Sony's SN Systems opens up new office in Dublin, Ireland

Indulge me for a moment as it's not often I get to report on movements in the Sony spectrum that affect my home town. SN Systems, a subsidiary of SCE, and developer of tools for all three of Sony's gaming devices (PS3, PSP and PS2), have opened a satellite office in Dublin, Ireland.

With its headquarters in Bristol, U.K., new offices are now popping up in San Jose and Dublin in an effort to attract new talent and address "the demand of supporting PlayStation game title developers worldwide."

Check out their own website to see some testimonials from the producers of such games as God of War II and Resistance: Fall of Man praising SN Systems' products such as "ProDG" and "Tuner".

With an exceptionally technical workforce, and comparatively low labour costs compared to the U.K. and the U.S., Dublin seems to have been a good choice. It also helps that the Irish are game crazy with the office sure to attract technical people who also love to game.

Fun trivia fact: outside of Japan, Ireland has the highest console penetration rate per household in the world. Yes, I'm proud, and yes, I'll be sending in my resume to SN Systems as soon as possible.

Source: Edge Online, SNSYS.com

Kratos Appearing in Hot Shots Golf

That's right, the god slaying warrior Kratos will be swinging golf clubs rather than his Blades of Chaos this time around. Atlthough it's no Soul Calibur IV, seeing him cause destruction on the green will be just as satisfying. 

The team over at Clap Handz have done all they can to integrate Kratos into Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds. That means they worked alongside the God of War team as well as got T.C. Carson to do the voice over.

Available at the PS Store this Thursday (today!), Kratos will be a fine addition to the Hot Shots family. Let's just hope he doesn't tear up the green too much. 

Source: [Playstation Blog]

God of War 3 officially confirmed for PS3; goats everywhere shudder

SCEA have officially announced God of War III is PS3-bound.

Not that we didn't already know that anyway, but it's sure nice to have the official word.

This time, Cory Barlog won't be involved in the project though. The former Director of GoW II has moved on 'somewhere'.

Now, I'm not one to strategise and work out what's happening behind the scenes (ok - that's a lie), but since the original GoW Director David Jaffe set up his Eat, Sleep, Play development house recently it wouldn't be mad to wonder if Cory is moving over to that new independent developer.

Cory has certainly left with no public word of where he is going, no update to his blog, and SCEA won't confirm any details either, so watch this space.

Still, don't let the fact that neither David Jaffe or Cory Barlog are involved in the project worry you. According to the announcement the GoW II and GoW: Chains of Olympus teams have the full backing of Sony. All they need now is some direction!

Let's just hope that when it goes gold they don't repeat the massive marketing gaff that caused so much controversy when GoW II was launched.