Saturday, February 4th, 2012 | Posted by Gavin Greene | 2 Comments
Oklahoma State Representative William Fourkiller (D) has put forth legislation in the State house that would impose a 1% surtax on all sales of Teen, Mature, and Adults-Only video games. Representative Fourkiller has claimed the intent of the bill is to combat the dangers of violent video games, with the tax revenue gained from its implementation to go into preventative measures against childhood obesity and bullying.
Saturday, February 4th, 2012 | Posted by Gavin Greene | No Comments
A recent statement by Electronic Arts lists Bioware’s upcoming RPG-Shooter Mass Effect 3 as having not only a console and PC release, but a mobile one as well. EA issued a follow up to that statement to Kotaku, stating that “There will be “handheld/mobile” products tied to Mass Effect 3…They are part of the Galaxy at War system. We will have more details to share soon.”.
Saturday, February 4th, 2012 | Posted by Gavin Greene | No Comments
While the team at Bungie hasn’t been in the business of producing a Halo game since Reach, the company has still held the reigns to the massive amounts of game stats and player records. Bungie has been gradually passing the information onto 343 Industries, the makers of the upcoming Halo 4, since this past summer, with the last of these statistics scheduled to exchange hands on March 31st.
Saturday, February 4th, 2012 | Posted by Gavin Greene | No Comments
Stephen Colbert’s Super PAC – and its goal of making a better tomorrow, tomorrow – has been more than just a running gag for the faux-conservative pundit’s lampooning of the incestuous nature of campaign donations. The fund has raised over $1 million since its inception, with very few contributors donating above a couple thousand dollars. Harmonix lead Alex Rigopulos has little competition then for the top donor spot, the developer giving a reported $9,600 to the Super PAC.
Saturday, February 4th, 2012 | Posted by Gavin Greene | No Comments
The NPD sales records on video games have long had a hole in their figures, with Wal-Mart – one of the biggest sellers of the media – refusing to release its statistics, until now. NPD recently confirmed an agreement with the retailer that will allow them to report on the company’s sales figures for not just video games, but apparel, toys, and home products as well. The new deal includes both brick and mortar sales and those of Wal-Mart.com.
Friday, February 3rd, 2012 | Posted by Gavin Greene | No Comments
Disney has officially announced its acquisition of Indian-based game developer UTV, and its publishing arm UTV Ignition (El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron). According to the BBC, the original deal was proposed to the Indian government last month, the cabinet just recently issuing its approval for the final move. UTV has yet to issue a statement on the acquisition.
Thursday, February 2nd, 2012 | Posted by Trevor Faulkner | 1 Comment
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective (my Golden Game of the Year) has just arrived on Apple Devices across the States. The first two chapters are free, if you want the rest you can pay $4.99 for extra chapters or $9.99 for the whole game.
Thursday, February 2nd, 2012 | Posted by Gavin Greene | 1 Comment
Facebook is looking to make a gigantic leap into public trading, having just filed for a $5 billion initial public offering. Facebook’s IPO is over twice the size of Google’s from back in 2004 (at $1.9 billion), and the New York Times is reporting that the company is “aiming for a far greater offering that would value it near $100 billion.” Should they be successful in such a bid, the company would easily become larger than Goldman Sachs and even Ford Motor Company.
Thursday, February 2nd, 2012 | Posted by Gavin Greene | No Comments
Image courtesy of Joystiq
For failing to keep their share price above $1 for 30 consecutive days, video game publisher THQ is facing down a possible de-listing from the Nasdaq electronic stock exchange. Trading consistently below $1 since early this past December, THQ has been given 180 days to restore its stock value. Should the company be unable to maintain the minimum $1 price for ten straight days by July 23rd, their delisting would mean risking credit withdrawals and lowered ratings with credit agencies.
Thursday, February 2nd, 2012 | Posted by Gavin Greene | 4 Comments
A digital discount for Playstation Vita games has been rumored for a while now, but a recent report of Best Buy receiving demo shipments of the handheld seems to have added a new-found validity to the speculation. A NeoGAF user recently got their hands on one of the units, coming away with a screen grab of a PS Vita pre-order list for the store (above). From said listing, it looks like the digital versions of Vita games will indeed come with at least a few dollars in savings.
Wednesday, February 1st, 2012 | Posted by Robin Meijer | No Comments
Despite having downplayed rumors on the matter less than a month ago, Sony has issued a press release indicating that Kazuo Hirai will become the new president and CEO of Sony Corporation. On April 1st, Hirai will replace Sir Howard Stringer at the wheel of the electronics giant. Stringer will remain on as chairman and is expected to move to a new position as Chairman of the board following the shareholders meeting that will be held in June. Though he headed the multinational for over seven years, calls for the resignation of Sir Howard Stringer began to arise after the Playstation Network outage of 2011 and the ensuing legal repercussions.
Kazuo Hirai headed Sony Computer Entertainment of America for several years, before taking on positions within the Sony Corporation, the parent organization. He has been with the organization since 1995.
Wednesday, February 1st, 2012 | Posted by Gavin Greene | No Comments
Following in the footsteps of its sequel, which went F2P late last year, Sony Online Entertainment is marking the 13th anniversary of the launch of the original Everquest by taking the game into the free to play realm. The game will now offer the same three-tiered payment scale found in its follow-up, with a free (basic) option and both a one-time $5 (Silver) and $15/month (Gold) membership. The full index of what each membership entails can be found on the game’s official site.
Wednesday, February 1st, 2012 | Posted by Gavin Greene | 3 Comments
Perhaps to offset a repeat of the 3G Vita SKU’s floundering Japanese figures, Sony recently revealed two new bundles for the handheld’s launch in the States. Those that already pre-ordered the First Edition bundle for the device will be getting an AT&T DataConnect Pass voucher for a free 250mb session, as well as a yet to be determined Playstation Network game. The First Edition pre-orders will still be shipped one week in advance of the February 22nd launch, with Amazon continuing to guarantee delivery by the 15th.
Tuesday, January 31st, 2012 | Posted by Gavin Greene | 1 Comment
As reported by Andriasang, Capcom confirmed the production of Ace Attorney 5 in a recent issue of Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu. No release date or platforms have been announced, but Capcom did reveal that HD versions of the first three games in the detective adventure series will be coming to iOS and Android devices sometime in the future. Released as a single episodic collection, Ace Attorney 123HD will cost either ¥1,200 (approx. $15.65) for its entirety, or ¥600 (approx. $8) per chapter after the second (the first two acting as a free demo.)
Tuesday, January 31st, 2012 | Posted by Gavin Greene | 4 Comments
In an interview with VG247, Insomniac Games head Ted Price revealed that makers of the core trilogy of Resistance shooters were officially finished with the franchise. The Resistance franchise, while critically lauded, has never struck enough of a chord on shelves, Insomniac’s last game in the series – Resistance 3 - having consistently sold fewer units than its direct prequel. Despite the figures, the franchise will live on with other studios. The Vita-bound Resistance: Burning Skies is currently being handled by Nihilistic Software (Conan, Playstation Move Heroes).
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