Well I already talked about Microsofts press event so now its time to cover Nintendo's

Nintendo

What the heck were they thinking ? I would think that they would know that most casual gamers would not be watching but that is about all they showed was casual efforts.....Wii Music......WTF Im sorry that was lame in my book. Whats that we have to buy an attachment to make our Wii motes more accurate ? Wii speak was kind of cool but I did'nt here anything about smash bros or kart compatibiliy did you ?
I hate to say it but this may be the last Nintendo console that I try to buy when it launches. I think they are drunk with thier casual success and will soon find out that they don't buy the same number of games. Lets start listig the stuff they could have showed but for whatever reason they chose not to :

We know Monster Hunter is coming to the Wii but we saw nothing of it.

Rumors of a new Pikmin game (which one would think would be a natural fit for the system) but another no show.

The teams that make the Mario and Zelda stuff are working on projects....? Nothing else was said so what do we care. That last one was a bit of bone for the core Nintendo fan but by the end of the show it felt more like a slap in the face.

I was dissapointed at first but now I am a little mad to tell you the truth.

I am so gald I have the other two systems because at this point I see very little for the Wii that interests me.

Well I saw most of it and from what I saw it was fairly impressive. Gears 2 looked to be a great follow up to Gears and the same could be said for Fable 2. Speaking of Fable 2, I thought the presentation was very well done and there were some cool ideas that are being implemented into it.... I swear if I let some of you into my world and you start hitting on my wife there will be trouble.....:P j/k.

Final Fantasy megaton :shock:

Exclusive content coming for Fall Out 3

The me too stuff had me laughing out loud too.

What were your thoughts on the press event ?

Yeah I know this is a video game site but I was thinking the other day about some of the great gatherings I have had with family and friends. Most of the memorable ones included some sort of board game or card game everyone could play.

Some of the games have included Cranium, Canasta (spelling), various card games, marbles (like sorry) and recently even a game of Pirate Dice !

After thinking about this for a bit I thought it might be interesting to see what some of my fellow gamers have played and liked. Are there games that you have not played that you would like to try ?

I have played other games than just the ones that are mentioned above but those are the ones that came to mind first.

Yes I have been looking forward to getting my 360 back and playing with my friends again but when I recieved it back from the repair center there was a note attached telling me that they did not fix it and that they would not fix it even if I payed to have it fixed myself ! The reason for this is because it is a referb from Gamestop so according to Microsoft it has been tampered with.

I had no idea I would get this response

The next question that I am faced with is what to do next ? If it was working I could trade it in and put some money with it and get a new one. I could also try and fix it myself and see how that goes too. What do my fellow gamers think would be the best way to go ?

Its a paper wieght as of now and not an attractive one at that :P

Well it has happened to me as I thought it might. Yes I am refering to the RROD on my 360.

I turned it on tonight to play some Halo 3 with my friends at it made a funny noise and then it gave me a ligh show. Lol

I am not sure what the failure rate is for sure but between all of my friends that have them I would have to say its about 90%

I only have one friend that has not had it happen to him. Most have had it happen more than once and that to me is the scary part. No I did not buy mine it was a gift from some big hearted friends of mine.

The 360 may have some good games but the hardware is junk !

If you are like me I love to watch and read what is going on in the video game industry and since the launch of the Wii with its pack in game Wii Sports many including myself could see this idea being expanded. How it would be expanded was the question and with Wii Fit we see one of the expansions with more to come I'm sure.

As most of you know the idea behind Wii Fit is to help make you more Fit wheather its your balance or your cardio or your strength its purpose is to help you improve yourself. Oh yeah I almost forgot something very important about Wii Fit and that is Nintendo wants to make getting more fit fun ! Lets face it to some including myself getting fit can be work and somewhat boring.

Will Nintendo achive its goal in making fitness fun ? I think after reading some hands on with Wii Fit Nintendo may have done what it set out to do. Not only does it sound fun but according to Matt Casamassina over at IGN " Whether you want to refer to it as a game or an exercise program, you will eventually have to concede, as I have, that it's the real deal. It'll give you a work out. You will sweat. Your heart will move. And you might just wake up sore the next day."

I know there alot of people that love Guitar Hero 3 for Wii and Mom's and Dad's don't mind the non violent music game as long as it does'nt get too loud. :P I think Wii Fit has a chance to be even more popular because not only will it appeal to all those that like Wii sports but it has the potintial to appeal to those who are more serious about getting fit too. I also think that most parents want to see thier childer get up off the couch and Wii Fit will do that. It could be one of those items that you buy for the Kids but in the back of your mind you are the one who really wants to try it out. Considering all the possible reasons to buy Wii Fit I think it may out sell Guitar Hero 3 for Wii ! What do you think ?

No question about it Nintendo is really behind the times as far as on-line goes. No voice chat even with friends ? I mean you could make a case for no voice chat with people you don't know but with people on your friends list thats just short sighted to say the least. I think even the DS has some voice communication before and after a match in Metroid Hunters !

I honestly thought that since they were so far behind with the on-line stuff for the cube that they would really step it up for the Wii but they don't even have what PS2 had last gen !

I'm not making excuses any more for Nintendo's lack of on-line options it just sucks for those of us that have now been introduced to more well rounded on-line experiances cough***Live***cough.

Nothing is perfect but Nintendo does'nt even seem to be trying.

What do you think ?

by Andrew Yoon Feb 21st 2008 4:44PM
Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, GDC
At a GDC press conference, Insomniac Games (responsible for Ratchet & Clank and Resistance: Fall of Man on PS3) has announced a ground breaking initiative to open up their technologies for the development community at large. Through the "Nocturnal Initiative," Insomniac Games is attempting to break the common development practice of keeping technological advances a close-guarded secret. As they noted, "developers spend resources solving problems that have already been solved."

A public site (nocturnal.insomniacgames.com) will give developers access to various parts of Insomniac source code. Libraries have already been made available, with more on the way. Through a Wiki-****interface, Insomniac hopes that they will allow everyone to "make better games."

The tools available will obviously work on PS3, but because it is a PC-based environment, should work on Xbox 360 as well. Joystiq will be chatting with Insomniac shortly. Stay tuned.

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/21/gdc08-insomniac-opens-up-to-dev-community-with-nocturnal/

This is a very cool offer on Insomniacs part. Not only do they make some of the best games out there but they are willing to help others elevate thier games aswell.

If you have a couple of minutes to check out this interview I think you will come away as impressed as I am.

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/30493.html

One of the great developers in our time on any platform. Ted and his team have some serious talent and Resistance 2 is high on my list of most anticipated PS3 games.

Okay Kaz here we go :D

Virtual Life: Sony Nears Launch of Own 3D World

By John Gaudiosi, Special to WRAL LTW

Wral.com

Posted: Feb. 3, 2008
Updated: Today at 12:02 p.m.

MONTE CARLO, Monaco - Tired of Second Life - or want a better online 3D world experience?

Sony may offer that alternative world later this spring with its "Home" destination for PlayStation 3.

"Home is a cross between private chat rooms, MySpace, YouTube and online gaming," explained Ron Festejo, creative director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, in an interview. "If you've ever tried Second Life, you can immediately see how much richer this world is and how accessible it is."

The Sony Europe group has been spearheading the software behind "Home." The free PlayStation 3 virtual community will launch as a download. The creators of this new 3D universe were on hand at the Imagina conference last week to give attendees a sneak peak at the brand new, modified hub running online with thousands of beta testers inhabiting the world.

Microsoft has accrued 10 million online subscribers for its Xbox Live service, which comes free as a basic service with every Xbox 360 but requires a $50 annual subscription to play online games. Sony, however, is going in a different direction with PS3. Anyone who has used Xbox Live knows that the service is a great way to jump into an online game, but the 2D interface is not built for stickiness in the generic lobbies.

In contrast, Sony has constructed a living, breathing world that gamers will enter before connecting with others online to play games. In addition to being able to play six-player bowling in the bowling alley and ****c games in the arcade, there will also be offerings like billiards, chess and checkers for gamers to socialize over.

A movie theater that features 10 screens to watch movie trailers and game previews also will be available at launch.

Soon after the rollout, Sony is expected to offer a video store where gamers will be able to rent full-length features that can be downloaded to their hard drives. Sony is also expected to offer music and TV programming through Home.

New Home Shows Evolution from Early Roots

The Home world that was shown in Monte Carlo is completely different than the one first shown at the Game Developer's Conference last year. Gone are the claustrophobic indoor spaces and the doors that lead to badly marked areas like the arcade. Now players are transported to a vibrant outdoor town square with huge buildings that clearly illustrate what there is to do.

The movie theater has two floors for further expansion beyond the initial 10 screens. The bowling alley offers the virtual bowling and arcade. Within the town square, underneath some trees, are the chess and checkers tables. The games will be a great way for players to break the ice when meeting new friends in Home, according to Festejo.

"When building this new town square, we were heavily influenced by cities like Las Vegas, the Sony Center in Berlin and New York City's Times Square," said Festejo. "This world is friendly and open and encourages players to mingle."

Upon entering Home, players will use a virtual PS3 avatar for everything inside the world. Customizing one's avatar and apartment will be as easy as clicking through the PS3 option menu.

While Sony is offering Home for free, it will have several business models built into it. Players will be able to decorate their own apartment with furniture and an assortment of technology, including Sony Bravia TVs. Many of these items will be purchased with real credit cards through micro-transactions. Players will be able to create their personalized avatar to the point where it will look just like them from face to body type, or what they wish they looked like, depending on the person. Avatars will be able to emote feelings, as well. Festejo said clothes will be available for purchase, and Sony is talking to real apparel lines about bringing their own virtual stores into the game for avatars to shop in.

In addition, players will be able to upgrade their apartment to one of nine homes at launch. The demo showed a rustic Norwegian Lodge that was decorated to the hilt with cool technology and themed furniture. More homes will follow, Festejo said, adding that the first version is Home 1.0 and will constantly be evolving.

More Businesses, Tools Are Coming

Another business model that will unfold as Home evolves is the aforementioned movies, music and TV show offerings, which are expected to offer rental and purchase models. Microsoft already has most of the Hollywood studios (sans Sony, of course) offering TV shows for purchase in HD or standard definition and HD or standard movies for rental. Sony is expected to follow suit, and Sony Online Entertainment has been building the technology to bring this aspect of Home to life.

Sony has also sent out Home Developer Kits for partners to build assets and lobbies, this means both traditional game developers and mainstream brands will become part of the Home world over time, Festijo added.

The newly renovated version shows that Sony seems to be taking the time to get the virtual world right. Currently more than 10,000 beta users are exploring Home and the floodgates will open up to everyone with a PS3 this spring.

"Home will offer the chance for gamers to get together with old friends and make new ones," said Festejo, who added that players will be able to text or talk to one another, as well as share assets. "It will offer endless entertainment, including gaming. We've certainly raised the bar with what people have seen in virtual worlds to date."

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I have to say to me this idea of Home has the potential to be a very big hit. I wonder if you will be able to bring friends over to your space and watch a movie togther ? I know you can watch it on a small screen within a Home space but it would be very cool if you could actually hit a button and make it full screen on your TV. I suppose this would also extend to any media that you have on your Hard Drive too.

Anyways I know this is just scratching the surface of idea that will be possible within Home so I would like to here what some of my friends here think.