Sony and its second party developer, Polyphony Digital have decided to halt development of Gran Turismo HD, instead focus their attention on a true sequel of the franchise in Gran Turismo 5.
The series creator, Kazunori Yamauchi, says, however, that a "concept demo" will be available later this month. . The game, now called Gran Turismo HD Concept will hit the PlayStation Store on December 24th. This demo will allow gamers to try out ten cars and a single track of the game. It is also alluded to that further demos may be released prior to the release of Gran Turismo 5 some time in 2008.
Polyphony clearly feels that a full true sequel to the franchise is needed sooner rather than releasing a highly upgraded PS2 game. Great move Sony!!
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Time for some Halo action guys!! Bungie has opened the Halo 3 website for beta registrations. Xbox Live Gold users can now register for a chance to play Halo 3 when the beta is out sometime in early 2007.
Please note that in order to register for the beta, you must be 17 years or older and a resident of the 50 United States (includes District of Columbia) or Canada. If selected to participate, you must have access to the following:
- An Xbox 360 Pro console or an Xbox 360 Core console with hard drive
- A valid Xbox Live Gold subscription
- A valid Microsoft. NET Passport account with a Xbox Live gamertag linked
By now European gamers should have figured out that they are not eligible for registering. However Bungie promises to open registrations in Europe very soon. So hold on until then but for now, enjoy this latest Halo 3 ad shown last night on ESPN.
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"Each new instance of DirectX has been an evolution of the previous
version that brings support for new hardware features, allowing game
developers to push the boundaries of realism that little bit further.
However, there have been a number of limitations in place that have
gotten in the way of developers ever since the API’s invention. With a
completely new driver model arriving in Windows Vista, Microsoft’s
Direct3D development team decided that the best way forwards was to
wipe the slate clean and start from scratch.
DirectX 10 is probably the most important revolution in games
development, at least since the introduction of the programmable shader
in DirectX 8.0. Because of the way that Microsoft has designed the new
driver model, DirectX 10 will only be available for Windows Vista users
and there will not be a version released for Windows XP. Along with
DirectX 10, Windows Vista will come with DirectX 9.0Ex – this is
because pre-DirectX 10 hardware will not work under the new API due to
the complete overhaul."
DIRECT URL: http://www.bit-tech.net
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"Pacific Crest Securities analyst Evan Wilson told investors this morning that "poor reviews and quality are beginning to tarnish the EA brand." Wilson pointed to a survey his company had made that utilized the aggregate game ratings available at GameRankings.com. The study indicated that EA's overall game quality is continuing to fall.
The games that Wilson identified as having significant quality declines over the last few years were the Need for Speed franchise and NBA Live. He also pointed to recent titles that have received very poor reviews, such as Superman Returns, Batman Begins, Marvel Nemesis, NFL Head Coach, and Arena Football."
An EA representative responded to Mitchell's report with the following statement: "The EA brand is strong with great games from franchises that continue to break sales records. Across the portfolio, EA always strives to drive innovation and quality into its titles. EA continues to invest in next-generation development and technology which will translate into high quality gaming throughout the next console cycle."
DIRECT URL: http://arstechnica.com
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Head over to the PS3 page on Gamespot, you will get a stunning welcome, believe me! The page is full of Xbox 360 ads!! Yeah, thats true, more than half of the page is occupied by the 360 on both sides, with a relatively narrow main content block.
Considering that none of the Gamespot pages except for the PS3 page have the XBox skin (not the PS2 page, not even the XBox page), I'd say this goes beyond "advertising blitz."
This is actually referred to as a "Roadblock" in the internet advertising business. All ads on the page are for the one advertiser, and they get to change the background or "skin" of the webpage. No doubt this is gonna cost MS a lot. It should be noted that Gamespot doesn't have control over the ads on the site because they are owned by Cnet, and they manage all the advertising.
Sony will be fuming when they catch wind of this. MS could proceed to do this on every PS3 board on every major site, and Sony could do nothing (except buy them out).
(Most of the text is shamelessly stolen from Digg comments!!)
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"Ubisoft are really the guys to watch out in 2007! Ubisoft's financial statement held some good news for gamers. Everyone knows how well Ubisoft took full advantage of the Microsoft Xbox 360 system and now they are looking forward for the PS3 and Nintendo Wii platforms.
Ubisoft has said that they will be puting out 14 games for the Nintendo Wii, along with the 7 from the launch. One of those games could possibly be Prince of Persia, as UBI had once previously stated that they were working on this title. All these games are supposed to be out by March 2007!
In addition to these titles, there are ofcourse the GRAW2, Assasin's Creed and Brothers in Arms: Hells Highway are in the making too. Anyhow, it revealed recently that the latter two titles may be delayed until late 2007 or even early 2008."
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EA is back with a sequel to their not so appealing Cricket 2005. The problem with the previous version was that it's simply difficult for the average gamer to beat. EA has fixed this issue to some extent in the new Cricket 07. But the game is still far from prefect!
Cricket 07 includes a lot of new features such as "Century Stick"
control
system, new cameras, improved visuals, better overall gameplay
experience making this release the best so far in EA's cricket
releases. Will it bowl you over or be out for a duck. Let's find out.
Jockstraps are optional.
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LONDON, ENGLAND - Rockstar Games, the controversial game developer behind such titles as “Grand Theft Auto” and “Bully”, has announced that they are currently in the final stages of developing a new title, “Stalker”.
“After the success of ‘Bully’, ‘Stalker’ seemed like a natural fit,” said company spokesperson and legal representative Aiden Anna Betting.
In the game, players first select their target from an extensive list of the “Most Stalkable” celebrites provided exclusively to Rockstar by the editors of Sweaty Lenscap magazine. Alternately, players can choose to create their own stalking target with Rockstar’s new Victimizer(tm) system, where the player can either scan in photographs and let the program create a lifelike simulation of the subject, or select just the right hair, body shape, and other features to create the ideal person of their obsessive dreams.
The player then embarks on many mission-based levels of increasing complexity and difficulty, from simple garbage-sifting missions to the game’s adrenaline-punding ending, which Rockstar is being a little cagey about, but Aiden Anna Betting hints “It involves crashing and ruining a celebrity wedding."
As well as completing the missions, players are also awarded points based on level of obsession, degree of alienation of subject, and restraining orders accrued, amongst many other stalking factors.
Predictably, noted anti-Rockstar activist and general nutbar Jack Thompson has filed strong objections to the game’s content. “This game is clearing just a training simulator for criminal activity, and should be banned from being published, distributed, or even thought about, in the interests of freedom. I find this game reprehensible on every possible level, and so do all decent, rational, sane people like myself. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go try to sue a kindergarten student for drawing a not-at-all flattering picture of me and labeling it ‘poopyhead’. That’s clearly libel, slander, and treason, and I’m going to ask for a BILLION KAJILLION DOLLARS!”
In response, Aiden Anna Betting replied, “Rockstar Games rejects, in the strongest possible terms, the notion that our video games encourage crimes. If anything, Stalker provides a safe, consequence-free way for people to explore their stalking side, and makes people LESS likely to become stalkers in the real world. And anyhow, Jack Thompson is nobody to go around claiming we’re immoral, given the number of empty liquor bottles and used condoms that routinely show up in his garbage.”
Stalker is scheduled for a February 14th release date, shortly before Rockstar’s highly-anticipated spring title, “Homicide : How To Get Away With It”.
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"Electronic Arts has taken FIFA 07 back to the top, knocking number one, Gears of War, down to number three. The number two position is Need for Speed Carbon."
Top List:
1. FIFA 07
2. Need for Speed Carbon
3. Gears of War
4. The Sims 2: Pets
5. Pro Evolution Soccer 6
6. Smackdown vs. Raw
7. Call of Duty 3
8. Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
9. Bratz: Forever Diamonds
10. Cars
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"Motion blur is the apparent streaking of rapidly moving objects in a still image or a sequence of images such as a movie or animation.
When an image of moving objects or from a moving camera is created it does not always merely represent a single instant of time. Often, because of technological constraints or artistic requirements, the image must represent the scene over a period of time.
As objects move in a scene over time an image of that scene must represent an integration of all positions of a camera's viewpoint and object positions over the period of exposure determined by the shutter speed.
The eye doesn't see things frame-by-frame. Instead, the eye cells are constantly sending information to the brain as they react to changes in the world we live in. becuase the cells of the eye take time to react and to send data to the brain, we get a blurring effect on fast moving objects."
"The guys at the Crysis website have put up a nice article to explain motion blur and its effects on gaming. The article is pretty easy to understand and it will definitely improve your understanding of motion blur or if you don't know what it is, this article is a great starting point."
ARTICLE URL: http://www.crysis-online.com
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