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Nintendo remembers that war isn't always so jovial
Along with its grittier, browner, and more next-gen art style, Advance Wars: Portrait Days of Ruin brings a much darker story to the turn-based strategy series, deviating from Wars World's usually colorful and light-hearted tone. The apocalyptic plot begins with a storm of meteors devastating the planet, setting off a chain of natural disasters that kill 90% of mankind. Cutscenes show Commanding Officers contending with non-combat issues like starvation and disease, a drastic departure from Jake's inane quotes that peppered Dual Strike.While we're on the topic of maturing the brand, we wonder if the game will take a chance and tackle themes from current wars and conflicts -- occupying a country in the midst of a civil war, outsourcing private military firms, or suffering losses to unconventional threats (e.g. IEDs, suicide bombers). It's unlikely, but it would be interesting to see executed.Nintendo also put out over a dozen English screenshots for the game which you can view in the gallery below. The new images betray a great deal of unannounced details, like an improved map editor, new terrain and terrain stats, and a unit leveling system. %Gallery-8563%
Cox inks deal to get CNN HD and TBS HD
While some of us have been enjoying the MLB postseason in HD on TBS HD, those relying on Cox Communications have been out of luck. Thankfully, all that is changing, as Cox and Turner Networks "announced an agreement today that will allow Cox to offer TBS in HD and CNN HD in Cox markets." Interestingly, an actual go-live date wasn't noted, so for those out there paying for HD from Cox, fire up your set and see if either channel is already available.
DirecTV offering up loads of MLB postseason action in HD
While we all sit and wait patiently for DirecTV to launch a few more HD channels, the sat provider is now claiming to be the "premier destination" for Fox Sports and TBS-HD's coverage of the MLB postseason in HD. DirecTV is claiming that to date, it's the "only national multichannel video provider committed to carrying both Fox and TBS's exclusive postseason HD broadcasts," and also notes that TBS-HD should launch "in September." Of course, this may not seem to do non-DirecTV users a whole lot of good, but here's to hoping the shameless gloating will convince other providers to hop on board and get TBS-HD to the rest of us before the regular season is too far gone.
Japanese TV executive forgets the last 20 years
An executive with Japan's TBS station (which is Tokyo Broadcasting System, not the Turner one we have over here that shows 400 Friends reruns a day), must have been desperate for someone to receive the buck he was looking to pass.Apparently there is somewhat of a crisis in the television industry over there right now. He blamed the decline in television viewing on other media: "There are outside factors at work. One is people watching TV on their cell phones where we can't track them, but the really big factor is the time people are spending on the Wii."If this is true, why haven't Japanese television ratings been down for the last seven years, while the Playstation 2 has been out? After all, there are about 25 million of those over there-- surely someone in Japan thought to play theirs. And what of the 19 million Famicoms? How has television survived? It's preposterous to think that 2 million Wiis hooked up to 2 million TVs have had a more widespread deleterious effect on TV watching than the enormous install base of the Playstation 2. This is just an example of grabbing something out of the news and blaming that for a problem. See also: Grand Theft Auto and real violence.[Via NeoGAF; all sales estimates from VGChartz]
Godspeed, X-Com DS
We usually wait until a homebrew project has had time to mature past its alpha builds before calling the game to your attention, but we take exception with any and all plans for a portable X-Com: UFO Defense. Our love affair with the turn-based, tactical title has been a romance with few equals, inviting comparisons with Shakespeare's tragic coupling of Romeo and Juliet. Should society ever try to separate us, you'll find that we've already taken measures to leave this miserable world, our lifeless arms entwined with X-Com's diskettes even in death. Blue_knight has posted screenshots of the progress he's made so far with adapting the game's data for the DS. The handheld clone already features tileset loading/creation, four height views, and touchscreen support for scrolling around the battlescape. Though there's still a lot left to implement, like fog of war and a map overview on the second screen, that hasn't stopped us from scouting countries for potential bases and trading tips on how to best attack Chryssalid terror sites.%Gallery-4133%[Via DCEmu]
GameTap now $9.95/month; GameTap TV announced
PC subscription gaming service GameTap has dropped its monthly fee from $14.95 to $9.95 and announced a GameTap TV expansion that will offer "a new broadband video streaming network" for games- and non-games-related programming.The GameTap TV feature will include separate channels dedicated to music videos, network game previews, GT TV-exclusive content, and "even an animation channel set to go live this spring that will feature an original series of animated shorts."We don't know where Space Ghost fits into all these broadband network plans, but we're sure that it can't be good. The cost-cutting measure by the TBS-owned venture are important in light of all the digital-download announcements made by the big console manufacturers recently, but it's hard to tell whether the $5 drop in monthly fees will greatly increase the number of current PC subscribers. Anyone gonna jump in on this?See also: What is GameTap? [Official page where the inset image was found] GameTap to offer previews, trailers GameTap: Turner's games-on-demand site is live
