A lot of us are taking for granted the arrival of Sony and Microsoft’s new system, which are both presumedly coming out of the end of the year. And while Nintendo already released their next-generation system last year — with the Wii U — they haven’t lived up to their own sales expectations. But most of us figure that the PlayStation 4, along with the next Xbox, will sell a higher quantity of systems.
But if you were the CEO of the biggest game publisher on Earth, you would have your reservations about these new systems selling like hotcakes in the upcoming years. And a lot of that has to do with the fact that you been seeing a steady decline in sales, and that Nintendo couldn’t convince the number of customers they wish to see purchased their console and handhelds these last few years.
There’s definitely been a blow back in the video game industry, and Activision boss Bobby Kotick is worried that trend will continue in this upcoming generation. (more…)
Undoubtably Will Wright is a pioneer in gaming. He is the definition of interactive entertainment innovation. Being the creator of SimCity, the Sims and Spore, Wright’s stature in video games is only held by a few people in the industry. When he develops something, people play it, and it usually change the future of video games.
Will Wright ended his long-term relationship with EA a few years backed, and embarked on starting up new companies. One of these studios is Stntertainment, and he’s been working closely with them in developing a brand new gaming experience, which he elaborated to attendees at the Game Horizon Conference in the UK. (more…)
The last few months, EA has had some problems. And I’m assuming they would just like to forget about, them but they can’t. Now the company has confirmed additional layoffs for an “organizational update.” On the company’s official website, they posted the following statement:
“In recent weeks, EA has aligned all elements of its organizational structure behind priorities in new technologies and mobile. This has led to some difficult decisions to reduce the workforce in some locations. We are extremely grateful for the contributions made by each of our employees – those that are leaving EA will be missed by their colleagues and friends.”
“These are hard but essential changes as we focus on delivering great games and showing players around the world why to spend their time with us.”
A few weeks ago, the company reduced the workforce, and also released a small number of employees back in February. (more…)
Activision has confirmed that they are laying off 30 full-time employees, and they plan on launching fewer license based games, the publisher told Kotaku.
“In 2013, we expect to release fewer games based on license properties and as a result are realigning our structure to better reflect the market opportunities and our slate,” the company told the gaming website. “Approximately, 30 full-time employees have been impacted globally, which represents approximately one half of one percent of Activision Blizzard’s employee population.”
Activision did reveal a portion of the layoffs came from Treyarch, but it wouldn’t affect any of the planned downloadable content for Call of Duty: Black Ops II because the cuts at the studio were “minimal reduction.” (more…)
The hype of Star Wars has never gone down towards up obscurity since the original film was released in 1975. And with the announcement of Disney purchasing Lucasfilm, and the next Star Wars movie will be released in 2015 with J.J. Abrams directing it, Star Wars is about to be as big as ever, which is perfect timing for Zen Studios to release a digital pinball game based on the franchise for mobile platforms, Xbox Live and PSN.
When the game is released digitally, there will be a few pinball tables to select from, which are inspired by “Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, Boba Fett, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars.”
Watch the trailer for Star Wars Pinball after the jump. (more…)
Since 13 days ago, Temple Run 2 has been downloaded over 50 million times on iOS, Android and Kindle. Not a bad milestone for a company that only has three employees, and was confounded by a husband-and-wife team.
“Temple Run has evolved into something so much bigger than us,” says Keith Shepherd, co-founder of Imangi. “The game has performed beyond our wildest dreams, and we are thrilled that gamers and fans have embraced Temple Run 2 in such a short period of time.”
When the game was released in Apple’s App Store on January 17, it was downloaded over 6 million times in less than 24 hours. And achievement so great. I’m sure Fortune 500 gaming companies are scratching their head and wondering how such a small company can be so successful in such a short amount of time. I’ll give them a hint: make simple yet challenging games, that both hard-core and casual gamers alike, can find entertaining. Yeah, it’s a lot harder than it sounds to develop, but I’m sure you can figure it out one day.
During a discussion today on MSNBC, A Republican US Sen. Lemar Alexander of Tennessee, suggested something so outrageous that your head might literally explode. Chuck Todd, the host of the Daily Rundown, ask Sen. Alexander if he would ever support universal background checks on firearms, in wake of the Newtown, Connecticut school-shooting. His answer is so crazy that some people on the far right might think he’s demented. (more…)
Way back in 2010, Apple Inc. let video-game studio Epic Games, makers of the graphics engine Unreal, to show the amount of horse power gaming companies could squeeze out of the iPhone.
Epic Games elected to make an interactive tech demo, which users of the phone could download and experience themselves, after it was previewed on stage with Steve Jobs, head of Apple at the time. The application was called Epic Citadel, and it certainly impressed the audience in attendance, along with the many people who downloaded that day in the App Store. (more…)
Disney Chairman and CEO Bob Iger is taking steps to prevent unwanted violence in his company’s video games, following the tragic school-shooting of Newtown, CT, according to Deadspin.
His quote was from a Q&A at HRTS Newsmakers Luncheon, which also included Hollywood-producer Brian Grazer. “Fortunately at Disney there’s very little [violent content], but I still want to make sure we’re asking ourselves the right questions in terms of that standard,” Iger said, “and also [ensure] we’re willing to be a part of a dialogue in today’s world that I think is pretty necessary in terms of what our role is and what our role should be.”
While most seem to agree that Disney has very little violent content in their video-games, they do own a few video-game intellectual properties that could, in theory, be toned-down when it comes to violence. (more…)
“If you are a woman in the industry, there are all these little signals that you are not part of the club, that this is not your tribe. After time, it wears you down.”
This was a disturbing quote in a interesting Boston Globe article yesterday, by a female game developer, who happens to also be the cofounder of a gaming studio called Green Door Labds. Marleigh Norton is her name, and she went on record with the Globe talking about some of her experiences as a female in the heart of the gaming community. And clearly, it’s not all pleasant. (more…)
An all-time classic and quite possibly the best installment of the series — Sonic CD is being released on multiple platforms tomorrow.
Sega announced the Sega CD version of Sonic will be released on Xbox Live, the PlayStation Network and iOS. Other mobile devices such as Android will have to wait until 2012 before it gets the retro classic in their marketplace. (more…)
Apparently the Today Show has a segment which talks about a guys perspective on life. The bit features Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb, whose looks have passed years ago, and former TV host Donny Deutsch.
During the segment, Deutsch is asked if it’s normal for men in their 30′s to still play video games because he’s evidently All Knowing.
This summer, Nintendo will dipping their toes in the mobile app market with a new Pokémon application for iOS and Android devices. This is huge news considering the company has never released any virtual Pokémon title that doesn’t use Nintendo hardware.
The app — which will be released this summer and be free — is a timing-based game that will somehow combine Pokémon cards while music and the player will tap to control the action, though details are scarce on how that specifically works right now. (more…)
We’re back and just in time for E3, which starts tomorrow with Microsoft’s press briefing. Come to /gamer to get the latest news, info and previews of the latest titles from the show floor.
The last time anyone played a Golden Sun game, it was on the Game Boy Advance. Then last year, Nintendo announced that a brand new game was going to be introduced to the series for the Nintendo DS called, Golden Sun: The Dark Dawn.
Today, the company confirmed that the role-playing game will be in stores on November 29th, just time for the holidays. According to the Gamestop website, The Dark Dawn will cost $34.99 when it’s released.
My guess is that Golden Sun: The Dark Dawn will be one of the last great titles for the Nintendo DS, before the 3DS is released probably within the year.
