Deeko News

Don Mattrick has told MCV he is confident that Microsoft ‘won’ E3 this year – and has even accused Sony and Nintendo of slacking off over the past year.

In assessing his rivals’ E3 conferences, he said: “I think we got more than 12 months’ work done, and others went on an extended vacation. Hopefully they got some good vacation photos, because they sure weren’t showing up at work.”

“Of course I’m going to be biased, but so far what I’ve heard is that Sony and Nintendo have disappointed. And Microsoft has been leading, innovating and driving a very comprehensive global programme.”

“We’re building momentum and we’re on a scale that no other consumer electronics company or entertainment company has been able to achieve in nine years. It’s been a very good show and I’m very pleased with what we’ve been able to accomplish. I think there was a lot of good work, a lot of innovation and a lot of news from us.”

I love this guy, he talks the shit like a real pro and brings epic lulz.

SCE’s global president promises consumers will love online service… whenever it arrives

Sony has told MCV that the launch date of PS3 Home ultimately “doesn’t matter” – but predicted that the full service will be available in a “reasonable timeframe”.

However, speaking exclusively to MCV, Sony Computer Entertainment global president Kaz Hirai reiterated that the service’s Beta was still on course for an Autumn launch.

He added that he was certain that Home would

“really resonate with consumers” whenever it arrived – and that Microsoft’s recently improved online service wouldn’t be able to compete, even if it became available to gamers first.

Speaking to MCV, Hirai said:

“I’d much rather make sure we take the time to have a great service rather than rush something into the market – only for consumers to say: “This is not enough for me.” I want to avoid that. If we have the right service, it doesn’t matter when we launch – so long as it’s in a reasonable timeframe.”

He added:

“Whether our competitors decide to follow what we’ve done with Home or not follow us, that’s up to them. Given the fact that I’ve delayed the launch of Home twice – for which I’ve apologised – I think I’ve done it for a very good reason, and that’s because I want to bring the very best service possible to consumers around the world.

“We’re very confident in when we do launch the open Beta service, it’s something that will really resonate with the consumers.”

Via: MCV

You read that right. Make sure to stop by the MS/360 booth at Comic-Con this year to register to win a Watchmen, Terminator or DC Comics covered Xbox 360. They do look pretty great.

Don’t forget those Xbox live themes. If you can’t go to Comic-con, you can still give your Xbox a Batman make over.

Video Game Voters Network wants game players to speak out and stand up for the industry.

Video games face constant attacks by federal, state and local legislators and media critics. But do you think it is fair for the government to treat video games differently than other forms of media like movies, music, or books? Why are politicians spending so much time on regulating video games, rather than focusing on educating parents about video game ratings and other tools that help ensure children only have access to appropriate games?

Check out the wall of images here to see what other gamers have to say.

While not gaming related, let’s face it gamers love a good comic book movie; and Frank Miller is delivering again. Bringing the classic The Spirit to the big screen and it looks as bad ass as Sin City did. I love the art style and hey it features the always amazing Sam “Royale With Cheese” Jackson and a bevy of beautiful ladies. More info on The Spirit will surely be coming from Comic-Con next week.

What do you do when you are the doctor and someone comes into your hospital with butterflies in their stomach, water on the knee, and a frog in the throat? Operate of course!

Race against the clock to send a variety of patients including well-known and beloved Cavity Sam through a series of treatment stations. Perform surgery and become an expert surgeon by completing micro-games reminiscent of the board game. Be quick and effective with treatment before the patient’s nose starts flashing and time is up! OPERATION Mania will be available online at Pogo.com in North America and the U.K. in August and at retail in North America in September for $19.95.

Features: Hospital management: Diagnose and treat both standard and emergency patients, and run them through a gauntlet of medical procedures including admissions, x-ray and of course operations!

Unique hospital settings: Advance through 35 levels and five hospitals in different regions on a wacky continent.

Two game modes: Rise through the ranks in Story Mode or go for a challenge in Marathon Mode to care for patients as long as possible and experiment with endless upgrade combinations.

Micro-games: Show surgical finesse by completing micro-games with a steady hand. The bite sized challenges are reminiscent of the board game that people have come to know and love.

Upgrade the hospital: Spend money earned curing patients to buy upgrades for the hospital, including better equipment, faster service and additional staff.

Multiplayer: Overcrowded waiting rooms can be alleviated by referring patients to friends and family online.

Some new screens of the the simply gorgeous Infinite Undiscovery have surfaced. In the screens we can see more of Capel’s flute playing, and a party of four battling it out. Tri-Ace’s latest RPG will be hitting the Xbox 360 this September and if you pre-order at your local EBGames of GameStop you can grab some exclusive DLC and a shiny lithograph to boot.

Mega Man 9 is coming to the PSN and XBLA later this year, and it’s so full of win that my mind spins. But proving that Capcom knows it’s fans they are going to be selling the digital boxart for what is the best “worst” box art ever in T-shirt form. Straight from your childhood and into your dreams full of 1980’s nostalgia. No details on when the shirts will go on sales but sweet heavens I need to get at least 2. One for myself and one for my wonderful geeky girl to wear proudly!

For about 3 years now many believed that Final Fantasy XIII would no doubt be a PS3 exclusive; that changed last week. With that new bit of info many still believed that the game would without question be built with the PS3 in mind; utilizing it to it’s max — well the truth is Square-Enix is still trying to get to work on the PS3. In an interview with Nvidia Final Fantasy XIII Producer Yoshinori Kitase discussed the new development strategy that Square Enix has taken with its upcoming games.

“The content will be the same on all platforms,” said Kitase. “However, we have yet to determine how many discs will be required for the 360 version. We’ll have to consider the differences between formats. Currently the game is being built on PC, where it’s actually functional. We’re still focusing on making it work on PS3, so it’s difficult to know how long the process of taking it to 360 will take.”

Considering that in another interview they said they would be porting and then tweaking for the 360 once the PS3 version is finalized and being translated into english; it seems the new PC base for the game will make the process getting the game working on the 360 much smoother than many thought. As of right now their focusing on getting it working on the PS3.

Talking Microsoft’s GameFest event in Seattle, the company’s Cameron Egbert and Dan Kroymann have been discussing the creator of avatars for the Xbox 360, revealing lots of new details on the practicality of developers implementing avatars within their games.

Egbert, a software development engineer for XNA Developer Connection, started by showing his existing GamerCard for Xbox 360 and saying: “It doesn’t say much about me”.

The he showed a 3D avatar, as being implemented on Xbox 360 later this year, and noted: “This is me. I made him earlier in the week”, going onto explain: “Avatars are a new identity for gamers. Somewhat like a gamercard, these can be used to replace the gamer picture if the user chooses.”

“It gives them an online presence they did not have before without Xbox Live. It is ubiquitous across the system. Also, you can use them in your games as a replacement for your characters, or in your UI, or whatnot.”

Egbert further explained: “You build them from a predefined set of geometry and textures and customize them as you want… to suit your tastes.”

How about edgy avatars? Egbert explained: “This is a product for everyone, so nothing in here will violate an E10 rating - no weapons, no compromising situations.”

He added: “Avatars are meant to be an extension of the player - this is not a pet, this is your online presence.”

Cameron Egbert then goes on about the technical specs of Avatars and how this is just the beginning for what MS has planned ahead for the new Avatar system. In the works is the ability to even allow developers to replace their character models with your own Avatar in game, acting as skin. No doubt it looks like MS has a pretty big plans for the system and just like it’s humble beginnings with Live, this new Avatar system will grow along with the platform.