Not again

zzzzz.  Wha?  Did I  miss out on telling everyone on more info on the 3DS titles and on the new 3DS XL?

Boy I must be falling asleep here.  Anyway, I heard that there's this new Source Filmmaker which lets those who have Steam on their PC create all new films based off the Source Engine.

More info at http://www.sourcefilmmaker.com/

Zzzz..   Must...do...NPD May 2012.

Nintendo's panel in a nutshell: 8 days late

Aww darnit.  Did I fall asleep at the keyboard again?  Well lemme take about my take on Nintendo's E3.

First off, there were 2 press conferences.  One focused on Wii U, the other on the 3DS

Perhaps the most important news of Nintendo is that Pikmin is finally getting a sequel after 8 years.  And I thought I was late with the news



After Olimar was busy duking it out with a mustached plumber, an elfen boy, a girl in metal armor, a pink puff, a electric rat, an angel, the king of the koopas, an evil mustached guy, a secret agent and a blue hedgehog, it's great for him to finally return to his roots and have a little fun.  Speaking of mustached plumber, guess who's finally getting a new game that is coming out on release date?



All complete with Baby Yoshis and Yoshi's Island graphics

Now for 3rd Party, we have Ubisoft demonstrating a couple of games.   One of which is a new Rayman game made exclusive(for the time being) for the Wii U



And if Resident Evil isn't zombie enough, Ubisoft now has ZombiU coming out



And after finally messing with a number of franchises(Ex: Star Wars, Batman, Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean and Harry Potter), Lego takes you inside their city in a new GTA Clone



But nothing can prepare the gamer for the ultimate game coming out.


NINTENDO LAND(Trailer provided by ContraNetwork)



Yes, NintendoLand.  A theme park for the Nintendo fanboy/Girl within.  And most likely, it will be a pack-in title.

Later, I'm gonna talk about the 3DS games(If I Can remember) coming out.  And stay tuned.  For soon you will be able to link your 3DS to a Nintendo Network account.

Sony's Panel in a Nutshell, plus Watch Dogs

With Nintendo's Press Conference coming up, let's take alook at what Sony did before we get to them

And after spending last year as a guest character on Mortal Kombat, Kratos returns in a prequel to the original God of War



Welcome back, Kratos.  Now let's see if we can convince you to vote Mitt Romney this year.  But that's not the only game Kratos will appear in.  He, alongside characters like Sly Cooper, Pa Rappa the Rapper, Nathan Drake and even a Big Daddy from Bioshock will play in the Smash Bros clone: Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale



Bright colors is the new brown.  And boy does it look good

Also, from the creators of Heavy Rain brings us BEYOND: Two Souls



And finally, Survival is about to take on a whole new meaning with The Last of Us.



This, will revolutionize the survival genre.

Sony has more videos of E3 at its Youtube page http://www.youtube.com/user/PlayStation.  I heard they also were talking about linking the Vita to the PS3 allowing cross platform play.

Before we conclude and stay tuned for the Nintendo Panel, let's take alook at Watch Dogs

Microsoft's panel in a nutshell

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, E3 is here and among us. Yesterday, Nintendo demonstrated what the Wii U's Gamepad was capable of and also decided to show off the new Wii U Pro Controller. We'll talk about that when we go into Nintendo's panel tomorrow.

 First off, Microsoft's panel. ZOMG. HALO 4. HALO 4. HAL... Actually, screw Halo 4. Gears of War: Judgement sounds better. Wonder when that will come out? No wait. Ubisoft is getting my attention with Splinter Cell: Blacklist. Now let's see what else Microsoft has coo.... Wait. there is another thing. The all-new Smartglass. (Courtest of IGN) Now what the Smartglass is capable of is allowing new means of input using your at-home tablet, from the iPad to Android Tablets. Now you don't need a X-Box Gamepad. You have the tablet and your 360 controller at the same time. It even works on your Smartphone.

Next up, I'll be talking about Sony's panel alongside Ubisoft and their newest game "Watch Dogs"

NPD April 2012: Week before E3 edition

Folks, E3 is just around the corner. Which means I will be talking about what's coming out. But in the meantime, it's NPD time again. So how did Xenoblade do? In fact, how did sales do that month? Unfortunately, it's a lose-lose situation

 1.) Prototype 2 (360, PS3) Activision Blizzard - Less than 236K, perhaps significantly.
 2.) Kinect Star Wars (360) Lucasarts
 3.) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (360, PS3, Wii, PC) Activision Blizzard
4.) Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13 (360, PS3) Electronic Arts
5.) NBA 2K12 (360, PS3, Wii, PSP, PC, PS2) Take-Two Interactive
6.) The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings (360, PC) Warner Bros. Interactive
7.) Mario Party 9 (Wii) Nintendo
8.) Mass Effect 3 (360, PS3, PC) Electronic Arts
9.) Just Dance 3 (Wii, 360, PS3) Ubisoft
10.) MLB 12: The show (PS3, PSV) Sony

What just happen here? The best game, Prototype 2 sold less than 236K That's the most pathetic month ever. Right behind is Kinect Star Wars with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 at number 3. Tiger Woods is still slamming in at Number 4 with NBA 2K12 at Number 5. The Witcher 2 is right ahead of Mario's 9th Party and the Mass Effect is still jamming away at number 8. At number 9 and 10 are Just Dance 3 and MLB 12: The Show.

 Which makes us wonder: What happened to Xenoblade?

 Acclaimed Wii RPG Xenoblade Chronicles was a retailer exclusive, so is excluded from NPD's monthly report.

 Oh SNAP! Talk about exclusion from the NPD club. And what about the Hardware? It's also not looking good as well.  While the 360 is number one again, that isn't saying much

 Xbox 360 - 236K (-20.5%)

 All of the other numbers are unavailable, but this makes April 2008's NPD look good. Heck, even the 3DS in Japan is doing better than this. Will the Always On Cloud Diablo 3 go against the machine and win number 1? Find out in May. This NPD concludes with a preview of Injustice: Gods Among Us for 360, PS3 and Wii U Works Cited NeoGAF Go Nintendo

Is the X-Box 360 doomed to an early grave?

The X-Box 360 lately has been enjoying a nice success the Wii had early this generation. But it seems Motorola's lawsuit against Microsoft's X-Box 360 over a patent violation may end up shaking Microsoft. But what patent? A judge has recommended that the Xbox 360 be banned in the US. Courthouse News reports that Judge David Shaw said the International Trade Commission should use a cease and desist order to ban imports of the Xbox 360 Slim 4GB and 250GB models into the US because, in his view, they infringe on four patents owned by Motorola. He also wants Microsoft to post a bond equal to seven per cent of the value of unsold Xbox 360s in the US. The patents at the heart of the dispute revolve around how the Xbox 360 decodes video content. Motorola claims ownership on the tech powering this. Video Content. It's all about Video Content. Besides, who plays a video game system for video games nowadays? But here is Microsoft's rebuttal. Reacting to this latest decision, Microsoft argued the ban would not serve the public interest because it would leave consumers with only two home console options: the PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Wii. But the judge rejected the claim, saying it was more important to enforce intellectual property rights. Plus, he wasn't convinced Sony and Nintendo wouldn't be able to meet increased demand. Come on David Shaw. What are you doing getting in the way of the free market principle? Microsoft has a clear excuse and you chose to feed it to your pet bear. But it seems there's more to Motorola's lawsuit than meets the eye. As it stands, Motorola is suing another client: Apple over its iPhone systems. Microsoft said the suggested seven per cent bond was unnecessary, and recommended it be reduced to 2.5 per cent. Motorola wants it increased to a whopping 100 per cent of the value of the unsold Xbox 360s. 100 Per Cent? What is this, the Motorola X-Box 360? I thought it was done by Good Ol Microsoft. Next thing you'll know, Windows will become a Motorola product. So, it seems a Judge's ruling says that "Microsoft is under a violation and must be banned in America for the sake of Motorola. Now what? So what happens next in this long-running, complex patent dispute? If the ITC makes the judge's recommendation final, President Barack Obama will then have 60 days to review the decision. After that period expires, the next step is the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. NOOOO! Not Obama. Anyone but Obama. Finally, one other Judge had this to say. Earlier this month a US judge accused the warring factions of using the US District Court as "a pawn in a global, industry-wide business negotiation". Judge James Robart said both sides were clearly "driven by an attempt to secure commercial advantage". "To an outsider looking at it, it has been arbitrary, it has been arrogant and frankly it has been based on hubris," he said. Aww come on now. That's no way to treat the Free Market. Works Cited: Eurogamer Apparently, there was a lawsuit against Apple by Motorola. You can rea some info on why it was sued at Foss Patents And although Apple countered with its lawsuit They're firing again with an even bigger lawsuit. Boy, aren't Lawsuits grand?

My thoughts on Diablo 3, and a nasty attack going on

Folks, despite it's Always-on DRM(Which ironically stores most of the data server side. You get only a small client), it seems I have tasted Diablo 3 and despite its problems with having to be online to play at all, I actually enjoy this little trinket. And I only had to have a WoW Annual Pass just to get the game. What I like about this game- Compared to Diablo 2, the game is actually much more flexible. It's much easier to navigate compared to Diablo 2, and the means of pulling off attacks. Players can create their own builds on each of the 5 classes: Barbarian, Monk, Witch Doctor, Wizard and Demon Hunter. I have yet to test the Auction House. Also, what I liked was that you could invite your own friends over or get into a Public game with others. My beefs with the game- Other than the Always-on requirement, there are some other issues I had. One is that in order to get access to your customization, you have to be at a higher level. Not much of a biggie. Also, the game is punishing for those who never played Diablo 1 and/or 2. So if you're new to this, be prepared to get your ass handed to you. Overall, it's not actually a bad title. Those of you who want to taste it, jump right it. But like I said, be aware of the always-on requirement. And it's more than just a DRM, since its data files are server side. Now, onto some bad news. Word has it that some Diablo 3 fans are having their stuff hacked. And worst off, they don't need your information. Eurogamer has this to report. A quick glance online shows multiple reports of Diablo 3 accounts being hacked, suggesting it is a growing issue. Players have seen the loss of items stored in character inventory and stash, and gold removed as their accounts are stripped bare. Blizzard has been working to "roll back" affected characters to a point before accounts were compromised, but some progress is lost. The reports coincided with the EU Diablo 3 servers going offline on Sunday afternoon for around four hours, preventing players from logging in (error 33). It has been suggested that the EU servers were taken offline following a SQL injection attack, but this remains unconfirmed. Blizzard offers an Authenticator designed to provide extra security to your account. Donlan did not have the authenticator before the hack, but reports suggest accounts have been compromised even with this enabled. One theory suggested by players on the Battle.net forum revolves around hijacking session identifiers, which would allow hackers to take over accounts without alerting Blizzard's authentication server. Again, this remains unconfirmed. Whatever the cause, Blizzard will be keen to address the situation quickly, especially in light of the upcoming release of the real money auction house and the growing complaints from players. Blizzard said last week it was set for release at the end of the month. That's scary. But what's really scary is what I pointed out, they only need your username. Your password and Authenticator means moot when they can kick you off and take over, drain your gold and gear, and drink all of your soda. So what's Blizzard been doing? sleeping on the job again? Focusing more on WoW: Mists of Pandaria? Well... Hey guys, We are very aware of these reports and are taking them very seriously. Please keep an eye on the General Discussion forums as Community members will be posting something soon. If you have been hacked, please contact Customer Service as soon as you can. In addition, using an Authenticator can help secure your account even more. Convincing, but stay tuned. We'll see more about what's going on. This report brought to you by Steam Cards from GameStop. Because Impulse isn't enough to satisfy GameStop's thirst for money. Works Cited Eurogamer