via Eurogamer


Yesterday's overhaul of the Xbox 360 dashboard has upset a number of independent developers, who claim it makes it even harder for their games to find an audience.

The revamp moves Xbox Live Indie Games out of the games store proper and hides it under a new tab titled Specialty Shops alongside the Avatar Marketplace and Game Room.

Gamasutra reports that developers are taking to the App Hub forum to voice their discontent.
Weapon of Choice studio Mommy's Best Games posted, "I'm hear to mourn Indie Games being known as 'games', which I suppose we must now rename Indie Specialties."

Developer Projector Games added "Steam Heroes was one of the first games to come out after the new dash change and I have to say that our sales have been beyond horrible - which is suprising, as I'd say it's one of the better games I've released on XBLIG."

We've contacted Microsoft to explain the move and will update when it responds. ...

via Computer and Video Games


Sega's top brass have acknowledged the overwhelming reader response to CVG's 'Would you buy Shenmue 3?' feature - and told fans that their dream may not be dead yet.

Our 'Debate' article generated over 100 comments from readers earlier this month - with many more on CVG's Facebook page and around the web.


Nearly all responses were positive. Only 777's post summed up the mood: "I would buy Shenmue 3 even if it cost me my soul."

The president of Sega West, Mike Hayes, noted the reaction. He told CVG:
So there you have it. There is a light, and it never goes out.

Meanwhile, Sega is preparing a new Shenmue for iPhone and PC.

Shenmue City will act as a 'side-story' to the original Dreamcast classic. It will be free-to-play, with in-game items to buy.

Sega is yet to slap a release date on the title - or hint that it will ever make its way outside of Japan. ...

News via http://ps3.gx-mod.com/modules/news/a...p?storyid=2221

NoNameno, well known developer on the scene Wii GRRLIB (a graphics library used by most homebrew developers) arrives on the PS3 by offering a preview version of its game from the topic of a breakout game.

This preview includes elements in 3D, scrolling text and the music from MP3 but not a true emulation of the Yamaha sound chip.

Sources will also be made available upon publication of the final version.
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News via http://ps3.gx-mod.com/modules/news/a...p?storyid=2222

As usual, MagicSeb our forum, provides a new compiled version of the PS3 port of ScummVM for Lousyphreak.

New / fixed:

- Fixed sound problems (The Secret of Monkey Island VGA 256 and maybe other games)
- Fixed linear scaler for RGB modes as well as the aspect ratio
- Added libraries FLAC and OGG

Scummvm build GX 08

Official site: http://github.com/lousyphreak/scummvm-ps3
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Microsoft may have missed out on being the first to stream Netflix in 1080p with surround sound, but it's still improving access to the service with a new app for Windows Phone 7 arriving on the same day a dashboard update brings Watch Instantly access to Xbox 360-owning Canadians. The free app should be easily found in the Marketplace Video Store, but just in case you don't have an HTC Surround or similar device in your immediate vicinity check out this demo from March embedded after the break.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/01/w...reaming-today/ ...

Nintendo are planning on bringing both 2D and 3D Mario platformers to its new handheld, general manager Shigeru Miyamoto has revealed.

According to Andriasang, when asked at an investor Q&A last week whether the platform holder was planning a 2D or 3D Mario platformer for the 3DS, Miyamoto said, "The answer is, of course, we'll make both. They both have their own appeal."

"When Super Mario became Mario 64, the range of players narrowed greatly," he added, before explaining how the new handheld's 3D effect will make games easier to play by helping users judge depth of field.

Using the example of flying Bullet Bills, he said, "It's difficult to tell when they will hit the player, so we were only able to use these lightly [in recent 3D Mario games]. However, we'll be able to use this type of thing quite a bit on the 3DS."

He'll have a tough job topping Mario's last 3D adventure – Super Mario Galaxy 2 scored a perfect 10/10 at the hands of Eurogamer's Oli Welsh earlier this year.

The 3DS goes on sale in March 2011. The only confirmed Mario title for Nintendo's portable so far is a new entry in the Paper Mario RPG series.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...-games-for-3ds ...

Fable III developer Lionhead is aware that the game shipped with a number of bugs and is working on patches.

A post on the studio's official website explained, "Of course as with any videogame there are some people with technical issues. That's bound to happen of course with a game the size of Fable, our poor testers worked flat out but if something slips through the nets, then don't panic!"

It wants any gamers who spot glitches to report them via a dedicated web page it has set up. It promises to keep a close on user feedback but won't commit to a timescale for an update.

"If you do experience a corrupt save game and there is no work around," Lionhead added, "then all I can personally recommend you do is start a new game and apologise for any stress this might cause. We really do feel for you if this happens!"

Ah, there goes that warm fuzzy feeling.

The developer also announced it is trying to get the Kingmaker app up and running again. Apparently it fell over last week and won't allow users to log in.

Fable III launched last week and has been selling rather well, going straight into the UK all-formats chart at number one. Eurogamer's Tom Bramwell paid homage to Lionhead's regal effort, stumping up a princely 8/10.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...-fable-iii-fix ...

Satoru Iwata has used a bunch of his favourite graphs to prove that Nintendo's Wii and DS are not doing badly in shops, despite posting a six-month profit loss of $25 million (£15 million) recently.

"I hope each and all of these charts will convince you that Wii, as a machine set to welcome its fifth holiday sales season, can never be considered to have lost momentum," Iwata said, splashing them liberally in investor's chops (as reported by Gamasutra).

His slides depicted impressive stuff such as Wii sales outpacing PS2 over a similar time-frame; Wii games having tremendously long sales tails; and phenomenal and unpredictable Christmas demand for Wii - 3.8 million were sold in the US last December ("The fact is, such unexpected things can happen when the seasonality throws its weight around.").

The "sole reason", he said, for Nintendo's financial blip, was the "huge re-evaluation of the assets" into Japanese yen - something all public companies there are forced to do.

"Many of you must have the impression that Nintendo's business, which surged with the sales of Nintendo DS and Wii, has already peaked," Iwata stated. The aim of his exasperatingly detailed presentation was to discredit that across the board.

Highlights included Iwata calling Europe "the market where illegal copies [of DS games] have spread most widely among all the advanced nations in the world". Still, he said it was "too premature" to conclude that bootleg games were the "sole reason" for flagging European DS game sales.

"We assume that several reasons are intertwined," he expanded. "The days when any Nintendo DS software could sell are over, and consumers have become more selective. As a result, the gap in unit sales between hit titles and non-hit titles has expanded and, almost at the same time, illegal copies have spread across Europe.

"Also, after the Nintendogs and Brain Training software titles showed explosive sales there, we have been unable to offer another software title that European consumers really feel like purchasing."

Iwata went on to note that the UK had the "smallest number" of Nintendo games in its chart - particularly on DS. "It looks like UK citizens are currently paying more attention to home consoles," he deduced.

"What is unique about the UK is - similar to the US - Xbox 360 has a strong presence. Multi-platform titles are selling more on Xbox 360. This situation is very different from Germany, France and Spain," Iwata said.

In closing, he agreed that the "situation surrounding us today does not allow us to be optimistic". "Even when we may be able to anticipate the exciting year-end sales, some may still argue that the company does not have a software line-up which can be compared with the strong titles from last year's holiday season."

Nevertheless, Iwata reckons Nintendo's on course to hit a combined 15 million sales of Wii and DS by the end of the financial year (March 2011).

Strange that he'd issue such an exhaustive defence in the face of Kinect and PlayStation Move. Or perhaps I'm reading between the lines.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...already-peaked ...

European copies of Dragon Age: Ultimate Edition for the PlayStation 3 were shipped with the wrong content, developer BioWare has admitted.

Although the Return to Ostagar DLC is listed in menus, when you try to boot it up you'll be treated to other content instead. That's not quite what we'd describe as 'Ultimate'.

Worry not - publisher EA has got its customer support team on the job. If you're one of those affected drop them a line and they'll be able to manually add the Ostagar campaign to your EA account.

Dragon Age: Ultimate Edition launched last month, packaging together all seven DLC packs with the original Dragon Age: Origins. Just the thing to get you pumped for the forthcoming sequel.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...timate-edition ...