N'Gai Croal on CNN's "American Morning" discussing Manhunt 2

Last week, we made an appearance on CNN's "American Morning" to discuss Rockstar Games' forthcoming Manhunt 2. Our friend Mike Snider had quoted us in his USA Today story about Manhunt 2 and Nintendo's Wii, which prompted a couple of national TV news programs to get in touch with Newsweek's PR department to speak with us about the game. One news org decided to keep its powder dry until the game's release at the end of October, but CNN decided to tackle it immediately. Which is how we ended up in NYC's Time Warner Center on the set of "American Morning," seated across from co-anchor Kiran Chetry, explaining Manhunt 2 to thousands of Alpha moms across the nation.

The experience was pleasant, simple and short. Chetry didn't have an agenda or an ax to grind; she merely asked us a series of eminently reasonable questions about the kinds of things that curious viewers would want to know about the game. But inherent in some of her statements and questions was the assumption that Manhunt 2 was somehow intended for children. As we waited in the green room, we heard her tease our appearance by saying, "Well, there's something new from the Nintendo Wii, but some are saying it really allows players to act out a murder and just how dangerous it is that for the young kids that are playing these games? We're going to talk to one of the few people who had a chance to preview, to play this game. How violent is it? We're going to take a look ahead on 'American Morning.'" Later, when we were on the set, speaking directly with Chetry, we had the following exchange:

The new 40 gigabyte Playstation 3 

Last week, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe announced that on October 10th, it would release a new 40 gigabyte Playstation 3 for 399 euros. The company further said that it was cutting the price of its 60 gigabyte model from 599 euros to 499 euros. However, it's essential to read the fine print: the 40 gigabyte model will have no backwards compatibility with PlayStation 2 games. Zip. Zero. Nada. (We asked a Sony Computer Entertainment America spokesperson for comment about the world's worst kept secret: whether we would have to buy Andre "Ozymandias" Vrignaud a steak dinner whether there were plans to release the 40 gigabyte model in North America; we were told that SCEA had nothing to announce at this time.)

While it is definitely in Sony's best interest to introduce a cheaper model to help spur sales and grow its installed base, we have to add in no uncertain terms that we are extremely disappointed by the company's elimination of backwards compatibility. We're not surprised—the cost of goods in the PS3 made it likely that critical components would at some point be excised; also, we were the first to report Sony's placement of an order for large quantities of 40 gigabyte hard drives—but we're nevertheless shocked at this retreat from Playstation founder Ken Kutaragi's vision for eliminating software obsolescence though continued hardware compatibility. While the idea that you could just take about any one of your PS1 or PS2 discs, pop them into your PS3 and play them wasn't central to the PS3's fortunes, it was seductive because of the way it made videogames just like other media: your CD player or DVD player may improve, but it still plays your older disc-based content. What's more, it was a talking point that Sony used to needle Microsoft during the run-up to the Xbox 360 launch and thereafter, because of the Redmond giant's much-discussed backwards compatibility woes.

An early Big Daddy sketch for BioShock by 2K Boston's Nate Wells

Does reading Level Up sometimes feel like drinking water from a fire hose? Or surfing a tsunami? Does it ever give you the sensation that you've been buried under an avalanche of words, words, words? Yes, we know that the dizzying length of certain Level Up posts can read more like a manifesto or a jeremiad than a blog entry. For you, we offer the occasional feature "Things You May Have Missed," which will cull compelling excerpts from our more voluminous posts.

Since yesterday's entry on "What Makes A Great Boss?" got such a strong response, we've decided to double dip on that topic. As before, today's extract comes from the September 17th-20th edition of our Vs. Mode exchange with MTV News reporter Stephen Totilo, wherein we discussed the games BioShock and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. During our email conversation, we raised the question of how both games handled boss battles, as well as the limits and possibilities of BioShock's morality system. This prompted us to suggest a new type of Big Daddy, the Redeemer, as a boss that would challenge the player not only tactically, but also morally. How?

To read our summary, click on the link below.

1. WWJ...F: Who Would Jesus Frag, cont'd
2. PS3...available for $399 next month?
3. Doc...tor Evil: Valve's high price for Mac port
4. RND...The way to a food blogger's heart