Late Night Consoling

During a speech given last night during Sony's San Francisco launch event for SCE Santa Monica's God of War II (PS2), game director Cory Barlog let slip that rumble functionality will indeed be added to PlayStation 3 and its Sixaxis controller. Initially, the developer mentioned rumble in passing as a feature that would be implemented in a hypothetical God of War III for PS3. "Rumble coming back to PS3, eh?!" cried Barlog after the slip, inciting the crowd of journalists and developers to cheer.

The semi-announcement comes as little surprise in the wake of the announcement that Sony and force feedback developer Immersion have settled their legal feud, with Sony planning to license Immersion technology for unspecified platforms.

In regards to a still unannounced PS3 version of God of War, Barlog implied that such a game would be presented in 1080p resolution and would be the conclusion of the God of War trilogy. "If we were to do a God of War III on Wii--I mean PS3," said Barlog, "then it would finish this massive story. We've always imagined God of War as a trilogy, but the PSP game very much ties into it."

No further details regarding PS3 rumble functionality or God of War on PSP or PS3 were revealed.

One of many persistent game industry rumors has centered around a redesigned PSP. The latest fuel on that particular fire came from Sony Computer Entertainment UK managing director Ray Maguire, who apparently indicated that Sony has a hardware update in the works. As reported by GamesIndustry.biz, Maguire called the existing portable system the "first iteration" of the line, and noted that a "smaller, lighter" system is forthcoming. Maguire noted that the screen size itself would not change.

Nearly a year ago, Shacknews received word from a reliable source that Sony was developing a new PSP, though a broad timeframe was given for the project.

When Nintendo announced its Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service for Nintendo DS, multiplayer services provider GameSpy was revealed as one of the company's technology development partners. Today, Nintendo and the IGN-owned GameSpy announced that the two companies will again work together to take Wii online. GameSpy appears to be involved in an even greater capacity than Wii than it was with DS; the company will be creating middleware tech for developers that will offer features including friend rosters, game matchmaking, and player rankings. Last month, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime stated that developers have begun to receive online development kits for Wii.

The first online-enabled game for Wii, Genius Sonority's Pokemon Battle Revolution, is set to launch in North America on June 25. Presumably, it will use the same DS-like friend code system the game used when it was released in Japan last year.

"Nintendo has been an invaluable partner and we look forward to expanding our relationship with them in the future," said IGN senior VP of consumer products and technology Jaime Berger. "Our goal is to extend our ground-breaking work on the Nintendo DS to provide Wii users with the social, community and multiplayer tools that we believe will expand the online gaming experience to the mass market."

There were no details as to how or if the Wii online service will differ from its Nintendo DS counterpart.

Following the success of several GameCube games based on the popular anime Naruto, D3Publisher of America today announced its plan to bring Naruto: Clash of Ninja MVZ to North American Wii owners. Clash of Ninja MVZ is produced by frequent Naruto franchise developer Eighting. The game will be based on a Naruto game developed by Eighting for Wii and released only in Japan last month, but D3 promises that MVZ will contain "content created exclusively for the North American market." Clash of Ninja MVZ will use the Wii remote's unique functionality for both core mechanics and a suite of mini-games. D3 promises Naruto characters not yet seen in the Clash of Ninja franchise.

"NARUTO proved to be a significant brand on the Nintendo GameCube in 2006," said D3PA VP of licensing and business development Careen Yapp. "NARUTO: Clash of Ninja MVZ will take advantage of this exciting new entertainment platform and will reach out to a whole new audience for NARUTO."

D3PA plans to ship Eighting's Naruto: Clash of Ninja MVZ this fall.

Left Field Productions' Dave Mirra BMX Challenge, originally released on PSP last year, is set to make its way to Wii, publisher Crave Entertainment announced today. The BMX game is said to have numerous control options using the Wii's unique controller, and will feature 12 tracks and 13 bikes.

"Dave Mirra BMX Challenge will be the first BMX game for Wii," said Crave Studios senior VP Jim Flaharty. "The immersive Wii controls combined with the thrill of BMX racing will make Dave Mirra BMX Challenge a real treat for action sports fans."

Crave expects to ship the Wii version of Dave Mirra BMX Challenge this June.

Publisher SouthPeak Interactive sent word that Artificial Studios' arcade-style action game Monster Madness: Battle for Suburbia, headed to PC and Xbox 360, is set to release on May 15, 2007. The Smash TV-inspired game is powered by Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3, and offers both cooperative and versus multiplayer modes, supporting four players locally and 16 online. A plethora of screenshots is available here.

Sega today sent over an update on Sega Racing Studio's upcoming rally racer, Sega Rally Revo. The game is now expected to ship for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC this fall. Along with that news came several screenshots of the PS3 version of the game.