1P Start

BioWare is currently working on a sequel to their 2005 Xbox smash Jade Empire, according to Dean Takahashi. Apparently Takahashi has talked with someone who has seen code for Jade Empire 2, and from what his source has told him it will be heading to the Xbox 360. I wish there was more information to this story, but that’s what Takahashi is working on: A guy who says he saw some game code.

Regardless of Takahashi’s questionable taste as far as his personal gaming preferences go, when it comes down to it Dean Takahashi is still one of the most respected, trusted names in the industry and if he trusts this source about Jade Empire 2, then I’m going to believe him. However, my excitement will remain tempered until we get an official announcement.

What do you all think about the news, and do you think this will wind up as a Xbox 360 exclusive, or will the recent acquisition of BioWare by EA mean spreading the Jade Empire love?

[Mercury News]

BioWare, Jade Empire 2

Nokia has pushed back the launch of its N-Gage gaming service until sometime in early 2008, Reuters is reporting. This marks the third time the service has been delayed since August. It was originally slated for a September launch, which was pushed into November, then December, and now into 2008. Maybe the 5th time will be the charm for Nokia.

Yes, fifth time. Allow me to explain for those of you who are new to the whole gaming scene: Nokia had a radical idea back in 2003: A cell phone that doubled as a Game Boy. Nokia was quick to try and market this thing everywhere they could, and on October 7th, 2003 the N-Gage was released to massive apathy from gamers and tech-heads alike. It quickly faded into obscurity, and the world was well once more.

When this new N-Gage is launched sometime in 2008, maybe it’ll have better success. Then again, maybe this site will launch my career as a Shakespearian actor. Not bloody likely, but hey. Weirder has happened.

[Reuters]

Nokia, N-Gage

Back when Crystal Dynamics was first awarded the Tomb Raider franchise, I was a bit skeptical. As someone who was a fan of the original Tomb Raider franchise right up to Angel of Darkness (there is no justification for that travesty), seeing the torch passed from Core Design to Crystal Dynamics was both unnerving and exciting. I am pleased to say that Crystal Dynamics has done a fantastic job in bringing Lara into the new age of gaming, and from the sounds of what they have in store with the next entry in the series, Tomb Raider Underworld, they’ve only just begun.

The newest addition to the franchise is what is called “fixed debris”. What this allows for is for the game to record the positions of fallen debris and enemy corpses onto your save files so that when you reload your previously saved game, all the debris and dead bodies from your last play through will be restored.

I am loving the attention to detail Crystal Dynamics (have I mentioned them?) is putting into this next game. The earlier news of the environment interacting with Lara and how she’ll sweat in the heat, or how mud will cling to her and flake off as it dries was impressive in itself. Now to know that what environmental changes you make will be saved to your game is, in a word “awesome”. I can’t wait to get my hands on her—THIS! I mean, heh… the game. Of course.

[Tomb Raider Chronicles]

Eidos, Crystal Dynamics, Tomb Raider Underworld

Here’s a pretty cool little Easter Egg you can look for inside Call of Duty 4. When you’re on the map “Bloc” (online), look for a big ass rock at the far sides of the open area of the map, near the middle. See that big ass rock that’s enclosed by some tiny fence? Go examine that rock closely.

Go on, I’ll give you a minute.

Did you see the sword in the stone? A clear-cut reference to King Arthur, if you ask me. Now normally these kinds of Easter Eggs wouldn’t constitute mention. While they’re cool, they really don’t contribute to any kind of news, or knowledge, or anything else. So what makes this different? Call of Duty 4 has been out for over a month, and until now there has never been a mention of this little gem.

[FacePunch Forums]

Call of Duty 4, Easter Eggs

With the massive success and popularity of the Nintendo Wii, it’s no surprise that developers and publishers alike are hoping that their next Wii-lease (heh, see what I did there? I made a… pun… moving on) will be the next big hit for the Nintendo platform. When you consider the unique controller the system uses, it seems like an obvious choice to make a game all about fitness and that is exactly what Hudson Soft, Namco Bandai and Nintendo themselves are doing. However, if you ask Namco Bandai’s Sayaki Mori, only one game will deliver a true workout experience.

In an interview with Gamasutra, Mori-san pointed out that “When it comes to Wii Fit, you use your feet. When it comes to DecaSporta, you just use the Wiimote and that’s it. But with this one, you use both.” He continued, saying:

It’s a combination between the mat and the Wiimote. So that’s the differentiation factor. And I’m pretty sure that this will be the only game out that uses a mat and a Wiimote at the same time.

While I applaud Mori-san for getting the word out about Athletic World, I still have a hard time not thinking that just about every game released for the Wii that is not published by Nintendo is going to be complete garbage. I hope to be proven wrong, but until I am I’m going to just stick with the N, thank you.

Especially when you’re the publisher responsible for Soulcalibur Legends… yeouch.

[Gamasutra]

Nintendo, Wii, Namco Bandai

People, I am having the kind of bad day you only hear about in myth and legend. Let me preface this by saying that sometime last night one of my cats, Noel aka Fat Cat 2.0, died. Then later this morning, we find another of my cats, Rico, sick as all hell. In fact, as I write this my mother is taking Rico to the veterinarian.

So naturally I would want to unwind, play a little Mass Effect and get my mind off of this terrible day, right? Not so fast said the electronic Gods. I grab my Game of the Year off of the shelf, pop the disc in the Xbox 360, and grab my controller in anticipation… (slightly NSFW language after the break)

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Okay, people. So I’ve been going through some of our many pie charts that track daily traffic to the site. Now, I don’t care about the numbers, so long as those of you who do come here like what you see, and come back for more. If nothing else, we give free crap away all the time so that should bring some of you back.

I am, however, very interested in the charts that show where you’re from, and what OS you’re using and all that jazz. For instance, I know there is someone who is viewing this website with a screen resolution of 2560 x 1600. Just as I also know someone else is viewing this site on a screen that is 234 x 284… I’m assuming you’re reading from a Sidekick, or something. Either way, I thank you both for visiting.

Here’s what got me, though. Look closely at the picture after the break…

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In news that really should surprise absolutely nobody, the Nintendo Wii requires you to spend more energy than playing the Xbox 360. Seriously – the British Journal of Medicine actually took time and money to conduct this study.

They took six boys and five girls, ages in the 13-15 range, and had them play four games: Project Gotham Racing 4 on the Xbox 360, and three games from Wii Sports: Wii Tennis, Wii Boxing and Wii Bowling on the… you guessed it: PlayStation 3.

Kidding. It’s the Wii, obviously.

Unsurprisingly, the Wii outdid the 360 in every aspect. The game that required the kiddies to work the hardest at was Wii Tennis, which had them expending roughly 750kJ (kilojoules) of energy. Wii Boxing expended about 730kJ, and Wii Bowling rounded out the group with 700kJ of energy expended. So how did it compare to the Xbox 360?

The Xbox 360 had kids expending 450kJ. To give you some kind of idea as to how pathetically little that is, SLEEPING has you expending 300kJ. In short, the Xbox 360 is enough to keep you awake. How flattering.

[British Medical Journal]

Nintendo, Wii, Microsoft, Xbox 360, British Medical Journal

Imagine yourself in this scenario: It’s Christmas morning. Fresh snow has fallen outside, and carolers sing in front of the church as families awake to find gifts under the tree. In your home there is one large gift with your name written on it. You rush to it, tear the wrapping to shreds and squeal in delight as you see “PLAYSTATION 3” written in big silver lettering across the front of the box. Ecstatic you open the box and reach in, expecting to soon hold your new favorite toy…

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Adam Sessler has returned to us once again, this time talking about the lack of Wii software sales. Sessler asks us “Why aren’t you buying more Wii games?” Well, allow me to explain after the video.

So why aren’t more people buying games for the Wii? For starters you have to look at who is buying the Wii. Unlike the Xbox 360 or even the PS3, not everyone who owns a Wii is a gamer. I would be willing to bet my job that a good percentage of people who own a Nintendo Wii don’t play many, if any, video games outside Wii Sports.

Another reason why there is a definite lack of Wii software sales has to do with the Wii library. You can count the truly high quality Wii titles on your hands: Super Mario Galaxy, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Metroid Prime 3, Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, and WarioWare: Smooth Moves. You could argue for Zack & Wiki as being quality, so that would bring the number up to six. The majority if the Wii library is, to be kind, utter garbage. Your average Jane Soccermom walks into a GameStop and buys anything that sounds good, regardless of whether or not it IS good. That’s how games like Boogie, Spider-Man 3 and (as mentioned in the video) High School Musical are successful in the short-term, but in the long run hurt Wii sales. People play these games, form opinions based on how awful of an experience they are, assume the entire Wii library is more of the same and stay away. It’s illogical, irrational, and slightly bullheaded, but it’s unfortunately how the world works.

G4TV, Nintendo, Wii, Adam Sessler, Sessler’s Soapbox

I know JW tends to get a hold of these videos first, but I happen to run across this and had to share it right away. As long as the camera system is not flawed, this is going to be a top notch action-adventure game. Though no true release date is set, this game is looking like it should be ready by first quarter of the year.

Lots of random little great deals have popped up post Christmas for you to spend any left over (or newly received) monies.

For those that don’t have it still, Halo 3 is only $29.90 at GoGamer.

GameFly is having a Year End Sale up until January 4th: Some example deals are The Darkness only $12.34, Forza 2 $14.24, and Shadowrun for $12.34. I would really check this link and look into their full list, they have a ton of deals on all systems.

For the PC users, Steam is having a sale, 10-50% Everything! Great deals include, The Orange Box - $37.45, Bioshock $37.45, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - $22.45, and Psychonauts - 9.95!! (If you haven’t played this title yet, you have no excuse not to now. You can even use a 360 controller.)

World of Warcrack - $9.99!! (Now you have no reason not to get addicted!)

Xbox Live Arcade Unplugged - $7.99 @ Amazon
Comes with full versions of
* Geometry Wars
* Bejeweled 2 Deluxe
* Wik - Fable of Souls
* Hardwood Backgammon
* Outpost Kaloki X.
Possibly the best deal of them all.

Its stories like this that really drive me up the wall, readers. According to VGChartz, the Nintendo Wii is on the fast track to selling 20 million units. Keep in mind that the Wii was launched just over a year ago on November 19th, 2006. Doing the short on the math, that’s roughly 1.54 million units a month, every month. Of course, doing the math with the 1.8 million Wiis produced figure given by Nintendo’s George “I’ve Got My Mind Set on You” Harrison, there should be somewhere in the range of 23.4 million Wiis on the market. What further makes this an impressive feat is that the Nintendo Wii is on pace to ship 20 million units six months faster than the PlayStation 2 did.

Finding one should not be a near-impossible task.

Some other figures from VGChartz show that Microsoft is actually out-performing the Wii outside of Japan. Outside of Japan, Nintendo trails Microsoft in total sales by just over 1.5 million units. So what gives Nintendo the overall lead? Maybe it lies somewhere in the fact that less than four percent (530,000) of all Xbox 360 sales (15.32 million) come from Japan. Either way, as of right now it’s a two-horse race between Microsoft and Nintendo, leaving Sony to ponder how they can bring their PS3 back into the contest.

[VGChartz]

Microsoft, Xbox 360, Nintendo, Wii

Expreview, a site I’ve never heard of before now (I don’t get around, I’m sorry) is reporting that nVidia’s newest graphics card, the nVidia GeForce 9800 GX2, will be released on February 19th, 2008.

We can not learn much of the card, Only knows it will be a dual GPU card and communicate with built-in SLI. It also have a SLI connector so it will become the another card supporting Quad SLI like its predecessor 7950 GX2. The power module of the card is somehow different, it have one 6pin and one 8pin power connector.

The previously rumored release date for the high-end 9800 GX2 was sometime in March. While the above refers to the GeForce 7950 GX2 as the immediate predecessor to the upcoming 9800 GX2, the new card will be using dual G92 chips as the 8800 GX2 does. It will be very interesting to see how this new card performs, though my rational side has a hard time believing that nVidia would already want to trump it’s 8800 series.

…I get the distinct feeling all our console readers saw was “crap, blah, blah, techno crap, more crap, blah, even more techno crap, blah, blah”. I assure you, console faithful – this all makes perfect sense.

If it’s true, of course.

nVidia, GeForce, 9800 GX2

It seems the newest issue of Playboy (featuring some cover girl named Kim Kardashian, whoever that is), has a feature on video game girls. Specifically, and in order of the pictures below, are:

Keaira - Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures
Yoko Retomoto - Kane & Lynch
Church and Black - Clive Barker’s Jericho
Moreen - The Witcher
A’Kanna - Conan
Sarah Morrison - Richard Garriott’s Tabula Rosa

With each very respectable artful pose of the characters is a little background on the characters. Remember people, before viewing the pictures, I am warning they are NOT SAFE FOR WORK. These are not porn pictures, they are video game girls so no fapping please kids. This is Playboys fourth year in doing this (first I’ve heard), either way, enjoy::
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