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Wii sets up shop in sub-Sahara; Hellgate: London gets integrated voice chat; Kane & Lynch creator licenses animation technology.

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Nintendo's console journeys to South Africa
Despite ongoing struggles to meet current demand due to a shortage of components, Nintendo is opening up a new territory to release the Wii. News24 is reporting today that the Wii will be available for purchase in South Africa as of early October. While no firm price for the console has yet been announced, News24 noted the console will come at a premium, with the anticipated price being around R2 700 (about $390). Conversely, the 60GB PlayStation 3 currently retails in South Africa for R6 600 (about $920), while the Xbox 360 Premium goes for R3 699 (about $515).

Xfire enters the Hellgate
Viacom-owned game-matchmaking service Xfire today announced that its proprietary voice chat functionality would be included in Flagship Studios' upcoming role-playing game/shooter hybrid Hellgate: London. The service will allow players to chat in-game without the need of an external voice server. Players will also be able to access Xfire's matchmaking features from within the game, letting them more conveniently add others to their voice chat room. Xfire is a free-to-use, ad-supported service.

Io Interactive morphs with NaturalMotion
Traditionally an animation middleware provider for such developers as Rockstar Games and LucasArts, NaturalMotion announced in August that it would be cashing in on its proprietary technology for its first game, Backbreaker. However, that doesn't mean the company is getting out of the middleware business. Today, NaturalMotion announced that Kane & Lynch: Dead Men developer Io Interactive has licensed its morpheme animation technology for use in an undisclosed next-generation game title. No other details on the project were revealed.

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link7860

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We've finally found a new importer. About time....

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comthitnuong

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The Xfire in the game is not a bad idea. I've used it without it being integrated in the game but it sometimes gets very...troublesome to keep exiting out of my game to work the chat stuff...

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mashom

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late late late, all are late, any title with near date ?

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YukoAsho

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mhder - Except that we all know that the harder something is to find, the more people will want it. If Wiis were readily available, the sales numbers would dry up

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milnet

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Yeah well. What else is new. In Europe they are also charged more than the US. Still planning on getting the Wii though. Not that much more expensive than the US one.

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ObiKKa

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Wow. Rock on, Io Interactive, the creator of the Hitman series!

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Gamer_152

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Poor South Africans, at least they don't have to import now.

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DonutTrooper

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Wow, pricewise, this is pretty harsh for South African gamers. Not just for the Wii, but ow, that's a pretty penny for any next-gen system.

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mhder

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Shortage is fixed? Why would you fix a shortage in an industry where your main goal is to sell games? Without the console, the game is useless. Fix a shortage and you can't sell any games - especially in the case of Nintendo which is a game maker as well. With an artificial shortage, you would lose 3rd party support as well. A fixed shortage in gaming makes no sense

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necorium

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its about flipping time.. i had to order my Wii from the UK and getting games is a very expensive mission..

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uberjannie

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beckoflight : they are going to use it in another title.. But, I like the hellgate news. I love xfire =)

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beckoflight

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Well i want KANE & Lynch so bad please do not delay it !

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RaiKageRyu

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Wii going to the jungle!

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Deihmos

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[This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]

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bgres077

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Steep price over there in South Africa... but people want it and will buy it.

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YukoAsho

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Wait, Nintendo can't push enough Wiis to satisfy demand in Japan, Europe and the US, but they're launching the system in South Africa? And then they WONDER why everyone believes the "shortage" is fixed?

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soundofspeet

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This [url=<< LINK REMOVED >>]engine[/url] is the technology that IO Interactive is implementing. It's awesome. I could only imagine how immersive Hitman would become if it employed NaturalMotion's technology. [url=<< LINK REMOVED >>]Check it out.[/url]

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gozalo

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Never liked xfire.

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ColdfireTrilogy

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xfire makes me sad, why not just get their own voip, Most people i know have never seen a point in getting xfire, oh boy now i can see that ive wasted X ammount of hours of my life playing a game (or just idled like so many losers seem to do). Why not use a good voip program like Teamspeak or vent something with good sounding codecs and not having to sign up for some pointless app. sorry i just have really grown to dislike xfire as i see it as a useless program that does everything with mediocrity but does nothing well.

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Dr_Corndog

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Wow, South Africa has a weird currency system.

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indigoAK200

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I hope this next Io game is a new Hitman title.

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rallykupo

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Xfire + Hellgate = yes please!

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Pete5506

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I love Xfire

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wiirdawgs

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go hellgate FTW

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moocow21

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Xfire is awesome; can't wait for Hellgate.

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gnbfd

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$920 for a PS3? Sucks to be them

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