Several game developers have just licensed Emergent's Gamebryo Casual engine and are currently designing software for WiiWare, PSN, XBLA and the PC. The games will run the gamut from Action to FPS to Strategy. Here's hoping for a great turn out.

Good news, Sadness fanatics! Seems Nibris' black-and-white thriller for the Wii has just been saved from getting tossed into the vaporware bin thanks to Emergent, who announced that the game is currently being developed using the Gamebryo engine. More in the full article.

The Gamebryo Engine, which was used to power games like Civilization 4 , The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, will be showcased at the 2008 Game Developers Conference. The showcase will feature a new demo, displaying the engine's strength in producing rich facial expressions in a character. More in the full article.

Politics is a harsh arena and a powerful tool, but as the old saying goes, "power in the wrong hands..." In a recent investigation in the Los Angeles Times, David William tells the story of the battle for the Anthrax Vaccine.

In the investigation, he narrates how Emergent BioSolutions Inc., the current supplier of anthrax vaccines, kept its competitor, VaxGen Inc., from manufacturing a better vaccine by lobbying against it. Read all about the political drama in the full article.

There's been plenty of talk coming from the movers and shakers of the gaming business about a possible "One Console Future" where one universal platform would apply, and all developers would be placed on the same playing field as far as gaming consoles are concerned.

Electronic Arts executive Gerhard Florin and Silicon Knights President Dennis Dyack were both quoted expressing their favor for the idea, with Dyack implying that the One Console Future is imminent and "everyone would win" in such a scenario. Not everyone, however, was convinced.

Ben Hoyt, a producer at game tools company Emergent, had a particularly different take on the subject. He says that both Florin and Dyack failed to consider some basic realities of the industry.

Hoyt argues that "Florin's vision of a 'box...made in China with a hard drive, a wi-fi connection, and a games engine inside,' conjures eerie images of the aptly-named Phantom Game Console" and "fails to address fundamental technical realities relating to local versus server-based games. Nor does he address the exciting diversification of gameplay experiences enabled by today's variety of gaming hardware options."

Moving on to Dyack's case, there are two points that Hoyt strongly disagrees with. First is Dyack's belief that the competition of today's gaming platforms create an "unhealthy" industry; second is his assertion where he described a one-console industry as a place where "everyone would win."

"I'm afraid that I fail to see how, in a world where our industry is dominated by a single, monopolistic, console manufacturer, 'everyone would win,'" says Hoyt. He went on to raise some points:

What incentive would this console manufacturer have to fund AAA exclusive titles when all titles would be exclusives? Why would they launch new hardware at a loss when anyone who wanted to play console video games would be forced to purchase one of their systems? How much would they charge independent publishers and developers for the right to release games on their platform?

He continues "perhaps most importantly, what incentive would this monolithic industry entity have to absorb the cost of releasing exciting new hardware configurations every five years? Why not 10? Or never?"

"Finally, I ask him to explain how his vision for a 'unified platform' game industry would avoid the classic, Econ 101, pitfalls of a monopoly, in which the only 'winner' is the monopolist," concludes Hoyt.

GamesIndustry.biz says they're waiting for a Dyack response to Hoyt's rebuttals. If he does answer, we'll update you in a hurry. For now, let's hear what you think about a "one console future."

Emergent Game Technologies has announced a Wii version of its Gamebryo engine. The Gamebryo engine is perhaps best known for its use in Bethesda Softworks' multiplatform title, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (PC, PS3, Xbox 360).

"We are committed to making multiplatform development as painless as possible while still delivering industry leading performance," said Emergent CEO Geoffrey Selzer. "Gamebryo for Wii simply sets a new standard for middleware designed for this top selling platform. We are very proud to be part of Nintendo's Third Party Tools program."

Along with the announcement of Gamebryo's Wii version, Emergent also revealed Gamebryo 2.3, a significant upgrade to the game engine which focuses on performance and feature enhancements for next-generation platforms.

Electronic Arts (EA) just opened the official site for its much-talked about video game Crysis. Being developed by CryTek using the CryENGINE2, the title is oftentimes compared with super console titles such as Gears of War because the CryENGINE2 game engine is one of the first few to use the Direct3D 10 framework of Windows Vista.

Anyway, the website is home to many sections like news, companies behind the game, media, and of course features. Speaking of which, a couple of Crysis' features worth mentioning include real-time armor and weapon customization as well as its emergent gameplay that affects future outcomes and give each player a unique experience.

Aside from the already mentioned, the title also sports its own Sand Box editor. This feature lets players edit and create new levels for the game. The good thing about this is that all custom-made levels come with full support in all multiplayer modes so you can literally have other players enter your very own lair.

If you want to see the official site for Crysis, our Read link below will take you there. The title is scheduled to be available Q3 2007.

Play Ten Interactive, one of Russia's top PC game outfits, has embarked on a partnership with Emergent by choosing its Gamebryo engine as the core of its game-making matrix which will enable the firm to achieve a Russian first: develop a game for the Sony PlayStation 3 and the Microsoft Xbox 360.

The game will be released in the two aforementioned consoles along with another version for the PC. The working title of the project is called The Wall, which combines elements of a strategy game, a first-person shooter, and a role-playing game.

Play Ten Interactive CEO Dmitri Kruglov was pleased with the partnership and said "there are many choices out there for game development engines; however Emergent's Gamebryo Element is unmatched. Only Emergent offered us a complete and flexible set of existing and upcoming tools and services to make the PC to console transition so smooth."

Kruglov added more praises to Emergent as he expressed satisfaction in the flexibility of Gamebryo which he says will enable his company to "break new ground in Russia."

The Develop Conference & Expo happens on the 24th to the 26th of July and developers are gearing up from all over the world to take part in one of the region's biggest developer gatherings to take place on an annual basis.

Headlining the shindig are top-brass companies Sony, Philips, Autodesk, and Nokia, who will be the prime movers and shakers in the event. Sony Computer Entertainment Europe will once again be the Platinum sponsor of the event while Philips and Autodesk are at Gold and Silver respectively. Nokia is the mobile sponsor of the gathering.

The event seeks to bring together the development community with European gaming market interests in a three-day conference where interests and demonstrations are exhibited for industry insiders, game media and the public. Top-caliber speakers from within the industry are invited to share their views and knowledge of the business.

Animazoo, artemdigital, Audiokinetic, Autodesk, Beyerdynamic, CRI Middleware, Develop Magazine, Emergent Game Technologies, gamesindustry.biz, Hansoft, IGDA, Instinct Technology, Mobile Entertainment, Nokia, Perforce Software, Philips amBX, Sony Computer Entertainment, Southampton Solent University, Tech Excel, Testronic Labs and Tiga will participate in this year's event to be held in Brighton.

A lot have been said about BioShock!, but one of the most intriguing aspects about this video game is its gameplay.

The title will be using a form known as emergent gameplay (pretty much the same as those of System Shock 1 and 2) and Ken Levine once uttered that it's going to be "unprecedented." Regardless of what people say, Irrational Games' Jon Chey believes that BioShock! is a shooter. To explain things further, Chey used the Grand Theft Auto (GTA) franchise as reference. According to the official, GTA is basically a driving game because you have to go round and round a closed track. Then Chey added,

We're trying to do the same thing for the shooter genre by adding non-linear exploration, choice of tools, deeper interactions with AIs and so on. But at the end of the day, you've got to be able to aim and pull the trigger. [BioShock!] is a shooter.

What more can we say but fans will appreciate any game, whatever its genre, as long as its fun and good. BioShock! will be available both on Xbox 360 and Games for Windows (PC) platform. It will be published under Take-Two Interactive's 2K games publishing label.