As a lifelong gamer who’s lived through six generations of home consoles and their concurrent hype, I don’t impress very easily. I’m not completely cynical, mind you; I can appreciate nice visuals and inventive concepts when I see them. It’s just not very often, these days, that a well-executed game will get more than a verdict of “that looks nice” from me. So, when I attended the PlatinumGames demonstration at Sega’s E3 booth this year, I hope you understand that when I say my jaw hit the floor, I mean it. The two games being shown off by Capcom’s ex-development studio (and you know how I feel about their previous work) were easily the most impressive games I saw for the duration of the E3 summit. If Sega and Platinum can deliver on these titles, we’re all in for some incredible-looking games. It is my sincere hope that they play even half as well. Continue Reading

Hello, friends, and thanks for briefly wondering what the hell GameSpyte is before scrolling past. If we’ve helped you to capture even a fragment of your youthful curiosity, then we’re happy. Today, we’ll be gazing into our liquid crystal displays for a look at what the future will hold for gamers — and perhaps the rest of the world. Clear your thoughts and peer within. Welcome to the world of tomorrow! Continue Reading

Your daily smörgåsbord of the very best gaming has to offer.

Enthusiast:

• Guitar Hero: World Tour details revealed at (IGN)

• LittleBigPlanet will have some semblance of story, feature user-policing for adult content (PS3 Fanboy)

• “On September 2nd, shovel talks. You dig. Monsters die,” and Atlus sets you to work building dungeons in Master of the Monster Lair for Nintendo DS (VerticalWire)

• Bandai Namco’s Ace Combat team developing Wii dogfighter based on upcoming Japanese animation The Sky Crawlers (Game|Life)

• The Witcher: Enhanced Edition free update (and premium package) dated September (Official Website via Eurogamer)

• Workaround discovered for Wii’s Twilight Princess homebrew hack (HackMii via Kotaku)

• BioShock PC install limit neutralized, though DRM and disk check remain (2K Forums via Shacknews)

Industry:

• Sony Corp. CEO says top priority is “to restore profitability in our television and game businesses” (Bloomberg via GameSpot)

• UK games lobby says college graduates don’t have the skills for development (BBC via GameDaily)

• SouthPeak Interactive raises 12.9 million (VentureBeat)

• MGS4 propels PS3 to top of Japanese weekly charts while PSP maintains healthy lead over DS (Media Create via Kotaku)

Trendwatch:

• ESRB plugs game leaks after publisher complaints (Next-Gen)

• AARP provides retirees with free online flash games (Business & Games)

Politics: London mayor (partially) blames violent games for rise in knife crime; forgets to condemn games that teach ancient curses (MCVUK)

Virtually Compelling: To celebrate 5th anniversary, Second Life hosts two-week-long Virtual World Fair (BusinessWire)

Hardware: First three benches show NVIDIA’s GeForce 9800 GTX+ edging out the AMD Radeon HD 4850, for a $30 premium (FiringSquad, LegitReviews, PC Perspective)

Interviewed: BioWare’s Sonic Chronicles project lead Mark Darrah on adapting Sonic, DS development difficulty. Hints at future Wii/PSP projects (Gamasutra)

Rumoriffic: BioWare’s (KOTOR?) MMO due fiscal 2010 (TVG via Eurogamer)

Try This: Turn your Wii Wheel and Wii Balance Board into a wireless PC racing controller. Look out, Logitech (Nintendo Wii Fanboy)

Video games, as we’re all keenly aware, are the work of the devil himself. Murder simulators and hypnotic pornographic smut-fests, the lot of them. The filthmongers who produce them are awful men who only seek to profit off of the downfall of society; Lord knows I’m only interested in games because I’m paid for it. Most of all, I’m worried about the kids. How will these violent and addictive games affect our children? The world needs to stay on top of these things if civilization is going to survive (regardless of whether it’s available for the Wii).

Thankfully, studies have recently been done to examine this looming threat. Have a look at this: Continue Reading

This week, California State Senator Leland Yee defends our children — and his own political stance — by answering YOUR questions. Continue Reading

If an experimental study in the latest issue of the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology is to be believed, reducing the level of blood in Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe may do more than placate the kid-friendly superheroes’ creators — it might also reduce the aggression of those who play it. Continue Reading

California State Senator Leland Yee has granted GameCyte readers and fellow journalists an open interview. Continue Reading

GamePolitics, necessarily keeping close tabs on Chinese news, noted yesterday that Singapore has instituted a two-tier rating system for video games. Two years in the making, the new system simply divides games into three categories: “M18,” “Age Advisory,” and neither. Continue Reading

In the wake of the controversial and influential study recommending sweeping changes to UK game rating systems, often known as “the Byron Report,” video game violence has once again fallen under the spotlight of mainstream media outlets. Continue Reading