Pachter: Current console cycle to go on and on, expect lots of SKUs
Jun/090
Wedbush Morgan’s Michael Pachter already told us about the inevitable WiiHD (inevitable to him, anyway), and that he thinks this cycle will be the last, and in his massive 201-page report Wedbush Morgan sent out recently, he reiterates both, but pointed out that this console cycle will outlast any other in history’s past due to two things: HD displays and console SKUs.
Pointing to the small adoption rates for HD displays, Pachter says that unless consumers start coming out in droves to pick up HD displays, these consumers aren’t going to feel compelled to pick up a HD-compatible console (or upgrade from their Wii). This, he feels, adds longevity to the current cycle, stating that current-generation console sales will go long tail, and says that the lower-than-expected adoption rates for consoles suggests a longevity not seen in the past. He also suggests that the increased developmental costs of this generation will cause developers and publishers to milk this generation for all its worth, extending its life that much more. And, due to this, Pachter believes that console sales won’t reach their peak until early next decade, when HD adoption rates will also supposedly hit their peak.
And speaking of higher costs, manufacturers are looking to cut costs, and that’s where the value of optional SKUs comes in. Pachter points out that as console manufacturers come up with new ways to cut corners, they will offer SKUs taking advantage of this. Pachter points to the PS3 Slim as an obvious release for later this year, and the numerous different packages we’ve seen offered for the Xbox 360 as examples of this new mentality.
Pachter: Current console cycle to go on and on, expect lots of SKUs originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Dreamkiller: It’s like Psychonauts and Painkiller had a baby
Jun/090
click to PROBE THE INSIDIOUS DEPTHS OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS (ie: peep the gallery)
What is Dreamkiller? It’s like Psychonauts and Painkiller had a baby, and that baby has grown into an angry teenager who then scratched the design doc for the game on the outside of his notebook. Mindware Studios – the developers behind Painkiller Overdose – are back to “probe the insidious depths of the subconscious” with Dreamkiller for the Xbox 360 and PC platforms, available this fall.
Ever wanted to go “inside the dark and twisted nightmares of tortured souls possessed by unknown forces”? Yeah, us neither … but that’s just what you’ll do in the “role of Alice Drake, a psychologist with the extraordinary ability to enter the minds of her patients and combat the ravenous foes haunting their dreams.” So, 12 “mega-bloodbath” single-player levels and “numerous multiplayer modes” are what they’re offering.
The bad news: that same design doc was already used for some levels in Psychotoxic, where you also play a female protagonist who can enter people’s dreams and do battle with their subconscious. Our own Ludwig Kietzmann, in a previous life, wrote, “Setting yourself on fire and then diving into a pool of broken glass is more fun than playing this absolute disaster of a game.” So, the good news: it couldn’t possibly be any worse than Psychotoxic.
Dreamkiller: It’s like Psychonauts and Painkiller had a baby originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Last.fm on XBL: free to gold subscribers, 3 hours per month for others
Jun/090
Microsoft announced at their E3 keynote last month that Last.fm would be coming to Xbox Live. We’re working on an interview with key players at both Last.fm and Microsoft to bring you more details about the collaboration soon. However, we can share one tidbit: today we spoke with Christina DeRosa, a general manager for XBL, and she let us know who the service will be available to.
“Silver users will be able access what we’re considering a trial period of three hours a month, which comes with video advertising. Gold users will have unlimited ad-supported access, so they can use it 24 hours a day. There will also be a premium offering on a subscription basis from Last.fm, that will be commercial free and will also have more sophisticated personalization features, like Loved Tracks.”
Last.fm’s subscription prices are currently $3.00 US (€3 EU or ?3 GBP) per month, so you’ll have to shell out an additional $36 a year if you want to avoid the ads and have full access to their service. You’ll also need a Last.fm account, in case you haven’t set one up already. Luckily, that part is free.
Last.fm on XBL: free to gold subscribers, 3 hours per month for others originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 30 Jun 2009 19:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Rare happy to have Molyneux raising its profile
Jun/090
“Once we were bought up by Microsoft obviously things have changed within the top ranks and stuff. And I think over the last few years maybe the awareness of Rare has dropped.” That’s according to Steve McFarlane, art director for the studio responsible for such titles as, umm … hang on, we’re just checking Wikipedia here.
Won’t take a moment.
Banjo-Kazooie, Perfect Dark, Viva Pi?ata and GoldenEye, it says here. Anyway, according to an interview with OXM, Rare’s counting on some revitalized recognition, courtesy of new(ish) Microsoft Games Studios Europe director, Peter Molyneux. “And the idea of Pete coming in and being this new face of Rare it’s a great thing for us. It’s really just to get us out there a bit more,” McFarlane said. Pete’s a real pal, having similarly expressed a desire to foster an improved identity for Rare just a few weeks ago.
With a hit game and solid promotion, there’s no reason the spotlight can’t fall back on Rare, even inside Microsoft. We’re fairly confident you’ve all heard of standouts like Lionhead and walkouts like Bungie.
Rare happy to have Molyneux raising its profile originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 30 Jun 2009 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Blame-apportionment and Reactionary measures can not remedy Environmental Ailments
Jun/090
Much of environmental management has been reactive. Human action (excess or unwise use or both) created problems; overtime, the problems became apparent and need for solutions inescapable. Remedies had to be found and put in place.
Picture: Smog in Los Angeles, Courtsey: Nathan via Flickr.com under creative commons license.
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Blame-apportionment and Reactionary measures can not remedy Environmental Ailments
NinjaBee adds Avatar support to Band of Bugs, new Tales of Kaloki campaign
Jun/090
So, remember how NinjaBee teased us with fireball-tossing Avatars last week? It turns out that the developer isn’t creating a brand new Avatar game after all. Instead, NinjaBee is adding Avatar support to its turn-based strategy game, Band of Bugs. Yeah, it’s not as exciting as the Avatar fighting game of our dreams, but it might be enough to make us blow the digital dust off of the XBLA title. Players will be able to use their Avatars in both the single-player campaign and in Spider Hunter multiplayer mode. The Avatar support will be coming as a free update on July 8.
In addition to Avatar support, NinjaBee is also set release an entirely new campaign for Band of Bugsi entitled Tales of Kaloki, though it’s very different from traditional DLC. Instead of simply expanding Band of Bugs, Tales of Kaloki actually plays like an entirely new game set in a different universe with different characters. Rather than pitting bugs against one another, players will control spaceships — which utilize new weapons and abilities — and try to blast their enemies out of the sky. And, judging from the above image, you can also wreak urban havoc with your Avatar.
As the title implies, Tales of Kaloki is based on another NinjaBee XBLA game, Outpost Kaloki X. The DLC will be available July 8 for 240
($3). NinjaBee will also be releasing a Band of Bugs dashboard theme on the same day for the same price.
Check out screens of Tales of Kaloki and Avatars in Band of Bugs in the galleries below.
Now, NinjaBee, seriously … about that fighting game ….
Gallery: Band of Bugs Avatars
Gallery: Tales of Kaloki (Band of Bugs DLC)
NinjaBee adds Avatar support to Band of Bugs, new Tales of Kaloki campaign originally appeared on Joystiq Xbox on Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Zip.ca CEO ‘would love’ to bring new streaming service to Canadian console owners
Jun/090
Yesterday, Zip.ca announced a partnership with Sonic Solutions to become the first online streaming film and TV show rental service in Canada. Speaking with Joystiq, Zip.ca CEO Curt Millar said his company “would love” to bring the service to Canadian video game consoles — similar to the Netflix streaming service currently available on Xbox 360’s in the United States — but no agreements are in place with any of the three game console manufacturers.
“Our whole strategy on this is to be available on every platform that we can be available on,” Millar said. “We believe for consumer adoption to be high, you need to have it so that the consumer doesn’t have to worry about how it works. It should just work on everything.” According to Millar, partnering with an American company — such as Sonic Solutions — allows Zip.ca to put forth “a better presentation” when looking to secure agreements with partners, like the major console makers.
Streaming content to consoles isn’t exactly new to Zip.ca’s partner. Sonic Solutions recently announced it would begin offering movies from its catalog to Fujisoft’s streaming Wii video service, Minna no Theater Wii, in Japan through its Roxio CinemaNow platform.
Zip.ca CEO ‘would love’ to bring new streaming service to Canadian console owners originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Worms 2 details, new screens fresh out of the can
Jun/090
click to explode
Just shy of its official release on Xbox Live Arcade, Team17 has dropped plenty of details and a big ol’ pile of screens for Worms 2 Armageddon, out tomorrow for 800 ($10). First up, there are lots of new weapons in Worms 2, some of them are brand new, while others are returning favorites from other installments in the series. Fans will be happy to know that the Concrete Donkey is back (as is his nemesis, the Buffalo of Lies[?]). The game also includes bunker buster bombs which, true to their name, are used to take out cowardly worms that have burrowed deep, deep out of harm’s way.
As we’ve mentioned before, the game also brings persistent fire, which is utilized in weapons like napalm and the petrol bomb. The game includes a handful of new modes too, such as Fort Mode — which sets each team’s worms in opposing bases instead of placing them randomly — and Rope Race Mode. Another addition that might not sound too sexy but, trust us, it’s important: Host migration for network play. The game also introduces vertical levels, which are tall and narrow, as opposed to the traditional wide levels.
All in all, it sounds like Worms 2 Armageddon is packing plenty of punch. Check out new screens in the gallery below and two trailers after the break.
Gallery: Worms 2 Armageddon (XBLA)
Continue reading Worms 2 details, new screens fresh out of the can
Worms 2 details, new screens fresh out of the can originally appeared on Joystiq Xbox on Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Saywhut? Trine dev says XBLA release is ’speculation’
Jun/090
Anatomy of confusion:
- At E3 earlier this month, Atlus announces that they’ll be publishing Frozenbyte’s very impressive co-op platformer Trine on Xbox Live Arcade.
- Primotech is purportedly told by an Atlus representative at E3 that the Xbox Live Arcade release will feature online co-op as well as offline. Neither the PC nor PSN versions, both of which are being released much sooner than the XBLA version, will feature online co-op.
- Shacknews links Primotech’s assertion, and Joystiq in turn links that.
- Developer Frozenbyte takes to the forums to clear the confusion, stating that “The XBLA version and its features is just speculation at this point.”
Wait, what? “The XBLA version … is just speculation at this point”?
Developer fb_joel writes, “… as developers, we would love as many people as possible to be able to play our games and therefore I hope Trine will eventually find its way to XBLA too.” So, not only is Frozenbyte stating that online co-op in the Xbox Live Arcade version is “speculation” but that the XBLA release itself is speculation as well! We bet Atlus wishes someone told them that at E3!
The developer later said, “On the actual topic I will not comment as no-one knows anything about XBLA at this point, and I really hope when some people do know, I would be one of them.” Yeah, we’re right there with you. GamerBytes reported from E3 that Trine “hasn’t been given the official nod from Microsoft for concept approval, and therefore Atlus are unable to send out press releases or other information about the game.” That may explain why, when contacted for this story, Atlus responded with a very terse “no comment.” We’ve reached out to Frozenbyte as well, and will update this story accordingly.
[Via Shacknews]
Saywhut? Trine dev says XBLA release is ’speculation’ originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Red Faction: Guerrilla getting three DLC packs, first coming August 13
Jun/090
If your revolutionary Martian escapades are drawing to a close, don’t fret — it looks like there’s plenty more Red Faction: Guerrilla content coming out in the next few months. THQ just announced three new DLC packs for the game — the first of which, titled Demons of the Badlands, will land on XBLM and the PlayStation Store on August 13.
Badlands is an expansion to the game’s single-player campaign which features a “mission arc that takes place in an entirely new Mars landscape outside of the existing expansive world.” THQ has priced the DLC at 800 or $9.99. The developer has promised further details on the August-bound DLC and the two other upcoming expansions in the next few weeks, so keep your ear to the red, dusty ground.
Red Faction: Guerrilla getting three DLC packs, first coming August 13 originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Red Faction: Guerrilla getting three DLC packs, first coming August 13
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