Ubisoft's open-world action game powered by brand-new Disrupt engine, not Assassin's Creed tech, developer confirms.
PlayStation 4 launch title Watch Dogs is powered by an all-new proprietary game engine, according to Ubisoft technical director Sebastien Viard. The new technology is called Disrupt.
"Watch Dogs uses a brand new engine called Disrupt, developed specifically for the game at Ubisoft Montreal," Viars said. "It's not Assassin's Creed engine."
Watch Dogs is currently in development at Ubisoft Montreal, with support from the publisher's Bucharest, Paris, Quebec, and Reflections studios. In addition to PS4, the game is also coming to PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii U, and PC.
Set in Chicago, Watch Dogs puts players into the shoes of Aiden Pearce, a hacker who uses his smartphone to break into the city's central operating system to control things like security cameras and also to obtain personal information.
Sequel DC Super Heroes sells 3.4 million, pushing franchise to new sales milestone.
The Lego Batman series has now sold 14.4 million copies since it launched in 2008.
Warner Bros. announced today that sequel Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes has sold 3.4 million copies since launch in June, adding to the 11 million units the 2008 original Lego Batman has sold as of January 2012.
DC Super Heroes for Wii U will use the GamePad controller as an interactive map that allows players to navigate through Gotham City and choose characters. In addition, the game is playable in its entirety on the GamePad through off-TV mode.
A sequel to 2008's Lego Batman, DC Super Heroes has players encountering a suite of famous fictional heroes, including Batman, Robin, Superman, Wonder Woman, and the Green Lantern, and they must save Gotham City from the grip of Lex Luthor and the Joker.
In addition to the new characters, DC Super Heroes lets gamers explore new regions of Gotham City in an array of vehicles, including the famous batmobile and batwing. The game also offers up new gadgets and suits, as well as new abilities like fight, super-breath, and heat vision.
Naughty Dog's 2011 action-shooter adds free, level-capped standalone multiplayer option with microtransactions; level cap removed for $20.
Naughty Dog today announced that Uncharted 3 multiplayer is now available to play free. Gamers can play competitive multiplayer until level 15 for free, but after that must pay $5 to raise the cap to 25 or $20 to remove the level cap altogether.
In addition, none of the map packs for Uncharted 3 are included with the free version. These must be purchased separately.
A variety of items will be available for purchase, including weapons. Uncharted 3 game designer Justin Richmond explained that in order to avoid a "pay-to-win" situation, gun mods will be locked away by level. "You won't be able to just buy the best gun and pay to win," he said.
Richmond explained that the reason Naughty Dog sought to make Uncharted 3 free-to-play was to bring as many players into the experience as possible.
"It's not a last-ditch effort to save the game," Richmond said. "It's more about is there an easier way to get people interested in the game to really try it out? And I think free-to-play is the easiest way to do that."
Richmond described this business model switch as an experiment. "Hopefully we get it right the first time around, but if we don't, we've always been willing to work with the community and figure out what the best way to do things is."
If this initiative is successful, Richmond said Naughty Dog would consider making multiplayer for its upcoming games free-to-play, though he made clear nothing has been decided.
"If this is a huge success then obviously it's going to be far more likely that we'll see something similar in the future. If it's a total disaster, then we won't."
"Who knows [laughs]," Richmond said. "I mean, this is all up in the air in the sense of the economics of video games is changing. What's going to happen going forward with digital sales, all that kind of stuff. Basically, the bottom line is if we ever want to do this in the future we have to take this step first. I'm not going to say no and I'm not going to say yes."
"I really don't know. If this is a huge success then obviously it's going to be far more likely that we'll see something similar in the future. If it's a total disaster, then we won't," he added. "I think it is going to be successful and I think it is something that we are going to be interested in in the future. But I just don't know; we'll see what happens as it comes down the road."
Sony is no stranger to free-to-play games, as the company is currently operating PlanetSide 2 and DC Universe Online, among others. Richmond said Naughty Dog reached out to the PlanetSide development team to understand how the technology worked, but mostly forged its own path.
Gamers thinking that the idea to make Uncharted 3 multiplayer free-to-play came from Sony management are dead wrong, Richmond said.
"It came from us. It came from inside the studio," he said. "From the beginning, our big thing was it's so hard to get people into the game period. Having to pay money for it makes it even harder. So we've always thought 'wouldn't it be awesome if we could get people involved…'"
The developer said the already-busy two-year production cycle for Uncharted 3 made it impossible to get the technology ready to make multiplayer free for launch. But in the year since launch, the idea really took off.
"In the year since we launched we looked at what would it take to get the game sectioned out. How can we release the single-player digitally, how can we release the multiplayer digitally? All those kinds of things. And it took a year to get there. So we released Uncharted 1 and 2 digitally first and now we've done 3, which is a far more complex offering."
Uncharted 3's co-op Arena (with Shade mode) is available as a $10 download, while the game's co-op Adventure (with Fort co-op) can be purchased for $12. A digital version of the Uncharted 3 Game of the Year Edition is also available for $40.
For more on Uncharted 3's new free-to-play multiplayer offering, check out Naughty Dog's official rundown on its website.
This year's four-day event returns to The Hilton Anatole in Dallas, Texas; details on speakers and games on display still to come.
Bethesda announced today that QuakeCon 2013 will take place in Dallas, Texas August 1-4. The event will return to the The Hilton Anatole in Dallas, Texas.
This year's event marks the 18th straight year that QuakeCon will host the largest Bring-Your-Own-Computer LAN party in North America, according to Bethesda.
Past QuakeCons have featured upcoming Bethesda titles and speeches and panels with noted developers like John Carmack, Todd Howard, and others.
Bethesda did not provide any further details on QuakeCon 2013 beyond revealing its dates and location today.
Developers Gearbox and TimeGate repotedly resisted the idea, but it was one of the many alleged disagreements between the various parties involved in the game's development as to how the ill-fated game should be made.
"There was also the 'too many chefs' syndrome when it came to gameplay, where too many people gave feedback on both ends and it ultimately led to further delays," said Kotaku's source. "In one case, working on a particular task took me a month to finalize, as there was inconsistent and delayed feedback."
Other claims are made in Kotaku's article, which attempts to shed some light on the game's reportedly troubled development. Earlier reports have accused Gearbox of prioritising its efforts more on Borderlands 2 than the six-year development saga of Aliens: Colonial Marines.
"Sega was very concerned that the bulk of Gearbox's resources/manpower was being spent on Borderlands and that they weren't investing the effort in Colonial Marines that they should have been," somebody close to Sega said to GameSpot earlier this month.
One of the key points is that Gearbox had to essentially remake the game in nine months, after finishing work on Borderlands 2 and inheriting an unoptimised build of Aliens: Colonial Marines from TimeGate Studios that couldn't run on PlayStation 3.
Public demonstrations of the game were running in real time, but on a beefed-up PC with specifications far beyond the average console or PC configuration, the source said. Significant sacrifices to the game's visuals had to be made to ensure the game would be able to run on typical machines.
"[Gearbox made] big changes to lighting, texture and shader complexity," said an anonymous source. "Design elements were altered or redone entirely. It looks like a lot of [TimeGate's] assets remained intact, with the exception of lower-res textures and faster-performing shaders."
Gearbox knew Aliens: Colonial Marines wasn't up to scratch, a source alleges, but the developer felt it couldn't ask for another extension to the project after six years of development time.
"The game feels like it was made in nine months, and that's because it was," says Kotaku's source.
Future-published all-things Pokemon magazine to include information on games, TV series, films, and trading card game.
Future Publishing today announced a deal with The Pokemon Company to launch the Official Pokemon Magazine in the United Kingdom. The first issue will go on sale March 20 for £3.99 ($6).
The magazine is described as a "one-stop shop" for all-things Pokemon. It will include information on the latest Pokemon news relating to games, films, the TV series, and the trading card game. Official Pokemon Magazine will print 13 issues per year.
[UPDATE] Men's magazine partners with Epic Games for free post-release maps Haven and Capitol, as well as Execution mode; no Maxim-branded content will be in-game.
[UPDATE] An Epic Games representative told GameSpot its deal with Maxim for Gears of War: Judgment will not result in an in-game Maxim-branded content.
"The deal with Maxim is just a co-promotional deal that allows us to release the pack for free. It doesn't include any Maxim-branded content in the game," the company said.
The original story follows below
Gears of War: Judgment will add two post-launch free multiplayer maps "sponsored" by men's magazine Maxim, as well as a new Execution mode, Epic Games has announced.
Epic Games did not detail its sponsorship agreement with Maxim for the maps and game mode, though the company said this content will release on April 2.
The maps in question are Capitol and Haven, the latter of which (pictured) is set on a frozen wasteland in the fictional Azura mountains on Planet Sera. The map features an asymmetrical layout, as well as vantage points for snipers. Details on the Capitol map were not divulged.
As for the Maxim-sponsored Execution mode, this gametype tasks each team with killing all members of the opposing squad before time runs out. If players are not killed with one-shot kill weapons, they enter a "down-but-not-out" state and will be revived at the end of a bleed-out timer. Players must find these downed enemies and perform an execution kill to vanquish the foe once and for all.
Gears of War: Judgment is due out exclusively on Xbox 360 March 19, 2013 and is the first entry in the series since 2011's trilogy-capping Gears of War 3.
Developed by Epic Games in conjunction with Bulletstorm studio People Can Fly, the project focuses on series soldier Damon Baird and will not use the Kinect.
Harris Poll finds nearly three in five American adults believe games contribute to violent tendencies in teenagers; 38 percent know nothing about ESRB.
A new Harris Poll survey has found that 58 percent of adult Americans believe video games are contributing factor for violent behavior in teenagers. Venturebeat obtained the survey, which interviewed 2,278 adults in the United States.
In addition, 38 percent of survey respondents said they were unaware of the ratings service provided by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB). On top of this, 33 percent of adults surveyed said they allow their children to play whatever they want.
…The findings underscore the lack of awareness Americans have about the video game rating system, as well as the confusion in the market,… Harris Poll president Mike de Vere said in a statement. …They also factor into a larger discussion playing out across our country and on a political stage around how violent games impact our youth, with President Obama recently announcing his desire to look into ways to fund research examining the impact of violent video games on children.…
The Harris Poll study also found that 47 percent do not have faith in the ESRB ratings to keep mature-rated games away from children. Thirty-two percent of respondents said they were confident that the ratings system can achieve this, which is lower than the confidence rating for movie (49 percent) and TV (39 percent) ratings systems.
Former Federal Bureau of Investigation profiler Mary Ellen O'Toole said recently that violent video games do not cause violence. Parents Television Council president Tim Winter agreed that video games do not--by themselves--cause violence. However, he argued the topic is especially important to address today, when media has become a 24/7 activity for children.
VP of Worldwide Studios says Sony understands second-hand market is "massively important"; full vision will become clear in "good time."
Sony vice president of Worldwide Studios Michael Denny has promised the company will "do the right thing" with regards to used games on PlayStation 4. Speaking to CVG, the executive described the issue as one of serious importance.
"It's a massively important issue and I understand why it's one that keeps coming up and will keep coming up, because people want to know what the exact stance is," Denny said.
"In relation to points like that, of course we're mindful of what the game development community wants and what the wider industry issues are with those things. I think in good time that will become clearer," he added.
Denny did not provide a simple yes or no answer, but said Sony will do right by developers and consumers alike.
"It's not something that I feel I have any further announcement or comment to make on, other than to acknowledge with you that it's a massively important issue and of course we are going to do the right thing," he said.
Sony president of Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida last week confirmed used games will play on PlayStation 4. However, it was not made clear if users would have full access to second-hand titles or if they would need to pay to activate the game as a second owner.
"When you purchase the disc-based games on PS4, it should work on any hardware. So that's what I'm saying," Yoshida said at the time.
After launching in Canada last year, scaled down console to launch in United Kingdom March 22; no word on North American debut.
The Wii Mini will launch across the United Kingdom March 22, Nintendo announced today. The $99 console was announced in late November as exclusive to Canada. The scaled down system has not been confirmed for North America.
The Wii Mini is smaller than the original Wii and features red coloring and a square shaped form factor. Included with the console are a red Wii Remote Plus and a matching red Nunchuck controller.
The system is compatible with most Wii accessories, but notably cannot connect to the Internet, meaning it does not support online play whatsoever. In addition, the Wii Mini is not compatible with Gamecube discs or accessories.
To coincide with the Wii Mini launch in the UK, Nintendo will release four new Nintendo Selects titles in the region. These are Mario Party 8, Wii Sports Resort, Mario Power Tennis, and Super Paper Mario.
As of December 31, Nintendo has sold 99.38 million Wii units across the world to date along with 863.53 million games. The console's successor--the Wii U--has shifted 3.06 million units since launch and has tallied 11.69 million software sales.
Blizzard reveals Internet connection will not be required for upcoming console versions; no cross-platform play planned.
Diablo III for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 will not require an Internet connection, Blizzard production director John Hight has revealed.
Speaking on GameTrailers, Hight said, "You can have four people on the same screen--no split-screen, we just zoom the camera out. Or if you're offline…"
Diablo III for PC and Mac mandates that players be connected to Blizzard's Battle.net service, even when playing single-player.
"You no longer have to click and have your character move to a position," Hight said. "It's surprising how much action that brings to it. Blizzard really created action RPGs by launching Diablo originally and this brings the action back into it."
Separately, A Blizzard representative confirmed in the Diablo III forums that cross-platform play between PlayStation Network and Battle.net is not currently in the works.
"While we think cross-platform play would be awesome, there are currently no plans to allow connectivity between PlayStation Network and Battle.net (this is pretty standard for most games that have PC and console support)," the company said. "As a result, the characters on your Battle.net account and PlayStation account will also remain separate."
The developer also confirmed that it has no plans to allow analog controller support for the PC version of Diablo III. And similarly, Diablo III for PS3 and PS4 will not support USB mice or keyboards, Blizzard explained.
Lead designer says long-awaited Redstone update will arrive in early March.
Minecraft lead designer Jens Bergensten has confirmed the 1.5 update to Minecraft, known as the Redstone update, will be released in early March.
"Minecraft 1.5 will be released in roughly 2 weeks, early March," said Bergensten on Twitter.
The Redstone update was announced at Minecon 2012 last November, and will bring numerous fixes to the game, including a new rendering engine and support for HD texture packs. There's also a tweaked inventory system, a scoreboard and more detailed death messages. The Minecraft wiki has a full list of planned changes.
Microsoft's next Xbox will require an always-on internet connection and block pre-owned software, says Ian Livingstone.
Industry veteran and Eidos life president Ian Livingstone has said Microsoft's next Xbox could block pre-owned games and require an active internet connection.
Speaking to MCV India, Livingstone said the next-gen consoles weren't prepared to go towards a digital-only method of distributing games. "The next iteration of consoles--the PS4 and the next Xbox, have got optical disc drives even though they probably don…t want to have them," said Livingstone. "Broadband speed globally isn…t at a level that justifies digital-only.…
…With the next Xbox, you supposedly have to have an Internet connection, and the discs are watermarked, whereby once played on one console it won…t play on another," said Livingstone.
Korean free-to-play firm Nexon has invested in Robert Bowling's Los Angeles-based studio; the deal will involve the development of "future games based on multi-screen, cross-platform gameplay".
Korean free-to-play game company Nexon (MapleStory, Combat Arms) has made a strategic investment in Robotoki, the Los Angeles-based development studio headed up by Robert Bowling, a former creative strategist on the Call of Duty franchise.
While the terms of the investment were not disclosed, the partnership is a step toward the development of future titles based on Robotoki's multi-screen, cross-platform projects.
"We are thrilled to partner with Robotoki to develop cutting-edge multi-platform, cross-genre games," Nexon president and CEO Seungwoo Choi said in a press statement.
"Robert Bowling's creativity and talent is evidenced by his track record of success, and we look forward to collaborating with the entire Robotoki team."
"Partnering with a games giant such as Nexon will allow us invaluable access to their expertise and world-class resources," Bowling added. "Nexon shares our focus on team and talent, as well as our commitment to revitalising and enhancing the gameplay experience, and we are thrilled to work together."
Robotoki was founded in April 2012, following Bowling's departure from Infinity Ward, which at the time was reported as amicable.
Robotoki is currently working on a first-person survival game called Human Element, which will reportedly combine action, strategy, and resource management to offer players multiple survival scenarios.
The game is due to be released in the fourth quarter of 2015 on next-generation consoles, PC, and iOS and Android devices.
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