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Sony Europe Boss: No Cuts For Us
Sony are swinging the axe. Jobs must go. And while “headcount reductions” are in store for the games division, Sony Europe boss David Reeves reckons it won’t affect his part of the PlayStation Kingdom. Speaking with GI.biz, a Sony spokesperson has said Reeves feels that the restructuring processes Sony will undertake will be mostly confined…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 23, 2009 - Uncategorized
So, What’s Happening With FEZ?
At last year’s GDC, the trailer for indie title FEZ garnered much attention — and an IGF award. Well, that was last year, what about this year. The game’s developer Polytron has just launched its website with some FEZ screens and some very terse info about the game. That info is: Release: 2009 Platform: TBA…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 23, 2009 - Uncategorized
Intel Are, Yes, Sacking A Bunch Of People
In keeping with today’s theme, Intel – manufacturers of processors that are probably in the machine you’re reading this on and maybe also in a machine you game on – announced some job cuts. The company are to close four of their manufacturing plants: two in Malaysia, one in the Philippines and one in the…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 23, 2009 - Uncategorized
Hot Chicks *Love* Zombies
There’s a couple viral Onechanbara vids doing the internet rounds, and they’re, well, pretty much what you’d expect: zombies and bikinis. As we previously posted, D3Publisher has reaffirmed the release dates for Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers and Onechanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad. They’ll be out in February with zombies and, yes, bikinis. Oh yeah, hot chicks…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 23, 2009 - Uncategorized
Peggle…On iPhone!
Ah, Peggle. You either love it, or you’ve never played it. While the game’s just fine on PC, it’s always seemed more suitable for on-the-go gaming, much like Tetris was on the GameBoy. So it’s awesome to hear that developers PopCap will be bringing the game to the iPhone and iPod Touch “in the first…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 23, 2009 - Uncategorized
Square Enix Bringing DS Puzzle Game To LIVE
Guess what? Another Square Enix title is making its way to Xbox LIVE in Japan. Let’s have a look. Puzzle DS title Yosumin will be hitting LIVE this spring. Previously, it was announced that iPhone title Crystal Defenders will be on LIVE this spring — as well as PSN and WiiWare. スクエニ、「Xbox LIVE」でカジュアルゲーム2作品を発売 [GPara]
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 23, 2009 - Uncategorized
Far Cry 2 Sells Well, But Is Prince Of Persia Really A Slow Starter?
Ubisoft released some sales figures today as part of their financial results reporting. Listed are the to-date numbers for Far Cry 2, Prince of Persia, Raving Rabbids TV Party & Shaun White Snowboarding. Shaun White enjoyed a surprisingly strong debut, selling 2.3 million copies worldwide and becoming the second-highest-selling sports title in the US behind…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 23, 2009 - Uncategorized
Taiko no Tatsujin DS Series Surpasses 1 Million Shipped
That’s a lot of drumming — and all on Japanese DSes. Namco Bandai has announced that the Taiko no Tatsujin DS series has hit the million mark. The franchise has two DS tiles: Taiko no Tatsujin DS: Touchi de Dokodon! and Taiko no Tatsujin: 7 Islands of Adventure. They went on sale July 24, 2007…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 23, 2009 - Uncategorized
EVE Online Banker Robs From The Rich, Gives To Himself
EVE Online has banks. Run by EVE Online players. And EVE Online players are as susceptible to embezzling over 80 billion ISK (the game’s currency) then doing a runner as any of us. Having found himself in the position of investments manager for the in-game bank Dynasty Banking, player Xabier had massive amounts of in-game…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 23, 2009 - Uncategorized
Forbes Writer Stands By Calling Rock Band A “Shameless Knockoff” Of Guitar Hero
Earlier this week, Forbes writer Peter C. Beller made a tit of himself when he swallowed some Activision PR and reprinted it in his article on Bobby Kotick. Today, surprisingly, he stands by it. To recap, in the original piece, Beller called Rock Band a “shameless knockoff” of Guitar Hero, seemingly oblivious of the fact…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 23, 2009 - Uncategorized
Yahoo! Auctions Japan Issues R4 Warning
Yahoo! Auctions Japan has a warning for those sellers putting R4 carts on the online auction blocks. Citing the efforts of Nintendo and third party publishers under the Unfair Competition Prevention Law, Yahoo! points out the legality of these devices themselves has still yet been disclosed by the courts. From a Yahoo! posted notice: “As…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 23, 2009 - Uncategorized
“Bulk Of” Microsoft’s 1400 Job Cuts To Strike Entertainment Division
According to sources speaking with ZDNet’s resident Microsoft blogger, Mary-Jo Foley, “the bulk of [Microsoft’s] immediate 1,400-person cuts” are going to fall on the Entertainment & Devices Group. Which includes the Xbox team. We were told the same thing earlier today, and when contacted Microsoft PR issued the following statement: “This is a company-wide action,…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 23, 2009 - Uncategorized
India Gets First Indian Made 3D Game
Video games based on Hollywood movies are nothing new. Video games based on Bollywood movies are newer. Hit flick Ghajini is getting just that. A PC version of the movie has been launched this month. It’s the first 3D Indian game and will be getting a worldwide marketing push. Says Sashi Reddy, boss of the…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 23, 2009 - Uncategorized
Gamerscore Blog Team Let Go As Part Of Microsoft Layoffs
Sorry to keep hitting you with these bad news stories. Maybe things will get happier next week. But today, things are bleak, with news now that Microsoft’s Gamerscore blog team have been laid off. We heard last week that the blog had been shut down, but there was always the chance that was simply part…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 22, 2009 - Uncategorized
Ubisoft Expects Consoles “Probably” By 2011 – 2012
Never mind that Sony is touting a ten year PS3 life cycle, Microsoft says it doesn’t see a new Xbox anytime soon and the Wii is still hard to find. Don’t tell Ubisoft! The company expects new consoles in probably 2~3 years. What’s more, the French publisher is gearing up for these new consoles by…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 22, 2009 - Uncategorized
Presenting A New, Different Street Fighter Movie Poster
The Street Fighter movie poster we’ve seen so far? Bit rubbish. This is the “international” version. Does the addition of some hot Vega claw = improvement? Other changes: gone is the confusing montage-on-white motif of the US poster, replaced by one that looks more like the poster to a movie about martial arts. Also helps…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 22, 2009 - Uncategorized
Game Journalist In Murder Suicide
Former game journalist Jason Montes, 33 years-old, and his estranged spouse, 25, were found dead by police on January 11. He is suspected in this apparent murder suicide. The bodies were found at the home of his wife Serena Montes. Police reported that a man in the area had threatened suicide, and when they arrived…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 22, 2009 - Uncategorized
Ether Saga Online Closed Beta Cutely Approaches
Perfect World Entertainment have announced the closed beta of their latest anime-flavored MMORPG Ether Saga Online is just around the corner, and loaded for with bears. Ether Saga Online is based on the Chinese literary classic, Journey to the West, which means absolutely nothing to a man not well-versed in Chinese literary classics. What does…
By Mike Fahey Published January 22, 2009 - Uncategorized
Weekly Japanese Hardware Sales Still Takin’ It Easy
Japan is in no rush to get back to its regular video game hardware buying habits, with sales cooling across the board. Even though we have a bunch of new releases, they aren’t spurring sales. Hardware rankings stay as-is, with the Nintendo DSi still grabbing the biggest slice of the hardware sales pie, with the…
By Michael McWhertor Published January 22, 2009 - Uncategorized
Flight Simulator Devs Grounded By Microsoft Job Cuts
Microsoft are slashing jobs. 5000 of them. While most of those won’t affect gaming divisions, some of them are, with sweeping cuts announced for the company’s Flight Simulator development studio. According to sources speaking with Gamasutra, “a large portion” of the staff at ACES Studio – based in Redmond, and wholly owned by Microsoft –…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 22, 2009