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The next Operation Flashpoint game, Red River, will be released at some point between 1st April and the end of June 2011, Eurogamer can exclusively reveal.

"I don't think it does any good to publish in a congested period when everyone's putting out their shooters," Codemasters CEO Rod Cousens told Eurogamer.

"A number of leading companies have their fiscal year ends around that time, and so they'll be firing heavyweights in terms of their product releases to give as much boost to their fiscal year end as they possibly can.

"That's not a window I want to go out in. It will be between 1st April and the end of June."

Rally game DiRT 3 will be released in the same window, Cousens revealed.

"What we're not going to do is do more of the same with each rendition of the game," Cousens promised. "There is a lot more to it.

"Let's put it into context. It's from probably the finest racing studio in the world. It's between us and the Need for Speed guys, and I would argue we're better."

The next game in the Race Driver: GRID series will be released in 2012.

"We're not difficult to predict," Cousens said. "If DiRT comes out next year, GRID will come out the following year, and then DiRT will be out the year after that. So you can map us out.

"Sitting alongside that will be F1 every year. Flashpoint we'll do every other year. The idea is to come up with a new IP that sits in opposite years to each other, but we're in the racing segment and the action segment.

"So you can pretty much lay out my business plan for the next five years."

Codemasters' new IP for 2011 is Codemasters Guildford's Bodycount, due out early summer.

Codemasters has already teased a "massive" title that utilises version 2.0 of the EGO engine. Will it be 2012's new IP?

"Could well be," Cousens replied.

"There's still a lot being planned. It's something big and something is happening, but your thought process is right."

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...t-3-mapped-out ...

Xbox Live Indie Games are now back in the Games & Demos section of Xbox Live after Microsoft controversially placed them elsewhere.

Following the most recent dashboard update, independent games were moved to the Speciality Shops section of the Xbox Live Marketplace, with title names absent from searches on the service - causing upset amongst developers who felt their work would struggle to be discovered by consumers.

Microsoft defended the move stating it was an effort to group Xbox Live Indie Games together and make them easier to find.

However, the move has now been reversed, with the Xbox Live Indie Games once again in the Games & Demos section of the Game Marketplace.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...n-of-xbox-live ...

Activision has given Call of Duty a fittingly glamorous debut at retail by staging midnight openings and launch events across Europe, attracting celebrities and gamers to queues and parties as the mammoth franchise broke cover.

In the UK, HMV opened 100 stores at midnight last night, including its flagship Oxford St branch, where a queue of 350 gamers was headed up by student Imran Chowdhury – who'd been queueing since 11 am. He was rewarded for his dedication with a free copy of the special Prestige Edition of the game.

Other prizes were on offer for the first 500 buyers of the game, whilst all HMV stores are also running an exchange promotion which puts Black Ops at just £7.99 when customers trade in a copy of EA's recent Medal of Honor.

"Call of Duty: Black Ops is all set to challenge last year's phenomenon Modern Warfare 2 to become the fastest and biggest-selling title in games history," said HMV's Head of Games, Tim Ellis.


Imran Chowdhury picks up his free copy.
"Well over one million sales are predicted for its first week alone, and with Christmas coming up and more people now owning a console than ever before, we expect it to go on to become not just the most popular game ever, but an iconic release that will take gaming on to a new level.

"HMV has taken huge pre-orders online at hmv.com for Call of Duty: Black Ops, including for the exclusive Prestige limited edition, and well over 100 of our stores around the country opened at midnight to give core gamers the earliest possible opportunity to get hold of the game and start playing it with their mates."

Many other major retailers opened doors at midnight for the launch, with many supermarkets joining specialist retailers in doing so. Tesco was one of the biggest participants, opening 362 of its UK branches.

"More and more people are going to midnight openings to get their game at the first possible opportunity so it will be the biggest night time launch so far," said Tesco spokesman John Stanhope.


Battersea power station lit up by the game's logo.
Over in the US, GameStop opened a total of 4408 shops across the country, with Walmart committing to 2700 and Best Buy 700. So many stores were taking part in the event that Activision launched a special store tracking website to enable customers to find their nearest.

The official launch party for the UK, which was liberally studded with minor celebrities and self-professed gaming VIPs, took place at the disused Battersea power station and featured a celebrity tournament and a performance by garage star Tinie Tempah. The US launch event was enlivened by a stage performance from rock veterans Metallica.

Pre-orders for Black Ops have been strong, many retailers are reporting, although fiscal guidance from Activision indicates that the publisher expect it to sell 20 per cent less than Modern Warfare 2.

"Black Ops has more than double the pre-orders Modern Warfare 2 achieved at the same point," said Chris Poad, Amazon gaming sector director, while GameStop's senior VP of marketing Bob McKenzie told Eurogamer that Black Ops was the most pre-ordered game in company history.

Competition between retailers on pricing and offers has been high, with many offering trade-in deals or special offer prices. Of the retailers GamesIndustry.biz spoke to, many seemed to be capitalising on trade-ins of Medal of Honor.

HMV is offering Black Ops for just £7.99 if a PS3 or 360 copy of EA's rival title is exchanged at the same time, while Blockbuster is offering £30 of credit for customers trading in MoH against CoD as long as Medal of Honor was bought at a Blockbuster branch.

Game is bundling Black Ops with various other chart titles for a reduced price, while Tesco is offering £20 off to anyone buying the game in tandem with three months' Xbox Live gold membership, a £20 PSN card or 2100 Microsoft Points.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...-for-black-ops ...

GameStop's senior VP of marketing Bob McKenzie has said that he expects Kinect to outsell Move this Christmas, and that Call of Duty: Black Ops is the most pre-ordered game in company history.

Speaking to Eurogamer, McKenzie said that sales of the Kinect hardware in the US had actually been better than the retailer was initially expecting.

"I'd say right now Microsoft's Kinect is looking to be the winner of the two for us. We're very happy with the sell-through over the weekend. It has met our expectations and actually exceeded our initial forecasts."

"I do have them both, obviously, and the Move Sports bundle is a great option," he added, "but I knew for my family – with an eight-year-old daughter and ten-year-old boy – that Kinect was really going to be the thing that was more geared towards my household."

No official sales figures are available yet for Kinect, but Sony's Move is thought to have sold over 2.5 million units worldwide after Sony's Andrew House told press that 1.5 million had been sold in Europe and Jack Tretton revealed that over 1 million had been shipped in the US.

During the same call with Eurogamer, McKenzie also told our sister site that Call of Duty: Black Ops is the most pre-ordered game in the store's history, which would indicate that sales could well be even higher than those of its predecessor, Modern Warfare 2.

What he doesn't think will affect sales of the game is the fact that it was made by Treyarch instead of Infinity Ward.

"With each one they've done a better job," he told Eurogamer. "They're both making quality products, they both have a strong following and they're both known for great gameplay."

The review embargo for Black Ops has now expired, and reviews are up. Scores seem to be a little lower than they were for Modern Warfare and its sequel, but still in the 8-9 range.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...this-christmas ...

It looks like 1 million players have already hit Xbox Live to partake in the multiplayer gunfights of Call of Duty: Black Ops.

The news comes from Treyarch's Josh Olin, who tweeted last night, hours after the game's release: "Am I getting solid intel? Is there really almost 1,000,000 players on Xbox LIVE right now??"

That's an astonishing number, and that's before they even talk about PS3 and PC figures.

Black Ops hit shelves at midnight last night, and already players are finding glitches in its multiplayer mode.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...VG-General-RSS ...

BioWare has moved to provide clarity on what it says are "translation errors" sparked by a post on the German BioWare forums, which seemingly revealed an interactive comic and a new six hour mission for the PS3 version of Mass Effect 2.

The interactive comic part is spot on. As BioWare's Jesse Houston confirms: "BioWare Edmonton (the group that made Mass Effect 2) teamed up with the fine folks at Dark Horse Comics to create an interactive backstory.

"While I can't release all the details about this yet, what I can tell you is that we want to create a stunning visual experience that not only tells the core story elements of Mass Effect 1, but also is fully interactive allowing you to be faced with some of the major choices which will have consequences your Mass Effect universe."

He goes on to hint that this comic may later make it to other platforms. "This interactive comic's initial release will be exclusive to PS3 owners who would be otherwise unable to realize the full effect of choice in the Mass Effect universe and will be included on the Cerberus Network," - emphasis on the word "initial" there.

Next up, the six hour DLC mission turns out not to be new, but an estimated combined gameplay time for the previously released DLC that will be included with the PS3 version. DLC packs Lair of the Shadow Broker, Project Overlord, Kasumi: Stolen Memory and the Blood Dragon Armour will all be on the disc, as well as an access code to the Cerberus Network.

Houston also appears to reveal new content for PS3, saying: "There will also be some DLC Bundles, such as the Aegis Pack as well as exclusive both Free and Paid DLC for all PlayStation 3 owners such as the Recon Operations Pack."

But the post has been edited to explain: "While I can't go into details all of this content is or was available to Xbox/PC Owners but otherwise wouldn't be available to PS3 owners."

So much for 'clarification'.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...VG-General-RSS ...

So you bought a new Xbox 360 S console bundled with Kinect and like many others, you found out that your new camera doodad doesn't come with its own power supply. Microsoft thought you intended to use your Kinect with the Slim and this console alone. However, if you purchased the standalone Kinect or plan to purchase the standalone to be used with old Xbox 360's, the power supply is included.

Microsoft's online store now has a listing for the power supply. You'll have to reach into your wallet for $34.99, if you want one. That's almost one whole fifth of the cost of Kinect on its own but if you need one, now you know where to get it.

You think this was intentional to be left out and make you spend more money or just poor choice or thinking?

Source: Joystiq ...

So you bought a new Xbox 360 S console bundled with Kinect and like many others, you found out that your new camera doodad doesn't come with its own power supply. Microsoft thought you intended to use your Kinect with the Slim and this console alone. However, if you purchased the standalone Kinect or plan to purchase the standalone to be used with old Xbox 360's, the power supply is included.

Microsoft's online store now has a listing for the power supply. You'll have to reach into your wallet for $34.99, if you want one. That's almost one whole fifth of the cost of Kinect on its own but if you need one, now you know where to get it.

You think this was intentional to be left out and make you spend more money or just poor choice or thinking?

Source: Joystiq ...

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