Casual Gamers News Report 06.16.04

The Casual Gamers News Report 06.16.04

Yo, welcome back to the Wednesday news with me your casual gaming correspondent. I’ve got a lot going currently going on and a load of GBA games I’ve been meaning to play so I’m going to kill off this abortion of a header right now and just get straight to”¦

THE NEWS

Test Drive: Eve of Destruction Confirmed for Xbox Release

Atari has announced that their new Test Drive game will also be available for both the PS2 and the Xbox this fall. This game is a departure from the rest of the Test Drive series of games, being more of a destruction derby style game than the sim racer the other games in the series have been. I think originally it was being developed as a game separate from the Test Drive series but then had the Test Drive name added to the original title, but I’d have to go back and double check that (research? what the heck is research?). Still since the other destruction derby game that I was looking forward to earlier this year turned out to be a disappointment, I’m looking forward to all the smash mouth titles I can get right now.

Infinium Labs Misleads Court?

Over at whereisphantom.com they’ve posted a story regarding misleading court statements made by CEO Timothy Roberts. Infinium Labs is the maker of the Phantom console that is still in development and is to be the only console that offers a broadband only service that allows players to download games from an online library to play. The statement in question was Roberts saying to the U.S. District Court that he has never conducted business in the state of Texas. This is contrary to several pieces of evidence that they’ve not only done business with people in Texas but actually had an office located in Richardson, Texas. Oops!

What this means as far as jurisdiction for lawsuits is beyond me, but I think the fact that they’ve lied to the Court about something so easily proved is a little shady. Personally, I still bet that the whole thing is a scam and that the Phantom console is vaporware. Check out the link to the whereisphantom website for more info about the whole thing.

Midway names new chairman

Not even two weeks ago the last chairman of Midway stepped down. Now according to Businesswire a new Chairman of the Board has been appointed, Kenneth D. Cron. He was formerly CEO of VU Games.

Hard to believe that at least 70% of Midway’s shares are all owned by one man, Viacom CEO Sumner Redstone. He recently has also appointed his daughter Shari Redstone, and Viacom board member Joseph Califano to Midway’s board of directors.

Follow Up: Proving that most game critics are full of it

I missed this mention last week but Lee brought it to my attention. I mentioned last week how it seemed crappy that some awards given did not even have hands-on demos, so what do the rules over at gamecriticsawards.com have to say about it?

Games that are only demonstrated on videotape or through screenshots, concept art, rendered movies, pre-scripted (i.e. non-interactive) gameplay sequences, or developer-controlled theater demos are automatically disqualified from consideration in the major award categories. However, non-playable games are still eligible for Special Commendations in Graphics and Sound Design.

Hypocrisy at its finest folks. This is my biggest complaint about critics in the video game industry other than at this site, the majority of them are closer to advertisers than critics! They’ve caused 7 to be an average review score out of ten, and most are too worried about losing free demo privileges from game companies to give you their honest thoughts on a game.

411games, we’re not afraid to say that the PSP will likely bomb.

Christian’s Crazy Game Releases
Jun 13-19

Jun 16
Cartoon Network Collection (Movie) (GBA)
Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (GC, P2)
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Game Crazy and Nintendo are proud to present the Ultimate Saturday Series! Nintendo is sponsoring a tournament the last Saturday of every month with great prizes and the hottest new games! Saturday, Jun 26th it’s time to get classic. Excitebike, Xevious, Bomberman and Ice Climber. What to do with only two buttons? The Ultimate Saturday Series, coming to a Game Crazy near you!
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Christian: The best week of the year as far as I’m concerned for one thing: Front Missiony Goodness! I can’t wait for this game. It’s gonna be sweet. But for others, the big game this week is Splinter Cell on the Cube and PS2. The sleeper that I shall be pushing is Psi-Ops. That one is going to sell slowly and steadily, especially with the better controls.
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Matt Psi-Ops baby! I plan on setting folks on fire with my mind as soon as I get the chance to. Other than that I’m still tied up in GBA land. Mario vs DK is fun as all hell, but I thought the game didn’t really get going until you’ve already beaten the first 6 worlds. The first six feel just like practice for the Plus worlds, but I’m loving it.

Cheap, Cheap Sweep

NBA Ballers and Rainbow Six 3 for the PS2 for $29.99 at Best Buy

If you can find a Fye’s in your town head there for some killer deals. In store only I saw Fight Night 2004, and NBA Ballers both going for $19.99. You can also get any of the first three Simpson’s seasons on DVD for $14.99 each, if they aren’t already sold out of them. They also had Kill Bill Vol. 1 for 19.99 but with a $10 mail in rebate, and more go check it out if you can.

Rainbow Six 3 and Ghost Recon: Jungle Storm both for $27.88 at Target

Pimps Up, Links Down

Resident Spyware-killa Eric S

Lotsa reviews up lately.

Thank God it’s Thursday was the best report up last week.

Gamer’s Hangover News Report is back as Cory took what sounds like a much needed break. Glad he’s back.

Hitchhiker’s Guide to Video Games is also back with some good stuff this week.

That’s all folks!