Hi folks, Cooper Hawkes here not with a rant, but some new news for you to digest:

Item One: DreamStation.CC has an interview with John Calhoun, the designer of "The Godfather" video game.

Had this pop into my inbox this morning:

Dear Gamer Andy,

My name is Chris Paladino and I am the Podcast Producer/Contributing Writer at DreamStation.cc, and I thought you guys may be interested in the recent The Godfather game coverage on our site.

Our latest episode of the DreamStation.cc Video Game Show podcast (Show #50) features an audio interview with John Calhoun, the designer of The Godfather game. The entire interview is two parts and will run over the course of two shows. The first part is located at the end of our latest show and next week's show #51 will feature the conclusion of the interview.

We also were invited to The Godfather Community Day at the Electronic Arts Studio located in Redwood City, California , last month and have coverage of it with photos and impressions of the game in the article located (here)

Any coverage of these two exclusive The Godfather features on DreamStation.cc would be appreciated.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Chris Paladino
Podcast Producer/Contributing Writer
DreamStation.cc

Now normally I don't pimp other websites, but I STILL listen to this podcast as its pretty damn funny, and has a guy who composes some pretty funny custom songs just for the show. Also their coverage of "The Godfather" was excellent, so I know this interview should be interesting.

Go for it

What's after the jump?

2) PSP Interface?

3) MS and Lionhead: In bed together.

4) Pac-Man and Galaga, Live Arcade Bound!

Item Two: Joystiq: Convincing PSone emulator interface pics surfice.

PSP Updates received some snapshots alleged to be depicting the PSP's forthcoming PSone emulator interface. The pictures suggest a simple process in which users select a PlayStation game from an alphabetized list and then, are given details about the title and an option to purchase and download the game. Pictured above, the Gran Turismo 2 detail shows a $15 price and 2–6-player Wi-Fi (infrastructure) multiplayer support. Elsewhere, another image reveals this list of "new" available games (quite a launch lineup):


Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare
Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars
Broken Sword: The Smoking Mirror
Doom
Doom 2: Hell on Earth
Duke Nukem: Time to Kill
Duke Nukem: Land of the Babes
Final Fantasy VII
Gran Turismo 2
Grand Theft Auto 2
Metal Gear Solid
Twisted Metal 2
Quake 2

Very interesting stuff here, though the $15 price seems a bit steep, and I'm not so sure about the Duke Nukem titles, but original Metal Gear? Final Fantasy VII?

I am so there.

Item Three: Joystiq: Microsoft's Lionhead acquisition official.

The GDC rumour mill had its finger on the pulse where Lionhead and Microsoft were concerned; Microsoft has acquired the British developer, beating out rumoured competition from EA and Ubisoft. It looks as though Microsoft were especially keen to grab Peter Molyneux -- they'll be putting his innovative approach to gaming to use on the Xbox 360 and Vista platforms.

An excellent acquisition on Microsoft's part, now all they have to do is find a way to make sure Peter Molyneux doesn't shoot his mouth off about game features that he winds up pulling back on.

We'll have to see how this one plays out.

And finally:

Item Four: IGN: Namco Bringing Pac-Man to Live Arcade.

In addition to retail titles, the ever-popular Xbox Marketplace was also brought up. So far there have been 52,000 downloads from Japan, Sensui revealed. Along with the Marketplace comes the Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA), for which SNK, Konami and Bandai Namco and Yukes will provide content. A Bandai Namco rep took the stage to announce that Pac-Man and Galaga wil be will be available for download on the service in Japan.

I can't decide if I'm more excited by Pac-Man or Galaga. Either way, good job Microsoft on getting this one!

Now just make sure you release it in America!

And that's some of today's news.

Questions? Comments? STFU? Send them to Hawkes.

Semper Fi!