The 360 gets Exclusive DLC for '09 release

of games next DLC chapter

by XboxOZ360:

©2008 Grant Smythe:

First there was GTA:IV's Exclusive DLC, then we discovered Fallout 3 will have Exclusive DLC for the Xbox 360, and now we have Tomb Raiders: Underworld joining the ranks of those games offering Xbox 360 owners exclusive content through XboxLIVE.

The first being "Beneath The Ashes" in December, and the second will be in early '09 which will expand the series with a new playable character - "Lara's Shadow" !

Many news sources are saying that MS are doing poorly of late with the xbox 360. Citing that they are "having to sell off their internal studios" in order to cut costs, when in fact, that's not the case. If one checks their specialised 2002/3 XE 30 white paper, and J Allard's "3" white paper of the same period, it showed that MS's Xbox-Div estimated that it could afford to lose $US 6.2 billion within the first 7 years of the consoles life. At a worst case scenario.

The two majors, Sony and MS, have both stated publicly that the era of "Exclusive titles is a thing of the past" - especially with regards to 3rd party games and now some 1st party titles that have moved back into the Indie Developer field. Many believe this is due mainly to a change in the distribution and financial turn around on games in the current market, not because the two can no longer afford to have 1st Party or 3rd party titles. We also have major publisher/developers like Capcom dropping exclusive content for any platform now, making it more apparent that the day of the "exclusive" disc based game has run it course.

Many games can and do cost upwards of $US20 - $US50 million to both develop and publish, let alone marketing costs. With 1st party titles getting roughly $US10 - $US12 mil spent on them for marketing/advertising cost alone - Halo 3 had in excess of $US10 + million spent on ads just for its release. Forza 2 had a similar amount spent on it and Gears Of War 2 will have perhaps even more spent on its release worldwide come November 7th. (Yeah NZ and Aust get it FIRST - yeah!!!)

MS's focus is firmly set at delivering DLC and games that will be distributed eventually via DLC streams through XboxLIVE. On of the first games that will follow this trend fully is Watchmen (check out info under "W" in games listing).

The 2 full games will be only available through purchase on XboxLIVE via DLC that are tied into the release of their Movie through cinema in March '09, and the second game will tie in with the release of their DVD movie version a few months later once the movie has run its course through cinemas worldwide.

So it makes sense to now turn their attentions to Exclusive DLC from various game developers/publishers to secure some level of excluivity for its user base. By doing so, it adds life to established games, has them continue in rising xboxlive Multiplayer stats and keep people playing the game long after many normal shelf games would have expired.

Tomb Raiders: Underworld developers Crystal Dynamics have signed a deal with MS Xbox-Div that is enabling MS to deliver an exclusive chapter called Tomb Raiders: Lara's Shadow for the upcoming iteration of the Tomb Raider franchise. Tomb Raider: Underworld is set for a November '08 release, with Laura's Shadow set for a early '09 release via XboxLIVE.

"Tomb Raider: Underworld – Lara’s Shadow will launch in "early 2009," and will sport "a new kind of playable character."

The announcement of Tomb Raider DLC follows the announcements of high-profile Xbox 360 exclusive content for Grand Theft Auto IV and Fallout 3, leaving PS3 owners without the option to buy additional content to stretch the life of the games."

Source: EDGE Online

Personally I do not see DLC or DL Full Games taking the place of Full Retail gdisc based games, but they will give a few generations easier access to games which they are more used to, than previous generations of gamers. Many of whom still hold the lions share of expendable income at this time. So Disc Based games will not die off, (nor will PC gaming), but there will be a significant shift in the 3 majors in how they will begin to distribute their content over the next 12-24 months.

©2008 Grant Smythe:

http://alicehatesyou.wordpress.com/2008/08/30/the-last-key-in-the-bunch/

I was just looking over one or two of my old posts, found this one and felt embarassed. That quotation is a load of bollocks. OF COURSE it's the last bloody key in the bloody great bunch that unlocks that bastard of a lock.

I annoy myself.

Hiya, did you know I'm dead clever?

Take 2 Interactive acaba de anunciar que habrá una demostración PS3 de Bioshock para que jugadores lo bajen gratis de la PlayStation Network a partir del 2 de octubre, 15 días antes del estreno estadounidense del juego y 19 días antes del estreno internacional. Entre las nuevas funciones en esta versión se encuentran el modo de dificultad Survivor (Sobreviviente), función de trofeo, y nuevo contenido que se estará al alcance de todos después del estreno del juego.

2K Games Announces BioShock® for PLAYSTATION®3 System Goes Gold
Consumer demo available for download from PlayStation®Network starting October 2
Press Release | Comunicado de Prensa

2K Games announced today that BioShock® for PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system has gone gold and will be available at retailers across North America on October 21 and internationally on October 17. Additionally, PLAYSTATION 3 system owners will be able to experience their first foray into Rapture with the release of the playable demo, available for free download from the PlayStation®Network starting Thursday, October 2.

Developed by 2K Marin, 2K Boston, 2K Australia and Digital Extremes, BioShock for the PLAYSTATION 3 system contains all-new content that augments and extends the experience in exciting ways. BioShock for the PLAYSTATION 3 system contains new features such as the inclusion of the Survivor difficulty mode, Trophy support and the addition of all-new Add-On Game Content that will be available for download shortly after launch. Pricing and availability for Add-On Game Content will be specified at a later date.

BioShock is a narrative-driven action experience that allows players to do the impossible as they journey through an amazing, immersive and terrifying world. Caught between powerful forces and hunted down by genetically mutated citizens, the player will come to grips with the mysterious and fascinating world of Rapture, a distinct Art Deco underwater utopia gone mad. BioShock not only challenges players’ capacity to adapt and survive, but brings to question their values and relationships with the inhabitants of Rapture. With smart and adaptive AI, no encounter ever plays out the same way twice, while numerous customization options provide gamers with an experience that adapts to their playing style.

BioShock for the PLAYSTATION 3 system will be available at North American and international retailers on October 21 and October 17, respectively, and is rated M for Mature by the ESRB. Available now on the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and Games for Windows®, BioShock was the recipient of more than 50 Game of the Year awards from prestigious outlets such as the Associated Press and Game Informer Magazine.

Find out what deculture thought about Games Alliance Middle East - Games '08.

By SZafar

It had been hectic yet extremely enjoyable 2 days of the GAMES08. For the first time something on such a large scale was held for gaming in the Middle East (and lucky for us in Dubai!) with all the heavy weights present, bringing along with them even heavier names to add to the credibility of the event as well as the market.

I speak of Ian Livingstone who gave the key note (while us hungry souls hogged some food). Shame on you if you don't know, but this guy is the brainchild behind Tomb Raider and co-founder of Games Workshop (of Warhammer fame)! His speech/presentation included a little history of games and a justification as to why we should be taken seriously. He said that back in the day the gamers were young, now they've grown up and they're bigger and are making games for a more mature market; around a quarter of the rest of his keynote was self advertisement of Tomb Raider, while at the same time portraying it as a Brand which has done wonders for the gaming as well as the general media and manufacturing industries.

Another fine gentleman, Nick Parker, partner at Parker Consulting and an Associate Consultant at Screen Digest for videogame industry stats, talked about the importance of the videogaming industry along with reems of graphs and figures (much like school!). We would be having a detailed interview with him up very soon so hold on to your calculators.

Eventhough the best part of the 2 days were the playable game codes on the floor, the other most significant development was the recognition of people working for the gaming industry in the Middle East There was an award ceremony which took place right after dinner on the first evening. Our friends at Megamers.com won Gold for best online media whereas their sister concern T-break.com won Bronze. Silver went to True-gaming.net which is an Arabic online videogaming magazine and a real professional one at that! Charged won Gold for best print media where as Stuff and Technomania took home Silver and Bronze respectively. On the radio front, Dubai 92 got bronze, Channel 4 received silver whereas 103.8 Dubai Eye won Gold for the weekly show, Game ON!

Props to the Organizers which include RED, Pluto, Microsoft (their PR - ASDA) and SONY (their PR - TBWA) for providing the depth to the show, which was worth the trouble, given the weather, the times and salik (road toll) ;)! And Kudos to Momentum for an awesome job of bringing us the whole shebang! (and also granting us MEDIA ACCESS ;)

It was an evening of firsts. Infact 2 evenings of Firsts and with the love it's spreading, it should only get bigger!

By TH

When I first heard about Games '08, I was really skeptical to be honest. I thought that there was no way all these publishers will be here with playable code for their upcoming games, let alone AAA titles. I was really amazed then, when games like Street Fighter IV, Killzone 2 and Resident Evil 5 were playable amongst others. Granted that these were probably the same builds used for E3 and Liepzig (and perhaps even TGS next month), I was just blown away by the fact that everything there was playable!

What really impressed me was the fact that they had actual representatives from these publishers promoting their games, and not just corporate numbers being wantonly thrown around about sales. The turn out was (according to the organisers) above 800 attendees. Consider this, before you pass any judgment, that this was the first event of it's kind in this region, and the venue was a moderately large hall for the entire show floor. Also, all attendees entered through registration only, with the event not being promoted in the local media to the general public. The cool side effect of this was that the people attending were very sensible and tolerable, making for a very pleasant event (instead of the usual pushing and shoving and long queues at such conventions). Going by all this, I'd say Games '08 was a huge success, and I look forward to next year with just more of everything really.

Check out some of the show floor pics from the final day.

And on that encouraging note, see you next (year) deculture!

This week we talk about:

- EA and Take 2 saga

- Eidos losing money

- Xbox 360 Price Cut

- Infinity Ward confirmed for CoD6

Podcast 19 September

If you want to send us an email regarding the podcast or asking us a question please e-mail:
tofu_hero_cast@live.com

Note: Contains Explicit content.

EA drops the bidding offer on Take 2.

In a less than courteous way.

by Sith Lord jim:

©2008 Jim McIntyre::

It seems EA have finally decided to stop trying to acquire Take 2, but have made it "seem" that it's because Take 2 isn't worth getting now . . .

Dean Takahashi has recently posted on his blog regarding EA and Take-Two. According to Dean the companies have given up on their talks of merger. Drop in here for the original post.

"EA said in a statement that said it had high regard of Take-Two but after reviewing Take-Two's management presentation on its future plans and other due diligence materials, it decided not to acquire Take-Two. EA had previously offered $2 billion to buy Take-Two."..."Take-Two said in a statement that it remains actively engaged in other discussions about its strategic alternatives."

Whether this is good news or not is a matter of opinion. Personally I think it would have been nothing, but positive if the companies were to merge. Just imagine what Take Two could do with the vastly increased budget, that would come from being with EA.

We've read that Publishing Giant Ubisoft have shown great interest in Take 2, so let's see what comes of this now.

Drop into our forums and share your thoughts on the matter.

©2008 Jim McIntyre::

Share us

Via Reuters:

"SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - U.S. video game giant Electronic Arts Inc has pulled away from an offer to buy rival Take Two Interactive Software Inc (TTWO.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) after pursuing the "Grand Theft Auto" game publisher for more than six months.

On Sunday, EA said it ended private negotiations with Take Two about a potential transaction and had decided to no longer pursue an acquisition.

EA and Take Two entered these private talks last month after EA dropped its hostile bid, worth roughly $2 billion, which the "GTA" publisher had rejected as inadequate.

Take Two lost its luster partly because of EA's own strengthening position in the video games market, which reduced the potential value of any transaction, EA's senior vice president for corporate development Owen Mahoney said on Sunday.

"We were very convinced the value of the transaction would decline over time and have come to feel more and more strongly about our own business," Mahoney said in an interview.

EA, which publishes hit titles like "Madden NFL," has said it expects new games such as the long-awaited "Spore," the evolution-inspired game, to drive sales in the 2009 financial year, even as it narrowed its quarterly loss and doubled revenue in July under a turnaround strategy.

EA's insistence that its $25.74-a-share offer for Take Two was adequate was a likely sticking point during the talks.

"It's rather straightforward," said Take Two Chief Executive Strauss Zelnick in an interview, when asked about why the talks fell apart. "

You can read the rest of the article via reuters, here.

In ciuda criticilor continue ce se agata de noul Grand Theft Auto IV, jocul a ajuns la prestigioasa cifra de 10 milioane de copii vandute in toata lumea (pana pe 16 august).

Acest lucru il arata un comunicat al Rockstar Games, care a inregistrat un profit de 433,8 milioane de dolari de pe urma jocului.

Conform Take-Two, realizatorul jocului, precedentul GTA: San Andreas a inregistrat 21,5 milioane de copie vandute in toata lumea, cifra care pare inca inimaginabila pentru actualul GTA: IV.

CEO's of both companies seemed to be having a lot of friendly meetings these last weeks, as the hostile takeover bid by EA has been withdrawn. A merger is definitely going to happen and it's only a matter of how and when.

After the creation of the Activision-Blizzard powerhouse, it's quite clear that EA couldn't stand being just the number 2. It seems like being second always sucks, even if you're making gazillions !

The industry is consolidating more and more, and it's not that good for gamers. Just look at the music industry, dominated by five big players, in a total debacle. They were so anti-innovative that it's the natural evolution of technology that killed them. Now they are suing little kids who download songs on their computers illegally, instead of being constructive about it.

EA is already big and bad enough as it is. Riccitiello is trying hard to make more innovative games, but with a behemoth like EA you can't really blame him if it doesn't work, with the inertia that big sized company typically suffer from. Now it's trying to get even bigger. Does that make sense to any of you?

Segue o link: http://www.gamevicio.com.br/portal/2/2149/pc/traducao/pt_br/index.html

Vale lembrar que essa tradução foi feita pra versão 1.12 do jogo, então se o seu jogo não está nessa versão, você provavelmente terá que baixar algum patch pro jogo.

Bereal is cereal for love making.

We thought we would kick off our E3 coverage with a small preview of what we are expecting to see, by presenting you with our Most Wanted To See at E3 feature. These are the games or features within a game that we most want or expect to see. These next few days are going to get crazy in the land of sports video gaming and we couldn't be more excited!

NBA Live 09
The NBA Live series has definitely had a tumultuous start on the Next Gen consoles. Plagued with glitches and inconsistent gameplay it's fall from grace has certainly been recognized over at EA. This year a renewed and rejuvenated team are working hard to get the series back on track, and by going back to basics and reworking things such as the AI, EA hopes they will once again have a gameplay experience to challenge 2k's supreme basketball game.

This years E3 should bring with it a playable version of Live 09 for the masses, and we have high hopes indeed. The screenshots released so far have been quite impressive, with a few things needing to be tweaked, and hopefully the E3 version will have a decent level of polish. The main things we are looking for from E3 will be just how the gameplay is shaping up. As this has been the main criticism in recent years we can't wait to see what EA has done with things like play calling and off ball control to improve the experience for sim gamers wanting a more realistic hoops experience.

Most Wanted to see at E3 - Improved & Polished Gameplay

NBA 2k9
Visual Concepts & 2K Sports historically have somewhat of a spotty showing at E3. Last year saw little to no new information on the game but previous years has bought playable demos to the show floor. We are hoping that this year the game is far enough along to be playable, and give us a glimpse into what 2K is improving upon. The main thing we are hoping to see is the major improvement in atmosphere & presentation that 2K have stated they are focusing on. If they can get their presentation to match their gameplay this year it could just be their crowning achievement.

Most Wanted to see at E3 - Presentation. NBA TV license or TNT?

NHL 09
EA's NHL 08 firmly wrestled back the Stanley cup from 2K sports in many gamers minds, and this year they recognise that 2k will be coming back with a vengeance. The introduction of the "Be a Pro" mode along with improved user controls & presentation, on top of their already stellar gameplay from last year should make for a great year for hockey fans. E3 will give us a closer look at how the game is playing and we are hopefull that EA will see fit to give a bit more info on just how the "Be A Pro" mode is going to work.

Most Wanted to see at E3 - More details and demonstrations of Be A Pro mode.

I'm late for blogging.  The interns and I are supposed to be blogging at least once per week, and though technically, I did blog last week, that one was late too.  I'll just keep trying to do my best.  Work is very important to me, but ... the sun is shining!

We had a really good week.  The interns are learning how to expedite things at the circ desk.  They're also learning our procedures for weeding.  And of course, they're doing all of the other things that keep materials moving through the library's work space.  At least three interns have chosen their display projects.

To be truthful, I'm not in work mode as I write, and won't be much of this week.  I'm leaving after CSI night (TSRP) for Boise to see my little girl compete in the Origin Records/Gene Harris talent search with her band, Take 2.  That, after the Jazz in the Canyon weekend, with just one work day sandwiched in between, makes it really hard to get into anything but jazz and this terrific weather.

Esta información se desprende del próximo número de la revista británica PSM3 que saldrá el 5 de junio con un previo completo de esta nueva versión del juego, así como las primeras imágenes.  

Por el momento nadie de Take-Two ha querido dar declaraciones al respecto y los detalles de esta noticia son muy pocos.  Se espera que pronto haya un anuncio oficial de esta noticia.  Seguiremos al pendiente.

by TWODOGSz

©2008 Aaron Bertinetti

```The following was first written on the 17th April 2008, in part one I predict sales for Grand Theft Auto: IV of a record breaking 13million by the end of May 2008. In part two, I'll explain why Gears of War 2 will sell almost 10million in its first month of release.

All the following figures are approximates taken from VGChartz and rounded to a single decimal.

Part One

It is my belief, along with many other analysts, that GTA:IV will break new grounds in financial terms for not only the video game industry, but for a global entertainment product. When Halo 3 was released on the Xbox360, it quickly assumed the biggest release of any video game of all time based on the back of an install base of 12m. In the proceeding four weeks the console saw its base grow another 1m consoles to see the Xbox360 total 13m consoles worldwide.

To date there have been approx. 7.6m sales of Halo 3. 3.8m in week one, 0.8m in week two (80% drop), 0.3m in week three (38% drop), and 0.2m in week four (33% drop). In all senses Halo 3 was a typical financial blockbuster, with a marketing push that saw huge sales in the first week followed by a massive 80% fall in takings in the second week along with continued sales erosion to a 0.13m average over the next six weeks.

At the end of four weeks Halo 3's attach rate was 39.2%.

Since Halo 3 no title has got close to approaching this attach rate, however, I would argue that GTA:IV will be much like Halo 3 in terms of its mainstream appeal, marketing campaign and installed fan base. Both are identified with a particular brand (Sony and MS), both have similar hype levels, and both are reasons to buy a console (system sellers). Some may argue that the PS3 suffers an inferior attach rate and therefore such numbers are not possible, however, I believe this is largely the result of a relatively poor game library and the younger age of the console.

So in short, I believe GTA:IV will be a blockbuster.

Here's where it gets interesting...

Prior to release analysts have predicted between 9-14m copies of GTA:IV will be sold on both platforms in the first month.

If we apply the Halo 3 attach rate to GTA:IV and assume an Xbox360 console base of 19.5m by the end of May, due to a similar 1m console sale spike in the month following GTA:IV, we can estimate that 7.6m copies of GTA:IV will be sold on the Xbox360 by the end of May.

Now whilst 7.6m sales of GTA:IV seems bullish, this is largely in line with analyst expectations of 6-8m copies sold on the Xbox360 in the first month.

What's truly amazing is if we then apply the Halo 3 attach rate and console sales spike to the PS3 install base by end of May (about 13.8m consoles), and we realise another 5.4m sales of GTA:IV on the PS3 platform.

Again this is in the upper realms of analyst expectations of 3-6m copies sold on PS3 in the first month.

So recapping I believe that GTA:IV will sell 7.6m copies on the Xbox360 and 5.4m copies on the PS3. In total my sales estimate for GTA:IV across both platforms in the first month is a gobsmacking 13m copies, which would be in excess of a billion dollars in sales revenue.

A figure that will smash anything before or after it...

Unless of course there's a GTA:V !

UPDATE 8 May 2008:

Early figures suggest 6m copies were sold across both platforms in the first week, which has predictably exceeded most analysts' expectations of 5m copies in the first two weeks. This is great news for Rockstar, better news for Take Two and not so spectacular for EA... It's also in line with the above analysis

```Sales Facts:

```Los Angeles Times Report

```The San Jose' Mercury

```Silicon Valley Insider

Money in the bank for Rockstar/Take2

©2008 Aaron Bertinetti

Read the full article here.

Y mientras, todo el tema de la posible compra por parte de Electronic Arts. Algunos dicen que al final no se producirá más que la adquisición de un pequeño porcentaje de la misma (menos de un 10%), sobre todo ahora que con GTA IV los propietarios venderán cara su piel. En el Comecocos creemos que tampoco se llegará a producir una compra total, y de hecho, sería contraproducente para un sector que ya de por sí adolece de muchos problemas dentro de la competencia. Hemos dicho.

GTA IV launches on April 29/08 but it
hasn't stop some hardcore fans from
getting the game before launch day.
youtube has be deleting the videos
one after another but appears that
there having a hard time keeping
up with all the videos or "You~Tube"
is not catching all the videos that have
been pouring in....

This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Take 2 Games

Above you can see a Quote from You~Tube when you
click on videos they have deleted but you sill can find
some videos...
[HINT] use this search term "GTA IV gameplay" on You~Tube... :wink:

I would post a video here but "Take 2 Games"
has been shutting down site's that are
broadcasting the video's and I'm not
about to take that chance...

Related Topics
I Will Be Closing My Other Blog Today
Recent Posts
WoW I have Been Busy
Top Posts
hail2
New My Space Profile
Really Bad Storm Hit Michigan Yesterday
Bunny5
Random Posts
Yea It’s Spring
One Cool Site (Blog Review)