« Igniq.com Gaming News - Bookmark this site Advertisements  At the E3, we were treated to a series of stunning technical demos that showed some serious power under the Playstation 3's hood, with some of the presentations running on a prototype machine for developers.It now appears the final model of the console may be up to 25% more powerful than the developer machines. Recently, the first images and specs of the current PS3 development kit hardware leaked onto the web, revealing the processor onboard the hardware was only running at 2.4GHz: ITmedia revealed that the Cell chip used in Sony's PS3 developer's kit is running at only 2.4GHz, just 75 percent of the machine's final spec of 3.2GHz. The report also reconfirms that the graphics processor unit used in the E3 machine was not the RSX chip that will be used in the final product but is another Nvidia GPU, possibly the just-announced GeForce 7800 GTX. PlayStation 3 Tech Specs PlayStation 3 SDK Hardware Images On The Web PS3 controller pic emerges, this time smaller? No Decision Yet on PS3 Euro Release Final Fantasy VII For PS3? Research claims PS3 to lose market share next year Discussion >> Just days after the Japanese media linked a double murder to GTA 3, Rockstar has been hit with another tragedy linked to one of their titles, this time Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Roland Kirk Brown was sentenced to life in prison without parole for shooting and killing a seven year old girl, Deva White, who was sitting with her grandmother and 8 year old brother when Brown opened fire on their home. What prompted the violence was an argument over Deva White's brother's copy of San Andreas, which he claimed Brown's son had stolen: Police say Brown fired gunshots into Deva White's house on Nov. 29 while the girl say on a couch with her grandmother and 8-year-old brother. Deva was struck in the chest. Japanese Media Link GTA III To Murders GTA3 - Sales Restriction in Japan (31 May) Discussion >>  Spong.com have been emailed what's claimed to be an early ad for the Nintendo Revolution, that was planned to go live at the time of the Xbox 360 launch. The ad states the Revolution will be coming in March 2006, though at this time it doesn't appear likely we'll see the console at such an early date. Nintendo Revolution Ad? Massive Lie? Related: Nintendo's E3 Interactive Floor Display YARCP (Yet Another Revolution Controller Pic) Classic Nintendo titles remade on Revolution? Discussion >>  Sony Computer Entertainment have told both Gamespot and Gamesindustry.biz that rumours of cuts in the production of the PSP were untrue.Japanese site Nikkei BP had claimed that PSP manufacturers were told to produce 18 million units over the course of the current business year, but Sony's annual financial report stated that only 12 million would be shipped, causing Nikkei BP to suggest chip shortages might be to blame. Sony today dismissed Nikkei BP's report, saying there never was a figure higher than 12 million: "I'm not sure where the 18 million claim came from," a Sony Computer Entertainment America rep told GameSpot. "We announced in the Sony earnings call that the fiscal year 2005 PSP shipment targets were 12 million units worldwide. We are still on target and there has been no reduction in forecast. Sony refutes rumours of drop in PSP production Sony Not Going After Import PSP Owners PSP Movies Conquer 100,000 Mark Sony Unhappy But Powerless On PSP Porn PSP Trademark May Delay European Release? (6 June) Discussion >>  In a newsletter to fans, CCP Games have announced Cold War Edition, a major content update to Eve Online. The update is described as being "much larger in scope than a regular patch and yet smaller than a full expansion".The newsletter tells players to get ready for some large scale changes in the game, and reveals Cold War Edition will set the stage for the next Eve Online expansion, code-named Kali: Some of the new [Cold War Edition] features include outposts, which are intended for systems where a full station is overkill, mega-cruisers that are so big they don't fit through stargates and need their own onboard jumpdrives, mega-freighters with a million cubic meters of storage capacity (seen here - those are some of the game's current largest ships next to it), new star systems, vast improvements to add more strategy to ship combat, and an "industrial revolution." Related: Eve Online official site CCP (Crowd Control Productions) Discussion >>  I missed this video of a stunning interactive floor display that was at Nintendo's booth at the E3 - it transforms the floor into a pond, complete with fish that flee when you stand on them, and wooden steps that sink when stepped on.It's strange that no significant mention of this was made during the E3; Systemwars.com speculate if it could be a hint of things to come for the Nintendo Revolution, but something tells me that would be too good to be true. View it Related: YARCP (Yet Another Revolution Controller Pic) Miyamoto: Nintendo Revolution interface "the big gun" Miyamoto: Nintendo Revolution Controller Still Being Designed (8 June) Discussion >>  The first two innings of a real-life baseball game between the Kansas City T-Bones and the Schaumburg Flyers will be played on an Xbox, with the real teams picking up where the virtual game left off:Equipped with Microsoft Xbox game controllers instead of baseball gloves and bats, two video gamers will climb into recliner chairs around home plate at CommunityAmerica Ballpark and slug it out on the park’s 16- by 24-foot video screen.  You don't mind stealing games online, according to a recent government funded study into anti-piracy. The study found that of the 2,400 individuals interviewed, most failed to see piracy as theft.Consumers have an awareness of the scale of the problem and cost, but don't take onboard industry concerns or government messages said Dr Bryce, a senior lecturer in psychology.The study found that most people who download a game illegally can not compare the act in any way to say, stepping into a store, shoving a disc down your trousers and walking out without paying. "People are more accepting of it, even if they didn't engage it in themselves," said Dr Bryce. "They don't see it as a great problem on a social or economic level.  Just days after the official website for Enemy Territory: Quake Wars was announced, a new high-res trailer has hit the web. The game is being developed by Splash Damage and is based around id Software's next-gen gaming engine.Quake Wars, an id Software and Splash Damage co-production, “Pits the armies of Earth against the invading alien Strogg in the ultimate strategic shooter.” And as you will see from the video, which is comprised entirely of in-game footage, the project looks very nice indeed. Quake Wars is slated for release to PC sometime in 2006.Check out the high-res trailer here (56.8Mb) (Quicktime Req.) Related: Official website Discussion >>  One of the games that made Tom's Hardware's ten games to look out for in 2005 is Okami (Wolf), an unusual PS2 title from the creators of Viewtiful Joe. Okami dispenses with attempting to dazzle the player with photo-realistic graphics, instead the game draws heavily on creative art, so much so in fact the whole game looks like a beautiful Japanese watercolour painting. Art permeates the gameplay also, one of the main controls is the ability to pause the game, which flattens the scene out onto a sheet of paper; you can then draw brush-strokes on the paper and when you unpause, the strokes have an effect in the game, for instance, drawing a circle around a dead tree revitalizes it: The brush can stroke bridges into existence between two shores, dot new stars to fill out incomplete constellations (thereby creating new stellar creatures), slash enemies by literally drawing a bisecting line through them, and dashing gates or other obstructions to the ground before reverting to "normal" gameplay. Clover Studio - developer Okami trailers and gameplay footage Art and Mythology Come Alive as Capcom Announces Ôkami For The PS2 (18 May) Discussion >>  It appears gaming giant IGN Entertainment is up for sale. The NYPost is reporting the company has approached "virtually every big media company", seeking to sell for $850 million, while it has also considered going public.Yahoo! and Viacom are said to be interested in the company, which is listed among Alexa's top 100 sites on the Web and has a goldmine monthly audience of 27 million 18-34 year old males: Sources who have heard its pitch say the company is seeking a valuation close to $850 million - a large number considering the company was taken private in 2003 by Great Hill Partners, a Boston private equity firm, for just $26.4 million. Gamesdomain: IGN For Sale Discussion >>  Team Xbox have posted up a recent interview with Microsoft's Todd Holmdahl. Holmdahl is one of the people responsible for the hardware end of the next-gen console and the interview is an attempt to iron out myths surrounding the Xbox 360 and even ask questions that were posted by fans looking for some concrete answers.Regarding DVD movie playback, will you upscale standard definition DVDs to 720p or 1080i like modern DVD players? Will the Xbox 360 play WMVHD DVDs? As for the GPU, the Xbox 360 has the most powerful GPU of any gaming console; even better, we made specific design choices to enable game developers to render real-time complex scenes at high resolutions with high-quality anti-aliasing. Without our Embedded DRAM on the GPU and the huge 256Gbyes/second dedicated bus from the GPU core to the EDRAM, it is impossible to render true next-generation scene complexity at high-resolution with anti-aliasing. MS Laundry Taunts Sony With 360 Ads X360 Boycott Called For After MS Agrees to Censor Blogs Microsoft to unload 10 Million Xbox 360s Microsoft: Xbox 360 Will Win In Japan Discussion >>  A new picture has surfaced of the PS3 controller in which it appears smaller than before or is a completely different sized model than the one previously seen.The previous pics had the controller looking slightly bulky and you got the impression it would be uncomfortable to use. This new image lends a more soothing and sleek look. Via Gamespot forums Related: PlayStation 3 SDK Hardware Images On The Web No Decision Yet on PS3 Euro Release Research claims PS3 to lose market share next year PS3 Not a Toy, But a Linux Supercomputer Kutaragi on PS3 backwards compatibility, more 360 attacks Discussion >>  Nvidia has officially announced the launching of its new graphics card, the 7800 GTX. We all remember the launch last year of Nvidia's 6800 and the lack of availability there after. Well, this time around the company is promising immediate worldwide availability of it's new gpu. The new card supports SLI so anyone with a bottomless wallet can pick two of them up to have one badass piece of gaming machine at their disposal. Some of the PS3 demos at E3 this year were purported to be running on prototypes of the 7800 GTX. The graphics card giant has also release new drivers to support its new gpu. You can download the 77.72 drivers for win_2k and XP here. (20.2Mb) Technical specifications of the card can be found over on Nvidia's website. System builders, add-in card manufacturers and retailers are said to be offering super-fast performance by leveraging the combined power of dual GeForce 7800 GTX GPUs through NVIDIA SLI. Nvidia to save Xbox 360's incompatible ass ATI's Crossfire gunning to oust Nvidia's SLI (01 June 05) Discussion >>  6 new screenshots of Far Cry: Instincts, the console version of the classic PC shooter Far Cry have emerged. The game itself is due for release to Xbox in September of this year, with a PS2 release not ruled out but as of yet unconfirmed.Also check out the official website, which is still half finished but does include a trailer, more screenshots and details about the game's AI, vehicles, weapons, storyline and some online aspects of Instincts. Check out the new screenshots here Related: Far Cry Instincts Only Planned for Xbox New Far Cry Instincts Movie Official Far Cry Instincts site Crytek.com - developers Far Cry Goes 64-Bit, Will You? Discussion >>  Anarchy Online is celebrating its fourth year of existence with a series of events and giveaways. This weekend, FunCom will be giving away prizes including new graphics cards, sound cards, T-Shirts and various other accessories:There are hundreds of prizes to be given away so log in, tune in, check the forums, be alert in game and watch the OOC channels over the weekend for your chance to get your hands on some of the awesome loot on offer! Funcom.com Play ad-supported Anarchy Online free Discussion >>  Not long after American Senator Charles Schumer described the game as glorified cop-killing, Nancy Grace has made her opinion of the game clear as she slammed 25 to Life in a recent panel discussion on her CNN show.This is what your kids will be digesting if you buy this," Grace said as game footage was shown. "One law officer after the next gunned down in the line of duty. Prosecutor Jack Thompson added to Grace's disgust as he described the game and "these games" as murder simulators.You have to ask Bill Gates, what are you thinking? Here's a philanthropist and a powerful man, the richest man in the world, and yet he's making available to children around the world on Xbox a cop-killing game. Thompson then went on to describe a case in Alabama in which two police officers and a dispatcher were murdered (according to the Prosecutor) "because of Grand Theft Auto", and also claimed that the military uses such video games to break down the inhibition of newly recruited officers, in order to desensitize them.But defense lawyer Dino Lombardi was less keen to point the finger, telling Grace: "People kill cops - videogames don't kill cops." US Senator denounces "Cop-Killer" game Discussion >>  In the wake of this year's E3, publishers are gradually releasing their E3 presentations to the public. Ubisoft have now hosted the first part of their Heroes of Might & Magic V demo, which can be downloaded at the game's official website and has a file size of about 25 MB. The clip, commented by producer Fabrice Cambounet, offers the rendered and in-game view of a fully developed Human Town. Other than that, there's not much to be learned from the demo, as any gameplay or interface elements are still missing at this stage. More details on the game itself are likely to be disclosed in one of the upcoming demo chapters.Related info: Heroes of Might & Magic V Heroes of Might & Magic V - New Screens (17 May) Discussion >>  A new video demo has been released showing off the new Unreal Engine 3 running on the GeForce 7800. Epic's Tim Sweeney walks us through the demo as a buggy is seen travelling through a huge city of hundreds of buildings, all generated in realtime.Watch the video over on GameSpy Related: EpicGames.com UnrealTechnology.com Unreal Engine 3 detailed overview Epic announce Unreal Engine 3 for Sony's Ps3 (18 May) Discussion >>  BioWare have released Pirates of The Sword Coast, a new premium content module for Neverwinter Nights. As the name suggests, the module lets players swashbuckle their way through 8 to 12 hours of adventure off The Sword Coast:A tale of pirates, parrots, and peril! As a sailor aboard the Midnight Rose merchant ship, you've stopped in Neverwinter to gather supplies before a long trip south. A most peculiar course of events follows, slowly unraveling a plot of whale-sized proportions. Embark on a swashbuckling journey on the high seas. Polly want adventure? Related: BioWare.com NWN: Pirates screenshot gallery NWN: Pirates official forum Neverwinter Nights list of premium modules Discussion >>  When Sony started court proceedings against a number of independent retailers who had taken it upon themselves to import the PSP into the U.K., a clause included in their legal document caused some concern.The clause stated that the company would demand the names and addresses of the customers of the independent retailers, sparking fears that Sony would take an RIAA-esque approach and take the individual console buyers to court. SCEE head of corporate communications Nick Sharples explained to Eurogamer that this is a standard procedure, and the information would only be used to trace the full supply chain and establish the level of damages Sony suffered as a result of the importing. Sharples also said going after consumers is not their objective: We can assure people who bought consoles on the grey market that we're not going to be going after them Sony won't take away your PSP Sony begins court proceedings against UK PSP importers (17 June) ElectricBirdLand rallies indies over Sony "bullying" (13 June) The Guardian: Fighting for fair game Discussion >> A 15 year old boy allegedly murdered his parents in Tokyo, Japan last week, before blowing up their apartment with home-made explosives in an attempt to conceal the evidence. The media in Japan have linked the tragedy to Rockstar Games Grand Theft Auto III, after the boy's schoolmates said he was a video gaming fan, and specifically a fan of GTA III: Today, some media outlets are reporting that the boy's schoolmates have described him as an average student who loved playing video games, and that he was a fan of Grand Theft Auto III. JAPANESE KILLINGS SEE GAMING SCAPEGOATED AGAIN Grand Theft Auto III restricted in Japan (31 May) Discussion >>  In the absence of any official images or announcements, leaked or just plain photoshopped images of the mysterious Nintendo Revolution controller crop up on the web every couple of days. This time, a scan purportedly taken from an unnamed Japanese gaming mag tells us the Revolution will come with two different controllers, one for each hand. The controllers include an analog controller on the left hand piece and a D-pad on the right, with three buttons on the underside of both. According to a second-hand translation, the Japanese page also says the controller will include a gyroscopic control. Infendo: Revolution Controller? via Gawken Update: IGNIQ reader Gianni says: Definately FAKE! Revolution Controller Mockups Gallery Revolution Controller Sans Buttons Mock-up Miyamoto: Nintendo Revolution interface "the big gun" Miyamoto: Nintendo Revolution Controller Still Being Designed (8 June) Discussion >>  TeamXbox.com has the Web's first unofficial image of the hardware for the Playstation 3 SDK, as well as two pictures of the current Nvidia RSX chip that will be used in the PS3, and is already in the SDK. In addition to the RSX chip, sources have confirmed to TeamXbox that the dev kit has a 2.4 GHz processor onboard. TeamXbox: PlayStation 3 SDK Revealed, First Pictures Spotted Related: No Decision Yet on PS3 Euro Release Research claims PS3 to lose market share next year PS3 Not a Toy, But a Linux Supercomputer Kutaragi on PS3 backwards compatibility, more 360 attacks Discussion >>  For many years, gamers have been using Futuremark's gaming benchmark software, 3DMark to test their graphics cards and PCs to the limit. Some claim it is the best and most accurate 3D benchmark in the industry but others take a different view. A lot of our readers were disappointed when Futuremark unleashed 3DMark 2005 as it seemed to render most of the current day hardware useless in the performance arena.Sudhian.com has an interesting piece in which they examine 3DMark and ask if it really is a suitable benchmark in determining which graphics cards are suitable for next-gen gaming. They also examine ATI's upcoming dual-card technology offering, Crossfire which looks like a reply to the Nvidia question, SLI. For years, Futuremark's (the company formerly known as Mad Onion) 3DMark series has been considered the leading synthetic benchmark for graphic card performance. Some of the benchmark'’s success is due to marketing, with a dash of ease of use, a dollop of consistency, and an ounce of entertainment value added in for spice. Discussions and arguments have swirled around the 3DMark series ever since 3DMark 2003, when ExtremeTech discovered NVIDIA had released drivers that flat-out cheated when rendering the benchmark. The resulting flurry of PR'’s between FutureMark and NVIDIA fooled no one, and the '‘we a’re best friends again'’ scenario that resulted did nothing to restore credibility to either side. To date, FutureMark only allows certain '“approved'” optimizations in its '‘official'’ driver recommendations, which raises the murky issue between drivers and cheats all over again. Futuremark Discussion >>  1up.com has an interesting article posted up in which they examine the mind-set and reasoning behind some of today's cheaters in games. If you play online games, you will have crossed the path of a virtual Neo, a guy/girl that you just could not kill or someone who is able to see though walls and kill before you can even brandish your weapon.Some hackers lend in their thoughts and motives behind their cheating. Take Duncan for instance, he just doesn't have the time to play the games that much and according to him it's not fair that everyone else is better so he cheats. Turns out cheating is common ground for lots of gamers like Joe32. The social aspect of sharing glitches in live chat or in online forums is what keeps some cheaters going. The TeamKill and Cheat Community (www.tkc-community.net) is one hardcore band of glitching gamers dedicated to developing new ways to mess with the online medium. Their motivation ranges from a flat-out "just wanting to annoy" to a more altruistic "prolonging the game experience," butÂjust as in any social clubÂtheir communal attitude is fueled by a common interest: cheating.  For open-minded musicians with a touch of the retro gamer in them, the guitar of your dreams is just one click away.With a variable-speed knob on the eyeball so you can synchronize the blinker to the beat, you'll be strumming those old classics while reminiscing on days of Pac-Man gone bye. "People always ask me where I got it. It gets a lot of attention. What most people don't realize is that aside from being really cool looking it's an extremely well crafted and easy to play instrument." - Dave Winer Check out The Pac-Man Guitar | Via JoystiqRelated: Pac-Man smashes Guinness Book of World Records Pac Man's 25th Birthday, And We Salute Him Discussion >>  Hardly surprising, the success of the PSP movie format. With companies constantly climbing onboard this winning formula, it seems you PSP owners sure do like the idea of a portable flick.Gamesindustry.biz are reporting on the recent sales figures for PSP's UMD movies which are topping 100,000 according to Sony. Reuters, in quoting a Sony executive, say this figure does not even include copies of Spider-Man 2, which was shipped with many of the American PSP packages. Sony are suggesting that their proprietary UMD format is broadening all the time, with Sony looking outside of the typical 18-25 year-old male gamer demographic into the realm of Cartoons, also they will be trying to better target women in the future. New deals are being announced regularly - just this week we've seen Anchor Bay Entertainment pledge six releases, including horror and Manga titles, with the promise of more to come. Tons of Movies Coming to PSP Loads of UMD format movies announced Sony's UMD has hints of Betamax UMD Movie Rentals For The PSP? (26 April) About the Universal Media Disc (UMD) PSP's UMD on the offensive Discussion >>  According to an article over on GameGossip, Vivendi Universal may have pushed forward the release of the highly anticipated PC title, F.E.A.R. The news comes straight from Vivendi's website in the form of an updated release page. F.E.A.R. picks up as a paramilitary force infiltrates an aerospace compound, and a Special Forces unit sent in by the government is destroyed after a signal interrupts radio communication. F.E.A.R. has players put to the task of destroying the aerospace intruders, and determine the origin of the signal. Related: Official website Discussion >>  For those of you who like to indulge in the soft chocolate crispy delight of Smarties, you might be interested to know that the little chocolate pellets will be coming to a gaming console near you.KOCH Media has signed up with Smarties to release a titles based on the colourful confectionery to be released on an (as of yet) unnamed console this coming October. Described as a "third person action-adventure", Smarties: Meltdown will see super-hero Big Blue (a giant Smartie) on a mission to save the Smarties Factory Ship from an invasion by their archenemy, Dr Soursweet and his evil Stroopers. With voice work from Dave Benson Phillips (Playdays, Playhouse Disney), Big Blue will have to clobber his way through the Factory Ship orbiting Earth while it's under attack by a "small armada" of ships from Dr Soursweet's evil fleet - his comrades-in-being-crispy-coated-chocolate-treats having been imprisoned.  In an interview with EGN, Nintendo president Satoro Iwata talks Revolution and the upcoming online service. Nintendo claim that their entire back catalogue will be available for download through such a service.According to the interview, not only will compatible classic Nintendo games work on the Revolution, Nintendo is also looking to remake certain key titles. "We are doing several experiments, including working with the original Super Mario Bros., with the new technology," stated Iwata in the interview. "The game itself and the gameplay shall be identical, but the look will be different; it's possible that with Revolution, we may be able to see the old games with new looks." Revolution Controller Sans Buttons Mock-up Revolution Controller Mockups Gallery Miyamoto: Nintendo Revolution interface "the big gun" Miyamoto: Nintendo Revolution Controller Still Being Designed (8 June) Unofficial Nintendo Revolution Specs Hit The Web Discussion >>  The opening of a Sony showroom called "The PSP Factory" in Paris prompted Microsoft to shell out and hire the laundry across the street, just for the opportunity to emblazon the front of it with Xbox 360 ads: With a touch of espieglery, Microsoft hired the place to stick big ads on the shop (left), saying with quite a sense of humor : "Keep your forces for Winter". Of course, that’s when the Xbox 360 is meant to come out. And of course, this type of advertisement displeased Sony... After one day of corporate blasphemy, the stickers were removed (right photo again). No lawsuit, no scandal, just a big cheque from Sony. This nice story of laundry battling made the laundry worker a bit richer. Which is a good point. Related: X360 Boycott Called For After MS Agrees to Censor Blogs Microsoft to unload 10 Million Xbox 360s Microsoft: Xbox 360 Will Win In Japan Discussion >>  A successor to the crack that enabled unofficial code to be run on the U.S. version of the PSP has been released. The new and improved method lets users run DIY code on the console without having to swap the memory stick each time a program is loaded:Just when your fingers are getting sore and your friends keep asking 'Why do you have to switch memory sticks?' Killer-X and the PSP-Dev team have answered our prayers with KXploit, a way to run homebrew on 1.5’s… Minus the memory stick swap! KXploit (Direct Loader!) v1.50 RELEASED! American PSP Crack Released (15 June) Discussion >>  Sony Computer Entertainment Europe president David Reeves has said he would like to think the Playstation 3 would be released in Europe in spring 2006, but said the company has not yet reached a final decision on the date yet, and wouldn't for some time.Speaking at the ELSPA game summit in London, he also said that we "could be in for a surprise" regarding the Euro release. What Reeves meant is open to interpretation; GamesRadar speculate that it could mean a possible worldwide launch of the console similar to the simultaneous launch of the Xbox 360 in every territory: A worldwide release would be a good move for Sony, minimising the effect of Microsoft's own worldwide launch of the Xbox 360 and damaging the company's chances of meeting its bold '10 million consoles in one year' claim. PS3 Euro timing undecided Research claims PS3 to lose market share next year PS3 Not a Toy, But a Linux Supercomputer Kutaragi on PS3 backwards compatibility, more 3 |
