News: Gaming and industry

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Minecraft sales pass seven million on PC



Minecraft sales continue unabated. Daniel Kaplan, business developer at Mojang, revealed today that the PC version of Minecraft has exceeded sales of seven million units; comparatively, the Xbox Live Arcade version has sold three million.

The seven millionth sale comes a week after Minecraft's 1.31 patch, which adds trading functionality and combines both single-player and multiplayer into one unified mode.

LEGO: Lord of the Rings gamescom trailer is pretty adorable


Team Fortress 2 Mann vs Machine adds co-op mode


FIFA Soccer 13 - Developer Diary: Skill Games


Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs narrative won’t be as stripped-back as Dear Esther’s
Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs will retain some elements of developer Dan Pinchbeck’s last adventure, Dear Esther, but won’t be the same kind of game.



Thechineseroom’s atmospheric adventure has its fans, but some detractors were unhappy with its exploratory nature, preferring more overly narrated experiences. Speaking at GDC Europe 2012, Pinchbeck was asked whether Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs would be the same kind of game.

As reported by Joystiq, Pinchbeck said A Machine for Pigs will obey the conventions of a “classic horror story”. That said, the developer will use some of what was learned during Dear Esther’s development.

“What we’re going to try and do is we’re going to try and keep the lessons that we’ve learned in terms of not funneling the plot down, not being really explicit with the player about what’s going on, using inference, using suggestion,” he said.

Pinchbeck said thechineseroom is aiming to ensure there are plenty of opportunities for players to piece together the story for themselves, or even write their own stories from evidence presented, because it works so well in horror.

“You pretty much can’t represent anything in a horror game that’s going to be more scary than what the player thinks you’re going to represent, and the moment you actually show it, you’ve lost an awful lot of the power you’ve got to scare them,” he said.

Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs will release in 2013. It’s a follow up to Frictional’s terrifying 2010 effort, and will be published by the independent company. Thechineseroom is also working on a game called Everyone’s Gone to the Rapture.

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FIFA 13 cover stars revealed next week
EA Sports will reveal the cover stars for FIFA 13 next week.

The announcement will be made via YouTube on Monday at 6pm BST.

EA traditionally uses region-specific players for pack shots. England stars Wayne Rooney and Jack Wilshire were the cover stars for the United Kingdom last year.
http://www.arabicgamers.com/news/806/fifa-13-cover-stars-revealed-next-week

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OnLive sold, will continue operating as “newly-formed company”
OnLive has announced it has been acquired, and will remain operating as a “newly-formed company,” with online services remaining unaffected, which is good news for subscribers.



A statement on the sale was released to Polygon by the firm last night, and reads as follows:

“We can now confirm that the assets of OnLive, Inc. have been acquired into a newly-formed company and is backed by substantial funding, and which will continue to operate the OnLive Game and Desktop services, as well as support all of OnLive’s apps and devices, as well as game, productivity and enterprise partnerships.

“The new company is hiring a large percentage of OnLive, Inc.’s staff across all departments and plans to continue to hire substantially more people, including additional OnLive employees. All previously announced products and services, including those in the works, will continue and there is no expected interruption of any OnLive services.

“We apologize that we were unable to comment on this transaction until it completed, and were limited to reporting on news related to OnLive’s businesses. Now that the transaction is complete, we are able to make this statement.”

The firm did not state whether a company or individual had acquired the cloud gaming service, but a Joystiq report suggests it may be the later.

According to a source speaking with the site – which also happens to have an audio recording of yesterday’s fateful meeting with employees – the individual investor purchased the firm due to being “impressed” with OnLive’s service and performance. These words were reportedly said by OnLive founder and CEO Steve Perlman during the internal all-hands meeting.

OnLive has also filed for ABC bankruptcy, which in California is similar to Chapter 7. This allows a party or “assignee” to take over the company’s assets such as “software, hardware, network architecture, logo,” etc., according to Perlman. This would allow the firm to pay off creditors and protects the company from being declared insolvent over unpaid debts.

The Joystiq source also added some color to the acquisition, stating that the firm had received multiple offers the past few months, including one from computer and printer firm Hewlett-Packard. However, Perlman reportedly wanted $1 billion for the company, and firm on the amount.

“Steve got all excited when Gaikai got acquired [but Sony], because it kind of validated everything we did,” the source said, noting that OnLive’s patent for streaming gameplay happened to go through with the USPTO at the time.

“So all of a sudden, Steve was like ‘When the time is right, we’re going to hit them with our patent because we’re not going to let some two-bit company [like Gaikai] ride our coattails,’” the source claims Perlman said. “I guarantee that some time in the future, Steve is going to go to court and sue the shit out of them for stealing our ideas.”

As far as the employee redundancies and re-hires are concerned, many were given “offer letters to join the newly-formed company”, cites the Joystiq report. In formal company statement above, it claims OnLive has re-hired “a large percent” of its former employees, and plans are to hire more.

It was reported yesterday that over 50% of the staff had been cut, with only key upper management and executive positions retained.

Reportedly, Perlman has also exited the company, but we cannot find confirmation of this at press time.

OnLive is an incubated part of Rearden Companies, which was formed by Perlman in 2000. It is not a publicly traded company, which means there are no SEC filings for us to acquire which would possibly shed light on OnLive’s buyer. Until details on the acquisition are announced formally or leaked, we’ll remain in the dark on the matter.

We’ll update this post accordingly as more news develops on the matter.

Top 5 Minecraft Creations : Olympics

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Steam Big Picture Mode beta kicks off in September
Valve has given us a better idea of when it plans to launch the beta for Steam‘s Big Picture Mode. Steam Big Picture Mode, as many of you already know, allows players to hook up their computers to their televisions and play the games in their Steam library on the big screen. In the latest episode of GameTrailers TV (which features a rather hairy-looking Gabe Newell) Valve’s Greg Coomer announced that the beta will be coming early next month.



“In early September you’ll be able to hop into a beta, click a button, and see Steam reformatted for your TV and usable with a PC game controller, or a mouse and keyboard if you want to play that way,” Coomer said. He pointed out that there are some games that are better suited for a gamepad, so naturally those games will be the best choice for Steam Big Picture Mode. Of course, Valve isn’t going to restrict which games you can play on a television, with Crooner saying that everything will still be there when you make the transition from the computer desk to the living room couch.

We’ve known about Steam Big Picture Mode since spring 2011, and now it seems that everything is finally coming together. Steam’s Big Picture Mode actually inadvertently led to rumors of a Steam console. This reported “Steam box” turned out to be a box that Valve was using to test Big Picture Mode, with the company quashing any rumors that it was about to enter the console space rather quickly.

Big Picture Mode is just one of a few intriguing Steam features that will be rolling out in the coming months. There’s also Steam Greenlight, a feature that lets players vote on which games become available on Steam, and Valve is also currently working on an overhaul of the Steam Community. It’s an exciting time to be a Steam user, so stay tuned.

ΑΥΤΑ ΕΙΝΑΙ! Να παίζουμε τα παιχνίδια του steam στο σαλόνι μας απροβλημάτιστα! ΕΠΟΣ!

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Sleeping Dogs tops UK chart, London 2012 relegated

1. Sleeping Dogs – Square Enix Europe
2. New Super Mario Bros. 2 – Nintendo
3. London 2012: The Official Video Game – Sega
4. Lego Batman 2: Dc Super Heroes – Warner Bros. Interactive
5. Mario & Sonic London 2012 Olympic Games – Sega
6. Batman: Arkham City – Warner Bros. Interactive
7. The Amazing Spider-man – Activision Blizzard
8. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier – Ubisoft
9. Dead Island Goty Edition – Koch Media
10. Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7 – Warner Bros. Interactive
11. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Bethesda Softworks
12. Fifa 12 – Electronic Arts
13. Battlefield 3 – Electronic Arts
14. Mario Kart 7 – Nintendo
15. Call Of Duty: Black Ops – Activision Blizzard
16. Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure – Activision Blizzard
17. Assassin’s Creed: Revelations – Ubisoft
18. Super Mario 3d Land – Nintendo
19. Grand Theft Auto Episodes – Liberty City – Take 2
20. Sonic Generations – Sega
21. Saints Row: The Third – Thq
22. Moshi Monsters: Moshling Zoo – Mind Candy
23. Lego Pirates Of The Caribbean – Disney Interactive Studios
24. Spec Ops: The Line – Take 2
25. Rayman Origins – Ubisoft
26. Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 – Warner Bros. Interactive
27. Skate 3 – Electronic Arts
28. Wwe ’12 – Thq
29. Grand Theft Auto Iv – Take 2
30. Sniper: Ghost Warrior – City Interactive
31. The Sims 3 – Electronic Arts
32. Forza Motorsport 4 – Microsoft
33. Toy Story 3 – Disney Interactive Studios
34. Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 – Activision Blizzard
35. Lego Batman: The Videogame – Warner Bros. Interactive
36. Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoning – Electronic Arts
37. Need For Speed: The Run – Electronic Arts
38. Mario Kart Wii – Nintendo
39. Brave – Disney Interactive Studios
40. Tiger Woods Pga Tour 13 – Electronic Arts

Dragon Age 3: Multiplayer, plot & art revealed – report
Dragon Age 3 developer BioWare is rumoured to be polling select fans to learn more about where they want the series to go next. According to a new leak, the game will be set in Orlais, will feature co-op multiplayer and will star an Inquisitor.



The above logo has been leaked over at the BioWare Social forums, along with a slew of plot information. The details were allegedly revealed to a select few who have been canvassed for opinon on the new project.

According to the leak, Dragon Age 3 will focus on the continent of Thedas, and an ongoing civil war in Orlais. The player will then be asked to take up the role of an Inquisitor to travel to the French-themed land to investigate the cause of the conflict.

The full plot synopsis is said to read, “A portal between the worlds unleashes hords of demons in the land, civil wars rip apart nations and the corruption is limitless. Someone is behind the shadows, drawing the threads which destroy the world. Time has come for the Inquisition.”

“Take the Inquisitor’s cloak and lead the only force able of bringing light into the darkness. Choose the direct method and gather your armies, send spies into the shadows or engage in a political war, make friends and use your connections indirectly: it is up to you how you lead the inquisition.”

“But you’ll have to take lead of it from the beginning. Make your player a rogue, warrior or mage and set up your crew from up to ten complex companions to lead them against those who attack you by systematically spying on, revealing and destroying them.”

Gamers polled were also asked to choose from a list of potential Dragon Age 3 subtitles:

- Dragon Age 3: The Breach
- Dragon Age 3: Exarch
- Dragon Age 3: Inquisition
- Dragon Age 3: Inquisitor
- Dragon Age 3: Apocrypha

Here’s a screen grab of the survey:



Polled gamers were also asked to rate a number of possible companions by scoring character art. Check out the art in our gallery below:

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C&C: Generals 2 to have e-sports features, no single player campaign on launch
EA recently announced that Command & Conquer: Generals 2 is going to be free to play under the umbrella of an online series known simply as “Command & Conquer.” Bioware Victory general manager John Van Caneghem told me last week that Generals 2 will ship without a single player mode. Instead, “co-operative and competitive” skirmishes will serve as the core, with more modes to be added later based on community feedback. A story mode could be added later, but “it is something we haven’t announced yet how we’re going to do it.”

Van Caneghem said that the studio “really want to get back to the roots of what made Command & Conquer great.” Generals 2 will let us harvest and throw up bases in order to “build a zillion units” and “go out and kill all the bad guys.” Despite the familiar RTS trappings, Generals 2 will be a dedicated online experience at launch.

“As a live service I think the exciting part is you can try things,” said Van Caneghem. “You can see what the community wants, you can give it a shot, you can put it up for a weekend and see how it goes, develop towards what the fans like.”

Generals 2 will the first in a series of online, high fidelity C&C games that will span all iterations of the series’ long history. “We decided to choose Generals as the first set of games we build under the universe, but we’ll be expanding after that, like Tiberium and Red Alert as well as some others as well. But Generals 2 was the first one, and it was one of the biggest sellers, as well as the fanbase has been asking for it for some time.”



Generals 2 will be tied to an online account that can be levelled up with new matches. Regular DLC, both free and paid-for, will add new maps and modes as time goes on. Will the Red Alert and Tiberium entries in the series share that same account?

“We’re obviously open to the concept,” said Van Caneghem. “I know another person asked me the other day if they’d be able to fight games between factions. I guess that’s something we can look at at some point.”

As well as multiplayer deathmatch and co-operative modes, Van Caneghem mentioned that the team are integrating e-sports features. “We’re really going to run the gambit of what people enjoy in a multiplayer environment,” he said.

“I don’t think we’re making a list of the features yet, but I think you can basically make a list of the assumed ones that you’d need to be an e-sports game, and it’s definitely part of the plan.”

So, a spectator mode with a free camera mode, shoutcast support, tournament support? We’ll have to wait and see.

An online RTS powered by Frostbite 2 does sound tempting, and the Gamescom trailer below contains shows some bombastic tank-death potential, but it’s sure to be a tough sell to dedicated C&C players. Will you play Generals 2?

[Shepard]

Transformers Fall of Cybertron Launch Trailer


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Guardians of Middle-earth Demo 1 - Gamescom 2012


Guardians of Middle-earth Demo 2 - Gamescom 2012


Guardians of Middle-earth Demo 3 - Gamescom 2012

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Fall Video Game Release Schedule
Στο περίπου για Ελλάδα...



August
Darksiders II – August 14
Sleeping Dogs – August 14
The Last Story – August 14
New Super Mario Bros. 2 - August 19
Transformers: Fall of Cybertron – August 21
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive -- August 21
Dark Souls (PC) – August 24
Guild Wars 2 -- August 28
Ratchet & Clank Collection – August 28
God of War Saga -- August 28
Infamous Collection -- August 28
Madden NFL 13 – August 28

September
Tekken Tag Tournament 2 – September 11
NHL 13 – September 11
Borderlands 2 – September 18
Kinect Sesame Street TV – September 18
Kinect Nat Geo TV – September 18
World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria -- September 25
Dead or Alive 5 – September 25

October
Resident Evil 6 – October 2
NBA 2K13 – October 2
Pokémon Black & White 2 – October 7
XCOM: Enemy Unknown – October 9
Dishonored – October 9
Dance Central 3 -- October 16
Medal of Honor: Warfighter – October 23
Street Fighter X Tekkan (Vita) – October 23
Forza Horizon – October 23
Assassin's Creed III – October 30
Assassin's Creed III: Liberation – October 30
Need for Speed: Most Wanted – October 30
Nike+ Kinect Training – October 30
Sports Champions 2 -- October 30

November
Halo 4 – November 6
LittleBigPlanet Karting -- November 6
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 – November 13
Disney's Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two – November 18
Hitman: Absolution – November 20
PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royal – November 20
Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed – November 20

December
Far Cry 3 – December 4

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FIFA 13 video: new gameplay, Rutter, all the balls


First-touch control, a new dribbling system, Skill Games and loads of other new features are likely to make FIFA 13 the best in the series yet. Watch above for all the latest from dev head David Rutter, shot at gamescom in Germany last week.

Guardians of Middle-Earth MOBA Pros Behind the Scenes


Complete WWE '13 Roster Video

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THQ Makes Cuts In Marketing And Production



THQ confirmed reports the publisher made cuts to its marketing and production groups in Agoura Hills, Calif. Less than 3% of the company’s global workforce was impacted, and no development teams or projects were affected by this action, the publisher said.

"This change is reflective of the company’s ongoing strategy to create a more focused, agile, and digitally-oriented organization," a spokesperson said in a statement. The number of employees let go were not provided, however, a purported internal e-mail obtained by games industry veteran George Broussard says the number is 20.

THQ recently announced it canceled production on InSane.

Eight Games That Changed Mid-Development
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2012/08/21/a-change-in-direction.aspx