Blogger Archive: Tondog 
 It looks like the rumor is true, PS3 is getting a price cut! PS3 Fanboy has received some reports from around the nation that PS3s have been sold for $499 today. Here's a rundown of the findings from around the country:
1. A reader confirmed to PS3 Fanboy that he was able to buy a PS3 for $499 at a Target in an unspecified location. The site called up the store and they CONFIRMED that the console is listed as $499 in their computer.
2. Two units were sold in an undisclosed Circuit City location for $499.
3. A Rancho Cucamonga, California Target location has the PS3 listed for $499 in their system.
Also, the piece at PS3 Fanboy has been picked up by Digg and one commenter there has stated that he got one from a Target location for $499.
Another article at Kotaku has even more confirmation of a price cut, with Target stores in Bend, Oregon and Beavercreek, Ohio both confirming that the console is $499. However, they also mention that stores in Los Angeles and West Hollywood, CA, Dayton, OH, Orlando, FL, and Littleton, CO have the system for $599. In other words, this price cut is not Target-wide yet, it's just a few renegade stores breaking the rules and implementing the new price before the "official price cut day".
Kotaku commenter SPIKE1856 offers some insight on Target's price change policy:
"I can tell you why some Target stores have the price cut in place and others do not--Target's price change day for the Electronics department is Monday. If a store's price change team gets ahead of pace, they have the ability to start early on the next day's workload. Since Saturday and Sunday are not price change days, this means that Monday's price changes can be activated on Friday, effectively three days early. The price change team at my store, sadly, is definitely not ahead of pace at the moment and so our PS3's are still priced at $599.99."
Could the price effect be taking effect as you read this? Is it real? Am I dreaming? I don't know, but this whole situation is very intriguing. Tomorrow, I plan on doing some investigative journalism (and buying some DVD-R discs) and seeing if the local stores have the PS3 marked down in their systems.
However, when all is said and done, this is the second worst kept secret of the year, next to the Xbox 360 Elite. I bet Sony is wishing they could be more like Paramount Pictures and the trailer for that new J.J. Abrams movie. Seriously, go to that link, it's incredible.
UPDATE:
I went to the local Target in Mankato, Minnesota, and here's what I saw under the PS3s they had...
Sorry for the crappy camera phone photo, it's all I had at the time.
PS3 is now Four Hundred and Ninety Nine US dollars...
 Here's an update of a story David recently posted. Sony's President and COO, Ryoji Chubachi, told Bloomberg that they have no immediate plans to cut the price of the console. Here's the relevant quote from the Bloomberg article...
"'We have no immediate plans as of now' for price cuts, President Ryoji Chubachi said today in an interview in Tokyo. Any change in the console's price 'is a matter' for Sony's game unit, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., he said."
What's also interesting is that Bill Cimino, a spokesman for Circuit City, declined to comment on this issue, and calls to Best Buy and Wal-Mart were not returned. Also, Diasuke Nakata, a Sony spokesman said that Sony does not comment on their price strategy.
Could this be shot down? Will it be a real price cut? What's your take?
Note: This is LAST WEEK'S article! I meant to post this earlier, but I never got around to it. Better late than never I guess.
Another week, another crop of great content for you to download to your next-gen (or wait, would it be current-gen now?) console! What's new this week? Well, let's take a look:
NINTENDO WII VIRTUAL CONSOLE
  
- F-Zero X (Nintendo 64, 1-4 players, Rated E, 1,000 Wii Points)
- China Warrior (TurboGrafx-16, 1 player, Rated E10+ (Violence), 600 Wii Points)
- Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting (Super Nintendo, 1-2 players, Rated T (Violence), 800 Wii Points)
PLAYSTATION STORE
 
Also this week, Sony is offering a free update for Resistance along with a new map pack. The map pack will run you $7.99 for two maps. Welcome to the nickel and diming game, Sony. Hope you enjoy your stay. Oh well, at least PS3 owners don't have to pay for online service.
But before you go downloading all those sweet new things from the Playstation Store, you must download the new 1.82 firmware update which was also released this week. The update adds the ability to play AVC High Profile (H.264/MPEG-4) encoded videos. Why do you have to have that to browse the Playstation Store? I don't know, ask Sony.
XBOX LIVE ARCADE
In a week with so many great downloads, it's hard to pick a top title. However, I'm going to give my Download of the Week award to F-Zero X. F-Zero is a franchise that never fails to deliver fast-paced racing action, and the N64 incarnation is definitely not an exception.
 Before I get started, yes, I did intentionally say wiidiculous in the title. I was Elmer Fudding it.
"They're regular Donald Twumps"
"Did you just say Donald Twump?"
"Uhh yeah man we're Elmer Fudding it..."
Obscure TV references aside and bad jokes still at my disposal, here's a look at some of the most "wiidiculous" Wii accessories on the market. We've got everything from tennis rackets, to forks, to a frying pan.
Let's start off with some of the more "normal" accessories, Wii Sports attachments. These attachments are available almost everywhere that sells video games, probably to capitalize on the success of Wii Sports and the Wii in general. These accessories typically come in a pack that includes attachments for every Wii Sports game except boxing and bowling. An example would be this one found at GameStop. That's right! For the price of Ocarina of Time on the Virtual Console (not including tax and that pre-order we'll try and sell you), you can have your very own set of plastic attachments that...kind of make Wii Sports a little more realistic, to a certain extent. I don't know about you guys, but I'd rather take my money and buy something worthwhile instead of some cheap plastic that does nothing to enhance the gameplay or the feeling. Maybe I would consider it if it was a tennis racket that I could use in real life that happens to double as a Wii controller, but even then, probably not. However, these accessories are just the tip of the iceberg in Wii stupidity.
In the paragraph before the last one, I mentioned that these Wii Sports packs don't include attachments for boxing and bowling? Well, that sure as heck don't mean they aren't being made! Behold: THE WII SPORTS BOXING GLOVE! How does it work? Well, what you do, according to the site that sells them, is you slip the Wii Remote into the right glove with the IR sensor pointed towards the TV set, then you plug in the Nunchuk and put it in the left glove. In theory this one seems pretty cool, and sure as heck would enhance the experience more than any of the other Wii Sports accessories, however you would have to take the Wii Remote out of its pouch on the right glove in between rounds so that the remote can see the sensor bar. Kind of pointless if you have to remove it every two minutes. Remember, I have not used this product, so I'm only making guesses.
When playing Zelda, have you ever wished you can swing around a real sword and shield instead of pressing buttons or waving your Wii Remote? Well now you can, with the Wii combat pack (not a real sword, it's all foam). According to the seller, this set also works with Red Steel, but Red Steel is mainly an FPS with some sword combat. Shouldn't it be a gun attachment for that game? As far as I know Scott Monroe (The game's main character. Remember? Of course you don't because that game was totally unmemorable.) is not Squall Leonhart, and thus does not have a gunblade.
Now, it's time for the absolutely bizarre ones. The attachments so bizarre and moronic that you just wonder what kind of drugs they were taking when they thought of the idea.
 First: The billiards attachment! This one is potentially deadly! You could totally put an eye out if you aren't careful with that thing. You think Wii Remotes flying through TVs are bad, just wait until they pierce someone with a deadly billiards attachment! Plus it's also silly because how are you going to use it? It will feel awkward if you're shooting it in the air with nowhere to rest your hand on.
You think you've seen crazy? HA! Nothing compares to the final one I'm going to feature: the Cooking Mama attachment set! Yup! It's a kitchen of Wii attachments in a box. What comes with it you ask? Well, let me tell you what you get! You get the frying pan, knife, spatula, and fork, all for the low low price of $17 plus shipping and handling! Why is this the worst Wii attachment set yet? Simple! You have to switch them often in Cooking Mama! It would be a hassle having to fiddle around with all of those and changing them every time you have a different cooking task to perform. However, unlike the other attachments I've featured, these actually have some real world function, as the seller demonstrates on their website.
What do all these attachments teach us? Being an absurdly popular console leads to absurd things from outside companies trying to make a quick buck capitalizing on your creation. So, please, everyone here, don't buy silly Wii attachments and give these companies your money. Save up and buy some games! Just like my man ChadWarden (EXTREMELY NSFW!), Tony's all about the gamez.
In a recent interview with GameDaily BIZ, the head of Insomniac Games stepped up to the plate and defended Sony, who has published all of the independent studio's games.
"I think the PS3 has become the whipping boy for the press, quite honestly. I think everyone just wants to fill it full of arrows because Sony's had some pretty amazing success over the years. And it's easy to overlook that it's been, I think, the fastest selling PlayStation console. I think it's human nature to want to take down the guy on top, and Sony has definitely gotten its share of... mud [laughs] ... but it's unfortunate."
I'm not sure if it's the fastest selling PlayStation console ever, but if not, it's definitely the second fastest selling.
He also went on to mention Ratchet and Clank Future, which is the studio's next PS3 title, slated for release this fall. Ted states that this game is the largest and most complex game they've ever made.
The full interview will be posted on GameDaily soon.
Source: http://biz.gamedaily.com/...ndustry/feature/?id=16680
Rockstar has released a picture of what you will get in the $90 Grand Theft Auto IV special edition package. The price tag will get you a Rockstar duffel bag, a safety deposit box (with key), an art book, a soundtrack CD, and the game. At least this SE package is reasonably priced and and has some cool content, unlike a certain other game coming out this fall.
Here's the photo:
 Someone on YouTube has uploaded the intro to the new Zelda game on DS. The game is released in Japan tomorrow and in the USA sometime later on this year. Honestly, I can't wait to get it because Zelda is one of my favorite game series, and I love the return to Wind Waker style graphics. Hopefully the game won't be disappointing like Twilight Princess. Yes, I went there. Twilight Princess was kind of mundane and stuck to the Zelda formula too much in my book. Okami did a far better job of being a "Zelda" game than Twilight Princess did.
Don't take this to mean that I didn't like Twilight Princess, because I did enjoy it. It's one of my top 10 games of last year. However, Okami just beat it in dang near every aspect.
Anyways, here's the intro. Enjoy!
[youtube=425,340]Ot5cdC9bAMM[/youtube]
 If you own a Nintendo Wii, it would be a good idea to download the Opera Powered Internet Channel by June 30, because on that date, it will cost you 500 Wii Points to download it! However, if you get it now, you can have it free forever. Don't know how to download it? Let Opera Ninja tell you all the details...
For more information about Opera for Wii, check out their website.
(Comic from Opera.com)
This is the first installment in a new series here at RF Generation informing you of the latest downloadable games for Nintendo Wii, Playstation 3, and Xbox 360. I will post these every Sunday or Monday. For the first edition of this article, I'm just going to post North American releases. If you would like to see this expanded, let me know
NINTENDO WII VIRTUAL CONSOLE
  
PLAYSTATION STORE
  
XBOX LIVE ARCADE
 
My pick of the week is Band of Bugs for XBLA. Know why? Simple. Turn based strategy involving bugs. Sounds really fun. It's been well received so far. It scored an 8 out of 10 in the Official Xbox Magazine, and was a finalist in the 2007 Independent Games Festival. I do not have a 360, so I cannot play it.
Until next time, happy downloading!
UPDATE: There was some stuff released for the Playstation Store this week! It's been added to this article.
 Rockstar's latest has joined the ranks of Thrill Kill, Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude Uncut and Uncensored, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (the first version), Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy: Director's Cut, and Playboy the Mansion: Private Party. Like these games, Manhunt 2 has received the ESRB's highest content rating, AO (Adults Only).
Now, Rockstar has to make a very important decision concerning their game. They can either release the game with the AO rating and risk not having the game sold at stores like Target or Wal-Mart, appeal the AO rating, or edit the game and resubmit it. A representative for Rockstar told Kotaku that they have not made a decision yet, and are considering all the options to get this game released.
This is the second big blow to the game today. Earlier on in the day, RF Generation forum member, James, reported to us that the BBFC rejected Manhunt 2, which means that it cannot be released in the UK and Ireland. Here is a link to James' thread on our message board.
Obviously, Rockstar and Take 2 are in a very tough place right now. Their game was banned in the UK and Ireland, and is not going to be sold at the biggest retailers in the USA. My advice for Rockstar: release the AO version of the game to retailers that will accept it, and give the rest of them a cut down M rated version of the game. That way, the creator's original vision will be available to those who search it out, and if you can't find it, you can just as easily buy the edited version. This practice is used very often with DVD movies. They will released the normal movie as seen in theaters, and an unrated version that would have gotten the movie an NC-17 rating.
Manhunt 2 is currently slated for a July 9th release on Playstation 2, Nintendo Wii, and PSP.
Sources:
http://kotaku.com/gaming/...ed-adults-only-270337.php
http://kotaku.com/gaming/...manhunt-rating-270371.php
 According to Kotaku via the latest issue of Game Informer, Will Wright's life simulation, Spore, has been "delayed indefinitely." Kotaku reached EA for comment, and they responded that the article is true in saying Spore was delayed, but they pushed it to fiscal 09 instead of fiscal 08.
What could be some reasons for this delay? I bet Will Wright (or EA for that matter) wants to release it on all the consoles on the same day as the PC version.
Regardless, I'm kind of getting tired of all these delays. I just hope the final game is worth all the delays.
 A price cut for Playstation 3 could be coming sooner than you expect if Sony CEO, Sir Howard Stringer, has his way.
In a recent interview with the Financial Times, Stringer said that he knows consumers want a lower price for the PS3, and that his company is currently looking into how much they can cut the price by. Then, when asked if they would "come up with an aswer by Christmas, he responsed "Yes, of course."
Not entirely related to the PS3 price cuts, Stringer observed that PS2 is selling "gangbusters" and that dropping the price on PSP has sent sales "into an upward spiral". Why do I mention that part? Because I find it funny that a CEO used the word "gangbusters" in an interview.
Another interesting fact Sir Howard stated is that "While people have not bought as many PlayStation 3s as it looks, it is no different from PS2 and PS1 in terms of percentage of sales."
When asked about the Nintendo Wii, Stringer said, "I would be the first to say to you that Nintendo Wii has been a successful enterprise and a very good business model compared to ours... Because it's cheaper." Should I call Sir Howard, Sir Obvious?
And what is an interview with a Sony executive without an utterly mind boggling quote? This time it comes when Mr. Stringer was asked if the Wii might be considered more creative and fun. "No, no. Fun is in the eye of the experiencer... I think PlayStation 3 is following a particular trend of 1 and 2, and if you looked at the history of it, it's a very similar history." Anyone care to make sense of that quote for me, because all I can come up with is that PS3 is following the same trend of PS1 and PS2. I don't see what that necessarily has to do with the Wii.
Probably reacting to the harsh response from Nintendo fans, Scott Steinberg, vice president of marketing for Sega of America, has taken back his comments made about the Wii's future. He stated:
"SEGA has fully supported the Wii since day one and we continue to do so â€" it's no secret that we are close partners. Nintendo has done a masterful job of selling its vision and expanding the market. That said, it's a shared responsibility and opportunity for the whole industry to take advantage of the possibilities of the Wii. If we don't realize its true potential, we will have missed a great opportunity to expand creatively and that is what I was cautioning against in the Reuters interview. I'm not just putting the responsibility of innovation on Nintendo. It's on SEGA and all the publishers and developers as well to carry that flag."
While he's right that it's the developer's fault that the Wii is not showing a whole lot of potential beyond minigames, he did not need to take back his comments. I'm sure that he only took the comments back because of crazy Nintendo fans sending death threats to him.
Source: http://blogs.reuters.com/...ts-nest-with-wii-remarks/
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