Joystiq

Yoshida: PS4 may have subscription levels, all games available digitally

Jessica Conditt — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 19:30:00 EST

The PlayStation 4 could employ a multiple-tier subscription service, offering different levels of access in a style similar to a cable television company, Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida tells The Guardian.

"We could have gold, silver or platinum levels of membership, something like that," Yoshida says. "We can do subscription services when we have more content - especially now that we have the Gaikai technology available. With one subscription you have access to thousands of games - that's our dream."

Yoshida says the PS4 will have more digital content than its predecessors, at least: Every game will be available as a download, while some will still be sold at retail. This makes it easier to host smaller games such as Jonathan Blow's The Witness, and it supports a broader range of payment models, such as free-to-play or subscription-based games.

"We're shifting our platform more and more to the digital side," he says. "PS4 will be similar to PS Vita in that every game will be available as a digital download, and some will also be available as a disc."

Yoshida previously confirmed that current-gen PSN games won't run natively on PS4, though emulation or cloud service plans aren't out of the question.

Yoshida: PS4 may have subscription levels, all games available digitally originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 25 Feb 2013 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nike+Fitness Training 360 bundle now shipping, game downloadable on Dec. 25

Jordan Mallory — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 15:00:00 EST

Winter holidays are, statistically speaking, the very best holidays, due to their general abundance of twice-baked potatoes and various pies. But when every serving at every meal contains at least three sticks of butter, those extra pounds can really pile up.

Nike and Microsoft recommend solving your tummy troubles by doing crunches in your living room while a virtual man watches, or as the system is commercially known, Nike+Kinect Training. They've even got an Xbox 360 bundle for it and everything, which includes a 4GB console, Kinect, Nike+Kinect Training, Kinect Adventures and a month of Xbox Live Gold for $250, as seen above. That price tag is only valid through January 5, we should point out. After that, the bundle is kicked up to $300.

Microsoft has also announced that the game itself will be digitally available through Xbox Live on December 25, at a smooth $50/4,000 MS points.

Gallery: Nike+ Kinect Training

Nike+Fitness Training 360 bundle now shipping, game downloadable on Dec. 25 originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 05 Dec 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Card Hunter combines tabletop gaming with digital magic

Mike Schramm — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 15:30:00 EST

Jon Chey is a co-founder of Irrational Games, who recently formed up a brand new studio called Blue Manchu, to work on a new game called Card Hunter. Card Hunter might easily be mistaken for many similar games of much lower quality: It's a Flash game that runs in your browser, and it's going to be a free-to-play title monetized by microtransactions, using collectible cards to fuel the gameplay.

While Card Hunter may look shallow on the surface, it's anything but. Chey and his team have crafted what's essentially a love letter to tabletop gaming, combining mechanics usually meant for traditional board gaming (like game boards, cardboard cutouts, dice, and action cards) with a high-quality and well-designed video game.

Gallery: Card Hunter (PAX Prime 2012)

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Card Hunter combines tabletop gaming with digital magic originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 04 Sep 2012 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion sells 100K, breaks Stardock records

Mike Schramm — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 04:00:00 EST

Stardock has announced that Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion, the latest stand-alone expansion of the acclaimed RTS hit, has broken company records and become its fastest-selling release to date. The game has sold over 100,000 units since its launch last month, which is not only a solid number for any indie game but also beats the first 30 days of the original Sins of a Solar Empire.

Though the original Sins was also released at retail, Rebellion was not, and the digital plan ended up working better than any of the company's PC retail releases. Stardock's CEO, Brad Wardell, said he believed that selling the game on Steam would take sales away from other channels, but Steam sales of the expansion "didn't cannibalize its GameStop or direct sales."

Releasing digitally had other benefits as well, like letting Stardock announce the release at the last minute. Wardell says both of Stardock's other games this year, Elemental: Fallen Enchantress and Political Machine 2012, will follow the same launch plan.

Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion sells 100K, breaks Stardock records originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 26 Jul 2012 04:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EU court rules it's legal to resell digital games, software

Jessica Conditt — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 16:30:00 EST

Buying and reselling any form of digital software is perfectly legal, the Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled. Software authors - or in the gaming world, publishers - can not stop customers from reselling their games, even if the publisher attaches an End User License Agreement prohibiting resale.

"The exclusive right of distribution of a copy of a computer program covered by such a licence is exhausted on its first sale," the court has found.

This ruling covers customers in European Union member states, and games bought through services such as Steam or Origin. The initial purchaser is now entitled to sell the license of a game and allow someone else to download it directly from the publisher's website. The tricky part now is selling the actual license, since there is no system in place for any such transaction. The initial buyer would need a code for a game's license and upon selling it, he would no longer be able to access that game on his account.

The ruling applies to the broader scope of software, covering items such as Windows and Adobe downloads. There is no word yet on whether game distributors will change policies or services to enable a license-selling process, but that would make Steam sales much more interesting in the EU.

EU court rules it's legal to resell digital games, software originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 03 Jul 2012 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gibeau says EA mostly ignores NPD reports; NPD knows 'for a fact' major publishers use them

Jessica Conditt — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 19:30:00 EST

Last year EA went on record calling the NPD's sales reports "a misrepresentation of the entire industry," and this year EA Labels president Frank Gibeau is taking that sentiment one step further, saying EA largely ignores NPD reports.

"An occasional bad report from NPD, which measures a sliver of what's actually happening in gaming, gives people an erroneous impression," Gibeau tells Games Industry International. "My point is it's an irrelevant measure on the industry. It's totally irrelevant. We don't even really look at it internally anymore."

NPD reports track retail games sales from stores such as GameStop and Wal-Mart, but don't provide a comparable breakdown of digital sales. In Q4 2012, EA saw digital sales generate $419 million, while packaged goods made more than double that, with $949 million.

David McQuillan, president of NPD Games, is "surprised" by Gibeau's comments for a few reasons, provided in a statement to Joystiq. The first: "While we will not comment on the specifics on our long-standing relationship with EA, we can say with confidence that we have daily dealings with all of our major publisher clients. And we know for a fact they're using the data."

The second reason McQuillan cites is the continued prevalence of physical sales, making up 56 percent of industry sales in 2011. "The current games industry is still largely rooted in retail and any industry player involved with AAA content simply can't take their eye away from the retail environment," he writes.

NPD Group's David Riley adds, "We do cover digital. Granted, it's not near the level of granularity that we provide via physical point of sale, but physical POS is still huge and needs to be taken seriously. In my opinion, you do a disservice to our industry when you dismiss the value of retail sales research."

EA's Digital sales are growing rapidly, Gibeau says, and EA is focused on riding that streaming, cloud-based, downloadable wave into the future, with or without NPD sales reports.

"We're going to be a 100 percent digital company, period," he says. "It's going to be there some day. It's inevitable."

Gibeau says EA mostly ignores NPD reports; NPD knows 'for a fact' major publishers use them originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 02 Jul 2012 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Assassin's Creed 3 gets Limited Edition in North America, with colonial flag, statue, and more

Mike Schramm — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 09:30:00 EST

Just in time for Independence Day, Ubisoft has offered up a way to show a little national pride, Assassin's Creed 3 style. The company has announced the Assassin's Creed 3 Limited Edition, which will retail for $119.99 and come with extra goods, including a huge 24" by 48" Assassin's Creed-inspired colonial American flag. Ubisoft sent a flag fitting this description to the press last week, and we've placed a picture of it after the break. (see update)

There's also a 9.44" statue of new assassin Connor, and a metal belt buckle, presumably used for holding up your pants while carrying out cold-blooded murders. The Limited Edition is an exclusive to retailers in North America and Latin America, so Europeans are out of luck on this one.

There's also a Digital Deluxe Edition available straight from Ubisoft for the PC. For $64.99 you'll get a notebook featuring "George Washington's true story" (we hope wooden teeth are involved), three extra single-player missions, two extra in-game outfits, and an Assassin's Creed soundtrack collection.

Gallery: Assassin's Creed 3: Limited Edition

Update: Ubisoft has confirmed that the flag in our picture below is not the flag available in the Limited Edition.

Continue reading Assassin's Creed 3 gets Limited Edition in North America, with colonial flag, statue, and more

Assassin's Creed 3 gets Limited Edition in North America, with colonial flag, statue, and more originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 02 Jul 2012 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Blizzard: Diablo 3 patch restriction to Act 1 an 'unintended consequence'

Jessica Conditt — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 17:10:00 EST

Blizzard's patch 1.0.3 for Diablo 3 restricts anyone who buys a digital copy of the game to play the Starter Edition for up to 72 hours, limiting them to play only Act 1 to the Skeleton King, and only to level 13. While the restrictions themselves aren't a bug, the limitation to Act 1 and level 13 is an "unintended consequence" and will be corrected in another update "as soon as possible," Blizzard tells Eurogamer.

Access to the complete game will remain limited for digital purchasers, a move that Blizzard says is "to help ensure the integrity of the game and auction house service." Blizzard uses the wait time to verify payment on digital-game purchases, and most transactions are verified and the restrictions lifted within a day, but this process can take up to 72 hours.

"Similar to World of Warcraft, these restrictions were put in place to deter credit card fraud, which in turn helps reduce gold spam and other harmful activities that can have a negative impact on the game experience for everyone," Blizzard says.

Below find the complete, intended list of initially restricted actions for digital purchases:

Continue reading Blizzard: Diablo 3 patch restriction to Act 1 an 'unintended consequence'

Blizzard: Diablo 3 patch restriction to Act 1 an 'unintended consequence' originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 22 Jun 2012 17:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nintendo tells developers not to share digital sales numbers

Mike Schramm — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 20:15:00 EST

Richard Hill-Whittall is the owner and director of Icon Games Entertainment, and his company has released several games in the last year for various platforms, including WiiWare. He recently shared some sales numbers over on Gamasutra, but was asked by Nintendo to take the numbers for its platforms down. According to Hill-Whittall, Nintendo doesn't allow developers to share digital sales numbers for self-published WiiWare and downloadable DS titles.

That's an interesting tack to take, and Hill-Whittall argues that it hurts smaller developers who might need to make those sales numbers known in order to secure financing or plan out their business. He doesn't see it as surprising, however, because Nintendo doesn't allow developers to change their prices or offer demos or promotions either, which are all tactics that Microsoft, Sony, and other digital publishers have used to pick up lots of digital sales before.

Obviously, not everyone will want to share sales data, and Nintendo itself must see this data as valuable information to be protected. A restriction on sharing the data, says Hill-Whittall, could be fatal for a smaller developer like his, especially if they rely on Nintendo's platform alone.

Nintendo tells developers not to share digital sales numbers originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 05 Jan 2012 20:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Escalation marks GameStop's biggest DLC launch in record first quarter

Mike Schramm — Fri, 20 May 2011 00:00:00 EST

The recent Call of Duty: Black Ops "Escalation" DLC has taken the crown at GameStop as its largest DLC launch ever, according to the company's latest earnings call. The map pack sold 50,000 copies as pre-orders and 200,000 in store during the first week of availability. Digital sales in general are on the rise at the retailer as well, growing 53 percent year-over-year.

The first quarter of 2011 was a good one for GameStop overall, as the company reported record sales of $2.28 billion. HD console games were a big driver, as was the Nintendo 3DS launch, combined with a solid 9.5 percent growth in "pre-owned" (read: used) games and accessories. Pokémon Black and White were the top titles of the quarter, with Mortal Kombat, Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Black Ops and Homefront filling out the top five.

Escalation marks GameStop's biggest DLC launch in record first quarter originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 20 May 2011 00:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Best Buy building out game departments with new sales desks and trained employees

Mike Schramm — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 20:30:00 EST

According a recent presentation by the company, Best Buy plans to add employees and facilities to its retail stores to encourage game sales sometime this fiscal year. The big box store currently sits behind other retailers like GameStop and Walmart in gaming revenue, but hopes to turn that situation around by setting up game-focused employees and sales counters.

The employees will handle trade-ins and preorders, and be expected to sell "exclusive digital add-ons" as customers come in and pick up their games. Best Buy reportedly wants to push a "virtuous cycle," where customers preorder games, buy the DLC at the store, and then use trade-in credits for another preorder as the cycle starts up again.

The game sections in each store are also slated to increase in size, with the less-popular music departments taking the hit in most cases. Best Buy doesn't say if it plans to have free hot dogs for customers who come and buy games, but we're just throwing that out there, guys. Think about it.

Best Buy building out game departments with new sales desks and trained employees originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 18 Apr 2011 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Riccitiello: Digital downloads won't kill physical media just yet

Mike Schramm — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 00:00:00 EST

EA CEO John Riccitiello said recently that 2011 would see digital sales overtaking retail sales, but before you start trashing all of those $60 discs and plastic cases you bought, not so fast. Riccitiello also says that game discs aren't going away "any time soon." Sometimes it's just easier to plug in a disc or buy a box than receive a huge download over a relatively slow connection, he says, and what the industry will end up doing is choosing certain cases out of all of the options for various uses. "I think it'd pretty silly for us to stream Scrabble to you," he says. "Why would you want to pay for bandwidth for us to redraw a Scrabble board sixty times a second? That's just sort of bad math, if nothing else."

Not to mention that "the disc can actually be a great starting point for a digital business, like an MMO, World of Warcraft, for instance." While digital and streaming services will almost certainly see growth this year, it's far too early for game makers and retailers alike to completely abandon physical media. The consumer, says Riccitiello, "doesn't care what the technology is, what lives behind the veiled curtain; they just want it to work." Amen.

Riccitiello: Digital downloads won't kill physical media just yet originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 13 Jan 2011 00:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EA predicts digital sales will make up 20% of revenue for fiscal year

Mike Schramm — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 22:30:00 EST

Electronic Arts CFO Eric Brown says the company is expecting huge growth in revenue from digital content over the next few years. Speaking to the UBS Media and Communications Conference in New York today, Brown predicted that DLC and full-game downloads will likely account for up to 20 percent of EA's total revenue this fiscal year.

Microtransactions have been a big hit, Brown said, especially for the FIFA '10 Ultimate Team mode -- with some players allegedly spending up to $700 just on card packs for the game. Looking ahead to next year, Brown said EA's "single biggest discreet digital add [ ... ] is expected to come from the Star Wars MMO, " The Old Republic.

Brown admitted that most of these digital sales usually start with the sale of a physical disc, especially on the current generation of consoles. So while digital revenues are set to grow, EA is unlikely to abandon traditional game sales completely for ... a really long time.

EA predicts digital sales will make up 20% of revenue for fiscal year originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 07 Dec 2010 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GameStop cards can buy Kreds on Kongregate, retail sales fueling digital profits

Mike Schramm — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 20:00:00 EST

If you were a little puzzled about why retail chain GameStop invested in the Flash gaming site Kongregate earlier this year, here's (at least part of) your answer. The company has announced that GameStop gift cards will now be able to purchase Kongregate's "Kreds" virtual currency, which can then be used to buy unlocks and items in Kongregate games, or even "tip" developers who upload games to the site. Each dollar on a GameStop card equals 10 Kreds, and since those gift cards can be found not only in GameStop stores, but at grocery stores, bookstores and other places of commerce, that's a lot more Kreds Kongregate kan kapture.

Whoops, sorry, we got a little karried away there. The company is also offering a promotion for the deal, with up to 30 percent bonus Kreds given for any GameStop card used on the site through December 8. You have to give it to GameStop -- it's coming up with some really interesting ideas in its efforts to stay floating above the onrushing tide of digital distribution.

GameStop cards can buy Kreds on Kongregate, retail sales fueling digital profits originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 01 Dec 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Call of Duty DLC to be Activision's 'largest digital offering ever'

Mike Schramm — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 22:02:00 EST

Activision's CFO Thomas Tippl has promised at an industry conference in New York that 2011 will bring the company's "largest digital offering ever" in the form of DLC for the Call of Duty franchise. Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg made a similar statement last week, saying that Activision would offer "the Call of Duty community our largest line of an exciting new digital content ever." That could just be lots of new maps and content packs to download, or it could finally be the long-rumored subscription-based service Activision reportedly wants to put in place.

Either way, if you were one of the many, many people who shelled out $60 for Call of Duty: Black Ops earlier this week, Activision says not to put your wallet away just yet -- it's got some other offers coming soon that you might want to take advantage of.

Call of Duty DLC to be Activision's 'largest digital offering ever' originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 11 Nov 2010 22:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NPD at GDC: PC retail to grow, physical and digital purchase gap closing

Mike Schramm — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Weird But True, Opinions, New In Pop Culture

PC gaming is set to grow in 2010, according to NPD's Michael Klotz. Klotz hosted a panel here at GDC Online 2010 this afternoon, and said that expected growth can be attributed to two things: StarCraft 2 and World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. PC revenue has reached $303 million as of August this year, and Klotz expects the WoW expansion to put the total over the top of last year's $538 million.

Klotz also talked about the ongoing transition of customers simply buying physical copies of games to buying both physical discs and digital downloads. In terms of revenue, physical sales still outweigh the digital side, but digital purchases (including both full game purchases and DLC) have overtaken bought discs in terms of numbers. That means, said Klotz, that physical purchases are still selling at full price, while customers are paying much less for digital games, either because of sales or because they're buying casual or just cheaper titles online. Klotz credited Rock Band for pioneering the digital move -- lots of players weren't sure about digital purchases until they saw how seamlessly the Rock Band Marketplace worked, and then they were OK with downloading games and game content.

Finally, Klotz shared an interesting stat: Physical point cards (like those for Microsoft points on Xbox Live) have overtaken gamepads as the largest accessory category for game retail in just the past six months. As long as he could remember, Klotz said, game controllers have always been the best selling game accessory, with power cables next on the list. But cards for DLC are now on top of the charts after a 37 percent increase in the past year, showing just how important it is for game retailers to try and get a piece of that pie.

NPD at GDC: PC retail to grow, physical and digital purchase gap closing originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 07 Oct 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Can Apple save gaming magazines?

Andrew Groen — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 17:00:00 EST

[SI.com; tablet concept]

What do these publications have in common: EGM, Games for Windows, Official PlayStation Magazine, Computer Games Magazine, Tips and Tricks, GMR, Xbox Nation, and Massive? Video games, sure, but all have also perished in the last five years. With the looming announcement of Apple's long-rumored tablet device, there's a chance that gaming magazines may finally be able to stop the bleeding.

It's no secret that just about every video game magazine out there is hurting right now -- save for the absurdly colossal Game Informer (its unique arrangement with GameStop provides the publication with a seemingly infinite subscriber base eager to save on used-game purchases and get extra trade-in credit). The magazine world in general has been hit hard by the evaporation of advertising dollars, and gaming publications have been subjected to some of the worst of that storm due to the movement of their traditionally tech-savvy audience away from print and to digital media.

However, Apple is rumored to be launching a device that could make magazines cool again and help the gaming print media crawl off its deathbed. The Wall Street Journal reported several days ago on information from anonymous sources that Apple has been in talks with several print media corporations, including Conde Nast, one of the largest magazine publishers in the world, to bring its publications to Apple's long-rumored tablet PC -- expected to be announced tomorrow, January 27, at a press event in San Francisco. The article speculated that Apple has plans to use this new device to redefine print media in much the same way that iTunes and the iPod revolutionized the monetization of music.

Continue reading Can Apple save gaming magazines?

Can Apple save gaming magazines? originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 26 Jan 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Former Titan Quest devs announce Grim Dawn

Mike Schramm — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 05:00:00 EST

Crate Entertainment is a company made up of the old Iron Lore team that worked on Titan Quest, arguably the most popular of the Diablo clones to come out in the past few years. Crate has finally announced its latest project, and it's Grim Dawn, another action RPG (it even namedrops Diablo in the description) set in the world of Cairn, where two forces have "decimated human civiliation" and are "warping the very fabric of reality." Sounds appropriately epic, though as long as there's plenty of loot, we're not too bothered.

Five classes? Check. Skill trees? Check. A crafting system and co-op multiplayer? Check and check. Considering that even the same Titan Quest engine and toolset are being used, Grim Dawn doesn't sound too far off the hack-and-slash loot-hunting reservation. But that's not a bad thing -- we'll have to see if it plans to mix up the tried-and-true formula as it moves toward a planned digital release in 2011.

Former Titan Quest devs announce Grim Dawn originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 21 Jan 2010 05:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NPD planning to track sales of downloadable games

Richard Mitchell — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:40:00 EST

Speaking to MCV, the NPD has announced plans to track sales of downloadable games. The group aims to track sales of console, PC and mobile phone games. According to NPD's director of corporate marketing David Riley, download charts are needed in order to "provide a no-nonsense view of what's happening on the publisher level, keeping away from the spin, and in some cases, misleading information that often appears on the internet."

It's certainly a valid goal, but we at the 'Stiq have only one question: How? There are many, many online outlets in the business of selling downloadable titles, ranging from small, independent sites to Steam to the digital arms of giants like GameStop and Amazon. Still, if the NPD can wrangle data from enough distributors, and clearly identify those participating, it could easily prove to be a valuable metric for analysts .. and a terrifying one for brick-and-mortar retailers.

[Original image: Arthur Chapman]

NPD planning to track sales of downloadable games originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ready at Dawn CEO talks up PSP, says online distribution is key

Jason Dobson — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 08:30:00 EST

Judging by last week's torrent of PSP headlines, clearly Sony has big plans in store for its handheld in the coming year. One popular rumor making the rounds of late centers on a possible redesign in the works for the portable, one which purports to drop the UMD format altogether. It's an idea that Ready at Dawn boss Didier Malenfant seems wholly in favor of seeing, if only because it looks to point towards a platform dedicated to digital distribution.

The exec admits that he doesn't have the inside track on what Sony is up to with the PSP, though he told Edge in a recent interview that he'd "love to see anything that can help distribution move quicker toward a 100 percent online model." Like Bungie's Marty O'Donnell before him, Malenfant has been feeling the financial crunch put on the industry by the used game market, and confessed that "it's not piracy but used games that are killing us."

Ready at Dawn may have a more personal stake in a possible PSP redesign as well, with rumors of a PSP sequel to God of War: Chains of Olympus in the pipeline at the Irvine, CA studio. Unfortunately, Edge wasn't ably to pry any details out of the company co-founder, with Malenfant saying only that "the PSP was a great platform to work on and it's certainly been really good to us, so we have no complaint there." However, if Ready at Dawn is back to working with the PSP, we suggest maybe holding onto a few of those dev kits after the project is out the door instead of spending all of the company profits on stamps.

Ready at Dawn CEO talks up PSP, says online distribution is key originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 03 Mar 2009 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Psychonauts soundtracks now available online

Jason Dobson — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 18:00:00 EST

Those catchy tunes we remember from Psychonauts are now available online as Double Fine has released the soundtrack and cinematic score to Tim Schafer's mental adventure over most major online outlets, including iTunes, Napster, Rhapsody, eMusic and Amazon.

Oh sure, we already own the Peter McConnell-composed music on CD, but as the studio's blog puts it, eCopies free us from such dangers as "deadly plastic discs" and "eye-burning lasers." Well, when you put it that way, here take our digital money. Just please don't melt our brains.

Psychonauts soundtracks now available online originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 14 Feb 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Atari focused on downloadable PSP games

Jason Dobson — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 21:30:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Sony PSP, Business

While the PSP may be suffering from a drought of UMDs worth your holiday dollar, Atari's Phil Harrison is convinced that Sony's sexy portable remains a "very vibrant platform," at least when it comes to downloadables. Despite a lack of PSP titles in its upcoming catalog, Eurogamer reports that the former Sony exec is "looking to explore" the platform's digital goodies down the line.

Hardly a shock, especially given Harrison's notion that kids of tomorrow will turn their noses up at the idea of owning physical media. However, without any of those big-budget, single-player games to fall back on we doubt we'll be busting ghosts or assaulting Dark Athena while waiting for the bus any time soon.

Atari focused on downloadable PSP games originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 08 Dec 2008 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CES 2008: Texas Instruments DualView TV used for 3D, multiplayer

Kyle Orland — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 15:30:00 EST

Filed under: Hacks, Retro, Sports, CES

3D glasses haven't been a big part of gaming since the days of the Sega Master System, but Texas Instruments looks set to change that with the DualView DLP TVs being shown at this year's CES. Much like recent 3D movies like Beowulf, these TVs display two slightly different images at once, using special glasses to isolate the correct perspective for each eye.

The effect is reportedly pretty incredible, according to Gamespy: "The images were bright and crisp, without so much as a flicker" and "Madden NFL Football was a whole new experience: you were right down on the field, with every receiver receding into the distance as he ran." Games currently have to be specially designed for the effect, but 1UP reports that TI "intends to eventually institute plug-and-play support" so all games have that added depth.

But the best gaming application for this DualView technology might be full screen multiplayer. As shown in this Gizmodo video, the DualView technology can be used to give two different players simultaneous, full-screen views of different characters or locations in a game. The end of split screen as we know it? Maybe ... if you have a special TV and two pairs of 3D glasses, that is ...

Read - 1UP report
Read - GameSpy report
Watch - Gizmodo video

CES 2008: Texas Instruments DualView TV used for 3D, multiplayer originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 08 Jan 2008 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony cans Connect, pumps up PlayStation

Kyle Orland — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 10:28:00 EST

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Sony PSP, Business

Literally dozens of loyal Sony Connect users were sent into mourning yesterday by a PaidContent.org story announcing the proprietary music and video download service will be shut down in the coming months. The staff of 80 behind the online store will be transferred over to the PlayStation side of the company, a rather convenient move considering Sony is preparing to launch a new PSP Store later this year.

We know what you're thinking, but don't worry, the eBook division of the service will stay up for those of you who prefer reading books on an LCD screen.

[Via PSPFanboy]

Sony cans Connect, pumps up PlayStation originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 19 Jun 2007 10:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SXSW: Digital Distribution: The Way of the Future for Gaming

Kevin Kelly — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 18:42:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Sony PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, Adventure, Online, Business, Casual

Almost everyone who has gone online with the computer or a game console has probably downloaded something at one time or another, whether it's been a song, a photo, a game, or a set of horse armor for their equine friend. But are digital downloads the wave of the future for full-on distribution? Developers are hoping so, because it will cut down tremendously on competing for shelf space at the local Mega-Lo-Mart, not to mention all those costs for printing games, manuals, boxes, shipping, and the like.

The panel consisted of Craig Allen, CEO of Spark Unlimted one of the big "shelf" retailers, especially with their newly announced mega-game Turning Point: Fall of Liberty due this coming November. From the other end of things was Dan Conners, CEO of Telltale productions who is in the middle of releasing Sam & Max as an episodic game, before packaging everything up into a retail edition. In the middle (and sadly, without much to offer) was David Burks, the marketing manager for Seagate Technology. You gotta store the downloads somewhere, right? In all fairness, Seagate was one of the SXSW sponsors, and he probably felt a bit shoehorned into this panel.

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SXSW: Digital Distribution: The Way of the Future for Gaming originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 20 Mar 2007 18:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Art exhibit brings analog tech to digital games

Kyle Orland — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 11:30:00 EST

Filed under: Arcade, Culture, Retro, Driving, Competitive Gaming, Fashion

We Make Money Not Art has an interesting interview with David Pfluger, one of the artists behind the "Game Arcade" art exhibit currently touring around Germany. The exhibit transforms digital video game concepts using analog components like slide projectors, super-8 film and mechanical buttons and switches. The examples sound more like Dadaist installations than games: Racer features a cardboard car that runs over a variable speed film of a road, and High Noon (pictured) uses a rotary dial phone to control film projections of old west duelists.

More than just interesting gameplay experiments, Pfluger says the exhibit is a statement on the game industry's myopic focus on the latest and "best" technology. "Each technology has its own characteristics which makes it artistically unique.... Painters still use oil painting even though there is Photoshop." It raises an interesting question: Is the game industry sop focused on new technology and graphical "realism" that it's forgetting the unique aesthetic influences of the past?

Art exhibit brings analog tech to digital games originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 03 Jan 2007 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ZOO Digital to publish new train sim

David Hinkle — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 11:15:00 EST

Filed under: News

ZOO Digital, responsible for publishing past DS titles such as Sudokumaniacs and Snood 2: On Vacation, are at it again and look to bring their newest game, Lionel Trains on Track, to the DS. The game focuses on building a train empire from the ground up, asking the player to build virtual cities and fill it with glorious mass transportation. Players will also be able to research into new properties, allowing them larger and more impressive structures as their city grows.

Some of the game's other features include:

Cargo Chains: by taking your train to multiple towns and improving its cargo hold, you can gather each town's specific goods and sell it for a profit at a town in need
The game will feature 3 modes of play: Campaign, Freeplay, and Sandbox
You'll eventually unlock new trains and structures through the game by research

ZOO Digital to publish new train sim originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 27 Nov 2006 11:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PSP impressions: Metal Gear Digital Graphic Novel

David Hinkle — Thu, 25 May 2006 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Metal Gear: Graphic Novel

My timing on snatching up a good 5 minutes with the Metal Gear Digital Graphic Novel was impeccable. Situated directly across the walkway of the Tecmo booth and next to Atlus' wonderful booth, the seat on the white bench called to me with the strength of a siren's song. I didn't think I would be able to hear anything from the unit, yet surprisingly there was little traffic there for the 5 minutes leading up to the Tecmo girls strutting out for their annual thing while I watched the digital comic unfold.

As for the artwork and voice work on the E3 build I was privileged enough to spend some time with, they were both very good. The panning was tastefully executed and Ocelot's dialogue, which took up most of what little time I had for the demo, was rich and powerful. Their pistol dual re-enacted from Metal Gear Solid was incredible. Overall the package seemed to be on par with, if not better than, The Silent Hill Experience UMD and has easily made my list of 'must buy' when it releases next month.

PSP impressions: Metal Gear Digital Graphic Novel originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 25 May 2006 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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"Digital Britain" key to BBC's future

Jennie Lees — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 17:30:00 EST

Filed under: Culture

The UK government has published a white paper on the future of the BBC, an organisation described as "unique" by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. The BBC is mainly associated with the television and radio channels it produces in return for a licence fee which must be paid by almost everyone watching television in the UK. However, the organisation is not restricted to these platforms, nor is it resistant to changes in technology, as the BBC News video report "Entertainment 'key' to BBC future" outlines.

The report focuses on a fairly typical family; the parents watch television regularly, but the children tend to gravitate towards games and digital media, only occasionally turning to TV for specific programmes. As technology attracts television views away from their sets, more ways of delivering the BBC's content are being investigated, from TV on phones to downloadable media.

The BBC appears to be moving into games as part of their "Digital Britain" initiative--under the banner of "interactive and web-based services", games (or interactive stories) like Jamie Kane give the BBC the opportunity to try new directions in storytelling and gaming. It's clear from the news report that the BBC acknowledges gaming as a key activity for its licence fee payers; this commitment to interactivity should see more game-based content being delivered to the BBC's customers and help the BBC's games research along a step or two.

"Digital Britain" key to BBC's future originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 14 Mar 2006 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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