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January 03, 2012

The Octagon Theory review

Sumo provides the unlikely inspiration for this fascinating iOS puzzler.

When it comes to open conflict, you're at your most vulnerable when you're on the offensive. It's the single insight that unites pursuits as varied as chess and Battlefield 3, and it's true of sumo, too, the ritualised form of warfare from which The Octagon Theory draws most of its inspiration.

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Publisher in talks over The Binding Of Isaac for 3DS

Edmund McMillen's PC action-RPG The Binding Of Isaac could be headed to 3DS, the developer has revealed. McMillen, who developed indie platformer Super Meat Boy with Tommy Refenes, said in response to a question on Formspring: "A publisher I know is currently asking Nintendo if they would be okay with Isaac on the 3DS. If they say yes then I'll hand the game off to them and let them port it."
http://www.formspring.me/EdmundM/q/272185746247398102
Formspring

Edmund McMillen's PC action-RPG The Binding Of Isaac could be headed to 3DS, the developer has revealed.

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Bethesda and Interplay settle Fallout Online suit

The long-running dispute between Bethesda Softworks and Interplay has apparently come to an end after the parties reached a settlement. Duck And Cover reports that a settlement was reached on the day of the trial itself; after lunch, the courtroom was locked to everyone but attorneys and clients because those inside were working towards a deal.
http://www.duckandcover.cx/forums/viewtopic.php?t=25887&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=&sid=75cedd3a64ec7598297d2c1c918c3dfe
Duck And Cover

The long-running dispute between Bethesda Softworks and Interplay over the proposed MMOG Fallout Online has apparently come to an end after the parties reached a settlement.

Duck And Cover reports that a settlement was reached on the day of the trial itself; after lunch, the courtroom was locked to everyone but attorneys and clients because those inside were working towards a deal.

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The 2011 Edge Awards: publisher

Bethesda Softworks, Ubisoft and Nintendo vie to become our publisher of the year.

We'll be publishing our awards for this year throughout the week. See all of them by visiting the Edge Awards topic page, or following the topic using My Edge.

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Bastion sells half a million

Indie action-RPG Bastion has passed half a million sales, developer Supergiant Games has announced. "Recent holiday sales on Steam and Xbox Live Arcade put us over the top," Bastion writer Greg Kasavin posted on the studio's blog. "We're happy to have this many people playing and to be in a position to make more games on our own terms."
http://supergiantgames.com/?p=1286
Supergiant Games

Indie action-RPG Bastion has passed half a million sales, developer Supergiant Games has announced.

"Recent holiday sales on Steam and Xbox Live Arcade put us over the top," Bastion writer Greg Kasavin posted on the studio's blog. "We're happy to have this many people playing and to be in a position to make more games on our own terms.

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To those who defend game pirates

Game lawyer Jas Purewal writes an open letter to those who oppose developers taking legal action against pirates.

Dear people who defend game pirates,

In case you hadn't guessed, this is a letter to those folks who oppose developers taking legal action against people who download and play their games without paying. Hello.

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Crysis 2 named 2011's most pirated game

EA-published PC shooter Crysis 2 was the most pirated game of 2011, according to Bittorrent blog Torrentfreak. While Crytek's sequel was also released on PC and Xbox 360, the PC version alone was downloaded 3.92 million times, according to data collated from several sources including all public torrent trackers. By last July, the game had sold three million copies on all platforms worldwide.
http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-pirated-games-of-2011-111230/
Torrentfreak

EA-published PC shooter Crysis 2 was the most pirated game of 2011, according to Bittorrent blog Torrentfreak.

While Crytek's sequel was also released on PC and Xbox 360, the PC version alone was downloaded 3.92 million times, according to data collated from several sources including all public torrent trackers. By last July, the game had sold three million copies on all platforms worldwide.

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Now recruiting on Edge Jobs

Find your future developing a new console game at Mediatonic, working on a Massive MMOG in Sweden or building cloud servers at Rare.

Soho-based Mediatonic, the prolific studio behind games such as Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess and Whos That Flying?! is after a console developer to work on a new firstparty downloadable project. Find all Mediatonic's jobs here.

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Sony cuts price of Tablet S

Sony has slashed the price of its Tablet S by $100, barely three months after launch. TechCrunch reports that the 32GB model of Sony's tablet has been reduced from $600 to $500, with the 16GB model cut from $500 to $400. The price drop means Tablet S is now $100 cheaper than Apple's iPad, which remains the runaway market leader.
http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/02/sony-slashes-tablet-s-price-by-100
TechCrunch

Sony has slashed the price of its Tablet S by $100, barely three months after launch.

TechCrunch reports that the 32GB model of Sony's tablet has been reduced from $600 to $500, with the 16GB model cut from $500 to $400. The price drop means Tablet S is now $100 cheaper than Apple's iPad, which remains the runaway market leader.

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Facebook backtracks after naming Playdom title 2011's most popular game

Facebook has renamed its chart of the top 10 games of last year and explained its methodology after its naming of Gardens Of Time as the year's most popular game was met with widespread confusion. The company painted a markedly different picture of gaming on its network , overlooking monthly and daily active users (MAU and DAU), the accepted standard for gauging a Facebook game's popularity. It means Zynga's CityVille, named the biggest-ever game on the platform after amassing 88.4 million users within a month of launch, is restricted to third place on the chart, behind EA's The Sims Social.
http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/21/facebook-top-games/
TechCrunch

Facebook has renamed its chart of the top 10 games of last year and explained its methodology after its naming of Gardens Of Time as the year's most popular game was met with widespread confusion.

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Unity's Angry Bots available to play in Flash

While the 3D shooter, which was built to help developers learn how to use Unity, has been available on the Chrome Web Store since December 6, it can now be played in-browser with no installation at all.

Adobe has tweeted a link to Unity Technologies' Angry Bots 3D tech demo running in Flash.

While the 3D shooter, which was built to help developers learn how to use Unity, has been available on the Chrome Web Store since December 6, it can now be played in-browser with no installation at all.

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Atari cracking down on App Store games

Atari is reportedly threatening legal action against developers whose games the company believes infringe on its IP rights. A post on Kickstarter by Los Angeles-based Black Powder Games claims that Atari enforced the removal from the iOS App Store of two of its games, Vector Tanks and Vector Tanks Extreme, due to their resemblance to Atari classic Battlezone.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/852638998/vector-tanks-3
Kickstarter

Atari is reportedly threatening legal action against developers whose games the company believes infringe on its IP rights.

A post on Kickstarter by Los Angeles-based Black Powder Games claims that Atari enforced the removal from the iOS App Store of two of its games, Vector Tanks and Vector Tanks Extreme, due to their resemblance to Atari classic Battlezone.

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Shenmue City closed

Yu Suzuki's Ys Net studio has ceased support of Shenmue City, a social game extension of his beloved Dreamcast series for mobile phones. Andriasang reports that the developer posted a brief note on its official website on December 26, notifying users that the service had come to an end and thanking them for their support.
http://andriasang.com/comzjx/shenmue_world_dead/
Andriasang

Yu Suzuki's Ys Net studio has ceased support of Shenmue City, a social game extension of his beloved Dreamcast series for mobile phones.

Andriasang reports that the developer posted a brief note on its official website on December 26, notifying users that the service had come to an end and thanking them for their support.   

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Shenmue City closed

Yu Suzuki's Ys Net studio has ceased support of Shenmue City, a social game extension of his beloved Dreamcast series for mobile phones. Andriasang reports that the developer posted a brief note on its official website on December 26, notifying users that the service had come to an end and thanking them for their support.
http://andriasang.com/comzjx/shenmue_world_dead/
Andriasang

Yu Suzuki's Ys Net studio has ceased support of Shenmue City, a social game extension of his beloved Dreamcast series for mobile phones.

Andriasang reports that the developer posted a brief note on its official website on December 26, notifying users that the service had come to an end and thanking them for their support.   

read more


Report: Wii U to have app store and tablet e-reader

Nintendo's Wii U will have its own app store, according to reports, with its tablet controller able to function as an e-reader capable of displaying books, magazines, newspapers and strategy guides for the company’s games.
http://www.forgetthebox.net/mag/culture/forum-m/nintendo-e-readers.php
Forget The Box

Nintendo's Wii U will have its own app store, according to reports, with its tablet controller able to function as an e-reader capable of displaying books, magazines, newspapers and strategy guides for the company’s games.

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The 2011 Edge Awards: studio

Firemint, Mojang and Eidos Montreal vie to become our developer of the year.

We'll be publishing our awards for this year throughout the week. See all of them by visiting the Edge Awards topic page, or following the topic using My Edge.

Runner-up: Firemint

Key games: Spy Mouse, Real Racing 2 HD

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FIFA 12 tops UK chart

EA's FIFA 12 secured the last UK all-formats number one of 2011 after sales rose 34 per cent week on week. Christmas number one The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim slips seven places to number eight after sales fell 62 per cent.

EA's FIFA 12 secured the last UK all-formats number one of 2011 after sales rose 34 per cent week on week.

Christmas number one The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim slips seven places to number eight after sales fell 62 per cent. BioWare's PC MMOG Star Wars: The Old Republic enters the chart at number ten, a strong showing given that the chart only collates sales of boxed games at retail.

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The 2011 Edge Awards

Our pick of the games, studios and curiosities that defined 2011.

New hardware may have emerged in the shape of Wii U and PlayStation Vita during 2011, but it was also the year in which game studios were able to really push technical barriers on well-established hardware, and realise long-held ambitions.

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Beta Raspberry Pi attracts huge eBay bids

The Raspberry Pi Foundation is selling ten beta models of its ultra-low-cost PC on internet auction site Ebay. The foundation is listing two of its $25 PCs each day in a bid to raise funds ahead of the computer's retail debut, currently planned for next month. At the time of writing, the first such listing has attracted 48 bids, the highest of which is £1,900.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/raspberry_pi/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686
Ebay

The Raspberry Pi Foundation is selling ten beta models of its ultra-low-cost PC on internet auction site Ebay.

The foundation is listing two of its $25 PCs each day in a bid to raise funds ahead of the computer's retail debut, currently planned for next month. At the time of writing, the first such listing has attracted 48 bids, the highest of which is £1,900.

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Andy Payne awarded OBE

Andy Payne, owner and MD of Mastertronic and chairman of trade association UKIE, has been awarded the Order Of The British Empire (OBE) for services to the UK computer game industry in the Queen's New Year honours list.
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/andy-payne-awarded-obe/089250
MCV

Andy Payne, owner and MD of Mastertronic and chairman of trade association UKIE, has been awarded the Order Of The British Empire (OBE) for services to the UK computer game industry in the Queen's New Year honours list.

Payne, who is also chairman of The Producers and works with the likes of BAFTA and GamesAid, told MCV: "I am truly surprised, honoured and very proud to have been awarded an OBE. I am truly thankful to have worked with so many fabulous people down the years and am proud of our great industry.

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Mario Kart 7 tops Japanese chart as Vita slips to fifth

Sales of PlayStation Vita have slowed in its second week on shelves in Japan, with Sony's new handheld the fifth-best selling hardware of the week with 72,479 units sold. According to Media Create data translated by Andriasang, Vita sales in the week ending December 25 fell by over 77 per cent week on week.
http://andriasang.com/comzjb/media_create_hardware/
Andriasang

Sales of PlayStation Vita have slowed in its second week on shelves in Japan, with Sony's new handheld the fifth-best selling hardware of the week with 72,479 units sold.

According to Media Create data translated by Andriasang, Vita sales in the week ending December 25 fell by over 77 per cent week on week. 3DS once again topped the hardware  charts with 482,200 units sold, but Vita was also outsold by PS3, Wii and its predecessor, PSP.

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EA, Nintendo and Sony pull SOPA support

Electronic Arts, Nintendo and Sony Electronics all appear to have pulled their support for the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), the controversial bill being considered for legislation by the US government. Destructoid reports that the three companies no longer appear on the list of companies supporting the bill, though Sony still has a presence, with Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Sony Music Entertainment and Sony Music Nashville still listed as supporters.
http://www.destructoid.com/ea-nintendo-sony-reduce-sopa-support-by-50--218742.phtml
Destructoid

Electronic Arts, Nintendo and Sony Electronics all appear to have pulled their support for the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), the controversial bill being considered for legislation by the US government.

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January 02, 2012

2011 review: SoundBytes

Nintendo and Sony's apologies, David Cage's ennui and Danny Bilson's creative frustrations - the year's best quotes and tweets.

"You can slip it in at night, and then when the owner wakes up in the morning and turns on the system, a new video is waiting."
Shigeru Miyamoto provokes childish giggles with his explanation of automatic video downloads on 3DS using SpotPass.

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2011 round-up: free-to-play

Zynga's success and Team Fortress 2's switch prompted an industry-wide shift to freemium in 2011, but has it paid off?

Social

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December 30, 2011

2011 round-up: DRM

Ubisoft and Capcom get it wrong, GOG and Avalanche get it right and Serious Sam's scorpion shows the way.

The year began on a hopeful note, with Ubisoft seemingly relaxing its DRM policy. Eagle-eyed Redditors noticed that older Ubisoft PC titles, including Assassin's Creed II and Splinter Cell: Conviction, were suddenly playable without a connection to the internet. The publisher subsequently confirmed that it had patched out its DRM from some older titles, with its future implementation to be decided on a case-by-case basis.

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