Political leaders, politicians and policemen have already downloaded the GTA IV trailer, watched it numerous times, and gone ape at the fact that the fictional city resembles New York.
While the city does resemble New York, it's actually the GTA hold haunt Liberty City, which, as we all know, is heavily based on NYC.
"Setting Grand Theft Auto in the safest big city in America would be like setting Halo in Disneyland," said City Councilman Peter Vallone, chairman of the council's public safety committee.
The New York Daily News reported "Grand Theft Auto is set in a mythical city that bears a striking resemblance to New York." Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly isn't one bit impressed. "It's despicable to glamorize violence in games like these, regardless of how far-fetched the setting may be."
Jason Post, a spokesman for Mayor Bloomberg, put the final nail in GTA IV's coffin: "The mayor does not support any video game where you earn points for injuring or killing police officers."
via cvg
Hopefully you've got plenty of games in your 'to do' tray because over the next few weeks there's going to be slim pickings. After the deluge that greeted the PS3 launch weekend (some 63 titles) we are now down to just six.
Yep, just six major releases. So don't blame us that Prince of Persia: Rival Swords on Wii is the standout title, there's really not much to sift through. At least we can all look forward to the magnificent God of War II that is most definitely scheduled in for April 13.
The complete list of games released in the UK this week (06/04/07):
Last month, THQ told analysts in a quarterly conference call that it would be introducing its SmackDown vs. RAW series of wrestling games to the Nintendo DS, Wii, and PlayStation 3 this year. Today the publisher spilled the first details on SmackDown vs. RAW 2008, which will also appear on the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, and Xbox 360, combining for the company's largest cross-platform WWE release yet.
THQ also gave a glimpse of what to expect from this year's installment of the game, saying that WWE spin-off league Extreme Championship Wrestling will have a "significant" presence in the game, with a number of ECW stars, arenas, and weapons included. As for the gameplay focus, THQ said that "realism and strategy are at the forefront" with its new struggle submission system, which uses analog controls to let players dictate the amount of pressure applied to their opponents in submission holds.
SmackDown vs. RAW 2008 will also sport adjustments to features included in last year's game, with new rosters, more interactive "hotspots," a combined season and general manager mode, and revised action outside the ring and online community options.
English Premiership
English Championship
Primera Division
Serie A
Ligue 1
Bundesliga
Eredivisie
Bwin Portugese League
Turkish League
Scottish Premiership
Greek Superleague
Russian League
Israel League
Let's hope this isn't an April fools joke. I believe this would be the first football/soccer game for PS3.
Speaking about the recently unveiled Nintendo-Sega collaboration, Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games, Jeffery said that we won't see another Sonic title on a next-gen platform for quite a while.
"We are actually undergoing a fairly considerable refresh of Sonic as an intellectual property, as a character," he told Newsweek.
"Sonic on the Wii is probably the first product that's come to market that reflects that. We're not going to be bringing another game out on the other platforms for quite some time, because we feel that it is time to reinvent Sonic, to make Sonic contemporary again. At the same time, even the recent 360 and PlayStation 3 games have sold extremely well."
Sony has denied that PS3 titles Lair and Heavenly Sword are due to arrive in May - despite a listing which says otherwise on the official PlayStation website.
Speaking to our sister site, Eurogamer.net, a spokesperson said, "Both those dates are wrong. We haven't got any release dates for those at the moment; they're just pencilled in for 2007."
Heavenly Sword is a third-person action game in development at Ninja Theory. It has been promoted as a flagship title for PlayStation 3 since it was unveiled at E3 2005.
Lair is being developed by Factor 5. It will see players taking to the skies on the back of a fire-breathing dragon, and is shaping up to be one of the most ambitious PS3 titles so far.
Ticket prices for October's E for All Expo have been set by the show organisers IDG.
Single day tickets will be priced at USD 50 (EUR 37) for the Thursday and Friday, while Saturday and Sunday tickets have been bumped up to USD 75 (EUR 56). A full pass for the four days will cost USD 110 (EUR 82), according to a report on GameSpot.
Last week Nintendo confirmed it would be an 'anchor exhibitor' for the event, with more ESA members expected to pledge support for the consumer show shortly.
The event will take place at the LA Convention Centre and feature product showcases, games tournaments, a job fair and a retail section in Kentia Hall.
The E for All Expo will take place October 18 – 12.
Electronic Arts has officially announced new PS3 and Xbox 360 title Rock Band, revealing that several key music publishers have already agreed to supply tracks for the game.
News of the title emerged earlier this morning, when it was reported that Rock Band is being developed with Harmonix and MTV and will use four instrument-themed controllers.
Now Electronic Arts has released an official statement confirming that "unprecedented deals" with record labels have already been signed. As a result, the game is set to feature "master recordings from the biggest songs and artists of all time", spanning "all genres of rock".
Several major music publishers will offer access to their track catalogues, including EMI Music Publishing and Warner/Chappell. Along with EMI Music and Warner Music Group's Rhino Entertainment, labels which have agreed to supply songs include Hollywood Records and Sony BMG plus Universal Music Enterprises.
"Our vision for Rock Band is to completely change the way people interact with and enjoy the music they love," said MTV executive Jeff Yapp.
"By joining forces with EA and the music industry’s largest record labels and publishers, we are striving to create a groundbreaking new platform that allows people to connect with their favorite music and artists in ways they never have before."
Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopulos commented, "Harmonix was founded to create new ways for everyone to experience the pleasure and satisfaction that comes from playing music. Our work on Guitar Hero was an instrumental step toward that goal.
"But Rock Band is Harmonix’s most ambitious project to date, and it will take music gameplay to an entirely new level. MTV has given us the freedom and the resources to really swing for the fences and make the game we’ve always wanted to make."
Rock Band is due out on PS3 and Xbox 360 this Christmas.
The launch of the PlayStation 3 has seen Sony's first-party software invade the charts across Europe, with Resistance: Fall of Man taking the top position in Italy and Spain.
Although official chart positions are not yet available in Germany, Media Control GfK International has revealed that the three best-selling PS3 titles in the country are Resistance: Fall of Man, MotorStorm and F1 Championship Edition.
In the first week of release, 48,000 PlayStation 3 software units were sold in Germany. In comparison, the first week of Nintendo Wii software sales were 42,000, while Xbox 360 software shifted 33,000 units after one week on sale.
In Italy, MotorStorm was just ahead of F1 Championship Edition, at two and three respectively, while in Spain the positions were reversed.
Charts figures for the week ended March 25 show that Activision's Call of Duty 3, Ridge Racer 7 and Virtua Tennis 3 were also strong launch releases in the Spanish and Italian markets.
Square Enix's Final Fantasy XII continues to prove popular in Europe, while Disney's Spectrobes is also enjoying a strong run in the top ten.
The top ten best-selling games for Spain, Italy and Germany follow:
Spain, week ended March 25
1. Resistance: Fall of Man
2. F1 Championship Edition
3. MotorStorm
4. Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training
5. Virtua Tennis 3
6. Call of Duty 3
7. Spectrobes
8. Final Fantasy XII
9. Ridge Racer 7
10. Big Brain Academy
Italy, week ended March 25
1. Resistance: Fall of Man
2. MotorStorm
3. F1 Championship Edition
4. Ridge Racer 7
5. Final Fantasy XII
6. Virtua Tennis 3
7. Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2
8. Call of Duty 3
9. Genji: Days of the Blade
10. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
Germany, week ended March 18
1. The Sims 2: Seasons
2. Final Fantasy XII
3. Mario Slam Basketball
4. Battlefield 2142: Northern Strike
5. Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training
6. World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade
7. Spectrobes
8. World of Warcraft
9. Test Drive Unlimited
10. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
Upon the European launch, we wrote up an article about the "before" sales of the PlayStation 3 and let you guys guess where the numbers would land, given another week. Well, we had a very professional brain fart (in the form of multiple tests, group presentations, and an annoying large paper) and decided to let the "after" post come... today. What did we find? Good stuff.
At least, according to VGCharts, the PlayStation 3 has surpassed the 3 million mark. What's neat, too, according to the same chart, is that the PS3 has sold more in Europe in the course of two weekends than it has sold in Japan in four months! We've got more good PS3 sales news as the day progresses, but it almost seems like a slow news day right now. When do you guys think the PS3 will break 4 million, now that things will slow down?
In lieu of all the crazy implications that the PS3 isn't the coolest thing around, we're going to go ahead and say, "that, good sir, is at the very least a debatable subject to deliberate on... with dancing!" However, instead of inviting other people over for probably the most humiliating dance-off this side of the internet, we're just going to cast some news out there and hope a little fishy bites.
According to MeriStation, the PS3 has nearly sold out across all of Spain. They were allocated 110,000 units and have reportedly gone through 100,000 of them. Sony is planning to keep the supply up, granting Spain 20,000 units every week. In addition to this, the demand for the Blu-ray format has increased by 30% since the PS3's launch. Awesome, but not unexpected. It is awesome. I wish anything that I created would sell 100,000 copies. Eventually!
Despite a stellar reception from the press, not everyone was completely satisfied with the bandwidth-burning GTA IV trailer that hit the internet with a bang last week.
Three main trends among complainers crammed our comments section over the weekend, including outcries over the "untreatable" Russian main character, complaints of "yet again" returning to Liberty City and erm, apparently some people don't think the visuals look up to par.
"Talk about an anti climax! I was waiting hours for this watching the clock count down. I was expecting to see something fun that would make me need a 360 or PS3 but meh... It's Liberty/New York in a contemporary setting - how boring", said CVG user GiarcYekrub. "The only positive I can see is the bilboards look funny but that lasts how long?"
Believe it or not, others were more harsh in their criticism: "Oh my god, what a letdown", Burnsyboy2004 posted on Friday. "It's set in Liberty City again which is crap, and you're some dirty Russian gangster. Looks like they have run out of ideas boys and girls. Same old game again then but with better graphics."
But obviously not everyone was as disappointed over the GTA IV debut. Buffers32 defended the trailer: "I don't know what some of you were looking at but personally I just saw some the best graphics in a video game ever. Soft shadows, real-time lighting, volumetric lighting, massive draw distance, incredible detail, beautiful water...what more do you want?"
Whitepony888 echoed Buffers' comments: "Although I've seen better graphics on the Xbox 360, I honestly never anticipated GTAIV to look quite so beautiful. I haven't wanted to play a game this much since the series first moved into full 3D."
"I'm just glad that you don't have to be an american this time!" Piped in fellow CVG forumite Kapt15. We're with you on that.
At last weekend's GO3 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Perth, Australia, Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima spoke to a keen audience about how he will push the series forward with MGS4 on PS3.
"I went back to the drawing board, back to scratch", he said, according to Gamespot, "and looked at what I did for Metal Gear 1 and 2, and for Metal Gear Solid 1, 2, and 3".
He goes on to explain: "Now I can't make Snake go into space to do his stealth mission, and we've exhausted the concept of the place, so now I thought why not create a situation rather than a place? And then I thought of a battlezone or warzone as the situation where Snake has to sneak in. So MGS4's game concept is playing hide and seek within a certain situation."
Kojima detailed his vision of game that places the player in a the middle of a war between two armies. "To make it very simple, in the past Metal Gears, Snake was going into enemy environments--so everyone apart from Snake was an enemy. This time it's a warzone, so you have country A or country B, so Snake could interfere with either of the countries."
Interestingly, he says that this "does not necessarily mean that everyone is an enemy to Snake", suggesting Snake will have to work with or even sneak past allies - which makes us think of the CIA level in the original Splinter Cell game. "This creates a new tension in playing this new hide and seek," he promises.
Kojima also hopes to give Sony's shiny super console a fair old work out in some interesting ways, "for not only what you can see, but also psychological effects, or psychological battles, where it can affect your gameplay."
MGS4 is bound to kick ass, so whatever "psychological" stuff Kojima is thinking up, we hope he can get it done and whacked onto a Blu-ray disc for us to feed our PS3 with pronto. Q4 2007 is the current ETA.
Following this morning's reveal of WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2008, first screenshots from the THQ sequel are body-slamming us and following up with a Chinese burn (15 screenshots in fact, which we've uploaded to this here page).
The screens are from the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the game - Wii, PS2, DS and PSP iterations are also planned. Expect to see WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2008 toward the end of the year.
Those of you patiently waiting for a patch to let you play PES6 against your friends using your shiny new PS3 will be twiddling your thumbs a while longer, as Sony told Eurogamer this morning that we'd probably not see a fix until the next firmware update.
It's one of a handful of PS2 titles that has noticeable issues when running on the new console, prompting Konami to previously release a statement claiming that online play was incompatible due to the loss of internal hardware dedicated to PS3 emulation.
This emotion engine chip, the processor used in the PS2, was removed for PAL PlayStation 3 units. However, Sony promised that it would continue to support last generation of games with software updates to the system.
The most recent update was v1.6, which went live on 23rd March and significantly increased the amount of PS2 titles playable on the new console.
You can find a full list of those that work on Sony's backwards compatibility site, boasting around 1,240 golden oldies.
There's currently no news on when we can expect the next firmware update for PS3.
Ars Technica opines on Eidos' decision to hold off on PS3 games until 2008. Though they make a point of mentioning all of the great steps forward Sony and the PS3 have taken in the last month or so (LittleBigPlanet, Home, the EU launch), they feel this decision may have ramifications for the console.
"Though Eidos isn't the most prominent European developer--noteworthy releases for 2006 included the surprisingly decent Just Cause, Tomb Raider: Legend and Hitman: Blood Money--this may set a dangerous precedent for other developers. If Sony doesn't step up to become more proactive at keeping the flow of good games steady, the installed base may not continue to grow quickly enough and developers may begin to pull support, creating a lack of games. This vicious cycle is hard to escape, as Sony has previously learned with the PSP's port problem."
Playing video games is a dangerous business. If gamers aren't dodging flying controllers or getting inadvertently hit by their partner while playing Wii Sports, they're getting the dreaded Tekken Thumb after a few fighting rounds too many. Now, according to a UK report, it's official--gamers who button-mash too much can wind up in hospital.
In 2006 in the UK, a total of 577 children had to go to hospital for treatment for repetitive strain injury (RSI), according to British newspaper The Daily Mail.
RSI is a medically recognised condition which results from spending long periods of time making repetitive movements with the hands, wrists, arms, or shoulders. If these motions are performed on an almost daily basis (such as by an assembly line worker or a typist), inflammation can occur and not be given a chance to heal, since the muscles will continue to be used in the same way.
The figures are a 35 percent rise on those from 1999, and it is believed there is a direct link with the growing popularity of gaming.
Conversely, injuries related to falling out of trees were down 36 percent last year to 1,163, which The Daily Mail believes illustrates the trend for children to "turn away from basic outdoor activities."
features
Trick Remixer: This all-new trick system gives you the ball and puts it in your hand. Take control of your player's rhythm mixing quick tricks with elaborate moves using two trick buttons.
Game Breaker: Unleash a whole new set of over-the-top tricks and electrifying dunks, or watch in disbelief as your rival steals away the opportunity.
Take Your Game to New Heights: All-new dunk controls keep you engaged from take-off to throw down.
Showcase your Master Skills: The best NBA players have hidden master skills that separate them from the rest.
Become a Homecourt Hero: Go from an unknown talent to a playground legend and put your homecourt on the map by dominating courts from coast-to-coast.
Every Legend has a Beginning: The NBA's best all came from somewhere and many built their skills and reputations in their hometown playgrounds - including NBA Stars Carmelo Anthony and Richard Hamilton.
Fresh Create-a-player: New Create Player system allows you to quickly create avatars by melding your favorite NBA stars into the ultimate baller
That Girl's Got Game: Six of your favorite WNBA stars are featured for the first time ever, including Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird and Sheryl Swoopes.
Take Your Game Online*: Represent your homecourt online with your created player against the nation's greatest ballers-anywhere, anytime.
description
NBA STREET returns with a brand new game engine only possible with the power of next generation console systems, allowing the franchise to once again raise the bar with innovative gameplay and cutting edge visuals. With a new animation engine and control system, we put the ball in your hand and allow you to show off your own style by creating hundreds of tricks on the fly. Soar through the air to execute gravity-defying dunks and double dunks or step off the back of your teammate for a jump-off dunk.
NBA STREET Homecourt merges legendary playgrounds with the hometown courts of your favorite NBA stars, featuring 360 degrees of view. Plus, the NBA's best players are all rendered in meticulous detail, making true athlete likeness a reality and putting you up close and personal with every move and moment. Set roots in your own homecourt as an anonymous baller with big dreams. Earn a name for yourself and garner respect as you progress along your hometown journey and become a legend.
Any way you shake it, NBA Street Homecourt allows you to play like you never dreamed you could, right from the first time you pick up the controller.
features
The World of The Godfather: Experience a decade of the mafia in a living world New York City from 1945-55 with enhancements to racket truck heists, extortions, targeting, living world gameplay, and much more.
The Mean Streets of NYC are Even Meaner: The Godfather The Don's Edition on PlayStation 3 features more contract hits and 4 new rival family compounds to explore, control, and destroy.
Favors and Blackmail: "Someday, and that day may never come, I'll call upon you to do a service for me…." The way of favors is integral to the story line of The Godfather, perform all new ones for the Family or local businesses to gain greater reputation on the streets of NYC.
Give 'Em a Beat Down: Use your firearm as a smash-mouth melee weapon on the PS3. With the SIXAXIS controller, the Blackhand Control fighting power is in your hands; when you slam your controller, you slam your opponent.
Corleone Challenges: Race against the clock (and your rivals) to earn the highest score in challenges such as Road Rage, Killing Spree, and Safe Cracker.
Corleone Hit Squad: Advance up the criminal ladder in the Corleone Family and gain the ability to hire an entire Hit Squad for truly dangerous assignments. Seduce the "ladies" for a Femme Fatale to cover your back.
Explosive Death: Plant car bombs on stationary vehicles and watch the impressive explosions light up the sky.
Classic Film Moments: Take on film-based and original missions as you interact with classic characters and experience unforgettable moments from the film.
Put Yourself in The Godfather: Create your own mobster and get a piece of the action by putting yourself in a living, open-world New York City.
Choose Your Path: Earn respect and customize your character's abilities. Will you invest in the intimidation skills of the Enforcer or the negotiation skills of the Operator?
Persistent World: Interact freely with an assortment of characters. The characters remember your interactions-whether you were diplomatic, accommodating, or brutal-and will respond appropriately when you meet again.
Control New York: Your bid to take control of the Corleone Family and make New York City your own will be challenged by the other four families from the fiction: Tattaglia, Cuneo, Barzini, and Stracci.
description
A classic story about family, respect, and loyalty, Mario Puzo's The Godfather and the Paramount Pictures film based on that novel serve as the game's inspiration. The Godfather® The Don's Edition puts you at the center of the action in one of history's most revered cinematic masterpieces, allowing you to choose your path as you rise from lowly outsider to envied and feared Don in a living world 1945-1955 New York.
The Godfather The Don's Edition for PlayStation 3 offers countless choices for solving the family's problems with brutal violence, skillful diplomacy, or a cunning mix of both. Use your powers of loyalty and fear to earn respect through interactions with police, businessmen, racket bosses, other mobsters, and more. The decisions you make have lasting consequences, just as they do in the legendary mob underworld of The Godfather books and films.
The Godfather film featured many of Holly-wood's finest actors and several are contributing to the game's development. Actors lending their voices to add a dramatic and cinematic touch to the game include the late Marlon Brando as Don Vito Corleone, James Caan as Sonny Corleone, and Robert Duvall as consigliore Tom Hagen.
So Kojima's address at GO3 contained...not much, aside from a casual stroll down memory lane. Straight afterwards, though, I had a chance to sit down with Mr. Kojima (sadly, no tea OR biscuits) and talk Metal Gear, movies and "the rumble guy".
This year marks the 20th anniversary of Metal Gear. 20 years. It's a long time to be making the same game. So I ask him if he's surprised that he's still churning out Metal Gear games this far down the line. "I'm very surprised", he says. "Twenty years ago when I created my first one, I thought it'd just be over. To be more extreme, I didn't think the fist one would sell at all!".
Oh, but sell they did, and when games sell, you make more of them. "But I have kept making Metal Gear games", he says. "When I look back, while it looks like the same game, I've been adding new features and using new technology each time, so it's never felt like I've been making the same game."
This focus on new tech was a big part of his address, as with each advance in console hardware he says he was able to make fundamental changes to the series, culminating in the crazy wartime escapades of MGS4. "I have to say, the evolution of technology, that has helped me to keep 'creating' Metal Gear", he adds.
Since Metal Gear Solid 4 has come up, I do the polite thing and ask how it's coming along. "Its almost at the 'shooting stage' of creating a movie", Kojima says. "All the design and scenarios are finished, we're just completing the actual game".
It's been a long time coming, so it can't have been easy. Kojima agrees. "Nothing was easy", he says. "Everything has been hard, because we've set not just a high bar for ourselves but a number of bars. So there's nothing easy, everything is hard!"
With rumble having been a key aspect of the series thus far, I ask him his thoughts on the issue now that Sony and Immersion have made kissy-kissy. "I want to use rumble, yes", he says, "but it's a race against time. If it can make it in in time I'd like to use it, yes."
"The part that's troubling me, I cant really say...". He pauses. Oh, do go on: "...but we always designed the game without rumble, and I had great ideas without rumble, so if rumble comes back we have a decision to make whether to leave that new feature in or to take it out and replace it with rumble".
Could you patch it? A later update would at least give players the choice. "I want to implement it, rumble, yes", he says. "I'm not thinking about a patch, though". Oh. Well, early days, I guess. Maybe rumble and motion-sensing can't get along after all?
He won't say, but if he had to choose between the two, it looks like rumble would win out. His "other" idea doesn't have a nickname and a long-term relationship with the company. "Ever since MGS1 there was a specific guy, nicknamed the 'rumble creator', who worked on it for us", he says. "But he's been on a long vacation since we didn't think rumble was going to be in MGS4, so we're calling him back right now". Hmm. Long vacation sounds...ominous.
Moving on, I remind him of a comment he made last year comparing each of the three current consoles to "different kinds of dinner". Did he still think that was the case, now that all three are on the market? Nope. "They're more like a movie theatre metaphor", he says.
"The PS3 is like the theatre, it's a little bit high-priced but it has to be high quality as well. The 360 is a DVD, it still needs to be high quality but you need more variations, while the Wii is almost like a TV channel, because every game you have it with your family".
I look for a funny/revealing insight into the comment, then realise he's probably quite close to the mark. Still, by that admission, if the PS3 is Hollywood, is he feeling the heat of being the system's first big, exclusive title? "Yes, there is pressure", he admits, "but there is Final Fantasy XIII coming out as well, so it's not all me!".
Still on MGS4, I ask whether this really is the end. He's said repeatedly he wants to walk away at the end of this game, and the trailers seem to show everyone from the series getting together for one final shootout. So when MGS4 hits, will you hang up your boots? "Well, atually its really up to the users, its up to them to decide", he offers.
"If users want more Metal Gear, then I will probably step up as producer, like the James Bond series does", he says. "That way I can have new, upcoming directors making MGS while I oversee the project, and then perhaps I can move onto something new".
Something new, eh? Like your long, and oft-rumoured collaboration with Suda? "The collaboration with Suda is a little different", Kojima says. "It's something I've been thinking about for about 10 years now, but unfortunately can't concentrate on right now because we're so busy with MGS4".
Pity. So, Devil May Cry 4, going multiplatform. Thoughts? Comments? "I think it's up to each project, and the individual producer", he says. "If they want to take it multiplatform, they will". I'm going somewhere with this question, and he knows exactly where that is...
"But like I said, MGS4 is aimed for the movie theatre, it's aimed for the PS3, so the game's scenario and graphics need this theatre-type hardware. It's when a producer has a game that can work on the 'DVD level' that a game will go multiplatform", he says. Sorry kids. Your "OMGMGS4360" banners will have to come out another day.
Since we've opened up this can of worms, I may as well get his thoughts on it. Why, I ask, do you think this rumour simply refuses to go away? "Because 360 owners want it on 360, obviously", he quips.
Righto. Moving right along, I ask about Kojima Productions. Does having your own company make it easier to focus on games, or are you finding yourself caught up in boring business stuff?
"That's a very difficult question to answer, because I can't really say", he says. "It's both. It's now quicker, the speed of making games is faster. But at the same time, because of this speed you need to make tough business decisions quicker, so it's had both its good and its bad points".
Anyone who's sat through a good, hearty MGS talk-fest knows Kojima loves his movies. So I ask, if you had your time again, would you have still gone into games? Or would you have rather made movies for a crust?
"Well, if I could go back in time to the point where I hadn't created a game yet, and didn't know how much fun they were, then I would probably choose to become a movie director", Kojima says. "But, don't get me wrong, it's really fun to create games, and knowing how much fun games are I'd take the same path. I hope I can continue to create games for as long as I live".
But what about media outside of movies? Do you draw inspiration from books, comics and music? "Well, yes, everything", he says. "Novels, comics, it all effects me and inspires me. I only have 24 hours a day, so I listen to music while I work, I can read books when I get home and only after those, because they take so much time, do I watch movies. But they all inspire me".
And that was that. Charming fellow. And rad MGS4 shirt to boot.
It certainly looks that way to us - particularly after talking to Matt Brown, executive vice president of Sony Pictures Europe, whose job it is to persuade us all to buy Blu-ray media. Formerly with Dreamworks, and steeped in films, Brown declares that "the future is high-definition TV" and that the PS3 - which at Ł425 in the UK is steeply priced for a games console, but comparatively cheap for a high-definition player (Blu-ray players in the UK cost more than Ł500) - is "the ultimate home entertainment device". All of which you'd expect him to say. But talking to Brown, it's clear that Sony is happy to take its financial lumps in terms of losses in the games console market if it means guaranteeing a win in the high-definition video war. And the best way to do that? Lose money selling the players, and rake it back by selling the "software" - games and especially films. In the long term, Sony has far more to gain from winning the DVD format wars than it stands to lose in the gaming ones, since it could keep making the PS3 for the next decade.
While the PS3 has not given Sony any clear advantage in the games field, it certainly has in the high-definition DVD market. At the Consumer Electronics Show in January, the HD DVD camp could claim 175,000 players sold in the US, well ahead of Blu-ray. But Sony can now claim a total of 1.8m PS3s sold worldwide (says nexgenwars.com).
Wood thus sounds confident when he claims: "Blu-ray discs are outselling HD DVD by three to one in the US." And, he adds, "if I do a good job then in six months we won't be having a conversation [about formats]. And the PS3 is going to help us do the job ... Potentially, we'll have 10 times more [Blu-ray] players [in the form of PS3s] out there by the end of the year." Projections for Sony by the research company Understanding & Solutions suggest there will be nearly 4m Blu-ray players (including PS3s) installed across Europe by the end of this year, compared to 55,000 HD DVD players; by the end of 2008, it forecasts 13.45m Blu-ray against 1.6m HD DVD drives (which will by then also include computers). For the US, it predicts a smaller gap - although still running 9 to 1 in favour of Blu-ray.
So is it game over for HD DVD? The HD DVD camp said at CES that owners of their players bought an average of 28 discs each, because they had chosen the format, rather than finding it bundled with their games console. Blu-ray owners hadn't bought many discs. But we remember a time when Netscape could claim to have many more people using its browser than Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Then Microsoft bundled the browser, and Netscape went pear-shaped. Someone at Sony has probably remembered their internet history, which says that victory goes to the most widely installed - not necessarily the most widely chosen.
With Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix + Re: Chain of Memories at last out in Japan, Tetsuya Nomura and crew can now devote all their energy to their next project. And that appears to be another Kingdom Hearts game, or at least another tie-up with Disney. But is it Kingdom Hearts III?
Speaking with Japan's Gemaga and Dengeki PlayStation publications, Nomura gave a few hints on the new project, which he's previously hinted would see formal announcement later this year.
Gemaga asked if the characters who appear in the new CG "secret movie" that has been added to Final Mix are from the new title. "They are people who have some relation to the new series. However the next title won't just be Kingdom Hearts III. If it were III, we wouldn't call it a new series."
Asked if Sora and Riku would make an appearance in the new game, he said with a laugh, "I can't say." He also hinted that the new game would have something to do with Xehanort, the main villain of the Kingdom Hearts series.
He was just as direct when Dengeki PlayStation asked for some details on the new title. "First, it's not Kingdom Hearts III. Of course, because we're calling it a 'new' series, it won't be KHIII. Also, it's a series, so it probably won't be just one title."
Nomura once again promised an announcement of the new game, whatever it may be, some time this year. In the meanwhile, he suggested that players attempt to unlock the Final Mix secret movie and starting imagining.
It's no secret that 2007 is going to be a big year for online shooters. Shadowrun, Unreal Tournament 3 and Team Fortress 2 are all to hit shelves before the year's end, and Splash Damage's Enemy Territory: Quake Wars will likely see retail release as well. We say likely because during a recent play session with the title, neither id Software nor Splash Damage representatives were willing to specify an exact date. Rather, they repeatedly told us it'll be done when it's done, and were focusing on a 2007 release for PC. As for the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions, little information was available. Console gamers can expect the versions to be content identical to the PC, and be finished when they're finished as well.
While id Software and Splash Damage were hesitant to talk about their high profile shooter competition, they were more than happy to talk about the PC version of Quake Wars. The game is structured much like Splash Damage's 2003 free multiplayer download Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory. As either Strogg or Global Defense Force, you pick one of five classes, each with its own special abilities, and fan out with your team over each of the game's large maps. Before hopping in you'll need to review the map objectives, since they're more complicated than going prone under a flag until it's captured. On a map called Sewer, the GDF need to break the Strogg's hold on a sewage facility in Japan, a process undertaken in stages. First, the GDF need to send an Engineer class to construct an EMP disruptor outside the facility to gain access. Next, a few Soldier class players have to swarm the facility and plant explosives on sewer grates to bust into an underground area. Finally, to secure victory, a Covert Ops class is required to hack the plant's main controls.
It's the middle of the afternoon and we're sitting in absolute pitch black trying to eat what feels and tastes like some kind of duck curry. The reason we're fondling round a plate in the dark is because we're about to get a long-awaited hands-on with The Darkness - 2K Games's upcoming comic-based supernatural shooter. Beforehand though, we're having lunch in a place called Dans Le Noir, a restaurant where you eat in absolute darkness, for larks. See what the event organisers did there? Those clever PR people.
Those black tendrils replace the HUB and show health/dark power.
Even with the crushing panic attacks, the numerous stains down our front - having blindly tackled a pudding - and the endless recurring flashbacks of stifling, claustrophobic horror every time we shut our eyes, it was still worth it. You see, The Darkness is shaping up to be one of this year's most imaginative titles - but then we'd expect nothing less from Starbreeze, developer of the excellent Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay. Despite only playing a three-level demo, we came away from The Darkness feeling suitably impressed.
The Media manager gets another release and this time has support for PS3 too.
Heres whats new:
General:
Relook picture form
Add PS3 movie encoding Manage picture:
Relook picture form Manage movie:
Corrected some bugs MOV files encoding
Add PS3 movie encoding
Convert movie to PS3 format with bitrate and resolution selection : 640x480 to 1920x1072
Add PSP firmware 3.30 (with movie encoding on 720 x 480) Configure path:
Add PS3 movie encoding
Add PSP firmware 3.30 (with movie encoding on 720 x 480)
id Software has revealed that cross-platform play won't be a feature of the forthcoming Enemy Territory: Quake Wars.
"Console players will not play against PC players", id's Kevin Cloud told GameZone in a recent interview on the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 multiplayer action game.
Cloud explained that it isn't a case that it can't be done, but obviously a serious challenge to deliver a level playing field across platforms, "Consoles require a certain [adaptation], and that wasn't something that we wanted to take on".
However, he did say that id wants to bring the Quake Wars console experience "up to speed with the PC version... We may do some adjustments to bots, but we want the experience to be the same on PC and consoles."
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars combines action with a dose of RTS-style features and finds Earth's Global Defence Force battling the Strogg war machine. It's expected to release later this year.
Protect your Playstation 3 Six Axis controller while improving your grip with this silicon protective cover. Effective against scratches, small shocks, and sweaty hands! Available in Black or Clear version.
Over 11 years since the original was released, Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars has entered the All Formats charts at number one, knocking software for the newly released PlayStation 3 down the charts, GamesIndustry.biz reports.
Sales of Sony's best-selling title Resistance: Fall of Man dropped by 66 per cent, nudging it down to number two in the charts, while MotorStorm sales also fell by 62 per cent, as it reversed into the number three position.
Codemasters' multiformat Brian Lara International Cricket 2007 slips into fourth place this week, with SEGA's Virtua Tennis 3 at number five.
A strong performer this week is Ubisoft's TMNT: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which climbs the charts from number 19 to number six. EA's UEFA Champions League 2006 - 2007 also climbs into the top ten this week, from number 15 to seven.
Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories is at number eight this week, just ahead of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 at nine and Activision's Call of Duty 3 at ten.
This week's highest new entry is EA's Medal of Honor: Vanguard for the Nintendo Wii, just missing the top ten by debuting at number 11.
Hands On Mobile, Inc. announced today that they have entered into an agreement with Activision to produce a Guitar Hero mobile game for handhelds. While we aren't sure if that means cell phones, PlayStation Portables, Nintendo DSs, Game Boy Advances, HP calculators or all of the above, it's further proof of the massive juggernaut that is the Guitar Hero franchise. Although this franchise was announced before, then canceled, it's now apparently been reborn.
Plus with the announcement earlier today of Harmonix' Rock Band, Ubisoft's Jam Sessions for the DS, and even the Mother 3 soundtrack being made available on iTunes -- it's clear that games and music are currently making waves. It's like the horror genre in movie theaters right now. Soon you'll be seeing things like Hammered Dulcimer Champion and Harmonica Savior hitting store shelves
Ive been following the site DiGG over the last few months and a trend occurs that really puts a downer on these social voting sites.
Whenever big sites such as Engadget, Joystiq, Gizmodo, Kotaku and others post a digg even if the digg post was sourced from another site that had already submitted a Digg they because of their size nearly always get the stories from them made popular.
So the little sites who the story originated from just cant compete with sites who get mega hits each day.
Maybe there should be a source link on each digg post (if one exists)
Am i the only one who thinks its just a case of the big sites winning each time or could i be wrong.
Should sites like Digg/Slashdot and others change to make sure say that the proper site gets the linkages?
I should say that i have nothing against the sites above but maybe a fairer system is needed ?
Lair was one of the first playable games shown on PS3, with its impressive wide-open and detailed environments, and neat use of the Sixaxis tilt controls.
Here, we have 14 more screens showing off the beautiful water effects and the awesome detail on the dragons. And it looks better in motion on a nice big 1080p-enabled TV, believe us.
But we don't want to look at it no more. We want to play the full game, in which you fly around on huge dragons battling with other giant flying beasts in insanely chaotic battles. We enjoyed it when we got an early look at a playable demo.
It's no surprise that it's cool - it's being developed by Factor 5, the guys responsible for the awesome Rogue Squadron games on GameCube.
So when is it coming out? Not until September, according to the most recent release schedule. Hopefully the time being put into the game will help make sure it's as good as we hope when it finally does land on PS3.
Sales of the PlayStation 3 have dropped dramatically on the second week of release in the UK, with official Chart Track figures revealing a fall of 82 per cent, GamesIndustry.biz is reporting.
Chart Track data is gathered from 7000 UK retail outlets representing 90 per cent of the software market, including GAME, Gamestation, Play.com, Asda and HMV.
A spokesperson for Chart Track confirmed the figure to GamesIndustry.biz this afternoon, stating: "Yes, sales of PS3 hardware have dropped by 82 per cent."
Last week, Chart Track revealed that the PlayStation 3 had sold 165,000 units in the first two days following the launch, making it the fastest-selling home console in the UK.
"We publish the first week figures because there's such a clamour for them that we can't keep it a secret," said the spokesperson.
This week's software charts revealed that sales of the top two PlayStation 3 titles, Resistance: Fall of Man and MotorStorm, had dropped by over 60 per cent.
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe declined to comment.
Sega Toys has just launched the cutest companion you could have, conveniently in time for Easter. Dream Chick (not the kind that you normally see on the Internet), is a fluffy hand-sized chick that flaps its wings when held. Making you feel even more adored, it makes “peep peep” noises when its head is stroked. Dream Chick is available for 1,507 yen ($12.90/Ł6.62).
The column should have appeared in Edge magazine, but as its author explains, "my column has been pulled from the next issue, because it was felt to be too much of a personal attack on a certain individual."
We've had a look as Mr Biffo has posted the entire article on his website and we believe it to be more on the embarrassing side of things rather than a full-on personal attack on the Sony head of studios Phil Harrison.
The story involves Phil Harrison, PS3 and a Marillion gig in Amsterdam. Intrigued? Hit this link for what is bound to be Mr Biffo's most read page EVER!
A research report has revealed that Nintendo Wii is outselling PS3 more than 2-to-1 in Japan.
The Enterbrain report says that Nintendo has sold 1.95 million units of Wii as of March 25. The console launched in Japan December 2, 2006 last year. Sony, on the other hand, has sold 812,000 of its latest console since November 11.
Bloomberg says that "As the PlayStation 3 loses market share in Japan, it becomes more difficult for Sony to recoup investment in the machine."
If there was ever a time when PS3 needed some killer games to come along, it's got to be now. Especially with reports flying around the web that sales in the UK of the machine have fallen drastically since launch on March 23.
The internet was grinded to a halt last night by the arrival of the first massive trailer of this year's biggest game, the legendary fourth instalment of Grand Theft Auto. Hit this link and download it now, in case you've just woken up.
After pushing our office hours to the very limit and wrestling with old Captain Bandwidth to get at the biggest video size possible, we've dissected to the GTA IV trailer thoroughly and picked out all of its little secrets you may have missed the first time around.
So magnifying glass in hand, here's what we've discovered...
It's Liberty City!
Despite internet reports claiming otherwise, GTA IV is indeed set (at least partially) in Liberty City - or more likely Liberty State, the area beyond Liberty City. If you're still not convinced, you can see the words 'Liberty City' plastered on a docked tanker in the trailer, a ferry and of course there's also a glimpse of the 'LCPD' patrolling the GTA IV streets.
As you can see from the comparison screenshots at the bottom of the page, the layout of GTA IV's Liberty City seems to resemble we remember from the PS2 - though obviously there's a whole lot of extra detail washed onto the streets.
As for what's beyond the walls of the famous GTA III locale, the trailer confirms GTA versions of the Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty and a fun park including rollercoaster, which were all missing from the PS2 instalment.
The time setting
While there's already plenty of debate over what time setting the next game takes place in, there are plenty of cues in the trailer to suggest a modern day setting for GTA IV.
The vehicles in the trailer all look pretty 2007 to us - including a BMW look-a-like and a sports car that has a very post-2000 design. There are also plenty of advertisements plastered around Liberty City that also cropped-up in the 90s-set GTA III, including Burger Shot and Cluckin' Bell.
Is that really the main Character?
The narrator in the trailer is a Russian character whose background seems to revolve around murder, smuggling and erm, selling people. The internet is already shouting from the electronic rooftops that this Eastern European chap will be the main protagonist in GTA IV, but really the trailer confirms nothing of the sort.
What it does confirms is that the story will somehow bring Eastern Europeans into the equations, which leads us to wonder what's happened to the Leone kingpins from GTA III.
Hit the water
Multiple-viewings make the GTA IV trailer's emphasis on water-based travel even more apparent; there are shots of bridges, ferry ports, a dock and some of the prettiest water effects we've seen to date in a sandbox game.
A realistically floating buoy 16 seconds in seems to suggest dynamic water physics for the fourth instalment, and of course you can see the gorgeous refraction effects later on in the trailer. A spot of boating for GTA IV seems a near-cert then, but - for as much as we hope - we just can't see jet-skiing going down in the Liberty City harbour.
Cast Your RAGE
As has always been heavily assumed, the next GTA ditches Renderware to make use of the graphically-spectacular Table Tennis RAGE engine (Rockstar Advanced Game Engine).
The confirmation comes from a Rockstar representative who told Gamespot: "We can confirm that all footage in the trailer was captured directly from 720p gameplay running real time in our Rage engine on a next-gen gaming console."
And the engine seems to be working well for the series - as you can see from the trailer tech-wise GTA IV is looking very impressive.
Super Pedestrian
We're expecting lots of advancements in how realistically the inhabitants of Liberty City live and work, but already there are a number of improvements on show in the short teaser.
At the beginning of the video you can see that the driver of the blue sports car is adjusting his rear-view mirror - a very nice touch indeed that we would never have seen working on the PS2. The pedestrians on the streets also have fully-modelled faces and carry groceries and books, which certainly adds a more realistic vibe to surroundings that the aimlessly-walking residents in GTA III.
The funny is back!
Oldschool movie buffs will recognize the spoof reference in the GTA IV trailer straight away; the music is from Godfrey Reggio's Koyaanisqatsi, a dialogue-less documentary film from the early eighties that mixed landscape footage with a rolling soundtrack. The music, in case your wondering, is a piece from minimalist composer Philip Glass, who created the music for Koyaanisqatsi.
Further proving that GTA hasn't lost it's trademark humour are the plethora of fake adverts available for glimpse in the video, including upcoming TV show "America's Next Top Hooker" and "Sprunk", a beverage we probably won't picking up on the next trip round Tesco.
You can checkout the Koyaanisqatsi trailer here. Anyone for a cool glass of "Piswasser"?
Visit Vice City!
Keen-eyed viewers with seriously-ninja Photoshop skills will notice an interesting in-game ad five seconds into the trailer. On the top left of the shot just above the wall is a sign that says "Visit Vice City - $300", leading many internet forums to explode with messages of "OMG!!11 MULTIPLE CITIEZ IN GTAIV!1"
So yeah, we might be getting a tiny bit ahead of ourselves taking this tiniest of glimpses as evidence that GTA IV will contain multiple, country-wide locals, but what would be more next-gen than a trip to all three cities that we've explored so vigorously on PS2? Having said that, would Vice City even look like Vice City in a modern day setting?
Doc Oc attacks!
Another one for the eagle-eyed among us is the brief glimpse of a cable car travelling behind a bridge 30 seconds in to the trailer, leading us to fantasise over the Spider-Man-style mischief we could have jumping around fighting an imaginary Doctor Octopus.
Having said that, we're hoping Spidey's influence stretches all over GTA IV; we just can't look at that massive Crysler building without planning a Crackdown-style route up to the top, and it would be an absolute crime if we can't base-jump from one of those skyscrapers.
Clever birds
Going from the trailer, we can see that the birds and pigeons in GTA IV are detailed and have some sort of behaviour system going on - which should please virtual game hunters everywhere.
In one scene you can see a seagull flying underneath a bridge, and in another we get a glimpse of two pigeons sitting on a statue. Will we be able to chase those dirty flying-rats through the streets? Pick them out of the skies with high-calibre rifles? At this point we'd bet money on it. (CVG doesn't condone the harming of pigeons).
Thanks to GTAForums.com for comparison shots (that have been stripped from the trailer). If you want to see the better quality shots, hit this link.
See anything we may have missed? Let the world know below.
Shoot for the Final Four with the 2007 entry in Visual Concepts' and 2K Sports' college b-ball game. Leadership makes a difference this year, as team chemistry plays a vital role in a team's performance--especially come tournament time. The college atmosphere is fully realized with updated mascots, improved crowd interaction and more fight songs. Also featured are over 325 NCAA Division 1 schools and a deep legacy mode.
Combine raw horsepower with awesome firepower in a race that demands both precision aim and breakneck speed. Fierce combat-racing ensues as you strategically use destruction to win races as well as leave massive devastation in your wake. Players can destroy the environment to dynamically change track conditions to block competitors, open new paths, or crush opponents with falling debris caused by well-timed missiles. Full Auto 2: Battlelines has been fully re-designed over the original, introducing a new Arena Mode featuring team play and six different levels. Across 20 regular combat-racing tracks, players can get behind the wheel of 25 different vehicles ranging from classic muscle cars and low riders to monstrous SUVs and industrial vehicles, each of which can be customized with more than 20 explosive weapons as well as multiple paint schemes and wheel styles.
The book by Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola's classic film serve as dual inspirations for Electronic Arts' action/adventure The Godfather. In it gamers can join the Corleone family to exploit loyalties and fear as they rise through the ranks to become Don in 20th century New York City. Carry out orders, earn respect, and make the Big Apple all your own. This expanded edition for PlayStation 3 offers brand new ways to go from Street Soldier to Don as you gain control of the streets of New York. Follow the path an Enforcer or Operator; each with its own unique perks and abilities to earn. Now you can chat up specific characters to get the skinny on dirty cops, take down two additional revised compounds of rival Families, execute five new contract hits, and call in larger Corleone Hit Squads when the going gets tough.
A next-gen entry in EA's rim-rockin', arcade-style street ball game. This entry in the franchise still allows you to throw down and go to town on others like any other NBA Street meet, but its focus is all about basketball giving hope to the streets that the sport is known in. Downtown streets are dangerous, and cities aren't always safe. There're villains, sure. But also, we've got heroes. And this game is about the heroes, the ballers whose skills on the court inspire those not sure which way to turn in life. In 3-on-3 basketball play, you battle to earn respect for your hometown. The ultimate goal is to beat NBA superstars from their hometown courts to the legendary parks across the land, finally putting your neighborhood on the map. Become a streetball legend, 90 feet at a time.
In this superhero-filled action-RPG, players assume the roles of more than 20 Marvel Super Heroes including Spider-Man, Wolverine, Blade and Captain America, and through their actions determine the fate of both planet Earth and the Marvel universe. The game features total team customization, where players create their own team name, icon and vehicle, as well as establish their team reputation as they play throughout the story. Battle the world’s most notorious Marvel Super Villains in the air, underwater, and on the ground, using grappling, blocking and dodging moves, and even environmental objects as one and two-handed weapons. The storyline is designed open, and the missions that you choose to accept affect the outcome of the Marvel Universe. Also featured are competitive and co-operative multiplayer modes.
The reaction to Activision and Treyarch's Spider-Man 3 game trailer has been less than stellar. "It's Spider-Man 2 with better graphics," fanboys have screamed across the Internet, but after a day in the Activision offices and some hands-on time with the wall crawler, I can tell you, folks are selling this game short.
"You can see that we've really redone the city from the ground up," said Will Townsend, associate producer on Spider-Man 3 as he maneuvered Spider-Man around New York -- a New York that's 2.5 times bigger than it was Spider-Man 2. "It's been his office before, but now, it's his playground."
Grab your tights, everything you loved about Spider-Man 2 is back; sandbox gameplay, Bruce Campbell's biting wit, secret tokens, villains, the Daily Bugle... and the stuff you hated about Spider-Man 2 is gone.
Sales of the PlayStation 3 have dropped dramatically on the second week of release in the UK, with official Chart Track figures revealing a fall of 82 per cent.
Chart Track data is gathered from 7000 UK retail outlets representing 90 per cent of the software market, including GAME, Gamestation, Play.com, Asda and HMV.
A spokesperson for Chart Track confirmed the figure to GamesIndustry.biz this afternoon, stating: "Yes, sales of PS3 hardware have dropped by 82 per cent."
Last week, Chart Track revealed that the PlayStation 3 had sold 165,000 units in the first two days following the launch, making it the fastest-selling home console in the UK.
"We publish the first week figures because there's such a clamour for them that we can't keep it a secret," said the spokesperson.
This week's software charts revealed that sales of the top two PlayStation 3 titles, Resistance: Fall of Man and MotorStorm, had dropped by over 60 per cent.
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe declined to comment.
The Full Moon Show, an Insomniac podcast, recently released "Episode 2" where they interviewed some guy who called himself David Jaffe or something like that. Ever heard of this lout? He thought he could explain why Calling All Cars, made by this other guy named... hmm... well, shoot, we completely forgot! Was it something like Javid Daffe? Either way, here's the explanation from the man himself.
During their extensive playtesting, there were instances where one player would just blow away the other players, creating a gap in score that kept growing to silly amounts. Sensing that it would draw away from the fun, Jaffe retreated to some devs who worked on older, arcade-style games for some coding help. Enter the image of Jaffe conversing with a Council of Elders in Developerland. Jaffe and crew are currently testing out some of the strategies for fixing the issue as given by these other developers. At least he's trying to make it fair for everyone, right?
Moving on, I remind him of a comment he made last year comparing each of the three current consoles to "different kinds of dinner". Did he still think that was the case, now that all three are on the market? Nope. "They're more like a movie theatre metaphor", he says.
"The PS3 is like the theatre, it's a little bit high-priced but it has to be high quality as well. The 360 is a DVD, it still needs to be high quality but you need more variations, while the Wii is almost like a TV channel, because every game you have it with your family".
I look for a funny/revealing insight into the comment, then realise he's probably quite close to the mark. Still, by that admission, if the PS3 is Hollywood, is he feeling the heat of being the system's first big, exclusive title? "Yes, there is pressure", he admits, "but there is Final Fantasy XIII coming out as well, so it's not all me!".
Still on MGS4, I ask whether this really is the end. He's said repeatedly he wants to walk away at the end of this game, and the trailers seem to show everyone from the series getting together for one final shootout. So when MGS4 hits, will you hang up your boots? "Well, atually its really up to the users, its up to them to decide", he offers.
"If users want more Metal Gear, then I will probably step up as producer, like the James Bond series does", he says. "That way I can have new, upcoming directors making MGS while I oversee the project, and then perhaps I can move onto something new".
Something new, eh? Like your long, and oft-rumoured collaboration with Suda? "The collaboration with Suda is a little different", Kojima says. "It's something I've been thinking about for about 10 years now, but unfortunately can't concentrate on right now because we're so busy with MGS4".
Pity. So, Devil May Cry 4, going multiplatform. Thoughts? Comments? "I think it's up to each project, and the individual producer", he says. "If they want to take it multiplatform, they will". I'm going somewhere with this question, and he knows exactly where that is...
"But like I said, MGS4 is aimed for the movie theatre, it's aimed for the PS3, so the game's scenario and graphics need this theatre-type hardware. It's when a producer has a game that can work on the 'DVD level' that a game will go multiplatform", he says. Sorry kids. Your "OMGMGS4360" banners will have to come out another day
This interview with Vijay Pande, one of the gentlemen behind Folding@Home, is getting kind of old but there are a couple of points worth pointing out. Mainly concerning running Folding@Home on the PS3 -- some people have been running "stress tests" to see how Sony's console can handle the program over extended periods. Those people can stop, because they'll be doing that forever. In any case, the PS3-specific questions were answered by SCEA 's Richard Marks (who's doing a stress test himself). Let's list it up!
Is it safe to leave the PS3 folding for 24/7?
Yes. There's no indication that the PS3 has problems over long periods of folding... but of course, you should ventilate the darn thing so it won't overheat.
Well... should people give the PS3 a break to cool off?
No. It shouldn't need a cooling period. You know that whirring thing? It's a fan. It regulates the internal temperature. [note: PS3Fanboy added some "attitude" to this response, because we like attitude]
What's stressed the most and will it affect the stability of the PS3?
The Cell processor. Luckily, it's a high-performance processor built for things just like this. Folding@Home shouldn't have any adverse affects on the PlayStation 3's stability.
That's all that we think pertains to running the program on your PS3. Don't worry, guys! Your system is completely safe and that's a good thing. Waiting for those warranty replacements or whatever aren't the best... plus you only get a refurbished system (read: previously broken) instead of a new one.
I present to you the NPD numbers of sales in the U.S. for the first four months the consoles were in stores. Looks like the Wii isn't being held back, it's just selling like a mofo. And wow, Xbox, I had no idea.
Heres the full listing from the Worlds Leading selling of Import games Play Asia:
Xbox360™:
Call of Duty 3 (Gold Edition) ASIA US$ 49.90
Culdcept Saga ASIA US$ 39.90
Culdcept Saga (Updated Version) JPN US$ 64.90
Rayman Raving Rabbids ASIA US$ 44.90
Playstation 3
NBA Street Homecourt ASIA US$ 49.90
Pro Yakyuu Spirits 4 JPN US$ 64.90
The Godfather: The Don's Edition ASIA US$ 49.90
Nintendo Wii™:
Barnyard JPN US$ 59.90
PlayStation2™:
Harukanaru Jikuu no Kade 3: Izayoiki (Koei the Best) JPN US$ 34.90
Medal of Honor: Vanguard ASIA US$ 39.90
Naruto Shippuuden: Narutimate Accel JPN US$ 64.90
Neo Angelique (Koei the Best) JPN US$ 34.90
Netsu Chu! Pro Baseball 2007 JPN US$ 64.90
Nobunaga no Yabou: Soutensoku with Power-Up Kit (Koei Selection) JPN US$ 24.90
Pro Yakyuu Spirits 4 JPN US$ 64.90
Rakushou! Pachi-Slot Sengen 5 JPN US$ 59.90
Nintendo DS™:
Detective Conan: Tantei Ryoku Trainer JPN US$ 48.90
Harlem Globetrotters: World Tour US US$ 24.90
Kageyama Method - Dennou Hanpuku: Tadashii Kanji Kaki to Rikun JPN US$ 34.90
Major League Baseball 2K7 US US$ 24.90
Mario Kart DS KOR US$ 49.90
POGO Island US US$ 34.90
Shin Sangoku Musou DS: Fighter's Battle JPN US$ 48.90
Touch Pen Attachment DS Lite (black) US$ 5.99
Touch Pen Attachment DS Lite (pink) US$ 5.99
Touch Pen Attachment DS Lite (white) US$ 5.99
Watashi no Happy Manner Book JPN US$ 39.90
Sony PSP™:
DJ Max Portable 2 KOR US$ 49.90
DJ Max Portable 2 Orpheus Package ~Metallic Silver~ [Limited Edition] KOR N/A
DJ Max Portable 2 Orpheus Package ~Night Black~ [Limited Edition] KOR N/A
Daikoukai Jidai IV: Rota Nova (Koei the Best) JPN US$ 29.90
Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai Another Road US US$ 39.90
Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball Portable 2 JPN US$ 48.90
Mobile Suit Gundam Seed: Rengou vs. Z.A.F.T. Portable JPN US$ 48.90
Mobile Suit Gundam Seed: Rengou vs. Z.A.F.T. Portable KOR US$ 49.90
Mobile Suit Gundam Seed: Rengou vs. Z.A.F.T. Portable ASIA US$ 42.90
Nobunaga no Yabou: Reppuuden with Power Pack (Koei the Best) JPN US$ 29.90
Sangokushi VII / Romance of the Three Kingdoms VII (Koei the Best) JPN US$ 29.90
UEFA Championships League 2006-2007 ASIA US$ 42.90
Toys & Misc:
DJ Max Portable 2 Poster US$ 8.90
Super Mario Super DX Die Cut 12" Seat Cushion: Goomba JPN US$ 19.90
Super Mario Super DX Die Cut 12" Seat Cushion: Power Mushroom JPN N/A
Super Mario Super DX Die Cut 12" Seat Cushion: Super Mario Star Coin JPN US$ 19.90
Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu 1/6 Scale Pre-painted PVC Figure - Mikuru Asahina (Waitress - Black Ver.) JPN US$ 67.90
Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu 1/6 Scale Pre-painted PVC Figure - Mikuru Asahina (Waitress - Pink Ver.) JPN US$ 64.90
Tokimeki Memorial Only Love 1/6 Scale Pre-painted PVC Figure - Sayuri Amamiya JPN US$ 61.90
Yakitate Japan 1/8 Scale Pre-painted PVC Figure - Tsukino in Pantasia Baker Uniform JPN N/A
Video Game Soundtracks:
Itsuka, Todoku, Ano Sora ni Character CD Collection Vol.3 JPN US$ 15.90
Itsuka, Todoku, Ano Sora ni Character CD Collection Vol.4 JPN US$ 15.90
King Street Sounds/Nite Grooves Presents Ridge Racer 7 Original Sound Track JPN US$ 25.90
Miracle Straight (Gakuen Utopia - Manabi Straight! KiraKira Happy Festa! Theme Song) JPN US$ 14.90
The Idolm@ster Master Box 2 [CD+DVD Limited Edition] JPN US$ 57.90
Since the death of Lik Sang last year it is now virtually impossible to import games into the UK and Europe from companies like Play Asia, Play Asia are obviously scared of lawsuits from Sony for selling PSP & PS3 games to the UK after Sony went after UK firms and eventually claimed the scalp of Lik Sang who were easily the biggest importer of games and consoles worldwide.
I suppose you can understand Sonys point that hardware brought from Japan may not work or with stepdown power issues not last long but people who import know this anyway. But with systems like the PSP, Nintendo DS and Playstation 3 all being region free systems it seems stupid that we cant buy games (and consoles) from anywhere in the world.
Also in this day and age of technology its mad that any system is not region free, the PSP, PS3, Nintendo DS are all region free and all selling extremely well, even the Xbox 360 is region free on some games.
Come on people lets show that the Gaming Public want Region Free and the ability to buy games and consoles from anywhere.
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Help DIGG THIS and get everyone to respond to this issue
New figures released by Sony Computer Entertainment Australia have revealed that more than 27,000 PlayStation 3 units were sold in the region during the first ten days after launch.
As reported by IT Wire, PS3 also dominated the all-formats software sales chart for the week commencing March 19. Nine out of the top ten titles were PS3 games, with Resistance: Fall of Man at number one followed by Motorstorm and F1.
Activision's Call of Duty was in fourth place, while PlayStation 2 exclusive Final Fantasy XII - the only non-PS3 title in the chart - was at number five. Need for Speed: Carbon and Ridge Racer 7 went in at six and seven followed by Fight Night Round 3 and Virtua Fighter 5, with Virtua Tennis rounding out the chart at number ten.
According to data trackers GfK, the launch of PS3 on March 23 resulted in a significant boost in videogame sales for the Australian market. "Our data revealed that in a matter of just ten days the PlayStation 3 created a spike in retail spending not previously witnessed at the launch of any other console in Australia," commented GfK's Daniel Morse.
"This spending continued into the second week of trading, resulting in sales of 27,083 PlayStation 3 consoles in just ten days."
SCE Australia managing director Michael Ephraim added, "Following a great launch for the PS3 across the country, it’s very satisfying for us to see that our close planning with retail and channel partners has ensured that all consumers wanting to get their hands on a PS3."
The PS3's predecessor is also continuing to sell well in Australia, with nearly 8000 PlayStation 2 consoles sold between March 19 and March 26.
And so we're raising the Console Terror Alert Level to intense orange-red, based on very credible, detailed information on a non-specific threat.
A security analyst for Australia's Computer Emergency Response team (who, contrary to the emergency response phrasing, don't get their own vans with flashing lights and sirens) has warned that, due to the online integration of new game consoles, he expects hackers to soon target your Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles.
"I haven't seen any malicious code that is specifically designed to run on a PlayStation 3 or an Xbox but I would expect it is not very far away," he said. CVG notes that these predictions come after the Xbox Live account hack fears, though those turned out to be nothing more than some idiotic customer service reps being talked into divulging info over the phone.
Given that Xbox Live titles are tied to the original console and gamertag only, we'd say the possibility of a theft of your games and / or save files very unlikely. Not only that, but the peer-to-peer transfer of files over any of the console's self-contained networks is not possible. (In this sense, the PS3 and Wii are more vulnerable by merit of having a web browser.) There is always a worry over any medium where you have to enter financial or personal information (in this case your credit card), and the Xbox 360's inability to let you erase that card information has been chronicled in the past. However, the likelihood that you will be the victim of a console hack (and not in the traditional sense) without instigating it through your own console modding is, in our estimations, very slim.
Every week GamesIndustry.biz brings you the latest news and game announcements, as well as an update on the new titles released in Europe this week.
Ubisoft has revealed Brothers in Arms: Double Time for the Nintendo Wii and DS. The WWII shooter is in development at Gearbox and is due this summer.
Sony is launching another WipEout title for the PSP. WipEout Pulse is in development at Sony Liverpool and will be supported with downloadable content including tracks, skins and music. The game is due September.
UK publisher Ghostlight is bringing Aruze's Japanese RPG Shadow Hearts: From the New World to PAL territories. The PlayStation 2 game will be released this May.
The first Nintendo Wii online title will arrive in Europe on May 25. Mario Strikers: Charged Football will allow up to four players to compete against each other using the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.
Funcom's anticipated MMO Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures has gone into the beta testing stage. The title is still due to be released October 30, published by Eidos.
Sega has announced the much-rumoured NiGHTS game for the Wii. A sequel to the Saturn original, NiGHTS Journey of Dreams is due this autumn.
THQ has confirmed WWE Smackdown Vs. RAW 2008 for multiple formats. The series will make its debut on the Wii, DS and PlayStation 3, as well as appearing on Xbox 360, PSP, PS2 and mobile handsets.
New releases are thin on the ground this week, with Activision's Guitar Hero II for Xbox 360 leading the pack.
Other big names hitting store shelves this bank holiday weekend include Ubisoft's Rayman Raving Rabbits (Xbox 360) and Prince of Persia: Rival Swords (Wii, DS), and Electronic Arts' The Sims 2: Celebration (PC) and Burnout Dominator (PSP).
Paradox's Frontline: Fields of Thunder (PC) and 505 Games' Playwize Poker & Casino (PSP) are also released.
Having already achieved number one positions in the US and Japanese software sales charts, PlayStation 3 exclusive Motorstorm has also secured the top spot in Europe.
Developed by Runcorn-based Evolution Studios, Motorstorm was launched alongside Sony's new console in all three territories. Although it was beaten to pole position in the UK by fellow first-party title Resistance: Fall of Man, the game has scored a number one across Europe overall - just as it went straight to the top when PS3 launched in Japan and North America.
"To see Motorstorm top the European, the Japanese and the US PlayStation 3 charts is just fantastic," said Evolution boss Martin Kenwright.
"Developing Motorstorm to a standard we were all happy with was certainly a challenge - but the team here really delivered. Evolution has a reputation for delivering high quality racing titles, but the consensus was to come up with something really special for Sony’s new hardware.
"We’re delighted that the public has agreed with the press and made Motorstorm a worldwide number one PlayStation 3 title."
The virtual online PC life simulator, Second Life, which is often compared to Sony's upcoming PS3 Home network, is under investigation by the FBI on the legality of its virtual gambling features.
Virtual casinos within Second Life allow gamers to gamble using the game's currency, the Linden Dollar, which is exchanged for real life US dollars.
Linden Labs, the creators of Second Life, have invited FBI Agents to poke around these virtual casinos, seeking legal guidance after heavy restrictions on internet gambling were introduced in the US last year.
Most lawyers deem that gambling with Linden Dollars in Second Life violates US anti-gambling laws, reports news.com.
Speaking of said laws, A New York lawyer, who studied the issues of gambling in virtual worlds, said: "What they did was go after the processors, and made it a crime to process payments that relate to online gambling sites. Linden could potentially be held as the same sort of processor."
"It's not always clear to us whether a 3D simulation of a casino is the same thing as a casino, legally speaking, and it's not clear to the law enforcement authorities we have asked," said Linden Lab's vice president of business affairs, Ginsu Yoon.
There's rumoured to be a playable demo of Square Enix's highly anticipated Final Fantasy XIII in the pipes for release to the PlayStation Network later on in the year.
Square Enix has yet to respond to the rumour, which originated in the US mag EGM, which says, "Xbox Live may be the download hotspot this spring (thanks in large part to the Halo 3 multiplayer demo), but late this year the honour will go to the PlayStation Network. We hear that Square Enix will release a demo of its highly anticipated role-playing game via Sony's online marketplace."
We'll update the story as soon as Square Enix Europe gets back to us. And here it is: "I'm afraid I can't comment on the playable demo of FFXIII at present," a spokesperson told CVG this afternoon.
Sony has sent word of their new offerings for the US PlayStation Network today. Most importantly for racing fans, Gran Turismo HD Concept will be upgraded for free to version 1.2, which enables force feedback through Logitech steering wheel peripherals. (European gamers have been enjoying GTHD 1.2 since the console's launch in the region.)
The Grand Theft Auto IV trailer is also available for download in high definition, as is the Armored Core 4 video. Microsoft's Peter Moore, proud that Xbox Live got the GTAIV trailer up before Sony, has added yet another tattoo on his arm to add to his collection of AAA-titled inkings.
All of the content will be available free of charge and should be online sometime today.
Famitsu publisher Enterbrain decided to toss out some numbers regarding the PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Wii. Seems the Wii is outselling the PS3 by two to one in Japan. Now, now, put those jeers and stabbing comments away, ladies and gents. Two to one... in Japan. Japan, where the Wii is incredibly huge. Just two to one. Monetarily, the two are on equal grounds. Numerically, it's double. The gap used to be much, much larger -- slightly beyond the four to one ratio by the end of January.
Does this mean the fad for the Wii is dying down? Or that the PS3 is picking up sales? We can't say that "everyone already has a Wii now" because look at the sales of the Nintendo DS -- always on top of the sales charts. Maybe Nintendo is severely limiting supply. Whatever the case, it's good to know that the gap is narrowing and as more games come out for both systems, we'll see a much tighter struggle for market power in Japan.
In all fairness, if you're racing against time, you can't possible expect to win. How can you beat time? It's already where you're trying to go, because when you get there, it's... whatever. Time is a silly concept. Over at Reuters, a lengthy topic was posted regarding the future of the PlayStation 3. We'll outline the main points of argument they make and you can make your own arguments afterwards!
To succeed, the PS3 needs to hold onto third-party titles. (We may add... timed exclusives would be best)
The demand for HDTV's is skyrocketing -- that will hold a major advantage over, say, the Wii in the living room of the future.
The PS3 launch almost mirrors the PS2 launch -- initial supply troubles, lack of impressive titles, complaints about the difficulty to program for... but look at how the PS2 turned out.
Cut the PS3's price!
Have a strong, stable series of games!
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Well, everybody's PS-Store probably looks a little different nowadays, what with the European and US and Japan and Hong Kong all handing out different stuff at different times... however! We're pretty sure we've got a good list for the US and EU stores on what's new. Let's get crackin'.
US
Armored Core 4 demo
GTAIV teaser video: "Things Will Be Different"
Stardust movie trailer (if anyone else is a fan of Neil Gaiman, you should be giddy with excitement... although my favorite of his has to be Neverwhere, hands down. American Gods is a very close second)
Other movie trailers: Are We Done Yet? and Perfect Stranger.
EU
In addition to that stuff, we imagine excepting the movie trailers (?), Europe is also privy to the Super Rub a Dub demo and game.
Also mentioned in an e-mail was a new version of Gran Turismo HD -- now with worldwide scoreboards and one other thing. Oh yeah, full compatibility with force feedback and all of these driving wheels: Logitech's Driving Force, Driving Force Pro, and Driving Force EX. So, enjoy that one, guys! Force feedback is coming back in small doses, but for those who missed the experience, your voice has been heard.
Two major UK retailers have cut the price of the PlayStation 3 less than two weeks after the launch of the console. WH Smith and Play.com have slashed the price of the machine from Ł424.99 to Ł399.99.
WH Smith advertised the drop in The Sun newspaper, no doubt to catch the attention of parents looking to get their kids something a bit more special than a chocolate egg this Easter. Whereas, Play.com is offering the console for the same price but is also throwing in an HDMI cable and a copy of Click on Blu-ray.
At the time of writing no other retailers have folowed suit, although many are expected to. And while WH Smith's offer is scheduled to end on April 19, Play.com is offering the console for Ł399.99 for the forseable future.
Additionally, tomorrow - Good Friday - the console price craziness is set to continue, with Play.com telling us that it's planning to offer the Core Xbox 360 for just Ł149.99 - Ł50 lower than the RRP - and is dropping the price of the Premium Xbox 360 from Ł279.99 to Ł249.99. You'll have to be quick though because the offer only lasts until April 10 and stock is likely to be extremely limited.
A Japanese store listing for the upcoming PLAYSTATION 3 RPG, FolksSoul, showcases some of the game's myriad of features: 720p visuals, 7.1 Dolby Digital Sound and PSP connectivity. Wait, what was that last bit again? Connectivity between PSP and PS3 has always been hinted at before, but we haven't seen an actual game utilize it in a meaningful way. (The PSP also had connectivity features with certain PlayStation 2 games, but the feature was used quite sparingly.)
How will the upcoming PS3 game, FolksSoul, connect with PSP? It's unclear right now. However, if one looks back at the history of this intriguing RPG, one can see that it was originally titled Monster Kingdom: Unknown Realms. Does that name ring a bell? It should. The first Monster Kingdom was a PSP-exclusive RPG. As revealed in our interview with Atlus, Monster Kingdom was always meant to become a larger franchise. Could this cult RPG be part of the connection we're looking for?
Atari has revealed to Eurogamer it is working on a new online initiative that aims to "spawn" a creative global gaming community.
It's been in development for roughly a year and will provide PC users with a hub to generate and share smaller, casual games.
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"We are seeing a new generation of game experiences emerging that leverages community, user generated content and casual or short session games," Chris Bergstresser, senior VP of online entertainment at Atari, told Eurogamer. "Atari Online is centrally positioned in this evolution."
It's a familiar concept, one we've seen spring to life recently in PS3 Home and LittleBigPlanet. However, Bergstresser insists it's a completely fresh and unique service, one that he believes can be viewed as Atari going back to its roots.
"That's a flattering comparison, but Atari Online is a completely different product and offering," said Bergstresser. "In the early days of Atari, the company encouraged 2600 fans to build their own games; to this day, that community still exists."
"So in a sense, this initiative can be viewed as going back to our roots while simultaneously moving forward and establishing a modern legacy for the company."
Atari will be working both in and out of house to develop this new service for a range of operating systems and configurations, which will eventually allow us to have enough freedom to create a variety of experiences with the tools.
Bergstresser was clearly holding some of the specifics back for announcement at a later date, but his enthusiasm for the new service was infectious.
Atari Online will be introduced into the US first, and elsewhere in the world at a later date. It's a bold move by the company and we'll be watching it every step of the way.
"Atari has always been about innovation and entrepreneurship," Bergstresser concluded. "We believe what Atari Online will accomplish will have global appeal."
PS3fanboy
We all know MotorStorm took #1 in the US and Japan with software sales, which is awesome. We're not ashamed to admit that -- neither should you! It's a fun game. Lots of mud. Anyway, alongside Resistance: Fall of Man, it's taken the top of the charts across the world. It's not an easy feat to say that you've been number one in the US, Japan, and Europe!
Evolution's boss, Martin Kenwright, issued this statement: "Developing Motorstorm to a standard we were all happy with was certainly a challenge - but the team here really delivered. Evolution has a reputation for delivering high quality racing titles, but the consensus was to come up with something really special for Sony's new hardware. We're delighted that the public has agreed with the press and made Motorstorm a worldwide number one PlayStation 3 title." Shall we raise our mugs and sing a song to honor this accomplishment?
Sega has flung out an updated release schedule of its upcoming games so you can save any Easter cash you get, or don't spend on chocolate eggs.
Several new and recently announced games have been added to the list and a few have moved seasons. The lack of any of the recently announced Aliens games (to be developed by Gearbox and Obsidian) pretty much confirms the fact that we won't be seeing them this year.
Phil Harrison's GDC keynote was awesome. About every single person in the audience was pumped about the announcement of PlayStation HOME and that LittleBigPlanet thing. Perhaps not... everyone. Are you playing dark, diabolical music? Picture this: an Atari chairman begins rubbing his hands together, laughs maniacally and proclaims: "Now that we know of this Game 3.0, we know our plans are justified! Just you wait, Sony... your end is nigh!" At this point, he begins stroking his pencil moustache and laughs a bit more. Seriously, Atari, are you really going to challenge something that's not even out yet?
It seems so. Atari Online Entertainment vice president Chris Bergstresser had this to say about their new online portal: "Phil Harrison had this big announcement of Game 3.0 and I think its great that he's announced that because it will lend legitimacy to what we're doing. But it goes further than that...We feel user generated content is not just something you just let people dabble in, we feel that it is something where you give people the tools to do whatever the hell they want."
So, they're making some kind of online experience where user-generated content is key? Sounds interesting, but as of right now the project is PC only and... well... we'd like to see what HOME has to offer before we can say this actually does go "further than that". Thoughts? Opinions? Diabolical cackles?
We're not even going to bother filing this in the rumor section. This one gets crumpled up and thrown directly into the "outbox"... the trashcan. Why? Because of the PS3Fanboy Rumor Rules of Thumb (PS3FBRRoT): anonymous sources, little known news source, and really-out-there claim preceded by an actual recent announcement. This NetMunch blog stinks of all three of these rumor debunking prerequisites.
First up, they claim that following the drop of the PSP's price (an actual recent announcement), sources say (anonymous sources) that the PS3 will get a price drop in October of $100 (really-out-there claim). While that would pit them directly agains the 360 Elite which has been taking a bit of a media beating in lieu of Sony for a little bit, that's a pretty large price cut for so soon into a console's life. Unless manufacturing costs have decreased dramatically and Sony starts pulling in a profit per console, we don't see this happening yet. At least, not $100. Maybe $50. What do you guys think?
Who hasn't experienced the frustration of calling or going to a game store to see an eagerly anticipated game has arrived, only to find it's been delayed for days, weeks, or months? While game delays are often caused by developmental issues, sometimes the cause for delay are less flukes and more strategic marketing maneuvers on the part of publishers.
Blake Snow over at GamePro.com has written an article that explores this tactic, citing the famous example of Twilight Princess for the Gamecube, delayed in order to move more Wii's at launch. He speaks with industry analyst extraordinaire Michael Pachter on the subject.
"But even though quality is a major reason for game delays, it's far from the only reason. "Delays occur for both strategic and quality reasons," says analyst Michael Pachter. Contrary to what you may think, publishers are just as likely to delay a game for strategic reasons as they are quality ones."
An interesting read, which would have been much more interesting if all but one of the game companies he contacted hadn't declined to comment. He at least got David Karraker from Sony, who would probably punch me in the gut before even giving me the time of day, so that's something. I suggest you check it out without delay.
Irrational Games' sci-fi RPG shooter looks like it may be making its way to the PLAYSTATION 3, according to the all things PlayStation blog ThreeSpeech. In today's update on upcoming PS3 software, author Steve Boxer namechecks BioShock as one of the console's "promised future delights." So... confirmed? I stand behind a firm "maybe."
The game is still listed as only appearing on the Xbox 360 and PC at 2K Games' BioShock page and the title has been called an "Xbox 360 exclusive" in the past, a claim the official Xbox site does not make for the game. We'll keep our digits crossed in hopes that ThreeSpeech knows what they're talking about.
So a forum member of ours, by the name of Mista, has tipped us off with a few new titles that have appeared at his place of employment – Game Crazy. Now bear in mind that this isn't concrete information here, and that these could be placeholder names supplied to Game Crazy by Sony. But it may be a good indication of what's to come. And what's to come are two new Socom games, one for the PS3 (Socom Competition) and the other for the PSP (Socom Tactics). The names seem a little generic, at the moment, which leads me to believe it's either a placeholder or a shorthand entry.
Likewise, one other noteworthy PSP title popped up on the Game Crazy list: Devil May Cry. Can this mean that Capcom is finally ready to reveal the first DMC game for the PSP? Hopefully we'll hear more at E3.
Well, if this isn't just a kick in the ol' keyboard! Seems that Sony's official store, SonyStyle, has taken down any listings of the 20GB PlayStation 3. That's correct, sir, all you see now is the 60GB model. Does this portend a worldwide shunning of the lower-end console, or is it simply being phased out in a different way? As in, available upon personal request, but no longer shipping en masse to stores alongside their 60GB brethren?
Obviously, we don't have an answer, but we do have a little comment. That "lower end" model might become akin to those Beanie Babies way back in the 90's -- as in, the 20GB will become the "rare model" and be more respected. Sure, the chances of that are very slim, but who knows -- perhaps the lack of chrome trim and card readers and wireless internet will somehow turn into a good thing. Make absolutely no sense? Good, then our point is made.
Not exactly. He wants to be more open and let people inside the workings of Sony... so, sorry. No camping yet. Anyway, a large review of Sony's and the PlayStation 3's performance was posted a few days ago. It's interesting, but most of the fresh meat comes from the last few paragraphs. Everything else is, admittedly, recap of what we as gamers have seen and experienced. Feel free to read it from the beginning. We'll work from the end.
Will Sony engage in negative advertising -- attacking the competition (like saying you have over 100 titles right before a new console launches)?
Peter Dille: "Our position hasn't changed. You generally see the number 2 guy be negative. But when you're the market leader, with 110 million PS2s sold, you act differently. People will come onto PS3 in their own time; that's not something people talk about, but we have a large rabid fan base. We'll communicate with gamers in a way that doesn't talk down to them by speaking to gamers' expertise."
Have you noticed all the Sony-hatred out there in the past year?
Peter Dille: "We're not blind to some of the tonal things out there. It's an ongoing education effort. We need to have people understand the value of the console with the technology that will drive the product for 10 years. We believe that we approach the product a little bit differently. We need to not be defensive about analysts or press reports, because they might not understand the business or where we're coming from."
You guys at Sony used to be pretty closed to the public. Tell us about your changing ways!
Tha' Dille: "For 10 years, we engaged the outside world in a certain way. There are some new faces in the management team; I left and came back, but I've brought a new approach to PR. We want to be more open, we want to share more, let them inside the tent and challenge us, and that didn't always happen. We kind of made our own bed. It can't be done overnight, but we want to tell the story. I think we've tried to change. We weren't always open, so it reflects a shift."
Great! What do you guys think, will the PS3 successfully market a decent comeback over the next year, or will they remain in a negative light? Will anyone want to get inside the tent with them? We'd like to think Dille is onto something... so we'll stroke our beards and mutter incomprehensible babble as we wait and see.
We'll see some new PS3 games later this month and in May, but, unfortunately, there are no new games this week. As a consolation prize, we have a couple of snazzy new PS2 games to hold us over.
PS3 Game Releases
No new releases
PS2 Game Releases
Brave: The Search for Spirit Dancer (delayed from last week)
Tokyo Xtreme Racer Drift 2
As always, availability is subject to manufacturer delivery.
A wise man once said to me: "If you cannot decide to go left or right, you must go right for a little while, turn around and go left for twice as long, then find a way to go both ways. Possibly through a series of right turns." Yeah, it was a gas station attendant and yeah, I was pretty lost. But I found the interstate eventually and all because I was indecisive in what direction I should go at the third light.
Why was that anecdote important? Because it seems WarHawk is going through the same ordeal. Blu-ray or PS-Store? A Sony representative recently answered some queries on the subject and said that WarHawk will be available via both mediums -- on Blu-ray and on the PlayStation Network. Will there be a difference between the two? Will one involve microtransactions while the other has everything bundled up from the get-go? We don't know. Which would you guys get? The full shabang or piece by piece, if that's the way the cookie shall crumble? Would an online-only title really merit the $60 price tag it may get in stores?
The powers that be in the NYC political scene might not be happy with GTA IV's New York like setting, but that hasn't stopped Rockstar from touting their game on the streets of that illustrious city. And not just on the street, but on the entire side of a building!
Advertisements on the sides of buildings in New York are nothing new, one only need walk down almost any street to be bombarded with endless billboards. The irony of this particular one however, is inescapable. Let's see how long it stays up.
Kotakuite Spence sends in this interesting tidbit about the possibility of Loco Roco coming to the PS3. It seems that during Phil Harrison's keynote speech at this year's GDC, an eagle eyed NeoGAF forum poster noticed a Loco Roco achievement trophy within the Home demonstration.
Now, Spence has found an ad for an upcoming edition of PSM3 magazine in this month's edition of UK's EDGE magazine. I know, it's all a little confusing. But, suffice it to say that the ad is touting a feature called "Future of PS3" and shows a bunch of hand drawn Loco Roco blobs with the line "Loco Roco - PS3!" written underneath them in huge letters. Now obviously this isn't rock solid proof of the game appearing on the PS3, but it certainly does give one hope. All will be revealed when the issue of PSM3 in question hits UK shelves on April 12.
We are all fans of games and the consoles they are born on but if you could have a Dream Game released for the console or consoles of your choice what would it be.
lets be realistic about whats doable and then post our dream game or games.
As usual ill start off with mine.
PSP
I would love to see Conflict Vietnam/Desert Storm etc on the PSP, the console could easily support such killer games and the ability to play anywhere is a massive advantage.
Nintendo DS
The DS is the king for RTS and Theme type games, i would love to see Rollercoaster Tycoon, Starcraft, Warcraft and Command and Conquer Red Alert on this console. Yeah i know thats 4 Dream Games but the console deserves it.
Nintendo Wii
2 games i would dream to have on the Wii are a Star Wars Lightsabre game and also an Harry Potter game using the Wiimote in both one as the wand the other as a lightsabre.
360
I would love to see a simpler to control Flight simulator on the 360 that uses the graphics and power to the upmost.
Thats just a few of my Dream Games for some of my consoles.
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Note that the article over at TG Daily doesn't actually mention anything about the PlayStation 3, although it does speak at length about Blu-ray players. The specs are changing, come October 31, for stricter control of the Blu-ray hardware, though this doesn't equate to much difference to current BD players (especially our sexy PS3). One thing stands out that should make its way to the PlayStation 3, though.
See, BD-Java is supported by all BD-players (that's the language used for the enhanced menu screens and special features or whatever), but differing technical specs between players made it difficult for movie studios to explore everything they could do with the new tech. So they're going to make new specs to allow for new things like picture-in-picture (or PiP if you want to go Great Expectations on their face), or running two video streams at once, like a video commentary alongside the movie itself, or storyboards. Those have been in HD-DVD players since day one!
Another interesting change is the ability to manipulate the soundtrack (this is in reference to the "enhanced game playing features"... so we're assuming this will also come to the PlayStation 3 in time) via a proprietary audio mixing feature. The PS3 would do well to have this, don't you think? Those songs on MotorStorm get old after a few hours.
Thank goodness! The world is back in order once more... unless Unicron really does exist and will eventually try to consume our planet whole to power his system while he travels the cosmos in search for... planets to eat. 1986, anyone? Transformers: The Movie... seriously? Ultra Magnus said the D-word? Come on, it hailed in the second generation of Transformers since most of the original cast was killed in the first ten minutes of the movie (if you can name some of them, we'll give you a cookie... or I'll mail you one of my old Transformers toys... fat chance)! StarScream finally bit the dust! Really, nobody? Wow. That was my life.
Anyway, for the latest game coming out featuring robots in disguise, who are consequently more than meets the eye, the original voices for Optimus Prime and Megatron, Peter Cullen and Frank Welker, are back and ready to go it again with their respective roles. Forever in the search for energon cubes and ultimate control over Cybertron (and Earth, apparently), you can play as the newly envisioned Transformers thanks to the latest revival of the franchise by Michael Bay. Good stuff. GameSpot has an audio clip of the gents and talks about what it took to get those voices just right. Pretty entertaining.
Joystiq got a pretty good e-mail concerning a DVD playback issue. Apparently, the PlayStation 3 in PAL territories has a very difficult time playing any DVDs without giving the owners a big, fat green screen. What's the cause of this? Sony, for starters. See, it seems that on an SDTV, the PS3 can't quite play back DVDs using the AV-Multi/SCART connector. This applies only to European PS3's (I checked mine out before typing this up -- works fine), so we've got to wonder... what's missing? What changed so much to inhibit this standard feature?
Apparently, at GAME stores, they sell a Sony brand RGB cable with a switch that fixes said issue, but it seems kind of ridiculous to have to shell out extra cash for a fix that shouldn't even be a problem. That brings us to the problem at hand: European PS3 owners, this is up to you. Let us know if you're having this issue and how much those Sony cables are at GAME -- if Sony does listen to this website at all (we've gotten a few e-mails from Sony reps about the site, actually!) then maybe they'll look into it a little further and possibly give a good ol' firmware update.
Oh, the problem doesn't exist on HD connections. Just throwing that out there, so make sure you try it on SDTVs only.
Well, darn it all. We could've sworn things were looking good when we got this post up. Well, sure, we noticed that PlayStation 3 titles pretty much monopolized the software sales for a little bit, but that's not what should be counted on to deem a system's launch a success. Hardware is truly what counts and those numbers fell behind the competition, as you can see here. So, yes, the PS3 finished last in Australia, but they didn't lie about breaking records.
See, the record Sony claims to have broken over the launch time in Australia was the retail surge. They generated more retail business than any other console, but that was definitely a mask for the truth: they didn't sell as many units. They got business, they got the dollars, but they didn't get the install base and it's clear that's what's going to matter in the end. Alas. We're curious to see if any of the high-profile titles will draw in some more unit sales, or if the supposed price-drop will help greatly. Due to the loss of the 20GB model, who knows. See, we can use a ton of links too!
hey all, been a quiet few days for news at DCEmu, my wife has had me decorating the last 3 days but thankfully its finished and now im back fully to get news flying off the shelves and more site updates and changes.
As Congressman Fred Upton's Video Game Decency Act continues to percolate through Congress, Upton (R-MI) is singing its praises to the press, telling his local paper, the Niles Daily Star, "This legislation will restore parents' trust in a system in which game makers had intentionally deceived the ratings board to deliver violent and pornographic material to our kids."
This whole foofaraw kicked off when Rockstar Games tucked away some sex-related gameplay into Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and, while the content was only accessible by using hacking tools, it was there for the minigaming. When word got out, lawsuits flowed like coffee, and Rockstar rushed out a "clean" version in order to avoid the dreaded "Adults Only" rating. The Video Game Decency Act would make it a crime to hide such content from the ESRB, the independent ratings board created by the industry in 1994 to avoid federal regulation.
Seems pretty reasonable, right? Well, it is. Whether you believe all sexual content deserves an "AO" rating or not, developers who want a rating from the ESRB should fully disclose anything that might affect that rating. But if the bill passes, the government will finally have its paws in the game rating pie, in a very official (and probably irreversible) way -- exactly what the ESRB was founded to prevent. Fine by you? Or is this the next step on a slippery slope of governmental control that will end with a dystopian, 1984-style wasteland?
IBM and the Mayo Clinic have announced that they will be using the Cell Broadband Engine, the same processor that can help cure Alzheimer's and blast away the Germans in Call of Duty to now speed up object recognition and increase image precision with medical imaging software. The results of this implementation will be presented later this week at the International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging (sounds like a party-fest) in Washington, D.C.
For an example of what this means: Previously it took the old processor configuration 25,200 seconds to complete a object recognition task of 98 images and on the Cell processor it only took 516 seconds to complete the same recognition task. Efficiency is key with this upgrade. Faster recognition by all kinds of imaging machines (CT scanners, MRI machines, etc) means saved lives. Easy as that.
NoxOm seems to have found a little bug in the PS3's system. Let's hope one of these little easter eggs will amount to something sometime soon. Here's what he said:
Otheros.bld v0.1
I found a TILT on a PS3 with this OS, I made a mix with a SAK v1.0 an .BIN image. The PS3 it just start over and over with an ORANGE light and I think this one of the ways to get on the DEV MODE of PS3
People from a website to remain nameless have confirmed it working on 1.32, 1.51, and 1.6. I think I am going to try it out sometime tomorrow. Please report your findings if you give it a shot.
as with any "exploit" extreme caution must be used
The Activision-owned publisher Red Octane has revealed that the third game in the Guitar Hero series is going multiplatform this autumn.
A post in the support section of the firm's website promised, "Guitar Hero 3 for the PlayStation 2, PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii are currently scheduled for release in the United States in Fall of 2007."
No further details were given about what songs we might see.
Sony's hypnotic PS3 duck game Super Rub A Dub - based on the famous tech demo demonstrated by studio boss Phil Harrison - is now Live on the European PlayStation store.
For the moment you can pick up the SixAxis-happy title for an introductory price (or is that introDUCKtory price?!) of Ł3.49 before it's bumped up on May 23.
In case you've missed it so far, Rub A Dub is a bit like Wetrix meets Super Moneky Ball (with ducks), where you're tasked with guiding a big plastic bird around a pool of water collecting mini-ducks and avoiding nasty sharks. It's duck-orific. Or something.
If you're still a bit hesitant to jump right in to the duck-y action there's a one-level demo available for you to try out..
Slipgate Ironworks' John Romero - formerly of id Software and Ion Storm - reckons that consoles like PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 will have to undertake radical change to avoid being killed off by cheap PC hardware.
"Next-gen console is big but its future isn't too bright with the emergence of cheap PC multi-core processors and the big change the PC industry will go through during the next 5 years to accommodate the new multi-core-centric hardware designs," Romero told Adrenaline Vault.
"My prediction is that the game console in the vein of the PS3 and Xbox 360 is going to either undergo a massive rethink or go away altogether."
Romero - whose credits include the likes of Doom and Quake, and ill-fated first-person shooter Daikatana - has greater expectations for Nintendo though, backing its belief in broadening the market with a more accessible machine.
"The Wii has the perfect design for a console that doesn’t pretend to be a PC and is geared more toward casual gamers than hardcore gamers," he explained.
"The hardcore gamers are going to either be playing on their PCs or a new PC-like platform that sits in the living room but still serves the whole house over Wi-Fi, even the video signal," Romero predicted.
In the meantime, he's working on a PC MMORPG at Slipgate Ironworks, although he still can't say anything about it, other than, "we're creating something that's the first of its kind and we want to be first to market with it".
Sony's Phil Harrison has denied that PlayStation Home and Second Life are basically the same thing, claiming it's "way oversimplifying" to make the suggestion.
"In Home, you get a character and a 3D world, and that's where the similarity ends," he told semi-official Sony blog ThreeSpeech. "Second Life does some brilliant things but with Home, we're providing a service. Therefore, the tone of voice is what will differentiate it - Home is about entertainment, it has a game focus, and it's about sharing with a like-minded community."
Observers have been drawing the comparison ever since Harrison unveiled Home - an online universe where PS3 users can set up a home and interact with friends and services - at the Game Developers Conference last month.
"We don't give users the level of influence over the environment, behaviour and object definitions that Second Life does - it's as secure as any other PS3 game," Harrison continued. "With some of the operating system protocols that are built into the Cell chip, it's about as secure as you can be on a consumer device."
That's not to say you won't be able to customise your surroundings though, as Harrison explained: "We were discussing how, if you had a great view from the back of your apartment - the perfect sunset across a lake, say - you could get all your friends around, and buy a premium item - a perfect V of ducks flying in front of the sun. So while your view would be the same as your friends', you could customise it in some unique and charming ways."
When it comes to obtaining the rights to make games based on films, most publishers are content to release a game to coincide with a movie's release then go on about their business.
THQ, on the other hand, doesn't mind taking that license to the next level and releasing multiple games based on films, television shows, or other properties. The publisher has a long-standing relationship with Disney-Pixar and has made multiple titles based on The Incredibles, Monsters, Inc., and Finding Nemo.
Now it appears as though THQ is sticking with that trend with the most recent Pixar release, Cars. The company released the Cars game alongside the film last July, and today announced that it is currently working on Cars Mater-National, a new game based on the animated movie.
Cars Mater-National is in development at Rainbow Studios for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation 2, DS, and Game Boy Advance. THQ expects the game to be in stores this fall.
The game will focus on events surrounding the first Mater-National Race Festival, and will feature a new cast of characters all vying for the title. THQ promises that the world of Radiator Springs will be "new and improved" and feature new tracks, multiplayer games, and minigames.
Man, when the first images of MotorStorm appeared, I was so excited! Then the next year, the footage didn't look as a amazing. It looked okay. Still, my interested remained. And when the game finally arrived in Japan, where I live, it lacked online. Poof! My interest was gone. Says the game's lead designer Nigel Kershaw:
Well, the European and American versions have online. The Japanese version does not, they weren't as bothered about online. We also tweaked a lot of things under the hood. Nothing you'd probably notice — we played around with some of the numbers and some of the graphics — but the main thing we did was add online play.
Sure, I can't speak for Japanese people, but I know that no online convinced of one thing: Not buying MotorStorm. Bet I wasn't alone, either.
Experience one of the first true next-gen RPG adventures.
Embark on an epic RPG adventure and escape to a fantasy world filled with beautiful cinematic quality graphics, unique characters and bizarre creatures. Take the role of Atsuma, Enchanter in-training and transform from a naďve student to the most powerful savior in a war 1,000 years in the making. Immerse yourself in a deep storyline as you face increasingly difficult challenges and learn to master Atsuma's special fighting and magical abilities.
Developed by From Software and published by Ubisoft outside of Asia, we have today received the US version of the PlayStation3™ RPG hit Enchanted Arms. As all PS3™ games, this title is region free and now available at US$ 64.90 only.
Game features:
Use the motion-sensitive controller to harness weapons, recover your EX power meter, unlock more powerful attacks and solve puzzles.
Easy-to-navigate interface, the ability to move characters in-battle and distance-dependent attacks combine to create fast-paced, hands-on gameplay.
Find and unlock 130 controllable creatures to use in battle as part of your team. Customize your party and learn to harness their unique abilities. Includes 30 all new creatures exclusive to the PLAYSTATION 3 system.
Choose to play the game with either Japanese or English dialogue.
Delve deeper as you meet new characters and explore over 75 environments with multiple objectives and branching missions.
Including ten minutes of all-new exclusive video.
Virgin Radio has launched a music player for the Wii and PlayStation 3 web browsers in the UK.
The player streams music from Virgin Radio, Virgin Radio Extreme, Virgin Radio Classic Rock and Virgin Radio Groove.
"It's great for us to achieve another new media first and be the only UK radio station available on both of these massively popular games consoles," said James Cridland, director of digital media, reports Radio Today.
"People are treating the consoles as part of their home entertainment media centre and now Virgin Radio will be part of that experience. This platform has great growth potential, particularly among early-adopters and the 25 – 44 audience popular with advertisers," he added.
As well as the radio player, users will be able to buy tickets and CDs and download music through the Virgin Radio Ticket Store.
Thank you, babelfish and your ability to translate Jeux-France for those of us who took 11 years of Spanish through their school-lives. Anyway, the latest issue of EGM had an advertisement for PSM3, the British monthly magazine, stating there was an article devoted to Loco Roco on PlayStation 3.
What they didn't say was whether or not this was going to be a PS-Store port of the PSP title, a PS3 re-imagining of the PSP title, or a sequel to the original, making full use of the SIXAXIS. In any case, we'll soon have news about more cutesy blob-moving action akin to all those weird lava-lamp-like devices that were such a big deal ten years ago. Keep your eyes open when you snag that PSM3, Europe, and let us know what's inside!
Sony has cleared up some issues surrounding PlayStation 3 release dates on semi-official blog ThreeSpeech this afternoon, by pointing out that they're not all entirely correct.
The site lists five big titles due to appear in September, including Heavenly Sword, Lair, Ratchet & Clank and WarHawk. However, it seems it overstepped the mark with its Killzone prediction, as Sony recently informed us.
"The release date on ThreeSpeech for Killzone PS3 is a mistake," a spokesperson for Sony told Eurogamer this afternoon. "We haven't made any announcements for a date yet, as it's still TBC."
Which is good news for us, as it seems to suggest the other four will be appearing in September.
We'd previously heard that Lair and Heavenly Sword were due sometime this year, after they were accidentally listed as May on the UK PlayStation site, but secretly we'd feared they may have slipped to 2008.
Yes, Guild Wars is sitting on my desktop currently and no, I'm not level 20 or anything. Why? Because my laptop doesn't like to load it... and every map needs such heavy updating I'm pretty sure I'll never play it again. But that's not the point! It was free! Aside from the initial purchase price. What did that yield? A pretty decent following, but coupled with at-most decent gameplay focused primarily on teamwork. Maybe things have changed, but those were my impressions from the first few months of release.
In any case, Guild Wars 2 is bound for beta testing in 2008 and they're releasing some other expansion pack later this year. An interview with Eurogamer brought up the question whether this sequel would come to consoles. Ben Miller responded to the question thus: "We are focused on PCs right now. I think consoles remain an interesting opportunity for Guild Wars in the future, but that's not something we've announced any plans for at this time." Basically, that means "Yeah, it's being tossed around."
It would make sense for Guild Wars 2 to come to the PlayStation 3 at the very least, since online is already free. Would they be able to throw the game up on the PS-Store at a cheaper price to get even more interest? I'd give it another shot, for sure, if it was easy to get to. And the PS3 certainly has more processing power than this aging dinosaur of a laptop. Thoughts?
Lurking deep in the Craftster forum is a very dedicated individual who has figured out how to take two ugly chairs from work (free of course) and turn them into eBay millions.
Boingo82 has put together a very impressive NES controller chair that is sewn together with vinyl (very pro, you need a pretty heavy-duty sewing machine to do this, and a lot of patience) and industrial foam. The stitching detail is really very good and it looks like a chair that can be sat in, not just for show.
According to a 'semi-official' blog, a big-hitting Sony title should be seeing the light of day this autumn.
ThreeSpeech.com, the blog with 'close links' to Sony, has said that Heavenly Sword, a fluid, fast-moving slice 'em up spectacular featuring a flame haired swordslady, will hit PS3 this September.
As well as that, it also suggested that airsickness-inducing dragon flying thing Lair, and air and land-based combat title WarHawk, will also launch that month.
But the naughty site also said that Bioshock should be going on sale in that same month - which Sony has said is most definitely not the case.
Some retailers in North America have stopped selling the 20GB PlayStation 3 model, GamesIndustry.biz is reporting, including Sony's official online outlet, SonyStyle.
SonyStyle now offers only the 60GB version, which SCEI spokesperson Satoshi Fukuoka said has always been the more popular of the two machines. Speaking to IDG News he stated, "The line-up [at SonyStyle] is decided based on market demand and so it's not surprising that they are not selling it on their website. But if you go to a retailer you can find it."
However, SonyStyle isn't the only online retailer which has stopped selling the 20GB PS3. It's no longer available via the websites of Best Buy, GameStop or Electronics Boutique.
But the console is still on sale at some retailers, such as Amazon.com.
The 20GB PlayStation 3 is not available in Europe, where the 60GB model launched on March 23. Sony has yet to confirm whether both machines will eventually be made available.
Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz after news emerged that US retailers were ceasing to stock the 20GB model, a spokesperson said, "We'll continue to monitor demand for the 20GB model, from a consumer and retailer perspective, which will be factored into any future European launch plans."
Activision has its hands full this summer with two games based on a pair of movies expected to be huge blockbusters. While much of the attention has been focused on the superhero flick Spider-Man 3 starring Tobey Maguire, Shrek the Third also looks to pack the cineplexes, which can translate into big bucks for Activision.
I wanted Fancy Feast!
In anticipation of the game's release next month, the publisher has posted an Xbox 360 demo for Shrek the Third on Xbox Live Marketplace. Weighing in at 759.59MB, the sample lets gamers play as Shrek and his feline friend Puss in Boots as they take on pirates and bandits.
Shrek the Third is currently scheduled for release on May 15 on the Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PC, PlayStation Portable, DS, and Game Boy Advance.
Not since October has the industry-tracking NPD Group's monthly sales tally failed to show a significant year-over-year growth in gaming, but Lazard Capital Markets analyst Colin Sebastian thinks the March figures will break that trend.
In a note to investors this morning, Sebastian said to expect NPD to release "flattish" March sales for console and portable games, with God of War II, Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2, Guitar Hero II, and Def Jam Icon leading the pack. Sebastian expects growth in sales for the latest generation of systems to be all but offset by declining sales on last-gen games, and short supplies of Nintendo's Wii and DS systems.
As for individual publishers, Sebastian expects Activision to have increased its sell-through by 20 percent, thanks largely to the sustained success of Guitar Hero II on the PlayStation 2 and Call of Duty 3. Sebastian predicts EA's numbers will be down 20 percent, with THQ dipping slightly for the month.
The Campbell County Public Library in Kentucky recently announced it will carry video games alongside those paper-bound book things with words on the inside. Three local branches will house games from each of the three big systems -- Xbox 360, Wii, and PlayStation 3. People have been requesting video games for years, a branch manager said, so the library did some research (Did they have to go to another library to do it? Zing!) and found that a large portion of their patrons (people in their early 30s) also happen to be gamers.
Expect to see titles such as SpongeBob SquarePants and the Kingdom Hearts series, as well as sports games like Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2007. Each branch will have a ratings board to help parents keep potentially naughty games away from their children. And don't even think about Grand Theft Auto, as the library "won't be collecting the violent games with the harsh language".
Nintendo has pledged its support of a US-led stance against China's burgeoning military budget, er, counterfeit video games market, according to a company presser today. With few government restrictions holding them back, pirates plundered an estimated $762 million worth of booty in China last year. And these scallywags aren't your typical kid brothers burning DVDs in the basement and exchanging them for lunch allowances in the cafeteria. No, this is well-organized crime, which has accounted for the more than 7.7 million counterfeit gaming products seized during the past four years -- and only a single criminal prosecution brought against the more than 300 Chinese factories and retailers dealing in this illicit trade. To avoid punishment, an operation need only keep its pirated stock below a certain threshold and do away with bookkeeping.
The rampant piracy, which affects hundreds of companies in the games industry, has prompted the US Trade Representative to seek formal consultations with China regarding the government's failure to meet World Trade Organization obligations concerning intellectual property protection. Nintendo has chipped in, providing evidence of piracy in China and other countries during the annual "Special 301" investigation. In turn, the US Trade Representative will use this evidence to push China to comply with global standards. "Progress must be made," urged an unusually stern Nintendo.
Believe it or not, but people are buying PS3s and the poor souls who bought from the last batch of 60GB consoles are claiming their systems are emitting a high-pitched whine when turned on.
A couple of other users at the official PS3 forums are claiming the same thing and it appears only machines with the serial numbers CE133190xxx and CE133212xxx are affected. Anyone out there experiencing the same thing or is this a case of overly sensitive ears?
Puzzle Quest turned out to be a surprise hit with portable gamers. IGN gave the PSP version a 9.0, and the DS version was a best-seller for Nintendo's handheld at the end of March. In the videogame world success equals more games, and developer Infinite Interactive is now giving Puzzle Quest the sci-fi treatment.
A new puzzle game with RPG elements called Galactrix is currently in development for the PC, DS, PSP, and Xbox Live Arcade. Its official description, a "blend of puzzle, RPG, and strategy genres set in a sci-fi world," could easily be describing Puzzle Quest if you switched out "sci-fi" with "fantasy." It's another match-3 game played against an opponent, either a single computer or two-to-four human puzzlers in multiplayer.
Instead of creating a warrior or knight, in Galactrix you'll create a pilot and set out to conquer the galaxy in campaign mode. Companions will join your crew and aid you in battle.
Infinite Interactive says the game will include online multiplayer and downloadable content, but it is unclear at this point whether or not this feature will show up in each version of the game.
Sony has revealed that it will make available a downloadable version of fighting game, Mortal Kombat II, via PS3's PlayStation Store.
For a cool $4.99 (Ł2.50-ish) US gamers will be able to find the game in the store from April 12. You get 12 characters, 10 levels, leaderboards, classic fatalities and online play.
No word yet on whether we can expect the game to appear on European PlayStation Stores, but we did get Super Rub A Dub over the Easter weekend.
A company called Foxconn (Hon Hai Precision Industry) is preparing its troops for "volume production" of PS3 consoles after the firm received certification from Sony for its production.
The Chinese Commercial Times quotes sources at Taiwan-based component makers as saying that Foxconn is expected to begin volume production of PS3 in the second half of this year in order to meet strong demand as Christmas approaches. Let the jokes about unsold units begin below.
After months of sketchy silence regarding Rockstar's next brutal kill-fest, Manhunt 2, details of the twisted plot and new gameplay mechanics have been exposed.
According to an online retailer's listings, the main character, Daniel Lamb, is a doctor that escapes an asylum with mental inmate Leo Kasper after a science experiment at a secret research facility went wrong.
Both characters go on the run as they're pursued by The Pickman Project, who wants to conceal the truth about the failed experiment.
A preview in the latest issue of Edge magazine reveals more specific gameplay details, including new "environmental executions" that allow you to use scenery objects like exposed electronics or toilets as fatal traps in which to lure your enemies.
The stealth element has also been vamped up, with the ability to smash lights to create dark areas in which to hide, helping you to lure enemies to their bloody end.
This stealth gameplay is offset with faster sections, giving you more lethal weapons to blast enemies with. "There are four weapon sets this time around," Edge explains, "ranging from one-shot-kills like syringes and pens, through to distance weapons like shotguns."
Details regarding Wii controls have yet to emerge, but we'll be pestering Rockstar about it when we visit their offices this Friday.
You can read the full preview in the latest Edge, May issue 175, on sale now.
Official PlayStation Magazine UK will be the first and only magazine to offer cover-mounted playable Blu-ray demo discs for PS3, thanks to a partnership between Future and Sony.
Issue 7, which goes on sale on June 1, will be the first issue to come packed with a Blu-ray disc which will include playable demos of first- and third-party games.
Specific titles are yet to be confirmed, but the demos available in the online PlayStation Store should serve as a reliable guide.
OPSM promises to include multimedia and user-generated content in later discs that will "support the advanced capabilities of the PS3".
Sony UK's managing director, Ray Maguire said: "We are very excited to partner with Future to offer a playable Blu-ray disc to UK PlayStation 3 owners. The high capacity of Blu-ray media is the perfect method to distribute large volumes of unique existing, and user-generated content in HD, showcasing PS3's multimedia capabilities to the full."
Perfect if you're worried about cramming your 60GB PS3 hard drive full of demos.
Sony is taking a wait and see approach before announcing any plans to release the 20GB PS3 in Europe.
It was revealed yesterday that the 20GB model was taken off the US consumer website Sony Style, leading many to believe (us included) that the smaller 20GB model's days are numbered in the US.
Speaking to CVG, Sony UK explained, "With regards to the 20GB model taken off Sony Style - it's only applicable to the US market as it was never released over here."
The chances of the 20GB PS3 being released on our shores are getting slimmer and slimmer. Don't expect to see the smaller hard drive model any time soon, unless there's suddenly massive demand for its release. But if you're going to shell out that amount of money for a console, you really should go the whole hog and fork out for the 60GB model. It'll save you money in the long run.
"We'll continue to monitor demand for the 20GB model, from a consumer and retailer perspective... which will be factored into any future Euro launch plans," Sony told us.
New details for Grand Theft Auto IV have spilled their way onto the Internet, expanding on what we can expect when the game launches on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 this October.
The game will be as significantly different as GTA III was to the previous top-down crime capers, Rockstar founder Dan Houser told Game Informer, and will offer much wider choice and freedom to the player.
As we already know from the trailer, GTA IV will take place in Liberty City (New York) in 2007, and will revolve around an Eastern European fellow. This chap, the main character, is Niko Bellic - an immigrant in search of the "American Dream".
His cousin Roman persuaded him to make the move by boasting a life of luxury, but it eventually turns out he was using this as a cover to hide his own failures. He'll be your only contact until you can find your feet, and ultimately carve out your own destiny.
One of the biggest differences in the new game will be the way you interact with other people. In previous iterations you've been at the beck and call of others, picking up your phone to receive orders. But this time around you'll be able to dial out, calling people to arrange rendezvouses and correlate your own plans. There will still be an element of following someone else's game plan, but the freedom of choice is something Rockstar is proudly standing by.
In GTA IV, four of the five boroughs of New York have been recreated for you to explore, as well as parts of New Jersey. Broker is the equivalent of Brooklyn, Manhattan is now Algonquin, Queens becomes Dukes, the Bronx is Brohan, and New Jersey transforms into Alderney.
While that doesn't give the fourth game the largest geographical playing field in the series, the level of detail and freedom should apparently more than make up for it.
We've already seen the impressive lighting effects, sumptuous skyline, and next-gen sheen from the trailer. What is less evident is the vastly enhanced AI, where NPCs will walk and talk much more convincingly, going about their daily routines around you. And apparently the game will only look better as we get closer to launch.
As with other games you can expect voice acting and an impressive array of radio stations to choose from while you're joyriding in Liberty City. However, it's unlikely we'll see Hollywood actors in the lead roles in this game, as Rockstar is making an effort to choose less well-known talent, both for voices and for the track listing.
Multiplayer is also going to be included this time around, but it isn't going to be an MMORPG. It's going to be something separate to the single-player experience that will be fun, interesting, and progressive.
Technically the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions will look and feel the same, and loading screens should be non existent after your initial entry into the world.
However, Microsoft's console will offer that exclusive downloadable content its boasted about at every opportunity, though there's still speculation as to whether the Blu-ray disc will include more to begin with.
Guinness World Records plans to launch a new videogame edition of its famous book of records, bringing together a wide range of game-related achievements and information.
Called "Guinness World Records - Videogame Edition 2008", the book will include reviews of the 20 biggest games of the year (8/10), record scores and fastest times, hardware profiles, sales figures and technical achievements made by individual games (e.g. how Viva Pińata is best).
The book will also answer questions such as which pro gamers earn the most money, what's the single highest score ever in a game, and which is the most successful console of all time.
Somewhat undermining the book's credibility will be celebrity consultant and GamesIndustry.biz editor Ellie Gibson, so expect at least fourteen Star Wars games and probably a category for "Fittest Developer".
"We reintroduced videogaming world records to our annual book a few years ago, and it’s proved to be one of the most popular sections with our core readers. It makes sense, therefore, to dedicate an entire annual to the subject," said Guinness World Records editor in chief Craig Glenday.
"Our record researchers are already scouring the videogaming community for superlatives, and the vast number of games, gamers, developers and platforms mean that we have an incredible pool of content to dip into each year. It's going to be a very exciting project," Glenday added.
"The news that Guinness World Records has decided to produce a book devoted to games is great for both gamers and the industry," said Gibson. "It's another boost for the profile of gaming, and I'm very much looking forward to getting started."
The Guinness World Records - Videogame Edition 2008 will be officially unveiled on stand D505 at the London Book Fair, which takes place between 16th and 18th April.
A rise in the number of Wii units dished out to retailers has lead to chocolate-like popularity of the console this Easter, with Nintendo telling GamesIndustry.biz it had sold more than 25,000 last week in the UK alone.
Leaked Chart-Track figures showed that 17,000 PlayStation 3 units were shifted during the same period, while the figure for Xbox 360 stood at 11,000. A spokesperson for Chart-Track declined to comment on the data.
According to a Nintendo spokesperson, "Last week was Wii's third biggest sales week since launch. Everything we are shipping, we are selling."
The spokesperson conceded that the figure was boosted by the availability of more stock than usual last week, stating, "Sales in previous weeks weren't as strong as 25k. More units are shipped some weeks than others."
However, he added, "We are making regular shipments, and we are consistent."
The spokesperson went on to say that the Easter holiday was a major factor in the high figure for Wii units sold. "Easter was the catalyst for the spike in sales," he said. "It's a traditional gifting week and that was definitely a contributing factor, along with the fact that there was more stock than usual."
It's still not clear when the Wii stock shortages will end - as the spokesperson observed, "Demand for the console is clearly huge and is exceeding supply." However, he added, "We are doing everything we can to get as much stock out there as possible."
Sony is currently in talks with a number of companies on the commercial use of the PlayStation 3.
Following the launch of the Folding@home initiative, where latent PS3 power is used to help calculate research for Stanford University, commercial businesses could soon make use of similar scheme, reports the Financial Times.
"We are discussing various options with companies and exploring commercial applications," said Sony's chief technology officer, Masa Chatani.
Idle PlayStation 3 units are able to connect remotely via the internet and run complex calculations. So far, over 82,000 PlayStation 3 users have signed up for the Folding@home initiative.
A network of 10,000 PS3's is capable of reproducing the power of 200,000 PCs, states the report.
"A start-up or a pharmaceutical company that lacks a super-computer could utilise this kind of infrastructure," detailed Chatani.
While the Folding@home service is for research purposes, any commercial possibilities would need to offer a reward or incentive for PS3 users to take part. The report suggests free products could be a possibility.
With the PS3 SingStar on its way in June (for Europe), we've heard very little about what specific tracks would make their way onto the disc. Turns out it doesn't really matter since we can download nearly anything we want. Why? Here's a quote from Game Director Paulina Bozek:
"The SingStore is up and running here in the studio, and we've got hundreds of songs to download, at our fingertips. Finally we can browse through hundreds of songs and download exactly the tunes we want – it's fantastic to have the variety and choice. We're also starting to think about all the less known songs that we want to put up there. It's all digital now, so space is no longer at a premium. We no longer have to agonize over the perfect 30 songs on the disc and we're looking forward to having some fun with it. I recently had a request for the band The Pixies from a journalist and it would be great to know what everybody out there wants, so if you have any special requests, let us know in the comments to this blog."
So the game is done, but they're taking requests? Everyone, leave them a comment on their blog requesting your favorite song or artist. Since I love music beyond belief, I've got a few ideas myself. Go!
Ever since its debut, worldwide people have taken note of that awesome PlayStation 3 font -- the Spider-Man font. It turns out everybody was just jealous that their computer didn't have the font available. Well, someone who really loved the font has tossed it up for downloadsies on the internet. We would have typed this post up using it, but you know. Protocol, rules, whatever.
We don't really have much else to say about this except to go ahead and download the font, somehow connect a label maker to your computer and slap up PS3-fonts on all of your goodies.
Straight from Sony: The 20GB PS3 will no longer be offered to retailers for sale in North America. The decision was made based on consumer and retail demand favoring "the 60GB model 10 to 1."
Dave Karraker of Sony America states, "At launch, we offered two separate models of PlayStation 3 to meet the diverse needs and interests of our PlayStation fan base. Initial retail demand in North America was upwards of ninety percent in favor of the 60GB SKU, so we manufactured and shipped-in accordingly. Due to the overwhelming demand for the 60GB model from both retailers and consumers, we have ceased offering the 20GB model here in North America. In addition to the larger internal hard drive, the 60GB PlayStation 3 features added storage media slots and built-in Wi-Fi not found in the 20GB system. Based on retailer and consumer feedback, we have decided to focus our current efforts on the more popular 60GB model."
This follows mounting evidence that the 20GB was on its way out the door at Best Buy and even the Sony Style store. And so we say goodbye to the PlayStation 3's 20GB model. Goodnight sweet Prince, we hardly knew ye.
If you're thinking about buying Super Rub-a-Dub, go buy some Peeps while they're on clearance because when you get into the challenging stages of this title, you're going to want to choke the life out of anything resembling a rubber duck.
At first, Super Rub-a-Dub seems straightforward and simple enough. Your goal is to guide a large rubber ducky around a bathtub and break bubbles holding miniature rubber duckies. The big duck breaks the bubbles, the mini-ducks follow the big duck and you get the whole flock to the drain in the tub for evacuation. Get all the ducks on screen down the drain, and the level is over.
From there, the concept gets complicated.
Rubber ducky, you're the one.To begin with, you're not controlling the large ducky at any point -- you're controlling the tub of water the duck is in via the Sixaxis controller's tilt function. You tilt the control left, right, forward or backward and the tub and its contents shift in that direction. It's on your shoulders to tilt the tub in directions that will run the big duck into the little duckies, around corners, away from wind-up sharks and not over the edge of side-less tubs. Toss the controller up and the tub tosses the duck into the air and over obstacles while flipping the sharks onto their backs for a short time.
You can even tilt on the menus to select whatever feature you want.
There are 60 tubs spread across three difficulties -- fun, tricky and tough. As you play, you'll need to earn medals to advance from tub to tub. Earning a gold, silver or bronze depends on your final time, and that's comprised of multiple components. If you finish the level but have lost duckies -- maybe they fell off the edge of the tub or were eaten by a shark -- the number of ducks missing is added as seconds to the time it took you to clear the tub of ducks. Your best hope for clock salvation is to have a long trail of duckies go down the drain. As you run into multiple bubbles, the freed duckies line up behind the big duck. Get the line to the drain without a shark eating one of the babies or one of the little ones slipping off into oblivion, and your biggest group will be recorded by the game. At the score screen, your longest trail is divided in half and that number is subtracted from your final time. The system tracks your personal records, and if you truly are "quacktastic," logs your time and username on the online leaderboards.
Securing a decent spot on the leaderboards is easier said than done. As the levels get tougher, you'll need to launch the big duck over gaps between tubs, around sharks, through whirlpools and against strong currents. Even though some of the courses will leaving you screaming at the television and cursing the baby ducks that were stupid enough to follow the big duck over the edge of the tub, you'll be able to unlock each course within a few hours of gaming. It's getting gold medals, unlocking the different colored ducks and besting challengers online that will keep people playing this title.
The version floating around the IGN office seems to be all but complete with its bright bathroom visuals and bathtub-inspired sounds. All 60 levels are available for up to four players to duke it out in multiplayer mode -- pick a level, pass the controller and see who can finish the level the fastest -- but there's no online versus mode.
With Stuntman: Ignition, THQ and Paradigm Entertainment aim to put gamers into the shoes of the world's most dangerous stunt driver. Featuring a number of movies with action sequences that put the car chase in The Rock to shame, nailing the game's chaotic scenes takes patience, practice and, most of all, lots of skill.
This week we spent some time performing take after take in the high-octane action flick Overdrive. The movie features two scenes, Kill Stone and Chaser, both of which have you driving at high speed through a tight and compact city while running from helicopters. While the previous film we shot played, Aftershock, featured plenty of open streets and only scattered bits of traffic to deal with, Overdrive is a much different experience. The streets are littered with cars, and almost every turn puts you face-to-face with oncoming traffic running down tight corridors. This one takes lots of practice in order to learn where cars and such are going to be around every corner, as small errors wind up have a big, negative impact on your score.
With a little over 2,000 signatures, it seems like the majority of PlayStation 3 owners have signed this petition already (har, har, har... if you can't laugh at yourself, you'll never smile at others or some such saying). What's the petition say? Here you go, baby birds:
"Sony, we want access to the XMB in game including custom soundtracks. At GDC 06 you showed access to the XMB, and so did early dev kits but they haven't made it to the final console. Early research suggested PS3 reserves 64mb of the main RAM for the XMB, but we currently have no access to the XMB at all. Please add this through a firmware upgrade to the PS3." Ending with a sincerely, the undersigned, you know it's official.
This would be a fantastic feature -- the ability to toss on some music mid-game, send a message, search the web for clues/other stuff made specifically for a game to get you more involved... among other things. Would you want to see this feature? What else could it bring to the table? Oh, and... sign the petition if you want to. But petitions hardly ever work.
You can sign the petition here. Leave feedback via comments.
Blade Interactive has unveiled its new Hydro game engine - technology that the developer claims has never been seen in videogames before.
The real-time fluid dynamics engine will debut in Blade's upcoming Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 action title Hydrophobia.
"Our Hydro engine is the result of nearly three years intensive development work," commented Dr Huw Lloyd, R&D director at Blade.
"Water in games has so far been merely a flat plane with ripple effects and other graphical smoke and mirrors applied to it. The Hydro engine is different in one key respect – the water flows."
"Nothing like this has ever been seen in games before," he added.
Although an engine that Blade plans to utilise fully in Hydrophobia, the company has previously indicated that it is interested in selling the technology to other development studios.
A recent interview with Blade Interactive's MD Peter Jones, can be read here.
NCSoft Europe is collaborating with the City College Brighton along with PartnerTrans and Skillset on the Apprenticeship in Quality Assurance and Games Production.
The Apprenticeship initiative has been set up to develop more practical skills for the games industry, and focuses on games testing and improving the general gaming experience for the player.
"Skillset's Apprenticeship in QA and Games Production is a key part of the Computer Games Industry's skills strategy. It offers a structured entry point outside of the games industry's traditional academic routes. The apprenticeship is led and delivered by the games industry, with the trainee spending the majority of the time with a company being mentored by an experienced practitioner", Chris Chilton, Computer Games & Animation Manager at Skillset has explained.
"NCsoft support has been vital in Skillset's development and piloting of the scheme and in offering trainees the opportunity to work in this exciting sector whilst earning a recognised qualification."
NCSoft Europe has said it hopes that other companies will set up similar schemes after the Apprenticeship is assessed this year "and, in turn, help form a more systematic entry route into the games industry."
The Chinese Government has given online game operators until 16th July to implement software that severely restricts the amount of time children under-18 are allowed to play their games, People's Daily Online reports.
With the software installed, games will allow children to play for up to three hours, before halving the amount of points they can earn for the next two to try and drive them away from the computer screen.
After five hours, scores will be zeroed with no more points to earn, and a warning will flash up every 15 minutes explaining that this is "unhealthy game time", advising the player to have a rest.
Peculiar, eh? But probably not all that surprising to Chinese gamers, who have heard this sort of thing before. The Chinese Government has previously taken steps to try and keep kids away from the Internet too. Good idea - we bite.
Even the game companies seem to have little problem with the new regulations, since most of their customers are adults anyway, but there is concern that one element of the new scheme could cause problems: the need for gamers to register their real names and identity card numbers in order to play.
"The system requires every online player to register with their real identity. This will scare away many adult and young users," BDA China chief analyst Liu Bin told People's Daily Online.
Whether they like it or not though, companies that don't take steps to fall into line with the new rules will have their games shut down when the three months are up.
Pandemic Studios has been leaking top secret information about it's next-gen WWII stealth action title, which puts you in the role of a saboteur for the French resistance.
But wait, wait. Apparently it's not just another one of those war games. You see, Nazi occupation of France is largely used as a backdrop on this occasion, and while it will naturally have a hefty influence on what goes on, the story actually revolves around an Irish race-car driver who happens to get caught up in Paris on the eve of Hitler's invasion.
This chap, Sean, finds people close to him caught up in the mayhem, and the story soon turns into a tale of revenge.
"This isn't about defeating the Nazis," game director Trey Watkins told Game Almighty. "This game is about a guy and his personal story that happens to be set in WWII."
"Much in the way people don't think of Indiana Jones as a WWII movie, this isn't a WWII game."
It's third-person territory, though stealth and sabotage will be more effective than action. And you'll constantly be trying to avoid suspicion as you progressively become a bigger blip on the Nazi radar.
However, you won't be some super stealthy does-the-impossible-before-breakfast kind of fellow. So, when you get up close and personal with someone it'll balled-fists and head-butts, rather than roundhouse kicks and neck snaps.
Sean's strengths as a race-driver will come in handy too, and you'll be able to use numerous vehicles strewn around Paris to evade police in daring car chases. It's part of Pandemic's "if you can see you can use it" plan for the game; a sort of 1940s Grand Theft Auto.
Another interesting aspect Pandemic is trying to introduce is its "Will to Fight" system. For this it will use a Sin City-inspired colour-coding system for the level of resistance to the Nazi occupation in certain areas. Those with less "Will to Fight" will verge on being black and white, devoid of colour and hope, while areas with a strong resistance will be vibrant with colour.
Saboteur has already been in development for two years, and is due to release on PS3 and Xbox 360 sometime next year
PlayStation 3 shooter Resistance: Fall of Man continues to prove popular in the European charts, while Sony's other first-party launch titles are also performing strongly on the continent.
Insomniac's first-person shooter tops the charts for the week ending April 1 in Italy and Spain, while Evolution's MotorStorm and SCEE Liverpool's Formula One Championship Edition both continue to sit in the top ten.
Sega's Virtua Tennis 3 is another strong title on next-gen systems while Atari's Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 proves there's plenty of life left in the more established last-gen consoles.
THQ's S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow of Chernobyl is dominating the German charts for the week ended March 25, with the normal edition at number one and the Limited Edition sku at number three.
The top ten best-selling games for Italy, Spain and Germany follow:
Italy, week ended April 1
1. Resistance: Fall of Man
2. Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2
3. MotorStorm
4. Formula One Championship Edition
5. Final Fantasy XII
6. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
7. Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars
8. Virtua Tennis 3
9. Ridge Racer 7
10. Pro Evolution Soccer 6
Spain, week ended April 1
1. Resistance: Fall of Man
2. Dr Kawashima's Brain Training
3. Formula One Championship Edition
4. Virtua Tennis 3
5. MotorStorm
6. Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2
7. Spectrobes
8. Animal Crossing: Wild World
9. Call of Duty 3
10. Final Fantasy XII
Germany, week ended March 25
1. S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow of Chernobyl
2. Resistance: Fall of Man
3. MotorStorm
4. S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow of Chernobyl Limited Edition
5. The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar
GameDaily is reporting on comments made by God of War designer David Jaffe. In an interview with Geoff Keighley, Jaffe has stated that he believes Blue-ray should have been removed from the PS3 so that the console could be sold at a lower price point.
"Jaffe didn't outright label it a mistake either, but he's the first Sony employee (to this editor's knowledge) to even question the need for Blu-ray. SCE Worldiwide Studios President Phil Harrison and other Sony executives have repeatedly stressed the importance of the Blu-ray format, not just as a next-gen movie format, but as a game disc format that provides game developers with plenty of storage space to build highly detailed game worlds without the need for multiple discs."
Last month, Uk-based SCi Entertainment announced it would be opening a studio in Montreal, Canada, which would be developing four new games for next-gen systems. And the Eidos and Lara Croft parent company is not the only one jumping ship, the Financial Times reports.
According to a survey undertaken by Tiga, the UK trade association for game developers, there were 400 independent game studios in 2001--but the figure has now more than halved to 150.
Initiatives from countries such as Australia and Canada, which offer enticing incentives for game companies relocating to those regions, are clearly working, as many international gaming companies have moved in--which may account in part for the drop in UK studio numbers.
In Australia, in the state of Victoria (home to the city of Melbourne), the local government is offering A$375,000 (approx $310,462) over two years to locally based game developers, and in Canada various incentives are offered, including grants and tax breaks.
Other reasons for the drastic drop in the number of British game companies include businesses closing, for example Argonaut and Warthog, or takeovers by big boys such as Microsoft, which bought Lionhead Studios a year ago.
The Federal Trade Commission in the U.S. has released a new report praising the games industry for making "significant progress" in decreasing both the sale of mature-rated games to minors and the advertising of mature titles alongside teen-marketed television shows, while criticizing them for failing to maintain similar marketing standards with internet advertising.
Other interesting statistics and observations:
In the five years between 2001 and 2006, sales of M-rated titles to minors have dropped 36% (from 78% to 42%). No other industry was reported to have such a significant decline and only the sale of R-rated movie ticket to minors is lower (39% in 2006, an increase of 3% over 2003).
Of the parents surveyed, 87% are aware of the ESRB, 70% utilize it and 75% of those familiar with the content descriptors use them.
Current ESRB regulations do not allow game publishers to advertise M-rated games on sites where 45% or more of the audience is under 17. The FTC report said that they are "not adequately enforcing even this limited standard." Our query, which is not adequately explained in the report's press release, is how the FTC is able to discern the demographic of a website (other than maybe content and grammar usage), and which is it following? Only MySpace and YouTube are specifically cited here. And, to be quite honest, if the FTC were able to effectively discern the demographics found on a site like YouTube, they could sell that data-mining algorithm and make quadrillions in profit.
The FTC report also chastises the ESRB for failing to put content descriptors on the front of the box. Said FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras overall, "Self-regulation, long a critical underpinning of U.S. advertising, is weakened if industry markets products in ways inconsistent with their ratings and parental advisories ... This latest FTC report shows improvement, but also indicates that the entertainment industry has more work to do."
Heres the full list of gaming releases from Play Asia this week:
Xbox360™:
Dance Dance Revolution Universe US US$ 59.90
Rapala Tournament Fishing US US$ 44.90
Virtua Tennis 3 ASIA US$ 44.90
PlayStation3™:
Enchanted Arms US US$ 64.90
Nintendo Wii™:
Medal of Honor Vanguard US US$ 59.90
Prince of Persia: Rival Swords US US$ 59.90
PlayStation2™:
Brave: The Search for Spirit Dancer US US$ 49.90
Grim Grimoire JPN US$ 64.90
Jissen Pachi-Slot Hisshouhou! Mister Magic Neo JPN US$ 44.90
Metal Slug Anthology US US$ 49.90
Simple 2000 Series Vol. 116: The Neko-Mura no Ninnin Pagu Daikan no Akugyou Sanmai JPN US$ 25.90
SingStar Pop US US$ 34.90
SingStar Pop (with 2 microphones) US US$ 59.90
SingStar Rocks US US$ 34.90
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Double Agent JPN US$ 64.90
Nintendo DS™:
Cake Mania US US$ 29.90
Disney's Chicken Little: Ace in Action JPN US$ 48.90
Disney's The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure JPN US$ 48.90
Gyakuten Saiban 4 JPN US$ 48.90
Gyakuten Saiban 4 [Limited Edition] JPN N/A
Honeycomb Beat US US$ 24.90
Kakikomi Shiki 'Hannya Shinkyou' Renshuu Chou DS JPN US$ 39.90
Konami Classics Series: Arcade Hits US US$ 34.90
M&M's Break' Em US US$ 24.90
Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis JPN US$ 48.90
Soft Cover DS Lite (Candy Toy) JPN US$ 5.99
Taitsu-Kun: Joushi ga Ikari ni Kuisawayaka Manners JPN US$ 39.90
Watashi no Relaxuma JPN US$ 48.90
Sony PSP™:
Prince of Persia: Rival Swords US US$ 39.90
Virtua Tennis 3 US US$ 39.90
Toys & Misc:
DX Super Mario Characters Sofubi Figure 2: Kuribo JPN US$ 17.90
DX Super Mario Characters Sofubi Figure 2: Super Mario JPN US$ 17.90
Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 1/6 Scale Pre-painted PVC Figure: Kasumi - Virgo JPN US$ 69.90
Dot-S Puzzle: Bomberman (10-Type A) JPN US$ 9.90
Dot-S Puzzle: Bomberman (10-Type B) JPN US$ 9.90
Fate/Hollow Ataraxia 1/6 Scale Pre-painted PVC Figure : Saber - Alter JPN US$ 76.90
Fate/Stay Night 1/8 Scale Pre-painted PVC Figure - Hyper Fate Collection Saber JPN US$ 89.90
God of War Action Figure: Kratos US$ 14.90
God of War Action Figure: Kratos Golden Fleece US$ 14.90
Happiness 1/8 Scale Painted PVC Figure: Haruhi Kamisaka (Limited Edition) JPN US$ 62.90
Keroro Character Phone Strap Gashapon JPN US$ 2.49
Mai-Hime Z / Otomedama Maiotome Pre-painted PVC Figure: Aim for the Top 2! Die Buster - Buster Machine No.7 (Nono) JPN US$ 38.90
Mine Blue #010 Pre-painted PVC Figure: A Girl from Xanadu JPN US$ 69.90
Mine Blue #010 Pre-painted PVC Figure: Everlasting Summer..., and the Black Rider JPN US$ 69.90
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED The Hyper Hybrid Mode 2nd Figure Collection JPN US$ 7.90
Namco Gals Collection Gashapon Vol.7 JPN US$ 3.49
New Super Mario Bros. Character Pouch JPN US$ 3.99
Nintendo Super Mario Bros. Plush Doll Phone Strap JPN US$ 4.99
Nintendo Super Mario Bros. Water Pump Game Gashapon Vol. 02 JPN US$ 2.99
Pocket Monster Diamond & Pearl Plush Doll: Type A JPN N/A
Pocket Monster Diamond & Pearl Plush Doll: Type B JPN N/A
Pocket Monster Diamond & Pearl Plush Doll: Type C JPN N/A
Pocket Monster Diamond & Pearl Plush Doll: Type D JPN US$ 10.90
Pocket Monster Diamond & Pearl Plush Doll: Type E JPN US$ 10.90
Range Murata PSE Solid Collection Vol.2 JPN US$ 2.99
Sekirei 1/7 Scale Pre-painted PVC Figure - Kusano JPN US$ 62.90
Sekirei 1/7 Scale Pre-painted PVC Figure - Miya JPN US$ 62.90
Shining Tears 1/8 Scale Pre-painted PVC Figure - Elwing JPN N/A
Solid Works Super Robot Taisen Original Generation - 1/8 Scale Pre-painted Figure : Kusuha Mizuha (Third Alfa Ver.) JPN US$ 59.90
Super Real Figure DX Series: Ikkitousen - Zhao Yun JPN US$ 29.90
Bummed about the death of the 20 gigabyte model PS3? Then you may want to consider importing, as it seems that Sony Computer Entertainment currently plans on continuing to sell the 20 Gig model in Japan.
When asked about the decision to drop the lower end model from North American retail, a representative of SCE told Famitsu.com, "We're currently not considering changes akin to North America. However we would like to react flexibly with the market."
We conducted a quick check of that very market today via a few Tokyo game shops and found both 20 Gig and 60 Gig models available for purchase. We also found used versions of both packages, with one retailer charging 42,800 yen for a used 20 Gig model and 49,800 yen for a used 60 gig model. The usual retail prices for new versions are, respectively, 49,800 yen and 59,800 yen.
Yesterday i recieved my PS3 in the post and thankfully no customs charges, buying a 20GB from SuccessHK cost me with delivery around Ł275 a saving of Ł150 on UK Prices. Yes its a 20GB but ut has the emotion engine built in.
With the PSP and PS3 Sony are getting some stick but lets be fair, they are both great consoles and for homebrewers one already is a Dream console and the other should be too at some stage.
One thing to be thankful for is Region Free gaming, in a world like today where boundarys mean nothing via the Net, its great to see a company go the region free route.
Universal Power supplys, how sweet it is to get a console from Japan and plug it straight into my power supply in the UK, major points scored there.
Graphics to die for. The PSP and PS3 are capable of graphics so advanced in the handheld and console market that they simply slaughter for graphics all the competition.
Movie Playback - With Blueray and UMD Films both the PSP and PS3 lead their respective areas. I dont care what anyone says watching a UMD in full stereo when your on a bus etc or watching a film in HD kicks ass.
Finally the PSP has turned out to be the homebrew sensation of the last few years, it has catapulted homebrew into main stream status with sites like IGN even reporting on homebrew. The PS3 could be the greatest non handheld for homebrew since the excellent Dreamcast.
Support DCEmu UK & DIGG THIS
Do you agree or disagree with me, let me know via comments
Sony has responded to God of War director David Jaffe's recent comments in a Game Trailers interview where he said that he would have "taken the Blu-ray out and sold it for less money."
Normally you'd expect his bosses to sit him down and give him a good talking to, after publicly going on record about changes he's make to Sony's PS3 strategy. But Sony seems to be OK with it, even though they think he's wrong.
Sony US PR man Dave Karakker told GamePro, "While we respect [Jaffe's] opinion, we feel strongly that the future of gaming lies in the ability to deliver more to the consumer -- more gameplay options, more lifelike graphics, more dynamic sound -- all in high definition. To do that, you need a storage vehicle such as the 50GB Blu-ray disc, because your standard 9GB DVD simply can't handle the demands of true next generation gaming."
Secretly though, we suspect Jaffe might be hanging from a pair of nipple clamps in a basement somewhere while being stripped of his God of War II bonuses.
Here are the hardware sales for the week of April 2nd to the 8th.
Nintendo DS Lite - 110,845
Wii - 52,583
PSP - 31,503
PLAYSTATION 3 - 14,520
PlayStation 2 - 14,234
Xbox 360 - 2,963
Game Boy Advance SP - 833
Game Boy micro - 512
What are the perks and downsides of being a female in a male dominated industry? Jane over at game girl advance had a December 2006 response up to another opinion piece over at WomenGamers.com, and as is typical to the exceedingly broad question of women and gaming, there are no clear cut answers.
Any female that is a gamer has probably stumbled upon the dual problem/upside of being a girl who likes video games: Much as people of both genders cry that people are people, boobs or not, it's still an obvious difference, and a selling point (or a detriment). But even though one of my primary academic interests is in an extremely male dominated sub-field (military history), I've never felt put on the spot to "speak for womenkind," as the GGA piece terms it - except in relation to writing about video games. So I guess I have my own question: Why is that?
Similar to the previous games based on the film franchise, Spider-Man 3 will have actors from the movie adding their voices to the game.
Joining Tobey "Spidey" Maguire are James Franco (New Goblin, not pictured), Topher Grace (Venom), Thomas Haden Church (Sandman) and J.K. Simmons (J. Jonah Jameson). B-movie idol Bruce Campbell, who has a cameo in all the movies, will reprise his role as the narrator of the game, as he has done for the two previous titles.
The report from Reuters indicates that the Spider-Man 3 game -- coming to Wii, Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PC, GBA, DS, and PSP -- will swing into store shelves before the film's debut May 4.
At Capcom Gamer's Day, Capcom revealed three new downloadable titles for the PlayStation Network. Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix is a remake of a remake of a remake of a remake of the classic 16-bit fighting game. The entire game is being redrawn, from the character select, all the way through to backgrounds and endings, most likely to take advantage of your shiny HDTV.
Rocketmen: Axis of Evil is a intensely action-oriented approach on the constructible strategy game of the same name. Like Cash Guns Chaos, the game will have players blasting enemies in a colorful, cel-shaded world. For images of the game, check out the gallery at Joystiq.
Talisman is based off yet another strategy game, but unlike Rocketmen, it'll stay true to its original gameplay. This downloadable title will be a digital recreation of the game, and will be playable offline and on.
Finally, Puzzle Fighter II HD will also be making an appearance on the Network. This lovable puzzle game will also get a glorious high-definition makeover. See a video of the game, after the cut.
The full game of Go! Sudoku has been added to the PlayStation Store for Ł4.99.
The PlayStation Store description reminds you that you first must have downloaded the Go! Sudoku Starter Pack (don't worry, it's free) before being able to get your brain on over 1000 new puzzles, ranging from "easy to fiendish".
In an attempt to spice up the logical puzzle game you also get "animated HD visuals" and an online ranking feature. Your parents will love it, think of it as a step towards getting them to play MotorStorm.
In August, Capcom boasted that its Xbox Live Arcade title, Street Fighter II' Hyper Fighting, saw "a phenomenal record of downloads" upon its release, and quickly established itself as the fastest-selling game on the service up to that point. Given that its first foray into digital distribution of console games went so well, it's no surprise that the company has been working on a handful of downloadable follow-ups.
Capcom today announced its new "Digital Initiative," a program aimed to expand its catalog of downloadable games for the PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. Of the initial batch of four titles, two will be revamped versions of the publisher's arcade games, and the other two are new titles based on non-Capcom licenses. None have been priced yet.
Receiving a high-resolution face-lift will be the knuckle-bruising Super Street Fighter II and its gem-breaking counterpart, Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo. Set for release this fall, Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix will retain the arcade game's original code, but features graphics redrawn for 1080p resolution. The redrawn art will be created by Udon Comics, publishers of the current Street Fighter comic book. The game will be released on Xbox Live Arcade and the PS3's PlayStation Network, and will feature online multiplayer matches, in-game voice chatting, worldwide rankings, and more.
Before that remake arrives, gamers on the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC will be able to download its brain-teasing spin-off, Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix. Like its brawling cousin, the remade Puzzle Fighter will include redrawn graphics from Udon Entertainment and worldwide rankings. Unlike its brawling cousin, the puzzle game will feature new game modes that alter the way the game is played, the option to play a rebalanced version of the game. Players will also be able to choose from the game's original graphics and the new 1080p-friendly visuals. Both remakes are being handled by Backbone Entertainment.
Not to be confused with Harland Williams' RocketMan.With the needs of fighting and puzzle fans addressed, Capcom's other downloadable efforts offer the publisher's takes on the arcade shooter and board game genres. Developed by A.C.R.O.N.Y.M. Games, Rocketmen: Axis of Evil is based on the WizKids constructible strategy game. The game allows up to four players to join up online or offline with their own customized characters and blast their way through a number of levels depicted at resolutions up to 1080i. Rocketmen is set for release this fall.
The last of Capcom's just-announced batch of downloadable games in development is Talisman, based on the board game of the same name from Games Workshop. Set for release on the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC this winter, Talisman is playable online or offline by up to four players, takes place in a swords-and-sorcery setting, and is "based very closely" on the board game. Talisman will also feature downloadable expansion packs in the future with character updates, adventure card updates, and alternate endings.
Whatever the case, these games are not the end of Capcom's digital distribution efforts. The publisher has said it wants to be a "major player" in downloadable games, and will even move into creating new original intellectual properties from "some of the biggest names in game development."
At a San Francisco press event last night, the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney publisher confirmed it had acquired the rights to another animated bastion of litigious justice. Capcom has entered into an agreement to make games based on Cartoon Network's Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law, part of the same Adult Swim lineup that spawned Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Robot Chicken.
The game will be released on the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable, and a Capcom executive told GameSpot at the event that it would have a courtroom setting reminiscent of Phoenix Wright. The game is being developed by High Voltage Software, which created the most recent Leisure Suit Larry game, as well as the Hunter: The Reckoning series.
The deal is part of Capcom's ongoing efforts to go after more TV and film licenses, and one of the first publicly acknowledged fruits of its increased presence in Los Angeles.
With 13 years of competitive play under its belt and counting, Super Street Fighter II Turbo is widely considered to be 2-D fighting perfected. A high octane, extremely offense-minded fighter, how is it that Capcom plans to improve upon perfection? By bringing in the comic masterminds at UDON to redraw the entire game, pixel-for-pixel.
Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix (wow again) for Xbox Live Arcade and PSN mirrors the same tactic Capcom utilized with their Hyper Fighting release - the goods you remember, only with online play. This time, however, Capcom is taking care of business in-house and utilizing the insight that 13 years of worldwide, top-tier competition has brought to the game.
While SSF2T HD is a pixel-for-pixel recreation of the game, they aren't ruling out making slight changes to the game. It will be lost on the average player, but when the faithful get a load of the slight but sexy frame tweaks, they'll freak out. And they will love it.
Capcom didn't have anything to show on the project, but they did say that the entirety of the game is being redrawn, from the character select, all the way through to backgrounds and endings. While it would be heaven in a download if they could also work in the original SSF2T, it is something they are currently considering. Capcom is aiming for a release this Fall.
With shades of Namco, Capcom has gone on something of an IP land grab as of late, even going as far as to snatch what was once Namco's. Capcom has officially secured the exlusive rights to the MotoGP license for use with the PlayStation brand until the year 2012.
What this means is that while no one else can make a PlayStation or PSP title officially based on the popular motorcycle sport, the doors are still open for other platforms, as is the case with THQ's Moto GP series for Xbox 360. The secret is in the space.
Though no actual gameplay was shown, Capcom states that their first entry in the series, MotoGP '07 will be released this Fall for the PlayStation 2.
‘Second loophole’ opens abroad as Government ends Jersey tax benefits.
Online retailers are set to wriggle out of a Government crackdown on selling VAT-free games via Jersey.
Businesses that sell UK product through their Jersey operation have lost their licence to sell tax-free games of under Ł18 – a practice that costs the Treasury around Ł90 million per year.
But other web companies look set to follow Tesco Online and set up a non-EU base – where they can continue to benefit from avoiding the usual 17.5 per cent VAT charge.
Amazon has already told MCV that it is investigating new territories for its headquarters, with a spokesperson confirming the company is “evaluating its options”.
Forum For Private Business spokesperson Matt Hardman commented: “Online entertainment businesses based in Jersey will all now look to move to somewhere else like Zurich to escape VAT.
“These areas are outside the EU, but are still cost-effective to import goods from. This supposed Government crackdown on the Jersey loophole just means that companies will have to move their operations.”
The news comes after Tesco Online announced that it was moving its CD, DVD and games operation out of Jersey to a new VAT-free supply centre in Zurich, Switzerland.
Asda Online and Play.com also operate from Jersey, and while question marks still hang over Asda Online’s future, Play insists that it is staying put.
“We are certainly not looking to follow Tesco’s lead,” head of games at Play Gian Luzio told MCV.
Cheaper Games, DVDs etc mean that the expensive UK Market keeps prices down.
According to Parker Consulting, 360 is installed in over eight million homes globally – and Eidos chief financial officer Murphy told MCV that the publisher is looking for PS3 to reach or better that number by April next year, leaving the market ripe for Eidos' top-line franchises.
“We have absolutely no doubt that PS3 will be a very successful platform and we’re completely behind it,” said Murphy. “Ideally, we would like to have a market that is a worldwide installed base of eight to ten million PS3 units by the time we bring out our big products. But we’ll have to assess how that moves.”
“We will have some PS3 products over the coming months, but we’re holding back our major top line products until this time next year.”
The news comes after the Britsoft publisher released its financial interim results for the six months ended December 31st, 2006.
Parent company the SCi Group revealed that revenues stood at Ł74.5 million, up a healthy Ł24.4 million compared to the same period the previous year. Losses were reduced by Ł2 million year on year, totalling Ł17.9 million.
This winter, Capcom will bring the Games Workshop board game Talisman to the PlayStation Network, Xbox Live and PC platforms. Originally created in 1983 by the highly-successful table game company, Talisman (which is currently out of print) was a combination card and board game that had loose ties to the company's Warhammer Fantasy universe.
The videogame version of Talisman sounds like it will be a close digital representation of the classic game, utilizing a virtual board with 3D characters and environments. Up to four players can play online and off and take advantage of the game's 25 characters from the franchise. Voice chat options will allow players to talk while the game progresses, and downloadable game expansions, including character updates, adventure card updates, alternate endings and more, are expected to give legs to the title over time.
Other details on the game are scarce, other than the fact that it is in production at Big Rooster studios and will be available this winter.
After playing four maps and testing out all nine classes in Team Fortress 2, it seems this game should be another of this year's entertaining arena shooters. It comes as part of the Orange and Black Box packages, which both contain Half-Life 2: Episode 2 and the first-person puzzler Portal. Like any team shooter hoping for longevity in the online space, the game needs an emphasis on teamwork. Valve seems to be on the right track in this department, with many of the classes complementing each other in specific, effective ways. Instead of being able to select a game mode and map separately, Team Fortress 2 fuses them together, meaning when you pick a map, you're also picking a mode. 2Fort, the most prominent map from Team Fortress Classic (TFC), will feature capture the flag, whereas the remaining five will have variations of control point capture modes.
Valve is fully intent on supporting this game after release. Valve Engineer Robin Walker told us, "As with any Valve product, you're guaranteed stuff will come out. We have people here working on content already." The extra content should be maps and "gameplay stuff," according to Valve's Marketing Director Doug Lombardi. As for price, Valve says it will all be free. "We have no plans to do booster packs for ten dollars," says Lombardi. Walker went on to add, "We've never charged for any extra content...We want people to be glad to be a customer of Valve."
How are you enjoying the sunshine? Great isn't it? The only reason we ask is that there's really not a lot of reasons to be indoors playing games at the moment. This Friday's release list isn't looking like much to get excited about.
So you've probably got a bit of a back catalogue to get through that'll keep you busy. But as far as new releases go - bar a couple of stellar titles over the next few months - it's going to be a fallow period.
What the industry needs is a summer blockbuster mentality. We shouldn't forget that before Spielberg's Jaws shook up the movie industry back in 1975 it had a similar lull in its cycle. Of course, you may remember that Atari admirably tried to bring out a summer blockbuster with Driver 3 a couple of years ago. A shame it was a mess of a game with more bugs than an insect zoo. After saying all that, pick of the bunch next week is probably F.E.A.R. on PS3 or DKR on DS. Apart from that, there isn't a great deal else to say.
The complete list of games released in the UK this week (20/04/07):
Finnish developer Housemarque is to debut a new PlayStation 3 title at the Nordic Game conference, which will take place in Malmö next month.
The game is being developed for Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and will be available exclusively as a download from the PlayStation Network.
Housemarque CEO Ilari Kuittenen will reveal more details during his Nordic Game presentation, which is titled 'Adaptation, Opportunities and Survival - Life of a Game Development Studio'.
"Housemarque is again blazing trails as a game developer in Finland. We are the first company to develop a Playstation 3 game and the first to work for Sony Computer Entertainment as a first party developer," commented Kuittinen.
Housemarque's previous titles include Stardust, Alien Incident and The Reap. Most recently the studio produced Transworld Snowboarding, which was published on Xbox in 2002.
Nordic Game will take place from May 15 - 16. For more details, visit the official event website.
A Sony Computer Entertainment spokesperson has confirmed that the company is "considering" producing a new version of PlayStation 3 with a larger hard drive.
The comments come just weeks after Sony filed an FCC application which referred to an 80GB PS3. Currently 20GB and 60GB models are available in Japan, with SCEA recently announcing that the 20GB version is to be discontinued in North America.
According to Bloomberg, spokesperson Satoshi Fukuoka said the decision is "in line with our strategy as we had planned to choose models based on consumer needs".
Bloomberg also reports that Sony is "considering introducing the model with a bigger hard disk", as stated by Fukuoka. He did not provide any further details.
An article published earlier by Reuters quoted a Nikkei Business report which says Sony Corp. will enjoy a five-fold increase in operating profits this year.
The spike will be due to increased sales of LCD TVs and better performance by Sony's games division, according to Nikkei. Last year the division lost an estimated YEN 200 billion (USD 1.67 billion).
Nikkei also claimed that Sony will boost PS3 shipments in 2007/08 to 10 million units - a rise of more than 65 per cent over the 6 million units the company aimed to ship by March 2007. However, speaking to Bloomberg, Sony later denied the report.
Nintendo machines continue to occupy the top two slots in the Japanese hardware sales charts, according to new figures from data trackers Media Create.
During the week ending April 8 sales of Nintendo DS rose by 28 per cent to reach 110,935 units, despite continuing stock shortages. Wii sales were also up slight from 51,365 units to hit 52,583. Enterbrain figures put total sales of Wii in Japan at 2 million as of April 13.
In third place was the PSP, although sales were down by nearly 20 per cent at 31,503 units. PlayStation 2 sales also experienced a 20 per cent drop, falling from 17,787 50 to 14,234 units.
Sony's handheld is outselling its next-gen console by a rate of more than two to one - 14,520 PlayStation 3 units were sold compared to 16,889 a week previously. The total number of PS3s sold in Japan has now reached nearly 826,000.
Xbox 360 is still struggling to secure a foothold in the Japanese market - sales stood at 2963 units, a drop of 24 per cent. So far just over 346,500 units have been sold in the territory since the console was launched in December 2005.
Rounding out the hardware chart are Game Boy Advance, with sales up slightly to hit 1357 units, and GameCube - also enjoying an increase from 205 to 255 units.
Analysts in Japan still predict Sony will give PS3 a price cut this year, even though the firm may be about to reveal encouraging profit forecasts.
"We think Sony will find it hard to get through the financial year (which began this month) without cutting the price of the console, and expect further game segment losses of over $1 billion during that period," said researchers from investment firm, Nomura, who's researchers still expect the PS3 losses to continue for the short term.
In the report Nomura estimates that Sony has sold only half of the six million PS3s it has manufactured to date. "In the six months the PS3s was on sale up to March 31 (though for only one month in Europe) it sold 3mn units. To boost that substantially in the fiscal year without lowering prices would in our view need major software hits.
"We do not see the necessary drawing power in the title pipeline at this point," said analyst Eiichi Katayama. "We expect Sony to take measures to increase market penetration of PS3 hardware, including extending the software line-up, and expect to review our medium-term estimates for the game segment if and when such measures come into view."
Clearly, it's all about the games then. "We think losses in the game segment are temporary and expect its earnings to improve," Nomura's analysts added. "That said, we think the extent of profit growth in the segment will hinge on how well the PlayStation3 sells at the expected price and the launch of titles for it."
YES ! It appears that Sony have done it again. In their zeal to make their DVD movies copyproof (yeah right) they have in fact made their latest releases unplayable on some DVD players, including my Sony DVP-CX995V DVD player. I recently rented “Stranger than Fiction” (2 copies) and “The Holiday” ( please no comments on my choice of movies) both by Sony Pictures. Both load up to the splash title screen and then load no further, then after about 60 secs the player turns itself off!
ALL my other DVD’s and new releases from other movie companies play perfectly
I called Sony Electronics help line and they said to call Sony Pictures 1-800-860-2878 which I did.
The following is a compression of our discussion:
Sony Tech: We know about this problem. Its our new copy protection that’s making these discs unplayable in some players including our own, we do not intend to change the copy protection. The only correction to this problem is a firmware update to your player. The electronics division know about this and should have given you this information.
Me: OK send me the firmware update.
Sony Tech: We do not have one as yet.
Me: OK (a bit frustrated) when will it be available?
Sony Tech: It could be 2 weeks it could be a month, we don’t know.
He then took my phone number and said ”they” would let me know when the firmware update is available, but declined to take my address saying that they would get that when the update was available.
I will say that I got a live person on both support lines within 30 secs.
Here are my questions to Sony:
After spending $350 on a Sony DVD player 3 months ago am I now supposed to avoid Sony Pictures products?
You are still advertising the Sony DVP-CX995V prominently on the Sony USA website but I notice there is no disclaimer that it may not play some new Sony Pictures DVD’s.
Would it not be a good idea to test changes you intend to make on your DVD’s at least on your own equipment so that if you find a problem you could have the firmware update available instead of not only inconveniencing, but alienating your own customers.
I believe this problem is happening on other manufacturers devices, are they working feverishly on firmware updates to accommodate you?
Well thats my rant (yeah I feel a bit better now)
Expect this to be happening a lot more with Blu-ray discs in the future as there are like 4 different version specifications for it.
Yep, despite the fact that he's a known liar, infamous for threatening fellow attorneys and judges and is on the cusp of (one would hope) losing his license to practice law in Florida, Jack Thompson managed to weasel his way onto Fox News to spew his own particular brand of hate and lies.
That's right, Thompson is trying to link the worst shooting in U.S. history, the one that occurred earlier today at Virginia Tech, to video games.
What I love about this is that just about everything he says on live television is blatantly not true, like blaming video games on the Red Lake High School shooting.
It saddens me that filth like Jack can get on national television to gloat and revel in the deaths of so many and try to put it off as education.
Famitsu brings us the top 20 most wanted games as voted by its readers.
01. (PS3, Square Enix) Final Fantasy XIII
02. (NDS, Square Enix) Dragon Quest IX
03. (PS3, Capcom) Biohazard 5
04. (PS3, Konami) Metal Gear Solid 4
05. (PS2, Atlus) Persona 3: Fes
06. (NDS, Capcom) Gyakuten Saiban 4
07. (PS3, Capcom) Monster Hunter 3
08. (NDS, Nintendo) The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
09. (PS2, Banpresto) Super Robot Taisen: Original Generations
10. (Wii, Square Enix) Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors
11. (PS3, SCEJ) Minna no Golf 5
12. (PS2, Atlus) Odin Sphere
13. (Wii, Nintendo) Super Smash Bros. Brawl (PSP, Square Enix) Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
14. (Xbox 360, Microsoft) Lost Odyssey
15. (Wii, Nintendo) Doubutsu no Mori
16. (NDS, Square Enix) Final Fantasy XII Revenant Wings
17. (PS3, Capcom) Devil May Cry 4
18. (PS2, Sega) Shining Wind
19. (PSP, Square Enix) Final Fantasy Tactics: The Lion War
20. (PS2, Square Enix) Final Fantasy Versus XIII
Quite a lot of movement in this week’s most wanted charts. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass continues its slow ascent, as does Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors, while both Minna no Golf 5 for PlayStation 3 and Doubutsu no Mori for Wii make a big jump from number 16 to 11 and number 19 to 15 respectively.
HanSooloo has shared some interesting results from a preliminary HDD analysis…
1. The HDD is encrypted with a (most probably) Sony proprietary format.
2. If Linux is setup on the machine, the HDD will contain the relevant ext2 or ext3 partitions, but it will NOT be visible to a regular OS. This is because, the HDD does NOT have a standard partition table. If one uses WinHex to scan the HDD, then the program will find the ext2/ext3/swap partitions at their respective offsets.
3. A program has been written to scan blocks of 16bytes for where contiguous data is on the HDD. This program has identified major blocks of data on a freshly formatted 60GB HDD.
4. Of major interest is that right around the 380MB marker, we start seeing blocks of 64KB data, and this repeats itself EVERY 183.72MBs. Why does a system need 64KB worth of markers every so often, is a mystery at the moment.
5. Each HDD is "individualized" the moment it is formatted on a particular PS3 unit. An individualized HDD CANNOT be used in another PS3 unit due to (in theory) a unit based signature being written to each HDD.
6. A project is underway to "individualize" 2 same make and model (Seagate Momentus 60GB 2.5" SATA) HDDs and perform a byte level diff to spot differences in the disk layouts.
7. This diff will also be analyzed by the data block scanning program mentioned in Item-3 above.
I wonder… Will the long overdue ISO loader be able to play backed up images off the HDD? Hrm…
Poster's Notes:
It doesn't surprise me that Sony would have encrypted the PS3 partition of the hard-drive, making it somewhat tamper resistant. However this encryption does seem to have some implications with 3rd party developers.
For instance, there are so far, two game companies (that I know) developing titles for the PS3 that seem to believe that downloadable content may not be possible for it. While its strange to hear of that, considering other companies have released updates and content for games on PS3, its also something to be concerned with.
Does this belief that downloadable content for PS3 is not possible stem from the strange encryption encountered on the PS3 partition of the HDD? Is it due to the fact that these companies are unwilling to research and develop a content delivery method that would accommodate the PS3?
One of the companies I know to have said this is Bethesda, the makers of Oblivion. They have 3 platforms for which Oblivion is home to: PC, Xbox360 and PS3. The ease of installation of mods on PC is nothing short of spectacular; however, the official mods are not unified; one must download the mod for PC AND for the Xbox360 if they wish to have the same features in both copies of the game.
Having to also accommodate the PS3 may not be something that Bethesda is interested in, especially if they need to 'start from scratch' with every mod they want to make on the PS3.
New from Mr Modchips UK is the WORLDS FIRST MULTI CONSOLE MODCHIP:
DIGG THIS NEWS AND GET IT DIGG MAINPAGED
InFeCtuS is the first versatile modchip ever released in the market, created to work with many different consoles. InFeCtuS will give you access to so many features that it's impossible to describe them all today, some are still in development and more will come in the future.
This modchip was developed with an OPEN concept, uses CORE reprogrammable, a 512kb flash on board and an USB interface for the PC communication.
The hardware has a very HIGH QUALITY component design:
The core of INFECTUS is the new ACTEL ProASIC3 FAMILY, the new family after the famous APA075 used in the past in many PS2 projects.
A 512Kb parallel flash SSTSF040, with a high transfer rate and performance.
A REAL USB2.0 processor. This high quality component can manage the communication between ACTEL and PC (mini usb connector).
All of the devices PLD/FLASH/USB parts are 100% reprogrammable via USB communication.
The project is produced in Europe with the last technology of BSDL testing.
Because InFeCtuS is so versatile, here is a small selection of its features with currently available games consoles.
XBOX360 SUPPORT:
FIRST IN THE WORLD, GIVE YOU COMPLETE ACCESS TO "NAND FLASH BIOS" OF X360. With "X360 FLASHER" you can read and write the internal NAND BIOS FLASH of all X360 - NEW! (03/04/07)
Allows to gain total access over the XBOX360 flash driver, so that you can read and write the internal flash of any X360 DVD READER in the market.
Everything can be managed with a very simple and user friendly PC software.
FLASH ID real-time patching, your xbox360 cannot understand if there is any flash running other than the original one.
GLOBE MODCHIP 360 100% emulation including ON / OFF LED
NME 1.2 firmware emulation (at work 80% finished). Allow you to install the chip with few wires like NME.
Recovery of Bricked drivers X360 (software can search the key of bad flashing drivers, if you have backup firmware allow you to flash it again)
PS3 SUPPORT:
The first work to be done is to allow our users to flash directly the PS3 BIOS by USB. So no more problem with firmware, you can install everything you want, when you want. All the complications due to firmware versions that cannot be downgraded will not bother you anymore.
This solution will be released in the next 4 weeks!
Another new feature that we want to add is a REAL TIME patching of the firmware part that you want to be emulated from the chip. Being the 512Kb flash not enough to store a real dual firmware, we'll have to wait for the first hacked firmware to understand if a "real-time" patching will be possible. In case we won't be able to find more ideas, a new version of Infectus with a memory expansion bay will be released.
PS2 SUPPORT:
Complete O2 MODCHIP emulation 100% with all functionalities (www.o2mod.com) - Included for FREE
REMEMBER THAT O2 MOD ONE OF FEW MODCHIPS IN THE MARKET WITH "DNAS PATCH" AVAILABLE!!! DNAS PATCH IS NECESSARY TO HAVEN'T PROBLEMS IN ONLINE GAMING
WII SUPPORT:
Of course this is a free "bonus" in this mod because, we know, most of You wouldn't install such a big and expensive chip on a WII, but being it free... it's a good chance!
WIIKEY / WIIFREE EMULATION: (under development - 80% ready). This feature will allow you to play just everything you want on your WII.
SOFTWARE MANAGEMENT:
The possibility to manage the features using an easy software is one of the BIG advantages of the Infectus solution!
WIZARD help for the users: you will simply follow software's instruction step by step, everyone would be able to install and manage the INFECTUS MOD.
When you will be ready to install INFECTUS on a DVD DRIVE 078 XBOX360 FIRMWARE, the software will assist you with a 100% automated extraction of the key and the patch of new firmware.
WIZARD configuration based on XML for an automatic update of last firmware.
X360 FIRMWARE checksum, the software will tell you if you are actually using the correct firmware (this feature is only available in WIZARD procedure)
HELP section to allow an easy searching of X360 firmware
What's going on with Sony's online plans? GamePro speaks with Susan Nourai, the senior director of the PlayStation Network, for a peak at what's to come for PSP and PS3 owners.
For starters, what is your role at SCEA?
SCEA created a new organization focused solely on our PlayStation Network business. The goal for this team is to create a center of excellence for online services and digital entertainment delivery. My role is to drive and oversee SCEA's network business strategy, operations, content strategy and marketing across all of our PSN services including the PS Store, playstation.com and PlayStation Home.
The PlayStation Network takes a somewhat different form than other gaming networks. How does this architecture reflect Sony's philosophies about online?
We look at PSN as an emergent entertainment network. Our goal is to take a consumer-centric approach in both user experience, and just as important, to provide the type of content that consumers expect from PlayStation. This is evident in the types of games we offer on the PlayStation Store, like Flow, and the upcoming Calling All Cars and Little Big Planet.
The UK Official PlayStation Magazine is set to offer Blu-ray discs with issues of the publication from June onwards.
The discs will feature playable demos of Sony and third party titles, as well as a host of high definition multimedia content.
Ray Maguire, managing director of Sony Computer Entertainment UK said, "We are very excited to partner with Future to offer a playable Blu-ray disc to UK PlayStation 3 owners. The high capacity of Blu-ray media is the perfect method to distribute large volumes of unique existing, and user-generated content in HD, showcasing PS3's multimedia capabilities to the full.”
Publisher of Official PlayStation Magazine Matt Pierce added, "We are delighted that Offical PlayStation Magazine will deliver to its readers a monthly playable disc, and the world's first covermounted Blu-ray disc."
The Official PlayStation Magazine UK and Next-Gen are Future publications
A man who was prosecuted after being caught in his home with over 800 illegally copied Xbox and PlayStation games, as well as hundreds of copied films and TV programmes, was sentenced on Tuesday 10th April to a 125 hour Community Service Order for contravening the Copyright Designs and Patents Act (1988) and the Trade Marks Act (1994).
John Hamilton, 43, of Caledonia Road in Ayr, who already has previous convictions for similar offences, was exposed after selling copied games to an undercover investigator in an Internet forum. Despite using his mother-in-law’s sheltered housing address in Ayr for ‘returns’ and an anonymous email account, Hamilton was unaware that his ‘buyer’ was an ELSPA Internet investigator.
Hamilton’s activities led to South Ayrshire’s Trading Standards Service being tipped-off and ELSPA investigations into on-line accounts led Officers straight to his door for the second time in less than three years. Trading Standards Officers and an ELSPA investigator assisted Strathclyde Police as they Searched Hamilton’s premises and garden shed. The swoop revealed illegally copied stock, two PC containing disc-burning software, spools of blank DVDs and boxes of padded envelopes.
Michael Rawlinson, managing director of ELSPA commented: “Our investigations will continue to monitor the markets and work closely with our Trading Standards partners in stamping out counterfeiting. The simple fact about piracy is that it is illegal and punishable by fines, Community Service and jail sentences. No matter which way you look at counterfeiting it is nothing more than theft. Counterfeiters are only out for one thing: money. And because of this consumers who buy counterfeit games have no recourse under law for faulty goods.”
Commenting on the case, a spokesperson for South Ayrshire Trading Standards said: “This case is part of an on-going clampdown on those who sell counterfeit goods in our Community. Whether directly through markets and street trading, or even on-line from the comfort of their own PC, we will investigate and prosecute those who sell fakes that shake consumer confidence and badly dent the revenues of legal sellers. This case also shows that those who believe that they can use the Internet to freely download and sell illegal films and games should think again. People may think that because they don’t set foot outside to sell fakes that they are not going to get caught, but you never know who your buyers might be, or who they’ll tell. Officers from Strathclyde Police or Trading Standards can search homes and take away a persons stock and their PC.”
Video games tend to polarise opinions in a way that other entertainment media do not. People who do not play them cannot understand their attraction and that lack of understanding can lead to some games being demonised. While there is research designed to show the short term physical reactions of video games players, there is very little information about why people play video games and what impact they think playing games has on them. The BBFC today published the results of a research project involving video games players ranging from children as young as seven through to players in their early 40s; parents of young games players; games industry representatives; and games reviewers.
The research set out to gain insights into a number of issues including:
the attractions of playing video games;
what impact games players think playing has on them and their behaviour;
whether the interactivity element of games alters the experience;
what players think about the violence in some games;
how they choose which games to play; and
what parents think about video games.
The key findings of the research were:
that children begin playing games at an increasingly early age, but that the overall age of games players is getting older;
there is a sharp divide between male and female games players in their taste in games and how long they spend playing;
female games players tend to prefer ‘strategic life simulation’ games like The Sims and puzzle games and spend less time playing than their male counterparts;
male players favour first ‘person shooter’ and sports games and are much more likely to become deeply absorbed in the play;
younger games players are influenced to play particular games by peer pressure and word of mouth, but negative press coverage for a game will significantly increase its take up;
people play games to escape from every day life and to escape to a world of adventure without risk which is under the control of the gamer, unlike the real world;
games provide a sense of achievement and are active, unlike television and films which are passive. However, games are better at developing action than building character and as such gamers tend to care less about the storyline than making progress in the game;
gamers appear to forget they are playing games less readily than film goers forget they are watching a film because they have to participate in the game for it to proceed. They appear to non-games players to be engrossed in what they are doing, but, they are concentrating on making progress, and are unlikely to be emotionally involved;
gamers claim that playing games is mentally stimulating and that playing develops hand eye coordination;
violence in games, in the sense of eliminating obstacles, is built into the structure of some games and is necessary to progress through the game. It contributes to the tension
because gamers are not just shooting, they are vulnerable to being shot and most gamers are concentrating on their own survival rather than the damage they are inflicting on the characters in the game. While there is an appeal in being able to be violent without being vulnerable to the consequences which similar actions in real life would create, gamers are aware that they are playing a game and that it is not real life;
gamers are aware that violence in games is an issue and younger players find some of the violence upsetting, particularly in games rated for adults. There is also concern that in some games wickedness prevails over innocence. However, most gamers are not seriously concerned about violence in games because they think that the violence on television and in films is more upsetting and more real;
gamers are virtually unanimous in rejecting the suggestion that video games encourage people to be violent in real life or that they have become desensitised. They see no evidence in themselves or their friends who play games that they have become more violent in real life. As one participant said: “I no more feel that I have actually scored a goal than I do that I have actually killed someone. I know it’s not real. The emphasis is on
achievement.”;
non-games playing parents are concerned about the amount of time their children, particularly boys, spend playing games and would prefer that they were outside in the fresh air. However, they are more concerned about the ‘stranger-danger’ of internet chat rooms. While the violence in games surprises them and concerns some of them, they are confident that their children are well balanced enough to not be influenced by playing violent games;
while parents agree that there should be regulation of games some are happy to give their children adult games because they are “only games”.
David Cooke, Director of the BBFC said:
“The BBFC classified just under three hundred video games last year. Most games in the UK are classified under a pan-European voluntary system, but those with adult content are required to
come to us. We take this part of our responsibilities under the Video Recordings Act very seriously. Our examiners actually play the games for up to five hours, assessing all levels of the games and considering all the key issues. Players and the parents of young players can be sure that all aspects of the game have been taken into account before reaching a classification. We
require key issues to be flagged and aids such as cheat codes to be supplied to us. We take context into account, and examine works in a way which is as thorough and penetrating as
anywhere in the world.
“The element of interactivity in games carries some weight when we are considering a video game. We were particularly interested to see that this research suggests that, far from having a potentially negative impact on the reaction of the player, the very fact that they have to interact with the game seems to keep them more firmly rooted in reality. People who do not play games raise concerns about their engrossing nature, assuming that players are also emotionally engrossed. This
research suggests the opposite; a range of factors seems to make them less emotionally involving than film or television. The adversaries which players have to eliminate have no personality and so are not real and their destruction is therefore not real, regardless of how violent that destruction might be. This firm grasp on reality seems to extend to younger players, but this is no reason to allow them access to adult rated games, as they themselves often admit that they find the violence in games like Manhunt very upsetting. Parents should not treat video games in the same way they would board games. We will continue to examine very carefully those games which come to us, to flag any concerns we have and, if necessary, to use our statutory powers.
“There is no question that video games are an important form of entertainment for an ever increasing number of people. As the technology improves the games will become more and more
realistic and it is important that games are properly rated to protect younger players from the games with adult content, which the BBFC does. This research provides some valuable insights into why people play video games and what effect they think playing has on themselves and friends. It has also highlighted parental attitudes to video games. We hope that it will provide some food for thought for the industry, and everyone who has an interest in the impact of games and we will be taking the research outcomes into account as we review our games classification policies over the coming months.”
1 TMNT: TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES
2 POKEMON RANGER
3 TIGER WOODS PGA TOUR 07
4 COMMAND & CONQUER 3: TIBERIUM WARS
5 BRIAN LARA INTERNATIONAL CRICKET 2007
6 UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2006-2007
7 GUITAR HERO II
8 VIRTUA TENNIS 3
9 MEDAL OF HONOR: VANGUARD
10 THE SIMS 2: PETS
11 NEED FOR SPEED: CARBON
12 - MOTORSTORM
13 NEW SUPER MARIO BROS.
14 CRACKDOWN
15 RESISTANCE: FALL OF MAN
16 PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 6
17 - LEGO STAR WARS II: THE ORIGINAL TRILOGY
18 - FIFA 07
19 GEARS OF WAR
20 CALL OF DUTY 3
Susan Nourai, the senior director of the PlayStation Network, has been speaking about the future of the PSN and how the company plans to improve the experience over time.
"We look at PSN as an emergent entertainment network. Our goal is to take a consumer-centric approach in both user experience, and just as important, to provide the type of content that consumers expect from PlayStation. This is evident in the types of games we offer on the PlayStation Store, like Flow, and the upcoming Calling All Cars and Little Big Planet," she told GamePro.
"Currently, we post new content every Thursday. Our content offering is growing and we look forward to the fantastic slate of games and entertainment content coming down the pipe."
When asked about future changes or improvements, Nourai replied, "We've only scratched the surface and are working closely with the engineering team in Japan to improve the overall consumer experience. We stay in close touch with our consumers via communication outreach and research and have really appreciated the positive and constructive feedback. We plan to keep enhancing the things we're doing right, and will continue to evolve the service into something our PlayStation fans want. We've accomplished a lot in our four months with over 600,000 registered accounts and 3.7M downloads. It's a great start to a journey and a long-term relationship with our consumers and business partners.
The success of PlayStation 3 in Europe has rescued the console from "the perception wars" that hit sales in Japan, says Sony's boss, Sir Howard Stringer.
"I think [in] the first two days in the UK, Ł100m ($199m) revenue changed hands and that's probably the largest consumer electronics sale in history," he told the FT. Stringer said that PS3 had entered the Euro market with "more games and, perhaps we lived up to the expectations in Europe in a way that perhaps we didn't in Japan".
Analysts expect Sony to start making some money back on the console next March, "In the March quarter of 2008, Sony will start making money on the console," said Yuji Fujimori, analyst at Goldman Sachs. "In the longer term, I see the PS3's market share at 50 per cent within three years. In the shorter term, I see it at below 30 per cent."
We reported yesterday that Japanese analysts wanted to see a PS3 price cut sooner rather than later.
It's also strange to see such claims when there are reports doing the rounds that your European office is about to lay off 160 people.
Sony has stirred the embers of recent speculation that it's to release an 80Gb PS3.
Reported on Bloomberg.com, Sony Computer Entertainment spokesperson Satoshi Fukuoka revealed that introducing a PS3 with a larger hard drive is under consideration at the company.
No further details were given, and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe was unavailable for comment at the time of writing.
Fukuoka's revelation follows the news of Sony's confirming it is ceasing offering the 20Gb model in North America, this decision "in line with our strategy as we had planed to choose models based on consumer needs", Fukuoka explained.
Sony then will be weighing up whether a PS3 with a larger hard drive is a product consumers will embrace.
It's larger than Hollywood, its virtual stars may live happily on a diet of bits and bytes, but the video games industry has not been able to insulate itself from upheaval.
Yes, gamers are snapping up the new generation of games consoles - Microsoft's Xbox 360, Nintendo's Wii, and Sony's Playstation 3 [PS3], but at huge cost to the industry.
Hardware makers are losing hundreds of dollars on every console sold, and games publishers face an "increasingly difficult environment, as rising development costs and small user bases [mean] that return on investment in next generation games development is unlikely to be achieved before 2008," according to media analysts Screen Digest.
More importantly, though, the video games publishers are facing a revolution of their business model.
'Volatile' industry
Not every video game sees arrests as peaceful as this one
Even the industry's undisputed giant, Electronic Arts (EA), is not immune from turmoil.
It's a "volatile" industry, acknowledges Gerhard Florin, executive vice president at EA and the general manager of its international publishing business.
More than double the size of its nearest competitor, the Redwood City, California, based company employs 7,200 people; 5,200 of them work on games development.
Titles like Fifa Soccer, Need for Speed, The Sims, and Command and Conquer games underpin the company's success.
The sequel syndrome
"Scale does matter" in this industry, says Mr Florin, because "the more complex games become" the more tools are needed "to keep costs under control".
VIDEO GAMES SALES
Consoles games
2006: $11.2bn
2007: $12.2bn
PC games
2006: $3.9bn
2007: $3.7bn
And selling software in a shrink-wrapped package just doesn't bring in enough money anymore.
The market for computer games is stagnating. Screen Digest predicts their sales to fall to $3.7bn this year - although they at least provide a stable stream of income, says Mr Florin.
The real money spinners are console games, but subject to the ups and downs of the hardware cycle as consoles launch or go out of fashion.
To ensure steady revenues, says Mr Florin, games publishers therefore have to build strong brands.
Franchises like Fifa Soccer are mainstays of EA's business
It may not be original, but no video games executive has yet been sacked for commissioning the annual upgrade to popular franchises like Fifa Soccer or Madden NFL.
Ed Barton, games analyst at Screen Digest, calls it "a common syndrome in the video games industry".
"Wonderful innovative titles are sometimes ignored [by consumers], while some repetitive titles with minor improvements in game play and graphics provide much better returns to the games publishers," he says.
He compares it to music publishers, who have Madonna or Elvis Presley "to keep the home fires burning," but also invest to freshen up the catalogue.
The next generation
The new generation of consoles is a prime opportunity for innovation, but have not made life easier for developers.
ELECTRONIC ARTS
Founded in 1982
HQ: Redwood City, California
Revenue: $2.9bn (2006)
Staff: 7,200
Main studios: Redwood Shores, Los Angeles, Orlando, Vancouver, Warrington
Right now video games use probably 30-40% of the power of the new hardware, says Mr Florin.
"You only learn what you can do with these platforms over time, and as a result using 100% of Playstation 2 [PS2] is nearly as good as today's starting point of PS3 games," says Mr Florin.
"We haven't even started to see PS3's power, it will take the longest to exploit in full," says Mr Florin.
Games publishers face a dilemma, though. To reduce cost, they would love to put their games on as many platforms as possible.
It used to be relatively easy to port a game from one console to the next. Nintendo's "Gamecube, the Xbox and PS2 were much more alike," says Mr Florin.
Next generation platforms are different, he says: "Now we have to have very distinctive games for each machine and can't port that much."
That plays into the hands of the console makers, who want exclusive games to lure gamers to their platform.
See the market share of competing video games consoles
Standing on five legs
The critics of video games are modern book burners
Gerhard Florin
"Development times, team sizes and complexity have been exacerbated by increasingly demanding next generation games," says Ed Barton at Screen Digest.
He predicts that "only a tiny proportion of next generation titles are likely to achieve profitability in the near future".
To survive and expand, says Mr Florin, publishers have to move beyond console and computer games, and stand on three additional legs:
Handheld games;
mobile phones, which are "up and coming"; and
the "fifth leg, online communities".
Mr Barton calls it the industry's "risk reduction strategy" - a combination of outsourcing, releasing games on as many platforms as possible and "making sequels to popular titles and producing games based on popular movies".
Going online
The biggest driver for change in the industry, however, is the internet .
Gamers are now "getting connected to the internet at a large scale," says Mr Barton. "We have only seen the beginning of this."
Here Microsoft is way ahead with its Xbox Live service. Sony's online gaming was launched fairly recently and is considered to be much less accomplished than Microsoft's.
Is she playing this game online?
Nintendo's efforts, scoffs Mr Barton, are "frankly stone age compared to the others".
But this is about more than using Xbox Live to play the shooter game Halo against friends at the other end of the world.
Games publishers can reach out to new consumers, for example with sites like EA's pogo.com, which is "purely advertising driven," and designed not for hardcore gamers but people who want to have a bit of fun in their lunch break.
They also discover novel ways to distribute games in regions like Asia, where EA did not really have any presence.
The benefits of software piracy
As it turns out, software piracy can be good for you.
"We have extremely strong brands [in Asia] thanks to the pirates; they have created millions of consumers - not customers," says Mr Florin.
The internet allows EA to tap into this market and make some money after all.
Next-generation games provide ever more realistic graphics
In South Korea, EA set up an online community based around the Fifa Soccer game. It was the firm's first venture in this market and has broken all records, with five million players or 12% of the population.
The Korean gamers are spending serious money on accessories and customisations of the online game.
"We now have to learn the business of running an online community," says Mr Florin.
He also has his eyes set on China, which has some 20 million players of football video games.
The next level
The online service model may even work in regions like Europe, where the old shrink-wrap content model still dominates.
"We have to find the right mixture of content and service," says Mr Florin.
In the future, believes Screen Digest's Ed Barton, companies will release barebones versions of games for free, and then make money by charging subscriptions for enhanced access or one-off payments for extra features.
Sony, meanwhile, is already thinking about the next step. Players will be able to create new levels for games and share them online. "Users could create revenue for games," says Mr Barton. "The potential for this is absolutely enormous".
Advertising: in-game and in real life
Bringing games online also allows publishers to venture into in-game advertising.
Soon in-game adverts will be much more valuable than this
If a snow board maker runs an advertising campaign, EA could offer space on billboards in its snowboard game, says Mr Florin: "For six weeks you would see the same advert in the real world and in the game."
Specialist companies like Massive and IGA predict that 2007 will be the year when this form of advertising will take off.
Not only can they segment gamers by location, the type of game and time of day, they also have a highly attentive audience.
In-game advertising is very effective, says Mr Florin. "When you are playing a game, you are completely engaged... and many studies show that you have high levels of retention."
Right now it is a tiny revenue stream. "Will it be 50% of EA's revenue?," muses Mr Florin. "I doubt it - but never say never."
The modern book burners
In their quest to expand the ranks of video gamers, publishing firms have also learned that it's not the high-end games that reap the biggest profits, says Mr Florin.
One of the big hits on the handheld Nintendo DS is Cooking Mama. "Making a cook book is not in our genes," says Mr Florin.
Nonetheless it shifted more than two million copies. He calls it "Pokemon and Mario numbers," in reference to two of the platform's biggest hits.
But when quoting these numbers, his real message is that video gamers are normal people.
"Games are blamed for plenty of ills in this world," says Mr Florin. "There is a discrepancy between gamers and their perception in society by non-gamers."
The typical gamer is not a spotty 16-year-old pondering how to kill his teacher.
Getting passionate, he compares the critics of video games to "modern book burners".
There are more than 50 million games consumers in Europe alone, half of them are adults, and only a tiny fraction of games on the market are rated 18+, argues Mr Florin.
And he issues a plea to them: "Tell your politicians 'I am 22, I play shooters, but I'm a normal person'."
With the latest installment in the saga of Harry Potter and the Awkwardly Aging Child Actors set to hit screens in July, EA has games coming out for every system you can imagine, and has screens for the DS, PSP, 360, and GBA to prove it. I'd say the DS version looks the most entertaining, while the 360 version is ahead in the making Ron Weasley look slightly less unappealing that Rupert Grint actually is category.
Just two more movies to go and Grint can go back into his formative cocoon, Watson can pose in lingerie for Maxim, and Radcliffe can open that horse farm he's always wanted.
We're not really that big on the whole web browsing on a gaming system thing -- the home computer does a fine job for most of our 'net surfing needs. There must be some people out there who disagree though, because a recent press release from sci-fi eBook provider NextGenBooks reveals that "over half of its traffic coming from Nintendo Wii, DS and Sony PS3 and PSP users."
Perhaps this isn't too surprising, given that the site offers optimized versions of its free eBooks for all four systems (and the site's overall traffic doesn't even cause a blip on monitoring sites like Alexa). Still, the explosion of game-system-browser-friendly versions of everything from YouTube to Virgin Radio to porn sites seems to show that at least some people think the surfing-on-a-system audience is going to be big big big.
Do you use your favorite game console for web browsing? Are you perhaps reading this on your favorite system right now? Or do you think the web is meant for computers?
In their most recent official podcast, ABC's LOST producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse confirmed that the upcoming game adaptation will be arriving on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.
Typically, adaptations cater to as many consoles as possible so as to guarantee they hit the same market as those who watch the TV show. Is this an indication that the PlayStation 2's time is coming to an end, or is developer Ubisoft Montreal focusing more time and effort on delivering a title whose graphics are on par with our expectations for the newest generation of console?
Said Cuse approximately 25 minutes into the podcast, "[Developer Ubisoft Montreal] came down here the other day and did a demo on some of the stuff," while Lindelof remarked, "very impressive," in response to what they were shown. We don't want to imply that television producers know what makes great games, but as fans of the show, we are comforted that progress is being made on the title. No release date has been mentioned.
Video game executives fear you. Seriously. They cower in their cubicles every day, praying that you don't destroy them. So says a poll conducted among entertainment-industry bigshots, which found that 57% of respondents named "user-generated content" among the top three threats to their yacht collections.
That's bad for them, but great for us. Internet distribution and cheap production software have thrown open the gates that, until now, were traditionally tightly secured by publishers. Got an idea for a video, a song, a podcast, a game? Make it, put it online, and people will find it. We all benefit from the mind-bogglingly wide variety of stuff to consume, and the competition increases quality for everyone. The dinosaurs who have become rich off outmoded means of production and distribution are quaking in terror. Some, like SCEA president Phil Harrison, are making attempts to adapt and thrive. Those that don't may perish. Don't pity them. Nobody mourns the Great Auk.
Both Wii and PS3 have web browsers, but it's fair to say that internetweb surfing is very much a secondary feature for both. It's all about the games really, with a side-order of Blu-ray goodness in PS3's case. However, Web 2.0 will be a factor in both, for example Sony's upcoming Home virtual world, and Nintendo's connected News Channel and Forecast Channel.
Nevertheless, it's fair to assume that a decent chunk of Wii and PS3 owners will use the consoles for at least some regular web surfing too. So how do the respective browsers compare when faced with 15 of the most popular Web 2.0 sites? I tested them out on the likes of MySpace, YouTube, Flickr, Facebook and Last.fm to see how they performed.
Each site gets a mark out of 2. 0 points means it didn't work properly. 1 point means it worked partially, and 2 points means it worked well. Note, this is as much a test of how well the websites are designed as of the console browsers. Read on to find out which console scored higher.
1. eBay (www.ebay.com)
The world's top auctions website works like a dream on both Wii and PS3, allowing you to sign in, browse for items, and splash your life savings on as many crap porcelain guinea pig ornaments as you like. Neither console has any problems. Wii: 2 points. PS3: 2 points.
2. Amazon (www.amazon.co.uk)
I'm starting with easy ones here: Amazon is mainly text with a few pics, just like eBay. Neither Wii nor PS3 has any problems coping with the site. And before you scoff that console gamers don't read books, there's a huge selection of games and hardware available too. Wii: 2 points. PS3: 2 points.
3. MySpace (www.myspace.com)
How will the world's largest social networking site fare on the next-gen consoles? On the profile-editing and messaging side, it's absolutely fine. But a big part of MySpace is its band profiles, where you can listen to tunes. Wii can handle the embedded players, but PS3 can't. On both consoles, video is no-go. Wii: 2 points. PS3: 1 point.
4. Bebo (www.bebo.com)
Another social networking site with music and video content, and arguably one that The Cool Kids rate more than MySpace these days. Once again, you can do all the profile-editing and friend-adding you want on both consoles, but this time the embedded tunes work on both too. However, videos won't play on either. Wii: 2 points. PS3: 2 points.
5. Facebook (www.facebook.com)
This is purely about social networking, and the site is picking up a head of steam now non-students can sign up. With less of a focus on music and video, it's handled with ease on both consoles, with all the features surviving intact. Wii: 2 points. PS3: 2 points.
6. YouTube (www.youtube.com)
How will Google's super-popular video-sharing site fare on games consoles? Not half bad, actually. Both Wii and PS3 can search, browse and most importantly play the site's videos. Wii point blank refuses to let you upload your own videos though, while PS3 does, but only if they're in a format that it recognises. Wii: 2 points. PS3: 2 points.
7. Flickr (www.flickr.com)
What about photo-sharing? Wii is fine for browsing other people's photos, as well as your own photo stream. You can't upload new pics though, which is a pain. PS3 can also handle the browsing, but more importantly, it can upload photos too. The scoring is slightly different here, as I'd argue uploading is more important for using Flickr than it is for YouTube. Wii: 1 point. PS3: 2 points.
8. Vox (www.vox.com)
Six Apart's blogging cum social-networking service is slick and easy to use on PC, but what about on consoles? It works on Wii, but isn't totally comfortable to use, due to some weird on-screen formatting. It's not fun on PS3 either, being sluggish and not letting you upload photos with your posts. Wii: 1 points. PS3: 1 point.
9. Gmail (www.gmail.com)
On both consoles, Gmail has an irritating habit of filling the text-entry box with the entire email you're replying to, and making you scroll back through it to reply. Apparently you can turn this off within Gmail, but that's not ideal if you're also using it on a PC or Mac. Otherwise, though, it works well – and is fine if you're just checking emails. Wii: 1 point. PS3: 1 point.
10. Twitter (www.twitter.com)
The Hot New Thing in Web 2.0 circles, Twitter is about 'micro-blogging' – short 140-character summaries of what you're up to. The site itself is stripped-down and simple, so it works marvellously on both consoles. Plus, if you don't have a wireless keyboard hooked up, the shorter messages are less painful to tap in on the on-screen keyboards than full blog posts. Wii: 2 points. PS3: 2 points.
11. Bloglines (www.bloglines.com)
Web-based RSS aggregator, which is one of the best ways to monitor news feeds on a computer. On Wii, it works perfectly. On PS3, it doesn't work at all, not allowing you to open your feeds. Wii: 2 points. PS3: 0 points.
12. Digg (www.digg.com)
Excellent tech news community, although it's expanded to other subjects too. It works very well on the Wii, although for understandable reasons (no copy'n'paste) it's tricksy to submit your own stories for others to Digg. On PS3, it works, but the formatting is well and truly screwed up on-screen, making it a bit of a headache to view. Wii: 2 points. PS3: 1 point.
13. del.icio.us (www.del.icio.us)
Social bookmarking site, where you can save your favourite links, tag them, and view other people's. However, on both Wii and PS3, you're restricted to just the latter, although you can save other people's links as your own. Wii: 1 point. PS3: 1 point.
14. Google Maps (maps.google.co.uk)
Google's very own mapping service works like a dream on the Wii, letting you search for locations, then view maps or satellite overhead photos. However, it inexplicably doesn't work at all on PS3, with dodgy formatting and broken search facilities – which after all, is how you actually find places. Wii: 2 points. PS3: 0 points.
15. Last.fm (www.last.fm)
Finally, how does this innovative personalised streaming music service shape up on Nintendo and Sony's consoles? I didn't expect it to work, yet on Wii it works smoothly, pumping your personal radio streams out of your telly or attached speakers. On PS3, it does work, but the experience of using the site is less smooth, including some snags signing in. Wii: 2 points. PS3: 1 point.
CONCLUSION: Wii 26 - 20 PS3
Victory goes to Opera's Wii browser, hurt by the fact that two sites (Bloglines and Google Maps) didn't work at all on the PS3 browser. However, it's worth stressing that PS3's ability to upload photos and (possibly) video gives it an advantage if you're big on this user-generated content lark. Also, these findings could easily change as various sites get a redesign, either for the better (they're configured to autodetect a console and adapt accordingly) or for the worse (they use new plug-ins that aren't supported by the consoles).
If SEGA Rally is anything to go by, it seems the battle lines in the next-gen war - as far as arcade racers are concerned - are being drawn in the mud. Following in MotorStorm's messy wake on PS3, this latest entry in SEGA's long-running series - and the first title from the company's brand new SEGA Racing Studio - seems determined to steal Sony's mud mantle.
Sitting down with SEGA for a first early at this latest iteration of the SEGA Rally franchise, it's clear the team behind it - consisting of race development veterans from Criterion, Codemasters, Rockstar North and Rare - are passionate about the series. For a start, unlike SEGA Rally 2006, which never saw light of day in the west, this next-gen version dumps any simulation pretensions in favour of returning to the franchise's shamelessly arcade roots.
Of course, with the might of PS3, Xbox 360 and PC behind this new game, it's the slickest entry in the series yet, promising impressive visuals, state-of-the-art physics and handling, as well as the core close competitive racing elements SEGA Rally's known for. Even at this stage, it looks like the development team is set to hit its lofty goals. Certainly, there's plenty of graphical bluster on display, with a wide variety of locations - ranging from frozen artic wastelands to blistering safari tracks - and the usual next-gen touches like self-shadowing and a rather nifty, appropriately-reactive two-tone paint job on the cars in evidence.
Sadly, it's too early to state with any certainty how the final product will look. The frame-rate was erratic, although it's set for a significant amount of tweaking, while water and particle effects are currently undergoing a complete overhaul. What's more, the build we saw lacked any form of damage modelling, although SEGA did mention it wouldn't affect car performance when implemented, to maintain the game's arcade sensibility. Of course, there's still plenty of development time to go and, even now, the game looks promising.
Showing off one of the game's jungle-based tracks, roadsides were packed with lush, detailed foliage, SEGA's trademark set-piece elements - like the towering waterfall looming against a rich backdrop of distant mountains - and plenty of persistent, interactive environmental objects. For example, clip one of the track-side huts and the porch will crumble, sending wood and debris scattering across the road - a nasty surprise for anyone following your tail.
Of course though, it's the mud effects that SEGA's keen to trumpet at this stage. Unlike some other racers, SEGA Rally's mud is more than a flash visual effect. As your tyres carve up the track your actions have an actual effect on the road surface. Bumps and grooves remain in place for the entire race, making for significantly variable conditions as your car's suspension and wheels react accordingly. As loose top soil is dislodged on the first lap you benefit from increased grip. However, as water slowly seeps from the ground to fill gouges in the dirt, you'll need to constantly analyse the road ahead and adjust your approach accordingly.
While it's difficult to assess just how much of an impact all this will have on the final game without going hands-on, it certainly promises to add a considerable amount of depth to your usual arcade racer fare. What's more, with around three tracks per environment, plus a variety of modes including practice, championship and - of course - online multiplayer, SEGA Rally is certainly heading in the right direction.
The multiple games in development as part of Square's Final Fantasy XIII project will not be limited to PS3 and mobile releases, Square Enix's Motomu Toriyama has reportedly confirmed.
Six games in total are expected in the project which Square calls Fabula Nove Crystallis, and if the report on Gamefront is accurate we could see FFXIII games appear on Nintendo and Microsoft consoles. However, it's speculated that the statements made by Toriyama may have been misread owing to poor translation.
Square UK refused to comment further, but we'd like to note that Final Fantasy VII was unveiled in a similar episodic way, which also saw releases on multiple platforms so our money's on the FFXIII project doing the same.
Square has currently confirmed three games in the project: Final Fantasy XIII and FF Versus XIII for PS3, and FF Agito XIII for mobile.
One of the most exciting parts of the new Spider-Man 3 game revealed so far is Spidey's face off with formidable opponent Sandman, and here is new footage of the epic battle.
As you will see in the trailer, Sandman starts off the same size as a normal human being, but even at that size his seemingly invincible morphing sand-based body makes him a tough enemy to fight.
But later he expands into a giant beast, several stories tall and stomps around New York wrecking the place. That should be interesting.
Some battles in the game will be fought via a cutscene that has you pressing buttons to on-screen prompts, with animations taken directly from the film. Parts of this Sandman fight look like they work like this.
Crytek has responded with "no comment" to a query regards the latest speculation on Crysis coming to console that's doing the rounds.
The latest gossip about the shooter heading to console started off the back of an advert for a PS3 programmer appearing on Crytek's website, the responsibilities of the role including "Cross platform code development".
"Nope, no comment on this", Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli told CVG when contacted about the speculation earlier today.
"We are hiring for CryEngine 2 Development primarily at this stage", he added.
It's hardly suprising that speculation about Crysis coming to console refuses to lay down and die, what with it being such a high profile game and one that's dropping jaws left, right and centre and all.
Tomb Raider powerhouse Eidos is to publish Tecmo's Ninja Gaiden Sigma in Europe, which is currently pencilled in for release sometime this summer.
Sigma is essentially a prettier PS3 update of 2005's excellent Xbox entry Ninja Gaiden Black, expanded with dual-sword combat and the lovely Rachel as a playable character.
In Taylor, Michigan, Officials are trying to make retailers of used gaming equipment to take sellers' fingerprints and identity details. The proposed statute went before their City Council yesterday and would result in $500 in fines and up to 90 days in prison for retailers who do not comply.
The statute is supposed to lower the rate of crimes related to video games, according to Taylor's director of police services, Jac Desrosiers:
"It tightens up the whole process. We're doing this because there are instances where those type of items are stolen from homes, and we want to make it harder for thieves. ... There are games out now or video game systems that cost several hundred dollars. If you had a burglary and they take it to one of these chains, they could get $50-$100."
Fingerprinting and showing forms of identification are already standard process at places like pawn shops, but this law seems a little overkill for trade-ins that are usually worth less than $20.
Start humming those catchy songs, because Namco Bandai has finally confirmed Beautiful Katamari Damacy for Xbox 360 and PS3.
The rolly-action-collect-'em-ups are only half-complete at the moment, but we now know they will definitely include some form of online gameplay, as well as make use of a dual analogue control system.
The background singing will also make a triumphant return, though the performers will be new to the series.
The news erupted from the pages of Japanese magazine Famitsu (translated by IGN), which spoke openly with game director Jun Morikawi.
According to him, Beautiful Katamari Damacy will be bigger and better than ever before, featuring bigger maps and lots more junk to collect. Screenshots from the feature showed one katamari spanning 7,000km, eagerly trying to obtain its enormous 10,000km target.
Morikawi also hinted that we may see the game on other platforms, musing over the idea of using a keyboard or stylus to control the action.
Katamari Damacy is a PS2 phenomena that was originally only available in Japan. The aim of the game is to guide a ball around a map, while rolling over different objects to increase your size - much like a snowball rolling down a snowy hill. The bigger you get, the more impressive the things you can accrue, eventually sucking up buildings and trees.
Rumours that a larger hard drive-equipped PlayStation 3 is on the way have surfaced once again following comments from Sony spokesperson Satoshi Fukuoka.
Speaking to Reuters Fukuoka said, "For users who vigorously store [games and other entertainment content] in the PS3, 20GB is probably going to be to small."
He added, "Even 60GB may not be big enough eventually."
But although the PS3's hard drive may get an upgrade other fundamental components of the machine won't be altered, according to Fukuoka. "We are not likely to change its core components and functions such as the Cell, RSX, Blu-ray drive and network capability," he said.
"But outside that realm, addition and deletion is quite possible."
It's not the first time Fukuoka has suggested that Sony is considering producing a PlayStation 3 with a bigger hard drive - he made similar comments earlier this week. The rumours have also been fuelled by an FCC application filed by Sony which referred to an 80GB model.
At present Sony offers both 20GB and 60GB PlayStation 3 units in Japan, with only the 60GB model available in Europe. The company recently announced that the 20GB version is to be discontinued in North America.
Streamlining of US and Japanese operations could follow
A Sony spokesperson has said that the company took the decision to cut jobs as a result of shifts in the games industry, such as the move towards digital distribution.
News emerged earlier this week that up to 160 SCEE employees could be made redundant as part of plans to reduce the company's cost base.
As reported by Reuters, SCE spokesperson Satoshi Fukuoka said the decision was unrelated to the number of PlayStation 3 units which have so far been sold.
He stated that the cuts are necessary due to new developments in the industry, including the growth of online software distribution.
Fukuoka also revealed that SCE's US and Japanese operations could be subject to streamlining. However, he added, no decisions have so far been made.
The 20GB PlayStation 3's march to the guillotine was written long before Sony was ready to make the official statement. The curious part in the whole 20GB PS3 story was the model's life in Japan apparently being spared the same fate as its kin across the Pacific. Had the Japanese found some magic to make the sale margins work that the silly North Americans hadn't discovered, and the Europeans weren't even worth trying on? Not so fast, some previous quirky statements and tips from Japan are showing the 20GB may be unofficially done there too.
Previously Sony told Famitsu, "We're currently not considering changes akin to North America. However we would like to react flexibly with the market." They also told CVG, "We'll continue to monitor demand for the 20GB model ... which will be factored into any future Euro launch plans." A future launch of the 20GB in Europe seems even less likely following reports Sony is "considering" a 80GB PS3 model, which they said in March there were no plans for. Sony would probably like to drop the 60GB price in the relative future, because if people complain about the $600 price tag of the 60GB model -- imagine the sticker shock of an 80GB model! That means clearing space and minds of the 20GB model, which if it were still on the market would probably drop in price relative to the 60GB model and be an overly attractive price for a Blu-ray player.
The picture above is from one store in Japan which crossed out the 20GB model from their storefront sign, other reports are starting to come in that the 20GB model is saying sayonara in stores. Joystiq spoke with Miller Stevens, a San Francisco native spending some time in Japan, who says, "I headed to some electronics stores in the Shinjuku district. Bic Camera, major store, has 20GB in stock and, when asked, said they were available as far as they knew. Another big store, Yodobashi, did not have them in stock and weren't getting any and weren't clear why. A couple of smaller stores didn't have them, but weren't clear whether it was because there was no supply or they just weren't ordering them." We wait for confirmation that the 20GB PS3 is official dead -- everywhere this time. Maybe Sony is just waiting to call the 20GB's time of death at the same moment they announce the 80GB's life?
The PLAYSTATION®3 System Software version 1.70 update includes the following:
* You can now download PlayStation® format software from PLAYSTATION®Store, and play it on the PS3™ system.
* You can now use saved data for PlayStation® format software on the PSP™ system.
* You can now use the vibration function of accessories that are for use with PlayStation® and PlayStation®2 format software.
Wow, playing downloaded PSOne games on the PS3? I wonder if we can play PS1 games that we ripped to our PSPs on the PS3 now? I will be sure to give it a shot when I upgrade.
However, my PS3 did not report an update being available; I will check the System Update when I get the chance.
Here's a possibly good news for all the gamers out there ! We received a mail from Sony today and this is what it said:
Sony considers slashing price of PS3 console
The assertion that Sony may reduce the price of PS3 is based on comments made by Ryoji Chubachi during an interview. He explained that the budgeting process for PS3 pricing and volumes would be re-examined as market forces and the competitive environment change.
Sony has gone on the record to say it currently doesn't have any plan to cut PS3's price, in response to reports that such a strategy is under consideration due to console sales.
It's reckoned that PS3 sales have hit just under four million, while the company had previously stated it'd shift 6 million units by the end of its financial year ending March 31st 2007.
A number of analysts recently have been predicting price cuts for PS3 this year, and it's been suggested that Sony is re-considering pricing in a Financial Times report.
But Sony has fired back at the reports saying it "currently doesn't have any specific plan to cut the PlayStation 3's price", in a released statement. "PS3 prices and shipment plans for the future should be determined by market trends and competition", the company added.
RPG nuts will be getting stuck into some epic ancient Greek mythology next year with Codemasters' new quest, Rise of the Argonauts, due for "next-gen consoles" and PC.
"Rise of the Argonauts is an action-RPG that immerses gamers in deep exploration and brutal combat," explained Codemasters at its recent Code07 event.
Playing as Jason, you will be trudging through ancient Greece with your team of warriors, including well-known bad-asses Hercules and Atlanta.
Yes, details are sketchy as Codemasters held back on revealing any firm gameplay info, but it promises to reveal more in the next few months.
Sony has released a new PS3 firmware update that allows US and Japanese owners to play their downloaded PSone games on the PS3.
Previously, downloaded PSone games were only compatible with PSP. But the new firmware, which is now at version 1.7, lets certain games also work on PS3.
From what we can make out on the official Japanese website, PS3-compatible PSone games will go live from April 26.
The best thing is that the PSone save files are also transferable so, for example, you could start an adventure on your PS3, then transfer the game and save file to your PSP and continue on the move.
Surprising, the firmware update prompt also appears on European PS3s, suggesting that the PSone game download service, which is currently only available in the US and Japan, might soon make its way to Europe.
The update reportedly also enables rumble support when playing PSone and PS2 games for Dual Shock pads plugged into the PS3 via a USB adaptor.
Three forthcoming games for PS3 that'll be downloadable via PlayStation Network have been slapped with release dates. Reported on semi-official PS3 blog ThreeSpeech.com, David 'God of War' Jaffe's Calling all Cars is due to release on May 18, Nucleus on May 25 and Super Stardust HD on June 15.
Calling all Cars features a cartoon-esque visual style and in a nutshell involves you driving around in a car and picking up escaped prisoners and returning them to jail. The snag is that you're not the only driver on this operation and can be up against AI and other players. The game features some crazy power-ups.
Nucleus, meanwhile, is a sort of biological shooter and finds you controlling a, well, nucleus we guess and going head-to-head with bacteria and viruses. Last, but by no means least, Super Stardust HD is a shoot-'em-up where you have to defend planet surfaces from asteroids and various enemies.
Jack Thompson has given a TV interview in the US where he points the finger of blame at the hugely popular online tactical shooter, Counter-Strike, and that the game helped train Cho Seung-Hui to kill 33 fellow students in Virginia.
Thompson begins the interview with MSNBC by quoting the Washington Post as reporting that Hui's associates and colleagues said he was "immersed incredibly" in the game Counter-Strike.
He then says Cho Seung-Hui was "able to go from room to room very calmly, efficiently, coolly killing people".
According to Thompson he was able to do this because he had trained on Counter-Strike. But rather than another TV station giving the US lawyer five minutes to throw his unproven theories and ideas into the world, MSNBC presenter picks him up on almost everything he says.
Regional tastes come to the fore in this week's European charts, with Italian and German sales highlighting very different market trends.
Atari's Dragon Ball Z titles, developed by Namco Bandai, dominate the Italian charts with Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 on the Wii entering the charts at number one.
This release has boosted sales of the first Tenkaichi title which climbs the charts at number eight, and the Platinum release of Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3, which takes the number six position.
German sales charts are distinguished by the popularity of PC titles, with the top four best-selling games all exclusive to home computers.
Electronic Arts' Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars takes the number one and two positions thanks to a special Kane Edition, followed by THQ's S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow of Chernobyl and The Sims: Season at numbers three and four, respectively.
While the Spanish charts are less dominated by format, it's worth noting the success of Ubisoft's DS pet simulations Horsez at number three and Catz at number six.
Titles that are performing well in all three regional charts include Square Enix's Final Fantasy XII, and Sony's first-party PlayStation 3 titles Resistance: Fall of Man and MotorStorm.
The top ten best-selling games for Italy, Spain and Germany follow:
It's been suggested that just because GTA IV concentrates on a single city as opposed to an entire state it's not going to be a very big game world. We're not so sure. And we've used Google Maps to prove it.
First we used Google Maps editing kit and dropped in all the known locations that have been seen in the trailer. Then we added the Liberty City/NYC boroughs revealed by the Game Informer preview. Finally we drew a boundary around certain geographical locations that we can imagine serving as useful boundary points in the game - sea, major roads and the JFK airport for example.
The results are pretty surprising. The area the map could potentially cover is huge.
We haven't even taken into account that the trailer shows a ferry terminal that might be a link to Staten Island. That would be another huge chunk of land to incorporate. Those disgruntled residents might still see Richmond County in GTA IV yet.
To see the map click here. Feel free to zoom in and out to check out the real-life locations. We'll be updating the map/redrawing boundaries with each round of coverage as new locations and buildings are revealed so be sure to check back to the map now and again.
Prompted by a panicked glance at a nearby calendar, Sony has blasted out a list of "key titles" slated for release on all manner of PlayStation devices during the second quarter of 2007. Starting over two weeks ago and ending on the last day of June, this period of time sees us paralyzed by F.E.A.R. and having to resort to Calling All Cars to save us from The Darkness brought by ninjas, pirates and Transformers. We'll likely run the Gauntlet in a Final Fantasy of Harvest Mooning... oh forget it.
PSN
Calling All Cars -- 18 May
Nucleus -- 25 May
Super Stardust HD -- 15 June
Championship Sprint
Gauntlet II
Joust
Mortal Kombat II
Rampage World Tour
Super Puzzle Fighter II HD Remix
Rampart
PS2
DAWN of MANA
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
.hack)//G.U. Vol. 2: Reminisce
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary
Manhunt 2
NCAA Football 08
NARUTO: Ultimate Ninja 2
Odin Sphere
Ratatouille
Shrek The Third
Spider-man 3
Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam
PS3
F.E.A.R.
Spider-Man 3
Ninja Gaiden Sigma
MLB 07 The Show
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
The Darkness
The Bigs
TRANSFORMERS: The Game
PCP
Angel Dust: Ziggy's Revenge
PSP
Alien Syndrome
Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars
CRUSH
Dungeon Maker: Hunting Ground
FINAL FANTASY
FINAL FANTASY II
Harvest Moon Boy & Girl
Ridge Racer 2
Test Drive Unlimited
Tom Clancy's Ranbow Six Vegas
Valhalla Knights
Video games were one of the first things blamed for the recent shootings at Virginia Tech. Dr. Phil and a certain Floridiot lawyer were two of the loudest voices, while an article in the online version of the Washing Post briefly mentioned Cho was a Counter-Strike player in high school. Not a big deal in our eyes, but to the general public if Cho even looked at a video game, it's case-closed.
After police searched Cho's dorm room, however, it seems he didn't own any video games at all. No murder simulators or gun training programs, not even a copy of Tetris. If video games didn't teach him these skills, where did they come from?! Oh noes!
We've posted our feelings about violent video games. Hopefully this lack of evidence will silence the anti-gaming pundits for a while.
The PlayStation 3 firmware has updated to 1.7, which purportedly allows you to play your downloaded PS One titles on the console itself. Here's what else got updated:
Your PSOne and PS2 controllers and accessories will now rumble.
You can now use PSOne save files from your PSP on the PS3.
The PSP firmware also received an upgrade to 3.4. Unfortunately, we are having serious issues with playing PS One games that are already saved on our PSP -- namely, it's not working at all-- but the console is properly detecting our PSP save files. Our fanboy brethren are also experiencing similar issues. Will the PS Store update and offer users compatible files?
"It is now pretty well established that certain types of videos and images have an effect on behavior," New York Governor Eliot Spitzer told reporters yesterday. Spitzer wants video games that are "degrading" to minors regulated the same way as cigarettes for those under 18. Retailers who would sell or rent these "not appropriate" games to minors would face fines.
The Democratic governor plans to give details about his plans this Friday in a Manhattan speech before Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network. Like wagering how many times President Bush will bring up 9/11 in a speech, start placing your bets now on how long it'll take Spitzer to bring up the VT massacre in his speech.
Spitzer's proposal is sure to be in good company with other New York-based bills looking to regulate games. Spitzer better watch his back, the courts have not been kind to taxpayers for overzealous politicians who ignore Constitutional Law 101.
Xbox360™:
Guitar Hero II with Guitar US US$ 109.90
Major League Baseball 2K7 ASIA US$ 44.90
Nintendo Wii™:
Furu Furu Park JPN US$ 59.90
Super Paper Mario US US$ 59.90
Super Paper Mario JPN US$ 59.90
PlayStation2™:
Fate/stay Night [Realta Nua] JPN US$ 64.90
Fate/stay Night [Realta Nua] Memory Card 8MB N/A
Fate/stay Night [Realta Nua] [Extra Edition] JPN N/A
Ouran Koukou Host Bu JPN US$ 64.90
Ouran Koukou Host Bu [Limited Edition] JPN N/A
Persona 3: Fes (Append Edition) JPN US$ 59.90
Persona 3: Fes (Independent Starting Version) JPN US$ 69.90
Persona 3: Fes (Independent Starting Version) [Konamistyle Special Edition] JPN N/A
The King of Fighters Nests JPN US$ 49.90
Nintendo DS™:
Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales US US$ 34.90 Gakuen Alice: WakuWaku * Happy Friends JPN US$ 48.90
Lise no Atelier: Ordre no Renkinjutsushi JPN US$ 48.90
Lise no Atelier: Ordre no Renkinjutsushi [Premium Box] JPN N/A
Nodame Cantabile JPN US$ 48.90
San-X Chara Sagashi Land JPN US$ 48.90
Toon-Doku US US$ 24.90
Unou Tanren UnoTan DS: Shichida Shiki Otona no Sokudoku Training JPN US$ 39.90
Wi-Fi Taiou: Sekai no Daredemo JPN US$ 39.90
Zendoku ASIA US$ 34.90
Sony PSP™:
Final Fantasy Anniversary Edition JPN US$ 39.90
Final Fantasy Anniversary Edition ASIA US$ 34.90
Isshou Asoberu Todai Shougi: Sakidzume Shogi Dojo JPN US$ 48.90
ProStroke Golf - World Tour 2007 US US$ 24.90
Zendoku ASIA US$ 39.90
Compatible with Dreamcast™:
Last Hope [Limited Edition] N/A
PC Games:
TMNT Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (DVD-ROM) ASIA US$ 32.90
The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles (DVD-ROM) ASIA US$ 31.90
War Front: Turning Point (DVD-ROM) ASIA US$ 34.90
Official Nintendo Super Paper Mario Player's Guide US US$ 14.90
Super Paper Mario: Prima Official Game Guide US US$ 16.90
Toys & Misc:
Animal Crossing Bath Towel (Theater Version): Bouquet JPN US$ 19.90
Animal Crossing Bath Towel (Theater Version): Totakeke JPN US$ 19.90
Animal Crossing Character Phone Strap (Theater Version) JPN US$ 4.99
Animal Crossing Face Plush Pouch - Model A: Tom Nook JPN US$ 7.99
Animal Crossing Face Plush Pouch - Model B: Totakeke JPN US$ 7.99
Animal Crossing Face Plush Pouch - Model C: Hooter (Blathers) JPN US$ 7.99
Animal Crossing Face Plush Pouch - Model D: Bouquet JPN US$ 7.99
Animal Crossing Mini Cushion (Theater Version) JPN US$ 7.99
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A's 1/8 Scale PVC Figure: Fate Testerossa (Burst Version) JPN US$ 68.90
Mon-Sieur Bome Collection Vol.20: Misty May JPN US$ 42.90
New Super Mario Bros. 300 Pieces Jigsaw Puzzle - 001 JPN US$ 22.90
New Super Mario Bros. 300 Pieces Jigsaw Puzzle - 002 JPN US$ 22.90
New Super Mario Bros. Compact Puzzle Type A JPN US$ 5.99
New Super Mario Bros. Compact Puzzle Type B JPN US$ 5.99
New Super Mario Bros. Soft Magnet Collection JPN US$ 2.49
Nintendo Prize Collection Series Family Computer II Condition Controller Type Portable Microphone JPN US$ 19.90
Video Game related Soundtracks:
Burn My Dread -Reincarnation: Persona 3 JPN US$ 28.90
Fate/stay Night [Realta Nua] Opening Theme Song JPN US$ 9.90
Pachisuro Hokuto no Ken Virtual Play Mix JPN US$ 19.90
Radio DJ CD Oh! Naruto Nippon Vol.20 JPN US$ 24.90
Seiken Densetsu Heroes of Mana Original Soundtrack JPN US$ 26.90
Vitamin X Original Soundtrack JPN US$ 27.90
Built-in fuse for more safety
Compatible with P3 and X.B360 System
Stable and super output power "500W"
Built-in cooling fan for lower down temperature
Step down function input: 220V~240V Output: 100V~120V
If SEGA Rally is anything to go by, it seems the battle lines in the next-gen war - as far as arcade racers are concerned - are being drawn in the mud. Following in MotorStorm's messy wake on PS3, this latest entry in SEGA's long-running series - and the first title from the company's brand new SEGA Racing Studio - seems determined to steal Sony's mud mantle.
Sitting down with SEGA for a first early at this latest iteration of the SEGA Rally franchise, it's clear the team behind it - consisting of race development veterans from Criterion, Codemasters, Rockstar North and Rare - are passionate about the series. For a start, unlike SEGA Rally 2006, which never saw light of day in the west, this next-gen version dumps any simulation pretensions in favour of returning to the franchise's shamelessly arcade roots.
Of course, with the might of PS3, Xbox 360 and PC behind this new game, it's the slickest entry in the series yet, promising impressive visuals, state-of-the-art physics and handling, as well as the core close competitive racing elements SEGA Rally's known for. Even at this stage, it looks like the development team is set to hit its lofty goals. Certainly, there's plenty of graphical bluster on display, with a wide variety of locations - ranging from frozen artic wastelands to blistering safari tracks - and the usual next-gen touches like self-shadowing and a rather nifty, appropriately-reactive two-tone paint job on the cars in evidence.
Sadly, it's too early to state with any certainty how the final product will look. The frame-rate was erratic, although it's set for a significant amount of tweaking, while water and particle effects are currently undergoing a complete overhaul. What's more, the build we saw lacked any form of damage modelling, although SEGA did mention it wouldn't affect car performance when implemented, to maintain the game's arcade sensibility. Of course, there's still plenty of development time to go and, even now, the game looks promising.
Showing off one of the game's jungle-based tracks, roadsides were packed with lush, detailed foliage, SEGA's trademark set-piece elements - like the towering waterfall looming against a rich backdrop of distant mountains - and plenty of persistent, interactive environmental objects. For example, clip one of the track-side huts and the porch will crumble, sending wood and debris scattering across the road - a nasty surprise for anyone following your tail.
Of course though, it's the mud effects that SEGA's keen to trumpet at this stage. Unlike some other racers, SEGA Rally's mud is more than a flash visual effect. As your tyres carve up the track your actions have an actual effect on the road surface. Bumps and grooves remain in place for the entire race, making for significantly variable conditions as your car's suspension and wheels react accordingly. As loose top soil is dislodged on the first lap you benefit from increased grip. However, as water slowly seeps from the ground to fill gouges in the dirt, you'll need to constantly analyse the road ahead and adjust your approach accordingly.
While it's difficult to assess just how much of an impact all this will have on the final game without going hands-on, it certainly promises to add a considerable amount of depth to your usual arcade racer fare. What's more, with around three tracks per environment, plus a variety of modes including practice, championship and - of course - online multiplayer, SEGA Rally is certainly heading in the right direction.
"You're just an ordinary guy trying to survive." So says Dean Martinetti, producer at Sparks Unlimited, after demoing the opening scene in Turning Point: Fall of Liberty, in which a flat-capped builder becomes the unlikely hero of the US resistance. However, there's nothing ordinary about what we've just seen, because the streets of New York - its tower blocks and famous landmarks such as the Empire State Building and Statue of Liberty - are engulfed in flame and are being unceremoniously razed to the ground by an invading German force. Nationalist flag-waving this ain't - well, not unless you're a Nazi - and contrary to Call of Duty and Medal of Honor et al, there's no heroic leader to save the world and the US doesn't win.
With the recent release of NPD sales numbers for March 2007, Nintendo can once again claim the top spots in gaming console sales.
From Nintendo's announcement: "With the first quarter of 2007 now completed, Wii has already notched over a million systems sold in America this year, while the DS now stands just shy of 1.25 million for the same period. Wii remains the fastest-selling new console in more than a decade, based on NPD sell-through information over the first five months of availability. So far this year, Nintendo has sold more video game systems than all other manufacturers combined."
Since debuting in November 2006, the Wii still has been a rarity on retailer's shelves. Nintendo says shipments of the Wii will increase this month from ramped up production. Embarrassingly for Sony's PS3, it was knocked down one notch by Nintendo's Game Boy Advance. You have to give Sony credit, however, for the PS2 staying tough in the #2 spot.
Here's the announced numbers for March 2007 gaming console & handheld sales from NPD:
Nintendo DS 508K
PlayStation 2 280K
Wii 259K
Xbox 360 199K
PlayStation Portable 180K
Game Boy Advance 148K
PlayStation 3 130K
GameCube 22K
Xbox - r.i.p.
Sony America has released info on its Q2 line-up of games for the four different PlayStation platforms. And when the PS2 line-up looks better than your PS3 portfolio, you know there's something not quite right.
According to Sony over 100 first- and third-party titles will launch over the next few months, which Sony describes as "an impressively robust software line-up". Over 100 games across four platforms is bound to cover most genre of gaming but the only one that's missing - especially for PS3 - is the triple A genre.
"Our second-quarter line-up of PS3, PSP and PlayStation 2 software titles demonstrates a continued commitment from both SCEA and third-party developers to the PlayStation family of products," said Peter Dille, senior vice president of marketing, SCEA. "We are excited by the content being developed by our partners, but are also looking forward to launching PlayStation-branded exclusive games created by our own worldwide studios this quarter and throughout the rest of 2007."
via cvg
As we reported yesterday, Namco-Bandai's bonkers Japanese roll-'em-up is making its way to Xbox 360 and PS3 and we've got the first screens of Beautiful Katamari Damacy, as it's currently known, right here.
If you haven't been fortunate enough to experience the joys of Katamari, you play as that little green dude with the hammer-like head and you roll around a sticky ball - called a Katamari - to pick up small objects around a giant house.
As more stuff accumulates on your Katamari, it gets bigger and you're able to roll up bigger things, like people and sofas. Eventually, you grow big enough to roll up entire cities, the Eifel Tower, the Great Wall of China and Zeus - from paper clip-sized ball to planet-killer in a few hours.
No, there's not a massive graphical difference - that's not Katamari's style anyway. But the new game promises to use the extra processing power to let you make bigger, meaner Katamaris. We can't wait.
A release date is yet to be announced, but the official Japanese website is up for you to poke around.
In news that will no-doubt turn the heat-up in the Xbox Live board room, Sony has said that its free-of charge PlayStation Network online service has reached 1.3 million users worldwide.
The news comes from SCEA's senior director of PR Dave Karraker, who told Gamespot that of those 1.3 million users 600,000 signed up in North America where Sony has shipped over 2 million consoles.
Worldwide some 3.7 million pieces of content have been downloaded from the PS3 online service, though the Sony PR man didn't specify how much of the number is download games.
Of course this is still a ways off Xbox Live's 6 million registered users who have clocked up over 25 million Xbox Live Arcade downloads to date. Though considering Sony's service is free of charge unlike Xbox Live, we can imagine the PS Network catching up pretty soon.
Yesterday Sony released the 1.7 PS3 firmware update, which lets you play PSOne games on your PS3, though there's none to download yet...
Square Enix says that the leap to the latest generation of gaming platforms has dramatically altered the way the market works.
"Up to PlayStation 2, all consoles had roughly the same concept of how to enjoy the gaming experience. With next-gen, each has different features and is targeted at a different audience," vice president of software development Hiromichi Tanaka told GamesIndustry.biz.
"So, we have to make different titles for different platforms, depending on what sort of game we want to make and what the users will be expecting; we can choose which platform we want to go for."
"This is completely different from the old games industry," he added.
"Also we now have [Windows] Vista and the Nintendo DS, so it's not only those three next-gen platforms but a whole variety of different platforms. It's hard having this variety but it also gives us lots of opportunities."
Meanwhile, global online producer Saga Sundi suggested that MMO title Final Fantasy XI - which he believes hasn't felt too much impact from the dominance of World of Warcraft - might see another expansion pack.
"We're working together with our community and with the users, so we're very flexible," Sundi explained. "If they all ask for expansion packs, then we might consider more expansion packs - it really depends on how it goes with our users."
Downloadable PS1 titles compatible with the American PlayStation 3 will start to appear sometime next month, according to Sony Computer Entertainment's US office.
Yesterday saw the release of firmware updated for both PS3 and PSP aimed at allowing for PS1 games bought in the PS3 Store to work on both formats, but at the time Sony had little to say about when we'd start to see the actual games - with the European store achingly barren.
Fortunately we shouldn't have to wait long. "We'll be replacing the older PS1 games with fixed versions sometime in May," a spokesperson told IGN. You'll then be able to download those to your PS3 hard disk and either play them from there or transfer them off to PSP Memory Stick.
And if you're using an American or Japanese console and have already downloaded a few PS1 games, don't fret, because you'll be able to grab the new more widely compatible versions for no extra charge. There's no word on whether the new versions of old games - or subsequent releases - will still restrict you to copying the game to PSP five times.
A Sony UK spokesperson wasn't immediately able to clarify European plans for downloadable PS1 games, but did say that we should expect an announcement regarding the PlayStation Network "soon" and that it would likely include some information on the subject.
Following the publication of NPD figures which show a small rise in PlayStation 3 sales, SCEA has said the European launch of the console has constrained supplies in North America.
A statement issued by the company this morning notes that PS3 sales were by up by 2 per cent last month to reach 129,638 units.
However, SCEA added, "We continued to find ourselves supply constrained in March due primarily to the shift in manufacturing focus to the PS3 PAL version to support the launch of the system in Europe."
The NPD figures state 199,000 Xbox 360 consoles were sold during March, while Wii came out on top with 259,000 units - despite continuing stock shortages.
But PS3 was the only next-gen console to see sales rise over the course of the month, SCEA said, with Xbox 360 and Wii sales down by 12 per cent and 22 per cent respectively.
PlayStation 2 is still outselling all of the next-gen machines with just under 280,000 units sold. However, 508,000 Nintendo DS units were shifted in the same period, making it the best selling hardware overall.
Sales of rival handheld PSP rose also by 2 per cent during March to reach just under 180,000 units. The price of the Core system was reduced to USD 169 earlier this month and according to SCEA, the response from consumers and retailers has been "very positive".
"March 2007 showed a 24 per cent increase in retail dollars generated year-over-year for the PlayStation brand in North America with total sales of USD 447 million, due in part to the addition of the PS3 platform as well as the strong launch performance of God of War II for PS2 at retail," the company's statement reads.
"On the software front, we were pleased to see sales increases from February for both the PSP and PS2. PS2 software showed a 29 per cent increase with the launch of God of War II and PSP software demonstrated a 13 per cent jump."
Blitz Games has told GamesIndustry.biz that next-gen zombie title Possession is only on hold while the team concentrates its efforts on a major new title for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
While some media outlets have assumed Possession has been canned, Blitz has revealed that the work-in-progress title has helped the team get more development work, this time for a top tier publisher.
"Work on Possession is temporarily on hold but only because we've reassigned the team to work on a major new project on PS3 and Xbox 360," said a senior spokesperson for the company.
"Much of the work done on Possession directly led to us signing this new game and some of the technology has been enhanced further and will appear in this new title."
The Xbox 360 and PS3 project falls under Blitz's Volatile label, the division that works on games for a more mature market. Although the developer cannot yet reveal the publisher behind the project, the team is looking to expand in order to fulfil the expected demand of working on a high-profile title.
"This new project is a massive departure in style and content for Blitz Games," offered the spokesperson.
"We are on an even more aggressive recruitment drive for what will be a very high-profile title. We are truly honoured to be working with one of the most respected publishers in the world on this project," said Blitz.
Nintendo's rival platform holders failed to get a look-in at the MCV Excellence Awards last night as the company walked away with no less than four trophies.
That included top prize the Grand Prix Award for contributions to the games industry, best marketing team and best PR team (an award shared with agency Cake).
Nintendo also saw off EA, Ubisoft, SEGA and THQ to pick up the trophy for best games publisher.
The full list of winners is as follows:
Grand Prix Award - Nintendo
Games Publisher - Nintendo
Finalists: Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, SEGA, THQ
New Games Brand - Guitar Hero (Activision)
Finalists: Brain Training (Nintendo), Gears of War (Microsoft), Just Cause (Eidos), Dead Rising (Capcom)
Despite hopeful comments by analysts, Sony has gone on the record (again) saying that it has no plans to cut the PS3's pricetag any time soon. Next Generation reports:
"'PS3 prices and shipment plans for the future should be determined by market trends and competition. Sony currently doesn't have any specific plan to cut the PlayStation 3's price.' Analysts believe a price cut is inevitable, as the company struggles to catch Microsoft's early lead with Xbox 360, and the $250 Wii continues to sell as many as can be produced. However, Sony's plan has generally been to hold tight and hope that demand for Blu-ray drives will increase, by the end of this year."
Relatedly, the company has outlined releases for the second quarter of this year on the PS3, PS3, and PSP systems.
Newly released collectors items for all gamers is this statue from the Zelda Series, heres all the info you need:
Help DIGG this news and get it on DIGG Mainpage
Very little is understood about the demigod know as the Fierce Deity. With his history shrouded in mystery, the dark and mighty warrior was trapped into a mask, a mask which allows the wearer to inhabit the Fierce Deity's powerful body. Powerful and evil, could this mask's dark powers be as bad as Majora? When young Link dons the Fierce Deity Mask, he manages to harness its power without being corrupted and is transformed into Fierce Deity Link for ultimate showdown with Majora…
First 4 Figures is proud to present Fierce Deity Link, the first collectible statue in the First 4 Figures highly anticipated Legend of Zelda collectible statue series. With inspiration taken from the official Majora’s Mask Fierce Deity Link artwork, the statue has faithfully recreated Fierce Deity’s powerful and mysterious character and pose. Raising his double helix sword high above his head, he is ready to take on any his enemies. Towering at over 14.5 inches to the tip of his sword hilt, Fierce Deity Link will be in scale with the others in the series.
Cast in high quality poly-stone, the statue is hand finished and hand painted. Comes packed in a foam interior full colored box with a card of authenticity. Highly limited at only 2,500 pieces available worldwide.
features
Edition size: 2,500 worldwide
Artist: Ryan Lim
Base Concept Artist: James West
Height: 14.5 inches
Hand cast and hand painted
Individually numbered and comes with an Authenticity Card
A fresh set of Grand Theft Auto: IV rumours have been spilled across the internet suggesting that the recently revealed lead character dies early on in the game and you assume the role of his Russian cousin.
Via way of various forums and discussions comes what many are claiming to be new GTA: IV details. Rockstar obviously won't comment either way on what rumours are doing the rounds this week, but if these turn out to be true, it looks like the NYC-based publisher tried to lead us up the garden path with what it revealed in the debut trailer (which you can see here, just in case you missed it).
Apparently the lead character Nikko Bellic (the bloke from the trailer) is murdered early on in the game during a dodgy drug deal that goes horribly wrong.
Nikko is said to have fled Estonia to escape some dodgy Mafioso types and the rumours suggest that the story centres on a turf war between Italian and Russian families. Once this news reaches Bellic's mother land his cousin, Roman Petronov, takes the news very badly and sets sail for the US of A.
Petronov is said to be disturbed by the news of the murder and wants his revenge. But he doesn't just wade in there with sideways-pointing pistols and a bad attitude. He decides to do a bit of a Tony Montana, and work his way up the gangsta food chain first, before confronting those responsible for his cousin's untimely end.
Word is that playing as Roman Petronov you have to choose which gang to join to rise to the top of. You could be mugged, begged or jumped on to join the warring factions of Liberty City.
That rumour alone suggests that the game could turn out to be pretty open and non-linear, if you get to choose between three gangs. Presumably you'll have the chances to jump from gang to gang if things weren't going your way - with a bit of bloodshed thrown in along the way, of course.
Details that six motorcycles vehicles and three helicopters would make the final cut, though there will be no planes, were also hinted at.
Don't expect Rockstar to comment on the above at all. We'll just have to wait and see.
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