President and chief operating officer of Sega Europe, Mike Hayes, today told CVG that it was the Olympics that inspired the recently-announced Mario and Sonic in the Olympic Games, and that the event "acts as a neutral ground for the two characters".

Discussing the partnership of gaming's two greatest icons, Hayes said: "Coming under the Olympic banner, I think the Olympics acts as a neutral ground for the two characters."

But both characters are very different, so how will Sega balance their abilities? Hayes explains: "We know that Sonic is fast and Mario is strong. Both characters have different strengths. But having the Olympics is the perfect territory to bring them together because they can use their different skills in the events that we're going to have, which include track and field events, table tennis, swimming and more.

"So rather than being in a Sonic or Mario world this is the perfect meeting place where both characters can bring out their own strengths in the different sports."

Discussing the origins of the idea, Hayes explains, "Obviously we were lucky enough to secure the Beijing 2008 Olympic licence about a year ago and so we were thinking about what we could do with that. Speaking to the IOC (International Olympics Committee), they really pushed home the spirit of sport for everyone, and their wanting to get younger people into the Olympics.

"So rather than just doing a simulation we thought that we had some great characters that young people love and are very iconic. The idea started there."

Let's just hope the young Olympic hopefuls don't take on Mario's mushroom-eating habits.

via cvg ...

The creative force behind the design of PS3, Teiyu Goto, has revealed how the Spider-Man font came to be used on PS3 in an interview with the Official PlayStation Magazine.

Goto explained, "Take the PS2 logo - we created it to blend in with the rectangular shape of the console. Personally, I feel very strongly that the logo would not have looked right on PS3.

"If you really look at the PS3 contour carefully, it is rounded when viewing the console in profile. Rather than creating a typography with all the risks that entails, it was wiser to use the one from Spider-Man, for which Sony has the rights.

"It was also the wish of President Kutaragi, who insisted that I use this typography. In fact, the logo was one of the first elements he decided on and the logo may have been the motivating force behind the shape of PS3."

Issue 005 of Official PlayStation Magazine goes on sale tomorrow.

via cvg ...

PS3's version of horror-FPS F.E.A.R., which was originally planned a s a European launched title but missed the boat, will be out on April 20.

The game's already released on PC and Xbox 360, and in a nutshell focuses on the plight of an elite soldier trained to handle the unhandle-able (is that a real word?) who is plunged into a tale of violence and horror. It's got lots of shooting, lots of blood and lots of cool slow-mo action.

In addition to the single-player bloodbath, there's 16-player multiplayer and PS3 F.E.A.R. is enjoying an exclusive level and weapon and Instant Action Mode. The game's publisher, Vivendi, describes this mode as a "new arcade style mode filled with close quarters battles tracking player progress via leader boards via the PlayStation Network for the PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system".

Interview at CVG ...

Neigh, it can't be true, can it? Yes, yes it is. Koei is jockeying for position on Nintendo Wii with its G1 Jockey series.

Due out on June 29, Wii G1 Jockey will apparently offer an experience more realistic and intuitive than ever seen before with the series thanks to the Wii Remote and Nunchuk. Unsurprisingly, you use the Wii Remote to whip your steed, with the Nunchuk steering you around the race course.

Presumably, you'll have to push buttons to jump hedges, although we'd rather jump in the air. For fun, like.

"We're hoping that this game will make all horse racing games before it look like a right load of old pony" says Koei's sales manager Will Curley. Man, he cracks us up.

Anyway, obviously the idea in G1 Jockey is to ride yourself to jockey stardom and there's a career mode to take you from rookie to fame. You'll also be able to breed your own horses and develop them into racing kings.

Screens Here ...

Hell officially froze over yesterday when Nintendo and Sega confirmed the existence of the Mario and Sonic crossover game we've been having whet dreams over since 1991. Thankfully though, it looks like it's not going to be just another Olympic cash-in...

According to Sega of America president and COO Simon Jeffery, Mario granddaddy Shigeru Miyamoto is "directly involved" in the Mario and Sonic game in a joint venture between Nintendo and Sega.

"The majority of the physical development is being done by Sega Sports Team, with very heavy supervision from Mr. Miyamoto and his team as well," Jeffery told Next-Gen. "That's what makes it particularly exciting for us," he added, in reference to Miyamoto being on board.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games will be the first time the two former-rival characters meet in a game, with other characters like Yoshi, Knuckles and Tails also joining in on the historic occasion.

In case the name didn't give it away it's all based on the upcoming Beijing Olympics, where players can participate in events such as swimming, the 100m dash and table tennis.

Miyamoto being on board has certainly raised our expectations for the project, but we still can't get of that childhood desire for good old Sonic Vs. Mario deathmatch.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games is out this Christmas.

via cvg ...

Hell officially froze over yesterday when Nintendo and Sega confirmed the existence of the Mario and Sonic crossover game we've been having whet dreams over since 1991. Thankfully though, it looks like it's not going to be just another Olympic cash-in...

According to Sega of America president and COO Simon Jeffery, Mario granddaddy Shigeru Miyamoto is "directly involved" in the Mario and Sonic game in a joint venture between Nintendo and Sega.

"The majority of the physical development is being done by Sega Sports Team, with very heavy supervision from Mr. Miyamoto and his team as well," Jeffery told Next-Gen. "That's what makes it particularly exciting for us," he added, in reference to Miyamoto being on board.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games will be the first time the two former-rival characters meet in a game, with other characters like Yoshi, Knuckles and Tails also joining in on the historic occasion.

In case the name didn't give it away it's all based on the upcoming Beijing Olympics, where players can participate in events such as swimming, the 100m dash and table tennis.

Miyamoto being on board has certainly raised our expectations for the project, but we still can't get of that childhood desire for good old Sonic Vs. Mario deathmatch.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games is out this Christmas.

via cvg ...

via cvg

Football games are bigger than ever before, raking in millions for the likes of EA and Konami. But what does 'next-gen' really mean for football games? Well, less repetitive commentary for a start...

Speaking to CVG recently about the future of football games and their move to next-gen systems, Andrew Wilson, executive producer of football, EA explained, "We ran out of space on the disc with current gen. Last year's FIFA had 26 leagues, 15 thousand players, kits, players, stadiums, audio and music, you just run out of space. The next gen discs have got more space so in the short term we will have much more commentary on our games."

Wilson believes that the online sides of PS3 and 360 are where developers can really take football to a new level. "Looking long term, these consoles are now online. And I would love to think that we can start to pump dynamic commentary into the game on a weekly basis so you never hear the same thing twice.

"But think about competitions. Imagine having commentators popping up to commentate on interactive games. So you're not reliant on commentary from our game anymore, you got someone who gets online and comments every week instead, who then gets a reputation."

Food for thought? Look out for our full interview with Wilson in the coming days where he talks more about the evolution of football, gives his opinions on the age-old rivalry between FIFA and PES and discusses how the crowd will play a bigger part in the performance of your team on the pitch. ...

Eidos is viewing the success of its naval combat game Battlestations: Midway as reason to warrant a sequel, it's emerged.

In a recent financial report, the company has stated, "After the period end, in February 2007, we released Battlestations Midway on PC and Xbox 360. This product immediately entered the UK charts at No1 in both the Xbox 360 and All Formats charts. We are continuing to build this franchise and have a sequel in development".

It was also reaffirmed in the report that a Just Cause sequel is in development.

Eidos was unavailable for comment on either sequel at the time of writing, however the producer on Battlestations: Midway, Klaude Thomas, did hint and potential content for a follow-up when we interviewed him at the end of last year.

It's likely that the sequel will be returning us to WWII, Thomas explaining at the time that the Battlestations development team "has a lot of ideas about what they'd like to see in the future and there's a lot of great history we could go into".

He said that one thing that "would be really cool" for future games in the series are "full-scale landing invasions" - like D-Day - and when questioned about co-op in the single-player campaign in Midway replied, "You know, that would have been a great feature, and for the future perhaps".

So, that's Battlestations: D-Day with full-scale landing invasions and co-op play in the single-player campaign then. Maybe.

via cvg ...

News of a release from Yongobongo of his paint app for the PSP, heres whats new:


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