[Eug]

Reposted from the IBM kills Cell thread:

Air Force orders 2,200 PlayStation 3s - Air Force News, news from Iraq - Air Force Times

The Air Force is ordering 2,200 Sony PlayStation 3s, but it won’t be using them to play “Call of Duty 4.”

The video-game consoles will be networked together to create a massive computing cluster that will be used for special projects at an Air Force Research Laboratory center in Rome, N.Y.

The service is expanding its stock of 336 PlayStations, which are linked in 14 clusters of 24, with a powerful “compute node” attached to each cluster.

Mark Barnell, high performance computing director for AFRL’s information directorate, said he expects the PlayStations to cost about $650,000, and the entire project to cost less than $2 million. The consoles are inexpensive, he said, because the price of manufacturing them is effectively subsidized by gamers.

[The Final Dakar]

Report: Nintendo Scaling Back Wii Production - Nintendo - Kotaku

Not a huge surprise since they're facing market saturation, but a part of me wants to see this as another hint that the next console will be appearing sooner rather than later.

[Chuckit]

I'm not all that hopeful for the next console to be anything interesting. Nintendo has chosen to go after a different market — I don't see them suddenly deciding to give up their army of casual gamers with the next one. Expect a 150 MHz bump and a remote that has four buttons on the bottom instead of two.

[The Final Dakar]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

I'm not all that hopeful for the next console to be anything interesting.

Me neither. I'm more interested to see what direction Nintendo decides to go with the new console, and if they can continue to capture the hearts of all the new people they managed to ensnare with the Wii.

[Jawbone54]

All Nintendo would have to do to get me interested in a new Wii is add a few things...

- HD Support - (that unofficial 1080p New Super Mario Bros. Wii video got me excited for what could be)
- A decent hardware bump - capable of near PS3/360 levels. It doesn't have to be amazing.
- Friends Lists and better interaction (no stupid Friend codes)
- Netflix support (sans disc)
- Integration with various media (basically the exact thing XBL is doing)
- Some sort of achievements/trophies system - this would give even more incentive to keep returning to their immensely-replayable first-party games

No need to make the obligatory "it doesn't take anything to get Jawbone wanting a console" remarks. We all know that's the case.

[mattyb]

Clever article.

P.S. posted in here just because.

[Brien]

Originally Posted by The Final Dakar 

Me neither. I'm more interested to see what direction Nintendo decides to go with the new console, and if they can continue to capture the hearts of all the new people they managed to ensnare with the Wii.

Given the approach they've taken with the DSi, and how incremental the Wii is, hardware-wise, compared to the GCN, I'm inclined to think that they aren't going to do much, if anything, to the hardware.

That being said, the Wii really can't get much smaller, so maybe HD support is in the bag.

[The Final Dakar]

History thus far has shown revisions in consoles versus handhelds to be completely different matters.

[Eug]

I'm still trying to hold off on buying the Wii.

I don't expect a new Wii console within the next two years, but if they did release with faster CPU/GPU and with HD support, I'd buy one.

[The Final Dakar]

I give them two years max.

[sek929]

...and with that faster CPU/GPU and HD support they can now release the same games over again with HD support, hooray!

I'd like to see a laundry of list of must-have games before I'll give a single **** about the Wii as a platform.

[exca1ibur]

Originally Posted by sek929 

"I'd HAVE to see a laundry of list of must-have games before I'll give a single **** about the Wii as a platform."

[Brien]

I feel old.

[The Final Dakar]

Looks like the dots stand for console revisions. Which is hilarious.

[Mac User #001]

That's a disappointing revision timeline. But oh how I loved my PlayStation.

Now, in the realm of nobody cares but me, here's some news on that 4th platform that nobody remembers, the PC.

Games on Demand coming soon to Games for Windows - LIVE!

So yes, we PC gamers finally get Games on Demand. I hope this spurs interest on developing more LIVE and Arcade titles.

And I will definitely be buying World of Goo LIVE enabled! Oddly enough, I haven't bought the game for a PC yet, just my Mac.

[Hawkeye_a]

There just hasnt been any compelling software (first or third party) for the Wii this past year. Nintendo's goal has been to get people who dont game to buy a console(just buy a console, not keep buying games) and they focused almost entirely(marketing) on that. The obligatory bone was thrown to the "core" gamer, but no major effort was made to woo them either.

Them scaling back Wii production is a good business move obviously given the drop in demand, although i do think they have more tricks to keep the Wii going for awhile to come. Yes the Wii has seen a significant drop in demand, but despite that it's still selling better than the competitors, and it's only been a single SKU since 2006, where as the XB360 and PS3 have seen how many SKUs ?

Expect bundles and colors next year from Nintendo. Their next console will probably debut in 2011(end probably).

And as much as i dont like the idea, im going to have to agree with Chuckit....... it will be designed to appeal to the casual first. At this point, i miss the GameCube days, when there were fewer(a lot fewer) titles, but the quality was great from first and third party games.

Personally, all id like from Nintendo at this point, is "the Nintendo seal of Quality" come back in terms of software published on the system. I'm sick of the mountains of shovelware and casual titles on the platform, to the point where i've grown tired and unwilling to sift through that garbage to find a decent title.

Cheers

[jokell82]

There were plenty of crappy games that had that "Nintendo Seal of Quality" though.

[Jawbone54]

A question for those who are techier than I am:

Is it possible for Nintendo to release a Wii that has the capability to upscaling its games to 720p or 1080p, similar to what the Dolphin emulator does? I know that the odds of Nintendo doing such are about 100,000/1, but just a question. I'm not sure if the economics involved would destroy the idea completely.

[Jawbone54]

Originally Posted by Hawkeye_a 

Personally, all id like from Nintendo at this point, is "the Nintendo seal of Quality" come back in terms of software published on the system. I'm sick of the mountains of shovelware and casual titles on the platform, to the point where i've grown tired and unwilling to sift through that garbage to find a decent title.

Do you really have to sift through it? Why not just get ideas about what you want to buy from a review site?

[The Final Dakar]

I can't answer your question, but I'll redirect it thusly: Did they do any enhancements to their VC games?

[sek929]

Really, Metacritic has all the info you need about what games are good. Coincidentally, my Wii owning buddy has most of the top games.

[Eug]

Dragon Age: Origins - Is there something in your tent that needs assassinating?

[Jawbone54]

Originally Posted by The Final Dakar 

I can't answer your question, but I'll redirect it thusly: Did they do any enhancements to their VC games?

Good point.

[The Final Dakar]

Friday News: I don't have any answers Edition

NPD Time

-DS: 1.7M1.2M (+262%)
-Wii: 1.26M753K (+149%)
-360: 820K570K (+228%)
-PS3: 710K389K (+121%)
-PSP: 294K119K (+76%)
-PS2: 203K85K (72%)

So... the 360 ended up outselling the PS3? That's a little surprising.


Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - Xbox 360 - Activision - 4.20M
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - PS3 - Activision - 1.9M
New Super Mario Bros. Wii - Wii - Nintendo - 1.4M
Assassin's Creed II - Xbox 360 - Ubisoft - 795K
Left 4 Dead 2 - Xbox 360 - Valve - 720K
Wii Sports Resort* - Wii - Nintendo - 720K
Wii Fit Plus - Wii - Nintendo - 679K
Assassin's Creed II - PS3 - Ubisoft - 448K
Dragon Age: Origins - Xbox 360 - Electronic Arts / BioWare - 362K
Mario Kart w/ Wheel - Wii - Nintendo - 315K

I'm at a complete loss here. MW2 sold more than double on the 360?





Metacritic Names PS3 The Best Gaming Platform Of 2009 - Playstation 3 - Kotaku


Too bad that doesn't mean Jawbone will have anyone to play with.




http://kotaku.com/5423123/ps3-motion-controller-finally-named-[update]
Meet the Gem. You know, like the 80s cartoon.

[Jawbone54]

Originally Posted by The Final Dakar 

NPD Time

-DS: 1.7M1.2M (+262%)
-Wii: 1.26M753K (+149%)
-360: 820K570K (+228%)
-PS3: 710K389K (+121%)
-PSP: 294K119K (+76%)
-PS2: 203K85K (72%)

Seriously...how many DS (DSs? DS's? DEE-ESS-ES?) can be sold?

So... the 360 ended up outselling the PS3? That's a little surprising.

Nah. The 360's stranglehold on the console FPS market is enough by itself to keep it at the forefront of people's minds. That and the fact that 80% of cross-platform adverts feature the 360 at the end of it...

I'm at a complete loss here. MW2 sold more than double on the 360?

The 360 is the console for FPS fans, plain and simple. Still, almost 2.5x more is ridiculous.

Metacritic Names PS3 The Best Gaming Platform Of 2009 - Playstation 3 - Kotaku

There are two responses I could go with:

1. "The 360's higher market share lends itself to increased volumes of rushed, poorly-made games, similar to the Wii, although not quite to the same extent. The overall quality is naturally going to suffer, but does nothing to detract from its top-tier titles"

2. "In your face."

Too bad that doesn't mean Jawbone will have anyone to play with.

Don't lie. You wish you were playing Plunder in Uncharted 2 with me right now.

[The Final Dakar]

Originally Posted by Jawbone54 

Seriously...how many DS (DSs? DS's? DEE-ESS-ES?) can be sold?

How many kids are there?

Originally Posted by Jawbone54 

Nah. The 360's stranglehold on the console FPS market is enough by itself to keep it at the forefront of people's minds. That and the fact that 80% of cross-platform adverts feature the 360 at the end of it...

Given GTA IVs rather balanced sales on both platforms, I was expecting more of the same. I'm not sure I'd limit this to FPSs, though. This might be the LIve effect for good multi.

Originally Posted by Jawbone54 

Don't lie. You wish you were playing Plunder in Uncharted 2 with me right now.

Playing what?!

[Jawbone54]

Originally Posted by The Final Dakar 

How many kids and grandparents are there?

Fixed.

Given GTA IVs rather balanced sales on both platforms, I was expecting more of the same. I'm not sure I'd limit this to FPSs, though. This might be the LIve effect for good multi.

It might be more accurate to say "better online experience." When it comes down to actually PLAYING multiplayer games, I haven't seen a difference, cross-game chat notwithstanding. XBL is definitely a superior overall service, but would you say that's the selling point for the 360?

I think the 360's two best "gotchas" were its year-long head start and the Halo franchise.

Playing what?!

Uncharted's take on capture the flag, except the single treasure (flag) is spawned randomly at several locations on the map.

[Rumor]

Originally Posted by Jawbone54 

It might be more accurate to say "better online experience." When it comes down to actually PLAYING multiplayer games, I haven't seen a difference, cross-game chat notwithstanding. XBL is definitely a superior overall service, but would you say that's the selling point for the 360?

I think the 360's two best "gotchas" were its year-long head start and the Halo franchise.

I bought a 360 due to LIVE. I never could get into Halo.

[Stogieman]

Voice actors revealed for Mass Effect 2.
YouTube - Mass Effect 2 Voice Cast Reveal Trailer (HD)

Quite impressive for a video game. Can't wait for the end of January... and I haven't played the first one yet.


Oh BTW, here's the trailer for the sequel to Batman: Arkham Asylum
Spike TV Video Game Awards 2009 Video Game, Batman: Arkham Asylum 2 Exclusive Debut Trailer | Game Trailers & Videos | GameTrailers.com

[mattyb]

Originally Posted by Rumor 

I bought a 360 due to LIVE. I never could get into Halo.

I bought a 360 due to the number of people on Live. I had heard or read that PS2/3 players just weren't online players.

I never got into Halo either. In fact a game collector said this weekend that I wasn't a gamer - I was a bit insulted at first. He said that I was a CoD whore. He's actually right, I can't say that I've gotten into any game like the CoD games. I haven't played anything else since MW2 came out.

[Jawbone54]

Originally Posted by Rumor 

I bought a 360 due to LIVE. I never could get into Halo.

Did you buy it for the quality of the service, or for the fact that many, many more people were on it? I agree that it's head and shoulders above PSN, but if it's because of the amount of people on it, then the head start might've been a bigger deal than the quality.

Originally Posted by Stogieman 

Oh BTW, here's the trailer for the sequel to Batman: Arkham Asylum
Spike TV Video Game Awards 2009 Video Game, Batman: Arkham Asylum 2 Exclusive Debut Trailer | Game Trailers & Videos | GameTrailers.com

I haven't even really started playing AA yet. I bought it for $29 on Amazon during their Black Friday deals. But yeah, that trailer still gets me excited.

[Mac User #001]

Originally Posted by The Final Dakar 

Metacritic Names PS3 The Best Gaming Platform Of 2009 - Playstation 3 - Kotaku

Not surprising on any front. Actually, I'm surprised the Wii doesn't have a lower median score.

Originally Posted by Stogieman 

Voice actors revealed for Mass Effect 2.
YouTube - Mass Effect 2 Voice Cast Reveal Trailer (HD)

Quite impressive for a video game. Can't wait for the end of January... and I haven't played the first one yet.


Oh BTW, here's the trailer for the sequel to Batman: Arkham Asylum
Spike TV Video Game Awards 2009 Video Game, Batman: Arkham Asylum 2 Exclusive Debut Trailer | Game Trailers & Videos | GameTrailers.com

That cast is impressive, but only slightly more so than C&C 3 and Red Alert 3. This game will be a much bigger hit than those, of course.

As for Arkham Asylum 2, yay. But I also have to play the first. I got the demo and loved it, just haven't picked it up yet.

[Chuckit]

Interestingly, the Wii has not only much fewer great games, but a massively lower density of great games — one great game in 362 for the Wii compared to 1 in 40 for the Xbox and 1 in 23 for the PS3. Maybe the actual complaint about the Wii isn't that it's bad, per se, but very mediocre.

[Hawkeye_a]

I agree. I've been replaying the original Metroid Prime and Rogue Leader games on my Wii lately, and im still shocked that there still isnt a single third party wii title that can hold a candle to them. It seems that when Nintendo shifted focus from the core demographic, third parties followed...... wheat ensued were low budget casual games. (im not saying causal games are "bad", but the fact that most are low quality).

I still enjoy the console itself......the VC and WiiWare are great. it's just that the console is severely lacking in quality(core or casual) content.

[Hawkeye_a]

I agree. I've been replaying the original Metroid Prime and Rogue Leader games on my Wii lately, and im still shocked that there still isnt a single third party wii title that can hold a candle to them. It seems that when Nintendo shifted focus from the core demographic, third parties followed...... wheat ensued were low budget casual games. (im not saying causal games are "bad", but the fact that most are low quality).

I still enjoy the console itself......the VC and WiiWare are great. it's just that the console is severely lacking in quality(core or casual) content.

[KCrosbie]

Originally Posted by Stogieman 

Voice actors revealed for Mass Effect 2.
YouTube - Mass Effect 2 Voice Cast Reveal Trailer (HD)

Basically to sum it up...

* Martin Sheen (Apocalypse Now and Babylon 5: River of Souls) -- Illusive Man commanding Cerberus
* Shohreh Adhdashloo (FlashForward) -- Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay
* Seth Green (Buffy and Robot Chicken) -- Joker
* Yvonne Strahovski (Chuck) -- Miranda Lawson
* Adam Baldwin (Jayne from Firefly and Serenity) -- Kal 'Reegar
* Keith David (Halo's Arbiter) -- Admiral David Anderson
* Michael Dorn (Star Trek TNG's Worf) -- Gatatog Uvenk
* Tricia Helfer (Caprica Six from BSG) -- EDI, voice of the "new Normandy"
* Michael Hogan (Colonel Saul Tigh from BSG) -- Captain Bailey
* Carrie-Anne Moss (Trinity from The Matrix) -- Aria T'Loak

Reprising their roles, Jennifer Hale and Mark Meer will once again be voicing the female and male versions of Commander Shepard.


This may be the actual first game worth pre-ordering. Gamestop has the exclusive terminus armor and the Blackstorm Heavy Weapon that makes black holes!

Check out the exclusive armor and weapon video here!!!

I can't wait for this game! If you haven't played the first one, I highly recommend it. You can buy it new for $20 as a platinum hit.

[KCrosbie]

Mass Effect 2 received a Mature rating mainly due to romantic encounters and alien strip clubs...

The concerned, parental figures of the gaming world (the ESRB) have given Mass Effect 2 a 'M' rating, mostly due to its in-game strip club and the ability to have "romantic encounters" with aliens and humans... And it will be pretty sad when Shepard receives more sexual encounters than I do. The lady and I got in a fight about who's team is better: Team Edward or Team Jacob... We aren't on speaking terms as of this post.

"During the course of the game, players may enter a bar where alien pole dancing exists (choreography highlighted on big-screen monitors) or hear suggestive comments such as "krogan sexual deviants enjoy salarian flexibility" and "if this is just about sex, maybe you should just f**king say so."

"Players can also choose to have "romantic encounters" with the alien/human henchmen characters; this involves watching a guided cutscene in which two characters flirt, kiss, and/or embrace: clothed alien/human characters may prop a partner on top of a space console, clear away the clutter from a bed-slab, unzip a future-blouse, or just talk it out. Though an alien/human may gyrate her hips while on top (fleeting—one-to-two seconds), actual sex is never depicted—the camera cuts away to space furniture and ceilings."

It looks like we can expect more of the same as far as the sexy scenes are concerned, although it does sound like they've made it more passionate with the "clearing away the clutter from a bed-slab". That sounds like my encounters in college, if the "clutter" is skittles wrappers and Lucky Charms' crumbs.

Uhuhuhuhuhuhuhuh.... alien boobies.... uhuhuhuhuhuhuhuh

[KCrosbie]

Video of first 10 minutes of gameplay for Final Fantasy XIII...

I like the realtime gameplay aspect of it. Looks like it's going to be a winner.

[jokell82]

Originally Posted by KCrosbie 

Video of first 10 minutes of gameplay for Final Fantasy XIII...

I like the realtime gameplay aspect of it. Looks like it's going to be a winner.

Link's not working for me. Got another?

[KCrosbie]

Try it again.

[The Final Dakar]

Glad you guys are keeping the thread alive, god knows I'm slackin'. Nothings really been striking my fancy lately.

Final Fantasy XIII's First-Day Sales Numbers Are In - final fantasy XIII - Kotaku

Final Fantasy XIII was released in Japan yesterday. A day later, Square Enix have released figures revealing how many copies of the game were sold during its first 24 hours on the shelf.

And that number has "exceeded one million". Which, well, makes it sound like they sold between 1 and 1.1 million. The news was disclosed in a statement released by Square Enix today, which also states that copies of the game sold bundled with a PS3 - as part of the "Lightning Edition" - were not included in that figure.

2010: The Year of Better Xbox 360 Games? - Xbox 360 - Kotaku
Weird article. I was going through the gallery and it looks like they included a lot of multi-platform releases.

[exca1ibur]

Some guy broadcasting a live stream of Final Fantasy XIII. He's been playing for about 10 hours on launch and is back again. Good video quality and live chat.

wanwano on Justin.tv

[The Final Dakar]

Project Natal's Critical Flaw Is Lag? - Project Natal - Gizmodo

Now, Jon Burton, director of Traveller's Tales (makers of all those LEGO titles), has confirmed that "Lag on the input and lack of physical buttons is really going to restrict the kind of games that can be done [for Project Natal]."

[sek929]

I'd expect the same kind of lag you'd experience with the Wii.

[Peter]

Originally Posted by Mac User #001 

That's a disappointing revision timeline. But oh how I loved my PlayStation.

Now, in the realm of nobody cares but me, here's some news on that 4th platform that nobody remembers, the PC.

Games on Demand coming soon to Games for Windows - LIVE!

So yes, we PC gamers finally get Games on Demand. I hope this spurs interest on developing more LIVE and Arcade titles.

And I will definitely be buying World of Goo LIVE enabled! Oddly enough, I haven't bought the game for a PC yet, just my Mac.

isn't this just steam? how is it better?

[Jawbone54]

It's better in that Microsoft will use monopolistic means to propel it past Steam until the lawsuits start flying, at which point it will be too late.

[Peter]

but steam is awesome?

like, literally. I've been using it tons recently (bit of a TF2 revival) and i'm just blown away by how everything just works - from browsing to purchasing to installing to playing.

[Jawbone54]

That's probably Steam's greatest advantage. Anything Microsoft does will have to be a complete rip-off if it's to be done well (they just might have a historical knack for this).

[Peter]

doubt it'll be good. steam are gamers, microsoft are not. also half life 2/TF2 is such a juggernaught in the pc gaming sector. i'd drop integration with those games over my dead body...

[angelmb]

After the super cute top-down multiplayer DriftMania, Konami is bringing another promising racing game to the Wii with GTI Club Supermini Festa.








For the Wii, it looks great. Leaves me pondering about their legitimacy… More picts here.