Xbox support
More than 150 software houses have so far committed to developing games for Microsoft's Xbox console, due at the end of next year.
The list includes developers in the US, Europe and Japan, with the most obvious omission being the world's biggest independent games publisher, Electronic Arts. The UK par ticipants include Argonaut, Attention to Detail, Codemasters, Core, Eidos, Empire, Gameplay Studios, Lost Boys Interactive, SCi, Rage and Virgin Interactive.
J Allard, Xbox general manager, announced this in San Francisco on the eve of the Tokyo Games Show, where Konami promised titles such as Silent Hill X, Metal Gear Solid X and Crash Bandicoot X. Attempting a flourish, Allard also unveiled the console's final name. It will be called Xbox - an idea that will interest Miami-based Xbox Technologies, formerly Nicollet Process Engineering. The new logo and a full list of developers is on the Xbox site at www.xbox.com.
Jez San, Argonaut's chief executive officer, said Argo naut was considering developing about 10 titles for Xbox but was dropping developments for the Sega Dreamcast. "We'd be happy to develop more Dreamcast games," he said, "but the publishers don't want them."
Franchise fun
Konami, the Japanese game developer, has signed a five year deal with Universal Interactive Studios to publish games based on Crash Bandicoot, Jurassic Park III, and The Thing, with the Jurassic Park III movie being scheduled for release on July 18 next year.
Although Crash Bandicoot started as a PlayStation title, Konami says that the next game "will be developed for multiple next-generation platforms led by PlayStation 2". Presumably it will appear on Nintendo's Gamecube, too.
Konami has also secured a licence to develop a PlayStation 2 game based on the WTA women's tennis circuit. It will feature 20 top WTA registered players including Martina Hingis (SUI), Lindsay Davenport (USA), Ai Sugiyama (JPN), Serena Williams (USA) and Monica Seles (FRA), and should be out next year.
More Lara
Eidos Interactive has just released the first batches of screen shots and a logo wallpaper for the fifth game in the Lara Croft series, Tomb Raider Chronicles.
To find them, go to www.eidosinteractive.com and select TR5 Chronicles from the pull-down menu, then click Downloads at the bottom of the page (the screens have yet to show up on the official site at www.tombraider.com).
