EA Boss Maps Out Future Plans
August 22, 2006
Elecrtonic Arts’ David Gardner discussed a seven-ppoint plan at the EIEF Conference in Edinburgh regarding the future of EA game development.
Gardner acknowledged the value of making inroads to the female market, citing the success of The Sims with female gamers. The Sims, he claims, was “about building relationships, not developing motor skills or honing twitch abilities.” About in-game advertising, Gardner conceded, ” We just have to get on with it, and as creators, we must fit in in seamlessly.” He also acknowledges that new forms of media are demanding attention and that the casual game wants a more succinct gaming experience, perhaps onein which “players can achieve a sense of accomplishment in an hour instaed of over a period of three hours.”
Gardner also praised the influx of new industry talent: “Writers and artists from other media will make a bigger impact. Students from universities who have grown up with games are creating great innovations.” Finally, he acknowledged the likelihood of more anti-games legislation, warnign that video game creators must “understand what we are building and explain that to consumers and to their parents. Most of this legislation is sponsored by politicians who have never played a game.”
August 21, 2006
The highly anticipated Xbox 360 Live Vision Camera, according to an edition of Official Xbox Magazine, will be released in the U.S. on September 19 release date and will be available in two bundle deals:
Standard Kit (expected RRP $39.99)-Xbox Live Vision Camera
-Xbox Live Headset
-One ‘free’ month on Xbox Live Gold
-TotemBall Live Arcade Game
-Uno Live Arcade GameGold Kit (expected RRP $79.99)
-Xbox Live Vision Camera
-Xbox Live Headset
-’Free’ Xbox Live Gold subscription for a year month
-TotemBall Live Arcade Game
-Uno Live Arcade Game
-A third Xbox Live Arcade Game (tba)
-200 Microsoft points
The Xbox 360 Live Vision Camera is designed to assist online gamers’ communicative methods with video messaging for games compatible with the device. Although such games seemed focused towards specific Live Arcade titles, certain developers have begun tinkering with its capabilities in mind. Ubisoft, for example, is integrating support in its “Rainbow Six: Vegas” for visual hand gesturing.
The camera will also be used in games such as Activision’s “World Series of Poker: Tournament of Champions,” and several Xbox Live Arcade games, including some gesture-based games, a pinball game, and TotemBall. For WSOP, as well as RS: Vegas, the camera will model users’ whole heads, with both portrait and profile shots being used to help add depth to the mapped image.
Messages will also include photos taken with the camera. When the camera is released later this year, gamers will be able to message each other with text, voice, photos, or all three.
Ubisoft’s New Star Wars Game for DS & PS3
August 18, 2006
In partnership with LucasArts, Ubisoft will release Star Wars: Lethal Alliance for Nintendo DS and PS3. Lethal Alliance takes place between Episode III and the original Star Wars installment. The action occurs across several Star Wars locales, and players will encounter a number of Star Wars regulars on their journey. You play as Rianna Saren, a young Twi’lek, whose mission it is to uncover the Death Star, the Empire’s most deadly weapon. You must also infiltrate the Imperial bases and blast through stormtroopers - lots of them. Helpful hint: it is essential to work closely with your droid counterpart! Star Wars: Lethal Alliance will be released for Nintendo DS and PS3 in December, so be sure to check back for more details.
Microsoft Warns of Cyper Theft
August 17, 2006
Video game developers were warned by Microsoft that criminals are now heavily targeting PC games. Widely popular multiplayer games have created a market for game identities of value - those loaded with gold or other forms of game currency to be used for buying weapons, spells, and other entities for advancement within the game. For these multiplayer online games, players act as a fictional character and interact with others in the game’s virtual world.
World of Witchcraft, for example, requires a player to buy game software and pay a monthly subscription. Dave Weinstein, a Microsoft security development engineer, explained that there can be more value on a player’s game account than on the credit card used to pay for the game; some game accounts can be worth as much as $10,000. As a result, these accounts have joined stolen credit card numbers, false working papers, and fraudulent passports as hot items on the black market.
“The police are really good at understanding someone stole my credit card and ran up a lot of money. It’s a lot harder to get them to buy into ’someone stole my magic sword,’” Weinstein explains.
Nintendo’s Big Wii-lease
August 16, 2006
The Wii console will come out of the gate strong, boasting no fewer than 26 titles in its release date. The quality and quantity of games is there, making the Wii debut line-up one of the most highly anticipated ever. CVG reports that Wii’s launch line-up will consist of the following:
- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
- Metroid Prime: Corruption
- Wii Sports
- Red Steel
- Elebits
- Call of Duty 3
- Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
- Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam
- Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII
- Far Cry
- GT Pro Series
- Open Season
- Rayman Raving Rabbids
- Excite Truck
- EA’s Need for Speed: Carbon
- Madden NFL 07
- THQ’s Avatar: The Last Airbender
- Cars
- Spongebob Squarepants: Creature from the Krusty Krab
- Blitz: The League
- Atari’s Dragonball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2
- Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors
- Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers
- Sega’s Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz
- Trauma Centre: Second Opinion
- Metal Slug Anthology
There are also another 151 games that are reportedly in development at this time!
Nintendo’s Wii Concole: Focus on Fun
August 15, 2006
Reginald Fils-Aime, president and COO of Nintendo of America, is confident that with the launch of Wii, Nintendo can once again claim the top spot in the billion-dollar video game industry that it helped build 20 years ago.
The focus behind Wii, Fils-Aime told USA Today, is interactive game play for everyone, not just the hard-core gamer. Because of the controller’s interactive capabilities, less button-pushing is required, so practically anyone can play. Similarly, it is the interactive fun, not pretty graphics, that will serve as Wii’s big draw. The controller can be pointed like a pistol, turned like a steering wheel, and swung like a racket, and it is this accessibility that Files-Aime believes will attract players in their 20’s, 30’s 40’s, and 50’s. The Wii also has no hidden fees or costs. The console is Wi-Fi enabled, so just plug in and play.
USA Today reports that the Wii console will be launched some time in November and will cost less than $250.
Check back for more deatils in the coming months.
America’s Most Rented
August 14, 2006
Here is the latest top-rated title list, courtesy of Rentrak Home Video Essentials:
- NCAA Football ‘07 (PS2)
- Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (PS2)
- Cars (PS2)
- NCAA Football ‘07 (Xbox)
- NCAA Football ‘07 (Xbox 360)
- Prey (Xbox 360)
- Need for Speed: Most Wanted (PS2)
- Kingdom Hearts II (PS2)
- Chromehounds (Xbox 360)
- Monster House (PS2)
Microsoft: Create Your Own PC & Xbox 360 Games
Microsoft is scheduled to announce today the August 30th release of XNA Game Studio Express, a free set of tools that gamers can download from www.microsoft.com/xna to their Windows PC and use to create their own games.
For the holidays, Microsoft will unveil a “Creators Club” membership ($99/month) for Xbox Live, allowing novice game developers to test their games on Xbox 360. Games developed through XNA will only be available to members of the Creators Club, a name that is expected to be changed. Microsoft plans to eventually allow independent game creators to demo and sell their games on Xbox Live.
In addition to the XNA tools, GarageGame’s Torque Engine will be included in the package from Microsoft and will help gamers refine and run a game. Spacewars, a free game in the Microsoft package, can be easily modified and run by beginners who may not have too much computing know-how.
With this program, Microsoft will tie gamers to Xbox and be in a position to explore some new ideas. It will also increase the pool of game developers. Most games take between a year and a half to three eyars to develop; companies want to back the sure thing, which is why there is not much risk-taking in video game development nowadays.
So far, ten universities have added game Studio Express to various curricula for the upcoming fall semester, which means that students can test their prototypes on an Xbox 360 console, rather than on a high-powered, more expensive PC.
The Worst Games Ever
August 11, 2006
Wikipedia, your online, encyclopedic source for everything and anything, is compiling a list of the Worst Games Ever. The ever-growing list is based on technical, genre and platform, and design and concept criteria. Many have spoken, and now it’s up to add your two cents.
Halo Film Details
Microsoft announced yesterday that Neil Blomkamp will direct Halo’s silver screen debut. Blomkamp is a “massive fan of the games,” as well as ”the world and universe of Halo.” In an interview with Ain’t It Cool News, Blomkamp also revealed that the film will be based on the story of Halo 1, not the Xbox sequel. The director maintains that some elements of Halo are “sacred” and not to be tampered with; he names Master Chief as an example. Nonetheless, some changes will be made (purely from a technical standpoint) to Matser Chief, as his movements will have to more strongly resemble those of humans. “I’ve been given the resources and the source material to make something awesome, so I have to really invest myself 100% in a film that I love every frame of, and for me to love every frame means it has to have something that sets it apart,” Blomkamp said. “Fans of the game should love this film, people who don’t know the game should be transported to a place that blows them away for two hours.”
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