2.40… Firmwhere?
July 4, 2008
2.40… Firmwhere?
“PS3UPDAT.PUP” (133,507Kb) withdrawn due to installation issues.
Wednesday 2 July 2008… the day when Sony’s console caught up & surpassed the functionality offered by the comparable Microsoft platform… but perhaps not as intended.
As reported on the ’semi-official’ non-US Blog site for the PlayStation 3, ThreeSpeech.com, yesterday at 5:41pm (as the clock is an hour behind UK time), Sony have tried to justify the reason for the removal of the recent firmware revision (2.40) from their download servers on Wednesday this week:
“We are aware of a number of consumers experiencing an issue with installing firmware 2.40 on PS3. While our consumer services department has seen a low volume of calls on this topic, we are committed to enabling the community and XMB access features delivered in the 2.40 update. In order to further assess the issue, we have temporarily taken the firmware offline for further testing. We are working diligently to isolate the problem for those few consumers and to identify a solution before we put the firmware back up.”
“back up” as in ‘to annoy’?
From the comments on the (full) official US Blog, it looks as if Sony took a full 24 hours before sanctioning an official update to the European customers via ThreeSpeech.com. I certainly read the statement above at 8:30am on Thursday.
Although I rarely criticize SCEE, SCEA, or any of the Sony divisions, as I think they receive far too much negativity, the message here is that there is nothing like good customer service. (Add your own punchline). Maintaining a good communication channel in times of trouble should be essential. All registered PlayStation Network e-mail addresses could (and should) have been contacted with the statement (above) to reassure those who had downloaded the update. I am presuming that Sony would be able to track which PSN Id has what firmware revision but, even if this is not the case & was an oversight during development of the console/network, then all customers could be contacted as a matter of course anyway.
Well done to Sony for having the conviction to withdraw the 2.40 firmware revision, given the bad press they know it would generate. If this were an Xbox 360 update & Microsoft took the same decision, then the problematic release would be seen as a minor glitch, and the whole issue not mentioned again thereafter.
Sony does seem to always be on the defensive end of justifying their actions (or lack thereof).
To their credit, however, on the previous occasions when firmware updates have proven to not be completely satisfactory for all installations, then Sony have quickly turned around these issues & released a newer, more stable, firmware revision in a matter of days.
With this in mind, I would very much doubt a further update would be available before this weekend, so we can but hope for some better news next week.
If anything, the current events should demonstrate how complicated the global release process is, and why Sony typically stages releases throughout the local regions to minimise risk in affecting all customers if an unforeseen issue occurs.
Good things, of course, are worth waiting for. The features in the latest firmware revision have been planned for almost twelve months, so a few days or weeks longer is not a problem in the relative scheme of what we do have available on the PS3 console at present.
I am still waiting for the last update to “Tekken Dark Resurrection Online” (from March 2008) to be available in Europe (before “Tekken 6” is available), but am ‘consoling’ [arf, arf] myself with the fact that the “Cagney” update for “Burnout Paradise” is due in 6 days time.
Just keep the information flowing, Sony. Some news is better than no news, even if it is not positive.
BFN,
fp.
(1upGamers.com Forums ModeraNtor)
How to play the game
June 3, 2008
Two days before the latest title in the “Ninja Gaiden” franchise, “Ninja Gaiden II”, for the Microsoft Xbox 360 is released, the head of the ‘Team Ninja’ development team at the Japanese video game Company, Tecmo Limited (formerly Tehkan Limited), Tomonobu Itagaki, has resigned & is suing his former employer for “an unfulfilled completion bonus” in relation to the title “Dead Or Alive 4″.
A full translation of Itagaki’s statement can be read at Kotaku.com:
…
Team Ninja, founded in 1995, first came to the public’s attention with the release of “Dead Or Alive” (for the Sega “Model 2″ Arcade machines) in 1996. The game’s story and the characters were created by Itagaki, a figure who is highly regarded in the video game development community primarily for his stubborn nature during the development of the entire “Dead or Alive” series.
And rightly so…
The first game was originally devised as a wager with the President of Tecmo to prove that Itagaki, the newly recruited programmer, could create a video game that would garner a competent fan base. He drew inspiration from the (Japanese) “Fatal Fury” series (influenced by the speed of game-play) and the US-developed “Mortal Kombat” series (due to the ability to knock opponents off set pieces in the game’s environment). The working title of the project, “Dead Or Alive”, as an indication of the success or failure of the project, was retained for the Arcade machine release, and the subsequent titles in the franchise across multiple platforms:
“Dead or Alive” - November 1996: Model 2 (Sega Arcade system printed circuit board-based machine)
“Dead or Alive” - 9 October 1997 [Japan]: Sega Saturn
“Dead or Alive” - 12 March 1998 [Japan] / 31 March 1998 [North America] / July 1998 [Europe]: PlayStation
“Dead or Alive” - July 1998: TPS-System (Tecmo’s own Arcade system board machine)
“Dead or Alive 2″ - 16 October 1999: Sega NAOMI (Arcade)
“Dead or Alive 2 Millennium” - January 2000: Sega NAOMI (Arcade)
“Dead or Alive 2″ - 29 February 2000 [North America] / 14 July 2000 [Europe] / 28 September 2000 [Japan]: Dreamcast
“Dead or Alive 2″ - 30 March 2000 [Japan]: PlayStation 2
“Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore” - 25 October 2000 [North America] / 14 December 2000 [Japan] / 15 December 2000 [Europe]: PlayStation 2
“Dead or Alive 3″ - 14 November 2001 [North America] / 22 February 2002 [Japan] / 14 March 2002 [Europe]: Xbox
“Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball” - 22 January 2003 [North America] / 23 January 2003 [Japan] / 28 March 2003 [Europe]: Xbox
“Dead or Alive Ultimate” - 26 October 2004 [North America] / 3 November 2004 [Japan] / 18 February 2005 [Europe]: Xbox
“Dead or Alive 4″ - 29 December 2005 [North America] / 29 December 2005 [Japan] / 24 January 2007 [Europe] / 13 April 2006 [Australasia]: Xbox 360
“Dead or Alive Xtreme 2″ - 13 November 2006 [North America] / 22 November 2006 [Japan] / 7 December 2006 [Australasia] / 8 December 2007 [Europe]: Xbox 360
However, following the departure of Itagaki, it will put into doubt the further titles in the series that are already in production:
“Dead or Alive: Code Chronos” (prequel to the series) - Release date unannounced: Xbox 360 only
“Dead or Alive: Online” - Expected to be released in China just before the 2008 Summer Olympics: PC platform only
Also, “Dead or Alive 5″, although Originally rumoured to be being consider for development, was later rejected as Itagaki quoted as saying: “This is another area that me and my closest colleagues all agree that we were able to achieve the definitive fighting game with DOA4. So we’re not looking to extend the series at this point.”
His resignation from Tecmo, and not least his court action, will obviously means the chances of this title even being made by Itagaki being more dead than alive.
…
In 1994, after five years of development, Itagaki and Team Ninja were also responsible for reviving the “Ninja Gaiden” series based on the original game for the Nintendo Entertainment System (1988: Japan / 1989: US). Fans may already be aware that the Ninja character ‘Ryu Hayabusa’ features in many “Ninja Gaiden” and “Dead Or Alive” titles.
“Ninja Gaiden” - 2 March 2004 [North America] / 11 March 2004 [Japan] / 14 May 2004 [Europe]: Xbox
“Ninja Gaiden Black” - 20 September 2005 [North America] / 29 September 2005 [Japan] / 21 October 2005 [Europe]: Xbox
“Ninja Gaiden Sigma” - 14 June 2007 [Japan] / 3 July 2007 [North America] / 6 July 2007 [Europe] / 13 July 2007 [Australasia]: PlayStation 3
“Ninja Gaiden Sigma” (2-disc Collector’s Edition; GameStop exclusive) - 3 July 2007 [North America only]
“Ninja Gaiden Black” (re-released as “Xbox Original”) - 11 February 2008: Xbox
“Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword” - 20 March 2008 [Japan] / 25 March 2008 [US]: Nintendo DS
“Ninja Gaiden II” - 3 June 2008 [North America] / 6 June 2008 [Europe]: Xbox 360
A playable demo version of “Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword” is also downloadable from the “DS Download Station Volume 7″. It can also be downloaded (for free) from the Wii Shop Channel.
…
I do not know how much the alleged promised bonus was, but claiming damages to a total of 148 Million Yen (around 715,733 GBP, or 1.4 Million USD) does seem a little excessive.
And that is without taking into account court costs.
However, I can certainly appreciate an employee’s point of view when they do not receive a bonus they were expecting.
Should the ruling not go in Itagaki’s favour, I do not think he will have trouble finding another role in the industry… but future employers will be very careful.
Of course, he will start his own development Company, and probably poach many of his previous colleagues.
…
But, and it is a big but (does my but look big in this, etc), the timing of the announcement seems strange.
Why would anybody aggrieved about an event presumably around the end of 2005 (the date when “Dead Or Alive 4″ was released) wait until a week or a few days before the release of the latest game title to be released?
Why not threaten to leave in 2006, or 2007, or indeed at any time during the first five months of 2008?
I can well believe that the design & development of “Ninja Gaiden II” took longer than a few months, even a year or more, but between the release date of “Dead Or Alive 4″ and today, four titles have been released by Team Ninja; three of them part of the Ninja Gaiden series.
OK, bonus payments may be due at the end of a financial year, or at the end of a calendar year, so let us assume at the worst case, the end of 2006 (a full year beyond the release date of the title that the bonus was associated with).
If no payment were forthcoming a month or two later after this date, then surely it would not take a further fourteen months or so to decide that your only option was to leave the Company & begin legal action.
Therefore, Itagaki had plenty of time to resign before this week… a few days before the release date of “Ninja Gaiden II”.
For arguments sake we will assume that development of “Ninja Gaiden II” did not go as well as anticipated, and the critical reviews so far (an average of 83% at GameRankings.com based on 21 individual reviews) are not indicative of the quality of the game. Yes, the score is less than the average for the original “Ninja Gaiden” on the Xbox. That scored an average of 92% from 112 reviews collated by the same web site. As a comparison, the PS3 title, “Ninja Gaiden Sigma” averaged at 87% (from 59 reviews). “Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword” for the Nintendo DS averaged at 83% (from 43 individual reviews).
If you wanted to find a scapegoat for a poor game, then you would really leave some time during the project schedule, not right at the end. But 83% is not a bad average. (”Dead Or Alive 4″ averages at 86% from 103 reviews).
You could then either blame your management team for a lack of direction or ongoing support, and hence save face for gaining employment elsewhere. Alternatively, the Tecmo shareholders could blame the result of a key member of the project team leaving midway through the development schedule as a justifiable reason for an end result that does not meet expectations.
Finally, a reason for a departure at the very end of the current project would give credence to Itagaki being a consummate professional who wanted to see his vision through to the end.
So, we will assume the latter.
However, I wonder if in the same month as the release of “Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots” on the PS3 (a GameRankings.com average of 95% from just 34 reviews), Team Ninja &/or Tecmo were looking for an excessive amount of free press and publicity for the release of “Ninja Gaiden II” as well as re-educating the public on the back-catalogue of titles.
How much of a surprise would it be if Itagaki & Tecmo resolve their differences in a week or two?
I guess we will have to wait & see if any publicity is good publicity.
And yes, I fell into their cunning trap. I bet “Ninja Gaiden II” is exceptional if they can come up with a plan as convoluted as I think they have! 
BFN,
fp.
(1upGamers.com Forums Moderator)
Virtually Physical
May 16, 2008
Hi,
With the advent of downloadable gaming content (via the PlayStation Network/PlayStation Store, the Xbox Live/Arcade/Marketplace offering, and Nintendo’s WiiWare [née Wii Software]/Virtual Console model) at relatively inexpensive cost are we now seeing the beginning of the end of physical disc-based products?
Unless a video games console was specifically purchased to play just one title unavailable on any other dedicated games machine (for example, a PS3 for “Gran Turismo 5”, a Wii for “Wii Fit”, or an Xbox 360 for “Halo 3”), then it is fair to assume that over the lifespan of the console the amount spent on software titles is far in excess of the original purchase price of the hardware. Even when the hardware fails beyond repair outside of a warranty period, it is the selection (and/or quantity) of game titles already owned that enforce the decision to purchase a replacement machine so that the gaming can continue. In some cases, even when the console is covered by a replacement warranty, but the period to gain a refurbished machine is too long, then a new machine is purchased as soon as practically possible (resulting in many “pre-owned” examples ending up on eBay when the replacements finally arrive).
The existence of custom firmware changes and/or bespoke “Flash Cards” aside, the amount spent on handheld gaming machines (costing around £100) is certainly much lower than the “running costs” of buying a few games (cartridges, or Universal Media Discs, for example) that can be upwards of £25 each for newly released titles, so this after-sales market is really where profits can be made (to offset losses on every console made until a certain quantity have been sold).
Reports this week have relayed that Sony is losing 130 or 260 (US) dollars (depending which of the reports you believe) on every PS3 console sold. This is not new information, though. Sony have publicly announced that they hope to finally turn a profit on the PS3 hardware this coming August (2008), and figures on the actual build costs of each component in the console have always been greater than the combined selling price (so far). Whether this is actually true, or not, and whether this may just be a clever marketing strategy to make the public believe they are buying the latest technology for a considerable discount and getting an increased value for their money, I will leave up to you. I would not be surprised, however, if immediately after the PS3 “eventually makes a profit” then the announcement of a new, slimmer, lighter, PS3 console will be made public (another one of the industry’s not very well kept secrets, but it is not difficult to predict given the past history of the PlayStation brand).
This aside, could the profits reaped from game sales be greater by not seeking a Recommended Retail Price of £35-£50 for disc-based titles that sell very little beyond the first week? It has also been reported recently that if a title does not sell in large enough quantities within the first seven days of release then it is considered a “failure”. This may well go some way to explain why new titles always seem to be “out of stock” the week during, or immediately after, release as the store owners are waiting to see how (quickly) the first allocation into stock sell before they go to the expense of ordering more quantities as a regular influx of new titles means that there is always something to fill the shelves and nobody wishes to be left with 3,000 copies of “Asterix at the Olympic Games”, for example.
With the budgets spent on some titles reaching, if not exceeding that of Hollywood movie “blockbusters” it is becoming increasingly important for physical product sale quantities to reach a high turnover as quickly as possible to settle any debts incurred during the development and to ensure that the maximum number of sales are gained before the next “must have” title is release a week later. Those titles that have not sold as well as expected are discounted in price almost immediately, and certainly within a three to six month period the same title can be purchased at a large reduction in price, primarily via online mail order web sites, but also within in-store promotions at dedicated game-related retailers.
But do games have to cost so much to produce? How much is spent on marketing and advertising? Is this wasted expense? Does word of mouth sell a game alone? Do demonstration video trailers released during development whet the appetites of undecided parties enough that a TV campaign, billboard banners, and/or printed media advertisements are not needed? Does anybody ever read the provided manual, or is a button configuration the only information read before the game is launched?
Does a “Limited Collector’s Edition” have to be produced to attract higher sales, or would a game sell as much if it came in a clear plastic sleeve at a reduced cost? In the latter case, I was one of the many who bought the “Assassin’s Creed” Special Edition release with a figurine of the lead character, Altair. It did not add to my enjoyment of the game, in fact it added nothing to my gaming experience. I was actually very disappointed with the game content overall. Why can our hero fall several stories onto concrete, but as soon as he gets his feet wet in 2 inches of water he dies? But I digress. Yes, you can argue that the co-release of a Collector’s Edition is only there to make more profit, instead of catering for the needs of the “collector”, and I suspect you would probably be correct in that thought. Extra in-game content such as a larger roster of playable characters, vehicles, weapons, and so on, or additional production video notes and images supplied in the form of supplemental discs are “collectables” if only available in a truly limited supply (and maybe even deleted from stock catalogues on the day of release). But when these so-called “Special” items are then made available weeks later as downloadable content, or unlocked by the player’s ability to use an Internet search engine, then it diminishes the extra value gained in the higher priced physical product.
If a typical consumer (with, let us assume, limited income) is looking to purchase a console (say, £280 for a PS3, £190 for an Xbox 360, or £180 for a Wii), and they review the prices of the game titles (that are priced comparably across the selection of “next generation” consoles), then it is understandable why the cheapest machine is chosen irrespective of any additional features any other may offer (such as the ability to play Blu-ray movies, or the support of the large online communities, or even the established back-catalogue of family-oriented games).
But do games have to be as expensive as they are? Simple economics says that when the price goes down, and with other factors remaining equal, the demand should go up. Thus, selling 100 units at £50 each may look attractive on paper, but selling 1000 units at £30 each is a much better business model. Of course this thinking is completely irrelevant when a high profile title such as “Grand Theft Auto IV” is released that receives so much hype in the lead-up that people will buy it at almost any cost, and will even queue in the lead-up to midnight to be the “first” to own it too. They then moan when it does not deliver the experience they were hoping for, especially with respect to the current issues with online multi-player games on the PS3 console. So, granted, offering a title of this nature at a reduced selling price in the first week would be financial suicide. In fact, the price will probably not drop until sales reach such a low that it is assumed that anybody who would wish to purchase (at the “any cost” price) has now done so, and the Christmas market needs to be targeted instead.
There are very few titles that attract this media attention (although the imminent release of “Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots” is another exception to this theory) as there are many new titles released on a regular basis that do not reach the same level of expectations but can be just as enjoyable and just as anticipated by the gaming public.
Personally I spend more time playing downloadable content on my PS3 console (“Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection Online”, “PAIN”, and “PixelJunk Monsters”) than I do on any other title. This could be because of convenience in that these games are instantly available when I switch the console on as they are stored on the integral hard drive as reaching for a different game stored in a box & having to get up to put the disc into the Blu-ray drive can be such a chore [?]. Or it could be that they are particular good games that I enjoy playing, and the fact they where a tenth of the price of other games only available in physical disc-based form does not have any bearing on my choice. These titles all have additional and optional downloadable “add-on” in-game content in the same “low cost” pricing model, and so the games can be bought in stages, or when disposable income allows.
So, is it justifiable to charge high prices for “big budget” games when much smaller budget titles are just as playable (and in some cases are enjoyed over a longer period)?
Resources should, arguably, be devoted (or re-routed) into producing downloadable titles for less than, say, £10, that can be repeatedly plugged to the dedicated online store punters, with further downloadable content in the form of game packs, add-ons, & updates each costing similarly low-cost fees (£3-£5 each), in an attempt to revitalise sales of older titles and to re-introduce them if they had been dismissed previously. Certainly the “try before you buy” downloadable & playable demonstration versions of upcoming titles available at no extra cost has saved me a fair few pounds in providing a valuable insight to a game I would have bought but then realised it was not for me after all (“Clive Barker’s Jericho” being a prime example). Conversely, playing demonstration versions of certain titles has also meant that I have made subsequent purchases of the full commercial versions that I would never have considered previously (“Burnout Paradise”, being an example here). So, it sort of balances out over time (unless you are the makers of “Jericho”).
In the case of the Sony PS3 console, continuing their current trend of re-issuing PlayStation [One] titles as downloadable purchases from the “PlayStation Store” at a cost of £3 per time is, in some cases, three to six times the cost that the original CD-based titles are sold pre-owned in bespoke gaming-related high street stores & car boot sales, exchange/trade centres, and so on. Using the same approach, PlayStation 2 titles could also be considered for a future revenue stream at, say, £6 per time. The Wii “Virtual Console” also offers past Nintendo, Sega, and (just recently) Commodore 64 titles amongst others to the same audience who wish to reminisce in days gone by at a fraction of the cost of the initial selling price. The Microsoft platform also offers a similar service by way of the “Xbox Arcade Live” facility.
The only downside is that if there is no longer as much of a demand for pre-owned titles in high street stores then these organisations will have to adjust the selling prices of other items to generate the same profits, or move their operations online to reduce overall costs. I believe the internet is quite popular these days, so this may be a worthwhile venture [?]. Retaining a bricks’n’mortar presence will lead to higher shelf prices for disc-based games resulting in fewer console sales as the public choose cheaper (but, not necessarily, better) console options. Also, buying a present for a loved one may well prove less than personal if all you do is go into a shop, hand over your payment, and receive a “download serial key” in a card.
The ability of a small child to cause a fuss, stamp their feet, shout, scream, grab the door frames with all available limbs and show no sign of letting go, and say embarrassing things they should never have overheard until they get a game in their hand when attempting to leave the shopping centre should not be underestimated as a viable sales trend. Look out for the signs of pitching in-store “deals of the week” during school holiday periods, offering demonstration “pods” of upcoming titles or dedicated competitions, and placing “real life” human-sized loveable gaming characters inside shops to attract kids with their reluctant parents bringing up the rear. Then keeping watching when the same parents want to go home & how they have to bribe their little bundles of joy with an over-priced game before they will be “allowed” to leave.
Maybe the absence of physical games in shopping centres may be a good idea for parents? There will still be the sweet selection at the checkout at the supermarket, though, so kids still win. Damn them.
But back to the point… there is obviously a balance to be struck between the prices and availability of downloadable content versus physical product, as well as ensuring further consoles have sufficient on-board hard drive capacities to cope especially given the plans for TV programme content to be remotely streamed & stored locally to video games consoles. Unless you own a Wii console, of course, and welcome the BBC supporting access to their “iPlayer” facility. Or, unless you know where to look for the PS3 iPlayer “hacker project”, and have not discovered “Google” either.
In the future, when the supporting network connection infrastructure bandwidth is in place (subject to significant investment from appropriate Government bodies so that speed restrictions are not imposed on connections no matter how far away a consumer is from a telephone exchange), consoles may well not have hard drives at all, but just larger on-board memory capacities to retain the entire game (or media) content without the need for any other local storage medium.
If the delivery of any media item to a domestic outlet (TV, personal computing device, video games console, mobile telephone handset, fridge, car dashboard, or whatever “multimedia entertainment centre” is deemed appropriate) is relatively instantaneous then the need to own the physical product no longer becomes a necessity.
How many of Earth’s scarce resources go into the manufacture/delivery of plastic cases & metal discs to high street shelving racks that remain unwanted? The products are probably not even made from recyclable materials. If the demand for physical products was not there then supply would need to be lessened.
I have many past purchases for varying games consoles still unopened and unplayed from the day I bought them as the price was “too good” to pass by. If the product was not physically on offer for me to waste my finite income upon, and it was always going to be available online at the same (fixed) cost then I would not feel the need to fill my basket full of top quality, reduced-price titles on the off-chance I will ever have enough time to play them.
As Sony are already underway developing the “PS-Four”, and the other ‘major players’ are also in the design process of their respective next-”next generation” machines, we should really make our thoughts heard now about how we want to see the industry progress into the following decade and beyond.
If past decisions are anything to go by we may well see “SingStar Volume 17″ as a launch title, and executives are probably debating whether 120Gb will be ample storage for the next ten years, if 2 USB ports are all anybody will ever need, or if a DUALSHOCK®3 controller is going to be released in the UK when it is bundled with the next console.
This said, Sony are not going to want to kill the cash-cow that is the home video-ownership market unless they have a suitable alternate delivery (and profit making) mechanism to replace it. As was the case with the vinyl/magnetic audio cassette/Compact Disc “upgrade” path where the same punter was conned into buying the same album multiple times (including the formats that were scrapped along the way such as Digital Audio Tape, and Digital Compact Cassette), the home video progression from (
One thing is for sure, is that if Sony does not see the end to the reliance on shiny round discs, certain other manufacturers (still smarting from the loss of support for the HD-DVD format) may well already be forming relationships with telecommunications organisations for their “next generation” console.
And nobody wants to come second… do they? Well, not unless they are a gentleman.
So think on when you buy cheap downloadable titles. Who knows what it will lead to…?
BFN,
fp.
(1upGamers.com Forums Moderator)
Wii wish you a merry Christmas
October 11, 2007
Hi again,
So, how is your Christmas shopping going to date? What? You have not started yet? You leave all your shopping until after you come out of the pub at 4pm on Christmas Eve to swagger down Oxford Street (or your local main retail metropolis of choice) handing over this year’s bonus to anyone who will gladly separate you from your cash in exchange for any over-priced tat that they have left on the shelves? OK, anything in
My kids are, as usual, asking for everything gaming related, or Pokémon related, or Pokémon gaming related this year. In favour seems to be a PSP handheld for our eldest (aged 9), and a Wii console for our two youngest (5, & 6). The PSP has been relatively easy to source; given the recent release of the “Slim & Lite” the older, original (’legacy’ or ‘retro’) “Fat & Heavy” (or “Phat & Heavy”) console is readily-available with or without
Having missed out on the 39 Wii consoles delivered to the Canary Wharf branch of GAME on Tuesday this week, with only 12 left yesterday at 11:50am, and not being one of the first 22 customers queuing outside the door (who I thought was an over-eager audience for the price reduction of the 60Gb PS3, and the release of the new entry level 40Gb model), I spent a few desperate minutes on the Amazon.co.uk, SoftUK.com, ChoicesUK.com, Gamestation.co.uk, & GAME.co.uk web sites trying to find a Wii in stock. It seems the delivery at GAME had taken the store staff by surprise too, as the Wii boxes on the shelves still had stickers saying “out of stock” on them, or perhaps they were just saving themselves time expecting all the consoles to sell out within 24 hours anyway?
So, having rushed back to my laptop, I finally snagged one, the second Wii Console for our household; the first already in prominent place beneath our (10 year old CRT [”fat” screen not flat screen]) TV that is threatening to give up the ghost[ing] any day now… if only it could hang on until the January sales (as I do not want to be on
BIG MISTAKE!
I eventually ended up buying a pre-owned PS2 from GAME two days before Christmas as stocks just dried-up completely. My three kids were happy, thank goodness, but it could have gone so horribly wrong. The name of the white-bearded fat man in the red suit, who rides the night by reindeer in a saintly manner whilst scoffing so many mince pies & drinking so much wine he would be a danger to other airborne courier services, would have been taken in vain for many months to come if he had not delivered that year. The PS2 itself broke a few months later, just out of the three-month warranty period (surprise, surprise), due to over-excessive use, and we had to buy a brand new one (for almost the same price we paid for the pre-owned one, but hey-ho-ho-ho, it is the thought that counts at Christmas, right?).
(If you are interested, a spokesperson for Nintendo claims the issue is avoidable, stating that, “At the start of Chapter 2-2, you will come across a character called Mimi. She will tell you to go to the farthest room on the first floor to meet a character called Merlee. Enter that room and press the green switch. A trap will be triggered, and a spiked ceiling will descend upon Mario. Before the ceiling reaches him, flip into 3D and jump on it to find a key. If you pick up the key, you won’t run into any problems. Use it to open the locked door to Mimi’s right. However, if you talk to Mimi without picking up the key, the game will freeze. You will then have to turn off your Wii console and start again from your last save point”. Nintendo has been quick to assure users the problem will not damage their Wii console or the game disc, but has promised to replace the disc for anyone who feels concerned)
I purposely did not attempt to buy from Amazon (UK) or, rather, I would have done at a very last resort, as they always seem to botch my orders. They either do not arrive at all, take an absolute age to be despatched even if all the items in my order are in stock (last week I even had to contact them to ask why it would take 4-6 weeks for four items to be delivered when each item was in stock on their site at the time!), or are just plain tiresome with cancelling orders because they have listed an item with an incorrect price & make it sound like it was my fault for not noticing their mistake! But I refreshed the Amazon web page I had open in my browser anyway, and found they too had also sold out within minutes of my initial search, and were only offering “marketplace seller” listings that were so vastly over-priced I would not have bothered anyway… no wait… remember the PS2 fiasco of 2004… OK, I may have bought one, but only because it was not really Amazon, it was somebody who has learned that selling on eBay costs way too much & have decided to pay less fees to Amazon instead).
So anyway, the reason for my post, if you are in the market for a Wii for your darlings (large, or small) this festive season, and do not wish to risk waiting to see if a new version is released in time for the over-hyped big day at the end of December; be it a Red console, a Black one, or a console bundled with the “Wii Zapper”, then may I advise you set the home page of your browser of choice [Mozilla Firefox, of course], to one of the following URLs:
or
[ http://www.wiipreorder.co.uk/Wii-Stock.aspx ]
Both these pages refresh every few minutes & list online e-tailers that have Wii consoles in stock. It may just save your, or rather Mr Christmas’, neck this year. The turkey or goose, on the other hand, may not be quite as lucky.
Although Nintendo-branded and third-party silicon jackets are already available for additional cost, all future Wii console packs should include a jacket for free.
(Existing owners can apply to Nintendo using the UK online form, or the US online form, offering up to four jackets for free once the site is supplied with the serial number of the associated Wii console).
Hmmm… Silicon jacket? That sounds like a good idea for slipping through the crowds on Christmas Eve.
Good luck everyone…
BFN,
fp.
(1upGamers.com Forums Moderator)
Cut-price PS3 in the UK?
September 26, 2007
If you are preparing to hand over your hard-earned (more than) disposable income in the run-up to Christmas, and you fancy a big black shiny dust magnet of a PS3 for your gaming needs, then please watch the press in the coming days/weeks as rumours are rife (online, and in various gaming magazines), that Sony are planning to launch a “cut-price” 40Gb model of their ‘next-gen’ console to steal some of the attention away from Microsoft’s release of “Halo 3″.
Various sources (some at Sony) have unofficially quoted a street price of £299 for the unit, but it is likely to be without a few of the features found on the bigger brother, 60Gb, model; namely, it will not be backwardly-compatible (with PlayStation [One] & PS2 titles), and the USB ports will not be available.
Such a move would be in keeping with comments made by David Reeves, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe CEO/President, in June this year, when discussing the need for an 80Gb console in a market (like Korea) where there is a very high broadband penetration leading to increased desires to download content onto the hard drive of a console. At the time he said, “…at the moment we don’t see a requirement for launching this version in Europe. Certainly not in the foreseeable future“, and furthermore added, “...I can confirm that it’s highly unlikely that the 20Gb version will be launch in PAL territories“.
It does seem a strange approach to reduce functionality and/or remove the ability to charge the SIXAXIS wireless controllers on-board or add external devices, but whatever the soon-to-be-released console will offer, it shows that Sony is either bowing to consumer pressure on pricing, or is scared that Microsoft will dominate Christmas sales (again) this year.
However, perhaps this is just a strategy to phase-out the 60Gb console once the current stocks have run dry, and then release a larger capacity (80Gb, or even 120Gb) model at the same price (£425), whilst offering a cheaper alternative to directly compete with the Xbox 360?
Or, will Nintendo’s latest console, Wiin overall?
What do you think?
BFN,
fp.
(1upGamers.com Forums Moderator)
The US & the UK… what’s in Store?
September 21, 2007
Hi,
Last night (well, early this morning), I created a new user (main account) on my UK PS3, and went through the registration process as a US owner, so I now have access to both the UK & US PLAYSTATION Store content.
When I finally got to the US Store, I found a wealth of Playable Demo (free) downloads that the UK has yet to be offered:
These are just the first batch I left downloading when I left my house this morning…
Skate Demo
Stuntman: Ignition Demo (Playable Demo)
SEGA Rally Revo™ Demo (Playable Demo)
PixelJunk™ Racers Demo (Playable Demo)
Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground Demo (Playable Demo)
Dynasty Warriors: GUNDAM Demo (Playable Demo)
Def Jam: Icon™ Demo (Playable Demo)
Full Auto™ 2: Battlelines Demo (Playable Demo)
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix Demo
NASCAR® 08 Demo (Playable Demo)
Stranglehold Demo (Playable Demo)
Subject to remaining space on my PS3’s hard drive; when I return this evening, I will be attempting to download the rest, namely:
NBA 08 Demo (Playable Demo)
NHL® 08 Demo (Playable Demo)
Tiger Woods PGA Tour® 2008 Demo
All-Pro Football 2K8 Demo
NCAA® Football 08 Demo
Major League Baseball 2K7 Demo
NBA 07 Demo (Playable Demo)
The US Store was also offering more in-game Add-ons, for example, the “Playable New Goblin” character for the “Spider-man 3: The Movie” title (that we, in the UK, had to buy as an exclusive title in our GAME stores), and extra content for “Sonic The Hedgehog”, as well as more vehicles for “MotorStorm” than the UK Store.
More trailers for upcoming movies, more clips of Blu-ray movie content, and more videos of future UK game titles (such as “Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction” due for release in the UK on 7 November 2007).
(Note to self here: Must remember to download the trailer for “Bee Movie”).
No wonder people complain about what (or, rather, not) the lacklustre UK Store has to offer.
If you are “over the pond”, I’m not even sure it is worth doing the same as I did but in reverse, by creating a UK main account on your US console, as I do not think there is any content we have that you do not.
*And* there are rumours surfacing that the US are to see a new entry-level PS3 with a 40Gb hard drive (to replace the now discontinued 20Gb model).
The only good news for the UK this week seems to be that in HMV (and probably many other good stores in the near future), GBP 424.99 now buys you a PS3 60Gb console, two SIXAXIS controllers, “MotorStorm”, “Resistance: Fall Of Man”, and now also “Heavenly Sword”.
If only I could read Japanese… so I could check out what the Japanese PLAYSTATION Store has available.
Job for the weekend, me-thinks.
Oh, and before I forget, “MotorStorm 2″ (working title) is going to be developed now that Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios has brought developer Evolution Studios, and its subsidiary, Bigbig Studio, in-house. Expect a release of this title in 2008.
And talking of 2008, that is also when the US & the UK will see the “DUALSHOCK 3” controller; the SIXAXIS with Rumble (of “force feedback”, if you prefer). The Japanese market will probably see a release of this accessory in November this year, but the other regions will be waiting for it until spring of next year.
To whet your appetite, here is the current list of PS3 titles that have been confirmed to be compatible with the “DUALSHOCK 3” (in North America & Europe) as of 20 September 2007:
• The Darkness
• Enemy Territory: Quake Wars
• Soldier of Fortune
• BIOHAZARD(R) 5
• Devil May Cry(R) 4
• N-Cube
• Warbit
• Dark Sector
• Turok
• Highlander
• Kane & Lynch: Dead Men
• Burnout Paradise
• FIFA franchise (title name TBD)
• Legendary: The Box
• To End All Wars
• RAGE
• WarDevil - Unleash the Beast Within
• Dynasty Warriors 6
• Fatal Inertia
• METAL GEAR SOLID 4 GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS
• Blacksite: Area 51
• TNA Wrestling
• Unreal Tournament 3
• Wheelman
• Cops (codename, title name TBD)
• Planet One (codename, title name TBD)
• Heroes over Europe
• Condemned 2
• Iron Man
• The Club
• The Crucible
• The Incredible Hulk
• Blast Factor (*1)
• echochrome
• Elefunk
• Folklore (*1)
• FORMULA ONE CHAMPIONSHIP EDITION (*1)
• Go! Sports Ski (*1)
• Heavenly Sword (*1)
• High Velocity Bowling
• MLB 08: The Show
• MotorStorm (*1)
• NBA 08 (*1)
• PAIN
• Rat Race
• Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
• Resistance: Fall of Man (*1)
• Snakeball
• SOCOM: Confrontation
• Super Stardust HD (*1)
• TOY HOME
• Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune
• Warhawk (*1)
• WipEout HD
• GripShift(R)
• NBA 2K8
• Destroy All Humans 3
• Stuntman Ignition
• Assassin’s Creed
• BEOWULF
• HAZE
• Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (*1)
• Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas (*1)
• Prototype
• The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena
(*1) Users will be able to enjoy the rumble feature through software update.
(*2) Actual titles to be released may vary among countries and regions.
Finally, although I still have sealed DVDs stacked-up from last Christmas, Sony are going to be pushing the PS3 as a Blu-ray movie machine in the run-up to this year’s festive season, so expect to see many more movie releases in the next few months. I just wish they have checked with me first! Some people…
BFN,
fp.
(1upGamers.com Forums Moderator)
