Author - Jerry Paxton

SCEA Purchases Gakai for 380 Million

2012/07/02
Jerry Paxton
News

Tokyo, July 2, 2012 – Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) today announced that it entered into a definitive agreement on June 30, 2012 (Japan Time) to acquire Gaikai Inc., the world’s leading interactive cloud-based gaming company, for approximately USD 380 million. Through the acquisition, SCE will establish a new cloud service, ensuring that it continues to provide users with truly innovative and immersive interactive entertainment experiences.

“By combining Gaikai’s resources including its technological strength and engineering talent with SCE’s extensive game platform knowledge and experience, SCE will provide users with unparalleled cloud entertainment experiences,” said Andrew House, President and Group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. “SCE will deliver a world-class cloud-streaming service that allows users to instantly enjoy a broad array of content ranging from immersive core games with rich graphics to casual content anytime, anywhere on a variety of internet-connected devices.”

“SCE has built an incredible brand with PlayStation and has earned the respect of countless millions of gamers worldwide,” said David Perry, CEO of Gaikai Inc., “We’re honored to be able to help SCE rapidly harness the power of the interactive cloud and to continue to grow their ecosystem, to empower developers with new capabilities, to dramatically improve the reach of exciting content and to bring breathtaking new experiences to users worldwide.”

Established in 2008 and headquartered in Aliso Viejo, California, Gaikai has developed the highest quality, fastest interactive cloud-streaming platform in the world that enables the

streaming of quality games to a wide variety of devices via the internet. With this acquisition, SCE will establish a cloud service and expand its network business by taking full advantage of Gaikai’s revolutionary technology and infrastructure including data centers servicing dozens of countries and key partners around the world.

The transaction is subject to certain regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.

SCE will continue to aggressively expand a new world of entertainment through the introduction of innovative technologies and the delivery of amazing experiences.

Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch – Wizard’s Edition Announced

2012/07/02
Jerry Paxton
News

SAN JOSE, Calif., (June 29, 2012) – Leading video game publisher and developer NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. today announced that it will be releasing a limited-run Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch – Wizard’s Edition alongside the standard version of the game on January 22, 2013 in North America exclusively for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system.  Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, an epic tale of a boy name Oliver travelling between two worlds on a quest to save his mother, is developed by the critically acclaimed Japanese development studio, LEVEL-5. The game features animations and cut-scenes produced and supervised by the legendary Japanese animation company, Studio Ghibli, and features music scored by the world-renowned composer Joe Hisaishi.

The Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch – Wizard’s Edition will include a 300+ page hardback physical copy of the Wizard’s Companion, the spellbook Oliver uses throughout his journey in the game.  The full-color Wizard’s Companion contains a bestiary of all the creatures found in the game along with in-depth item descriptions, spells and history of the other world.  The limited-run Wizard’s Edition will also contain a plush doll of Drippy, Oliver’s guide through his adventures, as well as exclusive “golden mite” and “golden drongo” DLC familiars.  The Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch – Wizard’s Edition has a MSRP of $99.99 and is available for pre-order now, exclusively at www.clubNAMCO.com for a limited time.

Garnering over a dozen BEST RPG of E3 2012 award nominations and winner of GameTrailer.com’s BEST RPG of E3 2012 award, Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is a heart-warming tale of a young boy named Oliver, who embarks on a journey into another world to become a wizard in an attempt to bring his mother back from the dead. Along the way Oliver makes new friends and tames many of the wonderful creatures that inhabit the world, raising them to battle other creatures on his behalf as he takes on formidable enemies.

Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch will be available January 22, 2013 in North America and will include both English and Japanese voiceovers. For more information about Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, please visit: http://www.namcobandaigames.com.  To pre-order your copy of Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch – Wizard’s Edition, please visit; http://www.clubNAMCO.com.

Death Rally PC Screenshots

2012/07/02
Jerry Paxton
News

HELSINKI, FINLAND (June 29, 2012) – Death Rally, the critically-acclaimed, classic, top-down action racing game, will be returning to PCs on August 3. Death Rally, already a smashing success on mobile platforms, has now been entirely rebuilt for PC – including incredible graphics and beautiful art shining through its new rendering engine. Camera and controls have been fully optimized for PC and career mode has been improved by unifying the single player and multiplayer progress. The PC version also includes new features such as the new track “Savo” and a return of the “Shadow Man”, a familiar figure from the original Death Rally.

Originally released on PC in 1996, Death Rally has since been adapted for mobile platforms, where it’s surpassed 11 million downloads and 110 million play sessions. On bringing Death Rally back to PC gamers, Matias Myllyrinne, CEO at Remedy, said “Our PC fans have been clamoring for Death Rally and it’s time we finally bring it there. It’s been fantastic getting the game back to PC with the help of our development partners, Mountain Sheep and Cornfox & Bros.; Death Rally has come full circle now.”

Death Rally hits Steam August 3, 2012 for $9.99.

Death Rally is an action-packed, completely chaotic, destructive racing game with guns, gasoline and explosions! It has a lengthy career mode and global multiplayer mayhem. Death Rally is also available for the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and Android.

For more Death Rally information, follow us on Facebook and Twitter: www.facebook.com/deathrally and www.twitter.com/remedygames

Screenshots

New Of Orcs and Men Screenshots

2012/07/02
Jerry Paxton
News

Cyanide Studio has unleashed some new screenshots from its upcoming Of Orcs and Men – Enjoy!

Screenshots

Dishonored E3 Walkthrough Videos Released

2012/06/28
Jerry Paxton
E3, News

We got the chance to checkout Bethesda Softworks and Arkane Studios upcoming Dishonored in a behind closed doors demo at E3 this year. Now, the developers have released videos of the demo we saw to the public – enjoy!

Walkthrough Part 1 (Violence)

Walkthrough Part 2 (Stealth)

Radical Entertainment Gets Major Staff Reduction

2012/06/28
Jerry Paxton
Industry News, News

Looks like another talented studio is on the verge of being shutdown. Activision has laid off a major portion of Prototype developer, Radical Entertainment, staff. When reached for comment, Activision released the following statement:

Although we made a substantial investment in the Prototype IP, it did not find a broad commercial audience. Radical is a very talented team of developers, however, we have explored various options for the studio, including a potential sale of the business, and have made a difficult conclusion through the consultation process that the only remaining option is a significant reduction in staff. As such, some employees will remain working for Radical Entertainment supporting other existing Activision Publishing projects, but the studio will cease development of its own games going forward.

The developer has since informed media sites that the upcoming PC version of Prototype 2 will not be affected by these layoffs. We wish all those affected the best in the future.

Guild Wars 2 Official Launch Date

2012/06/28
Jerry Paxton
News

SEATTLE – June 28, 2012: NCsoft®, the world’s premier publisher and developer of massively multiplayer online games (MMOs), and ArenaNet™, developer of the renowned Guild Wars franchise, today announce that Guild Wars 2, the most anticipated game of 2012, will launch in both Europe and North America on August 28, 2012.

Building on sales of more than seven million units of the original game, Guild Wars 2 redefines massively multiplayer online roleplaying games with visceral, action-oriented combat; a gorgeous, living world full of constantly evolving dynamic events; customizable personal storylines that are unique to each player; intense Player vs. Player combat between small teams or massive armies; and most importantly, a shared online world where players work together as allies instead of as rivals — all with no monthly subscription fee.

“We’re offering gamers an experience that delivers on the promise of online gaming with a truly social experience in an immense, shared world,” said Mike O’Brien, president and co-founder of ArenaNet. “After five years of creation, development, and polish, announcing the launch date of Guild Wars 2 is a huge milestone for us, but the thing we’re most looking forward to is seeing gamers from all over the globe explore this world and begin creating their own stories.”

As they prepare for launch, ArenaNet will focus on polishing Guild Wars 2 to ensure the highest quality experience on launch day, which includes hosting a final Beta Weekend Event July 20-22, 2012.

For more information about the Beta Weekend Event and how to pre-purchase Guild Wars 2, visit www.guildwars2.com.

NBA 2K13 Dynasty Edition Announced

2012/06/28
Jerry Paxton
News

New York, NY – June 28, 2012 – 2K Sports today announced that the NBA® 2K13 Dynasty Edition will be available on October 2, 2012 for $99.99 on the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system. Limited quantities of the Dynasty Edition are being produced and fans are encouraged to pre-order at participating retailers.

In addition to a full retail copy of NBA 2K13 – the next installment of the top-rated and top-selling NBA video game simulation franchise* – the Dynasty Edition will include the all-new downloadable NBA 2K13 All-Star add-on content presented by Sprite, an exclusive NBA 2K13 full-sized basketball from Spalding® and Art of Basketball, exclusive 2K Sports Ink’d earbuds from Skullcandy, and an NBA 2K13 basketball textured controller skin from Skinit.

“With this special edition package, we want to give something meaningful to our great fans,” said Jason Argent, vice president of marketing for 2K Sports. “This is an awesome deal that is sure to please fans, and will become a must-have item while supplies last.”

NBA 2K13 is the follow-up to NBA 2K12, which has sold-in over 5 million units worldwide and won more than 25 Sports Game of the Year awards from outlets including Gamespot, Sports Illustrated and the Spike Video Game Awards.

NBA 2K13 is being developed by Visual Concepts, a 2K Sports studio. NBA 2K13 and the NBA 2K13 Dynasty Edition will be available on October 2, 2012 in North America and October 5, 2012 internationally. NBA 2K13 is not yet rated by the ESRB.

To preorder NBA 2K13 Dynasty Edition, visit http://2kgam.es/BuyNBA2K13.

For more information on 2K Sports, visit www.2KSports.com.

For more information on NBA 2K13, visit http://www.facebook.com/NBA2K.

2K Sports is a division of 2K, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO).

*According to 2008 – 2012 Gamerankings.com and The NPD Group estimates of U.S. retail video game sales through May 2012.