via Joystiq


With the chances of further downloadable episodes of Heavy Rain's "Chronicles" DLC looking all but nonexistent, we wondered how Quantic Dream CEO and creative head David Cage felt now that his game has been folded up like an origami crane. We caught up with Cage after his talk at GDC Europe today to find out.
But at the same time, Cage said he's looking forward to working on something new. "I didn't want to do everything, I wanted to move on," he said. "I didn't want to spend another two years on Heavy Rain developing Move and Chronicles and stuff. ... So a decision had to be made and it's a decision I respect. Honestly, it's not like I'm upset about it, I would have preferred to do it differently but, you know what, it makes sense."

So, to sum up, Cage says he really want to finish the story through DLC, and that it's unfortunate that he didn't get to. But he also says he didn't really want to spend all that extra time on the game, and that he's happy to be moving on. So... that clears that up, yeah? ...

via Eurogamer


An unannounced Mortal Kombat game has popped up on a UK retailer's website.

It's called Mortal Kombat Arcade Compilation, and is said to include the first three Mortal Kombat games.
Apparently it's out on 12th November.

Mortal Kombat 1 and 2 are self-explanatory. Ultimate Mortal Kombat was a 1995 arcade game that updated Mortal Kombat 3.

The game's listed for PlayStation 3 only at this point. The box art has the PlayStation Network logo on the top right. Could it be a PS3 exclusive?

There's a brand new Mortal Kombat game due out next year from new intellectual property owner Warner Bros.

In July Mortal Kombat creator Ed Boon revealed NetherRealm Studios has been working on putting stereoscopic 3D into the next Mortal Kombat for "a few months now". The interview's below. ...

via MCV


Next gen consoles will shun retail in favour of digital, says analyst firm Electronic Entertainment Design and Research (EEDAR).

The prediction was made by EEDAR CEO Greg Short during a speech on the state of the games market, which he delivered at GDC Europe today.

He said that digital is growing at a dramatic pace, boosted by a surge in the number of small studios. Short explained that the high number of redundancies over recent months has resulted in a growing number of independently-run digital-only developers.

However, despite the gloom, Short said that those predicting the death of the High Street will have to wait a long time, and that retail will continue to be a “dominant force” for years to come.

He points out that retail is still vital in educating the consumer, in particular about DLC. He presented a graph that showed a huge proportion of consumers learnt about digital add-ons via in-store marketing and game packaging.
According to EEDAR research in an upcoming report on DLC, 35 per cent of gamers are still not interested in paid-for DLC. With many gamers confused over “the value of DLC,” claimed Short.

He continued by saying full-game downloads are being held back by slow broadband speeds. He told attendees that the average PS3 game will take five hours to download based on average European download speeds. Meanwhile, gamers wanting to download Rockstar’s upcoming LA Noir – which reportedly uses a full Blu-Ray disc – may have to wait 14 hours.

Short underlined his point by asking the room who bought StarCraft II? A large number of the room raised their hands, and when he asked ‘who downloaded it’ everyone put their arms down. ...

Today I bring another round of updated sales figures for console shifts in Japan as shown below:

• Playstation Portable: 30,397
• Playstation 3: 28,630
• Nintendo DSi LL: 21,018
• Nintendo DSi: 18,318
• Nintendo Wii: 18,238
• Xbox 360: 5,639
• DS Lite: 4,372
• Playstation 2: 1,524
• Playstation Portable go: 708

...

via Eurogamer


PlayStation Plus subscribers will be able to buy the original Tomb Raider two weeks before everybody else.

The PS One classic will be released through the PlayStation Store on Monday.
PlayStation Plus is the PS3's premium PlayStation Network service.

Subscribing to PlayStation Plus costs £11.99 / €14.99 for 90 days or £39.99 / €49.99 for a year.
Related Games ...

via Computer and Video Games


Creative Director Kevin Levine has said that BioShock Infinite, revealed earlier today, is not your typical sequel, but more like a re-imagining of the BioShock franchise.
You can read the full Q&A with Levine here, check out a BioShock Infinite preview here and watch the reveal trailer here.

...

via IGN


Those hoping to finally see Doom 4 at this year's QuakeCon will have to wait longer, perhaps until next year. At the convention's welcome speak, CEO Todd Hollenshead immediately broke hearts by saying that Doom 4 would not be shown.

The game is still in the works, says Hollenshead, but it isn't at the stage in development where id Software feels it is ready to be shown publicly. Bummer. But hey, if it looks as good as id's other game Rage, IGN's E3 Game of the Show, when it finally is unveiled, my guess is it will be worth the wait. ...

via iSuppli


Traditional handheld games consoles are in decline with 1m fewer devices produced this year compared to 2009.

The drop has been attributed to the rise in popularity of mobile phones equipped to play games and other forms of entertainment.

Research shows handheld consoles will decline 2.5 per cent to 38.9m this year down from 39.9m in 2009, according to market research firm Isuppli.

In comparison factory shipments of mobile phones are forecasted to reach 1.27bn in 2010 – up 11.4 per cent from last year’s 1.14bn orders.
Tufegdzic added: “Although gamers who prefer a superior gaming experience will always opt for either a console or handheld, sales of both platforms tend to rise and fall based on the vagaries of product development, consumer buying patterns and economic trends.”

The firm also says units of home consoles will total 52.3m this year, a small rise of 0.2 per cent year-on-year. It expects Move and Kinect to cushion its anticipated decline of console shipments next year, and for Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo to launch next-gen consoles in late 2010. ...

via Eurogamer


The next instalment in the Metroid series is so emotionally charged it brought one of the game's creators to tears.

That's according to Nintendo's Ryuzi Kitaura, speaking in the latest Iwata Asks interview. He said producer Yoshio Sakamoto was left speechless the first time he saw storyboards for the cut-scenes in Metroid: Other M. "I thought there was no hope for me, I thought I should just go home there and then," Kitaura said.
When it came to viewing the actual cut-scenes Sakamoto was even more moved, according to Kitaura. "He stood close to me, checking the monitors. When we'd shoot a particularly moving scene, I'd ask him 'How was that, Sakamoto-san?', but he'd be completely silent - again.
In total Kitaura drew more than 300 storyboards featuring over 2000 images. It took him more than six months to get them all done.

You can find out whether it was worth the effort when Metroid: Other M is released for Wii on 3rd September. In the meantime, there are billions of videos over on the gamepage. ...