Insomniac Games has kept to the Ratchet series' tradition by making the newest installment on the PlayStation 3 aware of players' activity in the older ones. Having played — and reviewed — the new Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack In Time using a final retail copy, I was able to see how my save files for the last two games, 2007's Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction and 2008's Ratchet & Clank: Quest For Booty, affect the new game.

I had completed both previous PS3 Ratchets and had the following perks activated automatically when I started the new game:

-My Tools of Destruction save file classified me as a returning customer when I visited A Crack In Time's weapons-vending kiosks. I was given a discount. Thanks to the lower prices and my collection of new bolt money throughout the new game, I found myself lacking money to buy the next available item in the game only once.

-My Quest For Booty save unlocked the pirate hat you see my Ratchet avatar wearing atop this post. The avatar appear in the game's community section, which displays a variety of player accomplishments and stats, shows leaderboards for many of those accomplishments. Players can customize their Ratchet avatar or look up the records and avatars of their friends. The avatar is essentially a visual shorthand for some of the things you've accomplished. For example, the pistol that Ratchet is holding in that shot looks as it does in the game, where I attached mods and selected its paint job.

Those are the unlocks I found so far that relate to the earlier Ratchet games, confirmed by a Sony representative. If I find any more I'll let you know.

Publisher Future has teamed up with WoW developer Blizzard Entertainment for quarterly title World of Warcraft: The Magazine.

Available in English, French, German and Spanish, the publication is sold via subscription only through World of Warcraft Account Management or from the mag's official site.

The magazine is available as a one or two-year subscription, pricing for one year is US$39.95, 34.95 EUR or 29.95 GBP depending on your region — two year subscription packages cost $69.95 in the US, 61.25 EUR or 52.50 GBP.

"Future produces some of the most respected gaming magazines in the industry, and we're pleased to be working closely with them to make World of Warcraft: The Magazine a true standout product," says Blizzard COO Paul Sams. "Together, we look forward to offering World of Warcraft players a great mix of entertaining and insightful content in every issue."

The 148-page first issue will cover the fifth anniversary of World of Warcraft.

Other Future publications include T3, Total Film, Digital Camera, Fast Car, Classic Rock, Guitar World, Official Xbox Magazine, Official Playstation Magazine, Nintendo Power, Maximum PC and MacLife.

One of Future's three PlayStation-focused publications (along with the Official PlayStation Magazine and PSM3), PSW's first issue went on sale in the UK all the way back in 2000, and with the closure already in effect the last issue is probably the one already on newsstands.

Sad, but then, did a single publisher really need three PlayStation magazines?

Future closes PSW magazine [MCV]

With the demise of Ziff Davis' print empire in the US, Future are now top dog in the world of video game magazine publishing, so a look at Future's fortunes is as good a look as any if you're looking at determining the overall health of the business.

And going by the company's latest circulation figures, business isn't looking too great. Despite an increase in readership for some of the stable's PlayStation magazines, and a maintenance of Nintendo mag figures, all other mags - most notable among them Edge - are down.

* Edge - 31,304 to 28,898
* GamesMaster - 51,389 to 40,940
* OPM - 46,018 to 53,644
* PSW - 21,826 to 24,118
* ONM - 58,754 to 58,795
* OXM - 66,894 to 63,908
* Xbox World 360 - 31,698 to 31,030
* PSM3 - 26,885 to 26,202
* PC Gamer - 38,654 to 32,619
* PC Zone - 22,297 to 19,023

Most Future mags saw circulation drops last year [VG247]

They're all good reads — here's one sample from Write the Game:

Families will have more in common, sharing triumphs and losses in video games. Kids will play with their parents, and everyone will have fun.

Conversely, many parents will stick their children in front of a PS3 to shut them up, whilst kids will find an easily accessible fantasy world in which to drown their fledgling identities.

Like everything else, a balance will have to be struck. Commercialism and arty experimentation will both clash with and compliment each other. Private joys will have to be placed against the thrill of being part of a well-oiled team. Mass victory will be accompanied by sessions of the blame-game.

There is one thing we can be sure of - it won’t be boring.

The entries range from standard musings to dystopian visions of the future; the monthly entries for Blogs of the Roundtable are always worth keeping an eye on, especially as they tend to trickle in over the course of the month.

The Ghost Of Gaming Future [Write the Game via Blogs of the Roundtable/Man Bytes Blog]

"Content is king." Well, there's about to be a revolution and some regicide. The consumers of tomorrow want content for free. And they will make their own content. That is potentially more fun and more interesting than consuming carefully planned, carefully made, well-mannered content from a professional. Films and TV are already at that point where they are consumed and remixed freely by consumers. Music was there long ago. Games will be there soon.

The content of the future will be in tools. Tools like the ones shipped with Little Big Planet (although I suspect it's still too early for that game to start a true paradigm shift.) Tools that will let consumers engage directly with the content.

Actually, this is the tipping point when "consumers" become "users". Consumers are passive. Users, active

Quick and worth a read — it's certainly a lot more to the point than some of the longer pieces on the same topics.

The Futures of Entertainment [game girl advance]

Content Producer - Official PlayStation Magazine HD - Bath [Future, thanks Matt!]

I had no clue they were even doing a Girl Gamer magazine in the United Kingdom, much less one with a pink title and a focus on the Nintendo side of gaming. According to a press release issued by the company, "The debut issue, which was distributed in November proved a fantastic success with readers and software publishers alike". Indeed the launch went so smoothly that we weren't even aware it happened. I am assuming they kept us out of the loop in order to secure valuable girl secrets that we men just couldn't handle.

UK Kotakuites can look forward to seeing the latest Girl Gamer packed in alongside other quality girl publications, such as Panini's Bliss aimed at 12-16 year old girls, and Mizz for the 10-14 set. About the right time for ladies to put aside those hopes and dreams and start picking out baby clothes.

I know what some of you are thinking here. Promoting a game about making babies and being a good mother to children at such a young age in a magazine that tosses around more pink that an explosion at the Pepto factory might give girls a jaded view of the potential they have to do great things in the world. Poppycock I say! What bad could possibly come from teaching young girls about raising babies?

The Game Developers Conference just announced that renowned inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil will be delivering one of the keynotes at the upcoming GDC in San Fan. His talk, entitled The Next 20 Years of Gaming, will look at the future of the video game world and electronic entertainment. I expect there will be talk of sex with robots, but maybe that's just me.. and that guy Mark and Mike fell in with at Leipzig.

Kurzweil has written numerous books on science and holds more awards than we have space to print here, well that's not true, but it's certainly more than you would want to read through.

"Bringing the future to life today has always been at the heart of the game industry, so it's essential to have our vision refreshed by one of our greatest living thinkers," said Jamil Moledina, executive director of the Game Developers Conference. "As a technology inventor and prophetic visionary, Ray Kurzweil is that rare individual who can inspire the next evolutionary step forward in what games can do."

The talk is set for Feb. 21 at 10:30 a.m.

GDC

The Wall Street Journal has an interesting, though sort dated, article on their site today about the increasing popularity of unusual, and simplistic controller for gaming.

The short article gives a nod to the Wii, the Power Glove, Guitar Hero, Rock Band and even brain-sensing helmets, but it doesn't really get interesting until it starts talking about what Richard Marks, one of Sony's games division researchers and father of the EyeToy, is up to.

There's a lot of pie-in-the-sky talk from Marks, but the one thing he mentions that sounds both conceivable and quite fun is the idea of using a camera, likely the HD EyeToy, to let you take a picture of a drawing you made with a pen on a piece of paper, and then turning that picture into an animated character for the game you're playing.

We've already seen something like this in Drawn to Life, and while that game uses the concept to great effect, it's sort of hard for someone like me to draw a decent picture with a stylus on a touch screen.

Videogames Expand A Popular New Phase Of Full-Body Playing [WSJ]

With decreasing revenues and circulation rates—PC Gamer is down some 90,000 copies over the past four years—the only way to survive is to adapt. Conscious focus on more in-depth content in magazines and pushing the symbiotic relationship of online and offline media might just keep EGM and other Ziff Davis properties from death's door.

As a longtime fan of print publications, I still subscribe to EGM. I've also recently signed on for the Official Xbox Magazine, Games For Windows and the Official PlayStation Magazine. Despite the flood of online content, there are still worthwhile publications worth reading on a monthly basis, even if the news content they provide is often outdated.

Anyone else out there with a healthy daily intake of print and electronic video game news?

Game News in a Duel of Print and Online [New York Times]

OPM rises again this November with a new set of letters and a brand new publisher. Exactly one year after Ziff-Davis set Official Playstation Magazine adrift into the sea of dead print media, Future U.S. will relaunch Playstation: The Official Magazine.

Future, publisher's of the UK version of OPM, also managed to snag Rob Smith, former editor-in-chief of PSM, to run their new mag. The first edition of the 13-issue-a-year magazine will hit in late November with a 300,000 circulation run.

"Future US has a strong heritage delivering cutting-edge insight into the industry, and we are looking forward to a long standing relationship to deliver unrivaled exclusive content to PlayStation fans," said Peter Dille, Senior Vice President, Marketing and PLAYSTATION(R)Network, SCEA. "We're very excited to be working with a group that is nearly as passionate about our brand as we are ourselves and we look forward to working with Future on many innovative ideas they have to create a best in class enthusiast publication."

The fact that PSM UK seems to be doing quite fine overseas leads me to believe that maybe Ziff-Davis' retreat from the pub was more about their financial stability than the well-being of the magazine itself.

Sony Computer Entertainment America and Future US Announce the Creation of
'PlayStation(R): The Official Magazine'

Future US to Publish First Monthly Issue in Time for Holidays

FOSTER CITY, Calif., Oct. 1 /PRNewswire/ — Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) and Future US, Inc, the leading publisher of cutting-edge special interest magazines and websites, today announced that they have agreed to terms to publish PlayStation(R): The Official Magazine. The first full Future US-published issue of PlayStation(R): The Official Magazine will be the Holiday 2007 edition, on sale in late November. The initial circulation will be 300,000 copies and the frequency will be 13 issues per year. Future US will produce and oversee all the editorial and advertising sales for the magazine.
PlayStation(R): The Official Magazine will be the definitive news, previews and reviews publication for PlayStation(R) enthusiasts and users. It will offer users unprecedented access to the world of PlayStation and product special features made possible by the magazines' exclusive relationship with SCEA. Rob Smith, formerly editor-in-chief of PSM-Independent PlayStation Magazine, will be the new editor-in-chief of PlayStation(R): The Official Magazine. Future US' parent company, international special-interest media company Future plc, publishes Official Sony PlayStation Magazine in the United Kingdom and licenses it in numerous other countries.
"Future US has a strong heritage delivering cutting-edge insight into the industry, and we are looking forward to a long standing relationship to deliver unrivaled exclusive content to PlayStation fans," said Peter Dille, Senior Vice President, Marketing and PLAYSTATION(R)Network, SCEA. "We're very excited to be working with a group that is nearly as passionate about our brand as we are ourselves and we look forward to working with Future on many
innovative ideas they have to create a best in class enthusiast publication."
"We are enormously pleased to be selected to publish the Official title for one of the world's great entertainment brands," said Simon Whitcombe, Publishing Director, Future US. "Future's international heritage is as a PlayStation publisher. PSM sold more than 40 million copies over its lifetime and we have published the Official PlayStation Magazine in the UK since 1995. We're honored that SCEA recognizes the excellence and experience that we can
bring to the license and to PlayStation fans all over the world."

"We are honored to be selected as the new publisher for an industry touchstone like Nintendo Power," says Future US's President, Jonathan Simpson-Bint. "This is an opportunity for Future to use its core competencies - great editorial, deep knowledge of young men's lifestyles and technical expertise - in service of one of the world's great entertainment brands. We couldn't be more excited to get started."

NINTENDO AND FUTURE US TEAM TO PUBLISH NINTENDO POWER MAGAZINE Nintendo partners with country's premiere young men's media company to produce one of gaming industry's most well-regarded magazines South San Francisco, CA (September 19, 2007) - Nintendo and Future US, Inc., the leading publisher of cutting-edge special interest magazines and Web sites, announced today that they are teaming up to publish Nintendo Power® magazine, which has offered millions of Nintendo fans a comprehensive mix of tips, tricks, reviews, maps and strategies each month for nearly 20 years.

Future US will produce the title, which was formerly produced in-house by Nintendo of America Inc. Future US will also produce the magazine's Web site, www.nintendopower.com.

"By teaming with Future US, Nintendo is ensuring the continued growth of the magazine's circulation and bringing even greater value to Nintendo enthusiasts," says George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. "The team at Future will carry on the quality and traditions of Nintendo Power, and the magazine will now be available at more newsstand locations than ever before."

The first full Future US-published issue of Nintendo Power will be the December 2007 edition (volume 222), on sale in October. Initial circulation will be 300,000 copies, with the magazine continuing to ship to subscribers monthly, with an additional holiday bonus issue each year.

Nintendo Power is a pioneering title within the video gaming category and was first published in 1988. Nintendo Power covers all Nintendo gaming systems (Wii™, Nintendo DS™ and Game Boy® Advance) and their associated first-, second- and third-party software. Featuring in-depth previews, reviews of all the latest games, tons of codes, and plenty of late-breaking news, Nintendo Power is perfect for both the novice gamer and the veteran player. Future US's parent, international special-interest media company Future , also publishes the official Nintendo magazine in the United Kingdom.

"We are honored to be selected as the new publisher for an industry touchstone like Nintendo Power," says Future US's President, Jonathan Simpson-Bint. "This is an opportunity for Future to use its core competencies - great editorial, deep knowledge of young men's lifestyles and technical expertise - in service of one of the world's great entertainment brands. We couldn't be more excited to get started."

UPI tracked down Peter Dille, senior vice president of marketing for Sony Computer Entertainment America, to "grill him" about the future of the PSP.

While the questions are well conceived and often very pointed, the answers leave much to be desired.

Essentially, Dille defends the lack of Hollywood support for the UMD, mostly lackluster titles for the PSP and weak music support by not really answering the questions.

An example:

Q. Will future firmware upgrades improve the PSP's music capabilities by including support for playing music in random/shuffle modes?

A. While we have nothing to announce today about additional music capabilities, Sony Computer Entertainment is committed to continuing to build on the functionality of the PSP system. To date, we've developed seven firmware upgrades that help users get more from the device, from expanding the types of music file formats supported to making TV programs recorded with a TiVo available for viewing on a PSP. We will continue to look at ways to enhance the consumer experience going forward via additional updates.

Just how long does Sony expect consumers to wait and see before they just give up and either sell their PSP or decide not to buy one in the first place? Come on Sony, I know you want to make some big, well-times splash, but get on with it. We want to know what's going on with the PSP. Brian Crecente

Tech File: Sony's Playstation Portable
[UPI]

In the final part of my interview with Neil Young, the EA LA studio head talks about his job, the culture of EA and the future of the industry. I was impressed with Young's take on game development and the need for gaming to think outside the box. Kotaku and EA have had a few run-ins over the past year, but Young has always been professional in his dealings with us and his ability to do a video interview says a lot about him. Oh, and he says he loves the site.

Make sure to check out part one here and part two here. —Brian Crecente

Regardless, Computer and Video Games and smart Shacknews readers seem to have deciphered the cryptic clues that Dan Blackstone, senior producer for Battlefield 2: Modern Combat, dropped in regard to the next BF installment. Blackstone hinted that "3213/3X2... or said another way: S.R. 4588164" would give gamers some hint about the direction of Battlefield. I'll spare you the math, but look for Battlefield 2142 announcements in the not too distant future.

Battlefield 2142 in the Works? [Shacknews]
Battlefield Heads to the Year 2142 [C&VG]

Every few years the whole "PC gaming is dead" argument creeps out of the woodwork. However, the story is something different altogether this year. A piece written by Kotaku's editor supreme Brian Crecente for the Rocky Mountain News looks at the medium of PC gaming as a market for a potential renaissance. The article looks at some of the hurdles that need to be leapt in order for PC gaming's rebirth. Among them? Piracy, lack of innovation and a failure to capitalize on the upgradeable nature of PC gaming.

Crecente put together a companion piece for the feature where he interviewed a bunch of PC gaming's biggest names and asked them some questions about the future of PC gaming. On the list of people Crecente spoke with? Richard "Lord British" Garriott and Sid Meier of Pirates fame.

Sleeping Giant [Rocky Mountain News]
Making a case for the PCMaking a Case for the PC [Rocky Mountain News]