Gamernode: Latest Game and Console News

Most powerful Iraq leader was a hard-core gamer?

Gaming reaches people of all classes, cultures, and creeds. You can also add to this list the political and religious categories.

GamePolitics reports that one particular individual, Muqtada al-Sadr, is a hard-core gamer. Al-Sadr earned the nickname of Mullah Atari while he was a student of religion in Iraq.

"As a young seminary student, his nickname was Mullah Atari, because he preferred video games to studying the Quran. Now, Muqtada al-Sadr is a radical cleric revered by millions of poor Shiites as a modern-day Robin Hood. He also may be the most powerful man in Iraq."

USA Today said, "He says defeating the United States in Iraq is his top priority, but his cease-fire and other political maneuvering helped the U.S. military accomplish some of its key objectives, such as reducing violence...

• (3)
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

EA Sports stops PC games. Apocalypse to follow

How can one tell when a platform is dead? When EA Sports abandons it, it's a damn good way of measuring the life cycle of a platform. There's usually one EA Sports game at launch and one as its final ballad (i.e. Madden 08 for Xbox and GameCube).

Using my impenetrable logic as a guideline, it can only spell disaster for the PC as a viable gaming platform (don't hate me).

EA has announced that it will no longer be making NBA Live for the PC. This announcement comes eight days after we learned that Madden NFL 09 won't be coming to the PC. Interesting moves indeed.

EA is not a stupid company. Evil, yes. Stupid, no. The only way EA would stop producing a game on a particular platform would be if it were no longer profitable. NBA Live and Madden NFL are the two biggest EA Sports titles. If...

• (10)
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Pro Tip: Rainbow Six: Vegas 2

I finally, finally, finally got to put some time into Rainbow Six yesterday. Although I think they should change the name of the game to 'Creighton dies a lot' I loved it. The game has been sitting on my shelf all wrapped up since its release and it felt good to finally play it. 

Having not played a tactical shooter like Rainbow Six since I completed Vegas 1 at the end of 2006, jumping back into the swing of things took some getting used to and so I bring you this weeks Pro Tip.

Pro Tip: Seriously the tactical commands are not just for show; use them.

I have been playing games with a more frenetic pace lately; Halo, Turok, Army of Two, Fronlines... just to name a few. It took me some time to get used to not only the controls, and use of the cover system, but the pace.

Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 ...

• (2)
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

World of Warcraft has "peaked" says THQ exec

World of Warcraft is going to reach its peak, if it hasn't already. This is the view of THQ executive Jack Sorenson. I'd have to agree with him. Even though WoW is ten million strong, with a highly anticipated expansion pack on the horizon, WoW is going to stop growing at some point.

Despite how big the game is, people are eventually going to be bored and move on to something else.

Also worth noting is that Blizzard has not recently released a press statement indicating how their numbers have grown. Sign of the times to come? Mr. Sorenson's opinion, though, has to be taken with a grain of salt. THQ is working on a Warhammer MMO, which would be in direct competition with Blizzard's currently unbeatable hold on the MMO market. Of course he wants the game to die down in popularity so that p...

• (12)
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Xbox 360 HD DVD gets one last upgrade

It's no secret that HD DVD is dead. The consumers choose Blu-ray and Sony is going to be (maybe) rolling in the dough.

Those who bought an HD DVD have found themselves on the wrong end of a format war and are a perfect example of how dangerous supporting an unproven format can be. Luckily though, some of the HD DVD consumers bought their add-on for the Xbox 360.

While it still carried a steep price, no Xbox 360 was negated when Blu Ray won. Better still is that small morsels of hardware support are trickling out for Microsoft's now dead add-on. While in some way insignificant, Microsoft is releasing one last update for the fans who are going to be left in the dust. Some may praise Microsoft for doing this, but this update could have been planned months in advance before Blu Ray was declar...

• (7)
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Help our troops with gaming entertainment

Our troops are bored. They want fun brought to them by handheld gaming devices.

Games for Heroes is encouraging people to donate money (or just whole game handhelds) to buy our troops some gaming on the go.

According to them, gaming handhelds like the PSP or DS is the second-most requested item right next to letters. Games for Heroes has already been acknowledged by The New York Times, CNN, Fox, and NPR, so no need to worry about the credibility of these guys.

If you'd like to support the cause, you can visit Games for Heroes' website right here. I suppose it's rather interesting that our soldiers desire electronic entertainment, of all things, but who are we, a gaming site, to blame them?

[Via Gamer Cool]

• (8)
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Gran Turismo 5 continues to be graphically refined...

We all know Gran Turismo 5: Prologue looks great. In fact it's one of the best looking titles to ever hit a console.

The full Gran Turismo 5, however, is looking to beat out even Prologue in the graphics department. The creator of the Gran Turismo series, Kazunori Yamauchi, says "in terms of quality we've been able to establish a benchmark in this version, but I think with GT5 there will be additional refinements, perhaps to the lighting and maybe the weather... weather effects."

Yamauchi says that it will be roughly a decade before games boast real-time graphics that look like the CG you see in the movies. He explains that "real-time computer graphics are about 10 years behind non-real-time computer graphics like you see in movies. I think that gap is what we'll be trying to fill in the ye...

• (7)
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Ewe Boll says, "I'm not a f*cking retard!"

A few days ago it was reported that a petition was started to stop Ewe Boll from making any more movies. Boll first reacted by saying if the petition could get one million signatures, he would quit.

But it seems that the petition has gotten under his skin and he has reacted pretty forcefully regarding the campaign by slamming various movie luminaries and defenfing himself as an excellent film director.

His comments were obviously not meant for little children, Girl Scouts or small animals, but his rant is still pretty entertaining and funny even though he probably didn't mean it to be.

"I'm not a f*cking retard like Michael Bay or other people running around in the business or Eli Roth making the same sh*tty movies over and over again. If you really look at my movies you will see my real ge...

• (16)
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

EA not charging for weapons in BF: Bad Company

There's nothing that irritates some gamers more than having to pay for more content, let alone content that seemingly should have been put into the game in the first place but cut and released later with a price tag. When word got out that EA was planning to charge players money for additional weapons in the ongoing Battlefield: Bad Company beta, folks weren't too happy.

EA confirmed today that all ten usable weapons in the beta won't cost gamers anything but you'll have to work for them. While owners of the Gold Edition of the game will receive the ten weapons straight out of the box, regular gamers will have to achieve the highest rank in the game in order to utilize all the weapons.

Originally, only five out of the 10 weapons would have been released, while the remaining five would stay l...

• (5)
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

AMD to cut 10% of its workforce -- 1,600 employees...

After a preview of its Q1 2008 financial results yesterday, notable PC component manufacturer AMD revealed intentions to cut its workforce by 10% by the end of the third quarter. The 10% cut would equal to around 1,600 workers.

AMD attributed the revenue loss to the recently released ATI HD 3000 series of video cards along with price cuts to the Radeon HD 3850 and HD 3870 line of cards. More reasons should be released on April 17th.

In light of the news, the company is predicting that Q1 revenue will hit $1.15 billion. While the estimated revenue is a 22% increase over the same period last year, it'll be a 15% decrease from Q4 2007.

Nonetheless, AMD is estimating that its upcoming second quarter will be more profitable due to the impending release of its triple processors, the 780G chipset a...

• (0)
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

N-Gage lives on as mobile gaming service

Nokia's first (and final) foray in the gaming based cell phone market ended when its oddly shaped device wasn’t the runaway success it hoped it would be. However, the company apparently doesn’t view it as such a big failure that it won't continue using N-Gage as a brand name.

A slew of Nokia phones are compatible with the newly launched N-Gage service, which will eventually feature message boards and chat capability for users. Another interesting thing worth noting is that there is a points system that will be later implemented, but it's anyone's guess as to what they'll be for.

With additional games in the works by a few of the major players in the mobile games space (such as Gameloft and EA), it'll be interesting to see if Nokia can break free from the N-Gage stigma it has bee...

• (0)
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Lawyers abound, new Ace Attorney game on its way

Yesterday we covered doctor games. Today I'll be covering a major announcement on the lawyer game front. I love the Ace Attorney franchise. Absolutely. I have loved every line of text since the first game landed on this side of the Pacific Ocean so today was a happy day for me.

Some scans were leaked from the most recent copy of Japanese publication Famitsu. The article details a new chapter in Ace Attorney that has you playing as prosecutor Miles Edgeworth. The previous four games have you playing as defense attorneys Phoenix Wright and Apollo Justice. Switching things up like this is fantastic.

As Miles Edgeworth, your job is to investigate the crime scenes and find evidence crucial to getting that guilty verdict. It makes me wonder if you can doctor evidence the way it was always...

• (1)
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

The Sega Racing Studio shuts down

The Sega Racing Studio, responsible for the game Sega Rally Revo, won't be finishing the race because Sega has made the decision to shut it down.

The studio, which was formed in 2005 in the UK, was hoping that its Rally Revo game would turn out to be a tremendous hit ,and thus warrant an extension of its existence as a game company for several more years.

Sega Rally Revo received moderately good reviews but didn't do well enough to justify a sequel of the game.

Sega officially said of the shutdown, "The decision is part of a review of SEGA's Western Development Studios to ensure that each studio is a profitable entity in its own right, and unfortunately the SEGA Racing Studio's 5 year plan would not result in a successful return for the SEGA business moving forward. SEGA would like to stres...

• (1)
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Nokia will compete with Apple's iPhone

The device is a small rectangular touch screen phone and fits in the palm of your hand. If you guessed that the device was none other than the iPhone from Apple, you'd be wrong. What we just described is Nokia's new iphone killer--presently called the Tube.

Details are scarce at the moment but what is known so far is that the Tube will be powered by a new version of the Symbian operating system. The Tube may also incorporate built in Java support and DVB-mobile TV standard--hence the nickname of the Tube.

What may be of interest to gamers is Nokia's rather large library of mobile games. While the iPhone is just beginning its journey as a multi-functional device, Nokia may have a head start as far as games is concerned for their new touch screen phone. With this be the iPhone challenger?

Tom ...

• (8)
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Descent, MDK, Earthworm Jim sequels coming

It looks like my prayers may be answered; despite quite a few months/years in financial straits, publisher Interplay is all set to get back into the gaming business.

According to Interplay's 2007 fiscal year financial results, the publisher is working on sequels to Earthworm Jim, Dark Alliance, Descent and my favorite from the list, MDK. To prepare themselves, Interplay restarted its in-house game development studio and has been hiring game developers.

Net revenue for the 2007 year for Interplay reached $6.01 million, which was a 502% increase during the same period in 2006. Net income for 2007 for the company was $5.86 million; $5.75 million of the earned net income was from selling the Fallout IP to Bethesda Softworks.

Lastly, Interplay is still planning to secure funding for its Fallout M...

• (11)
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Epic continues to make bank on Unreal Engine 3

This winner of this console generation is not Microsoft or Nintendo or Sony. No. This generation goes to Epic. Hands down.Their newest engine, Unreal Engine 3, has been used in millions of games already. Ok, maybe not millions; but it feels like every time I load up a game I see the Unreal logo: from Gears of War, to Rainbow Six, to Army of Two, to even Undertow an XBLA game.

Even Square Enix is using it in an upcoming FF title. It certainly shows its versatility; as more game programmers become familiar with the engine, the easier it will be for them to make better looking games. Mark Rein told Videogaming 247 that Electronic Arts has been extremely satisfied with the five titles it has used UE3 for. So satisfied that they have just extended their deal with Epic to "significantly mo...

• (5)
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Europe to see Wii price drop

Price drops eh? People love price drops. Remember when Sony announced the PS3 was dropping from an overpriced 600 dollars to a slightly less overpriced 500 dollars? Everyone had to have one. It was like that scene from "It's a Wonderful Life" where everyone starts demanding their money.

There are an abundance of rumors claiming that Europe may see a Wii price drop soon. Currently the Wii retails for €249 ($391) which is higher than the Xbox 360 Arcade at the moment sitting on shelves and collecting dust at €199. The rumors claim that the Wii could fall to as low as €149 ($234) making it the lowest price current generation console once again.

Nintendo dropping their price in Europe wouldn't surprise me too much. The technology inside their system costs the least so by tha...

• (6)
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Mass Effect (PC) delayed, new UI and mini-game sho...

Not being able to play Mass Effect for PC has been aching me for quite a few months, so first hearing that the port would be released on May 6th in North America certainly made me smile. But this post on the official Mass Effect forums from Community Coordinator Chris Priestly notes that there's been a delay.

The new release date for North America is May 28th and for Europe is June 6th. Priestly briefly mentioned that BioWare and Demiurge Studios needed the extra weeks for additional polish and fine-tuning. Hey, some extra polishing for an already excellent game sounds fine to me.

Here's the word on the delay from the man himself, "The team here at BioWare, working closely with the good folks at Demiurge Studios, has decided that a few more weeks in the studio will ensure we deliver the qua...

• (5)
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Uwe Boll will quit if petition gets enough numbers...

Some would argue that putting Uwe Boll and the title of movie director in the same sentence is a bit of an oxymoron.

To many gamers and film critics alike, Boll represents the worst in filmmaking. With movies such as House of the Dead, Alone in the Dark, BloodRayne, BloodRayne II: Deliverance, and In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale, Mr. Boll has secured a spot in history as possibly the worst film director of video game tie-in movies.

There are a lot of people out there who want to do something about Boll's film making career. In short, they want to stop it. In a recent interview conducted by fearnet.com, it was mentioned to Boll that there was a petition circulating around the Intern...

• (14)
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

The Empire Strikes Back, MS has own Wiimote?

Since the Wii launched in November 2006 it has sold bajillions and shows no sign of stopping. Things like that usually lead to other companies looking for a way to cash in on that popularity. Sony's attempt is the SIXAXIS but Microsoft has yet to counter, until now. 

An anonymous tipster told MTV exclusively that Microsoft has been working on "a controller designed to do all the Wii remote does, and more." Tipster McGee also claims that the functionality will be very similar to Wii remote, but will have its analog stick on the device itself, instead of as a separate attachment, ala nunchuk.

The whole thing seems like it's going to be a tacked on mess. Adding another type of controller will probably confuse people more than help them, because clearly the three Xbox sku's weren't doing a ...

• (5)
• 
• 
• 
• 
•