With 2003 in the books, the Gamer looks toward the year ahead for the Next Big Thing. 2004 will be a hallmark year in the portable market with the release of Playstation Portable and the groundwork for the next generation of consoles will be laid, but the Gamer posits that this year will set a precedent for the future of online gaming development. Continued online development, including downloadable game updates and the debate over subscription fees, will set the tone for future online gaming communities. Recent news events such as the Xbox Live release of a new 18-hole Links 2004 course for $4.99 and the one millionth character in Final Fantasy XI's online community show that online gaming is not only possible, but profitable. To be certain, Internet (and Ethernet) connectivity is the future and 2004 is just the beginning. It's going to be one hell of a ride.
CNN/Money, Famitsu, Gamespot, PC Gamer and Reuters bring us some of our news morsels this week.
Tom Clancy's Porn
Media darling and retail champ Rainbow Six 3 has a dirty little secret. When the game was released for Xbox at the end of October, Ubisoft had a phony Web site address adorning the walls of one of the game's levels. By the end of November, keen-eyed gamer Tony Ashcroft of Texas had purchased the URL and proceeded to fill the site with pornographic material. In an interview with CNN/Money game columnist Chris Morris, who broke the story, Ashcroft said he plans to build traffic on the site before selling it. Ubisoft is understandably peeved by Ashcroft's actions and Microsoft has no comment. Ashcroft defends the morality of his actions by arguing that the game is played by mature gamers and that his Web site is intended for mature viewers. Three cheers for American innovation.
2004, Year of the Apex
APEX Digital revealed its ApeXtreme Console at last week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The console plays PC games on the TV with keyboard, mouse, or controller. Winner of the CES 2004 Innovation Award, the console, due out this year, features a 1.4GHz processor, 20GB hard drive, six USB 2.0 inputs. Internet and Ethernet connectivity, 6-channel surround sound, and a DVD-ROM drive. Systems with an integrated Unichrome graphics core will run $299 and systems with a DeltaChrome graphics chip will cost $399.
All-in-One Box
Also at CES, Bill Gates unveiled plans to morph the Xbox into a household media hub. With the XP Media Center Extender Kit, Xbox owners can view videos, photographs and high-quality Windows Media Player content on their beloved consoles. This announcement is in direct contrast to earlier statements by Microsoft when Xbox was first released. Way back when, Gates promised the system would exclusively play games.
In other news, Gamespot hasMicrosoft Japan's Xbox division chief Yoshihiro Maruyama, formerly of Square Enix, stating that Xbox 2, nicknamed Xbox Next, will be smaller than the original Xbox. Rumor has it the console will use notebook PC components.
The UK Adds a few Pounds
The Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association recently announced 2003 videogame sales figures for the United Kingdom. At 1.26 billion pounds, last year's numbers grew 7.1-percent relative to 2002.
Here in the States, Reuters reports that stock in Electronics Boutique Holdings Corp. rose 12 percent last week on news that holiday sales were higher than expected. GameStop Corp. saw its stock rise more than 11 percent.
Same Skit, Different Day
On January 11th, Red vs. Blue, the online machinima comedy troupe, released its Season 2 premiere. This 20th episode in the ongoing Halo-based cult hit introduces the new character Dufrane, a purple-clad pacifist, as the newest member of the Blue Team.
At 43.8MB and just over seven minutes, Everything Old is New Again is the largest episode in the series thus far.
Holiday Leftovers
NFL Street, the NBA Jam of football, is out this week. This seven-on-seven ragtag contest is the latest in the ever-expanding EA Big series of outrageous sports games... Famitsu, a Japanese videogame periodical, reports that the Playstation Portable, or PSP, will be released mid-December 2004 in Japan...PC Gamer reports that the PS2's XIII soundtrack is spinning in CD players nationwide--it debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard Charts...And last, but not least, Mario has been immortalized with his very own effigy in the Hollywood Wax Museum.
Brown Goes for the Gold
In local news, registration forms are out for the "First Annual Brown College Video Game Olympics." The competition involves teams of two in DDRMax: Dance Dance Revolution for the Playstation 2 as well as Super Smash Bros. Melee, Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and Super Monkey Ball 2 for the Gamecube, in addition to "a game yet to be determined." The Olympics will run over the course of the spring semester and are open to all members of the Brown College community.
The Gamer can be reached at Gamer@cavalierdaily.com.
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