Xbox store and gaming café for Dublin
An Xbox-only retail unit and gaming café is to open in Dublin under the name Xbox Live Gaming Centre.
It follows the opening of Bartizan Game World, a gaming café in Midleton, Cork.
It is owned and to be run by ‘Multiplayer’, with partners
Microsoft, Eircom, and Samsung. The gaming café is “strategically
partnered and backed” by Irish financiers, according to irishdev.com.
The centre is running apparently semi-open testing on Friday, with
the official opening on April 5. It was to open in March, we were told
recently that there were a “Few delays”, and that they “are
looking at 27 Mar now and have organized a press launch”, an email
sent early this week has gone unanswered.
Their website at Xboxlivegamingcentre.com, is publicly viewable vie xboxlivegamingcentre.com/services.asp.
With a mixture of Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles, and a focus on
multiplayer, according to the website, the “Centre is a revolutionary
concept in multiplayer gaming. A super fast broadband enabled console
environment with the best Audio Visual equipment”.
The outlet is set to also sell Xbox hardware, at least chart Xbox
games, Samsung TVs, Eircom broadband, and all-in-one services -
“There are various packages available along with our unique
“Multiplayer Home” service where you can have one of our engineers call
to your home and install the whole lot - Broadband, Xbox, LCD and Xbox
Live a/c”. The retail section fronts the two-story gaming centre.
Located at 51 South William Street, between Grafton Street and
Dublin Castle, the gaming café is expected to open to midnight on
weekdays and after on weekends. It will be open for bookings, including
corporate nights, and they “regularly cater for Microsoft and EA game
launches”.
As part of Microsoft’s long strategy of promoting Xbox Live using
celebrities, Nikki Hayes, an RTE radio and TV presenter, recently
played at the café with winners of a competition on her radio show and
others over Xbox Live. Previously the Dublin-based band the Thrills
played over Live, these plans to expand the list of Irish celebrities
using the Gaming Centre.
Belfast firm make web game for film
CanDo Interactive have developed a promotional Shockwave game for
the recently release film Running Scared — it can be played by going
to the ‘game’ section at runningscaredthemovie.com. CanDo has previously worked on a game for the film Triple X 2 and helped with an SUV safety promotion run by the US Attorney General’s office.
Games talk in DCU tomorrow
Tony Kelly of Torc Interactive, and the IGDA Ireland is to give a public talk in Dublin City University tomorrow, Tuesday, February 28, 2006.
The DCU Game Society hosts the talk ‘the Games Industry’ as part of Red Brick’s
Tech Week. It is to take place in the Seminar Room upstairs in the Hub
at DCU Glasnevin, Dublin 9. The event is open to the public. Screen shot of Torc’s Dreadnought playable tech demo made for AMD.
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.
New sites for two Irish games developers
Two Galway-based games companies have recently launched new websites, PC and console developer StarCave - starcave.com, and mobile games developer Nephin - nephingames.com (pictured above).
PSP consoles taken in van robbery in Dublin?
According
to the Garda Press Office “a number of Playstation 2 Hand Pods” and
an “assortment of PS2 games” have been taken in a van robbery in
Dublin. They are apparently referring to Sony’s handheld console the
PlayStation Portable, as well as games for such.
The van was robbed this morning at a petrol
station at Pinnock Hill in Swords, Co Dublin. The theft comes just days
before the launch of the new portable console on Thursday, althought
it’s worth noting that the PSP has however been heavily imported,
at least by a selective amount of hardcore gamers.
“These items are not available to the public at present. If they
happen to be offered for sale or supply to members of the public or
business fraternity could they please contact The Gardaí at Swords on
01 6664711″ states a Garda press release.
Related news
- PSP European launch in September (26/04/2005)
Ireland’s 360 price difference due to VAT rate - Microsoft
- ‘Game’ stores still quoting lower price, but with caution
On Wednesday, when the European and US price points for the Xbox 360
were confirmed, the Irish media received price points for the two
versions of the console 10 euro more then the price announced for other
areas of the euro zone. With the retail price for the Republic of Ireland
hitting 309.99 and 409.99 euro, for bare minimum ‘Core’ console, and
hard drive included package, respectively. In contrast to 299 and 399
euro elsewhere.
When Games Toaster asked the local Xbox PR office about the difference,
we were simply told, “Ireland has a higher VAT rate than other European
countries”.
Retailers stories are also differing, with four Xtra-vision stores,
three in Dublin and one in Galway, not knowing the console’s price, saying
that they were not informed of the price and it was not in their
system. Only one location was taking preorders with a 20 euro deposit,
another Dublin store told us that they are only taking orders for the
PSP, while the store who was taking preorders boldly stated that the
Xbox 360’s price — which was revealed on Wednesday - would not be
announced until two weeks before the launch.
Smyths, GameStop, and World of Wonders, all quoted the official
recommended prices for the Republic. While one ‘Game’ shop told us that
they have been given the lower prices of 299 and 399 euro from their
head office, but warned that this may change. In addition, the ‘Game’
store said that they had taken 15 pre-orders on Saturday alone, and
that they expect to fill their quota within a week, possible two.
Murdoch’s News Corp may buy IGN
The Financial
Times is reporting that Rupert Murdoch has put the computer games media
company ‘IGN Entertainment’ on a list of “desired acquisitions” of the media firm
News Corp, using the source “people familiar with the company’s plans”, although
the company has declined to comment.
News Corp is in the process of rapidly
expanding its internet presence, with FT.com stating that recently acquired
sites have pushed News Corp’s online reach from “16m unique users a month to
close to 50m”.
IGN are preparing for a flotation on the
stock market, they are apparently open to a private sale, the company is said
to be valued at $800m.
IGN Entertainment computer game related web
publications include IGN.com, GameSpy, Voodoo Extreme, and TeamXbox. The
company runs download services FilePlanet, 3D Gamers, and Direct2Drive. IGN
also hosts and runs their advertisement network over a large amount of ‘fan
site’ under their ‘Planet’ brand; sites include PlanetHalflife, PlanetQuake,
and PlanetBattlefield.
News Corp’s media portfolio ranges from
newspapers (News of the World, the Sun, the Times) to satellite broadcasters
(Sky, Fox) to book publishers (HarperCollins) to film studios (Fox).
Xbox 360 US pricing released
The online version of LA’s broadsheet newspaper, the Los Angeles Times, is reporting the official prices of two versions of the Xbox 360.
One at $299 with a wired controller, but no hard drive, the other
$399 with a 20Gb hard drive, wireless controller with headset, Ethernet
cable, and remote control.
As GamesIndustry.biz points out,
the print edition of the LA Times will be on newsstands after
Microsoft’s announcement at the Leipzig ‘Game Convention’ this morning.
WEEE - retailers to take back old consoles
Games
consoles, and other hardware, are among the items covered by the new
Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive. The WEEE directive,
which will require retailers to accept old electrical and electronic
products, comes into affect in the Republic this Saturday.
Retailers will be obliged to offer this service free of charge, but
it is only on a one-for-one and like-for-like bases. “the WEEE must
be of a similar type or have performed the same function as the new
item purchased. For example, [retailers] are not obligated to accept a
microwave if [the] customer has purchased a toaster” states a Department of the Environment document.
Retailers, as well as producers and importers, of ‘Electrical and Electronic Equipment’ should already be registered as such.