Busy Gamer News

Microsoft quickly quashed rumors that it's planning a release of the Xbox 360 with an internal HD-DVD drive. Only an external version is being developed, for now. Still no price or release date, though it's still expected for the holidays. Xbox Live Marketplace also broke its cardinal release rule, deploying some cool new content on a Friday: the Prey single/multiplayer demo (free, but clocks in at 1.2 gigs!), Chromehounds themes/picture packs ($1.88/$2.25 each) and another Hitman: Blood Money theme/picture packs ($1.88/$1.25 each). Oh, and there's a second Cars movie trailer (much better than the first!) and that problem with the full X-Men 3 trailer seems to have been finally corrected...

If World of Warcraft hasn't taken up enough of your life, pretty soon you'll be able to play without a computer. Blizzard has teamed with the makers of Yu-Gi-Oh to create a Heroes of Azeroth trading card game. Due in October, the game will be released with a starter deck and add-on packs for your choice of Alliance or Horde. If your inner geek just can't wait for the official release, Upper Deck Entertainment will be appearing at GenCon Indy and hosting a Salt Lake City tournament, both in August...

If you've ever wondered how the casual games business works (the business that I'm now in, and where many believe the games industry is growing fastest), the International Game Developers Association has published a casual games white paper. It examines the marketplace for casual games, how they're developed (including the most common game mechanics) and where and how money is made. It's an interesting read. And, since it's published as a wiki, the paper is a living document that will evolve as the business does...

Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter v1.2 for the PC patches some crashing bugs and an anti-cheat issue as well as a large number of improvements - such as deathmatch and new co-op levels - introduced in the previous update last month, if you missed it... Hitman: Blood Money v1.2 corrects a crash and improves graphics and UI... Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines v2.5 is an unofficial patch that continues the fan community tradition of fixing bugs that publisher Activision and developer Troika missed when they last updated the game in 2004...

Starting at 1 p.m. Pacific today, you'll be able to play Day of Defeat: Source for free. All you need is a Steam account and an itchy mouse finger. Fans of the World War II shooter report the recently added Detention game mode and overall improvements are worth checking out. Preload now and play free until Monday afternoon...

The arcade classic Asteroids just got a little more interesting with a new online multiplayer version. Well, it's not exactly asteroids. There are no actual floating space rocks to destroy. The game is more accurately a deathmatch-style space shooter based on the old-school original's simple design and controls. Whatever. It's free, fun and easy to jump into...

Rumors are flying that Nintendo plans to capitalize on its positive E3 buzz by moving up the Wii launch to October. This is a little earlier than predicted and, if Microsoft and Nintendo can saturate the holiday marketplace with their next-gen consoles - which together total little more than one PS3 - they might shut Sony out of their reindeer games. It's believed that Nintendo has already begun producing final hardware and that they've compressed schedules for launch titles...

Finally! Xbox Live Arcade returns today with the release of Frogger, and a game a week for the next four weeks:

• July 19 - Cloning Clyde
  
• July 26 - Galaga
  
• August 2 - Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting
  
• August 9 - Pac-Man

Hey, not to brag, but the community game site where I manage new releases - Big Fish Games Atlantis - has shipped at least a game each week since April. (This week we'll have two!) But it's cool that Xbox Live Arcade is back after an extended absence - and with Galaga...

Is that the death knell for the UMD movie format? First comes news that Target has ditched UMD movies from its retail stores, though it will continue to sell them online - at least until it's burned through existing inventory. Now Sony itself appears to be admitting defeat with word of the Memory Stick Entertainment Pack for PSP. These Memory Stick Duos will ship with The Grudge, Hitch, S.W.A.T. and XXX: State of the Union pre-loaded. What's interesting is that the movies are locked and your purchase includes only one unlock code - the other three movies won't be playable. The cards will sell for $60 for 1GB and $100 for 2GB, which isn't bad especially with a free movie - assuming you like any of the choices...

After a weak couple of weeks, Xbox Live Marketplace finally has some worthy downloads:

• The Vile Lair expansion for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion complete with cures for vampirism and disease, a Dark Minion, a cattle pen (for those vampires who don't want a cure), a venomous plant garden and more ($1.88)
  
• Frogger ($5)
  
• The Style Pack for Project Gotham Racing 3 featuring the 365 GTB4 ("Daytona"), BMW M3 CSL, BMW M6, BMW MINI COOPER S, BMW Z8, Chrysler Firepower Concept, Ferrari 430 Challenge, Gumpert Apollo Coupe 4.2 V8, Mercedes CLK DTM AMG Class, Pagani Zonda F, RUF R.K. Spyder and Vanwall GPR V12 ($5 for all, or $0.75 each and get the Spyder for free)
  
• Demos for The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II and NCAA Football 07 (free)
  
• A Mass Effect walkthrough video, a look behind the Halo 3 trailer and a reissue of the Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 video from E3 (free)
  
• A theme and picture pack for The Battle for Middle-earth II and new themes for Prey and Dead Rising ($1.88 for themes, $1 for pictures)
  
• Movie trailers for Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man�s Chest and The Simpsons Movie (free)
  
• Music videos from Cartel (free)

There's also an auto-update patch for Uno to improve matchmaking...

Taking a page from casual games, the makers of Every Extend Extra for the PlayStation Portable are offering a PC demo of the game to hook potential players. Since the game's in Japanese, it might help to know that you use the arrow keys to maneuver and press Z to detonate yourself, which is in fact how you score combos. Even better, Every Extend 2.0 - the game's predecessor - is completely free...

After a 14-month hiatus, Microsoft restored  Xbox Live integration with its instant messenger clients. Though they'd love for you to upgrade to Windows Live Messenger, the service works just fine in MSN Messenger. (Aren't internal corporate brand turf wars fun?) Of course, there's still the problem that your every move will be reported to anyone on your Friends list. It's not clear whether Xbox Live alerts can be tracked and saved as they once were, but you might still think twice about adding your boss to your Friends list. Too late? Block automatic login by setting a password...

In an attempt to pool their traffic to build a bigger audience, five gaming-themed webcomics have launched Gamers Pair of Dice. Even combined, the strips Commissioned, Digital Unrest, Dueling Analogs, ExtraLife and Press Start to Play don't add up to one Penny Arcade or Real Life. But with so many like-minded strips banded together, you might find something funny a little more often - particularly if you love Nintendo and World of Warcraft jokes...

Gamers who cut their teeth on Choose Your Own Adventure books got good news earlier this year when updated texts were released. Now there's an interactive DVD of fan favorite The Abominable Snowman. Due next week for $20, it's an animated adventure featuring Willam H. Macy, Felicity Huffman and Frankie Muniz. Use your DVD player remote or favorite DVD-enabled console to navigate about a dozen storylines. Watch samples and pre-order at choosemovie.com. The Lost Jewels and Mystery of the Maya are next up for the DVD treatment, but not before 2007 and 2008...

HD-DVD First Impressions
I know, I haven't kept up my blog much since I started at Big Fish Games. Truth is, I've been really busy. I love my job, and most of my free time goes into work, family or games. It's amazing that I've managed to keep this site going.

Today I took a long overdue day off to catch up on housework and bills, and decided to take advantage of some birthday gift cards and Best Buy coupons to get the Toshiba HD-DVD player at a hefty discount.

I had been thinking I'd wait for the Xbox external HD-DVD drive, but a few things convinced me to get the standalone player.

1. We can enjoy high-def DVDs and upscale our vast library of DVDs.
   
2. Our existing DVD player is buggy as hell - it screws up on a lot of movies. To date, I've never seen the end of The Two Towers without skipping past some stuttering scenes.
   
3. We had already bought Serenity on HD-DVD on Joss Whedon's birthday and it was, like, just sitting there.

If you who know me, you probably know I'm a videophile dating back almost two decades. I still have a laserdisc player and more than 100 discs for it. And almost 1000 DVD titles.

I've decided that, for now, I'm not interested in Blu-Ray. My understanding is that it has fewer features and in many cases poorer video and the player costs twice the money. No thanks. Maybe I'll get a PS3 (still on the fence), and if so, problem solved.

First things first. HD-DVD isn't for everyone. Don't even consider it unless you:

• Own an HDTV made in the past couple years that has either an HDMI port or DVI with HDCP support (check your manual).
  
• Have at least five speakers and a subwoofer attached to a receiver capable of 5.1 surround sound or better. Bonus points if it decodes DTS.
  
• Do your homework before you shop.

I spent a few days scoping the threads at AVSForum. com to ensure I knew what I needed, had a compatible TV, etc. The sales clerk at Best Buy couldn't even give me the right answer about whether there was an HDMI cable in the box. I was certain I had read there was one, but couldn't find definitive info on the box. The clerk said there wasn't and tried to sell me a 4-foot cable for $100 (ow!). Instead, I drove a few miles to Video Only and got a 6-foot cable for $30 and a DVI adapter (since my TV is a couple years old and doesn't have an actual HDMI input) for another $30.

If I'd planned ahead, I could have ordered an adapter for $5 at Monoprice.com. (They have cables, too, in the $15 range.) It's all digital, so having a gold-plated cable shouldn't make all that much difference.

Anyway, when I got home, I found the Toshiba HD-A1 player does include the HDMI cable - so all I needed was the adapter. Best Buy's adapter was roughly the same price as Video Only's (amazingly), so the clerk actually lost them a sale.

Setup was pretty simple. I just unplugged my old player, used my existing optical audio cable, plugged in the HDMI cable and adapter, and turned it all on. I had to press the V.Output button a few times on the HD-DVD remote until I got picture.

I put in Serenity and, wow! No blur, no glitching - just smooth picture. Skin tones were a little off until I realized I had my TV set to a tweaked Vivid setting that I no longer needed with such a pure picture source (still need to do some calibration). I experimented with 720p and 1080i, and found I liked the 1080i slightly better even though I'm sure my TV's native resolution is 720p.

I also put in a regular Firefly DVD and a few other discs and found playback was equally smooth - no blurring or glitching except during fast forward scan. Even crappy DVDs looked remarkably better.

What really stunned me, though, was the sound. I've had surround sound for years. But the HD-DVD, even with the exact same speakers and setup, just seemed to envelope me in its matrix. At one point, it felt like I was in Serenity!

My main regret is that I can no longer conveniently bounce DVD video or audio to smaller kitchen TV and speakers that we recently added so we could watch Tivo or movies while we cooked or did dishes. When outputting high-end audio and video, the HD-A1's lower end connections are shut off. Rats! I'm sure there's a way to make it work, but it would probably cost twice as much as the HD player.

Otherwise, I'm quite enjoying the player. The loading time is as horrible as they say: a minute plus when you turn it on. But switching discs once it's booted up isn't too bad, and the improvements in picture and sound make it well worth it.

I did have one regular DVD (Shrek) freeze up completely about 10 minutes in, so more testing is clearly needed. The player can be connected to the Internet for firmware updates (including one that should improve disc compatibility), so one night this week I'll disconnect my Ethernet cable from my 360 and plug it into the Toshiba to see if the experience gets even better.

--Gamewatcher

HD-DVD First Impressions
I know, I haven't kept up my blog much since I started at Big Fish Games. Truth is, I've been really busy. I love my job, and most of my free time goes into work, family or games. It's amazing that I've managed to keep this site going.

Today I took a long overdue day off to catch up on housework and bills, and decided to take advantage of some birthday gift cards and Best Buy coupons to get the Toshiba HD-DVD player at a hefty discount.

I had been thinking I'd wait for the Xbox external HD-DVD drive, but a few things convinced me to get the standalone player.

1. We can enjoy high-def DVDs and upscale our vast library of DVDs.

2. Our existing DVD player is buggy as hell - it screws up on a lot of movies. To date, I've never seen the end of The Two Towers without skipping past some stuttering scenes.

3. We had already bought Serenity on HD-DVD on Joss Whedon's birthday and it was, like, just sitting there.

If you who know me, you probably know I'm a videophile dating back almost two decades. I still have a laserdisc player and more than 100 discs for it. And almost 1000 DVD titles.

I've decided that, for now, I'm not interested in Blu-Ray. My understanding is that it has fewer features and in many cases poorer video and the player costs twice the money. No thanks. Maybe I'll get a PS3 (still on the fence), and if so, problem solved.

First things first. HD-DVD isn't for everyone. Don't even consider it unless you:

• Own an HDTV made in the past couple years that has either an HDMI port or DVI with HDCP support (check your manual).

• Have at least five speakers and a subwoofer attached to a receiver capable of 5.1 surround sound or better. Bonus points if it decodes DTS.

• Do your homework before you shop.

I spent a few days scoping the threads at AVSForum. com to ensure I knew what I needed, had a compatible TV, etc. The sales clerk at Best Buy couldn't even give me the right answer about whether there was an HDMI cable in the box. I was certain I had read there was one, but couldn't find definitive info on the box. The clerk said there wasn't and tried to sell me a 4-foot cable for $100 (ow!). Instead, I drove a few miles to Video Only and got a 6-foot cable for $30 and a DVI adapter (since my TV is a couple years old and doesn't have an actual HDMI input) for another $30.

If I'd planned ahead, I could have ordered an adapter for $5 at Monoprice.com. (They have cables, too, in the $15 range.) It's all digital, so having a gold-plated cable shouldn't make all that much difference.

Anyway, when I got home, I found the Toshiba HD-A1 player does include the HDMI cable - so all I needed was the adapter. Best Buy's adapter was roughly the same price as Video Only's (amazingly), so the clerk actually lost them a sale.

Setup was pretty simple. I just unplugged my old player, used my existing optical audio cable, plugged in the HDMI cable and adapter, and turned it all on. I had to press the V.Output button a few times on the HD-DVD remote until I got picture.

I put in Serenity and, wow! No blur, no glitching - just smooth picture. Skin tones were a little off until I realized I had my TV set to a tweaked Vivid setting that I no longer needed with such a pure picture source (still need to do some calibration). I experimented with 720p and 1080i, and found I liked the 1080i slightly better even though I'm sure my TV's native resolution is 720p.

I also put in a regular Firefly DVD and a few other discs and found playback was equally smooth - no blurring or glitching except during fast forward scan. Even crappy DVDs looked remarkably better.

What really stunned me, though, was the sound. I've had surround sound for years. But the HD-DVD, even with the exact same speakers and setup, just seemed to envelope me in its matrix. At one point, it felt like I was in Serenity!

My main regret is that I can no longer conveniently bounce DVD video or audio to smaller kitchen TV and speakers that we recently added so we could watch Tivo or movies while we cooked or did dishes. When outputting high-end audio and video, the HD-A1's lower end connections are shut off. Rats! I'm sure there's a way to make it work, but it would probably cost twice as much as the HD player.

Otherwise, I'm quite enjoying the player. The loading time is as horrible as they say: a minute plus when you turn it on. But switching discs once it's booted up isn't too bad, and the improvements in picture and sound make it well worth it.

I did have one regular DVD (Shrek) freeze up completely about 10 minutes in, so more testing is clearly needed. The player can be connected to the Internet for firmware updates (including one that should improve disc compatibility), so one night this week I'll disconnect my Ethernet cable from my 360 and plug it into the Toshiba to see if the experience gets even better.

--Gamewatcher

Sony leaked some of its plans for the PlayStation Portable, including an update due to ship Thursday, July 27. The v2.80 firmware release adds RSS video support and - a first! - a demo of World Tour Soccer 2. The company revealed it has no plans for a keyboard accessory, though a future hardware revision might eventually improve the PSP's built-in speakers and analog stick. Sony also trumpeted that UMD movies haven't failed entirely since Sony Pictures and Fox still have new titles on the way. Then again, maybe that's a bad talking point. You could flip it and note that everyone else - Disney, Lion's Gate, New Line, Paramount, Universal, Warners, heck even Image and Troma - abandoned ship...

If you think about it, the casual games revolution was borne from the free games bundled in Windows. And now Microsoft is upping the ante with enhanced versions and an expanded selection of free games in Windows Vista. There will be updated versions of Minesweeper, Hearts and Solitaire (including Klondike, Freecell and Spider variants) as well as new games Mahjong Titans, Chess Titans and a puzzle/memory games collection called Purble Place. Then there's Inkball for DS-style stylus play on Tablet PC models. Likewise, the Titans games will only be included in more expensive versions of Vista. So they're not exactly free, per se...

It's been leaked that Sony is dropping some top titles to $20 with these new additions to their Greatest Hits collection:

• Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)
  
• SOCOM 3 (PS2)
  
• Jak X: Combat Racing (PS2)
  
• Ratchet Deadlocked (PS2)
  
• Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves (PS2)
  
• Twisted Metal: Head On (PSP)
  
• Wipeout Pure (PSP)


• Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee (PSP)
  
• Ape Escape: On the Loose (PSP)
  
• ATV Offroad Fury: Blazin� Trails (PSP)

Also, if the rumors are true, you can expect these games to join them in coming months:

• Lumines (PSP)
  
• Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition (PSP)
  
• Star Wars Battlefront II (PSP)
  
• Tony Hawk�s Underground 2 Remix (PSP)
  
• Untold Legends: Brotherhood of the Blade (PSP)

Blizzard announced its largest World of Warcraft ban ever: 59,000 accounts closed, the majority apparently due to gold farming. Some 22 million in ill-gotten gold was also removed from the game. Fans are being more critical than in the past, noting that buyers aren't penalized (though they create the market for it) and that gold farmers will simply buy another license and start back up again, putting more money into Blizzard's pocket. Could official support of in-game wealth transfers be a better solution? Or - even more daring - what if Blizzard sold gold directly to customers? Many believe gold inequities don't significantly change much overall gameplay, Blizzard would make money on every transaction and it might put an end to farming...

Microsoft is having something of a bad week. First there was news that Windows Vista will likely slip until at least summer 2007, and possibly later. Then THQ dropped the Xbox 360 version of its Sopranos videogame, citing spiralling production costs. (It will be a PS2 exclusive.) On the other hand, there will be  Fuzion Frenzy 2 for the 360 - packed with mini-games and online tournaments. OK, so it's hardly a replacement for the Sopranos, but finally there'll be some family friendly fun on the next-gen console...

This past weekend was a busy one for the rumor-mongers:

• Has E3 imploded? Reports suggest that the Entertainment Software Association will change venues (again? remember that ill-fated year in Atlanta...) and crack down on admission to reduce the overwhelming size. Couldn't they, like, just charge exhibitors and attendees more? UPDATE: The issue is that the big companies don't see much return from E3, so they're no longer willing to foot the bill. A much smaller (and cheaper) show will serve the same purpose.
  
• Sony's PS3 will apparently have an achievement system similar to the Xbox 360. They're calling them "entitlements." Guess Sony didn't get where it is today by being original.
  
• Microsoft isn't afraid of the "me too" game either. (But then we knew that.) Their long-overdue iPod-killing device, dubbed Zune, is expected to play movies, music and most likely some nature of Live Anywhere games - at least on some models. And yes, that really is the name. Sounds like they used the same marketing firm that named the Wii.