Sony sticks to PS3 pricing

The chesslike move-countermove strategy normally employed by rival gaming companies hasn't quite affected the pricing of consoles as some had expected. Microsoft has not shown any signs of a future price drop for any of its Xbox 360 models, Nintendo is very comfortable with having the cheapest next-gen system in the Wii, and Sony believes the PlayStation 3, at $499 or $599, is a "fantastic value for customers"--though some vocal dissidents disagree.

Even with the possibility of a US PS3 price drop being a hot topic (so much so that some are even willing to bet on it) ever since Sony dropped the price of the 20GB version of the console in Japan, it appears as though Sony isn't having any of it. Sony Computer Entertainment America president Kaz Hirai reiterated that cash-conscious gamers shouldn't get their hopes up for a cheaper PS3 sometime in the near future.

"We are very comfortable with the pricing we have announced and have gotten tremendous support from retailers for that price point," Hirai told Reuters. "So it's full steam ahead with the pricing of $499 and $599."

Hirai also said that Sony is sticking with its projections of having 2 million PS3s through December and 4 million PS3s by March in consumers' hands. Some doubt was cast on those figures when SCEA vice president Jack Tretton told Bloomberg, "The honest answer is [the figures are] more of a target. Clearly we've had some production issues."

Hirai sounded more confident than Tretton. "That is the goal we are working toward to deliver and hopefully exceed those numbers," he said, according to Reuters.

As for the next-gen war, Hirai believes that the battle doesn't begin until gamers have a choice from all that is available. Hirai said, "The real test comes when any other products are available in abundance so the consumer can walk into any retailer and pick up whatever console they want."

Confirmed: PS3 Oblivion now "Q1 2007 title"

Just hours after gamers noticed online retailers were listing the PlayStation 3 version of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion as coming in 2007, Bethesda Softworks has made it official. In a statement, Pete Hines, the rising developer-publisher's vice president of PR, said flat out that "Oblivion PS3 is now a Q1 2007 title."

Hines gave no official reason for the Oblivion delay. Unofficially, though, the postponement has stirred up suspicions about PS3 development difficulties. There have also been murmurs that the scant supply of the PS3 at launch--400,000 on day one in all of North America--is giving publishers pause about rushing games to market. However, the game suffered a similar setback last November, when it was scheduled to be an Xbox 360 launch title. It was not released until the following March.

Of the 21 PS3 games announced as 2006 titles at Sony's Gamers Day, Oblivion is the first to be officially delayed until next year. Online retailers are also listing F.E.A.R. as being pushed to February, and unconfirmed reports have surfaced that have Sonic the Hedgehog coming in 2007. Neither reps for Sierra Entertainment nor Sega would comment on either game's release status, but GameStop.com still lists Sonic as arriving on November 14. A full list of the remaining 20 launch titles with their GameStop.com release dates--which are not official--is below.

SCEA Launch Titles:
Resistance: Fall of Man - 11/14/06
NBA 07 - 11/14/06
Genji: Days of the Blade - 11/14/06

Third-Party Publisher Titles:
Blazing Angels Squadrons of WWII / Ubisoft - 12/05/06
Call of Duty 3 / Activision - 11/14/06
EA Sports Fight Night Round 3 / Electronic Arts - 12/12/06
F.E.A.R. / Vivendi Universal Games - 02/06/07
Full Auto 2: Battlelines / Sega - 12/12/06
Madden NFL 07 / Electronic Arts - 11/14/06
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance / Activision - "Ships in 24 hours"
Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire / Namco Bandai Games - 11/13/06
NBA 2K7 / 2K Sports - 11/13/06*
Need for Speed Carbon / Electronic Arts - 11/20/06
NHL 2K7 / 2K Sports - 11/13/06*
Ridge Racer 7 / Namco Bandai Games - 11/13/06
Sonic the Hedgehog / Sega - 11/14/06
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 / Electronic Arts - 11/14/06
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas / Ubisoft - 12/19/06
Tony Hawk's Project 8 / Activision - "Ships in 24 hours"
Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom / Sony Online Entertainment - 11/13/06

* = Confirmed by publisher as day-of-launch release.

PC Double Agent does double-demo duty

Way back in August, PC gamers were tantalized with the announcement that Splinter Cell Double Agent demos were coming to their platform of choice. Unfortunately, time passed and, like the game's stealthy protagonist, they were nowhere to be seen.

Today, Ubisoft finally released the two demos, just days after the game hit store shelves. Both a multiplayer and single-player demo for Double Agent are now available from GameSpot downloads.

The multiplayer trial weighs in at 808.1MB and features only the Motorway 90 map. The demo is limited to one skin per team, one gadget, no bonuses or co-op challenges, and no live news. The 871MB single-player demo features a portion of the Okhotsk level.

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Double Agent is rated M for Mature and retails for $49.99.

Blizzard dates Burning Crusade

Ordinarily, Blizzard Entertainment sticks to a strict release date of "when it's done" for all of its titles. It appears the company's World of Warcraft expansion pack, The Burning Crusade, is getting awfully close to done, as Blizzard today announced a January 16 release date in the US and Europe for the add-on. It will also be available "in a similar time frame" in Korea and Singapore. Dates for mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau will follow shortly after, with announcements being made "in the near future." The Australian and New Zealand release date for The Burning Crusade will be on January 17.

The massively multiplayer online role-playing game add-on had previously been scheduled for a pre-Christmas release, but developer Blizzard Entertainment recently announced that it would be putting the schedule back to extend beta-testing and give the game its "finishing touches."

Some of the extras available for Burning Crusade include being able to advance character levels from the previous maximum of 60 to 70, two new playable races (the Blood Elves and the Draenei), a new profession (jewelcrafting), new weapons and armour, as well as "many enhancements to player-versus-player action."

A special collector's edition of the expansion will also be available, including a coffee-table book of The Art of Burning Crusade, an exclusive game pet, a behind-the-scenes DVD, an official soundtrack CD, a trading-card starter deck, and exclusive cards. [UPDATE] Blizzard has updated the ingredients of its collector's edition, and it's good news for WOW goodie collectors. The CE will actually include two trading-card starter decks, and three exclusive cards.

Blizzard Entertainment also announced a new milestone reached in the virtual world of WOW today--it now has 7.5 million players worldwide.

Final Fantasy XII lands at retail

Anticipation for the launch of Square Enix's PlayStation 2 role-playing game Final Fantasy XII has been building all year, from the announcement of an energy drink spin-off in January to a rare perfect review score from Japanese magazine Famitsu in March. The game sold more than 1.7 million copies in Japan in its first four days of release, and its appeal is in no way limited to the island nation. Earlier this month, New York City declared October 11 to be Final Fantasy XII Day, and held a special commemoration for the game in Times Square.

You can bet these guys are excited about the FFXII release!
All that hype comes to a head today, as Square Enix has announced that Final Fantasy XII is now available in North American stores. The domestic edition of the game includes some extras that were left out of the Japanese version, including 16x9 widescreen support and extra voiced CG cutscenes.

Final Fantasy XII is available in both a standard package ($49.99) and a Collector's Edition ($59.99), the latter of which is available exclusively through GameStop and EB Games. For the extra $10, customers receive a bonus DVD with developer interviews, promotional trailers, an art gallery, and more. The game is rated T for Teen.

Kameo to cameo in Uno

Gamers eagerly waiting the latest offering from Xbox Live Arcade Wednesdays had better like both Uno and Kameo: Elements of Power. Microsoft has announced that in lieu of a new game, a new Kameo-themed Uno deck will be available at 1:00 a.m. Wednesday morning over Xbox Live.

The Uno Kameo Theme Deck will cost gamers 100 Marketplace points ($1.25) and feature a special new card that allows the gamer who plays it to swap hands with any of his or her opponents. Only the table's host needs to own the deck in order to deal out the new cards.

Uno is available on Xbox Live Marketplace for 400 Marketplace points ($5). Kameo: Elements of Power is rated T for Teen and retails for $29.99.

Wii launch lineup narrowed

Gamers who anxiously awaited the launch lineup of the Xbox 360 know that they shouldn't get their hopes up and anything can happen in the days leading up to launch. Several purported games fell in and out of the Xbox 360's extended launch window, including highly anticipated games like Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

Nintendo is getting set to launch its next-gen console, the Wii, next month, and its projected launch lineup is doing a little shuffling of its own--although the changes aren't as drastic as the 360's.

Nintendo expects 32 Wii games to be available in North America by the end of December (as well as 30 Virtual Console games). At September's big Wii release date and price unveiling in New York, Nintendo boasted that there would be 30 games before the calendar turned to 2007.

Shortly after the event, a few publishers declared their intentions to join the Wii's launch window, including four games apiece from THQ and Midway Games.

Added to the list recently and confirmed today for release in 2006 are SNK's Metal Slug Anthology, Atari's Dragon Ball Z Budokai: Tenkaichi 2, and Tecmo's Super Swing Golf.

According to a press release from Nintendo, one of Ubisoft's promised eight Wii launch titles has been shot down. Missing from the list of games to be released in 2006 was Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII. In fact, there is no listing for the Wii version of the game on Ubisoft's Web site. Ubisoft was unavailable for comment as of press time.

Nintendo would not say how many Wii games would be available on November 19 besides its three games--The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Excite Truck, and Wii Sports. Citing last-minute polishing, the company stated that release dates for third-party games would "soon be locked down, though most will launch by the end of November." One third-party game that will definitely be there day one is Sega's Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz, which the publisher today announced would be on store shelves on November 14.

The following is the list of Wii games expected by the end of 2006, divided by publisher:

Nintendo
Excite Truck
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Wii Sports (bundled with the Wii console)

Activision
Call of Duty 3
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
Rapala Tournament Fishing
Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam
World Series of Poker

Atari
Dragon Ball Z Budokai: Tenkaichi 2

Atlus
Trauma Center: Second Opinion

EA
Madden NFL 07
Need for Speed: Carbon

Konami
Elebits

Midway
The Ant Bully
The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy
Happy Feet
Rampage: Total Destruction

Sega
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz

SNK
Metal Slug Anthology

Tecmo
Super Swing Golf

THQ
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Barnyard
Cars
SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab

Ubisoft
Far Cry: Vengeance
GT Pro Series
Monster 4x4: World Circuit
Open Season
Rayman Raving Rabbids
Red Steel
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Double Agent

Vivendi Games
Ice Age 2: The Meltdown