Yeah that’s right, everybody’s favorite lawyer Jack Thompson is facing a trial before the Florida Bar this week that could end up in his disbarment. GamesPolitics reports that the bar is pursuing a bunch of complaints about Thompson’s “professional conduct in court cases against the video game industry”, and that this entire week is set aside for his case. After failing to have the trial blocked by the Florida Supreme Court, Thompson said that the Bar had originally aimed for a 90 day suspension of his ability to practice law, but that it is now looking to disbar him indefinitely.
We will have to wait and see what fate the Florida Bar has in store for our buddy Jack when this case comes to a close. Oh my, the suspense is killing me!
GamePolitics Reports Jack Thompson’s Case
Image Thanks To: NASA
Sony was really excited when they annouced Unreal Tournament 3 as a timed exclusive for the PS3, but that seemed to be taken away from them when Epic annouced developing probelems with the game that caused a delay. But, they seemed to get the game gold without any delay and now say that it will be coming out December 10th. Midway also specified that the game will only be available in limited quantities, however, probably due to the developmental problems. This could turn out to be really good or really bad depending on if the game is actually shipped with any large bugs or problems.
via[Joystiq.com]
Needless to say everyone was surprised when the PS3 has beaten the Wii in hardware sales for the week ending on November 11th. But, they seem to have done it again for the week ending on November 17th. The PS3 sold 53,000 consoles putting it 20,000 units above the Wii, which sold 36,000. This is despite Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles being released an debuting with 106,000 sales. Is this the beggining of a turn in tides in the console race or is it just the aftermath of a pricedrip to $399. Let’s wait and find out.
via[CVG]
The Romantics, a band from the 80’s, are suing Activision for including their song, “What I Like About You.” in Guitar Hero Encore: Rock the 80’s. The song featured in the game was a cover of the original song(this part was legally done); however, the Romantics are suing that the cover was too much like their own song resulting in the loss of their ‘likeness’. Don’t ask me. I always thought that was the goal of a good cover. Activision hasn’t responded yet to the suit, but they will probably be coming out full force as to not spark any more copy-cat suits from others.
via[ABCnews.com]
There have been a slew of problems facing the Wii version of Guitar Hero III ranging from controllers locking up all the way to the game only featuring mono sound (meaning that hear sound in how ever many speakers you have that is meant to only be coming from a single speaker). All these problems with the game have resulted in a harsh backlash on the internet. Activision released a statement that said they were ‘looking into the problems’ and they seem to have finally acted on them by pulling the game from shelves. This is still a rumor originating from a French site HardGamers.com. There is no word from any other source that this is true. But keep checking back to this article for updates.
PS – The HardGamers article also states that the game should be back on shelves for Christmas
VGChartz.com has put a really cool resource for comparing the weekly sales of the three major consoles. But, there may be an error in the results because the PS3 is said to have sold 5,552,074 at a years time, which I doubt is true. According to the same chart the Xbox 360 has also sold 5,656,039 consoles and is only slightly ahead of the PS3 in the one year mark. If anyone has any clearer numbers or any reason why this would be true, please comment. I doubt this is a true and if it is I may have to go change my views on the entire world.
It seems that these periodic updates for the Xbox 360 only get better and better. This time, the main highlight of the fall update is the fact that original Xbox games will be available to download on the Xbox Live Marketplace. The first available games will include many classics for the original console, including Halo, Crimson Skies, Fable and Burnout 3. I guess that this update will give people more of an incentive to pick up a 120 gb harddrive for their 360’s!
You may have heard EGM Editor Shane Bettenhausen mention the possibility of a “big Microsoft first-party title” that has “been in the works for a very long time” being canceled in the latest episode of the ‘1UP Yours’ podcast. This cryptic little quote has spawned quite a few rumors, but apparently a ton of people suddenly thought that the third title in the Banjo Kazooie franchise might be the game in question. This rumor was gaining quite a bit of strength when Rare decided to step in to defend everyone’s favorite bear and chicken-like thing by telling GameIndustry.biz that the game is still on track for eventual release.
What is this mystery game then? I can tell you that I know for a fact that Halo Wars is not the one, it is very doubtful that Too Human would be canned, and Fable 2? Of course not.
Not to discredit Bettenhausen’s statement, but heck, maybe this whole thing has just spawned from a statement with no merit at all. But that wouldn’t be any fun now would it?
Rockstar can’t seem to get a break with Manhunt 2. After recieving a ‘AO’ rating from the ESRB the first time through and then console makers refusing to allow the game onto their system, Rockstar went back to the drawing board. They revised the game for re-rating by the ESRB and brought it down to a mature rating. But, Rockstar being Rockstar they left a way for players to hack the game and to get the uncensored version of the game. Now, ABCNews is reporting that Target is refusing to sell the game because of it’s excessive violence and the ability to hack the game for the uncensored material. Here is a quote from Target:
“While Manhunt 2 was given a ‘Mature’ rating by the ESRB, we received additional information that players can potentially view previously filtered content by altering the game code. As a result, we have decided not the carry the game.”
My question is why Target is so hell bent against this game, even though they sold Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and continue to sell games that would probably not be played by any friendly monks. Although Manhunt 2 is violent, I still think that it is getting a little too much attention for it’s violence and very harsh punishments for it. But, that’s just my two cents on the subject.
via[CNET]
It looks like one of the higher-ups at Kmart may have made a slight boo-boo this month, as many gamers are reporting that they have been able to snag their very own copies of Mass Effect a whopping 10 days before its release date. The picture above, sent to CheapAssGamer from one of their readers, shows proof of this in the form of a receipt next a shiny new Mass Effect box, so there is not much room to question the validity of these claims. Sadly, when I ran down to my local K-Mart outlet I came back disappointed, but perhaps you will have better luck if you hurry up and snag your very own copy of the game before someone important notices the mistake!
Via: CheapAssGamer
The status of the 20GB Playstation 3 has always been a little sketchy. Sony always seems reluctant to release any details on the console. One of the major unclear details about the console was the size of the processor. Many people were expecting the smaller, 65nm, processor because they are cheaper, consume less power, and produce less heat. Kaz Hirai confirmed that these are the processors in the 20GB PS3, however the GPU will remain 95nm.via[IGN]
Sony recently released the holiday game list with Unreal Tournament 3 on the list. Gamers everywhere were rejoiced because they thought they had proven Sony wrong and effectively knew more about gaming than Sony because Rein had made a previous statement that said the game was going to be delayed till 2008. But, Sony may have been right. Rein came out with a statement that says the game is still being worked on as hard as possible to push for a 2007 release. He also clarifies this isn’t a confirmation of that fact, but a possibility. At least we know Sony isn’t out of the gaming news loop.
I know that this post is kind of late, but if you haven’t dowloaded this amazing demo, and if you have a PS3, go do it now! The demo has great graphics, great sound and great gameplay: the three g’s of a great game. So, get on it!
If you are like me and a lot of other gamers, you have played Rockstar’s Max Payne games. The original was a game that came out on the PS2 and PC, while its sequal was relased on the PS2, Xbox and PC. Because of how popular the game is, movie studios believe that the game would be a great movie (as do I). What makes this better is that top A-list actor Mark Wahlberg might be starring in it. If you have seen The Departed, The Italian Job, and many other movies, you will see that he is a very talented actor, and he suits this character well. Lets cross our fingers in hope that this rumor is true!
The firmware for the PS3 has been updated today. There have been minor changes with the firmware since launch, but this is a major leep in firmware for the console. Here is the official press release:
Continue reading ‘PS3 goes 2.0!’
Skate (PS3): Skate has been said to be better than the Tony Hawk series, and I am here to tell you that it is. It is much less arcady, and it has great controls. The tilt features aren’t as tight as I would have like them to be, but they are good nonetheless. Graphics are spot on, and this may be one game that I would say looks better than its 360 counterpart – 85/100
Orange Box (360): The Orange box is a set of 5 games; Half Life, Episode 1, Episode 2, Portal and Team Fortress. All are amazing games, and this may be one of the greatest values in video game history, at sixty dollars. Graphics are much improved, as they have been redone for the original Half-Life and Episode 1, and Episode 2 has very good graphics also. Portal has great controls, and requires you to think a bit, even though it is not too hard. Team Fortress is a great multiplayer experience, and is very fun. I would definitely recommend picking this up – 95/100
Project Gotham Racing 4 (360): This is a very anticipated game for the 360, and is a sequel to a launch title for the system. One of the greatest features is the dynamic weather, in which the weather conditions can change through the game. Graphics are very good, and gameplay is also very tight, even though the game is quite arcady. The addiction of motorcycles is a welcome feature, and they do not disrupt gameplay at all – 90/100
Call of Duty 4 is arguably on of the most anticipated games this holiday season, and so far the game has been getting great reviews. On average, the game has been getting a 9.5, which means it is a spectacular game. One of the few gripes about the game is that it is so short in the campaign mode (about 6 hours for the average gamer), but the multiplayer makes up for it, and the graphics and sound have been highly praised as well. So pick it up and look out for Rotpod’s review of what is supposed to be one of this years great titles.
Show me a man in the gaming community who does not love this sacred month and I will show you a man who does not really love gaming. Hint – He will be the same guy, because there is nothing about November gaming , especially this year’s, that is not to love.
In the past, November has brought us treasures such as “Ocarina of Time”, “Halo 2″, and countless other great games. This month? Oh its huge. Instead of just a few highly anticipated titles, we have a big lineup of games that are sure to r0x. In case you haven’t heard, here are a few of the gems we will find this month:
- Call of Duty 4 (Xbox 360, PC, PS3) – Nov. 6th
- Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) – Nov. 13th
- Assassin’s Creed (Xbox 360, PS3) – Nov. 13th
- Crysis (PC) – Nov. 13th
- Kane and Lynch (Xbox 360, PC, PS3) – Nov. 13th
- Mass Effect (Xbox 360) – Nov. 20th
- Rock Band (Xbox 360, PS3) – Nov. 20th
Make sure you keep up with Rotpod this month, because it will definitely be one to remember!
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