via slashdot

The folks at 'The 1up Show' had the chance to interview David Jaffe, the well-known designer behind God of War. They discuss his upcoming project for the PS3, Calling All Cars, the future of the God of War series, as well as the ever-increasing price of making games. From the article:
"A lot of games recently it's cell phone, PC, DS, PSP, if you look at EA they blanket it -- it's everywhere. As a gamer, I kind of miss the 'you can only get it on this system.' There's kind of an excitement that was about that back up until recently. With this new hardware, though, that idea is seems to be going away. Is it really all going to come down to first party now? Or it ultimately going to come to one system? 'Cause 10 years from now there's going to be one system because there's so much more third party software than first party software from any hardware manufacturer. It may not be feasible to make it the war of the first party or the war of the exclusives." ...

via gamesindustry

Ryan Jones, general manager of Electronic Arts Australia, has said that he believes the console cycle transition phase is now at an end - and that game prices are set to fall as a result.

As reported by Australian news site TheAge, Jones said, "I think it's safe to say that we're just about done with transition.

"Retail will show strong growth with the investment of GAME into the market, and it bodes well for the future having two strong specialists in the market as they tend to hold pricing and discount less to drive sales," he continued.

"On that point though, we do see next-gen pricing drifting down to AU $99 [EUR 60] by the end of the calendar year for all premium new releases." At present, full price Xbox 360 games retail for AU $120 (EUR 73) in Australia - the same price PS3 titles are expected to cost when the console launches there. Wii games sell for AU $100.

"We've had very successful next-gen launches in 360 and Wii, and with PS3 launching in March its initial success has become less significant," Jones said.

"Longer term it's hard to say who will win the console war out of the three hardware platforms but three strong platforms is certainly better than one strong, one average and one failure.

According to Jones the Nintendo DS is still enjoying strong growth, which he believes will make the handheld "a strong bet" for third-party publishers.

"We might see Nintendo's dominance on their own platforms challenged for the first time," he added.

"The challenges will be maximising the retail opportunities with so many different platforms in the market and limited growth in retail real estate in the medium term." ...

via eurogamer

PopCap Games had a successful 2006 on Live Arcade, crowned recently with the release of Heavy Weapon.

It doesn't plan to stop there either, according to communications director Garth Chouteau, who expects more new games in 2007.

"There are of course other titles in the works for XBLA," he recently told Gamasutra. "Based on the success of the four titles we have released to date, in addition to the new one Heavy Weapon, I think that it's safe to say that other PopCap titles will make their way to the service."

"I would expect to see additional XBLA titles from us to show up this year."

He was, however, tight-lipped as to what the games would be.

Heavy Weapon broke the previous safe and friendly puzzle template that PopCap seemed to rigorously stick to. As a result, it became their most successful title, selling "an order of magnitude" more than the previous four games: Astropop, Bejeweled 2, Feeding Frenzy and Zuma.

Despite this, Chouteau was clear that the developer wouldn't be catering for one specific audience, believing that simple games can help to grow the market, as well as appeal to the underground gamers on the console.

"We would argue that hardcore gamers are still gamers. They enjoy games. While some of the most avid might look down their nose at games like Bejeweled, a significant number still enjoy these games as a break between Halo matches or other similar games." ...

via eurogamer

Microsoft has confirmed to the US press that Tenchu 360 will be available on American shelves sometime this year.

It's being tentatively called Tenchu Z, though any other concrete details are mysteriously scarce. Hidden, you might say. Waiting to pounce.

The game, developed by From Software, was released in Japan last October. It's the largest title of the eight-strong series and allows you to create your very own ninja, building your own skills rather than choosing from a pre-set template.

There are more than 50 missions, and you'll have to use all manner of items to survive, including grappling hooks, ninja stars, potions, and bombs.

There's no word on a European excursion; we're crossing our ninja-slippers in anticipation. ...

via eurogamer

Konami has announced the launch of a series of Metal Gear Solid 3 tournaments using the multiplayer mode in the recently released Subsistence version.

MGS3League.com tournaments will consist of three challenges set over a two-week period, with exclusive Konami prizes available.

The site also has social networking pretensions, allowing you to jabber at one another in a forum, set up clans and your own tournaments, and jostle for position on an official league table.

It's multi-lingual too - English, French, German, Spanish and Italian - and open to anybody playing from a PAL territory, so if you've been looking for somewhere to show off your sneaking, give it a look. ...

via eurogamer

RedOctane's head of publishing says we can probably expect to see songs from the original Guitar Hero made available for Xbox 360 owners to download when Guitar Hero II launches on the Microsoft system this spring.

"While the songs that will be available for download through the Xbox Live Marketplace have yet to be confirmed, we can assure our fans that they can likely expect to see these songs," Dusty Welch told GameSpot.

"Through the feedback we've received from fans and from reading the message boards and other forums, we know that this is what everyone wants because of the awesome set list from some of the most legendary rock bands and artists ever!"

Welch also spoke out about the decision to pass Guitar Hero development onto Neversoft, although - come to think of it - he didn't really say anything substantive.

"Neversoft's extensive resume of successfully developing blockbuster franchises speaks for itself. Sales of the Tony Hawk franchise exceed more than $1 billion worldwide.

"With such an amazing track record, we're confident that their team of passionate developers will take Guitar Hero to another level in terms of the overall gameplay experience," he oozed.

And of course the series' gameplay will remain distinctive and blah blah blah. The real question is, what are Harmonix up to? Welch isn't prepared to say, or to comment on speculation that the developer's sale to MTV had something to do with its sidelining.

"In looking toward the future, we believe it was a natural and neutral decision for us to look at other opportunities. We look forward to partnering with Neversoft's development team, and can't wait to show our fans what we have in store for them," Welch concluded. ...

News from Divineo China


Heres more info about the DMS4 EZI Pro :

- Auto-detect and boot of all media types:
DMS4 will automatically detect whether a PS1, PS2 CD-R, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD9 or DVD+RW (containing Homebrew Elf's), original domestic CD/DVD is inserted and then boot it without any interaction from the user.

- 100% SOLDERLESS:
0 wires to solder on V5-V15 consoles!

- Unrivaled boot success rate and compatibility
The boot rate of DMS4 EZI S.E. Lite is nigh on 100%. The DMS4 EZI S.E. Lite Supports V5-V15 USA/ASIAN and PAL

- Flash upgrade via CD:
The popular CD flash upgrade first introduced by DMS3 and has been retained offering a choice of firmware upgrade options.

- DVD region Free with RCE support:
Watch all region DVD movies on your PS2.

- Colour Fix:
Force the colour mode to your choice.

- Screen Fix:
Green screen removed for Playback of DVD Movies.

- DEV.olution Mode 1:
Load appliactions and software from your PS2 Memory card using our specially integrated DEV.olution mode.

- DEV.olution Mode 2:
Load applications and software from your PS2 HDD using our specially integrated software. DEV.olution 2 is the successor to DEV.olution 1 mode.

- Software Modchip disable:
Disable the Modchip in software by pushing Square on the Joypad. ...

New from Divineo USA



Now you can be sure to maximize everything the Nintendo® Wii™ has to offer with the Talismoon Wii™ component cable. Become in awe of tremendously enhanced visuals and super crisp textures! Immerse yourself in the digital gaming world and get closer to the game with another premium quality product by Talismoon. Live every jump, shot, and twist and turn to the fullest thanks to the highest quality image displayed on your TV set. Experience the benefits of premium quality gaming for one third less of the retail cost in relation to the official counterpart.

· Ideal for standard or HD TV’s
· Supports screen resolutions up to 480p
· 5 year warranty
· Stereo sound available through left and right RCA cables
· 1.80 meters long ...

via cvg

UK trade paper MCV has printed ChartTracks' All Prices Top Ten for games sold between Jan 1 and Dec 30, 2006. FIFA 07 and PES 6 take first and second place respectively, proving that the world's greatest game is the most popular videogame money can buy.

These were the biggest selling games of last year. The top ten list in full:

FIFA 07
Pro Evolution Soccer 6
Need For Speed: Carbon
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
The Sims 2 Pets
Cars
Tomb Raider: Legend
The Sims 2
WWE Smackdown! Vs Raw 2007 ...