The atmosphere has been turbulent in the industry since Scottish developer Realtime Worlds went into administration, with companies surging into the Dundee area to help provide support to the employees involved. However, Develop reports that there may be hope yet, as there is word that a buyout of the collapsed studio.
“Discussions are continuing and we are expecting to make an announcement next week,” said a spokesperson for the developer’s administrator, Begbies Traynor (wow, hell of a name you’ve got there).
Realtime Worlds were previously working on a social gaming title called Project Myworld, which was purchased by an anonymous American company last week. Word is that several companies are making inquiries into purchasing the Realtime Worlds business, but there is no word as to which companies have put in bids just yet.
We’ll keep you updated, but let’s hope whatever happens, it benefits the people affected by the original administration. Losing your job in a sudden upheaval is just not cool.
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Tags: apple, destructoid, japan, media, news, nukem-forever, pax, psp, shank, video-game-news, video-games, west, wii
Valve is continuing its U-turn on the console situation, once again praising the PlayStation 3 and diminishing the Xbox 360. Referring to Xbox Live as a trainwreck, studio head Gabe Newell has stated that Microsoft is going to have to change its online policies in order to compete.
“We thought that there would be something that would emerge, because we figured it was a sort of untenable,” says Newell when talking about Xbox Live’s software update policies. “Oh yeah, we understand that these are the rules now, but it’s such a train wreck that something will have to change.
“That’s why we’re really happy with the current situation with the PS3. We’re solving it now in a way that is going to work for our customers, rather than assuming something is going to emerge later that will allow us to fix this.”
Despite the backtracking nature of Valve’s recent comments, I have to agree with Gabe. The needless restrictions and regulations that Microsoft demands with Xbox Live borders on the silly, especially on a service that has the nerve to ask for a subscription fee. It’d be nice to think MS changes the rules, but with so many people still willing to give Microsoft the money, one can’t expect things to change soon.
Interview: Valve on 13 things they’ve failed at [PC Gamer via CVG]
A former Zynga employee has spilled the beans on boss Mark Pincus, alleging that he encourages the theft of ideas and going so far as to call the FarmVille developer evil.
The ex-worker claims that Pincus said these exact words when talking about game development: ”I don’t f*cking want innovation. You’re not smarter than your competitor. Just copy what they do and do it until you get their numbers.”
He also states that the company’s unofficial motto was “Be evil,” which is a play on Google’s “Don’t be evil” corporate message. The anonymous developer also says that Zynga is “one of the most evil places I’ve run into, from a culture perspective and in its business approach” and that he does his best to make sure “friends don’t let friends work at Zynga.”
Mark Pincus and his cloak-and-dagger operations have come under fire in the past, so this is a case of more fuel on the fire. Still, you don’t become one of the most successful developers in the world by playing Mr. Nice, I reckon.
FarmVille boss ‘doesn’t f***ing want innovation’ [CVG]
It was the weirdest thing. On the first day of PAX, I marched down to the LucasArts area of the show floor to check out The Force Unleashed 2. While I was down there, I had a chance meeting with a developer from Red Fly, the studio responsible for the Wii version of the game. We chatted about how the Wii version of Ghostbusters looked better than the PS3/360 version, some of the games we grew up with, all sorts of stuff. I wanted to do some video with him, but LucasArts politely declined.
I came back two days later, and the guy from Red Fly was gone, but there were new LucasArts representatives all over the place. These new guys were all for doing some video. I went for it, but I ended up talking about the guy from Red Fly pretty much the whole time. Hope they didn’t feel unloved.
As for the game, it was pretty cool. Sadly, we ran out of room on the SD Card, so we didn’t get to show you four-player and some of the more interactive environments and violent moments. Some of the fighters have pretty cool moves. Asajj Ventress can cloud the minds of her enemies, reversing their controls, Vader has the force choke, that sort of stuff. For a free add-on, The Force Unleashed 2 versus mode is pretty rad.
And before you ask, “duodecim” is “twelve” in Latin.
Scans from ever-leaky Japanese game magazines confirm that at least two new characters will be making it into the lineup: Final Fantasy IV’s Kain and (unsurprisingly) Final Fantasy XIII’s Lightning.
But what does “duodecim” mean for the game? I’m hoping that it doesn’t allude to the character roster, which in the first game ran to twenty-two (”viginti et duo”) once you counted Final Fantasy XII’s Gabranth and Final Fantasy XI’s Shantotto. Maybe it means that there will be twelve new characters? There are certainly enough in the Final Fantasy stable to fit that concept.
It’s coming out for the PlayStation Portable sometime next year. You can check out the scans in the gallery, see a fun video below, and begin speculating about the final lineup in the comments!
Personally I’d like to see what they can do with a Final Fantasy Tactics character. Preferably from the original. Cidolfus Orlandeau or Agrias Oaks could easily qualify for boss status.
[Thanks to everyone who sent in the tip!]
I’m not what one could call a “graphics whore” — I love Wii games, and Deadly Premonition is one of my favorite games of all time. However, when a game looks as gorgeous as LittleBigPlanet 2, screw it, I’m going to bust a nut.
This latest trailer shows off the grappling hook and is well worth checking out. I’m quite eager to see the full game in action, so if Sony would like to hurry up and send us some copies, we wouldn’t say no!
The last time we talked about Minitroid, I told you that I found the game comforting. Metroid: Other M was just about to see release, and I was scared the game would be too different. While Other M looked scary and unknown, Minitroid looked old and familiar. At the time, that made Minitroid the hotter option for me.
Now Other M has come and gone, and I’m still hungry for some classic 2D Metroid action. Mintroid looks like it will deliver on that. Even though it’s just free PC game, it’s one of my most anticipated titles right now. I can’t wait to see how they pull off Ridley at that resolution.
Minitroid – a Metroid II fan-remake…of sorts – more footage, music samples- [GoNintendo]
If you’re finding your black DualShock 3 controller boring, consider getting a pink one this fall.
Retailer GameStop is listing the pink wireless DualShock 3 for a September 21 release. Like any other DualShock 3 controller, it’ll cost you $54.99. It’s also like any other DualShock 3 in every other way, as well… except it’s pink. For girls or really secure dudes, I guess.
[Thanks, Vallanthaz!]
Seven more tracks have been confirmed for the upcoming game that’s going to turn you into a rap superstar, Def Jam Rapstar:
- Busta Rhymes – “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See”
- DMX – “Ruff Ryder’s Anthem”
- Fat Joe featuring Terror Squad – “Lean Back”
- Ja Rule featuring Ashanti – “Always on Time”
- Lil’ Jon – “Get Low”
- Public Enemy – “Can’t Truss It”
- Twista featuring Kanye West and Jamie Foxx – “Slow Jamz”
It’s also been revealed that producer Bangladesh will be providing instrumental beats for the game’s “Freestyle Mode,” where players can spit their own rhymes over instrumental tracks. The announced instrumental beat “Gutter” will join just revealed beats by DJ Premiere (”Go Back”) and Just Blaze (8 Bit).
I make no claims that I can rap (sometimes I can barely speak), but there’s something about Def Jam Rapstar that has my attention. I don’t know if it’ll replace Rock Band as the party game of choice, but it’s shaping up like a pretty great alternative for folks who would rather hear a Busta Rhyme track over Metallica. I hope to be spending more time with the game soon, so keep your eyes peeled for a more in-depth, hands-on (mouth on?) preview.
The game is out October 5 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii. Fat Joe (who I once had the pleasure of meeting at a New Jersey Turnpike rest stop) loves it, as you can see from the video below.
Musician Stan Bush and Transformers are inseparable. Arguably Bush’s brightest time in the spotlight was when his tracks “The Touch” and “Dare” appeared in the 1986 animated film, Transformers: The Movie.
His legend has never died, either. He re-recorded “The Touch” which was used as a free downloadable track for Guitar Hero: World Tour, and his song “Till All Are One” appeared in High Moon’s Transformers: War for Cybertron. But he’s not done, as he tells Playswitch that he’s working on a song for the next Transformers game.
“I am working on a song to submit for the next Transformers game that’s coming out next summer,” he says. “It’s nothing for sure, obviously, but I’m working for something in the studio.”
Not sure what “it’s nothing for sure” means. Because if he’s recording it, then it’s something. I suppose whether or not Activision will green-light the use of the song is another story. A new Transformers game hasn’t been announced, but with Transformers 3 currently in production (and set for a summer 2011 release), a movie-to-game adaptation seems like a fair bet.
Playswitch Podcast: Emmy-Award Winning Musician and Transformers Legend Stan Bush [Playswitch]