Format: PSP
Release: Out now
Publisher: Square Enix
Developer: In-house
Screenshot Gallery.
Format: Spectrum
Release: N/A
Publisher: Imagine
Developer: In-house
When Psygnosis released Brataccas for the Atari ST in 1985, the beginning of an era for the Liverpudlian firm was a footnote to the story of infamous 8bit publisher Imagine. Brataccas, you see, was the game that was formed from the husk of code left over from Imagine’s so-called Mega Game, Bandersnatch: the UK industry’s most famous game that never saw the light of day.
PS3 sales continued to fall in Japan during the week ended August 30, while DS hardware and software again dominated the charts.
Sales of Sony’s next-gen console almost halved to 1,040 units, but they are expected to rebound in time for next week’s rankings following the Japanese launch of the PS3 Slim yesterday.
DSi remained ahead of the chasing pack with 59,881 units sold, more than double the total of its nearest rival, the PSP, which was closely followed by the Wii.
Format: Flash
Developer: Paolo Pedercini
www.molleindustria.org/ergon_logos/ergon_logos.html
San Diego-based BottleRocket Entertainment has shut following a six month fight to save the business.
The core of the Bottlerocket team was behind the PS2 games Mark Of Kri and Rise Of The Kasai. Formed in 2002, the studio was developing a next-gen Splatterhouse project until publisher Namco Bandai opted to sever ties with the developer earlier this year.
Atari has labelled a $30 million lawsuit brought against the publisher by Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach developer Turbine as “frivolous.”
Format: 360, PC, PS3 (version tested)
Release: Out now
Publisher: Activision
Developer: Raven Software
See more screenshots here
Despite EA’s failed takeover last year, Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey believes that Take-Two remains an attractive acquisition target.
In a pre-emptive strike, Electronic Arts has filed a lawsuit seeking court approval to use the Dillinger name in association with machine guns featured in its Godfather games.
The move was made after the owner of the Dillinger estate - which claims to hold the rights to the famous 1930s bank robber John Dillinger’s name and likeness - threatened EA with litigation for violating right of publicity and infringing upon its trademarks.
A number of former Midway Newcastle employees have established a new digital artwork and design production firm, Atomhawk Design.
The Gateshead, UK-based company specialises in the production of digital art and design in 2D, 3D and video media, for the game, film and online industries.
Atomhawk is headed up by ex-Midway Newcastle art director Cumron Ashtiani. The firm’s lead concept artists are Corlen Kruger and Pete Thompson, and Steven Pick is the lead graphic designer.
Growing threads on the official PS3 forums claim that the latest system firmware update, version 3.0, is leading to a number of DualShock controller issues and game freezes.
Numerous users, some of whom specifically name the ceramic white wireless PS3 DualShock pad, are reporting their inability to synch up controllers with their consoles.
Other users are experiencing “freezes” mid-session when playing Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, a problem they say began after the firmware update’s release on September 1.
Sony is to throw its weight behind 3D technology with the release of a new line of 3D Bravia televisions next year.
The company is expected to make its PlayStation 3 games, Blu-ray players and Vaio laptops compatible with the new technology.
OnLive founder and CEO Steve Perlman has announced that the company’s cloud gaming service has entered open beta.
In development for seven years, OnLive’s technology bypasses physical media by streaming gameplay data to Windows or Apple platforms, as well as televisions. Games are not actually installed on a computer – instead, game data is relayed back and forth between computers and powerful servers. For TV-compatibility, a small "MicroConsole" is required.
The average US PlayStation Network user is male and 28 years old, but the service’s audience is expanding, according to Eric Lempel, the director of PSN operations at Sony Computer Entertainment America.
“Right now, it’s primarily male. The average age is 28 years old, in usually the middle- to higher-income range. They over-index against those with graduate degrees,” he told Video Business.
A study by independent warranty provider SquareTrade has found that Nintendo’s Wii is the most reliable of the current generation home consoles, followed by Sony’s PS3 and Microsoft’s Xbox 360.
For its newly released report, titled Game Console Failure Rates, SquareTrade analysed failure rates for over 16,000 new game consoles covered under its warranties.
The company found the Wii to be nine times more reliable than the Xbox 360 and four times more reliable than the PS3.
Here’s the funny thing about Kind Of Bloop: it’s not funny.
Format: Wii
Release: Out now
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Retro Studios
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As expected, Microsoft has announced a series of Xbox 360 related price cuts in Japan.
From September 10, the Xbox 360 Elite will retail for 29,800 yen ($321/£199), down from 39,800 yen. The unit will no longer ship with an HDMI cable.
You probably wouldn’t want to watch the recent Star Trek film on a PSP. And even if you did, you would have to concede that something of its dazzling spectacle would be lost during the compression down from the all-encompassing cinema screen to a small LCD. Should we have similar expectations regarding the way that games are played? Sure, few consumers will be able to climb into a bespoke Forza 3 gaming pod, but is it unreasonable to assume that players know that the intended experience might be found behind a force-feedback wheel?
Norway-based MMO developer Funcom has opened a new studio in Montreal, Canada.
Under the leadership of Funcom Montreal CEO Ole Schreiner, the studio will contribute to a number of titles currently in development, including Age Of Conan expansion pack Rise Of The Godslayer and new MMO The Secret World.
Speaking of the lessons learned from the release of Rockstar’s downloadable Grand Theft Auto episode, The Lost And Damned, Take-Two chief financial officer Ben Feder has declared that “retail is the channel for the foreseeable future.”
Take-Two has settled the class action lawsuit brought against the publisher by investors over the infamous 'Hot Coffee' modification contained in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
The Hot Coffee controversy centred on the discovery of a sex minigame in GTA: San Andreas, which was disabled but left within the game's code. The Hot Coffee modification enabled users to access the minigame in the PC version of the title, and console hacking tools enabled the minigame to be played in the console versions.
