Penny Arcade authors publicly comment on Gerstmann firing from Gamespot

Penny Arcade was one of the first sites on the internet (along with us and Primotech) to react to the Jeff Gerstmann incident -- making it the subject of today's PA strip. Later in the day, the authors made their first public comment on the situation. An excerpt from their statement follows with the complete version available after the break.

From Penny Arcade:

I will tell you the Gerstmann Story as we heard it. Management claimed to have spoken to Jeff about his "tone" before, and no doubt it was this tone that created tensions between their editorial content, the direction of the site, and the carefully crafted relationships that allowed Gamespot to act as an engine of revenue creation. After Gerstmann's savage flogging of Kane & Lynch, a game whose marketing investment on Gamespot alone reached into the hundreds of thousands, Eidos (we are told) pulled hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of future advertising from the site.

Management has another story, of course: management always has another story. But it's the firm belief internally that Jeff was sacrificed. And it had to be Jeff, at least, we believe, precisely because of his stature and longevity. It made for a dramatic public execution that left the editorial staff in disarray. Would that it were only about the 6.0 - at least then you'd know how to score something if you wanted to keep your Goddamned job. No, this was worse: the more nebulous "tone" would be the guide. I assume it was designed to terrify them.

At this point, I can only assume that Jeff Gerstmann is somewhere, sitting at his computer in bemused wonderment at the public outcry over this entire situation. Honestly, he's probably happy as a clam since this whole thing is very likely increasing his value for whatever company hires him next.

Read the complete statement after the break.

Complete statement From Penny Arcade:

It's been a couple weeks discussing reviews and reviewers around here, but somewhere along the way I neglected to mention that their job is essentially impossible. The 7-9 scale they toil under is largely the result of an uneasy peace between the business and editorial wings of the venue. No matter what score they give it, high or low, they're reviled equally by the online chorus. Apparently, even when they do it right they're doing it wrong.

Jeff Gerstmann is no stranger to controversy. In general terms, Gamespot can be relied upon to give high-profile games scores which are slightly lower than their counterparts elsewhere. It's almost as though there is an algorithm in place there to correct the heady rush associated with cracking open an anticipated new title. Gerstmann's review of Twilight Princess cemented his reputation as a criminal renegade with no law but his own, even though he gave the game an 8.9 - a nine, essentially - out of ten.

I will tell you the Gerstmann Story as we heard it. Management claimed to have spoken to Jeff about his "tone" before, and no doubt it was this tone that created tensions between their editorial content, the direction of the site, and the carefully crafted relationships that allowed Gamespot to act as an engine of revenue creation. After Gerstmann's savage flogging of Kane & Lynch, a game whose marketing investment on Gamespot alone reached into the hundreds of thousands, Eidos (we are told) pulled hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of future advertising from the site.

Management has another story, of course: management always has another story. But it's the firm belief internally that Jeff was sacrificed. And it had to be Jeff, at least, we believe, precisely because of his stature and longevity. It made for a dramatic public execution that left the editorial staff in disarray. Would that it were only about the 6.0 - at least then you'd know how to score something if you wanted to keep your Goddamned job. No, this was worse: the more nebulous "tone" would be the guide. I assume it was designed to terrify them.

For Gabriel, this tale proves out his darkest suspicions. People believe things like this anyway, but they don't know it, and the shift from intuitive to objective knowledge is startling. I think it rarely gets to this point. The apparatus is very tight: there are layers of editorial control that can massage the score, even when the text tells a different tale. A more junior reviewer might have seen their Kane & Lynch review streamlined by this process, divested of its worrisome angles and overall troubling shape. It was Jeff Gerstmann's role high in the site's infrastructure that allowed his raw editorial content to pierce the core of the business.

(CW)TB out.

Gerstmann controversy update - forums on fire

Posted by Tiberius Jonez
email tiberiusjonez@gmail.com

The 'Gerstmann incident' isn't going away for Gamespot or Eidos any time soon. Both company's forums have been flooded by angry posters voicing their displeasure with a situation they appear to perceive as two money-hungry companies scapegoating an ethical journalist. Whether or not that is actually the case, no one knows since those directly involved in the mess are not commenting publicly beyond short, pat press releases.

The latest development in the ongoing saga is that Gamespot has removed the video review of Kane and Lynch that was the alleged cause of Gerstmann's firing in the first place. The text version of the review has been amended with a note stating that "this review has been updated to include differences between the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions and a clarification on the game's multiplayer mode."

For those of you that never saw the original video review, you can watch it after the break.




It's difficult to believe that Gamespot didn't know this would blow up in their face, which makes me wonder if there isn't more to the story than is being told. The obvious answer is, of course there is more to the story, but until either side talks, this isn't going away!

Xbox 360 Fall update adds DIVX support and more

Get your Christmas shopping done so you can run home and acquire some movies, because as of next week, you'll be able to watch them on your Xbox 360. The fall update, which drops on December 4th, will add DIVX playback support along with the Xbox Original's download service and other previously announced features.

The dashboard will also receive a general 'sprucing up', including streamlining the interface to better take advantage of all the extra functionality that has been added to the 360 over the past several months.

Watch a video walkthrough of the Fall Update after the break.

Gamespot releases very brief statement on Gerstmann firing

In response to the storm of attention swirling around the firing of Jeff Gerstmann from Gamespot, the site's parent company, CNET Networks, released a very brief statement on the situation today.

"GameSpot takes its editorial integrity extremely seriously," the statement reads. "For over a decade, Gamespot and the many members of its editorial team have produced thousands of unbiased reviews that have been a valuable resource for the gaming community. At CNET Networks, we stand behind the editorial content that our teams produce on a daily basis."

As for Gerstmann specifically, CNET was less forthcoming, saying only that "it is CNET Networks' policy not to comment on the status of its employees, current or former."

If this is CNET's idea of damage control, it strikes me as pretty hollow. They seem to want everyone to respect their 'editorial integrity', but they say nothing in response to allegations they allowed an advertiser to dictate editorial content. A statement like this may have an effect opposite the one CNET intended. They may have been better off simply remaining mute on the subject, in essence taking the stance that they are above suspicion. Instead, they only further confirmed that their integrity is in question.

I suspect we'll hear more about this next week.

Retrospective - Sensible Software

Before Traveller's Tales or Creative Assembly, the top British game developers were Rare and Sensible Software. Sensible, in particular, is a perfect British example of the 'American Dream' -- a company founded by two failed musicians that went on to make some of the best games in history. Today, Adam Montgomery takes a look back at the history of Sensible Software, from humble beginnings to meteoric rise and eventual collapse.

It was 1985 and Hamsterfish had failed.

Jon Hare and Chris Yate’s rock band was a flop, and they needed real jobs to pay the rent. Jon, a talented artist, and Chris, a skilled programmer, decided to pursue their interest in videogames, and found employment with LT Software.

It wasn’t a glamorous job, but the friends were working together, and learned a lot while producing two ZX Spectrum games in their time there: Sordov the Sorcerer and Twister.

Taking what they learned from their nine-month stay at LT, the pair broke away and formed their own company. Sensible Software was born.

The two-man team immediately set to work on Parallax for the Commodore 64, which won them a £1000 deal with Ocean Publishing, and became Sensible’s first success.

Wizball was their next project, and it was named “Game of the Decade” by Zzap 64 magazine, which was a huge accolade. The company was establishing a reputation for high-quality software, and Wizball was just the beginning.

More critical acclaim was heaped upon Sensible with the release of Shoot-Em Up Construction Kit, a revolutionary title which allowed players to produce games without any programming knowledge at all.

In 1988, well-known game music composer Martin Galway joined Hare and Yate at Sensible, and that summer, the three-man company released Microprose Soccer, which was hailed as the sport’s finest simulation to date. The sport theme continued with International 3D Tennis, which became one of their final projects for the C64.

Jon and Chris now found themselves leading a profitable, reputable company. It was a meteoric rise since joining LT Software as college-dropouts, but their success hadn’t peaked yet.

In 1990, Galway left to join Origin Software in the United States, but his departure didn’t slow Sensible’s growth. Armed with confidence and an established reputation, the company left the 8-bit machines behind and made the leap to the more powerful Amiga and Atari ST. They also took a break from the sport genre to work on two of their most original products: Mega-Lo-Mania and Wizkid. The former was a well-received simulation of a God’s struggle for dominance, and the latter was a platformer which continued the narrative of their earlier hit, Wizball, despite being of a wildly different gameplay style.

Sensible Soccer marked the company's return to sports and was released to a roar of critical acclaim. It was an instant classic, and spent an incredible 50 weeks atop the charts. It eclipsed Microprose Soccer to become the greatest football game of all time, although you would only realise this if you played the 1.1 version of the game as the original 1.0 release suffered greatly from many gameplay bugs.

With numerous updates and ports of Sensible Soccer selling in huge numbers, the company next produced the social commentary Cannon Fodder, which was greeted with critical acclaim, but was also accompanied by controversy centred on the poppy-adorned game box. Detractors also (wrongly) claimed the game glorified warfare, when in truth it was a satire of those that engaged in such conflict. Despite such negative coverage, the game was a success; but it would be the company's last.

Sensible’s new IP’s beyond this point met with disaster, including the disappointing Sensible Golf. The company explored new concepts with the game Sex ‘n’ Drugs ‘n’ Rock ‘n’ Roll (likely a reference to Chris and Jon’s days in Hamsterfish) but support for the project was pulled due to the game’s controversial themes. Development of a PlayStation project named Have a Nice Day met a similar end as it collapsed under the weight of technical issues the company faced when moving to the new 3-D format.

At this point, Sensible’s owners were looking for a way to bow out gracefully, and their wish was granted when veteran UK publisher Codemasters bought them out in 1999. Jon Hare has maintained a close working relationship with Codemasters ever since, designing many games for them including updates of Sensible Soccer for the PlayStation, Cannon Fodder for the Gameboy Color, and a recently updated Sensible World of Soccer for Xbox Live Arcade.

And that’s all, folks. That’s the story of Sensible Software, the British gaming giant, in a nutshell. Their unique graphical style, light-hearted comedy undertones, and design genius still resonate in the games of today, but the name itself is sadly unknown to many modern gamers.

As someone who loved their games as a lad, I offer a “thank you” to Sensible.

Gamespot fires reviewer Jeff Gerstmann to appease Eidos

Today is a sad day for gaming journalism. Game sites and magazines struggle daily to gain acceptance from the general public as legitimate sources of journalism, and this one is no exception. While GameJonez is a small fish (at present) swimming in a very large pond, we always strive to bring you news from the gaming industry in an honest and ethical manner. Unfortunately, it seems Gamespot does not share these values.

According to a report from Primotech, Gamespot fired Editorial Director Jeff Gerstmann, one of their best game reviewers, after he wrote a negative review of the game Kane and Lynch: Dead Men. Kane and Lynch is the latest release from game developer Eidos, who also happens to be a huge source of advertising revenue for Gamespot. Primotech alleges that Gerstmann was fired as a direct result of pressure from Eidos after he gave the game a 6.0 out of 10. In comparison, Metacritic gives the game an average score of 68 out of 100. Our metareview of the game suggested it should have been given more time in the oven before being served to the gaming public.

Eidos is heavily advertising Kane and Lynch this week on Gamespot, including interactive flash banners.

The latest Penny-Arcade comic features a brief overview of this controversy. However, because the comic isn’t scheduled to ‘go live’ until tomorrow, commentary from either Gabe or Tycho is currently unavailable.

Gerstmann was with Gamespot since 1996 and was largely responsible for their success. As Primotech points out in their story, it is possible that other factors contributed to his dismissal in addition to the review, although this is completely unsubstantiated at the present. While they stand behind their information and their source, no official announcement has been made by Gerstmann or Gamespot. We trust they wouldn't run with this story without solid information. Expect more details to emerge online in the next 24 hours.

In the meantime, if this all holds up as true, it is a chilling turn of events that could have far-reaching effects across the business of game journalism. How credible do gaming outlets appear if the opinions expressed in 'reviews' of games are dictated by advertisers who also make the games?

Nintendo does not plan to increase western game development

Even with the Wii's phenomenal success in America, Nintendo has no plans to ramp up video game development here, so says senior vice president George Harrison. When asked if Nintendo wanted to develop more games tailored for the North American audience, Harrison told Wired News, "I'm not aware of any plans to push for more software development here in the U.S."

"The actual decision about producing more software and who should do it is driven by Satoru Iwata and the management team, including Mr. Miyamoto, in Japan," he said.

This statement seems confusing considering the Wii is seeing its best sales in the U.S. market. Nintendo is moving about half a million consoles per month here, well above what they are currently selling in Japan. So what gives?

Believe it or not, it's an honest admission from the famed creators of Mario and Zelda that they're really not very good at producing games for the western market.

Nintendo's recent history with western-style games is less than stellar. While one of Nintendo's top-selling Wii titles in North America, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, was developed by Austin, Texas-based Retro Studios, that success is the exception rather than the rule. Project Hammer, an action game developed by Redmond, WA based Nintendo Software Technology was shown at E3 2006 but is now officially "on hold."

And that's the only other Western-developed first-party game that's ever been announced for the Wii, other than Mario Strikers Charged, which was developed in Vancouver.

Nintendo attempted to expand into North American development during the GameCube era, but never managed to create products as highly-rated as their Japanese titles. The now-defunct Exile Entertainment was chosen to create a game called Nintendo Pennant Chase Baseball, which was canceled, presumably for quality issues and a first-person shooter called Geist, created by Florida game makers N-Space, was released to a critical drubbing.

On one hand, the fact that a game maker as respected as Nintendo can't seem to find the magic touch when it comes to western style games is a bit dumbfounding. Then again, if they can manage to sell consoles without them, more power to them. But you have to wonder, how long can the keep that up?

Konami needs MGS4 to sell one million copies day one

Metal Gear Solid 4 is not only one of the biggest PS3 titles of 2008, it may be the last of a dying breed -- the third party exclusive. In the past, console manufacturers worked hard to secure such titles as a way to drive consumer adoption of their machines. However, with game development costs now ranging from $10-$50 million per title, it has become difficult for game studios to justify producing games for only one console -- in essence placing all their revenue eggs in one console basket.

While some other big name developers have jumped off Sony's exclusivity ship, Konami remains optimistic about their decision to stick it out. In an interview with Reuters, MGS4's assistant producer, Ryan Payton said, "We're telling our fans that if you want to play 'Metal Gear Solid 4', you have to buy a PS3. The PlayStation brand has always been good to us, and we're pretty bullish on the PS3."

But how 'bullish' can they really be? A year after its release, only two PS3 games have sold more than 1 million copies, a benchmark of financial success for a big-budget game. The 7-year-old PlayStation 2 had nearly 100 games sell more than a million copies.

Payton said MGS4 needs to sell over a million copies on the first day it goes on sale due to its costly production, but that may be a tough mark to hit given sluggish PS3 sales. To lend perspective, 50% of PS3 owners in the U.S. would have to buy MGS4 on day one for that to happen.

Sony claims the loss of third party exclusives isn't a big deal. "We understand publishers are needing to recoup their investment," said Peter Dille, senior vice president of marketing for Sony. "From our perspective, as long as the games aren't going exclusive to other platforms, PS3 gamers are not actually losing anything."

Dille added that Sony is compensating by ramping up its own game production within 15 internal studios working on PlayStation titles, more than Microsoft and Nintendo combined.

Motorstorm getting new vehicles

Senior U.S. producer for MotorStorm, Felice Standifer, announced on the PlayStation Blog that today's PlayStation Store update will include two new MotorStorm vehicles to download and enjoy. For $1.99, you can be the proud owner of a Mohawk Roadhog Bike and a Lunar-Tec Buffalo BigRig. The Lunar-Tec, pictured above, would be particularly intimidating if seen in your rear view mirror. The pack will also feature two new skins to slap on to any of the available vehicle classes: QuickFoot and Crazy Samurai. At $1.99, does anyone else think this smacks of a certain much-derided horse armor pack?

Now, if they would only release more tracks for the game. Oh well, we can dare to dream. We'll have more on the full PlayStation store update later today.

$5 million lawsuit filed against Microsoft over Halo 3, Xbox 360 problems

Halo 3 is designed from the ground up to be compatible with the Xbox 360, right? A federal lawsuit filed last week against Microsoft and the game's developer, Bungie, claims it is not. The suit alleges that Halo 3 "routinely, consistently, and systematically 'froze,' 'crashed,' or 'locked up.'" The suit then claims that these issues "disrupted game play". Yes, freezing, crashing and locking up would disrupt game play. The plaintiff, Randy Nunez, is seeking class-action status along with $5 million in damages plus costs and attorneys' fees. In a country where you can win a huge amount of money for spilling coffee on yourself, I suppose frivolous lawsuits like this are inevitable.

While the famous McDonald's coffee lawsuit is often unjustly cited as an example of what is wrong with our civil justice system, the facts in that case actually warranted the jury's decision. In this lawsuit against Microsoft and Bungie, the plaintiff is claiming that interruption of his game play warrants a $5 million check. Even if you could prove that Microsoft and Bungie intentionally released Halo 3 with knowledge of hardware/software compatibility issues -- which is a tough sell considering Microsoft's widely publicized $1 BILLION investment in correcting the Xbox 360's hardware issues, including extending the console's warranty length to three years -- how can you claim that interrupted gaming is worth $5 million?

I love my games, and yes, it is frustrating when serious performance issues ruin a gaming experience, but no GAMING experience is worthy of $5 million in compensation. Hellooo, McFly!! Perhaps Mr. Nunez should consider using his time to acquire gainful employment rather than wasting our court system's precious time with this bunk.

GTA 4 box art revealed

It may have been delayed until sometime in 2008, but that hasn't quelled excitement for Grand Theft Auto IV. Now we have our first official Box Art for the game. Feast your eyes on the glory of it all...I especially love the girl licking the lollipop in an oh-so-suggestive way. (UPDATE: A new trailer has also been dated - more after the break)

See all things GTA at Rockstar's GTA page.

UPDATE: Rockstar also announced a new trailer titled, "Move up, ladies" which is scheduled to drop Dec. 6th - next Thursday - at 3:00pm EST.

Gripshift racing to XBLA sometime this year

While some recent releases to Xbox Live Arcade have been less than well-received, if I have to choose between PSN, Nintendo's Virtual Console and XBLA, I'll take XBLA every time. Reaffirming my love is the announcement that Gripshift is coming to XBLA "sometime this year" which means sometime in the next four or five weeks.

Now, if they can offer the game for a more reasonable price than the $10 it's priced at on the PlayStation Network, then I'll be getting my racing groove on. Gripshift is a pretty fun title, but let's face it, it is a two year old PSP game. I think 500 Microsoft points would be fair.

Activision CEO wants $199 Xbox 360 & PS3

From the Land of Duh! comes this revelation -- Activision's CEO Bobby Kotick believes the PS3 and Xbox 360 must be priced at $199 within the next two years in order to obtain mass appeal. He told Reuters he believes the Wii has set a "standard of expectation" and that consumers notice price over tech specs. He goes on to say that "all will need to be at that $199 price point" in the next two years and that the Wii will likely drop to $129 within a "few years."

I don't know if he's right about consumers noticing price over specs since over 16 million consumers have chosen the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 over the cheaper and less powerful Wii. That kind of thinking probably holds true for some of the people (non-gamers) Nintendo is trying to attract with the Wii, like the geriatric set and soccer moms who don't know anything about consoles except for price. But his other speculations are about as bold as 'predicting' that the Earth is round. Of course the Wii will drop to (around) $129 within a "few years" - whatever that means. And while it is likely the Xbox 360 Core could hit $199 within the next year, I seriously doubt Sony will be dropping the PS3 to those pricing levels anytime soon.

Mass Effect review - GOTY? Almost.

I've been meditating on my time with Mass Effect which I finished a few days ago, and now I'm ready to share my opinions on this would-be 'Sci-fi Epic' of a video game. Bioware has made some great games in the past including the Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR) series, which Mass Effect has been compared to ever since it was announced. Mass Effect was supposed to set a new standard for exploration in gaming and while it does offer a well-written story of grand scope on par with some of the best sci-fi around, I wouldn't exactly call it an open world game. It is more like riding through a beautiful landscape on a luxury train; it's a great ride, but there's more you want to see.

When the game begins, you are presented with the opportunity to create the character you will inhabit during your time playing. The customization options are not limitless, but they are acceptable, including the ability to play as male or female. After a brief preamble you are almost instantly placed in combat on a planet's surface. Right away, the game's biggest problem is thrust in your face -- the graphics are seriously marred by frame rate stutters and extreme bouts of texture pop-in. Granted, the developers obviously tried to squeeze a lot out of the Xbox 360's impressive hardware, but that's no excuse for not better optimizing the game's overall performance. A little more time spent polishing could have benefited the presentation greatly. Still, overall, Mass Effect is a beautiful game.

As far as the open-endedness of the game world, I found the universe of Mass Effect to be quite a bit more confining than I expected. You do get to travel to several planets, land on their surfaces and explore, but how much you can explore is severely limited. Still, you are presented with a nice variety of planet surfaces which lends each a distinctive look and feel. It's just difficult not to be disappointed after hearing the developers describe being able to explore an entire galaxy of planets and then only being presented with one planet per solar system that is actually explorable. All other planets are only able to be scanned for resources. It's a far cry from the planet hopping I was expecting.

Also, unlike another 'open world' game, Oblivion -- which presented you a game world that allowed for completion of side quests before, after or during your time with the main quest -- Mass Effect's side quests must be completed before you reach a certain point in the game's primary plot as a rather important piece of real estate is destroyed at one point, rendering it unvisitable. Players wanting to earn every possible achievement will be sorely disappointed when they discover missions they had planned to complete are no longer available to them.

Like the previously mentioned KOTOR, Mass Effect allows you to customize the weapons and their upgrades for you and the two other members of your squad. I found myself spending a lot of time equipping my team with just the right balance of weapons. The menus for this are all very well laid out and intuitive.

One area in which Mass Effect is a complete triumph is its story. The plot, writing, voice acting and overall story presentation are all top notch. This is some of the best original science fiction to be found anywhere, including movies and books. I don't know that a video game has ever achieved this quality of narrative. The closest would probably be the original Deus Ex which was released back in 2000. When presented with choices that determine the fate of your crew members, you will struggle with your decisions. You will become attached to your allies, and grow to despise your enemies.

The much-lauded dialogue tree lends the game another level of emotional impact. You often wonder if your choice of words will have the affect you intend or if you will inadvertently stick your foot in your proverbial mouth.

The gameplay in Mass Effect as it pertains to combat is O.K., but not spectacular. While the Mass Effect abilities -- similar to force powers in the Star Wars universe -- are fun to use, the weapons combat is rather unsatisfying. Part of the problem is the poor framerate during firefights; it is difficult to aim smoothly at enemies when the screen is jittering and stuttering. At higher difficulties, the inconsistent framerate can be downright crippling, forcing you to either play the game at the casual difficulty level or repeat some battles over and over again. The clunky cover system is the other problem. While it is functional, it never feels as fleshed out as similar systems in Gears of War or Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. Your character never seems to get into cover as easily as you would like and once there, he/she tends to come out of cover too easily, exposing them to damage.

Even with these problems, Mass Effect is an immensely enjoyable experience. You will enjoy visiting the different planets available to you, you'll just wish there were more of them. You will be gripped by the story, just make sure to complete as many side quests as possible before you go too far in the plot. I don't think I'd put Mass Effect on my short list of nominees for 2007 Game of the Year, only because this is a very special year in gaming with the likes of Bioshock, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and Halo 3 all buffed to a mirror gloss. With a little more spit and polish though, Mass Effect could have taken the top honors.

8.5/10

Deus Ex 3 teaser trailer

Way back in the year 2000, before 911 and wars with no end, Deus Ex was one of the best games ever released for the PC, and later, consoles. While it was confirmed a few days ago that Deus Ex 3 is in the works, no game truly exists in the public consciousness until it is given a teaser trailer. Well, tada!, said teaser has arrived. Watch it after the break.

The new Eidos, Montreal studio is developing Deus Ex 3. As the original Deus Ex was one of the few examples of interactive entertainment reaching the level of high art, I am definitely looking forward to this game...way forward as it likely won't be released until sometime in 2009. Watch the teaser trailer below.

'Krazy' Ken Kutaragi to be honored with AIAS Lifetime Achievment Award

The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences has chosen 'Krazy' Ken Kutaragi as the recipient of the 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award. The award will be presented at this year's Interactive Achievement Awards on February 7th at the Red Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, in conjunction with next year's D.I.C.E. Summit. Regarded as the father of that fad known as the PlayStation, Kutaragi was squeezed out of the Sony hierarchy this past Spring after the PlayStation 3's sluggish start.

Kutaragi's unpleasant departure from Sony in no way diminishes his impact on the business of video games. In fact, it would be difficult to imagine the modern gaming landscape without his very significant contributions. The former Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. President and CEO was instrumental in the creation and launch of the PlayStation brand, and that alone cements his place in the history of the industry. Besides, if nothing else, we are all but guaranteed at least one good quote between now and the award ceremony.

Omega Dawn expansion rising on Warhawk in December

Confirming news broken last month in Game Informer magazine, Sony has announced plans for a downloadable expansion to its multiplayer-only shooter Warhawk. The expansion, titled Omega Dawn, will be available in December, adding five new industrial-themed maps -- all set at night for "added impact and tension" -- which Sony claims also offer the largest combat areas seen in the game to date.

Along with the new maps, the expansion will infuse Warhawk with some new vehicular fun. The KT-424 Combat Dropship will hold seven soldiers, a pilot, and a ground vehicle making it possible to effectively drop an entire squad on your enemy. The dropship features the cool sounding MBEC-3 Heavy Support Cannon. The new vehicle will be usable on all of Warhawk's maps, new or existing. Omega Dawn's exact release date and price have not been revealed yet, but as soon as I know, you'll know.

Gamestop sells demo disc as new game

An angry NeoGAF poster bought what he thought was a new copy of Steambot Chronicles from Gamestop, only to find out later that the US retailer actually sold him a demo disc for the game, with the "Demo: Not for Resale" watermark scribbled out with a sharpie marker.

Thanks to Gamestop's policy of holding discs from new games behind the counter, this sort of thing is inevitable. The customer brings the empty case up front when purchasing, and the underpaid Gamestop employee finds the corresponding disc and puts it in the box. The problem with this system becomes plainly clear with incidents like this -- consumers have no real way of knowing if the disc they're being handed is the one that Gamestop originally removed from the packaging.

Our advice? Always double-check Gamestop purchases for scratches, scuffs, or sharpie scribblings before leaving the store. The onus falls on you, the consumer, since I seriously doubt Gamestop's policies are going to be changing anytime soon. Why the customer chose to buy the decidedly bland Steambot Chronicles in the first place is unclear.

PS3 Assassin's Creed Patch Coming

Assassin's Creed has a lot going for it, in spite of some bugs in the game. The problems are a bit more severe for owners of the PS3 version, with the game freezing, locking up consoles and generally assassinating the gaming experience. Luckily, that should all be changing shortly with a new patch for the game coming to the PlayStation Network.

The recently announced patch for the PS3 version of Assassin's Creed will improve the stability of the game, and fix a few freezing issues which plague the title. Now if they would fix that duplicity bug and the (disturbing) hilarious "humping guard" glitch we'd sleep better at night. Of course, if you could use the latter to create a diversion for the other guards, that would be both classic and useful.

Ubisoft UK Boss says industry "Crying Out" For New IP's

Such is the opinion of Rob Cooper, the man in charge of Ubisoft UK following the debut of Assassin's Creed at the top of the UK charts. The ambitious "hitman in sandles" game became the third-fastest selling Xbox 360 game ever, something Ubisoft sees as confirmation that not everyone wants more lousy licensed games and sub-par sequels. "I think the success worldwide of Assassin's Creed absolutely proves that new IP can live and prosper within the sequel and licensed based competition," said Cooper, speaking to MCV. "The industry is crying out for new and compelling content and we're delighted that AC has lived up to its expectations."

November has been a good month for new IP's with Assassin's Creed, Mass Effect and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune all making big splashes in their respective debuts. Common sense dictates no entertainment industry can sustain long term growth without a constant influx of new properties. Even the best franchises can only sustain sequels for so long before they eventually whither and die. It is exciting to see three new franchises of such high quality arrive on the scene in quick succession. If publishers give developers greater opportunities to capitalize on out-of-the-box thinking -- including spending the marketing dollars necessary to cement new properties in the public consciousness -- we might end up with more classics and less trash.

Reminder of the Day - Get a Wii before Black Friday or not at all

Nothing says "spirit of the holidays" like trampling fellow holiday shoppers in an effort to secure the season's must-have toy for your personal little angels. Once again the Wii looks to be that item, and since we are always looking out for your welfare, we implore you to heed our advice -- if you would like to avoid bloodshed this Black Friday, I suggest you get to your local retailer today because, after tomorrow, Wii's are going to be scarcer than an honest politician.

The Associated Press is echoing last week's report from the BBC that the Nintendo Wii is the focus of more than a few Black Friday sales this week. So common sense says, if you can get to your local retailer today while everyone else is distracted buying Thanksgiving supplies, you have a much better shot at being greeted by smiling angels Christmas morning instead of an angry mob.

Super Mario Galaxy sells 500k Units in North America week one

Plumbers make a decent living, even if they can't seem to afford proper-fitting pants. And the most most famous plumber of all, Mario, is once again showing us he knows how to print money with the best of 'em.

According to Nintendo, Super Mario Galaxy sold 500,000 units in its first week on US store shelves, making it the best selling Mario game of all time in its first week. It was more good news for the mustached one following his Japanese debut where the game sold 250k units in the same time frame.

PS3 firmware update 2.01 (causes) fixes problems with 2.0

PS3 owners are starting to feel like the proverbial unwanted red-headed stepchild. Last night's new firmware update for the PS3, version 2.01, seems to be the latest slap in the face. If you haven't already downloaded it, don't be in a big hurry. The ".01" just denotes a few bug fixes for those who said they've been experiencing game freezing errors with 2.00. However, it turns out there is a trojan horse in them there updates.

Unfortunately, it appears as if the patch may have created problems for Call of Duty 4 players, who took to the official forums (registration required) in force to complain of critical errors while trying to play the game online following the update. Many also report getting the same error: "DW update file error 102 - 'BD_EXCEPTION_IN_DB' " when trying to start a new character. Neither Sony nor Activision have responded to the issue. We also don't know if this extends to any other games. Are any of you having similar problems with the update?

They Deserved Better, Part Four - Psychonauts

In the fourth, and final part of our They Deserved Better series, Adam Montgomery takes a look back at one of the most unique, visionary and just plain fun games ever created - Tim Schafer's Psychonauts.

Psychonauts is the last, and best, of the games that Deserved Better. The game's creator, Tim Schafer, proved himself a master of mind-melding; he allowed us into his mind to play in a detached world of psychics and sinners, with characters as disjointed and witty as his mind could muster. The Psychonauts are some of the first to touch down on the 360 as part of the new Xbox Originals download service coming with the December 4th firmware update, so it’s an ideal time to revisit this sorely-missed classic of the last generation.

Razputin, the lead character, spends as much time bouncing off the cast in sharply-timed and written dialogue as he does bouncing off the earth on his mentally-projected ball. “Levels” are contained within the minds of characters. Their fears, wants, and well-being are all portrayed in the mental landscape you traverse and contend with. Pleasingly, the comedy continues, and perhaps climaxes, with the internal monologue and private commentary transpiring due to your mind-tampering.

The psychic abilities Raz learns and hones during his time at the Psychonauts’ camp are a joy. From basic attacks, to more interesting abilities, they are key to completing the game’s many memorable challenges and puzzles. Clairvoyance, for instance, allows you to view yourself through the eyes of another – allowing you to judge the effectiveness of your disguise. These abilities raise the game above its rather generic roots, and without them, Psychonauts would feel like any platformer with a theme.

It’s fortunate then that the psychic theme is so well executed; woven expertly into the characters, the world, and the gameplay. It’s simply a joy to play; a well-executed spin on a genre which has suffered greatly in recent times.

What makes Psychonauts truly special, keeping it from becoming just another platform-puzzle game, is that it’s a sparkling example of wit and a quirky, joyous romp through a world like no other.

Search for it and you can find a Schafer quote: “genre isn’t important, quality is.” His game builds on a firm foundation of stable convention, with a gentle shuffle around “generic”, and becomes an enjoyable, polished oddity which is as fun as it is catatonic.

And that’s it. That’s all I have to say about Psychonauts and all I have to say about the games that Deserved Better. There are a lot of great games out there that have been shunned, and wrongly so. If you take a look back and enjoy Beyond Good and Evil, Oddworld:Stranger’s Wrath, Okami, or Psychonauts, then take a chance in the future. Otherwise, I offer only the sad guarantee that a number of future classics will be cast aside as the masses scramble for yet another licensed sequel.

Pick that game up off the floor. Choose quality.

Adam Montgomery

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune - The PS3 has arrived

With all these blockbuster games hitting in my birthday month (Nov 20th, thank you Mass Effect!), it's been a busy two weeks of gaming at my house. In the past two weeks, I've finished Call of Duty 4, Assassin's Creed, I'm working on Super Mario Galaxy and Saturday saw me complete Uncharted: Drake's Fortune.

It's no secret that my Xbox 360 gets a lot more play than my PS3, but let's face it, if there were more games for the system I'd spend more time on it. Well, if Sony can bring more games like Uncharted to the system, I'm going to have a tough time ignoring it in the future!

I've seen a lot of footage of Uncharted over the past six months, so my anticipation was running high before I put the disc in the console. I had read reports of how it could only be developed on the PS3, and while I took those with a boulder-sized grain of salt, I was curious whether the final product would validate those claims. In short, it does.

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune is everything a great game should be. It grabs your attention with the opening frame and holds it firmly to the end credits. It's filled with memorable characters, both pro- and antagonists, that drive the story forward and leave you wanting more. Technically, it is a showcase for the hardware it is designed for, in this case, the PS3. For the first time, I finished a PS3 game and wondered if it could have been done on the Xbox 360. Honestly, I don't know the answer to that question, but the fact that I even wondered about it is a testament to the quality of Naughty Dog's work on Uncharted.

Is the game perfect? What is perfect? If you are looking for things to pick apart in the game, you could do that with anything. The Mona Lisa has a crooked smile, but isn't that what gives "her" her charm? Yeah, the grenade explosions could be bigger in the game, but then you couldn't avoid them as well. There could be more platforming in the game, but I only say that because the platforming that's there is as good or better than in any previous game. It could be a bit longer, but only because when it ended I wanted to keep playing. It could be a bit more difficult, but that might detract from the fun. Clearly, the developers want you to finish Uncharted and they give you help to that end.

When I form my opinions of a game there are a few basic criteria I look to as the basis of comparison. Graphics, gameplay, ability to mesmerize, story, and replay value. On all these fronts, Uncharted is an unmitigated success. Rarely does a game with no multiplayer component warrant subsequent play-throughs, but Uncharted does.

Excuse the cliche, but if you're one of the 94 million or so gamers straddling the fence of buying or not buying a PlayStation 3, Naughty Dog has just made you an offer you can't refuse. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune is a game worthy of the $460 you will spend for the combination of a PS3 and the game.

Assassin's Creed - A Glorious Mess

After last week's early reviews of Assassin's Creed hit the web, I wasn't sure what to make of them. Game Informer gave it a 9.5 and then IGN called it "one of the top five most disappointing games of all time." How do you balance those disparate opinions? These are two media outlets I usually respect, yet clearly they both saw this hugely anticipated title completely differently. Who was right and who was wrong?

Well, now that I've had a few days to play Assassin's Creed myself, I've formed my own opinion of it, and I also have a clearer understanding of where my esteemed colleagues were coming from with their polar opposite views.

Right away I will let you know, I like Assassin's Creed, and yet I am very disappointed by it. The parts of Creed that work well, work very well; like the amazing climbing and free-running. When you scale the heights of cathedrals and various other towers or free-run across rooftops while escaping pursuers, the feeling you get is one of immense power, both the power of lead character Altair (pronounced al-tie-ear), and the power of the Xbox 360. (I have not played the PS3 version of the game, so I will not be commenting on the negativity surrounding it here.) Regarding Altair, Game Informer noted in their review, "Rarely has a character without superpowers or magic been quite so powerful and exciting to vicariously inhabit, whether he’s perching on a high tower of the Acre Cathedral or countering the blows of a Templar knight." As for the Xbox 360, it handles the vistas, combat, hundreds of characters and huge, seamless cities beautifully with hardly a stutter.

I found the game's combat to be very enjoyable. It is definitely not going to be liked by hardcore hack 'n slash fans, but anyone who enjoys a bit more thinking in their swordplay will be very pleased. The combat is also very cinematic, keeping it fresh over time. I never got bored thrashing four or five foes at a time, even the hundredth time I did it.

The vistas you see from those previously-mentioned high perches, as well as Altair's movements and pretty much all the other graphics in the game, fully demonstrate Ubisoft's ability to develop a great game from the code up. For the most part, Assassin's Creed looks really good! Consequently, the parts where the game falls flat are even more baffling to me.

The voice work in Assassin's Creed, at least that of the actor playing Altair, is absolutely abysmal. Very surprising considering this is almost universally a strong point in Ubisoft games. Just look at the Splinter Cell or Ghost Recon franchises. Making Altair's voice even more grating is the fact that most of the other voice work in the game is actually quite enjoyable. While virtually all the ancillary characters have mostly-accurate accents of various middle-eastern origins, Altair sounds like he was born and bred in Indiana. Topping off this vocal crap sandwich is the fact that his lines are delivered with all the flair and emotion of a narcoleptic spelling bee judge reading the dictionary. Therefore the blame falls squarely on the shoulders of the person responsible for casting the game's actors.

The gameplay is far from perfect. As great as the combat and climbing are, the investigative aspects of the game are tedious and overly repetitive. When you save various citizens from a beating or kidnapping at the hands of ruthless town cops, you're thanked by having to hear the same three lines of canned dialogue over and over again. Boring with a capital WTF!?! Same for the "eavesdropping" and "pickpocketing" mini games...they are overly simplistic and occur far too often.

As far as the writing in the game is concerned, I found it largely forgettable. Without spoiling it for those who've yet to play it, Creed's "hook" is cliched at best and just plain lazy at worst. The story is further gimped by the fact that the story's one major plot twist is revealed before you even actually play the game. Someone needs to take a "Fiction 101" class.

As bad as all that sounds, it didn't stop me from playing Assassin's Creed. I would take a break from it only to find myself thinking about the swordplay or climbing another tower. It also helps that the Xbox 360 version has achievements tied to it. I seriously doubt I would've finished this game if not for the opportunity to fatten my gamerscore. Even though I dreaded playing parts of the game later, my achievements addiction brought me back for more.

As you can see, Assassin's Creed is a somewhat frustrating game to review. It's an enigma, wrapped in a riddle, sprinkled with some wonderfulness and nearly ruined with some craptastic design choices. If I have to give it a numeric score (which I loathe), I'll give it an overall score of 7 out of 10. I actually enjoyed the climbing and fighting aspects the more I played it, but the other stumbles in game design and casting really hurt the overall experience. On the bright side, I see the potential for an absolutely fantastic sequel.

UT3 for Xbox 360 only "on hold"

There was some confusion going around the nets yesterday regarding the Xbox 360 version of Epic's Unreal Tournament 3. A couple of well known game sites had reported that Epic's Mark Rein had said work had not yet begun on the Xbox 360 version, which was not correct. What he meant was, the game was put on hold (apparently a while ago) so that they could focus on getting the PS3 and PC versions out the door. Joystiq got verification from Rein himself.

Joystiq quotes Rein as saying, "What I probably should have said was 'start working on it again.' We had the game up and running on all three platforms up until last spring. In fact Official Xbox Magazine came out and played the game for a great cover story they did on it. We stopped working on the 360 version so we could concentrate our efforts on shipping the various PC and PS3 versions. Once we get those out of the way, and take some time to enjoy the holidays with our friends and families, we'll start working on the 360 version again. There's still a decent bit of work to do. For example we have simple LAN play but no Xbox Live implementation yet and we need to work with Microsoft to figure out how to accommodate mods on their platform."

You Xbox 360 owners can stop worrying, not that you were all that worried with Mass Effect dropping next week. PS3 and PC gamers need some positive mojo right about now. Especially PC gamers, I swear, except for Crysis and World in Conflict, it seems like there hasn't been a great PC game since Half Life 2.

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune extended gameplay Video

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune is out in a few days, and I've played through the PSN demo a few times now. It's been fun experimenting with different ways of approaching enemies and such and I thought I'd share an extended video of part of a play through of the demo. The video is after the break.

The video is about five minutes long and takes place in the full game's fourth level. It gives a good idea of what you can expect from the gun play and hand to hand combat in Uncharted. One of the things that makes this game so fun is the way Nate says little things under his breath while fighting...when combined with the staggering number of animations he has, it all comes together to create a level of immersion that is very satisfying. Enjoy!

Iranian President reviews Call of Duty 4 - Video

Sorry, this video has since been removed. Gee, I wonder why?!

Iranian President Ahmadinejad (don't look at me, I don't know how to pronounce it) has taken some time out of his busy day building a nuclear weapons program to thoughtfully grace us with his opinion on Infinity Ward's latest blockbuster, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. His video review follows after the break.

This is one hilarious video, and it's short. I wouldn't call it SFW, so you may want to wait 'til you get home to watch it, or at least shut your office door. Thanks Gametrailers!

Enjoy.

Don't forget to get Carcassonne for free while you can!

Don't forget to hop on your Xbox 360 today and grab yourself a free game. In celebration of Xbox Live's fifth birthday, Microsoft is stuffing your Christmas stocking early, but only for a limited time, with the board game turned turn-based strategy game, Carcassonne. I downloaded it a few hours ago and took it for a spin and it's quite fun.

Anytime you can get something for free, it's at least worth a look, and in this case, it's actually worth more than a look. A game of Carcassonne is played on a gridded board using 72 tiles as the playing pieces. These tiles have a certain symmetry to them, so you can create matching connections between them, with the objective being to construct self-contained cities, roads, farms and more. With the tiles looking like squares snipped out of Google Earth, they need to be rotated then placed on the board in such a way as to form the largest properties possible.

The tiles’ symmetry means that roads will line up, though a roadway has to end cleanly, such as an intersection. Each player has a certain number of “followers” that can be placed on contiguous land areas, roads and fields as a way to “claim” it for yourself. When an element of geography is completed—such as a city having a complete, unbroken wall around it; or a monastery piece being fully circled by eight other tiles—the followers indicate who is the owner, and therefore who’ll get the points.

The game is easy to learn and surprisingly full of strategy. The graphics are charming and up to par with most of the better XBLA offerings.

You have until midnight tomorrow night to get Carcassonne for free, so what are you waiting for? Go!

Read a full review of Carcassonne here.

Metareview - Kane and Lynch: Dead Men (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)

Nobody likes game delays, but sometimes they are actually a good thing. Apparently the folks over at Eidos don't concur with that sentiment as they clearly thought it was more important to get their latest offering, Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, to market in time for the holiday sales crush rather than release it later and give gamers a product worthy of their sixty bucks.

It seems the game's story is powerful, if under-utilized, while the gameplay is decidedly last generation. With a glut of great shooters already hitting store shelves this season, Eidos should have done us (and themselves) a favor by delaying K&L and heaping a few (hundred) buckets of spackle and polish on it.

1UP (75/100) So there are problems that prevent Kane & Lynch from fully realizing its potential, but its concept and execution are strong enough to survive them. We rarely see scenarios and story structure this good in a game, and that makes it easier to forgive some of the more hardcore technical game-design issues. It's definitely more of a popcorn game for the action-movie crowd than a hardcore shooter, but there's nothing wrong with that.
IGN (70/100) Foul language alone wouldn't be enough to make Kane & Lynch stand out from the myriad other titles looking to gain some notoriety. This is where Kane & Lynch earns its stripes. Rather than employing a series of cheap shock tactics as so many other games have, IO Interactive crafted an intense and visceral story to go along with the game. Say what you will about the language being over the top, but these anti-heroes are wonderfully bent. It's no easy task to create such despicable characters and then give them motivations and situations that allow even the holiest of us to relate to their situation and feel for them. These are hard men put in an impossible situation. Following them on their journey is a wild and bumpy ride. As well constructed as the plot is, one would assume the game would play smoothly. Unfortunately, it does not. Instead, it plays like a game that lacks focus and needs a few more months of polish. But then, most of the gameplay feels like it was pulled directly out of a game from the last generation, so perhaps more time wouldn't have done any good.
Gamespot (60/100) Kane & Lynch: Dead Men is an ugly game, and we're not necessarily talking about the graphics. This criminal tale is packed with a collection of completely unlikable characters with no redeeming value whatsoever. It's impossible to even root for them as antiheroes. Once you get past the messy, meaningless story, things don't get too much better because you're saddled with clunky artificial intelligence on the part of your allies and your enemies, as well as a core shooting mechanic that simply doesn't satisfy. The unfortunate part is that the game does have a few bright points and feels like it had a lot of potential that just didn't come together as well as anyone must have hoped.

PS Eye user created possibilities astound

Sony's PS Eye for the PS3 is a very nice camera, and it offers gaming possibilities far beyond just video chat. Just how far beyond may surprise you.

Playstation.blog filmed the creation of some tech demos created by one of their new programmers to demonstrate the PS Eye's potential as a tool for making user created content for use in games in real time. The videos show some pretty incredible (and incredibly fun looking) stuff.

In one example, a staffer draws a spaceship and a planet surface on a sheet of paper and the PS3 generates an impromptu game of Lunar Lander with them on the fly. In another, a Combat-style game is interrupted when a player decides to scan his own hand-drawn tank into the game. Another guy takes it a step farther by having the "Eye" scan an actual model tank.

So far, this is just some fun R&D for the boys, which is why they have only focused on simple games that they can code for the PS3 in a day or so, but clearly the potential for this kind of thing is huge! Even though these games are pretty old school, they look amazingly fun again when you get to add your own content to them. The multiplayer possibilities alone are mind-boggling.

Apparently the PS3 can add physics to your content as well, making things even more interesting! (say it with me...Little Big Planet!) I was impressed with how fast the PS3 was able to scan the images and objects and then almost instantly add them into the game for use in real time. It was very cool. I want this, and I want it now!

via Playstation.blog

Uncharted only tapping 30% of PS3's SPU

I am somewhat reticent to post any story comparing the power of one console to another. But with the release of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune only one week away, Playstation Universe took the opportunity to chat up Co-President of Naughty Dog, Christophe Balestra and question him on the technology behind the game. Some interesting tidbits are unveiled, including how important the Cell processor and Blu-ray were to the development of the game. He does not specifically mention any other console, but he does say he thinks the game could only have been made on the PS3. Whether or not that is actually true is for more technically knowledgeable people than myself to judge, but it makes for an interesting read.

According to Balestra, "The main thing about the PlayStation 3 is the Cell processor and more specifically the SPU's. We are only using 30 percent of the power of the SPU's in Uncharted. We've been architecting a lot of our systems around this and we were able to take full advantage of that power. A big part of our systems is running on SPU's: scene bucketing, particles, physics, collision, animation, water simulation, mesh processing, path finding, etc. For our engine, the cool thing about having the SPU's is the fact we can minimize what we send to the RSX (the graphic chip), it allows us to reject unnecessary information and get the RSX to be very efficient." So, essentially, what he is saying if I'm understanding correctly is, the size of the Blu-Ray disc allows them to feed information to the SPU's and hard drive to take some load away from the underpowered RSX GPU.

If he is correct about Uncharted using only 30% of the PS3's SPU, then I would assume that means we could see some incredible stuff coming down the pike; at least from the developers that fully understand the console's architecture.

Via Playstation Universe