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 | Saints Row devs reflect on THQ collapse Mar 22nd 2013, 14:59 uDraw and lack of focus on mobile blamed for THQ's closing 
THQ's collapse was down to "bad choices" made by the publisher according to Saints Row developer Scott Phillips. Speaking to GameSpot about the company's collapse, Phillips blamed not just poor decision making, but also a lack of investment into mobile games. "It was uDraw and bad choices like not getting into mobile", said Phillips. "I don't even think they were thinking about mobile as of the beginning of this year, nor were they planning on iPad games. They were just behind the curve on everything and that ultimately hurt them." Senior Producer Jim Boon placed much of the blame on uDraw, a tablet peripheral for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii that fell over $100 million below the company's sales expectations. "When you have things like the kids business--which by their own admission they wished they had gotten out of the a bit earlier than they did--there's a lot of investment that went into that", said Boon. "Then there's the lynchpin of it all with the uDraw issue. That came out right when Saints Row The Third Came out, so here on the one hand is this huge hit for THQ, and everyone's so excited about that, and then here's a $100 million loss as the same time for uDraw." The collapse of THQ led to Saints Row developer Volition being purchased for $22.3 million by Koch Media. Saints Row IV is now being published under Koch Media's subsidiary brand, Deep Silver. Boon told GameSpot that while the transition between the two publishers wasn't entirely without issue, it hasn't affected the studio's creative direction. "I don't think we were really worried about [switching publishers] for our jobs, say, because with THQ they had the Clearlake investment that they were going for", said Boon. "We always looked like we had an avenue where we knew we were gonna be safe. The concern for us was who would ultimately be the owner of us and what would that mean? Say if it was a different publisher that grabs us, are they going to want to change the game, or are they going to want to change our culture or processes? Luckily with Deep Silver they've been totally great. It's the same process, the same culture, they've not asked us to make a single change on the game. It's been pretty seamless." Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | Beyond: Two Souls selected for Tribeca Film Festival Mar 22nd 2013, 14:24 Follows inclusion of L.A. Noire into Manhattan cinema festival back in 2011. 
Quantic Dream's Beyond: Two Souls has been made an official selection of the Tribeca Film Festival for 2013. The screening on April 27 will feature a one-hour scene from the game, followed by a Q&A session with director David Cage and actress Ellen Page. A new trailer for the game will also be shown. It is the second game to do so, following the inclusion of L.A. Noire into the cinema festival back in 2011. Beyond: Two Souls is the next narrative-led game from French studio Quantic Dream and features Ellen Page and Willem Dafoe in its cast. Players control Page's character, Jodie Holmes, alongside the mysterious spiritual entity that has been tethered to her since birth. GameSpot saw the game earlier this week. The game will launch for PlayStation 3 on October 8, but Quantic Dream has already said it's working on a new title for PlayStation 4. This year the annual Manhattan film festival will also feature talks from Clint Eastwood, Darren Aronofsky, and Ben Stiller. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | Blizzard reveals HearthStone at PAX Mar 22nd 2013, 14:04 World of Warcraft maker officially announces free-to-play collectible card game for PC, Mac, and iPad; beta begins this summer, with full product out by end of 2013. 
BOSTON--Today during a presentation titled Blizzard Presents at PAX East, World of Warcraft developer Blizzard Entertainment announced HearthStone: Heroes of Warcraft, a free-to-play collectible card game for PC, Mac, and iPad. Gamers can sign up to beta test the title today. The beta will launch this summer, while the full game is due out sometime in 2013. Explaining the game, a Blizzard representative said, "We wanted to do something a little different." The game, described as "really small," was built by a team of 15 developers at the Irvine, California developer. HearthStone is focused on 1v1 matches and uses Battle.net for matchmaking. Players can duel online to boost their medal ranking. Three hundred total cards, based on the World of Warcraft classes, will be available at launch. Extra packs will be available for purchase, for around $1, Blizzard said. It appears HearthStone: Heroes of Warcraft is far along in development, as Blizzard showed a complete game demo for the game during the presentation today. This is a breaking news story. Check back later for more information as it becomes available. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | Rock Band's last track will be American Pie Mar 22nd 2013, 12:44 Don McLean's classic track to see out Rock Band's long-running DLC. 
The final downloadable track for Harmonix's Rock Band series will be American Pie by Don McLean. Harmonix made the announcement (via Polygon) as part of the The Harmonix Rock Band Party at gaming trade show PAX East. American Pie, which was originally released in 1971, will reach Rock Band on April 2 as part of the game's final update. More than 4000 tracks have been released for the game series over 275 weeks. "We’re incredibly proud of the DLC milestones we’ve set, especially producing the largest music library of any game available, and we wouldn’t have been able to release as much outstanding content without the support of our amazing community," wrote Harmonix in February. For more information on Rock Band, check out GameSpot's previous coverage. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | Ragnarok Online 2 North American beta starts this April Mar 22nd 2013, 08:03 Players who register early will get additional in-game bonuses. 
North American fans of the Ragnarok Online series can look forward to play the sequel, Ragnarok Online 2: Legend of the Second, later this year. Developer Gravity Interactive has announced that the second game in the series will be available in open beta form on April 18. Players who wish to sign up can head to the official site for the North American version. Those who register early and get to level 10 can reserve their name for the first 60 days after its launch. The same users who have registered with game portal site WarpPortal and have a copy of the first Ragnarok Online will receive a secret Ragnarok Devoted prize. Players who register before April 2 will get free in-game prizes for Ragnarok Online 2. Gravity Interactive has yet to announce the launch date for the full version. For more information, check out GameSpot’s coverage below. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | BioShock Infinite creative director denies claims game cost $200 million to produce and market Mar 22nd 2013, 02:51 Analysts estimate game development to have cost $100 million; additional $100 million spent on marketing and promotion. [UPDATE]: Creative director Ken Levine refutes the claims. 
According to a New York Times article citing unnamed analysts, BioShock Infinite may have cost its parent company Take-Two Interactive $100 million to develop, with a further $100 million spent to promote and market the game to the public. BioShock Infinite is the third instalment in the series and has been in development at Irrational Games for four years, with a 200 person team working on the project. The game follows on from 2007's BioShock, and 2010's BioShock 2. The cost of developing games has risen across the board in recent years. Last month, using a "hypothetical profitability model", Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia predicted that Grand Theft Auto V’s creation may cost in excess of $137.5 million based on a 250-person team during a five-year development period. An additional $69 million to $109.3 million is expected to be spent in marketing costs to raise awareness for the game. By comparison, during its six years of production--across four continents and through the hands of more than 800 developers--2011's Star Wars: The Old Republic reportedly cost publisher EA $200 million dollars in development costs alone. For more on BioShock Infinite, check out GameSpot's hour-long discussion with Irrational Games creative director Ken Levine. [UPDATE]: BioShock Infinite creative director Ken Levine has tweeted, refuting the claims made by the New York Times report. "200 million for Infinite? Did someone send some checks to the wrong address?" A spokesperson speaking on behalf of the game declined to provide GameSpot with an official statement clarifying the cost of development. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
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