Some of the most enlightening news you can get can come straight from the a game developer. In the case of God of War: Chains of Olympus, it's Ready At Dawn director Ru Weerasuriya. The director had a lot to say about the development of the PSP God of War title, particularly in response to a certain comment made about the game being only five hours long. Catch Mr. Weerasuriya's comments after the jump.

Here's a strange bit of information from Chris Kohler of the Wired Blog. Apparently, God of War: Chains of Olympus is a short game. So short, in fact, that a hardcore gamer could finish all five hours of it in one go, if he so chose. If you're looking for proof, there's a picture of the current saved game time for the game in the full article.

If you thought the future of the Sony PSP could only be foreseen by the sole authority of the PlayStation Portable, John Koller, you might want to reconsider that notion. Several high profile game industry veterans popped a few thought balloons over rumors of a new PSP that may be cooking in Sony's kitchen. What their neurons cooked up on the new features of the "PSP2" you might have difficulty believing - if you don't find the read too far-fetched.

As Albus Dumbledore is to Hogwarts is Shigeru Miyamoto to Nintendo [expect more Harry Potter fanboyisms from QJ now that the last book's out. -Ed]. He's got a lot on his mind and has enough influence on the gaming industry as do most who hold an Order of Merlin (First Class) for Grand Sorcery on the wizarding community [see, I told ya! -Ed].

Chris Kohler is one of the lucky few who was able to interview Miyamoto during last week's E3. And as the transcript of their sit-down has been published over the Game|Life blog network, we now see what kind of spells Miyamoto is weaving to enchant many a gamer far and wide.

One of the interesting things they touched on was Miyamoto's take on Wii Fit. With the introduction of the Wii Balance Board (which we now learn is already being manufactured), Wii Fit has captivated quite a lot of developers and publishers to follow a different direction - a fresh, new direction - in game development. We are then taken, once again, back to the core concept of the Wii being used by the whole family, each one taking turns enjoying the system.

So the idea is that the Wii would be a device that you would not necessarily have to sit and play for hours on end, but that you could play for just a little bit of time every day. // And that's kind of in line with the ideas behind Wii Fit, and Wii Fit fits very naturally into that concept. [...] it's something you could play for just three minutes every day or go in for a workout and do one hour every day. So in that sense it's really more about the interesting ways in which we're using this video game system to try to provide new experiences that everyone can enjoy.

On a related note, they also talked about how "sharing experiences" factored into the inclusion of the two-player mode in Super Mario Galaxy. With the Wii's concept of having people with you while you play, it'd be natural for there to be outcries of "Go there! Go there!" or "Flick the switch - no, not that switch! - That switch!" (what I would could a "backseat gamer" in the same sense that I'd call my mom a backseat driver, but moving on).

With backseat gamers not being able to interact with a game, the incorporation of a two-player mode in Super Mario Galaxy was made. "The Wii remote and the pointer we would be able to make it more interactive for the people sitting on the couch next to you, who could guide you along the way pointing at different objects," reasons Miyamoto.

This interview is a Gringotts bank full of treasures. We've only capped the tip of the iceberg. They also touched on the Wii Zapper, Mario Kart, WiiWare, Wii Music, and all things wizardly. Point your wands over to the Read link for the full deal.

Image by James Porto for Time.

Okay, in our previous report on Namco's GunCon 3 accessory for the PS3, several of you folks wondered in the comments if the product will come in black or orange. Well, here's something that may disappoint some of you. Wired's Chris Kohler reports that US and EU will get the orange gun shown in the images we gave you. Japan gets the black gun.

Also, some of you were wondering if it'll work with LCDs, well, here's some positive news for you folks: the gun works by placing markers on the left and right side of your TV. A camera in the GunCon 3 should be able to detect the position of the markers use them to figure out what you're targeting. So, just like the Wiimote, any type of screen should work.

It was also revealed that there are six buttons on the device and two analog sticks, one of which is placed in the sub-grip that you can hold with your left hand. The second stick is in the barrel of the gun. It wasn't made clear though as to how these analog sticks will work with Time Crisis 4 on the PlayStation 3. We'll update you as soon as we have more info.

In an interview with GameLife's Chris Kohler of the Wired Blog Network, Nintendo of America's George Harrison unveiled their views on their console's lifecycles in contrast with the competition. According to the VP or marketing, Nintendo actually sees that the Wii could last more than the traditional five year lifecycle.

And that doesn't include Reggie Fils-Aime's views on the DS and the Wii's software lifecycles, which have been pointed out as breaking the molds of the traditional software lifecycle. The gaming community continues to speculate the winner for the first of the next-generation console lifecycle, even when faced with an extended lifecycle for Sony's PlayStation 3.

But Nintendo also sees that the Wii could also see a lifetime of more than five years, after ascertaining the fact that this generation is no longer about leaping ahead every five years sporting a new technology to oust the competition. "We're finding out now that the appeal of faster processors and better graphics is really sort of reaching a diminishing point," said Harrison.

He feels that it's becoming apparent with the PlayStation 3 - that cost versus quality issues are holding a great console back. But even then Sony is still selling so many PlayStation 2 consoles to this day, and it remains true because, according to Harrison, people are thinking, "You know what? The graphics are pretty good, the price is good, and the library is good."

Click on Full Article to continue reading Nintendo's views on the capturing the game market.

Around a week ago, we reported that "Nintendo Power" may be facing some form of reorganization or restructuring. It was said that Nintendo of America was sending out layoff feelers to company employees. It was also speculated that the magazine may be shut down. There was another side to the rumor though: "Nintendo Power" may be handed out to another publisher. That side seems to be gaining some ground at the Nintendo Media Summit.

Wired's Chris Kohler saw it fit to report on that rumor. He notes that it's now the hot topic at the said event. The rumor goes that Nintendo is looking to license the rights of the official print magazine to an outside U.S. publisher. This is similar to how the European official Nintendo magazine - it's an independently-run publication produced by Future.

Details are sparse for now, but the current sentiment is basically amusement/puzzlement over the fact that the official US PlayStation magazine works under this model, and Sony decided to end it, whereas Nintendo is looking to jump into something similar to it. Nintendo has yet to give an official comment on the matter. We'll update you as soon as more information is made available.

So, you can't get enough of Square Enix? Do you love them so much that you would want some reminder of them to be readily available where ever you look? Would you want to decorate your home with Square Enix goodies? Well, if you answered "yes" to any of those, then Chris Kohler of Wired.com may have just the answer to your prayers: directions to the Yodobashi Camera branch in Akihabara!

As Kohler has described in his entry, the popular Japanese electronics franchise is also currently stocked up on various novelty items that are based on the popular Square Enix mascots, the chocobo (specifically from Chocobo to Mahou no Ehon), and the slime from the Dragon Quest universe. Among the items that have been discovered to bear the likenesses of these beloved characters would be cushions, floor mats, notebooks, pecils, scotch tape dispensers and various types of dinnerware (dibs on the slime plate).

Yes, they're cute, they're useful, and even though you may have to cross an ocean or two to get these things, well... have I mentioned that they're cute? So, brush up on those social skills, as it's time to finally contact that far acquaintance of your sister's friend's cousin's dad who lives in Tokyo.

If you've just downloaded the Virtual Console version of Punch-Out!! and you're getting ready to start punching the lights out of Bald Bull (who bears a resemblance to Charles Barkley, by the way) on your HDTV, you better read this first.

Various reports from around the Internet have surfaced recently, and all of them are pointing towards some lag problems when the game is played on an HDTV set. The lag is apparently so bad that it has rendered the game "virtually unplayable," as Game|Life's Chris Kohler puts it. There's still hope for Punch-Out!!, though, so don't give up just yet.

This is easily remedied if you have a standard-definition television, though. According to GameSpot, only HDTVs have been reported to be messing with the game's precision timing, so just connect your Wii to a standard TV and the lag should be gone. There have also been reports that some HDTV owners aren't having any problems with the game, so it could also depend on the model.

 

Chris Kohler of Wired informs all of us that the founder of Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales, has announced the debut of gaming.wikia, an open-source gaming magazine.

What's amusing about this is that like all other wiki's, you can go in and finally edit out the annoying parts of other people's articles. Admittedly, this blogger thinks that the mentioned scenario will probably happen to a lot of his posts. Other self-explanatory wikia's include Tunes.wikia, Cars.wikia, and Health.wikia.

Will this end up as the ultimate gaming resource for the gaming community? Or will this end up as a NeoGAF induced with massive amounts of alcohol?

Penny-Arcade's Skeletor strip seems oddly prophetic. Anyhow, if you want to check out the new resource, feel free to head there via our "read" link below.