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Here is Bit.Trip Runner, the first sidescrolling game in the Bit.Trip series of downloadable games for the Wii. Two videos of the game played by G4's Patrick Klepek. Shot by me. Keep the guy running, synced to the music. More »
During an interview at the 2010 Game Developers Conference, THQ executive VP of Core Games Danny Bilson told Joystiq that market research creates "bland" titles, citing it is not a process his group is willing to utilize for future development. "We don't do research to find out what people want to play. If you need to do that kind of research you must not be playing games yourself," Bilson said, noting that research and overusing focus tests can "misguide creative forces."
According to Bilson, his core group at THQ is ruled by creating "excellent" titles. Put simply, Bilson says he will not ship a game if it's not "really good" -- noting that doing otherwise will make it impossible for him to "sleep at night." As an example of this process, Bilson noted his decision to push Darksiders from a 2009 release into the early-2010 calendar in order to ensure the game was of high quality. (Darksiders currently holds an average Metacritic rating of 83.)
"Inspiration comes from one place and research and focus testing will usually destroy it. It will usually create 'bland' and create something for everyone and really nothing for anyone," he said, praising the idea that publishers should not ship a game until it's ready. "If my teams make really good games, in the long run, that's what people relate to. They're not buying advertising, they're not buying Wall Street nonsense. They're buying what's on that disc."
The dog-gone long title of Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse - Episode 1: The Penal Zone will hop onto the internets for digital distribution on April 15. The first episode of the duo's third season of freelance police work will be available on PC, Mac -- and PS3, quelle surprise.
Pre-orders for the whole season on PC and Mac are currently available on Telltale's site for $35, which also comes with an episode from Strong Bad, Wallace & Gromit or a previous Sam & Max season for free. "Pre-orders on PlayStation Network coming soon."
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Yoshio Sakamoto is visiting San Francisco's Game Developers Conference to talk up the latest, he says greatest, take on Metroid. But that's not the game he's carrying around with him to show off at dinner. More »
Following up yesterday's announcement that Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes is getting an HD facelift and coming to Xbox Live and PSN, Ubisoft has revealed the first teaser trailer for the game. Amidst all of the quoted accolades and plumes of smoke are some actual tidbits of gameplay.
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BioShock 2 ended New Super Mario Bros. Wii's two-month hold atop the U.S. console sales charts, edging the Nintendo platformer by 7,000 units to take February's top honors. More »
Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg is thrilled with February's NPD numbers, and for good reason. The Xbox 360 took the top spot in home console sales last month, despite not being a Wii. According to the NPD, it's the first time this has happened since the Halo 3 launch in 2007.
BioShock 2 seems to have had something to do with the boost, with the Xbox 360 version topping the software charts (and the PS3 version absent from the top ten). Other notable software milestones: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is now the third best-selling game of all time, and Just Dance seems to have made a better pact with Satan than even Dante's Inferno did. See the software top ten after the break.
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The Xbox 360 clocked in with a rare victory over the Wii among console sales in the United States for February, according to figures released today by the NPD Group. More »
PlayStation Blog posted a developer diary featuring Zindagi Games, developer of the PlayStation Move minigame showcase Sports Champions. The devs demonstrate the abilities of the Move controller, showing lots of game footage and demonstrations of controller motions.
They also describe their excitement about Move and its new opportunities for control -- going so far as to compare it to the feeling of playing a 3D game for the first time. If you were developing one of the flagship games for the thing, you'd be excited too!
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What could be in a new Gears of War? Clues are always included in the major Game Developers Conference demonstrations of the Unreal Engine. More »
If InstantAction.com's CEO Lou Castle is to be believed, we're apparently going to be playing games pretty much wherever we want in the not-so-distant future. He's just revealed plans (via IndustryGamers) to relaunch his site with a new business/distribution model and a partnership with game streaming service Gaikai. In addition to the already existing model of a quick download (a claimed 4 - 5 minutes) that still somewhat relies on your computer power to process the game's graphics, IA will now offer a streaming option for those who'd prefer a quicker, less hardware reliant gaming experience. "It's the perfect implementation of a thin client solution because when it's available it's brilliant and when it's not available it's ok ... you only have to wait a couple minutes."
The aforementioned streaming option (employing Gaikai) will also be embedabble on the web, as demonstrated with Assassin's Creed (not to mention to us earlier today) "Now if people are reading a review of a game, they don't have to go find it ... they can play it right then and there in the browser."
And that's just the beginning -- Castle clearly has an eye on digital distribution services when he talks about employing Facebook as "InstantAction's Xbox Live." IA's new distribution model essentially promises to developers/publishers the ability to release games with a variety of payment methods (pay as you go, free-to-play, one-time charge, etc.) while incorporating the aforementioned embed and streaming functionalities.
So far, the company has inked one deal for distribution (with LucasArts for The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition) and Castle claims to be pursuing others right now. And apparently it won't be too long before we get to check out the new system ourselves, as the revamped digital platform is said to be "launching soon."
How has Club Nintendo fared in Australia? It doesn’t seem like things have gone as well down under as they have in the rest of the world. There are some good points worth mentioning, but overall things are looking a bit drab. When you have a Club Nintendo outfit that isn’t actually [...]
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Yoshio Sakamoto, one of the creators behind popular Nintendo platformer Kid Icarus, says Nintendo hasn't ruled out bringing a new title in the series to the Wii, they just haven't yet figured out how to. More »
Direct link and videos for Pro Yakyuu Famista DS 2010, DrawDrawPenner, Minna no Suizokukan, Crayon Shin-Chan Obaka Daininden - Susume! Kasukabe Ninja Tai!, DS Demos and Moon Cresta here
