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October 19, 2011

Out There: "Contrivances are bullshit"

The stuff that gets in the way of play, plus your chance to buy Richard Garriott's house.

Adam Saltsman has taken on Jonathan Blow's recent talk at IndieCade, during which he spoke out against all the 'contrivance' developers put between players and the core game. You know, the obstacles to the stuff that's really interesting.

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Double Fine announces Happy Action Theatre

Tim Schafer

Double Fine has unveiled its latest game, a Kinect mini-game collection called Happy Action Theatre.

The game will be released this winter through XBLA and collects 18 activities "designed to activate gross motor skills, inspire imagination and entertain players of all ages".

The mini-games range from bursting balloons and harassing pigeons, to laying waste - Rampage-style - to knee-high cities and even a bit of Breakout.

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CCP reducing headcount by 20 per cent

Cuts necessary in order to refocus resources that have been spread too thin, says the EVE Online developer.

EVE Online developer CCP has issued a press release this afternoon saying that it intends to make a 20 per cent reduction to the company's headcount. CCP's Atlanta, Georgia studio will bear the brunt of the cuts, but some positions at the Reykjavik headquarters will also be affected.

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Why don't we finish games?

We all start with the best intentions, but somehow things often go awry. What's the problem, asks usability expert Graham McAllister.

We all have games that we've bought but never finished. Looking at my own habits, I'd say I only ever get to the end of the story mode of one out of ten big release games.

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EA's Origin reaches five million daily users

But Peter Moore admits that many people still see the service as an obstacle that "gets in the way".
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2011-10-19-5-million-people-a-day-using-origin
Gamesindustry.biz

During a week in which active user metrics have come to the fore, Electronic Arts COO Peter Moore has revealed that five million people are now using the publisher's Origin digital distribution service daily.

Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald, Moore made the comments in response to a question about a heckler that disrupted his Origin presentation at the EB Games Expo last weekend.

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Introversion shelves Subversion indefinitely

Uplink developer puts Subversion on hold while it focuses on a brand new project instead.
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/10/17/new-introversion-project-subversion-delayed/
Rock Paper Shotgun

Darwinia studio Introversion has shelved its hi-tech heist sim Subversion indefinitely.

The news was broken on Introversion's forum when the creative head Chris Delay revealed that the developer was submitting a previously unrevealed game to the 2011 Independent Games Festival instead of Subversion.

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Okabu review

HandCircus' PS3 debut fails to play as colourfully as it looks.

When Okabu's tribal world is corrupted by industrial pollution, it's down to "cloud whales" Kumulo and Nimbe to purify the place and bring back equilibrium. It's a simple plot for a simple game, one about going from A to B and either moving things, spraying things with water or... moving more things. On each of the two whales rides one of four little tribespeople, each of whom possesses a special power. One can charm incidental characters and get them to press switches and activate machinery, while another can harpoon items.

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Neowiz Games' first MMORPG to use Unreal Engine

Epic Games Korea signs a licencing deal with the developer and publisher best known for its FPS and sports games.

Epic Games Korea has signed a licensing deal with publisher and developer Neowiz Games, that will see the use of the Unreal Engine in the studio's first MMORPG.

The game in question, Bless, is a medieval-inspired fantasy RPG featuring ten territories, each containing its own race, across two realms called Hierapolis and Cosmopolis. As you might imagine, the aforementioned realms are at war.

Neowiz's team of 150 have been working on the game since 2009, the results of which you can see in the video below.

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Four weeks until Social Gaming Summit

Taking place at Chelsea Football Club in London on November 14-15, the summit will feature leading European figures in social gaming.

Taking place at Chelsea Football Club in London on November 14-15, the summit will feature leading European figures in social gaming.

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Itagaki and Hilleman confirmed for DICE 2012

The first speakers at next year's Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences summit revealed.
http://www.dicesummit.org/
2012 DICE

The first confirmed speakers for the 2012 D.I.C.E. Summit include Dead Or Alive and Ninja Gaiden creator Tomonobu Itagaki and EA's chief creative director Richard Hilleman.

Also set to speak at the event, which takes place from February 8 to 10 at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas, are Grammy Award winning and Oscar-nominated songwriter and producer Glen Ballard - who will give a talk on collaboration - and Issac C. Gilmore, an ex Navy SEAL and managing partner of military contractor 3SJ Tactical Solutions.

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30 million people play Angry Birds every day

Rovio offers a rare insight into its player's figures at the Web 2.0 Summit
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2011-10-19-rovio-angry-birds-has-dau-of-30-million
Gamesindustry.biz

Andrew Stalbow, Rovio general manager of north America, has given a rare insight into the company's player traffic, revealing that Angry Birds has 30 million daily average users.

The vast figure would eclipse even the most popular game on Facebook, Zynga's CityVille, which according to AppData currently enjoys a DAU of 'just' 12.1 million. However, it's worth bearing in mind that Rovio's figure accounts for all versions released across multiple platforms.

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30 million people play Angry Birds every day

Rovio offers a rare insight into its player's figures at the Web 2.0 Summit
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2011-10-19-rovio-angry-birds-has-dau-of-30-million
Gamesindustry.biz

Andrew Stalbow, Rovio general manager of north America, has given a rare insight into the company's player traffic, revealing that Angry Birds has 30 million daily average users.

The vast figure would eclipse even the most popular game on Facebook, Zynga's CityVille, which according to AppData currently enjoys a DAU of 'just' 12.1 million. However, it's worth bearing in mind that Rovio's figure accounts for all versions released across multiple platforms.

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Sony reveals Vita release date for Europe, US and more

Simultaneous launch and pricing for each territory detailed.

Sony has announced that its upcoming PlayStation Vita handheld will launch in the UK, US, Europe and Australia on February 22 next year.

Speaking at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco, SCEA president and CEO Jack Tretton confirmed the release date along with pricing for each territory.

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Battlefield 3 pre-orders hit two million

EA has revealed that Battlefield 3 pre-orders have reached two million units ahead of the game’s launch next Tuesday.
http://www.foxbusiness.com/on-air/varney-co/index.html
Fox Business

EA has revealed that Battlefield 3 pre-orders have reached two million units ahead of the game’s launch next Tuesday.

"We're doing very, very well," product manager Kevin O'Leary told Fox Business, citing pre-orders of "a couple of million" copies.

EA chief financial officer Eric Brown said in early September that pre-orders for the shooter had reached 1.25 million units, placing it "well ahead of its predecessor title, Battlefield: Bad Company 2… in the same number of weeks until launch".

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Apple posts record fourth quarter results

Company reports its best September quarter in history on increased iPhone, iPad and Mac sales.

Apple has posted “very strong” fourth quarter financial results to round off what the company termed “an outstanding fiscal 2011”.

The firm reported its highest ever September quarter revenue and earnings. Revenue for the three months ended September 24, 2011 totalled $28.27 billion and net profit came in at $6.62 billion, compared to revenue of $20.34 billion and net profit of $4.31 billion in the same quarter a year ago.

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October 18, 2011

Leaked Battlefield 3 campaign hits torrent sites

A leaked version of DICE's upcoming war shooter Battlefield 3 has found its way on to illegal torrent sites, according to MCV. The 9.96GB download contains the entire single player mode from the PC version of the game.
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/battlefield-3-appears-on-torrent-sites/086660
MCV

A leaked version of DICE's upcoming war shooter Battlefield 3 has found its way on to illegal torrent sites, according to MCV.

The 9.96GB download contains the entire single player mode from the PC version of the game.

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Get a free copy of Edge on iPad and iPhone

Celebrating Newsstand's opening, we're giving away our full October issue.

To celebrate the opening of Newsstand on iPhone and iPad, we're giving away our full October issue for a limited time.

To take advantage of this offer, simply download the free Edge app from the App Store and you'll find the issue listed on the Buy screen.

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Apple shares hit record high

Apple share value hit a record high yesterday following the hugely successful launch of the iPhone 4S over the weekend. Following sales of the smartphone reaching four million, Apple's share price rose to peak at $426.38 before closing at $419.99.
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/apple-shares-reach-all-time-high/086643
MCV

Apple share value hit a record high yesterday following the hugely successful launch of the iPhone 4S over the weekend.

Following sales of the smartphone reaching four million, Apple's share price rose to peak at $426.38 before closing at $419.99. 

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Dominic Aitchison: My Favourite Game

The Mogwai bassist on gaming soundtracks and making time to play on tour.

One of the less likely Easter eggs in gaming history is the appearance of instrumental guitar rock band Mogwai as a team in 1999’s Actua Ice Hockey 2. We talk to bassist Dominic Aitchison about his abiding passion for gaming and whether Mogwai might ever do a game soundtrack. Because they really should, you know.

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UKIE to lead UK cross-industry computer science coalition

UK trade body UKIE has announced that it will head up the formation of a cross-industry coalition with a view to implementing recommendations made in the Livingstone Hope Next Gen review. The announcement follows last week's BBC Newsnight spot which looked at the Livingstone Hope review and also saw the UK's minister for culture, communications and creative industries Ed Vaizey call for a computer science revolution.

UK trade body UKIE has announced that it will head up the formation of a cross-industry coalition with a view to implementing recommendations made in the Livingstone Hope Next Gen review.

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More than eight million users played Battlefield 3 beta

DICE has revealed 8,125,310 players played its Battlefield 3 open beta. The figure was released as part of a series of stats published on the game's blog. According to the data, those eight million people fired 47 billion bullets while killing 1.5 billion other players.
http://blogs.battlefield.ea.com/battlefield_bad_company/archive/2011/10/17/battlefield-3-open-beta-wrapup-or-how-many-tanks-can-you-build-from-the-bullets-you-fired.aspx##
Battlefield 3 blog

DICE has revealed 8,125,310 players played the Battlefield 3 open beta.

The figure was released as part of a series of stats published on the game's blog. According to the data, those eight million people fired 47 billion bullets while killing 1.5 billion other players.

The morbidly curious can delve further to find out how many players were killed by knives and what the longest sniper kill distance was by following the source link below.

The game is due to be released on October 28 and has already surpassed two million pre-orders.


Opinion: Hero's journey

What is a plot to a game, asks James Leech, and what part does the player take in it?

Remember when games consisted of simply facing wave after wave of slightly tougher, faster baddies? Well, times have changed. Modern games consist of simply facing wave after wave of slightly tougher, faster baddies, but with better graphics and, somewhere, a plot.

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Unity: Rapid mobile evolution offers "diminishing returns"

Nicholas Francis, CCO of game development tools company Unity Technologies, has told Gamesindustry.biz that he believes rapidly improving mobile hardware specs will soon yield "diminishing returns" for game developers. While handsets are becoming more powerful all the time - a testament to which is the recent announcement that Grand Theft Auto III will be released for Android and iOS devices later this month - Francis questioned how relevent all that horsepower is for mobile games.

Nicholas Francis, CCO of game development tools company Unity Technologies, has told Gamesindustry.biz that he believes rapidly improving mobile hardware specs will soon yield "diminishing returns" for game developers.

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Super Crossfire HD review

Radiangames makes the leap from XBLIG to iOS with a brilliant dash of attitude.

A Space Invaders variant in which you could switch your roving turret between the bottom and the top of the screen, Radiangame’s Crossfire was elegant and polished when it landed on Xbox Live Indie Games last year, but it also lacked a crucial sense of drama.

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Facebook changes reporting, game user figures plummet

Facebook has changed the way it calculates the total monthly and daily active users (MAU and DAU) for apps on the social network, sending figures plummeting. The adjustment means that users who choose not to authenticate after a permission dialog box is clicked, and those who visit an app but do not log in, will no longer be contribute towards active user counts.
http://www.insidefacebook.com/2011/10/14/facebook-updates-formula-for-counting-active-users/
Inside Facebook

Facebook has changed the way it calculates the total monthly and daily active users (MAU and DAU) for apps on the social network, sending figures plummeting.

The adjustment means that users who choose not to authenticate after a permission dialog box is clicked, and those who visit an app but do not log in, will no longer be contribute towards active user counts.

As a result of the changes, some games have seen more than half of their previously reported user figures drop away (though these changes have made no difference to the actual traffic each game sees).

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