Late Night Consoling

Flash content site Razoric.com posted two interesting rumors regarding plans by Sony to challenge the unique features of both Microsoft and Nintendo's next-gen consoles. The rumors came by way of somebody claiming to be an employee of Macromedia (now integrated into Adobe). First, Sony is allegedly licensing Flash Lite, the scaled down mobile devices version of Flash, for its PS3 and PSP. Intended to compete with Xbox Live Arcade, Sony would have a system by which PS3 and PSP owners could download Flash Lite games directly to the consoles. The source claims Sony chose the platform due to its ease and low cost of development as well as built in DRM.

The other rumor details a direct response to Nintendo's Revolution controller. Sony, the source claims, is working on creating a controller with similar functionality to Revolution's. It will allegedly be bundled with the EyeToy PS2 camera peripheral and sold alongside a $99 PS2 as a "Revolution Killer." Since developers are already familiar with the PS2 hardware, games utilizing the new controller would presumably come easily. The email indicates that, with the price cut and added functionality, Sony is hoping to add another 50M units to its current 100M worldwide PS2 install base.

Both rumors are theoretically plausible, but there are many holes in the story. In terms of the first rumor, it would seem a bit odd to be using Flash Lite--rather than full Flash or simply a PS3-specific format--on PS3. The standard is generally used for mobile devices with very small screens and very basic technical capabilities, such as cell phones and media players. Even the PSP seems a bit overpowered for Flash Lite. There was that recent rumor about an 8GB PSP, but as Flash Lite games tend to be measured in kilobytes, a Memory Stick would seem to be more than sufficient.

The second rumor is a surprising one. It's certainly well within the realms of possibility that Sony plans to support its current console long after PS3 goes live. After all, new PS1 games were still shipping as late as last year. That said, legacy PS1 development was mainly comprised of ports of PS2 games (frequently sports games, movie tie-ins, and so on), and has generally been targeted at specific markets known to have very low PS2 install bases. Actually mobilizing developers to work on completely new titles for PS2 while PS3 is being heavily marketed might be a bit of a challenge, especially if the games are intended for use with a controller that the vast majority of PS2 owners do not have. Sony would have to manage both consoles actively, instead of simply allowing existing support of a legacy console to continue, as with PS1. That's along with Nintendo focusing all of its home console marketing attention on Revolution, whose spacial controller comes standard.

It's also worth wondering why an Adobe employee would be familiar with Sony's long-term (and in this case probably very confidential) home console plans.

Nintendo released an apologetic statement in Japan today stating that, due to supply issues, the Japanese launch for the Ice Blue and Enamel Navy versions of DS Lite will be pushed back. The Crystal White model will still be available on March 2 as previously planned, but the other two colors will not go on sale until March 11. The company cited production problems with the materials used in the two blue colors.

Regardless of your color preference, if you've preordered an imported model of DS Lite, it's looking like you might not get it right away. Reports from various gaming news sites indicate that the original DS is still commanding a hefty premium (even on secondhand models) due to high demand, and many retailers are either not accepting preorders or have had preorder quotas filled the same day they opened. Hopefully those importers have connections.

A BBC article yesterday on EA's The Godfather (PS2, Xbox, X360, PSP, PC) noted towards the end that EA "is hoping to establish [The Godfather] as one of their blockbuster titles and move on to adapt the two sequels." The actual quote by EA producer David DeMartini, however, states "We went into this venture taking into consideration the establishment of a brand new franchise. Our intention is to make two and three." By "two and three," DeMartini presumably means "games in the franchise" rather than necessarily The Godfather Part II and The Godfather Part III. After all, the game is based on The Godfather as a property, not the films specifically, and Mario Puzo did not write sequels to his original novel The Godfather. The game draws from both the original film and the original novel. EA rarely acquires the rights to a license without the intention to turn it into a long running franchise, so this news isn't particularly surprising. As is generally the case in the games industry, expect to see more games in the series if the first is a success.

While not technically a countdown, yet another "announcement coming soon" has surfaced on the internet, this time at origamiproject.com. It contains a Flash animation containing phrases reading, "hello_ do you know me? do you know what i can do? and where i can go? or how i can change your life? you will_ learn more on 3.2.06..." This appears to be the "week 1" sequence. There are also currently inactive links to "week 2" and "week 3."

A quick WHOIS search for the domain's registrar reveals that origamiproject.com is owned by--who else?--Microsoft Corporation. Of course, there's no reason to believe it's console gaming related at all; more likely it's related to Vista or other Microsoft software. But hey, maybe it's about bees and Halo 3!! Halo 3 out March 2!!!

If you missed the post earlier today about Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 2 (X360, PC), here are the parts relating directly to an upcoming Xbox 360 patch for the game:

1. Player Lag has been addressed
2. Private Game Lobbies / Reserved Slots
3. Enable Live Host to set custom game options
4. Map Preferences setting
5. Post Game Lobbies (players at end of match will return to lobby)
6. Enemy Player Name Notification
7. Kick Player (host ability)
8. Lobby Game Type, Map and Host Notification

No date was given for when the fix would be made available through Live, but the team promises it's "very close."

IGN has some voice clip downloads from Team17's Worms: Open Warfare (DS, PSP).

GameSpot has some preliminary coverage of some Midway games before an upcoming press event.