In a recent interview Soren has announced that he is working on a secret project that will combine a game from the 1980's and another from a well established genre.

Of course no citation could be found. But, it does mention he has announced that he will be be getting married sometime in the fall. Awweeee. Kim Phu

Spore Gets More Civilized [Blue's News]

Game Designer and Gamasutra writer, Ernest Adams has published an interesting article on the console wars from the perspective of a designer. It seems that the PS3, while undoubtedly being the technically superior console, is less challenging to the people who create the games.

From a design standpoint, however, the PS3 is evolutionary, not revolutionary. It doesn't change much about our job. It makes it easier to design the same stuff we've always designed, but it doesn't encourage us to try anything particularly new.

The Wii on the other hand, provides artistic inspiration through it's control scheme.

Nintendo has bet the company on a radical new approach to gaming. Gameplay, they said, is really about interactions, not graphics. The Wii Remote gives players new things to do, which means it challenges us designers to come up with those things.

He goes on to predict that the Wii and the PS3 will be this generation's console wars "big two" leaving the earlier launched Xbox 360 in the third place slot previously occupied by the Gamecube.

With all the hype that surrounded the launches of these two consoles, it's interesting to see how the chips all seem to be falling in Nintendo's court, at least for the time being. Consumers and designers love the Wii, so where does that leave the PS3? Will it come on strong in the next year with a glut of really amazing games, pulling ahead in the race when the "novelty" of the Wii subsides? Or will the developers and designers spend more time creating new and innovative ways to use the Wii's control scheme, resulting in more intriguing gameplay?

Graphics vs. Gameplay: The Eternal Struggle. Which will really win out in the long run? Flynn De Marco

The Designer's Notebook: PS3 versus Wii - The Designer's Perspective [Gamasutra]

Japanese design group Gas Project are releasing a new line of designer Playstation Portable slipcases.

Surface to Air, Hideki Inaba and Colette each designed a case.

Surface to Air's case is red and features crossed bayonetes and the words New York Cards Surface to Air printed on its flip lid.

One side of Hideki Inaba's black case is filled with a list of all of the PSP's buttons and switches in giant white letters.

The Colette case is white with odd-looking black creatures staring at the four iconic Playstation symbols, which are printed in grey.

All three cases feature flip lids, a pocket for holding a UMD, a belt loop and shoulder strap. I think my favorite is the Surface to Air model.

PSPictogram {Playstation]