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Wes Craven pondering games career
The man responsible for introducing us to Freddy Krueger may soon be following in the footsteps of the Wachowski brothers, Steven Spielberg, and other Hollywood heavyweights who are crossing over into the gaming biz. And unlike some people in the entertainment industry, writer-director Wes Craven feels that if video games contain "deep stories, characters, and narratives", they should be considered forms of art. Speaking with author and Mercury News blogger Dean Takahashi at the MI6 Game Marketing conference, Craven also confirmed he is "in talks" to make an original video game. However, if you're expecting a Resident Evil-style romp from the horror maven, you may be surprised with what he eventually produces. The former college professor feels there are not enough educational games on the market, and sees opportunities to simulate world politics and health problems. Whatever it is, Wes, don't let "you know who" make a movie out of it.In addition to Nightmare on Elm Street, the prolific Craven has also written and/or directed The Hills Have Eyes, Swamp Thing, Scream, and Red Eye.See also: WesCraven.com
Microsoft denies author's claim of impending Xbox2Go
In a denial that should come as a surprise to no one (what, like they were really gonna tip their hand this early?), Microsoft's Xbox chief for Northern and Eastern Europe told UK tech site T3 "that we're not even thinking about handhelds at the moment." Neil Thompson's remarks came just days after the Internet was buzzing about a claim made by author Dean Takahashi in his new book, Xbox 360 Uncloaked, that said half of the 360 development team immediately began working on a portable 'box right after the next-gen console was launched last November. Thompson went on to say that although the big M has no plans to release a PSP-like device, the huge mobile phone market offers the company a "really good opportunity" to connect people with "other entertainment experiences." You heard it here first, folks: instead of wasting all that money on hardware development, Microsoft is simply going to develop an Xbox emulator for cellphones that lets you pull content directly from the Live service (either that, or Thompson was just toeing the party line in order to keep the wraps on this supposed Xbox2Go -- you be the judge).
Seen around eFocus event
We stopped by the eFocus event over at the California Mart in LA's Fashion District. Just a few snapshots of what we saw...
Dean Takahashi at Not an E3 Party
Sarah: So, what'd you think of Sony's keynote? Dean: (shrugs) Sounds like Sony is stealing Nintendo's thunder. This is going to be fun to watch this week.
Author claims 360 team working on portable Xbox
Here's a juicy morsel for you: in his new book, Xbox 360 Uncloaked, gaming industry author Dean Takahashi claims that half of Microsoft's original Xbox 360 development team began work on a portable console immediately after the home system launched, while the other half was tasked with driving down the 360's production costs. Takahashi goes on to say that the big M plans to follow Sony's lead and release the handheld Xbox halfway through the 360's life span, which would help offset hardware cycle costs and maintain buzz about the brand. The supposed Xbox2Go (that's what we'll call it for now, anyway) would likely be released into a competitive landscape filled with PSP2's and who knows what kind of crazy Nintendo portables, but Microsoft has certainly shown that it's in the videogame, uh, game, for the long haul, so we wouldn't be surprised to see them pump these kinds of resources into the project if it does in fact exist. Oh, and before you start commenting on the device's "design," please note that the above picture is simply an artist's conception created before any word of this got out.
Takahashi's Xbox 360 book gets finishing touches
As promised, unofficial Xbox biographer Dean Takahashi has completed the draft of his upcoming book, The Xbox 360 Uncloaked, before his self-imposed deadline of E3 in May. You can check out some info on the book at the publisher's website.Counting down to the book's May 9th release date, Takahashi will be posting portions of an exhaustively detailed chronology of the original Xbox every week. A small snippet of the first installment: April 22, 1999: Craig Mundie lays out rules of engagement, setting up a beauty contest between the Xbox and WebTV teams April 27, 1999: Xbox team meets with Mundie to show him demos of the PS 2 emulation and the PC April 27, 1999: 3-D graphics chip designer GigaPixel visits Microsoft. April 28, 1999: 3Dfx graphics chip team visits Microsoft. April 29, 1999: Dave Kirk, chief scientist of Nvidia, visits Redmond to talk about game business April 30, 1999: Consumer Windows/PC appliance team holds a meeting with Bill Gates The first installment goes from 1983 (Microsoft launches Flight Simulator) to Dec. 22, 1999 (Rick Thompson takes the Xbox team skiing). Prepare to get your minutiae on. [Via Joystiq]
The Xbox 360 Uncloaked
Dean Takahashi, author of the excellent Opening the Xbox: Inside Microsoft's Plan to Unleash an Entertainment Revolution, announced plans to write another book covering Microsoft's followup effort to the original Xbox, and now he even has a title for it. Drum roll, please....The Xbox 360 Uncloaked: The Real Story Behind Microsoft's Next-Generation Video Game Console.Uncloaked? He proffers, "I couldn't think of something extremely clever and ran out of time...." Alright Dean, fair enough, only 'cause we know better than to judge a book by (the title on) its cover. He calls it "an insider's book... this is what it looks like from the inside." Already half-written, Takahashi hopes to have his "insider's book" done by E3 in May. See also:What has Microsoft learned from the Xbox launch?Dean's Xbox 360 FAQ
