[Via Gizmodo]

Read

Share / E-mail This

[Via iPhone Alley]

Read

Share / E-mail This

Impressive response time Nokia, although this really shouldn’t have been an issue to begin with. This past Wednesday, in case you missed it, the discovery was made that N-Gage games are locked to a device IMEI rather than an account. Translation: Buy a new phone, kiss your games goodbye. Here we are two days later and as history would dictate, word has come out that Nokia is addressing the situation immediately. In the short term, Nokia Care will be able to take care of IMEI changes for N-Gagers with new devices. Apparently a long term solution that will automate the system is already in the works. Granted, this shouldn’t have been a problem in the first place but it’s good to see Nokia responding so quickly. Gamers, commence forking over your cash.

Read

Share / E-mail This

Activision made the official announcement today and Guitar Hero fans will not be disappointed. The fourth entry into the Guitar Hero franchise is slated for a Fall 2008 release and it’s packed full of virtual goodness that is sure to appease even the most discriminating couch rocker. New features, check. Let’s start out with an available full drum kit including pedals and cymbals. Punching buttons on a plastic guitar is one thing but seeing how people fair with the new full drum set is going to be fantastic. There’s also a new microphone and Music Studio mode that allows players to “compose, record, edit and share their own rock and roll anthems.” Good lord. Eight-player “Battle of the Bands” mode sounds pretty intense as well; up to eight players can gather online and compete for the the virtual title. High school audience sold separately. The soon-to-be smash will be issued on Xbox 360, Playstation 2 and 3 as well as Wii. Ready ready people, it’s going to be getting pretty nutty.

[Via Electric Pig]

Read

Share / E-mail This

Meet Scrooge McNokia. He loves his recently-launched N-Gage platform because it does an amazing job of putting access to payware games in the hands of countless S60 device owners. It couldn’t be easier for them to fire up N-Gage on their handset and fork over some cash for a few titles from the ever-increasing N-Gage catalog. McNokia even worked out a few deals with top gaming labs Electronic Arts and Konami to include top notch titles that no mobile gamer can refuse. Already garnering acclaim across the internet, N-Gage popularity is growing every day as more compatible handsets are released. All this should give McNokia enough gold coins keep him swimming for years to come, right? He wouldn’t try to milk his customers for even more would he? Oh yes, he would. Despite information presented by N-Gage reps at Nokia’s Go Play event last year, we are now learning that N-Gage titles are not - we repeat, not - transferable from one device to another. Reps at Go Play clearly stated that N-Gage purchases would be tied to a profile rather than a specific handset. It only makes sense; after all, a customer who ditches one Nokia handset to purchase another Nokia handset is the prefect customer! But no, word is now coming through that despite initial info from the N-Gage team, purchases are locked to a device’s IMEI. Buying a new handset means you’ll have to either repurchase all of your N-Gage titles or simply lose them. The only known caveat to this point applies to handsets with manufacturer defects that are exchanged by Nokia customer care. Makes you think twice before clicking that purchase button…

[Via Symbian-Guru]

Read

Share / E-mail This

No, the graphics won’t be quite as sweet as pictured above. All the same, S60 gamers are very excited to learn as of this morning that Nokia and Konami are officially teaming up. The partnership will bring a variety of popular high-quality Konami titles to Nokia’s N-Gage portable gaming platform, first and foremost is a mobilized version of the extremely popular Metal Gear Solid game. The award-winning Konami title takes players through an epic packed full of espionage and covert ops, but you already knew that. Creator of the Metal Gear Solid franchise Hideo Kojima states:

I believe that this cooperation between Nokia and Konami will form the perfect match to share the vast potential of mobile entertainment content with users all around the world.

Gregg Sauter, Director of Third Party Games Publishing at Nokia adds:

We’re excited to see Konami tap into the performance and community features we’ve built into the N-Gage platform… Metal Gear Solid on N-Gage will raise the bar with respect to graphical detail and made-for-mobile features. We look forward to the launch of this great franchise on N-Gage.

Right on; quite a pair indeed. Nokia’s N-Gage platform has a vast reach to say the least and Konami titles will only enhance the already-solid offering that is N-Gage. Electronic Arts, Konami… We have to wonder who’s next!

Read

Share / E-mail This

Hot off the recent release of Grand Theft Auto 4, Sony is prepping for another landmark release. The company is getting ready to celebrate the MGS4 release in style, with 2 limited edition console bundles soon to be available to eager consumers. The first bundle is the Metal Gear solid limited edition bundle in Gun Metal Grey with a 40GB hard drive, coming complete with the new Dualshock 2 rumble controller, CD soundtrack, bonus Blu-ray disc, and a fresh copy of the game. All of this goodness should run you about $600, and is available exclusively from Konami’s website.. That’s quite a hefty premium over the standard console, even taking all of the perks into consideration. The second version of the MDS4 PS3 is identical to the one described above, but it’s available from all retail channels, and will cost you a mere $500. Bizarre, right? Which one will you be getting?

Read

Share / E-mail This

Wii Fit is rookie stuff; real gamers use their Wii to pole dance! According to MTV, Peekaboo Pole Dancing is currently shopping for a partner to license its pole dancing game for the Wii. Peekaboo, for those who don’t keep up with the latest in stripper wannabe news, is the company behind Carmen Electra’s pole dancing kit. Apparently the Electra-pole set isn’t enough to get the younger demographic working the pole, so Peekaboo is setting its sights on the Wii. A rep from Peekaboo wasn’t exactly forthcoming with details on how this sacrilege would work exactly in terms of operation, but he did offer some insights:

Peekaboo will be all about fun and fitness for a new generation. Peekaboo wants to make the fitness benefits of aerobic pole dancing accessible to millions of Wii users. The goal is to encourage men and women of all shapes and sizes to improve their pole dancing skills while having fun, toning up and burning calories. Ultimately Peekaboo and AT New Media want to do for pole dancing what ‘Guitar Hero‘ did for rock n roll!

Did he say "men and women"? For real? Barring the occasional YouTube travesty, we can’t imagine any men running to the store to snag a Wii stripper pole kit - for themselves at least. Whatever the case may be, Peekaboo is apparently serious about this and already in discussions with developers about not only a Wii port, but a mobile port as well. We wish we were kidding.

[Via electric pig]

Read

Share / E-mail This

If anyone was wondering why Take Two Interactive recently refused EA’s $2 billion acquisition offer, this should clear things up for you. Week one sales figures are in for Take Two’s recently-released and oh so highly-anticipated Grand Theft Auto IV and to say the game is a success is an understatement. In the first seven days of the game’s availability, GTA IV raked in over $500 million in international sales. Yes, that’s a five with eight zeros after it; a solid percentage over the $350 - $400 million that was being predicted. With over 3.6 million copies sold on the first day of the game’s availability and a grand total of over 6 million units sold as of yesterday, Take Two’s latest gem even exceeded Halo 3 figures in both first day and first week sales. Perhaps equally as impressive is the fact that takers are overwhelmingly impressed with GTA IV and buyer’s remorse is almost non-existent from what we’re reading. Nice job Take Two… Fight the power. It this doesn’t shut shareholders up, we’re not sure what will.

Read

Share / E-mail This

Read

Share / E-mail This

Hoping to get your virtual PS3 world experience on by the Summer? Not so fast. The promised open beta for Sony’s Playstation Home service has been delayed yet again. Sony had been promising to deliver the Second Life-esque experience by the beginning of the summer, but is now saying that they need to extend the private beta testing phase until Fall 2008 in the interest of working out all of the kinks. So sad. To its credit, the company seems committed to releasing a fully fleshed out product, as opposed to rushing a half baked experience out the door, but that’s little consolation for anyone that has been patiently waiting to go Avatar crazy on their Playstation 3.

Read

Share / E-mail This

Not to be outdone by the Wii (unless we’re talking sales numbers), the PS3 is the proud recipient of this stylish LCD screen. The 7" screen attaches seamlessly to the top of your console unit, and comes complete with a matching pair of stereo speakers. How stylish! It’s manufactured by a company called Clearvision, who has sadly yet to reveal pricing or availability info. While the PS3 is certainly less portable than a Wii, we’re guessing the small subset of the population that actually travels with their gaming console might be able to overlook the weight factor, and the joy of playing your personal PS3 in the back of an Escalade? Priceless.

Read

Share / E-mail This

The Nintendo Wii continues to plow ahead of the competition, posting record sales month after month. According to a recent set of stats released by the NPD group, Nintendo moved 720,000 consoles during the month of April. Whoa! As if that number wasn’t impressive enough, things start to look even crazier when you consider that Microsoft sold just 262,000 XBox 360s, slightly ahead of Sony’s 257,000 PS3s. Nintendo, it seems, is doing something right. The Wii, slotting in at a significantly lower price point than either of its two rivals, has remained in steady demand since its introduction. While Sony’s 257,000 may seem unimpressive, it represents a 98% increase in sales over the same period of time last year. With the upcoming launch of GTA IV on both the PS3 and the XBox 360, Microsoft and Sony should make up some lost ground, but if things continue along these lines, the Wii will most certainly continue to dominate the console wars.

Read

Share / E-mail This

Read

Share / E-mail This

Whether or not you’ve moved on to bigger and better things, any FPS fan has to pay some respect to the Quake franchise. First person shooters are as popular now as they ever have been and id Software is preparing to take its popular FPS series to the next level. Quake Live, in case you haven’t heard, is the forthcoming online port of Quake III. The online multiplayer will be entirely free and ad-supported thanks to IGA Worldwide who has been contracted to manage and serve ads in the Quake Live UI. The go-live date has not yet been determined but anxious fans are in luck. id Software is accepting email addresses for beta tester spots. No word on how many beta applicants will be accepted or how soon the private beta will begin, but for many the beta can’t launch soon enough. As a side note, the fact that id Software is hiring is now plastered all over its homepage. If you’re a game developer head on over and play hardball because id seems kind of desperate!

[Via joystiq]

Read

Share / E-mail This

Think Rockstar Games has a lot riding on the upcoming release of Grand Theft Auto IV? You would be correct. According to Variety, is looks like the Take-Two, Rockstar’s parent company, is expecting to rake in over $400 million during the first week of sales. Whoa! That would equate to roughly 6 million units sold over 7 days, which is a pretty insane number, especially given the state of the economy, but if anyone can pull this off it’s the Grand Theft Auto franchise. Given the new dual-platform release approach, coupled with the incredible hype surrounding the impending April 29th drop, epic sales are no brainer, but $400 million? We’ll just have to wait and see.

Read

Share / E-mail This

Get ready to wave goodbye to any shred of productivity you may have mustered this weekend. A native app version of Dope Wars is now available via Installer. iDope, as it is cleverly named, is an amazingly accurate port of the popular Dope Wars game. It offers all of the features we’ve come to know and love, including the ability to pay off loan shark loans, location hopping, a wide variety of "product" to choose from, randomized police chases, a "hospital" option to treat any injuries sustained from the aforementioned roadblocks, and much more. Cooler still is the ability to register and track your monetary gain on a global leaderboard by way of wkLive, which is an online gaming community tailored towards iPhone gaming fanatics. It’s available immediately on any jailbroken iPhone or iPod Touch with access to installer.app. You can thank us later.

Share / E-mail This

Remember how jealous you were in elementary school of the rich kid up the block whose BMW-driving parents actually shelled out $650 so that he could rock a Neo Geo? Remember how you had to pick up an extra bike route just to scrape together enough dough for Super Mario Brothers 3 while this kid was sporting a new $200 Neo Geo game every other week? Even if you did kiss his girlfriend behind the bleachers during the "don’t get into the creepy guy’s van" assembly, he still had the better gig and you knew it. You used to wish every day that you were playing Neo Geo and eating pizza at his house instead of playing NES and eating Pathmark Pops at yours. Now you can relive that pain and anguish every time you set foot in your living room. Fan-friggin-tastic. Despite the flashbacks it drums up, the Neo Geo Stick 2 is very, very cool. It enhances Wii’s Virtual Console functionality by letting you play Neo Geo games the way they were meant to be played; with a big honking arcade stick controller. $60 for the controller plus another $45 - $55 for shipping to the US will get you in the door and an extra hour or two per week at the therapist’s office should help suppress the memories it drums up. Totally worth it.

[Via technabob]

Read

Share / E-mail This

Rumors, rumors, rumors. Where would we be without you? Today’s flavor comes to us courtesy of Bloomberg’s Japanese office. Their site is claiming that a newly revamped Nintendo DS should be on its way to retailers everywhere. According to them, the new handheld gaming system will be announced at this year’s E3 convention, which is scheduled to take place July 13-15th. Bloomberg doesn’t give any indication as to a what sort of new feature set we might expect, but we suppose all will be revealed when/if this thing actually gets official.

Read

Share / E-mail This

Rock Band is a favorite around BGR World Headquarters, so we were quite pleased to see the following bit of news. The Rock Band online store has finally gone live, albeit only for our Playstation 3-toting brethren. The store features a large amount of downloadable content, sporting tracks from artists such as Nine Inch Nails, Oasis, The Police, and more. Tracks are $1.99 each, with a number of special "Track Packs" available for $5.49. The downloading process is a bit cumbersome, and requires a PS3 running OS 1.03, but it’s certainly worth checking out.

Read

Share / E-mail This

Read

Share / E-mail This

Read

Share / E-mail This

Our buddies over at Colorware have just added the DS Lite to their portfolio of customization service options and our order is already in. For those somehow not already familiar with Colorware, it provides custom electronics coloring services making use of a proprietary hybrid coating process. The finished result is durable, unique and just plain hot. Using Colorware’s online design studio interface, you can create a custom one-of-a-kind DS Lite that is just right for you. Choose a main color, frame color and bottom color from their extensive palette and then choose a la carte options such as button pad, front port and even stylus color customization if you desire. Not the creative type? Hit the "Brainstorm" button at the bottom of the design studio window a few times to cycle through some suggestions and get your creative juices flowing. As with all devices that Colorware customizes, you have the option to send your existing DS Lite (as long as you’re in the US) or just choose the option to buy a new one when you’re done with your design.

Read

Share / E-mail This

The "Guitar For Games" is one special piece of technology. For a mere $41.94, you can buck the trend of sticking with well manufactured OEM equipment, and step into the realm of shady 3rd party accessories. Tempted? We thought you might be. Nyko, the biggest little company you know of, has manufactured a "Wireless Guitar Controller" that appears to be compatible with the Xbox 360, although the box itself is marked with the suspicious "X 360" tag. Maybe ink was a little low at the printing press. Either way, we wouldn’t suggest mortgaging your home to buy a truckload of these bad boys, but if you’re looking to take a chance on a low-budget Guitar Hero controller, we’re not gonna try and stop you. Just remember that Nyko Xbox360 cooler you bought and how that turned out, ‘mmkay?

Read

Share / E-mail This

As news trickles across the web that Apple may have fallen a bit short of their movie rental targets, word of a new player in the online movie store game is surfacing once again. Rumors of Sony’s entry into online movie downloads has been floating around for over a year now, but apparently Sony is now very close to launching its offering geared towards the PlayStation 3 console. Sony reportedly showcased a preview of its upcoming movie download shop at the Destination PlayStation conference last week in Scottsdale, Arizona. The movie download service will integrate with Sony’s current online PlayStation Store, which is due for an overhaul in the Spring. Details as to the launch date, DRM implementation and pricing structure for movies are still unknown, but word on the street is that the US will get first crack at the service. Initially, all offerings will be Sony Pictures titles but Sony is no doubt in talks with additional studios to expand its catalog as quickly as possible after launch. Those who observed the preview are claiming that Sony has a gem on their hands. It’s a good thing too; they’ve been at it long enough.

[Via electric pig]

Read

Share / E-mail This

Are you longing for the days of yore, when your gaming systems featured little more than a standard definition video output and a wired controller? Re-live those glorious dreams with your very own Playstation 2. Target is now offering the new, slim edition of this venerable console system for the low, low price of $99. Given the dirt-cheap price of PS2 games, you could easily swoop this, add in 4-5 top-shelf titles, and still come out spending less than you would for a Wii or an Xbox 360 Core system. Sure, you’d be missing our on the HD action, online gaming, and motion sensing gameplay, but is all that really worth the extra cash? Mmm.

Read

Share / E-mail This

Random acts of violence have never been so valuable. As we draw closer to the impending April 29 release date for Grand Theft Auto IV, Electronic Arts has officially made a play to acquire Take-Two Interactive. The proposed all-cash merger represents a 63% premium over Take-Two stock’s 30-day trailing average for the period ending February 15, the last trading day prior to EA’s delivery of its revised bid. Take-Two, the extremely popular studio behind Rockstar Games titles and the 2K Sports franchise, seemingly wants to hear nothing of it. Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello indicated a "strong preference" to keep negotiation details private in a letter to Strauss Zelnick, Take-Two Chairman of the Board. After Take-Two’s Board initially rejected the Electronic Arts proposal publicly however, EA decided to make its intentions public in order to make shareholders aware of their side situation. Interestingly, this morning’s press release has already sent Take-Two stock soaring; up over 50% at the time this article was written. So much for that 63% premium. Take-Two’s initial public response in a press release yesterday stated that the proposed offer was grossly inadequate.

After careful evaluation, the Board has determined that EA’s proposal substantially undervalues Take-Two’s robust and enviable stable of game franchises, exceptional creative talent and strong consumer loyalty. We believe EA’s unsolicited offer is highly opportunistic and is attempting to take advantage of our upcoming release of Grand Theft Auto IV, one of the most valuable and durable franchises in the industry. Furthermore, the offer values the Company at a significant discount to its public peers and does not compensate Take-Two for its intrinsic value and the substantial synergies that the proposed combination would create.

If Take-Two does indeed maintain their position, hey, at least their stock got a nice kick in the pants. If Take-Two has a change of heart and opens a line of discussion, expect that $2 billion figure to increase substantially if EA wants to get serious with their intentions.

Read (EA: We want to buy you!)

Read (Take-Two: No.)

Share / E-mail This

Well, well, well. It looks like Nintendo and BAPE have put their heads together to pull off a pretty exclusive bit of hardware. The company has just released a BAPE-designed Nintendo DS. From where we’re standing, it looks pretty hot. Presumably designed as a partnership between Nintendo and Nigo, the handheld player features some of BAPE’s custom graphics work. There will be two official versions, though both the white and gold DS’ will sport several of Nigo’s Milo characters on the hood. Unfortunately, both of these devices will be relegated to Japan-only status, so you’re sure to pay a hefty premium if you’re looking to get one of these bad boys onto American soil. Then again, exclusivity knows no bounds.

Read

Share / E-mail This

We’re not positive that virtual DJs will get quite the same reaction from slutty boozed-up club chicks, but can you afford not to find out? This past weekend it was revealed that Activision has taken the first visible step towards creating what may be the next entry in its series of interactive games. Activision still sees tremendous success with the Guitar Hero line of games, where players try to keep up with various rockers using a guitar-like controller. We may soon see wannabe-rockers trading in their plastic guitars for turntables as the popular gaming lab has just trademarked the name "DJ Hero". Nothing is set in stone of course, but Activision surely didn’t trademark DJ Hero because they had nothing better to do. Perhaps DJ Hero will draw hoards of scantily-clad girls to your living room as you wow them on the 1s and 2s, or maybe you’ll just look stupid while you try to mix and cut on plastic decks. In either case, Activision will surely have a winner on their hands once DJ Hero reaches the masses. As a sidenote, any ambulance chasers in the audience may want to give this guy a call…

Read

Share / E-mail This

It looks like Nintendo has its work cut out for it, and a few extra lawyers on retainer. Last month we told you that Nintendo was toying with the idea of bringing their popular Wii Fit to the US and now it looks like a firm date has been set. The Fit will officially find its way to US soil on Monday, May 19. Nintendo also announced that it will be releasing the unit in Europe a few weeks prior to the US release on Friday, April 25. We’re not sure exactly what preparations Nintendo has made in order to ready the Wii Balance Board for the Western world, but initial speculation was that it may in fact have to do with upping the 300 lb weight limit found on the current model. Are they calling us fat? Until more info is released, we’ll have to assume that the 300 lb limit will still apply to the US model. That gives you exactly three months to work your way back down to your slender college weight so that you can hop on the Balance Board without crushing it like the Cloverfield monster.

[Via Giz]

Read

Share / E-mail This