In an online world dominated by World of Warcraft, people forget that kids play MMOs too. And that their's is free. Cartoon Network sponsors Fusionfall, an MMO that imagines the Powerpuff Girls, Dexter's Lab, and others as teens in one big crossover event. To promote their new upgrade they're sponsoring a fan art conest. Get to it, anime fanboys. Here's the link for the details.
Xbox Live's Game With Fame promotions are usually pretty lame. Reality stars, minor rock bands, sport stars not from your town. But this Saturday they're getting gamers together with the hottest actress in Hollywood, Megan Fox, to play Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Got to give props to Miss Fox for this since she's an A-list celebrity. Then again, she's a documented gamer. Think YOU can charm her over voice chat? Friend "Megan Fox 2009" ASAP and log on to play half an hour before (5:30 P.M. ET) the Game with Fame session starts on Saturday, August 29, 6:00 P.M. ET. If you receive an invite to play, she's waiting to be impressed with your skills playing as Starscream. I really, really hope an audio engineer with a sense of humor is recording these sessions and leaks them to the public.
Some jokers in the gaming community entered Valve founder and managing director Gabe Newell in Victoria Secret's Body By Victoria contest. If he wins he could get a spa day, a $500 shopping spree at their flagship store, 2 nights in NYC, and $500 in spending money. He's got a good chance. He's currently ranked #2. Guess sexy women love Half-Life and Portal.
I like music games a lot. Guitar Hero, Rock Band, even Rock Revolution. I'll report when news stories happen. But do you wish there was a site that was nothing but music games? Plastic Axe might interest you. It's the pet project of videogame journalist Joe Rybicki. It features daily music game news and gaming updates. One of the cooler features is The Vault, a database of 1,800 songs from different games with links to iTunes and Amazon if you want to buy it.
People magazine reports that Resident Evil movie star Milla Jovovich married Resident Evil director, writer, producer Paul W.S. Anderson this weekend. Jovovich is known to gamers as Alice, the central character to the Resident Evil movies based on the videogames. Anderson first gained videogame noteriety by directing the first Mortal Kombat movie. He is currently listed as the director to the upcoming Castlevania movie. The couple met on the set of the first Resident Evil movie and have since had one daughter. Cuban music and cake followed the ceremony. There were no reports of zombie attacks.
So multiple internet stories are once again pointing to retailer leaks that all but confirm that the Xbox 360 Elite is dropping to $299.99. (In the United States) So for once we have two of the current gen game system at the same price point and even the same hard drive space. People are going to compare. [These opinions are soley my own and do not reflect Games Abyss or its editorial staff.]
Nitpicking aside lets admit that graphics, sound, game controllers are about the same. Here's where there's a big difference. The new PS3 Slim has Blu-ray and WiFi built in. The Xbox 360 Elite has backwards compatibility with older games. Now just on paper it's obvious the new PS3 is without a doubt the better value right now. Whether or not you use Blu-ray, it's an added value format that comes with the system. Xbox has Netflix but that's an extra cost. The built in WiFi might be the bigger blow. That's a $100 accessory that Sony is giving away for free. That's a strong left hook followed by an uppercut. Xbox needs to either bundle in the WiFi adaptor, which is horribly overpriced, or it needs to market some aggressive bundles. The plain Elite just doesn't cut it. If they don't this could be a very different holiday season from the last few ones. The Xbox 360 Arcade does offer a lower point of entry but will that be enough?
Agree or disagree? Or does the Nintendo DSi and Wii dominance make this irrelevant? Leave your comments.
Coveroo is a company that offers licensed covers for pretty much every cell phone in existence. They just added their first videogame property, Street Fighter IV. Check 'em out. Here's hoping we see Master Chief, Kratos, or Samus soon.
