It was several months ago when Stu, Andrew’s younger brother, informed me that Nintendo had made the announcement that The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, was a dual console release. After a lot of review, I discovered that this thought was the product of rumours stemming from the games continuous delay.

However, 1up.com published an article about an interview in Europe with Shigeru Miyamoto, shortly after his induction into the Knighthood, to which he made a whimsical remark about the Gamecube Zelda title obviously being playable on the Revolution, but able to exploit the Revolution controller as well.

He certainly dropped a bomb of a comment right in the middle of a casual interview. On the plus side, Nintendo will not be issuing a dual release. On the downside…what the crap? Is that the only reason it was delayed? Revolution controller functionality! I’m pissed.

Source 

All I can say is “Wow!”

After the past few weeks of horrible news story after horrible news story, Sony really turned things around at their recent press conference.

Now, on the downside, Sony has finally admitted to delaying the Playstation 3 release until November of 2006. However, while some initially suspected this would mean an early spring 2007 release for North Americans, it turns out Sony is using the extra time to initiate a simultaneous global release in Japan, North America and, quite surprisingly, Europe.

The company, according to the regular updates from the conference, announced that the delays are due to copy protection for the Blu-ray format not being finalised. Since the new format is crucial to the PS3’s success, as DVDs were to its predecessor, it is necessary to perfection in this matter.

They’ve also announced that development kits will be shipped out by June of this year, which hopefully means we will see a host of the expected titles come launch day (or week, as may be the case).

The system is going to come with a 60GB hard drive, and it will apparently be necessary for gameplay. This is interesting news, because it effectively eliminates the possibility of two versions of the system like with the XBox 360. As a result, Sony will not be offering a “more affordable” version of their console to appeal to those with lower gaming budgets. Crap.

But that is not the only launch strategy of Microsoft that Sony is avoiding. They’ve announced that they have the production capabilities to produce one million PS3 units a month, with six million being completed March 2007. Assuming this to be accurate, that means that they will have begun manufacturing in September, with two million systems ready by the designated launch date. Good news for those who were disappointed by the XBox 360 and DS Lite launch.

Sony also announced details about their online service, which includes features like “matchmaking, messaging, rankings, friends lists, voice/video chat, in-game shopping, and game downloads to the hard drive.” The service will also be free, apparently. Sounds pretty bitchin’, I must say. One day, I hope on-line fees will be a thing of the past…and then I’ll finally be able to play World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XI.

The final news given about the PS3 is that it will be backwards compatible with its predecessors, PS1 and PS2, and will display these old games in high definition.

And, fantastic news for PSP fans.

At the same conference, they announced that the PSP will be receiving some major updates this spring. Could this be the fabled PSP v.2? Did I truly waste money on an inferior product from Sony? On the plus side, I could sell my PSP Gigapack at a profit, especially considering the price I bought it at.

Other PSP news includes the announcement of an Eye Toy camera being released in the fall. Coupled with the already released PSP headset, Sony intends to utilise the two tools for voice-over-IP videophoning. While it may not be the free cellphone I originally envisioned, the announcement is still quite cool.

The final glorious tidbit of news for the PSP is the E-Distribution network. The PS3 will act as an access point for the PSP, but moreover, it will allow the PSP to download original PS1 games that will be emulated on the system. Could this brilliant idea from Sony finally provide me access to Capcom’s Resident Evil 3, a game which has eluded my grasp for so long? Thank you Sony. You’ve made my day!

Sony is a lightning rod for bad news.

Amidst all the talks of Playstation 3 delays, Blu-ray issues, processor issues and misinterpreted statements from executives, developers are beginning to chime in with comments of dissention. Ninja Theory developer, Dean Calver, recently mentionned in passing how it is sometimes frustrating to develop on a console that places so much emphasis on graphical quality, making it more difficult for developers to focus on gameplay. The complaint, made among a host of others about next-gen systems causing developers to “burn out” quicker than ever before, was latched onto by a frenzy of carnivorous bloggers and media maniacs, who took his comments to translate to “Sony sucks balls.”

Moreover, Sony has lost its court case against Immersion over the rights to the Dualshock controller. This conflict has been in the press for a while, Immersion launched a law suit against Microsoft and Sony for the use of Dualshock controllers in 2003. Microsoft settled quietly out of court (and is a shareholder now in Immersion). Sony fought with stupid persistence, and has now had their appeal denied!

What does this mean? It is simple. The Playstation 2, Playstation 2 Dualshock controllers, and a list of some of their most popular titles (including Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Final Fantasy X and Metal Gear Solid 2) can no longer be sold at retail outlets. Consequently, this legal case could kill Sony’s current generation console, unfortunately, long before the Playstation 3 is scheduled to hit store shelves.

It is suspected that the Boomerang controller is intended to be a departure from the Dualshock for the sake of ownership rights, but this begs the question of backwards compatibility. What happens when their force feedback controller isn’t allowed anymore?

And while this newest legal decision is showing backwards compatibility is up in the air, others are speculating about whether Sony will create a virtual console system akin to Nintendo in an effort to compete. Sony has already established a desire to create a “Sony Live” to compete with the XBox service. While it may seem appealing - especially to gamers like myself who cannot find a copy of Resident Evil 3 anywhere - it is a completely different feat than Nintendo’s virtual console.

PSOne and PS2 games are completely massive, spanning from hundreds of megabytes to several gigabytes in size. This is a much more substantial download than the few measly megabytes of Nintendo software.

On our most recent podcast, we discussed the issue of Nintendo licensing or selling their virtual console games. If you thought it would be a pain to get your 8 mb NES game back, imagine getting back your multiple gigabyte copy of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

However, if Sony pulls it off, it could be the end to physical game discs. If Sony initiates a widespread drive to broadband (as they did with DVDs), then perhaps ALL games can be downloaded in the future. Although it would certainly be convenient (some gamers need never shower again), it definitely brings up more questions about ownership versus licensing.

Perhaps it is worth discussing in Podcast #3.

Also, check this out:

PS3 Mockup

Mere months after I’ve forked over somewhere in the neighbourhood of 100 bucks on Game Boy Advance classics to play on my Nintendo DS, Nintendo does the unthinkable. Like a bunch of pompous Jordan haters, they announce the launch of a Game Boy Advance Greatest Hits lineup, where games such as Super Mario Advance 2 and Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga (both recent purchases of mine) will be available for the lovely price of $19.99.

I feel like I’ve been raped through my wallet.

Look for the games to hit shelves April 2nd. Pick up three. The price is good enough, and Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga is a real gem.

According to several online news sources, the XBox 360 Premium Edition will begin shipping with a 100 GB HD in April, offering 5 times more space than the current hard drive. The information was leaked, strangely, by an employee of Best Buy. This employee claims that a sale will occur on that day as well.

The date in question, April Fool’s Day. Could this be another hoax like the remaking of Wind Waker to be more mature, and other hilarious scams? Probably. How can a low-level grunt in retail be privy to information like that anyway? And why would Microsoft alter their console to provide an added bonus when there is not even any next generation competition on the market.

The likely answer is, the wouldn’t.

However, I’ll be able to know by next week (flyers and product info hit three weeks in advance). If such an event is up and coming, I’ll have the scoop.

Wow.

After my last article to mention Jack Thompson, I was under the impression that it would be the finale, and he would slowly fade into obscurity afterwards, never to be seen or heard from again. That would have been a nice gift from Johnny Boy, considering how much he annoys every single gamer who has ever heard his name.

But no, he is continuing with his psychotic escapades and has moved into the big arena. It has been retrofitted with some nice, soft, white padding to prepare for - what we can only hope will be - the final “showdown” between Jack and…well, anybody.

Gamepolitics writer/editor/creator, Dennis McCauley, recently wrote this article.

Apparently, Jack Thompson fully intends to prosecute all contributers to his Wikipedia entry, which has since been locked by administrators. Afterwards, Jack intends to unleash his wrath upon the Gamepolitics community who, until now, have tolerated his viral presence on their comment boards.

Frankly, this could be the end for Jack Thompson. Such a wide-spread attack, targeting such mass amounts of people, will be the final act to tip the scale against him. After this, we can only hope that people will begin to see the insanity that plagues this man’s mind and contorts facts with such malicious intent.

Oh yeah, and in case you don’t know what he has done at Gamepolitics, you can read up on it here.