Developed under the codename Avalon, this impressive new game is to be produced at the company's celebrated Brighton Studio and will debut on the eagerly-awaited PlayStation 3 and Xbox 2.
Famed for its work on the hit racers MotoGP and MotoGP 2, the Brighton studio was the first choice among Climax's many studios for this exciting project. Its experience with vehicle-based games made it the natural home for the game, which will see the studio branch out to include land, sea and air vehicles.
Designed and developed by some of the brightest minds in the Brighton studio, including members of the award-winning MotoGP team, Avalon will boast groundbreaking graphics, sensational sound and the gripping gameplay now expected of all Climax-developed games. Enhancing the superior technology of the next generation consoles and the power of the Blimey 2 engine, the game is already at a remarkably advanced stage of development with a fully playable online prototype housed at the Brighton office.
Name: Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Info On Game: Currently in development for the PC with Playstation 3 and Xbox 2 versions touted, Oblivion is set in Tamriel’s capital province of Cyrodiil, and sees the player tasked with finding the heir to the Emperor’s throne after he was killed by an unknown assassin. Without an Emperor governing Tamriel, the gates to Oblivion are literally thrown open, spewing forth all manner of demons to invade Cyrodiil and attack its people and towns. It’s up to you to find the lost heir to the throne and unravel the sinister plot that threatens to destroy all of Tamriel.
Amongst the many improvements currently being made is the debut of a groundbreaking new AI system, dubbed “Radiant AI”. This allows NPC’s to make their own choices depending on the world around them; they’ll decide where to eat or who to talk to and what they’ll say, they’ll sleep, go to church, and even steal items, all based upon their individual characteristics. Bethesda is certainly breaking the boundaries in other areas, with full facial animations and lip-synching promised alongside full-speech for all dialogue, which should only go to heighten the sense of believability within the game world.
Name: Unknown
Info on Game:
Japanese publisher Koei has announced one of the world's first PlayStation 3 titles, revealing that it is working on a game tie-in for forthcoming samurai film Oni, which is scheduled for release in 2006.
The game, described as a "historical action" title - a genre which Koei, creators of the Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors titles is very familiar with - is being created for "the next-generation successor to PlayStation 2," according to the official announcement.
It's intended that it will launch alongside the theatrical release of the movie - which is already stirring up interest in the film industry, as it is the directorial debut of Hisao Kurosawa, son of legendary director Akira Kurosawa.
Oni (which translates roughly into English as Ogre, and describes a type of malevolent spirit or mythical creature) is set in 16th century Japan and is based on a script by Kurosawa senior, which has been completed by his son.
Name: An 'NHL' Ice Hockey game
Info on Game: No Info Yet
Name: Dark Sector
Info On Game: No Info Yet
Name: Fifa Soccer 2006
Info On Game: No Info Yet
Name: Gran Turismo 5
Info On Game: No Info Yet
Name:Mortal Kombat 7
Info On Game: No Info Yet
Name: S.T.A.L.K.E.R
Info On Game:
Eagerly-anticipated PC shooter S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow Of Chernobyl could be ported to next generation consoles, GSC Gameworld's head of communications Oleg Yavorsky has revealed.
During an E3 presentation of how the game is looking running under Direct X9, Yavorksy said: "We'd like to focus on the PC version for now, and after that we'll think of the possibilities of porting it to something else - we'll see."
Asked if it would work well on the next gen consoles such as the PS3 and Xbox 2 he responded: "Yes, yes, quite possibly," and went on to rule out any chance of the post-Chernobyl disaster-based FPS of appearing on the current generation of consoles.
But with the next round of consoles not expected until 2006 at the earliest, there's plenty of time for GSC to begin the task of getting the game up and running on next gen tech so don't be surprised to see a STALKER port among the early titles released on the next round of console tech.
However, the chances of the game meeting THQ's rather optimistic September launch date appear to be nil, with Yavorksy admitting the game wouldn't be ready by then, and that it was now targeting a pre Christmas launch.
SCEE has announced the signing of an exclusive publishing deal with UK-based Evolution Studios, developers of the World Rally Championship (WRC) series, which should see the group developing for PS2, PSP and quite possibly the PlayStation 3.
According to Phil Harrison, SCEE's executive vice president for development,;
"We've enjoyed an unparalleled working relationship with Evolution Studios over the past 4 years and the quality of their work on the WRC franchise can be measured by the millions of loyal fans who love the series. This strategic alliance allows our organisations to work even more closely together as we prepare for the combined challenges of new formats and expanded game design horizons."
Evolution Studios will now develop the WRC games exclusively for Sony's consoles, namely the PlayStation 2 and PSP. In addition, Evolution Studios are currently advertising for next-generation positions, suggesting that we’ll see the WRC series migrate onto the Playstation 3 at some stage.
The studio is currently working on World Rally Championship 4 for the PlayStation 2 , which should be release in October, and recently announced the development of a PSP title at its satellite studio BigBig. SCE continues to expand its umbrella of second-party developers, working with Guerilla Games to have Killzone exclusively released on the PS2. With the PSP being release in Japan later this year and the PlayStation 3 on the horizon, the company will likely continue to build second-party support for its upcoming platforms.
The PS3 Cell:
In 2001 IBM, Sony and Toshiba announced an alliance to build a next-generation processor for the PlayStation 3. The PS3 'Cell' is the current name given to the revolutionary new chip. There has been speculation that this new technological breakthrough can reach up anywhere from 200 to 1000 times the power of the current PS2 chip!
The chip is currently based on 65 nanometre technology which is far in advance of anything available now even for the absolute best PC's. Speculation has been risen surrounding Sony’s recent project to push the boundary even further with 45 nanometre chips; however PS3 will probably miss out on the 45 Nm super chips which look set to hit the market in 2007, over a year after the PS3's launch.
