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by Published on December 16th, 2012 20:19- Categories:
- DCEmu
End of year lists are ten a penny. Top 20 this. Best 5 that. This is the only list you need.
With 2012 such a transformative year for games Michael French, Chris Dring, Ben Parfitt and James Batchelor pick the seven games that exemplify the biggest changes in the market...
Borderlands 2 and the so-called death of retail
Is retail dying? It’s difficult to ignore the hard facts and figures. Sales of physical video games are almost 30 per cent down this year. GAME had to close half of its stores. Big brands such as Halo and Call of Duty failed to match their predecessors at Day One. Even new hardware Wii U and Vita were greeted with indifference from some.
The reasons for these difficulties have been discussed at length in MCV this year; the rise of the digital games market, the on-going economic storm, the end of the console cycle.
But if you were to focus on the handful of games that managed to buck the trend you can see that in fact the retail market isn’t necessarily dying. It’s just lacking content, imagination… and risk.
Borderlands 2 is a shining example. The game was the sequel to the moderately successful 2009 shooter that, at the time, was quite unlike anything we’ve seen before, with its mix of RPG and shooting gameplay with cel-shaded visuals.
2K Games backed the sequel with a big marketing campaign, developer Gearbox delivered on the quality, and fans flocked to the stores. It may be a cel-shaded shooting/RPG hybrid – a pitch that won’t excite many publishers – but it is this year’s fifth fastest selling game.
There are other examples of retail’s still significant power, too. FIFA 13 comfortably outmatched the sales performance of its predecessors, and remains one of the highest rated sports games on Metacritic. Mass Effect 3 beat its forebears despite not being stocked in GAME. Meanwhile Assassin’s Creed III’s debut was a personal sales best for Ubisoft. And one of the very few core new IPs that anyone dared to release this year, Bethesda’s excellent Dishonored, also beat its sales expectations.
These games were backed with marketing and were excellent in quality, and as a result they sold admirably. The titles this year that disappointed (such as Resident Evil 6 and Medal of Honor: Warfighter for instance) either lacked publisher backing or received mixed reviews.
There’s no denying that video games stores had a difficult 2012. Yet there is clear evidence that the High Street can still be a great place to sell video games in 2013, if the support and quality is right.
And with some fantastic looking big-budget boxed games due next year – such as BioShock, GTA, The Last of Us and Watch Dogs – there’s reasons to believe that next year may not be quite so depressing. CD
Double Fine Adventure and the rise of Kickstarter
One of the year’s most defining games doesn’t actually exist yet.
No one will have missed the insatiable rise of games funded via Kickstarter this year. The crowdfunding site has drawn an indelible line under the crucial issue of funding for games, allowing gamers, fans and the media to promote and fund worthy projects.
Double Fine’s new title codenamed ‘Reds’ was the watershed moment, raising $3.3m. The San Francisco studio, headed by famed games designer Tim Schafer, used the service to fund its next adventure title – a genre publishers have lost interest in.
The fan-backed model wasn’t new in 2012, but Double Fine passing its multi-million milestone pushed it into mainstream recognition.
The success of this defined launch strategies for many indies. Kickstarter boomed in Double Fine’s wake, with many using it to get their off-beat projects started. Seven of Kickstarter’s biggest projects ever were from games funds raised this year including launches by InXile (its Wasteland sequel raised $2.9m), Oculus Rift (3D games headset, $2.4m), Obsidian’s Project Eternity ($3.9m) and Ouya (the Android games console, $8.5m).
Kickstarter even launched a UK arm so projects could be launched in Pounds Sterling. Famed designers like Peter Molyneux and David Braben plus a wave of up-and-coming Brit indies leapt at the chance to make dreams (such as Braben’s Elite sequel) a reality.
Crowdfunding, however, is not a magic bullet. And its long-term power is still to be proven. Backing a title can be interpreted as either seed funding cash that you’ll never see back or pre-ordering. Smaller, underexposed indies have grumbled when heavyweights like Schafer and Braben – already rich through their previous projects – have opted to take gamers’ cash rather than bankroll their own games.
Plus: none of those high-profile projects have emerged yet. Crowdfunding is a powerful marketing tool, giving a chance to games that wouldn’t have appeared through traditional means, yet it’s no guarantee of actual delivery.
Even Double Fine, which first promised a completed game within 2012, pushed launch to mid-2013. The money is being spent on building a game engine first.
So, one of 2012’s most defining games doesn’t actually exist yet. But its influence is undeniable.MF
Nintendo Land and the arrival of new hardware
It's the one issue the industry seems to have a consensus on: we need new console hardware.
This generation ...by Published on December 16th, 2012 20:15- Categories:
- PC News
Valve has revealed Steam's top selling products chart for the past week, which features a couple of familiar faces atop the list.
For the second week running, Far Cry 3 and Call of Duty: Black Ops II have finished first and second respectively. After that, it gets a bit more interesting thanks to special discounts and a new release.
The Crysis series obviously had itself a franchise sale this weekend (still going on), with the Crysis Collection reaching the third spot and Crysis 2 hitting seventh place.
Published indie (perhaps an oxymoron?) shooter Ace of Spades makes a strong first impression, debuting in fifth.
- Far Cry 3
- Call of Duty: Black Ops II
- Crysis Collection
- Street Fighter X Tekken
- Ace of Spades
- Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
- Crysis 2 Maximum Edition
- Don't Starve
- ArmA II: Combined Operations
- Borderlands 2
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/steam...r-9-15/0108298 ...by Published on December 15th, 2012 23:26- Categories:
- Wii U News
Wii U’s principal innovation, the GamePad controller, manages to meet both accessible and social design goals. It has a friendly, unintimidating design, and although it seems to have been designed for a child, Nintendo clearly also had older gamers in mind. With approximately one billion touchscreen smartphones and tablets already in use, it builds upon a familiar interaction metaphor. The large touchscreen is not only accessible but also offers the potential of a different view on the game world, allowing new singleplayer and multiplayer experiences. But what will those experiences be?...
http://www.edge-online.com/features/...ame-designers/by Published on December 13th, 2012 23:51- Categories:
- Nintendo 3DS News
In less than two years the 3DS has sold more in Japan than the PS3 has in over six years.
According to Media Create (via Nintendo Life), Nintendo's latest portable sold 211,499 units between 3rd December and 9th December, bringing its cumulative total to a whopping 8,799,378. Conversely, the PS3 has only sold 8,716,260 units in Japan.This is especially impressive when one notes that the 3DS only came out in March of last year, whereas the PS3 debuted in November 2006.The 3DS's prime portable competitor, the Vita, has failed to catch on in Sony's homeland where it only shifted 11,039 units last week. Comparatively, its eight year old single analogue stick predecessor surpassed it with 19,637 units sold.The only platform to topple the 3DS last week was the Wii U, which moved 308,142 units between its Japanese launch on 8th December and the cut-off period for this week's report on the 9th.Below is the full chart on Japan's hardware sales last week. Lifetime sales are in parenthesis.
- Nintendo Wii U - 308,142 (308,142)
- Nintendo 3DS - 211,499 (8,799,378)
- PlayStation 3 - 36,994 (8,716,260)
- PSP - 19,637 (19,488,236)
- PlayStation Vita - 11,039 (1,074,621)
- Nintendo Wii - 6,714 (12,608,700)
- Xbox 360 - 1,216 (1,608,399)
- PlayStation 2 - 904 (21,829,112)
- Nintendo DS - 424 (32,875,469)
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...sales-in-japan ...by Published on December 13th, 2012 23:46- Categories:
- Xbox 360 News
Microsoft is to hold a massive Xbox Live content sale in the run-up to 2013.
Kicking off next Tuesday, December 18 and running until Monday December 31, the promotion will include deals on Games on Demand, Arcade titles, DLC and Avatar items.While the discounts are yet to be revealed, aNeoGAF user has published the following list of content set to be offered at reduced prices:
XBLA Games
- Frogger: Hyper Arcade Edition
- Joe Danger 2: The Movie
- Zuma's Revenge!
- The Simpsons Arcade Game
- Wreckateer
- Plants vs. Zombies
- Peggle
- Peggle Nights Content Pack
- Fire Pro Wrestling
- SONIC 4 Episode II
- Sonic The Hedgehog 2
- RAW
- A World of Keflings
- A World of Keflings - Sugar, Spice and Not So Nice
- A World of Keflings - It Came From Outer Space
- Kinect Party
- Jet Set Radio
Games on Demand
- TBA
Avatar Accessories
- Air Force Flight Helmet
- Army Humvee
- T-Rex
- Triceratops
- Husky
- Golden Retriever
- Abominable Snowman Outfit
- Sports Car
Daily Deals
- December 18: Modern Warfare 3, Modern Warfare 3, Collection 1 DLC, Collection 2 DLC, Collection 3 DLC, Collection 4 DLC
- December 19: LEGO Games, LEGO Batman [GoD], LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga [GoD], LEGO Star Wars III [GoD], LEGO Indiana Jones [GoD], LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean [GoD], LEGO Indiana Jones 2 [GoD], LEGO Harry Potter [GoD]
- December 20: Platformer Games, Fez, HELL YEAH! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit, Sonic Adventure 2, Rayman Origins [GoD], Rayman 3 HD, Mark of the Ninja, Trine 2
- December 21: Rockstar Games, L.A. Noire [GoD], Red Dead Redemption [GoD], Max Payne 3 [GoD], Midnight Club: LA [GoD]
- December 22: TBA
- December 23: Summer of Arcade 2012 Games, Dust: An Elysian Tail, Deadlight, Hybrid
- December 24: Trials HD and Trials Evolution, Trials HD, Trials HD - Big Thrills, Trials HD - Big Pack, Trials Evolution, Trials Evolution: Origin of Pain
- December 25: Kinect Family, Hydro Thunder, Rock of Ages, Mini Ninjas Adventures, Leedmees, Fruit Ninja Kinect, Fruit Ninja Kinect - 8-bit Cartridge, Fruit Ninja Kinect - Art Box, Fruit Ninja Kinect - Space Capsule, Fruit Ninja Kinect - Storm Season
- December 26: TBA
- December 27: Borderlands, Borderlands [GoD], Borderlands 2 [GoD], Borderlands 2 Season Pass
- December 28: The Walking Dead, The Walking Dead Episode 1, The Walking Dead Episode 2, The Walking Dead Episode 3, The Walking Dead Episode 4, The Walking Dead Episode 5
- December 29: Family Games, Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts [GoD], Cars 2: The Video Game [GoD], Crash Of The Titans [GoD], Toy Story 3 [ GoD], Crazy Taxi, The Splatters
- December 30: Fighting Games, Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown, Street Fighter III: Online Edition, Dungeon Fighter LIVE: Fall Of Hendon Myre31st: Skyrim and Oblivion
- December 31: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim [GoD], The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: Dawnguard, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: Hearthfire, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion [GoD], The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion: Shivering Isles, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion: Knights of the Nine
On Tuesday Microsoft published the Xbox Live DLC release schedule for the next few weeks, which includes add-ons for games including Assassin's Creed 3, Battlefield 3, Forza Horizon and Resident Evil 6.
http://www.computerandvideogames.com...sale-incoming/ ...by Published on December 13th, 2012 23:41- Categories:
- PS3 News
They say this is the last console, and I am certainly a believer in that", says Nvidia's head of cloud gaming, Phil Eisler.
Over the last five years, the console market has changed dramatically: digital downloads, DLC, firmware updates, tablets, mobiles, free-to-play, used games, piracy, sequels, spiralling development costs, the recession... almost everything we know about the way we buy, play and enjoy videogames is changing, or already redundant.
It's against this uncertain backdrop that Sony will place its most high profile bet: PlayStation 4. Only this year, the firm posted a record loss of £3.6bn and - with PS Vita floundering only nine months into its life - the stakes are high.
Ahead of its final issue, PSM3 has assembled every rumour, whisper, market trend and leak related to Sony's super console. Oh, and before you ask, it's currently codenamed 'Orbis' - and yes, we checked. We've run everything through our global network of tech experts, analysts and industry insiders to bring you the most accurate picture of PlayStation 4 anywhere in the world.
Its specifications are being finalised as we speak but, right now, this is the most accurate picture of 'the last console ever' you can read anywhere in the world. Better yet, the future of gaming is closer - and brighter - than you'd think...
http://www.computerandvideogames.com...playstation-4/ ...by Published on December 13th, 2012 23:27- Categories:
- Nintendo 64 News
Casemodding has moved far beyond the old portabalized Ataris and NESes of only a few years ago. Now, the new hotness is more modern consoles including the GameCube, Dreamcast, and the venerable N64. Two N64 case mods rolled into our tip line over the past few days, and we can’t think of a better display of case fabrication and console modification than these two.
First up is [Travis]‘s N64 handheld. The case was constructed out of a sheet of ABS plastic with Bondo used to make everything sleek and smooth. There’s a 7″ display in this handheld as well as two LiIon batteries able to provide up to three hours of play time. The fit and finish on this build is spectacular, a testament to [Travis]‘ patience and Bondo skills.
Next up is a very very tiny build claiming to be the smallest N64 portable. It’s the work of [bud] and is barely larger than an N64 cartridge. Inside is a 3.5 inch screen and enough LiPos to provide about 2 hours of gaming time. Unlike other (larger) builds, [bud] put the cartridge slot on the outside of the case allowing the cartridge to stick out at a 90 degree angle.
Both very awesome builds that really show off what can be done with a lot of sanding and body filler. You can check out the videos for each casemod after the break.
http://hackaday.com/2012/12/13/a-pair-of-n64-portables/ ...by Published on December 13th, 2012 23:18- Categories:
- DCEmu
Brand new video games are being sold for less than £20, as publishers and retailers fear a disappointing Christmas.
New titles such as WWE '13 and Hitman Absolution, both of which were released just last month, are already being sold for £19.99 as part of 'special promotions'.
The price discounting is mostly driven from the market leaders GAME, Amazon and Tesco. Medal of Honor: Warfighter now has a price tag of £20, Just Dance 4 is on sale for £18, while there are heavily discounts for Halo 4 (£29.99), Resident Evil 6 (£22.99), Dishonored (£21.99), Borderlands 2 (£25) and LEGO The Lord of The Rings (£25).
It follows a slower than expected Christmas sales period for UK stores. Last week 1.87m games were sold, generated £49.2m.
That may sound like a lot, but last year during the same week 2.6m games were sold, generating £68.3m in revenue.
Despite big launches for Assassin's Creed III and FIFA 13, the High Street has suffered softer than expected launches for Call of Duty: Black Ops II and Wii U. There has also been fewer games on the release schedule, a trend that will continue into the New Year.
Retailers and publishers are hoping to shift excess stock before Christmas, rather than wait for the January sales. And retail execs have told MCV that the next two weeks will prove crucial as we head into the last two weekends before Christmas.
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/video...uggles/0108119
...by Published on December 13th, 2012 23:15- Categories:
- Joypad News
UK gaming accessory company Gioteck wants you to design the ultimate gaming peripheral, and is offering participants the chance to win a “dream job” in the game industry that could be worth up to £500,000 if your design is a success....
http://www.edge-online.com/news/desi...000-dream-job/by Published on December 13th, 2012 22:58- Categories:
- PC News
Play4Free games portal integrated into digital distribution platform
The publishing giant is rebranding its Play4Free label to add free-to-play games into its growing Origin offering.
EA has announced plans to integrate established F2P portal Play4Free and its titles into its flagship download games service, eventually putting everything under the new Origin Free To Play label.
Popular Play4Free games include Battlefield Heroes, Need For Speed World and Command & Conquer: Tiberium Alliances. Together they share a community of more than 45m users.
All of these games are now available at the new portal www.origin.com/free, whilePlay4Free.com now features Origin branding. Later this week, it will redirect to the Origin Free To Play page.
http://www.develop-online.net/news/4...n-Free-To-Play
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Catherine: Full Body’s English translation for the Vita