In the US at least ^_^

Out of Tokyo, Sony Corporation implicitly stated today that it has no plans to alter either targets for its PlayStation 3 video game console or its margins on the bottom line, in spite of recalls of laptop battery recalls and numerous setbacks on the PlayStation 3 production line.

“It is true that it took us some time to bring the PS3 to mass production as blue laser availability worked as a bottleneck,” Sony President Ryoji Chubachi told a media round table.

Referring to the company’s plans for end of the year and end of March 2007 shipments for the PlayStation 3, however, Chubachi said, “…2 million and 6 million are within our reach.”

Nevertheless, analysts commenting to the Associated Press persist in their skepticism that Sony will perhaps be unable to maintain production in the manner they deem necessary for the company to meet its fiscal goals. Sony has admitted that the PlayStation 3 is its most important fiscal and strategic product for 2007, hence the continued scrutiny into even the least hitch in the gameplan.

Regardless of the seemingly renewed optimism and persistence on Sony’s part, the company’s shares inched up 1.8 percent at the news, adding to the fears of analysts and investors alike concerning the ability of Sony Corporation to deliver upon its promises.

Reporting from London, Reuters has quoted several bigwigs involved in England’s soccer leagues, including the head coach of the nation’s World Cup team, as stating that among other things (such as big money drawing players elsewhere) that video games are one of the primary reasons as to why they are no longer cranking out droves of top-tier soccer players.

One official indicated that in Brazil soccer is a religion, that it is a way of life, and that those who play aspire to be the best and are not as distracted.

The moral of the story is, video games will keep you from maximizing your potential. At least, that’s what we are being told to believe.

Last night I noticed something when looking at my DVD case stand which is home to my game cases. “Man there are a lot of Zelda games on the Gamecube”. Did the long running Gameboy or Gameboy Advance even see as many Zelda releases as the Gamecube? Could the Wii see this much Zelda love? Well technically it already is since Gamecube games can be played on the Wii plus the Virtual Console Zelda releases that are almost certain to come down the road.

Square Enix has dropped what quite possibly is the biggest bomb any game company has in a while, announcing that the next true sequel to their much-loved Dragon Quest series will be hitting the Nintendo DS.

Personally, after the huge falling-out between Nintendo and Square some ten years ago, I would have never expected to see the following:

Things sure are looking amazing for Nintendo, what with the success of the DS and getting back into what seems the be great relations with Square Enix. Nintendo under the helm of Iwata is a wonderful thing!

Sources:
IGN
Go Nintendo
1up.com

One of the few webcomics I enjoy..
Read more…

From Go Nintendo:

“The entire Wii community is still abuzz with talk of cross-region VC purchasing. We discussed this awhile back, and now AzaMcWazza has sent in a video. Nintendo must know about this…I wonder if they are going to do something about it.”

Direct Link

Source: Go Nintendo

Note: Be wary of the music in the video… seems really loud and obnoxious!

From Los Angeles today, Reuters has reported that Manifesto Games, out of New York City, has announced that “The Shiva” will in fact be the first game of its kind, in that it will star the head of a Jewish congregation.

Manifesto, a developer of downloadable games, has said that the game’s story revolves around a rabbi who is trying to hold together his congregation, which is experiencing a crisis of spirit due to the alleged murder of either a member of the congregation or someone related to a member. The catch is, Rabbi Stone, the protagonist, is the individual who receives the inheritance from the controversial member of the congregation.

The title, which will sell for $5, is the first commerical product of creator Dave Gilbert.

Yet another Virtual Console Monday is nearing and Nintendo has not released what games will show up. What are your guesses? Personally I want Punchout to finally show up. As well as giving us some of the bigger VC games already released in Japan such as Super Castlevania IV and Super Mario World. As it stands right now the VC has a good selection of games but none of which besides Sonic and Mario 64 are really instantly recognizable.

This may be a little late seeing as it was shown on Monday but hey better late than never eh? This is the first commercial for Halo 3 that was aired during this weeks Monday Night Football game. The 60 second clip doesn’t show any gameplay and is all in CG (well mostly). The fact that Halo 3 is being advertised this early is more proof that this is going to be the biggest game release ever. Halo 2 was already HUGE! Halo 3 will no doubt dwarf the Halo 2 launch and sell a billion Xbox 360 systems in 2007. Why did you buy an Xbox 360? Whatever be honest, it was for Halo 3.

So here the trailer, get goosebumps?