the character models in this game are quite a bit different form the longer, leaner characters of the traditional PC and console Sims games. Somewhere in between anime figurines, blocky Lego models, and the Wii's own Miis is perhaps the best way to describe them."

In addition to the character customization, for the first time players will be able to actually build their own oblects and furniture.

In addition to creating a home for your sims, you'll be able to create all the furnishings and items in the game using an interface that's tentatively titled "create-a-thing." Basically, you'll work off of a few basic components: the blueprints for various items, including all the game's furniture --- Fans of the console versions of The Sims who enjoyed the previous games' collection gameplay won't be disappointed by create-a-thing, since there will apparently be dozens of essences and about 30 different types of basic item classes (coffee tables, chairs, beds, and so on) for which you can collect blueprints. Crafting items will play a key role in MySims, since they'll be a key part of the tasks you'll perform to get in good with your neighbors and eventually develop your town.

Presently, the game is only at the pre-alpha stage but it is scheduled for release this fall on the Wii and DS. Whenever it comes out I foresee a whole new wave of gamers (especially females) lining up at retailers around the world. Gamespot also has a video interview with the games developer if you'd like a little more insight.

2D Ocarina of Time creator dies in car accident.

Richard Denton, the creator of the 2D version of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time, and better known as "Dampe" around the net, was killed friday when he was struck by a car. Apparently, the road was wet, the car slid and Dampe was struck and rendered unconscious at the scene. He died later at the hospital; he was 15. According to the police report the car that struck him was not speeding and no alcohol or drugs were involved. Apparently it was just a very very sad freak accident.

We send our condolences to Richard's family and friends and his girlfriend. Reportedly his last known words were an "I love you" to her.

At the request of his family, the game, the official OoT2D webpage as well as the forums are closed. The future fate of the game itself remains undecided at this time.

A video from late last year shows the game in action.

To Dampe, I want to thank you for your hard work and passion, hopefully you know just how many people were inspired by your talent and efforts. You will be sorely missed.

Target $24 DS Games sale this week

Attention DS owners (and parents of DS owners), pack up the family and head to your local Target store this week for a nice deal on DS games. All games regularly priced $29.99 and above are on sale for $24. For most games, that might only be $5, but hey, used correctly, you could make it a family outing by using the five spot for a Mickey D's dollar menu meal. Or you could do like me and just use the $5 for those cool gel tabs for your Xbox 360 analog sticks...whoohoo, no more slipping fingers while splitting lips in Fight Night Round 3! Road Trip!!

Gamer Demographic Growing Up

This ad for HSBC demonstrates how the gamer demographic is growing up and gaining respect from advertisers. Unlike the "GTA" Coke ad and several other game related ads, this isn't a soft drink company or other "kiddie" related product. This ad is from a major financial institution and such companies don't spend money for ads unless they they are confident those ads will reach prospective customers.

It's a really good commercial too!

Xbox Live Maintenance Next Week

Xbox Live will be down next Tuesday for 14 hours from 3AM until 5PM EST, so if you were planning any marathon online gaming sessions with your Xbox, you might want to move it up to Monday. Major Nelson says this is only for internal maintenance, and there won't be any new updates to the Dashboard or anything fancy like that happening. Still, fourteen hours seems like an awfully long time for regular maintenance ... could there be something else going on behind the scenes? Security and anti-fraud updates perhaps?

Motorstorm with your friends - Online anyway

The Motorstorm patch that hit the Playstation store last night adds friends list functionality to the game. While I'm glad to see Sony patching games (Resistance got a patch this week also) how could they allow a racing game, or any online game for that fact, to be released without a friend's list feature? Would it really be all that difficult for Sony to require developers to meet some very basic online standards before putting a game on store shelves?

What I find even more disturbing in the case of Motorstorm is the fact that it has NO offline multiplayer game. So, if your buddies come over and want to splash some mud in your face, they'll have to go home and meet you online. I can't remember ever playing a racing game that didn't allow split screen racing.

It makes me wonder, did they leave out split screen racing because they were pressured to release the game (even though it was already delayed) or is the PS3 simply not powerful enough to support split screen racing in Motorstorm?

PS3 crashes in Euro launch, MS crashes party

The PS3 (crashed) launched in Europe yesterday amid throngs of tens of people and moribund sales. Archrival Microsoft generated more excitement at a Paris launch party than anything Sony provided.

Microsoft is clearly done taking Sony’s jabs without a fight. At one of the largest launch parties in Paris, MS drove a boat by the PS3 party adorned with huge “XBOX 360 HEARTS YOU” banners. That’s not all. MS flunkies handed out chairs to weary fans waiting in the PS3 lines printed with a link to this site. Classic!! They also sent SMS messages to game journalists saying "The Xbox 360 team wishes you a good night." To top things off, the MS army was armed with whistles, blowing them from rooftops to drown out the noise of Sony PR. The embedded video below shows the Xbox 360 boat cruising by and the French journalists commenting about it; they seem to get a real kick out of it. If any of you can translate it, I’d love to know what they are saying.

Sony has spent a lot of time since the launch of the Xbox 360 dissing Microsoft and the supposed lack of capabilities of their console. Now, even after the 360 has proven to be a much more formidable opponent to the PS3 than Sony could have possibly imagined, Microsoft seems unwilling to accept their success gracefully; they want to rub it Sony’s face a bit. Can you really blame them? No one’s PR machine is more abrasive (see below) than Sony’s.

The funny thing is it seems Microsoft didn’t need to bother wasting their time or breathe on Sony’s European launch. Ken and the gang’s idiotic comments to fans seemed to do all the damage Microsoft could have wanted.

At French events, one store sold a paltry 50 consoles out of 1000, and another store sold just 300 out of 1000. At the grossly under-attended event at the Eiffel Tower, where officials were told to expect 3000 people, roughly 40 people turned out. That’s not a misprint folks…40! 40 people out of 3,000?! Are you serious? I could email my friends and gather that many people at one event. Of course, Sony’s fan-friendly security was still turning people away that didn’t have invitations. At that point you’d think Sony would have PAID those people to attend.

One would-be gate crasher said, "I came from the suburbs, perhaps they don't like my face." Ouch babe!

Way to go Sony! You’ve just set your brand name back five years in France.

Virtua Tennis 3 Video Review

Clearly, the Xbox 360 version is better than its PS3 counterpart.

With no online multiplayer and sloppy sixaxis controls, Sony is missing yet another opportunity to gain some much needed recognition for the beleagured PS3 brand. Really, why would anyone pay the same price for a PS3 title missing (online and achievements) half of the game?

Watch the full video review from Gametrailers below.

Resistance: Fall of Man gets early update

The PS3's most popular title, Resistance: Fall of Man received an update today ahead of schedule. The update does not include any new maps, but does introduce two new multi-player modes: Team Conversion and Team Assault. Another new feature with the update is the much needed Round Balancing...if the number of players on each team is uneven at the end of the round, players will be moved from the team with too many players to the team with too few players. During the swap parties will not be separated, so there's no guarantee of perfectly balanced teams. The update is available now via download from the Playstation Store.

As arguably the only AAA title currently on the platform, it is imperative that Sony supports R:FOM to the fullest...this is just the first step.

The next R:FOM update is expected in May, and will include two new maps.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl - Metareview

After more than five years in development, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.:Shadow of Chernobyl was finally released last week and now the reviews are starting to pour in from around the net. I have not played the game personally, therefore I cannot comment on it's gameplay. As far as graphics...considering the length of time since the game was first conceived, the graphics engine holds up quite well. Here's what some major gaming outlets have to say about it.

IGN (8.2/10) The game offers significantly more content than any other FPS out there, but struggles a little when it comes to the open world. What remains consistent throughout the experience is the compelling atmosphere. The gnarled trees, bleak skies, and rumbling thunderstorms of The Zone grab you firmly by the ears and yank you across irradiated wastelands. In your first hours expect to be filled with an intrepid glee as you acclimate to the game world. A little while later, you'll likely realize the environment's limitations and yearn for more.

GameSpot (85/100) "At its heart, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is a first-person survival game that blends action with role-playing. This isn't a linear game, like Half-Life or Call of Duty, where you basically are restricted to a straight path and are taken for a tightly controlled and scripted ride. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s huge environments and open-ended gameplay make it more like a role-playing game, as you can go where you want and do what you want if you're willing to live with the consequences."

Boomtown (9/10) There’s almost a melancholic feel to running though the ruins and going though dark cellars deep under ground, listening to strange voices and sounds from the many anomalies caused by the accident – its downright terrifying, especially if you play in a dark room. ---- Even though it all ends kind of sudden, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is still one of the best First Person Shooters I’ve played in a long time, especially if you like the post-apocalyptic atmosphere from games like Fallout. It’s beautiful, it has a nice feel and is so well built that it deserves a 9.


Yahoo! (90/100) "given all its troubles we're fortunate to have a game at all, let alone one this good. Its setting is superb, its gameplay tense and convincing, and it boasts what are definitely the best fill-your-pants moments in a PC game for quite some time. It's hard to see how it could have turned out better."


Eurogamer (80/100) "For some people the odd rough brokenness of Stalker will frustrate and annoy. It isn't finely polished, and it's not Hollywood; this is more like an antidote to the Americanised way of doing things. It's a warped behemoth from the Ukraine, and one of the scariest games on the PC."

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s Multiplayer mode offers Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and Artifact Hunt for up to 32 players.

Gears of War Movie in 2009

New Line Cinema, the studio responsible for the Lord of the Rings trilogy has bought the rights to make Epic's epic (couldn't resist) Gears of War into a feature film.

The studio has targeted the film for a summer 2009 release. The next trick is to actually get the movie made. Several other high profile games, most notably Halo, were slated to become films but never did due to swollen budgets or studio lethargy.

I'm all for seeing Marcus Fenix and the gang on the big screen, so I've got my fingers crossed for this one!

The next question is, Who do you think should play Marcus Fenix?

Vin Diesel, The Rock maybe?

Video Interview - SCEA's David Karraker talks Home

While at GDC, Sony of America's David Karraker was (cornered) interviewed by Gametrailers. He discusses Sony's (microtransaction) online strategy HOME, Little Big Planet and Killzone 2.

Watch the interview below.

'Oblivion' composer to score Duke Nukem Forever

Whenever we hear anything substantial regarding our favorite vaporware, Duke Nukem Forever, we feel (shocked) obligated to report it.

It seems Jeremy and Julian Soule, the brothers who composed the music for Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, have been chosen to lend some mood music to our favorite crew-cutted hero's long-awaited return to gaming.

1UP has tied together several semi-related strings of info to come to this conclusion. It makes some sense as Julian Soule does have a previous relationship with 3D Realms - he scored last year's Prey, which they developed.

If this bit of news is true, it would seem to indicate that DNF is finally nearing completion. Could it be true? Could Duke Nukem Forever finally be close to releasing? Maybe before year's end?

It'll be done "when it's done", we know!

Griefers: knowing your enemy

If you play online games, even if you 've never heard the term "griefer", you've likely met one. A griefer is a player who enters a game or chatroom with the sole intent of disrupting or ruining every one else's game.

Spouting constant profanity or racial epithets, saluting Hitler, insulting other players or simply interrupting an otherwise harmonious gaming experience, you know the griefer when you meet him (I say him because I've yet to encounter a female griefer in 10+ years of online gaming).

GamePro's Sid Vicious (the irony is not lost on us) spoke with a psychiatrist about the griefer phenomenon in an effort to learn more about what motivates griefer behavior. No report as to whether or not Sid plans to schedule a later appointment for himself.

The pyschiatrist sites many plausible reasons, including a misguided desire to lead, but we're gonna stick with our reasoning that griefers only do what they do from loneliness caused by a general lack of social skills combined with a vitamin D deficiency from underexposure to sunlight.

Xbox Live Hacked - MS Investigating

Reports have been scattered (and largely ignored) around the net for sometime that Xbox Live users were having their credit card information stolen and used to rack up massive amounts of Gamer Points (the virtual currency used to purchase items from Xbox Live). This forum post on Xbox.com is just one example.

Now it seems Microsoft is finally acknowledging the incidents as fact.

"Recently, there have been reports of fraudulent activity and account theft taking place on the Xbox Live network," a Microsoft representative said in a statement provided to CNET News.com. "Security is a top priority for Xbox Live, and we are actively investigating all reports of fraudulent behavior and theft."

You can read the full story on Cnet.

Kevin Finisterre, a security researcher, was playing Halo when some opponents threatened to hack his account. The following day his girlfriend's Xbox Live account was disabled. After making SEVEN calls (is this their idea of quick response) to Microsoft customer support (MSCS), he finally got them to investigate the incident for fraud.

Transcripts of Finisterre's conversations with MSCS as well as a list of clans that have been stealing account information is freely available on his site.

Griefers in online games are an unfortunate evil that can never be fully avoided, but this takes things to a whole new devious and illegal level.

Let's hope Microsoft is successful in catching and prosecuting these offenders.

We'll update you when we hear from Microsoft on the results of their investigations.

Today's Latest "Lost Exclusive" Video

With the recent revelation that Devil May Cry 4 is no longer a PS3 exclusive (really, how long can it be before Metal Gear Solid 4 is announced for the Xbox 360?) and will appear on the Xbox 360, we present this DMC4 video from Gametrailers.com

120 GB Xbox 360 is official. Hello Zephyr

The long-rumored 120GB Xbox 360 is now official. GameJonez revealed today that pics of the new system had inadvertently been shown on the HaloWars community forums. Later in the day Joystiq posted a story confirming the late April release of the new version 360.

Aside from the 120GB HDD, the new version Xbox 360, dubbed "Zephyr", will come complete with HDMI output and HDMI cables, and of course, it's black!

It will hit store shelves in late April and retail for $479. Apparently the 120GB HDD will be offered seperately for "under $200". Well, we certainly HOPE so!

So, is this the end of the current "Core" 360? Will there now by three seperate SKU's? Will pissed off early adopters rage against the machine? Stay tuned for the fallout and the imminent blowout announcement from Microsoft themselves.

Welcome to the GameJonez Blog

Hello and welcome to the GameJonez Blog, my new virtual home while GameJonez.com is being redesigned. GameJonez is dedicated to bringing you video game news from around the net. I am passionate about gaming and the people who make games.

This blog will be a continuation of my wider goal of connecting with the most valuable resource on the net, you our fellow gamers. I want you to turn the spotlight on yourselves. I want to hear what you have to say about games, gaming news, and those who create the works of art that we so dearly love.

Check back daily for conversation, debate, rumors and breaking news from the world of gaming.

Thanks!!

Tiberius Jonez
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