Via Ars Technica

After a brief hiatus, The Saturday Sunday Showdown continues. Each week we pick a topic, flip a coin to see which OT writer gets which side to debate, and then we present it to you. This week? Whether or not the PS3's ever-evolving firmware-powered feature list is going to be enough to increase sales.

Ben: My skepticism of the PS3 as a viable platform has become something of a running joke with Opposable Thumbs readers. With the initial release of the system, it was hard to take Sony's claims seriously. I kept asking myself, "You want this to be a media hub?" in the first few months of the system's release. This? PlayStation 2 games didn't look great, Blu-ray didn't work in 720p. It took forever to download anything, and you couldn't do anything else while you were pulling the files down. What a difference a few firmware updates make! Now the Blu-ray player works beautifully in 720p, PS2 and PSone games get upscaled up to 1080p, streaming media is a snap, background downloading works fine, and there is even some great content to download! We all knew that the system would get better, but with the newest firmware update, it's like a magic trick: the system Sony always wanted to release is now in our home theaters. Is this a selling point? Of course it is, as the games are getting better and the promises Sony made us are finally bearing fruit. I never told friends and family that buying a PS3 was a good idea before because I'm loathe to pay for potential. Now I can get excited about what the system can do RIGHT NOW.

Frank: Firmware updates (and patches) are both a blessing and a curse this time around. While these big updates can allow the developers to fix old problems and implement new functionalities, we can already see a trend of "half-finished" product releases that are simply "buffed out" later. Both the Xbox 360 and the PS3 suffer from this: they came out with a certain amount of functionality and a certain set of problems, and issues were ironed out over time. Don't get me wrong; I love the fact that the problems that arise via user feedback can be remedied. However, the problem that Sony faces is that they are repeating the same mistakes that Microsoft had already addressed; they learned nothing from the 360's failures. The background downloading, for one, should have shipped with the PS3. It's good that they finally patched it in, but why did it take so long? The same goes for the upscaling and some of the other fixes in the recent patch: the system is only getting around to having functionality it should have had already, rather than new functionality worth reconsidering the unit for. Thus, it's hard to look at these firmware upgrades as anything other than Sony racing to try and match functionality already evident on other units at a lower price.

Ben: So what? If you're a customer today and you have $600 in your greasy mitts, do you care if these things should have been there when the system shipped? Of course not. If you have a nice display and a good sound system, you're happy that they'll be so ably supported by the PS3 right now. Early adopters know the pain they're getting into, and so many gamers I talk to say that they want a PS3 but are waiting for certain features. Well, those features are finally coming; I know many who are now going to take the plunge. Sure, it's an expensive system, and while value-added things like the Blu-ray drive don't interest everyone, for A/V fiends they're huge. The PS3 is one of the cheapest Blu-ray players out there and with the additions of 720p play and improving options for how to display the image via HDMI, it's also one of the best. With this new firmware update, the system and Blu-ray play is functional enough to finally make it a selling point. If you took games away altogether, the other things (Blu-ray, media streaming, and 60GB hard drive) are a good value for $600. When the usage of these things was so hobbled, they were almost useless to many people. But now the PS3 is a very strong set top box at a very compelling price. I think we're going to see a sales spike in sales over the next month.

Frank: Right, but here's the thing. I'm a consumer, and I'm seeing that one unit—the 360—has a considerably more advanced feature set that encompasses everything that the PS3 boasts and more. I know that the patches are going to continue to come, and that the competition's unit will have increasingly advanced functionality while the PS3 is still catching up to the 360's already-established abilities. Unless Sony goes above and beyond somehow or approaches it from a different angle, then I don't see how the firmware can really push me to pick up a PS3 instead of something else. You're right in pin-pointing early adopters as the main benefactors of these updates, but really, on paper these new functionalities just level the playing field. ...

Via My Gamer

The next batch of TurboGrafx-16 games for Wii’s Virtual Console has been announced. Bloody Wolf, Dead Moon, China Warrior, and JJ & Jeff will all be released through the end of June.

Bloody Wolf features characters named Snake and Eagle in a Contra meets Metal Gear type of action game. With multiple weapons and decent gameplay, this title is worthy of a download. Be sure to check it out.

Dead Moon is a Natsume produced title with side-scrolling shooter gameplay. The game features tons of weapons, lots of on-screen enemies, and non stop action. Dead Moon is one of the better shooters for the system.

China Warrior is an on-the-rails side-scrolling beat’em up. The screen constantly moves forward as your Bruce Lee look-a-like character is forced to attack anything that gets in his way, include animation-less druids and rocks that are thrown by no one. It is old school games like China Warrior that make you realize how crappy some games were back in the early ‘90s.

And JJ & Jeff is a really bad side scrolling comic-action based game. The goal is to work as a detective while avoiding crap from birds (no, I’m not joking) and jumping over wide gaps that are almost impossible to cross. While not as bad as China Warrior, JJ & Jeff is still pretty bad. However, if you are a fan of big headed characters, then this is the game for you.

All these titles will sell for 600 Wii Points ($6) and will be released in the coming weeks. ...

Via News 24

San Francisco - Computer game makers and industry analysts agree that Wii is trouncing rival video game consoles due to a captivating blend of ease, fun, family, friends and affordability.

April US sales of Wii consoles with simple motion-sensing controllers were more than double those of Microsoft's Xbox 360 and quadruple those of Sony's languishing PlayStation 3.

Demand for Wii consoles has outpaced supply since they debuted in November of 2006. Nintendo has reportedly sold more than 2.5 million Wii consoles in North America.

French video game giant Ubisoft began working with Nintendo a year before Wii launched and premiered sword-fighting game Red Steel at the console's release.

Ubisoft embraces the Wii platform that lets game makers get players to jump, swing, thrash and dart, according to Xavier Poix, director of the firm's Paris and Montpellier studios.

"We were convinced the first time we touched the Wii that it really was a revolution because it was a way to think of games differently," Poix told AFP.

'Range of creative possibilities'

"When you look at someone playing an Xbox 360 game you see his face is really hard and both hands are stuck on the controller. When you see someone playing Wii, you always see a smile and movement. Sometimes crazy movement, but it is OK."

US video game titan Electronic Arts and the game division of entertainment icon Disney have studios devoted to making Wii games.

The release of the Disney film "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" was accompanied by a Wii game of the same name that lets players use controllers to pretend to be sword-fighting buccaneers.

The head of the LucasArts, the game division for "Star Wars" series creator George Lucas, told AFP a Wii game that lets players wield virtual light sabers is on the horizon.

"The Wii opens up a range of creative possibilities for new and innovative game design," said Disney Interactive Studios vice president Craig Relyea.

"Our Pirates of the Caribbean game for the Wii lets you slash and thrust with the Wii remote just as someone would do using a sword for combat. We wouldn't have been able to offer those controls on any other platform."

'Something for everyone'

Japan-based Nintendo is cashing in on a gamble that there is a broad audience beyond the "hard-core gamers" keen on realistic warrior games rife with mayhem and bloodshed.

"Nintendo let Sony and Microsoft fight it out for the hard-core gamer market and went after all the people who either stopped playing or were intimidated by too many buttons on controllers," said video game researcher Mia Consalvo, an associate professor at Ohio University.

"It is not just a game system it is something for everyone. Nintendo is crafty."

Xbox and PlayStation consoles require players to master button and toggle combinations to command onscreen characters.

"With Wii it is just intuitive," Poix said. "To move a weapon you simply move your arm."

Wii is, in a way, a family board game for the computer generation because it turns play into a community event instead of just a person versus a machine, according to Poix.

'Nosebleed territory'

"Part of the industry was misguided," Poix said. "The question was how to get people other than geeks into the market. Wii really helped us to realize we are not developing games for one type of person anymore but for everybody."

Nintendo heeded a "historical rule of video games" that consoles are hot sellers in the $200 price range and sales cool quickly as prices rise to "nosebleed territory" above $400, said analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group in Silicon Valley.

Wii is priced at $249, while the PlayStation 3 models are priced at $499 or $599 and Xbox 360 models at $299 or $399.

"Nintendo knew their audience well - folks whose parents buy them stuff - and hit right on the price point," Enderle told AFP.

Wii's price makes it enticing not only to parents buying for children, but to people that already have a PlayStation or Xbox.

"It's pretty, it's fun, it's cheap and kids like it" Enderle said.

'Wife-o-meter'

"Plus it's kind of fun to play with the wife when the kids are out of the room. Wii hit it on all cylinders and is chewing up the market."

Nintendo's vision for Wii is to appeal to everyone ages five to 95, the company's legendary game creator Shigeru Miyamoto said at a recent game developers' gathering in San ...

Via Games Toaster

Halo 3 is going to break all sorts of records upon its release later this year, that much is almost certain. The original game single-handedly moved XBoxen from shop shelves for the best part of a year, and its sequel topped the charts both in retail and on Xbox Live. With the second sequel almost upon us, we've taken a look at the multi-player beta.

The first thing you'll notice is the familiarity of it all. The weapon load-out is tweaked here and there, but remains largely unchanged. Your avatar is still the Master Chief, and he's still running around the same rocky, grassy vistas and snowy tundra as in previous games.

Worse, the graphics aren't the giant leap forward one would expect from the blockbuster series' debut on the Xbox 360. There are some nice environmental effects - grenades fling up dirt, water sloshes around you and so on - but the textures aren't sharp, the architecture is perhaps too sharp, and the rocky plains lack real definition. It's not quite last-gen, but it's a far cry from platform-leading visuals.

For this gamer, however, the biggest bone of contention is the community. With only the press and those who have access through the Crackdown promotion currently able to play the beta, it is perhaps too early to judge accurately, but on current conditions, the community is not a very welcoming place. As an American-produced game about a alien-battling space marine, the audience is understandably populated by over-enthusiastic, under-sexed teenagers, who endeavor to suck the fun out of proceedings. Whether it's a problem with the matchmaking-system, the community itself or something else is unknown, but this is a major issue for the casual gamer, and one which will hopefully be addressed upon release.

Based on the beta, Halo 3 is shaping up to be very much evolution over revolution. For fans of the series, of which there are many, this will prove to be enough. For those still on the sidelines, they're likely to be underwhelmed, even put off by those fans who insist on taking things so seriously. ...

Via Game Info Wire

Midway's highly anticipated World War II FPS title, Hour of Victory, will be live and playable for the first time next week via Xbox LIVE® Marketplace. Midway will release an exciting single-player teaser demo on Wednesday, May 30, providing a glimpse of the game's cinematic and frenetic gameplay in advance of Hour of Victory's march to retail stores in June.

The Hour of Victory demo will give the player a sneak peak into the rugged North African level. Players will be able to pick any of the three characters in the game, the Covert Operative, specializing in stealth and sabotage; a British Commando specializing in the guns-blazing frontal assault; or an Army Ranger who specializes in sniping and demolitions.

Hour of Victory allows you to play a key role in the pivotal and cinematic battles from the European and North African theaters of World War II, using the skills and gameplay style you choose. Sneak into enemy territory as a covert operative, storm the gates as a British Commando, or snipe from afar as an Army Ranger. Each character's unique attributes will be needed for the fulfillment of the overall objective. Only with all these skills working closely together will you be able to say that you helped define the Hour of Victory.

Built using the powerful Unreal® Engine 3.0, Hour of Victory combines authentic details from historic World War II battles and adds in frenetic and cinematic gameplay. Players will also be able to take control of any vehicle on the battlefield whenever they wish as they sharpen their skills to impact the key battles from the European and North African Theaters. ...

Via My Gamer

Get ready to get dirty. Publisher/developer Codemasters has launched the Colin McRae: DiRT playable demo, now available to download from Xbox Live Marketplace for the Xbox 360. DiRT takes gamers off-road in a multitude of mud-splattered races, and the demo delivers three events to experience right now. There are Crossover, Hill Climb, and C.O.R.R. (Championship Off-Road Racing) events in the Xbox 360 demo.

The first event is a Crossover race with players competing against Colin McRae himself. Players and McRae will battle in a pair of Subaru Impreza WRX STI spec Cs. Then, with nine other racers aggressively competing for position, gamers will compete in a C.O.R.R. competition in V8 650hp buggies at the Bark River Off Road Raceway, Michigan. Next, the Xbox 360 demo takes players for a race to the skies with a Hill Climb event. Churning gravel in a Mitsubishi Evo IX, players race the final 1000 feet of Windy Point in Arizona.

The DiRT demo is available now on the Xbox Live Marketplace. The full game will be available for the Xbox 360 and PC in mid-June. DiRT will carry an ESRB rating of E for Everyone. A PS3 version is slated for a later release date. ...

Via I4U

Ubisoft announced the sequal to the hilarious Rayman Raving Rabbids game on the Nintendo Wii console.

"The first Rayman Raving Rabbids was a huge critical and commercial success worldwide," said Helene Juguet, director of marketing for Ubisoft. "Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 is poised to continue that success, as gamers can't seem to get enough of those crazy bunnies; they're just so popular!"
The story of Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 goes like this: "After invading the world of Rayman, the insane Rabbids have a new objective: THE INVASION OF PLANET EARTH! Setting their home base at a shopping mall, the Rabbids try to study human behavior and mimic everything humans do in funny, illogical ways. As part of their training, the Rabbids must carry out several missions around the globe to prepare themselves for world domination. Rayman will attempt to infiltrate the Rabbids, disguised as one of them, in a mission to foil their crazy plans and save Earth."

In development at Ubisoft's Paris studio, Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 is scheduled for a fall 2007 release.

-------

Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 Preview Video
" ...

-- Big read --

Far and away the most popular ‘next-gen’ games console in terms of the speed of units sold, the Wii has catapulted Nintendo back into the limelight as genuine innovators that understand gamers, games and people.

Via IT wire

According to a Bloomberg news report, Nintendo of America Inc.’s marketing chief George Harrison predicts they’ll have sold 35 million Wii’s in the US alone by 2011 or 2012, and is increasing production to ensure the supply is there to meet the expected demand, which so far, shows no signs of abating as the Wii wins the sales charts for total units sold month after month, catching up on the Xbox 360 and more than doubling the number of PS3’s sold.

Harrison also explained to Bloomberg that a successor to the Wii would be coming only when they deemed it necessary, as superior technology clearly isn’t always the answer, although it can’t be put off inevitably, with the expectation that the Wii will still be on sale in 2012 which is in line with the at least 5 year lifespan of consoles today.

Still, one would imagine Nintendo would have a new console out by 2010, but naturally Harrison isn’t in any way specific – the Wii is where it’s at right now, after all. He said that: “We're starting to see in the performance of the PS3 and Xbox 360 that that's not necessarily motivating the market the way it used to. So we're going to start work on future technology only when we believe it's necessary.”

Of course, none of that is to say that Sony and Microsoft don’t also possess some pretty impressive knowledge themselves of what customers want, so successful have they been in putting products onto the marketplace that people buy in large numbers, even if their latest hits, the PS3 and Vista, haven’t been the absolute mega blockbuster smash hits from day one that each company hoped their product would enjoy.

That said, Microsoft claims 40m copies of Vista sold (without specifying the actual number of copies of Vista in use), and Nexgenwars.com says Sony have sold 3.1 million PS3 (with over 5 million meant to have been shipped into worldwide channels by now).

But despite the incredible graphics prowess of both the Xbox 360 and potentially even more so of the PS3, along with the ability to use either console as a digital media center connected to everything else in your home, as well as some great games for both platforms, Nintendo’s simpler, smaller, less graphically powerful system is still selling so swiftly in the US that it’s reported to still be difficult to find a new Wii on sale.

Why? Not only because the US $249 price is $50 cheaper than the cheapest Xbox 360 and less than half the price of the 60Gb PS3, but also because it is cheap enough to buy in addition to another games console, just so you can have the experience. The days of buying only one games console have long since gone, with fanatics owning all three consoles and a souped up gaming PC.

But as anyone who has played the Nintendo Wii knows, it’s instantly compelling, intriguingly unique, and has a quick, easy to learn and seemingly ‘natural’ motion sensing control system that truly lets anyone in the family play.

It has set the public’s imagination alight worldwide, as well as enticed people who rarely or never played console games before to get involved, thereby increasing the market in ways that do not necessarily have to mean lesser market share for Microsoft or Sony.

For Sony and Microsoft to gain traction against the Wii, they not only need more and better games, including even more engaging social experiences as all three console manufacturers strive to offer, but will likely need to drop prices at some point, although everyone always says price drops aren’t coming anytime soon lest that causes consumers to wait and sales to stop.

Likely there will be some great specials, bundles or other deals come the Christmas and holiday season this year, with all three companies splashing out with mega games launches and frenetic activity to capture the attention of games worldwide, getting existing customers to buy more games, and customers-to-be to shell out on more digital entertainment, games console style.

14 new games are on the way for the Nintendo Wii, due to arrive in the third quarter before the all important holiday season, while both Sony and Microsoft have plenty of new games on the way too.

That the Wii rides at the top of monthly sales with a ‘new’ way to actually play games, with the ability to play high-def games on either an Xbox 360, a PS3 or even a suitably equipped gaming PC shows just how much we are truly in a new golden age of gaming. As long as new games for the Wii engage us with great gameplay and make innovative use of the controller, ...

Go! Edit camera software comes free of charge and lets PSP camera owners edit their images as they please.

The Go! Edit (Go! Cam in Europe) PSP camera compatible software is now available to download.

European PSP owners can download the program at YourPSP. Additionally, there’s an instruction manual available for download for those interested in what’s included with this free PSP image editing program. PSP Fanboy notes that it’s an easy program to pick up, and makes editing images pretty fun. Unfortunately, since there is no PSP camera here in the States, any American users looking to get in on the image editing program are pretty much left in the dust.

Instructions to install are as follows:

1. Download the program zip file.
2. Extract the contents of the zip file.
3. Connect your PSP to your computer using a USB cable.
4. Go to the PSP/GAME folder.
5. Copy UCES90027 folder into the GAME directory.

----

If you didnt see the YourPSP link here it is again ...