Tag Archives: america

When Sony initially bequeathed unto U.S. gamers its first holy, zeal-inspiring slab of Killzone 2, only those who had pre-ordered the game were able to partake. However, after sensing a horrendous disturbance in the Sony defense force, it seems Sony decided to back down on its somewhat perplexing policy.

Well, kinda.

Starting at 6pm Pacific (9pm Eastern), a gaggle of Helghast soldiers will begin cavorting about PlayStation Home. When not checking out the latest Twilight trailers and performing carnal acts, they’ll be handing out a limited number of demo codes. Free demo codes.

You know what to do, we trust. Enjoy.

Whoops. The ELSPA story doing the round a few days ago concerning R4 carts and US DS piracy is, to be blunt, a load of old bollocks. The newspaper piece claimed that manager of ELSPA’s Intellectual Property Crime Unit, John Hillier, had said, “The implications are massive. In America it’s thought 90 percent of Nintendo users are playing pirated games because of R4s.”

The organisation spoke to GI today, claiming, “The quotes from The Sunday Post were ascribed to his name from another article which originates from a website in Singapore. This, it appears, is where The Sunday Post first found out about the supposed R4 situation and for some reason unknown to John have quoted him on what this article said.”

“[John] didn’t quote The Sunday Post on any figures whatsoever,” the spokesperson added.

GI goes as far as to say the report is “completely false”. That’s that settled, then.

So says this. You won’t be getting any more, so fill your boots. Full list:

Games and demos
- Conflict: Denied Ops demo (free) – 888Mb
- Neopets: Petpet Adventures – The Wand of Wishing ($15.99) for PSP

Expansions and add-ons
- Rock Band ($1.99 each) – “Siva” by Smashing Pumpkins, “Working Man” by Rush and “Ten Speed (of God’s Blood…)” by Coheed and Cambria
- Folklore Add-on 5 “Nightmares” ($3.99)
- Folklore Add-on 6 “Visions of the Tower” ($3.99)
- Folklore Add-on Bundle 3 ($5.99)

Game videos
- Battlefield Bad Company “Haggard’s Blog”
- Go! Sports Skydiving trailer

Movie trailers
- Daddy Day Camp
- Across the Universe
- Prom Night
- Prince Caspian

Wallpapers and themes
- PixelJunk Monsters Wallpaper
- Neopets: Petpet Adventures – The Wand of Wishing Wallpaper

According to this, HD episodes of Lost are now available on XBLM in America, as part of the CES-announced deal with ABC and MGM.

MGM movies are being added later this month – including the full Rocky series – and other ABC TV series, such as Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives are being made available now. Any of this happening in Europe? There’s a question, isn’t it.

Those Americans given to voting are going to have to pick candidates for presidential elections very soon, and should obviously eschew fly-by-night issues like defence and welfare and concentrate on the heart of the matter when picking the right people to rule the world: where do they stand on gaming?

Luckily, this guide from Yahoo! should put you on the right path. We’d just vote for Clinton, to be honest, because she always looks as though she’s on ecstacy in photographs. As good a reason as any.

In case you can’t work out how to make something as drop-dead simple as Skype work, this man from PSP marketing in the US is here to walk you through the entire process of attaching an earpiece to the PSP headphones, putting them into the console and making a call. It all looks very nice. Just make sure you’re in a “wireless environment” when you try it.

Despite the fact there’s a GAME on every British street corner, US retailer Play N Trade “likes competition” and is planning on moving to the UK wholesale.

“GAME has a very strong presence in the UK and beyond, but I like competition,” Play N Trade CEO Roger Lloyd said here. “GAME will have to adapt to Play N Trade and we will push them to new heights. Ultimately, the consumer will win out. There’s no reason why, if we go in with a strong business plan and get the right people, right relationships and right distribution model, we can’t come in and have the same growth as we have seen in the US.”

Play N Trade is the fastest growing US high street retailer, the company claims, with over 100 stores. The first UK Play N Trade is planned to open in the second quarter of 2009.

Sony has predictably put down talk of the cancellation of the 80Gb PS3 SKU in the US as “rumour and speculation” despite mounting evidence that it probably… isn’t.

“We don’t comment on rumours or speculation,” said a spokesperson, here. “Any rumours on separate PS3 configurations or package arrangements are just that – rumours and speculation.”

Even IGN’s in on the rumour and speculation act now, however, claiming to have sources at Gamestop confirming that a new 120Gb SKU with packaged DualShock 3 is on the way. The site said it was contacted by several people yesterday saying Gamestop had said the 80Gb SKU was being discontinued in a conference call.

Give it up, Sony, You know you want to.

In a community meeting after which books were probably burnt, an anti-gang leader from Wicomico County in Maryland has denounced games – and specifically GTA – for creating a “lack of respect for life”.

“In Grand Theft Auto, you score points by killing cops, stealing cars and beating prostitutes,” said Dan Dougherty, director of the Wicomico County Gang Resistance. “In the ’80s and ’90s, you didn’t have video games, you didn’t have the violence in the media, you didn’t have the Internet. It creates a lack of respect for life and makes violence acceptable.”

Wicomico County has 500 known gang members and the highest county crime rate in the state behind Baltimore. Definitely GTA’s fault.

ELSPA has issued a startling figure regarding DS piracy in a UK newspaper, claiming that up to 90 percent of American DS owners are playing illegal games using R4 carts.

“The implications are massive. In America it’s thought 90 percent of Nintendo users are playing pirated games because of R4s,” said John Hillier, manager of ELSPA’s Intellectual Property Crime Unit. “That’s the real danger – you may think you’re getting a good deal but using the R4 is risking the future of the games industry.”

Hillier reinforced the point in the story that playing downloaded ROMs is, obviously, illegal. Even selling R4s is an infringement of UK copyright and patent laws and can put you inside for up to two years.

Going to prison is one thing. Going to prison for playing a hooky version of Cooking Mama on your pink DS is another. Think on, cyber-thieves.

British developer Kuju is to open its first US studio in San Francisco, the company confirmed today. Named Kuju America, the studio is to focus on casual titles and has started work on its first game. John Kavanagh will head up the operation, the first outside the UK for Kuju.

“This is an exciting and significant step for the Kuju group of studios,” said Kuju’s corporate development officer Jon Newth. “The US, and San Francisco in particular, is a natural choice for our first non-UK studio. It’s a hotbed of development talent, home to many leading publishers and some of the leading US games press. We’re delighted to have John on board, with his wealth of experience and contacts, to maximize the potential of the business in the area.”

According to this, Skype is now out for PSP via the new 3.90 firmware update. We’re unsure if this applies to Europe as well. You’ll need a specific headset to make the internet telephony magic happen, but this is cool nonetheless. Unless you live in Japan.

You can sign up for PAX, the Seattle-based games expo from the owners of Penny Arcade, right here. The show’s reputation has grown massively in recent years, with the 2007 event attracting big name developers and more than 37,000 attendees, making it by far the largest show of its kind in the US.

PAX 2008 will be held from August 29-31. It only costs $40 if you sign up now, so get on it.

We have nothing to add. Sacred 2: Fallen Angel will be released in the States for PC and Xbox in the latter half of the year. Koch’s handling this in Europe, where the release date is as vague as “2008″. Sacred 2′s a fantasy action-RPG affair involving such non-cliches as high elves and shadow warriors. Turns out we did have something to add after all.

This says Let’s Yoga (Doko Demo Yoga in Japan) and Let’s Pilates are strong contenders for US launch on May 1. Let’s Yoga has already shipped in Europe, so the news comes as no giant surprise. Expect to see a glut of fitness-related Nintendo products hitting this year and Wii Fit does the rounds in European and America. Also expect 99 percent of them to be bought, used once, then shoved in a cupboard before Barry breaks out the chips again.