Irish prisons to get new PS2 consoles, says tabloid; PlayStation not linked to killing
- No substantial link between PlayStation and killer, possible questionable sub-editing
Last Friday’s ‘the Irish Sun’ tabloid newspaper leads with the
headline “PLAYSTATION KILLER”, somehow in reference to Wayne
O’Donoghue, who was convicted of manslaughter of the 11-year-old
Robert Holohan.
There is apparently no link between the killing and the games
console, the paper only says O’Donoghue, like other prisoners, will
be getting a PS2 when the prisons upgrade from the original PlayStation
consoles. The tabloid quotes an unnamed ‘prison source’ stating
“All the old PlayStations are being replaced with new PS2s so prison
officers are up to their eyes in games consoles”.
The paper, owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News International, is famous for the “Gotcha” headline,
used when the British Navy sunk an enemy ship in the Falklands war; it
is thought to be inappropriate as 368 men were killed. “Your headlines
often made us feel sick”, the Sun’s official historian later quoted a
British serviceman, adding there were “ritual burnings of the Sun” on
navy vessels.
Boards.ie Game Awards — last chance to vote
Registered users on boards.ie have just a few days to vote in the 2005 Boards.ie Game Awards.
There’s 20 categories, including “Hottie of the Year”. The small
awards are one of the only ones voted by users mostly from Ireland.
While Games Toaster is involved in moderating the Games board at
boards.ie, we are in no way link to the Game Awards on that site.
DS gets free WiFi in Ireland
Nintendo has partnered
with BT to provide free multiplayer gaming over WiFi for the DS
handheld console at hotspot in the Republic and Northern Ireland.
(Early this week the company released details of a scaled down version of the handheld, ‘DS Lite’ – pictured, right)
BT Openzone
currently has over 270 public wireless broadband, the deal announced
early this week will see this expand to some game outlets, namely Game,
GameStop, HMV, Smyths Toys, and “other key outlets across Ireland”.
WiFi location currently enabled include Cork Airport, O’Briens
cafés, Insomnia cafés, in the Republic, and at BT NI payphones,
Belfast City Airport, Belfast’s Great Victoria Station, Belfast’s
Central Station, PC World outlets, and McDonalds in Northern Ireland,
and both north and south at some Maxol filling stations, and a number
of hotels and other cafés. The full and up-to-date list can be found here.
Nintendo’s DS multiplayer gaming services is not subscriptions
based, the only cost to the user is broadband at home, or a cup of
coffee as an excuse to stay on the premises. Nintendo also offers a
home WiFi adaptor for the DS to insure easer access, it retails for
about 40 euro.
“Nintendo are bringing a significant, groundbreaking deal to
Ireland. Launching our Wi-Fi service in partnership with BT Openzone is
a massive statement of our commitment” stated David Yarnton, General
Manager, Nintendo UK.
GameCon 8 in February
The 36-hour “gaming extravaganza”, GameCon 8, will be held at the
Castleknock Hotel Country Club, Porterstown Road, Dublin 15, near the M50. The multiplayer gaming event will run from 9pm
February 24, to 9am on February 26.
Entry is 40 euro, or 30 euro by pre-booking online by credit card or
sending a check or postal order to the organizers. According to the
LAN’s website, there are currently 104 people registered, including 22
pre-paid.
“We use GameCon to analyse the market, otherwise gamers are very hard
to find… We run show reels and conduct questionnaires
to get feedback on particular games” Jermain (Jazz) Williams told the
Sunday Business Post back in 2002, adding “For example, we have been
involved in providing feedback on the Fifa Game, which is Ireland’s
number one game, and Burnout 3, an Xbox game. Microsoft added a special
feature enabling gamers to create their own soundtrack, thanks to
feedback from our gamers”.
Sponsors of Gamecon include Sony (PlayStation), Microsoft (Xbox),
Nokia (N-Gage), Electronic Arts, Activision, Take Two (owner of
Rockstar), Creative Labs, Alienware, GameStop, and retailers G3. The
now defunct games publisher Digtal Jesters still appears on the
event’s website. While Xtra-vision is no longer listed as a sponsor -
it is said that the company is scaling back games operations
(apprently including closing the specialist Xtra-Game stores,
meanwhile the retailer and renter is currently running clearout sale across
film, music and games, with the latter selling as low as 9.99 euro).
.
Registration is open at http://gamecon.ie/; our article on GameCon 7 is here.
REVIEW: Perfect Dark Zero
Developer: Rare | Publisher: Microsoft | Format: Xbox 360
Reviewer: Craig Gallagher
riding on Perfect Dark Zero, not only is it being hyped as the Xbox
360’s killer title but it also faces the task of being the sequel to
one of the most accomplished games in the annals of gaming history,
itself a follow up to the undisputed king of console first person
shooter, Goldeneye on N64.
With that pressure, it’s not surprising to find that PDZ doesn’t
live up to expectations. The game isn’t a massive leap forward for the
series or shooting games. But when it comes to showcasing what the 360
is visually capable then PDZ comes into it’s own. The sharp visuals are
a cross between Halo’s realism and the cartoon nature of most of Rare’s
titles.
The detail found in the environments is at times breathtaking. The
way in which the surrounding environment is reflected on the shiny
surface of your futuristic firepower or the way in which enemy clothing
becomes tattered and blood stained as each new volley of bullets makes
contact.
The gameplay is a mixture of cartoon violence, team based
death-matches, and ever-evolving gaming types, often changing mid level
as you go from spying on enemy soldiers to protecting a comrade using a
sniper rifle.
The game may have been damaged by hype but for the most PDZ is a rare treat, that delivers on almost every level.
REVIEW: Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones
Developer/Publisher: Ubisoft | Format: Xbox (PS2, PSP, GC, DS, PC)
Reviewer: Craig Gallagher
Persia’s most famous son is faced with not only the destruction of his
great city but the death of his precious Kaileena, oh and lets not
forget the ethnic cleansing of his loyal subjects. So will the Prince
fulfil his destiny, save his city and get his girl back or will he be
consumed by the evil inside him?
The new prince may look like a pissed off Marilyn Manson fan but he
can handle himself in a fight like never before. This is largely thanks
to gruesome dagger tail weapon that makes short work of adversaries.
You are now able to switch beside the prince’s good and bad sides,
think of him e a bit like Gollum in the Lord of the Rings. Sadly, its
obsession with fighting nearly ruins the Two Thrones.
The prince has been taken out of his natural environment (narrow
corridors and caverns), and placed in the alien environment of an open
city. The series is all about scaling large walls and solving devious
death inducing puzzles rather than a series of boring fights. The other
new addition to the mix is the chariot racing which like the new
gameplay fails to impress. It feels slow and unnecessary.
The Two Thrones is as the old saying goes more a pauper than a prince. You’re best advised to stick with the Sands of Time.
Game released by Galway developer
‘Adventure tour’ released; two FPSs, and Cuchulainn-era adventure planned
StarCave Studios have released an adventure tour game, ‘Camelot Galway
- City of the Tribes’. Is mainly aimed at the education and tourist
markets, it allows players to explore a colourful and upbeat recreation
of medieval Galway.
Unlike what reports late last year on RTE Online, Aertel, and a
number of sites, the game was only released in the past few days,
according to the developer this was due to a “last minute decision”
by the publisher.
Priced at $19.95 USD (about 16.50 euro), Camelot Galway is now available to try or buy at garagegames.com; there are also plans to sell it at retail in Galway, mainly at tourism-based locations.
The game, which was made using a Galway street map dating to 1651
AD, includes eight historical stories split between 55 pages that can
be collected around the city, a number of mini-games (archery etc),
object information featuring their English and Irish names, and
advertisements for current day shops.
At industry show E3 last May, StarCave boss Keith Killilea told Games Toaster
that “A year ago StarCave Studios was only a dream”, ambitiously
adding that “We’re going to be no. 1″. The PC and console developer is
based in Galway, Irish owned, privately funded, and owns three indie
studios – Staridia in Brazil, Cellien in the US, and Single Cell in
Australia.
Last August, the company ran their publicity launch and first
birthday party at the Eye Cinema in Galway (pictured, right). Besides
Camelot Galway, they screed footage of their upcoming budget-priced first person shooter games Illumina and Terra Formations,
as well as a 3D character-build from what may be their flagship title,
‘the 14 Tribes’. 14 Tribes is an action-adventure set in the
Ireland of the folklore character Cuchulainn, it is in development
using the Reality Engine and is planned as a PC and Xbox release.
Screenshots from Derry studio
The website of the impressive Reality Engine features screenshots of Phooka Entertainment’s
‘third-person action-adventure edutainment’ game Recall.
(Apparently online since last November, so we’re a bit late with this)
According
to a press release from the North West Institute
in Derry city, the game will help peace and reconciliation in Northern
Ireland by promoting cooperation, understanding, and reconciliation.
Also acting as a showcase for the studio, the title will be first used
in schools in the north.
Phooka is in ICE Cube, the incubator
program of the North West Institute’s Higher National Certificate in
Interactive Computer Entertainment (ICE). The institute also runs a
National Certificate course, Computer Rendered Entertainment and
Animated Media (CREAM). Both are fulltime, one-year courses.
Games developer conference for Dublin?
Awakenings 06, the follow-up to the 2004 games developer conference of the same name looks set to take place in Dublin in the fourth quarter of this year, according to Tony Kelly of IGDA Ireland, writing on the Irish developer site Gamesdevelopers.ie.
The first conference (pictured, right), which was the first games
developer event of its kind on the island of Ireland, was set in Derry,
Northern Ireland. Awakenings is organised by the Ireland branch of the
International Game Developers Association (IGDA). After each
conference, the group plans to rotate the event from one side of the
boarder to the other.
Gamesdevelopers.ie states “we’re aiming to outdo the last
Awakenings in every way – more industry speakers, more local industry
support, more attendees, and possibly the addition of workshops”.