-
Square Enix has released a revised list of changes to the Japanese version of Call of Duty: Black Ops along with an apology to its customers. This includes the removal of all swastikas from CoD: Black Ops’ zombie mode, which will be replaced with the Iron Cross… …
-
Above: That’s cybernetic human HRP-4C on the right. She’s pretty lifelike, but something about her just isn’t right…
Our friends at Maximum PC have just posted an excellent feature on the uncanny valley, exploring how the robotics theory relates to gaming… … -
Square Enix’s third-person action adventure will now arrive on PS3, Xbox 360 early next year.
During the Electronic Entertainment Expo in June, Square Enix announced a new third-person shooter, Mindjack. At the time, the game was slated to ship in October–a launch window that has now slipped somewhat. Today, the Japanese publisher announced Mindjack will ship for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on January 18, 2011.
In development at Japanese studio feelplus, Mindjack places players in the turbulent world of 2031, when the planet is beset with political unrest. They will assume the role of Jim Corbijn, a federal agent equipped with high-tech devices that allow him to “hack” the minds of enemies or civilians and control vehicles to control their respective abilities. His skills will come in handy once he is sucked into a netherworld of intrigue where corporations battle countries for supremacy.
In terms of gameplay, Mindjack will feature drop-in multiplayer that will allow players to join friends’ single-player campaigns in progress. The game will also award experience points, which will sharpen Corbijn’s suite of abilities.
Mindjack has not yet been rated by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board. For more on the game, check out GameSpot’s latest preview.
Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
“Mindjack arriving on Jan. 18” was posted by Tor Thorsen on Tue, 02 Nov 2010 16:29:13 -0700 -
Square Enix’s third-person action adventure will now arrive on PS3, Xbox 360 early next year.
During the Electronic Entertainment Expo in June, Square Enix announced a new third-person shooter, Mindjack. At the time, the game was slated to ship in October–a launch window that has now slipped somewhat. Today, the Japanese publisher announced Mindjack will ship for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on January 18, 2011.
In development at Japanese studio feelplus, Mindjack places players in the turbulent world of 2031, when the planet is beset with political unrest. They will assume the role of Jim Corbijn, a federal agent equipped with high-tech devices that allow him to “hack” the minds of enemies or civilians and control vehicles to control their respective abilities. His skills will come in handy once he is sucked into a netherworld of intrigue where corporations battle countries for supremacy.
In terms of gameplay, Mindjack will feature drop-in multiplayer that will allow players to join friends’ single-player campaigns in progress. The game will also award experience points, which will sharpen Corbijn’s suite of abilities.
Mindjack has not yet been rated by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board. For more on the game, check out GameSpot’s latest preview.
Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
“Mindjack arriving on Jan. 18” was posted by Tor Thorsen on Tue, 02 Nov 2010 16:29:13 -0700 -
Following delay, EA confirms that it has officially benched its annual basketball sim for the 2010-2011 season; future development handed to Tiburon.
Sports sims are tantamount to death and taxes for Electronic Arts, which releases annualized installments in both professional and collegiate athletics matchups, ranging from football to hockey to soccer. However, this year turned that comparison on its head, when EA announced the franchise reboot of its seasonal basketball sim, NBA Elite 11, would not accompany the tip-off of its real-world counterpart.
Now, EA has taken an even more drastic step, announcing as part of a post-earnings conference call today that it has canceled NBA Elite 11 outright. Additional details on the cancelation were not revealed, with EA saying only that future development in the franchise would be handled by Madden NFL studio EA Tiburon. Previously, NBA Elite 11 had been in development at EA Canada, which was the target of “seasonal roll-offs” last week.
Analysts have predicted a sizable hole in EA’s earnings due to NBA Elite 11’s delay and now cancelation. According to Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter, EA stands to lose up to $60 million due to the absence of its annual basketball sim. He went on to note that Take-Two Interactive stands to gain tremendously from EA’s absence from the court this year, predicting most of those who would have picked up NBA Elite 11 will now purchase NBA 2K11.
Built around a more “hands-on control” scheme than its NBA Live predecessors, NBA Elite 11 was to emphasize player movement and skill-based shooting. For an idea of where EA is looking to take its basketball sim franchise, check out GameSpot’s previous coverage of NBA Elite 11.
Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
“NBA Elite 11 canceled” was posted by Tom Magrino on Tue, 02 Nov 2010 15:47:09 -0700 -
Epic taking Apple’s device very seriously.
Epic believes that it could be possible to put a game the size of Gears of War on the iPhone in as little as two years time.
Donald Mustard, creative director at Epic subsidiary Chair Entertainment, is currently developing the just-announced Infinity Blade for the iPhone the first mobile game to run off the Unreal Engine. Like many gamers, he was reluctant to see Apple’s smartphone as a proper gaming machine. Not any more.
“I didn’t take it that seriously until we started making this game,” he explained. “Now I’m like, ‘Oh my goodness, this is literally going to be the best looking handheld game ever made’. It’s way beyond what a DS or PSP could do.
-
Megapublisher sees quarterly revenue drop 20 percent; Madden, FIFA 11 tipped as best sellers; FIFA franchise sales top 100 million; Bad Company 2 sells nearly 6 million.
Electronic Arts today reported a $201 million loss ($0.61 per share) for the three months ending September 30. While not as good news as posting a profit, the loss was smaller than the $391 million ($1.21 per share) it lost during the same period last year. Revenue fell 20 percent from $788 million to $631 million using standard accounting practices, thanks to a smaller release slate. The company launched seven major titles from July to September 2010, versus nine during the same period the year prior.
When excluding one-time charges along the lines of restructuring costs, acquisition expenses, and stock-related compensation, EA actually managed to post a small profit of $32 million ($0.10 per share) on $884 million in revenue. That beat the average estimate of a Thomson Reuters survey of analysts, which expected $815 million in revenues and a loss of $0.10 per share.
Of the quarter’s hit titles, the publisher said six of its games were amongst the top 20 selling games in North America and Europe: FIFA 11, Madden NFL 11, NCAA Football 11, NHL 11, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, and FIFA 10. Overall, FIFA-brand game sales increased 20 percent, with the franchise’s sales topping over 100 million units life-to-date. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 sales now total nearly 6 million units, said EA executives.
The publisher also revealed that the reboot of the Medal of Honor series, released October 12, sold 2 million copies in its first two weeks on the market. In terms of other new titles, executives told analysts during a conference call that EA MMA is “off to a slow start” but the console versions of the Sims 3 were “tracking well.” One upcoming title, NBA Elite 11, has now been canceled outright. As had been rumored, development of future NBA games will be handled at EA Tiburon in Florida.
EA also claimed to be the top publisher in the “high-definition console” market–that is, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3–reporting its share increased two points to 25 percent. It also says it is the top PC publisher with a 27 percent share. EA CEO John Riccitiello said that sales of high-definition packaged goods and digital goods is increasing, but revenue from the Wii and handheld games is falling.
Looking ahead, EA is leaving its full fiscal year guidance of $940 million to $1.07 billion in revenue in place. The figure takes into account a $180 million restructuring charge “due to licensing agreements and developer contracts” and ongoing expenses for development of the massively multiplayer game Star Wars: The Old Republic, which will not launch during the fiscal year ending March 31, 2011.
Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
“EA posts loss, Medal of Honor sells 2 million” was posted by Tor Thorsen on Tue, 02 Nov 2010 15:39:45 -0700 -
Megapublisher sees quarterly revenue drop 20 percent; Madden, FIFA 11 tipped as best sellers; FIFA franchise sales top 100 million; Bad Company 2 sells nearly 6 million.
Electronic Arts today reported a $201 million loss ($0.61 per share) for the three months ending September 30. While not as good news as posting a profit, the loss was smaller than the $391 million ($1.21 per share) it lost during the same period last year. Revenue fell 20 percent from $788 million to $631 million using standard accounting practices, thanks to a smaller release slate. The company launched seven major titles from July to September 2010, versus nine during the same period the year prior.
When excluding one-time charges along the lines of restructuring costs, acquisition expenses, and stock-related compensation, EA actually managed to post a small profit of $32 million ($0.10 per share) on $884 million in revenue. That beat the average estimate of a Thomson Reuters survey of analysts, which expected $815 million in revenues and a loss of $0.10 per share.
Of the quarter’s hit titles, the publisher said six of its games were amongst the top 20 selling games in North America and Europe: FIFA 11, Madden NFL 11, NCAA Football 11, NHL 11, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, and FIFA 10. Overall, FIFA-brand game sales increased 20 percent, with the franchise’s sales topping over 100 million units life-to-date. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 sales now total nearly 6 million units, said EA executives.
The publisher also revealed that the reboot of the Medal of Honor series, released October 12, sold 2 million copies in its first two weeks on the market. In terms of other new titles, executives told analysts during a conference call that EA MMA is “off to a slow start” but the console versions of the Sims 3 were “tracking well.” One upcoming title, NBA Elite 11, has now been canceled outright. As had been rumored, development of future NBA games will be handled at EA Tiburon in Florida.
EA also claimed to be the top publisher in the “high-definition console” market–that is, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3–reporting its share increased two points to 25 percent. It also says it is the top PC publisher with a 27 percent share. EA CEO John Riccitiello said that sales of high-definition packaged goods and digital goods is increasing, but revenue from the Wii and handheld games is falling.
Looking ahead, EA is leaving its full fiscal year guidance of $940 million to $1.07 billion in revenue in place. The figure takes into account a $180 million restructuring charge “due to licensing agreements and developer contracts” and ongoing expenses for development of the massively multiplayer game Star Wars: The Old Republic, which will not launch during the fiscal year ending March 31, 2011.
Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
“EA posts loss, Medal of Honor sells 2 million” was posted by Tor Thorsen on Tue, 02 Nov 2010 15:39:45 -0700 -
[UPDATE] Though retailers have the game as coming out in 2011, Yamauchi tells blog discs are being “stamped as we speak.”
[UPDATE] For Sony’s part, the pre-Christmas release appears to still be on. “We are still aiming for this holiday for launch,” a Sony representative told GameSpot. “As far as the Amazon date goes, retailers have arbitrary dates that get listed to coincide with any given title’s launch window if we haven’t provided a specific date. So it’s completely driven from their side as a placeholder.”
What’s more, Yamauchi indicated today in an interview with Jalopnik that, far from a delay, Gran Turismo 5 has actually gone gold. “The discs are being stamped as we speak,” Yamauchi told the blog.
Original story can be found below.
Considering that Sony and Polyphony Digital first announced Gran Turismo 5 for the PlayStation 3 in 2005, it would be almost a masochistic kind of comical for the publisher to disappoint eager fans with another delay. However, following on from reports in Japan over the weekend, if recent updates to a number of US retailers’ online databases are to be believed, just such a scenario may have happened.
As first spotted by Joystiq, retailers including GameStop, Amazon, and Target are now listing either a January 1, 2011, or December 31, 2010, release date for Polyphony Digital’s oft-delayed racing sim. The update came after a tipster sent Joystiq an automated message from Amazon stating that the game’s release date had been “changed by the publisher,” with the post-Christmas date subsequently attached.
The update isn’t without a touch of irony, as today is the exact day on which Polyphony had planned on releasing the game, a date that it acquired during the 2010 Electronic Entertainment Expo. However, in October, Sony bumped the game to “this holiday season” in the US and Japan, with its UK and Europe date schedule for “before Christmas.”
Following last month’s delay, Sony producer Taku Imasaki told the New York Times, “We’re really close, but this was an executive decision that was made yesterday. Realistically, we thought we had a good date. We’re not happy over here.” He reiterated that Sony “is shooting for it to be out by the holidays. You won’t see too much more delay.” In Japan, Polyphony Digital head Kazunori Yamauchi commented said, “I believe we won’t keep you waiting until then.”
When it does finally ship, Gran Turismo 5 will feature close to 1,000 vehicles on more than 70 tracks in 20-plus locations. With a massive budget of $60 million, it is also an official licensee of several major racing circuits, such as NASCAR and the World Rally Championship. A sample of the PlayStation 3 exclusive, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, was released in April 2008, garnering decent reviews.
For more information, check out GameSpot’s previous coverage of Gran Turismo 5.
Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
“Gran Turismo 5 gone gold – Report” was posted by Tom Magrino on Tue, 02 Nov 2010 14:39:34 -0700 -
Publisher beats Q2 expectations.
EA has revealed its Q2 financials today and it looks like better news for shareholders. The publisher has exceeded revenue expectations and increased its market share on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
The publisher is still making a loss, but its going in the right direction at least. Losses were down to $201 million for the quarter ending September 30, compared to $391 million this time last year.
It’s the number one publisher on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 with a 25 per cent segment share. That’s two points higher than over the same period last year. It’s on top in the PC sector too, with a 27 per cent slice of the pie.
