From Somerset to Sunset Boulevard, from Cornettos to Castlevania, writer-director Edgar Wright may have made the leap to the big time, but he’s not forgotten the 8bit glory days. With his movie adaptation of the comic book series Scott Pilgrim Vs The World (which we reviewed last year) he lets videogame iconography, finally, off the leash, crash-zooming, fast-cutting and side-scrolling his way through gaming history without a break for afternoon tea and biscuits.
Valve man praises Sony’s attitude as he details Portal 2’s cross-platform chat and multiplayer, cloud-based saves, and more.
Valve has said that Sony’s progressive attitude led to it introducing Steam support to consoles for the first time with the PlayStation 3 release of Portal 2.
Publisher responds to anonymous employee's revelations regarding Homefront crunch period.
THQ has responded to the recent revelations by an anonymous employee regarding intense crunch work taking place at Homefront developer Kaos as the game nears completition ahead of its release in March. The publisher has defended the working hours but said that it will try to lessen the impact on staff for the game's sequel.
$15.4 to $15.6 billion spent in the US across all gaming content, retail accounts for $10.6 billion.
The NPD Group has released a preliminary estimate for the total consumer spend on gaming content via all monetisation methods in the US. The figure, which includes new physical video and PC games, used games, game rentals, subscriptions, digital downloads, social network games, DLC and mobile game apps, is between $15.4 to $15.6 billion - this is a potential decline of up to one percent when compared to 2009.
Eskil Steenberg reveals that he will work with Minecraft developer to enhance the game's visuals.
Eskil Steenberg, the man behind PC MMOG Love, has been enlisted by fellow Swede, Markus Persson (aka Notch) to work on improving Minecraft's graphics. Speaking to Eurogamer, Steenberg revealed that Persson has asked for his help.
Industry analyst estimates attach rate for Apple's devices, reveals apps are overtaking music downloads.
Industry analyst Asymco has published a report in which it estimates that more than 60 apps have been downloaded for every iOS device sold. According to the company, this is up from ten apps downloaded for every device in 2008.
Creator backs down after Desktop Dungeons developer issues copyright infringement notice.
Eric Farraro (aka Lazy Peon) has removed iOS game League Of Epic Heroes from sale in all countries following the receipt of a copyright infringement notice from developer QCF Design. QCF and Farraro have been in an ongoing dispute over the similarites of LOEH to QCF's own upcoming Rogue-like, Desktop Dungeons.
Studio posts listing on website, expresses doubts over id and Epic's mobile-game design strategies.
Frankfurt-based Crysis and FarCry developer, Crytek, has posted a job listing on its website for an "iPhone/iPad developer". The role will include designing and developing "complex, integrated iPhone/iPad applications", and managing "one or more iPhone/iPad applications".
Format: PS2
Release: 2003
Publisher: Eidos
Developer: Core Design
The stress fractures were clear a long time before Tomb Raider: The Angel Of Darkness was released. In May 2002 at the E3 conference in LA, Eidos showcased ‘playable’ levels of the game which were little more than short animation demos. For a game due out ‘imminently’, it appeared woefully incomplete.
An issue of jurisdiction has delayed the case, judge will rule at undisclosed time.
Treyarch's shooter back on top, despite last week's resistance.
Call Of Duty: Black Ops has returned to the top in the UK all-format chart for the week ended January 15. Last weeks number one, FIFA 11, drops to second place, knocking Just Dance 2 down to third.
Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit falls two places to sixth while The Sims 3 leaves the top ten altogether. Replacing EA's simulated people is DC Universe Online, which debuts at number ten.
Clint Hocking considers how player-generated content could help developers become more profitable.
Jordan Mechner's classic adventure repackaged for today's PCs.
Jordan Mechner's often-overlooked point-and-click masterpiece, The Last Express, has been made available for the first time since 1997 by digital distributor DotEmu. The game can be downloaded from DotEmu's site for the princely sum of €7.49, and comes in five different languages. The game is offered as a "Collector's Edition" and includes the OST, a walkthrough and a making-of.
Association says study's findings are "flawed" and "questionable".
The Entertainment Software Association has questioned the validity of a study due to be published in February's edition of journal, Paediatrics. Penned by Douglas Gentile, the study suggests a link between gaming habits and mental health problems among Singaporian children. Gentile has previously written essays which link gaming with addiction and even alcoholism.
Zynga's social resource game continues rapid growth.
Zynga's social resource game CityVille, which last week became Facebook's biggest-ever game, has now exceeded 100 million monthly active users. Zynga's first simultaneous international release, the game debuted with English, German, Italian, Spanish and French versions - more than half of it's current users are from outside of the US.
You can read part one of this feature, here.
Fiction is fragile, and the studio knows it. Nowhere is there greater risk of bombing your audience to sleep than in the thirdperson action genre, and nowhere tempts you to jump the shark more than putting ‘pulp’ in your pitch. Moreover, if you’re following in or around the footsteps of Indiana Jones, you probably know the worst pitfall of all: ‘nuking the fridge’.
Activision continues to dominate the combined Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden charts for the week ending January 8.
Black Ops refuses to move in a week that sees no new releases enter the chart. Brother at arms Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood also remains steadfastly at number two, but Gran Turismo 5 tumbles from three to seven as FIFA 2011, Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit, The Sims 3 and New Super Mario Brothers all leave it for dust.
Last year, somebody made a Flash RPG (of sorts) and put it up on the internet for people to play. Then somebody else played it, hated it, and wrote a furious review of the game. After that, somebody else read the review, loved it, and turned it into an Orff-powered spoken word performance of Shakespearian intensity. Then somebody else heard that, and turned the voice track into an animated Flash movie.
Publisher claims no link between own iOS release MaxPlosion and Twisted Pixel's game.
Minister for culture says not to expect implementation until at least July.
The implementation of the UK's new PEGI games rating system, which was scheduled to be in place by April 1 2011, has been pushed back to July at the earliest.
Ian Livingstone-backed Gourmet Ranch developer added to RockYou's portfolio.
Manchester based Facebook game developer Playdemic has been acquired by social games and applications company RockYou. Eidos life president, Ian Livingstone, is one of the chief investors in the studio, which is behind social game Gourmet Ranch.
Doodle Jump developer explains its attempt to force the removal of 'doodle' from rival games' titles.
Format: PS3
Publisher: SCE
Developer: Naughty Dog
Release: November 1
BioWare announces day-and-date retail and PSN release, improved graphics, free DLC.
The upcoming PS3 version of Mass Effect 2 will be available as a direct download from PlayStation Network as well as in physical format.
Capcom’s latest has spent the six weeks since launch on top of the pile; continues to boost PSP sales.
Capcom’s PSP title Monster Hunter 3rd Portable remains in the top spot of the Japanese software charts that it has occupied ever since its release on 1 December.