Three men have been accused of killing six people with baseball bats over a stolen Xbox console and some clothes, at least that's what CNN is reporting in a story they dub the "Xbox murder case." The jury began deliberating yesterday. If found guilty of first-degree murder, the men will face either life in prison or death by lethal injection.

We can't help but think that despite the "[stolen] Xbox game system and some clothing" being cited as the murder catalysts, heavy placement was put in connection to video games. ...

In a portable games press release out today, Nintendo beckoned the blogosphere to bite the following speculation: "Perhaps the secret to the launch information for Wii is somehow encoded in the text of this news item." The bait has been taken. Gaming Target writes:

The fourth quarter begins on October 1. Now look at the list. At least one game is released every Monday in the fourth quarter except for the following dates: October 2, November 20 and November 27. November 27 is after Black Friday, so it's out. November 20 is after the launch of the PS3, so that's out too. That leaves us with October 2. The Wii will launch on October 2.
We like their sound decoding work but heaven forbid the company decides to release the console on the same day as another platform game. ...

The Supercard Team sent this email to their distributors,


This news is pretty old but we have some pictures although I can't confirm they are real, check them out after the jump. ...

PlayStation 3 will "last 10 years" thanks to its choice of Blu-ray as its optical disc format, according to the graphics chip company that has worked on both PS3 and the original Xbox.

PS3 will last longer than its competitors as the Blu-ray Disc is the future of high-density storage, Jen-Hsun Huang, CEO of graphics chip company nVidia, told US site Mercury News. The tech boss said it would be an "impossible scenario" for any company to "announce a games console for the next 10 years and not have Blu-ray," and he believes that this will be evident when consumers choose their next-gen console.

If this turns out to be true it partly backs up Sony's claims that its technology is 'future proof', with most games consoles becoming outdated in around five years.

Huang then explained that Sony will be able to make up ground on Xbox 360, despite being released much later and delaying its development so that it could include Blu-ray, stating, "when [PS3] comes out, it's going to look so much more advanced than last-generation game consoles."

The CEO also mentioned that nVidia is "a good 10 years" away from photorealistic graphics, which is good timing, as that's when it seems we could be expecting PS4. ...

Source: Several product listings on major game retail and rental Web sites (see below).

The official story: "We can't comment at this time."--Midway rep.

What we heard: Though they may now hold respectable jobs and/or be pillars of the community, many gamers in their late 20s and early 30s grew up dreaming of laying waste to major metropolitan centers. These youthful fantasies came courtesy of Rampage, the Midway Games arcade classic that put players in the oversized paws of one of three giant monsters: the King Kong-esque ape George, the Godzilla-esque reptile Lizze, and the oversized werewolf Ralph. Its gameplay comprised climbing skyscrapers, smashing foundations, crushing military vehicles and eating any hapless humans which cross said monsters' path.

The title was a solid hit in arcades from its 1986 introduction well until the 1990s and beyond--a functional unit attracted crowds in San Francisco's North Beach district until it died in 2004. However, console versions of the franchise have had a rather spotty record. Rampage World Tour (PlayStation, Saturn, Nintendo 64, and Game Boy Color) garnered mediocre reviews when it hit stories in 1997 and 1998, as did Rampage 2: Universal Tour (PlayStation, N64, and GBC) in 1999, Rampage Through Time (PS), and Rampage Puzzle Attack (GBA) in 2001.

Besides a poorly received 2005 GBA port of the original game, the Rampage franchise lay fallow until this April, when Midway released Rampage: Total Destruction for the GameCube and PlayStation 2. Though the game also garnered a lukewarm response from reviewers, it now appears the revamped version of the monster mash will be making its way to next-generation consoles--and a certain popular handheld.

According to retail-posting product listings on CD Universe and GameFly, Rampage: Total Destruction is coming to the Nintendo Wii. Though neither listing had any details on the game, it is almost certain that it would take advantage of the next-generation console's motion-sensing controller, which would in turn transform adults pushing 34 into stomping, jabbering Gorgo wannabes in their living rooms. For those who would prefer to crush buildings on the go, GameFly is also listing Rampage: Total Destruction as coming to the Nintendo DS, Nintendo's dual-screen handheld.

So will Rampage tear it up on Nintendo's latest gadgets by year's end? Though Midway wouldn't comment, a source close to the publisher strongly hinted that both versions would be announced shortly. "It won't be long now, " he or she said, essentially confirming that Midway, having already announced Ant Bully for the next-gen console, is joining the third-party rush to jump on the Wii-wagon by year's end.

Bogus or not bogus?: Not bogus. ...

Lumines creator Tetsuya Mizuguchi has told GamesIndustry.biz that the arrival of high definition visuals could have an impact comparable to that of the first 3D graphics.

Speaking in an exclusive interview at the recent Develop Conference in Brighton, Mizuguchi said: "I can't predict the future, but the one thing I can say is the resolution games use will deliver a very high emotional impact."

He also believes that networking could drive sales of videogames upwards over the next decade. "Maybe in ten years later kids will be mocking their dads for having gone to shops to buy games at all," he suggested.

Mizuguchi's thoughts embody a relatively unglamorous stance, especially from such a relentlessly creative developer (his other projects include Space Channel 5 and Meteos). However, they make more sense when considered within the context of his goal as a developer - to play with "media aesthetics".

"You can watch a movie three or four times, but when you watch the same movie in high def you feel something new. The resolution does something to us," he insisted.

"I also expect everyone will be using hard disk in future, so that downloading something, buying or recording something will be very normal - people may even experience their first music downloaded. The human desire and instinct for this technology is moving forward." ...

Activision continues to enjoy a successful next-gen online campaign, with Call of Duty 2 clinging to first place in the Top 10 most popular titles on Microsoft's Xbox Live service.

According to Larry 'Major Nelson' Hryb's weblog, the 360 shooter has maintained the lead over Ubisoft's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter - which has bunkered down in second place for the week of July 17th.

SEGA's recently released mech title, Chromehounds is making a determined assault in third place, with Bethesda's Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion close behind in fourth.

Battlefield 2: Modern Combat and Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle Earth II take up fifth and sixth place respectively, giving EA the edge over Square Enix's Final Fantasy XI, which is at seventh place in the rankings.

Heading towards the bottom end of the popularity chart is 2K Games' Prey in eighth place and the list is rounded up by Project Gotham Racing 3 and the online demo for EA's Lord of the Rings strategy title, Battle for Middle Earth II.

The weblog also highlights the top ten most popular online games for the original Xbox, which is topped by multiplayer favourite Halo 2.

Battlefield 2: Modern Combat and Counter-Strike finish up the top three, Ubisoft claiming a victory for it's Tom Clancy franchise with Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory and Rainbow Six:3: Black Arrow in fourth and fifth place respectively.

In the second half of the Xbox listing, Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer 5 is followed by Star Wars Battlefront II and another for EA with Madden NFL 2006. The Xbox chart, which appears to still be flourishing in spite of the introduction of its next-gen successor, was finished up with Forza Motorsport in ninth and Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory clinging on at number ten. ...

Article from Eurogamer

A graduate from the University of British Columbia has published his honours thesis on racism in games, claiming that negative representations of ethnic minorities are far too widespread.

23 year-old Robert Parungao spent around 100 hours playing Kung Fu, Warcraft 3, Shadow Warrior and Grand Theft Auto 3, analysing the storylines and characters in the games for around eight months as part of his Sociology degree.

"Parents, government and media watchdog groups have protested the widespread violence and sexism in videogames, but the blatant racism has gone largely unnoticed," Parungao said.

"Film and television come under greater critical scrutiny so civil rights and minority groups can voice their concerns and effect some change. But videogames have generally been seen as kids’ toys. There aren't the same mechanisms or critical forums to encourage game designers to evolve."

Parungao criticised GTA for featuring "non-white characters who are mainly triad members, Yakuza gangsters, latino gangs or black hoods.

"These stock characters are seen in a lot of games and function as narrative obstacles to be overcome, mastered or ultimately blown to smithereens by the white hero."

Parungao went on to claim that game developers "like to use a mix and match grab bag of Asian stereotypes that are often nonsensical", such as the villain in Shadow Warrior, who "goes by a Chinese name, Lo Wang.

"But when he fires his rocket launcher at his enemies, he screams: 'Just like Hiroshima.'"

Parungao concluded: "I hope to continue looking into ways to improve videogames because they’re fun and I’d like to see them turn into positive media instead of negative ones."

Do you agree or disagree, are games racist ? ...

We're big fans of Star Wars here on CVG, despite the rather lame latter day Johnny-come-lately Episodes I-III. Anyway you may remember from way back when (okay E3, although it seems an eternity ago now) that we broke a rather tasty exclusive on the new Darth Vader/Star Wars next-gen game currently underway at LucasArts.

If you don't, you can check out the goods - including some rather gorgeous concept art and sinister Vader pics - elsewhere on the site. However, those lovely concept paintings aside, info on Vader's been locked down tighter than a drum, with little emerging on the title other than the info we gleaned at E3.

Until today that is, when that doyen of modern video watching (which we boldly predict will eventually make conventional telly obsolete) YouTube.com has come up with some spectacular pre-vis concept footage for the next-gen title. Our Rebellion spies tell us that this is the actual footage which was presented to George Lucas himself when LucasArts was pitching the game. So now you can see what George did, before presumably giving it a big thumbs up.

Click away to see it in all its next-gen glory with Jedi scattering Stormtroopers to the winds, duffing up TIE fighters and generally giving a thorough exhibition of their force-ful powers. Okay it's probably a fair ol' way from the finished article, but certainly gives a reasonable indication of what next-gen Star Wars may look like.

More Star Wars next-gen goodies coming soon we hope. Our advice? Probably best to view it now before LucasArts has it hauled down. ...