John Carmack leaves id Software

Posted on November 22, 2013 by John Scalzo

idsoftwarelogoThe “Master of Doom” himself, John Carmack, has left id Software. Studio Director Tim Willits announced that Carmack and the studio he helped found in 1991 have parted ways. In a statement to GamesIndustry International, Willits revealed that the split was due to Carmack’s desire to expand his duties as Oculus VR’s Chief Technology Officer:

“John Carmack, who has become interested in focusing on things other than game development at id, has resigned from the studio. John’s work on id Tech 5 and the technology for the current development work at id is complete, and his departure will not affect any current projects. We are fortunate to have a brilliant group of programmers at id who worked with John and will carry on id’s tradition of making great games with cutting-edge technology. As colleagues of John for many years, we wish him well.”

Carmack’s tenure at id (alongside co-founders John Romero, Tom Hall, and Adrian Carmack [curiously, no relation]) was chronicled in the amazing book Masters of Doom. 2010’s Rage will be the final id Software title to carry Carmack’s stamp. It is widely assumed the developer is currently working on Doom 4, but Quake V may also be in the works.

Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360 |

Kickstart This! The Pre-Christmas Whopper Edition

Posted on November 22, 2013 by Andrew Rainnie

It’s that time of year again…. When everyone gets anxious about having enough money to afford Christmas presents and keep the heating on… When Z-list celebrities are invited to flick a switch and cast sparkly lights on towns and cities across the globe… When pine trees shudder in fear and reindeer wonder why there are hundreds of cameras pointing at them. But it need not be so glum and terrifying. In the run-up to what has become a period of immense profit for companies, yet an unnecessary burden on the growing number of Scrooges in the world (myself included), it is important to keep everything in check, and offer help to those who need it. Buy gloves for the homeless. Invite your lonely neighbour around for a cup of egg nog or mulled wine. And if you are still in the spirit to bring good tidings, check out the latest Kickstarter game campaigns that need your support.

We have a whopping seven projects to share this month, including the super cute P.A.W.S. – Prime Alien Watch Squad, oddball survival game Dyscourse, the eccentric steampunk detective adventure The Dead Flowers Case, and 2D turn based monster shooter MODUS. Halfway through, things get a little more intense with a throwback to 80s action films in Bullet Bros, tactical FPS assassin title Lonewolf, and finally, the beautifully rendered isometric sci-fi adventure Stasis.

Let’s jingle those bells.

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Posted in Features, Mobile, PC, PS3, Top Story, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Gran Turismo 7 might be released for PS4 next year

Posted on November 22, 2013 by John Scalzo

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Gran Turismo 6 is barreling towards its December 6 release on the PS3, but Polyphony Digital’s Kazunori Yamauchi is already thinking about Gran Turismo 7.

Back in August, Yamauchi revealed that Polyphony was hard at work on the first GT game for the PS4, Gran Turismo 7, which would likely be a souped-up version of Gran Turismo 6. However, he cautioned that the next-gen conversion wouldn’t be released any time soon, as the development team planned to support Gran Turismo 6 with an extensive amount of post-release DLC. But after speaking with the guys from Top Gear, Yamauchi has confirmed that the “best-case scenario” for Gran Turismo 7’s PS4 debut is next year:

“We don’t want to take too long on Gran Turismo 7,” [Yamauchi] told us. “Best-case scenario? Next year. In GT6 we really had to tune the software 100 percent to maximise the PS3’s architecture, but of course the PS4’s hardware is much better, so I think the overall quality of the game across the board will be boosted when you come to play it.”

While it’s great that Yamauchi is quite keen on the franchise’s future on the PS4, it should be noted that Sony has yet to officially announce Gran Turismo 7.

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XBL Store Today: Xbox One, XCOM: Enemy Within

Posted on November 22, 2013 by John Scalzo

xboxone-logoThe big day has finally arrived… the Xbox One is now available! To celebrate, Microsoft has opened the Xbox One section on the Xbox Live Game Store and stocked it with 23 launch games. The full “Day One” launch lineup includes:

And if you didn’t camp out all night for an Xbox One, 2K Games’ XCOM: Enemy Within was also added to the Xbox Live Game Store today. It is available to download from the Xbox 360 storefront.

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Killer Instinct launch trailer reveals Fulgore

Posted on November 21, 2013 by John Scalzo

The launch of the Xbox One is just hours away and Microsoft has released a Killer Instinct launch trailer that unveils the game’s eighth (and final) character… Fulgore! The cyborg has long been the face of the Killer Instinct franchise and its great that we finally know for sure that he’ll be part of the reboot.

Killer Instinct will be available alongside the launch of the Xbox One as a free-to-play title. Initially, players will have access to a single character, Jago, with additional characters available for $4.99 each. Players can also purchase the “Combo Breaker Edition” (for $19.99) to obtain all eight playable characters or, if they also want an Xbox One-compatible download of the original arcade game, the “Ultra Edition” (for $39.99).

Only six of the first eight characters will be available to download tomorrow. Spinal, the living skeleton, will follow in January and Fulgore will be released in March.

Posted in News, Xbox One | Tagged

EA’s Star Wars deal doesn’t include movie tie-in games

Posted on November 21, 2013 by John Scalzo

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Electronic Arts wasted no time in tasking top men (“TOP. MEN.”) from DICE LA and Visceral to create two games in the Star Wars universe after signing a deal with Disney earlier this year. DICE LA is hard at work on a reboot of Star Wars: Battlefront while the subject of Visceral’s project is still a mystery. But now we know what it won’t be about.

Speaking at the UBS Global Technology Conference earlier this week, Blake Jorgensen, EA’s CFO, has confirmed that the publisher has no plans to release any games based on the upcoming Star Wars movies such as 2015’s Episode VII.

“We’ve done movie games over the years and we wanted to make sure that we weren’t doing a movie game, i.e., game based on the movie,” Jorgensen said.

He continued: “We have [a] team in DICE building some early stages of various games and building them in Frostbite, so it will be a very exciting gameplay and you’ll hear more about it in the years to come. And so, we’re excited and we think that it will be a great 2015 and 2016 when we’ll start to see the emergence of possibly the Star Wars titles along with the Star Wars movies that will start to come out in late calendar 2015 or fiscal 2016.”

Jorgensen also confirmed that EA’s deal with Disney will last for ten years and will include “games in many different genres across multiple types of platforms.”

Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One | Tagged ,

Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare will be released on February 18

Posted on November 21, 2013 by John Scalzo

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Electronic Arts and PopCap Games have announced that Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare will be released for the Xbox One and Xbox 360 on February 18. A PC version will also be available “at a later date.”

Garden Warfare turns the popular tower defense series into a third-person shooter with three distinct modes: Garden & Graveyards, a 12v12 base-capturing mode; Team Vanquish, a 12v12 deathmatch mode; and Garden Ops, a four-player cooperative mode that tasks players with dispatching wave after wave of zombies.

If you plan on getting Garden Warfare for the Xbox One, you’ll open up two new modes including a cooperative splitscreen mode and Boss Mode, a mode that allows players to use their Kinect and/or SmartGlass device to drop health, intel, and airstrikes onto the battlefield.

“Gamers across the world have fallen in love with the Plants vs Zombies characters and now they’ll get to see them in an entirely new light, said Brian Lindley, Producer on Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare. “Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare give the series’ fans and shooter players a fun, new experience that they’ll both enjoy as they blast, chomp and laugh their way through co-op and head-to-head online action.”

Posted in News, PC, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Tagged

Daily Scoop: November 21, 2013 – So many games

Posted on November 21, 2013 by Nicole Kline

Guys, I’m not sure if you know this, but it’s an insane time for gaming right now. The PlayStation 4 came out last week; the Xbox One comes out tomorrow. On top of all the launch games, you’ve also got Adventure Time: Explore the Dungeon Because I Don’t Know, Super Mario 3D Land, Tearaway, and The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds. My brain is exploding. For realz.

In the deals department, Amazon has started Black Friday early with their digital deals. Some of these deals are ABSURD. You can get all three BioShock games for $14.99, Borderlands GOTY and Borderlands 2 for $11.99, and Max Payne 3 with Season Pass for $6.99, among others. You’ll want to take a look.

In what’s starting to become my favorite thing to check every day, there are some new sales over at the Humble Store! My favorite of today’s sales has to be Half-Minute Hero, which is just $2.50. There’s also a new Humble Weekly Sale, featuring Pinball FX2 and lots of tables for it.

Oh, and, uh, there’s a new Cards Against Humanity expansion. :)

Now, time for some t-shirts:

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Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News |