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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MMOG
Bigworld Selected By Secret Lair Studios
Newly established Washington US based developer Secret Lair Studios have selected the BigWorld Technology Suite as their development platform for future games. Secret Lair Studios state in their press release "boasting founders from such prestigious studios as NCsoft, Microsoft, Blizzard, SOE, Monolith, Origin and Arena.net, Secret Lair is set to revolutionize the MMOG industry." Robert Spencer, Strategic Business Manager for BigWorld, said "the team at Secret Lair are incredibly experienced in all facets of MMO development and it is incredible to work with such an all-star team. Ensuring that our technology exceeded their diverse expectations was certainly a challenge and their choice certifies BigWorld Technology Suite as the gold standard in MMOG development technology." For the BigWorld website click here. For the Secret Lair Studios site click here. [31 October 2005] [top]

Next Gen
Xbox360 UK: A Clayton's Launch?
The launch you have when you don't have a launch, that's the message from this MCV UK article here, which starts "Microsoft is standing firm in the face of some heavy criticism from retail in response to the recent Xbox 360 allocations." Standard independent retailers in the UK, where the Xbox 360 launches 2 December 2005, are expected according to MCV to get "four Premium bundles and two Core bundles." That's 6 Xbox 360 consoles to sell on launch. Meanwhile Reuters.com reports from the US that Microsoft may be trying to avoid a situation where there is a spike in sales on launch and slow sales the following months, due to inconsistent supply. Microsoft expects to have at least 4.5 million Xbox 360 consoles shipped by end of June 2006. For the Reuters.com article, click here. For release dates see Xbox 360 Release Dates: Staggered; Japanese Price, 19 September 2005. [31 October 2005] [top]

Events
Update: X|Media|Lab Singapore
The mentoring workshop XMediaLab will run 17-18th November in Singapore, as part of the Asia Media Festival. This workshop will focus on creating successful computer games, with mentors including Matt Costello, the author of DOOM 3, Noah Falstein, co-founder of the IGDA, and American McGee. The workshop still has 6 places for game related projects, see their website here for further information. [31 October 2005] [top]

Government
Florida Latest on Ban Bandwagon
Reuters.com reports "a Florida state senator has introduced a bill that would ban the sale or rental of violent video games to minors". The bill is reportedly almost the same as the Californian legislation recently made law and subject of a court challenge. For the article, click here. [28 October 2005] [top]

Education
US: Disaster Simulator Created for Public Health Workers
A team from the University of Illinois at Chicago has created a video game, the first in a series, that simulates biological, chemical, radiological and natural disasters in a major metropolitan area, to be used to prepare public health workers and emergency responders for real life emergencies. The University says until recently, public health workers and emergency responders have been trained using role-playing exercises and actual disaster drills, which are costly and time-intensive when preparing thousands of people for a multitude of catastrophic scenarios. Lars Ullberg, executive producer of the project at UIC's Center for the Advancement of Distance Education, says "In light of the disastrous response to Hurricane Katrina, it is clear that preparedness training needs to go a lot further." "Simulations are the only efficient and cost-effective way to bridge the gap between theory and practice and prepare our emergency workers for both the expected and unexpected." For the press release click here. [28 October 2005] [top]

Industry
Drummer Hates Video Games, Sues Microsoft
A US based drummer, whose band's music was used in the Xbox game Amped, is suing Microsoft, according to a US blog article here. The drummer "happens to despise video games". [28 October 2005] [top]

Television
THQ's DAH! to Become TV Series
In July this year THQ engaged a movie agent to help expand it's Destroy All Humans! property, and this week Fox in the US reportedly announced it will make a half-hour animated Destroy All Humans! TV comedy show (see THQ Engages Movie Agent for Destroy All Humans! Property, 14 July 2005). For a report on the story, click here. [27 October 2005] [top]

Industry
Microsoft Xbox 360 and PC Controller
Microsoft has released a controller able to be used with PC, and the soon to be launched (in the US) Xbox 360. It is the first cross platform controller from the company and is called the Xbox 360 Controller for Windows. However the controller that is coming with the Xbox 360 is also cross platform compatible. Microsoft believes it makes it easier for the game player, and the developer, to enjoy and develop games for both PC and Xbox 360. For the press release click here. [27 October 2005] [top]

Developers
War World Secures Publisher for Europe
Third Wave Games has announced a deal for its War World PC game with Dutch Publisher Lighthouse Interactive. Lighthouse gains publishing rights for War World: Tactical Combat for all European territories and Russia, as well as Turkey and Australia/NZ. Erik Schreuder, Lighthouse CEO, said “We are extremely pleased to add War World to our stable of promising titles. With the planned additions that we will be making, we think it is going to be a great game. So far we have been very impressed by the great looks and smooth feel of the game and by the fantastic netcode, allowing gamers to play virtually lagfree over large distances. We’re very keen to bring War World to European gamers in a couple of months.” War World should be released by Lighthouse February 2006. Melbourne based Morten Brodersen, CEO of Third Wave Games, said “We are very pleased to be working with such a respected partner as Lighthouse Interactive and are looking forward to bringing War World to pan-European retail.” The European retail version will feature several new additions including LAN support, “Capture the Flag" and "Team Objective” multiplayer modes and two additional singleplayer modes: “Deathmatch” and “Team Deathmatch”. For the announcement, click here. [24 October 2005] [top]

Industry
Update: Gametap Launched in the US
Turner Broadcasting has launched its new rental game service Gametap.com which uses the internet to distribute and control PC game rentals with access charged on a flat free basis (see Update: Turner and AOL Team Up for Gametap, 19 May 2005). Turner Broadcasting, owned by Time Warner, charges US $14.95 a month, offering unlimited game downloads. Games range from Chopper Command to Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow, and the system provides a new distribution channel for old arcade titles and new titles, to be played on PC. For the site, click here. [20 October 2005] [top]

Government
Battlefield California 2005
With Governor Schwarzenegger having now signed California's violent video game ban into law, the US Video Software Dealers Association and the US Entertainment Software Association, have filed a legal action against the State of California to have the ban overturned (see California Poised to Ban Sale of Violent Video Games to Minors, 11 Sept 2005). For the local verison of the story (which is a reproduction of a Reuters article) click here. For the Washington Post version of the story (which is a reproduction of an Associated Press article) click here. And for the local Californian paper The Argus' version of the story, click the link here. The Argus reports "The governor, who was heavily pressured by industry and children-protection advocates before signing the bill, promised to "do everything in my power to preserve this new law."" [20 October 2005] [top]

Movies
DOOM Movie Opens in US Tomorrow
The DOOM Movie, starring the Rock, opens in the US tomorrow and the full official website has now been launched by Universal. For the site, click here. [20 October 2005] [top]

Retail
Original Xbox being Forgotten?
The transition from Playstation to Playstation 2 showed just how long an early model console can remain on sale concurrent with the new version. It can be expected then that the Xbox has at least a two year period of ongoing sales and new software releases after release of the Xbox 360. However, in the UK at least, it has been suggested Microsoft is losing focus on its original console, to the dismay of publishers and retailers. In a recent article in MCV magazine online, stats show the Xbox has sold 39% less consoles to date in 2005, than in 2004. Further, for the past three months, software sales as a percentage of market share have been disappointing, at around 11%. “With all the excitement of the 360 launch they could be forgiven, but they must refocus as there are still opportunities for the current market. And as a publisher we need them to get behind it more strongly. This gets the consumer excited and in turn sells more software" said a publisher interviewed for the article, who added "As it stands, great software on Xbox is underperforming significantly.” For the article, click here. [16 October 2005] [top]

Events
X|Media|Lab Singapore Computer Game Events, November
X|Media|Lab Singapore is hosting an event called Computer Games, to take place on November 17-18 as part of the World Cyber Games and the Asia Media Festival in Singapore. An X|Media|Lab Masterclass Day will also be held, on Saturday November 19th. The Computer Games event will see up to 8 selected projects obtain mentoring from key game experts; X|Media|Lab Singapore is now seeking 8 game projects (console, online, or mobile) from around the region, with either an entertainment or a serious gaming focus, to participate in the Lab. For further information click here; be sure to read through the bio's of the International and Singapore mentors who will be in attendance, such as American McGee, makes for an interesting read. [16 October 2005] [top]

Retail
GameStop Completes EB Games Merger
The world's largest video game hardware and software retailer has well and truly emerged, as GameStop Inc announces it has completed its merger with Electronics Boutique. The combined entity, known as GameStop and which now owns the historical GameStop business and Electornics Boutique as subsidiaries and listed on the New York Stock Exchange, has over 4,200 stores in the US and 15 other countries. R. Richard Fontaine is GameStop's Chairman and CEO, Daniel A. DeMatteo is Vice Chairman and COO, Joe DePinto is President, and David W. Carlson as Executive VP and CFO. EB Games founder, the 69 year old James Kim has joined the GameStop board, so to: Stanley ("Mickey") Steinberg, formerly an EB director, Jerome L. Davis formerly of Electronic Data Systems, and Larry S. Zilavy, formerly of Barnes & Noble, Inc. For the press release, click here. [11 October 2005] [top]

Developers
Train Games Article
In the Screenhub.com.au article 'Computer games take over railway dreamers' Gamenews.com.au editor Tim Richards provides an overview of current developers in the train simulator space including UK's Kuju Entertainment, Brisbane's Auran Games, and Japan's Taito and Ongakukan. "While train simulators have typically all been developed for PC, in Japan, Taito has a roaring train game franchise called Densha de Go (Let's Go By Train!) that started in 1997 for the original PlayStation. Densha de Go has appeared on Nintendo 64, Sega Dreamcast, in large arcade versions, in various mobile versions, and Taito now has five Densha de Go games for the PlayStation 2 alone" reports the article. The article is available on Screenhub.com.au to their subscribers. [10 October 2005] [top]

Industry
Video Game Industry Driving Entertainment/Media Industries
Business Week online has reproduced a GameDaily article, covering a new PriceWaterhouseCoopers report on the global entertainment and media industries. The industries are expected to grow to [US] $1.8 trillion 'in annual sales by 2009' from [US] $1.3 trillion in 2004, with the video game industry to be the 'fastest-growing component of the media sector worldwide' growing from '[US]$25.4 billion in revenue in 2004 to almost $55 billion in 2009, growing at a 16.5 percent compound annual rate.' For the article, which makes several interesting points re video and PC games and markets, click here. [10 October 2005] [top]

Industry
Irrational Games USA Article Mention
Stainless Steel Games and Irrational Games (which has an Australian studio based in Canberra) are discussed in this Boston Herald article. The studios are local to the paper. "Surviving as an independent developer in this highly competitive business is a lot tougher than defeating the digital opponents and armies that Stainless and Irrational create for their core audience of 18- to 24-year-olds" states the article. [10 October 2005] [top]

Industry
High Court Rules Mod Chipping Legal
The four year battle between Sony and mod-chipper Eddy Stevens has ended with the High Court of Australia ruling mod-chipping is legal. For the Age article click here. [6 October 2005] [top]

Game Movies
Peter Jackson Attached to Halo Movie, NZ Shoot
Channel Seven reports "oscar-winning New Zealand director Peter Jackson and his screenwriter wife Fran Walsh have been signed as executive producers of the film version of the Halo video game." (See Halo Movie a Step Closer 12 June 2005). The movie will be filmed in Wellington, New Zealand, from May 2006, with pre-production now underway. For the article, click here. [6 October 2005] [top]

Development
A Look Inside Bethesda Softworks, USA
For an interesting article on Bethesda Softworks, makers of the Elder Scrolls role playing games, see this article from the Washington Post, republished in the Fortwayne Gazette. The article starts "It’s crunch time at the local offices of video game maker Bethesda Softworks. A team of 70 programmers, designers, artists and bug testers is spending long hours to get its upcoming game ready for the fall launch of Microsoft’s Xbox 360 game console." [6 October 2005] [top]

Retail
US Retail Chain Best Buy Selling Second Hand Games
CNN reports that "Best Buy is walking a thin line with its latest in-store test -- one that might thrill cost-conscious consumers, but earn the ire of video game publishers and developers." Best Buy has started selling second hand games in at least four stores, and as subscribers of our GameNews Weekly email will know from the recent articles on EB Games, selling second hand games can be very profitable, above and beyond the margins on new game sales. For the wide ranging CNN article, click here. [6 October 2005] [top]

Education
Local Game Education Short Course in Press
The Business Section of today's Age has an article on studying computer and video games, focussing on the Academy of Interactive Entertainment and a new short course. For the article, click here. [3 October 2005] [top]

Industry
Outspoken Indie Game Developer Launches Own Studio
Greg Costikyan, who spoke at this years's Freeplay Independent Game Development Conference in July, has formed a new studio called Manifesto Games, with Dr. Johnny Wilson. The studio will utilise digital download as a means of distributing independently developed original games. See the Gamedaily article here, which reports "Costikyan and Wilson have been frustrated by the fact that the video game industry has made it increasingly difficult to bring "offbeat and niche" games to market, and they lament the notion that any game that sells fewer than 1 million units is deemed a failure." For the Manifesto Games website, click here. [2 October 2005] [top]

Retail
2 UK General Chain Stores Discount FIFA06 On Launch
In a move which has surprised the UK game industry for the potential impact it has on retail prices for future releases and back catalogue games for Christmas, two large general retail chains "Argos and Asda are advertising the PS2 and Xbox versions at just £24.97 in the national press, meaning that it has been discounted by nearly a third on day of release" reports MCV online. Specialist chain stores Game and Gamestation are selling the title at £34.99. For the article click here. Argos is a UK retail chain started in 1973, which now has over 600 stores across the UK and Ireland. Asda commenced in 1965, was bought by US based WalMart in 1999, and has 281 stores and 24 depots across the UK. [2 October 2005] [top]