Kotaku was shown an early version of development studio Firaxis’ Civ V running on a PC on the first day of Game Developers Conference here in San Francisco. What was shown was a Civ that behaves just a little more like it is in the real world in regards to everything from terrain to the rules of war and international relations. All have been modified to feel more true to life and more rife than ever with strategic potential.

The game is still a turn-based single or multiplayer quest requiring ample brainpower and planning. Like other Civilization games, the player goal is to lead one tribe from the founding of a city to a position of global leadership, via military or peaceful means.

The most obvious difference is the look of Civ V’s terrain. As can be seen in screenshots it, looks more like real Earth. A representative of the studio showing the game said this new Civ’s worlds might look pre-rendered but are still, true to the series, randomly generated. An optional overlaid grid shows that the world is indeed divided into hexagons, a first for the series, which used to chop things up by squares.

The ground looked good, lifted naturally by mountain ranges and cut by rivers. As good as those graphics looked, the game is supposed to be able to run on the widest range of PC hardware specifications supported by the series yet, from laptops Civ fans use on planes to high-end PCs. The current minimum spec Firaxis is hoping to accommodate are 256 MB video cards and dual core processors. That target might change.

A lot of small changes have been made to the core Civ gameplay, tweaks that appear to have major implications. Players get a notification system this time, which alerts them to important new events such as a new bit of research being completed or a scouting party being attacked. Clicking on the alerts that appear on the right side of the screen, when relevant, warps the player to the location of the event.

Advisers are back in Civ V, characters who pop up to offer tips, Rival civilizations are now being programmed to fight with noticeably distinct artificial intelligence styles. (Less consequential to gameplay is the introduction of full-screen animations of rival leaders such as George Washington or Napoleon, set in character specific locales).

New city states appear on the map. These are always controlled by the computer. Players can enter pacts with them, trade with them, or even attack them. This complicates the relationships among the major civilizations, as an America that is friends with Budapest might be drawn into a war if it tries to free a besieged Budapest from the French. The city states were described by one developer showing the game as elements that “are there to make things happen.”

A great civilization’s area of influence used to spread evenly in Civ games. In the new one, a player will see the colored border representing the limits of their people’s reach expand in more realistic ways. Turn after turn, the computer will automatically expand a player’s civilization into areas that have relevant resources, say forest instead of desert, early in the game. Players can spend gold to speed the expansion.

Combat has changed. Players will no longer be able to stack units onto one space and then carry that offensive stack to war. Each unit — which still represents and is depicted by — a cluster of fighters, can only occupy a space on its own. New ranged units can fire from afar (an extra hexagon away for the archers, according to the demo this week). And cities, which now have health bars, can fire back.

A number of other changes may be big or little. It’s hard to say. The developers said great civilizations can now agree to commence a research agreement, instead of just establishing trade or declaring war. The game will now allow easy access to a catalogue of user-uploaded mods. And, as a tease, the developers said there will be surprises as to how non-military ways of winning the game, the standard cultural and technological victories, for example, will be designed.

Civilization V, which appears to be a crafty evolution for the franchise, is set for release on PC this fall. No Mac version is planned for launch, but the producer noted that all Civ games have eventually come out for Apple computers.

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Francois Alaux and Herve de Crecy will be working with writer Tim Sexton (Children of Men) on the 20-minute short, which will serve as a prequel for the upcoming Ghost Recon: Future Soldier.

Ubisoft has set aside $8-10 million for the film, which is the latest in the studio’s ever-expanding line of movie projects, the last of which were based on Assassin’s Creed.

“Logorama” duo take aim at “Ghost Recon” videogame [Reuters]

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As Kotaku posted previously, the game is played like most iPhone titles, press “buttons” in the corner of the screen. The virtual button and joystick do take up a great deal of on-screen real estate.

It is worth noting that the iPhone version does not feature a robust line-up. There are only eight fighters available: Ryu, Ken, Guile, Blanka, Chun-Li, Dhalsim, M. Bison and Abel. The game does appear to run smoothly so less fighters might be a worthy trade off.

Street Fighter IV launched in Japanese arcades in 2008 and was ported to the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC in 2009.

Street Fighter IV iPhone hits the App Store later tonight for $10.

Street Fighter IV iPhone [YouTube]

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It’s nice that Sony isn’t handicapping the Playstation 3 in order to protect its blu-ray business.

Sony’s got deals with Fox, Disney, Paramount, Itself, Universal and Warner. I’m impressed. Now I just have to remember my login for PS network.

From Movie Theater to Home Theater: PlayStation(R)Network Delivers High Definition Movies From Six Major Movie Studios in the United States

PlayStation(R)3 Computer Entertainment System First to Have High Definition Movies for Purchase from All Major Studios

FOSTER CITY, Calif., March 9 /PRNewswire/ — Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) today announced that 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal Pictures, and Warner Bros. Digital Distribution will offer high definition (HD) movies for purchase and rental on the PlayStation®Network video delivery service in the United States. PlayStation Network is the first to offer high definition movies for purchase from all of the major movie studios, further establishing PlayStation®3 (PS3®) as the preeminent home entertainment platform for this year’s most popular and critically acclaimed high definition movies.

“Securing high definition content from these studios is another significant milestone further validating PlayStation Network as a complete entertainment network in the home. PlayStation Network is the first and only service to deliver high definition home entertainment from all six major studios, directly to consumers for download,” said Peter Dille, senior vice president, marketing and PlayStation Network, SCEA. “PlayStation Network continues to offer the most comprehensive catalogue of HD movies to PlayStation Network members that realize the wide-ranging entertainment power of the PS3 system.”

The PS3 system is the most complete home entertainment solution on the market today, enabling consumers to enjoy high-definition games and movies, as well as listen to music, view photos, browse the Internet and more. Today’s announcement joins one of the industry’s strongest home entertainment brands with the major media companies that produce and distribute a substantial number of films. At launch, the content will be available in the U.S. only, with plans to launch soon in the U.K., France, Germany, and Spain.

New titles available today on PlayStation Network include:
· 20th Century Fox – “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian”, “Jennifer’s Body” and “Fantastic Mr. Fox” (on March 23)
· Walt Disney Pictures – Disney Pixar’s “Up”, Jerry Bruckheimer’s “G-Force” and Disney’s “Earth”
· Paramount Pictures – “Star Trek”, “Paranormal Activity” and “Zoolander”
· Sony Pictures – “This Is It”, “2012″, “District 9″ and “Zombieland”
· Universal – “Inglourious Basterds”, “Couples Retreat” and “Public Enemies”
· Warner Bros. Digital Distribution – “The Hangover”, “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince” and “The Wizard of Oz”

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Curse you, papercraft Wario.

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In a recent interview, he explained his lack of sleep. The right fielder had spent the previous night playing his Nintendo Wii. “I’m playing Punch-Out!,” he told Nikkan Sports. “I played it until midnight last night.”

The Seattle Mariners is owned by Nintendo of America.

These days many athletes are big gamers, typically playing video game versions of their sports. Not Ichiro!

Ichiro uses Dragon Quest analogies in the past to explain a World Baseball Classic victory as well as a part of his recovery process when getting over an injury.

「やっぱりボクシング」（イチロー語録） [Nikkan Sports] [Pic]

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The city is auctioning off an Xbox 360 that prosecutors say then-mayor Sheila Dixon purchased with gift cards meant for the poor.

The Xbox 360, and a single controller and copy of Need for Speed Carbon, are up for bid on eBay right now, with the price already hovering at $500. Proceeds from the sale will go to Youthworks of Baltimore.

The 360 was seized from Dixon’s home in 2008 after allegations of embezzlement surfaced against the mayor. A jury later found Dixon guilty and she resigned from office on Feb. 4 and was ordered to perform 500 hours of community service.

She also had to give up the Xbox 360.

Dixon’s Xbox up for sale on eBay [Baltimore Sun]

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To celebrate, developers Klei released this new video showing a bit more of the 2D brawler gameplay. If you’re at GDC, you can swing by the game’s kiosk Thursday, Friday or Saturday to check it out. If not, see what we think about the game when we check it out later this week.

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Hopefully.

This year’s TGS is the 20th Tokyo Game Show, and organizers have announced “a new midterm vision of becoming ‘The No.1 Information Network in the Asian Region’ and ‘The World’s Largest Event!’”

Okay, the first one sounds doable. Maybe. But the second one?

As part of its goal, this year’s Tokyo Game Show will feature a beefed up PC area, gadget area, mobile phone area and kiddy area. Because today’s kids are tomorrow’s adults or something.

And this year, the private business-only days have been opened up somewhat. Business day tickets will go on sale to those in the game industry who register in advance. This is a change as in previous years, business days were invite only.

[Pic]

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