Heavy Rain On Track For Hollywood

David Milch has agreed to write an adaptation of Heavy Rain for Unique Features. Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne will produce the film via a deal with Warner Bros, which is looking to fast-track the feature.

Milch has experience as both creator and executive producer of NYPD Blue and Deadwood. “David Milch’s incredible ability to transform intense and complex storylines into gripping, popular drama makes him the perfect partner for us to have on ‘Heavy Rain,’ ” Shaye said.

Source: Variety

Platinum Goes Online With Max Anarchy

Platinum Games has announced that they are developing a new game titled Max Anarchy for the PS3 and Xbox 360. Producer Atsushi Inaba (Viewtiful JoeGod Hand) said that this will be Platinum’s first online game.

The “Massively Multiplayer Melee Fighting Action” game will let numerous characters brawl with each other at the same time. There will also be an offline single-player mode and Jack from MadWorld will be included, even though he has nothing to do with the setting or story.

Sega has confirmed that they will publish the game, and that more details will be coming soon.

Source: Andriasang

Brian Wilson Does Digital Shorts For MLB 2K11

2K Sports has announced that Brian Wilson, closer for the World Series Champion San Francisco Giants, will be a creative consultant in a series of original digital short films in support of Major League Baseball 2K11. All of these films will star Wilson, who will also provide some of the writing and all of the adlibbing.

While Wilson is known for his intimidating demeanor on the mound as a relief pitcher and jet-black beard, he has also developed a reputation for his antics on live television. He promoted the new feature last night on the TBS show Lopez Tonight.

APB Closed Beta Invites Incoming

Those who played APB in its original or beta forms are currently getting invites to the new game’s closed beta. The testing opportunity is also being given to those who signed up for the closed beta of APB: Reloaded.

Currently, the emails should be available to everyone who signed up. “Remember, if you don’t sign up, you won’t have the chance to be one of the first to take back the mean streets of San Paro,” the email reads.

Source: Destructoid

NGP No Go On 3D

Sony has said nothing about the price of the new NGP, letting people drink in all the features and new games announced for the system. Sony Worldwide Studios head Shuhei Yoshida, however, is implying that it will not be unreasonable.

Despite the push that the PS3 is getting for 3D and 3D being the main selling point of the 3DS, the NGP has no such support. “We evaluated the 3DS screens that are available and the costs,” Yoshida said. “And there are lots of trade-offs. This [the NGP] is what we want to do.”

When pressed, Yoshida added, “The portable is a totally different beast. It’s still emerging and in a transitional stage. We are developing a platform to last a long time.”

Source: Kotaku

NFL Labor Dispute Could Disrupt Ad Industry

The NFL is big money, estimated from $8.5 billion to $9 billion in annual revenue. While TV contracts are about half of that, ads and sponsorships make up over a quarter of revenue the Super Bowl alone is about 10 percent of that revenue, with prices around $3 million per 30-second ad.

All of this, however, could go up in a puff of smoke if the NFL owners lock out the players if a new collective bargaining agreement is not reached. It could be bad for a lot of peripheral businesses, bad news for key sponsors like Budweiser and General Motors, and has reportedly resulted in EA asking for a $30 million reduction in rights because of the labor situation.

“There are dire consequences on so many levels,” said Rick Horrow, sports business analyst and chief executive of Horrow Sports Ventures. “The Super Bowl is now generating $300 million to $400 million of economic impact in each host region, so that would be at risk, and the advertising is now selling for $100,000 a second — and that’s not replaceable by another event.”

Source: Minyanville.com

Kojima Praises NGP, Talks Cloud Gaming

Hideo Kojima made an appearance at Sony’s first public demonstration of the NGP, where he showed off a scene from Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. He said the demonstration was rendered in real-time.

“On NGP, we can enjoy the same quality as PS3,” said Kojima. “When we launched Peace Walkerfor PSP, this is what I said: In the near future there will be a world of cloud computing… I really believe that you can have a portable MGS and Peace Walker was an experiment for the cloud computing future. NGP allows this cloud computing. What I’d like to realize is playing on your PS3, and when you go out, you put the game on your NGP, and when you come back home, you can once again use your PS3 and large screen TV.”

While those ideas certainly are tantalizing to many gamers, Kojima announced no particular plan for their implementation. Given the heavy support Kojima Productions gave to the PSP over the years, we’d expect something big from Kojima for the NGP.

“This dream is going to come true in the near future. And right now, I’m working on this project of the dream, said Kojima. I’m sorry, I can’t reveal this now. But we’d like to present what we’re doing at E3.”

Source: PlayStation.Blog

Sony NGP Release Video

Early concept videos for devices tend to act on a level where they enable users to interpret what happens as an imaginary wonderland created by whatever device its attached to. Such is the case with this Sony NGP ad which is light on details and heavy on experiences.