Not long after Grand Theft Auto 4 (Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3) rocked the world, and a few weeks before Metal Gear Solid 4 does the same, we're left with several decent titles that can't be dubbed as mere distractions. This week marks the release of Myst on the Nintendo DS, while Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King is set to build a kingdom on the Wii. The rest await at the full article, so hit that jump!

* Article originally posted May 12, 2008 at 12:05AM

If you enjoyed the last Nordic Game conference and are looking forward to this year's event, we've got some news for you. Quite a number of big name speakers will be sharing their thoughts at the Business and Production part of the program. To find out who will at the event, head on over to the full article.

Vivendi recently confirmed its Q3 guidance, and it racked up performance with accurate ties to market analysts' expectations. Apparently, their guidance also falls in confidence with observers in the business market, reassuring investors that its full year outlook is on-track.

Though the conglomerate-like Vivendi ran through Q3 of fiscal year 2007 with flying colors, its own video game publishing segment holds a success story in itself. Vivendi Games' performance also grew with the rest of the corporate umbrella. Read on to find out why.

The industry-focused leg of the Games Convention at GCDC 2007 will take place">Leipzig is expected to break its previous record of 650 attendees, after Leipziger Messe GmbH announced through press wire that the registered attendee tally for the 2007 event has hit 850 attendees. The Games Convention Developers Conference (GCDC) will take place on August 20-22, just before the consumer and retailer exhibition.

 

Hailing from 35 countries all over the globe - 60 percent from the North American and UK regions - participants have the opportunity to witness the delivery of more than 80 event keynotes from over 120 speakers. And representatives from their respective industry segments - namely handheld, mobile, console, PC, Mac, and online markets - will expound on visions, themes and issues relevant to the industry's times.

Although much of the planned discussions will be focused on the industry side, there will also be discussions on how society and political bodies can properly recognize the gaming industry, and the significance of associations representing the game industry to the outside world.

And in another note, Leipziger Messe has particularly named Tim Schafer of Double Fine Production (Grim Fandango, Psychonauts) to deliver his keynote speech entitled "Games and Creativity," adapted for the new age of game development. If memory serves us right, Schafer and his studio has been secretly at work on a game project under Vivendi's revived Sierra Entertainment label.

It was claimed to be titled "Brutal Legend", but that has been under question for some time since it was retracted. But if former Leipzig revelations are were groundbreaking, then you may count that fellow blogger Schafer will spill more details on his ambitious "labor of love."

The 2007 Games Convention Developers Conference opening remarks will be delivered by none other than the Chairman of the European Games Development Forum (EGDF), Fred Hasson. More GC and GCDC news coming your way, before the Leipzig-filled week begins next Monday.

Geometry Wars: Galaxies (DS, Wii) might feature the addition of stages and bosses to the popular Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved gameplay, but apparently, the bottom line is not about progression. It's still all about the high scores.

That's what Roger Carpenter, Sierra Entertainment's producer for Geometry Wars: Galaxies, revealed in a recent interview with Modojo. "It's all about score still," said Carpenter. "With the different battles we're just introducing a huge variety into how the game delivers fun."

Carpenter also talked a bit about how the team behind Geometry Wars: Galaxies handled the addition of saving and the game's currency system without lessening the difficulty. Here's Carpenter's explanation:

It's quite well publicized now but we've created a Galaxy, full of solar systems and planets. Each planet is an infinitely playable battle, equivalent to the original Retro Evolved if you like. Saving happens every time a game state changes, usually at the end of a battle or when you get a high score.

The currency system in the game determines how the game unlocks before you, so difficulty is handled through that. You can replay any battle as many times as you like, thats part of the Geometry Wars formula.

If you're worried about save points on a short journey or such like with the DS, typical games last minutes or 10's of minutes rather than hours. Of course we hope that some players will last hours on battles but we'd be honestly impressed if they did that on tram ride.

For the full interview, click on the Read Link below. Geometry Wars: Galaxies is currently slated for release in the fall.

 

Sierra Entertainment has just announced the latest installment to the Spyro the Dragon franchise, The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night.  This time hitting the PlayStation 2, Wii, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, and mobile phones, this video game is the second installment to The Legend of Spyro trilogy.

The game kicks off when the Ape King attempts to start a new age of darkness by going to the Temple of Souls. Around the same time, the protagonist Spyro starts receiving strange visions which serve as clues to what's happening around him. Players will take on the role of Spyro and solve the mysteries hidden in the visions to defeat enemies such as Skabb the Pirate and Gaul the Ape King.

Aside from new breath attacks and fury modes, a new weapon beefs up Spyro's already smoking-hot arsenal: Dragon Time. Spyro can use Dragon Time to bend time and allow him to dodge attacks, confuse enemies, and aid him in solving time environmental puzzles. Sounds interesting enough, and certainly adds a new twist to the usual puzzle solving games.

Spyro's new abilities include the following:

• Upgradeable Breath Attacks (Ice Bomb, Electric Orb, Earth Vine, Enhanced Fire)
• Four elemental melee attacks like Comet Dash, Artic Blast, Earth Pound, Electric Spin, and
• New Fury Attacks that come in either Earth, Electricity, Ice and Fire elements.

Sierra Entertainment's own Senior Vice-President for Global Marketing Al Simone is excited about this new project. "We’re really excited to continue the re-emergence of one of video gaming’s most popular characters through this ongoing trilogy," says Simone.

Hollywood actors Elijah Wood and Gary Oldman reprise their roles as the voices of Spyro and Ignitus the Fire Dragon Elder, respectively.

The Legend of Spyro: Eternal Night is expected to be released this autumn. Krome Studios is developing the PlayStation 2 and Wii versions; Amaze Entertainment is in charge for the Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance versions; and, Vivendi Games Mobile will make the mobile version of The Legend of Spyro: Eternal Night. The mobile games will be available for Europe and North American mobile subscribers.

Definitely a step up and in the right direction for the arcade shooter, Geometry Wars Galaxies is anything but the US$ 5 offering on Xbox Live. After a lengthy hands-on and an interview with Sierra's Roger Carpenter, Game Informer discovered that the game would offer fans a lot more than they handled in Geometry Wars. More planets, more content, and a full version of Retro Evolved are just the tip of the iceberg.

Although mentioned quite generally before, multiplayer for the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS will take full swing this time around.

According to senior producer Carpenter, each of the platforms will get an exclusive multiplayer mode but they have yet to be revealed. Leaderboards are planned already at this stage of development and it's been mentioned that Gamespy can support Nintendo's leaderboard offerings.

The current build of the game shoves co-op and an AI drone to aid players in the mayhem, but watch out: the developers will be using that as an excuse to amp up the manic gameplay. And those who are worried about adapting to a new control scheme can ease up a bit.

Carpenter said, "At this stage we’re not using motion-sensitive functionality, it's all with the sensor bar but all our testing points to the fact that the control method is not a barrier to crazy scores." They believe that the hard-core Geometry Wars players will find comfort in the new control scheme in time, because it offers new control tricks for the pro-shooter.

After Vivendi re-brandished the Sierra name for game branding, Sierra is now out to accomplish the task it was revived to do: push out great games worthy of its name to PC and console. As Vivendi's bid for the mid-end to low-end bracket of the market, Sierra has announced the next in the Spyro the Dragon series, The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night.

Spyro the Dragon was originally released on the first Sony PlayStation, and players may remember accompanying the purple Puff (get it? Puff?) in his efforts to rescue his fellow drakes from their crystalline prisons. Two other titles succeeded the first and Spyro 3: Year of the Dragon by (guess who? Yep that's right!) Insomniac Games was considered the best of them all.

The PlayStation 2 versions, including the later The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning, soon followed thereafter, and A New Beginning's revival of the series from a previous title's lackluster performance hinted that a sequel would be highly likely.

The Eternal Night will be developed once again by Krome Studios, together with Amaze Entertainment, for the PS2, GBA, Nintendo DS, and Wii. The official announcement came through with the news that Elijah Wood and Gary Oldman would voice the characters Spyro the Dragon and red dragon Ignitus, respectively.

The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night for Wii

  

Click on Full Article for screenshots for the Nintendo DS version.

Capcom, known for their hits Dead Rising and Lost Planet: Extreme Conditions, is taking another step forward toward global marketing. They have hired Scot Bayless to take the reins as VP of product development in the U.S. and Europe.

Mark Beaumont, Executive VP, officer, and Head of Consumer Software Publishing in North America, South America and Europe, was now confident they have the means for "international growth outside of Japan."

Bayless will oversee the development efforts in North America and Europe, with several AAA titles queued up for the coming three years. Each game will be specially designed to cater to the U.S. and European gaming markets. He will be based in Capcom's North American headquarters up in Northern California.

Bayless used to be VP of development at Midway's Chicago development studio after working on the recent James Bond title at Electronic Arts. He was also Studio Manager at Microsoft Game Studios and has also worked at Dynamix/Sierra and Sega of America. He is a game industry veteran with nearly two decades of industry experience.

For the guys who've already read Eragon, Christopher Paolini's much-prized fantasy novel, we've got very good news for you. A premier to the December 15 movie? Haha. Funny.

Not exactly, but if you're itching to get a glimpse of how the movie's gonna turn out, want something more interactive than a canvas screen, and would love to hear how the likes of Ed Speleers, Sienna Guillory, Garrett Hedlund and Robert Carlyle sound, then this news should put fire in your belly: Sierra Entertainment's just announced they launched the Eragon video game yesterday (That's Nov. 14) for the Xbox 360, the PSP and the PC.

This fantasy-adventure game puts you in the saddle of a Dragon Rider, and for those who haven't been keeping in touch with our collection of pics and trailers here, the game promises to be filled with swords, spells, and the winged, fire-breathing reptiles we all so love - dragons. As Vivendi Game's chief strategy and marketing officer, Cindy Cook said, "we are excited to capture the adventure and beauty of Eragon for fans worldwide and to create an interactive experience authentic to the Eragon universe in the official video game of the Twentieth Century Fox film."

Buy: [Eragon for PSP]
Buy: [Eragon for Xbox 360]
Buy: [Eragon for DS]
Buy: [Eragon for PC]