Round-Up: Xbox 360 Car, Rag Doll Independence, Sega Goes Totally

Today's round-up includes news on a Nissan car that's artfully designed Microsoft's next-gen console into it, a change of pace for Rag Doll Kung Fu creator Mark Healey, and Sega's new deal with Totally Games, as well as today's GameSetWatch posts and Gamasutra job postings. - Nissan will unveil a concept car at the North American International Auto Show on January 9th with the unusual feature of an Xbox 360 game console built into the car. The system will be mounted in the rear seat of the vehicle, which is thinner than regular cars and has only one front seat and one rear seat. Passengers in the car would thus be able to play the system while en route to their destination. Though the system will definitely be present in the concept when it makes its show appearance, it's doubtful whether the car, called the Nissan Urge, will make it to a proper production run. - Mark Healey, developer of Rag Doll Kung Fu, has left his position as designer at Lionhead Studios, where he worked on Black & White and Fable, among others. Healey will be starting a new independent studio with the team he worked with on Rag Doll Kung Fu, one of the first non-Valve games to be distributed through the digital delivery service Steam. Healey made it clear that he "didn't leave Lionhead on bad terms or anything, it was just time for a change really (I was there from the very start!)." As yet, Healey hasn't indicated whether the new title, intended for release in 2006, will also be a Steam game. - Sega has partnered with Totally Games, developers of X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter and Secret Weapons Over Normandy, to develop a new entry in an unnamed classic Sega franchise for the PlayStation Portable. Totally Games president and founder Lawrence Holland commented: "We are thrilled to be bringing a classic Sega game back to life in an exciting and totally involving way for the PSP handheld game device." Since the title involves "a run and gun blast-a-thon... drawing its inspiration from such timeless arcade classics as Robotron and Smash TV", it's rumored that Alien Syndrome is the title in question, but this is yet to be confirmed. - Over at Gamasutra's newly launched sister game weblog GameSetWatch, new posts include analyzing Edge magazine's new searchable score database, a look at crazed Flash game Olle Hemmendorff's Zombiegrinder 60000, and the use of serious martial arts to play EyeToy Sega Superstars, among others. - Also updated today: the latest latest Gamasutra job postings, including positions from Abandon Mobile, Blizzard Entertainment, BMH Associates, Cranky Pants Games, Eidos, NCsoft, Point Of View, Radical Entertainment, Rockstar San Diego, and TimeGate Studios. [Job seekers can now also sign up to a Career newsletter as part of Gamasutra's new suite of free newsletters, which include a daily digest and specific newsletters for mobile game, casual/indie game, and 'serious game' professionals.]