Rockstar to release first official gameplay video for upcoming open-world sandbox game at 10 a.m. EDT on July 9.
Rockstar Games will release the first official gameplay video for Grand Theft Auto V tomorrow at 10 a.m. EDT, the company announced today.
The video will be available first through official Rockstar Games channels. Rockstar said nothing about what it specifically plans to show in the video.
Call of Duty, World of Warcraft publisher returns to Entertainment Software Association after 5-year absence; Tencent joins lobbying group.
The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) announced today that Activision Blizzard and Tencent have joined the industry group. The ESA is responsible for putting on the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo and represents the industry's interests on Capitol Hill.
The ESA's membership now stands at 37 companies, including heavyweights like Microsoft Corporation, Nintendo of America, and Sony Computer Entertainment of America, among others.
Today, Activision Blizzard chief legal officer Chris Walther said the company is "excited" to return to the ESA.
"ESA has a long track-record of supporting its members and the video game industry, and we look forward to sharing our unique perspective and experience with them," Walther said in a statement.
"ESA supports and cultivates collaboration among member companies," said Tencent director of business development and industry relations Gordon Bellamy. "We are excited to join an association that promotes the development of the U.S. game industry as we are exploring more opportunities in this market."
The trade association's president, Michael Gallagher, met with United States vice president Joe Biden earlier this year to discuss the role of violent media--including films and games--in mass shootings. The discussions came after the December schoolhouse massacre in Connecticut perpetrated by a reported "deranged gamer" that left 20 children and six adults dead.
ESA lawyers also successfully defended the game industry in a 2011 landmark Supreme Court decision that ruled that a California law preventing retailers from selling violent games to children was unconstitutional. The attorneys, Ken Doroshow and Paul M. Smith, were presented with the GDC Ambassador award for their contributions to the case.
Trophy list for single-player Aliens: Colonial Marines DLC, titled Stasis Interrupted, appears online.
Aliens: Colonial Marines looks set to receive a new chunk of campaign DLC, titled Stasis Interrupted.
The new DLC has yet to be officially announced by developer Gearbox or publisher Sega, but the game's Trophies (via PS3 Trophies) have popped up online.
Stasis Interrupted would mark the last chunk of content due to be released as part of the season pass for Aliens: Colonial Marines, and the first single-player DLC for the game.
The 10 Trophies are mostly related to story progression, with additional awards for collecting all of the DLC's audio logs and completing it on the game's hardest difficulty.
Sony president of worldwide studios confirms that the DualShock 4's Lightbar won't switch off.
Players won't be able to switch off the light which emanates from the front of the PlayStation 4's controller, Sony president of worldwide studios Shuhei Yoshida has confirmed.
The light bar on the DualShock 4 controller is designed to work with the PlayStation 4 camera to detect motion, similar to the Move controller. The light can also be used for system functions, such as letting players know when the battery is low, and by developers; Killzone: Shadow Fall uses the light bar to give an indication of the players' health.
Along with the light bar, the DualShock 4 features a mono speaker, a 3.5mm headset jack, a micro USB port, and a clickable touch pad on the front of the controller.
The game will be available this Thursday for $6.99/£4.99/€ 5.99 from the App Store on iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.
Deus Ex: The Fall was developed by Square Enix's mobile division in Europe in colloboration with Eidos Montreal and N-Fusion. It is described as a "story-driven action RPG."
The game is set in 2027, a period described as a "golden era for science, technology, and human augmentation," but also a time of serious social divide and "global conspiracy." The game stars Ben Saxon, a former British SAS Mercenary who underwent a physical augmentation.
Deus Ex: The Fall is compatible with iPad 2 and above, iPhone 4S and above, and iPod Touch 5 and above. No mention was made of a release for Android or Windows Phone devices.
Bloomberg reports that U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer last week dismissed the fraud claim, saying that the case will now hinge only on whether or not EA broke a 1986 contract with Antonick by failing to pay him royalties from the billion-dollar franchise.
Breyer said in a San Francisco court that after considering briefs submitted by both sides and the case itself, "the court now holds that Antonick has failed to state a claim for fraud." Further explanation will be revealed in a later filing.
"Breyer also said Antonick is entitled to 'only thin' copyright protection and the jury will be asked whether his work and the subsequent versions of Madden NFL are virtually identical when viewed as a whole," Bloomberg reports.
Antonick's lawyer, Stuart Paynter, said in an email to Bloomberg that though he disagrees with the dismissal of his client's fraud claim, he is "pleased" that judge Breyer has "cleared the way" for Antonick to be paid millions in royalties.
An EA spokesperson declined to comment on the decision to Bloomberg.
On June 21, EA suffered a setback in the case, with the court ruling that the statute of limitations had not expired, allowing the case to move forward. EA at the time said it is "confident" that it will prevail in the case based on the "merits once the evidence is presented."
Antonick is seeking compensatory damages of around $16 million and nearly $200 million from EA's pre-1996 game profits. The court case began late last month.
Design director Scott Phillips says Saints Row IV is conclusion of existing saga, future series entry could move in new direction.
If the Saints Row franchise continues past next month's Saints Row IV, the series could move in a new direction. That's according to Saints Row design director Scott Phillips, who told Gamereactor that Saints Row IV is the conclusion of the existing saga.
"We're definitely considering Saints Row IV sort of the end of that saga of this character and the Saints as they are," Phillips said. "So if there's any more future Saints Rows--which you know we always hope there will be, we hope there's fans for future games like that--they will probably continue in a different direction."
The franchise was created by Volition and was published by THQ before the company went bankrupt late last year. The Saints Row series and developer Volition were purchased by Deep Silver (Dead Island) parent company Koch Media during a January auction for $22.3 million.
Space simulator from Chris Roberts reaches new crowdfunding milestone; $15 million and $16 million stretch goals detailed.
Star Citizen, an all-new space simulator from Chris Roberts and the most crowdfunded project of all time, continues to soar. Developer Cloud Imperium Games has announced that funding for the game has crossed $14 million, up from $13 million last week.
"We knew that space sims and PC games both needed a return to their former glory… but we had no idea so many people would support is in this endeavor," the developer said in a statement.
Now that Star Citizen has crossed $14 million, the game will feature a Hibernation Mode that allows players to shut down their spacecraft in deep space and resume later. In addition, Cloud Imperium Games is working on a "professional quality" behind-the-scenes documentary chronicling the game's development.
Cloud Imperium Games also reiterated details on the $15 million Star Citizen stretch goal and for the first time, shared information on how the game will grow if $16 million comes in.
At $15 million, an additional flyable ship class--the escort carrier--will be added. In addition, if funding reaches this level, players will receive a 42-page digital handbook that introduces them to the process of customizing and overlocking their ships.
If funding reaches $16 million, Cloud Imperium Games will develop an Arena mode for Star Citizen. This was described as the next generation of Wing Commander's TrainSim and will allow pilots to test out their combat skills against friends or strangers to gain combat experience.
A laser pistol for every backer will also be added if funding hits $16 million.
Star Citizen has been in development at Cloud Imperium Games for more than a year. The game itself includes a "sophisticated storyline" that is set in a persistent online universe.
According to Roberts, it will fuse elements of his previous games, Wing Commander and Freelancer. Support for the virtual reality headset Oculus Rift is planned.
Rod "Slasher" Breslau and Travis Gafford conducted 37 interviews with professional players, casters, developers, and community figures about their experience at the event.
Winners revealed for StarCraft II, Black Ops II, and League of Legends at record-breaking competitive gaming event.
Last weekend's Major League Gaming Spring Championships event in Anaheim, California broke MLG spectator records with over 21,000 competitors and fans attending the event. Hundreds of thousands more online watched the best StarCraft II, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, and League of Legends players in the world battle it out for $105,000 in prizes.
"Based on feedback from our MLG community, I think the Spring Championship was one of the most successful events in the 10-year history of the company," MLG CEO Sundance DiGiovanni told GameSpot. "Not only did the event break previous spectator records with more than 21,000 attending over the three-day competition, we had a great turn out for all three of our featured games.
"Both competitors and fans proved they are dedicated to the growth of MLG and competitive gaming. The broadcast production was stellar," he added. "We delivered three days of live content to millions around the globe and our viewers were engaged and active on social media getting #MLG trending worldwide."
The success of this year's MLG Anaheim event follows a trend seen at last year's Anaheim event, where 4.7 million unique viewers tuned in to watch. In the early years of MLG, the west coast events were considered to be the weakest of the yearly lineup. In more recent times with the growth of competitive gaming and eSports in the West, California has become a hotbed for eSports with major developer support residing in the state.
"In the last few years, Anaheim has proven to be a great location for our events," DiGiovanni said. "I think we can attribute the success of our Anaheim events to a number of factors: the close proximity to our development partners--Activision, Riot, and Blizzard; the overall growth and support of the competitive gaming community; and how easy it is to travel to southern California."
During the event, MLG announced the next Pro Circuit Championship will take place in Columbus, Ohio, from November 22--24. Last year, MLG hosted 4 Pro Circuit events for each of the seasons (Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall) in the same locations, with the exception of Raleigh, North Carolina for this year. It is not yet known if MLG will host 4 Pro Circuit events again this year.
Choi "Polt" Seong Hoon, Complexity Gaming, and FXOpen eSports won the StarCraft II, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, and League of Legends events respectively. GameSpot was on-hand at MLG Anaheim and conducted interviews with all of the winners, which can be found at GameSpot's eSports hub.
Former Xbox boss wanted to buy the social gaming giant back in 2010, reports Bloomberg.
Former Xbox boss Don Mattrick tried to convince Microsoft to purchase Zynga three years before taking the job of CEO at the social gaming giant, a new report says.
Mattrick had his eyes on Zynga back in 2010, reports Bloomberg, and initiated conversations at the peak of the social gaming boom with the intention of using Zynga to boost the Xbox's social gaming lineup.
While the talks reportedly collapsed, Mattrick and Zynga founder Marc Pincus stayed in touch. The two reportedly began talking about Mattrick moving the Zynga as its CEO back in March, when the two road-bike enthusiasts started riding together.
Mattrick's departure from Microsoft, formally announced last week, came after the company's unveiling of the Xbox One and the following controversy surrounding its online-focused policies. Microsoft has subsequently announced a heavily publicised u-turn on many of its former Xbox One features, though Mattrick's negotiations with Zynga began long before the Xbox One was even announced.
Zynga's new CEO arrives as the company is closing offices and shedding staff after announcing that the company's revenue had fallen 18 percent in the last year.
The Last of Us beats BioShock Infinite and Dead Island: Riptide to become first game in 2013 to stay top of the charts for a month.
Naughty Dog's post-apocalyptic PlayStation 3 exclusive The Last of Us is the first game of 2012 to hold the UK chart for four consecutive weeks.
BioShock Infinite and Dead Island: Riptide both managed to secure three weeks at the top of the chart earlier this year, while Square Enix's Tomb Raider reboot managed two.
Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition holds onto second place, with FIFA 13 enjoying a resurgence in third.
Animal Crossing: New Leaf drops to fourth, followed by Assassin's Creed III in fifth, Tomb Raider in sixth, and Call of Duty: Black Ops II in seventh.
The Sims 3: Island Paradise is eighth, Deadpool ninth, and Far Cry 3 rounds out the top 10.
Namco Bandai's 3DS RPG Project X Zone is the only new entry in the charts, securing 18th position in its debut week.
The Top 20 UK chart for the week ending July 6:
1. The Last of Us 2. Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition 3. FIFA 13 4. Animal Crossing: New Leaf 5. Assassin's Creed III 6. Tomb Raider 7. Call of Duty: Black Ops II 8. The Sims 3: Island Paradise 9. Deadpool 10. Far Cry 3 11. Injustice: Gods Among Us 12. Need for Speed: Most Wanted 13. LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes 14. BioShock Infinite 15. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Legendary Edition 16. God of War: Ascension 17. GRID 2 18. Project X Zone 19. Luigi's Mansion 2 20. LEGO The Lord of the Rings
According to a post on NeoGaf, Atlus parent company Index Corporation recently registered a website trademark for "persona5.jp" via the WHOIS registry site. Atlus confirmed back in 2010 that a new Persona title is in the works. It has yet to announce a platform at this point in time. Katsura Hashino (Persona 3, Persona 4) will be the game's producer, while Shigenori Soejima and Shoji Meguro will be handling character design and sound composing duties, respectively.
Index Corporation are experiencing financial difficulties. Despite this, Atlus said that the company will still resume business as usual, with Dragon's Crown coming out on its intended July 25 date in Japan and its Persona Music FES 2013 concert launching later this year at the Nippon Budokan.
Working titles for the original Xbox included FACE, MIND and MOX.
A recently republished 2003 Edge interview with Seamus Blackley, one of the founding members of the Xbox team at Microsoft, has revealed some of the unsuccessful names for the company…s original console.
"First, there were our code names, which were WEP--'Windows Entertainment Project'--designed to make Microsoft executives comfortable, Midway--'Midway between a PC and a console or 'Battle of Midway'--you decide--and DirectX Box, which was shortened to xbox in email very early on," he said.
Blackley describes fellow Xbox executive Kevin Brachus telling the then small team that 'xbox' was legally unsound, and needed to be changed. What followed was a list of "crap," car-inspired names so bad the team didn…t even record them for posterity, before moving on to acronym-based names.
"Phase four was a battle between us and the naming guys, when we decided we just wanted to risk it and go with Xbox--since that…s what everyone called it anyway--and they wanted, for some unknowable reason, to call it '11-X' or 'Eleven-X'. Finally, we told them no, but still had to decide: X-Box, xBox, XboX, Xbox, X-box…"
Some of the other rejected suggestions for the device included the 'MIND (Microsoft Interactive Network Device)', 'FACE (Full Action Center)', 'MOX (Microsoft Optimal Experience)', 'VERV (Virtual Entertainment & Reality Venture)', 'M-PAC (Microsoft Play and Action Center)', 'R&R (Reality and Revolution)', and 'MARZ (Microsoft Active Reality Zone)'.
Xbox Gold Live subscribers will gain free access to the Network Ten application; over 25 local and international programs are available for viewing.
Microsoft has announced the launch of the Network Ten Xbox application, a free-to-air network video-on-demand application to be launched on Xbox in Australia.
Xbox Live Gold subscribers will be able to download the app to gain access to a variety of programs, including Bondi Rescue, Offspring, Bondi Vet, and Totally Wild. The app will be integrated with the Kinect, allowing users to navigate using voice and gesture commands.
Both local and international shows from channels Ten, Eleven, and One will be accessible via the app, which will also provide updates from Ten News At Five and Ten Late News. Programs will make their way to the app post-broadcast, following a similar time frame to that of the Network Ten website.
The Network Ten app will be available to Xbox Live Gold subscribers from July 10.
Enter dream worlds in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team or seek cultural victory in the latest Civilization V expansion, Brave New World.
The two plumber brothers are back in this week's release of role-playing game Mario & Luigi: Dream Team. The game is the fourth entry into the series, and is exclusive to the 3DS console.
Following the formula of its predecessors, players will be able to explore the game overworld and participate in turn-based combat as they guide Mario through his brother's dreams. The game will also be released in the 3DS eShop this week.
The expansion will add nine playable civilizations to the game, which include Assyria, Brazil, Indonesia, Morocco, Poland, Portugal, Shoshone, Venice, and Zulus.
The expansion also adds eight Wonders, two scenarios, and an improved cultural victory. Gameplay tweaks from the first expansion, Sid Meier's Civilization V: Gods & Kings are also included.
Sid Meier's Civilization V was released in 2010 to positive reception. The game was highly praised in GameSpot's review, recognised for its new tactical combat system, intuitive interface, and contextual visuals.
For more details on games out this week, see the full list below.
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