Category Archives: Gaming News

IO Interactive Lays Off Half Their Employees

There can be only one!

A spokesperson from IO Interactive has said to Develop that the company is heading a straight forward path to only focus on developing games for the Hitman franchise. By this decision the company has laid off about half of their employees. The spokesperson has been quoted as saying, “However we have taken the difficult decision to cancel other studio projects and initiatives at IO and reduce the workforce in this studio, which will impact almost half of the employees currently at IO, as we make internal adjustments to face the challenges of today’s market.” This is something that is not new to companies especially in the video game business, heck it could be way worse, it can just officially shut down but this is different in the case that a wide lay off was caused by the company’s decision to officially focus on one kind of project. Continue reading →

David Wise Will Compose Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze

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Upon seeing Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze being revealed during in our live reaction video, I expressed hope that since we’re getting another DKC game, this means that many of the songs in the game will be remixes of the music in Diddy’s Kong Quest (like DKC and DKCR). Chief amongst these remixes would be Stickerbrush Symphony, the song many consider either the best song in DKC2, the best song in David Wise’s career, or the best videogame song of all time. Kenji Yamamoto did an excellent job remixing much of Wise’s work in Donkey Kong Country Returns, so I was wondering how he’ll handle a song such as that. It looks like I’ll be getting my answer as David Wise will be teaming up with Yamamoto to compose for Tropical Freeze.

We really haven’t heard much from Wise in the videogame scene. Last we heard of him, he was making remixes for fan albums at Overclocked ReMix. Any chance we get to talk about Wise on the podcast turns into one long trip down memory lane. To see Wise come back to the series that made him a household name amongst gamers is certainly a plus for this game.

More about DKC: Tropical Freeze’s soundtrack [Destructoid]

Have Crappy/No Internet Connection? “Get A 360”

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In an interview with GTTV’s Geoff Keighly, Microsoft’s Don Mattrick was asked about how exactly they’ll court people into getting an Xbox One should they have no stable internet connection (or any for that matter). He replied with, “Fortunately we have a product for people who aren’t able to get some form of content. It’s called Xbox 360.” In other words, if you’re not ready to sign in every day at the parole offices of Xbox One, well then you’re not ready for Xbox One. Stay on the Xbox 360.

Mattrick probably won’t get any flak for this from his staff, but this is just a boneheaded thing to say. Right now, while Microsoft is still poised to sell Xbox 360 consoles, they’re primary focus is to sell as many Xbox One consoles as possible at launch. His comments also smack of his whole “Backwards” comment he made. I mean, it’s okay to tell your consumers to get an older console if they’re more comfortable getting that one, like Nintendo and Sony have done. But the delivery of his message is just arrogant.

They say that for each console manufacturer, the third consoles are the ones that see the company falter due to an overabundance of arrogance. It happened with the Gamecube (though it’s not the third). It happened with Sony and the early life of the PS3. And now it’s happening to Microsoft. I guess companies never learn.

Thanks to David for the heads-up.

[via Youtube]

[E3 2013] Nintendo Direct Live Reaction

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Well things are certainly going a differently at the house of Mario. Instead of having a press conference, Nintendo is holding a Direct broadcast showcasing what’s to come for the Wii U. The Wii U so far has had a very sluggish year with barely any games released for the console. However, will this be the Direct that turns things around for Nintendo? They did confirm that the next Super Smash Bros. will be shown. What about that mysterious “X” game from earlier this year? And what about Retro Studios’ newest game? All will be known today.

The Nintendo Direct Broadcast will begin at 10:00AM. The above embed is a live reaction of us watching the broadcast.

[E3 2013] Sony Press Conference Live Reaction

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Some would say Sony had a rather lackluster reveal of their PS4. Some say they had a better one due to Xbox One’s reveal and post-show PR being a travesty. We’ve seen the games, we’ve seen the controller, and we’ve seen some of the plans that Sony has with the PS4. However, in light of the things Xbox One is doing (namely limiting used games and required internet connection), there’s still some unanswered questions. Will Sony answer them? Will we see some cool games? Will they finally announce something regarding The Last Guardian!?

The Sony Conference begins at 9:00PM EST. The above embed is a live reaction of us watching the conference.

Rare Is Not Developing Killer Instinct 3

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Not sure whether to call this a good thing or a bad thing. While the hype took over our senses, we missed another logo at the end of the trailer that accompanied Rare Ltd. and Microsoft Studios, Double Helix. Who’s Double Helix? Well, they’re the the culmination of Foundation 9, The Collective, and Shiny Entertainment, the latter of which are known for their work on Earthworm Jim. While being involved with Shiny Entertainment might be a good thing, their track record lacks fighting games and is less than stellar.

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Let’s Watch That Crimson Dragon Trailer Again, This Time With SOUND!

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If there was one massive embarrassment at the Xbox conference, it had to be the muted audio that occurred not once, but twice! While Battlefield 4 got a second wind, Crimson Dragon didn’t get the chance. So here we are, watch the trailer like it was intended. Gotta say, shame on Microsoft for botching a trailer with some beautiful music.

Crimson Dragon – Xbox One Announce Trailer [Youtube]

[E3 2013] Microsoft Press Conference Live Reaction

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Today is the day that’ll shape the future of Microsoft’s newest console, the Xbox One. Reaction so far has been less than enthusiastic, with news of used games being limited somehow, required internet connections, privacy and Kinect, and a complete and total lack backwards compatibility, even with XBLA games. Microsoft said that this conference is all about software. What will they show that will sway the public opinion of the Xbox One in the right direction?

The press conference will begin at 12:30PM EST. The above embed is a live reaction of us watching the conference.

DuckTales Remastered Footage Shows Cutscenes, Updated Music, And The Old King’s Back Scratcher

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The guys over at IGN posted two videos on WayForward’s upcoming DuckTales Remastered. Scrooge still played like he always did in the original, fighting back using the Pogo cane and swinging it like a golf club. The stage shown above is Transylvania. WayForward’s interpretation of the game puts some context as to why Scrooge’s nephews are scattered all over the castle. We also see a little bit of the boss fight against Magica. If you want to see the boss fight in full (and played horribly by the people attending PAX East), refer to our previous article.

Amazon stage after the break.

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Mighty Switch Force 2 Ready To Switch It Up Next Week

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Now isn’t this a big surprise. Last we heard about Mighty Switch Force 2, developer WayForward said in early May that development was a wrap and what was left was “testing, testing, and more testing.” While also alluding to finals season for colleges, actual game testing varies from game to game. But now it looks like that phase has finished and the game is set for release.

Mighty Switch Force! 2 Trailer

Dragon’s Crown Voicepack DLC Free For the First Month

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Want a reason to have the Sorceress narrate your journey like it’s sponsored by Vodafone? Well you might be in luck. Atlus has confirmed that for the first month of Dragon’s Crown’s release, the Character Narration voice pack will be free. With this voice pack, the character you pick for your journey will narrate the story instead of the regular narrator. Not quite sure which parts have narration, but a good guess would be when you enter a dungeon and the narrator tells the stories pertaining to that dungeon.

This will apply for all six playable characters. It’s unknown what language the voice pack will be.

After the month is over, the DLC will cost $1.99

Dragon’s Crown DLC Replaces Game’s Narrator With The Six Characters [Siliconera]

Director of El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron Takes Back His Game From UTV Ignition

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Living up to the memetic mutation of the game’s hero, Enoch, El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron may have some life left in it. Sawaki Takerasu, the game’s director, stated that he wanted to “develop a potential El Shaddai business moving forward.” A sequel perhaps? Well, given the game’s influence and biblical story of a certain… “snappy” character, an El Shaddai sequel was bound to happen. However, the game’s publisher, UTV Ignition, faced an uncertain future.

The story of UTV Ignition is one that’s involved many parties, including Atlus, Vanillaware, and Disney. Back in early 2012, Disney had acquired the Mumbai based UTV, the parent company of Ignition Entertainment. Afterwards, the fate of many of UTV Ignition’s games were up in the air. UTV briefly showed life when it published Magical Drop V, but Dragon’s Crown was in danger. Atlus stepped in to help Vanillaware finish Dragon’s Crown and is now slated to release the game on August 6th.

That leaves El Shaddai, one of the only games Ignition both developed and published. While Disney owning UTV could’ve meant more funding Ignition, we have yet to see that happen. With Ignition’s increasing irrelevance, El Shaddai could’ve very well gone down with the ship. There’s also the fact that Disney has a sort image that some would call rather conservative, unfitting for a game like El Shaddai. But now there’s no problem since the director has his game back, so everything’s fine.

El Shaddai director acquires IP rights from previous publisher [Eurogamer]

EA Senior Engineer Takes To Twitter, Calls Wii U “Crap”

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Twitter, Twitter, Twitter. Once again the micro-blogging platform rears its ugly head, potentially putting someone’s career on the line. EA Senior Engineer Bob Summerwill took to Twitter today to start a little mini rant against the Wii U. Speaking to Scott Hanselman, who simply asked a question, Summerwill took this opportunity to vent about some of the Wii U’s shortcomings, namely the lack of games on the console since the beginning of this year (though that could change). He kicked off his tirade with “The Wii U is crap. Less powerful than an Xbox 360, poor online/store. Weird tablet. Nintendo are walking dead at this point.” The tweets have since been deleted. But IGN has screencaps of them for the public to see.

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Nintendo Direct 5.17.2013 Recap: Info On New Sonic Game, New Pikmin Characters, And “E3 For The People”

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Another Nintendo Direct has gone by this morning. It wasn’t long, but it offered some new info on games we already knew about, namely some release dates on long awaited games. There were a couple of reveals too involving Sonic The Hedgehog. Before we jump, let’s talk about the teaser image up there. It’s from the next game in the Sonic series, titled Sonic: Lost World. So what exactly are we seeing there? Well there’s Sonic on top of the Tornado (most likely piloted by Tails). But then there’s this fractured globe, connected by hexagon-shaped landmasses. There’s some aquatic areas, some plains, a forest, an ice cap, and volcanic areas. There’s also two desert-like areas, probably one resembling a standard desert and the other a more rugged, American-styled desert.

Iwata states that Nintendo is partnering with Sega for this venture. It’s not certain how deep this venture goes, but we do know that Sonic: Lost World will be exclusive to the Wii U and 3DS.

More on Nintendo Direct after the break.

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How Do Videogame Characters Make Whoopie? This Video Has The Answers

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Though it’s pretty obvious how Mario and Peach rock the casbah (I think), how do other characters in other videogame worlds squeak the bed? Luigi, sadly, is just enjoying watching his brother get nookie instead of doing the same thing to his boo. The Sims find a new toy to play with above their heads. And Chell from Portal somehow does not fall through the portal she’s sitting on. I mean sure there’s a guy there holding her on the other side, but her downward inertia should transfer to sideways inertia and make the guy holding her fa — Nevermind. But that Zelda. Link is one lucky, lucky hero.

Be sure to click the closed caption button for English subtitles.

SURICATE – La Vie Sexuelle des Jeux Vidéo / Sex in Video Games [Youtube, via RuinedChildhood]