via Joystiq


Europe will finally get their chance to play as the two-dimensional Mario on the Wii as Super Paper Mario lands in Europe Sept. 14. Although it never ceases to amaze us how long it takes to bring those pesky video games to Europe, four months for the text-heavy Super Paper Mario doesn't seem half bad. Especially compared to the whole Elite Beat Agents mess.

The game will cost "£35" for Europe according to the release. You know, instead of the more commonly used Euro. If we were to convert that to Euros, it would be something like €52, but prices never actually end up working like that. Germany's Amazon.de has Super Paper Mario listed for €45. So rejoice Europe, by the time you're done with Super Paper Mario it'll be time for Metroid to come out. ...

via PS3 Fanboy


We didn't know electronics had states of health, but apparently leave it to Dr. Diagnosis (and his sidekick, Bangs McCoy) over at Electronic Arts to give Sony a clean bill of health for next year. EA Games president Frank Gibeau sat down to a lengthy interview with Gamasutra only to dole out some information on a few pieces of PS3-related impressions and predictions.

First off, EA's reaction to the PS3's game-to-console tie ratio last year: "Frankly, there weren't any platform-defining titles on the PS3 that first Christmas. There was Resistance: Fall of Man, perhaps. I think as we get more titles, that tie ratio will improve." We think it will, too -- especially if they count the 2 games included in the European bundle as tie ratio games. Plus, for this Christmas, there will be a plethora of titles to choose from!

Gibeau commented on the future of the PS3 as well, saying "I think 2008 feels like when you start to see the titles that define that platform start to come out... [the tie ratio] has improved since release, which is good news. I think it really starts to get into the range where we feel like we're bullish and aggressive. It feels healthy in 2008." Again, we're going to agree. While some may argue a lot of good games are coming out this November, we think the big sellers will hit in 2008 and with those, a gigantic leap in console sales. ...

via Kotaku


U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from nearly two dozen cities executed 32 federal search warrants in 16 states in the past 24 hours as part of a mammoth crackdown on chip modding.

Operation Tangled Web, the result of a year long investigation headed up by the ICE office in Cleveland, is the largest national enforcement action of its kind targeting the sales of modification chips and "disc copyright circumvention devices" in history.

Neither the Department of Justice nor the ESA would name the businesses, homes or storefronts involved in the sweep that took place in California, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, and Wisconsin today.

The modchips and circumvention devices allowed users to play pirated software on the PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360 and Wii.

Newly minted ESA chief Michael D. Gallagher was quick to offer federal kudos:

Now that the threat of terrorism and border safety concerns are a thing of the past we can finally get down to dealing with the real threats to America's borders... dodgy copies of Wii Sports.


More information on the article here ...

via Games Industry


Update: Rockstar Games has confirmed it has filed an official plea with the Video Appeals Committee seeking to overturn the BBFC ban of its Manhunt 2 game.

According to MCV, Rockstar filed the plea yesterday. The BBFC originally rejected the game on June 19th, giving Rockstar six weeks to file an appeal.

"Where possible we try to consider cuts or, in the case of games, modifications which remove the material which contravenes the Board’s published Guidelines. In the case of Manhunt 2 this has not been possible," said BBFC director David Cooke at the time of the ban.

The Video Appeals Committee will now hold a hearing where the BBFC and Rockstar will be able to present their sides of the dispute, and where the committee will view demonstrations of the game itself. The BBFC will not comment upon the matter until the case is heard.

A Rockstar spokesperson told GamesIndustry.biz: "Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. confirmed today that Rockstar Games has appealed the BBFC decision that prohibited the release of any version of Manhunt 2 in Britain."

There was no immediate word whether or not Rockstar had also appealed Manhunt 2's "AO" rating in the US, although such a move seems likely. ...

via Games Industry


Following on from earlier rumours based on scans from pending advertisements that Microsoft were planning to drop the price of the Xbox 360 Premium system in the US, new scans have been published online appearing to show additional price cuts for the Elite and Core systems.

The pictures, taken from pages of an unidentified publication, confirms the Premium pack at the USD 349.99 price point, but adds a USD 30 drop for the Elite, bringing it to USD 449.99 and a USD 20 drop for the Core, to USD 279.99.

However, Microsoft is refusing to add any fuel to the speculation, and told GamesIndustry that “We’re very happy with the price we’re at, and have no plans to make any changes at this time.”

There has been no speculation of any price drops anywhere other than the US at this time. ...

via Games Industry


One of the contractors responsible for manufacturing CPU's for the Xbox 360 has revealed that it is currently working on a 45-nanometer design, due for release late next year or early in 2009.

A smaller CPU for the Xbox 360 would help reduce manufacturing costs for Microsoft, as well as produce less heat in the console itself.

"We have customers' activity for products in the CPU space that goes into a video game device," said Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing's CEO Chia Song Hwee, reports PC Advisor.

Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing has previously produced 90nm and 65nm versions of the Xbox 360 processor.

"As 65nm just started production in the last two quarters, you would expect 45nm to come on stream about 18 months from that timeframe," offered Chia, refering to an expected production timeframe. ...

via Games Industry


Responding to comments from PGR4's developer indicating that the team had problems fitting the data on a single DVD, Sony says that its Blu-ray investment is justified.

"We took a lot of heat at launch for including Blu-ray in PS3. Now it looks like that investment is being justified," said SCEA spokesman Dave Karraker, speaking to GamesIndustry.biz.

"Next generation games simply need more space on the disc to contain all that high definition content. Take a look at Lair, for example, already pushing 25GB of content, and that is a first-generation title. At 50GB storage capacity, Blu-ray gives the PS3 plenty of headroom for developers to fully realize their visions well into the future."

Bizarre Creations, the developer of PGR4, recently announced on its forums that players would not see different times of day in each racing location, not because it was a problem for the development team, but because it was a problem to fit the texture data on a single DVD.

In order to work around the issue, Bizarre provides different lighting models for each city. ...

via Nintendo Wii Fanboy


Action gamers and masochists (two sets whose Venn diagram, we imagine, contains a fairly large intersect) will be very happy with today's Japanese Virtual Console update, which provides one of the most painfully, awesomely difficult action games we can think of. Seriously, good luck holding on to that golden armor long enough to actually use some magic.

Oh, also there's another N64 game, which is something of a rare event! This week's Virtual Console releases are:

• Dai Makaimura (Ghouls & Ghosts) (Mega Drive, 1 player, 600 Wii Points)
• Wave Race 64 (Nintendo 64, 1-2 players, 1000 Wii Points)
• Power League 4 (PC Engine, 1-4 players, 600 Wii Points)

...

via Nintendo Wii Fanboy


Though Nintendo UK denies that it has received any reports of Wiis being bricked due to the WiiConnect24 service, you can never be too safe with any $200+ investment. Xtremetuner has created a hardware mod with the specific intention of guarding the console from overheating while it is in standby mode.

WiiControl acts as an external interface that monitors and displays the temperature of the system on its LCD screen. When the mod detects temperatures beyond 35°C, it automatically activates the Wii's fan, even in standby mode. An audio warning will also notify the user if the temperature ever exceeds 44°C. The fan is disabled once the console has cooled down to 30°C.

...