press-release
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Creating alarmist press release for marketing purposes
GamePolitics was on the ball when they noticed this attention grabing headline about video games screaming, "First Violence, Then Sex, and Now Drugs in Video Games." The funny thing is that the headline, and accompanying text, is actually a marketing maneuver being implemented by sexually-themed MMO Red Light Center to get press. So, in essence, it's a sensational press release, by a fringe company, to gain attention from the mainstream press. According to GamePolitics, TV news sites in North Carolina and Canada have already picked up the story.The best part of the release is this quote by Psychologist David Walsh, spokesman for the National Institute on Family and the Media, "Games are interactive and psychologically powerful. Now we have a game that glorifies drug use. Where do we draw the line?" As GamePolitics points out this statement was actually made in 2005 about NARC, not Red Light Center like the release implies.It was only a matter of time before we saw this level of manipulation. Using the anti-games advocates that get a lot of press to hype games is a brilliant move and Red Light Center's marketing team deserves serious golf claps for the maneuver. In a situation like this, all we can do is try to show those that will be manipulated by this information that they are being used, and hopefully they'll find it out before they go off the handle and give press to something that doesn't deserve it. Time to wait and see if this goes mainstream -- after all, it is a slow newsday in the states.
Nintendo slip up points to Wii shortages? [update 1]
It's not every day that a major video game company tells you not to listen to what it says, but that's just what Nintendo did today. Yesterday, the company issued a press release trumpeting NPD sales figures that showed healthy Wii and DS sales. The release also promised "well more than a million" Wii systems would be on U.S. store shelves by the end of the year, despite what the release called "spot shortages in some locations."Today, Nintendo issued a correction asking everyone to disregard the line about the million systems and the spot shortages. The company didn't offer any new projections for end-of-year domestic shipments, they just want us to know that the million unit target should go down the memory hole.Given Nintendo's previous promise to ship four million systems worldwide by year's end, we find it hard to believe that not even a million of those system's would go to the world's largest video game market. So we have to wonder, does this retraction point to some Wii production problems that are slowing the planned deployment of the system?Maybe Nintendo is just reapportioning it's limited supplies in light of crippling shortages in Europe, leaving the U.S. in the cold. Maybe the company just didn't want to tip its hand about regional distribution plans (although we think the damage has already been done if this is the case). Maybe Nintendo is scaling back Wii chatter in preparation for a planned merger with Apple (highly unlikely, but hey, anything is possible).We've contacted Nintendo for more information about the correction and the rationale behind it, and will let you know as soon as they get back to us. [Update 1: Nintendo has sent a clarification about their correction: "Because of the many variables involved in orchestrating a continuous worldwide launch, a blanket statement about availability in specific regions cannot be made. We remain committed to the ongoing, rapid replenishment of systems in the United States and around the world through the end of 2006 and beyond to bring a new gaming experience to our customers."]Read - Original press releaseRead - Corrected press release
Modded Xbox rehabs stroke victims
How many stroke victims did the PS2 rehabilitate this week?:Engineers at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, have modified a popular home video game system to assist stroke patients with hand exercises, producing a technology costing less than $600 that may one day rival systems 10 times as expensive....Rutgers' low-cost hand rehabilitation system is based on the commercially available Microsoft Xbox video game and Essential Reality P5 gaming glove that detects finger and wrist motions to manipulate on-screen images. The engineers made minor modifications to the equipment and created software that delivers two types of finger flexing exercises needed to help recover hand functions in stroke patients.We should take up a collection of old Xboxes from people upgrading to 360 and donate them to this program. Xbox fanboys healing the sick. It's what we do.
2 million and counting [Update 1]
Heads up, statisticians; we've got another Nintendo milestone for ya. At some undisclosed time on Thursday morning, the two millionth unique user logged into the Nintendo Wi-Fi system. Since Nintendo loves to put big numbers in perspective, their press release points out that this number is more than the population of fifteen of the United States...which, of course, is sort of silly, seeing as how the tally is coming from players worldwide. Still, it's an impressive number, and perhaps this added confidence in online gaming will give Nintendo the shove it needs to back it unconditionally for the upcoming Wii. Upcoming games utilizing the Nintendo Wi-Fi feature? Some big ones: Final Fantasy III, Star Fox: Command, Yoshi's Island 2, you name it. Nintendo WFC is here to stay.[Update 1: Mario Hoops, unfortunately, does not feature Wi-Fi play. Our bad.]
PRESS RELEASE: TUAW writer bucks trend, sticks with Mac OS X
Conrad Quilty-Harper, a writer for Mac site TUAW.com, has decided to continue using his Macintosh computer, countering the recent trend for high profile Ubuntu switchesFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASECanterbury, Kent, United Kingdom (July 26th, 2006) - Conrad Quilty-Harper, a writer for the popular Macintosh blog, The Unofficial Apple Weblog, has announced a bold plan to continue using Mac OS X for the foreseeable future. According to Conrad, this move is partly in reaction to the recent trend for relatively high profile figures across the web to announce their plan to switch away from the Mac OS operating system to Linux-based operating systems, in particular Ubuntu.On the subject of Ubuntu switchers Cory Doctorow, Mark Pilgrim and now Bryan O'Bryan, the owner of Mac modding and hacking site ResExcellence, Conrad said, "I just don't care." He also poses the question, "Since when did a person's computing platform of choice become a matter that must be announced to the public?"As an example of his extraordinary resilience, Conrad says that he will continue to use the Mac until either his needs exceed the Mac operating system's capabilities, or he gets a life and decides that he didn't need a computer anyway. Conrad also states that he agrees with John Gruber's point of view regarding the Ubuntu switching trend. "I defend the right of others to switch to other operating systems, and even to point out the shortcomings of the OS they are switching away from, but please, can we stop the whole 'NEWSFLASH: random dude switches away from the Mac!' nonsense?"
NOA releases dates, engages in tomfoolery
There are plenty of high-caliber DS releases coming in the second half of this year. Nintendo of America seeks to whet our appetites, and so a recent press release bestows a convenient list of release dates upon us...that extremely informative list, reader, can be found here. What draws our attention, however, are the writings at the beginning and end of the press release. Nintendo writes: "The fourth quarter of 2006 will herald a new era for Nintendo with the launch of its remarkable new Wii(TM) home video game system. But that's not what this news item is about! How could that be, you ask? Perhaps the secret to the launch information for Wii is somehow encoded in the text of this news item. You might want to pore over it for a few hours before staying up all night to debate phraseology and comma placement with your friends online. Or maybe it's all just a scam to get you to read the other games we have launching this fall. One of the two." Okay, that was uncalled for. And later: "And, for Nintendo GameCube(TM) owners, The Legend of Zelda(R): Twilight Princess will be available for you this fall. An enhanced version also will be a launch title for Wii. That will all happen on ... Oh look, we're out of space." Those charlatans.
Nintendo DS: over 21 million served
Well, 21 million sold at least, because the DS is like a Pringle: who can have just one? In a press release yesterday, Nintendo announced that 21 million DS units had been sold in less than two years on the market. To us, of course, the numbers aren't really surprising -- since we tend to be the people frantically pawing at our gaming store employees for more Nintendo, we know all about the crazy demand for the DS. In the release, Nintendo compares this period to Apple's first 19 months with the iPod -- and they only moved one million units. That's twenty million short, right? But then again, the iPod wasn't yet established, and everyone knows by now that Nintendo is the company for handhelds. But what really stood out in the press release was the figure of one DS sold every two to three seconds ... and after checking the math, they're not far off. So how many of those 21 million live in your space? And who has plans to buy yet another DS? I know someone needs to hook a girl up with one of those little pink numbers with a quickness .... [Via Joystiq]
Need for Speed: Carbon hints at Wii launch date
The upcoming Need for Speed: Carbon is being released on just about every platform known to man. A few days ago, EA released a press statement stating that the game would be released on November 10th for the PS2, PS3, Xbox, Xbox 360, Gamecube, PC, Nintendo DS, PSP, GBA, and PC. (The PS3 version will likely be delayed in America till November 17th, PS3's official NA release date.) But what about the Wii version? We knew it was coming, but it was odd that it wasn't included in the statement. As it turns out, EA has issued another press release, this time giving the Wii release date as November 3rd. Not only does the Wii get the game a full week earlier than any system, but this is strong evidence for a possible launch date. Not that we haven't had any other possible launch dates, but having a specialized release preceding every other version is certainly peculiar... [Thanks, Rob!]
Cheaper PS3 loses HDMI, slots, Wi-Fi, 40GB
As you can see above, there are a few things different between the two PS3 SKUs planned. (Hint: the obvious alterations concern high-def output and wireless connectivity -- though Bluetooth controllers should work just fine with both, with or without any chrome case highlighting.)So what's HDMI, built-in multimedia card-reader slots, wireless internet connectivity, and an extra 40 gigabytes' hard disk space worth to you? $100? Now that Sony's gone with the 2-SKU approach with its next-gen hardware (a la the Xbox 360's premium and "Core" systems), we can expect some tough consumer choices after six months -- with console shortages possibly for another six months after that -- as $100 separates the base $499 and premium $599 versions of Sony's "Clear Black" hope.HDMI is important to those who want to take full advantage of Blu-ray high def and have the new screens to use it; MemoryStick, SD, and CompactFlash slots would be nice for the PS3 memory-card users and those will run multimedia on the system; Wi-Fi's the only way to avoid stringing ethernet cables for online access; and 360 owners might appreciate the full 60GB available to potential buyers of the premium PS3 model. Neither model comes with a second HDMI port; thankfully, one should hopefully be all most users need. The details are laid out in a feature-comparison table at the end of Sony's official PS3 hardware press release, available in both Adobe Reader and Microsoft Word formats. Determine what's most important to your PS3 ambitions there.[Image pieced together from the PlayStation.com forums; thanks, Guru]
PS3 pad loses DualShock name and vibration but picks up Wii-esque motion detection and wireless connectivity
In a shocking turn of events, the PS3 controller has gone from banamerang to wireless DualShock 3, except without the DualShock name and vibration.If you take a good look at the back of the new control pad (see the close-up above), you'll notice that the DualShock 2 brand name imprinted on the old controller has now been supplanted by a row of LED lights to show which input has been set, either wirelessly or via the wired USB recharge port. Sony's now the only name in-line for PS3 controllers either on the pad or in the press releases (see "the new PS3 controller").
E3 Marketplace Content Press Release
I feel pretty bad about not mentioning this press release when I first received it in my inbox (for the few who don't recieve Microsoft Press Releases). Here's the content headed to XBLM during E3: Playable game demos and/or trailers from highly anticipated titles like: Crackdown (Microsoft Game Studios) Dead or Alive® : Xtreme 2 (Tecmo) The Lord of the Rings ™, The Battle for Middle Earth™ II (EA Los Angeles) Lost Planet: Extreme Condition (Capcom) Moto GP™ '06 (THQ) Sonic the Hedgehog™ (Sega) Splinter Cell Double Agent ™ (Ubisoft) Test Drive Unlimited (Atari) Viva Piñata (Microsoft Game Studios) Plus a flood of HD trailers from games that have yet to be announced Call of Duty®2 – New Multiplayer Map Packs (Activision) The release of UNO on Xbox Live Arcade Game with Fame celebrity gaming sessions with stars like Jenny McCarthy, Method Man and Panic Channel (Featuring Dave Navarro, Stephen Perkins, Chris Chaney and Steve Isaacs). Play and Win contests with the latest Xbox 360 and Xbox Live Arcade titles Exclusive high-definition blockbuster movie trailer downloads Limited edition E3 Gamerpics and Themes A Backstage Pass to see developers preparing for E3 Gears of War also gets a high-def trailer while Lost Planet will have a demo for sure. Plus there will be daily video updates. Over 60 pieces of new content in all.
Battlefield 2142 officially confirmed
Well, it looks like it's official... sorta. The BF2142 Team has updated EA's Battlefield 2 site with a note today confirming the ongoing development of Battlefield 2142 ("scheduled for release this Autumn"). The "official" corporate press release will arrive sometime later this week. So there you have it. And for those of you who were wondering what's up with patches for BF2 right now, "the DICE Canada studio will be hard at work on a 1.3 update... as well as the Armoured Fury Booster Pack," leaving DICE Stockholm free to focus on building the franchise's future. [Thanks, A2000 and Iced_Eagle] See also: Battlefield 2142 allegedly confirmed by PC Gamer [with video trailer] Battlefield 2142 scans of PC Gamer cover story leaked
Technology advances in lighting promise more realism
Geometric algebra, an up-and-coming field of mathematics, has found its way into video games thanks to Geomerics, a British startup. Although the company has yet to release details of their products, they've recently published some information on technology advances made possible by geometric algebra which help add further realism into gaming.Currently, lighting in games is a toss-up between three elements: in real life, light often changes position (e.g. as the sun moves across the sky); objects cast shadows, which are often quite subtle; and depending on your viewpoint, you can sometimes see light sources reflected in other objects. The usual method is to pre-calculate the shadows in a scene and paint them on the ground, but this means the light source must stay fixed. Thanks to next-gen computing power, spherical harmonic lighting can be used to generate soft, lifelike shadows from moving light sources, but without any of the shiny surface effects that complete the picture and add realism.Geomerics' development, using geometric algebra and wavelet technologies, allows all three elements to be computed in realtime: moving light sources, soft shadows and glossy surfaces. Hopefully this means that next-gen graphics can get even better.[Thanks, Pete]
