Subatomic Mutant Gamers

PS Jailbreak Found Illegal by Australian Courts

SMG Admin — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 05:48:37 +0000

The day has come and it seems the injunction against PS Jailbreak has not been lifted, but continued until further notice, and that the distributor, China Sun Trading Limited must turn over all stock intended for suppliers in Australia.

Justice Dodds-Streeton has ordered that PS Jailbreak may not be imported, distributed to another person, offered to the public, provided for another person, or dealt in.

Furthermore, in more shocking news, that the defendant’s are ordered to contact the supplier, identified as China Sun Trading Limited of China, with the account number of 817-374473-838 at the HSBC Hong Kong bank branch and inform that any goods ordered be sent to Peter Chalk, and not the defendants.

Microsoft to increase the price of Xbox Live Gold

SMG Admin — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 20:56:37 +0000

Microsoft has confirmed that it will be increasing the price of Xbox Live Gold in Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom and the United States.

From November 1st 2010, the price of an annual Xbox Live Gold subscription will increase from $49.99 to $59.99 in the US. Monthly charges will also rise to $9.99, up from $7.99.

In the UK, it only appears to be the monthly cost that’s set to increase, rising from £4.99 to £5.99 a month.

There’s no word on a price increase for an annual Gold subscription in the UK.

“Since launching Xbox LIVE in 2002 we have continually added more content and entertainment experiences for our members, while keeping the price the same,” said Microsoft’s Major Nelson.

Read entire article here.

Xbox advert criticised by advertising watchdog for using Playstation images to promote game

SMG Admin — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 06:22:08 +0000

The Advertising Standards Authority found that Square-Enix, the makers of the sci-fi role-playing game Final Fantasy XIII, had misled video-gamers by not using images from the Xbox 360 but from its rival, the Playstation 3 (PS3).

The ASA acted after one viewer complained that the sequence of images from the game released in March this year in the UK were from the Sony PS3, which he said had better quality images than the Microsoft-produced Xbox.

Xbox currently has worldwide sales of more than 42 million (4 million in UK), compared to 38 million (3 million in UK) for the PS3.

ASA officials were sent both consoles and games by the makers and found that the PS3 screen quality was ‘sharper’ than the Xbox images and ordered the advertisement not to be shown again.

Read entire article here.

Microsoft Will Offer Xbox 360 for Five More Years

SMG Admin — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 06:05:11 +0000

Microsoft Corp. will continue to offer the Xbox 360 for the next five years, expanding the lifespan of the console to 10 years, said Chris Lewis, vice president for interactive entertainment business in Europe.

The company is trying to lengthen the Xbox 360’s shelf life with new features and services, such as the motion-sensing Kinect device, in a bid to wring more profit from the machine. Consoles are typically unprofitable in their first few years because the cost of materials takes time to drop. The Kinect accessory goes on sale in November.

“Kinect really gives us, I think, a very genuine additional five years,” Lewis said in an interview today at the Gamescom computer-games fair in Cologne, Germany. “What Kinect does is broaden us out to users that we weren’t addressing in the past.”

Read entire article here.

New Halo video game leaked

SMG Admin — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 06:02:11 +0000

Microsoft’s highly anticipated Halo: Reach video game has been leaked to file-sharing websites ahead of its official release on Sept. 14.

The game, the latest in Microsoft’s acclaimed Halo science-fiction shooter series, was obtained and cracked by GameTuts, a website devoted to modifying and cracking video game consoles.

“Me and my team finally did it; we got Halo: Reach! This is not released for public, and we are not really planning on releasing either,” read a post on the site early Monday morning.

Reports stated that the game was obtained through Microsoft’s own Xbox Live Marketplace, where console owners can pay to download games, movies and other content. Halo: Reach was on the service and protected from unauthorized downloading, but hackers got to it anyway.

Read entire article here.

Resistance 3 Teaser Trailer – Gamescom

SMG Admin — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 23:10:07 +0000

160GB and 320GB PS3 SKUs Announced at Gamescom

SMG Admin — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 18:33:02 +0000

This fall, we’re introducing two new models of the PS3 system– a 320GB PS3 system, which will be included in the PS3 Sports Champions Move bundle; as well as a 160GB PS3 system, which will be available as a standalone. These new higher capacity models will continue to offer the same advanced features and functions of the current models, but with approximately 33 percent more capacity and at compelling price points.

The 160GB PS3 system brings you more storage for the same price as the previous model — $299.99 (MSRP) — and is shipping to retailers nationwide now. The 320GB PS3 system will hit store shelves on September 19, in conjunction with the launch of PlayStation Move. It will be part of the PS3 Sports Champions Move bundle, which includes one PlayStation Move motion controller, PlayStation Eye camera, a copy of Sports Champions on Blu-ray disc, and bonus Blu-ray game demo disc– all in one complete package for $399.99 (MSRP). The value included in this bundle is incredible and we know this will further add to the exceptionally high demand for the new platform.

Read entire article here.

Mass Effect 2 announced for PS3 in Jan 2011

SMG Admin — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 17:51:16 +0000

After months of rumor and speculation, EA confirmed today at Gamescom that Bioware’s critically acclaimed, sci-fi RPG, Mass Effect 2, would finally be making it’s way to Sony’s Playstation 3 console. The PS3 version of the title will also include addiotional content, although details of the content have yet to be confirmed.

Blizzard Wins $88M Judgment Against WoW Private Server Owner

SMG Admin — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 02:52:34 +0000

Blizzard Entertainment last week won a default judgment worth tens of millions of dollars against the operator of an unauthorized World of Warcraft server.

A U.S. District Court judge awarded Blizzard $88 million from defendant Alyson Reeves, operator of Scapegaming, according to court documents obtained by Gamasutra. Blizzard originally filed the lawsuit in October last year.

Blizzard accused Reeves of copyright infringement, unfair competition and circumvention of copyright protection systems, among other allegations. The company said Scapegaming was “well aware” that its actions were unauthorized.

Read entire article here.

NPD: Xbox 360 Soars as Hardware Sales Jump, But Software Sales Dip 8% in July

SMG Admin — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 19:49:33 +0000

IndustryGamers has just received the July NPD video game sales data, and as was predicted, software sales were down again, dipping eight percent to $403.3 million. Hardware, however, driven in part by the Xbox 360 slim and price reductions on older 360 models, climbed 12 percent to $313.8 million. As a result, total industry sales were down just one percent in July, reaching $846.5 million. Year-to-date, total game industry sales in the U.S. are now at $7.51 billion, which is behind 2009′s pace by eight percent.

Read entire article here.