Hiromichi Tanaka, lead developer for Final Fantasy XI, is set to be the international keynote speaker in this year's Austin Game Developer's Conference (GDC), joining speakers such as Blizzard president Mike Morhaime, and Habbo Hotel's lead designer Sulka Haro. In his keynote address, Tanaka will talk about the challenges and triumphs of designing a massively multiplayer online game across platforms.

Scheduled for September 5-7 at the Austin Convention Center in Texas, the Austin GDC will focus on advancing game development with lectures, panels, and round table discussions on the latest issues facing the industry, such as online programming, future trends, the most up-to-date production techniques, and how-to's in creating new games. Jane Pinckard, content manager for the event, states that "Tanaka's presence at our conference is indicative of the event's global appeal."

The Austin GDC will host discussion tracks on online gaming, game audio, creative writing for games, and will introduce a new People's Choice Track, where community members can vote on what topics will be discussed in the conference. Stay with us as we keep you updated on further developments.

Ever since Manhunt 2 (PSP, Wii) was refused a rating by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), its producer Rockstar Games has been fighting on all fronts to defend its game and  the company itself against unfair criticism. In reaction to an article posted last month by Rob Fahey of GamesIndustry.biz, Rockstar wrote back to voice out its opinion on Fahey's support for banning the game and on the controversy surrounding its video game.

Rockstar defended the gore in Manhunt 2 on the grounds that with the average gamer aging around 30 or so, its players are mature enough to define the lines between reality and fiction, much like the way they do when confronted with gore in other forms of media.

Rockstar also said that banning the game does not help the video game industry improve itself. Rather, it defeats the purpose by denying people "the chance to consider, experience, or discuss the actual game." It also believed that "A ban is only likely to encourage those who believe video games, already the most regulated medium in entertainment history, should be further restricted." That kind of rigidity would spell death for any creative endeavor.

Manhunt 2 is the second game to be banned in this fashion in the UK. The last game to experience this was Carmageddon way back in 1997, although its developers were able to successfully appeal the decision. With a situation like this one, we do have to ask the question: Did Rockstar really step over the line or are the media boards just overreacting?

Rockstar's full letter on GamesIndustry.biz can be found on the Read link.

The PSP may receive an upgrade to the tune of access to more titles from the PlayStation Network, as well as a possible hard drive. This year's E3 may not have held many new things for the PSP, aside from the announcement of a redesign, and even the people at Sony have felt the vacuum in between titles. Thus, they are taking steps to fix it.

David Reeves, president of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, did say that this is a problem that the company is working to address. "We're thinking of moving some of the stuff we have on the Network on to PSP," mentioning that Calling All Cars may be revamped to fit the handheld. Other titles may follow as Sony seeks to further rectify the situation by pumping up internal output and third party work.

On the question of the PSP hard drive, "I think its definitely possible later, yes" was David Reeves' reply. One major reason why the PSP had not gotten one earlier despite the large user demand was that the drives were too expensive. But with the reduction of hard drive prices nowadays, Reeves believes that it may be something the company may look into.

While all these may be promises made in the air, it's not criminal to dream about the possibilities. We'll see how the company decides to make do on these words, and hopefully we will see new games and hardware for our handhelds in the future.

NCSoft, the developer behind highly successful online games like Guild Wars, City of Heroes, and Lineage has just recently signed an exclusive Game Development deal with Sony Computer Entertainment in the effort to grow Sony's PlayStation Network.

The agreement, announced during the E3 Media and Business Summit, will see NCsoft creating several online games primarily for the PlayStation 3 and the PlayStation Portable.

Geoff Heath, CEO of NCSoft Europe stated that this deal is "a great step forward for online gaming". He also added that PS3 has demonstrated its versatility for online games. Along with the Internet-enabled PSP, NCsoft has the potential to build Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) games for both platforms. Heath stated, "...we're confident that SCEI and NCsoft can develop unique and compelling online experiences that will be found on no other platform."

With a good track record of producing successful online games, NCsoft may just the partner Sony needs to expand the PlayStation Network. While no details have been given as to the names or types of games to be developed, officials from NCsoft hinted at the possibility that the games would be created from both existing Intellectual Properties owned by the company as well as original content in the future. Hopefully, we wont be kept waiting for long.

  

The people at Sega have a big third and fourth quarter ahead of them this year. With the release dates of 7 titles all falling within weeks of each other, they've got a lot of eager fans to please.

At least 3 PSP titles are set for release in the month of September. Alien Syndrome and Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars have been slated for September 7, while Sega Rally has its debut on the September 28.

November 30 is the day being eyed for the release of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games on the DS, as well as the DS/PSP tie-in game for the movie based on Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials novel series: The Golden Compass.

In terms of unknown release dates, we have two. Sonic Rivals 2 for the PSP is expected to hit sometime in autumn, while Sonic Rush Adventure for the DS is due sometime in September.

Sega has a daunting task to accomplish later this year. We certainly hope they pull it off. In the meantime, we'll keep you posted as the story unfolds.