With today's announcement from Midway Games of the release of "Mortal Kombat: Armageddon" on the PS2 (and soon for Xbox) comes word that Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 will be coming to the Xbox 360's Xbox Live Arcade in November 2006.
From Midway's press release: "Midway Games Inc. (NYSE: MWY), a leading interactive entertainment industry publisher and developer, today announced that Mortal Kombat®: Armageddon™, the final chapter of the Mortal Kombat franchise for current generation gaming systems, has shipped for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system. Both the standard and Premium Edition packs are now available. Mortal Kombat: Armageddon for the Xbox® video game system from Microsoft is scheduled to be available Monday, October 16.
In addition to Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, Midway is also scheduled to release both Ultimate Mortal Kombat® 3 for Xbox Live™ and Mortal Kombat®: Unchained™ for the PSP™ (PlayStation Portable) in November of this year."
Worried about tossing your Wii controller? This Wii controller and nunchuk sound like they almost beg to be tossed. A
Nerf Wii Remote and a Nerf Wii Nunchuk have been listed on amazon.com. The Nerfed controllers are listed as coming from Pelican Accessories. No images or much detail other than this short product description: "A unique controller design that features a comfortable texture. Proprietary Nerf material forms into a resilient, long lasting controller that can take abuse!"
A report from Codename Revolution says the price will be $30 for the Wii controller and $15 for the Nunchuk.
Below is some footage that was shown at the Tokyo Game Show from Metal Gear Solid 4, coming to the Playstation 3. The footage shows a mix of pre-rendered and gameplay shots. Can you spot the differences (even in this highly compressed video)?
LucasArts and Sony Online Entertainment are providing a fully playable preview download of their Star Wars MMO, Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided, and its first expansion, Jump to Lightspeed, free for up to 14 days. If you decide to keep playing, all your save data transfers to your new account.
From LucasArts: "Star Wars Galaxies is one of the longest-running and most popular online experiences, bringing gamers of all ages and skill levels together in the ultimate Star Wars journey. Beginning aboard the Millennium Falcon, players help Han Solo and Chewbacca fend off the notorious Darth Vader, and then join up with Star Wars characters on missions that span across the galaxy. Heroic adventurers can seek their fortune in space or on the ground as a bounty hunter, smuggler, Jedi or a host of other newly enhanced, unique Star Wars professions, as they ally with the Rebels to fight against the Galactic Empire, or join forces with the Dark Side and crush the Rebel scum."
A playable demo for Ubisoft's upcoming Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas will be available from the Xbox Live Marketplace on October 23, 2006.
From Ubisoft's announcement: "The single player demo features part of the “Dante’s Casino” level of the single player mission. Players will Observe, Plan and Assault (O.P.A.) their way through the Gothic-themed casino that is under construction and believed to be a hideout for the terrorist leaders."
We know Microsoft doesn't like to give hard dates on third party publisher releases on the Xbox Live Marketplace, but we know it is in the works and coming soon!
RANCE6, currently the leading Xbox 360 player by Gamerscore, has decided to auction off his Xbox 360 hard drive (not the console, just the hard drive), his full collection of Xbox Live Arcade games and his Gamertag (RANCE6) on Ebay. Caveat Emptor. Especially after you read the description:
"XBOX 360 HARD DISK DRIVE WITH ALL LIVE ARCADE INSIDE, GAMERTAG RANCE6 FIRST IN THE WORLD!!!!!
I am selling cause PS3 coming out.
MANYMANY SAVES INCLUDED IN HARD DRIVE (1GB MORE), 5000 HOURS SPENT ON THE GAMES.
TRY TO KEEP FIRST POSITION IN LEADERBOARD AND CONTINUE PLAY GAMES!"
Bogus? Bidders may not believe so, with the current bid reaching $6000 and about three days to go (at the time of this writing).
View the auction at Ebay.
UPDATE 10-9-06: And it looks like the item has been pulled! Last we saw, the bidding dropped to $5200. No word yet as to why the auction was removed. Was it a bad Sony joke? Maybe.
Logitech describes the ChillStream: "Logitech's patented ChillStream technology includes a built-in 40 mm fan that circulates up to 3.41 cubic feet of air every minute, while generating very little noise. Three narrow vents on each side of the controller push air directly onto the four fingers, the base of the thumb and the palm of the hand. The air stream can be used in one of three settings — high, low, or off."
The PS3 ChillStream controller is said to be Logitech's "first product designed specifically for Sony's next-generation gaming platform." No official word as of yet if the controller will also include the motion sensitive features of the standard PS3's SIXAXIS controller. The controller will be available in metallic silver or glossy black.
The Logitech ChillStream controller for the PS3 has a suggested retail price of $39.99 in the U.S and will be available at the PS3's launch in November 2006.
Logitech also announced that its older game controllers are also compatible with the PS3:
- Logitech® Driving Force Pro wheel
- Logitech® Driving Force EX wheel
- Logitech® USB headset for the Playstation
Nyko Technologies will be bringing its cooling solution to the Playstation 3 with the Intercooler. The external fan cooling device promises to keep the PS3 running at "optimal conditions." The Xbox 360 Intercooler attachment has been popular among Xbox 360 gamers, who were concerned of their console overheating (Rivithed raises hand after losing two launch Xbox 360s).
From Nyko: "This device easily connects to the PlayStation 3 using patent-pending technology that works with the systems power port and vent system. Once attached, the high-efficiency external fan placement dramatically increases internal air flow and allows the console to run at optimal temperature levels. The Intercooler for the PlayStation 3 will be available between $19.99 and $29.99 at major retailers."
I received a preview demo of the upcoming Sony PSP game, Killzone: Liberation, and played it for about a half hour or so to give you guys a quick overview of the gaming experience. The first and most obvious detail to mention is that this game is set in a top-downish third person shooter view, because as we all know, one analog stick doesn't exactly make for good first person shooters. It is clear, however, that the designers tested the controls well because the game is still very responsive and well tuned. Aiming at enemies is done with a lock-on system that is very loose and doesn't require a button press (unless of course you want to shoot at context sensitive objects, in which case you crouch and press a lock-on button). This makes for a very fast paced style of combat, similar to Metal Gear Solid: Sons of Liberty, but with emphasis on action.
I am also happy to report that the A.I. is fairly smart and will follow you around, or take cover, adding to the difficulty (the game is fairly hard but not too bad). They will not just stand there and be bullet sponges, though they may sometimes just run into your line of fire.
Lastly, I would like to add that the graphics are fairly good for the Playstation Portable, with a very monochromatic grayish-tone throughout, and high polygon counts for environments. It is difficult to tell how the quality of character models are however, due to the camera view being so far away. Killzone: Liberation is released from the captivity of the developers and into stores October 31st for the Playstation Portable.
Sounds like Nintendo's Wii launch should meet the much anticipated demand and won't be suffering the shortages Microsoft experienced on its Xbox 360 launch.
An article at International Business Times says: "[Nintendo] built 2 million of its Wii consoles in the third quarter according to UBS's semiconductor analyst Alex Guana. In a note to clients on Thursday, Guana also stated that 7 to 9 million are expected to be built in the fourth quarter of 2006, putting the firm ahead of its 6 million unit production goal."
Not much word of pre-orders since the Amazon.com and Nintendo World Store pre-orders ceased several weeks ago, but with this kind of supply, would there really need to be?
