tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-128314832011-08-04T14:47:17.461-07:00Dean Takahashi and Mike Antonucci on the technology, culture and politics of video gamesSenior Web Editornoreply@blogger.comBlogger411100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12831483.post-1129852260800555132005-10-21T00:00:00.000-07:002005-10-20T16:51:00.810-07:00

San Jose Mercury News reporters Dean Takahashi and Mike Antonucci talk about their adventures at a gaming industry charity dinner.10 minutes5.8 MB

Senior Web Editornoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12831483.post-1118295261753357642005-06-08T22:31:00.000-07:002005-06-08T22:34:21.756-07:00

Well, if Apple can migrate to Intel, I guess we can try to migrate to a new blog site. The good news is that we're going to make the gaming blog a regular thing. The bad news is we have to point you to a new site. We're going to become part of a cool new set of entertainment blogs that the San Jose Mercury News is hosting. Think of us as the gaming channel on the larger entertainment network.

Dean Takahashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05683530817628704401noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12831483.post-1118159001469350382005-06-07T08:42:00.000-07:002005-06-07T08:43:21.473-07:00

Nolan Bushnell, the founder of Atari, usually gets credit as the "father of video games." But that title really belongs to Ralph Baer, who several years before Atari was born, in 1966, created the first games that ran on TV sets. At least that's what Baer himself says in his new book. While on a business trip to New York, Baer thought that he could figure out a way to make games run on ordinary

Dean Takahashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05683530817628704401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12831483.post-1118107953714362752005-06-06T18:29:00.000-07:002005-06-06T18:32:33.716-07:00

Here's my first fetcher. If you're a gamer, can you tell me what you think about the game systems being proposed by Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo. What do you like about them? What do you hate? What games are you looking forward to most? And if you're a game developer, please tell me why you're going to choose one system to make games for over another. Send an e-mail privately if you'd like to

Dean Takahashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05683530817628704401noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12831483.post-1117814235944538832005-06-03T08:49:00.000-07:002005-06-03T08:57:15.950-07:00

For a view of what gamer's liked from E3, check out the favorites from IGN Research's GamerMetrics statistics. Yes, it shows how quirky Nooch and I are, and how much we are in step with the pulse of gamers. GamerMetrics' People's Choice Awards are based on the traffic on www.IGN.com from May 1 to May 21. Well, hey, at least Nooch and I each got one right.Top current generation title: "The Legend

Dean Takahashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05683530817628704401noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12831483.post-1117774653441200742005-06-02T21:52:00.000-07:002005-06-02T21:57:33.443-07:00

FYI, my list from May 21 didn't get on the blog after I headed out of town, so here it is, with context, so you can compare and contrast with Dean's:Each year, E3 can be summed up by one truth: Only a relative handful of games and products stand out as truly special. Ordinary games and accessories are everywhere. Good stuff pops up here and there. But anything that can be called remarkable or

Senior Web Editornoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12831483.post-1117774532944912232005-06-02T16:51:00.000-07:002005-06-02T21:58:01.466-07:00

The gaming community is gaga over Namco's oddball "Katamari" franchise, as is this critic. But all the chatter about the upcoming "We Love Katamari'' -- a follow-up to last year's ""Katamari Damacy'' -- might be diverting some attention from the rest of the company's well-diversified lineup.* "Soul Calibur III" for PS2, scheduled for fall, looks terrific and includes a create-a-warrior mode.* "

Senior Web Editornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12831483.post-1117774448189549522005-06-02T14:51:00.000-07:002005-06-02T21:58:44.813-07:00

I was out of the office for a week after E3, but Dean, the reporter with no off switch, has been tending the blog faithfully.Now it's my turn again, starting with this question: If it's happening in 2006, is it news now?One of the video games that got a lot of attention at last month's Electronic Entertainment Expo -- but which isn't scheduled for release until 2006 -- is Capcom's "Okami" for

Senior Web Editornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12831483.post-1117727419515834432005-06-02T08:39:00.000-07:002005-06-02T08:50:19.520-07:00

My list of disappointments at at E3 include:Electronic Arts' "The Godfather." This one had unwieldy controls, choppy graphics, and no distinct reason to have such an expensive license, since you start out as a young thug in the Corleone crime family and wander around New York looking for racketeering work. When you want to take a swing at someone, you have to do something very unnatural with the

Dean Takahashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05683530817628704401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12831483.post-1117604327228558922005-05-31T22:30:00.000-07:002005-05-31T22:38:47.230-07:00

I wasn't able to get my own attempts to be a gear head in my previous HDTV gaming story. I evaluated the current Xbox games on a 32-inch HDTV from Samsung which promised "no more watery eyes." The liquid-crystal display TV was too big for my entertainment center so I had to set it on the ground, and I had to use a special Monster cable to hook it up to my Xbox. Once I turned on the Xbox, I had to

Dean Takahashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05683530817628704401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12831483.post-1117292565470193182005-05-28T07:59:00.000-07:002005-05-28T08:02:45.473-07:00

Satoru Iwata took over as chief executive of Nintendo in 2002. The 45-year-old top executive proudly notes in his speeches that he's an avid gamer and former game developer. Working at Nintendo's Hal Laboratory subsidiary, he created games such as ``Super Smash Bros.'' and ``Kirby.'' Nintendo's profits keep growing, but it is under constant attack from Sony and Microsoft, which are both launching

Dean Takahashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05683530817628704401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12831483.post-1117292346509600222005-05-28T07:52:00.000-07:002005-05-28T08:04:56.136-07:00

Hundreds of games were on display at the Electronic Entertainment Expo earlier this month. I saw only a small slice of them, but these were the ones that caught my attention. My colleague Mike Antonucci published his Top 10 picks last week. The first title on my list is the only one that made both of our cuts.1. "Spore'': By Electronic Arts for the PC. Will Wright, creator of "Sim City" and "The

Dean Takahashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05683530817628704401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12831483.post-1117291926104739742005-05-28T07:49:00.000-07:002005-05-28T07:52:06.110-07:00

As a new video game console war kicks off, no one is happier than IBM, which is selling ammunition to all sides.Big Blue has managed to persuade the makers of all three consoles to use different versions of IBM's PowerPC microprocessors. It ousted Intel from Microsoft's Xbox 360, which is set to make its debut in the fall. IBM also will supply chips for the next-generation Sony and Nintendo

Dean Takahashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05683530817628704401noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12831483.post-1117152644129054052005-05-26T17:08:00.000-07:002005-05-26T17:10:44.133-07:00

E3 has come and gone. Nooch and I took a bit of a break here and we're contemplating whether to continue on with this. If you think we should close up shop, put us out of our misery now. But if you like what we've done so far and want us to keep going, let us know. We'll have a couple of new stories posting on Saturday for sure. The general topic of gaming would be our subject, of course. Thanks

Dean Takahashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05683530817628704401noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12831483.post-1117057574869959982005-05-25T14:40:00.000-07:002005-05-25T14:50:37.636-07:00

We posted this story on Monday and heard some feedback about how dumb we were. One reader noted that he's been able to play the Final Fantasy games in 720p HD format on his HDTV on the PS 2.By Dean TakahashiThe "HD era'' is coming as a new generation of video-game consoles gives gaming a dose of high-definition cinema. Or at least that's the party line from Microsoft and Sony, repeated at every

Dean Takahashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05683530817628704401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12831483.post-1116671143220674402005-05-21T03:15:00.000-07:002005-05-21T03:25:43.226-07:00

The E3 video game trade show in Los Angeles ended Friday with a record 70,000 attendees, up 5,000 from a year ago. The buzz of the show centered on the opening salvos of the next-generation console war. Here's Dean's analysis of the contest, based on interviews with more than two dozen executives and industry observers.Question: Did Sony really steal the thunder of Microsoft's Xbox 360 console

Senior Web Editornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12831483.post-1116601393321260752005-05-20T08:00:00.000-07:002005-05-20T08:11:20.723-07:00

Dean doesn't miss a thing. And this sounds like it was one crazy party ....Sony's parties at E3 are legendary. They are spectacles, and this year's followed that tradition.After a day walking the floor and interviewing executives, I was popping my Motrin. But I wasn't about to miss Sony's shindig, even though I'd lost my wristband to get inside. Sony's Janette Barrios kindly fetched me a

Senior Web Editornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12831483.post-1116601684219263952005-05-20T07:03:00.000-07:002005-05-20T08:10:10.520-07:00

As the bang and the clatter of E3 draws to a close, Nooch gives us his impressions of the noise, and of one more high-profile game:The end draws near, but even so, E3 will be ringing in my ears until at least Tuesday.Have we mentioned that yet? Dean is one of the great journalistic veterans of E3s -- eight of them now, I think -- but he never has had a decent tip on how notbe driven insane by its

Senior Web Editornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12831483.post-1116532745459022912005-05-19T12:52:00.000-07:002005-05-19T12:59:05.463-07:00

Aargh! I want screen shots! Nooch calls in about a title to watch, from Activision:My first appointment today was with Activision, which showed me the most visually impressive game I've seen so far.The graphics in the games for the next-generation consoles are going to be stunning, but the PC title "Enemy Territory: Quake Wars" looked like an eye-popper on a still-higher level.The game's

Senior Web Editornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12831483.post-1116513974470416612005-05-19T07:37:00.000-07:002005-05-19T10:24:00.760-07:00

Dean was kind enough to pass along these shots that capture some of the characters at the convention:Actress Bai Ling makes an appearance.You've got to have someone bringing those action games to life.I didn't get caption information with this one. Poker game? Vegas role play? Dean, who is this?SubZero of Mortal Combat offers to kick anyone's butt for free, but there are no takers.As always at E3

Senior Web Editornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12831483.post-1116511383986151832005-05-19T06:49:00.000-07:002005-05-19T07:48:13.856-07:00

Any reporter who goes to E3 press conferences and game demonstrations from mornings to evenings for five straight days will probably see and hear -- if lucky -- about 1 percent of everything the convention encompasses.Think about it this way: During two hours Wednesday with Electronic Arts, all I could squeeze in was a modestly detailed peek at "The Godfather," a quick glance at samples of the

Senior Web Editornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12831483.post-1116515506695883642005-05-19T00:30:00.000-07:002005-05-19T08:11:46.710-07:00

Dean stays up late to capture the buzz at the conference:I made it to a few more parties on the walk back to my hotel.There's a buzz developing at the show. I'll have to do a lot more interviews on this subject to draw conclusions. But the consensus so far matches my initial impressions:Sony beat Microsoft by playing technically superior demos. Microsoft showed a better story for online services

Senior Web Editornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12831483.post-1116463296002734422005-05-18T16:36:00.000-07:002005-05-18T17:41:36.006-07:00

This little scouting report comes from Nooch:Part of the E3 experience is celebrity spotting.Maybe not so much for me, but I know it's part of the ambiance. So today, in between meetings with Ubisoft, Konami, Electronic Arts, LucasArts, Nintendo and Microsoft, I kept my eyes peeled.The only result was a Gary Coleman sighting.That's Gary Coleman, the former child star of the now ancient Diff'rent

Senior Web Editornoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12831483.post-1116452006317185642005-05-18T14:08:00.000-07:002005-05-18T16:07:57.193-07:00

Dean left this nugget about the Nokia N-Gage's future:Nokia always seems to find the lowest-rent part of downtown Los Angeles to hold their press conferences.They talked Tuesday about what is both a strategic retreat and an expansion of their N-Gage cell phone game system. They won't be launching a brand new version of the hardware this year.Over the past two years Nokia has sold about 1.4

Senior Web Editornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12831483.post-1116425400420370142005-05-18T08:00:00.000-07:002005-05-18T08:17:11.960-07:00

Nooch ponders the future of Nintendo: Will the Revolution be televised?Here's my not-so-instant reaction to Nintendo's Tuesday morning press conference. I just needed some extended pondering time:Almost everything the company said and showed seemed insightful and cool. To me, Nintendo radiates a gaming soul that is undetectable in Microsoft and not as intrinsic for Sony. I nearly felt a fanboy

Senior Web Editornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12831483.post-1116426699289062802005-05-18T07:27:00.000-07:002005-05-18T08:15:51.066-07:00

Dean sent this at 1:47 a.m., possible proof that he is a cyborg journalist who needs no sleep.Working an E3 party is always an adventure. The game companies compete to put on the best affair. It's my chance to do a party review instead of a game review, and after eight years I still pay close attention. And Tuesday night, it was Nintendo's turn to prove that it was just as good at entertaining as

Senior Web Editornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12831483.post-1116377107855483722005-05-17T17:40:00.000-07:002005-05-18T08:18:44.746-07:00

Nooch calls in to report on the tastes of E3. Which is kinda killin' me, since I didn't have a chance to grab lunch.I almost hesitate to mention this, given that I've already had one post about food.But it seems to me that my obligation is to take you behind the scenes at E3. So in dedication to that goal, but with the plea to understand that I'm not all about eating, I want to mention that Dean

Senior Web Editornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12831483.post-1116354186146402832005-05-17T11:15:00.000-07:002005-05-17T15:20:38.893-07:00

Dean came through with details from Nintendo's press conference this morning, and we'll have an update from Nooch shortly. Here's the lowdown from Dean:Although Nintendo was the last of the big three to hold its E3 press conference, it managed a few surprises for the crowd in the form of new details about its next-generation game console Revolution and a new handheld gaming device.The

Senior Web Editornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12831483.post-1116342275799939952005-05-17T08:01:00.000-07:002005-05-17T08:17:15.696-07:00

Now that Nooch has had a little time to chew on the events of yesterday, he offers this reflection on their testosterone quotient:Here's an afterthought about the splashy game demos and conquer-the-universe talk from Sony and Microsoft at their Monday press conferences:They talked about infusing games with more emotion and imagination, and they boasted of their next-generation machines' potential

Senior Web Editornoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12831483.post-1116307832178815212005-05-16T22:30:00.000-07:002005-05-16T23:54:36.446-07:00

Dean sent this dispatch after Microsoft's evening press event:There's always enough green light at a Microsoft Xbox press conference that you come out of it feeling like you're going to be permanently stained green.And this time, there was so much noise in the "Need For Speed Most Wanted" demo that my knees shook. The cheers from the audience seemed so canned it was nauseating. And how do you

Senior Web Editornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12831483.post-1116291777046363552005-05-16T17:29:00.000-07:002005-05-16T23:43:14.403-07:00

WHOA. From Nooch:The next-generation video game wars escalated sharply over the last two hours.From 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at Sony Pictures studios in Culver City, Sony unleashed a barrage of information and game demos meant not only to respond to Microsoft's recent Xbox 360 unveiling, but also to immediately drown it out.Sony unveiled a powerful set of technical specifications for the PlayStation 3,

Senior Web Editornoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12831483.post-1116274467406953872005-05-16T13:03:00.000-07:002005-05-16T13:14:27.416-07:00

Dean just called this in, while driving away from the press conference that Square Enix had at the Paramount Picutes studio in Hollywood. Hopefully he was wearing some sort of handsfree headset:The film screening theater at Paramount pictures was an appropriate place for Square Enix to hold its E3 press conference. I sat back in a big theater chair and almost fell asleep.That is, until I saw the

Senior Web Editornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12831483.post-1116273710183992892005-05-16T12:57:00.000-07:002005-05-16T14:38:06.570-07:00

I hope you've eaten, because Nooch just called in this tantalizing tidbit from the show, right outside the Jimmy Stewart Building on the Sony lot:It's not true that journalists are born freeloaders. Try to remember that as I give you your first on-the-scene visual from E3:I left San Jose by car at 3 a.m. -- I wanted to spend Sunday at home -- and arrived in L.A. with plenty of time to check in at

Senior Web Editornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12831483.post-1116264203236698512005-05-16T10:15:00.000-07:002005-05-16T10:23:23.246-07:00

From Dean:The work crews are busily getting the sprawling Los Angeles Convention Center into shape for 60,000 visitors this week at E3. But the MIT Education Arcade is already in full swing.I have three young kids so I'm naturally interested in how games can be used in education. My colleague Nooch wrote a fine overview on this subject recently. And I heard Nolan Bushnell, the founder of Atari,

Senior Web Editornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12831483.post-1116259816036795862005-05-16T08:46:00.000-07:002005-05-16T11:14:56.286-07:00

Before he shipped off to E3, Nooch passed along a few thoughts about the trends and themes he'll be following there. One of the topics he's touched on recently is the idea that kids who play video games are actually picking up skills that will help later in life.(This story comes a couple decades too late for me. Mom! Dad! Sitting close to the television playing video games is good for me!)Here's

Senior Web Editornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12831483.post-1116224110565656282005-05-16T00:50:00.000-07:002005-05-15T23:40:48.653-07:00

From Dean:E3 hasn't even started yet and the marriage of Hollywood and video games is coming apart at the seams. Talks have fallen apart between the video game industry and two unions representing actors.The sticking point: how much of its profits the game industry will share.For two months, six game companies and their representatives have been trying to renew an agreement with the Screen Actors

Senior Web Editornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12831483.post-1116222402123872252005-05-15T22:24:00.000-07:002005-05-16T18:59:49.956-07:00

For those who might not have noticed already, this Dean and Nooch production comes equipped with an RSS feed.You can get it by clicking on that little "XML" icon with the cute flame next to it, underneath the pic of Dean and Nooch in the right column.Many of you already know what an RSS feed is. Others of you have seen the button on other blogs, clicked on it, and thought "What the heck is this

Senior Web Editornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12831483.post-1116189468336618982005-05-15T13:11:00.000-07:002005-05-15T13:37:48.340-07:00

From Dean:I'll be driving down to LA for E3 again.I can't remember how many of these shows I've been to now. For those of you who don't know, E3 is the loudest show on earth, with each game company trying to outdo the other with the loudest games, blaring heavy metal, and even noisy cheerleaders.No one under 18 is allowed in the show, which means as a 40-year-old I won't stand out in the crowd so

Senior Web Editornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12831483.post-1116022995387789142005-05-14T03:01:00.000-07:002005-05-14T07:43:04.220-07:00

"You should never trust a game demo. That's especially true when someone is trying to hype a next-generation video game console," Dean says in his video game column, which goes live on mercurynews.com today.Dean went up to Redmond to spend a little time with the game makers at Xbox central and came back with this report.Another thing about these game previews is, they show off a lot of graphics

Senior Web Editornoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12831483.post-1115998797637786352005-05-13T07:34:00.000-07:002005-05-14T00:55:10.866-07:00

Dean, in ironman fashion, filed a couple of stories yesterday about the Xbox 360 launch - and Merc software reporter John Boudreau pitched in, too. Check out this one for insight into how the Xbox 360 is Microsoft's bid to take over the living room. (I know, tech writers have said that for years about the PlayStation 2, the original Xbox, and the Media Center PC - but this time we mean it.)JB

Senior Web Editornoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12831483.post-1115878773975933472005-05-12T12:00:00.000-07:002005-05-12T12:05:54.363-07:00

So you'd like to go to E3, but you're one of the poor schmoes stuck at work next week.Or, you're going to E3, but for some reason the top brass from Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony aren't taking your calls.Never fear! Dean and Nooch have graciously agreed to be our eyes and ears at the big video game show in Los Angeles next week (that's Monday May 16 through Friday, May 20). And since they're such

Senior Web Editornoreply@blogger.com0