Square Enix has confirmed that its direct sequel to 2009's Final Fantasy XIII will be released in Japan on December 15, in North America on January 31, 2012, and in Europe on February 3. Japan also gets a limited edition hardware bundle, pictured below.
Jason Citron, co-founder and CEO of mobile social network OpenFeint, has left the compay to pursue new opportunities. His replacement is Naoki Aoyagi, who joins from Gree, the Japanese mobile company which acquired OpenFeint in April. Aoyagi said: "In just over 24 months, OpenFeint has grown to over 120 million users across 7,000 games. I thank Jason for his leadership growing the company and wish him well in his new adventures. I'm excited to lead OpenFeint through its next phase of growth." OpenFeint and Gree are to integrate their US operations, with more details promised in the coming weeks.
Market research data shows significant games spend in Russia, Mexico and Brazil.
Ubisoft and Eidos veterans have formed Tribute Games, a Montreal-based start-up focusing on "retro games with a modern twist for home consoles and mobile platforms". Tribute consists of Ninja Senki creator Jonathan Lavigne, Justin Cyr, and Jean-François Major, whose prior credits include the likes of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Scott Pilgrim Vs The World, Shaun White Snowboarding and Star Wars: Episode 3, Gamesetwatch reports. The studio's debut game, a 16-bit-style pinball/RPG hybrid called Wizorb, is due to launch on Xbox Live Indie later this month with a PC version to follow. "We chose the name Tribute Games because when we make games, we want to pay tribute to all the cool games from our childhood," said Lavigne. “We’re passionate indies aiming at making entertaining games with a focus on pixel art and classic game design (sometimes with a modern twist)."
Nintendo reports 185,000 units sold after August 12 price cut, an increase of 260 per cent.
Deus Ex tops software chart after just five days on shelves, but retail sales revenue falls for a fourth consecutive month.
Atari founder says his Speed To Learn project can rescue America's "disaster" of a public school system.
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Says closure of Homefront developer Kaos and four other studios this year is part of its "fewer, bigger" strategy; Montreal headcount to more than double in two years.
In July it was noticed that the domain modernwarfare3.com redirected to EA's Battlefield website. Activision sought to gain control of the domain, and a three-person panel at the US National Arbitration Forum has ruled in its favour. According to Fusible, the previous owner of the URL Anthony Abraham had argued that the phrase "modern warfare" was generic, but Activision satisfied three essential criteria: that the domain was identical or "confusingly similar" to its trademark; that Abraham had no legitimate interests in owning the domain; and that it had been registered and was being used in bad faith.
ThinkOptic claims the Wii, its controller, sensor bar and even games violate patents used in its motion-controlled TV remote.
Richard Lemarchand, lead designer on the Uncharted series, will give the keynote address at the fifth annual IndieCade festival in Culver City, California next month. As well as Lemarchand's keynote, Beauty And Risk: Why I Love Indie Games, there will be talks from the likes of Braid creator Jonathan Blow and Canabalt mastermind Adam Saltsman. Elsewhere there's an experimental gameplay workshop, the IndieXchange networking sessions, as well as a host of previews of upcoming indie games. IndieCade runs from October 6 to 9 across multiple Culver City venues, with tickets costing $195 in advance and $250 on the door.
Speaking to Gamasutra at last weekend's Call Of Duty XP event, Activision's digital vice-president Jamie Berger said the social features in subscription service Elite will serve to unite the Call Of Duty playerbase, creating a holistic community from a previously hostile one. "One of the most interesting things to me is how positive people are in the service," he said. "People are being supportive; they're actually talking to each other, and amongst each other. [Elite] creates a social contract," he added, as Jean-Jacques Rousseau spun in his grave. "You try to treat your neighbours with respect. It starts breaking a lot of the bad assumptions about what a shooter is. It breaks down these anonymous walls and turns it into something where you start knowing each other."
4Disney Interactive has confirmed to Gamasutra that it has cut jobs at its Utah-based subsidiary Avalanche Software. The studio, which recently completed on Cars 2: The Videogame and before that delivered another Disney tie-in, Toy Story 3, is understood to have let between 15 and 20 staff go on September 1.
The publisher had somehow uploaded a development build of its zombie FPS instead of the final version, leaving many North American players with a less-than-satisfactory experience. Deep Silver has since confirmed to Rock Paper Shotgun that the correct build will be released "during the day."
Reuters reports that Sony has appointed Philip Reitinger, formerly director of the US national cyber security center, as its chief information security officer. Kaz Hirai announced the new position in May, in the aftermath of the attack on PSN that resulted in the personal details of over 100 million users being compromised. While Hirai said at the time that the incumbent would report directly to chief information officer Shinji Hasejima, instead Reitinger is to report to general counsel Nicole Seligman.
US game journalism pioneer Kunkel was a co-founder of Electronic Games magazine, and his Game Doctor columns were fan favourites in the likes of EGM and Computer Gaming World. For 1UP's in-depth obituary, follow the source link below.
Infinity Ward kills the killstreak and puts greater emphasis on tactics and teamwork.
6Square Enix plans to grow the staff count at Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Thief 4 developer Eidos Montreal from 330 to 680 over the next three years, La Presse Affaires reported Thursday (via Montreal Gazette). It said the publisher intends to add 100 new employees by the end of 2012 and the remainder by 2015, making it the city’s third largest studio behind Ubisoft Montreal and Electronic Arts Montreal. Following negotiations with the Quebec government, Square Enix has reportedly been assured a $2 million subsidy from Investissement Québec to facilitate the growth. The news comes a week after the publisher launched the critically acclaimed Deus Ex: Human Revolution, which debuted atop the UK all formats chart on Tuesday.
Taking place on November 1 and 2 at the Hilton Bonaventure, the conference will bring together over 80 internationally esteemed industry figures, including Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot on the future of the videogame industry, art game maker Jason Rohrer on interactive storytelling and Naughty Dog lead game designer Richard Lemarchand on the making of the Uncharted series. Look out also for Rocksteady's David Hego and Eidos Montreal's David Anfossi on what happens when your studio's debut game is Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Click the source link below for the full schedule and registration info.
The Ambassador Programme, Nintendo's make-good plan for early adopters following the global 3DS price drop, isn't supposed to launch until tomorrow, but Destructoid reports that the ten free NES games on offer are available now. They're not on the eShop itself just yet, but eligible users should head to the Your Downloads section of the eShop's Settings screen where all ten games are waiting to be downloaded.
