Japanese magazine, GeMaga, recently published an interview with Polyphony Digital’s president, Kazunori Yamauchi. Two points were made clear in the session. He first discussed Gran Turismo 5, mentioning that it is still charted for a 2009 release, even though there is still a bit of give and take, so we may or may not see it in 2009.

The more important news however, is the rumour that Polyphony Digital may be expanding its line of games. We know PD as being racing oriented, but Yamauchi mentioned that the company wants to try something new and create a totally new, different and distinctive game. So does this mean they will be stepping into a new genre? Stay tuned.

Here are 8 screen shots from Kart Attack, which is being developed by Blimey! Games and is set for release in 2009 for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. It’s a kart racing game which features lots of fantasy race circuits. The game is destined to go directly to the Playstation Network, Windows Live Arcade and Xbox Live Arcade. Screen below.

Here are 5 new screens from the upcoming PS3 title, Supercar Challenge. Some of the cars include the McLaren F1 Roadcar, Aston Martin DBR9, Lamborghini Murcielago, Ferrari FXX and the Ferrari F250 GTO

Like many gaming corporations, EA has been hit with the reality of a declining economy, and is bit-by-bit cutting back on their expenses. News has emerged across the net, claiming that EA’s Black Box division will be eventually shut down, meaning that future Need For Speed titles may soon see no light of day.

In a report from globeandmail, it is reported that EA has decided to cancel the construction of their new gaming development studio in Vancouver, mainly because of slow holiday sales and the decline of the general economy. With such a negative reaction to NFS: Undercover sales had slumped and according to the NDP sales for November 08, Undercover didn’t make the top 20 either, which clearly showed that it didn’t sell well. There have also been reports that future NFS developments have been canceled.

“These are challenging times, they’re uncertain times for our industry and across the board…We continue to be firmly rooted in Vancouver.” - EA spokesman Colin Macrae

He also commented about a number of staff reductions but chose not to go into any detail. At this moment, this news is still not 100% confirmed by EA officials themselves, but it’s an impending reality and also it is sad to see such a long running title come to and end on such a low note. EA’s Black Box division may have had the chance to revive things since the CEO’s plans to have 2 separate teams work on the game seemed promising, but now we don’t know if that may ever come to light. Stay tuned for more updates.

The folks at EA Black Box has announced that they will be releasing a patch soon for their latest release, Need For Speed: Undercover. Currently, there is not much info about what it is intended to fix but it is based on a lot of community feedback (wow EA actually listens to its fans?). Here is a message from an EA official. The patch is intended for the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC.

“We wanted to let everyone know that the game team is currently hard at work developing a patch for Undercover for PS3, 360 and PC. We’ve spent a lot of time reviewing all the feedback from the community. Thank you! At this point we don’t have a confirmed release date or fix list but we thought it was important to let everyone know that a patch is in progress. As soon as we’ve got more news we’ll let everyone know.”

System 3 and Eutechnyx have announced their new racing title, SuperCar Challenge, which is supposed to be a follow up to Ferrari Challenge. This PS3 exclusive game, now features a wider range of supercars, rather than having the title focused on one brand (Ferrari), as done previously. The game is still in the works and is estimated to be out in Spring of 2009. Some car brands I see from the pictures include Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, Bugatti, Chevy, Zonda, Mercedes and what looks like a Koenigsegg.  Here are some pics courtesy of IGN.