Late Night Consoling

GameSpot has translated and paraphrased details of a PC Impress Watch interview with Sony Computer Entertainment head Ken Kutaragi. Kutaragi speaks on "e-Distribution," noting that content delivered digitally will becoming the standard in the near future. Sony did not heavily discuss PS3's online services at E3, because "talking about our distribution and network services isn't very engaging," Kutaragi explained. As he is fond of doing, Kutaragi again compared PS3 to a full fledged computer, explaining why many of PS3's online services will be free. "You can't charge money for network matching and other basic services. These things are just taken for granted on the PC," he said. "On the PS3, basic services will be taken for granted while content will be the bread and butter of our business." While Kutaragi noted that it may take one or two years before PS3 content is is delivered digitally, he also touched on the long term: "I expect even the hard disk to disappear eventually. If you have all the data on servers, you probably no longer need disk drives." On the potential of Cell being used in servers for games, Kutaragi presented a hypothetical situation: "Users will be able to connect to Polyphony Digital's server. So I want it to be a Cell server, with the number of Cells at a thousand to several thousand. This would allow us to maintain an entire cyberworld, as long as our power supply holds up."

PS3's media capabilities were also mentioned. "PS3 will be the trigger that ignites flat panel TV sales," he said.

Earlier this week, Nintendo was awarded a patent (USPTO #7,056,217) that may offer a clue as to possible functionality in the company's online service for its upcoming Wii console. Described as a "Messaging service for video game systems with buddy list that displays game being played," the patent suggests, at a fundamental level, an Xbox Live-like friends list system, though it does not encompass the breadth of Xbox Live's many unified services. The patent was first filed in November 2000, indicating that Nintendo has had such a system in mind for the whole of the past console generation, though such a service was not implemented for GameCube. More recently, the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection currently accessible by the Nintendo DS allows users to create a specific friends list for each online-capable game, though only certain games have any kind of messaging function as detailed in the patent.

According to recent financial statements filed by THQ, the publisher has obtained the rights to publish Tetris titles on Xbox 360. The acquisition of the rights was part of a settlement between THQ and Tetris owner The Tetris Company after THQ sued The Tetris Company last year. THQ previously owned the console rights to Tetris, with its latest Tetris release being Tetris Worlds (Xbox). Apparently, The Tetris Company did not grant THQ the license to publish a Nintendo DS version of the game, even though THQ claimed that contractual obligations allowing a total renewal of the license through 2007 were fulfilled. Nintendo ended up being granted the DS rights, which it used to publish Tetris DS this March.

THQ's Xbox 360 license applies to all territories outside Japan, where AQ Interactive published Arika's Tetris: The Grand Master Ace as an Xbox 360 launch title last December.

Yuke's Future Media Creators, formerly known as Yuke's Media Creations, is most likely the world's most prolific wrestling game developer, spanning franchises such as SmackDown!, Day of Reckoning, WrestleMania, and many others. The company has long enjoyed a publishing relationship with THQ in North America, which was recently renewed. However, Yuke's also announced this week that it will be opening up a North American publishing arm, wholly owned by the company's Japanese operations, Yuke's Co., Ltd.

The first game to be published by the new subsidiary will be D1 Grand Prix, a PlayStation 2 drift racer. It includes officially licensed vehicles as well as American and Japanese D1 circuits and drivers. Yuke's promises "the most realistic drifting physics engine ever in a video game." D1 Grand Prix is slated to ship in North America next month.

GameSpot UK speaks with Nintendo UK's David Yarnton about Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training (NDS) (aka Brain Age in the US).

IGN Wii's Matt Casamassina has a video walkthrough of Nintendo's E3 demo of Super Mario Galaxy (Wii).

Spong has a chat with Microsoft Europe's Neil Thompson about Microsoft's strategies as well as Sony and Nintendo.

Music 4 Games has an interview with Gustaf Grefberg, Music Director at developer Starbreeze and composer on The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (Xbox, PC) and The Darkness (X360, PS3).