Three levels of difficulty are offered: easy, medium and hard. I haven’t beaten Shredder 11 on ‘hard’ yet. Would like to see somebody put Star Wars chess in the Xbox Live Arcade. Speaking of Chess, there is Chessmaster on the Xbox but nothing on the Xbox 360 so far that I’m aware of.
So if Microsoft won’t publish a chess arcade title, why is Ubisoft waiting on Chessmaster? …. Ubisoft wants to allow cross-platform chess play, running on their own servers. Xbox 360 users pipe in through Live. PC, Mobile, PS3 and Wii users pipe in their own respective ways. And anybody who wants to can play against anybody else, regardless of platform. It’s CHESS, for crying out loud, not Shadowrun. It shouldn’t be hard to implement, technically. Bureaucratically, however, it may be extremely difficult.
If this theory is close to reality, that’s sad. In the meantime if you want to play against human opponents online, Free Internet Chess is one good destination. I like their motto: “we do it for the game, not the money.”
While doing grocery shopping today we came across this bottle of Mountain Dew Game Fuel ($2.28 at Winco):
I looked around to see who else had already written about this and saw a fair amount of commentary and some pictures of the cans (Jake at 8bit Joystick has a nice review) and some on the plastic bottle which were part of a Halo 3 promotion and supposed to be produced for only 12 weeks from the middle of August. However, a cursory search didn’t reveal many folks talking about the aluminum bottled version (more rare?) — although a search on eBay revealed a few sellers ($4.99 a bottle + $6.99 shipping? Ouch.) — so I decided to create this post with pictures. Check your local Winco, they had a whole bin full of them at our local store in Puyallup. Still seem kind of pricey at $2.28 a bottle to me, but they feed into the whole collector’s thing.
There is an official website that goes along with this promotion at mountaindewgamefuel.com where you can learn more about the drink. 230 calories per bottle, and then there is this promo video which makes me a bit nervous tasting what’s inside.
As for the taste? Kind of like Cherry Pepsi, but sweeter. Did I get the sugar shakes like the gamers in the vid? No foaming at the mouth, no.
Keep in mind I’m a water guy, preferring an icy glass of water over other drinks. I tried the Game Fuel with an open mind but just too sugary for my tastes. If you can find it at your local Winco or have already tried it, what did you think of the taste?
And what about these promotions? Seems like a good branding opportunity.
Now if only they would make consoles which actually stand the test of time, we just had our fifth Xbox 360 go bad (”unreadable discs”), not covered under the new extended warranty. Your hardware sucks, Microsoft, but it still doesn’t matter (gamer crack, I tell you). Fortunately the Elite pictured above is still running ok, BTW, and my gamertag is XboxTDavid in case anybody reading wants to add me. I’m no challenge at most games any more but enjoy when there’s time to play.
One of the best games for the Wii already comes with the system, Wii Sports, which must be hurting the game to console ratio for Nintendo. Don’t feel too badly for them as they are quickly catching up with Microsoft and have a number of promising titles coming including Super Mario Galaxy (yes!!) and for the overweight and underexercised gamer population: Wii Fit.
Meanwhile, the PS3 library is showing some promise with online titles like Warhawk and the creative card game Eye of Judgment (drats, still haven’t beaten the computer on ‘Normal’ difficulty). The Playstation 3 still has the most games in full 1080p, but that hasn’t tipped the scales. Maybe the release of a cheaper PS3 will help.
The Blu-ray Spider-man package (all three movies) could be worth buying, although I’m not sure how many have or will buy a PS3 as a Blu-ray player. The Wii doesn’t have this as a selling point and it hasn’t mattered. Anecdotal: CNET users are looking more forward to Zune 2 than the Wii (#2) or PS3 (#3). The Xbox 360 didn’t make the top 20 but guess what did? Yup, Halo 3 at #14. On the handheld side, the PSP ranked #11.
I’m still holding to the real console war will take place in holiday season 2008. It’s impressive and at the same time a bit sad that Nintendo still can’t keep up with demand for the Wii console. As long as demand is there, it won’t be long before there are more Wiis in homes than Xbox 360 or PS3. Nintendo will be able to meet demand by next holiday season.
It’s encouraging to see the Wii sell so well without the emphasis on superior graphics. Maybe we’ll get back to simpler but more fun games to play. Games that don’t cost more than making some Hollywood movies. As a longtime gamer I could care less about beautiful cinematic video unless it’s somehow interactive.
Free Xbox Live Arcade game: Yaris
While talking free games, the Xbox Live Arcade is offering an odd racing title from Toyota today called Yaris based on their car of the same name. Go get it for free while you still can, even if you can’t take down those 200 achievement points today.
Time for my mea culpa on one of the most popular posts ever at Hmm, Lists of 1080p games for the Xbox 360 and PS3: I was wrong to declare the Xbox 360 the victor in the 1080p arena at the time. They have never had more native 1080p titles than the PS3. Never, never, never.
Retraction good enough? I’ve also edited the original list post by striking through the mistakes and this post will be trackbacked to the comments so anybody who reads that list can read and see my very public correction. Duped by the advertising, I should know better. Not putting blame on anybody else but the guy in the mirror.
Now what if you just bought a 1080p TV and you want to experience some native 1080p gaming and watch movies at 1080p (HD-DVD or Blu-ray)? That continues to be the thing I’m most interested in. Let’s see where we’re at today, September 29, 2007.
PS3 has *22 more native 1080p titles than the Xbox 360
*number as of this post publishing, to see the most current numbers, see the two lists below:
The PS3 game boxes are much more honest about which games — and yes, the Sony PS3 has more native 1080p games than the Xbox 360. I’ve edited the above lists to more clearly show native 1080p titles (highlighted in dark green) versus box advertised 1080p titles on the Xbox 360. I’m not sure a list is even needed for native 1080p titles on the Xbox 360 because there are only 2 titles to date: NBA Street Court and Virtual Tennis 3, not a very impressive list.
As for recent titles in native 1080p on the Xbox 360? Bioshock? Nope. Halo 3? Heck, it’s not even 720p, it’s 640p. And the numbers get even worse when you compare Xbox Live Arcade to the Playstation Store. There are currently no, zero, nadda, goose egg native 1080p titles in the Xbox Live Arcade while there are 9 titles in the Playstation Store. 9-0. PS3 wins.
Why create and maintain a list of what the game boxes show?
The PS3 has better truth in advertising than the Xbox 360 as of this writing.
I couldn’t find anybody else out there that was covering what the back of the game box says versus the truth. I’m sure the game company lawyers have it all figured out that by using the word “supported” they aren’t using any legally deceptive advertising, but if you are new to the world of 1080p you should immediately be suspicious of the terminology “supported” when talking about 1080p. Supported probably means upscaled and upscaled is not the same thing as native.
I know after writing the original post, seeing the significant amount of discussion at other sites, the feedback I’ve received directly and in comments here that this is an issue of great debate and concern among gamers. Instead of adding to the confusion, my goal has been and continues to be to cut through it and get to the truth. If you just bought a 1080p TV, Xbox 360 with HDMI or PS3, what games are native 1080p? The lists are both pretty small overall, with a mere 26 titles available in native 1080p for both game consoles.
That’s it, 26 total native 1080p titles for both systems.
Sorry to disappoint you on the gaming front but you can probably tear through playing all these games before Christmas. And if you’re hoping Microsoft will put more native 1080p games under your 2007 holiday tree or Xbox Live Arcade menu, history and current reality would suggest otherwise. The PS3 continues to regularly release new titles at native 1080p. My only updates for the Xbox 360 since the original list have been 1080p listed on the box.
And here is the truth in advertising
Microsoft, you need to do a much, much better job of clearly explaining on game boxes what is and isn’t native 1080p. There are literally dozens of upscaled 1080p titles on the Xbox 360 from the native resolution of 720p all marked deceptively — in my opinion, again, I’m sure the lawyers covered your butts — as 1080p. Yes, these games may support 1080p, but that’s not what many customers think when they see 1080p on the back of the game box and make a purchasing decision.
Compare this scenario to how Sony is treating 1080p titles on the PS3.
I haven’t been able to confirm even one title on the PS3 where the back of the game box shows 1080p and the title isn’t native 1080p. If anybody reading can confirm game box deception, please use the comments below to share your story. Nor can I find any titles being advertised in the Playstation Store as 1080p that aren’t native 1080p. I’m not saying Sony doesn’t have customer deception problems — remember the whole root kit mess? — but in this particular situation they look better than Microsoft.
For example, check out a recently released title’s game box Warhawk picture below:
In black and white:
Supported HD video output: 720p, 1080i.
Now why do games like Dead or Alive 4 (pictured top of the post) show 1080p and Warhawk doesn’t? You tell me. The only guess I can make is deception and that’s not a very friendly or warm guess.
Is native 1080p that big of a deal, really?
Inquiring gamers want to know.
Does it even matter if a game is native 1080p? I don’t have the best eyes, but the games I’ve played at native 1080p do appear a little sharper, the images have a crispness that isn’t seen at 720p. Yes, it’s a minor difference, very minor, but I see something. Maybe it’s all in my eyes though because I’ve read plenty of other gamers with 1080p capability who claim they can’t tell any difference at all. I’m not trying to be part of some holy war between consoles here, I like both consoles, I’m simply sharing what I see. Or think I see. Maybe it’s some Jedi mind trick.
Also worth repeating is that the Xbox Live Dashboard doesn’t look nearly as good as the Playstation interface. This is more easily seen. Sure, it could be how our TV is upscaling the dashboard and on a different TV the differences wouldn’t be as clear. We also have the HD-DVD player for the Xbox 360 and I think the Blu-ray movies look better. A lot better? No. A little better? Yes.
Halo® 3 has officially become the biggest entertainment launch in history, garnering an estimated $170 million in sales in the United States alone in the first 24 hours. The Xbox 360™ title beat previous records set by blockbuster theatrical releases like Spider-Man 3 and novels such as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
What game has been being played nearly non-stop when not sleeping, at school or work on two of our four Xbox 360s? Halo 3. Me? I still haven’t played even one second of Halo 3. This might sound funny, but I like watching good players go at it over playing the game myself. I can appreciate art.
World Cyber Games
Speaking of spectator sports, the kids will be pulling themselves away for next week’s World Cyber Games [worldcybergames.com] at Qwest Event Center from October 4-7, 2007 enjoying hundreds of the world’s best gamers and $500,000 on the line.
The games in the competition include: DOA4 (Xbox 360), Warcraft III: Frozen Throne (PC) and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 8 (Xbox 360). None of the Halo trilogy of games is on the list.
Event attendance costs $10 per day. At the recent PAX (Penny Arcade Expo) in Seattle they were handing out free passes like candy.
This is one of those proud father moments. Something in a geek way like what Brett Favre’s father must of felt about Brett starting in so many consecutive games, despite being banged up here and there along the way.
Tonight, eve of the Halo 3 launch our middle teenage son played in a Halo 2 tournament at the local Game Crazy store in Puyallup. Yesterday he injured his Halo trigger finger and it’s looking pretty swollen (pictured above). At school today he had it iced down, but said he very much wanted to do the tournament tonight and could do the doctor’s visit tomorrow “if it still hurts.” First prize in the tournament was the Legendary edition of Halo 3 which is selling for $130 starting at midnight tonight. Second prize? $40 off a Halo 3 purchase.
There were 18 people in the free for all Halo 2 tournament, including a member of a high ranking MLG-sponsored clan. There were four rounds of four player FFA. The first player with 25 kills and the second player closest to 25 kills moved onto the next round in each group. Our son was second place (behind the MLG player) through each of the four matches. The maps played in order were: Mid Ship, Beaver Creek, Ivory Tower and Lockdown (final round). A lot of the players seemed disappointed to be playing Beaver Creek.
Overall our son ended up taking second place and we were supposed to be able to come back at midnight and get $40 off the game. I took HD video of the final four match for a possible upcoming Hmmcast. All the top four qualifiers received Halo 3 shirts and a little gift bag of Halo-related merchandise.
We came home for a couple hours and all of us overslept the midnight launch (sacrilege!). Up at 1am, we went to the store but they had already closed their till for the night and said to come back at 10am. We went over to Wal-mart, passing the local Best Buy where there was a line waiting for the store to open and get their preorder of Halo 3.
We were able to walk in close to 1:30, pick up a splint for our son’s finger, the Halo 3 strategy guide and the Halo 3 Limited Edition ($69.99 + tax) with no line. Our local Wal-mart did not order any Legendary Editions according to the salesperson. They had a really nice glass case display out front to show off the game. I heard they had 100 copies come in and a rough count showed a couple dozen still remained.
The Halo 3 Limited Edition comes in a metal case and includes a bonus disc with additional content. Both discs, as I’d read earlier in the news, were not in the case but laying off the spindle, but didn’t appear to be scratched. Come on, Microsoft/Bungie, you’ve got a marketing machine in full tilt for the most anticipated Xbox 360 title ever and don’t make a decent case that can hold the freaking game disc? Maybe the Legendary Edition has a better disc spindle.
Home to wake our son up and put the splint on his finger.
He had a bit of a fever and we gave him an aspirin. He wanted to play Halo 3 for a little bit. As I write this, that’s where he’s at. Think I won’t get an opportunity to play until later this morning after I kick him off or — more likely — go buy my own copy of the game. How did your Halo 3 launch evening go?
Halo 3 is rated M for Mature (17+ required to purchase), contains blood and gore, mild language and violence.
The holiday season isn’t even here yet and nextgen console gaming has a new reigning champ. Move on over Xbox 360, the Nintendo Wii is here.
via Financial Times and sales figures from Enterbrain in Japan, NPD Group of the US and GfK of German:
According to sales data from each console’s launch through to the end of July (or the end of August in Japan), consumers have bought 9m Wiis, 8.9m Xbox units and 3.7m PS3s.
The rankings as you see them now are the way it is going to stay through this coming holiday season. What can gamers look forward to over the next few months?
Nintendo Wii through the holidays
On the Wii, I’m personally looking forward to the release of many light gun specific games and Wii fitness is certain to be a hit with both the younger trying to be fit and older needing to be fit crowd.
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 has Halo 3 arriving later this month which in the FPS genre is the only title they need. They also have the best online experience by far of the three and will continue to exploit this weakness in the Wii and PS3 as long as they can. Their library keeps growing and growing making it that much harder for the others to catch up. Did I mention they have started adding Neo-GEO titles to Xbox Live like Fatal Fury Special (yes).
PS3 Today This week Heavenly Sword became available, Lair is already out, and more gaming treats are on the way, boosting their stable of native 1080p titles. When it comes to native 1080p gaming, the PS3 is excelling. At some point this Fall Sony promised to release a beta of their secret online weapon: HOME. This will provide a virtual world interface to replace the tired existing interface. I’m excited to see how and/or if this is used to the PS3 full potential. It seems like Sony is starting to realize that the PS3 isn’t just a great movie player (Blu-ray) but is being purchased for the gaming prowess.
No matter which console you own or if you are fortunate enough to own all three, gaming life is good. None of these companies — ok, well, maybe Sony — should be licking their wounds. While it might seem like Nintendo is the victor, let’s not forget the last time Nintendo was on top was some 17 years ago with the NES and SNES. This battle is far from over and nobody stays on top forever.
I fully expect holiday 2008 to be the true war of the nextgen gaming systems because by then none of the consoles will be new, the gaming libraries will be more filled out and the online connectivity should be in full force. Nintendo who once looked foolish for not competing in having the best hardware is looking brilliant at the moment. Nintendo has reminded with the Wii that games which appeal to a broad demographic, so-called casual gaming, is a huge market.
Update 7:47pm PST: Square Enix has announced they will produce an RPG called Infinite Undiscovery for the Xbox 360. They were the last major Japanese game developer holdout for the Xbox 360. This is huge news for the Xbox 360 and most certainly a blow to Sony.
A lot of great memories go with Fatal Fury Special on the Neo Geo. I vividly recall receiving the package with the Neo Geo system. Had to special order it through one of those mail order places. It was like $700 just for the system and most games were $150 each. With today’s release on Xbox Live for 400 Microsoft Points it seemed like a bargain by comparsion.
Unfortunately, SNK didn’t do much to touch up the graphics or gameplay on the Xbox 360. At 1080p the game doesn’t even stretch the full length of the TV. The sounds seemed to have been ported faithfully. You can be the judge in today’s Hmmcast. I made the time 4:20pm for this post, but it is actually being posted much later.
After spending countless hours playing Tempest 2000 on the Atari Jaguar, I was instantly transformed into a lifelong Jeff Minter / Llamasoft fan, the programmer behind the best version of the quarter chomper Tempest on any console system to date. So fanatical I was that I went out and bought every version of Tempest I could find for every system, including buying the Nuon system for Tempest 3000, also by Minter who uses the handle “Yak.” Minter was instrumental in the Xbox 360 visualizations.
Today to my delight and surprise, I saw Space Giraffe available in the Xbox Live Arcade for 400 Microsoft Points. This game shares some similarity to Tempest 2000/3000, includes tons of Jeff’s signature trippy visuals and llama humor. And here I was already stoked this week about Bioshock (yes, we bought that one too), and now this? There goes the reading time I was looking for in the last post this week.
Will we see Space Giraffe on the PS3? Doubtful, based on some of Yak’s past commentary, but I’d like to see him trick out the PS3 someday.
