Carmack: iPhone a serious threat to other hand-helds

In an interview with Chris Morris for CNBC, id Software founder and chief programmer John Carmack said that Apple’s iPhone may be a serious threat to the hand-held gaming market - specifically Nintendo’s DS and DSi.

It’s a pretty interesting comment if you consider that earlier this week a prominent analyst (who I won’t name here) said that the iPhone - in the long term - will not be a viable game platform. Carmack sees it another way - and he should know, he’s been working on the platform and selling his games via Apple’s app store for quite some time.

Earlier this week it was announced that there are now 100,000 apps available on the iPhone, and while not all of those are games, a good portion of them are and many of them sell for anywhere from 99 cents to $9.99 USD.

“I think mid- to long-term it’s a significant threat,” he says. “I don’t carry a DS or a PSP around, but I’ve got my iPhone everywhere. So if it plays good games, I’m less likely to pick one of the others up. … I think the stars could align and it could start to eclipse those other systems in terms of unit sales.”

While Carmack is a PC guy through and through, he has fallen in love with developing games for the iPhone. He describes his time developing games on the system “fun.”

“I wouldn’t be shocked if someone has one in development right now, though they probably don’t realize it will run that high yet,” he told CNBC. “If a title could do well at $9.99, you could put [Nintendo] DS level development expenses into it.”

id Software has made it their goal to release one iPhone game every quarter over the next year. Most recently the company released an iPhone remake of the classic DOOM game called “Doom Classic.” iPhone versions of one of my favorite id Software titles - Quake - and a follow-up to the popular Doom RPG are also in the works. id Software is also planning on having its latest game, RAGE, ready to go for the iPhone when it is released in 2010.

Source: CNBC

White Stripes make Rock Band debut next week

Harmonix and MTV Games will release a three pack of tracks from The White Stripes and singles from The Damned and Kasabian will be added next week to the Rock Band Music Store for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii.

Tracks from No Doubt and Dropkick Murphys will be available for download next week for Rock Band Unplugged on PSP.

Sadly, no LEGO Rock Band content mentioned unless I am missing something here, which Is highly doubtful. Anyway, here’s the completel list:

Available on Xbox 360 and Wii (Nov. 10) and PlayStation 3 system (Nov. 12):

- The Damned – “Smash It Up (Part II)” 

- Kasabian – “Club Foot”

- The White Stripes – “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground”

- The White Stripes – “Girl, You Have No Faith in Medicine”

- The White Stripes – “Icky Thump”

Tracks available for Rock Band Unplugged (Nov. 12):

- No Doubt – “Excuse Me Mr.”

- Dropkick Murphys – “I’m Shipping Up to Boston”

PSP go off to a slow start

According to www.andriasang.com, citing sales figures from Enterbrain, the PSP go only moved around 28,750 units in Japan in its first weekend at retail space.

This is probably the magic number that Sony was hoping for.  Sony and other software makers released select titles for the launch including Persona 3 Portable, Dissidia Final Fantasy and titles like Disgaea Infinite and LocoRoco Midnight Carnival. If anything it proves that Sunday launched are not always a great idea for hardware debuts.

Anyway, hopefully Sony’s go “will go somewhere” by year’s end.

Nirvana headlines next week’s Rock Band DLC

Harmonix and MTV Games will release a three pack of tracks from Nirvana, a four pack of tracks from Foo Fighters and a single from Joan Jett & The Blackhearts to the Rock Band Music Store and the LEGO Rock Band Music Store for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii. Tracks from Bullet for My Valentine and System of a Down will be available for download next week for Rock Band Unplugged on PSP.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Nirvan’s Bleach album, Sub Pop will release a special edition of the album, featuring a complete and previously unreleased live concert recorded in 1990 in Portland, Oregon. The anniversary edition of Bleach will be released the same day and date as Nirvana Bleach Pack, which includes About a Girl, Blew and School.

Foo Fighters will release Greatest Hits Nov. 3, the same day the third DLC pack from the band will be available in the Rock Band Music Store. Greatest Hits will feature 14 of the band’s most-loved songs, as well as two new songs, Wheels and Word Forward, both of which are featured in Foo Fighters Pack 03, along with Best of You and The Pretender.

Joan Jett & The Blackhearts’ Fake Friends from the 1984 album, Glorious Results of a Misspent Youth, will also be added to the Rock Band Music Store and LEGO Rock Band Music Store Nov. 3. Full track listing after the break.

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Ben 10: Alien Force: Vilgax Attacks released

D3Publisher’s Ben 10: Alien Force: Vilgax Attacks, the latest game based on Cartoon Network’s matured Ben 10 series, Ben 10 Alien Force, is now available in retail stores across North America. In an original storyline developed for the game, Ben and the Omnitrix journey deep into outer space and on distant planets to battle his greatest enemy, Vilgax, and a team of foes both old and new. Naturally he’ll use 10 of his most popular alien forms including Echo Echo, Goop, Brain Storm, Chromastone, Big Chill, Humungousaur, Spidermonkey, Swampfire, Jet Ray, and Cannonbolt to get the job done.

Ben 10 alien Force: Vilgax Attacks is available for Xbox 360 and Wii for $39.95, and for the PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, and PSP (including the PSP go system) for $29.95.

Adventures To Go got up and went

Natsume announced today that its all-new strategy RPG Adventures To Go for the PlayStation Portable is now available exclusively at GameStop. It retails for an MSRP of $29.99 and is rated E for Everyone by the ESRB. In this new RPG, players take control of Finn Courtland and his band of misfits in their quest for fame and riches. Along the way, they just might have to save the world from the evil Arbitus and his band of demons.

The game uses a grid-based combat system, offers unique skills and abilities the ability to shape the game’s dungeons and challenges your liking and scads of humor and light-hearted fun. Would we expect anything but that from Natsume, whose bread and butter is Harvest Moon? I think not.

SpongeBob Truth or Square game in stores this week

THQ has released SpongeBob’s Truth or Square to all major retailers nationwide for the Wii, Nintendo DS, the Xbox 360, and PSP. In this off-the-wall action adventure game, players will take poart in some of the most humorous events from the last 10 years. The game also introduces a new and unique morphing capability that turns SpongeBob into unlikely objects like a spatula or sledgehammer. The game is slightly tied to a special episode of the show that celebrates the 10th Anniversary of the show.

In SpongeBob’s Truth or Square, players journey through memorable SpongeBob SquarePants locations to find the missing Krabby Patty formula in time for Krusty Krab’s Eleventy Seventh Anniversary. From Jellyfish Fields to downtown Bikini Bottom, players will have to run, jump, spin and hammer their way through 10 levels. Each level will take players back to a happy SpongeBob SquarePants moment, such as when SpongeBob becomes a fry cook, gets into the Salty Spittoon or meets Sandy for the first time.

Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob SquarePants “Truth or Square” one-hour prime time television event premieres on Friday, Nov. 6, culminating Nickelodeon’s 10th anniversary celebration of the pop-icon and top-rated kids’ series. The event features celebrity guest stars Craig Ferguson, Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, LeBron James, P!nk and Robin Williams, among others. SpongeBob’s Truth or Square was developed by Heavy Iron Studios.