Game Stooge

Late Night Update

• Scribbled on July 10th, 2007 by Joshiepoo
• Filed in E3, Editorial Content, Features, Industry News, Rumor Mill

I really dread E3 even a downsized one. So, now that I have that out of the way here is your late night breaking news update.

• Analyst Michael Pachter suggests Microsoft will announce a price cut to all three consoles at this years E3 press conference. He proclaims the core unit will go from $299 down to $249, the $399 premium pack will be slashed down to $349, and the $479 elite sku drops to $399. Pachter believes this is in reaction the PS3 price cut announced recently.

My sources tell me that at the Microsoft press conference they will announce a complete abandonment of the core package because its lack of a hard drive. With the core non-existent the premium pack price could shift down to $299 and the elite to $399. A possible reason for the core package’s dismissal is that to play Grand Theft Auto 4 you will need a hard drive. So far neither Microsoft or Rockstar have responded to my e-mails.
Thanks, (Next-gen.biz)

• Over at N-Europe Cube headlines his article “Mario Kart Wii in Europe this year.” In his article he details from a reliable source that Super Smash Bros. Brawl will miss its Fall 2007 release date in Europe and the Europeans will instead be getting Mario Kart for the Wii this Fall. For us Americans we will see Smash Bros. this Fall and have Mario Kart in early 2008. Cube also mentions that Patrick Nagel , Deputy Marketing Manager for Nintendo Germany, stated Europe will see Metroid Prime 3 and Mario Kart in 2007

Whew! That is a huge bit of news if true. After some heavy research Patrick Nagel’s actual statement was ” With some luck, Mario Kart Wii will be published in 2007.” While Nintendo has always been reclusive with its 1st party titles I do not think we will see Mario Kart Wii on store shelves on any continent until 2008. Nintendo’s fall lineup is just too big to fit another triple-A title like Mario Kart in-between Metroid Prime 3, Super Smash Brawl, and Mario Galaxy. We will certainly keep you up to date on these and all rumours this week as E3 unfolds.

Thanks, (N-Europe)