BAFTA countdown continues

The countdown to the Awards continues, with 52 individual games spanning 15 categories. Of those games vying for a coveted BAFTA mask, Nintendo’s Wii Sports looks to be the strongest contender with seven nominations, including Best Game, Casual, Gameplay, Innovation and Multiplayer.

The other titles with the highest number of individual nominations are Crackdown, Gears of War, God of War 2 and Okami, with each title notching up five individual BAFTA nominations. Gears of War has also been nominated in the separate PC World Gamers’ Award – the only award to be voted for by the public – which will be given out on the night.

Crackdown (Xbox 360) (Realtime Worlds/Microsoft Game Studios)

Dundee-based Realtime Worlds allowed gamers to leap tall buildings and pull off impossible vehicle stunts, all in a bid to bring order back to crime-ridden Pacific City.

Gears of War (Xbox 360) (Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios)

Epic Games’ sci-fi shooter successfully wowed critics and consumers alike with its intense cinematic action that pitched humanity against the Locust Horde.

God of War 2 (PS2) (SCE Santa Monica Studio/Sony Computer Entertainment Europe)

An exhilarating action adventure set deep within Greek mythology, depicting the visceral return of the ex-Spartan warrior Kratos, the God of War.

Okami (PS2) (Clover/Capcom)

This stunning fantasy adventure features an innovative visual style that effectively blends 3D game level design with Japanese watercolour calligraphy.

Wii Sports (Wii) (Nintendo/Nintendo)

This benchmark launch title for the Wii opened gaming to a wider casual market by dragging players off the sofa to compete with a new level of interactivity.

With a dedicated annual awards event from BAFTA, the video games industry is now elevated to the same cultural level as film and television. In recognition of this, Will Wright, the creator of The Sims, will become the first recipient from the video games industry of the coveted Fellowship award. He will also be delivering the Academy’s first Annual Lecture within the Games sector on “Interactive Entertainment - the Oldest Art Form” on 24 October.

This year also sees the introduction of the inaugural BAFTA’s Ones to Watch Award in association with Dare to be Digital. This award has been introduced by BAFTA as a showcase for new development talent. The three titles shortlisted this year are Ragnarawk from Voodoo Boogy, ClimbActic from Carebox and Bear Go Home from Phoenix Seed. In addition to receiving the award, each of the winning team members will receive a state of the art Packard Bell gaming PC.

Here is the full alphabetical list of the games nominated for a BAFTA in the 2007 British Academy Video Games Awards in association with PC World:

Battlefield 2142 (PC)
Big Brain Academy for Wii (Wii)
BioShock (Xbox 360)
Cake Mania (DS)
Colin McRae: DiRT (Xbox 360)
Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars (Xbox 360)
Crackdown (Xbox 360)
Crysis (PC)
Elite Beat Agents (DS)
FIFA 08 (PS3)
Final Fantasy XII (PS2)
flOw (PSN)
Football Manager 2008 (PC)
Forza Motorsport 2 (Xbox 360)
Gears of War (Xbox 360)
God of War 2 (PS2)
Guitar Hero II (PS2)
Heavenly Sword (PS3)
Kane & Lynch: Dead Men (Xbox 360)
Lair (PS3)
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii)
Medieval II: Total Kingdoms (PC)
More Brain Training (DS)
MotorStorm (PS3)
Okami (PS2)
The Orange Box (PS3)
Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction (PS3)
Sega Rally (PS3)
SingStar (PS3)
Skate (PS3)
Super Paper Mario (Wii)
The Darkness (Xbox 360)
The Eye of Judgement (PS3)
The Simpsons Game (Xbox 360)
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas (Xbox 360)
Trauma Center: Second Opinion (Wii)
Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (PS3)
Virtua Tennis 3 (Xbox 360)
Viva Piñata (Xbox 360)
Warhawk (PS3)
Wii Sports (Wii)
World in Conflict (PC)
World of WarCraft: The Burning Crusade (PC)

BAFTA Ones To Watch Award in association with Dare to be Digital

Bear Go Home (Phoenix Seed)
ClimbActic (Carebox)
Ragnarawk (Voodoo Boogy)

The PC World Gamers’ Award
(The only award to be voted for by the public)

Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training (DS)
FIFA 07 (PS2)
Football Manager 2007 (PC)
Gears of War (Xbox 360)
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (PSP)
Resistance: Fall of Man (PS3)
Wii Play (Wii)

This year’s Awards during London Games Festival, will be hosted by comedian Vic Reeves. They will feature live music from Athlete and Remi Nicole, a spectacular spherical display from Pufferfish and will be held at London’s Battersea Evolution on 23 October. The show will be broadcast on E4 on November 4 at 11pm and repeated the following weekend on Channel 4.

About BAFTA:

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is the UK’s leading organisation dedicated to the recognition and promotion of excellence in the fields of the moving image. Renowned for its high profile Film & Television Awards ceremonies, the prestigious BAFTA mask has long been seen as a symbol of excellence.

Red Mile Secures Key Talent for Sin City Game

Red Mile Entertainment, a worldwide developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software, today announced it has engaged acclaimed video-game industry writing and production talent to participate in the development of Red Mile's upcoming game based on multi-award-winning creator/writer/artist Frank Miller's Sin City graphic novels and comic books.

Accomplished game and animation veteran, Flint Dille, will spearhead the design, scriptwriting, story generation, and overall production of "Sin City: The Game" (working title). Dille has twenty years of game experience to his name, and has twice won "Story of the Year" for his work on The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay and on Dead to Rights. In addition to his solid game and animation credentials, Dille is also a close friend of Sin City creator, Frank Miller -- enough so that Miller named the storyteller in his epic 300 "Dilios." "Frank and I met during what I call our 'professional adolescence' when he was doing the Dark Knight and I was doing the Transformers cartoon series," says Dille, "and we've been great friends ever since." About the Sin City game, Dille adds, "Frank and I have been having a party coming up with nasty stuff for the game. In true Sin City fashion, some old characters will return, new characters will appear and -- without giving anything away -- probably die horribly. It's great to be working with the Red Mile team on this project: They clearly share Frank's and my commitment to bringing a new and true Sin City to interactive life."

Also participating in the game's development is Union Entertainment. Union's video-game producer credits include The Red Star and this year's breakout hit, The Darkness. Union generated the original Sin City concept document that first got Miller interested in adapting Sin City as a video game, and was central to setting up the Sin City project with Red Mile. "Sin City is one of a select few properties that everyone agrees is ideal for video games," said Union President, Richard Leibowitz, "and we're very proud to help make that happen."

"Flint and Union bring a deep and broad array of video game experience to Sin City and they'll be integral to Red Mile's creating a video game experience that delivers on gamers' and fans' expectations," said Chester Aldridge, CEO of Red Mile Entertainment.

About Red Mile Entertainment, Inc.

Red Mile Entertainment, Inc. is a worldwide developer and publisher of interactive-entertainment software. Red Mile creates, incubates, and licenses premier intellectual properties and develops products for console video-game systems, personal computers, and other interactive entertainment platforms. For more information about Red Mile Entertainment, Inc. please visit our web site at http://www.redmileentertainment.com.

About Union Entertainment, LLC

Union Entertainment is a talent management and production company specializing in video games. Union has been instrumental in designing, packaging, writing, developing, producing and/or providing talent for video games that have collectively amassed more than half-a-billion dollars at retail. As a producer, Union works with top talent to develop and produce video games and feature films through major publishers and studios. In addition, Union manages a roster of top console and handheld video game development companies, writers, designers and artists. Union enjoys unparalleled success in the marketplace, direct access to publishers, extensive relationships with Hollywood studios and talent agencies, and a firm grasp of the entertainment business.

About Flint Dille

Flint Dille is one of the most experienced and respected creators in the video game business today. Flint's career includes extensive animation writing, editing, and/or producing for hit television animation programs including G.I. Joe, Inhumanoids, The Transformers animated feature, and American Tail II: Fievel Goes West. Flint is also active in the live-action feature film business, having co-created and co-executive produced Dimension's 2005 cult horror film, Venom (aka Backwater). Flint is consistently the game publisher's "go-to" writer for major franchise properties, including Fantastic Four 2, The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, Teen Titans, Dead to Rights, Superman Returns, James Bond: Tomorrow Never Dies, Soviet Strike, Nuclear Strike, and two upcoming projects official announcements for which are pending. In addition to his full slate of video game work, Flint has an original game/multimedia property in development and a book about video game writing (co-written with his frequent writing partner John Zuur Platten) that is expected to be published within the year. Flint, grandson of the creator of Buck Rogers, has also written for comics and worked for game company, TSR.

About Frank Miller

Frank Miller first came to prominence drawing and/or writing comics properties such as Spider-Man, Wolverine, Daredevil, and Elektra. Miller then created Ronin, a science-fiction samurai drama, which is in development at Warner Bros. as a feature film. Miller then wrote and illustrated the groundbreaking Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (an inspiration for the 1992 feature Batman), which not only redefined the classic character, but also revitalized the comics industry and reawoke audiences to the potentials of the medium. Miller also wrote Batman: Year One, which was a basis for 2005's Batman Begins.

Miller introduced his noir masterpiece Sin City in 1991, and it became an instant sales success. To date, Miller has written and illustrated seven Sin City graphic novels. In 2005, Miller co-directed with Robert Rodriguez the feature film Frank Miller's Sin City.

300, Warner Bros. feature-film adaptation of the award-winning graphic novel by Miller (with Lynn Varley) smashed U.S. box-office records this year.

Miller is currently in preproduction of a feature-film adaptation of Will Eisner's The Spirit, for which Miller has written the screenplay and is set to direct.

Brain Age 2: Training in Minutes a Day! Nintendo DS

Get ready for a totally new way to enjoy your free time.

Give your brain the workout it needs
Exercise is the key to good health both for body and mind - and now, with the Brain Age games, there's a way to make mental exercise fun, even competitive. Just minutes a day, that's all it takes to challenge your mind and, with Nintendo DS portability, you can play Brain Age at work, on vacation, or anywhere your day takes you.

Fun pick-up-and-play activities
Brain Age's intuitive gameplay makes brain training easy for everyone. Train across fifteen activities. Solve simple math problems, recite piano songs, play a challenging version of rock, paper, scissors, and test your memory skills in the classic game, Concentration. You'll love your mental workout!

Play Sudoku!
When you're done with training for the day, try your hand solving 100 Sudoku puzzles! The Nintendo DS's Touch Screen makes writing the numbers a snap.

Visit the Brain Age website

Secret service turns to video games to recruit future spies

In years gone by, potential recruits to the secret services would be approached with a quick flash of the old school tie, or a discreet chat in an Oxbridge junior common room.

The spymasters of today are resorting to very different tactics to sign up the next generation of spooks: GCHQ, the government's electronic eavesdropping service will this month become the first intelligence agency to post recruitment adverts in the virtual worlds of online computer games.

The advertisements will appear as billboards in the backgrounds of computer games such as Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent.

A spokeswoman for GCHQ - the surveillance branch of the intelligence service - said the agency was looking for recruits who were "computer-savvy, technologically able, quick thinking".

"We find increasingly we have to use less conventional means of attracting people ... to go beyond the glossy brochures and milk-round stalls," she told the Times.

The agency hopes to "plant the idea in the minds of younger players" of pursuing a career in the secret services.

"We will monitor the results from this campaign and are ready to change our recruitment methods. We know we can't stand still," the spokeswoman said.

The move into computer-game adverts is the latest sign that the security services are attempting to shift their recruitment practices away from the old-boy networks. Earlier this year, MI5, the security service, advertised for staff on the side of London buses.

GCHQ was consulted on its scheme, but the decision on where to place the adverts was made by its advertising agency, TMP Worldwide.

Kate Clemens, head of GCHQ digital strategy at TMP, said: "Online gaming allows GCHQ to target a captive audience. Gamers are loyal and receptive to innovative forms of advertising."

In recent years, Britain and the US have put increasing emphasis on "information warfare" in their efforts to confront terrorism and rogue states.

But thrill-seeking video gamers hoping to live out their Tom Clancy fantasies in the real world may well be disappointed by the reality.

GCHQ is the signals intelligence branch of the security services, and its main work is the interception and decryption of emails and phone calls. Most of the recruits will be software experts who will be put to work at the agency's main listening post at Cheltenham in Gloucestershire.

Source: Guardian

Solo games live on in multiplayer world

Video game developers, eager to please all consumers, are increasingly including features that let gamers play with or against their friends.

With Microsoft trying to convince people to plunk down $50 a year for its Xbox Live service, and Sony eyeing the sale of movies and music over its fledgling network, developers are under more pressure than ever to include some sort of online component.

The best-known example may be Microsoft's "Halo 3", but last week also saw the release of "The Orange Box" -- a collection of "Half-Life 2" content from Electronic Arts that includes a long-awaited multiplayer-only title called "Team Fortress 2". The week before that had the launch of "Enemy Territory: Quake Wars" from Activision.

Yet for all the balanced play and refinement of a "Halo 3" or "Warhawk", sometimes you just want to dig in and work on a game by yourself.

Several recent and upcoming titles illustrate that solo gaming is still going strong.

More from Reuters

Later this month, owners of Sony's PlayStation 3 can get their hands on "Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction", the latest addition to one of Sony's most popular franchises.

Although some past titles starring the furry protagonist and his robotic sidekick let gamers play against each other, usage data showed something unexpected: only three percent of players bothered to try out that part of the game.

"It's something that can appeal to anybody and a lot of people just don't enjoy multiplayer," Brian Allgeier, lead designer on the series, said of the decision to focus on the single-player story.

Sony to sell video game 'Cell' chip to Toshiba

Sony is selling its advanced computer chip operations to Toshiba, both companies said Thursday, in the latest sign that Sony is raising cash and shedding operations to focus on its core electronics sector.

The sale, set to be completed by March, includes the manufacturing business for the "Cell" chip used in Sony's PlayStation 3 video game console, a Toshiba spokeswoman, Hiroko Mochida, said.

Toshiba, which already had a collaboration with Sony in developing and making the Cell, will continue to produce chips for Sony's video game unit, she said.

A new company will be set up in April, with Toshiba owning 60 percent, Sony getting 20 percent, and Sony Computer Entertainment, Sony's gaming unit, getting a 20 percent stake.

The new unit will make the Cell and other advanced chips, the companies said in a statement.

The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"There were no market-moving surprises," said Mitsuhiro Osawa, a Tokyo-based consumer electronics analyst at Mizuho Investors Securities.

The sale fits Sony's plans to scale back on unprofitable businesses, and gives its chairman, Howard Stringer, funds to invest in factories to make more televisions and digital cameras.

Development of the Cell, in which Sony invested more than ¥200 billion, or $1.7 billion, led to a loss at the chip unit last fiscal year.

Sony has increased profitability under the leadership of its Welsh-born chief executive, Howard Stringer, the first foreigner to head Sony. Stringer took the helm in 2005, and cut jobs, shut plants and dropped unprofitable divisions.

Japan's top business daily, The Nikkei, reported Thursday that the deal was estimated at about ¥100 billion, or $858 million.

Toshiba said that the agreement would allow it to expand its chip business by increasing order volume.

Earlier this year Sony cut its stake in the online broker Monex Beans Holdings, and last year sold interests in a wide range of retail activities like cosmetics and restaurants.

Separately, Sony said that it would rely on IBM for developing and manufacturing the futuristic 45-nanometer chip.

Sony will no longer invest in the IBM operation, but it will continue to work in partnership with IBM on research on the advanced chips, the company said.

Kaz Hirai, the Sony executive in gaming, said that by relying on the IBM and Toshiba partnerships, Sony would be able to better focus on the entertainment business of games.

"SCE is committed to develop further the PlayStation business and offer new and innovative interactive entertainment," he said in a statement.

Flat-panel TVs and other gadgets require advanced chips that are expensive to make, and competition is intense.

Sony, whose sprawling businesses include the studio that made the "Spider-Man" movies, has revived its money-losing electronics business in recent years.

But it is still losing money in its gaming unit, battered by the success of the Wii console from its rival, Nintendo.

Toshiba, an electronics maker that owns a stake in Westinghouse Electric, the U.S. nuclear reactor manufacturer, has done well with its flash-memory chips that are widely used in cellphones and digital players.

Source: International Herald Tribune

Update - Super Mario Galaxy

Super Mario Galaxy hitting retailers in the next four weeks or so, the creative brains behind the project recently discussed the game in the Creator's Voice bringing with them new videos and an orgasmic orchestrated theme.



Game Orchestral Music Recording



Source: Wii japan site

SmackDown v Raw 08 Advert

Nintendo's Wii - remote is the perfect toy for bikini-clad women in promoting the upcoming SmackDown! Vs. RAW 08

Super Smash update: Little Mac joins the Brawl

Nintendo have released a minor update today on the Official Smash Bros. website, revealing a return of one of the classic Punch Out! characters, Little Mac, as an assist trophy.

Once there was a legendary man. He knocked heavyweight boxers many times his own size to the mat en route to a W.V.B.A. title.

Little Mac appears from Punch Out!

PDC World Championship Darts 2008

Mere Mortals is not a name that you hear everyday in the games industry. As such, it might surprise you that they have had their fingers in the pies of hundreds of games, from conversions and ports, to being subcontracted to work on other developers’ franchises, and of course working on their own original titles. PDC World Championship Darts 2008 is their latest original game, and we got to play a preview build exclusively, as detailed in our feature. What do we actually think of the game, though?

PDC World Championship Darts on Playstation 2 was somewhat of a surprise hit when it first appeared. Unexpectedly, in the run up to Christmas 2006 it became a big seller, reaching into the upper end of the best seller charts with online retailers such as Play.com – the official PDC licence being attached no doubt helping out. With this success in hand, it was perhaps inevitable that a sequel would rear its head to capitalise on the clear interest that the market displayed in darts games. Luckily for us, Wii has also appeared since then, and so as well as a Playstation 2 sequel, PDC 2008 is also coming to Nintendo’s console. Unlike many other PS2/Wii multiplatform titles, however, the Wii offering is not a mere port – it is in fact the primary version that is in development.

You only have to look at the presentation of the game to see that PDC 2008 is intended to best the original in every way. Immediately seeming bigger and better, the overall quality of the menus, the in-game visuals, and the whole presentation has been obviously polished up. Whereas the first game was passable on this front, it pales in comparison to the new version. The most impressive visual feature of PDC was the faces of the darts players, which were pretty close to real life, but they had their restrictions – little movement, for example. Now, though, with a whole new engine, the rest of the visuals have been beefed up. The faces are now even more impressive and have more expressions (maybe also thanks to the team being allowed more access to the players themselves, rather than hunting around the Internet for images they could use as sources). The character models in general have been spruced up so that they resemble the players more accurately, and everything has a cleaner look. The animation is more natural too, thanks to hours of study of the professional players’ mannerisms and postures with footage of matches, as well as more use of motion capturing. It’s still not the prettiest game you’ll ever see, but it’s safe to say that quite a lot of work has gone into making things look hugely better over the first PDC title.

This isn’t the only area of improvement, though. The modes that existed in the first game have been expanded to include more – the party games mode, for example, now looks to be more of a focused area than before, geared towards casual multiplayer gaming, ideally for after you tumble in from the pub. The career mode now includes more tournaments than before and allows you to start out either as a professional player who must keep his stature, or as a newbie who must make their way through the ranks and prove themselves to be worthy of matching up to the (literal) big boys. What tournaments you qualify for, and your ranking, is determined by how much money you are able to earn by winning matches – lose too much, and your bank account is going to take a hit and send you plummeting down the ranks. If you choose to start out as a new player, you can create your own in the expanded Create-A-Character mode. Whereas in the original PDC you could only do some basic customisation, the 2008 edition gives you many more options to consider, from the appearance of the character, to their favoured dart types, to even setting a signature technique (i.e. the numbers they prefer to hit to finish a match). You can also now choose the gender of your created beasts, just in case you really want to be a female darts player this time around.

Source: Cubed 3