Play by Play
And here it is, the moment you’ve been waiting for… a breakdown of what’s happening in the world of that fun thing we like to call the gaming industry
Wii? Wheee!
Nintendo may have fallen from first to third during the last round of console wars, but it’s poised for a major comeback.
After wowing gamers and critics during last spring’s E3 Expo — where the Wii console was awarded “best in show” — Nintendo’s about to make your mom happy.
Unlike the higher-priced Xbox 360 and PS3, the Wii will launch on November 19 for $250 in the U.S. and $280 in Canada.
It will also come bundled with a copy of Wii Sports, a compilation title that takes advantage of the Wii-mote controller’s motion-sensitive capabilities. Sadly, there won’t be a Super Mario title ready for launch, but Nintendo fans should be too busy playing the next-gen The Legend Of Zelda: The Twilight Princess to complain.
Cyber-lympics
Following a summer of furious button-mashing across North America, the World Cyber Games 2006 Canadian Championships climaxed over Labour Day weekend with a three-day national face-off in Montreal. Top US gamers took over the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas two weeks later at the World Cyber Games USA.
Now that the national teams are finally finalized, it’s off to Monza, Italy for this year’s World Cyber Games.
From October 18-22, they’ll be competing against the world’s best players in Dead or Alive 4, FIFA Soccer 2006, Dawn of War: Winter Assault, Starcraft: Broodwar, Project Gotham Racing 3, Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne and Counter-Strike.
There may be over $400,000 to be won, but the WCG’s real prize is priceless bragging rights.
Smile! You’re on Vision Camera
Each day, 1.3 million voice and text messages are sent over Xbox Live, totaling half a billion a year. All this online talking has been faceless — until now.
The recently released Xbox Live Vision camera lets you use your face for your player profile as a Gamertag. Map your mug onto characters in games such as World Series of Poker and Rainbow Six Vegas!
The camera also boasts gesture-control technology similar to Sony's EyeToy so you can drive a tank with your arms in TotemBall, a game that’s included with the camera.
Reality video game playing if you will!
Not Ready For Play Time
Feel like you’ve been waiting forever for the Sony’s Playstation 3? Well, forever just got a little longer.
Production problems with their new fancy-pants Blu-Ray disc drive system — a next-gen DVD — have put the company about a million consoles behind schedule. There should still be 400,000 ready for the November 17 launch date in North America (plus another 100,000 for Japan), but the rest of the world is out of luck.
Europe, Australia and other territories will have to hold their thumbs until March 2007, by which time Sony hopes to have six million PS3s ready to be played. Started those Christmas wish lists yet?
