Stealth is focus of Xbox 'Tenchu Z

TENCHU Z, Xbox 360, K2, rated M — Mature (reviewer's rating: 8 out of 10)

In feudal Japan the shinobi, or ninja, was a fearsome assassin sent by the powerful to eliminate their rivals. Owners of Xbox 360s can now live a part of that legend, thanks to the latest offering from the programmers who developed the "Tenchu" series.

Where many games encourage a run-in-and-shoot-at-everything approach, stealth is the focus of this game. Using your senses, a sharp sword and other items, players take on assignments from the head ninja. In all, there are 50 missions to challenge your ninja skills.

But before you can become the terror of feudal Japan, you must first create your character. The character-creation system lets you choose facial features, hair color/style, gender and clothing. One unique feature of the game is your ability to go shopping for new clothes in between missions. A ninja's gotta look good, right?

Game controls are easy to learn, but actual combat is a bit choppy. While you can take out a person by sneaking up on them, if they see you, you must cross swords with them. However, this type of combat isn't set up terribly well, and you're better off running and hiding while the guards forget about you.

For those with Xbox Live accounts, the game allows you to join up with four friends in co-op mode to coordinate attacks.

• Graphics: The game does try to take advantage of the Xbox 360's improved high-definition graphics, but the colors are pretty drab. My guess is that game developers wanted to set a mood, but it just looks washed out. Overall, the game's graphics are average and not terribly innovative.

• Audio: The game's music is a fusion of ancient Japanese instruments and rock, which gives it a nice edge. Character voices and dialogue are all in Japanese with limited subtitles. Guards in the game will say things, but you have no idea what they are saying. For some, keeping the Japanese dialogue lends a sense of authenticity, but some of us prefer not feeling so much like a stranger in a foreign land while playing.

• Parent's Take: This game is rated M for mature gamers over the age of 17, as there is killing and simulated blood. It is definitely not for younger gamers.

• Final word: "Tenchu Z" is a decent enough game but has some minor problems. Those who love a game that involves stealth will appreciate the game even more.

'Tiger Woods PGA Tour '08' a tough love test

I love golf and I was hoping to see some new must-have features in "Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08" from EA Sports that would translate that love to my living room television — something that would make previous versions of this game series feel outdated.

But the Tiger Woods game series seems to have peaked in terms of growth — unlike the real Tiger, of course.

The game delivered superb graphics in the Sony PS3 version. I built my character to look and hit like the real me. This really made it feel like it was me against the tour on the virtual courses.

The pro players look, walk and swing very much like their real-world selves as well, which is fun in match play.

The links were nicely detailed and the ball-tracking camera effect has improved without making me dizzy. Plants cast shadows, and the water in the pond guarding the front of the green of the 16th hold at Firestone Country Club looked like a video clip it was so realistic.

The side banter from announcers David Feherty and Gary McCord remained mildly entertaining, though I heard a few witty chestnuts left over from a previous version. New and better talk from those two would have been nice.

But the newest features on this game elicited little more than a shrug from me:

_ Posting scores on the EA Sports Gamernet ... I still paled in comparison to the obscene scores likely thrown up by the cheat code crowd. Attention EA Sports: It's not a "cheat code" if you advertise it on the back of the manual. It's just code.

_ "Shot Confidence" ... It was supposed to analyze all my shots so I could identify weaknesses on a particular hole before taking the next swing. What it really did was slow down the game when I chose to predict how badly I would hook my tee shot — again.

_ The FedExCup Championship format ... It's as dumb an idea in the game as it is in real life. It's a waste of rendering power trying to emulate the real tour's pointless points race.

One thing that was rarely on the screen was the par score for the hole. While playing the daily online tournaments, I had to push select and pause the game just to get a reminder what par was for each hole. Is it really going to eat up too much screen real estate to put a single digit number in front of me? Save me the extra clicks, please.

Swing control still confounds me a bit. For the first half-dozen rounds, I must have hooked 90 percent of my shots. That's worse than real life. How do I correct it? Who knows? The game gave me no pop-up windows offering practice sessions after my umpteenth hard draw into the trees. It's kind of funny, until it's redundant and futile.

The putting control was equally baffling when it comes to feel and speed. I know, with more experience playing the game my character should improve his shotmaking abilities.

But this tough-love learning curve was a bit much.

When does the unbridled fun come? Perhaps never, which is too close to real golf.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour '08 is available for the Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 and PSP, Nintendo's Wii and DS, PC and Mac.

2 out of 5

Source: International Herald Tribune

Video game composers going for high scores

The video game is the new radio. Or is it the new CD? Or the new score soundtrack? Maybe it's all of the above.

Like radio, video games now serve as a way for artists to be discovered, and many acts are breaking thanks to song placements. Sales of games by far outshine CDs -- 'Halo 3,' for example, made $170 million in sales its first day on the market. And as far as scoring goes, some of the most innovative orchestral music is being produced for video games. Many such scores are now even being performed live by full orchestras to eager fans.

Composing for games has come a long way since Pong.

Inon Zur, who's done a slew of music for television and trailers, says he has 'much more creative freedom' writing for video games - mainly because of all the options, different endings and various levels of games. It's never the same thing twice, and the music plays a large role in the emotional journey of winning or losing, he says. Zur, whose current projects include 'Crysi' and 'EverQuest II: Rise of Kunark,' has been scoring games for more than 10 years. He says that thanks to the advancements in memory capacity, full orchestral scores can be included.

Garry Schyman, whose current scores are featured in 'BioShock' and 'Destroy All Humans! 3,' concurs. 'Its really exciting to work on games,' he says. 'Especially when you are part of the entire process.' On some projects, Schyman has spent up to seven months working on the music and has had a hand in the creative development of the game.

Gaming has become a strong outlet for composers and opened up new revenue streams. And yes, they get to play a lot of games.

Zur and Schyman will be speaking on a gaming panel during the Billboard/Hollywood Reporter Film and TV Music Conference, which will be held No. 1-2 in Los Angeles. Also on hand to discuss the secrets of video game music will be Russell Brower, composer and director of audio/video at Blizzard Entertainment; Jonathan McHugh of SongStew Entertainment; and Marty O'Donnell, audio director and music composer at Bungie Studios, who has worked on the 'Halo' series.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

Sony's games division continues to bleed money

Follow up to earlier blog post...

Sony managed to pull out another profitable quarter despite poor results from its games division.

Sony Computer Entertainment's sales rose by over 42% in the quarter on the back of a strong PSP lineup. Despite the rise in sales, the division lost $845 million, its seventh consecutive losing quarter.

The loses did not affect Sony's bottom line however as the company posted an operating profit of $450 billion for the year to March, 2% higher than a year ago. Net profit also soared this quarter up 12.3%, which was a new record for the quarter.

Nintendo raised its yearly outlook as its April-September operating profit nearly tripled. Their profits were up 144% from a year earlier on the back of strong DS and Wii sales.

Microsoft will report their quarterly earnings later today. The company hopes that Halo 3 will lift the games group to their first profitable quarter since Halo 2 shipped in 2004.

Analysis:

Sony has to ride out this dry period and hope that their recent price cuts can boost Holiday sales. By cutting the price of the Playstation 3 hardware, the comapany shows that that they are willing sacrifices losses this year to gain a greater marker share, and eventual profitability for their games group.

Although the games division is posting negative numbers, the rest of the company is stepping up to support it, posting profits across the board.

Sony should be confident this Holiday. They have a great lineup including Guitar Hero 3, Rachet and Clank, and Uncharted which could lead to strong software sales, which should in turn lead to stronger hardware sales.

It's imporant that the Playstation 3 succeeds. The console is Sony's opportunity to put a media device in the living room of every household, and by including Blu-ray in every console, they hope to be the standard format for next-generation high-definition movies

Scientists Publish First "Immune Attack" Video Game

Some call it a breakthrough in medical teaching methods; others call it a step in the right direction, a bound toward an educational focus in gaming. But most of us will probably just settle with, "A video
game about the immune system? What?!"

Strangely enough, the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), in cooperation with Brown University and USC, has finalized their development a new medical video game – the first of its class – Immune Attack. The game is designed to help students who otherwise wouldn't exactly find polyphosphates or genomes particularly stimulating.

The game's protagonist, a teenage boy, is diagnosed with a medical immunodeficiency disease and must figure out what's wrong inside his body before he meets an untimely demise (in other words, don't screw up, or little Freddy will be a 'little dead-y').

The game is marked in the 'strategy' genre, and I suppose you could say it is in 'first-person-shooter,' except you don't have flamethrowers or hand grenades (those wouldn't bode too well inside the delicate tissues of the human structure). Much on the opposite spectrum, your only weapon is immune cells, your only enemies bacterial and viral infections. Don't be fooled though – some of those viral infections are total badasses, and they won't hesitate to pick a fight with your T-Cells. As you increase in level in the game, you will encounter new types of viruses, and thusly must train various types of cells to combat against your opposition.

Using a nanobot and a professor guide, the boy delves into his immune system, where the game primarily takes place. The setting and graphics are intricate and accurate – enough so that high schools across the nation will begin to incorporate the game into the classroom as early as January. Kay Howell, VP of Information Technologies with FSA, warmly advocates the clash between video games and informative research. "Clearly, computer games hold special interest to a generation who has grown up with them," says Howell, "and as such, they show promise as educational tools."

It's been a while since a game like this came along – a game that cleverly crafts ingenuity, educational value, and staring at a computer screen into a harmonious union. When I was a little kid, playing computer games like JumpStart molded my love for language and logic; I can only hope that this game will do the same for those youth out there dreaming of scalpels, and other medical paraphernalia.

Brain training improves kids maths

Playing a daily computer game has helped a class of primary school children improve their maths and concentration, a study says.

The children played the game every day for 10 weeks with "dramatic" results.

A class from the Dundee school took part in the project to show how computer games can enhance and build on classroom learning.

It is now hoped the resource can be used more widely across schools in the Scottish city.

The 30 children from St Columba's primary school - all aged nine and 10 played Dr Kawashima's More Brain Training game on a Nintendo DS console every morning before lessons for about 15 minutes.

More from the BBC

Golden Joystick Awards reveals the nations favourite games

Wii Sports, God of War 2 and The Burning Crusade are among the games to pick up awards at the Golden Joysticks

"Television used to be accused of corrupting the youth of today," the comedian David Mitchell told 750 representatives of the video game industry yesterday at the 25th Golden Joystick Awards. "Now you are."

In the 25 years since the first awards, Mitchell observed, computer games have gone from "being a few dots dancing around a TV screen to a full-on film that you are in."

As well as becoming more sophisticated, they are also now more lucrative. A major game, such as the recently launched Halo 3, can cost as much as $70 million to develop, but the possible rewards are vast. Halo 3 outstripped many blockbuster films in the week after launch, generating sales of $300 million.

Unlike the video game Baftas which took place earlier this week, the Golden Joysticks are voted for by members of the public. They chose to reward a wide range of games, with Wii Sports, God of War 2 and World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, all picking up awards. The full list of winners is at the bottom of this page.

Among them was Tom Dowding, 25, who won £2,500 and a work placement with Electronic Arts, one of the world's biggest video game developers, for developing a game called Let it Grow. "You install it on your mobile phone," he said, "then using your phone camera you nurture it and make it grow. Then you post your growing flower on Facebook."

He has already licensed the game to a distributor, and hopes to be able to increase the size of his company's current workforce from two people by the end of the year.

Mobile phone games offer many budding developerd a way into a huge and growing market. Video games have quietly caught up with and overtaken traditional forms of entertainment such as film and popular music. According to the latest figures from Elspa, the industry body, UK game sales for the first half of 2007 were £519 million, 17 per cent up on the same period in 2006.

The launch of the Nintendo Wii and PlayStation 3 last year resulted in a 42 per cent rise in sales of hardware and accessories, to more than £1 billion, and the market is still expanding.

The first generation of games players, teens who grew up hurling 10p pieces into Space Invaders arcade machines, are now in their 40s, and the high-end games they produce and continue to play are both technically sophisticated and, when done well, thought-provoking and challenging.

There are, thanks to pioneering work by Nintendo, even games designed for the late middle-aged and senior citizens. Market penetration in the company's home territory of Japan is now thought to have reached one in seven adults, many of whom use their games consoles for daily exercise routines, recipes or even gardening and fashion tips.

"What would the first Golden Joystick nominees make of the industry if they were here now?" Mitchell asked in his opening speech. "They expected space travel and robot slaves, but all we've got is better computer games." Quite.

Winners

The bliss Girls’ Choice Game of the Year 2007: Guitar Hero II (PS2/Xbox 360)
Plug a plastic guitar into your game console and follow the chord progressions from hit songs on screen.

The Sun Family Game of the Year 2007: Wii Sports (Wii)
Play baseball, tennis, ten-pin bowling and more using the motion-sensitive controllers of Nintendo’s best-selling Wii console. Requires large living room.

The Games Radar Handheld Game of the Year 2007: Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (PSP)
Build an empire of crime in a hellhole city of the near future. Some of the best graphics yet seen on a handheld console.

The 4Talent Mobile Game of the Year 2007: Final Fantasy Mobile (Mobile phone)
The Japanese developer Square-Enix brings its successful role-playing franchise to the mobile phone.

The T3 Innovation of the Year 2007: Nintendo Wii
The console that is still a sell-out success, a year after its release. Credited with making games-playing a family affair.

The BBC 1Xtra Soundtrack of the Year 2007: Guitar Hero II
A predictable win for the axe-wielding challenge title (see above).

The Nuts All-Nighter award 2007: Gears of War (PC/Xbox 360)
Do battle against an invading locust horde in this dense, action-packed shooting title.

The GameTribe Online Game of the Year 2007: World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (online)
The online gaming phenomenon, given away free with the Times in March this year.

The Next-Gen.biz UK Developer of the Year 2007: Codemasters
One of the UK’s longest established and highly rated developers is recognised. Codemasters is responsible for some of Britian’s best-selling gaming franchises, including Micro Machines, Brian Lara Cricket and Colin McRae rally driving.

The Total Film One to Watch 2007: Assassin’s Creed (Xbox 360/PS3/PC)
One of the most hotly anticipated action games of the year, due out on November 16 – just in time for Christmas.

The Vivendi Retailer of the Year 2007: Game

Publisher of the Year 2007 – sponsored by Future: Nintendo
One of the oldest names in gaming has enjoyed an amazing resurgence in the past two years, thanks to its best-selling DS handheld console and Wii domestic console. One in seven Japanese people is now thought to own a DS.

Editor’s Choice Award 2007 – Gears of War

Official Nintendo Magazine’s Nintendo Game of the Year 2007: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii)
One of the earliest games for the Wii was this revival of one of Nintendo’s biggest franchises. Zelda is a role-playing game for people who don’t like role-playing games. Well-paced, with an interesting storyline and brain-teasing puzzles to solve on the way.

Official Playstation Magazine’s PlayStation Game of the Year 2007: God of War II (PS2)
Greek mythology meets slashing swordplay as our hero Kratos takes his battle to the gods themselves.

The PC Gamer PC Game of the Year 2007: The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar (online)
You’ve read the book, seen the film, worn the T-shirt, now play the game online.

The Sonopress Xbox Game of the Year 2007: Gears of War

The 02 Ultimate Game of the Year 2007: Gears of War

Nordic Game Programme sees huge interest

101 applications for funding sought in 2007 alone
The Nordic Computer Game Program funding initiative, which grants money to developers in Nordic territories, has just closed its second round of funding applications – revealing that funding has been sought for 101 projects in the whole of 2007.

The initiative aims to give five million kroner (just over £466,000) to developers in 2007, with 2.5 million kroner already granted in the first wave of funding earlier this year. Recipients of this round of funding will be announced at Copenhagen’s upcoming games fair, D3 Expo, which runs from November 16th to 18th.

“We have rather mixed feelings over having once again received such a staggering number of applications", says Erik Robertson, head of the Nordic Computer Game Program.

“On the one hand I am proud that our funding programme has had such a great impact, and that we are now receiving applications from all parts of the Nordic countries. On the other hand, over 100 applications in one year is a lot in relation to the total number of Nordic games companies.

Explaining the large number of applications, he added: "This is both because DKK 5 million doesn’t stretch very far considering that the total amount applied for is more than DKK 50 million, but mostly because it indicates a steep rise in the need to attract capital to this industry”

Spyro The Dragon Burning On To Screens?

Computer games have rarely – sorry, never – made good movies. Ever. But maybe that's because movie makers have almost always chosen to adapt games with real humans in them. Maybe the answer is cute little purple dragons.

The Animation Picture Company will certainly be hoping so as they've just secured the movie rights to Spyro the Dragon, the star of a '90s computer game by Sierra Entertainment and Vivendi.

We were a good ten years too old to play Spyro, but it was essentially about a little lavender-coloured dragon who flew around collection treasure and doing bad things to bad people. The animated movie version will reportedly be based on recent Legend of Spyro game trilogy, which is considered a relaunch of the title. Dr. Dolittle scribes Steve and Dan Altiere have been hired to write the script. So that's a really terrific start. Expect this to be, y'know, for kids.

Source: Empire Online

Mad Catz Arcade Stick for Xbox 360!

Mad Catz Europe Ltd, a leading third-party interactive entertainment accessory provider announced today a price readjustment for the Xbox 360 LIVE Arcade GameStick bringing Xbox 360 gamers the authentic arcade experience at a new unprecedented price point in time for the holiday season.

The first Mad Catz accessory to be conceived, designed and built around the Xbox LIVE Arcade service, the Arcade GameStick delivers genuine ‘Arcade Style’ controls, ideal for arcade favourites and retro-style gaming. Originally retailing for a SRP of £49.99, Mad Catz is pleased to announce the new SRP of just £24.99, a truly impressive 50% saving!

Featuring a full size Joystick and the unique 360° ‘Spinner Control’, the Arcade GameStick opens up a world of game play opportunities, bringing a whole new lease on life to the extensive selection of titles available for download on LIVE.

Officially licensed by Microsoft, the Arcade GameStick celebrates its arcade heritage in style, featuring no less than three full Xbox LIVE arcade games free in box with every Arcade GameStick purchased.

Darren Richardson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Mad Catz commented, “Gamers of all ages continue to embrace the LIVE Arcade service in their millions. Today’s technology allows for pixel-perfect representations of many beloved favourites and the Arcade GameStick brings true arcade style gaming to the living room with no need to compromise on controls.

The Arcade GameStick is our valentine to the true gamer. Frogger, Timepilot™ and Astropop stand the test of time as legendary arcade classics. We’re delighted to offer gamers these three titles absolutely free with every Arcade GameStick purchased representing remarkable value for money and ensuring that the Arcade GameStick is a ‘Must Have’ accessory for gamers everywhere this holiday season”.

The Mad Catz Xbox 360 Arcade GameStick is available to purchase now for a new UK SRP of £24.99

Mad Catz