For a blockbuster hit like the Pirates of the Caribbean, you would think that publishers would jump on the opportunity on the franchise's fame and rake in shiploads of moolah by porting it to all conceivable platforms possible.

But not Disney Interactive Studios. While Jack Sparrow and the rest of his crew will be basking under the sun across multiplatforms on U.S. shores, Japan will only find them exclusively on Nintendo platforms. That's right, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End will only be shipped for the Japanese Wii and DS.

QJ.net are just as clueless as to why Disney Interactive opted to embrace this strategy for Japan, but it seems that they are confident PotC: At World's End will do just fine, even without the help of the other platform versions. They will see just how much gold they'll be raking in with this double-edged move.
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PS3fanboy reports how Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End is going to be displayed in 1080p where available. Why is this such a surprise? Because normally games based off of movies (based off of amusement park rides) hardly get any sort of beauty treatment.

They explain this by saying the game isn't that visually impressive. It looks good, but more like a 360 launch title than a second-gen 360 and semi-first-gen PS3 title. Check out the picture they used. Don't look at Jack -- look at the dude in the middle. Completely emotionless, like an N64 character.
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The second issue of P3Zine is now out with reviews of Oblivion, FEAR, Splinter Cell and Untold Legends, as well as PSN games. It also includes an exclusive interview with the developer of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End and a roundup on GTA IV. There's a preview of Fatal Inertia, Blu Ray reviews and much more. As usual, the magazine is written by professional games journalists and the digital magazine is available for free download.
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Mike Hartnett at Tawkn.com writes: "The spaces just keep on coming as Q-Games has just announced that they will debuting all-new spaces dedicated to the PixelJunk series. We've got the pics as well as the statement from Q-Games for ya!"
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The upcoming Encore expansion to PixelJunk Eden looks to be quite massive ... and quite fun. The Trophy list has been updated for the upcoming add-on, and the 11 new Trophies reveal some new details about the devilish new levels being added to the game. One Trophy requires a death-defying jump to get two Spectra in one go, while another asks players to open ten seeds without ever touching a plant. Ouch! Joystiq can't wait to see the new content later this month.
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Dylan Cuthbert from US Playstation.Blog writes:

"This is Dylan from Q-Games, the company behind PixelJunk, and following on from my blog entry last week where I listed what we've been doing for the past few months. This entry is all about Eden Encore.

First things first, what have we added? Well, basically we have added five whole new stages, each one choc-a-bloc full of ideas and gimmicks. We also designed five brand new backgrounds for them (each background for a garden is programmed uniquely just for that garden's style - just in case you hadn't noticed that in the original), and Baiyon went away and created five brilliant new tracks of music to match it all up."
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Jeff Rubenstein from US Playstation.Blog writes:

"Today marks the 3rd and final day of our GDC PlayStation.Blog.Lounge, and we're very happy to welcome Q-Games President Dylan Cuthbert into the fold. Chances are you've already already played one of his company's titles, PixelJunk Eden, Monsters, or Racers (and read about the upcoming Eden Encore). But who are the people that make such innovative games? And why don't they wear shoes when they work? Take the tour..."
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Publishers looking for a quick buck don't need to focus their efforts solely on the iPhone. Sony's Susan Panico touted the values of PSN development by providing a case study on PixelJunk Eden, Q-Games' third PSN-exclusive title. Panico told the GamesBeat audience that "PixelJunk Eden made its return on investment within 24 hours." Sales after that period become pure profit.

Of course, the success of Eden is a little unsurprising, considering the popularity of PixelJunk Monsters. Regardless, it's impressive that a small independent studio was able to create a trusted franchise exclusively through the PlayStation Network. With so much green made off of Eden, it's no wonder Q-Games is working on an expansion for the game. Eden Encore will be available in April.
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Gamasutra writes:

"Media Molecule's LittleBigPlanet leads the nominees for the ninth annual Game Developers Choice Awards with seven nominations, organizers have revealed.

Number None's Braid follows closely with five nominations. Among the nominations for LittleBigPlanet is the coveted Game of the Year award.

Other nominees for that category include Fallout 3 and Left 4 Dead, each of which received a total of four award nominations; Rockstar North's Grand Theft Auto IV, which earned a total of three nominations, and Lionhead Studios' Fable 2. Winners will be honored at an awards show taking place during the 2009 Game Developers Conference."
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Dylan Cuthbert, President and Executive Producer of Q-Games Ltd., writes:

"Two blog entries in almost as many weeks! Hopefully you aren't too bored of me yet!

This is just a short one though, to inform you that at last the patch for PixelJunk Eden will be released on Thursday, January 15. For those of you from the EU, it will be out shortly thereafter, so stay tuned.

In this patch we've listened to your comments. We've gone ahead and fixed and added a few things to try and get as many people to play Eden as possible, as it really is a remarkable game…if I do say so myself. I simply want as many people as possible to experience it in full (if only we could release it for free and still make a living like some Star Trek-like future)."
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