DCEmu Featured News Articles

See that iPad above, notice anything peculiar? Yeah, blackra1n jailbreak as predicted with the Cydia app installed. No details or downloadables yet but it won't be long. All courtesy of Geohot, natch.

Update: Though geohot broke the news, looks like @comex contributed as well.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/10/i...thanks-geohot/ ...

The case between Activision and Infinity Ward's former bosses continues to rumble on, and it's getting pretty messy.
Today the publisher has claimed that the alleged disruptive behaviour by Jason West and Vince Zampella delayed the pre-production of Modern Warfare 3.
It's a costly delay, no doubt - Modern Warfare is this console generation's most lucrative games franchise. In fact, Activision said the whole sorry situation has cost it dearly, with extra resource assigned to MW3's development, plus a stack of legal fees, not to mention the overall controversy.
Plus, Activision's countersuit today - reprinted by IGN - claims that the two were actively looking to form their own studio, and poach colleagues.
Activision fired the two last month under claims of insubordination. West and Zampella filed a suit for improper dismissal and treatment, claiming they had been interrogated in a room, amongst other things.

The countersuit claims that Activision made many concessions to allow the pair to have a say in the marketing and publishing of Modern Warfare 2 - a privilege the publisher implies they abused through being uncooperative.
Activision summed all the behaviour up as "an improper attempt to gain an advantage for themselves in connection with their plan to leave Activision and establish their own company"
"Among other things, they delayed pre-production of Modern Warfare 3."
The filing continues: "As a direct and proximate result of this breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, Activision has been forced to commit additional resources to Modern Warfare 3, institute litigation to seek a declaration of rights, and incur costs and attorney's fees, and will incur additional expenses".
"Activision has been [financially] damaged as a result of West and Zampella's actions."
Activision also claims the two renegotiated their contract in 2008, during which time they had also threatened to delay the production of MW2 if Activison "did not meet their demands".
The publisher contends that the pair were 'disloyal', with accusations including:
"openly discussing their intention to leave IW with IW employees;
"arranging meetings with IW employees to discuss the willingness of such employees to leave IW and join West and Zampella at a spin off studio;
"threatening to harm the IP developed by IW and owned by Activision if their demands to be allowed to leave Activision were not met;
"engaging in a campaign to portray Activision and its management in a negative light to IW employees in an effort to solicit those employees;
"refusing to abide by Activision procedures and protocols;
"attempting to block IW employees from receiving equity grands, bonuses and financial compensation and incentives;
"asking Activision to allow them to keep for themselves millions of dollars of discretionary compensation that Activision intended to offer to the broader IW team;
"secretly meeting Activision's main competitor; and delaying pre-production of MW3 and attempting to use that delay as leverage in their negotiations with Activision".

http://www.develop-online.net/news/3...-3-development ...

Combined sales of the Nintendo DS saw the evergreen portable return as the best-selling hardware system of the week in Japan, although with the PS3 and PSP very close behind.

A total of 21,583 DSi XL (DSi LL in Japan) were sold over the course of the week, along with 15,526 DSi and 4110 DS Lite models.

As a result, and helped by new games such as Etrian Odyssey III, total DS hardware sales of 41,219 saw a modest rise on the previous week, of around 3000 units.

The PSP was close behind in second place, with PSP-3000 sales of 37,445 and 1,803 units of the PSPgo combining for a grand total of 39,248 consoles sold.

Technically though the PS3 was still the highest-selling individual hardware model of the week with 38,877 unit sales, down from 50,448 the previous week following the significant boost enjoyed from the release of Sega's Yakuza 4.

The Wii was still firmly down in fourth place, with no significant change in sales at 30,938 units sold.

The Xbox 360 was up fractionally at 2676 units sold, as was the PlayStation 2 on 1815 units.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...hardware-sales ...

Apple has sold 450,000 iPads since the US launch of the device; with the company already experiencing stock problems due to high demand.

Speaking at an Apple press event, at which the iPhone OS 4 was also previewed, CEO Steve Jobs admitted that the company was finding it difficult to keep up with demand.

The $499 device sold 300,000 units in its first day, including pre-orders, with 1 million apps downloaded in the first 24 hours and 3.5 million in total so far.

"Our [manufacturing] ramp is going well, but evidently we can't make enough of them yet," said Jobs - as quoted by website Gamasutra.

An alternative version of the iPad hardware featuring 3G compatibility is expected to be released in the U.S. later this month. The basic wi-fi enabled iPad is also due for release in Europe in April.

"It feels great to have the iPad launched into the world—it’s going to be a game changer," said Jobs following the iPad's initial release. "iPad users, on average, downloaded more than three apps and close to one book within hours of unpacking their new iPad."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...f-million-mark ...

Apple has revealed a new games-focused social network service called Game Center as part of its preview of the new iPhone OS 4 software.

Game Center allows developers to create apps with the ability to invite friends to play a game, start a multiplayer game through a matchmaking service and track achievements and high scores on an online leaderboard. The new service will be available later this year.

All these features are currently offered by a range of competing third party apps, but Game Center will create a centralised system and offer a standard set of APIs.

Apart from the benefits of standardisation this also represents a rare intervention by Apple itself in promoting increased game functionality and may indicate a growing interest in the games market by the company.

Other features of the OS 4 software include the long-awaited addition of multitasking for third party apps, folders to better organise apps and a unified inbox for e-mail.

"iPhone OS 4 is the fourth major release of the world's most advanced mobile operating system," said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. "We’re delivering over 100 new features, including multitasking, folders, a unified inbox, deeper Enterprise support, and an iPhone version of our iBooks reader and online iBookstore."

Also unveiled at the same press event was iAd, Apple's new mobile advertising platform. The technology will allow for full screen video and interactive ad content without the need to leave an open app and allowing the user to return at any time.

Apple will sell and serve the ads, with developers receiving an industry standard 60 per cent of iAd revenues.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...social-network ...

Sales of PlayStation 3 exclusive Heavy Rain have hit one million copies, according to Quantic Dream co-founder David Cage - a number that has greatly exceeding publisher estimates.

Speaking to German website Play3.de, as reported by VG247, Cage indicated that initial sales predictions for the title had stood at only 200,000 to 300,000 units.

"We have sold more than 1 million copies of Heavy Rain worldwide," said Cage. "That was a surprise to many … we estimate that by the end of the year, we will have sold 1.5 million copies, and are very pleased with the reception."

"Our game isn't an action game, it's not a role-playing game, [and] it's not an adventure. It isn't in any one genre. When you create a new, convention-busting game to the market, it's always a risk, both for the developer and the publisher," he added.

The game was supported by a strong television advertising campaign in Europe, as well as being featured in an official PlayStation 3 hardware bundle in some territories.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...million-copies ...

Dogfighter has entered its closed beta stage of development and developer Darkwater is looking for YOU!

Participants will be given the option to be included in the credits page of the game should they actively partake in the beta!

The closed beta commenced the week of March 22nd and will continue until release or otherwise notified.

Further information can be acquired at www.Dark-Water-Studios.com

Steam account required! As well as a reasonable PC capable of most modern games.

In the Referral section please enter DCEmu (or something like that).

Even though testing has started the "main" part of the beta will take place during phase 2 (1 - 2 weeks away) so you might not get a key straight away. ...

From Edge

Developer Epic Games is set to evolve the combat by introducing new Locust foes with tentacle-like appendages which are capable of extending to player cover spots.

Meanwhile, the COG members of Delta Squad will be equipped with explosives that can travel beneath the ground to take out enemy cover positions, our US publishing source told us.

While the first two Gears games offered mobile cover in the form of objects like burnt out cars that could be pushed around, Gears Of War 3 will feature a heavy duty mech suit the COGs can utilise both for protection and to wreak havoc.

All of these new features will be present in the singleplayer campaign and multiplayer modes, Edge understands.

We were also informed that the game will be set during the summer and introduce a number of new environments to the series, including underwater locations. The end of the last title saw the COGs sink mankind’s last city, Jacinto, and flood the Hollow in order to take out the Locust Horde beneath the surface.

Epic’s Unreal Engine 3 demo at GDC in March showed off jungle or foliage-heavy areas, which could also make an appearance in Gears Of War 3 - Epic previously used GDC 2008 to debut Unreal Engine upgrades that went on to show up in Gears 2.

Gears Of War: Jacinto's Remnant, a novel written in conjunction with Epic, continues the Gears story from the conclusion of the second game. One story strand focuses on the island of Vectes, a former COG naval base sporting fertile lowlands, forests and a river. This setting could be ideal to show off the developer’s new Unreal Engine features were it to show up in Gears Of War 3.

Gears Of War 3 has yet to be officially announced. However, Epic design director Cliff Bleszinski is set to reveal a new game on Monday’s episode of US talk show Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and it could be on the agenda. He was originally set to appear on tonight’s show - the same day we predicted Gears Of War 3 would officially be unveiled – but said that the change in schedule would allow Epic “to take a couple more days to polish” its game.

In response to this report, Microsoft told us that it "does not comment on rumour or speculation”.


update

There are now reports that an ad has now appeared on the Xbox360 dash for Gears of War 3 saying "The epic story concludes April 2011" ...

From playstationuniversity.com

Retailer Amazon has offered a partial refund to a European PS3 owner following his complaint about the removal of the console’s ‘Other OS’ feature. Firmware 3.21 infamously removed the ability to install other Operating Systems (such as Yellow Dog Linux) on the PlayStation 3. Though the feature was widely unused by the majority of PS3 gamers, many were angered by Sony’s audacity to remotely disable an original PS3 feature. One gamer has come up trumps, citing European law to earn a partial refund.

That’s a partial refund from Amazon without returning their PS3. Said gamer is NeoGAF Forum moderator Iapetus, who cited European law to argue that his original 60GB console, which was considerably out of warranty and Amazon’s 30-day guarantee, no longer operated as advertised. The online retailer’s policy was to offer a refund weighing in at approximately 20 per cent of the console’s original value (£84).

Said European law is Directive 1999/44/EC, which was accepted into European Parliament on 1 January 2002. Apart from requiring all European member states to alter their legislation to carry at least a two-year warranty on all new consumer goods (the UK’s Sale of Goods Act offers up to 6 years possible protection) the Directive also includes a stipulation relevant to Sony’s removal of the PS3’s Other OS. The two points read:

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