Will finally exit beta on November 11; weather features coming next week; Mojang seeks alpha testers for Scrolls.
PC indie smash Minecraft will finally exit beta and see a final release on November 11, creator Markus “Notch” Persson has revealed.
Free download offers 100 arcade and Atari 2600 classics through in-app purchasing with cabinet, box art and manuals.
Atari has released Atari’s Greatest Hits, an iOS app that brings 100 of its classic games, together with the original cabinet, manuals and box art, to Apple devices.
The app itself is a free download, but is only bundled with Pong. The rest of the games – 92 arcade titles, and 18 Atari 2600 versions, with some duplication – are available through in-app purchasing.
After more than a year in beta, free-to-play MMOG to finally launch alongside fourth expansion on May 11.
Free-to-play MMOG Allods Online is finally getting an official release on May 11, publisher Gala Networks Europe has announced.
The fantasy MMOG has been in beta since February 2010, during which time three expansions have been released for the game, and Gala Networks Europe has also confirmed that the game’s official release will be accompanied by a fourth expansion pack, Volume 4: Astral Odyssey.
EA founder dismisses claims made by programmer of original game seeking $60 million in unpaid royalties.
Trip Hawkins, founder of EA and current CEO of social studio Digital Chocolate, has said that claims made by John Madden Football programmer Robin Antonick in his lawsuit against the publisher are stretching the truth.
Long-running MMOG given yet another new lease of life: "These are exciting times, but not without risk."
The seemingly immortal Myst Online has gone open source, developer Cyan Worlds has announced.
In a post on the game’s forums – spotted by Rock Paper Shotgun - a Cyan staffer revealed the next step in Myst Online’s apparently never-ending life is putting the game in the hands of its rabid community, with the move to open source.
Reports that production hit by disrupted infrastructure were wide of the mark, firm says.
Sony has said that recent reports claiming that the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami had negatively impacted NGP production were “wrong”.
Jane McGonigal's on how games can make us better people, and ultimately change the world.
In her new book, Reality Is Broken, Jane McGonigal argues that the rules, rewards and feedback offered by modern videogames can be used to make the world a happier and more productive place. We sit down with her to learn more.
Square Enix DS title straight in at the top in a week otherwise dominated by PSP sales.
Nintendo DS title Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 2 Professional is the new number one in the Media Create Japanese chart, Square Enix’s latest topping the list in its first week on sale.
Elsewhere the chart is dominated by PSP titles, with six in the top ten, in a week in which the Sony portable was also the best-selling hardware system in Japan, with 57,379 sales seeing off the challenge of Nintendo’s 3DS, of which 42,979 units were sold.
“I try not to look at it...but there’s a big pile somewhere,” says Persson as sales of indie hit pass 1.8 million.
Minecraft creator Markus “Notch” Persson has revealed that his PC indie smash has made some £20 million in revenue so far.
Firm acknowledges “the possibility of an outside party” as hackers "realise targeting PSN is not a good idea.”
Sony has said it is investigating technical issues affecting PS3 online service PlayStation Network (PSN), which appear to have been the work of the Anonymous hacking group.
San Francisco board of supervisors approves payroll tax relief for firms who relocate to blighted Mid-Market area.
City leglislators in San Francisco have approved a tax relief scheme that will see the likes of Twitter, and potentially Zynga, given long-term payroll tax exemption.
Senior staff reveal Activision’s excessively hands-on approach, Blur regrets and the chance to buy the studio back.
Former senior staff at Bizarre Creations have spoken out about Activision’s closure of the studio in February.
Begins to manage price expectations ahead of expected E3 announcement: “I don’t think price makes or kills a platform.”
Jack Tretton, SCEA president and CEO, has dropped a strong hint that Sony’s upcoming PSP successor, Next Generation Portable (NGP), is going to be pricier than the firm first implied.
We talk to Wefail, the multimedia duo behind a hipster satire that proves the benefits and pitfalls of Flash.
Would see Windows Phone 7 games available on console, and boost Xbox 360’s media capabilities.
Microsoft is reportedly porting its Silverlight application development framework to the Xbox 360, which would enable developers to port their games from Windows Phone 7 to Microsoft’s console.
A report on WinRumors claims that the feature has been in development for several months and may take the form of an app store on Xbox 360, providing deeper integration between the console and Windows Phone 7.
Development tool Adventure Game Studio gets its own game distribution and management service, Nimbus.
Freeware development platform Adventure Game Studio (AGS) now has its own digital distribution platform, Nimbus.
Says variable hardware specifications prevent it from offering “a consistent experience”.
Epic Games has explained the lack of Android support in its Unreal Engine, saying the wide variety of hardware specifications across the range of handsets that run Google’s mobile operating system prevents Epic from offering a “consistent experience.”
Says variable hardware specifications prevent it from offering “a consistent experience”.
Android owners hoping to see the likes of Infinity Blade on the platform are set to be disappointed after publisher Epic Games said that the wide variety of hardware specifications across the range of handsets that run Google’s mobile OS prevents it from offering a “consistent experience.”
Milestone passed within two weeks of launch: all owners offered free download of PC Mass Effect 2.
BioWare RPG Dragon Age II has sold over a million units worldwide, the developer has announced.
In a post on its website, the studio claims the milestone was passed within two weeks of the game's launch last month, a better start than that enjoyed by its predecessor Dragon Age: Origins.
Hollywood legend Jeffrey Katzenberg appointed to Facebook gaming king’s board of directors.
Zynga has announced that Hollywood veteran and DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg has been appointed to its board of directors.
While board positions are often ceremonial – Katzenberg is not expected to take on any day-to-day duties for the social gaming king – his mere presence will give Zynga a valuable route into the upper echelons of Hollywood.
“It’s kind of the videogame equivalent of B-sides or short films. Expect weirdness.”
PopCap Games has announced 4th And Battery, a new "experimental" label on which it will release “smaller, simpler, and sometimes edgier games without the typical constraints of an established global games publisher.”
“There’s been a lot less need for explanation and supervision”, says an impressed Kensuke Tanabe.
Nintendo producer Kensuke Tanabe says the team at Retro Studios have become so accustomed to working under the firm’s guidance that they “think like Nintendo.”
SCE UK managing director steps aside after 17 years with the firm “after a lot of soul-searching.”
Ray Maguire, managing director of Sony Computer Entertainment UK, has left the company after 17 years of service.
Maguire, who also held the position of senior VP of SCEE, had been with Sony’s PlayStation division since its inception, and was a key player in establishing the brand as a force across Europe.
Focus on feature lists “takes the ability to make good decisions out of the picture,” says Gearbox president.
Randy Pitchford, president of Duke Nukem Forever developer Gearbox Software, says that publishers are forcing multiplayer modes onto games they do not suit because of an obsessive desire to keep pace with blockbusters like Call Of Duty.
_2.jpg "Nintendo Denies 3DS Refund Reports")
Says reports of “record return levels” of new handheld are “incorrect”; retailers concur.
Nintendo has played down reports in the UK press of customers seeking refunds on purchases of the 3DS after experiencing dizziness and headaches when playing the new handheld.