For those of you wondering if Resident Evil 5 will be ported to the Wii like Resident Evil 4 was then you may be sadly disappointed. In an interview with Kotaku Resident Evil 5 producer Jun Takeuchi said that that “With the difference between hardware specs for the Wii and the PS3, porting might be hard”. He went on to say that they currently have “no plans” to release a Wii port of the game. However, Takeuchi did express a desire to bring the Resident Evil games to a larger franchise

“I think, while Resident Evil 4 is a great game, its appeal was limited somewhat to maniac players,” Takeuchi said. “With RE5, I wanted to bring the series to a larger audience. I think its important to do the same for the next RE.” - Source

The Wii Resident Evil titles – such as The Darkside Chronicles – are part of this plan, making games that are fit for the Wii’s technical capabilities and not creating a game that is a bad port from a technically superior console. I’ve always thought that porting games to the Wii from Xbox 360 or PS3 is a bad idea, and games like Dead Rising proves my point. It can work though, the recent Ghosbusters game being a good example, but it’s usually better if it doesn’t try to emulate something that the Wii just can’t do.

Capcom is yet to decide on a producer for Resident Evil 6.

A survey emailed to current and past Planetside subscribes has indicated that Sony is planning “to expand the Planetside universe with another game”. It has also been discovered that SOE (Sony Online Entertainment) registered Planetside2.com on September 21st.

“We plan to expand the PlanetSide® universe with another game and we need your help with the design. After all, who knows the game better than you, our customers, the people who actually play it! Don’t worry about the original PlanetSide, it isn’t going anywhere.

We want to hear your opinion and to do so we have put together a short survey. The information you provide will play a critical role into helping guide the development and direction of the next hit Massively Multiplayer Online First Person Shooter.” - Source

Planetside Universe, a Planetside fan site, contacted John Smedley, the CEO of SOE, who had this to say;

“PlanetSide fans will be happy We have big things planned in the next 12 months. We’re working on something new that’s really cool.” - Source

Planetside was never the most popular MMO (at its peak it was estimated to have around 75,000 players) but it had some great ideas, which led to some truly epic moments (some of the player stories that came out of the game are amazing). Now only a few thousand hardcrore fans remain and you’d be lucky to see the massive battles that the game experienced during its prime. If a new game can successfully fix its predecessors problems then I’m all for it, just like the guys over at Rock, Paper Shotgun.

Goldeneye may have a special place in the hearts of millions of gamers, and it may also consistently place high in ‘Top X Games of All Time’ lists, but it’s looking increasingly unlikely that a port to Xbox Live Arcade or Wii’s Virtual Arcade will ever happen. This isn’t the first time we’ve heard such rumours, but Rare – developer of the classic FPS – has seemingly given up on the port ever seeing the light of day.

In response to a readers question in a recent Rare Scribes update the developer all but signed the execution warrant on a port of the game;

“That was some time ago, my friend. Fate was against us that day. Destiny conspired to raise the hurdles even as we attempted to clear them, resulting in unpleasant groinal injury. I suspect we’re long past the stage where an agreement was on the cards, but you never know. Stranger things have happened… somewhere… probably.” - Source

The blame lies at the feet of Microsoft and Nintendo, who are apparently unable to reach an agreement on the financial terms of such a release. It all comes down to licensing laws, with Microsoft now owning Rare but Activision ultimately owning the rights to produce games in the James Bond franchise. However, Activision places the blame in Nintendo’s court, which published the game on its original N64 release. Whatever the case it seems that gamers won’t get a port until the money side of things is sorted out and it doesn’t look like that will be happening anytime soon.

I never actually owned an N64 myself, but a friend use to bring his round to my house and we used to have hours of fun playing four player split-screen. Most of the time we got trounced by my friend, but he pretty much always played as Odd Job so I still, to this day, say he had the advantage. The graphics may not be anywhere near today’s standards, but I’d still relish the opportunity to play the game through my Xbox 360; largely because there are so few split-screen games out there today and nothing can beat having three friends playing in the same room as you.

Fear not though, as Perfect Dark – which in some ways had a more enjoyable multiplayer than Goldeneye – will be coming to Xbox Live Arcade this winter, which is at least some consolation.

If you live in the Netherlands then you’ve just lost a possible place to buy a PSPgo when it’s released in October. Eurogamer reports that the Dutch retailer Nedgame – the country’s largest specialist games retailer – are refusing to stock and sell Sony’s new product.

There are a number of reasons why this is happening, one of them being that Nedgame believes that the PSPgo is too expensive priced at €249.99, and they certainly have a point as it’s €80 more than the PSP-3000 that is currently on the market. Apparently the cost isn’t justified, with the smaller screen being one example of why it isn’t worth the asking price. However, this is not the main reason for the ‘boycott’.

The lack of a UMD drive on the PSPgo is putting retailers like Nedgame off selling the product. Retailers make the most profit off software, and not hardware, when it comes to games; so this means that they’re about to lose out on the majority of the profit from a section of the video game market (plus the pre-owned market, which is a huge slice of income for retailers such as the American Gamestop), and with Nedgame being a specialist retailer they’ll be even more worried as the video game market moves ever closer to full digital distribution.

Of course, retailers have tried to gain from digital distribution by selling downloadable games through their website, or selling, for example, Xbox Live points cards in-store. However, the PSPgo is different in that Sony is effectively creating a monopoly on the software for the console by making them only available on the Playstation Store; which, in my mind, is pretty bad from a consumer viewpoint. No competition means that Sony can price however they want, but I suppose you do get the added bonus of all your games being easily accessible from one PSN account.

Eurogamer Holland says that other Dutch retailers are starting to grumble too, and it probably won’t be long before retailers in other countries start to have their say (apparently Spanish retailers are considering following suit). At least you can be sure that your local supermarket will be selling them come launch day, but have we really go to the point where specialist game retailers don’t really matter anymore? I know I haven’t bought a game in one for ages, unless it was off their website, largely because the prices are more expensive than the Internet.

Personally I’m just going to keep my old PSP and use SD cards to store downloadable games, just like I did with Final Fantasy VII a few months back.

Just when we thought two Star Wars MMO’s were enough for any fan rumours rise out of the murky depths of Dagobah that Sony Online Entertainment is working on a new one. SOE have already tried this once with Star Wars Galaxies - which had a brief spurt of popularity but lost many fans when it was decided to introduce a ‘combat upgrade’ - and Bioware are currently working on Star Wars: The Old Republic, which looks very tasty indeed. An “insider source” is now saying that a third game may be on the drawing board, which is apparently going to be casual-centric and will most likely be based on the animated Clone Wars series.

Ten Ton Hammer says their anonymous source confirmed the rumour at PAX, where it was said that SOE will probably use the same engine as their immensely popular browser-based MMO Free Realms. So, if we’re talking that casual – combined with its roots in the animated series – then it’s probably not going to be something to get overly excited about unless you’re pretty young or a casual player who happens to like Star Wars. Going for the casual crowd means that SOE isn’t trying to be a direct competitor to Bioware’s attempt, and by doing this SOE may pick up the players who don’t want to sink a lot of time into a fully fledged MMO but still want to play a Star Wars game.

Given the source material the game will most likely take on the look of the animated series, which may or may not be a good thing depending on whether or not you liked the look of Clone Wars (I didn’t). Even so, if this rumour is true and SOE can successfully replicate the appeal of Free Realms to the casual crowd then they may have a winner on their hands to make up for the disappointment that was Star Wars Galaxies. Either that or they’ll fail miserably again.

(Image source)

Related Posts:

• Bioware Announces New Star Wars MMO

If you’re like me, and millions of other people, then you probably really enjoyed Final Fantasy VII; which still makes the list as one of the best RPG’s or even best game of all time. You also probably didn’t want that enjoyment to last, but unfortunately all good things come to an end. Except people didn’t want that, and there still exists a hardcore community of Final Fantasy VII fans that are still involved in the world through fan fiction, and also lap up every little thing that arrives set in the same universe (such as the Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children film, which I thought was pretty good even if Cloud could suddenly jump around like he was in The Matrix). They also want a remake, no, they DEMAND a remake.

Square Enix has since moved on, such as making new Final Fantasy games like they should be doing, but they’re still milking the popularity of Final Fantasy VII through releasing spin-off’s such as Crisis Core. So, if they’re so prone to milking their most popular games then why don’t they give in to fan demands and just remake the damn thing already?

“There’s no official project that’s up and running for a remake of Final Fantasy VII at this point. Both Toriyama-san and Kitase-san were involved in the development of the game, however, and it holds a special place in their hearts. They do talk about it on a personal level, like, ‘If we did it it would be like this or like that,” Square Enix producer Yoshinori Kitase and Motomu Toriyama told VG247.

They added;

“So, they do talk about it, but there’s no official project yet. But there’s that PlayStation Network release that just came out, so if you could play that for the time being, it should be fun.”

It makes sense that Square Enix wouldn’t want to channel a whole boat load of resources into a remake as they’re far too busy concentrating on making a handful of new Final Fantasy games. Personally, as much as I loved Final Fantasy VII, I’d rather have new Final Fantasy games then a remake. I also think the games charm would be lost with a HD graphical upgrade. I do enjoy playing the PSN re-release on my PSP while sat on the toilet though, not that there’s much charm in that. What I want is for Final Fantasy VIII and IX to be re-released on PSN though, because then I’d be in heaven.

We played it. We Loved it.

Now let it go!

Pyro Studio’s is apparently set to return to everyone’s favourite setting of World War II (well, five years ago maybe). Reports say that the studio will begin work on a new instalment of the classic strategy franchise Commandos. However, work will not begin until Planet 51 – a game based on the upcoming film – is complete, which will surely win many awards and will be voted one of the best games ever made!

Ok, now that my sarcasm is out of the way I will give you some further details. The as-yet untitled sequel is set to be closer in playability to Commandos 2 and not Strike Force, which was panned by the majority and is viewed as “a mistake” by Pyro themselves. That’s all we really know at the moment, but if the previous sentence is true then Commandos fans will surely be looking forward to the new instalment.

If you’ve never played the games then you will want to know that it’s basically an RTS where you control a small group of British Commandos. It was first released on the PC in 1998, and had you combining the skills of each individual commando to complete your mission. For example, one commando may be good at setting traps for your enemies to unwittingly fall into, while another prefers to go in guns blazing. The latter was usually pretty inadvisable though, as stealth was usually the most effective way to complete a level.

If you want to try the old games yourself then the Commandos Battle Pack (which contains Commandos 2: Men of Courage and Commandos 3: Destination Berlin) for £28.18 is your best bet. I would say that price is a little steep though, as you could probably pick up the pack for less than £20 (maybe even £10) considering the games are only priced at around £3 individually. They’re still well worth trying out though, even by today’s standards.

UPDATE: Pyro Studio’s is now denying the claims that they’re working on a new Commandos game.

“The news story that Gamer.nl published is totally false,” Pyro told Eurogamer Spain. “We always had in mind to bring back to life the Commandos series; this isn’t something new, but nowadays there’s nothing official or decided and everything is still a wish, nothing else.” - Eurogamer

So, maybe fans will be waiting even longer for a new Commandos game after all.

Is all this talk about a Halo film still going on? Apparently so, as the rumour mill now says that the one and only Steven Spielberg – taking over from Peter Jackson - has got himself involved. If true we could be seeing Master Chief shooting Covenant troops on the big screen after all.

IESB, a film news site, has a source that says Spielberg is currently in active negotiations to oversee the production of a Halo film. Spielberg is apparently “blown away” by a screenplay written by Stuart Beattie, which is largely based on the novel Halo: The Fall of Reach by Eric Nylund. The novel is Master Chief’s origin story, and if a film were to be based off it then it would most likely do a Judge Dredd and have Master Chief take off his helmet.

If the rumours are true then Spielberg is only in talks to produce the film and not direct it, so that obviously leaves the way open for your director predictions. Whoever that may be you have to bet that with Spielberg on the team the film should turn out at least moderately good. Spielberg is also a video games fan, having helped develop the Boom Blox games, so hopefully you’d have to hope that he would do the Halo franchise justice and not have it turn out to be another horrible film based on a video game.

Microsoft was quick to respond to the rumours, releasing the following statement to Kotaku;

“We’re glad there’s still a lot of enthusiasm in the entertainment industry surrounding the idea of a Halo movie. That said, the Halo feature film remains on hold as we focus on projects like Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach.” - Kotaku

At least they’re not saying the film is cancelled outright, which leaves some hope for Halo fans expecting to see a film within the next two years or so.

While you may not be getting any Halo film love anytime soon maybe you can at least be somewhat happy that a Dead Space film is in the works. Of course, there’s always the future World of Warcraft film – directed by the Spider-Man films Sam Raimi – to look forward to.

IESB Exclusive: Master Chief and HALO May Be Coming to the Big Screen Sooner than Expected with a New Big Name Producer - IESB

The ongoing rumours that Sony may currently be working on a ’slim’ version of their Playstation 3 have seemingly gained further strength. Taiwan’s DigiTimes say that Sony has recently “placed significant orders for key Sony PS3 components” from local manufacturing companies. What’s interesting about this news is that the quantities are far greater than the orders that Sony normally place.

Apparently Sony have ordered enough parts to produce one million PS3 consoles in the third quarter of this year, which is double the average of the last quarter.

Of course, Sony may only be ramping up production because of expectation for a higher demand for PS3’s in the next quarter (demand is pretty low at the moment), especially as Christmas is included in the financial quarter and there are a number of big games hitting in the months leading up to it. Another reason for the increase is that Sony are about to discontinue the 80GB model in Japan, leaving Japan open for the 160GB model that the country has yet to receive (the model is already available in PAL and NTSC territories).

So, when you consider the two reasons above does the PS3 ‘Slim’ rumour actually have any legs? Well, there were the so-called ‘leaked’ photos of a prototype from Taiwan. Ars Technica speculated that we would see the new model during either August or September, citing their ‘trusty inside source’. Finally the Amazon.de retailer posted a listing for a PS3 ‘Slim’, although this was later removed from the site.

All we really know is that based on the smaller versions of both the Playstation and Playstation 2 – and now the PSP in the form of the PSP Go - it would be a bit strange for Sony not to take the same route with their current generation console. Anything else is just pure speculation at best. In any case, a price drop is what most people want at the moment and not a revamped console. Obviously if Sony follow the price cutting trend of the ‘slim’ versions of their older consoles then a price drop would be inevitable anyway; just don’t expect it to fall below £200 anytime soon.

Sony PS3 components demand growing significantly - DigiTimes

(Image source)

A few days ago I saw a trailer for an upcoming movie called “Pandorum“. It’s one of those “scares-on-a-spaceship” films that have been knocking around in the film industry for a long while (spawning both b-movies such as It! The Terror from Beyond Space and, of course, big budget classics such as Alien). However, after I had viewed the trailer I wasn’t really thinking about films and, instead, felt like it shared a lot of similarities with Dead Space. We won’t be sure what the monsters actually are until we see the movie, but I’m willing to bet that the monsters are actually the crew just like in Dead Space.

Anyway, my point is that I was thinking that Dead Space might actually make at least an average guilty pleasure flick (I know there was a short animated film, but I’m talking live action here). Maybe “Event Horizon” with lashings of gore and an absence of Sam Neil tearing his own eyes out. A day later Variety had to go and make me think I’m psychic by revealing that EA are currently about to try and sell the idea of a Dead Space film to various studios.

Variety says that EA will produce the film with Temple Hill partners Marty Bowen (”Twilight“) and Wyck Godfrey (”Alien vs. Predator“, “I, Robot“). D.J. Caruso (”Eagle Eye“) is also set to direct the film, which EA are set to auction off to studios after they secure a writer. Apparently this could be as early as September, but that doesn’t mean we’ll be seeing the film at our local cinema anytime soon.

EA have recently secured a deal for a film version of their upcoming game Dante’s Inferno, and since that game doesn’t have the sales to go with the name yet the likelihood that Dead Space may get its own film has slightly increased. Couple this with the news that Dead Space may be getting two sequels (along with the already announced Wii game Dead Space: Extraction) and EA has a budding franchise to exploit.

At least we know that the guys who worked on the Resident Evil films have their hands full with “Pandorum” (because, let’s face it, we don’t really want yet another game franchise to be butchered when it makes the jump to the silver screen), but then again “Eagle Eye” wasn’t exactly great so I’m not holding my breath for a decent video game flick just yet.

D.J. Caruso to direct ‘Dead Space’ - Variety

(Image source: IGN)