Headline RePLAY – 1.25.12

Today on Headline RePLAY: BlizzCon skips a year, Minecraft LEGOs and NimbleBit’s letter to Zynga about the difference between inspiration and theft. 

Blizzard has announced that there won’t be a BlizzCon this year due to the company’s “jam-packed schedule” and will return in 2013.

Considering all the work involved in organizing Blizzard’s annual convention to fans and the company’s lineup for 2012 (Diablo 3, World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria and StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm), the decision makes a great deal of sense.

See you next year, BlizzCon!

*Source: BlizzardForums

Anyone else thought that Minecraft was like digital LEGOs just with exploding zombies added in? Apparently, LEGO agrees and is in the process of making Minecraft LEGOs a reality!

The “Minecraft project” has recently acquired 10,000 supporters at LEGO CUUSO and passed the LEGO review as a result. According to LEGO CUUSO, LEGO is now “developing a concept that celebrates the best aspects of building with the LEGO system and in Minecraft.”

Minecraft and LEGOs may sound redundant, but the possibilities with either are literally endless.

*Source: LEGO CUUSO Blog

Dear Zynga,

Stealing our ideas is flattering, but please stop.

Sincerely,

NimbleBit, creator of Tiny Tower.

And that sums up NimbleBit’s graphic letter to Zynga on their release of Dream Heights, an iOS game with an uncanny resemblance to the indie studio’s Tiny Tower.

“We wanted to thank all of you guys for being such big fans of our iPhone game of the year Tiny Tower!” the letter wrote alongside screenshots of the two games. “Good luck with your game, we are looking forward to inspiring you with our future games!”

Unfortunately, cases like these are all too common in the iOS arena where numerous games are often blatant clones of each other.

*Source: Joystiq

Headline RePLAY – 1.10.12

Today on Headline RePLAY: Blizzard is still exploring Diablo III for consoles, Razer hasn’t given up on making PC gaming portable and Bethesda confirms id Software layoffs. 

For a while now Blizzard has been dropping bread crumbs about exploring the possibility of releasing Diablo III for consoles, and today we get another confirmation into that prospect by Blizzard Community Manager “Bashiok”.

A fan asked on Twitter about Diablo III being released on consoles and Bashiok responded: “Yup. Josh Mosqueira is lead designer for the Diablo console project.”

Of course, this is could be interpreted as a direct confirmation of Diablo III’s launch on consoles, but Kotaku squashed that idea quickly when they reached out for verification: “Bashiok's response on Twitter was intended as a confirmation that we're actively exploring the possibility of developing a console version of Diablo III, as we've mentioned in the past. This is not a confirmation that Diablo III is coming to any console platform. Our focus right now is on finishing the PC/Mac version of Diablo III and making sure it's a worthwhile successor to the Diablo series.”

*Source: Bashiok’sTwitter and Kotaku

Remember Razer’s answer to mobile PC gaming, the Razer Switchblade? While the Switchblade never went beyond the conceptual stages, it seems Razer never gave up on the idea. Today, Razer revealed “Project Fiona” for this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, a gaming PC in the form of an Android tablet.

The specs and features of the device are impressive: a third-generation  Intel Core i7 processor, an all-new hybrid user interface scheme including multi-touch with integrated dual game controllers (the “handlebars” on the side) containing "ultra-precise" analog sticks and according to Kotaku, Fiona will be running a full-version of the tablet-friendly Windows 8.

“While multi-touch screens have become the de facto user interface for tablets, they are not the right interface for serious PC gaming,” explained Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan. “The user interface we have designed for Project Fiona allows all existing PC games to be played right out of the box and also provides game developers new opportunities as they develop next-gen games on a highly-intuitive platform. Both developers and gamers are going to love the new user interface that combines the best of a gamepad, multi-touch screen and accelerometers for an all-new gaming experience on-the-go.”

Unlike the Switchblade that never saw the light of production, Razer is aiming Project Fiona for a Q4 2012 release, with a retail price around $1,000.

*Source: Kotaku

Bethesda Softworks, id Software’s parent company, announced that an unknown quantity of employees at the Rage development studio were laid off.

According to Joystiq, the layoffs are part of id’s “standard business practice” and that the publisher “regularly evaluates staffing to ensure it has a workforce that meets the needs of the studio.”

The statement released to Joystiq adds that the publisher is “still recruiting and hiring qualified developers” for id Software and “development work on future id titles continues unabated.”

*Source: Joystiq