Electronic Arts will be the Publisher of all Future Star Wars Games

May 6, 2013 by Andy in Film, News Snippets, Videogames and tagged Battlefront III, BioWare, DICE, Disney, EA, Electronic Arts, Frostbite 3, Frostbite Engine, Gaming, Knights of the Old Republic, KotOR, LucasArts, Lucasfilm, Star Wars, Star Wars Battlefront, star wars characters, star wars franchise, star wars universe, The Old Republic, TOR, Visceral Games | Leave a comment

After acquiring Lucasfilm, Disney shut down LucasArts as a development house and has restructured the studio as a licensing house. First news of licensing from LucasArts has surfaced in the way of the monumental Star Wars license agreement with Electronic Arts. EA has secured a “multi-year exclusive licensing agreement to develop and publish globally new games based on Star Wars characters and storylines.” Fans of both videogames and the Star Wars franchise are reporting a great disturbance in the Force… as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.

The good news in all of this is EA has announced that three of their studios (DICE, BioWare, and Visceral Games) are working on titles set in the Star Wars Universe. Fans of the original Knights of the Old Republic (such as myself) are certainly hoping for a single-player continuation of that epic story while everybody else is undoubtedly clamoring for Battlefront III from DICE. I have no idea what Visceral could be working on, but any speculation is welcome in the comments below. All games being developed by these studios will utilize Frostbite Engine 3.

My hope in this (aside from EA not destroying the brand and milking the franchise) is that maybe 1313 will be resurrected because, well, it looked pretty awesome.

Source: IGN

Rumor: Project Gotham Racing Announcement for Next-Gen Xbox

May 6, 2013 by Andy in Videogames, Xbox and tagged Bizarre Creations, Gaming, Lucid Games, Microsoft Game Studios, Microsoft Studios, Next Gen, Next Xbox, Nextbox, PGR, PGR5, Project Gotham Racing, Project Gotham Racing 5, racing game, XBOX, Xbox 720, xbox successor | Leave a comment

Lucid Games, one of the studios formed after the closure of Project Gotham Racing developer Bizarre Creations, is said to be preparing for a mid-May reveal of a new game. The next Xbox is also going to be revealed mid-May; this has led to some speculation that the studio is working on a racing game for Microsoft’s upcoming Xbox successor. Given the background of the staff at Lucid Games, that speculation is leaning towards an upcoming reveal for a new installment in the PGR franchise. It’s been several years since we’ve seen a new PGR game and having an established franchise make a comeback for the next Xbox’s launch would definitely be beneficial for system sales. This is all a bunch of rumors and speculation, however, so we’ll have to wait until the actual mid-May reveal to see how right or wrong we really are.

Source: Joystiq

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon “sequel in mind.”

May 6, 2013 by Andy in News Snippets, PC, PlayStation, Videogames, Xbox and tagged Aliens, Blood Dragon, Blood Dragon Sequel, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, Gaming, Michael Biehn, Retro, The Terminator, Ubisoft, Video Games, Videogames | Leave a comment

With sales of the downloadable title exceeding expectations by five times, it’s understandable that Ubisoft would consider making this one-off a franchise. Michael Biehn, the voice of Blood Dragon‘s protagonist, stated in an interview with Microsoft’s Major Nelson that Dean Evans, the creative director for the testosterone-filled retro throwback, has a sequel in mind for Blood Dragon. It’s likely, given the success of the downloadable game, that we will be seeing more of Rex Power Colt in the future. The beautiful, neon laser filled, post-apocalyptic future.

Source: Joystiq

New Crystal Dynamics Title “soon to be announced”

May 6, 2013 by Andy in News Snippets, Videogames and tagged Crystal Dynamics, E3, Gaming, new game, Tomb Raider, Videogames | Leave a comment

Tomb Raider developer is prepping to announce a new game soon according to a LinkedIn profile. Matt McCulloch is a level artist with Crystal Dynamics and is reportedly working on “wildly cool environments for a soon to be announced title for Crystal Dynamics.” A job posting on Crystal Dynamics’ website for a senior artist position clearly states “a brand new AAA game” which further suggests a new intellectual property.

With E3 right around the corner, it’s easy to hope that “soon” means “really soon.”

Source: Destructoid

Spies Vs. Mercs is Back in Splinter Cell: Blacklist

May 4, 2013 by Andy in News Snippets, Nintendo, PC, PlayStation, Videogames, Xbox and tagged Blacklist, Gaming, michael ironside, Nintendo, PlayStation, PS3, Sam Fisher, Spies Vs. Mercs, Splinter Cell, Splinter Cell: Blacklist, Tom Clancy, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, Ubisoft, Videogames, Wii U, WiiU, XBOX, Xbox 360 | Leave a comment

Upcoming Ubisoft sequel to the long-running Splinter Cell franchise is bringing back the popular Spies Vs. Mercs multiplayer mode which was disappointingly absent from Sam Fisher’s last outing. Fans of the franchise have something to rejoice about amidst their complaints about the disappointing lack of Michael Ironside (which, granted, is a very valid complaint).

Eternal Darkness Spiritual Successor in the Works

May 3, 2013 by Andy in News Snippets, Nintendo, PC, Videogames and tagged Denis Dyack, Eternal Darkness, Eternal Darkness 2, Gaming, Nintendo, PC, Precursor Games, Shadow of the Eternals, Silicon Knights, Videogames, Wii U, WiiU | Leave a comment

It’s been over a decade since Silicon Knights released the highly regarded GameCube exclusive Eternal Darkness. Since then, fans of the game have been demanding a sequel. Silicon Knights and Nintendo ignored these demands and went on about their business. Since its release in 2002, Silicon Knights has developed the critically and commercially disappointing Too Human and X-Men Destiny. The studio has been troubled with bad press all around including these critical disappointments as well as law suits and former employee complaints. Needless to say, it hasn’t been a good few years for Silicon Knights.

Nevertheless, we’re expecting a spiritual successor to their horror classic. Though the teaser posted on IGN and the game’s official website have no mention of Silicon Knights, it is clearly stated that the game is in development from the creators of Eternal Darkness. Titled Shadow of the Eternals, this pseudo-sequel is in development at Precursor Games, a new development studio and likely the result of Silicon Knights’ troubled past. Denis Dyack is said to be involved in the project.

Shadow of the Eternals is being crowdfunded with the campaign beginning on May 6. It is in development for WiiU and PC currently. A synopsis of the game and the trailer are below:

When Detective Paul Becker is called to one of the bloodiest gang massacres in Louisiana state history, only two survivors remain from a brutal conflict between two rival cults. As Becker begins his interrogations of the suspects, their combined recollections will uncover the truth about the ‘Eternals’.

Featuring an ensemble cast of heroes and villains, Shadow of the Eternals will span over 2500 years of history throughout Egypt, England, Hungary, and the United States. Players will question the perception of reality as they try to balance the mechanics of combat, magick, and sanity events to progress through the adventure.

Shadow of the Eternals will take players on a memorable journey throughout time; weaving historical fact with disturbing fiction to create an experience unlike any other.

Sources: GamesRadar, Kotaku, IGN

Call of Duty: Ghosts Officially Announced

May 1, 2013 by Andy in News Snippets, PC, PlayStation, Videogames, Xbox and tagged Activision, Call of Duty, call of duty game, Call of Duty Ghosts, CoD, CoD Ghosts, Gaming, Ghosts, Infinity Ward, Microsoft, Next Generation, Next Xbox, Nextbox, PC, PlayStation, PS3, PS4, Sony, XBOX, Xbox 360, Xbox 720 | Leave a comment

As posted yesterday, and all over the internet over the past week or so, Activision’s next Call of Duty game will be subtitled Ghosts. The game will feature an “entirely new story, setting and cast of characters, all powered by a new, next generation Call of Duty engine that redefines the series for the next generation.” As you can see, it’s very next generation-y. Ghosts is scheduled to release on November 5th and is in development for Xbox 360, PS3, PC and next generation consoles. The first gameplay footage will be shown at Microsoft’s next Xbox event on May 21.

Alan Wake Breaks 2 Million Sales

April 30, 2013 by Andy in News Snippets, PC, Videogames, Xbox and tagged Alan Wake, Alan Wake 2, Alan Wake Season 2, Alan Wake's American Nightmare, American Nightmare, Gaming, Microsoft, Microsoft Game Studios, Microsoft Studios, PC, Remedy, Remedy Entertainment, Steam, XBOX, Xbox 360, Xbox 720 | Leave a comment

Remedy’s psychological action thriller Alan Wake has managed to sell over 2 million copies on both Xbox and PC. The game, which debuted on Xbox in May of 2010, has taken just under 3 years to complete this task, but Remedy remains hopeful about the future of the franchise. Being a new IP from a small studio, it’s entirely understandable that sales for Alan Wake weren’t on par with bigger budget games from the powerhouse developers, but it’s proven to be financially and critically successful.

News of this sales milestone comes just in time for Microsoft’s next Xbox reveal in just under a month. While Remedy owns the Alan Wake IP, Microsoft is the series publisher and Remedy has stated in the past that the software giant is in charge of the franchise’s future. Remedy has also been teasing a reveal of their latest project for some time now, so I wouldn’t be surprised at all if we see an Alan Wake: Season 2 reveal at Microsoft’s next-gen Xbox reveal or E3.

Source: Games Radar

Gears of War Film Actually Happening?

April 30, 2013 by Andy in Film, News Snippets, Videogames, Xbox and tagged Battleship, Entertainment, Epic Games, Gaming, Gears of War, Gears of War Movie, GoW, GoW Movie, Microsoft, Microsoft Game Studios, Microsoft Studios, Videogames | Leave a comment

It’s been a long time since we’ve heard anything about the long-planned Gears of War movie. First news of the film came back in 2007 when New Line Cinema gained the rights for the film, but it’s been trapped in development hell for several years after losing its director and $100 million budget. However, the film now has a new producer: Scott Stuber. Stuber served as the producer on Seth McFarlane’s Ted as well as the blockbuster bomb Battleship (among others, but Battleship is a pretty stand-out disappointment).

It’s easy to be disappointed with a film adaptation of a videogame before its release given the less than stellar track record of past videogame movies, but it is promising to hear that the script for the film is being developed with Epic games, IP owner of the Gears of War franchise. No one else has signed with the film at this time, but Epic’s involvement with the script and the film now having a producer shows some interest in getting the project off the ground. Whether or not it actually makes it to cinemas (or is actually good) remains to be seen.

Sources: Destructoid, Variety

Neverwinter Open Beta Live

April 30, 2013 by Andy in News Snippets, PC, Videogames and tagged beta tests, Cryptic, D&D, Dungeons & Dragons, Forgotten Realms, Gaming, Neverwinter, Neverwinter Beta, Wizards of the Coast | 2 Comments

After several weeks of on-again-off-again weekend beta tests, Neverwinter is now officially in open beta. Players can download the game client for free from the game’s website and join the armies of eager gamers in the action-oriented MMO world. Players accessing the beta will have unrestricted access to the game’s content including the ability to reach the level cap of 60, complete access to the game world ” past The Chasm including Mount Hotenow for only the bravest and most experienced adventurers,” and access to user-created content in The Foundry.

It is worth noting that there is no planned character wipe now that the game is in open beta and all characters and items will be carried over into the game’s official release.

Sources: Cryptic (1), (2)