EA apologises over football anthem blunder [MCV][Pic=BBC]

Top Films To Arrive In Xbox 360TM Owners' Living Rooms This Christmas Movies such as 300, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Good German and much more available to download LONDON - 4 December 2007 - Following the huge success of Xbox LIVE™ Marketplace Video Store in the US, where it has changed the way Xbox 360™ owners view and enjoy video, Microsoft® today announced that Xbox LIVE Marketplace Video Store will open for business in the UK on 11th December.

Xbox 360 owners will be able to rent full-length films such as 300, The Good German, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from as little as 250 Microsoft Points (*ERP £2) for Standard Definition movies and from 380 Microsoft Points (*ERP £3.20 [1]) for High Definition movies. This is in addition to over 100 music videos currently available to download from partners Ministry of Sound, Sony BMG, PIAS and Vid Zone.

With this launch, Xbox LIVE Marketplace becomes the first video on demand service to be available in six countries - US, Canada, UK, Ireland, France and Germany - and cements its place as the worldwide leader in online distribution of high-definition gaming and entertainment content.

Robin Truchy, Director of Xbox LIVE for Europe, Microsoft Entertainment and Devices Division, commented: "Xbox Live Marketplace Video Store in Europe is all about adding to the ever-expanding number of entertainment choices that our consumers have on their Xbox 360. We want to give them the entertainment they want, in the format they want, when they want it and at an affordable price. We were already offering HD games, HD music videos and the option to enjoy HD-DVD format films, now we are offering HD movies to download and rent as well. This is very exciting for us and the consumer."

"Providing consumers with more choices and improving the movie experience at home is at the heart of Warner Bros. Digital Distribution's strategy and we're delighted to support Xbox Live for the European launch of their Video On Demand service" said Marc Gareton, Warner Bros. Digital Distribution Senior Vice President International." Microsoft has built a very successful platform, in both Standard Definition and High Definition, and we are happy to make it a home for our movies."

Arash Amel, Senior Analyst, Head of Broadband Media, Screen Digest, commented: "As Hollywood turns its attention towards selling digital copies of its blockbuster movies, the delivery of movie content over the open internet has become a key battleground for a broad range of service providers. Screen Digest predicts that the total European movie download market will be worth €350m by 2012, up from €17m in 2007[2]. The Xbox LIVE Marketplace Video Store, as the first multi-territory hardware-based online movie delivery service in Europe, is expected to be a European market leader for movie downloads. Consumers in both the US and Europe have already made it abundantly clear that they are reluctant to watch two-hour long films on their PC, instead preferring to view them on personal devices or most preferably devices that can provide a link to their large-screen living room TVs and home entertainment systems."

Xbox 360 gamers in the launch countries can access Xbox Live Marketplace Video Store with either an Xbox Live Silver or Gold membership and a broadband connection. More information about the content available on Xbox LIVE Marketplace Video Store can be found at: www.xbox.com

Examples of Launch Titles on Xbox LIVE Marketplace Video Store[3]:

UK/Ireland
300
HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE
HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS
ZODIAC
MATRIX, THE
MATRIX REVOLUTIONS, THE
MATRIX RELOADED, THE
OCEAN'S ELEVEN
PERFECT STORM, THE
SWORDFISH
THREE KINGS
TRAINING DAY
FUGITIVE, THE
RISKY BUSINESS
SPACE COWBOYS
EYES WIDE SHUT
ANALYZE THIS
DEMOLITION MAN
ERASER
EXECUTIVE DECISION
LETHAL WEAPON 3
LETHAL WEAPON 4
LOONEY TUNES: BACK IN ACTION
MARS ATTACKS!
CLASH OF THE TITANS
SUPERMAN III
DEAD CALM
-Ends-

If you look at FIFA 08, on its first weekend the PS3 numbers were 75 percent of the Xbox 360 numbers, despite the 360 having a massively higher install base. That's not that the 360 has underperformed, not for a moment. That's because the appetite for a quality game on the PS3 is there and maybe FIFA is the first game to come and show where the quality is. I think PS3 consumers are waiting for the right game and they want to see the quality.

The course is open to only 25 students annually, each of whom will have achieved a minimum of a 2.1 in Computer Science or a related degree. Students meeting these requirements will be required to sit an interview as part of the selection process. The course features modules delivered by world class researchers taken from TCD research groups including the graphics vision and visualisation group. The second half of the year-long course will focus on individual research on a chosen dissertation topic and contribution to a significant group project developing a complete application (e.g. a game). Students will be encouraged to build a portfolio of work and enter international competitions such as Microsoft's Imagine Cup.

Applications for Fall '07 enrollment close at the end of July, and the program will begin in October.

Trinity College partners with industry to launch new video game masters degree

When not out lounging by the pool at the Four Seasons, pina colada in hand, I'll be making time with any number of portable games I'll have on hand. From Mario Vs. Donkey Kong 2 to Brain Age to Trauma Center, I'll be making sweet gaming music with my Nintendo DS. If I feel like mixing it up, maybe I'll throw in some Exit for the PSP. Maybe I'll even remember to bring my copy of Diablo II, dispatching all manner of hellspawn while my body processes gallons of fresh Guinness.

Pity the other Kotaku editors, as they'll have to pick up the blogging slack in my absence. But enough about us. What have you got planned for the weekend? Hit the comments and let us know. Michael McWhertor

Game site Eurogamer reports that the Irish version of the PLAYSTATION 3 site is reporting that the upcoming 60GB version will be available at launch for EURO 629.99. The "cheaper" 20GB version, retailing at EURO 529.99, will not be available. For shock value, here's that in US dollars: $814.25 and $684.97.

And for those keeping score, Sony announced at last year's E3 that the PS3 would be priced at EURO 499/599. Before jumping to the snide "This is Living" and doom-saying, from what I vaguely remember, though, Florian bitched about Microsoft overcharging the Irish for the Xbox 360 as well. Brian Ashcraft

PS3 Higher For Ireland [Official Site via Games Industry]

Today, I went down to GAME on Dawson Street to pick up a copy of Bully, which has been released over in Ireland under the far inferior title Canis Canem Edit, because, as you all know, only the ancient tongue of philosophers and kings can accurately capture the spirit of a game about stink bombs, swirlies and atomic wedgies.

Everything was fine: I found Bully easily enough, brought it up to the counter and whipped out my credit card. But then the young whipper snapper scrutinized me.

"I need to see some ID, sir" he demanded. I considered grasping him by the lapels and swinging my hand back and forth in a devastating, sweeping arc across the pimply jowls of his blubbery face, shaking him awake again when he was on the verge of passing out. A Mike Hammer style bitch slap, as it were. But I quickly calmed down.

"I don't carry ID," I responded, truthfully.

"You don't carry ID?"

"I don't carry ID," I reaffirmed.

He couldn't believe it. "You don't carry ID?"

I started to repeat myself for a third time, then suddenly wheeled about in a bewildered double take. This freaked him out.

"Sir? Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think so: I just appear to have fallen through a rent in the fabric of time that sucked me back two seconds into the past," I explained. "I felt like I was endlessly repeating a conversation there for a moment. No worries. I seem to have escaped. Anyway, no, I don't have any ID on me: I don't have a license, and I left my passport at home."

He became apologetic. "Well, I'm sorry, sir, but I can't sell you this game without some identification. It's for ages 15 and older."

"Buddy, look at me: I'm practically 15 twice over."

"Well, looks can be deceiving, and this game has content not suitable for minors."

I was confused. "But just last week, I bought San Andreas from you guys. Then I took it home, ordered a hooker to blow me, and blew her head off with a sawed-off shotgun after she stepped out of the car . Then I took the car, drove it at a 100mph into a hospital, jumped out right before collision and shot the car with a bazooka for good measure. You didn't card me. What could Bully offer that's worse than that?"

The employee at GAME became conspiratorial. He leaned across the counter and, opening his eyes comically wide, whispered: "GAY. KISSING."

I feigned outrage. "What! Well, I never!" I shouted. Then I began walking around in a circle, ejaculating remarks I thought well indicative of moral outrage, such as "I'm calling my member of parliament!" and "There ought to be a law!" As sometimes happens when I go out in public, I suddenly found myself the focal point of a circle of bewildered, incredulously blinking stares.

I calmed down, thought for a second, then went back to talking to the GAME employee. "Look," I said soothingly. "I mean, I think swapping spit, let alone other fluids, with another man is as repugnant as you do. But how is gay kissing not appropriate for a 15 year old? I mean, we were both 15 once: gay kissing your buddies is the only way you get to practice how to kiss a real girl before the pressure's on and you're up at the plate, trying to hit your first homer... or, at the very least, a double. It's like how 12 year old straight girls strip down to their panties and practice cunnilingus and breast fondling on one another: it's just perfectly normal behavior for the staunch, morally upright youth who aspires to hetero excellence."

He couldn't argue with that logic. "Ummmmm...." he said. "Okay. Anyway, if you don't have ID, I still can't sell it to you, no matter how appropriate gay kissing is for kids. It's the policy of management." He raised his hands in the air, to indicate the power had been taken from him.

I didn't believe him; I decided to make one last ditch effort. "Boy!" I shouted in a tone of authoritarian command. "Look at me! In ancient Babylon did I tread; youthful was my gaze when it set upon the Lycean barques of yore. Old was I even when the first beasts writhed from the primordial ooze. Poets I have commanded to look upon my mighty works and despair; kings I have conquered; my wise lips have passed the eulogies of gods. Look upon me! The alpha! The omega! My name? Jehovah!"

I could have gone on like this for quite a while, but by this time the manager had wandered up. "Paudric," he sighed, rolling his eyes at me. "Just sell it to him already. He's like 27."

The point being: Jack Thompson was right. Bully is surprisingly easy for minors to purchase. Florian Eckhardt

I walked down a little while ago to hand them the twenty euros required as a deposit. I hadn't yet done this, though they'd signed me up for a preorder there anyway over the phone.

As I handed the guy behind the counter my 20 quid, he said: "Great! Now in December you only owe us another 250 euros!"

I got dangerous. "Hold the phone. What? The suggested retail price is 250 euros. I just gave you twenty."

"Well, yes, but that's for Europe. Our VAT is higher."

I'm sorry, this shit stinks. As you may or may not know, VAT is the exorbitant regressive tax (ie: a tax that extracts more money from those with low income than it does from those with high income) that Europeans have to pay on every purchase. In Europe, it is an average 16.5%. In Ireland, it is 21%.

Okay, I'll pay your Mickey Mouse Socialist Tax, you fuckin' rat bastard commies. But let's see who's getting gouged here. European VAT is 16.5%, which is 4.5% less than Irish VAT. So, at most, I should be paying 4.5% more than the average cheese-sniffing Frenchie or Bratwurst-flossing German. 16.5% of 250 euros if 42.25. That means that 20 euros is actually almost twice as much as the difference in VAT.

You know, it's not like I can't afford an extra 10 or 20 euros. Hell, that's less than my daily booze allowance. But there's a reason Europeans complain about the price of consoles and games and it's because we're constantly getting gouged on shit like this. Being a gamer in this country is more expensive than heroin. Florian Eckhardt

Consider this: last week, I wandered down to GAME on Dawson Street in Dublin and asked if they were accepting pre-orders. "No," they replied, "We're registering interest."

I still have no idea what the hell that means, but I registered my interest and was told I'd get a call on Monday, which would basically allow me to upgrade my interest to a pre-order. They're offering bundles, mostly, which is fair enough: Zelda is one of them, and that (along with Red Steel) is one of the only couple of launch titles I actually care about.

Monday afternoon? I get a call from the manager of GAME and for about thirty euros down payment, he upgrades me to a pre-order. As I did when the DS Lite came out, I ask him if there's any chance I won't get a Wii on launch day. His response: "I flat out guarantee you'll get one. We'll have tons."

I find this fascinating because it completely flies in the face of similar attempts to pre-order consoles in the States. Of course, Ireland doesn't have many specialty game stores, and it only has 3 million people. Even so, I just find it amazing to live in a country where a pre-order isn't some nebulous half-promise, but a 100% guarantee of satisfaction.

Of course, then again, it's not like I'm trying to pre-order the PS3 here. Florian Eckhardt

I took this picture on my little mobile phone on Friday with the aim of posting it with some pithy analysis. It is a sign from the local GAME on Dawson Street, Dublin, Ireland.

I meant to make some sort of snarky comment about how GAME went to great lengths not to use the word 'preorder' on the sign, because there was just no damn way anyone was going to be guaranteed a PS3 on launch day. "Register your interest?" What the fuck does that mean? Why would I?

But, of course, the sign seems ridiculous for entirely different reasons now that we all know no one in Europe will be getting a PS3 for another six months. Florian Eckhardt

Over the weekend, I went down to GAME on Dawson Street. At the counter, I had a small discussion with this man, pictured to the right. Notice that he is wearing a Brain Age t-shirt.

"I'd like to exchange these games for a game that doesn't suck," I said, flinging Brain Age and Sonic Rush on the counter with a contemptuous flick of my otherwise limp wrist.

"You didn't like them?" he asked.

"No. They're terrible. Anyone who likes them is an idiot. That goes for Mr. Precious Brian 'Brain Age 20' Crecente too."

"What didn't you like about them?"

"Well, Sonic is as terrible as any of the Sonic games have been ever since furries started wanking off to the franchise. And I don't particularly like zooming through levels so fast that I can't even see what just hit me. As for Brain Age, I was bored within thirty seconds. It should be called 'Grandma: The "Game"'. I'd like to put a pistol in Dr. Kahashima's smug, chortling face and pull the trigger until I hear 'click click'. Jack Thompson can quote me on that. What the fuck kind of game can't understand the word 'blue'?"

"Brew. BREW. BUH-REW," my anonymous buddy happily intoned. I like the guy, so I decided not to slap his mouth shut. And I'm glad I didn't, because then he explained the Kotaku Effect.

"You know, after you bought the DS Lites here for that contest, we got a lot of phone calls," he said. "What was the question you asked?"

"Oh, I dunno. Crecente made something ridiculous up. Multiply the circumference of the earth by the number of racist references in Loco Roco times the price of a draft of Guinness divided by the square route of Yahweh's true name mathematically expressed and divided by Pi to the 15,000th place." I spat on the floor, as I do whenever Crecente's name is invoked. "I didn't get it."

"You asked about the price of a pint? That explains it: we got a lot of Americans calling, demanding to know the price of a pint of Guinness across the street."

This surprised me: "Wow. How many?"

The GAME employee began counting on his digits, then rolled his eyes up to the heavens as if the number were too innumerable to count. "I don't know. DOZENS! Some of them were girls..." He intoned the word with mystical dread; knowing Eliza, I sympathized.

Anyway, there appears to be a vast clamoring horde of Kotaku readers who wanted to know the price of a pint of Guinness in Ireland, rounded up to the nearest dollar. Well, for the record, pints of Guinness generally cost between 3.80 and 4.20. The pint I purchase was made at Slattery's in Rathmines, and cost 3.80. Translated at the Oanda.com exchange rate for that day, it's about $4.94, or rounded up to the nearest dollar, five bucks.

The Black DS Lite that we'll be giving away to the grand prize winner of our string of DS Lite Give-Away contests is now in our grubby, greedy little hands, just waiting to be mailed off to some lucky gamer!

If you care about anything more than the fact that this time we've definitely got one to give away, the entire exciting account after the jump. If not, make sure you enter this week's contest for a chance to win the Black DS Lite!

You might remember our last Nintendo DS Lite contest, in which Brian Ashcraft was meant to secure a fresh new Japanese DS Lite for one lucky Kotakuite mere moments after release. In what would be a single moment in time summarizing his entire life from birth to blogger, Ashcraft abjectly failed. So the winner of our first DS Lite contest went months without getting their beautiful little toy and as proof of his penance, Ashcraft was forced to chop off the tip of his pinky with a ginsu knife and mail it off to Crecente, who promptly tore open the UPS box and devoured the rotting but well manicured morsel. It was a grisly fiasco.

Tasked with purchasing a Black DS Lite in Dublin to send off to the grand prize winner of our current Kotaku DS Lite Give-Away, I was not eager to repeat Ashcraft's mistakes, nor emulate his incompetence. So two weeks ago, I went down to GAME on Dawson Street, slapped 60 on the table and pre-ordered three Black DS Lites. One for Kotaku, one for me, one for Joel Johnson to sell on eBay after a preliminary temper tantrum about the price when translated from Euros to American Dubyos.

"Okay, so I'm pre-ordering three. So they're definitely going to be here, right?" I asked one pallid Dawson Street GAME drone.

"Definitely."

"Absolutely?"

"Positively."

But I still didn't trust him, so I called over the manager and posed the same question. He also promised me that there was "no way" that I wouldn't have three shimmering ebony DS Lites in my possession on the morning of the 23rd.

I squinted my eyes dangerously: "Okay..." I said. "I believe you. But I think it's only fair to warn you that I am a man with a gross predilection for insane acts of crippling physical violence. I'm a blogger. I'm motherfuckin' CRAZY. Are you familiar with Mario?"

The manager's face went pale, his adam's apple quivered. After a dry gulp, he nodded, eyes wide in terror. In retrospect, I don't know what I would have done if he didn't know Mario, but as he did, I channeled Denzel Washington from Training Day — spittle flying from my face, my hands doing an insane pantomime of the act of strangulation &mdash and proclaimed that S.O.B. Mario had nothing on me. What I was going for was the insinuation that I would jump on his head so hard that he'd crap out his entire spinal column, but I'm not quite sure how he translated it. Either way, the threat worked.

"Sir," he stuttered. "I promise you that there will be no problem."

But I still wanted to make sure that I kept my pinkies for Guitar Hero so I set my alarm for 4am so I could go and camp out in front of GAME in the gloam of launch day dawn. But then I slept through it, waking up only 15 minutes from store opening. Panicked, I rushed out the door, throwing a tweed jacket quickly over my Lil Red Devil pajamas.

But, as you can see from the photo gallery above, there was little to fear. Ireland, at least, had plenty of Black DS Lites to go around. Unlike the cannibalistic feeding frenzy of the Japanese launch, the only crowd that surrounded the Dawson Street GAME this morning was a collection of about five or six smelly and bedraggled gamers. Disappointing, really. As a man capable of insane acts of crippling physical violence, I was hoping that I'd at least need to do some eyeball gouging to secure one.

In fact, the whole of the Irish launch of the DS Lite was depressingly well handled. The staff at GAME were earnest, competent and friendly. They told me that although their company had sold-out of Nintendo DS Lites through pre-order nationally, they had spares to sell to people who walked in, even though they'd previously told me they'd only be selling them by pre-order. So if you're Irish and want a DS Lite, the Dawson Street shop is the one to go to.They were even nice enough to let me take a picture and post it on this blog. A swell bunch of guys.

You might notice that I included a picture of a used copy of Mario & Luigi 2 in the set. Why? Because every time I make a post claiming that game companies are ripping Europeans off, someone always enters the comment section to tell me I'm full of crap. Notice the price for a used copy of M&L2: 39.97. That's fifty dollars for a game that some joker has already gunked up with a slime comprised of cheese-and-onion crisp powder and human saliva. In comparison, it goes for new for $35 in the States. The Black DS Lite itself retails over here for 150. That's $190 each... almost 50% more expensive than it's US price.

Anyway, the bottom line is I'm now sitting on the Black DS Lite we'll be giving away at the end of next week. I've been playing (and drinking) with mine, and it's absolutely beautiful. One lucky Kotakuite should have it in their hands within the next couple weeks. Will it be you? Enter our two remaining DS Lite give-away contests and secure your chance to get it... from Ireland with love! Florian Eckhardt

Friday Night Lites Round 4: Rock and Roleplaying

"We have a marketing challenge from now until launch. This is not a done deal. It will require a lot of effort from us," O'Hanrahan said. "We would never say we cannot fail," he added.

He also added the puzzling observation that the PS3 competes with MP3 players. Also: "We noticed at E3 that games for PCs are back." Dude. They never went anywhere. FLORIAN ECKHARDT

PS3 faces tough competition, says Sony Ireland Boss [GamesIndustry.biz]

ThumbBot over on Idle Thumbs posts that Game.net is giving away a DS Lite that was signed by Shigeru Miyamoto. Unfortunately, the competition is only open to residents of the UK and the Republic of Ireland. OK Florian, here's your chance.

To enter you have to submit a picture you've taken of someone playing a handheld system in a weird place... like Dublin? Is it just me or is that signature NSFW? Brian Crecente

Win a DS Lite signed (and illustrated ) by Miyamoto! [Idle Thumbs]

GamesIndsutry reports that popular retailer, Gamestop, dropped the Giga Pack price from 214.99GBP down to 189.99GBP in Northern Ireland. The Giga Pack includes a PSP, stand, 1 gig memory stick and a USB cable. This price drop, according to Sony, is part of a promotion so snatch up a Giga Pack on the cheap while you can.

GameStop slashes price of PSP Giga Pack [GamesIndustry]

Following a dealio between British Telecom and Nintendo, Ireland's going to be bathed in NiWiFi. Irish users will be able to enjoy free WiFi at any of the 270 BT Openzone locations across the emerald isle. BT Openzone locations include O'Brien's sandwich bars, Hilton Hotels, Maxol Service Stations, Insomnia Coffee Shops (great name!) and BT Payphones. What a odd round-up of locals. "We believe the future for WiFi is that people will be able to access the internet, their corporate networks and their game consoles any time, anywhere using whatever device they have," said BT's Chris Clark. But, are they really expecting Irish gamers to hang out and play Mario Kart at the local gas station?

Full Story Here [SiliconRepublic]

Irish reader Conor McGee sends us a photo (see image) and these words from what he believes was the Irish version of Zero Hour: "This is, I believe, the extent of the Xbox 360 launch in Dublin, Ireland. Yes, it's a Smart car with a TV stuck on the back. It was playing PGR."

At least you didn't have to deal with the green lights and horrific headaches, right?