Fable 3 to use Kinect?

Posted by Jereme Puik at 3:41pm on August 5th, 2010

There had been some mumblings in the industry lately from Peter Molyneux regarding the upcoming release of Fable 3’s involvement with Kinect. Originally, Molyneux has denied any sort of notion that Fable 3 would ship with Kinect capabilities. This was back when Molyneux first appeared on the Engadget show. Joystiq discovered after talking with the Microsoft Game Studios Director that it is possible that Fable 3 might ship with Kinect possibilities post-launch as downloadable content.

Joystiq is scheduled to be posting a full interview with Peter Molyneux today so you can look forward to more information on the subject.

Via Joystiq

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EA announces yet another Sims title

Posted by Jereme Puik at 2:34pm on August 4th, 2010

Yup, Electronic Arts seems to be cranking up the milking machine with another new Sims game in the works. This one is called MySims Sky Heroes. It’s a new flying adventure title developed under the EA Play label. The game will be released on the Nintendo Wii and DS and for the first time on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.

In MySims SkyHeroes, players take to the sky to lead the resistance against Morcubus and his drone army and to stop his plans to take over the skyways. Starting as an unknown pilot, players fight to become a celebrated hero as they defeat dangerous enemies in aerial combat, test their reflexes in fast-paced speed challenges, and take on massive enemy bosses that demand all their skills as a pilot to survive. As they progress, players build, customize and tune their aircraft to give them an edge in combat – upgrade wings for swifter maneuvers, switch out the engine for a speed boost, or change the paint job to camouflage the plane and avoid enemy fire.

The game is set to hit store shelves this Fall. Look for more info here as it becomes available.

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Don’t plan on seeing an Alpha Protocol sequel

Posted by Jereme Puik at 6:11pm on July 6th, 2010

Sega has today said that they will not be pushing forward with a sequel for the recently released Alpha Protocol.  According to MetaCritic,  the game had some well-received reviews but ended up with an average sub-70 score overall. This disappointed the team over at Obsidian. However, Sega told CVG that they will still not be pushing for a sequel.

“Let’s speak very commercially; the game hasn’t sold what we’ve expected, therefore we won’t be doing a sequel,” said Hayes.

“The concept was brilliant, though,” he added. “You know this whole thing with MetaCritic where you have to be in the high 70s to mid-80s minimum [to have any success] – well, with RPGs you have got to be in the late 80s”.

Via: CVG

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Infamous 2 Not Possible on Xbox 360?

Posted by Jereme Puik at 6:26pm on July 5th, 2010

According to Sucker Punch developers, and development director, Chris Zimmerman, Infamous 2 is not possible on the Xbox 360 platform. According to CVG.com, he said in a recent interview “There’s just more processing power on the PS3. If you look at games like Uncharted 2 that’s a game that you actually can’t do on Xbox no matter how clever you are.”

However, Sucker Punch still had some issues along the way to actually figure out the PS3 hardware when they first released the original Infamous. He did admit that there were some struggles: “The PS3 has this elaborate architecture where there’s a whole bunch of different places you can have your code run and we had it all running in the slow part.”

So what does this tell you? Sucker Punch is being bold and claiming the game cannot run on the Xbox 360. What will they think of next?

Via Computer&videogames.com

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Ignition Entertainment licenses CryENGINE 3

Posted by Chris Holmes at 12:43pm on May 12th, 2010

Ignition Entertainment has announced they have licensed Crytek’s CryENGINE 3 for an unannounced title from its London studio. The game is a combat action-adventure title for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

“For us, the advanced cross-platform technologies offered by Crytek were the natural choice. The comprehensive tools and expert support provided by Crytek, combined with the experience of our team, are already delivering impressive results. In particular, the rapid speed of iteration that can be achieved when using CryENGINE®3 Sandbox™ makes this a tool of choice for anyone seriously intent on delivering AAA cross-platform titles,” said Vijay Chadha, CEO of Ignition Entertainment.

“We’re delighted that Ignition London decided CryENGINE 3 is the only engine capable of achieving the vision for their flagship game. Their team is highly talented with ambitions to create truly state-of-the-art games – and from what we’ve seen already, we’re confident their development will showcase and even enhance the technology in CryENGINE 3. We always work closely with all our licensees and we look forward to achieving amazing things together with Ignition London in the future,” added Carl Jones, Director of Global Business Development CryENGINE at Crytek.

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Activision Blizzard Q1 2010 financial results revealed

Posted by Chris Holmes at 12:46pm on May 7th, 2010

Activision Blizzard has announced their financial results for Q1 2010. That’s the quarter ended March 31, 2010. Activision Blizzard’s GAAP net revenues were $1.3 billion, and its non-GAAP net revenues were $714 million. Their reported GAAP earnings per diluted share were $0.30, with the company’s non-GAAP earnings per diluted share were $0.09.

Robert Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard, stated, “Our better-than-expected first quarter performance was driven by strong global consumer demand for Activision’s Call of Duty® and Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft®. Activision’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare® 2 was the #1 title overall in the U.S. and Europe for the quarter, which illustrates the continued momentum of our catalogue. Additionally, during the quarter, Activision launched DreamWorks’ How To Train Your Dragon and the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Stimulus Package, which shattered Xbox LIVE records with more than one million packages downloaded in the first 24 hours.”

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Bungie signs 10 year deal with Activision

Posted by Chris Holmes at 2:10pm on April 29th, 2010

Bungie has announced a decade-long deal with Activision. The publisher will be bringing the studio’s new games (based on new intellectual property) across multiple platforms and devices. Bungie will retain the rights to their new IP under the terms of the deal. Apparently, it has taken the companies nine months to hammer out the fine details of the deal but now it’s concrete. This comes at an interesting time for Activision, whom is suffering from a mass exodus at Infinity Ward and the resignation of its president and CEO Mike Griffith last week.

“We chose to partner with Activision on our next IP because of their global reach, multi-platform experience and marketing expertise,” said Harold Ryan, president of Bungie. “From working together over the past nine months on this agreement, it is clear that Activision supports our commitment to giving our fans the best possible gaming experiences.”

Read the rest of this story »

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More staff leave Infinity Ward and join Respawn

Posted by Jereme Puik at 3:45am on April 27th, 2010

More staff members from the talent pool of Infinity Ward have jumped ship for the newly opened Respawn Entertainment. Lead character artist Joel Emslie and artists Ryan Lastimosa and Brad Allen are the latest members to leave the crumbling developer. In total the headcount for developers remaining at Infinity Ward has dropped to 11 so it’s only a matter of time before the studio becomes a desalt wasteland.

Although with all the drama from the studio crumbling, the developer still managed to release some downloadable content for Modern Warfare 2 calling it the “Stimulus Package” for the Xbox 360 costing you 15 bucks. The DLC will see release on the PC and Playstation 3 on May 4th.

Via G4TV

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More key staff leave Infinity Ward

Posted by Chris Holmes at 3:58pm on April 14th, 2010

Lead designers Steve Fukuda and Zied Reike have resigned from Infinity Ward. Both had been with the developers since they opened back in 2002. They join the previous departures of programmer Jon Shiring, designer Mackey McCandlish, software engineer Francesco Gigliotti, lead designer Todd Alderman and former studio heads Jason West and Vince Zampella.

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Silicon Knights obtains government investment

Posted by Chris Holmes at 12:59pm on April 13th, 2010

Silicon Knights, developer of Too Human and Eternal Darkness, has been given $4 million (Canadian dollars) by the Canadian government. The money is to help produce a new and unannounced title, and should help to create 65 long-term jobs. The company was given $300K Canadian dollars back in 2008 to start developing a psychological action thriller.

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Two more staff members leave Infinity Ward

Posted by Chris Holmes at 12:40pm on April 13th, 2010

Programmer Jon Shiring and designer Mackey McCandlish have resigned from Infinity Ward. McCandlish had spent eight years with the Modern Warfare 2 developers, with Shiring notching up six years with the company. The news comes after last week’s resignation of both software engineer Francesco Gigliotti and lead designer Todd Alderman.

Former studio heads Jason West and Vince Zampella have gone on to form their own development outfit – Respawn Entertainment. They have signed a publishing agreement with EA and are currently building up their studio by obtaining more staff.

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The 411 on Halo’s canned MMO

Posted by Matthew Archer at 6:08am on April 13th, 2010

For starters, I didn’t even know they were working on an MMO… A few years back, Microsoft-owned Ensemble Studios (the team behind Age of Empires) was working on a Halo MMORPG code-named Titan. That project ended up a bust, and was cancelled by Microsoft. This is why:

“We had all this incredible talent, we had the right people, the right passion, we had a phenomenally successful IP – the Halo IP”, says Dusty Monk, formerly of Ensemble.

“But Microsoft was looking really hard at the Nintendo Wii and they were really excited by the numbers that the Wii was turning. So part of this changing of the guard at Microsoft came along with the changing of the attitude to this very expensive, very long and very protacted $90 million USD project we were working on. To cut a long story short, Titan was closed down.”

Maybe it’s just me, but I always thought the Halo franchise was known for its fast-paced action combat style, leaving the whole social aspect on the doormat.

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West and Zampella join EA

Posted by Chris Holmes at 3:52pm on April 12th, 2010

Infinity Ward’s former bosses Jason West and Vince Zampella have announced the formation of Respawn Entertainment. It’s their new development outfit, which has a publishing deal with Electronic Arts. West and Zampella were fired from Infinity Ward back in March by Activision, under accusations of insubordination. The pair has filed a lawsuit against Activision, whom has also issued a counter-suit. Respawn Entertainment is still in its early stages, and is starting to assemble its staff now. The studio’s executive team get to keep the IP they make, with EA Partners getting distribution rights to all of the future games the studio creates.

“Respawn Entertainment marks a fresh start for Jason and me,” said Zampella, GM of Respawn.”For the past decade we led a great development team and poured our hearts into creating an epic game franchise. We’re very proud of what we built – and proud that so many millions of fans enjoyed those games. Today we hope to do it all over again — open a new studio, hire a great team, and create brand new games with a new partner, EA.”

“We’re excited,” added West, president of the studio. “Now that the team is in control of the games and brands, we can ensure that the fans are treated as well as they deserve.”

Read the rest of this story »

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Star Wars: Battlefront Online canned, developers laid off

Posted by Matthew Archer at 6:23am on April 9th, 2010

To all you SW: Battlefront fans out there—bad news is amongst us. Sources tell that a new installment in the series, in development by Slant Six, has been cancelled, and a number of the studio have, unfortunately, been laid off as a result.

Brian Thalken, managing director at Slant Six, had this to say: “Our current project needs to not align with our current staffing levels”. He also confirmed that an undisclosed number of developers has been “temporarily” laid off, in hopes that they can be re-hired once the studio’s workload is able to support them again.

According to sources close to the studio, the “changes in project needs” that are prompting layoffs are: the result of Battlefront Online being cancelled by publisher LucasArts. Apparently, LucasArts has a “stacked 2011 schedule” when it comes to Star Wars games. They wanted Battlefront Online out in 2010 to avoid this crunch. When it became clear that the game wasn’t going to make the foreseen 2010 release, LucasArts “put the project on ice”.

Well, the game came and went, without even so much as a peek of what it might have looked like.

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Mass Effect 2 DLC now available after delay

Posted by Matthew Archer at 12:50am on April 7th, 2010

New Mass Effect 2 DLC, Kasumi’s Stolen Memory, the first DLC addition for Mass Effect 2, just came to the Xbox Live Marketplace today, after a day-long delay due to an unspecific issue with Microsoft, according to BioWare.

Earlier today, a BioWare spokesperson acknowledged the delay and said that the studio was working with Microsoft on a solution. Now, Kasumi’s Stolen Memory is online and available for 560 MS Points.

It is the first premium DLC package for Mass Effect 2, so even those who are a part of the Cerberus Network will have to pay for this one, unlike previous Cerberus-exclusive downloads.

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