Monthly Archives: April 2009

Epic president Mike Capps has added some colour to remarks he made earlier in April about working hours at an IGDA-sponsored meeting.

Capps apparently said that working a 40-hour week was “absurd” and that 60-hour weeks at Epic were part of the “corporate culture”.

Following the meeting, designer Greg Costikyan blasted the boss on his blog, claiming he was guilty of “exploitative practices”.

In response, Capps told Joystiq:

Honestly, I’m not sure which of the various things that got everybody so upset. I think the main one was that if someone walks into the door and says, “I refuse to ever work past 5pm, I’ll never work more that 40 hours a week and you can’t make me”, they’re probably not a fit for us. Just the same way they wouldn’t be a fit, I assume for you, if they said, “Well, I’ll do E3 but I’m out at 5 and I’m not writing any articles till the next morning.” Or a lawyer or a doctor saying, “I don’t deliver babies after 5 and I never go out after 40 hours a week.” I mean, our average number of work hours is what, 49, 50 in the US? So to have someone walk in and say they refuse to ever crunch for an E3 demo, it’s kind of silly. It just shows that they’re probably not passionate about what they do. That’s very different from saying that we force people to work hard all the time.

There’s a full interview here.

Not much going on in PlayStation America this week, as there wasn’t in PlayStation Europe. There’s more LBP DLC there, and a Mahjong Tales booster pack, but don’t expect the moon.

Because it isn’t there. Take a look on the PS Blog.

Microsoft’s reported results for the quarter ending March 31, showing $13.65 billion in revenue across the corporation. $1.57 billion of the total came from the Entertainment and Devices division.

Total revenue was down 6 percent. The division responsible for 360 saw a drop of 2 percent.

The company said 1.7 million 360s were sold in the quarter, a 30 percent rise on the same period previous.

Eidos and Warner Bros. has confirmed that the Joker will be a playable character in Batman: Arkham Asylum exclusively on PS3.

The Joker will be available at launch as a free downloadable item on PSN, but will only be playable in the Challenge Maps.

Looks like the PlayStation Home ad just went up a bit earlier than the press release is all.

Read on through the break.
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Michael Pachter has told Gamasutra that a mature audience just isn’t “there” for Nintendo DS.

Citing the lower than expected sale for Chinatown Wars, Pachter estimated that between the US and Europe, only 10 percent of the DS user base are males age 18-30. This is the target audience for Mature rated games.

The analyst feels that this has a lot to do with the way Nintendo advertises its product.

“There may be a lot of ‘adults’ who own DS hardware, but look at the ads: America Ferrera, Liv Tyler, Beyonce, and Carrie Underwood are all targeted at teen girls or women,” said Pachter. “It’s pretty clear to me that the ‘older’ DS demographic is largely female, and that they play Brain Training, Nintendogs, and Rhythm Heaven, not GTA: Chinatown Wars.”

Pachter believes that this is not because the market is tired of the GTA franchise, only that it would rather play the series on a console.

“I do not believe the market is tired of the GTA franchise,” Pachter says. “The other dimension is that the 10 percent of DS owners probably own a console as well, and if they’re inclined to buy GTA, they would probably do it on a console first. Few people buy the same game on the DS and on a console.”

Take-Two plans to continue it’s advertising support of the game, to try to raise awareness for the franchise on DS. Pachter, however, feels the company may be wasting its time.

“We can’t say that Take-Two made a bad game or marketed it poorly,” he said. “Instead, they created an M-rated game for a largely E and T audience, and those DS owners who are legally allowed to buy an M-rated game are not particularly interested.

“There’s no point making games for an audience that is not there.”

More through the link.

We came across one lonely screenshot for Punch Out!! yesterday, showing off the versus mode.

Since it was one shot, we figured we would not bother you with it.

Today though, two more have popped up and that’s reason enough to post we reckon.

Head on over to Eurogamer Germany and take a look.

Game’s out for Wii on May 18.

Attorney Peter Althin has filed a motion with the Swedish Court of Appeals, seeking a retrial for Pirate Bay clients Frederik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, Carl Lundstrom and Peter Sunde.

Apparently the judge in the case, Tomas Norstrom, is a member of several anti-piracy groups and Althin feels it created a conflict of interest resulting in a biased verdict against his clients.

Judge Norstrom has denied any improper conduct or influence regarding his decision.

The Pirate Bay owners were recently convicted for breaking copyright law and sentenced to a year in prison.

More over on GamePolitics.

BioWare just confirmed via Twitter that an OXM Mass Effect 2 issue will hit subs in late May and go on general sale in early June.

There’s no clue there as to what’s actually included in the mag, but you’d hope it was on the cover. Being as it’s Mass Effect 2, and all.

E3? Definitely.

A new video and some game shots for FUEL popped up on various outlets today.

Looks like an interesting racer.

It’s out next month for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

Hit the links to have a look.

2K Marin’s Melissa Miller, senior producer on Bioshock 2, has told MTV that using Vita-Chambers in Bioshock 2 will make the game seem “very different.”

Apparently, the default Vita-Chamber setting will be “off,” but enabling them will not only regenerate your health, but also that of your enemies.

There’s plenty more through the link.

Bioshock 2 comes out later this year on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

PopCap announced today a free Peggle add-on for World of Warcraft.

It includes WoW-themed backgrounds, a custom “talent tree” and a new “/peggleloot” option, allowing players to “roll” for loot based on the best Peggle shot.

PopCap previously released a Bejewled add-on for WoW, and you can get both over at FileShack.

Via Shacknews.

An advertisement appearing in PlayStation Home has revealed that the Joker is a playable character in the PS3 exclusive challenge map levels for Batman: Arkham Asylum.

Kotaku readers sent in shots of the billboard which shows off the famous villain and the mention of him being a playable character.

The challenge maps are in addition to the main game and allow players to repeat levels to achieve the best possible score.

Hit the link for more.

Paramount and Bad Robot Interactive announced today that Star Trek: D-A-C  will be available on Xbox Live Arcade in May.

PC and PSN users will get it at a later date.

Inspired by the upcoming Star Trek movie, D-A-C is a pick-up-and-play single, cop-op and multiplayer space shooter where players take the captain’s chair and engage in battles.

Up to 12 players can compete in combat controlling one of three Starfleet or Romulan ships in Team DeathMatch, Assault, and Conquest modes.

Single and co-op modes are available as well.

More information is through the break, and screens can be viewed over on Eurogamer Germany.
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The Ancient Wisdom booster pack for Mahjong Tales arrived on PSN today.

Once downloaded, players get 25 new layouts that resemble animals, fish, insects, a Level Editor, and all-new Trophies.

Mahjong Tales: Ancient Wisdom Booster Pack will run you $4.99, and there is a video of it posted after the jump.
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Exhibitors and musical acts were announced today for the Penny Arcade Expo.

Attendees can expect exhibits from: Bethesda, BioWare, Blizzard, Capcom, EA, Microsoft, Nintendo, Rockstar, Telltale, Ubisoft, Valve, and WB Games.

Musical acts include: Anamanaguchi, Freezepop, Jonathan Coulton, MC Frontalot, Metroid Metal, and Paul & Storm.

More announcements are expected before the show, and floor space is filling quickly.

PAX runs September 4-6 in Seattle.

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Activision has revealed new tracks for Guitar Hero: Smash Hits.

Posted after the break, you will notice each one was pulled from Guitar Hero II.

Smash Hits will be released June 16 and is comprised of “favorites” from the entire franchise.

Previously announced tracks can be found here.
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Lionhead has posted the achievements for its forthcoming DLC “See the Future” on its blog.

There’s 250 more to get, taking the total tally to 1,350 Points.

There be most likely spoilers through the link, so be warned.

“See the Future” is out next month.

Over on the official US Sony site, a lovely flash video claims that an “electrifying announcement” will be made on April 27.

The video throws inFamous and Uncharted 2 into the mix, so it’s something regarding one of the two.

Or both. We honestly have no idea.

Guess we’ll find out come Monday.

Go see for yourself.

Loads of add-on content for the European PSN Store this week, along with demos for Red Faction: Guerrilla and UFC 2009 Undisputed.

PSP users can get Need For Speed ProStreet, and there are the prerequisite Guitar Hero and Rock Band updates.

Full list courtesy of Joystiq is after the break.

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EA has launched the EA Sports Complex launched on PlayStation Home.

The space offers users a place to play casual multiplayer games and watch trailers and videos from EA Sports.

First up is a tournament-style Texas Hold ‘Em Poker game and a racing game featuring formula-style cars. Coming soon is a golf game complete with a driving range.

“We are extremely proud of the compelling and immersive online offerings that are available at launch for EA SPORTS Complex,” said EA’s Rob Burnett.“EA Sprost Complex is a dynamic space and was specifically designed to appeal to not only the hardcore sports fan but casual gamers alike.”

Log into Home to see for yourself.

Press release posted below.

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