via Games Industry


Bungie is to become an independent company again, Microsoft confirmed today.

The platform holder said it will retain an equity interest in the Kirkland, Washington-based developer.

It will also continue to publish games based on the Microsoft-owned Halo IP and other future properties developed by Bungie.

Shane Kim, corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios, said the company was "supporting Bungie's desire to return to its independent roots".

However, he added, Microsoft "will continue to invest in our Halo entertainment property with Bungie and other partners, such as Peter Jackson, on a new interactive series set in the Halo universe".

"We look forward to great success with Bungie as our long-term relationship continues to evolve through Halo-related titles and new IP created by Bungie," he added.

Bungie studio head Harold Ryan described the move as "an exciting evolution" of the relationship with Microsoft.

"We will continue to develop with our primary focus on Microsoft’s platforms; we greatly value our mutually prosperous relationship with our publisher, Microsoft Game Studios, and we look forward to continuing that affiliation through Halo and beyond," he said.

Bungie's most recent game, Halo 3, achieved USD 300 million in sales in its first week, Microsoft said yesterday. ...

via Games Industry


Imagine Publishing has announced that it is merging its PlayStation Magazine, PSU3, with Play, effective immediately.

Acording to a press release, the decision was made after examining the magazine market, which "has not seen the significant growth shown by Xbox 360 titles." Imagine does not see the PlayStation magazine market improving in the short to medium term.


UK-based Imagine Publishing, formed in 2005, publishes 20 magazines and 20 websites in the videogames, computing, entertainment, and photography markets.

The consolidation comes only days after Future announced that they would be publishing an official PlayStation magazine in the US. ...

via Games Industry


Sony has dropped the price of the 60GB PlayStation 3 to GBP 349 and introduced an "entry level" 40GB model to retail at GBP 299.

The repositioned prices will come into effect on October 10, with the new 60GB "value pack" including two first-party games for the GBP 349 asking price, along with a single controller.

It takes the place of the current Sony GBP 425 bundle, which included the console, two first-party games and an extra Sixaxis controller.

At the lower price point is the new 40GB model which only features two USB ports rather than four, and loses the multi-memory card slot and backwards compatibility with the PlayStation 2 back catalogue.

Sony says that it has introduced the two new offerings following "feedback from thousands of existing PS3 owners as well as research into future potential PS3 owners."


David Reeves, president of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe added: "The introduction of the new PS3 has been the result of extensive research into the entertainment needs and preferences of the next-generation PS3 owners."

A full interview with Ray Maguire, where he discusses the new price points in detail, dismisses any comparisons with Microsoft's Xbox 360 pricing, and the problems of early adoption, can be read on GamesIndustry.biz on Monday. ...

via Computer and Video Games


EA's decided it's time to open up a bit on Burnout Paradise this week. Not only did it release eight new screenshots from the game yesterday, it's sent out another eight new shots into the interweb wild today.

Take a look. The screenshots show the Carson GT Concept.

Burnout Paradise is out on PS3 and Xbox 360 next year.


Screenshots here ...

via IGN


A demo version of Bee Movie Game, the new movie tie-in title from Activision, is now available for download on the Xbox Live Marketplace.

Based on the Dreamworks animated film of the same name, the interactive incarnation of Bee Movie is an action-adventure game in which you navigate Barry B. Benson through the streets of Manhattan and other scenes from the movie in a mission to save the bees' honey production.

Bee Movie Game will be available this fall for the Xbox 360, PlayStation2, PC, Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS. ...

via IGN


In a "color us unsurprised" move, Majesco has revealed that it has scored the publishing rights to Shin'en's Nanostray 2, the sequel to the developer's original Nintendo DS shooter that Majesco published back in 2005. Which, essentially, was a spiritual successor to Iridion II, a Game Boy Advance game that Majesco also published. Which, obviously, was a sequel to the GBA's launch title Iridion 3D -- again, a game published by Majesco back in 2001.

Nanostray 2 will feature six modes of top-down shooting action in over-the-top, energetic 3D environments. The game will contain more than 30 levels of single and two-player action. The internet ranking feature that was originally planned for the original Nanostray -- scrapped in favor of a password system -- will make a return in Nanostray 2 using the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service.

Majesco will release Nanostray in early 2008 ...

via Computer and Video Games


Kane & Lynch: Dead Men isn't even out the Eidos front door yet but the company has revealed a sequel is already in production.

It sees major potential in the series too, MCV reporting that Eidos is pumping more cash into marketing the game than it's ever done with any game in the Tomb Raider series.

Jane Cavanagh, CEO of Eidos parent company SCi, said SCi believes Kane & Lynch has the potential to be a franchise for adults that is respected and loved in the same way as Hitman.

"We've already got Kane & Lynch 2 in production, which just goes to show the belief we have in it as a long-term franchise", Cavanagh added.

Developed by Hitman studio IO Interactive, Kane & Lynch: Dead Men is out on November 23 on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. ...

via Computer and Video Games


We're not usually ones for card-based videogames, but the technology used in The Eye of Judgement has itself grabbed our interest, and we've got videos to show you why.

Sony's card game uses the PlayStation Eye - the PS3 equivalent of the EyeToy - to track the placement of real game cards on a playing mat on your table.

When you place the card down the PS3 reads the special coding on it and summons the corresponding monster on the screen.

We thought it a nice touch that it can identify the cards' facing direction and place the monster the right way - something that plays a fundamental part of the gameplay, as you can see in the gameplay video below, in which we take on the computer.

Yet, even though the game itself is a relatively static, grid-based card game, the tracking tech of this set-up gets even more impressive. The software actually has the ability to accurately track the movement of cards in real-time, and shift the on-screen 3D monster as though it were standing on the card itself.

This doesn't just include movement over a 2D plain, but full 3D motion tracking, meaning if you move the card close to the camera the PS3 makes the monster bigger as it gets closer to the screen. It even tracks the tilt of the card, so tipping it left or right rotates the monster on-screen (until you tilt that card too far and the Eye can't read it).

So in essence you're holding that monster in your hand and can manipulate it in full 3D. That's truly amazing stuff and, with that kind of tracking technology, Sony could come up with some truly amazing gameplay mechanics in future PS3 titles. Especially considering how well the camera can merge interactive in-game objects with real-life scenery.

You could have advanced puzzle games that use real-life manipulation of objects, or Sony could make marked cards that you place around your room so that the PS3 can detect surfaces and objects for, umm... some sort of physics-based game or something (we'll leave the creative ideas to developers).

Check out the video captioned 'EyeToy-ing around' to see the impressive camera tech at work as we use TEoJ's Card Profile mode to demonstrate it's tracking abilities.

The game's intro cinematic is pretty nice too, so we threw a video of that in here for good measure. Dive in...


Video demondstration of it in action here ...

via Computer and Video Games


Slap your eyeballs into action for four new screenshots from Condemned 2: Bloodshot, which come from the PS3 version of the game. We're not exactly blown away by the shots nor feeling shivers of joy flowing down our collective spines , but make up your own mind.

In the sequel - which is also in development for Xbox 360 - you jump back into the shoes of Ethan Thomas, former Serial Crimes Unit investigator who's been called back to duty to track down his missing partner and to investigate more serial killer nastiness.


Screenshots are here ...