2007 in video gaming/April

**2007**
January • February • March • April • May • June • July
August • September • October • November • December

See 2007 for other events during the year.

Infinity Ward Call of Duty series has left the World War II gameplay and entered the era of modern combat. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is their new title in the line of first person shooters. The trailer was released on April 28, 2007 and can be watched here
[1]

#### April 27 2007 (Friday)

* ***Thompson Screw-up***

Federal District Court Judge Paul Huck has dismissed a Jack Thompson's attempt to sue Gawker Media parent company of the popular game blog Kotaku. Thompson admits his mistake and pleads ignorance because of distractions from the Florida bar and an unnamed game website which published his home address and phone number. Jack Thompson also tried last week to get the FBI to investigate Kotaku as he did with a fourteen who made a threat against the University of California Berkley campus. Kotaku was attacked by Thompson for an analysis of his comments on the Virginia Tech shootings.
[2]
#### April 26 2007 (Thursday)

* ***Ken Kutaragi announces retirement***

Today Sony announce Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Ken Kutaragi will be retiring on June 19th of this year. He will be replaced by Kazuo Hirai. Sony announce that Kutaragi will be serving as Honorary Chairman of SCEI.
[3]
* ***Pokemon DP Sales Reach 1 Million***

Five days following the April 22 release of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl in North America, Nintendo announces that the games have sold 1 million units. The company said that it is the biggest pokemon game since the original release in 1998.
[4]
#### April 25 2007 (Wednesday)

* ***Ubisoft announces Tom Clancy EndWar***

Ubisoft has recently announce a new addition to their Tom Clancy games. Tom Clancy's EndWar, a World War III strategy title developed by Ubisoft's Shanghai studios. The project will be led by Rome: Total War creative director Michael de Plater.
[5]
#### April 24 2007 (Tuesday)

* ***SF Chronicle Zings Jack Thompson***

Last week Jack Thompson claimed that video games were behind last week’s Virginia Tech massacre but this time he blames it on Counter Strike. Today the San Francisco Chronicle reports that Cho wasn’t playing video games at Virginia Tech. Instead he was writing poetry and playwrites.
[6]
#### April 23 2007 (Monday)

* ***Sony Cuts European PSP Price***

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe cuts the PSP price by about $30 USD. Earlier in the month, a price drop in the U.S. Games such as Ridge Racer 2, Tekken: Dark Resurrection, Killzone: Liberation, LocoRoco and Moto GP. were also dropped from $40 to $30.

[7]

* ***Human Head Studios Damage by fire***

The offices of Prey developer Human Head Studios caught fire around 2.30 am CDT. The fire damaged $750,000 worth of equiptment. No one was injured.
[8]
#### April 20 2007 (Friday)

* ***Game industry sales up***

The industry-tracking NPD Group released its sales figures for the US March retail period today, and despite at least one analyst's expectations, the streak of significant sales growth has continued for another month. Games, systems, and accessories total tops $1 billion; software rises 15 percent. God of War II sells more than 800,000
Top 10 games for March 2007, based on number of units sold:

1. God of War II—PS2—833,000
2. Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2--Xbox 360—394,000
3. Guitar Hero 2--Xbox 360—291,000
4. Wii Play with Wii Remote—Wii—273,000
5. MotorStorm—PS3—199,000
6. Diddy Kong Racing—Nintendo DS—189,000
7. Spectrobes—Nintendo DS—165,000
8. MLB 2K7—Xbox 360—165,000
9. MLB '07: The Show—PS2—164,000
10. Def Jam Icon—Xbox 360—148,000

[9]
#### April 19 2007 (Thursday)

* ***Thompson settles with Take Two***

After Take Two filed a law suit against Jack Thompson he filed a countersuit whch was highlighted by charges that Take Two violated federal racketeering statutes. Thompson later dropped the charges and in the Federal District Court of Judge Cecilia Altonaga, Thompson has agreed that he:
1.) will not sue or threaten to sue to block sale or distribution of any game published by Take Two or its subsidiaries (i.e., Rockstar).

2.) will not communicate to Take Two or anyone doing business with T2 (like, say Wal-Mart) any accusation that the company committed any wrongdoing by selling its games. Thompson is not restricted from criticizing the content of T2 games, nor is he prevented from acting as counsel in lawsuits brought against Take Two by other parties

3.) will make any future contacts with T2 through its attorneys

This cause Take two and Thompson to drop their lawsuits against each other.

[10]

* ***Sony PS3 Framewire Update***

Sony has released the latest 1.70 firmware for its PlayStation 3 the update allows downloadable PSX titles on the console to be played and improves backward compatibility with PS2 peripherals. The firmware also adds the ability for players to transfer PlayStation 1 save data from the PSP to PS3.

[11]
#### April 18 2007 (Wednesday)

* ***Pokemon Pearl and Diamond tops 500,000 preorders***

Next week Pokemon Diamond and Pearl will be release in North America. Nintendo confirms that the pre orders has topped 533,000. The games have already become the best selling iterations of the series so far in Japan. Nintendo has also announced plans for a themed event to take place at the Nintendo World store in New York City from 1 to 5 pm on the release date.

[12]
#### April 17 2007 (Tuesday)

* ***Final Fantasy Remake on the PSP***

 File:Ffnlogo.jpg
With their 20th anniversary comming up for the Final Fantasy series, Square enix has decided to remake the original Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II scheduled to ship exclusively for the PSP in North America this summer. The anniversary editions will have new content such as new character art, updated graphics, new dungeons, full 16:9 widescreen presentation, and an updated camera.

[13]
#### April 16 2007 (Monday)

* ***Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles goes to wii***

Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles Umbrella Chronicles was announced at E3 2006. It was said during a presentation that The Umbrella Chronicles will feature two main characters.Capcom said it was going to be for the Wii and will cover the story of the Umbrella corporation during Resident Evil 1, 2, and 3.
[14]
#### April 15 2007 (Sunday)

* ***Uwe Boll Postal movie Creates Controversy***

Uwe Boll, the director who creates crappy films based on video games, has sparked outrage into many with his 9/11 parody in the developing film Postal. Postal is based on the violent Postal video game series. The scene in the film shows a small plane crashing into a tall office building. Many New Yorkers are enraged at the film for its similarities of 9/11. You can see the trailer here
[15]
#### April 13 2007 (Friday)

* ***Analyst predict Sony Profit recovery***

Analysts have predicted that Sony will have a 500% profit recovery in the next fiscal year. This current fiscal year the company suffered an operating loss of ¥200 billion ($1.69bn). The predictions were based on Sony's strong sales in LCD HDTV and a predicted recovery of Sony’s game division thanks to significantly higher PS3 sales.
[16]
#### April 12 2007 (Thursday)

* ***Yee criticises Army Ads in Gaming websites***

California State Senator Leland Yee has expressed concern of the US Army advertising on gaming websites. Yee lashed out at an Army program which will spend $2 million in tax dollars to sponsor the Global Gaming League. The GGL site gets more than 9 million visitors per month, mostly young men between 17 and 24. Yee argues that violent video games do not promote service as admirable, but promotes violent, sexist, and racist behaviors.
[17]
#### April 11 2007 (Wednesday)

* ***Massachusetts Video Game bill Likely to fail***

Massachusetts Video game violence bill sponsored in January of 2007 fails to past similar to the one in Utah and Louisiana. The Louisiana bill has been deemed unconstitutional by a federal judge. While the Utah bill has failed to withstand legal challenge. The bill was pushed by Mayor Thomas Menino of Boston who supports ban ads for M-rated games on public transit. The Massacusetts bill is currently placed before the state house and has no less than 21 individuals supporting it.
[18]
#### April 10 2007 (Tuesday)

* ***Halo 3 Beta testing***

Microsoft has announced today that multiplayer for Halo 3 beta will be going live on May 16 on Xbox Live globally. Access to the beta will be rolled out simultaneously worldwide at 1 p.m. GMT (5 a.m. PDT) on May 16, and will end on June 7 at 7:59 a.m.
[19]
* ***Sony drops 20GB PS3***

Sony has quietly dropped the 20GB PS3 from their stores and retailing stores. The 20GB version of the console does not feature any in-built Wi-Fi connectivity, lacks the flash memory card readers, has less memory and lacks the chrome trim of the more expensive 60GB version. It is not sold at all in Europe and is less popular than the 60GB version. 20GB PS3 are currently not available at Best Buy, GameStop and Electronics Boutique. But is still being sold on amazon.com and Toys ‘R’ Us.
[20]
#### April 9 2007 (Monday)

* ***Xbox 360 Spring Update***

Microsoft has confirmed the imminent launch of Windows Live Messenger on Xbox 360 as part of their spring update. It will allow up to six people to watch movies together, chat, listen to music, and play games. The update is schedule for May 7, 2007
[21]
#### April 6 2007 (Friday)

* ***GTA IV Real life trailer***

Last week Rockstar games released GTA IV trailer. It was discovered that a fan of the grand theft auto series has recreated the preview trailer and released it on youtube. See it here
[22]
#### April 5 2007 (Thursday)

* ***Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts in Development***

THQ announced that they are releasing a stand alone expansion to Company of Heroes called Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts. Opposing Fronts players take up the role of either the German Panzer Elite in Operation Market Garden, or the British 2nd Army in the battle for Caen, France.
[23]

#### April 4 2007 (Wednesday)

* ***Thompson in trouble again***

Jack Thompson is once again in trouble with the Florida Bar. The complaint filed by the Miami judge who oversaw last October’s Bully suit has been upheld by the Florida Bar, it was subsequently referred to the Florida Supreme Court. If the complaint is upheld, Thompson can face sanctions. The complaint adresses Thompson's conduct during the Bully case.
[24]
#### April 3 2007 (Tuesday)

* ***Dreamcast Support Dead***

Sega of Japan has announced that it will cease to offer a repair service for the Dreamcast and Saturn console starting September 28, 2007. The company will no longer offer repair services and acessories. The GD-ROM media format production has also ended.
[25]
* ***PSP Core package Drops $30***

EB Games and GameStop have officially begun lowering their prices for the PSP to $169.99.
[26]
#### April 2 2007 (Monday)

* ***Virtural Console Downloads***

Nintendo has announced three new downloads for the Wii Virtural console this week. Starfox 64 will be available for 1000pts ($10), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for the NES will be for 600 points ($6), and Dragon’s Curse and Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap and sequel to Wonder Boy in Monster Land will be available for 600 pts.
[27]
* ***PS3 Banned from prisons in UK***

British prision officials have banned the PS3 and has make sure that the systems are not inside prision walls. British Home Secretary John Reid said that the PS3 gives prisioners the ability to transimit radio signals because of its Wi-Fi capability.
[28]
## Game Releases

April 24

* Aedis Eclipse: Generation of Chaos (PSP)

April 23

* Made Man (PC)

April 22

* Pokémon Diamond and Pearl (DS)

April 17

* Bust-A-Move Bash! (Wii)
* Raiden III (PS2)

April 9

* Super Paper Mario (Wii)

April 3

* Guitar Hero II (Xbox 360)
* Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales (DS)

April 2

* Resident Evil 4 (PC)