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David Kushner has already hit it out of the park once when it comes to a video game history lesson with Masters of Doom, his portrait of the early days of id Software. His latest book, Jacked: The Outlaw Story of Grand Theft Auto, is another behind-the-scenes look at the genesis of a controversial franchise and the people behind it: Rockstar Games and its founders, Sam and Dan Houser.
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Crysis 3 is still at least a year away, but the gameplay trailer that Crytek and EA have unveiled today is just astounding. Watch as Prophet traverses the “urban jungle” that is the New York Liberty Dome and watch as he lays waste to a squadron of alien scum with his awesome compound bow.
Crysis 3 will be available for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 sometime in 2013.
Konami has announced Pro Evolution Soccer 2013, the latest game in their yearly soccer simulation franchise. If history holds, it’ll be released sometime in October.
Konami and PES Productions plan to pack the pitch with a wide variety of gameplay enhancements when it ships for the PS3 and Xbox 360 later this year. The developers plan to focus most of their energy on four specific points:
1. PES FullControl (PES FC)
The term PES FullControl describes several new and improved features that give you even more control about the players and the ball in PES 2013.
2. Player ID
Player ID focuses on the individual elements and movements that each player boasts.
3. ProActive AI
ProActive AI unites the control and realism, with players that will respond and find space as befits those at the top of their game.
4. Better connectivity and atmosphere
PES 2013 will also boast better connectivity and atmosphere.
More details on all of these gameplay enhancements can be found at Konmai’s PES 2013 blog.
Remember Robert Bowling, the former Infinity Ward Community Manager more popularly known as FourZeroTwo? He left the Call of Duty creator a few weeks ago, but he’s already on to his next project, a new game studio known as Robotoki.
“Robotoki is focused on being a developer development studio that just happens to make games,” Bowling said. “We are focused on our team first and everything else second, because I believe as an industry; we have a lot to learn on how to treat talent. While we continue to out stride film and music entertainment in other areas, we are falling severely behind in how to properly inspire and support our creative talent.”
Bowling’s mission statement seems to feature shades of John Romero’s “Design is Law” philosophy. Let’s hope he doesn’t threaten to make us his bitch. But Robotoki’s developers-first aim also includes Bowling’s promise that the company is completely self-funded and will own all of its creations.
The studio is already in the early stages of development on its first project, which will be announced later this year. The untitled game is in the works for the PC, next-generation consoles, and mobile platforms like iOS and Android. Though obviously, each platform will receive a unique version of the game.
“How they experience the [game’s universe] is unique to their device. The mobile/tablet experience should not mimic the console or PC experience, it should be additive to it, not supplemental. Allowing them to support their console and PC experience, continue their progression, but by experiencing the world in a meaningful and unique way,” said Bowling.
[Source: Game Informer]
Well, I’ve been off for four straight days, and it’s been glorious. But today, I head back to work. Sad faces! I spent the weekend playing a lot of Dungeons and Dragons (my first ever Battle Interactive!), watching loads of “True Blood” (this show is darn good), reading some more Dresden Files (I’m on book seven), and lots and lots and lots of writing. Whew! Busy-ness.
Let’s see, what’s up for today? Amazon’s having a Gold Box dedicated to video games! The big deal is Mass Effect 3, which is just $29.99 today on PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360.
The rest of the Gold Box deals are:
Seems like mostly deals for PlayStation 3 owners, but perhaps a few cross-platform deals as well. Keep your eyes peeled for more information!
Just one gaming-related shirt today, and it’s a funny mashup!
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As if the entire world wasn’t already convinced that Call of Duty 9 is actually Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, Activision has planted a few hints within the redesigned CallofDuty.com.
The source code for the Call of Duty 9 splash page reveals the following trademark notice, which directly cites Black Ops, and no other game in the series:
2012 Activision Publishing, Inc. Activision and Call of Duty are registered trademarks and Black Ops is a trademark of Activision Publishing, Inc. All other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners.
And if you click “Continue To Full Site,” the trademark notice changes to only mention Call of Duty and the Modern Warfare series. Curious thing, that.
But if you want even more proof, check this out. The loading screen of the site includes morse code that, when translated, spells out “Black Ops Two.”
So yeah, I’d say Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is as good as official.
[Source: MP1st]
Even though this is a “Treyarch year,” Activision is thinking long and hard about the future of the Call of Duty franchise. To that end, Sledgehammer Games has posted six job listings at Gamasutra looking for new bodies for its “Call of Duty development team.”
The developer is looking for an Animator, a Generalist Engineer, a UI Artist, a Lead Gameplay Engineer, a Senior Online Engineer, and a Lead Multiplayer Level Designer. Those last two might point to another multi-team development situation like we saw with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.
So is Sledgehammer assisting with Call of Duty 9? Or is this proof that Call of Duty 10 is in development? It’s hard to say. If Activision’s history is anything to go by, preliminary work has likely already begun on a Call of Duty game that’s scheduled to be released in 2013. As for Call of Duty 9, a multi-team approach clearly worked for Modern Warfare 3, so it just makes good business sense to try it again.
But I guess we’ll find out for sure whether Sledgehammer is involved with Call of Duty 9 in exactly one week. And if they’re not, then let the Call of Duty 10 speculation begin!
It’s a well known fact that video game publishers have never been comfortable with the used game side of video game retail. In recent years, publishers have even gone so far as to create counter measures against used game sales like restricted downloadable content or codes to play online.
A new online retailer, EKGaming.com, wants to change all of that and create a “healthy circle of life” for video games. EKG plans to do business completely online instead of having brick and mortar locations so it can keep it’s overhead low, and pass those savings onto consumers in the form of higher trade-in value for games, and share 10% of used game sales with publishers.
Mike Kennedy, CEO of EKG, thinks putting more money into publisher’s pockets could generate more willingness to take risks on new and exciting IPs, “Publishers are spending record amounts of cash on new game development. This increase in dev costs is steering them in directions that don’t necessarily jive with gamers, causing them to take less risks on new and potentially exciting IP’s or game mechanics and sticking with tried and true properties that are more of a guarantee.”
EKG is in the beta stage, and hopes to partner with a local big box retailer to allow gamers to trade in games and have immediate access to new ones, while the used games are funneled through EKG’s online marketplace.
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