Kid Steals His Christmas Present, Arrested

A 12-year old in South Carolina has learned the hard way that sometimes, pushing mommy too far is, well, pushing mommy too far. The mother found the open box of the boy's Christmas present, a Game Boy Advance, empty. Aside from now having to deal with a less than stellar Christmas present, the boy is charged as a juvenile with petty larceny. Apparently, the kid was just a brat -- from shoplifting to punching a cop, he's on his way to rising through the ranks of the criminal world. Sitting here, I can't help recall that "it's the most wonderful time of the year."

Find out his fate here!

Scutpuppy's Crystal Ball

It seems that Scutpuppy's analysis was right -- so far. It appears that Japanese PS3 auctions aren't amounting to the high prices people were predicting. Many consoles have been around the 60,000 yen price tag. So why is this happening? In effect, people are making so many more PS3s available, that supply has gone up. But why are the prices on eBay higher? A couple things could cause this -- there may be higher demand in the US, or those who have bid on preorders may be those who are the least certain they will get one, and consequently, the most willing to pay. Let's hope the crystal ball doesn't shatter come Friday.

Read our analysis here and the article here.

Will Halo 3 Have a Map Editor?

Today in Bungie's Weekly Update, Frankie writes some interesting stuff:

"I think MP [multi-player] fans will be very pleased with what we’re adding in terms of customization and gameplay flexibility. Certainly FAR more tweaks will be available to players than in Halo 2, along with some interesting ways to present and use those tweaks."

Further down in his post he says this about water:

"A far cry from the shiny default placeholder in the MP demo EGM played."

Do these allude to options seen in Far Cry (i.e. some form of map editor)?Let's look at what we know. Far Cry had pretty graphics, especially when it came to water effects. As stated, Far Cry also had a map editor. Halo 3 is under an enormous amount of pressure to sell well and outperform the prior installments in this story arc -- Halo 3 is also the last game in this trilogy. Additionally, Halo for PC had a map editor, as will Halo 2 for PC. So would Bungie add a map editor to a console game?

You be the judge.

Famitsu Halo 3 Info

More Halo 3 info is out, this time from Famitsu. Additionally, 1UP has clarified some of the Halo 3 info leaked from a few days ago.

Check out the Famitsu info here and the 1UP clarification here.

Sony Working on Around 40 Downloadable Games

Once again, gamers will be benefiting from the intense competition between Sony and Microsoft. This time, it comes in the form of downloadable games. One of 360's unique features so far has been its downloadable games. Sony intends to answer Microsoft's challenge, providing gamers with "about 40" downloadable games. Sony is funding these games and working with developers, said Phil Harrison, speaking to GamesIndustry.biz. He goes on to say:

"We're seeing an emerging strength in developers creating games specifically for downloadable content. We're seeing that as a really interesting way of stimulating creativity, experimentation... And it makes me feel as excited as about the games that we saw at the beginning of PS1, when there was a lot of really interesting innovation happening in the marketplace. I think we'll see that on PlayStation 3 as well."

Read the article here.

Wii Interface Video

If you haven't seen the Wii interface yet, here's your chance. But wait, this montage of IGN material only gets more exciting. The video is not so much of a video as a collection of screenshots, but for those who are lazy, it gets the job done.

Japan PS3 Shortages

And in the second "good things come to those who wait" post tonight, we see how disappointing stupid cliches can be. Japan will now have 20,000 fewer PS3s come launch time, thanks to component shortages. What could possibly be better news for gamers awaiting Sony's console? Perhaps something along the lines of a North American shortage. At Scutpuppy, we're praying that doesn't happen, er, become more exacerbated than already is.

Read here.

Wii DVD Playback in 2007?

In the first of two "good things come to those who wait" posts tonight, we have the Wii and its possible DVD playback. This info comes from a forum post highlighting some of the noteworthy features of an upcoming Edge magazine article. According to the article, this new Wii will supposedly release in Japan in 2007, although it doesn't mention anything about a North American release.

Read the post here.

Supply and Demand: Consoles

To start, I intend on expanding this post a little more, but I want to put this out there. People complain a lot about others sitting around, snatching up pre-orders, only to put them on eBay. But there are two reasons why people shouldn't worry.

First, console-selling is a good thing. For simplicity's sake, lets look at the PS3 -- arguably, it will be sold more than the Wii. Sony has fixed the short-term supply for PS3s at 400,000 units for launch. There will be more units by the end of the year, but for our analysis, that doesn't matter. Sony has also fixed the price at $600. People are obviously willing to pay more for PS3 -- they both sacrifice wages to wait in line for it, and will pay more than $600 on eBay for it. Thus, the people who mark-up the prices on the consoles actually do everybody a favor. They allow the price to fluctuate as if it were not fixed. This leads us to a startling conclusion. Since people are very willing to pay more than $600 for a PS3, we can gather that the PS3 is indeed worth more than $600. Good call Ken.

Second, the eBay sales may not matter that much. Many people self-admittedly plan on selling their PS3s on eBay. Supply and demand also tell us that, with all those consoles on eBay, people will have more consoles to choose from -- we could view this as either a high supply, or supply going up. Thus, those out to make a killing will not make as much as they hoped to. With a lot of people selling, there will be a lot of competition. Thus, prices naturally fall down and the PS3 naturally becomes cheaper. It will still be over $600, but likely will not be as high as some hope it to be.

Thompson Wants MK: Armageddon Stopped

Jack Thompson just doesn't quit. Here are two sections of an email he sent to Midway, as reported on by Next-Generation:

"It has today come to my attention that the newly recently Mortal Kombat: Armageddon contains an unauthorized commercial exploitation of my name, photograph, image, and likeness within the game."

“You are commanded to cease and desist immediately [emphasis Thompson’s] from the distribution of this game because of this unauthorized, illegal content…”

This is likely in response to a recently posted guide for creating an in-game Jack Thompson, as there is no option to select a ready-made Thompson character.

Read the article here and find out how to create your very own Jack Thompson in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon here.

Halo 3 Blowout

Those of you who live under rocks probably do so for very good reason. But here's a better reason to see the light of day -- Halo 3 info. New maps, new weapons, new features, a ton of goodies are out.

You can find info at 1UP, Joystiq, and magazine scans at Xbox Portugal.

PS3/Wii Preorders at Toys "R" Us

You may be wondering why there have been few posts in the past few days. This post relates to the reason -- this Sunday, Toys "R" Us will be selling preorders for both the PS3 and Wii. A $50 deposit is required to reserve either system.

In preparation for the event, Scutpuppy has been gathering its resources from across the interwebs, finalizing transportation details and placing personnel in the most opportune places to acquire said devices. You may recall that Scutpuppy has a PS3 and Wii coming its way. Why more? Well, this isn't the "next-gen war" for no reason.

Details on your OPSAT.

Burning Crusade Delayed until January

Blizzard is notorious for taking their time with their projects. The Burning Crusade, World of Warcraft's first expansion pack, is no different. From the media alert:

"Blizzard Entertainment® today announced that the release date for World of Warcraft®: The Burning Crusade™, the highly anticipated expansion for World of Warcraft, will be in January 2007. By adding a few extra weeks to the development cycle beyond its original target date, Blizzard will be able to extend the closed beta test and further refine the new content that will ship with the game."

Unfortunately for Blizzard, their highly anticipated expansion will miss the highly frenetic Christmas season. But Captain Obvious also reports that this probably won't matter much. Awhile back, Blizzard COO Paul Sams indicated plans to bring out a new expansion every 12 months so potentially, this could have an effect on the release of those expansions. Even so, couple millions of addicts subscribers with these expansions, and well, you get the point.

Read the announcement here.

Lik-Sang Closes

Online retailer Lik-Sang will be shutting its virtual doors because of several Sony lawsuits. Lik-Sang also accuses several top Sony officials of importing PSP related items, which a British Judge last week ruled illegal:

"Furthermore, Sony have failed to disclose to the London High Court that not only the world wide gaming community in more than 100 countries relied on Lik-Sang for their gaming needs, but also Sony Europe's very own top directors repeatedly got their Sony PSP hard or software imports in nicely packed Lik-Sang parcels with free Lik-Sang Mugs or Lik-Sang Badge Holders, starting just two days after Japan's official release, as early as 14th of December 2004 (more than nine months earlier than the legal action). The list of PSP related Sony Europe orders reads like the who's who of the videogames industry, and includes Ray Maguire (Managing Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd), Alan Duncan (UK Marketing Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd), Chris Sorrell (Creative Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd), Rob Parkin (Development Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Limited), just to name a few."

Pascal Clarysse, the former Marketing Manager for Lik-Sang, goes on to say,

"Blame it on Sony. That's the latest dark spot in their shameful track record as gaming industry leader. The Empire finally 'won', few dominating retailers from the UK probably will rejoice the news, but everybody else in the gaming world lost something today."

I for one, agree. Consumers will now face less choice and less options when it comes to their gaming needs.

Read the release at Lik-Sang.com.

Halo 3 Demo Next Year?

Note the question mark carefully as it indicates that this is only, as so many things ever are, a rumor. Game Informer Online is reporting that according to sources, a Halo 3 demo will make its way to Xbox Live in the first half of 2007. They speculate as to the obvious reasons why Microsoft would do this and why Microsoft might even charge for it -- basically, because it's Halo.

But for every reason why Microsoft would release it, there is also a reason why they would not. First, it's not done. Graphics, balancing issues, and the like could all be changed. Second, it would detract from the hype of upcoming 360 games -- most notably Gears of War, Mass Effect, and BioShock. Third, it would detract from the hype of Halo 3 itself. With a demo out, Halo 3's launch wouldn't be such a big deal. This ties into my fourth and final point -- it may actually cost Microsoft money. I'll admit, this last scenario is highly, highly unlikely. But depending on how Halo 3 plays and what the demo consists of, it could turn away more potential customers than if no demo was released at all.

I may be totally wrong, I may not. But I'm certain of one thing -- Microsoft has considered all of these points and more when it comes to their darling franchise.

Read the article here.