Posted by Mike D'Alonzo - Friday, July 06, 2007 5:02 PM
We are faced with an embarassment of riches here at TheFeed. In our continuing series of interviews about E3 '07 before the fact, we were graced with a few minutes of time to talk with Mr. Attack of the Show himself, Kevin Pereira.
Kevin told us all about the games he's looking forward to seeing and what he expects E3 07 will be like.
Posted by Mike D'Alonzo - Friday, July 06, 2007 4:59 PM
In our constant effort to bring you all things E3, we're getting the jump early by talking to some of the hosts of our E3 '07 Live coverage before the fact, to see what they think of the event this year.
Our old friend and X-Play co-host Morgan Webb sat down with us to talk about the gaming fiesta and what she's looking forward to.
*NOTE: For all of you know-it-all types, this video was shot before a release date was set for Metroid. That's with an o-i. Natch.
Bungie, the company responsible for the Halo series, has had a long (and some say mystical) connection to the number "7." There are seven Halos in the Halo universe. The company has a "7 step plan for world domination." Their official fan club is called "the 7th Column." And on and on.
The company has always regarded July 7th as Bungie Day...but tomorrow is an even specialer special day: 07/07/07.
To celebrate, Bungie is giving you a gift: Downloadable content for both PC and Xbox 360.
It's a secret what your free present will be, but, according to Bungie's site, "don't get too excited, it's not Halo 3 - think something of a more decorative nature."
To get yours, log on to Marketplace any time starting at approximately 2:00 AM PDT on July 7th. Whatever cool stuff Bungie's dropping tomorrow, it will only be available for one day, and then never again. So get it!
Posted by Brian Leahy - Friday, July 06, 2007 3:05 PM
The Wall Street Journal got word from Apple that they will be releasing a software patch that will add Adobe Flash support to the built-in Safari browser. They expect the update to come within the next few months.
This is huge news for the iPhone as the internets moves more and more toward Flash pages. Without Flash support, the iPhone loses a lot of street cred as a fully featured web device.
Now if only they could enable 3G with a simple software update (they can't) we'd actually be able to view Flash content.
Also discovered by the WSJ is the iPhone's ability to integrate with cars over Bluetooth. The car in question was a BMW, but it did let them make calls from the Beamer's built-in display. There is still no file-transfer support over Bluetooth.
Posted by Mike D'Alonzo - Friday, July 06, 2007 2:17 PM
You remember Sierra Entertainment's The Legend of Spyro, don't you? About the purple dragon with the crystal prisons? Yes, we thought it was only in our imagination as well, until Sierra decided to release a new game, called The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night, this fall.
One of the cool things about the new release is that it will feature some pretty prominent voice acting, including Frodo Baggins himself, Elijah Wood, and the one and only Sirius Black, Gary Oldman. So, even if you've never played one of the games, that should be enough to spark some interest, no?
Posted by Mike D'Alonzo - Friday, July 06, 2007 2:14 PM
A Uruguayan counterfeiter is going to be paying out the nose for having sold fake Nintendo stuff. Yes, the Uruguayan Civil Court has ordered him to pay over $2.5 million in damages to Nintendo for selling the false merchandise. Though the man was cleared of criminal charges, this civil suit proves that there were damages, and they were significant.
It's a pretty harsh penalty, and it sends a message to would-be counterfeiters worldwide that Nintendo isn't going to tolerate any of their brand being infringed on. So, if you've got a thousand copies of a version of Super Mario Galaxy that isn't out yet, you might want to think twice before putting that bad boy on Craigslist. Ya heard?
Remember a few months ago when all the bad news on the internet was about the PlayStation 3? TheFeed does, because every time we'd post a story with a headline like, "OMG! PS3 is crazy expensive!" or something, we'd be accused of hating Sony and being lifetime Xbox fanboys.
Nowadays, though, with talk of an impending price cut and some pretty sweet-looking games coming down the pike, it's hard to report anything bad about the PS3. The 360, though, is a different story.
First there's the maintenance thing--I don't know if you've heard, but apparently 360s break down enough that Microsoft has extended their warranty for one particular problem: General hardware failure.
Now there's the fact that the console has also failed to reach its sales target. Microsoft predicted it would sell 12 million of the consoles by June 30. Instead, it has shipped a total of 11.6 million units. Close. So very, very close.
Posted by Brian Leahy - Friday, July 06, 2007 1:41 PM
There's only one thing more hardcore than kidnapping someone and holding them for ransom and that's figuring out a security vulnerability in a popular piece of software and holding that information ransom.
Swiss company, WSLabi, has set up a hacker eBay where hackers can sell these vulnerabilities to the company it affects. They claim to be on the level.
They see it as freelance assistance to software engineers and they feel they should be paid. TheFeed and others thinks it's some straight-up blackmail.
It would be the same thing as TheFeed coming to your house and poking at the walls, foundation, and everything else looking for a flaw. An extremely dangerous flaw that could lead to your entire family being crushed alive by your roof caving in. We'll tell you what you need to fix, but it's gonna cost you.
We also do this without your permission and if you don't pay up, we'll probably come back in the middle of the night and kick in the one thing holding your house together. You should have paid up man. We were just trying to help.
Posted by Brian Leahy - Friday, July 06, 2007 1:40 PM
TheFeed now knows exactly 3 things about Britain: they had the most powerful navy in the world 200 years ago, they talk real funny, and that their videogame industry is booming. U.K. videogame hardware and software sales are up 42% for the first half of 2007 over 2006.
The sales are led by the Nintendo DS Lite, which accounts for 72% of the handhelds sold this year. That's a tough hit for Sony, who is usually strong in Britain.
However, the U.K. has dropped in the amount of game producers because of pressure from other countries with higher tax incentives.
Humanity's twin enemies of elephants and robots are forming an unholy alliance...and they want our arms!
Pictured above is ISELLA, designed by Germany's Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft Institute. The arm was based on an elephant's trunk, and its designers say the unit will help amputees. It has ten DOHELIX muscles, enough to mimic the flexibility of the human arm, but the team expects even better results when the system is ready to ship in two years. That's what they say.
In reality, our robot overlords are planning on replacing our arms with robot arms so we can mine diamonds even faster. They can not be stopped, people. They have no remorse.
Posted by Frank Meyer - Friday, July 06, 2007 1:24 PM
When the good folks from the upcoming Rock Band released the track listing for the game, there was a distinct lack of Ramones (you know, the greatest American rock band of all time?).
Yet, when they released a screen shot of the game earlier this week, the lyrics included were as follows:
“to Rock-a-Way Beach….It’s not hard, not far…”
Now, of course, any red blooded American knows these are excerpts from The Ramones classic “Rockaway Beach.”
So what is it? Is the song in the game or not? Was it just part of a test? Was it in and then axed at the last minute? What the heck is going onaround here?!?!?
Posted by Brian Leahy - Friday, July 06, 2007 12:35 PM
Colin Sebastian at Lazard Capital Markets believes publishers are gonna flock to the Wii. His company estimates that for a Wii title to break even, a company only needs to move 300,000 copies. This is half of the magic number to break even for PS3/Xbox 360 games: 600,000.
The Wii's cheap price point, mass appeal, and focus on gameplay over high-definition art assets (which brings development costs down) all lead to high profit margins.
We aren't biased at all, so we're not going to say that this is awesome news for the Wii because it would suck if it went the way of the Gamecube.
Posted by Frank Meyer - Friday, July 06, 2007 12:12 PM
Somewhere by a lake in middle America...
TIMMY: Hey, Jimmy?
JIMMY: Yeah, Timmy?
TIMMY: Look at that big ol’ turtle over there!
JIMMY: Gosh, that snapper has got to be, like, 40 pounds!
TIMMY: But what’s that thingy on it’s back? It looks like some sort of solar-powered communicator?
(Smiling man in 3-piece suit emerges from the foiliage)
STRANGE PITCHMAN: It sure does, Jimmy. It suuure does. That giant “snapper,” as you like to call it, is called the M16 and is commandeered by scientists from the University of Massachusetts. On it’s back it sports a postcard-sized waterproof computer that tracks and records data about the endangered species and beams it back to the campus when the creature moseys on by a base station.
Posted by Brian Leahy - Friday, July 06, 2007 12:12 PM
MediaDefender, a company known to associate with the MPAA, put up a website intended to entrap catch would-be pirates by offering a program download that claimed to speed up downloads. The website was MiiVi.com.
The program actually searched your computer for illegal files and sent the info back to them. Well, the internets got word of this and sprung into action.
By exposing the website and scheme, internet crusaders forced MediaDefender to shut that mother down. When will the MPAA learn that they can't catch pirates by using the same strategy as an annoying pop-up promising to get rid of annoying pop-ups?
Posted by Mike D'Alonzo - Friday, July 06, 2007 11:36 AM
Cult television. The sort of thing that causes people to get together every week and watch episodes so that they can compare notes and be similarly blown away by what they see on the screen. This is the milieu of TV Guide's Top 30 Cult Television Shows list, and it reveals some surprises.
Sure, you'd expect stuff like Lost on that list, and, of course, Star Trek, perhaps the granddaddy of all cult television. But how about Strangers With Candy? Absolutely Fabulous? Even Jericho has made the list, and, at #11, a lot higher than you'd expect.
You should check out the list yourself, and let us know what TV Guide missed. Or got wrong. You know...opine!
In spite of many rumors of a price reduction since the launch of the PlayStation 3, Sony has been adamant that they are not cutting the $600 price-tag of their console.
"At present we have no plans," to cut the PS3 price, Ryoji Chubachi told Reuters in an interview.
Chubachi also said that Sony was on track to hit its target of a 5 percent operating margin for the year to March 2008.
So there you have it: No price cut. Pay up, Sony fan.
UPDATE: This story keeps going back and forth. Yesterday, it seemed that the price cut might actually be a sale of some kind from a specific retailer, but today, a merchandising manager (who wished to remain anonymous) at one of the world's biggest retailers has confirmed to GameDaily BIZ that the price drop is indeed retail-wide and it's scheduled to take place on July 12.
We feel confident in predicting the price of the PS3 will drop by $100. We've been wrong many, many times before, however.
Posted by Mike D'Alonzo - Friday, July 06, 2007 9:57 AM
The Boston Red Sox are not only the best team in baseball, but one of the most popular, as well. This explains why the online fan vote for the American League representative to the All-Star Game is one Hideki Okajima, a pitcher with the Beantown team.
Okajima, a reliever, is 2-0 with a 0.88 ERA, which is unheard of in the game. He's as close to automatic as a pitcher comes, and is a big reason that the Sox have all but left the American League East in the dust before the break, leading the second place team at the time of this posting by a comfy 12 games.
SEGA announced today Virtua Fighter 5 for the 360 will feature an online versus mode at launch in fall 2007!
The game will also includes an improved Quest mode featuring more CPU rivals, items, and emblems for character customization.
The DOJO mode has added features including leaderboards, training move settings, improved throw escape training, and the option to change your opponent’s position and recovery type.
The game's online mode will allow players to compete online. Players will also be able to select one of the 17 characters or customize a character in Quest mode. Customization features allow players to modify their characters by decorating a selection from four base costumes by attaching a wide range of unlockable and earnable items. Players will not only achieve victory by defeating highly-skilled opponents, but also by competing for prizes and earning in-game money which allow them to buy many items at an in-game shop.
“Virtua Fighter™ 5 is the most intense fighting experience available on next-generation consoles,” said Scott A. Steinberg, Vice President of Marketing, SEGA of America. “The addition of online multiplayer support opens up the competition to a global scale enabling players to compete and challenge anyone, anywhere, anytime, using Xbox Live.”
Look for the "T" rated game to hit shelves in Fall, 2007.
Posted by Brian Leahy - Friday, July 06, 2007 9:27 AM
Internet sleuths and e-detectives have uncovered the FCC approval of a 3G phone for use on T-Mobile's network. The phone is the Samsung SGH-T639 and will be T-Mobile's first 3G phone, which could mean that they are getting ready to roll-out a 3G network.
All the big boys already have 3G so this like the youngest sibling crying out for attention while his older brothers play varsity sports and grow hair on their faces.
It's finally happened: All of our dreams have come true. Atari is releasing a videogame version of classic block-building game Jenga.
Designed to make the most of the innovative control systems on the Wii and DS, the game will offer quick- paced, tactical play that combines "suspense and risk-taking, where mounting anticipation comes to a crashing climax."
"Fans of the Jenga family of games will fall in love with this exciting brand all over again," said Jeremiah Cohn, senior product manager, Atari, Inc. "We are thrilled to deliver this timeless and renowned game with new variations and surprises for the Nintendo DS and Wii."
Atari promises "a wealth of exciting new enhancements, power-ups and twists that are possible only in the videogame world."
We're hoping some variation of "Drunk Jenga." where various penalties are written on the pieces (IE: "Take a shot of vodka"), and players do those penalties as you pull out the pieces. Winners get to decide on the penalties for the other players.
We have a soft-spot in our heart for Turok. That dinosaur-slaying Native American is just awesome. We enjoy this collection of screens that were just released and are eagerly awaiting the release of the next-gen version of the game.
The Wall Street Journal got word from Apple that they will be releasing a software patch that will add Adobe Flash support to the built-in Safari browser. They expect the update to come within the next few months.
You remember Sierra Entertainment's The Legend of Spyro, don't you? About the purple dragon with the crystal prisons? Yes, we thought it was only in our imagination as well, until Sierra decided to release a new game, called The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night, this fall.
A Uruguayan counterfeiter is going to be paying out the nose for having sold fake Nintendo stuff. Yes, the Uruguayan Civil Court has ordered him to pay over $2.5 million in damages to Nintendo for selling the false merchandise. Though the man was cleared of criminal charges, this civil suit proves that there were damages, and they were significant.
There's only one thing more hardcore than kidnapping someone and holding them for ransom and that's figuring out a security vulnerability in a popular piece of software and holding that information ransom.
TheFeed now knows exactly 3 things about Britain: they had the most powerful navy in the world 200 years ago, they talk real funny, and that their videogame industry is booming. U.K. videogame hardware and software sales are up 42% for the first half of 2007 over 2006.
Somewhere by a lake in middle America...
MediaDefender, a company known to associate with the MPAA, put up a website intended to 
Cult television. The sort of thing that causes people to get together every week and watch episodes so that they can compare notes and be similarly blown away by what they see on the screen. This is the milieu of TV Guide's Top 30 Cult Television Shows list, and it reveals some surprises.
Internet sleuths and e-detectives have uncovered the FCC approval of a 3G phone for use on T-Mobile's network. The phone is the Samsung SGH-T639 and will be T-Mobile's first 3G phone, which could mean that they are getting ready to roll-out a 3G network.
It's finally happened: All of our dreams have come true. Atari is releasing a videogame version of classic block-building game Jenga.