News from Mweston

Here's what the breakout board for devs looks like:

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/a..._2007/dev1.jpg
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/a..._2007/dev2.jpg

It was something throw together quickly so the devs would have access to the serial ports but I decided to add everything. S-Video looks very nice on a big TV. ...

News from Mweston

Here's what the breakout board for devs looks like:

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/a..._2007/dev1.jpg
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/a..._2007/dev2.jpg

It was something throw together quickly so the devs would have access to the serial ports but I decided to add everything. S-Video looks very nice on a big TV. ...

Epic Rocks is a classic arcade game where you have to survive in an asteroid field for as long as possible. The game is only about getting the highest score and is designed for quick, fast gameplay. There are six different levels with various hazards like black holes to avoid, four different ships to command and a bunch of special weapons to utilize, including the devestating Beam Saber and the experimental Gravity Mine. Also included are a lot of flashy special effects and pumping music.

http://www.gp2x.de/cgi-bin/cfiles.cgi?0,0,0,0,27,2697 ...

News/release from Bartłomiej Burdukiewicz

WiiTCPLoadGUI let you easily make a connection with Homebrew/TCPLoader Channel and stream binary files. It's written in c++ using Qt4 library. Supported platforms:

Windows 32bit/64bit (64bit future)
Linux x86/x86_64
MacOSX x86
Changelog
- 0.02a now windows version should work correctly

Download Here -- > http://sourceforge.net/project/showf...roup_id=231481 ...

Nintendo have finally blocked the Homebrew Channel it seems

via wiifanboy


I wonder if nintendo took this action because of the iso loader that was released, makes you wonder ? ...

Apparently overheard by 1UP's Shane Bettenhausen at the recently concluded TGS08, third-party developers on WiiWare haven't been raking in the cash. Supposedly, they've only sold "hundreds" of copies of their digital wares, meaning it's largely been a bust for them. We're not sure how valid this is, hence the rumor label.

When you think about it, how could stellar titles like LostWinds, World of Goo and Mega Man 9 sell only a few hundred copies? Perhaps the shovelware that is Protöthea and SPOGS Racing only sold a few hundred, if that, but we're thinking that the good games have done pretty well. Hey Nintendo, how about some sales data?

Of course, this could all be moot. It's not like there's much of a source on this one (we've checked the latest 1UP show and the latest podcasts, but we haven't been able to find it there), so feel free to apply salt where needed

http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/200...-the-hundreds/ ...

In uncertain times such as these, it ought to be reassuring to turn to British successes. The UK video games industry – or at least its development, as opposed to the publishing side – is a rare example of Britain punching above its weight. At least, that's the popular perception. Speak to any independent British games developer and you will find a considerably more apocalyptic prognosis. Recently, the situation has deteriorated so badly that a coalition of British development studios, backed by developers' trade body Tiga and ELSPA, the publishers' body, has embarked on a campaign to lobby the government, entitled "Games Up?".

Games Up? seeks two things: tax breaks for UK developers in line with those enjoyed by the film industry, and institutional change in universities, designed to re-establish a flow of graduates with skills that are relevant to the game development process. But hang on: according to Games Up?, games made in the UK between 2006 and 2008 alone are on track to generate global revenues of £4bn, and the global games market is worth £18bn and growing at 9% per annum. The credit crunch isn't even an undue worry: consumers are known to turn to games in difficult times, as they offer protracted entertainment for a smallish outlay. So why are UK developers looking to the government for help?

Seductive benefits

The most pressing problem is that the UK development scene has slipped down the global pecking order since several other countries decided to seduce games companies with tax breaks. Ian Livingstone, creative director and head of acquisitions at Eidos, one of the few remaining British games publishers – and not a man ordinarily given to doom-mongering – explains: "We've recently slipped from third to fourth in world development behind Canada. We're now the most expensive country in the world in which to develop. Other countries – not just Canada, but two states in the US, Scandinavian countries, France, Singapore, Korea and others – offer salary subsidies. Canada saw games as a clear opportunity to invest in the future, as traditional manufacturing was disappearing, and made a conscious decision to invest in games. They don't see it as a handout but as an investment. They have actually given out, in salary subsidies, 37.5% to every employee in games companies, and up to 40% R&D tax-credit.

"Over 10 years, they have invested C$500m (£244m). But that has actually generated $1.5bn of inward investment from companies like EA, Ubisoft, and Eidos. It's paying off, because they have a great infrastructure there: they've got great universities providing skilled students, and they are generally pro-games. The difference between there and here is that our government clearly sees any state support as a handout, not an investment. It seems to me the UK government would rather see our great industry go into decline than help it maintain its prominent position in the world, and that is madness."

Livingstone paints a bleak picture of the future of UK games development. "In the past six years, half of the independent UK development studios have already closed or been bought by foreign publishers who see more value in our studios and intellectual property than we do ourselves. We'll end up being a work-for-hire nation. The inherent intellectual property that is created at those studios will be foreign-owned, and they can move that IP to be produced wherever they want in the world, if it suits them."

Richard Wilson, chief executive of Tiga, is the spokesman for the Games Up? campaign. He has been meeting civil servants from the departments for Culture Media and Sport, Innovation, Universities and Skills, Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, Children, Schools and Families and the Treasury, among others. He doesn't, however, sound enormously optimistic that the government will heed his call for "20% production tax credit, like that approved by the EU and already found in France". Not to mention that enjoyed for many years by the British film industry.

He adds that "the government understands that UK games developers are not competing on a level playing field" but is "reluctant to introduce tax breaks for games production unless it can be shown that there is an issue of market failure or that there are strong cultural reasons for supporting UK games developers".

Perhaps unsurprisingly given the economic circumstances, the various government departments proved unreceptive to inquiries; the Department of Culture, Media and Sport was particularly dismissive. The Treasury did manage to produce a stultifyingly generic response although, promisingly, it says: "Following approval of a cultural tax relief for games in France, the government is now working with the UK gaming industry to collect and review the evidence for introducing such a credit in the UK."

Battle for breaks

Don Foster, Liberal Democrat spokesman on culture and media, points out that the games industry is competing with others for tax breaks, notably fashion and tourism. ...

Zodttd has posted a video of Mortal Kombat running on Pandora. heres the video:

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Zodttd has posted a video of Mortal Kombat running on Pandora. heres the video:

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