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via Computer and Video Games


Sony has said that you can now download a new pack of motors for the love-it-or-hate-it PSP version of Gran Turismo for free.
Do you agree or would you rather a better career mode was beamed into the handheld version? ...

There's an exciting planet-friendly WiiWare game on offer today called 530 Eco Shooter.

Exciting because Metroid developer Intelligent System made it. Pay 1000 Wii Points (£7/€10) and step into the shoes of Mack, a recycling plant worker. He's trying to prevent evil Cannoid creatures from using the world's can supply to destroy our planet. On his own he's useless, but armed with his recycling cannon he makes a difference.

It's basically Duck Hunt but with cans. The official 530 Eco Shooter website can tell you more.

Over on DSiWare, meanwhile, is Gameloft's action RPG Legends of Exidia. Swords: check, sorcery: check, levels: check, loot: check - it's all in there. Legends of Exidia costs 800 DSi Points (£7.20/€8).

Also on DSiWare are two more Electroplankton creatures to hit and make music on. They are Luminarrow and Sun-Animalcule, and they cost 200 DSi Points (£1.80/€2) each.

On Virtual Console there's Street Fighter Alpha 2. a SNES game, this mixed combos and counters into the Street Fighter pot. Three new characters also showed up: Rolento, Sakura and Gen. Street Fighter Alpha 2 costs 800 Wii Points (£5.60/€8).

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/53...-wiiware-today ...

Namco Bandai has slapped a 16th April release date on its PS3 and 360 action game, Dead to Rights: Retribution.

That's for Europe. In the US, it'll be available from the preceding Tuesday (13th April) as per usual.

Dead to Rights: Retribution is a revival of the not-that-fondly-remembered series of gritty third-person shooters starring a gruff police officer and his crimefighting dog, Shadow.

North American players get a choice of in-game pre-order bonuses depending on their preferred retailer, including one that features MadWorld-style "noir mode" graphics and dog camouflage, which sounds pretty sweet actually. Here's hoping there'll be something similar in Europe.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/de...ribution-dated ...

Underwhelmed by the iPad? Don't give up on tablets just yet, says blogger Peter Smith. MSI has a tablet coming in the second half of 2010 that measures up on price and size and addresses a lot of the iPad's most noted shortcomings. 'The iPad runs iPhone OS while the MSI runs Android,' writes Smith. 'That means the MSI will multitask of course, and Flash support in Android should be a given by launch time (though that isn't certain). It has a camera. It's running on an Nvidia Tegra2 chip which Ars Technica suggests puts it on par with the iPad's A4 as far as computing horsepower. And of course Android doesn't live in a walled garden.'"
The post notes that the MSI device does not support multitouch in its built-in apps. Still, would an Android-powered iPad-alike tempt you?

http://linux.slashdot.org/story/10/0...ad-Alternative ...

recombu.com is running an interesting piece about how Apple has created a 'Jumanji (board game) platform.' The 9.7-inch multi-touch screen is perfect for playing board games at home, and you could use Wi-Fi or 3G to play against other people when you're on your own. What would be really interesting is if you could pair the iPad with iPhones, 'Imagine a Scrabble iPad game that used iPhones as letter holders. You could hold up your iPhone so that no one else could see your letters and when you were ready to make a word on the Scrabble iPad board, you could slide them on to the board by flicking the word tiles off your iPhone.' Now that would be cool.

http://apple.slashdot.org/story/10/0...-Game-Platform ...

Microsoft has told CVG to "wait and see" if it's got a future Alan Wake sequel up its sleeve - as it calls the upcoming game "something you've never experienced before".

The psychological adventure is on track for release in the spring, and has the Xbox 360 community buzzing for its arrival.

"It's unique and gripping story - heavily influenced by pop culture classics - is brought to life using techniques reminiscent of modern movies and TV shows," Microsoft product marketing manager Laura Disney told CVG.

"The goal of Alan Wake is create an intense experience for the player, and though 'psychological thriller' might not be a genre we are used to applying to games, Alan Wake is definitely not something you've experienced before."

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

Russian mobile games developer HeroCraft has got in early by announcing its first game for Apple's new iPad tablet.
Majesty is a conversion of the popular PC strategy game, and will be optimised for the iPad's high-resolution screen.
It's also coming out for Java, Android and BlackBerry handsets, as well as (presumably) the plain old iPhone.
"We're impressed by the new Apple tablet device," says HeroCraft's sales and marketing director Alexey Sazonov.
"We believe it will provide the ideal platform for gaming, filling the gap between traditional desktop and mobile phone devices. Coming from a strong PC background, Majesty will work tremendously well on a high resolution portable device like the iPad."

http://www.mobile-ent.biz/news/35827...irst-iPad-game ...

Game studios should have a bigger say on the price of their digital content, a panel of developers have said.
This week’s Develop Jury has returned a majority view that downloadable content for online platforms such as XBLA should be more flexibly priced.
There was however some support for platform holders controlling the costs.
Assyria MD Adam Green said that platform holders are best positioned to determine prices of digital games.
“They are the ones with the majority of the data on sales,” he said, “and therefore in the best position to judge the most suitable price in order to make the highest return, which is ultimately in everyone's best interest.”

However he added that if sales data was more freely available then it would be better to allow studios to determine prices.

“The reality is that the data is largely kept secret and this is unlikely to change in the near future...”
Green wasn’t especially against the idea of fixed online prices, either, saying they prevented “obvious under-cutting which could damage the market for everyone.”
Zoe Mode general manager Ed Daly also explored the issue of how flexible pricing could lead to under-cutting, yet believed there was a greater-good at play.
“While I understand a fear that flexible pricing may mean a race to the bottom, surely the logic and principles around pricing theory that applies to all other forms of commerce hold true for XBLA and PSN,” he said.
“Without the ability to run pricing experiments in a real market we can't learn how to balance unit price and volumes to maximise revenues,” he added.
“Smart pricing tactics should mean more revenue for developers and some great deals for gamers, many of whom would otherwise spend their money on something else.”
Daly’s view was backed by Doublesix studio head James Brooksby, who revealed interesting sales trends from experimenting with digital prices.
“We have had control over our PSN pricing for our games and all the packs, themes, Home contents and have fluctuated prices according to demand and campaigns.
“Our best example of this is that we put Burn Zombie Burn into a half price promotion around the Christmas holidays and sold seven times more sales than the previous month. Now that is good business!
Brooksby added, however, that there should be restrictions in place to limit under-cutting.
“The consumer is already getting great value for money. I would hate to see a price war that ends up with games diving towards zero price points as we have seen elsewhere, there is no business in it.”
Meanwhile, nDreams Patrick O'Luanaigh and Proper Games’ Andrew Smith were strong backers of more control for developers.
Said Smith: “It is widely known that Steam (as well as other similar services) and the information it makes available to developers mean that seemingly crazy sales and weird experiments with free weekend deals has had some credible success. The value of bringing your old game to the front of a digital store and back into the consumer's minds is not to be underestimated.”
While O'Luanaigh added: “I'm a strong believer in allowing content creators to play around with their pricing and see what works. One of the best things about developing for Facebook and other online networks is that we're in charge of the entire finance chain; we can set our pricing as we want, and then watch the money (minus a small percentage to the PayPal or whoever) come directly to us. It's very refreshing.”
Elsewhere in the feature – which you can read in full here - PlayableGames director Owen Daly-Jones discussed the idea of offering discounts to loyal customers.
And Team17 studio director Martyn Brown gave his full support for platform holders’ control of digital prices.
“If your project is being funded by someone else, and likely published,” he said, “then it's difficult to argue that the developer has the right to name the price because they may not be fully aware of all the costs.”

http://www.develop-online.net/news/3...me-prices-Jury ...

Nintendo's Satoru Iwata has responded sceptically to Apple's iPad, saying the device is just a bigger iPod Touch.

The Nintendo president said Apple had delivered "no surprises", telling the New York Times, "It was a bigger iPod Touch."

Iwata also took the opportunity to deny speculation that Nintendo is working towards the release of an HD-enabled Wii and a DS equipped with motion control.

"I question whether those features would be enough to get people to buy new machines," he said.

He also expressed his view that 3D gaming wouldn't catch on, although said he welcomed 3D films such as Avatar.

"I have doubts whether people will be wearing glasses to play games at home. How is that going to look to other people?" he responded.

The possible health effects of 3D game playing would also need to be examined, he said, since users would engage with 3D games for longer periods than they do a two hour film.

Reactions to Apple's iPad following its unveiling on Wednesday have been mixed, with most developers responding positively with the view the device could shrink the gap that currently exists between the casual and console gaming markets.

Others however have criticised Apple for creating a device for which there is no market, and question whether it will damage the prospects of smaller companies that have, so far, thrived on developing for the App Store.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...ger-ipod-touch ...