Newsbriefs: Crazy Taxi PSP, Happy Feet Sales, The Godfather Versions

Author: by Staff

[UPDATED: 3:46pm PST] Today's regularly updated newsbriefs include news of Sega's Crazy Taxi driving onto PSP, Ubisoft bringing FromSoftware's Enchanted Arms to the PS3, and Midway celebrating with Happy Feet shipping nearly two million copies. - Officials from Ubisoft have confirmed plans to bring the FromSoftware developed RPG Enchanted Arms to the PlayStation 3. Set to be released in March, the game will feature a number of additions not found in the Xbox 360 version, which was previously released on August 29, 2006 in North America. Chief among these new additions will be support for the motion-sensitive aspects of the PlayStation 3's SIXAXIS controller, while other additions will include 30 new creatures created just for this version. Enchanted Arms' initial release was met with mixed reviews by the gaming media, and the game currently carries an average score of 69 on review aggregate website Metacritic. - In a joint release, Sega of America and Sega Europe have announced that the company's long-running franchise Crazy Taxi is heading to Sony's PSP in the form of Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars, developed by Sniper Studios. Fare Wars will combine the original arcade and Dreamcast-exclusive maps from the original Crazy Taxi and the Small Apple maps from Crazy Taxi 2, and for the first time will introduce multiplayer gameplay. In the new multiplayer mode, two players can attempt to steal passengers from their rival cabbie by bumping the opponent's car. The game will also feature the standard Arcade and Time Trial modes, and Crazy Box, a collection of original Crazy Taxi mini-games, as well as Crazy Pyramid, where players unlock mini-games from Crazy Taxi 2 by completing games in order. Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars is expected to ship in summer of 2007. - Electronic Arts officials have confirmed the development of versions of The Godfather for both the PlayStation 3 and Wii. The Godfather The Don’s Edition for the PS3 includes The Corleone Expansion Pack with new gameplay and missions, while The Godfather Blackhand Edition for the Wii will include new gameplay designed to take advantage of the console's motion sensitive controls. Both games are expected to ship in March 2007. The Godfather was released for the Xbox 360, Xbox, PlayStation 2, PSP, and PSP in 2006. - Midway has announced that it has shipped more than 1.8 million copies of Happy Feet, which is based upon Warner Bros. Pictures computer animated film of the same name, which released in the U.S. on November 17 and has grossed more than $326 million at the box office. Happy Feet is currently available for multiple formats, including the PlayStation 2, Wii, GameCube, Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance, and PC. "We are extremely pleased with our continuing expansion into the kids’ videogame market and the strong sales of the Happy Feet games," commented David Zucker, CEO and president of Midway. "Warner Bros. created a wonderful and engaging film for audiences of all ages, and we’re ecstatic to have published a game that both complements the movie as well as strengthens our successful holiday line up." - The latest updates on Gamasutra sister alt.gaming weblog GameSetWatch include outtakes from a recent interview with Trip Hawkins, some fun Metroid themed art, and an interview with adventure game creator 'Vince Twelve'. - The latest updates from Gamasutra sister website Game Career Guide include a brief history of video games, and a new Masters of Science Degree in Artificial Intelligence for Games at the School of Informatics at the University of Bradford, UK. - Also updated today: the latest Gamasutra job postings, including openings from Big Huge Games, NCsoft, Nihilistic Software, Rocksteady Studios, Sony Computer Entertainment America, and THQ.