By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

Grand Theft Auto IV has created a frenzy of news stories, including

• rave reviews
• worries over an effect on Iron Man ticket sales
• probable record sales
• did I mention rave reviews?

Ah, but the one that has gamers hot under the collar: freezes.

Owners of both Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles are reporting freeze issues with the new game. The issue seems most prevalent on 60GB PS3s, however. A few random posts fron various forums around the Internet include this one (Xbox 360):

Mine keeps freezing in the opening scene. I cannot get past it. This definitately sucks.

and this one (Xbox 360):

This is incredibly annoying and odd, indeed.

I picked up the game the day it came out of course and got home and played for maybe 15 minutes when it froze. So I got freaked out (having just replaced my 2nd Xbox for RROD). I tried again, it froze maybe 20 minutes in the second time. So, I returned to EB Games (Gamestop) and got it replaced, hoping it would fix the problem. It didn’t!

Check out how many pages of responses are in this thread at Sony’s forums.

Some are complaining of cutscene freezes, others random freezes. The only workaround from Rockstar Games so far has been to delete all the game data and reinstall - but that’s not working for all.

We Say: Rockstar is starting to get a reputation for great games that have a tendency to freeze (Bully had this issue also).

Naturally it affects a minority of users, but for now, the only thing users can do is install and cross their fingers.

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

Nintendo filled in the last bit of information for the Wii Fit game on Tuesday, announcing that when it launches in the U.S. on May 19th it will cost $89.99 (MSRP). $90 for a game? Well, it’s more than a game; it includes the new Wii Balance Board controller, and anyway, let’s not forget that Guitar Hero III for the Wii is the same price.

And also, when the Wii Fit launched in Japan, it was 8800 yen, which is now the equivalent of $88.

According to Nintendo’s press release, those who pre-order Wii Fit from the Nintendo World store in New York’s Rockefeller Plaza will get a bonus item.

From April 18-20, the first 1,000 consumers who place a $5 deposit for Wii Fit will receive a limited edition Wii Fit T-shirt featuring the image and reproduced autograph of legendary Nintendo video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto.

Wii Fit has already sold 1.4 million copies in Japan; we’ve often wondered if the delay in getting it to the U.S. was due to having to strengthen the Balance Board controller to handle the more robust (all right, fat) bodies of Americans.

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

Remember the father who sold his pot-smoking son’s Guitar Hero III game on eBay as punishment? The father netted $9K in that auction. The mom here won’t get that much, but at least she’s teaching her kid a lesson.

Here’s the auction. What’s the deal? Here’s what the auction says (spelling errors per the post, BTW):

Yes I am the mean mom who is selling her sons XBOX and games to replace the vaccum he broke but also to teach him a lesson that things cost money, and you should respect your parents. He can do his chores (that still remains on the kitchen table typed very neatly) now knowing that the money he earns will go towards something he bought…and maybe that might make him respect alittle bit more….this is something that has been three weeks coming, he has had numerous changes to get a better attitude…but when I found the porn on his computer that was it…so here we are: Let’s bid

Porn on a teenage boy’s computer? No! Breaking the vacuum cleaner to avoid chores, however, is a new one on me - not necessarily smart, but new.

She also password-protected his PC and apparently put a picture of Snoopy on his MySpace page. Originally she posted the system on Craigslist as well, apparently not realizing she shouldn’t be selling it if she’s auctioning it, too. Or maybe she just thought she should get more on eBay. From the Craigslist post (now deleted):

My son seems to think everything should be handed to him on a silver platter, so the XBOX is going bye bye. I do have an assortment of games as well, that I will sell for $15 each.

Price is firm, must replace vaccum that he broke thinking that would get him out of having to do chores.

Ha, I applaud her for not taking any guff from her teen. Let’s hope she gets enough for a new vacuum. BTW, it seems like eBay needs a new auction category: Good Parenting.

By Martin Regtien
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

Want to know the ins and outs of the NVIDIA 9800GTX — the latest and fastest single GPU?
Well, click here to see not one but TWO reviews from our tech friends.

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

I’m not a fan of in-game advertising, but in-game sales might be an idea that I can “buy” into.

The in-game radio of the Grand Theft Auto series has been a feature many have lauded, but now it will also be a way to monetize gameplay. By using a new technology called “ZiT,” a player, upon hearing a song they like, can call ZIT-555-0100 on their in-game cell phone. A player would then receive a text message with the song and artist names. If they happen to be registered at the Rockstar Games Social Club that I wrote about earlier, they’ll receive an e-mail with a direct link to a custom playlist on Amazon.com, where all songs tagged “ZiT” will be stored.

In a press release, it’s clear that the music industry is pretty happy about the possibility of monetizing in-game soundtracks. Ronn Werre, EVP, EMI Music’s Sales, Licensing and Synchronization unit, said:

“Music has long played an integral part of the game playing experience. We think giving players the ability to identify and buy their favorite tracks from Grand Theft Auto IV’s popular radio stations is a great new music discovery tool for fans and an innovative new revenue stream for artists.”

Wait, where’s the “innovative new revenue stream for us” sentence?

At any rate, it’s also cool that they choose Amazon MP3, since all their selections are DRM-free. But if this model really takes off, could we perhaps see it used to subsidize and thus lower the retail cost of games? Nah, I didn’t think so, either.

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

BD-Live (AKA Blu-ray Disc Profile 2.0) titles were released earlier this year, despite the fact that there were no players yet capable of supporting BD-Live.

Once again, the PS3 shows why it should be the Blu-ray player of choice for even non-gamers, as Firmware v2.20, which Sony says is “coming up in the next few days,” will add support for BD-Live, making the PS3 the first BD-Live capable player available.

BD-Live requires two secondary decoders, 1GB of local storage for updates and content, and an Internet connection. It will allow you to connect to the internet and receive downloadable content to add to the title.

You’ll recall that there is more than one Blu-ray support profile defined:

• 1.0 - the launch profile, and secondary audio and video decoders are optional, as is local storage and network connectivity. The majority of standalone players fit into this category.

• 1.1 - newer profile; players need a secondary audio and video decoder to handle picture-in-picture, as well as at least 256MB of local storage for content.

• 2.0 - latest, requiring the two secondary decoders, 1GB of local storage for updates and content, and an Internet connection.

Obviously the additional hardware requirements mean that not every Blu-ray player can be upgraded with a firmware change. In fact, the first standalone BD-Live player will not arrive until April (the Panasonic DMP-BD50). The only other announced BD-Live player is the and the Sony BDP-S550 (coming this autumn). Both of these are expected to cost at least $100 more than an entry-level PS3.

Additional changes in FW v2.20, according to Sony:

• The ability to copy PS3 Music and Photo playlists to a PSP system. We introduced the ability to create Music and Photo playlists on the PS3 in firmware update v2.0. Now you can easily export your playlists to your PSP.

• You can now play DivX and WMV format files that are over 2 GB. In addition, you can now display subtitles when viewing DivX files.

• Resume Play - begin playing a DVD or BD disc from the point where you previously stopped it, even if you eject the disc and insert a different movie or game.

• Use your PSP as a remote control to play back your music files on your PS3 without turning on your TV.

• The Internet browser now displays some web pages faster. In addition [Save Target] has been added as an option under file. This option lets you save a file that is linked to a web page to your PS3 hard drive or storage media.

We Say: Having a PS3 next to your TV may not be as “home decor-friendly” as a standalone player, and thus harder to get past your wife or partner, but it sure seems to be the best way to stay at the bleeding-edge of Blu-ray. And of course, the console gaming portion of it is more than an after-thought …

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

Shades of another takeover bid we’ve been discussing - a lot - lately. On Sunday, Electronic Arts announced it has offered $2 billion in cash for Take-Two Interactive Software, best known for - what else? - Grand Theft Auto. Anyone want some Hot Coffee?

It didn’t take long for a response. Take-Two immediately issued a press release turning down the offer, saying it was a) unsolicited, b) inadequate.

The door’s not completely closed, however. In the press release, Strauss Zelnick, Executive Chairman of the Board of Take-Two said that Take-Two would be open for discussion - after the release of Grand Theft Auto IV in April. They indicated discussions could start as early as April 30th, the day after GTA IV is set to ship.

Electronic Arts made the following statements about the offer in a press release:

• The current offer is $26 / share. Take-Two’s closing price on Friday, Feb. 22 was $17.36.
• A $25 / share deal was initially made to Take-Two
• The TTWO board rejected the offer which led to EA making the offer public with $1 a share increase

EA is obviously ready to make everything about the offer and any follow-up proceedings public. In other words, they are prepared for a possible hostile takeover.

In fact, EA has created a special website devoted to the offer. The website published the press release, as well as other information, including a FAQ. One unusual aspect of the press release was the inclusion of EA’s letter to Take-Two - with a second offer - after their initial offer was rejected. I’m not going to print the whole letter, but here are some highlights:

While I appreciate its courteous tone and value our ongoing dialogue, I am disappointed that you have rejected Electronic Arts Inc.’s (“EA’s”) $25 per share cash offer to acquire Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (“Take-Two”) and declined to engage in the friendly negotiations we proposed. We continue to believe that an acquisition of Take-Two by EA is in the best interests of your shareholders, employees and other constituents, and we remain interested in acquiring Take-Two. So, to further demonstrate our seriousness and encourage you to move forward now, I am writing to increase EA’s offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Take-Two to $26 per share in cash.

blah, blah … normally stuff about how great the offer is and how wonderful the deal would be for both parties …

Our strong preference is to conduct a private negotiation. If you are unwilling to proceed on that basis, however, we may pursue other means, including the public disclosure of this letter, to bring our offer and the compelling value it represents to the attention of Take-Two’s shareholders.

Obviously we’ve reached the public disclosure point. Did I already say shades of Microsoft / Yahoo!? It looks like EA is willing to go hostile. We’ll be watching.

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

Took ‘em long enough. They didn’t file a press release, but Microsoft did use its Gamerscore blog, which it says is the “inside scoop from Microsoft Xbox and Games employees.” Saturday Microsoft announced they would halt production of HD-DVD drives for the Xbox 360.

John Porcaro, Sr. Group Manager in Microsoft’s Global Games Marketing Team, managing Online Communications, said in a statement on the Gamerscore site:

As a result of recent decisions made by Toshiba, Hollywood studios, and retailers, Microsoft plans to withdraw from HD DVD. Xbox will no longer manufacture new HD DVD players for the Xbox 360, but we will continue to provide standard product and warranty support for all Xbox 360 HD DVD Players in the market. As we stated earlier, we do not believe this decision will have any material impact on the Xbox 360 platform or our position in the marketplace. HD DVD is one of the several ways we offer a high definition experience to consumers and we will continue to give consumers the choice to enjoy digital distribution of high definition movies and TV shows directly to their living room, along with playback of the DVD movies they already own.

None of this should be a surprise. Obviously with Toshiba dropping HD-DVD, Microsoft was bound to get out. Rumors flew last week that Microsoft was planning an external Blu-ray drive for the Xbox 360, and honestly, it’s an almost certainty.

Microsoft said as early as January 8th, right after the Warner Bros. announcement that they were dropping HD-DVD, that they would “consider” Blu-ray support, and they have little choice with Toshiba’s announcement. It’s not IF, but WHEN.

PR-wise, the best thing Microsoft could do would be to follow Edion’s example by giving everyone who already had an Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive a swap for a new Blu-ray drive. Probability: low.