Late Night Consoling

Our friend and president of Sony Computer Entertainment, Ken Kutaragi, made another headline-busting quote to Japanese website Toyo Keizai. He said that Sony's aim for the PS3 is "for consumers to think to themselves 'I will work more hours to buy one'. We want people to feel that they want it, irrespective of anything else." My wallet is crying already.

Talking to GamesIndustry.biz, VU Games president Phil O'Neil is hoping to turn the two upcoming games, Scarface: The World is Yours and 50 Cent: Bulletproof, into long-running franchises. He sees "a Scarface 2, a Scarface 3, a Scarface 4, and consecutive iterations of that product as being a really important component of what we're trying to do here." He continued, "So we're hopeful that candidly, both Scarface and 50, while not 'original' IP, become sustainable franchise brands for us." Of course, this is all contingent on if these games actually sell.

International game site The Magic Box is reporting on two juicy rumors. First is that The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion will now be a launch title for the Xbox 360. Talk about a must-have! The other rumor is that the so far PS2-only Phantasy Star Universe, that's both an off and online RPG, will be getting the next-gen treatment.

GameSpot has discovered that the US version of Sonic Gems Collection will not include the Streets of Rage games that will be in the Japanese version. Although Sonic and Streets of Rage don't have much in common, it would've been an addition that'd seal the deal for many old-school gamers. So, why not include 'em? Because if SEGA did, the collection would be given a T for Teen rating. Bummer. We still get the two Vectorman titles!

Capcom is injecting the PlayStation 2 port of Resident Evil 4 with a bunch of added content. The extras include a revamped storyline that includes five scenarios for Ada. New items and weapons will be spread around the world. The action will also be revamped with the promise of more enemies.

SEGA announced that it has partnered with Secret Level, a San Franciso-based developer responsible for the console port of America's Army. This is all part of SEGA's master plan to branch out in the Western market. Secret Level will be responsible for reviving an old SEGA franchise for next-gen consoles, but they weren't ready to reveal just yet which will be getting the makeover treatment.

Gamasutra has a rather interesting discussion with "the mother" of PaRappa The Rapper. Damn, when the hell are we going to get another one of those? I bet it'd make a great PSP game.