Perhaps you may have forgotten about OnLive already, the digital content distribution and gaming system destined to bring balance to the force change the face of PC gaming forever? It seems like this type of technology could really indeed do such a thing – or fall flat on it’s face. Until now, we’ve only seen bits and pieces of the system in action – and only in controlled environments, but on June 17th consumers will finally have the chance to try the technology for themselves, according to the official OnLive blog.
There are a couple catches, however: the service is only launching for PC and Mac (not the above “mini console”) and the host computer needs to meet specific “network and performance conditions”. On top of that, the service is $15 a month and does not include the cost of the games themselves. I also noticed that launch titles like Assassin’s Creed II are considered “top tier” games – it’s not clear exactly what this means just yet, but perhaps there will be a different pricing structure per game. The $15 gets you access to different rental and purchasing options, but it looks like this is tied to the account you set up with OnLive – meaning if you cancel the account, you’ll no longer be able to stream or play the games.
Call me old fashioned, but I’d rather own my digital goods, and I’d just as soon invest the $150 a year subscription cost into a new video card or similar PC gaming component. But that’s just me. If you’re interested, OnLive has a registration special which gives you a shot at getting the first three months of fees waived.
Nintendo has officially announced that the Nintendo DSi will launch in the United States on April 5, 2009.
“Ever since the arrival of the first Game Boy, consumers worldwide have turned to Nintendo for their portable gaming,” commented Cammie Dunaway, executive VP of sales and marketing at Nintendo of America. “Nintendo DSi builds on Nintendo’s commitment to bringing fun and creative entertainment to everyone, and will allow consumers to personalize and share their very own experiences.”
The handheld will retail for $169.99 and will initially be available in only blue and black.
This latest revision of Nintendo’s money maker will include two cameras, a voice recorder and the ability to play music from an SD card. The DSi will also have the ability to download games and applications from the DSiWare store with prices starting at 200 points.
The DSi has been available in Japan since late last year and has been selling well. Hopefully you will be able to find one here in the states on launch day.
From the creators of Inside Mac Games comes a new application called Mac Games Arcade that allows users to download nearly 400 Mac games via the internet, kind of like Steam. All that is required is Mac OS 10.4.11 or later and an internet connection.
As part of their official launch they are offering 5 free games over the next 5 days starting today. It is quite simple to sign up but you will need to enter a valid credit card to get the free games. Each promotional code is only valid for 24 hours so you can’t just horde them. You will also receive a $1 coupon code for each game you purchase (including the free titles it seems) for future purchases.
The first free title is Pangea Arcade. The other free titles have yet to be announced.
[Via Mac Games Arcade]
That’s right people. WiiWare is finally making it’s debut in North America tomorrow. The people over at Nintendo Everything seem to have gotten their paws on the press release set to go out tomorrow announcing the service. According to that press release, here’s the games launching tomorrow:
- Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King – 1500 Wii points
- Lost Winds – 1000 Wii points
- Defend Your Castle – 500 Wii points
- Pop – 700 Wii points
- V.I.P. Casino: Blackjack – 700 Wii points
- TV Show King – 1000 Wii points
We’re going to reserve a little judgement until we see the real press release from Nintendo, but it’s a decent launch lineup. You better go pick up a Wii Points card at a local retailer and be ready to get downloading.
According to the alleged press release, because of the launch of WiiWare, there will be no Virtual Console releases this week. Stay tuned as we confirm with Nintendo.
Nintendo announced the release date for WiiWare in Japan as being March 25th, as in right around the corner. For those keeping stats, we’ll see WiiWare in the US on May 12th. Along with dating the service, Nintendo released a list of 9 launch titles for Japan:
- Okiraku Ping Pong Wii – Arc System Works – (500 points)
- Kotoba no Puzzle Mojipittan Wii – Namco Bandai – (1000 points)
- Saku Saku Animal Panic – Konami – (1000 points)
- Star Soldier R – Hudson – (800 points)
- Tenshi Solitaire – G-Mode – (500 points)
- Dr. Mario & Saikin Bokumetsu – Nintendo – (1000 points)
- Pokémon Ranch – Nintendo – (1000 points)
- Lonpos – Genki – (1000 Points)
- Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles : My Life as a King – Square Enix – (1500 Points)
Definitely a solid lineup, especially Crystal Chronicles. If only I had a Japanese Wii to grab these.
[vi Nintendo Japan]
Activision sent over a press release letting us know that Spider-Man 3 for the PSP is now available.
In Spider-Man 3 for the PSP system, players must draw upon Spider-Man’s unique combat and powerful, upgradeable moves to protect the citizens of Manhattan by defeating arch-rivals from the blockbuster film as well as classic Marvel villains during missions and epic boss battles. In the PSP system exclusive Conquest Mode, missions must be completed by dawn, and if successful, players will be rewarded generously with Hero Points, which allow them to upgrade and customize their Spider-Man skills.
I was disappointed with Spider-Man 3 on the PS3, after really loving the first two movie-based games. Hopefully the camera has been re-worked for the PSP, which was the biggest issue with the console title.
Hit the jump for more »
Today was the Launch Event for Guitar Hero III, held at Spotlight Live Night Club in New York City.
On hand were Kai Huang, president of Red Octane, as well as Jason Young, CEO of Ziff Davis. Young started off the event talking about how Digital Life had grown over the last few years, and spoke about how the first Guitar Hero had debuted at Digital Life four years ago. He then brought up an official from NYC to present Huang with a proclamation from the city declaring today Guitar Hero Day.
Hit the jump for more »
If you’ve had any trouble over the past 36 hours connecting to Xbox Live or the My Xbox section of xbox.com, you can freely blame the Master Chief. Players have been utterly hammering the servers playing Halo 3, and has caused some downtime and hiccups.
Major Nelson reminds up to check out the Xbox Live status on the official website (here) to see what’s going down. Everything should be back to normal now, as most people have Halo 3 already.
I guess that downtime earlier this month didn’t include beefing up the servers for the Halo 3 launch.
With Halo 3 coming out this week, what are your launch plans to get a copy of the game? I got a call today from my local Gamestop letting me know they’ll be open Tuesday at midnight for the launch of the game. They indicated you needed to be there by 9pm to make sure everything is paid in full so everyone can get the game promptly at midnight.
I haven’t decided if I’m going then, but most likely I won’t. Sure, Halo is going to be THE killer app this year, but I’m honestly just not that excited. The multiplayer will be amazing, and we’ll get to see the end of story of Master Chief. Halo just has never really drawn me in like some other games. I’ll probably pick the game up sometime Tuesday and not touch it until Wednesday.
So what are your plans? Are you camping out and waiting for the release of Halo 3? Are you donning your most fitting Halo outfit? What are odds we see someone dressed as a Brute, with mask and everything? I’m betting fairly high.
Expect a crapload of Halo 3 details over the next week as we come closer to the release of the biggest game for the Xbox 360. Luke Smith posted on NeoGAF to let us know what to expect:
Sunday at Noon. Daily Content on Bnet between now and launch including Matchmaking Playlist reveals (maybe Tyson will write something on them, I gotta ask him tomorrowz), Networking, Saved Films, Guide and Tour of Bungie.net, more Forge, First Ever Halo 3 Humpday on brand new Forged Gametypes with films of Rocket Race, new 2 hour podcast with Joe Staten, Marty O’Donnell and Chris Gossett talking about the new Bnet, the next Blomkamp and finally, a long awaited pre-launch surprise.
Oooh a surprise? Wonder what it could be? I’m guessing some further single player details, but who knows. Knowing Bungie, it could honestly be anything. Oh, and “Bnet” = “bungie.net”.
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