In this news roundup, we take a look at Peter Molyneux gushing over Minecraft. We also get Reggie Fils-Aime’s washing his hands clean of indie developers, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) Chief Andrew House discussion on the future of NGP with musings on NGP game distribution.
It’s all informative and very fun.
Sony thinks the iPhone isn’t a platform for serious gaming, but as developer Bradley Johnson proves, it’s a perfectly capable platform for making fun of Sony. Back in August, Sony released an ad calling out the mobile game “Lame Castle” as an example of how smartphones don’t compare to the PSP for gaming. Of course, Lame Castle didn’t actually exist — until now.
“Johnson, we need a new strategy for our handheld classic video game emulators. The Dingoo A320 emulator never really took hold in the marketplace (see below), and it clearly had nothing to do with our company being named ‘Dingoo’ or our products being available only through Chinese retail and wholesalers such as Etronixmart. How will we save the Dingoo A330 Mini Game King emulator from the same obscurity as last year’s model?”
“I hear you loud and clear, sir. What we really need is a model that looks exactly like Sony’s PSP.”
A recent patent request by Square Enix, which credits Square luminary Tetsuya Nomura as inventor, may offer a glimpse at the next big thing from the mind behind Kingdom Hearts.
First the good news – the introduction of the PS3 slim sent unit sales skyward for Sony, increasing second quarter 2009 unit sales to 3.2 million, a %33 jump from 2.4 million units in Q2 2008. Don’t break out the party poppers yet, though, because the rest of Sony’s quarterly earnings announcements aren’t so rosy. The company took a ¥63.2 billion ($696 million) shortfall in the quarter, mainly attributed to an appreciating yen, an expensive company restructuring, and declining Sony Ericsson Mobile profitability. The company’s other gaming platforms sagged as well, with quarterly year-on-year numbers falling from 2.5 million to 1.9 million for the PS2, and 3.2 million to 3.0 million for the PSP. These numbers indicate that consumer sentiment echoes the less-than-favorable reception of the PSP Go from critics. Perhaps an economic recession is a bad time to introduce a handheld with fewer features, is harder to use, and costs more than a previous model – but I’m no economist. [via Gamespot and Sony Global]
Steve Jobs and the rest of the Apple gang should take note: Sony’s “PSP Minis are more expensive compared to the same games being sold for the iPhone and iPod Touch. MTV Multiplayer ran a comparison on a handful of titles, and found that the PSP versions run from $2 to $5 more than their App Store counterparts. For instance, a full version of Funky Punch (pictured for iPhone above), costs $3.99 through the Apple’s App Store, and $6.99 on the PSP. Tetris costs $4.99 on the iPhone, and a staggering $9.99 as a PSP Mini. Keep in mind that PSP Minis are supposed to be cheaper and smaller in scale than most games for the handheld. That may be the case, but they’re certainly not going toe-to-toe with what Apple is selling. [via MTV Multiplayer]
We’re finding out a little more about Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker thanks to new reports in the Japanese media. Famitsu magazine has a list of characters that will appear in the PSP exclusive: Amanda, Huey, Chico, Strangelove, Coldman, Cécile, Miller, Paz and Gálvez. You may remember Master Miller from Metal Gear Solid for Playstation, where he acted as Solid Snake’s training instructor. However, it was revealed in that game (SPOILER) that Miller was killed years earlier, and Liquid Snake had been acting as an impostor. Peace Walker takes place before any of this would have occurred, so it seems we’ll get a chance to see Miller in his true form. Then again, I’ve long since given up on following all this (and actually, so has creator Hideo Kojima). In general, we know Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker pertains to the formation of the mercenary state Outer Heaven, so stick to that and enjoy the ride when the game comes out next year. [via 1UP and Kotaku]
Did you think that with games like Air Hockey and Bowling that PSP Minis would have wireless multiplayer? Too bad. Sony has revealed that PSP Minis — smaller-scale games that are downloadable to Sony’s portable game console — won’t wireless multiplayer, or downloadable content to boot. Speaking to Gamasutra, SCEA senior account manager Justin Cooney said those features had to be cut to reduce quality assurance time.Cooney said a PSP Mini game takes three to four days to approve, while a full-featured PSP game can take 14 days. “[Allowing those features] would defeat the purpose of having a dedicated service for smaller content,” he said. The only multiplayer you’ll see will be turn-based, just like the old days. [Gamesutra via Edge]
