GamesIndustry.biz - Sony to take $100 loss on $399-priced PS3, says new report:
A recent study by financial analysts at Merrill Lynch Japan suggests that the PlayStation 3 may cost up to $490 dollars to manufacture, with the company predicting that Sony will launch at $399 and take a $1.18bn loss in its first year on the market.

NERO

Yet another slashdot post pointed me to a game made by students of AI a the University of Texas.

The game they have created “Nero” is quite novel. In it, you train robotic soldiers for some peroiod fo time, then loose them in combat to see how they do.

I haven’t downloaded it yet, but you can be sure I’m going to. It seems like a GREAT concept for a game.

LA Weekly: TV: Pass the Paddles: The Moralgorithm

I originally saw a post on slashdot about this article. Its basically talking about how the programmers for NBA Live put some “intangible” into the game. Namely the fact that as a player does well, their confdence, and skill seems to bump up ever so slightly so that the next shot they make is more likely to hit. Or conversely, if they get messed up early, they can fall into slumps. All this just to make the game feel more real. Very neat stuff.

EDIT: It’s a no-go. Looks like this is only a beta release. There is no way to login to the DICE/EA user database, so you can’t join games via this particular 3rd Party Server Browser. CRAP.

It’s definitely got me down. The thing is insanely slow and inacurate. Set it to return non-full servers and they still appear in the list; attempt to scroll the list and grab a scotch ’cause you’ll have plenty of time to reflect upon your day.

Now Yahoo Games has a standalone server browser called “The All Seeing Eye”, and they just made patch so that it works with Battlefield 2. I’ve downloaded it and tried it out, and it seems damn fast and pretty easy to use. Give it a shot!

It even has the ability for friends lists and server lists. How cutting edge! (that’s uh, sarcasm for the BF2 server browser which has support for neither. Seriously how could you release an online game without either of these options. Hrumph).

Wired News: Be a Gaming God for Dollars a Day:

Want to play massively multiplayer online games, but don’t want to spend time building up your character’s stats? A new service launched Tuesday gives anyone the ability to bypass the countless hours it can take to advance deep into online games like World of Warcraft by renting the use of such characters by the month.

Wired News: Be a Gaming God for Dollars a Day

Well, It’s finally happened. Now you can not only buy a high level character for your MMO of choice, you can actually rent them. Yes.. thats right. Rent them for a period of time.

Gamepal goes beyond currency trading, and character sales, it even offers to Power Level your characters?!?!

GamePal is the leading power-leveling service provider. We can level up your characters levels, skills, stats, complete quests, and more. Our team consists of veteran players with over six years of playing experience that have been trained to offer quality and profession power leveling for all our customers.

Some Guy - “Hmm.. I have to work today.. I think I’ll pay someone to play my game for me.”

We’re too lazy to PLAY? WTF!!!

Hmmm…cutting production. Still no killer title. That’s too bad. I want the PSP to be a success because I have one, it’s a great little machine, I love watching movies on it, and did I say it’s a great little gaming machine? Hot Shots Golf couldn’t be better on any other platform. Rambling.

Sony cutting PSP production by one-third? - News at GameSpot:
According to a report by Nikkei BP, Sony has reduced production of its PSP handheld by 33 percent. The Japanese business-news network says that companies providing components for the PSP were initially told by Sony that it expected to manufacture approximately 18 million units during the current business year.

Joystiq - www.joystiq.com: I never see links to this site on Monkeygames. I love it.

I’m doing some testing to see if this works. I just set up monkeygames using ecto. Also - this is a great article.

Senator blasts Eidos’ 25 to Life - PlayStation 2 News at GameSpot:
Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-New York) is embarking on a crusade against Eidos, telling the New York Daily News that the British publisher is readying a game that makes “Grand Theft Auto look like Romper Room.” The game is 25 to Life, an action title where players take on the role of a drug dealer named Freeze who gets into gunfights with police officers, uses civilians as human shields, and shoots rival gang members.

I’m doing some testing to see if this works. I just set up monkeygames using ecto. Also - this is a great article.
Senator blasts Eidos’ 25 to Life - PlayStation 2 News at GameSpot:
Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-New York) is embarking on a crusade against Eidos, telling the New York Daily News that the British publisher is readying a game that makes “Grand Theft Auto look like Romper Room.” The game is 25 to Life, an action title where players take on the role of a drug dealer named Freeze who gets into gunfights with police officers, uses civilians as human shields, and shoots rival gang members.