| Microsoft chose not to buy Sega because it didn't have the 'muscle' Feb 8th 2013, 16:41 Xbox owner once considered buying Sega to help it develop gaming hardware, says former Microsoft executive. 
Microsoft once considered purchasing Sega before opting to develop the original Xbox internally, a former executive at the company has said. "There were three companies at that point in time, I think this was [Sony,] Sega and Nintendo. There was always talk maybe we buy Sega or something like that; that never materialised," said Joachim Kempin, former vice president of Windows Sales at Microsoft, to IGN. "We were actually able to license them what they call Windows CE, the younger brother of Windows, to run on their system and make that their platform [for the Dreamcast]," added Kempin. Kempin worked at Microsoft for almost 20 years, from 1983 to 2002, and saw Bill Gates resolve to enter the hardware business itself in a bid to take market share away from electronics giant Sony. "[Gates] didn’t think that Sega had enough muscle to eventually stop Sony so we did our own Xbox thing," he said. Before that, though, there was the idea within Microsoft that the company would purchase Sega in its entirety. "There were some talks but it never materialised because Sega was a very different bird. It was always Sony and Nintendo, right? And Nintendo had some financial trouble at that point in time, so Sony came out with the PlayStation and bang! They took off, and everyone else was left behind." The original Xbox sold 24 million units before being replaced by its successor the Xbox 360. Sega's ill-fated Dreamcast, by comparison, sold 10.6 million units in its three-year lifespan. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
|  | Killzone 4 on PS4 in 2013? Feb 8th 2013, 16:37 Source says Guerrilla Games working on next entry in shooter series to launch on PlayStation 4 later this year. 
Killzone 4 is in development at Guerrilla Games and will launch in 2013 on the PlayStation 4, an unnamed industry source has told Videogamer. The game could be revealed as early as later this month during Sony's PlayStation Meeting event in New York City, where the PS4 itself is rumored to be revealed. The latest Killzone title was Killzone: Mercenary, which shipped in September for the PlayStation Vita. The most recent core entry in the series was Killzone 3, which Guerrilla Games developed for the PlayStation 3 and launched in February 2011. Guerrilla Games has long been rumored to be at work on Killzone 4. A report from November 2011 said Killzone 2 and Killzone 3 senior producer Steven Ter Heide will serve as game director on the new title. It is not clear if this is still the case. The Dutch developer was not immediately available for comment. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | Bleszinski talks leaving Epic Feb 8th 2013, 16:03 Former designer director at Gears of War studio says 20 years at the company left him "burnt out." Cliff Bleszinski left Epic Games last year because he was "burn out" and no longer had a personal project he was deeply invested in, the developer explained on his newly launched Tumblr page. "I was burnt out after 20 years of working there," Bleszinski wrote. "I also feel that in becoming the overall 'master of the fun' as Design Director I didn’t have 'my baby' project any longer, which was something that I really missed." Since leaving the Gears of War studio, Bleszinski has said he may open a new studio and get to work on project codenamed Silverstreak. At the same time, he did not rule out the possibility of joining an established developer and has met with numerous companies, including Activision and Electronic Arts. Whatever the case, Bleszinski said he enjoys not doing much in the way of anything in his post-Epic career, but also feels the urge to get back to making games. "Some days I wake up at noon, shuffle around the house, do nothing, and I love it," he said. "Other days I’m rip roaring and ready to go. I miss the fun playtests, the interactions with co-workers. I miss getting new builds with code progress to test, and sitting with a coder or artist and nudging things until they feel perfect." " I miss the comic con fans, the fan tattoos, the cosplayers, the folks who got married after they met online in our games, the reviews, the fun business trips," he added. "I don’t miss the deadlines, the hours, the cynical journalists who twist your words, the jaded gamers, and the difficulty of development." Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | $390 Wii U ZombiU bundle out Feb. 17 Feb 8th 2013, 15:24 Nintendo launching new Deluxe hardware bundle in North America this month with Pro controller, download code for Nintendo Land. 
Nintendo today announced a new ZombiU Wii U hardware bundle. Due out February 17 in the United States and Canada, the bundle features a 32GB Wii U Deluxe system, a copy of ZombiU, and a black Pro controller for $390. In addition, the bundle includes a ZombiU artwork booklet and "never-before-seen" developer commentary. On top of this, the pack features a download code for Nintendo Land, instead of a physical disc, which is included with standard Wii U Deluxe bundles. According to Nintendo, the new Wii U bundle represents a savings of over $70 if all items were purchased separately. For more on ZombiU, check out GameSpot's review. The Wii U has sold over 3 million units and 11 million software copies since launch. Not all have been pleased with the system's arrival, as Activision yesterday said it was "somewhat disappointed" with the platform's debut last year. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | Origin for Mac now live Feb 8th 2013, 14:25 EA online store now available for Macs users worldwide; certain games allow dual-platform play across systems. 
Origin for Mac has launched. Electronic Arts announced today that the virtual storefront has moved out of beta and has rolled out worldwide in full to all Mac gamers. EA also announced today that certain company-published titles will support dual-platform play. These include The Sims 3 and Dragon Age II, with more to be added later. Gamers can buy a title once through Origin and can play it on either Mac or PC. A similar offering is available on Origin competitor Steam. The Mac game library includes titles from EA and its publishing partners like Warner Bros. and Sega. Games available at launch today include Dragon Age II, Batman: Arkham City, Lego: Harry Potter, and The Sims 3, among others. Origin currently has 39 million members, compared to Steam's 50 million. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | Fallout dev pitching Star Wars RPG Feb 8th 2013, 14:01 Obsidian CEO says idea for new game is "within the top three pitches we've ever come up with"; would be set between Episode III and Episode IV. 
Fallout: New Vegas developer Obsidian Entertainment has its sights set on a galaxy far, far away. Speaking to Rock Paper Shotgun, CEO Feargus Urquhart said the studio has pitched LucasArts on a new Star Wars role-playing game. "I would say it's within the top three pitches we’ve ever come up with,’ he said. The game would be set between the events of films Episode III and Episode IV. "We think that timeframe is super interesting. It's the fall of the Republic, the extermination of the Jedi; it's Obi-Wan going off and making sure Luke is OK. You have the Sith, but you have the extermination of all Force users except for very, very few," he said. Urquhart said he pitched LucasArts on the idea prior to Disney's acquisition of the Star Wars brand in October. He noted that the transition "changes things," but that won't keep Obsidian from pushing the game with new owner Disney. He said when Obsidian pitched the game to LucasArts, the studio received a positive call back later that very day. Since Disney's takeover of Star Wars, though, Obsidian has yet to speak with the House of Mouse about getting the project off the ground. "We haven’t [talked with Disney yet]. We’re kind of waiting for the smoke to clear," he said. "But that’s one of my next big things to do. To kind of go over there and [get the ball rolling again]." If Disney does greenlight Obsidian's new Star Wars RPG, it will not be the first time the two companies have worked together. Obsidian spent a year making a Snow White prequel called "Dwarves" before changes at Disney led to the game's cancellation. Obsidian is no stranger to the Star Wars brand. The studio developed 2004 role-playing game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II--The Sith Lords, taking over the reins from original developer BioWare. The developer is currently working on South Park: The Stick of Truth and Project Eternity. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | Resident Evil 6 suffered due to 'inadequate organizational collaboration' Feb 8th 2013, 13:22 Publisher says development "challenges" and poor efforts in marketing and promotion led to latest game coming up short. 
Capcom has explained why it believes Resident Evil 6 came up short. The publisher said in a recent question and answer session that though shipments of 5 million copies means the game has been successful to a degree, development "challenges" and "inadequate organizational collaboration" led to the title performing under expectation. "We are currently analyzing the causes, which involve our internal development operations and sales operations. We have not yet reached a clear conclusion. We believe that global sales of 5 million units are proof that this is a popular title," Capcom said. "However, we believe that the new challenges we tackled at the development stage were unable to sufficiently appeal to users. In addition, we believe there was inadequate organizational collaboration across our entire company with regard to marketing, promotions, the creation of plans and other activities," the company added. "We will have to examine these results from several perspectives. We will reexamine our internal operating frameworks in order to identify areas that need to be improved concerning development as well as sales and administrative operations." Capcom said earlier this week that despite Resident Evil 6 recording "brisk" sales of 4.5 million upon launch in October, the game ultimately "lost its momentum." The game was targeted to ship 7 million copies worldwide, but has fallen 2 million short of that mark. Capcom is now contemplating rebooting the series. Resident Evil 6 received a polarizing critical reception upon launch for consoles last year. The game comes to PC on March 22. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | GameSpot UK Podcast 08/02/13 Feb 8th 2013, 11:30 We're joined by the folks from Introversion Software to talk Prison Architect, next-gen, and the internet outrage over GTA V's move to a September release. Plus, news hound Martin Gaston is taking over the news quiz, so expect lots of confused groans from the rest of team. 
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| | Rayman Legends developer attacks "shi**y" industry for Wii U delay Feb 8th 2013, 11:12 News of a seven-month delay for Rayman Legends was "hell" for the development team. 
One of the Rayman Legends development team has criticised the decision of Ubisoft's "men in ties" for the recently announced seven-month delay, but says the time will allow for "more content to be added" to the final game. This is not a decision taken by the development team," wrote the developer on Spanish forum EOL (translated by NeoGAF), who urged gamers not to attack Rayman Legends itself for the delay. "This comes from really, really high up, so please don't pick on the game." "If you're pissed, imagine how we feel," added the dev. "Think on the situation, we've been making overtime with this game practically since May preparing E3, and then almost a demo per month (gamescom, Wii U presentation, shops, eShop, etc’) and at the same time trying to actually finish the game." The poster, under the alias Zeta69, has notched up numerous posts over multiple years detailing trips to E3 and working on previous Ubisoft projects, such as Far Cry 2 and Rainbow Six: Vegas. "We had a first delay because it was obvious we couldn't finish on time but we gave it all to be there on February. What face do you think we had when the week we had to close the game we're being told it's not going to be released? I couldn't believe it." "For practical matters, you'll have to wait for some months for the game to be released and will most likely serve for more content to be added and do it better. For us, this means we've spent 6 months barely seeing our wives, kids, and friends for nothing because, after all, such a haste wasn't needed. Believe it, it was a hell to swallow these news." "Even then I'm firm in what I said back in the day, Rayman Legends is an excellent game and will still be, and the team that's making it doesn't deserve to have your back turned on them just because some men in ties one day took a wrong choice." "This industry is really that shi**y." As for Ubisoft, a representative confirmed to Digital Spy yesterday that the only reason for the delay was to bring the game out simultaneously for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii U, meaning the game would have been ready to launch on Wii U this month. For more information on Rayman Legends, check out GameSpot's previous coverage. Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
| | Journey wins big at D.I.C.E. Awards Feb 8th 2013, 05:34 Thatgamecompany's downloadable title takes out Game of the Year award; Telltale Games' The Walking Dead scores Adventure Game of the Year. 
LAS VEGAS--Journey has taken out the top prize at this year's 16th annual D.I.C.E. Awards, announced tonight during a ceremony in Las Vegas. Thatgamecompany's downloadable title won game of the year, as well as seven out of the 11 categories it was nominated for, including original music, sound design, and game direction. Other candidates for game of the year included Borderlands 2, Far Cry 3, The Walking Dead, and XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Other games scoring multiple nominations included The Walking Dead (8), Far Cry 3 (7), Halo 4 (6), Borderlands 2 (5), and Dishonored (5). The Walking Dead and Halo 4 won a number of categories, while Borderlands 2 was honored as action game of the year. The D.I.C.E. Awards were held at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, as part of the annual Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain (D.I.C.E.) summit. The full list of the 16th annual D.I.C.E. Awards categories and nominations is below, with the winners for each category in bold. Game of the Year
Borderlands 2 - Gearbox Software
Far Cry 3 - Ubisoft
Journey - Thatgamecompany
The Walking Dead - Telltale Games
XCOM: Enemy Unknown - Firaxis Games
Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction
Journey - Thatgamecompany
Dishonored - Arkane Studios
Far Cry 3 - Ubisoft
The Unfinished Swan - Giant Sparrow
The Walking Dead - Telltale games
Outstanding Innovation in Gaming
Journey - Thatgamecompany
Nintendo Land - Nintendo
Sound Shapes - Queasy Games
The Unfinished Swan - Giant Sparrow
The Walking Dead - Telltale Games
Action Game of the Year
Borderlands 2 - Gearbox Software
Far Cry 3 - Ubisoft
Halo 4 - 343 Industries
Hitman: Absolution - I/O Interactive
Sleeping Dogs - United Front Games
Adventure Game of the Year
Assassins' Creed III - Ubisoft
Darksiders II - Vigil Games
Dishonored - Arkane Studios
New Super Mario Bros. Wii U - Nintendo
The Walking Dead - Telltale Games
Mobile Game of the Year
Fairway Solitaire - Big Fish
Hero Academy - Robot Entertainment
Horn - Phosphor Game Studios
Rayman Jungle Run - Pastagames, Ubisoft Montpellier
Downloadable Game of the Year
Fez - Polytron Corporation
Journey - Thatgamecompany
Mark of the Ninja - Klei Entertainment
The Unfinished Swan - Giant Sparrow
The Walking Dead - Telltale Games
Handheld Game of the Year
Gravity Rush - Japan Studio
Paper Mario Sticker Star - Intelligent Systems
Resident Evil: Revelations - Capcom
Sound Shapes - Queasy Games
Uncharted: Golden Abyss - Sony Bend Studio
Web-Based Game of the Year
Bingo Bash - BitRhymes Inc.
Burrito Bison Revenge - Juicy Beast Studio
CityVille 2 - Zynga
Sim City Social - Maxis, Playfish
Song Pop - FreshPlanet Inc.
Casual Games of the Year
Fairway Solitaire - Big Fish
Journey - Thatgamecompany
Puzzle Craft - Ars Thanea
Rayman Jungle Run - Pastagames, Ubisoft Montpellier
Sound Shapes - Queasy Games
Family Game of the Year
Dance Central 3 - Harmonix Music Systems
Just Dance 4 - Ubisoft Paris, Ubisoft Reflections, Ubisoft Bucharest, Ubisoft Milan
Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes - TT Games
Nintendo Land - Nintendo
Skylanders Giants - Toys for Bob
Fighting Game of the Year
Persona 4 Arena - Arc System Works
PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale - Superbot Entertainment
Soulcalibur V - Project Soul
Street Fighter X Tekken - Capcom
Tekken Tag Tournament 2 - Namco Bandai Games
Racing Game of the Year
Forza Horizon - Playground Games
LittleBigPlanet Karting - United Front Games
Motorstorm RC - Evolution Studios
Need for Speed Most Wanted - Criterion Games
Trials: Evolution - Redlynx Ltd.
Role-Playing/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year
Diablo III - Blizzard Entertainment
Dust: An Elysian Tale - Humble Hearts
Guild Wars II - ArenaNet
Mass Effect 3 - BioWare
Torchlight II - Runic Games
Sports Game of the Year
FIFA Soccer 13 - EA Canada
MLB The Show 2012 - San Diego Studios
NBA 2K13 - Visual Concepts
Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year
FTL: Faster Than Light - Subset Games
Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition - Mojang/4J Studios
Orcs Must Die 2 - Robot Entertainment
Total War: Shogun 2 - Fall of the Samurai - The Creative Assembly
XCOM: Enemy Unknown - Firaxis Games
Outstanding Achievement in Animation
Assassin's Creed III - Ubisoft
Far Cry 3 - Ubisoft
Hitman: Absolution - I/O Interactive
Mark of the Ninja - Klei Entertainment
Uncharted: Golden Abyss - Sony Bend Studio
Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction
Borderlands 2 - Gearbox Software
Dishonored - Arkane Studios
Far Cry 3 - Ubisoft
Halo 4 - 343 Industries
Journey - Thatgamecompany
Outstanding Character Performance
Borderlands 2: Tiny Tina - Gearbox Software
Far Cry 3: Vaas Montenegro - Ubisoft
Halo 4: Cortana - 343 Industries
Mass Effect 3: Female Commander Shepard - BioWare
The Walking Dead: Lee Everett - Telltale Games
Outstanding Achievement in Connectivity
Call of Duty: Black Ops II - Treyarch
Halo 4 - 343 Industries
Nike+ Kinect Training - Sumo Digital Ltd.
Outstanding Achievement in Gameplay Engineering
Dishonored - Arkane Studios
Gravity Rush - Japan Studio
Journey - Thatgamecompany
The Walking Dead - Telltale Games
XCOM: Enemy Unknown - Firaxis Games
Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay
Borderlands 2 - Gearbox Software
Call of Duty: Black Ops II - Treyarch
Diablo III - Blizzard Entertainment
Halo 4 - 343 Industries
Journey - Thatgamecompany
Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition
Diablo III - Blizzard Entertainment
Far Cry 3 - Ubisoft
Journey - Thatgamecompany
Mass Effect 3 - BioWare
World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria - Blizzard Entertainment
Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design
Assassin's Creed III - Ubisoft
Diablo III - Blizzard Entertainment
Journey - Thatgamecompany
Medal of Honor: Warfighter - Danger Close Games
Syndicate - Starbreeze Studios
Outstanding Achievement in Story
Dishonored - Arkane Studios
Journey - Thatgamecompany
Sleeping Dogs - United Front Games
Spec Ops: The Line - Yager Development GmbH
The Walking Dead - Telltale Games
Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering
Call of Duty: Black Ops II - Treyarch
Halo 4 - 343 Industries
Hitman: Absolution - I/O Interactive
Need for Speed Most Wanted - Criterion Games
Total War: Shogun 2 - Fall of the Samurai - The Creative Assembly
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