Late Night Consoling

German developer Crytek, best known for its well received shooter Far Cry (PC) and currently working on the ambitious Crysis (PC), looks to be branching out to console development, on Sony's upcoming PlayStation 3 in particular. A job posting on the company's official website reveals that the studio is looking for a "Console Programmer - PS3" with past experience on current generation consoles.

The listing does not specify on what projects the position will work. The job description mentions "porting to PS3" as one of the responsibilities of the job, suggesting that the currently PC-only Crysis may end up on a console after all. However, Crytek is known to have other projects in the works as well.

Though versions of Far Cry ended up on Xbox and Xbox 360 courtesy of Ubisoft, an internally devloped console project would mark the first time the young studio has taken on its own full scale development for a non-PC platform.

According to translated reports of an interview with Japanese news outlet Mainichi Interactive, Xbox Japan general manager Takashi Sensui seemed unconcerned with any perceived superiority of Sony's PlayStation 3 over Microsoft's Xbox 360, despite the latter's relatively slow sales in Japan thus far. "Functionality as a game machine is the main point. I don't believe [the Xbox 360] is lacking," said Sensui. As for the PS3: "As a game machine, it's too expensive. There are doubts as to whether users will accept it."

Sensui commented on future plans for Xbox 360, stating that while retailers can continue to set their own price for the machine, Microsoft does not plan an enforced price drop. He also stated that while the company does not currently plan to create a new Xbox 360 model featuring an internal HD-DVD drive, "If consumers want it, we'll have to think about it in the future."

According to a brief blurb in the latest issue of Nintendo Power, Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima will be taking a minor role in the creation of Nintendo's upcoming fighter sequel Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii). Apparently, Kojima is designing the game's Solid Snake-themed level. During E3 it was revealed that, as a result of a request by Kojima made to Smash Bros. series designer Masahiro Sakurai, Metal Gear protagonist Solid Snake would be a playable character in the anticipated title.

Didier Malenfant, president of Daxter (PSP) developer Ready at Dawn, has confirmed to GameSpot that the company is currently licensing out its game engine to other studios. Though there appear to be multiple licensees, Malenfant declined to name any of them. The company will also be making further use of the engine internally, though again Malenfant did not divulge any details beyond mentioning that the engine could be adapted to various game genres if need be.

Nintendo, via Japanese publication Kyoto Shimbun, has announced that in the Japanese market it has managed to sell 10 million Nintendo DS units to consumers within 20 months of its launch. Nintendo claims that the system has now set a record as the fastest selling game console. On the worldwide level, the system has sold through over 21 million units.

In February, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata predicted that the company would sell 10 million units of its handheld console by the end of 2006, a target that has now been hit several months early.

We've got hands on impressions of three Activision-published titles: Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Spider-Man: Battle for New York, and Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam.