Epic Mickey Collectors Edition Confirmed August 31, 2010

Existance of this leaked out at retailers a day or two ago, but I was waiting for official confirmation before I posted up anything here, and that has come.  Disney’s Epic Mickey will get a full collector’s edition.  It’s quite rare a Wii game gets a collector’s edition, I can’t think of another game for the Wii that has gotten one other than Metroid Prime Trilogy (and that was more of a limited release game than a CE).

The CE will include a behind the scenes DVD, a 5-inch Mickey Mouse figurine, a Wii console skin, and a wiimote faceplate.  It will retail for $69.99 US.

Disney’s Epic Mickey is coming Holiday 2010 for the Nintendo Wii.

What is a Transforming D-Pad? August 31, 2010

Microsoft has announced today that they are releasing an updated version of the Xbox 360 controller with an improved directional pad, called a transforming d-pad, and a new color scheme which removes all the colors from the face buttons of the controller and replaces them with black and white buttons.

A transforming d-pad allows the user to raise the pad or flatten it depending on preference and game, making life a lot easier for fighting game purists.  By turning the pad at the base, you can change the d-pad’s orientation to your liking.

The largest complaint about the Xbox 360’s controller has always been the d-pad, perhaps this will quell that debate.  Other controllers also have complaints as well, for example the Dual Shock 3’s main complaint by most users is that the trigger buttons are rounded down instead of up, causing finger slippage.

The new Xbox 360 controllers are going to be released bundled with Plug and Charge kits on November 9th, 2010 for $64.99 US.

Dead Rising Case Zero Release Today August 31, 2010

In a brilliant move of marketing, Capcom is actually releasing a standalone game prior to the release of Dead Rising 2, which is supposed to serve as a prequel to the game, set up the new main character, and just be a great way to slay zombies.

Dead Rising Case Zero is out today and is only for download on Xbox Live.  Cost is 400 MS points, or about $5 US.

ATI Brand Discontinuing August 31, 2010

AMD has confirmed to several media outlets that it will no longer continue to use the ATI brand for its graphics processors, opting instead to continue with the AMD name for them.

Around the time of the shut down of 3DFX (at the time the primary graphics accelerator), many manufacturing companies that built hardware around their graphics api went down with them, leaving only Nvidia and ATI left in the graphics arena, who have been chief rivals ever since, and each had a dedicated fanbase devoted to their side.

AMD purchased ATI several years ago, and owns the company, so they can do this.  ATI’s chief (and by all accounts only) rival Nvidia is still independent.  No other company who produces graphics (including Intel) are even close technologically to the hardware either of these companies are producing.  In fact the stuff Intel made yesterday is pretty much on par with what Nvidia and ATI were making seven years ago.  There’s no comparison, and most modern PC games won’t play on your computer unless you’re using an Nvidia or ATI gpu.

To me this is the end of an era, but it has been coming ever since ATI’s purchase.  The ATI vs Nvidia wars were a staple of PC Gamers between 2000 and 2010 and likely will continue under the new name, but just will not be the same.