| Wreck-It Ralph hitting DVD and Blu-ray this March Jan 4th 2013, 03:41 Disney-animated film available for download in HD Digital and HD Digital 3D; physical version to come with two-disc and four-disc ultimate collector's edition. 
The hit animated movie Wreck-It Ralph will be out in digital and physical DVD and Blu-ray form early this year. According to Disney Home Video, the digital version will be out on February 12 and will be available in HD digital and HD digital 3D formats. The physical versions will be out on March 5. In addition to a standalone DVD release with no extra features, Disney will release a two-disc collecter's edition and a four-disc ultimate collector's edition. The former set contains the DVD and Blu-ray versions while the latter edition contains both aforementioned formats as well as the Blu-ray 3D and digital copy. The digital, collector's edition and ultimate collector's edition will come with bonuses such as the "making of" feature called "Bit by Bit: Creating the Worlds of Wreck-It Ralph", alternate and deleted scenes, video game commercials for the titles created for the movie, and the animated short called Paperman that was shown before the film in its theater run. The Blu-ray copy will also have a video feature which points out the many video game references in Wreck-It Ralph, hosted by stand-up comedian Chris Hardwick. For more information on Wreck-It Ralph, check out the previous story on the video game-themed film. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
|  | Former Counter Logic Gaming League of Legends team close to signing with Evil Geniuses Jan 4th 2013, 02:50 Sources say that the deal between both teams will be done soon; this will be the first time Evil Geniuses has picked up a League of Legends team. 
The former Counter Logic Gaming European League of Legends squad is close to signing a new contract to be Evil Geniuses’ first League of Legends team, according to team sources. Consisting of star players Stephen ’Snoopeh’ Ellis, Henrik ’Froggen’ Hansen, Peter ’Yellowpete’ Wüppen, Mitch ’Krepo’ Voorspoels and Mike ’Wickd’ Petersen, the deal is said to be done soon, with Evil Geniuses outbidding Azubu in the final stages. This would mark the first time Evil Geniuses have picked up a League of Legends team. Counter Logic Gaming is one of six teams automatically qualified into Season 3 of the League of Legends Championship Series. The five had a breakout year in 2012 under CLG. The team came no worse than 5th at any event all year, winning DreamHack Summer 2012, placing second at the Azubu Champions Summer 2012, and third at the Riot Season 2 World Championships. On December 28, it was announced that the European Squad would not be re-signing to CLG and wanted to explore free agency in 2013. As of a month ago, it wasn’t confirmed that Evil Geniuses would be signing any League of Legends teams. EG Owner Alex Garfield spoke to PCGamesN at the fifth IGN ProLeague event in Las Vegas, and said that he was unsure if the team would venture into the game at the this time. ’Obviously the numbers are impressive, and the passion of the community is impressive,’ Garfield said. ’I think the challenge for me is just to find the right brand representatives for EG. So I’ve been perfectly happy to wait and sit on the sidelines and let some of those guys grow up a little bit.’ Counter Logic Gaming will move into a house in Cologne, Germany, soon to prepare for the Season 3 Championship Series. The qualifiers for Season 3 kick-off on January 11 with North America up first, and then on January 25 for the European qualifiers. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | GameStop shares tumble following Sony patent application Jan 3rd 2013, 23:22 Specialty retailer per-share value dives 5 percent today after technology from Sony that could block used games emerges in filing. GameStop shares dipped Thursday by more than 5 percent following the publication of Sony's patent application for technology that could block used games for a future system. The company closed trading today at $24.36, down $1.30 (or 5.07 percent) from the day's start. The technology would make it so only the original purchasers of a game could play the title. Thus, retailers that buy and sell second-hand games like GameStop would be negatively impacted. A GameStop representative was not immediately available to comment. Analysts--speaking to Bloomberg Businessweek--said blocking used games, previously rumored to be a feature of the PlayStation 4, would be detrimental to Sony's overall business. It would put the platform at a competitive disadvantage, nullify revenue from game rentals, and elicit consumer backlash, these analysts said. Janney Capital analyst Tony Wible told Bloomberg news of a similar technology surfaced in 2005 prior to the arrival of the PlayStation 3 and sent GameStop shares into a downward spiral. This technology, of course, never came to be. In after-hours trading, GameStop shares have rebounded slightly, up $0.04 to $24.40. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | Steve Jobs movie opens in April Jan 3rd 2013, 22:14 Film starring Ashton Kutcher as iconic Apple designer arriving in three months as "jOBS." 
The upcoming Steve Jobs film starring Ashton Kutcher (Two and a Half Men, The Butterfly Effect) as the famous Apple designer will be released this April, movie makers Open Road Films and Five Star Feature films announced today, as reported by CNET. The film, to be released as jOBS, will chronicle Jobs' life from 1971 through 2000. It will detail Jobs' founding of Apple, his departure from the company, the formation of NeXT and Pixar, and his subsequent return to Apple. jOBS will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah later this month. In addition to Kutcher playing the role of Jobs, the film also stars Matthew Modine (Full Metal Jacket, The Dark Knight Rises) as ex-Apple CEO John Sculley and Josh Gad (Love and Other Drugs, 21) as Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak. Newsroom and West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin is also working on a Steve Jobs film. This movie will reportedly play out in three 30-minute acts, each taking place behind the curtains at three of Apple's major product launches: the first Macintosh computer, the NeXT computer, and the iPod. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | Walking Dead shooter trailer a fake Jan 3rd 2013, 20:34 New video of Activision's The Walking Dead: Survival Instincts revealed to be gameplay footage pasted together by fan. 
The gameplay trailer for The Walking Dead: Survival Instincts published yesterday was in fact made by a fan and is not a genuine asset from Activision or developer Terminal Reality, though it does use actual in-game footage. Activision community manager Dan Amrich explained on his blog that the video was created by a fan using footage from an IGN video preview of the game. Amrich apologized for posting the video in the first place and for "being part of the misinformation and the constant problem of unreliable information found on the Internet." The video, originally posted to a YouTube account that has since been deleted, caused a stir upon its release yesterday, with many gamers bemoaning its quality. Survival Instincts was announced in July 2012 and is based on AMC's The Walking Dead TV series. It will be set in rural Georgia and focus on brothers Daryl and Merle Dixon. Players will be able to choose whether to confront the undead head-on or attempt to avoid detection. Survival Instincts is currently in development at Terminal Reality. That studio's previous credits include Atari's Ghostbusters: The Video Game, as well as Majesco's BloodRayne and BloodRayne 2. The company's most recent release was Kinect Star Wars. Survival Instincts is scheduled to arrive sometime in 2013 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | 30 million Angry Birds downloads last week Jan 3rd 2013, 19:24 Bird-flinging strategy game series hits milestone during December 22-29 week; 8 million Christmas Day downloads is up 1.5 million over 2011. 
Angry Birds franchise games were downloaded 30 million times during the Christmas week (December 22-29), developer Rovio Entertainment announced today. In addition, the franchise saw 8 million downloads on Christmas Day alone, which is up from 6.5 million last year. Citing data from application analytics firm Flurry, Rovio also claimed that some 17.4 million iOS and Android devices were activated on Christmas Day, meaning about one Angry Birds game was downloaded for every other new device activated. Rovio had a busy 2012. The company released four new games (Angry Birds Space, Amazing Alex, Bad Piggies, and Angry Birds Star Wars) during the year, which also saw the Angry Birds series reach one billion downloads. Last month, Rovio announced that the Angry Birds movie will release in summer 2016, helmed by Iron Man and Despicable Me producers. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | Sony patents tech to block used games Jan 3rd 2013, 18:04 Technology giant submits application for "Electronic Content Processing System" that would tie individual game discs to one user account. Sony has researched and patented new technology that could be implemented to block used games. As spotted by a NeoGAF user, patent application number 20130007892 for an "Electronic Content Processing System" and "Use Apparatus" would associate individual game discs with matched user accounts. Games that are discovered to be tied to another user's account could potentially be rejected. The system works, according to the document, by attaching contactless RF "tags" to each game, which can be be read without a network connection. The filing does not mention any specific system for its use. However, past speculation suggested Sony was interested in curbing second-hand sales with the PlayStation 4. "A game playing system includes a use permission tag provided for use in a game disk for a user of a game, a disk drive, and a reproduction device for reproducing the game," reads a line from the patent's abstract. "The disk drive reads out a disk ID from the game disk. When the game is to be played, the reproduction device conveys the disk ID and a player ID to the use permission tag. The use permission tag stores the terms of use of the game and determines whether a combination of the disk ID and the player ID conveyed from the reproduction device fulfills the terms of use or not." In the patent filing, Sony said in a content business like the games industry, it is "vital" to redistribute a portion of the proceeds from sales to developers, who do not see a dime from second-hand sales. Sony said though the second-hand market may expose new gamers to a particular title, in the long run, this does not benefit developers. "In such a scheme where the electronic content is bought and sold in the second-hand markets or the like, the sales proceeds resulting therefrom are not redistributed to the developers," reads a line from the filing. "Also, since the users who have purchased the second-hand items are somehow no longer potential buyers of the content, the developers would lose their profits otherwise gained in the first place." Sony said this patent would effectively "suppress" the second-hand game market if it ever comes to fruition. This technology would also be applicable to other forms of electronic content, including images and music. The patent was originally applied for in September and was published today. It does not necessarily indicate that Sony will, in reality, block or in any way prohibit gamers from playing second-hand titles on the PS4 or any other device. The used-game market has been a contentious issue, with several noted developers making clear their stance against secondhand sales. Those who spoke out against used sales in the past year include Crysis developer Crytek's director of creative development, Rasmus Hojengaard (though he quickly recanted), Battlefield 3 executive producer Patrick Bach, ex-THQ executive Richard Browne, Elite creator David Braben, Volition design director Jameson Durall, and Silicon Knights founder Denis Dyack. Not all voices are against used games. Saber Interactive CEO Matthew Karch said in February 2012 that blocking used games is unfair. Also during that month, Witcher developer CD Projekt Red's managing director, Adam Badowski, took a populist gamer stance, saying systems that block used games "can be a bad thing." Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | Analyst: Wii U GameStop sales below expectations Jan 3rd 2013, 16:54 Sterne Agee industry watcher says hardware and software sales for Nintendo's latest fall short during holiday period at speciality retailer. 
Wii U hardware and software sales at GameStop during the holiday season were below expectations, according to an investor note from Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia. The industry watcher said Wii U availability at GameStop continues to be "abundant." The Wii U made its worldwide debut November 18 in North America and sold 400,000 units during its first week. The console launched in Europe and Australia on November 30, but no specific sales figures for those regions have been announced. The Wii U's December 8 launch in Japan saw first-weekend sales come in at 308,570 units. Bhatia also revealed that the $350 Wii U Deluxe model is selling at a greater clip than the $300 basic version at GameStop, presumably due to its "better value." The Deluxe model includes 32GB of storage space to the Basic unit's 8GB, as well as a bundled copy of Nintendo Land. Additionally, Bhatia said the Wii U software attach rate at GameStop is "low," but did not provide a specific rate. "Our conclusion is the Nintendo Wii U launch has been slightly disappointing," Bhatia said. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | Tomb Raider multiplayer details Jan 3rd 2013, 16:05 Upcoming reboot to include standard Team Deathmatch mode, as well as "Rescue" and "Cry For Help" gametypes. 
The first information concerning Tomb Raider's newly announced multiplayer mode has come to light. Details were published in this month's issue of Official Xbox Magazine and were summarized by a Tomb Raider forum user. First, Tomb Raider will feature the standard Team Deathmatch gametype. This mode pits a squad of Lara Croft's allies against a group of natives referred to as "scavengers." Gamers will alternate between sides throughout the course of a best-of-three match. Maps will feature lever-based traps that shoot spikes out of walls, climable surfaces, destroyable environments, and a weapon arsenal that includes Lara's iconic bow and arrow. A second gametype is called "Rescue" and has one side (Survivors) collecting med-packs and delivering them to rotating destinations, while the opposite side (Scavengers) attempts to reach a requisite kill count to end the match. A third gametype--"Cry for Help"--was teased. This mode will reportedly place emphasis on "discovery and collection," though no other information is available. Overall, players will be able to select from a "deep roster" of characters for Tomb Raider's multiplayer component. Gamers will be equipped with a primary weapon, a sidearm, grenade-style projectiles, and a climbing axe that doubles as a melee weapon. Tomb Raider is due out March 5, 2013 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. For more, check out GameSpot's previous coverage. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | Portal designer: 'We need to change the makeup of our industry' Jan 3rd 2013, 15:51 Kim Swift says games are reflections of their creators and believes teaching children to follow their dreams is the key to greater diversity. 
The best way to introduce greater diversity into the games industry is to teach children that anyone can make games, according to Portal designer Kim Swift. In a blog post published yesterday, Swift said a child's hopes and dreams--including those about making video games for a living--should not be suppressed, but rather endorsed, accepted, and encouraged. "Thankfully, I lucked out with some insanely supportive parents, but without that I doubt that I would be making games right now," Swift said. "And so when I blather endlessly about a game I’m working on until my eyes bleed, in the back of my head, I hope that there’s a little girl out there that realizes her dreams are achievable." Swift's comments come after the much-publicized #1ReasonWhy debate on Twitter, which drew significant discussion about sexism in the game industry last month. Later in her blog post, Swift said if gamers want greater diversity in gaming subjects, a more "fair" and "unbiased" workplace, and the industry to "just plain grow up," then "we need to change the makeup of our industry, because games are a reflection of their creators." Swift doesn't believe these problems will be eradicated in the short-term, however; the solution lies at least two decades away "when this current generation of kids sees the good example that we should be setting now." "Though we may not be able to tell it completely like it is just yet, there’s still plenty we can do to help future generations of game developers," Swift said. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
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