Make your mind up. Final Fantasy XIII producer Yoshinori Kitase has denied that there are plans to release any downloadable content for the RPG epic, just weeks after saying there would be.

"Regarding the DLC content, we feel that the final product is 100 per cent enjoyable... it's the complete package. So we're not planning any DLC at this time," Kitase told the PlayStation blog.

He also moved to clear up talk of a large amount of content that had been cut from the game, which many guessed might form the basis of future DLC plans.

"In regard to the rumoured cut content, we feel it was taken out of context," Kitase said. "There are a lot of ideas that are brought to the table, and then the team takes the best ideas out of those, and the final product is polished that way. There was content that were 'ideas' that didn't make the final content, but the team isn't looking to release that as downloadable content."

There seems to be some confusion here, but we're going to err on the side of "not happening".

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/ff...he-cards-again ...

Sony has announced a Japanese release date for Torne, the new PS3-compatible digital video recorder.

Torne is a bit like PlayTV, the Hrecorder released in Europe back in 2008. Once hooked up to the PS3 with a USB cable, it allows the user to view a programme guide and search for shows via genre or keyword.

You can also pre-programme the unit to record at certain times and it will do so regardless of whether the console is on standby, or being used to play a game or watch a film. Torne can record to either the PS3's internal hard drive or an external device.

Torne will launch in Japan on 18th March, priced at ¥9980 (£70) or as part of a 250GB PS3 bundle for ¥42,800 (£300).

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/ne...-japanese-date ...

Asked yet again what he'd think about remaking PSone classic Final Fantasy VII, Square Enix's Yoshinori Kitase - producer of FFXIII and director of FFVII back in the day - has said he'd be "really interested" in such a project.

"I'm really interested to see this more complete form of Final Fantasy VII portrayed more realistically with the voice and animation and all the subtle expressions there," he told GameTrailers (via VG247).

"I'd be interested to see that and to make that, it would be a great experience. I don't get tired of people asking that question," Kitase added, apparently without sarcasm, "so I'll continue to answer my thoughts as long as people keep asking."

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/ki...n-ffvii-remake ...

South Australian Attorney-General Michael Atkinson claims, in an interview with Good Game, that gamers were more of a threat to his family than biker gangs. This is the man who has been the biggest opponent to Australia receiving an R18+ rating for video games and who has the power to veto any such law introducing it."

http://games.slashdot.org/story/10/0...an-Biker-Gangs ...

Sales of Slim PS3 are running over 20 per cent ahead of internal expectations
Following warnings from the US over the weekend about PS3 hardware stock shortages in the region, Sony UK has admitted to MCV that the console is also in short supply in the UK.
However, the platform holder hopes that the problems will be eased in the near future.
“Since we launched the slimline PS3 model, the demand has been overwhelming – running over 20 per cent ahead of our expectations,” sales director Mark Howsen told MCV.
“Whilst it is hugely pleasing that PS3 slim has been greeted so enthusiastically, we understand that this has lead to some stock issues, particularly with the 120Gb model. We are doing our best to address these issues and hope to catch up in the next few weeks.”
Sony will no doubt be keen to make sure there are plenty of machines in the shops ahead of arrival of a number of key releases in the coming weeks, including Heavy Rain (February 26th), Final Fantasy XIII (March 9th) and God of War III (week ending March 19th).

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/37582/Sony...K-stock-issues ...

Sony CEO Howard Stringer has revealed that the company's "committed to extending" the "rapidly growing PlayStation Network" to Sony Ericsson mobiles.

Stringer said during a speech at the Mobile Phone World Congress (via Lost Gamer):

"PSN is a not so secret weapon... Leveraging PSN we are building a new network service that will connect many more network enabled products including Sony Bravias, Viaos and Blu-ray players.

"And as part of these initiatives we are also exploring consistent user interfaces across Sony and Sony Ericsson products to ensure a seamless and integrated experience for the consumer.

"Sony's unique position as a company with global assets and expertise in entertainment content, as well as hardware and software, will continue to benefit these initiatives," Stringer added.

Just yesterday Microsoft said that its new Windows Phone 7 Series, set for release before Christmas, will support a range of Xbox Live features.

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

Sony has confirmed it will be holding a session devoted to the upcoming PlayStation 3 motion controller at this year's GDC in San Francisco.

Entitled 'Introducing the PlayStation 3 Motion Controller', the session will be hosted by David Coombes, SCEA platform research manager, and Kirk Bender, SCEA developer support.

The 60 minute presentation, which is geared at programmers, will take place on Thursday, March 11 at 3pm.

GDC 2010 will be held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco from March 9-13.

Speakers from Epic, BioWare, Naughty Dog and Bungie are among the hundreds confirmed and the event's keynote will be delivered by Sid Meier of Firaxis.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...roller-session ...

The GAME British Academy Video Games Awards has revealed the nominees for 2010, with Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Batman: Arkham Asylum and Assassin's Creed II leading the pack of 40 titles.

Sony's PS3 exclusive received nine nominations, with all four games recognised in the Action, Artistic Achievement, Best Game, Gameplay and Original Score categories.

This year's only publicly-voted category, the GAME Award of 2009, features Assassin's Creed II, Batman: Arkham Asylum, The Beatles: Rock Band, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, FIFA 10, GTA Chinatown Wars, The Legend of Zelda Spirit Tracks, Street Fighter IV, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and Wii Sports Resort in the shortlist.

The BAFTA Awards also include the Ones to Watch category in association with Dare to be Digital, with Colour Coded, Quick as Thieves and Shrunk! all up for the gong.

The GAME British Academy Video Games Awards take place on March 19 at the London Hilton on Park Lane.

The full list of categories and nominees follows:

Action

Assassin’s Creed II (Ubisoft/Ubisoft Montreal)
Batman: Arkham Asylum (Eidos/Rocksteady Studios)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Activision/Infinity Ward)
inFAMOUS (Sony/Sucker Punch Productions & SCE Foster City Studio)
Left 4 Dead 2 (Valve/EA)
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (Sony/Naughty Dog and SCE Foster City Studio)
Artistic Achievement

Assassin’s Creed II (Ubisoft/Ubisoft Montreal)
Batman: Arkham Asylum (Eidos/Rocksteady Studios)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Activision/Infinity Ward)
Flower (Sony/ThatGameCompany and SCE Santa Monica Studio)
Streetfighter IV (Capcom/Capcom)
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (Sony/Naughty Dog & SCE Foster City Studio)
Best Game

Assassin’s Creed II (Ubisoft/Ubisoft Montreal)
Batman: Arkham Asylum (Eidos/Rocksteady Studios)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Activision/Infinity Ward)
FIFA 10 (Electronic Arts/EA Canada)
Left 4 Dead 2 (Valve/EA)
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (Sony/Naughty Dog & SCE Foster City Studio)
Family & Social

The Beatles: Rock Band (Electronic Arts/MTV Games/Apple Corp/Harmonix Music Systems)
Buzz! Quiz World (Sony Relentless Software & XDEV Studio Europe)
EyePet (Sony/SCE London Studio)
Guitar Hero 5 (Activision/Neversoft Entertainment/Vicarios Visions/Budcat)
New Super Mario Bros Wii (Nintendo/Nintendo)
Wii Sports Resort (Nintendo/Nintendo)
Gameplay

Assassin’s Creed II (Ubisoft/Ubisoft Montreal)
Batman: Arkham Asylum (Eidos/Rocksteady Studios)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Activision/Infinity Ward)
New Super Mario Bros Wii (Nintendo/Nintendo)
PixelJunk Shooter (Sony/Q-Games & SCE Santa Monica Studio)
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (Sony/Naughty Dog & SCE Foster City Studio)
Handheld

Gran Turismo (Sony/Polphony Digital Inc)
LittleBigPlanet (Sony/SCE Cambridge & xev Studio Europe)
LocoRoco Midnight Carnival (Sony/SCE Japan Studio)
Mario and Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story (Nintendo/Nintendo)
Professor Layton and Pandora’s Box (Nintendo/Nintendo)
Scribblenauts (Warner Bros/5th Cell)
Multiplayer

Battlefield 1943 (Electronic Arts/Dice)
The Beatles: Rock Band (Electronic Arts/MTV Games/Apple Corp/Harmonix Music Systems)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Activision/Infinity Ward)
Halo 3 ODST (Microsoft Game Studios/Microsoft)
Left 4 Dead 2 (Valve/EA)
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (Sony/Naughty Dog and SCE Foster City Studio)
Original Score

Assassin’s Creed II (Ubisoft/Ubisoft Montreal)
Batman: Arkham Asylum (Eidos/Rocksteady Studios)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Activision/Infinity Ward)
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (Electronic Arts/EA Bright Light)
PixelJunk Shooter (Sony/Q-Games and SCE Santa Monica Studio)
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (Sony/Naughty Dog & SCE Foster City Studio)
Sports

Colin McRae: DiRT 2 (Codemasters/Codemasters Studios)
FIFA 10 (Electronic Arts/EA Canada)
Football Manager 2010 (Sega/Sports Interactive)
Forza 3 (Microsoft/Turn 10)
Wii Fit Plus (Nintendo/Nintendo)
Wii Sports Resort (Nintendo/Nintendo)
Story

Assassin’s Creed II (Ubisoft/Ubisoft Montreal)
Batman: Arkham Asylum (Eidos/Rocksteady Studios)
Broken Sword – Shadow of the Templars: The Director’s Cut (Ubisoft Entertainment/Revolution Software)
Brutal Legend (Electronic Arts/Double Fine Productions)
Dragon Age: Origins (Electronic Arts/BioWare)
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (Sony/Naughty Dog & SCE Foster City Studio)
Strategy

Command and Conquer 3: Uprising (Electronic Arts/EA Los Angeles)
Empire: Total War (Sega/Creative Assembly)
FIFA Manager 10 (EA Sports/Bright Future)
Football Manager 2010 (Sega/Sports Interactive)
Halo Wars (Microsoft/Ensemble Studios)
Plants vs Zombies (Popcap Games/Popcap Games)
Use of Audio

Batman: Arkham Asylum (Eidos/Rocksteady Studios)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Activision/Infinity Ward)
DJ Hero (Activision/Freestyle Games)
Flower (Sony/ThatGameCompany and SCE Santa Monica Studios)
Left 4 Dead 2 (Valve/EA)
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (Sony/Naughty Dog and SCE Foster City Studio)
Use of Online

Battlefield 1943 (Electronic Arts/EA DICE)
...

Final Fantasy XIII producer Yoshinori Kitase has told CVG he thinks motion control wouldn't work for a Final Fantasy game - because it would be "too exhausting".

"These new type of controllers are very interesting, but we're not sure that people would like to spend up to 100 hours playing a conventional Final Fantasy title with these type of controllers," Kitase told us.

"It could be too exhausting if you were always swinging a sword around for battles. So we will have to see what the future holds," he added.

We played Zelda: Twilight Princess for 60 hours on Wii with no problems. Just saying.

LittleBigPlanet. WipEout HD and Resident Evil 5 will be among the numerous games getting motion control updates for PS3's wand later this year.

Kitase recently also told CVG, in response to FFXIII reviews, that the FF team "try not to listen to the critics too much".

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