Category: News (Page 97 of 108)

Microsoft Doesn’t Dispute Failure Data

August 24, 2009 / Jeff Morgan

A week ago I reported on the astounding console failure rates listed in the most recent copy of Game Informer. The Xbox 360, of course, led the pack with a whopping 54.2% failure rate. Microsoft heard those numbers this week and, guess what? They don’t dispute it.

That one took me by surprise. I figured they’d nitpick the data for being some flavor of inaccurate, and then blast the other two consoles for anything and everything. Instead, a Microsoft spokesperson said that Redmond offers the “best warranty in the industry” and that the company is “constantly improving design, manufacture, and performance.”

The statement sounds more like the words of a development team than a press release about a console that’s potentially halfway through its life cycle. What Microsoft did well was to ignore the problem completely. Maybe it will go away, right?

News, Xbox 360

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Amazon Warns Of PS3 Slim Shortage

August 23, 2009 / Jeff Morgan

If you were thinking about waiting to order your new PS3 Slim, thinking maybe Sony will sort out the whole backwards compatibility thing before launch, you might want to reconsider. Amazon is predicting a shortage of the new console in the US so they’re limiting purchases to one per customer. In the UK things are looking a little less strict, with limits at five per customer.

“In an effort to provide as many customers as possible with the opportunity to purchase PlayStation 3 120GB, we are limiting the total number of PlayStation 3 120GB units that can be purchased. As a result, each household may only purchase one PlayStation 3 120GB unit,” Amazon said earlier this week.

The new PS3 announcement has not been able to help Sony stock, which continues to slide.

News, PS3

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Diablo 3 Might Make It To Consoles

August 22, 2009 / Jeff Morgan

If there’s any Blizzard franchise that could be easily ported to a console it has to be Diablo. The game is as wonderfully simple as it is delightful, which is probably why so many people are playing Diablo II this long after its release.

Apparently Blizzard isn’t opposed to that idea, either. Geoff Keighley’s Twitter page paraphrases Blizzard’s Paul Sams as saying the company (Blizzard) hasn’t ruled out consoles for the new dungeon masher. In fact, they’re already talking to first parties (which I’m assuming means Microsoft/Sony – that should sufficiently boil Kotick’s blood).

We also still aren’t clear on a release date for Diablo 3. While Blizzard has said that SC2 and WoW: Cataclysm will be their only releases in 2010, that doesn’t completely rule out a 2009 release. 2011 seems a bit more likely, but that’s a lot of wait for a game that, frankly, doesn’t really push the boundaries. Sure, Diablo II was my go-to game for a couple years there, but there are plenty of other releases I’m more excited about in the next year or so, some of them even Blizzard titles.

Activision, News, PS3, Xbox 360

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Xbox 360 Guns For PS3 Slim, Fails

August 21, 2009 / Jeff Morgan

Looks like the Xbox 360 is officially getting a price cut that will bring the system in line with the new PS3 prices. The cut, which would only be coming to the Xbox 360 Elite system, brings the console down from $399 to $299.

I say officially because the first actual sighting of the price came in a Meijer catalog. Now we have a second in a Wal-Mart ad that sports the new Elite console box and doesn’t show the once-included HDMI cable (nor component cables you may notice). The new SKU is actually kind of a crap deal. You get no HD support. Instead, they give you a hard drive boost that, frankly, isn’t big enough if Microsoft wants to get serious about downloadable content.

I’ve always preferred the Xbox to a Playstation, but this really makes the PS3 a whole lot more appealing. Granted, I don’t know their game lineups nearly as well, I’m not as familiar with the controller, but they’re supposedly adding a 250GB hard drive and you get Blu-Ray support.

News, Xbox 360

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Blizzard Announces WoW: Cataclysm

August 21, 2009 / Jeff Morgan

Following the leaks about the rumored WoW expansion, Blizzard has officially confirmed the release, titled World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. Events of Cataclysm take place in good ol’ Azeroth instead of that played-out, new continent horse excrement. Personally, I’ll say this is the most intriguing expansion I’ve seen, even if it does mess with the lore of the world in a pretty huge way. Tauren Paladins…come on.

The new expansion has almost all of the leaked features, for which I’ll defer to the official Blizzard FAQ page. I have to say, I’d be glad to get back to Azeroth if I was still playing. In fact, I just might resub when the xpac comes out, you know, just to kick the tires a bit.

Here’s the relevant info from the FAQ page:

* Two New Playable Races: Adventure as one of two new races–the cursed worgen with the Alliance or the resourceful goblins with the Horde.
* Level Cap Increased to 85: Earn new abilities, tap into new talents, and progress through the path system, a new way for players to improve characters.
* Classic Zones Remade: Familiar zones across the original continents of Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms have been altered forever and updated with new content, from the devastated Badlands to the broken Barrens, which has been sundered in two.
* New High-Level Zones: Explore newly opened parts of the world, including Uldum, Grim Batol, and the great Sunken City of Vashj’ir beneath the sea.
* More Raid Content than Ever Before: Enjoy more high-level raid content than previous expansions, with optional more challenging versions of all encounters.
* New Race and Class Combinations: Explore Azeroth as a gnome priest, blood elf warrior, or one of the other never-before-available race and class combinations.
* Guild Advancement: Progress as a guild to earn guild levels and guild achievements.
* New PvP Zone & Rated Battlegrounds: Take on PvP objectives and daily quests on Tol Barad Island, a new Wintergrasp-like zone, and wage war in all-new rated Battlegrounds.
* Archaeology: Master a new secondary profession to unearth valuable artifacts and earn unique rewards.
* Flying Mounts in Azeroth: Explore Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms like never before.

As you might imagine, no word on a release date other than 2010.

Activision, News, PC, Previews

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