Resistance future uncertain - Sony

Resistance: Burning Skies dev says there are currently "no definitive plans" for the alien-fighting shooter franchise.

May's tepidly received Resistance: Burning Skies for the PlayStation Vita may be the last entry in Sony's shooter series for some time. Speaking to Official PlayStation Magazine UK, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe online producer Daniel Brooke explained he enjoyed working on Burning Skies, but no firm plans are in motion for future games.

“The Resistance franchise has been exciting to work on, but as for the future, we have no definitive plans," he said.

In January, Resistance series creator Insomniac Games said it was finished building new entries in the franchise. Company CEO Ted Price bluntly stated, "We won't be making any more Resistances." The studio is now at work on class-based shooter Overstrike and the Facebook game Outernauts.

The Resistance series was born in 2006 with Insomniac's Resistance: Fall of Man for the PlayStation 3. That game was followed by Resistance 2 in 2008 for the same platform, and 2009's Resistance: Retribution for the PSP, which was developed by Sony Bend. Insomniac returned as developer for 2011's Resistance 3, and Nihilistic Software created Resistance: Burning Skies.

[gamespot.com]

Starcraft for Wii U 'might' work - Blizzard

Starcraft II lead designer says Wii U's GamePad touch screen provides opportunity to bring RTS to consoles, but admits interface not there yet.

Real-time strategy games like Starcraft require players to manage multiple units simultaneously, and for this reason, among others, the genre has remained mostly tied to PCs, which offer keyboard and mouse controls. But could Blizzard's RTS find a home on the Wii U? Starcraft II lead designer Dustin Browder explained to Kotaku that it "might" work, but ultimately, players would find the PC experience to be optimal.

"If I can control a cursor on the television with my hand on the touchscreen, that might be able to work," he said. "[But] because of the hotkey scenario, it's not like players actually play StarCraft with the mouse only--they play with the mouse and keyboard…We obviously allow new users to play mouse-only and that's really fun, but when you get serious about the game you do move into the mouse and keyboard space."

Elsewhere in the interview, Browder confirmed that Blizzard does not have a team dedicated to exploring the possibility of a console version of Starcraft, but said the company is always looking at new technology for its games. Browder went on to reveal that Sony presented Blizzard a demo of Starcraft II being controlled by the PlayStation Move, but this endeavor was dead on arrival.

"I wanted to kill myself," Browder said of the demo. "I found it very difficult to make it work.
 I believe that if I had practiced as much as he had, I would've enjoyed it more…but for us it felt like it was gonna be a lot more effort to still make that work, to still make that really sing."

In 2000, Blizzard shipped Starcraft 64 for the Nintendo 64. It was met by a warm critical reception, but all future series entries have landed only on the PC.

The next installment in the Starcraft II trilogy--Heart of the Swarm--is 99 percent complete, according to Browder. It will follow 2010's Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty and precede the final entry, Legacy of the Void.

[gamespot.com]

Call of Duty PS Vita has new story, historical setting

Black Ops Declassified surfaces in retailer listings with new single-player, multiplayer, $50 price tag.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified for the PlayStation Vita will flesh out the origins of Black Ops
II's past and future story if various retail listings posted at Amazon, GameStop, and others today are accurate.

The listings state, "Before the future could be won, history had to be written," implying that Declassified will mostly take place before the near-future setting of Black Ops II. The Vita exclusive will have original fiction in a Special Ops story mode as well as online multiplayer.

Consistent across the listings is a $50 sticker price. The only other PS Vita title to be released for $50 was Sony's launch title Uncharted: Golden Abyss. The game's developer is currently unknown, though Infinity Ward, Raven Software, Treyarch, Sledgehammer, and Neversoft are set by Activision as contributors to the Call of Duty series.

[gamespot.com]

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD lands July 18

Tony Hawk will ride again next month. Xbox Live director of programming Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb today announced prices and release dates for 2012's Summer of Arcade promotion, which will kick off on July 18 with Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD for 1,200 MS points ($15).

Developed by Robomodo (Tony Hawk Ride, Tony Hawk Shred), Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD will be the first Tony Hawk title distributed exclusively through digital channels. It will contain levels from the first two Tony Hawk titles, retouched and running on a new game engine. Its soundtrack includes a mix of songs from past games, like "Superman" by Goldfinger, as well as tunes new to the franchise, like "Teenage Blood" by Apex Manor and "Please Ask for Help" by Telekinesis.

Confirmed characters for Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD include familiar favorites like Hawk, Rodney Mullen, Andrew Reynolds, and Eric Koston, as well as newcomers like Chris Cole, Nyjah Huston, and Hawk's son, Riley Hawk.

Following Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD will be Iron Galaxy Studios' Kinect game Wreckateer on July 25 for 800 MS points ($10). The title has players controlling a magic ballista, which gamers will use to destroy castles in a medieval fantasy world.

Next up will be Tequila Works' side-scrolling horror game Deadlight on August 1. This title puts players into a postapocalyptic world and will cost 1,200 MS points ($15). A week later on August 8, Scribblenauts studio 5th Cell will release its first shooter, Hybrid. The multiplayer game will sell for 1,200 MS points ($15) and has players enlisting as either Variant or Paladin factions and duking it out in a number of arenas.

The 2012 Summer of Arcade promotion will come to a close on August 15 with Dust: An Elysian Tail for 1,200 MS points ($15). Developed by Dean Dodrill, the role-playing game was originally targeted to be released through Xbox Live's Indie Games channel. After winning Microsoft's Dream.Build.Play competition in 2009, the game was granted a spot on Xbox Live Arcade.
Gamers who purchase three or more Summer of Arcade titles will receive 400 MS points ($5) back.

[gamespot.com]

No PS4 news until 'significant leap' can be shown - Sony

PlayStation CEO Andrew House says company will keep new hardware under wraps until it can demonstrate a major advance over PlayStation 3.

Despite some suggestions that Sony would show new hardware during its 2012 Electronic Entertainment Expo media briefing earlier this month, the company did not utter a word about the PlayStation 4. Explaining the console's absence from the show and Sony's wider thoughts about new hardware to MCV, PlayStation CEO Andrew House said gamers should not expect talk of the PS4 until major advances over the PlayStation 3 can be shown.

"The right time to talk about new advances in hardware is when you can demonstrate a significant leap on the current experience, and something that is going to be attractive," he said. "That remains our philosophy. Beyond that we have nothing to say at this point."

A recent analyst report predicts Sony--and Microsoft--will have their respective future-generation consoles on store shelves by the end of next year. Sony's PS4 is rumored to boast the same graphics card as Microsoft's next Xbox, as well as measures to block out used games, though analysts do not find this claim likely.

[gamespot.com]

Black Ops II Getting Dedicated PC Servers

The lack of ranked dedicated servers has been sore spot for Call of Duty PC players for the last few iterations of the franchise, but it looks like that may be changing for Black Ops II.

Treyarch’s director of technology recently tweeted, "Confirmed: Ranked Dedicated Servers for #BlackOps2." Modern Warfare 3 had dedicated servers, but they were unranked. This should be good news for PC fans of Call of Duty.

Thanks to Hasaun Dyer for the news tip.

[gameinformer.com]

PopCap and Wooga Are Backing Away From Google Plus

Popcap Games, which is a subsidiary of Electronic Arts, and Wooga, are shutting down its games, and walking away from Google Plus.

Both companies have been incredibly successful with Facebook gaming, but Google Plus simply isn't providing enough users for the companies to continue to allocate resources toward the maintenance of its games. Electronic Arts and Popcap is shutting down its Google PLus version of Bejeweled Blitz tomorrow, and Wooga shut down its games Monster World recently. Wooga issued a statement saying it has "decided to remove certain games from Google+ because we have a much larger following on Facebook and they are active users."

It may not entirely be the fault of Google Plus however. If previous reports are any indication, social gaming in general is rapidly losing popularity.

[gameinformer.com]

Neversoft Signs Up For Call Of Duty

The developer best known for working on Tony Hawk skateboarding titles is now creating content for the Call of Duty franchise. "We have molded our team into a crack squad of eager developers ready to push the First Person Action genre in support of Activision's Call of Duty franchise," the official website reads.

What's unclear at this time is if Neversoft is simply providing development support for Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer Games, and Treyarch or creating a new game entirely. The developer as been hiring for an unknown first-person shooter project for over a year now, but it was speculated the game was a new, original franchise.

Other internal studios at Activision, such as Raven Software, helped create additional download content for Call of Duty: Black Ops and Modern Warfare 3.

[gameinformer.com]

See Spider-Man Run Free In Manhattan

Watch as The Amazing Spider-Man executive producer Brent Nicholas walks you through navigating Manhattan with mostly uninterrupted gameplay.

We've seen all of the elements of this developer walkthrough shown off, but this is the first time we've really seen its practical applications in the middle of the game. Typically, we've just been seeing little sections pulled out of the game and edited together into trailer form.

The Amazing Spider-Man is coming to PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo 3DS, and plain old Nintendo DS on June 26.

SEE VIDEO HERE.


[gameinformer.com]

Wii U in generation of its own - Sony

The Wii U is in a console generation of its own, according to Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida. Speaking to Eurogamer, the executive said he believes when Nintendo launched the Wii in 2006, it in turn created a parallel console cycle that will continue with the company's new console.

"I always thought PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 are in the same generation, but Wii was not the same," he said. "To me, the industry was growing really fast when those three platforms came up because the focus is so different. The PS3 and the 360 were the closest in terms of high definition and networked services. But Wii carved out a large niche to itself. To me, it was like two generations going at the same time."

Yoshida added, "Wii U is the next generation of Wii. That I understand. To me, it's its own generation."
The Wii U is due out worldwide this holiday season and is Nintendo's first high-definition console. Its CPU will be powered by an IBM multicore processor and its GPU by an AMD Radeon card.

[gamespot.com]

Rock Band dev at work on at least 2 new AAA games

Rock Band developer Harmonix is keeping busy. During the newest Harmonix podcast, studio director of communications and brand management John Drake revealed the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based developer is at work on more than two new "AAA" franchises. This is on top of Dance Central 3 and Rock Band Blitz, both of which are due out later this year.

No concrete information on the projects was divulged, but Drake teased that at least one of these new franchises may represent a departure from the music-based games the studio has become famous for.

"Some of them are music games, some of them are not full-on rhythm-action games," he said. "Some of them are brand new things that we created from our gut and our brains here at Harmonix. Some are things that we're expanding the universe of."
One thing was clear: none of the new projects are new Rock Band or Dance Central titles.

"I'm talking about completely new stuff," Drake said.
As for Harmonix's current projects, Rock Band Blitz is the first downloadable entry in the series and is due out later this year, while Dance Central 3 is being readied to ship this fall. That Kinect-required game is the sequel to last year's well-received Dance Central 2.

[gamespot.com]

Xbox 720 launching at $299 with Kinect 2?

A purported Microsoft document has shed light on what the Seattle technology giant may be planning for its next Xbox. The 56-page document posted to posted to Scribd indicates an "Xbox 720" will launch in 2013 at $299 with an updated iteration of Microsoft's motion-control technology, tentatively dubbed "Kinect V2."

The new version of Kinect, according to the document, will support four-player full-body tracking and allow gamers to sit down while playing. On top of this, "Kinect V2" will be able to adapt to players' living rooms, meaning they will not need to move furniture for an optimal experience.
In addition, the document indicates the new Xbox will boast a Blu-ray optical drive and promises "4x-6x" greater power over the Xbox 360. Speculation from earlier this year pointed to a new Xbox boasting a Blu-ray drive, as well as functionality that would curb used games. No mention was made in the document concerning the possibility of the console blocking, or in any way inhibiting, second-hand titles.

On top of this, the document also claims Microsoft is planning to add support for augmented reality glasses for the new Xbox. This endeavor will be called "Fortaleza," and is planned to launch sometime in 2014. The glasses will reportedly run on Wi-Fi and 4G connections.

The literature also indicates that the Xbox 720 will feature some kind of "always on" functionality, but no additional information about this was offered. Microsoft reportedly has high hopes for the technology, as it predicts it will sell 100 million consoles over a 10-year lifespan, according to the documents.

Lastly, the document's "Cloud Value Proposition 2015" section indicates Microsoft is looking to cloud services for its future. The slides suggest Microsoft will offer future software and services through the cloud, thus removing the need to purchase new hardware ever again.
If the report is legitimate, it may not represent Microsoft's current planning for a new Xbox, as the material dates back to the middle of 2010.

As of press time, Microsoft had not responded to GameSpot's request for comment on the matter. For more on the speculation regarding Microsoft's new console--as well as the Wii U and PlayStation 4--check out GameSpot's roundup feature.

[gamespot.com]

Details emerge on Limbo dev's next project

Copenhagen-based developer Playdead, creator of 2010's critically acclaimed side-scroller Limbo, has begun work on its next game, tentatively titled Project 2.

According to the Danish Film Institute's website (which can be viewed in English), Playdead's next title is a puzzle platformer adventure for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC, and Mac.
Listed as having a budget of £1 million ($1.55 million), the game will follow the adventures of a boy as he does battle with evil forces through "puzzles and changing scenarios." The game will be in colour and will be set in a 3D environment; however, according to the site, the gameplay will take place in 2D.

In November
last year, Playdead revealed that Limbo crossed the one million units sold mark, across the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

Limbo puts players in the shoes of a small child who must find his way through a black-and-white world, filled with puzzles and dangerous, often deadly, obstacles. The game won critical acclaim upon release, which was followed by a small avalanche of award nominations that yielded multiple Interactive Achievement Awards and a Game Developers Choice Award.

[gamespot.com]

BioWare considering free-to-play Old Republic

BioWare is examining the possibility of making its massively multiplayer online role-playing game Star Wars: The Old Republic a free-to-play title. Speaking to GamesTM, lead designer Emmanuel Lusinchi explained that the MMO space is constantly evolving, and BioWare must adapt to the changes.

"The MMO market is very dynamic and we need to be dynamic as well," Lusinchi said. "Unless people are happy with what they have, they are constantly demanding updates, new modes, and situations. So we are looking at free-to-play, but I can't tell you in much detail. We have to be flexible and adapt to what is going on."

Lusinchi went on to note his belief that free-to-play games are elevating in quality, becoming genuine competition. This competition, he said, is driving BioWare to consider its options moving forward.
"If it was just free-to-play games and they weren't very good, it wouldn't even be a question, but there are definitely good games out there and good games coming out, so of course all of this competition impacts your plan with what you want to do," he said.

This is not the first time BioWare has said the MMO genre is a demanding business to be in. Last month, Lusinchi explained that "the MMO is the toughest part of the game industry without a doubt, and we live in tough economic times in general."

[gamespot.com]