Developer Reef Entertainment is bringing Free Running, originally launched on PS2 and PSP in 2007, to Wii, DS and PC in Q2 this year.

The PS2 game had you do pretty much what you expect of a free running game - leap around the rooftops of urban environments earning points for your mental skills.


The dev says the update will play to the strengths of each format, with new visuals and controls tailored to each.

In particular, Reef says the Wii version will use the controllers "to great effect", adding: "We now have physical interface which works brilliantly with the extreme sport which is Free Running".

http://www.computerandvideogames.com....php?id=213622 ...

What does one of the chief creators of “GoldenEye” do for his Nintendo console encore? He makes a barbershop game in which players cut the branching locks of shrubbery-creatures.
Martin Hollis, lead designer on the famous 1997 Nintendo 64 James Bond first-person shooter doesn’t mind if players don’t make the connection between his old classic and his team’s firs Wii game. “Bonsai Barber,” released as a $10 downloadable game for Nintendo’s WiiWare service three weeks ago, is a very different thing from the legendary “GoldenEye.”
One’s a spy game. One’s about giving vegetables haircuts.
“I’ve been moving, over the years, to trying to make games that are progressively different from anything else,” Hollis said during a telephone interview with Multiplayer from the Cambridge, U.K. offices of his development studio Zoonami today. “I tend towards preferring the really new and creative ideas over somebody else’s universe.”
A barbershop game — even if it didn’t star vegetables in need of a trim — is new for games.
A barbershop game — even if it didn’t star vegetables in need of a trim — is new for games. “It’s just a complete blindspot for the whole development community,” Hollis said, noting that he was aware of only two “shaving” games before “Bonsai Barber,” both of them mini-games in “WarioWare” titles. “I think there’s so much virgin territory. But many developers are choosing to instead stay in these ruts.”
Hollis’ game is polished and simple, a first-person grooming game that allows the players to wield their Wii remote like scissors or an electric razor as they snip and shape the branches and leaves sprouting out of the fruit and vegetable characters’ heads. They must sculpt specific styles. The trickiest mechanic is that the cutting a branch too low can knock out half a “hair-do,” just as recklessly cutting a bush in a garden might cause the shrub to lose its form. Thankfully, a spritz of water grows branches and leaves back. Skill and dedication to returning customers is rewarded.

http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2009/...ame-genre-gap/ ...

Square Enix has detailed the sales figures behind some of its most successful franchises, including those obtained under the acquisition of Eidos, at its Corporate Strategy Meeting.

The Final Fantasy series was revealed to have sold over 85 million units throughout its lifetime, while Dragon Quest sold 47 million and Kingdom Hearts sold 12 million.

Eidos' Tomb Raider sold around 30 million units, with the original 1996 title proving the most successful with more than 7 million copies sold, followed by the sequel in 1997. Meanwhile, last year's Tomb Raider: Underworld sold just over 2 million units.

The Hitman series sold 8 million units, with Hitman 2: Silent Assassin proving the most popular at nearly 4 million copies alone. Kane & Lynch sold just under 2 million units, while Deus Ex and its sequel, Deus Ex: Invisible War, sold just over a million units each - as did Just Cause.

Square Enix's acquisition of the UK publisher, Eidos, was approved by the courts earlier this week.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...-sales-results ...

The Entertainment Software Association of Canada has met with a number of the country's MPs to lobby for tougher piracy laws, because its members feel that their intellectual property is at risk.

The country, which benefits strongly from government financial aid, currently doesn't allow pirated goods to be seized by customs agents without a court injunction, while punishment for piracy crimes are no tougher than fines.

Danielle Parr, executive director of the ESAC, is keen to see that changed: "At the federal level, the primary issue for us... is the protection of intellectual property," she said, according to Canada.com.

She added that the fines facing pirates are currently no more than "a slap on the wrist", arguing for jail terms instead, while she'd also like to see mod chips outlawed: "In Canada, these devices are not illegal," she said. "They're illegal in virtually every other country."

MPs at the event indicated that the issue was pending, but gave no indication on the timescale of writing new legislation on the matter into law.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...er-piracy-laws ...

Pokemon Fushigi no Dungeon has entered the Media Create software sales chart in Japan at number one, selling over 140,000 units in the week ending April 19.

Its position was little surprise given the general apathy surrounding the national top ten, with second-placed title BASARA Battle Heroes selling just 28,000 units and Deca Sports 2 in tenth place shifting just 9000 copies.

It's the continuation of a general downwards trend in software sales in what's been a quiet start to 2009, in comparison to periods last year when top three titles could shift upwards of 50,000 and even the tenth-placed game would expect to sell over 20,000 units.

In third place was Mario & Luigi RPG 3, with Monster Hunter Portable 2G (PSP the Best) in fourth and Hitman Reborn in fifth.

Fantasy Golf Pangya Portable took sixth place followed by Pro Yakyuu Famista DS 2009 and Musou Orochi Z in seventh and eighth respectively.

Mobile Suit Gundam: Senjou no Kizuna Portable was ninth, followed by the aforementioned Deca Sports 2.

In total the Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable platforms boasted four titles apiece, with the Wii and PlayStation 3 taking one each. Just 276,000 units of software were sold by the top ten games in total.

The full top ten is as follows:

1. Pokemon Fushigi no Dungeon (DS): 142,000
2. BASARA Battle Heroes (PSP): 28,000
3. Mario & Luigi RPG (DS): 19,000
4. Monster Hunter Portable 2G (PSP the Best) (PSP): 18,000
5. Hitman Reborn (DS): 17,000
6. Fantasy Golf Pangya Portable (PSP): 13,000
7. Pro Yakyuu Famista DS 2009 (DS): 11,000
8. Musou Orochi Z (PS3): 10,000
9. Mobile Suit Gundam: Senjou no Kizuna Portable (PSP): 9000
10. Deca Sports 2 (Wii): 9000

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...japanese-chart ...

The biggest threat to gaming on the iPhone is a lazy publishing attitude that could see company's throw franchises on the platform without any thought for the unique possibilities of the device

That's according to Neil Young, founder of Dr Awesome, Rolando and WordFu publisher ngmoco, who said that he doesn't want to see a repeat of a practice that harmed Sony's PlayStation Portable as soon as it launched on the market.

Young believes that the current freedom for publishers to charge low prices for games is right for the iPhone, and acts as a deterrent to those looking to make a quick profit.

"What I don't want to see happen is a 'Premium App Store'. What that would do would encourage publishers to be lazy which is the biggest risk that the device faces," he said in an exclusive interview published today.

"When the PSP came out, and one of the reason I actually think the PSP didn't succeed in the same way the DS did, is because publishers just ported their original PlayStation games. So the PSP had more software at launch that any other gaming system had in history, but it got off to a really slow start because it didn't offer gamers anything different.

"I don't want to see that happen here. I don't want to see a premium space where a successful franchise is just inserted onto the device."

Nintendo's attitude to product, where it creates games specifically tailored to a device such as the DS or Wii, is the right attitude to adopt when looking at iPhone titles, said Young.

"I'd like to see it more like Nintendo's world where there's a reason Nintendo dominates the top 20 on the DS. Because they're the people that make the best games for it and they've been really thoughtful about it. I tend to want to encourage things that to keep the level of innovation there."

Young believes that in-application commerce will flip the pricing structure of iPhone games when the feature is introduced in the iPhone OS 3.0, due later this year.

But, he warned, developers and publishers should be careful about how they implement micro-transactions, and be careful not to prioritise "greed over gameplay".

"I think a big, big change is going to be in-app commerce. What's going to happen initially with in-app commerce is everything will trend towards 99 cents as the entry price for a game and gamers are going to start getting really wary about that they are and aren't buying. Because they're going to feel like they've stepping into a money trap."

"It's going to be difficult. We have to be really careful not to prioritise greed over gameplay. There's going to be a bit of a rough period as that works through the system. We're not going to charge 99 cents for a rocket launcher. That would be a really bad idea from a gameplay point and it would be the fastest way to piss off your consumer."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...o-iphone-young ...

The biggest threat to gaming on the iPhone is a lazy publishing attitude that could see company's throw franchises on the platform without any thought for the unique possibilities of the device

That's according to Neil Young, founder of Dr Awesome, Rolando and WordFu publisher ngmoco, who said that he doesn't want to see a repeat of a practice that harmed Sony's PlayStation Portable as soon as it launched on the market.

Young believes that the current freedom for publishers to charge low prices for games is right for the iPhone, and acts as a deterrent to those looking to make a quick profit.

"What I don't want to see happen is a 'Premium App Store'. What that would do would encourage publishers to be lazy which is the biggest risk that the device faces," he said in an exclusive interview published today.

"When the PSP came out, and one of the reason I actually think the PSP didn't succeed in the same way the DS did, is because publishers just ported their original PlayStation games. So the PSP had more software at launch that any other gaming system had in history, but it got off to a really slow start because it didn't offer gamers anything different.

"I don't want to see that happen here. I don't want to see a premium space where a successful franchise is just inserted onto the device."

Nintendo's attitude to product, where it creates games specifically tailored to a device such as the DS or Wii, is the right attitude to adopt when looking at iPhone titles, said Young.

"I'd like to see it more like Nintendo's world where there's a reason Nintendo dominates the top 20 on the DS. Because they're the people that make the best games for it and they've been really thoughtful about it. I tend to want to encourage things that to keep the level of innovation there."

Young believes that in-application commerce will flip the pricing structure of iPhone games when the feature is introduced in the iPhone OS 3.0, due later this year.

But, he warned, developers and publishers should be careful about how they implement micro-transactions, and be careful not to prioritise "greed over gameplay".

"I think a big, big change is going to be in-app commerce. What's going to happen initially with in-app commerce is everything will trend towards 99 cents as the entry price for a game and gamers are going to start getting really wary about that they are and aren't buying. Because they're going to feel like they've stepping into a money trap."

"It's going to be difficult. We have to be really careful not to prioritise greed over gameplay. There's going to be a bit of a rough period as that works through the system. We're not going to charge 99 cents for a rocket launcher. That would be a really bad idea from a gameplay point and it would be the fastest way to piss off your consumer."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...o-iphone-young ...

The economy might be in a dumpster, but Apple keeps selling iPods, iPhones and Macs -- the company just reported a $1.21b profit on revenues of $8.16b, which is yet another record quarter. In fact, if you do away with that pesky subscription accounting that the company uses for the iPhone and Apple TV, the numbers are even higher: $1.66b profit on $9.06b of revenue. Mac sales did fall three percent compared to a year ago, but that was offset by a three-percent increase in iPod sales (particularly of the iPod touch) and a 123-percent jump in iPhone sales. So, now that the numbers are out of the way, let's let Tim Cook take some shots at netbooks, shall we?
When I'm looking at what's sold in the Netbook market, I see cramped keyboards, junky hardware, very small screens, bad software. Not a consumer experience that we would put the Mac brand on. As it exists today, we're not interested in it nor would it be something customers would be interested in the long term. We are looking at the space. For those who want a small computer that does browsing/email, they might want an iPhone or iPod Touch. If we find a way to deliver an innovative product that really makes a contribution, we'll do that.
Slamming the door while simultaneously leaving it open -- how very Jobs-like. Speaking of which, Cook wouldn't say anything beyond the usual "We look forward to Steve's return in June" line, so no updates there -- but were you really expecting any? We're still listening to the call, we'll update if we hear anything good.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/22/a...b-profit-call/ ...

The economy might be in a dumpster, but Apple keeps selling iPods, iPhones and Macs -- the company just reported a $1.21b profit on revenues of $8.16b, which is yet another record quarter. In fact, if you do away with that pesky subscription accounting that the company uses for the iPhone and Apple TV, the numbers are even higher: $1.66b profit on $9.06b of revenue. Mac sales did fall three percent compared to a year ago, but that was offset by a three-percent increase in iPod sales (particularly of the iPod touch) and a 123-percent jump in iPhone sales. So, now that the numbers are out of the way, let's let Tim Cook take some shots at netbooks, shall we?
When I'm looking at what's sold in the Netbook market, I see cramped keyboards, junky hardware, very small screens, bad software. Not a consumer experience that we would put the Mac brand on. As it exists today, we're not interested in it nor would it be something customers would be interested in the long term. We are looking at the space. For those who want a small computer that does browsing/email, they might want an iPhone or iPod Touch. If we find a way to deliver an innovative product that really makes a contribution, we'll do that.
Slamming the door while simultaneously leaving it open -- how very Jobs-like. Speaking of which, Cook wouldn't say anything beyond the usual "We look forward to Steve's return in June" line, so no updates there -- but were you really expecting any? We're still listening to the call, we'll update if we hear anything good.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/22/a...b-profit-call/ ...