Warp Zoned Presents
Author: Mike Gutierrez
Putting the past behind us: Sony and George Hotz reach a settlement
The PlayStation Blog has released a joint statement from Sony Computer Entertainment America and George “GeoHot” Hotz that the two parties in the recent litigation have settled their dispute out of court. The statement only discloses that Hotz has consented to a permanent injunction, presumably preventing him from further tinkering with the PS3’s security. Sony claimed it only sought to protect its intellectual property and maintain a secure environment for its consumers. Hotz commented, “It was never my intention to cause any users trouble or to make piracy easier,” and that he’s happy to have the litigation behind him. The statement also puts forth that Hotz has not been involved in the recent attacks on the PlayStation Network and SCEA’s websites.
Hotz was trying to have the lawsuit dismissed, claiming that California did not have personal jurisdiction over him. That argument was made moot by the agreement all PSN users must consent to, which destroys any reasonable expectation that he could not be hailed to California courts.
Now that one of the two lawsuits they took action over has been taken care of, it’ll be interesting to see what “hacktivist” group Anonymous’ next move is.
Video games get a little extra recognition at next year’s Grammys
As a new medium, video games are still struggling to be recognized as a legitimate form of art. At next year’s Grammy Awards, games will get one step closer to making its critical acceptance a reality.
Kinda.
The Recording Academy has announced that games will be getting equal billing alongside television and film for four categories: Music for Visual Media, Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media, Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media, and Best Song Written for Visual Media. Previously, video games were inferred in the descriptors of the awards, which used to read like “Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media (Motion, Television, or Other Visual Media).” Now, they’ll be listed right alongside their counterparts in the parentheses.
It may not be a giant step, but it’s a step forward nonetheless. Still, it leaves the Grammy Awards far behind other similar events, such as Britain’s Ivor Novello Awards, which last year gave their inaugural Best Original Video Game Score to Joris de Man for his work on Killzone 2.
[Source: Industry Gamers]
A tale of two platforms – Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns coming to DS, 3DS
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Actually, these are just some pretty good times, because Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns, the next chapter in Natsume’s legendary RPG/farm-sim series, will be releasing simultaneously on the Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo DS this Summer. The story centers on, yep, two villages who have grown apart since a vehement dispute over who has the best cooking. Players can choose start in the crop-oriented, Eastern flair of Konohana or the animal-loving European-style town of Bluebell. Who wants to take bets on if you marry someone from the other town?
Commenting on the dual platform, Hiro Maekawa, President and CEO of Natsume, stated “We wanted to ensure that all of our loyal Harvest Moon fans would have a chance to play this game,” presumably because of all the returned 3DS units following the horrible diseases it causes (sarcasm). “No matter which version they pick up, they’re sure to love the great new cast of characters, the fun festivals, and the exciting new gameplay mechanics.”
If only the Second Europan War in Valkyria Chronicles started over cooking. I’m sure there’d be a lot less ethnic cleansing.
Posted in 3DS, DS, News
Tagged Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns
War rages on next week in Killzone 3 Steel Rain DLC
The PSN may be under attack, but that’s not stopping Sony and Guerilla Games from releasing the next batch of Killzone 3 map packs with the Steel Rain add-on DLC. The pack will include Junkyard, a Guerilla Warfare (Team Deathmatch) locale set in the MAWL Graveyard, but in the rain with jetpacks and EXO mechs. Stahl Arms takes place in, you guessed it, the epicenter of Helghan’s military industrial complex and will be playable in Warzone. You can grab them for $4.99 when the PlayStation Store updates next Tuesday April 12.
There’s only one problem. The day-one DLC, Reclaimed Territory, maps are not in the playlist rotation and if you land in a game with either map, you can’t vote to change the setting next game. Hopefully this issue will be resolved come next week.
Posted in News, PS3
Tagged Killzone 3
Dragon Quest X details to emerge later this year
Hardcore RPG fans! The reason to steal your girlfriend’s buy a Wii is finally upon us! In the latest issue of Nintendo Power, Yuji Horii, creator and scenario writer of the Dragon Quest series, confirmed that the latest iteration, Dragon Quest X, will be ready for the masses soon. Horii stated, “all we can say is that development is going well and we’re on the last parts of the game. We can’t really share much else at this point, but by the end of this year we should be able to announce something regarding it.”
The last home console version of the game, Dragon Quest VIII, was one of the best RPG’s of the last decade, and potentially of all time. I can’t wait to see how Level-5 and the DQ trio (Yuji Horii, Koichi Sugiyama, and Akira Toriyama) work their magic on Nintendo’s system.
Posted in News, Wii
Tagged Dragon Quest X
British tabloid conducts study as part of 3DS smear campaign
Don’t you just love how the guy to the left is holding a 3DS in the picture? As if his brain has been so disrupted from playing Steel Diver, that he has no idea a doctor is even examining him? I think that’s what British tabloid The Sun is going for.
Their latest article claiming that the 3DS has been causing widespread disorientation and sickness conducted a study where the participant played the handheld for two hours taking the recommended ten minute break every half hour. The doctor found that the subject was experiencing a headache, nausea, and high blood pressure. I assume that when you combine all three of those things you get the stupefying look in the above picture.
I haven’t had an extended session with the 3DS yet, and while it can be a little weird to adapt to, I don’t feel like it’ll cause any major problems. Anyone else experience issues playing on it?
Mass Effect: Deception novel coming September 27
After three literary adaptations, the Mass Effect universe will see another later this year with Mass Effect: Deception. Scheduled for a September 27 release, the plot is summarized as follows:
Gillian was once the subject of horrifying scientific experiments, but now, after her rescue, she is beginning to master her amazing powers. When she falls under the sway of a radical group who believe their powers make them superior to ordinary humans, she finds herself faced with a choice between her destiny…and her humanity.
The book will roughly coincide with the release of Mass Effect 3 for PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 this holiday season.
Anonymous takes responsibility for PSN outages, calls gamers ‘collateral damage’
Is it just me, or are hackers more and more everyday starting to sound like villains from “24”? PlayStation Lifestyle just got a highly coveted chance to talk with the members of Anonymous, the “hacktivist” group currently waging jihad cyber-war against Sony. Although most already figured it out, the group has taken responsibility for the service outages over the PlayStation Network. When confronted with the counter-intuitive nature of their methods, a member stated:
The consumers in this are as one might call, collateral damage. We are very cognizant of the fact that we are not making friends nor allies among the average consumer with our attack. This is unfortunate as a concern should always be, will the very people we seek to support not see what it is we are trying to achieve. In this case, many don’t. There has been a lot of hate spread throughout the internet and over forums that we are being reckless and simply punishing consumers more than Sony.
I think I speak for many PSN users when I say: Really? With all of the efforts being made in retaliation to ongoing lawsuits against members of the hacking community, I can only imagine the judge (or jury if this goes past summary judgment) having a field day when deciding the remedies to grant Sony.
Posted in News, PS3
Tagged ApocalyPS3 2011