Props and Flops // Jan. 11-17

Props

• Halo Wedding: Steven Totilo of MTV Multiplayer reports that a Halo themed wedding successfully took place starring bride Desirai Labrada and groom John Henry.
  
  

  "The bride entered to the “Halo 3″ menu music. The backdrop of the ceremony was a basic recreation of the “Halo” map Ivory Tower. The groom had his “Halo” emblem on his tie; hers was on her dress sleeves. Their wedding favors were made to look like plasma grenades. And instead of being pronounced “man and wife,” Desirai and John were declared “teammates for life.”"
  

  
  Congrats to the teamates and may they have a prosperous and fun life together!
  
  
• Incognito's meeting with Sony goes "great": Incognito Entertainment's (Warhawk, Twisted Metal) Dylan Jobe can rest peacefully after having what he called a "great" presentation to the Sony overlords. Seems like they're working on a new game and it may be a story-heavy single-player experience. Interesting. Other than that, they're farther away from the guillotine during Sony's tough times. Good for them and gamers.

• Capcom's awesome Resident Evil 5 CE: After announcing the cool collectors edition for upcoming Street Fighter IV, Capcom has followed up with another. The CE for RE5 will include (aside from the awesome game) a Tricell messenger bag, Chris Redfield figurine, BSAA patch, Kijuju-inspired pendant, and a bonus disc.
  
  If there's one thing I like more than extra stuff, its extra-stuff I'll never use. Though the price seems good on this one and the African pendant is a plus.
  
  
• Nintendo sets new sales records in Europe: Numbers are pretty self-explanatory. And Nintendo does a lot of them. In 2008 they sold upwards to 8.3 million Wiis in Europe, a 58% increase over 2007. The console now has an installed based of over 14.7 million.
  
  The money train doesn't stop there though, as the DS sold 11.2 million (31 million overall) units last year, which now settles in as the most annual sales for a game system ever.
  
  Remember, this is only Europe folks, and its taking over like the Chimera in Resistance: Fall of Man. Man, I wish I invested in Nintendo stock during the GameCube era.

Flops

• Forbes editor claims that Rock Band copied Guitar Hero: Coupled with the ass-kissing of Activision founder Bobby Kotick, the writer makes an ignorant remark regarding the music/rhythm genre war.
  
  

  "EA also teamed with MTV to sell Rock Band, a shameless knockoff of Guitar Hero that added drums, bass and a microphone to the world of make-believe rock stars. EA says it is returning to an "auteur model" of designing games, taking bigger chances on fewer ideas."
  

  
  Someone needs to tell this dude that most of the Rock Band team (Harmonix) created Guitar Hero in the first place. Not only that, they innovated by first implementing multiple intruments. I don't give all the creadit to them though, since Konami basically fathered the genre. But that's another story for another day.
  
  
• Madden 09 fails to calculate SuperBowl contenders: The guys at EndSights held two simulation playoff games for the AFC and NFC championship bouts . According to Madden, the Philadelphia Eagles will defeat the Arizona Cardinals and the Baltimore Ravens will barely edge out the Pittsburgh Steelers.
  
  See, I wanted Philly to go because McNabb is due for a ring, but the Cards "shocked the world" and will be representing the NFC in the SuperBowl. Steelers were a favorite for the AFC game and Joe Wacco's saftey net (B-more's defense) seemed exhausted.
  
  So, Madden, good job at failed stat simulation. Hopefully you can get the SuperBowl right.
  
  
• Teacher faces jail for sending lewd texts to minor via WoW: Lynn Wells, 42, is a teacher in the UK. She's also a World of Warcraft player and a level 60 pedo-mage. Not really, but she did send (wish I could read it) sexual messages to an underaged schoolboy while on WoW and is facing possible jail time for her "wicked" acts.
  
  

  "She then sent the boy, from London, a series of graphic texts in November 2007 which outlined what she intended to do with him if they met.
  

  She was caught out when his father read them."

  
  This one might be a prop if she was...you know...hot. But she's more lilke Judy Dench than than Cate Blanchett from the movie Notes on a Scandal.
  

Hybrids

• Killzone 2 press kit sells for $589: If you didn't know Sony has sent review copies of KZ2 to journalists worldwide. One of these guys/gals put it on eBay for auction.  It was soon taken down due to site policies, but subsequently popped-up again for sale. The kit then sold for 400 euros (approx. $589). Wow.
  Props for the journalist's hustle. Flops for the buyer's patience.
  
  
• Metroid Prime port headed to Wii: Why? First Resident Evil 4, then REmake, now Metroid Prime. Metroid Prime (not because of the name!) is a classic and should be left alone to marinate in all its nostalgic glory. But then again, the more people who play this AMAZING game, the better.
  
  The port will offer the signature wii-mote and nunchuck control scheme identacal to Prime 3, true widescreen, and "finer textures". Though right now there are only plans for a Japan release. Man, I'm torn on what to think about this one.
  
  
• Killzone 2 exclusive demo hoopla: It was reported earlier this month that GameStop would have an exclusive demo promotion for KZ2 via a necessary pre-order. My first impression was: cool, I'm going to pre-order it anyway. But then it occured to me that it won't be available to those who don't plan on or can't get the game. Isn't that what demos are for?
  
  So Sony responds by stating that the intents of this move will promote more pre-orders and visibility. We'll see how this unique take on grass-roots advertising works.
  
  What I'm pleased to hear is that the demo will be available to those who won't pre-order...the day before the game comes out. Pretty smart to an extent, because those are mostly the folks who aren't sold on it. But for those who just don't have the money and want some KZ2 goodness, you'll have to wait.