Next month, Rockstar and Take-Two interactive will be releasing their latest PSP title, Beaterator. The title was developed by the same studio that brought you the portable versions of Grand Theft Auto, namely Vice City Stories, Liberty City Stories, and the recently released Chinatown Wars. The new game will be available via the Playstation Network as well as on UMD, most likely in preparation for the upcoming release of the PSPgo.

Unlike those other titles mentioned however, Beaterator is more of a music suite which takes many of the tools you’d find in a studio and throws them into a music generator, making it easily usable by anyone. This allows you to easily create beats on the go. Famed music producer Timberland apparently contributed to the direction of the project, providing insight and lending his experience to the development of the title.

“I’ve worked closely with Rockstar Games to make something completely unique,” said Timbaland. “Beaterator is like taking my music studio and turning it into a suite of tools anyone can use. We can’t wait to hear the beats people make and share with the world.”

Apparently it was originally created as a flash application on the Rockstar website, but recently they decided to build on that, as it gained popularity. The title should be avaliable in North America on September 29th.

Recently, Peter Moore went on record stating that he felt Electronic Arts had cracked the female market. The sports market, which is EA’s largest cash cow, has long been male dominated with titles such as Madden and Tiger Woods. Moore noted that EA is finally talking to women and has brought them into their sports community. How? I’m not even sure. But he really seems to believe that, which has me wondering what he means exactly.

 I can only assume he’s talking about their foray into the fitness world with the Wii title EA Active. Of course, he went on to state that it wasn’t merely a franchise that EA was planning but an entire platform moving forward. I guess there’s something I’m missing, but you’d think that they’d want to solidify their base before making statements like this. If they had released more titles that aimed to attract women, and men alike, then maybe they’d have a basis for the claims, but I’m still not buying it. Of course, it’s only a matter of time before we start seeing more titles aimed towards women– I have no doubt that it’ll happen eventually.

For those of you who were wondering, the Batman: Arkham Asylum demo was recently released on the Ps3 and Xbox 360 on Friday. I had previously played this game at E3, and while I felt the game still had some ways to go, I was impressed by the quality of the visuals achieved with the Unreal Engine. I finally took the time to sit down with the recent consumer demo for the PS3 and was actually able to enjoy it a bit more in the comfort of my own home. The first thing I had noticed, which I hadn’t really taken the time to appreciate beforehand, was Mark Hamil’s reprisal of his patented Joker, whose voice many of us had come to associate with the character due to his wonderful performances on various Batman animated series. It wasn’t long before it struck me that the entire cast of the original animated series had returned to do the voices, clearly playing to my nostalgia.

The demo starts with a wonderfully rendered Gotham skyline, and quickly follows with a cinematic opening using the very impressive in-game graphics. It was at this point that I recognized half of a musical cue, which was kind of nice, but would have been better had they simply licensed the music from the series for arrangement. Maybe Danny Elfman wasn’t too fond of them using it–who knows. The sound was also notably loud, but that’s alright since you can easily adjust that in the options menu.

Once you get down to the actual game play, they immediately have you fighting a mob of enemies to help you get used to the combat. The game tends to shift between “bullet-time” and real time when you brawl hand-to-hand, allowing you to seemingly have plenty of time to counter attacks. This makes it a bit too easy if you ask me, and I hope later battles start becoming more fast paced as you progress through the game, but that might just be wishful thinking. Other portions of the demo show off the “detective mode,” which gives Batman the ability to see things such as people’s condition, heart rate, weaknesses in structural integrity, and other potentially helpful things. There’s nothing that makes you use it sparingly, which might take away from a lot of the challenge. You’re also encouraged to sneak around more powerful opponents and to avoid guns, as Batman isn’t Superman–he can be shot to death.

The demo actually ran pretty long, and while I really enjoyed what I played, I have to wonder about the length of the game. I’m not really sure how long it’d take someone to complete but that said, the game is pretty spectacular and might be worth having just for the amazing acting. Oh, and seeing as the PS3 version of the game allows you to play as The Joker, that should at least double the play time. The game itself should be hitting stores in the US on August 25th.

Sony actually went out of their way the other week to remove in-game advertisements from their online racing title Wipeout HD due to customer complaints. Apparently the game had been experiencing longer load times and slow down as a result of the ads that were introduced during a recent update for the game. After experiencing issues, a large number of customers actually complained enough that Sony took notice and went out of their way to update the game, removing the ads in question. It’s incredibly rare that company like Sony would go out of their way like that.

I know from experience that the moment ads show up on a site that people frequent, consumers take notice. In fact, another site that I write for recently had an issue where an advertisement company decided they would create ads that auto-played video and sound without first consulting the owners of the site. This caused a number of the readers to panic and complain. While I don’t blame them, some of the readers were over the top with their responses–enough so, that I almost wanted to reply “in kind.” It’s a good thing I didn’t. Still, the ads were eventually pulled after giving the agency a stern talking to. I suppose it goes to show that complaining can really work in your favor some times. I’m still impressed that it worked with Sony.

As for Wipeout HD, I own it, and enjoy it quite a bit. I haven’t played it since they introduced the ads, but from what I gather, that was very short lived, so it would have been easy for people to miss out on that. For a racing game though, it’s an excellent title and recommend that anyone who like futuristic racing titles give it a try. If you’re a PSP owner, then give Wipeout Pulse a try as well. It looks great on the handheld and plays pretty well.

[Image Source: Sony Computer Entertainment Japan]

It appears that Call of Duty 4 will be finally heading to the Wii after being out for over a year on it’s competition. While I understand that graphical prowess needed to actually create a decent port would probably one of the stumbling blocks for anyone trying to port the game, you have to wonder why this hadn’t happened yet. Case and point being that a port of the game had already been released on Nintendo DS. The popularity of the title alone, combined with the desire to actually shoot people with a Wiimote gun must have struck someone as a good idea early on. So why hadn’t we seen it before now?

Well, one reason could be that Infinity Ward isn’t a Wii development team. I have a hard time believing that that was the only reason though. It just makes me curious as to why they hadn’t out-sourced the job prior to this. Finally, Treyarch took up the cause and got the port finished. It should be hitting stores on November 10th, in conjunction with the launch of Modern Warfare 2 on the other major consoles. The game hasn’t been rated by the ESRB, but I can only imagine it’d get the same rating as it’s next-gen counterparts, and that’s, of course, M for mature. The rating aside, it’s a wonderful title which I’ve spent many hours playing. Sure it’s got some graphic content, but it’s a game about war. I’d think that’d go without saying. If you enjoy first person shooters, you owe it to yourself to pick up a copy if you haven’t already.

It seems that Ubisoft, the developer of such popular series as Splinter Cell and Prince of Persia, doesn’t seem too concerned about console piracy. Recently Yves Guillemot, CEO and Chairman for Ubisoft went on record stating, “Altogether on console, the piracy is low. On the PC the piracy is quite a lot. We are working on a tool that would allow us to decrease that on the PC starting next year and probably one game this year.”

This isn’t surprising as piracy has plagued PC releases for quite some time, causing developers to shift their development towards safer, and more profitable platforms such as the home console market. As a result, we’ve seen an increased trend of Console games with the occasional PC port, often times following months after the game is initially released. On top of that, many studios that had previously developed exclusively for PCs and Macs have found themselves being sold to larger publishers. A recent example being the classic FPS developer Id Software. 

It’s a sad, but almost inevitable trend, and while some developers have found answers to the piracy problem, only a handful have managed to do well with the measures they’ve taken. Steam is a good example of how to properly market online games for digital distribution, but it can’t be the only method. And, if you look at the DRM issues that Bioware went through with titles like Mass Effect, you almost have to wonder how worth while developing security measures actually is. In the end, I can’t blame Ubisoft for being just the least bit concerned about the market, how about you?

Nobuyuki Oneda, Sony Corp’s CEO and Executive Vice President, recently announced during a conference call that the actual manufacturing costs of the Playstation 3 system have dropped 70%. This is probably the best news Sony’s investors could hope for, considering the original manufacturing costs of the system itself was costing Sony far more than they were making in sales. As a result, Sony had been reporting a loss in previous quarters. However, now that the cost of the consoles themselves have dropped considerably, there might be light at the end of that tunnel for Sony after all.

“The cost reduction since we introduced the PS3 is very substantial and this is on schedule,” Oneda-san replied when asked about manufacturing costs. “We don’t disclose how much of the PS3, specifically the cost deduction was achieved during the past two years. But that is on schedule.”

These statements leave a lot to the imagination, and while it doesn’t exactly confirm the potential for PS2 emulation, anyone could speculate that the cost cuts were achieved through a number of changes to the hardware of the PS3 itself, including the previous removal of PS2 emulation, as well as the rumored changes to the architecture of the cell processor. Either way, I look forward to what Sony has in store for us moving forward into the next financial year.

The latest edition of the most recent Ninja Gaiden installment, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, is set for a North American launch date of September 29th. The game is the first Ninja Gaiden title being produced since the departure of former Team Ninja leader, Tomonobu Itagaki, last year. His departure from the company was a bit of a surprise to many, and didn’t end on very good terms. As a result, many people doubted the future of Team Ninja and Tecmo as a whole. That was, until Tecmo decided to merge with Koei earlier this year. They’ve since reformed Team Ninja under the guidance of Ninja Gaiden Sigma producer, Yosuke Hayashi. Given his impressive performance with his previous PS3 title, Ninja Gaiden Sigma, I have high expectations for any future projects involving him and his team.

Unlike the 360 release, this version will feature new playable characters, such as Ayane from Dead or Alive, and Momiji from Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword. A co-op mode is included this time, voice chat, and over 30 different missions to play through. In addition, there is a challenge mode available that will rank players online according to their total karma points at the end of each mission. With the game itself being marketed as the most definitive version of the series to appear to date, you’ll be sad to learn that it’s only being released for the PS3. It’s also rumored that Team Ninja will be shifting their main development platform from Xbox 360 to PS3 from here on out, so games should be released on that console first. The game is also going to be rated M for mature, so keep that in mind if you’re planning on making it a gift.

You read that right, MTV is reporting that the upcoming Xbox 360 title, Avatar: The Game, will be the one of the first titles that actually require an HDMI connection for the full 3d experience. That means that not only will you need a compatible television, but an Xbox 360 capable of using HDMI. Early adopters of the 360 should take note, as their consoles are not equipped with an HDMI port. This is assuming your Xbox didn’t red ring at some point, causing Microsoft to send you a new system.  Assuming you have a PS3, HDMI, and a TV capable of displaying 1080p, you’ll be able to get the full 3d effects from the get go. Later model 360 users who also have the aforementioned should also be good to go.

The reason the developer is giving for the HDMI requirement has to do with the 1080p aspect ratio. Apparently the only way the 360 will be capable of properly rendering the effects requires that resolution via HDMI out. It should also be noted that the Wii version of the game will not be capable of the full 3d experience. Avatar: The Game is based on the James Cameron movie of the same name and is due out this December.

[Editor’s note: A reader pointed out–rather rudely, mind you–that the 360 is capable of displaying 1080p via RGB. I assume he meant through component, but rather than trying to argue the difference between rendering and upscaling, I’ll merely point out that these were the claims of the developer. I simply reported them. I also clarified as to what I believe he meant by changing the above paragraph to read “rendering” rather than “display.”]

In a recent interview with Kikizo, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction Lead Designer Steven Masters mentioned that his team “could absolutely execute on PS3,” and that the game’s current Xbox 360 exclusivity is merely due to boardroom politics. The obvious conclusion to draw from that statement is that Microsoft inked a deal to prevent the title from being released on other consoles. Smart move, especially considering the amazing reception the game has recieved so far with the press. I even had the pleasure of watching a ShamWow-esque pitchman show off the game at E3 which, all kidding aside, looked spectacular.

Masters went on to elaborate by saying “…Ubisoft as a company now has a lot of experience with PS3. Our processes, tools, techniques are very well-developed– we could absolutely execute on the PS3 if we had the opportunity, but like I said it was a business decision.” At least that means that we can expect Assassin’s Creed 2 to look amazing, despite the fact that we won’t be seeing Conviction released on the system. On the bright side, I own an Xbox 360, so I’ll be buying the game any ways. If you own one, I suggest you do the same. After all, it’s been awhile since we’ve seen any Splinter Cell titles as good as this, and if you’re a fan of the series, you won’t be disappointed.