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July 19, 2011

Avatar Kinect to launch next week – report

Microsoft will release its "social entertainment experience" Avatar Kinect on July 27, according to WinRumors sources. The platform holder has said the program will use the Kinect sensor's "precise facial-recognition capabilities to project your face and expressions into a virtual world", allowing up to eight players to communicate in various themed environments from the comfort of their sofa. Avatar Kinect will reportedly be released as part of Kinect Fun Labs, a service launched during E3 which lets consumers download and play around with industry and community developed Kinect innovations.

http://www.winrumors.com/xbox-avatar-kinect-arriving-on-july-27/

WinRumors

via Edge Magazine - Main feed

July 18, 2011

EA Sports to open new Texas division

Austin-based studio to create 300 jobs, initially focus on development for HD platforms.

EA Sports has revealed plans to open a new division in Austin, Texas.

State governor Rick Perry and EA executives announced the move during a press conference at BioWare Austin today.

"We're going to be adding 300 jobs to our operations here in Austin," half permanent positions and the rest contract ones, EA Games Label president Frank Gibeau said, according to Joystiq.

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via Edge Magazine - Main feed

RockYou launches social publisher programme

Social game developer RockYou has today launched Studio Partners, a new publisher programme for social developers. The move follows RockYou's publishing of John Romero studio Loot Drop's first two games earlier this year and aims to offer infrastructure, programming, marketing and analytic services to thirdparty studios. "We've realized that as production values in [social] games increase in complexity - with more distribution network opportunities on the front end and infrastructure requirements continuing to grow - it requires more and more time and energy and investment outside of the creative aspects of game design and development," RockYou's Josh Grant told Gamasutra. "Our approach will resemble some of the more traditional services one would find in publishing in traditional videogames. I think we’re seeing the market evolving away from a handful of guys getting together and making a game in a few months, [launching] on a platform like Facebook and [it building] up on its own to a million DAUs."

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/35913/RockYou_Launches_Studio_Partners_Social_Publishing_Program.php

Gamasutra

via Edge Magazine - Main feed

RockYou launches social publisher programme

Social game developer RockYou has today launched Studio Partners, a new publisher programme for social developers. The move follows RockYou's publishing of John Romero studio Loot Drop's first two games earlier this year and aims to offer infrastructure, programming, marketing and analytic services to thirdparty studios. "We've realized that as production values in [social] games increase in complexity - with more distribution network opportunities on the front end and infrastructure requirements continuing to grow - it requires more and more time and energy and investment outside of the creative aspects of game design and development," RockYou's Josh Grant told Gamasutra. "Our approach will resemble some of the more traditional services one would find in publishing in traditional videogames. I think we’re seeing the market evolving away from a handful of guys getting together and making a game in a few months, [launching] on a platform like Facebook and [it building] up on its own to a million DAUs."

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/35913/RockYou_Launches_Studio_Partners_Social_Publishing_Program.php

Gamasutra

via Edge Magazine - Main feed

Develop Conference 2011 preview

We pick out some highlights for this week's conference in Brighton.

This year's Develop, which runs from tomorrow until Thursday, may be free of some of the big international industry names that have headlined the conference in previous years - Tim Schafer and BioWare's Greg Zeschuk were at last year's, for instance. But, outside the headliners the lineup still features plenty of rewarding details - even if the rainy weather won't suit the seaside setting. Sigh. Following are some of the sessions we're particularly looking forward to.

via Edge Magazine - Main feed

Child Of Eden gets PS3 release date, lower price tag

Ubisoft has announced that a PlayStation 3 version of Tetsuya Mizuguchi's hypnotic Child of Eden will be released on September 23, following its Xbox 360 launch last month. The game is currently listed at €19.99 on Ubisoft's online shop, half the price of the Xbox 360 version. We contacted Ubisoft who confirmed that the price shown is correct - how this will affect the Xbox game's price is currently unclear.

http://shop.ubi.com/store/ubiemea/en_GB/pd/productID.200165200

Ubisoft

via Edge Magazine - Main feed

Child Of Eden gets PS3 release date, lower price tag

Ubisoft has announced that a PlayStation 3 version of Tetsuya Mizuguchi's hypnotic Child of Eden will be released on September 23, following its Xbox 360 launch last month. The game is currently listed at €19.99 on Ubisoft's online shop, half the price of the Xbox 360 version. We contacted Ubisoft who confirmed that the price shown is correct - how this will affect the Xbox game's price is currently unclear.

http://shop.ubi.com/store/ubiemea/en_GB/pd/productID.200165200

Ubisoft

via Edge Magazine - Main feed

Gremlin founder to bring classic games to iOS

Ian Stewart, founder of the 1980s studio Gremlin Graphics (later renamed Gremlin Interactive), is to resurrect the brand for iOS versions of its classic games. Stewart's digital publishing company Urbanscan will release Bounder's World under its new Gremlin Presents label, a modern version of the Commodore 64 game Bounder. Gremlin had great success in the '90s with games like Zool, Premier Manager, Monty Mole and the Lotus series, so Urbanscan has plenty of material from which to draw. “I’m delighted to reveal that the first release on our Gremlin Presents label is the new Bounder’s World game,” said Stewart. “We’ve created an addictive, accessible and fun game that is a worthy sequel to the Commodore 64 original, taking full advantage of all the iOS features such as motion-control.” Bounder's World will be released during the third quarter of 2011.

http://www.urbanscan.co.uk/

Urbanscan

via Edge Magazine - Main feed

Gremlin founder to bring classic games to iOS

Ian Stewart, founder of the 1980s studio Gremlin Graphics (later renamed Gremlin Interactive), is to resurrect the brand for iOS versions of its classic games. Stewart's digital publishing company Urbanscan will release Bounder's World under its new Gremlin Presents label, a modern version of the Commodore 64 game Bounder. Gremlin had great success in the '90s with games like Zool, Premier Manager, Monty Mole and the Lotus series, so Urbanscan has plenty of material from which to draw. “I’m delighted to reveal that the first release on our Gremlin Presents label is the new Bounder’s World game,” said Stewart. “We’ve created an addictive, accessible and fun game that is a worthy sequel to the Commodore 64 original, taking full advantage of all the iOS features such as motion-control.” Bounder's World will be released during the third quarter of 2011.

http://www.urbanscan.co.uk/

Urbanscan

via Edge Magazine - Main feed

Bandai Namco takes biggest share of Japanese software revenues

Famitsu report lists top ten publishers' boxed retail revenues; notes 60 per cent drop for Square Enix.

According to a report from Famitsu, Bandai Namco (known in the west as Namco Bandai) has taken the largest proportion of Japan's boxed retail sales this year.

Revenues from Bandai Namco represented 16.7 per cent of the country's total software revenues this year, bolstered by the high-profile release of PSP shooter 2nd Super Robot Wars Z in April and PSP adventure Ore no Imōto, which is based on a popular youth novel series.

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via Edge Magazine - Main feed

iOS horror FPS The Dark Meadow promises "BioShock" quality on mobile

Chicago-based Phosphor Games, the studio behind the 'SpacePop' mini game in kinect Adventures, has revealed that it's working on an Unreal-powered horror FPS for iOS devices. Phosphor, which most recently took on veterans from the former Midway Chicago studio, says that it will blend long-range projectile play with Infinity Blade inspired melee combat. "We looked at a ton of ranged-combat games, from Doom and Rage to Time Crisis," said company co-founder Chip Sineni in an interview with Pocketgamer. "The problem was that either your finger blocked the target or you had to do a slide move to shoot. However, the best iOS games are gesture-based... We’re not trying to accurately model a crossbow, but to make quick gestures easier. Early in the game you get a little helping scope, too, kind of like the Gears of War grenades, so you have an idea of where your arrow will land." Phosphor promises around six hours of story-driven gameplay, and is aiming to "bring the quality of BioShock or Half-Life to the mobile."

http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/Multiformat/The+Dark+Meadow/news.asp?c=31534

Pocket Gamer

via Edge Magazine - Main feed

Zoe Mode: Publishers increasingly expect too much from small budgets

Zoe Mode studio head Paul Mottram believes that publishers increasingly expect to invest digital project budgets in return for retail-quality games. Speaking during a roundtable discussion hosted by Gamesindustry.biz, Mottram stressed that the growth of digital platforms has resulted in publishers who expect too much from download titles with smaller budgets. "It's hard for us because none of the platforms are dominant at the moment," he said. "The Wii is on the wane, obviously Zumba [Fitness] has done really well on that, and we hope we see some success there, but there's a nervousness which we're seeing from publishers who are traditionally funding some of our products. With the move to digital, what I've seen is people wanting to spend XBLA budgets but expecting retail content. Unless we can address that it's going to be very hard for us to deliver the games we want to make."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2011-07-15-mottram-pubs-expect-retail-product-for-xbla-budgets

Gamesindustry.biz

via Edge Magazine - Main feed

In-game social media client Overwolf enters public beta

New in-game social media client Overwolf, which overlays social media applications such as Twitter, Facebook and Gmail on PC games, has begun a public beta. "Publishers are looking for ways to ignite the viral potential of online games, but integration has been difficult, especially with all of the demands of operating live titles," said Israeli company Overwolf CEO Uri Marchand. "With Overwolf, any game publisher can integrate social media and have it just a click away,” said Chris Kirmse, former general manager of in-game social networking tool builder Xfire. "They have achieved the quality of user interface that I was striving to build at Xfire."

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/35911/InGame_Social_Media_Client_Overwolf_Seeks_Publishing_Partners

Gamasutra

via Edge Magazine - Main feed

Todd Howard on Skyrim

The Elder Scrolls veteran on comedy, culture and telling Id what to do.

In the first of a pair of new interviews with Bethesda leads (look out tomorrow for an interview with marketing VP Pete Hines on Bethesda's past, present and future), we speak to Skyrim game director Todd Howard. He's has had a rich history with the Elder Scrolls series, having project led Morrowind, executive produced Oblivion and helped design Daggerfall. We asked him about the series, hoping its latest incarnation will build on some of its more idiosyncratic attractions.

via Edge Magazine - Main feed

Zumba Fitness remains UK number one

A fifth week at the top for 505 Game's fitness smash in an otherwise tumultuous week for the UK all-formats software chart.

Zumba Fitness maintains its hold on the UK chart top spot seeing off competition from an ascending Transformers: Dark Of The Moon which this week rises to two.

Dirt 3 slips one place to three after last week's burst of speed, while Call Of Duty: Black Ops finds a spurt of energy and rises from seven to four.

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CrowdStar investing $10 million in social and mobile games

Social gaming company CrowdStar has announced that it is to allocate up to $10 million for investment in "innovative game developers" through a partnership with YouWeb called StarFund. The fund will offer up to $250,000 to developers to allow them to create social or mobile games, while CrowdStar will also provide marketing and analytic assistance. "YouWeb’s mission is helping entrepreneurs build successful products and business models," said YouWeb founder Peter Relan. "As such, StarFund is an ideal partnership for us, because ultimately the mobile entrepreneur wins."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2011-07-18-crowdstar-to-invest-USD10m-in-social-mobile-gaming

Gamesindustry.biz

via Edge Magazine - Main feed

Super Meat Boy co-creator announces The Binding Of Isaac

"A Rogue-like shooter based on the dungeon structure of Zelda," Edmund McMillen's new game is due out on Steam in August. As well as flies that are "attracted to piles of shit and if they eat too much of the shit they get fat and become bloated flys that poop blood at you," it will sport Robotron-style controls and feature a randomly generated world populated with powerups, items and special abilities. Rather than through a typical XP system, levelling will be based on acquiring items from each level's treasure room, shop, boss and secret and special areas: "As you progress your character will change into a monstrous powerhouse not only in stats and abilities but also in appearance." Screenshots below.

http://edmundmcmillen.blogspot.com/2011/07/binding-of-isaac-coming-to-steam.html

Edmund McMillen

via Edge Magazine - Main feed

Former Gameloft studio head accuses developer of poor working conditions

Former head studio programmer at Gameloft Auckland Glenn Watson has accused the mobile developer of poor working conditions and excessive hours. "Some weeks I was working 100 to 120 hours a week," he said. "Starting at 9:30, going home at 2:30 [the following day], and then coming back into the office at 8:30 to start work again was not unusual. There were other times when I would be called back into the office at 23:30 by the studio producer, only to head home again at 2:30. It was after I worked four consecutive weeks of fourteen-hour days - including weekends - that I realised I needed to resign." Watson said that the recent similar allegations levelled at Team Bondi by former employees partly inspired his revelations. He also claimed that Gameloft would often impose artificial deadlines in order to make employees work faster, despite the actual timeframes being considerably less tight. "Gameloft asked me to 'apologise' for leaving the studio and shouldering others with the burden of my work," Watson added. "I feel the best apology I can give is to ensure that they never get put through the same rubbish conditions again." We've approached Gameloft for comment.

http://games.on.net/article/13193/Trouble_at_Gameloft_Auckland_Developer_Blows_Whistle_on_120-Hour_Weeks_Dangerous_Conditions

games.on.net

via Edge Magazine - Main feed

Steam downloads overhauled

Valve rolls out "better, stronger, faster" service.

Valve has rolled out an improved Steam service. According to the Washington-based developer, Steam data will now be sent via a firewall-friendly HTTP system "and will automatically take advantage of web-caching proxies installed at ISPs."

The upshot is that download sizes for patches will be reduced. In the current system, if an individual file required a patch the whole file had to be downloaded, whereas the new system will pull down only the additional data.

0

via Edge Magazine - Main feed

Steam downloads overhauled

Valve rolls out "better, stronger, faster" service.

Valve has rolled out an improved Steam service. According to the Washington-based developer, Steam data will now be sent via a firewall-friendly HTTP system "and will automatically take advantage of web-caching proxies installed at ISPs."

The upshot is that download sizes for patches will be reduced. In the current system, if an individual file required a patch the whole file had to be downloaded, whereas the new system will pull down only the additional data.

0

via Edge Magazine - Main feed

Microsoft: Firstparty Xbox 360 releases "superior" to Nintendo or Sony's

During an interview with Industry Gamers, Xbox CFO Dennis Durkin claimed that Microsoft's first-party Xbox 360 releases to date have been "superior" to those of Sony and Nintendo. In response to a question on whether or not Microsoft needed to bolster its first-party line-up with new studio acquisitions, Durkin answered: "I would ask you to go and look at some of your data, just to compare first party performance over the course of this lifecycle, because I think our first party performance in terms of quality bars and units per title this shift has been superior to our competition's. But certainly we think first party is an important tool and you can't dispute titles like Forza, which has consistently come out on a repeated cadence and sold multi-million units. You can't dispute things like Fable, which again, on a very consistent pace, has come out and sold 2 and 3 million units a pop. And now new titles, like Kinect Sports, which has come out and sold over 3 million units. So we are, not only building existing IP and incubating around titles like Halo and others, but really building new IP in new areas. And that's going to be core to us... to build those experiences and monetize those."

http://www.industrygamers.com/news/xbox-360-first-party-has-been-superior-to-ps3-wii-says-microsoft/

Industry Gamers

via Edge Magazine - Main feed

Microsoft signs up former C&C developers' game for XBLA

Microsoft has signed up strategy game Skulls Of The Shogun for Xbox Live Arcade. The game has been developed by Haunted Temple Studios which was founded last year by employees laid off from EA's Los Angeles studio after the completion of Command & Conquer 4. "Microsoft totally got our vision and have been fully behind it ever since, and the support we're getting out of them has been seriously as much as I could ever ask for," studio founder Jake Kazdal, who has also worked on Rez, Space Channel 5 and EA's cancelled Spielberg project LMNO, said. "Our extended team is now more powerful than ever!" Microsoft Studios director of first-party Ted Woolsey added: "This studio has kind of the best of both worlds. On the one hand, they practically personify the kind of DIY ethos and independent spirit that's the hallmark of today's most exciting developers. More than that though, it's a studio made up of AAA veterans with incredible resumes. These guys know how to ship great games, and that's huge."

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/35917/Microsoft_Studios_To_Publish_Skulls_of_the_Shogun.php

Gamasutra

via Edge Magazine - Main feed

Retailer claims Battlefield 3 won't appear on Steam

UPDATE: EA has responded to our enquires saying that it has no comment at this time. ORIGINAL STORY: Financial research firm Baird recently met with US retailer Gamestop executives subsequently reporting that, “The upcoming EA title Battlefield 3 will be sold as a download through GameStop, but not through Steam.” The statement follows the omission last week of Steam from a list of Battlefield 3 distributors published by Electronic Arts. The report added: "Given Steam's dominance – and insistence on users downloading a Steam client application – publishers are likely to be receptive to a competitive alternative.” We've contacted both EA and Valve for comment.

http://www.develop-online.net/news/38239/Battlefield-3-wont-appear-on-Steam-retailer-says

Develop

via Edge Magazine - Main feed

Retailer claims Battlefield 3 won't appear on Steam

UPDATE: EA has responded to our enquires saying that it has no comment at this time. ORIGINAL STORY: Financial research firm Baird recently met with US retailer Gamestop executives subsequently reporting that, “The upcoming EA title Battlefield 3 will be sold as a download through GameStop, but not through Steam.” The statement follows the omission last week of Steam from a list of Battlefield 3 distributors published by Electronic Arts. The report added: "Given Steam's dominance – and insistence on users downloading a Steam client application – publishers are likely to be receptive to a competitive alternative.” We've contacted both EA and Valve for comment.

http://www.develop-online.net/news/38239/Battlefield-3-wont-appear-on-Steam-retailer-says

Develop

via Edge Magazine - Main feed

July 16, 2011

News round-up July 11-15

Aggressive expansion, expensive acquisitions and App Store price increases - the key stories from a week in videogames.

Monday

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