General gaming news

[Hitoshura]

Anyone own one of these?

http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/4...1331935sq4.jpg

PS3's ARE region free right? (Can they update games like CoD4 US?) If so I am definitely ordering myself one of these pretty things soon.

[Pyro]

Completely region free.

[Norelco]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/2768-Zero-Punctuation-Super-Mario-Galaxy

This week's Zero Punctuation: Mario Galaxy.

Was pretty funny but I don't agree with some of his points. I thought the camera was dead on.

I don't know, on the planet levels, yeah, it was no problem. On the ones where if you fall you die... camera control would have seemed me a lot of frustration.

Oh, I also did agree with the extra lives thing. During an extended playing session of SMG I'd have upwards of 70 extra lives.

[izembo]

region free for ps3 games, however ps2 and ps1 games are still region coded, so they wont run on it.

[Hitoshura]

White PS3 is PS3 games only the 40GB model pretty much. So I guess I won't be missing much, though someone did remind me that the warranty wouldn't cover me for this model here in the US.

But thank goodness for the 1% failure right though right?

[izembo]

yea, they dont really fail during warranty anyways.

[Elcura]

there are issues with SDTVs and different region PS3's, mainly cause PAL and NTSC have different set resolutions or something. But I think it's not an issue if you have a HDTV.

[Mysterio]

White PS3 is PS3 games only the 40GB model pretty much. So I guess I won't be missing much, though someone did remind me that the warranty wouldn't cover me for this model here in the US.

But thank goodness for the 1% failure right though right?

Sony officially says the PS3 has a 0.2% failure rate.

Regardless you can buy without having to worry about it failing.

And maybe I missed it being stated, but the white PS3 is japan only if I remember correctly, and only 40 gig.

[Norelco]

I figure I'll get the 40gb PS3 when I get to around $200 in Amazon.com gift cards racked up. And here's how I get them:

1. as gifts from people
2. my visa amazon credit card gives me a $25 gift card whenever I spend $2500 (I get like 2-4 every year)
3. loose change. i fill a coffee mug with change which i take to a coin star machine, and instead of getting raped on the 8.9% coinstar collects for the counting fee, i get 100% of it put into an amazon.com gift card.

right now i'm at about $100 in my gift card balance, probably shouldn've have spent 50 of it at christmas on others. but oh well.

[Mysterio]

Just my opinion, but I'm thinking they won't hit another price drop until probably fall '08. The 399 40 gig and 499 80gig price points are selling pretty well for them.

[Exoduso]

That's a freakin' shiny white right there.

I don't care though, <3 my original 60GB.

[Mysterio]

Warner Bros. is now Blu-Ray exclusive. The format war is just about over.

Their contract with HD-DVD will en in May of 2008, after that Blu-ray only.

Next up will be Paramount and their contract with Toshiba probably.

http://www.ps3fanboy.com/2008/01/04/war ... exclusive/

[Exoduso]

Now if only Universal Studios would stop being so goddamn stubborn and give me Heroes on Bluray.. ;;

[Mysterio]

fuck your Heroes, gimme Transformers.

[Exoduso]

fuck your Heroes, gimme Transformers.

That too.

[Norelco]

Warner Bros. is now Blu-Ray exclusive. The format war is just about over.

Their contract with HD-DVD will en in May of 2008, after that Blu-ray only.

Next up will be Paramount and their contract with Toshiba probably.

http://www.ps3fanboy.com/2008/01/04/war ... exclusive/

Fuck yeah. This JUST pushed up my timetable on buying a PS3.

[Mysterio]

on that note,

amazon.com currently has another 2 for 1 blu-ray deal on

as well as seperate deal with select titles at 50% off.

You're paying about 13-14 bucks each for a new blu-ray in the 2 for 1 deal. and anywhere from 14.99 to 19.99 in the 50% off selection.

Actually, amazon has such killer deals on blu-rays I don't recommend buying them anywhere else. I pay $5 shipping on every blu-ray I buy and they're still almost half price compared to anywhere in canada.

Can just check amazon.ca and amazon.com to easily see the difference.

[Semitry]

And the white flag.

CES HD DVD Event canceled due to Warner announcement

I just received an email from the HD DVD Promotion Group stating that the CES 2008 HD DVD press event has been canceled. The recent Blu-ray exclusive announcement from Warner is cited as the reason for the event being canceled. You can find the full text of the notice below.

Notice of CES Press Conference Cancellation by North American HD DVD Promotion Group

“Based on the timing of the Warner Home Video announcement today, we have decided to postpone our CES 2008 press conference scheduled for Sunday, January 6th at 8:30 p.m. in the Wynn Hotel. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

We are currently discussing the potential impact of this announcement with the other HD DVD partner companies and evaluating next steps. We believe the consumer continues to benefit from HD DVD’s commitment to quality and affordability – a bar that is critical for the mainstream success of any format.

We’ll continue to keep you updated on new developments around HD DVD.”

http://wesleytech.com/ces-hd-dvd-eve...ouncement/483/

Bluray folks should splurge on those BOGOs, there won't be a need for them now.

[izembo]

personally i'm glad to see it going this way, but honestly i haven't looked too much into hd-dvd. what exactly is the benefit of hd-dvd over blu-ray that made them feel the technology was needed?

[Semitry]

personally i'm glad to see it going this way, but honestly i haven't looked too much into hd-dvd. what exactly is the benefit of hd-dvd over blu-ray that made them feel the technology was needed?

Initially, Bluray was going to use mpeg2 as their codec but forced to switch to VC1 because of HD-DVD. HD-DVD discs are cheaper to produce, players are cheaper and HD-DVD had the interactive crap right from the get go.

Competition's good, there's no way the PS3 would have dropped $200 within a year or change to a superior standard if they were the only game in town. And don't forget about those BOGOs and mail in offers.