Nintendo has launched a new internet service called WiiWare, allowing game developers with small budgets and teams to more established developers to showcase their games.
WiiWare frees developers from the traditional constraints of video game development. WiiWare lets developers experiment with big ideas and small budgets to the benefit of players everywhere. Newer, smaller teams now have an outlet for their creative ideas. The constantly growing WiiWare library will have a regular flow of unique video gaming experiences consumers might not otherwise have access to.
“WiiWare is to the video game industry what independent films are to Hollywood,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “WiiWare lets developers experiment with new ideas and experiences. Combined with our collection of classic Virtual Console games, Wii provides one-stop shopping for the greatest games of the past - and the future.”
Many predicted Grand Theft Auto IV would break some sort of record in terms of sales. Rockstar has confirmed that GTAIV broke all-time entertainment records for day one and week one sales by dollar value. Approximately 6 million units were sold globally with an estimated retail value of more than $500 million in the first week. GTAIV additionally sold approximately 3.6 million units on its opening day with a retail value of approximately $310 million globally.
2K Games and Universal Studios are teaming up to produce a movie of the hit game Bioshock. Gore Verbinski, director of the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, is slated to direct and produce the BioShock movie. John Logan, Academy Award-nominated writer of Gladiator, The Aviator and Sweeney Todd, is in talks to do the screenplay.
I finally got my hands on Grand Theft Auto IV after waiting anxiously for it to arrive in the mail. I have been a huge GTA fan since GTAIII, and with each version afterwards I have always picked it up on the first day, and proceeded to take a week off of whatever I was doing. Unfortunately, I had to have GTAIV delivered to me, regardless it is now in my possession. After only completing 4.11% of the game, I am amazed at the details that went into this game. Read on for a rundown of my impressions during the short time I have had to play, it may contain spoilers.
Sony might not hold the gaming console + Blu-ray market for much longer. According to the Chinese-language Economic Daily News (EDN) newspaper, Pegatron Technology, an OEM subsidiary of Asustek Computer, has secured orders from Microsoft to assemble Xbox 360 consoles equipped with a Blu-ray Disc (BD)-ROM drive, with shipments to begin in the third quarter of 2008.
It is only the first day of the launch of Grand Theft Auto IV, and reports are surfacing on the internet about the game freezing up, requiring the console to be unplugged. The problem apparently occurs after the first cutscene.
A quick interview with editors from Newsweek and Kotaku discussing the two versions of Grand Theft Auto IV. Both agree Microsoft exclusive download content won’t last forever, although it could last quite a while.
