One of the most surprising films in the sort of "Holy crap? What the heck?! This is cool!" vein to come out of SXSW film festival earlier this year was Blip Festival: Reformat The Planet. It's all about chiptune music and the performers, and is beautifully shot. It's hard to imagine Nintendo thinking people would be hacking into their Game Boys in order to create full-fledged concerts, concerts that would one day spark a feature documentary and an entire genre of music.
For one week, you can watch the impressive documentary at Pitchfork.tv. It's even broken up into bite-sized chapters for you. Give it a looksee and you'll find yourself toe-tapping along to the addictive 8-bit music throughout the film. It's beaten Wizard Rock as our current favorite geek music of choice.
Valve really missed a good opportunity for a bad pun here by not calling it "Meat the Sandvich," but hey, it's still pretty damned funny. What's next in the series of loony videos? Meet the Bullet? Seriously though, we'd watch them all. Heck, just throw a TF2 cartoon on the air as part of Adult Swim and we'd be glued to our sets.
The Spy Hunter movie based on the Midway arcade hit that we talked about more than a year ago is hitting the skids, crashing through the guardrail, and plummeting off the cliff that is called "development hell" in Hollywood. Looks like director Paul Anderson (W.S., not Thomas) is being taken off the project, which will spin it out into limbo.
You can also read Latino Review's review of the script right here. They seemed to like it, saying it was better than The Fast and the Furious 3 ... which ain't saying much. In fact, the best thing Spy Hunter has spawned as far as filmed entertainment goes is the Pontiac commercial above. If any of the game sequels had looked like that, we might still be playing them.
Now, we ask you... is this such a bad thing? Sure it had Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson attached to it, and John Woo was supposed to direct it at one point. However, it's had a slew of different writers and now with two director replacements, do we really need a Spy Hunter movie? We hope no one hits "Continue" on the Spy Hunter movie, and that it just dies a merciful death. What say you?
According to DFC intelligence figures cited by Dave Perry, Sony has lost more money on the PlayStation 3 hardware than it made on the PlayStation 2 during its five most popular years. In pure numbers speak it's lost $3 billion on the PS3, which is about equivalent to everything it made selling PS2s during its peak years. This story would actually have a lot more impact if Carl Sagan was around to say "beelyuns."
Perry, best known for his stint at Shiny Entertainment, was speaking at the really long-named Games Convention Developers Conference, which appears to be both a Convention and a Conference, and was just using the figures to underscore how much Sony was spending on hardware development. However, the 1UP article doesn't mention until near the end that the original PS2 lost money in its first year, and that Sony (and the other console makers) does this so it can make bank on the software/games that people need to fuel their systems.
In all fairness, the article goes on to explain that Microsoft lost $4 billion on the original Xbox, and has had to spend over $1 billion replacing faulty hardware in the 360 and extending the warranty for original purchasers. So, we tend to think $5 billion trumps $3 billion. The real winner in this struggle? Nintendo. It has been churning a profit on that little Wii since it hopped out of the gate. Rassin' frassin' wand-wagglin' profiteers.
We've already witnessed the news that made us go, "Wha?" -- Atari actually turned a profit this past financial quarter, even though it was just a measly $3.5 million smackers. GameDaily went a little more in-depth in their interview with brand-spanking new Atari CEO Jim Wilson to find out what the company's plan is for staying profitable and earning bigger margins, and we'll sum it up for you here: "We really, really, really hope Alone In The Dark continues to do well," and "Location, location, location!" Yup, it's trying like mad to establish a strong footing in the North American market.
The trouble with that scenario is that the most exciting Atari title we were shown at E3 was What's Cooking? With Jamie Oliver for the DS. Atari is relying heavily on N+ and Backyard Sports to make a splash... but will it be enough to keep its head out of the water? The publisher needs a huge smash that can potentially turn into a franchise to keep things rolling, or else release dozens of marginally successful titles for the DS and the Wii to make things stick.
Either way, the interview is an interesting read. While we don't want to see Atari fade into obscurity and bankruptcy again, the company has a hard row to hoe.
Although it was dangled in front of us like a tantalizing carrot, it looks like you won't be able to get any cross-gaming action between PS3s and PCs out of Sony's upcoming spy MMO, The Agency. Last year, designer Hal Milton told us the developer weas looking at it, but in a recent interview with Eurogamer it looks like he's closed the door on things for good. You can thank Shadowrun for ruining it all.
"PC guys say, 'PS3 guys have aim assist and the controls nerfed for them'. And PS3 guys say, 'PC guys have a mouse and keyboard - it's all easier for them'. Even if it's not true." Not that we're complaining, because Shadowrun made us a bit mental. But this really needs to happen in a fun way sooner or later. Which title is going to be able to nail it down and make it work? Super Mario Crossover Party Platformer 2: Now With More Fun has our money.
Last night was the opening night shindig for the latest i am 8-bit show, and it was by far their biggest event yet. We arrived early as part of a press event to mill around and quietly take photos, but by 9PM the place was packed with people checking out the art, listening to the whomping sounds of Computer Jay, DJ R-Rated, and Leeni (check her out in the Pac-Man dress, along with her 8-bit tattoo). There was a massive line of people outside waiting to get in, and it had turned into the hottest ticket on Hollywood Blvd. Which, yes, is actually saying something.
They had turned the entire storefront of the World of Wonder (didn't they used to make Teddy Ruxpin?) into a huge display, featuring giant Piranha Plants from Super Mario Bros., and they had an old-school setup where you could play games ranging from an NES to a full-sized arcade cabinet, right there on full display to everyone passing by. It probably didn't hurt that some of the Nerdcore calendar girls took up residence here later and played Game Boys and quarter-eaters in their underwear.
Read more after the break, and be sure to take a spin through the huge gallery which shows off the more than 200 pieces in the show, and how crazy the whole scene became.
We headed into the wonderific CGI fray known as SIGGRAPH this year, and ultimately decided that we need to start checking this out more often. The technical conference just entered its 35th year, with the acronym being for Special Interest Group on GRAPHics and Interactive Techniques. While it's evolved into a pretty glorified job fair, they still show off new and impressive technology, have a large section focusing on papers relating to innovation in the field of computer graphics (like this year's "Simulating Knitted Cloth at the Yarn Level") and feature a fun Computer Animation Festival component filled with dozens of short CGI films in competition.
The only gaming companies we noticed in attendance were Activision, LucasArts, and THQ, which mostly offered "we want to hire you!" booths, but a lot of the tech behind games was being shown as well. NVIDIA was demoing "the world's first fully interactive GPU-based ray tracer," and the Mova Contour system was showing off their futuristic looking rig. Plus, it now seems like everyone and their uncle is creating 3D printers that pump out plastic models, but that doesn't mean we don't want one.
Read on after the break to find out more, explore the gallery below, and be sure to watch the video that got the biggest laughs, just ahead.
One of the things we made sure to do at E3 this year was to spend a significant amount of time with the IndieCade folks. Then we sat on that info long enough for some of these games to get picked up, have a successful release, come out with sequels, spawn movies, novels, comic books, become part of the general pop culture bloodstream, and then fade into nostalgia, and for that we apologize. Actually, I'll apologize, I did it.
But in all seriousness, a lot of the more fun and innovative stuff we saw at E3 wasn't actually being churned out by big studios and publishers, but being worked on by small groups with tiny budgets and just a love of gaming. Read on to find out all about the IndieCade games that we saw on display, and why you'll want to be playing them now.
Ben Fritz writes about video games for Variety and was one of the E3 judges this year -- and he's not too happy with this year's winners. He calls Mirror's Edge "gimmicky" and the Gears of War 2 improvements "minor." He was really pulling for Resistance 2, which he felt offered up a lot more than the original, and we'll admit that's a good point.
However, he really laments the fact that Fable 2 didn't win anything. He hated the original Fable, but thinks that "the human interactions, from multiple gay marriages to public drunkenness, seem really fun" in the sequel. He also admits that he didn't care for last year's Super Mario Galaxy and disliked Mass Effect. Which is probably why the second comment from Just A Guy is "You suck."
Update: Ben Fritz actually contacted us to let us know he didn't hate Super Mario Galaxy, he just "didn't lavish superlatives" on it. He goes on to tell us that the review he wrote of the game was "positive," but you can judge for yourself right here. With friends like that, who needs negative reviews? However, he did point out (and rightly so) that the headline implied that he doesn't like the E3 awards. In actuality, "I just personally disagree with the majority of the winners." Our bad, and we've fixed that.
Bungie could have strutted all the way back to home base with the "2nd Annual Halo 3 award for Interactive Innovation" without saying a word, but the developer was graceful enough to record an extremely cool acceptance video taped somewhere within the Halo universe. And it looks like it's filled with some new Halo goodness.
Are these some teasing tidbits about a possible Map Editor? Check out that last shot when our soldier pal lobs a plasma grenade towards the camera. Verrrrrrrry interesting. It's definitely a lot more robust-looking than Halo 3's Forge editor. Also, those look like new AI models of past cast members ... including Cortana. Playable models? In-game NPCs that'll be on your squad? Cats and dogs, living together? Who knows. What's for sure is that Bungie is saying "the ride isn't over yet."
The Rose Bowl was Madden-ified yesterday to make way for the 20th anniversary of Madden games, as well as the new Madden NFL 09 game that went on sale at midnight last night... or 9 PM Pacific if you were lucky enough to be in the stadium in Pasadena. The upper deck was wrapped in gigantic Madden sail cloths promoting the game and featuring poster boy Brett Favre in his Packers gear. The playing turf featured autograph sessions with NFL legends, skill games, free Pepsi schwag (which we forgot to photograph, whoops), a Slurpee booth complete with Hooters-esque booth babes, a mini Wal-Mart store, and a giant gaming tent full of tons of Xbox 360s, and a scant few Wiis, PS3s, and PSPs.
Judging from this screenshot, you can see where some of the *ahem* enhancements are going. CD Projekt is pouring a lot of time and effort into The Witcher, which came out almost a year ago. They're adding new animations, new NPC models, fixing all of the dialogue translation problems, squashing bugs, and "increasing load times by 80%." The question is, will people pay attention to a game that came out last year?
GameCyte has a full interview with project lead Maciej Szczesnik who talks about the changes they've made. They caught a lot of flak over the poor translation of the game from the original Polish into English, and now they've re-recorded over 5,000 lines of dialogue along with all of the other upgrades and fixes. You can hear the difference between the old audio and the new audio pretty clearly by clicking on those links, but frankly... they just sound like different readings/voices to us. How does the plot change by hearing someone shout "Quick! To the laboratory!" any differently?
The new edition, which comes out September 16th, includes two audio CDs, a making-of DVD, an official game guide, a short story from the author of the book that the game is based on, and a map, and it retails for $49.99. However, if you're previously purchased the game, it's a free download. Hey, we're all for free stuff.
PAX 2008 is less than three weeks away, and they've finally released their schedule. The best way to describe it is chock full of goodness. There's something for everyone in here, with panels like, "History of Harmonix: THE ROCKENING" and "Writing For Video Games," but we imagine all the attention will be focused on the "How To Get Your Girlfriend Into Gaming" panel at 11:30 AM on Sunday. Of course, that conflicts with the Wil Wheaton panel, so you're going to have to choose your poison.
Joystiq will be there frantically trying to clone ourselves so we can cover as much as possible. There should be some surprise announcements, plenty of hands-on gaming action (including a lot of tabletop games), and of course The Omegathon! Stay tuned to Joystiq during PAX, August 29th through the 31st for as much coverage as we can pack in.
It's a race that won't be finished until 2011, according to Chris Deering (former head of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe), but he's already calling it a tie between Sony and Nintendo. Keep in mind, this was after week ending numbers came out showing over 40,000 Wii units sold in Japan, with the PS3 a distant 9,500 units sold. So, clearly there's a lot to do in three years.
Deering arrived at these figures "by triangulating Screen Digest and IDG data. He also took into account factors such as the growth of hi-def and the grey gamer market, the emergence of new game engines and increasing ubiquity of wi-fi access" and we imagine he probably tried out runestones, tarot cards, and a ouija board just to be safe.
What's impressive are the sheer numbers alone. He predicts that by 2011 both Sony and Nintendo will have sold 230 million total machines each (Sony: PS3 + PS2 + PSP; Nintendo: Wii + DS), and that the Xbox 360 will have reached a user base of 40 million. The only thing is, the 360 has already reached the 20 million mark, so he thinks it'll continue on that track for the next three years at exactly the same pace, due to the "set-top box hi-def phenomenon."
He also concludes that the number of potential gamers will reach 2.5 billion due to the amounts of consoles, computers, and mobile phones sold, to which we say... isn't everyone a potential gamer?
According to DFC intelligence figures cited by 
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