Homebrew developer Cpasjuste has released an update to Music PRX, a custom firmware plugin originally written by Joek that allows users to playback music files when playing a UMD game, running a homebrew application, and even while browsing the XMB.
As the article title implies, the update brings complete support for 3.90 M33 series firmware to the table. No other significant changes were made in this release.
Music PRX [Cpasjuste]
French-based publisher Infogrames today announced that it has formed a definitive pact with Atari to merge. Reached to the tune of $11 million dollars, the agreement gives Infogrames complete control over Atari.
“Bringing Atari US and Infogrames businesses together will enable us to create a simplified global structure for our business as we seek to re-build a well-managed, cohesive and financially disciplined company,” said Infogrames CEO David Gardner. “This is a key strategic event for Infogrames that will benefit all of our shareholders. I believe that this transaction will generate significant benefits for the Group,” he added.
As part of the deal, Infogrames has agreed to lend Atart $20 million in funding to cover capital requirements. The publisher expects to close and seal the merger deal in the third quarter of 2008.
Hit the jump for the full press release. more »
While we’re still anxiously awaiting official word from Square Enix on a solid North American release date for Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen, a listing for the game recently popped up on the search pages of German ratings board USK.
Of course, in no way does this directly confirm that the game is coming to Europe, but the chances of a such a release in the region suddenly became a whole lot more likely.
DRAGON QUEST: The Chapters of the Chosen [USK Ratings Board]
It’s official. The title of the “most expensive” video game goes to… Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto IV! According to producer Leslie Benzies, an unprecedented $100 million in cold hard cash was spent on the title.
It’s like making a theatre production, a few movies and an album all to fit into one package.
With a development team composed of around 1,000 people, a tremendous amount of effort was put into digitally re-creating New York City. According to Benzies, over 100,000 photographs were taken of the city, in addition to time-lapse cameras that were set on rooftops to capture the sheer intensity of the rain.
Sega’s Dreamcast title Shenmue previously held top honors in terms of production costs, with a development budget of $70 million.
Grand Theft Auto producer is Godfather of gaming [Times Online]
The fine folks over at Capcom have released twenty all-new Street Fighter IV screenshots featuring four of the main goons behind crime syndicate Shadoloo. Namely, M. Bison, Balrog, Sagat, and Vega.
Still no official confirmation on platforms, but look past the break for the rest of the shots.
Homebrew developer Ben Ingram has released NeoDS, a Neo Geo AES/MVS emulator for the Nintendo DS. Although certain hardware features such as FM audio and raster effects are not fully emulated as of yet, compatibility is quite good and most titles have been reported to run at a playable speed with minimal to no slowdown.
Note that a DLDI compatible flash card is required. Additional installation and usage instructions can be found in the included readme file.
NeoDS [NeoDS - thanks NeoGAF for pics!]
Atlus revealed today that purchasing a copy of its upcoming PSP title R-Type Command at select retailers (Amazon, GameCrazy, EB, GameStop) will net you a free R-9 spaceship figurine courtesy of developer Irem.
As with the majority of Atlus published titles, the collectible figurine will be available in “very limited quantities,” so it will be in your best interest to act fast on this offer. R-Type Command will be released across North America on May 6.
Namco Bandai today sent over more than a dozen new high-resolution screenshots of its upcoming Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 title Soulcalibur IV, showcasing returning characters Talim, Rock and Yoshimitsu.
The fourth installment in the fabled fighting franchise will make its current-generation debut on July 29 in North American.
N+ developers Raigan Burns and Mare Sheppard are far from pleased with the level of quality control on Microsoft’s Xbox Live Arcade service, but they do seem content with the sales of their N+ XBLA port. And rightfully so, as the title has tallied 100K in sales since its debut on February 10, according to a blog post on Metanet’s official site.
Additionally, the post reveals that development on the previously detailed level packs for N+ is well under way. A title update for the game is due out in summer, with the release of the packs following soon after.
Braid Party! [Metanet Software]
According to UK ChartTrack sales data, Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto IV has set the record for the fastest-selling video game in a span of 24 hours, amassing sales of 609,000 units on day one.
A total of 335,000 GTA IV copies were sold on the Xbox 360 alone. By comparison, Microsoft pushed 266,000 Halo 3 units at launch in the UK.
Sales of GTA IV on the PlayStation 3, as expected, were lower — but not by much. The PS3 version shifted 274,000 copies, taking in nearly 45 percent of total sales for the title.
Will be interesting to see how PS3 to 360 sales compare in the states, considering that SCEA did not release a hardware bundle package here.
