Compared to a summer camp for psychic children, a world made from rock album cover art, or the Aztec land of the dead, American suburbia might seem a rather dull setting for a game – except, perhaps, on Halloween. We talk to Tim Schafer, creative director of Costume Quest (which we recently reviewed), and Tasha Harris, the game’s project lead, about the inspirations behind Double Fine’s miniature RPG, and the experience of making a holiday-themed game.
Sims 3 takes the top spot, while Fable III and The Force Unleashed debut in third and fourth.
Fallout: New Vegas has failed to retain its number one spot this week, having been usurped by Sims 3 (which amassed 16,212 mentions). Fable III makes its debut at number three, with 12,730 mentions. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed finds its way to number four with 9054 mentions.
Developers go head to head on Apple's devices, announcing official titles and release dates.
iD has announced that its Rage offshoot, revealed at QuakeCon this year, will be called Mutant Bash TV and is based on a gameshow found within the full game. It will be available on the App Store later this month. A second, as yet undetailed, game based in the Rage universe is set for release alongside the console versions on September 13 2011.
New report says tablet market grew by 26 per cent in last quarter, Apple owns 95 per cent share.
Research firm Strategy Analytics published a report which estimates that 4.4 million tablet devices were sold in the quarter ended September 31. The report claims that figure represents a 26 per cent growth over the quarter, with Apple's iPad accounting for 95 per cent of the sales, while Android devices only make up 2 per cent of the overall market.
Fifa 11 helps reduce losses for the publisher, though overall revenue is down year-on-year.
Electronic Arts has reported its 2011 fiscal year Q2 results for the period ending September 30. While GAAP net revenue is down to $631 million from $788 year-on-year, net loss has been reduced from $391 million to $201 million.
Company responds to anger over changes to Xbox Live Marketplace.
Microsoft has made a statement regarding the changes to the 360 dashboard which move the category of Xbox Live Indie Games from the game store section of the US Marketplace to “Specialty Shops”.
Big names added to roster for National Media Museum’s game event in Bradford.
Organisers of the National Media Museum’s Bradford Animation Festival (BAF) Game 2010 have confirmed new speakers and sessions for the event taking place on November 9 and 10.
Format: PS3 (tested), Xbox 360, PC
Release: Out now
Publisher: Activision
Developer: LucasArts
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First hearings in crucial case for videogame censorship take place at the US Supreme Court.
The first hearings in the case of Schwarzenegger V. Entertainment Merchants Association took place in Washington at the Supreme Court Of the United States, yesterday.
The case argues whether a state law restricting the sale of violent videogames is in violation of the First Ammendment of the US constitution.
Publisher signs five-year deal for its games to use Facebook's virtual currency.
Facebook Credits will be EA's exclusive method of payment within the its games hosted on Facebook.
“Since gaming has emerged as the most popular category of applications on Facebook, the natural next step is for EA to broaden its relationship with Facebook and its 500 million users,” said Barry Cottle, senior vice president and general manager for EA Interactive.
Inafune's resignation coincided with preparations for "radical reforms" in Japan-based publisher and developer's R&D division.
In a Q and A session discussing Capcom’s recent financial results for its second fiscal quarter, an unnamed company executive addressed the departure of Keiji Inafune, former head of research and development management, and the potential for future acquisitions of other developers.
Research firms say Android handsets almost doubled iPhone market share in 2010's third quarter.
Studies by UK-based research firm Canalys, and US-based NPD Group, show that smartphone handsets using the Android operating platform now have a 44 per cent share of the US smartphone market.
Latest chart reveals year-on-year drop for apps such as FarmVille.
Inside Social Games has revealed monthly user information for the top 25 games on social network Facebook in October 2010.
Redundancies due to restructuring as the company moves towards digital games.
Japan-based developer and publisher Namco Bandai will cut 90 jobs at its US office. The news follows an announcement of plans to combine its mobile and online game businesses.
Relocation of indie games leads many to question the recent update to the Xbox Live Marketplace.
Microsoft’s update to the Xbox 360 dashboard moves the category of Xbox Live Indie Games from the game store section to the “Specialty Shops” area of the Marketplace in the US.
Social game company LOLApps has games blocked following data leak controversy.
Following recent reports of Facebook apps leaking user information to thirdparty companies, the social network has placed a six-month ban on certain developers' titles.
Back-alley encounters with prostitutes, second hand sex-dolls and pill-popping youths - iPhone adventure game Hector: Badge Of Carnage takes every opportunity to bait Apple's approval team. But despite its willful contravention of App Store etiquette, the game somehow made it to market.
3D game development engine reaches milestone while Unity Web Player passes 35 million installs.
US-based Unity Technologies, which creates tools for videogame production, has announced a year-on-year increase from 13,000 users of its Unity development platform to 250,000. The Unity Web Player allows software developed with the Unity platform to be played/viewed through a browser.
Sometimes you need to go lo-fi. Ears fatigued by commercial music tweaked to homogeneous living death by boffin producers using 70 plug-ins per channel can be perked up by the rough magic of one musician’s homebrewed chiptune. The libel-cautious, obediently safe ruminations of well-padded corporate newspaper columnists may be thrown into stark relief by one inventively obscene blogger.
Labour and the coalition government clash on the BBC's Politics Show.
The issue of games tax relief in the UK was raised on the show at the MCM Expo in London earlier today.
The debate addressed concerns surrounding coalition chancellor George Osborne’s spending review in June, which ruled out a tax break for games.
EDIT: The Spil:Museet videogame museum in Denmark was set up in 2008 - having previously operated under the name Sporup Arcade Museum for a number of years, and so precedes the ViGaMus announcement.
ViGaMus to be unveiled in Rome at the Italian Videogame Developer Conference.
The first museum for games outside of Japan and the US, ViGaMus, will be detailed at the IVDC 2010 on December 3-4. The museum will focus on the history of videogames along with current trends, and will host industry exhibitions and seminars.
EDIT: PopCap has issued a correction that Bejeweled 3 will only be available via popcap.com on release next month, not on iPhone or Windows Phone 7.
US-based casual games developer and publisher PopCap today announced the second sequel in its match-three puzzle series, Bejeweled 3.
Online cinema service launching in European territories on Wednesday.
MUBI, a streaming video website focused on independent, classic and foreign films with social networking features, will debut on PS3 on November 3.
Format: Xbox 360, PC, PS3
Release: November 5
Publisher: Activision Blizzard
Developer: Bizarre Creations
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Sega supervising the PC and mobile social game developed by Yu Suzuki’s company.
New details have emerged regarding social game Shenmue City today, along with the launch of an official website.