News from Eurogamer

Sony Computer Entertainment UK has condemned the leaking of forthcoming PSP title Gangs of London to the internet, after copies of an internal beta of the game appeared on BitTorrent sites overnight.

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Sony spokesman David Wilson also warned consumers that the leaked version is incomplete and buggy.

"The version of Gangs Of London that you have brought our attention to here is a pre-production 'preview' version," he revealed. "It is not the complete game and it has anomalies in the code since it hasn't been through our QA process yet."

Wilson also reasserted his firm's strong opposition to game piracy - and while it's clearly not relevant in this situation, as BitTorrent piracy creates no revenues, he pointed to the oft-cited link between piracy and organised crime.

"We are wholly opposed to game piracy," he commented. "Even if people have no sympathy for games developers losing money (though in the end that damages our industry and hurts gamers) - there are proven links that exist between counterfeiting and organised crime and that has some serious consequences (and victims) that people should give due consideration."

Gangs of London, which itself has more than a little bit to do with organised crime and gangland violence, will be out on the PSP later this year, and will allow players to engage in tactical urban combat around the streets of London and the capital's most famous landmarks - all without the aforementioned serious consequences.

Maybe another reason why Sony is taking a real look at the Homebrew scene, the warez people spoil it for us all ? ...

We're still waiting to play Naruto: Ultimate Ninja over here, but that hasn't stopped Namco Bandai lining up a PS2 sequel.

Naruto: Uzumaki Chronicles is due out on PS2 this winter in the States, and sees the eponymous Naruto - a ninja in training - completing story-driven missions in a 3D world to save the Hidden Leaf Village from evil, and fulfil his dream of becoming the Hokage (leader).

Naruto: Ultimate Ninja is out on PS2 this November; Naruto: Uzumaki Chronicles has yet to be dated for Europe. ...

For those Mac users who just can't wait to start filling up those $20+ Blu-ray writeables, the anticipation is just about over. Later this month, Japanese storage specialist Logitec will begin shipping what's touted as the "world's first Mac-compatible" Blu-ray disc burner. While Blu-ray burners for Windows-based machines have been popping up fairly frequently of late, OS X has been left out in the cold, (but considering the current price of Blu-ray media, we're assuming it hasn't been a total calamity). Nevertheless, the LBD-A2FU2/WM is an external 2x burner that will support DVD-RAM, DVD±R/RW, dual-layer DVD±R, CD-R / RW, and obviously BD-R / BD-RE discs. This FireWire / USB 2.0 combination drive supports PCs and Macs, and it's presumed that Roxio's Toast 7 Titanium software played a role in OS X getting its functionality groove on -- Roxio supposedly began offering Blu-ray drive makers a Mac-friendly version of the software, and sure enough, that's what you'll get with the Logitec. So for all you Mac fans who've felt a bit left behind, you can still get up to speed in just a couple weeks, but know it might cost you more than your MacBook (¥132,000 or $1,148), so you may want to think twice before cruising to Japan to pick one up.

More info ...

Word recently reached us that the PlayStation 3 has officially entered production, and in an interview with The Guardian, Sony's president of worldwide studios, Phil Harrison has shed some light on the on-going development work on the console.

According to Harrison, "It's all going well. We are in full swing, from a developer point of view, and over 10,000 developer kits have been shipped. Developers now have final [PS3] hardware in their hands, though there will be some upgrades to the operating system - there's nothing unusual about that. The new controller is now in developers' hands, so all the pieces of the puzzle are there."

Also in the interview, Harrison comments on the arrival of working Blu-ray drives in the PS3 dev kits, noting that many studios also have blu-ray burners in their PCs, "so they are now doing their first iterations of games running off discs," he says.

"Signs are good," adds Harrison, "right now there are more than 100 Blu-ray movies available today, in the US. More than 100 games are in development [for the PS3], and all the major third party publishers have pledged their strategic support for the platform."

Sony is gearing up for its next big push for the PS3, which will start at the Tokyo Games Show on September 22, where the father of PlayStation, Ken Kutruagi is scheduled to give the keynote speech. Hopefully with the appearance or some new game titles and a more solid-looking launch line-up, Sony will be able to make up for the mostly-negative reaction to its showing at this year's E3. Stay tuned. ...

Jez San, founder of the now-defunct Argonaut Software and now involved with PS3 slash 'em-up, Heavenly Sword has said that he thinks the PlayStation 3 will come out on top in the next-gen console war, "but only because its got Blu-ray."

Speaking to The Guardian, San said: "I think the combination of a next-generation games machine and a next-generation DVD player that plays full high-definition movies is very compelling, despite the huge price. Remember price is just a function of time and volume. It doesn't matter what the PS3 comes out at, it's what it gets down to, over time, that's important."

In the same article, market analyst Paul Jackson of Forrester Research agrees with San's comments, saying that Sony stands a good chance because, "Far more people will go for a PS3 than spend $1,000 on a Blu-ray player ...it's a question of how quickly [Sony] gets the price down."

Jackson goes on to echo San's own comments on the importance of price. "You can't get to the mass market until you get down to $300/£200 [mark]."

Jackson then asserts that it's going to be far from an easy ride for Sony, because of the amount of negative press that currently surrounds its next-gen console: "You can't over-estimate how much negativity there is around the PlayStation 3 in the web ...The stories just keep getting worse and worse. They've got a real fight on their hands."

There's only a few months left until the PS3 hits - and most-likely vanishes from - store shelves, and with likely stock shortages ensuring a Christmas sell-out for the console, it's going to be next year before we get the slightest inkling of who's really going to rule the next gen.

But as San points out, the unique appeal of both Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft's machines means it could very well end up being a three-way tie. Whichever way the next gen cookie crumbles, it's certainly going to be an interesting 12 months... ...

Midway is bringing a version of current-gen (or should that be old-gen now?) videogame Rampage: Total Destruction to Nintendo Wii, it's been revealed.

According to IGN, the version will be Wii-enhanced - that's graphical improvements and, presumably, this also means it'll make use of the console's unique controller in some capacity). It'll include many known names from the Rampage beast stable along with 10 new monsters for 40-odd beasty line-up.

In addition, it's said the characters in Wii Total Destruction boast unique super moves and combo attacks. Furthermore, the title features seven cities, with London, Chicago and Hong Kong being named so far. Environments will, obviously, be destructible.

Rampage: Total Destruction will release at the end of the year. ...

Stefano Russello aka Puffo83 the coder of PSP Brew has released PSP TO JOYPAD, heres the translated info:


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The August 2006 issue of the XTREME PSP Magazine is now available to download. Issue 14 is packed with over 80 pages of great content including previews of GTA Vice City, Pirates of the Caribbean, NCAA Football 2007, and reviews of Loco Roco, Tomb Raider, and Race Driver 2006. And all the regular content including tips and cheats, the latest news, a new competition and more...

Download Here --> http://www.xtremepsp.com/news.php?id=95 ...

Jeremy1026 has again updated his Yahtzee game for the PSP, here the release info:


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via jeremy ...