Monday, April 5, 2010

Gaming Roundup: PS3 update kills Linux Support

Since we missed the Gaming roundup last week, this edition of the Gaming Roundup will concentrate on the gaming scene in the entire fortnight that just passed by. In the past fortnight, Nintendo quietly announced the release of the Nintendo 3DS game console - a handheld console that will show 3D games using anaglyphs aka 3D glasses. However, we ll have to wait till June when the E3 Event will take place and Nintendo will share more details on it. Meanwhile, we have been hearing more on the mysterious God of War III: Spartans Stand Tall page that keeps us intrigued. While we try to solve that puzzle, take a look at the gaming scene for the fortnight that was.



Sony has released a new firmware 3.21 update for PS3. This firmware will remove the Install Other OS feature from the console s pre-PS3 Slim models. George Hotz, the one who claimed to found hack in PlayStation 3 said that he ll investigate to find a way for retaining the Other OS support. Many believe that it s due to Hotz s claim of finding a loophole has forced Sony to pull a plug. But then Hotz himself will try to find a work around.



Microsoft has sent out an invite for the World Premiere of "Project Natal" for Xbox 360 Experience on June 13 at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2010 at Los Angeles. Project Natal is Microsoft's camera based motion-controller for 'controller free gaming and entertainment experience'. Players can interact and control the Xbox 360 console through Natal using natural gestures and spoken commands. This add-in peripheral is rumored to be available in November this year at price of about $80 (Rs. 4,000 approx.) but no official word on pricing is out yet.



Nintendo has announced (pdf) that it will unveil the successor to the hand held console DSi's soon. The Nintendo 3DS as it is known now will allow users to enjoy 3D games without using any special glasses. Sounds novel, eh? Additional details about the Nintendo 3DS console would be uncovered at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2010 scheduled in June. The Nintendo 3DS would be backward compatible.



After much ado, Microsoft has finally decided to offer 250GB HDD upgrade option to the Xbox 360 owners. Xbox Live Programming Director Larry Hryb had earlier denied the possibility of selling 250GB add-in HDD separately but the game has now changed. Looks like Microsoft wants to offer more storage for the Xbox 360 owners. The 250GB HDD for Xbox 360 costs $130 (Rs. 6,250 approx.) at Amazon. The 120GB HDD experienced a priced drop and is now available for $100 (Rs. 4,800 approx.).


Sony Europe has announced the launch date of God of War collection for Europe, UK, Germany, Austria, Australia, New Zealand and rest of the PAL format supporting countries. The God of War collection will have God of War I and God of II remastered to run at 60 frames per second and an added Trophy support. It will come on a single Blu-ray disc. Sony is also planning to release God of War Trilogy box set that will contain God of War III bundled with God of War Collection.
The dates for God of War Collection s arrival are:
-UK, Ireland, Germany and Austria: April 30
-Australia and New Zealand: April 29
-Rest of PAL: April 28


SEGA's San Franscisco studio has been working closely with Marvel for development of Iron Man 2 game. This sequel game, which has been penned by Invincible Iron Man comic writer Matt Fraction, will have new challenges as player gets into the role of Iron Man and faces the villain Crimson Dynamo. The final boss has skyscraper-like scale. The original story of the Iron Man has been used for the game wherein, the fate of the world will rest in hands of Iron Man and War Machine. Iron Man 2: Video Game is due for arrival on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, and DS platforms on May 4 in North America.


After Ubisoft s new DRM left many Assassin s Creed II for PC players stranded, the company has decided to give away special packs from Black Edition of the game. However, several folks who paid for the Black Edition are miffed for the company is giving away certain maps for free.

"Following the recent temporary game server outages which may have caused disruption to some Assassin's Creed 2 players on PC only, we would like to reward your patience if you have experienced any problems by offering you some additional content - previously only available with special editions."


2010 FIFA World Cup Kicks off on Game4u.com


Online game retail destination Game4u.com has announced pre-orders for the much-awaited 2010 FIFA World Cup: South Africa. The game, which will release on April 30, is the officially licensed videogame from EA Sports for the upcoming FIFA World Cup to be held in South Africa in June this year. The game is priced at Rs. 2,499 for the PS3 and Xbox360 versions, Rs. 1,999 for the Wii and Rs. 1,599 for the PSP version. You can pre-order it from here.



Sony Benelux's Marketing Manager, Folkert Langeveld has now said that LittleBigPlanet 2 is under development,reported Dutch site Tweakers. According to the report, LittleBigPlanet 2 will support the recently announced PlayStation Move motion controller. This news comes as a bit of a surprise as Danny Leaver, Level Designer for Media Molecule, last November said, "We'd never want to do that (LBP sequel). That'd be the most counterproductive thing you could do I think." Media Molecule was acquired by Sony last month.


Have you been dreaming to play games with a hot girl online instead of your fat, foul-language speaking male gamer pal? Well, GameCrush is a new escort-like service that lets male gamers to play their favorite video games with girls aka PlayDates by paying some amount to the service. PlayDates will have to register with their real name, address, and other information needed so that the service can send cheques of the money earned. However, the cheques will be sent only if the PlayDate has earned a minimum of $50. Both players and PlayDates have to be 18 years of age or above to get registered.
So thats it for the fortnight in gaming. We hope to see more news and updates en route as the date of E3 convention approaches. Till then, keep gaming on your consoles, PC, Mac or Mobile. Game on!

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