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Housewife Superstar is a DS game from a new thai game developer by the name of Studio Nocturne, though they haven't put up their site yet. I met them today at GDC because of this entrancing poster you see below. I've got closeups of the bottom bits too, as you'll see. The game, though it's just in concept form now, is basically about being the perfect housewife - learning flower arranging, embroidery, dressing up, and various other things, but all a bit tongue in cheek, not taking it seriously. It looks really fun to play, and the story bits are definitely inspired by Ouendan, which isn't so bad.

This is one title I really hope comes out. They had a number of other very nice looking game concepts on display as well, which we'll handle in a new post entirely. For now, check out Housewife Superstar.

Screens Via Comments ...

The Xbox Live service has topped six million members worldwide, Microsoft has announced - demonstrating that the service is growing even faster than the company itself predicted.

Last year at E3, Microsoft pledged that it would double the subscriber base of Xbox Live from three million users to six million by the end of June 2007 - a milestone it has now reached four months ahead of schedule.

To mark hitting six million users on the service, Microsoft has released an update on key statistics related to Xbox Live - revealing that as well as the 2.3 biillion hours spent playing games on the service since its launch in 2002, Live is also coming into its own as a communication system, with over 2,000,000 voice and text messages sent between users every day.

Halo 2 remains the most popular game on the service to date, followed by Gears of War in second place and Xbox Live Arcade title Hexic HD in third.

However, while Microsoft revealed a number of statistics related to its Gold (paying) subscribers - such as the fact that on average, a Gold subscriber has 22 friends in his friend list - the company remains silent on the question of how many of its six million Xbox Live users are paying a Gold subscription, and how many are using a free Silver account. Silver users can download patches and content updates, chat with friends and access Xbox Live Marketplace, but cannot play multiplayer games online.

Today's announcement did, however, include an interesting update on the popularity of the Xbox Live Arcade service - and more specifically, on what the most popular games on the service to date have been.

Street Fighter II Hyper Fighting is the most-downloaded game on Arcade (based on downloads of the full version), followed by card title UNO in second, Bankshot Billiards 2 in third, and iconic launch title Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved in fourth.

Other games which have proved successful on the service are Texas Hold 'Em, PAC-MAN, DOOM, Contra and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, which fill out the chart from fifth place through to ninth place respectively. Overall, Xbox Live Arcade has seen 25 million downloads - and Microsoft estimates that almost 70 per cent of users who have connected their console to the network have downloaded from Xbox Live Arcade.

via gibiz ...

The mobile games industry has matured greatly in the last three years, with publishers now far more aware of what consumers want from the space - with the challenge now being to apply that knowledge to their products.

That's according to Nokia's head of global game sales, Antoine Doumenc, who was speaking exclusively with GamesIndustry.biz at the GDC Mobile event in San Francisco this week.

"Three years ago there weren't enough professional people in the mobile games industry," Doumenc commented. "It's different today. EA Mobile, Gameloft, Glu Mobile - all of these publishers understand the market really well, and the industry itself has matured. We know need to turn that understanding into real products."

He believes that the N-Gage platform, which Nokia championed in its keynote at GDC Mobile yesterday, will play a key role in taking that next step - both in terms of giving publishers more freedom to innovate and more confidence in assigning large budgets to mobile projects, and in terms of providing a mark of quality for consumers.

"These publishers have the know how to create some fantastic games. But in terms of the set-up, the mobile business just hasn't been good enough - the fragmentation, the development costs, tools and so on have delayed the industry," Doumenc explained.

"Through learning with the first N-Gage we've managed to build up an ecosystem that can be relied on, it's predictable and publishers can manage costs and also have the brand recognition that comes with it. With all of this taken care of on their behalf, publishers can now afford to take more of a creative risk and develop more games with a better return of investment."

via gibiz ...

Jonathan Epstein, the CEO of in-game advertising firm Double Fusion, has warned that a different approach is needed when it comes to placing adverts in games for mobile phones.

Epstein's comments came during a panel discussion titled The New Era of Mobile Games: Advertising and Sponsorship at GDC Mobile, which began today.

He told the audience that Double Fusion is now looking to broaden its penetration into the mobile market, adding, "The reason we're here and we're involved is that we can see that, looking at sales figures, more and more of the sales of mobile games have been coming year after year for the companies that are officially leaders in publishing games in perhaps other sectors.

"Typically we've noticed that publishers look for single point solutions so that they can offer advertisers, through one company, the entire franchise."

Epstein went on to observe that although there are healthy revenues to be earned from mobile in-game advertising, an understanding of how the PC and console markets differ is essential.

"I don't really see a place for in-game ads in the way that we do in videogames in the mobile world... There are some remarkable parallels to the way advertisers market with videogames, but there are also some remarkable differences," he said.

"I've certainly seen demos of textured mapping and the screen's just too small."

According to Epstein, "it's more about reach in the mobile games environment than it is in the videogames environment. [Videogames] are much more well-fleshed out, bigger entertainment productions, so you're selling on the value of making an emotional connection and a deeper game experience".

However, Epstein was optimistic with regard to the opportunities in the mobile market as it changes over time. "I'm sure we'll see further work being developed; these are new media," he said.

"The cellphone has this tremendous response capability. I don't think we can hold a $30 CPM rate over time, but I think you can really build a tremendous economic based on follow-on action, which is something that the videogame market doesn't really do often."

via gibiz ...

Final Fantasy XII has held on to the top spot in the UK software charts for a second week, with the hugely anticipated RPG title continuing to hold off the challenge from Real Time Worlds' Microsoft-published action title Crackdown, which remains at number two.

Despite the immense success of the franchise internationally, Final Fantasy titles have traditionally not held on to top positions in the UK chart for long - in fact, only PSone title Final Fantasy IX managed a run longer than Final Fantasy XII's fortnight, staying at number one for three weeks back in February 2001.

The chances of Final Fantasy XII repeating this feat, despite its huge popularity, seem slim - with both Ubisoft's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 and Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories mounting a challenge for the top spot this Friday.

via eurogamer ...

Zee-3's co-creator Ste Pickford believes that digital distribution services like Xbox Live Arcade are still too conservative and inaccessible for independent developers.

"Potentially, for people like us it's brilliant, but at the moment I think the door is closed," he told GamesIndustry.biz in a recent interview. "There are very few people allowed to release games and I think it really comes down to who you know, and whether you're friends with the gatekeeper at Microsoft."

Increased development costs for next-generation titles, he believes, are forcing studios to rely more heavily on publishers' vast coffers, decreasing the amount of independent games being created.

For his UK studio, making his games available for download isn't just another option, it's a necessity.

"For us it's not just the best way of getting a game out, it's the only way. I think it's a great thing and I think it'll replace retail," he added. "The cost of development is just too high to compete as a business any more."

However, there's light at the end of the tunnel and he believes there's room for smaller budget games to co-exist with AAA titles in the next-generation.

"The rise in Internet distribution, indie games and things like XBLA has opened the door again and allowed smaller budget games to exist and succeed."

via eurogamer ...

via engadget

So, Microsoft is officially striking back to halt recent Xbox 360 hack-tivity after having been alerted to recent breach methods of the system's non-privileged memory areas, allowing users to run their own code. With potential homebrews beginning to surface, Microsoft concocted its own brew: a system-wide fix, or as it's officially dubbed, an "online system update," which doesn't mention the vulnerability patch or even what the update is for. The update was unleashed on Xbox Live, can be burned to a DVD or CD from the website, and ships with all games released after February 20. Unsuspecting hax0rz who fall victim to Microsoft's furtive "booyah" will be sent back to the drawing board -- and if they manage to find another loophole, they'd best think twice before installing a patch in update's clothing. ...

New from Divineo USA



If you have ever attempted any repair or improvement of any kind, you know that the right tools can make the difference between a good experience and a bad one. The Access Pro Toolkit by Zoozen has everything you need to get into your console and accessories. It is the only toolkit that includes tools for every console and handheld on the market today. And it includes unique and custom tools that are only available from Zoozen.

This tool kit includes the tools you need for the:

· Microsoft products, including: Original Xbox, Xbox 360 and accessories like the Xbox 360 wired controller, and the Xbox 360 wireless controller. Special tools: the OneSnap, the only one-piece Xbox 360 case separator, and a special long neck tamper resistant Torx bit.

· Nintendo products, including: the Nintendo Wii, GameCube, GBA, DS, DS Lite, and most accessories like Nintendo Cartridges, Gamecube controllers, and power supplies. Special Tools: Triwing bits in two sizes and two sizes of rare Linehead Nut Setters in hardened steel. Also has the correct tools for most of the retired Nintendo game machines (those not currently for sale in the marketplace).

· Sony Products, including: PS3, PS2, PStwo, and PSP and many accessories (for example: Sony controllers).

· The Access Pro Tool Kit also has the correct tools to open most third party products.

The tools are all housed in a convenient plastic case that keeps all the parts just where they belong. And, duplicates of most bits are provided, just in case you drop a bit behind your desk during a critical procedure. ...

News from Divineo China



Minispy, the original kit from Talismoon that allows you to transfer data from your PC to your Xbox 360 (and from your Xbox 360 back to your PC) is now offered at a new rock bottom price of only $8.95. Unbeatable! ...