Toward the end of May Dave Mirra BMX Challenge is pedalling onto PSP, and it's a game that the Mirra man himself has claimed "is the closest thing to reality without the cost of the bumps and bruises". We recently caught up with John Brandwood from the title's developer Left Field Productions to find out more...

How are you tailoring Dave Mirra BMX Challenge on PSP to the platform?

John Brandwood: We're taking advantage of the PSP's incredible power to bring a full PS2-style experience to the handheld market.

However, the platform itself does pose its own challenges. For instance, the PSP's analog controller is a little harder to use precisely than the PS2 DualShock's analog controller. Because of this we've added some features to aid the player in controlling their bike and rider.

The biggest thing we did was include an auto-land feature. This allows the player to rotate the bike freely in the air with minimal risk of crashing because the bike rotation didn't complete on landing. If you look at past BMX games, the most frustrating part is not completing a rotation quick enough to land.

Is the PSP hardware actually allowing you to include anything unique to the version?

John Brandwood: Yes, the ad-hoc multiplayer modes can be quite addicting when playing with your friends. We have five ad-hoc modes ranging from Racing to Trick Attack to more unique modes that include Capture the Crown, Who's the Leader and Biggest Combo.

And what new features are being introduced in this game?

John Brandwood: We've added the concept of trick-based racing to the BMX arena. In this, we've taken a fun race mechanic and encouraged the player to perform BMX tricks to get off the regular pathway and find shortcuts to improve their position. Some of the best shortcuts are really hard to find, and reward the player that takes the time to really explore the levels.

We've also created two separate circuits within each race. This was the first time we've made levels that include two separate circuits. Players do a couple of laps around one circuit, and then the course splits into the second circuit. This makes our levels huge! As with all new features, this presented some challenges. I'm happy to report that all the challenges we encountered while doing the two circuits were overcome and the payoff is that we have some of the biggest levels for any racing game on the PSP.


What's Dave Mirra brought to the table with the PSP version?

John Brandwood: Dave Mirra is at the top of the action-sports world. From a branding standpoint he's more recognizable than many previous US Presidents. Dave is truly on a different level when compared to his competitors.

Did you look at DS for a handheld version of Dave Mirra BMX Challenge? If so, why did you opt for PSP?

John Brandwood: I'm afraid that we never seriously considered the DS as a target for this project. While we're huge Nintendo fans here at Left Field Productions, the DS just isn't a suitable platform for the kind of game that we wanted to make.

Finally, what would you say is Dave Mirra BMX Challenge on PSP's ultimate selling point?

John Brandwood: This is the first BMX game to come out in over 4 years. If you like to do crazy BMX tricks, then we've got them. If you like racing, then we've got that too. If you're the type that must find everything, then we have tons of gaps along with lots of unlockables.

Screens Here ...

Anyone who's played Wii Sports Tennis knows how much of a sweat you can work up swinging the Remote around, and now a professional trainer in UK is using the Wii in workouts with clients.

Zander Urquhart, who runs WestCoast Fitness in Scotland, noticed that playing Wii gets people who wouldn't usually exercise actually doing physical activities, sometimes for long periods of time.

He said: "I was watching this five-year-old who, to be honest, needed encouragement to do any exercise, but there he was for half an hour running about playing tennis, boxing and baseball, working up a sweat."

Urquhart began using Wii to train children but noted: "I started getting requests from adults as well," and has since started Wii work-outs for people of all ages.

Experts have found that you can work off over 125 calories in a 15 minute play session on Wii, presumably on an active game like Wii Sports, rather than Mercury Meltdown.

The lesson to be learned? If you're a bit of a bloater, just buy a Wii and batter Wii Sports.

And lay off the pies.

via cvg ...

Capcom Europe has told CVG that Dead Rising 2 remains a rumour even though details on the sequel have been spotted in Japanese gaming mag, Famitsu.

Internet reports have stated that the follow-up to the company's Xbox 360 zombie splatterfest has been confirmed as being in development in the latest edition of Famitsu, leading to speculation that Dead Rising 2 will be unveiled at a Capcom press event happening in the US this week.

Going by Capcom Europe's comments to CVG, that won't be the case - but you never know.

Dead Rising found a freelance photographer battling zombie hordes in a small-town American shopping mall - rather reminiscent of classic zombie flick Dawn of the Dead.

Plenty of blood and gore was combined with black humour and the game was well-received, although it featured a save system that could cause you to tear your hair out in frustration.

via cvg ...

Total War RTS series developer The Creative Assembly is looking at cross-platform play between Xbox 360 and PC with a favourable eye, CVG can reveal.

"As a games developer with an established series of games like Total War, then obviously the cross-platform potential appeals", Brendan Rogers, designer and artist on forthcoming Medieval II expansion Kingdoms told CVG.

But while the developer is taking a positive view of cross-platform play between Xbox 360 and PC, which is introduced with Games for Windows - Live next month, it's not a feature being embraced for the Total War series at this time.

Rogers explained that "bringing the Total War series to the console is not something that is on our radar right now", however he interestingly added that The Creative Assembly doesn't "see any major incompatibility issues with strategy games on the console".

Whether or not the future will witness the Total War marching to Xbox 360 and cross-platform support included for multiplayer we can but wait and see. But whatever The Creative Assembly does tackle after the Kingdoms expansion, we should be ready for it to thrill.

"We're lucky in that Total War offers few limitations in terms of the settings we can consider. We're obviously not in a position to reveal our plans for the future right now but we can certainly say that there are big and exciting Total War plans afoot", Rogers said of what's to come for the series.

via cvg ...

Official PlayStation Magazine UK will be the first and only magazine to offer cover-mounted playable Blu-ray demo discs for PS3, thanks to a partnership between Future and Sony.

Issue 7, which goes on sale on June 1, will be the first issue to come packed with a Blu-ray disc which will include playable demos of first- and third-party games.

Specific titles are yet to be confirmed, but the demos available in the online PlayStation Store should serve as a reliable guide.

OPSM promises to include multimedia and user-generated content in later discs that will "support the advanced capabilities of the PS3".

Sony UK's managing director, Ray Maguire said: "We are very excited to partner with Future to offer a playable Blu-ray disc to UK PlayStation 3 owners. The high capacity of Blu-ray media is the perfect method to distribute large volumes of unique existing, and user-generated content in HD, showcasing PS3's multimedia capabilities to the full."

Perfect if you're worried about cramming your 60GB PS3 hard drive full of demos.

via cvg ...

via cvg

Itagaki has told CVG that Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword will feature "similarities" with the top-secret Xbox 360 game, Ninja Gaiden 2.

The back end of March saw Tecmo reveal a Ninja Gaiden game for Nintendo's DS, cleverly subtitled Dragon Sword. Do you see what they did there? By holding the DS vertical you then use the stylus to control Ryu and get up to all sorts of crazy ninja mischief. Frankly, it's looks awesome and should plug the gap until the true Xbox 360 sequel for Ninja Gaiden: Black makes an appearance.

During a recent interview, Ninja Gaiden head guy Tomonobu Itagaki revealed a lot about the DS version to CVG. You'll be able to check out the full interview later on today, but let us tease you with the following nugget of info.

When asked if the DS version will tie in with what we might see in Ninja Gaiden 2, Itagaki replied, "Well... I am personally overseeing the development of everything from the story through to the gameplay elements for both games, so if you're observant you may be able to extrapolate some similarities between the two, yes, and not just in the area of story."

Check back this afternoon for the full interview, where Itagaki discusses the game's story, how the fast-paced action game works on the DS and whether or not all that action give your hand cramp. ...

via cvg

Itagaki has told CVG that Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword will feature "similarities" with the top-secret Xbox 360 game, Ninja Gaiden 2.

The back end of March saw Tecmo reveal a Ninja Gaiden game for Nintendo's DS, cleverly subtitled Dragon Sword. Do you see what they did there? By holding the DS vertical you then use the stylus to control Ryu and get up to all sorts of crazy ninja mischief. Frankly, it's looks awesome and should plug the gap until the true Xbox 360 sequel for Ninja Gaiden: Black makes an appearance.

During a recent interview, Ninja Gaiden head guy Tomonobu Itagaki revealed a lot about the DS version to CVG. You'll be able to check out the full interview later on today, but let us tease you with the following nugget of info.

When asked if the DS version will tie in with what we might see in Ninja Gaiden 2, Itagaki replied, "Well... I am personally overseeing the development of everything from the story through to the gameplay elements for both games, so if you're observant you may be able to extrapolate some similarities between the two, yes, and not just in the area of story."

Check back this afternoon for the full interview, where Itagaki discusses the game's story, how the fast-paced action game works on the DS and whether or not all that action give your hand cramp. ...

via cvg

Itagaki has told CVG that Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword will feature "similarities" with the top-secret Xbox 360 game, Ninja Gaiden 2.

The back end of March saw Tecmo reveal a Ninja Gaiden game for Nintendo's DS, cleverly subtitled Dragon Sword. Do you see what they did there? By holding the DS vertical you then use the stylus to control Ryu and get up to all sorts of crazy ninja mischief. Frankly, it's looks awesome and should plug the gap until the true Xbox 360 sequel for Ninja Gaiden: Black makes an appearance.

During a recent interview, Ninja Gaiden head guy Tomonobu Itagaki revealed a lot about the DS version to CVG. You'll be able to check out the full interview later on today, but let us tease you with the following nugget of info.

When asked if the DS version will tie in with what we might see in Ninja Gaiden 2, Itagaki replied, "Well... I am personally overseeing the development of everything from the story through to the gameplay elements for both games, so if you're observant you may be able to extrapolate some similarities between the two, yes, and not just in the area of story."

Check back this afternoon for the full interview, where Itagaki discusses the game's story, how the fast-paced action game works on the DS and whether or not all that action give your hand cramp. ...

A new trailer from Activision's forthcoming movie tie-in game Spider-Man 3 has spun in, revealing the sky-surfing Green Goblin in all his evil glory. Mwahahahaha...

Spidey 3 presents players with freeform gameplay as the superhero swings around New York City and attempts to protect it from the bad guys while battling nemeses. The game includes both movie-based and original storylines that can be followed and for this latest web-slinging instalment a brand new combat system is being introduced that beefs up punch, kick, and web attacks.

Slip into your Spidey suit and pass mince pies over the trailer.

Trailer Here ...