The Game Pad Offical Blog

Watch two new PS3 ads

2007-11-18T21:14:00.000-08:00

Source: Joystiq.com

We approve of the recent TV advertisements for the PlayStation 3; the swift shift from the disturbingly surreal to the relatively marketable is a breath of fresh air. However, we can't say we're huge fans of Sony's apparent new theme song, which resembles a P.O.D. track as sung by a nightmarish circus ringmaster. Still, we imagine these new ads will interest a larger group of consumers than ads that involve watching some girl take a dump. That's a pretty niche target audience.

Discuss Here.

Washington Post expects Wii Zapper backlash, too gun-like

2007-11-18T21:05:00.000-08:00

Source: Joystiq.com

The Wii Zapper/Link's Crossbow Training bundle drops tomorrow -- a relatively surreptitious release considering some of the other holiday giants coming out this week. However, something tells us that the political backlash to Nintendo's kinda-gun-shaped-but-not-really peripheral will be anything but furtive -- and Washington Post writer Monica Hesse agrees.

In her article, she gives a brief history of toy guns, and how the Zapper fits into the grand saga of controversial faux weaponry. Some of her sources are firmly opposed to the idea of bringing a gun attachment to the otherwise kid-friendly system, but we feel that 14-year-old Damian Crisafulli's response to paranoid parents is the most insightful soundbite in the whole story: "It's plastic that clips to a video game controller." Well said, Damian.

[Via GamePolitics]

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CoD4 overtakes Gears of War, Infinity Ward planning update

2007-11-18T20:56:00.000-08:00

Source: Joystiq.com

We like us some Call of Duty 4, and based on Major Nelson's top ten Xbox Live titles for this past week, so do a lot of other gamers. The game placed second in the rankings, right below Halo 3, and right above a certain quartet of steroid infused, uber-masculine gunhavers.

Infinity Ward isn't resting on their digital laurels, it would seem. Though the game has only been out eleven days in the states, they're already talking updates. The biggest change in their first planned update is a fix for the game's often fickle matchmaking and host selection, one of the few black marks against the title. Also, games will no longer end abruptly if the host drops out, and server performance on games with large numbers of players will supposedly improve. You can read the full list of gameplay changes after the jump.

Additions / Features:

Added Kill cam to Airstrike bombs and Claymores.
Addition of Host Migration so if Host Leaves auto-chooses next best host.
Tweaked the following Oldschool Mode settings based on feedback:
- Added Unlimited Sprint
- Increased Magazine Size
- Added Ragdoll Cam
Addition of New "N0M4D" Control Scheme.

Optimizations / Tweaks:

Identify party by background color (in Lobby).
Optimized server selection for first match for better connections.
Improved network performance for 18 player games.
Optimized 'Chase Cam' when Spectating.
Fixed Playlist error when attempting to join from other games.
Handle Corrupt Create A Class data instead of kicking player.

Discuss here.

Xbox 360 Arcade finally official, released today for $280

2007-10-25T16:48:00.000-07:00

Source: Joystiq.com

It's about time! Microsoft finally announced the Xbox 360 Arcade (the replacement for the Core) will go on sale October 23 -- that's today, folks -- for $280. Even after being found in the wild and unboxed, Microsoft still refused to acknowledge the console's existence until this past Sunday. The console comes with a 256MB Memory Unit, a wireless controller, HDMI port, and a disc that includes five full Xbox Live Arcade games: Boom Boom Rocket, Feeding Frenzy, Luxor 2, Pac-Man Championship, and Uno. Despite the unit having an HDMI port, it only comes with standard-def composite cables (the red, white and yellow one), instead of the high-def component/composite hybrid cables bundled with its big brothers.

Also note, the inclusion of a 'Superman Indian Air' silhouette on the retail box (see the guy on the bike?) is not confirmation that an actual BMX game is forthcoming.

Update: Major Nelson just pinged us to correct the status of the packaged Xbox Live Arcade titles; they are full games, not trials; 2: Europe gets it Oct. 26 for £200 (no € given).

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Nintendo hires two new executive VPs

2007-10-25T13:34:00.000-07:00

Source: Gameindustry.biz

Nintendo has announced two new executive vice presidents joining their new Silicon Valley offices. Cammie Dunaway -- former chief marketing officer for Yahoo! -- will take the position of executive vice president, sales and marketing, the position vacated by Reggie Fils-Aime when he was promoted to President and COO of Nintendo of America in April 2006.

Shigeyuki Takahashi -- former president of Nintendo's North American business research team -- will take the position of executive vice president, special assignment. It's worth nothing that neither of these new hires are filling the exact roles recently vacated by Beth Llewelyn, George Harrison, and Perrin Kaplan, meaning either that Nintendo is still planning more hires, or restructuring those departments. Takahashi officially starts November 1, and Dunaway begins her new job on November 5.

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Anti-Halo Expert Gets Served

2007-10-20T18:21:00.000-07:00

Source: G4TV.com.thefeed

Hey TheFeed readers, remember last week when we reported that a handful of churches across the country had begun holding Halo nights in an attempt to increase their haul of the highly-sought-after teen male soul? Well, the backlash from concerned parishioners is still going strong and makes for fantastic fodder for the morning TV “news” shows.

As reported by GamePolitics, earlier this week on That’s My Bagel! with Scooter and Ju-Ju, or some such tripe, psychologist Dr. Susan Bartell made the argument that the teenage brain is negatively affected by violent videogames. She backed up her claim by citing a study out of Indiana University, complete with a side-by-side brain scan comparison. Here’s the segment:

How about that? Even if you disagree with her viewpoint – not to mention her self-righteous histrionics - you have to at least hand it to her for doing her research and coming prepared to back up her argument. Hooray and score one for MLA, right?

If that were true, we wouldn’t be writing this blog post now, would we?

Turns out, after the show aired, the GamePolitics community started up an email dialogue with the good doctor wherein she admitted that she was handed the study by a show producer five minutes before taping her segment!

It’s true! Those so-called experts on the talking heads shows officially don’t know what they’re talking about.

Do you believe it?

Can you believe it?

We know we just totally eff’d up your universe, so if you don’t believe us, pick yourself up off the floor and click the link to read for yourself.

GamePolitics: How Fox Morning Show Sensationalized the Halo-in-Church

New 40GB PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) Configuration and Price Reduction of Current 80GB Model

2007-10-19T11:56:00.000-07:00

Source: Playstation.com

FOSTER CITY, Calif., October 18, 2007 – Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. (SCEA) today announced plans to introduce a new 40GB model of its PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) computer entertainment system. Beginning November 2nd, to further enhance the HD entertainment experience, the new 40GB PS3 model will come bundled with the blockbuster movie Spider-Man™ 3 Blu-ray Disc™ (BD) from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, and will be available in North America for a suggested retail price of $399 (USD/CND). The company also announced that effective immediately, the current 80GB PS3 model will be available in North America for $499 (USD/CND), $100 below the original launch price.

“We’re pleased to offer the consumer a lower price point without sacrificing the core technology components that make PS3 the most advanced high-definition entertainment system available. Every PS3 comes with a Blu-ray drive, HDMI output, an integrated Wi-Fi connection, Cell Broadband Engine and a built-in hard-drive,” said Jack Tretton, President and CEO, SCEA. “This holiday season we’ll be able to offer attractive retail pricing with a broad portfolio of outstanding games including Ratchet & Clank® Future: Tools of Destruction™, THE EYE OF JUDGMENT™, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune™, Heavenly Sword™, Call of Duty® 4: Modern Warfare, Assassin’s Creed™, Haze™and RockBand™.”

The new 40GB PS3 will no longer play PlayStation®2 titles, reflecting the availability of a more extensive line-up of PS3 specific titles. Consumers looking for backwards compatibility can take advantage of the limited PlayStation 2 backwards compatibility of the 80GB PS3.

PLAYSTATION®3 40GB Specification

Product name		PLAYSTATION®3
CPU		Cell Broadband Engine™ (Cell/B.E.)
GPU		RSX™
Sound		Dolby 5.1ch, DTS 5.1ch , LPCM 7.1ch, AAC, others 1 2
Memory		256MB XDR Main RAM, 256MB GDDR3 VRAM
HDD	2.5” Serial ATA	40GB
I/O	USB 2.0	x2
Communication	Ethernet	X1 (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T)
	IEEE 802.11 b/g	Included
	Bluetooth 2.0 (EDR)	Included
Wireless controller (Bluetooth)		Included
AV Output	Screen size	480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p
	HDMI OUT	x1 *3
	AV MULTI OUT	x1
	DIGITAL OUT (OPTICAL)	x1
BD/DVD/CD Drive (Read Only)	Maximum Read Speed	BD 2x (BD-ROM) DVD 8x (DVD-ROM) CD 24x (CD-ROM)
Dimensions		Approximately 12.75in(W) x 3.86in (H) x 10.8in (D)
Weight		Approximately 11 lbs

*1 A device compatible with Linear PCM 7.1 Ch. is required to output 7.1 Ch. audio, supported by Dolby TrueHD or a similar format, from the HDMI OUT connector
*2 This system does not support output from the DTS-HD 7.1 Ch. DTS-HD 7.1 Ch. audio is output from a 5.1 or lower channel.
*3 "Deep Color" and "x.v.Color (xvYCC)" defined by HDMI ver1.3a are supported.

About Sony Computer Entertainment America
Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. continues to redefine the entertainment lifestyle with its PlayStation® and PS one® game console, the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, the PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system, the ground-breaking PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) computer entertainment system and its online and network services the PLAYSTATION®Network and PLAYSTATION®Store.
Recognized as the undisputed industry leader, Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. markets the PlayStation family of products and develops, publishes, markets and distributes software for the PS one game console, the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system, PLAYSTATION 3 and the PSP system for the North American market. Based in Foster City, Calif., Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. serves as headquarters for all North American operations and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

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