There is an article on Gamespot,that contains a little more information on the PSP and PSX (Sony kind of glazed over that one @ E3). There is also some theorising on the PS3.

After a well-respected sports-industry magazine reports the sports-licensing deal of the century is in the works, NFLPA reps say the story has been retracted. Gamespot has the full story.

This may come of as a harsh post, and I apologize for that now. Was anyone else let down by E3 this year? Aside from the announcements of the Nintendo DS and PSP was there anything new, and for that matter has there been anything new in a long time?
Today on Gamespot there is an interview That addresses some of my issues with the current state of Videogames. What happened to innovation, and creativity this year? Almost everything shown at E3 was a sequel or a re-hash of an old idea normally I would not have an issue with this, but these were “major” announcements (GTA:San Andreas,Halo 2,Doom 3)and aside from eye candy will anything new be offered? I’ll admit I am looking forward to Doom 3 and Halo 2 but a direct x9 re-telling of an old story and the ability to hold 2 weapons now does not a good game make.
There is some hope in the realm of sequels Ratchet and Clank 3, Will keep the same core game play, but there seems to be some new ideas thrown in there for good measure. I will end this rant of mine and again sorry if this came off at all harsh, but I can pinpoint to the date the last time I saw a new idea on a console (10.7.03 Viewtiful Joe)

According to The Sports Business Journal, Electronic Arts is attempting to purchase the exclusive rights to the NFL player names for its Madden football franchise. The deal is rumored to last for four years with a price tag of one billion dollars.

The Sega Sports/ESPN franchise, developed by Visual Concepts, is Madden’s closest competitor in the console gaming market. In the past they’ve trailed considerably in sales, but still manage to raise eyebrows amongst reviewers and game afficinados for their production and gameplay design. Personally, I think they’ve had a superior product since NFL2K.

Recently announced elements within their upcoming 2004 release, such as sports anchor reports, draft previews, game highlights, gameday training, online player trades etc, could have made Sega’s line strong enough to legitimately compete against EA’s established brand. Madden 2005 seems to have none of these features, but without player names ESPN football will be destined to flop.

A wonderful example of how big business can buy their way past innovation.

I have noticed that Wired tends to keep one eye peeled on the Massively Multiplayer gaming markets and trends. I dont know that they have uncovered anything too groundbreaking, but they do seem to be watching the industry with the knowledge that the right jump could make games huge.

So we have all played a slew of massively online games. What do you all think is missing? What would make a perfect mmo for you? What type of game is it?

Add your thoughts to the comments section below.

Today Gamespot posted an article stating “Sony predicts that its PSP handheld will endure losses initially but will enjoy a lengthy life span of up to 10 years.”
This article also mentions 6 to 10 titles availible at launch. The PSP is a long way off but, I am already keeping my eye on NCSX just in case the voices start saying “import it” when the PSP becomes availble.

I think as in Ultima Online - you should be able to sell what you create.

“Asheron’s Call Forums - eBay housing and account sales prohibited.: “Turbine has notified eBay to remove auction listings for the sale of Asheron’s Call accounts/characters and in-game housing. We’re initially concentrating on these two because we see them as being the most egregious AC-related auctions. Many housing auctions are run by brokers who deprive players from being able to acquire housing through legitimate in-game means; many account sales end up being recalled by the original player, causing grief to the buyer and creating a difficult situation for customer service.

Please be reminded that your end user license agreement and/or code of conduct prohibits the commercial sale or transfer of the game. We reserve the right to pull any other types of Asheron’s Call auctions at any time, but as written above we are concentrating on these two because they cause the most harm to the game and the community.”

I really like this site. It has lots of articles you won’t find anywhere else adn is likely to have a news article or two about smaller developers.

1UP News: Your #1 source for gaming news. Updated with news as it happens.

Japan’s Sega, Sammy merge.
Sammy, a top Japanese maker of pinball pachinko slot machines, and Sega, a leading game software developer, have said they will merge to compete better in the global entertainment market.

I am a big fan of the site How Stuff Works, and i came across this article on the Phantom today.

Of particular note is a concept shot of its connectors:

Were these even present on the E3 model?