Late Night Consoling

Japanese news outlet NikkeiBP has published an interview with Sony Computer Entertainment exec Izumi Kawanishi, speaking on various capabilities of the company's upcoming PlayStation 3 as well as some of its planned interactions with PSP. IGN has a paraphrased translation of the story.

In regards to PSP's announced emulation of PlayStation titles, Kawanishi stated that the project is going well, and Sony is currently conducting various internal tests. However, he did note that simply due to the control limitations of PSP, which features one fewer analog stick and two fewer shoulder buttons than the PlayStation's DualShock controller, some games may not be possible to emulate.

Much of the interview dealt with digital distribution to PlayStation 3, which Kawanishi said will encompass games and other media such as music and movies. Digitally distributed content should be available via the PlayStation 3's online service from launch. He confirmed that demos of PS3 and PSP games will be available through PS3, comparing it to Amazon's method rather than that of competitor Xbox Live. In the case of PlayStation games, the company plans to sell full titles. Oddly, Kawanishi seemed to indicate there is a download limit of one CD's worth of data, which he believes to be "in the range of tolerance" for downloads, suggesting that multi-disc games such as Square's Final Fantasy VII may not be available. However, this may be simply a translation issue with the interview. By comparison, content available over Xbox Live sometimes surpasses a gigabyte in size, generally in the case of playable demos.

PSP owners lacking a PS3 will be able to download PlayStation games via PC or directly to the PSP on a wireless network. The company is even considering the possibility of making PlayStation games playable on cell phones.

One of the more unorthadox features discussed in the interview is the planned ability for PSP to serve as a remote terminal for PS3, such that PSP users could watch PS3 content and interact with a PS3 over a network. Apparently, the PS3's Cell processor is what makes this possible. "The power of the Cell will be put to use," said Kawanishi. "If you don't have this much power, this cannot be realized." It is unclear if players would actually be able to engage in PS3 gameplay remotely using a PSP. Issues such as how content would be appropriately scaled down to accomodate the lower-resolution PSP screen were not discussed.

Reports have come from various online sources that Nintendo will be holding a press event in Japan on September 14 at which it will display a game lineup for its upcoming Wii console and, according to widespread speculation, announce launch information for the system. This date coincides with previously known events in New York on September 14 and in Europe on September 15. The alignment of events in the three major gaming territories of North America, Europe, and Japan suggests that the company has significant information to disclose. Previously unannounced games are also expected to be showcased at these events.

Tellingly, Nintendo will not be attending Tokyo Game Show, which takes place only days after these events, from September 22-24. Given company president Satoru Iwata's promise that final launch and price information for Wii would be revealed in or by September, it seems almost certain that the company will be using these private events to finally make that knowledge public.

After months of officially unconfirmed reports, rumor, and speculation, Ubisoft has issued a formal press release stating that Ubisoft Montreal's Crusades-era action/adventure is indeed heading to Xbox 360. Earlier this week, it was also confirmed that the game is heading to PC. Assassin's Creed puts players in the role of assassin Altair, who is tasked with stopping the conflict in the Holy Land by covertly subverting both sides. Along with the announcement, Ubisoft sent over two screenshots of the Xbox 360 version of the game. - Prior screenshots, artwork.

Ubisoft Montreal's Assassin's Creed is currently set to launch simultaneously for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in early 2007. A PC version will follow at a currently unannounced date.

Last month, online retailers revealed a retro game collection for PSP entitled EA Replay. The original list of fourteen classic games is consistent with those reports. EA also announced that the game, under development by EA Canada, will ship November 7, 2006 and will retail for $19.99. "EA Replay is a rich compilation of classic EA IP that stays true to the original experiences, while offering modern gamers additional features geared towards on-the-go game play," said executive producer David McCarthy. - Screenshots.

Muchich-based developer Shin'en today announced that it is developing Nanostray 2 for Nintendo DS. The game is a sequel to Shin'en's vertical shoot-em-up Nanostray, released for DS last July. Very few details regarding the game were announced today, though the press release does reveal that it will feature online functionality of some kind. Shin'en promises more information as well as screenshots in the coming weeks. "Shin'en again raises the bar for high quality games with never-seen-before graphics, awesome audio and innovative gameplay on the Nintendo DS," said project manager Manfred Linzner.

Rockstar Games has revealed that Rockstar Vancouver's schoolyard PS2 action title Bulley, which has seen worldwide controversy long before its release, has received a name change. In all territories--except in, oddly, the United States and presumably the rest of North America--the game will be known as Canis Canem Edit. The Latin phrase meaning "Dog Eat Dog" is the official motto of the fictional school in which the game is set, Bullworth Academy.

Microsoft has announced a variety of statistics demonstrating the success of its Xbox Live service for Xbox and Xbox 360, which first launched in November 2002. Since that launch, gamers have spent over two billion hours on Xbox Live. On Xbox 360, gamers have downloaded over 50 million pieces of content from Xbox Live Marketplace, have downloaded over 8 million Xbox Live Arcade games, and have purchased over 2 billion Microsoft Points ($24,990,000). Each day, users send over 1.3 million text and voice message, or nearly half a billion per year. Microsoft expects this average to rise with this month's release of the Xbox Live Vision camera. Currently, over 60% of Xbox 360 owners are registered with Xbox Live, though the announcement does not specify what proportion of those users are subscribed to the paid Xbox Live Gold service.

Electronic Arts has revealed its official initial sales estimates for EA Tiburon's Madden NFL 07, which shipped this week for PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, PSP, Game Boy Advance, and PC. This year's iteration saw the best opening week sales for any game in the franchise's seventeen-year history, selling over two million units and beating last year's numbers by 12%. The game topped sales charts for PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360, and PSP upon its release. Xbox 360 players have already racked up a cumulative 600,000 achievements and played for a total of two million hours online. "This is the Madden gamers have been waiting for," said IGN Sports editor in chief Jon Robinson. "From the fans to the football players themselves, all anyone is talking about is Madden, and for good reason."