GameSHOUT has the latest video games including news and reviews on Podcast for your PC, Microsoft Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, GameCube, Nintendo Revolution and others. 2008-05-10T03:55:01Z Copyright (c) 2008, GameSHOUT tag:gameshout.com,2008:05:10 tag:gameshout.com,2008:news/index/1.10118 2008-05-10T03:55:01Z 2008-05-10T03:55:01Z GameSHOUT News news@gameshout.com http://www.gameshout.com
The questions that console shoppers will be asking themselves when making a console purchase decision is first, "which consoles will Grand theft Auto IV play on", followed by an equally important question, "which consoles do my smart friends who have purchased GTA IV already have so that I can play GTA IV multiplayer mode with as many of them a s possible?" Those will be very important questions to anyone buying a video game console, because many analysists are seeing that of those who are buying consoles, between 40 and 60 percent are buying GTA IV with the console. In fact of all Xbox 360 sales, 60 percent are with GTA IV.

So now you just have to ask yourself where to go from there, and the answer is simple. To the store to buy your copy of Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV. Well there IS one thing you should do first, even before that. "And what is that?" you might ask. Well you might go and read the in-depth review of Grand Theft Auto IV on GameSHOUT.com for the Sony PlayStation 3 HERE, or the review for the Microsoft Xbox 360 HERE.

Either way, you will receive the direction that you so sorely need in making such a difficult decision. And we always suggest exploring all of your options before jumping into any major buying decision. So read the review and then hit the store while you still have a chance...after all the store could be selling that last copy of GTA VI right at this minute so you better get quickly to it.



And maybe, just maybe its time for you to have a little extra action adventure in your life; ...and when you get your game on, we'll cya in there!!

{extended} ]]> tag:gameshout.com,2008:news/index/1.10115 2008-05-08T20:58:00Z 2008-05-08T20:58:00Z GameSHOUT News news@gameshout.com http://www.gameshout.com


Additionally, Activision intends to bring gamers the intensity of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare to a new military theater. It is their intention to double the user base from the last release which will be no simple trick. This was announced by Activision's president and CEO, Mike Griffith.



Ultimately it looks like it is Activision's intent to completely overwhelm gamers with a bigger and better COD than we received with COD 4, but many believe that this will be quite a difficult task indeed as COD 4 was an impressive blockbuster and will be tough to beat. If Activision has their way, they will likely have a game that will actually outsell Grand Theft Auto IV, and if they top COD 4 in the way they hope, they actually may have a chance to do this.

Call of Duty 4 screen shots pictured.
{extended} ]]> tag:gameshout.com,2008:news/index/1.10113 2008-05-08T20:32:00Z 2008-05-08T20:32:00Z GameSHOUT News news@gameshout.com http://www.gameshout.com
Many thought that Grand Theft Auto IV was going to be a driver for sales of the Sony PlayStation 3 but some new Microsoft Xbox 360 figures have come to light. As GTA IV sold more than 6 million units in its launch week, Microsoft Xbox 360 sales went up by 54 percent over the launch week of GTA IV. According to retailers, more than 60 percent of the GTA IV games sold in that first week were the Xbox 360 version. Additionally, those retailers are also saying that the game is attached to new Xbox 360 sales almost 40 percent of the time.

In looking at that first week on Xbox LIVE, more than 2.3 million people played GTA IV on Xbox LIVE, making it the number one played game on that service. Over the launch weekend, Xbox LIVE service reached 1 million concurrent users, and gamers have unlocked more than 12 million achievements worth more than over 100 million gamerscore points in GTA. Lastly, Grand Theft Auto IV has set a new record for time played with the average gamer spending more than four hours playing the game on Xbox LIVE during the first week alone.

So, for the most part, Sony has been very quiet about its GTA IV experience other than to announce that the PS3 patch has been released. For the most part, It appears to us that GTA IV has been a great Xbox 360 experience, though we wouldn't count the PS3 down and out quiet yet. It might just be getting a slower start.

{extended} ]]> tag:gameshout.com,2008:news/index/1.10112 2008-05-08T19:56:00Z 2008-05-08T19:56:00Z GameSHOUT News news@gameshout.com http://www.gameshout.com
Kirk's major concern is that Second Life has no age verification built into its registration process and that there are numerous locations outside of the teen-designated areas where there is a world of virtual prostitution, drug deals, and other activities that are clearly not appropriate for minors. Kirk said in a statement that virtual worlds like Second Life don't keep children out of virtual "rape rooms", brothels, and drug stored, and that if Second Life won't protect Kids from inappropriate content, that Congress surely would.

Second Life creator, Linden Lab released a statement saying that members of the Second Life community including the Linden Lab staff actively monitor against minors accessing the adult portion of the service, though company officials have acknowledged that it is possible for teens to get into the adult areas of the service as it is also possible for adults to slip into the teen only areas of the Second Life virtual world.

{extended} ]]> tag:gameshout.com,2008:news/index/1.10111 2008-05-06T21:19:00Z 2008-05-06T21:19:00Z GameSHOUT News news@gameshout.com http://www.gameshout.com


On top of the 400 levels that come with the game comes a level creator allowing players to create their own levels. Basically Boom Blox is a strategy game where players solve single and multiplayer puzzles where the players can interact with more than 30 different characters such as block-laying chickens, or baseball-throwing monkeys in four themed environments - Tiki, Medieval, Frontier, and Haunted.



According to EA Games, Boom Blox is a perfect game for the Nintendo console as it leverages the Wii's Remote features. But this also gives EA a chance to see what kind of value Mr. Spielberg brings to the table when marketing a new game. Spielberg has been the man behind games before but this is the first time he has partnered with a company behind an all new title without being preceded by a series of blockbuster films.
{extended} ]]> tag:gameshout.com,2008:news/index/1.10110 2008-05-06T19:00:00Z 2008-05-06T19:00:00Z GameSHOUT News news@gameshout.com http://www.gameshout.com
The suit accuses the Chicago Transit authority and the sales agent, Titan Outdoor LLC., of violating a $300,000 advertising agreement that included running the GTA IV posters on the sides of the city buses and on transit display spaces throughout the Chicago Transit system for six weeks. Take-Two is seeking damages of $300,000 as well as having the original ads run for the period of six weeks.

The ads were removed after a Fox News story was run reporting a wave of violent crimes in the city of Chicago. Further reports blamed past Grand Theft Auto games for rashes of violent crimes including beatings, car thefts, carjackings, drive-by shootings, increase of prostitution and drunk driving.

{extended} ]]> tag:gameshout.com,2008:news/index/1.10109 2008-05-05T18:58:01Z 2008-05-05T18:58:01Z GameSHOUT News news@gameshout.com http://www.gameshout.com
Other publishers have decided to drop out of the show include NCSoft, the publisher of games such as the Guild Wars series, Tabula Rasa, and Aion. Also mission from E3 will be Foundation 9 and Her Interactive. Early reports that ID Software was skipping have been proven wrong and ID will indeed be attending. Of course if Activision isn't at E3, being the new parent company of Blizzard, that means the creator of World of Warcraft will also not be in attendance, to the disappointment of many of the GameSHOUT staff.

But this does not by any means signal the end of the E3 Expo, as there will still be many other publishers and developers in attendance. The Expo will be held at the Convention Center again and is anticipating in excess of 60,000 attendees to this invite-only event. It seems that the publishers in general did not feel that the smaller "scaled-back" version of 2007 met their goals and so this year the expo is being moved back to the Conference Center, though it is likely that the show will not see all of the fanfare that it has in years past.

{extended} ]]> tag:gameshout.com,2008:news/index/1.10108 2008-05-04T18:49:00Z 2008-05-04T18:49:00Z GameSHOUT News news@gameshout.com http://www.gameshout.com
It seems now that the only shareholders that are still in after the short-sellers are done are the long-term investors. And maybe a few who think that they might bring Yahoo back to the negotiating table with Microsoft again. Others are excited to see Yahoo use Google to sell some of Yahoo's search advertising. While others may even still have some faith in Yahoo's own Panama search advertising system.

While still others look toward the leadership of the team running the company to make the right decisions going forward, Jerry Yang and Sue Decker. In a post on Yahoo's corporate blog, Mr. Yang makes a case for the company coming out of this whole ordeal stronger than it went into it. He stated that the company has emerged stronger and more focused and that he is proud of the company and how it has come together despite the outside noise.

Mr. Yang also said that the company showed the world the company's determination to thrive during challenging times, but maybe those challenging times have just been a small taste of what is to come. Mr. Yang went on to boast about the first quarter results and that the company's new innovative products and services will really make the difference for the customers and shareholders alike.

{extended} ]]> tag:gameshout.com,2008:news/index/1.10107 2008-05-02T18:37:00Z 2008-05-02T18:37:00Z GameSHOUT News news@gameshout.com http://www.gameshout.com
The majority of all motion picture sales are done on DVDs, usually at retail outlets such as Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and Target stores, but there is a growing population of customers who are opting for digital downloads. Apple's hope is that it will bring the same level of success that it did to its digital download of music to the digital download of movies.

Films purchased from iTunes can pe viewed on an iPod that has video capability, and iPhone, Mac or PC, or on a widescreen television with Apple TV. New releases are to be priced at $14.99 while older films are priced at $9.99. Currently iTunes has over 1,500 films in its catalog.

{extended} ]]> tag:gameshout.com,2008:news/index/1.10106 2008-04-30T19:52:00Z 2008-04-30T19:52:00Z GameSHOUT News news@gameshout.com http://www.gameshout.com
So what does this mean for Blu-ray and when can we expect to see sales pick up? Some analysts believe that it could be 12 to 18 months before the industry sees a substantial up tick in sales in the Blu-ray player market. Mainly when consumers see the prices of the standalone players get down to the $200 price range. During the holiday season, the average price reached approximately the $300 range and sales were improved.

Although in the first quarter of 2008, those same standalone Blu-ray players actually increased in price by about 5 percent which could partially account for the slump in sales. But until the price becomes more attractive to consumers, it is unlikely that the industry will see the Blu-ray sales take-off anytime soon.

{extended} ]]> tag:gameshout.com,2008:news/index/1.10105 2008-04-29T21:56:00Z 2008-04-29T21:56:00Z GameSHOUT News news@gameshout.com http://www.gameshout.com
According to the HP researchers, the discovery of the memory properties were in extremely thin spots of titanium dioxide, and came from a decade-long hunt for a new class of organic molecules to serve as nano-sized switches. The scientists were hoping to to be able to fashion switches about the size of a single molecule that could someday replace transistors once the semiconductor industry’s shrinking of electronic circuits made with photolithographic techniques reached a technological limit.

Potentially the chips will function like biological synapses making them ideal for many artificial intelligence applications. The memristor is basically an electrical resistor with memory properties. This discovery may make it possible to fashion advanced logic circuits known as filed programmable gate arrays. These are widely used for rapid prototyping of new circuits and for custom made chips that need to be created quickly.

The original memristor was written about in a a research paper done by a Berkeley electrical engineer named Leon Chua in 1971. His paper titled "Memristor - The Missing Circuit Element" argued that basic electronic theory required that in addition to the three basic elements - resistors, capacitors, and inductors - there is a fourth element that should exist, the memristor. And the HP team created working circuits based on memristors that are as small as 15 nanometers, but they believe that they will be able to make one as small as 4 nanometers.

{extended} ]]> tag:gameshout.com,2008:news/index/1.10103 2008-04-29T19:13:01Z 2008-04-29T19:13:01Z GameSHOUT News news@gameshout.com http://www.gameshout.com
At the same time, critics are warning parents to be careful and not allow their children to get their hands on Grand Theft Auto IV, which is rated "M" for Mature for sale to those aged 17 and older only. Their great concern is not only the violence in the game, which is gratuitous, but also the sex. There are instances in the game where gamers are able to pick up prostitutes and have sex in the car, or enter a strip club and receive a lap dance by one stripper or even by two where simulated sex acts are performed. But at no time are these women completely unclothed, and this is only a small part of the game, and only an option of the gamer to choose and not a part of the quest by the game's hero, Niko.

While the these critics are having their say, game reviewers who had the opportunity to view the game early are saying that the game is remarkable, that the graphics and storyline are superb, and that the game is much more than the critics claim. These reviewers are advising that though the game does have sexual and violence content, it is a Mature game and is indeed intended for adults and should be treated that way. It has in many instances been compared to an episode of The Sopranos where the gamer is allowed to make the choices of what to do and how to respond to those options of good or bad.

Meanwhile, in other parts of the world, the game launch was marred by violence. In London, a man was walking by a line of people waiting for their chance to buy their copy of GTA IV at midnight, and as he passed the line, a man in a hooded sweatshirt jumped out of the line and stabbed the passerby several times and ran off. It is unknown as yet what the motive for the stabbing was but the victim was treated at the hospital for several stab wounds and released in good condition.

All of that being said, Grand Theft Auto IV is expected to smash the old records for entertainment sales around the world. Halo 3 sold 4 million copies in its first week of release, but GTA IV is expected to break that record resoundingly by selling more than 6 million copies in the first week of its launch. This will again place the GTA series back in the Guinness Book of World Records again which is a position familiar to the series as the previous games also enjoyed such stellar sales.

It is also unknown if this record breaking launch will have any effect on the Electronic Arts bid for Take-Two Interactive. Most analysts believe that since there are no other bidders at this time, that this launch will have no effect on the EA bid at this time.

{extended} ]]> tag:gameshout.com,2008:news/index/1.10102 2008-04-29T18:15:00Z 2008-04-29T18:15:00Z GameSHOUT News news@gameshout.com http://www.gameshout.com
According to a statement released by Microsoft, "This price drop is part of Microsoft's ongoing strategy to bring Xbox's high-definition gaming and entertainment experience to an even wider user base."

Microsoft further stated that revenue from its entertainment and devices division rose 68 percent for the year quarter ending on March 31st with a strong demand for its Xbox 360. Microsoft said that sales for the Xbox 360 which launched in November 2005 have now surpassed 19 million. The company further added that sales will remain strong during 2008 based on a growing demand for high-definition televisions and video games.

{extended} ]]> tag:gameshout.com,2008:news/index/1.10101 2008-04-28T23:06:00Z 2008-04-28T23:06:00Z GameSHOUT News news@gameshout.com http://www.gameshout.com
The announcement was made by Rod Murray, Blockbuster's vice president of games merchandising who said that they are committed offering a full assortment of everything that gamers want in their stores. This would include hardware, accessories, retail as well as rental games across all platforms including Nintendo Wii, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, and Nintendo DS.

They said that customers will also be able to purchase special bundles such as a PS3 movie bundle that would include a 40GB PS3, remote, HDMI cable, Spider-Man on Blu-ray, a Blockbuster 12-week rental card, and the Transformers video game all for a price of $499.99.
{extended} ]]> tag:gameshout.com,2008:news/index/1.10098 2008-04-28T19:46:00Z 2008-04-28T19:46:00Z GameSHOUT News news@gameshout.com http://www.gameshout.com
For those two or three of you who have not played Mario Kart on the DS, allow me to fill you in on this well loved game. Mario Kart is a go-kart racing game with tons of twists and turns, plus some turtle shells and more thrown in for more fun. Then add mushrooms, power-ups that can super-speed boost you by your opponents and you have one heck of a race where it's always any body's race.

There are 12 Nintendo characters to choose from to start out, and each character has their own strengths and weaknesses. You are able to unlock more characters as you advance. And each character begins with three karts new to the Wii, three sets of bikes. The bikes will take a little more time to master, especially the speed boosts. But the bikes are also tighter on the turns as well.

There is single as well as multiplayer modes, and 16 classic tracks as well as 16 new tracks to race on. There will be lots more news to come as the review hits GameSHOUT.com so keep checking back.

{extended} ]]> tag:gameshout.com,2008:news/index/1.10097 2008-04-28T19:06:00Z 2008-04-28T19:06:00Z GameSHOUT News news@gameshout.com http://www.gameshout.com
It seems that Mr. Thompson again is attempting a sanction a offering of the Grand Theft Auto series, this time in a letter to the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, R. Alexander Acosta. In the letter, Mr. Thompson is asking that legal action be taken against Take-Two and it's executives, as well as retailers that sell the game to those under 18 years of age including Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and GameStop saying that this game should be rated as "Adults Only" by the ESRB Board and not sold by retailers. Thompson further names Sony and Microsoft for making this "pornographic game available to minors, and openly so, on their PS3 and Xbox systems."

To make things even worse, Mr. Thompson offers as a source of evidence, none other than a fellow gaming site, IGN and a video compilation that they put together called the "Ladies of Liberty City" showing what many would term to be to be the worst that the game GTA IV has to offer, making some believe that this is what the game is all about. The video clip lasting about four minutes long shows the game's hero, Niko cruising the streets and shooting down hookers, visiting a strip club where lap dances are performed, sometimes by two strippers simulating sex acts, and picking up hookers and performing sex acts in the cars only to let them out to run them over or shoot them.

First at no time is there any nudity shown in the video clip and it is explicitly for "mature audiences", as a birth date must be entered to see the clip. But someone watching this clip might think that this is all that the game is about and that is just not so. There is no special mission in the game for picking up and shooting hookers, but that is the prerogative of the player. This part of the game is a very small part of the game and there is so much more involved in the game, but that we will be able to tell you more in our review of both versions of the game.

For now, it is unfortunate that some will take this one video clip out of context and believe that this is what the whole game is about. But it is this reporter's considered opinion that this controversy is actually good for the sales of the game, in fact better than any advertising could be. It may just be that these critics don't understand that they are a great help for the sales of these games, and that the publicity that they provide gives the game sales the boost that the game publishers greatly appreciate. As it is, it looks like Grand Theft Auto IV will be a launch for the record books and that the critics may again be tilting at windmills again.

{extended} ]]> tag:gameshout.com,2008:news/index/1.10094 2008-04-25T16:42:00Z 2008-04-25T16:42:00Z GameSHOUT News news@gameshout.com http://www.gameshout.com
According to Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime, this service will give others a feel for the games and help them make a buying decision. We think that someone needs to tell Reggie that though reviews do help influence a buying decision, demos go a lot further to influencing that buying decision than a non-professional review will. But that is the opinion of a professional reviewer.

More news out of Nintendo is that the console is still having a hard time staying on retailer's shelves for any reasonable amount of time. They keep selling out as quickly as they come in. Some retailers say that they don't even get the game console onto the shelves but just let the customers know that the shipment is in and by the time the pallet is wheeled to the sales floor, the stock is gone.

Nintendo hopes to rectify this issue for the summer sales season by ramping up manufacturing prior to the summer slam demand hits. The company is increasing its output from 1.8 million units to 2.4 million Wii consoles monthly starting this summer. About 40 percent of this number heads to the Americas for resale while the rest goes to Europe and Japan. Let's just hope this will stop the fights between the angry soccer moms over the last Wii at the local Toys"R"Us.

{extended} ]]> tag:gameshout.com,2008:news/index/1.10093 2008-04-25T16:21:00Z 2008-04-25T16:21:00Z GameSHOUT News news@gameshout.com http://www.gameshout.com
The free downloadable demo version will be available from Spore.com and will include The SimCitydemo set to be released on the 23rd of June. The Retail version will be a little more entailed providing access to all the creature-making parts for Spore where the demo will be limited to only 25 percent of those parts. Additionally, the retail version allows users to share their creations with their friends by uploading their creatures onto YouTube.

Then when Spore arrives in September, the Creature Creator will still be an important part of the game, giving users a few months to start their creations before the release of the full game. This may likely be just what the doctor ordered for those spore fans going through the DTs while waiting for two years for the release of Spore onto the PC and Mac, giving them just a few months of Sporing ahead of the full version release. In this way, they won't OD on the full version when it is released in September.

{extended} ]]> tag:gameshout.com,2008:news/index/1.10092 2008-04-24T19:14:00Z 2008-04-24T19:14:00Z GameSHOUT News news@gameshout.com http://www.gameshout.com
The announcement has actually caused some upset within PETA as the current membership debate whether anyone would ever eat any animal tissue that has ever been a part of an animal. So far only a small amount of meat tissue has ever been grown in a laboratory and it remains to be seen whether or not any consumers would like the idea of eating meat from a petri dish. And to date, most PETA members seem to take issue with anything that may at any time have been any part of an animal at any time.

In a statement released this week by PETA, they stated that they are disgusted by the conventional meat industry that raises animals, especially chickens and pigs, in an inhumane confined system that causes a significant amount of environmental damage. It is PETA's hope that this challenge will lead to the end of the domesticated farm animal and lead to a more humane way of producing meat.

{extended} ]]> tag:gameshout.com,2008:news/index/1.10091 2008-04-24T18:11:00Z 2008-04-24T18:11:00Z GameSHOUT News news@gameshout.com http://www.gameshout.com
Windows XP, the 6-year-old operating system was set to be taken off of store shelves on June 30th of 2008 and fans of the operating system started sounding off in complaint of the decision. Those fans continue to sing the praises of Windows XP and its Superiority over Windows Vista since it's launch in January along with numerous lukewarm reviews. To date, approximately 160,000 people have signed an online petition to "Save XP" and want Microsoft to keep selling the operating system until the next version of windows is released, which is currently set for 2010.

Ballmer stated that though the company may possibly reconsider the decision to pull Windows XP from retail shelves, he still believes that those that buy new computers are looking for the newest technology including the newest operating system. Some analysts might disagree with Mr. Ballmer as many surveys have shown that where available, those who are given the option on a new computer, often will choose what they consider the more stable platform, that being Windows XP. This is especially true among gaming systems.

{extended} ]]> tag:gameshout.com,2008:news/index/1.10090 2008-04-23T18:48:00Z 2008-04-23T18:48:00Z GameSHOUT News news@gameshout.com http://www.gameshout.com
PA Semi designs chips that are energy efficient based on the Power architecture that Apple used in its Macintosh computers for many years prior to adopting the Intel x86 chips. This might give one an idea what Apple has in store for the PA Semi chips acquisition. Its more likely that Apple might have an ultra-mobile PC in mind for the future. But it is unlikely that the chips would be used in the iPhone.

Apple must have seen something in the PA Semi chip that it can't get from Intel, or that it can get cheaper by owning the intellectual property. PA Semi licenses the power instruction set from IBM making its chips compatible with the PowerPC chips that Apple used in the past. The PA Semi dual-core PWRficient chip that the company launched last year however can deliver 3-4 times the performance of the existing chips with the same energy consumption according to company claims. This chip is intended for use in networking storage devices or in telecommunications infrastructure.

{extended} ]]> tag:gameshout.com,2008:news/index/1.10089 2008-04-23T18:15:00Z 2008-04-23T18:15:00Z GameSHOUT News news@gameshout.com http://www.gameshout.com
It also seems that Rockstar Games is not interested in turning the Grand Theft Auto series into a movie. Cofounder Dan Houser gave Variety an interview and said that Rockstar will be protecting its cash cow, the intellectual property of Grand Theft Auto and it will not be hitting the silver screen. He said that if you move it into a movie format, then you loose a lot of what makes it what it is, so it will continue to be what it is, a great game.

If you are not seeing ads for GTA IV, it might be because the city you live in may think the ads may add to the violence within your city. That's what happened in Chicago. The Chicago Transit Authority would not post the ads on the city buses in the wake of a rash of shooting incidents in the city. For this reason, the city decided to remove the ads from the buses, though these ads don't contain any overtly violent, sexual, or graphic material on them that would normally promote such an action. Some are thinking that this is an overreaction on the city's part, and many of us might agree with that thinking.

{extended} ]]> tag:gameshout.com,2008:news/index/1.10087 2008-04-19T16:04:01Z 2008-04-19T16:04:01Z GameSHOUT News news@gameshout.com http://www.gameshout.com
The VelociRaptor is a 300 GB storage capacity in a 2.2-inch drive, enclosed in the "IcePack", a 3.5-inch mounting frame with a built-in heat sink. This customization still fits the drive in a standard 3.5-inch system bay and keeps the drive extra cool when installed in a high-performance desktop computer.

In a statement released today, Tom McDorman, vice president and general manager of WD's enterprise business unit said, "Demand for ever-higher PC performance continues to increase and WD is the leader in this category with the WD Raptor. We created WD VelociRaptor hard drives to lead PC enthusiasts into the next era of PC and Mac storage performance and satisfy their insatiable thirst for computing speed." Mr. McDorman went on to say "The new WD VelociRaptor delivers the greatest performance and reliability of all SATA hard drives currently on the market.”

The VelociRaptor is designed for those PC and Mac enthusiasts desiring greater speed in their computers. The new VelociRaptor includes not only the 10,000 RPM hard drive, but also a 16 MB cache and a SATA 3 GB/s interface.

The VelociRaptor will be available in Alienware's high-performance ALX paming systems by the end of April. At launch, Alienware plans on offering 2 300GB WD VelociRaptor hard drives in RAID O configuration on http://www.alienware.com. The VelociRaptor will also be available at certain select distributors as well as at Alienware sometime in mid-May and will retail for about $299.99.


{extended} ]]> tag:gameshout.com,2008:news/index/1.10086 2008-04-18T20:39:00Z 2008-04-18T20:39:00Z GameSHOUT News news@gameshout.com http://www.gameshout.com
May 16th however fits quite nicely into Take-Two's plans as it has been waiting until after the release of its next greatest hit to go on sale on April 29th, Grand Theft Auto IV. With the presales that Take-Two is keeping track of, it is expecting to be one of the top grossing entertainment titles of all time with sales of more than $400 million expected in the first week of its launch. This would handily beat Halo 3 which saw $300 million in sales worldwide in the first week of sales.

The real question will be does EA need Take-Two and does Take-Two need EA? Many analysts believe that either could be well off without the other and that they could walk away from the table without a deal and be just fine. EA believes that is doesn't need Take-Two, and more than said so by reducing it's asking price. But what would it mean to have a combination of EA and Take-Two? Would the combined company provide either greater assets and flexibility to make greater games? Or would it just be great for the shareholders?

{extended} ]]> tag:gameshout.com,2008:news/index/1.10085 2008-04-18T20:15:00Z 2008-04-18T20:15:00Z GameSHOUT News news@gameshout.com http://www.gameshout.com
In this way the Software Update 2.1 for Windows splits up the offerings giving the user the choice of what they wish to install. However, the new and just released Safari 3.1.1 for some strange reason is checked bu default, even if it is a new offering. This change comes just a month after apple came under fire for the way it pushed its software on Windows users. It would install automatically when iTunes or QuickTime was installed on the host Windows PC. Then in March it began installing the Safari browser where it was not previously installed on the Windows systems.

It is yet unknown whether or not this change will quiet Apple's loudest critics but only time will tell. Those loudest critics were the makers of Mozilla's Firefox browser who stated that Apple's approach really undermined the trust relationship great companies have with their customers. They further compared the practice to along the lines of the distribution of malware. Either way, at this time those who don't want Apple's newest offerings are still required to uncheck a box that is currently checked by default and the critics may still have something to say about that.

{extended} ]]> tag:gameshout.com,2008:news/index/1.10084 2008-04-17T20:06:01Z 2008-04-17T20:06:01Z GameSHOUT News news@gameshout.com http://www.gameshout.com
Some might find it curious though that Namco Bandai did not decide to release Soul Calibur on the PlayStation Store for the PS3. Some might even call it a snub of the PS3 but summer is just around the corner and the release of Soul Calibur IV will be on both the Xbox 360 and also on the Sony PlayStation 3.

One unfortunate point of the re-release of Soul Calibur on Xbox LIVE Arcade is that there will not be any online versus mode. There will only be local versus playbut that will be good enough for most who are interested in reliving the nostalgia of playing the original again. There have been no details of a release date for Soul Calibur as yet but it is sure to be shortly prior to the release of the forth volume. And of course stick tuned right here and we'll keep you posted.

{extended} ]]> tag:gameshout.com,2008:news/index/1.10083 2008-04-17T19:39:00Z 2008-04-17T19:39:00Z GameSHOUT News news@gameshout.com http://www.gameshout.com
Wii Fit will retail for $89.99 and will include a balance board to facilitate the more than 40 yoga, aerobics, and strength training exercises. The user sets their own fitness goals and keeps track of their progress over time.



Now if you are more of a racing fan, just around the corner you can keep your eyes open for Mario Kart Wii on April 27th. This is a great game that uses a steering wheel-shaped peripheral that holds the Wii remote. The chief function of the wheel is just to make the remote easier to hold so the wheel is really reasonable, about $15. For the most part, you're sure to get a lot of exercise steering your Kart around the track and knocking all of your friends off of the track. Many believe that this game is a reason to own a Wii.



{extended} ]]> tag:gameshout.com,2008:news/index/1.10082 2008-04-17T19:28:00Z 2008-04-17T19:28:00Z GameSHOUT News news@gameshout.com http://www.gameshout.com
Comcast has been accused in the past of slowing down broadband networks of those that were using BitTorrent protocol, which prompted an investigation by the Federal Communications Commission. Further reports are that Comcast may not be slowing the broadband connections of those using certain programs, but may instead slowing connections of those showing a history of usage patterns that would indicate that that customer is trying to get around certain copyright restrictions.

So in the future, Comcast intends to manage its networks on an individual basis, based on the individual consumption by its consumers. Anything outside that scope could be fare game as fare as Comcast is concerned. Their major concern is the disproportionate use of its network by those who are heavy downloaders of files. But this still leaves it up to Comcast to decide what is “normal” usage and what is “above normal” usage, and that is the whole concern of the network neutrality crowd in the first place.

{extended} ]]> tag:gameshout.com,2008:news/index/1.10081 2008-04-16T20:49:00Z 2008-04-16T20:49:00Z GameSHOUT News news@gameshout.com http://www.gameshout.com
Reports are that Take-Two has been keeping track of just how many pre-sales have been placed at retailers and according to those reports, the publisher believes that approximately six million units have been pre-ordered which generates just over $400 million in revenues. If the reports prove true, then given the facts that Halo 3 saw 5 million copies worldwide in its first week accounting for about $300 million in sales, then GTA IV would indeed outsell Halo 3 in its first week of sales. And this would be quite a feat.

In fact Variety Wednesday predicted that the Rockstar release could be the biggest release of all time of any entertainment property. The Hollywood trade noted that the Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End grossed $404 million internationally in its first 16 days worldwide, and that GTA IV should completely blow that away.

The only think that could sour this deal could be a hostile take-over by Electronic Arts that Take-Two Interactive is now facing, which could cause a delay in the release of GTA IV if the take-over were to be successful. Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick has asked the shareholders to decline the EA offer but he could be facing an uphill battle as the offer is for $26 per share, a 62 percent markup per share over the current share price.

{extended} ]]> tag:gameshout.com,2008:news/index/1.10079 2008-04-15T21:13:00Z 2008-04-15T21:13:00Z GameSHOUT News news@gameshout.com http://www.gameshout.com
For those of you who may have been hiding in caves and denying your inner sim, the game was created in 2000 and puts the player into a real world that they can create, manipulate, and has indeed been wildly popular with women. It afterall does play about 60 percent to women and about 40 percent to men. It was created by Will Wright who was initially skeptical about its success. But the game succeeded by giving people freedom to recreate themselves and their families in their own images. They create their homes, their lives, activities and all manner of things making themselves what they would like if they had ultimate control.

The Sims became the ultimate in casual games. In fact there is a great deal of user-generated content on the net as well, including more than 100,000 Sims movies created by players that have become hugely popular. The Sims is a completely open game that lets the gamer make the rules and play the game. And as EA Games prepares for Sims 3 expected to be released in 2009, EA is hoping to appeal to more core gamers. EA is also said to be collaborating with 20th Century Fox to develop a live action movie based on the game. So there is sure to me more Sims goodness for some time to come.

{extended} ]]> tag:gameshout.com,2008:news/index/1.10078 2008-04-15T20:03:00Z 2008-04-15T20:03:00Z GameSHOUT News news@gameshout.com http://www.gameshout.com
Then on Tuesday, Psystar completely changed their website and the OpenMac was gone from the front page of their site. But if you look hard enough through their products pages, you will find their Open Computer products. It seems that Apple's legal machine has been hard at work again. No one thought Steve Jobs would ever let any company get away with allowing an Apple clone to exist, but doesn't it still really exist? Doesn't a rose by any other name tick-off Mr. Jobs?

The headline on the products page states that the Open Computer is a "Smart Alternative to an Apple" and that one can spend $1,999 for the least expensive Apple computer or spend much less than that and get so much more. The page goes on to say that "Experts and Geniuses: I want a Hackintosh"

For $399.99 a buyer can get a basic Mac clone in a PC box that is also upgradeable. It comes with an Intel Cor 2 Duo 2.2 GHz processor, 250GB 7200RPM SATA hard drive, Intel GMS 950 graphics processor or for an upcharge add an nVidia GeForce 8600 GT with either 256 or 512 MB on board, and 2GB of DDR2 RAM. If you want to go a little higher, $999.99, the consumer can opt for the OpenPro with the Intel Core 2 Duo 2.6 GHz processor, 2GB of DDR2 RAM, 150GB 10,000RPM SATA hard drive, the nVidia GeForce 8600 GT video card, a silver case.

But either way you go, now the consumer pays for a copy of the operating system, $155 for Leopard but they will install it for you. We still have to wonder how long it will take for Apple to find another way to completely shut this operation down but for now it looks as if Psystar may have found a way around the Apple.

{extended} ]]> tag:gameshout.com,2008:news/index/1.10077 2008-04-14T18:28:00Z 2008-04-14T18:28:00Z GameSHOUT News news@gameshout.com http://www.gameshout.com
One problem with this program though is the sheer amount of data involved. In the last six years, NCMEC had to sort through nearly 13 million images and videos of child abuse; five million of those were in 2007 alone. Google stated that it has tools that will speed up the process a great deal.

Google said in a blog post that its tools will allow analysts to be able to more quickly search the NCMEC database and identify files that contain images of child pornography. Google further has a video tool that will be able to streamline the analysis of video snippets and identify it as child porn. I think that we can all agree that these tools will help Google do a great good in an area that needs all the help it can get.

{extended} ]]> tag:gameshout.com,2008:news/index/1.10076 2008-04-14T16:31:00Z 2008-04-14T16:31:00Z GameSHOUT News news@gameshout.com http://www.gameshout.com
In a statement released Monday, Psystar said that like a PC that works like a Mac with Apple's latest operating system OS X 10.5 also known as Leopard. The Openmac allows a user to run OS X just as if the user purchased the Mac, except that Psystar claims that the user pays less and gets more. The $399 machine comes installed with the Leopard operating system and with minimal patching using an EFI Emulator.

Some experts warn that the EFI emulator if a problem since updates are likely to crash the system and the Mac clone does not guarantee that Apple won't make some kind of an attempt to block the EFI emulator completely. It is the EFI V8 emulator that is used to install the Leopard's kernel straight from the DVD purchased from Apple and ensures that the extra drivers are installed to make the Mac clone bootable. The Openmac comes with a 2.2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2GB of DDR2 RAM, integrated Intel GMA 950 graphics, 20X DVD +/-R Drive, four USB ports, and a 250GB 7200RPM hard drive.

There seem to be two problems as we see it so far; one is that the Apple end user license of Leopard which states that the use of the OS X on a non-Apple-branded computer is a violation of its End User License Agreement. The second issue as we see it is that the Psystar site seems to be down as of the writing of this article. It is yet unclear whether this is due to heavy traffic or due to Apple using its considerable muscle to shut the site down. We will assume it is the former until we see a statement to the contrary from Apple or Psystar.

{extended} ]]> tag:gameshout.com,2008:news/index/1.10075 2008-04-11T19:47:00Z 2008-04-11T19:47:00Z GameSHOUT News news@gameshout.com http://www.gameshout.com
The release of the Undead however, will be up to the players of the game. You see, the Undead's resurfacing in the storyline will completely depend on player-driven events so there is no official date for the release of the expansion. It all depends on how quickly the players complete their quests and gather the necessary resources to free Goth Azul from the Underworld, and it is he who will unleash the Undead hordes into the world. At the same time, new units for the other five factions will also be unlocked as players complete these objectives.

These Undead warriors will not be easy prey for the Brotherhood either as they are fearless and strike terror into the hearts of their enemy. They will have abilities and tactical strengths which will reflect conventional traits drawn from undead throughout mythology with some very interesting surprises thrown in for fun. So don't expect these Undead troops to flee in the face of overwhelming enemies because they themselves will have great morale as part of their character traits, and it is the enemy troops of the Undead that will find themselves demoralized and on the run. There is more to come, but be sure to head over to http://www.playsaga.com for more details as they become available.


{extended} ]]> tag:gameshout.com,2008:news/index/1.10074 2008-04-10T19:12:00Z 2008-04-10T19:12:00Z GameSHOUT News news@gameshout.com http://www.gameshout.com
Hourly prizes will be awarded throughout the weekend including Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare shirts, Infinity Ward autographed posters, and Xbox LIVE point cards. To top it all off, one very lucky winner will be walking away with an Infinity Ward autographed Xbox 360 Elite console AND Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare faceplate, among other items. Players can start registering now at http://www.xbox.com/livefire/ and registration will continue through April 17th, 2008.

But that's not all, because on Friday April 18th from 6-9 PM EDT, gamers will have the opportunity to play with more than a dozen developers from Infinity Ward. Then on Saturday night from 9-11 PM EDT, Mixed Martial Arts phenom, Jens "Lil Evil" Pulver will be joining in on the action under the gamertag of COD4JensPulver. This is sure to be one heck of a BLAST of a weekend.

If you are interested in meeting and playing with the rest of the gang at Infinity Ward, be sure to add the following gamertags to your friends list:
Fourzerotwo, COD4Chance, COD4Justin, COD4Ed, COD4David, COD4Neel, COD4Geoffrey, COD4Jon, COD4Jeff, COD4Drew, COD4Ryan, COD4Todd, COD4Joel. And don't forget to download the newest Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Variety Map Pack available only for the Xbox 360 game system on the Xbox LIVE Marketplace. We'll cya in there! (Gamertag GSRCaptMaverick)

{extended} ]]> tag:gameshout.com,2008:news/index/1.10073 2008-04-10T18:24:00Z 2008-04-10T18:24:00Z GameSHOUT News news@gameshout.com http://www.gameshout.com
For those of you who are a little more technical-minded, DTS-HD Master Audio delivers audio at 24.5 mega-bits per second which is quite a bit higher than standard DVDs or 7.1 audio at 96K sampling frequency/24 bit depths. Sony further added that over 100 Blu-ray movies as well as concert videos feature the new DTS-HD Master Audio.

Sony said that the firmware 2.30 update will also bring users the newly remodeled PlayStation Store, which is transitioning from an online feature to more of a native PS3 application. Sony said that this will allow users to more easily and quickly locate and purchase games and download demos, game videos, Blu-ray movie trailers, and more gaming related content for the PlayStation 3. Sony is certain that this update will invigorate PlayStation Store sales by making it easier for the customer to buy.

{extended} ]]> tag:gameshout.com,2008:news/index/1.10072 2008-04-10T17:55:00Z 2008-04-10T17:55:00Z GameSHOUT News news@gameshout.com http://www.gameshout.com
Though many people were enticed into buying an HD DVD player by the extremely low prices toward the end of the war, the retailers don't want the consumers to get a bad taste in their mouthes for them by just being stuck with a DVD player that is now pretty much obsolete and relegated to playing only regular DVDs for the rest of its mechanized lifespan. To make nice with their customers many of the retailers have taken to given rebates back to their customers that have purchased these HD DVD players.

Many of the rebate offers vary, but Amazon is issuing a rebate to those customers who bought an HD DVD player before February 23rg with an Amazon.com $50 credit, no strings attached. Wal-Mart is issuing a full refund to any customer that bought an HD DVD player before November 1st of 2007 but the offer expires on April 30th so you better hurry, and you better find that receipt.

As reported here on GameSHOUT, Best Buy is offering a $50 gift card to anyone who bought their HD DVD player before midnight CST on February 22nd. This includes most Toshiba models and also the Xbox 360 HD DVD drive but Best buy is letting you keep the HD DVD player and letting you keep the gift card too.

{extended} ]]> tag:gameshout.com,2008:news/index/1.10071 2008-04-09T18:58:00Z 2008-04-09T18:58:00Z GameSHOUT News news@gameshout.com http://www.gameshout.com
The founder of 37Signals, Jason Fried, told the blog ReadWriteWeb that while the company is flattered that Google thinks that Campfire is a wonderful product, we was disappointed that Google would stoop so low as to basically copy it feature for feature and layout for layout.

Google said that it had heard some complaints from some of its developer community and decided to remove the product from its offering for the time being. But at the same time, Google never made any official comment that HuddleChat was any official product of Google. It was only a demo application.

{extended} ]]> tag:gameshout.com,2008:news/index/1.10070 2008-04-09T16:39:00Z 2008-04-09T16:39:00Z GameSHOUT News news@gameshout.com http://www.gameshout.com
Adobe patched seven vulnerabilities including several that could be used to hijack machines running the flawed software. One of the patches fixed a flaw found during a hacker contest sponsored by 3Com Inc.'s Tipping Point. It operates a bug bounty program called Zero Day Initiative to identify software flaws that can be termed critical.

The majority of the flaws in the Flash Player were cause by the way the player handled the .swf files, which are the Shockwave Flash format files. One of the flaws had been reported to Adobe in December of 2007 by Google Inc., which said that the bug could be used to launch a cross-site scripting attack. This is an attack commonly used by identity thieves and phishers.

{extended} ]]> tag:gameshout.com,2008:news/index/1.10069 2008-04-08T18:28:00Z 2008-04-08T18:28:00Z GameSHOUT News news@gameshout.com http://www.gameshout.com
More than 10,000 developers received a free preview account with 500MB of storage space and enough bandwidth for about five million page views per month. Though developers jumped at the opportunity, they can still download the SDK and work with the non-hosted applications. When it is fully launched, Google said that it will still offer the free accounts with the same limitations though developers will be able to purchase more resources for use with more popular applications.

This new service puts Google in direct competition with similar services such as Amazon Web Services. Though the Amazon offering differs in that developers can more readily pick and choose the parts of the service that they wish to choose such as Amazon S3 storage. With the Google service it's pretty much the whole program or nothing.

{extended} ]]>