1P Start

I’ve heard some daft camping out stories in the past but this one really does take the proverbial biscuit.

A group of hardcore gamers are camping outside a games retailer in Sweden for a month just to be the first in line for a copy of Grand Theft Auto 4 when it’s released on 29th April.

Okay, so they won’t just be getting a copy of the game, but also a whole load of GTA IV prizes and stuff to go with it, after the store ingeniously promised the first ten through the door on that day a bumper selection of freebies for their efforts, but still!

Hardware I can sort of see the point. Who wouldn’t want to be first to proclaim that they have played on the latest Nintendo, Microsoft or Sony console? It’s something you can brag about for years to come, at least until the next generation of machines comes along and someone else beats you to it.

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As a gamer living in the UK I’m used to being treated as a second class citizen by games companies.

We in Europe tend to be the last to get consoles released, with the possible exception of Australia, and some games don’t even ever make it here. If they do, they tend to be priced extortionately higher than they are in Japan and America.

So it is with Rock Band. It’s taken six months to get here, it’s only initially being released on the Xbox 360, with PS2, PS3, and Wii owners having to wait until summer at the earliest, and it’s going to cost an absolute fortune.

Harmonix has made the ludicrous decision to up the retail price of the full package, that’s a copy of the game, a microphone, a guitar and drums, from the $169 it sold for in North America to £180. That’s the equivalent of $330, or double the price.

The company has spent the last few days trying to justify and explain the decision, but whatever excuses they may come out with, I just can’t see how such a differential in price can ever be justified.

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Ladies and Gents it pains me to say my farewells to 1PStart. I’ve been here only a short time, though I’ve been at Xbox 360 Rally (another 451 site) for just under a year. I will miss you guys, though you’re probably throwing a party, chanting “he’s leaving! Huzzah! Huzzah!”. If you do miss me, though, you can find me at my new home BingeGamer.net.

It’s been fun, and I hope to see y’all around.

P.S.: Qbix — E-mail me, dude. I’m still gonna get your GTA IV to ya.

With the PlayStation 2 finally approaching it’s death bed, Sony has found out that they could add a little bit of life back into the old hag by porting games from the PSP to the PS2. Two seperate Grand Theft Auto games have made the leap, and now rumors of two more high-profiled PSP games making the jump are running rampant across all the internets, as both Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters and Silent Hill Origins are rumored to be making the jump from the handheld to the console.

The R&C rumor is based on a listing on GameStop’s website showing that Size Matters is indeed listed for the PlayStation 2, with a ship date of February 12th, 2008. If that wasn’t enough for people to go “hmmm” over, the ESRB’s website has Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters listed as both a PSP and PS2 title.

Silent Hill Origins, on the other hand, appears to be pure speculation at the moment. An anonymous tipster passed along an alleged fact sheet to Kotaku that showed that Climax, SHO’s developer, would be responsible for the PS2 port.

If either one of these turns out to be true, it’ll just go to show that the PS2 is still the single best bet on the market today. Good Lord, if you can’t find a PS2 game you like…

Sony, PlayStation 2, Konami, Climax, Silent Hill Origins, Ratchet & Clank, Size Matters, PSP

A group of rather ingenious thieves made off with countless items from a GameStop in New Hampshire. The total cost of the heist, which included somewhere in the range of 100 Xbox 360 consoles, was somewhere near $30,000 in consoles, software and accessories.

This is just another in a recent string of GameStop robberies across the eastern half of the United States. In the past year, GameStop stores in Knoxville, TN, Woodlawn, MD, Burlington, MA and South Carolina have also been robbed. Then there is the case of the GameStop robbery in Marietta, Georgia which left the store manager dead.

Unfortunately with this being the most hectic shopping time (Amazon + PayPal = FTW) odds are we’ll hear more about these kinds of robberies. Let’s just hope nobody gets hurt.

GameStop, Xbox 360, robbery

Gran Turismo is one of those staple franchises that is able to keep outdoing itself with each previous rendition of the game. To ensure that this won’t be just another pretty looking racing sim, Polyphony Digital have partnered up with BBC Worldwide to not only offer downloads for episodes of “Top Gear” from the Playstation Network, but will also allow gamers to play on the test track used on the show. For now however, enjoy the $43 demo until a release date is finally settled (available for 3 weeks only, so get it now).

Notice the header image for this post not having anything to do with Top Gear? Well that is because it is from a set of comparison pictures going around from the Suzuka Circuit, showing how detailed this game is coming along, check the full picture set below for all comparisons, if the pictures didn’t have the HUD on screen, I would find it difficult to believe you’d be able to find the difference.

[EUROGAMER | MaxConsole]
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Gran Turismo 5, Top Gear, BBC Worldwide

PS3 Fanboy (the REAL PS3 fanboys, as opposed to the SDF) has made a shocking, and some would argue hilarious, discovery: Gran Turismo 5 Prologue’s Japanese price and release date.

Slated for a December 13th release in Japan, the GT5 demo will retail for, I kid you not, ¥4,980. For those of you who don’t know exchange rates, that’s roughly $43.10. If you Dl it off of the PlayStation Store, you’ll only have to pay ¥4,500, or $38.95.

…I don’t care who you are, if you pay damn near ¥5,000 ($45…ish?) for a damn DEMO, you’re a fool. Yes, the demo will include many features that will make it into the final game, you’re still better off waiting, and paying the $60 (do your own damn conversaion) for everything.

[PS3 Fanboy]

Sony, PlayStation 3, Gran Turismo 5, Prologue, demo