Prosecutors say a 22-year-old seven-time felon opened fire on a couple outside a party in the South Park neighborhood following a fight early New Year's Day. According to charging documents filed by a King County anti-gang deputy prosecutor last week, around 4:15 am on New Year's Day, police found a man and a woman shot in Mara Desimone Park in the South Park neighborhood. The man had been shot in the buttocks, and the woman was hit in the hand. Earlier that evening, the victims had crossed paths with two men who showed up to a house party and "mumble[d] something insulting" to one of the victim's female friends as they were all walking to their cars. The victims exchanged words with the two men—who were both dressed in blue clothing, according to court records—and one of the men drew a gun and began waving it around. The victims left the party and were walking to their car when the two men they had fought with drove by, rolled down their window and began shooting. Prosecutors identified the gunman in court records as 22-year-old Victor Sauceda, who may have ties to the Surenos gang, according to a law enforcement source. Six days after the shooting, on January 7, police tracked Sauceda to his home in Renton where, after a brief standoff, he surrendered to detectives around 3:00 am. Police recovered three pistols from Sauceda's home, court records say. In charging documents, prosecutors say Sauceda has prior convictions for theft, unlawful possession of a firearm, and trafficking in stolen property. He's currently being held at the King County Jail on $250,000 bail.
• This morning, Nintendo announced its American summer schedule. Nowhere to be found: A single game for the Wii Fit or Wii Sports crowd.
Instead, it’s full of the kind of stuff you’d expect in an especially nerdy issue of GamePro. Think lengthy, dragon-filled quests, classic Nintendo franchises, and experimental, arty titles. Some of the games look quite good—and a few even look innovative.
On the surface, the news looks like an about-face from the snooze-fest that was Nintendo’s past few years of output. But the company is notorious for spreading its schedules too thin—and then annoying fans with surprise delays—so it’s hard to read a carefully crafted news blast as a renaissance.
Worse, Nintendo’s old fans probably aren’t coming back to buy this new stuff, mostly because other game makers have already abandoned the Wii, having lost tons of money trying to sell “gamers’ games” on it.
And what about the non-gamer crowd? Rather than prep another hit game like Wii Sports, Nintendo has gone the supply/demand route, reducing its output of Wiis to create artificial demand. You don’t need the Wii because it’s fun; you need it because it’s sold out! Nintendo, I still say you’re doomed.
• That doom will ramp up as Microsoft’s motion-sensing add-on, currently (and unfortunately) dubbed “Project Natal,” nears its fall 2010 release. Quotes like this, from a hands-on demo in London last night, get to the point:
[With Natal,] you can run, kick or head the ball as you would in real life. It’s probably not 100% there yet, but in a very short space of time users could find themselves perfecting real-world skills in their home. Need help with a golf swing? Want to learn a martial art or a dance routine to perfection? These are genuine possibilities that reduce the motion-sensing Nunchuck of the Wii to the status of cutesy gimmick.
In the meantime, Microsoft kicks off a month-long “Block Party” promotion of downloadable Xbox 360 games on Tuesday, starting with the locally produced Toy Soldiers. I’ll post my take on that next week.
• Yet another version of Nintendo’s portable juggernaut, the DS, will hit stores on March 28. For the most part, the DSi XL is the same system … only bigger and $20 more expensive. It’s meant for older players who like Nintendo’s Brain Age and e-book releases but hate to squint at the DS’s small screens. I look forward to thousands of e-mails from Nintendo the week before Mother’s Day with “DSi XL” in the subject line.
• Bellevue’s Valve has announced a welcome update to its Steam online gaming platform. The service hasn’t seen a major overhaul since its debut in 2004, and blocks of big text and a sharp new interface now put Steam’s social aspects at the forefront. Looks great, guys. Expect Valve to devote even more energy to its online platform this year as its astonishing numbers continue to climb.
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