Originally expected to be hitting the Xbox Live Arcade court sometime this year, Amsterdam-based Streamline Studios' HoopWorld has been benched until 2007 to allow for a bit of development teamwork.

Streamline Studios told GameSpot that it has entered into a partnership with Spanish studio Virtual Toys to finish up development on the Unreal Engine-powered HoopWorld. Work on the game between the two studios has already begun, according to Streamline cofounder Hector Fernandez.

Over the past five years, Streamline Studios has made a name for itself as a development support house, assisting in the production of games such as Unreal Tournament 2004, Ghost Recon 2, and the recently released Saints Row. Last year, the studio announced HoopWorld as its first original game, and the over-the-top basketball game was shown off both at the 2006 Game Developers Conference in San Jose as well as at the 2006 Electronic Entertainment Expo.

Virtual Toys, characterized by Fernandez as a "hardcore engineering house," has been charged with making sure HoopWorld conforms to the guidelines set forth by Microsoft for Xbox Live Arcade games, including a 50MB size limit. The Madrid-based developer previously worked on Torrente for PC (which was released in the US in 2004), and was one of the first European developers to work on the PlayStation 2.

"We're basically looking to have their engineering expertise to make sure we get all our content within [the mandated] limitations," Fernandez said.

According to Fernandez, this won't mean a dramatic rethinking of the basketbrawl concept that is at the heart of HoopWorld. As for whether the additional development time will result in new content for the game, he's keeping his options open on that as well.

"It's speculative," he said, when asked if the game will include addition content. "We'll have everything we intended and then we'll see."

When asked about the experience developing for Xbox Live Arcade, Fernandez was enthusiastic, especially in light of the recent release of the XNA Game Studio Express development platform. "It really empowers a lot of next-gen developers," Fernandez said. "When we first started [HoopWorld], we didn't even have final hardware. Now [developers] have a general idea of the framework. It's beneficial for everyone." ...

Jamie MacDonald to discuss PS3’s ‘network-centric future’

Sony is rolling out the big guns in support of the PS3, with vice president of SCE Worldwide Studios Jamie Macdonald due to keynote at London’s Games Developers Conference, GamesIndustry.biz can exclusively reveal.

Macdonald’s keynote will explore the shift from a ‘package-centric world to a network-centric future’. With emphasis on the PlayStation 3, Macdonald will focus on new forms of content, organisation development, nurturing a development ecosystem and exploring new revenue streams.

Macdonald was founding director of SCE London Studio, where he was responsible for the EyeToy, SingStar and Getaway franchises. Prior to Sony, he held a key position at Criterion charged with planning the RenderWare middleware solution.

Electronic Arts will also be in attendance at the LGDC, with a session entitled Harry Potter: Film Meets Game.

Presented by Harry Potter animation director Wayne Stables and art director of Battlefield Modern Combat Will Byles, the session will discuss the challenges faced by artists and engineers, and how to produce more sophisticated content within timeframes and on budget.

GDC London takes place October 2nd – 4th. Those registering by September 15th are eligible for a discount. ...

Via GIbiz

All three next-generation format holders are expected to have an equal footing in the next-generation console battle, according to publisher Electronic Arts.

In the eyes of the world’s largest games publisher, Sony’s traditional dominance of the home console market will not continue in the face of the launch of Nintendo’s Wii and the steady growth of Microsoft’s Xbox 360.

“Over the course of the new cycle, EA expects a more even playing field among the three video game consoles in contrast to Sony’s dominance during the previous two cycles,” said Colin Sebastian, senior research analyst at Lazard Capital Markets.

The publisher has also expressed minimal concern over the delayed launch of the PlayStation 3 in Europe, according to Sebastian.

“EA management does not appear surprised by Sony’s announced delay of the PS3 launch in Europe, though we believe there could be a few tweaks to EA’s launch line-up.”

“However, we do not expect a meaningful impact on the fiscal year outlook,” he added.

With the playing field levelled, publishers and retail look set to benefit from three strong performing consoles.

“Based on our conversations with EA, we maintain our overall positive view of the company, specifically the prospects for healthy long-term growth,” said the analyst.

“According to EA, the retail channel remains relatively clean ahead of the important holiday selling season,” said the analyst. ...

The PS2 sequel to the Dreamcast's legendary Seaman will be unveiled in more detail later this week, according to the game's creator.

Vivarium's original was a huge success on the Dreamcast - particularly in Japan - but the developer's kept quiet about the follow-up since almost exactly a year ago when it first mentioned it.

At the time, we were told that whereas the Dreamcast original recognised single words, the sequel - with a USB microphone - will be able to react to entire sentences.

Since then, Vivarium's released Cube oddity Odama with Nintendo, and it'll be interesting to hear the developer's view on what its pals in Kyoto have been up to in the past 12 months too.

Last September, prior to Nintendo's Tokyo Game Show coming out party for the Wii controller, Vivarium president Satou Yutaka had said, "In the last 20 years there really hasn't been much advancement in the user interface of game. If we could just change the interface, I think games would get much more exciting and unique." Perhaps he's changed his mind since then. ...

You know that people are trying to jump on the iPod bandwagon when someone releases a breathalyzer that connects to the ubiquitous music player. Yes, David Steele Enterprises (no, not that David Steel) has just released an iBreath ($50, black or white color), a small device to plug into the dock connector of your iPod. Sticking out of the side of the device is the breathalyzer tube, and within five seconds it'll read out your blood alchohol content level, accurate to within 0.01 BAC -- oh and if that wasn't enough, it doubles as an FM transmitter for your car stereo. That just leaves us with one burning question: will Mr. Steele be sending one to recently DUIed Paris Hilton?

More Info ...

While mixin' it up iPod-style has certainly been done before, MusicJam is looking to combine the simplest of mixer functions with a karaoke machine in its aptly-named iPod Mixer. Essentially, this device allows you to add your own vocals and guitar riffs to the tune currently playing on your iPod, which could definitely bring out the "one man band" in any musician. The mixer sports an iPod dock (presumably compatible with the iPod with video only), microphone / guitar inputs, volume sliders, tone / distortion controls, RCA outputs, and even attempts to replicate that on-stage allure by touting echo / sustain options for your vocs. The company also throws in a microphone, mic clamp, and cabling to get you warmed up, and includes "KaraokeVideos" software to turn any jam into an iPod-compatible karaoke vid. While the quality here is certainly questionable, it looks to be a solid addition to your Korg-infused Les Paul, and hey, getting you fully prepped for that karaoke circuit will only set you back $229.

More Info ...

Following minor TDU problems over XBL - uprated servers promised too

In the wake of some reported problems encountered when playing Atari's recently released free-roaming Xbox 360 driver Test Drive Unlimited over Xbox Live, the company has announced that it is working on a patch and will ramp up server capacity, in a bid get things going more smoothly.

If you've encountered problems playing TDU over Xbox Live, you may want to head to the game's official forum to get the latest low-down. While all bugs are a pain, we have to give Atari props for moving swiftly to acknowledge there are problems and do something about them.

As soon as we know when the patch will be pumped down Xbox Live, we'll pass on that knowledge to you. In the meantime, drive safely around your virtual Hawaiis. ...

Codies bringing cute PC mini-game collection to Sony's handheld this winter

Codemasters is poised to demonstrate the first fruits of its recent conversion to the joys of casual gaming: the Britsoft outfit has announced that it will publish a PSP version of the game Bliss Island this winter.

Developed by highly regarded indie Pompom Software, Bliss Island is already available on PC, via Codemasters' casual games portal Funsta. Indeed, you can try it before you buy it (if you're too tight-fisted to lash out £12.99, that is).

If you can't be bothered to do that, you might like to know that Bliss Island basically involves keeping kinetic objects on the move - you play Hoshi, a cute blue creature called a Zwooph, who can blow air from his trunk. You negotiate mini-games involving juggling, racing, attacking, defending and directing. The PSP version of the game will be endowed with a control system that uses just the analogue stick and one action button.

During the course of the game, Hoshi will have to bounce fruit into the hungry mouth of the Jigoka Monster, save flowers from swarms of fluffy aphids and smash marching boulders to pieces in a mini-game entitled Brick Invaders. Wonder where that one got its inspiration from?

Screens & News at CVG ...

LucasArts has released a 'Force-power' video shown at this year's E3 that provides indication on the direction the company is taking with technology that'll be employed in its new Star Wars project.

The company is keen to point out that the footage on display is pre-rendered and not a tech demo, but nevertheless the prospect of physics tech that lends a whole new dimension to the use of Force powers - as seen in the video - is mouth-watering. LucasArts is confident that the Star Wars game will look as good as what we're seeing here - in fact, it reckons it may even end up looking better than this in the end product.

Currently, the Star Wars project, which is being developed exclusively for next-generation consoles, remains unnamed, but LucasArts has stated the it's set between Episodes III and IV and "represents the first entry into a new series of Star Wars titles." The company's also said that the game "places a strong emphasis on unleashing the Force" and that the Jedi use of Force lightning in the video "will all make sense as you learn more about the game...".

Screens Via Comments ...