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Publisher said to be seeking an independent European studio to craft new installment in highly regarded Xbox-exclusive street racing franchise.
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“Microsoft revving up new Project Gotham Racing?” was posted by Tom Magrino on Mon, 01 Nov 2010 15:08:34 -0700 -
It’s too big for Nintendo’s system.
The planned November WiiWare release of acclaimed indie platformer Super Meat Boy has been pushed back, developer Team Meat has confirmed.
A post on its Twitter feed read, “Attention internets, the wii version is NOT coming out in Nov its impossible. we havent even gotten the size down under 50mb yet (goal=39mb).”
Team Meat’s Edmund McMillen later told ShackNews, “The size limit is a huge issue. We are looking into our options and talking things over with Nintendo to see what we can do.
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PopCap Games bringing latest iteration of seminal match-3 puzzler to PCs next month for $20.
Even before the casual gaming business began booming, PopCap Games was helping gamers idle away a few minutes with addictive puzzle games. One of the most popular of those games, Bejeweled, saw first release in 2000 and has since sold more than 50 million units, spawning a host of copycat and one-offs in the process. Today, PopCap announced the latest installment in that puzzle series, Bejeweled 3, will be available for the PC on December 7.
Bejeweled 3 will not stray far from the tried-and-true match-3 style of puzzle gameplay. The game’s simple play mechanics see players presented with a field of gems, with the goal of swapping the place of two adjacent baubles to form a sequence of three or more and clear them from the board. The game awards bonus points and score multipliers for extended sequences.
As for the changes in Bejeweled 3, PopCap has crafted a 40-mission quest mode, which includes 11 minigames that meld classic Bejeweled play with other “classic game mechanics.” The game also includes updated versions of four modes previously seen in Bejeweled 2, which saw first release in 2004. Other new riffs on the Bejeweled formula include Ice Storm and Poker game types.
Bejeweled 3 will be available through PopCap.com as well as other digital distribution portals and retail outlets for $20.
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“Bejeweled 3 shimmering on Dec. 7” was posted by Tom Magrino on Mon, 01 Nov 2010 12:14:51 -0700 -
Asks gamers to report any glitches.
Fable III developer Lionhead is aware that the game shipped with a number of bugs and is working on patches.
A post on the studio’s official website explained, “Of course as with any videogame there are some people with technical issues. That’s bound to happen of course with a game the size of Fable, our poor testers worked flat out but if something slips through the nets, then don’t panic!”
It wants any gamers who spot glitches to report them via a dedicated web page it has set up. It promises to keep a close on user feedback but won’t commit to a timescale for an update.
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Microsoft looking for suitable developer.
Microsoft is apparently in talks with a number of developers regarding a makeover of the dormant Project Gotham Racing franchise.
According to Develop’s sources, the platform holder has held meetings with various European independent studios regarding the revamp but is yet to settle on a developer.
The last game in the series, 2007’s Project Gotham Racing 4, was made by Bizarre Creations. The Blur developer forfeited the reins when it was bought out by Activision later that year.
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Following purported PlayStation Phone leak, CFO Masaru Kato says a “new product” will address the mobile gaming market.
Last week, one of the bigger stories was the purported leak of the PlayStation Phone. According to unconfirmed reports and convincing photos, the device would have buttons and a form factor reminiscent of the PSP Go, and would reportedly play games based on the Android mobile-phone operating system.
As it usually does with anything it deems “rumor and speculation,” Sony declined to comment on the leaked photos. However, in a conference call following its latest earnings report, Sony CFO Masaru Kato did hint that Sony is working on a product–or products–to tackle the burgeoning mobile gaming market.
“I don’t think we can discuss specific product or features at this conference call,” he told analysts, according to a
Seeking Alpha transcript. “Mobile gaming is a very important business area for us. We started out with the PSP that was our first mobile gaming console, but since then the market as you know has expanded in to bigger arenas that gaming on mobile phones, gaming on tablets, gaming on and also certain mobile devices.”Kato continued, “The PSP being a proprietary platform was more concentrated I’d say core gaming segment rather than the light game [segment], but now we are addressing that market as well. I can not be specific as to how we will introduce [a] new product to address these markets, but one thing I can say is that we have those markets addressed and we will come out with products and services to capture the broader gaming market.”
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“Sony executive hints at gaming phone” was posted by Tor Thorsen on Mon, 01 Nov 2010 11:31:09 -0700 -
Japanese publisher says “smaller growth” of new software spurred revenue revision down to $843 million, profit to $21 million.
Square Enix began its current fiscal year on the lifting wings of a dragon–Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2, that is. During the April-June period, the Japanese publisher saw production enough out of the DS title to post a ¥1.81 billion ($22.5 million) profit on revenues that were up 11 percent from the prior year to ¥32.5 billion ($403 million). However, Square Enix has been unable to sustain that pace through its second fiscal quarter.
With Square Enix expected to release its six-month earnings later this week, the publisher today preannounced a severe downward earnings revision for the April-September fiscal period. Having previously forecast sales of ¥76 billion ($942 million), Square Enix now expects to pull in ¥68 billion ($843 million) for the period, a 10.5 percent decrease.
Profit projections also fell sharply. With initial six-month income estimated at ¥2.4 billion ($29 million), Square Enix now expects to bring in ¥1.7 billion ($21 million), a change of 29.2 percent.
As for the why, Square Enix said new game software releases saw “relatively smaller growth,” though no specific titles were named. Square Enix released a handful of high-profile titles during the period. Included among these was the tepidly received Front Mission Evolved, as well as Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days, and Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light.
The publisher also attributed its revision to an appreciation of the yen in foreign currency markets, as well as losses associated with the sale of equipment and property and a change in accounting standards.
Square Enix believes it will be able to compensate for the second-quarter weakness through the rest of its fiscal year. Therefore, the publisher said that it has not revised its full-year earnings projections.
Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
“Square Enix slashes six-month forecast by 10% ” was posted by Tom Magrino on Mon, 01 Nov 2010 11:14:56 -0700 -
Japanese publisher says “smaller growth” of new software spurred revenue revision down to $843 million, profit to $21 million.
Square Enix began its current fiscal year on the lifting wings of a dragon–Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2, that is. During the April-June period, the Japanese publisher saw production enough out of the DS title to post a ¥1.81 billion ($22.5 million) profit on revenues that were up 11 percent from the prior year to ¥32.5 billion ($403 million). However, Square Enix has been unable to sustain that pace through its second fiscal quarter.
With Square Enix expected to release its six-month earnings later this week, the publisher today preannounced a severe downward earnings revision for the April-September fiscal period. Having previously forecast sales of ¥76 billion ($942 million), Square Enix now expects to pull in ¥68 billion ($843 million) for the period, a 10.5 percent decrease.
Profit projections also fell sharply. With initial six-month income estimated at ¥2.4 billion ($29 million), Square Enix now expects to bring in ¥1.7 billion ($21 million), a change of 29.2 percent.
As for the why, Square Enix said new game software releases saw “relatively smaller growth,” though no specific titles were named. Square Enix released a handful of high-profile titles during the period. Included among these was the tepidly received Front Mission Evolved, as well as Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days, and Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light.
The publisher also attributed its revision to an appreciation of the yen in foreign currency markets, as well as losses associated with the sale of equipment and property and a change in accounting standards.
Square Enix believes it will be able to compensate for the second-quarter weakness through the rest of its fiscal year. Therefore, the publisher said that it has not revised its full-year earnings projections.
Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
“Square Enix slashes six-month forecast by 10% ” was posted by Tom Magrino on Mon, 01 Nov 2010 11:14:56 -0700 -
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.
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Lionhead’s regal sequel makes number one in its first week; Rock Band 3 fails to make the top 20.
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“Fable III rules UK sales chart” was posted by Jane Douglas on Mon, 01 Nov 2010 10:05:17 -0700
