Controversy

Ramsey Digital Designs the Best Videos!

I live in a blight-filled area of Michigan called Cottrellville Township. Over the last five years, Cottrellville Township has turned into an extremely ugly place to live in throughout quite a few areas. No matter where you live in Cottrellville Township, you don't need to look far to find blight. This is why I -- Michael Zoran -- have decided to run for Trustee and also Precinct Delegate in the upcoming Cottrellville Township election on August 7, 2012. (By the way, my political signs are going to cost over $750. If anyone would like to make a donation using PayPal, please look on the right side of your screen to do so.)

Morris of Ramsey Digital is a close friend of mine. As soon as Morris found out how I was doing things such as signing contracts with Comcast to bring township meetings into the homes of residents on public access TV channel 12 and also on YouTube channel michaelzoran, Morris decided to help me out.

This new video is dedicated to my Fight Against Blight. The high-quality video clearly shows the talent and skill Morris and his staff at Ramsey Digital possess. When people saw the impressive video, I started getting emails asking me how to contact Ramsey Digital.

Ramsey Digital can be contacted here: http://www.theaskeweffect.com/KRUZ8ER/

Ramsey Digital is also a great place to visit if you are a videogame fan and enjoy chatting online with other gamers in online forums.

You can contact Morris Ramsey at morris.ramsey@gmail.com

The prices are very reasonable for these videos. All you need to do is send Morris some pictures and/or videos. You also need to tell him what the theme of your video needs to be. Morris will take over from there, and for the low price of $50 to $200, Morris will have a Hollywood style video for you in just a few days.

Halo 4 and Halo Anniversary Edition Announced! - Visit My E3 Coverage

Microsoft sitting, watching Microsoft's press conference at E3, I heard some official announcements I expected to hear because of industry insider friends I have in the videogame industry. I also heard some announcements I didn't expect to hear -- and those announcements were really awesome! If you want to learn more about those announcements, come to my new Controversy blog devoted entirely to daily videogame news. Make you to subscribe to this new blog: www.controversy.typepad.com/videogamenews

I can tell you Microsoft did announce the awesome Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary Edition many of us heard rumors about. And I'll also wet your appetite by telling you Halo 4 was announced! Some of my reliable industry insider friends told me this might happen. But even I was amazed when Microsoft said Halo 4 would be part of a "trilogy" of new games involving Spartan super-soldier John 117!

Metal Gear Solid HD Collection Package Coming to Xbox 360! - Remixed HD Graphics & 5.1 Sound

Breaking news from the World Wide Konami Press Conference, the Metal Gear Solid HD collection will be coming to the Xbox 360 in November of this year! The package will include High Definition versions of Metal Gear Solid 2, Metal Gear Solid 3 and the formally PSP exclusive Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker.

Kojima Productions unveiled the news in a very funny skit-like video featuring the sketch comedy group Mega 64. I couldn’t be happier with this announcement. The original Metal Gear Solid and its sequel are some of my favorite of all time. I rarely play them anymore, since their sound is outdated and they possess outdated graphics. But with graphics updated to high-definition and sound remixed to true 5.1, it will be a pleasure playing through the games again – particularly since I will earn Achievement Points along the way.

Hideo Kojima confirmed that he is in the planning stages of the “Next Metal Gear Solid Experience”. Speaking about the graphics engine for his next game, Kojima revealed it is called “The Fox Engine”. This new graphics engine is multiplatform for future titles.

The demo of the Fox Engine looked very impressive. The demo exhibited realistic foliage and dirt paths, but Kojima stressed that the engine is not using final assets from his next game. The items displayed were merely technical demonstrations, not actual software.

History has proven the Xbox 360 versions of the vast majority of multiplatform software ends up with better graphics and better online play than their PS3 counterparts. Even games as simple as Splinter Cell have proven this point. Whether or not the Xbox 360 version will be "noticably" better or "significantly" better remains to be seen. But like channel G4 said, "Even if the versions of a PS3 and Xbox 360 game are identical, it always makes sense to buy the Xbox 360 version because there are more people to play online with and a larger percentage of people online have headsets to chat with while playing." 

Controversy will have full coverage from the Konami conference at the Electronic Entertainment Expo!

Forza 4 Racing Uses Kinect Head-Tracking Features!

Forza Motorsport 4 will be the biggest and best racing game ever released when it is launched for Xbox 360 later this year. It isn't just the amazing graphics, huge selection of high-quality cars, or the incredibly large number of tracks available in Forza 4 that make it a special racing game. Forza Motorsport 4 will be the first game in this excellent franchise to be fully optimized for the Kinect motion-sensor accessory, which is now in the Guinness Book of World Records as the fastest-selling electronics item ever! This is what we've been looking forward to all along!

We've known from the beginning Forza Motorsport 4 would allow us to drive by using our hands as the racing wheel. Kinect uses its motion-sensing abilities to accurately and precisely determine where we wanted to drive based on which direction we move our hands! We were told that when this feature is used the game will handle acceleration and braking responsibilities for us. This is a very simple setup many casual gamers will enjoy, especially kids, females, and older gamers.

But I'm starting to question what was said because of a new video Microsoft recently released. Microsoft has now revealed the motion-sensing abilities of Kinect will be used to track all of your head movements in order to add an even greater sense of realism to Forza Motorsport 4! This feature looks absolutely amazing in the video, and you can also see how stunning the graphics are in the game! Can you believe the graphics in Forza Motorsport 4 are even better than the current racing champion – Forza Motorsport 3!

But one thing in particular leaves a bit of controversy. In this video, you clearly see the brake pedal and gas pedal being used. These pedals are part of an accessory Microsoft discontinued several years ago -- a product that is now considered the greatest racing wheel ever released because it offered excellent force feedback. As an industry insider, this makes me wonder if I may see Microsoft start selling their force feedback steering wheel and brake/gas pedal accessory again. Or, will Microsoft sell only the brake pad and gas pad accessory this time, since Kinect will essentially be providing the wheel.

Please share your thoughts on this subject. Microsoft says they will be revealing other secrets about Forza 4 at E3. I know Gamestop and several other retailers give you a special group of great cars if you preorder the game right now. But, it wouldn't surprise me to see Microsoft release Forza Motorsport 4 in arcades. Here is a video for you to look at proving all this:

Kinect Adds Simplicity to Games - Females and Kids LOVE it!

I used to wonder how certain games could possibly be played with Kinect rather than a controller. But now that I've seen the way several games are played, I can confidently tell you Kinect is going to make games far more popular with females, kids, and even older people, just like the Wii did. There is one reason for this: Simplicity.

Games become so much easier and better to play with Kinect. When you play Forza Motorsport 4 with Kinect, your only responsibility is using your hands as the steering wheel...and that's it. The game does the braking and acceleration for you. This type of simplicity is exactly what females and kids desire, because it brings back an arcade style of fun!

Hardcore gamers will probably want to stick with the complex motions of control pads and force-feedback race wheels. But most people really will love the added simplicity Kinect brings to the table. With Kinect, you won't need to spend hours mastering the complex techniques of every game. In Forza 4, you won't need to learn exact moments when you should brake, accelerate, and when you should start slowing down. Just use your hands to drive in a fun way and you will do just that -- have fun!

The same concept applies to games like Ghost Recon and Gears of War. When using Kinect, you won't be responsible for handling complex responsibilities such as running and dodging. You will control those parts of the game if you choose to use a control pad, but while using Kinect the game will do a lot of that stuff for you. When playing with Kinect, you will just need to do basic things like fire, reload, and switch weapons. This form of simplicity makes complex games fun for inexperienced gamers!

Kinect is currently in the Guinness Book of World Records as the fastest-selling electronic item in history. I have no doubt the success of Kinect will continue in 2011. Kinect turns very deep games such as Forza Motorsport 4 and Ghost Recon into simple games anyone can start having fun with at any time, just like at an arcade.

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Sony Posts $3.2 Billion Loss – Sony is No Longer an Industry Leader

Sony Corp will post its third straight annual net loss for the year that ended in March after writing off tax credits. This is the latest in a string of grim headlines on the consumer electronics giant. The maker of PlayStation video games, Vaio computers and Bravia TVs has been battling to recover from a series of security breaches on its networks that negatively affected more than 100 million user accounts. The annual net loss would be Sony's second-largest ever, underscoring the decline of a company once a symbol of Japan's electronic and manufacturing excellence.

I have been skeptical about Sony for a long time. Sony has been overtaken by Apple and other companies," said Yuuki Sakurai, CEO and president of Fukoku Capital Management in Tokyo. "The management is not able to show shareholders the future of the company."

Sony has found itself outmaneuvered by Apple in portable music and various other areas of technology. Samsung Electronics has outmaneuvered Sony in flat-screen TVs and other home theater equipment. Sony has also continuously been outmaneuvered by Nintendo and Microsoft in the videogame market. Playstation 3 is the least successful console ever released by Sony.

Sony had previously forecast a net profit of 70 billion yen ($857 million) for 2010/11. Stock markets were surprised today when Sony announced a need to update investors with revised estimates ahead of its official earnings report on Thursday. Stock exchange rules in Tokyo require companies to notify investors if estimates for the business year are likely to be more than 30 percent higher or lower than their most recent forecast. Sony said it now expected to post a net loss of 260 billion yen ($3.2 billion), due to a non-cash charge of around 360 billion yen ($4.41 billion) related to Japanese tax credits.

In April, Sony shut down the PlayStation Network worldwide in order to try and repair the biggest problem in the history of the videogame industry. Sony has slowly started to restoring areas of access, but is still working with Japanese government authorities to restore access in that country. Sony said "known costs" for the hacking attacks were estimated at 14 billion yen ($171 million). Sony is targeting the end of May for fully restoring the affected networks; however, as we have already seen, Sony’s estimates cannot be considered without skepticism.

Last week, Sony Chief Executive Howard Stringer aggressively responded to critics saying Sony was too slow to notify consumers once the online hacker attack had been indentified. Howard Stringer stands alongside other Sony executives such as Jack Tretton and Kaz Hirai for behaving selfishly in deceitful ways. Recently, Controversy exposed Sony’s deceitful methods of calculating sales figures in order to minimize negative publicity associated with poor sales and declining market share. While trying to avoid negative publicly from the online hacker attack, Sony allowed loyal consumers to be at high-risk of identity theft and financial theft.

What are your thoughts on this? Do you agree with industry experts saying Sony has been overtaken by foreign competitors such as Apple, Samsung, and LG? One thing is clear; Sony no longer represents any form of symbol of Japanese excellence in the world of electronics. Corporate giants outside of Japan, such as Samsung, LG, and Apple, now characterize themselves as leaders of the electronics industry.

Why is Capcom Making Unusual Sales Forecasts?

Recently, Capcom publicly stated how disappointed they were with the way Sony’s PS3 console was experiencing such awful problems with online hacking of the PSN. Capcom claimed to be losing a lot of money because of sales that potentially could have been made during that time period. Most videogame analysts thought Capcom was speaking out in a very unusual way, since we didn’t hear other third-party game developers making bold public statements like that.

Today I learned some of the interesting sales estimates Capcom has made for 2011. These sales estimates are very controversial considering the Xbox 360 has outsold the PS3 worldwide. First, I want to remind you that Microsoft’s Xbox 360 has sold over 53 million consoles worldwide, while Sony recently announced the PS3 has sold 50 million consoles worldwide.  However, as I have confirmed on Controversy, Sony deserves the reputation they now have for publicly announcing inaccurate sales figures.

Capcom’s PS3 sales forecast shows an estimate of 8 million software units sold from the release of 16 different software titles. Capcom’s Xbox 360 sales forecast shows an estimate of 4.7 million software units sold from the release of 14 different software titles.

Even though the Xbox 360 has outsold the PS3, Capcom believes the PS3 will produce nearly double the software sales of the Xbox 360! This sales forecast doesn’t seem to make sense when you consider the Xbox 360 versions of software usually outsell the PS3 versions. For example, Crysis 2 is a recent high-profile multiplatform release resistant to statistical outliers. When sales figures of Crysis 2 started coming in, we saw the Xbox 360 version had outsold the PS3 version by a ratio of 1.7:1.

What are your thoughts about Capcom’s sales forecasts? There is no doubt the majority of third-party companies see greater revenue on Xbox Live than they do the PSN. Sega recently released Sega Rally HD Online exclusively for Xbox Live Arcade. With that in mind, why would Capcom make such outrageous sales forecasts favoring the PS3 by nearly a 2:1 margin?

Sega Rally HD Online is Released Exclusively for Xbox Live Arcade

Sega Rally is now available on the Xbox Live Arcade marketplace. Sega has released this high-definition online version of Sega Rally exclusively for the Xbox 360. This excellent racing game includes all of the modes you could ask for – Time Trial, Championship Events, Offline Multiplayer, and even a six-player online racing mode! Sega Rally also includes powerful 5.1 surround sound and a variety of cool cars such as the Ford Focus RS, Lancia Delta Integrale, and the Bowler Nemesis. Sega Rally Online Arcade costs 800 Points and is fully compatible with all controllers and racing wheels available for Xbox 360.

Why is Sony Hiding PS3 Sales Figures?

NPD Sales results for the month of April were just released. For the second month in a row, Sony has asked the NPD not to publicly release the actual number of PS3 units sold. Sony has commented on the sales figures, saying these results show year-to-year sales of the PS3 are up 13% for the month of April, 2011 compared to April, 2010. But for the second month in a row, Sony has asked the NPD not to publicly release the exact sales figures for the PS3 console. The controversial questions is, what would Sony’s motive be for doing such a thing?

Although the year-to-year sales for the PS3 are improved by 13% for the month of April, the same apparently could not be said for the month of March. If the PS3 had produced impressive sales figures or seen a year-to-year rise in sales, Sony would have wanted to announce this publicly, as they did this month. But we will never know for sure, since Sony did not allow those numbers to be released publicly.

Now that it seems reasonable that the PS3 did not see a year-to-year improvement for the month of March, it means there was apparently a year-to-year decline for March. This seems like a logical motive for Sony to ask the NPD not to release sales figures to the public. This seems particularly true when you take into consideration that Xbox 360 sales in March saw a year-to-year improvement of 28% and sold a whopping 433,000 units! The Nintendo Wii sold an impressive 290,000 units this March.

For the month of April, both Microsoft and Nintendo allowed the NPD to release sales figures, as usual. The Xbox 360 sold 297,000 units, which was a 60% year-to-year gain compared to April of 2010. Only 172,000 Wii units were sold for April 2011, which is a large year-to-year decline in sales. For 10 of the last 11 months, the Xbox 360 has been the top-selling console, while the Wii has continuously seen declines in year-to-year sales.

Several websites online have been listing an April sales figure of 204,000 for the PS3. However, this is not based on anything that the NPD publicly released with Sony’s permission. The only reason this number of 204,000 exists is because Sony has said there was a 13% year-to-year increase in sales. We know that the PS3 sold 180,800 units in April, 2010, which would put April, 2011, at 204,304 units sold.

The controversial question many people want answered is why Sony is no longer willing to allow NPD to publicly release sales information based on exact numbers. Although a year-to-year sales increase of 13% for the PS3 is not as good as the 60% year-to-year sales increase seen by the Xbox 360, it is still something to be proud of.

As I said before, Microsoft recently announced that the Xbox 360 has been the top-selling console 10 of the last 11 months. But if you investigate and look at the sales figures during those 11 months, you see that the PS3 finished in last place each of those months, except this month! This month the PS3 was apparently able to finish in second place, outselling the Wii for the first time in years!

With that in mind, we need to ask ourselves why Sony isn’t willing to put a spotlight on their exact sales figures anymore. Some people have speculated that the recent problems experienced with the PSN outage is Sony’s motive for apparently not wanting publicity. But what about Sony’s motive for not sharing exact sales data for the month of March? Was Sony’s only motive for not wanting to release March sales figures the fact that the PS3 finished so far behind its direct competitor, the Xbox 360?

Statements made by Sony Computer Entertainment CEO, Jack Tretton, indicate that Sony uses a far more forgiving method of defining what a “sale” is than Nintendo and Microsoft. We know that Microsoft and Nintendo consider a unit sold when it has “Been shipped to a retailer or wholesaler that has made a purchase.” This doesn’t necessarily mean consumers purchased the units in stores, but it does mean retailers and wholesalers have purchased the units and have them sitting in stores waiting to be purchased by consumers.

Statements made by Sony executive, Jack Tretton, clearly show that Sony’s definition of a sale is very different. Sony considers a PS3 unit “sold” the instant it is “Produced and placed into inventory.” This means even if a retailer or wholesaler has not purchased the unit, Sony still classifies PS3 units as “sold,” even though they are collecting dust in inventory warehouses. This is a method of cheating – telling the public a unit is sold, even though it hasn’t been shipped to a retailer or wholesaler yet.

Using this form of definition to define the word “sold,” Sony can take credit for millions of units being sold in a very deceptive manner that produces inaccurate results. The best example of this situation occurred in 2006 at the E3 show, and was then proven in 2007 during an interview that Sony executive, Jack Tretton, was a part of. I will briefly describe what happened.

At the 2006 E3 show, Jack Tretton predicted that the PS3 would sell 6 million units by the spring of 2007. But when the spring of 2007 arrived, only 1.4 million consumers worldwide had purchased the PS3. In fact, the PS3 never had a chance of selling 6 million units, since Sony was only able to produce 5.5 million units in factories. In this interview, you see a chart clearly showing that the PS3 had seen disappointing sales of only 1.4 million units worldwide, yet Jack Tretton is claiming that the PS3 was only “a half million” units behind Sony’s goal of 6 million units.

When you subtract a half-million (500,000) from 6 million, you end up with 5.5 million. This is the exact number of units that Sony says had been “produced” by the spring of 2007. Not even close to 5.5 million units had been shipped to retailers and wholesalers by the spring of 2007. This obviously means that Sony’s executives were claiming that all 5.5 million units that had been produced and placed into inventory warehouses were classified as “sold,” even though 4.1 million of them were still sitting in warehouses collecting dust.

Most people believe that the reason Sony started classifying sales in this inaccurate manner is because the PS3 saw such disappointing sales when it launched. Even in Japan, the PS3 has not sold well – even being outsold by the Xbox 360 several months during the first couple years of its life. Each time the Xbox 360 saw an exclusive launch of an RPG game like Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey, Infinite Undiscovery, or Tales of Vesperia, it would produce a spike in sales that resulted in the Xbox 360 outselling the PS3 in Japan that month.

This is a surprise, because foreign products like the Xbox 360 usually sell very poorly in Japan – a market that always does its best to stay away from American products. If executives at Sony Computer Entertainment would have told Sony shareholders that only 1.4 million PS3 units had been shipped to retailers due to a lack of consumer demand, it would have caused management executives to be fired. This is probably why Sony executives started reporting the number of units “sold” in a way that was synonymous with the number of units “produced.”

In fact, Ken Kutaragi, the designer of the PS1, PS2, PS3, and PSP was asked to step down and instead take up the roll of Honorary Chairman. This is the Japanese cultural way of getting fired, since Japanese companies have a tradition of hiring an employee for life. The PS2 and PS3 were both criticized by developers for being difficult to program. As a result, Ken Kutaragi is no longer involved with the Playstation products.

Most people don’t realize that Sony still uses this form of deception when publicly announcing sales figures such as 50 million PS3 hardware units sold worldwide. Sony can get away with this because most of the world doesn’t accurately keep track of sales the way we do in North America. But in North America, Sony can’t get away with deception like this because the NPD sales data is so accurate. According to NPD sales figures, the Xbox 360 is outselling the PS3 at a large rate.

This is very important because North America is the largest videogame market in the world. This expanding sales gap between the Xbox 360 and PS3 is the reason why popular multiplatform games such as Crysis 2, Portal 2, and many others continuously see sales figures significantly higher on Xbox 360 – a console that has sold 53 million units. If the Xbox 360 has sold 53 million units while the PS3 has sold 50 million units, it is a difference of only 6%. With a difference of only 6%, it would not be possible for Xbox 360 versions of software to continuously outsell PS3 versions by such a wide margin.

For example, Crysis 2 is a highly rated game resistant to statistical outliers. Crysis 2 recently launched on both the PS3 and Xbox 360. But we saw the Xbox 360 version outsell the PS3 version by a ratio of 1.7:1. This would not have happened if the Xbox 360 had only a 3 million unit hardware sales advantage over the PS3. Thus, we can logically conclude there is obviously a bigger gap than 3 million units between the Xbox 360 and the PS3. I believe this is why Sony no longer wants sales data from NPD and other sales organizations released to the public.

I really do recommend you take a look at that interview here. This will help you to see what I’m talking about. Thankfully, the person on CNBC interviewing Sony executive, Jack Tretton, was not fooled or deceived, as you will see in this interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFIDsTsWJHw

Please share your thoughts about why Sony is no longer allowing NPD to publicly release exact sales figures of the Playstation 3, even though the PS3 has done several impressive things this month.

Soul Calibur 5 Coming to Xbox 360 and PS3 - And Possibly the Wii 2?

Namco has officially announced that Soul Calibur 5 will be released for the Xbox 360 and the PS3 in 2012. The game takes place 17 years after Soul Calibur 4. Namco – a company that recently returned to profitability – has said that more information about Soul Calibur 5 will be revealed at this years Electronic Entertainment Expo.

Up to this point, the best version of Soul Calibur ever released is the Xbox 360 version of Soul Calibur 4. The Xbox 360 version runs at a resolution of 1365x960p, which is 40% higher than the resolution of 1280x720p used in the PS3 version. This is because the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) of the Xbox 360 is so much more powerful than the PS3 GPU. The Xbox 360 GPU can display up to 500,000,000 polygons per second, compared to only 275,000,000 polygons per second for the PS3 GPU.

My controversial question has to do with the release date of Soul Calibur 5 and if it will be released for the Wii 2. If the Soul Calibur 5 game is scheduled to be released in 2012, will it also be released for the Wii 2 – which is supposedly going to be released in 2012? The Wii 2 version may be able to run at a resolution of 1920x1080p, since its GPU is slightly more powerful than the Xbox 360 GPU.

This also seems to suggest that Soul Calibur will not be available on a next-generation console such as the third Xbox or the PS4 for quite a while. You would tend to think that the soonest Soul Calibur 6 would be available is for the third Xbox at least two years after the release of Soul Calibur 5. But in all probability, we would not see a next-generation Soul Calibur game until three years after the release of Soul Calibur 5. This means the earliest we would see Soul Calibur 6 on a next-gen console would be 2014, but probably 2015.

Share your thoughts on Soul Calibur 5 and the Wii 2. Do you think Soul Calibur 5 will also be released for the Wii 2? How about Soul Calibur 6 and the clues it offers regarding when next-generation consoles will be here?

Microsoft Acquires Skype for $8.5 Billion! - How Will This Help Xbox 360?

Microsoft has acquired Skype for $8.5 billion, outbidding both Google and Facebook. Reports say that Google and Facebook were bidding between $3 billion to $4 billion. This shows that Microsoft was definitely willing to pay a premium price in order to keep those competitors at bay. Some financial investors have questioned why Microsoft would be willing to pay $8.5 billion for a company that was recently valued at less than $3 billion. This is where the element of controversy starts to reveal itself.

I believe Microsoft’s acquisition of Skype is a perfect match for technology currently used in areas of software and communication. Skype has done an excellent job making sure that products such as TV sets, PSP portable game devices, PCs, and cell phones can use their technology for Internet calls and video conferencing. Windows Live Messenger and Outlook are perfect technological matches for Skype. The same can be said for the Xbox 360 game console and the Xbox Live online gaming service.

Of all the products available in the world, Microsoft’s Kinect may be the one that matches with Skype best of all. The Kinect motion-control accessory for the Xbox 360 has sold over 10 million units in a record time period – appearing in the Guinness Book of World Records for its amazing sales success. This means there are over 10 million Microsoft video cameras staring people in the face. This is the perfect environment for Skype to exist.

Microsoft may have overpaid for Skype, according to financial analysts on Wall Street, but the acquisition of Skype has helped Microsoft achieve all of its goals. Microsoft would have needed to bid at least $4.5 billion for Skype in order to acquire them. This means that for an additional $4 billion, which isn’t much to cash-rich Microsoft, they get to stop Google and Facebook from dominating this industry. Thanks to this acquisition, Microsoft now has significantly greater access to all of Skype’s 145 million subscribers in an industry that is growing across a world that is trying to lower communication costs, particularly in the area of business.

Two weeks from now we know that Xbox Live will be briefly shutting down for an update. We know that when Xbox Live receives this upgrade it will be fully compatible with PayPal in order to increase security and prevent hackers from having access to bank information. This is especially worth noting since Sony and their PSN has experienced such awful online hacking over the last month. But it’s worth noting that Skype already uses PayPal. Perhaps the reason why Xbox Live is going to gain this form of access is because we will see compatibility with Skype sooner rather than later!

Gears of War 3 beta - Update - Week 3

Previously, I wrote a very detailed five-page article about my impressions of the Gears of War 3 beta. You can read that article by clicking here.

Now I’m going to give a further update on the Gears of War 3 beta. It appears several things have changed and/or been modified by Epic in some way. Based on my observations, I will explain everything in detail one subject at a time.

* Independent Online Servers: One of the things Epic promised from the beginning was independent servers online. Gears of War 3 is scheduled to be the first Xbox 360 game to offer this feature. During the first week the Gears of War 3 beta was available to everyone who preordered the game from Gamestop, I saw for myself that independent servers have the ability to work fine in a way that puts everyone on equal ground. Everybody is playing fairly in an environment where there is no form of host advantage. When independent servers are being used by Epic, I rate Gears of War 3 a 10 out of 10.

Unfortunately, news reports surfaced a couple weeks ago that the independent servers had gone down. From that point on, Gears of War 3 has used the same form of server setup used by other games. This is very disappointing and very frustrating because of host-server advantages. Games just aren’t as fun as they used to be with the Gears of War 3 beta, simply because all of the gamers are no longer competing on equal ground.

The best example of what I’m referring to can be described very easily by telling you about something I personally experienced. My teammates and I had filled an enemy with enough bullets to put that enemy down. But the enemy was behind an area where the bullets of my teammates could no longer reach the enemy. This meant the kill was going to be mind, since I was the only person on the team that had the ability to hit the fallen foe.

While this fallen enemy was crawling around on the floor, I had my Gnasher Shotgun armed. I used the Left Trigger to target the enemy and I used the Right Trigger to shoot the gun. I expected the enemy to die from that one shot at close range. I was surprised when the enemy did not die, so I targeted the enemy again and shot again. Once again, the enemy did not die! I repeated this process two more times, and yet the enemy would NOT die!

By the time I had hit the fallen enemy four times, he was able to tap the A-button enough times to stand up again. When the enemy got up, he just turned around and killed me with one close-range shot of his own Gnasher Shotgun. Can you say, “Not Fair?” This was the most unfair situation I have ever been involved with in any Gears of War game, and I instantly started telling people that if the final version of Gears of War 3 was going to be like that, I would be sticking with Call of Duty games. Unfair host advantages like that are why I stopped playing multiplayer in Gears of War 2.

The bottom line is that Epic needs to make sure Gears of War 3 uses independent servers. The host-advantage has too much of a negative affect on Gears of War game play. Please, Epic, make sure Gears of War 3 keeps your promise of independent servers.

* Glitches: Since the end of the first week, I have only encountered one glitch. This glitch was on May 8, 2011. Two friends and I simultaneously joined a match in progress. My two friends joined and I was watching them without any problem. But I was never able to join. I’m not even sure if my character joined at all. If my character did join, he was just standing there doing nothing. The only thing I could see was the Ghost Camera viewpoint. Epic, this needs to be fixed. The map it occurred on was The Trenches.

This was similar, but worse, than a glitch I experienced during the first week. During that week, I was in the Thrashball stadium. I was able to join the game and I could see the point of view of my character. But my character was stuck in the same spot. The only reason the match ended was because my teammate killed me with a grenade. Epic needs to fix this type of glitch.

* Grenades: In my last article, I promised that I would talk about grenades in my next article. I have kept my promise, and my analysis can be very simple. I think Epic got the grenades just right. The smoke grenades don’t do any damage; however they play a very important role in strategy. You can also use smoke grenades in the Capture the Leader mode, since a smoke grenade will cause the captured leader to be set free.

Frag grenades are just as powerful as ever. You can use them to kill multiple enemies at a time by throwing them or by tagging them to a wall or an enemy. The cool thing in Gears of War 3 is that if you are tagged by an enemy you can actually try and take that enemy out so that at least both of you die. This means if you tag an enemy with a grenade, you need to get away fast.

Ink grenades emit a very powerful gas of poisonous smoke. This can kill multiple people, including your own teammates. In fact, you can even potentially kill yourself with the ink grenade. The use of the Ink grenade is excellent and I think Epic has it right. It seems like the strength of the Ink grenade has been slightly lowered from the first week of the beta up to this point. This is probably a good thing because the ink grenade is supposed to cause people to evacuate, not necessarily die.

Incendiary grenades are a very powerful form of flame grenade. I feel very confident that these grenades have lost a lot of power from the first week compared to right now. During the first week of the beta, I lost count of the number of times I saw people dying from the incendiary grenade explosions that caused people to burn to death. Now, you need to stay in the lava flame for quite a while before you are in danger of dying; I never see people die from this anymore. Epic might want to make it so the strength is slightly increased, or possibly so the lava stays in the same spot for a long time. This would add a strategy element that makes it so you take away part of a map, since lava is there for a while.

* Gorgon Pistol: During the first week, it seemed like the Gorgon needed to be a lot more powerful. The reason for this is because the Gorgon needed to be a lot more powerful! It seems like Epic may have added some power to the Gorgon since the first week. Now it is actually possible to put an enemy down with the Gorgon, if you put an entire clip of ammo into him. But it is very common to have kills stolen from you while firing the Gorgon. You need to use a whole clip just to put an enemy down, regardless of range. By the time you reload your Gorgon pistol, someone else has already killed the enemy.

In my opinion there is absolutely no reason to waste time picking up a Gorgon pistol in Gears of War 3. Epic needs to increase the power of this pistol and make sure it has more ammunition in each clip. The simple fact is, if there is no reason to pick up a weapon, why bother picking it up? With that in mind, you need to ask the question if the Gorgon pistol really belongs in the game. It is a very cool weapon with a lot of potential, but it simply needs more ammo and more power.

* Boltok Pistol: During the first week I thought it was awful the way the Boltok was so week. I once got two headshots and a third shot to the chest on an enemy and the enemy did not die! Epic appears to have increased the power of the Boltok, but not enough. This week I fired a perfect headshot on an enemy, and it still did not kill the enemy. Although, I was once killed with a single shot to the head. This makes me wonder if the reason why that headshot did not kill the enemy is because of the host-server advantage.

My advice to Epic would be to make it so the Boltok is more powerful. It doesn’t shoot very fast, and it takes relatively long to reload. With that in mind, it is alright if the Boltok pistol is a powerful weapon, especially at close range. C’mon Epic, make it so this pistol is powerful the way it should be! If the Boltok pistol were more powerful, more people would pick up the weapon and be motivated to use shields.

* Boomshot: This weapon works exactly as it is supposed to. If you get hit with it, you die! It normally comes with only two or three rounds, so make sure you use it carefully. Epic should keep things exactly as they are with the Boomshot.

* Torque Bow: This weapon is a powerful weapon that takes a bit of practice firing. Anyone familiar with this weapon already will be fine with Gears of War 3. It takes a second or two to aim, and then if you hit the enemy they are blasted with a powerful shot. I think Epic has things just right with this weapon.

* Longshot Sniper: This weapon functions exactly as it did in previous Gears of Wars games. If you use the scope and get a headshot the enemy always dies. If you hit them in the chest it usually requires two shots to get a kill. If you miss the head, you feel guilty and accept responsibility. The Longshot sniper weapon makes it so headshots become particularly important, and it allows the graphics to look fantastic. You can literally see the teeth of the enemy with that scope! Epic should keep things exactly as they are with the Longshot sniper rifle.

* Oneshot Sniper: This new weapon has an incredibly long range – far longer than the Longshot. The other big difference is the power of the weapon. The Oneshot usually has only three rounds of ammo, but they are powerful! The Oneshot sends out a beam of light, similar to the Torque Bow so that an aware enemy knows they are being targeted. But if you can shoot someone with the Oneshot, they will be killed in one shot! In my opinion, Epic should keep things exactly as they are with the Oneshot.

* Digger Launcher: This new weapon adds a lot of new strategy to the game. The Digger Launcher usually has about three rounds of ammunition when you pick it up. But each of these three rounds is capable of killing multiple opponents with one shot – similar to a grenade. In fact, the aiming of this weapon is virtually identical to a grenade, even though you hold it as a gun.

When you shoot the Digger Launcher weapon, it sends out a big tunnel being ripped through the ground. If you are near that explosive tunnel being sent in your direction, you will die if you don’t get out of the way. You can see it coming, so you need to hop to the side in order to get away. I believe Epic has done a great job with the Digger Launcher and should keep everything as it is.

* Flame Scorcher: This weapon desperately needs more power! Of all the weapons in Gears of War 3, the one that is the least useful is this flame thrower weapon. Regardless of where this flame thrower is available for people to pick up, I never see people take the time to pick it up. I presume the reason I don’t see other people pick this weapon up is the same reason I don’t pick it up – it is absolutely worthless as a weapon!

Epic needs to make some huge changes with this particular weapon and the flames it throws. When you shoot someone with flames for three seconds while they are running at you through the flames, and then they kill you with one close-range Sawed-Off Shotgun blast, it means the game loses one full point in my book! In other words, Gears of War 3 goes from a 10 to a 9 in my book, simply because of that one huge problem! Epic, I am telling you on behalf of gamers everywhere: Make the Flame Scorcher weapon more powerful!

* Hammerburst: Last time I wrote a detailed report about how the Hammerburst rifle needs more power. I still want to make it 100% clear that the Hammerburst rifle needs more power. It is very common for people to unload an entire clip of Hammerburst ammo at enemies, and yet the enemy will not even fall! Epic, this needs to be changed for obvious reasons.

The simple fact of life in videogames is that if you shoot someone to the point where you need to reload a weapon, you expect that enemy to die! For goodness sake, if you unload an entire clip in an enemy, you at least expect the enemy to fall down! But when you unload an entire clip in an enemy while he is running directly at you, only to get blown into pieces with a single shot from his shotgun, it means gamers are motivated to play a different game. Epic, make it so the Hammerburst and Flame Scorcher weapons are more powerful!

* Conclusion: Overall, I believe Gears of War 3 has the potential to be the best game released in 2011. However, there are still some fundamental flaws that prevent this from happening. Several weapons such as the Hammerburst and Flame Scorcher desperately need more power. If the Flame Scorcher isn’t given that power, Epic should remove it from the game to avoid embarrassing themselves. Why bother picking up a weapon if it has no use or puts you at an obvious disadvantage.

I really hope Epic takes the time to read this four-page article, along with my previous five-page article. I really did take an incredible amount of time to try and help Epic. I hope my blog Followers enjoyed reading this. Please feel free to share your thoughts on my blog.

Also, if you have suggestions for Epic regarding the Gears of War 3 beta, visit this website in order to let them know what you’d like to see in the final version of Gears of War 3 or what problems you have found in the beta version: http://forums.epicgames.com/forumdisplay.php?f=400

Finally, I'd like to mention a couple really cool things Epic did with the beta of Gears of War 3. On the weekend of Easter, the characters had heads with bunnies! And last weekend the characters had oversized heads with very high-pitched voices similar to what a person sounds like if they breath helium! This was very funny!

Take a look for yourself here:

Xbox 360 Games - E3 2011 - Gears of War 3

 

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Sony Targets May 31st for Full Restoration of PSN

On April 20, 2011 the Sony PSN online service went down with over 74 Million users affected in a negative way by online hackers taking advantage of Sony's weak security system. A short time after, the service went down again with another batch of over 20 Million users affected in a way that involved a breach of credit security and financial records that would allow identity theft to occur. Sony recently announced that May 31st is the date currently being targeted for the return of full functionality to the PSN. The Playstation Blog says that Sony has a goal of restoring online game play prior to May 31st.

No other problem in the history of the videogame industry has ever produced such an impact on so many millions of people – approximately 100 million people. As an industry analyst, I believe next months NPD sales figures will confirm just how angry consumers are with Sony. Senators, congressman, and other politicians in the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, and all across Europe have criticized Sony for their lack of responsibility and selfishness. Consumers do not appreciate it that Sony was not willing to inform users within a reasonable time period in an effort to avoid negative publicity.

Guardian Heroes Coming Exclusively to Xbox Live Arcade!

One of the best games ever released by Sega for the Saturn game console in the 1990's was a game called Guardian Heroes. On May 5, 2011 Sega announced Guardian Heroes would be released exclusively for Xbox Live Arcade this fall. Sega says Guardian Heroes will feature enhanced high-definition graphics and online co-op when it is released for Xbox Live Arcade!

Guardian Heroes is a multiplayer 2D side-scrolling game. Enemies fill the screen, battle after battle, similar to a Golden Axe type of game. However, Guardian Heroes has moves far more complex -- with motion controls similar to Street Fighter and Virtua Fighter. The RPG elements of the game are excellent, particularly the way experience points are earned throughout the game. The plot in Guardian Heroes is very detailed and it helps you get to know the characters very well.

In addition to the side-scrolling co-op mode, there is also a battle mode where up to six players can participate simultaneously. Characters that you met throughout the story mode of the game are available to play as in this battle mode. One of my favorite parts of the battle mode is that absolutely nothing is left out.

For example, in the story mode there is a character named Randy that has a tiny pet rabbit named Nando. In the story mode, Nando is actually a part of several of Randy's moves and makes very funny karate-style noises and movements. In the battle mode, you can actually play as Nando!

Guardian Heroes is considered one of the best games ever released for the Sega Saturn by game critics and fans. Everything from the 2D graphics to the music with catchy tunes is praised by gamers. I really hope Sega releases Guardian Heroes sooner rather than later, and at an affordable price -- preferably 800 points or less. By the way, I've got dibs on Nando!

The Third Xbox - Developers Now Have Development Kits! - When Will It Launch?

Electronic Arts has told reliable sources in the videogame industry something very interesting. Apparently EA is now in possession of alpha development kids for the third Xbox console from Microsoft. This development kit is apparently in some form of PC casing structure, similar to the alpha development kit released for the original Xbox. Job postings from Microsoft confirm a next-generation console is being designed; however, these job postings seem to indicate the console is quite a ways away.

This next-generation console from Microsoft will definitely be released, but we do not know exactly when this console will be released or what its name will be. Some rumors have suggested the third Xbox will be released as early as 2012 in order to compete with Nintendo’s next console, currently called the Wii 2. While other rumors have suggested that Microsoft’s next console may not see a release until 2015.

Here are my thoughts where I focus on facts in order to generate a fact-based theory.

1. We know for a fact that the Nintendo Wii 2 will be released in 2012.

2. We know for a fact that the Wii 2 will be a direct competitor of the Xbox 360 and the PS3. The hardware specifications of the Wii 2 are nearly identical to the Xbox 360 and PS3. For example, the Wii 2 has 512MB of RAM just like Xbox 360 and PS3. We also know the GPU of the Wii 2 is from ATI and nearly identical to the Xbox 360 GPU from ATI. We also know the CPU of the Wii 2 is tri-core, just like the Xbox 360 CPU.

3. We know for a fact that the Wii 2 will not be competing directly with the third Xbox and PS4 (if there is a PS4, since Sony has literally lost billions of dollars on PS3).

4. We know for a fact that NPD sales show Xbox 360 was the #1 selling console in 2010. We also know for a fact that NPD sales show Xbox 360 has been the #1 selling console every month of 2011.

5. We know for a fact that Kinect is in the Guinness Book of World Records for being such a high-selling item. Over ten million units of Kinect have been sold in a record time period.

6. We know for a fact that Xbox 360 continues to see annual sales growth. We also know that the Wii and PS3 have seen annual sales decline in 2011.

Based on these six fact-based elements, I can form a fact-based theory that says Microsoft has no motive to put an early end to the life of Xbox 360.

Now let's look at my hypothesis based on estimations of what Microsoft has done in the past. While I do not have facts to support this hypothesis, I do believe my experience in the game industry has merit to support my thoughts.

A. We know that games like Halo and Gears of War tend to be released every other year. But we also know that Gears of War 3 took three years to be developed because Microsoft and Epic wanted to develop everything correctly. This is the same type of precision and accuracy that Microsoft and Epic would want to apply when a new console is released. This is particularly true with a game like Gears of War that is known for setting new standards in graphics technology.

B. This means that if Gears of War were a launch game for the third Xbox, the soonest it would happen would be 2013—two years from 2011. But it seems like Epic and Microsoft would want to spend extra time developing graphics engines and making use of superior hardware. I think a new Gears of War game (probably a prequel named Gears of War: The Pendulum Wars) would be released in 2014. In my opinion, if Gears of War is the launch game for the next Xbox, the soonest the console would be available is 2014.

C. If Microsoft wanted to launch the third Xbox in 2013, I believe the launch game they would need to do it with is Halo. I say this because Halo: Reach was released in 2010. The developers would have the three years of development they probably would need to release a new Halo game on new hardware. Plus, Halo is a killer-app game that would guarantee all of the consoles sell out!

Based on these three thoughts, I can guarantee that the third Xbox will be released by the end of 2014. But I believe 2013 may be too soon. The third Xbox will not be meant to compete with the Wii 2. The third Xbox will be meant to compete with high-end PC technology and the PS4 (if there is a PS4). In all probability the PS3 will not be able to generate an overall profit by 2014 or 2015. PS3 will have cost Sony literally billions of dollars, which is why rumors have circulated for quite a while saying that the PS3 will be Sony's last videogame console.

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