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July 08, 2011

Namco sues over Witcher 2 console publishing rights - report

Firm files suit against CD Projekt Red’s parent company following announcement that THQ will publish the Xbox 360 game in Europe.

Namco Bandai has reportedly filed a lawsuit against CD Projekt Red parent company Optimus SA over European publishing rights for The Witcher 2.

According to Giant Bomb, Namco, publisher of the PC edition of the title, has taken issue with the decision to grant THQ European publishing rights for the Xbox 360 version of the RPG.

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Namco sues over Witcher 2 console publishing rights - report

Firm files suit against CD Projekt Red’s parent company following announcement that THQ will publish the Xbox 360 game in Europe.

Namco Bandai has reportedly filed a lawsuit against CD Projekt Red parent company Optimus SA over European publishing rights for The Witcher 2.

According to Giant Bomb, Namco, publisher of the PC edition of the title, has taken issue with the decision to grant THQ European publishing rights for the Xbox 360 version of the RPG.

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Iwata: 3DS health scares remain a barrier to mass adoption

Portable “will not become widespread” unless “harmful rumours” about negative effects are dispelled.

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has acknowledged the company faces a significant challenge convincing consumers that 3DS use carries no serious health risks, a message he says is vital to get across if the portable is to achieve mass market penetration.

Asked by a shareholder what the company is doing to dispel perceptions that 3DS is a potential threat to users’ vision, Iwata said Nintendo recognises the need to educate consumers that such “rumours” are unfounded.

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July 07, 2011

Criterion announces Burnout Crash!

For download only via XBLA and PlayStation Store in autumn, the game will feature three modes inspired by the series' popular Crash mode, which was conspicuously missing from Burnout Paradise if you ask anyone around here. Though this game will apparently be played from a top-down view. It will be supported by high score tables powered by a “fresh new iteration” of Autolog, which will allow players to create and send challenges over which friends can compete. The game, which is being published by EA, will be the first XBLA title with Kinect features, which will add gesture-based controls. See our gallery of Burnout Crash’s first screenshots below.
http://blog.criteriongames.com/criterion-announce-burnout-crash
Criterion


Eve Online set for Japan

Developer CCP has announced a strategic partnership with Nexon, which is to localise Eve Online's client and services for Japan by the autumn. CCP CEO Hilmar Pétursson said: "Japanese players have always been an essential part of the Eve Online community. Having considered Nexon's excellent reputation as Asia's leading game developer and publisher, they were the obvious choice in who the best possible partner would be to help us make the game more accessible to our growing fanbase in Japan."
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2011-07-07-nexon-to-localise-eve-online-client-and-services-for-japan
GI.biz


Vidrhythm: Harmonix's next game?

The Rock Band developer has trademarked "Vidrhythm", and communications director John Drake has confirmed to Giant Bomb that a project bearing the name is indeed under development. Drake refused to elaborate any further, merely saying: "It will be awesome."
http://www.giantbomb.com/news/harmonix-trademarks-vidrhythm-refuses-to-say-what-that-is/3456/
Giant Bomb


IGDA repeats Amazon Appstore warning

Association issues rallying call after Swedish developer raises new concerns about retailer's Android marketplace.

The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) has repeated its earlier warning about the Amazon Appstore after a Swedish studio raised fresh concerns over the retailer's download service, and urged similarly affected developers to make public their experiences.

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IGDA repeats Amazon Appstore warning

Association issues rallying call after Swedish developer raises new concerns about retailer's Android marketplace.

The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) has repeated its earlier warning about the Amazon Appstore after a Swedish studio raised fresh concerns over the retailer's download service, and urged similarly affected developers to make public their experiences.

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Bethesda Softworks reveals Dishonored

Arkane Studios' firstperson stealth action game set for a 2012 release.

Bethesda Softworks has revealed new title Dishonored. The firstperson stealth action game is being created by Arx Fatalis developer Arkane Studios, and will be the first release from the studio since Bethesda parent company ZeniMax acquired it last year.

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Ex-Sony engineer's firm sues Nintendo

Tomita Technologies, a Japanese technology company founded by a former Sony engineer, has begun legal proceedings against Nintendo. The suit claims 3DS is in violation of US patent number 7,417,664, which covers "technology relating to displaying stereoscopic images on screen for viewing with the naked eye, i.e. without utilising glasses or other devices."
http://www.patentarcade.com/2011/07/nintendo-faces-suit-over-3ds.html
Patent Arcade


Take-Two trademarks "Rockstar Films"

SystemLink reports that the above trademark was filed in the US last December and approved last month, and has traced it back to the Grand Theft Auto publisher. Rockstar's Dan Houser told the Hollywood Reporter in April: "We love movies, but we also love games and that is what we remain focused on. If we were to attempt to make a movie, we would like to make it ourselves, or at least work in collaboration with the best talent." Ubisoft set up its own movie wing, Ubisoft Motion Pictures, in May.
http://alt.systemlink.me/2011/07/take-two-file-rockstar-films-trademark.html
SystemLink


Edinburgh Interactive 2011 preview

The uniquely diverse festival broadens its focus to include the interactive entertainment industries.

Edinburgh Interactive has earned a reputation as one of the most low-key and high-minded conferences in the gaming calendar. Since 2003, the event has attracted game industry figures like Ian Livingstone (returning this year) and former president of SCE Europe, Chris Deering (who acted as the event’s chairman for four consecutive years).

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QuakeCon 2011 detailed

Opening as usual with a keynote address given by Id co-founder John Carmack, this year's QuakeCon will see the first public presentations of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Prey 2. Rage, the Id shooter set for release in October, will be playable on the show floor, design director Matt Hooper will host a special presentation of the game. QuakeCon 2011 will run from August 4th to 7th at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas, Texas, and entry is free. To register, click the source link below.
http://registration.quakecon.org/
QuakeCon


App Store passes 15 billion downloads

In a press release, Apple has confirmed that 15 billion apps have now been downloaded from the iOS App Store since its launch in July 2008 - and it only passed 10 billion downloads in January. With Apple claiming there are more than 200 million iOS users, that works out at around 75 apps per device. Philip Schiller, senior VP of worldwide product marketing, said: "In just three years, the revolutionary App Store has grown to become the most exciting and successful software marketplace the world has ever seen. Thank you to all of our amazing developers."
http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2011/07/07Apples-App-Store-Downloads-Top-15-Billion.html
Apple


Facebook now at 750 million active users

CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the social network's new milestone during its reveal of Skype-enabled video chat. Facebook reached 500 million users in late July last year; 'active users' refers to any user that has logged in with the past 30 days. There is some doubt, however, to Facebook's prospects for continued growth, with it slowing over the spring and user levels actually falling in the US, Canada, Russia, UK and Norway during May.
http://techcrunch.com/2011/07/06/zuck-confirms-that-facebook-now-has-750-million-users
TechCrunch

 


EA explains Crysis 2 Steam removal

David DeMartini, senior vice president of global e-commerce at EA and the head of its new Origin download service, has revealed to Gamasutra the reason for Crysis 2's abrupt removal from Steam last month. "Crysis 2 was taken down because the DLC was not available through Steam; it was available through [Direct2Drive]," he said. Despite the questionable wisdom of Crytek signing an exclusivity deal with one provider in an increasingly crowded download market, DeMartini insists: "We believe in absolute freedom of choice to allow customers to buy through whatever retail outlet [they choose]."
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/35703/EAs_DeMartini_Its_Never_Been_About_Facing_Off_With_Steam.php
Gamasutra


Atari sues over counterfeit 2600

Kidscreen reports that Atari has filed a federal lawsuit against US distributor Tommo, claiming copyright and trademark infringements and unfair competition. The suit alleges that Tommo is manufacturing and distributing a counterfeit version of the Flashback 2 console, a plug-and-play version of the Atari 2600. Atari is seeking $30 million in damages.
http://kidscreen.com/2011/07/06/atari-files-us30-million-counterfeiting-lawsuit/
Kidscreen


Ofcom highlights UK broadband disparity

Regulator publishes interactive map of UK broadband speeds; average connection just 7.5Mbit per second.

Communications regulator Ofcom has revealed that the average maximum speed of UK broadband connections is just 7.5Mbit per second. While 68 per cent of UK residents have a broadband connection, there is a significant disparity across the nation.

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Report: iPhone 5 due in September

Rumours of the next iPhone have been circulating for some time, but the Wall Street Journal has now weighed in, with "people familiar with the situation" claiming the iPhone 5 will be similar to iPhone 4, but thinner and lighter and with an eight-megapixel camera. The paper claims Apple intended to unveil iPhone 5 at its Worldwide Developer Conference in early June, but the device was not ready in time, and it will now launch in September. A supplier claims Apple will ship 25 million units of its new phone before the end of the year. The Wall Street Journal's parent company, News Corp, has enjoyed a cosy relationship with Apple since the release in February of The Daily, the first subscription-funded app on the App Store.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303544604576429292482910586.html
Wall Street Journal


Puzzle Agent 2 review

Despite flashes of elegance, Telltale's recycled adventure lacks inspiration.

If games were judged in terms of project management rather than entertainment value, the world would be a topsy-turvy place. Valve and Blizzard would be near the bottom of the heap, pummelled by that troublesome inability to meet deadlines, while, at the gleaming pinnacle of the industry would sit Telltale Games, a studio that meets every milestone and ticks every box - except, perhaps, the one for genuine enjoyment.



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Torchlight passes a million sales

Runic Games has confirmed that its dungeon-crawling RPG has passed the million mark, with a recent Steam sale helping it reach the milestone. Runic president Travis Baldree said: "It's been a great ride so far and we can’t wait to give everyone more of what they want in Torchlight II. It isn’t every day you sell a million games. We’re grateful to be here."
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/35695/Torchlight_Sells_1M_Copies_Across_All_Platforms.php
Gamasutra


Civilization World enters public beta

The Facebook incarnation of Sid Meier's classic series was first announced in 2009 and has been in closed alpha since January, but is now open to all. At the time, Meier explained: "To win in Civ World, you'll need to collaborate with your friends in order to do well in the game and become ruler of the world...games will have a well-defined beginning and end, each ending with a triumphant civilisation and one person recognised as that game's most prestigious player."
http://www.facebook.com/civworld
Facebook


3DS back on top in Japan

Nintendo handheld tops software and hardware charts thanks to Tales Of The Abyss.

Tales Of The Abyss is the new number one in the Japanese software chart, and interest in the Namco Bandai RPG has also propelled 3DS to the top of this week's hardware chart.

3DS has had a slow start in Japan, regularly outsold by PSP, but this week it has knocked Sony's ageing portable from the summit, albeit with the most slender of leads: 30,233 units sold to PSP's 29,871.

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Ubisoft: AI, not graphics, the real next-gen “battleground"

Yves Jacquier, executive director of production services at Ubisoft Montreal, believes AI will be the strongest feature of new console hardware. "AI has always been the real battleground," he told GamesIndustry.biz. "In general the industry expects that graphics will not be a strong feature any more... Obviously, graphics are better for marketing purposes because you can show things. AI you can't show… The challenge is that, if you see an AI coming, you've failed. And that's a problem we have to overcome as we create the impression of flawless, seamless worlds." Achieving this goal on current hardware is a tricky proposition, according to Jacquier. "Our challenge with the PlayStation 3 and Xbox [360] is that we're extremely limited in what we can do. It's a challenge for the engineers to provide nice graphics and nice AI and nice sound with a very small amount of memory and computation time. We think that the next generation of consoles won't have these limits any more.”
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2011-07-06-ubisoft-ai-is-real-battleground-for-the-next-gen-consoles
GamesIndustry.biz


Nintendo rules out iOS development

While Nintendo affiliate the Pokemon Company has revealed plans to launch an official Pokemon game for iOS and Android devices, the Wii and DS maker has ruled out the possibility of creating software for platforms other than its own. Nintendo owns 32 percent of the Pokemon Co., but spokesperson Yasuhiro Minagawa told Bloomberg the firm is an independent entity, and that Nintendo's strategy to develop software only for its own hardware "hasn't changed and won't change". The Pokemon game in question, Pokemon Say Tap, is reportedly a free rhythm-based app which sees you tapping on Pokemon trading cards to the beat of a song from the anime.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-06/nintendo-says-it-s-not-expanding-into-smartphone-games.html
Bloomberg


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