Along with the Chessmaster series, Fritz Chess is one of the best known and respected names in the genre. And much like the Chessmaster series, Fritz Chess has also reached its tenth iteration - Fritz Chess 10 - which will be released next month in some European territories by Excalibur Publishing. In their press release issued this week, Excalibur announced that they have secured the rights to publish the chess game / serious program in UK and Scandinavia, starting with February 16, 2007. As usual, Fritz Chess 10 is being developed by the German studio ChessBase.

Fritz Chess 10 includes numerous sophisticated coaching functions adjusting its playing strength to exactly match that of any opponent. It graphically displays threats and plans and provides full opening statistics. Among other things, the game uses a database with more than a million games, and it will allow free access for one year to Playchess.com - the most popular chess server in the world.

The first batch of screenshots are ready for close inspection in our local Fritz Chess 10 gallery, and here are some of the new features that promise to take the Fritz franchise to the next level:

- Enhanced and improved chess engine developed especially for the 2006 Kramnik vs. Fritz match

- Extended openings book

- Updated database

- Dynamic graphic tips for attack and defence

- Improved graphics and move entry on the 2D board

- New high resolution 3D piece sets in classical wood

- Live display of the thinking process on the chessboard

- More efficient position analysis

- New chess server features: additional ranking lists, full rankings for all players

- Filters for challengers with bad Internet connection

- New and simple video conference function

- Bullet lists in the engine room

- Animated global weather display

- Direct link to Google Earth

- Fritz Chess 10 is Windows Vista ready!

I wonder when Ubi will reply with their next Chessmaster game.

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The PlayStation 3 Price In Europe; Launching In March, Not April

With speculation on the rise about the European PlayStation 3 launch details, Sony has actually bothered to clear things a bit, ahead of their official announcement on this matter, which is expected to take place next week. As with any other big console launch, there are two issues that are most exposed to rumours and speculation: the price point, and the launch date. So here we go.

For most European countries, the PlayStation 3 price has long since been announced as €599 for the 60 GB model, and €499 for the 20 GB PS3, with both models said to be available at launch. The UK and Ireland, however, are something of a special case. Initially, they will probably receive only the 60 GB PS3, for which they'll have to pay a significantly higher price.

In the UK, the price of the 60 GB PlayStation 3 is expected to remain at £425 (€647 - almost €50 more expensive than the rest of Europe), as previously suggested back in May 2006. And once the 20 GB model becomes available, it could cost around £350 (€533).

The price in Ireland was revealed this week on the local PS3 website - and confirmed by Sony on GI.biz - as being somewhat cheaper than in the UK, but still more expensive than in Continental Europe: €629 for the 60 GB PS3, and €529 for the 20 GB PS3.

Now, before you brits jump at Sony's neck, do note that these spiced up prices aren't (entirely) their fault: as one retail source told Gi.biz this week, "the higher UK price has not been driven by Sony but by British retailers, who traditionally seek bigger profit margins than their Continental counterparts".

As for the launch date... well, that one's still out in the open, although Sony seems pretty confident they can ship it in March. This contradicts a recent CNET report in which they quote Sony CEO Howard Stringer as implying the PS3 would launch in April. But, then again, his statement was in turn contradicted by other sources within Sony (on MCV and GI.biz), who insisted that Stringer was mistaking and that the launch is still set for March. Ultimately, it all comes down to who you'd rather believe: a Sony CEO saying "April", or a stubborn Sony spokesperson saying "March"?

P.S. Debian Live Linux was released for PlayStation 3. 'Nuf said.

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Rockstar Co-Founder Leaves, Ex-Devs Form New Studio

Someone old, someone new, something shut down, born anew. Rockstar Games went through quite a few changes recently, starting with the appointment of a new COO at the beginning of this month, and continuing with the recent departure of one of its co-founders, and the formation of a new development company from the ashes of the old Rockstar Vienna studio - swiftly shut down by Take-Two in May of last year.

One of the first news to surface in 2007, was the appointment of a new Chief Operating Officer for the Rockstar group. As we reported at that time, Gary Dale joined the company as COO, after acting as the European Managing Director for Capcom since 2003. Previous to that, though, Dale had a long history of working with Rockstar Games and Take-Two: between 1994-1998, he was President of the Interactive Software and Video Division of BMG Entertainment, until Take-Two acquired BMG in 1998. During that time, he oversaw the release of over 30 games, including Grand Theft Auto from DMA Design, which later became Rockstar North.

Then, a couple of weeks later (that would be... right, this week), it was announced that Rockstar's leadership was going through another major change, after Terry Donovan took a permanent vacation. Donovan co-founded Rockstar Games and served as the company's managing director. Take-Two said that his former responsabilities will be shared by others within the organization - namely Sam Houser, Dan Houser, and Gary Dale. We take it they saw this coming, then, since they had already hired Dale two weeks earlier?

Well, let's leave it at that for now, and finally turn our attention to the former team from Rockstar Vienna. Having been thrown out in the street in May 2006, many developers were forced to go grab a beer and take life into their own hands. Later, at some point, some of them decided to start anew, and this week they announced the formation of Games That Matter Productions. The new studio's website anticipates that they will hold a press conference on January 25, 2007, in order to announce "the goals and business model of Games That Matter". So we'll get back to them soon enough, if there will be anything worth reporting.

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Guitar Hero III By Neversoft, '80s Guitar Hero By Harmonix?

Two rumours have begun to take shape around the Guitar Hero franchise last week, in the pages of US magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM). One of them suggested that development of the third game in Harmonix' series is actually being done by Neversoft - most famed for its Tony Hawk games; and the other rumour speculated that Harmonix are still working on a Guitar Hero project of their own, supposedly based on music from the 1980s. Out of the two, one in particular is now surprisingly likely to come to fruition!

After being tipped by an "anonymous industry source", GameDaily BIZ later discovered that developer Neversoft's website "is literally split down the middle between Guitar Hero and Tony Hawk's Project 8, as Neversoft is apparently hiring for both franchises currently". While they don't make any explicit reference to Guitar Hero III in their jobs listings, it is believed that this is what they're working on, under Activision / RedOctane's guidance.

It's certainly no coincidence that Neversoft was picked for this job, since Activion acquired RedOctane prior to E3 2006, and Neversoft is itself controlled by Activision. The series' original makers, Harmonix, have also seen their fair share of business in 2006, as they were purchased by the MTV channel later that year.

Even though none of the companies was willing to comment on the rumour, we should not forget that last summer Activision announced plans for an "all-new Guitar Hero game", set for release in the company's 2008 fiscal year (April 1, 2007 - March 31, 2008). So, basically, all we need to find out now is what platform(s) it's being made for. That and, of course, if - and how - it will be any different from the first two Guitar Hero games.

As for the '80s Guitar Hero title supposedly being worked on by the original developer Harmonix, for now it's just a rumour. It will probably be out this spring on the PlayStation 2, and we wouldn't be surprised if it will be made available through Xbox Live as well, for the upcoming Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero II.

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Game Informer is at it again. The hype-inducing magazine's latest issue exposes Midway's plans for a sequel to their not-so-bad-at-all first-person shooter Area 51. The next episode - titled BlackSite: Area 51 - will apparently air during the summer of 2007, on the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. This isn't the first time we hear about the Area 51 sequel, though. Late last year, IGN already had a "viral video teaser" for it, which you can also see on YouTube.

What this new article tells us is that BlackSite will use Epic's Unreal Engine 3 in order to please us visually, and that it's being developed by the same Austin studio that made the first Area 51. FiringSquad also has some bits and pieces about the new game's orientation and gameplay:

"It will also be more serious in tone than the somewhat campy original game with references to Iraq, global warming and other political issues mixed in with the alien conspiracy storyline. Look for new alien weapons to be mixed in with conventional FPS firearms along with an advanced squad based tactical system as well."

Additionally, GGMania has a couple of screenshots scanned from the Game Informer article. It doesn't look bad, but just from these images alone I can't say I'm psyched either.

As a final note, there's one mistake in particular Midway did in the first part, which we hope won't happen again: and that was giving David Duchovny a part in voice acting. Now, Dave, we love you, we love the X-Files, but please, stay away from games! One could say that the overall quality of Area 51 was dragged down by Duchovny's voice acting, and he wasn't too brilliant in Ubi's cel-shaded XIII either.

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Let me begin this news by taking you back in time one year ago, when this game was first announced in an official manner by developer Paradox Interactive. In February 2006, they issues a very ambitious statement, claiming that Europa Universalis III would become "the best game ever made". Not "best historical 2D geopolitical strategy game" or whatever, but "best game". Ever!

With that ridiculous PR stunt in mind, ladies and gentlemen, would you please welcome the one and only, Europa Universalis III single-player demo (or should we say "the best demo ever made"?). It's a 120 MB package that allows you to play select tutorial chapters, and also all the Western nations from 1492 to 1520. The demo is featured in English, German, French, Polish, Italian and Spanish.

"Delve deep into the areas of exploration, trade, warfare, and diplomacy with Europa Universalis III. Unparalleled in its depth and historical accuracy, Europa Universalis III gives you unprecedented freedom in how you choose to rule your nation from an impressive choice of over 250 historically accurate countries."

Europa Universal III went gold last week, and it should hit retail in various territories throughout the next few weeks. First, Paradox will release it in North America (on January 23), then in Germany and Scandinavia (on January 26), followed by more European territories - UK, Frace, Benelux (on February 2), Australia (on February 10) and finally Italy (on February 22).

So when your country's time comes, make sure not to miss this best - game - ever! And don't worry if you're not into the genre, because Europa Universalis III will be "easier for casual strategy fans". Ha!

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Time and again, Crytek made it very clear that they aren't porting their latest PC game Crysis on any next-gen console. Not a chance. Not in a hundred years. No way! But what if... What if we were to indulge the thought that it doesn't necessarily have to be a straight port? What if it's a completely new Crysis game - would that stand a chance to be developed for, let's say, Microsoft's Xbox 360 console? Apparently it would, according to speculations raised by the latest 1UP podcast (fast forward prior to the 22 minute mark).

Making another Crysis game for the Xbox 360, or PlayStation 3 for that matter, is something that Crytek is confident they can do: "We have enough power here, with programmers and artists, to be able to do such a thing. It's just a matter of making the decision", lead artist Michael Khaimzon told GamesIndustry.biz last October. The only problem is that such a game can only be inferiour to the PC version they're currently working on, in terms of luxuriant graphics. So, in other words, the so called "next generation" consoles are already lagging behind the PC. Kindda makes you wonder about a thing or two...

But let's not wonder too much, and get back to the point, with 1UP's (most obvious) arguments:

"Crysis is one of the first games to take serious advantage of Microsoft's DirectX10 technology, something that can't simply be patched into the Xbox 360 hardware. Consequently, if a version of Crysis does hit 360 eventually, it will have to be tailored to the console's strengths."

Further speculation about such a hypothetic Xbox 360 version of Crysis is of little use right now, but unfortunately that's all we can do. Especially after EA's response to 1UP's enquiry, that pretty much ruins it for Xbox 360 fans:

"Representatives from EA have told us that any comments about Crysis on a platform other than PC are purely speculative. The Crytek team is currently only tasked with working on the PC version of the game."

Oh well, one can always hope, eh?

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World of Warcraft: The Emerald Dream And StarCraft 2?

There are currently two sure bets you can make about Blizzard: one is StarCraft 2, and the other one is a second expansion for World of Warcraft. Both have been previously "confirmed" to some degree, by various people from Blizzard, but even now - 9 years after the original StarCraft came out, and nearly 30 hours since The Burning Crusade went live - there is still little information available about these two titles. And when I say "little", I'm being very, very indulgent!

From the two of them, StarCraft 2 is of course the one we were hoping to know a lot more about, and a lot sooner. After years of lukewarm teasings, Blizzard has once again put its fans to the test yesterday night, when vice-president Itzik Ben Bassat let slip an encouraging statement about the long-awaited sci-fi strategy sequel:

"I'm a StarCraft player myself and I hope it's not a decade, and we launched StarCraft in 1998, before I'm standing here again, celebrating the next game in the series."

Pro-G writes that Bassat made this statement while on stage at the HMV Oxford Street store in London, at the Burning Crusade midnight launch event.

And speaking of which, plans for a second World of Warcraft expansion have been confirmed by a "blue" since December. So that's certainly something to look forward to, while grinding with your blood elf / draenei to level 60 58 all over again. Any future WoW expansions will hopefully be released once a year, at least that's what Blizzard is aiming for. But just what will the second expansion bring - that's another big unknown in itself. The Emerald Dream? Northrend? The South Seas? New worlds reachable through new portals? Could be any of them, really.

Blizzplanet offers an interesting read on this topic, as they speculate why each of the above could be turned into a full-fledged WoW expansion. The Emerald Dream sounds pretty sweet, Northrend sounds a bit like the 3rd or 4th expansion, while Blizzard themselves seem to be quite happy about opening up "some really alien worlds and creatures". Choices, choices...

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Valve Boss Calls The PS3 'A Total Disaster', Just As It Ships 2 Million

If you think we've been too harsh on Sony's next generation console, then wait till you hear what Valve's Gabe Newell thinks about the PlayStation 3! Despite the fact that the studio plans to bring its famed Half-Life 2 series to the PS3 later this year, in addition to the Xbox 360, Newell said that the PlayStation 3 is "a total disaster" and predicted that Nintendo's Wii will win the next-gen console battle - surpassing even the Xbox 360 in sales by the end of 2007.

Reporting on the big guy's talks with the Game Informer magazine, MCV writes that Newell even suggested that Sony should stop selling the console and give up on convincing people to develop for it. We can only speculate as to how much irony was infused in his statements... But here's the full quote, if you'd rather judge for yourself:

"The PS3 is a total disaster on so many levels, I think It's really clear that Sony lost track of what customers and what developers wanted. I'd say, even at this late date, they should just cancel it and do a 'do over'. Just say, 'This was a horrible disaster and we're sorry and we're going to stop selling this and stop trying to convince people to develop for it.'

The happy story is the Wii. I'm betting that by Christmas of next year, the Wii has a larger installed base than the 360. Other people think I'm crazy. I really like everything that Nintendo is doing."

But to give Sony what's rightfully theirs, we should also point out that, by now, they shipped 2 million PlayStation 3 consoles worldwide, half of which were allocated to Japan alone. Moreover, Sony claims that the PS3 has been the fastest console ever to reach the 2 million unit milestone, and the company still intends to meet its target of 6 million units shipped by the end of March 2007 (that should include the European launch).

Funny thing is, even if they manage to ship 6 million units during this timeframe, they only estimate to sell 4.5 million PlayStation 3 units by the end of March. Am I the only one who thinks there's something wrong with the big picture?

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The Sims' neverending saga is bound to get even longer, now that Electronic Arts is lifting the veil off a new line of games, lovingly called The Sims Stories. These are intended to be "laptop-friendly games" (whatever that means), and, unlike the previously open-ended gameplay of the first two series, they will feature easy-to-play storylines with engaging characters, that are sure to entertain both the novice and experienced player, they reckon.

Another key difference when compared to The Sims and The Sims 2 is that The Sims Stories games are being developed by EA's Redwood Shores studio - not Maxis, as you might have though. So expect them to play quite differently from what you've been used to up to this point.

We can confidently talk about multiple games in this series already, because Electronic Arts has three titles planned ahead by now. The first one (The Sims Life Stories) is set for release early next month - February 2 in Europe / February 6 in the US - and two more titles will also follow in Summer 2007 (The Sims Pet Stories), and in Winter 2008 (The Sims Castaway Stories). Probably worth mentioning is that all of them will be standalone products, so they will not require any expansion packs or stuff packs from previous The Sims or The Sims 2 collections.

If we got your attention, then here are some screenshots from next month's The Sims Life Stories, and below you can see what the game will be all about:

"The first of these games, The Sims Life Stories, introduces an all-new Story Mode with two stories that follow the lives of Riley Harlow and Vincent Moore, two very different characters who have reached similar crossroads in their love lives. A comic romantic plot centered around engaging characters guides players through twelve chapters of this one-of-a-kind entertainment experience. Players can take their Sims through unique and entertaining storylines filled with romance, intrigue and dramatic twists. Will female lead character Riley ditch beau number one to marry and have kids with beau number two? Will successful entrepreneur Vince ever find love, or the culprit who's been foiling his heart-earned efforts to find it? Players can discover these answers and more, or enjoy classic open-ended Sims gameplay."

If you're also interested in the following two games - The Sims Pet Stories and The Sims Castaway Stories - there's a brief introduction to each of them on the new series' website, at TheSimsStories.com.

So much impartiality, I think I'm gonna be sick...

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