Quote:Nintendo announced today that in March they cut the royalty rates for GameCube development charged to outside developers. Nintendo stated their previous rates were a little too aggressive, and many developers were reluctant to pay them. The new rates make Nintendo more competitive with Sony and Microsoft.
Nintendo cited the success of titles like Grand Theft Auto: Vice City as their reasoning behind the move. "The biggest games of the year last year were games like GTA and they came from an independent publisher," said Nintendo's George Harrison. "We need to make sure that we have good relationships with all the independent publishers, because you never know where the next big hit game is going to come from."
Earlier this week Nintendo announced that they had not met their yearly sales goal of 10 million GameCube consoles. In fact, they fell well short of the goal selling only 5.6 million consoles during their fiscal year. Nintendo wants to convince game developers that Nintendo's GameCube is a viable platform, and worth the time and money it takes for them to develop games for it. At this year's E3 show in Los Angeles, Nintendo plans to place more emphasis on third-party titles in an effort to convince developers of this. "Games from Namco, Sega, and Capcom...we think are going to be just as important in helping to sell our hardware system this year as much as our own games," Harrison said. "We are going to sell a lot of GameCube and its our job to convince them that we are."
Just read it. I don't think this is an April Fool's joke:
Quote:Sony leads charge to cash in on Iraq
Julia Day
Thursday April 10, 2003
Japanese electronics giant Sony has taken an extraordinary step to cash in on the war in Iraq by patenting the term "Shock and Awe" for a computer game.
It is among a swarm of companies scrambling to commercially exploit the war in Iraq, which has killed more than 5,000 soldiers and civilians in the space of three weeks.
MediaGuardian.co.uk has learned that Sony is set to launch a computer game called "Shock and Awe", having registered the defining phrase of the coalition's military campaign as a trademark in the US.
It registered the term as a trademark with the US Patent and Trademark Office on March 2 1 - just one day after war started. It wants to use it for computer and video games, as well as a broadband game played both locally and globally via the internet among PlayStation users.
The phrase, coined by former US navy pilot Harlan Ullman, was adopted by Washington to describe the fierce bombardment of Baghdad on the second night of the war - the military tactic designed to bully the Iraqi resistance into submission.
However, the crassness of the phrase was seized upon by critics of evidence of US arrogance in a war that the UN, and notably France and Russia, refused to support.
A spokesman for Sony PlayStation in the UK admitted the company might not stock the game in Britain and Europe owing to political sensitivities.
"Sometimes registering trademarks does not necessarily mean the product will be launched. But if it was deemed unsuitable then we might not ship it here," he said.
"If indeed it is related to the Iraqi war rather than just using that phrase then, yes, it might well be something we would be very sensitive to," the spokesman added.
However, the Sony game is only the tip of the iceberg as the US market is set to be flooded with goods ranging from T-shirts, toys, board games, train sets sunglasses, mugs and fireworks branded with slogans such as "Operation Iraqi Freedom" and "Battle of Baghdad".
But a British company is also planning a computer game, books, cards and magazines based on the war, called "Conflict Desert Storm II: Back to Baghdad".
SCi Games, part of computer games publisher SCi Entertainment, registered the title as a trademark in the US on February 25, having scored a hit with its original PlayStation and Xbox game, Conflict: Desert Storm.
Other goods planned for sale in the US include an "Axis of Evil" board game, "Iraqi Freedom" crockery and clothes as well as "Shock and Awe" trainers and dolls.
After September 11 2001 terrorist attacks, the US PTO was flooded with applications for trademarks for products bearing legends such as "the war on terrorism" and "remember the twin towers".
At the time applications were also been filed for products inscribed with the phrases "Osama, can you see the bombs bursting in the air?"; "Osama, Yo' Mama"; "9-11-01, lest we forget"; and "Operation Enduring Freedom".
The rush to make a quick buck from the attacks attracted widespread criticism from people concerned that companies were profiting from the tragedy.
I'm not sure how true it is, and there's not much information, but according to Nintendorks.com, Miyamoto is making one more game and then heading out the door, never to return.
Thanks to the amazing power of getting money I never expected, I now have this set of games. As per usual, it's a Square (well, it's Square-Enix now isn't it?) package with a remake of a game I already own and a remake of a game I don't own. So far, I'm rather enjoying myself. The graphics are boosted just like what I read about. The music, that's incredible! It's Chrono Cross quality!
The gameplay for FF1 has been altered... They removed the individual limited equipment and used the later FF's pooled unlimited equipment. You can have pretty much whatever you want whenever you want, and everyone can use everything during battles! Nuts... I liked that kind of difficulty in the original. Oh well, I still HAVE the original. I really wish they kept the original gameplay. Some of the things they changed they DO allow you to change back in the options menu, but not everything.
Oh well, I'm off to continue the fantasy! FF2 I've only just started. That too seems amazing, especially with it being a game I have yet to play, it being never released in the US before. Now all we need is FF3 for GBA and all the unreleased games will be here!
Well? You are you all cheering for to take home Lord Stanley's Cup? I'm sure all of you have a team...I myself am going for the Ottawa SENATORS, because they have been my fav. NHL team for around five years now. Presidents trophy winner (most points in the regular season) I have high hopes for them to go all the way to the finals...if they can overcome the friggen NY Ilsanders (they just lost 3-0 in game one). Man I hate New York teams...
SO, who do you all want to win the most challenging award to get in sports???
Quote:Ubi Soft has shipped Splinter Cell for GameCube And Playstation 2. It first appeared on the Xbox and garnered a lot of praise of game of the year on the console. New features like exclusive levels and gadgets can be accessed by connecting the GBA version to the GameCube. Splinter Cell received high scores on reviews, and went on to sell more than one million units in North America. Hopefully the sales performance will be good on GCN and GBA. For those who aren't purchasing the title now, Ubi Soft has put up another trailer showing only the GCN and GBA content.
"Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell is sure to impress PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube fans. It earned its place as console game of the year by providing exclusive content and high quality excitement-filled gameplay experiences regardless of platform," said Tony Kee, vice president of marketing for Ubi Soft Entertainment.
Should I help out Nintendo and buy it for the GC or go for the slightly better [technically] Xbox version...
This certainly is a historic moment. Troops and Iraqis joined together to topple the statue of Saddam. The Iraqis would never do that unless they knew for fact that they were free from Saddam's regime. But should we really be celebrating now? In my opinion, it's not over, but today certainly was a big turning point in the war. And what of Saddam? Is he dead? I wouldn't be too sure, but even if he's alive, he's pretty much a squirrel now. All we have to do is find him and gun him down. So, what do you people think? Post your thoughts here.
