The worst kept secret has been announced. Microsoft has officially announced the Xbox 360 Elite, which is basically a black 360 with HDMI and 120GB HD.
You will also be able to buy the 120GB HD separately for existing 360 owners.
Here are the pictures.
UPDATE
The 120GB HD is $179.95. And yes, the elite come with both HDMI and Component/Composite cable. It will reach retail on Apr 29.
Sony shipped 1 mil PS3s to Europe. So far, 600k units have been sold. UK takes the lead, with 165k units sold.
By comparison, during launch 360 sold 71k at launch, and Wii sold 105k units at launch. Though both of those were supply limited, namely they sold out right away.
This also came from Gamespot.
Bam! Chefs and wannabe chefs alike are invited to the Nintendo World Store in New York's Rockefeller Plaza on March 31 for a gaming event that would make Julia Child proud. That day, Majesco is hosting the Cooking Mama: Cook Off Challenge to celebrate the launch of the first Cooking Mama Wii game.
The event is taking place between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. local time and will feature an on-site chef preparing snacks and a competition featuring in-game Cooking Mama: Cook Off challenges at various stations set up around the store. Winners won't go home on an empty stomach or empty handed--those who prove their culinary prowess will receive a copy of the game. Those in attendance will also be able to take home a limited-edition Cooking Mama apron while supplies last.
Don't forget to "Whack it in!"
The following came by the ways of Gamespot.
Sony and its PlayStation 3 have been the targets of a lot of criticism in the gaming industry, and Insomniac Games chief creative officer Brian Hastings isn't going to take it anymore. The game developer has written a lengthy blog post (registration required) on the Insomniac Games Web site titled "10 Reason Why PS3 Will Win This Console Generation," a rebuttal of what he calls "the sheer volume of negative spin toward Sony from both the mainstream press and the internet community."
"I'll be the first to say that Sony has had a very rough road from last E3 up through this year's GDC," he says. "Some of their wounds have been self-inflicted, but they've also had to face a conspicuously hostile media." Hastings takes exception to some articles written about the PS3, including GameSpot's "Ten Things to Make the PlayStation 3 Worth Buying" feature (which he refers to as "Ten Complaints We Thought Up While Everyone Else Was Watching LittleBigPlanet").
Hastings points out the advantages the PS3 has (free online play, 50GB games, "Major CPU Advantage"), newly announced features and games (Home, LittleBigPlanet), and the popularity of Blu-ray, but one point he makes is likely to ruffle the feathers of Nintendo fanboys.
Under the heading "The Wii Fad Will Fade," Hastings says that interest in the Wii won't last. Likening the Wii to "mainstream fads" such as Tickle Me Elmo and Furbies, he believes that the many nongamers who have helped the Wii become a sales success will eventually let their Wiis gather dust, as "mainstream fads usually run their course within a year."
Hastings does acknowledge that the Wii is "really, really fun" and that "Nintendo has innovated far more than any other company in the industry," but he believes that in the end, consumers will be drawn to "more graphically impressive games on the PS3 and Xbox 360" for their high-definition televisions.
He sums up his thoughts with, "A lot of industry watchers and even a handful of publishers have been quick to write Sony off this generation, and I think that's near-sighted. Sony has made a lot of decisions with the PS3 that may have slowed them down in the short run, but should give them a big advantage in the long run."
In his post, Hastings also provides an e-mail address to which readers can send their comments on--and criticisms of--his top 10 list.
Of course, gamers didn't need to read Hasting's post to determine which side of the fence he sits on. Insomniac Games, though an independent company, has developed exclusively for Sony platforms and produced the PS3's most critically acclaimed game, Resistance: Fall of Man.
In Austrlia on the day of the PS3 launch, Microsoft send a note along with the following to CVG.
"What would you purchase for £146...? (The price difference between an Xbox 360 and a PlayStaion 3)", asks the included Xbox 360-headed notice. "Well, for a start we thought you might like £146 worth of beer to kick start your weekend early."
Not to be outdone, Microsoft New Zeland send the following to GamePlanet's Auckland store.
Just saw this today. This is crazy. Here is the crazy part from the article.
Three years ago, I received a national security letter (NSL) in my capacity as the president of a small Internet access and consulting business. The letter ordered me to provide sensitive information about one of my clients. There was no indication that a judge had reviewed or approved the letter, and it turned out that none had. The letter came with a gag provision that prohibited me from telling anyone, including my client, that the FBI was seeking this information.
That sounds rather 1984 if you ask me.
Lately there has been a lot of buzz about how Blu-ray has won, HD-DVD is dead, etc. I think the reality is, the battle is far from over. I think it's a three way race, not just blu-ray vs HD-DVD.
The two sides approach are different. Sony's approach with Blu-ray is to completely replace the current DVD. Because the current DVDs, you pay royalties to Toshiba. If Blu-ray completely replace DVD, then you pay Sony.
On the other hand, Toshiba position HD-DVD as an enhancement to DVD. Because you pay them either way. So they aren't quite as pushy to make you drop DVD in favor of the more expensive HD-DVD. It's also why hybrid disks exist. You can buy a disk that's both DVD and HD-DVD, and it plays in both DVD players and HD-DVD players.
A reminder to anyone who thinks the battle for the DVD successor is over as Sony claims. The combined total sales of HD-DVD and Blu-ray TOGETHER accounts for less than 1% of the DVD sales. So frankly, it's too early to tell.
Not to mention, I think there is a 3rd format that people are ignoring except Apple and Microsoft. It's digital distribution. You can already buy standard resolution movies from iTunes store, and rent 720p movies on Xbox Live Marketplace. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the Blu-ray/HD-DVD goes the way of SACD. What's SACD? It was a formate designed to be the successor to CD. No one uses it. People buy CD, or download music online, legal or otherwise. I wouldn't be at all surprised if in five years, only quality videophiles/audiophiles such as myself even know what HD-DVD or Blu-ray is.
So between a 12% off coupon and this thing on sale. I broke down and got it for the bedroom.
It's offical. Capcom has announced Devil May Cry 4 is no longer PS3 exclusive. It's also coming to 360 same day.
In the press release, they even gave the reason for this decision. "to help enhance profits".
PSP sales has reach 5 million units in Japan. Since DS has passed 15 million, it's fairly safe to say that DS outsells PSP in Japan 3 to 1.
Here are the console sales numbers for Feb 07. Bear in mind there is a shortage of Wii in US, and DS in Japan.
For US
Nintendo DS 485,000
Wii 335,000
PlayStation 2 295,000
Xbox 360 228,000
PlayStation Portable 176,000
Game Boy Advance 136,000
PlayStation 3 127,000
GameCube 24,000
Xbox 480
For Canada
DS 23,191
Xbox 360 12,390
PlayStation 3 6,084
PlayStation Portable 9,311
For Japan
NDS - 586,000
Wii - 279,000
PSP - 233,000
Playstation 3 - 107,000
Playstation 2 - 63,000
Xbox 360 - 18,000
Game Boy Advance - 7,300
GameCube - 1,400
Capcom R&D head Keiji Inafune, the creator responsible for games like Dead Rising, Lost Planet and Mega Man, was asked on his thoughts closed Clover Studios. Session moderator N'Gai Croal asked Inafune about Clover's gorgeous financial underperformers Okami and Viewtiful Joe.
Here is the question and the response.
Perhaps I might get into trouble if I say this in front of people from the mass media. Games are not a work of art. It's actually a product. If we think of it as a work of art, then... when we think about Picasso and Van Gogh's paintings, the end result is beauty, so it doesn't matter if you sell it or not. However for games, it's a product. It is a commodity. The producer has to think about that.
Okami and Viewtiful Joe, I think, are wonderful games and because they are wonderful games I think, the job of the director was fantastic. But the producer didn't do his work. The producers work is to make the team make good games and then sell those games. The producer has to do the promotion. They have to think about the promotion. The producer has to take those good games and think about how to deliver it to as many users as possible. Certainly to get good reviews is part of his job. However, the producer has to make sure the game sells [on par with the review]. I think the producer dropped the ball there. Capcom said they would do it, but Clover said "Oh, we'll do it ourselves." And I think this was a failure.
Great directors may exist in great numbers, however, if you don't have a good producer it won't lead to sales. And I think this Clover Studios example is a really good example of that.
I couldn't agree with this more. I also can't help but think some people set out to create art instead of a good game. That itself can easily lead to an ego trip instead of good product.
The following as relayed to me by D, it was also posted to Kotaku
At Nintendo GDC keynote Phil Harrison(of SCEA) is sitting in the front row
Reggie (CEO of Nintendo US) is standing off consulting with people, posing for pictures, etc.
A kid in the front row shouted at Reggie "REGGIE! You gotta kick some ass and take some names!"
"Like who?!" Reggie shouted back
"Phil Harrison, FRONT ROW!" The kid says
"I think we already did that" Says Reggie
The nearby crowd laughs.
It's offical. The new 512mb memory card has been announced. It arrives in retail 4/3/07 at the $49.99 and comes with Geometry Wars. The current 64mb card drops to $29.99.
Also, the max size of Live Arcade game has been increased from 50mb to 150mb.
