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The Week in Review news piece summarizes and highlights the most important gaming related news over the past week. This weekly article, in conjunction with the Rumor Round-Up, will keep you plugged in and in-tune. Wii Fit, the exercise game for the Nintendo Wii, has been dated and priced for North America. According to Nintendo, the game will come bundled with the Wii Balance Board peripheral for $89.99. The release date for the pack will be May 19th. Nintendo plans on making a hard push into the fitness market by releasing one million units at launch. Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) released the new and improved PlayStation Store this week. The redesigned portal not only looks cooler, but it is also faster and allows for “more fluid navigation to PlayStation Store for PlayStation 3 (PS3).” According to Sony, the PlayStation Store now “lives natively as an application on the PS3 system.” This leads to the greater performance. The new store is available to consumers via the latest Firmware upgrade (Ver. 2.30). The internet has been ablaze over the mysterious countdown clock the PlayStation Japan website. What amazing new gizmo, game or peripheral will the Land of the Rising Sun receive? Unfortunately, the answer to the cryptic counter is not nearly as exciting as one might have expected. The survival horror series, Siren, will be released in Japan this summer to adoring fans. The game will be a remake of the original title in the series. A demo version of the game will be available for Japanese fans on April 24th, with the full game to release in Japan on July 24th. Peter Dille, Senior Vice President of Marketing & PlayStation Network has posted a lengthy blog entry at the company’s official forum site. According to the Veep, the PlayStation Network has a ton of great content coming down the pipe and that consumers should get ready! The folks at Sony want to use the PlayStation Network as a vehicle for the PlayStation community to “discover new forms of entertainment.” Sony will focus on: The PlayStation community; Free online gaming; Digital media download services; Original content; and PlayStation Cards. EA is having a party and for good reason. The Sims is celebrating over 100 million units sold worldwide. As a special thanks to players of The Sims, on April 16th a free downloadable outfit for your Sims will be available in honor of the milestone at TheSims2.com. If you ask me it’s a nice gesture but a little on the cheap side. Activision announced that Spider-Man: Web of Shadows is being developed by Shaba Games and Treyarch for every platform. That means whether you own a 360, PS3, PS2, PSP, DS, Wii or PC, you’ll be able to get in on the web slinging action. Web of Shadows will take place in an open-world setting based on New York. Activision has been rather tight-lipped on the details surrounding the game’s storyline and the evil threat with which Spider-Man will deal, but that may not matter. After all, Spider-Man: Web of Shadows allows you to choose either the path of the hero or that of a villain. You play the way you want! By combining an open-world with player driven plot development and a host of other Marvel heroes and villains, Web of Shadows might just be a supercharged GTA. Another monumental feat was achieved by Nintendo. On Thursday the company announced that software sales for the DS in Japan eclipsed the 100 million unit mark and it only took the company three years and five months to do it. There was even more good news for Nintendo this week! High Voltage Software has created the Quantum3 Engine specifically for Nintendo Wii. The third party developer is seeking to lease the technology and toolset to other companies to use in the creation of far more realistic first person environments. The lighting and water effects are really pretty great. The engine will push the envelope and make Wii games actually look good. Consequently, the company is developing a title called The Conduit which is a first person shooter in the mold of Halo 3 or Resistance: Fall of Man. Don’t laugh, we’re serious. Certainly the title won’t be nearly as beautiful as either of those, but it will be a visual treat. Moreover, the combat will employ creative weaponry, an alien threat, and an open-world set in Washington D.C. Additionally, the Wii remote will be wholly customizable for gamers to adjust sensitivity and button mapping. Rock Band adds Judas Priest’s Entire 1982 classic, Screaming for Vengeance, as the game’s first downloadable album. The album will cost you 1200 MS Points or $14.99 via PSN Store. The download includes ten tracks which can be purchased separately if desired.Rock Band adds Judas Priest’s Entire 1982 classic, Screaming for Vengeance, as the game’s first downloadable album. The album will cost you 1200 MS Points or $14.99 via PSN Store. The download includes ten tracks which can be purchased separately if desired. Finally, the details surrounding the patent submission from Microsoft for their motion sensitive controller are now available. The patent was filed on October 6, 2006 but wasn’t approved by the office until April 10, 2008. According to the application, it will serve as a human interface device that functions on various platforms. In other words, it will be like a motion sensitive mouse that doesn’t require a surface. As such, it will be for singlehanded use. Click HERE to check out the news posting for all the details and images. Thanks so much everyone and we will see you next week! |