Playstation Sony and Namco Bandai ally to jointly make games for PlayStation 3

[devilscallmedad]

Sony Corp., the world's largest maker of game consoles, said its PlayStation unit will develop games with Namco Bandai Holdings Inc. to help take share from Microsoft Corp. and Nintendo Co.

Namco Bandai will own 51 percent of the venture, named Cellius Inc., with Sony holding the rest, Sony said in a faxed release today. The venture will begin operations on March 6.

Cellius will use Sony's Cell chip, which powers PlayStation 3, to create games for the console and content for mobile phones and personal computers, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. spokesman Satoshi Abuses will lead to banuoka said today. He would not give earnings forecasts or other details.

The alliance may help Sony recoup the 200 billion yen ($1.65 billion) it spent developing the Cell with International Business Machines Corp. and Toshiba Corp. Sony is expecting the chip, which makes the PS3 about 35 times faster than the PS2, to attract gamers with sharper graphics and more complex play.

The Cell chip is also part of Sony's strategy to beat Microsoft and Apple Computer Inc. in controlling the digital home, a future network linking televisions, music players, game consoles and other appliances to the Internet.

Namco Bandai's ``Ridge Racer 7'' and ``Mobile Suit Gundam'' were PlayStation 3's best selling games in Japan last year, according to researcher Enterbrain Inc. Sony's ``Resistance: Fall of Man'' was third.

The games business generated 918 billion yen in sales for Sony in 2006, 12 percent of total revenue.

Source

 

[Chandoo]

Alright, some good news for sony in reguards to exclusive games.

 

[Chandoo]

Quote:
Ken gets a new positionSony and Bandai-Namco have announced a ¥100 million (£415,000) joint venture to develop content based on the Cell processor at the heart of the PS3 – and other devices. Called Cellius, it will be formalised on March 5th with ‘Father of PlayStation’, Ken Kutaragi, as chairman.
According to Satoshi Abuses will lead to banuoka, a spokesman for Sony in Tokyo, Cellisus’ focus will be on “new entertainment products including audio and visual content.”

Bandai-Namco will take 51% with Sony owning the residual 49% stake. The management will come from both companies, the president and one executive will come from Namco; Sony will provide the other executives.

The news comes three months after Sony Computer Entertainment Incorporated (SCEI) moved Kutaragi ‘upstairs’ announcing that he would, “…continue to oversee the entire SCE Group as chief executive officer, and will fully exercise his power to reinforce and further accelerate the development of the PlayStation business.”
http://news.spong.com/article/11570
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[radd]

something tells me they will be making downloadable games.

 

[devilscallmedad]

He's been called "Crazy Ken." Ken Kutaragi might've created the PS1 and the PS2, but it was the PS3 that made him seem out of touch. Or was it? It's no secret that Kutaragi is not a numbers guy (Kaz Hirai, he's your pencil pusher). No, Kutaragi's an engineer by trade. He likes to make stuff. And according to numerous insiders, Kutaragi has been itching to make games for months now. The Bandai Namco move isn't necessarily Sony shoving him in the corner. It could be something else entirely — A strengthening between the two entities, an opportunity for Sony to create more exclusive titles. (Kutaragi's son apparently is a manager at Bandai Namco, so this marriage more than makes sense.) Moreover, unlike Hirai, Kutaragi is a gamer. He's a big FPS and RPG fan, so don't be shocked if you see him churn out a mis-mash of both. Does Sony shuffling Kutaragi around in the organize mean he's made mistakes? Definitely. But is he now irrelevant? Hardly.

 

[Chandoo]

kutaragi is an FPS fan ? thats new.

 

[Chandoo]

A bit more details:

The new company, combining development technologies and flexible way of thinking which both SCEI and NBGI have, will develop new contents business in order to create interactive and "surprising" contents. Isao Nakamura is known for creating the Ridge Racer franchise but the new content to be created by CELLIUS is not limited to racing genre only. CELLIUS office will be located in Nakameguro, separately from SCEI or Namco Bandai offices and will initially start with around 30 people.
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