The week of GDC (Game Developers Conference)

This week the GDC was held in San Francisco. And many news surfaced. This is some of what I read on the internet and want to share it with you.

You can see Sony’s Phil Harrison keynote speech on IGN.com with this link and and Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto keynote on IGN with this link.

Sony
Home is Sony’s new virtual home on the PS3. It’s like an interactive Sims game. You can customize your avatar. Decorate your room, watch music, listen to much and talk to other people visiting your room. (source: IGN.com)

LittleBigPlanet is a strange good looking game. It’s physic based and you can design your own levels. “The items, such as a felt tree, could be rotated for placement and dropped anywhere. It was also possible to combine items. For example, when a gear was placed on a large piece of wood, it became something that could be interacted with by hanging on it, spinning on it, and running on top of it treadmill style”. (source: GameSpot.com)

Microsoft
Microsoft announced that they will release a 512 MB memory card beginning on April 3, 2007. It will be available worldwide and with the LIVE Arcade game “Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved” pre-loaded on the memory card. Suggested retail prise is US$49.99.
The Xbox LIVE Aracade game filesize limit will be increase from 50 MB to 150 MB, beginning this week. (Source: teamxbox.com)

LIVE for Windows Vista will be priced the same as for Xbox. Silver membership is free and the Gold membership will cost $50 for a year. But if you already are a Xbox Live Gold members, you can use your Xbox LIVE account on the PC. (source: Joystiq.com)

Ubisoft announced that they will release Konami’s classic coin-op Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on Xbox LIVE Arcade very soon. Probably Wednesday March 21, two days before the new TNMT movie hit the cinemas in US. It will cost 400 points. (source: Joystiq.com)

Nintendo
Shigeru Miyamoto said in his keynote speech on Thursday that a new Wii Channel is in development. “The new channel will allow users to compare their Miis with others around the world and hold popularity contests to see which Miis are the favorites”. (source: IGN.com)
[UPDATE – Marc 12] GoNintendo.com reported today that Wii owners in Japan had received a message on their Wii that indicated tat the new channel will launch on April 26th, in Japan.

Nintendo showed a multiplayer demo of The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. The game looks very nice. (source: IGN.com)

Super Paper Mario started as a GameCube game but will be released on the Wii in April in both US an Japan. I hope Europe will follow soon. The game looks amazing. It’s basicly a 2D, but with the thouch of a button, you swithc to 3D. I can’t wait for the game to come out. (source: IGN.com)

Super Mario Galaxy will be released this year. “How Mario moves from one chunk of land to the next seems to be a key component to the gameplay as well. By running into specially designated stars, Mario could blast from one planetoid to the next”. (source: GameSpot.com)

The DS Opera Browser will be released in US on June 4. No price tag is set yet. The browser have been out in Japan since last summer and Europe last autumn. Australia got it this January. (Source: Joystiq.com) (Buy the browser now at Play-Asia.com)