The PS3 has an official site
The PS3: Reality redefined using the cheesy Spiderman movie fontClick
HERE for more information about "a console that screams digital carpe diem and will redefine reality as you know it."
www.us.playstation.com/PS3
Take-Two Receives Subpoenas Over Hot Coffee
Hot coffee: it will never go awayTake-Two Interactive Software, Inc. today announced that on June 19, 2006, the Company received grand jury subpoenas issued by the District Attorney of the County of New York requesting production of documents, covering various periods beginning on October 1, 2001, including those relating to: the knowledge of the Company's officers and directors regarding the creation, inclusion and programming of hidden scenes (commonly referred to as "hot coffee") in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, the submission of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas to the Entertainment Software Rating Board for a rating, and the Company's disclosures regarding hot coffee; disclosures and presentations by the Company of certain events, including acquisitions, partnering arrangements and earnings results; invoices from, payments to, and termination of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and retention of Ernst & Young LLP; acquisitions by the Company in 2005; certain compensation and human resources documents with respect to the Company and certain of its current and former officers and directors; and documents concerning the activities of the Company's Board of Directors and Committees thereof.
The Company has not been advised that it or any specific individual is presently a target of the investigation.
The Company is fully cooperating and providing the requested documents.
Pic of the day: Next gen grill
Pic of the day: 1960's SEGA slot machine
UFO hacker interviewed
WIRED has an
interview up with Gary McKinnon, the UFO Hacker:
WN: Did you find anything in your search for evidence of UFOs?
McKinnon: A NASA photographic expert said that there was a Building 8 at Johnson Space Center where they regularly airbrushed out images of UFOs from the high-resolution satellite imaging. I logged on to NASA and was able to access this department. They had huge, high-resolution images stored in their picture files. They had filtered and unfiltered, or processed and unprocessed, files.
My dialup 56K connection was very slow trying to download one of these picture files. As this was happening, I had remote control of their desktop, and by adjusting it to 4-bit color and low screen resolution, I was able to briefly see one of these pictures. It was a silvery, cigar-shaped object with geodesic spheres on either side. There were no visible seams or riveting. There was no reference to the size of the object and the picture was taken presumably by a satellite looking down on it. The object didn't look manmade or anything like what we have created. Because I was using a Java application, I could only get a screenshot of the picture -- it did not go into my temporary internet files. At my crowning moment, someone at NASA discovered what I was doing and I was disconnected.
Pic of the day: SERECT
Way to go Sony:
New wallpaper - Mushroom Kingdom
Nintendo has made their
press room public for this week, and I grabbed some high resolution assests. Here are 2 new custom FlyinmyeyE wallpapers:
GTA IV Graphics Engine Confirmed
Table Tennis uses the Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE)MTV has a
fluff piece up about Rockstar Table Tennis, with this juicy little nugget:
"[In a recent interview about Table Tennis, a new game from Rockstar,] the Rockstar reps explained that the game was running on RAGE, the Rockstar Advanced Game Engine. This is the graphics technology gamers are to expect from future Rockstar games, including the next GTA."
Pic of the day: Shatner and stormtroopers
Pic of the day: The average Japanese PSP player
DOA Golf game for Nintendo Wii?
Wacky!
GTA:LCS Review Round-up
GTA: Liberty City Stories was released last Tuesday for the PS2. While the game was a landmark for portable gaming on the PSP, the translation back to the PS2 has left some people feeling a little cold. I'd suggest that anyone who has played the PSP version needn’t bother with the PS2 version, but GTA fans who want something to tide them over until October 2007 when GTA 4 hits will find it is worth it’s low price tag of $20 if they lower their expectations a little and basically look at it as it it were a GTA 3 mission pack—because that’s essentialy what it is. I personaly really dug the radio stations (alot of the reviews out there singled them out as the one of the game’s short comings) and I welcomed the return to a mafia focused plot. Plus you can drive PCJ600’s in Liberty. Thats fucking cool dude! The graphics look pretty shity, but I havent touched a PS2 game in months, and my eyes are used to games on the 360 now.... so basically any PS2 game looks like shit to me.
(Update: Over the weekend I fired up all 3 previous GTA’s on the PS2 and there is a definite difference between LCS’s graphics and GTA 3’s. The textures are less detailed, the lighting isn’t as nice, the car models are blocky and less detailed, and overall the graphics look muddy compared to the ‘real’ GTA games.) A big problem I had with the PSP version was the control as the PSP only has 1 analog nub. The PS2 version addresses this and now we have a targeting system thats a hybrid between the targeting in Vice and San Andreas. You can also use the right analogue as a free camera on foot and in a vehicle like in San Andreas. This alone makes the game more fun to play than the PSP version in my opinion. I give the PSP version a
9/10, and the PS2 version a
7/10.
The
game has an 80% ranking on gameranking.com. Here’s what the press are saying:
“
I've spent an unnatural amount of time clawing away at LCS over the past three days, and if Liberty City's the star then the pass-the-parcel approach to game design is the man behind the curtain. The vehicles, for example, grow from a simple affection for Stallions, Sentinels and PCJ-600 bikes with a craving for roadsters to a bedrock of Humvees and sports cars, with greater treats teased by missions and familiar fare five hours later. Weapons are the same - with a delight for uzis soon replaced by a lust for rocket launchers and sniper rifles. The pattern of revelation is a familiar one, but as hooks go it's resilient” — Eurogamer, 8/10
“...
for those who neither own a PSP, nor ever plan to buy one, Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories is by no means a terrible game. It's just a very slapped-together title that shows that direct ports of handheld games to PS2 probably aren't a great idea. Granted, there are worse things people could buy for $20, but PSP owners won't find anything new here. And if you haven't played any of the other GTA games, then pick those up before you grab this one. Otherwise, for Grand Theft Auto fans who've mauled the other games, don't own a PSP, and want something to occupy their hot summer nights, this is definitely a good buy for the money.” —Gamespy, 4/5
“
The console version of LCS aims for those gamers who couldn’t play the handheld version. With nothing added and multiplayer stripped completely, there’s no reason to buy this game if you’ve already played the original. Still, it nevertheless provides a unique, satisfying experience that fans of the franchise will want to see. It's still a GTA game, after all. Plus, at less than 20 dollars, it’s certainly a lot of game for your dollar.” —IGN, 8/10
“
On PSP, the title shined as it marked the first time we got to play a 3D Grand Theft Auto game on the go. It was amazing how accurate it was to the console versions. Now, ported to PS2, Liberty City Stories' main accomplishment is null and void, and what we're left with is a substandard entry in gaming's greatest franchise. It also removed the PSP version's multiplayer component -- which is sad, though not altogether surprising due to the differences between PSP wi-fi and PS2 Internet play.” — Yahoo Games, 3.5/5
FTC: Take-Two, Rockstar were 'Deceptive'
Next Generation has the
full story:
The Federal Trade Commission today has deemed Take Two and Rockstar "deceptive" for their nondisclosure of "hot coffee" content in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
ImageThe FTC and the two companies have reached a settlement agreement, which requires Take Two and Rockstar to "establish, implement, and maintain a comprehensive system reasonably designed to ensure that all content in an electronic game is considered and reviewed in preparing submissions to a rating authority."
The companies are also required to "clearly disclose" any content relative to the ESRB rating on all packaging, and they are restricted from misinterpreting games' ratings or content descriptors--demands that are surely expected from all publishers.
While no fines were dealt out this time around, if the companies violate the aforementioned guidelines of the settlement after the terms are finalized, Rockstar and Take Two would be "subject to civil penalties of up to $11,000 per violation if they violate the order."
When Take Two recalled Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas at the height of the fiasco, it incurred $24.5 million in related costs.
“Parents have the right to rely on the accuracy of the entertainment rating system,” said Lydia Parnes, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “We allege that Take-Two and Rockstar’s actions undermined the industry’s own rating system and deceived consumers. This is a matter of serious concern to the Commission, and if they violate this order, they can be heavily fined.”
When the FTC voted on the terms, they were met with a 5-0 vote in favor. The Commission will decide to make the measures final sometime after July 10.
Take Two is expected to release its Q2 fiscal results this afternoon.
Brittish Gaming Blog has an
interview with the creator of the original GTA and Lemmings, Mike Daily.
What do you think of the massive popularity of the GTA games? And do you think they stick too what you wanted GTA to be?No, I think “my” GTA wouldn’t have been quite so “mass-market”, which is good and bad. I think mine might have been a little more fun, but would never have sold the way GTA3 and the rest of them had. After GTA2, I’d envisaged a top down “blade runner”, glowing signs, but full 3D this time, with lots of effects and destruction. But I think they made the right choice as its helped open gaming to a whole new breed. However, I do get a bit fed up with everyone assuming that games HAVE to be full 3D, its simply not true.Read the rest of the interview
HERE
