Ouya will be available to demo in a carpark during E3
Ouya has announced it will be demoing its upcoming console in a parking lot directly across from E3 for the duration of that conference.
According to a press release sent out to developers by Ouya head of developer relations Kellee Santiago, the company’s setup will include everything required for game makers to “put on a killer game demo" during the E3 conference, which runs from June 12-14.
“Ouya’s E3 location will be 100 per cent open to the public – no credentials required!” said Santiago.
“Invite friends, family – hell, invite anyone 'cuz they're all welcome!”
The Ouya will be available for purchase from select retailers in Canada, the US, and the UK from June 25.
Kickstarter roundup – week of May 20
Below are a handful of games that in the past week have been added to Kickstarter, hit their funding goal, or failed miserably on the popular crowdfunding site.
As a rule, we generally don't report on games that seek or attract less than US$50,000, and a game's appearance here should not be taken as a recommendation. Remember to back projects wisely – you know, just like everyone did with the Ouya.
Recently FundedKingdoms of Amalur, Demon's Souls, Rayman Legends headline June PlayStation Plus
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Demon’s Souls, and Ico and Shadow of the Colossus HD are all coming to PlayStation Plus, Sony has announced.
Reckoning is a quality RPG that developer 38 Studios attempted to make into an MMO before it rather conspicuously ran out of money.
Demon’s Souls is an excellent and tough action-RPG that serves as a spiritual predecessor to Dark Souls.
Wii U "crap", Nintendo "Walking Dead" – EA engineer
An EA employee has tweeted some fairly pointed comments about the Wii U, only days after his company confirmed that it had no games planned for Nintendo's console.
In a series of since-deleted tweets, EA senior software engineer Bob Summerwill was fairly undiplomatic towards the young device.
"The Wii U is crap,” Summerwill began.
Ubisoft had a great financial year thanks to Far Cry 3 and Assassin’s Creed III
Sales of Far Cry 3 and Assassin’s Creed III sent Ubisoft profits soaring in the last financial year, the company has revealed.
Last week the French publisher and developer announced that it shipped 12 million copies of Assassin’s Creed III and six million of Far Cry 3 on its way to sales of €1.256 billion (AU$1.65 billion) and an operating income of €100.3 million (AU$131.73 million).
That meant overall revenue was up 18.3% from the 2012 financial year, and Ubisoft stock rose about 10 per cent as a result.
Nintendo takes revenue from YouTube uploaders
Nintendo is claiming ownership over some YouTube videos that feature its games, gathering any revenue from the videos in the process.
The company appears to be targeting “Let’s Play” videos – playthroughs of games that can be quite lucrative for the uploader thanks to revenue from ads.
According to popular YouTube personality Zack Scott, Nintendo is issuing “content ID match” claims, preventing video creators from monetising the content.
EA not developing any more games for Wii U
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EA has confirmed what was already apparent from its release schedule: the publishing giant is no longer making games for Nintendo's Wii U console.
"We have no games in development for the Wii U currently," EA spokesperson Jeff Brown told Kotaku.
The platform was conspicuously absent from the announcements of upcoming EA games including Battlefield 4, Madden NFL 25 and FIFA 14.
With EA having just inked a deal with Disney to develop Star Wars games, the publisher's position could see Nintendo's console missing some key third-party franchises.
However, Brown said EA hasn't ruled out developing for Wii U again in the future.
Three Sonic titles coming to Wii U
Nintendo announced two new games at last week’s Nintendo Direct broadcast: Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games and Sonic: Lost World.
The games are part of a three game partnership between Nintendo and Sega, said Nintendo President Satoru Iwata.
Mario & Sonic is a Wii U exclusive, and will allow players to participate in events such as bobsledding, snowboarding, skiing, skating, and the biathlon, using both Wiimotes and the GamePad.
New Guilty Gear game announced
A new Guilty Gear title is on the way, Arc System Works has announced.
Guilty Gear Xrd -Sign- will be directed by series creator Daisuke Ishiwatari.
The first Guilty Gear title was released in 1998, with Ishiwatari providing game’s now-signature hard rock soundtrack.
Assassin's Creed 4 sales forecast lower than AC3
Ubisoft is "conservatively" forecasting sales of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag to be lower than last year's Assassin's Creed III.
The publisher thinks the upcoming game's Golden Age of Piracy theme may be received by a global audience even better than the American Revolution was in Assassin's Creed III, but has set its expectations lower "to be prudent".
Assassin's Creed III is the best-selling title in the series so far, achieving a remarkable 12.5 million units shipped in the financial year ended 31st March 2013.
Polyphony considering Gran Turismo 6 for PS4
Yesterday, Sony unveiled Gran Turismo 6, and scheduled its release on PlayStation 3 for later this year.
To the disappointment of many fans, Gran Turismo 6 was not confirmed for Sony’s next console, the PlayStation 4, also slated for this holiday season.
Kazunori Yamauchi, head of Gran Turismo development studio Polyphony, has said that a PlayStation 4 version is possible at a later date.
Ubisoft suspends Désilets' game 1666 indefinitely
Ubisoft has indefinitely suspended development on 1666, following the dismissal of Patrice Désilets, creative lead on this game, and creative director on Assassin’s Creed and Assassin’s Creed II.
Désilets left Ubisoft to set up a new Montreal-based studio with THQ. When that publisher folded earlier this year, Ubisoft picked up the studio and its intellectual property. However, Désilets was dismissed two months later.
In an investor call last night, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said, “After more than two months of discussion with [Désilets], we couldn't align our vision both on project development and team management. Consequently our collaboration has ended. We have suspended development on 1666 for an undisclosed time.”
UK LulzSec hackers jailed
Four UK hackers affiliated with the group LulzSec have been sentenced to jail for their parts in attacks on organisations and companies including the CIA, and game publishers such as Sony, EA, and Bethesda.
The four defendants had all pleaded guilty. Ryan Cleary received the longest sentence, 32 months, after confessing to additional attacks on the US Air Force, and for possessing indecent images of babies and children, reports the BBC.
Ryan Ackroyd was sentenced to 30 months, and Jake Davis was sentenced to 24 months. Mustafa al-Bassam received a 20 month suspended sentence.
Metro dev "was never playing on a level field" – former THQ boss
Jason Rubin, the former president of THQ and co-founder of Naughty Dog, has lauded Metro: Last Light for its technical and creative achievements while drawing attention to the working conditions at Ukraine-based developer 4A Games.
"The budget of Last Light is less than some of its competitors spend on cut scenes, a mere 10 percent of the budget of its biggest competitors," Rubin wrote in a post on GamesIndustry.
"Yet it is lauded for its story and atmosphere. It is built on a completely original and proprietary second-generation engine that competes with sequels that have stopped numbering themselves, with more engineers on their tech than 4A has on the entire project. Yet its tech chops are never in question."
Rubin joked that the only thing 4A was getting too much credit for was the frightening, post-apocalyptic environment of the game. "I've been in Kiev to visit the team, so I know they just stepped outside for reference."
4A's studio in the Ukrainian capital was small and sparsely equipped, according to Rubin. "4A's staff sat on folding wedding chairs, literally elbow to elbow at card tables in what looks more like a packed grade school cafeteria than a development studio," he claimed. The former THQ executive contrasted the working conditions to those enjoyed by Western developers: "The entire 4A studio would fit easily in the (underutilized) gym at EA Los Angeles' offices. Yet Last Light's Metacritic score blows away Medal of Honor Warfighter."
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