News

Capcom Has Been Working With Disney Since 2010 On DuckTales Remastered

2013-05-18T22:16:00Z

The remastered version of DuckTales did not appear overnight. Capcom has been working with Disney on and off for more than the past two years to get the project off the ground.

Christian Svensson, corporate officer/senior vice-president at Capcom, likes to speak up from time to time on Capcom's message boards. Last time we heard from him, he revealed that all of the original DuckTales voice actors were returning to act in the game.

Recently, Svensson appeared on the message boards again, talking about how long Capcom and Disney has been working together on the project:

It took more than two years (on and off) to do the deal even before any development started. The first conversations I had with folks at Disney about this were had at Dice in 2010 (Feb 2010).

Initial proposals for greenlight started preparation in mid-late 2011 (when it looked like we would be able to reach a deal with Disney). Active development started a bit later after greenlight was achieved.

You can check out the game's original announcement and trailer here.

[Source: Siliconera]

Assassin's Creed Movie Releasing In 2015

2013-05-18T19:08:00Z

The Assassin's Creed movie, starring Prometheus and X-Men: First Class's Michel Fassbender, has a release date.

According to BoxOfficeMojo.com, the movie is slated for release on May 22, 2015.

We learned of Fassbender's involvement in the film last year. It's still unclear who exactly he will be playing, but he will be adorning the iconic assassin hood, and he will be starring. We also learned earlier this year that the script for the movie will be written by Michael Lesslie, a writer who hasn't done anything particularly well-known in Hollywood yet.

Shortly after the announcement of the film, we put together a list of ways that film makers can avoid screwing up the adaptation.

[Source: Box Office Mojo]

Zelda Oracle Of Ages And Seasons Coming Soon, On Sale

2013-05-18T17:43:21Z

Nintendo made a number of announcements yesterday with its Nintendo Direct presentation, and tucked away in the middle were the release details of The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and Seasons for the 3DS Virtual Console.

Nintendo announced that both games would be coming to 3DS back in March on the MiiVerse's Zelda channel. Both games will be available to download on May 30, and both will be on sale for the introductory price of $4.99. You can check out trailers for both games below.

(Please visit the site to view this media)

For more on yesterday's Nintendo Direct, check out our stories on Pikmin, Sonic the Hedgehog, Nintendo's E3 plans, the Super Luigi U DLC, and Game & Wario.

Team Fortress 2's Robotic Boogaloo Update Created Entirely By Community

2013-05-18T15:28:00Z

The latest update to Team Fortress 2, titled Robotic Boogaloo, includes 57 new items, and has been created entirely by the community. Every new item is completely original and created by a community member, and even things like theupdates animated teaser trailer, the website, the comic book, and even the update's page on the Steam store have all been created by creative Team Fortress 2 fans.

You can find out more about the update by heading here, and checking out the animated short below.

(Please visit the site to view this media)

[Source: Team Fortress 2]

2013 Video Game Release Schedule

2013-05-18T15:13:00Z

We've put together a list of games with confirmed release dates for 2013.

...(read more)

Dust: An Elysian Tale PC Release Date Revealed

2013-05-18T15:09:35Z

Dust: An Elysian Tale, the formerly Xbox Live Arcade exclusive Metroid-ish 2D action game, is coming to PC and now we know when.

The game's creator Dead Dodrill tweeted out the details recently. The game is coming to PC, downloadable through Steam, on May 24. You can check out our review of the Xbox 360 version of the game right here. It's a game that we definitely recommend checking out.

I'm pleased to announce that Dust: An Elysian Tail will be available on Steam on May 24th! Just one week left!
— Dean Dodrill (@NoogyTweet) May 17, 2013

[Via: Joystiq]

The Biggest Stories Of The Week (May 18, 2013)

2013-05-18T14:00:00Z

Did you miss any of the big stories this week? Want to find out how the pieces fit together? You're in the right place. This week was filled with more financial news, more details on Silicon Knights and Precursor Games, and some more heavy-hitting previews.

E3 needs to be huge for Nintendo

This week was a bit tumultuous for Nintendo. The good news is that the company is one step closer to ridding itself of a nagging lawsuit from patent squatter Motiva. Courts ruled that Motiva had no intention of applying its patents and only sought to monetize infringement by others. Motiva has vowed to fight on.

The bad news is that the house of Mario was dogged by flagging third-party support and a public relations nightmare of its own creation. EA confirmed this week that it currently has no Wii U titles in the pipeline. That means no Madden and no FIFA this year. WWE Games tweeted that its new game, the first under publisher 2K Sports, will only be coming to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Activision has also been very coy about whether it will be spending resources to bring Call of Duty: Ghosts to the platform.

While we don't have a concrete answer from Take-Two about Grand Theft Auto V on the Wii U, it was announced yesterday during a Nintendo Direct presentation that Platinum Games' The Wonderful 101 will be arriving on September 15. The latest open-world crime drama from Rockstar Games will be in stores just two days later (with almost guaranteed midnight release parties on Monday night).

Conventional wisdom is to simply get out of the way of huge releases like Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty. Instead, it seems that Nintendo has chosen to go in the opposite direction, pitting The Wonderful 101 against a juggernaut.

Yesterday's Nintendo direct also brought new details on Pikmin 3, an exclusive partnership with Sega to bring Sonic games to the platform, and a release date (and budget price) for Game & Wario. The big news for fans is that Nintendo is taking another step forward on its direct-to-consumer approach. The company will have exclusive E3 demos in over 100 Best Buy locations during the show this June.

The Nintendo Direct presentation was given under a cloud, however. Earlier this week, the company exerted its copyright on YouTube. The result is that any video matched using the platform's ContentID system can no longer be monetized by the channel holder. Instead, bookend ads will be placed on the videos and Nintendo will receive all the revenue.

To be clear, this is absolutely within Nintendo's right. There is no legal issue, as the YouTube terms of service are more favorable to content holders (which protects Google and YouTube). The issue is whether this is a good public relations choice.

The community of people making "let's play" videos (known as LPers) took to Reddit and other social media channels to express their concerns and disappointment. Many LPers claim to earn significant revenue from their videos, and Nintendo's action has led some to rethink their focus on Nintendo titles. LPers offer word of mouth advertising, which is a crucial for any marketing effort.

Take-Two, Ubisoft, and Square Enix - Financial Call Highlights

Take-Two

Grand Theft Auto V is going to propel Take-Two forward this year. Bioshock Infinite and continued sales of Borderlands 2 have the company off to a solid start for fiscal year 2014. The most interesting thing that came out of the call is that even with all of the games coming out under the 2K Games label this year, Rockstar is still projected to bring in 65 percent of the revenue. This is due to the upcoming release of Grand Theft Auto V and the back catalog of titles in that series that are still selling well.

Ubisoft

On the games side of things, the biggest news is that Patrice Désilets' 1666 project has been put on indefinite hold after the designer was fired last week. Ubisoft also revealed that it has two unannounced titles in the works. One is a brand new series, which means that the other is part of an existing franchise.

Square Enix

Earlier this week, I wrote a great deal about Square Enix. The company posted huge operating losses ($59.8 million) after Tomb Raider, Sleeping Dogs, and Hitman: Absolution failed to reach the high targets the publisher set. One of the more surprising announcements is that the company plans to dive deeper into mobile and regionally-focused production.

This week's previews and reviews

The Bureau: XCOM Declassified Demands Smart Play And Agile Minds (Preview)
Metro: Last Light Review – Finding Refuge In The Shadows (Review)
Shovel Knight Has Retro Charm In Spades (Preview)
Might & Magic Heroes VI: Shades of Darkness Review – New Army, Same Problems (Review)
Ace Patrol Review – This Flyboy Has Mud On His Goggles (Review)
Control Blade Wolf In Another Forgettable Revengeance Add-On (Review)
Sanctum 2 Review – An Invigorating Tower Defense/FPS Hybrid (Review)
Cut The Rope: Time Travel Review (Review)
The Last Of Us Turns Our World Upside Down (Preview)
Killzone: Mercenary Preview — Blasting Helghast On The Vita Feels Good (Preview)

Quick Hits

Apparently, the owner of a rare Sega Pluto device believes that $15,500 isn't enough for his lucky find. The offer wasn't turned down, but it didn't meet the reserve price either.
When we met up Tim Schafter at Kill Screen's Two5Six conference last week, the Double Fine head honcho told us that the studio is still trying to get the distribution rights for some of its past games, including Costume Quest.
Warren Spector will be helping to design the curriculum of a new program focused on leadership in the games industry. He'll also be teaching classes when the University of Texas at Austin program launches in the fall.
We've got updates on the Shadow of the Eternals crowdfunding effort. Precursor Games has succeeded in navigating Kickstarter's guidelines and has launched a campaign. We also spoke with representatives from Silicon Knights and Precursor about the relationship between the studios.
There is a new Twitch app for your Xbox 360 that offers access to the top 300 channels.
EA has a mobile version of Frostbite in the works. As a reminder, EA has said that it could not get Frostbite working well on the Wii U.
EA has reconfigured its Los Angeles, California operations. The new EA DICE LA studio will be working on projects including new Star Wars titles.
Good news and bad news about Trion Worlds. On the bright side, Rift is going free-to-play. On the down side, the studio laid off a significant number of staff (reports have that percentage as high as 80).
Valve has introduced a new Steam trading card system. It's in beta right now, and it looks like it could be a neat hook for players.
EA is abandoning the online pass movement (otherwise known as "Project $10"). Are we pessimists for wondering when the other shoe is going to drop?
The April NPD report is out, and last month saw sharp declines in video game spending.
Naughty Dog has told us that The Last of Us will be available for digital delivery on the same day as it arrives at retail. Additionally, players will be able to begin their game while the download is still progressing.
Reports suggest that Microsoft might be abandoning the dreaded points currency. Are you ready to say goodbye to space bucks?

Announcements and Release Dates

WWE 2K14 and NBA 2K14 both have release dates in October.
Phoenix Wright will return to North American shores. Ace Attorney 5 has a new name, Dual Destinies, and it will be available this fall via the 3DS eShop only (no retail release is planned).
The Nvidia Shield is available for pre-order soon, but the price is a little higher than we were expecting.
An Ubisoft developer has tweeted that ZombiU 2 is in the prototype phase.
Pac-Man is coming back this fall in an action platformer called Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures.
Payday 2 is going to be coming to retail in addition to its digital release.
Scribblenauts is donning cape and cowl to play in the DC Comics universe.
Gran Turismo 6 is coming to PS3 this fall. Yes, you read that correctly. PS3.
David Jaffe is working on a new car combat game called Auto Duel. The project is happening at Pixelbionic and will be funded via Kickstarter.
Sony is teasing a new game called Panopticon. More information will be coming on May 21, but it's going to have a tough time competing with the Xbox reveal.
The Metal Gear Legacy collection is coming to PS3 in July.

Catch Up On Killzone's Lore In 60 Seconds

2013-05-18T01:50:00Z

We've shot our way though a number of firefights in Sony's sci-fi shooter series Killzone, and yet we'd have trouble giving you a quick overview of the plot. If you're like us, you better brush up on you Killzone lore.

With Killzone: Shadow Fall set to release on the PS4 later this year, you might want to brush up on the events that took place in the first two games. Who are the Helghast? Who is the UCN? Why are they fighting? Find out in this short video from Lore in a Minute!

(Please visit the site to view this media)

Check out the latest batch of Killzone: Shadow Fall screens here.

Xbox Fuses With PlayStation In The PlayBox

2013-05-18T00:37:00Z

What if Sony and Microsoft didn't publish different systems? What if the two companies torn down the wall separating them and joined forces to make a console that played both PlayStation and Xbox titles? Friendship is magic after all.

While we listen to rumors and wait for Microsoft to announce it's new console, the dreamers over at TechRadar have sketched out the PlayBox – a console concept that would harness the strengths of both companies and be backwards compatible with all past PlayStation and Xbox games.

(Please visit the site to view this media)

What do you think of such a project? Do you see any benefits of having more than one console maker?

Weekend Warrior 05/17/13

2013-05-18T00:00:00Z

A few of us will be finishing up Metro: Last Light and Blood Dragon, but almost all of use are going to see the new Star Trek movie. We hope it features a lot of cool lightsaber battles.

Kimberley Wallace: I’m hoping to finally finish Blood Dragon this weekend. I’m looking forward to moving on to Metro: Last Light. Other than that, I’m seeing Star Trek Into Darkness with some of the Game Informer crew tonight, and Kyle is challenging us all to find out the best poker player on Saturday. Never a dull moment!

Andrew Reiner: My weekend is dedicated to finishing up Metro: Last Light (I believe I'm near the end), and starting up Resident Evil: Revelations on Xbox 360. At some point on Saturday or Sunday, I hope to go see Star Trek: Into Darkness.

Mike Futter: This weekend, I'm planning on visiting post-nuclear Russia with Metro 2033 (so I'm ready to take on the horrors of Metro: Last Light). I'm also planning on continuing the war against the alien invaders by taking the GI team into battle in XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Finally, and if time allows, I might just jump into Borderlands 2 to take new vault hunter Krieg out for a spin.

Kongregate's Top Three Free Games: May 2013

2013-05-17T23:30:00Z

As they do each month, our sister site Kongregate has once again provided us with details about their current best offerings. All of these games are playable for free, and the selections and descriptions below have been provided by Kongregate's Rebecca Francis. Give them a chance and let us know what you think in the comments section.

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Game of Thrones Ascent

Can’t get enough of Westeros and its inhabitants? This strategy RPG lets you build your own noble house, hire your own Sworn Swords, and do what it takes to get to the top. Best of all, the game is updated each week with content from the show as it happens!

Strike Force Heroes 2

There have never been so many different ways to shoot things! Customize five different characters with hundreds of weapons, attachments, and armor types. Each of the levels is creative and complex, and you don’t have to work up to the good parts, either. In fact, the very first shootout is in a spaceship, and it only gets better from there.

The King’s League: Odyssey

This clever little strategy game has you gathering an army to fight for the king’s glory. You’re provided with tons of ways to locate and customize individual characters, so you can build an army that plays to your own strengths. If you tire of buffing up your beefy barbarians, you can even try questing for a change.

Check out last month's picks.

EA Engineer: Wii U Is "Crap", Nintendo Is "Walking Dead"

2013-05-17T22:06:00Z

On Twitter, an Electronic Arts software engineer didn't sugarcoat his views on the Wii U – a console that EA has now ceased to develop games for.

While Electronic Arts tried to be publically diplomatic about the news that it has no games in development for the Wii U, EA senior software engineer and architect Bob Summerwill made his scathing opinion of the console known via Twitter.

IGN spotted the tweets, which have now been deleted - but had enough foresight to capture screengrabs of the tweets before Summerwill took them down. You can see the original tweets on IGN's story.

In the series of tweets, Summerwill didn't mince words, saying: "The Wii U is crap. Less powerful than an XBOX360. Poor online/store. Weird tablet. Nintendo are walking dead at this point."

He also said the company should consider exiting the console business altogether, writing, "Nintendo are operating like it's 1990. They should have "done a Sega" and offered Mario/Zelda as PS4/Durango exclusives...Instead they make this awful console...Just stop it! Just make great games."

He also said that Nintendo platforms have been traditionally poor for third-party publishers - something that we've heard said many times for many years by many people in the publishing industry.

[Source: IGN]

New Video Details The Creation Of The Music For Naughty Dog's The Last Of Us

2013-05-17T21:44:00Z

This new video released by Naughty Dog features Gustavo Santaolalla, the Academy Award winning composer who created the score for The Last of Us.

Santaolalla is an Argentinian composer known for his work on such critically acclaimed films as The Insider and 21 Grams. He is a two-time Academy Award winner for his soundtracks to the films Brokeback Mountain and Babel.

The Last of Us is Santaolalla's first video game project, but as you'll see, he's lending the game an eerie, emotional vibe with a mix of synthesizers, classical, and traditional Latin American instruments.

(Please visit the site to view this media)

Trion Worlds Hit With Layoffs

2013-05-17T21:02:00Z

We've received an official comment confirming the reports that Defiance publisher and developer Trion Worlds has just conducted substantial layoffs of staff.

IGN broke the news, based on information from anonymous sources. According to the source, the company's San Diego studio, which created the Defiance game that is tied to the SyFy television show of the same name, was hit hardest with the layoffs.

We received this official statement from Trion Worlds, which seems to refer to the layoffs, or, in other words, "adjustment of staffing levels."

"To best position Trion in a rapidly changing industry, we have reorganized our teams and are expanding our free to play offering. With Defiance, we delivered a great game that more than one million gamers registered to play and continue to enjoy. As we progress from launch to ongoing development of the game, we are adjusting our staffing levels to deliver new content and improved features. Rift, and our other titles in development, were unaffected by these changes. We are very much looking forward to the free to play release of Rift and are excited by the other new titles currently in development."

[Source: IGN]

Report: Microsoft To End Use Of Microsoft Points On Xbox Live

2013-05-17T20:18:00Z

A new report says that an upcoming dashboard update of Xbox Live will bring about a number of changes to the service - and discontinue the use of Microsoft Points as retail currency on the network.

The news comes by way of the tech site The Verge. According to Verge: "Microsoft will also phase out the use of its Points system with this dashboard update, replacing it with currency and gift card options."

The Verge report says that update, which should enter a public beta in June or July and be pushed out to consumers in August, will also update the look and feel of the user interface, and features "live tiles" similar to what we've seen on Windows Mobile. For more detail, read the original story on The Verge.

[Source: The Verge]