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 – 1.11.12

Today on Headline RePLAY: Everquest II sees a free-to-play 300% player jump, Sony isn’t going to unveil a new console at E3 and Riot Games stands against SOPA.

The free-to-play model (F2P) is the new trend for MMOs, and Everquest II’s transition is another case of how it can exponentially spur player growth.

Gamasutra reports that Everquest II has seen a 300% increase in new player registrations since the game switched to F2P in early December. Everquest II also experienced a 40% increase in daily logins and a 200% rise of in-game item sales.

This isn’t the first F2P rodeo Sony Online Entertainment has been to either: DC Universe Online attracted one million new users in a week.

*Source: Gamasutra

Rumors and analysis of a new generation of consoles were aplenty late last year, but today Sony is putting to rest one such rumor: there isn’t going to be any announcement about a new console at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo.

At a roundtable with reporters during the Consumer Electronics Show, Sony’s Kaz Hirai was asked about a statement attributed to the head of Sony’s videogame division, Andrew House, that there wouldn’t be an announcement of a PlayStation 4 at E3.

“Andy [House] is absolutely right in that we are not making any announcements at E3,” said Hirai. “I’ve always said a 10-year life cycle for PS3, and there is no reason to go away from that.”

*Source: Wall Street Journal

Riot Games, the brains behind League of Legends, has released a statement challenging the U.S. House bill “Stop Online Piracy Act” (SOPA) and the Senate’s “Protect IP Act” (PIPA).

The studio observes that SOPA/PIPA “goes far beyond addressing piracy” and the proposed legislation “threatens any website that features user-generated content.” Riot Games then proceeded to lay out how it would impact League of Legends players and the means to voice opposition to the bills.

*Source: Riot Games

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

Headline RePLAY – 1.9.12

Today on Headline RePLAY: Hints of a Black Ops sequel is afoot, the legal battle for the Fallout name comes to a conclusion and thousands show interest in seeing Dark Souls for the PC.

A sequel for Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops became inevitable today after the publisher secretly acquired the domain rights to blackops2.com.

Fusible reports that the domain was registered in May 2010 shortly after Black Ops was announced and switched from Domains by Proxy to MarkMonitor, an internet brand protection company that has Activision as a client.

Treyarch, the developer behind Black Ops, has never went on record in creating a sequel but the blackops2.com domain acquisition is a strong indicator towards such a possibility.

*Source: Fusible

Bethesda Softworks and Interplay’s battle in the courts over the rights to the Fallout name finally ended today.

The suit was in regards to a Fallout MMO, which Interplay announced five years ago. Bethesda announced that as part of the settlement Interplay lost its license to develop the Fallout MMO “null and void” and “all rights granted to Interplay” to develop the MMO “revert back to Bethesda, effective immediately.”

Consequently, Interplay’s rights to sell Fallout, Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics will expire in December 2013 in addition to any merchandising rights it had in association with the Fallout IP.

*Source: Joystiq

A Namco Bandai employee last week offered this quest to fans of Dark Souls: show “demand” for a PC version of the acclaimed RPG— and the fans have answered in the tens of thousands.

As of this news posting, there are over 54,000 signatures on a petition asking Namco Bandai to release Dark Souls on the PC and the numbers are still rising.

For those that would like to show support for the effort, the petition can be found here.  

*Source: Destructoid

Headline RePLAY – 1.6.12

Today on Headline RePLAY: Miyamoto's new mystery title and Ninja Theory receives death threats over Capcom's Devil May Cry reboot.

 

Legendary creator Shigeru Miyamoto has revealed that he is working on a new “original” title and reiterated that Pikmin 3 and Luigi’s Mansion 2 are still in the works.

“People have come to expect a lot from me. This certainly makes me feel some pressure," Miyamoto said in an interview with ZoomIn. “But if you ask me, 'Is it too much pressure to try to come out with something new?’ I have to say no, I'm enjoying myself. When I make something I always try to do my best.”

*Source: ZoomIn via IGN

Capcom’s Devil May Cry reboot has generated a lot of criticism and controversy over Dante’s new look, but apparently there are people out there that hate it enough to send death threats to developer Ninja Theory that is handling the project.

“[Enslaved: Odyssey to the West writer] Alex Garland warned me about it because he experienced a similar thing with 28 Days Later where people were upset that it didn't feature real zombies," Ninja Theory's Tameem Antoniades told OXM. "And now with his upcoming Dredd movie."

“So I was half prepared for it, although I have to say that it has been pretty eye opening to see some of the creative ways in which people have chosen to vent their hatred,” he continued. “We didn't expect death threats in comic book form or anti-DmC death metal songs!”

*Source: OXM

Headline RePLAY – 1.5.12

Today on Headline RePLAY we keep it short and simple: the PS Vita just can’t catch a break and Star Wars: The Old Republic hits the record books!

For the third straight week PS Vita’s sales declined in Japan and resulted in a lackluster 42,648 units sold.

Media Create hardware charts lists Nintendo’s 3DS at the top of sales, despite the PS Vita’s recent launch and its 324,859 first week debut.

*Source: Andriasang

Star Wars: The Old Republic was hardly out for a month and its already breaking world records. Guinness World Records recognized the BioWare MMORPG as the “Largest Entertainment Voice Over Project”.

There were over 200,000 lines of recorded dialogue that were performed by several hundred voice actors, making Star Wars: The Old Republic the largest amount of voice acting in any video game— and any entertainment medium.  

*Source: MMOSITE

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