StarCraft II tops the UK all formats chart in its debut week, while Crackdown 2 drops out of the top ten.
A while back I wrote about how repetitive gameplay over long periods of time can provide a depth of familiarity unique to our medium. That’s true, and great, and whatever, but to be less sunny about it my honest opinion is that most games don’t achieve this ideal, this gradual osmosis of artistic intent. Most games are just way too long. Presumably, you also hardly ever finish games you start, and those you do finish involve some punishing, boring slog solely for the sake of completion. Right?
California-based publisher Glu Mobile has reported increased losses and a decline in sales for its second fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2010.
Quarterly revenues fell $3.9 million year-over-year to $16 million (£10m), while net loss increased $1.7 million to $3.2 million (£2m).
The control pad may be ingrained in gaming culture, but what of the wider world's relationship with the humble remote control? Microsoft has its sights set on nothing less than a living room revolution, and while games are part of that strategy, it hopes to change the way we think about films, TV and even social networking.
Peter Molyneux, Lionhead boss and creative director of Microsoft Games Studios Europe, doesn’t believe social gaming will replace the triple-A market.
“Triple-A is here to stay. When TV came along it didn’t replace the movie industry. Social gaming is like TV. It is going to co-exist because, frankly, there’s too much money in it,” he told Develop.
Google has reportedly agreed to buy social gaming and apps developer Slide as part of its wider efforts to build a new social networking service to rival Facebook.
The news was first reported by TechCrunch, which valued the deal at $182 million, although a subsequent New York Times report suggests the buyout price is $228 million.
Security software firm Uniloc has filed a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard, Sony Corp. of America and a number of other software makers, alleging that the defendants infringed on a copy protection patent.
Other defendants include Aspy Media, Borland Software, McAfee and Quark.
Indie developer High Voltage Software has cut between 20 and 30 members of staff and could yet axe "a lot more", according to a Joystiq report.
Entertainment conglomerate Time Warner has reported a jump in game revenues during its second financial quarter ended June 30, 2010.
Revenues at the company’s Filmed Entertainment division, which houses Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, rose eight per cent year-over-year to $2.5 billion (£1.57b), led by stronger theatrical performances, higher television license fees and “improved video games revenues, driven by the release of Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4”.
Joy Ride, BigPark's answer to Modnation Racers, was originally intended for XBLA but has since been promoted to a full price Kinect launch game. As the only launch title to have been initially destined for a traditional control scheme, it serves as an interesting example of how well established genres translate to Microsoft's device.
Newly published research conducted by Nielsen has found that gaming has overtaken personal emailing to become the second most heavily used online activity behind social networking.
Online gaming now accounts for ten per cent of all US internet time, with online players spending 407 million hours per month on the pastime. In comparison, 906 million hours per month are spent on social networking sites and blogs, and 329 million hours sending personal emails.
Hardcore shooter developer Cave says iPhone and downloads could be future of the genre.
Blitz Games Studios chief technical officer Andrew Oliver has hit out at pre-launch criticism of Kinect for Xbox 360.
When we put it to him that a lot of people are being quite negative about the motion sensing peripheral at the moment, he told us: “They don't have a vision. You have to see it up in front of people, and they play with it, and they have fun - it's exactly what happened with the Wii, but this takes it even one level further.”
Kinect offers an entirely new way to interact with games, and while the launch line-up may represent a familiar selection of experiences, it shouldn't be forgotten that developers face a steep learning curve. Perhaps as a result of this, what Microsoft's peripheral can bring to games has been somewhat lost among the concerns over lag and rumours that the device can't recognise players if they're not standing.
Virgin has partnered with Ubisoft to host online tournaments for some of the publisher’s biggest multiplayer console releases, beginning with Ghost Recon: Future Soldier.
Microsoft has emerged victorious from a multiplayer gaming-related patent lawsuit dating back to 2004.
Harold Milton Jr. filed legal action against Microsoft and Sony for allegedly infringing on a patent, ‘Apparatus and method for electrically connecting remotely located video games’, referring to an invention enabling “two or more players playing the same video game to compete with each other without using the same physical video game which alleviates the necessity of proximity of the players”.
StarCraft II: Wings Of Liberty has become 2010’s bestselling PC game to date, shifting over one million copies within its first 24 hours of availability and 1.5 million in its first 48 hours, according to publisher Activision Blizzard.
Electronic Arts has posted a $96 million (£60.3m) profit for its first fiscal quarter ended June 30, compared to a $234 million (£147m) loss during the same three month period a year earlier.
David Braben is no stranger to new frontiers, so it's no surprise to see him among those spearheading Microsoft's futuristic Kinect peripheral. In Kinectimals, Frontier Developments has produced a game capable of melting the heart of even the most hardened gamer and, taking Nintendogs as a precedent, could well be the title to instill Kinect in the minds of the massmarket.
Format: 360, PS3
Publisher: Konami
Developer: MercurySteam
Origin: Spain
Release: Autumn
Trade association report finds that disc-based game sales vastly outweigh those of digital distribution.
The Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) have announced that 80 to 90 per cent of games purchased in 2009 were on physical media. Released yesterday, the report's findings demonstrate player's continued preference for disc-based software despite the huge growth of the digital download sector.
David Braben says Microsoft's device offers huge potential for core gamers, and that we're only beginning to understand what it can do.
Lionhead's sequel no longer due for simultaneous release on PC and 360.
Speaking to IGN, Microsoft has confirmed that the PC version of Fable III will not be released alongside the Xbox 360 version, due October 26. No details on a revised date were forthcoming, but the announcement follows Microsoft's recent assertion that it would be investing more heavily in PC development.
A highlight from our community-written blogs, featuring a discussion on the recent outlawing of R4 cards.
With the recent High Court decision to declare R4 cards and similar devices for the DS illegal, savagehenry wonders what the effect will be on similar mods and hacks for other consoles. He also questions why the devices are being singled out, and if shutting down rom sites might not be a better option.
Viacom has sold PC gaming community service Xfire to Titan Gaming for an undisclosed sum.
Xfire, which has over 16 million users, is a free, ad-supported download that allows players to use friend lists, instant messaging and other community features within PC games. Viacom acquired the Silicon Valley-headquartered firm for $102 million in 2006.
California-based Titan is the developer of a platform that helps game makers create skill-based competitions.