Bodycount game director Andy Wilson has spoken about reaching the limits of the current generation consoles.

In an interview with CVG, Wilson said Bodycount’s environmental destruction was proving particularly taxing on the consoles.

"It takes a huge amount of effort to get all of that to even work on current consoles, because it takes shit-loads of memory, it sucks up performance out of the consoles like you wouldn't believe," he revealed.

Wilson was also asked if consoles were reaching their technical limits.

"I think [that's] probably fair, yeah. It's been an unusually long console cycle and it's going to run on for some time yet," he said.

"You find the ceiling by building engines, tools and middleware which mean the next game you do on the current generation you've already done all of that stuff, so you can then push it even further."

Bodycount, a shooter with an emphasis on destructible environments, is currently in production at Codemasters' Guildford studio. It’s due for release in August.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...console-limits ...

A new report has predicted that Americans will spend $21.6 billion on games this year.

Published by market research firm Newzoo, the report also points out that for the first time, games purchased on mobile phones and online will account for more than half of the impressive figure.

The report also reveals that the total spend is actually slightly lower than last year, but estimates 2012 will see another 3 per cent rise. Console gaming is down, while digital distribution, social and mobile gaming will all grow.

"We expect console game spending to seriously recover in 2012 pushing the overall market back to growth. But that year will also witness App Stores and Cloud Gaming making a serious attempt to conquer the living room TV screen," said Peter Warman, Newzoo CEO.

"A new battle for the biggest screen is about to begin and will involve all big names from the digital space as well as exciting newcomers."

The analysis is based on three years of research from the US National Gamers Surveys.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...-games-in-2011 ...

Trip Hawkins has again espoused the future of the browser as the future of gaming, citing its convenience, ease of use and the freedom it affords developers as key factors in its road to dominance.

Speaking at the Gamelab event in Barcelona, Hawkins talked about the disruption of traditional game distribution channels and media which have occured thanks to the rise of social, mobile and browser-based gaming.

"The browser has already won on the PC," Hawkins told attendees. "It'll win on the tablets. It'll take longer for it to adapt to the smaller screens, the iPhones and the like, but it will."

Virtual goods, attached to a free-to-play model, will be the key factor in that rise, Hawkins feels, calling them the "most important" factor in making money from social gaming.

"What you're going to see is free to play, pay for items in the browser. That's where all the money is going to be."

A key factor in that area will be the so-called whales - those players who buy big in social games to dominate and feel superior to the players who do not. However, whilst it's the whales which are spending the money, the players who don't are just as important. Without them, the big spenders would have nobody to beat.

Developers will be afforded new freedoms in a browser-dominated industry, too - without the creative and financial pressures currently exerted by publishers and retail chains.

It's a theme which Hawkins has spoken on before, and his success in the medium lends credence to his evangalism. Digital Chocolate is part of what Hawkins refered to as the 100 million club - those companies which can boast 100 million or more play sessions across several key forms of new media: Facebook, browser, app stores and virtual good stores.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...-won-on-the-pc ...

On Monday we discussed the U.S. Supreme Court's decision that a California law banning the sale or rental of violent video games to minors was in violation of the First Amendment's free speech protection. By now, both sides of the debate have had a chance to respond to the Court's ruling. Congressman Joe Baca and CA State Senator Leland Yee pledged to continue the fight for stricter controls on the distribution of violent games, while others cried, "think of the children." Game industry groups were unsurprisingly pleased with the decision, but warned that this won't be the end of it, and asked lawmakers to stop wasting time with such legislation in the future. An article at the NY Times points out how the ruling highlights the lack of clear evidence supporting either side of the debate, and Time notes the Supreme Court's double standard, asking, "Why does the court treat violent images and sexual images so differently?" Finally, an editorial at Gamasutra reminds us that even though most game developers are breathing a sigh of relief, many would like to see the industry shift toward something more creative and meaningful than violence.

http://games.slashdot.org/story/11/0...ling-Aftermath ...

Capcom has caused quite a stir around the world with its decision to utilise a permanent save file system in Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D.

The firm has oddly issued a statement to 'confirm' "the game's value at second hand in the UK is not affected by whether or not the game can have its data reset," adding, "Customers in the UK will not experience a reduced second-hand value should they wish to trade in their purchase."

But that's seemingly not entirely true. UK retailer HMV has confirmed to VG247 that it will stock the anticipated 3DS game, but it will not be accepting trade-ins from those looking to sell it on.

Meanwhile EB Games Australia has confirmed that it won't be stocking the game on shelves at all, as rumours had previously suggested, but will allow customers to make special orders. "It was a decision made with our customers in mind. Considering the amount of people that trade, return and lend their games to their mates it does affect a majority of our customers," said an EB rep on the store's official Facebook page.

They added, "If you would like to purchase it with us then of course we will sell it to you, it will be a case of an order with our store. We made the tough decision to remove it from sale because we have everybody's best interests in mind, and don't feel its fair that you guys would be paying $60 for what is essentially a one use game."

Meanwhile in US, GameStop banned trade-ins before swiftly reversing its decision, seemingly with some coercing from Capcom. "GameStop did ask the U.S. store base to stop accepting trades on Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D as we evaluated the save system for the game," a rep told IGN, adding, "Upon further review of the process with our publisher partner, Capcom, GameStop will resume taking trades on the game effective Wednesday, June 29."

Capcom has insisted that "second hand game sales were not a factor in this development decision" to use a permanent save file, adding that customers "will be able to enjoy the entirety of the survival-action experiences that the game does offer."

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

Hack attacks present a warning shot to games companies, retailers and hackers
From Nintendo to Bethesda and BioWare to Epic, LulzSec hit some of the biggest names in our industry.
Not only were websites and forums brought to their knees, but the games themselves and the players within them, too. Popular online titles such as Minecraft and EVE Online were taken down in an instant. Millions of usernames and passwords snatched at the click of a keyboard button. Even the FBI could not avoid LulzSec’s virtual destruction.
We’re not denying the frustrating and time-wasting implications of LulzSec’s nuisance pranks, but considering the group’s self-proclaimed intentions were jovial – or even in some instances, dare we say it, helpful – attacks from other more malevolent hackers could have been much, much worse.
Would another less forgiving group have warned the NHS of weaknesses in their computer network? Would they have chosen to hand back the details of 200,000 Brink players to Bethesda, rather than upload them or even sell them online?
What if hackers had targeted a retail website? Millions of customers use the likes of Amazon.co.uk to buy games, consoles and other products, which means millions are potentially liable to having their accounts and payment details stolen.


The shocking truth is that hackers have been intelligent enough to breach these kinds of security systems for years – and now companies need to act to ensure their security systems are watertight.
Another problem is that LulzSec – along with the PSN breach earlier this year and George ‘GeoHot’ Hotz’ antics before that – have proven to the world that hacking some of the biggest games companies in the world is possible. They’ve shown how easy it is.
Hundreds of hackers and wannabe internet pranksters will no doubt have been following LulzSec’s actions closely, and some may have been inspired by their attacks to orchestrate security breaches of their own.
Thankfully, in all three major cases this year there have been consequences. Hotz received a permanent injunction from Sony after running illegal homebrew programs on the PS3, three anonymous hackers allegedly responsible for the PSN outage were arrested, and LulzSec suspect Ryan Cleary was slapped with an internet ban.
But are these punishments enough? Hotz is apparently now working for Facebook. Should companies be forgiving of individuals, aggressively oppose them or ignore them? Just how tight should a website or game server be? Will we ever be able to prevent all kinds of hacks?
LulzSec may have retired after its 50-day hacking blitz, but there are lessons we can all take from its spate of web-based security attacks. Other industries should take note of the problems games companies have faced over the past couple of months, while publishers should be better aware of external breaches.
Companies shouldn’t just sit by and watch their contemporaries and rivals fall victim to hacks. When hackers came for Nintendo’s website, and no other companies spoke out, then surely there will be no one to stand up for them when the inevitable happens. These kinds of attacks are crying out for united action.
Like viruses, hackers will always find new ways to penetrate the systems and services they want to access, whatever the motivation.
But there are no excuses. It’s your job to be aware of the possibilities and understand how to prevent them which will determine the safety of your customers’ and clients’ data going into 2012 and beyond. They will expect nothing less – and you shouldn’t, either.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/45136/OPIN...t-from-LulzSec ...

Format holder still uncertain as to the the need for 3D display on 360
Microsoft has questioned whether stereoscopic 3D gaming is something that players really want.
While Sony has offered PS3 players a variety of 720p stereoscopic 3D-compatible games for use on 3D TVs, Microsoft hasn’t pushed the technology as much for Xbox 360.
Gamers can currently play 360 titles such as Black Ops and Avatar in 3D, but not in a full stereoscopic mode. Both PS3 and 360 3D games require gamers to wear 3D glasses.

http://www.develop-online.net/news/3...really-want-3D ...

Had an extremely busy end to last week and didnt get anymore of the old sites back online but today sees the reopening of our Xbox 360 Site at http://xbox360.dcemu.co.uk/, the site like all our sites has every xbox360 news item from the moment the console was announced and all the hacking, homebrew and gaming releases over the years. ...

via http://www.aep-emu.de/PNphpBB2-file-...c-t-17139.html

FreeSynd is an open source project that aims to provide a free Syndicate clone (released under the GPL).


Quote:
FreeSynd 0.5 : Release Notes
----------------------------

Description
-----------
This is a prelimary release for testing and development purposes.

Changes
-------
* Correct positioning by Z axis for all objects
* Bug, too small space allocated for enhance/info cost values, destructor for Mission class was not able to deallocate briefing string
* Vehicles have people set inside
* Only driver is able to drive vehicle
* If vehicle is destroyed people leave it
* People are armed, but enemy agents are not armed correctly
* In missions, at start, where weapons are on floor, weapons should be visible now
* Small doors will open and close
* Vehicles will not move if they are destroyed
* Project is now buld with autoconf/automake
* Map menu is now completly functional
* Neon signs are correctly setup on mission load
* Correct animations for people/vehicles on damage recieved
* Instant damage, damage types
* Energy shield will not protect from Hit, Explosion
* Use of freesynd.ini file to specify application configuration
* Use of language files
* Added minimap to briefmenu
* Fixed, selection for agents killed during gameplay is not possible now
* Added information about killed during mission to Debrief menu
* When agent is killed during mission he will be removed from agents list
* Added description to mission brief in 3 more languages
* Z checking for inRange checking
* Trees animations : normal, burning, damaged now in use

Fixed Bugs
----------
* 3005295 : The tax rate for the region cannot be altered by player
* 3031032 : Rewrite animation generation procedures
* 3272545 : Team button not selected when clicking on inventory item

Features added
----------
* 3043686 : Game time
* 3072653 : Use libsyndicate data info
* 3086469 : Tax influence on countries status
* 3081550 : Minimap basic
* 3086471 : Implements Reseach functionnality
* 3086955 : Possibility to load/save game

Known issues with this release
------------------------------
* Agent AI is not operational.
* The minimap is not complete.
* PathFinding requires improvement
* Mission debriefing is not operational
* No animation for windows
* Map drawing is buggy

http://freesynd.sourceforge.net/ ...