Master Chief has already cleaned the Covenant's alien armies off a spaceship, a ring-world, and the entire planet Earth--and now it looks like cell phones will be next.

At the CTIA IT Wireless and Entertainment 2005 trade show today, mobile game publisher In-Fusio announced that it had secured a three-year agreement with Microsoft for the mobile rights to the Halo universe. The company has also announced that the first Halo-inspired applications for phones are due later this year on North American carriers, with other regions to follow.

Although In-Fusio would not officially confirm what kinds of Halo apps are in the offing, it did offer a few hints. According to the terms of the agreement, In-Fusio will be able to develop and publish "downloadable and embedded" mobile Halo products.

This suggests that the company is working on a number of different types of content, such as games of various degrees of complexity, ringtones, screensavers, and wallpaper.

In a telephone interview with In-Fusio vice president of business development and brand development Julian Corbett, he indicated that the mobile publisher is participating in ongoing discussions with Microsoft's Bungie Studios in order to decide exactly what sorts of applications will be most appropriate for mobile phones.

”We're working very closely with Bungie throughout the process," Corbett said, "and we're going to be combining our specialty in mobile entertainment with the Halo universe...obviously, we won't be putting the Xbox Halo on cell phones, but we see a number of compelling ways to expand the franchise to mobile."

Corbett went on to intimate that in-Fusio would take a holistic approach to the project, mentioning the community-driven product Neopets as an example of the company's basic methodology.

In-Fusio has had an existing publishing relationship with Microsoft since 2004. So far, the company has published mobile versions of Midtown Madness 3, Zoo Tycoon 2, Age of Empires 2, Banjo-Kazooie, Sabre Wulf, and It's Mr. Pants. ...

Intel and Microsoft have announced their support for the HD-DVD format, citing its "unique advantages" over Blu-Ray such as affordability and an earlier estimated launch date.

"After looking at the core advantages to the PC ecosystem and how it would benefit the consumer, it is clear that HD-DVD offers the highest quality, and is the most affordable and highly flexible solution available," said Microsoft's Blair Westlake.

Intel technology officer Brendan Traw added: "Intel has determined that HD DVD best meets the needs of consumers and the requirements for the respective consumer electronics, computer and entertainment industries for delivering a high-definition, interactive experience to the home."

Up until now, both Intel and Microsoft have officially remained neutral in the HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray battle, declining to take part in the negotiations between Sony and Toshiba over a possible unified format. The fact that they have finally picked a side suggests that any remaining glimmer of hope has now disappeared.

It's no great surprise that Microsoft has joined the HD-DVD camp - just last month, the Redwood giant was rumoured to be considering incorporating HD-DVD technology into future versions of the Xbox 360.

Other companies who have already announced their support for the format include NEC, Sanyo and Hitachi, along with movie studios Universal, Warner Bros. and Paramount. Blu-Ray backers include Apple, Philips, Hewlett-Packard, Twentieth Century Fox and Buena Vista Home Entertainment.

Toshiba's supporters argue that HD-DVD discs are less expensive and easier to produce - making them cheaper for the consumer. HD-DVD discs can also hold high definition data on one side and standard definition on the other for backwards compatibility.

But single layer Blu-Ray discs can hold up to 30Gb, while dual layer discs can hold 50Gb - compared to just 15Gb and 25Gb respectively for HD-DVD discs. Blu-Ray also has an advantage in that Sony's PlayStation 3 will use Blu-Ray technology, making for a sizeable installed user base when the console launches.

Sony's backers responded nonchalantly to the announcement from Microsoft and Intel, with Hewlett-Packard executive and Blu-Ray spokesman Josh Peterson commenting: "We don't see this announcement as anything that will shift the momentum that Blu-Ray disc has experienced." ...

The big secret that everyone's been curious about, the Xbox Origen puzzle, has been revealed. From the article: "The Origen Xbox 360 site has counted down, and it appears to be promoting a contest for European gamers to win a trip to an Xbox 360 launch party in the U.S. As for the updated site, it went live at approximately 7:00 AM ET. The tree is now covered with flags from all over Europe instead of fruit, as well as a link to xbox360.com in the lower left-hand corner. A Harry Potter movie-soundtrack-like toy piano is also playing a loop of a short musical progression in the background. Rolling over clickable objects on the tree produces a disappearing fairy-dust-like effect which follows the cursor." ...

News from Lik Sang

Dashing up walls, silently striking and decapitating those who stand in your way, Ninja Gaiden was one of the best action adventures of this generation, recognized by many as the perfect Ninja Gaiden title. This week though, Tecmo proves the game wasn't perfect after all. In Ninja Gaiden Black, the entire original game is here, exploring the back story of Dead or Alive's Ryu Hayabusa, who is seeking revenge after his clan is massacred by the Vigor Empire. On top of that however, are the new scenes, weapons, enemies and costumes from the two downloadable Hurricane Packs. Then moving into unseen territory, there’s new cinematics, extra side missions and fresh areas to traverse. Still not done, after you wrap the main adventure up, which is far from a simple task, there's around 50 extra combat missions awaiting you, and beyond that even, the entire original arcade version of Ninja Gaiden can be unlocked!

Showing it all the love and care it deserves too, Tecmo went through the whole game polishing up any graphics that didn't meet their standards of perfection. Further changes include many challenges with a beefed up difficulty level, but for those who the game mocks as "Ninja Dogs", after dying a few times you're given the offer to play at a much more forgiving level. If you're after the ultimate honor however, give Master Ninja mode a go. Only one lone staff member from the developers, Team Ninja, was able to complete this, and anyone else who can, can rest easy in the knowledge they are truly one of very few elite gaming ninja's in this world. Being released this week, if you didn't give it a go the first time around, find out just what you missed out on now, and if you did, take your skills, and adventures, to whole new levels. ...

Most businesses aren’t immediately profitable, we know that. You’re very lucky if your startup—especially if it’s a tech startup—isn’t in the hole for a number of years even after taking off (see: TiVo). But according to an SEC filing on the company we love to rib, Tiger Telematics (makers of the Gizmondo portable game system), the company lost $11.1, $8, and then $99 million dollars in 2002, 2003, and 2004, respectively. Ok, so that’s a pretty steep incline in losses—more than 10x in one year?—but, man, someone must have gone to town between January and June of this year, because their operating losses for the first half of 2005 are already at $210 million. So basically to pull this all together: Tiger’s in the whole for $328 million with a faltering business model selling a perpetually unsuccessful console competing against the PSP and DS—and to add insult to injury, they’re licking their wounds with a continuing series of self-aggrandizing press releases. Seriously, do we really have to spell this out any more? ...

The v2.0 software keeps on coming ( i foresee another section soon) and today Elz Development have released a Button Swapper for the PSP and also another Hello World proggy, heres the info:

Button Swapper (for 2.0)
This will swap your JP PSP 2.0 so you can use X (instead of O) as select.

Yet Another Hello World (for 2.0)
Yet another hello world for 2.0. Personaly I think this one is much better than the first one that came out, because this one got some small basic animations.

Download both via the comments ...

The v2.0 software keeps on coming ( i foresee another section soon) and today Elz Development have released a Button Swapper for the PSP and also another Hello World proggy, heres the info:

Button Swapper (for 2.0)
This will swap your JP PSP 2.0 so you can use X (instead of O) as select.

Yet Another Hello World (for 2.0)
Yet another hello world for 2.0. Personaly I think this one is much better than the first one that came out, because this one got some small basic animations.

Download both via the comments ...

The v2.0 software keeps on coming ( i foresee another section soon) and today Elz Development have released a Button Swapper for the PSP and also another Hello World proggy, heres the info:

Button Swapper (for 2.0)
This will swap your JP PSP 2.0 so you can use X (instead of O) as select.

Yet Another Hello World (for 2.0)
Yet another hello world for 2.0. Personaly I think this one is much better than the first one that came out, because this one got some small basic animations.

Download both via the comments ...

Spotted this over at Lik Sang, new commercial game ?



In Guilty Gear XX #Reload, players will be able to experience the fast paced, adrenaline fused, arcade fighting of Guilty Gear X2 # Reload as well as delve into a new Guilty Gear gameplay experience, "Boost Mode" which is a beat-em-up, side-scrolling, action mode featuring 20 Guilty Gear characters. For the first time players will take their favorite Guilty Gear character and be able to battle, by themselves or with a friend via the PSP's wireless connectivity, through hordes of aggressors and dole out their own personal brand of judgment.

http://www.yesasia.com/?/info.php?pro...5&lsaid=219793 ...