Today in Gaming 19.12.06

Welcome to “Today in Gaming,” GGL’s daily roundup of general gaming news, rumors, and interesting linkage. If you enjoy “Today in Gaming,” or notice any cool news or links we should cover, mention it in the forum below, or email kunochan@ggl.com.

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Sony to Offer UMD Movies as Downloads
With movie studios and retailers no longer supporting the PlayStation Portable’s UMD movie format, Sony is planning to offer PSP-compatible movies for download. The movies will have to be downloaded on a PC, and then transferred over.

Of course, the PSP already plays MPEG-4 video. So the whole effort seems pretty pointless.


Time Magazine’s Overhyped Failures of the Year: “Snakes on a Plane,” O.J.’s Book, PLAYSTATION 3
In an article called “5 Things That Went From Buzz to Bust,” venerable MSM juggernaut Time Magazine prematurely but accurately describes the total failure of the PLAYSTATION 3.

From the article: The big story in computer games this year was HOW TO BLOW A HUGE LEAD, by Sony. Its PlayStation 2 was the champ in the last round of the console wars. This time Sony bet on a chip called the Cell and a disc format called Blu-ray. They're probably awesome, but how would anybody know? The PS3 is hideously expensive--it goes for up to $600--and Sony manufactured only a piddling few hundred thousand for the U.S., fewer for Japan. Plus it's hard to write games for; the launch titles were lame. You know you're in trouble when you get beat by something called a Wii.

They forgot to mention Sony’s insulting arrogance toward their own customers, or the fact that the console’s name is YELLING at us. Check back soon in the forum below, where Sony super-fanboy djWHEAT will cut me a new one.

It seems even Sony recognizes their new system is just too expensive – but they’re spinning it as a selling point. Maybe they are taking lessons in self-delusion from the Bush administration.


Lawyers Find Out About Wiimote; Personal Responsibility Surrenders
To no one’s surprise, a class action lawsuit against Nintendo has been announced, over the “defective” wiimote strap. The fact that you really have to be a dumbass to break your wiimote strap will not enter into the equation, of course.

One wonders is the law will change to require safety straps for baseball bats, marching band batons, conductor's wands and lightsaber replicas. Maybe pencils and soda straws, too. Hell, let's just ban holding things in hands altogether. All because some woman in the farm belt got too excited and bonked her kid on the head with a two ounce piece of plastic. Think of the children!


"Burning Crusade" Contains a Musical Sequence


No, really.

Kotaku makes it sound like it’s a Broadway musical number. It is kind of funny, though.

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