As many gamers know, summer is probably one of the slowest times of video game news. E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) has ended and the hype has died down, Comic Con is occuring where maybe a few announcements come out of, and everyone is waiting for the TGS (Tokyo Game Show) to begin.
As most of you are probably – by this point – aware, that tranquil time period for gaming known as summer just became a hot zone for speculation. The ESA has confirmed the down sizing of the big event E3. GameSpot, today, conducted an interview with the head of the ESA, Doug Lowenstein, in order to ascertain the reasoning to the many dramatic changes of the largest gaming spectacle on earth, E3.
To read the interview, click here.
While next year’s newly downsized Electronic Entertainment Expo remains slated to take place in its longtime location of Los Angeles, the show is apparently going to be leaving behind its traditional May date on the calendar. An industry analyst and a representative of the City of Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau have both alerted the press that the event’s organizers at the Entertainment Software Association mentioned moving the show to July.
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The Entertainment Software Association has confirmed reports that its Electronic Entertainment Expo will be undergoing big changes for next year. According to the trade group, the convention will be “evolving into a more intimate event focused on targeted, personalized meetings and activities.” “It is no longer necessary or efficient to have a single industry ‘mega-show,’” said ESA president Doug Lowenstein in a statement. “By refocusing on a highly targeted event, we think we can do a better job serving our members and the industry as a whole, and our members are energized about creating this new E3.”
Prefacing its statements with the caveat “as currently envisioned,” the ESA said E3 2007 will still be held in Los Angeles, but won’t have the “large trade-show environment” of previous years. The city has previously estimated that the show brings in about $20 million in direct spending by the 60,000-plus attendees and exhibitors.
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As most owners of the Xbox 360 are aware, the warranty on their console is a slender 3 months. That’s gotten quite a few American owners angry when one takes into consideration the fact that their European counterparts having a 2 year warranty by law and a 1 year warranty in Australia.
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PRESS RELEASE — July 29, 2006 – NHN USA today announces the online gaming portal phenomenon ijji.com has arrived in the U.S. Play free, high quality games while competing with others. ijji.com provides the highest quality in single and multiplayer games. Users play live in a real-time environment with friends, family, and other gamers.
ijji.com also provides a compelling community experience that features such elements as 1) avatars, whose appearance users can tailor to customize how they represent themselves to others: 2) ratings, rankings, and “tasks” to signify levels of achievement; 3) personal virtual “game diary” where users’ records, achievements, and profiles are stored; and 4) ijji.com-hosted local, national, and international tournaments.
Click here to go to www.ijji.com
PRESS RELEASE — July 27, 2006 – Xfire, Inc., one of the fastest growing online gaming platforms and communities in the world, and Blizzard Entertainment, Inc., the developer and publisher behind such critically acclaimed games as StarCraft® Warcraft®, and Diablo®, announced today a new movie contest featuring Blizzard®’s popular online game World of Warcraft®. The Blizzard Xfire World of Warcraft Summer Movie Contest invites entrants from the United States, Canada, and Europe to create movies using the World of Warcraft game and submit them in one of four categories: Short Film, Comedy, Music Video/Dance, and Drama/Action. A total of $23,000 in prizes will be awarded during the contest to entrants submitting the best movies.
“World of Warcraft is one of the most popular games played by Xfire users. We know that our more than 4.5 million users of Xfire enjoy making and watching movies,” said Mike Cassidy, CEO of Xfire. “Working with Blizzard on this exciting contest ensures that the World of Warcraft fans on Xfire will all have an opportunity to win prizes while making movies about their favorite game.”
Details about the contest can be found on the contest’s official site at: http://www.xfire.com/cms/xf_wow_contest_summer.
PRESS RELEASE — CHERTSEY, UK – July 27, 2006 – Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) officially announced today that they will continue to expand The Lord of the Rings™ universe with The Lord of the Rings™, The Battle for Middle-earth™ II, The Rise of the Witch-king *. As the expansion pack to the fan favorite, The Lord of the Rings™, The Battle for Middle-earth II™, this Real-Time Strategy (RTS) game will enhance every existing feature and offer players the chance to command the rise of evil in Middle-earth while experiencing the epic battles that took place before those depicted in the New Line Cinema films.
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Nintendo is once again king of the portable gaming market. As of today, Nintendo has announced that over 21 million DS units have been sold worldwide. The Big N calculates the rate of sales to be approximately 23 systems per minute since launch date (non-stop).
With classic title characters returning to the DS such as Star Fox in Star Fox Command and Mario along with DK in Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2 coming in the not-to-far-distant-future, Nintendo’s hold on the portable market will not be easily relinquished anytime in the near-future.
“We’re thrilled to be announcing this milestone today,” says George Harrison, Nintendo of America’s Senior V.P. of Marketing and Corporate Communications.
“Especially since Nintendo DS was North America’s top-selling video game system of any type in June. We attribute this success to Nintendo’s overall strategy of offering something for everyone — from five-year-olds caring for their Nintendogs to 65-year-olds tuning their mental agility with Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day.”
Thanks to KrazyGamers for the head’s-up to this story.
Today, the Big N unveiled some upcoming games heading to the Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance later this year. Yes the Game Boy Advance is indeed still alive and will be getting Final Fantasy V Advance on November 6.
The releases all of you DS users will be seeing include Yoshi’s Island 2, Children of Mana, and Nintendogs (Dalmations), to name a few. Full details can be seen below.
Oct. 9: Clubhouse Games(TM)
Oct. 16: Nintendogs(TM) (Dalmatian)
Oct. 23: Magical Starsign(TM)
Oct. 30: Pokemon(R) Ranger
Oct. 30: Children of Mana(R)
Nov. 6: Elite Beat Agents(TM)
Nov. 13: Yoshi’s Island(TM) 2
Dec. 4: Custom Robo(TM) Arena
Dec. 4: Kirby(TM) Squeak Squad
Thanks to KrazyGamers for the heads-up.
The Super Soldiers previously brought you the story on cracks developing on the left hinge of the DS Lite. Various other gaming sites were reporting on whether or not Nintendo would be charging $50 dollars to fix the crack.
Nintendo went on the record to let people know. The crack developing in the DS lite is extremely isolated (1 in every 5,000 or 0.0002% of total DS Lites) and is not detrimental to gameplay so it would be a waste of Nintendo’s time to recall and repair all of them. However, for those wishing to have a cosmetic repair on their DS Lite, it would come at a cost of $50. Of course this may be a bad PR move on their part but the fact of the matter is, according to Nintendo, that the crack does not affect gameplay. So if anyone wishes to have their DS Lite repaired, just ask yourself first, is it really worth $50…
Once again, for reference purposes, Nintendo of America encourages anyone with questions to contact them at: 1-800-255-3700.