http://www.gamedev.net/Maximum game development!en-ushttp://www.gamedev.net/pics/gdnet-88x31.gifhttp://www.gamedev.net/Maximum Game Development!http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=494093As I'm sure all of you are aware, we experienced a little bit of downtime yesterday but, fear not, because the site is better now. I instantly posted yesterday's daily to ensure that no one would suffer a withdrawal (that and I'm going for a full year without missing a single day). So, hopefully, no one had the shakes too bad. VideoGamer.com ran a particularly detailed interview with Cameron Suey, producer of the Xbox 360 and PS3 version so of Lucasarts' upcoming game Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. Interviews with developers before a game's release date aren't typically anything but bad jokes interspersed with PR speech snippets but, in this particular interview, Cameron answers the oft-asked question about why The Force Unleashed is coming to every imaginable platform except the PC. His answer is long and contains a lot of words, but the gist of it is that the development team felt that, for this game, development for platforms with consistent hardware specs was a necessity: "with the known quantity for the consoles, and every console is the same with the same processing power, it made sense for us to develop for those consoles." The Wall Street Journal published an interview with Rockstar co-founder and President Sam Houser which the writer titled: "Studio Is Prize in Takeover Duel." I envisioned the money fight between Electronic Arts and Take-Two as more of a means for EA to corner parts of the sports game market by shutting down 2k Sports the moment they get their ownership hands over Take-Two's pulsating heart and then EA looks upon the heart in their hands and they can extract the Rockstar diamond within. Either way, the WSJ article also points out that Rockstar hired a "spiritual healer" to "exorcise" potential demons after the death of two employees. Houser also pointed out that he has no problem becoming "much smaller fish in much bigger pond" if the EA acquisition ever takes place. It was a slow news day.http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=493992Rik Ede is considered to be the world's leading authority on surround sound in games having spent 5 years working for Dolby as 5.1 evangelist, 2 years as a consultant to DTS and more recently he just finished a 2 year stint as the PLAYSTATION 3 surround consultant to Sony's R&D group. Sourcehttp://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=493988In a manner that is best described as Neo-EA (I plan to continue championing them), the company listened to the nerdrage that surrounded the news regarding SecuRom's copy protection measures for the upcoming Mass Effect (PC port) and Spore and responded by removing the every-ten-days legitimacy check. As far as I understood the situation, this check was going to be used as a means to "allow" gamers to play the aforementioned titles without a CD/DVD and whether or not people will be able to play the game without a CD still is unknown. The new and "improved" copy protection method for the two games will check the authenticity of the install whenever a player wants to download new content or, presumably, patches. United States representative Lee Terry (Republican from Nebraska) and Jim Matheson (Democrat from Utah) are proposing a bill which would require retailers to check for identification when buying a game "intended for adults." The proposal, titled the Video Games Ratings Enforcement Act, would enforce a $5,000 civil penalty upon any retailer who does not check whether a customer is above the age gate for an M-rated (17+) or Ao-rated (18+) game. As the Variety piece points outs, "several state legislatures have enacted similar laws, but each has been struck down by courts on First Amendment challenges." This bill, as Terry points out, does not actually make any claims or restrictions as to the content of games, just that the ratings scale should be enforced. Several game stores already do do this so, from my mind, having it be a requirement isn't a terrible idea and may actually help to limit unnecessary litigation against violent games in the future. And, in other news, Sony is competing for world domination. I mean, they're actually competing "beyond" Microsoft and Nintendo within the scope of the entertainment industry. Kaz Harai, the president of Sony Computer Entertainment, says that he thinks the "PS3, PS2 and PSP are all entertainment platforms so I feel that our competition is not Microsoft or Nintendo, but basically any form of entertainment that is competing for the consumers' attention." As absurd as I thought the quote was on Friday, now I think it makes sense. Sony always intended for the Playstation 3 to be an all-in-one entertainment system (rather than Nintendo's firm stance that the Wii is solely a gaming system) and, from what I understand, the PS3 is one of the best Blu-Ray players on the market. So we're back to Sony taking over the world.http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=493842This week from Journal Land we have 16 notable updates from various developers on all sorts of topics: programming, business, project updates, freebies, DRM, and more!http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=493824The world's most popular video games industry website in partnership with the Nordic Game conference launches the new Gamesindustry.biz Network community and meeting planner at this year's event.http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=493823Games Convention Asia Conference (GCAC) today opened its call for papers. From now until June 15th, experts from the international game community can submit speaking proposals for the upcoming Games Convention Asia Conference, taking place at Suntec International Convention & Exhibition Centre Singapore, September 18-19, 2008.http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=493822High-level networking and knowledge-sharing between online game industry professionals starts on May 13th, at the Seattle Marriott Waterfront Hotel for those attending the 2008 ION Game Conference. Over 500 attendees representing 260 globally diverse companies have already signed on to participate in the ION experience. Only one day, Friday, May 9th, is left to register online for ION. Online registration ends on May 10th at 12 AM Pacific Standard Time.http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=493821In its 13th annual appearance, the fmx/08 has once more lived up to its reputation. For four full days, the conference on all things relevant to digital entertainment drew the international cg community to Stuttgart's Haus der Wirtschaft to inform themselves about the latest developments and more importantly to exchange ideas and experiences. The comprehensive and first-rate program is decisive in making this event the best of its kind in Europe, but other factors also play a role. Under the Animation Institute's lead, the FMX has been able to garner an atmosphere in which students, companies and world- class speakers engage in heartfelt discussion. The spirit of FMX is entrenched in the participation that the visitors bring with them.http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=493819The agenda is now finalized and this is one Game Summit you don't want to miss! The Vancouver International Game Summit and its Advisory Board are pleased to announce that this year's closing keynote event will feature the key leaders behind the 2007 Game of the Year: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=493784So, Activision had a good year with its total revenue for the fiscal year at $2.9 billion USD (up from $1.5 billion the prior year) largely do, no doubt, the the massive success of Call of Duty 4 with its nine million-plus sales. The publisher says that about 82.8% of its earnings came from consoles, 10.8% from mobile gaming, and a mere 6.4% from PC games. In an analyst conference call, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick made statements on how the Guitar Hero franchise has sold more than 19 million units to-date and adds: "versus only three million from our only competitor" (Rock Band). So, just so we're clear, the franchise started and made popular by the Rock Band developer (and which has three games in it each available for numerous platforms) is outselling a single game by the same developer and this is a point of pride. I was told by a GameDev.net staff member that it's no longer acceptable to talk about Grand Theft Auto 4. So now I'll talk about how a rumor about how David Jones, the creator of Grand Theft Auto, may have bought the rights for APB (All Points Bulletin) so that he could propose it to Rockstar as the GTA MMO. I don't usually report on rumors but, as a gamer typically uninterested in the massively multiplayer "arena," I must say: do want. Over at Gamasutra there's an interesting article about the Playstation Network and Downloadable Games. The opinion/editorial piece is by no means an official work, but it's something I've noticed on my system whenever I browse the list of downloadable games. Unlike Xbox Live, which has its share of non-indie titles too, the Playstation Network's best games are all produced by Sony's Santa Monica studio and, for the most part, pass through an official Sony production pipeline despite the development being done by indie studios. Update: Apparently Electronic Arts has responded to the SecuRom outcry over the every-ten-days activation requirement. Kudos to EA. May want?http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=493749Sciencedaily.com reported UC San Diego computer scientists have created a fog and smoke machine for computer graphics that cuts the computational cost of making realistic smoky and foggy 3-D images.http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=493748Sciencedaily.com reported UC San Diego computer scientists have created a fog and smoke machine for computer graphics that cuts the computational cost of making realistic smoky and foggy 3-D images.http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=493694David Lakritz, President & CEO, Language Automation, Inc., previews his "Top Global Markets for Online Games (and How to Speak to the Gamers)" lecture at the 2008 ION Game Conference. Additionally, in this interview he tackles what has often proven to be a tricky subject for online game developers localizing game titles to match the language and culture of an international market.http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=493682With challenge #6 currently being judged, GI has already set its sights ahead for challenge #7, set to run from May 30th - July 12th. Hit the jump for rules and info.http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=493678Now available free of charge, a production-proven and professionally supported system to develop massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) - a completely revised version of the Torque MMO Kit has been introduced in April 2008 by the German company TalentRaspel.