The latest batch of awesome-looking FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage screenshots have just landed on our desktop - and here they are for your viewing pleasure.

Bugbear's racer is revving ever close to its June release date, so you've got not got long to wait before you're smashing over 8,000 dynamic objects across excessively bump-mapped Xbox Live tracks.

Screens Here ...

Following up Wednesday's announcement EA has released the first three screenshots of its Wii Sports-alike EA Playground, which is heading to Wii and DS later in the year.

The Wii version of Playground is set to feature a wide roster of mini-games - some of which you can see in these shots - including frantic remote-waving events such as dodge ball, RC car racing and garden classic swing ball.

Wrap this all up in a campaign mode progressing you through the school yard and EA Playground is apparently what you end up with. No Lambrini-swigging bonus round though.

It's currently down for a Q3 release in North America and we'll let you know when we hear anything regarding Europe.

Screens Here ...

After months and months of waiting Empire Interactive has confirmed that Double Dragon is finally coming to Xbox Live Arcade next week.

In case you've got no idea what we're on about (you weirdo), Double Dragon is a classic side-scrolling beat-em-up set in the lovely city of Detroit. Two brothers Billy and Jimmy Lee, masters of a mystical martial art, travel the streets beating up rivals and anyone who looks at them funny for no particular reason.

The Arcade version of the much-loved bruiser will be Empire's XBLA debut, expectedly sporting both an untouched arcade port and a new version with tinkered graphics and sound.

There's no word on the cost yet, though we're expecting it to arrive at around 400 Microsoft points (£3.60).

via cvg ...

via gibiz

The president of Microsoft's entertainment and devices division has said he expects the company's console business to finally start making money next year.

Speaking to eWeek, Robbie Bach said: "It's a business that will be profitable next year. We'll make money next year and that will be the first time, which is pretty exciting."

Microsoft announced last week that falling Xbox 360 sales contributed to a 21 per cent drop in revenues for the entertainment and devices division. The first quarter of 1007 saw an operating loss of USD 315 million (EUR 232 million) for the division, which also makes the Zune mp3 player. But these losses were reduced from the same period last year.

Bach told eWeek that he expects Microsoft to stop making a loss on console production soon, with revenue from games, Live and peripheral sales contributing to positive cashflow some time in 2008.

"Xbox is the hardest piece of consumer electronics hardware to produce in the world, no debate," he said, admitting that "costs are a little higher than we'd like". Microsoft doesn't expect to make a profit on hardware alone, but "we'll probably be gross margin neutral on that over the life cycle of the product, and try to break even on that".

But he feels growth in the rest of the business is increasing fast enough to offest production costs. "Right now we're doing a pretty good job. We're humming pretty well in the business. Game attach rate [is at the] highest level in history for a game console at this stage in the life cycle. The same with our peripheral attach rate. Xbox Live has over 6 million members. The pieces are in place to drive the proverbial billion dollars."

Bach also commented on Microsoft's competition, saying he felt Nintendo's Wii put it in a much stronger position than Sony.

"I think Nintendo and Microsoft are clearly in the driver's seat on what's happening in this generation," he said. "Sony I think has some real challenges. They've got a pricing problem, they have a cost problem, they have a content problem, and they don't have an online service."

He also added that the Wii had received "more broad-base acclaim that I would have expected" and was "a very nice product, but it actually has a relatively specific audience and a fairly specific appeal." The challenge it presented to Microsoft was how to compete with it in the casual market, on both Xbox 360 and Windows, he said ...

More on the remodeled PS3 story via gibiz

An Australian technology website has suggested that a revised PlayStation 3 could be less than 18 months away, citing "a Sony insider" as its source.

The Smarthouse report refers to the proposed machine as a "PlayStation 4", but goes on to state that it will be based on the same chipset as PS3, differing from the current model only in the "drive bay and attachment area". According to the source, it will also include a software suite for managing streaming of content to TVs and hi-fis, and feature improved output.

A Sony spokesperson declined to comment on the story, classing it as speculation.

Smarthouse quotes the source as saying, "We have even looked at a Sony home server based on PlayStation technology. This would allow consumers to connect home automation devices to the Sony server while also delivering online gaming and access to an extensive movie and music library."

The idea of a full-fledged PlayStation 4 coming so soon after the company's vast investment in designing and launching PS3 is far-fetched. But expanding PS3's abilities as a media server, connected to multiple devices in the home, would be consistent with Sony's oft-repeated vision of PS3 as a multimedia home entertainment centre.

The device outlined in the aritcle is also consistent with Reuters' recent report that Sony is considering launching PS3s with larger hard drives, much as Microsoft has done with the Xbox 360 Elite.

However, PS3 hard disks are industry-standard components, and users are free to fit larger drives themselves if they wish. Many of the other features described in the story could be achieved by updating the PS3 firmware, with no need for a hardware revision. ...

A report published by market intelligence firm Niko Partners, specialists in the Chinese game industry, states that the country's video game market saw spectacular growth in 2006.

The report found that revenue from the overall video game market jumped by 68% last year, with the online gaming sector generating USD 995 million in revenue, an increase of 74% from the previous year.

Unsurprisingly, the report singled out China's booming internet cafe culture as the main driver for this growth. The introduction of free-to-play massively multiplayer online games - in which players pay for virtual items - has, according to Niko's managing partner Lisa Cosmas Hanson, further stimulated this trend.

"Chinese gamers pour into the cafes every day to play online and LAN games with friends. They spend money in the games on virtual gifts for friends, services for their characters, and virtual items to help with leveling," said Hanson. "The intertwined nature of China's Internet cafes, social gaming culture, and few entertainment alternatives at a low price point, will continue to be the basis for strong growth through 2011."

But the Niko report goes on to paint a picture of overall good health for the Chinese market. Sales of offline PC games, mostly from Taiwan, rose 28.5 per cent to 904,000 units in 2006. And alongside the 20 million PCs in China's 225,000 internet cafes are an increasing number of consoles, although these are all grey imports, console hardware currently being prohibited in China.

Hanson added: "If a game company can get an impressive game or console to market in China, the gamers there will embrace it. That said, getting a product into the market is not easy. The complex regulatory environment in China is still the greatest barrier to entry for foreign game companies."

China added 3.4 million gamers in 2006, reaching a total gaming population of 37.5 million, 90 per cent of whom play online games. Niko projects this number to increase to 71.9 million gamers by 2011.

via gibiz ...

Having turned a blind eye for some time now, Microsoft is finally moving to clamp down on people who set up foreign Xbox Live accounts in order to download content they can't access locally.

In a statement released overnight, Microsoft said that the territory controls would be strengthened by next week's "Spring Update" for the Xbox 360 dashboard, due out 7th May, which also introduces Live Messenger support among other things.

While this will have very little effect on Xbox Live users whose account details match up to their point of origin, it means, for example, that anybody in the UK who has set up a US account in order to access downloadable films and TV shows made available to US customers will see that access cut off from next week. The practice is also popular with gamers who want to try out Japanese and US game demos.

The statement, posted on the Microsoft-run Gamerscoreblog, explained that it was Microsoft's responsibility to comply with government regulations and licensing agreements that determine where content is to be made available.

"As a general policy we try to get global rights to content, but in some cases, it's not possible because of legal restrictions," the statement added. "In other instances, we have to get legal rights on a country-by-country basis, which unfortunately results with us having content on the service that has to be filtered based on geographical location."

Microsoft said it hoped users would understand "our responsibility, and the necessary security requirements that need to be in place in order to comply with applicable laws and [to] honour our agreements with content providers," and concluded by advising any US Xbox Live users who experience problems accessing content following the release of the Spring Update to call 1-800-4MY-XBOX to receive assistance.

via gibiz ...

Found this tutorials on youtube showing you how to script in glovepie. Iv found them quite good.

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via TechShout!



Data Deign Interactive has revealed that they have attained the security rights to publish and develop the Nintendo Wii version of the PC game called ‘Call for Heroes: Pompolic Wars’. The 3D RPG action game is set in a fantasy world created by Quotix Software a games developer based in Serbia and Montenegro.

Stewart Green MD of Data Design Interactive, said: “This is already a great game on PC, which is greatly improved with the extensive use of the Wii controllers, to make the player immerse into the magic casting and weapon wielding adventure. We are excited to bring this new genre onto the Wii console.”

“We are really excited to work with Data Design Interactive on the Wii version. We are sure that their expertise will be very positive. The game will take full advantage of the unique Wii controllers, and deliver a unique gameplay experience,” stated Quotix Software, Attila Siladji, Developer of Call for Heroes: Pompolic Wars.

A little about Call for Heroes: Pompolic Wars:

Call for Heroes: Pompolic Wars is a third-person action game with RPG elements. The game positions players in a fantasy medieval world, where a dimensional portal to the Outer Worlds has opened, and an enemy from the darkness has intruded the world. Led by a demon named Pompolic, the armies of demonic hordes have taken over most of the planet. With mysterious origins, Pompolic’s malevolent spiritual being possesses supernatural powers.

His desire is to possess the people and turn them into minions of his dark army, as he wields his power through his servants, the Dark Souls. These Dark Souls - protected by a horde of monsters - are poisoning the minds of his victims and making them slaves of evil. The denizens of this world are on the edge of total annihilation. However, a little hope still exists in the heart of the remaining citizens.

They feel that there exist brave hearts who can save the world from the source of the evil power. If the Dark Souls were to be captured, the onslaught would stop, and Pompolic would be defeated; the call for heroes is made…

Features of Call for Heroes: Pompolic Wars:
# 2 unique characters to choose from
# Each character has unique weapons, items and special abilities
# Character gains experience which will help him to upgrade his strength, armor and health
# 15 special abilities per character
# Fantasy/medieval type world divided into 15 levels
# 18 different types of monsters and 3 bosses at the end

The PC version of ‘Call for Heroes: Pompolic Wars; game is due to ship in June, 2007. ...