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January 27, 2012

Wii U gets NFC support

Nintendo has revealed that Wii U controllers will support Near Field Communication (NFC), which enables wireless communication between devices in close proximity to each other. Speaking during an investor briefing, Iwata said: "The Wii U is known for its new controller with a screen, among other features. For this controller, please be advised that we have decided to install an NFC function."

Nintendo has revealed that Wii U controllers will support Near Field Communication (NFC), which enables wireless communication between devices in close proximity to each other.

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New Mario side-scroller announced

Nintendo will release a side-scrolling Super Mario Bros game for 3DS in its next fiscal year. The news was revealed by company president Satoru Iwata, and means the game will be on shelves between April 1 and March 31, 2013.

Nintendo will release a side-scrolling Super Mario Bros game for 3DS in its next fiscal year.

The news was revealed by company president Satoru Iwata, and means the game will be on shelves between April 1 and March 31, 2013.

During an investor briefing, Iwata said: "We are planning to release a totally new side-scrolling Super Mario in 2D as a key title for the Nintendo 3DS in the next fiscal year."

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3DS to return to profitability this year

Nintendo will make a profit on sales of 3DS hardware in the first six months of the next fiscal year. The pledge comes from company president Satoru Iwata, who also said that 3DS software support would improve, especially in the west. It follows another miserable set of financial results from the company, with losses growing despite a huge increase in sales of 3DS, after the global price drop last August meant the company was selling hardware at a loss.

Nintendo will make a profit on sales of 3DS hardware in the first six months of the next fiscal year.

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Nintendo Network announced

Nintendo has officially announced Nintendo Network, an online service for 3DS and Wii U. The service was unveiled by Satoru Iwata during an investor briefing following the release of Nintendo's latest financial results. The company president said the new offering will be broader than its predecessor, Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, which he admitted was "focused upon specific functionalities and concepts."

Nintendo has officially announced Nintendo Network, an online service for 3DS and Wii U with support for downloads of DLC and full games, and a personal account system.

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January 26, 2012

THQ confirms fresh round off layoffs

THQ has laid off an unspecified number of staff as its recently revised business strategy starts coming into effect.
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2012/01/26/more-layoffs-at-thq-today.aspx
Game Informer

THQ has laid off an unspecified number of staff as its recently revised business strategy starts coming into effect.

While the company wouldn’t comment on the number of staff cut, it did confirm that internal development studios THQ San Diego, Relic, Volition, Vigil and THQ Montreal were unaffected.

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Sega delays Aliens: Colonial Marines

Gearbox's long-in development Aliens game has again been delayed, with publisher Sega confirming the firstperson shooter will miss its most recently targeted spring launch window.

Gearbox's long-in-development Aliens: Colonial Marines has again been delayed, with publisher Sega confirming the firstperson shooter will miss its most recently targeted spring launch window.

The PS3, Xbox 360 and PC game’s official website now carries an autumn 2012 launch window. Asked for comment on the title’s status, Sega confirmed the delay without specifying release plans.

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Sega delays Aliens: Colonial Marines

Gearbox's long-in development Aliens game has again been delayed, with publisher Sega confirming the firstperson shooter will miss its most recently targeted spring launch window.

Gearbox's long-in-development Aliens: Colonial Marines has again been delayed, with publisher Sega confirming the firstperson shooter will miss its most recently targeted spring launch window.

The PS3, Xbox 360 and PC game’s official website now carries an autumn 2012 launch window. Asked for comment on the title’s status, Sega confirmed the delay without specifying release plans.

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Kingdoms Of Amalur dev wary of Skyrim threat

Big Huge Games, developer of Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoning, has admitted that the biggest threat to its fantasy RPG's chance of success is that people are still playing The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Like Skyrim, Reckoning is a high-fantasy RPG set in a huge open world. Speaking to Eurogamer, lead designer Ian Frazier described Bethesda's offering as "our big competitor" - which is putting it mildly given that Skyrim sales passed the ten million mark last month.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-01-26-reckoning-devs-biggest-concern-is-youre-still-playing-skyrim
Eurogamer

Big Huge Games, developer of Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoning, has admitted that the biggest threat to its fantasy RPG's chance of success is that people are still playing The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

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Opinion: Leave pre-owned alone

The Xbox 360 successor's rumoured "anti-used game system" could have dire consequences for the industry, says Nathan Brown.

Rumours of Microsoft's Xbox 360 successor have been swirling for some time now, but reports overnight claimed that the company's new console will feature "some sort of anti-used game system." Kotaku's source didn't go into detail on how such a system might work - single-use codes, perhaps, or linking games to a single Xbox Live account,

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Things: Idle animations

We examine the deceptively complex process of just standing around.

There’s a lot of work involved in standing around doing nothing. Responsibility, too. People fixate upon the more flamboyant elements of character animation: facial performance capture, martial arts, military tactics, bicycle kicks, slam dunks… but it’s the little things that often stand out.

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Ono hints at greatly changed Wii U

Street Fighter X Tekken producer Yoshinori Ono has said that the Wii U announced and shown off at last year's E3 was far from the finished article, and that the final version of Nintendo's Wii successor has "many unique possibilities." Speaking to 3D Juegos, translated by a NeoGaf user, Ono said: "What was shown at E3 is not a reflection of everything that this console is going to be able to offer. We have been trying the development kits and some of its new characteristics will improve its possibilities."
http://neogaf.net/forum/showthread.php?t=460292
NeoGaf

Street Fighter X Tekken producer Yoshinori Ono has said that the Wii U announced and shown off at last year's E3 was far from the finished article, and that the final version of Nintendo's Wii successor has "many unique possibilities."

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Save 45 per cent with an Edge subscription

Get 13 issues of Edge from £8.99 per quarter in Future Publishing's January sale, ending today.

Future Publishing's Christmas and January sale comes to an end on January 31, but there's still time for UK residents to save 45 per cent off the cover price of Edge by taking out a quarterly direct debit subscription for just £8.99.

You'll receive 13 issues of Edge throughout the year, delivered directly to your door ahead of the official street date. To subscribe at this offer price, head to My Favourite Magazines.

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Six hundred staff working on Resident Evil 6

Over 600 staff worldwide are working on the recently announced Resident Evil 6, Capcom has confirmed. The figure was revealed by executive producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi, in a video introduction to the game's announcement trailer posted on Capcom-Unity.
http://www.capcom-unity.com/brelston/blog/2012/01/25/resident_evil_6_trailer,_now_with_special_intros_from_the_dev_team
Capcom

Over 600 staff worldwide are working on the recently announced Resident Evil 6, Capcom has confirmed.

The figure was revealed by executive producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi, in a video introduction to the game's announcement trailer posted on Capcom-Unity.

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Bit of Alright conference line-up revealed

World of Love organiser David Hayward is staging a new game design event called Bit of Alright next month. Taking place in the Battersea Arts Centre in London on February 3, the event includes speakers and sessions from Introversion's Mark Morris and Chris Delay; Hide&Seek's Holly Gramazio; Ricky Haggett and Nat Marco from Honey Slug, Gratuitous Space Battles designer Cliff Harris who will be offering advice on how to get out of bed and finish an indie title.
http://bitofalright.eventbrite.co.uk/?ebtv=C
Bit of Alright

World of Love organiser David Hayward is staging a new game design event called Bit of Alright next month.

Taking place in the Battersea Arts Centre in London on February 3, the event includes speakers and sessions from Introversion's Mark Morris and Chris Delay; Hide&Seek's Holly Gramazio; Ricky Haggett and Nat Marco from Honeyslug, and Gratuitous Space Battles designer Cliff Harris who will be offering advice on how to get out of bed and finish an indie title.

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AMD, Nvidia blame hard drives for GPU sales

AMD and Nvidia have both blamed a worldwide shortage of hard disk drives for a decline in sales of their graphics processors. The Verge reports that Nvidia fell short of revenue projections by $116 million due to the shortage. Another contributing factor was the decline of its Tegra 2 processor as focus shifts to its successor, Tegra 3. AMD said during an investor call that it was feeling "a little bit of pressure in terms of hard disks."
http://www.theverge.com/2012/1/25/2731739/nvidia-amd-blame-thai-flood-hdd-shortage
The Verge

AMD and Nvidia have both blamed a worldwide shortage of hard disk drives for a decline in sales of their graphics processors.

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Opinion: Shining a light on interaction density

Randy Smith considers the delicate balance between realism and abstraction in game design.

Liang Qi, biologist, mineralogist, expert cave diver and celebrated spokesperson of the Global Space Initiative, twisted his torso 
and wriggled downward through the tiny opening. Grabbing the rope, he slid the final metres to the floor below, the impact producing hazy spheres of microscopic particulate matter. His headlamp scanned the tunnel ahead. Yet another lava tube, immense, the curved walls meeting overhead and submerging into blackness.

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Nintendo trebles loss forecast

Huge spike in sales of 3DS hardware and software not enough as company raises loss forecast to ¥65 billion.

Despite 3DS having apparently turned a corner, Nintendo's financial situation has worsened and it is now forecasting an annual deficit of ¥65 billion (£535 million).

The revised forecast, released alongside its financial results for the nine months ending December 31, is up from the ¥20 billion loss the company said it was expecting back in October.

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Report: next Xbox to use Blu-ray, thwart pre-owned

Microsoft's Xbox 360 successor will use Blu-ray discs and feature "some sort of anti-used game system," according to reports. Sources have claimed that Microsoft will catch up with Sony by using Blu-ray, which can store up to 50GB of a data on a single disc. No detail was given on how Microsoft intends to combat the pre-owned market.
http://kotaku.com/5879202/sources-the-next-xbox-will-play-blu+ray-may-not-play-used-games-and-will-introduce-kinect-2
Kotaku

Microsoft's Xbox 360 successor will use Blu-ray discs and feature "some sort of anti-used game system," according to reports.

Sources have claimed that Microsoft will follow Sony's lead by using Blu-ray, which can store up to 50GB of a data on a single disc. No detail was given on how Microsoft intends to combat the pre-owned market.

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THQ exiting kids’ licensed games market

THQ has announced plans to revise its business strategy by exiting the kids’ licensed games market and focusing its resources on core franchises and digital initiatives.

THQ has announced plans to revise its business strategy by exiting the kids’ licensed games market and focusing its resources on core franchises and digital initiatives.

The company will “be a more streamlined organisation focused only on our strongest franchises”, according to CEO Brian Farrell, with its five internal studios continuing work on UFC Undisputed 3, Darksiders II, Company Of Heroes, Insane, Saints Row, Warhammer 40,000, and a new title from Patrice Désilets and his team.

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January 25, 2012

Mario Kart returns to Japan chart summit

Mario Kart 7 is once again the Japanese all-formats number one, reclaiming top spot from lSuper Robot Taisen OG Saga Masou Kishin II. In a slow week for sales - Mario Kart 7's sales actually fell by a third - the highest new entry is Sega's 3DS title Rhythm Thief. D3 Publisher secures that rarest of sights - a top ten slot for an Xbox 360 game - with Onechanbara Z Kagura at number five.
http://andriasang.com/comzrd/weekly_sales_chart/
Andriasang

Mario Kart 7 is once again the Japanese all-formats number one, reclaiming top spot from Super Robot Taisen OG Saga Masou Kishin II.

In a slow week for sales - Mario Kart 7's sales actually fell by a third - the highest new entry is Sega's 3DS title Rhythm Thief & The Emperor's Treasure, which is due in the west next month. D3 Publisher achieves that rarest of feats - a top ten slot for an Xbox 360 game - with Onechanbara Z Kagura at number five.

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QuakeCon 2012 dates confirmed

Rage developer id Software has confirmed that QuakeCon 2012 will take place August 2 to 5. The BYOC (bring-your-own-computer) gaming event will take place in the Hilton Anatole hotel in Dallas, Texas, which is offering special room rates for attendees.
http://www.quakecon.org/
QuakeCon

Rage developer id Software has confirmed that QuakeCon 2012 will take place August 2 to 5.

The BYOC (bring-your-own-computer) gaming event will take place in the Hilton Anatole hotel in Dallas, Texas, which is offering special room rates for attendees.

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How Zynga cloned its way to success

We chart Zynga's track record of copying the works of others.

As we reported earlier today, Zynga has upset three-man indie studio Nimblebit by cloning iOS resource management sim Tiny Tower in its new mobile game, Dream Heights. Yet this is far from the first instance of Zynga taking someone else's idea and passing it off as its own: it's been at it virtually since day one, with former staff describing it as a cornerstone of Zynga's business strategy.

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No BlizzCon this year

Along with the 2012 Battle.net World Championship eSports event taking place in Asia later in the year, Blizzard is also focused on putting the finishing touches to Diablo III, Mists Of Pandaria and Heart Of The Swarm. Blizzcon will make a return next year, however.
http://us.battle.net/blizzcon/en/blog/4338369/2012_Battlenet_World_Championship_Event-1_25_2012#blog
Battle.net

Blizzard has confirmed that BlizzCon will not be held this year in light of the studio's busy schedule.

Along with the 2012 Battle.net World Championship eSports event taking place in Asia later in the year, Blizzard is also focused on putting the finishing touches to Diablo IIIMists Of Pandaria and Heart Of The Swarm.

Blizzcon will make a return next year, however.

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Official LEGO Minecraft collaboration gets green-light

“Until now, the project has been in the LEGO Review – a stage before product development begins where a LEGO Jury evaluates the idea’s feasibility as a product and makes a decision,” reads the CUUSOO blog. “We're happy to announce that the Minecraft project on LEGO CUUSOO has passed the LEGO review and we are now developing a concept that celebrates the best aspects of building with the LEGO system and in Minecraft.”

LEGO is now prototyping official Minecraft sets, following the project's nomination on LEGO's CUUSOO site.

Projects submitted to the site are reviewed by LEGO if they amass 10,000 online supporters, which the Minecraft idea quickly gained when it was added last year, and LEGO Minecraft has now been green-lit by the Danish toy giant.

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Opinion: What makes a masterpiece?

If we can analyse songs to predict future hits, asks Graham McAllister, can you do the same for videogames?

A More4 television series in the UK recently asked the question of what makes a masterpiece. It set out to explore if it was possible to use the latest scientific methods to help understand why some creative works are better than others. Focusing on art, music and movies, it featured experts who use various techniques to explore how the body reacts when exposed to creative content.

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