Xbox 360 secrets: After Falcon comes Jasper with 65nm GPU

>> From Dean Takahashi at Mercury News:
[QUOTE]
Jasper is the code name for the next motherboard for the Xbox 360. It will becoming next August, in time for next year's holiday season. Jasper is going to have a 65-nanometer graphics chip from ATI Technologies, as well as smaller memory chips. That isn't much information, but it's enough to tell us about their cost-reduction plan. If you ask me, it's a bit of a slow pace.

I don't know why it will take Microsoft essentially three years to cost reduce the size of the graphics chip through a manufacturing shrink. It doesn't seem like they're in a hurry to launch a redesigned Xbox 360 graphics chip, considering that Intel introduced its first 65-nm chips a long time ago. ATI uses TSMC to make its chips out of Taiwan, and TSMC hasn't been the fastest at moving to 65-nm manufacturing. I understand these tasks are difficult and they take a lot of engineering resources. Microsoft has had to divert a lot of engineers to debugging problems with Xbox 360 reliability. Even so, you would think that they would have moved faster, since the move to 65-nm graphics chip will likely be one of the best things they can do to improve the reliability.

Here's something that Xbox 360 buyers will want to know. Both Falcon and its predecessor Zephyr (used in the Xbox 360 Elite) have different thermal solutions than the original Xbox 360. You've seen the heat sinks in the cut-out photos posted elsewhere. The Microsoft engineers believe those heat sinks will be sufficient as a solution for keeping Xbox 360s from overheating. From their point of view, you don't have to wait until Jasper to get a reliable machine.
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Full Story: Mercury News

Week in video-game news: 'Halo' team leaves Microsoft; Wii shortage continues

>>from canadianpress.google.com

-BUNGIE JUMPS: It's always sad when a seemingly happy marriage breaks up. We still haven't got over Brad and Jen, and the split between Microsoft and Bungie Studios may be even more shocking.

Bungie - which Microsoft acquired in 2000 - is the developer of "Halo," by far the most lucrative franchise on the Xbox. "Halo 3" pulled in more than $300 million during its first week in stores, and drove a surge in Xbox 360 sales. When word got out last week that Bungie would be leaving Microsoft, the big question was: Why?

"Bungie is like a shark," founder Jason Jones said. "We have to keep moving to survive. We have to continually test ourselves, or we might as well be dolphins. Or manatees."

Microsoft Game Studios vice-president Shane Kim kept a stiff upper lip, saying, "We are supporting Bungie's desire to return to its independent roots." Microsoft will hold a minority stake in Bungie, and the studio will work on future projects within the Microsoft-owned "Halo" universe. Bungie President Harold Ryan said it will continue to develop games exclusively for the Xbox 360 and Windows PCs "for the foreseeable future."

-RARE BIRD: Thinking about getting the kids a Wii for Christmas? Better start shopping now. Nearly a year after its debut, Nintendo's distinctive console is still hard to find. "We're working very hard to make sure that consumers are satisfied this holiday," Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime told the San Jose Mercury News, "but I can't guarantee that we're going to meet demand. As a matter of fact, I can tell you on the record we won't."

Fils-Aime said the shortage isn't the result of production problems. "Every time we put more into the marketplace, we sell more," he said.

Perhaps you already own a Wii and your problem is that you just can't hold onto the remote. Your prayers have been answered: Nintendo is now offering the Wii Remote Jacket, a rubbery doohickey that wraps around the controller to give you a better grip. The jacket will be included with all future Wiimotes; you can also get one from www.nintendo.com.

-AY, CARAMBA. Electronic Arts' forthcoming "The Simpsons Game" features an assortment of video-game parodies, such as "Medal of Homer" and "Neverquest." But some companies, apparently, can't take a joke.

"I was always under the impression that when you do parody, it's a sign of respect," "Simpsons" designer Greg Rizzer told the Web site CVG. "If we make fun of 'Grand Theft Auto,' we're not going to hurt the sales of 'Grand Theft Auto.' ... But yeah, we've definitely had some reactions - we've had to pull stuff from the game."

On the other hand, the creators of "Guitar Hero" appreciated the tribute. "I don't know if you've seen 'Sitar Hero,"' Rizzer said. "The guys from Harmonix loved it and we sent them 20 copies of the poster."

-GRATEFUL 'DEAD': HBO will probably never bring back "Deadwood," but at least two of its actors are getting back together. Timothy Olyphant and Powers Boothe are reuniting to provide voices for "Turok," Touchstone's upcoming dinosaur-survival adventure.

Other Hollywood tough guys contributing to "Turok" include Ron Perlman, William Fichtner and Donnie Wahlberg. Turok himself will be played by Gregory Norman Cruz from TNT's "Saving Grace."

-NEW IN STORES: Get your kicks with "FIFA 08 Soccer" (EA Sports, for the Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 2). ... Sony delivers the supernatural murder mystery "Folklore" (PS3). ... Build your own theme park in LucasArts' "Thrillville: Off the Rails" (360, Wii, PS2, DS, PlayStation Portable). ... Electronic Arts compiles five "Half-Life 2" games in "The Orange Box" (360). ... "Looney Tunes" lovers get two games from Warner Bros. - "Acme Arsenal" (360, Wii, PS2) and "Duck Amuck" (DS) - while fans of the anime "Bleach" can choose between Sega's "Shattered Blade" (Wii) or "The Blade of Fate" (DS). ... Racing buffs can rev up for "Sega Rally Revo" (360, PS3, PSP) or THQ's "Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights" (PS3, PSP). ... Two big franchises come to the PSP in Square Enix's "Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions" and LucasArts' "Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron," while Atlus' culty sequel "Touch Detective 2 1/2" arrives for the DS.

Sony Introduces New PS3 Model In Japan, Cuts Prices

>>from informationweek.com

The new PS3 model has a 40-Gbyte hard disk drive and a suggested price of $342, but it won't be able to play PS2 games.

Sony on Tuesday said it would launch a midrange PlayStation 3 model in Japan in November, and would cut the prices of its low-end model in that country.

The new PS3 model has a 40-Gbyte hard disk drive and a suggested price of $342. The video-game console, however, won't be able to play PS2 games. Sony said in a statement its decision not to make the product backward compatible reflected "both the increased efforts to improve [the] software development environment and the availability of a more extensive line-up of PS3-specific titles." The new model is set for release Nov. 11.

Sony, which is apparently looking to make the PS3 more attractive to holiday shoppers this season, cut the suggested price of its 20-Gbyte PS3 10% to $384. The new price takes effect Oct. 17. Sony also sells in Japan a 60-Gbyte model, which has a suggested price of $470.

Sony's new 40-Gbyte PS3 is set to hit stores in Europe on Wednesday for a suggested price of $563. The company doesn't plan to release the new model in the United States.

As part of a marketing campaign, Sony said it would give a complimentary copy of the movie Spider-Man 3 to the first 200,000 Japanese buyers of any of its PS3 models. Microsoft(MSFT), which makes the rival Xbox 360, said on Monday it would bundle two video games with the console starting at the end of the month. The move followed price cuts by two months, and was an apparent incentive for holiday shoppers.

Despite price cuts by Sony and Microsoft, sales of the PS3 and Xbox lag behind the Nintendo Wii, a lower-priced console with a popular motion-sensing controller. In June, Nintendo moved almost four times as many Wiis as Sony sold PS3s and almost twice as many as Microsoft did Xbox 360s.

Sony has fallen behind its own projections for PS3 shipments, and has cut prices to boost sales. At the end of its fiscal year, March 31, Sony shipped 5.5 million units, instead of the 6 million the company had been forecasting. Sony has said it expects sales to increase with the release of new games this year, and maintains its sales forecast of 11 million units in the first year.

Family values: Nintendo's Wii invites kids, parents to join video-game nation

>>from canadianpress.google.com

Nintendo's innovative Wii console deserves a lot of credit for broadening the audience for video games. Sure, the core demographic still consists of the caffeine-addicted, ADD-afflicted, 18-to-35-year-old guys who came out in force for last month's "Halo 3" launch. But the Wii has attracted younger and older players as well as women - audiences that most of the industry had largely given up on.

Toddlers and geezers alike appreciate the Wii's simpler controls. Even people who have never played a video game before can automatically grasp the way the Wii's motion-sensing remote is supposed to work. While an amateur wouldn't stand a chance in a "Halo" deathmatch, just about anyone can enjoy Wii bowling.

Since the Wii's arrival a year ago, I've had more parents asking for game recommendations than ever before. Here's a batch of Wii games designed for younger players:

-"Cosmic Family" (Ubisoft, for the Wii): A relative rarity on a console - a game designed specifically for four-to-eight-year-old kids. Parents are used to seeing such software on computers, and it's nice to see it migrating to the Wii.

The Cosmics - mom, dad, three kids, a dog and a cat - live on a rocket ship. Each room contains a multitude of surprises, usually provided by one of the aliens that have infiltrated the spacecraft. By clicking on different household objects, kids will discover a variety of simple games, like jigsaws and matching puzzles. Players can also colour scenes from the Cosmics' adventures or draw new pictures of their own.

The family members and the friendly aliens are a lively, likable bunch, and the good-natured comedy is genuinely amusing. There is one annoying glitch: at times, instructions are drowned out by overly loud music. Overall, though, "Cosmic Family" is a nice way to introduce your kids to gaming. Three stars out of four.

-"MySims" (Electronic Arts, for the Wii): The landmark series has always reached across age and gender barriers, but EA is more clearly reaching for younger players with "MySims." The characters are rounder, cuter versions of the types seen in "The Sims," and boring chores like bathing and cooking are replaced with building projects that will appeal to anyone who's ever played with Legos.

The setup is similar to that of Nintendo's classic "Animal Crossing": You move to a new town where all the residents have favours to ask. Usually, they want you to build something, ranging from a simple chair to a fancy restaurant. Most of the time you have a blueprint, although there's plenty of room for creativity in your constructions.

"MySims" has a clean interface that makes it easy to pick out the parts you need to build things, although very young players will need some initial guidance. Kids may also be frustrated by loading screens that pop up every time you switch tasks or locations, and it would be nice if more than one person could play in the same town. Two-and-a-half stars.

-"Dewy's Adventure" (Konami, for the Wii): In this eco-friendly adventure from the creators of last year's "Elebits," Dewy is a droplet of water trying to save his world from a polluting enemy. You move Dewy around by tilting the remote, and you can cause earthquakes or wind gusts by shaking it. You can also turn Dewy into ice, allowing him to attack enemies, or into vapour, which lets him float and shoot lightning.

"Dewy's Adventure" has some clever ideas, but I can't wholeheartedly recommend it for kids. While the little guy is adorable, he's not always easy to control, and some of the levels are unnecessarily difficult, even for a seasoned gamer. A scarcity of save points compounds the frustration; few things are more exasperating than having to start over at the beginning of a long maze just because you fell off a cliff at the very end.

A bit of in-game advertising for a bottled-water brand will also bother some parents. "Dewy's Adventure" is an appealing, innovative effort, but I wish the designers had followed through on its promise. Two stars.

Janco: GTA IV Could Reach 6-9 Million In First Week Sales

>> From gamasutra.com:
[QUOTE]
Janco Partners' Mike Hickey estimates 4.4 million Halo 3 units sold in its first week, noting that the figure corresponds to a 67% attach rate to U.S. Xbox 360s and 46% for Europe and the U.S. combined. That's far higher than the 3.3 million units Halo 2 sold in its first three weeks -- a mere 30% attach rate to the U.S. Xbox installed base at the time.

Saying that even anticipating a 20% attach rate for GTA IV was exceedingly conservative, Hickey noted that while it may not reach the 46% rate Halo 3 achieved, even a 30% attach rate would mean first week sales of 6.2 million units -- far above Halo's own.
"If the upcoming release of GTA IV attached at the same rate as Halo 3," said Hickey, "the title could conceivably ship 9.5 million units of game in the first week, producing an astonishing $466 million in sales," concluding that the title, despite the delay, could have a "profound impact" on Take-Two relative to current financial projections.
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Full Story: gamasutra.com