E3 2005: Revolution?
Cian Ginty in Los Angeles, CA.
At Nintendo’s pre-E3 press conference this morning the company
brought a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘backward compatibility’,
showing a prototype of their next home console, the Revolution, they
said it would allow for download of some games released up to 20 years
ago, including games from the N64, SNES, and NES — as well as
compatibility with GameCube disks.
The 12cm disk drive will be a slot, not a tray, and a
“self-contained attachment” will allow for the use of DVD films and
other content. With 512mb flash memory, and a SD memory card port for
storage. Built-in Wi-Fi will allow for online and DS connectivity.
Controllers — like the 360 and PS3 — will be wireless, and the
console will host two USB 2.0 ports. The publisher is claiming the
controllers will be somewhat ground-breaking,
but did not elaborate on such.
Square-Enix is, according to Nintendo, working on a “WiFi game” of
Final Fantasy for the new console, with Metroid 3 and Nintendo’s other
’stars’ also lined up for the Revolution.
E3 2005: Resizing the GBA, again
Cian Ginty, in Los Angeles, CA; Nintendo has become infamous for repacking old software and
hardware – with the latter normally with slight design changes – and usually
selling them again by the bucket load. The company has now redesigned the
Game Boy Advance, making it yet again smaller.
Although they made it clear this
is not the GBA’s successor, the announcement was made early this morning at
their yearly pre-E3 press conference at the Hollywood and
center on
The third GBA revamp, the Game Boy Micro, will see the handheld
console shrink to 4″ wide, 2″ tall, and 0.7 thick, according to the company
weighting around the same as 80 paper clips, or 2.8 ounces. Sporting a backlit
2″ screen, it’s virtually the same insides.
E3 2005: More on Xbox 360
Further to the main reveling
on the 360 early last Friday morning, at the pre-E3 Xbox event it was
confirmed that the console will be backward compatible, and will launch
at the same time in Europe, North American, and Japan, although it’s
still sometime before the end of the year.
Xbox 360 officially revealed last night
Microsoft’s second games console was officially publicly revealed
last night on the viral marketing website OurColony, and then on MTV in
North America, although renders of the console have been online for
sometime, and photographs from the MTV program were leaked after the
show was pre-recorded.
The console’s name, Xbox 360, has been confirmed along with the
white colour (or “Chill” according to MS), wireless controllers,
and a removable 20Gb hard drive. All of which was revealed vie reliable
sources before.
Technical system specifications (you’ve been warned:) boast
three IBM PowerPC processors each at 3.2 GHz, 512 MB of GDDR3 RAM @ 700
MHz, 10MB 500 MHz ATI graphics card, with high-definition out of the
box.
Paid for hardware add-ons include up to three extra controllers, a digital camera, and a wireless networking WiFi adaptor.
The WiFi adaptor or a cable will allow the console to connect to
home networks. The console will be able to connect to Window XP PCs,
and directly vie USB to MP3 players and digital camera to listen to
music or view photographs.
Xbox 360’s updated Live online multiplayer service will come in
Silver or Gold editions. The Silver is free, but will only allow you to
play multiplayer at the weekend. While Gold will apparently allow for
transfer of an original paid-for Xbox Live account, with
‘intelligent’ matchmaking based on skill. Both will allow for some
type of file sharing and the downloading of free and paid games content.
The
star-studied MTV preview show was recorded at a Hollywood night club
last week with Elijah Woods, Snow Patrol, the Killers, Robbie Williams,
Tony Hawk, Xzibit, Tim Burgess (the Charlatans), and a host of others.
Meanwhile the games industry and associated press are converging on
LA for the trade-only E3 2005, where over one thousand games go on
display on the show floors and behind closed doors — what is seen as
the most important event in at least the calendars of publishers, and
the media. The events kick off with the Sony press conference on Monday
afternoon, followed swiftly by Microsoft’s Xbox briefing.
Games
Toaster will be in LA for the week for on-site coverage, and for the
less apparent act of enlightening our selves for the year to come.
PSP European launch in September
00.06AM 26/04/2005: By Cian Ginty: On
September 1, the PSP, which is already available in the United States,
and Japan, will be released in Europe. The announcement came to Games
Toaster under embargo from SCE Ireland late yesterday.
The PSP ‘Value Pack’ will retail at 254.99 euro, or £179 UKP,
it contains a PSP console, a protective pouch, 32MB Memory Stick Duo,
battery pack, headphones with remote control, AC adaptor, wrist strap
and a non-interactive demo of video, music, and game, on the PSP’s
UMD format disk. No price was given for the standard PSP.
The ‘Value Pack’ is nearly identical to the current US/Japanese
‘Value Pack’, which currently retails on the import site
lik-sang.com for 219 euro, while the standard PSP sells there for 195
euro — excluding delivery and related charges.
Games currently released for the portable console includes Ridge
Racer, Wipeout Pure, Spider-Man 2, Tony Hawk’s Underground 2, Tiger
Woods PGA Tour, and Need for Speed Underground Rivals.
As well as the ability to use video, music, and pictures vie Memory
Sticks, the PSP also plays music and film on the PSP’s protected
read-only UMD format – although unlike games, films are region
protected.
In a limited early offer SCEE will give free copies of the film
Spider-Man 2 on UMD to people who buy the game ‘Spider-Man 2′ and
register their handheld on vie their site yourpsp.com.
PSP specifications and features…
Product Name: PSP
Colour: Black
Product Code: PSP-1001K
Dimensions: Approximately 6.7″ (W) x .9″ (H) x 2.9″ (D)
Weight: Approximately 280g / .62 lbs (including battery)
CPU: PSP CPU (System clock frequency 1 – 333MHz)
Main Memory: 32MB
Embedded DRAM: 4MB
Display: 4.3 inch, 16:9 widescreen TFT LCD
80 x 272 pixel, 16.77 million colours
Maximum luminance 180 /
130 / 80cd/m2 (when using Battery Pack)
Maximum luminance 200 / 180 / 130 / 80cd/m2 (when using AC Adaptor)
Sound: Built-in stereo speakers
Main Input/Output IEEE 802.11b
USB 2.0 (mini-B)
Memory Stick Duo
IrDA
IR Remote
Main Connectors: Memory Stick Duo slot
USB connector
DC OUT connector
DC IN 5V connector
Headset connector
Power: Lithium-ion Battery
AC Adaptor
Disc Drive: UMD Drive (Read only)
Profile: PSP Game
UMD Audio
UMD Video
Codec: [Video]: “UMD”: H.264/MPEG-4 AVC Main Profile | Level 3
[Video]:”Memory Stick”: MPEG-4 SP, AAC
[Music]: “UMD”: linear PCM, ATRAC3plus
[Music]:”Memory Stick”: ATRAC3plus, MP3(MPEG1/2 | Layer3)
[Photo]: JPEG (DCF2.0/Exif2.21)
Security: (Encryption) 128bit AES
(Copyright protection technology) MagicGate
Access control: Region, Parental Control
Wireless: IEEE802.11b
Infrastructure Mode
Ad Hoc Mode
(connects up to 16 PSP systems)
PSP Value Pack (supplied accessories)
AC Adaptor
Battery Pack
Memory Stick Duo (32MB)
Pouch (Black)
Headphones with Remote
Control (90dB limited*) (White)
UMD In-pack Sampler
Wrist Strap (White)
Cloth (Light Grey)
* conforming with European
standards
Xbox 360 images?
Renders and photographs (above below) apparently of Microsoft’s
next games console, the Xbox 360, have being doing the rounds on the net yesterday
and today. The images, which are believed to be real, match a close-up
photograph previously released from Microsoft’s viral marketing website OurColony.net.
In not-so-great-news, a vague advertisement – that reveals nothing – is
currently airing on MTV to promoting the console’s half-hour first-look TV program
due to be broadcasted on the station the week before E3. 
Next Xbox to premiere on MTV
First sight of console to broadcast on iconic US music TV station
By Cian Ginty: The
unveiling of Microsoft’s second console is to happen first on MTV in
North America on 12 May, and the next day to the rest of the world, not
as first expected at Microsoft’s annual pre-E3 media event.
The move follows Sony’s plans to move their pre-E3 event to just hours before Microsoft’s press event.
The half-hour program, ‘MTV Presents: The Next Generation Xbox
Revealed’, will broadcast on MTV UK Ireland at 8pm on Friday 13
May. Lord of the Rings actor Elijah Woods, and indie band ‘the
Killers’, will host the premiere, with other celebrities giving their
opinion of the new system. Along with game footage, details of the
future of Xbox Live will also be aired.
After the North America show, MTV.com
will feature a behind-the-scenes video, photos, and other unspecified
details. The site is also set to promote the console and its games on a
longer base.
Talking about the program, Peter Moore, vice
president of worldwide marketing and publishing for Xbox, said, “We are
ecstatic about our alliance with MTV and unveiling a video game
platform in a way that has never been done”.
The first sign that Microsoft was to break
with the industry-norm of unveiling new consoles to the media and industry at or
around the E3 Expo was the recently launched viral marketing website and game ‘Our
Colony‘, which is counting down to the date of the television program. Microsoft
had a similar viral campaign for the launch of the Xbox game Halo 2.
Full dates and times: Thursday, May 12 - North America: 21:30 (EDT). Friday, May 13 -
UK/Ireland: 20.00, France: 19:00, Portugal: 20:00, Spain: 21:30,
Netherlands: 19:30, Germany: 19:00, Italy: 23:30, Poland: 21:00,
Romania: 20:00, Scandinavia: 22:00, Australia: 19:00, and Japan/Asia:
11:30.
From Scotland with voice
Goodbye Mr Brosnan, hello again Russia; shot from Everything or Nothing game
According to the Hollywood Reporter,
Sean Connery will lend his voice and likeness to EA’s next Bond game,
‘From Russia with Love’, based on the 1963 film of the same name.
Echoing recent comments from other actors working on old-film-to-game converts, in a statement Connery said that “As
an artist, I see this as another way to explore the creative
process,… Video games are an extremely popular form of entertainment
today, and I am looking forward to seeing how it all fits together.”
After ‘Nightfire’, ‘Agent Under Fire’, ‘Everything or Nothing’, and
‘Rogue Agent’, Russia will mark a move for EA away from original story
and back to the Bond films for game content.
Both film and game franchises have now dropped the Irish-born Pierce
Brosnan, and both will be looking backwards for storylines. The next
Bond film is based on ‘Casino Royale’, Ian Fleming’s first Bond book –
currently only filmed as a parody.
Other films on their way to becoming games include the Godfather (EA), and Dirty Harry
(Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment), while last week the news broke that the more recently made television program ‘24′ (SCE) is also set for the game treatment.
From War to Warrior
According to GamesIndustry.biz, Creative Assembly, the creators of the PC real-time strategy game Total War, is
set to bring their series to the consoles. Although, ‘Spartan: Total Warrior’
will be a third-person action game, not a RTS. Sega Europe are to publish the
game on PS2, Xbox, and GameCube in September.
Brandproof?
of a brand – ‘50 Cent’ is to add to his brand portfolio with a computer game of
his own. The move is possibly the start to putting computer games on a similar
level in regards to respect as the over the top hip-hop music videos.
bloody path through New York’s drug underworld”, with international conspiracies and all. The
executive producer of the hit gangster TV program ‘the Sopranos’, and
screenwriter of 50 Cent’s upcoming film, Terry Winter is the storywriter for
the game.
including a .9mm bullet to the face, in front of his grandmothers house in
Queens” states his website, which openly displays guns and a mock-up death
certificate – in line with hip-hop’s gangster image.
“In everything I do, I play to win”, continuing “I’m out to
destroy the competition and my video game is no different. It’s a fantasy
version of my life. I plan to shake up the video game world like I did the rap
world — I’m pulling no punches with my game”.
Vivendi Universal Games.