US game rental service GameFly has acquired the Direct2Drive digital distribution platform from IGN.
Direct2Drive, which hosts over 3,000 PC and Mac games, was set up in 2004 by IGN, the gaming website acquired by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation in 2005. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 2 Professional's recent domination of the Japanese charts has come to an end, with Akiba's Trip taking its crown in the latest Media Create chart, passed along by Andriasang.
Acquire's PSP title tasks players with cleaning up the vampire-infested streets of Akihabara, Tokyo's gadget paradise, and secures top spot with sales of 58,510 units.
It was a good week for new entries, with Tecmo Koei's 3DS title Dead Or Alive Dimensions entering the chart in second place, with PSP title Gungnir making its debut at number four.
Though it’s easy to forget, considering all the pretenders and wannabes that leapt into its slow-mo wake, ten years ago Max Payne was something entirely new. Combining elements of film noir, Hong Kong action cinema and Scandinavian mythology, Remedy’s downbeat thirdperson shooter presented a character at the end of his tether, lost within a quest for revenge, but not yet given over to the nihilistic excesses of a true anti-hero. Here was a comparatively rounded individual with an emotional core, manifested as the game’s constant internal monologue.
Keiji Inafune, the outspoken former head of development at Capcom, has said that the Japanese game industry needs to broaden its scope and embrace mobile and social games to avoid falling further behind its western equivalent.
Despite its stated intent to move away from consoles and place greater emphasis on mobile and social games, Disney Interactive has announced a new game, Disney Universe, for release this autumn on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC and Mac.
Featuring support for up to four players, Disney Universe will see players suit up as a variety of well-known Disney and Pixar characters, playing through movie storylines in different gametypes. Disney Interactive also promises ongoing support for the game through DLC.
Posts operating profit of £267.4 million despite dismal results for Sony Corp as a whole.
Sony's networked products and services division - which includes its PlayStation business - returned to profit in the financial year ending March 31.
Last year, NPS was hit with a loss of ¥83.3 billion (£625.6 million), but posted an operating profit of ¥35.6 billion (£267.4 million), a solid return on its sales and operating revenue, which rose just 0.4 per cent to ¥1.58 trillion (£11.8 billion).
Format: 360, PC, PS3
Release: TBC
Publisher: Rockstar Games
Developer: Rockstar Studios
Former staff at Dundee developer Realtime Worlds have set up a new studio, eeGeo - and their first release will be Project Myworld, the ambitious social game Realtime was working on before its closure last year.
Renews attack on Japanese development by warning that it risks missing out on mobile and social markets.
Keiji Inafune, the outspoken former head of development at Capcom, has said that the Japanese game industry needs to broaden its scope and embrace mobile and social games to avoid falling further behind its western equivalent.
Take-Two has announced its financial results for the three months and financial year ending March 31, which show the publisher has returned to profit after sustaining a loss of $122.9 million last year.
Net income for the year was $48.5 million, a significant turnaround in the company's fortunes driven largely by a 49 per cent increase in net revenue, which rose to $1.14 billion from $762.9 million.
Grip Entertainment's Digital Extra System (DES) engine has been incorporated into Unreal Engine 3, giving developers tools to rapidly add hundreds of NPCs to their games.
The engine has been added to UE3 as part of the Integrated Partners Program, and was used in a recent trailer for EA's Army Of Two: The 40th Day (above). As well as pedestrians, DES allows for animals to be dropped into a game at speed, with Grip saying its engine uses "a fraction of the computing resources of standard game NPCs."
The creative force behind Disaster Report, R-Type Final and Steambot Chronicles, Kazuma Kujo, has left Irem.
Andriasang reports that Kujo has set up a new company, Granzella, based in Kanazawa in Ishikawa prefecture. The firm's website lists Kujo as game designer and Tsuyoshi Nagura as CEO. The firm will work in the planning, production and sales of games.
Firm investigating as Xbox Live and Games For Windows Live Marketplaces go down entirely.
Microsoft says it is investigating an issue affecting the Xbox Live Marketplace.
At the time of writing, the Marketplace appears to be down entirely. All menus viewed through the Xbox 360 contain nothing but a "no content" icon, and through xbox.com, only four games from the Marketplace's thousands of available titles are listed. Attempts to download one of those games is met with an error message.
Microsoft says it is investigating an issue affecting the Xbox Live Marketplace.
At the time of writing, the Marketplace appears to be down entirely. All menus viewed through the Xbox 360 contain nothing but a "no content" icon, and through xbox.com, only four games from the Marketplace's thousands of available titles are listed. Attempts to download one of those games is met with an error message.
Facebook gaming titan's value could double with IPO filing in the next ten days, sources claim.
Social gaming king Zynga is to hit the stock market in the coming days, with an initial public offering (IPO) to be filed before the end of next week.
Sources close to All Things Digital claim that months of speculation that Zynga has been planning an IPO will soon be at an end, and that the firm will begin proceedings by making the appropriate filing with the securities and exchange commission, with Goldman Sachs as underwriter.
Social gaming king Zynga is to hit the stock market in the coming days, with an initial public offering (IPO) to be filed before the end of next week.
Sources close to All Things Digital claim that months of speculation that Zynga has been planning an IPO will soon be at an end, and that the firm will begin proceedings by making the appropriate filing with the securities and exchange commission, with Goldman Sachs as underwriter.
The game may have jabbed a hot brand into the eye of social gaming, but is the joke on its creator?
Marcel Duchamp had his urinal. Ian Bogost has his cows. And while the grand old man of conceptual art wanted to make a complex point about art in the 20th century, hanging a utilitarian piece of porcelain in an art gallery, Bogost just started out making fun of social games. But it wasn’t long before this Georgia Tech professor and distinguished academic found himself knee deep in Cow Clicker.
Otto Berkes, the last of the four Xbox founders at Microsoft, is set to leave the firm after 18 years of service.
The Seattle Times reports that Berkes tendered his resignation yesterday. Along with Ted Hase, Seamus Blackley and Kevin Bachus, who left in 2006, 2002 and 2001 respectively, Berkes was part of the group that first persuaded Microsoft to enter the console market with the suggestion of a "DirectX box", which would eventually become the Xbox, released in 2001.
Ubisoft's first foray into free, microtransaction-funded PC gaming begins with summer beta.
Ubisoft has revealed that it is at work on a free-to-play online version of its Ghost Recon series.
Like previous games in the series, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Online is a third-person tactical shooter, but will launch for PC, free to download and play, with players able to purchase virtual items through microtransactions.
Ubisoft has revealed that it is at work on a free-to-play online version of its Ghost Recon series.
Like previous games in the series, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Online is a third-person tactical shooter, but will launch for PC, free to download and play, with players able to purchase virtual items through microtransactions.
Ubisoft promises constant support for the game, with regular events and content updates, some of which will be based on community feedback. Developed by Ubisoft Singapore, it will be the publisher's first free-to-play game.
Microsoft has revealed the additional features it will add to the Windows Phone 7 operating system with the release of Mango later this year.
Set for autumn, the update will add multitasking and background processing, as well as push notifications. It also includes support for new APIs, which will give developers access to a device's camera, compass and gyroscope, as well as stored information including contacts and calendars, according to Gamasutra.
Posts $48.5 million profit for the year to March 31 despite increased losses in fourth quarter.
Take-Two has announced its financial results for the three months and financial year ending March 31, which show the publisher has returned to profit after sustaining a loss of $122.9 million last year.
Net income for the year was $48.5 million, a significant turnaround in the company's fortunes driven largely by a 49 per cent increase in net revenue, which rose to $1.14 billion from $762.9 million.
Beloved indie game will be released first on Sony Ericsson’s gaming handset.
Mojang, developer of indie PC smash Minecraft, has revealed that the upcoming Android version of the game will be released first on Sony Ericsson’s Xperia Play.