Gamernode: Latest Industry News

Descent, MDK, Earthworm Jim sequels coming

It looks like my prayers may be answered; despite quite a few months/years in financial straits, publisher Interplay is all set to get back into the gaming business.

According to Interplay's 2007 fiscal year financial results, the publisher is working on sequels to Earthworm Jim, Dark Alliance, Descent and my favorite from the list, MDK. To prepare themselves, Interplay restarted its in-house game development studio and has been hiring game developers.

Net revenue for the 2007 year for Interplay reached $6.01 million, which was a 502% increase during the same period in 2006. Net income for 2007 for the company was $5.86 million; $5.75 million of the earned net income was from selling the Fallout IP to Bethesda Softworks.

Lastly, Interplay is still planning to secure funding for its Fallout M...

• (11)
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Epic continues to make bank on Unreal Engine 3

This winner of this console generation is not Microsoft or Nintendo or Sony. No. This generation goes to Epic. Hands down.Their newest engine, Unreal Engine 3, has been used in millions of games already. Ok, maybe not millions; but it feels like every time I load up a game I see the Unreal logo: from Gears of War, to Rainbow Six, to Army of Two, to even Undertow an XBLA game.

Even Square Enix is using it in an upcoming FF title. It certainly shows its versatility; as more game programmers become familiar with the engine, the easier it will be for them to make better looking games. Mark Rein told Videogaming 247 that Electronic Arts has been extremely satisfied with the five titles it has used UE3 for. So satisfied that they have just extended their deal with Epic to "significantly mo...

• (5)
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Uwe Boll will quit if petition gets enough numbers...

Some would argue that putting Uwe Boll and the title of movie director in the same sentence is a bit of an oxymoron.

To many gamers and film critics alike, Boll represents the worst in filmmaking. With movies such as House of the Dead, Alone in the Dark, BloodRayne, BloodRayne II: Deliverance, and In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale, Mr. Boll has secured a spot in history as possibly the worst film director of video game tie-in movies.

There are a lot of people out there who want to do something about Boll's film making career. In short, they want to stop it. In a recent interview conducted by fearnet.com, it was mentioned to Boll that there was a petition circulating around the Intern...

• (14)
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Castaway needs inner tube to stay afloat

VP Stefan Scandizzo confirmed to Next-Gen in an e-mail on Monday the "suspension/closure" of Castaway, adding that the studio has been closed since April 1 due to lack of funding.

"There have been many letters and posts supporting us and wishing us well; on behalf of the team here at Castaway, I'd like to thank them," Scandizzo wrote. "There have also been a number of companies and individuals that have since contacted us about assisting our studio but no decisions have been made at this time as to the company's future."

Castaway, which was founded by former Blizzard North employees in 2003 created the advergame Yaris for the XBL and were in works on a Diablo-inspired title called Djinn, which at this point has had its operations suspended.

Scandizzo wasn't afriad to admit that the studio ne...

• (0)
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Man who fired Gerstmann gets the axe

We all remember the big hoopla that happened last November (that long ago?) over at Gamespot regarding the sudden termination of Jeff Gerstmann.

Many of the sources pointed to the review that Gerstmann did on Kane and Lynch: Dead Men being the "knife in the back" that resulted in his termination. After that, fingers were pointed to executive Josh Larson, VP of games at parent company CNET who replaced former Editor in Chief Greg Kasavi.

Internal communication informing employees informed Kotaku that "new management structure means that Josh Larson's position as VP, Games is being eliminated and Josh will be leaving the company." CNET also announced last week that it would cut 10 percent of its work force, about 120 employees.

Anonymous GameSpot employees vocally expressed their opinion abou...

• (2)
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

If EA and Take-Two merge, will GTA4 be pushed back...

Remember how EA tried to buy Take-Two? And then tried again and again? Well, on the latest episode of Bonus Round with Geoff Keighley, infamous industry analyst Michael Pachter talked about possible effects of EA purchasing Take-Two after their recently updated bid. According to him, if EA is successful in merging with the company (thereby forming some Super Publisher), it's very likely that EA will hold off on releasing Grand Theft Auto IV until later this year. Not only that, but they have an economic incentive to do so. Pachter believes that by delaying GTA4 all the way to the fourth quarter of the year (!!!), EA will make much more money on the title.

So why doesn't Take-Two just wait until later this year to release Grand Theft Auto IV if it's going to be far more profitable in the f...

• (13)
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Australia has a(nother) problem with GTA

Since the Grand Theft Auto franchise moved from the top down world to a third person, 3D environment, Australia has recieved toned down versions just for them. It appears Grand Theft Auto 4 is no exception -- but why? (Warning: American understanding of Australia incoming.)The problem stems from Australia's Office of Film and Literature Classification, the same office that rates videogames. Currently their highest rating is MA15+. The US has MA17+ while many European countries and New Zealand have R18+. The difference between the Australia and the US ratings may look like only two years, but they are important years. You're talking about the difference between someone in High School, and someone who has graduated High School.It's strange to think that Australia doesn't have a restricti...

• (11)
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

This week's NA game releases: 4/6 to 4/12

This week is a bit lacking in terms of the number of games being released, but the PC is getting the top billing since a majority of the games being released are for that platform.

Arguably, the biggest release for the PC this week would be Assassin's Creed from Ubisoft. A mere five months after the game was released for the Xbox 360, the PC version will feature four new mission types not shown in its cousin console platform.

In addition to a retail release, Assassin's Creed will be released on Steam. Details on the new mission types and the PC requirements can be read here.

Other notable releases include individual retail boxes for Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Portal and Team Fortress 2 for PC, Ikaruga for Xbox Live Arcade and Sam & Max Episode 205: What's New, Beelzebub? for PC.

Here are this ...

• (4)
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Stephen King writes on videogame violence

Stephen King is no stranger to controversy surrounding pop-culture. The legendary author has had numerous books blasted by politicians, the media and parents, and for years was blamed for all sorts of ills in American (and even British) society. So it should be no surprise that Mr. King has found a kindred spirit in the videogame industry, currently facing the same type of political blame that he conquered long ago. In a new self-written editorial for Entertainment Weekly, King speaks on the issue, and offers his opinion on the subject. Read on to see what he has to say.

"I'm no fan of videogames; pretty much gave them up in the late '70s or early '80s, when my kids used to beat me regularly at Pitfall! (hell, they used to beat me at Pong, and back then our youngest wasn't yet eligible for...

• (10)
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

The Force Unleashed to be unleashed in September

LucasArts has announced the dates for release of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. The game will launch on September 16 in the US, September 17 in Australia and September 19 in Europe.

The highly awaited game for Star Wars fans will have gamers going over to the Dark Side of The Force and all that goes along with it...mayhem, levitation, destruction and more.

Peter Hirschmann, VP of Product Development at LA said, "Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is one of the most ambitious projects LucasArts has ever launched. The combination of a great new Star Wars story with revolutionary new technology and game play means more fun than you've ever had in the Star Wars universe. We can't wait until gamers get their hands on it this September."

SW: TFU will be using the Euphoria Engine, which simulates the ...

• (9)
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Wideband is here at 50Mbps but at a premium price

No matter what high-speed Internet service you use, there is always the wish for even higher broadband speeds. Comcast says that your wish is their command...for a stiff price of $149.99 per month, that is. The DOCSIS 3.0 protocol is promising download speeds of 50Mbps and uploads at 5Mbps.

To put this all in perspective, a typical "fast" download speed is around 3Mbps. Compared to the 50Mbps that Comcast is offering, you'll probably need to install a radiator on your modem to keep it cool.

The new service is a move from broadband to wideband. Mitch Bowling of Comcast said, "We believe wideband will usher-in a new era of speed and Internet innovation for today's digital consumers. Wideband is the future, and it's coming fast."

Will the blazing speed conection ever be more affordable for your...

• (15)
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Mercenaries 2 launch date. Game looking awesome

Pandemic Studios' Mercenaries 2: World in Flames looks like a super fun title with tons of explosions and killing. But it has gone through the curse of being delayed for awhile, until today.

According to the new trailer, the game as an official release of August 31, 2008, which when you think about it is quite a long ways away.

Oh well, if you had doubts about the game before, check out this new trailer that features an angry tatooed badass, explosions, slo-mo, explosions, fights on top of a tank and explosions.

If they fixed the in-game lag and slowdown that seemed prevelant in the previous trailers, this could be one hell of a game.

• (2)
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Do a cool makeover on your favorite game console

I have a black PS2, a black PS3, a white Wii and a white Xbox 360. I don't know about you but having a choice of just two colors out of a possible spectrum of millions of possible colors is sort of depressing.

Sure, I've tried to tag on stickers to distance my machine from the others, but let's face it, stickers went out with grade school. So what is a guy or girl to do?

Well, one solution is to send it in to a company named Colorware, which specializes in doing makeovers for game consoles and other electonic items. Let's say you've just had it with staring at your lackluster shiny black PS3. Well, how about turning it into a bright orange with matching controller?

Is your Xbox 360 or DS lacking personality? Colorware will even do two-tone jobs to put zing and pep into your mundane machine. ...

• (5)
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

PSP owns competition in Japan for March

No, that wasn't a typo in the headline of this story. The PSP actually did sell more than the total combined sales of its competitors for the period of March 24-30. Why the sudden popularity of the PSP?

There's an old adage in the game industry that software sells hardware and not the other way around. For the PSP, the software that has boosted sales through the roof is the game Monster Hunter Portable G 2nd.

For those who haven't played the Monster Hunter titles, the gameplay revolves around catching and training monsters for battle. A simple concept, but the game has taken on a monster status, if you will, in Japan and this is what is driving the tremendous sales of the PSP because (so far) the game is exclusive and there is no DS version of the game in sight.

For all you statisticians out ...

• (1)
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Stormfront Studios closes its doors

California-based developer Stormfront Studios has closed its doors today after over 20 years in the gaming market. According to a studio representative, the reason for the closure was due to failing to secure funding for future game projects.

Echoing similar statements like recently defunct-company Iron Lore Entertainment (yikes), the statement said, "Frankly, we didn't get pitched, and the project [we were working on] made no revenue. The economy is such that the projects that we weren't winning, ended."

Along with developing the first graphical MMORPG in 1991 called Neverwinter Nights (the original one folks), the studio expanded its development to other genres, including sports titles (NASCAR Racing, Tiger Woods PGA Tour Golf, the Tony La Russa Baseball series), RPGs (Demon Stone, The L...

• (3)
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

The good news: Script for Halo movie is finished.....

And now for the bad news...the screenplay has been written on "spec." Stuart Beattie, the writer that has been commissioned to produce the movie scripts for Spy Hunter, Gears of War, Splinter Cell, and the upcoming $170 million movie, G.I. Joe, has completed the screenplay for the Halo movie.

But since he's doing it on "spec," that means that he did it of his own accord without being paid and is hoping that someone will buy it.

According to an inside source, the script for the Halo movie (spoiler warning) will involve:

"...a character-driven story about a soldier named John who was kidnapped or "conscripted" by the UNSC when he was just six years old, and then brutally trained to become an elite Spartan warrior known as Master Chief 117.

"The script then takes us through the horrific first co...

• (7)
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Game trade war erupting with UK and Canada

Now this is something we don't see everyday. Unlike the US, where videogames have yet to be acknowledged as a vital part of the US economy, the UK and Canada have caught on that the electronic entertainment industry is full of growing potential.

So much in fact that both are in a trades war over who will be keeping the majority of the companies in their borders. Thanks to Canada's tax incentives, a good number of the developers have moved their studios to Canada, leaving the number in the UK down consdierably.

The UK though is launching an investigation to make sure the incentives aren't too good to be true and be possibly violating some of the World Trade Organization rules. We aren't sure what will come of this dispute, but it is nice to see videogames gaining a lot of attention. [Via Th...

• (1)
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

TimeFly Studios forms. Promises games with great g...

A new game development company by the name of TimeFly Studios has recently formed. According to their president, Dennis Booth, TimeFly will be commited to producing games which deliver great gameplay first and spectacular graphics and sound second.

A worthy cause I'd say, but when the same press release boasts about their involvement in the Pixar Cars game, you can't help but be worried.

Also, I feel the studio is downplaying the importance of a good soundtrack. I'm not a graphics connoiseur by any means, but a game's musical score is just as important to me as its gameplay. I simply can't enjoy a game if its music is lackluster even if the gameplay is excellent. It goes both ways, as well. However, if a game has terrible graphics, but excellent music and gameplay, I'll enjoy it regardless...

• (4)
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Gearbox defends in-game advertising

Gearbox likes the idea of in-game advertising and isn't afraid of showing their support, even to the pessimists. Developer Randy Pitchford explained that their recent ad agreements would help improve authenticity in games and increase revenue to make them better. And he assured us that his team hates exploitative advertising as much as you. 

"So, please don't judge us by the fact that some folks out there do it wrong and with exploitation as their key driving factor. This is not our motivation or intent. Don't judge us based on fears that may not turn out to be true," said Pitchford.

"Instead, judge us from the result. If you see in-game ads for some stupid product that has nothing to do with the context in which it occurs and actually detracts from the experience, then you can feel justifi...

• (12)
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Peter Moore wants to change the world...of sports

When you think of the EA Sports brand, what comes to mind? You probably think, "same game, new roster." You probably also know that most of the time whenever a sports game gets "improved controls" that spells disaster. When you think of EA sports some of you probably even think "2K is better."

If Peter Moore has his way, everything you think you know about EA Sports will no longer be valid. But how does one change the biggest powerhouse in gaming with out alienating hundreds of millions of fans?

"They've been with us for decades in some instances. To be able to grow the market you cannot lose that consumer but you need to invite more people in with an experience that is different from the one that the core enjoys and thoroughly enjoys.

"It's a branding issue, it's a positioning issue, an...

• (0)
• 
• 
• 
• 
•