My Console Universe

Do You Want To Have Your Own Universe?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 17:13:00 +0000

If you want to broadcast your messages to the whole world you can be builder of My PC Universe(or any another blog of MyUniverseRing). We are waiting for your contribution.

SplitFish announces FragFX mouse controller for PS3

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 22:43:00 +0000

by Donald Melanson

Peripheral purveyor SplitFish has already brought some PC-style input to the PlayStation 2, but now, as promised, it's taken its game to the PS3, following up its EdgeFX mouse controller with the strikingly-similar FragFX device. Like the EdgeFX, the FragFX gives you a mouse to improve your aim in FPS games, with the separate left-handed grip controller getting an upgrade this time around to let you take advantage of the PS3's motion sensing abilities. Not one to let a potential selling point go unnoticed, SplitFish is also touting the controller as being "optimized" for use with Sony's recently announced Home virtual world. While you'll have to wait a while to put that particular claim to the test, you will be able to get your hands on a wired version of the FragFX next month for $60, with a Bluetooth version coming "later" for $70.

(c) www.engadget.com

Uni.Console Tags: Sony Playstation, Playstation 3, PS3, SplitFish, FragFX

PS3 1.60 Firmware to Add Background Downloading

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 20:54:00 +0000

by Marcus Yam

PS3's next big update to add new Web surfing options and background downloading

The powerful PlayStation 3 will soon be getting the ability to simultaneously walk and chew gum, so to speak. An upcoming system update to bring the PS3 firmware to version 1.6 will give users the ability to download files from the PlayStation Network in the background.

Currently, PlayStation 3 owners must halt all activity and remain focused on the download progress bar. Any attempt at another operation on the console will cancel the download, which is non-resumable. Users will greatly appreciate this new feature when it comes to downloading large files, such as Gran Turismo HD Concept at 625MB.

Another recently announced feature to be included in the 1.60 update is the introduction of Folding@home functionality, giving owners of a PS3 the opportunity to use their new game system to help find real-life cures to diseases such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, cystic fibrosis and many cancers.

Version 1.60 will also improve the Web browsing ability of the PS3. The update will bring zooming and new resolution settings for easier surfing, plus a full-sized keyboard on-screen for more convenient text entry.

Although the 20GB PS3 may soon be extinct, especially after confirmation from retailer memos, Sony is adding a software feature so that the WiFi-less PS3 variant will be able to connect with the PSP for Remote Play.

Details of the update were first found from a Japanese press release dating the release date of the new firmware to be March 22. The timing of the new firmware closely coincides with the launch of the European launch of PS3.

While not yet applicable to Japanese and North American consoles, the European PS3 features revised hardware that omits the Emotion Engine and Graphics Synthesizer, a chip used for hardware backwards compatibility for PS2 games, in favor of costs. An upcoming firmware update is expected to introduce software emulation of over 1,000 PS2 games for the European PS3. It is unclear how the different hardware specification and software requirements will affect future and current Japan and North American PlayStation 3 consoles.

(c) www.dailytech.com

Uni.Console Tags: Playstation 3, PS3, Sony, Update

Microsoft to show off IPTV on Xbox 360

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 22:51:00 +0000

by Darrin Olson

In a speech by Bill Gates at CES earlier this year, Gates talked about upgrades to the Xbox 360 including live IPTV service. Microsoft is now planning on showing off this service integrated with the Xbox 360 and the Connected Home show in London the week of March 5th.

IPTV in the game console will be demo’d by Ed Graczyk, Worldwide Director of Marketing and Communications for Microsoft TV, during his keynote speech at the event. “Separately the Xbox 360 and Microsoft TV IPTV Edition deliver unique and exciting entertainment experiences, but IPTV on Xbox 360 delivers a real value proposition for consumers, service providers and content and game developers alike. By integrating these industry-leading solutions, we continue to drive innovation and enable new connected entertainment experiences for consumers.”, said Graczyk. This will be the first time consumers will get a chance to actually see what Microsoft has planned for the integration.

This new feature incorporated into the Xbox 360 game console will bring it additional value as more of an integrated fixture in a home entertainment package allowing users to browse, record and watch television shows through the console, along with other features such as chatting over Xbox Live while watching television. “This will be a unique opportunity to witness first hand the possibilities which IPTV offers to service providers and to the online gaming market and we are delighted that Microsoft has chosen the IPTV World Forum event to showcase this demonstration.”, said Ian Johnson, director of the Junction Group who organized the IPTV world forum.

(c) www.slipperybrick.com

Sony's PS3 Launch Titles will be £10 less than Xbox 360's

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 22:48:00 +0000

It has been revealed that Sony's PS3 launch titles will be £10 less than the Xbox 360 title's were. This means Brits can pick up the likes of Resistance for just £39.99.

quote:

SCEE’s five disc-based first-party releases – Resistance: Fall Of Man, Motorstorm, Formula One Championship Edition, Ridge Racer 7 and Genji, Days Of The Blade – have been given an Official price point of just £39.99 (E59.99). The suggested retail price of Xbox 360 titles is usually £49.99.
In addition to the disc-based games SCEE has also announced that titles downloadable via its PlayStation Network, such as BlastFactor, flOw and Super Rub a Dub and Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection, will be available for an introductory period at prices from E2.99 to E9.99 (around £2 to £6.70).
Additional content, such as video content and game items, will be priced on sliding scale from E0.99 (around 66p).

(c) www.maxconsole.net

Nintendo Wii Outsells PS3, Xbox 360 During January

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 00:23:00 +0000

by Marcus Yam

The Wii off to a great start for 2007

Nintendo’s Wii continues to sell at a torrid place, outselling the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 during January. Market research firm NPD Group reports that consumers bought 436,000 Wii, while Xbox 360 sold 294,000 units, followed by PlayStation 3 with 244,000.

Nintendo is crediting much of its success to the broad appeal of Wii compared to machines from Microsoft and Sony. “I do think that we're selling to additional and different customers,” said Perrin Kaplan, VP marketing for Nintendo. “We've had an incredibly healthy start and we think there's going to be a pretty long tail on this product.”

Each console experienced a drop in sales when compared with figures from December 2006. The Wii saw the least decline when compared to its previous month at 604,200, while Xbox 360 saw the biggest decline from its 1.1 million units sold. PlayStation 3 also fell from its 490,700 sold during December.

The PlayStation 2 continues to be a strong seller, likely because of its price point, with 299,000 units—but down from the amazing 1.4 million during the holiday month. The Nintendo DS also loosened its grip, selling 239,000 during January—a steep drop from the 1.6 million during the gift-giving season. PSP also fell to 211,000 from 953,200.

(c) www.dailytech.com

Moore, Satchell savage 'talentless' Sony at CES

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 03:06:00 +0000

by Patrick Garratt

Peter Moore - VP of Microsoft's interactive entertainment business, entertainment and devices division and Chris Satchell - general manager of Microsoft's game development group - launched an unprecedented attack on Sony's PlayStation 3 business at CES in Las Vegas yesterday.

Speaking exclusively to GamesIndustry.biz, the two senior executives branded the Japanese firm's online service for the newly-launched console a "disaster" and said the company lacks the talent and the "DNA" to ever deliver a suitable online console service for consumers.

"It's going to take [Sony] a couple of years to get up to speed on this, and I'm not sure that they necessarily have the talent, or it's built into who they are as a company," Moore said.

"They're struggling with some of their hardware issues, and apparently they're going to deliver another five million in the next 90 days. But this business is about hardware, software and services now. And the consumer expects that."

Moore's comments came as he explained how much commitment Microsoft has needed to create the currently available Live offering.

"It's taken a company like Microsoft four solid years to get where we are today - the richness of the experience, the consistency of the experience, constantly updating features and making it feel fresh - and we're a software company and this is a software plane," he said.

"It is not in Sony's DNA to be able to get that up and running from zero."

Satchell bore similar sentiments. "If I wanted to make my online service better, and I wanted to give [Sony] a little piece of advice, it would be to copy Xbox Live a little more closely," he said.

"My honest opinion is that it's pretty much a disaster. They keep saying that they have a free service. Well, if they don't have anything, of course it's free. And you know what: what's free about $600?"

Moore and Satchell were speaking after announcements at CES from Bill Gates on Sunday that Xbox Live will be brought to Windows Vista this summer, and an announcement from Sony on Monday that 1 million PS3s have now shipped in the US.

The full interview with Peter Moore is now on GamesIndustry.biz. The interview with Chris Satchell will follow tomorrow.

(c) www.gameindustry.biz

Evolution of the Handheld

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 07:36:00 +0000

The handheld gaming scene has witnessed many attempts by a variety of companies to gain commercial success, but over thirty formats shown below, only a handful have been able to gain support of the mainstream. The main problems for companies trying to enter the handheld gaming scene is how to create an affordable, portable machine that won't eat up the battery.
It wasn't until 1989 when Nintendo released the GameBoy, with it's dot-matrix screen, low battery consumption (though needed 4 AA batteries), relatively small size and one killer game, Tetris , that guaranteed them the success they wanted. No other company could emulate what Nintendo had created, try as they may, there was nothing as successful as the GameBoy.
Almost sixteen years after the GameBoy, in 2005, both Nintendo and Sony released their 'revolutionary' contenders, each aiming at a different market. So far, two years down the line it seems like Nintendo still have the same magic formula they had back in 1989.

Milton Bradley Microvision - 1978

Nintendo Game & Watch (60 in the series) - 1980 - 1991

Epoch Game Pocket Computer - 1984

Nintendo Gameboy - 1989

Atari Lynx - 1989

NEC TurboExpress - 1990

Sega GameGear - 1991

Watara Supervision - 1992

Sega MegaJet - 1992

Nintendo VirtualBoy - 1994

Sega Nomad - 1995

NeoGeo Pocket - 1996

Nintendo GameBoy Pocket - 1996

Nintendo GameBoy Pocket Light - 1997

Tiger Game.com - 1997

Nintendo GameBoy Color - 1998

Cybiko - 1998

Dreamcast VMU - 1998

Sony PocketStation - 1998

NeoGeo Pocket Color - 1999

Bandai WonderSwan - 1999

Bandai WonderSwan Color - 2000

GamePark GP32 - 2001

Nintendo GameBoy Advance - 2001

Nintendo Pokemon Mini - 2004

Bandai Swan Crystal - 2002

Nokia N-Gage - 2003

Nintendo GameBoy Advance SP - 2003

Timetop Gameking - 2003

Tapwave Zodiac - 2004

Nokia N-Gage QD - 2004

Nintendo DS - 2004

Sony PSP - 2004

Tiger Gizmondo - 2005

Nintendo GameBoy Micro - 2005

GamePark XGP - 2005

V-Smile Pocket - 2005

Ez Mini - 2005

Nintendo DS Lite - 2006

(c) hahuk.blogspot.com

XBox 360 Version 2 To Come With HDMI and Bigger Hard Drive

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 01:51:00 +0000

by Jason McMaster

Being an early-adopter is a double-edged sword. On the one side you get to be the cool guy with the latest gaming hardware, but on the other side you end up missing out on the hardware revisions and special offers. One such revision that is causing me much pain is the leaked information on the Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) XBox 360 Version 2, codenamed “Zephyr.”

Engadget spoke with an industry insider who has confirmed the release of the new 360. This latest revision contains the 65nm processor, a 120 GB HDD and a HDMI port. This would be quite the update for XBox fans, since the 20 GB HDD that is currently available has been constantly maligned due to lack of space, the HDMI port will be capable of producing true 1080p, and, last but not least, the new processor is smaller and cooler, so less heat related issues.

The XBox insider who released this information couldn’t give a release date for the new hardware, but said that it would be available “soon.” Let’s hope there’s a trade-in plan, because there’s no better way to enrage a bunch of fans than releasing a better version of a product they just bought. There isn’t any information on what the new 360 might cost, but since it is coming with the smaller, cheaper to manufacture processor, one would imagine that it will remain the same price.

(c) www.gigagamez.com

Just how fast is this Wii of yours really?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 01:48:00 +0000

Apparently quite a bit, as long as it's not compared to the unfairly brawny Playstation 3 or the Microsoft priced Xbox 360. Better compare the Wii to the Gamecube, a console much more powerful than Sony's PS2 and quite capable of producing the rather impressive graphics of Resident Evil 4:

Beside the obvious differences of the Wiimote, the WiFi networking, the Channels and the Virtual console, the inclusion of a full-sized DVDx6 (that's its speed really), 16:9 support, the new design and the SD cards thingy, the Wii improves on the core Gamecube hardware as well.
According to Felix Domke's speech at the 23c3 Chaos Communication Congress in the free and always radical city of Berlin (see the speech here), this is what the difference between the two consoles actually looks like, when compiled into a chart by a gnome:
MaxConsole, on the other hand, estimates that the Wii is actually 1.5 times faster than the Gamecube, and then goes on to provide an extensive list of specs. Read it here. Just don't buy this outrageous Wii bundle...

(c) gnomeslair.blogspot.com

Tabloid reports on child 'Killed by Game Boy'

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 01:47:00 +0000

Daily Mirror front page leads with holiday accident

UK tabloid The Daily Mirror today leads with a story of a tragic holiday accident and a half-page headline stating: "Killed by Xmas Game Boy."

The story, also on the red top's website, tells of 7 year-old Connor O'Keefe, who was electrocuted while unplugging a charger in his hotel room in Thailand.

"There should be some kind of warning about different electrical currents you get abroad because this would not have happened in England," said the mother of the child, Kathleen Curry.

She also said that Connor was aware of the dangers of electricity, while police at the Sunset Beach Hotel in Phuket described the incident as a tragic accident.

All Game Boy handhelds come with numerous safety warnings in the manual and on printed leaflets, detailing consumer information and precautions. Instruction booklets also warn that devices 'must be used with the recommended power supply', and that they conform to the EEC's Low Voltage Directive.

Nintendo was unavailable for comment at the time of writing.

(c) www.gamesindustry.biz

Nintendo Wii Sports Pack Wiimote Attachments

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 01:39:00 +0000

The Nintendo Wii's pack-in game Wii Sports is a pretty decent proof of concept, but waving around the Wiimote isn't exactly a realistic experience. However, by attaching these plastic, erm, attachments, you can authentically recreate the experience of swinging a baseball bat, golf club or tennis racket. Take a look for yourself at all of them on the other side.

So, in essence, you're paying $22 for pieces of plastic shaped like sports apparatuses. I can think of bigger wastes of money. – Nicholas Deleon

(c) www.gizmodo.com

Sims Wii

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 23:17:00 +0000

Blimey. This came from nowhere this month, and watching the stubby-limbed Chibi-faced characters of the Japanese trailer (Chibi being the form of highly stylised drawing in which the body is about the same size as the head. Chibi is used to describe a small person or child; but often in a derogatory way), you'd be hard pushed to recognise this as an actual Sims game, so alien does it seem from what came before. A radical Japan-ification has taken place - The Sims now sporting a distinct Animal Crossing/Harvest Moon vibe.
Greater construction control is promised to be on the way. You'll be constructing your own home, houses for other residents, businesses - going against the pre-designed communal area approach of previous Sims titles - as well as general eye-pleasing greenery. While we're promised the ability to design our own town, the game will decide how to populate the world - much like Animal Crossing.

With house construction, EA Japan are really going all out to accommodate The Sims, both literally and figuratively, on the Wii. The remote pointer can replicate the PC's mouse cursor control infinitely better than a clumsy analogue stick. It's a case of pointing, picking up, dragging and dropping. No opportunity for cowboy builders here.
A detailed character creator has also been revealed. Like the Mii creation, it focuses on facial details over clothes and body shape. It would've been good to have used our Miis instead - no matter how hard you try, you're not going to be able to make a likeness of yourself in-game. Unless you happpen to have a rectangular Bomberman-style head, that is.
But, though simplified, the faces are capable of wearing numerous goofy expressions - from angry frowns to googly eyes - which are used to indicate what's going on in their little Sim minds much more effectively than a thought bubble or meter-bar ever could. Online functions - visiting other towns perhaps? - and DS connectivity have also been mentioned in development plans; hopefully The Sims will fill the house-developing, townvisiting gap until the inevitable Animal Crossing game rears its own oddlyshaped head.

(c) www.computerandvideogames.com

Sony PS3: Best BD Player Out There?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 12:27:00 +0000

Everyone knows that Sony's PS3 is the cheapest way to bring a Blu-ray player home, but is it the best? That's the question the folks at Home Theater Blog and Ultimate AV are trying to answer. Both agree that as a standard DVD player the PS3's image quality is a bit soft, but when it comes to Blu-ray titles the PS3 is no slouch.

Here's what they had to say.

Ultimate AV:

The PS3 more than holds its own in image quality, and wins hands down on boot up and disc access speed.

Home Theater Blog:

It would be hard for me to recommend a PS3 as a primary Blu-ray playback device; to those with zero interest in gaming. On the other hand for those with at least a passing interest in gaming, multimedia and Blu-ray playback, the PS3 does indeed offer an attractive mix of features.

So while it may be difficult to find (depending on where you live), the PS3 is your best bet as far as "bargain" BD players go. – Louis Ramirez

(c) www.gizmodo.com

Head start: the Xbox 360 and the next generation

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 09:32:00 +0000

by Ben Kuchera

Playing defense
It would make sense for Microsoft to be on the defensive. The Xbox 360 is about a year old, so the company isn't going into the holiday season with the buzz that Sony and Nintendo are enjoying. But having that long of a head start also carries with it some advantages: hardware will be plentiful on store shelves, and Microsoft had all that time to hone the online and UI experiences with the 360. At this stage, the console is a mature product just hitting its stride, a nice position to be in given what both the Wii and the PS3 are going through.

Microsoft is confident enough in their position that they invited me to New York to see how the Xbox 360 stacks up against the PS3 when both are hooked into the same 1080p display and using the highest-quality connection possible. For the 360 that means the VGA cable, which is currently the only way the system can output 1080p; the PS3 is hooked up via HDMI. When I walk into the room, I'm amused at their choice of display: a Sony Bravia XBR2 1080p LCD. It's a gorgeous display, and I remark on it.

I'm there with Aaron Greenburg, the Group Marketing Manager for Xbox Live, and Scott Henson, product unit manager for Microsoft's game technology group. They're open and surprisingly unguarded. In addition to the nice display are a 360 with an HD DVD drive and the 60GB PS3. Both are also online, and there are a stack of games between them. "We're selling Bravias on the side," they joke, and I'm invited to take a look around the setup, with the air of a magician telling me there's nothing up his sleeve. They want to be sure I'm happy with how each system is hooked up and that I don't think one system has the advantage in cabling or anything else. "We want to compare apples to apples," they tell me.

It's an odd situation. I know that the point of this meeting is for them to convince me of the 360's supremacy, but they leave the meeting up to me to control in terms of what we put in or how we play the games and movies, and I see them listening to me as much as I listen to them. Evan Parker, the PR person in the room, also makes notes on what's said more than once. I feel like I'm being interviewed and watched almost as much as I'm interviewing and watching them.

Aaron Greenburg and Scott Henson of Microsoft

Henson motions to the stacks of games and movies. "Where would you like to start?" he asks me.

I grin. This is going to be fun.

The hard drive problem

First, we talk about the hard drives on the respective systems and I tell Greenburg and Henson that they're messing up—a 20GB hard drive is simply too small, especially with the video marketplace on Xbox Live. With demos sometimes coming in at over 1GB and rental movies that are over 5GB, you simply don't have a lot of space available. The PS3's 60GB hard drive is much roomier, and both the 20GB and 60GB Sony drives aren’t proprietary; you can slide them out and put in your own drive if you feel like upgrading. In contrast, the 360 hard drive maxes out at 20GB and costs $100, a ridiculous price for such a small amount of storage.

The Microsoft team defends the drive by talking about how you can delete a television show and redownload it later to save space, but it's clear that these solutions are a workaround. It's a problem, and if Microsoft wants to really get people into buying more content through the 360 and Xbox it's something they're going to have to fix. And I'm not going to be happy if I end up paying $200 for a 40GB HDD.

"So when is the bigger hard drive coming out?" I ask.

"It's a matter of when now, and not if?" Greenburg replies.

They seem more amused than anything. Of course Microsoft is going to release a new hard drive in the future; they'd be throwing money away if they didn't. I can't get a clear answer out of either of them, but I didn't think I would. It is clear that this is an issue they've discussed, and they seem to get a sense out of how much we need a solution to the problem. One of the biggest headaches with the 360 experience is that tiny, tiny HDD, and as file sizes get bigger and more stuff is put up online for purchase, it's only going to get worse.

They need to release a bigger drive as soon as humanly possible, and they have to make sure it's priced so it won't make gamers cringe. If they can get people into a roomier storage solution, they'll be able to sell the customers more content down the line. It's an investment in digital distribution, and it should be looked at that way instead of simply an upgrade they can make money on when they sell it at retail.

Microtransactions and you

There is a lot of money to be made by selling things online, and a few companies are already on board with selling new cars, game levels, and even new guns and upgrades to your vehicles in games. But there is a limit, and EA has recently angered a lot of gamers with their new habit of putting up what amounts to cheat codes online for pay, and "tutorial videos" for Madden that also cost money. EA knows how to cash in wherever there is money to be made and gamers to annoy. I bring up these things and get the expected answers.

"Vote with your wallet!" I'm told. Fair point, but the fact that these things are being sold at all makes the microtransaction system itself look pretty bad. It's hard to be the classy online system when you're charging for what amounts to a video showing you how to hit buttons, or a shortcut to more money and a bigger gun.

"Our rule is if it's free on another system, you shouldn't have to pay for it through Xbox Live," Greenburg tells me. Good, but soon people are paying $60-70 for the game, $6 a month for Xbox Live, and another $10 to get all the money and equipment they need to beat the game the first day. It’s just greedy, and it's certainly not the way I grew up playing games.

"This is a new market," Greenburg says, but they seem to think by admitting it's a new market this means I should give them a little slack to figure out these issues. I think just the opposite: you should think very, very carefully about what you charge for and what you give away for free. There needs to be some strong rules about what developers can charge for. No matter what company puts their for-pay content on Xbox Live, Microsoft has to sign off on what is being sold.

Anna is a bot
It's time to put the systems in the room to the test and check out how the games look and how the Xbox 360 and PS3 handle upscaling. "If you really wanted to be mean you would have run these tests in 720p or 1080i," I say, referring to the issues that Sony is having with those two resolutions. I appreciate the fact that they wanted to show the PS3 looking as good as possible, and I'm surprised this is something they didn't bring up earlier. They realize what I'm talking about, and Scott Henson opens a small package and shows me what's inside.

"Is that it?" I ask. He nods.

"We call it Anna. This is the scaling chip that's in the 360," he tells me.

It's odd to see it—a tiny little chip—but this may be one of the secret weapons the 360 has against the PS3. The PS3 has no internal hardware scalar, which means games that are 720p native can only be shown in 720p or 480p; there is no scaling up to 1080p or 1080i. This causes people with older HDTVs to have issues with the available resolutions, and keeps them from playing the games in anything but 480p. It's a vexing problem for a system that's supposed to be HD, and this issue is one of the most challenging that Sony faces. I ask the Microsoft guys how important it was for them to include a scalar in the 360.

"It was a critical design decision; we wanted the 360 to be high-definition, not just 1080p or some other standard. That's why we included component cables in the box; there is no HDTV that doesn't have a component in," said Greenburg.

This is where the magic happens

They assume that Sony didn't include a hardware scalar to keep costs down, but get a little cagey when I ask how much it costs to put Anna into the 360. "This isn't a $1,000 scalar," Henson says, "but it's a good one."

It was apparently designed at the same time as the GPU, and the effortless scaling with different televisions was something that was important from the early design stages of the system. I ask if they think this is something that Sony can fix in software.

"It'll be hard," Greenburg answers, "and compatibility testing would be tough with existing software. I think as they update the hardware they'll add a hardware scalar."

I've had the same thought before, but it certainly doesn't make me happy as a first-generation consumer. It will be very interesting to see how Sony ends up fixing this, or if they think it's a problem at all. For the time being, most games will be 720p native, so the majority of HDTV owners will be able to play them. This is an issue that you may or may not care about. Or maybe you have a 1080p set already and this doesn't bother you. It's hard to know just how many people this affects, but you should be aware of which resolutions your television can handle when choosing which system to buy.

Does the lack of hardware scaling affect how games look? We put in a few titles to see.

Resistance: Fall of Man vs. Gears of War

I've played both Gears of War and Resistance: Fall of Man extensively; I gave Gears of War a full review and reviewed Resistance with the PS3. Still, I wanted to see each game on this display to see if a 1080p resolution changed anything.

The first thing it changed was the resolution. When Resistance started, it dumped down into 720p due to the lack of a hardware scalar. Henson turned on the menu of the Bravia to make sure I saw this. I didn't say anything, but the point was made. The game looks great on the Bravia; it's very much a "Call of Duty with mutants"-type of a vibe. I enjoyed the game when I played it, and while it looks great, the graphics are a little on the sterile side. It does have some amazing draw distances later in the game, and is a sharp-looking title. We play for a few moments and chat about the game. Next they put in Gears of War.

The same menu is brought up, and I see that the 360 is upscaling the game into 1080p. Anna is doing a good job, as the game looks fantastic on that display running at that resolution. I find Gears of War a more impressive game graphically; it uses every trick and special effect you can think of to give you some stunning scenes. Of course, this is also a second-generation game and Epic had a very close relationship with Microsoft through the development process—a level of support most developers don't enjoy. It's not a fair comparison at the moment in terms of looking at the power of both systems; we're going to have to wait until the PS3 gets some second-generation games in a year or so. I raise that point.

"Right, but by then we'll have Halo 3. We'll be on the third–generation games. We hope to always be a little bit ahead," Henson counters.

It's clear they hope to use that year-long head start to its fullest. We put in Call of Duty 3 on both systems. Again the PS3 drops the resolution to 720p. We play a bit of the game, and honestly I can't tell a lot of difference between the two versions of the game. The 360 does look a touch better upscaled into 1080p, but it's a subtle difference. They both look great, with only a few differences in coloring. If it wasn't for the resolution advantage of the 360, I don't know if there would have been any real way to tell the difference between the two systems.

They offer to put in Madden, but I decline. I've seen the videos of the game on both systems; I know it'll be about identical.

"Graphics are a wash," Greenburg says, as we compare games. I have to agree; between the multiplatform games there just isn't a difference. I can't wait to see what Sony has coming down the line, but I get the uncomfortable feeling that they will always be a generation behind what the 360 has done. The question is whether or not developers will max out what the 360 can do and if PS3 will be able to pull ahead.

The importance of that scalar is hard to overestimate. It gives the 360 a built-in advantage over the PS3 and it's something Sony needs to work on as soon as they can. Whether it is a software or hardware solution, they're running at a disadvantage on anything but a 720p-native HDTV in terms of games. Movies, on the other hand...

Mission Impossible 3: the search for an equal resolution

We popped Mission: Impossible 3 in the 360's HD DVD drive, which is external, and we also put in the Blu-ray version for the PS3. Both systems were hooked up at the same time, so we could flip back and forth effortlessly to compare the video quality. In this case, both systems were outputting in 1080p, so there was no advantage in terms of resolution.

We watched the same scene on both systems—the part with the gunfight on the bridge—and flipped back and forth as we went. They freeze-framed a few scenes for me, and tried to explain the difference, such as more detail in the blacker areas on the HD DVD. While the Blu-ray image looked a bit sharp to me when paused, I was hard pressed to tell the difference between the two; the image quality was beautiful across the board. I couldn't tell if they were amused, proud, or horrified when I would frequently get confused about which system's image we were looking at as we flipped back and forth. I gave up trying to take notes on the minute differences between the two and admitted that they were so close it was almost indistinguishable.

I was more intrigued with the HD DVD drive as a piece of hardware. I asked if we would ever see games use the drive. A firm "no." I asked if we would ever see a 360 with an HD DVD drive built-in. Another firm "no." No hesitation.

"We don't want to charge customers $200 extra for something that may be the next Betamax," Henson told me (whoops).

They seem committed to the optional aspect of the HD DVD drive as it keeps the price down for consumers who don't care about HD DVD. It's a much different strategy than Sony's bundling a Blu-ray drive with every PS3. I don't know if it's the right one—HD DVD would certainly catch on faster if they found a way to incorporate it into the 360's design—but the question of a higher price for the hardware is a tough one. Is it really worth raising the price for a feature people don't seem to be asking for? They tell me developers by and large aren't asking for more space or complaining about a lack of space with a regular DVD, outside of a few comments here and there.

There is no real difference in quality based on what I've seen between HD DVD and Blu-ray. Keep in mind that unless your display can handle a 1080p or 1080i resolution the PS3 will downgrade the image into 480p. I don't know how quickly these two competing formats will catch on, but when it comes to image quality, they both look great.

The real story? I'm buying a Sony Bravia

I've had a little over an hour with both pieces of hardware on a great television and have gained a few insights into how Microsoft thinks about the marketplace right now. So far I just don't see much difference in quality between the two systems in terms of graphics, although a few things look better on the 360 simply because developers have had longer to work on the hardware. It's a wash between the multiplatform games, but the lack of a hardware scalar hurts Sony badly at the 1080p resolution; they simply can't upscale the games into that resolution, and the PS3 comes off worse when you look at both versions of a title like Call of Duty right next to one another. It also complicates things for Blu-ray playback since the PS3 can't show a Blu-ray movie in 720p.

Microsoft has used their year-long head start wisely to refine the firmware and online experience with the 360, and that hard work shows through clearly; the PS3 feels a bit unfinished in comparison. Hopefully Sony has some big features they will roll out soon, but for now the Xbox 360 is ahead of the PS3 in what the systems in their current incarnations can do.

Microsoft has really dropped the ball with the hard drive, though. It's just too small and it hurts their vision of people buying their movies and television shows through the 360. It's not an appealing idea until you get something much roomier in there. The "vote with your dollar" argument is also lacking when it comes to microtransactions. You have to be careful with what you charge for if you don't want to look like you're nickel-and-diming customers, and Sony's $3 Lemmings, free entry-level Sudoku download, and $5 PSone games for the PSP are a strong value. A dollar or two here makes a huge difference in how the consumer views you, and pricing should be handled cautiously.

When the PS3 was being hyped, a lot of people assumed the graphics and feature set would be much better than what we had seen on the 360, and while I don’t think the 360 looked much better in these demonstrations, they do prove that the 360 can ably keep up with the PS3 (and in some cases beat it) in terms of features. This hardware war may come down to the whether or not consumers think having Blu-ray is worth the extra cost, or the question of people being bothered by the lack of the hardware scalar. What is and isn't HD is a confusing question, and both systems seem to have different answers.

This should be an interesting next few years.

(c) www.arstechnica.com

PS3 to Lead Console Battle? Really? Who Says?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 21:44:00 +0000

by Larry C.

GameDaily Biz's own James Brightman posted an article this morning referring to a report that stated: PS3 to Lead Console Battle with 75M by 2010 That got me thinking? Who the hell are these guys that come up with this stuff? How do they know that and where do they come off saying something that outlandish.

Following the link James provided I checked out the source. Seems it takes ages to load and talks in VERY broad strokes. You have to pay for the full report of course. I know I didn't pay for it and I'll have to ask Mr. Brightman if he actually purchased the report. They seem to just come out and say PS3 will win. There is no reason behind it, they just say it.

I have a feeling James posted it because he is a believer in the PS3 and wants it out there doing well. Now, I am not saying James has questionable motives or integrity. By no means! He's posted stories about the PS3 and Sony being in dire straights. It's more a question of why a story like this has legs at all. Why is this news?

We all have to sit around and wait. So far this Christmas season, the Sony PS3 only sold 750,000 units in the US as compared to 2 million Xbox 360's and 1.8 million Wii's I don't think that is the sign of a system that is going to have 75 million sold in the next three years. If you ask me, the Xbox 360 is going to come out ahead, Unlike the Research and Markets group, I am not going to come out and say I have data. I have no data. I am just stating my opinion based the little that I know. I just believe that the Microsoft Xbox360 will win the console war. This is exactly what that research company did too. They are just stating an opinion based on who knows what.

Wait wait, there is a moral to the story! Don't believe everything that is printed. Question everything, because maybe they are just like you and me. Numbers tell stories but they are just that, stories.

(c) www.gamedailyxl.com

Rumor: Wii in HD

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 21:41:00 +0000

by Adam Berger

You had had the time to wait online, drop a few Benjamins, and settle in with your respective next-gen gaming system, whether it be a Wii, PS3, or 360, but you just had to know that eventually your system would be out-of-date. Unlike previous generations (PSOne, PS2, Xbox, Game Cube, etc) these machines can be upgraded with new firmware and added capabilities over the internet, and at some point in time the hardware receives upgrades. Given the Blu-ray drive in the PS3, I expect that we won’t see many changes/additions over its life-cycle except for a larger hard drive and a decrease in size. The Xbox 360 may receive an internal hard drive and internal HD-DVD player to compete head-on with the PS3. What is in question is the Wii. Nintendo Of America president Reggie Fils-Aime dropped an interesting quote in a USA Today article:

“Tough choices about not including a DVD player at the start, tough choices about not including high-definition capability at the start. That’s because we wanted a mass-market price, and we believe the market will validate those decisions come launch day on this Sunday,” Fils-Aime said.

The key phrase here is “at the start.” Wiis currently cannot play DVD movies, but Nintendo has already confirmed that a new model will be able to in the latter half of 2007 (in Japan at least) — not that big of a deal considering most people have DVD players (originally thanks to the PS2 as well as the sub-$50 prices. I believe there will be a major upgrade of the Wii to a next-gen HD format as well as a HD firmware update of 720p/1080i/1080p support once the format war becomes more clear. Do not confuse this with an official announcement from Nintendo, just my speculation. Even though the company is looking to bring on the “casual gamer,” it just so happens that this person is likely to have an HDTV within the next two years and Nintendo will be the only one on the market without a pretty looking picture.

(c) www.gadgetell.com

New Wii, PS3, & 360 Games

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 21:29:00 +0000

January will be another slow month for new game releases for ALL the next generation gaming consoles. There will only be one game available for the PS3 and two games for each the Wii and 360. If you are waiting for new games to purchase, you might as well go pickup a currently available one unless you find something on the list below interesting. From our perspective, the only games worth purchasing this month are Sonic The Hedgehog for the PS3 and Fuzion Frenzy for the Xbox 360.

PlayStation 3:
Sonic The Hedgehog - Sega

Wii:
Baseball - Nintendo
Urban Champions - Nintendo

Xbox 360:
Fuzion Frenzy 2 - Microsoft
Dance Dance Revolution Universe - Konami

Note: The items mentioned above are games for the PlayStation 3 and Wii that are planned to be launched in December 2006. The list is accurate as of 11/30/06, however game may be added or removed. Therefore check Nintendo’s and/or Sony’s webpage for any changes.

(c) www.skattertech.com

Xbox 360 topped US hardware sales chart over Xmas - NPD

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 21:14:00 +0000

But Nintendo Wii close behind with 1.8m units sold

Market analysts NPD have suggested that the Xbox 360 was the best-selling console in the US over Christmas - with the Nintendo Wii trailing by just 200,000 units.

According to the firm's preliminary estimates, as reported by CNBC, around 2 million Xbox 360 units were sold in North America from November up until December 25.

The figure for Nintendo Wii stood at 1.8 million units - despite the fact the console only launched in North America on November 19, and the first batch of stock sold out within hours.

Stock shortages were an even bigger problem for Sony. Around 750,000 PlayStation 3 units were sold during the same period.

NPD is expected to release complete figures later this month.

(c) www.gamesindustry.biz

NexGen Wars Update: Xbox 360 leads, Wii catching up

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 20:49:00 +0000

Last July, Nexgenwars.com went on line to provide an "unbiased account" of how the three next-gen consoles are faring in the market. Back then Xbox 360 was the only one available with almost 4 million units sold. Today, after its two competitors finally launched, the sales figures are really heating up.

Based on NexGen estimates, Xbox 360 has now sold over 9 million (28%) since it launched over a year ago. Unless it sells another million within the next few days, MS will miss its 2006 sales target of 10 million

Nintendo is way, way, way off its target of moving 9 million Wii consoles by the end of the year. So far Wii sales is at 1,956,724 units (17%) since it launched. But then again, only 2 million units of the console have been released so far.

Lagging behind the two is Sony's PS3 at 792,619 units sold. Back in August Sony boldly predicted it will top Xbox 360 sales. Unfortunately, Sony didn't manufacture enough PS3s to go around to break Xbox 360's record.

Stay tuned for the final 2006 sales figures which we will post a few days from now.

(c) www.qj.net

Are people swapping PS3s for Wiis?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 20:45:00 +0000

Jason McMaster has a report up over at GigaGamez saying that people are trading in their Sony PS3's for Nintendo Wiis. Even they were a bit skeptical at first when Tony Conrad, CEO and Founder of Sphere first pointed it out to them, but they started to believe the claim a bit when they did a little research through craigslist.org.

They decided to look up some of the hottest cities on craiglist: Austin, New York, and San Francisco. In Austin six people wanted to trade in their PS3s. In New York 18 people wanted to trade-in their big black box. In San Francisco, 48 different people want to trade in their PS3s for a Wii. This despite the price difference between the two.

McMaster spends some time speculating why people are willing to trade in at a loss. He wonders whether or not this has to do with with the fact that while most of the people who camped out for a Nintendo Wii did so for maybe four hours, PS3 lines were plagued with greedy eBayers and shootings.

McMaster has a few other theories but the scenario that he paints that we think is most reasonable is the eBay scenario. Here's his words:

Another scenario could be that they’re trading the PS3s, which are dropping in price on eBay, for the Wii to try and flip it right before the holidays. This theory is given credit by a few traders looking for two Wiis for a 60 GB PS3. That would definitely be a profit gain situation.

Can't get a PS3 and you really want one? Buy two Wiis. Can't get a Wii but you managed to snag a big black box through eBay? Trade it in and get two. To each his own.

(c) www.qj.net

IBM Corp: True winner of the console war

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 20:40:00 +0000

The triumvirate of next-generation consoles are all out. The war is now on. And IBM Corporation is sitting comfortably on its fortune at the backstage. As all of you might be aware, it was this company who developed the Power chip that powers Xbox 360 and Wii, as well as the Cell chip found inside the PlayStation 3.

The videogame deals earned IBM up to US$ 2.9 billion last year and US$ 2.5 billion in 2004. At the end of 2006, which by the way is just few days away, the company is expected to see about US$ 3.7 billion in sales of chips and associated design services. Aside from the actual sales, IBM has formed a new "technology collaboration solutions" unit that is expected to post US$ 4 billion in revenue this year.

This is actually a glaring contrast to status of the company before the deals. Prior to 2004, IBM was struggling to attract enough outside chip-making work to cover the enormous cost of manufacturing. As a result, their hardware division suffered a lost of US$ 252 million in 2003. The head of the said division, William Zeitler, couldn't hide his astonishment:

I think of this at the same stage of development that outsourcing was in the early '90s. There were a lot of people skeptical and now it represents a large part of IBM's portfolio. We had exactly the right proposition at exactly the right time. Ten years ago it would have been inconceivable that all the game processors would have used IBM product. Nobody would have thought of it because all we had was standard things.

Now that they've conquered the videogame market, IBM is looking on new prospects. They reported that possible future application of the chip includes computers for medical imaging, defense and complex simulations. Currently, IBM is expecting to ink a deal with companies like Mercury Computing Systems and Toshiba.

(c) www.qj.net

Enable Tabs in the Wii Web Browser

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 20:32:00 +0000

TeamDSX Writes:

The future version of Wii Tabs will have bookmark capabilities, and maybe a weather bug type feature in the bar.

There may also be customizable skins or something like that so it'll match the Wii.

Wii Tabs support can be found at http://team-dsx.net/wiitabs/support and you can post a comment on your problem.

Here are some of the things people have been saying about our Beta release so far:

Kotaku - "Pretty nifty tool, just be sure to favorite that site as you will have to visit it first to enable the tabbing."

Go Nintendo - "Awesome find, I just added this to my favorites!"

Play-Nintendo - "have come out with some handy tabs for the internet channel on the Wii!"

Max Console - "All you have to do is visit http://team-dsx.net/wii with your Wii and click on the tab that will pop up! It is just that simple."

Wii-Volution - "This is a rather important feature I felt was missing for the Opera Browser."

So thank you everyone for your support. If you like what we do then you can support us by donating OR if you don't want to do that, then you can vote for us on a bunch of Topsites that reset monthly. The vote page is http://team-dsx.net/vote

Don't forget to spread the word on Wii Tabs. A video demo will be made also for people that need to figure out how it works, or are confused about something.

(c) http://team-dsx.net

Live Reaching Out, Falling Short

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 20:05:00 +0000

by Jason McMaster

XBox Live is consistently heralded as the finest console gaming network. The Playstation Network is new to the scene, and doesn’t really offer as much as Live does in the way of connectivity… then again, it’s free. Nintendo’s network is still in the works, with the company opening new channels as it goes on. So, why is it so hard to reach out to the gamers when you have a quality product without much actual competition? The answer is perception.

Analyst David Cole, President of DFC Intelligence, had this to say about playing online games:

“A lot of casual gamers are intimidated by online in general, both in terms of the technology and the human competition. That’s changing, but it still has a ways to go.”

One of the major problems that a gaming network can run into is the idea of playing against complete strangers. There’s a certain mass-market appeal to playing online with friends, co-workers and family in a friendly or lightly competitive environment. That same appeal just isn’t there when playing against a 15-year-old who has logged 500 man-hours into the latest game just so he can call you names and question your mother’s virtue.

Microsoft tried to take steps to help sort out the different kind of players by having categories that you can choose that suit your amount of playtime and devotion, but there’s only so much that can do. Whoever figures out a way to make the online realm a more friendly place to take your console experience will be the company that controls the market. Until then, you can just mute the other players.

(c) www.gigagamez.com

PS3 or Wii: A Developer’s Conundrum

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 19:52:00 +0000

by Jason McMaster

Ernest Adams, Freelance Writer, Game Designer and contributor, has written another entry for his series, “The Designer’s Notebook,” about the PS3 and Wii. The question he poses in this column is “which will developers want to work on?” I believe that’s something we’d all like to know. Adams, in his column, says:

“For a long time, I’ve had a theory that there’s always room for two-and-a-half game consoles in the market – that is, two main contenders battling for first place and an also-ran that survives but never stands a chance of doing better than third. Being either first or second is normally good enough to guarantee healthy sales and long-term survival. The more critical question is, who will be the also-ran?”

He then goes on to discuss the merits of the Wii and PS3 from a developer’s standpoint. The PS3, he says, has computing power, and there’s no doubt that it’s the most powerful console ever made, whereas the Wii has interactivity on its side, with the Wii remote. He then puts forth a theory on the final outcome:

“So who, at the end of the day, will be the also-ran in this generation of consoles? On the global scale, I’d say it could well be neither the PS3 or the Wii, but the Xbox 360. The PS3 will win over the hardcore gamers who have to have the fastest, most amazing machine available. The Wii will skim off the younger players and those who don’t have as much money to spend.
Both have the advantage of being made in Japan, so they’ll crowd the Xbox right out of that market. In the US and Europe, it’s harder to say, but I see the Xbox’s early start as more of a liability than a benefit. They’ve racked up several million sales, but they can no longer claim to be the latest, greatest thing – especially as the PS3 plays Blu-Ray disks out of the box, but HD-DVD is only available for the Xbox as an add-on. The Dreamcast got an early start too, and look how that ended.”

It definitely could turn out that way, but who can really say at this point? What about the hardcore gamers who don’t want to spend $600 dollars to play Madden or FIFA? Surely that demographic isn’t completely covered by the Wii. Who knows if the Wii will even still be going strong this time next year? Maybe the “wow” factor will have worn off in regard to the controller. Each system has individual strengths.

The biggest advantage Microsoft has isn’t claiming to be “the latest and greatest”, but having a second generation of games that look great and play even better. One reason being that they’ve had their dev-kits (early versions of consoles for use by development houses for testing games) out longer, and another is their development tools are of higher quality. That’s what coming out first gets for you.

Sony has its name and the fact that it really has developed a powerful machine. I was skeptical of the PS3 at first, especially after spending so much time following it up to release and listening to the Sony Corporation say one bizarre thing after another, but they’ve really produced a high quality console. The fact that you can display movies and games at 1080p is pretty great as well as being able to swap out the hard drive. The weak launch titles may not do much for initial sales, but when the PS3 starts seeing some quality titles, it’s going to be something else.

Finally, Nintendo. What else can you say about them? Zelda, Mario Brothers, Metroid and Pokemon are all ridiculously popular and will always sell a system. They are currently making a profit on every Wii sold and have been in the black for years. Nintendo may not razzle-dazzle, but they’re not going anywhere.

“Who’s going to win this generation?”, seems to be the question that everyone is asking. The real answer, as of right now at least, is “who cares?” What we need to do, as consumers and enthusiasts, is buy your favorite console, get the games you want to play and enjoy it. We’re in the golden age right now, people, and we should be savoring every moment of it.