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3 CommentsJerry Bruckheimer's game studio 'no longer a functioning entity'
By Michael McWhertor on Mar 01, 2013 03.01.13
Movie and television producer Jerry Bruckheimer's plans to create new and original video games at his own studio appear to have come to an end. According to a report from GameSpot, Jerry Bruckheimer Games is "no longer a functioning entity."
Bruckheimer, known for producing films like Top Gun, Armageddon and Bad Boys 2, as well as television series CSI, announced a partnership with MTV Games in 2007. Bruckheimer planned to build a game incubation studio with MTV Games, staffed with "experienced video game experts, artists and storytellers" to create new games.
"Video games represent a new and innovative medium for what we've always tried to do, which is to tell great stories. But this medium is unique in that it gives the player control over how those stories unfold," Bruckheimer said...
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0 CommentsBlacklight: Retribution coming to consoles
By Michael McWhertor on Mar 01, 2013 03.01.13
Zombie Studios' free-to-play first-person shooter Blacklight: Retribution will make the jump from PC to consoles, according to an announcement from the developer.
Blacklight: Retribution designer Jared Gerritzen says in a release cited by IGN that the developer has reacquired the console publishing rights from Perfect World Entertainment for the game, but does not specify which consoles are being targeted. Zombie released Retribution's predecessor, Blacklight: Tango Down, for Windows PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
The developer says it is "thrilled to see all of the major console manufacturers supporting the free to play business model," potentially hinting at a free release on consoles as well.
Earlier this week, Zombie released Blacklight: Retribution's Onslaught mode and new...
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3 CommentsXbox Live Gold free weekend comes to U.K. gamers March 8
By Michael McWhertor on Mar 01, 2013 03.01.13
Xbox 360 owners in the U.K. will have free access to Xbox Live Gold services next weekend, from March 8 to 10. Online multiplayer gaming access will be available to all Xbox Live members, as will video entertainment services like Sky and Blinkbox.
Access to subscription services like Netflix, Lovefilm Instant and Now TV will also be available. Several game-related promotions are timed to the free weekend, including a Halo 4 avatar giveaway, double XP in Far Cry 3 and Assassin's Creed 3, a "Gold Unlocked Weekend Challenge" in Forza Horizon and more.
The free weekend promotion is being sponsored by Irrational Games' BioShock Infinite, according to Xbox.com.
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0 CommentsBattlefield 3 End Game's staggered March release dates revealed
By Dave Tach on Mar 01, 2013 03.01.13
End Game, the final Battlefield 3 add-on, will be released on four dates throughout March, according to a post on the official Battlefield blog.
PlayStation 3 owners with Battlefield Premium accounts will get the DLC next Tuesday, March 5. Xbox 360 and PC Battlefield Premium members will get End Game the following Tuesday, March 12. Those without Premium memberships on PlayStation 3 can download it on March 19, while Xbox 360 and Windows PC owners can download it on March 26.
You can check out a video above to see lead designer Niklas Fegraeus discuss the four new maps, which will arrive with End Game alongside the new dirt bike vehicle and Air Superiority mode.
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8 CommentsMaxis plans to expand city size in SimCity 'eventually'
By Samit Sarkar on Mar 01, 2013 03.01.13
Maxis put a hard limit on city size in the upcoming SimCity, but the studio plans to expand the maximum city size in the future, creative director Ocean Quigley told IncGamers.
"We'll eventually get around to expanding the city size," said Quigley, although he cautioned that he could not give a specific time frame for that change.
Maxis placed a limit of four square kilometers on city size for performance considerations, said Quigley — that size was "the performance constraint [the studio] decided to work under" in order to ensure SimCity could run on computers with a wide variety of hardware specifications.
"We need to keep in mind that SimCity is a mainstream game," Quigley explained. "It's not a game that is only going to run on high-end gaming PCs; it has to run in your dad's...
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6 CommentsThe Elder Scrolls Online beta invites go out end of March
By Michael McWhertor on Mar 01, 2013 03.01.13
The initial round of beta invites for The Elder Scrolls Online will go out to the public later this month, developer ZeniMax Online Studios said in an update today that provides details on the MMO's early testing.
According to an FAQ posted by the developer, early beta invitations will be for scheduled play sessions.
"This means that the game will only be available for play during specific times (provided in the invitation)," the developer writes. "Every beta event will have a clear focus; our developers will be looking for feedback on specific areas, features, or other gameplay elements."
ZeniMax Online expects to hold a few beta gameplay sessions per month, generally on the weekends.
In the first couple months of beta testing, ZeniMax says it will invite "smaller groups of...
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1 CommentSpace Hulk developers look to remain faithful to the board game
By Dave Tach on Mar 01, 2013 03.01.13
The developers at Full Control want Space Hulk's upcoming turn-based strategy video game adaptation to be as faithful as possible to the original board game, CEO Thomas Hentschel Lund told Rock, Paper, Shotgun.
Originally created by Games Workshop, Space Hulk takes place in the Warhammer 40,000 universe where players lead a small team of Space Marine Terminators through the remnants of an ancient spacefaring vessel.
"What we're overall aiming for is to take the board game experience and make a digital game out of it," Lund said. "What we mean with that is not taking it literally 1:1. If you have in your head the board game as you play that, and XCOM, and mix those two together. That's the game experience you can expect from Space Hulk."
The collaboration between board game...
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2 CommentsRambo: The Video Game will use original voice tracks from the Sylvester Stallone movies
By Tracey Lien at 5:44p 03.01.13
Reef Entertainment's Rambo: The Video Game will feature the original voice tracks of characters John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) and Col. Samuel Trautman (Richard Crenna) from the movie series.
A Reef Entertainment spokesperson announced today that the studio's goal is to "produce the finest Rambo video game ever made. To do that, we are including dialogue, special effects and music from the movies."
According to the spokesperson, Studio Canal — the owners of the Rambo films — trawled through their extensive archives to track down audio files and original voice recording tapes for the films First Blood, Rambo: First Blood Part 2 and Rambo 3. The game will use dialogue, screams and exclamations from the films.
Rambo: The Video Game is due to release later this year on Xbox 360,...
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4 CommentsSkulls of the Shogun gets new, reduced pricing on XBLA, Windows PC and Surface
By Tracey Lien on Mar 01, 2013 03.01.13
Indie developer 17-Bit announced today that its asynchronous strategy game for Microsoft gaming systems, Skulls of the Shogun, is receiving a price drop.
On Xbox Live Arcade, the game is now priced at 800 Microsoft Points, down from its previous 1,200 Microsoft Points. The game will be sold at $6.99 for the Microsoft Surface, previously priced at $9.99, while the Windows Phone version will remain at $4.99.
Polygon's review of Skills of the Shogun can be read here.
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2 CommentsSuper Stickman Golf 2 launching in March, trailer released
By Samit Sarkar on Mar 01, 2013 03.01.13
Super Stickman Golf 2, the sequel to Noodlecake Studios' physics-based golf game, will be available this month, the company announced alongside the release of the game's first trailer yesterday.
Noodlecake announced Super Stickman Golf 2 last July and originally planned to launch it in 2012.
The sequel will feature 16 new courses and 4 redone versions of courses from the original game — Noodlecake says it built Super Stickman Golf 2 from the ground up to support dynamic objects like the windmill in the trailer. The studio also revamped the existing Race Mode to support eight players in local multiplayer; the first game's Race Mode, which works with two to four players, can be played online.
As previously announced, a new asynchronous online multiplayer mode is the major addition to...
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4 CommentsIGN to cancel IPL6 eSports tournament, says report
By Michael McWhertor on Mar 01, 2013 03.01.13
The IGN Pro League 6 eSports tournament scheduled to take place in Las Vegas later this month will be canceled, according to a report from GameSpot, citing sources.
GameSpot reports tournament sponsors are having promotional products returned to them ahead of IPL6 and certain qualifying tournaments have been canceled. The tournament is still currently scheduled to take place at the Cosmopolition of Las Vegas on March 28 to 31, and feature pro players competing in StarCraft 2, League of Legends and ShootMania Storm.
If accurate, the tournament's cancellation could leave some pro players and spectators with plane tickets and hotel rooms purchased for an event that no longer exists.
When contacted, a representative for IGN and IPL declined to comment on the reported cancellation of the...
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3 CommentsShin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked gets April 5 European release date
By Dave Tach on Mar 01, 2013 03.01.13
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked will be released April 5 in Europe, according to a post on the Ghostlight blog.
Ghostlight will begin taking pre-orders on Friday, March 8 in the Ghostlight store. The game will sell for £34.99 ($52.52).
Those who order the voice-acted and graphically enhanced Nintendo 3DS port of the 2009 DS game through Ghostlight will have postage waived or the price discounted to account for shipping costs. Orders will also come with a double-sided Devil Survivor Overclocked poster featuring the box art on one side and artwork designed by the developers at Atlus on the other.
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked was released in North America in 2011.
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4 CommentsStudent game developers to present anti-obesity game at Washington DC summit
By Dave Tach on Mar 01, 2013 03.01.13
JiveHealth, a game development team made up of university students, will present its game Jungo at the Building a Healthier Future Summit in Washington D.C. on March 3, according to a press release from Tribeca Flashpoint Academy.
The smartphone game is designed to combat childhood obesity by teaching healthy eating habits. Jungo has two components: a shooter that uses slingshot loaded up with healthy snacks, as well as upgradable characters. Children can upgrade their character by taking pictures of healthy foods in the real world.
JiveHealth designer Nathan Wangler and artist Hailey Schmidt hail from Tribeca Flashpoint Academy, while founder Dennis Ai is a student at Northwestern University. The trio entered the game in the End Childhood Obesity Innovation Challenge, which is part...
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15 CommentsLeague of Legends for Mac is now in open beta
By Tracey Lien on Mar 01, 2013 03.01.13
League of Legends for Mac is now in open beta, Riot Games announced today.
Posting to the official League of Legends website, the studio announced that the League of Legends Mac client is now available for download, and does everything the PC client does, "meaning you'll get all future features, bug fixes and new content on the same schedule as PC players, but on your native OS."
The game went into a public beta environment back in January. The League of Legends Mac client is available for download here.
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2 CommentsTecmo Koei Canada reportedly closing at end of March
By Samit Sarkar on Mar 01, 2013 03.01.13
Tecmo Koei Canada will close at the end of March, the Financial Post reports, citing a company official.
The Toronto-based studio is Tecmo Koei's only North American development house; Tecmo Koei America, based in Burlingame, Calif., handles publishing and associated duties.
Tecmo Koei Canada developed the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 titles Fatal Inertia (2007) and Warriors: Legends of Troy (2011; image above), and more recently worked on the mobile games Samurai Cats and My Monster Rancher. It has also made games for PlayStation Portable and Nintendo DS.
The studio was established in September 2001 as Koei Canada, a CG studio for Koei games. It began developing software in 2005, with Fatal Inertia being its first original title. The company was renamed Tecmo Koei Canada after the...
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14 CommentsPlayStation Network going down for maintenance next Monday
By Griffin McElroy at 1:00p 03.01.13
The PlayStation Network will be down for maintenance for an 11-hour period on Monday, March 4, from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET, Sony announced today.
The downtime, announced on the PlayStation Community forums, can be largely avoided with some careful planning. Anyone who has signed onto the PSN over the past few days can remain logged in during the maintenance, and continue playing games online unabated. However, even folks who remain signed in won't be able to access the PlayStation Store or PlayStation Home.
