New Zealand's largest games developer Sidhe has added its voice to the chorus of big-name publishers praising the potential of the Xbox 360's Project Natal gaming interface.

Project Natal is Microsoft's codename for a new Xbox 360 gaming platform that uses an RGB camera, depth sensor and multi-array microphone to control gameplay, rather than a conventional handheld controller. It allows gamers to play using nothing more than sight, sound and motion.

Sidhe business development executive Jos Ruffell said the level of interactivity provided by Project Natal was "very exciting" and gave developers a lot of scope to create new games, particularly in the racing and sports genres. The ability for players to upload images would also make it an ideal platform for "social and party-games", he said.

"What excites me is how Project Natal can open up the audience for games. It can provide a level of accessibility that comes from not having a controller - much like the Wii."

Sidhe developers had not yet begun working on a game for the platform, but they were considering options and waiting on more information about its capabilities and launch date from Microsoft, he said.

Judging from the reception Project Natal has received at the Tokyo Game Show this week, Sidhe is not alone in its excitement. Activision Blizzard, Bethesda Softworks, CAPCOM, Disney Interactive, Electronic Arts, Konami, MTV Games, Namco Bandai, Sega, Square Enix, THQ Inc. and Ubisoft have all praised the platform and pledged to develop games for it.

EA Sports president Peter Moore said the new technology could "fundamentally change the way players experience sports games. At EA some of our top development teams are experimenting with these tools with the goal of delivering a completely fresh take on genres like sports and racing".

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said the 3D camera's potential to make peoples' bodies the interface would create a new frontier for games developers. "Any barrier related to the use of pad controllers that may have existed for potential gamers is now abolished. Ubisoft is already taking advantage of this major evolution to design new types of gaming experiences and attract more people to play video games."

Microsoft has not given an official launch date for Project Natal, but the platform is expected to debut sometime in 2010. Project Natal motion sensors and add-ons would work with existing Xbox 360 models, a Microsoft spokesperson said.

James Heffield

Posted by James Heffield at 5:20 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 )

New Zealand gamers awaiting Valve's splatter-fest Left 4 Dead 2 may still get the opportunity to buy the game, despite Australia's decision to ban it from sale.

The Australian Government Classification Board (AGCB) decided on Tuesday that the game, which lets people play as a human survivor of a rabies-like virus fighting to reach a safe house, or an infected human hunting survivers, was too gory for the Australian public.

In the AGCB decision, published online by news.com.au, the Board said the damage inflicted the game's melee weapons, like crowbars, axes and chainsaws, encouraged their use. Those weapons led to "copious amounts of blood, spray and splatter, decapitations and limb dismemberment, as well as locational damage where contact is made to the enemy which may reveal skeletal bits and gore".

Games classified as "unsuitable for a minor to see or play" are given a Refused Classification in Australia, the decision said. That prevents them from being sold.

But New Zealand deputy chief censor Nic McCully told PC World the Australian decision would not influence any decision the New Zealand Office of Film and Literature Classification might make.

"It's different legislation in Australia... they do not have an R18 rating available to them [for games]."

The first Left 4 Dead was given an R18 rating in New Zealand and McCully said that she would be "surprised" if Left 4 Dead 2 had vastly different content. However, she said she had not yet received any request from a distributor wanting to sell the game in New Zealand, and the New Zealand Office of Film and Literature would have to review the game and classify it before it could go on sale in New Zealand.

Left 4 Dead 2 is due to be released in North America on November 17.
James Heffield

Posted by James Heffield at 3:08 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 1 )

Kurt Cobain's widow and Hole frontwoman Courtney Love posted a series of messages on her Twitter account over the last 24 hours about objections she had to her late husband's appearance in Guitar Hero 5, starting with a proclamation stating:

FOR THE RECORD I DID NOT APPROVE KURTS AVATAR FOR GUYITARHERO5. i think Kurt would despise this game alone let alone this avatar

She later added:

now theyre just LIQUIDATING kurt and IM THE DEVIL? I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH GUITAR HERO I LOATHE IT AND FIND IT ODIOUS KURT WOULD HAVE TOO

Love did admit to speaking with Guitar Hero publisher Activision, writing in back-to-back tweets:

we have NOTHING to do with this it was presented to me and oi said "show me a better avataR" TO DRAG MY HEELS., never did i intend on allowi
allowing GUITARHERO for me or for Kurt i am NOT yoko fucking Ono no ofense to her, but i am a different person entirely and this is insane

Kotaku, however, contacted Activision and received a reply from the company, in which they said "Guitar Hero secured the necessary licensing rights from the Cobain estate in a written agreement signed by Courtney Love to use Kurt Cobain's likeness as a fully playable character in Guitar Hero 5"

Love has just recently shot back, stating that her agreement with the company wasn't as solid, saying:

activision is fulllof shit they have a a contcrct called a deal memo that said upon approvale they could use an avatar i approved i .

and i never inteneded to aPPROVE this shit, they are doing a recall you can be sure o fthat. waita ew hours maybe tomorrow press and etc

We'll be sure to keep deciphering tweets and reporting the news on this growing feud.

Dave Rudden

Posted by Ted Gibbons at 12:09 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 )

Google has joined forces with toy manufacturer Hasbro to create an online version of classic board game Monopoly.

Monopoly City Streets launches tomorrow and will be available for four months only. The live worldwide version of the game uses Google Maps so that players can buy any street in the world, rather than in London like the traditional version of the board game.

Players start with three million Monopoly dollars, which they can use to buy up streets with. If a street has already been purchased, you can make the owner an offer, which they can accept or decline. If they don't respond to you within seven days, then the offer is automatically accepted and you become the new owner.

Expect to fork out 231,000 Monopoly dollars for Downing Street in the UK, while Pennsylvania Avenue - home to the White House in the US - is priced at a whopping two million Monopoly dollars.

Once you own a street you can start building, but you're not restricted to houses and hotels. Monopoly City Streets lets to build everything from football stadiums to skyscrapers. Just like the board game, you earn a daily rental income from your buildings, which can be used for further street purchases.

Monopoly City Streets even gives you the chance to sabotage rival property tycoons by using the Chance Card to build prisons, rubbish dumps and sewage works on their streets.

Hasbro said: "It's a chance to escape the harsh reality of recession and enjoy building up an empire".

Carrie-Ann Skinner

Posted by James Heffield at 10:28 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 1 )

Cloud gaming service OnLive opens for public beta testing today, a surprise given we just saw it unveiled at the Game Developer's Conference in March.

If you didn't catch our coverage in the magazine, OnLive is an audacious attempt to provide a remote gaming service through a user's PC or television. Players simply download a browser plugin or strap the proprietary MicroConsole to their home entertainment system and (under ideal conditions) enjoy a flawless gaming experience without worrying about hardware specs as the game is rendered by OnLive servers and streamed directly to the player.

The open beta is currently limited to PC users only, and the service is eager to include gamers with all kinds of rigs.

"One of the key challenges that OnLive technology addresses is providing a high-quality, fast-response gaming experience over a wide range of situations: different speeds/locations/types of broadband services, a variety of different PC and Mac configurations, several kinds of input and display devices, etc." writes company founder Steve Perlman on this morning's OnLive blog. "So, a major focus of OnLive Beta is to test as many of these different situations as we can."

Spots in the beta are still available for PC and Mac users, simply sign up to be a beta tester here and tell us what you think!
Alex Wawro

Posted by Ted Gibbons at 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 )