Kotaku: buyer beware

Bully: Scholarship Edition Sounds Like It Should've Been Held Back [UPDATE]

Michael McWhertor — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 17:40:00 MST

Canis canum edit? More like caveat emptor, kids. We're hearing the Xbox 360 version of Rockstar Games' Bully: Scholarship Edition could stand a few more weeks in the lab, according to reports of bugginess from unsatisfied owners of the game. Reports of game killing lock-ups and audio glitches abound at message boards across the internet, with a handful of readers writing in to vent about their own issues.

Word from the official Xbox forums indicate frequent freezing, resulting in lost gameplay time, amid bouts of skipping audio. Add to that a choppy framerate for the PlayStation 2 port and you have a bunch of unhappy customers. Kotaku reader Matt was plenty pissed to have lost a good portion of his own progress when the game locked up, forcing a reset.

We've contacted Rockstar reps for clarification, but haven't heard back as of publish time.

UPDATE: We received a statement from Rockstar Games, which can be seen here.

R*'s PATHETIC port job: Bully 360 freezing (among other glitches) [NeoGAF - thanks, Matt!]

Rock Band Guitar Controllers Failing

Michael McWhertor — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 17:40:00 MST

Oh, goodie. I've yet to take my Rock Band gear out of the box, but plenty of you have and are now experiencing hardware problems with the included Fender Stratocaster controller. The majority of the problems reported on the official Rock Band community forums indicate that the controller's "down strum" simply won't register or will double register notes after a few hours of playing. Some are reporting bad hardware right out of the box, but general user feedback indicates a progressive issue.

Official response on the forums has been that users experiencing hardware problems should recheck their connections and restart the game. If Rock Band hardware is still failing, users are being directed to EA's warranty page, to request a replacement controller. Good luck and godspeed, replacement guitars.

The OFFICIAL "One of my Instruments is Already Broken" Thread [Rock Band Forums - thanks, All!]
Rock Band Warranty [EA]

The Gamestop Nintendogs Bundle For Bitches

Michael McWhertor — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 16:40:00 MST

Apparently the Gamestop corporation believes that the recently announced Nintendo DS bundles, featuring fancy new color schemes and packing-in of Nintendogs and Phantom Hourglass, will be in short supply. To wit, they've bundled in a bunch of things you probably aren't going to want when looking for a rose colored DS. For example, three copies of essentially the exact same game, plus one attempted bite of the other three with poorer production values.

For the low price of $249.96, you can walk away with three copies of Nintendogs and single copy of Petz Dogs 2. With sucker production rates now at one per minute, it's sure to find at least one rube with enough room on the credit card. Warn friends and family who won't know any better!

Nintendo DS Lite Nintendogs Bundle [Gamestop - thanks, Jeff!]

Some Guitar Hero Bundles Lack The Bundle

Mark Wilson — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 13:20:58 MST

Apparently some Guitar Hero III bundles are missing the game. As reported by our sister site The Consumerist, an EB Games employee looked on as his manager opened every Xbox 360 GH3 bundle box they had following a customer complaint, finding that none of them had the game inside.

The kicker? Due to EB Games policy, the customer couldn't return the product (even in light of certain evidence). Shame on EB Games? Yeah, but bigger shame on the customer for giving in. Unless, of course, the guy was lying and the missing games were just an incredible coincidence. Buyers beware. Open GH3 in the store or suffer from a potentially lethal mix of bad luck and assholedom.

Open Guitar Hero III Inside The Store, Some Boxes May Be Empty [via gaygamer]

Assassin's Creed For PS3 Seeing Lock Ups, "White Screen Of Death"

Michael McWhertor — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 17:30:33 MST

Irate PlayStation 3 owners are reporting a host of technical problems with their copies of Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed, writing of frame rate problems, screen tearing, geometry clipping and game-stopping lock ups on the official game forums. Most reports from those affected by "white screens of death" are writing that they're using firmware 2.0, specifying so at the request of official Ubisoft forum managers. In addition to a thread dedicated to the PS3's freezing issues, a consolidated bug/glitch thread is currently receiving plenty of responses.

Similar postings have appeared on the official PlayStation 3 and Gamespot forums, with a few Kotaku tipsters warning us of the game's graphical and loading glitches. We're waiting to hear further information from Ubisoft, but would urge caution and research for potential Assassin's Creed buyers.

For PS3 Users Experiencing Freezing Issues In Assassin's Creed. [Ubisoft - thanks, Lasse]

Wii Remote Rip-offs Spied At Wal-Mart

Michael McWhertor — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 19:20:36 MDT

The folks at Nintendo must be simply beaming with pride at the Tilt(?) company's ode to the famous Wii remote. These motion sensing handheld games are clearly the sincerest form of flattery, but at the humble budget price of $6.88. Reader Nick sent us a pair of low-fidelity shots of the trio of games—baseball, basketball and racing—which not only clearly rip-off Nintendo's design, they probably fly in the face of various patents. It's going to be a very sad Christmas for whomever is on the receiving end of these sad devices.

Gamestop, EB Only Selling Zelda Bundled Online

Michael McWhertor — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 17:00:37 MST

Putting the "special" back in specialty retailer, Gamestop (aka EBgames) is not only bundle-screwing their customers to the tune of $700 if they want to order a Nintendo Wii from them, they're not even selling The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess online unless you order a Wii bundle.

That $700 Wii bundle will net you six games, including The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Trauma Center: Second Opinion, Red Steel, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz and Madden NFL 2007, plus a 1 GB SD card, second Wii-mote, a Game Informer subscription, and a handy product replacement plan.

My opinion? Don't buy. With an estimated 4 million units shipping before the end of the year, I have a hard time believing you, Joe Consumer, won't be able to walk into Target, a Best Buy, a Circuit City, and score one, along with games you actually want. Rage against the bundle machine! Don't let the Man dictate what you buy!

So angry right now. Seriously, why do you people shop at these places? Surly, often grossly misinformed employees forced to push used games, strategy guides, and replacement plans, plus scornful looks and venomous reprimands from the staff when I don't pre-order a game ahead of time—it plainly sucks. Michael McWhertor

GameStop.com selling Zelda only with Wii bundle [Gamespot]