QuickJump QuickPeek 82: It’s been a hard day’s week for the hardwares, softwares not having it soft either
General Industry news is taking a back seat for this week, but that doesn’t mean the gaming world was any less exciting. We’ve got a lot of hardware issues this week, actually, from missing PSP Go nubs to limited disc space, to the alarming drop in the numbers of said hardwares, we’ve got a busy hardware week in our hands.
General Industry news is taking a back seat for this week, but that doesn’t mean the gaming world was any less exciting. We’ve got a lot of hardware issues this week, actually, from missing PSP Go nubs to limited disc space, to the alarming drop in the numbers of said hardwares, we’ve got a busy hardware week in our hands.
The software side of things is putting up a fight too as well, with content issues (or the supposed lack thereof in games) taking the spotlight. And meanwhile, we’ve got another lawsuit slapped on this week, but this time, it’s for the benefit of the gaming industry. That’s a nice change of scenery. The defender of the industry for this week: ESA in their fight against the Chicago Transit Authority for banning M-rated games ads.
All this and MORE in this week’s edition of QuickJump QuickPeek.
A rather vocal portion of the PSP userbase has been calling for an addition analog nub to be added to the Sony handheld for years now. The conspicuous lack of a second nub on the new PSP Go has since reignited the call, but this week we got what I believe is a rather reasonable answer from Sony: It’s just not the right time. Since Sony’s shooting for a ten-year lifespan for their consoles, we can probably expect a dual analog PSP in, say, 2015. If the world doesn’t decide to keel over and die in 2012, of course. This and more in this week’s PSP Weekend Warrior.Link: PSP Weekend Warrior
The past seven days proved to be a very lean time for the PSP blog’s homebrew section. While the emulation scene got some action thanks to updates to some of the more popular emulators out there, the applications side of things didn’t fare so well. Hopefully this doesn’t hold true for next week as well. Read on for the rest of the PSP Homebrew Weekend Warrior.
Link: PSP Homebrew Weekend Warrior
Four games dominated the bulk of the hot gaming news that hit the PS3 blog this week — Uncharted 2, God of War III, LittleBigPlanet, and Killzone 2. The latter two have already been out for a while now but thanks to continued support from their respective developers, PS3 gamers have been getting a steady supply of new content post-launch. As for the first two titles, well, if you’re a PS3 owner and you haven’t heard of them yet then you really should try and look for another place to live in. I hear sleeping under rocks isn’t good for your health.
Link: PS3 Weekend Warrior
While the games side of the Microsoft news isn’t the best we’ve seen, the industry certainly brings a lot of issues to the table for Microsoft and the Xbox 360. There’s the matter of disc space limitation, a possible handheld that might not pull its weight, and the ever-present dig into the power of Project Natal. For all that and more, simply read on for the Xbox 360 Weekend Warrior.
Link: Xbox 360 Weekend Warrior
The Nintendo news has really quited down as of late, but that doesn’t mean you’re getting squat from us this week. No way. This week’s edition of the Nintendo Weekend Warrior is very much alive and kicking, and it’s packed with release info for some of the best titles out there coming to Wii and DS. Homebrew master Tantric also updated two of his emulators, so that ought to be a good update as well. Catch all that and more in this week’s Wii and DS Weekend Warrior.
Link: WiiDS Weekend Warrior
With 5.2 million more iPhones out there, more people are gonna want get the goods for their shiny new super-phones. We’ve got just the thing – whether it’s games coming to or already in the App Store, on quick browse through this edition of the iPhone Weekend Warrior might just give you your fill of iPhone updates.
Link: iPhone Weekend Warriorr
Industry:
Wondering where the Castlevania icon, Koji Igarashi, has been at the past few Konami projects? Don’t worry, he’s still very much around, and from what we’ve gathered, a new game just might pop up at this years Tokyo Game Show happening in September. Read on to see if he’s dropped any more hints for his latest masterpiece.
Link: Koji Igarashi still at Konami, next project may show up at TGS 09
Japan‘s hardware sales chart for the week of July 13th through July 19th was released by Media Create, further affirming what we and the rest of the industry already know by now: going for cheap would probably be for everyone’s best interest at this point in time. Sales continue their downward trend and there’s really no knowing when it’ll go in reverse.
Link: Media Create hardware sales (7/13 – 7/19)
Atlus does everyone a favor and shares with us the simplified six-step process of localization. Do note though that simplified as the numbered steps may be, actually enforcing them takes a whole lot of time, averaging from some three to six weeks. It’s not as simple as we thought it was, in truth.
Link: Atlus: Localization is no simple process, steps outlined
Will Rockstar let their cash cow, the GTA franchise, take a trip to Hollywood? So far they’ve been keen on saying no to offers, the reason being that they don’t want the franchise to be but another statistic to the growing number of games-turned-movies-turned-really-sucky. Their condition if ever they were to concede and start that film rolling: they have to own creative control.
Link: Rockstar: GTA film will only be made if we have creative control
Two more top execs of Visceral Games are leaving the EA mothership and heading out the door across the lawn to Activision. Confirmation was made early last week, with GM Glen Schofield and COO Michael Condrey calling it quits and throwing in the Visceral towel.
Link: Visceral execs leaving EA for Activision
Remember when the Chicago Transit Authority banned M-rated game ads on their buses? Well, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) is having none of that, and has now filed a lawsuit against the CTA for the “clear violation of the entertainment software community’s constitutional rights.”
Link: ESA sues Chicago Transit Authority for banning M-rated game ads
The Warcraft movie has been confirmed by Blizzard Entertainment, and Drag Me to Hell director, Sam Raimi is your main man to go after if in case the flick turns the franchise sour. The story is looking to be a rather ambitious one too as it is said to based on the Warcraft universe — in whole.
Link: Sam Raimi to direct Warcraft movie
Greenpeace continues on with its relentless campaign for the leading console manufacturers to turn a brighter shade of green. In their latest efforts at convincing the industry’s bigwigs – Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo – they created a stop-motion video showing the consoles being smashed to pieces to form a “spokesperson” in behalf of the companies. The central message: going green, of course.
Link: Greenpeace uses PS3, Xbox 360, Wii as stop-motion spokesperson for greener consoles
QJ Front Page:
The Evo 2009 Championship has wrapped up, and we managed to gather all the interesting news tidbits regarding the results of the events. If you want to see your personal faves toughing it out on the fighting arena using your favorite characters, then this is the other QuickJump you have to check out. They’ve got some really sweet moves, the whole lot of them, you’ll see.
Link: QuickJump QuickPeek Special Edition: Evo 2009 Championship winners
That’s it for this week. As I always say, keep ’em jumping!