Final Fantasy XIV producer Hiromichi Tanaka has stated that the Xbox 360 version of the game has not been cancelled, only that development has been paused, as talks with Microsoft are still ongoing.

Speaking with VG247, Tanaka stated that previous rumors of the Xbox 360 version being cancelled are false. He added that a demo is in the works and that discussions with Microsoft are still ongoing.

“We’re still talking with Microsoft at the moment so there is no update as to when we’ll start again,” he said, admitting the only roadblock to the game hitting the console at the moment is restrictions imposed by Xbox Live.

Final Fantasy XIV is set for release next month worldwide on the PC, with a scheduled release date for the PS3 in March 2011.

“I think 3D gaming is huge,” said Mick Hocking, senior director for Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Studio Liverpool, in an interview with Kotaku. “There are many, many benefits that 3D brings to games, but in general it enhances your sense of immersion. Your eyes pick up a lot more information that with 2D.”

Hocking leads PlayStation’s worldwide studio’s stereoscopic 3D team – a group within Sony that has been working with 3D gaming for the past two years now. To Hocking, 3D represents a huge opportunity to gaming. The most important aspect, though, is immersion, says Hocking, with racing and sports games representing genres that can benefit the most.

“In those you have more information to reach to, like judging the breaking point in a turn, where to overtake a car, or when to swing a bat in major league baseball,” he said. “All of that is much, much more intuitive in 3D than it is in 2D.”

3D, emergent as it is, still represents a cost that most consumers are not willing to pursue at this point; the glasses still represent a major problem for viewers.

“I think it’s crucially important that we produce high-quality 3D at this time,” he said. “We’re in the phase of building the market. We need to convince (gamers) to not only get the games but also to buy the 3D TVs.

“If you do produce 3D games in the right way it is a stunning experience and justifies the need to put glasses on and buy that TV,” he said. “If not done well it’s just used to add depth or worse it can put people off.”

“3D done right isn’t just about adding depth to a scene; it is a creative medium,” Hocking said. “There are choices about how much depth you put into a scene depending on what you’re after, whether it is to create a sense of suspense or vertigo.”

To Hocking, the concept of 3D was finally proven with the most successful movie of all time, Avatar. ”Avatar was proof that if you deliver a high-quality experience people will flock to it,” he said.

It is therefore time for video games to stand up and take 3D by the horns. The technology present within Avatar was truly impressive, but for 3D to really shine, a video game needs to bring full immersion and control into the equation. Sony’s upcoming line-up of games hope to be the first titles to really demonstrate what games are capable of producing for 3D, and Hocking thinks Motorstorm will be the best example of 3D gaming yet.

“My completely unbiased opinion is Motorstorm Apocalypse,” Hocking said. “I think Killzone 3 has a great sense of vertigo, especially in the jetpack levels, but Motorstorm has things blowing up all around you and past you.”

Hocking believes that Motorstorm will really demonstrate the capabilities that 3D can bring the table, but for improvement, developers need to really learn to embrace 3D not as technology, but as a technique. ”The teams are really coming to grips with it,” he said. “These guys are really starting to understand the medium.”

Raptr, which formally announced its social gaming network last month, has issued its first Raptr Industry Trends Report, which takes a look at the impact EA Sports’ Madden NFL 11 launch is having on other games and how it stacks up against the previous Madden.

“Overall, the game experienced the usual initial explosion and gradual decrease seen with other Madden games. What’s fascinating is that play time for Madden 10 spiked +237% the month before Madden 11 launch,  suggesting that gamers went back to warm up their fingers for the upcoming sequel,” the report noted.

Interestingly, EA’s demo seemed to be much less effective in winning over sales for the game. “Madden 11’s demo converted 30% of people who played it to the full version within the first week. Last year, Madden 10 showed a 45% conversion in that same time frame. While both numbers are impressive, it seems that up take this year was down quite a bit,” Raptr remarked.

That said, the people who did buy the game diverted their attention away from other top titles, like Activision Blizzard’s Modern Warfare 2, for instance.

Top 10 games Madden 11 stole playtime from:

1. NCAA Football 11
2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
3. Madden 11 Demo
4. Madden 10
5. MLB 2K10
6. NBA 2K10
7. Gears of War 2
8. NHL 10
9. Castlevania: Harmony of Despair
10. Mass Effect 2

As Raptr commented, those last two on the list are somewhat “considering that one game has been out for a while, and the other is a DLC only game on XBLA.”

Konami recently released Castlevania: Harmony of Despair on Xbox Live Arcade, and it’s an experiment for the franchise. It’s an online multiplayer focused game, with characters, enemies and level elements re-appropriated from several other recent Castlevania titles. With similarities to old school, action-oriented Castlevanias of the past, it’s ironic that Konami’s old school publisher approach with selling the game will probably hold it back from being a bigger hit.

One of the main selling points of the game is the fact that it offers multiplayer for up to six players, who can choose from five different characters and explore six levels. However, the demo is limited to one character (Alucard), one player offline and one level. If this sounds like a weird way to try to sell people on the game, you’re right; it not only gives a bad sampling of what the game contains, but it also gives most people that play it a poor impression of the game.

The demo is a clear example of in the box thinking – it’s so inside the box, there might be another smaller box inside that box that the nascence of the demo came from. For most standard retail games, publishers provide a small sample of the gameplay (usually not multiplayer) and hope that’s enough to hook players. The problem in this case is Castlevania HD is not your standard retail product.

The solution to this is give players more for the free sample – all five characters, four (or maybe the full six) players simultaneously and, say, three levels. This will give players a very good idea of what to expect from the full game. They’ll also be able to get some of the item drops, but all of the cooler weapons will be reserved for those that pay for the later levels. This free version should let players play with those who paid for the full game, letting them see some of the best equipment in action and further enticing them to upgrade to the paid version. When and if they do upgrade, they’ll be able to retain whatever items they picked up or spells they’ve learned – if the game had leveling (another potential missed opportunity), there could also be an appropriate level cap.

As for the price… in my mind, $15 is asking too much for this sort of game. I’d put the full version of the game at between $5 and $10. Down the road, expansions with more levels and more characters will provide more opportunity for sales, at between $2.50 and $5 (I realize the game will likely do this anyway). Other opportunities for sales include micro-transactions, with small items to customize the appearance of players’ sprites – sell them for between $.50 and $1, and they’ll make their money back tenfold in almost no time at all.

I realize that there’s no guarantee that the above ideas would make Castlevania: Harmony of Despair a success – despite its appearance, it’s very different from any recent Castlevania title and the online matchmaking system is apparently less than stellar. The game certainly has its fans, though, and there’s real potential for some of the ideas that Castlevania HD is built on. However, the uninspired demo and high asking price may turn this curious online experiment into a failure.

Don’t get too attached to your current avatar. Rare has told OXM UK that the Xbox Live Avatars will be seeing a Kinect-centric redesign. Nick Burton, senior programmer at Rare, says ‘Avatar 2.0’ is going to be more realistic.

The proportions are changing to something more realistic because of the break in a player’s hand-eye coordination when using Kinect with the old Avatars. No further information has been given, but expect to see more prior to Kinect’s launch in November.