CVG say they’ve got first dibs on what the PS3′s next firmware update will bring. After the excitement of trophies and in-game XMB, what treats could Sony have in store for us next? How about…Ctrl+PrtScn. Yes, the ability to capture screengrabs . Exciting, no? Shame this wasn’t around before the in-game XMB, it would have made spotting those blurry, fake mock-ups that much easier.
Let’s review: Back in February, Gearbox Software honcho Randy Pitchford put up a job listing for senior artist, adding: “I’ve started a new project. It’s big. It’s, like, look-at-our-line-up-and-imagine-something-even-bigger kind of big. I’m Directing it myself. I can’t mention it publicly yet. When you find out what this is, you’ll likely agree that I can’t oversell this one”. Before that, Gearbox posted a Master Chief statue wrapped in tissue paper for Halloween — probably unrelated at the time, but still. According to a rumour in October issue of the Official Xbox Magazine, Gearbox is developing Halo 4 as a launch title for the next Xbox. With Bungie moving out of the picture, that certainly seems possible at least. And besides, it would give Pitchford another costume to work on Freak Your Employees Out Day. Man, that’s always a great day.
Official XBOX Magazine [Official Site via Joystiq via Edge]
Hirokazu Yasuhara has been lucky enough to work in both the Japanese game industry and the Western game industry. In Japan, he was the third member of the first Team Sonic and fleshed out the level design for the early Sonic titles. In the West, he clocked time at Naughty Dog, working on the Jak series. Now, he’s currently senior design director at Namco Bandai Games America. In an interview with game site Gamasutra, Yasuhara talks his level design philosophy (fascinating stuff) and offers insights like:
Seems like that Xbox 360 price-cut isn’t America-only. While we’ve seen scans of the rumoured cheaper across-the-board cuts from Radio Shack and Kmart. Now you can apparently add Japanese retailer Bic Camera to the list. Apparently, because we don’t have actual images.
But it seems the retailer accidentally leaked info about the sales drop on its website at around 3:30pm Japan time today and then took it down (it currently says “Sold Out” for the Xbox 360) — but not before multiple 2ch people saw the price drop and discussed it in a couple threads. Here’s the leak they reported:
Ah, exclusivity in the current hardware generation. Let’s discuss it again, shall we? Speaking at last week’s Leipzig Games Convention, SCEE boss David Reeves said he believes that the days of a platform holder negotiating exclusives with a publisher are long gone.
We have to accept more and more that platform holders themselves cannot have exclusives unless they’re given millions and millions of dollars not to develop a particular game for one particular platform.
But for developers, and you could take someone like Quantic Dream for example – a great game, it takes a lot of time to develop, they need a little bit of funding, external development. In exchange, it’s exclusive – that works. So exclusivity possibly with developers is more likely that exclusivity with publishers.
In other words, don’t expect something like Metal Gear Solid 4 to happen ever again. Ever.
Sony: Publisher exclusivity probably “a thing of the past” [GI.biz]
American McGee gained fame for his off-beat titles like American McGee’s Alice — that, and for his first name. Dude’s been around in the industry, first cutting his teeth over at id Software on games like DOOM. What does he think the next big thing is going to be? Says McGee: I think we’ll continue to see updated interface devices at the forefront of the mini-revolutions in the years to come. Ultimately, I think this is all heading to one uber-revolution in the shape of seamless computer-human interfaces, ala The Matrix. It’ll be great to get away from the dated keyboard/mouse, monitor, speakers way of interfacing with our content. As soon as someone starts offering trial “implant” testing — I’ll be first in line. I just hope I don’t crash my brain, it would take a lifetime to reinstall everything.
And you just thought he made games and had a cool name. Ha! Grimm interview: American McGee [Guardian][Pic] More »
Sony Computer Entertainment of Europe honcho David Reeves is not an easy man to impress. So even when Microsoft lands Final Fantasy XIII on the Xbox 360, Reeves just turns up his nose, flashes a “W” and goes “whatevers”. Just listen to the man talk FFXIII:
I think that just as we got a massive blip up [in hardware sales]with GTA IV — which was not exclusive — we’ll get exactly the same blip up with Final Fantasy… I know it [FFXIII]will look great on PS3 and — it’s up to Microsoft to clarify this — it’s still exclusive in Japan.
Never mind that Reeves works in Europe, it’s what’s happening in Japan that counts. That’s the stronghold! David Reeves is here to defend it, dammit. Reeves shrugs off FFXIII on 360 saying, “It’s still exclusive in Japan” [VG247]
Not the whole city, mind you. Doubt it’d clear customs. No, just the games convention, which after a reasonably successful 2008 showing in Germany want to continue recent expansion plans (there’s an Asian Games Convention run by the same team) with a North American event. GC CEO Wolfgang Marzin:
The concept is flexible and the network of the global games industry permits us to be active at different locations. After the Southeast Asian Games Convention, we are now focusing on the North American market.
North America? We can only hope he means a 2009 Mexican Games Convention, because really, we could do with the extra sunshine.
Ryan Payton (hats, in tow) has left Kojima Productions. The Assistant Producer spearheaded a more Western approach to controls for Metal Gear Solid 4, making the game far more approachable and much tighter than the previous installment. He also helped warm the MGS4 team up to more Western developed games like Gears of War as well. Why did he leave and what’s next? His answers after the jump.
There are a ton of former Warhammer Online developers who haven’t made it into the game’s final credits. And they are not happy. And understandably so! That’s months, sometimes years of work, going totally unrecognised. Well, the IGDA (International Game Developers Association) are on the case, calling the snub “disrespectful” and using it as the latest example as to why the industry should adopt their idea for a set of universal crediting guidelines.
IGDA’s MacLean: Missing Warhammer Credits ‘Disrespectful’ [Gamasutra]
