CyberNet News » Gaming

High School Student Drops-Out to Play Guitar Hero

Ashley — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 18:31:20 +0000

This is by no means “news,” just an interesting topic of conversation sent in as a tip. Some of you may know a few Guitar Hero addicts or maybe you are one yourself, but do you think it’s a little excessive if a high school student drops-out so that he can concentrate more on the game?

Back in mid-Summer, NewsObserver.com reported on a young-man named Blake Peebles who at age 16, was given permission from his parents to drop out of school so that he could focus on Guitar Hero. Granted, he does have a private tutor which his parents pay for, but the fact of the matter is that he has the tutor because school was taking away from his Guitar Hero time.

Peebles is into some competitive gaming at a local level, but the problem is that competitive gaming isn’t very lucrative at this point. While some of the very best gamers can earn about 80,000 a year, they say that on average, gamers are more likely to make about $20,000 to $30,000, if that. Peelbes has done well when it comes to tournaments in his area, winning about $1,000 in cash, but it’s going to be a different story if he starts participating in some of the larger competitions around the country and even around the World, where there are many others participating that are just as talented.

According to one competitive gamer who won the national championship for Halo 2, being successful as a competitive gamer is tough. He says, “when you want to go somewhere with this gaming stuff, you’ve got to be in the top 1 percent.” So what do you think? Was it worth it for Peebles to quit high school so that he could focus on Guitar Hero in hopes of becoming the next big competitive player?

Thanks for the anonymous tip!

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Microsoft Executes Xbox 360 Price Cuts

Ashley — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 14:27:46 +0000

We’ve known for quite some time that Microsoft was preparing to drop the prices of their various Xbox 360 consoles and now it has happened (although only in the U.S.). This comes at a convenient time shortly before the start of the holiday season, and they’ve managed to get the price down to the “sweet spot” for gaming consoles. The sweet spot is under $199 which is what their Arcade version will be selling for.

With the drop in price, we immediately thought of the fact that the Xbox 360 can be used as a media center extender. After looking at other media center extenders available, the Xbox 360 Arcade version is now one of the most affordable options for those who want to extend the capability of their Media Center PC’s. Some of the most popular options like the Linksys DMA2100 or the D-Link DSM-750 both cost around $250 while the HP x280n MediaSmart Connect will run about $350. While the Arcade version of the Xbox 360 doesn’t come with a hard drive (neither does the Wii), it is still a great value at the new price of $199.

The complete line-up of pricing for the Xbox 360 is:

Xbox 360 Arcade – $199.99
Xbox 360 – $299.99
Xbox 360 Elite – $399.99

Microsoft now offers the most affordable gaming console on the market, even cheaper than the Wii. Could this possibly mean that Nintendo will consider dropping the price of the Wii before the holiday season and their two-year anniversary? We’re doubtful because even today, some people are still having a hard time getting their hands on one.

So, what do you think? Is the Xbox 360 Arcade version a great bargain at $199.99 even though it comes with no hard drive?

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EA Uses Viral Video To Clarify “Glitch”

Ashley — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 18:09:18 +0000

Recently EA found themselves in a position where they could admit that there was a glitch in a game, or turn it into an amazing marketing experience. They chose the latter of the two, and it has worked out quite well for them.

You see, someone recently noticed that there’s a “glitch” in the Tiger Woods 08′ golf title where Tiger Woods plays a shot while standing on the water. The gamer took video of it and it has been seen all over the Internet. People have called it the “Jesus Shot” with Tiger “walking on water.” Instead of just acknowledging that they made a mistake, EA has decided to answer back to the poster of the video with a brilliant video of their own.

Tiger really can walk on water! It’s not a glitch afterall…

Now how’s that for using YouTube to your advantage. What a great example of a viral marketing video!

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Xbox 360 Price Cut Coming September 7th? We Think So…

Ashley — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 15:07:13 +0000

Last week rumors started to fly that Microsoft was planning to drop the price of the Xbox 360 pretty significantly. We questioned it because in July, Microsoft already did some price dropping with their 20GB Xbox 360 – dropping it from $350 down to $300. This turned out to be a temporary price drop to make way for a new 60GB model. While there has been no confirmation from Microsoft that the price-cuts are coming in September, new information suggests that the rumors are true.

Take a look at the image below. Someone took a picture of what they saw on the screen at an unnamed retailer when they did a SKU inquiry for the Xbox 360 Arcade System. As you’ll see, it shows a price of $199.99 that will be effective starting on September 7th.

September 7th would be a likely date for Microsoft to make price cuts, only because it also happens to be the date that two Xbox 360 exclusive games launch – Square Enix’s Infinite Undiscovery and Rock Band 2 (this game comes out later in the Fall for other systems). If it works as planned, prices will be as follows on September 7th:

Xbox Arcade – $199
Xbox 60GB Pro – $299
Xbox 120GB Elite – $399

Source: Gizmodo

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LIVE for Windows Games is Free

Ryan — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:41:21 +0000

I’m sure that most of you have heard about Microsoft’s Xbox LIVE video game service that lets players compete against each other over an Internet connection. Similarly Microsoft also has a Games for Windows LIVE service that will let you play against other people on your PC, and starting today the service is being offered to consumers for free. Previously this costed $49.95 per year, unless you were already an Xbox LIVE subscriber.

Don’t worry, I wouldn’t be surprised if you didn’t even know about LIVE for Windows games. The fact is that the service hasn’t really taken off on Windows despite its overwhelming success on the Xbox. Heck, it’s been out for over a year and there are only 11 LIVE enabled games for Windows right now:

Battlestations: Pacific
The Club
Fallout 3
Gears of War for Windows
Halo 2 for Windows Vista
Kane & Lynch: Dead Men
Lost Planet Extreme Condition – Colonies Edition
Shadowrun
Universe at War: Earth Assault
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Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II

So why haven’t Windows game developers been taking advantage of the new technology? What I’ve heard is that they too had to pay in order to incorporate the LIVE service in their games, but that’s no longer a problem. Microsoft has decided to drop all costs for developers as well, which means Games for Windows LIVE is free for both consumers and developers!

This is a very intelligent decision by Microsoft. I have quite a few friends who have been thinking about switching to a Mac, but since they play lot of games on Windows they don’t want to deal with the hassle of switching between multiple operating systems. This is going to be yet another thing to keep the gaming community tied to Windows.

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Sony & Microsoft Drop Console Prices

Ashley — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 19:18:47 +0000

With the E3 Media and Business Summit going on (the annual trade show for the computer and video games industry), there have been several big announcements from Sony and Microsoft.

The first big announcement coming from Sony is that they have decided to drop the price of their 80GB PS3 model to $400. This will start in September which would make the 80GB model the same price as what the 40GB model currently sells for. Engadget points out how Sony worded it. They talked about how the new 80GB model would have the “current functionality” of the 40GB model which means it looks as though the days of backwards compatibility for PlayStation 3 are gone. In a nutshell, Sony is boosting storage while keeping the same price point.

It looks like Microsoft is trying to do the same type of thing – boosting storage while keeping the price the same. Microsoft recently dropped the price of their 20GB Xbox 360 from $350 down to $300. As it turns out, this is just temporarily as a way to make room because Microsoft intends to introduce a new 60GB model for $350 which is the same price as what the 20GB previously sold for. Maybe these companies would have been better off simply dropping the prices without upping storage? We have to agree with a comment Paul Thurrott made. He says, “Microsoft is losing ground to Sony now, for crying out loud. It’s time to get aggressive.”

Also in the news is that Microsoft and Netflix have teamed up to allow Xbox 360 owners the opportunity to stream Netflix movies to their consoles (assuming they are Netflix subscribers). Now if Netflix could improve the list of movies available to watch instantly, and open this up to non-U.S. residents, there would be a lot of happy campers.

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Nintendo Introduces MotionPlus Add-on for Wiimote

Ashley — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:10:41 +0000

While the Wiimote has been able to impress and amaze millions of people out there, it has been lacking something for others. What was it lacking you ask? The capability to sense even the slightest movements. For some games, the Wiimote just wasn’t precise enough in detecting how the user was moving their Wiimote. To help with this problem, Nintendo has released an add-on called MotionPlus.

MotionPlus is the solution to requests for a Wiimote that has superb motion controls. As shown in the photo below, it fits right on to the bottom of the current Wiimote and just extends the length a bit. Because it’s an add-on and not something that Nintendo built right-in to the existing Wiimote, users will have to determine if they want to spend the extra money on it. Unfortunately this new add-on will only work with games designed to take advantage of the technology. This means that all of the games you currently have in your library won’t work with MotionPlus.

At this point there is only one game that takes advantage of MotionPlus and it’s called Wii Sports Resort. You must have the add-on attached to the Wiimote if you want to play the game. Gizmodo put it to the test and said it was undeniable that MotionPlus does add “true 1:1 movement support.” A Nintendo spokesman described it and said “It renders every light shift of the wrist or arm into the gameplay.” Sounds great, doesn’t it?

Now we need to talk about the down-sides of this add-on. First of all, it costs money and will ultimately make the system more expensive. Consumers will need to buy controllers, nunchucks, and now the MotionPlus add-on for a true Wii experience. Another thing to keep in mind is that as game developers put MotionPlus to good use, those who really didn’t want to “upgrade” their controllers will be forced to if they want to be able to play the latest games.

We weren’t able to find any details about pricing, but if it’s anything like the Nunchuck, expect to spend at least $20 on it.

Source: Gizmodo

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Xbox 360 Dropping Down to $299

Ryan — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:46:48 +0000

Gizmodo received a tip a few days back that pointed to updated pricing for the Xbox 360. It appears that a $50 price drop down to $299 is on the way, and might be coming as soon as this Sunday. Accompanying the price drop signs is a memo stating that the enclosed materials are not to be displayed before July 13th… I guess Internet leaks are okay as long as no one physically puts out the signs.

I do have to say that this is pretty competitive pricing coming from Microsoft. This will put the 40GB Playstation 3 $100 more than the Xbox 360, but the Wii is still $50 cheaper. Then again you do get a 20GB hard drive with this Xbox 360 which puts it between the PS3 and Wii.

What still amazes me is the incredible demand for the Wii. When that console makes its way into an advertisement the stores normally say something like a “minimum of 12″ will be available. You know you’re talking about a hot item when stores have to say the minimum amount that they’ll have.

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USB Devices Coming to the Wii?

Ashley — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 17:58:06 +0000

If you have a Wii, you may not even know that there are two USB ports on the back of the console that just sit there. Obviously Nintendo put them there for a reason, you say to yourself, but up until now we haven’t really seen any way to take advantage of them. We take that back, Rock Band which is set to come to the Wii on June 22nd will need a USB port for the drum set, the Wii LAN adapter connects via USB, and we’ve heard of some people hooking up a keyboard via USB, but that certainly can’t be it, can it?

Now it looks as though Nintendo is going to try and take advantage of the ports that they put there. PC World reported that there’s a new job listing over at Nintendo which hints that USB devices for the Wii are coming. The title of the job is for a “Software/Hardware Tester” and their job will be to “create and execute a test plan for Wii’s USB devices.” a Good point that PC World makes is that this could potentially provide Wii users with a storage solution. They say, “Wii owners struggle to manage downloadable content and games, given the console’s limiting 512MB internal memory, (although there is already an SD Memory Card slot)” and so the USB ports could be used for storage, among many other things.

If in fact Nintendo intends to create USB devices for the Wii, what would you want to see?

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The Pricey Way to Get “Fit” with the Wii…

Ashley — Fri, 23 May 2008 18:06:48 +0000

Sixteen months after the Nintendo Wii launched in the United States, and people are still having a hard time getting their hands on it. Sure it’s gotten a little easier, but you still won’t see a Wii sitting on the shelves at the store for very long. Because of this, the popular console (which retails for $249) is still selling for a premium on sites like eBay. Following in its footsteps is the Wii Fit which launched in the U.S. a few days ago. It retails for $89 yet it’s selling on eBay for a premium as well because stores are sold-out.

I decided to go to eBay to look at the completed listings for both the Wii Console and Wii Fit and what I found was if you want both and you can’t find them in the stores, you could easily end up spending $500 for what would normally cost about $340. The Wii Fit looks like it is selling for around $155 on average on eBay while the Wii Console itself still sells for about $350 on average (sometimes less, sometimes more).

+

= Expensive way to get “fit!”

With gas and food prices continuing to climb, and the Wii and the Wii Fit hard to come by unless you want to pay a premium, it looks like consumers might just be better off investing in a good pair of running shoes!

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