Activision's decision to raise the suggested retail price of Modern Warfare 2 in the UK to UK£ 54.99 (almost US$ 90) has raised a furor among gamers in the region. Former SCEE president Chris Deering recognizes that a conundrum exists: prices for blockbuster titles should be even higher in order to support the industry, but people "just don't have that kind of money."

 

Unreal Tournament III may mark the start of tough times for the Xbox 360 as Mark Rein of Epic Games explains that the size of the DVD format for the Xbox 360 are forcing developers to cut down the game. Rein says during the Edinburgh Festival that Epic Games will

... compress some things. But you know, we may have fewer maps on the 360 version... Blu-Ray has definitely given us a lot of legroom.

As developers begin to warm up to the capabilities of each console, the market may soon see a larger demand on data like UT3. This ups the ante quite a bit as this would definitely be a boon for the Blu-Ray, gaining more favor towards the PlayStation 3. 

However, data storage is quite easily bypassed with a second disc. This might not bode well for those who own the Core system though, as data may prove too large for a memory card. A Hard Drive would definitely be preferable when transferring between two discs. Might this be the reason behind the "Hard Disk Drive Required" sticker appearing on future 360 games?

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot today reaffirmed at the Edinburgh Interactive Festival that his company is intent on entering the film industry and has made big strides towards the attainment of that goal.

Guillemot calls the move as the next logical step for the French-based firm, saying that it's the best way to take advantage of the next-generation of technology. "We will start making movies not because we want to, but because this is what we have to do," he declared.

Ubisoft is already one of the biggest and most reputable game publishers in the business, and they still plan to expand on a global basis with the creation of big investments in North America and Asia. The company has set up a CGI studio in Montreal, Canada recently and is looking at China as the venue of its next stronghold. The company hires about 500 people a year.

No mention of the upcoming Prince of Persia movie was made, but it was reiterated that an Assassin's Creed flick was a very feasible project. "Prince of Persia" will be produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Michael Bay.

Guillemot says that Ubisoft knows exactly what it takes to come up big in the entertainment industry, and he enumerates them as "AAA blockbuster titles, a family portfolio, and capitalizing on the Internet."

Whisking its way by the presses is Activision's announcement of a new track premiered at the last day of the Edinburgh Interactive Entertainment Festival (EIEF) for 2007. The official press release identified "She Bangs the Drums" by The Stone Roses to be featured in Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii) and was played exclusively for the Edinburgh gamefest.

"She Bangs the Drums" is a track from The Stone Roses' album - the same album voted by New Musical Express (NME) Magazine to be the "Greatest British Album of All Time." It became the embodiment of the publisher's promise to Guitar Hero fans, because for Activision, every track will "draw inspiration" from different guitar music genres over time.

"The Edinburgh Interactive Festival is all about the culture of gaming. The Guitar Hero franchise has already established itself as part of mainstream pop culture, so it was a perfect place to unveil one of our UK-originated songs," said RedOctane Europe's general manager, Zach Fountain.

The track was played during the Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock screening event, held August 14, 2007 at the Odeon, Lothian Road, in Edinburgh. Along with the music, the game's boss encounters and multiplayer modes were showcased, giving guests a for-their-eyes-only preview of the game's feature and content.

But fret not: RedOctane will be offering more to show at the industry's upcoming game shows, including the upcoming Games Convention in Leipzig. "The Guitar Hero road show moves from here to Leipzig, where we’ll be announcing a whole new stack of European songs for Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock," said Fountain. So stay tuned.

In the 2007 Edinburgh Interactive Festival, Eidos Product Acquisitions director Ian Livingstone observed that gaming was still significantly behind movies and comics in terms of character "recognizability". This led him to say that the gaming industry "needs more Lara Crofts."

GameSpot narrates that in Livingstone's presentation at the aforementioned shindig, he presented the audience images of popular movie and comic characters first, then went on to flash pictures of iconic game personalities. The result: movie and comic book characters were easier to recognize for the crowd.

The Eidos bigwig then goes on to ask, "If we all work in the games industry, what does that say?" And then he went on to answer that same question by saying that developers need to establish more character in their games.

Livingstone discussed some key elements which can make a character linger in the psyche of gamers. One of the most important, he says, is the name. ""With a name like 'Darth Vader,' you know he's not going to be nice," he says. "Now 'Jar Jar Binks,' he's going to be much more fun."

Livingstone also pointed out that a distinctive look always helps. He cited their character Agent 47 from the popular Hitman series and revealed that the bald head with the bar code at the base often fascinated their audience, giving the character more life than others.

Finally, he says there are catch phrases. These are amazingly cool and original lines that will help people identify with a given character. Much like in a movie, people will find it hard to forget a particular line that hits close to home.

The Edinburgh Interactive Entertainment Festival (EIEF) 2007 has announced this year's Game Screening line up, featuring a plethora of highly anticipated AAA rated games. The Game Screenings will commence on August 14, 2007 at the Odeon Cinema in Edinburgh.

The event will play host to regional premieres of Codemasters' Rise of the Argonauts (PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3) and Turning Point: Fall of Liberty (PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3), along with Activision's Guitar Hero III (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii).

Other game titles to be featured at the Game Screenings are Midway's Unreal Tournament III (PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3), Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed (PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3), and Take-Two Interactive's BioShock (PC, Xbox 360). The official announcement via press wire clued in to more games lined up for the one-day exclusive affair, although some titles will not be rendered in playable or hands-on format.

In addition, the Game Screenings will also pool in gaming fans for sneak previews, to meet, greet, and converse with their favorite game designers, and even participate in panels such as the "How To Get Into The Games Industry" expert discussion to be lead by Rebecca Thompson. Brian Glasgow, EIEF 2007 screenings director, shared his excitement and stated:

The 2007 festival Screenings promises to be the best yet. We have a fantastic line up of games and sessions. If you want to find out how to get a job in the games industry, see what you'll be playing this Christmas or meet the teams who are creating games for the latest generation of consoles, you have to be there.

Not limiting themselves to core and mainstream gamers, the EIEF is now open to even non-gamers, introducing a track for casual gaming and familiarization of gaming - the first step for going into a world of interactive entertainment. The current Game Screenings line up follows, and we'll give you more updates as they develop.

Curious about the Games Screening tracks? Check out a published list at the full article after the jump!

A joint celebration of everything entertainment and artistic, the Edinburgh Interactive Entertainment Festival (EIEF) coming on August 13-14 will highlight the games industry through the eyes of the entertainment industry as a whole. To be held at the Royal College of Physicians at Edinburgh, the fifth EIEF will reflect upon what has been the game industry's significant rise of popularity today.

Pooling personalities in the world of entertainment, what the industry gamers call "home" will be examined by parallel creative industries which include music, art, and movies. Keynoted by Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot, the conference will also feature reflections from Simon Nelson of the BBC, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE), Linden Labs' Jim Pubrick, and actor Steven Berkhoff on games as culture.

Together with Dare to be Digital game creativity competitions and Future Publishing's EDGE Awards, the event will also conclude with a Digital Interactive Symposium on August 15 at Edinburgh University. Chris Deering, chairman of the Edinburgh Interactive Festival, concluded the announcement, saying, "This year we have much to be excited about. The festival is now firmly established as one of the most important events in the interactive entertainment industry's calendar."

No, that's not a typo. Yes, we realize that we just made a mathematically impossible statement. And yes, we're sticking by it. And the author will explain himself to us.

"Hi, my name is Chris, and I cry at video games."

A number of things can make or break a video game. Eye-popping graphics, sound effects that drown the ear in a world of its own, addictive, challenging and innovative gameplay from advanced control setups to sandbox environments, fully destructible environments, massively multiplay online environments, and more. The last decade of gaming alone saw an explosion of the culture into the phenomenon that it is today. Our world. And we revel in its glory.

But in the high-paced competition among platform and software developers where they publicize each innovation as the next hyperspace jump in video gaming, let us not forget that one element of the game, as 90% of the game is video, audio, control, game scripting, and gameplay - in fact the other 90% of the game may finally elevate gaming from being seen as eye candy and "unproductive" fun to a cultural icon that forms part of what makes us human.

We're talking about the human element. "Hi, I go by Aerith, and I cry at video games."


Read the battlecry of the video gamer after the jump!

David Gardner, chief operating officer of games publishing giant Electronic Arts, has lashed out at the games industry for "failing women" at a conference in Edinburgh. Gardner said "We have all been talking about this for a long, long time." EA's own research has found that 40% of teenage girls played video games versus 90% of teenage boys and most girls lost interest in games within a year.

He also said that women are somewhat an undiscovered market and that if EA cracked the problem they "could add a billion dollars to its sales." Mr Gardner said one of the biggest problems was that the content aimed at women gamers was not appealing. "They don't want 'pink games. Thy are not trying to play girly games where Paris Hilton and Britney Spears go shopping and put make-up on. Those kind of things have not been that successful."

As you may know, Sony have just announced the Pink PSP and PS2 for European gamers. If EA's David Gardner is correct, their new move into the female gaming market will fail. If EA's figures are correct, this undiscovered market could double the gaming economy, boosting sales for all. Let's see how Sony's pink additions to their console line-up go when they are released; the PSP in October and PS2 in November.