me@MTV: Two stories you heard about? Mario and Sonic and Elite
This entry was posted on 3/28/2007 5:35 PM and is filed under DS matters,Console Wars,Xbox 360,Wii Surprises,MTV News.
Honestly, there's not much to see here if you've been following big gaming news. But sometimes I do have to cover the really obvious stories. It just works that way.
There's the news that Mario and Sonic, which I tried to add a little something to by noting that Mario and Sonic actually have been in games together before.
Though "Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games" is the first official team-up of Nintendo and Sega's most famous characters, there have been a couple of unauthorized mash-ups. In 2005, a fan-made game called "SmashGpsp" took the unauthorized step of porting the Nintendo 64 fighting game "Super Smash Bros." to Sony's PlayStation Portable and then opened the game up to allow -- again, unauthorized -- fights between Mario, Sonic and other companies' characters. Code for a game called "Somari," which lets Mario run through levels based on the first "Sonic the Hedgehog," has also floated around the Web. The game most assuredly does not have an Official Nintendo Seal, nor one from Sega.
And then there's my story on the Xbox 360 Elite in which I reported the expected product info but tried to get something new about the 360 not being as obviously more affordable than the PS3
One of Microsoft's hype advantages over Sony's PS3 until now has been that the best version of a console that runs cutting-edge titles such as "Gears of War" and, soon, "Halo 3" costs $100 less than even the cheaper model of the PS3. With the new unit, Microsoft would seem to be forgoing that talking point. "That's an excellent point, but I'd reintroduce my friends Mr. Pro and Mr. Core to the argument," [Xbox 360 group product manager John] Rodman said, referring to the $400 and $300 versions of the Xbox 360 (the latter does lack a hard drive and comes with a wired controller). "I feel the debate is where it was before this announcement. We have price points that are considerably lower than theirs, and with this [version] we are offering twice as much storage space as they are. ... The sum of the parts is greater than the whole."
And then tried to get an answer on one not-so-favorite issue with Xbox 360 hardware.
Gamers have asked for bigger storage, which the Elite now delivers. Others have asked for a quieter 360. The console's disc drive is noticeably louder when a game disc is spinning in it than the PS3 and previous Xbox were. Rodman said the Elite would not be addressing that issue. "There's nothing in this one that is noticeable or any different."
Oh well. At least consider yourself up to speed.
Moving on...
