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Looking for “best talent in the industry”.
Blizzard has confirmed that its next MMO is currently going by the title of Titan.
Earlier this month, MMOGameSite published what it claimed was a leaked Blizzard release schedule covering the next five years. The document showed a 2015 release date for something called Titan, which it speculated to be the developer’s new, unannounced MMO IP.
Destructoid asked World of Warcraft executive producer Frank Pearce about the rumour at last weekend’s Spike VGA event, and duly got confirmation of Titan’s existence.
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Remotely queue up new levels.
A new LittleBigPlanet web portal, lbp.me, has just launched to help players sift through the thousands of user-generated levels on offer.
The new site lets you remotely sign in to your PlayStation Network account and then see what your friends are up to in the game.
The latest levels are listed as they’re posted, alongside charts that show the most ‘trended’ new creations and Media Molecule’s own top picks. If you see a level you like the look of you can then queue it up so that it’s ready to play next time you turn on your console.
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Insists remote gaming is not patentable.
Online game streaming service Gaikai has insisted that rival outfit OnLive’s recent patent on cloud-based gaming does not threaten its existence.
CEO David Perry told VentureBeat, “We share OnLive’s vision that streamed gaming is a key element of the future of the video game industry. We do not expect the general concept of remote gaming to be patentable, as many of us played remote games in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s.
“Neither Gaikai nor OnLive were the first to develop technology in this area,” he insisted.
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Industry research group reports only 71 percent of game sales during the last three months were of boxed copies of games, when cell phone games are included.
Though the NPD Group doesn’t include digital game sales in its monthly reports, it does address them in its latest survey, Game Purchase Drivers 2010. The study concluded that, when including mobile and casual games, an average of 71 percent of all games purchased during the last three months were physical boxed products, while the remaining 29 percent were digital purchases.
Of digital purchasers, 47 percent bought games from either casual-game portals like Big Fish Games or from digital delivery hubs, such as Steam. Some 42 percent of digital game buyers used app stores or cell phone carriers. Just 30 percent bought games from console services, such as Xbox Live, the PlayStation Network, or the Wii Shop Channel.
Another statistic uncovered by the study was that one in five gamers bought game add-ons of some sort during the last three months. Also, of the 3,704 people surveyed aged 2 and over, game buyers bought an average of 3.1 games over the past three months, including games for other people. (Children under 13 had their responses relayed by a parent.) Nearly 10 percent of purchases were funded by game trade-ins.
Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
“29 percent of game sales digital purchases – NPD” was posted by Tor Thorsen on Thu, 16 Dec 2010 10:12:14 -0800 -
Log in to PSN from your phone.
A PlayStation app is coming to the iPhone “very soon”, Sony has announced.
The Official PlayStation App will let you check out your PlayStation Network trophies and keep tabs on your friends’ games and online status. There’ll be a news feed too and you’ll be able to view the PlayStation Blog.
Sony promises that it will be adding “tons more features” to the app in the coming months.
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Hattori clan! Armour! XP! Figurine! Nagashino!
The Collector’s Edition of PC samurai strategy game Total War: Shogun 2 will be wrapped in an authentic bamboo box, no less.
And inside that bamboo box will be an art book as well as a figurine of Takeda Shingen, a famous feudal Japanese ruler.
The Collector’s Edition contains all of the extras of the Limited Edition, too. Those are a special playable Hattori Clan faction, historical scenario Nagashino, suit of armour for your online avatar and lump of XP for your online character.
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Producer Jesse Houston reveals the forthcoming port has gone gold, will use visually superior technology than its predecessors.
Yesterday, BioWare community coordinator Evil Chris Priestley posted and hosted
a new podcast focusing on Mass Effect 2 for the PlayStation 3. His first order of business was to report the port of the critically acclaimed game–a nominee for GameSpot’s 2010 Game of the Year–has gone gold for Sony’s system. It is now on track to ship in North America on January 18 and in Europe on January 21.After host Chris Priestley repeatedly cited the “huge” demand for the game amongst PlayStation 3 owners, he introduced the producer of the port, Jesse Houston. Houston then went on to drop a bit of a bombshell–namely, that the PS3 edition of Mass Effect 2 will have superior visuals vis-a-vis its counterparts because it is running on the Mass Effect 3 engine.
“One of the first things you’re going to see is improved graphics,” said Houston. “We actually created the engine for Mass Effect 3 and then used that to make Mass Effect 2 PS3. We took the content, the story, all the other assets that made Mass Effect 2, and we put it into the Mass Effect 3 engine. That’s what we’re actually delivering.”
Houston went on to mention some other improvements the PS3 version of Mass Effect 2 will have over its elder siblings. “The controls are geared to the PS3 controller, [although] you can switch it back to the old Xbox 360 style controls if you’d like. Things like planet scanning have been improved, we’ve rolled in all the patches, done a ton of bug fixing.” Houston also said that community feedback had been taken into account for numerous gameplay tweaks and adjustments.
Mass Effect 2 for the PS3 will include the original game and several downloadable content packs released for the game on a single Blu-ray disc. The extra content includes the Lair of the Shadow Broker, Project Overlord, Kasumi: Stolen Memory, and Blood Dragon Armor packs.
PS3 gamers who purchase Mass Effect 2 new will also gain access to the Cerberus Network, which offers free content ranging from the Zaeed character missions to the Hammerhead hovertank. Used-game purchasers who want said content will be required to purchase access to the Cerberus Network.
BioWare will also be offering a make-good to PS3 gamers for the absence of the original game on Sony’s platform. The studio’s Edmonton arm will be collaborating with Dark Horse Comics on an interactive comic that helps fill in the story leading up to the events in Mass Effect 2. Choices made while reading the comic will also have an effect on a player’s character creation.
For an idea of what to expect from Mass Effect 2 on the PS3, check out GameSpot’s coverage of the Xbox 360 edition.
Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
“Mass Effect 2 PS3 using Mass Effect 3 engine” was posted by Tor Thorsen on Thu, 16 Dec 2010 08:44:05 -0800 -
Sega joins forces with Japanese social network Gree; portable super-deformed face-smashing on the way.
Sega has announced that its popular Yakuza series is coming to mobile devices.
The publisher has teamed up with mobile social network Gree and will release Yakuza Mobile For Gree – or Ryu Ga Gotuku Mobile For Gree, to use the series’ Japanese name – this winter.
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Change to poodle, doberman or alsatian.
Bored of your Fable III dog? Wish you could swap for a cooler one? Lionhead has a remedy: a dog pack.
For 240 Microsoft Points you can transform your pooch into an exotic poodle or a doberman or an alsatian.
“Just let your dog have a sip when he’s lying in his basket in the Sanctuary,” instructs the add-on blurb, deviously.
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Nintendo UK general manager chairs annual festival; 2011 dates announced.
Organisers of Edinburgh Interactive have announced the appointment of David Yarnton, general manager of Nintendo UK, as its new chairman.
He takes up the reins from Chris Deering, who will remain an active supporter of the annual festival which has been running since 2003, celebrating “the creative and cultural values of interactive entertainment.”
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