News via http://www.psp-ita.com/?module=news&...0&view_reply=1

New update from Mediumgauge PSP Filer, application, now at version 6.6, which in addition to managing the full content of your memory stick, there will also launch homebrew, open file format .zip / .rar, dump your UMD and much more.

Changelog v6.6:

Quote:

- Fixato a bug that did not allow the exact calculation of the size of the directory
- Fixato a bug in the audio player
- Fixato a bug that caused a crash when you start a UMD
- Added the duration of playing an audio file player
- Fixati more bbug

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First reaction: lolwhut? Of course casual gamerz haven't hurt the hardcore. Hardcore have mad skillz.

Second, more thoughtful reaction: Oh -- Cowen and Company's Doug Creutz was speaking in terms of business. That makes a little more sense. Speaking to Edge, Creutz espoused his belief that "non-traditional" formats like the iPhone and social gaming have not hurt the core gaming market. Rather, said Creutz, "We believe that these newer gaming media represent a distinct and non-competitive market segment from console gaming, which is dominated by the core gamer." He elaborated that while casual titles didn't fare as well in 2009, the sales of core titles were still strong (a reasonable belief).

According to Creutz, the "difficulties" faced by the industry are the result of the "relatively slow uptake" of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, thanks in large part to their high price points. However, now that both the PS3 and 360 have reached mass market prices, the console cycle will "reaccelerate to the benefit of the publishers that are positioned to take advantage."

Creutz sentiments seem to be in line with many of the major game publishers, as both Capcom and EA have expressed dissatisfaction with the Wii market, with a Capcom spokesperson outright declaring, "If you're not Nintendo, it does seem harder to make money on the Wii today compared to the PS3 and the Xbox 360". Meanwhile, Ubisoft has announced that it plans to "refocus" its efforts on the Xbox 360 and PS3 in 2010.

http://www.joystiq.com/2010/02/01/an...-for-the-core/ ...

News via http://www.psp-ita.com/?module=news&...2&view_reply=1

Upgrading Joyau, the only Ruby interpreter available for the PSP, by its author Kode. This interpreter allows the creation of small 2D games using the Old School Library (OSL), and use many of the original Ruby interpreter functions. This version corrects some bugs in previous releases, integrated some additional libraries, and added a useful screen for debugging.

Changelog:

Quote:

- Fixed some bugs in previous version
- Added support for some libraries present in ruby stdlib
- Added libraries BigDecimal, digest, fcntl, squeeze, strscan, zlib, enumerator, thread, and NK
- Added debugging screen
- Other minor changes

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The Wall Street Journal today examines "Why Playfish Sold Itself to EA." Um, wouldn't you sell yourself for $300 million? While such an investigation might seem trivial, the WSJ calls in Playfish president and GM Kristian Segerstrale, who reveals that several hundred million is merely chump change. Playfish certainly considered a road to riches paved in the arduous process of going public as an independent company, but "as we advanced our conversations with EA, what became clear was that this would be genuine opportunity to accelerate our pace of growth and build a billion-dollar business faster," Segerstrale explains.

To realize this dream -- to get rich really quick -- Playfish clearly saw it would take more than its prowess as a stand-out developer in the burgeoning social games arena. It would take brand power. According to the WSJ, as suggested by Segerstrale, "there will be a social game based on a well-known EA brand this year." Hardly a revelation, to be sure, but it's at least confirmation of a killer strategy. Take an established IP -- likely EA's The Sims -- and adapt it for a network of social gaming experiences that spans persistent platforms like Facebook and the iPhone. Oh, so that's why Playfish sold itself to EA.

http://www.joystiq.com/2010/02/02/ws...nown-ea-brand/ ...

When first announced, Nintendo's line of "New Play Control" games seemed like a great idea. Repackage games from the criminally unloved GameCube, then sell them onto a massive audience that missed them first time around. So what's happened?

It's been over a year since the first "New Play Control" title was released in Japan, and since then, only a handful of games have been "updated" for the Wii with new features like Wii Remote compatibility and 16:9 visuals. And not many of them are any good.

So come on, Nintendo. Where are the rest? There are dozens of titles released on the GameCube that are due a second lease on life. Titles like these.

We've gone ahead and made a selection of some of the games we think are most deserving of a Wii re-release. Some, like Wind Waker, are purely for the 16:9 visuals. Others, like F-Zero, are because they're amazing games that never received the sales, or credit they were due, all because they were released on the poor little GameCube.

Also selected are a couple of amazing games that used Nintendo's fun, but under-utilised Game Boy Advance connectivity. Re-release them on the Wii and you can just split the screen and let four players go at it. Finally, we've also picked out a few classic titles from third-party publishers, which to date are yet to be represented in the New Play Control line.

While some may benefit from Wii controls and others may not, it's not - despite the line's name - all about the controller in your hand. The key point here is that there were many GameCube games that suffered unduly from problems plaguing the console itself; with the Wii now the best-selling platform in the world, this is more about giving those games a second chance with people who missed them first time around.

http://kotaku.com/5461905/whats-happ...ntrol/gallery/ ...

It's safe to say that the PSPgo hasn't had the reception that was expected of it. Sales haven't been crazy, and most seem to have completely ignored the system's launch entirely. With this kind of negativity surrounding the PSPgo, it's no wonder that Sony wants to do something about it. According to someone close to Sony, they are. Sources have confirmed with Gamervision that a PSPgo "relaunch" is imminent, complete with a marketing blitz in hopes to rekindle some sort of excitement over the handheld. What else will the relaunch entail? There are a number of possibilities, and there's little doubt a price drop might be among them.

Even when compared to the other issues the PSPgo has, the high price seems to be paramount for keeping it out of gamers' hands. It's more expensive than the other models by almost $100, and doesn't even have all of the content the regular system has. Even if they don't drop the price, a massive media blitz would be a great idea, and odds are whatever is done will have a healthy dose of Kevin Butler as well. Those ads seem to have struck a cord with fans and haters alike, especially when compared to the companies earlier attempts at advertising.

We're not certain when this is supposed to start, but with GDC right around the corner I'd expect to hear a little more in the near future. We'll keep you posted.

http://gamervision.com/users/coop/ar...spgo_relaunch_ ...

On the PlayStation 3, Final Fantasy XIII will ship on a single Blu-Ray. Avantage of the format! On the Xbox 360, however, the game will - as expected - ship on three discs.

Sources at Square Enix USA have confirmed with Kotaku the reports from yesterday, which have settled a long-running - if ultimately pointless - debate amongst fans of the series.

We say pointless because for a game like this, three discs aren't so bad. After all, Final Fantasy VII came on three discs. And the 360's other big Japanese role-playing games - Mistwalker's Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey - shipped on four discs, and people didn't seem to mind that either.

http://kotaku.com/5462115/yup-final-...on-three-discs ...

On December 17, role-playing game Final Fantasy XIII went on sale for the PS3 in Japan. It was priced at ¥9,240 (US$102). Want to sell back your copy?

In a little over a month and a half, the used game is fetching ¥1,500 (US$17) from major Japanese game retailer GEO. By comparison, used games Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 on the PS3 commands ¥4,800, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 merits ¥4,500 and Musou OROCHI Z is priced at ¥3,100.

The lower end of the scale looks like this: Uncharted is worth ¥1,500, NBA Live 10 is ¥2,000, Grand Theft Auto IV is ¥2,500 and Dragon Ball Z Raging Burst is ¥1,500.

Remember, these are buy-back prices. The games will then be sold at higher prices. What's more, the prices do not reflect the quality of the games, but rather, the supply and demand. Most likely, low buy-back prices means that many players, who have probably already finished the title, are selling back the game.

In Japan, renting games is not wide spread and permitted in the same way it is in the West. Instead, players buy games and keep the disc, booklet and case in pristine condition so they can sell back to the titles to shops like GEO.

http://kotaku.com/5462139/in-japan-f...value-is-cheap ...

In late February, more than three months after its last Wii release, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Nintendo will finally launch its next, Endless Ocean: Blue World. This sequel has a twist: It's more of a game than its predecessor.

The first Endless Ocean was a January 2008 oddity here in America, a scuba-diving simulator set to New Age music, a game that encouraged players to take virtual photos of virtual fish or use the Wii's motion controls to pet them. The interactive underwater safari even supported online co-op play, a feature absent from any other Nintendo-published game on the Wii.

The first game was a wet sandbox, letting players transport a boat across a few dozen quadrants of fresh and saltwater diving areas, dunking their diver beneath the surface and scoping out the wildlife. A very light narrative propelled the player through some underwater artifact searches. The game climaxed with the search for a massive whale.

I played the sequel, Blue World, today at a Nintendo demo event in New York City. Like the first, it is developed by a company called Arika and published by Nintendo. I was told by a Nintendo representative who walked me through that game that, well, it's more of a game than the last one.

This time there's a quest, one that the Nintendo guy didn't want to spoil too much, short of explaining that archaeological exploration is involved. I was told that we're looking for the "Dragon Song," whatever that is and that things might get a bit mystical. He said that diving can still be an undersea wander, but that there will be more quests, more tasks with goals.

There's also, in this non-violent game, a sort of gun. The thing is called a Pulsar and I guess it makes fish more mellow. Using the Wii Remote alone, I swam my diver to a region accessible early in the game where a Tiger Shark was lurking. It started swimming toward me. Pulsar at the ready, I shot it a few times. It was subdued. Later, I saw some sick fish, their sickness indicated by red targeting squares hovering over their swimming bodies. In a first-person few, I should some Pulsar rounds at them, making them happier and healthier.

The new game's controls are simple and Remote-only, as were the first one's. MotionPlus is not supported, though Wii Speak is, to improve the experience of the returning online co-op. The game is now set around the world, in four fictional locations in different climates, all populated by realistic and superbly animated sea life. The player has an island home-base this time, from where they can go on missions, take in-game characters on dives and learn what they must do to upgrade their equipment. Better equipment allows a player to dive deeper or for a longer period of time.

While I didn't see it in Blue Ocean, I was told that the new game will also allow players to once again have a dolphin buddy. The player will sometimes need to hang onto the dolphin and let it swim into new regions. In the first game, the player was even able to cling onto full-sized whales.

The first Endless Ocean was one of the Wii's more graphically impressive games, at least in the 90% of it that was set underwater. As with the first game, the above-water graphics and the non-swimming human character models look simple and stiff, but, underwater, the game is delightful to look at. Sealife swims with convincing realism, the ocean teeming with rays, sharks and schools of fish. A swim through a forest of kelp looked lovely.

As devoid of stated goals as the first Endless Ocean was, it still managed to drive the player through its adventure with the motivation of curiosity. When the world undersea looks as beautiful as it does in a well-rendered video game — to say nothing of real life — the pull is strong to swim past the next coral reef and see what is beyond. Grafting more of a traditional goal-oriented game design to that could bring more players to Blue World's depths. But it could also disrupt the natural beauty of serene dive. We'll be able to determine which is the case on February 22 when Endless Ocean: Blue World is released for the Wii.

http://kotaku.com/5462307/after-mari...ame-with-depth ...