More photos, some exciting news, and a quick Wii

Wedding shots!
Cornelia, the lovely wife of my ex-colleague from I-Imagine and good buddy, gave us the photos she took at our wedding. Now this lady is a photography student, and she has some serious skills, so they're well worth a look ;) Thanks a stack Cornelia, and Happy Birthday for Sunday!

I-Imagine's new publishing deal
I-Imagine has announced a publishing deal with Spanish Publisher Virgin Play which will see the release of their new title Final Armada released on the PS2 and PSP in all European territories in Q3 2006. I-Imagine is one of my former employers, where I worked on the Xbox game Chase: Hollywood stunt driver as well as on the technology used in Final Armada.

Well done guys, and good luck for the hard work ahead. I can't wait to pick up a copy of Final Armada and bring it around for a manual signing ;-)

PSP Firmware update 2.7 includes some nifty stuff
Sony released a new firmware update for the PSP this week, bringing the system software up to version 2.7. As well as AAC audio support (which makes copying of podcasts easier) and some other minor changes, this version adds support for Macromedia Flash to the PSP’s web browser. Besides the obvious benefit of being able to view flash-heavy websites, this makes it possible to run flash games on the system by copying them onto the memory stick and accessing them locally. I am sure this will open up a whole new world to PSP homebrew developers, as well as a new target platform for flash developers. It turns out that the update also enables the system to run signed code off the memory stick. Sony previously stated they would not allow this sort of functionality, for fear of piracy, but they have obviously realized that pirates have found other methods anyway so they may as well make use of potentially great functionality.

Nintendo takes the piss
Nintendo have announced the new name of their upcoming console. The next-gen console, previously known as the Revolution, and widely anticipated for it's unique new approach to game controls, is to be known in future as the Wii.

This announcement has of course led to huge discussion on the web, as people speculate on the reasoning behind the new name. Nintendo's choice is partially driven by the phonetic similarity to the word 'we', which is meant to emphasize the social nature of the machine. Of course the similarity to the slang for urine has definitely not been missed by the internet community, and is sure to be the subject of many jokes and cartoons for weeks to come.