Prince of Persia Goes to Morroco

Jerry Bruckheimer's live-action adaptation of the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time videogame is finally gearing up for production, with Variety announcing the film's start date and shooting locations.

Production was delayed due to the WGA strike but now director Mike Newell, who also lensed Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, is free to begin filming in Morocco in June, with things then switching to Britain's Pinewood Studios.

Disney and Bruckheimer have high hopes for the film, with the producer eager to turn this tale of magic, swashbuckling and baggy pants into a mega-franchise - like his Pirates of the Caribbean.

The movie is set for a June 16 2009 release. The only spanner in the works might be more industrial action, this time courtesy of the SAG, who are still considering a strike of their own.

At present, no cast has been announced, but with the movie now up-and-running, who would you like to see play the titular middle-eastern royal?

source : www.ign.com

Burnout Paradise Patch Fixes

Criterion Games has released a trunk-load of information about the fixes included in its upcoming Burnout Paradise patch. No definitive date has been set for the update's release yet, possibly because Criterion seems to be fixing each and every part of the game.

The patch is planned for both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and tweaks everything from audio performance to server communication. Here's a full list of everything Criterion plans to address with Burnout Paradise V 1.2, starting with the top 10 problems most mentioned by Burnout players:

- PS3 game can crash when a player is taken down and the player that has performed the Takedown leaves the game.
- The game indefinitely displays "Connecting to Paradise City Servers" if it's having problems pinging the rebroadcast server.
- Disconnecting the controller before a race begines can mean that race timings can be manipulated with players who didn't cross the line first being awarded the win
- Repeatedly joining and leaving a game with 8 players can cause the game to hang.
- Hammering the A (360) or X (PS3) after unlocking a car can cause the game to hang.
- East Crawford and Watt St achievements can not be achieved if the player goes online and sets road rules before attempting them.
- Audio distortion when using 5.1 / DTS and looking rearwards.
- Enhanced 360 streaming performance stops instances where the game seems to pause for a second or so.
- Total time driven in player stats would stick at 145 hours :)
- VoIP connection problems with 8 player games.

Game experience enhancements

- We're going to be running road rule timers in all events and online challenges.
- Tuning Online Takedown logic & physical behaviour to iron out instances where it doesn't feel fair.
- Increase online race timer timeout so players have a greater chance of finishing the race.
- Fix drifting bug when drifting and boosting there wasn't any real control on the brake so players would grind around the walls of the corners. Getting better control.
- Boost fix, stabbing the boost has too much of a jerky behaviour in the car handling.
- Surround sound fix - Centre speaker was 4dB louder, ruining the mix and the speech has now been positioned correctly.
- Tweak Marked Man gameplay AI, was easy to exploit by driving in reverse.
- Increase the # of search results returned for online games.
- Increase Picture Paradise timer so it doesn't kick in so quickly.

Other high priority issues being fixed

- Some online race start points face the players in the wrong direction
- Instances where Barrel rolls were not registering correctly in Stunt Run
- Instances in Stunt Run where players would crash but not wreck & score multipliers by driving away
- Fixed instances where the counting of Boost Chains would drop out
- Some instances where Revenge Rivalries desync & don't get fixed until players are updated online.
- Some instance where the Host couldn't change the game access if the game was created through an invite.
- Achievements, Awards and Challenges numbers sometimes not updated if the player didn't leave the game cleanly
- Online challenge issues where the challenge couldn't be completed if it was started at the exact time that a player left the game.
- Incorrect rivalry updates when European players played against English or Japanese players. Online connection issues
- Force timeout if the 360 gets stuck on "Connecting to Paradise City Servers" - NAT error
- Rich presence on 360 didn't change correctly when there is a change in the game parameters.
- Instances where Friends were not being displayed on the mini map.

source : www.ign.com

Insecticide the game

Crackpot Entertainment is currently busy as a bee working on the company's new adventure title Insecticide. The game takes players into a world where insects are at the top of the food chain. It is a noir story of mystery, intrigue and adventure. Players will have to stop a wave of crime and corruption that is slowly devouring the entire city.

Gamers will play as Detective Chrys Liszt, and her partner Roachy Caruthers as they try to untangle a web of crimes. You will be armed with a wide assortment of insect abilities as well as your wits.

source : www.ign.com

Milan finally lose

An air of disappointment hangs over AC Milan this morning after the holders were eliminated from the UEFA Champions League by two late Arsenal FC goals at San Siro last night.

'They dominated'
Cesc Fabregas and Emmanuel Adebayor struck in the final six minutes as Milan failed to build on a 0-0 draw in the first leg in London, and Brazilian star Kaká was left to concede that his side had been well beaten. "Arsenal deserved to qualify," said the 25-year-old. "They played very well and they were more dangerous than us. We only played well in the first 20 minutes then they took control of the match. They dominated us. It is the first time that I have been eliminated from the Champions League so early, but it happens - that's football."

'Glorious cycle'
Milan have been on a sensational run in the competition since Carlo Ancelotti took over as coach in November 2001. His predecessor Alberto Zaccheroni saw his side eliminated in the second group stage of the 2000/01 campaign and Milan did not compete in the 2001/02 edition, but since then Ancelotti has led his side to at least the last eight in the last five UEFA Champions League campaigns – a run which included European titles in both 2003 and 2007 and a losing final in 2005. Gazzetto dello Sport reflected on this run in a piece entitled 'The end of a glorious cycle.'

Maldini bows out
It was also the end of a glorious period for Paolo Maldini who played in what will be his final UEFA Champions League match last night. The 39-year-old defender has said that he will retire at the end of the season, and he will do so having been a European champion five times in the red and black of Milan. With Ancelotti's side having proved in recent years that they are more than capable of raising themselves to the challenge of European competition despite inconsistent results at home, many thought Maldini would win a sixth winners' medal before retiring.

Learning experience
Yet it was not to be, and the pain of defeat was beginning to dawn for Kaká, whose side are fifth in Serie A, four points adrift of ACF Fiorentina who occupy the fourth and final Italian berth for next season's UEFA Champions League. "Difficult days lie ahead," he said. "However, this team has great experience and we are sure to find the strength to get back on to our feet again and finish fourth in the league. These are important moments which help you to grow and I must also thank the fans who were behind us until the end."

New beginning
Massimo Oddo agreed. "After so many years of success inevitably you have to bow out of a competition, but we have a real will to get back [into the UEFA Champions League]," said the former S.S. Lazio right-back. "Now let's concentrate on the fourth place which we need to get back in." Gazzetta dello Sport concluded matter-of-factly of last night's match: "Ancelotti's side had no chance. The English team were too strong." The paper's front-page headline read 'Milan – The End'. Ancelotti and his team can only hope it was in fact another new beginning.

source : www.uefa.com

Blu ray too small for MGS4

It seems that the tech companies will never be able to keep up with the demands of a Metal Gear Solid game, with Hideo Kojima stating in a Famitsu interview that Guns of the Patriots suffered cuts in order to fit onto to a Blu-ray disc.

At 50GB, the Blu-ray offers nearly six times the storage capacity of a DVD – but it's still not enough for the demands of Metal Gear Solid 4. Earlier last week the game's assistant producer Ryan Payton confessed that the American and European versions would not carry the Japanese voice track due to storage limitations. Hideo Kojima further elaborated on the issue and stated in a Famitsu interview, kindly translated by Kotaku, that, "There's not enough space. We always talked about where to cut and what to compress."

It's already known that Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots will be dialogue-heavy – to an extent that could well outstrip its quite comically verbose predecessors. But the possibility of the amount of chattering outstripping even a Blu-ray disc is quite terrifying. Brace yourself for an earful come June 12.

source : www.ign.com