Gamernode: Latest Industry News

First look: Jake Gyllenhaal in Prince of Persia: T...

Remember when we found out the star of the Prince of Persia film would be Jake Gyllenhaal? Many fans were skeptical, not sure how the star of Donnie Darko would hold up as the hero of the games. The Just Jared blog managed to get some pictures of Jake in costume on the set filming the movie... And I'll let the picture speak for itself.

It's quite obvious Jake has done some bulking up for the role, but what do you guys think? Personally, I think it looks like he's getting ready to play a caveman who finds an evil wig which then attaches itself to his head, transports him to modern times, and somehow controls his body so that he's able to get an attractive blond girlfriend in Modern America (all while being chased by a crazy doctor who's determined to prove he's of caveman descent), but I ma...

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UK in uproar over iPhone "Slasher" game

Gamers who have the iPhone are always on the hunt for games to play on the cool device. But one game, "Slasher," has started a wave of indignity and concern from the citizens of the UK.

The game depicts a knife in attack mode and shows the knife, stabbing their victims. The reason why the game has caused so much attention is due to the recent crime wave in Britain where teenagers have been attacked and stabbed to death. Fiction mimicking real life is too much for some.

"We are facing a knife crime epidemic in the UK. This is irresponsible and pathetic," said one Apple customer.

Another remarked, "What is Apple thinking? This is offensive."

The uproar over knife-based games also caused the usually loyal Apple fans to protest against a Facebook application that allowed members to conduct virtual...

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Three teens "learned" how to firebomb cars from GT...

Three teens residing in Milton, Georgia were recently arrested for setting the vehicles belonging to their fellow citizens ablaze by tossing Molotov cocktails at them.

While no specific reasons for firebombing the two Mercedes and a Honda (all of which were separated within a half-mile from one another) other than for fun, the young arsonists didn't fail to mention that they learned how to lob from unspecified installment in Rockstar's ever-controversial Grand Theft Auto series.

Huh, that's funny. I don't recall a mission in GTA4 that required Niko to visit a local Wal-Mart and purchase multiple bottles of Sprite, lighter fluid, and red rags, which investigators discovered were the items used to make the bombs after visiting the teens' local retailer and pulling a receipt listing the aforeme...

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Behind the scenes of Legendary, episode 2 of 6

Gamecock Media Group has released the second episode of their behind-the-scenes video series for the upcoming mythological first-person shooter, Legendary.

Take a look at the game's griffons, werewolves, and more:

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Sega: Sonic criticism warranted, working to improv...

Sega of America vice president of marketing Sean Ratcliffe knows how people feel about the Sonic franchise. It's been worn down over the years from its 16-bit glory days, dropping the blue speedster into many games that some (myself included) would kindly label, "sub-par."

In an interview with GameDaily, he discusses Sega's perspective on Sonic, past criticisms of the franchise, and what the company aims to achieve with future releases.

"Some of that criticism is probably warranted. We definitely recognize that a franchise that has been going as long as Sonic, you really have to put a huge amount of effort in to make sure that you maintain that quality, and arguably a disproportionate amount of effort. However, I would say we recognize it, which is why you're seeing us this year taking the f...

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Turner to sell GameTap

Time Warner parent, Turner Broadcasting, has revealed plans to sell off its GameTap videogame download service. In Turner's quarter 2 financial report, an $18 million writeoff indicates the decision to sell the subscription- and ad-based PC gaming service. Said a Turner spokesperson:

"There is considerable marketplace interest in the GameTap business and brand. We are considering various strategic options, but have reached no final agreement as yet. When there is a resolution, we will announce it."

Currently, GameTap supports emulated and non-emulated software on over a dozen classic and current gaming platforms, as well as a number of "GameTap Originals." Many large videogame publishers work with GameTap to deliver their software to a wider audience than traditional retail practices allow, ...

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Carmack says Apple will fail in gaming venture

Remember when Kanye West went in front of a camera during the Katrina crisis during a live broadcast and stated, quite plainly, that "George Bush doesn't care about black people"?

Well, John Carmack, the Id Software Technical Director, is saying that "Steve Jobs doesn't care about games."

Although sarcastically admitting that the statement would put him on Apple CEO Steve Jobs', "sh*thead list," until he is needed again, John Carmack said that Jobs is not a gamer, and thus Apple, as a company, cannot succeed in the gaming field.

In a potentially contradictory statement, however, Carmack continued on and said that the iPhone could become a very important gaming platform, possibly enough so to debunk the PSP. Id is already underway, working on iPhone projects. Carmack has announced that n...

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EA says "crappy games" hurting industry

John Riccitiello, CEO of Electronic Arts, made some astounding statements, and depending on how you take them, you'll either fall down laughing or slap your face in disbelief.

EA, the monolith that has been cranking out franchise after franchise and buying up game companies for well over a decade says that bad games hurt the game industry.

We pause to let everyone pick themselves off of the floor.

He said that EA is no longer "in the business of exploiting other people's licenses with bad quality games."

We pause again...

"I think what redeems our industry is quality and I think we take a step back every time we take a license and exploit it with a crappy game--that's not what we're about. We've been there, most of our competitors are there or have been there. That's not what we do. We're not r...

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Conquest mode coming to Battlefield: Bad Company

EA and DICE are adding a new online gameplay mode to Battlefield: Bad Company, free of charge. Conquest mode will be available for download via Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network this Thursday, August 7th.

Made famous by Battlefield 1942, Conquest mode pits players against each other in a fast paced battle to eliminate the opposing team’s tickets. Players deplete their opponent’s tickets by one point per kill and can cause their opponent’s tickets to spiral downwards by capturing control points. Four maps that are currently available for online play in Gold Rush mode will be available to conquer with Conquest mode.

We're fans of the squad-based shooter here at GamerNode, so this addition is received with open arms. Will any of the GN faithful be doing...

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Behind the scenes of Legendary, episode 1 of 6

Gamecock Media Group has released the first in a six-episode, weekly series of behind-the-scenes videos of the mythological first-person shooter, Legendary, which is scheduled for release on September 30th for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

Says Gamecock, "This epic six-part video series takes a look at the game from the designer's perspective, giving viewers an unprecedented look at the love, sweat and tears that goes into creating a game of such monumental proportions." Says GamerNode, "Watch the video and tell us what you think."

Hit the jump to watch the video.

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Itagaki has strong words for Okami creator

Tomonobu Itagaki (creative brains behind Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden) has never been one to shy away from confrontation.

So when Hideki Kamiya remarked to the press that he felt the action genre had been asleep for the last 8 years since he created Devil May Cry, obviously this is something that rubbed Itagaki the wrong way.

Considering Itagaki has devoted most of the last 8 years to the production of action games, he decided to fire back in the latest issue of EGM.

"Was he asleep for eight years? ...There are two types of people out there who like to make controversial, splashy comments. There are those who are truly outspoken, and there are those who are just trying to cover up for their weaknesses. We have a saying here in Japan, "the weaker dog barks more."

This is why I love Itagaki....

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NCSOFT Announces New MMO, Blade & Soul

It's hard not to mention World of Warcraft when a new MMO title is announced. With Wrath of the Lich on the horizon, one has to wonder why anyone would even think about populating the gaming market with another title in the genre Blizzard clearly owns.Still NCSOFT has announced a new MMORPG titled Blade & Soul, and from what we know so far we can say two very distinct statements; the game is influenced heavily in oriental martial arts, and damn is the game pretty.

NCSOFT is hoping their unique setting will draw players away from the tried and true medieval setting which seems to be populating the majority of current, or up-incoming MMOs.In addition to this, Blade & Soul will include a dynamic environment which will change based on the gamer's playstyle as well as randomly morph to create n...

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EA considering micro transactions for Spore

John Riccitiello, CEO of Electronic Arts, is already thinking out loud about how his company can squeeze a few more dollars out of your wallet when Spore is eventually released in about a month.

Riccitiello spoke at an investor's conference call and mulled over the possibility of charging gamers for additional items and objects. He said micro transactions would help to "monetise, if you will, body parts, plant parts, car parts and planets as a way to generate incremental revenue on an installed base of several million active users."

The business term "Monetise," means, "bleed them dry" in everyday terms, we believe. But Riccitiello pulled himself back and said that he may be putting the cart in front of the horse.

"But it's a little bit like pool. I'm afraid if we spend too much time setting...

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Hackers crash EA's Scrabble game on Facebook

EA is saying that "malicious" hackers were behind the plot to bring down its official online Scrabble game on Facebook. The Scrabble game crashed yesterday and was unavailable for play since this morning.

Electronic Arts told the LA Times, "EA's Scrabble Facebook game experienced a malicious attack this morning, resulting in the disabling of Scrabble on Facebook. We're working with our partners to resolve this issue and have Scrabble back online and ready to play as soon as possible."

Interestingly enough, Hasbro, the owners to the rights for Scrabble, recently filed a lawsuit against the developers of "Scabulous," a similar game to Scrabble that was very popular on Facebook. After the lawsuit was filed against the Scrabulous owners, the game was taken off of the site.

There is no evidence t...

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New game coming for the...Dreamcast?! Yes

A few of us who still own our Dreamcast game consoles still miss all the fun we had on it. Of course the PS2 and Xbox squeezed it out at the time it appeared and its life as a game console was cut short.

In spite of its early demise, games are still being made for it. There's a new game called DUX coming for the DC and it'll make its very late debut sometime in August. The game looks like an R-Type clone, so if you don't mind that, you can get your Dreamcast back in action and relive the DC's glory days.

According to hucasst.net:

"Dux is a sooting game for Sega Dreamcast developed by HUCAST.net & KonTechs Ltd. This game combines traditional gameplay with modern shoot 'em up features such as many bullets on-screen and an adequate scoring system. To make advantages of the Dreamcast's 2D capabi...

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Tim Schafer says "Brutal Legend is fine."

With newly formed megapower Activision Blizzard talking about selling development studios and opting not to publish certain Vivendi games, some individuals are bound to wonder where Double Fine Productions' upcoming Brutal Legend stands in this corporate juggling act.

According to Double Fine boss Tim Schafer (and a picture of his oatmeal-infesting weevil) Brutal Legend is safe and sound. On the official Double Fine website, Schafer responded to questions regarding the game's status in the alternate text of the weevil image.

It reads, "Brutal Legend is fine."

That's great news, because the gaming world only needs more Double Fine and Time Schafer work permeating its every nook and cranny. Now we could just use some more information about the game's content and stage of completion.

[via Double ...

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Activision Blizzard selling Vivendi's Sierra?

Yes, this gaming company mash-up borders on ridiculous...

The latest from Activision Blizzard is that the mega-publisher may be ready to sell off Vivendi subsidiary Sierra Entertainment. Activision Publishing CEO Mike Griffith said Monday:

"We are focused on improving efficiency across the combined organization and are concentrating on businesses where we have leadership positions that are aligned with Activision Publishing's long-term corporate objectives."

He went on to talk about existing Vivendi intellectual properties, and Activision Blizzard's plans to move forward (or not) with them:

"We have conducted a thorough review of Vivendi Games' brand portfolio and are retaining those franchises and titles that are a strong fit with our long-term product strategy. We are reviewing our options r...

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Fable 2? How about 3, 4, and 5? Molyneux talks.

Fable II is still three months away from release, and already Peter Molyneux has been caught talking about the next three games in the series. In an interview with GameTrailers, he discussed the links between the first two games, as well as the learning process from one game to the next.

"I realized during making Fable 2 what atrocious mistakes I've made in the past... I don't think I was skilful enough to make Fable 1 better, but I learned so much from the mistakes in Fable 1 and that is what I'm proudest about in Fable 2."

"We've got plans for Fable 3, 4 and 5. It's a big story arc and you can see that if you play Fable 2 you'll recognize things from Fable 1."

The Lionhead big shot went on to mention a secret project in the works at the studio, and although he refused to comment on that, he...

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EA says it made the wrong call on the Wii

Whether you love the Wii or hate it, the demand is still strong for the miniscule white game console. EA's CEO, John Riccitiello also agrees, although he admits that EA made the wrong bet as far as which game console would be the leader in the industry.

Considering that the Big 3, Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo released their versions of next gen machines within a relatively short time, EA had to make a decision on which consoles it would focus on. The bottom line was profitability and it looked like Sony's PS3 and the Xbox 360 would be in the driver's seat. Nintendo's Wii was literally put on the shelf for game development and the rest is history.

The bets were made, and John Riccitiello looked back on the decisions and said, "One thing that's different is we typically figured out who the mar...

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Soul Calibur IV: Vader on 360, Yoda on PS3?

Star Wars fans may have been happy to learn that Soul Calibur 4 will feature console-specific playable characters Darth Vader and Yoda, but the inability to pit them against one another in mortal combat is likely to have left a bittersweet taste in many gamers' mouths.

Well that taste may not linger very long, as it is rumored that Darth Vader will be available as downloadable content on the Xbox 360 and Yoda will be getting the same treatment on the Playstation 3. We don't know if these downloads will be free or paid just yet, and what we do know remains unconfirmed by Namco, Microsoft, or Sony. This video is pretty clear, however:

[via GamersReports]

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