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But “can’t use Kinect for our real games.”
id Software boss John Carmack wants to make a Kinect game but it won’t be a lift of one of its current FPS titles.
The Quake creator told Joystiq, “I have an itch to make a Kinect title for Xbox Live.”
However, he’s short on a concept right now. “I don’t even know what I’d want to do yet,” he explained.
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Valve pushes multiplayer sequel to first-person puzzler back two months; North American and Australian launch set for April 20, European debut April 22.
Portal 2 won’t be opening for a couple months longer. Valve today announced that the stand-alone sequel to 2007’s breakout success won’t be making its previously announced launch date.
Portal 2 will open to gamers the week of April 18, more than two months after its previous February 9 launch date. This is the second delay for the game, as Valve originally announced Portal 2 with a holiday quarter 2010 launch window. The company put a positive spin on the latest postponement, calling it the “shortest delay in Valve history.”
Portal 2 follows the events of the first Portal, which saw gamers taking on the role of a human lab rat, Chell, who used a portal gun to create interdimensional openings on ceilings, walls, and floors in an effort to escape the Aperture Science labs. Along the way, players were guided through the diabolical tests by the deceptively sincere, yet altogether sadistic, artificial intelligence known as GLaDOS.
The game will feature a single-player campaign billed as being twice as long as the original’s, but the real focus is on the new multiplayer cooperative mode. The co-op mode will tell a parallel story to the single-player adventure and last roughly as long. In it, players will take control of two robots, named simply Blue and Orange, and work together to tackle their own set of portal-related problems.
For more on Portal 2, check out GameSpot’s previous coverage.
[UPDATE]: Portal 2’s global release window is now the week of April 18, not April 18 itself as originally reported. Valve has clarified that Portal 2 will launch in North America and Australia on April 20, with a European debut following on April 22. Dates for other regions will be announced at a later date. GameSpot regrets the error.
Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
“Portal 2 delayed to April” was posted by Brendan Sinclair on Thu, 18 Nov 2010 15:43:44 -0800 -
The date was a lie.
Portal 2 will not make it’s previously reported release date of 9th February, developer Valve has announced.
The sequel to its widely adored first person puzzler has been pushed back until 18th April 2011.
Major bummer, right? Well, Valve is more of a glass-half-full sort.
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“Not all who enlist will be selected.”
Bungie has issued a call for volunteers to step forward for alpha and beta tests of its unannounced new game.
A post on its official site reads, “Making great games is no small endeavor. Today we ask you, our community, to officially put your name on the list of those willing to lend a helping hand.
“Service requires only a Bungie.net account and a valid email address. In exchange, we’re offering you the unique opportunity to help us continue making improvements to our playlists, features, and online community… and the potential to help us shape our glorious future.
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Pick it up from 3rd December
Mac gamers miffed at being left out of last month’s multi-platform Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition release can quit sulking. Publisher 2K Games has announced a release date: 3rd December.
The special edition of Gearbox Software’s OTT FPS boasts the original game plus all four DLC expansions: The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned, Mad Moxxi’s Underdome Riot, The Secret Armory of General Knoxx and Claptrap’s New Robot Revolution.
To celebrate this great event, Gearbox big cheese Randy Pitchford made up some words.
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Black Ops dethrones Modern Warfare 2.
Call of Duty: Black Ops and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 were the two most active titles on Xbox Live last week.
According to Microsoft’s Major Nelson, Black Ops took over the top spot from Infinity Ward’s Modern Warfare 2 in its first week on release. Call of Duty: World at War wasn’t too far behind either, coming in at seven.
Kinect Adventures was the only Kinect title to make it into the top 20, landing at 16. Here’s the full list:
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Not “a true portable gaming platform.”
The developer behind the lauded PSP God of War games has claimed that Sony’s handheld was doomed to failure from launch day.
CVG reports that Ready at Dawn co-founder Ru Weerasuriya told Edge magazine, “It’s a good platform and you can make amazing things on it. I think that we’ve tried as much as possible to prove that in the last seven years.
“But it was doomed from the beginning, that’s its biggest problem,” he added. “It was doomed from the very get-go.
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Dressed to chill.
Cute downloadable adventure Costume Quest is getting measured up for some winter-themed DLC, developer Double Fine has announced.
According to GameSpot’s first look, the Grubbins on Ice pack sees you set out on a mission to save Lucy, who has been sucked into an inter-dimensional portal.
You follow her down the wormhole into the monster-filled kingdom of Repugia, where you end up joining forces with the resident grubbins to liberate the place from a despotic ruler and free Lucy from his grasp.
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Specialty retailer posts fifth straight quarter of revenue growth on strong slate of new releases, expects Kinect in short supply through holiday season.
The US retail gaming industry has been slowly emerging from a disastrous 2009, but it’s still having a hard time posting consecutive months of growth. Those woes haven’t been reflected in the results of the largest specialty gaming retailer, as GameStop today posted its fifth consecutive quarter of year-over-year sales growth.
For the three months ended October 30, GameStop reported total sales were up 3.5 percent to $1.9 billion. The retailer attributed the bump in part to a strong slate of new releases that pushed new software sales for the quarter up 9 percent. GameStop’s top selling titles for the quarter were Halo: Reach, Madden NFL 2011, Fallout: New Vegas, NBA 2K11, and Medal of Honor.
Profits were also up for GameStop, as the company reported net income of $54.3 million for the quarter, up 4 percent from the $52.2 million it posted for the same period last year. The most profitable chunk of the company’s business remains used game sales, which accounted for nearly 46 percent of the company’s gross profits. However, new game sales brought in the largest share of sales for the company, making up 44 percent of total revenues for the quarter.
Although Microsoft’s Kinect launched after the company’s third quarter ended, the motion-sensing peripheral was a point of focus for the retailer. In a post-earnings conference call, GameStop president Tony Bartel said the company was “very pleased” with sales of the peripheral and said the company’s “biggest opportunity” for the holiday season is simply keeping the Kinect in stock. He advised anyone who sees the system on shelves to pick it up, cautioning that it will be in short supply for the holidays.
Based on new game sales trends and the launches of the Kinect and PlayStation Move, GameStop raised its full-year earnings expectations. Previously, the retailer expected to post earnings per share of $2.58 to $2.68, but that range has been amended to $2.63 to $2.69.
Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
“GameStop sales up 3.5% in Q3” was posted by Brendan Sinclair on Thu, 18 Nov 2010 11:53:15 -0800 -
MicroConsole for on-demand game-streaming service ships next month with free game for $100; flat-rate, all-you-can-play membership plan coming this year.
By 2014, analysts believe on-demand game streaming will begin gaining serious traction among gamers, but until then, things will be slow. OnLive announced today its latest attempt to usher in the future, saying the OnLive Game System will bring its game-streaming service to TVs on December 2.
The OnLive Game System will be priced at $99. For $99, OnLive Game System purchasers will receive a MicroConsole TV adapter, an OnLive wireless controller, and HDTV cables. Gamers will also receive a Full PlayPass for any game on the OnLive Network, a pool that includes more than 30 titles ranging from Assassin’s Creed II to NBA 2K11. Once it’s available, gamers will be able to access games on their PC, Mac, or TV after purchase.
The MicroConsole was among the first bits of tech showed off by OnLive when the service was introduced in March 2009. The HDMI-compatible MC, as OnLive has termed it, allows for output at 1080p and features 3D TV support. Up to four controllers can be hooked up to the device with or without wires simultaneously.
The company plans to patch in support for HDMI- and optical-compatible surround sound digital audio, as well as Bluetooth, USB headsets, and voice chat. These features are slated to arrive “soon” through an automatic update.
OnLive also announced today that it would be introducing a new way for gamers to access the service’s wares later this year. Having scrapped plans for a monthly charge for merely accessing the game service, OnLive said today that it would be offering a flat-rate membership plan for unlimited entry to all of the service’s titles. More details on the subscription plan are expected to arrive later this year when the membership becomes available.
Currently, OnLive offers three different ways in which gamers can access products on the service. The Full PlayPass gives players unfettered access to a game for the duration of its presence on the service (minimum three years). Five-day and three-day passes are also available.
Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
“OnLive plugging into TVs Dec. 2” was posted by Tom Magrino on Thu, 18 Nov 2010 11:28:12 -0800
