FraggsCast Episode 9: Sony does what Nintendon't [ 1:11:54 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (37)– SHOW NOTES –
IN OUR HANDS
Jace – Finished Deus Ex: HR, TrackMania 2: Canyon for review
Giancarlo – Deus Ex: HR Still in Hengsha…, Kirby Mass Attack, Groove Coaster
Alex – Gears3, Star Fox 3D, The World Ends with You, Megaman Zero Collection
SUPER NEWS
Tokyo Game Show 2011
This year’s Tokyo Game Show has been the biggest one to date with record number of 222,668 people flowing through the Makuhari Messe where the gaming event took place. Single-day numbers reached a record of 86.251 people, which was on the 17th. All three major publishers appeared to show their wares to both the media and to the general public but Sony who dominated the show with the PS Vita. Sony’s new handheld system is the successor to the PSP which still is a hit in Japan due to the phenomenal popularity of the Monster Hunter games.
Most of this stuff is Sony news.
- The PS Vita will launch in Japan on December 17th for ¥24,980 (about $324.80) for the Wi-Fi only model and at ¥29,980 (about $389.80) for the 3G model. The previously announced U.S. prices were $249.99 for the Wi-Fi only model and $299.99 for the 3G model.
- If you love playing Japanese imports, you will be happy to hear that the PS Vita is confirmed to be Region Free. However, it is uncertain if this freedom applies only to the physical game cards or if it also allows players to purchase downloadable games and other content from other regions. The original PSP was region free for UMD games but not for UMD movies.
- Rumors of a December 31st launch in the U.S. and Europe have come up due to Amazon and GameStop listings but these are unconfirmed. Sony has previously announced that the release date for the PS Vita overseas will come sometime in early 2012.
- PS Vita battery life is to be around that of the 3DS, 3-5 hours for gameplay, 5 hours for watching video and 9 hours of listening to music in stand-by mode. And that’s with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi/3G turned off, headphones plugged in and using the default screen brightness. Charging the Vita’s 2200mA Li-ion battery after it is fully drained will reportedly take around 2 hours and 40 minutes. To assist players who wish to play games away from a power outlet for longer periods, Sony will also be selling an external extended-life battery.
- Sony is keeping the tradition of over-priced proprietary technology with their new line of Vita-only memory cards. These will be sold in 4, 8, 16 and 32GB sizes with prices that range from about $29 to $124 These cards will be necessary as the PS Vita will not have any on-system storage although some games will be able to store their save data on their own game-card.
Among the PS Vita games shown at TGS were
- Gravity Daze
- Ridge Racer Vita
- Persona: The Ultimate In Mayonaka Arena
- Lumines: Electronic Symphony
- Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
- Street Fighter X Tekken
- Final Fantasy X (also on PS3)
- WipeOut 2048
- Katamari Damacy
- Uncharted: Golden Abyss
- Disgaea 3: Absence of Detention
Nintendo News
- Nintendo also kept the lines forming with their 3DS offerings, namely in the form of Monster Hunter 3G. Having exclusivity for the Monster Hunter franchise during TGS was a major boon for Nintendo as fans crowded around the booth to get some hands-on time with the game, snatching up the 1,200 ticket allotment within 45 minutes of the show’s start.
We already talked about Nintendo’s TGS offerings last episode.
REGULAR VANILLA NEWS
-Sony’s new Terms of Service agreement say that you can’t sue them.
Netflix’s new Qwikster service will offer game rentals.
DC Universe now free to play.
Links:
News Source: http://kotaku.com/5840517/new-playstation-network-terms-of-service-include-a-no-suing-sony-clause
The ToS .pdf document – http://www.sonyentertainmentnetwork.com/SEN-legal-docs/TERMS_OF_SERVICE_AGREEMENT-EN.pdf
- Valve’s Dota 2 stuff has leaked from a Vietnamese closed beta tester. This stuff includes character and spell icons, game modes, backstories, bits of the beta’s code audio clips and a very creepy new Valve intro screen.
Some of the placeholder power icons are hilarious.
News Source: http://kotaku.com/5841949/valve-beta-leaks-contains-dota-2-info-and-creepy-new-intro/gallery/1
http://www.dota2.cyborgmatt.com/spellicons/
- The Diablo III Closed Beta has commenced today. Previously Blizzard had a Friends & Family beta going on where Blizzard employees passed out codes to people they knew and loved. Now, anyone who has signed up for the Battle.Net beta program are eligible for a beta invite.
To find out if you are one of the lucky few to get the golden ticket, log into your Battle.Net account and click on the Account tab. If you’re a winner then you should see a Diablo III client available to download.
If you didn’t make it in, dont’ worry, Blizzard says they are planning to add more testers throughout the duration of the beta.
HOUSEKEEPING
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Alex – @ALFighter27
Jace – @zi11ion
Eric – @ninjeestarr
Giancarlo – @giansaldana
Jeri – @misstresspixel
