Headline RePLAY – 1.20.12

Today on Headline RePLAY: The internet is victorious over SOPA and PIPA and Ed Boon unveils the secrets of Mortal Kombat on the PS Vita!   

In a climactic finale worthy of any blockbuster, the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect IP Act were halted today in the House and Senate respectively.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid both abandoned plans to act on SOPA and PIPA Friday— a sign Politico indicates that internet protests have killed the twin bills.

However, this doesn’t mean the bills cannot be resurrected again in another form.

“The Committee will continue work with copyright owners, Internet companies, financial institutions to develop proposals that combat online piracy and protect America’s intellectual property,” said in a statement released by Smith.

“There is no reason that the legitimate issues raised by many about this bill cannot be resolved,” echoed Reid.

Ultimately, Politico observed in light of “members wary of another internet backlash” and with the upcoming presidential race, it’s highly unlikely either bill will be making a return this year.

*Source: Politico

NetherRealm Studios’ answer for their games has always been more, more, MORE. With Mortal Kombat’s transition to the PlayStation Vita, their answer remains unchanged: MORE.

In an interview with PlayStation.Blog, NetherRealm Studios’ Ed Boon revealed that the Vita version of Mortal Kombat will include a second Challenge Tower. “There are actually two Challenge Towers in the PS Vita version, and the new one has 150 challenges that are exclusive to PS Vita. A number of those challenges use PS Vita’s hardware features: the touch screen, the accelerometer…” said Boon.

While that’s one heckuva content update in itself, Boon also divulged that fatalities can be performed via touchscreen. “For fatalities, you can ‘slash’ the screen with the appropriate inputs — say, away, away, up — to execute the fatality. It makes some of the more difficult fatalities easier and it’s fun to slash at your screen to fire off a fatality. I was surprised by how engaging it is.”

Additionally, Boon reassures fans that Mortal Kombat won’t lose its coveted 60 FPS framerate in its transition to the PS Vita.

*Source: PlayStation.Blog

Headline RePLAY – 1.18.12

Today on Headline RePLAY: Star Wars: The Old Republic’s new patch breaks PvP and Nintendo won’t fix Mario Kart 7's Maka Wuhu Island.

Patches are like Rancors of the MMO world—they rampage around with content and they end up breaking things, like, Star Wars: The Old Republic’s PvP.

Players of the Republic were in for a nasty surprise once Patch 1.1 launched, in the form of being camped by legions of the Empire. And when by legions, I mean the bulk of a server’s Empire population.

In efforts to encourage PvP on Ilum, BioWare added daily and weekly mission objectives based on killing players of the opposite faction. And to make it even more attractive, the amount of Valor, the game’s PvP currency, was increased from killing enemy players.

Now, add in the fact that on most servers the Empire outnumbers the Republic by a significant margin and you get a recipe for disaster, like the scene portrayed above.

BioWare responded by creating an official forum thread to consolidate issues and complaints for discussion.

*Source: The SWTORForums via Kotaku

Maka Wuhu Island. Don’t be deceived by its beaches and idyllic scenery, you’ll never find a more wretched hive of scum and Mario Kart villainy. Kart drivers are in for disappointment as Nintendo acknowledged an exploit that allowed cheaters to bypass most of the course but have no plans to remove the “shortcut”.

“We are aware that it is possible to navigate a certain part of the track in Wuhu Island in a way that allows a large part of the course to be bypassed,” said Buddy Roemer, a Nintendo representative.

“There are no plans to update the game to remove this shortcut,” he continued, but then throws a wrench into the usual customer service spiel by adding that removing the glitch would “create an unfair advantage for the users of the original release of the game.”

Wait, what?

I cannot fathom how removing a glitch that allows players to exploit a course creates an unfair advantage when there already is one, but, Roemer does note that “comments” about the situation were “added to our records for Mario Kart 7.”

*Source: Joystiq

Headline RePLAY – 1.17.12

Today on Headline RePLAY: It’s all about SOPA and how the DNS blocking provision got removed, the bill becoming a political liability for supporters and how much the gaming industry spent on pushing PIPA, the Senate equivalent of SOPA.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas), the author of the Stop Online Piracy act, removed a key provision last week, which if passed, would’ve allowed copyright holders to force ISPs to block an offending website’s DNS record and thus thwarting user access.    

“After consultation with industry groups across the country, I feel we should remove Domain Name System-blocking from the Stop Online Piracy Act so that the Committee can further examine the issues surrounding this provision,” Smith said in the statement.

However, even with the DNS blocking removed, SOPA remains armed and dangerous— the bill still can grant right owners to cutoff revenue towards alleged sites, effectively besieging them. And the component lives on in the bill’s Senate equivalent: the Protect IP Act (PIPA).

*Source: eWeek.com

Opposition of SOPA is making itself known on capitol hill as backers are experiencing the fury of the internet.

Politico stipulates that “it’s a stretch to think SOPA will cost any of the longtime incumbents backing the bill their seats” but it could become a “real factor” in some races, like in the case of House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), one of SOPA’s co-sponsors.

Ryan is now facing the weight of Reddit’s online campaign dubbed “Operation Pull Ryan” and his Democratic challenger, Rob Zerban, that’s exploiting the uproar. Zebran attacked the bill in an interview on Reddit and collected $15,000 in campaign donations, according to his campaign manager, Lisa Tanner.

In response, Ryan released a statement opposing SOPA in “no uncertain terms.” Ryan noted while the bill “attempts to address a legitimate problem” it would open the door to “undue regulation, censorship and legal abuse.”

Conversely, co-sponsor Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) stood her ground despite criticisms leveled against her. “Critics of SOPA can’t deny the undisputed fact that piracy hurts America,” said Blackburn in a statement. “The fact is SOPA only applies to dedicated foreign rogue sites that are harming American consumers and created.”

Recently, even GOP presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum were asked to weigh in on the issue.

*Source: Politico

Politicians swayed by lobbyists? Say it ain’t so! In an unveiling that won’t surprise anyone, Kotaku reports that the ESA spent over $1,000,000 to lobby for the Protect IP Act.

Kotaku points out records for the second and third quarters show that the ESA spent more than $1,000,000 lobbying politicians every three months and paid two firms $190,000 combined about PIPA and other issues.

And in order to influence how politicians crafted the Protect IP Act, the ESA paid the Smith-Free Group $60,000 between April 1 and June 30 for “discussions relating to online infringements of intellectual property” in addition to non-PIPA/SOPA causes.

Additionally, Kotaku reports that the ESA paid the Franklin Square Group $40,000 in the spring and another $40,000 in the summer to lobby for PIPA and an array of other causes.

*Source: Kotaku

Headline RePLAY – 1.12.12

Today on Headline RePLAY: Dark Souls for the PC petitioners attracted Namco Bandai’s attention, release date and details are revealed on Pokémon + Nobunaga’s Ambition, and Minecraft creator encourages “pirate now, pay later.”

Namco Bandai wanted to see the “demand” for a PC version of Dark Souls? They got it: 64,000 signatures worth.  

Now the company is saying they’re indeed paying attention to fans.

“My boss(es) even came to talk to me about this, after it explodes all around the world," said Namco Bandai forum admin “Shoupinou”. “If you wanted to have the attention of Namco Bandai Games, now you have it. The future is in your hands, and I hope you will keep supporting this.”

“I can't say it's going to happen (I wish I had this power ^^), but I can assure management of the company will know about it, and I think that already a good achievement and a good step forward,” he posted.

*Source: Destructoid

The Pokémon and Nobunaga’s Ambition crossover that no one saw coming is slated for release in Japan on March 17 at ¥5,800 or U.S. $75.

Pokémon + Nobunaga’s Ambition is an interesting (or bizarre) 3DS game involving our favorite pocket monsters, samurai generals and the ultimate goal of uniting 17 kingdoms.

Andriasang reports that the game is a SRPG involving Pokémon armies. Abilities are accorded to the Pokémon’s type and generals have exclusive “busho powers” to utilize in battle (i.e. healing your units); one power per general, however.  

Like most SRPGs, players are able to recruit wild Pokémon for their army and enlist new generals. Players can even strengthen their army within their very own castle town!

Pokémon + Nobunaga’s Ambition is a collaboration between Nintendo and Tecmo Koei.

*Source: Andriasang

In a twist on the videogame industry vs. piracy paradigm, Minecraft creator Markus “notch” Persson told a fan if he can’t afford Minecraft, just pirate it.

“Just pirate it,” Tweeted notch. “If you still like it when you can afford it in the future, buy it then. Also don’t forget to feel bad.”

Notably, this isn’t the first time that notch suggested piracy. At the Game Developers Conference last year, he said that piracy isn’t “theft” and pirates should be looked at as potential customers.  

*Source: Gameranx

Headline RePLAY – 1.4.12

Today on Headline RePLAY: Japanese retailers are cutting PS Vita prices, 6.5 million people are roosting with Angry Birds and Star Wars: The Old Republic players groove to victory.

The drama of the PS Vita’s launch continues, and this time Japanese retailers are reportedly cutting the price of the 3G model to incentivize customers.

There is an image circulating of one retailer slashing the price of the WiFi/3G model from ¥29,980 to ¥24,999, a 17% reduction.

Reports indicate that the 3G model is a hard sale, as 85% of WiFi-only units were sold compared to the 3G’s 56%.    

*Source: Edge via Playfront (Google Translate)

6.5 million people downloaded Angry Birds on Christmas day. 6.5 MILLION PEOPLE IN ONE DAY. The astronomical number consists of the three Angry Bird titles in addition to paid and free downloads.

AllThingsD observed the number also coincided with the estimated total of smartphone activations that happened over Christmas.

“We’re really excited to have such a massive number of new people get acquainted with Angry Birds over the holidays—we have exciting new releases lined up for 2012, and we can’t wait to introduce them to the public,” Rovio’s Ville Heijari told AllThingsD.

*Source: AllThingsD

In Star Wars: The Old Republic, dancing is the new Jedi mind trick where enemies end up so captivated that they ignore the barrage of blaster bolts and lightsabers sent their way.  

Apparently, using the/getdown command causes an exploit that prevents enemies, even bosses, from locking onto players and causes their attacks to be constantly interrupted.

Members of the Republic and Empire beware, BioWare is aware of this exploit, and even though mention of it was removed from the forums, a fix should be incoming soon.

*Source: Massively

Headline RePLAY – 1.2.11

Today on Headline RePLAY: the cracking of the PlayStation Vita has begun and BioWare is looking into expanding its brands into the mobile space.

We are not even a month into the PS Vita’s release and already there are signs of it cracking under the pressure of the homebrewers— like a video of Sonic & Knuckles being played on the handheld.

It isn’t a direct crack of the system, however. The feat was accomplished by running a PSP Genesis emulator through the PS Vita’s PSP emulator.

It’s like the movie Inception’s dream inside a dream concept, except done with emulators.

Additionally, the video’s uploader, frwololo, cautioned that Sony has implemented some security that makes the exploit “moot,” and the demonstration was more for “research” and a “ray of hope” for the homebrew community.  

*Source: YouTube via Kotaku

Joystiq has released an interview where BioWare’s creative lead, Greg Zeschuk, revealed that the company is looking into “logical extensions” to its brands for its mobile development.

“We did that iOS Mass Effect Galaxy thing really early. We said, ‘We should just try this and see what happens.’ And we learned something from it,” Zeschuk told Joystiq’s Ben Gilbert.

“What we do a lot is we’ll actually explore a platform and kinda play around with it,” explained Zeschuk, adding credence to the idea that BioWare is looking into experimenting with the mobile space.

Zeschuk added that one person in BioWare is responsible for identifying “logical extensions” on mobile development but the creative lead cautioned that the company “haven’t announced too much” yet.

Will we see more games like Mass Effect Galaxy that expands BioWare’s IPs or something totally different in the future?

Stay tuned!

*Source: Joystiq

Headline RePLAY – 12.21.11

Today on Headline RePLAY we have dueling Final Fantasy XIII-2 stories: Final Fantasy XIII-2 sells 500,000 units on the first week, but its sales numbers are a cause for concern and video game robbers pocket-dials 911.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 made its debut this week to over half a million in sales, topping Media Create’s weekly software charts. Interestingly, the sales figure is just for the PlayStation 3 version despite a simultaneous release for the Xbox 360.

However, Gamasutra noted that these sales numbers are around one-third of the sales of the original Final Fantasy XIII two years ago. Most importantly, the site speculates that the sales could reflect “diminished consumer interest in Square-Enix’s flagship franchise.”

It would also be on par with the company’s own observations a few months ago: that the Final Fantasy brand was “greatly damaged” by the release of Final Fantasy XIV, a MMORPG, in September 2010.

*Source: Andriasang & Gamasutra

In an ironic twist, two thieves that couldn’t stop boasting about their video game spoils taken from a Target got caught by a 911-operator that was listening in on the conversation.

According to police in Madison, Wisconsin, one of the robbers pocket-dialed 911 and proceeded to talk about how well their operation went and mocked other thieves for being caught. The two men allegedly stole the games to resell for a profit at a local video game store.

The operator recorded the conversation for an hour and informed the police, who beat the shoplifters to the store and waited for them with guns drawn.

*Source: ABC News

Headline RePLAY – 12.20.11

Today’s Headline RePLAY is all about Sony: the PS Vita sells over 321,000 units in its first week, Sony apologizes and resolves Vita’s launch problems and the company gets sued over its "no sue" clause.

Defying predictions of a “premature horrible death,” the PS Vita sold 321,407 units in its first week. The sales numbers were reported today by Famitsu.com using statistics from Enterbrain and covers two days of sales: December 17th and 18th.

In comparison, the Nintendo 3DS sold 371,326 units from February 26th and 27th of this year and in 2004 the PSP only sold 166,074 units on December 12th.

According to Sony, they only shipped 500,000 units but a Mainichi Digital contributor claimed to have heard reports of an initial shipment of 700,000 units prior to release.

*Source: Andriasang

The PS Vita was only out for two days and already the complaints from consumers are flooding in: everything from software bugs to unresponsive touchscreens and complete system freezes.

As if Sony was aware of the problems in advance, the company was quick to deliver an apology and even dispatch a software update to resolve the issues.

*Source: Endgadget

Back in September, Sony updated its PlayStation Network Terms of Service with a “no sue” clause to prevent class-action lawsuits. Now, ironically, Sony is the one being sued over the “no sue” policy.

According to Gamespot, a Northern California man is leading the charge with a suit filed last month that alleges Sony engaged in unfair business practices by forcing consumers to either give up their right to file a class-action lawsuit or surrender PSN access, which was effectively paid for when the hardware was purchased.

The suit states that Sony buried the “no sue” clause near the bottom of the 21-page TOS and avoided posting an accessible version of the form online, although the company has historically done so. The suit adds that while Sony has an opt out of the provision, the only method to do so was to contact the company in writing (no other forms of communication accepted) within 30 days.

*Source: Gamespot

Headline RePLAY – 12.16.11

Today on Headline RePLAY: Zynga raises $1 billion in its NASDAQ debut and Sony flip-flops on the PS Vita.

Responsible for Facebook sensations like Farmville and Mafia Wars, developer Zynga raised $1 billion in an initial public offering (IPO) yesterday that ranks it as the second most valuable video game company— ahead of its competitor, Electronic Arts.

Zynga sold 100 million shares at $10 per. According to Bloomberg, this sort of offering was the biggest by a U.S internet company since Google raised 1.9 billion in its IPO back in 2004.

Interestingly, Zynga shares listed on the NASDAQ did decline today by 5% to $9.50.

“Zynga shouldn’t be valued at three times what other companies in that space [social-media] are valued at,” explained Jeffrey Sica, chief investment officer of Sica Wealth Management LLC. “That’s why people looked at it as having a potential downside. Investors found it too rich.”

Nevertheless, Sica’s analysis painted a complicated picture that despite concern in the market, he advised clients to buy the Zynga IPO.

*Source: Bloomberg

Here is a confusing series of events: first Sony said the PS Vita was locked to a single PSN account, and then it said the handheld can have multiple accounts via memory cards. And now it’s back to square one as a representative told Wired today that the Vita can only support one account.

 “[The] PSN account is tied to the hardware and the memory card, not just the card,” a different Sony representative told Wired in an e-mail, “which means that if a second person is using your Vita, it’s not just a case of switching out memory cards, it’s clearing out all of your saved data on the Vita itself when you do the factory reset.”

“In other words, PlayStation Vita is intended to be played by only one user,” the representative said.

*Source: Wired

Headline RePLAY - 12.14.11

Today on Headline RePLAY: Infinity Ward punishes Modern Warfare 3 cheaters, a Nintendo Wii controller can be lethal, another studio head prophesizes the doom of console gaming and MORE Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance news this week as Platinum Games’ Atsushi Inaba defends the company’s role in the project.

Infinity Ward isn’t playing around when it comes to punishing Modern Warfare 3 exploiters, the company’s verdict is a whopping 5000-day ban— a 13-year wait.   

“If you see this message, it means you’ve been Permabanned (for something bad),” Tweeted Infinity Ward’s Robert Bowling. 

Details on what activities that would result in the 5000-day ban are unknown, but short of wanting to wait until the year 2025 to play, it’s best not to find out.

*Source: MP1st & Robert Bowling’s Twitter

Nintendo Wii remotes can be dangerous, and as one family in Belleville, Michigan discovered, they can explode. Fortunately, the Fuson family was out of the house when the controller exploded, because it sent plastic shrapnel all across the room and even bore a hole through the couch it was on.

Missy Fuson thinks the controller exploded because the alkaline batteries were replaced with lithium ones— the exact kind of thing that the Wii manual warns against.

However, Fuson said the warning was difficult to find and the consequences of using them weren’t spelled out. “I feel responsible as a mom. I need to tell other parents that during Christmas, we need to be reading all the manuals for every toy and make sure that we fully understand what we’re putting in our children’s hands because the consequences can be deadly,” she said.

Nintendo has offered to replace the Fuson’s equipment at a discounted price.

*Source: WXYZ.com

The end of console gaming prophesized by officials in the gaming industry has been going on for years that it’s almost an art. Bossa Studios head, Henrique Olifiers, continues the trend by predicting “a horrible premature death” for the PS Vita.

“Valve is bang on: proprietary stuff is madness, we should be moving to more open platforms, to interoperability, bringing everyone together. If this is not the motto for the big console manufacturers, not only will we not be there – they’re likely to die a horrible premature death, the kind of which I think the Vita will suffer from,” said Olifiers in an interview with VideoGamer.com.

Bossa Studios is best known for the Facebook game Monstermind and its recent recruitment of Yoshifusa Hayama, the former executive producer of The Last Guardian.

*Source: VideoGamer

Not a lot of fans were thrilled to hear that Platinum Games held the reins to Metal Gear Solid Rising: Revengeance. Atsushi Inaba, executive director and producer at Platinum Games, took to the Twitter feeds to address fan concerns about the upcoming game:

Let me begin.

It seems there are some who wish to imply PlatinumGames was able to achieve what Kojima Productions could not — interviewers among them.

This notion is spurious. Clearly, we have not yet produced any results in the world of Metal Gear.

The artists at Kojima Productions gave their blood, sweat and tears to bring the Metal Gear Saga to life.

The gap is immense. Mr. Kojima tossed his chips on our table, believing we could handle the task. In other words, he took a gamble.

Many seem to think the change from MGSR to MGR altered everything about the game, but this is simply not true.

MGSR’s concept excited us. We have love and respect for it, as we do the character of Raiden and the idea of freely cutting anything apart.

I know reaction to the new trailer is mixed. Yet I also believe our love and respect shines through.

It is my hope that you catch a glimpse of the future in the footage.

In order to achieve that evolution, that future, we at PlatinumGames will continue to fight, shedding our own blood, sweat and tears.

That is all.

Inaba’s response is a humbled one, reflecting Platinum Games’ respect for what Kojima Productions has accomplished. Even more telling is Inaba’s commitment to MGS fans that they will continue to shed their “own blood, sweat and tears” into the project.  

*Source: OfficialPlayStation Magazine

Headline RePLAY – 12.13.11

Today on Headline RePLAY: Hideo Kojima doubles the headlines, Iran responds to Battlefield 3, and Obsidian Entertainment expresses its hatred for used games.

Kojima hits the headlines again, this time striking the Twitter feeds and confirming an “authentic stealth MGS” in the works and asks fans to “patiently wait for the sequel coming in the future.”    

And if that is not enough for fans, Kojima reaffirmed his desire in making a Zone of the Enders 3. “We would want to make that game as well,” he told GameFitNation.

More interestingly, Kojima said the game could be built on the Fox Engine, but noted there was a lack of staff available to devote to the project.

*Source: Kojima’sTwitter & GameFitNation

Banning Battlefield 3 was not enough of a response for Iran. To counter EA’s blockbuster shooter, Iran announced it will produce the computer game “Attack on Tel Aviv.”

Iran’s National Foundation for Computer Games (NFCG) said the game is an answer to Battlefield 3’s missions where an American soldier is fighting on Tehran’s streets in search of missing nuclear warheads.

“The United States is governed by a Zionist Regime so Attack on Tel Aviv would make Americans angrier than a game about an attack on Washington,” said Behruz Minaii, the head of NFCG.

Arguably, what makes gamers angrier like no other are the Battlefield vs. Call of Duty troll wars.

*Source: Tehran Times via Kotaku

 

Saying used games are a thorny issue for publishers and developers is an understatement. Obsidian Entertainment decided it was not stated clearly enough and wanted their stance on the record when they discussed digital distribution with IndustryGamers yesterday.

“Of course, one of the greatest things about digital distribution is what it does to reduce the used game market. I hope digital distribution stabs the used game market in the heart,” said Obsidian Entertainment’s Chief Creative Officer Chris Avellone.

And this is why we cannot have good things and why things like Online Passes exist.

*Source: IndustryGamers

Headline RePLAY – 12.12.11

Today on Headline RePLAY: not all is as it seems with Metal Gear Rising, Valve teases its fans with more maddening hints and Modern Warfare 3 proves its worth.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance’s reveal at the VGAs generated more questions, rumors and misconceptions than hype and Kojima Productions has been clearing house with new information on the title.

Most revealing was that Metal Gear Rising was silently canned because the development team felt that the original Rising as a game, where just anything can be sliced and diced, would be insufficient. It reached a point where the staff had no idea what the game should be and Kojima said the project would probably not be completed. The staff disagreed but Rising was ultimately cancelled.

Enter members of Platinum Games, which happened to arrive at Kojima Productions studio one day. Platinum Games learned about Rising’s fate, found it unfortunate that it was half-done, and took over the project.

Hence, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance was born.

*Source: Andriasang

The internet conspirators are at it again— this time to prove the existence of the ever-elusive and never announced Half-Life 3 within Valve’s Portal 2 VGA video starring antagonist Wheatley.

After prying arcane clues from the video, 4Chan wrote a letter to Valve co-founder Gabe Newell who promptly responded, “I don’t suppose it would ease your wrath if I told you we’re announcing all of your favorite things at E3 2012?” and added later that it would have “something with a ‘three’ in it.”

And dialing up the speculation is Valve’s “Doug Rattman” Twitter account coming back to life, Tweeting, “It begins.” What follows is the Twitter feed spitting out odd strings of code, ending with a series of Tweets denying its importance and claiming that the system “just freaks out when it calls up a foreign source of information.”

May the endless speculation commence!

*Source: Kotaku & Destructoid 

Activision-Blizzard announced today that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 topped $1 billion in worldwide sales 16 days after its release and trumped James Cameron’s Avatar, which in comparison took 17 days to reach the magical one billion dollar figure.  

Call of Duty games are profitable, who knew?

*Source: Yahoo! Games