| Future games must have multiple protagonists, says GTA publisher May 30th 2013, 16:27 Take-Two says going forward, games will need to have multiple protagonists to succeed; "It's going to be very, very difficult for our competitors to do this." 
Take-Two Interactive has such high hopes for Grand Theft Auto V's three playable protagonists setup, that the company believes it will be an industry standard going forward. "We think Grand Theft Auto V is going to redefine what an open-world game is and will be. We also think that you're going to have to have multiple protagonists in video games going forward," CEO Strauss Zelnick said today during the Cowen Technology, Media, and Telecom Conference in New York. "And we actually know how to do it because we're the first ones to do it. It's going to be very, very difficult for our competitors to do this. And they're going to have to do it in our opinion." Zelnick said he believes being able to switch between characters with the press of a button in GTAV will allow for story to be told in an unprecedented way. "This is going to be the first video game where you can shift seamlessly among three protagonists and if you think about it, one of the complicated factors in a video game has been the first person has to play all the emotional roles in the story; the good guy, the bad guy, the victim, the policeman, the cop, the hero," Zelnick said. "And, for the first time, you're going to be able to have three protagonists and that will actually drive the story forward." Zelnick also used his platform to talk up the Grand Theft Auto franchise overall. He reiterated that the series has shipped 125 million units life-to-date and said the franchise is arguably one of the most important in all of worldwide entertainment. "Our most important franchise remains Grand Theft Auto. We're proud of that; we're not trying to get away from that; we're trying to add to it, not diversify away from it," Zelnick said. "It's certainly the most important brand for Take-Two. It's arguably the most important brand in the industry. And one can even argue, and I'm certainly one to do that, that it's among the most important entertainment brands across any type of entertainment worldwide." He also discussed consumer buying behavior, saying B-level games cannot succeed in today's market. "What we do think is you've got to give consumers what they want; and what they care about is only the very highest quality intellectual property," Zelnick said. "A B-product simply isn't going to sell. And even an A-product has to be highly competitive to sell." This sentiment matches up with that of Ubisoft Montreal CEO Yannis Mallat, who said last month that there is "no room for B-games." GTAV launches September 17 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
|  | GTA publisher talks next-gen used games May 30th 2013, 15:44 Take-Two Interactive CEO says "If Microsoft has figured out a way to tax used games, then we should get paid, too." 
Grand Theft Auto parent publisher Take-Two Interactive has weighed in on the discussion surrounding next-generation consoles and used games. Speaking today during the Cowen Technology, Media, and Telecom Conference, CEO Strauss Zelnick said if Microsoft receives a cut of used game sales--as is rumored--so should Take-Two. "There's no question that if Microsoft has figured out a way to tax used games, then we should get paid, too. It's hard to imagine why they should and we shouldn't," Zelnick said. Retail sources told MCV last week that retailers will be able to charge whatever they want for secondhand Xbox One games, but Microsoft and publishers will receive a cut of every transaction. Take-Two's stance on used games, Zelnick said, is not to "whine" about missing out on revenue, but rather to focus on creating compelling experiences so gamers do not trade their titles in. "Our view about used games has been, as opposed to whining or figuring out ways to punish the consumer for buying used games, we've figured out we better delight the consumer," Zelnick said. "Let's push up our quality, which you've seen in our Metacritic scores, and then let's make sure to give people DLC, often free, three or four weeks out; which is the time you're at risk for them trading in their game," he added. "If you can keep the game in consumer's hands for 8 weeks, you almost don't care anymore about used game sales because it's the first 8 weeks that really nail you." Overall, Zelnick explained that Take-Two would rather have the ability to sell new games, but isn't sour on the used game prospects for next-generation consoles just yet. He said the company "somewhat hopeful" that the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 will allow Take-Two to participate in used game sales, though he did not provide any further details. The Xbox One and PS4 will support used games, though how systems will work for both platforms remains unclear. Microsoft told Wired that users must pay a fee to play secondhand titles, while Sony has said decisions about activation fees will be left up to individual publishers. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | Zombies sell, says Take-Two chief May 30th 2013, 14:59 CEO Strauss Zelnick says "I'd like to do zombies in everything." 
The rise in the number games with zombies is no strange occurrence, according to Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick, because put plainly: zombies sell. Zelnick explained today that Red Dead Redemption's expansion packs were "immensely profitable" for Take-Two due in part to the zombie-focused Undead Nightmare add-on. "And partially that's because we had the presence of mind to add zombies to the title; and everyone always loves zombies," Zelnick said today during the Cowen Technology, Media, and Telecom Conference in New York. "I'd like to do zombies in everything, but I probably can't say that here. But they do sell," he added. Zombies have been featured in numerous games of late, including the Left 4 Dead, Dead Island, and Dead Rising franchises, among others. In the case of Red Dead Redemption, the Undead Nightmare expansion followed protagonist John Marston and his pursuit of a cure for a zombie outbreak that has wrought havoc on the Old West. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | Take-Two: MMOs don't work in the US May 30th 2013, 14:36 Strauss Zelnick says MMOs are generally unprofitable in US; "A couple of our competitors have found out that through very, very expensive lessons."   
Grand Theft Auto and Max Payne parent publisher Take-Two Interactive is investing in massively multiplayer online games, but not in the United States. That's because, according to CEO Strauss Zelnick, they just "don't work" in the region compared to Asia. "We're actively investing in online MMOs; we're not doing it in the US. Why? Because MMOs don't work here," Zenick said today at the Cowen Technology, Media, and Telecom Conference in New York. Zelnick said though many MMOs have attempted to gain footing in the United States, only two--World of Warcraft and EverQuest--have ever been truly successful in the region. As evidence of the difficulty of getting an MMO off the ground in the US, Zelnick pointed to Blizzard Entertainment's recent announcement of a significant overhaul to its next-gen MMO Titan. "A couple of our competitors have found out that through very, very expensive lessons--one of our competitors just recently announced they're restarting an MMO project in the US," Zelnick said. "We look at it and say 'How many MMOs have ever been successful in the US?' Two. World of Warcraft and EverQuest. That's kind of a bad slugging percentage." Zelnick explained that for these reasons, Take-Two has decided to invest in MMOs in Asia. The company recently partnered with Tencent for NBA 2K Online and is also working on a Civilization MMO for the region. "We've stayed away from that market and instead we went to Asia where at any given time ten or twenty are successful in China generating lots of revenue," Zelnick said. "And we figured, we don't really know China very well, so we partnered with the best company in China: Tencent. They taught us the business, we taught them something about sports game development and we've launched NBA 2K Online with virtually no economic risk and a straight shot to the upside." Bethesda and Zenimax Online Studios will release The Elder Scrolls Online later this year, though a pricing model for the game has yet to be announced. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | Limbo hitting PS Vita June 4 May 30th 2013, 14:09 Playdead puzzle platformer hitting Sony's latest portable early next month for $15. 
Playdead's black-and-white sidescroller Limbo will launch for PlayStation Vita on June 4, company CEO and cofounder Dino Patti said on the PlayStation Blog today. The game is a collaboration between Playdead and Double Eleven, which co-developed LittleBigPlanet for PlayStation Vita. According to Patti, the teams have been working hard to adapt the game for PS Vita "without compromising the experience." Limbo puts players in the shoes of a small child who must find his way through a black-and-white world, filled with puzzles and dangerous, often deadly, obstacles. The game won critical acclaim upon release, which was followed by a small avalanche of award nominations that yielded multiple Interactive Achievement Awards and a Game Developers Choice Award. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | Crysis 3: The Lost Island DLC revealed May 30th 2013, 13:45 New multiplayer expansion for Crytek's shooter launching June 4 on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC for $15. 
The first downloadable content expansion pack for Crysis 3 will take players out of the city and into the tropics. Electronic Arts and Crytek announced the Crysis 3: The Lost Island multiplayer expansion today, due to launch June 4 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC for $15. In a statement, Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli said the Lost Island DLC marks a return to the franchise's "spiritual roots." "The gameplay in the Crysis series has always been deeply connected to the unique environments in which the action takes place," Yerli said. "By transporting players out of the Liberty Dome and into the Lost Island setting, we're not only returning to Crysis' spiritual roots, but also introducing fresh ways to play that provide Crysis 3 fans with genuinely game-changing new tactical options, game modes and weapons." Crysis 3: The Lost Island focuses on an alien presence that has been discovered on a small island in the Philippines 200 miles from Ling Shan. A band of rebel forces have been sent to the island to destroy the "unknown extraterrestrial entity" before a CELL team can obtain it "by any means necessary." Yesterday, Crytek teased that it would make a "major" announcement today. Crysis 3 launched in February and sold 205,000 units during the month in the United States, according to NPD data. According to publisher Electronic Arts, the game failed to meet sales expectations. For more on Crysis 3, check out GameSpot's review. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | Activision not planning Skylanders movie or TV show May 30th 2013, 13:09 Publisher says the "the game is the entertainment," so there is no need right now for further media extensions of the brand. 
Activision has no plans to spin its billion-dollar Skylanders series into a movie or television show. Speaking with MCV, Activision Publishing VP of consumer marketing John Coyne said "the game is the entertainment," making further media extensions unnecessary at the moment. "In terms of a TV show or a movie, no there are not any plans," Coyne said. "We believe the game is the entertainment. You talk to kids who are real fans of the franchise, and they will be able to tell you Gill Grunt's powers, backstory, what his friends are and generally what's going on in the world of Skylanders. The same sort of things that they are able to articulate around a TV show or a movie." More than 100 million Skylanders toys have been sold to date, generating more than a billion dollars of revenue for Activision Publishing. The next game in the series--Skylanders Swap Force--is due out later this year with all new toys. The Skylanders series will see competition in the toys-to-life market in August, when Disney Infinity arrives. Activision Publishing is unfazed by the move, however, saying its Skylanders series will remain the top-seller. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | Nvidia releases GTX 770 based on GTX 680 hardware May 30th 2013, 12:59 New GPU to cost $399 and is based a higher clocked version of the GK104 chip in the GTX 680. 
GPU-maker Nvidia has unveiled the GTX 770 graphics card, which is set to retail for a recommended price of $399 (£329). The GTX 770 is based on last year's GTX 680 and makes use of the same GK104 Kepler chip. That gives it 8 SMX units and 1536 CUDA cores, but with a slightly higher clock speed of 1046 Mhz. Nvidia's GPU Boost 2.0 technology steps that up to 1085 Mhz. The GTX 770 will be offered in 2GB and 4GB 256-bit GDDR5 memory configurations. The memory sees a substantial performance boost from the 6.0 Gbps speed of the GTX 680 to 7.0 Gbps, giving the card a total memory bandwidth of 224.3 GB/s. The card's enclosure also sees an improvement, being based on the same cooling system as the GTX Titan and GTX 780. The thermal design power is 230W, with a requirement of 600W power supply. Nvidia is promising performance improvements of up to 65 percent over the GTX 570, and 43 percent over the GTX 670. The GTX 770 is the second card to be launched in the 700-series. The first, the GK110-based GTX 780, was launched last week. GameSpot's review called the GTX 780 a "brilliant graphics card that lets you crank every game to the extreme." Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | Mirror's Edge 2 spotted on EA website May 30th 2013, 12:19 Listing for unannounced sequel to 2008 free-running game appears on help section of publisher's website. 
The evidence for Mirror's Edge 2 continues to mount. A help page for Mirror's Edge 2 was spotted on Electronic Arts' own website today, continuing to suggest a sequel to the 2008 free-running game is soon to be announced. The page has since been removed, but NeoGAF was able to capture an image before it was pulled. Despite EA never officially announcing Mirror's Edge 2, listings for the game have now appeared in three different places. Retailers Amazon Germany and Amazon Italy previously posted product pages for the game, suggesting it will be an Xbox-exclusive. EA's 2013 Electronic Entertainment Expo briefing takes place Monday, June 10 at 1 p.m. PDT. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | Shadowrun Online F2P model explained May 30th 2013, 07:22 Tactical turn-based RPG to introduce a free-to-play and campaign model; players of both models will be housed on the same server. 
Developer Cliffhanger Productions has shed light on the free-to-play model of upcoming tactical turn-based RPG Shadowrun Online. In a post on the Shadowrun website, the development team cleared up confusion surrounding the differences between the game's campaign model and the free-to-play (F2P) model. Free-to-play users will access different features to those who pay for the campaign version of the game. All players will be housed on the same server. Gamers who sign up with the free-to-play model will be able to use an additional premium currency that is purchaseable with real money. The premium currency can be used to buy certain in-game items, which are obtainable only via this method for F2P users. Players who opt for the F2P model can also choose to purchase a game subscription, adding the "boosted karma and cash" status to the account, which grants a temporary bonus to in-game loot-finding and a "slightly weighed influence on plot development". Gamers who pay an on-going fee will still hold the F2P status in the shop. Gamers who purchase the campaign version of the game will be able to buy every item with in-game currency (called Nuyen), and receive a boost in cash, karma, and loot chances. Campaign players will also have "weighed influence on the plot development". Free-to-play gamers who wish to transition from F2P to the campaign version of the game are able to do so by purchasing a campaign box, which carries over any existing character and items. Shadowrun Online is the second Kickstarter project set in the Shadowrun world. The project was successfully backed on August 15, 2012, and does not currently have a confirmed release date. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | Shin Megami Tensei IV hits first place on Japan sales chart May 30th 2013, 06:59 3DS RPG from Persona 4 developer Atlus sells 188,562 copies, followed by new Kamen Rider game and Resident Evil: Revelations port. 
Atlus' latest game in the Megami Tensei series, Shin Megami Tensei IV, was received well in Japan when it was released on May 23. The game was at number one on the recent Media Create Sales chart update for the week of May 20, with 188,562 units sold. The RPG beat out new releases in the top 10, such as PS3 action game Kamen Rider: Battride War (128,659 units sold) and the PS3 version of Resident Evil: Revelations (102,673 units sold). Shin Megami Tensei IV will be out in North American markets on July 16. Check out the Media Create top ten list of games for the week of May 20 below. Rank / Title / Publisher / System / Sales Unit 1) Shin Megami Tensei IV / Atlus / 3DS / 188,562
2) Kamen Rider: Battride War / Namco Bandai / PS3 / 128,659
3) Resident Evil: Revelations / Capcom / PS3 / 102,673
4) Friend Collection: New Life / Nintendo / 3DS / 59,876
5) Valhalla Knights 3 / Marvelous AQL / PS Vita / 40,357
6) Terraria / Spike Chunsoft / PS3 / 19,861
7) Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon / Nintendo / 3DS / 19,079
8) Animal Crossing: New Leaf / Nintendo / 3DS / 15,489
9) Summon Night 5 / Namco Bandai / PSP / 13,624
10) Resident Evil: Revelations / Capcom / Wii U / 8,398
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