joystiq
Latest
Is the God of War title nearly revealed?
The Island of Rhodes continues to tease us. The countdown has been extended yet again, as more and more of this mysterious God of War title gets revealed. Justin McElroy from Joystiq spent hours trying to get past that silly block-sliding puzzle hidden on the site to unearth God of War: Chains of Olymp--. There's only two days until we find out the truth, and we pray to the Gods that the full revelation will be something PSP fans can truly celebrate.
How did various media outlets report the FTC gaming report?
Here's some light weekend reading about politics, the media and gaming. Earlier this week the U.S. Federal Trade Commission released a report about the gaming industry. The real fun for industry folk was seeing how all the various media outlets would report the news and what their headlines would be. Below is the list, shamelessly ripped-off from Dennis McCauley over at GamePolitics, of various media outlets and their take on the report: FTC says content curbs fall short - L.A. Times Report says the young buy violent games and movies - NY Times FTC: self-regulation of violent content working - Beta News Children still see ads for violent content - Advertising Age FTC scolds marketers about violent content - AdWeek FTC: violence still marketed to youths - Hollywood Reporter Report: Violence still aimed at kids - Variety FTC violence marketing report show general compliance - Broadcasting & Cable FTC Report: Violence Still a Problem in Marketing - TV Week FTC: game industry self-policing improving - GameSpot FTC: M-rated games still marketed to minors - Next Generation FTC: games are better regulated than music, movies - Ars Technica FTC report: mixed reviews on industry's ability to self-regulate - Joystiq FTC: game industry stricter than movies, music - Kotaku FTC report praises, spanks video game industry - GamePolitics As McCauley asks in his headline accompanying the list above, "Were these media outlets reading the same report?" The various headlines make us think of the classic question: If a tree falls in the woods and nobody is around to see it, does it make a sound? Some say yes, some say no, some say it explodes into various pieces, some say the Earth Mother picked it back up, some say there is no tree. The various headlines and the stores with them is a good read on the diversity of voice in the media -- especially when it comes to gaming.
Monster Madness: Battle for Suburbia demo on XBL
You probably didn't go to bed praying for this news, but we're going to tell you anyway -- there's a demo for Monster Madness: Battle for Suburbia available to Gold subscribers on Xbox Live Marketplace. No, the demo's invitation to "experience frantic cooperative game play" as "four players can team up on one Xbox 360 to slash, shoot, and drive through a menagerie of monsters" may not blow your skirt up, but hey, if it does, let it never be said that Joystiq doesn't have your best interests at heart.Also, it's free and 435 MB, so what harm could it do to download it, give it a spin, then comment here with your thoughts? Oh, us? No, no, we won't be doing that. We'd love to, but we're, uhh ... still absorbing the Shrek the Third demo. Yeah, that's the ticket.
Try before you buy: Puzzle Quest
Puzzle Quest is trying to do something different by combining the puzzle and RPG genres. The dangers of trying something new is that it has a high chance of failure. Luckily for those interested in Puzzle Quest, there is a PC demo online now so you can try before you buy. Much like that drug dealer that gives you your first taste free, Infinite Interactive wants you to get hooked on the demo so you rush out to purchase Puzzle Quest. Is this unique game worth your time? After trying the demo, I think this game will be a cult hit for sure. Giving purpose and story to a puzzle game definitely adds to the experience and the art is well done. But luckily for you, the demo will allow you to make up your own mind. What do you think of Puzzle Quest? [Via Joystiq] [Update 2: Provided direct link to demo.][Update 1: Corrected formatting.]
GDC 07: DJ Max Portable 2 impressions
Joystiq's Jared Rea loves the Korean import music game DJ Max Portable, calling it "the best handheld game ever". We were both colored quite surprised when we found the game on the GDC show floor: was it a confirmation of an impending US release? Certainly, the gameplay is accessible, regardless of language. Heck, the game has always been in English. A Sony representative wasn't able to confirm a US release, saying they simply "haven't announced anything yet." Watch this video of Jared's expert play. I have to say I was quite impressed, as were the dozens of people that stopped behind us to watch. DJ Max Portable will be available for importers by the end of the month. See also:Joystiq: DJ Max Portable 2 spotted at GDC
Blizz Prez Mike Morhaime, #4 on PC World's Most Important People on the Web
As you might imagine, we here at WoW Insider love World of Warcraft. It's the greatest thing to come along since at least Diablo. Blizzard is a great company, and when it comes to computer gaming, you could solidly make the argument that nobody does it better than they do.But when PC World announced their "Most Important People on the Web" list today, I was surprised to see, right there in between the inventor of Bittorrent and Jimbo Wales of Wikipedia, Mike Morhaime, President of Blizzard Entertainment as the 4th Most Important Person on the Internet (a big jump up from a previous list). PC World cites WoW's huge player base and Blizzard's profits of $1.5 billion a year (not to mention all the money floating around WoW's black market services), but does the president of a videogame company really deserve to be two slots down from Steve Jobs, in between the man who basically created an anonymous peer-to-peer sharing system and the man who's developing the definitive online collection of knowledge?Call me cynical, but I say no. WoW may have influence over a lot of people, but Blizzard is using that influence to nerf druids and tweak raid bosses, not affect the Internet population. Then again, the guy did appear in animated form on South Park, and Jimbo Wales has never done that. We should all know by now that these lists are just a cheap way of encouraging discussion (and attention), but Morhaime's inclusion on the list means that WoW's ascent into our culture isn't done yet.
Wiimote battery packs available for pre-order, shipped before end of February (in Japan)
Joystiq's resident 'man in a far-off land' recently checked out Japanese manufacturer Thanko for the skinny on rechargeable battery pack availability. He found that the company is taking pre-orders for their product starting today, promising delivery of said product before the end of February. Each pack, which includes a lithium-ion battery and the USB stand (pictured), allows one to plug it into one of the available USB plugs on the back of the Wii. Not only that, but the company says that a three-and-a-half hour charge will keep players in the game for up to 25 hours. Anyone plan on importing this?[Via Joystiq]
Look out! It's Godzilla!
Daddy Joystiq is reporting that Atari is reviving Godzilla for the PSP (among other systems). Godzilla Unleashed is being created by Pipeworks Software who also worked on the previous Godzilla games, so they know a thing or two about the giant lizard. If you haven't played a Godzilla game before, they're basically what you think they'd be, an all out monster fighting game. Pipeworks is saying that Godzilla Unleashed's single-player will group the monsters from the history of the film series into four factions that will each have their own narrative path. The cities will feature destructable buildings, so that even when you aren't hitting a monster, you're still destroying something. I think it's great to have a new Godzilla game on PSP, but am I the only one that would love to see a War of the Monsters sequel on PSP?
UFC pounding onto PSP
The first UFC game for Dreamcast really did something different with the fighting genre. It felt like a very violent game of chess and always kept you on your nerves. The license really lost steam as time went on though and eventually UFC games stopped being made all together. Now that the UFC is more popular than ever, THQ has decided to bring the octagon back to gamers. Joystiq has an article about the deal up, but let me quote the important part for PSP gamers: "The agreement will span all console and portable systems..." They didn't announce if one developer was handling all versions (which is unlikely) or if a different developer would work on each version. Judging from the huge stable of studios that work with THQ though, it's likely each platform will be a concentrated effort. For more, read the original article at Joystiq. Or you can find out why THQ bathes in money.
HD-DVD drive for only $99?
Over at the Fat Wallet forums truematic posted a flier for the store Game Play where the Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive is listed at $99.95. That's an astonishing $100 off of the normal price guys. Though it all seems a little fishy and is probably is just a typo. But if anyone has a Game Play nearby or tries to go to Best Buy to price match, then please post your stories. I'm thinking printing out a flier from home just won't be enough for the powers that be to complete a price match ... but we're crossing our fingers. $99 HD-DVD drive FTW.[Via Joystiq]
Phat Loot Phriday: Doomulus Prime
Lots of players love getting this big red-and-black hammer as a quest reward when raiding for the first time. But not all of them know who it came from-- a WoW player who announced some sad news recently.Name: Doomulus PrimeType: Rare Two-Hand MaceDamage / Speed: 158-265 / 3.80 (55.7 DPS)Abilities: It's not quite as good as the inset above: the real version gives you only +22 to both Strength and Stamina. On equip: Increases your hit rating by 10. Came from a newspaper comic! Yes, the Doomulous Prime was originally envisioned by Bill Amend, the cartoonist behind the comic strip Foxtrot. He's had a running joke in his series about "World of Warquest," a game that one of his characters plays that bears a striking resemblance to our favorite game. Allakhazam's got a lot of the strips, and even an interview (Amend plays a Night Elf, but we like him anyway). Unfortunately, he's taking a break-- Amend announced this week that starting Sunday, his comic will only appear on Sundays. A darn shame. But our good friends at Joystiq have discovered what he's going to be doing with his time from now on: playing WoW, of course. How to Get It: After the mace appeared in the paper, Blizzard included it with the Ahn'Qiraj patch, so you've got to go to Silithus to pick this quest up. It's called The Perfect Poison, and it'll send you to kill Kurinaxx in AQ20 and Venoxis in ZG. Both bosses are early on in the instance (and two of the easiest raid bosses in the game), so for the effort, this is one of the best quest rewards in the game. And it's just one choice of many, many good quest rewards-- if your guild is running raids at all, do this quest! Right now!Getting Rid of It: BOP (because it's a quest reward, dur). Sells to vendors for 6g 41s 37c. Kudos to Amend for thinking up this great hunk of spiky red and black metal in the first place-- now that he's got more free time, maybe he'll be able to get his Druid up high enough to get it!
Joystiq on Terminal emacs games
Our brothers-in-arms at Joystiq have a cute video up of the 'hidden' Terminal games you can play. These games are part of the GNU emacs text editor, which is bundled on virtually every Unix-like OS and can be had for pretty much any OS out there.Granted, they aren't pretty or fast, but they might be worth a few minutes while stuck at the Denver airport... again...[via digg/powerpage/joystiq]Thanks Brandon!
Buy an MMO calendar, save the children
Over on our sister blog, Joystiq, Justin Murray is informing readers about a new calendar put out by MMO Portal. From the calendar's site:This unique 12-month calendar features the original artwork of some of today's hottest and most anticipated upcoming MMOs, each dedicated to its own month. As if that is not exciting enough, the artwork has been signed by the developers of your favorite games as well!Included in MMO Calendar 2007:Dark Age of CamelotDungeons & Dragons Online: StormreachEve OnlineEverQuest IIGods & Heroes: Rome RisingLord of the Rings Online: Shadows of AngmarStar Wars Galaxies: An Empire DividedThe Chronicles of SpellBornUltima OnlineVanguard: Saga of HeroesWarhammer Online: Age of ReckoningWorld of WarcraftSo check it out, and understand that 100% of the proceeds from the sale of the calendar are going to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
First look at upcoming Tekken fan film
Chances are, you probably won't find this upcoming fan-made film adaptation of Tekken to be as titilating as Maxim's Tekken girls photo shoot. This impressive-looking fan effort, entitled Tekken: King of Iron Fist, will feature some pretty accurate cosplaying, mixed with some action sequences. From the looks of things, this may be better than "official" Ewe Boll-produced film massacres.[Via Gamespot]
Fake Wii wounds are the new pink
Some folks will do anything for a little attention, and we're happy to oblige, particularly when we get to showcase our big daddy blog Joystiq in a spot of debunking. A reader sent them pictures of his bruised face (and bruised television) and blamed the whole thing on the Wii. He really should have blamed his poor Photoshop skills. Next time you try to scam folks, may we suggest not choosing the second result on a Google image search? Make us dig a little deeper.Apparently, Wiinjuries and Wiisasters are the hip new accessories for gamers everywhere. Forgot those NES belt buckles. The cool kids 'chop in fake Wii wounds for their MySpace pics, and the more hardcore idiots are probably going around actually punching one another in the face with Wiimotes. We just hope someone films it. Where's Jackass when you need it?On a side note, anyone else think the word "wiinjuries" should die along with all these yawnariffic claims of Wii-related disasters?
Your daily fix of funny
The "great and esteemed Ludwig" (his words, not mine) stumbled across this video today, and of course felt the need to validate his existence by immediately sending it to me. Though quite old (2003), the hilariously dubbed montage of several Nintendo classics has awesome to spare. Watch! And be merry.(A small warning: this is perhaps NSFW, due to a bit of profanity in the first few seconds.)
Joystiq recommends Mac games for the holidays
Yes, I did just say that Mac gaming doesn't really matter anymore, but I am willing to believe that some people might not agree with me. If you're looking for some great games to play on your Mac, then Joystiq has you covered. They have a short round up of the best of the best Mac games on the market, just in time for the holidays.
Does real world talent translate into Wii Sports talent?
... or, in the case of this blogger, lack thereof? With Nintendo boasting the intuitive, easy motion-sensing control scheme allowing all types of people to game with ease, we wondered if the control scheme was realistic enough to favor those who excel in these sports in the real world to do the same on the Wii. Sadly, we're all gamers and not a one of us can protest to be great at golf out in the real world. As such, we decided to document our trials in a couple of games to see if we could get the hang of the game, with the future goal being dominating anyone we come across.Can we step up and own the links right away? Is the game more realistic and challenging than its presentation would have you believe? Read on and find out!
Transcode and stream videos to your Xbox 360
Besides bricking some Xbox 360 consoles, the recent Xbox 360 Fall Dashboard update did provide a few positive benefits too. One bonus came in the form of enabling gamers to stream WMV files via Windows Media Connect from an XP PC to their Xbox 360. Previously only Windows Media Center could stream to the 360, but if you had a DivX or XviD file you wanted to play, you had the option of using Transcode 360 to convert non-WMV files on-the-fly. However, until someone updates Transcode 360 so that it will run over Windows Media Connect, you'll have to transcode your DivX or XviD files manually. It's a pain in the neck, but it'll do the job. But, thanks to our buddies at Joystiq, we've got a series of step-by-step instructions on how to transcode your DivX or XviD videos and watch them easily on your Xbox 360. We won't go over every single point, but basically, it involves using the free and open-source program VLC followed by the helping hand of a batch script. The script turns your video files into WMV that'll play nice with your Xbox 360, allowing you to enjoy your vids (in the example, a recent episode of "Lost") in full, converted HD. But as you probably already know, if you're starting out with a not great DivX file, you're going to end up with an even worse WMV file that won't look too hot, 1080p or not. So if you want to try it out, follow the read link for all of the step-by-step instructions.
Wii start up disc is used for console set up
Remember when we learned about the mysterious "Startup Disc" from the back of a Wii box? Turns out the disc will be used once to set up your Wii on its initial cycling of power. One Joystiq reader, and Engadget blogger, named Paul miller snapped the above picture of a Wii kiosk in a South Shore Mall Software Etc. store, located in Bay Shore, NY. The message, which is in English, Spanish, and French, reads:"Please insert your Wii Startup Disc. This will set up your Wii console."
