Thursday, May 8, 2008
Riding the Vomit Elevator
11:40PM Brian Ashcraft |
Formula 1 Gets Greedy, Sony Ditches License
11:20PM Luke Plunkett | Sony have been putting out the official Formula 1 racing games for years now. But if rumours at TG Daily are to be believed, they’ve turned down an offer to renew the partnership, after a disagreement with the sport’s governing body over costs. According to TG Daily, Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone asked Sony for a “hefty increase” to the estimated $US 75 million deal they agreed to for the 2003-2007 seasons. Sony won’t pay, and have walked away from the deal, leaving EA, Ubisoft and Codemasters to fight it out. Can’t really blame Sony for this: F1 games have always had a dedicated, hardcore following, but the games have more often than not been a bit shit, and have never translated into the kind of sales Sony would expect from a sport so popular across many parts of the world. License clash between Sony and Formula 1 Boss means no F1 games [TG Daily, via Gameplayer] More »
The Sims Is Not A Casual Game, Buster
11:00PM Brian Ashcraft | Forget what you’ve heard! EA does not think The Sims is a casual game. No, way, no how. Just listen to what EA’s dedicated Sims division boss, Nancy Smith has to say: I don’t think of it as casual. We were one of the first games that started to attract a broad audience. We were one of the first games that bought in women… To some degree The Sims is more of a toy than a game. People want to create characters, tell stories and explore relationships in a way that is maybe different from their real lives. So repeat after me: The Sims is not a casual game, The Sims is not a casual game, The Sims is not a casual game. Say it enough and, yes, maybe you too can believe. The Sims Is Not Casual [casualgaming.biz via MCVUK] More »
MotorStorm 2 Does Not Feature Elvis
10:40PM Brian Ashcraft | MotorStorm dev Evolution was acquired by Sony. Have things changed after going from indie to corporate monolith? Says Evolution’s Paul Hollywood: There is commercial pressure from Sony who want us to create a viable business product but we’re more after the critical acclaim. I think there’s less pressure now because when we were an independent developer we had the pressure of paying the wages every month. Now we don’t have to worry about the next game or what we’re going to be doing. That’s right, you’re doing MotorStorm 2, and we’re pretty sure it’ll do fairly well. So, yeah, everything’s coming up Evolution! About that sequel, which was inspired by Hawaii’s beautiful island setting, Hollywood points out that the game has “no hula” and “no Elvis.” No Elvis? Wha?! Two words: “Big” and “mistake.” MotorStorm 2 Interview [Next-Gen] More »
News
Pandemic Get Around To Announcing Their Lord Of The Rings Game
10:30PM Luke Plunkett | Worst. Secret. Ever. Ah well, it’s public knowledge now, with Pandemic finally releasing the first details on their upcoming Lord of the Rings game. Called Lord of the Rings: Conquest, it’s a “spiritual successor” to the studio’s previous work on the Battlefront series, and as such will be a fairly similar title. Except there’ll now be up to 150 combatants on-screen at any time, with players able to choose from “practically the entire universe” of LotR characters and races. More »
New Xbox 360 Chipset This Summer?
10:00PM Brian Ashcraft | Chip rumour time! Word is that Microsoft is moblising IBM and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co to roll out the rumoured Jasper chipset for the Xbox 360. Compared to the current Falcon chip, Jasper uses less noise and simpler cooling systems. Not confirmed, but the chip apparently drops in August, the dead of summer. Fitting! New Chips [X-bit labs via Videogaming247] More »
SingStar: No Worldwide Exclusives, My SingStar Heads Online
9:30PM Luke Plunkett | SingStar news! First item: SingStar producer Paulina Bozek has told PS3F that unlike certain other music titles available at the moment, the SingStar team have “no interest” in locking certain songs to certain regions of the world. Good news, that comes with a catch: they won’t do it on purpose; stuff like licensing issues can still split the stores. Second item: the ultra-cheesy “My SingStar” video repository, which displays 30-second vids of your SingStar performances, is about to move online. Presently, it’s available only within the game, but you’ll soon be able to view it via a browser, so anyone who does post on it, think twice: your chances of being seen by a friend/loved one are about to go up 100x. ‘My SingStar Online will hit the web this year,’ says Bozek [PS3 Fanboy] More »
News
Peter Moore Wishes Sony Would Hurry It Up
9:00PM Brian Ashcraft | Thought we were kidding when we said Peter Moore bleed neon green? Nope! After getting some strange Wii analogies, Moore’s back to moan and groan about Sony’s Home. Says the former Xbox employee: Yeah, I just wish it [Home] would ship. I [previously] questioned it a little bit, whether I’d want to wander around there. Phil Harrison showed me a demo — it’s very cool, but let’s go already. And so I’m disappointed that it’s been pushed back a little bit again. But I really hope it gets going and becomes that portal to the PlayStation Network and we can utilise it. But boy, I just wish we’d get going. Yeah, totally Peter. It doesn’t matter if it’s not ready or undercooked. Consumers will deal with it! Stuff breaks, right? Moore “Disappointed” [GamesIndustry] [Pic] More »
Yes, Europe Is Multi-Lingual, Thanks Sony!
8:30PM Brian Ashcraft | Did you know that there are many different languages in Europe? Not everyone speaks English! Mind officially blown. That means localising games for Europe is a gianormous pain in the arse. Says Sony Computer Entertainment of Europe honcho David Reeves: But even if you talk to Guerilla, Namco, Square Enix, they all do it in English to begin with and then think about localisation later. You’re absolutely right, we should do it at the beginning. But they look at it like, ‘How much can I get for a Dutch version of the game?’ With PlayStation Store we could probably go in the UK almost day and date. But then what are the Germans and the French going to say to me? That I’m Anglo-centric. Well, yeah. And blaming all this on the poor Dutch? So not cool. Why Europe Must Wait [Eurogamer] More »
