Late Night Consoling

In 2002, Atari released Stuntman, a driving game based around recreating movie stunts developed by Reflections Interactive, known for its Driver series. Last year, THQ acquired Atari studio Paradigm Entertainment as well as Atari's rights to the Stuntman franchise. Today, THQ formally announced Stuntman: Ignition for PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360, to be developed by Paradigm. Players will again take the role of a stunt driver performing wacky automotive feats for movies and competitions. The game will include online functionality through which players can challenge others to stunts of their own design, or "battle it out" in user-created lots. Hopefully such battles will be referred to as Stunt-Offs.

"Stuntman: Ignition delivers an addictive blend of death-defying stunts and precision-based driving unlike anything seen before," said Paradigm Studios GM Dave Gatchel. "With an action-packed career mode and intense online multiplayer, gamers will have plenty to prove to become Hollywood's next big stuntman."

Paradigm Entertainment's Stuntman: Ignition is set to release this summer for PS2, PS3, and Xbox 360.

Electronic Arts today officially confirmed development of SimCity DS, a new edition of Maxis' classic city-building simulation for Nintendo's current portable. The game has been known to be in development for some time, with numerous screenshots released out of Japan. Doubt was cast on the fate of the game when it was announced earlier this month that the game's developer, EA Japan, had been closed, but EA noted that development of SimCity DS will be continued by an external studio via the EA Partners program. EA Japan's other two titles, Theme Park DS and Dragon Zakura DS, are still in the works as well.

SimCity DS is based around Maxis' SimCity 3000 (PC), though the game is newly developed rather than a port of that title. "We are very excited to bring the SimCity experience to the Nintendo DS platform," said producer Takahiro Murakami. "The unique Nintendo DS functionalities inspired us to incorporate many new features to delight the most dedicated SimCity fans. The game is filled with fun surprises that will appeal to new and existing fans of the franchise." The most dedicated SimCity fans are also likely to be delighted by the fun surprise of SimCity designer Will Wright appearing in caricatured form as one of the in-game advisors.

Along with today's announcement, EA sent over the first English-language screenshot of the game. EA plans to release the game worldwide for Nintendo DS this summer.

Ubisoft today announced that the score to Ubisoft Montreal's upcoming sequel Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (PS3, X360, PSP, PC) has been composed by Tom Salta, who also handled the music for last year's Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter.

"Our goal on the sequel was to match the same high quality level as the acclaimed Tom Clancy's GRAW1 soundtrack," said music supervisor Manu Bachet. "However Tom exceeded our expectations and has brought Tom ClancyÂ’s GRAW2's score to the next level, guiding the whole orchestra and choir performance to beautifully balance the thin line between emotion and violence---right where the magic happens."

Salta's past game credits include Realtime Worlds' Crackdown (X360), Ubisoft Paris' Red Steel (Wii), Microids' Still Life (PC), and Guillemot Inc. and Ubisoft's Sprung (NDS).

Samples from the GRAW2 soundtrack can be heard at Ubisoft's official site.

Along with the Salta news, Ubisoft also announced that GRAW2 has gone gold. The publisher plans to ship the game for Xbox 360 on March 9, with the PC and PSP versions following on March 30. The PlayStation 3 version of the game is set for release in June.

Publisher Rockstar Games has announced that it will be utilizing NaturalMotion's euphoria Motion Synthesis Engine in future projects. The euphoria technology for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 is used to create in-game characters that animate realistically and in unique ways rather than on rigidly defined paths. The tech garnered attention recently when showcased by LucasArts in video demonstrations of its upcoming game Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (PS2, PS3, X360, NDS, PSP).

"euphoria is about giving people an interactive experience they have never seen before. We now have the processing power to simulate humans, and the possibilities for games are endless," said NaturalMotion CEO Torsten Reil. "In Rockstar, we have found a partner that shares this vision, and is renowned for creating some of the most ground-breaking and immersive games in the industry. We are thrilled and honored to work with a partner of such high caliber, and look forward to helping create amazing titles."

Rockstar Games is comprised of numerous development studios worldwide, including main Grand Theft Auto developer Rockstar North. It has not yet been announced which Rockstar titles will make use of the euphoria technology, though some have of course hopefully speculated that it is planned for use in the upcoming Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3, X360), set to release this October.