All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

Microsoft has confirmed the reported closure of its Massive in-game ad company and the dissolution of the brand name. Posting on the Microsoft Advertising Blog, corporate ad VP Rik van der Kooi explained that the Massive technology would be integrated into Microsoft's first-party ad business, "focusing initially on gaming," including the Xbox Live and MSN Games properties. He added, "This also means that Microsoft will wind-down Massive's third-party in-game ad business and sunset the Massive brand name at year-end."

Microsoft purchased Massive Inc. in 2006 for between $200 and $400 million. Last year, the business suffered significant layoffs despite recording soaring revenues. Microsoft will retain a Massive skeleton crew to wrap up ad campaigns running through the end of 2010. "We will make the wind-down process as seamless as possible for them," Kooi said -- for the clients, that is. No word yet on whether any Massive employees will be transferred to the first-party ad division.

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#blizzcon2010 Another BlizzCon, another swag bag. Time to open it up and see what QC-passed goodies await. Onward! More »

#review Fallout: New Vegas will ask each and every one of you a very simple question: If a game breaks every 10 minutes, can you still enjoy it? More »

#blizzcon Join us as we join Blizzard in kicking off BlizzCon 2010! What Diablo III, StarCraft II, and World of Warcraft news will spring forth from the festivities? More »

#blizzcon The last World of Warcraft charity pet, a Pandaren Monk, generated $1.1 million for the Make a Wish foundation, so Blizzard is going to offer another. Revealed today at Blizzcon 2010: A Moonkin Hatchling. (not pictured) On sale in November. More »

Want World of Warcraft: Cataclysm as fast as possible? At Blizzcon today, company boss Mike Morhaime revealed that Blizzard will soon be offering digital pre-orders through their online store. Gamers can pre-order it, pre-load it and have it ready to go Dec. 7, midnight Pacific. More »

#blizzcon2010 StarCraft II players will get four officially sanctioned mods for the real-time strategy title created by Blizzard, new map types that turn the sci-fi war game into a Bejeweled-like puzzler, a co-op survival game and a DotA-style multiplayer scenario. More »

Diablo III's fifth character class is the Demon Hunter, Blizzard announced at BlizzCon 2010 today. More »

Though it was originally announced as a Winter 2010 release, Catherine, the surreal action-adventure game from Atlus's Persona team, will be released in Japan on February 17. We'd be more concerned about the delay, but Atlus hasn't even announced a Western release for the PS3/Xbox 360 game yet -- so this is just more time for Atlus USA to draft that press release.

It's also more time for us to figure out exactly how the game works. We know protagonist Vincent spends much of his time trapped in a dream-world, attempting to climb a tower as a sheep-man. In his waking life, he appears to be surrounded by women who make him nervous.

IGN recently visited Remedy's headquarters in Finland to discuss the successes and failures of Alan Wake. According to Remedy's Matias Myllyrine, the team is very happy with the "mood and the story and the setting" of the game. While the project underwent significant changes during development -- it was originally an open world game, for example -- Myllyrine believes it remains "very close" to the original vision "in terms of feel, mood and atmosphere."

As for failure, Myllyrine wished that Alan Wake's marketing would have had "an even crisper communication of what the game does," adding that it could have used "stronger advertising about what's unique about this game." We'd certainly agree that a sequel -- should it see the light of day -- needs stronger marketing, but we have another piece of advice as well: Don't release your game on the same day as Red Dead Redemption.

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Ignition has revealed that one of the "exclusive" features of the PSN version of Blacklight: Tango Down will be a new map. Dubbed Crossover, the battleground sees the Order -- a.k.a. "the bad guys" -- hijacking a train and loading it with explosives. Conversely, Blacklight (the good guys) must sabotage the tracks in order to save the train -- and, hopefully, avoid derailing it into a massive kablooey!

The PSN version of Blacklight will also include a new, previously announced "Join in Progress" feature.

In an interview with Edge magazine (excerpted by Eurogamer), Interplay president Eric Caen reconfirmed the company's plans to launch a beta of the MMO Fallout Online in 2012. He also specified that the "second half of 2012" will see the release of the commercial game.

Thanks to the ongoing legal troubles with Bethesda, responsible for Fallout 3 and New Vegas, Interplay is in the unique position of trying to promote its game without being able to show it -- because, according to Caen, "anything we show will help Bethesda in their fight." Of course, Interplay staffers are free to go to the store and pick up the current Fallout releases for themselves, which they are doing.

"What I can say is that of course we're playing what Bethesda is doing," Caen said. "We appreciate some portions of it, and we're not necessarily fans of everything. I think they miss a lot of the humor, and the fans seem to agree with that." To that end, the Fallout MMO is intended to be "extremely funny."

If there's one thing this Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood trailer proves, it's the mercenary is good at killing. Whether through a discrete stab to the gut or a long-distance headshot with his wrist-mounted pistol, nobody can question his ability to generate death -- that and his sweet Renaissance-period mullet, of course.

Filed under: Podcasts Listen, it's Friday. Are you really in mood for the stress of a regular Joystiq Podcast? No, we don't think so. Wouldn't you prefer the soothing sounds of Just Riffin' as Ludwig Kietzmann and Justin McElroy discuss the finer points of Costume Quest, Fallout: New Vegas and Vanquish?

Come, drink in the calm. Thanks to Steven Strom for starting things out on such a soothing artistic note.

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See all of this week's links after the jump.

Yet another paper that has been tackled by the Professor! Thanks to Chris for the heads up.

We already know that Kirby’s Epic Yarn started out as an original game with a brand-new character. Eventually Nintendo called for Good Feel to make the switch and add in the pink guy, and now we have the result of that project. If you’re looking to learn more about the development of Kirby’s [...]

- Cranky Kong is the only returning kong in the game besides Donkey and Diddy - Cranky runs a shop and often makes sarcastic remarks over what you buy - Squawks is at the shop as well - Six world - Tikis are part of the “Tiki Tak Tribe” - one Tiki tries to possess DK at the start of [...]

Grab the Wii version for $33 here Grab the DS version for $19.

UDON has confirmed that Mega Man Megamix Vol. 3 is seeing release on November 17th. You might have to wait a week or two for the issue to get into stores, but at least now you know when to hunt! On top of that, UDON is teasing some other Mega Man-related projects in company’s future. “UDON [...]

A portion of an Examiner review… …Disney Interactive is not trying to appeal to them (or me) with this game. Instead, it has a laser-like focus on the tween demographic and nails it with the song selection and the party modes. Zoe Mode also smartly included new features to build on the previous five [...]

Spartan Army! We are officially less than two weeks away from the release of God of War: Ghost of Sparta and also exclusive access to the largest pre-order bundle ever compiled for a PSP title. If you still haven’t stopped by at any of our participating retailers and pre-ordered, our Reason #5 to pre-order God of War: Ghost of Sparta – Palace of Hades Dynamic Theme might just be your tipping point.

Using the Palace of Hades from God of War III as the main inspiration, this exclusive PS3 Dynamic Theme captures the grand vista moment of Kratos as he is betrayed by Gaia at the top of Mount Olympus and ripped of his godly powers. It is at this moment where he obtains the Blades of Exile from Athena and seeks out to destroy all of Olympus and the mighty Zeus himself.

With full active movements of multi-layered clouds and lightning, flowing lava, and fogs, the Palace of Hades Dynamic Theme is exclusive to the pre-order of God of War: Ghost of Sparta, and not available as a standalone purchase through the PlayStation Store.

To our Canadian consumers, be sure to stop by EB Games to pre-order either the God of War: Ghost of Sparta UMD Game or Entertainment Pack as they are also supporting the ultimate pre-order bundle.

First week Epic Yarn sales outclassed by five week old Black & White.

First week Epic Yarn sales outclassed by five week old Black & White.

First week Epic Yarn sales outclassed by five week old Black & White.