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April 24, 2012

Prototype 2 review

The most cheerfully destructive sandbox since Just Cause 2.

You can read this review in full in our print edition.

Our June issue, which goes on sale May 9, features reviews and extensive Post Script articles for all the biggest games, including Dragon's Dogma, Fez and Tribes 2.

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Skype headed to PS Vita

The app, a free download from the PlayStation Store, supports the Vita's front and rear cameras, and can run the background - so players can receive calls while playing a game, and return to the action once the call is finished.

Video chat service Skype will be released for PS Vita tomorrow, Sony has announced.

The app, a free download from the PlayStation Store, supports the Vita's front and rear cameras, and can run the background - so players can receive calls while playing a game, and return to the action once the call is finished.

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First Crysis 3 gameplay trailer

It's in development for PS3, Xbox 360 and, of course, PC, and will be released next spring. Look out for an in-depth preview in our next issue, E241, which goes on sale on May 9.

EA has released the first gameplay footage from Crysis 3, which was announced last week.

Set in 2047, Crysis 3 sees Prophet return to New York City to find that it has been encased in a Nanodome by the nefarious Cell Corporation. Dubbed the New York City Liberty Dome, the city has been turned into a rainforest of sorts, overrun with trees and swamps, with rivers running through it.

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Lone Survivor review

An uncompromising indie game that offers a brave take on survival horror.

Creating a sense of vulnerability without frustration is no mean feat. No wonder, then, that the entire survival horror genre has found itself eclipsed by games which permit a more empowering response to threat - say, a roundhouse kick to head. It’s fallen to indie games like Jasper Byrne’s Lone Survivor to reinstate the level of confusion and fragility from which the mass market has shied.

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Fez programmer "probably" won't work with Polytron again

Renaud Bédard admits he wants to work with a team after five years as the lone coder on Phil Fish's XBLA hit.

Renaud Bédard, programmer of IGF-winning XBLA game Fez, says he will probably not work with Polytron Corporation again.

In an interview, Bédard tells us that Fez's five-year development, during which he worked largely alone, has taken its toll, and he now wants to work as part of a team instead.

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Robert Bowling reveals new studio

Bowling, who announced his shock departure from the Modern Warfare studio late last month, told Game Informer that Robotoki was to focus on "creating a universe first, experiences second, and game mechanics last."
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2012/04/23/robert-bowling-opens-game-studio.aspx
Game Informer

Robert Bowling, former creative strategist at Call Of Duty developer Infinity Ward, has unveiled his new studio, Robotoki.

Bowling, who quit the Modern Warfare studio late last month, told Game Informer that Robotoki was to focus on "creating a universe first, experiences second, and game mechanics last.

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April 23, 2012

Epoch review

Uppercut’s iOS debut is colourful, noisy, and cleverly streamlined.

As far as iOS is concerned, a good rule of thumb suggests that the more sophisticated a game’s visual presentation, the simpler the mechanics you’ll find lurking behind it. That was the case with Chair’s gloriously straightforward Punch-Out!! homage Infinity Blade, and it’s true of Uppercut Games' third-person shooter Epoch, too.

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Valve's staff handbook leaked

Manual for new employees reveals a unique - and potentially pretty scary - work environment.

The handbook given to new members of staff at Valve has been leaked, revealing much about the studio's unique way of working.

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The making of the ZX Spectrum

Sir Clive Sinclair on the creation of his fondly remembered 8bit gaming platform, which celebrates its 30th birthday today.

With the 1982 launch of the ZX Spectrum, Sir Clive Sinclair became the happy father to the UK game industry. The birth, unsurprisingly, was a painful one.

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Over 1,000 apply to Molyneux's 22 Cans

Speaking to Giant Bomb, Molyneux revealed that there had been a rush of interest in his new studio, which he set up with former Lionhead CTO Tim Rance after leaving Microsoft's employ early last month.
http://www.giantbomb.com/news/it-came-from-the-molyjam-peter-molyneux/4096/
Giant Bomb

More than 1,000 people have applied to work at Peter Molyneux's Guildford startup 22 Cans.

Speaking to Giant Bomb, Molyneux revealed that there had been a rush of interest in his new studio, which he set up with former Lionhead CTO Tim Rance after leaving Microsoft's employ early last month.

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3DS firmware update due this week

The update will enable users to create folders on the 3D handheld's home menu to better organise their games and apps. Each folder can hold up to 60 icons.
http://www.nintendo-gamer.net/2012/04/21/nintendo-direct-europe-the-complete-rundown/
Nintendo Gamer

A new firmware update will be released for 3DS this Wednesday, Nintendo has announced.

The update will enable users to create folders on the 3D handheld's home menu to better organise their games and apps. Each folder can hold up to 60 icons.

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The Witcher 2 tops UK chart

The updated Xbox 360 version of CD Projekt Red's PC RPG, published by Namco Bandai, knocks FIFA Street into second spot. EA's five-a-side football game had topped the chart for four of the previous five weeks.

The Witcher 2: Assassins Of Kings Enhanced Edition is the new UK all-formats number one.

The updated Xbox 360 version of CD Projekt Red's PC RPG, published by Namco Bandai, knocks FIFA Street into second spot. EA's five-a-side football game had topped the chart for four of the previous five weeks.

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New Super Mario Bros 2 announced for 3DS

Iwata unveils "pick-up-and-play" side-scroller, due in Europe this August.

Nintendo has announced New Super Mario Bros 2, a side-scrolling platformer for 3DS due in Europe this August.

The game, which Nintendo says has been "created specifically as a pick-up-and-play experience that can be instantly enjoyed by players of all skill levels," was unveiled by company president Satoru Iwata at the end of Saturday's Nintendo Direct web stream.

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April 20, 2012

Dota 2 will be free-to-play "with twists" - Newell

Unique business model will reward good behaviour: "How do you value people's contributions to a community?"

Dota 2 will be free-to-play, Gabe Newell has confirmed, though the Valve co-founder says its implementation will be unlike that found in any other game.

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UTV hands off Vanillaware's Dragon's Crown to Atlus

Last month it was feared that the GrimGrimoire and Muramasa: The Demon Blade developer's latest title - a fourplayer, scrolling action-RPG for PS3 and PS Vita - had been canned after Amazon told US customers it was cancelling pre-orders and removed the game from its site entirely.

UTV Ignition has confirmed that it will not be the publisher of Vanillaware action-RPG Dragon's Crown, and has passed the rights to Atlus.

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Botanicula review

Amanita Design's Machinarium follow-up is a breath of fresh air, despite the stinginess of its feedback.

Speaking in purely aesthetic terms, Botanicula feels like the cheery yin to Limbo’s monochromatic yang. Both games set their 2D action against an ethereal natural backdrop, but Amanita Design’s point-and-click adventure about a party of five plant-like creatures who set out to rescue the last surviving seed on their home tree switches on the lights.

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David Hayter: My Favourite Game

The actor, writer, producer and voice of Solid Snake finds the link between Okami and Grand Theft Auto III.

David Hayter needs little introduction among hardened gamers: he’s the man behind the Metal Gear Solid protagonist’s iconic, perpetually laryngitic rasp. He’s also said to be one of the few voice actors from the series to have finished the games he stars in. Hayter is much more than just a voice, though: when he’s not dabbling with videogames, he’s an accomplished actor (Guyver: Dark Hero), screenwriter (X-Men), and producer (Lost In Oz).

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The Friday Game: Snoitcelfer

Chris Donlan finds that Wix Games’ imperfect mirror is well worth getting lost in.

“There is an abomination that plagues this world,” reads the legend that accompanies the third level of Snoitcelfer. There is indeed. It’s the soundtrack, which thuds along tunelessly in the background and would be far better suited to accompanying a Wesley Snipes car chase.

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Report: Prey 2 dev downs tools in contract dispute

An anonymous source told Shacknews that the Wisconsin-based studio was not happy with the terms of its original contract with ZeniMax, parent company of publisher Bethesda, and ceased development late last year to strengthen its position in negotiating a better deal.
http://www.shacknews.com/article/73417/source-human-head-hasnt-worked-on-prey-2-since-november
Shacknews

The real reason behind the delay to Prey 2 is that developer Human Head Studios stopped work on the game in November due to a contract dispute, reports claim.

An anonymous source told Shacknews that the Wisconsin-based studio was not happy with the terms of its original contract with ZeniMax, parent company of publisher Bethesda, and ceased development late last year to strengthen its position in negotiating a better deal.

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SpellTower sales surge after price cut

SpellTower is now available for iPad and iPhone for just 69p. It's still got some way to go to reach number one, however: the two games ahead of it are Rovio's Angry Birds Space, and Draw Something. OMGPOP's game has been so successful that the studio was recently bought by Zynga for $180 million.
http://itunes.apple.com/app/spelltower/id476500832?mt=8
iTunes

Zach Gage's iOS word game SpellTower has shot up the iPad charts, rising from 297th to third over the course of this week, and its creator has cut the game's price by half in a bid to see it top the chart.

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Microsoft's Xbox division loses $229 million

The division's revenue was down 16.5 per cent, to $1.6 billion (£1bn). Xbox 360 sales during the quarter totalled 1.4 million - a drop of more than 48 per cent year on year.
http://www.microsoft.com/investor/EarningsAndFinancials/Earnings/PressReleaseAndWebcast/FY12/Q3/default.aspx
Microsoft

Microsoft's entertainment and devices division, which includes its Xbox business, lost $229 million (£143m) in the three months ending March 31 after sales of Xbox 360 fell by almost half.

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April 19, 2012

Codemasters shifts exclusively to racing games

Codemasters is to abandon shooter IPs like Operation Flashpoint and focus solely on racing games.
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/codemasters-abandons-action-for-racing/094693
MCV

Codemasters is to abandon shooter IPs like Operation Flashpoint and focus solely on racing games.

While the UK publisher will keep its name, future entries in the F1, Grid and Dirt racing franchises will be released under a new publishing label, Codemasters Racing. Its debut game will be Dirt Showdown, which today received a May 25 release date.

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100,000 players cripple Trials servers

Day-one rush proves too much for Evolution's infrastructure; Microsoft deploys additional hardware.

Yesterday's launch of Trials Evolution proved too much for Microsoft's servers as 100,000 players posted times on the game's leaderboards.

Players of RedLynx's long-awaited follow-up to Trials HD were met with long loading screens as the XBLA game attempted to bring up times for each track, and then repeated failure notices. Ghost replays were also absent. As a result, Microsoft has quickly had to increase available server space.

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Starbreeze to acquire Payday dev

Announced in a press release, the deal is subject to approval by Starbreeze's shareholders, and includes all of Overkill's technology and IP. That includes Payday: The Heist, which has been downloaded over 400,000 times on PC and PS3 since its release last October; Overkill is already at work on expansions and a sequel.

Starbreeze, developer of the Riddick games and EA's recent Syndicate reboot, is set to acquire Overkill Software, the Swedish studio behind Payday: The Heist.

Announced in a press release, the deal is subject to approval by Starbreeze's shareholders, and includes all of Overkill's technology and IP. That includes Payday, which has been downloaded over 400,000 times on PC and PS3 since its release last October; Overkill is already at work on expansions and a sequel.

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Bethesda: Prey 2 not cancelled

"We are determined only to release the triple-A game that fans rightfully expect, and are unwilling to compromise our quality standards to meet a release schedule."

Bethesda has moved to deny reports that Prey 2 has been cancelled, but admitted that Human Head Studios' sequel "does not currently meet our quality standards" and will not be released this year.

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