Newsdump

Cheap HD? We'll see

According to statements made during the latest podcast from Microsoft's number one paid fanboyMajor Nelson, the HD-DVD add-on for the Xbox 360 will be the cheapest HD-DVD player on the market when it comes out. Since you can pick one up for about 500 bucks these days, we're more than a little skeptical that this is true. We're guessing you don't figure in the price of the Xbox 360 hardware - Microsoft may well be pretending that isn't a factor. Unfortunately, they're not ready to spill on the price or release date just yet... so who knows?

The new video format, which competes directly with Blu-ray (which is in the PS3, of course) delivers much higher quality video than a standard DVD player is capable of. This is almost interesting when you factor in the fact that lots of 360 gamers have HDTVs. There are actuallysome damn fine filmsout on HD-DVD at the moment, so it's a bit more exciting than Blu-ray will be this November, when PS3 launches.

Another swipe of the scalpel

First Phoenix Wright did it, and now Dr. Derek Stiles is following in his footsteps. According toSiliconera, sleeper hit Trauma Center: Under the Knife is going back into the factory once again. The game, which puts you in the place of a medical professional with bizarre supernatural talents and millions of dollars of state-of-the-art equipment, has been generating buzz since before its release - which has obviously led to serious sales. This is the second time it's been reprinted -it was also re-run in June. We're simply left to wonder what's with the DS and games about highly-paid professionals? Lawyers, doctors, plumbers... where's the game starring a 7-Eleven clerk?

Noob on Halo

We all know there's a Halo movie underway. Today, Microsoft announced the director. Though the official statement appears to have disappeared from Xbox.com for some mysterious reason, Gamasutra still servesthe storythat reveals Neill Blomkamp will direct the film.

Who?

Right. Blomkamp has directed some commercials and a "critically-acclaimed" short film called Alive in Joburg, which depicts alien riots in South Africa - the creator's native country.Check it outon Google Video and you might get an idea why they handed this guy the reins to a monster like Halo.

Get punished

We don't know yet whether Bully will be Rockstar's next Grand Theft Auto... or its next Red Dead Revolver. Well, whichever it ends up being, now we do know thatthe newly-PS2 exclusive game will be out this October. If you'd like to know more, flip over to ourlatest previewand read all about flushing heads down toilets... yes, by the way, it's the same preview that we linked to like a week ago. Rockstar is keeping a lid on this one until much closer to its (now, confirmed) release.

H-E-double hockey sticks

Sega has announced that NHL Eastside Hockey Manager 2007 will be available from the game'sofficial website- as a digital download only - from September 22, 2006. Hockey is pretty popular, but this game is so hardcore and stat based that, well... if you want it, you'll come get it. It's from the same team that does the extremely popular (in Europe, anyway) Worldwide Soccer Manager series. That's pretty much it. It'll be available on PC and Mac for all fans of managing lists of text and not playing any actual hockey games. If you want see it in all of its gussied up Microsoft Excel glory, follow the link over to theofficial site.

August 9, 2009