Well, it looks like AT&T has a few surprises of its own today -- it's just announced that U-verse Mobile will be heading to Windows Phone 7 this fall and -- get this -- you don't even have to be a U-verse customer to use it. Non-customers will have to shell out $9.99 a month to get their mobile TV fix, however, while current U-verse users will be able to take advantage of the service for free -- it's also available nationwide, a first for a U-verse service. In other U-verse news, AT&T has also now confirmed earlier reports that you will be able to use your Xbox 360 as a U-verse receiver, although you'll obviously have to be a U-verse customer for that. New U-verse customers will be able to order a $99 Xbox kit that includes installation (but not the actual Xbox 360) starting October 15th, while existing customers will apparently have to buy the kit and shell out an additional $55 for installation. Head on past the break for the full press release and a quick video of the Windows Phone 7 app.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/11/a...ne-7-xbox-360/ ...

So, maybe Microsoft meant "people don't do that in 2010." At the mega-corp's UK-based Windows Phone 7 launch event, we were just informed that its hot-off-the-presses mobile OS will be blessed with a software update that'll add copy and paste functionality in "early 2011." That's according to one Andy Less, and while details beyond that are scant, it's possible that said update will also bring other magical makeovers into the fold. We're still a little baffled that the company would leave such a seemingly vital part of the software out at launch, but we guess certain corners always have to be cut in order to get something out before a sure-to-be-profitable holiday quarter. And hey, it's not like we haven't seen another major mobile OS player pull this same stunt before.

Update: CNET's Ina Fried got a quick look at an early implementation of copy and paste in Windows Phone 7, and says it works fairly well: You start by clicking on a single word, then drag your finger across the rest of the passage you'd like to transmit to expand your highlighted selection. When you let go, a paste button appears. Sound about right to you?

http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/11/c...in-early-2011/ ...

Call of Duty: Black Ops DS developer n-Space "is down, but definitely not out" after the rug was pulled from under it by a "licensor" that had a change of heart.

CEO Dan O'Leary had to take "drastic action" and sent all but a core team home. He attributed the studio's near-closure to a number of factors, including an industry that is "frankly, a mess", and Wii and DS markets that have "nearly collapsed".

"After supporting 70-90 employees for several months without funding, Friday's lay-offs were unavoidable," O'Leary explained on the n-Space blog. "If all goes as planned, we'll be calling people back before the end of the week."

"Life as an independent developer is often a painful hand-to-mouth exercise of love," he elaborated. "This has never been more true than in the last few years. The games industry is, frankly, a mess. The economy has robbed customers of disposable income, reducing the number of titles that purchased per year. Huge-budget titles have to sell massive numbers to return a profit and the App Store has disrupted our industry in the same way iTunes changed consumer expectations for music.

"People that used to buy many games every year now buy a few AAA titles, supplementing their need with games that are free or cost less than a pack of gum. Anything in the middle is struggling.

"The Wii and DS markets have nearly collapsed," he said, "and 3DS is a brave new world the publishers are excited about but also very cautious to enter. Even for an extremely successful Wii/DS developer like n-Space, with a long history of delivering quality titles on time and on budget, this creates a very challenging business environment."

O'Leary said n-Space had several games on the slate for 2010. Among them were DS games COD: Black Ops and 007 GoldenEye for Activision, and Tron: Evolution (Wii, DS) for Disney.

One of these was finished and "several" were "soon to follow". "Then," O'Leary added, "with a last-minute change of heart from the [unnamed] licensor, that deal was dead.

"When the week ended without commitments from other publishers to offset this setback, I was forced to take drastic action."

O'Leary concluded: "Since 2008 the n-Space family has faced and overcome a number of tremendous challenges, and it seems our work is not yet done."

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...wn-but-not-out ...

It looks as though popular film rental service Lovefilm is heading to PlayStation 3.

According to a video posted on the PS3 YouTube channel and since withdrawn, the service is due to go live this autumn and will allow you to stream films to your PS3.

There will be free trials and incentives for people who don't already use Lovefilm, plus Pick of the Week, Most Watched and Highest Rated categories for filtering content.

The video's gone but Everything PlayStation screen-grabbed the section of the video which shows the Lovefilm app on the PS3's XMB (thanks VG247).

We've contacted Sony to clarify the details. (Update: Sony UK declined to comment.)

Lovefilm subscribers select a range of films they want to watch and the company posts them the first one. Once they've watched a film they send it back and receive the next one, although users don't always get the film they really wanted immediately.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...-playstation-3 ...

Junction Point's Warren Spector has lavished praise on Disney for the quality of support he has received putting together ambitious Wii-exclusive title Epic Mickey.

"I've told every publisher, and I told Disney, I don't do budgets, I don't do schedules, and I make the games I want to make. If you don't want that, let's part ways now and we'll stay friends. Don't think you can change me because you can't. I think Disney found that out. And they've been hugely supportive, I've got to say," Spector told IGN at New York Comic-Con this weekend.

"There are not a lot of publishers who'd have the courage to stick with us. I mean Mickey Mouse with choice and consequence on the Wii - if this isn't the biggest budgeted, most serious third-party Wii title in the history of mankind I don't know what is. And only Disney would have supported that."

Spector also said that fans of his past work would still find a lot to their taste if they decided to join him for the Epic Mickey ride on 26th November.

"If Deus Ex fans give this a shot I think they'll find Mickey is quite a hero," he said. "Although they're making different kinds of choices and seeing different kinds of consequences the gameplay philosophy that is the underpinning of Deus Ex, Thief, System Shock, and the multiple games I've worked on, it's still right there. It's just different. There you go, it's not good or bad, it's just different."

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...of-epic-mickey ...

What is Mass Effect 2? At the crudest level it's a 'sci-fi RPG' - but BioWare's epic is anything but crude.

You play as a human war hero, Commander Shepard, travel around the galaxy in a ship, the Normandy, and either chat with or kill aliens with an array of futuristic weaponry and biotic powers.

However, filing Mass Effect away as either Trek-like geek fodder or a 100+ RPG stat marathon not only insults the game's appeal and polish, it belittles the significance of Sony's progress with PS3 itself.



Put another way, Mass Effect 2 coming to PS3 in January is a big, big deal.

How so? Well, it's an incredible game, universally praised by Xbox 360 and PC owners who've been enjoying it all year and contributed to its 96% Metacritic average.

Aside from that, its announcement at EA's GamesCom press conference is another indicator that publishers and developers want to bring their very best to Sony.

Mass Effect has long been a jewel in Microsoft's crown - this sequel is held in the same esteem as Halo, Gears Of War and Forza - but now it's coming to PS3.

Sorry, correction, an enhanced version's coming to PS3, complete with DLC and several small but vital extras. It's as huge a deal for us as Gabe Newell taking to the stage at E3 to announce Portal 2 on Sony's machine.

Looking further into the future, it practically guarantees the presence of Mass Effect 3 - the conclusion to the trilogy - on our console, as well as continued support from BioWare, the world's leading RPG developers.

There are all kinds of reasons to be excited, but, as we hinted at earlier, the main one's the game itself.

SPOILER-FREE SPACE
Don't worry, we're not planning to ruin any of the surprises here. In Mass Effect 2, story is king, both in the way it's told and the way it unfolds.



The game's rich sci-fi universe is meticulously detailed yet linear enough to ensure you don't get lost or bogged down in endless fetch and-carry missions.

You're guided through the space opera by gorgeous in-game cut-scenes, voiced by big-name celebs such as Martin Sheen and more sci-fi actors such as Battlestar's Tricia Helfer and Farscape's Claudia Black.

At the start of Mass Effect 2, for reasons we won't go into here because the opening scene's incredible, you leave the Alliance and join up with a pro-human mercenary group called Cerberus.

Your mission? To investigate the disappearance of human colonies from the edge of the galaxy. It's classic sci-fi fodder, but told without cliche and implemented with a delicate touch.

You set about your mission by traveling to various worlds, recruiting crew members and earning their loyalty for the final assault.

You're forced to make tough choices along the way, favouring certain squad-mates over others, which has an effect on the gameplay.

And because the personalities on-board the Normandy are all morally ambiguous, the choices you make are rarely simple, something that separates Mass Effect 2 from myriad RPGs offering so-called plot-altering decisions.

Even if you don't care for some of the characters, you'll be in awe of how natural the conversations look and sound. The first time you're offered a talk option, you'll be genuinely surprised that the cutscenes let you take charge, such is the game's visual prowess, and seamless story integration.



SHOT IN THE DARK
When you're not talking, you're firing. Mass Effect's combat isn't perfect, but it's certainly enjoyable, mixing tactics, special abilities and old-fashioned third-person gunplay to create some thrilling sequences.

It offers RPG depth for those who want it, and simplicity for anyone who just likes to line up crosshairs and shoot.

There is, quite simply, no other game like Mass Effect 2. It may have shades of Gears Of War, borrow ideas from Battlestar Galactica and feature the emotional storytelling we all know and love from Heavy Rain, but no other title brings all these elements together with such precision or polish.

Just another sci-fi RPG? Not a chance. An Xbox hand-me-down? Nope. One of the most important PS3 launches ever? Absolutely.

Order PSM3 magazine here and have it delivered straight to your door.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...VG-General-RSS ...

Actor Stephen Fry made a surprise appearance at Microsoft’s Window’s Phone 7 press conference in London this afternoon, promoting what he described as the underdog of the mobile operating system market.
The event, held at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, started with a live video link to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in New York, introducing the software giant’s latest smartphone OS.
Ballmer said the firm had “set out to build a phone that was thoroughly modern” in hardware, design and “the way that it embraces what people do today with internet services”.
The two main principles behind Windows Phone 7, he said, were ‘Always delightful’ and ‘Wonderfully mine’. The user experience is designed to be ‘delightful’ regardless of the handset or application, while remaining personal to the user, Ballmer claimed.
New features on the phone include easier syncing between the phone and the user’s home media collection, ‘Live tiles’ (icons that show the actual content of each application) and ‘Hubs’, which allow greater integration of apps, features and content across the device.

Stephen Fry, who kept insisting he was “not being paid to be here”, said that despite often being associated with Apple, he would now happily also carry a Windows mobile device alongside his iPhone and BlackBerry.
“Oh, what joy there is in heaven when a sinner repents,” he said of the new ‘Always delightful’ motto. “They now, I think, get it. That all human beings… are human beings first.
“You don’t judge the machines you use… simply by listing their functions.”
Microsoft also announced six Windows Phone 7 smartphones, which will be hitting the UK market later this month. The HTC 7 Mozart, Samsung Omnia 7, HTC 7 Trophy, LG Optimus 7, HTC HD7 and Dell Venue Pro will be available from October 21st on various networks, but Orange is the main partner for the new OS.

http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/34875...n-Frys-backing ...

Publisher Sega has admitted that it has in the past been over-enthusiastic with its forecasting, resulting the perception that its titles have failed to deliver as expected.
Speaking to MCV in his first interview since becoming European boss, Jurgen Post admitted that the misjudgement has caused some in the trade to believe that Sega’s games have struggled to hit the sell-through that the industry was expecting of them.
“Well, I’d say we’re no exception to the rule,” he explained. “Yes, we have found things a little harder than expected in the past year, but so has everyone. The main reason was, quite simply, putting in numbers a little bit too high. Maybe we have to be more careful in the future.
“It is all about better forecasting.”

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/41277/Sega...tions-too-high ...

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 is reportedly already in development at Spanish developer MercurySteam.


"If you liked the first [game], hope that the second is even more spectacular," Oscar Araujo, composer of the first game's soundtrack, said on Spanish radio (via Eurogamer).

Konami declined to comment on the report, but it looks like the identity of MercurySteam's next game is out of the bag.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow debuted in sixth place on the UK all formats chart this morning following highly positive reviews.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...VG-General-RSS ...