Capcom UK has poured cold water on reports that the Wii's Monster Hunter Tri will get a PSP version, saying, "This is a rumour."

Hong Kong's Gamewave magazine started the story. Its latest issue carries what looks like a mocked-up Monster Hunter Tri Portable logo on its cover and says the game will be out by the end of the year, according to Siliconera.

Capcom UK spokesman Leo Tan was sceptical, telling Eurogamer: "If Capcom was to announce a new Monster Hunter Portable game, the chances of its first appearance in any magazine other than Famitsu are pretty slim.

"We are not even remotely close to announcing a new Freedom/Portable game in the West, and I've certainly not heard of an imminent announcement in Japan. This is a rumour," said Tan.

"LULLLZZZ!" he added.

A new Monster Hunter on PSP has to be a safe bet, given the stellar sales of the series on the platform to date. But it seems we'll be waiting for a bespoke third game in the handheld series, rather than a port of the third home console game.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/mh...-rumour-capcom ...

Final Fantasy Versus XIII might not make its planned debut appearance at this year's E3, according to producer Testuya Nomura.

"We were hoping to debut it at E3, but we're not sure now," he told Japanese gaming bible Famitsu, reports Andriasang.

Apparently the delay has been caused by Square Enix deciding to revise the action-RPG's world map. "For displaying characters on the world map, we were originally planning on using the method used by FF#, with a small Noctus running about on the screen," Nomura said, Famitsu deciding to obscure which game in the Final Fantasy series he was referring to.

"But that didn't look too great, so we ended up switching to the method used by FF#." FFVII and FFX, maybe?

Next to nothing is known about Final Fantasy Versus XIII, which was first mentioned as far back as E3 2006 and remains a PS3 exclusive, despite Final Fantasy XIII's appearance on Xbox 360. Nomura has mentioned that the battle system might combine aspects of the Kingdom Hearts series and a third-person shooter. It's not the only FFXIII spin-off in development, with the PSP's Final Fantasy Agito XIII a similarly unknown quantity.

You'll just have to content yourselves with the main event for now: Final Fantasy XIII is out here on 9th March.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/ff...ht-not-make-e3 ...

Sony Ericsson handsets are the latest hardware to support Sony's growing digital service, the PlayStation Network.

The company has already said that product ranges including Bravia TVs, Vaio laptops and Blu-ray players will feature the service in the future, allowing the company to unify hardware with a single online delivery solution.

"Leveraging PSN we are building a new network service that will connect many more network-enabled products," said CEO Howard Stringer, speaking at the Mobile Word Congress. "To satisfy the demand for more open systems and broaden the array of network devices connecting to our network we are committed to extending that service to Sony Ericsson mobile phones.

"As part of these initiative we are also exploring consistent user interfaces across Sony and Sony Ericsson products to ensure a seamless and integrated experience for the consumer," he added.

Sony Network Entertainment is currently tasked with unifying hardware with PSN, with the group headed up by former Sony Computer Entertainment boss Kaz Hirai.

Sony Ericsson's Aino handset is already PlayStation 3 compatible, allowing users to access content on their hard drive and features such as PlayTV.

"At Sony our strategy of paring network services with hardware and software is the foundation on which we will deliver those applications and more," offered Stringer. "We're already utilising the rapidly growing PlayStation Network, now with over 40 million registered accounts, to reach new digitally savvy customers around the world.

"PSN is a not-so-secret weapon – last November the PSN video delivery service launched in four new countries – the UK, France Germany and Spain. In its first five days alone, despite the struggling European economy, revenue from those four countries was 40 per cent of the worldwide revenues for PSN's video delivery service – a testament to how critical the European market will continue to be."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...-secret-weapon ...

Rob Dyer, SCEA's senior VP of publisher relations has said that while Microsoft is more likely to attract third-party developed exclusives such as Mass Effect, it doesn't have enough first-party studios delivering the same level of content as Sony.

"They have very few first-party studios at Microsoft," Dyer said, in an interview with IndustryGamers. "Bungie's next Halo is the last one, Rare rarely puts out anything, you've got Peter Molyneux with his Fable stuff... but they don't have first-party development studios inside at Redmond or anywhere for that matter. We do.

"So rather than putting their money behind that, they've been going to Epic or Valve or BioWare to do what they did with Mass Effect, and that's where they throw their dollars."

"We're not going to compete with Microsoft on that front," he added. "But what we have is a global business here. Our global business is bigger than 360's and will continue to get bigger than 360, and people are seeing that. We passed them in Europe and they don't even exist in Japan, and we're going to catch them and pass them here in the US as well."

The PS3's $299 price point has "resonated", Dyer said, to the extent that many US stores are now seeing shortages.

But the even better news, he added, is how the increase in the console's installed base has translated into software sales.

"They had a year's head start against us, so we've been playing catch-up ball," he said. "Before the price cut, they had a two-to-one advantage; if you were a third-party publisher looking at the index, you should have been selling twice the number of units on the 360 as you would on the PS3."

However, that hasn't been Sony's findings, and Dyer says the ratio is down to 1.6 to 1.0 - "What we've been finding is that outside of the shooter category we literally over-index every single category - sports, fighting, action/adventure, music, etc."

"We do better for our publishing community than 360 does," Dyer stated, drawing attention in particular to Madden, which he says had an index of 1.4 to 1.0. "That's only going to get better and better as the installed base continues to grow."

"We're not going to get the exclusive games," he admitted. "The Mass Effects, Gears of Wars and Left 4 Deads aren't going to happen nearly as often."

"But we have our own first-party development and exclusives like Final Fantasy XIV and Agent. Exclusives just aren't as commonplace as they were during the PS2 days.

"What is going to be the driving force is either exclusive ad campaigns, like the Madden campaign, or exclusive content like we had with Batman.

"The PS3 version outsold the 360 version, and what we've said to [developers] is, 'if you take advantage of what the PS3 can deliver – more content on the Blu-ray disc, better graphics, being able to get more of what the player wants onto the disc – you're going to see those sales translate'."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...-party-studios ...

Electronic Arts has announced plans to shut down a significant number of servers for online multiplayer titles – including games released for the current generation of home consoles.

Revealing that those facing the cull make up less than 0.3 per cent of all peak online players across EA titles, the publisher will flick the switch on March 16 and again on April 15.

"Despite some people's perception, there is a lot of behind-the-scenes work involved with keeping these older games up and running," said the company. "We would rather our hard-working engineering and IT staff focus on keeping a positive experience for the other 99.7 per cent of customers playing our more popular games."

Games included in the first wave include PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 titles Def Jam Icon, The Godfather, Lord of the Rings: Conquest and The Simpsons Game. Need for Speed: Carbon and NFS: ProStreet on the PSP will also lose online support, as will the PC version of Mercenaries 2: World in Flames.

"These decisions to retire games is never easy. The EA development teams and operational staff pour their hearts into these games almost as much as the customers playing them and it is hard to see one retired. We hope you have gotten many hours of enjoyment out of the games and we appreciate your ongoing patronage," added EA.

A number of other titles will lose support on April 16 when Microsoft switches off online play for its first-generation Xbox titles and Xbox Originals sold over Xbox Live, including Battlefield 2: Modern Combat and Madden NFL 09.

Microsoft said earlier in the month that the decision to switch off the original Xbox Live wasn't an easy one, but it was necessary to upgrade the service for Xbox 360 players. Developer Bungie, who's Halo games still see high levels of traffic on the service, said it was "saddened" by the move.

Electronic Arts is slowly shifting its traditional publishing business to take advantage of online business opportunities.

The recently revealed "Project Ten Dollar" initiative gives away additional content for first-time purchases of titles such as Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect 2, but those that buy the games second hand are charged an additional $10 if they want to access the downloadable content.

Without online support, any consumers buying second hand copies of the games singled out today for retirement will also see significant features of the game missing.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...ultiple-titles ...

Battlefield producer Karl Magnus Troedsson discusses winning back the FPS crown
“Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is about to make some serious noise” – that's the claim of the game's executive producer Karl Magnus Troedsson, speaking to MCV in an interview ahead of the release of DICE's latest shooter.
“I couldn’t be more happy with the game – which the awesome team here in Stockholm has created – and I hope everyone will get to experience the huge leap in quality that we’re taking here.”

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/37602/BC2-...-serious-noise ...

The BBC has announced it will offer iPhone applications for its news and sport content from April.
The free apps will be followed by versions for BlackBerry and phones running Google's Android software.
The BBC said they had been developed because more people use "sophisticated handheld devices" to view content.
Several other news organisations offer iPhone apps, including Sky and the Daily Telegraph - which are free - and the Guardian - which costs £2.39.
Analysts at research firm CCS Insight said the apps would "increase tension between publishers of paid-for content and those reliant on other revenue".
The news industry is currently struggling to find a business model for the digital world.
"Whilst the BBC's impulse to enter an already crowded news and sport apps market place is understandable, the move belies the fundamentally competitive nature of the Corporation's approach to new services," Emily Bell, director of digital content at the Guardian, told BBC News.
"Applications are a long way away from being 'broadcast' media, and, unlike the web, they form a market which the BBC is seeking to disrupt."
In addition, she said, the "considerable cost" of developing apps for all platforms meant the BBC was in "territory most publishers could not afford to inhabit".
But Erik Huggers, BBC director of future media and technology, said the BBC audience "want to access the digital services that they have paid for at a time and place that suits them".
"Today's announcement means that we are catching up with our audiences," he told the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
'Open platforms'
The news app, to be released in April, will offer content from the BBC News website, including written stories, correspondent blogs as well as audio and video.
Users will also be able to send comments and pictures directly to the newsroom.
The BBC said the sports app will be released in time for the World Cup, which starts in June, and will initially focus on football.

Our approach has always been simple: web equals mobile; mobile equals web
Pete Clifton, head of editorial development

Read Pete's thoughts in full
It will combine content from the BBC Sport website and 5 Live radio, including live commentary and scores, and will allow fans to watch sports matches live on their phone.
The apps will be updated later in the year to include more content, including Formula 1.
A different version of the apps will be offered to international audiences, supported by advertising.
The BBC said it was also considering releasing apps later this year for its popular iPlayer service.
The on-demand video and audio player serves up 20 million requests for TV and radio programmes every week.
The BBC has said that it will initially focus on building applications for the iPhone but follow with applications for Google's Android operating system and RIM (BlackBerry).
It said it would also "work with other providers to enable these applications on their mobile devices".
However, the organisation did not mention specific plans for an app for Symbian, the world's most popular smart phone operating system.
According to figures from analysts CCS Insight, Symbian software is used on 47% of all smartphones.
BlackBerry accounts for 21% of the market, compared with Apple's 15%, Microsoft's 9% and Android's 5%.
The BBC does however already offer a BBC iPlayer app for certain Symbian phones.
Jim Killock, of the Open Rights Group, said that the BBC should concentrate on developing "open platforms" rather than building apps for closed systems such as the iPhone.
"That way everyone can access the content regardless of what device they are using," he told BBC News.
Several unofficial apps already exist on Android handsets and the iPhone.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8519783.stm ...

via Computer and Video Games


Konami has just confirmed that they will be publishing Ninety-Nine Nights II for Xbox 360 in Europe this spring.

Billed as a "vast combat title", Ninety-Nine Nights II invites the player to take on campaigns from five different perspectives - including humans, elves and Goblins - and are pitted against wave after wave of adversaries in the ultimate 'last man standing' free-for-all.

How ultimate? The recent press release claims that the game can display hundreds of enemy on the screen at any one time. Players will use whatever weapons are lying around to cut through the waves before facing a "Titan Boss Battle".

Check out the screenshots here and tell us what you think. ...

via Computer and Video Games


Sega's retro revival of its blue mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog 4, is not being developed by Sonic Team, it turns out.

The game's listing on Xbox.com has revealed that it is in fact Sonic Rush developer Dimps who's pressing the buttons. A good thing we'd say, if you consider both teams' output for the past few years.

Let's see. Sonic Team's done Sonic Unleashed, Sonic and the Black Knight, Sonic Riders and Shadow the Hedgehog.

Dimps has done both the Sonic Rush games (which are awesome) and co-developed Street Fighter IV while helping out with some of the daytime levels in Sonic Unleashed.

What do you reckon... ...