Sony to challenge court ordered block on PS2 sales

Sony ordered to pay $90 million, halt game sales (from CNET News.com)

http://news.com.com/Sony+to+challenge+block+on+PS2+sales/2100-1047-5641924.html

Easy way to get videos onto the PSP

You can put MPEG2, MPEG4 and even AVI video on the PSP using PSP Video 9. This little utility does a great job of migrating movies you already own to Sony's new convergent media device.

http://www.pspvideo9.com/

New Halo2 Maps Announced.

The maps were officially anounced by a press release from Mcirosoft.

Looks like we will be getting 4 maps at end of next month (April), 2 of which are free and the other two we will have to pay to download over xbox live. The map names for the image above (from left to right) are Sanctuary, Turf, Warlock, and Containment. Note that Warlock is a re-adaptation of Wizard from Halo 1. There is no re-adaptation of Hangem High, Frankie on bungie.net said that they tried it, but it was not as playable due to the new halo 2 weapon mechanics.

Read more details by Frankie at this link:

http://bungie.net/News/TopStory.aspx?story=maptacular&p=2747963

-- amr

PSP is out and it rocks !

I just tried this cute little thing, a friend of mine at work (Andy Volk) just bought it (I did not buy it yet). Its actually not very little, the form factor is larger than to fit in a back pocket, but possible in a front pocket. However, the resolution/graphics are simply amazing. The CPU/GPU on this thing are actually stronger than the PS2, and given resolution on that screen is a bit smaller than TV, you would indeed expect the frame rates to be super smooth, and they are. It accepts flash memory sticks (upto 2GB), and has USB, Wireless, and Infrared connectors.

I love this baby, but still at $250 its a bit high to justify, I might get it in xmas if prices go down a bit, but then Xbox3 will be out :) so not really sure.

-- amr

The Next Generation Video Consoles (PS3)

ps3
Originally uploaded by awadallah.

http://news.com.com/2102-1043_3-5593290.html?tag=st.util.print

The Next Generation Video Consoles (Xbox2)

xbox2
Originally uploaded by awadallah.

http://news.com.com/2102-1043_3-5593290.html?tag=st.util.print

The Matrix Online Launches ....

http://thematrixonline.warnerbros.com/newsletter/MxO_newsletter_031805.html

The Matrix Online preorder launch began Saturday, March 19th at noon PST and the official game launch began Tuesday, March 22nd.


screenshot_33

Bungie very close from releasing Halo 2 Expansion Pack.

http://bungie.net/News/TopStory.aspx?story=weeklywhatsmar18&p=2645901

The Expansion Pack is rumored to cost around $19.99, however, those on xbox live can download it for free.

The pack will include nine new maps and many fixes for the glitches in the game, for example:

1. Split Screen Enhancement

The Autoupdate removes trivial pop-up messages (like ammo pick up, for example) that have cluttered split screens. Important messages will continue to display as before.

2. Geometry Glitches

Fixes for Flag Bouncing (in colossus) , and Grab Through Wall for flag/bomb/skill in many maps.

3. Cheat Bug Fixes

Fixes for Elite Hog Ghosting Trick, Sword Flying (from hog or using rocket/sniper), Ghost Dropped Weapon, Teleport-Pinging on Beaver Creek, Shooting Broken Turrets, and finally Red Team will no longer get a win in case of tie.

4. Clan Matches

Easier to match even when conditions are less than ideal.

5. Standby Fix

Several fixes to help alleviate this problem and make it less worthwhile to cheaters.

3D Realms' Duke Nukem Forever might be Da Bomb ...

Now in its seventh year of development, may actually have been worth the wait. Game Industry reports that physics engine for it is eye-opening and may even give results better than those seen in Half-Life 2. In a short real-time demo, a room is almost completely demolished using a weapon that fires tennis-ball sized projectiles," Game Industry explains. "In the first section of the demo, glass panels shatter realistically and fragile boxes full of objects suspended from the ceiling are smashed, leaving jagged corners hanging on ropes while the contents smash to the floor. ... Most impressively of all, was a completely interactive piece of cloth suspended between poles - which billows and stretches when it's shot, and can even be filled with balls like a hammock. Amazing.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=7322

NVIDIA is offering 3,000 Free Passes to the Summer CPL Event

The Cyberathlete Professional League is pleased to annouce that NVIDIA is offering 3,000 Free Passes to the Summer CPL Event - Grab a free pass here:

https://www.thecpl.com/register/?page=freepass&eventid=9

-- amr

PS: I plan to be there for the Halo 2 event, possibly competing too.

Sony's PSP is way more than a portable gaming device.

You will be able to view movies, chat with others, control your TV, and much more ....

http://news.com.com/2102-1041_3-5626017.html?tag=st.util.print

Halo 2 and Havoc Engine.

Frankie from Bungie.net writes about how Halo 2 uses the Havoc Physcis Engine:

http://bungie.net/News/TopStory.aspx?story=havokhalo2feature&p=2480772

-- amr

You gotta try Garry's mod for Half-Life 2

If you did not try Garry's mod yet, you absolutely must try it, you can get it from:

http://www.garry.tv/garrysmod/

Its amazing the number of things you can create, I spent the whole last weekend with my son building new inventions, you can really just build new machines and the physics just works, amazing. Our best invention was a space shuttle with thrusters on every side, we can control the thrusters with the number pad, we then jumped in and flew together (you can have more than one person in the same world, and can play it online too). Our stupidest invention was a car made out of a human, we split his/her hands and legs open, put wheels at the end of them, and stuck a thruster in the butt, it was hilarious ;)