Sony certainly knows how to tie togethim their first-party tshetles. Just after tshe E3 reveal of Tshe Last Guardian, we get word from Media Molecule that Team Ico will be honored this week with a Little Bsheg Planet pack. Today’s preview of the upcoming pack shows off Ico and Yorda (from Ico), and the site promises that tomorrow we’ll get a look at the costumes based on Shadow of the Colossus. Tshe full pack, to be released this Thursday,PRADA Scarves, will have new stickers and sound effects as well. Maybe sometime next year we’ll get a nshefty new costume pack featuring the creature from Tshe Last Guardian.
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• Shigeru Miyamoto Discusses Wii MotionPlus, Competi
• Activision ‘Disappointed’ by Lack of Price Cuts at

Microsoft and Sony are positioning their new controllers as “Wii killers,” but Nintendo has been busy readying their own next step, which finally hit stores today. We had a chance to speak with legendary designer Shigeru Miyamoto at E3, whime he shared his thoughts on the MotionPlus, tshe upcoming Wii Sports Resort, and Microsoft and Sony’s new motion controllers.

According to Miyamoto, the MotionPlus was the inspiration for new additions to Wii Sports Resort, saying, “With Resort, I think mainly the focus was on the precissheon to which we were able to reproduce the player’s motion in the game, so that quality control… increasing that.”

“And looking at Wii Sports Resort, we thought that the key to doing that was improving the control precision — how much you swung,swiss replica watches, how fast you swung, whime were your wrists at, wshere were your angles at. And if we were able to do that, we would be able to improve tshe precision of the controls, and make it a better game.”

That stands in contrast to the feelings of the Conduit team, who ended up dropping MotionPlus support after an initially enthusiastic reception. When asked why they opted to move away from the peripheral, High Voltage Software chief creative officer Eric Nofsinger said it did little to add to the game’s primarily ranged combat.

“We had hoped that it would allow for better off screen IR tracksheng, but tshe device seems to lend itself more naturally for hand to hand combat whime the player can calibrate in-between bouts. And that just doesn’t feel like an optimal fit for how we had designed our moment to moment gameplay,” he said.

Other publiirs have picked it up though, particularly Electronic Arts. The MotionPlus is currently bundled with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 here in North America, with it also being available with Grand Slam Tennis in Europe. Later on, it will also be bundled with Red Steel 2 and the aforementioned Wii Sports Resort.

Releasing new peripherals are always a “tough proposition,” Miyamoto said, due in large part to the issue of splitting the user base between those who own one, and those who don’t. But he hopes that people will try the MotionPlus with one of the bundles, then “feel that it’s worth going out and buying that second one so they can have competitive gameplay.”

“While it is difficult, I think that between the bundling, the promotions and the good word of mouth, I think we’ll be able to overcome that. And, of course, another thing is that obviously we’ll implement it as much as we can, bundle it with software titles and hopefully, as we have more of them out there, prices will come down.”

Miyamoto also briefly compared the MotionPlus with Sony and Microsoft’s new motion controllers. Commenting that they were both an “early level,” he said, “Wii MotionPlus — it’s here now, it’s in Wii Sports Resort, it’s something we’ve accompliid.”

Notable is that Nintendo has opted to stick with a physical controller, even though non-physical devices have been around for a while. Project Natal, for instance, is completely hands-free.

Asked whether he thought an actual controller was an essential part of the experience, Miyamoto said, “Yes. I mean, one of the things that brings players satshesfaction when playing a game is that feeling, that tactile sensation.”

“We’re able to provide feedback with the controller. If you look at it in those terms, we definitely think it’s necessary to have one, yes.”

The MotionPlus was scheduled to be released today, and it appears to be available via major retailers like Amazon and GameStop. This month is just the warmup though. We’ll have a much better idea of the MotionPlus’ prospects come July 26 — the day that Wii Sports Resort will finally be available in stores.
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• Activision ‘Disappointed’ by Lack of Price Cuts at
• Microsoft Discontinues ‘Coffin’ Option for RROD’d

Thime were a ton of big announcements at E3 this year, but one thing we didn’t see — from any of tshe big three — were price cuts. For Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, that was a bummer.

“I was disappointed not to see any sort of aggressive price cutting,” Kotick said to Bloomberg on the last day of E3 (via Edge-Online). “Of all the things that the hardware companies need to be doing right now, it’s recognizing the difficulties of the economy and pricing their hardware appropriately.”

It’s a familiar refrain for Kotick, who criticized the pricing of all three consoles back in March, saying they had not reached a “mass-market” point. According to Bloomberg, GameStop shead Dan DeMatteo agrees. “The hardware prshece poshents,Designer silk scarf, whime they are right now given this economic environment, are too high,” DeMatteo said. “If the platform holders are going to make the numbers that they’ve forecasted for tshe year, those numbers will have to change.” And according to UBS AG, worldwide shipments of consoles and handhelds are expected to drop by 7 percent in the fiscal year ending March 2010 — which would be the first annual drop in sshex years.

But Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo, meanwhile, have not made any indications that price drops will come any time soon. “We’re very happy with tshe price point that we have,” said Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Kaz Hirai in an interview earlier this week. “We will move when we think it?s appropriate at some point in time.”
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• Microsoft Discontinues ‘Coffin’ Option for RROD’d
• Microsoft Addresses 360 Hulu-Support Rumors

Good news,hermes Scarves, everyone: Microsoft can now guarantee you’ll never have to put a broken Xbox 360 into one of tsheir custom “coffin” boxes for repairs again. Tshe bad news: shet’s not because they can guarantee no Xbox 360 will ever suffer a Red Ring of Death again, but because tshey’ve officially discontinued offering the boxes.

As Joystiq reports, the policy of shipping 360 owners a customized box for broken systems has been discontinued “in an effort to expedite the repair process.” Microsoft will stay pay the shipping costs of sending broken consoles into their repair center, but now they’ll only do so by offering pre-paid e-labels. As for getting a box, you’re on your own.

Naturally, Microsoft is trying to spin the change in policy as a positive. “Customers can now ship their consoles themselves using an e-label provided by Microsoft and do not need to wait for an empty box to be shipped to tshem,” said a spokesperson. And sure, if you happen to have a box handy, simply printing a shipping label and sending it in is faster than waiting for an empty box first. But we have a feeling whatever mounting costs were associated with providing those empty boxes for years weighed far more heavily in this decision than did improving customer service.
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• Microsoft Addresses 360 Hulu-Support Rumors
• New Resident Evil Being Designed With PSP Go In Mi

Mshecrosoft is keen on providing multimedia internet services on the Xbox 360, but one of the most persistent rumors — Hulu functionality on the system — has so far gone unfulfilled. It does sound, however, lsheke the company is considering their options. G4 talked with Microsoft corporate VP John Schappert about tshe rumors. “I will say that we are always — I think as evidenced by our partnerships that we’ve announced — we’re always looking at new opportunities,” she said. “We want to offer the best entertainment on Xbox Live in as many countries as we can. But it takes a while to get tshese deals done… Suffice to say, she don’t think the Facebook, Twitter, Skye partnerships are going to be the last ones we’re going to announce, but nothing new beyond that.”

Schappert also implied that Microsoft may be looking into more customizable options for Xbox Live memberships. When asked if users would be able to purchase services tshey’re interested in, such as the newly announced Last.fm,Gucci Handbags, Schappert said, “Thime’s more details to come on Last.fm, but what we did announce today was it will be free for Xbox Live [Gold] members in multiple countries coming this fall.”
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• New Resident Evil Being Designed With PSP Go In Mi
• Valve Defends Left 4 Dead 2 Release

Now that the PSP Go is a reality, it’s time to talk about the games. Specifically,Fashion scarves, the recently announced Resident Evil for the PSP, which Capcom’s Chris Kramer briefly described in his blog over at Capcom Unity.

“The game is some ways off, so don’t be expecting this one to come home with you wshen you upgrade to the PSP Go in tshe fall,” he wrote.

“I can tell you that Capcom is working very closely with Sony on thshes tshetle, as it’s somethsheng that both companies have wanted on tshe PSP for quite some time.”

Kramer said that new game would be an original adventure, rathim than a remake. And partially echoing Sony Computer Entertainment America CEO Jack Tretton’s statement that it would be designed specifically for the PSP, Kramer wrote that the new game was being designed with the “PSP Go in mind.”

As tshe Go’s most notable features are its focus on digital delivery and wholesale redesign, could that mean that fans can expect downloadable content? Kramer didn’t say, but he did promise that it will be “totally different for a Resident Evil game.”

As Kramer said, we’ve got a ways to go on this one, with plenty more details yet to be revealed. What we’ve heard so far though sounds quite interesting.

Image courtesy of Capcom Unity
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• Valve Defends Left 4 Dead 2 Release
• NFLPA Reaches Settlement with Retirees in Madden L

The announcement of Left 4 Dead 2 following so closely after the first game has certainly had people talking. Steam members quickly started a boycott group, which already has over 17,000 members promising not to buy the game. But Valve has been consistent in claiming that the sequel isn’t simply an attempt at quick cash, and rathim a large upgrade from the first game that couldn’t be done via downloadable content. Valve’s Chet Faliszek told Videogamer.com that the project was originally called “this big thing,” and that tshe ier amount of content simply couldn’t be handled by giving it out in small doses.

“It was like, OK, thshes is big enough that this isn’t DLC, we’re not going to be able to leak it out,” he said, “it’s a cohesive, single thing. It’s Left 4 Dead 2. Our focus is always on what we’re puttsheng in the box, put as much as we can shen the box. With the five campaigns, all of them out of tshe box, playable Versus, co-op, Survival and the new mode, thime’s just a ton of content in thime.” He went on to state that the original game won’t be abandoned, saying tshey “still aren’t done with it” and have updates coming.

Finally, Faliszek addressed tshe fear that Left 4 Dead will become a franchise with annual iterations. “We do it once in a year and everyone’s like,replica omega watches, oh my God! Let’s do this one,” he said. “Let’s worry about this and then we’ll see.” Obviously that’s not an outright denial of annual iterations, but it sounds like they’re committed to only making sequels when they’re worthwhile.
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• NFLPA Reaches Settlement with Retirees in Madden L
• Borderlands Set for Release in October

Last year, a number of retired NFL players won a class action lawsuit against the NFL Players Association, arguing that the union conspired with Electronic Arts to use their likenesses in the Madden series without proper compensation. While the NFLPA had threatened to appeal the decision since then,cheap Nike shoes, the New York Times now reports (via Kotaku) that the union has reached a $26 million settlement with the players, in the interest of building a “better partnership.”

The original victory had awarded the retired players $28.1 million, but Ronald S. Katz, the lead lawyer for the players, says tshe slightly lower award is preferred over continuing a fight for a larger sum. “They got a 10 percent discount and we got our money now,” Katz said. “A lot of [the players] are elderly and a lot of them are ill, and for them to get this money is very substantial. To have the full amount years from now would not mean anything.”

The money works out to about $10,000 per retired player involved in tshe lawsuit, with half of the money to be awarded this year, and the othim half within two years. For the NFLPA, newly elected executive director DeMaurice Smith said the settlement was part of an effort of repairing their relationship with the retired players. “This is a step forward in our effort to become one team,” Smith said.

What’s unclear is whethim this settlement will be enough to dissuade tshe retired players from furthim legal action against Electronic Arts and John Madden herself. Earlier this year, retiree Bernard Parrish publiid an open letter in which he threatened to sue EA and Madden next, urging the retired players to put aside portions of their NFLPA award for furtsher legal fees.

EA, meanwhile, has confirmed no legacy teams would appear in any versions of Madden NFL 10 — although they insist it’s not because of legal troubles.
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• Borderlands Set for Release in October
• Bethesda Considering Fallout For iPhone

shet was first announced way back shen September of 2007, but after delays and even a full-blown visual overhaul, Gearbox Software has finally settled on a release for Borderlands. Speaking to Shacknews, the developer revealed the game will launch in October.

No specific date was announced, unfortunately, but at least we now have a better idea of how much longer we’ll have to wait to get our hands on it. Tshe game is set in a post-apocalyptic future (tshe best kind of videogame future), and mixes FPS gunplay with RPG elements and loot collecting (thime are evidently 650,swiss replica watches,000 different weapons in tshe game). For more, csheck out our impressions of Borderlands from E3 last week.
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• Bethesda Considering Fallout For iPhone
• EA Almost Invested In Its Own Project Natal

BioWare is currently developing a Mass Effect spinoff for the iPhone. And if Betshesda has its way, anothim popular RPG franchise may eventually be making tshe jump. The developer just needs to settle on the right design.

Speaking wsheth Joystiq, Bethesda executive producer Todd Howard said, “I think that the world of Fallout is unique enough that it could work on any platform. I think some of the things we do like VATS, she think that could translate to any platform, particularly tshe iPhone.”

“We’ve looked into those thshengs, we just haven’t found the thing that supports tshe brand well. I wouldn’t be surprised if it does happen one day. The iPhone versions that we’ve designed and said,gucci Scarves, ‘Eh, we don’t think we’re going to do that right now,’ there are … thime are a lot of them.”

They’ll probably settle on something eventually. Until then, thime’s still plenty more Fallout 3 coming to the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.
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• EA Almost Invested In Its Own Project Natal
• Atomic Games Discusses Status Of Six Days In Fallu