Late Night Consoling

Microsoft has just held a press conference in Japan detailing its future plans for the Xbox 360. This is the meeting mentioned last week in regards to a "relaunch" of the console in Japan. Rumors as to what would be announced at the conference included an exclusive Tales title from Namco Bandai and a new game in the Chrono Trigger line from Square Enix. The reality was slightly more...realistic, but some interesting things were revealed. Here are the notable announcements so far:

- Xbox Marketplace has seen relatively good success in Japan, with 52,000 content downloads from the service so far. SNK, Konami, Namco Bandai, D3 Publisher, Hudson, and Yuke's Media Creations will be supporting Xbox Live Arcade in some form. Namco Bandai comfirned that Pac-Man and Galaga will be made available.

- Namco Bandai announced a new Gundam game for the system featuring online play, as well as a new Culdcept title called Culdcept Saga. The company also showed a trailer of Zegapain, an anime-based game that has already been announced.

- Square Enix will be supporting Xbox 360 with an arcade-style space shooter developed by Game Arts. The game's working title is Project Sylph, and will apparently feature some kind of involved storyline.

- Mistwalker's Xbox 360 RPG Lost Odyssey has been delayed until 2007. The company's other high-profile RPG, Blue Dragon, is on track to wrap up at the end of 2006.

- Star Ocean developer Tri-Ace is currently working on an RPG with strong real-time gameplay elements. Like Mistwalker's efforts, it is being created in collaboration with Microsoft Game Studios.

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe vice president and SCE France president George Fornay revealed a likely price range for Sony's PlayStation 3 in a radio interview on French station Europe 1. His slightly oddly worded expectation is that the machine will sell for around 500 Euro, in the range of 499 to 599 Euro." Until now, the only remotely useful knowledge gamers have received about the system's retail price has been hinting from Sony Computer Entertainment president Ken Kutaragi that the system will be expensive.

The quoted figures are roughly equivalent to a USD range of $613-$736, based on current exchange rates. However, consoles rarely if ever follow real world exchange rates between the United States and Europe; rather, they tend to use the simpler rate of 1 Euro = US$1. If these numbers are indeed accurate, that would put a premium of $114-$137 (93 Euro - 112 Euro) on the European version of the machine.

Fornay reiterated that the system is being delayed because of Blu-ray finalization (though SCE Worldwide Studios Phil Harrison recently revealed that the PlayStation Network Platform online service won't be ready until September, so there are likely multiple factors at work). He also justified the system's higher than usual price by pointing out that it is quite a bargain for a system including Blu-ray functionality, a hard drive, and high definition capability.

Lucent Technologies, a firm holding a 1993 patent on certain MPEG-2 encoding and decoding technology, has sued Microsoft for patent infringement. The firm claims its patented methods are being used in the Xbox 360's built in DVD decoding. This is the second lawsuit hinging on this matter in which Microsoft has been involved. Lucent sued PC manufacturers Dell and Gateway in 2003 for use of technology from patents including the one in the current suit. As part of its indemnity agreement to assist manufacturers using Windows products, Microsoft countersued Lucent to obtain a noninfringement ruling. Microsoft was able to win because of, oddly enough, a typo in the patent. Lucent has since had the error resolved with the U.S. Patent and Trademarkt Office, and submitted a request to Microsoft to cease distribution of Xbox 360. Unsurprisingly, Microsoft did not comply, leading to Lucent's legal action. Lucent is currently seeking a trial by jury.

Ubisoft today announced that a fourth iteration of the classic Rayman platforming series is in the works. The game is being developed at Ubisoft's Montpellier studio under the direction of series creator Michael Ancel, also known as the creator of Beyond Good & Evil (PS2, Xbox, GCN, PC) and designer of Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie (PS2, Xbox, GCN, X360, DS, PSP, PC). Ancel returns to the series after an absence during the development of Rayman 3 (PS2, Xbox, GCN, PC). Little information was revealed in Ubisoft's press release, other than that the game will be coming this holiday season for "current and next-generation consoles."

The game lends some credence to an allegedly leaked Ubisoft release list that circulated a few weeks ago, which was officially discredited by Ubisoft. One of the games it listed was Rayman 4, listed as coming to PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, Revolution, and "handheld."

Today's announcement probably finally lays to rest rumors that Michel Ancel would be returning to his critically acclaimed but poor-selling Beyond Good & Evil. The designer has stated that he had plans for a trilogy in the works, and would work on the remaining games if given the opportunity.

Capcom's Dead Rising has been delayed until September in Europe. Some sites have reported this as pertaining to the North American market, but the game's release period in North America remains this summer--at least, as of the last time it was delayed.

Yesterday I briefly noted that the release date for New Super Mario Bros. (DS) had been moved back a week from May 15 to May 21. Well, that same day, Nintendo once again changed the date on its official site back to May 15. The game has seen a constantly shifting release date, with the game originally set to ship right in the middle of E3, on May 9. Many have speculated that the frequent adjustments have been to keep the game lined up with the release of DS Lite, which has been projected to launch in May.

The Escapist has an interesting look at Retro Studios and the development of its acclaimed Metroid Prime (GCN). A lot of ground is covered, if not particularly in depth, including Shigeru Miyamoto's demand that the game be first person instead of third person, the convoluted politics behind the studio's evolution, how it became a successful Nintendo developer instead of imploding, and why Retro is a much nicer place to work than it used to be. (The article also refers to what I call "Metroidvania," as "Castleroids." That word is...disturbing to me.)