Fly in my eyE: December 2005

Happy New Year!

Taken outside on my street, new year's day 2005

Xbox 360 Costs $715 to Make

A high ranking friend at IBM, one that worked on the Xbox 360 chip design, tipped us regarding the real expenses involved in manufacturing the Xbox 360, and when we mentioned the $126 Microsoft loss, he said:

“$126? It costs Microsoft approximately $715 to make, the manufacturing costs are still too high, another reason why they’re producing relatively small quantities, Microsoft can take it though”

ATI Says PS3 is Unrefined

From Gamersreports:

"...the tragedy is that it is unrefined. There's a lot brute force in there - I'd be the last person to admit it, but the truth is that the 7800GTX is a pretty powerful piece of hardware, but it's not very elegant, it hasn't got the kind of: 'Well, how do we design this to be the best possible console we can build for this money?' Instead it's been put together at the end of quite a complicated process. We have two very different design processes. If Microsoft had come to us and said: 'All right, what are we going to do about this graphics chip, then? Let's sign the contract and let's go', but then we'd got two thirds through and they'd said: 'Look, you guys aren't going to deliver - now what are you going to do?' and then walked away from us, they would have ended up with a design very much like the PS3 in some essential characteristics - it would have had to use bought-in components. And our GPUs instead are custom-designed components, and that's one of the fundamental reasons why I think Xbox 360 technology is likely to outperform PlayStation 3 technology by a pretty healthy margin in the long run."

Pic of the day: George Bush glad hands

Rockstar's Christmas card

I love it!

The Girls of DOA 4 Part 3

The Girls of DOA 4 Part 2

The Girls of DOA 4 Part 1

Nissan and Microsoft Create Video Game Car

"Conceived by Nissan Design America Inc. (NDA) and equipped with the Xbox 360 next-generation video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, the Nissan URGE concept car allows drivers (while parked) to play 'Project Gotham Racing 3' using the car's own steering wheel, gas pedal and brake pedal while viewing the game on a flip-down seven-inch LCD screen," Nissan and Microsoft said in a statement.

The Playstation Essential 100 Games List

Celebrating their 100th issue, OPM has a contest where they are giving away 100 'essential' Sony Playstation games. Here's the list:

The Essential 100 Games List:

Ridge Racer 1995 PS1
Wipeout 1995 PS1
Jumping Flash! 1995 PS1
Raiden Project 1995 PS1
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo 1996 PS1
Twisted Metal 2 1996 PS1
Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain 1996 PS1
PaRappa The Rapper 1997 PS1
Final Fantasy VII 1997 PS1
Resident Evil 2 1997 PS1
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night 1997 PS1
Bushido Blade 1997 PS1
Rage Racer 1997 PS1
Colony Wars 1997 PS1
Soul Blade 1997 PS1
Tomb Raider II 1997 PS1
Metal Gear Solid 1998 PS1
Gran Turismo 1998 PS1
Final Fantasy Tactics 1998 PS1
Xenogears 1998 PS1
Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus 1998 PS1
Klonoa 1998 PS1
Tomba! 1998 PS1
Suikoden 2 1998 PS1
Hot Shots Golf 1998 PS1
Tenchu: Stealth Assassins 1998 PS1
Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped 1998 PS1
Spyro The Dragon 1998 PS1
Silent Hill 1999 PS1
Crash Team Racing 1999 PS1
Syphon Filter 1999 PS1
Medal Of Honor 1999 PS1
Ape Escape 1999 PS1
Street Fighter Alpha 3 1999 PS1
R-Type Delta 1999 PS1
Vagrant Story 2000 PS1
Chrono Cross 2000 PS1
Persona 2: Eternal Punishment 2000 PS1
Rayman 2 2000 PS1
Smuggler's Run 2000 PS2
Spider-Man 2000 PS1
Ace Combat 4 2001 PS2
Grand Theft Auto 3 2001 PS2
ICO 2001 PS2
Devil May Cry 2001 PS2
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty 2001 PS2
SSX Tricky 2001 PS2
Final Fantasy X 2001 PS2
Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy 2001 PS2
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 2001 PS2
Dance Dance Revolution 2001 PS1
Red Faction 2001 PS2
ATV Off-Road Fury 2001 PS2
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance 2001 PS2
Medal Of Honor: Frontline 2002 PS2
Rez 2002 PS2
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 2002 PS2
The Mark of Kri 2002 PS2
Kingdom Hearts 2002 PS2
Fatal Frame 2002 PS2
Dark Cloud 2 2003 PS2
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City 2003 PS2
Soul Calibur II 2003 PS2
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time 2003 PS2
Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution 2003 PS2
Beyond Good & Evil 2003 PS2
Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner 2003 PS2
Freedom Fighters 2003 PS2
High Heat Major League Baseball 2004 2003 PS2
World Soccer Winning Eleven 7 2003 PS2
NBA Street Vol. 2 2003 PS2
.hack//Infection 2003 PS2
Amplitude 2003 PS2
Katamari Damacy 2004 PS2
Burnout 3: Takedown 2004 PS2
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater 2004 PS2
Final Fantasy XI 2004 PS2
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas 2004 PS2
Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal 2004 PS2
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 2004 PS2
James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing 2004 PS2
Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne 2004 PS2
Onimusha 3: Demon Siege 2004 PS2
God of War 2005 PS2
Lumines 2005 PSP
Resident Evil 4 2005 PS2
Timesplitters 3: Future Perfect 2005 PS2
Tekken 5 2005 PS2
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories 2005 PS2
Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening 2005 PS2
Dynasty Warriors 5 2005 PS2
Eyetoy: Kinetic 2005 PS2
Lego Star Wars 2005 PS2
Star Wars Battlefront II 2005 PS2
Madden NFL 2004 2003 PS2
SOCOM 3: U.S. Navy Seals 2005 PS2
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory 2005 PS2
Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition 2005 PS2
Shadow of the Colossus 2005 PS2
Gran Turismo 4 2005 PS2

Rumor - Grand Theft Auto: London for PS3 in Q4 2006

From Joystik:

According to an alleged employee of Rockstar North in Glasgow, Scotland, the next installment in the GTA series "will be titled Grand Theft Auto: London and will take place in the Great City of London in 1997."

According to our source (who admittedly doesn't have the most perfect spelling), the "3 Island" system will be replaced by a new "North, East, South, West" system, and the main character will be an ex-gangster starting off in the "rough-and-tumble east end of London." Unlocked regions are to include the North End, South End, and West End, in order. The game is supposed to be about 60% finished, with the graphics and physics engines both completed. The focus is now mainly on the game's story component. The game is currently set to launch with the Playstation 3 in North America and Europe in Q4 2006. With about a year's work already done, the PlayStation 3's "fantastic graphical power" should provide some better horsepower under the hood of the sandbox series.

I'm guessing this has rumor written all over it, but hey, I'd love a new next-gen GTA as much as the next guy. I'm not crazy about London though... something about GTA's satirical take on American culture was half the fun of the GTA series for me. Hopefuly their humour will translate well to a European setting. Who knows, maybe Liberty City will be a place you can fly to when yr done running around London? Either way if its going to be a PS3 exlusive count me in for a PS3 pre-order! ;)

Play DIVX files on your Xbox 360

For those of you interested in Playing DivX movies without having to Re-encode, through media centre on your Xbox 360.

PS3 European ad

Qathafi stamps from Libya

Xbox 360 copy protection cracks

Hackers have taken the first step towards breaking the anti-piracy system on Microsoft's Xbox 360 game console. A group of crackers called Team PI Coder says it has discovered the basic workings of the console's file system. The information has helped the group dig out the raw data from the console for 13 Xbox 360 games.

In response Microsoft said its console had several security systems in place that would prevent pirated games being played on it. Information about the work of Team PI Coder was posted to a Dutch piracy site along with the raw data from the games. There was also links to a small program the group produced that helps to extract the data.

In the text file with the extracted data, the PI Coders admit that not much can be done with the data. "You can't run these dumps yet, but you will be able to sooner or later," reads the information file.

J Allard and Kaz Hirai discuss the Next Gen

1Up has a great interview with Microsoft's J Allard and Sony's Kaz Hirai about their thoughts on the next generation.

Super Mario Bros. speed runs

5 minutes and 30 seconds isn't bad, Im just not blown away is all. They have Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 2., Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario Bros. 64 and even , Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels.

Google video HERE

"Star Wars" pre-release pirate pleads guilty

A California man has plead guilty to distributing a stolen copy of "Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith" two days before it appeared in theaters.

The Justice Department said Tuesday that Marc Hoaglin, 36, pleaded guilty to one count of uploading a copyrighted work being prepared for commercial distribution. The plea agreement says the Star Wars movie was stolen from a post-production company hired by Lucasfilm.

Hoaglin is one of the first Americans to be prosecuted under a new law, called the Family Entertainment and Copyright Act, that President Bush signed in April.

Another defendant pleaded guilty in September to violating a different section of FECA that deals with using a camcorder in a movie theater.

BLACK: Box art and release date

Nice looking box! Let's hope Criterion does for the FPS with BLACK what they did to the arcade racing genre with the Burnout series. The game is scheduled to come out for PS2 and Xbox on February 28, 2006.

New Yorker VS True Crime: Streets of New York

In a strange turn of events, The New Yorker puts out an article about a video game.

Typically, video games are set in places with names like Myst, Zanarkand, and, slightly less fantastically, Vice City. True Crime: New York City, which was released last month by Activision and is being advertised on billboards around town, is set in Manhattan. While it is not the first game to take place in a real-world location (or even in New York), True Crime: New York City’s attempt to accurately re-create an existing place is unprecedented in scope and ambition. (It is more complex, by several orders of magnitude, than its predecessor, True Crime: Streets of L.A.) To design True Crime’s virtual city, six location scouts walked the borough of Manhattan with maps and digital cameras, taking photographs of practically every intersection and major landmark. Through the use of proprietary 3-D imaging software, the resulting eleven thousand images were transformed into a coherent representation of the entire island. “We tried to make it a real living, breathing city,” Simon Ebejer, an Activision producer, said.

The question of whether the game’s designers succeeded was put, one recent afternoon, to two professional tour guides: Paul Rush, who leads independent sightseeing groups, and Seth Kamil, the founder of Big Onion Walking Tours. Both have extensive knowledge of the history and culture of New York City; neither had any experience with video games. Within minutes of taking command of True Crime’s protagonist, an undercover detective named Marcus, Kamil had wrapped his vehicle around a lamppost (“one of the fancy ones Giuliani put in to beautify the city,” he noted), and then, after venturing forth on foot, he inadvertently got into a fatal gun battle with a uniformed officer. It was decided that the game’s controls would be turned over to an observer, who would follow Kamil and Rush’s directions.

The initial response of both licensed tour guides was pleasant surprise. “That’s not terrible,” Kamil said when he got his first glimpse of digitalized Stuyvesant Town. “The scaffolding is perfect. That’s as right as it gets.” Zipping from neighborhood to neighborhood (the absence of traffic is the most unrealistic aspect of the landscape), the guides were impressed by the attention paid to small details: the hexagonal paving stones in Central Park; the counterfeit-Rolex dealers along Broadway; the yellow sidewalk boxes of the Gotham Writers’ Workshop, and the way they all seemed to be stuffed with trash.

Trippy!

Whoa dude....

http://www.clublaugh.com/es-items/712.swf

Pic of the day: Real or Fake?!

Pic of the day: London oil fire

Cemetery full, so mayor proposes a ban on death

BIRITIBA MIRIM, Brazil (AP) - There's no more room to bury the dead, they can't be cremated, and laws forbid a new cemetery. So the mayor of this Brazilian farm town has proposed a solution: outlaw death.

Mayor Roberto Pereira da Silva's proposal to the town council asks residents to "take good care of your health in order not to die" and warns that "infractors will be held responsible for their acts."

The bill, which sets no penalty for passing away, is meant to protest a federal law that has barred a new or expanded cemetery in Biritiba Mirim, a town of 28,000 people 70 kilometres east of Sao Paulo.

"Of course the bill is laughable, unconstitutional, and will never be approved," said Gilson Soares de Campos, an aide to the mayor. "But can you think of a better marketing strategy . . . to persuade the government to modify the environmental legislation that is barring us from building a new cemetery?

World's biggest skateboard!

The World's Biggest Skateboard

Obscurity below the radar

A great article over at The Escapist:

Obscurity below the radar

Throw enough money at eBay, and a myriad of apparently rare gaming items are yours. But these things are not unusual. It takes intense passion and hard work to get hold of truly obscure goods. There is a secret underground community of high-profile collectors who deal strictly in these most limited of oddities.

That's one nice bikini!

More pics HERE

Nintendo's Revolution steps out of the next-gen battle

From Gamesindustry.biz

Fed up of the headlong rush towards huge, expensive, loss-leading systems that pack more punch than supercomputers did a few years ago, the firm that managed to make a fat plumber with dubious dress sense and a Ron Jeremy moustache into an icon for a generation of style-conscious children has stopped the car in the middle of the freeway, Falling Down-style, and gone off for a walk far off the beaten track.

PlayStation development boss plays down Microsoft's high definition claims

From Gamesindustry.biz:

"The HD era really only starts when we are on the market" - Harrison

Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios president Phil Harrison has claimed that Microsoft's Xbox 360 "doesn't have true HD functionality," saying that consumers seeking a HD experience will have to wait for the PS3 to arrive.

Speaking exclusively to GamesIndustry.biz this week, in an interview to be published tomorrow, Harrison described the Xbox 360 as "a lot better than their [Microsoft's] first introduction to the console business," but questioned the console's claim to being a High Definition device.

"The true definition of HD is the three elements of the HD value chain - the display, the content and the hardware to play back that content," he explained, "and PlayStation and Sony is the only organisation that has all three bits of the value chain together."

"As you well know," he continued, "the Xbox 360 doesn't play high definition movies and doesn't have true HD functionality - PlayStation 3 is the only format that has 1080-progressive, which is the true definition of HD, so it's really premature to be talking about the HD era."

"The HD era really only starts when we are on the market," he concluded.

Robot serves coffee to Japanese girl

Hi Japan, did I ever tell you I love you? Because I do.

More new ASIMO pics & high def movies HERE

Pic of the day: Fat kids eating crap

Eight Myths About Video Games Debunked

Henry Jenkins, a professor at MIT has posted an article debunking the top 8 video game misconceptions. There's some great stuff there. Some one cc Jack Thompson on this!

6. Video games are not a meaningful form of expression.

On April 19, 2002, U.S. District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Sr. ruled that video games do not convey ideas and thus enjoy no constitutional protection. As evidence, Saint Louis County presented the judge with videotaped excerpts from four games, all within a narrow range of genres, and all the subject of previous controversy. Overturning a similar decision in Indianapolis, Federal Court of Appeals Judge Richard Posner noted: "Violence has always been and remains a central interest of humankind and a recurrent, even obsessive theme of culture both high and low. It engages the interest of children from an early age, as anyone familiar with the classic fairy tales collected by Grimm, Andersen, and Perrault are aware." Posner adds, "To shield children right up to the age of 18 from exposure to violent descriptions and images would not only be quixotic, but deforming; it would leave them unequipped to cope with the world as we know it." Many early games were little more than shooting galleries where players were encouraged to blast everything that moved. Many current games are designed to be ethical testing grounds. They allow players to navigate an expansive and open-ended world, make their own choices and witness their consequences. The Sims designer Will Wright argues that games are perhaps the only medium that allows us to experience guilt over the actions of fictional characters. In a movie, one can always pull back and condemn the character or the artist when they cross certain social boundaries. But in playing a game, we choose what happens to the characters. In the right circumstances, we can be encouraged to examine our own values by seeing how we behave within virtual space.

Gamer Tattoos

BME magazine has a feature up about geek tattoos. Some highlights....

"Cartoon Network" Canceled

Gotham marijuana ring delivered hydroponic holiday cheer

DECEMBER 8--In a blow to New Yorkers who enjoyed having their premium marijuana delivered to their doorsteps, Drug Enforcement Administration agents have busted up a six-year-old pot ring calling itself the Cartoon Network that was busy preparing its festive holiday shipments before federal agents kicked in the door. The Cartoon Network, which allegedly had thousands of metropolitan area customers buying its Canadian-grown hydroponic chronic, packaged product in clear plastic containers, as seen in the DEA evidence photos below. When agents raided one stash house, they discovered 30 pounds of pot "in open and plain view, and marijuana already packaged for retail holiday delivery to Cartoon Network customers," according to a court filing by prosecutors Burton Ryan and Allen Bode. "Happy Holidays from your friends at Cartoon!," read the holiday label, which also included the cheery reminder, "Remember to make sure your bag is sealed!" The label also appears to carry a picture of the Hamburglar. Twelve Cartoon Network figures, including alleged boss John Nebel, have been charged with drug trafficking and money laundering, and prosecutors are seeking the forfeiture of $22 million in assorted assets.

It's called Apophis. It's 390m wide. And it could hit Earth in 31 years time

In Egyptian myth, Apophis was the ancient spirit of evil and destruction, a demon that was determined to plunge the world into eternal darkness.

A fitting name, astronomers reasoned, for a menace now hurtling towards Earth from outerspace. Scientists are monitoring the progress of a 390-metre wide asteroid discovered last year that is potentially on a collision course with the planet, and are imploring governments to decide on a strategy for dealing with it.

Nasa has estimated that an impact from Apophis, which has an outside chance of hitting the Earth in 2036, would release more than 100,000 times the energy released in the nuclear blast over Hiroshima. Thousands of square kilometres would be directly affected by the blast but the whole of the Earth would see the effects of the dust released into the atmosphere.

And, scientists insist, there is actually very little time left to decide. At a recent meeting of experts in near-Earth objects (NEOs) in London, scientists said it could take decades to design, test and build the required technology to deflect the asteroid. Monica Grady, an expert in meteorites at the Open University, said: "It's a question of when, not if, a near Earth object collides with Earth. Many of the smaller objects break up when they reach the Earth's atmosphere and have no impact. However, a NEO larger than 1km [wide] will collide with Earth every few hundred thousand years and a NEO larger than 6km, which could cause mass extinction, will collide with Earth every hundred million years. We are overdue for a big one."

"Ollie" Sues Game Companies

From Next-Gen:

Alan "Ollie" Gelfand, creator of the now standard skateboard trick of the same name, is suing Sega and Activision for using his nickname without permission. The 42-year-old skateboarder is seeking $20 million in damages, part of which he expects from Sega, for using his moniker for their skateboarding arcade game, "Ollie King".

His complaint against Activision is in regards to the game, Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure, in which his nickname is apparently mentioned.

Other companies he's seeking damages against include Disney and retailer Ron Jon Surf Shop.

"I'm just a skateboarder. I'm not a huge, mega corporation... yet," said Gelfand.

Yet? No offence Allan, but no one born after 1980 even knows who you are. Unlike Tony Hawk who saw the light early on, you have done nothing to keep yourself "out there."

The First Video Game: Tennis For Two

A two-dimensional, side view of a tennis court was displayed on an oscilloscope, which has a cathode-ray tube similar to a black and white TV tube. In order to generate the court and net lines and the ball, it was necessary to time-share these functions. While the rest of the system used vacuum tubes and relays, the time-sharing circuit and the fast switches used transistors, which by1958 were coming into use.

Tennis For Two was part of the division's exhibit for two years, and it turned out to be a real crowd pleaser. The oscilloscope display in 1958 was only five inches in diameter. The next year saw some improvements: a bigger tube ten or 15 inches in diameter was used, and players had a choice of tennis on the moon, with low gravity, or on Jupiter, with high gravity.

So I guess this pre-dates Space War!, which I always thought was the first video game.

Original Diamond And Gold Game Boy

For The Man Who Has Everything!
Manufactured By Aspreys Of London
Totally Unique
Unbelievable Conversation Piece
Pave Diamond Set On Display Screen
Diamonds Set On/Off Buttons
Exceptionally Heavy - Solid 18K Yellow Gold
Original Cables And Extra Game Cartridges
Original Blue Leather Display Briefcase
This Is Something No One Else Will Ever Have!
The Ultimate In Cool
6 (in) Long X 3.6 (in) Wide X 1.5 (in) Deep
27 Ounces Weight

SSD Price $25,000

Pic of the day: Xbox 360 power supply

Pic of the day: Line-Kill Spirits

Its a fighting called Line-Kill Spirits, where in order to prevent your opponent from healing you must take a picture of their panties. OK Japan, you win. As Inverted Castle put it: That’s it. The Japanese are done. They can now return to planet Japania, leaving all the people of Earth horribly confused and scarred for life.

Video HERE and screenshots HERE

Half-Life 2 Gives Headcrabs to Arcades

It looks like Taito is bringing Valve's Half-Life 2 to Japanese arcades. Built upon the company's recently unveiled PC based board, TypeX (which seems ideally suited for these kinds of PC ports, don't you think?), Half-Life 2: Survivor will feature a Story Mode, as well as a couple of multiplayer offerings. From the looks of this beastly machine, the game will have players engaging in typical FPS gameplay through the use of multiple joysticks and foot peddles. As pictured below, the game will also allow you to save your settings and standings via an interchangeable card that can be used on other machines.

Fly in my eyE

Saturday, December 31, 2005

Happy New Year!

Friday, December 30, 2005

Xbox 360 Costs $715 to Make

ATI Says PS3 is Unrefined

Thursday, December 29, 2005

Pic of the day: George Bush glad hands

Rockstar's Christmas card

The Girls of DOA 4 Part 3

The Girls of DOA 4 Part 2

The Girls of DOA 4 Part 1

Nissan and Microsoft Create Video Game Car

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

The Playstation Essential 100 Games List

Rumor - Grand Theft Auto: London for PS3 in Q4 2006

Play DIVX files on your Xbox 360

Friday, December 23, 2005

PS3 European ad

Monday, December 19, 2005

Qathafi stamps from Libya

Thursday, December 15, 2005

Xbox 360 copy protection cracks

J Allard and Kaz Hirai discuss the Next Gen

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Super Mario Bros. speed runs

"Star Wars" pre-release pirate pleads guilty

BLACK: Box art and release date

New Yorker VS True Crime: Streets of New York

Trippy!

Pic of the day: Real or Fake?!

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Pic of the day: London oil fire

Cemetery full, so mayor proposes a ban on death

World's biggest skateboard!

Obscurity below the radar

That's one nice bikini!

Nintendo's Revolution steps out of the next-gen battle

PlayStation development boss plays down Microsoft's high definition claims

Robot serves coffee to Japanese girl

Pic of the day: Fat kids eating crap

Eight Myths About Video Games Debunked

Monday, December 12, 2005

Gamer Tattoos

Friday, December 09, 2005

"Cartoon Network" Canceled

Thursday, December 08, 2005

It's called Apophis. It's 390m wide. And it could hit Earth in 31 years time

"Ollie" Sues Game Companies

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

The First Video Game: Tennis For Two

Sunday, December 04, 2005

Original Diamond And Gold Game Boy

Friday, December 02, 2005

Pic of the day: Xbox 360 power supply

Pic of the day: Line-Kill Spirits

Thursday, December 01, 2005

Half-Life 2 Gives Headcrabs to Arcades

Adventures of the Flying Cat

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