GAA game delay, normal for games industry
An article in to today’s Sports Friday section of the Irish Times newspaper reports that there is “No sign of” the expected exclusive PlayStation GAA computer game.
The article states that the Australian developer’s website had yesterday said “May” of this year. But Sony Computer Entertainment Ireland boss Niall O’Hanrahan told the IT that “There wont be any announcement for the foreseeable future”.
Adding to any confusion, the developer’s company profile page on
their site still states May - “IR Gurus is also developing the
officially licensed GAA “Gaelic Football” game exclusively for the PS2
format to be released by Sony Computer Entertainment of Ireland in May
2005″. But developers are not known for maintaining their website,
the ‘games’ page has for some time listed “mid-2005″ for the
release.
In addition, setbacks - from weeks to years - are one of the most
common things in the games industry, and dates on web pages without
recent timestamps should be considered unreliable. Even fresh release
dates should be viewed with prudence.
The Irish Times also points to possible problems with GAA players
images being used in the game as the GPA, not the GAA, holds the rights
to such and have a deal with Frank McNamee, a former Longford player.
The GAA game is most likely to use IR Gurus’ new game engine for their second Australian football game, AFL Live 2005.
Image from IR Gurus’ original AFL Live, for illustration only.
Related news
- GAA Football Computer Game for 2004 (10/2003)
DS in March…
The DS will
be on European retailers’ shelves on 11 March, it is now officially priced at 149
euro, or £99 for the North and the UK, with games going for 30 to 45 euro,
or £29 to £19.
games are to be out at launch, including Super Mario 64 DS, WarioWare Touched!,
Pokémon Dash, Tiger Woods, the URBZ, and Spider-Man (full list below). The first load of the handheld
will come with a demo of Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt.
the games use the touch screen for control, and others use the wireless
networking (including Mario Kart, which isn’t a launch title) for multiplayer
gaming.
thought it was only launched late last year in the United States, and Japan, it had sold 2.8 million units
before the start of 2005.
Launch games
Super Mario 64 DS (Nintendo)
WarioWare Touched! (Nintendo)
Pokémon Dash (Nintendo)
Polarium (Nintendo)
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR (EA)
The URBZ: Sims in the City (EA)
Spider-Man 2 (Activision)
Project Rub (SEGA)
Mr. DRILLER: Drill Spirits (Namco)
Rayman DS (Ubisoft)
Asphalt Urban GT (Gameloft/Ubisoft)
Sprung: The Dating Game* (Gameloft/Ubisoft)
Zoo Keeper (Ignition)Ping Pals (THQ) - Robots (Vivendi)
Technical specs
ion battery is said to last up to 10 hours, but this will vary depending on
things like sound volume and what type of game is in use (2d or 3d). When
closed the flip duel screen console is 148.7 millimetres (5.85 inches)
wide, 84.7mm (3.33″) long, and 28.9mm (1.13″) tall. Both screens are 3-inch backlit
colour LCD with 256 x 192 pixel resolution and .24 mm dot pitch, capable of
displaying 260,000 colours. The bottom screen is a touch screen, which can be
used as a controller.
DS European launch details expected today
Later today, the price, date, and other European release details of Nintendo’s latest handheld console, the DS, are set to be revealed at a press conference in Paris.
In Dublin,
‘Mr Calculator’ on Duke Street have for some time now being selling
imported Nintendo DSs, and PlayStation Portables, for 229, and 500
euro, respectfully — far above the current recommend retail prices of
the two consoles in the United States, and Japan. Many hardcore gamers in the state have already
imported the consoles using online retailers and auction sites, such as Ebay.
Meanwhile, the President of Sony Computer Entertainment, Ken Kutaragi, has clamed
faults in a number in the PSP, mainly the button closest to the screen
being less responsive, were “according to specifications”. “I
didn’t want the PSP’s LCD screen to become any smaller than this, nor
did I want its machine body to become any larger,” he told a Japanese
newspaper Nikkei Business.
Xbox 2 games by end of year?
Two sources are now claiming EA games
are to release Xbox 2 games at the end of this year and early 2006.
UK based games website SPOnG said
they found the information in a ‘Speed: Most Wanted’ document leaked to them
two weeks ago, while information on the Dutch based Xboxworld.nl is apparently
from a EA press event in the Netherlands.
Xboxworld.nl lists Battlefield: Modern Combat, The
Godfather, “Secret Marvel project”, Black, Fifa 2006, Tiger Woods PGA
TOUR 2006, Need for speed: Most Wanted, SSX 4, Urbz 2, Harry for the and the
Goblet or Fire, Burnout 4, James Bond: From Russia With Love, and Fifa Street
2, all for Xbox, and Xbox 2. The Godfather is to use GTA type gameplay.
The document leaked to Spong.com states that at least Need for speed: Most
Wanted will also see releases on PlayStation 2, GameCube, PC, PSP, and “Game
Boy Advance or Nintendo DS”.
The Xbox 2 and PlayStation 3 are rumoured to be in attendance at this year’s E3
in May.
Break-up revenge goes online gaming
According to Mainichi, a newspaper in Japan,
a woman who meet her now ex-boyfriend through an online game called ‘Lineage’,
also got revenge through the game.
ex’s username and password to delete his in-game details in the online role
playing game. A police source told the Japanese newspaper that she stated “I
did it as revenge for [him] breaking up with me”.
(MMORPG) based in a fictional medieval world, which includes knights, wizards,
castles, forests, the undead, and other monsters; players of MMORPGs can sometimes have
spent countless of hours modifying their characters and gaining items.
Top 20 Ireland Games Chart (W2, 2005)
Week 2, Year 2005; Ending 15th January 2005.
position - name - (weeks on chart)
- <Non-Game Title>
- Need For
Speed: Underground 2 (9) - Grand Theft
Auto: San Andreas (12) - FIFA 2005 (15)
- Pro Evolution
Soccer 4 (14)
6. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 (15)
7. The Simpsons: Hit Run (44)
8. Call of Duty: Finest Hour (7)
9. Lord of the Rings - The Third Age (11)
10. Football Manager 2005 (7)
11. Prince of Persia: Warrior Within (6)
12. The Incredibles (8)
13. Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy (1)
14. Need For Speed: Underground (52)
15. The Sims 2 (14)
16. <Non-Game Title>
17. <Non-Game Title>
18. Lord of The Rings - Return of the King (33)
19. Spider-Man 2 (23)
20. Total Club Manager 2005 (2)
‘Irish software charts’ compiled by ChartTrack, copyright (C) 2005 ChartTrack Ltd
Havok FileFront interview
Steve Collins, at the Dublin based games middleware physics company Havok, talks to FileFront about the past and future of Havok and physics in
games.
have thought to as Mr Collins questions in such a manner – “Could the [physics]
engine be perfected, theoretically, to correctly display how the fat bounces
around on a really fat woman during sex?“
North West developer - mini-game, due to start on full game
Torc Interactive,
the Donegal/Derry based games developer and middleware company, is set
for a busy year. Expecting to release a mini-game with the computer
processor manufacture AMD early this year, starting work on a full game
of their own later in the year, and on the middleware side of things,
fully reveal their ‘Instinct’ game engine at the Game Developer Conference (GDC).
The showing of their tech demo at last year’s GDC lead to the
developer being noticed, and then to the making of the first person
mini-game with AMD, named ‘Dreadnought’. It is set on nuclear
warship out at on a stormy sea; Torc proposes to include “a unique
sense of realism and depth”.
The confirmation of work on a full game came as a reply to a
question on the company’s increased recruitment of staff. Talking today
to the Irish game development site GameDevelopers.ie,
Torc’s Tony Kelly said “As we approach the launch of Torc’s Instinct
Engine at GDC in San Francisco at the beginning of March, we’re gearing
up in order to provide support to our clients on both the Varsity side
of things and to our games industry clients. Simultaneously, we’re
staffing up on the game development side of things in preparation for
commencing work on our first full title later this year”.
Torc are also active at the education level, providing support games
development courses at the North West Institute of Further Higher
Education in Derry city, and the Letterkenny Institute of Technology.
Meanwhile, the Dublin based Kapooki Games should have started
external testing on “upcoming titles” sometime around now. It’s all
hush, hush with games developers. Currently Kapooki has two games in
the oven, PC and console, set for quarter one and two of this year.
Related news
- http://gamestoaster.typepad.com/games_toaster/2005/01/north_west_deve.html
Copyright (C) 2005 GamesToaster.com, all rights reserved.
REVIEW Shellshock Nam 67
Developer: Guerrilla | Publisher: Eidos | Format: PC ( PS2, Xbox)
There is an unprecedented number of games available based upon the
first and second World Wars. We’ve all stormed the beaches of
Normandy, and blown up enemy controlled bridges so its refreshing to
see developers adapting the horrors of the Vietnam war for our gaming
pleasure.
Most developers have stayed away from the questionable morality and
sickening violence of the whole sordid affair. Shellshock doesn’t, it
embraces the dark side and takes us on a dark and dangerous journey
through Americas darkest hour.
Right from the start Shellshock shows us the through nature of war.
One early scene shows a team of jittery, trigger happy American
soldiers savagely cut down a group of innocent farmers during a village
raid. This aint no romanticised version of war, its as close to reality
as you’ll get. Enemy snipers commit suicide, rather than allow
themselves be captured.
The gung-ho mentality the game is similar to almost every action game out there, but don’t let this deter you.
Shellshock Nam 67 is the most honest and accurate account of what
war is really like ever seen on any console, and it deserves to find an
audience. I highly recommend that you play this gem of a game.
Craig Gallagher
REVIEW Bad Boys: Miami Takedown
Developer: Blitz Games | Publisher: Empire | Genre: Action | Format: PS2
Here you have the kind of game that gives movie tie-in licenses a
bad name. Below average gameplay, badly done voice acting and what
appears to be a total lack of respect for the source material.
Bad Boys is very reminiscent of Killswitch as you must use cover to
your advantage. However, in Killswitch, using cover is a pivotal part
of the game but in BB it feels like more of a gimmick than anything
else. As it only allows you to duck in certain places. To survive in BB
it is usually best to just run into a room and blow the shit out of
everything, rather tan find cover.
dTo somewhat compensate for this, end of level bosses force you to use
cover. Unfortunately, this means that you have to stay in the one
position turning the game into little more than an over glorified,
overpriced shooting gallery.
In an effort to capture the witty banter of the onscreen partners
“witty” one-liners fly like bullets through out each level.
Unfortunately, you cannot duck and hide from them.
Bad Boys 2 is a lazy cash in on a fun filled film.
Anyone looking to extend their enjoyment of the films is best to simply
re-watch them, rather than pick up this uninspired mess.
Craig Gallagher