Game Informer Top 10

The editors of Game Informer magazine rank the top 10 role-playing games:
1 "Dragon Quest VIII"
2 "Radiata Stories"
3 "Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance"
4 "X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse"
5 "Fable: The Lost Chapters"
6 "PoPoLoCrois"
7 "Dungeon Siege II"
8 "Riviera: The Promised Land"
9 "Makai Kingdom: Sacred Tome"
10 "Sigma Star Saga"
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World of Warcraft Expansion revealed

"Speaking at today’s Blizzcon event, the company have finally pulled back the curtains for the much anticipated World of Warcraft expansion, which will can now confirmed to be entitled World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade. The first big news from the event is that the expansion will be introducing two new races – The Blood Elves for the horde, and a currently unannounced Alliance team. " Read More

"The latest video games like Electronic Arts’ Madden 2006 and NCAA 2006 not only look real, but players can run screens, draws, sweeps, post patterns, zone coverages and blitzes. You name it and, like EA’s slogan says, it’s in the game.Because football games have gotten so advanced, they can be used for more than just killing time after school. They can be a training tool for the real thing. " Read More

Florida bill takes aim at violent video games

"The battle over controversial video game content flared anew this summer when game publisher Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (Nasdaq:TTWO - news) pulled its blockbuster title "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" from store shelves following the discovery of hidden sex scenes in its code." http://www.leadingthecharge.com/stories/news-0091664.html


Matt's View: Since games are getting more popular some people don't want their kids to be influenced

'Doom' Takes a Shot at the Gamers

"Now comes "Doom," the Hollywood version of the classic game, starring the Rock as a gun-wielding space marine out to kill monsters. It hits theaters today. This is the granddaddy of shooter games -- the model for "GoldenEye 007," "Quake," "Half-Life," et al. It popularized the genre of first-person shooter (FPS), in which the player controls the point of view. There's even a bit toward the end of the movie when John Grimm, a space marine called "Reaper" -- get it? Grimm Reaper? -- grabs a weapon and the camera, in FPS mode, shifts to his view." - Read More

Matt's View: I am very excited for this movie. Much like Resident evil this movie is sure to hit the box office with a bang.

X-traordinary

"The Xbox 360 will be the first of the next- generation consoles to hit the market, and it's going to have at least a seven-month lead over the Sony PlayStation 3. Schwartz can't wait to get his hands on one, but he's going to have to -- at $300 to $400 for an Xbox 360 package, it's not a casual purchase." Read More

Shadow the Hedgehog

"Respected development studio Sonic Team has kept its famous blue hedgehog in the limelight for years by way of countless sequels across multiple consoles. But with its latest 3D platformer for GameCube, PlayStation and Xbox, Yuji Naka and crew have pulled away from Sonic and refocused their attention on his meaner, darker counterpart. Shadow the Hedgehog tells the story of the gun-toting anti-Sonic as he speeds and blasts his way through a stream of twisting, spiraling missions in a quest to discover the secrets of his mysterious path. Having spent several hours with the game, we've got brief impressions to complement a host of new direct-feed videos below." Read More

Matt's View: Now anyone who has played video games must know about Sonic the Hedgehog. The Sonic Team is at it again by putting out their latest sonic game Shadow Hedgehog staring well if you haven't guessed it yet Shadow hedgehog. A full out 3D game.

A Console Gets the Game It Needs

"It's pretty much that simple. Sony introduced the PSP, its new handheld game console, in Asia last winter and in North America in the spring, and anyone who has used or even seen one can tell immediately that it is a sleek and powerful piece of technology. The unit feels nice, the screen looks fantastic and it has enough horsepower under the hood." Read More

Matt's View: The entire series of Grand Theft Auto games has caused controvercy. It has also put a huge impact in the gaming industry. Not just because of the controversial story line, but because of the programming, character designs, model designs and graphics in all.

Video games: The next national pastime?

Last century, when games like Space Invaders and Donkey Kong were popular and the video game industry was in its infancy, who would have thought that only 25 years later the industry would generate $34 billion in revenue worldwide? And be bigger than the movie industry ($21.4 billion)? Read More

Matt's Views: Well no doubt the game industry is getting bigger. Regardless of those trying to convince the public that gaming is considered a mortal enemy to children's eyes. The gaming industry will grow and grow. By bringing fantasy ever closer to reality the gaming world will continue to grow.

Xbox 360 Dashboard

"We take a look under the hood of the device, start pressing its buttons, and find some nifty features"

" Last week we were invited out to take a look at final debug hardware for the Xbox 360. Microsoft reps demoed a near final build of Kameo: Elements of Power, while they showed off just what the next generation console is capable of. By now many of you have probably seen the Xbox 360 controller with a new button in the center of it. This button allows direct access to the dashboard." - Read More

Matt's View: Yay more xbox news... Anyways I personally think that this will be a very very fast console no question. However I don't want to hear about specs anymore it's getting tiring to say the least. Now of course people want good graphics, real life action (depending on the game), but game play is also a huge factor. Microsoft better know this if they plan on making this console bigger then the orginal xbox. Gameplay is extremely important.

Nintendo's NES game console turns 20

"On Oct. 18, 1985, the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) first went on sale in the United States. It was an 8-bit video game console, and largely thanks to "Super Mario Bros.," a spinoff from the arcade hit "Donkey Kong," the NES quickly became the most successful game system of its era. "It has been 20 years, which is hard to believe," said Beth Llewelyn, Nintendo senior director of corporate communications. "Super Mario Bros." was "a great game. That's what it all boils down to. It offered something new. It was the first side-scrolling game." " Read More

Matt's View: Those who played the first orginal Mario will full understand the importance when it comes to Nintendo. After atari Nintendo help revolutionize game consoles. Whether you like Nintendo or not the company it self set standards, and standards that will never be forgotten. So tribute to Nintendo and thank you.

McDonald's will offer WiFi for video games

"Soon, McDonald's restaurants will have much more than burgers, shakes and fries on the menu; they’ll serve up wireless video games, too. The fast-food giant announced Tuesday a deal with video game giant Nintendo of America and wireless provider Wayport Inc., to offer free wireless Internet access to users of Nintendo DS portable game-playing devices. About 6,000 restaurants nationwide will add the service beginning Nov. 14. The list of locations is not yet available." - Read More






Matt's View: When you thought it couldn't get any more crazier...

Halo 3 Almost Done, And Other Halo Rumors

"ALO 3 44% DONE RUMOR, PLUS 1&2 PLAYABLE ON 360 FROM DAY ONE?
Latest Halo 3 whisper while US reports suggest that Halo's 1 & 2 will playable be on Xbox 360 from launch
Reports from the latest Microsoft press tour in the US are suggesting that Halos 1 & 2 will be among the first original Xbox titles to be fully playable on the Xbox 360 when it launches this festive season." Read More

"While the Nintendo Revolution promises to be a radical departure from console gaming, you really don't have to look that far ahead to see Nintendo's mad medical experiments for yourself. The Nintendo DS is a behemoth of a portable system, featuring two screens, a microphone and a stylus to control the bottom touch screen. It's clearly designed for new gamers and old gamers who are just as bored with video games as Nintendo is." Read More

GameTap Offers "A New World Of Videogames" With National Marketing Campaign

GameTap delivers hundreds of the greatest games-on-demand plus original programming via a broadband-connected PC. The downloadable video game application will be supported by a landmark combination of print, online and TV advertising; a widespread viral campaign; experiential opportunities; public relations and quick bursts of original programming, under the tagline of "Expand Your Playground." Read More



Matt's View: In the UK the gaming industry really seems to be grabbing online plauer's attention. They basically are campaigning for age groups 18 all the way to 49.

All eyes on rival consoles as game exhibition begins

"CHIBA -- The nation's largest game exhibition opened Friday at the Makuhari Messe convention hall here, with industry chatter focused squarely on an upcoming war between the new game consoles of Microsoft Corp., the Sony group and Nintendo Co." "This year's Tokyo Game Show, sponsored by the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association, is likely to be dominated by these next-generation consoles, which are said to boast movielike graphics and sound" "At Microsoft Corp.'s massive exhibition booth, some 60 Xbox 360 sets are set up for visitors, who may actually play 14 game titles developed for the console." Read More


Matt's View: Watch out people this place is packed with nerds like me. In anycase to get on about the article... well the article speaks for it self. Microsoft Corp, Nintendo, Sony all the big names will be there. And don't think they won't try to out do each other even during this exhibition. Its a rival war and no one is going to back down.

College Hoops 2K6 E3 2005 Hands-On (game review)

Nothing like a pissed off coach to start the day off right.


Can't touch this


"March Madness is behind us, but May Madness is here, in the form of an early build of Visual Concepts' College Hoops 2K6 on the floor of 2K Games' E3 booth. The game is only roughly 30 percent through development and the demo version we played featured only four teams: Georgia Tech, UConn, Duke, and Oklahoma State. A few things are already obvious as to what approach the game will be taking." Read More

Matt's View: Watch out ladies and gentleman College hoops is hitting the court. Yeah anyways the game it self sounds pretty tight but I wouldn't go off running and buying this yet. RENT IT FIRST! Usually somthing people tend to forget once in a while. In anycase the game consists of basically every college in the Nation that has a basketball team including the stats of each player. The graphics I would give an A+ but somtimes game play is where its at

New US Revolution Launch Period News

“As the company with the strongest heritage of innovation, Nintendo moves the bar for all next gen systems by employing a wide-ranging strategy that will attract more kinds of gamers to more kinds of games. When Nintendo's new console, codenamed Revolution, arrives in the latter half of 2006, everyone will discover the meaning of all-access gaming.”
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Matt's View: Ok without a doubt Nintendo will be coming out with a new system. I mean when xbox 360 comes out Nintendo should be to far behind expecially when they have to face PS3 popularity. However the rumor of when it will be released is still not 100% true. The internet can be full of lies don't always believe what you read (weird concept considering your reading this huh?)

R-rated video games

The video-game law signed by Schwarzenegger last week will prohibit the sale of excessively violent video games to minors, which have been so far unrestricted. These games will be designated as those which "virtually inflict serious injury upon images of humans or characters with substantially human characteristics in a manner which is especially heinous, cruel or depraved in that it involves torture or serious physical abuse to the victim."

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Matt's View: Alright I had posted an article similar to this one before. Schwarzenegger's "political views" or (lak there of) is becoming pretty bogus. The man seems to be a puppet. I am not going to lie he is a great governor but how is one supposed to take this guy serious when he was once a robot in T1, T2, and T3.

Spielberg to dip into video games

Working with EA, the world's largest video game publisher, Spielberg will help design three new titles out of the company's Los Angeles studio, providing a shot of adrenaline to an industry that has been steadily trying to develop games with more emotional heft and interactive appeal. The first game won't be available for at least 18 months.
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Matt's View: Sigh..... dood stick with movies enough said.

Gaming Gets Physical at Digital Life

"If you made it through the Digital Life expo in New York City without breaking a sweat, you weren't playing hard enough. Games involving running, jumping, dancing, kicking, and fishing were everywhere, from the perennial Dance Dance Revolution competition to the interactive virtual bowling at the Xavix booth. We took a walk around the show floor to check out these physically interactive games, the crowds they drew, and their ability to make you sweat."
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Matt's View: This article is worth the read and is very true. Such games like DDR put a new twist on "activity." We cannot forget the good old days where parents kept saying "Your not getting enough exercise, stop play those video games." Well I guess with games such as these exercise is a daily event and best part your playing a video game doing it.

PC gaming: Becoming a player?

PC game sales in the U.S. peaked at $2 billion in 1999, and then fell every year after that, landing at $1.1 billion last year.
Console game sales, on the other hand, were already twice the size of PC game sales in 1999, and have increased every year since, reaching $6.2 billion in 2004.
But several major companies – including Microsoft Corp. and Texas-based heavyweights like GameStop Corp. and Dell Inc. – are trying to revitalize PC gaming.
"The shelf space has been shrinking," said Chris Donahue, director for the Windows gaming and graphics team at Microsoft. "We underinvested in making sure that hasn't happened, and that's one of the things we're going to fix."

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Matts View: I have been playing PC games for several years. I have yet to see a game consol such as game cube, PS2, and xbox even compare to the pc games made this day in age, but however when you stick a very fast hard drive into a game console it basically is considered a computer in it self. I think Microsoft needs to watch themselves with the new xbox 360 coming out.

Going beyond the gaming ghetto

Video game makers have been making World War II games longer than than actual war lasted, there are few comic books short of Little Lulu that haven't already been turned into a game and as sure as summer follows spring, we will have a new "Madden" football game next August.

Inspiration for video game fodder may seem limited to war, sports and 'toons, but it doesn't have to be that way. -By Tom Loftus

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Matt's View: There are several steps in gaming the story line, the ideas, the characters and much much more. It comes to no surprise to see the great, the good, and the terrible games from time to time.

Colleges start offering degrees in video gaming

But check out the back pages of any gamer magazine and you'll find -- among the ads from Electronics Boutique and the mini-reviews of the latest PlayStation Portable games -- opportunities to pursue a college degree in video games.

"Be lame or get game," boasts one advertisement that promises to train students in the arts of animation and visual effects. "Without guys like me, you'd still be playing Pong," is the quote from an alum of another college, an industry veteran who graduated all of one year ago.

Suddenly, the idea of a degree in video games is one that might even persuade the parents who grumble about the high cost of video games to write a tuition check. Read More


Matt's View: This is very true. I am currently attending Columbia College in Chicago as a double major Computer Animation and Game Design which starts up spring of 2006. There is a reason why I created a gaming blog :). This article is worth the read and with the gaming industry on the rise it comes to no surprise that colleges are starting game design dagress.

The Gaming Industry Takes the State of California to Court

Conan the Barbarian, aka Arnold Schwarzenegger, aka the Governor of the State of California, has recently brought the problem of video game violence into discussion. The Terminator, whose acting career was founded on extreme violence, has suddenly realized that violence is harmful to children and has acted accordingly.
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Matts view: Ok what a joke come on. We have a guy who has been in viloent movies for most of his life time claims that games are to viloent are influences kids in a negative way. I am not saying this is wrong, but what I am saying is this is getting pathedic. Hipicrit at its finest.

Were back!

As I was on leave I have not been able to update the blog in a very long time. But now that were back expect some non-stop news. Please make sure to come back to see more news in the gaming industry.

xbox 360 specs

Next-Gen Xbox: The specs

Available: Nov. 22 in North America, though a launch day sellout is likely.

Price: $399 for the core system, which comes with a wired controller and standard TV hookups; $499 for the premium system, which comes with a wireless controller, Xbox Live headset, 20 GB hard drive, HDTV cables and (for a limited time) a media centre remote control.

Tech specs: 3.2 GHz CPU with three symmetrical cores, 512 MB memory shared between system and video functions, 12x DVD-ROM drive, 20 GB detachable hard drive, three USB/wired controller ports, two memory card slots, Ethernet port for broadband Internet connection, support for four wireless controllers.

Size: 30.9 cm wide, 25.8 cm deep, 8.3 cm high (horizontally). In other words, just slightly smaller than the Xbox.

Special features: Will play digital media (music, video, etc.) streamed from a Windows XP or Media Center PC; Xbox Live Silver membership allows anyone to set up an online identity, though upgrading to Xbox Live Gold will be required for actual online gaming.

Upgrades: Extra wireless controllers ($60), 64 MB memory unit ($50), 20 GB hard drive ($130, included with the $499 console version), wireless controller "play and charge" kit ($30), wireless network adapter ($130), decorative faceplates ($20).

Games: Microsoft is promising roughly 20 games on the shelves by Christmas, though it's speculated that some games in this generation will cost $10 more than current console games.

Xbox 360 countdown begins

"In the Dutch city as well known for its red-light district as its legendary painters and beautiful canals, the vice-meets-art medium of interactive entertainment is a perfect fit. So it makes sense that Microsoft held its annual worldwide X05 event here in Amsterdam this week, giving a thousand or so journalists and retailers a chance to go hands on with nearly complete versions of Xbox 360 launch titles (the new console lands in stores Nov. 22) and an early look at games still several months away." - By STEVE TILLEY, Special to The Free Press Read more

Xbox 360 seems to be big news and seems to be spreading every where. Lets see if it's worth all the hype.