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April 19, 2012

Ubisoft sued for copyright infringement

A science-fiction author alleges that Assassins' Creed steals ideas from his 2003 book, but do his claims stack up?

Ubisoft is being sued by a science-fiction author who claims the publisher has breached his copyright by using ideas from one of his novels in the Assassin's Creed series.

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Opinion: Measuring game quality

If reviews assess a game's quality, asks usability expert Graham McAllister, why do scores vary so greatly?

Game reviews used to serve one primary purpose. They were buyer's guides, providing the reader with a summary which informed them whether a game was worth handing over their cash for the proffered experience. A review typically concludes with a numerical assessment - but although it’s usually found at the end of the article, it’s often what players look to first. 

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God Of War: Ascension announced

Currently in development at Sony Santa Monica under new director Todd Papy, Ascension is a prequel, telling Kratos' origin story. Little

Sony has announced God Of War: Ascension, which it says is "the most ambitious" game in the series so far, for PlayStation 3.

Currently in development at Sony Santa Monica under the watchful eye of God Of War 3 design director Todd Papy, Ascension is a prequel, telling Kratos' origin story. That and the below trailer aside, little else was revealed - Sony was caught on the hop a little after the game was leaked early by Amazon.


Splash Damage and Warchest reveal Rad Soldiers

Referred to internally as Guns With Friends, Rad Soldiers is Splash Damage's iOS debut and its first free-to-play title, with the studio making use of a decade's worth of experience in multiplayer games as it dips its toe into two new markets.

Warchest, the new free-to-play publishing company from the same stable as Brink developer Splash Damage, has announced Rad Soldiers, a turn-based multiplayer strategy game which will be released for iOS in June.

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Mind Candy, Spilt Milk confirmed for Develop Conference

Perhaps the most eye-catching session, however, will be hosted by Andrew Smith, managing director of Spilt Milk Studios, the company behind iOS Snake-alike Hard Lines. Smith will develop a game in an hour during his session, One Hour Tower. How on Earth is that going to work?
http://www.developconference.com/
Develop Conference

Organisers of the Develop Conference have revealed the latest additions to the lineup ahead of the event in Brighton this July.

Heading the list is the first ever tech talk from Mind Candy, developer of the hugely successful kid-friendly online game Moshi Monsters. The studio's tech lead of tools, Mark Baker, will tell delegates how to build scalable game servers and tools in the Scala programming language.

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Splash Damage turns to free-to-play

Brink developer now truly independent after formation of Warchest, which will publish free-to-play games for console, PC and mobile.

Splash Damage, the UK developer of multiplayer shooter Brink, has announced the formation of a new publishing company, Warchest, dedicated to free-to-play multiplayer games.

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THQ delays Darksiders II

Troubled publisher THQ has pushed the release of Vigil Games’ Darksiders II from its intended June 29 release date to an August launch.

Troubled publisher THQ has pushed the release of Vigil Games’ Darksiders II from its intended June 29 release date to an August launch.

Community manager Mathew Everett said the delay would allow the dev team to polish the game and fix bugs.

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Vita sales slip to record low in Japan

Weekly Vita sales fell to an all-time low in Japan during a slow week for new software releases.
http://andriasang.com/con0pu/media_create_sales/
Andriasang

Weekly Vita sales fell to an all-time low in Japan during a slow week for new software releases.

All hardware platforms were down from the previous week, but Vita will continue to make the headlines unless Sony can turn the handheld’s fortunes around. The system placed fourth in the hardware rankings, selling just 8,250 units, ahead of Wii’s 6,837.

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April 18, 2012

Tribes: Ascend review

One of the most fluid, elegant, and strategically rich online shooters available.

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 Awesomenauts.

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THQ raises forecasts after stock slump

The chief contributor to this modest improvement is Saints Row: The Third. More than four million copies have been shipped since its release in November, and developer Volition's steady flow of DLC has resulted in digital sales exceeding expectations.

Troubled publisher THQ has raised its fourth-quarter financial forecasts, telling investors to expect higher revenue and smaller losses, in response to the company's share price hitting a 52-week low yesterday.

The company now expects fourth-quarter revenue to total between $160 million and $170 million, up from the $130-$150 million previously forecast. Loss per share is expected to be between 10¢ and ¢20, down from 35-50¢.

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Trials Evolution loses HD's head-bounce exploit

RedLynx insists new release's difficulty is much the same despite removal of one of HD's more helpful techniques.

While Trials Evolution's 3D engine is certainly more robust, your rider's neck strength has taken a turn for the worse since HD, according to RedLynx creative director Antti Ilvessuo.

The upshot is that the ability to right near misses in HD, where you were able to flip your bike back on to its wheels after an unfortunate landing, or, more hilariously, shrug your way to the edge of a platform all the while precariously resting on your rider's helmet, is no longer in your armoury.

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Binary Domain PC dated

Pre-order bonuses are on offer for both the digital and boxed releases, with one focusing on Marshall's weaponry and stat-boosting bionic upgrades, and the other features a new class, map, and additional weapons for use in the game's multiplayer mode.

The PC release of Yakuza Studio's squad-based shooter Binary Domain will be released digitally on April 27, and at retail on May 18, publisher Sega has confirmed.

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Five A Day review

Jeff Minter’s latest iOS experiment proves a typically odd way of encouraging healthy eating.

Its title and the fruit bowl on its App Store icon may suggest otherwise, but there’s no mistaking Five A Day for anything other than a Llamasoft production, from the C64 font on its title screen to the ambient soundtrack, punctuated by tolling bells and the occasional cough. Not forgetting, of course, the floating minotaurs in gaudy sweaters and the reverberating howls and cheerfully silly bons mots that celebrate a level’s completion.

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Activision announces 007 Legends

Due in the autumn, Legends features missions based on six classic Bond films, of which only one was specified in Skyfall, the 23rd film to be based on Ian Fleming's creation, which will be in cinemas in October.

Activision has announced 007 Legends, a Eurocom-developed celebration of the Bond franchise's 50th anniversary for Xbox 360 and PS3.

Due in the autumn, Legends boasts an all-new storyline with missions based on six Bond films. Sadly, only one was specified: Skyfall, 007's latest outing, which will be in cinemas in October.

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Mechner releases Prince Of Persia source code

He compares source code to sheet music for a piano sonata: it's not necessary for the work to be enjoyed, but to a pianist, or composer arranging the piece for multiple instruments, it has value.
http://jordanmechner.com/blog/2012/04/source/
Jordan Mechner

Jordan Mechner has released the source code from his 1989 Apple II platformer Prince Of Persia after successfully extracting the data from three 3.5" floppy disks.

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Edge Create Challenge 2012 judging begins

With 50 games submitted from around the world, heres the list and what happens next.

The development period for the Edge Create Challenge 2012 is now over, and has resulted in a remarkable 50 entries from teams and lone coders across the globe.

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Edinburgh Interactive preview: Getting Above The Noise

Flurry, Tapjoy, Cloudmade and Gree on the different approaches to helping apps stand out in an increasingly crowded marketplace.

This year, the Edinburgh Interactive festival celebrates its 10th anniversary. Until 2006 it was known as the Edinburgh International Games Festival; the name change signalled a widening of the event's focus which, in hindsight, was most timely.

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April 17, 2012

Apple must defend in-app purchases lawsuit

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17728039
BBC

Apple has failed in a bid to dismiss a class action lawsuit which alleges the iPhone maker unfairly profiled from deceptive in-app purchases targeted at children.

The complaint centres around what a group of parents, led by attorney Garen Meguerian, deem to be apps masquerading as free-to-play products that have actually been developed "strategically to induce purchases of game currency".

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Bethesda releases Dishonored debut trailer

Bethesda Softworks has launched the debut cinematic trailer for Arkane Studios’ visually arresting firstperson stealth action game Dishonored.

Bethesda Softworks has launched the debut cinematic trailer for Arkane Studios’ visually arresting firstperson stealth action game Dishonored.

Announced last July, the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC game will be the first release from the Arx Fatalis developer since Bethesda parent company ZeniMax Media acquired the studio in 2010.

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Rare appoints new creative director

Former Sega West design boss Simon Woodroffe has been appointed as creative director at Microsoft-owned Kinect Sports developer Rare.

Former Sega West design boss Simon Woodroffe has been appointed as creative director at Microsoft-owned Kinect Sports developer Rare.

Woodroffe began his career in games over 20 years ago as a designer on point-and-click adventure Simon the Sorcerer. He went on to form Headfirst Productions, where he developed Call Of Cthulhu for Xbox and PC, before stints at Midway, Ubisoft and most recently Sega.

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Harada: Tekken will never have paid DLC characters

Series producer understands Capcom's motives but says characters are "like chess pieces… essential items in the game."

Tekken series producer Katsuhiro Harada has confirmed that his games will never offer paid-for character downloads, telling us fighting game characters are "like chess pieces" that are "essential [to] the game."

Speaking in the wake of the controversy surrounding Street Fighter X Tekken, which features a dozen DLC characters whose data is already present on the game disc, Harada stated that Namco would not follow a similar route with its own fighting game franchise.

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Dark Souls PC may not use GFWL

Publisher hints at a different online service for upcoming PC port, but stays tight-lipped on whether extra content is coming to consoles.

The forthcoming PC version of Dark Souls may not use the controversial Games for Windows Live service for its online features after all, according to Namco Bandai publishing producer Daisuke Uchiyama.

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Dark Souls PC may not use GFWL

Publisher hints at a different online service for upcoming PC port, but stays tight-lipped on whether extra content is coming to consoles.

The forthcoming PC version of Dark Souls may not use the controversial Games for Windows Live service for its online features after all, according to Namco Bandai publishing producer Daisuke Uchiyama.

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Halo 4 dated

The November date shows just how confident Microsoft is in 343's game given that, in recent years, publishers have released their shooters early to stay out of Call Of Duty's way.

Halo 4 will be released worldwide for Xbox 360 on November 6, Microsoft has confirmed.

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Wasteland 2 raises $3 million

Following Double Fine's lead, Fargo's studio Inxile Entertainment counted down the project's final hours in a live web stream featuring the likes of Atari founder Nolan Bushnell and Obsidian's Chris Avellone.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/inxile/wasteland-2
Kickstarter

Brian Fargo's bid to fund a sequel to revered top-down RPG Wasteland on Kickstarter has come to a close, raising a total of $2,933,197 from 61,289 backers.

A further $107,137 was pledged through Paypal, taking the project past the $3 million barrier, meaning Fargo's team will now produce mod tools for the game.

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