Tuesday, February 26, 2008
D&D Insider Is Real D&D, Only On Your PC
11:30PM Luke Plunkett |
News
Capcom Sued Over Dead Rising
11:15PM Luke Plunkett | Two weeks ago, Capcom tried some pre-emptive measures aimed at heading off an impending lawsuit from The MKR Group, who hold the rights to George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead film. Didn’t work. MKR have since sued Capcom, claiming that Dead Rising is essentially an unlicensed adaptation of Romero’s masterpiece: Both works are dark comedies. In both, the recreational activities of the zombies and absurdly grotesque ‘kill scenes’ provide unexpected comedic relief. Both works provided thoughtful social commentary on the ‘mall culture’ zeitgeist, in addition to serving up a sizable portion of sensationalistic violence. You hear that, budding game and film makers of the world? You can’t pay homage to a classic anymore. It infringes on copyrights. Producer, game firm in rights battle over zombies [Reuters] More »
Mark Rein Promises Gears of War 2 “Good Surprises”
11:00PM Brian Ashcraft | Gears of War 2 is coming. And so soon! Not surprising since it’s been in development before Gears of War 1 shipped. Does that mean it’s going to be Gears rehash? You know, more of the same? Epic honcho Mark Rein says: Yes, we’re doing Gears of War 2! Did you ever doubt that? It’s been in development since before Gears of War 1 shipped… We had an executive review the other day and I can tell you it is definitely more badarse. It’s really good. One thing I can say is that compared to where we were in the February before we shipped the last Gears, the game is in phenomenal shape. There are some good surprises for people. Like a cohesive story? Rein Interview [Eurogamer] More »
News
British Sales Charts
10:30PM Luke Plunkett | 360 and PS3 developers, look upon these charts, and despair! Actually, British gamers, you, too, should look upon this list and despair, for were it not for Devil May Cry 4’s and UTIII’s appearance, this would be a top ten of woefully epic proportions. Unless you’re Nintendo. Or making rubbish games for a Nintendo console. If so, you’ll be tickled pink. 1) Mario & Sonic At The Olympics (Wii) 2) Mario & Sonic At The Olympics (DS) 3) Brain Training 4) Wii Play 5) Game Party (Wii) 6) Unreal Tournament III (PS3) 7) Cooking Mama 2 (DS) 8) Devil May Cry 4 (360) 9) More Brain Training 10) Sight Training (DS) [charts courtesy of ChartTrack] More »
Will Wright, Care Bears FREAK
10:00PM Brian Ashcraft | Yeah, we know Will Wright has talked about the Care Bears before, saying he’d like to see interstellar wars between Care Bears and Klingons. Totally understandable! But we had not idea he’s so into the Care Bears. Like really into the Care Bears. When asked what would surprise people the most about him, Will Wright answered: Probably my utter fascination with Care Bears. I could tell you more than you want to know about Care Bears. Oh, you want to know about Care Bears? …Yeah, ’cause they live in Care-a-Lot, which is above the Forest of Feelings where the Care Bear Cousins live, which is above Earth… But the Care Bear Cousins aren’t even Bears. They’re like lions and monkeys and things, but they call them Care Bear Cousins. Yeah… They have these particle beam weapons in their stomachs, and when they get really upset, they fire this Star Wars thing. Yeah, they’re cool. Nice try, Will! You’re gonna hafta do better. We are totally not creeped out. Will Wright ‘o’ Vision [Rock, Paper, Shotgun] More »
News
With Blueprint, EA Trying To Get All Creative
9:00PM Brian Ashcraft | Electronic Arts doesn’t just want to buy Take Two. It also wants to make smaller, more original games. The publisher is best know for huge, ubiquitous franchises like The Sims and Madden, but is looking to get creative with its new development arm, Blueprint. The Blueprint games will be made with smaller teams. So far, Blueprint is involved with Steven Spielberg’s BOOM BLOX and Will Wright’s Spore — both of which are massively hyped games. Former EA Los Angeles studio head Neal Young is helming EA Blueprint and says: We want to find a new way to make games with smaller teams. Blueprint is starting with games, but Young says it could expand to things like the internet, live events and even clothing. Clothing? Does that mean we’ll see the same styles year after year with only slight color and fabric tweaks? EA Lays Out Blueprint Division [Variety] [Pic] More »
Love Is A Procedurally-Generated MMO
8:30PM Luke Plunkett | This is Love. Love is different. It’s a little bit FPS, it’s a little bit MMO, it’s a little bit adventure game. The basic deal is as follows: it’s an online game, which you play in small groups, and it’s hoped those small groups will band together as they work through and explore the game world. Sounds OK so far, so here’s the kick: the game world is procedurally-generated. It’s highly ambitious, and also incredibly beautiful (that shot above is a screen), doubly so when you find out it’s all the work of one guy: Eskil Steenberg. You can check out Love’s progress at the site below. Love [Official Site, via Rock, Paper, Shotgun] More »
US Government Ready to Spy on MMO Players
8:00PM Brian Ashcraft | There are bad people on the internet. Really bad. Good thing the government is gonna get them! According to the US Director of National Intelligence, the country’s top snoopers are developing software that will help trackdown violent extremists congregating in online worlds. The proposed project falls under the post 9/11 “Data Mining Reporting Act.” (”Data mining” is defined as “a program involving pattern-based queries, searches or other analyses of 1 or more electronic databases” in order to “discover or locate a predictive pattern or anomaly indicative of terrorist or criminal activity…”) Called “The Reynard Project,” this new software will first study the way gamers behave online, and then apply this data while searching for violent extremists. Still in its preliminary stages, the ultimate goal is to “automatically detecting suspicious behavior and actions in the virtual world.” Thus, the program could detect “normal” MMO gaming behavior and pinpoint those who are deviating from that norm. Hello Big Brother! Sleepers Looking For Terrorists In WoW [Threat Level via GameSpot] Pic] More »
News
EA Modelled Their Recent Restructure On Rockstar
7:30PM Luke Plunkett | OK, so billions of dollars haven’t convinced anyone from Take-Two to sell. Time to get with the flattery, which EA must believe will get them somewhere. During the conference call from earlier today, EA boss John Riccitiello was positively gushing over T2’s star stable, and how they served as a big inspiration when it came to restructuring the publishing giant: I would note that we have enormous respect for Rockstar, and the leadership at Rockstar – this is an organisation and leadership team that has survived at least six CEO transitions in the last five years. So under any circumstances they’ve got staying power and they are resilient. I would also point out that our label structure in many ways is inspired by some of the work that has taken place within Rockstar, and Sam Houser’s particular beliefs on how these things ought to work…so I think we’d represent a good home for them. Well, nobody else thinks that, so let’s all hope flattery gets them nowhere, eh? More »
