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Dissecta Events: Check the Next Event Here

Industry
Game Developers Association of Australia Newsletter
The latest GDAA newsletter was issued this week, Issue 14 September 2005. Articles include the upcoming PS2 developer kit program for Queensland, and the Electronic Games Investment Fund. It will be up on the GDAA website shortly, in the meantime subscribe to the game development industry's newsletter on the details here. [29 September 2005] [top]

Government
Game Industry Losing Culture War
Businessweek.com has a lengthy article about the interest the video game industry is attracting from American legislators and how the industry has been forced onto the defensive. For the article, click here. [29 September 2005] [top]

Society
UN Food Force Game in Japan
The Asahi Shimbun reports that the UN Food Force game released earlier this year as a web download "has become something of a hit in Japan." "About 2 million users worldwide have downloaded the game for free since its release at < www.food-force.com > in April. More than 400,000 of those downloaders were residents of Japan, according to the World Food Program." As a result "the WFP now plans to introduce a Japanese-language version of the game, scheduled to be available through the WFP's Web site in mid-October." For the article, click here. [29 September 2005] [top]

Development
Auran In the Mainstream
The Australian has an interesting article on Brisbane based Auran, based around the company's efforts to grow its revenue. A number of projects are discussed including a new massively multiplayer online game in development with Korea's HanbitSoft. The game will be free to play with money earned from ingame purchases. Other projects discussed include the Trainz game franchise, MyVirtualHome. For the article, click here. [27 September 2005] [top]

Events
BlizzCon: Blizzard Entertainment's Inaugural Game Festival
Vivendi Universal Games' Blizzard Entertainment will host BlizzCon 28-29 October 2005 at the Anaheim Convention Center in California. The event includes two days of gaming, contests, developer Q&A panels, an official tournament, and other activities centred on Blizzard's 15 years of game development. The Offspring will close the event with a concert for attendees. Although tickets to the event have sold out already, a limited release of more tickets at US$120 a piece may occur in October the organisers have said. For the website, click here. [27 September 2005] [top]

NextGen
Microsoft and Intel Backing HD DVD Format
Microsoft and Intel said today that they will join the HD DVD Promotion Group stating "After extensive review, both companies determined that the HD DVD format developed by the DVD Forum meets important criteria and delivers unique advantages, including PC and connected device interoperability and an easy, affordable transition to high definition for consumers." The HD DVD format is also backed by NEC, Sanyo, and Toshiba. For the press release click here. [27 September 2005] [top]

Industry
Game Prices to Rise Because They Can
Activision CEO Bobby Kotick is reportedly keen to raise wholesale video game prices by US$10 according to TheStreet.com here. The article notes that other companies have raised pre-order prices for Xbox 360 titles according to a survey of online retailers. The article reports Kotick as saying at a Banc of America presentation last week "We've said we're to going sell those products at higher price points until ... the market forces us to sell them at lower price points, which we don't think is likely." [25 September 2005] [top]

Online
Codemasters' Funsta.com.au Now Launched
UK based Codemasters' online business has launched it's website Funsta.com.au, part of a chain of Funsta websites around the world offering online games for download. The Australian site flicks between US and UK currency, while the map of Funsta sites around the world has a truly dodgy flag picture for Australia, check it out here. (and see the image below for educational purposes just in case it is changed). [25 September 2005] [top]

Funsta.com.au's map of sites page with a dodgy Australian flag.

Industry
Game Development in India
Business Week online has an informative article on the history and current situation of game development in the country of India. "They're already attracting big names and big money, leveraging the same advantages that India's software industry uses: abundant programming skills and low wages. They compete for outsourced game development work from the West while also creating their own games... [but] Indian companies find it hard to hire creative programmers who understand and enjoy games." For the article, click here. [23 September 2005] [top]

Industry
Sony Consumer Electronics Cuts; Game Entertainment Focus
Sony is set to cut 6000 jobs in Japan and 4000 jobs overseas, close some operations and cut product lines, in a drive to cut $2.35 billion in costs. The electronic games and entertainment divisions are not subject to the cost cutting and the PS3 has become a key focus for the entire company reports The Australian here. [23 September 2005] [top]

Next Gen
The Revolution Wand Controller
Nintendo revealed details in Japan last week of the new controller for their next generation video console the Revolution. Nintendo says it has broken with more than 20 years of video game history by abandoning the traditional controller held with two hands and introducing an all-new freehand-style unit held with one hand. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said "the feeling is so natural and real, as soon as players use the controller, their minds will spin with the possibilities of how this will change gaming as we know it today.” The controller in effect senses its relative position and can be used in a variety of ways to control onscreen actions. For the press release click here. The controller also allows for a variety of expansions, including a “nunchuk” style analog unit. [22 September 2005] [top]

Development
Torus Games Reveal Johnny Storm
The Dissecta events in Melbourne are finding some great speakers, with last night's event no exception. Torus Games had five of their top developers on hand to discuss how they made Fantastic Four for the Gameboy Advance, including lead art, sound, the producer Kevin McIntosh, key programmer, and lead design. The game itself was desgined for the rarely used 16mb GBA catridges, meaning that the team had packed in an enourmous amount of game play and graphics for the players. Not only did the team run through all aspects of the game, but they also, for the first time we understand, discussed their new project which just went gold master two weeks ago, and will come out November 2005: Johnny Storm. Johnny Storm for GBA focusses on this key Fantastic Four character, providing side scrolling action, a snowboarding mini game, and flying levels. It looks like lots of fun. For the Torus Games website, click here. For the archive of the event or to join the Dissecta email list, click here. [21 September 2005] [top]

Retail
MCV Mag: King Kong No.1 This Xmas
The UK based MCV magazine's website has an interesting article looking at which games may make the top ten for Christmas 2005 in the UK. The article is based on a survey of 25 (unnamed) leading UK publishers, distributors, retailers, and media, and asks how EA and Ubisoft may end up over the period. Number one on the list, King Kong from Ubisoft. For the article, click here. [19 September 2005] [top]

Distribution
Auran and Stomp Deal for Australian Distribution
Melbourne based Stomp Pty Ltd will distribute Brisbane based Auran products through Australia, the two companies said today. "With a strong distribution connection Auran currently provides on average four quality titles a month to the Australian, New Zealand and Asian games markets" states the press release. "Having connections with leading publishers and developers such as Irrational Games, JoWooD Productions, 1C Company, Techland, Paradox, Monte Cristo, Cyanide Studios, Stardock, Whiptail Interactive and many more, Auran is aiming to be the publisher of choice for independent game developers." Graham Edelsten, Auran Director & CFO, said “Having Stomp onboard as our distributor in the Australian market will allow us to focus on what we do best, producing and publishing high quality games for Australia. With our extensive network of local and International Game developers we are looking forward to bringing some awesome titles to the Australian market. With the expertise and enthusiasm for the gaming market that Stomp brings, we are also excited for the future of Auran and gaming in Australia.” For the Stomp website click here. [19 September 2005] [top]

Next Gen
Xbox 360 Release Dates: Staggered; Japanese Price
Microsoft said last week, in time for the Tokyo Game Show, that the Xbox 360 will be in stores in North America on 22 November, in Europe on 2 December, and in Japan 10 December, which "marked the first time that a game console will be launched in three territories in the same time frame" according to the company. The Xbox 360 was on hand at the Tokyo Game Show with 27 titles on show including “CHROMEHOUNDS” from Sega, “FINAL FANTASY XI” from Square Enix, “Gears of War” from Microsoft Game Studios, and “Mobile Suit Gundam” (tentative title) from Bandai. Microsoft also announced Japanese pricing for the Xbox 360, appearing to provide only the premium version for sale (comes with the 20GB HDD, Wireless Controller, Media Remote, Headset, Component HD-AV Cable, Ethernet cable, batteries; price 37,900 Yen (about AUD$450). [19 September 2005] [top]

Consoles
Sony Recalling PS2 Adapters Built Aug-Dec 2004
Sony is recalling PS2 adapters built August to December 2004 issued with the black slimline PS2, saying they could overheat and injure consumers, according to the Age online, here. "They have the product identification code HP - ATH048H03 and one of the following date stamps: 2004.08, 2004.09, 2004.10, 2004.11 or 2004.12... roughly 960,000 of the units in North America, 60,000 in Japan and 2.3 million in Europe" are affected. [14 September 2005] [top]

Government
Chinese Government Making Patriotic Games
The government of China and Nasdaq listed Shanghai headquartered online game publisher Shanda Interactive Entertainment Ltd are working together to "produce patriotic internet games featuring national heroes such as a celebrated eunuch admiral and a communist soldier so selfless he volunteered to wash his comrades' socks" according to the an article in Financial Times online, here. Shanda already operates several MMORPG in China including Korean developed The Legend of MIR II, and will soon bring Dungeons & Dragons Online to the country. For the Shanda site, click here. [14 September 2005] [top]

Events
Brisbane Game Developers Meetup Group 24 Sept
Stepping down as organiser of the Brisbane Game Developers Meetup Group, Scott Leahman says the last meetup under his guidance will be held 24 September at the Pavilion Bar, Stamford Plaza at 6pm. Scott's game development activities are stepping up leaving little room give his all for the Meetup. For the Meetup group website, click here. [14 September 2005] [top]

Event
Melbourne IGDA Chapter: Meeting 14 Sept at 7pm
The Melbourne chapter of the International Game Developers' Association will meet Wednesday 14th September at The Canada Hotel, Swanston St, Carlton at 7pm. The group will be showing a DVD of the Quality of Life keynote speech from the IGDA Quality of Life Summit at this year's Game Developers Conference. For their website, click here. [11 September 2005] [top]

Government
California Poised to Ban Sale of Violent Video Games to Minors
Reuters.com reports that "California lawmakers have approved a bill that would ban the sale of violent video game to minors, but Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has not yet taken a position on the legislation, his office said on Friday." (See Californian Bill to Ban Certain Computer Game Sales, 20 April). For the article, click here. [11 September 2005] [top]

Media
PSP Internet Capability Leads Local Game Site to Adapt
Sydney based PAL Gaming Network (PALGN) says it now provides an optimised version of its Palgn.com.au website for PSP users, with the site recognising PSP based browsers and serving up lowbandwidth content. Interestingly, Palgn points out that "surprisingly many gaming sites are not PSP friendly at the most basic functional level...The front page on IGN.com, for example, will not load completely (due to insufficient memory errors) and roadblock ads on GameSpot.com can't be passed using the PSP browser." Palgn state that their front page "will now completely load in under 10 seconds on a PSP with a typical Wi-Fi connection... Most other pages will completely load in under 15 seconds." For the site, click here. [11 September 2005] [top]

Media
News Corp Buys IGN Entertainment
As mainstream media sites are now reporting, News Corp has bought the US based game media group IGN Entertainment for US$650 internet based games media company IGN Entertainment for $US650 million ($854 million). See the AFR article here. [9 September 2005] [top]

Development
Torus Games Using Dissecta to Announce New Game
Torus Games says that it will use its presentation at Dissecta's Explore Fantastic Four Tuesday 20th September at the ACMI Screenpit Melbourne, to make an announcement "about a related Game Boy Advance title that is just going Gold Master." See the link here (bottom part). [7 September 2005] [top]

Development
CTProductions New Game Website
Adelaide studio Crystal Tech Productions has put up a website for its new game Predator Prey. While the site isn't much more than a flash intro at this time, the studio has another year of development ahead. For the website, click here. [7 September 2005] [top]

Handhelds
The Gizmondo Handheld
US based Tiger Telematics' Gizmondo is slowly putting the finishing touches on the US launch of its handheld game and media system, the Gizmondo. With several release dates already missed, the device is certainly expected to be launched before the end of the year. At present, it is available only in the UK, part of a trial launched March this year. The device has a 400Mhz processor, graphics chip from Nvidia, a hirez TFT screen, built-in GPS technology, and mobile network data access. Currently the device has 25 games on sale in the UK from 10 developers. Interestingly, a key aspect of the device is that it comes in two versions; a higher priced version without advertising support, and a lower priced version with advertising support. The advertising support is called SmartAdds and the company says sixty six per cent of Gizmondo customers (UK) are aged 15-35. Smart Adds Gizmondo bought in the UK are unable to used outside the country. A recent article on the Gizmondo from Mediapost.com reports that the company 'is poised to break a multimillion-dollar multi-channel ad campaign aimed at young, rap-loving early adopters' in the US. For the article click here, for the UK Gizmondo website click here, and for the Smart Adds website click here. [6 September 2005] [top]

Distribution
Local Company Enters Game Industry Distribution
Melbourne based Stomp Entertainment, established 1994 and now one of the largest independent entertainment distributors in Australia with a team of 100 people, has announced it has entered game distribution as part of its operations delivering entertainment products to 4000 retail stores throughout Australasia. The company has been appointed the exclusive distributor of the Pyramat, a floor lounge for gamers created by Razor. For their game website, click here. [6 September 2005] [top]

Development
MMORPG Experts Bigworld Tech Now a Red Herring 100 Asia Company
Bigworld Technology has announced that it has been named a Red Herring magazine 100 Asia company. “We are very pleased that BigWorld has been recognized in this way,” said John DeMargheriti, CEO of BigWorld. “Our focus on long-term research and development has paved the way to our current and future success in the fast-growing online game marketplace.” Bigworld provides massively multiplayer online game software for developers, and recently described itself as the renderware of MMORPGs. Red Herring 100 Asia companies will be presenting their business model and strategy at the Red Herring 100 Asia Conference. The conference will take place Sept. 5-7 at the Shangri-La Hotel in Shanghai. For the Bigworld website, click here. [6 September 2005] [top]

Publications
GameBiz Announces Unofficial PSP Magazine
Sydney based Gamebiz, established 2001, has launched a print publication to cover the PSP entitled 'Unofficial PSP Magazine.' "Unofficial PSP Magazine is the first major magazine designed exclusively for the PSP" reports the company. The magazine will come out 15 September 2005, and will have a base circulation of 18,000. For the Gamebiz website, click here. [5 September 2005] [top]

Development
King Kong Best Of GC PS2 Award
Peter Jackson's King Kong was awarded the Best GC PS2 award at the Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany this week. The prize was selected by a panel of six leading media specialists. [2 September 2005] [top]

Education
US: Electronic Arts and Grammy Foundation New Initiative
Electronic Arts and the Grammy Foundation have announced the GRAMMY Pro Session: Video Game Music And Sound Design. The initiative is a gives students an insider's view into careers in the music industry. On 17 October at EA's Los Angeles studio, sixty high school students drawn from the local area will inaugurate the first-ever Pro Session focused on game music and sound; they will be taken behind the scenes to learn about the creative process and gain practical experience in music composition and non-linear sound design for videogames. Medal of Honor European Assault and The Sims 2 will be the backbone of the curriculum. As a hands on initiative, students will compose two minutes of non-linear music and interactive sound that will be played in an EA game environment, getting professional assistance and feedback in the process. Sessions will follow in Orlando, Vancouver, San Francisco and Chicago. For the Grammy in the schools website, click here, for the press release click here. [2 September 2005] [top]

Events
Update: Australasian Conference on Interactive Entertainment 2005
To be held 23-25 November in Sydney, the Australasian Conference on Interactive Entertainment is starting to take form. The academic focussed conference in total received 57 papers (35 regular and 22 short papers), which has been culled through peer review to 38 papers (25 regular papers and 13 short papers) for presentation at the event. For the list of accepted submission click here, and the registration page (commencing operation next week) is here. [2 September 2005] [top]

Industry
GameDaily Takes a Look at Activision's Fantastic Four
GameDaily.com's weekly chart toppers article looks at the message in the marketing of Fantastic Four, and what Activision did to inform game players of the game. The short article provides an insight into the efforts to bring Fantastic Four to the game market. Melbourne company Torus Games created the GBA version of the game for Activision, and will soon speak at Dissecta on the 20th September at ACMI. For the article, click here, for the Dissecta site, click here. [1 September 2005] [top]