Late Night Consoling

Next Generation is reporting that longtime Sega designer Yuji Naka plans to leave Sega and found his own studio. The report suggests that his new company may enter into some kind of financial arrangement with Sega.

As the co-creator of company mascot Sonic, Naka has been called Sega's Miyamoto. He has worked at Sega for two decades, and as the head of Sonic Team has turned his internal studio into a major developer across many genres. Naka has headed up such games as NiGHTS Into Dreams (SAT) and Phantasy Star Online (Xbox, GCN, DC, PC), and is (was?) working on a next-generation Sonic title, being heralded by Sega as a return to some of the franchise's classic traits.

Comic publisher Marvel and game developer Bungie today announced a partnership to publish a graphic novel based on Bungie's Halo series. The Halo Graphic Novel, its actual title, was produced by Bungie along with a large cast of comic industry notables. No details were released about the specific content of the book, but it was revealed that the hardcover publication will contain one main storyline and three standalone stories spread over 128 pages.

The artists and writers handling Halo Graphic Novel are Andrew Robinson, Ed Lee, Jay Faerber, Lee Hammock, Jean "Moebius" Giraud, Phil Hale, Simon Bisley, and Tsutomo Nihei. A number of other comic artists and internal Bungie artists will also be contributing individual pieces of artwork for a gallery section. The book is set for release this July. - Press release.

In an update today, Bungie also released a news item about Halo Graphic Novel, previewing five pieces of artwork.

Sheet music publisher Alfred today announced its agreement with concert series Video Games Live to publish sheet music from video game soundtracks. Alfred will make concert band, marching band, and orchestra arrangements of various scores available, targeted primarily at student performance groups. Video Games Live will be assisting Alfred in securing licensing agreements from publishers. "Alfred is always looking for new ways to inspire kids to experience the joy of making music, and the music coming out of the video game industry is amazing," said Alfred's Andrew Surmani. "We look for music that is not only beautifully written, but will appeal to students and music educators alike."

The announcement did not specify any particular games, but past and current games featured in Video Games Lives concerts include Mario, Zelda, Beyond Good & Evil, Sonic, Final Fantasy, Castlevania, Halo, Metal Gear Solid, Myst, and others. - Press release.

The current beta for the Xbox 360 version of Square Enix's MMO Final Fantasy XI (PS2, X360, PC) will be ending at midnight Pacific Standard Time on April 2, 2006. A Square Enix representative confirmed that upon the game's April 18 release date, beta characters can be transferred over to the retail game.

The Xbox and Xbox 360 versions of Ubisoft's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter were released last week, and according to an Ubisoft statement released today, it's doing quite well for itself. North American sales of the Xbox 360 version topped 240,000 units, while combined sales in France, Germany, and Great Britain exceeded 120,000. Ubisoft chairman Yves Guillemot stated that the game had "the best ever first-week sales peformance for our company and is looking like a major commercial success." Following the announcement, Ubisoft stock gained 4% to 36.61 euros.

Independent developer Foundation 9 announced today that it has a redesigned website and a new corporate logo. The company, which touts itself as North America's largest independent game developer, was formed last year when studios The Collective and Backbone merged. Foundation 9 now includes three other developers--Pipeworks, ImaginEngine, and Digital Eclipse--as well as Circle of Confusion, a production and management company representing various game developers, comic book creators, and film screenwriters.