Gamenews Weekly
Production Pages
Every month in Gamenews Weekly: Production Pages - games in development in Australia. To get the next issue, and lots more, subscribe to Gamenews Weekly today!

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Development
New Trailer for Heroes of the Pacific
Codemasters has released a new trailer for the IR Gurus developed game Heroes of the Pacific, to show off the types of US and Japanese aircraft featured in the World War 2 action-packed fighter sim. Click here to go to the website. [29 July 2005] [top]

Development
Xbox 360 Rallies Japanese Game Industry
Microsoft has declared its Xbox Summit 2005, held in Tokyo this week, a success stating "more than 50 of Japan’s elite game publishers pledged their support for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system, underscoring the momentum Microsoft Corp. is amassing behind the next-generation console." [27 July 2005] [top]
Xbox 360 Game Titles Shown at Xbox Summit 2005:
Activision “Call of Duty 2” “Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland” “Quake IV” “Gun”
A R C System Works Co. Ltd. “Versus Tactical Action” (working title)
Artdink Corp. “A-Train X”
Atari Japan Co. Ltd. “Test Drive Unlimited”
Bandai Co. Ltd. “Mobile Suit Gundam” (working title)
Banpresto Co. Ltd. “Super Robot Wars” (working title)
Capcom “Biohazard 5 (Resident Evil 5)” “Dead Rising”
Cavia Inc. Title TBA
D3 Publisher Inc. “E-D-FX” (working title) “Chambara Beauty X” (working title)
Eidos KK Title TBA
Electronic Arts K. K. “FIFA Soccer 2006” “NBA Live 2006” “Need for Speed Most Wanted”
Idea Factory Title TBA
Jaleco Ltd. Title TBA
Kids Station Inc. Title TBA
KOEI Co. Ltd. “Dynasty Warriors 5”
Konami “Winning Eleven” (working title) “Rumble Roses XX” (working title) “Proyakyu Spirits” (working title)
Marvelous Interactive Inc. Title TBA
Microsoft Co. Ltd. “NINETY-NINE NIGHTS” “Every Party” “Project Gotham Racing® 3”
Namco “Frame City Killer” “Ridge Racer 6” RPG Title TBA “Love Football” (working title)
FromSoftware Inc. eNCHANT arM
Frontier Groove Inc. Title TBA
G.Rev Ltd. Title TBA
Genki Co. Ltd. “Shutokou Battle” (working title)
Hamster Corp. Title TBA
Hudson Soft Co. Ltd. “Far East of Eden Ziria – Tales from Distant Jipang”
SEGA Corp. “Chromehounds” (working title)
SNK Playmore Corp. “King of Fighters Maximum Impact 2” (working title)
Spike Co. Ltd. Title TBA
Square Enix Co. Ltd. “Final Fantasy XI”
Success Corp. “Zookeeper” (working title) “Operation Darkness” (working title)
TAITO Corp. “World Airforce” (working title)
Tecmo “Dead or Alive 4” “Dead or Alive Xtreme 2” “Project Progressive” “Dead or Alive code: Cronus”
THQ Japan “Saints Row” “The Outfit”
Tomy “Zoids” (working title)
Treasure Co. Ltd. Title TBA
Ubisoft KK “Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter” (working title)
Vivendi Title TBA
Yuke’s Co. Ltd. “Wrestle Kingdom”

Industry
Electronic Arts Posts US$58 million Loss, Expected by Analysts
Canada.com reports that "Electronic Arts Inc. swung to a loss in its fiscal first quarter as the world's largest video-game maker was pressured by increased competition that caused revenue to shrink 16 per cent...For the three months ended June 30, Electronic Arts lost $58 million US, or 19 cents per share, down from a profit of $24 million, or eight cents per share, a year ago. The results were slightly better than analysts anticipated." For the article, click here. [27 July 2005] [top]

NextGen
Xbox 360 to have Game Classification Monitor
GamesIndustry.biz reports that the Xbox 360 console, to be released later this year in overseas markets but in 2006 in Australia, is to feature a 'parental control system' allowing restrictions to be set on which games can be played on the system, based on classification. For the brief article, click here. [27 July 2005] [top]

Development
Konami Acquires American Idol Game Licence
Konami Digital Entertainment Inc has announced a multi-year agreement with FremantleMedia Licensing Worldwide, Americas (the U.S. licensing division of FremantleMedia) to develop American Idol based games for current and next generation video game systems. Konami has a strong track record in music video games, including Dance Dance Revolution and Karaoke Revolution, and will release beatmania ( DJ simulation game) for PS2 next year. Click here for the link. [27 July 2005] [top]

Government
US Video Game Associations Sue US State Government
The Illinois State Legislature's recently introduced law to restrict sale and hire of violent video games is the subject of a law suit launched this week by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), the Video Software Dealers Association, and the Illinois Retail Merchants Association in the USA. The argument against the law is based on the US Constitution's First Amendment right to free speech. The president of the Video Software Dealers Association said "Rather than imposing restrictions that cannot be understood by retailers or sustained legally, the governor should be working with retailers and the video game industry to educate parents about video game ratings and to encourage parents to utilize those ratings." The ESA cites that in 2004, the average game buyer was 37 years old and the average game player was 30; in addition, of all games sold in 2004, only 16% were rated Mature. For the ESA website, click the link here. [27 July 2005] [top]

Development
EA Obtains Better Lord of the Rings Rights
ChannelNewsAsia reports that Electronic Arts has obtained better rights to the Lord of the Rings through extending a current licence deal with New Line Cinema and obtaining the right to use characters not in the Peter Jackson films, direct from Tolkien Enterprises. Vivendi Universal Games previously had a deal with Tolkien Enterprises. For the article, click here. [27 July 2005] [top]

Education
AFTRS Starts Accepting Applications for 2006
The Sydney campus of the Australian Film Television and Radio School has started accepting applications for its full-time film, television, digital media and radio programs for 2006. For the game industry, the digital media based Graduate Diploma in Computer Animation and Visual Effects and Graduate Diploma in Emerging Media and Interactive Design appear relevant. AFTRS is also introducing a new and additional approach to teaching in 2006, to allow flexible delivery. This means full-time prospective students had until September 5 to send their applications in, with those interested in the flexible delivery courses have until October 24. For more details, click the link here. In Melbourne, AFTRS will be running a number of game industry related short courses, including Music and Sound Design for Games. [27 July 2005] [top]

Development
Sony Buys SN Systems of the UK
To help speed the way for PS3 development, Sony Japan has bought UK based programming tool maker SN Systems Limited, established 1989. The company makes a range of tools under the brand ProDG, including compilers and debuggers, and has worked with Sony for ten years on various Playstation and PS2 projects. Click here for the SN Systems website, and here for the press release. [26 July 2005] [top]

Retail
Independent Retailers in UK on the Ropes
MCVUK.com reports that two independent game retailers in the UK have gone into liquidation; Manchester chain Gamebase, and seven store chain The Software Store. The article quotes The Software Store owner saying "What hope is there when I can buy titles cheaper from competitors over the road than from official distributors?". For the brief article, click here. [26 July 2005] [top]

Industry
Report on Recent Trade Mission to Japan
The Age has report on the recent Victorian government trade mission to Japan, which ocurred end of June, with a focus on Melbourne based developer Tantalus Interactive. For the article, click here. [25 July 2005] [top]

Development
Gridwerx Launches New Website
Independent Brisbane Developer GridWerx has launched a new website (www.gridwerx.com.au) to show off new concept art and game stories. They have also put up their Power Point presentation "Lessons Learned of a Start-Up Indie Game Developer!", as presented by them at FreePlay 2005, held a few weekends ago. For the Gridwerx website, click here. [25 July 2005] [top]

Society
Blind 17 Year Old: Master of Soul Caliber
US based SoiuxCityJournal.com has a great story about a young man, Brice Mellen, who kicks arse on Soul Calibre and Mortal Kombat. "Blind since birth when his optic nerve didn't connect due to Leber's disease, Mellen honed his video game skills over the years through patient and not-so-patient playing, asking lots of questions and paying particular attention to audio cues. He worked his way up from games such as Space Invaders and Asteroid, on to the modern, and more bloody, combat games" reports the article. For the article, click here. [25 July 2005] [top]

Industry
Rachel Griffiths Lends Voice To Midway Game
The Hollywood Reporter says that "Rachel Griffiths will lend her voice to Jordan in the video game horror sequel "The Suffering: Ties That Bind." The game is being developed by Midway Games. For the article, click here. [25 July 2005] [top]

Consoles
Sony Discusses Playstation In Japan
The Mainichi-MSN website reports that Sony's Ken Kutaragi, CEO of the company's game business, discussed their Playstation strategy in Japan yesterday. Sony is pleased with the platform provided by the PS2 and PSP, and a PSP software upgrade will go on sale in Japan next week, that includes a net browser and video download service. Further, a white PSP will be introduced in Japan next week. "Kutaragi said the company will boost production of PlayStation 3 "tools," with which designers make games for machines, and make sample codes available soon to give aggressive support for companies that want to make games for PlayStation 3" reports the website. With 5 million PSPs sold to date, "Sony said Thursday that video and music sales for PSP were going well in North America with more than 4 million UMDs, or PSP discs, already sold" reports the website. For the article, click here. [22 July 2005] [top]

Consoles
Xbox Live Now With 2 Million Members
Microsoft reports that its Xbox Live service now has 2 million members, and the rate of adoption of the service over the past years has been one person every seconds. For the press release click here. Microsoft also states "transferring user accounts to the next-generation console will be easy... Because Xbox Live is a universal service between both platforms, gamers can move their Xbox Live memberships seamlessly from Xbox to Xbox 360, while still enjoying online games and entertainment on the current-generation system." This seems to suggest Xbox 360 users will be able to run either their 360 or original Xbox, through the one subscription. [21 July 2005] [top]

Classification
Update: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Rating Changed to Adults-only (USA)
The US Entertainment Software Rating Board has changed the classification rating for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas from M for mature to AO for Adults Only. Prior to the decision, several large retail chains in the US, including Wal-Mart and Target, had decided to pull the game from their shelves. The Washington Post reports the story, and states also that pubisher Take-Two, owner of developer Rockstar, "admitted for the first time that the sex scenes had been built into the retail version of that game, not just the PC version but also those written for Xbox and PlayStation2 consoles." In America, over 5 million copies of the PS2 version of the game have been sold since release October 2004. For the article, click here. Expect this decision to reverberate to other classification bodies around the world, save that Australia does not have an adults only rating for games, an inequitable position given Australia has an adults only rating for films and other media. [21 July 2005] [top]

Education
US College Creating Video Game and Animation
Champlain College in the US has a news story about their students, and the creation of a short animated film and accompanying video game, communicating the dangers of mercury. The project continues through the northern summer and is being created for the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation. For the article, click here. [20 July 2005] [top]

Industry
Electronic Arts to Distribute Valve Games; Delayed Godfather
Electronic Arts has signed an agreement to distribute Valve games to retail outlets, with GameDaily.com reporting that Doug Lombardi of Valve said "Valve will continue to publish its games via Steam and will be distributing some packages to retail in collaboration with EA." EA announced late last week that its Godfather game will be delayed to Q1 2006. Market analysts now suggest the potential loss due to the Godfather game delay may be made up through the new Valve deal. For the article, click the link here. [19 July 2005] [top]

Classification
Update: Rockstar's GTA:SA
The Scotsman.com has an article on the GTA:SA hidden files fiasco, reporting "one industry insider said: "If they are forced to recall GTA: San Andreas over this, the company is doomed. They cannot afford this." The article notes "the first version of Grand Theft Auto was developed in Dundee by Dave Jones, who was then working at DMA Design. That company is now called Rockstar North and is part of the US group Take Two." For the article, click the link here. [18 July 2005] [top]

Online
OnGameNet Launches Shot Online
Sydney based OnGameNet announced last week that it had launched Shot Online, providing locally based servers for Oceania, linked to International Shot Online servers. Shot Online is an online RPG golf game, combining a gold simulator with real world physics with a club house world for players to interact. For the OnGameNet website, click here. Shot Online was created by Korean company OnNet, and first launched commercially in Korea early last year, followed by Japan and the USA. [18 July 2005] [top]

Shot Online - Play some holes...		...then meet other players in the grounds of the club house.

Development
Brisbane: Pandemic Studio Hiring Spree
Pandemic's Brisbane Studio, which recently completed Destroy All Humans!, is hiring for its next project which is now underway. The studio is looking for 21 people, and the stduio itself will shortly move to new premises in Brisbane. The company has positions for: 3D artist, character designer, audio designer, designer, designer (splitscreen multiplayer), junior 3D artist, junior programmer, senior 3D artist, and world builder artist. To look through the jobs, visit Pandemic's job pages here. [18 July 2005] [top]

MMORPG
Xbox 360 Gains Exclusive Marvel Based MMORPGs
Microsoft has announced it has the exclusive licence to develop and publish massively multiplayer online games featuring Marvel super hero properties for use in Xbox 360 games, to be developed by Microsoft Game Studios. Marvel claims a monthly market share of just under 50% for its comic publications in the USA, with characters the X-Men team, Spidie, Captain America, Black Panther, Fantastic Four, Punisher, and the Hulk amongst others. For the Marvel comics site, click here. [15 July 2005] [top]

Industry
THQ Engages Movie Agent for Destroy All Humans! Property
Publisher THQ has said it has engaged LA based United Talent Agency to expand the Destroy All Humans! brand in film and TV. The Destroy All Humans! game, which was released last month and was developed in Brisbane by Pandemic Studios, features excellent game play and very nice 1950's Americana environments to provide a superb tongue-in-cheek gaming experience. The game itself comes with two unloackable 1950's films including 'Plan 9 From Outerspace' as an obvious tribute to the games influences. United Talent Agency will oversee activities related to development, financing, production and distribution, and it is the first time THQ has secured agency representation for one of its own original properties, the publisher comments. A short video showing the development of the game with voice over from three Brisbane Pandemic developers, is also an unlockable feature, and provides a neat insight into the evolution of the game from 2003 onwards. For the game's website, click the link here. [14 July 2005] [top]

Development
Tantalus Creating for PSP and Nintendo DS
Speaking at Dissecta's Top Gear Rally Exposed event last night, Tom Crago CEO of Melbourne based Tantalus Interactive revealed the studio is developing for both PSP and Nintendo DS. Tantalus is creating a Spongebob game for Nintendo DS, and the developer had been told it was one of the first to have the DS developer kit outside of Japan. Tom put that down to the power of the brand, and of the publisher THQ, stating "ahelluva lot of opportunities that you wouldn't otherwise have" come from working with a big publisher. For the Dissecta website, click here. [13 July 2005] [top]

Tom Crago, CEO Tantalus Interactive (middle) and Paul Seedy, Lead Programmer,
speak about Top Gear Rally at Top Gear Rally Exposed, held 12 July 2005 in
Melbourne. [left side, Host Gerry O'Brien]

Publishing
New Trailer for Heroes of the Pacific
Codemasters has released a new trailer for Heroes of the Pacific, the WW2 dogfight game developed by IR Gurus in Melbourne. The player is a flight combat ace, "plunged into the most ferocious battles from the Pacific Theatre of World War II, including Pearl Harbor, Wake Island, Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, Midway, Leyte Gulf and the Coral Sea." Click here for the website. [13 July 2005] [top]

Industry
Sega Europe In Brisbane
Several key executives from Sega Europe are in Brisbane this week, meeting with Creative Assembly's Brisbane studio. Creative Assembly, makers of the extremely popular Total War series and the new series Total Warrior currently in development, was established in the UK in 1987 and bought by Sega of Japan a month ago. [13 July 2005] [top]

Industry
Hip Interactive Runs Out of Cash
Canadian game publisher Hip Interactive has become insolvent stating "discussions with a third party to provide interim relief in respect of the Company's immediate financing needs were not successful and that the Company no longer has sufficient cash available to it to pay its liabilities as they become due." The company continues as a going concern, with Ernst & Young as interim receiver. For the press release, click the link here. [13 July 2005] [top]

Development
Team Bondi Release Details of Current Title: L.A. Noire
Sydney based Tam Bondi, founded by Brendan McNamara, former Director of Development for Sony Computer Entertainment SOHO Studio in UK and writer/director of The Getaway, has released details of their current game in development. Called L.A. Noire, it is a detective thriller for PS3. Team Bondi have an exclusive 3 title deal for PS3. The studio is soon to move to bigger premises in Sydney, as they have reached 44 staff and have outgrown current digs. For the website, click the link here. [12 July 2005] [top]

Development
Next Game for Fuzzy Eyes
Fuzzy Eyes Studio in Brisbane has announced their next game will be "No Days No Nights" and the story "is based around a future where the past has been destroyed and humanity clings to enclaves of existence in the wilderness, defending their towns from the encroaching beasts and demons of the fields." For the news mention, click the link here. [12 July 2005] [top]

Retail
Movie Based Retail Chains With Game Stores in Movie Slump
Business Week reports that the shares of two US based game retailers, Blockbuster and Movie Gallery, "tumble Thursday after an analyst downgraded both stocks on a poor DVD-release slate and tougher competition." For the full article, click the link here. On the 22 June Bloomberg reported that Movie Gallery Inc "will close 51 video- game stores" which also affected the share price. For the Bloomberg article, click the link here. Blockbuster's game stores are called Game Rush, and the Australian subsidiary operates several Game Rush stores in Australia [9 July 2005] [top]

Handhelds
PSP to PC Connection from Datel
UK company Datel, makers of the Action Reply game cheat system, is moving into PSP territory with their Get Connected! PSP to PC connection suite, to launch in Europe and US shortly (US$14.99). Get Connected1 is basically a file transfer system for PC to PSP. Datel's cheat website Codejunkies will also soon support PSP with a dedicated online community. For the cheat website, click the link here. For the company website, click the link here. [9 July 2005] [top]

Industry
Classification Issues on the Agenda
In related news, a newspaper in Scotland reports "British parents are ignoring age warnings on computer games and letting their children play unsuitable titles, according to a gaming industry survey" while a key politician in State parliament in the USA remarks "whether it is JFK: Reloaded, Manhunt, 25 to Life, or now Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, the video game industry continues to demonstrate a sense of arrogance towards public opinion and a lack of responsibility in protecting our children." For the UK article click the link here, for the USA article, click the link here. [7 July 2005] [top]

Events
Brisbane Game Development July Meetup
The next Brisbane game developers meet up will take place July 23, 2005 at 5:00 PM. For the website, click the link here. The group appears to be going string with 83 members so far. [5 July 2005] [top]

Publishers
A Year After Release in US, London Zoo Endorses Vet Game
The UK operations of publisher Mindscape (owned by UK based Pearson plc publisher of the Financial Times) has announced that its "new" PC game, Zoo Vet, developed by Legacy Interactive (ER; Law and Order) and set for release later this month in the UK, is now recommended by London Zoo. Zoo Vet was released in the USA April 2004. It has yet to be made available in Australia. [5 July 2005]