via kotaku

With the latest installment in the saga of Harry Potter and the Awkwardly Aging Child Actors set to hit screens in July, EA has games coming out for every system you can imagine, and has screens for the DS, PSP, 360, and GBA to prove it. I'd say the DS version looks the most entertaining, while the 360 version is ahead in the making Ron Weasley look slightly less unappealing that Rupert Grint actually is category.

Just two more movies to go and Grint can go back into his formative cocoon, Watson can pose in lingerie for Maxim, and Radcliffe can open that horse farm he's always wanted.

Screens Here ...

via gamespot

In two weeks, Microsoft will release the Xbox 360 Elite, the deluxe version of its latest console. Though equipped with a 120GB hard drive and a sleek black finish, the Elite's lack of game-data transfer options from current 360s and $479 price sparked controversy from when it was announced. Console-war partisans were quick to point out that the Elite is just $20 cheaper than the 20GB PlayStation 3 was--until that model discontinued, anyway.

Now, though, it appears that current Xbox 360 owners will have an alternative to hocking their old consoles on eBay. GameStop reps confirmed today that the nationwide game retailer and its EB Games subsidiary will be holding a promotion that will increase the trade-in value of Xbox 360s. The promotion will begin when the Elite goes on sale on April 29, and will continue "while supplies last."

However, it's still unclear how much GameStop will be increasing the trade-in value of Xboxes for Elite purchases. Several managers contacted by GameSpot confirmed a promotion would be unveiled next week, but said that they didn't know its exact terms. "It hasn't been announced yet," said one friendly but uninformed rep.

However, several online game-press outlets, most notably Xbox360fanboy.com, claim to have confirmed that GameStop will offer $250 in in-store credit for a Premium 360 with wireless controller and hard drive, $200 in-store credit for a Core 360, and $50 for an original Xbox. Currently, the retailer offers $215 in credit for a fully equipped Premium 360, $190 for a Core 360, and $30 for an original Xbox.

There is also some confusion as to whether or not the value of Xbox and 360 trade-ins must be applied to the purchase of an Elite. Though some online sites reported that said credit could be used to buy anything in the store, every GameStop that GameSpot contacted said that the 360 trade-in credit was increased only when used to purchase the new console.

Inquiries sent to GameStop corporate representatives regarding the 360 trade-in promotion had not been answered as of press time. ...

The Nintendo Wii and its motion-sensitive Wii Remote are ideal for party games, and titles such as WarioWare: Smooth Moves, Rayman Raving Rabbids, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz, and Wii Play have already been the focus of many living room gatherings.



Total rager, bro!
The parties will rage on next month, as Namco Bandai today announced that Tamagotchi: Party On! has gone gold and confirmed its release on May 29. This is the first and only announced Wii title for the publisher, though rumors persist that a Katamari game is headed to the platform.

In Tamagotchi: Party On!, up to four players play through a series of minigames in an attempt to become the president of Tamagotchi Planet. Among the candiates' chores to handle will be picking up litter, shaking voters' hands, and finding lost children.

Though Namco Bandai is sending out invitations to every Wii owner, another party-planner may steal some of its thunder. Also being released on May 29 is Mario Party 8, the minigame collection from Nintendo.

Tamagotchi: Party On! is rated E for Everyone and will retail for $39.99.

via gamespot ...

via gamespot

The Final Fantasy franchise will be two decades old this year, and to celebrate the occasion, publisher Square Enix earlier this year revealed that it is remastering Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II for the PlayStation Portable. While this seemed like a momentous time for longtime FF fans all over the globe, the games were announced only for Japan.

Thankfully for FF fans in the Western Hemisphere, Square decided to open up the party a little and today announced that the two games will be coming to the US this summer. The new PSP version of Final Fantasy will ship to stores on June 26, and its sequel will follow the next month on July 24. Both games will retail for $29.99.

The anniversary editions will feature new character art, enhanced graphics, new dungeons, an "updated camera view," and a 16:9 aspect ratio. Final Fantasy for the PSP is rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and Older, and Final Fantasy II is rated T for Teen. ...

via BBC

It's larger than Hollywood, its virtual stars may live happily on a diet of bits and bytes, but the video games industry has not been able to insulate itself from upheaval.

Yes, gamers are snapping up the new generation of games consoles - Microsoft's Xbox 360, Nintendo's Wii, and Sony's Playstation 3 [PS3], but at huge cost to the industry.

Hardware makers are losing hundreds of dollars on every console sold, and games publishers face an "increasingly difficult environment, as rising development costs and small user bases [mean] that return on investment in next generation games development is unlikely to be achieved before 2008," according to media analysts Screen Digest.

More importantly, though, the video games publishers are facing a revolution of their business model.

'Volatile' industry

Not every video game sees arrests as peaceful as this one

Even the industry's undisputed giant, Electronic Arts (EA), is not immune from turmoil.

It's a "volatile" industry, acknowledges Gerhard Florin, executive vice president at EA and the general manager of its international publishing business.

More than double the size of its nearest competitor, the Redwood City, California, based company employs 7,200 people; 5,200 of them work on games development.

Titles like Fifa Soccer, Need for Speed, The Sims, and Command and Conquer games underpin the company's success.

The sequel syndrome

"Scale does matter" in this industry, says Mr Florin, because "the more complex games become" the more tools are needed "to keep costs under control".

VIDEO GAMES SALES
Consoles games
2006: $11.2bn
2007: $12.2bn
PC games
2006: $3.9bn
2007: $3.7bn


And selling software in a shrink-wrapped package just doesn't bring in enough money anymore.

The market for computer games is stagnating. Screen Digest predicts their sales to fall to $3.7bn this year - although they at least provide a stable stream of income, says Mr Florin.

The real money spinners are console games, but subject to the ups and downs of the hardware cycle as consoles launch or go out of fashion.

To ensure steady revenues, says Mr Florin, games publishers therefore have to build strong brands.


Franchises like Fifa Soccer are mainstays of EA's business

It may not be original, but no video games executive has yet been sacked for commissioning the annual upgrade to popular franchises like Fifa Soccer or Madden NFL.

Ed Barton, games analyst at Screen Digest, calls it "a common syndrome in the video games industry".

"Wonderful innovative titles are sometimes ignored [by consumers], while some repetitive titles with minor improvements in game play and graphics provide much better returns to the games publishers," he says.

He compares it to music publishers, who have Madonna or Elvis Presley "to keep the home fires burning," but also invest to freshen up the catalogue.

The next generation

The new generation of consoles is a prime opportunity for innovation, but have not made life easier for developers.

ELECTRONIC ARTS
Founded in 1982
HQ: Redwood City, California
Revenue: $2.9bn (2006)
Staff: 7,200
Main studios: Redwood Shores, Los Angeles, Orlando, Vancouver, Warrington

Right now video games use probably 30-40% of the power of the new hardware, says Mr Florin.

"You only learn what you can do with these platforms over time, and as a result using 100% of Playstation 2 [PS2] is nearly as good as today's starting point of PS3 games," says Mr Florin.

"We haven't even started to see PS3's power, it will take the longest to exploit in full," says Mr Florin.

Games publishers face a dilemma, though. To reduce cost, they would love to put their games on as many platforms as possible.

It used to be relatively easy to port a game from one console to the next. Nintendo's "Gamecube, the Xbox and PS2 were much more alike," says Mr Florin.

Next generation platforms are different, he says: "Now we have to have very distinctive games for each machine and can't port that much."

That plays into the hands of the console makers, who want exclusive games to lure gamers to their platform.

See the market share of competing video games consoles
Standing on five legs

The critics of video games are modern book burners

Gerhard Florin

"Development times, team sizes and complexity have been exacerbated by increasingly demanding next generation games," says Ed Barton at Screen Digest.

He predicts that "only a tiny proportion of next generation titles are likely to achieve profitability in the near future".

To survive and expand, says Mr Florin, publishers have to move beyond console and computer games, and stand on three additional legs:

Handheld games;
mobile phones, which are "up and coming"; and
the "fifth leg, online communities".
Mr Barton calls it the industry's "risk reduction strategy" - a combination of outsourcing, releasing games on as many platforms as possible and "making sequels to popular titles and producing games based on popular movies".

Going online

The biggest driver for change in the industry, however, is the internet .

Gamers are now "getting connected to the internet at a large scale," says Mr Barton. "We have only seen the beginning of this."

Here Microsoft is way ahead with its Xbox Live service. Sony's online gaming ...

Microsoft has finally responded to accusations that Xbox 360s produced late last year were faulty, missing a part of the drive that was causing them to scratch discs.

The response came after Dutch television show Kassa ran its own independent investigation, concluding that the console was indeed to blame.

"Due to the fact that we did not participate in the experiment done by Kassa and have little insight into the methodology that was used, we cannot comment specifically on the outcome," Microsoft told Engadget. "While we are aware that discs can potentially be scratched through normal wear and tear, we have not received any widespread reports of the issue highlighted here."

"We encourage any Xbox customer who believes that their discs have been scratched in the same manner as identified by KASSA, to contact us at www.xbox.com/supportor 1-800-4-MY-XBOX for additional information."

So, if you find yourself with a ring carved into your favourite game, Microsoft has agreed that it will take a look at your Xbox 360 and repair it if necessary. You'll also be provided with any information you need on how to get a replacement game disc.

Microsoft recently announced it was revamping its warranty cover on the console, significantly extending the period of cover. It also plans to tart up its customer service quality, attempting to improve the overall experience if things happen to go wrong.

via eurogamer ...

via engadget



Behold, the Xbox 360 Laptop mk2! It may look a bit like its first generation sibling, but don't be fooled. This Xbox laptop is a bit thinner, significantly lighter, and has some essential upgrades if you're gonna build one yourself. You are going to build one, aren't you? Because that's the best part about it -- we're going to show you how to make one of your own in the coming weeks with a three part How-To series. We'll describe, in detail, the steps necessary to fab an Xbox laptop, and if you're extra nice we'll even provide some original technical files and drawings. But play before work ...

via engadget



Surprised? We aren't; we were actually waiting for these to start hitting dodgy vendors the world over. It seems that Fujian Huamin Import and Export Company Limited has an iPhone for you -- if you are willing to accept a poor quality substitute (note the tape on the camera lens in the gallery) that may or may not actually ship, that is. We won't regurgitate the specs for this device, but suffice it to say, they are miraculously similar to what we have seen from Apple (multi-touch included.) But like a car wreck, we can't help but peek -- so feel free to hit the link for the rest of the misery goods. ...

Shivering Isles could be the first and last full expansion Bethesda releases for Oblivion. The developer has said that Shivering Isles is "the only expansion we have planned".

Speaking to Next-Gen.biz, Bethesda executive producer has explained that now Shivering Isles is out the door, full focus has switched to Fallout 3.

"We have pretty much everybody on Fallout 3 right now", Howard said. "It started off kind of small and then we add people to it and now the expansion's done, all those people have come on to Fallout 3".

"That's the thing we want to focus on right now, so I think I'd be surprised if we do another expansion", he added.

When asked about the possibility to Bethesda farming out development of future Oblivion expansions to other studios, Howard answered that the studio is "really getting into the stuff we're doing with Elder Scrolls and Fallout and I guess we're shy about having someone else start making content."

via cvg ...