EA intends to release large, paid-for demos in an effort to measure a game's popularity before release. If enough copies are sold then the publisher will confidently produce full-scale boxed products for shops.

That's what analyst-supreme Michael Pachter said he was told by Visceral boss Nick Earl last week.

"Mr. Earl revealed a strategy to release premium downloadable content (PDLC) as a product for sale prior to the release of a packaged product," Pachter, who keeps an eye on the games industry for Wedbush Morgan, wrote in a note to investors (reported by GamesIndustry.biz).

"The PDLC [premium downloadable content] would be sold for $10 or $15 through Xbox Live and PlayStation Network, and would essentially be a very long game demo, along the lines of 2009's Battlefield 1943. A full-blown packaged game would follow shortly after the release of the PDLC, bearing a full retail price.

"Mr. Earl believes that the release of the PDLC first limits the risk of completing and marketing the full packaged version, and serves as a low-cost marketing tool," he added.

Pachter then explained to GamesIndustry.biz that these large, paid-for demos would manifest as a short version of a game, although he wasn't sure how this would be included in the boxed product.

"Think about Battlefield 1943 as the prototype," he said, "so a full (but short) game experience for a reasonable price. At the same time, an expanded version of the game will be under development for release as a packaged product.

"The idea is that if the PDLC gets favourable reviews, it will build word of mouth for the boxed product. If the PDLC has issues, they can tweak the packaged product to address those issues, improving the final product before release.

"It actually sounds like a great strategy," he added. "Again, I don't know if they intend to include the PDLC in the packaged product, but my guess is that they won't. I think that the PDLC will be a 'prequel' to the full game, so that they can keep selling it after release of the full game."

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/ea...-boxed-games_0 ...

EA intends to release large, paid-for demos in an effort to measure a game's popularity before release. If enough copies are sold then the publisher will confidently produce full-scale boxed products for shops.

That's what analyst-supreme Michael Pachter said he was told by Visceral boss Nick Earl last week.

"Mr. Earl revealed a strategy to release premium downloadable content (PDLC) as a product for sale prior to the release of a packaged product," Pachter, who keeps an eye on the games industry for Wedbush Morgan, wrote in a note to investors (reported by GamesIndustry.biz).

"The PDLC [premium downloadable content] would be sold for $10 or $15 through Xbox Live and PlayStation Network, and would essentially be a very long game demo, along the lines of 2009's Battlefield 1943. A full-blown packaged game would follow shortly after the release of the PDLC, bearing a full retail price.

"Mr. Earl believes that the release of the PDLC first limits the risk of completing and marketing the full packaged version, and serves as a low-cost marketing tool," he added.

Pachter then explained to GamesIndustry.biz that these large, paid-for demos would manifest as a short version of a game, although he wasn't sure how this would be included in the boxed product.

"Think about Battlefield 1943 as the prototype," he said, "so a full (but short) game experience for a reasonable price. At the same time, an expanded version of the game will be under development for release as a packaged product.

"The idea is that if the PDLC gets favourable reviews, it will build word of mouth for the boxed product. If the PDLC has issues, they can tweak the packaged product to address those issues, improving the final product before release.

"It actually sounds like a great strategy," he added. "Again, I don't know if they intend to include the PDLC in the packaged product, but my guess is that they won't. I think that the PDLC will be a 'prequel' to the full game, so that they can keep selling it after release of the full game."

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/ea...-boxed-games_0 ...

Project Natal may not be in shops yet, but creator Microsoft is already thinking about "a second version".

Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald (spotted by VG247), Hsiao-Wuen Hon - managing director at MS Research Asia - said investing heavily in research allowed flexibility to look towards and plan for the future this far in advance.

"And when we do invent something first like the Natal kind of scenario, while we have a researcher working with the product group for the first version, we already have a researcher thinking about the second version down the road so we certainly hope we will continue to be holding that technology," he said. "I really love what Microsoft is doing."

Project Natal will be available for Xbox 360 this autumn. All we know about Microsoft's motion-sensor is on the gamepage below.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/ms...atal-2-already ...

Sony's God of War III has shot to number one in the UK all-formats chart this week, out-selling its PS2 predecessor by 2.65 copies to 1.

The title nudged last week's top selling title, Final Fantasy XIII, into third position, with FFXIII seeing an 80 per cent drop in sales on the former week.

Meanwhile, EA's Battlefield: Bad Company 2 held onto its number two position, just 2000 sales away from God of War III.

Ubisoft's Just Dance retained top five status for another week, and Heavy Rain slid three places to number seven.

THQ entered the top ten with Metro 2033, which made its debut at number five.

EA had two new releases in the chart - Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening at 11, and Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight’ at 12. While Capcom's MotoGP 09/10 charted just out of the top 20 at 21.

The full UK top 20 for the week ending March 20 is as follows:

01 God of War III
02 Battlefield: Bad Company 2
03 Final Fantasy XIII
04 Just Dance
05 Metro 2033
06 Wii Fit Plus
07 Heavy Rain
08 Wii Sports Resort
09 Sonic & SEGA: All Stars Racing
10 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
11 Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening
12 Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight
13 FIFA 10
14 Ben 10: Alien Force - Vilgax Attacks
15 New Super Mario Bros Wii
16 Aliens vs Predator
17 Bioshock 2
18 Forza Motorsport 3
19 James Cameron's Avatar: The Game
20 LEGO Batman: The Videogame

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...-1-in-uk-chart ...

Blazing Games today announced a video game called the Slide Prince which derived from the popular CHA-CHA SLIDE song and dance. The game will be released in three stages: single player (October, 2010), multi-player (October, 2011), and massively multi-player persistent world (October, 2012). The first release (single player version) shall be tentatively published on the following platforms: www.slideprince.com, Facebook, Myspace, I-Phone, www.newgrounds.com, and on multiple other mobile game apps store fronts and digital game portals (all toward the end of this year).

The game is a strategy/action game where the players take the role of young kids who never die, never grow old, and have developed the renowned dance into a martial by doing different combinations of the dance sequences and steps and afterwards shooting slime. The players are the heroes, the Slide Family, and battle the evil Sludge Hunter Ministers and their armies of CHA-CHA Mongers in slashing dancing battles in the fictional land of Chaville. The game is based on a children's book, also entitled The Slide Prince. The book will be published simultaneously with the game and sold on the same website, i.e., www.slideprince.com. The Slide Prince is the adventure of warring clans of kids for control of the planet's resources (like de-slimer dust which heals victims of slime injuries), land, precious items, and de-slimer dust mines. Players may also enhance their armies and troops by gaining more soldiers, falcons, whales, Chanetic Magic weapons, bonus clothing, and bonus shoes. Players may advance their characters to build larger armies and build estates in the City of Freedom (headquarters for the Slide Family, located on the Slide Islands). ...

BBQ Games has announced that Spiders! Why did it have to be Spiders? is out now on the Xbox 360 Community Games channel.

Spiders! Why did it have to be spiders? Is a fast top down single player dual stick shooter, which features global scoreboards. Do you have what it takes to save the world from invading giant spiders and prove that you are the best?
Spiders! is available to download now for the price of just 80 Microsoft Points (US$1).

Promotional video: www.xboxhornet.com/xtube/videos.php?id=328 ...

Puzzle fanatics better get their stylus ready, as Rooms: The Main Building is launches Nintendo DS and Nintendo DSi on 21st May 2010. Packed with over 100 challenging and exciting puzzles, Rooms: The Main Building is designed to test the most ingenious minds.

Set in a dark and mysterious house called ‘Rooms Mansion’, the game plunges you into a virtual world based around 100 challenging sliding puzzles with a twist. In each room or level, you must think carefully and strategically to safely navigate your character to the room’s exit by sliding sections of the room, the same way as a slide puzzle. Your character can walk from tile to tile, but remember that only the tile that your character is standing in can be moved.

In this parallel world you will need to use an amazing array of unusual items and devices, including telephones that teleport you from one side of the room to the other and explosives, to break through brick walls or other obstacles. And watch out – some rooms are filled with water and will need to be pumped out !

You will be forced to use all of your ingenuity to escape each level, to be rewarded with four golden puzzle pieces that are required to secure your way home. Perfectionists will also be pleased to know that bonuses are awarded if the background image is arranged correctly like in a jigsaw puzzle once you’ve reached the exit! Don’t worry if you require help along the way, as the strange and intriguing character, Mr Book, will be your guide and will show you how to move rooms and use items effectively in your big escape.

So what are you waiting for? Make sure you grab a copy of Rooms: The Main Building when it launches across Europe for Nintendo DS and Nintendo DSi on 21 May 2010. ...

Puzzle fanatics better get their stylus ready, as Rooms: The Main Building is launches Nintendo DS and Nintendo DSi on 21st May 2010. Packed with over 100 challenging and exciting puzzles, Rooms: The Main Building is designed to test the most ingenious minds.

Set in a dark and mysterious house called ‘Rooms Mansion’, the game plunges you into a virtual world based around 100 challenging sliding puzzles with a twist. In each room or level, you must think carefully and strategically to safely navigate your character to the room’s exit by sliding sections of the room, the same way as a slide puzzle. Your character can walk from tile to tile, but remember that only the tile that your character is standing in can be moved.

In this parallel world you will need to use an amazing array of unusual items and devices, including telephones that teleport you from one side of the room to the other and explosives, to break through brick walls or other obstacles. And watch out – some rooms are filled with water and will need to be pumped out !

You will be forced to use all of your ingenuity to escape each level, to be rewarded with four golden puzzle pieces that are required to secure your way home. Perfectionists will also be pleased to know that bonuses are awarded if the background image is arranged correctly like in a jigsaw puzzle once you’ve reached the exit! Don’t worry if you require help along the way, as the strange and intriguing character, Mr Book, will be your guide and will show you how to move rooms and use items effectively in your big escape.

So what are you waiting for? Make sure you grab a copy of Rooms: The Main Building when it launches across Europe for Nintendo DS and Nintendo DSi on 21 May 2010. ...

Following the successful release of the “minis” game BreakQuest, Beatshapers will now be releasing their next game on the PlayStation®Portable and PlayStation®3 platforms.

NormalTanks© is a fast-paced multi-directional top-down arcade shooter in a tanks universe featuring classic run 'n' gun gameplay with 3 difficulty settings.

There are 8 challenging, dynamic and hazardous environments to tackle. Over 30 different enemies including various tanks, helicopters, robots and biomechanical creatures await your challenge! Crash, kill and destroy them all to move forward. By using special power-ups, you can upgrade your tank abilities: cannon, machine gun and armor to help you progress. ...