Late Night Consoling

Computer And Video Games claimed today that a sequel to Big Blue Box and Lionhead's Fable (Xbox) is in development for Xbox 360. Apparently, somebody conducted an interview with designer Peter Molyneux in which he talked about an upcoming 360 sequel, and then that person passed the news on to CVG.

According to CVG's source, the game seems fairly similar to its predecessor in concept--you start out as a young boy, and as you grow your appearance is affected by the moral route you choose. This time around, however, you'll have a pet dog which is similarly affected in appearance and, somehow, breed. Somewhat oddly, it seems that the brothels featured in the expanded version of the first game, Fable: The Lost Chapters (Xbox, PC), will have a prominent place in the sequel.

CVG expects the game, if it is in fact real, to ship during the 2006 holiday season. Lionhead refused to comment.

Movie news site Latino Review has been getting some attention for posting up detailed reviews of the scripts for two highly-anticipated game-based films: Splinter Cell, which went up last week, and Halo, which went up today and has understandably been generating quite a bit of attention on the internet. The reviewer describes the Halo film script, written by Alex Garland of 28 Days and The Beach fame, as "the Saving Private Ryan of video game movies," a relentless and brutal science fiction war film. He outlines the first act of what is allegedly the movie's 128-page script in great detail, and also relates some other particularly noteworthy scenes.

It's tough to say whether it's genuine. The review is certainly very long and detailed, but then again people frequently go to elaborate lengths to perpetuate hoaxes on the internet. For what it's worth, GameSpot's Rumor Control column is guardedly giving Latino Review the benefit of the doubt, citing its accuracy on an early Batman Begins script review as positive credit.

The Halo film recently received a great deal coverage due to Peter Jackson taking on an executive producer role for the project. No director has yet been announced. Halo is set for release some time in 2007.

One of the Xbox 360's functions Microsoft has been eager to point out, given the upcoming console's stated goal as some kind of entertainment lifestyle device, is that it can draw music from a variety of USB-compatible portable music players--including Apple's wildly successful iPod. It seems, however, that Apple may not be as eager about the whole thing. Microsoft apparently contacted Apple asking to work out a deal for compatibility between the two devices, and when Apple refused Microsoft went ahead and implemented the functionality anyway. Microsoft refused to comment on whether any backwards engineering was necessary, but a programmer of a piece of 3rd-party iPod software said that Microsoft must have done some reverse engineering to get the 360 to interpret the iPod's method of storing music. The 360 is still unable to play music purchased through Apple's iTunes music store.

The end result of this is that many expect Apple to take some kind of action against Microsoft as soon as the Xbox 360 is made publically available on November 22. For the record, Apple did take action against RealNetworks when the company released software allowing music purchased from Real's Harmony music service to be played on iPods. Apple accused Real of having "tactics and ethics of a hacker."

Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, Nintendo's online gaming service for DS and eventually Revolution, has officially gone live today. The website is now pretty much all there, with this encouraging statement in the corner: "Global Wi-Fi Gaming Service Fully Operational."

The site has details of how to get connected to the service, as well as an automated service to locate free hotspots near a given location. Each of the two online launch games, Mario Kart DS and Tony Hawk's American Sk8land (DS), also has its own Gaming Hub page. The Gaming Hubs contain stats and scores of top players for each game--which are currently limited to game testers and journalists, assumedly. The site also features details about the various online features that will be available for each game; for example, every week there will be a featured Mario Kart race with a Nintendo staff member that will be recorded and hosted on the site.

The first two online DS games will ship next week, at which time gamers will be able to register with the website and start using its features fully.

Midway sent out a press release today announcing the development of Spy Hunter: Nowhere to Run, a new iteration of the classic Spy Hunter franchise which is also being made into a film starring The Rock (The Rundown, wrestling), written by Stuart Beattie (Collateral, Splinter Cell), and possibly directed by John Woo (Hard Boiled, The Killer). Nowhere to Run will feature the voice acting of The Rock. The game will of course also feature The Interceptor, the combat automobile featured in all of the previous games, but somewhat worryingly will also bring on-foot action to the series for the first time. For the first time in the Spy Hunter franchise we are allowing the player to step out from behind the wheel of the Interceptor and straight into the action," said Midway chief marketing officer Steve Allison.

Game Informer has an interview with Mario Kart DS producer Hideko Konno.

GameSpot has coverage of the recent Nintendo press event featuring the company's upcoming lineup.