Newest Games Shipped and pricing list!

The Shipping News

Return to Ivalice for the Final Fantasy

Here's a list of games that shipped to stores this week:

Final Fantasy XII—PS2—Square Enix—$49.99 (GameStop/EB Games Exclusive Collector's Edition $59.99) Already a raging hit in Japan, Final Fantasy XII finally makes landfall here in the U.S. As Vaan, you must help rescue Dalmasca (and ultimately the world of Ivalice) from Archadian Empire and the powerful Judges. Unreal Anthology—PC—Midway—$29.99 Doesn't get much more Unreal than this. Includes Unreal, Unreal II, Unreal Tournament, Unreal Tournament 2004 and all their respective franchises. ATV Offroad Fury 4—PS2—SCEA—$39.99 Features more than 70 tracks and eight styles of racing. Also allows you to race MX bikes, buggies, trophy trucks and ATVs for the first time in series history. Killzone: Liberation—PSP—SCEA—$39.99 While waiting for Killzone PS3 to reappear on the radar, there's always this to tide things over. Command an A.I. squad mate, and defeat the Helghast invaders from a third-person perspective. Konductra—DS—O~3 Entertainment—$29.99 A variation on the block clearing puzzle formula. Play by yourself or online with Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Power Stone Collection—PSP—Capcom—$29.99 Dreamcast's party/fighter is back. Play in Power Stone 1 and 2, and jump about random wacky environments as you throw everything AND the kitchen sink at your opponents. 1701 A.D.—PC—Aspyr—$39.99 The third game in a franchise, believe it or not. Help found your own flourishing empire during Europe's colonial period. Neverwinter Nights 2—PC—Atari—$49.99 Return to the kingdom of Neverwinter, ye Dungeons and Dragons fans. Features a whole new single-player campaign, extensive character customization and a toolset for creating your own modules. BattleZone—PSP—Atari—$29.99 As the title suggests, an update to the 1980 classic arcade game. Engage in hover-tank warfare by yourself or with friends. The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause—GBA—BVG—$19.99 Perhaps the game of the week if it wasn't for Final Fantasy XII. Ties in with the final movie of the "most epic holiday trilogy ever." Hard Rock Casino—PS2, PSP—Crave—$19.99 (PSP $29.99) The rock and the gamblin' is hard at the Hard Rock Casino. Create a custom avatar and play more than 20 games in over 4 casinos. Dave Mirra BMX Challenge—PSP—Crave—$29.99 Features 17 levels, 9 environments, and 9 bikes to choose from. Options to play with up to 4 players over wireless network. Need for Speed Carbon—PS2, PSP, GCN, PC, GBA, DS, Xbox, Xbox 360—EA—$39.99 (DS, GBA $29.99, PS2 Collector's Edition $49.99, Xbox 360 $59.99, Xbox 360 Collector's Edition $69.99) Winner of the "Largest Alternative Price List in Shipping News" award. Features some plot that involves a lot of racing and using wingman tactics. F.E.A.R.—Xbox 360—Vivendi—$59.99 F.E.A.R. looms over the Xbox 360. Engage in battles with horrific enemies using a "bullet time" ability. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories—PSP—Rockstar—$49.99 Return to the slick veneer of the 1980s and the pastel colors of Vice City. As Vic Vance, you get to do a variety of missions for a series of colorful characters. Children of Mana—DS—Nintendo—$34.99 Features a story revolving around a magic tree and a holy sword. Play with up to three other people over wireless network. Pokemon Ranger—DS—Nintendo—$34.99 Apparently, based on the movie of the same title. Use the power of Pokemon to protect nature from the bad guys. Dungeon Siege: Throne of Agony—PSP—Take-Two Interactive—$39.99 The popular PC action/RPG series goes portable. Hack and slash with your customizable character and your pets and companions. Barbie in The 12 Dancing Princesses—PS2, PC, DS, GBA—Activision—$29.99 Barbie works it out on the floor to save her father the king from her evil Aunt Rowena. Based on her seventh direct to video movie. That's So Raven: Psychic on the Scene—DS—BVG—$29.99 Features over 40 outfits to wear, if you're into that sort of thing. Play as Raven, Chelsea or Eddie in solving various mysteries. by David Radd

ESA: New E3 May Be Smaller than You Think

ESA president Doug Lowenstein has announced that the coming years E3 event will be limited to fewer than 5000.

As an E3 fan, i'm not quite sure how to take this news. I can see where Doug Lowenstein is coming from and the reasons for their decisions. However, letting fans (especially those hardcore fans willing to pay and travel to E3 events) witness the new news and sotfware is a huge edge in my opinion. I wonder what will happen once you take that away from them.....I guess we'll find out the coming year. Check out the article for yourself below and share your thoughts!

ESA: New E3 May Be Smaller than You ThinkThe number of people attending next year's new E3 event may be even fewer than 5,000, according to ESA president Doug Lowenstein (right). Apparently we'll find out soon, as invites are expected to go out within the next month. more...

Final Fantasy VII - Not the FF we know?

Not the Final Fantasy

Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus is certainly a departure from the traditional kind of Final Fantasy game, but it's sold decently despite not being received very favorably by the enthusiast press. One thing's for sure; it's not the last of FFVII we'll see. We take a look at the FFVII phenomenon.

Final Fantasy VII is the most popular console style RPG ever in the U.S. and maybe the whole world. When it was published in Japan, it sold 2.3 million copies in the first three days, and when Sony published it in the U.S. where the fan base was much more nascent, it still sold over a half million units in three weeks. All told, Final Fantasy VII has sold over 9.72 million copies worldwide.

In addition to the quantitative records, it has its qualitative accolades. In Famitsu's Top 100 Favorite Games of All Time in March 2006, Final Fantasy VII placed second. Users of the popular gaming site GameFAQs voted Final Fantasy VII the "Best. Game. Ever." in 2004 and the game continues to rank highly in the top 50 FAQ pages on the site nearly a decade after its release.

With this sort of success and popularity, it's unsurprising that the Fantasy wasn't quite so Final this time. The CG movie Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children proved that there is still a market for the FF VII franchise, and now that sequel has begot a sequel of its own, the PS2 title Dirge of Cerberus. GameDaily BIZ examines the spin-off title's success.

Sephiroth May Cry

Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII sold over 200,000 copies during its release month of August. The game was the second best selling PS2 title for the month, which was good enough for fifth overall in the U.S. While not quite up to the multi-platinum status of standard Final Fantasy titles, it's still quite respectable for a spin-off series, especially when combined with the Japanese sales of over 400,000 units.

The game was enhanced by an extensive ad campaign that was (as ad campaigns usually are) punctuated by several television ads. These TV spots did a great job of highlighting all of the game's strengths: great graphics, brilliant pre-rendered scenes and good audio work. The gameplay clips also show all the good sides of the action, doing an admirable job to mask the many of the flaws harped on by critics (see below).

We can shoot things in Final Fantasy now? YEE HAW!

Square Enix is definitely aware of the different tastes of U.S. consumers compared to Japanese ones. Thus, Dirge of Cerberus was tweaked during the stateside localization—small differences, like increased walk speed, more freedom in the shooting mechanics and other gameplay tweaks that grant U.S. gamers the sort of exciting action that they're used to.

And speaking of the gameplay, it's hard to talk about Dirge of Cerberus without making a direct comparison to the seminal action title Devil May Cry. The two games share quite a bit in common thematically; both heroes (Dante and Vincent) appear dark and brooding with long red capes, both heroes use guns as their primary weapons but can scrap up in melee if they want to, and both have supernatural powers that allow them to change into a demonic beast. That, added onto the fact that Vincent is an uncommon sort of Final Fantasy hero and Dirge of Cerberus' unique place in the franchise has opened up the series to a whole new audience.

While Dirge of Cerberus expands the boundaries of what a Final Fantasy game can encompass, it also plays to the home crowd, the core Square fan, as well. The game, while primarily action based, still has a lot of RPG components at its core with a lot of customization options for Vincent's gun. Dirge of Cerberus also has many of the aesthetic qualities Final Fantasy fans demand, namely pre-rendered bits with high production values, memorable music, and professional voice work—all complementing an epic story.

Like Final Fantasies before? Well...

The Final Fantasy series has been marked by a long run of critical successes in the U.S. Since the release of Final Fantasy VII in 1997, all of the primary releases in the franchise have garnered a combined rating of over 90% on GameRankings.com. The reception for Dirge of Cerberus has been much more chilly, however, with an average rating of 59% among the media outlets. Common complaints center on the camera system, the slow pace compared to most action titles, and the pedestrian level design.

"Dirge of Cerberus ends up as little more than a mindless shooter," said Chris Faylor's Gaming Age review. "But it has pretty cinematics featuring the characters of Final Fantasy VII, and for some, that'll make all the difference. Yea, the game isn't all that noteworthy, but once the Final Fantasy VII fan service factors in, it goes from a mindless shooter to a bearable title featuring the latest happenings in the Final Fantasy VII mythology. Luckily for those folks, the game can be easily conquered within the span of a rental."

Despite the critical reaction, the game is still a hit with consumers and fans. This won't be the final Final Fantasy VII either. With three mobile titles under Square's belt in Japan, they're now prepping a prequel game in Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII for the PSP. They also did a mock up of the original Final Fantasy VII intro using prototype PS3 hardware for E3 2005. While they have insisted time and again that a full Final Fantasy VII remake for PS3 isn't in the works, the cumulative success of Dirge of Cerberus and Advent Children just might make them change their minds.

by David Radd - - biz.gamedaily

Big Players and Big Moves!

Interesting moves by some if you ask me. Anticipating the outcome from all the new changes. It seems like a lot of big names making major changes. I wonder what they all have in store for us. - get more info on the changes in the article below!

Big Moves at Atari, SCEA, EA Canada & More

It was quite an eventful week for Industry Movers. Atari appointed a new CEO; SCEA brought on a new Senior Director of Corporate Communications; EA Canada appointed a COO; Nival Interactive announced a new Head of Studios; THQ appointed a GM for Relic Entertainment; Capcom brought on a Senior VP of Licensing; Technicolor Interactive announced a director of sales & marketing; Player X hired a Senior VP Americas; and I-play hired a Senior VP of Content Strategy & Licensing. Get the details...

technorati tags:Big, Moves, Atari, SCEA, EA, Canada, CEO, COO, Nival, Interactive, THQ, GM, Relic, Entertainment, Capcom

Mobile Programming Is A Blast!!

This week I decided to take a more in-depth look at mobile programming and let me tell you I love it!. It's pretty cool stuff. Even better it's quite similar to game programming. An additional bonus? Of course you can get a taste of both worlds and program a game for a mobile device. Now how cool is that?

I was able to get my hands on an older book just to check things out first before I go heading out dishing money out to buy learning/tutorial books. I found Wireless J2ME Platform Programming by Vartan Piroumian.

It's a great book! Seriously great book!. Vartan practically walks you through each step explaining everything in great, easy-to-understand concepts. Now, he clearly states that the reader should know J2SE (Jave 2 Standard Edition) concepts. Remember this is a mobile programming book not a 'learn Java' book.

I'm having a blast going through this book. As I've mentioned it is a bit old. Published in 2002 to be exact. However, I strongly believe it's still a very great place to start! If you have Java programming experience, you should have very little difficulty following the book.

I give it 4.5/5! [I rarely give perfect scores. =) ]

technorati tags:mobile, programming, wireless, J2ME, platform, Vartan, Piroumain, learn

July's Number 1 Ranked Game!

NCAA Football 07 Ranks No. 1

EA Sports' latest college football title easily grabbed the top spot for the month of July. Across three consoles, the game sold a million+ copies as gamers eagerly bought the title while gearing up for the real college football season. Product Marketing Manager Kendall Boyd tells us why the game has performed so well.

technorati tags:july, games, top, ranked, number, 1, NCAA, Football, 07, EA, Sports

Hit Cartoons Make Hit Games

Naruto a Top Seller? Believe it!

Naruto: Ultimate Ninja, a game based on a popular anime/manga, isn't exactly the first title that would pop into your head when thinking of best sellers. Although somewhat of a niche game, like DragonBall Z it's picked up steam in the states. Namco Bandai talks to us about the company's first Naruto game in the U.S.

PC's Top 10 Games!

Top 10 PC Games



Roller Coaster Tycoon 3: Gold rolls onto the charts

The NPD Group has released their latest PC software report.

The table shows the top 10 selling PC games for the week of August 13 - August 19, 2006.

1. World Of Warcraft—Blizzard
   


2. The Sims 2—Electronic Arts
   


3. Nancy Drew: Danger By Design—Her Interactive
   


4. Civilization IV: Warlord—2K Games
   


5. The Sims 2 Open For Business—Electronic Arts
   


6. Roller Coaster Tycoon 3: Gold—Atari
   


7. Cars Radiator Springs Adventures—THQ
   


8. The Sims 2 Family Fun Stuff—Electronic Arts
   


9. Civilization IV—2K Games
   


10. Sim City 4 Deluxe—Electronic Arts
    

You can view more charts here.

by David Radd - Gamedaily.com

Xbox Live Arcade Goes Unplugged!

All I have to say is.....very cool...it's about time! Such a simple idea yet it took so long to run it!

Xbox Live Arcade Goes Unplugged

It's not acoustic guitar, it's offline entertainment


Microsoft today revealed the details for Xbox Live Arcade Unplugged Volume 1. It features six full Xbox Live Arcade games (Geometry Wars Retro Evolved, Wik: Fable of Souls, Outpost Kaloki X, Bejeweled 2 Deluxe, Hardwood Backgammon, and Texas Hold 'em) along with a 1 month account to Xbox Live Gold and three downloadable Xbox Live Arcade demos (UNO, Marble Blast Ultra, and Feeding Frenzy). It will retail for $39.99 when it releases September 5, 2006.

"Xbox Live Arcade Unplugged provides a taste of the Xbox Live Arcadeexperience for gamers everywhere, with a great collection of new andoriginal casual games that are fun, engaging and easy to learn and pickup and play," said the release by Microsoft. "With the accompanyingfree 1 month Xbox Live Gold subscription Xbox Live Unplugged gamers cansample all of the benefits the world's largest online gaming andentertainment network has to offer. Connect to Xbox Live and join morethan 3 million gamers across 24 countries across the globe; enjoy freegame demos, movie trailers and music vides and get together withfriends to play in fun, new ways."

by David Radd GameDailyBiz

Using the Search Box.....

Hey guys,

You've probably noticed the Search box above. I've added this box to help you out! If you have ever searched for any online product whether to make money, happier living, or whatever, it's likely you've come across products sold through clickbank. Well now you can search for almost any online product created by top name experts and gurus' just by using the search box!

Try it out and let me know what you think!

Enjoy - I use it too! =)

technorati tags:clickbank, search, box

Planet Moon Studios and Sega Unite To Bring the Past to Present ..

Bringing back the past and integrating it with the future is always risky business. Planet Moon Studios has always been a decent group. I wonder how things will turn out with all the new technology available to them now.

As a long time fan of Sega I can't wait to see the outcome...- check out the ariticle below for more info.

Planet Moon Rises Over Sega

Could that new Kid Chameleon game finally be in the works?

Sega announced today a new development agreement with Planet Moon Studios.The two companies will partner "to create game content for the PSP"based on a Sega brand from the past. Planet Moon has created games suchas Giants: Citizen Kabuto, Armed & Dangerous and Infected. read more...

A New Change ...

As you regulars have probably noticed. I've gone with a new look that's a lot easier on the eyes. Let me know what you think.

Speek soon.

SGS '07 Speaker....Got What It Takes??

Think you got what it takes to be a SGS '07 Speaker? -Check it out and if you sign up let us know! =)



Serious Games Summit 07 Wants Speakers



Looking for individuals involved in all aspects of game design



The CMP Game Group today announced that the 2007 Serious Games Summit(SGS) is accepting speaker proposals. The board of advisors is seekingsubmissions for 6 conference tracks: Assessment & Results, Behindthe Game, Business & Deals, Game Design, Learning &Instructional Theory, and Products within Projects. The SGS will takeplace March 5-6 at the Moscone Convention Center North in San Franciscoas part of the Game Developers Conference (GDC).

"Next year's summit will revolve around 'Taking Control' and will setthe tone for two-days of sessions crafted specifically to help findsolutions to the problems affecting the serious games community," saidJamil Moledina, executive director, GDC. "Furthermore, the SeriousGames Summit GDC offers a collegiate atmosphere that allowsparticipants to network and exchange ideas with their peers in anintimate setting, making the summit a must attend for those interestedin advancing the industry."

Those interested in making a speaker proposal should visit http://www.gdconf.com before the deadline of September 5, 2006.

GameDaily BIZ: Serious Games Summit 07 Wants Speakers

H-A-D-O-K-E-N ! ! !

And Street Fighter II continues to live on in all of us......




Street Fighter II Sees Success in Live Arcade


And a mighty "hadoken" rang out across Live


Capcom announced today that Street Fighter II' Hyper Fightinghas become the fastest selling selling Xbox Live Arcade title to date.This has resulted in "hundreds of matches being played every hour." Street Fighter II' Hyper Fighting released earlier this week on Xbox Live Arcade and is available for 800 Microsoft points.

"We are elated by the tremendous response Xbox Live users have given Street Fighter II' Hyper Fightingas players around the world vie to be on top of the game's numerousleaderboards," said Charles Bellfield, vice president of marketing,Capcom Entertainment. "It'll be exciting to see who ranks number one onXbox Live Arcade after the first weekend of gamers playing the greatestarcade title in history."

"The phenomenal response to Street Fighter II' Hyper Fightingon Xbox Live Arcade comes as no surprise as this has been one of themost eagerly anticipated titles of the summer," said Greg Canessa,Group Manager of Xbox Live Arcade, Microsoft. "We are thrilled thatgamers everywhere are jumping into Xbox Live Arcade and enjoying thefantastic game play experiences this title and our platform has tooffer."

by David Radd

Publishers at 4th LivePitch Revealed ...

Publishers at 4th LivePitch Revealed

Includes Capcom, Konami and Codemasters

The Game Initiative today announced the publishers participating in the fourth annual LivePitch. The list includes Capcom Entertainment, NCsoft, Majesco Entertainment, Atari, Konami Digital Entertainment, MTV Networks, WildTangent, and Codemasters. Developers must submit projects to www.LivePitch.com by August 15, 2006 to be eligible for consideration.

GameDaily BIZ: Publishers at 4th LivePitch Revealed

Spy Hunters Sweepstakes! Great Prizes!

Spy Hunter Sweepstakes Reveal

Two tickets to E3 2007 as a prize. Whoops.

This is a great sweetstakes!! The Prizes are incredible. I highly recommended checking it out! Read more at GAMEDAILY by clicking the link above.

technorati tags:spy, hunter, sweepstakes, E3, 2007, prizes, Gamedaily

Want to Learn How to Program Too?

Looking to get into game programming as well? Or just looking to learn some programming skills?

Check out Learnprogramming.org. They've done all the searching for you to get some of the best books to help you get started. I wouldn't waste my time searching for the best current books available out there when these guys have already done it for you. =)

They're one of my favourite sites. I even have them linked in the menu to the right - check them out!

A Gamers Console

For All you PC gamers out there, you know that with each new game released will come packed with new technology. And keeping up is a bit of a hassle. You will always hear us complain, but you'll also always see us first in line picking up the upgrades to play the games. Here's one very nice Desktop PC bundle for the true gamers.

TigerDirects CybertronPC – X-Plorer Gamer Intel Pentium D. Now this thing is gorgeous. Sleek blue and black colour case, speaker and sub-woofer. Powered by an Intel D dual core processor. With a 160GB harddrive and 1 GB of RAM at 400MHz and a 256 graphics card all for about $1000 CAD. That isn't too bad for you Canadian shoppers. And for those of you who dont like the blue it comes in a range of colours from green, gray, to red and yellow. For true hardcore gamers you may want to upgrade that graphics card, but it should run fine when playing your current favourites. Check out the bundle below.

E3, Wii, Halo 3, WoW

E3, Nintendo Wii, Halo 3, and World of Warcraft are currently the most searched for gaming related topics. Hopefully i'll get a chance to update you all on all of them. I'm a fan of all 4.

E3 is always great. A fun and exciting place to find out whats new and whats to come in the video game industry.

Wii, as I've mentioned in a previous post, is the new Nintendo console. Looks great. Can't wait for that to come out.

Halo 3. If it's anything like the first and second one it should be loads of fun. Especially the online play. It's always fun playing with real people then AI.

Which brings me to World of Warcraft. I've been in this realm for about a year now. Absolutely amazing game. With coninuous updates, the world just gets bigger and better with time.

4 great topics to talk about. Drop by soon for continous posts on the topics. In addition to my game development posts of course. It's coming along, but I'm far from creating games related to any of the 4 topics. Maybe someday....sooner than later =)

Fun Filled FLASH!

Wow, it's been some time since my last post. I'll skip the details and go right into my post.

I've decided to create my CEO requested project in FLASH. I have to admit it's coming along quite nicely. It's pretty fun creating graphics and animation with FLASH. So much so, that I've recently ordered 2 new books.

1. Macromedia Flash MX 2004 Game Development by Glen Rhodes and,
2. Flash MX 2004 Savvy: Also Covers FLASH Professional by E. Watrall, N. Herber

You'll notice they're moderate/advanced level books. I've found that practically all the basic knowledge you'll need to be comfortable using FLASH is already included in the software through lessons and tutorials.

It's unfortunate that I can't share my current work with the rest of you. Company/business policies. You know how it is.

So to conclude for today. For those of you that dont want to dive to deeply into heavy coding or have very little to no programming experience I do recommand starting with FLASH. FLASH's action script is not a full-fletched programming language just yet, although, I must admit it does act like one sometimes.