Daily Wrap-Up 5.15.08
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Thursday, May 15, 2008 6:00 PM
Here's what went down today in the world of videogames, technology and popular culture!
- A Beyond Good & Evil sequel is coming.
- The latest expansion to the World of Warcraft, Wrath of the Lich King, will be out in 2008.
- CBS announced this morning that they have purchased CNET Networks, home of GameSpot.com, TV.com, mp3.com and other web workhorses.
- If you were hoping to start playing Age of Conan this weekend through the Early Access promotion for pre-orders, you're out of luck. It's full.
- Lazard Capital analyst Colin Sebastian doesn't think we'll be seeing a PS3 price-cut in 2008.
- NBC briefly raised the broadccast flag.
- Anascape, the company that apparently holds patents on everything a videogame controller can do, has won their case against Nintendo.
- You've got to read Lt. Worf's Op. piece in the Talking Points Memo about why he's endorsing Obama for President.
- At a press conference last night, SEGA announced a new publishing arm: Platinum Games.
- Sony has released version 2.35 of the PlayStation 3 firmware.
- This PlayStation 3 ad confuses us.
- Check out the complete ACME Product Catalog including illustrations.
- A mass of bike riders have taken to one of the nation's busiest stretches of highway to prove a point.
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TAGS: Daily Wrap-Up, Videos
Exclusive: 'The Agency' Trailer
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Thursday, May 15, 2008 5:09 PM
We've got some exclusive video for you, man, namely, the trailer for The Agency, a spy-based MMO shooter from Sony!
Are these secret agents going to take down Conan and Warcraft? Check it out:
For more Behind the Scenes preview, interviews, and gameplay from The Agency, be sure to tune in to X-Play, Monday, May 19th 2008 @ 8PM ET, only on G4!
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TAGS: PC Gaming, PlayStation 3, Videogames
Sony Touts PS3 Numbers
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Thursday, May 15, 2008 4:34 PM
Sony took a look at the numbers for April, and they want you to know the following:
- Over 1 million copies of Grand Theft Auto IV for PS3 were sold in April in North America, with 23.6% of U.S. PS3 owners purchasing a copy of Grand Theft Auto IV, a 29.0% higher attach rate for the title than Xbox 360.
- Enthusiasm for Grand Theft Auto IV combined with the launches of Haze and SingStar for PS3, is expected to continue to lift PS3 hardware sales through May.
- Grand Theft Auto IV and Gran Turismo 5 Prologue mark the beginning of a monster 2008 software line-up for PS3, including the highly-anticipated exclusive titles Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, SOCOM: US Navy SEALs Confrontation, Resistance 2, and LittleBigPlanet to name a few. These blockbusters promise to further drive PS3 sales through to the holiday season.
- Fueled by the launch of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue on the PLAYSTATION®Network, approximately 6 million pieces of content have been downloaded from the PlayStation®Store in North America since this time last month, with more than 73 million pieces of content downloaded from PLAYSTATION Store in North America to date.
- There are currently over 3.9 million registered PLAYSTATION Network accounts in North America.
- The recently introduced DUALSHOCK®3 wireless controller for PS3 also proved to be a hot-seller, with sales exceeding $10.9 million in April.
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TAGS: PlayStation 3, Sony PSP, Videogames
Ninja Fest 2 Coming May 18th!
Posted by Mike D'Alonzo - Thursday, May 15, 2008 4:09 PM
This weekend, Ninja Fest 2 stealthily arrives on the scene as a tribute to all things ninja. Remember how we sent home contestants to Japan to compete on Ninja Warrior? Well, one of G4’s American Ninjas got further than any other American ever. Just how far? You're going to have to tune in to find out! Then get ready for all-new episodes of Ninja Warrior followed by our American Ninja Challenge 2 wrap-up show.
All of this is preceded by a mammoth Ninja Warrior marathon, in which we empty the vaults and show all of the episodes of the show we have...and that's a lot of ninja. So, grab your nunchaku and prepare to be impressed...it's Ninja Fest 2 on May 18th, right here on G4.
Also, we have a behind-the-scenes photo gallery! Wanna see?
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DJ Green Lantern Releasing GTA IV Album
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Thursday, May 15, 2008 3:57 PM
The evil genius DJ Green Lantern is releasing an album of music from and inspired by Grand Theft Auto IV.
The album contains eight brand new tracks crafted exclusively for DJ Green Lantern's "Liberty City Invasion" radio show on the in-game radio station "The Beat," as well as eight new songs directly inspired by Grand Theft Auto IV.
"The Grand Theft Auto games have always featured stunning soundtracks and the amount of eclectic music in Grand Theft Auto IV goes above and beyond anything we have been able to do before" said Sam Houser, Founder and Executive Producer of Rockstar Games, "DJ Green Lantern's contributions give the soundtrack a true New York flavor and we're excited to be releasing his full album to fans."
Ya heard?
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TAGS: Music, Videogames
'MGS 4' Product Placement
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Thursday, May 15, 2008 3:29 PM
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TAGS: Tech, Videogames
'Strong Bad' Gameplay Video Released
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Thursday, May 15, 2008 2:59 PM
We're big fans of Strong Bad and can't wait for Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People to arrive for Wii.
The point and go click adventure looks like this when you play it...or click below for a video.
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TAGS: PC Gaming, Videogames, Wii
Gigapan Makes Your Camera Shoot at 1,000 Megapixels
Posted by Ty Colfax - Thursday, May 15, 2008 2:48 PM
A device called the Gigapan will soon be available. It allows virtually any camera to take digital pictures that are more than a gigapixel in resolution (that's 1,000 megapixels.) For reference, the typical cameras these days are around 10 megapixels. Yikes!
Using a robot mounted on a tripod, Gigapan commands the camera to take roughly 350 highly-zoomed individual images that are later pieced together by a program on the user's home computer. The end-product being what is essentially an extremely deep 2-dimensional image with multiple levels of zooming and panning. It's basically Google Earth for whatever you're looking at.
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TAGS: Tech
Escapist Picks Up 'Videogame Theater'
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Thursday, May 15, 2008 2:17 PM
The Escapist, home of excellently cranky videogame review show "Zero Punctuation," has a couple new shows coming for you, including Videogame Theater, from G4's own Webby winning producer Frank Meyer!
In Videogame Theater, Meyer, Jimmy Kimmel Live contributor Scott Chernoff and Crank Yankers' BJ Guyer meld puppets, live-action, old-school videogames and big dose of out-there humor together to tell the seedy story behind the biggest stars in videogame history.
“The Videogame Theater team is beyond excited to be teaming with The Escapist,” Frank told TheFeed. “The series is truly one of the most funny and f***ed up projects I’ve ever been a part of. Videogame Theater tells the behind the scene tales of classic videogame characters like Pac-Man, Mario and Q-Bert, and the horrible lives we imagine they must lead. The show reveals what we think could have lead them up to the videogames they are famous for. We parody what you know of the games and characters, and take them in dark, disturbing place. So it’s a perfect fit for a site like The Escapist, who are looking to expand on what we know about videogames and offer content that appeals to gaming fans for the same reasons they play the game in the first place: action, adventure, comedy, surreal images, bizarre locations, and lots of lots of sex and violence!”
Videogame Theater will make its exclusive US debut Tuesday, May 27, and air bi-weekly at The Escapist, but you can watch the pilot here!
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TAGS: Videogames
Konami Introduces 'Rock Revolution'
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Thursday, May 15, 2008 1:55 PM
Konami's throwing their hat in the rock videogame ring with Rock Revolution!
They promise the game will "Break new ground with its definitive drum experience," and "gives players a chance to rock out on the bass and lead guitar."
"Rock Revolution will be the most innovative and realistic rock game to hit the market, that will provide a quality drum peripheral and music that players will appreciate," said Anthony Crouts, Vice President of Marketing for Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. "As the originator of music-based games, we are dedicated to bringing fans a truly preeminent music experience. With Rock Revolution, we put the emphasis on the drum kit, delivering an experience unlike any other."
Rock Revolution is scheduled to launch this Fall for the Xbox 360, PLAYSTATION 3 system and the Wii and DS. It's scheduled to come out this fall.
We'll let you know more details when we have them, like, for instances: Can I use my Rock Band drums? How about my Guitar Hero guitar? We'll let you know when we know.
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TAGS: Music, Videogames
Fresh Ink Online: Logan, Buffy, & More!
Posted by Mike D'Alonzo - Thursday, May 15, 2008 1:39 PM
This week on Fresh Ink Online, Blair Butler might be out of the country, but still leaves us with reviews of Logan #3, Jonah Hex #31, Thunderbolts: Reason & Madness #1, Buffy #14, and Action Comics Annual #11. That's a whole lot of comic action for you to consider, so, without any further adieu, why not watch what Blair has to say?
Here 'tis.
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TAGS: Comics, Fresh Ink, G4 Web Exclusive
'Banjo-Kazooie 3' Does Have Lots of Vehicles
Posted by Ty Colfax - Thursday, May 15, 2008 1:24 PM
Remember that Feed post a few days ago about Rare not wanting people to jump to conclusions about what the new Banjo-Kazooie game is about? Turns out its mostly vehicles; about 80% suggests Gregg Mayles, the game's creator.
It's definitely a departure from old B-K engines and apparently the ability to build contraptions and vehicles is a big part of the fun. We're thinking people should give it a shot. Go into it as though it's a totally new IP, instead of a radically changed model of a several-times used franchise. Might be fun.
destructoid.com: Banjo-Kazooie sequel is 80% vehicles
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TAGS: Videogames, Videos, Xbox 360
Nintendo: "No Casual Gaming"
Posted by Brian Leahy - Thursday, May 15, 2008 11:46 AM
In the gaming world, we hear about "casual gaming" every day. A lot of the time it's connected to the Wii and DS because they are mostly seen as casual gaming platforms. The PC is notorious for being a casual gaming haven with games like The Sims and Peggle.
Nintendo Europe's Senior Marketing Director Laurent Fischer believes that "casual gaming" doesn't exist.
He said, "For me, you are a gamer or non-gamer. I think most of you know that you can spend ten or twenty hours on an internet flash game and have not realised. The guy who plays these games regularly - he's a core gamer."
We couldn't disagree more.
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TAGS: Nintendo DS, Videogames, Wii
Exclusive BSG Live: Two Music Videos!
Posted by Jonathan Hunt - Thursday, May 15, 2008 11:24 AM
We told you to come back this week. Did you think we were lying? What do you think we are, a bunch of frakkin' Cylons?
Last week, Blair Butler took you backstage with BSG Composer Bear McCreary and the musicians of the BSG Orchestra when they performed live at the Roxy in Los Angeles. Well, you wanted to see more music, and that's exactly what we have for you today.
Check out these two concert videos we've put together featuring Bear and the BSG Orchestra, as they perform Fight Night and Roslin & Adama.
Roslin and Adama below the cut.
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TAGS: Geek Out With Blair Butler, Music, TV
Epic Fail: Epic Failures
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Thursday, May 15, 2008 11:23 AM
Today's Epic Fail list is a variation on a theme; we're taking a look at things that everyone thought would be epic failures, but turned out to be huge successes, in other words, games, movies and TV shows that manages to succeed in spite of impossible odds.
Crackdown: Originally known as "the game you have to buy for the Halo 3 beta", Crackdown very quickly came into it's own. The day it was launched millions of Halo and Microsoft fanboys rushed stores to get their copy for a Halo 3 beta code. However, the beta wasn't open on day one, so people actually had to PLAY Crackdown to entertain themselves.
They soon discovered that not only is Crackdown fun, but it is a great game. Nothing complicated or high concept, just free-roaming, super-powered, non-stop destruction. It was a thing of beauty. The addition of hop in/out co-op made things even sweeter, and with future downloadable content like new characters, weapons, vehicles, and mini-games, Crackdown quickly moved from a game that everyone wrote off before they had even seen it to a must own for anyone with an Xbox 360.
--Patrick Roche-Sowa
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TAGS: Epic Fail
Cyclists Take to the Highways
Posted by Ty Colfax - Thursday, May 15, 2008 11:17 AM
In what can only be a campaign to be the most annoying and smug group of people in the whole world, a mass of bike riders have taken to one of the nation's busiest stretches of highway to prove a point.
Last Friday, the "Crimanimals" took the I-10 freeway in Los Angeles buzzing around gridlocked traffic to show that bikes are better. "The freeway is the last stronghold of the car, so when you've got 30 cyclists flying down the lanes, you feel like General Custer, you feel like the good guys," said Alex Cantarero.
Click the jump for a Dennis Miller style rant.
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TAGS: Other People's Misfortune, Prostate Health
Nugget From The Net: Acme Product Catalog
Posted by Ty Colfax - Thursday, May 15, 2008 11:02 AM
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TAGS: Internets Culture, Nuggets From The Nets
New PlayStation 3 Ad Confuses Us...
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Thursday, May 15, 2008 10:53 AM
Above is half of a European ad for the PlayStation 3. We can't print the whole thing because you would get the wrong idea, but we've posted it under the fold. Keep in mind: That's the dude's thumb, we swear.
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TAGS: Other People's Misfortune, PlayStation 3, Videogames
PlayStation 3 Firmware 2.35 Released
Posted by Brian Leahy - Thursday, May 15, 2008 10:44 AM
 Sony has released version 2.35 of the PlayStation 3 firmware, which is a "minor update to improve stability of some PS3 titles."
Boot up your PS3s and update you console.
This update does not fix the GTA IV issues, but Sony apparently has a magical solution that they will share with you if you call them.
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TAGS: Grand Theft Auto IV, PlayStation 3, Videogames
SEGA Unveils 'Platinum Games'
Posted by Stephen Johnson - Thursday, May 15, 2008 10:25 AM
At a press conference last night, SEGA announced a new publishing arm: Platinum Games. The division of Sega will come out of the gate with three original games:
- Devil may Cry creator Hideki Kamiya's Bayonetta for the 360 and the PS3. The game features a heavily armed witch battling angels. Serious! That's a confusing shot of it above.
- Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami's blood feast, Madworld for the Wii, in which players take on the role of a contestant in a mayhem-and-violence-soaked reality show.
- Hifumi Kouno's Infinite Line, a space adventure RPG for the DS.
Check out the early art:
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TAGS: Videogames
Worf Backs Obama
Posted by Ty Colfax - Thursday, May 15, 2008 10:18 AM
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You've got to read Lt. Worf's Op. piece in the Talking Points Memo about why he's endorsing Obama for President. For a man born to battle, he's very well-spoken. Link below.