Last year’s X-Box 360 shortage caused a ridiculous amount of overpriced systems selling on ebay within the first week of the system’s launch. After about a week the auction closing prices settled down to about 10% over the sticker price. So what does the world learn from this? Absolutely nothing apparently.

Check out these completed auctions for a $1,995,00 Wii and even worse a $14,900.00 PS3. These aren’t even auctions for systems now. They’re pre-orders to be shipped this weekend when the systems are launched. Sure they include a few launch titles but those are terribly unlikely to sell out in the first couple of days. One only needs to do a quick ebay search for Wii or PS3 to see the ongoing auctions and ebay users can click on the “completed items” box on the left to see what these auctions finished at.

Sure the PS3 will have less systems at launch than the X-Box 360 but with it’s heafty price tag it will also sell that many less systems. Is making sure you get a system on launch day really more important than say… a car? Paying more than a couple of dollars over sticker price for the Wii is terribly ignorant seeing as the sytem is likely to be able to fill demand into December. You can pay 2000$ on ebay or you know… you can pay 250$ in a store next week. I personally walked into a Toys ‘R Us on a random Sunday afternoon in Septemeber and pre-ordered my Wii which I’m told is almost certain to be in 9am launch day according to the expected number of systems they’ll be getting. That’s a net savings of $1750 US!

Never underestimate the power of human stupidity. Keep checking ebay to see just how much higher these people are willing to pay for these systems before the price drops back to MSRP.

An indepth analysis of Microsoft and Epic’s 2006 blockbuster!

Well imagine that. Tomonobu Itagaki, the “too cool” lead producer from Team Ninja, is the subject of a lawsuit seeking compensation for a string of sexual harassment incidents over the span of 3 years.

No comment yet from the usually out-spoken Itagaki. Though to be fair, he usually only speaks about how awesome he thinks he is and his games are. I don’t suppose his comicly objectifying games can be used as evidence against him?

In other news, DOA4 on Xbox 360 just sold a million copies, making it the fastest selling fighting game on Xbox 360 from Tecmo.

Excuse me while I chuckle a bit. He’s so pompous.

via Kotaku

The Xbox 360 wireless headset came out yesterday, despite being delayed several days, much like the Live Vision Camera before it. It comes in a rather large box (roughly the same size as the camera) and similar to all the other packaging Microsoft as made for their accessories. This is the first official headset that Plantronics has NOT made for Microsoft (someone correct me if I’m wrong) as the official wired headset still is.

The headset is built relatively solid and feels a lot like many of Motorola’s bluetooth offerings. In fact, if you wear a bluetooth headset, you’ll feel right at home here. The design is fairly simplistic and like a bluetooth headset, it features a minimal amount of buttons. You’ll find a ‘power’, ‘find’, ‘volume up’ and ‘volume down’ button on the piece, nothing more, nothing less. It has a padded earpiece and a rubber loop that goes behind the ear. It’s very light, about the same weight as your standard bluetooth headset and it features an adjustable boom mic. I know I keep saying “bluetooth”, but this headset apparently runs on an RF signal, just like the controllers. [Read the rest of this entry…]

HALO 3 REVEALED.

Despite a stern warning from Bungie, the first scans from swedish game magazine “Level” have appeared online. All details, screenshots, etc are taken from Bungie’s first ever Multiplayer test of Halo 3 with the media. EGM already promised a full cover story for their next issue, but thatwon’t be in the mail for another week or so.

Video Games Blogger has published the scans and compiled translated info from members of the NeoGAF Surround yourself in the hype!

Some of my favorite bulletpoints:

• 4 Disc Collectors Editon, filled with documentaries, Red VS Blue, and HD cut scenes from all 3 games
• Valhalla is the new name for Blood Gulch
• 3 new weapons: Spartan Laser, Spiker, and Nail Grenade
• Weapons not in use will be visibly strapped to the players back. No more hiding the sword or Rocket Launcher!
• Two words: MAN CANNON

UPDATE: Bungie Weekly Update says they successfully test Halo 3 Matchmaking last night online with real testers on the regular internet. Wheee! They also mention the movie is going forward, and that EGM will publish more info and hi-res screens will be on 1UP and Bungie very very soon. so no need for me to go mirroring this swedish magazine photo.

UPDATE AGAIN: 1up.com has their Halo 3 mini site up and will be updating 3 times a week starting November 6.

UPDATE ONCE AGAIN: Looks like we’ve got some high res scans of this Swedish magazine right here and a more thorough translation of the article over at Geezer Gamers. These maps look incredible. – Ernie

Tonight, Gamestop/EB are holding a super lame Gears Of War party with no demo.
All they’re showing is a single video, which might be little more than the beginning of the game.
Since we are blessed with an INTER-NET that laughs at the idea of waiting or exclusivity, you can watch the whole thing here now.

Keep an eye out over CliffyB’s shoulder for a Powermaster Optimus Prime.

This week, I’m gonna do a little something different.  Remember all those games like Robotron, Space Invaders, and Galaga where you didn’t play to see some 45 minute ending or unlock a whole bunch of stuff?  All you played them was to beat the highest score.  Well, Bizzare Creations’ Geometry Wars is just that.  You play it for the challenge, and it’s addictive.  It began life as a hidden feature of Project Gotham racing, but evolved into something more.  This update adds in flashier graphics and music, while keeping the gameplay simple.  As a ship, you try to survive as long as you can against an onslaught of enemy polygons.  The left analog stick is used for moving, while the right is used for shooting, a’l’a smash TV.  You can even play your own soundtracks while playing it.  Check it out, it’s available on the marketplace for only $5.  (400 points to be exact.)

This past weekend at Botcon, while the last year of Transformers Cybertron weighed heavily on our minds, and the new Transformers Classics line captured our attention with every peek, there was little doubt that an unstoppable force was looming ready to make or break Transformers.
Thats force was without question, the 2007 Transformers movie from director Michael Bay.

First thing anyone saw after entering the gates to the convention was a giant fist with a countdown time to the 7-4-7 release date. A quick sweep around it, there was no doubt it was the hand of Optimus Prime.

Once inside, the Hasbro booth was supplying Autobot and Decepticon car magnets with 7-4-7 printed on them. All their reps seemed trained to dodge any movie questions.

Activision had a small booth promoting the new Transformers Game, which was officially announced for Xbox 360. I pressed the reps for info, but aside from mentioning it would be multiplatform and based on the movie, they had nothing.

On Saturday’s Hasbro panel is where news finally broke. Hasbro has historically allowed no cameras, audio or video during their panel, and this was no exception. Except that they reminded us AGAIN. Michael Bay had sent over an approx. 2 minute video from the set. Prime’s truck roared through the frame, Bumblebee out ran Barricade, and smashed through a window… and then explosions. Cars flying, a bus igniting and splitting in half, mixed shots of cast and extras running from a CG menace to be added later. When the lights went up, all anyone could do was demand it be played again. As we let out of the panel, it looked like half the fans in the room were on cellphones trying to reach anyone who wasn’t attending to let them know what they’d just seen.

This was easily the highlight, but not the end. Peter Cullen, the voice of Optimus Prime mentioned during his panel that he’s signed a 3 picture deal. That doesn’t mean we get 3 movies, but it does mean Paramount/Dreamworks want him available to do a Transformers 2 and 3. Cullen also announced the Make Prime Speak contest, where fans can submit a single line of dialog for the heroic Autobot leader. Submissions end on Oct 12, and voting begins on Oct 16, so if you want in, do it now!

Finally, Botcon 2007 has been announced at the Rhode Island Convention Center for June 28, 2007 thru July 1, 2007. This is significant for 2 reasons: Its in the backyard of Hasbro World Headquarters, and its mere days before the movie’s release. Nothing else has been announced, but I’d be surprised if the red carpet movie premiere isn’t right there.