Archived News:
Artur Ganszyniec's LinkedIn Profile indicates he has parted ways with CD Projekt RED, the Polish development studio where his work included The Witcher/ The Witcher Enhanced Edition and "Unannounced AAA title," presumably The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. Artur's experience at the company ends with his role as principal designer, listed as January 2008 – February 2010, and his current position is listed as "Freelance Game Designer, Writer." Thanks Game Banshee.
Microsoft's Eric Rudder demonstrated a simple Indiana Jones platformer game at TechEd Middle East, showing the game running on Windows 7 using the keyboard, a Windows Phone 7 prototype using the accelerometer and touch screen, and on an Xbox 360 using the game controller, reports Engadget. There's a video of this on the YouTube where Eric demonstrates how you can pick up your progress on the game on any of the three platforms and shows how such a game is developed in Microsoft Visual Studio and that 90% of the code is common to all three devices.
DICE's Patrick Back discusses the PC edition of Battlefield: Bad Company 2 a few times in an interview on Gamasutra about the just-released military shooter sequel, where the senior producer on the Battlefield series talks about appealing to a PC audience he says "is much more forgiving in some ways, but they're much more demanding in other ways" compared with console gamers. He also explains how they didn't plan to release the first Bad Company for PCs because they thought it wouldn't appeal to PC gamers, who proceeded to ask for it: "We said, 'Well, we thought you wouldn't like it. We thought we had to scale it down or change it in different ways.' But when we released it, [the response] was actually, 'This is pretty good. This is a proper Battlefield game.' So, we just said, 'Let's go ahead and make this for PC, and focus on tuning it more to the PC audience and that kind of gameplay.' So there's more open gameplay, more detail in the shooting experience, and all of those things that the PC audience would like."
The making and unmaking of Infinity Ward on VentureBeat is Dean Takahashi's detailed history of Infinity Ward, starting with the circumstances that lead to the formation of the developer all the way through the firing of studio heads Vince Zampella and Jason West and the pair's subsequent lawsuit against Activision. The tale of intrigue includes Activision's investigation into whether secret negotiations were underway with EA, and that one of the acts of "insubordination" Zampella and West committed before being fired was refusing to surrender their cell phones and PCs. The story also recalls a relevant detail from the curious confusion during development over the game's name: "It is interesting in hindsight that Activision Blizzard vacillated during 2009 about whether to call the new game Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 or just Modern Warfare 2. West and Zampella say that their employment agreement means that they have control over the Modern Warfare name and any use of their game technology."
Duke Nukem Eternity is now available, offering episode one of a mod for a mod for a source port, an unusual situation to say the least. Duke Nukem Eternity requires the EDuke32 source port of Duke Nukem 3D for Windows, Linux and OS X as well as the DukePlus "game-enhancer and customizer" for EDuke32, and the game's official trailer shows the graphical improvements the setup adds to the 15 year-old Build engine. Thanks Ant.
Thanks Joker961.
Kotaku - Video Games' Team Coco Moment - Modern Warfare 2.
But if there's a time to protest, this is it. If there's a time for video games to prove they are big enough that even their scandals and contractual disputes can generate buzz, it is now. We might not have even figured who the bad guy is yet. Perhaps Darth Vader really is Luke. Perhaps the "insubordination" was indefensible. But are Zampella and West the new Conan? Check Twitter.
Joystick Division - Games Are Made By People.
The problem is this: the public values video game brands over the creators who make them. It didn't bother the average schmuck that Call of Duty: World at War was created by Treyarch. They didn't notice that Guitar Hero III was developed by Neversoft. And at this rate they probably won't know the difference when another studio tackles Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. The blame is twofold. The consumer should learn more about the people who make the games they love.
Digital Spy - Gaming's Forgotten War- World War I.
Interestingly, there has been a glut of WWI flight simulation games, possibly due to the perceived greater level of individual skill involved. However, we could only find one FPS title based on the war, with 505 Games' Necrovision opting to introduce horror and supernatural elements to the conflict. So the question remains: Why have FPS developers avoided the Great War? Justin Champion, history professor at Royal Holloway University and an expert in historical sociology, said that the biggest challenge facing a WWI FPS would be convincing the audience as to "why it was such an important conflict".
Here are the top 10 best-selling titles on Steam for the week according to Valve:
- Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Limited Edition
- Supreme Commander 2
- Assassin's Creed 2
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
- Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising
- Napoleon: Total War Imperial Edition
- Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 2 Chaos Rising
- Napoleon: Total War
- Silent Hunter: Battle of the Atlantic
- Aliens vs Predator
- Medal of Honor on GamePro. Hears from some "tier 1 operators." Thanks Joker961.
- Portal 2 on VG247. Spoilery stuff from magazine scans.
Tonight we get to experience competitive art, as the Academy Awards will be handed out. I've only seen one of the movies nominated, so don't look for me to help with your Oscar pool. To be honest I probably wouldn't be much help with picking winners if I had seen all the nominees, but it also seems like this year there's an unusual consensus among the predictors over who will win what. I may watch this year, as Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin are both very funny.
|
Twitter 
