4 CommentsIn an interview published on CVG today GRAW 2 content producer Olivier Dauba discussed 360 competitor Gears of War, saying it's "it's an absolutely awesome ten minutes," but "if you play 20 minutes it doesn't bring anything new."

"We try to go beyond that and making something that lasts for quite a few hours," Dauba continues. "It's a different game maybe but in my opinion we're aiming for something deeper and wider with a bigger scope." "We're designing our game as a more long-term experience."

The GRAW 2 producer continues saying that he thinks Gears is a very good game, but "the core gameplay is very simple" adding, "you take cover, you aim and basically that's it. Ghost Recon in my opinion has a much deeper layer of tactical choices and the environments are actually different as well; Gears of War looks more or less the same to me - this type of destroyed city and destroyed environment."

via CVG ...

It's perhaps ironic, considering the game has been developed by UK-based Evolution Studios - and that we still have to wait for it over here - but still hats off to the chaps as MotorStorm has proved one of the most successful launch titles with our Japanese gaming cousins.

And Evolution is obviously chuffed to bits. "It's a real coup for Evolution", said the dev's CEO Martin Kenwright.

"Developing MotorStorm has certainly not been easy - but the team here really delivered. Evolution has a reputation for delivering high quality racing titles, but we really needed to up the ante with Sony's new hardware. We're delighted that the public has agreed with the press, and made MotorStorm the current Japanese number one PlayStation 3 title."

"We can't wait to see how it performs throughout the rest of the world", he added.

European and North American release dates for MotorStorm are to be confirmed shortly, according to official powers that be.
via cvg ...

The biggest key business model Sony and Microsoft uses when selling their gaming consoles is to sell them for a loss and make up the profits later with royalty income. Sony, however, has decided to buck this trend when selling the PS3 in Mexico. The price will leave all but the most fortunate Mexican citizens without the means to obtain the game console.

Sony has decided to graciously sell the 20GB PS3 model in Mexico for an astounding 10,495 pesos, or $974 at current exchange rates. The PS3 is a touch higher than the UK's £425/$835 (the UK is getting the 60GB model only), but UK citizens also make 7 times as much per year as the typical Mexican citizen, making the price far more unreasonable. Hey, at least they aren't charging a full year's income, like the Xbox 360 in India.

Selling your console offering for more in clearly poorer nations -- why not just sell them at the same price as everyone else -- is a strange trend. At these prices, we think Sony should just give up on the Mexican marketplace entirely. A few measly units isn't going to do the business good, especially when they'll be snapped up by US or Japanese consumers who will likely spend far more on software.

Via joystiq ...

via joystiq

Now that the PS3 has been out on the market for a while, analysts can get a firm grasp of exactly what the shortages are doing to, both hardware and software, the various alternatives. The actual results are surprising to most of us "logical" thinkers.

According to analyst groups, the biggest winner in the PS3 shortages is actually Sony. The displaced PS3 money is going to purchase PS2 software. Few are opting for an Xbox 360 as an alternative to not getting a PS3, though analysts believe the push will be enough to help Microsoft hit the 10 million goal. The biggest loser is EA, which focused too much effort on the PS3 and overextended themselves. Activision and THQ are in good positions as they focused more on the Xbox 360 and PS2.

There seems to be some method behind the PS3 madness at Sony. While they are losing potential PS3 customers, either to the Xbox 360 -- the Wii is not even considered an alternative and stands by itself -- or just won't buy it at all, the money is getting filtered into the PS2 business. However, these short term gains are going to kill third party relationships as it is expected that few, if any, PS3 games will reach profitability before 2007 is over and done with. If developers chose to focus on the established Xbox 360 while waiting for PS3 shipments to rise, they may be waiting forever; the PS3 won't continue to sell without the games to go along with it. ...

via gotfrag

Upon looking for a Wii at a regional Toys-R-Us store (which has been a constant effort), we happened by a very friendly, very chatty undisclosed manager. After talking to him a bit, the manager revealed a few things in light of the Wii consumer frenzy. He would go on to state that if they [the customers] would "just listen," they could get a "better system" in a few months.

A "better system?" As he would soon explain, Nintendo will be "relaunching" the Wii console sometime before or at the beginning of Spring 2007. The launch, which is said to see many different colors for the Wii system (as seen at E3), will also be accompanied by a hefty price drop from $250 to $200. For those that believe such a drop would be too radical, keep in mind Miyamoto's own statements that the original plan was to develop a system under $100. Also note that it is undetermined if the "better system" statement includes technical upgrades to the Wii, as recent rumors have suggested.

Currently, this is just word of mouth as it has yet to be confirmed by Nintendo, and no one should realistically expect any sort of confirmation until after the Holiday season (which was said to be the reason behind the original $250 tag). Though it does indeed deserve further investigation, especially considering we have yet to see the black, red and green Wiis shown off at E3, making the absence of color diversity very conspicuous during the Holidays; begging one to ask: "Why else would Nintendo hold them back?"

Many have speculated how well the Wii would do post-Holiday launch, and the idea of relaunching the system with more colors and an even cheaper price tag sounds like Nintendo's game. Coincidentally, this also coincides with Nintendo's already confirmed plan to kick-start WiiConnect24, the Wii's online service, with the release of several multi-player online games around Spring. Also coincidental (this one perhaps more unintentional), is the fact that the Halo 3 public beta test will also start around the same time.

We're not exactly chalking this one up as farce, but we've definitely called the rumor patrol in. These are still unsubstantiated claims by a source that is only human, thus not immune to misinterpretation and bad information... and even greed amidst the Holiday rush. Though as if it had to be said, the prospect of a $200 Wii and expanded color selection would be more cause for celebration among Nintendo fans.

Nintendo was unable to be reached for comment by press time.

Update: Wii Dissected; $158 Unit Cost - As it has been pointed out in light of recent discoveries, Nintendo could theoretically drop the price of the Wii to $200 and unbundle Wii Sports to make a profit margin for each unit that is relatively the same, albeit with more units sold, leading to the possibility of more games and accessories purchased. An interesting thought, for sure. But merely a thought. ...

Having to enter separate friend codes for each and every online game on DS is a pain in the ass, but it was assumed this wouldn't be a problem on Wii, with a friend code tied to each console. Now it seems we could be wrong...

A preview of Pokémon Battle Revolution - the Wii's first online game - on IGN reveals that the game has its own separate code system, and new numbers must be traded and registered to play against friends.

Granted, this could just be an early version of the game with a placeholder code system. Maybe this is an isolated case, and other games will simply use the console's friends list, as we expected. Or maybe we're clutching at straws, hoping desperately that we won't have to go through the same 12-digit-code-entering hell we go through on DS.

Nintendo wasn't available for comment at time of writing. More soon.

via cvg ...

via cvg

Development on EA's next instalment in the highly-acclaimed Burnout series is being focused on the PlayStation 3, developer Criterion has said in an Interview.

"We're kind of specialists on the Sony system. Because it was always that way on Burnout," Criterion's Alex Ward tells MSNBC, adding that Criterion is still "doing some cool stuff" on the Xbox 360 version of Burnout 5.

Further on in the interview Ward also offers some new info on the next-gen racer, saying that he hopes to re-invigorate gamers' perception of the car crash (oo-eer).

"If you watch the first Superman on DVD," he says "the director talks about the original version of Superman being very camp, very light-hearted. What he wanted to do was get to the heart of it, get to the truth of it. Their buzzword was 'verisimilitude.'

And they spent all of their time on flying, because if the flying wasn't right, the movie wouldn't make any sense. If you didn't believe Superman was real, then you wouldn't believe the story".

"So with Burnout, we have to go back to square one. And our verisimilitude is on car crashing. If you don't believe the crash is real, then it's not going to frighten you...The first crash you see on PlayStation 3 has got to go way beyond everything you've ever seen, beyond anything that we've ever done. Because every time we put our game out, people say, 'It's the best crashes ever in a game.' We've got to go beyond that now. We have to go beyond a game, and we have to go beyond a game car crash. That's what all of our work is focused on right now."

Ward goes on to suggest that we'll see Burnout 5 in the shops within the year, saying that his goal is to make it look like "a year two PS3 game in year one." We'll let you know when EA drop official word. ...

via cvg

According to Game marketing director Anna Macario, the popularity of the console has been overwhelming. During its launch week in November, one in every two PS2 purchases were of the pink variety, the shop chain's informed.

Macario added: "In the autumn, a range of pink consoles were released however we're seeing a real demand for the Pink PlayStation 2." So Game says, hundreds of parents are struggling to get hold of one.

Crikey. So if all you wanted for Christmas was a pink PS2, are you stuffed like a giant teddy bear? Apparently not. "We're now back in stock of the pink console in stores, so we're hoping to fully satisfy the demand in time for Christmas", Macario said. Phew. ...

Via CVG

After news circulated that Nintendo has ordered the recalling of three million Wii Remote wrist straps worldwide, CVG contacted Nintendo for the details. It turns out they aren't recalling them at all, but are starting a replacement service for anyone concerned.

"As of Monday, anyone who has any problems or concerns about the integrity of their Wii Remote wrist straps can call Nintendo Customer Services for a replacement strap" confirms the Nintendo spokesperson.

"This is not a product recall", he goes on to stress. "The current wrist strap is fine - it has passed all safely standards and does the job. This is simply a precaution because we are aware of the concerns over their safety. All new Wii Remotes and Wii consoles will ship with the new, thicker wrist strap."

An email sent to CVG from Nintendo shortly after that conversation, gave further reasoning to Nintendo's precaution: "Even though the original straps are perfectly adequate for normal play, we can't control the exuberance of players."

Clearly, it's all those over-excited, sweaty-palmed 10-year-olds' fault. Calm down, guys. ...