GamerNode: Latest Industry News

Lord of the Ring: War in the North announced with ...

 Snowblind Studios and Warner Brothers released a trailer today to announce the coming of Lord of the Rings action/RPG to hit stores in 2011 called The Lord of the Rings: War in the North.

According to IGN, this game will feature both details and events from the movies as well as some previously unseen bits and apparently important battles from Tolkein's long chain of books about Middle Earth.  The surprising thing, however, about this game is that it will be the first M rated title for the LOTR series.  The game is clearly meant to cater towards more "core" gamers, and will feature three player independent online co-op to allow players to form their own army against Mordor.

Given what little the trailer reveals,...

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Skate 3 coming May 11

Electronic Arts has announced the official release date for Skate 3, the latest iteration in the realistic skateboarding game series. It will hit retail shelves on May 11 in North America and release internationally May 14 on both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

The game will introduce a new locale, Port Carverton, to replace San Venelona, the setting for the series' first two installments. It will also emphasize team-based gameplay in offline modes as well as cooperative and competitive online modes.

EA also announced the game's full roster of skaters, which can be found below.

Mark AppleyardRay BarbeeJoey BrezinskiDennis BusenitzJohn CardielMike CarrollChris ColeJason DillDan DrehoblPat DuffyRob DyrdekBenny FairfaxRyan GallantChris HaslamJerry HsuJosh KalisTerry KennedyLizard KingEric Kosto...

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New Spider-Man game teased in latest Gamepro cover...

Gamepro's John Davison, executive vice president of content for the magazine, has shown off the latest cover for the magazine via his Twitter account. The cover has a centerpiece on Splinter Cell: Conviction, but a game titled at the top is what is getting attention, Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions.

It is believed that this is the new Spider-Man title that Activision is behind, but the publisher has declined to comment. The issue will be arriving to subscribers in the coming days and with it, hopefully some more information regarding the new game.

[Twitter]

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This week's releases: 3/15 - 3/21

This week will have a very angry protagonists slicing and dicing his way through Greek Gods. God of War III releases on Tuesday for the PlayStation 3 and will star Kratos as he attempts to slay Zeus, king of the gods, with the aid of the Titans. Also landed on store shelves will be the Dragon Age expansion Dragon Age: Origins Awakening for the Xbox 360, PC, and PS3.

Here is the full list of releases for this week:

DS:Infinite SpaceLet's DrawSonny with a ChanceSpectral Force Genesis

PC:Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight (PC)Dragon Age: Origins Awakening [Dragon Age: Origins disc required]Metro 2033

PlayStation 3:Dragon Age: Origins Awakening [Dragon Age: Origins disc required]God of War IIIResonance of Fate

PSP:No New Releases

Xbox 360:Dragon Age: Origins Awakening [expansion pack; Dragon A...

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Portal 2 news suspended "until E3"

During Valve co-founder Gabe Newell's speech at the Game Developer's Choice Awards, a blue screen of death popped onto all monitors for the show. It wasn't any normal BSoD though, as it was titled GLaDOS and had a secret message amongst Portal-referenced jokes.

The message translated to this:

GLaDOSA fatal exception (S) has occurred at (U)(S) : (P)(E)(N)(D) in (U)(N )(T)((I)) *(L)(E)(E)(E). The current application will be terminated.

* Press any key to flood the facility with deadly neurotoxins.* Press CTRL+ALT+DEL again to reinstate testing. You will lose anyNon-vital personnel and their progress through the current test.

Spelled out, the message reads, "Suspend until E3"? So fans will have to wait until June to get more information regarding the recently announced Portal 2.

[G4TV.com]

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Green Day: Rock Band given release date

The next band-exclusive Rock Band game, Green Day: Rock Band, now has an official release date. MTV Games has announced that the game will be out this summer, on June 8.

Like The Beatles: Rock Band, the game will feature three-part harmonies. The game will cover 47 of the band's hits, including "Brain Stew", "Jaded", "American Idiot", and more.

Unlike The Beatles: Rock Band, all songs from Green Day: Rock Band will be transportable to Rock Band 1, 2, and newly announced Rock Band 3. The service will however cost players $9.99 to do so.

All six tracks previously released for DLC by Green Day will be playable on Green Day: Rock Band and will include vocal harmonies.

[ShackNews]

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EA's John Schappert speaks on Activision/Infinity ...

EA's Chief Operating Officer John Schappert had some comments at GDC today regarding the current situation surrounding Activision and Infinity Ward. Most of his remarks on the situation centered on former IW head's Jason Ward and Vince Zampella.

Here is Schappert's full comment on the situation:

"I'm sure there's two sides to that story, I'm certainly not passing judgment," Schappert stated. "On the human side, they're two great guys. I'm disappointed on a couple of fronts. I'm disappointed because I think Jason and Vince, on the human side, are two great guys. I know them personally, and they've done great things. And I think they're two of the best creative leaders in our space, and to think that they're going to be spending their future dealing with litigation and lawyers rather than craf...

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Sony's 3D TV tells kids to back up

With all the buzz surrounding the advancement of 3D technologies, especially into the commercial and home space, parents may be wondering how this will affect their children.  Aside from drawing them in to watch hours upon hours of Avatar, Up, and possibly new 3D games, the Sony 3D TV's will also be pushing kids back.  According to the WSJ, the TV has a sensor on it below the Sony logo that can sense whether or not a child is sitting within a meter of the TV, and if they are, then the screen goes black and displays a message warning the child to back up from the screen.  Parenting made easy, right?

And apparently this technology can also tell the difference between a child and an adult.  It is called Intelligent Presence Sensor, and it can also tell if you are ignoring the TV or even not lo...

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Modern Warfare 2 DLC coming March 30

Infinity Ward community manager Robert Bowling has tweeted a link to bring about awareness to Mapathy, a symptom gamers suffer from by playing old maps over and over again. The link and Bowling then stated that the "cure" would be coming on March 30, 2010.

"It's OK, the cure is hitting Xbox Live in just 3 short weeks," wrote Bowling practically confirming that the first DLC map pack for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is coming.

The site itself features a larger, non-cropped version of the above image, which describes Mapathy and revealed that the cure is coming on March 30. It also states for visitors to check back later "for self-help information."

This information comes approximately one week after former studio heads Jason West and Vince Zampella were fired by parent company Activision for...

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This week's releases: 3/8 - 3/14

The time has finally arrived for Square-Enix fans. Final Fantasy XIII will be hitting retail shelves as the biggest game release this week. After years of wait the first non-sequel, non-spin-off Final Fantasy game to lead with a female since Final Fantasy VI will be available to the series' Western fans on Tuesday for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Also releasing this week is the next installment of the Mega Man series on the PS3, Mega Man 10.

Here's the full list of releases for this week:

DS:Photo ShowdownSpectral Force GenesisThe Daring Game for Girls

PC:Assassin's Creed 2Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War II: Chaos RisingWarhammer 40K: Dawn of War II: Gold Edition

PlayStation 3:Final Fantasy XIIIMega Man 10Resident Evil 5: Gold EditionYakuza 3

PSP:BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger

Xbox 360:Final Fantasy X...

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Portal 2 officially announced

It's official, Portal 2 is on its way. Valve has announced the highly-anticipated sequel to the 2007 Orange Box standout puzzle game in the latest issue of Game Informer.

While there are no full details known yet, Game Informer mentioned in its notes of the upcomming issue that the game will have "new gameplay mechanics, storyline, and some surprising new twists." The piece will be a whopping 12-pages long inside the April 2010 issue.

Perhaps this time, the cake will be real.

[Game Informer]

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Shaun White Skateboarding announced by Ubisoft

Fresh off his second Olympic gold medal and reveal as one of the new Wheaties cover athletes, Shaun White will now have a skateboarding game in his name coming to retailers this holiday season. Yes, skateboarding.

Ubisoft has announced Shaun White Skateboarding for unspecified platforms in a press release today. The publisher/developer did not provide much information regarding the upcoming title, but did state that it would "provide an innovative twist and fresh take on the skateboarding and action-sports genre."

Many people are unaware that not only does White have gold medals in snowboarding at the Winter Olympics and Winter X Games, he is also a gold medalist in skateboarding for the Summer X Games. He is the only athlete that has done so.

"I can't describe how excited I am about the skat...

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Fired Infinity Ward heads suing Activision

After all the mess of the past few days between Activision and former Infinity Ward heads Vince Zampella and Jason West, it looks like a suit will be brought against Activision for breach of contract.

Apparently, the founders of Infinity Ward, let go on March 1st by producer Activision, were owed compensation for their work on the extremely successful Modern Warfare 2, but had their employment terminated before the payments were due. Here's what their attorney, Rob Schwartz, had to say:

"Instead of thanking, lauding, or just plain paying Jason and Vince for giving Activision the most successful entertainment product ever offered to the public, last month Activision hired lawyers to conduct a pretextual 'investigation' into unstated and unsubstantiated charges of 'insubordination' and 'breach...

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Take Two doubles delays

Take Two strikes again! The announcement came today that the company would be delaying the release of the upcoming open-world crime game, Mafia 2, until their fiscal fourth quarter, or sometime between August and October of 2010.  The game was originally set to come out last year, then was delayed until this May, and has now been pushed back for what we hope is the last time.

Also, Take Two announced the shorter delay of another open-world title, Red Dead Redemption, from April until May 18.  The delay on this Western may not be quite so long, but for players hoping for something to satiate their open-world sweet tooth, they'll have to be patient awhile longer.

[UKIGN]

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Activision internal memo: Infinity Ward "central" ...

In a leaked internal memo by publisher Activision, the company's CEO of Activision Publishing Mike Griffith divulged more about Infinity Ward's future with Activision to employees than in the recent press release regarding changes to the developer.

The memo states that Infinity Ward will still be "central to Call of Duty's future" despite the departures of company leaders Jason West and Vince Zampella.

"Jason West and Vince Zampella are no longer with Infinity Ward," said Griffith. "Infinity Ward remains central to Call of Duty's future and we rely on the combined talent, expertise and leadership of the team there for its success."

This means that the Call of Duty series will retain its original developer as well as having Treyarch and recently announced Sledgehammer Games creating games for ...

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This week's releases: 3/1 - 3/7

The moment of truth arrives this week to see who will reign on top of the FPS mountain. EA and DICE's challenger to Modern Warfare 2's throne, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, will be taking to retail shelves for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on Tuesday to challenge the current king of shooters. Also arriving this week are this year's baseball franchises as MLB 10: The Show for the PS3, PlayStation 2, and PSP looks to beat MLB 2K10, which will be available for the Wii, Xbox 360, PS3, PS, PSP, PS2, and DS.

Here is your full list of releases for this week.

DS:Alice in WonderlandBattle of Giants: Mutant InsectsDeca SportsMLB 2K10SpongeBob's Boating BashSonic Classic Collection

PC:Battlefield: Bad Company 2MLB 2K10Silent Hunter 5: Battle of the AtlanticSupreme Commander 2

PlayStation 2:MLB 10: Th...

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DICE: Bad Company 2 DLC not pre-determined, but di...

In GamerNode's interview with DICE's senior producer Patrick Bach last Friday, he revealed the company strategy for Battlefield: Bad Company 2 DLC, dispelling any possible suspicions that downloadable content is somehow pre-determined or held back from gamers in order to make a profit. Instead, DICE plans to use DLC as a way to give players more of what they like about the game as those preferences begin to become apparent.

"We see it as an opportunity to give players more of what they like in the future. Sometimes I get the feeling that people think that we're not giving them a full product at launch, that you take things out and you sell that later to get more money out of the consumer. I can promise you, if you look at Battlefield: Bad Company 2 as a base project, it's actually huge. It'...

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Bad Company 2 not sweating Call of Duty. DICE: "We...

DICE is not playing "the cover band" with tomorrow's Battlefield: Bad Company 2 release, according to senior producer Patrick Bach. Speaking with GamerNode last Friday, he explained that the company aims to create something original with its sequel and not mimic what Infinity Ward or any other developers are doing. He claims that Bad Company 2 has something that other games don't, and for that reason, DICE wants "to be the star."

"We are not trying not to build the same game as our competition. We are not trying to be the cover band. We want to be the star ourselves, so we are not trying to mimic anyone else and do what they're doing. That doesn't mean that you don't get influenced by qualities that other titles might have, but in general, looking at our characters, they are quite differen...

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Survey shows 35% of game developers dissatisfied w...

A survey conducted by Develop has revealed that nearly 35% of video game developers are dissatisfied with their salary covering the cost of living.

The survey polled over 400 employees within the industry, covering every sector from game design to sound.

Interestingly, the survey indicated that the average salary for the entire industry has risen from the previous year ($48,191 to $48,662), possibly as a quick recovery from the global credit crunch.

On average, an entry-level programmer makes a yearly salary of $31,970. Conversely, a lead programmer can average upwards of $77,642 per year, determined by seniority and experience.

Individual cities were not listed within the survey -- which plays a large factor in determining results -- but individuals from across the globe were interviewed.

[...

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VGChartz breaks down the console war

A recent article on VGChartz.com does a really great job of breaking down the console war in terms of numbers.

The chartz (yea, that's right) show that the 360 has a clear lead over the PS3 in the U.S of about 9 million units and a marginal lead of about 200,000 units in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australasia, which is apparently a place.  The PS3 leads in Japan by about 3.5 million units. Globally, the 360 is leading by about 5.7 million, though that gap seems to be tightening.

And perhaps just to prove the point that the 360/PS3 battle is a fly in the ointment to Nintendo, the final chart shows that even combined, PS3 and 360 sales only outsell the Wii by about 2.5 million units.  And they haven't even started talking about the DS.

Check out this informative article over at VGChartz, linked...

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