I’m pretty excited about this one. Most of us have had experience with a ‘Tycoon’ style game in the past. My personal experiences were generally good, but there’s no denying they’ve gotten pretty formulaic in recent years. Good thing for us Bandai Games is about to up the ante and incorporate some exciting genre-stretching features in its upcoming title, Space Station Tycoon.

IGN recently interviewed the guys behind Space Station Tycoon, who come off extremely passionate about their work on this project. Whenever I read that the developers actually had fun making a game I tend to pay a bit more attention to the fruits of their labor. Too many games feel like they were created by soulless money-driven lobotomized hamsters (with a penchant for endless sequels).

Space Station Tycoon feels special. The artistic style and focus on fun gameplay appear very reminiscent of Namco’s Katamari Damacy series. Anyone who has played the spiritual ancestor of Space Station Tycoon, Outpost Kaloki X for Xbox Live Arcade, will likely feel right at home, though it should be noted that this is neither a sequel nor port.

When asked whether the game will take a linear approach, Wahoo Studios project manager replied:

Jeremy Throckmorton: We decided on a nonlinear approach with this title. Shawn is able to travel to any location on the galactic map so long as he has a valid path there and meets the entry requirements.

This doesn’t sound 100% nonlinear, but some rigidity is a welcome component to effective story telling – another important part of Space Station Tycoon:

Jeremy Throckmorton: Players take on the role of Shawn, the previously mentioned wet-behind-the-ears kid. He’s the optimistically ambitious sort, and just a little too trusting of others. Needless to say, this finds him all kinds of trouble — trouble he happily deals with. The story advances as Shawn travels across the galaxy with his sidekick monkey Tam, exploring, building stations, and occasionally getting whisked away against his will to some remote region of space.

I’m already sold on this one, but what really seals the deal is its Co-op multiplayer. The details are sketchy but it looks like you’ll be able to recruit a friend to help work on a space station. In addition, there is mention of a “mobile gravity well” that will allow the player to mess around with their space stations, and its patrons, in some interesting ways. Wiimote + movable gravity wells + people = fun no matter how you shape it.

-CHRISTOPHER LEWIS

You remember the Prince of Persia games, right? Prince of Persia: “Shadow & Flame”, “Prince of Persia 3D”, “Sands of Time Trilogy”, etc. The Middle Eastern Prince, swords, fighting, saving the princess from the evil Jaffar, traveling through time, etc. Well, in the upcoming version, the Prince gets a facelift and also some nice looking weapons in the new version coming out for PS3 and 360. The art work looks more Middle Eastern than the last version of the game. One of the new artwork for the game can be seen at:Team XBox

~Charlise

You know the end is near when the word ‘marathon‘ is associated with morbidly obese video game addicted 26 year-olds. That die. From playing too hard.

The article never mentions what game the Chinese man was playing when he passed, but one thing is pretty certain - it wasn’t Wii Sports. On second thought, maybe it was. Maybe, and this is a shameless stretch, the excessive physical movement is what did him in. I know I’m not the only one breaking a sweat bowling in my living room.

Also not mentioned is what, exactly, this guy died of. Is it really possible to die from just sitting on your ass for a week? Does this mean tollbooth workers are at risk of suffering a similar fate?

And in case you were wondering, China now boasts an impressive 2.6 million internet addicts (see Fig. A), though roughly 2.5 million of those polled are almost definitely gold farmers.

-CHRISTOPHER LEWIS

That’s fuckin’ bananas.

-MIKE KURZ

I really like it when Jack Tretton speaks publicly. It makes me smile…. It makes me smile the same way I smile when I see a small child selling lemonade on the street with a sign that has lemonade misspelled. He’s at it again, and here’s some choice quotes regarding the fact that PS3’s are on store shelves:

“It’s a testament to the fact that we’ve been able to manufacture and ship units on a greater pace than any previous console,”

Oh, I see… it’s not that people haven’t been buying PS3’s it’s just that Sony’s been shipping them at the speed of light. Don’t be coy Mr. Tretton, you can tell us your secret… it’s ninjas isn’t it? Every store is assigned a PS3 ninja that hides in the ventilation system just waiting for a PS3 to be purchased, at which time he pops out of a vent, replaces the unit, and is gone before anyone sees him. That’s right Sony, I’m on to you.

Tretton had some things to say on the topic of Sony’s ambitious goal of selling 2 million units in the US by the end of March:

“We’re in pretty good shape to do that. The early returns are quite favourable,”

In case you haven’t seen the sales figures for January yet, here they are, and the Wii is outselling the PS3 almost 2:1 with 436,000 Wii’s sold against the PS3’s 244,000. The Wii will likely hit 2 million by the end of March based on the numbers. The PS3? Not so much.

-MIKE KURZ

Some new details about the monthly Halo comic have been announced at the New York Comic Con. Joe Quesada, editor in chief of Marvel has named Brian Michael Bendis, known for his work on the Marvel Ultimate Universe, as the writer of the upcoming comic, and Alex Maleev, who’s noteworthy works include New Avengers and Daredevil, as the painter. This powerhouse team ensures that the Halo brand will be well represented in comic form.

Via teamxbox

-MIKE KURZ