EEG News

EEG News Closed For A Wee Bit

EEG News reporter Austin Modine is currently attending the Cannes film festival in France, and won't be updating until the 28th.

Please be patient, and Austin will bring you back a croissant or something.

E3: Microsoft Conference

Microsoft had a solid showing during its E3 press conference, but suffered from a severe lack of surprises.

The star of the show was of course the Halo 3 teaser – saved for the very end of the conference but completely expected. They showed off the HD-DVD accessory some more but didn’t give a price point. They showed clips of games previously announced, announced that Grand Theft Auto would be time-exclusive (no word on how long the exclusivity will last) and brought out Bill Gates to bore everyone, There was some talk about Windows Vista (it’s supposed to be “the best gaming OS ever,” but they’ve been saying that since 1995) and then they called it a day. No surprises, but damned if the games didn’t look good.

The biggest piece of news (as in, new) from the conference was announcing the Live Anywhere service which will integrate Xbox Live with Windows Vista, Windows Mobile and of course the 360. With Live Anywhere, players will be able to challenge other gamers, check stats, message people on Live and more regardless of the Microsoft platform you are on. One example was customizing a car on a mobile phone and sending it to the 360 to play.

Everything looked droolworthy, although I’m getting a little sick of generic shooters on the console. Microsoft just might grab themselves a bigger piece of the marketshare than expected this generation, especially with the announced price of the PS3.

E3: Nintendo Press Conference

Super Mario Galaxy

Nintendo kept characteristically (and perhaps rather disapointingly) tight-lipped during their E3 press conference today.

The big N showed small glimpses of highly anticipated titles such as Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Metroid Prime 3 and dropping the news that Super Mario Galaxy is in the works for the Wii, but any hard information was nowhere to be seen. Nintendo did not divulge a release date or price for its upcoming console which most hoped for and many genuinely needed, to dull the pain of the PS3’s outragous $600 price tag. Nor did Nintendo reveal plans for launch or an online strategy. Nintendo’s message: this stuff is fun. You’ll see tomorrow on the show floor.

I have to say, watching the Nintendo Wii graphics on the big screen didn’t exactly impress me. Nintendo made it clear that graphics will come second to gameplay, and I believe that in theory. I certainly don’t consider myself a “graphics whore,” but everything looked like a Gamecube game. I can’t help but feel a little disappointed when the games I’m seeing at an E3 conference don’t make me go “wow.” It just ain’t right.

I will, however, take Nintendo’s advice and wait to get my hands on the system. Nintendo’s new slogan is “Playing = Beliving,” and I’m more than willing to go along with it. Nintendo’s conference was the only one out of the big three where people actually looked like they were enjoying themselves playing. People weren’t muttering “that looks so cool,” but “that looks like so much fun.” And maybe that’s what it’s about.

At least, that’s what I’ll keep telling myself until tomorrow.

E3: Sony Press Conference

Sony lifted the curtain on some much sought-after PS3 info during their E3 press conference this evening in addition to showing off a number of game trailers.

The PS3 will launch in Japan Nov. 11 and in America and Europe Nov. 17.  The console will be available in two packages; with a 20GB hard drive for $499 and a 60GB version for $599. They will ship 2 million during launch period and 4 million by the end of 2006.

Sony has ditched the boomerang controller they showed off last E3, unveiling a new controller design that looks very much like a Duel Shock 2. However, Sony has – shall we say, borrowed ideas from both Microsoft and Nintendo for their design.

In the center of the new controller is a 360-like media button.  Sony has also included a motion sensor device inside much like the Nintendo Wii.

Game trailers featured in the presentation included Grand Turismo, Final Fantasy XIII, Metal Gear Solid 4 and some interesting new titles.  Check out reports on those here.

E3 Begins

E3.  For gamers it's Christmas, New Years, and -- oh, let's say Secretary's Day all rolled into one.  Your truly will be attending this week and I will be updating with news as much as I can.

However, I am but one man and news will be coming in at a steady stream. My mouth is firmly over the spigot but it’s going to get messy.

For those playing the home game; the major conferences will be as follows:

SONY Monday, May 8th. 4 PM pacific.

NINTENDO Tuesday, May 9th. 9:30 AM pacific.

MICROSOFT Tuesday, May 9th. 11:30 AM pacific.

Keep an eye out for major announcements and E3 floor impressions right here.

ESRB Changes Oblivion Rating to Mature

The Entertainment Software Ratings Board has changed the rating of popular PC and Xbox 360 game Elderscrolls IV: Oblivion From T (teen) to M (mature) after apparently pondering the blood and gore for a month and a class 5 nipple alert.

According to the ESRB statement:

"The content causing the ESRB to change the rating involves more detailed depictions of blood and gore than were considered in the original rating, as well as the presence of a locked-out art file or “skin” that, if accessed through a third-party modification to the PC version of the game, allows the user to play with topless versions of female characters.”

The rating change parallels the infamous “hot coffee” scandal that rocked Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas where players could access a sexually explicit minigame through third party software. It is currently unknown if the ESRB is aware that a person can mod a topless skin into almost every computer game using “third party software.” Players are also cautioned not to peek under their shirts due to an extreme risk of seeing not just one, but possibly two dirty dirty nipples.

Currently there is no way for 360 users to access these fleshy abominations.

Since we don't know what version the ESRB used to rate the game in the first place, we cannot be sure if additional gore was added to the game before release. However, since the game has involved violent bloody stabbing of monsters and people with a sword since the earliest screen shots, it seems unlikely that gore was the main reason for the change.

Perhaps it’s time the ESRB placed a new label on all game boxes: WARNING: this game, like all software can be modified by someone on the internet to include content unsuitable for minors.

Analyst: Next Gen DVD Format to Determine Console War

Industry analyst at Wedbush Morgan Securities Michael Pachter believes the battle between the PS2 and the Xbox 360 will be determined by whether HD-DVD or Blu-ray wins the market.

“Notwithstanding the efforts of all three console manufacturers to deliver compelling exclusive content, we believe that the ultimate outcome of the console wars will be decided by the motion picture studios,” said Pachter.

“Should the studios embrace Sony’s Blu-ray standard for high definition DVDs, we think Sony will gain an insurmountable advantage over Microsoft; should the studios embrace Sony rival Toshiba’s HD-DVD format, we think that Microsoft can maintain its first mover advantage and will dominate software sales for years to come.”

Pachter went on to predict the Blu-Ray format will prevail, despite arriving second to the market. In the meantime, Pachter believes Microsoft will “enjoy a first mover advantage for the next two years, capturing approximately 42% of U.S. and European combined next generation hardware units sales through 2007.”

Pachter’s analyst crystal ball also had good news for the Nintendo Wii, saying it will thrive as a second console for consumers.