Video Game News

As Electronic Arts continues to work toward having Origin reach feature parity with Steam -- and hopefully finding something unique it can offer in the process -- it also is focused on getting the software installed on as many computers as possible. Bundling it with EA's own computer games has proven to be one effective way of doing this, whether it be with Battlefield 3 or Mass Effect 3, as has exclusively offering the digital version of its big MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic, through the service. Now it's extending a helping hand to independent developers who have turned to crowd-funding to get their games made in a move that will further help to increase the size of Origin's userbase.

The publisher today announced it will waive Origin's distribution fees for 90 days for any developer wanting to bring its crowd-funded, downloadable PC game to the service, just so long as the game is ready to publish. Develop notes the only costs developers will be subjected to are those pertaining to transactions, such as the fee charged by credit card companies. Even with that small caveat, this is still a potentially great deal for independent developers who will be able to receive a significantly larger portion of revenue on each game it sells in the three months following release. Particularly when you consider many of the games that have been funded by Kickstarter are unlikely to ever be multi-million unit sellers, that extra money could prove to be a major boon.

While it could have gone worse, Diablo III's first few days of availability have been plagued with a variety of issues. There were problem logging in including the dreaded Error 37, and similar sorts of issues have continued to crop up since then, leading to several instances of the servers being taken offline. This has all been widespread enough that Blizzard apologized for the situation, but really, these sorts of problems are to be expected following the release of an enormously popular online game. But not everyone wants Diablo III to be an online game, and those players have suffered right alongside those who do.

Aside from the times that the servers have been brought down for emergency maintenance, which invariably affect everyone, not everyone has been subjected to a less-than-ideal experience. Having skipped the launch rush on Tuesday, I've yet to run into any problems myself, save for one where I'm occasionally told someone I'm chatting with is not online, which requires me to re-send my message. Annoying, sure, but hardly a big deal, especially in light of people who are losing their Achievements or having trouble playing at all for one reason or another.

With Lost Planet's roots firmly planted on consoles, it comes as a surprise that the series will soon be making a trip to portables in the form of E.X. Troopers for the Nintendo 3DS. Taking an anime-inspired look and featuring gameplay similar to its console brethren, it appears that the franchise will be bringing some familiar elements to Nintendo's smaller screens. As sudden as the announcement is, Capcom seems to be taking an unexpected approach for the franchise on portables.

More than two years after Infinity Ward founders Jason West and Vince Zampella first sued Activision, their case is finally set to head to trial on May 29. But before the case can be heard, documents have been released which shed light on some unsavory moves Activision made prior to firing West and Zampella in March 2010.

Prior to the start of the case, there have been some developments of note. Electronic Arts, the publisher of the game being produced by West and Zampella's new studio, Respawn Entertainment, was added in late 2010 as a defendant in Activision's counter-suit; Activision alleged EA conspired with the former IW heads to derail the Call of Duty franchise, among other things. Bloomberg reported yesterday the two publishers have reached a settlement, details of which were not made available.

It's certainly not easy to make a game based off a hit television series; one has to only look back at properties like Buffy, The X-Files, and The Sopranos to find examples of fantastic shows that transitioned into video games via bland and uninspired adaptations. And the less said about the Home Improvement SNES game featuring dinosaurs, the better. Observing this sad trend makes it all the more surprising that Telltale was able to create a fantastic opening to their downloadable series based on The Walking Dead. Sadly the success that they had with the AMC hit caused an old wound to open in the form of us thinking about the potential behind 2008's Lost: Via Domus, and how it failed in every aspect that The Walking Dead succeeds.

Ubisoft Montreal released their adaptation of the ambitious ABC series at the very end of Lost's third season. As the season finale dramatically widened the scope of the series, Lost: Via Domus attempted to retread over the first 60 episodes by placing fans in the shoes of a brand new character. What followed was a bland, uninspired trod through the jungle without any focus whatsoever. Characters from the show would randomly pop-up for the sole purpose of having fans recognize them, and strange gameplay mechanics were shoehorned for no apparent reason. In short, the game was a bit of a mess. So why is it that Telltale was able to succeed with The Walking Dead where Ubisoft failed with Lost?

Ever since Square unveiled the Final Fantasy VII tech demo back in E3 of 2005, fans have been demanding the company bring their 1997 RPG classic to the era of HD consoles. Instead of delivering on the goods, however, Square decided to instead release port after port of their 2D Final Fantasies, along with the 13th (and unfortunately 14th) iteration of the series. With Final Fantasy XIII receiving mixed reviews and Final Fantasy XIV tainting the brand, it seems fans just want a reminder of why they loved the series in the first place. Instead of something new and different, Final Fantasy enthusiasts ultimately crave a prettier version of VII.

There are few better feelings than being genuinely surprised by something that you had no idea even existed. Such was the case a few hours ago when I stumbled upon the teaser trailer for Dreadline, an upcoming PC game from Eerie Canal Entertainment. Turns out this is the freshman title by Eerie Canal, a new team comprised of veterans from Irrational Games and Harmonix who worked on titles like BioShock and Rock Band. One could assume that Dreadline would include Objectivism via plastic instruments, but then one would be terribly wrong.

The game places you in the role of a team of creatures who evidently time travel just prior to infamous historical disasters and completely decimate the victims moments before their impending doom. This motley crew consists of an ornery mummy, some sort of feral cat-girl, an ominous cube that looks like it was pulled straight from a Phantasam reboot, and a homicidal child in a ghost costume.

Downloadable content has been one of the most popular trends this generation. Last year Activision tried to find out if a market exists for a subscription service for a non-MMO with Call of Duty Elite. As the latest numbers peg Elite subscriptions -- which cost $50 a year, or were free with Modern Warfare 3's Hardened Edition -- at 2 million, an audience does apparently exist that is willing to fork over money for more than just a la carte DLC. Electronic Arts is now rumored to be preparing a premium service for the Battlefield series which is said to be launching in only a few weeks' time.

Battlefieldo reported on Friday a "very reliable source" had shared with it a timeline for the forthcoming updates Battlefield 3 is receiving. In addition to a mention of a fifth expansion pack (beyond the already released Back to Karkand and the previously announced Close Quarters, Armored Kill, and End Game) is a strategy guide being released in June and, more notably, something called Battlefield Premium.

Starting today you can purchase Steam Wallet codes at GameStop stores. These codes, which are available in $20 and $50 denominations, can be added to a Steam account and used to purchase content through Valve's immensely popular digital distribution service. This move may come as a surprise to some as GameStop last year purchased Steam competitor Impulse, yet it actually is a very sensible move for both sides.

For GameStop, this is another way for it to insert itself into the sale of digital content. It already offers things like downloadable content and points for the console manufacturers' respective platforms, as well as (more recently) digital PC games through Impulse. Getting a cut of money spent on Steam is an obvious benefit, but there is more to it than that.

After Bethesda's open-world fantasy RPG Skyrim sold 10 million units, no one could blame Capcom for hoping there's room for more than just one fantasy RPG title about slaying dragons and saving the world. Dragon's Dogma represents a three year development cycle for the Japanese studio, with more than 150 developers plugging away at its design. With the game representing such a large investment, a lot is riding on how well Dragon's Dogma will fare at retail.

As much fun as I have with many of the iOS games I play, there are few which I stick with for very long. In some cases that's because the free or $0.99 entry point for these games have a direct correlation with the amount of depth they contain -- there's one good idea, but it's not necessarily something you'll want to spend more than a few hours with. Jetpack Joyride is a straightforward auto-runner, hardly the sort of thing that I would expect to play for long. And yet it has managed to keep its spot on the front page of my iPhone for months; it's my go-to game when I have a minute to spare. It's simple, easy-to-play, and it's now available in beta on Facebook.

Joyride started out as a $0.99 download on the App Store, during which time it sold about one million units. It was then converted into a free-to-play game and had been downloaded an additional 13 million times as of February. According to a press release issued today, that number has soared to 25 million downloads. It may not be at the level of Angry Birds, but that is a huge figure, particularly if developer Halfbrick's expectation for 5 to 10 percent of customers spending at least a dollar continues as the game expands to Facebook.

It may have cut it close, but Camouflaj's debut title, Republique, managed to reach its Kickstarter goal in the final hours before its deadline today. The project kicked off a month ago seeking $500,000 and, after an initial surge of pledges, found itself struggling to attract backers. Rather than accept the fact that there was not half a million dollars out there to fund a hardcore iOS title like this, Camouflaj adapted and now finds itself padding that $500,000 with additional pledges ahead of its 3pm Pacific deadline.

Republique was initially pitched as an iOS game combining stealth and survival horror in the style of a game from the PlayStation era. With an estimated budget of over $1 million, Camouflaj turned to Kickstarter to come up with $500,000 to help ensure it would not have to compromise creative control or hand over ownership of the IP.

The ability to rent dedicated Battlefield 3 servers for use in the console versions of the game was a welcome addition back in March. Unfortunately, playing on these servers appears to have become the only option for playing online multiplayer, a development which understandably has fans of the game frustrated with Electronic Arts and DICE.

As outlined in this thread on the official Battlefield forums, many players are upset that EA- and DICE-operated servers have almost entirely disappeared. These servers were the only ones available prior to the rent-a-server option becoming available on consoles, and were to be complemented nicely by the new custom servers which allow for their owners to establish communities of sorts with rules, options, and admins they decide.

Three months ago, Electronic Arts boasted its new MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic, had amassed 1.7 million subscribers. That number is a far cry from what World of Warcraft has, though it is a very strong showing for a subscription-based MMO in a market that is becoming much more free-to-play-centric. The publisher updated investors again on the status of TOR this week, revealing it has seen a drop-off of 400,000 subscribers to 1.3 million. That's nearly one in four players who have stopped playing over that span of time, which surely means it's time to sound the alarm and for those who voted EA as the worst company in America to start celebrating, right? In fact, this may not be as bad as it seems.

A 23-percent decline is a substantial figure any way you slice it. Yet it's important to remember this is still early in the life of the game; if this were to happen a year from now it would be more troubling. At this point in time, it's natural for an MMO to lose a chunk of people who wanted to try the game out and nothing more. It seems entirely feasible a chunk of casual players tried the game out but didn't want to pay a monthly subscription, which is essentially what the drop was attributed to in an EA conference call with investors on Monday.

With Wolfenstein 3D celebrating its 20th anniversary this month, it's fitting -- if unexpected -- to see a nearly 30-minute developer commentary track from industry legend John Carmack exploring his memories and recollections from the early days of id Software. Despite the march of time and technology since the game's 1992 release, you can't help but be charmed by the man's enthusiasm for his early days in the industry.

I know that it's absurd to compare two games that were released over a decade apart, but what the hell, but I'm going to do it anyway. I've recently become a bit of a pariah among my fellow 1UP editors due to my opinions on Donkey Kong Country, Rare's 1994 foray into the world of the SNES. While few would dispute the game's technological merits, not many around these parts agree with me that DKC is a far better and much more playable platformer than the original Super Mario Bros.

Please set down your pitchforks and extinguish those torches.

Donkey Kong Country was the game that began Rare's ascent to creative bliss. Anyone who owned a Super Nintendo or a Nintendo 64 has undoubtedly fond memories of playing any number of the British developer's classic titles, whether it was slapping down Jago in Killer Instinct or planting the perfect proximity mine in GoldenEye, and this hot streak all began with the reinvention of Mario's original nemesis. A few years after the plumber journeyed around the world, Donkey Kong was tasked with exploring his island in search of his stolen banana hoard. The game was a dense, cutting-edge package that showcased the power of the SNES and provided what I feel to be a perfect platforming experience. As you can probably tell by the video below, my fellow editors do not share in these views.

BioShock Infinite was among the most anticipated games scheduled for release this fall. It's still shaping up to be one of the bigger launches of the year, it's just that year will be next year. Infinite's release was officially pushed back today from its scheduled date on October 16 until February 26, 2013. The reason for this is said to be because of a goal to make it as great as can be, and while I don't doubt there is a desire to do that, there may be other factors which contributed to the decision to delay the game's release by four months.

A message to fans from developer Irrational Games' creative director, Ken Levine, was distributed to the press and posted online today. In it he claims that, since announcing the October release date in March, the team realized "that some specific tweaks and improvements will make Infinite into something even more extraordinary. Therefore, to give our talented team the time they need, we've decided to move the game's release to February 26, 2013. We wanted to let our loyal (and very patient!) fans know this as soon as possible.

The social games business is still very young, meaning there are a lot of things still to be worked out as certain Japanese companies are finding out right now. A highly profitable sales tactic employed heavily by companies like GREE and DeNA may soon be deemed illegal in Japan, a move which would certainly put a damper on what is a rapidly-expanding portion of the industry in that country.

The issue involves complete gacha, also referred to as compugacha or konpu gacha in Japan. Gacha on its own involves money being handed over in exchange for a random item; this is acceptable in a legal sense. Where complete gacha becomes problematic is in the way it rewards players with a special item for completing a set of items which are obtained randomly. This can, as you might imagine, become an expensive proposition as attempting to collect all the parts of a set can require countless transactions. Comparisons have been drawn between it and gambling, which is largely illegal in Japan.

E3 is now less than a month away, and Microsoft is scheduled to kick things off with its annual press conference on the morning of Monday, June 4. With E3 being a gaming-focused event and Microsoft having already made it clear there will be no talk of a new platform during it, one might expect there to be a big focus on games for the Xbox 360. As the company has shown previously -- last year especially -- it's more than happy to spend its time in the spotlight talking up the kinds of games and features hardcore gamers do not want to hear about at the expense of core games. Unfortunately for those people, this year's show is not looking like it will be much different.

The big news during last year's media briefing was the announcement of Halo 4 and, by extension, a new Halo trilogy. Other gaming highlights included Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Minecraft as a 360 exclusive, Kinect voice controls for Mass Effect 3, and Kinect Disneyland Adventures. We also got a look at the new Call of Duty (which would be having its DLC come to 360 first, though this was nothing new), Tomb Raider, Ghost Recon: Future Soldier (and its Kinect functionality, along with a promise of Kinect support in all future Tom Clancy games), and a few other things.

Fans have been clamoring for a multiplayer Elder Scrolls title as far back as anyone can remember. The thought gathering a group of friends and taking on Tamriel's dwemer, trolls and whatever else may spawn out of Oblivion has been the subject of many a fan's fantasies. With rumblings of an announcement inbound for some time now, Elder Scrolls aficionados can finally rest easy.