Gearbox acquires Homeworld license in THQ auction

Posted on April 22, 2013 by John Scalzo

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Bidding in the second THQ auction concluded last week and most of the publisher’s remaining intellectual property will find new homes soon. One such property is the real-time strategy series Homeworld, which has been acquired by Gearbox Software.

In the announcement, Gearbox revealed that the Homeworld series is a favorite of Brian Martel, the company’s Chief Creative Officer. Plans for the future of the franchise are still up in the air, but Martel has promised that Gearbox is already in the process of making Homeworld and Homeworld 2 available on leading digital platforms soon.

The company is also actively recruiting new talent to work on their latest acquisition, closing the press release with this news: “[P]lease try to get our attention if you have capability and interest to join the effort in developing or enabling Homeworld’s future.”

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Nintendo continues to take steps to become the indie developer’s best friend

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Andrew Rainnie

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The fact that some major games are not coming to the Wii U has been making headlines recently, although in the case of the poorly reviewed Dead Island: Riptide and Aliens: Colonial Marines, this may prove to be a blessing. However, the lack of third party titles heading to Nintendo’s new console, whether they be amazing or awful, has meant many people are dredging up Nintendo’s past reputation for having poor relations with other developers. The company is clearly aware of this, and is taking steps to ensure their future by aiding indie developers who wish to produce titles for the Wii U eShop.

At the Full Indie Summit in Vancouver last week, Dan Alderman, Nintendo of America’s Manager of Business Development, explained the steps Nintendo is taking to ensure developing for the Wii U is an easier process than the stringent steps companies had to follow for its predecessor. Back in the days of WiiWare, developers were required to have a business office, rather than the bedroom some games are born from. They would also only receive payment if the game managed to sell above a certain target and concept approval was required. Developers were often encouraged to use the Wiimote’s motion controls.

All of this red tape has been thrown out, replaced with an easy questionnaire that studios can fill out if they are interested in attaining a license to develop for the Wii U. There are no other charges in developing for the eShop beyond obtaining a business license. In fact, Nintendo will gift the Unity Pro 4 engine to developers free of charge, something that could be very beneficial to the many Kickstarter projects who budget for the engine in their donation target.

Many critics have already ruled the Wii U out of the next generation race. Yet it seems that rather than worry about the AAA titles not coming to their console, such as EA’s Battlefield 4, Nintendo is fostering relations with the next generation of developers and programmers. This move may manage to spell success for its home console at a grass roots level, while larger developers buckle under the pressure of making games with overblown budgets.

[Source: Destructoid]

Posted in News, Wii U |

Call of Juarez: Gunslinger draws on PC, PSN, XBLA in May

Posted on April 22, 2013 by John Scalzo

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Ubisoft has announced that the Wild West return for the Call of Juarez series, Call of Juarez: Gunslinger, will be released in May.

Call of Juarez: Gunslinger is a downloadable game and will be available on PC download services, the PlayStation Network, and the Xbox Live Arcade on May 22. If you’re interested in purchasing Gunslinger, the ante is $14.99 (or 1200 Microsoft Points).

You can find the game’s latest trailer, titled “The Code of the West,” after the break.

Press Start to Continue →

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Deep Silver revs up Ride to Hell: Retribution for a June 2013 release

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Alex Foote

Deep Silver has unleashed another trailer for Ride to Hell: Retribution as well as confirmed the game’s official release date.

Ride to Hell: Retribution follows the story of Jake Conway, all around badass, often found with either “a gun in his hand or a girl on his lap (and on more than one occasion both!).” Jake is hell bent on exacting vengeance on the biker gang known as The Devil’s Hand. Strap in and watch this action packed trailer, and see why there are “no rules” in Ride to Hell: Retribution.

Developed by Eutechnyx, Ride to Hell: Retribution is due out on the PlayStation 3, PC and Xbox 360 on June 25 in the U.S. and in Europe on June 28.

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Jak and Daxter Collection coming to Vita in June

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Alex Foote

jakanddaxtercollection-boxNaughty Dog has confirmed that the much beloved duo of Jak and Daxter will be hitting the PS Vita this Summer in the form of the same HD collection that was released back in February on the PS3.

The Jak and Daxter Collection will include the following legendary adventures: Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, Jak II, and Jak 3.

The HD remakes of these classic titles will also incorporate some of the Vita’s major features, such as the touchscreen being used for minigames. The collection will even come with a separate set of Trophies from the PS3 version, so that the Trophy hunters out there (you know who you are) get to go for that Platinum on the Vita too, Huzzah!

The Jak and Daxter Collection will be launching on the Vita this June for $29.99.

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Another Earth Defense Force 2025 gameplay video to get you through the weekend

Posted on April 21, 2013 by John Scalzo

Spring is in the air. I know this because I awoke to find an absolutely massive spider on my kitchen table this morning. Of course, it was just a little thing compared to the arachnids in Earth Defense Force 2025. D3 Publisher’s Japanese office has released another gameplay trailer for the game and if you need a little mindless bug stomping this Sunday evening, it’s certainly worth a look.

Earth Defense Force 2025 will be available for the PS3 and Xbox 360 sometime this year.

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More The Evil Within details revealed by Bethesda Japan

Posted on April 21, 2013 by John Scalzo

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With less than 24 hours to go before IGN publishes their “exclusive” preview of The Evil Within, Bethesda Japan has revealed a few additional details about the game, which will be known in Japan as Psychobreak. Siliconera was able to translate all the details:

The two arrive at a gruesome crime scene and out there is a mysterious and powerful force lurking in the shadows. One by one, other police officers are killed right before Sebastian’s eyes. Suddenly, something attacks Sebastian and he’s knocked unconscious. When he comes to he awakens in horrifying world with monsters wandering around. Your goal in The Evil Within is to first survive and second solve the mystery behind this maleficent force.

Besides the monstrous beings, the world of The Evil Within will be populated with a variety of traps and “[background] elements like walls, hallways, doors, and rooms” will morph and change in real time. Finally, the game will be powered by id Software’s latest engine, id Tech 5, when its released next year for the PC, PS3, Xbox 360, and “next-generation consoles.”

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Creator of EarthBound 2 fan translation has offered it to Nintendo for free

Posted on April 21, 2013 by John Scalzo

mother3-boxWith the news that Nintendo is finally bringing EarthBound to their Virtual Console service, fans have once again begun asking the inevitable followup question, “What about Mother 3/EarthBound 2?”

As is typical of Nintendo, they haven’t discussed the prospect of a North American release of Mother 3 since the EarthBound announcement. But the team behind the Mother 3 Fan Translation wants to get a dialogue going. And their first shot is a big one: they’ve offered to let Nintendo use their translation of the game, for free, in an American release of Mother 3. And, if need be, they plan to go even further than that to secure an official release of the RPG:

I realize that localizing a game this size can cost a lot, so if it’ll help in even the slightest, I’ll gladly offer to let Nintendo use my text translation files for any use at all, completely for free. I’ll even edit the files to fit whatever new standards are necessary (content, formatting, memory size, etc.), completely for free. I’ll even retranslate everything from scratch if need be. Just whatever it takes to get an official release out.

While it’s unlikely that Nintendo would use a fan translation to bring the game to the US, the translators have pointed out that it has happened before. Most recently, XSEED used a fan translation as a starting point for the Ys: The Oath in Felghana localization.

The other major hurdle to a North American release of Mother 3 is the fact that the game was originally released on the Game Boy Advance, a system that is “dead” for all intents and purposes. Of course, there’s always the Virtual Console on the 3DS…

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