EL33TONLINE: News archive for September, 2006

Getting back to the hotel after the official Xbox 360 launch, I noticed that everything I looked at had a slight green tinge about it. Could this be for real? Could I be seeing Xbox even after I had left the event! It would not come as a surprise. Microsoft have pulled out all the stops to make sure that this console launch would not be soon forgotten.

Upon going through the doors into the event we were “branded” with glowing neon green glow sticks that were fastened around our wrists, these bore an uncanny resemblance to the Xbox 360’s power circle which is the main symbol they are trying to embed into the consumers minds. Of course we then were ferried along a pathway guided by the beautiful Xbox “booth babes” who I would like to hope would still be as nice and friendly towards me even if they weren’t being paid. A quick ride up the escalators and we were at the main launch area, and were presented with our first drink of the night, apple sours shots (also fitting in with the green profile).

After a couple of drinks and some mingeling the show began. First up on stage was the lovely Cindy White, who is the marketing brainchild behind Xbox in South Africa. She explained the concept of the passing of generations, albeit a bit on the typical Microsoft marketing side. The concept was around the progression of games, the first being noughts and crosses. The second big leap was the step to Pac-Man, and then going even further was the jump to Halo 2 (having sold 7.5 million copies which they did not hesitate the least bit to brag about). Microsoft sneekily totally ruled out any other gaming console in those three simple steps. Lol, look, the wrapping looked pretty but the people there obviously knew it was a lot more than noughts and crosses, pac-man and Halo that got us to the state of gaming that we find ourselves in today! She also stated that Microsoft’s main objective with the Xbox 360 was to bring the world to gamers and gamers to the world, though it might sound vague it is true. Xbox live is already bringing people together from around the world, and non gamers are interested in this thing they have heard about called the “Xbox” (or even in some cases the Wii60).

To our surprise the marketing manager for Microsoft in the European region, Stefan Lamparum, also gave us a brief presentation. He gave us some feedback from the X06 event that he had just been to in Barcelona, stating that “South Africa is very lucky to be getting the launch this soon, there are still a lot of other countries in Europe that have yet to receive the Xbox 360 but by the end of the year we are pleased to announce that the 360 will be available in 40 European region countries.”

He was joined by Kamagelo, a radio DJ who used to present for K.T.V (a local children’s television network). His presentation was awesome as he spoke from the perspective of the gamers and held nothing back. He spoke a lot about upcoming games for the Xbox 360 stating that “Gears of War is the definition of next generation gaming,” lets hope he’s right, we can’t wait to get our hands on that game to bring you our previews. He also gave us some info on Assassins Creed, and how the game played, he had obviously been given the chance to play this at X06.

He later went on to explain haw excited he was that Peter Jackson will now fill a key role in the production of Halo 3, and also how the film industry and the games industry can be fused together to create a really awesome game with a storyline and cinematics that meet up with those expectations too. If you don’t know already, Peter Jackson is directing the upcoming Halo movie.

Kamagelo confirmed that the price for the Xbox 360 in South Africa will be R3700 (premium pack) and that the games would range from around R400 to R600. Telkom was also stabbed in the back a little bit by his statement of “Telkom had better come to the party and bring us Xbox Live!” Although it has been confirmed that most games can even run on a connection as low as dial-up (56kbps).

Suddenly we were told to “Jump In with Xbox 360” and the entertainment started. It consisted of two aerial acrobats performing tricks on material ropes, whilst being flooded with green lasers. Don’t get me wrong, they were very impressive but a bit on the “we’ve seen this before” side, I think the people their expected something a bit more fancy.

After that everyone headed down to the Xbox 360 stand at the rAge Expo to try their hand at some of the games, and also get some more snacks as well as a whole lot more drinks courtesy of Mr Gates. Liquid Bar made sure that the people were having a good time by mixing up every drink and cocktail in the book, and a DJ kept the music pumping so that the people that were swaying from the booze had a good excuse… “I’m just dancing to the music!” Unfortunately a lot of the people at the event left before the midnight launch, which in theory should have been good. The stand was linking up live with BT Games in the North Gate Shopping Center so that we could see the first Xbox 360 being sold in South Africa. Another nifty little touch that really added the cherry onto the top (in this case it would most probably be a green cherry).

Here you can find the first pics of the launch games on offer at the retailers as well the prices of some of the peripherals that you can get (all prices and pics sourced from the Look & Listen booth at the rAge expo).

Xbox 360 Core – R2700; Xbox 360 Premium – R3700; Wireless Controller – R380; Universal Media Remote – R280; Media Center – R400

All in all it was an awesome launch, something of international standards, the whole team from EL33TONLINE want to really congratulate the South African Microsoft marketing team for really bringing this console into the country in a big way. It’s about time South Africa gets some recognition when it comes to gaming, good up on you guys.

Be sure to catch up on all the Xbox 360 game previews that will be bringing you over the course of this weekend from the rAge event. They might even help you decide which of the awesome games available for this console will be your first!

Word is that Nintendo’s Wii console will be launched in South Africa in time for Christmas this year. Currently this is dependant on the allocation of units from Nintendo of Europe to the territory, but indicators are positive for a December launch. There has been no confirmation of what launch titles will be available, but we can be sure that at least Nintendo’s own The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and ExciteTruck will be there (along with the pack in Wii Sports).

The price has not been set yet as it depends very much on the way the exchange rate moves in the next few months, but it will be in the region of R2500 to R3000. This will put it roughly in the same price-bracket as the Xbox 360 Base Pack. The package will be the standard Europe package with the console, one Wii remote, one nunchuk controller attachment and a copy of Wii Sports packed in. You can see the packaging here.

It looks like the big corporations might be starting to take the South African market a bit more seriously. Of course, it’s not really anywhere near the size of the bigger European markets, but it seems the console manufacturers are beginning to look at the developing markets for their future sales.

rAge – the latest rumours, hype and facts just in! We came, we saw, we experienced it, now what? We are going to go back the next day and experience some more of course!! We arrived bright and early at the venue with much anticipation of what was in store for us, this being our first visit to rAge.

Walking in we had to be mindful of the trolley loads of lanners arriving – quite literally! Young and old alike, lanners were using trolleys to ferry their computers into the venue. The front doors were covered in black plastic so it was absolutely impossible to sneak a peak into the inside of the Dome. Fortunately for us we had press passes (yes, we are press people!) so we could enter the venue ahead of the massing hordes at the door.

Inside the venue was a hive of activity, with last minute set ups and tunings going on. We managed a quick walk around and managed to take some good photos and video footage early on. We were at the doors when they opened and the crowds poured in – shew, there was even a medic on standby (“Medic!”).

The main attraction was the gigantic Xbox 360 display in the centre of the expo. Xboxen were set up on which you could play most of the launch titles. Also featuring was the EA stand with 360 degree televisions set up inside playing clips of the latest EA games including The Godfather, Fightnight: Round 3 and Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth II.

El33t staff were happy to see the show was complete with booth girls and fast cars. Now what would a show be without these? Also at the show was a Magic, the Gathering section where many were gathered to test their skills. There is a strong presence of anime with T-shirts, figurines, movies and books available to purchase. I am not a collector of figurines myself (other than that Mario and Luigi), but I must say I have been sorely tempted to buy a few just because they are so damned goodlooking.

Lots of competitions are being run giving away Xbox merchandise and other brands, and every now and again if you follow the sound of the roaring crowd, you might just be lucky enough to catch a lanyard or T-shirt being hurled through the air. You do enter this freebies area at your own risk though.

I didn’t get a glimpse of Fatal1ty, nor of the much hyped gOd (Girls of destruction) but hope to catch them in action tomorrow. Maybe I could get their autographs? ;) More news to follow tomorrow, if you can’t get down to the Dome we will keep you posted here. We will be attending the invite only Xbox 360 launch tonight so stay tuned!

We bring you the latest news direct from rAge Expo 2006. There is something for everyone at this years event so be sure to make the effort if you are in the area.

Day 1 - 29th September 2006

• First Impressions (with images)
• Wii Console (Hopefully) Launching This Year in South Africa
• Videocast
• Xbox 360 official launch party (with images)

Day 2 - 30th September 2006

• Day 2 and still going strong! (with images)
• Quake 4 duel tournament (with images)

General

• Videocast
• Podcast in mp3 format (right-click save as)

We take a look at this weeks sales figures from Japan, for those who may be interested in them.

Software Sales

In the last chart before Pokemon hits the streets in Japan we have a repeat of Everybody’s Tennis on the top. The game seems to have good legs and will likely hit 500000. Speaking of legs, Final Fantasy III is showing very long ones - but sales are still constrained on the supply side. There are two new games in the top 10 - Gintama is based on an anime and at position 10 is a game that doesn’t translate (I can’t understand any form of Japanese and Google translate doesn’t make it any clearer). Since it doesn’t seem to be known by any English titles, chances are it’s either an anime fighting game, a pachinko slot game or a dating sim. I have discovered that Kenshin is an anime as well. Tingle RPG makes a reappearance in the top 10 and it’s sold surprisingly well for such a strange looking game. Other than that it’s the usual stuff. Next week the charts are going to be overwhelmed with Pokemon, so it’s going to be interesting for sales-watchers…

Hardware Sales for the Week

Another week, another 100,000+ DS Lites sold. Not much else to say except PS2 is seeing a new wave of purchases, probably caused by Everybody’s Tennis at the top of the software charts. It’s pretty amazing that PS2 still outsells every other console except DS Lite despite all the other consoles being newer than it. It’s currently very close to reaching 20 million sales in Japan.

rAge, the premier South African computer, gaming and technology expo starts on Friday the 29th of September at the Coca Cola Dome in Northgate, Johannesburg. The event is in its fourth year and boasts the biggest ever gaming LAN in South Africa (1200 pre-sold lanners), as well as the South African launch of Microsoft’s Xbox 360™ console.

But rAge isn’t only about gaming. The range of exhibitors at rAge this year is very diverse, which means that the products and technology on show include ready-built PCs, notebooks, PC hardware components, LCD monitors, optical storage, data storage and communications, networking equipment, wireless technology, VoIP technology, gaming accessories and other peripherals, entertainment software, consoles and console games, MP3 players, PDAs, Magic the Gathering role-playing cards, comic books, anime figurines, music and DVDs among others.

Activities taking place during the weekend include live local performances, loads of prizes and giveaways, celebrity appearances, PC gaming competitions, sneak peeks at some of the hottest gaming titles to be released in the upcoming months, a sneak peek from Games Emporium at Magic The Gathering’s new release called Time Spiral, and the South African launch of Microsoft’s Xbox 360™ console.

Back at rAge this year will be Johnathan “Fatal1ty” Wendel who was at rAge last year to see what the expo was about and who will be competing against local gamers in QUAKE™ 4. For anyone who thinks that gaming is just a guy thing, think again, because girlz Of destruction (g.O.d.), an international 7-member all-girl gaming team who are widely regarded as the highest level professional female QUAKE™ 4 players, are going to be at rAge to kick ass in the QUAKE™ competition, as well as in a number of exhibition matches. The all-girl PC gaming clan hails from seven different countries (Canada, China, New Zealand, Russia, Spain, Sweden, and the USA), whose combined match experience amounts to more than 10 000 matches, and in 2006 their prize winnings amounted to more than US$ 30 000.

So whether you’re keen to see the g.O.d girls in action, want Fatal1ty’s autograph, can’t wait to get your hands on an Xbox 360™ and the launch titles, seeking expo bargains or just there to be blown away by developments in entertainment technology, rAge will have something for you.

Doors will be open from 10:00 to 18:00 on Friday (29th September) and Saturday (30th September), and from 10:00 to 16:00 on the Sunday (1st October), and tickets will cost R30.00 per person.

Opera has released details about its browser for the Wii. While up to now Nintendo has maintained that the browser will cost Wii points to download, Opera has officially stated that Wii owners will be able to download it free of charge until June 2007. Starting from June 2007, the browser will be available for purchase for an unspecified number of Wii points. Wii points will be available for purchase from wherever the console is sold, and will be used to purchase content on the Virtual Console as well as other software such as Opera.

The browser seems to be very full-featured, in that it will support Flash and AJAX-based content. They’ve cited Google Earth as an example of an advanced web application that will work with the browser. It seems they’ve managed to create a full port of Opera 9 Desktop for the Wii, and have also included a Zoom function to ease the reading of small text on fuzzy standard-definition television sets. An obvious feature is the inclusion of gestures, which make browsing the web a matter of flicking the Wii remote around.

Our Comments

It’s always good to hear of something you thought would cost money now being given away for free. But, you might ask, why would you pay for a browser in the first place? Well, Opera certainly wouldn’t do all that work and give it away - it’s not benefiting them to do that. This is different to the PC situation where Microsoft gave away Internet Explorer with Windows to fight off a potential platform. So Nintendo would have to compensate Opera if they were to include it with the console, which would mean either charging you and I a higher price for the console, or making slightly less profit from each sale. From what little I understand of Nintendo’s thinking and business model, they prefer to keep things simple and charge the user a fair price for the base unit such that they still make a decent profit off each and every sale. Purchasing extras, such as a browser, are left completely up to the consumer. It’s similar to not having mp3 playing functionality in the DS - their thinking is that not everyone will use it so why include it in the base system and increase the price for everyone.

But then again, they are including some extra software on their console this time around, in the form of Wii Channels, so their thinking seems to be changing slightly. The Wii Channels are likely to be used by most Wii owners, and I would guess that the browser would be too (at least in the highly connected Japanese market). Still, being the very spendthrift company they are, they don’t seem willing to license the browser for every Wii system sold even though it would increase the value of the console to just about everyone. I think for them it is a case of “It’s not necessary” - they seem pretty confident that Wii will self itself. Now, thanks to Opera, if you buy your Wii early enough you’ll get the browser free.

There’s been no official word on a launch line up for the Xbox 360 launch this coming Friday as far as we know, but here’s a list of games that are expected to be available from this weekend based on projected sale-dates from online retailers.

• Amped 3
• Burnout: Revenge
• Call of Duty 2
• Chrome Hounds
• Condemned: Criminal Origins
• Dead or Alive 4
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
• Enchanted Arms
• Fifa 2006: The Road to the World Cup
• Fight Night Round 3
• Full Auto
• Far Cry Instincts: Predator
• Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter
• The Godfather
• Hitman: Blood Money
• Just Cause
• Kameo: Elements of Power
• Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend
• Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
• MotoGP 06
• Need for Speed: Most Wanted
• Ninety Nine Nights
• The Outfit
• Perfect Dark Zero
• Phantasy Star Universe
• Prey

• Project Gotham Racing
• Quake 4
• Rockstar’s Table Tennis
• Saints Row
• Test Drive Unlimited
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2006
• Timeshift
• Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland
• Top Spin 2
• X-Men III: The Official Game

Wow, that’s quite a list, but then again it includes just about every game that has been released in the last ten months in Europe. We’re going to try get our hands on as many of the titles as we possibly can and attempt to play them like madpeople so we can offer our opinions on the games. Stay tuned for more coverage of the launch here in beautiful SA.

In a move likely to be worrying to Guitar Hero’s fans around the world, MTV has purchased the popular rhythm game’s creators for $175 million in cash. I can understand the owners of Harmonix falling for that kind of money since, although Guitar Hero has been selling consistently, I’m not sure their titles have made anywhere near that kind of figure.

According to the press release, “The acquisition of Harmonix demonstrates MTV’s commitment to music and furthers its strategy of engaging passionate music fans through a deep and immersive multi-platform entertainment experience. With the addition of Harmonix’s strong music gaming titles, MTV will enhance its music-based universe of entertainment, news, gaming, and interactive content offerings, and increase audience engagement and time spent with the brand across all screens.”

They also state that “Harmonix is a wonderful addition to Viacom’s tremendous collection of digital assets, and is precisely the type of transaction that will help us aggressively grow our digital business while maintaining strong fiscal discipline,” said Philippe Dauman, President and CEO, Viacom Inc. “We’re committed to a swift integration and look forward to helping Harmonix become even stronger with the support of the incredible marketing and creative power at MTV Networks.”

Yes, it seems like a good move for MTV and especially for the shareholders of Harmonix, and it will also likely be beneficial for sales of Harmonix’s titles with the marketing power of MTV behind them.

But, we ask, will it be good for the players of Guitar Hero hoping for their favourite rock band to appear in the next instalment of the franchise? I’m not sure. It may, however, prove beneficial to those people living in smaller markets where Guitar Hero hasn’t ever been released, such as South Africa. It is possible that their rhythm titles might hit these shores in the future, which would be great - I just hope in the process that Harmonix keep their choice of music intact.

See it here first, Euro/USA Wii packaging.

This could quite easily be mistaken for an Apple product because of the predominantly white exterior. Wii take a closer look.

This is it guys, you’ve anxiously been waiting for this, the first glimpse of the box you’re going to be walking out of the store with come December. On the other hand, if you are expecting it for Christmas, study this image very carefully so that you’ll know what you’ve just got when tearing off the wrapping paper.

The Nintendo Wii, the successor to the GameCube and Nintendo’s vision of the future of gaming, will come neatly packaged into this cute box, which could quite easily be mistaken for an Apple product because of the predominantly white exterior, the grey text and the white piece of hardware on the front. Is it not beautiful? So clean and so simple.

The box design ties in with Nintendo’s strategy for this console. They are trying to attract non-gamers to join in on the fun. People may be nervous walking out of a store carrying a brightly coloured big box with cartoon like characters on it, think about it, it would be quite an intimidating experience if you were not a gamer. Instead you can walk out of the store carrying something that has a sense of style about it, and definitely does not fit into the stereotyped image of Nintendo being for kids only.

It is also very clearly indicated on the box that it will be pre-packed with Wii Sports. To find out more about Wii Sports read the preview here.

The box dimensions are estimated roughly at 60cm long by 40cm tall, being 15cm deep. The box will open like a shoebox, with the entire top coming off (these details have not been confirmed).

The improved version of the GBA SP will (hopefully) finally be landing in Europe in October. It’s been spotted on catalogues in the Netherlands selling for €99. This version replaces the current version’s frontlight with a far superior backlight, such that the screen brightness is on par with the Gameboy Micro and DS Lite handhelds. The pricing in the UK and other territories will likely be the same as the current version of the system.

Quite why Nintendo of Europe would wait so long to launch this is a mystery as it has been out in America since September last year when the GBA Micro launched. The upgraded version has never been formally announced either and was launched in a sort of covert operation in America last year.

For those interested in what’s hip, hot and happening in Japan with regards to the game industry, here are the sales figures for the top 10 games for 11 to 17 September.

Those are good sales for Minna No Tennis (Everybody’s Tennis), and expected from the popular sports series. I’m not really sure what Kenshin is, so please enlighten us whoever reads Japanese. Google doesn’t have the foggiest either. The DS remake of Final Fantasy III seems to be going along well, those are good sales for its fourth week amid serious shortages of the cartridge. Word is that it’s still got a 90-100% sell-through rate which is very high. Sadly for Square-Enix, they underestimated demand and only printed 550,000 copies to start with, and it seems all Nintendo’s cartridge manufacturing power is taken up producing their super-ultimate not-so-secret weapon. Yep, it’s Pokemon DS people and it’s going to take over the world…

New Super Mario Bros is still kicking at 50k a week, and will likely do that all the way up to Christmas. GOD HAND’s first week was not too bad for a game in such niche genre like it is - it’s review in Weekly Famitsu wasn’t the greatest either. More Brain Age is still riding an unbelievably long wave, while Namco must be crying over the Ridge Racers 2 sales, since the first one sold over 300,000 on the PSP. I think Atama Scan is Sega’s brain training game, so it’ll likely sell for ages at a reasonable rate if they market it properly. Animal Crossing is still raking in the cash for Nintendo after 10 months, and it looks like they have another million seller on their hands in Cooking Navigator.

And on to the hardware charts….

Japanese Hardware Chart for 11 to 17 September

A fairly standard week of sales. It’s the first time the Xbox360 has dropped below 1000, but other than that everything is pretty much how it is every week. PSP had a bit of a jump over the last few weeks but it’s back at the 25k level.

I look forward to the November charts, with PS3, Wii, PS2, DS and PSP all vying for top 10 spots in the software chart!

One of the games which will be launching with the Wii will be Hudson’s Wing Island. Due to Nintendo’s ground-breaking Wii remote controller, this game is bound to be one of the top flight simulator games released this season.

The Wii remote controller allows a player to control an aircraft like a real pilot, featuring an accelerometer which senses motion. The controls are intuitive, making this game easy to learn and fun. The controller basically acts as the yoke of a plane, by tilting it up your plane will climb higher, by tilting it down your plane will dive and by twisting it left or right your plane will perform barrel rolls! When flying in a squadron, you can change formation and instruct your squadron to perform special tasks. The game has a multiplayer mode so players can compete against one another.

The game contains islands, each with their own missions. A player must conquer these islands and complete the missions, ranging from performing cargo drops to extinguishing fires. Each completed mission will earn you money, which you can use to upgrade your plane, however, as you progress in the game the islands and missions become more difficult. A feature of the game is that as you progress you unlock more planes, which get faster and are easier to control.

The latest news on everybody’s lips is that leading video game developer, Bioware, has announced the formation of a new handheld development group. Bioware will debut in the handheld arena by developing it’s first game for the Nintendo DS.

Dan Tudge (former president and founder of Exile Interactive Inc, independent video game developer) will lead the group. Dan’s experience includes having overseen the development of AAA titles for Nintendo, Microsoft, THQ and Sega Sports.

“We’re thrilled to have Dan leading our new handheld group,” said Ray Muzyka, CEO of Bioware. “Dan has an exceptional pedigree of game development, and we’re excited to have him bring his proven track record of successful games to Bioware’s new DS project!” Greg Zeschuk, president of Bioware, says “as always, we are committed to creating the best story-driven games in the world, and the Nintendo DS offers us an exciting new platform to engage.”

Bioware has begun recruitment for the new handheld team and, being listed among Canada’s top 100 employers not once but three times in a row, the competition is going to be fierce.

EA has revealed that certain rumours doing the rounds on this crazy internet place are true. They do have a skateboarding game in the pipeline in an attempt to cash in on the genre Activision’s Tony Hawk’s owns, and it’s imaginatively titled: SKATE.

“Our game offers a skate mecca for both skaters and gamers in search of the definitive authentic skating video game experience,” said Scott Blackwood, Executive Producer, EA Black Box. “We’re focused on capturing the actual feeling of skating with the innovative control system, the physics driven animations, the intelligent cameras working together to really deliver the closest thing to being on a board.”

Professional skaters Danny Way and PJ Ladd are said to be making an appearance in the game, and it is alluded in the quote above that your falls will be physics driven. Let’s hope they don’t use those crazy rag doll effects.