Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) today announced its 2007 second-quarter software line-up for PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™), PSP® (PlayStation®Portable), and PlayStation®2 (PS2) computer entertainment systems. More than 100 first- and third-party PS3, PSP and PlayStation 2 titles will launch during the next few months of 2007, bringing to consumers an impressively robust software line-up. The catalog encompasses the most popular game genres, featuring industry leading franchises as well as new intellectual properties that will appeal to game enthusiasts of any level.
“Our second-quarter line-up of PS3, PSP and PlayStation 2 software titles demonstrates a continued commitment from both SCEA and third-party developers to the PlayStation family of products,” said Peter Dille, Senior Vice President of Marketing, SCEA. “We are excited by the content being developed by our partners, but are also looking forward to launching PlayStation-branded exclusive games created by our own worldwide studios this quarter and throughout the rest of 2007.”
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Having recently recently settled a suit with Take-Two and following the shootings at Virginia Tech, true to history, Jack Thompson has once again begun the proverbial witch hunt. This time, his new target is Microsoft. The offending game? Counter-Strike.
In an email directed straight to Mr. Bill Gates himself, Thompson had this to say:
April 18, 2007
Bill Gates
Microsoft
1 Microsoft Way
Redmond, WA 98052 Via Fax and e-mail
Dear Mr. Gates:
On Monday, April 16, at 3:10 pm, I was a guest, as I often have been in the past, on the Fox News Channel. News anchor Bill Hemmer asked me to profile the Virginia Tech rampage killer. I did so, noting that until that day the worst school massacre in world history was at the hands of Robert Steinhaeuser, who literally trained on the Microsoft on-line, hyper-violent shooter game, Counterstrike. I mentioned your company’s game by name. I explained that the rehearsal for such a massacre is key to being able to pull it off, as efficiently as Cho, whose name we didn’t even know at the time. Cho and Steinhaeuser were able to do what they did the first time because it was not the first time. This is why the military uses this same virtual reality simulation to train soldiers to want to kill and how to kill calmly, as the witnesses of Cho said he did.
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Jack Thompson cannot sue nor hinder the releasal of any Take-Two products by it or its subsidiaries. As reported by GamePolitics:
…Grand Theft Auto publisher Take Two Interactive and anti-game attorney Jack Thompson have apparently reached settlement on a pair of pending legal actions in Florida.
One immediate result is that Thompson will no longer have to worry about being jailed for contempt of court in regard to last October’s Bully case.
[Readers] may recall that Take Two filed suit against Thomspon in a Florida federal court last month. T2’s action was primarily based upon Thompson’s threats to sue to block sales of upcoming Rockstar games Manhunt 2 and Grand Theft Auto IV.
Thompson promptly filed a countersuit whch was highlighted by charges that Take Two violated federal racketeering (RICO) statutes. The controversial attorney also accused several prominent game media outlets (including GamePolitics) of participating in a vast conspiracy against him. However, an amended complaint subsequently filed by Thompson quietly dropped the RICO allegations
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Spong is reporting that UK retailers including Gameseek have resorted to selling the PlayStation 3, “at a loss to try (to) attract new customers to our site”.
Acccording to Spong:
Having achieved a record-breaking launch weekend for the PS3, Sony is now having to face up to serious price cutting in retail. UK industry journal, MCV, is reporting that retailers including Gameseek have resorted to selling the PlayStation 3, “at a loss to try (to) attract new customers to our site”.
As you can see from the screenshot at the right of this story, GameSeek has marketed it’s sub-£390 deal as, “*** Special Promotion for a limited time only *** “, but even given these caveats, it’s not a good look for Sony as it fights what its CEO, Howard Stringer, has called ‘perception’ wars with both public, media and retail.
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The Nintendo Wii has been tearing up the sales charts since it was released last November. Dispite this, as reported byNexGenWars, Yasuhiro Wada, creator of Harvest Moon, believes that “Wii cannot really compete against PS3 or Xbox 360″ and that Nintendo’s own portable, the DS, is its main competiton.
Acccording to NexGenWars:
Wada is currently development director over at Rising Star Games and in a recent interview with Spong, was asked to give three pieces of advice to Nintendo to ensure that Wii continues to succeed.
“It’s very difficult. Wii cannot really compete against PS3 or 360, which is why Wii’s main competitor right now is DS. They are competing on the same level. So, Nintendo has to work harder to make Wii’s own market, as opposed to competing against DS’s market. This would be my first piece of advice to Nintendo,” he replied.
Wii Sports is the only game that can be ONLY played on Wii, not on any other console. So future games plans such as Brain Training on Wii or that type of thing – I don’t think this is such a great idea – as these games are already being played and are very popular on DS… they are not specific to the Wii.,” continued Wada.
“The third piece of advice I would give them would be to reduce the price of the DS! [compared to price of Wii] That’s my main bit of advice. I think they can do it. The made a decision on pricing and they went for a higher price. If they want to reduce the price they can,” he concluded.
Capcom® Entertainment today announced that it is in production on Harvey Birdman Attorney at Law, an interactive fiction game that merges the fun and mayhem of the popular Adult Swim TV show with Capcom’s unique style of gameplay. Capcom Entertainment plans to release Harvey Birdman –Attorney at Law for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system and the PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system in North America this fall.
“Combining Capcom’s adventure game expertise with Adult Swim’s Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law characters is an ideal match,” said Jack Symon, director, marketing, Capcom Entertainment. “Capcom will be providing the game design direction while Harvey Birdman show writers will be assisting in bringing the stories to life with their unique brand of humor.”
“With Capcom’s past success in the legal game-play arena, working with them to bring Harvey Birdman to a whole new platform was the perfect verdict for both companies,” said Christina Miller, vice president of consumer products for Cartoon Network Enterprises, the licensing and merchandising division of Cartoon Network and Adult Swim. “Fans should really enjoy being in control of the barely controllable legal “eagle” Harvey Birdman.”
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Originally scheduled to release Q2 2007, both parties have decided to postpone the launch until September 2007.
“Since SunAge is one of our most anticipated releases, it is very important for us to deliver a solid product,” said Erik Schreuder, CEO of Lighthouse Interactive. “SunAge is looking very good and our play testers are really enjoying the game.”
“Vertex4 is a young company that is quickly maturing,” said Roman Pfneudl, CEO of Vertex4. “The team is very enthusiastic about this project and we are committed to producing a high quality RTS game. We just need a little more time for this last phase of development. Focus is mainly on fine-tuning the A.I. and tweaking gameplay balancing. We also upgraded to DirectX® 9 which has resulted in better looking graphical environments and vastly improved effects.”
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PRESS RELEASE — Capcom® today announced that the incredibly successful Resident Evil® series, with over 30 million games sold worldwide, is coming to the Wii™ video game system from Nintendo with two new titles. This summer, Capcom will release Resident Evil® 4 Wii Edition, a new version of the award-winning game that incorporates the control functionality of the Wii Remote™. Capcom will be bringing a new game, Resident Evil®: The Umbrella Chronicles, to the Wii at a later date.
“Resident Evil has become one of the premier franchises in the games industry, with more than 30 million RE games sold around the world,” said Jack Symon, director, product marketing, Capcom Entertainment. “The innovative controller functionality of the Wii will allow us to design innovative, original game play never before seen in a Resident Evil game. With RE4, we’re challenging the Wii hardware to meet Resident Evil, while in The Umbrella Chronicles, we’re adapting Resident Evil to the innovations of the Wii.”
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Following the recent second anniversary of PSP® (PlayStation®Portable), Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) has announced a reduced price for PSP hardware. Effective today, PSP Core Pack will be available in North America for $169.99 (MSRP), delivering a significant $30 savings to consumers. SCEA also announced that Daxter™ and Syphon Filter®: Dark Mirror are the newest additions to the PSP “Greatest Hits” collection, enabling PSP users to build up their software library with two popular titles at great value.
“We have always been passionate about making great entertainment accessible to everyone, and the new price for PSP, as well as the continued growth of the ‘Greatest Hits’ library, reflect our ongoing commitment to supporting and expanding the PSP community,” said Jack Tretton, President and CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment America. “We are pleased that we are able to engineer savings for the consumer at this stage of PSP’s lifecycle, allowing more individuals to experience PSP for the first time. In particular, we have recently seen a steady rise in the number of teens adopting PSP as their primary handheld entertainment system, and we expect the new price will accelerate that trend.”
Now entering its third year on the market, PSP continues to redefine the portable entertainment space, with key software launches and new entertainment features driving hardware and software sales. In 2006, hardware unit shipments rose to nearly 25 million units* worldwide, with more than one million new PSP systems sold in North America in December alone. Software shipments increased to more than 90 million units* last year, and the platform is poised for further growth this year with a software release schedule that includes exclusive titles from major franchises, including God of War®, Ratchet & Clank®, SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs, and Syphon Filter®. The availability of Daxter and Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror at $19.99 (MSRP) as part of the “Greatest Hits” program also will generate strong consumer interest and drive software sales
Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) today announced that it will bring the highly-anticipated Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game, Warhammer® Online: Age of Reckoning™ (WAR) to major Asian regions, including Korea, China, Taiwan and Japan. Based on Games Workshop’s Warhammer fantasy universe, Warhammer Online features next generation Realm vs. Realm™ (RvR) game play that will immerse players in a world of perpetual conflict.
Developed by EA Mythic, the studio credited worldwide with revolutionizing the online gaming space with the award winning Dark Age of Camelot™, the Warhammer Online Realm vs. Realm system has players joining one of six Armies - the obstinate Dwarfs, the noble High Elves, the loyal humans of the Empire, the savage Greenskin, the corrupt Dark Elves and the marauding human worshippers of Chaos - to experience the truly epic nature of WAR. RvR combat takes place on three battlefronts where an unending war is waged for control of vital resources and territory. WAR also features an innovative Public Quest system and a massive City Siege Campaign that allows players to sack and pillage an enemy capital. In addition, WAR integrates both Player vs. Player (PvP) combat zones and Player vs. Environment (PvE) quests on the same map for the very first time.
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