Gamernode: Latest Game and Console News

Ubisoft interested in taking over Take Two?

According to the respected business magazine, Forbes, Ubisoft might be in the right position to acquire Take Two after the whole fiasco with EA's attempt and failure at a hostile takevoer of the game publisher.

Forbes reports that "there's a lot at Take Two that could dovetail with Ubisoft's interests." be that GTA or the ever growingly popular Bioshock."Ubisoft has shown they do a good job of managing original intellectual property," says Doug Creutz, analyst at San Francisco firm Cowen and Co. "Culturally, Take Two developers would not have a problem at Ubisoft because they allow a decent degree of creative freedom."

Ubisoft has spoken out on trying to expand into the sports genre, something that they have been lacking. Also the chairman of Take Two, Strauss Zelnick, admits that the comp...

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Rumor: Metal Gear Solid 1 coming to XBL Arcade

I guess it's only fitting that this rumor surfaces mere days before MGS4's release. According to Ripten's sources, the seminal MGS game is set to hit Xbox Live Arcade.

They say this due to a report coming in from a reliable individual noticing the game on a "certain pre-release network." They didn't say much more except that there are some problems in the conversion process.

I would assume so--the original MGS' filesize was over 1GB. It must be quite a painful process to shrink the game in order to meet XBLA's current file limit of 150MB.

Remember this story is a rumor right now. Ripten isn't exactly known for being the most reliable site but let's keep our fingers crossed anyway. I know I'd want to see this game hit XBLA. I haven't played a single MGS game and what better way to start than...

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FFVII: Crisis Core CE to hit Europe

Europe is preparing for their Collector's Edition of Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core to hit shelves very soon.

This edition comes with a high-quality slipcase and "the art of Crisis Core - Final Fantasy VII-" hardcover artwork book. A price has not yet been confirmed, however current estimates from various websites agree that the price should not exceed 200 Euros ($312 US).

More info will be released when the game is closer to its release date. For now though you can check the official UK webite and learn all you need to know about the game and it's promotions.

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Man pawns his friend's Xbox 360 while he's away

You can probably file this story in the "This is not your friend," bin. According to press-citizen.com, a man was arrested last week for allegedly pawning (not pwning) his roomie's Xbox 360 while his buddy was serving time in rehab.

A report filed with the Iowa City Police department stated that the Xbox 360 was pawned at Money and More for $230. The original value of the 360 was $453.59.

After the police questioned the man on the phone, he denied that he ever pawned the 360 but later agreed to turn himself in and plead not guilty. The charges, if they stick, would be considered forth-degree theft, which is a misdemeanor and punishable by up to a year in prison.

The accused man was convicted of prior fifth-degree theft incident in 2001.

Moral of story? The Xbox 360--don't leave home witho...

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June 9th WiiWare/Virtual Console releases

Another Monday, another round of WiiWare and Virtual Console updates.

Whether Nintendo adds one game, ten games, or none at all, GamerNode will be here every Monday with the official details - titles, platforms, ratings, pricing, and even a taste of some corny marketing copy - keeping you up to date with everything from the online Wii scene.

Without further ado, the games:

My Pokémon Ranch (Nintendo, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone-Comic Mischief, 1,000 Wii Points): The Pokémon phenomenon debuts on WiiWare with My Pokémon Ranch, a game that lets you watch as Pokémon and Miis interact with each other for the first time. Enjoy the relaxing ranch life by viewing your ranch and its Pokémon, taking pictures and sending those pictures to your friends via the Wii Message Board. The more Pokémon ...

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Daily Q: What's the longest you've played at once...

It seems that some video games are timeless, and by that I mean in more ways than one. There is the facet of a timeless game being so fun and involving that it continues to survive and be talked about even long after it has arrived on the scene.

These games aren't always necessarily big sellers but they remain in the hearts of video gamers everywhere.

The other timeless aspect of these games is the effect they have on us while playing them--time literally stands still. What you though was only the passing of an hour or two suddenly turns into five, and five suddenly turns into eight.

For me, Final Fantasy X was such a game. When it first came out, I held off on playing it because I knew I would have to devote a good chunk of time. I waited till it was Christmas break and I cracked open the s...

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OWR: Metal Gear Solid

Welcome to One Word Review, GamerNode's unique take on videogame critique. Every Sunday, we will present a single game, reviewed with but a single word from each of a handful of reviewers.

You may not always find our words in your standard dictionary, but we have faith that you will catch our meaning, nonetheless. Videogames are so often rated, reviewed, and discussed to exhaustion, so while some may call OWR a creative way to be lazy, we call it succinct, sincere...and fun. We love reader input at GN, so be sure to throw your own OWRs in the comments section, too.

Another big-name sequel is on the horizon, and thus, members of the gaming community find themselves thinking about previous entries in the series. This time, it's Metal Gear Solid 4 hitting stores in a few days, so GamerNode has...

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Game or watch: What makes a great game?

Gamers always have differences of opinion. What makes this industry fun (or maybe nightmarish?) is that the fans are incredibly outspoken and passionate enough to wage wars upon one another over their various points of view.

Although we can be broken down into dozens upon dozens of categories, today I would like to focus on two types of gamers who so often fail to see eye to eye. They are a) those who play primarily for the story that games tell, and b) those who seek refined gameplay and challenge. This is not to say that individuals can't represent certain degrees of both styles, but that many find one end of this spectrum to far outweigh the other.

Which side matters most, why do I care, and why is Snake about to cut my FACE off?! Click through to find out:

Game or watch?

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Red Orchestra Weekend Sale: $4.99

Bargain hunter alert! If you are a WW2 buff and a gamer, you'll be glad to hear that Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45 will be sold at a special discounted price on Steam to celebrate the anniversary of D-Day.

The game, normally sold at $19.99 will be reduced to only $4.99. But you'd better hurry as the offer ends on Monday, June 9th.

According to the publisher:

"Red Orchestra places you in the most realistic WWII first-person multi-player combat to date on the PC, allowing the player to fight through some of the most intense combat of the war. You can play as infantry, using a wide range of infantry weapons, or crew one of the many armored combat vehicles available in the game, from half-tracks to the most famous German and Soviet heavy tanks.

Engage the enemy with everything in your arsenal, fr...

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Nintendo says only geeks would want an HDD for Wii...

As many hardcore Wii-ites can attest to, there are only so many virtual console games and game saves that you can squeeze onto a flash memory card.

This proves to be a big pain in the posterior for those Wii owners who keep running out of memory space. Wouldn't it be nice if the Wii had the capacity to allow an external HDD to be used?

Laurent Fischer, Nintendo's marketing manager for Europe, made a statement about the odious situation regarding the Wii's lack of a hard drive and said that only people that were "geeks and otaku" would ever want one.

Well, how's that for real slick marketing technique? Obviously, Fischer comes from a different school of how to sell and make your products more appealing to the consumer--you insult them?

Regardless of Fischer's smooth, polished sytle, it is obvi...

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Jack Thompson walks out during his hearing

The master of immature law tactics and logical fallacies could be in trouble after walking out of a courtroom in the middle of a hearing that could have potentially banned Jack Thompson from practicing law for as long as ten years.

Issued by the Florida Bar, the recommendation would call for Thompson being totally removed from law for a decade. But we all know Jack couldn't take this sitting down! No, he did the sensible thing--he walked right out of the court after saying the judge had no authority over him.

What a great impression that must have left on all within the courtroom! This did nothing to impede the case, as the court simply moved on without him. The Florida Bar handed in their recommendation, and Judge Dava Tunis should have the official decision in by September 2.

Before w...

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Greatest gaming feat ever? Expert Dragonforce 100%...

The following video may very well be the single most amazing demonstration of videogame mastery that I have ever witnessed. YouTube member iamchris4life has posted a video of himself completing Dragonforce's Through the Fire and Flames on expert difficulty in Guitar Hero III to the tune of 100% accuracy and a score of 987,786. After seven-and-a-half minutes of near-impossible perfection, I'd be cursing, too. (That was a language warning, by the way.) Check it out:

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Bioshock to be a trilogy, movie alongside game 3

Take-Two delivered a whole bundle of news to the investment and gaming communities yesterday, part of which was the likelihood of a Bioshock trilogy. Yes, you read right; Bioshock's sequel hasn't even been announced yet, and already Take-Two Director Strauss Zelnick has made mention of a third entry into the franchise.

The subject was raised while talking about the upcoming Bioshock movie. Zelnick told investors, "It's more likely that it would be released coincident with BioShock 3 - that also remains to be seen." He went on answer questions regarding Take-Two's level of creative control in developing the film. He said, "We definitely did structure this deal so that we have no economic exposure or risk... the economic exposure or risk is being borne by... Universal Pictures."

One can only ...

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Fallout 3 Survival Edition announced

When some people want to have an interactive, virtual experience, they venture to the store to buy a videogame. Others, well... Others buy entire suites of game paraphernalia for more than twice the cost of the basic gaming package.

Keeping the modern trend of special and collector's edition videogames intact, Bethesda Softworks and online retailer Amazon.com have announced the Fallout 3 Survival Edition, which in now available for preorder exclusively at Amazon.

This precious little bundle of joy will include the following items, all of which are all part of the previously announced Collector's Edition:

- The Fallout 3 game- 5" Vault Boy Bobblehead: Enjoy your very own Vault Boy with this collector's item direct from Vault-Tec.- 'The Art of Fallout 3' hardcover: This hardcover book features...

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Daily Q: How many games do you play at a time?

I was editing my forum signature today, putting that good old "now playing" list back in there, when I got to thinking that I'm in the middle of a TON of games right now. There are so many, in fact, that it's hard for me to determine which of them even deserve to carry the title of "now playing".

Which brings me to the day's question:

How many games do you play at a time?

By this, I don't mean acting as a one man circus of virtual reality and playing multiple games on multiple screens simulatneously. What I mean is how many games, on average, do you find yourself in the middle of, making active progress? For me it's usually no more than three, but lately it's been closer to twice that number. Honestly, though, I prefer to focus on a single game, finish it to my satisfaction, and then move ...

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Dawn of War 2 gameplay teaser trailer

Oh yes! If you are as huge of a fan of Warhammer 40k as I am, then you are going to love these next 30 seconds of awesome!

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Age of Conan ships over 1 million copies

Funcom's Age of Conan was only just released three weeks ago and it has already shipped over 1 million copies.

"As a result of the tremendous interest from gamers, Age of Conan has for the past few weeks been claiming number one spots on sales charts across the Western world - including the US, Germany, France and the UK"

"Sales data shows that Age of Conan is the biggest MMO launch since World of Warcraft," said Funcom Vice President of Sales and Marketing Morten Larssen. "The numbers are very promising, and we are very proud to be one of the fastest selling PC games ever in a launch month and the biggest simultaneous Europe/US MMO launch in history."

According to Yahoo! Finance, "In the US, Age of Conan has a strong #1 chart position and is now moving past the 500,000 shipped mark. Meanwh...

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Red Alert 3 for the PS3 is pulled from development...

Those of us who are fans of RTS games can fully appreciate how fun the Command and Conquer series have been.

Lots of PS3 gamers were looking forward to the arrival of Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3 for their real-time strategy fix but the latest word from EA is that C&C: RA3 has been demoted and suspended from further development.

EA played it cagey by not saying why the project was put out to pasture but a few guesses from industry watchers point to either insufficient funds for the project or problems with development and getting the finished game out on time. Red Alert would have been the first RTS for the PS3 platform.

But in spite of the bad news for the PS3 crowed, Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3 is still on track for the PC and Xbox 360.

Whether or not the PS3 version will ever be ...

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Crysis Warhead announced

On Monday Crytek announced that they would no longer be making patches for Crysis because of a special surprise they had for us in the very near future. Fast forward two days later and Crytek along with Electronic Arts announced Crysis Warhead, sort of stand alone expansion to the original, this time focusing on one of the other prominent characters, Psycho.

Crysis Warhead is expected to ship in the fall exclusively for the PC. The game is said to run on "a new, enhanced, and optimized version" of CryENGINE 2, the technology that powered the original. Expanding on the story of the original, Warhead follows Sergeant "Psycho" Sykes as he tries to survive the other side of the island during the time of the first game. Said to pack more weapons, new vehicles, and new multiplayer content, the ti...

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MGS4: Cut scenes clarified, install times detailed...

A few days back it spread across the web that Metal Gear Solid 4 had cutscenes which exceeded the ninety-minute mark. While we all love MGS, and would happily sit through these finely crafted game cinematics, some real world complications no doubt would have taken place.

Not knowing when these cutscenes would appear some gamers may have found themselves not being able to enjoy the game when other real-life responsibilities arose. Those fears have since been put to rest by associate producer Ryan Payton. While some are long, none of them come to ninety minutes. His statement has been supported by other reviewers who have played MGS4.

In addition to the reduction of the cutscene length, one new detail revealed is the installation times for the game. Initially an eight minute install is needed...

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