While all of us are gushing over the portable awesomeness of The World Ends With You, the company behind it, Square-Enix , also responsible for the highly popular Final Fantasy series plans to take a direction that would , in my opinion, see more remakes of every Final Fantasy game to date.

It seems that their 2007 profits weren’t too good with their highly lucrative overseas market bearing most of the brunt.  According to Destructoid:

…according to company president Yoichi Wada, who recently issued an ultimatum to his staff: if any games are made that don’t fit into the mainstream’s circle of interest, job cuts will follow. So long, unique concepts that break the mold!

Is this the beginning of the EA-ization of everyone’s favorite maker of role-playing games? Only time will tell.

While the PS3’s online component, the PlayStation Network, has a long way to go before it can compare to Xbox Live, it has one major advantage, it is free. And apparently gamers in Japan have been signing up by the boatload with the PSN’s Japanese accounts reaching one million users since it’s inception in November 2006. Not bad at all.

To celebrate, Sony is giving away one thousand ¥1,000 (around Rs. 400) PLAYSTATION Network Tickets for use in the PLAYSTATION Store.  So if you got a Japanese PSN account, now would be a good time to log on.

Nvidia and Intel have been at the crux of a graphics war for quite awhile now and it is seeming to heat up even further. The guys in green have announced their purchase of ray-tracing firm, Rayscale.

This acquisition may help Nvidia develop new ways to draw 3D images. The currently used method, rasterization is getting more and more complicated to process while ray-tracing, a method championed by Intel is yet to be attractive enough to be used by developers. Ray-tracing is thought to be too CPU-itensive to be used, though Intel claim that modern day processors have enough power to make it happen (Nvidia heavily dispute this).

According to VentureBeat:

As its name implies, it involves shooting a ray from a single point in a 3-D scene. If the ray hits an object, it assumes that whatever is behind the object is obscured and therefore doesn’t have to be drawn. Ray-tracing is better suited for the CPU (Nvidia disputes this) and so Intel is naturally a big proponent of it. The technique used to take too much horsepower, but now Intel contends that modern CPUs have the oomph to do it. Intel has shown Quake IV running on an eight-core CPU using ray-tracing techniques.

Rasterization, meanwhile, is getting more complicated. The graphics processor, such as those made by Nvidia, makes a “pass” at drawing a scene by rasterizing, or layering image effect such as colors, shadows, and lighting upon a scene. It does this repeatedly until the 3-D scene looks just right.

For the end consumer, this definitely means a better picture and hopefully  at a better price.

While we got the dope that Hideo Kojima’s magnum opus should be bundled with popcorn due to feature film length comparable cut-scenes, it appears that the reviewer at Gamepro knows otherwise:

“I’ve completed the game twice, and am the author of the forthcoming [GamePro] review,” Shuman said. “Ninety-minute-long cinemas in MGS4 sounds like an exaggeration. Like the other MGS games, MGS4 definitely has a cinematic quality. And yes, some of the cut-scenes in the game are elaborate and occasionally lengthy. But not a one, to my recollection, even approaches 90 minutes.”

So there you have it. At least these cut-scenes can be paused and skipped. Essential for those mid-game bathroom breaks.

While the first Gears of War was a multiplayer smash hit, it wasn’t without it’s fair share of problems (such as no respawns). Gears of War 2 plans to rectify some these with a slew of additions to what was one of the better games to play on Xbox Live. Changes include 5 on 5 multiplayer, chainsaw duels and a Halo 3-like matchmaking system.

According to the guys at Joystiq’s sister site, Xbox360 Fan Boy, details will appear in the UK edition of next month’s X360 magazine. Some interesting details include:

• Ten person, 5v5 online multiplayer.
• Yes, Gears of War 2 will have a Halo-style matchmaking system.
• There will be respawning multiplayer modes, but the focus is still towards traditional non-respawn gaming.
• Multiplayer game modes:
  - “Guardian” game mode: A remade version of Gears‘ Assassination game mode where the objective is still to kill the other team’s leader, but players keep respawning as long as their leader is alive. Opponents’ leader will be marked on the HUD to keep the game moving along.
  - “Wingman” game mode: You and a buddy team up, sharing a single character model in this five teams of two game mode.
  - “Meatflag” game mode: A CTF-style mode where the “flag” is actually an AI-controlled player who’ll wander the map and attempt to kill anyone who gets near. To “capture” him, you’ll have to first down, then escort him as a meatshield all the way back to your base, all while your opponents are trying to kill you and shoot at the “flag”. Because, if shot at enough, your meatshield flag will break free, go berserk and deal out the pain. Respawning will be featured in this game mode as well as stats for the amount of kills the AI-controlled flag dished out
• Multiplayer maps:
  - Around a dozen maps will be included on disc.
  - “Gridlock”: A remake of the Gridlock we’ve all come to know and love, but taken over by vegetation, old age and now featuring a beautiful sun-setting glow.
  - “River”: Symmetrical map featuring a house and a sniper tower separated by (you guessed it) a river.
  - “Security”: A long, thin map with “verandas” on each side that are sealed off by red laser bars. In the center of the map is a button to deactivate all the security for roughly 20 seconds.
• Fishing moves when an enemy is downed:
  - “X” button: Traditional curb-stomp.
  - “B” button: Melee attack that will be weapon specific. (Longshot sniper rifle will be used as a golf club of death.)
  - “Y” button: Flips your opponent over and let’s you punch in their face … UFC style.
  - “A” button: Use your enemy as a “meatshield” that limits your weapon choice to a pistol. And, yes, your meatshield can and will disintegrate in your arms after taking on enemy fire. If they don’t get ripped apart, you can always dispense of your meatshield with a good old snap of the neck.
• Random weapon location respawns will be used, but only for certain weapons not including power weapons, pistols or grenades.
• All weapons have a variable amount of “stopping power” that’ll slow down an opponent’s running or diving abilities.
• Weapons:
  - Players will have the option of spawning with the chainsaw-equipped Lancer or the newly modified Locust Hammerburst.
  - “Scorcher” weapon: A flamethrower that we’re promised will produce some uber-realistic fire.
  - “Medusa” weapon: A new Locust pistol that is said to be extremely powerful, pumping out five to six rounds per shot downing enemies in a few shots. Said to be the perfect compliment to a meatshielder.
  - “Hammerburst” weapon: Changed a bit, now requiring players to pump the trigger as fast as possible (think Halo 3’s Carbine). Though, recoil will increase the faster it’s fired.
• Grenades:
  - Can be stuck to people, walls, the floor and any other surface to be used as a makeshift proximity mine.
  - As before, players will spawn with one smoke grenade.
  - Smoke grenade: Now carries a “stun” effect that “ragdolls any player within their blast radius”.
  - Poison gas grenade: Spews poison that will kill anyone who lingers in its poisonous cloud.
• Chainsaw Duels:
  - Whoever does the quickest amount of “B” button tapping will be victorious.
  - Your teammates can help give you an edge in the duel by shooting the opponent which will give you the upper hand on the “B” button mini-game.
  - No duel will occur if a player is chainsawed from behind. Instead, the sexy “butt to head” chainsaw animation will kick in giving the attacker and instant kill.
• The cover system has been subtly reworked, where players’ gun and body sit tighter to cover making it harder for your enemies to get an attacking angle.
• Bullet shields described as “metal bucklers” that can be carried as indestructible cover. The trade-off being that only a pistol can be wielded and movement is slowed dramatically. One benefit of the bullet shield is that it can be planted into the ground for mobile cover, though we’re told enemies can kick it over if they get close enough.
• Once killed in a non-respawn game, players will enter a “dynamic battle-cam” that floats above the action.
• Also available (when dead) will be a Ghost Cam where players can view the action from the battlefield and take screenshots that can be uploaded online similar to Halo 3.
• Hammerhead Grunt Locust revealed and named as such because of his shark looking helmet.
• The GoW2 Collector’s Edition may include a weathered looking Polaroid of Dom’s wife, the same one seen at the beginning of the game.
• Development on Gears 2 is roughly at 65% complete.
• Don’t count on Call of Duty 4 style XP or perks, Cliff says they will not be adding these types of character building elements to the Gears universe.

TPM, a stealth encryption chip is being fitted into motherboards of most computers that are being rolled out now. This, according to Atari founder Nolan Bushnell will make PC game piracy a thing of the past:

“What that says is that in the games business we will be able to encrypt with an absolutely verifiable private key in the encryption world - which is uncrackable by people on the internet and by giving away passwords - which will allow for a huge market to develop in some of the areas where piracy has been a real problem.”

“Games are a different thing, because games are so integrated with the code. The TPM will, in fact, absolutely stop piracy of gameplay.

“As soon as the installed base of the TPM hardware chip gets large enough, we will start to see revenues coming from Asia and India at a time when before it didn’t make sense.”

Now before you try stocking up on as many pirated copies of NFS ProStreet as you can, keep in mind that piracy does developers, publishers and eventually gamers no favors (what with the lack of PC games available has shown as well as the closure of several studios) and that this is a better idea of circumventing piracy than what we’ve seen in the recent past.

Let’s face it, while Microsoft touts Xbox Live to be the alpha and omega of online console gaming, it’s far from perfect. And the arcade titles are proof to this.  With a glut of less than playable games, it’s about time that Microsoft has decided to trim the fat and enforce some rules to enhance the quality of titles available online.

According to Xbox Live General Manager, Marc Whitten, Xbox Live Arcade games that are at least 6 months old, have a Metacritic score lower than 65%, and have a conversion rate (number of times downloaded) lower than 6% will be removed from Xbox Live. There will be a three-month notice before any titles which meet the above conditions are set course for the great gaming arcade in the sky.

In addition to this, they plan to roll in a digital management fix that would allow you to play your Xbox Live Arcade titles offline (a big plus for 360 owners everywhere) and create a first-party studio to make some quality Xbox Live Arcade games.

While it seems like good new all-round we wonder if we’d be able to download one of those banished games again if needed (which seems quite likely, what with the high failure rate of the console)?

The guys at ContentSutra have got the wind that Microsoft might be ending their Xbox 360 operations in India.

While the usual entities to blame include piracy or high hardware prices, the problem might just be Microsoft’s business strategy oh yeah, and the government.

As far as India is concerned, the xBox is the x’ed Box, if this report from CNBC-TV18 is to be believed. The console has apparently been such a dismal failure in India that Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) is reportedly winding up operations in several Tier-I cities. MS’ Entertainment & Devices Division (EDD) has also withdrawn the marketing budget for India, and Ashim Mathur, Marketing Head for the division has planned to leave the company. Mathur has denied any such development, and the company has, expectedly, given CNBC-TV18 a standard response, that everything is going according to plan. More here.

This comes a few months after Mohit Anand, Country Head for EDD left to join Channel V. Anand had mentioned that the lack of lack of government support for gaming (i.e. - reduction of duty, and a gaming policy) was the most disheartening aspect of his tenure. At a conference last year, he had mentioned that the xBox business is not expected to break even until 2011. Now it appears that MS is reducing market exposure.

Well this move will have severe repercussions, namely a certain underpeforming, over-hyped cricketer losing his sponsorship (see picture above). Gamers will live on though. We’ll just get our games elsewhere. Which is a bit of a pity considering MS ensured we got a few titles on par if not earlier than our European or US counterparts.

Update:  Ashimm Das Mathur, current Country Manager, Microsoft has laid rumors to rest saying:

All I can say is that this is all rubbish.

Microsoft is completely committed to the market and Xbox 360 is doing exceptionally well in the country.

Guess we call breathe a sigh of release and enjoy some of the better 360 titles coming out this year,namely Gears of War 2 and Too Human.

While shouting hoarse about the earth being flat, claiming the existence of the tooth fairy to be true and screeching his belief that babies come from storks, Alex St. John, one of the creators of DirectX managed to slip in a fact (from his twisted view on things) that consoles are dead.

Beginning one of several brazen claims in his keynote, St. John spoke of the death of video game consoles: “Nobody needs a console when a game’s value and DRM is defined by community or an input device. Consoles just serve to keep you from playing a game you didn’t pay for.”

He asked, “What’s Sony and Microsoft’s motivation to make another console? It’s been so rocky, and it’s not about the pretty graphics anymore.” According to St. John, spectacular graphics have become a commodity, and not the platform for games to differentiate themselves. “The Wii is the exception that proves the rule — it’s not about the graphics, it’s about the input device.

You heard it folks, throw away consoles. All of the odd 30 million of them. They’re redundant. Like common sense.

Via, Gamasutra

The nice people at Kotaku have a list on what to expect on Sony consoles from Sony’s studios in the near future. While this year started off with a few solid titles for the PS3 such as Gran Turismo 5: Prologue and GTA4 and upcoming stealth ‘em up MGS4, the second half of this year and the beginning of 2009 is going to see the heavy hitters Sony fanboys have been talking about since the console’s launch. The list is as follows:

Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2 — PSP (Available June 3, 2008 )

Secret Agent Clank — PSP (Available June 17, 2008 )

Wipeout HD — PSN (Available Summer 2008 )

Elefunk — PSN (Available Summer 2008 )

PixelJunk Eden — PSN (Available Summer 2008 )

SIREN: Blood Curse — PSN (Available Summer 2008 )

SOCOM: US Navy SEALs Confrontation — PS3 (Available September 16, 2008 )

LittleBigPlanet — PS3 (Available October 2008 )

NBA 09 — PS3, PSP, PS2 (Available Fall 2008 )

About BUZZ! Quiz TV — PS3 (Available Fall 2008)

BUZZ! Master Quiz — PSP (Available Fall 2008)

MotorStorm Pacific Rift — PS3 (Available Fall 2008)

Resistance 2— PS3 (Available Fall 2008)

Killzone 2 — PS3 (Available February 2009)

Some of the games would be available off the PlayStation Network (such as Siren which will be in the form of episodic content) which hasn’t been officially launched here but dead easy to access if you’re interested. Since Sony is quite efficient with their distribution most of these games would hit Indian shores in a week from the US and European launch dates.

The sheer quantity of titles is astounding and it’s good to see the PS2 getting some love, even if it is in the form of Buzz!. Let’s just hope some of them actually live up to the hype (heres looking at you Little Big Planet).