Having such a slow news days couldn't have happened to me at a better time. My PC shit the bed this morning. I went to reboot and install a new DVD burner in my system and it would not boot back up again. Long story short, I'm glad that the Windows Repair functionality on the Vista discs does work!

I'm going tomorrow to finally upgrade my aging system to a Serial ATA setup so I can finally get me Windows Vista score over 5.0, and so my primary drive is no longer only 40gb in size.

But I did burn my first Lightscribe disc today and WOW does it look great. I wasn't expecting it to come out as clear as it did. The contrast was a little off, but I didn't want to spend 45min making my first disc testing out the feature. I must say I think it is really nice and a GREAT way to make labels that don't smudge/look like shit. I'm still going to wait to pass judgment until after I've burned through all 25 discs to see if the extra 30-45min is worth the labeling time.

March 20th, 2007
Press Release

3-1-3, Uchihiranomachi, Chuo-ku
Osaka, 540-0037, Japan
Capcom Co., Ltd.
Kenzo Tsujimoto, President and CEO
(Code No. 9697 Tokyo - Osaka Stock Exchange)






Capcom’s "Devil May Cry 4" Goes Multiplatform! Mega-hit Title set for PLAYSTATION® 3, Xbox 360™ and PC!

　Capcom Co., Ltd., a world-wide leader in the gaming industry, is proud to announce the development of "Devil May Cry 4" for the PLAYSTATION®3, Xbox 360™ and PC platforms.

　"Devil May Cry" is a series of popular, stylish action games, with a cast of unforgettable characters. Since the release of the original "Devil May Cry" in 2001, the series has shipped 6,800,000 copies as of December 31st, 2006, proudly making it one of Capcom's flagship titles. The series appeal is not limited to games; an animated TV series to be broadcast on Japan's WOWOW network is slated to air Spring 2007. The latest iteration, "Devil May Cry 4" will take advantage of each platform's hardware strengths to achieve the most stunning visuals in the series to date, and the introduction of a mysterious new protagonist will keep the action fast and fresh. Even before its release, "Devil May Cry 4" has been met with tremendous anticipation, as fans patiently endured long lines at TOKYO GAME SHOW 2006 for the chance to play the demo. "Devil May Cry 4" will be released simultaneously for the PLAYSTATION®3 and Xbox 360™ platforms.

　Capcom was among the first software developers in the world to make games for the next-generation consoles, and those efforts have been met with great success. In addition, Capcom's use of an integrated development environment is one of the many methods being employed to improve efficiency and help take advantage of the cutting-edge functionality in next-generation systems.

　Capcom will continue to produce titles that appeal to users while pursuing a multiplatform strategy to help enhance profits.




Product Details
1. Title Devil May Cry 4
2. Genre Stylish Action
3. Platform ・PLAYSTATION®3
・Xbox 360™
&#12539;PC<
4. Release Date To be announced.
* PLAYSTATION is a registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Corporation.
* Xbox 360 is a registered trademark of the Microsoft Corporation.

Source

GOD DAMN! That is all I can say. A game that would have drawn me to the PS3 when it launched is now coming to 2 Microsoft platforms. I'm so excited. If I have a PS3 by then, I may still get it on the PS3. Wow, just WOW!

Bungie: Sorry for Costly Legendary Edition
Special version of Halo 3 was a "tough thing to price".
by Rob Burman, IGN UK

UK, March 19, 2007 - Bungie's Frank O'Connor has apologised for the $129.99 price tag on the Legendary Edition of Halo 3 but reckons "hardcore collectors will be pleased with the end result".

Last Friday, Microsoft announced firm details for the super duper version of this year's biggest 360 game, which comes with two behind-the-scenes discs and is packaged in a snazzy replica Spartan helmet.

Originally the Legendary Edition was set to retail at $99.99 and many have already pre-ordered at that price. Speaking on Bungie's official website, O'Connor conceded the new, higher price was unlikely to alter, despite the usual 'subject to change' caveat from Microsoft. "It's fair to say that these things usually don't change. So apologies for that," he said.

He went on to claim that nobody was forcing the price on Halo fans and that fans could always "buy the regular or Limited Edition and forego the thrill of [their] very own Spartan helmet" if they want.

O'Connor also noted that Bungie staffers have been placing their own orders for the Legendary Edition from retailers because it is so limited - each one is individually numbered - and they're "simply not guaranteed to get one".

Source

Ok now $130 for a Special SPECIAL edition of Halo3 is still stupid. I almost feel insulted that they want so much for an extra disc and a helmet that I can't wear. If I could actually wear that helmet then I might, MIGHT, consider paying for that package. As is I'm trying to justify buying the $69.99 CE version of it. It may just be me, but I imagine a lot of you feel the same way, but after getting shafted with Halo 2 I am very weary about buying the 3rd game. The ending of the 2nd one left me feeling more pissed off then pumped to play the third game. Now their new marketing slogan feels like a slap in the face, "Finish the Fight". Why?! Why do I want to finish the fight I started over 3 years ago that I should I have finished then!

So Symphony of the Night is hitting this coming Wednesday. And I'm very excited over it, but wasn't it supposed to support widescreen? Oh wait it does. It adds those stupid FUCKING boarders that all these classic titles use. This has really got to fucking stop. I could run the game on my old PSX and get visuals that look just as good and stretched to fit my 16:9 TV. If you are going to support widescreen, then make the damn game widescreen.

First time this happened to me, I had downloaded Frogger. Now I wasn't expecting much from a 400 point game as it at least had an updated graphics option so I could play Frogger in "newer" graphics. Then I started to download other classic games that just didn't have any updated graphic options and these crappy background images.

So my REAL beef is that by adding these background images the game can now claim it is in HD! Talk about a cheesy selling point.

Ok thats the end of my Rant, and now I can look forward to playing some more Castlevania as I have finished PoR at 100%.

First off let me reference what I am referring to in this post, EGM's Latest Podcast. In it the guy from Too Human is bringing up many many issues in the current games industry.

I have to agree with him on almost everything he said. The industry has to change. People like IGN, EGM, etc need to no longer be shown half finished games and expected to figure out what the final product is going to be like from there. I don't think that a total blackout is what the consumers want. I have no problem is a company says "Hey we're working on a action game called Too Human, but no one is going to be able to play it until its done." That's fine, but waiting until its done before you begin a 6-12month marketing campaign for the game I don't agree with.

I think the publisher should go to the developer and ask "Is this a finished product(AKA under x number of small bugs)?" If it is then they are told they have 3 months to try and get as many of them fixed as they can, but if they aren't, they aren't and it's shipped. All the while those 3 months the marketing campaign takes off, media reviews right after based on that code(shouldn't be game play affecting bugs), print ads, etc. They continue for 3 months after launch to try and ensure continued purchases.

Big thing being that we don't see anything until that X point is reached. Then we start to get screen shots/video/demo/etc. Then we aren't seeing CG demos of what could be, a bad buggy version of what is going to be, and false promises that were made.

Will any of this ever happen, yes. I think to a large degree you won't be seeing anything from publishers until they feel their product is finalized enough for people to start passing judgment on it. While this is going to seem like a blow to the consumer, it will actually help us in the long run. We don't need a DOA4 that is so buggy it erases our save games, just cause the publisher wants it out the door after hyping it up as a lunch game.

Yes there is still going to need to be previews, we can't get away from that. In this day and age, us consumers have been burned too many times by games like Force Commander to not be frugal with our purchases. I think it needs to get back to the old Shareware days where you had a large enough chunk of game play to pass judgment on how a game will play and if you should spend your hard earned money on it.

The things I don't agree on is that a bad review at E3 is going to make me want to play the game less. That is something I've watched over the years, reviews, previews, etc mean nothing in the end. The only way that an E3 review would throw me off is if the game was due out within a month of the E3 showing. Now with E3 going the way of the Dodo, I hope a lot of this crap goes away with it. As a gamer I don't like to get false promises.

I've added a news section to my Blog which I hope to be expanding real soon which will display more headlines. Until then enjoy the 1UP.com headlines!

BTW I'm designing with FireFox, so I may run into some issues with IE until I get to work and have a chance to test it out.

Games for Windows Live Launches May 8
But will you pay $50 a year to play with 360 gamers?
By Patrick Klepek, 03/14/2007
We already examined much of the difficulty Microsoft faces in adapting their wildly successful Xbox Live service onto the Games for Windows platform, so let's skip right to the point: Microsoft announced today Games for Windows Live will launch on May 8th, alongside Halo 2 (playable only on Vista -- don't ask us why).

Shadowrun, allowing for Xbox 360 and PC owners to play against each other given the PC user has forked over $50 for a year-long subscription to the service, ships in June. UNO will also launch on the service later this year, and will also support cross-platform play. No word on whether Microsoft will start making simultaneous Arcade releases.

Go figure, it launches on my birthday of all days. Well I've already got my 360 Subscription so I won't have to worry about paying the $50. I'm very excited as I like the way the Xbox Live service works for most games. There are some that really suck when it comes to how they implemented the online element but in general its been done very well. I won't how PC gamers are going to adopt to it?

Then again there has been multiple game matching services up and running on the PC for some time now. I think every game I install has a different one, XFire, GameSpy, etc. I think a unified one would be GREAT.