Local Gaming News

Brunei gaming community, for all purpose and intent, have almost no outlet to be heard (outside from forums and beyond the comforts of our den of chaos). So, here are some of the articles which more or less tells a bit about our gaming situation.

Online gamers want more original copies of video games
Parents split on choice of violent computer games for children
Winners of cyber games announced
Heroes of Gunstar still fresh in modern wars
Writers strikes for great games
Educational games a smart industry niche

Kutaragi Inducted in CEA Hall of Fame

15 years ago saw the creation of the Sony Computer Entertainment Division and in 1994 the first glimpse of the original Playstation was seen. Heading all these was the father himself, Ken Kutaragi. The Playstation brand has since then sold millions of items, changing even millions of people's lives all over the world. This can be seen through the evolution of gaming from cartridges to CDs by the original Playstation and the DVD life we see today all because of the Playstation 2.

Known as the Father of the Playstation, Ken Kutaragi has been inducted into the Consumer Electronic Association's CE Hall of Fame joining the likes of the creator of the first mobile phone as well as the company known as The Father of The DVD. In a report by the GameDaily Biz, the CEA said that its Hall of Fame "honors leaders whose significant contributions make the consumer electronics industry a vibrant, dynamic and vital part of our nation and its economy."

Looks like Ken Kutaragi must be happy grilling away - if you get what i mean.

Phil Harrison Retires

Sony Computer Entertainment gave a surprising announcement in the form of the resignation of Phil Harrison, effective February 19th. The President of Sony Computer Entertainment World Wide Studios will be replaced by Kaz Hirai, President and Group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment International.

As one of the founding members of SCE, Phil played a key role in the development and growth of the PlayStation business and our industry," said Kazuo Hirai. "It is sad to see him departing from SCE, but I wish to express my gratitude for his many invaluable contributions and also wish Phil the very best of luck in his future endeavors."

"The past 15 years at Sony Computer Entertainment has been the defining journey of my life so far," said Phil Harrison. "I am grateful to all the PlayStation family for their incredible support, guidance and friendship. It has been a privilege to serve as part of the team and be inspired by them on a daily basis. I am so proud of everything PlayStation has achieved and will continue to support its future in every way I can."
-via joystiq

Phil Harrison has been a great asset and a great public speaker for Sony since the retirement of the father of all PlayStation, Ken Kutaragi. But the new appointment of Kaz Hirai will make 2008 an interesting year for the PlayStation brand.

Thank you Phil Harrison for your Game 3.0. Let's hope we get to see it come to light.

Toshiba Hearts Sony

In the industry news, Toshiba has moved on to back Sony's Cell and RSX chips. News of negotiations has been surfacing for the past few months but no solid deals have been finalised, until recently. With the dropping of HD DVD plans, Toshiba is buying microchip processing facilities in Japan for USD$835 million. This means that Toshiba is helping Sony produce the Cell and RSX chips.

Here's to a long lasting relationship!

Read the rest here.

The War is Over

Toshiba has finally called it quits and has stopped production for HD DVDs. Obviously, current HD DVDs will still be around but let's celebrate for the format war has somewhat ended! And seems like Sony has finally got its share of winning a format war, what with its history of losing streaks. But yay to Blu-Ray!

Personally, I'm glad Blu-Ray won since it has the better looking disc cover.

1 billion in 26 months

Here's my two cents on Guitar Hero III. I love it. I love it more than I love Rock Band. And mind you, Rock Band is a good and fun game, but it just doesn't keep me there for far too long. I don't know. Maybe it's because how boring the guitar play is. Maybe it's the okay list of songs available, even despite it having lots of downloadable songs every week. But truth is, I love Guitar Hero III more despite the lack of songs you get to download. Well, turns out I'm not the only one who thinks so. The world seems to love Guitar Hero too.

According to Activision, the Guitar Hero series have managed to garner over US$1 billion within 26 months while selling 14 million units. That's impressive, considering that the franchise was first developed by Harmonix (the creator of Rock Band). In a 1up article, they mentioned that Activision also claimed that Guitar Hero III has set an industry record (again) as the best selling title in a calendar year.

It was also mentioned that, despite their lack of downloadable songs, Guitar Hero III has surpassed 5 million song downloads as opposed to Rock Band's 2.5 million. And I must say, I've downloaded all Guitar Hero III songs but only a few of Rock Band's (mostly Bowie, Metallica, Blink 182 and All American Rejects).

This just shows how consumers do not look at developers but really concentrate on the title of the game seeing how the creators of the original Guitar Hero has moved on to Rock Band and still Guitar Hero stands above the multiplayer rhythmic game.