New PS3 starter pack is for France only

Sony has confirmed that the rumoured new PlayStation 3 starter pack is genuine - but the bundle is only intended for the French market.

An image surfaced yesterday of a starter pack that replaced Motorstorm and Resistance with Heavenly Sword and F1 Championship Edition. At the time, Sony declined to comment.

In a clarifying statement, a Sony spokesperson has now said: "The choice of which titles to include in the Starter Pack, and the freedom to change the titles is up to the individual markets based on their unique market conditions."

"The F1 and Heavenly sword pack is only being introduced in France for the time being, and will be available from the launch of Heavenly Sword in France on 19th September."

Ubisoft could be behind SCi offer

SCi Entertainment, owner of the Lara Croft Tomb Raider computer game franchise, admitted yesterday that for the second time in two years it had received a bid approach, believed to be from its French rival Ubisoft.

The news is likely to arouse interest from Time Warner, which has a 10% stake in SCi; the leading US gaming company Electronic Arts - home to The Sims and Medal of Honour - and possibly Sony.

A deal, however, is by no means certain. SCi warned recently that the delayed launch of Sony's PS3 had hit sales. Its shares plunged to levels not seen since SCi bought Eidos, creator of the pneumatic Ms Croft, in May 2005 and the Ubisoft approach may be mere opportunism.

Shares in SCi closed up 44.5p at 384p yesterday, valuing the company at £332m. Just before July's profit warning, however, they were at 520p and Time Warner bought its stake at 502p a share.

The property magnate Robert Tchenguiz is also likely to play a key role in any takeover as his Thorson Investments vehicle is SCi's largest shareholder with a stake of 15.5%. He acquired the shares from Robert Bonnier, a well-known internet figure and founder of Scoot.com, who had stalked SCi after the dotcom crash

SCi has been in talks before. After seeing off competition for Eidos from the private equity group Elevation - fronted by U2's Bono - it received a bid approach in October 2005. The talks, which are believed to have been with Ubisoft that time too, dragged on but in February 2006 SCi admitted they had come to nothing.

Sony confirms white PSP delay

Sony has denied reports retailers will not be receiving official TV cables for the new PSP Slim and Lite model when it launches in the UK on September 14 - but admitted that the white model has been delayed.

The claims were made in an article on CVG.com earlier this week, which cited an official spokesman for GAME stores as the source of the news.

However, when contacted by GamesIndustry.biz, a Sony spokesman confirmed that the official cables will be available alongside the PSP Slim and Lite at launch.

The spokesperson did concede that only the black version of the new PSP will be available on September 14. The 'ceramic white' PSP Slim and Lite will follow in October.

The TV cables allow PSP users to play PSP games and UMD videos on TV sets, a major new feature of the revised PSP hardware.

Metal Gear Solid music video

Eminence rated No 1 video games music video clip on YouTube



amerNode have rated Eminence’s Metal Gear Solid music video as the number 1 music cover video available on YouTube today.

GamerNode Editor-in-Chief, Brendon Lindsey, who performed a survey of online game music videos said of Eminence’s performance, “there is no video game cover on the Internet that tops this one, in my opinion. Take your One-Winged Angels and Zelda Medleys; push aside your Shadow of the Colossi and Vagrant Stories. This has everything done right, and then some.”

“Intermixed with awesome footage, featuring a sweet guitar, and not missing a beat, this is the perfect song to remind you that MGS4 is still a ways off, and you're forced to wait to see how it ends. Until then, just rip the sound from this video and put it on repeat. It's what I'm doing,” he concluded.

Visit YouTube to view Eminence’s Metal Gear Solid performance and decide for yourself whether you think the ranking is worthy or not!

Hot on the trail of the very successful Eminence quintet ‘Destiny Reunion’ concert tour, which included performances in Japan, at Otakon in the USA and in Sydney and Melbourne, Eminence are back in the studio preparing for more concerts and album releases. Stay tuned!

Worms: A Space Oddity

Challenge Up to Four Friends Anywhere in the World with New, Intuitive Controls Designed Specifically for the Wii Remote

Worms: A Space Oddity, the newest iteration of the popular turn-based strategy game, is scheduled for release in spring 2008. Retaining the humor synonymous with the Worms brand, Worms: A Space Oddity marks the franchise debut on the Wii™ with a fresh visual style, new environmental settings, intuitive controls and even more customization options. Players will be closer to the action than ever before, launching attacks through a wide range of gesture-based maneuvers only possible with the Wii Remote™.

In Worms: A Space Oddity, players will enjoy the ultimate blend of classic Worms game modes and re-invented single-player missions, as well as multiplayer modes that include a host of all-new party games and even more customization options. The game takes advantage of the Wii’s intuitive controls, on-screen hints and the redesigned interface with an in-game help system. Worms: A Space Oddity demonstrates significant visual, technical and design advancement over its predecessors with a new visual style that abandons the traditional drawn approach and replaces it with a distinctive style inspired by classic Sci-Fi looks. The Worms battles take place across six planets, each with its own, unique environments and global events. The online multiplayer experience pits up to four Worms fiends from all over the world against each other.

Worms: A Space Oddity is being developed by Team17 Software Ltd out of West Yorkshire, UK. Along with this title, two additional titles in the Worms series, Worms: Open Warfare 2 for the Nintendo DS™ and PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system and Worms 2007 for wireless handsets, are scheduled for release this fall.