Here's the latest on our Joyswag contest (in partnership with Major Nelson)...

Everyone at Joystiq is going through the hundreds of entires and looking for the one that catches their fancy. We'll have the winner sometime next week. Promise. Great responses!

Joyswag #3 Update originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 19 Jun 2005 11:36:01 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Welcome to the third installment of Joyswag. This time around we have one full year of Xbox Live! and a special Major Nelson headset, built by Plantronics. We've tried this puppy on, and it's a hell of a lot more comfy than the standard Live headsets.

How do you win? Answer the question below (once, people!) and the staff of Joystiq will nominate their favorites. We will then have a spirited, possibly violent, roundtable discussion to vote for the best response from the finalists. So here goes...

What's your favorite multiplayer (online) game of all time, and why?

The contest will end at midnight ET, June 16th.

Joyswag #3 - Xbox Live! headset and free one year subscription originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 12 Jun 2005 11:57:24 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

After all the controversy over the last batch of GTA: Liberty City Stories pics, we present to you some real shots of the game. Unless someone went out of their way to Photoshop a magazine spread. In which case they should be put out of their misery.

The Playstation 2 UK mag has a nice piece on the upcoming megahit. The pics look great, so the eye candy is taken care of. The ability to import your own playlist fulfills a fantasy of many GTA fans. And, finally, yes the missions will be shorter but it looks like there may be more of them. A summary of the highlights can be found in the middle of the page.

Get 'em while they're posted...

[thanks Sean]

Real GTA: Liberty City Stories pics originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 10 Jun 2005 15:07:26 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This may be the next big thing in garden design. Or it could be the next big thing on the front page of your local paper. A Mario fanatic has posted a How-To article titled, "How to Make Your Own Totally Sweet Mario Question Blocks and Put Them Up Around Town." The Question Blocks are pretty snazzy, and should immediately set off Homeland Security alarms around the country, ensuring a place for Power-Ups in the annals of American history.

I think the blocks in the pic above are just a tad bit out of reach.

[thanks Jeff 'Koganuts' Koga]

Power-ups for neighborhood trees originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 10 Jun 2005 11:14:17 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Gamespot will be debuting the Battlefield 2 demo soon. Some rumblings say it will be today, but that hasn't been verified. It sure would be nice to have something new to play this weekend. I've already worn my Fight Night Round 2 disc down to the quick. The Gamespot premiere does NOT make it a Gamespot exclusive, from the looks of it. Mirrors will start popping up all over the place within minutes. Free up that bandwidth and get the trigger finger ready.

Get ready for Battlefield 2 on Gamespot originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 10 Jun 2005 09:28:42 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The E3 Critics Awards were finally announced, and they seem reasonable. Except the Best Hardware. The only never-before-seen console at the show that you could play was the GB Micro. That would have taken it hands down over all the vaporware.

The Killzone nod should get some of us riled up too.

The awards were voted on by members of the gaming press, as well as critics from mainstream outlets like The Washington Post and Rolling Stone. From all the chatter you just knew Best of Show would go to Spore or Zelda...

The full list follows, courtesy of Gamasutra:

Best of Show
Spore (Maxis/EA for PC)

Best Original Game
Spore (Maxis/EA for PC)

Best Hardware/Peripheral
PlayStation 3 (Sony)

Continue reading E3 Game Critics Awards announced

E3 Game Critics Awards announced originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 09 Jun 2005 12:23:35 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Tipster, White Rose Duelist, sent us a link to some painful blogging. Someone over at Netjak was brave enough to give us a blow by blow of Spike's E3 coverage. To say it's embarassing is one way to put it. To say someone should be arrested is the preferred way to put it. Among the choice bits is a scene where Stryker, the host, busts up a room with a sledgehammer. Now that's gaming at its finest! Why do TV shows about games have to include so many stupid people?

Today's painful read: Spike TV does games originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 09 Jun 2005 11:03:25 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The colors are coming fast and furious from The Big N these days. Hot on the heels of the blue Nintendo DS for North America, yamakiyo sends in a link that shows off a red DS. For Japan only, for now. Fine with me. Since there have been a slew of PSP snatchings on the subways of New York recently, it's probably best if I don't carry a red handheld around until the game goons get it out of their system.

The unit will be on shelves 8/8/2005.

Nintendo DS Red originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 09 Jun 2005 09:01:20 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If you've been green with envy over the plethora of Nintendo DSes popping up in Japan, then you can relax a little now. The Big N has announced the color blue is worthy of the North American market. The new version will still cost $149, so no price gouging here for you completists out there. I've got one word for corporate HQ. Black!

U.S. gets another Nintendo DS rev originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 08 Jun 2005 10:22:19 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Word at CVG is that the real Xbox 360 dev kits are finally showing up on developers' desks. The kits are a sign that the 360's final specs are being laid in stone, allowing the magicians/devs to show us what the box can really do. Remember, the demos at E3 were running on G5s, so they were doomed to look current-gen. Will the haters out there eat their words when the genuine (sweet) screenshots start leaking out?

Xbox 360 beta dev kits are here originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 08 Jun 2005 09:25:31 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Once the sales figures for Nintendogs started coming in, you could hear the gears turning faster at Bandai. The makers of Tamagotchi have been planning to bring the license to the DS for awhile, but you can bet they're putting more elbow grease into it now. The first title should come out this September

Tamagotchi to bow on the DS originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 07 Jun 2005 12:03:03 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Tipster, Snizzle, sent in a link to the list of games that will be made available for free download on the Revolution. The 221 titles are a cross-section of gaming history, with Donkey Kong, Mario, Zelda and Metroid all making several appearances. The list only proves one thing - this writer is buying a Revolution when it comes out. My sense is that there will be many others who feel the same way.

Nintendo Revolution's classic titles listed originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 07 Jun 2005 09:21:42 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's never been verified, but word on the street is that MS took a $75-150 hit on every Xbox sold. If an evaluation by Patrick Parr and Martin Cecchetto (of UBS Securities) is true, then they may be ready to keep on keeping on. The analysts' read of the numbers is that each 360 will cost MS around $375. If they sell the device for $299, as is expected by "experts", then a $75 loss may be in the works. Of course, I think they'll pull a "Value" Pack maneuver, and charge $360 out of the gate. That would ensure minimum loss on the first million or so units. That's what I would do if I ran a multi-billion dollar company, instead of selling my comic collection on eBay.

Microsoft ready to eat it on the Xbox 360 too? originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 06 Jun 2005 10:38:18 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Xbox 360 faceplate seems like a good idea, in general. I haven't seen the much-expected Spider-Man skin yet, but it'll be on my buy list. The mugs on the other side of the "Read" link range from sleek (Aluminum) to embarassing (Pink Balloon). It's surprising we haven't seen a Halo faceplate yet (have we?) or heard mention of a blank faceplate (for us doodlers). The Team Xbox piece points you to a survey where you can vote for your favorite. Don't vote for Pink Balloon, even in jest.

Xbox 360 mug shots originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 06 Jun 2005 09:29:23 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If the anti-gaming forces don't like GTA: San Andreas for the PS2, we'll go ahead and guess they won't like it for the PC and Xbox either. The controversial title is expanding its reach this week, no doubt getting the lion's share of enthusiasm. Other highlights include Medal of Honor: European Assault and Juiced!

PC
    Area 51
    Battle of Britain II: Wings of Victory
    Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
    Juiced!

Continue reading The week in preview won't make a lot of parents happy

The week in preview won't make a lot of parents happy originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 06 Jun 2005 07:12:32 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 We just got a tip from SINYAKUZA:

A friend of mine has an FTP server that he lets me and a bunch of people use. Theres tons of stuff on there, and I happened to come across these. No telling if theyre real, and if they are, where he got them. I just put them up on photobucket just in case they are...you never know. Anyways here are the links:

link 1
link 2
link 3
link 4
link 5
link 6

Judging by the text in the first one, it appears to be some sort of beta. Like I said, I dunno if they were real, and I have nothing to do with them...

Look real enough to us. The multiplayer screen is most intriguing. Most intriguing...

GTA: Liberty City Stories for the PSP pics leaked? originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 04 Jun 2005 17:38:08 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

What more needs to be said? Luke and Vader console-ified. They do look like they'd stack nicely. Thanks Drew!

Father and son side by side - Xbox and Xbox 360 comparison originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 03 Jun 2005 15:50:44 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Wow. Good move. When we spoke with Nintendo about the price of their classic "emulated" games on the Revolution, they were coy and left the pricing up to our imaginations. I assumed they'd follow the GBA model - 10-12 bucks for a classic would be fair. But George Harrison of Nintendo just sprung a surprise. Classic Nintendo titles will be free. Buy the console, take it home, plug it in and start playing your old faves. They'll have to be careful not to offer too much out of the gate. After all, you want people to spend money on the software. But as far as exciting services to offer with their new hardware, it's hard to come up with a better idea.

[thanks Dom!]

Nintendo Revolution's classic Nintendo games will be free originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 03 Jun 2005 14:48:36 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Nintendogs is the killer app Nintendo was looking for. Ever since the game's release, sales of the DS have skyrocketed in Japan. The DS outsold both the PSP and the PS2 last week. It just goes to show you, it's still all about the games. North America will be able to train their pooch in August. Don't forget to take care of your real pet!

Nintendo DS kicking Sony's butt in Japan originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 03 Jun 2005 12:09:16 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If you've been sucked into the widget craze, I feel for you. I was so lost in high-rez, bouncing icons that I actually couldn't find certain widgets on my screen. I had to pull the plug completely to save myself from madness. Now I just have the dictionary and weather neatly placed in the upper right corner. If you want another useless (but fun) widget, you can get the Xbox 360 countdown clock. The release date is based on the Mountain Dew promotion, so expect it to be updated when the real release date is revealed.

Xbox 360 widget to remind you when it probably won't launch originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 03 Jun 2005 11:02:14 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Nvidia, wisely, waited for the E3 mania to die down a bit before announcing their next gen tech. June 21st, in San Francisco, the chip designer will unveil the new series amidst case mod contests and Battlefield 2 demos. The company has claimed the chipset will be similar to the one being used in the Playstation 3, so expect to get a better idea of what the Sony console is capable of. If they show something like Killzone 2 in real-time, then some of us may eat our words. Happily.

Nvidia getting ready to strut its stuff originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 03 Jun 2005 09:58:01 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I hope you don't mind starting the morning with some good, old fashioned self analysis, but I just read a post that touches on something interesting. At least to me. A. Jacobson writes about game blogs in his own (great) game blog, render. Riffing from a Herald article, he asks what a lot of us around here are pondering - do bloggers have any influence on the game industry?

The short answer is, not much. The longer answer is, not as as much as they will. Soon.

Continue reading If a game blog fell in the forest would anyone listen?

If a game blog fell in the forest would anyone listen? originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 03 Jun 2005 09:02:03 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Reports are starting to come out that Sony wants to offer a cheaper, non-"Value" Pack version of their hit portable. The 250 is a bit on the steep side, as everyone found out when the device didn't sell out within days of launch, as was expected. The new price is much more reasonable, though buyers will have to live without a case and a Spider-Man 2 UMD. Hey, you can spend the extra 50 bucks to buy a cheap case and an actual game.

[thanks Anuj]

Sony PSP for 200 bucks? originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 02 Jun 2005 15:42:20 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

According to the UN's own news service, their recently released video game, Food Force, is soaring. The site claims that over a million people worldwide have downloaded the game. That's an impressive number, especially considering it's only been out for six weeks. The title is meant to be an educational product, where kids can negotiate their way through rebel blockades of humanitarian supplies and rebuild devastated areas.

UN game appears to be a success originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 02 Jun 2005 10:37:46 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If you've been pining for some high-resolution shots of Xbox 360 accessories for desktop wallpaper then you should get help. Then head on over to Team Xbox where they have some shiny pics of the camera, headset,memory card and remote. I'll admit the remote is a nice piece of hardware. If it's programmable it could be the only one I use.

The site also has a good run-down of the devices' features. I don't know about you, but the original list of Xbox 360 features was a bit overwhelming. They say there were 360 bullet points, but I didn't count. It's nice to see things summed up nice and easy.

Xbox 360 peripherals get their close up originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 02 Jun 2005 09:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Battlefield 2 is about to blow us away. The game has gone gold, and is expected to be on shelves in late June. The official shipping date is June 21. The online war game has looked really impressive for a while now, and continued to wow us at E3 this year.

According to VE3D, Gamespot will have the exclusive demo on June 10th.

Battlefield 2 golden originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 02 Jun 2005 07:45:21 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Well, this is a nice treat to wake up to. According to Gamespot, Halo 3 is on pre-sale at Gamestop. The retailer has the 360 title listed for a June, 2006 release at 60 bucks. They also list DOA VolleyBall 2, Theseis, Metronome, and [eM] for the 360 (11/01 release dates and 60 bucks each).

The pic above is from Halo 2.

Halo 3 on pre-sale originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 02 Jun 2005 07:04:25 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

...Sorry, the term "Crossfire" has been forever sullied by that crappy CNN show.

Or not.

Perhaps my psyche will give "Crossfire" a second chance, if the ATI silicon is sweet enough. ATI just announced a new tech that will allow you to get ATI SLI ASAP. All you need is an ATI video card, an ATI Crossfire Edition video card and an ATI Crossfire motherboard, and you'll be set to go! That's only around a thousand bucks...

According to Gamespot...

"The CrossFire Edition card contains a chip called the "Composition Engine," which receives data from a regular Radeon X800 class video card via a DVI input. The chip then merges the data and sends out the final output to your monitor."

Great idea. But is this whole SLI thing really worth the cash outlay? Hey, if you can afford it, great. But should even the hardest core fall for two cards in one rig, especially when the odds are that a single card solution will probably kick the dual-card's fanny within a year (if not sooner)? Yes, the generational leaps between cards are not as pronounced as they once were, but they're still fast and furious. I'd think twice before jumping into this fad, as tempting as it may be. 

ATI's Crossfire doesn't utilize Tucker Carlson's radiant smile... originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 01 Jun 2005 13:05:30 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

We mentioned the big, glossy coverage of E3 yesterday. Today we want to highlight one of the little guys. Actually it was just two people, a camera and a good attitude. You definitely need one of those for E3.

Their impressions are fun to read, adding a personal touch to the impersonal expo. A good read, and a great way to say goodbye to E3 2005 (at least until this evening).

[via Metafilter]

E3 from the little guy's POV originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 01 Jun 2005 10:04:46 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

4 color rebellion has some hands-on tidbits for Bomberman DS, the upcoming title from Hudson Soft. The general sense of it is that you can safely get your hopes up.

Some outstanding elements include voice activated activities ("BOMB!") and a full list of all the items (28 in all).

Purchasing this one will bring my library of DS games up to 3. Boffo on the quality, slow but steady on the quantity...

Bomberman DS impressions originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 01 Jun 2005 09:18:35 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If you've been waiting for the flood of PSP media outlets to start, stop waiting. It's coming. PSPDrive is the latest site to offer PSP downloads for those who don't want to, uh, play games on it. You get film trailers, comics, strategy guides and podcasts, among others.

PSPDrive provides multimedia content for your PSP originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 01 Jun 2005 06:54:24 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Is this the look of the cover that will read "$59.99" come November of 2005? No, FFXI isn't coming out in November, but this is a possible sample of what the box design will be. It's certainly elegant in its simplicity. Nice logo, unobtrusive.

An anonymous source sent it in, so factor that into your opinion...

Xbox 360 game box design revealed? originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 31 May 2005 20:48:20 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Saurabh Agarwal sends good tips. Here's an example - a first hand account of what the EBGames folks know about the 360. Whether these tidbits are "final" or not is another question. Saurabh writes...

I was just at my local EBGames store here in Pittsburgh, PA, and the guy at the counter showed me this print out he just got with all the release titles, dates, and prices for the games for the XBOX360!!!

The majority of the games are slated for release on 11/02/2005 with a few on the sheet slated for within a week after.

The games included FIFA 2006, Tiger Woods, and many others (did not see a Halo though...which leads me to suspect it will come out when PS3 comes out).

Games were priced at $59.99.

Joystiq reader gets a peek at a next-gen invoice - Xbox 360 games available 11/02/05, 60 bucks originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 31 May 2005 18:45:51 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If you're itching to get a good look at the new Nintendo World storefront in New York City, check this out. RedAssedBaboon has a little tour, with pics, and impressions of the shop's first week. All in all they liked what they saw, though the place seemed a little sparse in some areas. I look forward to heading there myself this weekend. They'd better have downloadable DS content or I'm calling the manager to the mat.

[via 4ColorRebellion]

Nintendo World store impressions originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 31 May 2005 13:00:09 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I love marketing terms. They spring forth from millions of dollars in pysch-research, so I have to assume they have some truth to them - but only enough truth to reveal that we like to buy stuff. Big revelation, there. "Mind share" is a great Bullshit Bingo term (an old faithful at this point) and it's reared its head in the next-gen console wars, mere days after E3.

If IGN's GamerMetrics system is to be believed the PS3 came out of E3 with the lion's share of mind share. I could have told them that for free. They compute the percentage of our collective brain that thinks "PS3" when we think consoles, and the answer is...42. I mean 34. While the Xbox 360 garners 26%.

Hot stuff.

Playstation 3 grabs the "mind share" thingy originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 31 May 2005 12:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Why do we ask? Well, take one look at Sock Master's Video Game Controller Family Tree, and your mind's eye will probably start going over all the controllers you've loved before. Personally, I prefer the Gamecube's feel more than anything else. I'd say the Atari 2600 is my sentimental fave, though I don't miss those damn thumb blisters.

The worst? The original Xbox stick. But it barely beat out the awful Atari 5200 nightmares.

[via digg]

What's the best console controller of all time? originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 31 May 2005 10:45:44 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This is what I would call a challenge. Try to kill your best bud in a Quake 3 Arena deathmatch without breaking a sweat. France Cadet, the French artist who works with gadgets, has made a three-person Arena rig with a Sweet Pad. The Sweet Pad is a USB controller that requires a gentle touch to use. If you get too twitchy you'll lose control, and probably lose the match to a cooler hand. I'm not sure this would be fun for more than a few minutes, but it's intriguing. We all hit that groove once in awhile during a deathmatch; but what if you had to be in that groove from the moment you sat down at the monitor?

Talk about performance anxiety.

The Zen of killing originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 31 May 2005 09:27:38 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Wireless Weblog sniffed out a good gaming story this weekend. ConQwest's "Big Game" of 2005, in Portland, Oregon was a chance for hundreds of people to converge in one place, with cell phones in hand. The point of the party was to to roam the area and find "cellphone-readable" pictures. The team with the most pics/points at the end of the event won $5000 for their school. It's a simple test of the Big Game genre, but you can be sure we'll see plenty of this kind of activity in the coming years.

Who will be the first Will Wright of Big Games?

Big Games keep on catching on originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 31 May 2005 09:02:20 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Now that the coverage/spin on E3 is dead and buried, it's time for the sites to start pulling out the "Best Of..." lists. Here's what we've enjoyed so far:

Gamespot
IGN
Gamespy
XPlay
1Up
Punch Jump

The "Best of Show" awards include Zelda and Spore. Predictable. Sure, the games were familiar - but they did look fresh on those bigger screens.

Best of E3 round-ups originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 31 May 2005 05:30:48 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The latest hue to hit the Nintendo DS is pink, with hints of Pokemon. The unit will have faint watermarks of rare Pokemon characters prancing around, making it a must-have for kids all over the world. Okay, and adults.

The new DS was unveiled at the Nintendo Store in Japan, and will go on pre-order in June. Anyone see it at the new Manhattan location?

Nintendo DS gets another skin originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 30 May 2005 16:50:50 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.