#easports
Electronic Arts has officially killed NBA Elite 11. The delayed basketball sim has been completely removed from the publisher's slate with EA's chief financial officer Eric Brown announcing its death during an investor call. More »
#releasedate
While we're still not 100 percent sure how Square Enix's upcoming telepathic third-person shooter MindJack works, we do know when it's coming out, as the publisher gives the game a January release date. More »
"Medal of Honor is off to a strong start, selling-through 2 million units in just two weeks in October," the latest EA financial earnings report reads. As you may be aware, sell-through is very different from sell-in -- the latter basically translates to how many copies a publisher has shipped to retail, whereas the former relates to direct sales to consumers.
Two million is pretty impressive. To be honest, it's a higher figure than we expected, given all of the controversy leading up to the game's launch. It just goes to show you that overcoming any obstacle is as simple as shooting it with a gigantic gun. Growing a beard probably doesn't hurt, either.
#iphone
The iPhone is getting its first game from the people who make Gears of War and the developer of Shadow Complex this holiday. Infinity Blade, the game formerly known as "Project Sword," is coming to your iDevice of choice. More »
#gameface
It's Movember, the time of year when males spend 30 days growing facial hair to raise awareness of men's health issues. The team at Age of Empires Online developer Robot Studios prepares to do its part. Track their progress here. More »
Fender has finally announced when its Squier Stratocaster guitar, the one built and licensed for Rock Band 3, will be available and, more importantly, how much it will cost prospective rockers. The guitar is expected to be released on March 1, 2011 for $280 (with pre-orders beginning January 1). The Strat certainly isn't cheap, but it's competitively priced in the world of electric guitars.
It is an actual guitar, after all, as opposed to the 102-button Mustang controller from Mad Catz, and the Squier is expected to provide a greater level of realism to RB3's Pro Mode. In addition to teaching players some real rock chops, Fender's guitar can also be plugged into an amp and, like the Mustang, serves as a fully functional MIDI instrument.
It's worth reiterating that Mad Catz's $40 MIDI PRO-Adapter is required to use the Squier with RB3. And it should also be noted that the Squier can't be used to play the game's standard modes, meaning you'll have to resort to a good ol' plastic guitar if you want to rock along with the classic multicolored gems. View Poll
[Thanks Nick!]
Following today's oral arguments session in the U.S. Supreme Court case Schwarzenegger v. EMA, representatives from the Entertainment Software Association (they're on the EMA side) held a conference call to discuss how they thought things went. ESA president Michael Gallagher was optimistic, saying, "Today was a historic day, not only for the computer and video game industry, but for the First Amendment." He added, "I think that in court today, you heard every single argument the industry has made, articulated not just by Paul [Smith] ... but by the justices themselves."
"ESA is very, very proud of the work that was done by Paul," Gallagher said. "The argument today was very lively, the justices were very informed and the dialogue clearly established that video games are entitled to the same treatment as movies, music, books and other forms of entertainment."
Jenner and Block counsel of record Paul Smith, who presented the EMA's arguments during today's hearings, was similarly optimistic. He offered his opinion that the representative from California's arguments didn't satisfy the "strict scrutiny" requirements needed to revoke video games' First Amendment protections. He added, "Though there's obviously a great deal of complexity in the whole thing -- and it's very difficult to come away knowing with any sense of confidence where the court's going to come down specifically -- we do feel pretty good about having all of our arguments aired, and getting a lot of traction."
ESA general counsel and senior vice president Kenneth Doroshow echoed Smith's confidence, saying, "It was gratifying to hear all of the themes we had presented in our papers echoed by one or more justices at various times throughout the day. We feel very confident that our case was heard as thoroughly and carefully as it can be."
"There's really no way to know for sure how this is going to come out," Doroshow said, "but we at least feel good that the best case possible was put forward for the industry and our position."
#fender
Fender's real electric guitar that doubles as a Rock Band 3 controller is coming next year, according to the guitar maker. You'll get your hands on the Squier Stratocaster controller in March 2011... if you can pony up the cash. More »
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The official Japanese site for FlingSmash is up and running, and it comes with a ton of content. While there are some old and new screens to check out, there’s also over 6 minutes [...]
Square Enix has announced a January 18 release date in North America for Mindjack, a once-delayed shooter that sees urban environments descend into anarchy and everyday citizens succumb to remote control. The commentary on our connected society might be about as subtle as a steamroller, but developer Feelplus Inc. will put the concept to use in its networked single-player campaign. When the non-player characters in your game lose control, they become puppets to online invaders, who can either aid or crush you.
Should that pique your curiosity -- along with that of your online friends or family -- you can pick up the game for either Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 when it launches. Oh, and if you head past the break, you'll encounter the latest trailer. We don't know yet if its bluster is indicative of the overall marketing campaign, or if Square Enix will get something more subversive and suited to the game's content. Mindjack is out in Japan on January 27.
#violentgames
A Gallup survey conducted over the weekend finds that while Americans believe the greatest responsibility for keeping violent games out of children's hands lies with parents, they aren't opposed to the government stepping in to help. More »
