Sony’s Tretton: ‘Disappointed’ In Multiplatform FFXIII Through MS’ ‘Currying Favor’ Speaking at a roundtable Q&A attended by Gamasutra, Sony’s Jack Tretton has been discussing Final Fantasy XIII’s move from a PlayStation 3 exclusive to a multiplatform title, suggesting Microsoft has spent most of their money “trying to curry favor with third parties”.

When asked whether he was disappointed about the surprise announcement that the game would also debut on Xbox 360 in the West, Tretton noted: “I guess disappointed is clearly an appropriate term.”

Tretton then launched into invective discussing Sony’s decision to concentrate heavily on internal development, noting that it constituted “over half of our employee base all over the world”, and adding that “…we’ve built up our base and that’s where we’ve chosen to spend our dollars.”

However, he warned: “I think Microsoft has spent the majority of their money on trying to curry favor with third parties” - implying that Final Fantasy XIII moving to multiplatform was more of a Microsoft-subsidized decision than one guided purely by sales reasons.

Tretton concluded: “I think software companies look and say ‘there’s no check big enough for us to do exclusive development’ …I think it’s going to be harder and harder to have third-party exclusives as we move forward.”

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“To see that a company like Microsoft has taken something we’ve done and kind of looked at it in a way and brought it out on their platform to kind of show that we’ve done has become the standard, I find quite flattering,” Miyamoto told IGN.

Miyamoto is confident that each company will take its avatar system two separate ways for two different audiences, despite Microsoft appearing to be after the casual audience that has been so lucrative for Nintendo and its Wii.

“On the other hand, I think probably the basic ideas behind perhaps those two different systems are different, and because of that I think they will probably develop in different ways,” said Miyamoto.

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CEO of SCEA Jack Tretton talks up PS3’s power as he shoots down this week’s big rumour.

Following fervent speculation that Metal Gear Solid 4 would follow Final Fantasy in becoming a PlayStation-associated brand that moves onto Xbox 360, SCEA CEO Jack Tretton has argued no other console could handle the technical demands of Konami’s the Konami title.

Speaking to assembled press at the platform holder’s conference in LA earlier today, Tretton added that the Blu-Ray capabilities of PS3 had already seen of HD-DVD – and would now see off the company’s console competition.

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Nicely done.

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First details of the upcoming Eve Online Expansion “The Empyrean Age” have emerged.

After providing a graphical upgrade, some new ships and a smoother introduction in the last update, Trinity, developer CCP is now concentrating on fleshing out the narrative side of the EVE universe. Empyrean Age’s centrepiece will be a great war between four rival empires.

Players will be able to sign up for any of the four empires, either individually or as corporations, and complete missions for them, gaining standing as they go. But they will also be able to contribute to the war effort by participating in more free-form battles.

According to Woodward, the goal is to bring player-versus-player combat enthusiasts, and players who generally play missions in safe space, together. CCP is particularly keen to encourage more of EVE’s population to try out PVP.

“Empyrean Age is the first expansion that we’ve really been building the story into things,” said Woodward. “It’s about four big empires who exist in a kind of uneasy peace for some time. It all comes to a head and it all starts. The whole cluster is extreme and everything is kicking off.”

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MG Online has been delayed in the U.S according to the official Konami website.

The site indicates that this was conducted due to a recent string login errors being reported by the players; the game appears to be back online. Quoting Konami’s official statement regarding the maintenance:

We would like to thank all players for their keen interest in taking part in the beta test.
However, we regret to inform you that due to extraordinary levels of traffic from all around the globe, we have been unable to run the service to the level we expected.
As a temporary measure, we will be deferring the start of the US public beta test until we are able to stabilize our server.
We would like to apologize for all inconveniences as well as confusion caused.

We would like to add that due to the above reasons, we will be making the following changes to the schedule:
1) Starting date: TBA. We will be making another announcement on 22/4/2008 23:00(PDT)
2) Beta Test closure: This will now be on 11/05/2008 at 24:00(PDT) rather than 06/05/2008 at 24:00(PDT)

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Say so long to those delay rumors. While word has yet to come on whether Take-Two will accede to Electronic Arts’ $2 billion acquisition offer, one scenario that will not occur is analysts’ speculated delay of Grand Theft Auto IV.

During Take-Two’s shareholders’ meeting today, the publisher said that GTAIV has gone gold. The game is “in production and in trucks en route to retailers,” proclaimed Take-Two CEO Ben Feder. Rated M for Mature, GTAIV will be released on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on April 29.

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Midway has revealed its long talked-up, “re-imagined” Mortal Kombat game… and Batman’s in it.

The artwork above was leaked to MK fansite Mortal Kombat Online, and is looking very likely to be the first look at Midway’s Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe game. Our Mike’s in Vegas right now at a Midway press orgy, so look out for first-hand reports over the weekend.

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You no longer will have to use the syringe and bonesaw because the two have already been replaced by The Blutsaugher and The Ubersaw. The third gun is the crit-increasing gun known as The Critzcrieg.

The Blutsaugher
For players that earn one third of the 36 new medic achievements, they will be given a new syringe gun. Called “The Blutsaugher,” this new weapon no longer has the ability to score critical hits against an opponent. Instead it will draw health from enemies each time a syringe hits. Especially useful as a weapon to retreat away from the fight while staying alive.

The Critzcrieg
Once a medic has earned two thirds of the achievements, they will be granted “The Critzcrieg.” This new medigun uses its ubercharge not for invulnerability, but to give its recipient 100% chance to fire critical ordinance. Medics and the player they are charging need to be careful though, because as much fun as it is to fire critical rockets as fast as you can, the other team will see what you’re up to and try to put a quick stop to your plan.

The Ubersaw
For the determined medic that has earned all 36 of the new achievements, they will find themselves the proud owner of “The Ubersaw,” which will take damage done in melee attacks and convert it directly to ubercharge. Four hits with this new weapon will fully charge whatever medigun the medic has equpped.

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Head of title’s studio Kazunori Yamauchi says that the Chinese market may require a home computer version.

The boss of the studio behind the Gran Turismo series has said that the franchise may expand beyond the PlayStation format for the first time in its history – with a PC version in China.

Speaking to German site derStandard, Kazunori Yamauchi, head of Sony’s Polyphony Digital team, said:

“It is very, very improbable that GT will comes out on another console.”

“But perhaps it comes to the PC. Particularly [for] the Chinese market.”

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