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Release This: Dragon's Dogma, Ghost Recon: Future Soldier hit retail
Gamasutra's regular round-up of worldwide video game releases, "Release This!", takes a look at every game title we know to be shipping to stores this week, in a custom compiled list. This week brings awaited releases like Dragon's Dogma, Mario Tennis Open, and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier to North America and Europe. The following list covers all of the game software we know to be available -- across all platforms and regions -- ...
gamasutra.com | 21-May-2012 10:13
Is Guild Wars 2 the answer to stagnant MMO design?
While the MMO genre has been set in its post-World of Warcraft ways since Blizzard released its market-leading online game 2004, ArenaNet is trying to go its own way with Guild Wars 2. "We're finally seeing a point where companies realize that they're not going to create the next great MMO by just copying what's come before," said Christopher Lye, global brand director at ArenaNet, who believes the definition of an MMO has come to ...
gamasutra.com | 21-May-2012 10:12
Your game industry in your words: Week of May 18
[Gamasutra highlights choice quotes from game industry figures such as Epic Games' Cliff Bleszinski, Blizzard Entertainment's Jay Wilson, Zynga's Seth Sivak, and many others.] In our original and exclusive interviews, analysis, and feature pieces over the past week, a wide variety of developers, publishers, and indies shared their thoughts on when not to become a game designer, Facebook's relationship with game developers, why sound designers need to come out the booth. This Week's Noteworthy Game ...
gamasutra.com | 19-May-2012 02:02
Get a job: SCE Santa Monica and others hiring now on the Gamasutra jobs board
In the latest postings over the last seven days, Gamasutra's jobs board plays host to roles in every major discipline, including opportunities at SCE Santa Monica Studios, Monolith Productions, and others. Each position posted by employers will appear on the main Gamasutra job board, and appear in the site's daily and weekly newsletters, reaching our readers directly. It will also be cross-posted for free across Gamasutra's network of submarket sites, which includes content sites focused ...
gamasutra.com | 19-May-2012 01:38
EA to shut down its Dragon Age social game
Newsbrief: After shutting down more than a dozen of its online-enabled games earlier this year, Electronic Arts has announced that it will turn off its free-to-play browser game Dragon Age Legends this June. EA shuts down its aging online games on a fairly regular basis, but Dragon Age Legends is still relatively young compared to other games that have gotten the axe. The title first debuted in March 2011, right around the launch of BioWare's ...
gamasutra.com | 19-May-2012 01:10
Gamasutra Classics: Behind the scenes of Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six
[Gamasutra Classics is a weekly article that flashes back to content published years ago, because the most valuable lessons grow better with age. This week, we look back at the origin of the long-running Tom Clancy series, just days before the new Ghost Recon: Future Soldier hits store shelves.] January 21, 2000 -- The Red Storm-developed Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six may have already sparked a new line of big-budget tactical shooters following its launch in ...
gamasutra.com | 19-May-2012 00:18
Dungeon Defenders and DLC Quest highlight this week's Best of Indie Games
This week on "Best Of Indie Games," we take a look at some of the top independent PC Flash/downloadable titles released over this last week. The delights in this edition include a percussion-focused rhythm game for Windows and Mac platforms, a highlight from Indie Royale's May Hurray Bundle, a product of the Indie Buskers campaign, plus a free Flash game from Pippin Barr called Hot Coffee. Here's some recent highlights from IndieGames.com: Game Pick: 'Tambour' ...
gamasutra.com | 18-May-2012 23:10
Report: EA loses lead developer for top-secret AAA social game
For the past several years, EA has reportedly been working on an important top-secret project: a big-budget social game that would allow the company's Playfish division to go toe-to-toe with Zynga. That project recently encountered a bit of a hiccup, however, as the project's lead has allegedly left EA for a new job. Business Insider reports that the former executive producer Catharina Mallet was put in charge of this top-secret Zynga killer to help EA ...
gamasutra.com | 18-May-2012 22:46
EA's Origin attracting crowdfunded projects with free distribution
Electronic Arts will allow developers with crowd-funded projects to release their PC games through its download platform Origin, without having to pay any distribution fees for 90 days. This program is designed to allow EA to lure more studios to its nascent digital distribution service, and enable developers to reach Origin's audience of more than 12 million registered users worldwide with their crowdfunded games. The crowdfunding model for games -- financing a project with donations ...
gamasutra.com | 18-May-2012 21:46
Top iPad game apps: Bejeweled HD leads paid charts in debut week
[In this weekly column, Gamasutra rounds up the most popular paid and free iPad gaming applications on the App Store as of today, with Bejeweled HD, Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode II and Feed Me Oil currently ranking among the platform's top downloads.] This week's top paid titles are: 1. Bejeweled HD (PopCap, $3.99) 2. Angry Birds Space HD (Rovio, $2.99) 3. Fruit Ninja HD (Halfbrick, $0.99) 4. Where's My Water? (Disney, $0.99) 5. Draw ...
gamasutra.com | 18-May-2012 21:33
38 Studios makes state payment, plans 2013 release for MMO
Kingdoms of Amalur developer 38 Studios made its first payment for the $49 million loan it received from the state of Rhode Island, and will seek private funding to continue operations. The developer's financial difficulties came under increased scrutiny this week after it came to light that 38 Studios failed to make its first scheduled $1.125 million loan repayment, and could not pay its nearly 400 full-time employees. Seeking to protect taxpayer money that went ...
gamasutra.com | 18-May-2012 20:49
How a mod put three-year-old Arma 2 on top of Steam's charts
Woe betide the developer who creates a first-person shooter with potential grand scope for expansion on the theme -- or otherwise -- and ignores the modding community. That's the message that Bohemia Interactive, the studio behind 2009's Arma 2, is shouting from the rooftops. The team has always seen modding tools as a huge part of its releases, but over the past few weeks, this point has really been driven home, thanks to the release ...
gamasutra.com | 18-May-2012 20:36
Facebook's anemic IPO takes heavy toll on Zynga
Through sheer force of will, Facebook managed to avoid closing at below its IPO price during its first day of trading on Wall Street. Unfortunately, that didn't help its allies. Zynga saw its stock lose roughly 14 percent of its value Friday - after briefly dropping to an all time low. Shares of the company closed at $7.12 following what can only be called an insane day of trading. The problems started early. Zynga shares ...
gamasutra.com | 18-May-2012 19:55
Judge refuses to throw out NCAA conspiracy suit against EA
A federal judge has refused Electronic Arts' request to dismiss a class action lawsuit brought against it by former NCAA student athletes, who allege the publisher conspired to uses their likenesses without compensation. EA will now have to defend its case in court -- some have speculated that if the company loses that case, it could pay damages of as much as $1 billion to former NCAA athletes, though the publisher has downplayed that estimate. ...
gamasutra.com | 18-May-2012 19:27
Report: Japanese government restricts controversial virtual goods practice
Japan's Consumer Affairs Agency has formally declared that a questionable virtual goods sales method known as "kompu gacha" is illegal, and will penalize companies that continue to engage in the practice. The method, which has contributed to the enormous virtual goods revenues for mobile social game companies in the country, encourages players to purchase random virtual goods, in order to receive a prize once they collect a set of items. Some criticized kompu gacha for ...
gamasutra.com | 18-May-2012 18:03
Facebook shares go public, valued at over $104B
Facebook went public this morning, raising $16 billion in its IPO with a near-record-setting valuation of $104 billion. The company's valuation in an IPO is the third-highest ever recorded, beaten only by the Agricultural Bank of China's $133 billion in 2010, and the Commercial Bank of China's $132 billion in 2006, reports the Chicago Tribune. The $16 billion raised is the third highest for a U.S. IPO, behind Visa and Enel, and is more than ...
gamasutra.com | 18-May-2012 16:31
GigaMedia halves Q1 losses following business turnaround
With Asian online game developer and operator GigaMedia currently making moves to turn around its declining business, the company has managed to half its losses for the first quarter of fiscal 2012 year-over-year. In February, GigaMedia outlined several major moves it is implementing with the hopes of turning around its business and increasing shareholder value. Its previous "dysfunctional business model" led to notable losses for the company in the last fiscal year. The new plans ...
gamasutra.com | 18-May-2012 11:37
In-depth: SQL Server - High performance inserts
[In this reprinted #altdevblogaday in-depth piece, EEDAR's chief information officer Ted Spence continues his SQL Server examination by explaining how to create robust scalability one feature at a time.] In order to write high performance SQL code, we need to know more about what's going on underneath the hood. We won't need to go into exhaustive details on SQL Server's internals, but we'll go in depth into a simple challenge and show you how you ...
gamasutra.com | 18-May-2012 10:11
Could digital sales also be contracting?
In my last two columns this week, I've detailed some of the specifics behind the declining retail video game market in the United States, focusing on the lagging hardware segment and the collapse in casual gamer engagement on traditional game systems. Now I want to get to the picture for the market outside of retail, specifically the digital content market. The NPD Group has been refining its methods for capturing data about the sales for ...
gamasutra.com | 18-May-2012 10:07
Gamasutra expert blogs: From Nintendo's backstage performance to survival horror
[In highlights from Gamasutra's Expert Blogs, industry notables write about diverse topics, including why survival horror is still a viable genre, Nintendo's backstage performance, making multiplayer XBLIG titles, and more.] In our weekly Best of Expert Blogs column, we showcase notable pieces of writing from members of the game development community who maintain Expert Blogs on Gamasutra. Member Blogs -- also highlighted weekly -- can be maintained by any registered Gamasutra user, while the invitation-only ...
gamasutra.com | 18-May-2012 01:12
GDC Europe 2012 adds new BioWare DLC, Bigpoint, HTML5 talks
The session lineup for August's GDC Europe 2012 in Cologne continues to expand this week, with BioWare talking post-release DLC lessons from Mass Effect and Dragon Age, plus Bigpoint on free-to-play game design and YoYo Games on HTML5 programming. These talks all fall within GDC Europe's Main Conference, which takes place Monday through Wednesday, August 13-15, 2012 at the Congress-Centrum Ost Koelnmesse in Cologne, Germany. The full details on these new sessions are as follows: ...
gamasutra.com | 18-May-2012 00:50
38 Studios pays Rhode Island state, but not its workforce
The grim news surrounding Kingdoms of Amalur developer 38 Studios continues to mount, as new reports indicate that the Rhode Island-based company was unable to pay its employees this week. Over the past several days, the studio has been in talks with Rhode Island officials to discuss its serious financial woes, and today a spokesperson for the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation confirmed that 38 Studios has missed its most recent payroll, reports local news ...
gamasutra.com | 17-May-2012 23:59
How you can use metrics to predict when players will quit
In a new Gamasutra feature, Innova's Dmitry Nozhnin writes how he applied analytics to MMO Aion to predict with 90-plus percent accuracy when players would churn out -- but there's one surprising caveat to that. The team's first goal was to predict when players would churn out of the game. Rather than waiting to try and recapture inactive accounts, the team wanted to incentivize players to stick around the very day they would quit. They ...
gamasutra.com | 17-May-2012 22:01
Wrack devs pump old-fashioned fun back into the 'drab' FPS genre
"It seems like a lot of these modern FPS games take themselves way too seriously," says Brad Carney, the developer behind Wrack, an upcoming shooter which is looking to capture the high-speed, retro feel of classic Doom, albeit with updated, cel-shaded visuals. "They're way too focused on realism, which I think hurts them in a number of ways," he continues. "Visually, the games are photorealistic and drab, and it's not too interesting to look at." ...
gamasutra.com | 17-May-2012 20:50
Flash, Facebook lead social developer tech survey
Game Developer magazine (Gamasutra's sister publication) has published the results of its first-ever social and mobile developer technology survey in the May 2012 issue. (The May 2012 issue is now available via subscription and digital purchase). Flash was the most popular development tool, with 59.2% of social game developers using it--though only 6.1% of developers reported using Flash's Stage3D features for 3D graphics. Interestingly enough, 51% of social game developers also reported using Unity, so ...
gamasutra.com | 17-May-2012 20:17
As modern consoles wane, GameStop prepares for a new hardware generation
With the current generation of home consoles getting long in the tooth, major retailer GameStop is making preparations for the hardware of tomorrow, and it's sharing much its internal data with manufacturers to ensure these new devices succeed. Referencing data from a recent consumer survey, GameStop president Tony Bartell pointed out that console manufactures will need to ensure that their devices offer a robust suite of new features if they hope to sell them at ...
gamasutra.com | 17-May-2012 19:27
GameSalad's mobile and web game engine adds Windows support
Newsbrief: GameSalad Creator, a drag-and-drop game engine for mobile and web titles, has launched a closed beta test that now allows developers to build games with the platform on Windows systems. Previously available to only Mac users, the cross-platform engine is billed as a game creator that allows developers to make iOS, Android, and HTML5 titles without needing to deal with code. Since 2009, more than 300,000 developers have used GameSalad Creator and released over ...
gamasutra.com | 17-May-2012 19:04
Epic's Unreal Engine 4 looks to 'drag this industry into the next generation'
After debuting Unreal Engine 4, the next iteration of its popular game engine, behind closed doors at the Game Developers Conference in March, Epic Games is finally letting the public have a peek at the technology's power The company is doing more than showing what's possible with Unreal Engine 4, though; it's actively lobbying Microsoft and Sony to ensure that their next-generation systems will help games built with its engine reach their full potential. "There ...
gamasutra.com | 17-May-2012 18:28
Growing digital sales not enough to combat GameStop's decreasing profits
U.S. retailer GameStop has posted financial results for the first quarter of the current fiscal year, with growth in its digital and mobile business not enough to offset overall drops in revenue and profit. The company managed to hit its earnings target for the quarter thanks to digital game sales, which increased 23 percent year-over-year, and mobile sales, which were on track to match GameStop's full fiscal year goal. However, both new and used retail ...
gamasutra.com | 17-May-2012 16:17
Aeria Games launches beta for free-to-play PC gaming platform
Free-to-play MMO publisher Aeria Games has launched an open beta for its own PC gaming digital distribution platform, with a focus on bringing free-to-play titles to core gamers. Aeria Ignite allows developers to distribute their games with Aeria's analytics system and monetization features integrated, and the publisher says that the platform has 200,000 daily active users as of now, thanks to a closed beta period. Users of the platform can utilize a variety of social ...
gamasutra.com | 17-May-2012 15:43
World of Warcraft decline partially offsets NetEase Q1 profits
In-house developed games are driving Chinese MMO operator NetEase's increased revenues and profits, although this success is being offset slightly by a decline in revenue from Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft. As part of the company's 2012 first quarter financials report, it said that the growing popularity of its self-developed games is driving overall revenues, with titles such as Ghost, Tianxia III and Fantasy Westward Journey all providing dynamic growth. The company noted that expansion ...
gamasutra.com | 17-May-2012 13:29
Apple permitted Zombies, Run! iOS dev to take pre-orders
Newsbrief: Apple allowed an iOS developer to take pre-orders on a game destined for the App Store, while also giving the developer full support for its Kickstarter project. Developer Six to Start was given the go-ahead to take pre-orders of Zombies, Run! by Apple, both as part of the Kickstarter and then also after the Kickstarter had finished. The only caveat was that the studio was told it must stop taking orders outside of the ...
gamasutra.com | 17-May-2012 11:23
PlayStation Network gets game pre-loading functionality
Newsbrief: Sony has introduced a pre-buy system to its PlayStation Store, allowing PSN users to purchase and download certain games in preparation for release day. With the new initiative, PlayStation 3 gamers will be able to download games prior to the release date, and play the moment the game is made available. The first game to use this new system is PlayStation Move-enabled Sorcery, due to be released next week. The move is similar to ...
gamasutra.com | 17-May-2012 10:59
In-depth: Channel API
[In this reprinted #altdevblogaday in-depth piece, freelance senior programmer Noel Austin, shares his results after testing the performance of Channel API with Google App Engine.] I'm sure you've heard of Google App Engine & ndash; it's a web hosting service that allows you to write server software in Java, Python or Go. Overall I think it's a great piece of technology that helped me understand the concept of writing scalable services. It was also a ...
gamasutra.com | 17-May-2012 09:45
The ins and outs of God of War's 'interlinked' art and technology
In a new interview, Sony Santa Monica art director Chris Sutton talks to Gamasutra about how there's no separating the technology and aesthetic of the series -- and how art and tech teams work together. "Our engine and everything is all completely made in-house, and we try to cater everything specifically to what we do and what our needs are," says Sutton. The series' emphasis on technical excellence and visual impact necessitates a close intertwining ...
gamasutra.com | 17-May-2012 09:41
Top-Grossing Android games: Mobage's Ninja Royale enters top 10
Every week, Gamasutra rounds up the top-grossing Android gaming applications, as current that day at Google Play. This week's U.S. revenue charts see Rage of Bahamut and Zynga Poker leading today's rankings, as Ninja Royale and Tap Fish also report top earnings. These charts allow end users to see who is making the most money on Google Play that day. It differs significantly from the Top Paid Games chart, which is ranked by sales, and ...
gamasutra.com | 17-May-2012 01:44
Top-Grossing iOS Games: Kingdoms of Camelot, Slotomania HD lead App Store sales
Every week, Gamasutra rounds up the top-grossing iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad applications, as current that day in the iTunes App Store. This week's U.S. revenue charts see Kingdoms of Camelot and Minecraft: Pocket Edition earning top iPhone sales, while Poker by Zynga and Slotomania HD remain big sellers on the iPad. These charts allow end users to see who is making the most money on the App Store that day. It differs significantly from ...
gamasutra.com | 17-May-2012 01:44
Gamasutra Member Blogs: From Witcher 2's insidious sexism to a plea for apathy
[In highlights from Gamasutra's Member Blogs, our bloggers write about diverse topics, such as the insidious sexism of The Witcher 2, having more honest and productive online debates, and more.] Member Blogs can be maintained by any registered Gamasutra user, while invitation-only Expert Blogs -- also highlighted weekly -- are written by selected development professionals. We hope that our blog sections can provide useful and interesting viewpoints on our industry. For more information, check out ...
gamasutra.com | 17-May-2012 01:35
Activision and EA settle their differences in Infinity Ward lawsuit
Publishers Activision and Electronic Arts on Wednesday revealed that they have reached a settlement in their lawsuit over former Infinity Wards heads Jason West and Vince Zampella. Back in December 2010, Activision filed a complaint against EA claiming it had intentionally poached the developers from Infinity Ward to start Respawn Entertainment. That dispute is now over, though the publishers did not disclose the terms of their settlement. "Activision and EA have agreed to put this ...
gamasutra.com | 17-May-2012 01:32
Report: Activision tried to 'get rid of' ex-Infinity Ward heads through IT brute force
The ongoing legal conflict between Activision and ex-Infinity Ward leads Jason West and Vince Zampella got a bit more interesting today, as a newly-released court document claims that Activision launched an internal investigation against the Call of Duty creators eight months before they finally lost their jobs. The filing, received by Giant Bomb, notes that Activision's former director of IT, Thomas Fenady, has testified that he received instructions to "dig up dirt on Jason and ...
gamasutra.com | 17-May-2012 01:08
How Indiana Jones Adventure World's core game mechanics target Facebook players
How do you bring core game elements to a casual audience? In the May 2012 issue of Gamasutra sister publication Game Developer magazine, lead designer Seth Sivak explains how Zynga did it in Indiana Jones Adventure World: Prototyping, innovation, and, well, Indiana Jones. (The May 2012 issue is now available via subscription and digital purchase.) Prototyping key to success When your goal is to take elements from classic games like Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of ...
gamasutra.com | 16-May-2012 20:56
Why the sound designer has to come out of the booth
"I want a culture where sound is not literally invisible," writes Rob Bridgett, senior audio director on Prototype 2, in his new feature about changing the physical and mental working spaces around sound. "I believe we are at a crossroads where old, outmoded sound studio design and architecture is failing us on an industrial scale in not allowing us to fulfill our collaborative, critical and iterative role," says Bridgett. He's frustrated by the way the ...
gamasutra.com | 16-May-2012 20:18
After Golden Week, PS Vita's sales hit another record low in Japan
Following Japan's Golden Week of holidays, game hardware and software sales have plunged in the country, and system sales for the struggling PS Vita have hit a new record low. Since it's launch last December, PS Vita has had difficulty building any upward momentum in Japan. The portable has suffered a drought of compelling software and declining hardware sales -- last week, the system sold only 6,340 units. Compared to other handheld systems, that's almost ...
gamasutra.com | 16-May-2012 19:24
Zynga's Soren Johnson on why company is shifting focus to game design
Noted game designer and programmer Soren Johnson, who has worked on titles like Spore and the Civilization series, has left Electronic Arts to join rival company Zynga. Johnson cited shifts in the game industry away from big-budget retail games with long development periods, and toward relatively low-cost mobile/social titles that can be regularly updated, as one of his primary reasons for joining Zynga. He joined Zynga last September after he was courted by the heads ...
gamasutra.com | 16-May-2012 18:33
As the middle market falls out, game retail collapses
[In his latest Behind the Numbers column, Gamasutra analyst Matt Matthews illustrates a "sustained contraction across a period of several months" at U.S. and UK retail. What have been the driving factors?] In my last column, I tried to give a broad picture of how the overall U.S. video game retail market across all segments was contracting extremely quickly, and then focused on hardware specifically. Today I want to discuss the software scene, which has ...
gamasutra.com | 16-May-2012 16:58
Kingdoms of Amalur house 38 Studios failed to make $1M loan payment
The Rhode Island government is meeting with Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning house 38 Studios -- parent of the game's developer Big Huge -- today to discuss what can be done to protect taxpayer money, after the studio this week failed to make a scheduled $1.125 million loan repayment. The studio was granted a $75 million loan from the government-owned Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation in 2010, after 38 Studios agreed to move its operations to ...
gamasutra.com | 16-May-2012 16:40