New release of the Sega Saturn emulator for Windows, Linux and Mac.

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Last week we reported that opaque Sony plans are making Japanese brokers nervous. There are more rumours this morning suggesting that PS3 production is going less than smoothly. Sony has set itself the target of rolling out four million PS3s this year, planning to make two million a month in November and December. Kaz Hirai recently asserted that Sony was still on course to meet the targets.

Production of the home supercomputer has yet to begin however, and those at the ready with soldering irons and screwdrivers in China and Japan are murmuring about shortages of laser diodes for the Blu-Ray drives. The vaunted Cell processors are also in short supply, it seems. It is said that these logistical problems have the potential to halve production.

Using such 'fresh-out-the-box' technology was always going to cause problems, but it's not only the hardware people suggesting Sony have been rushing things a bit. Frustrated sources in third-party development are grumbling too. While they have dev kits for the PS3, the operating system for the machine has yet to be finalised; something of a stumbling block when trying to build front end and menu systems for games. Technical requirements guidelines, which run to pages and pages for PS2 and both Xboxes, are non-existent. Tools, or any guidance at all, for programming online protocol and the recently added controller motion sensors have yet to be supplied too.

Sony will still have to push very hard to meet their hardware deadlines. But the mad rush is leaving big question marks over the functionality and quality of release titles too. Will it be alright on the night? Or is Sony going to reap a whirlwind? Feel free to post your musings in the forum. ...

Winning Eleven DS will ship in Japan on November 11, Konami's website proudly proclaims. And what's this? It would seem that it is to be made available bundled with a special edition DS Lite in glossy onyx, and adorned with the tactical scribblings of a master manager.

The Winning Eleven series, of course, rejoices in the name of Pro Evolution Soccer in the west, and as far as we are aware, '6' is scheduled for an autumn release in Europe. Whether we poor Eurotrash will be able to snap up the special version DS still remains to be seen. Believe it or not, in the SPOnG offices there are still those of us who have yet to acquire a bewitching DS Lite.

It's all rather exciting, this portable PES stuff, we're sure you agree.

Via spong ...

Winning Eleven DS will ship in Japan on November 11, Konami's website proudly proclaims. And what's this? It would seem that it is to be made available bundled with a special edition DS Lite in glossy onyx, and adorned with the tactical scribblings of a master manager.

The Winning Eleven series, of course, rejoices in the name of Pro Evolution Soccer in the west, and as far as we are aware, '6' is scheduled for an autumn release in Europe. Whether we poor Eurotrash will be able to snap up the special version DS still remains to be seen. Believe it or not, in the SPOnG offices there are still those of us who have yet to acquire a bewitching DS Lite.

It's all rather exciting, this portable PES stuff, we're sure you agree.

Via spong ...

Via Joystiq

Proving again the subjective nature of gaming, Star Fox Command for the DS receives mixed game reviews with a current Metacritic average of 80%. Commonly highlighted strengths include single-player mode, presentation, graphics and dogfighting, with dialog, multi-player mode, and its short length being marked as weaknesses. Here's what early reviewers are saying:

Gamespot - 75%: "The presentation in Star Fox Command is one of the highlights. The impressive 3D visuals do a lot to make the game more appealing. The ship designs look great, the game runs smoothly, and there are a number of different, good-looking environments to fly around in."
Yahoo! Games - 90%: "StarFox Command continues to prove that the DS is more than a trumped-up Game Boy... Combined with the fun dogfighting and smart stylus control, this is better action than we deserve in a portable."

Gamepro - 85%: "Unfortunately, there are some minor issues that keep Star Fox Command from becoming a truly spectacular title. The maps are small and cramped and the game is just too short."
1UP- 70%: "Where the developers really missed the boat was in multi-player. The standard combat arenas are all well and good, but that's pretty much all there is. None of the strategy elements that comprised the core of the single-player game are in multi-player..."
That's too bad: Talking animals flying in space ships had such potential of becoming a AAA title, not to take away from it's apparent decency. Animal stabs aside, what do the current game owners out there think? ...

Via Joystiq

Proving again the subjective nature of gaming, Star Fox Command for the DS receives mixed game reviews with a current Metacritic average of 80%. Commonly highlighted strengths include single-player mode, presentation, graphics and dogfighting, with dialog, multi-player mode, and its short length being marked as weaknesses. Here's what early reviewers are saying:

Gamespot - 75%: "The presentation in Star Fox Command is one of the highlights. The impressive 3D visuals do a lot to make the game more appealing. The ship designs look great, the game runs smoothly, and there are a number of different, good-looking environments to fly around in."
Yahoo! Games - 90%: "StarFox Command continues to prove that the DS is more than a trumped-up Game Boy... Combined with the fun dogfighting and smart stylus control, this is better action than we deserve in a portable."

Gamepro - 85%: "Unfortunately, there are some minor issues that keep Star Fox Command from becoming a truly spectacular title. The maps are small and cramped and the game is just too short."
1UP- 70%: "Where the developers really missed the boat was in multi-player. The standard combat arenas are all well and good, but that's pretty much all there is. None of the strategy elements that comprised the core of the single-player game are in multi-player..."
That's too bad: Talking animals flying in space ships had such potential of becoming a AAA title, not to take away from it's apparent decency. Animal stabs aside, what do the current game owners out there think? ...

In case you didn't know, third-person action/adventure thug titles keep gamers glued to TV sets and sell a lot of product. Enter THQ's GTA rip-off for the 360 with a current average review score of 84% according to Metacritic:

GamePro - 95%: "Parental units should take note: Saints Row definitely ain't for the kiddies. If anything, it's even sleazier than the GTA titles... [but] Saints Row is just too good to miss."
IGN - 85%: "Saints Row, despite its distinct lack of originality, is fun. It starts out fun and it stays fun. It gets deeper and more engaging, and the storyline and the characters come to life, and you're compelled by seeing the narrative unfold just as much as getting all of the 10- and 20-point Achievements."
Games Radar - 80%: "It looks good, plays great, offers plenty to do and it's even funny at times - though in a much cruder way than GTA's more sly, subversively socially relevant sense of humor."
1UP - 70%: "Sure, GTA's story and sense of humor were pretty infantile most of the time, but it was still damn funny and did a bang-up job of satirizing American pop culture and consumerism. In Saints Row, however, it all feels obligatory. Like it was something they just had to do, and the result is pretty lifeless." ...

Some news slipped out during the Leipzig convention in Germany that Crytek senior game designer Bernd Diemer said their upcoming first-person shooter Crysis was too über for the next-generation consoles -- the 360 and PlayStation 3 specifically. The heart of the matter related directly to DirectX 10 and it being the only way to truly unleash the beast behind this beautiful game.

Diemer was quoted as saying that "next generation consoles like the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 do not offer the sufficient power" needed for some high-quality Crysis action. This news comes counter to the recent news that the Crytek team was looking for some PS3 worker bees for a possible Crysis port to the system. We may not see Crysis on the PS3, but it's still entirely possible we may see Crysis-like games in the future on Sony's console. ...

Former PlayStation exec Shuji Utsumi tells Wired that Kutaragi, years before the Xbox was introduced, believed his competitor was Microsoft. "I thought, what is he talking about?" Utsumi says. "Is he nuts? But even before PlayStation was born, he was predicting a big war for the living room." But how different are the next-gen Microsoft and Sony platforms? Epic's Tim Sweeney says double the effort is needed to max out the PLAYSTATION 3. Until then, there's no discernible differences between the two machines. He adds:

The Cell has more theoretical computing power, but it might be years before we see that reflected in actual performance. So it's a fundamental question whether the long-term direction in computing is with architectures like the Cell.
A big part of the PLAYSTATION 3's selling points is not just performance, but promised performance, it seems. And can that, Wired asks, save Sony? ...