news via pocket gamer

A real-time strategy game may be just what Sony's handheld needs

In terms of difficulty, securing a publishing deal as a start-up video games developer is as tricky as finding a suitable use for the Millennium Dome. And if what you're trying to get published isn't part of an existing franchise or licensed to a major brand, then you may as well step into a Canadian grizzly bear sanctuary wearing a blazer lined with the freshest Scottish salmon. You'd have a better chance of winning over the bear than attempting to sell an original game idea within a publisher's meeting room (and you won't get torn to pieces as much – grizzlies aren't a match for marketing men).

So it's tough to be lost in the gaming space without a publisher – but Tiki Games isn't afraid of boldly going where few have gone before. Undeterred by the cold darkness of uncertainty it faces, the developer has been working on Galaxy's End, an original sci-fi realtime strategy concept designed specifically for PSP. This means that the convoluted control system usually associated with such titles has been streamlined to compensate for the fact that the last time we looked, the PSP didn't come with a slide-out keyboard.

We don't know how well this works in practice (Tiki is reporting the feedback it's had so far in this regard has been encouraging) but judging from the work-in-progress screenshots and accompanying trailer (click 'Watch It!'), all of the staple elements of an RTS appear solidly in place.

Galaxy's End currently seems promising, even if unlikely to prove revolutionary. That's by no means a criticism – the PSP could certainly do with an RTS, if only to broaden its horizons, and in the absence of competition there's surely no need to re-invent the warp drive?

Of course, without a publisher on board we'll never know, so let's hope one keeps its marketing department at bay long enough to give Galaxy's End the chance it seemingly deserves.

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news via advancedmn

Not afraid of Nintendo's strong first party sales.

Translated from a Japanese interview with Hideki Okamura, Sega managing director, Sega will be shiftin their focus from PSP to the Nintendo DS.

"We have to do a lot of thinking about titles for Nintendo's hardware, because Nintendo's own titles are extremely strong. It really is difficult to sell a title as a third party. What that means is that we've got to go after it with force: 'heave-ho!'".

Included in the interview is mention of a DS title coming out this year that will "surprise absolutely everyone". More details as they arrive. ...

news via psu

You might feel that the PlayStation 3 is over-priced in your country but think yourselves lucky; Greece retailers will be selling the PS3 at 659 Euros, about 442 GBP.

Online stores are listing the 60GB package of Sony’s new entertainment system at the high price, and this is €60 more than the deal set to launch in the rest of Europe.

The PlayStation 3 will launch in Europe on 23rd March. Stay tuned to PSU as we’ll have full coverage of the event as it unfolds.

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news via ps3.ign

Activision gives Sony owners special treatment and unleashes the Goblin.

With all the Spider-Man 3 news, previews, and interviews hitting the World Wide Web today, some might think that finding original information that hasn't already been done to death might be hard to come by. And certainly for some videogame fans, that observation might be true... but not for PlayStation 3 owners -- they're getting something a little extra thanks to the folks at Sony and Activision.

So what exactly are they getting? The PS3-exclusive "Spider-Man 3: Collector's Edition," that's what.

Scheduled for a simultaneous release with the regular version of Spider-Man 3 in early May, Spider-Man 3 Collector's Edition will add a number of bonus features not available on other platforms. Webisodes from the Spidey 3 movie, an exclusive interview with producer Avi Arad, and behind the scenes talks with Tobey Maguire, Topher Grace, Thomas Haden Church, James Franco, JK Simmons, and Bruce Campbell are also included. Players will even be able to access special Spider-Man 3 trailers and a couple of other undisclosed goodies.

But that's not the best part.

No true believers, the best and most interesting addition to the PS3 Collector's Edition is the ability to play as a completely different character, the "New Goblin." Using a unique locomotion system that's entirely controllable with the Sixaxis gamepad, the New Goblin will be able to zip through the city streets and between skyscrapers and other buildings at super-high speeds.

Activision wouldn't elaborate much further than that, other than to say that New Goblin will have access to 10 exclusive race challenges and the ability to participate in every "Crime Event" in the city -- allowing him to use his pumpkin bombs against all three city gangs and a multitude of other plot-driven enemies.

Though we obviously have to wait awhile to learn more about the New Goblin and his unique abilities, PS3 fans can still discover plenty about the primary mechanics of Spider-Man 3 by following our list of newly-updated links located below.

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news via gamepro

High Moon Studios is organizing a developer workshop and collaborating directly with IBM to resolve issues it has with Sony's Cell microprocessor technology.

While Sony may be offering its services regarding issues involving their Cell microprocessor, some developers would rather go elsewhere. According to a report from Next-Gen, High Moon Studios, the team behind the PS2 game Darkwatch, has begun collaborating with IBM engineers to unlock the secrets of the Cell, the tiny, but powerful chip that makes every PS3 run.

Although the Cell processor was a joint collaboration on the part of Sony, Toshiba, and IBM, Sony had very little to do with the creation of the chip, says High Moon Chief Technical Officer Clinton Keith.

"We've been talking to Sony for almost two years now, but they didn't create the Cell," Keith claims. "They created the architecture for the PS3 and they've created a lot of the developer libraries. We've had access to those [Sony] engineers... but they're not the hardware engineers. We want to hit [the Cell] on all fronts. We're talking to the guys [IBM] who designed this chip and have been working on it for five years now."

As a result, High Moon has invited IBM engineers and a handful of other Vivendi Games studios, such as Swordfish and Radical Entertainment, to a workshop that aims to teach developers how to effectively harness the power of the Cell. The workshop will take place this week at High Moon's offices in Carlsbad, California.

High Moon hopes to use the information gathered at the workshop towards creating an as-of-yet unannounced PS3 project. The development studio is also currently working on an unnanounced Xbox 360 game as well, according to Keith.

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news via pro-g

Pandemic has confirmed that Mercenaries 2 is coming to Xbox 360, PC and PS2 in addition to the previously revealed PS3 game.

Speaking with IGN, Pandemic senior producer Jonathan Zamkoff has revealed that, as had been expected, Mercenaries 2: World in Flames is also coming to Xbox 360. More surprising is news that the PC and PS2 are getting a version of the game.

On the whole the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC versions will be pretty similar.

"So here's the scoop. We are shooting for true feature parity on the PS3, 360, and PC," said Zamkoff. "There will be small visual differences on those consoles due to platform specific texture compression algorithms and other platform-specific graphics implementation, but to the end-user the game experience will be nearly identical."

PS3, Xbox 360 and PC owners can look forward to online co-op play, but PS2 gamers will miss out on this feature. Zamkoff believes that the PS2 feature set is, however, "ambitious enough."

"For the PS2 we are taking a different tact. We're working extremely closely with Pi studios down in Houston, Texas. They're 100 percent focused on developing the PS2 game under Pandemic's direction," said Zamkoff. "They are using the Mercs 1 core engine and toolchain, coupled with modified Mercs 2 assets to create the Mercs 2 PS2 version. Due to memory and processor limitations we will not be able to have the exact graphical feature set (e.g., certain lighting models, etc.), but Pi has done an incredible job of having the PS2 game mirror its next-gen cousins as closely as possible."

Despite news that the game is now heading to multiple platforms, the previously announced PS3 game remains the lead SKU, although that doesn't mean the Xbox 360 version is to be treated like an unwelcome house guest.

"We started from scratch to program for the multiprocessors on both machines. They were both in mind when we were writing the text, so we didn't want to create a PS3 engine, which was and has been, and is, our lead SKU, but we didn't want to ignore the Xbox 360," explained Zamkoff. "Even though we're just now announcing the 360 version, we have been working on it for quite some time."

Mercenaries 2 is shaping up well and might well end up on your 'must have' list in the autumn.

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news via pro-g

Pandemic has confirmed that Mercenaries 2 is coming to Xbox 360, PC and PS2 in addition to the previously revealed PS3 game.

Speaking with IGN, Pandemic senior producer Jonathan Zamkoff has revealed that, as had been expected, Mercenaries 2: World in Flames is also coming to Xbox 360. More surprising is news that the PC and PS2 are getting a version of the game.

On the whole the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC versions will be pretty similar.

"So here's the scoop. We are shooting for true feature parity on the PS3, 360, and PC," said Zamkoff. "There will be small visual differences on those consoles due to platform specific texture compression algorithms and other platform-specific graphics implementation, but to the end-user the game experience will be nearly identical."

PS3, Xbox 360 and PC owners can look forward to online co-op play, but PS2 gamers will miss out on this feature. Zamkoff believes that the PS2 feature set is, however, "ambitious enough."

"For the PS2 we are taking a different tact. We're working extremely closely with Pi studios down in Houston, Texas. They're 100 percent focused on developing the PS2 game under Pandemic's direction," said Zamkoff. "They are using the Mercs 1 core engine and toolchain, coupled with modified Mercs 2 assets to create the Mercs 2 PS2 version. Due to memory and processor limitations we will not be able to have the exact graphical feature set (e.g., certain lighting models, etc.), but Pi has done an incredible job of having the PS2 game mirror its next-gen cousins as closely as possible."

Despite news that the game is now heading to multiple platforms, the previously announced PS3 game remains the lead SKU, although that doesn't mean the Xbox 360 version is to be treated like an unwelcome house guest.

"We started from scratch to program for the multiprocessors on both machines. They were both in mind when we were writing the text, so we didn't want to create a PS3 engine, which was and has been, and is, our lead SKU, but we didn't want to ignore the Xbox 360," explained Zamkoff. "Even though we're just now announcing the 360 version, we have been working on it for quite some time."

Mercenaries 2 is shaping up well and might well end up on your 'must have' list in the autumn.

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news via dailytech

Nintendo console has officially gone geriatric



Nintendo is off to an incredible start with the Wii. With continued demand and leading sales even after the holiday season, Nintendo couldn’t be happier with the system’s early success. The Wii’s innovative controller design has opened up video gaming to a previously untapped market—non-gamers.

The marketing minds behind Nintendo looked beyond the traditional gamer mediums and advertised its innovations at targets as far from gaming as you can imagine, such as retirees. Nintendo even went against the current and took the Wii to an AARP convention. “The AARP thing was a little bit tough at first. They were like, ‘We don't really want to talk to you because we're all grandparents and we already buy stuff for our kids,’ and so we said, ‘No we want to talk to you about you,’” said Perrin Kaplan, VP Marketing & Corporate Affairs for Nintendo of America. “It took several attempts for them to finally say, ‘So why do you want to talk to us?’ And it's because we have products for them as well now.”

Nintendo’s efforts seemed to have paid off. The Chicago Tribune is reporting that the Wii is now the latest rage at the Sedgebrook retirement community in Lincolnshire, where the average age is 77. In particular, the Wii Bowling component of Wii Sports has members of the retirement community hooked on playing the Wii installed inside the Sedgebrooks’s clubhouse lounge.

“I've never been into video games, but this is addictive,” said 72-year-old Flora Dierbach. “They come in after dinner and play. Sometimes, on Saturday afternoons, their grandkids come play with them … A lot of grandparents are being taught by their grandkids. But, now, some grandparents are instead teaching their grandkids.”

Wii Bowling has become so well received that more than 20 residents signed up to participate in a virtual bowling tournament without the need to leave the clubhouse lounge. Sedgebrook's entertainment committee said that they even have a fan for people to dry their hands before they bowl, just like at a real bowling alley.

Although Wii Sports features cartoon-like graphics and characters—imagery normally aimed at children—the retirees are absolutely taken with the realism offered by the Wii Remote.

“This is pretty realistic. You can even put English on the ball,” said Don Hahn, 76, a veteran of numerous real-life bowling competitions. “I used to play Pac-Man a little bit, but with this you're actually moving around and doing something. You're not just sitting there pushing buttons and getting carpal tunnel.”

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news via worthplaying

Tricked into believing that the Solar Empire is developing a devastating super-weapon, Commander Pierce and Colonel Windsor of the Anglo Isles launch a pre-emptive strike on the Coral Atolls. The world is once again at war.

Drive tanks, command ships, pilot planes and direct your troops into the heart of the action in the return of the popular tactical action game for Wii.

Features :

* 3 Online Multiplayer Modes, Assault: Instant Combat, Skirmish: Tactical depth, Co-op: Work with friends
* 3 Theatres of War, Combine land, sea and air combat
* 5 New Naval Units, Battleship, Frigate, Submarine, Dreadnought, Transport
* 6 Different Races, 5 Different Environments, With new vehicles for each side
* Wii-Controller, Provides intuitive, all-action gameplay
* Greater tactical depth, Capture facility buildings to re-spawn units (HQ, Barracks, Factories, Airfield, Docks), Use Map Screen Commanding to order from afar
* Bigger and Better, 20+ single player missions AND 15+ mp missions, Increased replay value

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