Late Night Consoling (Updated)

In the wake of the recent launch of PlayStation 3, Sony Computer Entertainment tonight announced multiple changes being made to its divisions in both Japan and North America. Jack Tretton, who formerly served as Sony Computer Entertainment America's executive vice president and co-chief operating officer, has been promoted to president and chief executive officer of the company. He replaces Kaz Hirai, who will become the president and group COO of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., the company's Japanese division. Ken Kutaragi, who held the roles of president and group CEO, will in turn become SCEI's chairman while retaining his role as group CEO. Current Sony Computer Entertainment Europe president, CEO, and co-COO David Reeves will retain his current roles while also becoming deputy president of SCEI. Finally, SCEI board of directors member Akira Sato will become vice chairman of the division.

Speaking on Tretton's new roles, Hirai said, "Jack has been with SCEA since its formation and helped pilot the debuts of the original PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PSP and the successful launch of the recently released PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system. Given his experience and exceptional reputation in the industry, I can think of no better person to assume the helm of the PlayStation brand in the US, Canada and Latin America." Said Tretton, "Moving forward, we will remain focused on the continued market leadership of the PlayStation brand, driving consumer demand for the new PS3, and existing platforms such as PSP and PS2, which continue to excel in the marketplace."

All leadership changes will become effective as of December 1, 2006.

Punchline's creepy and psychological survival horror title Rule of Rose (PS2) has faced continued problems due to its controversial content, involving a bizarre secret society set up by young girls. Sony, the game's Japanese publisher, declined to bring the game over to North America, but Atlus USA stepped in to do the honors. It hasn't has such luck elsewhere, however. Last week, on the day of the game's release, publisher 505 Games announced that it would be canceling Rule of Rose's UK release plans following criticisms by Rome's mayor Walter Veroni, citing the game's "obscene cruelty and brutality."

Now, CNET reports that under direction from 505, distributor Red Ant Enterprises will not be selling the game in Australia or New Zealand. It was scheduled for a February 2007 launch in those territories. As in many other regions, the game has received copious bad press in mainstream Australian news publications.

Today, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime addressed Nintendo's current sales goals for the recently launched Wii, and also gave his thoughts on the future prospects of the Game Boy Advance, the company's oldest current supported gaming platform. Speaking at the Reuters Media Summit in New York, Fils-Aime reconfirmed the company's plans to sell 4 million units of its Wii console worldwide during calendar 2006. Despite the company's relatively high supply for a console launch, manufacturing capacity remains the biggest limiting factor. "Exceeding (sales targets) is going to be challenging based on manufacturing capacity," said Fils-Aime. "We will sell everything we make so now it's simply a manufacturing thing." Nintendo recently announced that it sold 600,000 units in the machine's first 8 days on sale.

Game Boy Advance has been a mainstay for Nintendo since its launch in 2001, and has demonstrated similar staying power in the handheld space that PlayStation 2 has shown in the home console space, consistently performing well on the hardware charts years after its release. The machine's game release schedule has slowed in recent years, largely due to the introduction of the Nintendo DS and the PSP, but Fils-Aime stated that GBA has some life left. "For as great a Black Friday weekend that we had on DS, we had just as good a selling season so far on Game Boy Advance," he said. "We think that Game Boy Advance certainly has at least one more holiday season left in it." The executive commented on its strength as a "stepping stone" to introduce younger gamers to the medium.

Earlier this year, Killer7 (PS2, GCN) director Goichi Suda revealed the name of his studio Grasshopper Manufacture's upcoming Wii game. Entitled Heroes, the game revolves around an energy blade-wielding bounty hunter. Now, Japanese publication Famitsu has reported that the game's name has been changed, to the rather more bleak "No More Heroers." Along with the name change, IGN has translated details regarding various aspects of No More Heroes' presentation and gameplay, including that the game has an open-world structure set in a city called Santa Destroy.

No More Heroes is expected to release in Japan in summer 2007. No North American release has been announced, but it is likely the game will make it to Western shores. Suda has frequently commented on the greater success Killer7 saw in North America, and has stated his intention to continue targeting American audiences with further titles.

Microsoft sent word today of an event being held in Santa Monica this Saturday to celebrate the recent launch of Rare's Viva Pinata (X360). The event will be attended by none other than Saved by the Bell's Mario Lopez, and it seems he will be teaching kids how to perform the Viva Pinata dance. The event is free and targeted mainly at the younger folk, who will have access to various activities such as carousel rides and face painting, while their parents can learn about parental control settings on the Xbox 360.

The event is beingt held at the Santa Monica Pier, this Saturday, December 2, from 11:00am-3:00pm.

Simultaneously, the Xbox 360 team based in Mexico City plans to hold its own Viva Pinata event, where it will construct the world's biggest pinata.

This week, Colbert Report host Stephen Colbert aired a virtual boxing match using Wii Sports, in which he managed a stunning defeat over incoming Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) represented in Mii form. Next week, Colbert will continue airing video game-related content when legendary SimCity designer Will Wright makes an appearance on the show. We already know Wright likes the Wii; will Colbert have a Wright-based Mii ready to go? Probably not, but to catch Wright's appearance, tune into the Colbert Report on Comedy Central on Monday, December 4.

Newsweek technology writer N'Gai Croal has an entertaining anecdote on his blog, telling the story of a friendly bet between well known Xbox engineer and de facto marketer J Allard, and members of the tech press. The bet centered around, of all things, Sony's PSP, and Allard's opinions on the marketplace potential for multifunction gadgets. Unsurprisingly, his outlook on his competitor's product was not particularly strong, and he made a rather unorthadox wager betting against the device's long term success. Of course, Allard has just now released his own multifunction device, the Zune. Read on to find out more.