Thursday, 18 March 2010
Mikami Teasing Additional New Title Via Website
The creator of the resident Evil series, Shinji Mikami, has recently had a teaser website go live with a countdown timer that will elapse in two weeks’ time, hinting that a new game from the gentleman is on its way.
This could be a new title from the famed games creator or it could be the revealing of one of the existing projects he is working on with Goichi Suda (of Grasshopper Manufacture). Either way, we’ll find out for sure in two weeks time (let’s hope it meets our expectations).
This could be a new title from the famed games creator or it could be the revealing of one of the existing projects he is working on with Goichi Suda (of Grasshopper Manufacture). Either way, we’ll find out for sure in two weeks time (let’s hope it meets our expectations).
Wii Games Need Correct Marketing To Flourish On The Wii
Head of Nintendo of America, Reggie Fils-Aime has said that third-party companies and publishers can find success with Wii releases if they commit to long-term market of their wares:
“I think the one difference in our consumer base vs the competition’s platforms is that our consumers don't rush out to the store the day a title comes out."It certainly sounds like the impetus is being placed on the companies themselves to support the continued promotion of their games post-launch and keeping them in the minds of gamers for the long term. Still, maybe that could be done easier if Nintendo and the publishers worked together on the long term marketing aspect? Just a thought.
“The sales curve, whether it's our titles or third-party titles, tends to be over a much longer time period. What that means from a publisher's standpoint is that you have to be prepared to support a title over a longer-time period."
“You look at when publishers have done this with everything from Rock Band, Guitar Hero to EA Sports Active, and the sales are there. The sales don't tend to be there if a publisher takes an approach of let me try to do a big launch and then move onto something else; that experience has not been positive."
Games Addiction Rehab Opens In London, UK
The Metro newspaper has reported that a London based consultant psychiatrist has opened a recent rehab service for individuals who are addicted to modern forms of technology such as the internet, mobile phones (and the most relevant to you lot) games. He said about the program:
"Mental health services need to adapt quickly to the changing worlds young people inhabit and understand how seriously their lives can be impaired by unregulated time online, on-screen or in-game."Sounds like he has the best intentions but what stern parenting cant resolve is anyone’s guess. I’d have thought that not letting your children get their way all the time would allow them to grow up as decent human beings and not some of the downright horrible people we have to encounter every day (in my opinion anyway).
Sega Won't Get With The Motion Unless It's Popular
The boss of Sega Europe and North America, Mike Hayes has said that they will only get behind and support the PS3 and Xbox 360 motion control devices if sales figures show that they sell well upon release. He went on further to say:
“If you look at how many Xbox 360s or PS3s there in Europe – let's say 12m of each. If they get an attached rated of 12.5 per cent with these motion devices, that's 2.5m consumers for us to go after. If 10 per cent of those buy our games, that's 250k."This is fair enough as people such as Mr. Hayes need to look at this from a business and profit perspective but if the Wii is any measure of getting just about anyone to give a game a go I’d bet that they will sell in high numbers when both are released later this year.
"How much money can you realistically spend on development for that audience?"
“But Microsoft and Sony are talking very big numbers. If they can achieve that, it will make these devices very viable. Could sales of Natal hit 50 per cent of those current installed base? We think the price point will be very attractive. 360 has a long way to go with a lot more hardware.”
Mikami Comments On Primary PS3 Development For Vanquish
Shinji Mikami has commented his studio's decision to develop Vanquish for PS3 first was because he wanted to make sure it was not a shoddy port. Mikami said once his team has nailed PS3 development, it'll move onto Xbox 360 development:
“The team knows less about making games for PS3 than Xbox 360, so we thought the sensible thing to do was to make the game on PS3 first then move it over to Xbox."We also found out that Mikami is opening up his new studio.
“If we can get Vanquish to a certain standard on PS3, we can make Xbox the same.”
Get EverQuest Through Steam For Next To Nothing
Steam currently has an irresistible offer on until March 26th where you can grab EverQuest, along with 15 expansions which released over its 11 year current gaming period for a tiny £1.99. It's old as time itself but an awesome MMO, more info here.
A Few New Details On PixelJunk Racers Expansion
Q-Games' Dylan Cuthbert has revealed an add-on is on the way for PixelJunk Racers called '2nd Lap'. It'll add trophies, adjust difficulty (making it easier), YouTube upload support, and add a new mode call 'Ghost Attack'
No info on when it plans to release, or how much it will cost just yet, but we got word of the impending add-on last month thanks to the ESRB.
No info on when it plans to release, or how much it will cost just yet, but we got word of the impending add-on last month thanks to the ESRB.
Kane And Lynch 2: Dog Days Releasing In August
IO Interactive has confirmed Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days will release on August 24th, 2010 in North America and August 27th throughout Europe and other PAL territories, on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.
IllFonic Publishes New Nexuiz Screenshots
IllFonic has released some new screenshots of their upcoming title Nexuiz currently in development for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC and down to release sometime this year. That's more or less all we know about this one to be honest. More screenshots here.
Earthworm Jim Also Coming To DS Via DSiWare
Gameloft has confirmed it'll be releasing an Earthworm Jim remake on the DS via DSiWare, follow the release of the game on iPhone. It'll get a bit of a graphical update along with some specific DSi features such as a bonus game that uses the camera.
Demon Souls Passes 250,000 Unit Sales In The US
Atlus financial reports have numbered at 250,000 the total of Demon Souls games sold in the US. Despite the unanimous critical acclaim, sales haven’t been excellent (although it did give quite a boost to sales, which were initially 15,000), but Atlus initial expectations seemed low enough to consider the title an overachiever. Even more, Atlus last 6 months have closed with a 236.1% profit.
The PS3 exclusive was published in Japan by Sony, but they didn’t dare to export the title since they believed it wouldn’t work. Lately, Sony Computer Entertainment VP of international software Yeonkyung Kim, commented on their mistake of not betting more hardly on this game.
They could certainly redeem themselves by publishing it in Europe… so do it already!
The PS3 exclusive was published in Japan by Sony, but they didn’t dare to export the title since they believed it wouldn’t work. Lately, Sony Computer Entertainment VP of international software Yeonkyung Kim, commented on their mistake of not betting more hardly on this game.
They could certainly redeem themselves by publishing it in Europe… so do it already!
Sega Plans To Realise Better Titles On Xbox 360 And PS3
Sega has more or less finally realised a lot of its classic IP has been butchered on new consoles. Sega West’s Mike Hayes admitted the company has let a few of its classics (Sonic, Golden Axe, Sega Rally) arrive on new consoles in a complete mess and consequently, fucked the publisher's reputation:
“It’s important that our old IP that is respected, [and] we need to deliver a good product. And in some instances we have done that – look back at when we re-did Sega Rally. It scored well and was moderately successful commercially. But then with other great franchises like Golden Axe we didn’t produce a great game at all.
“Going forward, if we’re going to look at any existing IP to bring out the locker, we have to make sure we get the quality to a level we now expect. I’m not saying which IP it would be – a Streets Of Rage, a Crazy Taxi, whatever. What we have to do now is build something that is 85 per cent plus [rated]."
“We can’t just get away with PR.”
EA Looks At Digital distribution For The Future, But Present Is Retail
The digital download market has been one of the growing markets in games these last years. No one can doubt that it will probably be the dominant media for the future, but as for now, most gamers still enjoy the satisfaction of having a retail copy.
The main influx of digital products have come via the DLC packages which basically enhance the basic experience of the game. John Schappert, Chief Operations Officer at Electronic Arts, told an audience at GDC:
“What I think we're seeing is an influx of DLC as an extension of these games [...] but it all starts with a shiny disc.”A recent study showed that PC users are more into Digital distribution than the mainly retail based console users, though slowly we are seeing it spread to all media and most users are commencing to accept the positive side of a digital version of their favourite games.
“Publishers need to be thinking of a long-term relationship with their consumers. I think the days of ship it and forget it are behind us now.”
More Rumours That An Xbox 360 Slim Is In The Works
A series of photographs of a supposed motherboard for a future Slim version of the Xbox 360 have been leaked in the internet. The design shows that the CPU and the GPU have been combined into a single chip.
Reports from the publishing website said that it was in testing process in China.
All this info is not verified, though we can remember when the PS3 slim was leaked in a similar way months before it was officially announced.
Microsoft hasn’t bothered to comment on this issue saying that they “don’t comment on rumour and speculation”.
Considering how well it has worked for the PS3, there has probably been some Microsoft heads that have at least considered making a Slim version an option.
Reports from the publishing website said that it was in testing process in China.
All this info is not verified, though we can remember when the PS3 slim was leaked in a similar way months before it was officially announced.
Microsoft hasn’t bothered to comment on this issue saying that they “don’t comment on rumour and speculation”.
Considering how well it has worked for the PS3, there has probably been some Microsoft heads that have at least considered making a Slim version an option.
Source: Kotaku
Get Original Splinter Cell Free With Conviction Through Direct2Drive
While PC gamers aren't getting a demo for Splinter Cell: Conviction, if you preorder and purchase it through online digital distribution service, Direct2Drive, you'll get the original Splinter Cell free. More info here.
Splinter Cell: Conviction is set to release on April 13th in the US, and April 16th in the UK.
Women In Games Conference 2010 Cancelled
The Women in Games Conference has been cancelled due to insufficient delegate numbers. Conference chairs Kaye Elling and Marian Carr stated:
“We are very sorry to announce that this year’s Women in Games Conference has been cancelled due to low delegate numbers.”Best of luck from here to any future events!
“Cancelling the event was not an easy decision to make, but our delegate numbers this year were far below the figures needed to break even financially. The conference team would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their support of WIG2010, and hope that you will continue to support Women in Games in any future events.”
Skate 3 Release Scheduled For May
EA’s Skate franchise restarted the interest of skateboarding videogames, after the consecutive disappointments of the last Tony Hawk titles, which crashed finally with RIDE. Skate focused on simulation instead of the Tony Hawk arcade style with a few concessions for gameplay.
The third instalment of the acclaimed Skate series will include a more profound multiplayer experience, including co-op events for the first time. Jason DeLong, Senior Producer on the title, commented:
The third instalment of the acclaimed Skate series will include a more profound multiplayer experience, including co-op events for the first time. Jason DeLong, Senior Producer on the title, commented:
"Since the very beginning of the Skate franchise, we have captured the true essence of skateboarding, be it from the feel of nailing that perfect trick, to the feeling of just hanging out and sessioning with your friends. For us, Skate 3 is the culmination of this endeavour -- the most connected, accessible and social skateboarding experience yet.”Skate 3 will release worldwide on May 14th and in the US 4 days earlier.
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