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PlatinumGames' Infinite Space docking in Europe on March 26th
Infinite Space, the upcoming DS space RPG from Platinum Games, has gotten itself a European release date in the form of March 26th (or as you might call it in Bangladesh, "Independence Day"). Strangely, we still haven't heard an official US date yet -- the closest we've got is Spring 2010, which despite all of the snow you might be seeing lately, is approaching quite quickly. Assuming that the EU and US dates aren't too far off from each other, by the end of March you too might be saying, "I'm... in space!" just like the wince-worthy voice acting we've experienced so far.
Nintendo report hints at new Wii titles, Other M release
Nintendo is one of a few companies to release its earnings report earlier this week, and a supplemental report released today has some surprises and new information for Wii owners. Not only does it finally list a target date for Metroid: Other M (you can expect it as soon as summer of this year if all goes according to plan), but there are two brand new names in the list as well: Xenoblade and The Last Story. Xenoblade is listed for a Spring 2010 release, so we should be hearing about that one soon, and The Last Story is listed for sometime this year, with both slated for release on the Wii in Japan. There's reason to believe these are just new names, as both Monado: Beginning of the World and Cosmic Walker are missing from the report, and Monado was being developed by Monolith Soft, known most notably for another Xeno- title you may have heard of. But Monado is still listed for a release in the US this year, so who knows? Other than that, the report lists some titles we expected to see soon: A new Kirby Super Star title, Super Mario Galaxy 2, the Wii's Legend of Zelda, Golden Sun for DS, and a few other releases scheduled in 2010. Full list of Japanese Wii releases is after the break.
Yes, we know some stores have Cataclysm release dates
There's been a lull of Cataclysm info recently, so we're getting repeats tenfold of the kind of emails we used to get before Wrath's official release date was announced -- emails saying that Amazon or Gamestop or other retailers have release dates listed for the new expansion already. Here's the rub. Blizzard hasn't yet divulged a release date for Cataclysm, probably because they have no earthly idea when it's coming out yet. Until they do, any release dates from stores are, at best, speculation or, at worst, outright lies. But why would retailers list a release date for Cataclysm if one doesn't exist yet? Simple: to take your money. Many game retailers (Gamestop especially) stock their stores based solely on preorder numbers, only getting a few extra for the teeming masses that never thought to go to Wal-Mart to get a guaranteed copy without putting money down first. In the meantime, you get to ... not have that money. Not a good deal. Preordering is a process designed to get money from you without getting anything in return for an inordinate amount of time, so wait until Blizzard announces a date before you plunk any of your hard-earned money down. And, again -- we know when the sites say Cataclysm's coming out. You'll know just as soon as we do when it'll actually be available. World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will destroy Azeroth as we know it. Nothing will be the same. In WoW.com's Guide to Cataclysm you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion. From Goblins and Worgens to Mastery and Guild changes, it's all there for your cataclysmic enjoyment.
Xbox 360 Modern Warfare 2 bundle nabs November 10th release date
Call it coincidence or call it fate, but precisely a week after Sony's extra-capacious 250GB PlayStation 3 Slim hits the States for $349.99, Microsoft's 250GB Xbox 360 Modern Warfare 2 bundle will arrive with a game and a pair of black wireless controllers for $399.99. Both Costco and Amazon have a November 10th ship date listed for the package, though oddly enough, neither site lists the machine as coming with a component cable. It's standard def or bust, y'all. [Thanks, Manoj] Read - Costco's listing Read - Amazon's listingUpdate: It has been confirmed by Microsoft; check out the full release after the break.
Going out on an in-game date
I thought this was a really cute idea: an in-game date, sharing some of the best locations and activities around Azeroth with someone you love (or just happen to be courting). There are lots of great ideas in that thread -- I agree that the Twin Colossals is one of the more scenic (and out of the way) vistas to visit, but there are plenty more to go to: The Grim Guzzler, a floating island in Nagrand, the Darkmoon Faire, inside the bio-domes in Netherstorm. Personally, I think the best date would be a picnic on the deck of the ship in Deadmines -- sure, you'd have to fight off ninjas every once in a while, but what is a date without a little ninja fighting, right?If you do head out on a date, make sure you bring some roses and a bottle of wine (depending on how well you expect the date to go). If you've really thought ahead, you can bring a Romantic Picnic Basket, or you can shell out for a regular Picnic Basket, but otherwise, it's probably just best to have a snack of Delicious Chocolate Cake (it's guaranteed to make your date Very Happy). Like I said, cute. Spending the time together with friends is what the game is all about anyway, and there's nothing wrong with taking some time to experience the world and hang out with each other. And if that's a little too boring for your tastes, maybe you can have your date tag along with you to some 2v2 Arena matches afterwards. Nothing gets the romance going like a little bloodshed.
Apple to release $29 10.6 Snow Leopard Upgrade in September
Today, Apple announced a ship date and upgrade pricing for Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. 10.6 will debut this September as an upgrade for Mac OS X Leopard users for just $29. "We've built on the success of Leopard and created an even better experience for our users from installation to shutdown," said Bertrand Serlet, Apple's senior vice president of Software Engineering in an Apple Press Release. "Apple engineers have made hundreds of improvements so with Snow Leopard your system is going to feel faster, more responsive and even more reliable than before. Snow Leopard features include built-in Microsoft Exchange 2007 support along with a slicker install process, faster applications, and 64-bit versions of standard applications that boost overall performance. Apple brags that "[u]sers will notice a more responsive Finder; Mail that loads messages 85 percent faster and conducts searches up to 90 percent faster; Time Machine with up to 50 percent faster initial backup; a Dock with Expose integration; a 64-bit version of Safari 4 that boosts the performance of the Nitro JavaScript engine by up to 50 percent and is resistant to crashes caused by plug-ins." In addition to the $29 single user upgrade, a family pack upgrade will cost $49. Tiger users will pay $169 for a 10.6/iLife box set or $229 for a family pack. All users who purchased or will purchase a new qualifying Mac between 8 June 2009 and 26 December 2009 will receive a free upgrade package and pay $9.95 for shipping and handling. You must request your up-to-date upgrade within 90 days of your original purchase. Snow Leopard requires a minimum of 1GB RAM and runs on Intel-based Macintoshes. Full system requirements are hosted at Apple's tech specs page.
Peggle on iPhone delayed to May 12th
Bad news for those of you who've been drooling to play Peggle on the iPhone. As you may have noticed, it didn't come out in March as we were originally told. The good news is that our friends at Joystiq have gotten a new date for the addictive PopCap game's release on the App Store, and it's close. The game will be out, we're being told, on May 12th. There's no price given yet, but we're with Joystiq on this one too: it probably won't be as low at 99 cents. At $9.99, it would probably be worth it (Peggle is awesome) but pricey -- we're guessing the price will end up right around $4.99.Joystiq's been playing the game too (lucky peg-hitters), and while they are saving their full impressions for an upcoming review, they hint that the game won't disappoint. We can't wait -- even though Peggle is pretty much everywhere already, from the Mac to Xbox Live to the classic iPod and even in World of Warcraft, there's still room for a little portable Peggle in our lives.
Date/time bugs throughout the years for Apple
As 30GB Zune owners deal with the sudden bricking of their systems after midnight this morning, hopefully they can take comfort in the fact they are not alone in this. Throughout the years, Apple products had their share of time & date problems.In February 2000, Newton owners began reporting that they were having issues with the Newton being rather confused about what century it was in. Some users discovered that when they entered two-digit numbers as part of birthdays and other common abbreviated dates, things got wonky. For example, if I entered my birth date as 2-28-80 on the Newton, it interpreted the number as being February 28, 2080 rather than 1980. Entries of full dates in the 1900s were also affected. Other users stated that when they tried finding 20th century dates in the Find applet of the Newton, the system actually performed the search using 21st-century dates.Fixes included resetting the system clock back to 1999 to enter those dates before resetting it again back to 2000 and applying software patches. Sadly, it's a bug that HAL-9000 forgot to mention. Apple even reported back in 1998 that the Newton was Y2K-compliant. Of course, this won't even begin to cover the problems that Newton owners still using the product will have in 2010. If you see our own Newton-sporting Steve Sande at Macworld, be sure to tease him about it.A Tiger bug discovered in 2005 revealed that Safari's RSS reader would list some items as being an hour ahead of when they were actually posted -- news from the future is not catastrophic, but certainly could be confusing.Our research this morning hasn't turned up any date-related iPod or iPhone hiccups, but if you know of any examples please let us know in the comments. As for the Zune bricks, there's been no word yet from Microsoft regarding the failures, but Engadget's readers have already come up with a number of theories including blaming it on Steve Jobs, the year 2008 being one-second longer, and other conspiracy theories that are sure to come throughout the day.
Nokia's XpressMusic 5800 Tube launching October 2nd?
Okay, so first we heard that Nokia's Comes with Music service would be good and ready by October 2nd. Then we heard October 17th. Now, a certain "anonymous industry source" has revealed that the long-awaited XpressMusic 5800 (or the Tube, as it were) will be launching on the 2nd of next month. With so much conflicting evidence out and about, we're firmly in "wait and see" mode at this point, and considering that "launch" gives no indication of a ship date, we reckon you're better off doing the same.[Thanks, Mikkel]
WoW Insider Show tomorrow afternoon on WoW Radio
We have a confession to make -- this week's WoW Insider Show has already been recorded. I know, I know, we really enjoy getting on IRC and doing the show live, too, but Duncor the (so-called) Dependable is heading out to a wedding this weekend, and since he's our producer, we had to fudge things a little bit, and we recorded the show last night. Worry not, though -- we'll still be playing the show for the first time on Saturday afternoon at 3:30 over on WoW Radio, and if I'm around, I'll try to jump into IRC to chat while we listen.The good news is that we finally have some good Mage talk in the show -- blogger Andy "Aurdon" Scott of ISheepThings.com joined us on the show, and if you've been waiting to hear some good discussion about the food-and-drink dispensers of the world, you'll hear it. John "BigBearButt" Patricelli was also on with us with his great insight as always, and Duncor came on as well (Turpster is still jetlagged from his trip to the States and will be back next week). And in addition to all the Mage talk, we talked about the release date for Wrath, whether that mount achievement is too hard, and whether it's ok for motorcycles to be in a fantasy game, among many other things.If you want to chat on IRC Saturday afternoon while we listen to the show, join us at irc.mmoirc.com in the #wowradio channel, or just click "Chat" on the WoW Radio homepage. And you can email us, as always, at theshow@wow.com. Be sure to tune in tomorrow afternoon -- it won't be live (have a nice time at the wedding, Duncor!), but it will be a good listen.
WotLK: Collector's Edition available for pre-order today
The regular edition of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King will be selling for $39.99, and for only $30 more (total of $69.99) you can get the Collector's Edition. You can now legitimately pre-order the Collector's Edition at many retailers across the country and online.My local GameStop up here in Fargo, ND has them available for pre-order as of this morning. However as is standard policy with them, you can only pre-order games by going into the store. It has been my experience that in general you cannot pre-order over the phone, but your mileage may vary.If you're interested in pre-ordering online, the two major sites that I found to have the C.E. listed are Amazon and GameStop. Other sites, such as Best Buy, don't have the C.E. up yet. Remember however, if you want to get the game at midnight you'll most likely need to deal with a local retailer.We covered the contents of the Collector's Edition yesterday, but just as a refresher, here are the major highlight: A 208-page LK art book Frosty, the baby frost wyrm (non-combat pet) A DVD with developer interviews, commentary on the cinematic, etc. Soundtrack CD Mouse pad with a map of Northrend Two starter decks for the CCG, and two exclusive cards All of the latest news can be found on our Wrath page. Also, Ask a Beta Tester answers all your burning questions, Lichborne will walk you through the Death Knight class, and in Skill Mastery we've been explaining each class's new spells and abilities one by one. Prepare yourself; this is going to be fun.
Rock Band 2 standalone instruments set to ship next week
Previously, the ship dates for Rock Band 2 instruments ranged from "sometime within the next few months" to "sometime." Now, however, we're hearing that the standalone wireless drums ($90) and guitar ($70) will begin to ship out next week (at least for the Xbox 360). Additionally, Mad Catz's Fender P-Bass wireless guitar controller ($70) and the wired ION Drum Rocker set ($300) should clutter up floor space around the same time. RB2 party to celebrate the Q3 close? Sign us up.
Online retailers point towards a November 4 release for Wrath
We'll begin this post with the usual: this is Blizzard we're talking about, and Blizzard doesn't release games or the dates they'll start selling those games until they're good and ready. So any speculation about Blizzard's release dates, is, by its nature, pretty useless -- if Blizzard wants to announce at BlizzCon that Wrath isn't coming out until January, they will.However, as many readers have noticed, there's been an interesting development in the rumored release date lately. Before now, all the online stores have had all kinds of different dates: some were saying October, some were saying early November, and some were saying late November. But over the past week or so, almost all of the online stores have settled on a single date: November 4. The sign above, sent in by reader Daniel A., is from a JB HiFi store in Australia, and beckons toward a midnight release on November 3rd.So. We'll stress again: retailers often set their own release dates way in advance of an official announcement, just so they can sell preorders of a game. It's very likely this means nothing, and Blizzard will release their game whenever they want -- don't start filling out your vacation form yet, because this is not an official date. But something has pointed all of these online retailers toward Election Day of this year, so if you want to guess at a release date, that's as good as any. Thanks to Ollie, Daniel A., and everyone else who sent this in.
TUAW Tip: Add date to the menu bar clock
Have you ever wanted to quickly verify today's date, but didn't want to open iCal? Well, you could click on the clock in the menu to get the month/day/year. However, you can also change the layout of the clock to include the extra information such as month/day/year. To do this, open System Preferences and go to the "International" system preference pane. Once there, click on the "Formats" tab and then click the customize button in the dates section. Select "Medium" from the drop-down menu. You should see the data change in the text box below the drop-down menu. Click inside the box, select all the text (Command + A), and then copy the text (Command + C). Once you've copied the text, click cancel. Click on the customize button in the times section. Select "Medium" from the drop-down menu. Then place the cursor just before the time and paste (Command + V) the date that you just copied. You might want to add several spaces (or some sort of separator) between the date and time. Once you are finished, click OK. The changes will now show up in the menu bar. Update: To remove the custom formatting from the menu bar, go to System Preferences > International > Formats. Click the "Customize" button in the times section and select "Medium" from the drop-down menu. Delete the additional text that you add and click "OK." Now click the customize button under the "Times" section again and select "Short" from the drop-down menu. Click "OK," and your system should return to normal.More tips and tricks like these can be found at the TUAW Tips and Mac 101 sections of TUAW.
Fable 2 lands Oct 21 in US, Oct 24 in Europe
click for more Fable 2 imagery Although we already knew Fable 2 was arriving in October, Lionhead Studios has revealed the awaited title will hit US store shelves, then proceed to raise a family while it waits to be purchased, on October 21. European gamers can expect the game days later on October 24. For those who want to start padding their virtual wallets early, the Xbox Live Arcade Pub Games will land August 13. Lionhead also unveiled an image of all that you can expect to get if you pick up the Limited Edition copy of the game. Details of the LE after the break. %Gallery-4807% [Via X3F]
Breakfast topic: The calm before the storm
The expansion draws ever nearer, and many folks are working away at the last important bits of Burning Crusade content. We're looking to see Wrath by the end of this year. I've been spending a lot of time leveling alts to get ready for Wrath of the Lich king. I've noticed that this has been surprisingly easy compared to my previous leveling experiences. In the last week or so I've leveled my Warrior from 40 to 56 with very little resistance. I've probably only been ganked a total of ten or so times. I'm beginning to think either most people have shifted their priorities from hunting lowbies to preparations for the level 70 to 80 grind. Or could it be that many of the folks who would ordinarily be giving me grief have been preoccupied playing in the beta test? It reminds me of the unofficial truce between factions immediately following the release of BC.Has your gaming experience changed recently?
Blizzard planning Wrath launch in China "as soon as possible" after US
Mike Morhaime spoke up about World of Warcraft in Activision's earnings conference call last week (strange, since there was almost no sign of Blizzard at the Activision press conference during E3), and he spoke about Blizzard's plan for Wrath of the Lich King's release in China. In the past, there's been a signficant delay between releases in the US and Eastern companies (not that it's hurt the popularity there). And Blizzard says they want to close that delay, but it's up to the government over there to approve the content -- in the past, the government of China has asked for changes to be made to the game, and Blizzard says the release schedule is dependent on their approval.Morhaime also said that the game continues to grow -- they've seen big growth around marketing campaigns, the holiday season (when people buy the game for others), and the release of new content. And you don't have to be a WoW expert to see that they're going to hit a perfect storm of all three later this year. This could be the biggest winter the World of Warcraft has ever had.[via WorldofWar.net]
E308: Nintendo dates dozens of debuting games
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/nintendo/E308_Nintendo_dates_dozens_of_debuting_games'; We are about to enter full news overload here, folks! Not only did the Nintendo media blitz descend -- as you'll see for yourself -- but we've also got updated release lists for tons of games, many of which had no release windows set until today. While few of the titles have a firm date, we've got month-long windows on several, and at least one (Kirby Super Star Ultra) looks to have moved up from the date we previously had on file.Check out the full lists in the gallery below, but be warned: your wallet will cry. In fact, it may be weeping already.%Gallery-27734%
Season 4 does not begin June 17th
There has been a rumor going around for a few days that arena season 4 will begin on June 17th. I actually heard this in Alterac Valley this weekend when I was plowing through the place with a few friends and tanking Drek and two of his generals.While lots of folks wish it was different, season 4 will not be starting on the 17th. Drysc said as much today in a blue post, and went on to reiterate that they will still be giving a two week notice of any upcoming season.Personally, I expect season 4 to start sometime in late July or early August. That gives it about four months of activity until the supposed release of Wrath of the Lich King in November. But even the release of WotLK in November is unconfirmed, and that's just my guess which is no better than any rumor you hear in a battleground. The only official word will come from Blizzard, which we'll have carried here as soon as we hear it.
Forum Post of the Day: Setting the mood
We've asked before where people would like to live or vacation in Azeroth, and have gotten a surprising variety of responses. There are many lovely, scenic, and adventurous places that would be fantastic to visit. But is there anywhere you'd like to go on a date? Sildurcausius of EU-Arathor (who needs an easier name to spell) asked on the EU-General forums where he should take his girl on a date in WoW. He said that he's bought a tux and some fireworks for the occasion. Amazingly enough, the responses offered some great suggestions: Delilan of Nordrassil, "On the cliffs at Hinterlands is very preeeetty at sunset on a clear day..And feels like a romantic sorta place.." (followed by "Cant believe I just typed that") Nyala of Steamwheedle Cartel, "In Feralas, the Twin Colossals. There is an npc near them that will teleport you to the top of one of the colossals. At the top is an npc who sells parachutes that allow you to jump down safely." Erinys of Vashj, "The view from the hunting lodge balcony in loch modan is pretty especially at sunset and sunrise." Thundernut of Quel'Thalas, "Perpetual autumn, very nice trees here. The sky is an orange/pinkish glow at night. If you like water an island in the bay of storms also gives a pretty view.
