PSP Updates

Austin GDC 08 to help charity

Mabie A. — 2008-08-27T17:15:59-07:00

This year's Austin Game Developers Conference is adding a nice twist to their event. It's not just gonna be about games, it's also gonna be about charity.

Yep, gamers who'd like to participate in the Austin GDC will not only be having fun by testing their skills as gamers, but will also contribute to a good cause by making a charitable donation. How? Simple. There's a US 20 entry fee for the Level Up Charity Games Competition, and everything will be donated to the ESA Foundation.

Marc Mencher, CEO of competition sponsor GameRecruiter, says this about their charitable deed:

We have a long-standing commitment to supporting the educational needs of minority and female students who are interested in being part of the video game industry. By providing this support to the ESA Foundation's Scholarship Program, we hope to allow deserving individuals to further their education and expand workplace diversity within our industry.

Scheduled for the September 17 competition feature titles such as:

Rock Band 2
Madden 08
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
I-Play Bowling

The Austin Game Developers Conference will be running from September 15 to 17 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Austin, Texas.

Blockbuster, Riteaid, 7-Eleven to carry PSN cards by September

Karl B. — 2008-08-27T16:50:53-07:00

GameStop may not be getting its share of PlayStation Network cards until next year, but PS3 owners in North America will be able to get the cards from three more retail outlets next month.

According to the official US PlayStation website, three new retail outlets will start carrying PSN cards in September: Blockbuster, 7-Eleven, and Riteaid.

Some reports are also saying that Blockbuster and 7-Eleven stores all over the world will start carrying the cards in September. More good news for PS3 owners who don't have a credit card handy.

The cards are already available at Speedway, Pamida, Meijer, and other locations.

Thanks to PolishPride212 for the tip!

Pandora Installer for 3.xx kernels 4b: updated support for homebrew utilities

Charles D. — 2008-08-27T16:43:48-07:00

A couple of minor updates found their way into the latest build of developer Hellcat's Pandora Installer for 3.xx kernels, bumping itself up to Revision 4b. The new version essentially includes support for the updated releases of several other homebrew utilities.

To be more specific, Pandora Installer now makes use of the version 7 of Despertar del Cementerio and version 0.4 of the ELF-Menu. Both these useful homebrew utilities were originally added in Revision 4 of the app.

Just a friendly reminder from the dev: please note that Pandora Installer only works on PlayStation Portables running on custom firmware and not the original PSP firmware. With that said, don't forget to browse through the Readme file before installing anything onto your handheld.

Download: Pandora Installer for 3.xx kernels Revision 4b
Visit: QJ.NET's PSP Development forum

PSP breaches 10 million sales in Japan; Monster Hunter dominates all-time chart

Gino D. — 2008-08-27T08:49:24-07:00

It's been over three and a half years now since the PSP has been released in Japan. And just last month, Sony announced that they've shipped some 10 million units of PSP to Japan retail. Now coming from Famitsu, actual sales totalled from the period of December 12, 2004 to August 24, 2008 have been tallied.

As of last counting, they've gotten 10,005,546 PSP units sold, to be exact. That's a lot of PSPs!

The numbers are consistent - Media Create reports that the PSP sells anywhere between 40 to 60 thousand units per week in Japan, and with the PSP-3000 announced, there's little doubt that PSP sales would end there either.

As for software, Capcom's dominating the PSP lifetime charts with their Monster Hunter Portable series, with Crisis Core sitting on third place, thus preventing the trilogy from getting a Top 3 sweep.

Meanwhile, Phantasy Star Portable, being the game with the shortest lifetime out of the top five, managed to just sneak into the all-time list - that's definitely saying something, compared to all the other games that have been released out there since the PSP's launch. Check it out:

Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (Capcom) - 2,396,642 units since March 27, 2008
Monster Hunter Portable 2nd (Capcom) - 1,706,387 units since Feb 22, 2007
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (Sqaure Enix) - 790,795 units since Sept 13, 2007
Monster Hunter Portable (Capcom) - 668,964 units since Dec 1, 2005
Phantasy Star Portable (Sega) - 545,242 units since July 31, 2008

Download: Phantasy Star Portable demo (Japan)

PSP Updates Summer Homebrew Contest entry: THE WAY

Charles D. — 2008-08-26T19:00:56-07:00

First time homebrew coder PSPfreak2007 decided to take a brave stab at QJ.NET's PSP Updates Summer Homebrew Contest and entered an interesting new homebrew game into the mix. Entitled "THE WAY", it's basically a memory game with a simple yet challenging concept.

Coded in Lua, the goal of the game is to follow a predetermined path flashed at the start of each level. The player must then follow the same path through a grey and black grid once the highlighted squares disappears.

Considering this is a first attempt at a homebrew game, the program itself is well constructed and should provide players a quick distraction by going through all its levels. You can leave any feedback regarding the game by visiting the developer's project release thread, accessible through the link below.

Download: THE WAY
Visit: QJ.NET's PSP Development forum

EA, Take-Two finally begin closed door talks

Charles D. — 2008-08-26T16:58:46-07:00

After the Federal Trade Commission gave its blessing to continue merger negotiations, Electronic Arts and Take-Two Interactive have finally begun its closed door meeting regarding the deal. However, it seems that both parties will be rather tight-lipped regarding the details of the meeting.

EA made a filing yesterday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which mentions the "secret negotiations" that it will be conducting with Take-Two. Here is an excerpt from the said statement:

On August 25, 2008, [EA] and [T2] entered into the confidentiality agreement contemplated by the letter of August 17, 2008 from Strauss Zelnick, Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of Take-Two to John Riccitiello, Chief Executive Officer of EA, and the letter of August 18 from Mr. Riccitiello to Mr. Zelnick.

The terms of the confidentiality agreement prohibit each of EA and Take-Two from, among other things, publicly disclosing the status or terms of any discussions or negotiations between EA and Take-Two unless EA or Take-Two notifies the other that it is terminating discussions. As a result, EA does not intend to make any further announcements regarding the status of any discussions or negotiations with Take-Two unless and until discussions between EA and Take-Two have been terminated or such parties have entered into a transaction. As previously disclosed, EA now requires due diligence to support any proposal to acquire Take-Two and there can be no assurance that any proposal, negotiations or transaction will result.

EA is also looking into Take-Two's three year game release schedule. Rest assured that another Grand Theft Auto title will definitely be included in the list, among other things. In any case, we'll just have to keep our eyes and ears open on any news regarding the outcome of the ongoing talks between the two companies.

Phoenix Game Engine (Lua) 0.01

Isaac C. — 2008-08-26T13:53:09-07:00

From the collaborative efforts of PSP homebrew developers InsertWittyName and MK2K comes the Phoenix Game Engine, a new engine for the Sony handheld that uses a port of the Lua 5.1.4.

Phoenix Game Engine (otherwise known as PGE) is a fully featured engine for game development. PGE Lua is the Lua wrapper of the engine.

The engine comes with 23 samples demonstrating how each module of the engine is used. Here's a vid of the engine in action, but remember to go through the documentation before anything else:

Download: Phoenix Game Engine (Lua) 0.01
Visit: QJ.NET PSP Development Forums

PSP-Maps v1.4: new features, bug fixes

Isaac C. — 2008-08-26T13:10:36-07:00

A new version is out for developer Royale's popular program, PSP-Maps, a translation of Google maps for the Sony handheld. The program is now on version 1.4, with several new features and bug fixes.

Version 1.3 saw features such as directions entry to the menu, and support for the motion kit. Version 1.4 fixed a bug that caused the program to crash. Here's the changelog from the dev, but don't forget to go through the readme for more information on the program:

version 1.4 (2008-08-24)

fixed get directions crash
you can now save favorites with names

version 1.3 (2008-08-20)

fixed Google views
moved all urls to file urls.txt for easier upgrading
added directions entry to the menu
added motion kit support
new splash screen for the NEO Summer Compo 2008

Download: PSP-Maps v1.4

PSP Pandora Deluxe v1.2: Cementerio compatibility fixed, includes more 1.50 Kernel add-ons

Gino D. — 2008-08-26T11:24:43-07:00

It's another release for what could arguably be called as everyone's favorite "all-in-one" Pandora solution. Being a homebrew application that preps your PSP memstick for Dark AleX's Pandora installation, PSP Pandora Deluxe remains as one of the top downloads for the PSP as of late.

Today, Pandora Deluxe v1.2 from DJB comes with a whackload of changes. Here are some notes from the developer (with the changelog at the bottom):

The main reason of this version was to fix some problems with occured when trying to use the 1.50 Downgrader and/or Despertar Cementerio v3 v4. Now, if you try and install the 1.50 Downgrader, it will not let you install Despertar Cementerio v3-v5, the ELF menu, or the Pandora Support Tools (this is because of some imcompatibility issues). However you may now Install Despertar Cementerio v3 v4 together at the same time, without any collisions. Also, the button which you would usually set for the ELF Menu can be used to boot the 1.50 Downgrader (when the 1.50 Downgrader is installed.)

I've also included the M33 1.50 Kernel Addons for all the Despertar Cementerio installations. So now if you select the "Install M33 1.50 Addons" option, the program will install the 1.50 Kernel Addons as shown in the list below:

If you install Despertar Cementerio v3 it will install the 3.71 M33 1.50 Addon.
If you install Despertar Cementerio v4 it will install the 3.80 M33 1.50 Addon.
If you install Despertar Cementerio v5 it will install the 3.90 M33 1.50 Addon.
If you install Despertar Cementerio v7 it will install the 4.01 M33 1.50 Addon.

Changelog for v1.2 (2008-08-26)

Fixed collision with Despertar Cementerio v3 and v4.
Included the 1.50 Kernel Addons for 3.71, 3.80, and 3.90 M33.
Implented a new method on installing the 1.50 Downgrader.
Updated the following Support Tools:

nandTool 0.40 Final
MemoryStick-Tool v1.5

Download: PSP Pandora Deluxe v1.2

Ryan Payton leaves Kojima Productions; MGS5 hinted

Gino D. — 2008-08-26T08:16:22-07:00

Assistant producer Ryan Payton has just left Kojima Productions. Aside from working on MGS Portable Ops, he's also the guy to be thanked for the exquisite Western approach for the controls system in Metal Gear Solid 4, as well as its other bonus content on the collector's edition Blu-ray.

No, Payton's leaving wasn't the cause of any bad blood among the MGS4 team. Speaking to Kotaku in an interview, he reveals that his decision to leave Kojima Productions was due to personal reasons; and without dropping any more details left it at "some pretty heavy news concerning my mom."

As for future plans, he intends to move back to North America and find work somewhere closer to his family. We expect he'll still be doing video game development - as he states, one of his dreams is to land an original game concept of his on retail shelves, but for now, he wants to take things easy and spend more time with his family (aaaw, he's a family guy!).

An interesting note he reveals towards the end of the interview though:

It'll be hard not being involved in MGS5, but I've got the utmost confidence that Hideo Kojima, Ken Imaizumi, and our amazing team will put together another blockbuster game. I'll be cheering from the sidelines.

It looks like the next installment in the Metal Gear series is pretty much confirmed now - though whether it is actually MGS5, I believe it is probably just a placeholder title, a default working title referring to "the Metal Gear game that comes after MGS4." From this quote, it also seems that Hideo Kojima will be working with the same team to deliver the next game.

And with that, we give our warmest thanks to Ryan Payton for all his efforts and work on some of the most memorable games in recent history. Godspeed!

Btw, for those asking about the picture, it's taken from Ryan Payton's blog, from an entry during that time when they were working with Ubisoft Montreal (Payton's the guy with the cool glasses - aside from Kojima, who also has cool, iconic glasses). And yes, that's Jade Raymond.

Makes me wonder... will Payton and Raymond work together in the future? Hmmm...

Related aricles:

PSPWrite v1.1.1: added new fonts and sizes, wrap mode bug fix

Charles D. — 2008-08-25T22:28:44-07:00

Those of you enjoying the new word wrap function of the PlayStation Portable homebrew app PSPWrite have something new to look forward to as developer Zx-81 recently released the latest version of the homebrew text editor application, PSPWrite.

The new build (version 1.1.1) comes with new fonts which come in various sizes. Aside from that, it also includes a bug fix which corrects any special text using a specific format in wrap mode.

Here's the breakdown of the latest changelog for PSPWrite v1.1.1

Bug fix in wrap mode for text using specific iso-8859-1 characters (Thanks to ShadowMaker for reporting this naughty bug)
New built in fonts with various size (8x10, 8x14, 8x16 and 16x22)

As always, don't forget to read through the included documentation that goes with the program. You can also leave any feedback you have regarding PSPWrite by visiting the developer's project release thread, accessible through the link we've provided below.

Download: PSPWrite v1.1.1 (for CFW 4.xx)
Download: PSPWrite v1.1.1 (for CFW 1.5)
Download: PSPWrite v1.1.1 (source code)
Visit: QJ.NET's PSP Development forum

PSP Updates Summer Homebrew Contest entry: TruPhoto

Charles D. — 2008-08-25T20:09:17-07:00

Another official entry to QJ.NET's PSP Updates Summer Homebrew Contest was recently sighted, courtesy of homebrew developer Da_MerV. Entitled "TruPhoto", it gives users an eye-catching alternative to the PlayStation Portable's built-in photo viewer.

TruPhoto includes pretty much all the features of the handheld's image viewer except for setting an image as your wallpaper. The first thing you'll notice, however, is that it makes use of an interface that's quite intuitive and very easy on the eyes.

The homebrew app does not include any documentation. However, you can find detailed instructions on how it works by visiting the project's release thread on our PSP Development forum, accessible through the link below. You can also drop the developer a line by posting on the said thread.

Download: TruPhoto
Visit: QJ.NET's PSP Development forum

Recovery Flasher v1.30

Mabie A. — 2008-08-25T19:05:49-07:00

Developer Hellcat has tipped us at the QJ Forums on the latest version of his Recovery Flasher for the PlayStation Portable. This one ups the count to version 1.30.

The Recovery Flasher essentially recovers semi-bricks, and up/downgrades your CFW. It can also flash ANY CFW directly to 3.71-M33 or 4.01-M33, all without Pandora.

In a nutshell, this basically does the following:

Flashes a fresh M33 CFW (3.71, 4.01) for recovering semi-bricks or to up-/downgrade CFW
does not use Pandora, runns from the recovery menu or the XMB
does not use (as in launch) the original Sony Updater (only extracts all required files from the original .PBP)
runns fine on CFWs lower than 3.52-M33-3 - handy for upgrading older FWs w/o the "need to go 3.52, then 3.52-3, then higher" odyssey :-)
runns fine from TimeMachine (3.40-OE on Fat and 3.60-M33 on Slim)
can backup the FW flash and restore selected parts (XMB theme, settings, PSN activation)

But as that is only the "nutshell", then there obviously is a long version of all that is there to be explained, and you may find it at the file's readme. That's why it's imperative that you guys check it out. There's a lot of important things to be learned, especially if you're a newcomer to the homebrew community.

But the most important thing of all is to have fun. So you go do that now, ayt?

Thanks for the tip, Hellcat!

Download: Recovery Flasher v1.30
Discuss: QJ.NET's PSP Development Forums

Leipzig Bests named; Resistance: Retribution takes top wins

Mabie A. — 2008-08-25T18:42:33-07:00

The Beijing Olympics has already wrapped up and on the other side of the world, the Leipzig Games Convention is just about ready to take their banner down in the events venue. However, with all the goods that came out from the conference, there's still a lot of much ado about which presentation takes the cake.

Well the Leipzig Messe has decided, and on its sixth consecutive run in the show, this year's top accolades go to Sony's upcoming PSP title, Resistance: Retribution. What gave it the edge among other contenders were its technically impressive graphics and intuitive controls. Having that 8-player online multiplayer thrown in for good measure also made the icing a tad more sweeter for gamers all around.

As for the other winners at Leipzig 2008:

Best PS3 game - LittleBigPlanet (Sony)
Best Xbox 360 game - Mirror s Edge (EA)
Best Wii game - Skate It (EA)
Best PC game - Spore (EA)
Best PSP game - Resistance: Retribution (Sony)
Best DS game - Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood (SEGA)
Best Mobile game - PES 2009 (Konami)
Best Online game - Warhammer Online: Day of Reckoning (Mythic)

PSP Updates Summer Homebrew Contest entry: Age of Nations v3

Charles D. — 2008-08-25T16:51:21-07:00

One of our first new entries for the PSP Updates Summer Homebrew Contest has finally made itself known. Homebrew developer SeanPaul223 dropped by to inform us that Age of Nations v3 is officially up and running for the competition.

The latest build added a lot of new features, as well as gave the program's code a major overhaul. Gameplay-wise, Age of Nations works better than ever - with unit and resource management streamlined for the player. The only thing we need now is some Ad-Hoc capabilities and we've got ourselves one homebrew RTS we can all sink our teeth into.

As for the other changes, here's the updated changelog for Age of Nations v3:

General

Code rewrite Entirely
Added Basic AI
Added Age Update Feature
All Bugs Fixed
Added Music
All bugs fixed

Gameplay

Player has resources to manage: Food, gold, wood and stone.
Possibility to create new units: Each units created requires a certain quantity of food, which reduce food resources.
Each units created is independent from others.It has its own health, his own job, and many other things.
Each unit can look for food, look for wood on a map, to increase the player's resources. Just give him the order.
All natural resources such as wood and fruits are limited.When there's no more resources on a tree, it disappears from the map.
Natural resources regenerates automatically.

Units

Four types of units can be created:

Peasants: they're dealing with the natural resources and building tasks
Soldiers
Archers
Riders

Building

Peasants can build Houses, they increases the Population Limit.

Peasants can build Barracks And Stables.These builds are used to make military units.

The homebrew game comes with a Readme file that details its different controls for the handheld. Please make sure to take a look at it before installing any files into your PlayStation Portable. You can also visit the QJ.NET forums for more information regarding the game.

Download: Age of Nations v3
Visit: QJ.NET's PSP Development forum

Tokyo Game Show 2008: full list of exhibitors revealed

Gino D. — 2008-08-25T14:35:23-07:00

Right out of the Leipzig Games Convention, you better get ready for the next big event in the video games industry! The Tokyo Game Show is finally gearing up with this year's theme of "Ready for GAME time!"

And you definitely should be. We just got whiff of the full list of exhibitors to be present at this year's event. Just so you know (are you packing your bags yet?), the event is to be held from October 9 to 12; the first two days being the business days, while the final two would be open to the public.

Now for the list! We see Sony and Square Enix sitting side by side there, and there's Microsoft, Level-5, Sega, Koei, Tecmo, Capcom, EA, and D3Publisher populating the list too. But wait... where's Nintendo? Going MIA again like last year, eh? Well, I'm sure a lot of third-parties are there to show some Nintendo DS and Wii games.

Given these exhibitors... Think you can already expect what kind of announcements to find? Will we see new games or just updates on previously announced games? It's definitely getting my heart pumping... It's GAME time!

Academy of Art University
ACQUIRE CORPORATION
ARC SYSTEM WORKS Co., Ltd.
Beijing Tidemark Consulting Co., Ltd.
bushiroad
CANADA GAMES

o Bug-Tracker
o Complex Games Inc.
o D-Box Technologies Inc.
o Deep Fried Entertainment Inc.
o Di-O-Matic, Inc.
o DTI Software Inc.
o Enzyme Testing Labs
o Fugitive Interactive Inc.
o GestureTek Inc.
o Hothead Games, Inc.
o Q8ISMobile Inc.
o Quazal Technologies Inc.
o Sarbakan Game Studio
o Side Effects Software Inc.
o Studio X Labs
o Wave Generation
o Wicked Studios Inc.

CAPCOM CO., LTD.
CNET Networks Japan K.K.
costy
D3PUBLISHER INC.
DeNA Co., Ltd.
ELECTRONIC ARTS K.K.
ENTERBRAIN, INC.
FromSoftware, Inc.
G DATA Software K.K.
GAMETECH CO., LTD.
Geisha Tokyo Entertainment, Inc.
HOLLAND PAVILION

o BGIn
o Control / Het Redactielokaal
o Dutch Game Garden
o Elements Interactive Mobile
o Ex Machina
o Grendel Games
o Khaeon Games
o Netherlands Foreign Trade Agency EVD
o NHL University
o NLGD Foundation
o Province of Fryslan
o Province of Utrecht
o Streamline Studios BV
o Triangle Studios
o Utrecht School of the Arts
o White Bear Holding BV Imma Games

HUDSON SOFT CO., LTD.
INTERCHANNEL
IREM SOFTWARE ENGINEERING INC.
ITPIA CO., LTD.
JAPAN e-SPORTS ASSOCIATION PREPARATORY COMMITTEE
KDDI CORPORATION
KOEI CO., LTD.
KONAMI
Koubou Inazumagumi
LEVEL-5 Inc.
Marvelous Entertainment Inc.
MATCHINGWORLD, Inc.
Microsoft Co., Ltd.
MORI GAMES CO., LTD.
NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc.
Nikkei Business Publications, Inc.
NTT DOCOMO, Inc.
PLANEX COMMUNICATIONS INC.
PRIME SENSE
Prometech Software, Inc.
SEGA CORPORATION
Silver Star Japan
SNK PLAYMORE CORPORATION
Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD.
TAITO CORPORATION
Taiwan Game Pavilion

o FunTown World Limited
o Gemmy Planet, Inc.
o Goldrock Inc.
o Insrea Game Center Corporation
o Joymaster Inc.
o Lager Network Technologies Inc.
o Mega Net&Tech Co., Ltd.
o M-etel Co., Ltd.
o Winking Entertainment Corporation
o XPEC Entertainment Inc.
o Zeroplus Technology Co., Ltd.
o Taipei Hsien Computer Association
o Taiwan External Trade Development Council

TATA ELXSI LIMITED
TECMO, LTD.
TGL PLANNING INC.
The Behemoth
TOMY COMPANY, LTD.
Transcosmos Inc
Vuzix Corporation
Yudo Inc.

Mobile Content Area

Ambition Co., Ltd.
Cherry Quartz
Chiralion Ltd.
Creative Brain, Inc.
INTERSAVE CO., LTD.
KEMCO
Media Magic Co., Ltd.
RideonJapan, Inc.
SEALZ Co., Ltd.
Spicysoft Corporation

PC Online Games Area

ai sp@ce-Virtual Life System
BIF Inc.
CDNetworks Japan Co.,Ltd
Cyberstep, Inc.
Delgamadas
Faith, Inc.
IMA GROUP
METAIMAGE
MiCROViSiON Inc.
Surfersparadise
TAIWAN A.C.G. EDUCATION
VASARA Co., LTD.

Kids' Area

CAPCOM CO., LTD.
D3PUBLISHER INC.
ELECTRONIC ARTS K.K.
FromSoftware, Inc.
KDDI CORPORATION
KOEI CO., LTD.
KONAMI
LEVEL-5 Inc.
Marvelous Entertainment Inc.
Microsoft Co., Ltd.
NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc.
NTT DOCOMO, Inc.
Prometech Software, Inc.
SEGA CORPORATION
Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD.
TAITO CORPORATION
TECMO, LTD.
TOMY COMPANY, LTD.

Game School Area

Anabuki College Group
Arts College Yokohama
Aso Business Computer College
Digital Entertainment Academy Co., LTD.
ECC COLLEGE OF COMPUTER AND MULTIMEDIA
Higashi-Nihon Design & Computer College
International Art & Design College
JAPAN ELECTRONICS COLLEGE
Kobe Institute of Computing / Kobe College of Computing
Nagoya Kougakuin College
Niigata Computer College
Niigata High Technology College
NIPPON ENGINEERING COLLEGE／TOKYO UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
Numazu Professional College of Information Technology
Osaka Electro-Communication Univ. Department of Digital Games
Ota Information & Business College
Professional Training College Tokyo Net Wave
SOGOGAKUEN HUMAN ACADEMY
Tohoku Computer College
TOKYO COMMUNICATION ARTS
TOKYO DESIGNER GAKUIN COLLEGE
Tokyo Kogakuin College of Technology
TRIDENT COLLEGE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
World Institute of Zeal artists for digital and technology
Yokohama Digital Arts
Yoyogi animation institute

Sales Area

Alchemist
AT-X, Inc.
bushiroad
CAPCOM CARD GAME
CAPCOM CO., LTD.
COSPA Inc.
Game Center CX
HUDSON SOFT CO., LTD.
IREM STORE
Nikkei Business Publications, Inc.
SAN-EI CO., LTD.
SOFTBANK Creative Corp.
SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD.
SQUARE ENIX MUSIC

Business Solution Area

3Di INC.
BitCash Inc.
Bit-isle Inc.
BITS Co., Ltd
Born Digital, Inc.
Community Engine Inc.
CREEK & RIVER Co., Ltd.
CRI Middleware Co., Ltd.
DIGITAL RIVER JAPAN K.K.
FINE Co., Ltd.
FONTWORKS Inc.
Fukuoka Game Industry Promotion Agency
Global Collect
GONZO ROSSO K.K.
Hitachi ULSI Systems Co., Ltd.
HONG KONG TRADE DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL
Marubeni Corporation
MINE LOADER SOFTWARE CO., LTD.
Mizuho Bank, Ltd.
Mizuho Capital Co., Ltd.
Mizuho Investors Securities Co., Ltd.
NeuroSky Inc.
NIHON BINARY CO., LTD.
ONE NorthEast
SANTOKU CORPORATION
Scaleform Corporation
Suzhou Snail Electronic Co,Ltd.
TIS Inc.
Web Technology Corp.

Business Meeting Area

Akamai Technologies Inc.
CAPCOM CO., LTD.
ELECTRONIC ARTS K.K.
FromSoftware, Inc.
Game Republic, Inc.
GAMETECH CO., LTD.
GONZO ROSSO K.K.
HUDSON SOFT CO., LTD.
KOEI CO., LTD.
Marvelous Entertainment Inc.
MINE LOADER SOFTWARE CO., LTD.
NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc.
Nokia N-Gage
Now Production
Suzhou Snail Electronic Co,Ltd.
TECMO, LTD.
Transcosmos Inc
WIZARBOX

Hideo Kojima might stay for next Metal Gear

Isaac C. — 2008-08-25T09:50:25-07:00

Here's some good news for Hideo Kojima fans out there. Remember how the Metal Gear creator said that Guns of the Patriots was his last project in the series? Well, he might come back for the fifth game after all.

In a recent interview with Kikizo, Kojima finally admitted that he might continue to act as producer for future games in the series:

When we look ten years into the future, maybe yes, I may well end up spending more time on the Metal Gear series.

I always intend to stay true to these statements; I do always say what I actually feel at that time, after each Metal Gear, when I say I am going to move on to the next project. But it s like when Hayao Miyazaki says he is not going to do more, and then always ends up doing it.

If you are unfamiliar with Miyazaki (heathen!), he is the co-founder of Studio Ghibli, and the director of many popular anime films such as Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away.

Minor update Oh, and it was Kojima's birthday on August 24. He is now 45 years old. A belated happy birthday to one of gaming's living legends.

Leipzig: Games Convention 2009 dated, GC 2008 sets record

Gino D. — 2008-08-25T09:06:38-07:00

With the Leipzig Games Convention 2008 finally closing its curtains, we now get confirmation that next year's event has already been scheduled. The announcement was made via press release by Leipziger Messe GmbH CEO Wolfgang Marzin: GC 2009 will be held from August 19 to 23, also in Leipzig.

Along with the announcement, we hear of a survey conducted to this year's event's visitors, asking them if they'd want to see another GC next year.

Among all the visitors - whether trade exhibitor or part of the general public (some of which have travelled from half way across the world just to see the show) - a vast majority of about 90 agreed.

This makes me think of what the outcome would have been if a survey like this were conducted at the end of this year's E3, but moving on...

GC 2008's success is proven by the sheer number of visitors who dropped in: over the four-day period, some 203,000 people came in. Compared to last year, the number of software and hardware companies from around the world who participated in the Leipzig event have increased, from 189 to 234.

Final Fantasy Agito XIII screens: Odin wants a red scarf too

Gino D. — 2008-08-25T08:06:05-07:00

Looks like we missed quite a lot over the weekend, one of which: a batch of screens straight from Square Enix for Final Fantasy Agito XIII. Sweet. Details are pretty scarce, but the recent bare-bones fact sheet (check out the related content below) helps a lot in placing how far along in development this game is.

As for the screens, there's three of them today. Not as huge a batch as I would have wanted, but it'll suffice. We haven't seen much of Agito yet anyways, so any footage would have to do. Besides, one curious thing we see in this batch of screenshots is none other than sword-slashing summon, Odin.

He's been around for gods know how long, and of course, Square Enix can't just leave him out of FFAgito 13! As you might have heard, summons in this game are going to be controllable. I'm just not sure if the summons get their own red scarf from the Academy though. Aww, poor Odin.

Metal Gear Acid "possible" for PSN

Administrator — 2008-08-22T20:17:41-07:00

If you really heart card based tactical espionage action this little tidbit could be right up you alley. If you're not into card based tactical espionage action, you should still pay attention because these words come from the lips of Hideo "MGS4" Kojima.

Apparently the Kojima's totally open to the idea of seeing the PSP exclusive Metal Gear Ac!d series show up on the PlayStation Network. When quizzed about the possibility, Kojima had this to say:

"I'll say yes to that idea, but not because it is already running or anything, I'm just saying yes because it's possible, I think it is possible. Sorry to say we don't have specific plans at the moment, but it is possible, yes."

Non-story? Nothing to see? No such thing when we're talking about Kojima. That said, I wouldn't hold my breath for this, even if the Ac!d series makes its way to PSN, it's likely to be without his direct involvement.