2K Marin's Jordan Thomas has said that the console wars are "silly".

"There's a cognitive effect known as confirmation bias which leads people to latch onto conclusions that support their preferences and ignore data which doesn't," Thomas told Destructoid (thanks VG247).

"This leads to wild, unreasoning loyalty to a chosen platform, sports team, or brand of soda." There's only one Dirk Kuyt.

"From a development perspective, the console wars are a bit silly. Our target is consistency, and it's always kind of sad to see people throwing their energy into platform partisanship, because it seems to flood the critical channels and drown out other creative discourse."

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/jo...wars-are-silly ...

Its Tap Tap Revenge games have been downloaded more than 25 million times on iPhone, but now Tapulous has launched a new game called Riddim Ribbon.
Developed in collaboration with Will.I.Am from the Black Eyed Peas, the game (App Store link) is a futuristic racer with three of the band's songs preloaded.
As players speed along the undulating track, they can choose to shift paths, triggering different remixes of the songs.
The game offers extra tracks via in-app purchases, with songs from Tiesto and Benny Benassi available at launch.
Early purchasers are also being offered a free MP3 remix download, and 100 credits to use to buy songs in Tap Tap Revenge 3.

http://www.casualgaming.biz/news/297...bbon-on-iPhone ...

UK games retailers have mixed feelings towards Apple’s new iPad.
The device was revealed last week after months of speculation and is due for launch early next month. Senior execs at Gameloft and EA presented new games for the device at its unveiling.
Already, some UK retailers have confirmed plans to stock the device – with the likes of GAME for one already promoting its upcoming release online.
“It’s always great to see another format hit the market where publishers and developers can create new content for consumers,” The Hut’s product marketing manager Sarah Jasper told MCV.
“When and if stock becomes available, The Hut Group would definitely be excited about stocking this.”

Morrison’s gaming buyer Jon Biggs added: “The iPad has promising potential across business, communication and entertainment and of course it’s part of what could possible be the most iconic family of products over the last ten years.
“In terms of gaming it seems to hit a sweet spot of having a massive screen whilst retaining a large degree of portability due to its slim profile. It might not fit in your pocket but in the car or on the train it will deliver not only gaming but a raft of other features, which will make it a popular choice.”
Gaming is a major part of iPad’s proposition following the popularity of games on iPod Touch and iPhone.
At the time of writing, the top four grossing games on the Apple App Store are all major video game brands – Grand Theft Auto, Rock Band, Broken Sword and Call of Duty.
However, specialist retailers are cautious over the machine due to its digital-only nature – and slow sales of the last download-only console, PSPgo.
“We do not see the iPad as the kind of product that we would welcome for our core customers,” said ShopTo CEO Igor Cipolletta. “Once the unit is sold, we would have no further customer interaction or sales opportunities.
“We still feel that, despite the relative successes of the iPhone and iPod Touch, the majority of gamers still prefer to purchase a physical product, that they can trade in or sell once finished with.
“We were correct in our assumption that PSPgo would be a sales flop, both in terms of its price and in its method of delivery. The majority of the gaming community definitely doesn’t share the developers’ thoughts on downloads.”
Grainger Games is also not convinced the iPad is ideal for their customers.
“After looking into the Apple iPad we can see that it is a great bit of kit, but it is not something that we will look to stock at this point,” said commercial director Chris Harwood.
“Being an Apple product we have no doubt that it will sell well – it just does not fit our brand proposition at this point in time. Our expectations would be that this product will undergo a number of iterations until it becomes more mass-market. Perhaps then, with more gaming support, we would look to stock it.”

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/37481/Reta...iPad-potential ...

Lucasarts has just announced Lego Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Full release follows...

LONDON, UK - 8th February, 2010 - LucasArts and TT Games today announced the development of LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars. The next chapter in the award-winning LEGO Star Wars videogame franchise, LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars will combine the best elements of all previous LEGO games while adding brand new gameplay to make it the most action-packed LEGO videogame to date. Developed by the same team at Traveller's Tales that created the critically acclaimed LEGO Star Wars and LEGO Indiana Jones series, the game will ship on the Wii, Nintendo DS, PLAYSTATION3 computer entertainment system, PSP (PlayStationPortable) system, and Xbox 360 videogame and entertainment system from Microsoft and Windows in the Autumn of 2010.

"LucasArts continues to set the bar for next-generation family entertainment," said Darrell Rodriguez, president of LucasArts. "The LEGO Star Wars franchise is a massive hit with fans, bringing in sales of over 20 million units worldwide. We're thrilled to extend this experience to LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars, delivering the humour and fun players expect from this award winning franchise."

"LucasArts is an amazing partner, and working with them on the next iteration of the LEGO Star Wars series continues to be a great experience," said Tom Stone, director at TT Games. "The team at TT is working hard at making this simply the best LEGO game ever with all new gameplay and features never before seen in a LEGO game."

LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars will include all the characters from both seasons of the hugely popular animated television series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, as well as some fan-favourite characters from the beloved theatrical Star Wars Saga. The game will feature brand new battle modes, giving players unique, head-to-head combat and an upgraded level builder, allowing the creation of customized bases and in-game battlefields. Play either as a Jedi or Separatist with all-new character abilities, such as Squad command, Lightsaber slicing, Lightsaber jumps, long distance Jedi attacks and Grapple Tie-Ups, all within a new, easy-to-navigate hub.

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

Sega has released a Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing demo on Xbox Live Marketplace.

Brilliantly, the demo description doesn't actually tell us what the demo contains - and neither does the PR blurb from Sega.

All we're told is we can "join Sonic and his SEGA friends in the race of your life." The big teasers.

So if you fancy the sound of having the race of your life - seriously, the race of your life - then grab the demo from Xbox Live Marketplace now. It'll have to be bloody good to dislodge Mario Kart from our office lunchtimes, mind you...
.
http://www.computerandvideogames.com...VG-General-RSS ...

Legendary developer is also working on a brand new Wii MotionPlus title
The Wii HD, Wii 2, DS2, the return of the Game Boy, perhaps a new Virtual Boy (or perhaps not) – the possibilities are numerous, but we now know for a fact that Nintendo IS working on new hardware.
The news comes from none other than acclaimed Nintendo games designer Shigeru Miyamoto who was speaking at the 13th Annual Japan Media Arts Festival on Saturday, Andriasang reports.
The developer offered no additional details, though he did confirm that he is once again back at work designing new games – this time he’s developing a brand new MotionPlus title for the Wii.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/37476/Miya...tendo-hardware ...

Metismo releases library for easy mobile porting
Mobile technology firm Metismo has released an OpenGL ES library for the PSP.
Originally developed as part of its Bedrock mobile porting technology, as profiled in this month's issue of Develop, Metismo has decided to release the OpenGL ES package as a static library that can be linked to the SN Systems compiler.
Supported features within the library include lighting; fogging; vertex buffer objects; uncompressed, palletised and additional DXTC compressed textures; fixed and floating point data type adherence; and internal vertex array conversion to optimal PSP formats.
“While we developed the OpenGL ES support as part of the broader Bedrock technology it became apparent that for some developers a standalone OpenGL ES package for the PSP was particularly beneficial,” said John Chasey, CEO of Metismo.

http://www.develop-online.net/news/3...-ES-now-on-PSP ...

Publisher THQ has announced a brand new Wii title that is in development and due for release this spring – All Star Karate. The game is an extension to THQ’s existing ‘All Star’ IP, the first release of which was All Star Cheer Squad, a 2008 title concerning cheerleading.
All Star Karate will also offer optional support for the Wii MotionPlus, the use of which will apparently allow for “a true full-body experience”. Players can also choose to play with just the standard controller and nunchuck, or two WiiRemotes.
“In All Star Karate, players will follow the life of a young, martial arts novice whose noble attempt to save an elderly man from a pack of ninjas brings him face-to-face with a true karate master,” the press release reads.


“The sensei, a cantankerous old-timer, offers his services and teaches his new protégé the proper techniques and disciplines of karate and guides him toward achieving the black belt.”

http://www.casualgaming.biz/news/297...ll-Star-Karate ...

Jamie MacDonald, the former VP of Sony Worldwide Studios who was responsible for bringing motion control to the home consoles as early as 2003 with EyeToy: Play on PS2, has warned that delivering affordable motion technology and compelling games will present a challenge for both his former employer and for Microsoft.

"I'm very much looking forward to the motion controllers from both Microsoft and Sony, as you might expect given my background with EyeToy: Play," said MacDonald, speaking exclusively to GamesIndustry.biz. "The Natal games that I've seen look very interesting and I'm sure that Sony will come up with some great stuff, not least because of the motion control heritage they've got at London Studio where I was."

But there will be key challenges for both companies, said MacDonald. They will need to avoid simply replicating the sort of fun gamers can already experience on the Wii, because they are more powerful machines that people expect more from. But they'll also need to make sure they don't miss out on the casual audience altogether.

They'll also need to approach the design of motion games with a new focus - "We learnt really early on in the development of the EyeToy that you have to be careful - it's too physical for traditional long-form gameplay. You aren't going to stand there waving your arms around for two hours - you'd be completely knackered," he said.

"You have to take a different approach to game design, you have to use a different rhythm and focus to succeed in game design when using that kind of input."

The motion control technology will need to be "bulletproof" too, MacDonald added. "You can't risk breaking the player's suspension of disbelief so you don't want to get too leading edge with your technology because then it might break."

"But then there's a trade off between performance and the cost of goods - a consumer-friendly price point," he said.

"When I was at Sony, and I think it's still the case, the bundled EyeToy and SingStar games would come in at the top price point but [still the same] price of a triple A title - you weren't paying a premium for the hardware. And that worked well - but it only worked because the cost of goods was reasonable.

"I have no idea what the cost of goods are for those two new systems, but it'll be one of the challenges that I'm sure Sony and Microsoft are on top of. It's not trivial though, to design compelling games for these systems while, at the same time, making sure you've got the price points right."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...or-sony-and-ms ...