DCEmu Homebrew Emulation & Theme Park News
PS3 News
by Published on February 10th, 2011 13:31- Categories:
- PS3 News,
- PS2 News,
- Nintendo Wii News,
- Xbox 360 News,
- DCEmu Games Reviews
Eurogamer has reported that Activision has axed the Guitar Hero series and will be laying off a lot of employees including developers working on DJ Hero. It seems that the music genre doesn't have the same mass appeal as it did years ago and the fad is dying.
UPDATE: Reports are coming in that layoffs have also hit the Activision-owned developer Vicarious Visions. Developer Manveer Heir tweeted this evening to say, "Ugh sorry to hear about the Vicarious Visions layoffs today after Guitar Hero canceled. Shitty. Sounds like Freestyle (DJ Hero) got hit too."Do you think there was too many versions of the franchise that it killed itself? Or was it bound to happen? Let us know what you think.
ORIGINAL STORY: Activision has hit DJ Hero developer Freestyle Games with severe layoffs and axed the Guitar Hero series, Eurogamer understands.
United Front's open world game True Crime has been cancelled, sources have told Eurogamer.
An announcement is expected tonight ahead of the publication of Activision's financial results.
In December last year Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg said Guitar Hero, and the music genre, had a future following dismal sales of Warriors of Rock.
"It's no secret that not just Guitar Hero, but also Rock Band, and the music category in general, do not have the same mass appeal today that they did a few years ago," he said.
"That said, I think that we would be foolish to not try and build on the strength of the Guitar Hero brand, because as you said, it's a pretty strong brand with great recognition and great likeability, and there's a lot to work with there.
"I think the road to rejuvenating that category goes through innovation," he continued. "The premise of Guitar Hero - that everyone has an inner rock star - it's something that we've all done forever. Some version of singing into a hairbrush, or holding a tennis racket like a guitar, or singing karaoke, or singing into the bathroom mirror - we all do that.
"I think a lot of video game genres that have had tremendous staying power have a fantasy-fulfillment element at their core, whether it's driving the fast car, or participating in professional sports, or going into battle. People don't get to do this in everyday lives.
"So I think the core premise and the core insight at the heart of the Guitar Hero franchise is still very relevant. I just think we need to escalate the experience for people and innovate. I think the genre is still fairly new, and so I think it's probably time for us to really look at what the next level looks like for that genre."
The publisher had confirmed the return of the franchise in 2011.
Source: Eurogamer ...by Published on February 9th, 2011 21:27- Categories:
- PSP News,
- PS3 News,
- PS2 News,
- Nintendo DS News,
- Nintendo Wii News,
- PC News,
- Xbox 360 News
Do you have $30, some empty space on your shelves and some time to kill? For a limited time, Amazon's offering a buy one, get one half-off deal on over 200 games for 360, PS3, Wii, DS and PSP -- all of which are already priced at $19.99 or below. Check out a handful of the eligible titles below.
Buy One, Get One Half-Off (partial list)
- Dead Space Platinum Edition (360) -- $19.96
- Mass Effect 2 (360) -- $19.96
- Dante's Inferno (PS3/360) -- $19.99
- Fallout 3 (PS3/360) -- $19.99
- Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga (Wii) -- $15.96
- Metal Gear Solid 4 (PS3) -- $19.16
- Borderlands (PS3/360) -- $19.99
- BioShock 2 (PS3/360) -- $18.68
- Halo 3: ODST (360) -- $18.99
- Plants vs. Zombies (DS) -- $19.82
- Darksiders (PS3/360) -- $19.83
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.htm...57431&plpage=1 ...by Published on February 9th, 2011 21:11- Categories:
- PS3 News,
- Xbox 360 News
After a slow start, Sony's PlayStation 3 has closed the gap on Microsoft's Xbox 360 - global PS3 sales are 47.9 million and Xbox 360 sales 50 million....
Agonisingly close, but what will it mean if Sony overtakes Microsoft? Are we tantalisingly close to declaring a winner?
"A winner was declared over a year ago, the Nintendo Wii," retorted EEDAR analyst Jesse Divnich to Eurogamer.
"But if we are talking about the PS3 vs. Xbox 360, it wouldn't be appropriate to declare anyone the winner.
"Both have an incredibly active install base, both are delivering large profit potential to the third-party, and both have a long life ahead of them.
"I believe that five years from now, when all the numbers are in, both Microsoft and Sony will still be arguing the results," Divnich prophesied. "One will claim they sold more hardware, the other more software. One will claim more registered online accounts, the other more active online accounts. It is a debate that will frankly never be settled."
The Xbox 360 launched at the end of 2005; the PS3 roughly a year later (Europe had to wait until March 2007). Xbox 360 had a clear early lead, but following the launch of the PS3 Slim in 2009, Sony's numbers revved. Kinect has bolstered Xbox 360's Christmas and early 2011 sales, but whether Microsoft can stave off PS3 looks increasingly unlikely.
"I certainly don't care who wins," declared Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter to Eurogamer.
"PS3 appears to have made a lot of headway in regions where Microsoft hasn't [Sony's] outsold Xbox 360 by 4.5 million in Japan and are about even in Europe - but they are almost 10 million behind in the US."
"My guess," he said, "is that [Sony] continues to outpace Microsoft in Asia, the Middle-East and Africa; continue to track relatively even in Europe, and probably continue to lag slightly (within one million) annually in the US. The two consoles should end up around even in a couple of years."
Billy Pidgeon, M2 Research analyst, reckoned "Sony is likely to maintain market dominance in these regions [EMEA] while working toward closing the gap in North America". And while Pidgeon noted the Kinect-powered Xbox 360 upsurge, he also said "PS3's brisk sales are somewhat more significant, as Xbox 360 has hit saturation points in North America while Sony is still building in".
With this generation shaping to last longer than those before it, the battle between Sony and Microsoft will rage for years. Exactly how long we don't know; Sony's stuck firmly to a 10-year vision for PlayStation 3, and Microsoft has warbled on about Xbox 360 only being mid-way through its life.
But, of course, it's Nintendo that leads the seventh generation of consoles with 84.6 million Wii sales.
Nevertheless, the feud between Microsoft and Sony spells only good things for you and I.
"As long as there is a battle there will be good things in store for consumers," asserted Pachter. "We've had at least a dozen models of PS3 and 360 combined, and it is likely that more models are coming.
"We haven't seen the level of price cuts that we expected, so there is room for both consoles to come down another $150 in price over time.
"That's the biggest lever left for Sony and Microsoft, and I expect each to strive to finish ahead of the other. The first one to cut price is the one who cares about winning more."
With those price cuts comes "a better opportunity to increase the base of console gaming" around the world, Pidgeon said.
Numerous developers spoke out recently about the onset of new consoles, not that any have been announced - not even a Wii 2, despite our best efforts to predict unveilings each summer at E3.
THQ core games boss Danny Bilson said a new generation now would be "horrible", and Irrational Games creative star Ken Levine has "no desire" for new machines. Why should they want new consoles? They have efficient and established engines and tools to use to build their games. This latter half of the generation could be a period of creative flourish.
Those tools help multi-platform games be barely distinguishable on PS3 and 360. The next big battle, said Pidgeon, will be fought between PlayStation Network and Xbox Live.
"Online session frequency and length on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network are more important factors this cycle," said Pidgeon. "Where gamers play more online, sales of third-party software for that platform will increase.
"Xbox Live has been dominating online gameplay but PSN is gaining ground steadily, and Microsoft should not take the online lead for granted.
"Neither should Sony neglect to push for steep growth in PSN usage."
The gap between the two online services has noticeably closed. PlayStation Home wasn't the be-all-and-end-all as Sony had forecast, but it's a stable and impressive achievement now nonetheless. Sony also now has a subscription service for PSN called PlayStation Plus, although everyone with a PS3 can play online-enabled games free of charge, unlike on Xbox 360. The amount of content added toby Published on February 9th, 2011 20:40- Categories:
- PS3 News
Following news of Australia's annual games product sales, Sony has revealed lifetime Australian figures for its current hardware range.
The PlayStation 3 has sold 1.1 million units to date according to figures released to GameSpot, and last year claimed 26.5 per cent of the territory's hardware market.
Microsoft has thus far refused to share Xbox 360 figures (its last announcement in that regard was 700,000 consoles sold by August 2009), but claimed 2010 saw a 20 per cent boost over 2009 sales, and became the console's biggest year to date in Australia.
Meanwhile, the PlayStation 2 boasts a total install base of 2.6 million in Australia, while the PSP manages 675,000.
In software, PS3 games claim 26.7 per cent of the market, with Sony claiming the PS3's attachment rate is 10 games per console.
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...d-in-australia
...by Published on February 9th, 2011 20:37
Activision director of Dev Relations and Acquisitions Bob Loya is concerned that the increasing number of game platforms is presenting a problem to publishers.
In an interview published today, he told GamesIndustry.biz that " One of the biggest challenges we face right now is that, while several years ago there was just the 360, PS3, Wii, Xbox, PS2 and the DS, now we just have so many different platforms and pieces of interactive entertainment that are vying for consumers' time.
"It's much harder now, because we're competing on so many platforms, so many mechanisms for getting content to gamers - and as exciting as it is, it's extremely challenging to get your consumer and keep them. They have so many more options now."
Despite this, new technologies were providing new opportunities. For Loya, Microsoft's Xbox 360 motion camera was especially appealing.
"I'm really excited about Kinect. I know that Microsoft is gearing up another round of games that's probably going to be focused more on the core gamer - that's extremely exciting for me, to see what they're able to come up with, and see what the technology is able to do for those core audiences, as opposed to the casual audiences which it already does a great job for."
Activision's latest financial results, in which it is expected to reveal some of its plans for the coming year, are due tonight.
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...-and-keep-them
...by Published on February 9th, 2011 19:56- Categories:
- PS3 News
via IGN
Were you aware that Japanese Harvest Moon publisher and developer Marvelous Entertainment was making a large scale multiplatform RPG for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360?
Don't feel to bad if the answer is no, as such a game was never formally announced. However, in an earnings briefing today, Marvelous said that it was developing a large scale multiplatform RPG for the two platforms, but it decided to cancel the project after considering the future game market environment.
It looks like this project might have been pretty far along, as the company listed 245 million yen as losses attributed to the cancelation.
There will still be an HD RPG from Marvelous, though. PS3 will be getting Rune Factory Oceans, which is due for Japanese release on February 24. This is also multiplatform, but with Wii instead of Xbox 360. ...by Published on February 9th, 2011 19:54- Categories:
- PS3 News
via Computer and Video Games
Konami has released a patch for Metal Gear Online enabling the game to detect fraudulent network connections, which usually slow down gameplay during the sessions.
The update also makes a few changes to the game's Drebin Points system, while weapon and skill parameters have been adjusted and skills for unique characters have been tweaked.
The update also introduces an overall increase to character movements as well as idle kicking for auto matching.
Additionally, players can look forward to regular background music updates which will include tracks from throughout the MGS series.
Finally, the Gene, Meme and Scene expansion packs are also now available for purchase via the in-game shop and Konami's shop.
Hideo Kojima has shown off Metal Gear Solid 4 running on Sony's NGP. ...by Published on February 9th, 2011 19:42- Categories:
- PS3 News,
- Xbox 360 News
European retailer GAME has announced that it has inked a partnership with Microsoft that will see it sell digital content from Xbox Live to customers in stores.
The content includes downloadable games and other extras and will be sold individually as cards - as opposed to generic points - and is available now in 40 stores across the UK as part of a trial, with prices starting at £2.04.
"Our teams will be selling digital Xbox Live games alongside the consoles, packaged games and accessories that have been the foundation of our stores for the last 20 years," GAME Group commercial strategy director Tricia Brennan told GamesIndustry.biz. "Last year we boosted our range with other digital cards including iTunes, Zynga and Facebook credits, and this year we look forward to giving customers even more to choose from."
And Neil Thompson, Microsoft's GM for retail sales and marketing in the UK and Ireland, added in a statement: "We're excited to offer this program to UK consumers as we see this as an innovative opportunity to work with GAME in delivering Xbox 360 owners yet another highly attractive choice at retail."
The move comes as retailers seek new ways of participating in otherwise unattainable digital revenues, while Microsoft will hope to bring greater awareness of its Xbox Live content to GAME's in-store shoppers - at price points that may encourage more impulse purchases.
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...tent-in-stores
...by Published on February 9th, 2011 15:29- Categories:
- PS3 News,
- DCEmu Reviews
Oh, honey. Sony PlayStation's (entirely fictional) Kevin Butler holds many (also fictional) positions within the company, but apparently none of them require him to keep up with (very real) news events. Travis La Marr (aka @exiva) tweeted the now-infamous PS3 METLDR root key towards Butler with the challenge to "Come at me." What's a spokeperson to do but confuse it for a Battleship reference and retweet the entire code? Obviously someone let him in on the joke, as the tweet's since been removed (original URL can be found as More Coverage below). At least Sony won't have to subpoena for his info here. Geohot, we hope you're laughing.
Update: As Digital Foundry points out, this sequence actually refers to the USB dongle ID generator key, also used for PS3 security circumvention.
Of course, Sony has since removed the tweet. I wonder if Sony will be sending their MIB team to Kevin Butler's office? Or maybe the pink slip? LOL.
Source: Engadgetby Published on February 9th, 2011 13:56- Categories:
- DCEmu,
- PSP News,
- Nintendo 64 News,
- PS3 News,
- PS2 News,
- Nintendo DS News,
- Nintendo Wii News,
- Snes News,
- Gameboy News,
- GBA News,
- PS1 News,
- Virtual Boy News,
- GP2X News,
- Wiz News,
- Dingoo News,
- Caanoo News,
- PC News,
- Retro Consoles/Translation News,
- Xbox 360 News,
- Xbox News,
- Zune News,
- Sega Dreamcast News,
- Genesis News,
- Sega Saturn News,
- Sega Master System News,
- Android News,
- Nintendo Gamecube News,
- Nes News,
- Apple iPhone,
- Pandora News
Been a while since i asked this but whats everyone playing at the moment either on Homebrew or just Emulation and on what console?
Me personally im back into Mame at the moment, although console ports only seem to support the older retro titles. I wanna play Ridge Racer on MAME
Whats Your Homebrew/Emulation Tipple at the Moment ? ...- Search DCEmu
- Advert 3
News Categories
- Links of Interest
Sony Consoles News
- Nintendo Consoles News
- Sega Consoles News
- Apple & Android News
- Xbox Consoles News
- Open Source Consoles News
DCEmu News Archive
- Advert
- Retro Consoles News
- PC News
- Latest DCEmu News
- DCEmu Network Sites
-
Menu 
Forum Stats
- What is the DCEmu Homebrew & Gaming Network
Catherine: Full Body’s English translation for the Vita