After curling up in the fetal position and taking a thorough ass-kicking from Wii for a while, Microsoft has opened its eyes to make sure it was clear, pulled itself up, hobbled battered and bruised back to the proverbial drawing board, and taken solace in the old maxim that starts off by admitting defeat then advocates mimicking the competition. In other words, they’ve announced a new package of body motion-based hardware at E3.
This Winter, the world of high-end PC gaming will become accessible to a lot more people, because all they’ll need to play is a semi-decent computer and an Internet connection. OnLive, introduced this week, is creating quite a stir by promising to transform the gaming industry. By processing computer game data on its own servers, then sending highly compressed information through the Internet, even the most demanding computer games, such as Crysis, will run on low-end PCs, Macs and even netbooks. That means there’s no need to constantly spring for the best graphics cards, and some enthusiasts are even predicting the death of the gaming console. Whether you buy that or not, the concept of cloud gaming is pretty cool. Public beta starts in the summer, and you can sign up now. Pricing hasn’t been revealed, but you’re looking at monthly subscription plans. [via OnLive]
Oh boy, more fanboy fuel. A month after Sony boasted of 50 million worldwide sales for its Playstation Portable handheld, Nintendo laid out the smackdown statistic of 100 million global sales for the rival DS. The dual screen device launched in late 2004, but it’s been on a steady diet of 30 million sales per year since the trimmer DS Lite arrived in March 2006. The question is, how long until the DS reaches a plateau? At this rate, we’re looking at 200 million in 2012, maybe faster if the DSi is a huge hit when it drops next month. That’s a lot of people thinking they’re getting smarter with Brain Age. [Nintendo via Engadget]
It’s another interesting week for new video games, particularly if you dig a lot of gore. Today sees the release of Madworld, a monochrome comic book-style romp with lots of ways to kill people. Friday (the 13th, Bwa ha!) is Resident Evil 5’s day to shine. Some Gamestops are holding midnight launches, so check your local shop if you’re writhing — like a zombie, natch — in anticipation. Earlier, we predicted that both these games will be disappointments, so let us know whether we were on point or off-base.
We already covered some of the big news from last week — notably, the announcement of The Beatles: Rock Band, coming in September — but also, there’s a new Pac-Man game on the way. Championship Edition was a thrilling revival of the old-school, so it’ll be interesting to see where the yellow dot-muncher goes next. Pac-Man’s platforming adventures never quite matched up to the competition, but maybe Namco-Bandai will try harder this time to honor the gaming icon’s 30th anniversary next year. That, or it’ll be a shameless money grab.
We’ve known for a few months now that the makers of Rock Band were planning a Beatles music game, but now it’s got a name, a price and an availability date. The Beatles: Rock Band is scheduled for a September 9 release, and the game alone will cost the usual $59 for Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Wii. Standalone guitars, including replicas of George and John’s classic axes, will cost $99. There’s also a “Limited Edition Premium Bundle,” which will cost $249.99. Even though I’m not a huge Beatles fan, I’m excited, unlike Charlie White at Dvice. He’s groaning because “it’s a sorry state of affairs when the only way to legally get digital files of Beatles tunes is in a silly pretend-musician pantomime/karaoke game.” Yeah, too bad a new generation will get into the greatest band of all time by playing along. Charlie, no one’s stopping you from buying one of those newfangled CDs and ripping the audio yourself. [via Dvice]
One of my hang-ups with Diablo — and many other role-playing games, for that matter — isn’t the genre itself, but the swords and sorcery; give me a shotgun and I’ll show those ghoulies what’s up. So this Doom-themed, Diablo-style game makes me a bit giddy. “Doom: Fall of Mars,” by the cleverly-named If Software, has been in alpha for a while, but, its creator says a full release is coming in maybe a month. For now, get a taste of an early build, which is apparently “more of a concept than a game at this point.” But what a concept it is. [via CrunchGear]
We’ve heard of arcade cabinets, but building your own pinball machine has got to be tougher than sticking a computer in a wooden box with some old joysticks and buttons. Fortunately, the magic of software and widescreen HDTVs makes it easy to construct a reasonable immitation. Hyperspin forum admin BadBoyBill used one high-def TV, laid flat, as the table of his virtual pinball machine, the Hyperpin. An LCD monitor, upright at the end, displays scores and other data, and thanks to the Future Pinball software, he’s able to play 13 tables on one machine. If you can’t be bothered to build one of these yourself, start saving for a pre-made UltraPin. The Web site doesn’t say how much it costs, so be prepared to shell out. [Hyperspin via SlipperyBrick]
The surge of pretty good video game releases continues from February into March with this week’s release of Halo Wars. The real time strategy adaptation of Microsoft’s golden franchise is earning fair to glowing reviews, with my favorite pubs (Edge, 1UP, CVG) calling it a fun but simplistic venture. Also this week, a new Tom Clancy series is birthed. HAWX is a fighter plane simulator that features interesting camera work, allowing you to perform advanced maneuvers from a far-off third-person perspective. There’s also We Ski & Snowboard for Wii owners whose Balance Boards are collecting dust.
As for news, nothing major sticks out, but it’s nice to see Toys R Us experimenting with used video game sales. The toy retailer is trying it out in a couple of New York stores to see if it works. About time someone gave Gamestop a run for their money.
It’s hard to argue that World of Warcraft isn’t addictive, sometimes dangerously so. Last month, a 15-year-old Swedish boy started convulsing after a 24-hour play session, and the game has previously led to death. So now we have Sweden’s Youth Care Foundation saying World of Warcraft is “the crack cocaine of the computer gaming world. Some people can’t drag themselves away and will play it till they drop.” Gamers have been making this comparison for years, but jokingly, because the metaphor doesn’t quite match. Most people enjoy the game responsibly, so maybe we need a different drug to better make a comparison. Alcohol? Marijuana? How about just regular cocaine? What’s this, the group says World of Warcraft is “more addictive than cocaine?” Nevermind, then. [The Sun via CrunchGear]
