Log on:
Powered by Elgg

Feed detail

July 04, 2011

Crytek could have been a first party Microsoft studio

Microsoft held talks with Crytek about the company becoming a first party studio prior to the development of the original Crysis. That’s according to Microsoft Game Studios vice president Phil Spencer, who told OXM that ultimately Crytek’s projects at the time were just too similar to Microsoft’s own slate. "The first time we met with [Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli] and the team was around seven or eight years ago, and we started talking about what it'd mean for them to become first party. And it was a process of what do you guys want to do, what's unique for us, and they were just going to do Crysis, and they'd just come out of Far Cry, and we said we've probably got enough military future shooters, so go do that.” According to Spencer, things have turned out very well for the two companies. "Then they came up with this idea around Ryse, and now they've really fallen in love with Kinect, and it's a perfect marriage for us." Revealed at E3 last year and expanded upon in trailer form at this year’s LA event, Ryse is a first-person Kinect brawler set in Roman times.
http://www.oxm.co.uk/30963/news/crytek-has-fallen-in-love-with-kinect-microsoft-games-studio-boss/
Official Xbox Magazine


Capcom learns from Resident Evil 3D save data controversy

All mission progress in Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D is saved directly to the 3DS cartridge, where it cannot be reset, a decision that didn’t go down well with many fans - and one publisher Capcom now says it's unlikely to repeat. US senior VP Christian Svensson told Capcom Unity in a video interview: "I think it's fair to say there was never quite the malicious intent that the conspiracy theorists out there would have you believe. I think it's also fair to say that in light of the controversy it's generated, I don't think you're going to see something like this happening again." The impact the decision has had on sales is hard to judge. Despite being the highest ranked new entry on this week’s UK all formats chart, The Mercenaries 3D debuted at a lowly number 21.
http://www.capcom-unity.com/snow_infernus/blog/2011/07/01/ask_capcom_live_today:_ask_us_your_questions
Capcom Unity


The Adventures of Shuggy review

Despite some borrowed ideas, this is a platformer of peculiar invention.

Spare a thought for Shuggy, because his antic creators have brought him into the world surrounded by a perfect storm of glittering self-sabotage. Along with that forgettable name (The Adventures of Shaggy? Of Shigsy?) and a cumbersome, if well-intentioned, level selection UI, Smudged Cat Games has opted for a graphical style of such unrelenting clip-art blandness that your body may physically reject it on first sighting. Steady yourself: if you can get past the menu interface and go beyond the visuals, a leaderboard scramble of peculiar invention awaits.

read more


Gaikai's Perry: we're dealing with latency

"We have many, many ways to do it, and we're executing all of them," founder says.

Dave Perry, founder of cloud gaming service Gaikai, acknowledges latency as "the biggest elephant in the room" but claims that his firm has gone to great lengths to mitigate for it.

0

read more


Gaikai's Perry: we're dealing with latency

"We have many, many ways to do it, and we're executing all of them," founder says.

Dave Perry, founder of cloud gaming service Gaikai, acknowledges latency as "the biggest elephant in the room" but claims that his firm has gone to great lengths to mitigate for it.

0

read more


Report: PlayStation 4 out next year

According to Digitimes, sources claim that Taiwanese manufacturers Foxconn and Pegatron Technology are to begin production on Sony's PlayStation 3 successor at the end of 2011. The console, which will sport Kinect-like motion control, will be on shelves in 2012, with a planned shipment of 20 million units in its first year.
http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20110704PD202.html
Digitimes


Media Molecule confirmed for Develop

Phil Harrison to interview founders of LittleBigPlanet developer in Brighton conference's opening keynote.

Organisers of Develop in Brighton have announced that LittleBigPlanet developer Media Molecule will be interviewed by Phil Harrison during a keynote session at this year's conference.

Harrison, who signed LittleBigPlanet when president of Sony Worldwide Studios, will interview Media Molecule co-founders Alex Evans, Mark Healey and Kareem Ettouney in the conference's opening keynote, dubbed Living Inside A Molecule.

0

read more


New issue of Edge magazine out now

Our latest issue, in which we take a detailed look at Nintendo's Wii U console, should be in UK newsagents now.

This month's rather fetching double-wrapped cover features Nintendo's next great hope, Wii U. We go hands-on with the hardware and deliver our detailed thoughts. We haven't forgotten the rest of E3, though, and you'll find extensive coverage of the Californian show, along with additional game previews, in Knowledge.

0

read more


New issue of Edge magazine out now

Our latest issue, in which we take a detailed look at Nintendo's Wii U console, should be in UK newsagents now.

This month's rather fetching double-wrapped cover features Nintendo's next great hope, Wii U. We go hands-on with the hardware and deliver our detailed thoughts. We haven't forgotten the rest of E3, though, and you'll find extensive coverage of the Californian show, along with additional game previews, in Knowledge.

0

read more


Gove touts "huge potential" of games in classrooms

UK education secretary hints at big future for technology in schools as part of his review of the national curriculum.

Michael Gove, the UK secretary of state for education, has said that videogames have "huge potential" to aid the study of maths and science in the nation's classrooms.

In a speech to the Royal Society in London last week, Gove pointed to the works of Marcus du Sautoy, professor of mathematics at Oxford University and an advisor to maths games website Manga High. He said: "When children need to solve equations in order to get more ammo to shoot the aliens, it is amazing how quickly they can learn.

0

read more


Gove touts "huge potential" of games in classrooms

UK education secretary hints at big future for technology in schools as part of his review of the national curriculum.

Michael Gove, the UK secretary of state for education, has said that videogames have "huge potential" to aid the study of maths and science in the nation's classrooms.

In a speech to the Royal Society in London last week, Gove pointed to the works of Marcus du Sautoy, professor of mathematics at Oxford University and an advisor to maths games website Manga High. He said: "When children need to solve equations in order to get more ammo to shoot the aliens, it is amazing how quickly they can learn.

0

read more


Realm Of The Mad God playtest

Genres collide as Wild Shadow Studios builds a kingdom in your browser.

There’s more than a little of Half-Minute Hero to Realm Of The Mad God. Marvelous Entertainment’s matchbox-sized charmer used a simple increase in speed to ridicule, explore, and ultimately benefit from the structures and quirks of the RPG, and now Wild Shadow Studios has opted for a little genre gene-splicing in order to do much the same for the MMOG.

read more


Video: iCEnhancer is a stunning new GTAIV mod

Modder iCE La GlacE has made iCEnhancer 1.2, a soon to be released and extensive set of enhancements to GTAIV that makes Liberty City look like it's been hewn from CryEngine 2. It includes high resolution textures and car models, a suite of visual effects, new features such as a zombie survival mode, enhanced AI that allows NPCs to commit crimes and the ability to carry bodies. Navigate to aimedehaire's YouTube channel from the video below for many more glimpses of its considerable charms. Incidentally, for more pretty Liberty City glamour pics, check Dead End Thrills' GTAIV screenshots on the source link.
http://deadendthrills.com/category/grand-theft-auto-iv/
Dead End Thrills


Zumba Fitness holds UK top spot

Workout title retains number one for a third consecutive week as Child Of Eden and Shadows Of The Damned disappear from view.

505 Games' Zumba Fitness is number one in the UK all-formats software chart for a third week in succession.

Lego Pirates Of The Caribbean climbs three places to number two, and Wimbledon fever helps Virtua Tennis 4 rise 15 places to fifth, ahead of Top Spin 4 in eighth.

0

read more


Report: Crysis headed to Xbox 360

Crytek's shooter was released in 2007, and seemed destined to forever remain PC-exclusive. Kotaku reports that the ever-premature Korean Ratings Board - which last week outed the PSN conversion of Limbo - has rated the game for Xbox 360. South Korean gaming site Inven claims to have had confirmation from EA Korea that Crysis is indeed headed to Microsoft's console, with a release date still to be announced.
http://kotaku.com/5817371/rumor-crysis-bound-for-xbox-360
Kotaku


Minecraft hits 10 million users

Creator Markus "Notch" Persson reveals the latest milestone for Mojang's seemingly unstoppable indie game in a brief blog post. Last month he announced that sales of Minecraft had passed 2.5 million, bringing in an estimated £30 million in revenue despite still being in beta. It is now within touching distance of World Of Warcraft: the hugely popular MMOG had 11.4 million users in March.
http://notch.tumblr.com/post/7128013309/10m
Word Of Notch


Microsoft investigating Gears Of War 3 leak

A development build of Epic Games's shooter, set for release in September, appeared on torrent sites over the weekend. Said to contain the full singleplayer campaign, the leaked version only runs on debug Xbox 360s or those fitted with modchips. In a statement to IGN, Microsoft said: "We have seen the reports of Gears Of War 3 content being propped on the web and are working closely with our security teams and law enforcement to address the situation. This content is not from a final build and is not representative of what fans will enjoy when the game launches." The spoiler-averse should take extra care on YouTube: campaign footage has already appeared on the video-sharing site.
http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/articles/118/1180410p1.html
IGN


Japanese PlayStation Store to return this week

Long-delayed return finally nears, 11 weeks after attack and a month after restoration in US and Europe.

Sony's download service, PlayStation Store, is to finally return to Japan this week, 11 weeks after servers were first taken offline after an attack by anonymous hackers.

In a statement on its website - translated by Andriasang - Sony confirms that the store, and Qriocity, will be back online this Wednesday, July 6. PS3 and PSP owners will be able to access the full suite of services including in-game items, code redemption, and Media Go.

0

read more


July 02, 2011

Zynga files to raise $1 billion in IPO

232 million monthly active users helped the social gaming giant turn a $90.6 million profit last year, on revenue of $597.5 million.

As expected Zynga has filed for an initial public offering (IPO), which the firm hopes will raise about $1 billion.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the FarmVille and CityVille maker is ultimately expected to offer up to ten per cent of its shares at a valuation near or above $20 billion.

0

read more


Red Fly, Blue Fang suffer layoffs

Combined total of up to 55 staff reportedly let go at the Mushroom Men and Zoo Tycoon creators.

US developers Red Fly Studio and Blue Fang have been hit by layoffs that reportedly affect a combined total of up to 55 staff.

Austin, Texas-based Red Fly, which was responsible for Wii and DS platformer Mushroom Men, as well as the Nintendo console versions of Ghostbusters: The Video Game and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II, told GameSpot that around 30 people were let go on Wednesday June 22.

0

read more


Red Fly, Blue Fang suffer layoffs

Combined total of up to 55 staff reportedly let go at the Mushroom Men and Zoo Tycoon creators.

US developers Red Fly Studio and Blue Fang have been hit by layoffs that reportedly affect a combined total of up to 55 staff.

Austin, Texas-based Red Fly, which was responsible for Wii and DS platformer Mushroom Men, as well as the Nintendo console versions of Ghostbusters: The Video Game and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II, told GameSpot that around 30 people were let go on Wednesday June 22.

0

read more


July 01, 2011

Making Unity mainstream

Unity Technologies CEO David Helgason on taking the development tool to major studios.

While Unity 3D has rapidly established itself as one of the leading mobile development tools, developer Unity Technologies is now looking to court larger teams with its 3.5 update, due this Autumn. We caught up with company CEO David Helgason to discuss competing with the major engines, not leaving indie developers behind and expanding the company.

read more


The Friday Game: Narrow

Blindness and madness converge in Maxim Schoemaker’s thrifty little fable.

Maxim Schoemaker is a game designer from the Netherlands, and his latest piece, Narrow, is wonderfully depressing. Narrow is a high-precision platformer about a man named Albert who can’t stop going into a mine to look for gold. It is also, according to an explanatory Tweet by Schoemaker himself, an examination of “the subjects greed and obsession”.

read more


Disney to close Black Rock

Split/Second developer to close its doors after Disney cancels its last remaining project.

Disney Interactive has confirmed that Brighton-based Split/Second developer Black Rock Studio is to close.

The publisher has informed the studio’s 40 remaining staff, and said in a statement to Eurogamer: “Disney Interactive Studios confirms that Black Rock Studio’s current project has not been greenlit for further development.

“Consequently the company informed employees yesterday of the intent to enter a consultation process on the proposal to close the studios.”

0

read more


Story design through crowd sourcing

Frozenbyte's Mikael Haveri presents the story of the original vision of Jack Claw so the crowd can start to tell its own.

In the few months following the Humble Frozenbyte Bundle and the launch of the Jack Claw project, the community has been building up the foundations by creating tools and code to ease the journey. 

read more


<< Back Next >>