Seaman 2 Tops Japanese Sales Charts
Illustrating both that the PS2 is still a relevant gaming machine and that the Japanese gaming public adores weirdness, Seaman 2 debuted at the top of the Japanese sales charts this week, edging out DS Bungaku Zenshuu.
One other PS2 title, Dragon Ball Z: Sparking! Meteor, cracked the top ten, but for the most part it was a DS party, with six of the top ten sellers being for Nintendo’s portable.
Will Seaman’s success be enough to convince Sega to bring the title Stateside? Probably not, more’s the pity.
We need more virtual pet Neanderthal man sims, don’t you think?
[Via: The Japanese Software Chart]
PS3 Ratchet and Clank May Arrive Sooner
Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction was originally slated for an October 30th release, but “due to some unexpected quickness at the factory a vast majority of retailers have already received the game,” and are planning on making it available next week.
The official release date is still the 30th, but PS3 owners who want the game (which should be pretty much all of you) should swing by retailers next week to see if you can snag it a bit early.
Personally, I can’t wait to get my hands on this one. The Ratchet & Clank series delivers some of the most consistently enjoyable gameplay out there, and it’s pretty darn funny, too.
Source: PlayStation Blog
Apple Leopard Leaps On Oct 26
Apple has announced that Leopard, the next revision of Mac OS X, will go on sale Friday, October 26.
Earlier this morning, Apple pulled down its online store and relaunched with the new announcement and an option to pre-order the software for delivery on Oct 26th.
As with previous OS X revisions, Leopard will sell for $130, with Family packs are available for $200. Leopard will ship on DVD and requires an Intel Mac, PowerPC G5, or PowerPC G4 (867MHz or faster).
With Apple having recently passed out $100 vouchers to iPhone early adopters, I suspect a fair number of those folks are about to cash in on Leopard.
Guitar Hero III Soundtrack
Want all the songs for Guitar Hero III on Xbox 360? Then you’ll have to pony up for the game’s official soundtrack.
The $14 Guitar Hero Companion Pack, which will be released by Interscope Records on October 23.
It will contain a unique download code that can be redeemed on Xbox Live for a three-song download pack, which includes:
- “Carcinogen Crush” by AFI
- “Tina” by Flyleaf
- “Putting Holes In Happiness” by Marilyn Manson
The track list of the soundtrack CD is below:
- “Game Intro” - Slash
- “Mass Murder” - AFI
- “Kool Thing” - Sonic Youth
- “3’s and 7’s” - Queens Of The Stone Age
- “Cherub Rock” - Smashing Pumpkins
- “Slither” - Velvet Revolver
- “Cult of Personality” - Living Colour
- “Prayer Of The Refugee” - Rise Against
- “Tina” - Flyleaf
- “Putting Holes In Happiness” - Marilyn Manson/Nick Zinner
- “Devil Went Down To Georgia” - Performed by Steve Ouimette
It doesn’t include every Guitar Hero III song, but it does feature some of the more memorable ones.
Hilarious Fake Microsoft Vista Marketing Video
Generally speaking I’m pretty sick of Microsoft Vista bashing, but this video is funny enough to be an exception.
It’s not exactly new, but I’d never seen it before and I figure there’s some others who might have missed it as well.
I’d like to see an Apple iPhone version along the same lines.
Microsoft Decides It’s Better To Switch Than Fight
While software piracy is a problem that should be taken seriously, it seems that many companies have placed the burden of dealing with anti-piracy inconveniences on the individual user.
It’s sort of like handcuffing the guy who forgot to pay for a lollipop while ignoring the safecracker in the back of the store.
As most of us know, Microsoft followed that philosophy with its Windows Genuine Advantage program.
The idea was that, in order to fight piracy and make sure every copy of XP was genuine, users who wanted to install or update Windows software would have to run WGA first.
If your copy of XP failed the test and you had bought it or the system in good faith, you had three options:
- Figure out what had gone wrong with the OS install and fix it
- Apply to have Microsoft send you a legitimate copy
- Go out and buy one. All of which were a royal pain in the neck
Unfortunately, Microsoft didn’t seem to realize there was another option: (4) don’t bother to install the software.
It seems very probable now that this is what happened with the company’s latest version of its browser, Internet Explorer 7.
Many, if not most, of the users who either failed the WGA test or got antsy at the notion of testing their OS for legitimacy probably simply shrugged and stuck with Internet Explorer 6.
For the users who wanted tabbed browsing, they probably went off to download Firefox, Opera or one of the other alternatives.
However, now Microsoft has removed WGA from IE7, all those rebellious XP users can download the browser.
If they don’t feel like taking the trouble, Microsoft will be happy to deliver it to them via Automatic Updates.
At the least, that will considerably expand IE7’s installed base which is, after all, the point of the exercise.
Whether it will persuade those who moved to another browser to switch back remains to be seen.