Gaming News
How shame and anger aided the development of Star Wars: The Old Republic
Bioware‘s Emmanuel Lusinchi’s seven “lessons learned while designing an AAA” massively multiplayer online (MMO) game included an explanation of fan irrationality, the social benefits of dog ownership and unconventional tips for the hiring process (“If the interview process doesn’t feel cruel, you are probably doing it wrong”).
Speaking at the Vancouver Game Design Expo, the Associate Lead Designer of Star Wars: The Old Republic summarized his experiences from six years of development on Electronic Arts’ … Continue Reading
Bethesda’s Nesmith reflects on the difficult birth of Skyrim’s ‘Radiant Story’ system
When the development team of Bethesda’s The Elder Scrolls role-playing game series began to work on Skyrim, the need to make the game world understand itself in relationship to the player was identified. But that was easier said than done, as Bethesda’s director of design Bruce Nesmith recalled from a conversation he had with executive producer Todd Howard:
Todd: “I like that responsive thing. Give me some examples.”
Bruce: “So when I kill a guy, … Continue Reading
The DeanBeat: Game Dojos accelerator will help foster even more game startups
We’ve seen an explosion in game startups in the past few years. Zynga and Nexon have gone public, an indication that we could be nearing the end of a cycle. Their IPOs raise the question: When will there be enough game companies?
Game Dojos, a brand new San Francisco-based accelerator for game startups, thinks we’re not there yet. The game market will be saturated, not when there are lots of game startups, but when many … Continue Reading
GamesBeat weekly news roundup
You may not have noticed, but we’re now publishing a lot of game stories exclusively on the GamesBeat section of our site these days. These are stories that we feel are less geared to the general readership but will especially appeal to gamers and readers involved in the game industry. If you’ve missed any of those stories, our weekly roundup will point them out for you. And please visit the GamesBeat section to catch up … Continue Reading
NFC could be a game changer for Nintendo’s Wii U
Nintendo is a funny old company. Just when you think it is out of ideas, it has a habit of springing innovation on the market that changes things forever. The Wii brought us motion gaming, and the 3DS saw the mass market arrival of glasses-free 3D tech. Now the Wii U may revolutionize digital sales on home consoles, using communication technology that can link real world items with video games.
In his third quarter financial … Continue Reading
Kabam acquires game studio Fearless Studios led by ex-Star Wars game developers
Kabam, a maker of hardcore social games, has acquired independent game studio Fearless Studios for an undisclosed price.
The deal gives Kabam more development firepower and it is generally part of a wave of acquisitions happening in the game industry as social game makers try to bulk up in order to stay competitive with market leader Zynga. Kabam has raised $125 million — a huge amount of money for a social game publisher — and … Continue Reading
Activision Blizzard to fix Modern Warfare 3 map access from multiple Xbox Live profiles
Lots of players are enjoying the release of two new multiplayer maps for Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3. Call of Duty Elite premium paid members get early access to those maps.
But some players ran into a problem. When they tried to access the maps from multiple family member profiles — even after they paid for the Call of Duty Elite subscription and for Xbox Live Gold family members — they found they were … Continue Reading
Resident Evil Revelations: Secrets and Unlockables
Index
Starter Guide
Campaign Missions, Handprints & Unlockables
Raid Mode Missions & Unlockables
STARTER GUIDE
Welcome to GamesBeat’s Resident Evil: Revelations guide. First we’ll start off with some basic tips that will help you survive the latest Resident Evil experience, but then we’ll delve deeper into what missions and rewards await you in Campaign and Raid Mode.
Difficulty
Normal is not that hard unless this is your first video game, ever. There’s not much point … Continue Reading
Insomniac is done with Resistance
Insomniac Games chief executive Ted Price said that the developer “won’t be making any more Resistances,” during an interview with website VG247 at Southern Methodist University’s Game::Business::Law Summit.
That’s a significant change because Insomniac has made three major games in the Resistance series, all of them considered flagship games that were exclusives for the PlayStation 3. They were meant to differentiate the console and help Sony sell the platform to gamers.
Rather than focus on … Continue Reading
Roblox players built 5.4 million games in 2011
Roblox, a family-friendly entertainment site that allows kids to build their own 3D game worlds, says players created 5.4 million games in 2011 — a 109 percent year-over-year increase from 2010 — demonstrating enormous growth in user-generated online games in the past year.
Roblox claims its online community offers an environment for users to develop programming, scripting, and entrepreneurial skills while simultaneously playing games developed by others. In addition to building games, players learn to … Continue Reading
TERA launch under attack as NCsoft files US lawsuit against former employees
It almost seems like attending law school is becoming a prerequisite for surviving in the game industry. After Apple cracked down on alleged copycat games on the iTunes App Store (but let other fat cats get away with it), a new legal challenge is threatening the US release of the massively multiplayer online game TERA.
Depending on whether TERA turns out to be a big hit or not, tens of millions of dollars could be … Continue Reading
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 gets fixes, improvements, and Akimbo nerfs
Hot on the heels of the first set of new maps and downloadable content schedule, Activision has updated Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 with the eighth title update. TU8 makes a number of fixes and improvements to the game, including a major speed increase for users uploading their recorded videos to YouTube.
The update is already live on Xbox Live and is in certification for the PlayStation 3, meaning it should be live across … Continue Reading
Want to feel like an Apple factory boss? New strategy game lets you run a sweatshop
Yesterday’s New York Times story documenting Apple’s labor practices in China put a significant spotlight on an important ongoing issue. But what if you could experience what it’s like to be on the factory floor?
A new online strategy game called Sweatshop, developed by Littleloud, takes a seriously tounge-in-cheek approach to the issue by placing you on the floor of an offshore factory. You manage a floor of workers who tirelessly assemble hats, shirts, bags … Continue Reading
Zynga Bingo debuts on Facebook as part of casino suite
Adding to its Zynga Casino suite, Zynga is announcing today it has launched Zynga Bingo in a closed beta test on Facebook.
The game is the newest social game for Zynga, which is moving at a faster and faster pace to launch new games that help the company preserve its dominant position on the world’s biggest social network.
Initially, the game will be available as a closed beta test and it will be available to … Continue Reading
Netflix backpedals on video game rental plans
Netflix is no longer planning to offer a video game disc rental-by-mail service to complement its DVD-by-mail and streaming video subscription service, the company revealed Wednesday during its fourth quarter earnings call.
The video game rental service was originally announced in September 2011 as part of Netflix’s effort to spin off its DVD rental business into a separate company called Qwikster. The service, which many Netflix subscribers had long-begged for, would have offered game disc … Continue Reading
Nintendo cuts 3DS forecast and expects to report bigger year-end loss
Nintendo, struggling with the poor reception of its latest handheld gaming system, said Thursday morning that it would have a wider than expected loss for the full fiscal year.
Nintendo posted a 61 percent drop in its third quarter operating profit and forecast a 45 billion yen ($838 million) operating loss for the full year. That will be the worst financial performance in the Japanese company’s history and its first loss since it started reporting … Continue Reading
Nintendo confirms Wii U to launch by year end
Nintendo will launch its Wii U video game console — the successor to the wildly successful but aging Nintendo Wii — in the U.S. and other key markets in time for the holiday shopping season later this year.
Nintendo chief executive Satoru Iwata told reporters in Japan that the Wii U would be launched by the end of the year in the U.S., Europe, Australia and Japan, according to Reuters.
Video game fans have been … Continue Reading
Addmired launches social mobile iMob 2 game with cool chat features (exclusive)
Mob games aren’t really fun unless you can disrespect your foes. That’s the idea behind iMob 2, the latest mobile social game from startup Addmired, which has had a string of hits.
The new iOS game (iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad) has a new feature in real-time online chat, where users can talk with other players and strategize attacks into the mob-themed game.
Palo Alto, Calif.-based Addmired has more than 37 million downloads of its games, … Continue Reading
Angry Birds will hit Facebook on Valentine’s Day
Angry Birds fans may be staying home without a date on Valentine’s Day, but at least they can hang with a few hundred friends. That’s when the popular mobile game will debut on Facebook for the first time.
Angry Birds is the most successful mobile game in history with more than 700 million downloads since its launch in December 2009. To keep growing, it has to expand to just about every platform on the planet.… Continue Reading
Rumor control: Xbox 720 chips in prototype production?
A flurry of news about the next-generation console coming from Sony and Microsoft has hit the internet in the last couple of days.
One of the most detailed rumors came on Jan. 18 from SemiAccurate, the geek blog run by Charlie Demerjian. He said that initial production of the Oban chip for the Xbox 720 has begun. Oban is the code name for the combination graphics and processor all-in-one chip that will power the next-generation … Continue Reading
