 | Square Enix shuts down Final Fantasy VII web series Aug 2nd 2013, 17:08 [UPDATE] Kickstarter project removed from platform due to intellectual property dispute; production team says it is reaching out to Square Enix in hopes of continuing the campaign. 
[UPDATE] A statement on the project's Facebook page addresses the "legal interest" Square Enix has shown in the Kickstarter campaign. "You will have noticed that the Square Enix legal team have taken an interest in our project," reads a line from the statement. "We're in the process of opening up discussions with the team regarding the ongoing status of our project and hopefully the continuation of our Kickstarter campaign." The original story is below. A live-action fan film called Final Fantasy VII: The Web Series has been taken off Kickstarter after Square Enix launched an intellectual property dispute, according to the campaign's page. "Final Fantasy VII: The Web Series (Unofficial Fan Project) is the subject of an intellectual property dispute and is currently unavailable," reads an update to the page. According to a takedown notice from Square Enix posted on Kickstarter, "the project itself is in infringement of our copyrights and should be removed in its entirety from Kickstarter." Director Gionata Medeot previously told Kotaku that he was not worried about Square Enix's lawyers attempting to end the project and had even attained full music rights for the project. The Final Fantasy VII: The Web Series Kickstarter campaign went live on July 22 asking for $400,000 to produce 5-6 episodes based on the role-playing game. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag modern setting shown in new screenshots Aug 2nd 2013, 16:56 Four new shots of Abstergo Entertainment surface online, the setting for the modern storyline in Assassin Creed IV: Black Flag. 
The present-day setting of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag has been shown in four new screenshots. Posted on AllGamesBeta, the work-in-progress screenshots show off Abstergo Entertainment, a new division of Abstergo Industries, the pharmaceutical front for series villains the Templar Order. A TV showing an Animus screen can also be seen. The player will take on the role of an Abstergo Entertainment employee in the game. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag's main campaign is set in 1715 and revolves around the Golden Age of Pirates. The main protagonist is Edward Kenway, grandfather of Assassin Creed III's Connor. Earlier this week Ubisoft detailed the 60 minutes of exclusive content on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3, which stars Aveline de Grandpré from PlayStation Vita spin-off Assassin's Creed III: Liberation. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag will be released for Xbox 360, Wii U, and PlayStation 3 on October 29. PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC versions will follow. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | World of Tanks dev acquires Total Annihilation, Master of Orion franchises Aug 2nd 2013, 15:56 Wargaming acquires strategy game franchises from Atari to give both "new lease of life"; company also opens office in Austin, Texas. 
Wargaming, the Russian publisher/developer behind World of Tanks, announced today that it had acquired the rights to strategy game franchises Total Annihilation and Master of Orion. Both franchises were purchased as part of the Atari IP auction that came to a close last month. "Total Annihilation and Master of Orion are strategy game classics," Wargaming CEO Victor Kislyi said in a statement. "Although it's too soon to disclose any details, we are more than willing to give a new lease of life to these games most of us grew up playing. It's exactly where our major focus will be." The company also recently acquired Gas Powered Games, led by Chris Taylor, one of the original designers on the first Total Annihilation. Wargaming also announced today that it had opened a new office in Austin, Texas. The studio will be home to Wargaming's producing center, central technology, and global business intelligence groups. Overall, the office was established to "streamline communication between its teams and global studios." Wargaming's latest project is World of Tanks for Xbox 360. The free-to-play game is currently in beta with a full release expected later this summer. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | CGI Legend of Zelda movie pitch revealed Aug 2nd 2013, 15:20 2007 pitch from Astro Boy company Imagi Animation Studios features Disney-style depictions of Zelda, Link, and Ganondorf. 
Nintendo has yet to bring its iconic Legend of Zelda franchise to the big-screen, but that's not to say studios have not pitched the company on the idea. Superannuation (via Kotaku) recently discovered a 2007 CGI Legend of Zelda movie pitch from Imagi Animation Studios. The short clip features Disney-style depictions of heroes Link and Zelda, as well as the nefarious Ganondorf and his minions. Check out the full clip below. Imagi Animation Studios was also behind 2007 CGI movie TMNT and 2009's Astro Boy. The company's American office, creators of the Zelda clip, has since closed. The next The Legend of Zelda game is this October's The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD for Wii U. In addition, an all-new Zelda game for Wii U, said to "rethink conventions" of the series, is in development. [ Watch Video ] Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | Battlefield and Call of Duty can successfully coexist, says analyst Aug 2nd 2013, 14:41 Sterne Agee analyst says success potential for Battlefield 4 and Call of Duty: Ghosts not mutually exclusive. 
Battlefield 4 and Call of Duty: Ghosts launch just seven days apart this fall, but both games can successfully coexist, according to Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia. In a note to investors today, he said the success potential for both games is not mutually exclusive, especially so because player purchase habits are different for each franchise. "The Battlefield series resonates particularly well with the PC gamers while Call of Duty tends to do well on consoles," Bhatia said. "We expect more than a third of Battlefield 4 unit sales to be on the PC platform and the remaining units on consoles." Total PC sales for Call of Duty: Ghosts will likely be less than 10 percent of overall units, Bhatia said. "Our point is both franchises can co-exist successfully," he said. Activision Publishing announced during an earnings call yesterday that preorder figures for Call of Duty: Ghosts are "well below" those of Call of Duty: Black Ops II. This downturn was attributed to consumer uncertainty regarding next-generation platforms and described as "normal" for this period in a console transition. Battlefield 4 launches October 29, while Call of Duty: Ghosts is out November 5. Next-generation versions of both games are also in the works, though release dates have not been announced. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | Witcher dev opens new office Aug 2nd 2013, 14:21 CD Projekt Red's studio in Krakow, Poland opens; will support Witcher 3, Cyberpunk 2077, and development on a "smaller" title. 
The Witcher developer CD Projekt Red today announced that its new office in Krakow, Poland is now officially open. The studio was first announced in June. The Krakow office will support the development of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Cyberpunk 2077 and a "smaller" game, estimated to be 20 hours in length. The studio will be staffed by 20 people and aims to create one of two "premium quality" games that CD Projekt Red plans to release in the future. "A new studio, new people, and new energy--we're growing and we're extremely excited that we can tap into the potential that Krakow has to offer," CD Projekt Red head Adam Badowski said in statement. "We want to continue to make better and better RPGs and the new studio is another big step in that direction." CD Projekt Red is headquartered in Warsaw, Poland, about 180 miles from Krakow. The company currently has two open positions for its new Krakow office, one for a concept artist and another for a senior environment artist. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | Konami asking fans if they want Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance sequel Aug 2nd 2013, 13:51 Publisher polling gamers about new entry in sequel and what they would like to see in it. 
Konami has launched a new survey (via Eurogamer) gauging fan interest in a potential sequel to this year's multiplatform action game Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. The survey polls gamers about the title, how it was marketed, and why they did or did not buy it. At the end, the survey not only asks if players would buy a Revengeance sequel, but what features they would like to see in the game. Some options include more stealth elements, longer game length, online multiplayer, elements of humor, and mechanics other than fighting, among other things. Check out the full online survey for more. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance launched for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in February. The PC version will launch later this year. For more on Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, check out GameSpot's review. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | Ace Combat Infinity is free-to-play Aug 2nd 2013, 13:14 Namco Bandai's PlayStation 3-exclusive flight combat game launching this year as free download on PlayStation Network. 
Ace Combat Infinity will release this year as a free download for PlayStation 3 on the PlayStation Network, publisher Namco Bandai Games announced today. The game was originally announced last month. Ace Combat Infinity will feature a "brand-new" story campaign and co-op multiplayer, as well as "features that are important" to fans, though these were not specified. "The Ace Combat franchise has evolved dramatically over the years, but never before have we been able to offer its amazing graphics and tactical action for free," Namco Bandai Games executive Olivier Comte said in a statement. The game will feature "tons" of free-to-play content, though Namco Bandai did not specify what kinds of items--if any--will be available for purchase within the title. Ace Combat Infinity is in development at Project Aces. The most recent entry in the series, Ace Combat: Assault Horizon (2011), is available for the PS3, Xbox 360, and PC. For more on Ace Combat Infinity, check out GameSpot's previous coverage. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | Xbox One GPU speed increased since E3, says Microsoft Aug 2nd 2013, 13:00 Microsoft corporate vice president Marc Whitten speaks about some changes and additions Microsoft has made to the Xbox One since E3, including a 53mhz bump to the GPU speed. 
Microsoft corporate vice president Marc Whitten has spoken about some of the changes and additions Microsoft is making to the current Xbox One development kits, including an increase to the GPU's clock speed and a new graphics driver. Speaking on the podcast of Microsoft spokesperson Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb, Whitten said "this is the time, and this is the thing I think people are going to see as we get into Gamescom and people get their first look at new things since E3. This is the time where developers have the final dev kits in their hands, they're really working closely with us on how things have come together. There's some things that have really started to come together quite well." Whitten also said that Microsoft's internal beta for the Xbox One was currently running, and that the hardware manufacturer was releasing daily builds for the console's operating system. New additions to the Xbox One hardware since it was last shown at E3 include a new graphics driver and an increase to the GPU's clock speed, says Whitten. "Since E3, an example is that we've dropped in what we internally call our mono driver. It's our graphics driver that really is 100 percent optimised for the Xbox One hardware. You start with the base [DirectX] driver, and then you take out all parts that don't look like Xbox One and you add in everything that really optimises that experience. Almost all of our content partners have really picked it up now, and I think it's made a really nice improvement." "This is the time where we've gone from the theory of how the hardware works--what do we think the yield is going to look like, what is the thermal envelope, how do things come together--to really having them in our hands. That's the time where you start tweaking the knobs. Either your theory was right dead on, or you were a little too conservative, or you were a little too aggressive. It's actually been really good news for us, and an example of that is we've tweaked up the clock speed on our GPU from 800mhz to 853mhz." The Xbox One will launch this November for $499/€499/£425. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | BioShock Infinite hits Mac August 29 Aug 2nd 2013, 12:51 Latest title in series hitting Mac later this month for $60 with Steam Play, controller support, and Clash in the Clouds DLC. 
BioShock Infinite will be available on Mac beginning August 29, developer Aspyr Media has announced. The game will be available through Steam and the Mac App Store for $60. The Mac version of BioShock Infinite features Steam Play and controller support, and will offer downloadable content in the form of the $5 Columbia's Finest expansion. The game's newly announced Clash in the Clouds DLC will be available for Mac "at or near" launch, while Mac gamers can also expect Burial at Sea - Episodes One and Two, but not necessarily at the same time the content releases for consoles and PC. Minimum system requirements for the Mac version of BioShock Infinite are listed below. - OS: 10.8.4 (Mountain Lion)
- Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo (Dual-Core)
- CPU speed: 2.2GHz
- Memory: 4GB RAM
- Video Card (ATI): Radeon HD 3870
- Video Card (Nvidia): Geforce 640M
- Video Memory:512 MB
- Hard Drive: 30GB HD space
BioShock Infinite originally released on PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 in March. For more, check out GameSpot's review. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | Whore of the Orient gameplay footage emerges Aug 2nd 2013, 12:22 First gameplay footage of Team Bondi's next-generation game revealed, showing third-person cover, melee combat, and gunplay. 
Gameplay footage for L.A. Noire developer Team Bondi's next-generation action game Whore of the Orient has appeared online. The minute-long video was acquired by Videogamer from a "trusted source" and shows off third-person cover mechanics, melee combat, and gunplay in a bustling city. Check out the footage below. Whore of the Orient puts players into 1936 Shanghai, the "most corrupt and decadent city on the planet," according to a since-deleted page on the Team Bondi website. Team Bondi recently received $200,000 in funding from the Australian government to help finance the project. After the release of L.A. Noire in 2011, KMM Interactive bought the assets and intellectual property rights to Team Bondi's work, including Whore of the Orient. A Warner Bros. logo appeared on the Team Bondi website, though the publisher has yet to give any information regarding its involvement with the game. Whore of the Orient is reportedly being readied for a release in 2015, though it is unclear if the rumored layoffs at Team Bondi have affected this release window. [ Watch Video ] Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | Xbox One "witch hunt" somewhat unjustified, says Carmack Aug 2nd 2013, 12:04 id Software cofounder says backlash surrounding Xbox One policies not necessarily justified, believes the future will be fully digital. 
Industry veteran John Carmack, who cofounded Doom studio id Software, believes the blowback surrounding Microsoft's since-reversed Xbox One policies was somewhat unjustified. "I think the witch hunt was a little bit unjustified there," Carmack said during this keynote address at QuakeCon. "I personally am extremely fond of having all of my digital purchases in a curated garden. All of my iTunes, all of my Amazon stuff, all of my Steam things. And it's a positive thing." The days of physical media are numbered, Carmack said, adding that a digital-only future is clearly the way forward. "Yeah, you can have better and worse ways of doing that, but we are very quickly going to be past the age of having a game that you hold in your hands on optical media," Carmack said. "It probably won't be many years before we wind up with SKUs that just have the optical drives deleted and everybody will just be getting it through the net," he added. "The future is obvious right there and it will be good for us in general." Carmack also said he believes fears are overblown over the possibility that the Xbox One's new Kinect camera will snoop on users. "If you go back ten years, the idea that everyone would carry around a phone that has your GPS-located position at all times would cause the tinfoil hat crowd to go absolutely crazy," Carmack said. He said it is possible that the government will have backdoors into technology like smartphones and potentially Kinect to track consumers, but "that's pretty much the situation…we just kind of carry on." He pointed out that the situation with Kinect is already in existence on laptops, which have had built-in webcams for years. At the end of the day, Carmack said "we'll get used to it," because potential security concerns that come with new technology are "just inevitable." Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | New Ace Attorney sequel and Dragon's Crown top debut sellers in Japan Aug 2nd 2013, 10:23 Capcom's sequel to courtroom adventure series sells 250,216 copies in Japan; Atlus' fantasy beat-em-up also shifts 175,442 units. 
Capcom's latest 3DS adventure game and Atlus's tribute to fantasy-themed beat-em-ups were high on Japanese gamers' to-buy lists last week. The 3DS' Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies and the PS3 and PS Vita versions of Dragon's Crown were the top three titles that sold the most in Japan on the week of July 22 to July 28, according to the latest update of the Media Create Sales chart (via NeoGaf). The latest sequel to the courtroom adventure game sold 250,216 units on its debut week. The PS3 version of Dragon's Crown sold 104,359 units, while the PS Vita version moved 71,083 units. This brought the total sales of Dragon's Crown to 175,442 units. Nippon Ichi's latest action RPG, The Witch and the Hundred Knights, was just below the two titles and sold 49,209 units. Former Nintendo top earners Mario & Luigi: Dream Team and Pikmin 3 were at fifth and tenth place with 43,721 units and 14,161 units respectively. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies will be out in North America later this year for the 3DS, while both versions of Dragon's Crown will be out on August 6. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | Latest League of Legends features big champion and jungle changes Aug 2nd 2013, 09:59 The 3.10 patch for League of Legends changes Elise, Twisted Fate, and Master Yi, adds a new item, and modifies the jungle. 
League of Legends developer Riot has detailed its intended changes to League of Legends in its upcoming 3.10 patch. The patch includes balance changes to Ashe, Fiddlesticks, Fizz, Karthus, Malzahar, Nami, Poppy, Ryze, Thresh, Udyr, Vayne, Warwick, Zac, and features major changes to Elise, Twisted Fate, and Master Yi. The patch also makes changes to magic resistance items, including the removal of Runic Bulwark and addition of a new item, Spectre's Cowl. Riot has also continued its changes to the jungle in Summoner's Rift, with all camps outside of the buff camps spawning much later in the game--the Wraiths, Wolves, and Golems now spawn at 2:05 as opposed to 1:55. Explaining the jungle changes, Riot says "our first jungle modifications in 3.8 were not quite enough to enact the changes we wanted, so we're pushing spawn timers even further to finish the job while fixing some other unintended side effects." "Junglers could completely cripple their enemy team counterparts--especially early on--without fully committing to confrontation by smiting the buff and escaping, or killing their opponent with the immediate level advantage. We like the importance of aggressive early game invades, but want to make sure there's an appropriate amount of risk involved." The full patch notes for League of Legends patch 3.10 can be read on Riot's site. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
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