Log inTWOII'S ( JOYSTICQ.COM ) WHATS NEW IN GAMER NEWS
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TWOII'S ( JOYSTICQ.COM ) WHATS NEW IN GAMER NEWS
by TWOHAS1 Fri Jan 06, 2012 12:13 pm
The GDCA 2011 nominations look strangely familiar
Lads, get your polite-clapping gloves ready, and shine your pearls, ladies -- finalists have been named for the Game Developers Choice Awards, and this year boasts quite the lineup. Valve, Bethesda and Supergiant Games have five nominations each for Portal 2, Skyrim and Bastion, respectively (and respectfully). Supergiant is nominated for Best Debut, alongside Team Bondi for L.A. Noire and BioWare Austin for Star Wars: The Old Republic.
Batman: Arkham City, Skyrim, Portal 2, Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Dark Souls are nominated for Game of the Year. The awards ceremony will be held on March 7. We're not going to say that the GDCA stole their entire list of nominees from a super-cool and highly regarded gaming website, but it does look familiar:
Continue Reading
Xbox.com issue causes risk of accidental purchases
If you elect to queue a demo from Xbox.com on your browser, and you aren't logged into Xbox.com on that device, you run the risk of accidentally buying the content instead of trying it out, as pointed out by a Giant Bomb user.
That's because after you click the "Try Game" button and log in, the system acts as if you've elected to buy, giving you a "Confirm Purchase" button. If you aren't paying attention, and you just click through, you'll have made the purchase.
Luckily, Microsoft told Giant Bomb that the web team is aware of the problem, and is "actively working to resolve it." In the meantime, read every button!
XCOM: Enemy Unknown returns to strategy genre, thanks to Firaxis
Were you thoroughly enraged when 2K Games announced intentions to first-person shooter-ize your favorite strategy game series, XCOM? Here's some potentially good (and calming) news: Civilization developer Firaxis Games is currently working on another totally new XCOM game, called XCOM: Enemy ...
Continue Reading
Microsoft and Datel finally make nice, settle out of court
After a protracted court battle involving lawsuits on both sides of the fence, Microsoft and Datel have finally settled their differences and moved on. Bloomberg reports that a December 30 court filing outs a settlement between the two -- a settlement that Microsoft spokesperson Kevin Kutz ...
Continue Reading
Arkadium and Microsoft Studios sign multi-year publishing deal
Casual and social game developer Arkadium has inked a deal with Microsoft Studios to develop exclusive titles across multiple, unnamed platforms. The agreement is described as a "multi-year, multi-game partnership" between the two companies, though exactly how many years the deal will span is ...
Continue Reading
Max Payne shoots in new Max Payne 3 shots
Maaaax, dearest of all my friends. You're looking quite well for your March debut. I see you still know how to use a gun, but why no pictures of you shooting while diving through the air? Oh, there it is! ...
Continue Reading
Xbox Live 'FIFA hack' concerns continue to escalate, Microsoft states Windows Live ID not compromised
Additional reporting provided by Xav de Matos, Senior Editor for Shacknews. Following an increasing occurrence of Xbox Live account hack reports, we are growing concerned over Microsoft's Windows Live ID system, the only layer of protection between a hacker gaining access to a person's ...
Continue Reading
Battlefield 3 soliciting feedback for gun attachment tweaks via Reddit thread
For most Battlefield 3 players, the huge number of weapon-mounted accessories are little more than filler between the obvious handful of choices that offer the best, effective results. The game's core gameplay designer, Alan Kertz, has picked up on that state and taken to Reddit to solicit advice ...
Continue Reading
Engineer makes cat companion out of robot using Kinect and Wiimotes
Until the robots rise up and destroy us all, software engineer Taylor Veltrop is fine with using our future usurpers as feline babysitters. Veltrop has hacked together a Kinect, two Wiimotes, head-mounted display, treadmill and a Nao robot to remotely pet a cat. It may have taken him about a ...
Continue Reading
Xbox Live Avatar tattoos now available
Firearms may have been too suggestive a topic for the Xbox Live Marketplace to broach, but apparently body modification is an A-OK, family friendly activity for everyone to enjoy. Xbox Live customers now have the opportunity to trade real money for virtual tattoos on fake people via the ...
Continue Reading
Lads, get your polite-clapping gloves ready, and shine your pearls, ladies -- finalists have been named for the Game Developers Choice Awards, and this year boasts quite the lineup. Valve, Bethesda and Supergiant Games have five nominations each for Portal 2, Skyrim and Bastion, respectively (and respectfully). Supergiant is nominated for Best Debut, alongside Team Bondi for L.A. Noire and BioWare Austin for Star Wars: The Old Republic.
Batman: Arkham City, Skyrim, Portal 2, Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Dark Souls are nominated for Game of the Year. The awards ceremony will be held on March 7. We're not going to say that the GDCA stole their entire list of nominees from a super-cool and highly regarded gaming website, but it does look familiar:
Continue Reading
- Source: PR Newswire
Xbox.com issue causes risk of accidental purchases
If you elect to queue a demo from Xbox.com on your browser, and you aren't logged into Xbox.com on that device, you run the risk of accidentally buying the content instead of trying it out, as pointed out by a Giant Bomb user.
That's because after you click the "Try Game" button and log in, the system acts as if you've elected to buy, giving you a "Confirm Purchase" button. If you aren't paying attention, and you just click through, you'll have made the purchase.
Luckily, Microsoft told Giant Bomb that the web team is aware of the problem, and is "actively working to resolve it." In the meantime, read every button!
- Source: Giant Bomb
XCOM: Enemy Unknown returns to strategy genre, thanks to Firaxis
Were you thoroughly enraged when 2K Games announced intentions to first-person shooter-ize your favorite strategy game series, XCOM? Here's some potentially good (and calming) news: Civilization developer Firaxis Games is currently working on another totally new XCOM game, called XCOM: Enemy ...
Continue Reading
Microsoft and Datel finally make nice, settle out of court
After a protracted court battle involving lawsuits on both sides of the fence, Microsoft and Datel have finally settled their differences and moved on. Bloomberg reports that a December 30 court filing outs a settlement between the two -- a settlement that Microsoft spokesperson Kevin Kutz ...
Continue Reading
Arkadium and Microsoft Studios sign multi-year publishing deal
Casual and social game developer Arkadium has inked a deal with Microsoft Studios to develop exclusive titles across multiple, unnamed platforms. The agreement is described as a "multi-year, multi-game partnership" between the two companies, though exactly how many years the deal will span is ...
Continue Reading
Max Payne shoots in new Max Payne 3 shots
Maaaax, dearest of all my friends. You're looking quite well for your March debut. I see you still know how to use a gun, but why no pictures of you shooting while diving through the air? Oh, there it is! ...
Continue Reading
Xbox Live 'FIFA hack' concerns continue to escalate, Microsoft states Windows Live ID not compromised
Additional reporting provided by Xav de Matos, Senior Editor for Shacknews. Following an increasing occurrence of Xbox Live account hack reports, we are growing concerned over Microsoft's Windows Live ID system, the only layer of protection between a hacker gaining access to a person's ...
Continue Reading
Battlefield 3 soliciting feedback for gun attachment tweaks via Reddit thread
For most Battlefield 3 players, the huge number of weapon-mounted accessories are little more than filler between the obvious handful of choices that offer the best, effective results. The game's core gameplay designer, Alan Kertz, has picked up on that state and taken to Reddit to solicit advice ...
Continue Reading
Engineer makes cat companion out of robot using Kinect and Wiimotes
Until the robots rise up and destroy us all, software engineer Taylor Veltrop is fine with using our future usurpers as feline babysitters. Veltrop has hacked together a Kinect, two Wiimotes, head-mounted display, treadmill and a Nao robot to remotely pet a cat. It may have taken him about a ...
Continue Reading
Xbox Live Avatar tattoos now available
Firearms may have been too suggestive a topic for the Xbox Live Marketplace to broach, but apparently body modification is an A-OK, family friendly activity for everyone to enjoy. Xbox Live customers now have the opportunity to trade real money for virtual tattoos on fake people via the ...
Continue Reading
Last edited by TWOHAS1 on Sun Jan 22, 2012 7:59 am; edited 1 time in total
TWOHAS1
- Number of posts : 663
Registration date : 2008-01-24
Re: TWOII'S ( JOYSTICQ.COM ) WHATS NEW IN GAMER NEWS
by TWOHAS1 Fri Jan 13, 2012 12:10 pm
NPD: Xbox 360 earns $6.7 billion in 2011
The game industry's December 2011 may have been down from the same month last year, but it hasn't brought down spirits at Microsoft. The Redmond-based Xbox 360 manufacturer capped off 2011 by having the number one console for twelve straight months, NPD data reveals.
In December, Microsoft sold more than 1.7 million consoles (déjà vu, anyone?) without brand-new hardware to help push it over the top like last year. Gamers spent $1.5 billion at retail on the Xbox 360 alone during December, and overall Microsoft's share of that $16 billion pie in 2011 came to $6.7 billion -- $2.1 billion on consoles, $4.6 billion on games and accessories.
During its annual (and, this year, final) CES sojourn, Microsoft revealed there are 66 million Xbox 360 consoles out in the world today. Based on the 2011 figures from the NPD, we'd say a lot of them are here in North America. But when will this month-to-month momentum slow down and make way for the impending next generation? Probably around the time we invent robots for boxing.
The game industry's December 2011 may have been down from the same month last year, but it hasn't brought down spirits at Microsoft. The Redmond-based Xbox 360 manufacturer capped off 2011 by having the number one console for twelve straight months, NPD data reveals.
In December, Microsoft sold more than 1.7 million consoles (déjà vu, anyone?) without brand-new hardware to help push it over the top like last year. Gamers spent $1.5 billion at retail on the Xbox 360 alone during December, and overall Microsoft's share of that $16 billion pie in 2011 came to $6.7 billion -- $2.1 billion on consoles, $4.6 billion on games and accessories.
During its annual (and, this year, final) CES sojourn, Microsoft revealed there are 66 million Xbox 360 consoles out in the world today. Based on the 2011 figures from the NPD, we'd say a lot of them are here in North America. But when will this month-to-month momentum slow down and make way for the impending next generation? Probably around the time we invent robots for boxing.
- Source: Microsoft
NPD 2011: Sales across industry between $16.3 and $16.6 billion, Ubi tops software sales list
Assassination and dancing has proven to be a lucrative mix, as Just Dance 2 and 3 and Assassin's Creed: Revelations helped Ubisoft to lead this year's best seller's list with three entries. That's according to the NPD Group, which also estimates the video game industry's profits, comprising "new physical video and PC games, used games, game rentals, subscriptions, digital full-game downloads, social network games, downloadable content, and mobile games," reached sales of somewhere between $16.3 and $16.6 billion in 2011.
Activision's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 took top honors (it's kind of a big deal), while Just Dance 3 and Skyrim occupied the second and third spots, respectively. NPD also says that, despite sales growth in the digital sector yet again, physical copies offered at retail outlets still accounted for the majority of sales coming in at $9.3 billion, "an 8 percent decline over the $10.1 billion in 2010."
That decline was "partially" offset by increases in digital, mobile, and used game sales, which NPD expects to be a focus moving into 2012. "Our overall estimate of the market continues to point toward the increased imperative for deeper visibility into digital distribution than is available today, not only in the U.S. but globally," said NPD prez David McQuillan. Our waning shelf space agrees.
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December NPD: MW3, Just Dance 3 and Skyrim lead an overall down month
The industry as a whole still managed to bang out $3.99 billion in combined new sales of hardware, physical software and accessories between November 27 and December 31, 2011. This is, however, a 21 percent drop year-over-year, as the industry pulled down a combined $5.07 billion during the same period in 2010.
"Overall industry results are not entirely surprising given that we are on the back end of the current console lifecycle, combined with the continued digital evolution of gaming," said Anita Frazier, an analyst with The NPD Group. "Core gamers continue to be engaged and spend on established franchises across both the digital and physical format using multiple devices for different gaming occasions."
A smooth $2.04 billion of that $3.99 billion total was caused entirely by new physical software sales, a dash for the cash that continues to be lead by Modern Warfare 3. The pseudo-medieval allure of November's second place podium finisher, Skyrim, was not enough to keep its throne for a second term; the Dovahkiin has been usurped by Ubisoft's compulsory neon-dancing simulator, Just Dance 3.
Comparatively, Skyrim got off easy: Uncharted 3, Saints Row: The Third and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, are all absent from December's Top-10 list, just weeks after their respective releases. Skyward Sword wasn't Nintendo's only horse in this race, however, as Mario Kart 7 and Super Mario 3D Land closed out December in fourth and ninth place, respectively. Overall, Nintendo, Ubisoft and Electronic Arts claimed more Top-10 real estate than their competitors, each publishing two of the month's best selling titles.
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Modern Warfare 3 holiday numbers indicate franchise sales decline in UK
While the Call of Duty franchise has enjoyed year-over-year growth in terms of worldwide sales, numbers released this week for the UK tell a different story for that particular region. According to the UK's Entertainment Retailers Association, Modern Warfare 3 moved 2,814,298 units between launch on November 8 and December 31, 2011, while Call of Duty's 2010 entry, Black Ops, sold 3,266,298 across the same holiday sales period in the previous year.
That's a decline of 452,000 units from Treyarch-developed Black Ops in 2010 to Infinity Ward/Sledgehammer Games-developed Modern Warfare 3 in 2011, though the latter was the fastest entertainment property in history to reach $1 billion in sales. As MCV points out, FIFA sales were also in decline in the UK, with nearly 200K fewer copies sold during 2011 than in 2010. All that said, let's not lose any sleep over the declines -- both CoD and FIFA's 2011 entries sold in the many millions in just the UK, let alone worldwide. - Via: MCV
- Source: ERA
Rockstar devs check out the black market in Sao Paulo for Max Payne 3 [update]
Max Payne 3 is set in the slums and high-rolling cities of São Paulo, Brazil. To truly get a feel for the land and its society, Rockstar developers and researchers traveled to the heart of the city to study its law-enforcement branches, its extensive weapons collection and to track down ...
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(PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS TOPIC THANKS
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TWOHAS1- Number of posts : 663
Registration date : 2008-01-24
Re: TWOII'S ( JOYSTICQ.COM ) WHATS NEW IN GAMER NEWS
by TWOHAS1 Fri Jan 20, 2012 12:21 pm
TIGA: UK 'brain drain' sees nearly half of laid-off devs leaving country
Britain's developer workforce has fallen 10 percent since 2008, and 41 percent of studio employees laid off between 2009 and 2011 have relocated out of the country, UK-games trade association TIGA reports. TIGA is publishing a survey from Games Investor Consulting that covers three-fourths of the UK games industry and warns of a brain drain in the UK.
Bizarre Creations, a Liverpool studio that closed in 2010, saw one-third of its former employees leave the UK for new jobs in the games industry, according to the report. It also claims that countries such as Canada can entice UK talent because they benefit from tax breaks that reduce the cost of game development. The UK currently doesn't have comparable tax breaks, but "the video games industry is exactly the kind of sector that the Government should be supporting to help rebalance the UK economy," TIGA CEO Richard Wilson says.
Resident Evil 6 announced by Capcom, arriving November 20 on 360/PS3 with PC version later
Resident Evil 6 is heading to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on November 20, 2012, with a PC release to follow, says Capcom. In it, returning favorites Leon S. Kennedy (the "S" stands for "Superhair") and Chris Redfield (tree arms from RE5) will play co-leads, each leading his own campaign through the US and China, respectively. The brand new trailer is just above.
Any of this sound familiar? That's probably because the next entry in the Resident Evil series was outed a bit earlier than its publisher expected this afternoon, when images of RE6 marketing were sent to IGN by a Gamestop employee. Subsequently, a flood of details about the unannounced game were unleashed by a couple different outlets regarding its gameplay, dev team, and characters.
Many of said details have been re-confirmed by Capcom in its own press release, though it's lacking in the specificity we reported earlier. The trailer, however, depicts a new martial-artsy character fighting various ... things (and people), some splashes of cover-based shooting, and a presidential zombie. And is that Ashley? Three words: Oh. Em. Gee.
THQ adaptation of Pixar's 'Brave' pops up in Australian ratings
THQ suffered a rocky patch in the universe of potentially fake things this week, with rumors suggesting its entire 2014 game lineup was canceled and that it was in serious financial trouble -- THQ refuted all of these, and there is now some more credence to its denial. One of the games rumored to be canceled was an unannounced Disney IP, which most believed to be THQ's tie-in with Pixar's Brave.
Brave the video game today has a rating on the Australian classification database, published by THQ, developed by Behaviour Interactive and rated PG for mild violence. A senior source at Disney also told Develop that there was no reason to believe Brave was canceled, although THQ has yet to officially announce the existence of the project, Develop says.
Deadlight teases the long road to ... Vancouver
While humanity falls apart after a deadly virus sweeps the planet, one gruff individual in the Pacific Northwest of America tries his best to survive.
Shank 2 cuts in on February 7 in North America, February 8 in Europe
Shank 2 will leap onto, shoot, stab, stab, shoot, slice, throw a grenade at, and shoot digital platforms starting February 7, when it arrives on PSN and PC in North America. The worldwide XBLA release, along with the European PSN version, will follow on February 8. The price is set for $10, € 9.99, or 800 Microsoft Points, depending on your choice of platform and continent.
Shank 2's marquee feature is a new co-op survival mode that pits two players against a never-ending supply of enemies, so start looking for a friend with the same violent predilections you have.
... Actually, when we put it that way, that sounds like a bad idea.
Continue Reading
BioShock Infinite to include tougher '1999 Mode'
BioShock Infinite is gonna hurt you like it's 1999. Developer Irrational Games announced the "1999 Mode" for the upcoming RPG slash FPS this morning, and it appears to go beyond just messing with health stats for a more challenging game experience. "I'm an old school gamer. We wanted to make ...
Continue Reading
Iron Galaxy Studios' Wreckateer leaked in ratings, to be published by Microsoft
A game called Wreckateer has been spotted in the Australian ratings classification system, listed as being developed by Iron Galaxy and published by Microsoft. Iron Galaxy Studios is a company that's done a lot of technical consulting for other game developers -- it recently helped Capcom ...
Continue Reading
I Am Alive trailer brings a gun to a machete fight
The latest trailer from Ubisoft's upcoming survival title, I Am Alive, focuses on the interesting combat system. With the game's emphasis on realism, fights are often tense and brutal, with the threat of a gun often the only thing between a peaceful situation and a gruesome machete attack. ...
Continue Reading
VideoGamesPlus.ca investigating 'security issue,' recommends password change
Earlier today it was reported that VideoGamesPlus.ca had been hacked and 21,000 customers' account details were posted for all to see. Eurogamer obtained an email from the company to customers saying the site is "currently investigating a security issue" and is recommending folks to change their ...
Continue Reading
Gearbox reveals its new real-world Lilith model for Borderlands 2
After an exhaustive process of ... asking people to send in headshots and come to auditions, Gearbox has found its real-world Lilith analog for Borderlands 2 promotional events. Witness Australian model Yasemin Arslan's transformation into the Borderlands character, including creepy contact ...
Continue Reading
Deadlight coming to XBLA, care of Tequila Works
What is Deadlight? That's a good question. And other than telling you it's an Xbox Live Arcade game being published my Microsoft Studios and developed by Tequila Works, we wouldn't be able to do much in the way of answering said question. Well, that's not entirely true. Tequila Works' website ...
Continue Reading
(please do not reply to this topic thanks )
Britain's developer workforce has fallen 10 percent since 2008, and 41 percent of studio employees laid off between 2009 and 2011 have relocated out of the country, UK-games trade association TIGA reports. TIGA is publishing a survey from Games Investor Consulting that covers three-fourths of the UK games industry and warns of a brain drain in the UK.
Bizarre Creations, a Liverpool studio that closed in 2010, saw one-third of its former employees leave the UK for new jobs in the games industry, according to the report. It also claims that countries such as Canada can entice UK talent because they benefit from tax breaks that reduce the cost of game development. The UK currently doesn't have comparable tax breaks, but "the video games industry is exactly the kind of sector that the Government should be supporting to help rebalance the UK economy," TIGA CEO Richard Wilson says.
- Source: Develop
Resident Evil 6 announced by Capcom, arriving November 20 on 360/PS3 with PC version later
Resident Evil 6 is heading to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on November 20, 2012, with a PC release to follow, says Capcom. In it, returning favorites Leon S. Kennedy (the "S" stands for "Superhair") and Chris Redfield (tree arms from RE5) will play co-leads, each leading his own campaign through the US and China, respectively. The brand new trailer is just above.
Any of this sound familiar? That's probably because the next entry in the Resident Evil series was outed a bit earlier than its publisher expected this afternoon, when images of RE6 marketing were sent to IGN by a Gamestop employee. Subsequently, a flood of details about the unannounced game were unleashed by a couple different outlets regarding its gameplay, dev team, and characters.
Many of said details have been re-confirmed by Capcom in its own press release, though it's lacking in the specificity we reported earlier. The trailer, however, depicts a new martial-artsy character fighting various ... things (and people), some splashes of cover-based shooting, and a presidential zombie. And is that Ashley? Three words: Oh. Em. Gee.
THQ adaptation of Pixar's 'Brave' pops up in Australian ratings
THQ suffered a rocky patch in the universe of potentially fake things this week, with rumors suggesting its entire 2014 game lineup was canceled and that it was in serious financial trouble -- THQ refuted all of these, and there is now some more credence to its denial. One of the games rumored to be canceled was an unannounced Disney IP, which most believed to be THQ's tie-in with Pixar's Brave.
Brave the video game today has a rating on the Australian classification database, published by THQ, developed by Behaviour Interactive and rated PG for mild violence. A senior source at Disney also told Develop that there was no reason to believe Brave was canceled, although THQ has yet to officially announce the existence of the project, Develop says.
- Source: Australian Classification Website, Develop
Deadlight teases the long road to ... Vancouver
While humanity falls apart after a deadly virus sweeps the planet, one gruff individual in the Pacific Northwest of America tries his best to survive.
Shank 2 cuts in on February 7 in North America, February 8 in Europe
Shank 2 will leap onto, shoot, stab, stab, shoot, slice, throw a grenade at, and shoot digital platforms starting February 7, when it arrives on PSN and PC in North America. The worldwide XBLA release, along with the European PSN version, will follow on February 8. The price is set for $10, € 9.99, or 800 Microsoft Points, depending on your choice of platform and continent.
Shank 2's marquee feature is a new co-op survival mode that pits two players against a never-ending supply of enemies, so start looking for a friend with the same violent predilections you have.
... Actually, when we put it that way, that sounds like a bad idea.
Continue Reading
BioShock Infinite to include tougher '1999 Mode'
BioShock Infinite is gonna hurt you like it's 1999. Developer Irrational Games announced the "1999 Mode" for the upcoming RPG slash FPS this morning, and it appears to go beyond just messing with health stats for a more challenging game experience. "I'm an old school gamer. We wanted to make ...
Continue Reading
Iron Galaxy Studios' Wreckateer leaked in ratings, to be published by Microsoft
A game called Wreckateer has been spotted in the Australian ratings classification system, listed as being developed by Iron Galaxy and published by Microsoft. Iron Galaxy Studios is a company that's done a lot of technical consulting for other game developers -- it recently helped Capcom ...
Continue Reading
I Am Alive trailer brings a gun to a machete fight
The latest trailer from Ubisoft's upcoming survival title, I Am Alive, focuses on the interesting combat system. With the game's emphasis on realism, fights are often tense and brutal, with the threat of a gun often the only thing between a peaceful situation and a gruesome machete attack. ...
Continue Reading
VideoGamesPlus.ca investigating 'security issue,' recommends password change
Earlier today it was reported that VideoGamesPlus.ca had been hacked and 21,000 customers' account details were posted for all to see. Eurogamer obtained an email from the company to customers saying the site is "currently investigating a security issue" and is recommending folks to change their ...
Continue Reading
Gearbox reveals its new real-world Lilith model for Borderlands 2
After an exhaustive process of ... asking people to send in headshots and come to auditions, Gearbox has found its real-world Lilith analog for Borderlands 2 promotional events. Witness Australian model Yasemin Arslan's transformation into the Borderlands character, including creepy contact ...
Continue Reading
Deadlight coming to XBLA, care of Tequila Works
What is Deadlight? That's a good question. And other than telling you it's an Xbox Live Arcade game being published my Microsoft Studios and developed by Tequila Works, we wouldn't be able to do much in the way of answering said question. Well, that's not entirely true. Tequila Works' website ...
Continue Reading
(please do not reply to this topic thanks
)
TWOHAS1- Number of posts : 663
Registration date : 2008-01-24
Re: TWOII'S ( JOYSTICQ.COM ) WHATS NEW IN GAMER NEWS
by TWOHAS1 Fri Jan 27, 2012 4:08 am
Aliens: Colonial Marines shifted to a fall 2012 launch window
Despite those signs from Sega's abdomen and the worried look on its face, it seems like Aliens: Colonial Marines isn't bursting out of development onto retail shelves any time soon. The game will now arrive some time in "fall 2012," according to a statement released by Sega this evening, bumping it a full season away from its originally intended spring 2012 window.
We're also told that a fancy new trailer for the game will be arriving tomorrow, so, uh, hold onto your butts! Oh ... shoot ... wrong franchise. Ummm, get to the choppah? Sorry, we kinda exhausted our Aliens references in the first paragraph.
Ghost Recon: Future Soldier screens reconnoitered
The futuristic apparitions of Ghost Recon: Future Soldier can indeed be photographed. Ubi shared a fresh batch of assets this morning, and we'll have a full preview of the game for you later this week.
Continue Reading
XCOM: Enemy Unknown shares its gas-station strategy
Firaxis' XCOM: Enemy Unknown will require a specific blend of strategy, turn-based and action-title abilities -- even with a team of three against a unit of Mutons holed up in a 1950s diner across the lot from a gas station. Such is the new preview provided by Game Informer, describing the turn-based steps and tactical placement of a three-person squad assaulting a team of Mutons, told through in-game screens.
The piece outs a perk for the sniper, who earns "Damn Good Ground" after grappling to the top of the gas-station canopy, and the "Run & Gun" ability for the Assault soldier, which allows her to run across the diner's roof and still open fire at the end of her turn. Firaxis has yet to release video footage of this fall's XCOM game, but if you scroll really fast through these pictures, it's almost like a stop-motion movie. Almost.
THQ incurs more layoffs, five internal studios not affected
THQ went through another wave of layoffs today, which affected its administrative and publishing departments. The company would not share details about how many people lost their jobs, but stressed that this did not affect its five internal studios: THQ San Diego, Relic, Volition, Vigil and THQ Montreal.
"As recently announced, the company is exiting the kids' licensed games category, and is focusing on its core game franchises and developing its digital initiatives," THQ stated on the issue. "The company will provide greater financial detail regarding the costs and organizational benefit on its third quarter 2012 conference call scheduled for Thursday, February 2, 2012."
THQ announced a new strategic realignment earlier this week, shutting down its children's properties and focusing on "core games," like those provided by the unaffected studios.
The Witcher 2 summons Xbox 360 port on April 17
It's taken Geralt a long time -- heck, we can't blame him. A horse-drawn carriage is pretty much the slowest method of transport ever, but come April 17 his long voyage to the Xbox 360 will have concluded. Warner Bros. has finally announced the official launch date for the highly lauded CD Projekt Red sequel today, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings.
Originally announced last summer, the title was originally planned to launch on Xbox 360 in 2011, but had to be pushed back to early 2012 before Warner Bros. signed on to publish. Recently, we were able to spend some time with the game and speak with the developers, so be sure to read up on our findings and start sharpening your silver swords -- you've only got about three months to get back into evil-vanquishing shape!
Despite those signs from Sega's abdomen and the worried look on its face, it seems like Aliens: Colonial Marines isn't bursting out of development onto retail shelves any time soon. The game will now arrive some time in "fall 2012," according to a statement released by Sega this evening, bumping it a full season away from its originally intended spring 2012 window.
We're also told that a fancy new trailer for the game will be arriving tomorrow, so, uh, hold onto your butts! Oh ... shoot ... wrong franchise. Ummm, get to the choppah? Sorry, we kinda exhausted our Aliens references in the first paragraph.
Ghost Recon: Future Soldier screens reconnoitered
The futuristic apparitions of Ghost Recon: Future Soldier can indeed be photographed. Ubi shared a fresh batch of assets this morning, and we'll have a full preview of the game for you later this week.
Continue Reading
XCOM: Enemy Unknown shares its gas-station strategy
Firaxis' XCOM: Enemy Unknown will require a specific blend of strategy, turn-based and action-title abilities -- even with a team of three against a unit of Mutons holed up in a 1950s diner across the lot from a gas station. Such is the new preview provided by Game Informer, describing the turn-based steps and tactical placement of a three-person squad assaulting a team of Mutons, told through in-game screens.
The piece outs a perk for the sniper, who earns "Damn Good Ground" after grappling to the top of the gas-station canopy, and the "Run & Gun" ability for the Assault soldier, which allows her to run across the diner's roof and still open fire at the end of her turn. Firaxis has yet to release video footage of this fall's XCOM game, but if you scroll really fast through these pictures, it's almost like a stop-motion movie. Almost.
- Source: Game Informer
THQ incurs more layoffs, five internal studios not affected
THQ went through another wave of layoffs today, which affected its administrative and publishing departments. The company would not share details about how many people lost their jobs, but stressed that this did not affect its five internal studios: THQ San Diego, Relic, Volition, Vigil and THQ Montreal.
"As recently announced, the company is exiting the kids' licensed games category, and is focusing on its core game franchises and developing its digital initiatives," THQ stated on the issue. "The company will provide greater financial detail regarding the costs and organizational benefit on its third quarter 2012 conference call scheduled for Thursday, February 2, 2012."
THQ announced a new strategic realignment earlier this week, shutting down its children's properties and focusing on "core games," like those provided by the unaffected studios.
The Witcher 2 summons Xbox 360 port on April 17
It's taken Geralt a long time -- heck, we can't blame him. A horse-drawn carriage is pretty much the slowest method of transport ever, but come April 17 his long voyage to the Xbox 360 will have concluded. Warner Bros. has finally announced the official launch date for the highly lauded CD Projekt Red sequel today, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings.
Originally announced last summer, the title was originally planned to launch on Xbox 360 in 2011, but had to be pushed back to early 2012 before Warner Bros. signed on to publish. Recently, we were able to spend some time with the game and speak with the developers, so be sure to read up on our findings and start sharpening your silver swords -- you've only got about three months to get back into evil-vanquishing shape!
- XBOX
The Witcher 2 on Xbox 360 includes new content, more coming post-launch
Following the launch of The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings on PC, CD Projekt Red offered a steady stream of updates and DLC, free of charge.
The Xbox 360 version, which I saw at a preview event in San Francisco, will bundle all of that previously released content when it launches this year -- along with new material.
Gallery: The Witcher 2 Xbox 360 (1/26/2012)
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- XBOX
Modern Warfare 3 Elite maps locked to one profile on one console
The Call of Duty Elite DLC may be more "elite" than intended. Users on the Call of Duty forums are complaining that the DLC maps can only be played by one account per console. That means that only the person who bought it can play the maps -- not other users of the same game on the same console, ...
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GameStop shuttering Northern Ireland and Portuguese stores
GameStop continues its closure of brick-and-mortar stores and conversion to a digital business in certain European markets, with recent moves in Portugal and Northern Ireland. "GameStop plans to close our 13 stores in Portugal due to macro economic conditions," a company spokesperson told Joystiq. ...
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Deadlight first details: The meaning of 1986
1986 marked a legendary era in humanity's astronomical focus. Russia launched the Mir space station, Halley's Comet lit up Earth's February skies, the Antarctic ozone hole came under intense scrutiny, and America's Challenger space shuttle exploded in a fiery cloud 73 seconds after launch, killing ...
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Resident Evil 6 welcomes Helena Harper to zombie land
Helena Harper's harmonious name isn't all she's got going for her -- she's also Leon Kennedy's buddy-cop partner in this November's cross-continental zombie-murder sim, Resident Evil 6. Capcom released the image you see of Ms. Harper above in the past few days, alongside a slew of new screens. ...
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TWOHAS1- Number of posts : 663
Registration date : 2008-01-24
Re: TWOII'S ( JOYSTICQ.COM ) WHATS NEW IN GAMER NEWS
by TWOHAS1 Fri Feb 03, 2012 11:45 am
The Rhythm Of The Quest in Fallout 3 and New Vegas
This is a weekly column focusing on "Western" role-playing games: their stories, their histories, their mechanics, their insanity, and their inanity.
Have you ever been horribly frustrated by one part of a game, only to think of it as the best and most memorable section of that game in retrospect? It's the ruins of D.C. for me. I played Fallout 3 on the PC a year or so after release, so the first thing I did was load up on mods, introducing different play balance, graphics, more weapons, and most motivating of all, more music for Galaxy News Radio. But at the start of the game, GNR is in trouble and the station's signal is weak. So I went to fix it as soon as I could.
When I went into the ruins of D.C., I wasn't ready. By heading in that direction almost immediately, I skipped doing smaller-scale quests, which would have provided more experience and better equipment. D.C. was a slog. I scrambled for ammo, for health. I explored nooks and crannies that I didn't need to, because I hadn't even really figured out the game's compass yet. It was nail-bitingly tense, it was fresh, it was new, it took me hours. It was a pain, too. I died multiple times, but oh was it magnificent.
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Take-Two Q3 financials down year-over-year, still within predictions
Take-Two Interactive has released its financial figures for the third quarter of fiscal 2012, which ended on December 31, 2011. While "in line" with the publisher's predictions, results are down when compared year-over-year to the same period in fiscal 2011.
During Q3 2012, Take-Two's net revenue of $236.3 million was $97.7 million less than its net revenue of $334.3 million in Q3 2011. Operational income for the period was $14.2 million, down $22.6 million from the same quarter last fiscal year. Take-Two attributes this disparity to the fact that fiscal 2011 benefitted from the launch of Red Dead Redemption and its Undead Nightmare DLC more so than fiscal 2012 was able to.
When looking at the entirety of Take-Two's fiscal 2012 performance so far, the downward year-over-year trend continues with an overall net revenue of $677.7 million (compared to 2011's $954.6 million), and an operating loss of $76.2 million (compared to 2011's operating income of $76.2 million).
The company has also adjusted its outlook on Q4 in response to moving Max Payne 3's release date into the first quarter of fiscal 2013. It now expects net revenue for the period ending on March 31, 2012 to land between $112 million and $162 million, with its prediction for all of 2012 adjusted accordingly to a range of $790 million to $840 million.
Metro: Last Light delayed to first quarter of 2013
Your return to Russia's subway system has been postponed until Q1 2013 (THQ's fiscal Q4). THQ's third-quarter financial earnings report revealed the new launch window for Metro: Last Light, the follow-up to 4A Games' claustrophobic, survivalist shooter from 2010.
You can read our impressions of the promising sequel right here, or catch up on some in-game footage.
Darksiders 2 steps out of the shadows this June
Darksiders 2 is scheduled to launch in June 2012, THQ's Q3 fiscal report reveals. It lists the ambitious action-adventure game for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. Darksiders 2 is coming to Wii U as well, although Nintendo's platform isn't set to drop until the "year-end season."
This is a weekly column focusing on "Western" role-playing games: their stories, their histories, their mechanics, their insanity, and their inanity.
Have you ever been horribly frustrated by one part of a game, only to think of it as the best and most memorable section of that game in retrospect? It's the ruins of D.C. for me. I played Fallout 3 on the PC a year or so after release, so the first thing I did was load up on mods, introducing different play balance, graphics, more weapons, and most motivating of all, more music for Galaxy News Radio. But at the start of the game, GNR is in trouble and the station's signal is weak. So I went to fix it as soon as I could.
When I went into the ruins of D.C., I wasn't ready. By heading in that direction almost immediately, I skipped doing smaller-scale quests, which would have provided more experience and better equipment. D.C. was a slog. I scrambled for ammo, for health. I explored nooks and crannies that I didn't need to, because I hadn't even really figured out the game's compass yet. It was nail-bitingly tense, it was fresh, it was new, it took me hours. It was a pain, too. I died multiple times, but oh was it magnificent.
Continue Reading
Take-Two Q3 financials down year-over-year, still within predictions
Take-Two Interactive has released its financial figures for the third quarter of fiscal 2012, which ended on December 31, 2011. While "in line" with the publisher's predictions, results are down when compared year-over-year to the same period in fiscal 2011.
During Q3 2012, Take-Two's net revenue of $236.3 million was $97.7 million less than its net revenue of $334.3 million in Q3 2011. Operational income for the period was $14.2 million, down $22.6 million from the same quarter last fiscal year. Take-Two attributes this disparity to the fact that fiscal 2011 benefitted from the launch of Red Dead Redemption and its Undead Nightmare DLC more so than fiscal 2012 was able to.
When looking at the entirety of Take-Two's fiscal 2012 performance so far, the downward year-over-year trend continues with an overall net revenue of $677.7 million (compared to 2011's $954.6 million), and an operating loss of $76.2 million (compared to 2011's operating income of $76.2 million).
The company has also adjusted its outlook on Q4 in response to moving Max Payne 3's release date into the first quarter of fiscal 2013. It now expects net revenue for the period ending on March 31, 2012 to land between $112 million and $162 million, with its prediction for all of 2012 adjusted accordingly to a range of $790 million to $840 million.
- Source: Take-Two Interactive
Metro: Last Light delayed to first quarter of 2013
Your return to Russia's subway system has been postponed until Q1 2013 (THQ's fiscal Q4). THQ's third-quarter financial earnings report revealed the new launch window for Metro: Last Light, the follow-up to 4A Games' claustrophobic, survivalist shooter from 2010.
You can read our impressions of the promising sequel right here, or catch up on some in-game footage.
Darksiders 2 steps out of the shadows this June
Darksiders 2 is scheduled to launch in June 2012, THQ's Q3 fiscal report reveals. It lists the ambitious action-adventure game for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. Darksiders 2 is coming to Wii U as well, although Nintendo's platform isn't set to drop until the "year-end season."
- Source: THQ
Max Payne 3 out on Xbox and PS3 May 15, PC May 29
Perhaps some specific release dates will reassure you that Max Payne 3 won't be delayed again. Be soothed by these calendar entries, straight out of Take-Two's latest earnings report: Max will dive and shoot and dilate time on Xbox and PS3 on May 15.
The PC version will follow on May 29, which we suppose constitutes a safe little mini-delay within the announcement. To keep yourself occupied, have a browse around the new Max Payne 3 website. - Source: Take-Two
EA, hackers win big off FIFA Ultimate Team
EA's increased revenues with FIFA 12's FIFA Ultimate Team DLC, coupled with our continuing coverage of consumer complaints over the "FIFA hack," stood out as an awkward juxtaposition during yesterday's EA third quarter financial call. "The innovation that makes this franchise so unique is FIFA ...
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Indie Game: The Movie is an official SXSW selection
Indie Game: The Movie is leaving the screens of Sundance for the wider world's consumption, and one of its first stops will be at SXSW as an official festival selection. Indie Game: The Movie has been chosen on its value as a film, not being shown as a "Documentary Feature Competition" or a ...
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EA sees $205 million net loss in Q3, rise in social-games users
EA recorded a net loss of $205 million, but its highest operating cash flow in 31 quarters for the fiscal third quarter ending December 31, 2011. In Q3 2011, EA generated $1.06 billion in net revenue, which is up from the previous Q3, with a net revenue of $1.05 billion. EA's cash flow from ...
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EA: Battlefield 3, FIFA 12 sell over 10 million units each, Madden 12 over 5 million
EA has revealed the sales numbers of a handful of its major titles, including FIFA 12 and Battlefield 3, which have both sold through over 10 million units since their respective launches in September and October. Meanwhile, Madden NFL 12 has sold through over five million units since launching ...
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( PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS TOPIC THANKS )
TWOHAS1- Number of posts : 663
Registration date : 2008-01-24
Re: TWOII'S ( JOYSTICQ.COM ) WHATS NEW IN GAMER NEWS
by TWOHAS1 Fri Feb 10, 2012 11:03 am
Shiny Mass Effect 3 website launches 5 feature videos
We expect Mass Effect 3 to have action, a rich story, customizable weapons, co-op mode and intelligent enemies -- but that doesn't mean we don't want to see these things in action, right now. With the launch of a new website, Mass Effect 3 is showing off some of its core features in five new videos, with "Adrenaline Pumping Gameplay" shown above, and the other four below.
If you weren't expecting Mass Effect 3 to have things like "a story" or "enemies," maybe don't watch the videos and save the surprise for the game's release. Also, retroactive spoiler alert.
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Activision revenues up in 2011, claims #1 publishing spot
The world hasn't converted entirely to a Kickstarter-based economy yet -- Activision's fiscal 2011 earnings are up again, with net revenues at $4.76 billion dollars (vs. 2010's $4.45 billion), exceeding its most recent outlook. Activision claimed the number one console and handheld publishing spot in both its fiscal Q4 (ending December 31) and the year of 2011.
What drove this success? Like you don't know, but: Call of Duty. Modern Warfare 3 was the best-selling game in terms of dollars, and Black Ops was #5. Skylanders also contributed, as it was the #8 best-selling game in the fourth quarter, and best-selling kids' game of 2011.
Digital revenue broke records again, with over 34 percent of that $4.76 billion net coming from "digital channels." No, you aren't forgetting some breakout XBLA hit from Activision -- those digital channels are COD map packs and WoW.
January NPD: Sales down without big launches, Skylanders a hit for accessories
Both hardware and software video game sales were down by a great deal in January, according to the latest report from NPD. Both categories dropped 38% year over year in the US, and video games sales in total dropped from $1.14 billion in January of 2011 to $750 million this past month. NPD's Liam Callahan attributes the drops to a lack of new launches: Last January, Microsoft's Kinect propped up hardware sales, and Dead Space 2, LittleBigPlanet 2, and DC Universe Online did the same for software, but there weren't equivalent launches in the market this year.
The full list of the top ten titles is after the break. Just Dance 3 held down the number two spot, again landing in front of the very popular Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Zumba Fitness 2 also made it into the top ten, but Activision's Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure is likely the most important game for January.
In addition to landing on the list at 8th, Skylanders is seeing huge sales in the accessories category, making up 22% of total accessory sales overall. The game's single character pack was also the best selling accessory during the month of January, and these numbers should bode well for the series and its future iterations.
Finally, despite that big drop in hardware sales, Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg points out that the Xbox 360 has remained the highest-selling console on the market, selling 270,000 units with a 49% market share.
Continue Reading
Ghost Recon: Future Soldier brings information warfare to the front
The signs of a good interface aren't always visible. An elegant in-game display susses out the sweet spot between education and economy, making it an art that is often overlooked by design. And when games aim, claim or clamor to be cinematic, life bars and scores tend to be the first things tossed out as distracting clutter. The traditional HUD is fading from view.
Ghost Recon: Future Soldier occupies the same fictional space as Call of Duty, adding a glossy veneer to war and sexing things up with tantalizing gadgets. But Ubisoft's take on modern warfare isn't about seeing -- it's about reading. Oh, there's no shortage of cover-based shooting and GET-TO-THE-RPG-ing in here, but those actions are informed throughout by a busy interface. In comparison to many "immersive" blockbusters, you're getting a library and not a pamphlet.
In practice, this means Ghost Recon is about learning to decipher information quickly, and drafting attack blueprints on the fly. Despite being on the action-heavy -- pardon me, streamlined -- spectrum of console games, Future Soldier uses its hologram-heavy premise as an excuse to fill the screen with data. Warning: It requires reading comprehension, which is a rather extravagant demand when some of the most popular games just want you to strap in and see the pretty sights whizzing by.
Gallery: Ghost Recon: Future Soldier (2/2/12)
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Kotick: New Call of Duty planned for 2012, Diablo 3 still launching this year [Update: Diablo 3 in Q2!]
As far as the first part of that headline goes, yeah, we know -- truly gasp-worthy. Activision head honcho Bobby Kotick revealed plans for a new Call of Duty in the company's quarterly financial report, and that Activision is aiming to grow the Call of Duty Elite service year. Activision is "hard at work on Elite 2.0 with several features to be included in the next Call of Duty release," Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg added.
Kotick also reiterated that Diablo 3 would launch this year -- though we're assuming it won't make its previous "early 2012" date, unless Activision's idea of early in the year is within the first six months. Diablo 3 has undergone a substantial beta run, and it's still underway.
"Our extraordinary employees around the world are focused on making 2012 another great year for our audience and stakeholders," Kotick said. "Blizzard Entertainment plans to have multiple highly-anticipated titles to release, including Diablo 3, and Activision Publishing expects to release a new Call of Duty game. In addition, Activision Publishing expects to continue to grow Call of Duty Elite and launch Skylanders Giants."
Update: A slide in Activision's presentation (seen above) shows the company is aiming for a Q2 launch for Diablo 3.
Call of Duty Elite pulls in 7 million users, 1.5 million paid memberships
Call of Duty Elite, the community portal for Activision's perennial shooter is apparently doing gangbusters, according to the publisher's 2011 earnings report. The report states that Elite has pulled in over 7 million members as of January 31.
Even more impressive: over 1.5 million of those are premium subscriptions, available as part of the $100 Hardened Edition of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 or as a separate $50 purchase. Paid membership grants a few benefits, most notably a free pass and early access to Modern Warfare 3 DLC.
We'd say the service probably qualifies as a success at this point, at least from Activision's perspective.
PSA: Skyrim patch 1.4 now up on 360, PS3 coming soon
The latest patch has been applied to the wide open world of Skyrim on Xbox 360. The 1.4 update -- out on PC since last week -- squashes some bugs and fixes issues with a number of quests. You can find a full list of fixes and changes right here.
Bethesda is still awaiting word from Sony regarding the PS3 patch. It will hopefully go live today as well.
Remedy not done with Alan Wake
Remedy believes in a future for Wake.
Matias Myllyrinne, CEO of Remedy, told us at DICE 2012 that the studio isn't done with its literary protagonist after launching Alan Wake on PC and Alan Wake's American Nightmare on XBLA later this month.
"We're crowd pleasers, we'll do what the audience wants, 'cause usually that's the good business move as well," Myllyrinne responded when we asked what's next for Wake. He also reconfirmed the studio owns the IP, so the future of Wake is theirs to write.
"Hopefully, we'll have one or two surprises. I don't know, I'm loving the digital [distribution] side and we'll see how that evolves, but just being able to give people quick access to bite-size chunks of gaming is maybe more fun than working for years and years -- taking the phone offline and closing the shutters-- at least, this way, you're able to react much more quickly to people's desires and wishes."
With Remedy directly publishing Alan Wake on Steam, we wanted to know if the studio had an internal figure for sales that would dictate resources being put into a full-blown sequel.
"I don't know. I don't know if that would dictate it. If it bombs [laughs], then that's certainly a signal, but we're fairly confident that it'll do well. We'll certainly continue with Wake. Right now we're focusing on getting the PC out next week, then getting American Nightmare out. And it's too early to talk about what our next move is, but we've obviously put things into motion."
Halo: Archetype fan-film teaser introduces the first Spartan
Usually, being the first to do something is a good thing. In the case of Halo: Archetype, a fan-film chronicling the first Spartan to don the MJOLNIR armor, it just means you're the guy who gets shot at most. ...
Continue Reading
XBL GM responds to Live security concerns
On the occasion of "Safer Internet Day" (what?) Xbox Live General Manager Alex Garden posted a letter in response to the ongoing Xbox Live security concerns, including the FIFA hack and Windows Live exploit. Garden attributed the problems to social engineering, phishing, keylogging software, and ...
Continue Reading
(PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS TOPIC THANKS )
We expect Mass Effect 3 to have action, a rich story, customizable weapons, co-op mode and intelligent enemies -- but that doesn't mean we don't want to see these things in action, right now. With the launch of a new website, Mass Effect 3 is showing off some of its core features in five new videos, with "Adrenaline Pumping Gameplay" shown above, and the other four below.
If you weren't expecting Mass Effect 3 to have things like "a story" or "enemies," maybe don't watch the videos and save the surprise for the game's release. Also, retroactive spoiler alert.
Continue Reading
- Source: Mass Effect 3
Activision revenues up in 2011, claims #1 publishing spot
The world hasn't converted entirely to a Kickstarter-based economy yet -- Activision's fiscal 2011 earnings are up again, with net revenues at $4.76 billion dollars (vs. 2010's $4.45 billion), exceeding its most recent outlook. Activision claimed the number one console and handheld publishing spot in both its fiscal Q4 (ending December 31) and the year of 2011.
What drove this success? Like you don't know, but: Call of Duty. Modern Warfare 3 was the best-selling game in terms of dollars, and Black Ops was #5. Skylanders also contributed, as it was the #8 best-selling game in the fourth quarter, and best-selling kids' game of 2011.
Digital revenue broke records again, with over 34 percent of that $4.76 billion net coming from "digital channels." No, you aren't forgetting some breakout XBLA hit from Activision -- those digital channels are COD map packs and WoW.
- Source: Activision
January NPD: Sales down without big launches, Skylanders a hit for accessories
Both hardware and software video game sales were down by a great deal in January, according to the latest report from NPD. Both categories dropped 38% year over year in the US, and video games sales in total dropped from $1.14 billion in January of 2011 to $750 million this past month. NPD's Liam Callahan attributes the drops to a lack of new launches: Last January, Microsoft's Kinect propped up hardware sales, and Dead Space 2, LittleBigPlanet 2, and DC Universe Online did the same for software, but there weren't equivalent launches in the market this year.
The full list of the top ten titles is after the break. Just Dance 3 held down the number two spot, again landing in front of the very popular Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Zumba Fitness 2 also made it into the top ten, but Activision's Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure is likely the most important game for January.
In addition to landing on the list at 8th, Skylanders is seeing huge sales in the accessories category, making up 22% of total accessory sales overall. The game's single character pack was also the best selling accessory during the month of January, and these numbers should bode well for the series and its future iterations.
Finally, despite that big drop in hardware sales, Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg points out that the Xbox 360 has remained the highest-selling console on the market, selling 270,000 units with a 49% market share.
Continue Reading
Ghost Recon: Future Soldier brings information warfare to the front
The signs of a good interface aren't always visible. An elegant in-game display susses out the sweet spot between education and economy, making it an art that is often overlooked by design. And when games aim, claim or clamor to be cinematic, life bars and scores tend to be the first things tossed out as distracting clutter. The traditional HUD is fading from view.
Ghost Recon: Future Soldier occupies the same fictional space as Call of Duty, adding a glossy veneer to war and sexing things up with tantalizing gadgets. But Ubisoft's take on modern warfare isn't about seeing -- it's about reading. Oh, there's no shortage of cover-based shooting and GET-TO-THE-RPG-ing in here, but those actions are informed throughout by a busy interface. In comparison to many "immersive" blockbusters, you're getting a library and not a pamphlet.
In practice, this means Ghost Recon is about learning to decipher information quickly, and drafting attack blueprints on the fly. Despite being on the action-heavy -- pardon me, streamlined -- spectrum of console games, Future Soldier uses its hologram-heavy premise as an excuse to fill the screen with data. Warning: It requires reading comprehension, which is a rather extravagant demand when some of the most popular games just want you to strap in and see the pretty sights whizzing by.
Gallery: Ghost Recon: Future Soldier (2/2/12)
Continue Reading
Kotick: New Call of Duty planned for 2012, Diablo 3 still launching this year [Update: Diablo 3 in Q2!]
As far as the first part of that headline goes, yeah, we know -- truly gasp-worthy. Activision head honcho Bobby Kotick revealed plans for a new Call of Duty in the company's quarterly financial report, and that Activision is aiming to grow the Call of Duty Elite service year. Activision is "hard at work on Elite 2.0 with several features to be included in the next Call of Duty release," Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg added.
Kotick also reiterated that Diablo 3 would launch this year -- though we're assuming it won't make its previous "early 2012" date, unless Activision's idea of early in the year is within the first six months. Diablo 3 has undergone a substantial beta run, and it's still underway.
"Our extraordinary employees around the world are focused on making 2012 another great year for our audience and stakeholders," Kotick said. "Blizzard Entertainment plans to have multiple highly-anticipated titles to release, including Diablo 3, and Activision Publishing expects to release a new Call of Duty game. In addition, Activision Publishing expects to continue to grow Call of Duty Elite and launch Skylanders Giants."
Update: A slide in Activision's presentation (seen above) shows the company is aiming for a Q2 launch for Diablo 3.
- Source: Activision
Call of Duty Elite pulls in 7 million users, 1.5 million paid memberships
Call of Duty Elite, the community portal for Activision's perennial shooter is apparently doing gangbusters, according to the publisher's 2011 earnings report. The report states that Elite has pulled in over 7 million members as of January 31.
Even more impressive: over 1.5 million of those are premium subscriptions, available as part of the $100 Hardened Edition of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 or as a separate $50 purchase. Paid membership grants a few benefits, most notably a free pass and early access to Modern Warfare 3 DLC.
We'd say the service probably qualifies as a success at this point, at least from Activision's perspective.
PSA: Skyrim patch 1.4 now up on 360, PS3 coming soon
The latest patch has been applied to the wide open world of Skyrim on Xbox 360. The 1.4 update -- out on PC since last week -- squashes some bugs and fixes issues with a number of quests. You can find a full list of fixes and changes right here.
Bethesda is still awaiting word from Sony regarding the PS3 patch. It will hopefully go live today as well.
- Source: Bethesda
Remedy not done with Alan Wake
Remedy believes in a future for Wake.
Matias Myllyrinne, CEO of Remedy, told us at DICE 2012 that the studio isn't done with its literary protagonist after launching Alan Wake on PC and Alan Wake's American Nightmare on XBLA later this month.
"We're crowd pleasers, we'll do what the audience wants, 'cause usually that's the good business move as well," Myllyrinne responded when we asked what's next for Wake. He also reconfirmed the studio owns the IP, so the future of Wake is theirs to write.
"Hopefully, we'll have one or two surprises. I don't know, I'm loving the digital [distribution] side and we'll see how that evolves, but just being able to give people quick access to bite-size chunks of gaming is maybe more fun than working for years and years -- taking the phone offline and closing the shutters-- at least, this way, you're able to react much more quickly to people's desires and wishes."
With Remedy directly publishing Alan Wake on Steam, we wanted to know if the studio had an internal figure for sales that would dictate resources being put into a full-blown sequel.
"I don't know. I don't know if that would dictate it. If it bombs [laughs], then that's certainly a signal, but we're fairly confident that it'll do well. We'll certainly continue with Wake. Right now we're focusing on getting the PC out next week, then getting American Nightmare out. And it's too early to talk about what our next move is, but we've obviously put things into motion."
Halo: Archetype fan-film teaser introduces the first Spartan
Usually, being the first to do something is a good thing. In the case of Halo: Archetype, a fan-film chronicling the first Spartan to don the MJOLNIR armor, it just means you're the guy who gets shot at most. ...
Continue Reading
XBL GM responds to Live security concerns
On the occasion of "Safer Internet Day" (what?) Xbox Live General Manager Alex Garden posted a letter in response to the ongoing Xbox Live security concerns, including the FIFA hack and Windows Live exploit. Garden attributed the problems to social engineering, phishing, keylogging software, and ...
Continue Reading
(PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS TOPIC THANKS
)
TWOHAS1- Number of posts : 663
Registration date : 2008-01-24
Re: TWOII'S ( JOYSTICQ.COM ) WHATS NEW IN GAMER NEWS
by TWOHAS1 Fri Feb 17, 2012 11:10 am
Mass. Lt. Gov. wants game tax credits tied to job creation
Massachusetts is the fifth largest state for game industry employment in spite of better developer incentives in other states. Nearly 1,300 industry jobs exist in the Commonwealth, but a recent profile of Irrational Games by The Improper Bostonian covers how the state's grip on gaming could slip if it doesn't step up studio stimulus.
A bill for game developer incentives has been floating around the Mass. legislature for about a year, but hasn't gained traction with lawmakers. The state currently provides heavy cuts for the movie industry, despite the game industry pumping more cash into local economies.
"It's ironic," Irrational Games' director of product development Tim Gerritsen said. "If you look at it, where do you want to put your money? We've got 120 permanent employees. They spend all their money here. They pay their rent here. They pay their taxes here. Do you want Dane Cook? He's here for two weeks doing a film, and he's gone."
"When you talk about tax incentives, that's less revenue that you're receiving, so I think any kind of incentive would have to be linked to hard commitments from the private sector," said Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray, who is coming off a win by keeping PAX East in Boston until 2023. The convention will also make donations totaling $325,000 over the next 11 years to MassDiGI.
The state did lose a major studio last year when former Red Sox player Curt Schilling's 38 Studios moved to neighboring Rhode Island for a $75 million loan. The state isn't likely to lose established studios like Harmonix, Demiurge and Turbine. The problem comes with incubating brand new studios without concessions.
Halo 4 to feature one heavy Master Chief
When we all saw the teaser for Halo 4, our first question was: "What is up with that armor?" Last time we checked, he didn't have a jetpack. Could Master Chief actually be Barry Steakfries?
Nope, it's all part of 343 Industries' plan to update the Master Chief's armor for Halo 4. A blog post on Halo Waypoint discusses the "800 pounds of tank and jet fighter" strapped to Chief's frame. "So we pulled that design into the armor and HUD. When you play Halo 4, it's important you understand that you're more than just a gun on the screen. To give you that feeling, we have represented that weight with player physics, without interrupting crosshair and shooting accuracy."
Despite Chief's bulk, 343 describes him in Halo 4 as "a nimble yet heavy superhero." His design will contrast against the bulky Spartan armor design seen in Bungie's last effort, Halo: Reach. "When we first looked at the Chief's armor, we studied what was done in Reach. We knew he needed to be understood as a nimble yet heavy superhero, and contrast that with Reach armor design that was more on the bulky side. Our goal is to hit that sweet spot where we represent what is fictionally true about the Chief while making sure you feel like you're a super-powerful human being when you're playing him."
In short, 343 is aiming to better convey his physical weight to the players -- and it sounds like his movement and characteristics will reflect that. Whether it'll come with a more complex, busier HUD remains to be seen.
PSA: Xbox Live color playback issue patched
Xbox users may have noticed a mandatory patch preempting their power-up procedures today, the effects of which were either immediately apparent or completely unnoticeable, depending on whether a certain color display issue had reared its head. The patch doesn't apply to apps, however, so developers will have to implement the fix independently; a process that will take place "over the coming months," according to Major Nelson.
Technically speaking, "over the coming months" could mean any time between now and the heat death of the universe, but the fact that Microsoft has corrected its own services is a promising start.
Achievements suggest Assassin's Creed: Revelations single-player DLC
Just because Ubisoft announced a new Assassin's Creed is coming out on October 30 doesn't mean it's completely forgotten last year's installment, Revelations. Ten new achievements for an unknown Revelations DLC pack were spotted by Xbox 360 Achievements, appearing to be for the single-player ...
Continue Reading
Modern Warfare 3's 'Overwatch' map DLC kills you before you fall 70 stories
We're just gonna tell you up front: you're gonna wanna skip to about 50 seconds into this trailer before you see any gameplay featuring Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's "Overwatch" map in action. And you're gonna want to do that, as the first part is just Rob Riggle talking total nonsense. But the ...
Continue Reading
Fresh Far Cry 3 details may cause dizziness, temporary insanity
Far Cry 3 will emphasize tactical freedom, but isn't skimping on scripted moments, details from Edge magazine (as spotted by Gaming Everything) reveal. The first glimpse lists the strategic improvisation possibilities, such as tying C4 to a jeep and driving it into an enemy camp, or hang-gliding ...
Continue Reading
(PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS TOPIC THANKS )
Massachusetts is the fifth largest state for game industry employment in spite of better developer incentives in other states. Nearly 1,300 industry jobs exist in the Commonwealth, but a recent profile of Irrational Games by The Improper Bostonian covers how the state's grip on gaming could slip if it doesn't step up studio stimulus.
A bill for game developer incentives has been floating around the Mass. legislature for about a year, but hasn't gained traction with lawmakers. The state currently provides heavy cuts for the movie industry, despite the game industry pumping more cash into local economies.
"It's ironic," Irrational Games' director of product development Tim Gerritsen said. "If you look at it, where do you want to put your money? We've got 120 permanent employees. They spend all their money here. They pay their rent here. They pay their taxes here. Do you want Dane Cook? He's here for two weeks doing a film, and he's gone."
"When you talk about tax incentives, that's less revenue that you're receiving, so I think any kind of incentive would have to be linked to hard commitments from the private sector," said Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray, who is coming off a win by keeping PAX East in Boston until 2023. The convention will also make donations totaling $325,000 over the next 11 years to MassDiGI.
The state did lose a major studio last year when former Red Sox player Curt Schilling's 38 Studios moved to neighboring Rhode Island for a $75 million loan. The state isn't likely to lose established studios like Harmonix, Demiurge and Turbine. The problem comes with incubating brand new studios without concessions.
Halo 4 to feature one heavy Master Chief
When we all saw the teaser for Halo 4, our first question was: "What is up with that armor?" Last time we checked, he didn't have a jetpack. Could Master Chief actually be Barry Steakfries?
Nope, it's all part of 343 Industries' plan to update the Master Chief's armor for Halo 4. A blog post on Halo Waypoint discusses the "800 pounds of tank and jet fighter" strapped to Chief's frame. "So we pulled that design into the armor and HUD. When you play Halo 4, it's important you understand that you're more than just a gun on the screen. To give you that feeling, we have represented that weight with player physics, without interrupting crosshair and shooting accuracy."
Despite Chief's bulk, 343 describes him in Halo 4 as "a nimble yet heavy superhero." His design will contrast against the bulky Spartan armor design seen in Bungie's last effort, Halo: Reach. "When we first looked at the Chief's armor, we studied what was done in Reach. We knew he needed to be understood as a nimble yet heavy superhero, and contrast that with Reach armor design that was more on the bulky side. Our goal is to hit that sweet spot where we represent what is fictionally true about the Chief while making sure you feel like you're a super-powerful human being when you're playing him."
In short, 343 is aiming to better convey his physical weight to the players -- and it sounds like his movement and characteristics will reflect that. Whether it'll come with a more complex, busier HUD remains to be seen.
- Source: Halo Waypoint
PSA: Xbox Live color playback issue patched
Xbox users may have noticed a mandatory patch preempting their power-up procedures today, the effects of which were either immediately apparent or completely unnoticeable, depending on whether a certain color display issue had reared its head. The patch doesn't apply to apps, however, so developers will have to implement the fix independently; a process that will take place "over the coming months," according to Major Nelson.
Technically speaking, "over the coming months" could mean any time between now and the heat death of the universe, but the fact that Microsoft has corrected its own services is a promising start.
- Source: Major Nelson
Achievements suggest Assassin's Creed: Revelations single-player DLC
Just because Ubisoft announced a new Assassin's Creed is coming out on October 30 doesn't mean it's completely forgotten last year's installment, Revelations. Ten new achievements for an unknown Revelations DLC pack were spotted by Xbox 360 Achievements, appearing to be for the single-player ...
Continue Reading
Modern Warfare 3's 'Overwatch' map DLC kills you before you fall 70 stories
We're just gonna tell you up front: you're gonna wanna skip to about 50 seconds into this trailer before you see any gameplay featuring Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's "Overwatch" map in action. And you're gonna want to do that, as the first part is just Rob Riggle talking total nonsense. But the ...
Continue Reading
Fresh Far Cry 3 details may cause dizziness, temporary insanity
Far Cry 3 will emphasize tactical freedom, but isn't skimping on scripted moments, details from Edge magazine (as spotted by Gaming Everything) reveal. The first glimpse lists the strategic improvisation possibilities, such as tying C4 to a jeep and driving it into an enemy camp, or hang-gliding ...
Continue Reading
(PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS TOPIC THANKS
)
TWOHAS1- Number of posts : 663
Registration date : 2008-01-24
Re: TWOII'S ( JOYSTICQ.COM ) WHATS NEW IN GAMER NEWS
by TWOHAS1 Fri Feb 24, 2012 11:22 pm
Replica Portal gun coming from NECA in late spring/early summer
Portal has been around for about five years at this point, and over the years we've suffered countless fits of unreasonable jealousy due to the multitudes of homemade, replica Aperture Science Handheld Portal Devices floating around the Internet. Many a night have been spent fantasizing about somehow owning our own without taking out a second mortgage, and now the dream can finally become a reality.
Well, not now now, but in a few months. NECA Toys is developing a line of licensed Valve products that include Team Fortress 2, Half Life and Left 4 Dead 2 action figures, but the crowning jewel of the series is NECA's one-to-one scale ASHPD replica. It lights up and everything. The device should be available somewhere around May or June of this year and retail for $130, according a brief video interview with NECA's Randy Falk at The Verge. We predict a mad rush on Repulsion, Propulsion and Conversion gel and Long Fall socks as soon as these things hit the shelves.
Gallery: Portal 2 (NECA Portal Gun)
AC: Revelations' 'Lost Archive' DLC dives into the life of Subject 16
You remember that weird dude in Assassin's Creed: Revelations' Animus hub world? The one with all the ridiculous existential questions, who had clearly lost his mind many moons before Desmond's arrival? Apparently that dude is the focus of the next DLC pack for AC: R, The Lost Archive, as a ...
Continue Reading
DICE details next big Battlefield 3 fix list
With frustrations in the Battlefield 3 community bubbling into possible action, DICE has released a Homeric list of "confirmed fixes and tweaks" that the developer has been working on. The released list of planned changes, which does not currently have an estimated time of arrival, covers Xbox ...
Continue Reading
Mass Effect 3 'From Ashes' DLC also sold separately from Collector's Edition
BioWare has confirmed that the Mass Effect 3 "From Ashes" DLC that leaked on Xbox Live Marketplace yesterday is one of the items included with the Collector's Edition. The extra character, mission and outfits will also be sold separately (at 800 MSP / ) for owners of the game's standard version. ...
Continue Reading
Borderlands 2 out September 18 in North America, September 21 elsewhere
Borderlands 2 will be out in North America on September 18, and internationally on September 21. That date might be enough incentive for you to pre-order -- it's so far away, and you might forget! -- but 2K offered initial incentive, in the form of the "Premiere Club." Premiere Club members will ...
Continue Reading
Canned Call of Duty: Devil's Brigade was like Inglourious Basterds on steroids
In 2007, while Infinity Ward was building the first Modern Warfare, Underground Development began working on a top-secret, third-person shooter in the Call of Duty franchise, titled Devil's Brigade, Vox Games reports. Based on a real-life group of ruthless, almost superhuman American and Canadian ...
Continue Reading
(please do not reply to this topic thanks )
Portal has been around for about five years at this point, and over the years we've suffered countless fits of unreasonable jealousy due to the multitudes of homemade, replica Aperture Science Handheld Portal Devices floating around the Internet. Many a night have been spent fantasizing about somehow owning our own without taking out a second mortgage, and now the dream can finally become a reality.
Well, not now now, but in a few months. NECA Toys is developing a line of licensed Valve products that include Team Fortress 2, Half Life and Left 4 Dead 2 action figures, but the crowning jewel of the series is NECA's one-to-one scale ASHPD replica. It lights up and everything. The device should be available somewhere around May or June of this year and retail for $130, according a brief video interview with NECA's Randy Falk at The Verge. We predict a mad rush on Repulsion, Propulsion and Conversion gel and Long Fall socks as soon as these things hit the shelves.
Gallery: Portal 2 (NECA Portal Gun)
AC: Revelations' 'Lost Archive' DLC dives into the life of Subject 16
You remember that weird dude in Assassin's Creed: Revelations' Animus hub world? The one with all the ridiculous existential questions, who had clearly lost his mind many moons before Desmond's arrival? Apparently that dude is the focus of the next DLC pack for AC: R, The Lost Archive, as a ...
Continue Reading
DICE details next big Battlefield 3 fix list
With frustrations in the Battlefield 3 community bubbling into possible action, DICE has released a Homeric list of "confirmed fixes and tweaks" that the developer has been working on. The released list of planned changes, which does not currently have an estimated time of arrival, covers Xbox ...
Continue Reading
Mass Effect 3 'From Ashes' DLC also sold separately from Collector's Edition
BioWare has confirmed that the Mass Effect 3 "From Ashes" DLC that leaked on Xbox Live Marketplace yesterday is one of the items included with the Collector's Edition. The extra character, mission and outfits will also be sold separately (at 800 MSP / ) for owners of the game's standard version. ...
Continue Reading
Borderlands 2 out September 18 in North America, September 21 elsewhere
Borderlands 2 will be out in North America on September 18, and internationally on September 21. That date might be enough incentive for you to pre-order -- it's so far away, and you might forget! -- but 2K offered initial incentive, in the form of the "Premiere Club." Premiere Club members will ...
Continue Reading
Canned Call of Duty: Devil's Brigade was like Inglourious Basterds on steroids
In 2007, while Infinity Ward was building the first Modern Warfare, Underground Development began working on a top-secret, third-person shooter in the Call of Duty franchise, titled Devil's Brigade, Vox Games reports. Based on a real-life group of ruthless, almost superhuman American and Canadian ...
Continue Reading
(please do not reply to this topic thanks
)
TWOHAS1- Number of posts : 663
Registration date : 2008-01-24
Re: TWOII'S ( JOYSTICQ.COM ) WHATS NEW IN GAMER NEWS
by TWOHAS1 Sat Mar 03, 2012 7:56 am
Nexuiz review: Red, blue and borrowed
When it comes to futuristic arena shooters, two names quickly come to mind: Unreal Tournament and Quake 3 Arena. Nexuiz borrows liberally from both, employing exotic arenas and out-of-this-world weaponry. In fact, Nexuiz only does one thing to expand upon the formulae set down by the genre's heavy-hitters. The question is whether that's enough to set Nexuiz apart.
Borderlands 2 brings the best of all worlds to Pandora, devs say
Borderlands 2 is a hybridized beast of mechanics, play styles and audience potentials, all wrapped up in one cel-shaded package (now with green!). The sequel builds upon feedback from 2009's Borderlands, tweaking many aspects of single-player mode, streamlining co-op skill sets and building new character designs, writer Anthony Burch and concept designer Scott Kester from Gearbox told Joystiq.
One of the most prevalent changes players will notice in Borderlands 2 is the skill-tree functionality in co-op mode. Instead of simply beating down enemies separately but at the same time, as often happened in Borderlands, there will be more synergy between each character's abilities, Kester and Burch said.
For example, the Siren's phaselock abilities have been fine-tuned to include the "sweet release" kill skill, which insta-heals every member of her party if she kills an enemy frozen in phaselock. Additionally, the Assassin can execute enemies in the Siren's phaselock relatively easily with his melee or sniping moves, and the Commando will be able to throw down a bubble shield to protect the entire team. The Gunzerker is nuanced as well, including a skill that ramps up the power in the last shot of his gun's magazine, and if an enemy is killed with an excess amount of force, the extra points are converted to health. He can also dual-wield any weapon, which is awesome for everyone. Except the guys he's shooting at.
Continue Reading
Notch gives $3 million Mojang dividend to employees
If you're looking for an employee from Minecraft developer Mojang, you might want to look out your window, because they are currently over the moon. Mojang head Markus "Notch" Persson tweeted yesterday that he will distribute his 2011 Mojang dividends to his employees. The rub: said dividends totalled "about three million dollars" before tax. That is, to put it mildly, one hell of a bonus.
Mojang staff members have made their feelings known on Twitter, with Lydia Winters, Mojang's director of fun (no, really) revealing she was "incredibly stunned." Business developer Daniel Kaplan, meanwhile, admits to crying "tears in shock and happiness." Mojang "boss" Carl Manneh noted that Mojang is "the best company in the world." We'd be inclined to agree, but Notch has yet to acknowledge our application to become Mojang's Head of Monitor Dusting.
Analyst calculates Game's loss from not stocking Mass Effect 3
An analyst has estimated the expected loss for financially troubled UK retailer Game being unable to stock Mass Effect 3 (or future EA products) next week. Analyst Mark Photiades of Singer Capital told the Guardian he expects Game to lose £2 million ($3.2M) in profits.
"Working on the assumption that a decent triple A title sells 0.8m-1m titles in the first few weeks of release in the UK and assuming Game has around 20% share, we calculate that by not stocking Mass Effect 3, Game is potentially missing out on around £6m-£7m of revenues in the UK given the title will retail for £39.99," said Photiades.
Ubisoft played some similar hardball with Game recently during the Vita launch. The situation is already dire for Game. Not having product to sell can only make it worse.
Id responds to alleged DOOM 4 image leak
Rumors began swirling earlier this week that Doom 4 had been canceled. Accompanying said rumors was a batch of supposed screenshots or artwork, one of which you can see above. In addition to refuting the cancellation rumors, id has now responded to the images as well.
While not directly denying their relationship to Doom 4, id's Matt Hooper, design director of Rage, tweeted that the images "have nothing to do with what you're gonna see in Doom 4." Hooper added, "When we officially show things you'll see awesome." Responding to another tweet, Hooper noted that when the official reveal is made, "fans will be happy." For what it's worth, the leaked images show what appears to be a ravaged planet Earth, perhaps giving a nod to Doom 2: Hell on Earth.
Assassin's Creed 3 boxart officially posted by Ubisoft
Tired of the dripping noise of Assassin's Creed 3 leaks, Ubisoft is turning on the faucet and has officially revealed the cover art for Assassin's Creed 3. Details are still tight on the game, but from leaked images we've gathered some details. The game, obviously, will be set during the time of ...
Continue Reading
Hybrid beta test begins on XBLA 'shortly after GDC'
5th Cell's XBLA shooter Hybrid is ready for a semi-public debut. The developer announced an XBLA beta test this morning, with signups taking place "shortly after GDC" (which runs next week, March 5-9). This may not be as welcome as news of a release date, but it does mean that the game is in a ...
Continue Reading
GAME not stocking Mass Effect 3, future EA titles
The latest sign of significant trouble for UK retailer Game: it won't have Mass Effect 3 to sell for next week's launch. An internal memo obtained by Eurogamer also reveals the retailer is canceling pre-orders on upcoming EA titles FIFA Street, Tiger Woods 13 and Sims 3 Showtime. "Last week we held ...
Continue Reading
(PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS TOPIC THANKS
)
When it comes to futuristic arena shooters, two names quickly come to mind: Unreal Tournament and Quake 3 Arena. Nexuiz borrows liberally from both, employing exotic arenas and out-of-this-world weaponry. In fact, Nexuiz only does one thing to expand upon the formulae set down by the genre's heavy-hitters. The question is whether that's enough to set Nexuiz apart.
Borderlands 2 brings the best of all worlds to Pandora, devs say
Borderlands 2 is a hybridized beast of mechanics, play styles and audience potentials, all wrapped up in one cel-shaded package (now with green!). The sequel builds upon feedback from 2009's Borderlands, tweaking many aspects of single-player mode, streamlining co-op skill sets and building new character designs, writer Anthony Burch and concept designer Scott Kester from Gearbox told Joystiq.
One of the most prevalent changes players will notice in Borderlands 2 is the skill-tree functionality in co-op mode. Instead of simply beating down enemies separately but at the same time, as often happened in Borderlands, there will be more synergy between each character's abilities, Kester and Burch said.
For example, the Siren's phaselock abilities have been fine-tuned to include the "sweet release" kill skill, which insta-heals every member of her party if she kills an enemy frozen in phaselock. Additionally, the Assassin can execute enemies in the Siren's phaselock relatively easily with his melee or sniping moves, and the Commando will be able to throw down a bubble shield to protect the entire team. The Gunzerker is nuanced as well, including a skill that ramps up the power in the last shot of his gun's magazine, and if an enemy is killed with an excess amount of force, the extra points are converted to health. He can also dual-wield any weapon, which is awesome for everyone. Except the guys he's shooting at.
Continue Reading
Notch gives $3 million Mojang dividend to employees
If you're looking for an employee from Minecraft developer Mojang, you might want to look out your window, because they are currently over the moon. Mojang head Markus "Notch" Persson tweeted yesterday that he will distribute his 2011 Mojang dividends to his employees. The rub: said dividends totalled "about three million dollars" before tax. That is, to put it mildly, one hell of a bonus.
Mojang staff members have made their feelings known on Twitter, with Lydia Winters, Mojang's director of fun (no, really) revealing she was "incredibly stunned." Business developer Daniel Kaplan, meanwhile, admits to crying "tears in shock and happiness." Mojang "boss" Carl Manneh noted that Mojang is "the best company in the world." We'd be inclined to agree, but Notch has yet to acknowledge our application to become Mojang's Head of Monitor Dusting.
- Via: MinecraftForum.net, Reddit
- Source: @notch, @LydiaWinters, @Kappische, @carlmanneh
Analyst calculates Game's loss from not stocking Mass Effect 3
An analyst has estimated the expected loss for financially troubled UK retailer Game being unable to stock Mass Effect 3 (or future EA products) next week. Analyst Mark Photiades of Singer Capital told the Guardian he expects Game to lose £2 million ($3.2M) in profits.
"Working on the assumption that a decent triple A title sells 0.8m-1m titles in the first few weeks of release in the UK and assuming Game has around 20% share, we calculate that by not stocking Mass Effect 3, Game is potentially missing out on around £6m-£7m of revenues in the UK given the title will retail for £39.99," said Photiades.
Ubisoft played some similar hardball with Game recently during the Vita launch. The situation is already dire for Game. Not having product to sell can only make it worse.
- Source: Guardian
Id responds to alleged DOOM 4 image leak
Rumors began swirling earlier this week that Doom 4 had been canceled. Accompanying said rumors was a batch of supposed screenshots or artwork, one of which you can see above. In addition to refuting the cancellation rumors, id has now responded to the images as well.
While not directly denying their relationship to Doom 4, id's Matt Hooper, design director of Rage, tweeted that the images "have nothing to do with what you're gonna see in Doom 4." Hooper added, "When we officially show things you'll see awesome." Responding to another tweet, Hooper noted that when the official reveal is made, "fans will be happy." For what it's worth, the leaked images show what appears to be a ravaged planet Earth, perhaps giving a nod to Doom 2: Hell on Earth.
- Via: VideoGamer
- Source: @id_Hooper
Assassin's Creed 3 boxart officially posted by Ubisoft
Tired of the dripping noise of Assassin's Creed 3 leaks, Ubisoft is turning on the faucet and has officially revealed the cover art for Assassin's Creed 3. Details are still tight on the game, but from leaked images we've gathered some details. The game, obviously, will be set during the time of ...
Continue Reading
Hybrid beta test begins on XBLA 'shortly after GDC'
5th Cell's XBLA shooter Hybrid is ready for a semi-public debut. The developer announced an XBLA beta test this morning, with signups taking place "shortly after GDC" (which runs next week, March 5-9). This may not be as welcome as news of a release date, but it does mean that the game is in a ...
Continue Reading
GAME not stocking Mass Effect 3, future EA titles
The latest sign of significant trouble for UK retailer Game: it won't have Mass Effect 3 to sell for next week's launch. An internal memo obtained by Eurogamer also reveals the retailer is canceling pre-orders on upcoming EA titles FIFA Street, Tiger Woods 13 and Sims 3 Showtime. "Last week we held ...
Continue Reading
(PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS TOPIC THANKS
)
TWOHAS1- Number of posts : 663
Registration date : 2008-01-24
Re: TWOII'S ( JOYSTICQ.COM ) WHATS NEW IN GAMER NEWS
by TWOHAS1 Fri Mar 09, 2012 10:46 am
Rainbow 6: Patriots retains gritty story after team change
When Ubisoft confirmed that the creative director of Rainbow 6: Patriots, David Sears, had been replaced by Jean-Sebastien Decant, natural assumption was that it was over the title's morally ambiguous storyline. That's not quite the case, Ubisoft Montreal CEO Yannis Mallat told Game Informer.
Sears' departure was a mutual decision, Mallat said, and Ubisoft is "evolving the vision that came from David's initial input." Sears, creative director David Sears, narrative director Richard Rouse III, lead designer Philippe Therien and animation director Brent George have left Team Rainbow, Mallat confirmed that Sears at least is still employed by Ubisoft Montreal. Mallat said he's been moved onto a "major project for a major brand."
Rainbow 6: Patriots is still set to launch in 2013, Mallat said.
February NPD: Hardware sales up over January, everything down year over year
The numbers for February are in, and while hardware performance was better than it was in January, both hardware and software sales are seeing significant declines when compared to figures from February 2011.
With hardware and software combined, total new video-game sales rang up at $1.06 billion for last month; a 20 percent decline from the $1.33 billion spent during the same period last year. Breaking that total down, hardware sales accounted for $381.4 million of all moneys spent in February, down 18 percent year over year, while software sales accounted for $464.4 million (down 23 percent year over year) and accessories sales brought in $215.2 million, down 16 percent year over year.
Despite those year over year declines, hardware sales increased 62 percent over January, Vita sales notwithstanding. Factoring in Sony's new handheld boosts that figure all the way up to 87 percent.
On the software front, the Vita's best-selling launch title was Uncharted: Golden Abyss, earning a spot among the month's top 20 overall best-selling titles. The top ten best-selling titles for February can be found after the break, with Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning being the only new IP to make the list.
Continue Reading
Microsoft sold 426,000 Xbox 360s in February, 14th month in top console spot
Ahead of the NPD officially revealing its February numbers, Microsoft is already tooting its own horn. The console manufacturer claims to have sold 426,000 consoles in February, more than any other console. That makes for 14 consecutive months with the Xbox 360 maintaining the top sales position among consoles. Microsoft also notes that the console has maintained more than a 40 percent market share in the current generation of consoles for 12 straight months.
Additionally, consumer spending on hardware, software and accessories bested other consoles as well, totaling $383 million. According to Joystiq's resident financial analyst, the figure is "a lot." We'll have complete NPD numbers shortly.
Continue Reading
Yep, Gabe Newell is a billionaire
Gabe Newell has an estimated net worth of $1.5 billion, ranking 854th of the 1,226 billionaires in the world. Normally a video game exec being ranked 854th in something wouldn't matter much, but when that rank is in the "these people have at least one billion dollars" list, even the losers are ...
Continue Reading
Battlefield 3 DLC trio coming in June, fall, winter this year
Expanding on our knowledge base from the earlier Battlefield 3 expansion reveal, EA has confirmed that "Close Quarters" will launch in June, followed by "Armored Kill" in the fall and "End Game" this winter. Hit the break for more details on the punch these DLC packs are ... well, packing. ...
Continue Reading
XBLIG Companion app available now for Windows Phone
The Xbox Live Indie Games Companion app we first reported earlier this month is now available on Windows Phone. The app allows for easy browsing of Xbox Live Indie Games, including information, screens and links for each game. The app will even point users to Xbox Live Marketplace, where XBLIG ...
Continue Reading
Battlefield 3 customizable servers coming to consoles
Karl-Magnus Troedsson, CEO of Battlefield developer DICE, announced at an Electronic Arts event last night that customizable servers would be available for consoles in the future. "All active players out there playing on consoles today will now have the opportunity to customize their servers and ...
Continue Reading
Medal of Honor Warfighter powered by Frostbite 2.0
Medal of Honor Warfighter executive producer Greg Goodrich told Joystiq this evening that October's Danger Close game is being built using EA DICE's in-house Battlefield engine, Frostbite 2.0. This marks the second use of Frostbite 2.0 outside of its origin studio, following last year's Need for ...
Continue Reading
VEVO app now available on Xbox 360
Music video junkies will have one more place to search for and watch content starting today. VEVO, a music video site, has debuted its Xbox 360 app today. It's available in the US, Canada, Ireland and UK now. The app has some neat functionality, allowing users to link their VEVO and Xbox 360 ...
Continue Reading
(PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS TOPIC THANKS )
When Ubisoft confirmed that the creative director of Rainbow 6: Patriots, David Sears, had been replaced by Jean-Sebastien Decant, natural assumption was that it was over the title's morally ambiguous storyline. That's not quite the case, Ubisoft Montreal CEO Yannis Mallat told Game Informer.
Sears' departure was a mutual decision, Mallat said, and Ubisoft is "evolving the vision that came from David's initial input." Sears, creative director David Sears, narrative director Richard Rouse III, lead designer Philippe Therien and animation director Brent George have left Team Rainbow, Mallat confirmed that Sears at least is still employed by Ubisoft Montreal. Mallat said he's been moved onto a "major project for a major brand."
Rainbow 6: Patriots is still set to launch in 2013, Mallat said.
- Source: Game Informer
February NPD: Hardware sales up over January, everything down year over year
The numbers for February are in, and while hardware performance was better than it was in January, both hardware and software sales are seeing significant declines when compared to figures from February 2011.
With hardware and software combined, total new video-game sales rang up at $1.06 billion for last month; a 20 percent decline from the $1.33 billion spent during the same period last year. Breaking that total down, hardware sales accounted for $381.4 million of all moneys spent in February, down 18 percent year over year, while software sales accounted for $464.4 million (down 23 percent year over year) and accessories sales brought in $215.2 million, down 16 percent year over year.
Despite those year over year declines, hardware sales increased 62 percent over January, Vita sales notwithstanding. Factoring in Sony's new handheld boosts that figure all the way up to 87 percent.
On the software front, the Vita's best-selling launch title was Uncharted: Golden Abyss, earning a spot among the month's top 20 overall best-selling titles. The top ten best-selling titles for February can be found after the break, with Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning being the only new IP to make the list.
Continue Reading
Microsoft sold 426,000 Xbox 360s in February, 14th month in top console spot
Ahead of the NPD officially revealing its February numbers, Microsoft is already tooting its own horn. The console manufacturer claims to have sold 426,000 consoles in February, more than any other console. That makes for 14 consecutive months with the Xbox 360 maintaining the top sales position among consoles. Microsoft also notes that the console has maintained more than a 40 percent market share in the current generation of consoles for 12 straight months.
Additionally, consumer spending on hardware, software and accessories bested other consoles as well, totaling $383 million. According to Joystiq's resident financial analyst, the figure is "a lot." We'll have complete NPD numbers shortly.
Continue Reading
Yep, Gabe Newell is a billionaire
Gabe Newell has an estimated net worth of $1.5 billion, ranking 854th of the 1,226 billionaires in the world. Normally a video game exec being ranked 854th in something wouldn't matter much, but when that rank is in the "these people have at least one billion dollars" list, even the losers are ...
Continue Reading
Battlefield 3 DLC trio coming in June, fall, winter this year
Expanding on our knowledge base from the earlier Battlefield 3 expansion reveal, EA has confirmed that "Close Quarters" will launch in June, followed by "Armored Kill" in the fall and "End Game" this winter. Hit the break for more details on the punch these DLC packs are ... well, packing. ...
Continue Reading
XBLIG Companion app available now for Windows Phone
The Xbox Live Indie Games Companion app we first reported earlier this month is now available on Windows Phone. The app allows for easy browsing of Xbox Live Indie Games, including information, screens and links for each game. The app will even point users to Xbox Live Marketplace, where XBLIG ...
Continue Reading
Battlefield 3 customizable servers coming to consoles
Karl-Magnus Troedsson, CEO of Battlefield developer DICE, announced at an Electronic Arts event last night that customizable servers would be available for consoles in the future. "All active players out there playing on consoles today will now have the opportunity to customize their servers and ...
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Medal of Honor Warfighter powered by Frostbite 2.0
Medal of Honor Warfighter executive producer Greg Goodrich told Joystiq this evening that October's Danger Close game is being built using EA DICE's in-house Battlefield engine, Frostbite 2.0. This marks the second use of Frostbite 2.0 outside of its origin studio, following last year's Need for ...
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VEVO app now available on Xbox 360
Music video junkies will have one more place to search for and watch content starting today. VEVO, a music video site, has debuted its Xbox 360 app today. It's available in the US, Canada, Ireland and UK now. The app has some neat functionality, allowing users to link their VEVO and Xbox 360 ...
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TWOHAS1- Number of posts : 663
Registration date : 2008-01-24
Re: TWOII'S ( JOYSTICQ.COM ) WHATS NEW IN GAMER NEWS
by TWOHAS1 Fri Mar 16, 2012 11:38 am
No 'new Xbox' talk at E3, Microsoft says
Having held the top NPD spot for the past 14 months straight -- and with the introduction of Kinect -- the old Xbox 360 still has some life in it yet. "For us, 2012 is all about Xbox 360," Xbox spokesperson and Group Manager of PR David Dennis told Bloomberg. "There will be no talk of new Xbox hardware at E3 or anytime soon."
A few sources close to news outlet Bloomberg insist that Microsoft will introduce a new console in 2013 at the earliest. Next year's E3 could hold an unveiling of the Xbox 360 successor, says the report, with a potential same-year launch to follow. Now doesn't that sound familiar?
[Note: Image taken from our Microsoft E3 2011 keynote liveblog.]
Having held the top NPD spot for the past 14 months straight -- and with the introduction of Kinect -- the old Xbox 360 still has some life in it yet. "For us, 2012 is all about Xbox 360," Xbox spokesperson and Group Manager of PR David Dennis told Bloomberg. "There will be no talk of new Xbox hardware at E3 or anytime soon."
A few sources close to news outlet Bloomberg insist that Microsoft will introduce a new console in 2013 at the earliest. Next year's E3 could hold an unveiling of the Xbox 360 successor, says the report, with a potential same-year launch to follow. Now doesn't that sound familiar?
[Note: Image taken from our Microsoft E3 2011 keynote liveblog.]
- Source: Bloomberg
Kill with greater variety and look good doing it in Skyrim's 1.5 update
Vanity is the subject of the next major update coming to Skyrim, which introduces new kill move animations for melee combat and some snazzy kill cams for ranged weapons and magic spells. If they look familiar in the video above, it's because you already saw them during Todd Howard's DICE 2012 keynote.
Of course, that's not the entirety of the update. Smithing skill boosts now factor into forged item value, there's a "better transition" when going underwater, and a variety of bugs and glitches are addressed. The full patch notes are over on the Bethesda Blog.
If you're a PC player, you can play a beta version of the 1.5 update on Steam right now. All you have to do is go into your settings tab and opt in through the client. The update will be available for Xbox 360 and PS3 players "soon." - Source: Bethesda Blog
'Mass Effect Team Assault' was a canned multiplayer FPS
In 2010, BioWare Montreal was developing a competitive, multiplayer first-person shooter called Mass Effect Team Assault, but it was reshaped into the third-person co-op mode that shipped in Mass Effect 3, according to a Kotaku report based on the iPad app The Final Hours of Mass Effect 3.
Mass Effect Team Assault saw four months of production before being presented to the Mass Effect hierarchy and transforming into Mass Effect 3's multiplayer skirmish mode. - Source: Kotaku
Microsoft seeks executive producer for 'AAAA' Xbox title
Microsoft is apparently no longer satisfied with creating pedestrian, run-of-the-mill "AAA" games and has upgraded to "AAAA" titles, according to this want-ad for an Executive Producer. We honestly thought that was a typo at first, but sure enough the "AAAA" designation is used no fewer than three ...
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Phil Harrison heads to Microsoft as vice prez of Interactive Entertainment Business arm
We've officially turned on the theme song to Welcome Back, Kotter and started growing a lustrous mustache in honor of Phil Harrison's return to Game Industry Executiveland. This morning, reports from Europe indicated that Harrison would head to Microsoft -- Microsoft clarified the news later, which ...
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TWOHAS1- Number of posts : 663
Registration date : 2008-01-24
Re: TWOII'S ( JOYSTICQ.COM ) WHATS NEW IN GAMER NEWS
by TWOHAS1 Fri Mar 23, 2012 11:23 am
Mega 64 walks through Ghost Recon's co-op
Mega 64's classic bit of recreating video-game circumstances in real life has been pretty hilarious in the past, but reenacting Ghost Recon: Future Soldier would probably get them thrown in federal prison for the rest of their lives. So, instead, they played some co-op. ... Continue Reading
Assassin's Creed 3 screens leak (again)
A lot of red coats gave their lives for you to enjoy these new Assassin's Creed 3 screens, which leaked today on NeoGAF. But more important than the stylish slaughter of soldiers is canoeing. You can totally ride in a canoe!
Assassin's Creed 3 (Leaked 3/22/2012)
Max Payne 3 'crews' carry over into Grand Theft Auto V multiplayer
The "crews" Max Payne 3 players form in mulitplayer mode will transfer directly to Grand Theft Auto V multi, Rockstar co-founder and fancy mansion owner Dan Houser told IGN. Grand Theft Auto V will share Max Payne 3's crews via Rockstar's Social Club.
"Multiplayer is an ever-more important part of all our games moving forward," Houser said. "And by creating crews through Social Club, the crews that you create in Max Payne 3 will be ready and available for you to play in Grand Theft Auto V from day one."
After news of this crossover, we can imagine other Social Club integration possibilities -- Red Dead Redemption would have majestic horses galloping through the glittery streets of Los Santos, dodging bullets and rampaging cars alike. Horses; horses everywhere.
NPD: $3.3 billion spent outside of new boxed games across regions in Q4 2011
Still in its infancy of tracking and reporting games that aren't new and from a box, the NPD reported sales for the US and key European markets reached $3.33 billion in the fourth quarter of 2011 (Oct. - Dec.). The number covers "used games, game rentals, subscriptions, digital full-game downloads, social network games, downloadable content and mobile games." To be extra clear, that means "everything besides new physical copies of games sold in retail stores."
The breakdown of the overall $3.33 billion has the States with a $2.04 billion spend, and the UK, Germany, and France forking over a combined total of $1.29 billion. Despite troubles at retail, UK consumers still dropped $508 million in the region, while Germany and France saw sales of $461 million and $320 million (respectively).
NPD usually reports monthly, strictly on US game sales. "Now that we've established our Europe based service covering the UK, France, and Germany, we can begin working directly with clients to help them dissect at deeper levels how the unique market drivers specific to each country can help them understand the increasingly global nature of the games industry," said NPD Euro analyst Sam Naji.
It's still hard to contextualize the data since the (publicly shared) tracking of digital spend is still so new. We do know that in 2011 the total spend in the States was around $16.6 billion, with new boxed games at retail reaching $9.3 billion.
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Assassin's Creed 3 multiplayer comes from old studio, new lead designer
Assassin's Creed 3 is getting the multiplayer treatment from Ubisoft Annecy, the studio responsible for multiplayer modes in Revelations and Brotherhood, an update on veteran designer Tim Browne's Twitter page reads. Browne's profile says "Lead Game Designer on Assassin's Creed III Multiplayer @Ubisoft - Annecy," which leaves little to the imagination (scandalous).
The multiplayer aspect of AC3 remains relatively vague, apart from the "Online co-op 2-4" feature removed from the title's XBLM listing, and the "Online multiplayer 2-8" one that is still there. A few of Browne's shipments included local and online co-op modes, including Operation Flashpoint: Red River and Dragon Rising, and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. He has no previous involvement with Assassin's Creed franchise.
An old studio with a fresh face -- Ubisoft is sending us mixed signals about its multiplayer mode, and dang it if we're not falling for the tease all over again.
(PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS TOPIC THANKS )
Mega 64's classic bit of recreating video-game circumstances in real life has been pretty hilarious in the past, but reenacting Ghost Recon: Future Soldier would probably get them thrown in federal prison for the rest of their lives. So, instead, they played some co-op. ... Continue Reading
Assassin's Creed 3 screens leak (again)
A lot of red coats gave their lives for you to enjoy these new Assassin's Creed 3 screens, which leaked today on NeoGAF. But more important than the stylish slaughter of soldiers is canoeing. You can totally ride in a canoe!
Assassin's Creed 3 (Leaked 3/22/2012)
- Source: NeoGAF, All Games Beta
Max Payne 3 'crews' carry over into Grand Theft Auto V multiplayer
The "crews" Max Payne 3 players form in mulitplayer mode will transfer directly to Grand Theft Auto V multi, Rockstar co-founder and fancy mansion owner Dan Houser told IGN. Grand Theft Auto V will share Max Payne 3's crews via Rockstar's Social Club.
"Multiplayer is an ever-more important part of all our games moving forward," Houser said. "And by creating crews through Social Club, the crews that you create in Max Payne 3 will be ready and available for you to play in Grand Theft Auto V from day one."
After news of this crossover, we can imagine other Social Club integration possibilities -- Red Dead Redemption would have majestic horses galloping through the glittery streets of Los Santos, dodging bullets and rampaging cars alike. Horses; horses everywhere.
- Source: IGN
NPD: $3.3 billion spent outside of new boxed games across regions in Q4 2011
Still in its infancy of tracking and reporting games that aren't new and from a box, the NPD reported sales for the US and key European markets reached $3.33 billion in the fourth quarter of 2011 (Oct. - Dec.). The number covers "used games, game rentals, subscriptions, digital full-game downloads, social network games, downloadable content and mobile games." To be extra clear, that means "everything besides new physical copies of games sold in retail stores."
The breakdown of the overall $3.33 billion has the States with a $2.04 billion spend, and the UK, Germany, and France forking over a combined total of $1.29 billion. Despite troubles at retail, UK consumers still dropped $508 million in the region, while Germany and France saw sales of $461 million and $320 million (respectively).
NPD usually reports monthly, strictly on US game sales. "Now that we've established our Europe based service covering the UK, France, and Germany, we can begin working directly with clients to help them dissect at deeper levels how the unique market drivers specific to each country can help them understand the increasingly global nature of the games industry," said NPD Euro analyst Sam Naji.
It's still hard to contextualize the data since the (publicly shared) tracking of digital spend is still so new. We do know that in 2011 the total spend in the States was around $16.6 billion, with new boxed games at retail reaching $9.3 billion.
Continue Reading
Assassin's Creed 3 multiplayer comes from old studio, new lead designer
Assassin's Creed 3 is getting the multiplayer treatment from Ubisoft Annecy, the studio responsible for multiplayer modes in Revelations and Brotherhood, an update on veteran designer Tim Browne's Twitter page reads. Browne's profile says "Lead Game Designer on Assassin's Creed III Multiplayer @Ubisoft - Annecy," which leaves little to the imagination (scandalous).
The multiplayer aspect of AC3 remains relatively vague, apart from the "Online co-op 2-4" feature removed from the title's XBLM listing, and the "Online multiplayer 2-8" one that is still there. A few of Browne's shipments included local and online co-op modes, including Operation Flashpoint: Red River and Dragon Rising, and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. He has no previous involvement with Assassin's Creed franchise.
An old studio with a fresh face -- Ubisoft is sending us mixed signals about its multiplayer mode, and dang it if we're not falling for the tease all over again.
- Source: @N1tch
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TWOHAS1- Number of posts : 663
Registration date : 2008-01-24
Re: TWOII'S ( JOYSTICQ.COM ) WHATS NEW IN GAMER NEWS
by TWOHAS1 Fri Mar 30, 2012 11:13 am
Double Fine's Kickstarter kick-started funding for video games
Double Fine raised almost $3.4 million in its Kickstarter campaign, shattering records and publisher's hearts worldwide, but with all that attention on a single project it seemed impossible for any others to get a penny of funding. Not true, Kickstarter says, and it has the stats to back it up (Back that stat up).
Double Fine Adventure catalyzed the entire video games category on Kickstarter: The month before Double Fine's project, video games averaged 629 pledges per week; after its launch, video games received an average of 9,755 pledges per week, excluding those to Double Fine, Kickstarter says.
Similarly, in the first two years on Kickstarter, the video games category raised $1,776,372 in total. In the six weeks after Double Fine, it generated $2,890,704 without Double Fine's contribution, $6,227,075 with it. Before Double Fine, only one video games project had exceeded $100,000; now nine have.
Double Fine brought 61,692 first-time backers to Kickstarter, and they have gone on to pledge almost $400,000 to Wasteland 2, another successful, million-dollar project. Kickstarter offers a more detailed run-down of these surprising statistics right here.
Report: Hackers can pull credit card info from old Xbox 360 hard drives
A new report suggests uncouth citizens can retrieve credit card data and other personal information from an old Xbox 360 hard drive -- even if it was re-formatted and the console restored back to factory settings.
The report comes from an ongoing study at Drexel University. Researcher Ashley Podhradsky told Kotaku that Microsoft does a good job protecting its own proprietary information on the console, but doesn't take any steps to protect user data. As part of the study, the group purchased one used Xbox 360 console, installed some hacking tools and started to root around. Soon enough they were able to retrieve some files and folders, eventually extracting the original owner's credit card information.
We've contacted Microsoft to try and find out if this is the case on all hard drives and even USB drives that have had profiles transferred onto them, and if there are any possible steps users may take to protect their data (other than chucking their devices into a volcano). With several gaming platforms and company websites falling prey to hackers over the last year, and the continual rise of digital distribution, safe online infrastructures are more important than ever to gamers today.
Assassin's Creed 3 pre-orders set to break Ubisoft records
Ubisoft sent out a press release today boasting massive pre-order numbers for Assassin's Creed 3, stating it's on track to be the highest pre-ordered game in the company's history.
Ubisoft claims pre-orders for Assassin's Creed 3 in its first three weeks reached ten times the pre-order numbers earned by Assassin's Creed Revelations in the same stint. People must really be pumped to do some virtual canoeing.
By E3, which takes place June 5 to 7 in LA, Ubisoft expects pre-orders to exceed total life-to-date pre-orders for Assassin's Creed Revelations in the US, the current Ubisoft record holder. The franchise isn't showing any signs of slowdown, even though Revelations was met with reserved critical reception.
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Targeting the Axis powers in Sniper Elite V2
I walk into a large conference room late, having dealt with a parking lot maze. As I enter, I spot a television well into a demo -- a bullet ejects from a Springfield rifle, time slows following it to an enemy, and cuts through a Nazi soldier like a chainsaw through a stick of butter.
Reps from developer Rebellion and publisher 505 Games are huddled over the monitors, showing off Sniper Elite V2, a reboot of Rebellion's 2005 Sniper Elite for PC, PS2, Wii, and Xbox. The demo, I'm told, had only just started. "We get right into the action," a PR spokesperson tells me. But the action in Sniper Elite V2 isn't about quick progression through its Battle of Berlin setting -- it is methodical.
2K Games' PAX East lineup includes playable Borderlands 2
Borderlands 2 may not hit store shelves until mid September, but that doesn't mean you have to wait until then to play it. All you have to do is spend several hundred dollars on last-minute travel and hotel accommodations for next week's PAX East convention in Boston, and you too can get your randomly generated little hands on all that cel-shaded goodness.
The demo, playable at 2K's booth, will feature the Siren and Gunzerker character types and will take place in two zones, "Caustic Caverns" and "Pandora Park." XCOM: Enemy Unknown, Civilization 5: Gods and Kings and Spec Ops: The Line will also be present and accounted for, but only Spec Ops: The Line and Borderlands 2 will be openly playable.
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Double Fine raised almost $3.4 million in its Kickstarter campaign, shattering records and publisher's hearts worldwide, but with all that attention on a single project it seemed impossible for any others to get a penny of funding. Not true, Kickstarter says, and it has the stats to back it up (Back that stat up).
Double Fine Adventure catalyzed the entire video games category on Kickstarter: The month before Double Fine's project, video games averaged 629 pledges per week; after its launch, video games received an average of 9,755 pledges per week, excluding those to Double Fine, Kickstarter says.
Similarly, in the first two years on Kickstarter, the video games category raised $1,776,372 in total. In the six weeks after Double Fine, it generated $2,890,704 without Double Fine's contribution, $6,227,075 with it. Before Double Fine, only one video games project had exceeded $100,000; now nine have.
Double Fine brought 61,692 first-time backers to Kickstarter, and they have gone on to pledge almost $400,000 to Wasteland 2, another successful, million-dollar project. Kickstarter offers a more detailed run-down of these surprising statistics right here.
- Source: Kickstarter Blog
Report: Hackers can pull credit card info from old Xbox 360 hard drives
A new report suggests uncouth citizens can retrieve credit card data and other personal information from an old Xbox 360 hard drive -- even if it was re-formatted and the console restored back to factory settings.
The report comes from an ongoing study at Drexel University. Researcher Ashley Podhradsky told Kotaku that Microsoft does a good job protecting its own proprietary information on the console, but doesn't take any steps to protect user data. As part of the study, the group purchased one used Xbox 360 console, installed some hacking tools and started to root around. Soon enough they were able to retrieve some files and folders, eventually extracting the original owner's credit card information.
We've contacted Microsoft to try and find out if this is the case on all hard drives and even USB drives that have had profiles transferred onto them, and if there are any possible steps users may take to protect their data (other than chucking their devices into a volcano). With several gaming platforms and company websites falling prey to hackers over the last year, and the continual rise of digital distribution, safe online infrastructures are more important than ever to gamers today.
- Source: Kotaku
Assassin's Creed 3 pre-orders set to break Ubisoft records
Ubisoft sent out a press release today boasting massive pre-order numbers for Assassin's Creed 3, stating it's on track to be the highest pre-ordered game in the company's history.
Ubisoft claims pre-orders for Assassin's Creed 3 in its first three weeks reached ten times the pre-order numbers earned by Assassin's Creed Revelations in the same stint. People must really be pumped to do some virtual canoeing.
By E3, which takes place June 5 to 7 in LA, Ubisoft expects pre-orders to exceed total life-to-date pre-orders for Assassin's Creed Revelations in the US, the current Ubisoft record holder. The franchise isn't showing any signs of slowdown, even though Revelations was met with reserved critical reception.
Continue Reading
Targeting the Axis powers in Sniper Elite V2
I walk into a large conference room late, having dealt with a parking lot maze. As I enter, I spot a television well into a demo -- a bullet ejects from a Springfield rifle, time slows following it to an enemy, and cuts through a Nazi soldier like a chainsaw through a stick of butter.
Reps from developer Rebellion and publisher 505 Games are huddled over the monitors, showing off Sniper Elite V2, a reboot of Rebellion's 2005 Sniper Elite for PC, PS2, Wii, and Xbox. The demo, I'm told, had only just started. "We get right into the action," a PR spokesperson tells me. But the action in Sniper Elite V2 isn't about quick progression through its Battle of Berlin setting -- it is methodical.
2K Games' PAX East lineup includes playable Borderlands 2
Borderlands 2 may not hit store shelves until mid September, but that doesn't mean you have to wait until then to play it. All you have to do is spend several hundred dollars on last-minute travel and hotel accommodations for next week's PAX East convention in Boston, and you too can get your randomly generated little hands on all that cel-shaded goodness.
The demo, playable at 2K's booth, will feature the Siren and Gunzerker character types and will take place in two zones, "Caustic Caverns" and "Pandora Park." XCOM: Enemy Unknown, Civilization 5: Gods and Kings and Spec Ops: The Line will also be present and accounted for, but only Spec Ops: The Line and Borderlands 2 will be openly playable.
- Source: Destructoid
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TWOHAS1- Number of posts : 663
Registration date : 2008-01-24
Re: TWOII'S ( JOYSTICQ.COM ) WHATS NEW IN GAMER NEWS
by TWOHAS1 Sat Apr 07, 2012 3:08 am
Assassin's Creed 3 creative director doesn't dislike your ideas that much, Internet
Despite Assassin's Creed 3 creative lead Alex Hutchinson's recent fighting words with the internet over its "boring" ideas for potential AC settings, he told us this morning that he still loves you. Or something like that. "It's part of a bigger discussion. Obviously any setting is potentially awesome," he said in a brief PAX East show floor followup. "The point we were making was that some settings are more familiar in video games than other settings. And the two particular ones that were mentioned are very familiar video game settings."
Hutchinson is referring to both the World War II and Feudal Japan ideas brought up during an interview with OXM recently. "The exciting thing is that the game can go anywhere," Hutchinson said. "We've had versions of the assassin ... people have thrown ideas around for probably literally any setting that people would think of. But when you get right down to it – when we're doing the actual nitty gritty of spending the time on it, spending a couple years making something – we wanna go to a setting that other games haven't gone to." As for the aforementioned pair of settings? "We're trying to find places that will surprise people."
And Hutchinson doesn't want you to hate him, internet. He also spoke to his statements regarding net denizens coming up with "the most boring settings" for future AC games. "If people think they have the worst ideas, I apologize for that," he told us. "But really, they're very predictable. The internet is not the place for insight, unfortunately," Hutchinson added with a laugh.
As for recent news that AC3 will be Desmond's biggest outing yet, Hutchinson said, "There's a big opportunity when the real timeline crosses the fictional timeline. Like, this is a fun idea. So there's stuff that we have to deal with. We feel like it's about time to pay off the people who've been sticking with the franchise for a long time." When asked if this would be Desmond's last appearance in the series, Ubisoft PR assassins jumped in and said, "I think people are gonna be entertained by it." We're not sure what that means either, but we'll be sure to keep asking.
Interview
New York State removes sex offenders from Xbox Live
New York will be removing the state's registered sex offenders from several online gaming services, NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has announced. As part of "Operation: Game Over," over 3,500 of accounts have been removed from various gaming services run by "Microsoft, Apple, Blizzard, Electronic Arts, Disney, Warner Bros. and Sony."
The purge was done with the consent of each company. Xbox Live is the only service explicitly mentioned in the press release, though each company certainly has recognized services, including PlayStation Network, Origin, Game Center, Battle.net, etc.
The press release notes that New York law requires sex offenders to provide the state with email addresses and screen names, which can then "be made available to certain websites so they can purge potential predators from their online networks." This marks the first time the law has been applied to gaming services. Vice president and deputy general counsel Rich Wallis noted that the company is "supportive of Attorney General Schneiderman's efforts to make the Internet, including online gaming environments like Xbox LIVE, safer for everyone."
This isn't the first time that A.G. Schneiderman has delved into the world of video games. He also subpoenaed Sony regarding the PlayStation Network security breach last year.
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Ghost Recon: Future Soldier beta, Ghost Recon Network announced
Ubisoft has announced a Ghost Recon: Future Soldier multiplayer beta, active from April 19 until May 2 on Xbox 360 and PS3. The publisher also announced the Ghost Recon Network, a "free companion service" that'll support all future Ghost Recon titles.
The beta will feature 12 players competing as teams in two modes, featuring three classes. Working as either a Rifleman, Engineer or Scout, players in "Conflict" mode compete to complete objectives, while "Saboteur" has teams transferring a bomb to detonate in the opposing team's base. Access to the beta is given through Splinter Cell Conviction or by pre-ordering Future Soldier on Xbox 360. PlayStation Plus subscribers receive a PS3 beta key.
Ghost Recon Network
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Spec Ops: The Line narrative trailer ripped from the headlines
In fairness, the trailer above for Spec Ops: The Line was likely cut and produced over the course of a few months. As such, its "ripped from current headlines" nature isn't really 2K Games or Yager's fault, but it does make for an awkward juxtaposition against recent news. ... Continue Reading
Mass Effect 3 'Extended Cut' DLC free this summer, offers 'further clarity to the ending'
EA this morning announced Mass Effect 3's "Extended Cut" DLC, which adds to the game's ending and will arrive for free at some point this summer. According to the publisher, the content will add "additional cinematic sequences and epilogue scenes," which will apparently offer fans "further clarity to the ending of Mass Effect 3" and "deeper insights into how their personal journey concludes."
The additional content comes as a response to a group of fans who felt the third game ended in an unsatisfactory manner. That outcry apparently had a serious effect at BioWare internally, as project lead Casey Hudson says the team has, "reprioritized [its] post-launch development efforts to provide the fans who want more closure with even more context and clarity to the ending of the game, in a way that will feel more personalized for each player."
No specific information is given about what said content will be, but we sure hope it means we won't see other DLC packs delayed or scrapped as a result. Studio co-founder Ray Muzyka notes,"With the Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut we think we have struck a good balance in delivering the answers players are looking for while maintaining the team's artistic vision for the end of this story arc."
Extended Cut will arrive on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC "this summer." It will remain free for download until April 12, 2014, at which point who knows what'll happen.
EA is The Consumerist's 'Worst Company in America,' wins Golden Poo
Today marks another resounding success for the gaming industry! Be proud, everyone; call your parents, have a glass of fancy wine and kiss your spouse: We've won the Golden Poo. EA was voted the "absolute worst company in America" in The Consumerist's 2012 poll, defeating Bank of America with 64 ...
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Far Cry 3's multiplayer looks as fun as it is pretty
Far Cry 3's multiplayer mode will offer a few specific perks activated by the aggregation of Team Support Points, the "currency" of multiplayer, VG24/7 writes in a hands-on preview. TSP can buff allies or hinder enemies through features such as psyche gas, which makes the opposing fighters see ...
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Assassin's Creed 3 follows Desmond more than ever
Lead writer Matt Turner says Assassin's Creed 3 will feature more Desmond than ever before, and more present-day events than in any past installment. "All I can say about Desmond's story is you're going to experience more Desmond than you've ever had before," he said. "We're spending more time on ...
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Be afraid: Alien Fear coming to PSN and XBLA
Is it about aliens who inspire fear? Is it about aliens who are, themselves, afraid? Maybe it's about a new emotion that arrives from outer space? We don't know, but we'll find out in Alien Fear, a new Unreal Engine-based shooter coming to PSN (for PS3) and XBLA. Alien Fear is a downloadable FPS in ...
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Despite Assassin's Creed 3 creative lead Alex Hutchinson's recent fighting words with the internet over its "boring" ideas for potential AC settings, he told us this morning that he still loves you. Or something like that. "It's part of a bigger discussion. Obviously any setting is potentially awesome," he said in a brief PAX East show floor followup. "The point we were making was that some settings are more familiar in video games than other settings. And the two particular ones that were mentioned are very familiar video game settings."
Hutchinson is referring to both the World War II and Feudal Japan ideas brought up during an interview with OXM recently. "The exciting thing is that the game can go anywhere," Hutchinson said. "We've had versions of the assassin ... people have thrown ideas around for probably literally any setting that people would think of. But when you get right down to it – when we're doing the actual nitty gritty of spending the time on it, spending a couple years making something – we wanna go to a setting that other games haven't gone to." As for the aforementioned pair of settings? "We're trying to find places that will surprise people."
And Hutchinson doesn't want you to hate him, internet. He also spoke to his statements regarding net denizens coming up with "the most boring settings" for future AC games. "If people think they have the worst ideas, I apologize for that," he told us. "But really, they're very predictable. The internet is not the place for insight, unfortunately," Hutchinson added with a laugh.
As for recent news that AC3 will be Desmond's biggest outing yet, Hutchinson said, "There's a big opportunity when the real timeline crosses the fictional timeline. Like, this is a fun idea. So there's stuff that we have to deal with. We feel like it's about time to pay off the people who've been sticking with the franchise for a long time." When asked if this would be Desmond's last appearance in the series, Ubisoft PR assassins jumped in and said, "I think people are gonna be entertained by it." We're not sure what that means either, but we'll be sure to keep asking.
Interview
New York State removes sex offenders from Xbox Live
New York will be removing the state's registered sex offenders from several online gaming services, NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has announced. As part of "Operation: Game Over," over 3,500 of accounts have been removed from various gaming services run by "Microsoft, Apple, Blizzard, Electronic Arts, Disney, Warner Bros. and Sony."
The purge was done with the consent of each company. Xbox Live is the only service explicitly mentioned in the press release, though each company certainly has recognized services, including PlayStation Network, Origin, Game Center, Battle.net, etc.
The press release notes that New York law requires sex offenders to provide the state with email addresses and screen names, which can then "be made available to certain websites so they can purge potential predators from their online networks." This marks the first time the law has been applied to gaming services. Vice president and deputy general counsel Rich Wallis noted that the company is "supportive of Attorney General Schneiderman's efforts to make the Internet, including online gaming environments like Xbox LIVE, safer for everyone."
This isn't the first time that A.G. Schneiderman has delved into the world of video games. He also subpoenaed Sony regarding the PlayStation Network security breach last year.
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Ghost Recon: Future Soldier beta, Ghost Recon Network announced
The beta will feature 12 players competing as teams in two modes, featuring three classes. Working as either a Rifleman, Engineer or Scout, players in "Conflict" mode compete to complete objectives, while "Saboteur" has teams transferring a bomb to detonate in the opposing team's base. Access to the beta is given through Splinter Cell Conviction or by pre-ordering Future Soldier on Xbox 360. PlayStation Plus subscribers receive a PS3 beta key.
Ghost Recon Network
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Spec Ops: The Line narrative trailer ripped from the headlines
In fairness, the trailer above for Spec Ops: The Line was likely cut and produced over the course of a few months. As such, its "ripped from current headlines" nature isn't really 2K Games or Yager's fault, but it does make for an awkward juxtaposition against recent news. ... Continue Reading
Mass Effect 3 'Extended Cut' DLC free this summer, offers 'further clarity to the ending'
EA this morning announced Mass Effect 3's "Extended Cut" DLC, which adds to the game's ending and will arrive for free at some point this summer. According to the publisher, the content will add "additional cinematic sequences and epilogue scenes," which will apparently offer fans "further clarity to the ending of Mass Effect 3" and "deeper insights into how their personal journey concludes."
The additional content comes as a response to a group of fans who felt the third game ended in an unsatisfactory manner. That outcry apparently had a serious effect at BioWare internally, as project lead Casey Hudson says the team has, "reprioritized [its] post-launch development efforts to provide the fans who want more closure with even more context and clarity to the ending of the game, in a way that will feel more personalized for each player."
No specific information is given about what said content will be, but we sure hope it means we won't see other DLC packs delayed or scrapped as a result. Studio co-founder Ray Muzyka notes,"With the Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut we think we have struck a good balance in delivering the answers players are looking for while maintaining the team's artistic vision for the end of this story arc."
Extended Cut will arrive on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC "this summer." It will remain free for download until April 12, 2014, at which point who knows what'll happen.
- Source: BusinessWire
EA is The Consumerist's 'Worst Company in America,' wins Golden Poo
Today marks another resounding success for the gaming industry! Be proud, everyone; call your parents, have a glass of fancy wine and kiss your spouse: We've won the Golden Poo. EA was voted the "absolute worst company in America" in The Consumerist's 2012 poll, defeating Bank of America with 64 ...
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Far Cry 3's multiplayer looks as fun as it is pretty
Far Cry 3's multiplayer mode will offer a few specific perks activated by the aggregation of Team Support Points, the "currency" of multiplayer, VG24/7 writes in a hands-on preview. TSP can buff allies or hinder enemies through features such as psyche gas, which makes the opposing fighters see ...
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Assassin's Creed 3 follows Desmond more than ever
Lead writer Matt Turner says Assassin's Creed 3 will feature more Desmond than ever before, and more present-day events than in any past installment. "All I can say about Desmond's story is you're going to experience more Desmond than you've ever had before," he said. "We're spending more time on ...
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Be afraid: Alien Fear coming to PSN and XBLA
Is it about aliens who inspire fear? Is it about aliens who are, themselves, afraid? Maybe it's about a new emotion that arrives from outer space? We don't know, but we'll find out in Alien Fear, a new Unreal Engine-based shooter coming to PSN (for PS3) and XBLA. Alien Fear is a downloadable FPS in ...
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TWOHAS1- Number of posts : 663
Registration date : 2008-01-24
Re: TWOII'S ( JOYSTICQ.COM ) WHATS NEW IN GAMER NEWS
by TWOHAS1 Sat Apr 21, 2012 3:27 am
Risen 2 on consoles delayed to July 31 in US, August 3 in Europe
Relax, PC gamers: Risen 2: Dark Waters is still launching on April 27. The Xbox 360 and PS3 ports have been bumped back to late summer, Deep Silver has announced today. Risen 2: Dark Waters will launch on Xbox 360 and PS3 on July 31 in North America; Europe gets Risen 2 on August 3.
To make up for the console port delay, Deep Silver is tossing in the episode "The Air Temple" for PS3 and Xbox 360 players. Deep Silver says it's "several hours" long and tasks heroes with finding a lost temple and the source of all air magic. May we suggest checking Russia first? That's where Linka is from!
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New Halo 4 shots reintroduce Grunts, Elites, and ... guns?
Are you sitting down? Are you fully braced? You should probably brace yourself for this shocking news: Halo 4 will have Grunts, Elites, and guns. Yes, it's true, Master Chief will once again be blasting through suicidal Grunts and proud Elites in his battle against ... well, we're not really sure.
But these latest shots, freshly leaked on AllGamesBeta, assure us that at least two of Halo's classic foes will be returning in Halo 4. We're holding out hope that the Flood manage to miss this round. Please, 343 Industries? Pretty please?
Regardless, the screen above also indicates it's been over three years since the Chief's last contact with his former UNSC buddies. That's quite a bit of sleep. Enough to call it hibernation, even! And now we're picturing space bears in hibernation. Thanks, Halo.
Halo 4 (Concept Art)
Microsoft hiring Xbox Skype engineer
It looks like Microsoft may soon make good on bringing its recently acquired Skype services to the Xbox (and presumably Kinect). The company is currently seeking a software development engineer focused on Skype for the Xbox, as spotted by GI.biz. Specifically, the London listing asks for someone with "a strong technical background developing client and/or embedded software," which certainly sounds like Xbox dashboard integration.
Whether Skype functionality will replace the Xbox's current chat and video services or simply improve upon them remains to be seen.
Microsoft Q3 results: 1.4 million 360s sold, Entertainment division revenue down year-over-year
Despite being the number one best-selling console in America for fifteen months running, the 360's success wasn't enough to prevent Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division from being the only section of the company to post a year-over-year decline in revenue during the third quarter of fiscal 2012.
The Entertainment and Devices Division, which includes Microsoft's gaming businesses and the Windows Phone platform, finished the period ending on March 31, 2012 with $1.62 billion in revenue – a 16 percent drop over the same period in fiscal 2011. During Q3 2012, Microsoft sold 1.4 million 360s, a 48 percent drop year-over-year.
When the entirety of fiscal 2012 is taken into account, however, the Entertainment and Devices Division is actually up as far as revenue is concerned: $7.84 billion so far in fiscal 2012 as compared to $7.42 billion by this time in fiscal 2011. The devision's operation income, on the other hand, is down year-over-year, posting at $627 million for the first nine months of fiscal 2012, compared to $1.24 billion for this time last year.
Otherwise, Microsoft's Q3 performance was strong across all fronts: Overall quarterly revenue rang up at $17.41 billion, a six percent increase over Q3 2011, with a business-wide operating income of $6.37 billion, a 12 percent year-over-year increase.
Book: Halo film failed because Microsoft doesn't 'get' Hollywood
Microsoft didn't mess up when it hired a fleet of actors in Spartan armor to deliver the Halo script to potential movie studios, and the deal didn't stall when each production house had a fixed amount of time to read and bid on the screenplay. In the end Microsoft wanted too much, and it didn't know how to ask for it - it only knew how to demand. The industry differences between Microsoft and the film's two production studios, Fox and Universal, eventually led to the project's implosion, Jamie Russell explains in his book, Generation Xbox: How Video Games Invaded Hollywood.
Microsoft's terms included $10 million against 15 percent of the box office gross, a budget of at least $75 million and fast-tracked production, as well as creative approval over the director, regular flights from Seattle to L.A. to review post-production footage and 60 first-class plane tickets for Microsoft personnel and guests to attend the premiere, all at the expense of whichever studio picked up the script. Not even Harry Potter was getting this level of concessions, Larry Shapiro of Hollywood talent agency CAA says.
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[b]Fallout: Nuka Break wants to film season two
After Wayside Creations launched its Fallout fan film in January 2011, it filmed one (excellent) season of Fallout: Nuka Break in a webseries with $30,000 of funding. Now Wayside wants to start filming the second season, bigger, badder and better than the first, with $60,000 in funding. It ...
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(PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS TOPIC THANKS )
[/b]
Relax, PC gamers: Risen 2: Dark Waters is still launching on April 27. The Xbox 360 and PS3 ports have been bumped back to late summer, Deep Silver has announced today. Risen 2: Dark Waters will launch on Xbox 360 and PS3 on July 31 in North America; Europe gets Risen 2 on August 3.
To make up for the console port delay, Deep Silver is tossing in the episode "The Air Temple" for PS3 and Xbox 360 players. Deep Silver says it's "several hours" long and tasks heroes with finding a lost temple and the source of all air magic. May we suggest checking Russia first? That's where Linka is from!
Continue Reading
New Halo 4 shots reintroduce Grunts, Elites, and ... guns?
Are you sitting down? Are you fully braced? You should probably brace yourself for this shocking news: Halo 4 will have Grunts, Elites, and guns. Yes, it's true, Master Chief will once again be blasting through suicidal Grunts and proud Elites in his battle against ... well, we're not really sure.
But these latest shots, freshly leaked on AllGamesBeta, assure us that at least two of Halo's classic foes will be returning in Halo 4. We're holding out hope that the Flood manage to miss this round. Please, 343 Industries? Pretty please?
Regardless, the screen above also indicates it's been over three years since the Chief's last contact with his former UNSC buddies. That's quite a bit of sleep. Enough to call it hibernation, even! And now we're picturing space bears in hibernation. Thanks, Halo.
Halo 4 (Concept Art)
Microsoft hiring Xbox Skype engineer
It looks like Microsoft may soon make good on bringing its recently acquired Skype services to the Xbox (and presumably Kinect). The company is currently seeking a software development engineer focused on Skype for the Xbox, as spotted by GI.biz. Specifically, the London listing asks for someone with "a strong technical background developing client and/or embedded software," which certainly sounds like Xbox dashboard integration.
Whether Skype functionality will replace the Xbox's current chat and video services or simply improve upon them remains to be seen.
- Via: GI.biz
- Source: Microsoft Careers
Rumor: Prey 2 development suspended since November
Bethesda announced earlier today that Prey 2 would not launch in 2012. Rumors suggest development is troubled, with Human Head Studios having suspended work on the FPS since November 2011.
Word comes from a source close to Shacknews, who claims work was intentionally stopped in the hopes of negotiating better contract terms with Bethesda owner Zenimax. Many employees were reportedly laid off as a result, with Human Head aiming to rehire them once the contract was satisfactory. According to the source, the game was in limbo until March, when things finally "soured."
Bethesda claimed the delay was "due to the fact that game development has not progressed satisfactorily this past year." Beyond that, the company wouldn't comment on the future or in what shape Prey 2 is in. - Source: Shacknews
Microsoft Q3 results: 1.4 million 360s sold, Entertainment division revenue down year-over-year
Despite being the number one best-selling console in America for fifteen months running, the 360's success wasn't enough to prevent Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division from being the only section of the company to post a year-over-year decline in revenue during the third quarter of fiscal 2012.
The Entertainment and Devices Division, which includes Microsoft's gaming businesses and the Windows Phone platform, finished the period ending on March 31, 2012 with $1.62 billion in revenue – a 16 percent drop over the same period in fiscal 2011. During Q3 2012, Microsoft sold 1.4 million 360s, a 48 percent drop year-over-year.
When the entirety of fiscal 2012 is taken into account, however, the Entertainment and Devices Division is actually up as far as revenue is concerned: $7.84 billion so far in fiscal 2012 as compared to $7.42 billion by this time in fiscal 2011. The devision's operation income, on the other hand, is down year-over-year, posting at $627 million for the first nine months of fiscal 2012, compared to $1.24 billion for this time last year.
Otherwise, Microsoft's Q3 performance was strong across all fronts: Overall quarterly revenue rang up at $17.41 billion, a six percent increase over Q3 2011, with a business-wide operating income of $6.37 billion, a 12 percent year-over-year increase.
- Source: Microsoft
Book: Halo film failed because Microsoft doesn't 'get' Hollywood
Microsoft didn't mess up when it hired a fleet of actors in Spartan armor to deliver the Halo script to potential movie studios, and the deal didn't stall when each production house had a fixed amount of time to read and bid on the screenplay. In the end Microsoft wanted too much, and it didn't know how to ask for it - it only knew how to demand. The industry differences between Microsoft and the film's two production studios, Fox and Universal, eventually led to the project's implosion, Jamie Russell explains in his book, Generation Xbox: How Video Games Invaded Hollywood.
Microsoft's terms included $10 million against 15 percent of the box office gross, a budget of at least $75 million and fast-tracked production, as well as creative approval over the director, regular flights from Seattle to L.A. to review post-production footage and 60 first-class plane tickets for Microsoft personnel and guests to attend the premiere, all at the expense of whichever studio picked up the script. Not even Harry Potter was getting this level of concessions, Larry Shapiro of Hollywood talent agency CAA says.
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- Source: Game Life
[b]Fallout: Nuka Break wants to film season two
After Wayside Creations launched its Fallout fan film in January 2011, it filmed one (excellent) season of Fallout: Nuka Break in a webseries with $30,000 of funding. Now Wayside wants to start filming the second season, bigger, badder and better than the first, with $60,000 in funding. It ...
Continue Reading
(PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS TOPIC THANKS
)[/b]
TWOHAS1- Number of posts : 663
Registration date : 2008-01-24
Re: TWOII'S ( JOYSTICQ.COM ) WHATS NEW IN GAMER NEWS
by TWOHAS1 Fri May 04, 2012 12:53 pm
New Black Ops 2 art teases Zombies mode
Black Ops 2 brings back Treyarch's personal twist on Call of Duty, namely Zombies. The official Twitter account issued this image, teasing a shotgun-toting female. It's not the first time a woman had to get her hands dirty, though we think this one took the phrase a bit too literally. ... Continue Reading
Ghost Recon Alpha sneaks up on DVD and Blu-ray May 22
Ghost Recon Alpha, the 25-minute prequel film to Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, will arrive on DVD and Blu-ray on May 22. According to Joystiq ghosts embedded deep within Ubisoft, May 22 just happens to be the release date for Future Soldier as well.
The film will be available in a DVD/Blu-ray combo pack for $14.95 or as a lonely, single DVD for $7.95. If you just can't wait that long, G4 will be airing the film later today at 6:30pm ET.
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Motorola granted injunction against Xbox 360 sales in Germany, not as dramatic as it sounds
A German court has granted Motorola Mobility an injunction against the sale and/or distribution of the Xbox 360 in Germany, as well as copies of Windows 7, Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player, following a ruling that some of Microsoft's products violate patents that pertain to the H.264 video codec and are held by Motorola.
Were Motorola to enforce this injunction, it would mean that Microsoft would lose the ability to sell its flagship products in Deutschland until the matter of Motorola's patents is settled, which would be a Very Big Deal™. Thing is, though, Motorola is currently prohibited from enforcing the injunction due to a restraining order issued by an American judge in Seattle.
Microsoft argued that Motorola is abusing its "Frand-commitments," which are essentially a pinky swear that a massive company makes to the world when it is in possession of a universally required piece of technology, wherein it commits to providing licenses for said technology at "fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory" rates. Microsoft says that Motorola's asking price goes beyond fair and reasonable, so the judge issued the restraining order to prevent the injunction from happening until the case can be heard, which is currently scheduled to happen on May 7.
Meanwhile, Microsoft is also appealing the German court's decision, and thanks to the restraining order from the American judge, it'll be able to conduct business as usual during that process. Patent infringement cases like this are all about applying pressure on both sides until one of the companies involved cracks, so we doubt that Motorola ever actually expected that it'd be able to enforce a successful injunction. The fact that it happened at all, however, despite being nullified, adds another layer of trouble and stress to Microsoft's half of the situation.
It's a lot like vs. Dr. Mario, but with slightly more money involved.
Black Ops 2 brings back Treyarch's personal twist on Call of Duty, namely Zombies. The official Twitter account issued this image, teasing a shotgun-toting female. It's not the first time a woman had to get her hands dirty, though we think this one took the phrase a bit too literally. ... Continue Reading
Ghost Recon Alpha sneaks up on DVD and Blu-ray May 22
Ghost Recon Alpha, the 25-minute prequel film to Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, will arrive on DVD and Blu-ray on May 22. According to Joystiq ghosts embedded deep within Ubisoft, May 22 just happens to be the release date for Future Soldier as well.
The film will be available in a DVD/Blu-ray combo pack for $14.95 or as a lonely, single DVD for $7.95. If you just can't wait that long, G4 will be airing the film later today at 6:30pm ET.
Continue Reading
Motorola granted injunction against Xbox 360 sales in Germany, not as dramatic as it sounds
A German court has granted Motorola Mobility an injunction against the sale and/or distribution of the Xbox 360 in Germany, as well as copies of Windows 7, Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player, following a ruling that some of Microsoft's products violate patents that pertain to the H.264 video codec and are held by Motorola.
Were Motorola to enforce this injunction, it would mean that Microsoft would lose the ability to sell its flagship products in Deutschland until the matter of Motorola's patents is settled, which would be a Very Big Deal™. Thing is, though, Motorola is currently prohibited from enforcing the injunction due to a restraining order issued by an American judge in Seattle.
Microsoft argued that Motorola is abusing its "Frand-commitments," which are essentially a pinky swear that a massive company makes to the world when it is in possession of a universally required piece of technology, wherein it commits to providing licenses for said technology at "fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory" rates. Microsoft says that Motorola's asking price goes beyond fair and reasonable, so the judge issued the restraining order to prevent the injunction from happening until the case can be heard, which is currently scheduled to happen on May 7.
Meanwhile, Microsoft is also appealing the German court's decision, and thanks to the restraining order from the American judge, it'll be able to conduct business as usual during that process. Patent infringement cases like this are all about applying pressure on both sides until one of the companies involved cracks, so we doubt that Motorola ever actually expected that it'd be able to enforce a successful injunction. The fact that it happened at all, however, despite being nullified, adds another layer of trouble and stress to Microsoft's half of the situation.
It's a lot like vs. Dr. Mario, but with slightly more money involved.
- Source: BBC
(PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS TOPIC THANKS:sunny: )
TWOHAS1- Number of posts : 663
Registration date : 2008-01-24
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