In The News (6/10-6/16)

GTA IV Episodic Content Exclusive to 360
    GTA IV is probably going to be the biggest selling game this holiday season, especially since it's being released from day one on both PS3 and XBOX 360. Many gamers have wondered which will be crowned the superior of the two, with the PS3-loyalists arguing that the lack of a standard hard drive or "next-gen" disc format on the 360 will make the PS3 version superior. Well, it appears that XBOX 360 loyalists have the ammunition they need: GTA IV on 360 is going to have exclusive episodic content.
    Apparently Microsoft paid Rockstar a cool $50 million for two episodic releases, one in March '08, and the other later that year. That's great for 360 gamers, but what incentive can there possibly be now for on-the-fence gamers to side with the PlayStation 3 version? Will they get their own exclusive episodic content or other extras?
    Sony's going to need to pony up the dough if they want GTA IV to help them sell some systems, period. If they leave this unchecked, then Microsoft's small army of AAA exclusives, (Halo 3, Bioshock (for now), Mass Effect, Too Human, Ace Combat 6, etc), and bevy of multi-platform titles, (GTA IV, Blacksite: Area 51, Half-Life 2: Orange Box, Guitar Hero 3, Rock Band, Kane & Lynch, etc), could just overshadow the PS3 this holiday season.

SIXAXIS With Rumble In Development
    Finally. After the messy lawsuit Sony had with Immersion cleared up, everyone predicted that the PS3 would be getting the spring in its step back; even Cory Barlog, director of God of War II, unofficially announced it months prior. But now there are whispers, rumbles if you will, of a new SIXAXIS controller being in development, with added rumble.
    That's excellent news, even if it can't be verified (we'll have to wait until E3 in July for that). Now, two good points that blog points out are how Sony can re-introduce rumble back after declaring it to be not a "next-gen" feature, and the best way for Sony to go about replacing the old SIXAXIS controllers.
    As for the first issue, I think all they need to do is just trot Phil Harrison out there- I remember watching an interview between 1UP.com's former news editor Luke Smith and Sony's Phil Harrison where Luke asked specifically about that. Phil smiled smugly and replied with something to the effect of "well what did you expect us to say?" Marvelously put.
    And for the latter issue, that blog outlined their plan, where they would pull the old SIXAXIS controllers from shelves and offer consumers a free upgrade. While I completely agree with the first sentiment, and appreciate the second from a purely consumer's point-of-view, that could get extremely costly for Sony, who already went through something similar with laptop batteries. Charging consumers $10 a pop to upgrade would be more reasonable.

XBOX 360 vs. PS3 Graphics Comparison Round 2
    One of the reasons why I've been gravitating away from GameSpot and towards 1UP.com over the years is that 1UP.com doesn't do stupid stuff like that. GameSpot is obviously just trying to stir up some controversy by sicking the 360 and PS3 fanboys on one another.
    First of all, these games aren't going to push either platform all that much- they're multi-platform, after all. The real test is between games that have been built from the ground up for their respective console.
    Second, the XBOX 360 is on its second-generation of games. It's been out for a year and a half now, whereas the PS3 only has half a year under its belt and was only released very recently in Europe and Korea. So the fact that the PS3's graphics look almost as good or better than the 360's graphics is a testament to the system, no thanks to the increasingly irrelevant GameSpot.
    Finally, who honestly cares? Do you buy a system because the games look marginally better on that system? No, of course not; you buy a system for the exclusives. This comparison is completely moot since these games have to be compared frame-by-frame (and sometimes zoomed in) just so you can pick out the most minute little differences.
    Again, who cares?

WEEKLY SAMPLER: Halo DS? / Wii = XBOX / L.A. Noire PS3 Only / Guile HD Remix