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The Rumour Mine: GDC 2011 Bonanza! Game Center, Real Racing 2, and Final Fantasy announcements

Five rumours in this extra special pre-GDC edition

The Rumour Mine: GDC 2011 Bonanza! Game Center, Real Racing 2, and Final Fantasy announcements
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To celebrate the upcoming week of new games, I've packed in five - count 'em five - rumours in this pre-GDC edition of the Rumour Mine (it's also our 50th trip!).

While some are more surprising than others, you can be sure that all point to the strong presence of portable games at GDC. iPhone, iPod touch, and most definitely iPad will be in the spotlight, although there's likely to be some Android love too.

What are you hoping to see out of GDC next week?

Apple to unveil new version of Game Center alongside iPad 2

It's no coincidence that Apple has decided to announce the new iteration of iPad on March 2nd, during the week of GDC. Apple is well aware that the games industry is meeting and wants to catch its eye by announcing a new iPad and revamped version of Game Center.

The social gaming network that everybody loves to hate will finally be getting the update it so desperately needs. Improved network code to ensure that it works properly, a new cumulative score that represents the number of achievements you've unlocked, standardisation of the number of achievements allowed per game, expanded friends list, messaging, and a slew of other features are planned.

While the new iPad won't be required to run the new Game Center (it will ship with a new version of the iOS software that will also be released as an update for other devices), the goal is to promote the new iPad as a great gaming device. Fixing Game Center is definitely a good start.

Expect confirmation next Wednesday when Apple holds its much anticipated press conference.

Real Racing 2 coming to Android

Real Racing 2While ace developer Firemint plans on making headlines with news of a brand new original game next week, there's word of an Android port of the platinum award-winning Real Racing 2. Released for iPhone and iPod touch in December, the feature-rich game is being reconfigured for high-end Android handsets and should be out in the next few months.

Much effort is being made to keep the game's impressive list of features intact (vehicle damage modelling, 16-player online racing, social gaming network support, etc.), although tinkering is required since the game was custom built around iPhone 4.

Less surprising is news of an iPad edition that's expected alongside the new device to be announced by Apple next Wednesday. Considering that the first Real Racing also made the jump to iPad at launch, it's only natural to expect the same of the sequel.

Pac-Man Championship Edition DX being ported to iPhone

Among a small group of notable releases from Namco Bandai Games in the last few months, Pac-Man Championship Edition DX has been a hit on consoles and PSP where its revamped arcade gameplay has really resonated. It's a no-brainer to bring the title over to iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad where Pac-Man has been immensely popular.

While it's unknown if the iOS version will be partitioned into bite-sized in-app purchases like the first Pac-Man Championship Edition, it's good to see Namco Bandai Games pushing quality content on iOS - now if we can just brush Ridge Racer Accelerated under the rug and call it a day...

Anomaly: Warzone Earth complete, publisher announcement next week

Anomaly: Warzone Earth[UPDATE: Chillingo has announced it will be publishing Anomaly: Warzone Earth.]

There's no overstating how excited I am for the release of Anomaly: Warzone Earth. This reverse tower defence game has it all: great graphics, challenging gameplay, inventive concepts, and solid replay value.

It's also been done for some time. The release has been delayed due to developer 11 bit Studios signing a publishing agreement intended to help promote this highly promising game. Who, exactly? While I've been unsuccessful in finding out (trust me, I've done a lot of digging), I suspect it may either be EA Mobile or its subsidiary Chillingo.

Gameloft could be a dark horse - vice president of worldwide publishing Gonzague de Vallois mentioned to Pocket Gamer's Will Wilson that the company is seeking top-notch content from developers to expand Gameloft's role as a publisher - but my money is on an agreement with EA or Chillingo.

Final Fantasy III out before long-delayed Final Fantasy Tactics

Oh, Final Fantasy Tactics. Our relationship with the genre-defining Square Enix tactical role-playing game is semi-abusive, our hopes of a release consistently dashed on the rocks of reality. First the good news: it's still coming. Final Fantasy Tactics is still on track for a spring release, although not as early has you might have hoped.

The bad news is that it's not coming out until April or May, which means you'll be playing Final Fantasy III well before getting your tactical RPG on. Considering that Final Fantasy III is a pretty neat game in its own right, that's a wait I'm willing to accept.