SNK Playmore could wait as long as four years before releasing a PlayStation 3 game, despite having already pledged titles to Nintendo Wii.

"My first impression is that it's expensive. The PlayStation 2 is good enough. It's small and cheap. For us, for manufacturers, we have to invest in a new system, and the PlayStation 3 is a risk," overseas marketing manager Yoshihito Koyama told gaming blog Kotaku.

"There won't be enough consoles at launch. Few consoles mean few software sales. We need to wait three or four years. Maybe 2009-2010 is a good time to release a game for the PS3."

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SNK Playmore, whose games are published in the UK by Ignition (and, under the terms of an agreement announced Monday, distributed by Atari), has previously said that it plans to support Nintendo Wii.

It's already planning a Metal Slug Anthology, based on the popular 2D shoot-'em-up, and president Ben Herman said the company wanted to use the Wii controller's "in a new and unique way that enhances the gameplay".

SNK's take on the other next-gen contenders, Sony and Microsoft, was previously unknown, although a recent deal with Ignition to publish future titles in the UK was worded to cover next-generation projects in addition to the likes of KoF: Maximum Impact 2 for PlayStation 2. ...

Rockstar Games has confirmed that Bully - subject of much controversy - is still set for release in 2006.

"Bully's very much still in development and slated for release later this year," a Rockstar spokesperson told us.

Although very little has been seen of the Rockstar Vancouver game, it's still managed to follow GTA into the pages of the tabloids thanks to widespread criticism from hair-triggered politicians and publicity-hungry lawyers.

This despite a relatively light-hearted premise - a troublesome schoolboy standing up to bullies by pulling pranks.

Rockstar has remained fairly quiet about it, but development has continued undeterred. "We hope to be showing it to people soon," a spokesperson told us. ...

Thought you could slip one past us, didn't you Apple, just like you did with BAPco? Well, let's be fair, it wasn't entirely a low profile day for Khronos, the media software consortium that Apple just joined today along with the likes of Dell and Google (among others), and we do know it's not so much like insular Cupertino to lower the drawbridge and send out envoys to industry groups with goals as nebulous as creating open APIs for the "authoring and playback of rich media on a wide variety of platforms and devices." Other Krhonos members of note include, well, just about every major tech company around, but since that also includes names like Symbian, Motorola, Samsung and so on we'll hold on tight to the iPhone angle. Because really, at this point it's just easier than spending yet more time with the tea leaves and divining stick. ...

Divineo China have posted this news:


They are selling for 198$ which is around 105 pounds for those interested. ...

Personally, we've always been largely indifferent to Nintendo's camp men-boy-fairy-wannabe Tingle, first seen in the N64's Zelda: Majora's Mask. It seems though, not everyone's quite so neutral when it comes to the poor guy - with internet messageboards filled with people who either want to take Tingle home, dress him in a bow and hug him till his eyeballs squeeze out or, at the other end of the scale, beat him to death with a spade, kick his unmoving carcass, incinerate the remains then finish with a heartless, cackly jig of disdain on the ashes.

Now, with the news that Nintendo is poised to unleash the rather beautiful, if utterly, utterly insane DS action RPG Fresh Tingle's Rose Colored Rupee Land in Japan, it seems that Nintendo of America is canvassing the masses to see whether a Western release would send fans into orgasmic euphoria, or have them storming the HQ with pitchforks and flaming torches.

Advertisement:Over on its official website, Nintendo's whacked up a Tingle survey with questions ranging from 'Which of these best describes your view of Tingle' to 'If Tingle made an appearance in the upcoming title The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for GCN and Wii, how would you feel?'. Tingle lovers and haters alike can make their case, presumably affecting the game's chances of seeing the light of day over here.

Sadly, it looks like our North American cousins are the only ones worthy of an opinion as the survey is technically closed to everyone else. Of course, in no way would we condone signing up with a fake name and fake US address in order to convince Nintendo that its beautiful, off-the-wall adventure deserves a Western release. Although, it's not like we'd ever know if you did, eh?

Tingle Survey

Via CVG ...

Pandemic has released a new trailer for Destroy All Humans! 2, its 60s alien-invasion sequel arriving on PS2 and Xbox later this year.

The second game promises split-screen co-op, two-player mini-games and five new environments to invade, including Tokyo, San Francisco and even bits of old Blighty, complete with Nelson's Column and authentic red buses. Unfortunately, it looks like you can't shoot-up the tube with your alien death ray though. Hmmm.

Destroy All Humans! 2 is due out in October. We'll let you know how it turns out but in the meantime feast your eyes on this latest psychedelic trailer.

Trailer HERE ...

Despite being dry-humped by a rotund, acne-clad American youth at the time (at least, we think that's what he was trying to do - either that or he was desperate for some sort of affection and was trying to steal a reverse cuddle), Contact - the forthcoming Suda 51/Grasshopper Manufacturer DS RPG - was one of our surprise highlights of this year's E3.

Offering up a slightly bonkers tale of a marooned scientist and the boy he enlists to save his bacon, Contact is visually impressive if nothing else. Featuring an isometric pixellated viewpoint of the professor's lab on the top screen and lush hand-painted-style enviroments on the bottom for your adventuring needs, the game's graphics are one of many unique traits Contact shows.

The game has some beautifully implemented touch-screen controls, providing easy access to your combat system, inventory and other novelties such as the peel-off-and-plonk-on sticker power upgrades. And there's a huge array of foods, weapons and ability-defining costume changes and a wealth of other stuff - including Nintendo Wi-fi Connect support - that's sure to please DS fans in need of some decent RPG goodness.

Contact is currently going through the lengthy translation process and is set for release in the West this September. While we wait, you can check out these brand new screens from the game - expect some full Contact impressions in the near future.

News and Screens at CVG ...

EA has said it expects to have four to five games out for PS3 between the console's launch and the end of the year, confirming at this stage three of the titles: Need for Speed Carbon; Madden NFL 07; and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07.

Discussing its launch games line-up for Sony's next-gen console - during a conference call held with media and analysts yesterday - the company also admitted, while fielding a question on Xbox 360 versus PS3 technical capabilities, that it's extremely unlikely that the initial wave of titles will do PS3's hardware justice.

"This Christmas, it's going to be difficult to harness the full power of the PS3 on first generation software versus what will be second generation 360 games, so they're going to be more alike than different, is our opinion at this time," an EA exec commented.

They continued: "As those machines develop over time [...] there's a lot of horsepower inside the PS3 that we'll be able to unlock over years two, three, and four that we're very excited about."

EA additionally took the opportunity to touch on Wii and DS during the conference call, revealing plans to boost focus on both machines. "We're definitely going after those platforms", the publisher revealed, "...we have ramped up [game] production for the Wii and DS Lite". It added: "In terms of relative investment on the Wii and the DS, we are moving resources against those platforms to increase SKU count."

The publisher went on to say, however, that it only expects to have a couple of titles out for Wii's launch period - Need for Speed Carbon and Madden NFL 07 - and a total of five released by the end of the company's fiscal year - March 2007. It's possible that EA's Wii games will retail at $49.99 in the US (apparently, Nintendo has indicated that first-party Wii games will not retail for more than this amount over the pond), but that remains to be confirmed.

Reportedly, EA didn't have an awful lot to say about Xbox 360 during the conference call, chairman and CEO Larry Probst simply stating, "We're pleased to be the leading publisher on the Xbox 360". ...

EA has said it expects to have four to five games out for PS3 between the console's launch and the end of the year, confirming at this stage three of the titles: Need for Speed Carbon; Madden NFL 07; and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07.

Discussing its launch games line-up for Sony's next-gen console - during a conference call held with media and analysts yesterday - the company also admitted, while fielding a question on Xbox 360 versus PS3 technical capabilities, that it's extremely unlikely that the initial wave of titles will do PS3's hardware justice.

"This Christmas, it's going to be difficult to harness the full power of the PS3 on first generation software versus what will be second generation 360 games, so they're going to be more alike than different, is our opinion at this time," an EA exec commented.

They continued: "As those machines develop over time [...] there's a lot of horsepower inside the PS3 that we'll be able to unlock over years two, three, and four that we're very excited about."

EA additionally took the opportunity to touch on Wii and DS during the conference call, revealing plans to boost focus on both machines. "We're definitely going after those platforms", the publisher revealed, "...we have ramped up [game] production for the Wii and DS Lite". It added: "In terms of relative investment on the Wii and the DS, we are moving resources against those platforms to increase SKU count."

The publisher went on to say, however, that it only expects to have a couple of titles out for Wii's launch period - Need for Speed Carbon and Madden NFL 07 - and a total of five released by the end of the company's fiscal year - March 2007. It's possible that EA's Wii games will retail at $49.99 in the US (apparently, Nintendo has indicated that first-party Wii games will not retail for more than this amount over the pond), but that remains to be confirmed.

Reportedly, EA didn't have an awful lot to say about Xbox 360 during the conference call, chairman and CEO Larry Probst simply stating, "We're pleased to be the leading publisher on the Xbox 360". ...