• Kotaku.com
• Joystiq.com
• Xbox.com (Bringing it Home, Comic-Con)
• MajorNelson.com (Comic-Con '07 - Day 1)
• MajorNelson.com (Comic-Con !)
• MajorNelson.com (Comic-Con Day 2)
• MajorNelson.com (Comic-Con Day 3)
• MajorNelson.com (Final Comic-Con content)
• IGN
• Newsarama

Labels: announcements, comic books, DLC, Halo, licensing, media intersection, Microsoft, Xbox 360, Xbox Live

"Demons of Mercy", a comic book that interacts with the 360, is unique.
It's almost a marketing answer to the PS3 interactive / Eye Toy successor /
card game gambit. We'll see.

Sierra has made "TimeShift" really slick, and it was playable in good form
on the show floor. Good testament to stopping a game and resetting -- but
not killing it (same, incidentally, for NCsoft's "Tabula Rasa").

SEGA showed off "Iron Man" (they played, I watched). It already looks good,
and still has a year of finishing and polish. So, in theory, it'll only get
better. The SEGA folks were super nice and helpful, too.

http://www.twitter.com/adamcrei

Product recaps at the panel came from Wizkids (Halo actionClix), Topps
(trading card game), Eric Nyland (the novels), and Brian Michael Bendis
(comic book).

Any big news?

No. No Microsft folks. No Bungie folks. No new news. Painful Q&A ...

I haven't been able to get to SEGA's "Iron Man" for the hands-off demo, but
hope to prior to Saturday's film unveil.

Likewise, "Clive Barker's Undying" has been monopolized by horror game
fans, but I was able to watch them play. The game looks compelling, though
folks seemed to be getting stuck quite a bit.

Square Enix has a huge, classy booth, but no new footage and no new
playable games.

I did get to check out THQ's "Conan" (the hack-n-slash, not the MMO),
NCsoft's "Tabula Rasa" (and got an invite to the closed beta), and Cartoon
Network's upcoming MMO.

In particular, I spent some time with Rob and Matthew (technical director
and content owner) for CN Online, and this game is showing a ton of promise.

I also spent some time with LucasArts, and "Force Unleashed" is looking
amazing. Hopefully, there will be more in today's panel reveal.

Hopefully, more to come ...

A Covenant scarab -- "The largest miniature" Wizkids has ever scene, and
"fully playable" ...

1. My Xbox 360 is dead ...
2. "Off we go ..."
3. "We have received your Xbox at our service center."
4. Xbox 360 warranty extended to 3 years ...
5. My Xbox 360: MIA ...
6. She's coming home!

UPDATED: Crud, I just noticed this replacement box has the Toshiba / Samsung TS-H943A DVD drive -- not the (allegedly) quieter BENQ VAD6038 drive.

Labels: rants, Xbox 360

Labels: announcements, comic books, events

For the first time in at least 10 years, Electronic Arts is not the #1 publisher of third-party titles.

The new king? Activision.

Why is this interesting to me? Because it ostensibly means sales of the Activision's Guitar Hero franchise have outsold the Madden franchise.

I think that's a gaming cultural shift to which we should all pay attention. And perhaps fear ...

Labels: companies

Labels: Xbox 360

Labels: announcements, Gears of War, rumors, Xbox 360

1. My Xbox 360 is dead ...
2. "Off we go ..."
3. "We have received your Xbox at our service center."
4. Xbox 360 warranty extended to 3 years ...
5. My Xbox 360: MIA ...

Labels: rants

Labels: DLC, Xbox 360, Xbox Live

"We know that people want it and we're trying to make it happen. I think the biggest problem for us for online co-op is that we have a situation where you can be in a Warthog with five troops, almost a mile away from the other player. That's a significant challenge. And there's lots of design things you could do to prevent that from happening, but they would make it not feel like Halo anymore. If we can make it happen in a way that works well, we will - and if it works badly, we won't."

Labels: announcements, DLC, Halo, shooters, Xbox 360, Xbox Live

• Press release
• Joystiq.com interview with Robbie Bach and Don Mattrick
• Kotaku coverage with Bach and Matrick
• (Moore is currently doing an interview with Major Nelson, which should be published shortly.) UPDATED: The audio interview is now on Majornelson.com. Class act, that Peter guy. Seriously.

Labels: announcements, companies, Microsoft, Xbox 360

Labels: development process, QA, testing, Xbox 360

• Kotaku.com
• Joystiq.com
• IGN.com

I was Best Manning it in Houston for the latter half of the conference, so while I was following the blow-by-blows on my mobile, I've held off posting my own thoughts. I may do a recap or impressions or two this week, but I have some other, more important columns I want to get out first.

Labels: E3 2007

1. My Xbox 360 is dead ...
2. "Off we go ..."
3. "We have received your Xbox at our service center."
4. Xbox 360 warranty extended to 3 years ...

Labels: rants

Labels: announcements, companies, console updates, E3 2007, Epic Games, Nintendo, PlayStation3, previews, Unreal Engine 3

Labels: announcements, E3 2007, Microsoft, previews, XBLA, Xbox 360, Xbox Live

• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
• Dead or Alive: Deformed
• Dungeon Hero
• NHL '08
• Fury
• Need for Speed ProStreet
• SpaceForce: RU
• European Street Racing
• TimeShift
• Legendary: The Box

Labels: E3 2007, previews, video game violence

"At this year’s San Diego Comic Con, Wizkids will be unveiling something pretty incredible for Halo fans and ActionClix players alike. We’re not telling you what it is, though; you’ll just have to wait until the Comic Con which runs from July 26-29 this summer."

Labels: Halo, licensing, media intersection

• Core -- $299, wired controller, and no hard drive (aka, "The useless SKU", IMHO)
• Premium (or "Pro") -- $399, wireless controller, headset, and 20GB hard drive
• Elite -- $479 -- $479, wireless controller, headset, 120GB hard drive, 120GB hard drive, and sexy black

If you go to Xbox.com, you'll see something pretty interesting. While the "Core" is stilled called "Core", the "Premium" is now simply listed as the "Xbox 360 System". This is huge, as it implies this is the mainstream SKU, and the Elite is the upper SKU.

Conceivably, this means "goodbye" to the Core (please), and a price drop on both the mid-range and Elite SKUs. Or, on the outside, reduction in product line to just the Elite, and a price drop.

Microsoft has said they're working to shrink their 90nm Xbox 360 CPU chipset down to the 65nm scale, which are (obviously) smaller components, but they also use less electricity, run cooler (a boon to 360 owners and the alleged 33-502% failure rate), and most importantly to the above argument, are cheaper to mass-produce. What hasn't seemed to make general news is they're also looking to do the same to the GPU chipset, further reducing cost.

Analyst projections have set an Xbox 360 price drop for this fall, but if Microsoft's chip roadmap is on track, they have room to do an early price drop, if the Sony announcement forces their hand.

Most likely though, in the face of their financials hit related to the "Red Ring of Death" 3-year warranty announcement, Microsoft may choose to tough it out until this fall, and announce a price drop at the Halo 3 launch, or (honestly) afterwards, if that game drives high console purchases at the current price points (why drop prices if people are buying your product at a higher margin?).

As an aside, people shouldn't badmouth Sony too much for dropping the price of the PS3 as being indicative of their backs being against the wall. As they'll tell you, they've moved more PS3s in the same time period than they did PS2s. Now, that's positive spin, as that's shipped units (not necessarily purchased); the PS2 was selling to a less game-available market; they didn't have the competition of a resurrected Nintendo they helped almost kill (or the lack of SEGA competition, which they did kill); and they didn't have to deal with the upstart Xbox (which wasn't even supposed to be a contender, and now dominates in some ways). And, percentage-wise, PS3 sales suck compared to the PS2 sales.

And keep in mind Sony dropped the price of the PS2 eight months after launch, and they're dropping the PS3 seven months after launch. Know you're history, kids.

Speaking of which, what about Sony's still market-dominating PS2? Did you miss that a slimmer, lighter (900 to 600 grams for the base unit, and 350 to 250 grams for the AC adapter) version is creeping into the marketplace? This smaller unit is cheaper to produce, so there could be a fall or holiday drop (from $139 to $99), should Sony want to further muddy the waters.

So what's the net-net?

Expect an interesting E3 this week, as Sony tries to sell how big their price drop and new SKU is, and the other console makers do (or don't) react to it.

More telling will be sales of all consoles in the next several weeks (the price drop for the 60GB PS3 is rumored to be effective July 12th, but the 80GB SKU won't be available until August, which may cause potential buyers to not act on the price drop, as they wait for the upper-end SKU's availability).

And what comes out of E3 this week will be telling. What's gamers' perception of the console of choice, based on games introduced at the show? For example, if Microsoft's biggest announcement is Gears of War on PC, that doesn't really help the 360, per se.

This fall and holiday will be even more interesting, as the Xbox 360 install base is re-assessed on the basis of Halo 3 sales and Sony competition; Sony reassess based on the price cut and new SKU, and Nintendo re-assess based on catching up to demand, and any impact to a possibly reduced PS2.

For analysts, a lot of fodder for ivory tower theories. For business folks, a lot of data and trends to assess, and and for gamers, just good times ahead as all of the console makers try to drive price down and increase the quality and content of service and product offerings to get you to buy their consoles.

Labels: announcements, console updates, Epic Games, Gears of War, Nintendo, PC, PlayStation3, SEGA, Unreal Engine 3, Xbox 360

Labels: Halo, shooters, Xbox 360, Xbox Live

Labels: announcements, companies, Halo, Xbox 360, Xbox Live

• Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PS3, Xbox 360) -- CoD is a stellar franchise, and I want to see what they do to the modern world.
• Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (PC, PS3, Xbox 360) -- Battlefield, but with a cooler mythos. Hope it runs better than Quake IV.
• Spiderman: Friend or Foe -- Anything comic book related for me. Anything.
• The Witcher (PC) -- Dark, twisted, adult-themed RPG with moral ambiguity? Sounds like my toy job!
• Fallout 3 -- Middlingly. I'm a big Fallout franchise fan, but this one's a ways out.
• Devil May Cry 4 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360) -- You seriously don't need me to explain, do you?
• Rocketmen: Axis of Evil (PC, PS3, Xbox 360) -- "The game is a top-down action title that is something of a mix of an old-school stage crawler with Robotron controls.... you advance through levels while plowing through countless numbers of unnamed soldiers."
• Talisman (PC, PS3, Xbox 360) -- I think online board games are the New Hotness. Or the new flash-in-the-pan. Which still makes them hot. And this one is a fantasy-themed boardgame with 4-way play.
• Cliver Barker's Jericho (PC, PS3, Xbox 360) -- Cliver Barker's Undying has some of the best audio on a game to date. And it had good gameplay. And Clive Barker's a talented storyteller. Twisted, but talented.
• Rise of the Argonauts (PC, PS3, Xbox 360) -- Like comic books, anything mythology related. Please don't suck.
• Turning Point: Fall of Liberty (PC, PS3, Xbox 360) -- In this alternate history FPS, the cab that hit Winston Churchill kills him, and the Nazis take over Europe. Now, it's 1952, and they're invading America.
• Age of Conan (PC, Xbox 360) -- Bloody good fun.
• Hellgate: London (PC) -- Just because I still like the premise, have been rooting for it for a long time, and want to see how the free-versus-subscribtion thing works out for them (and us).
• Medal of Honor Airborne (PC, PS3, Xbox 360) -- Gameplay videos have been me excited about the franchise again.
• The Simpsons (PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PS2, PSP, DS) -- Hey, Matt Groening is the final boss!
• Dungeon Hero (PC, Xbox 360) -- I have this unnatural attachment to all things GameCock (even if they don't return my Emails). But this is a dungeon crawler without the boredom. Sign me up!
• Fury (PC) -- MMO without the grinding? PvP? Maybe I'll see you in the demo this weekend.
• Hail to the Chimp (PS3, Xbox 360) -- Love this game. Man crush on Wideload and Alexander Seropian. 'Nuff said.
• Mushroom Men (Wii, DS) -- Oddworld aesthetic. 'Shrooms. Need I go on?
• Two unannounced titles from GameCock (One's probably Section 8)
• Metal Gear Solid 4 -- I'd love an Xbox 360 announcement on this next week, but the game alone, with its hopefully challenging moral mechanics and deep storytelling, has got my attention.
• Fracture -- This "terra-deforming-as-weapon" from LucasArts has be sweaty palmed. No new news on The Force Unleashed, though?
• Kengo: Legend of the 9 (Xbox 360) -- I think this is Majesco's first next-gen game (it's at least their first 360 game). Looking for more info, but looks like a Dynasty Warriors-esque take with 9 historical Japanese figures.
• Blue Dragon (Xbox 360) -- Really want to play this bad boy ...
• Fable 2 (xbox 360) -- The single-player RPG to beat on the original Xbox, let's see what the former Lionheads do under Microsoft's watch.
• Halo 3 (Xbox 360) -- You think this wouldn't make the list?
• Halo Wars (Xbox 360) -- Just for the trailer. Fortunately, leaks about the RTS gameplay have been positive. But they have to go up against Tom Clancy's Endwar.
• Lost Odyssey (Xbox 360) -- Gorgeous. Just brutal and gorgeous. "We are the Knights Who Say Ne -- Oh SWEET MOTHER! MY EYES! MY EYES!" [*gushing blood*]
• Mass Effect (Xbox 360) -- RPG of the century? Mayhap.
• Unannounced XBLA titles (Xbox 360) -- Knock my socks off. You keep dissing my proposals, but you keep giving me stuff I like. So we're good.
• John Woo's Stranglehold (PC, PS3, Xbox 360) -- I'm excited about this. More I see, I'm excited.
• Unreal Tournament 3 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360) -- Unreal Championship II was under-appreciated, maybe because it was a gamers game. This looks to be that and more.
• Beautiful Katamari (Xbox 360) -- We've suffered long enough without beauty, thank you very much.
• Dynasty Warriors: GUNDAM (PS3) -- Honestly, I just want to see if they can take this Artichoke and jelly mix and make it work.
• AION (PC) -- An MMO without grinding, and a leveling system "not like you'd expect"? Demons versus angels (ish)? Wings for both factions (no @#$%^&! earning mounts crap)?
• Dungeon Runners (PC) -- I'm playing the free version of this MMO from NCsoft, and really enjoying it.
• Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa (PC) -- He gets to put his name on it. I want to support that.
• Condemned 2 (PS3, Xbox 360) -- Sequel to the early Xbox 360 sleeper hit, now bloodier, with a revamped combat system and (wait for it!) multiplayer!
• Gas Powered Games' RPG (PC) -- I respect GPG, so I'm waiting to see this.
• Iron Man -- Anything. Comic book. Related. (Anything.)
• TimeShift (PC, PS3, Xbox 360) -- Rescued from the steaming pile of crap not being all it could be, the revamp looks to wow.
• Heavenly Sword (PS3) -- This could be a console seller for Sony. Hey, it got teased on Heroes.
• Killzone 2 (PS3) -- C'mon, show me something to wash the tast of the lied about "not-prerendered" debacle.
• LittleBigPlanet (PS3) -- Have you seen the videos? How fun is this?
• The Agency -- An MMO from Sony that's not fantasy-themed, and not half-baked sci-fi license. Just don't be stealing from the DC MMO talent pool, kids.
• BioShock (PC, Xbox 360) -- I want to play this game. And struggle with the choices I've made.
• De Blob -- THQ is a savvy publisher. And I really like the art aesthetic.
• Assassin's Creed (PC, PS3, Xbox 360) -- I think they're hiding the full awesomeness that is this game.
• FEAR sequel (PC, PS3, Xbox 360) -- The first made me almost soil myself. Raise the bar, Warner.

This is just the stuff we know about. I'm hoping we get some surprises from folks not yet announced. Certain Affinity. Junction Point. More GameCock than you can shake a stick at. And so on.

Labels: action, announcements, BioWare, brawlers, companies, E3 2007, Epic Games, events, Halo, PC, PlayStation3, previews, RPG, RTS, SEGA, shooters, Unreal Engine 3, XBLA, Xbox 360, Xbox Live

"If a customer has an issue indicated by the three flashing red lights, Microsoft will repair the console free of charge—including shipping—for three years from the console’s purchase date. We will also retroactively reimburse any of you who paid for repairs related to problems indicated by this error message in the past."

1. My Xbox 360 is dead ...
2. "Off we go ..."

Labels: rants, Xbox 360

• My Xbox 360 is dead

Labels: rants, Xbox 360