Busy Gamer News

Wipeout Pure fans can now download Classic Pack 1 - with two tracks, a ship and a matching skin - at www.wipeoutpure.com or from within the game if you have wireless Internet access. Be sure to pick up the three Gamma Packs if you haven't already...

Blizzard has upgraded Diablo 2 to v1.11 with numerous bug fixes, closed exploits and even some game enhancements. There are new challenges in the Players of Hell Difficulty Realm, 10 new Runewords and some new unique items that may drop when you defeat a special boss. Get the patch for Windows or Mac through the game via Battle.net or at blizzard.com...

Fans of The Godfather will be disappointed to learn that Marlon Brando's voice has been cut from the forthcoming EA game (yes, the same game that Francis Ford Coppola dissed). Apparently the late actor's voicework wasn't completed and those parts they recorded were poor quality, apparently due to the actor's oxygen machine...

If you've been on the fence about installing the Japanese v2.0 update on your PlayStation Portable, you're better off waiting. Sony says doing so will void your warranty and, besides, the U.S. version of the firmware update is due Friday, Aug. 12. In addition to the full-fledged Internet browser and wallpaper features, the update adds video skip, picture sharing over infrared and support for more video and music formats...

Fans of the foul-mouthed squirrel from Conker: Live and Reloaded (or the original Conker's Bad Fur Day) will want the just released soundtrack album with Robin Beanland's score and some remixed tracks by Nile Rodgers featuring Dweezil Zappa and Rabbit in the Moon. The $16 CD includes a bonus DVD with a mockumentary...

In one of the better pre-order deals, Vivendi Universal is offering a limited-edition reprint of The Incredible Hulk #1 comic from 1962 when you pony up early for The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, due Aug. 23. The game is modeled after Spider-Man 2, which was a knock-off of the Grand Theft Auto style of open-ended play - for those keeping score at home...

By the time you read this, the much-anticipated single-player PC demo for F.E.A.R. will be available at whatisfear.com. Monolith's first-person shooter combines survival horror with the paranormal and, well, get the damn demo and find out the rest for yourself...

Myst fans will want to pre-order the $60 limited edition of Myst V: End of Ages, due in September for PC and Mac. Priced only $10 more than the regular release, it includes a bonus DVD with a series retrospective, soundtrack CD, strategy guide and numbered lithograph...

If you were planning to pick up a Gizmondo, the GPS/gaming device, you'll have to cool your jets until sometime in October. Tiger Telematics, the U.S. subsidiary of the European hardware maker, revealed that key software delays (including satellite navigation) and a desire to launch with half a million retail units and more games prompted the delay. It's a gamble: By the time Gizmondo hits stores, gamers may be saving their dough for an Xbox 360...

If for some reason you want to block the overhyped Hot Coffee mod for the PC version of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, you can now get the v1.01 game patch. The bastards at Rockstar made this actually compelling by adding support for the high definition 720p and 1080i resolutions and fixing some bugs. Get it at fileshack.com/file.x?fid=7501...

Some interesting rumors are floating around about the Xbox 360. First, as predicted, the hard drive will most likely be excluded in the anticipated $300 retail launch package, though there may be higher-priced configurations that include it. Speaking of higher prices, an agreement with Mad Catz leaked out revealing that accessories will require a licensing fee to Microsoft, with all non-licensed items locked out by the 360's hardware security. This probably won't affect USB-based media devices such as the iPod and PSP - in fact, a developer confirmed that it's easy to link a PSP to a 360 dev kit to view pictures and stream MP3 music. However, wireless controllers, light guns, hard drives and memory cards are all strictly excluded - at least in Mad Catz' agreement - suggesting only Microsoft will manufacture these. Naturally, cheat devices also won't be licensed. Wired gamepads, steering wheels, arcade sticks, flight sticks and dance pads are all on the approved list...

Based on retailer preorder lists, here are the likely Xbox 360 launch titles: Amped 3, Call of Duty 2, Condemned: Criminal Origins, The Darkness, Dead or Alive 4, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Final Fantasy XI, Full Auto, Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, Gun, Kameo: Elements of Power, Madden NFL 2006, NBA 2K6, NHL 2K6, The Outfit, Perfect Dark Zero, Project Gotham Racing 3, Quake 4, Ridge Racer 6, Saints Row, Tony Hawk's American Wasteland and Top Spin 2. Expected just after launch are: Burnout Revenge, FIFA Soccer 2006, Frame City Killer, King Kong, Need for Speed Most Wanted, NBA Live 2005 and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2006. Of course, retailer release dates are notoriously suspect, but this gives you an idea of what to expect. Oh, and if you haven't preordered a launch day 360 at a local store that takes them, you're probably too late. The good news is that the major online stores haven't launched preorders yet, and there's always the line at the major chains that don't take preorders...

If hack-and-slash RPGs are your thing and you can stomach a 1.4 GB download, get the single-player demo of Dungeon Siege II at fileshack.com/file.x?fid=7464. You'll get two cut scenes and an early portion of the Mercenary campaign to whet your appetite for the full game, due out Aug. 23...

If you were hoping to enjoy the more grownup Link in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess this holiday, you better revise your wish list. The game has been delayed until at least March 2006. Nintendo says its developers requested the extra time to "add new levels, more depth and even higher quality" to the game...

If you haven't already, login to Xbox Live with Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict to get four new maps and 10 new characters, each with their own combos. There are also some recent bug fixes that lessen lag, reduce (but don't eliminate) glitch gripes and permit Overdose maps to be played as Deathmatch...

Confirmed: As expected, the Xbox 360 will retail in two flavors. The $299 core system includes only a wired controller and standard AV cables. Pay $399 for the full package and you'll get a 20GB detachable hard drive, wireless controller, wireless headset, high-def AV cables, Ethernet cable and, for a limited time, the media remote control. Considering the retail prices for 360 accessories, the complete package is a great deal: 20GB Hard Drive ($99.99), Wireless Controller ($49.99), Headset ($19.99), HD Cables ($39.99) and Media Remote ($29.99). That's a $100 savings. Other accessory prices include: Wired Controller ($39.99), 64MB Memory Unit ($39.99), Wireless Networking Adapter ($99.99), Rechargeable Battery Pack ($11.99), Play and Charge Kit ($19.99), Faceplates ($19.99), VGA Cable ($39.99) and S-Video Cable ($29.99). No official launch date yet, but EB has said it believes the 360 will launch on Nov. 2...

Beta testing for City of Villains has begun with long-time City of Heroes players snagging early invites. If you haven't logged a year or more in the shoes of a massively multiplayer crimefighter, you'll still be able to buy your way into the beta (eventually) by pre-ordering the game, which offers unique content plus overlapping zones where heroes and villains can play together and even do battle with each other. Just like last time you'll get an exclusive bonus item - a custom helmet - that varies in design depending on which retailer you pre-order from, so choose wisely...

If you've been holding off on getting a Nintendo DS, keep your credit card in your pocket a few more days. The dual-screen gaming device is dropping $20 to $129.99 on Sunday. The price cut arrives suspiciously close to Monday's launch of Nintendogs, which comes in three flavors each priced at $29.99. Hey, collect all three...

According to reports from Europe, the forthcoming Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection will offer a friends list, advanced matchmaking, Web-based stats and even support for duplicate names (so you won't have to be urpwned077) - it works because each Nintendo DS has a unique identifier. Best of all, the price is right: free, although individual developers might still charge a fee in some cases. So far, only Mario Kart DS, Tony Hawk DS and Animal Crossing DS have announced Wi-Fi features, and for some reason Mario Kart's battle mode won't be online...

RANT: Xbox 360 sticker shock, or how Microsoft can have its cake and eat it too (if they don't choke): It seems like almost everybody but me is up in arms about Microsoft's decision to offer the Xbox 360 without a hard drive. What we've seen, historically, is that all of these bells and whistles - hi-def video, 5.1 surround sound, nifty hard drive features - are really meaningless without great games. Did the PS2 succeed because it was the superior gaming platform with the most hi-def games, the biggest online adapter installed base and expansive hard drive features? Hell no. It won this round because it had the best games (and, to a lesser extent, the most games). Microsoft is at a disadvantage here because it's never quite mastered the art of making A-list first-party titles or the science of negotiating true exclusives.

[Read full Rant]

First Zelda, now this: Nintendo is delaying Metroid Prime: Hunters for the DS into 2006. To make up for it, it's releasing Metroid Pinball on Oct. 24 complete with a new DS Rumble Pack that slips into the GBA slot for a little shake, rattle and roll. Mario Kart DS and Animal Crossing DS also have slipped, though they're still expected to make the holiday selling season on 11/14 and 12/5 respectively...

After a bit of a delay, Sony's released the U.S. version of its v2.0 update for PlayStation Portable, adding an authorized Web browser, new video and audio options, wallpaper and other tweaks. Get it at http://www.us.playstation.com/psp.aspx?id=SoftwareUpdate. Remember: This update will also close security loopholes that permit homebrew applications. Sony now says it's considering whether to allow community-made software to run on the PSP in the future, but for now they'll be unusable...

EBGames.com opened up online preorders for the Xbox 360. For $600 you'll get the core system, four games, an extra wired controller and a memory unit. For $700 you'll get the four games, an extra wireless controller and a play and charge kit. The bundled games are Perfect Dark Zero Limited Edition, Dead or Alive 4, Kameo: Elements of Power and Project Gotham Racing 3...

[Seem steep? See Related Rant]

There are two new co-op maps for Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, but you're better off waiting to get them. Due to a technical snafu, the maps don't appear in the game after you download them from Xbox Live. When available, they'll complete the recent co-op storyline with missions at a nuclear plant and UN Headquarters. Ubisoft is investigating the glitch, so stay tuned...

The launch bundle for Xbox 360 revealed the existence of Perfect Dark Zero Limited Edition, but what's in the package? Apart from the usual embossed collector's case, there's a bonus DVD with featurette, game music and - get this! - graphical skins and tiles you can use to customize your Xbox 360 dashboard and Xbox Live avatar. There's also a sample chapter from a tie-in novel, a comic book and a collectible card...

Gamestop.com has joined EBGames in offering online pre-orders for Xbox 360, and their offer makes EB's deal look pretty darn good. The minimum core configuration is $700 with five bundled games, an extra wired controller and a memory unit. Want the hard drive and wireless controllers? You're in for $800 or $900, depending on whether you want five games or six plus a year of Xbox Live. The top-of-the-line package costs $1200 with 11 games and all of the trimmings. Order away, if your credit limit can handle it...

[How about a $1300 Xbox 360 bundle that people will buy? See related Blog entry]

How about a $1300 Xbox 360 that people will buy?
By now you've probably seen the news about the ridiculous Xbox 360 launch bundles. Gamestop takes the cake with its $1200 "ultimate" package that includes 11 games and not much else.

Who the hell wants 11 games? The attach rate on game consoles before the Xbox was pretty low - the average gamer only buys a few titles a year. Eleven games is like a whole year's worth at once. Ultimate gamer? More like ultimate tool.

Now, keeping in mind that I've defended the Xbox 360 pricing in (my most recent gaming rant, I'd actually pay $1300 for an Xbox 360 launch bundle, just not the one they're offering.

How about an "Instant LAN Party" package that includes:

• 2 full Xbox 260 packages complete with hard drives, wireless controllers, headsets and Ethernet cables ($800)
  
• 2 extra wireless controllers ($100)
  
• 2 charge and play cables ($40)
  
• 2 copies of Perfect Dark Zero LE ($120)
  
• 2 copies of Quake 4 ($120)
  
• 2 copies of Project Gotham Racing 3 ($100)
  
• A case of Bawls ($20)

You could even upsell this package another $100 by offering the option to add two 1-year Xbox Live memberships.

Now that's a bundle people would buy. You could split it with a family member, roommate or best friend. Instant game experience for a fair price: $650 a head, and you'd get a half case of Bawls.

Too bad it'll never happen.

-=Gamewatcher

Asheron's Call 2 will close its doors on Dec. 30, bowing to more evolved massively multiplayer online RPGs such as World of Warcraft, EverQuest 2 and the fee-free Guild Wars. The game will continue until the end of the year with live events but no new features or content...

Still on the fence about Myst V: End of Ages? There's a short but sweet demo, and it's only a wafer-thin 270MB. Download it at fileshack.com/file.x?fid=7556...

PAX out
Penny Arcade Expo 2005 was both refreshing and disappointing. On the one hand, it's great to see so many like-minded people who believe in gaming as a way of life. On the other, there was only so much time I could devote to it, and only a handful of things there that I really wanted to do.

GrrlGotGame and I took Friday off for PAX, and we hired an overnight sitter to stay with Xander 2.6 that night. Incidentally, Xan is picking up words and putting them into combinations such as "Baby Kitty" and "Orange Boat." This past week, he saw me drinking a lot of sugar-free Bawls, which is clear liquid in a clear bottle. Xander has declared this "Daddy Water." Somehow, that seems apropos.

Anyway, back to the show. Our first rude awakening was that PAX didn't actually start until 2 p.m. on Friday (and the doors didn't open until almost 2:30). No worries: We spent the morning taking it easy and playing some games. But by the time we got in and figured out where everything was, we only had about an hour before we had to pick up our son from daycare and take him to the babysitter.

That's when we had our second sad realization: The Exhibition Hall (most of our reason for going) wasn't open until Saturday morning. (Somehow we missed this detail on the Web site.) We immediately bailed (but not before a camera crew insisted on shooting a close-up of my "Han Shot First" t-shirt!), thankful that we hadn't queued up any earlier than we did, and checked into our hotel. Yes, we live locally, but we had planned this as a rare getaway from the diapers and messes. And that evening we also had a Ben Folds concert at Chateau St. Michelle.

For any Folds fans who might be reading, here's the set he played:

Bastard
Gone
Zak and Sara
Jesusland
Still Fighting It
You to Thank
Careless Whisper (with Rufus Wainwright)
Landed
Bitches Ain't Shit
Narcolepsy
Late
Not the Same

No encore. Ben only did 12 songs to allow time for opening act Ben Lee and would-be headliner Rufus Wainwright.

We thought Rufus kind of blew, so we left after six songs to catch what was left of the Red vs. Blue panel back at PAX. Alas, by the time we got there they had already shown whatever video they had and were performing poorly miked Q&A. After 20 minutes of barely hearing the answers to only mildly interesting questions, we headed back to our hotel.

Saturday was our big day. We got to the Exhibition Hall a little after they opened, just late enough to miss by seconds the final hardback copy of the Penny Arcade: First Year book I'd been trying to get my hands on for months - but I did snag a softback, a set of Dead or Alive figurines (our collection now goes to 11!) and some strawberry Pocky from Sweet Kitty. Then we spent some time in the booths.

Nintendo really represented (as you can see from this picture) with a tradeshow-style booth complete with GameCube, GBA and DS games. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was playable with an awesome horse battle and a village scene to explore, but the lines for it were unreal.

Jacqui got hooked on Meteos (she hasn't forgiven me for not offering her my copy, even though I explained that it doesn't support player profiles and I wanted to keep my progress mine). So now I'm buying her a copy even though we only have one DS. I really hate to reward Nintendo for this behavior - but I'm just attached enough to the progress I've made that it's the only real choice.

I tried Nintendogs, which I had been resisting - but promptly went out and bought a copy after logging a couple passes with the demo. It's like a Tamagotchi pet only more realistic. The only annoyance is that it's largely voice controlled, so you'll look a little looney shouting at your DS to "Sit!" and "Roll Over!" If you don't mind this or only plan to play with your puppies at home, it's a great game.

What sold me was that I could pick up a dog with a stretchy rope, swing him around in the air and then toss him about a dozen feet away. No harm done - the dogs actually seemed to like it! Also, you can get one dog to hold the end of a jump rope and then another dog will jump it. Cool!

The other game I really liked was Metroid Pinball. Samus is in her morph ball form and you shoot her around a game board plagued by the occasional monster attack. In one off-board sidetrip, you wall jump to a bonus. In another activity, you aim Samus (unmorphed) as she blasts an onslaught of rampaging alien bugs. I managed to score half a million points my first try despite totally blowing the first two balls. My second game I did even better and got good at opening up bonuses. I like this one even better than Pinball of the Dead.

Nintendo also had Geist, Advance Wars: Under Fire, Castlevania DS, Viewtiful Joe DS, Sonic Rush DS, Mario Kart DS, Metroid Prime: Hunters, and many more.

Sony only had a handful of PS2 titles on display with a row of kiosks (for the record, Jak X: Combat Racing, Ratchet Deadlocked and Sly 3) and a table covered in game demo disks. That was pretty much it. THERE WERE NO PSPs ON DISPLAY, except in the hands of some attendees (most of them playing Lumines and, even then, clearly outnumbered by the DSes). Talk about a missed opportunity. But even that fumble wasn't as bad as….

Microsoft. They totally dropped the ball. Their only official presence was a playtest signup where you could win some old first-party games or a free Xbox. No, not a 360. Just a plain ol' Xbox. The tchotchkes were all crap someone pulled out of an old supply closet - nothing with the Xbox 360 logo on it. In fact, there was no 360 presence at all save for brief mentions at the various industry panels. Microsoft should have been coating attendees with Xbox 360 pens, T-shirts and stickers. They might have even given away a launch 360. Instead, they had copies of Azurik and Whacked!

Whatever.

UbiSoft offered up most of the Xbox presence with Farcry Instincts (which looks great!), Rainbow Six: Lockdown, Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood, King Kong and Blazing Angels.

Vivendo Universal played no favorites, showing The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction on all three consoles. They also had F.E.A.R. for the PC.

On the PC front, there was Dungeons and Dragons Online (which looks promising), City of Heroes, Asheron's Call 2 (not sure why since they're pulling the plug - guess they couldn't get their deposit back), and Guild Wars. Missing in action: World of Warcraft and EverQuest 2.

America's Army was there too, recruiting. We took several demos that are going straight into the recycle bin. (I'm sure it's a great shooter, but I'm philosophically opposed to any game that's a marketing tool for actual death. I love violent games, but real violence not so much.)

The highlights of the show were watching Mike (aka Gabe) ink and color Monday's comic, and the Beat the Pros contest where gamers went up to challenge experts at Soul Calibur II and Halo 2. Most of them got schooled, but some came close or even won - and that was exciting. There was a panel on marketing video games that came in this side of lame, and it started so late I just couldn't hang around for the PA guys. That said, I was glad they went long on Beat the Pros - it was definitely worth it.

I hope the Penny Arcade guys hold another charity auction this winter. As much as I liked PAX, I love being able to bid on cool gaming stuff and easily justify it since it's "for the kids." And the food last year was surprisingly good.

-=Gamewatcher

BLOG: PAX out: Penny Arcade Expo 2005 was both refreshing and disappointing. The highlights of the show were watching Mike (aka Gabe) ink and color Monday's comic, and the Beat the Pros contest where gamers went up to challenge experts at Soul Calibur II and Halo 2. Most of them got schooled, but some came close or even won - and that was exciting.

[Read full Blog entry]

Starting today, you can download for free all of the Halo 2 maps previously available for a fee. Microsoft also recently announced the Halo Triple Pack due Oct. 4, which includes the original Halo, Halo 2 and the Halo 2 Multiplayer Map Pack retail release (complete with a few bonus videos) for $60. If you haven't ever bought a Halo game, this is an OK deal - otherwise, skip it and get the maps for free...

If you pre-order The Movies on the PC from Best Buy, EB or Gamestop (among others), you'll get StarMaker software that lets you create characters now that you can import into the game later. StarMaker will ship with the full game, and it's also available for free download at themoviesplanet.com - so if you're not ready to plunk down $10, that's OK...