Game Code Blog

EA Redwood Shores’ upcoming sequel The Godfather 2 is expected for a late 2008 to early 2009 release, Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello revealed at an annual investor’s conference today.

Speaking on the company’s upcoming roster of mature-themed titles, the CEO stated that The Godfather 2 would be arriving at retailers “a few months” after the November release of Valve Software’s Left 4 Dead (PC, 360).

Inspired by Francis Ford Coppola’s celebrated film trilogy, the game will allow players to control their mafia empire via RTS-like top-down controls. No platforms for the upcoming mob sim have yet been announced, though Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 editions seem likely, with a Wii version also possible.

A new listing on the Entertainment Software Ratings Board’s website appears to indicate that Neversoft’s multi-instrument rhythm title Guitar Hero World Tour (PS2, PS3, Wii, 360) may be coming to PCs.

Though the port has not yet been officially confirmed by publisher Activision, it would follow the PC and Mac edition of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, which was developed for those platforms by Aspyr Media and released after the console version.

While Activision did not issue an outright denial of Guitar Hero World Tour on PC, the publisher told GameCyte that “that title has not been announced yet.”

Curiously, the listings make no mention of the PlayStation 2 and Wii versions of Guitar Hero World Tour, which were announced alongside its PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 incarnations. It remains to be seen whether those platforms will be shown in a second entry, a la the ESRB’s listings for Guitar Hero: Aerosmith.

In related news, Activision and hardware manufacturer Logitech today announced a partnership to develop and market “premium” instrument controllers for the console editions of Guitar Hero World Tour. The peripherals are set to roll out after the title’s release later this year.

Publisher Microsoft today announced that Silicon Knights’ oft-delayed action-RPG Too Human has entered the manufacturing process and will hit the Xbox 360 on August 19.

Microsoft further revealed that the online-enabled Too Human demo has seen over 900,000 downloads since it hit the Xbox Live Marketplace the week of E3 2008 on July 14. The demo has since become one of the most played titles on Xbox Live.

To learn more about the game’s blend action and RPG elements, read up with our hands-on impressions.

A new listing on the Entertainment Software Ratings Board’s website appears to indicate that Neversoft’s multi-instrument rhythm title Guitar Hero World Tour (PS2, PS3, Wii, 360) may be coming to PCs.

Though the port has not yet been officially confirmed by publisher Activision, it would follow the PC and Mac edition of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, which was developed for those platforms by Aspyr Media and released after the console version.

While Activision did not issue an outright denial of Guitar Hero World Tour on PC, the publisher told GameCyte that “that title has not been announced yet.”

Curiously, the listings make no mention of the PlayStation 2 and Wii versions of Guitar Hero World Tour, which were announced alongside its PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 incarnations. It remains to be seen whether those platforms will be shown in a second entry, a la the ESRB’s listings for Guitar Hero: Aerosmith.

In related news, Activision and hardware manufacturer Logitech today announced a partnership to develop and market “premium” instrument controllers for the console editions of Guitar Hero World Tour. The peripherals are set to roll out after the title’s release later this year.

During a conference call today, Activision Publishing CEO Mike Griffith detailed the company’s expectations for console sales across 2008, revealing its belief that the PlayStation 3 will sell more systems than the Xbox 360 this year.

By the end of the current calendar year, Activision believes the consoles will sell:

• PlayStation 3: 8 million units
• Xbox 360: 6-7 million units
• Wii: 15 million units
• PlayStation 2: 4-5 million units

Griffith also noted the company’s expectation that handhelds will grow “in excess of 24 million,” but did not provide a specific breakdown between PSP and Nintendo DS.

During a conference call today, Activision Publishing CEO Mike Griffith detailed the company’s expectations for console sales across 2008, revealing its belief that the PlayStation 3 will sell more systems than the Xbox 360 this year.

By the end of the current calendar year, Activision believes the consoles will sell:

• PlayStation 3: 8 million units
• Xbox 360: 6-7 million units
• Wii: 15 million units
• PlayStation 2: 4-5 million units

Griffith also noted the company’s expectation that handhelds will grow “in excess of 24 million,” but did not provide a specific breakdown between PSP and Nintendo DS.

David Braben may have warned that the UK is the most expensive place in the world to make games, but this year’s Develop awards showed the country has no shortage of talent. Grand Theft Auto IV developer Rockstar North led the pack with awards for visuals, audio, and in-house development, while parent company Rockstar Games took the overall grand prix prize. Other notable winners included best use of a license for Traveller’s Tales and Lego Indiana Jones, while Nintendo won publishing hero.

But it wasn’t just the big players that went home with the gongs last night. Braben and his company Frontier Developments won best new IP for LostWinds, their WiiWare launch title. Best independent developer went to Splash Damage for Enemy Territory: Quake Wars. And Richard Jacques Studios, who provided music for Mass Effect and the upcoming Battlestations: Pacific, won for best creative outsourcing.

The Develop awards are now into their sixth year, and take place alongside the Develop conference in Brighton. The awards are coordinated by the British magazine of the same name, and are voted for by an independent panel of industry experts.

The full list of winners is included below.

Best New IP
LostWinds (Frontier Developments)

Best Use of a License
Lego Indiana Jones (Traveller’s Tales)

Visual Arts
Rockstar North (Grand Theft Auto IV)

Audio Accomplishment
Rockstar North (Grand Theft Auto IV)

Publishing Hero
Nintendo

Tools Provider
Epic Games

Technical Innovation
NaturalMotion / Image Metrics (Grand Theft Auto IV)

Creative Outsourcing
Richard Jacques Studios

Services
Babel Media

Recruitment Company
OPM

Games:Edu New Talent Award
University of Abertay & Dare to be Digital

Business Development
Realtime Worlds

Best Mobile Studio
Ideaworks3D

Best In-House Developer
Rockstar North

Best New UK/European Studio
Doublesix

Best Independent Developer
Splash Damage

Grand Prix
Rockstar Games

A follow-up to the Nintendo DS may be introduced as early as later this year, oft-quoted Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter believes.

“We think that the timing of a new product introduction will depend upon the sales profile for the DS, and believe that lower than expected DS hardware sales could trigger an earlier launch for the new device,” Pachter told investors, as reported by Edge.

The analyst further noted that the system’s weakening sales in Japan might prompt the introduction of a DS successor in the territory before the end of the 2008. “We think that Nintendo has a new handheld device ready for launch in [Japan] before the end of the calendar year,” he said.

While Nintendo’s most recent quarterly financial report saw the DS selling 6.94 million units for a lifetime worldwide sales total of 77.54 million, the figures also marked a decline of hardware sales during the period, down around 40,000 units from last year.

Nintendo’s handheld platforms have seen shorter life cycles of late, with the Nintendo DS’ arriving just under four years after predecessor Game Boy Advance in 2004. Though Nintendo claimed that the platform was not meant to replace the GBA, publishers and developers quickly made the leap to the dual-screen system.

The developer has remained characteristically mum on its plans for a follow-up to the wildly successful handheld, and has not yet made any on-the-record remarks about a possible successor.

A recent Nintendo patent filing hints that Nintendo is thinking outside the box to solve the Wii storage issue.

Holodeck or holo-storage?

It might sound more Star Trek: The Next Generation than video games, but Nintendo is apparently looking into the growing field of holographic storage to solve the Wii storage issue.

Holographic storage is a new way of storing data in which that data is contained in a 3-D space, as opposed to on the surface of a disk, as is the case in the PS3 or Xbox 360’s HDDs. The technique is pretty cutting edge, but once it becomes mainstream it could be capable of mutli-terabyte storage. That’s a lot of copies of WiiWare beer pong.

Where Nintendo comes into this story is that its name has appeared alongside holographic storage company InPhase Technologies on a joint patent filing. The filing is for a scanner to read holographic discs.

It’s an interesting fix to a growing problem for Wii owners, but we have to ask if Nintendo is using an atom bomb to address this issue, when what they really need is a hammer.

Outspoken video game analyst Michael Pachter’s crystal ball told him Wednesday that a new Nintendo DS was due out in Japan by the holiday season.

We hardly knew you…

According to one fairly accurate video game analyst, a new DS design, or completely new hardware, could launch as early as the end of 2008.

“We think that the timing of a new product introduction will depend upon the sales profile for the DS, and believe that lower than expected DS hardware sales could trigger an earlier launch for the new device,” said Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter in a research note.

The lower than expected hardware sales are currently occurring in Japan, where both DS hardware and software sales have cooled while Sony’s competing handheld, the PSP, has maintained a healthy lead for the past few months.

Pachter added that Japanese DS demand will likely decline further, and force Nintendo’s hand in the region. “We think that Nintendo has a new handheld device ready for launch in [Japan] before the end of the calendar year.”