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March 31, 2009
Nintendo President Satoru Iwata has made some interesting announcements regarding Square Enix during his Game Developers’ Conference (GDC) keynote speech, namely, the announcement of THREE (yep, count ’em) new Final Fantasy titles for the Wii console.
First to be revealed was the official announcement of an already strongly rumoured title, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Darklord. The game is a sequel of sorts to the WiiWare launch game My Life as a King and one would expect the same kind of gameplay when the title launches a little later this year. The only real difference is evident in the spoilerish title, which suggests that you’ll be playing as a villain!
Next up was Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, a storyline-only sequel to the SNES title Final Fantasy IV that will be released on WiiWare. The game was originally developed for mobile phones in Japan. Thanks to the recent Nintendo DS remake of FFIV, there should be plenty of hype and many new fans awaiting the release of this one.
Last but not least, the original edition of the first games in the franchise will, at long last, be released on the Virtual Console. First to be launched will be the NES version of Final Fantasy, the RPG that revolutionised the genre.
This year’s GDC is turning out to be a newsfest. Stay tuned for more updates.
March 31, 2009
After a tough couple weeks for the media giant, Nintendo finally saw their DS handheld retake the top spot in the weekly Japanese hardware sales chart (for the week ending March 22nd).
The statistics come from Media Create, and show that just over 80,000 DS units were sold – that number was split between the DSi and DS, 71,233 and 8,948 respectively.
The sudden upturn in sales was largely due to the release of the title Super Robot Taisen K, which sold over 120,000 copies during the same week. Sony’s increasingly successful PlayStation Portable console came in second place with a respectable 65,765 units shifted.
The PlayStation 3 had a solid, if unremarkable, week with sales of over 25,000. The Wii still struggled on 18,000 and Microsoft’s sales surge has all but gone – a lack of high-profile releases has meant that we have to get used to four-figure sales again, this week just 5,441 - almost as few as the PlayStation 2.
The run down in full:
* 1. Nintendo DS: 80,181
* 2. PlayStation Portable: 65,765
* 3. PlayStation 3: 25,435
* 4. Nintendo Wii: 18,095
* 5. Xbox 360: 5441
* 6. PlayStation 2: 5067
March 31, 2009
More from the Game Developers Conference now and this time it’s the Independent Game Festival Awards, which honour the best independent games of the year. This particular awards ceremony has become increasingly important in recent years, as last year’s winners included Crayon Physics, World of Goo, Audiosurf, and Desktop Tower Defense, all of which have become massively successful titles in their own right. There is a very good chance then that we will all be playing some of the winning games (see below) in the coming year (They can also be downloaded from IGN’s File Planet service).
Here is the full list of 2009 award winners:
Seumas McNally Grand Prize
Blueberry Garden, by Erik Svedang
Like line-rider, but with incomprehensible gameplay mechanics.
Innovation (Nuovo) Award
Between, by Jason Rohrer
A multiplayer game designed for two players that emphasises the gradual differences between human consciousness and isolation.
Excellence in Visual Art
Machinarium, by Amanita Design
A point-and-click adventure game where you play the role of a robot.
Excellence in Audio
Brainpipe, by Digital Eel
Think Rez mixed with Geometry Wars, only set inside the human brain.
Technical Excellence
Cortex Command, by Data Realms
Use your severed brain to control remote units as you explore an environment where cybernetics are commonplace.
Excellence in Design
Musaic Box, by KranX Productions
A new music genre where you have to solve puzzles using your ears. Alternatively, you can solve problems geometrically.
Best Student Game
Tag: The Power of Paint, by DigiPen Institute of Technology
A puzzle/platformer that allows players to modify their environment by painting it.
Audience Award
Cortex Command, by Data Realms
See above in the technical excellence award
D2D Vision Award
Osmos, by Hemisphere Games
Dreamlike visuals where the aim is to grow by absorbing other motes.
March 31, 2009
Although Media Molecule was the only one big winner on the night (with an impressive four accolades), the Game Developers’ Conference 09 Game of the Year title was awarded to Bethesda, for their deep and detailed RPG, Fallout 3.
The epic 2008 game fended off stiff competition from Fable 2, Left 4 Dead, Grand Theft Auto and Little Big Planet. As an added bonus, Bethesda also won the Best Writing Award, beating favourites Braid and GTA IV.
Despite losing out on the main award, arguably the bigger winner on the night was Media Molecule, who took home four awards in total; Best Technology, Best Game Design, Best Debut Game and the Innovation award.
Here’s the list of winners in full:
Game of the Year – Fallout 3 (Bethesda Softworks)
Best Game Design – LittleBigPlanet (Media Molecule)
Best Writing – Fallout 3 (Bethesda Softworks)
Best Technology – LittleBigPlanet (Media Molecule)
Best Visual Arts – Prince of Persia (Ubisoft Montreal)
Best Debut Game – LittleBigPlanet (Media Molecule)
Best Handheld Game – God Of War: Chains Of Olympus (Ready at Dawn)
Innovation Award – LittleBigPlanet (Media Molecule)
Best Audio – Dead Space (EA Redwood Shores)
Best Downloadable Game – World Of Goo (2D Boy)
March 30, 2009
In other Jagex news, the developer has revealed that the last two quarters of 2008 were its strongest yet (largely due to the strong dollar against the pound, we think), and that it is extremely confident about its prospects in 2009 with more casual titles and a brand new MMO due for release.
“Jagex’s many achievements throughout 2008 are a direct result of our long-term commitment to improving all aspects of our games and delivering continued excellence to our players,” said Mark Gerhard, company CEO. “From the content, graphic enhancements and updated game-play mechanisms in RuneScape HD through the addition of more original games in the FunOrb catalog, Jagex has remained on the cutting edge of game development”.
“And this is just the beginning - 2008 was a record-breaking year for Jagex, but we’re most passionate about raising the bar even higher in 2009.”
The forthcoming MMO, currently titled Mechscape, will be the first fully-fledged release from the developer since RuneScape first appeared back in 2001. With a presumed 3-year development cycle, ‘Mechscape’ should be an interesting prospect. The name suggests science fiction, but if it aims at a similar demographic as its fantasy-based big brother, it will be taking on Sony’s own free-to-play games title Free Realms.
Let battle commence!
March 30, 2009
Thanks to the Official US Xbox magazine, new details have emerged been regarding the sequel to the early Xbox 360 title Lost Planet.
Thankfully, Lost Planet 2 will ditch the snowy terrain in favour of a more varied landscape, and the focus will be on four-player co-operative bug-splatting!
“Lost Planet 2 will put a huge emphasis on your responsibility to your team,”
says the magazine.
“Besides having you mind your own T-ENG reserves when the fighting gets rough, Capcom also plans to incorporate something called a ‘Team Military Power Bar.’ If you happen to die during a mission, you’ll be able to immediately respawn at a data post - but your team’s overall Military Power Bar will take a hit.”
The theme for the new Capcom 3rd person actioner seems to be, well, more action. That, and less snowy!
The preview continues, discussing the OXM team’s first encounter with a “three-story high” boss character.
“One guy has climbed into a clunky VS and is scrapping it out along the waterlogged canyon floor, while another dude is unloading round after round from a firearm best described as a handheld missile launcher”…”And yet another buddy has somehow grapple-hooked onto the back of the monster and is now riding it like a giant, living surfboard”.
It sounds like Capcom are onto another winner.
March 30, 2009
In a shockingly frank report of the MMO gold-farming industry in China, Eurogamer have revealed some interesting facts, the most startling of which is that there is an estimated 1 million active gold farmers.
The claim is actually made by a leading gold-selling company called SwagVault, who say that larger gold-selling companies use up to a thousand farmers to generate in-game goods. That would mean that at least a thousand (but almost certainly probably more) gold-farming companies are operational in China alone.
SwagVault’s representative, named ‘Benjamin’ to hide his real identity, admits that
“The yearly turnover for all these enterprises combined is estimated at over 10 billion US dollars”
, which annihilates the estimations quoted last week, which had the figure closer to USD 2 billion. He continued
“World of Warcraft players make up 70 per cent of this real-money trading activity. So Blizzard really creates a miracle! I really can’t believe that a game can generate such a large market.”
MMO developers are almost unanimously against the gold farming trade. Jagex famously restructured the entire combat and trade system in their MMO RuneScape, which all but prevented gold trading. The move cost them 60,000 subscribers (many of which would have been gold farmers), but they are still sitting pretty on over a million now, so the strategy seems to have worked.
March 29, 2009
Disappointing news recently from the San Francisco Game Developers conference – Sony’s long-awaited PS3 MMOs, DC Universe Online and The Agency, will not be released until 2010.
We had hoped that at least one of the titles was due for release in 2009, helping bolster Sony’s impressive looking line up of exclusives (Sony’s God of War 3, Quantic Dream’s Heavy Rain etc), however, at the conference Sony Online Entertainment president John Smedley confirmed that both games would not be released this year.
MMOs have yet to take hold on the current generation of consoles, despite the increasing number of Live, online participants. Many analysts and industry insiders believe that Final Fantasy XI and Phantasy Star Universe (both released for the Xbox 360) have only scratched the surface of what MMOs are capable of on consoles.
Most MMO publishers (not including Activision Blizzard, for obvious reasons) have expressed interest in console development - Sony themselves has the kid-friendly Free Realms coming out this year for PC and PS3. With the full potential of the current generation consoles not yet fully exploited, there is a mass of potential for genres such as massively multiplayer online games. Hopefully 2009 will see the release of at least some new attempts.
March 29, 2009
After covering the dreaded Xbox 360 ‘red ring of death’ issue back in 2007, UK consumer awareness show Watchdog has been reporting on a second console-debilitating issue, this time involving disc-scratching.
The program stated that it had received a large number of complaints about Microsoft’s console, the majority of which were regarding a disc-scratching issue. This was apparently caused by users moving or knocking against their console (yes, we thought that outcome would be pretty obvious too).
The show ran some rudimentary tests of their own, simulating the vibrations made when someone places a book on a table next to the console. The newer model Xbox passed with flying colours, but launch models didn’t fare so well. It’s unclear whether the launch version tested was in fact an already problematic console.
Watchdog’s website had this to say
“We’ve had complaints from many of our viewers telling us there’s another serious problem with the Xbox 360s, one that doesn’t affect the console but could destroy the games you’ve paid a hefty wad of cash for’…‘What’s worse, many of you have told us that Microsoft won’t accept responsibility and in fact say it’s your fault, not theirs.”
In response, Microsoft defended their warranty
“Microsoft is committed to fully support its customers and honour its warranty obligations, but simply cannot replicate the disc scratching problem that’s been alleged with the console in a stationary position.”
March 29, 2009
Following hot on the heels of Microsoft’s anti-piracy measures for Games for Windows Live, creative powerhouse Valve Software have announced an update for their similar Steam service.
The company states that the new update includes a headlining update - Custom Executable Generation (CEG) technology, which compliments an ‘already-existing piracy solution’. According to a press release, the CEG is
“A customer friendly approach to anti-piracy, CEG makes unique copies of games for each user allowing them to access the application on multiple machines without install limits and without having to install root kits on their PC”.
Also included in the update is an improvement to the Steamworks matchmaking system – the same one that shipped with Left4Dead. It’s unclear whether this improvement extends to the sometimes troublesome Xbox Live version.
Valve are keen to promote these improvements, especially in the wake of Microsoft’s announcement. The two are battling hard for supremacy over the PC digital distribution market.
“Delivering this extension of services on Steamworks first anniversary, demonstrates our commitment to continually develop the platform to better serve the community working with these tools,” said Valve boss Gabe Newell. “As we roll out these features, we continue to look for new ways make PC games easier to create and better for customers to experience.”
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