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by Published on August 19th, 2011 22:00- Categories:
- PC News
The new iteration of Microsoft's Windows operating system will have a custom App Store.
A post on the Microsoft Developer Network blog lists all of the teams currently at work on Windows 8 features. The list includes App Store, App Compatibility and Device Compatibility, and App Experience.
"You can look at all the comments and see the incredible demand for new features across a very wide range of scenarios," the post reads.
"Folks want new things, and changes to existing things; they want features to be available globally, to be accessible, and to be super high quality; they want things to work on existing hardware, and to take advantage of the latest new hardware. Our job is to get as much done in as short a time as possible, at a very significant scale."
There are currently 35 Windows 8 feature teams - some of which are outside the US - with between 25 and 40 developers working in each one.
Apple has experienced great success from its App Store, with more than 15 billion apps downloaded since its launch three years ago.
In July, rumours surfaced suggesting that Windows 8 will be the last Microsoft Windows OS. The company allegedly wants to introduce a new operating system that will be common across PCs, mobile phones, consoles, and even televisions.
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...-for-windows-8
...by Published on August 19th, 2011 21:51- Categories:
- PC News
Facebook game The Sims Social has debuted with with 4,859,046 million monthly active users after leaving public beta.
842,032 new users have started playing the title today, with 3,665,510 joining in the last week.
The game is published by EA and developed by PlayFish, the social gaming developer acquired by EA in 2009.
"When we created The Sims Social, it was important for us to incorporate the deep gameplay nuances The Sims Studio has perfected and leverage what Playfish does best- develop compelling, cutting-edge social-gaming experiences," said John Earner, GM of Playfish's London Studios.
"Our deep knowledge of the Facebook gaming platform enables us to continue to enable dynamic new features, quests and game updates on a regular basis so The Sims Social remains fresh and fun."
The game has been in development since October, a relatively long time for a Facebook title, and will offer items from advertising partners, such Dunkin' Donuts, in game.
Co-founder and designer with independent developer Honeyslug, and long time Sims player, Nat Marco gave GamesIndustry.biz her expert opinion on the title.
"Unlike other Sims titles, Sims Social moves away from sandbox style gameplay and gives users a much more structured experience. Core elements of the Sims franchise, such as virtual pet-esque avatars and creativity in terms of house building/decorating are all present in simplified Facebook friendly forms," said Marco.
"On the other hand, those who aren't used to Facebook games and are hoping for a more classic Sims experience, might be disappointed. My favourite elements of the Sims have been omitted, such as the ability to have families and the general freedom to play the game however you wish."
Currently Cityville is the most popular Facebook game, with nearly 76,000,000 MAU. At its peak it had over 100 million. CityVille managed 22 million MAU after 11 days live, and The Sims Social seems to be on track to challenge that figure.
The Sims is the best selling PC franchise in history, with over 100 million copies of Sims games sold and a dedicated online community.
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...social-article
...by Published on August 19th, 2011 00:18- Categories:
- PC News
EA has revealed that it will limit both retail and digital sales of BioWare's upcoming MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic, at launch.
Speaking during a Gamescom presentation, the publisher said itself and BioWare have decided to forcefully limit all sales of the game in order to ensure a smooth launch with regards to server stability.
It's not uncommon for the launch-day rush to bring MMO servers to a crashing halt and with a game as widely anticipated as The Old Republic, EA's concern is understandable. The publisher says it would rather limit sales and ensure a quality service than sell as many copies as possible and have gamers endure the chaos that may ensue.
This means that, despite being available as a digital download, you will still have to worry about getting a copy before it sells out. EA refused to share numbers, but says retail copies will be limited and it will cut off digital sales at a set number at launch.
On the bright side, BioWare confirmed earlier this month that "there are no plans to 'region lock' or 'IP block' players from the game," essentially winking at Australian gamers who are not likely to see their release until after US and EU regions.http://www.computerandvideogames.com/316181/ea-will-limit-star-wars-old-republic-digital/retail-sales-at-launch/ ...by Published on August 19th, 2011 00:16- Categories:
- PC News
Gabe Newell has for the first time spoken about the recent removal of EA games from Valve's download service, Steam, saying: "We want EA's games on Steam and we have to show them that’s a smart thing to do."
Officially, EA says the removal of its games is due to Valve's restrictive terms and conditions on DLC and patches, but it is believed in some quarters to be EA's way of pushing customers onto its Steam rival, Origin, which launched in June. Either way, Newell remains hopeful that the impasse can be resolved.
"I don't think Valve can just pick one thing and think the issue would go away if we fixed that," Newell told Develop. "We have to show EA it's a smart decision to have EA games on Steam, and we're going to try and show them that."
While Steam users would obviously prefer to have all available games on their platform of choice, Newell recognises that it is far from a prerequisite that publishers sell their wares through Steam purely by virtue of it being the market leader.
"Companies have to earn the right to install content on their customer's PCs on a regular basis," he said. "The same thing is true of Steam. We have to prove we are creating value on an ongoing basis, whether it's to EA or Ubisoft or whoever.
"We really want to show there's a lot of value [in] having EA titles on Steam. We want EA's games on Steam and we have to show them that's a smart thing to do.
"I think at the end of the day we're going to prove to Electronic Arts [that] they have happier customers, a higher-quality service, and will make more money if they have their titles on Steam. It's our duty to demonstrate that to them; we don't have a natural right to publish their games."
The first signal of EA's discontent came in June, when it removedCrytek's Crysis 2, which it published, from Steam. That move came just days after the launch of Origin, and while EA would later justify the removal by revealing Crytek's DLC exclusivity deal with Direct2Drive, the timing suggested it was anything but a coincidence. At the time, EA's David DeMartini insisted: "We believe in absolute freedom of choice to allow customers to buy through whatever retail outlet [they choose]."
Late last month, Dragon Age II was removed from the service, with EA blaming Valve's terms and conditions, and last week it confirmed that, unless things change, Battlefield 3 will not be released on Steam when it ships in October.
"Steam has adopted a set of restrictive terms of service which limit how developers interact with customers to deliver patches and other downloadable content," the publisher said. "No other download service has adopted these practices. We hope to work out an agreement where Steam can carry Battlefield 3."
EA may be right about Valve's terms, but that it has only taken umbrage at them since its launch of a rival service can be no coincidence. As such it is to Newell's credit that he remains open to resolving the dispute, and while he surely has business considerations of his own in mind - EA is one of the world's biggest publishers, and Battlefield 3 is expected to be the most popular PC game of the year by some distance - he at least appears to have gamer interests at heart, and it is to be hoped that EA does too.
http://www.next-gen.biz/news/newell-...as-games-steam
...by Published on August 18th, 2011 15:40- Categories:
- PC News
The market for virtual goods in Europe is expected to triple to £1.9 billion by 2014, according to research by online payments company Skrill.
The UK, which already ranks as the second largest market in Europe for virtual goods, is expected to double by 2014 to £180.5 million, from £93.1 million in 2010.
According to the research, the top ten markets in Europe during 2010 were:
- 01 Germany £139.3 (€159.8)
- 02 Great Britain £93.1 (€106.8)
- 03 France £91.1 (€104.5)
- 04 Italy £53.0 (€60.8)
- 05 Russia £51.6 (€59.2)
- 06 Spain £48.2 (€55.3)
- 07 Turkey £30.2 (€34.6)
- 08 Netherlands £12.3 (€14.1)
- 09 Norway £97.1 (€11.1)
- 10 Belgium £93.5 (€10.7)
"As this study shows, as we move towards 2014 in-game purchases will rise sharply," offered Martin Ott, co-CEO of Skrill.
"Despite the economic crisis the virtual goods market offers enormous potential for game providers. Especially for those who want to exploit it using virtual objects or clever game subscriptions."
Skrill's data was compiled by analysing a database of over 1.4 million unique transactions, in combination of statistics from the International Telecommunications Union and the World Bank. The study includes in-game transactions, virtual currency, temporary subscriptions and game related services across PC, MMO, social and console formats.
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...P1-9bn-by-2014
...by Published on August 18th, 2011 15:37- Categories:
- PC News,
- Apple iPad
InfoWorld's Bob Lewis argues that while the iPad may be opening IT's eyes to a new way to encourage end-users to innovate new solutions for their organizations, that work will better be undertaken on the PC. 'When the subject is PCs, the answer is to lock 'em down and run everything in the data center. When the subject is iPads, the answer is that there's an app for that,' Lewis writes. 'Before you decide the iPad is your platform, though, consider the factors that favor the PC. First, it's a sunk cost. Second, it's more capable. And third, your end-users are already familiar with it. Which brings us to what's particularly sad about the end-user innovation situation: Until the iPad resurrected the subject, most IT organizations have actively discouraged it. It goes beyond locking down the devices so that end-users can't install software they might find helpful in their day-to-day work or might increase efficiency in their departments.'"
http://it.slashdot.org/story/11/08/1...ser-Innovation ...by Published on August 18th, 2011 15:33- Categories:
- PC News
While Microsoft is busy readying the much talked about Windows 8 for release, a new patent application has popped up that could reveal even bigger -- or at least faster -- things to come. According to the filing for "Fast Machine Booting Through Streaming Storage," which was submitted in February of last year and released last week, Redmond is looking at creating a system that could stream an entire OS to just about anything with a screen. The proposed setup would enlist a series of storage devices, both remote and local, to act as a virtual hard disk, allowing anything from a set top box to a tablet to boot almost instantaneously. We don't know about you, but we've already started a list of ways to spend the extra seconds.
http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/18/microsoft-patent-application-points-to-fast-booting-streaming-os/ ...by Published on August 17th, 2011 23:41- Categories:
- PC News
Above: An early, work-in-progress screenshot of Joystiq Publishing's atmospheric and haunting adventure, Fears for Spheres. We just whipped it up in the last 20 minutes with the aid of the CryEngine 3 SDK, which is now available for free from theCryDev website.
With access to the engine that powered Crysis 2, as well as the CryEngine 3 Sandbox level editor, we've been able to breathe perfectly lit life into our artistic (and non-commercial) endeavor. If we were trying to impart some educational information in a classroom, developer Crytek wouldn't charge us a cent either. (It's a competitive stance, considering the Unreal Development Kit is free as well. Both require users to pay a licensing fee if the project becomes commercial.)
Though this SDK has helped us to quickly arrange terrain, AI and textures, the central "narrative" -- as they say -- of Fears for Spheres has been years in the making.
Embark on the tragic journey of Borb, the reflective amnesiac sphere, cursed to wander/wonder through a fantasy realm in search of his true purpose. "Who am I?" he asks a traveler in passing. "I know not," comes the reply, "but you have shown me much of myself today. Such is your thankless existence."
http://www.joystiq.com/2011/08/17/cr...-now-for-free/ ...by Published on August 17th, 2011 23:37- Categories:
- PSP News,
- PS3 News,
- PS2 News,
- Nintendo DS News,
- Nintendo 3DS News,
- Nintendo Wii News,
- PC News,
- Xbox 360 News
Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D and Nintendogs + Cats saw healthy sales bumps in Japan last week thanks to the 3DS price cut....
As detailed over on Andriasang, Ocarina of Time 3D climbed to sixth on this week's Japanese software chart selling 31,772 copies – up a whopping 548 per cent on the week before.
Nintendogs + Cats re-entered the top 20 at 12, with One Piece Unlimited Cruise SP back in at 14 and Star Fox 3D leaping from 38th to 18th.
The best-selling game this week was, deep breath, Monster Hunter Diary Poka Poka Felyne Villa for the PSP, with Super Pokémon Rumble debuting at two on the 3DS.
Here's the full chart:- Monster Hunter Diary Poka Poka Felyne Village G (Capcom, PSP): 98,269 NEW!
- Super Pokémon Rumble (Nintendo, 3DS): 86,294 NEW!
- Rhythm Heaven Wii (Nintendo, Wii): 63,590 (Life to date: 326,300)
- Kirby Mass Attack (Nintendo, DS): 52,173 (127,088)
- Uta no Prince Sama Repeat (Broccoli, PSP): 32,180 NEW!
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (Nintendo, 3DS): 31,772 (314,075)
- Let's Make a J.League Pro Soccer Club! 7 Euro Plus (Sega, PSP): 30,291 (131,313)
- Toriko Gourmet Survival! (Namco Bandai, PSP): 28,147 (91,030)
- Wii Sports Resort (Wii Remote Plus Pack) (Nintendo, Wii): 20,524 (481,357)
- Disney's Epic Mickey (Nintendo, Wii): 15,536 (42,793)
- All Kamen Rider Rider Generation (Namco Bandai, DS): 15,304 (67,878)
- nintendogs + cats (Nintendo, 3DS): 15,221 (271,872)
- Taiko Drum Master Portable DX (Deluxe) (Namco Bandai, PSP): 14,224 (166,921)
- One Piece Unlimited Cruise SP (Namco Bandai, 3DS): 12,355 (146,222)
- Wii Play Motion (Nintendo, Wii): 12,128 (70,578)
- Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 2011 (Konami, PSP): 10,871 (141,894)
- Inazuma Eleven Strikers (Level 5, Wii): 10,581 (152,674)
- Star Fox 64 3D (Nintendo, 3DS): 10,579 (60,124)
- Pokémon Black & White (Nintendo, DS): 10,164 (5,277,502)
- Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 2011 (Konami, PS3): 8601 (194,269)
The PSP came second, climbing from 35,619 last week to 40,839. Both the PlayStation 3 and Wii also saw some growth in third and fourth respectively.- 3DS: 196,077 (Last week: 4132)
- PSP: 40,389 (35,619)
- PlayStation 3: 20,239 (18,338)
- Wii: 19,607 (17,004)
- DSi XL: 4213 (4176)
- DSi: 3531 (3900)
- Xbox 360: 1576 (1406)
- PlayStation 2: 1513 (1529)
- DS Lite: 90 (102)
- PSP go: 20 (7)
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...oosts-software
by Published on August 17th, 2011 23:33- Categories:
- PC News
Blizzard currently has no plans to develop a StarCraft MMO, the developer has announced....
Speaking at a press conference at Gamescom today, co-founder Frank Pearce explained that it was currently too busy with its announced projects to contemplate spinning off its hugely successful RTS franchise.
"We definitely feel like all the worlds we create would lend themselves well to multiple genres and multiple forms of media," he said.
"So, if there was a development team within Blizzard that was free and available to create a StarCraft MMO and that was something they were really passionate about then we would certainly consider it.
"But right now, as you can see based on the presentations these guys did tonight, we've got our hands full with everything we're doing. So we don't really have any plans to do anything beyond the StarCraft RTSes and the expansions right now.
"But anything's possible, because we have created such rich and cool universes," he added.
Earlier this year, Blizzard asked a modder to change the name of his World of StarCraft project to StarCraft Universe, as it had already trademarked that title.
In addition to StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm, Diablo 3 and ongoing World of Warcraft development, Blizzard is also preparing a new, unannounced MMO thought to be codenamed Titan.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...-starcraft-mmo
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