Late Night Consoling

We've received reports from readers requesting to remain anonymous indicating that BioWare might have projects in the works for PlayStation 3. According to gamers who attended last night's Video Games Live concert in Edmonton, BioWare co-CEO Dr. Ray Muzyka stated during a signing session that the noted studio is indeed developing for PS3. Muzyka reportedly gave the information freely to multiple attendants, suggesting that it is not highly private and may be publicly announced soon.

Inquiries sent to BioWare had not been returned at the time this story was published.

In other BioWare news, the company today revealed the final cover artwork for its upcoming Xbox 360 RPG, Mass Effect. (It might be relevant to note that the box contains an "Only on Xbox 360" emblem--but then again, so did Enchanted Arms.)

Speaking to Game Informer in an interview published in the magazine's latest issue, recently promoted Sony Computer Entertainment America president and CEO Jack Tretton denied that PlayStation 3 would have a price cut schedule in line with the one employed for PlayStation 2. Asked whether price cuts would be "as soon or as drastic" as they were for PS3's predecessor, Tretton responded, "No," explaining that "there's a heck of a lot more under the hood and it costs us more money to make it." He added that reducing the machine's cost will be "a lot more difficult" than it was for PS2. Interpreting Tretton's statements literally would suggest that PS3 will not receive a price adjustment prior to June 2008, though he may not have intended such a specific inference to be drawn.

Tretton trotted out Sony's frequently stated value line. "I think the consumers that get their hands on a PlayStation 3 clearly see the value and not only want to buy one for $599, in some instances they're willing to pay ridiculous prices to buy one on eBay," said Tretton. It should be noted that given the lead times inherent to print publishing, the interview was undoubtedly conducted during PS3's launch period, when gamers were indeed paying inflated prices for consoles being sold by scalpers.

Coincidentally, Tretton's comments hit newsstands just after the Japan-based Akiba Blog published what appears to be a post about how at least one store is cutting PS3's price in Japan. According to a paraphrased translation from blog Kotaku, Akihabara retailer Don Quijote is currently offering the 20GB PS3 model at a sale price of 39,980 yen ($329), 20% off its regular price of 49,980 yen ($412). According to the story, the sale is in effect at other Don Quijote locations as well.

Sega announced today that it will be publishing an inventive 2D/3D platformer developed by Kuju for PSP. Crush takes place in a colorful 3D platforming world, but its hook is that the player can "crush" the world such that all 3D elements are flattened into a 2D plane. This allows the player to traverse formerly impassable obstacles and gaps that are made negotiable by negating the distance between them, combining them to create useful constructions, and so on. Somehow this also tells the story of Dan, an insomniac who "is given one last chance to sort through the wreckage of his past, before he loses the last thing he has – his sanity."

"The spatial concept of the crushing mechanic is something truly unique that encourages users to think back and forth between 3D and 2D objects and environments to engage different parts of their brain, and see beyond what is literally in front them," said SEGA marketing VP Scott A. Steinberg.

Recent weeks have seen Kuju both cancel and announce other PSP projects; first, LucasArts confirmed that Kuju's rhythm game Traxion had been cancelled, while a week later Vivendi announced the studio's flight combat game M.A.C.H..

Sega expects to ship Kuju's Crush this summer.

Australian developer Red Tribe is currently working on a new action/adventure based on the Looney Tunes cartoon license, announced publisher Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment today. Looney Tunes: ACME Arsenal, in the works for Xbox 360 and Wii, is a single-player and cooperative game that will span a variety of settings including Camelot, ancient Egypt, Mars, the Wild West, and World War II. Characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, the Tazmanian Devel, Foghorn Leghorn, Marvin the Martian, Gossamer, and "a special secret character" will be playable. The Xbox 360 version of the game will support Xbox Live-based online cooperative play.

Red Tribe currently has two other announced projects in development, according to the company's official site: a "3rd person action game set in a post-apocalyptic world," and a "sci-fi horror FPS," both in the works for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, and PC. The former game is planned for release in 2008; the latter, in 2009.

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment plans to ship Looney Tunes: ACME Arsenal for Xbox 360 and Wii this fall.

Ubisoft today sent over a quick note revealing that a demo for the Xbox 360 version of Ubisoft Paris and Red Storm's Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (also PS3, PC) is en route to Xbox Live Marketplace. Declining to nail down a date, the subject line read, "GRAW2 demo on your 360 via Marketplace," with the body stating, "Very soon, very soon indeed."