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'Grand Theft Auto V' Racks Up Record $800M+ in First-Day Sales

Peter Oberth — Wed, 18 Sep 2013 19:47:55 +0000

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Grand Theft Auto V

Grand Theft Auto

Grand Theft Auto V has pulled in more than $800 million worldwide since the highly anticipated video game was released on Tuesday for PS3 and Xbox 360, Take-Two Interactive announced Wednesday.

The impressive figure makes GTA V the best-selling video game in history, pulling in more money in a 24-hour period than last November's Call of Duty: Black Ops II. The tally excludes Japan and Brazil, where the title has yet to be released.

GTA V is also reportedly the most expensive video game ever made, with a combined production and marketing budget of $265 million.

"All of us at Take-Two are thrilled with the initial response to Grand Theft Auto V. Once again, the team at Rockstar Games have outdone themselves, setting the entertainment industry's new standard for creativity, innovation and excellence," Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said in a statement.

"Beginning at midnight on Monday, consumers around the world gathered in anticipation to be among the first to experience the evolution of this remarkable series. In North America alone, more than 8,300 stores opened their doors at midnight to welcome fans whose loyalty and enthusiasm were rewarded. … We are incredibly proud of Rockstar Games' creative achievement and could not be more pleased with the success of this launch," he added.

The critically acclaimed game was developed by series creator Rockstar North and is the first new Grand Theft Auto title since 2008.

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Grand Theft Auto V

Microsoft Unveils Xbox One Entertainment Console

Peter Oberth — Tue, 21 May 2013 18:19:31 +0000

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Xbox One

Microsoft unveiled a new system Tuesday that fuses video gaming, music and interactive television, all of which is designed to be easily controlled with arm motions and voice commands.

Dubbed Xbox One and due out later this year, the system includes access to Skype and lets users watch TV, play games and talk with friends simultaneously via a split screen on a single TV set.

The aggressive move into living rooms nationwide was previewed at an event at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Wash., and coincided with the announcement that Steven Spielberg would executive produce a live-action TV series based on the Halo video game available exclusively on Xbox One.

The Halo TV show will be the first from Xbox Entertainment Studios, an entity created in September and run by former CBS executive Nancy Tellem.

"I thought this was a good first announcement, but we have a lot more in the hopper that we will announce later," Tellem told The Hollywood Reporter. She described the Halo show as "a premium television series with an appropriate budget" that might one day also be available beyond the Xbox platform.

Also signing on to Xbox One is the National Football League, which will allow Microsoft to create exclusive interactive content around NFL programming. Tellem is also overseeing the NFL initiative and while she wasn't specific on Tuesday about the programming she and her team will create, she said it will include a bold move into fantasy football.

Xbox One is also a Blu-ray disc player but it will not replace the cable or satellite box, nor will it replace the DVR. It will, though, make those devices work more in concert with video-gaming, music and Skype.

The voice system, which is designed to work well even when background noise is present, allows users to switch channels, bring up a guide for a specific channel, display a custom home page containing a user's favorite TV shows and music, and more, all done with simple, spoken commands.

The Xbox One will compete with Wii U, Nintendo’s next-generation gaming system launched in November, and Sony’s upcoming PlayStation 4. It’s also likely taking aim at Apple TV, Roku and other boxes that deliver TV shows and movies on demand.

Xbox One’s 5 billion transistors and other advanced technology will keep things loading fast, according to Microsoft, and will help the user jump between video games and TV shows almost instantly and without changing TV inputs.
“Our unique, modern architecture brings simplicity to the living room and, for the first time ever, the ability to instantly switch across your games and entertainment,” said Don Mattrick, Microsoft’s president of interactive entertainment business.

Microsoft also said several updated game titles are in the works for Xbox One, including Forza Motorsport 5 from Turn 10 Studios; Call of Duty: Ghosts fromActivision; Quantum Break from Remedy Entertainment; and four sports games from Electronic Arts.

EA Gets Licence For Star Wars Games

Peter Oberth — Tue, 07 May 2013 00:16:41 +0000

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Empire

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Star Wars

Those wondering what would happen to Star Wars' game series after Disney switched off the lights at LucasArts need ponder no longer. It's just been announced that Disney has inked a deal with Electronic Arts to take hold of the destiny of the long-ago-and-far-away franchise.

Specifically, this means three developers will be at work on whatever games accompany the cinematic Episode VII and its successors. Wielding the lightsabers and piloting the TIE-Fighters will be BioWare (Knights of the Old Republic), DICE (the Battlefield franchise) and Visceral (Dead Space).

EA currently runs the Old Republic MMORG, so their acquisition of the ongoing Star Wars gig comes as no great surprise. They're not, it's perhaps fair to say, the most beloved company among gamers, so it's unlikely that the announcement will cause many fans to break out the Membrosia. Still, Knights Of The Old Republic was great.

"Every developer dreams of creating games for the Star Wars universe," said EA's Frank Gibeau. "Three of our top studios will fulfill that dream, crafting epic adventures for Star Wars fans. DICE and Visceral will produce new games, joining the BioWare team which continues to develop for the Star Wars franchise. The new experiences we create may borrow from films, but the games will be entirely original with all new stories and gameplay."

"Our number one objective was to find a developer who could consistently deliver our fans great Star Wars games for years to come," said LucasFilm president Kathleen Kennedy. "When we looked at the talent of the teams that EA was committing to our games and the quality of their vision for Star Wars, the choice was clear."

Meanwhile, over in the J. J. Abrams camp, Mark Hamill has been speaking again, this time following a screening of Return Of The Jedi in LA. He said that he's loves Michael Arndt's writing, which is great because a good script is the most important thing; that he hopes there will be a good balance between CGI and practical effects, which seems to be the plan from what he's heard; and that he fully expects the focus of the new trilogy to be on the next generation, "which is as it should be."

Head over to AICN for the full lowdown of the evening's Q&A. Quote of quotes: "From my perspective, [Episodes I-III] have a beginning, a middle and an end and take place before I was born, so I'm not required to know anything about them."

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Star Wars

Batman: Arkham Origins Unveiled

Peter Oberth — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 00:41:32 +0000

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Batman: Arkham Origins

Batman: Arkham Asylum hit gaming consoles back in 2009. Batman: Arkham City arrived in late 2011. Batman: Arkham Origins, the prequel to both games, is now set for a October 25 release this year, and those fine folk over at GameInformer have the scoop on what to expect.

First up, Rocksteady Studios are no longer in charge of this crack of the cat whip, with Warner Brothers Games Montreal taking over (they did the Wii U Armored edition recently) - though they will be using the modified unreal engine Rocksteady had made their own over the past two games. Head of WB Montreal's team is Eric Holmes, which will mean something to anyone who's played Prototype, as he's the man behind that particular open-world gorefest.

It's a safe bet that there will be fewer bodily organs flying around cityscapes in this particular game, which is set several years before the events of City and Asylum and sees Bats meet eight supervillians for the first time on the streets of Gotham one Christmas Eve.

You'll no doubt form your own list of guesses as to which bad 'uns will appear, though no points for picking The Joker or, as the picture above reveals, Deathstroke. Many fingers crossed that the immensely annoying Harley Quinn will have nothing to do with anything this time around, and that Mark Hamill will reconsider his decision not to voice The Man Who Laughs.

GameInformer have released a video to accompany their coverage of the game, and you can check it out below. Note just how scared everyone is about following up two games that between them hauled in dozens upon dozens of Game Of The Year awards...

Also, more plot details have emerged, which reveal that the Black Mask is the man driving the story, as he's the guy who's gathered together these eight antagonists with the promise of a cash reward for the head of The Bat. Bent cops have also joined in on the fun, so expect His Cowliness to POW! a few policemen over the course of the game.

Then there are the locations available, which are split into Old Gotham (the area seen in Arkham City, but without the prison paraphernalia) and New Gotham (a skyscraper-filled modern section that'll no doubt remind many of Nolan's Batman trilogy). Side missions will allow players to also pursue other, non-plot important baddos, as well as time-sensitive 'Crimes In Progress'.

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Batman: Arkham Origins

Disney Closes LucasArts Gaming Arm

Peter Oberth — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 17:16:24 +0000

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Empire

It's with a heavy heart and RSI-riddled point-and-clicking fingers that we bring you the news of LucasArts' demise. Closed down by its new owners Disney, the much-loved video game developer is laying off all its staff and turning into a licensing entity. In other words, Star Wars: First Assault and Star Wars 1313 are no more.

In this way, the Golden Guy will live on through other game designers picking up their previous creations, which include the Star Wars and Indiana Jones games, as well as Monkey Island, Maniac Mansion and Sam & Max, some of which are already in the safe hands of LucasArts' spiritual successor, TellTale games.

Some of Lucasfilm Games' (as it was originally known) best-loved releases - notably the Monkey Island series - are still available on iPhones, iPads and elsewhere, but for the time being LucasArts' legacy lives on in the minds of its fans and anyone who regularly indulges in a spot of Insult Swordfighting.

Interestingly, there are aspects of perhaps LucasArts' finest game, the undead-themed Mexican Halloween-falvoured puzzle noir Grim Fandango, in Pixar and Toy Story 3 director Lee Unkrich's mooted Day Of The Dead movie, which somehow has no connection to Tim Burton despite all the skulls involved.

The closing down of LucasArts comes after several other Star Wars-affliated brands have been shown the door by Disney of late, most notably the critically-acclaimed Clone Wars TV show, which seems to show that The House Of Mouse is keen to cause a disturbance in The Force in the form of a Jedi/Sith drought. So say goodbye to Star Wars Kinect and look forward to looking forward to Episode VII (currently earmarked for a 2015 release).

Additionally, Variety reports that many Industrial Light And Magic staff are also losing their jobs as part of this move. Then again, when you buy a company for $4.05 billion, you're going to need to make a few tough decisions along the way...

Desperate for more point-and-click adventuring? Be sure to play TellTale Games' Walking Dead series to give yourself a pretty jaw-dropping fix. Also, if you have the time, check out Monkey Island and Maniac Mansion co-creator Ron Gilbert's blog post on saying goodbye to The Golden Guy.

Sony Previews PlayStation 4: More Power, More Immersive Games Planned

Peter Oberth — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 04:12:46 +0000

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PS4

Sony held an event Wednesday at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City to unveil its PlayStation 4 -- and while it declined to reveal a specific launch date, price point, or even images of what the new console will look like, its gaming partners promised the powerful new console would provide immersive hands-free gaming experiences that rival Hollywood blockbusters.

David Cage, founder of Quantic Dream, worked with actress Ellen Page on Beyond: Two Souls, an upcoming PS3 action adventure game, and said the new Sony console opens up the types of special effects -- like 3D depth of field and translucency -- which have previously been reserved for Hollywood CG movies.

“We’ve reached a point with the PS4 where you can see subtle emotions in a character’s face and look into his eyes and see his soul,” said Cage. “Game creators can forget about technology limitations and focus on game experiences that will take you to places you’ve never been before, and feel emotions you’ve never felt before (in a game). We are now only limited by our own imagination."

Sony demonstrated the potential of the PS4 hardware, which features a high-end GPU and an 8-core CPU on the same die, with 8 gigs of DDR5 RAM, more processing power and memory than any other console available today. While Sony didn’t show the actual console, it did showcase a new DualShock 4 controller, which features a light bar on the top with three color LEDs.

The light bar illuminates to match the color of characters in a game to offer a simpler way to identify players, even when playing side by side, and includes a sensor pad for touch controls and a headphone jack. The addition of a Share button will allow players to instantly share gameplay experiences through Facebook, UStream and social networks.

Sony also debuted the PlayStation 4 Eye, a newly-developed device that incorporates two high-sensitivity cameras with wide-angle lenses sporting 85-degree diagonal angle views which can recognize depth of space. This allows the image of the player to be cut from the background, or to grasp players' position in space. Four microphones also detect sound and where it came from, and users will also be able to login to their PS4 with face recognition.

All that hardware means new frontiers for developers to cross. Exclusive PS4 games like Guerilla Games’ first-person shooter Killzone Shadow Fall, Evolution Studios’ racer DriveClub, Sucker Punch production’s action sequel Infamous Second Son and Mark Cerny’s platform action game Knack were among the titles that were given some quality time during the two-hour press conference.

While Sony currently offers Hollywood movies and television programs through its PlayStation Network on PS3, Sony focused on gaming at this event rather than exploring the new entertainment opportunities that PS4 will open up for Hollywood studios. The new PlayStation 4 Eye camera does bring with it the potential for entertainment and gaming experiences like those Microsoft has been exploring with its Kinect for Xbox 360.

“Today marks a bold step forward for PlayStation,” said Andrew House, president, group ceo of Sony Computer Entertainment. “The living room no longer the center of the gaming ecosystem, the gamer is. We’ve created a platform for consumers’ changing behaviors and enhanced sense of play."

David Perry, co-founder and CEO of cloud gaming company Gaikai (which Sony purchased last year for $380 million) said a full library of PlayStation titles dating back to the original console will be gradually rolled out and accessible for purchase and download. In addition, every PS4 game will be available to download and play for free before gamers decide they want to purchase the title.

“We believe in the second screen gaming experience and through Remote Play, gamers will be able to play PS4 games on their PS Vita portable gaming device,” said Perry. “It’s the ultimate companion device. You can start a game on your big screen TV, pause it, and then pick up the game on the PS Vita."

Perry added that gamers will be able to instantly share their gaming experiences with friends, and open up a spectating mode so other players can help them through difficult parts of a game. In addition, a player's friend will be able to jump in and take over the controls to help get through a tough spot -- even if he or she is playing from a different home. PS4 has also been designed to allow anyone to instantly live stream gaming, which has become a big part of the burgeoning eSports scene.

The press conference also allowed game developers to share what they have in the works.

Ubisoft co-founder and president Yves Guillemot announced that the online action game Watch_Dogs will debut on PS4.

"Watch_Dogs blurs the line between the real world and the virtual world more than ever before,” said Guillemot. “Ubisoft has been working on PS4 to make gaming experiences that are more connected and more immersive. We’re creating games that will be played anywhere, anytime, across many different devices to brings friend and communities together..”

Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg introduced game developer Bungie to announce its new first-person shooter, Destiny, will have exclusive content for both PlayStation 3 and PS4. This will be the first Bungie game for a Sony platform, as it previously was owned by Microsoft. Hirshberg said this new universe has been designed with a 10-year transmedia plan.

“When we became independent we were excited to explore new platforms and connect with the PlayStation community,” said Harold Ryan, president of Bungie. “Destiny is an innovative game and it’s a perfect fit for the PS4 with its online connected experience and the ability to access the content you love from multiple devices. We’ve designed Destiny to entertain you for years to come.”

Blizzard Entertainment developer Chris Metzen announced that the bestselling PC fantasy RPG Diablo III is coming to PS3 and PS4 with new four-player co-op full-screen gameplay.

“We want to move the gameplay experience from the home office to the living room,” said Metzen.

Square Enix developer Shinji Hashimoto announced a new Final Fantasy game will be coming to PS4 and will make its debut at E3 this June.

Lego Batman 2 Glitch Solution

Pandora — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 08:48:21 +0000

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Lego Batman

Lego Batman 2

Lego

Are you one of the unlucky to buy the new Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes for Xbox 360 and have it freeze up on you at the end of the level The Next President? Well I was. And to say I was angry is an understatement. And just to let you know how bad the problem apparently was at several different stores I visited they had pulled all copies for the Xbox 360 from their shelves.
I tried everything I could find online from turning on the subtitles, turning off the cheats, and a variety of combinations with the settings. And while some of those things to work for a select few I still found myself staring at Robin’s stupid car frozen on the screen. And to make matters worse when I decided to just wander around Gotham to at least attempt to gather gold bricks and save citizens I was stuck with a Kryptonite poisoned Superman unable to fly.

As I searched endlessly for a fix to this problem all I got were more guesses by players and comments that they had contacted the company who were promising a fix soon. Well finally they have released a code that I tested and it did work for me. So if you have not come across it yet I will now share it with you.

Before entering the level The Next President go into the Extras option (where you enter your cheat codes). Once there enter the code N0Cut5 (note that the 0 is a zero). Once you enter it the screen will say that the code is unlocked and it will be called ?. At this point the cheat is turned on, it will not appear below like the other cheats do & you will not be given the option to turn it on or off. Please note that just because this cheat is on does not mean your part is finished. All you did was turn on the option to skip the cut scenes. After you defeat the Joker robot and the cut scene starts you will need to press the Y button and it will skip over the scene taking you to the end level screen where you stats are tallied up for you. You will also from here on out be able to skip all cut scenes for levels to come if you so choose.

Now I can’t promise that this will work for everyone; but I do know it worked for me. And right now it seems like the majority of people that have had this issue as well have found this to be the fix that works for them too. So good luck to you if you try to use it. I just hope that in the future they will take a bit more time with their games to make sure their customers will be able to play them all the way through.

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Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes

Activision: 'Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3' Sets Five-Day Sales Record

Peter Oberth — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 13:16:24 +0000

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

Video game giant Activision Blizzard said Thursday that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has "shattered theatrical box office, book and video game sales records" for five-day worldwide sell-through in dollars, crossing the $775 million mark.

That beat the company's own previous record of $650 million set a year ago by Call of Duty: Black Ops. Activision had recorded $550 million two years ago for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

The company cited Charttrack and retail customer sell-through data.

"With $775 million of sales of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 in its first five days, Call of Duty has become the first entertainment property in history to set five-day launch records for three consecutive years across all forms of entertainment," said Activision Blizzard CEO Robert Kotick.

Life-to-date retail sales for the Call of Duty franchise have exceeded $6 billion worldwide, making it "one of the most valuable entertainment properties in the world," he said.

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Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

Electronic Arts Will Purchase PopCap Games for $750 Million

Peter Oberth — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 21:06:41 +0000

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PopCap Games

Electronic Arts said Tuesday it will pay at least $750 million for PopCap Games, the maker of Bejeweled and other casual games that had been considering an initial public offering.

EA said it will pay $650 million in cash and $100 million in stock for PopCap, which was founded 11 years ago and today employs 400 people worldwide.

PopCap makes 56 games for computers and mobile devices, including Bookworm, Peggle, Zuma, Chuzzle and Plants vs. Zombies. PopCap says it has had 41 offers to turn the latter into a movie.

“Our games are sprinkled with a whirlwind of smile-inducing awesomeness,” PopCap proclaims at its website, where it also says a sale of Bejeweled occurs once every 4.3 seconds.

The deal, which should close next month, includes “earn-out” provisions that could drive the purchase price $550 million higher over the next two years.

Included in EA’s announcement that it would acquire PopCap was guidance that it would exceed revenue expectations but it would also experience an unexpected per-share loss during the current quarter.

Shares of EA closed fractionally lower to $24.17 on Tuesday, but were off an additional 3% in the after-hours session when the acquisition and updated earnings guidance were made public.

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PopCap Games

Supreme Court Strikes Down California Law Banning Violent Video Games To Minors

Peter Oberth — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 16:15:15 +0000

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In a long-awaited decision today, the U.S. Supreme Court sent a clear message to state governments looking to regulate the sale of violent video games to minors: Treat video games like movies, books, music, and any other artistic medium.

The Supreme Court struck down California's law banning the rental or sale of violent video games to children under the age of 18 by a decisive 7-2 margin.

In doing so, the court's justices emphasized in its decision the primacy of the First Amendment and that "basic principals of free speech" shouldn't be restricted without a "compelling government interest."

In defending the law, the government tried to point to psychological studies purporting to show a connection between exposure to violent video games and the harmful effects on children, but the Supreme Court found the evidence to be inconclusive, and that any demonstrated effects were "small and indistinguishable from effects produced by other media."

As a result, the Supreme Court ruled that standards applied to other media should also be applicable in this situation:

"Like the protected books, plays, and movies that preceded them, video games communicate ideas-and even social messages-through many familiar literary devices (such as characters, dialogue, plot, and music) and through features distinctive to the medium (such as the player's interaction with the virtual world). That suffices to confer First Amendment protection. Under our Constitution, "esthetic and moral judgments about art and literature . . . are for the individual to make, not for the Government to decree, even with the mandate or approval of a majority."

The decision is a victory for the video game industry in its many years of efforts to be treated equally to other entertainment businesses.

"We are gratified that our position that the law violates the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of expression has been vindicated and there now can be no argument whether video games are entitled to the same protection as books, movies, music, and other expressive entertainment," said Bo Andersen, President & CEO, Entertainment Merchants Association

The Supreme Court decision is also a triumph for entertainers at large.

In the decision, the Supreme Court notes that California attempted to craft an entirely new category of unprotected speech -- content aimed at children. The justices reject this idea and say that lawmakers must only regulate speech using the same kinds of content-neutral regulation standards used in the past.

“The motion picture industry is no stranger to governments’ incursion on freedom of expression," said Chris Dodd, Chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America. "From the very inception of the movie industry, attempts to restrict speech have threatened the creativity of American movie-makers. We applaud the Supreme Court for recognizing the far-reaching First-Amendment implications posed by the California law."

The decision wasn't unanimous. Justices Thomas and Breyer dissented. In their view, "the practices and beliefs of the founding generation establish that 'the freedom of speech,' as originally understood, does not include a right to speak to minors (or a right of minors to access speech) without going through the minors' parents or guardians."

Some groups which have supported laws like California's statute pledged to continue working on the issue despite the Supreme Court ruling to ensure minors are adequately protected.

"Today’s decision is a disappointing one for parents, educators, and all who care about kids," says Common Sense Media CEO James Steyer. "But the fight is far from over. Advocates for kids and families can work within the scope of this ruling to protect the best interests of kids...We respectfully disagree with the Court when it comes to their analysis of the First Amendment rights of children and families -- this is a sanity issue, not a censorship issue. If parents decide a violent game is okay for their kid, that’s one thing, but millions of kids are not able to judge the impact of ultra-violence on their own"

Other groups said the decision would have a negative impact.

"This ruling replaces the authority of parents with the economic interests of the video game industry," said Parents Television Council president Tim Winter. "With no fear of any consequence for violating the video game industry’s own age restriction guidelines, retailers can now openly, brazenly sell games with unspeakable violence and adult content even to the youngest of children.”