Recently posted images on IGN show that Nintendo Wii graphics are not to be scoffed at and wilst they perhaps are not impressive as PS3 or Xbox 360 graphics they may just be enough to satisfy most gamers. At least the slightly less demanding ones perhaps?

We are moving Gengaming over to a much more reliable and fast host over the next couple of days unfortunately during the next 48 hours you should expect some down time.

When we re-emerge faster than before the difference should be noticeable. This is just one of the improvements we are making to Gengaming over the next couple of weeks.

UPDATE: There are also only going to be 500,000 units available upon launch for the USA and Japanese market. The previous estimate of 4 million has been lowered to 2 million by the end of the year. Ken Kutaragi mentioned the exact reduction in a gamespot interview but the interview was pulled shortly after.

PS3 has joined the ranks of Windows Vista and other overly delayed new technologies. For those of you in Europe start saving up even more money as our counter parts over the pond will no doubt be selling there first few PS3 for 5 times the price on ebay.

How long delayed for?
Till March

Reason?
"the delay in the mass production schedule of the blue laser diode within the Sony Group, thus affecting the timely procurement of key components to be utilised in Playstation 3."

Who does it affect?
Europe, Russia, the Middle East, Africa and Australasia

If we were waiting for an improvement in the PS3 then perhaps we would be pleased to wait but to be waiting because an essential part of the blue ray drive is in short supply takes the Michael. So its Nintendo Wii vs Xbox 360 in Europe. We are down to two contenders, for now!

Source: Playstation.com

Battlefield 2 has long been a thorn in the foot for EA with its countless bugs and delayed bug fixes and then more bugs and then withdrawing patchse and putting them out again. Its all been a bit of a mess for us seasoned battlefield 2 commanders. Could this be the patch to fix these gaming woes. Included in the update:

Gameplay Tweaks:

• The vehicle drop has been modified to help prevent exploits such as blocking enemy vehicles, destroying vehicles and commander assets, or as an alternative to artillery.
• C4 tossing distance has been reduced. (damn!)
• A prone->crouch delay has been added.

Bug Fixes:

• Another attempt at fixing the Red/Blue nametag bug.
• Fixed the missing server info on the map briefing screen.
• Fixed the filter by maps size option in the server browser.
• Fixed a low reproducibility crash bug related to the vehicle drop.
• Fixed a crash in Co-op after a player is revived without a kit.
• Fixed the occasionnal red distance marker appearing on the ground.
• Fixed the bug that caused the player's arms to become invisible when switching weapons. (hehe this one was so funny)
• Co-Op bot console commands now function on local servers.
• Fixed the excessive damage taken by the Muscle Car.
• Adjusted the minimum number of players to start the round on ranked servers. The new values for 16, 32 and 64 players are 6, 8 and 8 respectively.
• Re-enabled unlocks on unranked servers.
• Commander options are no longer available whilst commander is dead.
• Fixed bug where a spawn point is shown as selected when it is not if player has spawned in during the preview round.
• Ranked Servers now force unlocks.
• Added support for multiple gamemodes in single maplist for mods

So when you hear this you immediately think "ow no! internet videos it will be some tiny video clip where you cant see whats going on that says at the bottom for the full quality pay £300 yearly subscription!" but no, not this video clip. The new Wii video clip from IGN features some of the new games and how you can expect to have to use the controller. (Too bad theydidn't get a better gamer to test it out!)

Check it out: IGN  

Codemasters have announced that Fall of Man (Crosses out) Fall of Liberty will asume that World War II ended in a very different way. Wilst I did not pay very much attention in history lessons and therefore cannot confirm this apparently Winson Churchill got hit by a taxi but was not killed. The game will asume he was and that America is caught off guard and taken over by an invading german force due to  the Normandy landing never taking place. You have to join the resistance and fend them off. This gives opportunity for some pretty amazing screenshots of famous locations in a What If Germany won scenario.

The game will be released for Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC in Q4 2007

See: Press Release 

In a PR move that could probably have been forseen by a monkey without any psychic skills who has had half its brain removed at birth (i've made my point) Nintendo has chosen to promote the Wii on Myspace. The page features a number of interesting little videos including someone that looks like is playing with his wii but it turns out his only playing with his wii (wait). Its all pretty impressive and worth a click.

I think Nintendo choosing myspace is definetly a good idea seen as the whole point of the Wii is to be a social console that you invite your best buddies round to play and then take pictures and post them on each others myspace.

Take a look | gengaming forum post

Was a bit slow to post this one apologies, but the Register has posted news that the PS3 has had its memory clock speed downgraded to 500/560 from the previously posted 550/700. 10% less we will see how much it makes a difference. 

There is no word on why this happened but the article continues:

"As a help to the fanbois who inevitably write in somewhat curious broken englishish every time their precious console gets re-specced in a downward manner, please cut and paste the following. It will save you at least an hour trying to figure out the parts of the keyboard that are not WASD:

You teh sux0r 2 sae teh PS3 is not going to teh r0x0r! Yew lie, yew 360 luvr. U teh sux! U maek thing up, go die!!!1111one!1!!!1 heheheheh"

Source: TheRegister

Guess what the SimCity game on the Nintendo DS will be called..... go on guess!....  ow you'll never get it.... SimCity DS. Brilliant.

So is it just a port of Sim City 3000 you ask? A port! for the DS! How would you dare suggest such a thing from a company such as Electronic Arts! Ofcourse its not. Its got 3 new modes, mini games and a new advice character that helps you build you City. 

The 3 modes will be: Build a city, fix a city - Such as solve a cities conjestion problems (Which is more than the transport minister can do in the UK) and Sister City mode where you can trade "landmarks". Sounds intriguing, look forward to getting some more info on this one as it comse in. For now, read about City Life.

Source: IGN  

Forums Roundup:

• Your worries about the PS3 and the other future consoles
• Nintendo Wii to have amazing graphics?!
• Building a new computer

Blog Roundup:

• Follow Final Look as he progresses to gaming heaven with a new high spec computer

News Roundup: 

• EA may acquire Crytek
• Video of mindless drones protesting Rockstar Games: Bully.

After finishing my City Life review I decided to follow up the developer Monte Cristo with a couple of questions about the game.

The interview was conducted with (Takes a deep breath) City Life Project Manager and Lead Game Designer Renaud Boclet and it gives an interesting insight into the developement of this highly rated city building simulation game. One point I would like to instantly bring to attention is that to play your mp3 files, rather than the games somewhat repetitive music you can place your mp3 files into the City Life installation folder. Why not just note that feature down in the manual?

Secondly, the thing that most people will want to know about is the future of City Life. Well, I can reveal that currently the developers focus remains on supporting City Life, however, a Delux Edition is on the way with "50% more buildings". What about a City Life 2? Well don't rule it out. The developers are looking to expand on the idea that "people are different and belong to social groups" that was introduced in this game.

There's the main points out of the way, now on with the interview. Having got an average of 77% from most reviewers and gamers I asked developers to reflect on the success of the game. Renaud Boclet was quite proud of the impressive 3d engine that allows you to create "the most beautiful cities". 

Monte Cristo are not just taking in the praise but also the critisisms such as the lack of building variety. In responce they have created the design toolset. When I asked about the design toolset, Renaud stated that this and other tools provided by the team allow the community to create your own unique experience with the powerful City Life engine at your disposal. No doubt many gamers will be looking into these tools to further their experience.

As with all our Gengaming interviews we provide developers a chance to raise a point that they want to bring to the attention of everyone. Here Monte Cristo discussed the social and economic system, the effect of it on the city and how far you, as the player, are able to control riots and other situations.

The trick to this game is that there are a number of different cultures. Some don't get along too well with the other. But, they can't live without each other so they have to live together. "Your mission, as the mayor to this happy melting pot" says Renaud "is to minimise social tension between the various groups." So how do you go about doing this? Well theres loads of ways: "one of them consists of making sure all citizen needs are satisfied, because happy citizens do not enter conflict". Sound easy? Nop! Its expensive, different groups have different needs and it only gets worse as the city grows! The other way to deal with disturbances is with SWAT teams.

"There are many ways to handle social tension in the game, and I will not detail them all... but my personal favorite is probably providing education & a social ladder allowing citizens to progress".

Thats our interview, hopefully you will have picked up some tips and useful info. To read the full interview click read more. Many thanks to Renaud Boclet for answering our questions and hopefully the questions of the community.

Sony has created a replica of the PS3 for comparison purposes with the Xbox 360. Gamesradar has posted images (though only very small thumbnails) of the PS3 and Xbox 360 side by side. The difference between the two can clearly be seen. Check out the link below:

GamesRadar

There has been an unconfirmed report that Microsoft will slash the price of the Xbox 360 from $399 to $299 in time for the release of the Playstion 3. The cost cutting is a possibility for Microsoft as the xbox 360 has now been in production for a while and apparently wastage has been cut down and manufacturers are willing to take price cuts of up to 15%-20%.

Full article: Digitimes

< Thats was my initial responce.

Yes, according to the AMD website and a number of other sources the two giants are planning on merging pending on acceptance from ATI shareholders. The deal is set to be worth $5.4 billion. The merging of these two giants will obviously put increased pressure on Nvidia who where getting a clear lead on ATI graphics cards with ATI failing to deliver its dual graphics card technology and fasing increased scrutiy from games experts around the internet. AMD has also recently been under scrutiny after Intel released their Core Duo 2, a very high performance processor for a very competitve price. Look out for further news stories looking into how this is going to impact the games and computer processor market.