Anyone who's watched Rooster Teeth's hit series red vs blue or played supreme commander can appreciate the utter hilarity the unfolds in these first two episodes of the series Supreme surrender. Watch and Enjoy.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Diablo 3 announced
Blizzard Entertainment has dropped what some are regarding as a bombshell and others (like the folks at Joystiq), have been prophesizing about these past few weeks. Diablo 3. While the opening ceremonies were getting underway at Blizzard's Worldwide Invitational tournament event in Paris, Blizzard broke the news and officially announced Diablo 3 to be in development, though like Starcraft 2, is lacking in a release date. My own two cents is that everyone at Blizzard is currently either tied up maintaining and expanding WoW or putting the finishing touches on Starcraft 2, and thus we won't see this third installment in the Diablo trilogy till sometime in 2009 or later.
The previous team to work on the Diablo series, Blizzard North being no more (they split up and some even got together to create the Hellgate: London, developer Flagship Studios.
In an age of Conan and WoW monopoly (sorry Guild Wars, I've been questioning NcSoft's commitment to gaming lately), what could this possible 2009 title offer us that we haven't already seen ? For starters, the game will feature a customized version of Havok physics which in lamens terms means that you'll get realistic objects and clothing along with destructible environments. Now if you can permanently alter the landscapes and return to do a little remodeling later on then I can definitely see not only replay-ability but also a fair amount of cheer from those of us who make it our solemn duty to create tricked out maps. Like all previous installments of the Diablo series, this one will be free and not carry a pesky and expensive monthly subscription fee. The most striking difference thus far though is the fact it will launch on both PC and MAC! Aside from being biased toward what I consider the best platform and computer available (not 100% given that yours truly using a macbook and not a Pro), its saying something about the change a few years makes to see the mac again being considered not only large enough a platform but also a profitable one that consumes and demands gaming software.
Until further notice I'll be awaiting an official release date on Starcraft 2 with Diablo 3 in the back of my mind as a game to check out this upcoming year. You may want to check out Blizzards official Diablo 3 site in the meantime
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Atari cuts its losses in half
David Gardner and Phil Harrison have managed it seems to set atari on track to turn a profit by halving its net year to year losses in half. Net income loss was reduced from 159.9 million last year to 79.2 million this year, while operating loss improved from USD 95.8 million to 70.6 million) in the same period.
While Atari Inc in north america and infograms have merged and essentially become one entity, the overall bottom line has taken a hit as profits have dipped down from 473.5 million in 2007 to 352.2 million this year.
Now Alone in the Dark was delayed and this undoubtedly affected Atari's bottom line. The upcoming games Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit and Alone in the Dark are widely expected to sell well and lift Atari up to profitabality.
When will Atari be back in black ? The company has forecast a 12-18 per cent growth in net revenues for fiscal 2009, and is confident of becoming profitable at the current operating income level within 18 months and remain so on an annual basis after that.
Atari, Inc. Reports Fiscal 2008 Fourth Quarter and Year-End Results
Monday, June 9, 2008
Amazon snaps up exclusive Fallout 3 SKU
Through a deal with Bethesda, Amazon has acquired the rights to sell Fallout 3: Survival Edition.
If your planning to break into the industry or just like to see how everything comes together to create the virtual world of Fallout 3, the survival edition comes with a "making of", DVD. Along with for mentioned DVD you also get an assortment of other exclusive goodies to wet your L337 appetite.
- replica wrist-mounted clock
- lunch box
- hardcover art book
Of course Amazon's vice president of video game and software at amazon, didn't fail to show his elation at this turn of events.
"We're delighted to be the exclusive destination for Fallout 3 Survival Edition; this is a great example of the continually expanding selection we offer to gamers."
Meanwhile Bethesda Softworkss president, Vlatko Andonov put in his two cents by pointing out a fact many hardcore gamers have known for years. People buy rare collectors edition SKU's for the simple fact that it makes us feel like we have a part of history (literally in the case of World in Conflict's chunk of the Berlin wall).
"The Survival Edition offers gamers the unique opportunity to own a piece of video game history along with a collection of limited edition items – it's the definitive Fallout 3 package."
Release date: 10/7/08
Platforms: Xbox 360, PC (windows 2000, xp, vista), PS3
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Resident Evil 5 Trailer: kill zombies in a racially suggestive manner
OK so while Resident Evil five does take place in Africa and thus the majority of the inhabitants (and thus zombies), are black. Its been suggested by some that the game is racist in nature due to its treatment of none-zombified africans as being "zombie-like", in nature and appearance. The fact that your a white guy also suggests racism in the eye's of some.
The other four Resident Evil Games all took place either in Europe or the United States, so this little change of scenery if anything adds a refreshing change to the overused setting that is the United States.
Jim Sterling of Destructoid correctly pointed out in an article that what all the hype and criticism of this game as being "racist", suggests is that racism is indeed prevalent. When someone See's only the color of a zombie's skin and forgets the fact he wants to eat your brains, something is seriously wrong with the world. In other news, Jack Thompson is not a hack lawyer and is not mentally deficient in every way conceivable.
The other four Resident Evil Games all took place either in Europe or the United States, so this little change of scenery if anything adds a refreshing change to the overused setting that is the United States.
Jim Sterling of Destructoid correctly pointed out in an article that what all the hype and criticism of this game as being "racist", suggests is that racism is indeed prevalent. When someone See's only the color of a zombie's skin and forgets the fact he wants to eat your brains, something is seriously wrong with the world. In other news, Jack Thompson is not a hack lawyer and is not mentally deficient in every way conceivable.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Video Game Industry-What recession-Part 2: Ubisoft seeks 900 new employee's!
Further confirmation that the video game industry is immune to the woes of other industry's during this recession has appeared in the form of Ubisoft seeking 900 new employee's. This wonderful piece of news was thrown into my lap by GameIndustry.biz, from which I have obtained the quotes to follow.
Breaking it down by the numbers, 500 recruits will go to Ubisofts newly established studios in Singapore, India and China While another 400 staff are added to the already successful and well established offices in Canada, Romania and once again, china.
"We have a dual priority of ramping up as quickly as possible in our newly created studios while also growing and keeping our leading position in our established studios," said Elham Mottahed-Asdaghi, communications manager for Ubisoft International Production Studios.
"We feel that the industry is relatively immune to the slowdown and we're not expecting that to change in the near future.
In the article two things stand out to me, the fact that the talent pool which depends on the education system was such a key factor and that in the case of Singapore, strong government made the difference for the upwards of 300 people who will be employed at the Ubisoft Studio.
"We've specifically chosen to establish teams in regions where there is a great system of education and therefore a continually refreshing pool of talent," he detailed.
"In our established studios, we were the pioneers in the region but our success has attracted competitors and so the competition for talent is tougher - but we work hard to ensure that we are attracting the best talent."
America is filled with thousands if not millions of young talented artists,programmers and designers who would gladly work for ubisoft but if ubisoft's lack of expansion in the US is due to a lack of quality education and despite the efforts of states like Georgia and Texas, lack of strong government backing for incentives to open up studio's here.
Meanwhile, Gameloft's Indian studio plans to increase headcount from 120 to 500 over twelve months after Ubisoft acquired them this year.
As for the expansion in china, last year Ubisoft opened a studio in that country with the intention to ramp up staff numbers from 10 to 200 within 12 months.
Mottahed-Asdaghi believes the combination of solid publishing credentials with creative and multicultural expression makes the firm an attractive prospect to recruits.
"We can offer a unique opportunity for international mobility, since we have dynamic studios in 19 different locations. Our corporate culture is to share our knowledge and our different cultural points of view in order to enrich our experience and therefore offer games that offer unique playing opportunities," he said.
"We encourage international exchange and creative freedom across the board. On the other hand, we are the second largest creative team in the world so our team members have access to solid publisher resources.
"In a way, we offer the best of both worlds - solid enterprise resources with a small developer, creative atmosphere," he added.
While Ubisoft is clearly an international not to mention FRENCH developer and publisher, its expansion is thanks in no small part to successful sales of its splinter cell and Prince of Persia series here in the US. The more recent smash hits that have been Assassins Creed and the soon to be Real Time Strategy game for the console, Endwar are only going to drive up revenue for the company but once again due largely to the US video game market being all but invincible to the recession we currently find ourselves in.
Read the GameIndustry.biz article here
Breaking it down by the numbers, 500 recruits will go to Ubisofts newly established studios in Singapore, India and China While another 400 staff are added to the already successful and well established offices in Canada, Romania and once again, china.
"We have a dual priority of ramping up as quickly as possible in our newly created studios while also growing and keeping our leading position in our established studios," said Elham Mottahed-Asdaghi, communications manager for Ubisoft International Production Studios.
"We feel that the industry is relatively immune to the slowdown and we're not expecting that to change in the near future.
In the article two things stand out to me, the fact that the talent pool which depends on the education system was such a key factor and that in the case of Singapore, strong government made the difference for the upwards of 300 people who will be employed at the Ubisoft Studio.
"We've specifically chosen to establish teams in regions where there is a great system of education and therefore a continually refreshing pool of talent," he detailed.
"In our established studios, we were the pioneers in the region but our success has attracted competitors and so the competition for talent is tougher - but we work hard to ensure that we are attracting the best talent."
America is filled with thousands if not millions of young talented artists,programmers and designers who would gladly work for ubisoft but if ubisoft's lack of expansion in the US is due to a lack of quality education and despite the efforts of states like Georgia and Texas, lack of strong government backing for incentives to open up studio's here.
Meanwhile, Gameloft's Indian studio plans to increase headcount from 120 to 500 over twelve months after Ubisoft acquired them this year.
As for the expansion in china, last year Ubisoft opened a studio in that country with the intention to ramp up staff numbers from 10 to 200 within 12 months.
Mottahed-Asdaghi believes the combination of solid publishing credentials with creative and multicultural expression makes the firm an attractive prospect to recruits.
"We can offer a unique opportunity for international mobility, since we have dynamic studios in 19 different locations. Our corporate culture is to share our knowledge and our different cultural points of view in order to enrich our experience and therefore offer games that offer unique playing opportunities," he said.
"We encourage international exchange and creative freedom across the board. On the other hand, we are the second largest creative team in the world so our team members have access to solid publisher resources.
"In a way, we offer the best of both worlds - solid enterprise resources with a small developer, creative atmosphere," he added.
While Ubisoft is clearly an international not to mention FRENCH developer and publisher, its expansion is thanks in no small part to successful sales of its splinter cell and Prince of Persia series here in the US. The more recent smash hits that have been Assassins Creed and the soon to be Real Time Strategy game for the console, Endwar are only going to drive up revenue for the company but once again due largely to the US video game market being all but invincible to the recession we currently find ourselves in.
Read the GameIndustry.biz article here
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