News
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News
First look at World of Warcraft’s charity pets (World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade)
Nov 10, 2010Blizzard has recently released the first images of the new World of Warcraft in-game pets that will be coming to the Blizzard Pet Store. See more of the extra cute version of raid boss Ragnaros and the tiny Moonkin Hatchlings inside… …
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Above: A screenshot from Prison Break for the 360 and PS3. We wonder if it’s being played in a cell, right now
Over 36,000 prisoners are allowed to own videogame consoles in the UK. According to The Independent, this accounts for one third of all the prisoners in England and Wales. Junior justice minister Crispin Blunt emphasized that no public money had been used to purchase consoles or games since 2008. The privilege is part of an incentives program to encourage good behavior from inmates… … -
Dev will fight to include knickers, tentacles.
Outrageous Xbox 360 on-rails shooter Gal Gun has had its release delayed following intervention from Microsoft.
According to Andriasang, the platform holder has taken offence at certain aspects of the ludicrous shoot ’em up, which sees you blasting questionably proportioned schoolgirls with your ‘Ecstasy Shot’ while on a quest to find true love.
First announced earlier this year at the Tokyo Game Show, the game’s mooted January 2011 release date is apparently now on hold.
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Activision Blizzard CEO says Tim Schafer’s company simply owed publisher money, prompting lawsuit over metal-infused action RTS.
Double Fine’s Brutal Legend was among the handful of games that Activision decided not to publish following its merger with Vivendi in 2008. However, the game received a new set of legs when EA Partners picked it up, at least until Activision sued Double Fine, claiming it still had rights to the project. By 2009, the suit was settled and the game saw release, but that didn’t stop Double Fine head Tim Schafer from calling Activision boss Bobby Kotick “a dick.”
For his part, Activision’s oft-maligned executive has remained largely silent on the issue, save for defending the publisher’s position on why Brutal Legend was dropped. In a recent interview with Joystiq, Kotick further defended Activision’s actions, saying that the lawsuit came about by the publisher simply attempting to recuperate the money it fronted to Double Fine to create the game.
“I don’t know him. I never met him,” Kotick said of Schafer. “I had no involvement in Vivendi’s decision to go into business with him. I had very limited knowledge of what we were even doing with him. The guy went off and signed a deal with Electronic Arts for millions of dollars and owed Vivendi money.”
“Vivendi had advanced him like $15 or $20 million dollars,” he said. “He missed all the milestones, missed all the deadlines, as Tim has a reputation of doing. I don’t know if it was a decision not to publish it. I don’t even really know where we were in the negotiation and discussions about what was going to happen to the product. Unbeknownst to everybody, they didn’t have the rights to sell.”
“So all we’d said is, ‘Look: If you go and do a deal with somebody else, pay back the money that was advanced to you.’ That was all we were looking for. We ultimately got a fraction of the money that had been advanced to him, and as far as I know, that was the end of it. But I don’t even know if there was a lawsuit from my recollection,” he continued.
Kotick went on to note that he bears no personal grudge against Schafer, saying only that Activision did not feel Brutal Legend would be a commercial success.
“So I think that maybe nobody was able to clearly articulate that this is not a judgment about Tim Schafer,” he said. “There’s no personal animosity between Bobby Kotick and I don’t know the guy. Never met him. I could honestly tell you, sitting here, I never saw Brutal Legend and so the judgment of the people who I trust and respect about the quality of the game, and whether or not audiences would be excited and enthusiastic about this game, was ‘No.'”
Though Brutal Legend did go on to become a critical success, its commercial fortunes were dubious. In announcing Double Fine’s transition to small game development in July, Schafer confirmed that work on a sequel had been canceled.
Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
“Kotick defends Brutal Legend fallout” was posted by Tom Magrino on Tue, 09 Nov 2010 15:28:58 -0800 -
Capcom celebrates action arcade game’s 25th anniversary with new online installment developed by Seed9.
Ghosts ‘n Goblins is going online. Capcom has confirmed a deal that will see Arthur take his unending quest against the undead into uncharted territory next year.
Ghosts ‘n Goblins Online, which has been confirmed for release only in Korea, will be developed by Seed9. The studio’s previous work includes Tomak: Save the Earth on the PlayStation 2 and the PC online shooter Bumpin’ Heroes.
A teaser trailer for the game showed protagonist Arthur in multiple suits of armor, dispatching opponents with melee attacks and combos, which are uncommon traits for the series. The clip also showed more familiar faces, from minor enemies to Firebrand, the red gargoyle and star of the spin-off Gargoyle’s Quest series.
This is not the first time the series has attempted the jump to online. But like so many leaps in the notoriously difficult arcade series, it met with failure. In 2003, Capcom announced that the massively multiplayer title Ghouls ‘n Ghosts Online was in development for multiple platforms at Taiwanese developer Game Factory. The cel-shaded take on the series had an early 2004 beta test announced, but a final launch of the game never materialized.
With series like Lost Planet and Dead Rising, Capcom has made a point of developing games to maximize worldwide appeal. But the Japanese publisher is taking a much narrower approach with its current forays into online-focused games, announcing both Ghosts ‘n Goblins Online and Mega Man Online only for the Korean market.
Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
“Ghosts ‘n Goblins Online confirmed for Korea” was posted by Brendan Sinclair on Tue, 09 Nov 2010 14:08:48 -0800 -
Fund internal teams, says World of Goo dev.
The co-creator of indie hit World of Goo has called on major publishers to create internal teams to work on smaller, more innovative projects.
Former EA employee and current 2D Boy boss Ron Carmel made his comments during his keynote address at the Montreal International Games Summit, Gamasutra reports.
“We need a medium-sized design studio. Something that is larger than a typical indie, but has the same propensity for talent density, focus and risk-taking,” said Carmel.
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EEDAR analyst Jesse Divnich predicts Sony’s console will surpass Microsoft’s system’s global installed base within two years.
The Xbox 360 may routinely sell tens of thousands of units more than the PlayStation 3 in the US, according to since-discontinued monthly sales figures provided by the NPD Group, but Sony’s console holds the edge in other regions across the globe. According to Microsoft’s and Sony’s most recent financial reports, PS3 unit sales continue to close the gap on the Xbox 360. Microsoft’s console holds a slim margin, despite its yearlong head start, with figures through September coming in at 44.6 million Xbox 360s to 41.6 million PS3s.
According to Electronic Entertainment Design and Research analyst Jesse Divnich, the Xbox 360’s sales lead over the PS3 will come to an end within two years. “Worldwide, Sony will eventually take the lead from Microsoft, likely by the end of 2012,” Divnich said as part of an interview with Industry Gamers. Divnich went on to note that Microsoft may retain its lead in North America, at least, indefinitely.
“North America is a tougher challenge, and as we have seen lately, Microsoft’s lead is widening,” he continued. “I don’t know if the PS3 will ever overtake the Xbox 360 in North America. Maybe 2014? 2016? We do know the PS3 has incredible long-term value as a Blu-ray player, much like the PlayStation 2 did as a DVD player. But with strong competition coming from the digital front, one has to wonder if the PS3 will receive long retail legs like its predecessor did.”
Regardless of which system outsells the other, Divnich emphasized that an installed base is only as good as the games that are being purchased for it.
“Unlike previous generations, I don’t foresee third place being a ‘doom and gloom’ scenario,” he said. “Even with it being in third place now, the PS3 is an incredibly healthy platform. It all comes down to the active installed base; a company can sell as many consoles as it wishes, but if consumers are not actively buying games, they are not part of the installed base’s economic ecosystem. The PS3 doesn’t have the same problem the GameCube had with its third place finish last generation.”
Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
“PS3 to outsell Xbox 360 by 2012 – Analyst” was posted by Tom Magrino on Tue, 09 Nov 2010 12:28:39 -0800 -
Can you dig it?
The decades-old Boulder Dash series is set for a fresh lease of life with a new downloadable title heading to PC and Xbox Live Arcade.
Boulder Dash XL, developed by German developer Catnip Games, will offer 150 levels, online leaderboards and five separate game modes: arcade, retro, zen, puzzle and time challenge.
Created by lone Canadian programmer Peter Liepa, Boulder Dash was first sighted on the Atari 400 back in 1984.
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Never intended to “bury” service.
Microsoft has explained its decision to reinstate the Xbox Live Indie Games service to the games store proper.
Dave Mitchell, a product unit manager for Microsoft’s Developer Program posted on the App Hub forums, “The intent was to provide a special destination for Xbox Live Indie Game developers and not to ‘bury’ it as some have suggested it. We are constantly striving to make sure we are optimizing the experience for our users and developers across the entire marketplace – indies included.
“Based on the strong feedback from all of you however, we are in the process of moving the channel back. You should already see this process underway being reflected on your consoles.”
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Team Bondi’s delayed interactive detective thriller receiving fresh video this week; still no release date offered.
Get the full article at GameSpot
“L.A. Noire getting new trailer Thursday” was posted by Eddie Makuch on Tue, 09 Nov 2010 11:45:31 -0800