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David Jaffe the creator of the magnificent PS2 game God of War has expressed his dislike of cutscenes in games and has started taking them out of the top secret project he's working on for PSP.

Writing in his latest blog, Jaffe states that any scene that takes control away from the player in order to progress the storyline "pulls you out of the game - it's almost like you appreciate the creativity but as a game it doesn't work".

With this in mind Jaffe and his team have started stripping the PSP game they're currently developing of all cutscenes, while still trying to convey meaning and elements of plot. As Jaffe explains, this won't be easy, "the real trick is how do we keep you in the game and make it more than a game, make it emotional and make it political."

So Jaffe's game is going to be "emotional" and "political". Could it be a game of Evita the Musical? We'll have to wait and see. ...

Press Release just in:

Atari, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATAR) today announced the upcoming release of Dragon Ball Z®: Shin Budokai for the PSPTM (PlayStation® Portable) system. Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai is the first game from the hugely successful global franchise to be released for the PSP system, with wireless multiplayer sending the furious combat rocketing into a new dimension. Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai is being developed by Dimps, the creative team behind past Dragon Ball Z® hits including Budokai, Budokai 2, and Budokai 3 for PlayStation® 2 computer entertainment system. Atari will launch Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai for the PSP system in March 2006.

In Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai, players can take on their friends in intense wireless multiplayer battles employing all the most exhilarating aspects of Dragon Ball Z combat, including counter-attacks, super high-speed bouts, flight and Ki (energy) management, all via an enhanced version of the renowned Saiyan Overdrive Fighting System. In single-player mode, players will be able to challenge some of the most evil characters ever seen in a comic-based video game, or select multiplayer and play as the bad guys themselves, becoming the most feared and powerful warriors in the universe.

"The Dragon Ball Z high-speed, high-energy fighting experience is a perfect fit for the wireless multiplayer capabilities of the PSP," said Matt Collins, Director, Global Brand Management, Atari, Inc. "For the first time ever, players will be able to challenge one another wirelessly and create virtual Budokai tournaments just about anywhere they go."

Alongside the breathtaking high-speed wireless multiplayer combat, other features include a choice of 18 playable characters including prize fighter Pikkon, the ability to perform in-game transformations to more powerful forms, an all-new stage from the Janemba movie, and a total of seven game modes including a compelling story mode.

Dragon Ball Z® continues to be one of the hottest brands in the video game industry with more than nine million units sold since May 2002. ...

A former employee of Sony Online Entertainment has spoken out about how an online article criticising the PlayStation 3 ended up getting him fired from the company.

In an interview with PS3week, former SOE 3D artist Josh Robinson said: "All I really did was write a few paragraphs that gave my opinion on publicly released information... I didn’t reveal any tech info and I didn’t reveal different shipping plans. I’m still in awe at the whole uproar over what amounts to NO information."

In January, Robinson posted an article on his blog which read: "Our game just keeps getting moved back... And back... And back. Again, where is the box? Where is the final system? When is it coming out? No one knows and in the mean time people in the industry are starting to get just a little salty."

"You could always tell where the PS3 dev box was because it’s the room that had the F-bomb coming out of it half the day," he added.

But the comments most likely to have riled Sony executives were to do with the PS3's technical capabilities versus those of the Xbox 360: "I’ve also talked with people on the technical side of the Xbox 360. The consistent comment I am hearing from people on my end is, 'The Xbox 360 is better'," Robinson wrote.

"They are saying that it is capable of just doing more."

Robinson told PS3week that he asked at least two Sony employees to read the blog entry before it was posted, and even showed it to an SOE producer. "We were all in agreement that I was not breaking NDA with what I was saying," he said.

However, according to Robinson, he was "Let go at Sony after the article was plopped on the desk of Sony corporate. I was also asked to remove the article immediately, which I did without any resistance."

Although Robinson has defended his right to publish the article, he claims that he has no bad feelings towards SOE: "It was something unfortunate that happened and I sincerely hope Sony isn’t damaged by it... In fact I cannot say enough nice things about the CEO and the VP of the company."

"Did I knowingly break NDA? I absolutely did not. I would never do that and I would never want to hurt Sony Online. Did I dance in the grey area by even opening my mouth? Yes I did and I was fired for it."

Robinson said he received four or five job offers immediately after leaving Sony, and even got a book deal as a result of the article. He has now accepted a new position at an unnamed company in the Santa Monica area - but while Robinson is optimistic about the future, he has clearly learned a lesson from his experience.

"I guess the new rule for me is, don’t ever say anything at all about anything. Ever... Ever." ...

News from Lik Sang

Let's start with a reminder, boys: Valentine's Day is on the 14th of February and that happens to be very soon indeed. "How could I forget? Now should I buy one more game for myself, or something more than a kiss-on-the-cheek for my girl?" Answer: Just buy games for your girl. Throw flowers and chocolates on the top if you have too, but for god's sake, buy your girl some games. That's how you efficiently expand a monthly budget: reach two targets with one hit; play in the pink world.

On top of the advice list goes the Nintendo DS Candy Pink. Already smokin' hot over the Christmas rush, this item is perfect to introduce your beloved one to the wonderful world of Nintendo. It comes in the perfect color (plus we got pink pouches too!), it's cool and innovative, and it offers diverse software libraries that will please both yourself and your lady. It's like a roses bouquet with a romantic poem, except it's better. Choose the right games to go along and it'll get you sex [Editor: I am actually not quite sure if I was allowed to publish such a pitch without getting hammered down by censorship over the next few days; I guess I'll know more tomorrow by checking my spam inbox for hate mails from Christian integrists]. As a matter of fact, Nintendo's motto is at expanding the gamers' audience, no matter who or how old you are. They have released over the last few months games for old people, for people who don't like games, for kids, for hardcore gamers, for casual gamers, for my buddy Daniel, for themselves, for me, for you, for everybody and everyone... including of course for women, if I may get back to the point. Be it in Japan or in the USA, female audiences love to train their Nintendogs. Chicks also dig Animal Crossing DS (which History will probably remember as the first "unisex" game ever), Mario Kart DS and many more of Nintendo's hits. Even the sensational music games from big N should please. Pick up wisely, remember it'll get you sex. ...

More News about the new Map Navigation Software for PSP from Lik Sang.

Sony has revealed the map software Minna no Chizu ("Everybody's Map") for Japan, which represents a navigational system of some sort, that does NOT make use of GPS. Instead, Sony is utilizing standard city maps (teaming up with specialist Zenrin, in order to use their resources), which get displayed on the PSP: you can freely turn the maps and find interesting locations (e.g. restaurants, shops, etc.). Furthermore, you can search for addresses, save the spots you like most as favorites, and are also able to add comments to them.

These places and comments can be exchanged with other PSP users via Wi-Fi. Furthermore Sony Style will sell add-ons under the codename "Guide Information" to be used with the main software. These extras will cost about 105 yen each, and data are downloaded to the user's Memory Stick. These "Guide Information" contents will contain information about local cafes, restaurants, tourist spots, and so on. Sony Style plans to offer 200-300 of these Guide Information packs. Sony intends to release Everybody's Map on April 20th. After the Talkman, this is another title that should prove to be helpful for those who plan their first pilgrimage to the Mother country of video games. ...

FBA-xxx Pro is a a derivative build of FBAxxx, the main purpose of which is to add support for the latest and most accurate ROMsets available to the emulation scene. A great many changes and additions have been made to the rather outdated sets supported by the original build, including new parents, new clones, new bootlegs, support for both encrypted and decrypted Neo-Geo sets, as well as the latest CPS and other set updates from MAME. Alot of new code has been added to improve the accuracy of the emulation, there are some minor tweaks and bugfixes to the emulator itself, and a new default skin (a modified version of the excellent Fighter skin by Duracelleur) is included.

Both Romcenter and ClrMAMEPro DATs can also be found in the package so please make use of them to ensure the ROMsets you have are the ones FBA-xxx Pro requires. And don't forget you'll also need the Neo-Geo bios set (neogeo.zip) in your ROMs folder.

http://www.1emulation.com/forums/ind...howtopic=17031 ...

McZonk posted some new screens and this news:

I have written 3 exams the last 4 days and tomorrow will be the next one. And the exams really suck. So please stop sending me mails and queries when I release the single player game. It still doesn't load the most levels and I don't know when I can fix this. The next weekend I have some time for coding. But it is an ID Software game so always remember the words of this man:

Screens via comments: ...

PyS60, the Python programming language for S60 mobile phones, is now available on SourceForge. Visit the home page to get the binaries as well as to contribute to the project.

https://sourceforge.net/projects/pys60/ ...

DWedit has released a GBAMP version of the Gameboy Colour emulator for the GBA/GB Micro, this release also works on Nintendo DS and Gamecube Gameboy player.

Alpha 5 - 2006-01-31 (Dwedit)
Supports roms trimmed bank by bank (in non-GBAMP version)
GBAMP version, with lots of aggressive memory management tweaks to increase performance

Download Here --> http://www.dcemu.co.uk/vbulletin/sho...4182#post84182 ...