We've approached Flagship for comment and they've yet to explain their status to us. Then, a posting appeared on Hellgate's official forums from Namco-Bandai's senior director of business development, Zack Karlsson, stating:

Hello Hellgaters,

I know everyone is looking for an announcement, and we'd love to make one — but right now, many things are in flux and we don't have all the information yet. As soon as we do, we'll post here on the forums, on the website, and anywhere else we can find you.

The posting continued:

In the short term, please do not worry. The game is up, the servers are not going away in the short term and any major changes to status will be communicated in advance.

I'd like to ask for your patience as we try to figure it all out and chart a new course. We value your community, your commitment, and your passion for Hellgate and we will make sure that any solution that we architect will support all of you as best as we are able.

Thanks again. We hope to have a real announcement shortly.

Add in the fact that there's now a Hellgate page on Namco-Bandai's official site, it certainly looks like it would like to help out — if they can. HanbitSoft, Flagship's Korean partner/owner, recently claimed Flagship rejected its attempts to buy Hellgate out, and that the game is actually collateral on a loan made to the studio by Comerica. Namco-Bandai most likely had to do some wrangling (and maybe still has to do some) to set this up.

As for Mythos, HanbitSoft itself claims the right to that. We've contacted Namco-Bandai for comment, continue to check in with Flagship, and will update with anything we receive.

[via Videogaming247]

'Dark Knight' Game Leaks [The Feed]

That's why it's helpful that something like Fable II can be broken down into digestible, feature-focusing chunks. The game's dog, for example, with its ability to help out in battle, its nose for hidden treasure, we know is going to be A Big Deal. We won't be surprised if Man's Best Friend plays a more important role than Molyneux led us to believe in our sit down preview of his Xbox 360 game.

We just know he's going to emotionally manipulate us with that lovable digital mutt.

We were about two hours into Fable II's storyline, Molyneux says, when we got our first hands-on experience with combat and dog-play. Combat has been a big focus in the Fable sequel, and while it may not have Ninja Gaiden caliber aspirations (or animations), it works. It's fun, especially when the dog comes to your aid, gnawing on the limb of some recently dispatched foe.

The hero in Fable II had access to limited combat options at this point. He was just getting his hands on some rifles and a little bit of magic. Sadly, we didn't get to take on that lovely looking Treant beast, just some rank and file pirates, but left the combat experience feeling more than satisfied.

If there's one thing that Fable II looks to achieve, it's painless action RPG combat. It may not have the cinematic flair of Nintendo's 3D Legend of Zelda games, but Lionhead Studios title has so much more depth, we can forgive a few rough edges.

And being the graphics snob I am, those rough edges come across in some occasionally homely character models. The hero's wife in Fable II may be a busty beauty, but the game may get some flack for its sometimes ho-hum visuals.

That will most likely be forgiven with the impressive amount of depth the game appears to have. The ability to upgrade your career skills via mini-game diversions looks better than grinding and cold, hard stats arrangement.

When we got into town, we met Fable II's bard, the singer-songwriter who will belt out tales of your heroism. He'll also sing songs of your cowardice, adding comic relief and occasional annoyance to your journey through the game.

Molyneux showed off some of the game's Expressions, the silly jigs and smooth moves that let you woo ladies and forge new friendships, prior to our hands-on. You'll pick them from a radial menu when you want to take a wife or receive a gift. They were fairly limited in our demo of the game, but look to provide some welcome options for adding variety to the game world. You'll see non-playable characters throughout town that you can interact with using Expressions, each with icons over their heads indicating their disposition. Wow them with your moves and you'll reap the rewards.

It's difficult to tell if Fable II, with its pub games, combat system, intelligent canine partner and career skills, will be more than the sum of its parts. We'll know when the game ships this October, as we start focusing less on the features and more on the game itself.

You'll move around the map with the left analog stick, zooming in and out with the right stick. Unit selection is done with the A button — hold A to select groups via a circle — but you can select all units on screen or every unit in your army with the right or left bumpers, respectively.

Your units will fire on enemy units with X, with an alternate firing mode tied to the Y button.

Unit special abilities and building options can be chosen from a pop up radial menu, giving you quick access to things like air strikes or expansion building choices. The control experience is relatively easy to wrap one's head around, thanks to a clean, quickly loading interface.

Building management is similarly straightforward stuff. We started out with a pre-built base, one with a series of "slots" that additions like barracks and vehicle factories can be built upon. You'll also have access to defense towers, but Halo Wars won't devolve into a turret defense mishmash. Base support feels like less of a focus than team-to-team field combat.

On combat, you'll have more than just Warthogs, Scorpions and Vultures to inflict damage on the UNSC side, a Spirit of Fire colony ship orbited overhead, allowing for called-in airstrikes via MAC cannons. Things get hairy? Call in some giant laser fire.

Halo Wars has some impressive visual pop to it, more colorful than when we last saw it. The game's visual effects, in motion, look spectacular. It may not have the immediate visual sex appeal of something like Halo 3, with it's micro-sized units and overhead perspective, but it looks good.

Keep your eye on Halo Wars, even if you're not a fan of the franchise or traditionally an RTS fan. It looks and feels like a console strategy game should. When we get our hands on the Covenant next time, we'll have a better understanding of how well it stacks up.

The Wii exclusive does a lot of neat things with the genre. First is the fact that while you do take turns controlling both the scorpion and spider in Deadly Creatures, they aren't buddies. In fact, they're deadly enemies of one another. You will never actually do combat while controlling either creature, but you get to witness a few stand-offs as the game unwinds.

While most of the action of the game takes place in the desert of Arizona, there is an overriding story that deals with these mysterious guys searching for something. It's these cut-scenes that sort of tie the entire experience together.

Controlling the spider and scorpion involves a lot of motion control, but the good kind, not the bad one. For instance, while moving the spider around you can target nearby creatures and then strike at them with a sudden flick forward of your hand. This also allows you to do some distant jump attacks. The spider, of course, can also crawl up walls and such, and both creatures regain health by eating crickets. Movement can be just as important as combat in the game too. In one scene the spider had to ditch a rattle snake by tricking it to strike into a cactus repeatedly. The whole thing, from interface, to movement and types of attack, has a very organic feel to it.

Both creatures unlock new abilities, like the ability to spin spider silk to capture creatures, by defeating a set number of creatures to hit predator goals.

Unfortunately, the game won't include any two-player co-op play. Instead you get take turns playing as the two critters in alternating chapters.

While almost all of the game is about surviving the environment and other nasty creatures, the final boss is one of the two humans in the game, the developer told me.

"I don't want to give too much away, but it will make you very squeamish," the developer said. "We do awful things to that poor man."

Unlike most games, Mythos has been running with our testing community for almost its whole life. I really feel like we’ve all done this together. And despite this bump in the road, I think we’ve succeeded wildly. This is undoubtedly the best game community I’ve ever seen. This is the best game development team in the world, in both Seattle and San Francisco. The things we’ve learned here, and with you all, will be with us forever."

The game's official site calls the suspension a "hiatus," but offers no date as to when private beta or further development will resume.

We recently spoke to Flagship Studios, who told us at the time that despite some rough patches after Hellgate: London launched, the studio was fully staffed and dividing its time between maintaining Hellgate and testing Mythos.

But in his statement, Schaefer said:

"PC gaming is changing, and I believe we’ve had a sneak preview with Mythos. With any luck, this will not be a long hiatus, and Mythos will be back. But even if it’s not, and even if we all move on, we’ve taken a lot of important steps forward. Game development is in many ways a continuum, and we all build on what came before. I know neither [lead designer Travis Baldree], the great Mythos dev team, nor myself are planning on doing anything but make games into the future. So no matter what, we’ll pick up where we left off, and you’ll be hearing from us shortly. We may not be the best business people on the planet, but we know how to make games."

We've contacted Flagship for further details and will update as we receive them.

Max Schaefer's Thank You [Via Gamasutra]

We got an anonymous tipster who said Flagship shut down abruptly yesterday, and that developers for both Hellgate (San Francisco) and Mythos (Seattle) have all been pink-slipped. "But there's also hope that they will all have their jobs back at the end of next week at a brand new company," our tipster says.

But wait, there's more. Flagship's Korean partners/owners, Hanbitsoft, were said to be taking over. That sparked a foofaraw regarding who owns the Hellgate intellectual property.

Fan site Hellgate Guru first reported that HanbitSoft was taking full control of Hellgate: London and intended to continue the game. That brought a forceful denial from Flagship, and confirmation from HanbitSoft's own attorneys (who slipped in a backhanded dig at the failing studio, which pretty much confirms Flagship's demise.)

HanbitSoft's attorneys said that while they're an exclusive licensee of Hellgate and Mythos, it's been pledged only the Mythos IP. Secured lender Comerica gets the Hellgate IP as collateral on the loan. Either way, Flagship does not own either, and also:

[I]t is unfortunate that Flagship turned down additional investments HanbitSoft offered to make that would have allowed it to keep its doors open, but HanbitSoft hopes to work with Comerica and some of the team at Flagship to see if there is a way to continue to generate content to keep Hellgate online in Asia and to finish the development of Mythos.

That sounds like the "brand new company" possibility our tipster mentioned. Either way, HanbitSoft says it threw Flagship a lifeboat, and it chose to go to the bottom. Ouch.

Finally, VE3D says it got more confirmation early this morning:

Flagships's Community Manager, Taylor Balbi, has revealed, through sources, that all Ping0 and Flagship Studios staff have been made redundant. Employees were notified at a company meeting and subsequently informed that the offices will be officially closed on Saturday. Balbi went on to reveal that three of the studio's top brass dug into their own pockets to provide 30 days of pay to all employees.

Our source says an official announcement will come next week (like what, at E3?)

Flagship Studios' Closure Confirmed, All Staff Fired, All I.P. Lost [Voodoo Extreme]

“2K Games is a terrific publishing partner for Champions Online,” said John Needham, CEO of Cryptic Studios. “Cryptic is proud that Champions Online will be 2K’s first MMO title and we look forward to working together towards a tremendous launch next year.”

An interesting move on the part of Take-Two's publishing arm, delving into this new industry segment while TT is still being eyed like a giant cartoon roast chicken by EA. I suppose it doesn't hurt to baste every now and then.

2K Games to Publish Cryptic Studios’ Upcoming MMO Champions Online™

NEW YORK—(BUSINESS WIRE)—2K Games, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), announced today that it will be the North American and international publisher for Cryptic Studios’™ highly anticipated massively multiplayer online (MMO) action game, Champions Online™, being developed for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft* and Games for Windows®. Champions Online is scheduled for release in spring of 2009.

“2K Games is excited to work with such a talented group as Cryptic Studios,” said Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K. “Given their stellar pedigree and amazing grasp of the MMO genre, we are confident that Champions Online will deliver an innovative and exciting action MMO experience to gamers.”

Cryptic Studios, based in Los Gatos, CA and established in July 2000, is one of the leading independent developers of massively multiplayer online games for Windows PC and current generation systems. As an independent, employee-owned company, Cryptic is committed to delivering high quality, innovative cross platform MMO gameplay. Cryptic is best known as the creator of the award-winning City of Heroes® and City of Villains™ MMO titles. Based on the popular Champions™ pen-and-paper RPG, Champions Online will give players the power of total customization for their hero experience while they explore a vast comic book universe.

“2K Games is a terrific publishing partner for Champions Online,” said John Needham, CEO of Cryptic Studios. “Cryptic is proud that Champions Online will be 2K’s first MMO title and we look forward to working together towards a tremendous launch next year.”

Champions Online is not yet rated by the ESRB. For more information, log onto www.champions-online.com

Note: This is excerpted from a review I attempted to write, but pulled back as I didn't complete the game. Some of you asked if I was willing to share my opinion of the game anyway. Last week, Brian reminded me of the strict conditions we have to do a full review, which are as much to protect the site's credibility as the writer's. But he also said that impressions are still fair game if the game hasn't been completed. I haven't, probably won't and with that caveat, here are some thoughts on The Bourne Conspiracy. It is not a full review and it's a month after the game's release. Take it for what you will.

Off the bat I wanted to like High Moon Studio’s The Bourne Conspiracy because it was a movie adaptation, but released about a year after the most recent film. That meant someone decided to do this game for a reason other than the obligatory game adaptation. And though it lacks Matt Damon’s likeness (gameplay Bourne more resembles Rob Lowe, cutscene Bourne is huskier), by itself that doesn’t deep six a good concept.

The game is touted as becoming Jason Bourne — a man who knows neither his identity or his past, only his present, and his capacity for killing others within that present. That kind of immersion is an ambitious goal, and the game doesn’t quite get there. It never felt like my goal was to piece together Jason Bourne’s past, or even inhabit his persona. In the end it’s an action game with a story that doesn’t get in the way, but no a-ha moment where you transform from just a guy with guns and deadly hands into someone truly special.

Where this game shines is in its hand-to-hand combat. The "takedown" is the game's showpiece, and most everything in your combat is geared to triggering it. You earn one after filling an "adrenaline meter" to a certain point (or more, to take out multiple enemies). Then by slamming a button, you get to watch a very entertaining cutscene in which you take a part your foe, and there's nothing they can do about it. By the time you get into your fights, you have so much hostility welled up that slamming someone’s head into the edge of a toilet is eminently cathartic. The game will improvise flawlessly with the available environment.

Unfortunately, as you wade through bad guy after bad guy, you get to a point where you just want the combat over. It then becomes a process of executing three combos, throwing up a block, and combo-blocking until you finally get the magic button that puts an end to what are typically overly long encounters with minor foes. Rarely was I able to string together more than four combos, and the devastating kicks require plenty of lead time, you'll rarely use them on tougher settings where your assailants are faster.

The takedown conditions you in other ways too; your enemies can perform a takedown, and you'll notice one's coming when a certain sound rings in your ears and the screen slows down. Then you have a simple one-button task to parry or reverse the attack. This same procedure is repeated for certain cutscene cinematics. In other words, you really shouldn't put your controller down and watch at any point, because you never know when you’ll be called to hit the correct button (it always changes) and get your ass out of trouble. I could have stood to see these button cues a little more complicated, to be honest.

But the game has seriously flawed gunplay mechanics. There’s no other word for it. It’s abysmal. If you are a highly-skilled FPS or third-person free-aimer, you might have less of a complaint than I do. But whatever your skill level, this game is least fun when a gun is in your hands. The game encourages you to use your “Bourne Instinct” — a non-bullet time spider sense — to find your targets, but it is not a true lock-on, unless your target is stationary. Also, at higher levels, you drain "adrenaline" using this. Ambushes will require you to run it out completely.

The lack of weapon variety also hurts the game. You can carry a handgun and a long arm, but I never sensed any difference in weapon types beyond rate of fire. There's no incentive to scan your environment for a particularly deadly rifle or a sidearm with pure stopping power. There are also no melee weapons nor grenades, which I suppose is not entirely necessary for this genre, but would be great at breaking up the repetition of the combat.

I played midway through on Agent setting, then again partway on trainee, getting roadblocked each time at Vilnius trying to take out the tank. Controller-throwing fits. Am I a bad gamer? Is this a bad video game? Both are probably unfair characterizations. It's not good enough for a complete review, but I made the decision that suffering through that round for another 20 deaths spread over an hour would not change my impression that The Bourne Conspiracy is a novel concept for a linear shooter that accomplishes one thing well, and is hamstrung by the rest of its controls. Lots of folks have said this is a great rental, not a great purchase. That's a pretty fair grade.

Following CVG's report that Take-Two might close the doors on Venom Studios, its Newcastle, UK-based developer of Don King's Prizefighter and Prey, Take-Two has said in a statement that it is indeed considering layoffs, though no final decisions have been made yet.

"We are assessing the role of Venom Games in Take-Two's overall global studio system and are in a consultation with the employees of Venom in relation to possible redundancies at the studio,” the company said. “No final decision will be made until after the consultation with employees," it added.

Venom was founded in 2003 and was acquired by Take-Two in 2004 for $1.3 million.

HMV is currently listing the game and maraca combo for £34.99 (about $70 USD). We've contacted Sega to find out more and have expressed our genuine excitement, hoping that they'll get back to us sooner rather than later.

Samba De Amigo: Including Maracas [HMV via GoNintendo]

Well, now The Wiicast has gotten on the phone with Adam Spencer of Nibris partner Fog Studios to mess with our heads some more, saying that things are still underway:

Obviously there’s only so much I can say. I can tell you for sure that the project is real, they’re actively developing it. There’s no publisher for the game yet and as such it’s impossible for us to say when the game is going to be released. Basically, that’s the official statement.

Spencer says he's even seen the game in action, but they haven't found a "fit" yet in a publisher.

Breaking News! Sadness is Real! [The Wiicast]

There will be a total of three hundred and fifty levels exclusive to each platform: two hundred single player, one hundred "co-op" and fifty "versus." Players will be able to download new levels from the N server as well as show off their design prowess with a level editor. In a rare treat on the DS, player designed levels will be able to be shared with friends free from the ties of the cumbersome Nintendo friend code system. Levels will also be able to be previewed before download so you know what you're getting yourself into. Due to space limitations, the DS version will only be able to hold up to eight downloaded levels at a time, but the PSP version will be able to hold as many as your memory stick will allow. There are plenty of unlockables available to access during the game as well such as game skins, level packs, new gold goals and special music tracks. Speaking of music, all the soundtrack for the game has been created by "chip tune" artists using old consoles to orchestrate the tunes.

One of the more interesting and fun multiplayer modes is a new "tag" mode. Two players chase each other about various levels, one trying to tag the other. Being tagged makes you "it" and you lose a few points in the process. Running into obstacles also knocks points off and the game ends when one player loses all their life points. I tried this mode out with fellow journalist Travis Moses from Gamepro and it was a blast. Being an N expert, he trounced me roundly, but no hard feelings, Travis. Just pray I don't see you on the streets...

Look for N+ to stealth it's way to your DS and/or PSP on August 12th.

Deer Hunter aims to be the most realistic hunting game on the market and from what I saw, they are certainly meeting their goal. The animal AI is extremely intelligent and a lot of work has gone into studying the various animals to get the most realistic response possible. Everything from sight distance to smell distance have been included so if you're downwind of a deer that catches a whiff of you, you may find your target heading for the hills. "Dangerous prey" is also present so be careful when tracking and shooting that grizzly bear or cougar. One wrong move could see you getting mauled or worse.

This realism also extends to the equipment and accouterments for the hunters themselves, giving them the ability to track footprints plant grain and even drop animal urine for use in attracting certain species. Weapon caliber and points of contact have also been taken into strong consideration so be careful what you shoot and with which weapon. Big gun + small animal = no mounted trophy head for you.

Other elements at your disposal will be various modes of transportation (horses and ATVs among them), a UI compass that tells direction and weather and a hunter character creation mode. Players will not be limited to tournament modes either. An in depth tutorial mode and a free play mode where you can invite other players to join you will also be available.

Deer Hunter Tournament is set to release with a $39.95 price point for the Xbox 360 and a much cheaper $19.95 for the PC giving you quite literally more bang for your buck. Hunting season begins this Fall.

Mr Francis, a former landlord of The Pilot pub, Upper Stone Street, and now a mature student, said: "It is a sort of comedy come horror. A bit like Monty Python meets Evil Dead. "Between the three of us we researched, wrote, designed, animated, scripted and developed the whole game from home."

Seems like comedy come horror is amazingly appropriate for the situation they now find themselves in. Hit the link for a feel-good story that, in retrospect, doesn't feel quite as good.

Pub pals pin hopes on US game success [Kent Messenger via CVG]

Interview: Star Wars: The Clone Wars [IGN]

A war story influenced by real-world events that prioritizes stealth action? Sounds like a certain other title that I can't take my eyes and hands off of lately, so I was eager to get a look at Velvet Assassin today.

Violette's story is told through flashbacks and memories - in the opening of the game, she's in a hospital, remembering back on her career, and in the scene I saw, Violette was sneaking through the sewers and up into a Warsaw ghetto under patrol by Nazi soldiers. The PR rep told me that the team is prioritizing authenticity in creating the WWII environment, with the aim of recreating the grittiness of that war's horrors.

For example, a man would be seen hanged in the sewers, as the Nazis actually did back then to try to warn people off attempting to escape through there. During my demo, I watched soldiers taking turns shooting at the walls of buildings, as they often did to try and kill or scare out anyone who might be hiding.

If Violette keeps to the shadows, a purple aura covers her, letting the player know she can't be seen by enemies in the light. The shadows are sharp-edged, and the contrast between them and the sunbathed, forbidding landscape was very eerie, exactly the sort of spooky atmosphere you'd expect from a story about what goes on behind enemy lines in WWII.

I was told there are over 50 different kinds of stealth kills in the game that Violette can perform when she sneaks up behind an enemy quietly - I watched her seize a soldier around the neck and stab him in the back before he could alert his compatriots. Though I was watching a very early build, the rep told me that in the final game, players will be able to drag enemy bodies out of sight to keep the Nazis from catching on, similar to the way it's done in Metal Gear.

Also, Violette can enter "Morphine mode" in an emergency. The painkiller ties into the fact that we're playing through Violet's memories while she's hospitalized, and if you use morphine, you can kill a target in range quickly and directly - for example, if a soldier sees you, you can run right up and kill him, the screen a white, violet-blotted haze, before he has the opportunity to alert his mates.

Throughout the gameplay, Violette narrates her story, woven together with factual information about the progression of the WWII story. She has a lovely English accent, and the voice acting in conjunction with the imagery was lovely.

While it was too early for hands-on with this game, and some of the features, like the body-dragging, haven't been implemented yet, I definitely saw enough to pique my interest and let me know that this stealth war drama, featuring what looks to be a strong, compelling female protagonist, is worth keeping an ear attuned to.

Compo Of The Lost Gallery [Rock, Paper, Shotgun]

Over in the U.S. Sony San Diego Studios senior director Scott Rohde has been promoted to vice president of Sony Worldwide Studios America. Rohde was a co-founder of Page 44 studios, and has also worked in sports roles for Radical Entertainment and Sega of America.

Both new VPs will be responsible for the overall operations of Sony in their respective areas, reporting to Sony's replacement Harrison, Shuhei Yoshida. Welcome to the party gentlemen!

Sony Appoints New Europe, America Studio Heads [Gamasutra]

Kim, who headed up the studio for four years, will be replaced by Phil Spencer, who formerly headed up the Microsoft Game Studios in Europe.

“We’re strategically positioning the leadership team to drive every aspect of the Xbox business to new heights,” said Don Mattrick, senior vice president of the Interactive Entertainment Business. “I firmly believe that Microsoft will lead the next great innovations in games and entertainment. Today’s organizational announcements align us to accelerate this expansive growth.”

Microsoft has not yet found a replacement for Bell who is said to be leaving to "pursue other opportunities outside of Microsoft."

“The time is right for me to pursue my life’s passion of consumer brand marketing and the creative and services that drive it.” Bell said “Coming from automotive, and now technology and entertainment, I am excited to expand to new industries and categories.”

Hit the jump for the full release and more Mattrick-y quotes.

Interactive Entertainment Business Leadership Team Positioned to Drive Next Wave of Growth and Audience Expansion
Microsoft announces new leadership roles for Shane Kim and Phil Spencer and the departure of Jeff Bell.

REDMOND, Wash. — June 12, 2008 — Microsoft Corp. today announced a new leadership structure in its Interactive Entertainment Business, assembled to align with future business development opportunities.
Shane Kim will assume the role of corporate vice president of Strategy and Business Development, a newly established role in Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business. In addition, Phil Spencer, a Microsoft Game Studios veteran for six years, will assume leadership of all first-party development and publishing efforts worldwide. Both leaders will report directly to Don Mattrick, senior vice president of the Interactive Entertainment Business.
After spending four and a half years leading the transformation of Microsoft Game Studios into a world-class entertainment publisher, Kim will now explore new growth opportunities with partners across all parts of the global Interactive Entertainment Business. His focus will be on future external relationships and partnerships, as well as developing growth strategies for the entire business.
Formerly the general manager of Microsoft Game Studios Europe, Spencer will return to Redmond from the U.K.to take on his new role as general manager of the global Microsoft Game Studios business. Spencer will oversee the creation of new, unannounced franchises that aim to attract new audiences. His teams will foster some of today’s most beloved entertainment franchises, including “Halo,” “Gears of War” and “Fable,” by continuing to partner with the industry’s best developers to deliver the best games for the Windows and Xbox platforms.
“We’re strategically positioning the leadership team to drive every aspect of the Xbox business to new heights,” Mattrick said. “I firmly believe that Microsoft will lead the next great innovations in games and entertainment. Today’s organizational announcements align us to accelerate this expansive growth.”
After two years of driving a cultural change in the way Microsoft markets its entertainment brands, Jeff Bell, current corporate vice president of Global Marketing for Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business, has decided to pursue other opportunities outside Microsoft. Bell will remain at Microsoft through the summer, working with Mattrick to ensure a smooth transition of his responsibilities. In the interim while Microsoft searches for Bell’s replacement, Matt Barlow, Charlotte Stuyvenberg and Jim Merrick, all day-to-day product marketing and marketing communications leaders in the Interactive Entertainment Business, will carry forward global marketing initiatives for the business group.
“The time is right for me to pursue my life’s passion of consumer brand marketing and the creative and services that drive it.” Bell said “Coming from automotive, and now technology and entertainment, I am excited to expand to new industries and categories.”
“We thank Jeff for his achievements and contributions to Microsoft and the Xbox business. His innovative marketing programs included award-winning Xbox brand marketing campaigns, as well as world-renowned creative for ‘Gears of War’ and ‘Halo 3,’” Mattrick said. “We wish Jeff nothing but the best in his future endeavors.”

Limbo of the Lost stole from Oblivion, Morrowind, UT2K4, Diablo, Silent Hill, more? [Bobby1234SI @ NeoGAF]

If you think morale might suffer on the team, a blog entry from Flagship Studios audio and gameplay manager Guy Somberg suggests you might be right. Somberg said on his blog that work had become "depressing" because of fan response to Hellgate's issues. (The original post has since been pulled, but MMO fansite IncGamers retrieved it.)

Although Somberg wrote that he loved being part of Flagship, he also expressed a fair bit of worry about many of his colleagues moving on from their jobs:

Thing is, the way things are going I’m likely to be the only programmer still working on Hellgate left from the original crew. I’ve heard rumours that other programmers and artists are thinking of leaving.

And with Somberg himself writing that he was "getting burned out on Hellgate," Kotaku decided to reach out to Flagship Studios and see what was really going on.

We first heard back from Flagship's marketing communications manager, web manager and writer Ivan Sulic, who said while he couldn't speak about Somberg's emotions, he guessed they were "like anyone who spent a lot of time and effort on something that wasn't received as well as hoped... And then a few of our friends and coworkers left. It's a bummer."

Bummers aside, though, Sulic said that nobody's been taken off or left the Hellgate team except for systems programmer Peter Hu, who's been able to work on some other projects now that the game is well underway. Said Sulic, "Everything else is pretty much business as usual."

Said Sulic, "We've actually had very few people leave. Flagship is still fully staffed and working on both Hellgate and Mythos... I think we have about 100 employees now."

Some people have moved on from Flagship, said Sulic, due to simply moving up on their career paths or being tired of windy San Francisco, but said those departures don't constitute cause for alarm. "People finish a game, want to work on something else, and then leave to do just that. It's pretty typical in this industry. I don't know the exact number, but we couldn’t have had more than five or six departures. Still, if those five or six dudes are people you work with everyday, it can't feel great."

And Somberg himself joined the conversation. "Ivan said it quite well," he said. "Things here at Flagship are running business as usual. We’ve just put a build of Chronicle 2 onto our test center, which has represented a lot of hard work from everybody at the company, myself included."

Somberg said he'd written that blog post on a day when he felt "frustrated and overwhelmed," but that after some hot chocolate, a few hours' game time and some sleep, he felt better.

Said Somberg, "I was surprised and disappointed at the community’s response to my words, which were more directed at my family and friends to describe my state of mind at the time, than to give any sort of insight into the company. Personally, I think that the 'Towers of Hanoi' series of posts on my blog is far more interesting and worthy of commentary and analysis."

"I’m sorry to have caused such a ruckus over such a small thing."

On the bright side of things for the Hellgate team is the fact that the game is performing so well in Asia. The studio said it had the best Korean game launch in 3 years, leading to Hellgate becoming the ninth most popular online game in an MMO-saturated region.

It's often easy for us as gamers to criticize the studios when they make mistakes, and to feel vengeful when we're disappointed. It's probably best for us all to keep in mind that behind every big publisher's title is a team of developers who hoped to provide the best experience they could, human beings who feel bummed out when the results aren't what they hoped.

In the meantime, the online arm of the publication has released four new Halo Wars screen shots—four obscenely watermarked and painfully blurry screen shots with a very odd perspective, but four screen shots nonetheless.

Halo Wars Screenshots [GamePro]

“As a studio, Insomniac Games is known for developing high-quality blockbuster titles and for nurturing a creative and collaborative culture,” said Ted Price, Insomniac’s founder and CEO. “Our goal with the North Carolina studio is to blend our experience and proven track record with the tenacity of a start-up venture. Expanding to Raleigh-Durham also allows us to maintain an ideal size in Burbank while offering an attractive alternative for developers wishing to live on the East Coast.”

The new studio is the first expansion in the company's 14-year history and will operate autonomously from Insomniac's current Burbank location working on current and new IP. Insomniac art director Chad Dezern will head up the new studio.

TOP PLAYSTATION3 VIDEOGAMES DEVELOPER INSOMNIAC GAMES EXPANDS TO NORTH CAROLINA

Creators of “Ratchet & Clank™” and “Resistance: Fall of Man™” Franchises to Open Raleigh-Durham Studio by January 2009

BURBANK, Calif. (June 4, 2008): Insomniac Games, a 28.5-million unit selling independent console videogames developer ranked among the top 10 best small companies to work for nationally and locally, announced today it is opening a North Carolina-based development studio.

The new studio, which will be located in the Raleigh-Durham area, marks the first expansion in Insomniac’s 14-year history. The North Carolina studio will also be known as Insomniac Games, and will focus both on developing current and new intellectual properties. While the new studio will operate largely autonomously from Insomniac’s Burbank group, it will receive administrative support along with shared tools and technology.

“As a studio, Insomniac Games is known for developing high-quality blockbuster titles and for nurturing a creative and collaborative culture,” said Ted Price, Insomniac’s founder and CEO. “Our goal with the North Carolina studio is to blend our experience and proven track record with the tenacity of a start-up venture. Expanding to Raleigh-Durham also allows us to maintain an ideal size in Burbank while offering an attractive alternative for developers wishing to live on the East Coast.”

Chad Dezern, Insomniac’s art director, will serve as the North Carolina studio director while veteran Insomniac gameplay lead Shaun McCabe will assume the role of production director. The two have worked at Insomniac for 10 and five years, respectively. They will continue to help lead production of Resistance 2™, Insomniac’s highly anticipated sequel to the PLAYSTATIONÒ3 (PS3Ô) exclusive Resistance: Fall of Man™, until it launches this fall.

Insomniac’s Raleigh-Durham studio will be operational by January 2009 and is currently seeking employees for a variety of positions. The studio will likely be comprised of 25-30 developers. Job-related questions may be submitted to info@insomniacgames.com.

The story of Dark Void, if you aren't up to speed, is that our hero Will becomes trapped in the Void during a routine cargo flight that ventures a bit too closely to the Bermuda Triangle. Will and his compatriots, known as the Survivors, will battle a "mysterious alien race" known as the Watchers in order to save the Earth from (what else?) total destruction. Or something.

In addition to stock over the shoulder run and gun gameplay, Dark Void adds a few interesting tricks to the mix. Aerial ship-based combat, something that looks to please Crimson Skies fans, looks more than solid, as demonstrated by designer Jose Perez. He showed off the "skyjacking" of alien UFOs, classic saucer-style ships that can turn on a dime and be hijacked by Will without too much work. Using a rather simple mini-game, Perez showed how the player must avoid a UFO's security system while trying to access its control panel, ejecting the alien pilot and taking over.

Will can fly too, courtesy of a handy, Rocketeer-style jet pack, one that appears to be built (and further upgradeable) via alien technology. That jet pack not only gives him the opportunity to take flight to bypass traditional routes, it brings the "vertical cover combat" into play.

That mechanic can best be described by a 90-degree rotation of the player's axis of progression, as Will will take cover behind rocky ledges as he scales the side of a cliff, spaceship or building. It's pop-and-stop gameplay, with bursts of flight and a grip system that utilizes a mini-game to keep Will's hold on his surroundings steady.

Dark Void is still said to be at least a year off, with plenty of room for improvement and development beyond the brief portion we saw at Captivate. The team at Airtight have already ruled out multiplayer, something that may not sit well with gamers expecting that feature as a given—especially after they see the UFO combat and skyjacking gameplay.

We were pretty impressed with what we saw of Dark Void, despite some rather bland character design (that unfortunately reminded us of Haze in parts) and the lack of multiplayer modes, but with so much time left to get the thing right, we hope it stays on track. And we certainly look forward to getting our hands on the controller next time.

Afrika [Official Site]

...you know, we have a great internal racing studio in Turn 10, the creators of Forza Motorsport. And our goal is to roll the studio so that they can do more creative execution within the racing space. So you can imagine a future where they would develop a new version of Project Gotham Racing.

Shane Kim Interview [Kikizo]

So what is it? In Molyneux's own words, "I think it's such a significant scientific achievement that it will be on the cover of Wired." Normally hallowed ground for scientific advancements on par with baking an inedible cake in the shape of a Wii, Molyneux thinks that a decade's worth of work on AI, simulation and character interaction is worthy of a cover treatment.

Video game AI advances have already made the cover of Wired—Munch's Oddysee graced the mag's cover in 2002—but Molyneux's photogenic nature and capacity for extensive quoting will surely make for a much interesting return to newsstand prominence.

Peter Molyneux: My Next Game a 'Significant Scientific Achievement' [Wired] [Image Credit]

In the late 90s Rare established themselves as a top-tier studio, producing such classics as GoldenEye and Donkey Kong Country for Nintendo. But in 2002, Microsoft bought up the company and prepared to have the studio start work on some of the marquee titles for their upcoming Xbox 360.

I told Kim that back before the Xbox 360 launched I had heard that Rare's Perfect Dark Zero was meant to be the platform's launch title, the reason gamers would take notice of the 360 and decide to buy into the new platform.

When the game finally hit, with the launch of the 360 and Rare's other title Kameo, it was met with a mixed reception, certainly not the sort that Microsoft had bet on.

Is Rare, I asked Kim, a developer that better suited to the audience and platforms of Nintendo gaming?

The short answer, Kim said, is no. But he did acknowledge that Rare hasn't yet met it's full potential on the Xbox 360. Neither Perfect Dark Zero or Kameo were the massive hits that Microsoft expects and Viva Pinata, he said, was a game that attracted a casual audience but was much deeper than that sort of gamer expected or was interested in playing.

But Rare's upcoming titles could turn that around. Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise, for instance, hopes to fix that disconnect between the audience it attracted and its accessibility by adding online and local co-op and tweaking gameplay.

And while Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts isn't a true sequel to the franchise, its concept, a vehicle platformer, was entirely the idea of Rare and its developers.

Hopefully today will give me a chance to see if Rare has been able to turn it around and get back to making games like Goldeneye rather than Grabbed By The Ghoulies.

Tsunoda, who was unfortunate enough to be sitting right next to me, spent much of the evening trying not to answer questions about Gears of War 2 and his new role as the game's general manager. He said he felt fortunate to be working at Microsoft Game Studio and in particular to be working with Cliff Bleszinski and the folks at Epic Games.

MTV's Stephen Totilo and I tried to pin Tsunoda down on how the game would fit into the Gears universe. Was it, Totilo asked, part of a trilogy. We haven't decided yet, Tsunoda responded and then tried to change the topic, saying that the game has plenty of things to do in the way of improving on the original title.

Multiplayer, for instance, has a lot of potential, though he can't talk about it quite yet. Cover will be destructible this time around, he added. And by cover he doesn't just mean the rock walls and building remnants, he's also talking about grabbing bad guys and hiding behind them, something Tsunoda referred to as "meat shields". And yes, it seems that these meat shields will be "destructible" too.

What are they doing for the ladies this time around, Totilo wanted to know. Are they going to make it more accessible or interesting to women somehow.

Tsunoda sort of ducked the answer, but when I asked him if they were considering perhaps adding a romantic interest to the plot, he said yes, there would be a love interest this time around.

Given the tone of the dinner, it was hard to tell if he was serious or joking, but either way it raises an interesting point: Should the Gears of War sequel have more interpersonal relationships, should there be a love interest in the game?

I think that one of the things that hurt the original title was its story, in particular its ending , so building in a relationship, one that could be used to make the game more emotion certainly couldn't hurt. At least that's my take. What's yours?

Check out Totilo's take on the dinner as well.

[Pic from MTV Multiplayer]

Spacetime Studios Acquires Blackstar IP from NCsoft®

Blackstar is a highly stylized science-fantasy universe from developers of Wing Commander, Privateer, and Star Wars: Galaxies

AUSTIN, Texas - May 8, 2008 - Spacetime Studios, LLC announced today it has acquired the rights to the Blackstar IP from its previous publisher NCsoft. Spacetime Studios, an independent game development studio made up of industry veterans, now fully owns all the tools, technology and intellectual property from their previous publishing deal.

Set in the far future, Blackstar is a fresh universe full of wildly original space fighters, horrifying demonic enemies and epic drama. "The IP lends itself to almost any kind of gameplay that one could ask for, and was specifically designed to be a long-term franchise," said Cinco Barnes, creative director and co-founder of Spacetime Studios. "It's a nice sweet spot when you own all the puzzle pieces and we now have extraordinary flexibility in where to take the game universe next."

"After two years of development, the Blackstar universe is quite near and dear to our hearts" said Gary Gattis, executive producer and co-founder of Spacetime Studios. "Owning the IP as well as the engine and tool set puts a tremendous amount of potential in our hands. With all the developed components under the Spacetime team's control, the options for the IP are diversified."

The new "Blackstar Chronicles" development underway is a space fantasy combat game based on the single-player traditions of "Wing Commander" and the multiplayer feel of "Descent." "The Blackstar Chronicles is a very powerful product," said Jake Rodgers, art director and co-founder of Spacetime Studios. "The Blackstar universe has the potential to be something special and it's great that we are able to bring the IP to fruition."

Download a PDF about the IP at http://www.spacetimestudios.com/downloads/brochure_LoRes.pdf
More information about the studio can be found at http://www.spacetimestudios.com.

'My SingStar Online will hit the web this year,' says Bozek [PS3 Fanboy]

Big-ish, eh? We know it's not the only big-ish thing happening next week, as we expect a respectable number of pre-E3 announcements throughout the week, but we have to wonder what Fable 2 secrets await us. Perhaps we'll see that ballyhooed acorn or learn more about in-game pregnancy! Who wants to make a guess? There's a no-prize in it for you!

Lost My Teeth! [Fable 2 Development]

London, 26 April 2008: With 12 million units sold across PAL to date - 5 million of them in the Fiscal Year of 2007 (April 07 - March 08) alone - and the brand now branching further into digital business via SingStore™ on PLAYSTATION®3　(PS3™), SingStar® is going from strength to strength.

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) released the first SingStar title on PlayStation®2 in 2004, changing the way people interacted with the PlayStation brand. Audiences who hadn't been traditionally interested in gaming could use PlayStation as a source of entertainment. Since its launch, SingStar has turned singing into a competitive game and has amassed fans of all ages across the world.

December 2007 saw the franchise move onto the next-generation PS3 platform, breaking into a new business model of downloadable extra content in which players have the option of purchasing individual tracks by downloading from SingStore. SingStar PS3 is also supported by several online features within the game, notably My SingStar Online™, an arena where fans can share their recorded performances with the worldwide SingStar community.

The SingStar community has embraced the new online elements within the brand. In SingStore's first four months of trading, one million tracks were downloaded across the PAL region. My SingStar Online has also proved to be a popular place for SingStar fans, attracting 140,000 registered users who, combined with visitors to www.singstargame.com, have shared over 20,000 videos of their SingStar performances that have been watched a total of 2.5 million times.

Mark Hardy, Director of Product Marketing of SCEE said:

"The term 'social gaming' is widely recognised in 2008 - however, it was relatively new when we launched the first SingStar title in 2004. That game entered the charts at number one in many countries, allowing us to pioneer the social gaming category and a new market of consumers who might not have bought games before. We really are teaching the world to sing with SingStar - and business for 2008 is looking excellent."

Paulina Bozek, executive producer of SingStar said:

"SingStar's success is built upon simple and entertaining game play. Historically we have added new music tracks to keep the experience fresh but the arrival of PS3 has allowed us to think differently. We can now take advantage of the next-generation features to take the next step forward in the SingStar experience. The launch of SingStore and My SingStar Online is the realisation of this and the experience is now more user-focused, personalised and interactive."

SingStar was the catalyst for a new area of the gaming industry that's now attracting mainstream audiences and taking the social phenomena to new and exciting experiences. Over the past four years the titles added to the SingStar catalogue have included a mixture of genre and themes including: musical decades (SingStar '80s SingStar '90s), musical genres (SingStar Rocks, SingStar R&B, SingStar Pop, SingStar Pop Hits) and musical themes (SingStar Legends, SingStar Party SingStar Summer Party). All of these titles have continued to deliver sales as SingStar collectors seek out the entire back catalogue.

As well as the international titles above, country-specific titles have also been big sellers, with titles such as SingStar Deutsch Rock Pop (Available in Germany, Austria and Switzerland) and SingStar Latino (Available in Spain and Portugal) delivering strong sales locally. SingStar's commitment to localisation has been the key to its success - titles are available with localised tracklists for French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Polish and Croatian Speaking Countries.

The Bourne Conspiracy is somewhat an amalgamation of the three Bourne films although the books are used as reference pretty heavily. You'll find no Matt Damon character models here! They really wanted to make this as entrenched in the Bourne lore as possible and as such there is very little gunplay involved. You must rely on your McGuyver like wits to help you make your way through the game, using the things you can find around you and your trusty fists to their greatest use. Remember that pen stabbing scene?

The first level we watched was a flashback based on a short segment from the first Bourne film that had been expanded upon to create more gameplay. As in most games, Mr Bourne has light and heavy attacks as well as the ability to block. Running and fighting will build up your adrenaline which will allow you take out up to three enemies at once.

One of the main fighting mechanics here is the Takedown. Standing near almost any object, window or piece of furniture while you attack will cause you to grab your opponent and pull off a special attack on them. For instance, want to fry that guy who's trying to tear your face off? Simply back up near the electrical box, grab your opponent and watch the fun as you smash the guys head into it and the sparks fly. The boss battles use the same mechanic, allowing you to use the surroundings to deal damage and each boss has his own signature set of takedowns. The environments are so full of these Takedown moves that it would be impossible to use them all in any one single boss battle. So the game allows you to go back and repeat boss battles and levels once they have been unlocked so you can try and make use of all the environments have to offer.

Bourne Identity also contains one driving level that involves a red and white Mini Cooper, but unfortunately it wasn't there for us to check out.

The camera work in this game is pretty amazing and when you go into these take down moves, the camera switches angles several times, mimicking tricky movie camera work. I've never seen it employed in a game quite like this before and it was pretty impressive looking. Artisitc players can also play cinematographer by opting to take control of the camera themselves during these scenes and checking out the action from any angle. Music plays a large part in the game as well with tunes by Paul Oakenfold who provides a different soundtrack song for each of the game's many levels.

Ultimately, this Bourne game is a single experience, so don't look for any co-op or vs modes. At the present time there is no DLC planned nor is there Home support for the PS3. Those things aside though, the game itself looks great and while I didn't get to put my own hands on the controller,the movement was smooth and it seemed like it was easy to pull off the Takedown moves. It's really nice to see a game taking advantage of environmental attacks like this rather than relying solely on an arsenal of guns. So, if you want to check out what this game is all about for yourself before purchase, a demo will be coming to your PS3 and 360 early next month.

Pacini was quoted last summer that the Retro Studios team would be taking a break from all things Metroid, but may not have had any idea how permanent it would be for some. There have been no announcements about the Nintendo-owned, Austin-based studio's next project, but wherever the recently departed wind up maybe they'll get to put some guns on some cars.

Key Metroid Prime Staff Leave Retro Studios [Shacknews]