Thanks to GamesIndustry.biz for its story mentioning Microsoft's indication that dropping Xbox's price to $149 has caused sales to double for the week immediately following the announcement. However, the piece muses: "The question, however, is just how long the sales boost will last - with some analysts suggesting that the 'bounce' isn't sustainable. Certainly, there are many factors which suggest that Microsoft will cut the Xbox price again before Christmas 2004." In addition to this, there's speculation about competition: "All eyes are now on rival Sony, with sources close to the Japanese giant suggesting that it plans to drop the US PS2 price point to $149 later this month - and will add two games (as yet unnamed) to the bundle as well, bringing the effective price of the hardware below the Xbox."

Thanks to Wired News for its article analyzing the commercial potential of the trade in MMO virtual items, focusing on Internet Gaming Entertainment (IGE), of which CEO Brock Pierce claims "has more than 100 full-time employees in Hong Kong and the United States... [and] is hiring about five new people a week." Pierce also makes claims that: "In this industry, it's eBay and us... we're the major players", and elsewhere, a Sony Online spokesperson "is aware of IGE and has spoken with the company" with regard to their EverQuest item sales, concluding: "At this point, we're still sort of trying to decide what direction the company's going to move in on this topic." We've previously covered the financial dealings of IGE.

Thanks to Video-Fenky for translating a Japanese editorial from Famitsu Magazine discussing the future of videogame magazines, as Enterbrain president Hirokazu Hamamura muses: "With the Internet as widespread as it is, many people don't think we need game magazines at all -- after all, you can get the latest information right on the Net." But he argues for the "...real charm of your basic [paper-based] magazine news feature: it takes plain old news and turns it into something you don't mind sitting down and reading for a long time." He also suggests that game reviewers have to contend with much more targeted genres, suggesting: "The marketing tactics behind narrowing down target audiences [for specific games] will become the first step in game creation, not the last... Once that happens, game reviews based on the likes and dislikes of the reviewer will become meaningless."

Simon Bysshe writes "Intel have just put online my latest film for them about competitive computer gaming, featuring a Counter-Strike match between Four Kings & the world's #1 Counter-Strike team Schroet Kommando. The movie includes pre-game interviews, animated tactical rundowns, live 'shoutcasted' games & finally a post-match analysis, and has already been downloaded over 40,000 times - we're trying to establish gaming as an entertaining spectator sport."

galtish writes "M. Schrag has put together an amazing PC stat tracking system called 'Soul Calimeter' for use with the GameCube version of fighting game Soul Calibur II. The software is as yet unreleased, but uses a cheap video capture card to analyze the video feed from the console and create a stat database. It's not just stats, there's also a web browser-based front-end for analyzing the stats and starting circuit matches, and voice synthesis using AT&T Natural Voices for in-game commentaries on the action. His website includes pics of the stats screens, and samples of the synthesized audio commentary. Pretty sweet - I'd love something like this for the weekly Halo LAN matches..."

Thanks to LoonyBlog for its entry discussing classic games that could be converted to the Game Boy Advance, but are unfortunately not likely to appear, since "the Game Boy Advance is an almost exclusively franchise driven platform." The writer points out: "I think the GBA could have some amazing classic games ported to it, although the failure (apparently a spectacular failure at that) of the Blizzard Classic Arcade line pretty much means we'll never see many of them", and singles out commercial releases of Sam N' Max Hit The Road ("has a point n' click interface that would translate well to the GBA"), Heroes Of Might & Magic III ("its bright and colorful style would make for a beautiful GBA game"), and Ys Book I & II ("really an 8-bit game at its core") as top of his wishlist. What would you like to see officially available on GBA?

An anonymous reader writes "John Woo has optioned Nintendo's best-selling video game franchise Metroid for the big screen, says The Hollywood Reporter. Woo will produce the sci-fi movie and has the option to direct. The plan is to release the first film before 2006. The movie will center on the origins of the game's female protagonist, sexy bounty hunter Samus Aran, and relate her adventures battling the insidious life-sucking Metroids and their controlling force, Mother Brain."

Steve Wallach writes "ABC News on line is reporting that surgeons that play video games at least three hours a week make 37% fewer mistakes in laparoscopic surgery and complete the surgery 27% faster than their non-video game playing colleagues. '"I use the same hand-eye coordination to play video games as I use for surgery," said Dr. James "Butch" Rosser, 49, who demonstrated the results of his study Tuesday at Beth Israel Medical Center.'"

Thanks to Skotos.net for its article discussing the problems of perfect 'Mary Sue' characters in online MUD/MUSH environments. The author starts by explaining: "Mary Sue is what, in writing, is called an author avatar, wherein the writer creates an idealized version of him/herself and sticks the resulting character into the story." But as this is part of playing games, what's the big deal? It's argued: "The herd of people trampling over each other to be the most at something, be it beauty, wealth, or grotesqueness, is going to affect everyone else's characters. For starters, if the standard for beauty has been raised so high that pretty people are average, the average characters are now ugly. If the standard for wealth goes from a million dollars to a trillion, the millionaires are the new middle class. It messes with the game's dynamic, and that's bound to make people who are trying to create reasonable and balanced characters cranky."

jvm writes "Remember StarROMs, the company selling legal Atari ROM downloads for a few bucks a piece? They're still around and Curmudgeon Gamer posted an interview with StarROMs co-founder Frank Leibly. Have they been successful so far? How can they possibly expect to compete with free downloads? Are they giving money to MAME as promised? And why has their listing of games dropped from about 60 games to just over 50? It's all here. (Slashdot covered their initial launch late last year, and Slashdot Games recently also recounted a different discussion with Leibly.)"

Dan L writes "In celebration of the 10th Anniversary of the classic Elder Scrolls PC RPG series (Arena, Daggerfall, Morrowind, yada, yada..), Bethesda has offered up the original DOS version of The Elder Scrolls: Arena for free download. Also, there is a rather cool contest to win some original game art, or some top of the line video cards and sound gear."

Anonymous Coward writes "Arcades may be a dying breed, so it's a good thing the crusty hotels around the world haven't put the axe to their old game rooms. An article at X-Entertainment provides a lighthearted review of one of the worst hotel arcades out there, featuring broken video games and enough stains to make every joystick in the place off limits."

Thanks to Stratics for publishing its Golden Cog Awards for 2003, honoring "the very best of 2003's Massive Multiplayer titles... chosen through the votes of literally hundreds of Stratics staffers." Interesting or unexpected choices include Codemaster's Dragon Empires as 'Best Beta' ("populated by creatures that thrive in their ecosystem by acts of migration and foraging"), eGenesis' A Tale In The Desert as 'Most Innovative' ("...a difficult game to classify because of its pioneering nature"), and overall, Final Fantasy XI as 'MMOG Of The Year' ("...attention to detail, and a great community.")

Thanks to GameSpy for its interview with Ion Storm's Harvey Smith, announcing his departure from the Deus Ex developer. Smith was "project director of Deus Ex: Invisible War and lead designer on the award winning Deus Ex", and says of his departure: "I am super excited about the possibility of creating a new studio. I've wanted to do this for years. I need a change of pace." The interview also confirms a story relayed yesterday via Blue's News, that the (unrelated) Randy Smith "is no longer the lead designer on Thief: Deadly Shadows, Ion Storm's upcoming installment in the stealthy series", somewhat surprising considering the proximity of the release date, set for mid-May.

Thanks to the IGDA for its 'Ivory Tower' article discussing whether the creative training for game developers is being taught alongside the technical specifics in university and other educational programs. The article argues: "Vocationally-focused university programs and trade schools have jumped on the opportunity to supply the next set of technically trained personnel for the game industry... but who will supply the next set of visionaries and artists?" The author goes on to suggest: "In large part, education for the game industry is a predictably useful business... what we need in the game industry are technically competent developers, artists, and designers who are fundamentally versed in the rich subtleties of human experience." Can this kind of game design vision be formally taught?

Thanks to GameSpot for its coverage of a panel discussion at Stanford University named '2010 Game Odyssey - Visions of Electronic Gaming', and discussing "the industry's need to further establish itself as a form of mainstream entertainment." Different participants had starkly separate views, as Doug Lowenstein of the ESA (Entertainment Software Association) opened "...by criticizing the 'narrow-mindedness' of many digital entertainment companies, arguing that 'they still don't understand how the demographic has shifted... we're a victim of our terminology - people tend to pigeonhole us as toys...people don't appreciate [games] as an art.'" However, Jeff Brown of Electronic Arts "...pointed out that 'when you are playing games, you are not watching Viacom [television],' Brown concluded, 'I think we're feared.' Brown argued against the stigma that adults are 'outgrowing' games and instead suggested that the steep decline in gamers over the age of 37 simply demarcates the first generation that grew up with the medium."

Thanks to 1UP for its story discussing UbiSoft's announcement of Myst IV Revelation, revealing the "...fourth single-player installment in the series... in development at its Montreal studio." UbiSoft has "very little to say about the game as yet", but it seems developers of Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time are bringing their expertise to the franchise, most recently faltering a little with series creator Cyan's Uru: Ages Beyond Myst. Elsewhere, fansite URU Obsession has discovered hidden linking panels in Uru, possibly not intended for use in the game, but including a picture of the library from the first Myst game (though posters note "some differences from the original Myst library".)

Ooobles writes "The main Open Source Playstation 2 developer site, ps2dev.org, is now three years old. And much like a three year old, it wants attention - it's now promoting its achievements, and asking, what next? Having never been recognized by Sony, it's wondering if or when Sony will allow commercial games developers to join the community." The site explains that "...the ps2dev community have created open source tools which allow developers to use nearly every aspect of the Playstation 2", and also mentions there's a major multi-part PS2 demo in progress for the Breakpoint 2004 demo party to be held later this week in Germany.

Chris Cavanaugh writes "Classic Gamer Magazine, a retro-themed game mag, relaunches today with all-new content and a revamped writing staff. Each issue will now be published bi-monthly as a Portable Document File (PDF) for free download at www.classicgamer.com. The magazine's talented and knowledgeable staff includes writers with credits at Salon.com, Game Room Magazine, GameSpot, TechTV, All Game Guide, and Comic Buyer's Guide." Formerly a longrunning paper magazine, the issue looks excellent for a free PDF download.

Thanks to Eurogamer for its coverage of a THQ-sponsored press trip to Russia to preview GSC's forthclming PC first-person shooter. Since the game is "based on the premise that you've gone to explore the 20km 'exclusion zone' of Chernobyl", this has led to some odd preview publicity, as the writer notes: "When they invited us on a cheery tour to go and see Chernobyl for fun, we knew something had gone awry in our lives. Stranger still, during the press conference to promote the much anticipated mutate 'em up S.T.A.L.K.E.R, they wheeled one of the men responsible for the tragedy. I didn't know whether to laugh or throw things." There's also an interview with one of the developers on Eurogamer regarding this September-bound title, but it's concluded that S.T.A.L.K.E.R, with its impressive visuals, is "...shaping up to be one of the scariest, most original takes on the increasingly tired FPS genre."