UK, August 26, 2008 - Master Chief's next big outing could herald the launch of the next generation of consoles, with rum
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PSP NEWS
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Buyer's Guide Video
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (PSP)This year Potter makes his way to nearly every system. Which one is right for you?
Dissidia Final Fantasy: Onion Knight
Dissidia Final Fantasy (PSP)A tiny warrior with courage and strength to spare.
Dissidia Final Fantasy Video
Dissidia Final Fantasy (PSP)Even with a small stature, this hero can save the world.
Warriors Orochi 2 PSP Coming August 25, 2009
Warriors Orochi 2 (PSP)KOEI's tactical action tour de force is coming to PSP with new characters, scenarios and Japanese language option.
R.E.M., Stevie Ray Vaughan, Dixie Chicks, and More Come to Rock Band Upnplugged
Rock Band Unplugged (PSP)DLC goes portable with Rock Band Unplugged.
2K Sports Announces The Bigs 2 Now Available in Retail Stores
The Bigs 2 (PSP)The Big Leagues just got bigger, as epic arcade baseball action returns to a new heroic level.
O-Games Announces CID The Dummy Available Now
Cid the Dummy (PSP)Put on your helmet and get ready to crash.
SuperHind Screens
Super HIND (PSP)Crank up Ride of the Valkyries for more shots of this PSP chopper game.
Holy Invasion Privacy, Badman! Video
Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman! (PSP)Help the bad guy. Kill the heroes.
Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny Screens
Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny (PSP)Snidely Whiplash wants his moustache back.
WWE SVR 2010 Cover Art Arrives
WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010 (PSP)Five Superstars rock this year's game.
industry news
News: ELSPA calls on UK govt to encourage uptake of science degrees
The Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association has called on the UK government to encourage young people to specialise in science and maths degrees.
Speaking today at the Westminster Media Forum, director general Michael Rawlinson said graduates with maths and physics skills are vital to maintain the UK's output in digital creative media.
"This is an industry of highly-educated, strongly-skilled experts, many have first class degrees in maths and physics from leading British universities, but there are too few graduates in these subjects.
News: Average top 10 App Store game sells for under $2
It might be possible to sell games for USD 4.99 on the App Store, but to make it into the top twenty the price has to drop significantly, according to recent analysis of the US App Store chart.
Studying data taken from the current top 100 Paid Games chart in the US, PocketGamer.biz reports that fifteen games from the top twenty are selling at the 99 cents price point.
While the average price for a top 100 games works out at USD 3.20, in the top ten that average drops significantly to USD 1.89.
News: Glu Mobile CEO steps down after six years
The president and CEO of Glu Mobile, Gregg Ballard, has announced his intention to step down after six years with the company.
Ballard will remain with Glu while a successor is sought.
"After six years, I have decided the timing is right to look for a new challenge. Im incredibly proud of how much we accomplished during my tenure, having built what I believe to be a world-class global enterprise," commented Ballard.
News: Sony: "Hopefully last year is as bad as it gets"
Sony Computer Entertainment president Jack Tretton has described fiscal 2008 as stormy, saying the period was a very challenging one for selling high-end, future technology.
While the company met its hardware sales targets for the year, Tretton told Fast Company it had been a tough year but that people are getting the message that the PlayStation 3 offers value for money.
"Hopefully last year is as bad as it gets. I think all indicators are that 2009 is going better than 2008. In 2008, we had a 38 per cent increase in sales and we hit our ten million-units-worldwide goal for PS3 sales... At the worst possible time, if you're hitting numbers and delivering success... my hope is that as our production efficiencies improve and more great games come to market, the horizon has got to be better for 2009 and 2010.
News: Funcom rebooting Conan with free play offer
Age of Conan developer Funcom is attempting to entice customers back to the game with two weeks free play, no strings attached.
A year after release, in which the game suffered a drop off in users and executive departures at the development studio, Funcom is confident it has worked hard to improve the overall user experience with both technical and content improvements.
"It has been quite a journey for the entire team getting to where we are today," offered Craig Morrison, game director of the MMO.
News: Wii Sports Resort tops Japanese chart for second week
Wii Sports Resort has managed to hang onto its number one position for a second week in the Japanese software chart, despite sales halving since last week.
The Media Create figures for the week ending July 5 show the game is still selling big - with 153,000 units sold. But sales are waning following a strong launch week when the game shifted 359,690 copies in just four days.
While Nintendo holds onto the top place, Sony holds five places in the top ten - an equal amount to Nintendo.
News: EA doubles server capacity for Battlefield demand
Electronic Arts has doubled the server capacity for the online title Battlefield 1943 less than 24 hours into its release.
The game released on Xbox 360 yesterday, but with servers quickly reaching capacity some users were unable to play the multiplayer-only title, forcing developer DICE to scramble to meet demand.
"Good news, the game is incredibly successful beyond even my expectations. We have reached server capacity, but the bad news about this now some people can't join unless someone leaves," admitted Greg Van Dyke, of DICE, on the official forums.
News: Canadian provinces battle over iPhone dev
A 23-person development studio in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada is to be offered an incentives package to prevent the office from closing down and moving to neighbouring Nova Scotia.
The Longtail Studios office, which develops titles for the casual platforms including the Apple iPhone and Nintendo Wii, appears to have been poached by Nova Scotia, much to the annoyance of the PEI local government.
"I am concerned with the possible loss of these positions on PEI," said Innovation Minister Allan Campbell told CBC News. "I've asked staff in my department to put together a package that is attractive to the company and that incites them to remain here on PEI.
News: THQ pledges day one support for Project Natal
Red Faction and UFC publisher THQ has told GamesIndustry.biz that it intends to support Sony's PlayStation 3 wand and Microsoft's Project Natal on day one of release.
Dropping hints that Drawn to Life the title already in development for Wii could be one of its first releases, Bilson said that publishers are most likely to release versions of existing franchises and family friendly games to keep costs low initially, rather than risk new IP on unproven technology.
"We'll be there at launch with some very friendly titles for the first audience who will adopt that stuff, which is families," said Bilson in an exclusive interview published today.
Interview: THQ's Danny Bilson Part Two
In the first part of our exclusive interview with THQ's Danny Bilson, he discussed the turn around at the publishing company, as the business rebooted its product line-up from the bottom up, the costs of laying off a significant number of staff, and why the business is a major player in the market once again. In part two, Bilson highlights the strategies the publisher is adopting for individual hardware formats, the new motion control technology in development at Sony and Microsoft, and as an ex-movie producer, his take on the film industry setting up dedicated game development houses.News: Monster Hunter Freedom Unite breaks retail records
Monster Hunter Freedom Unite has become the first PSP game to ship over 3.5 million units, according to Capcom.
Released in Japan in March 2008, Monster Hunter became the best selling PSP game of 2008. In October, an enhanced 'Best' version of the game was released and shipped a further one million copies. The 3.5 million figure takes into account both versions of the game.
Following its popularity on PSP, Capcom will release a new Nintendo Wii instalment to the series on August 1 entitled Monster Hunter 3(tri-).
News: Sony: We're no longer playing catch up with Xbox Live
The PlayStation Network offers a lot of things Xbox Live doesn't and is no longer playing catch up with the Microsoft online service, according to Sony Computer Entertainment America's director of PSN Operations, Eric Lempel.
"I don't think there's a lot of 'catch up' [with XBL] any more. In some cases, I think we've got more, and we've got some other things they don't have," he said in an interview with Industry Gamers.
"In terms of strengths, of course we're still free, and we're giving you a lot for free. It's not just free online gaming, but we've got PlayStation Home, which is a massive community and application that's totally free to use.
News: Namco Bandai Partners to distribute Cities XL in UK
Namco Bandai Partners has announced its first distribution deal trading under its new business name is for the game Cities XL.
The publisher will be responsible for distributing the PC game developed by Monte Cristo Games in the UK, Nordic countries, Iberica, Italy, Australia and New Zealand. Distribution across the rest of Europe will be handled by Monte Cristo.
The city building title is described as merging gaming with social networking and virtual worlds. Players can compete online in a massively multiplayer arena to create a city ranked in a 'top ten best places to live' list as well as trade resources with other users.
News: Harmonix: Music games might not need consoles in the future
Music games might not need consoles in the future, according to Harmonix creative director Josh Randall. Instead, instruments could store songs on them and be plugged straight into a television.
"I think you could foresee a future where maybe you dont even have a console," Randall said, speaking to VideoGamer.com. "Your instrument can have all these songs and you just plug it into your TV. Im sure it [the genre] is going to start to move in weird ways that no-ones even thought of yet."
He also revealed that, while the company is concentrating primarily on console development, it's keeping an eye on developments outside of the traditional home console sector.
News: Jagex appoints Jon Hare as head of publishing
Jon Hare has been appointed head of publishing at Jagex Games Studio, following a 24 year career in game development.
Hare has games industry experience spanning over three decades, during which time he has developed over 30 games on more than 20 different platforms. His new role will see him oversee publishing at Jagex, with a focus on further developing FunOrb.com, the company's online gaming portal.
"Jagex is a traditional and very British games development company as well as being one of Europes most successful publishers," said Hare. "I am really excited to be joining the team and I feel very at home here. I am looking forward to working alongside the management team to help nurture the mentality of innovation and expansion that already exists here and to grow FunOrb into the worlds leading online games destination."
News: NetEase delays the relaunch of World of Warcraft
After winning the rights to operate World of Warcraft from The9 back in April, China's number two games operator, NetEase, has failed to get its servers up and running resulting in gamers being unable to access the MMO.
The China relaunch was expected to happen at the end of June, reports Reuters, when The9's contract with Blizzard expired and the publisher shut down its own servers. But according to a statement appearing on its website, NetEase has experienced factors out of its control which have delayed the game.
"We have met with some factors which are out of our control, the servers reopening will be delayed," the statement reads. "As of now, we don't have a specific reopening time frame."
News: ZeniMax raised $105 million for id acquisition
ZeniMax Media, parent company of Fallout publisher Bethesda, raised USD 105 million in debt financing for the acquisition of id Software.
That's according to a SEC filing, following the swoop for the Doom developer in June.
The filing did not reveal who the lenders were or whether the USD 105 million was the exact price of the deal.
News: Stringer again dismisses PS3 price cut talk
Sony Corporation president Sir Howard Stringer has again poured cold water on talk of a price cut for its flagship PlayStation 3 console, resisting pressure from a number of publishers - most notably Activision.
Talking to Reuters in the build-up to a conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, Stringer shrugged off the comments from Activision's CEO, Robert Kotick, who previously questioned whether or not the third party publishing giant would "support the console" in 2010 and 2011.
"He likes to make a lot of noise," said Stringer of Kotick's comments. "He's putting pressure on me and I'm putting pressure on him. That's the nature of business."
News: Digital distribution 'could ease' release congestion
The kind of release schedule congestion that hit the videogames industry last November could be eased with the increasing popularity of digital distribution, with potentially lower price points also teasing gamers into buying more games throughout the year.
That's the opinion of Media Molecule co-founder Alex Evans, who saw his company's much-anticipated LittleBigPlanet - released late last year - suffer from the deluge of triple-A titles that were launched in a hectic four-week period.
But while he told GamesIndustry.biz that, in hindsight, he wouldn't have altered the game's release date - preferring to get it to people as soon as possible - he did see a possible way forward for the industry in that area, despite the huge revenues available from festive gift-giving.
Interview: Media Molecule's Alex Evans
One of the most anticipated titles of 2008 was Media Molecule's LittleBigPlanet - a key strut in the PlayStation 3's release schedule in the build-up to Christmas. But now the game has been out there for a while, what is the team up to? GamesIndustry.biz caught up with co-founder Alex Evans at this year's Nordic Game Conference to find out some of the plans on the horizon.
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GAMING NEWS
Submissions Now Open for the 2010 Independent Games Festival
12th annual showcase for independent games returns to the GDC with close to $50,000 in prizes.The Wednesday 10: Gaming Heroines
Forget damsels in distress and sexy sidekicks. These women are the real deal.Trilogy Studios Announces Britt Morris as Technical Director
Former Disney Interactive Studios technical lead will oversee company's technical department.RTL and Meridian4 Connect Four
Four new games getting North American release with the new partnership.Eduardo's Take on Mastermind
Mastermind: World Conquerer (Web)A fun and campy take on the world of super villains.
Crytek CEO to Deliver Keynote Address on the Future of Gaming Graphics at GDC Europe
President of germany's top action game developer to explore future of gaming graphics.NVIDIA Announces Contest, Chanice to Win All-Expenses Paid Trip to Blizzcon 2009
Promotion will have gamers saying WoW.Namco Bandai Games Europe Announces Namco Bandai Partners Program
Completes purchase of worldwide PAL distribution operation from Atari.2BeeGames Names Winner of Indie Game Competition
Web's top indie game showcase to award winner $10,000 and a publishing contract.Sony, Apple, and Nintendo Sued Over Patent
Company claims mobile devices infringe on graphic accelerators.MTV Games Only Wants 'Meaningful Peripherals'
Company still putting gameplay ahead of plastic controllers.Ubisoft Expands Global Reach, Opening New Studio in Toronto
Province supports Ubisoft in development of first Ontario-based studio.ng Connect Program Showcases Intercontinental Multiplayer Gaming Over LTE
Real-time multi-player Powerboat Challenge played between IEEE ICC booth in Dresden and ng Connect Program lab in Ottawa over two LTE networks.Video Games Live to Perform 12 Shows in July
Special performances and special guests to compliment record breaking tour.
Photos
Notes
Halo 4?
Halo 4 to be Launch Title for Next Generation Xbox?
Gearbox again rumoured to be at the reins.
… Continue
Created by GODZULU Aug 26, 2008 at 7:51am. Last updated by GODZULU Aug. 26, 2008.
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Created by GODZULU Aug 26, 2008 at 7:50am. Last updated by GODZULU Aug. 26, 2008.
MORE NEWS
Grudge Match: Street Fighter IV vs. BlazBlue
Can an upstart young fighting game unseat the undisputed champ?Left 4 Dead 1 & 2 Compared
Our quick guide to what's different about Valve's upcoming zombie sequel.Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Buyer's Guide Video
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (X360)This year Potter makes his way to nearly every system. Which one is right for you?
THQ Will Have Launch Games For Project Natal
Company also intends to fully support motion controllers.Another Studio Working on BioShock 2
BioShock 2 (X360)Arkane joins 2K Marin, 2K Australia, and Digital Extremes for big budget sequel.
The Bigs 2 TV Spot
The Bigs 2 (X360)Check out this commercial featuring cover athlete Prince Fielder of the Milwaukee Brewers.
Modern Warfare 2 Boxart, Is It Real?
Modern Warfare 2 (X360)"Call of Duty" moniker makes its return.
Brutal Legend Video
Brütal Legend (X360)Check out the hilarious Jack Black in the 4th installment of Brutal Thoughts.
Sam Fisher's New Shotgun
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction (X360)Gamestop pre-order bonus packs a punch.
Dragon Age Origins: Cause and Effect
Dragon Age: Origins (X360)BioWare demonstrates how small choices have big consequences.
MechWarrior Revealed
MechWarrior (X360)Smith and Tinker and Piranha Games are working on a full reboot of the acclaimed franchise.
MechWarrior Q&A - The First Details
MechWarrior (X360)The classic franchise reboots with a brand new adventure and we have the first details anywhere.
MechWarrior Rewind Theater
MechWarrior (X360)IGN BattleTech expert Jeff Haynes goes over the reveal trailer in detail.
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