The Xbox 360 has come under criticism for its high hardware failure rate. Microsoft has said its around the industry average of 3-5%. However, other unconfirmed sources have put the figure closer to to 30%. Microsoft does acknowledge the consoles had a higher failure rate when first launched.

No matter who’s numbers you accept, you have to give kudos to Microsoft for taking a billion dollar hit to make things right. Effective July 5th, all Xbox 360 warranties have been extended to 3 years. Including repairs already made!

In late 2006, Microsoft extended the warranty of all Xbox 360 consoles to one year, up from 90-days. For gamers who were out of warranty, a replacement or repair would cost about $140.

There have been at least 21 tries before to make a successful video game based on the hit Simpsons TV show. All have flopped. The Simpsons Game is now under development by EA and will release for the PS2, PSP, PS3, Nintendo DS, Wii and the Xbox 360 in the fall of 2007.

So what’s different this time? Scot Amos, Executive Producer, The Simpsons Game says,

Our goal in developing THE SIMPSONS GAME is to create the most original game ever, which is a lofty goal and only possible given the close collaboration with ‘The Simpsons’ creative team. We’re also especially proud of the game’s warm visual feel, which captures - for the first time ever in a game - the look of the TV show.

Powerhouse EA badly needs an original hit. It’s also getting great support from the TV show cast and crew. All the characters voices will be represented, and the writers contributed over 8,000 lines of dialogue for the games 16 “episodes”.

The plot of the game is not based on the upcoming Simpsons movie, but instead revolves around the Simpson family finding that without its advanced knowledge or consent, it has become the basis of a new video game.

‘Simpsons’ game leads EA summer preview [ZDNet]

As if dismal PlayStation3 sales weren’t bad enough, Sony recently threw a party in Greece to celebrate the launch of a new Playstation2 title, God of War II. According to reports, this party featured topless women feeding grapes to people in the crowd, and a beheaded goat. While Sony claims the goat was from a local butcher, and returned after the party, it has animal rights activists up in arms.

In addition to the beheaded goat, participants were also invited to dine on goat entrails, and contents of the goat’s stomach, in a reality game show like atmosphere. Sony later explained it was actually a meat soup provided by a local caterer.

Sony has launched an internal investigation, the company said in a statement.

“The goat was returned to the butcher,” Sony said. “On this occasion we recognize that we fell short of our normal high standards of conduct.”

Sony offers goat sacrifice to ‘God of War’ [NewsBlog]

In a bit of investigative journalism, I have recently taken it upon myself to answer the question of, “where have all the 20 gig Playstation 3 models gone?” In a rather silent disappearance, it seems that the 20 gig version of Sony’s new console has gone missing as of late. So where could they be?

To start off, I contacted local stores in my area as to inquire about the availability of the 60 gig’s little sister. Naturally, the response I received was universally negative. There was not a 20 gig model to be found. However, upon dialing up one store in my area, I stumbled upon a piece of information that was quite shocking. It seems that one of the nation’s larger consumer electronics stores were listing the smaller console as “Discontinued” in their inventory system. That’s right; discontinued.

View: Full Story @ gamedrift.com

Playing video games can satisfy deep psychological needs and, at least in the short term, improve people’s well-being, new research shows.

The more a game fulfilled a player’s sense of independence, achievement and connectedness to others, the more likely he or she was to keep playing, Dr. Scott Rigby of Immersyve, a Florida-based virtual environment think tank, and colleagues from the University of Rochester in New York found. And the more fully a player’s needs were satisfied, the better he felt after playing.

“We think this is really one of the first validated models of what is going on psychologically when people are playing video games,” Rigby told Reuters Health in an interview. To date, he noted, research on video games has focused on their potentially harmful effects, such as promoting social isolation, addiction, and violence.

View: Full Story @ Scientific American

More than half of a group of surveyed stores had Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 3 in stock, while Nintendo Co. Ltd.’s new Wii was sold out, an analyst said on Tuesday in a report signaling demand for the market leader’s new console may be soft.

“Our channel checks yesterday of 52 retail stores, from boutiques to big-box retailers, showed that 28 of the 52 stores had PS3 consoles in stock, while none had Wii consoles in stock,” American Technology Research analyst Paul-Jon McNealy said in the research note.

He added that those stores with PS3s in stock typically had units numbering in the low single digits, with only one major retailer having 60-plus machines in stock.

View: Full Story Via: Reuters

Preliminary autopsy findings concluded a Rancho Cordova woman who competed in a radio station water-drinking contest before she was found dead Friday showed signs consistant with water intoxication, Sacramento County Coroner’s Office authorities said Saturday.

The results of a preliminary investigation released Saturday showed evidence “consistent with a water intoxication death” in the death of 28-year-old Jennifer Strange, Sacramento County assistant coroner Ed Smith said.

Smith said the autopsy found no traces of “life threatening medical conditions” that would have otherwise explained Strange’s sudden death.

View: Full Story Via: news10.net

Currently, the population of Earth is estimated to be 6.7 billion people. As of this week, roughly 0.1 percent of the sum of modern humanity plays World of Warcraft.

On Thursday, Blizzard Entertainment announced that more than 8 million people subscribe to the massive massively multiplayer online role-playing game, setting a new milestone for the title more than two years after its fall 2004 release.

As it is with the real-world population, Chinese subscribers are the largest demographic in Azeroth, totaling 3.5 million players, Blizzard said. Next up is North America, with 2 million players, followed by Europe, with 1.5 million–the remainder of subscribers are in other territories. Subscription rates vary by region, but U.S. players pay $14.95 each month to play WoW after doling out the suggested retail price for the game, which has been lowered to $19.99.

View: Full Story Via: c|net

A self-replicating worm Linden Labs dubbed “grey goo” overtook online game Second Life Sunday, forcing the game’s owners to block all logins but their own for about half an hour. According to comments on the company’s blog, the worm planted spinning gold rings in the world. Perhaps a Pavlovian response by fans of Sega’s old Sonic the Hedgehog game, or an indication of the general curious nature of people playing Second Life, players willingly interacted with the objects, spreading the worm even further. As the worm spread, players reported serious lag in the game.

News source: Security Blog

Microsoft Corp. will unlock the digital-distribution capabilities of its next-generation console, Xbox 360, to Hollywood studios beginning November 22.

Xbox 360 gamers in the U.S., totaling at least 3 million, will be able to purchase TV shows and download them to their gaming hard drive as well as rent and watch movies on their consoles.

The first wave of content will include dozens of high-definition and standard-definition offerings from such partners as Warner Bros. (”Batman Forever,” “V for Vendetta,” “The Nine”), Paramount Pictures (”Nacho Libre,” “Jackass: The Movie”), MTV Networks (”South Park,” “SpongeBob SquarePants”), CBS (”CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” “Survivor”) and Turner Broadcasting (”Aqua Teen Hunger Force,” “Robot Chicken”).

View: Full Story
News source: Washington Post