QuickJump QuickPeek 80: Making histories in the present, and a futuristic outlook for the gaming industry
Can you imagine? We’ve only got 20 weeks more before the 100th issue of QuickJump QuickPeek! Speaking of looking to the future, the industry’s been doing a lot of that themselves as well lately. It was a very inquisitive week alright, but sprinkled still, of course, with more of those gaming news and updates, “leaked” surprises and the back-and-forth bickering of the guys in suit. It’s circles all around with the robust 8-0 edition of QuickPeek. Jump right in at the full article!
Can you imagine? We’ve only got 20 weeks more before the 100th issue of QuickJump QuickPeek! Speaking of looking to the future, the industry’s been doing a lot of that themselves as well lately.
What’s gonna happen to the race three years from now? How significant will the new controls technology unveiled this year be in laying out the roadwork for the future generations of consoles and gaming? Would you like to have that rare, medium rare, well-done?
It was a very inquisitive week alright. Sprinkled of course with more of those gaming news and updates, “leaked” surprises and the back-and-forth bickering of the guys in suit. It’s circles all around with the robust 8-0 edition of QuickPeek.
With the PSP Go already confirmed and out of the shadows, the rumor mill has once again trained its rose-colored sights on the PSP2. The latest rumor this week is that the next PSP will have a quad-core GPU to amp up its graphical capabilities more than ever. Things were better on the software side as each of the big updates we saw this week were backed by hard evidence.
Link: PSP Weekend Warrior
We saw a pretty good crop of homebrew releases during the week, including some updates for a pair of well-received homebrew apps — Hold+ and PSPdisp — that haven’t been updated in a while. Other standouts for the week are Custom Firmware Enabler and the always-popular gpSP Game Boy Advance emulator. Of course, the new exploit found in Medal of Honor Heroes also got a lot of hits
Link: PSP Homebrew Weekend Warrior
We didn’t see any announcements for new PS3 exclusives this week, but we did get more than enough updates for both upcoming and already-released PS3 titles. Sony CEO Howard Stringer and PSN main man Eric Lempel also said their piece on some of the pressing issues dogging the PS3 and the PSN. Heartbreak also reared its disappointing head this week as we finally heard back about the long-rumored Syphon Filter 5 listing at mo-cap studio PCB’s site. Long story short, it was just a typo. Awww.
Link: PS3 Weekend Warrior
We’ve still got Left 4 Dead 2 taking the top spot with the most number of news items released this week, thanks to the constant barrage of updates from Lombardi and the rest of the Valve team. There’s also a couple of profile trailers for the ladies of Tekken 6, announcements, updates… But the treat of the week (at least for me) would be modder-extraordinaire Benhecks’ resurrection in the scene with the release of his latest concoction, the Xbox 360 Portable Revision 5.
Link: Xbox 360 Weekend Warrior
Nintendo itself may have gone a little quiet this week, but the game publishers and homebrew devs certainly held the Nintendo blog up considerably. With news for ten different games and eight updates for some quality homebrew, we’ve had ourselves quite a week. Keep up to speed on all the Nintendo goings-on and catch the recap in this week’s edition of the Nintendo Weekend Warrior.
Link: WiiDS Weekend Warrior
We’ve got the usual lineup of iPhone games again this week, but there’s certainly a notable amount of quality in this week’s batch. Really. From the ninety-nine cent games to the formidable US$ 4.99 class, take your pick, with a price study from Pocket Gamer to boot. And if you’ve been waiting for sn0w updates, we’ve got ’em right here, so read on for the iPhone Weekend Warrior.
Link: iPhone Weekend Warrior
Industry News:
Media Create released the results of Japan’s hardware sales for the week of June 29 to July 5, 2009. Leading the pack – as usual – is Nintendo’s handheld, the DSi, followed by the PSP. It’s good to see the PSP sales inching closer. Or could this just mean that the Wii is not at number 2 anymore because their sales dropped, not because PSP overtook their numbers?
Link: Media Create: Japan hardware sales for 06/29 to 07/05
THQ is the latest company in the biz to express their support for the new motion controllers. Thru Danny Bilson, the company revealed that their support extends beyond moral support, but that they are in fact keen on making games that will make the best use of Natal and the PS3 MC. Really, why would anyone not want to support these babies? They’re obviously the way of the future.
Link: THQ to support the new motion controllers upon release
You have until August 2nd to make the most out of GameStop’s US$ 20 and under deal for games. It’s a huge sale, alright.
Link: GameStop selling games for US$ 20 or less
Jack Thompson has been required by Judge Federico Moreno of the US District Court for the Southern District of California to explain why he shouldn’t be disbarred federally. You’ll have to admire his resilience, though. He just won’t go away.
Link: Jack Thompson ordered to explain why he shouldn’t be disbarred federally
Square Enix adds ‘Europe’ to their name, following the official introduction of Eidos into the fold. However, this entails certain adjustments to their operations as well, and it looks like layoffs is an unavoidable circumstance in the near-future.
Link: New operations, new name: Square Enix addes Europe to name, layoffs imminent
Here’s another patent infringement sued, this time aiming at not just one, or two, but three of the biggest tech companies we have around: Nintendo, Sony, Apple. The cause for motion, infringement on graphics fine-tuning microprocessors, all allegedly used illegally in the DS, PSP and iPhone.
Link: Patent infringement suit filed against Nintendo, Sony, Apple
July 7, 2009 – This marks the day of Namco Bandai‘s completion of purchase of Atari’s global PAL distribution operation. And since there’s new blood infused, it’s just right to have a new name to go by: Namco Bandai Partners.
Link: Atari acquisition gives birth to new Namco Bandai Partners
Cliff Bleszinski thinks that RPGs are the way of the FPS future. It’s not just a passing thing that we have games like BioShock in existence. It’s already laying the groundwork of more great things to come.
Link: Bleszinski: The future of FPS games lies in RPGs
Harmonix also peered into the Crystal Ball of the Future and predicts that one day soon, all these rhythm games won’t even need consoles anymore to be enjoyed. They pictured something like a built-in system on TVs. Plausible, don’t you think?
Link: Harmonix predicts a future where rhythm games won’t need consoles
Bleszinski and Harmonix weren’t the only ones looking into the future. BioWare, care of Greg Zeschuk and Ray Muzyka, is of the opinion that later down the road, violence will no longer be the carrot of the gaming stick. In fact, as early as now, fans have proved to be more receptive to narratives and not merely violence. Ergo, we will soon see a day when games will not have to depend on the blood and gore to attract gamers, but just a good narrative.
Link: BioWare: Expanding audience will shift games appeal from violence to narratives
Ico and Shadow of the Colossus director / lead designer Fumito Ueda made it known that he wasn’t impressed with top-grossing console titles GTA IV and Super Mario Galaxy. How come? They look nice and all, but really, it’s the same old thing.
Link: Fumito Ueda on GTA IV and Super Mario Galaxy: Not impressed
Finally, some news on employment for a change. We’ve been beset by so much news of layoffs the past year that this item certainly comes in a much welcome breeze. Ubisoft is promising that there will be 800 jobs to be created in their new studio up in Toronto. Imagine how many families those jobs will help.
Link: 800 jobs to be created in Ubisoft’s new Toronto Studio
Keep ’em jumpin!
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