PS3 storms Japan; Xbox Live to offer movies, TV

Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Nov 16, 2006 by Lou Kesten Associated Press

News from the virtual world:

-- VANISHING ACT: The PlayStation 3 arrives in America this Friday -- but if last week's Japanese launch was any indicator, thousands of U.S. gamers will be going home empty-handed. At Tokyo's Bic Camera, throngs began assembling hours before the store opened at 7 a.m. Saturday, and things got so hectic that megaphone- wielding clerks had to warn the crowd that sales would be cut off if anyone got injured. With only 100,000 PS3s allotted to Japan, many stores reported they were sold out before they could even open. Ken Kutaragi, the head of Sony's game division, visited the crowd at Bic and said, "I am so happy so many people are waiting." He should cross the Pacific and visit Burbank, Calif., where some diehards began camping out at a Best Buy more than a week early. Sony crowed about the stories of way-early lines, but the Kotaku Web site reported that Best Buy eventually shooed the campers away, announcing, "We do not allow lines to form prior to the day before a release." We'll see you all Thursday night.

-- PSYCHOTIC WII ACTION: The Wii isn't likely to cause as much of a frenzy when it arrives Sunday, mainly because there will be a lot more units available, although Nintendo is expected to sell out its initial shipment. In one sign of the enthusiasm for the Wii, GameStop, the largest U.S. game retailer, found a way to sell pre- orders of the $250 console for $700. The bundle included six games, an extra controller and some other junk, but that huge markup set some teeth on edge. Naturally, the bundle sold out minutes after GameStop's Web site began offering it last Thursday.

-- MICROSOFT MOVIE MOMENTS: With shortages of the new consoles likely through the Christmas season, disgruntled gamers (or their parents) may be taking a fresh look at the Xbox 360. Microsoft is giving its year-old machine a pre-holiday push, unleashing two of its most widely anticipated games: "Viva Pinata" (for the kids) and "Gears of War" (for the grownups). Microsoft is also building on the 360's most well-regarded feature, the Xbox Live online service, by offering movies and TV shows for downloading starting Nov. 22. So far the offerings are limited -- some "South Park" episodes, "CSI," and action movies like "V for Vendetta" and "Mission: Impossible III" -- but Microsoft said about 1,000 hours of material will be available by the end of the year. You will need the $400 Xbox 360 (the one with the hard drive) to download video, which led Sony to accuse Microsoft of neglecting buyers of its $300 Core system. "We would never segregate or shut out any of our consumers from our entertainment experience because they didn't buy the top of the line system," said Sony spokesman Dave Karraker. Of course, the less expensive version of the PS3 is going for $500.

-- GOLDEN SPIKE: Against all odds, Spike TV's Video Game Awards are back for a fourth go-round, and Samuel L. Jackson -- fresh off his triumph over those blankety-blank snakes on that blankety-blank plane -- is returning as host. The VGAs may be less embarrassing than they have been in past years, if only because the nominated games are so good. It's hard to argue with game of the year nominees "The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion," "Okami," "Gears of War," "Guitar Hero II" and "Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter," every one a gem. But where are the PS3 and Wii games? Well, Spike's cutoff date was Nov. 7, but the network set up a "critic's choice" category for later releases (since only critics would have had a chance to play them). Those nominees include the Wii's "The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess" and "Wii Sports" and the PS3's "Resistance: Fall of Man," along with the multiplatform "Rainbow Six: Vegas" and the PC-only "Medieval II: Total War." The show will be taped Dec. 8 and aired Dec. 13; you can vote on every category except critic's choice at www.spiketv.com/events/vga2006/.