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The PlayStation Phone (or Zeus if you're in denial) looks a lot like the PSPGo, except for the fact that the analogue stick has been replaced with a strip of touch-pad and, obviously, it has the necessary phoney bits at either end.

Spec-wise it's going to be packing a 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8655, 512MB of RAM, 1GB of ROM, and a screen between 3.7 and 4.1 inches.

We also 'know' it's going to be running on Android, which means it should be a lot more customisable and flexible than an Apple product, for example.

Of course, all this comes from various sources, insiders and crystal balls - even the pictures we've seen have been labelled as prototypes. So, really, we don't know anything for certain, but at least we'll have some idea of how likely this wish-list is.

Here are just some of the things that would make us pick up a PlayStation Phone on day one. Don't forget to throw your 'must haves' into the hat into the hat as well.

POCKET PLAYSTATION
So far there's been minimal talk about what kind of games we can actually expect on the PlayStation Phone - In fact, there's been minimal talk, full stop. We have heard, however, that we won't be seeing downloadable PSP games as such, but games made specially for the phone itself.

We say that's a load of old pickle juice. If this is going to be a PlayStation Phone it needs to knock the buttons off its rivals in terms of gaming. We don't expect it to become as hardcore as a handheld console - we're still hoping for a PSP2 to cover that - what would open our wallets, however, is PlayStation classics in our pocket.

That's proper games, not gimmicky addictions, that not only have quality gameplay at the core (even if they don't have the modern day polish) but a nice jolt of nostalgia to boot.

Whatever strategy Sony takes games wise with the phone, we just hope it won't suffer in the software department like the PSP has. Great, inventive developers need to be enthused and snatched up for the PS Phone if it's going to even have a chance of success with us gamers.


STICKY SITUATION
Is anyone else a little bit worried about that touch pad? We're petrified. Touch pads don't have anywhere near the tactile feedback and subtle control capabilities as a couple of analogue sticks.

We do realise, however, that two Sixaxis style sticks wouldn't work on a slide phone - although we think we could come up with a pretty decent pop-up mechanism for two analogue sticks, given a bit of cash and a design team.

Unless Sony's got some super feely tech going on though, we need something better than a touch-pad, which can be annoying enough when moving a mouse on a laptop, never mind trying to control a half decent action adventure game.

At the very least we think the PlayStation Phone needs to have some way of incorporating two PSP style analogue sticks. We know they aren't the best in the world, but they're a necessary trade-off for compact control. One isn't enough on the PSP but give us two and we'd take it over that touch-sensitive strip any day.

TOUCH ME
Ok, this sounds like a bit of a contradiction considering our last two requests but the PlayStation Phone does need some touch screen capabilities. From a function perspective alone this one's a dead cert.

It doesn't have any numbers on it, that's the problem. The keyboard then, for SMS messaging and dialling numbers (it's a phone as well remember) has to be an adaptable on-screen interface as with the iPhone. Unless Sony is going to make us scroll through the alphabet using the D-pad... Wait, Sony wouldn't make us do that would it?

And we know we said the PlayStation Phone should go beyond app gaming but that doesn't mean it can't cater for the little blighters at all. We're fans of games like Cut The Rope and Angry Birds and they work best with a bit of finger control.

Besides, they're so successful both in terms of printing money and critical acclaim that it would be mad for Sony not to try and get in on the market. We might be hardcore gamers, but we have a 'come one come all' mentality as long as the core remain well fed.

The touch screen can't be a makeshift thing though, Apple pretty much managed to take it to the next level and Sony need to match it. Remember, the PlayStation Phone has to allow people to browse the net, type and navigate its features with ease as well as providing great game content.

THE SOCIAL NETWORK
For the love of everything that's holy Sony, when can we get Trophies on the PSP? Wait, on second thoughts, scrap that, it's too late now. Just put Trophies straight on the PlayStation Phone. It's the perfect device for it.

We're assuming that the device will have both wireless and 3G connectivity so being fully integrated with friends in both a social and gaming level is crucial as well. Just like on the PS3 we want to be able to see friends' profiles, what they're playing and compare stats and Trophies. Basically the PS Phone needs a proper online gaming platform.

We want full integration with the PSP and PS3 as well, since we've already got remote access ...

Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices division, which includes the Xbox, Zune and Windows Phone 7 businesses, has reported an operating profit of $382 million (£239m) for its first financial quarter, up 46 per cent on the same period last year.

Revenues were up 27 per cent to $1.79 billion (£1.1bn) as the company shipped 2.8 million Xbox 360 units, up 38 per cent from the 2.1 million shipped in the first quarter of the 2010 financial year.

Halo Reach, the latest in the best-selling shooter franchise, has generated revenues of $350 million (£219m) since launch, said Microsoft.

The entire Microsoft business reported record first quarter results for the period ended September 30, with revenues up 25 per cent to $16.20 billion (£10.1bn). Profit was $5.41 billion (£3.3bn) and operating income $7.12 billion ($4.4bn).

"This was an exceptional quarter, combining solid enterprise growth and continued strong consumer demand for Office 2010, Windows 7, and Xbox 360 consoles and games," commented Peter Klein, chief financial officer at Microsoft.

"Our ability to grow revenue while continuing to control costs allowed us to deliver another quarter of year-over-year margin expansion."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...-for-microsoft ...

Hi All,

OpenTyrian is a port of the DOS shoot-em-up Tyrian. Jason Emery generously
gave the OpenTyrian developers a copy of the Tyrian 2.1 source code,
which has since been ported from Turbo Pascal to C. The port uses SDL,
making it easily cross-platform.

See http://code.google.com/p/opentyrian/ for details.

Tyrian is an arcade-style vertical scrolling shooter.

Here is port on Caanoo of the previous Wiz version :

it's on my blog ...



Enjoy,

Zx. ...

Global sales of PlayStation 3 aren't far off those of Xbox 360. And Sony is gaining on Microsoft.

The latest numbers (based on sales up to 30th September 2010) show the rival consoles only five million units apart: 39.2 million PlayStation 3s to 44.6 million Xbox 360s.

But globally PlayStation is selling faster: Sony recorded 3.5 million PS3 sales from the start of July to the end of September whereas Microsoft reported 2.8 million Xbox 360 sales.

PS3 launched a year after the Xbox 360 in the US, and even later in Europe. And while Microsoft may enjoy a current lead in the US hardware charts, on the other side of the world the PS3 reigns supreme - the Japanese barely register the Xbox 360.

The battle of this autumn's motion sensors Move (PS3) and Kinect (Xbox 360) may prove decisive. Sony's just-released money report said both PS3 hardware and software "benefited" from the mid-September (US, Europe) arrival of PlayStation Move. The numbers back this up: between January and March 2.2 million PlayStation 3 console were sold; between April and June 2.4 million were sold; and between July and September 3.5 million were sold.

Sony has billed PlayStation Move as a slow-burner whereas Microsoft is going for a big-splash entry with Kinect next month. If what Sony said about Move demand outstripping manufacturing in the US is true, we may have a proper Tortoise and the Hare-style battle ahead.

Sony noted an $85 million profit (operating income) today for the Networked Product and Services division that houses PlayStation. During the same July-September period last year, that number was a frown: a loss of $731 million. Sony picked out the "strong performance" of PS3 and its "significant hardware cost reductions and higher sales" as a major reason why things improved.

Sony's other machines - the PS2 and PSP - were bought 1.5 million times apiece during those three months. But it's Sony's old PS2 that has the yearly edge, having shifted 4.8 million consoles since January compared to PSP's 4.1 million.

Around the world, 35.3 million PlayStation 3 games were bought between July and the end of September. PSP game sales dipped to 11 million and PS2 game sales halved to 5.6 million.

Sony reckons that by March 2011, PS3 will have sold 15 million consoles, PSP 8 million and PS2 6 million. Sony's financial year starts in April; with half of it gone the PlayStation 3 count stands at 5.9 million - only 9.1 million to go!

Can Sony do it? Well, between October and the end of December 2009, Sony sold 6.5 million PS3s. A similar performance this Christmas would leave only 2.6 million to sell early next year.

Sony's total company take for the three months ending 30th September was $20.9 billion. That breaks down into Consumer, Professional & Devices ($10.7 billion), Networked Products and Services ($4.4 billion), Financial Services ($2.7 billion), Sony Pictures ($1.7 billion) and Sony Music ($1.3 billion). Doesn't quite add up, but I've rounded a couple of numbers because this isn't a maths exam.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...-at-360s-heels ...

The global total of Xbox 360 consoles sold now stands at 44.6 million, Microsoft has announced. And the game-per-console attach rate has risen to 8.9.

Those figures arrive after an "exceptional" three month performance by the house that Bill Gates built - particularly the Entertainment and Devices Division.

From the start of July to the end of September, Microsoft sold 2.8 million Xbox 360s worldwide - 38 per cent more than during the same period last year.

Halo: Reach was singled out as the reason why. Bungie's swansong generated $350 million for Microsoft in just over two weeks (from launch - 14th September - up until the end of the month). Halo: Reach sales weren't mentioned.

The Xbox 360 platform raked in $409 million for Microsoft, accounting for nearly a quarter of the Entertainment and Devices Division's total $1.8 billion take (EDD also includes Zune and Windows Phone 7).

Expenses rose, too - most poignantly those for research and development, which was up $65 million over the three months. Dun dun dun, what could Microsoft be up to?

Also noted was "continued strong Xbox Live membership", although what this means in monetary terms wasn't specified.

As a whole, Bill Gates' empire made $16.2 billion from the start of July to the end of September. Very good, although not quite as good as Apple, which trumpeted a record $20 billion haul earlier this month.

The other contributors to Microsoft's total were Microsoft Business Division ($5.1 billion), Windows & Windows Live Division ($4.8 billion), Server and Tools ($4.0 billion) and Online Services Division ($0.5 billion).

Microsoft's next money report comes at the end of January. Numbers should be astronomic, if the imminent Kinect can live up to the hype Microsoft has built around it. There will also be the global launch of Windows Phone 7 - out now in Europe/Asia, out in US/Canada from 8th November - to consider.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...obal-360-count ...

Microsoft's chief of staff for its Interactive Entertainment Business Aaron Greenberg has hinted the company is prepared for a mixed media response to its initial Kinect titles.

"I don't know how reviewers will grade those games because they're so unique and so different to what the reviewers have played with controllers," he admitted to sister site Eurogamer.

"We'd love to see great reviews but I don't think you'll see the same type of correlation between reviews and actual sales of the game."

When asked if he was worried about a possible negative response, he claimed that "I'm not nervous. I know what the media thinks; we know they love Dance Central, we've heard they think it's the killer app. They're excited about Child of Eden. We've even had a lot of good feedback for Kinectimals from the core."

Greenberg also reasserted recent Microsoft claims that "this will be the largest launch we've ever had as a business," even feeling that "We'll definitely sell more sensors than the Wii sold when it launched or the Xbox 360 sold when it launched."

There was no budging from earlier sales projections either. "We feel safe we'll do three million this holiday, which puts us in pretty high territory for even a consumer electronics product."

The chief of staff also batted away questions about the need for a new Xbox, claiming Kinect would rejuvenate the 360. "I think we're five years in and we safely feel like there's at least another five years left in this generation."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...es-correlation ...

Sega Sammy's games division has recorded an operating loss for the first half of the financial year of ¥1.3 billion ($16.1m / £10.1m) - an improvement on the ¥38.8 billion ($482.2m / £303.2m) loss for the same period last year.

Sales of home videogame software were up year-on-year from ¥15.7 billion ($194.6 / £122.3m) to ¥18.7 billion ($231.8m / £145.7m).

However, strong performances by the Pachinko, Amusement and Arcade departments helped the entire Sega Sammy corporation record a profit of ¥24.3 billion ($301.9m / £189.9m), compared to a loss of ¥6.3 billion ($78.4m / £49.3m).

Sales for the six months were up 41.1 per cent to ¥217.8 billion ($2.7bn / £1.6bn).

Sega described the home videogame business as slow outside of Japan, revealing it sold a total of 6.6 million games worldwide in the first half.

"In the home video game software industry, the demand was generally weak in the US and European markets due to the headwind like sluggish personal consumption," said Sega Sammy.

"The Group needs to adapt to changing business environment in which the market demand for new content geared to social networking service (SNS), smartphone is expanding."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...deogame-losses ...

The PlayStation 3 already has its fair share of impressive exclusive titles.

Blockbuster games such as Uncharted 2, Metal Gear Solid 4 and Killzone 3 have set the bar pretty high for upcoming titles.

Fortunately the lineup is looking very strong indeed. Over the next few days we'll be counting down 42 of the most anticipated upcoming PS3 exclusives.

42. Final Fantasy Versus XIII: Need more emo boys hitting each other with big swords and making moody comments in your life? You'll love this.


41. The Sly Collection: Sucker Punch's three PS2 Sly Cooper platformers on one Blu-ray, uprated to HD (and Honor Among Thieves gets full 3D). Bargain.

40. Yazuka: The End: Who plays ping-pong during a zombie apocalypse? Yakuza, that's who. Robot arms, ball-gags, karaoke, braineating...it's all here.

39. Horizon: Due 'sooner than you think,' expect sci-fi in the Heavy Rain engine about a once-captive man and a repressed woman. Will be incredible.

38. Dynasty Warriors 7: Its 'dynasty' stretches back a decade, which is a lot of hacking and slashing by anyone's count.

37. Prince of Persia Collection: Sands Of Time, Warrior Within and Two Thrones - all together, in HD, and exclusive to PS3. All three games are still great.

36. Starhawk: Lightbox Interactive's new direction for its popular tactical multi-player battler Warhawk takes it right into space. And that's all we know.

35. Disgaea 4: This Insanely deep tactical RPG series is finally embracing HD and ditching old-school stylings for something more hi-res. Mad and beautiful.

34. Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath: In this HD remake you play as a bounty hunter who uses live animals as ammo for his weapons. Imaginative, funny.

33. Ape Escape Fury Fury: First-person, on rails, Move-controlled monkey catching action. Looks bonkers, but should be a solid party game.

32. No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise: Suda 51's stylish brawler is coming to PS3 and adds PlayStation Move support for Travis Touchdown's lightsaber.


31. Dead Nation: This top-down PSN zombie apocalypse shooter offers co-op play for four undead hunters. It's out soon, so keep an eye on the Store.

30. Virtua Tennis 4: Roger Federer and his licensed tennis chums smashing each other round the court. Move compatible and supports 3D for rich folk.

29. Time Crisis: Razing Storm: Light-gun (now Move) shooter returns as terrorists and mercs join forces to attack the USA from behind a series of boxes.

28. Sorcery: This Move compatible wizarding game impressed at E3, but has since gone quiet. Live out Gandalf fantasies next year. "You shall not pass" etc.

27. The Fight: Lights Out: Probe the gritty, underground world of bare-knuckle boxing with your Move controller and Eye camera. They won't laugh.

26. Echochrome 2: Boldly colourful, pleasingly surreal PlayStation Eye / Move controlled puzzler that you control merely with light and shadow.

25. Singstar: Hoping to ape the success of Just Dance on Wii, Sony are bringing Move-friendly Singstar Dance to PS3. Expect energetic pop.

24. Explodemon: This platformer is part Bomberman, part Mega Man. Our hero, who looks a bit like a tiny Iron Man, can explode to jump obstacles and kill foes.

23. Agent: It's the 1970s and you're travelling the world slotting people in a shadowy world of espionage. Rockstar's latest is quiet, but it's still coming.

22. Socom 4: This Move-controlled squad shooter offers a more serious brand of war for those with a wand, but not fancying Killzone 3. If 'they' exist.

21. Heroes on the Move: In a nutshell: Move-controlled, co-op platforming action featuring Jak & Daxter, Ratchet & Clank and Sly Cooper. Ace.

20. Yakuza 4: Yakuza 4 was built in less than a year from Y3's engine. A new structure with four lead characters promises much, but story will still be king.

19. Twisted Metal: Post-apocalyptic 16-player car combat from what's apparently PlayStation's longest running franchise. By David 'God Of War' Jaffe.


18. DC Universe: Action-based MMO with the heroes and villains of, yes, DC comics. Don't fancy Batman, Superman or Wonder Woman? Make your own hero.

17. Final Fantasy XIV: With a flexible job system, this MMORPG lets you customise your characters without a traditional experience points set-up.

16. The Agency: Online class-based RPG that ditches witches for spies. Think gadgetry, glamour - airships, oil rigs, mansions and islands.

Check back tomorrow to see part two of the countdown where we'll be taking a much deeper look at a few more of the hottest upcoming PS3 exclusives.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...VG-General-RSS ...

EA and BioWare’s Mass Effect 2 is the big winner of this year’s 28th Annual Golden Joystick Awards, claiming two prizes including the coveted Ultimate Game of the Year gong – at the expense of pre-event favourite Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.
Other winners include Assassin’s Creed II (action/adventure), Guitar Hero 5 (music), Forza 3 (racing), Street Fighter IV (fighting) and FIFA 10 (EA).
However, as is very much fitting with the modern face of digital gaming it was the casual sector that made a big breakthrough this year.
PopCap’s Plants vs Zombies was the only title apart from Mass Effect 2 to claim two awards – Download Game of the Year and Strategy Game of the Year. Indie favourite World of Goo claimed the Puzzle prize while Jagex beat off some high-profile competition to claim the best developer award.
Here are the winners in full:
* Action/Adventure Game of the Year
Assassin’s Creed II

* Download Game of the Year
Plants Vs Zombies
* Fighting Game of the Year
Super Street Fighter IV
* Music Game of the Year
Guitar Hero 5
* Online Game of the Year
League Of Legends
* Portable Game of the Year
Pokémon Heart Gold/Soul Silver
* Puzzle Game of the Year
World Of Goo
* RPG of the Year
Mass Effect 2
* FPS of the Year
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
* Racing Game of the Year
Forza 3
* Shooter of the Year
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
* Soundtrack of the Year
Final Fantasy XIII
* Sports Game of the Year
FIFA10
* Strategy Game of the Year

Plants Vs Zombies

* UK Developer of the Year
Jagex
* One to Watch
COD: Black Ops
* Ultimate Game of the Year
Mass Effect 2

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/41566/Gold...inners-crowned ...