Gears Of War 3 Emerging September 20

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Gears of War 3, probably the most anticipated game of 2011 and definitely the most anticipated on the Xbox 360, will be releasing on September 20. Protagonist Marcus Fenix will be fighting against the Lambent, a mutated version of the Locust Horde.

“They burst out of the ground in these veiny, treelike stalks that transport them throughout the world,” said design director Cliff Bleszinski. “It’s like an embryonic sac. It’s nasty stuff. You fight those guys for about a third of the experience, then for the rest of the game you deal with the latest evolution of or should I say the devolving Locust.”

Source: The Canadian Press {link no longer active}

Ravenstone Fair Has 10 Million Players, Expansion Planned

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LOLapps has announced that they will be releasing Ravenstone Mine, an expansion to their Ravenstone Fair. The social game designed in part by John Romero has already accumulated 10 million monthly active users.

“We are using a traditional strategy in games,” said Arjun Sethi, chief executive of San Francisco-based LOLapps, in an interview. “Instead of focusing on how much money we can make from a user, we are focusing on how long we can hang on to that user. Here s a new world that interacts with the one the user has been spending a lot of time in.”

Source: VentureBeat

iPad 2 Announcement Expected March 2

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Apple has announced that they are holding a press event on March 2 in San Francisco. It is widely believed that this event will officially unveil the iPad 2.

The iPad has sold nearly 15 million units across the world. The iPad 2 is expected to be thinner than the first iPad with a better display, a front-facing camera and Facetime video chat support.

Source: All Things Digital

Kinect Is Amazing, Says Buzz! Developer

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Relentless Software is best known for their work on the Buzz! series for Sony, but Microsoft’s Kinect has them all abuzz. Having developed a simple controller for their game-show series, they appreciate what Microsoft has done with their motion sensing camera.

“Of course I’d consider any game for Kinect. And the reason is because Kinect is amazing,” said Relentless co-founder and executive director Andrew Eades. “It’s the exact right technology for now. It’s given our sector a new lease of life. We’d be mad to not look into Kinect and what we can do.”

“The Kinect audience that Microsoft is going after is exactly the audience that we’ve spoken about forever. Since we started we’ve said we make games for everyone and that’s exactly what Kinect is about, making gaming available to anybody. The removal of the controller is a stroke of genius,” he added. “People can actually have a go because they don’t feel intimidated by this weird DualShock controller or the Xbox controller.”

Sony, of course, has its own motion controller in the Move, but it has sold only about half the number that the Kinect has. “My only issue with Move is if it’s got enough numbers out there – whether it’s sold through to enough people to make it a platform that we could aim at,” said Eades. “The difference with Kinect is that it’s big enough from its first holiday, and growing, that you can take a punt on it – and my conversations with publishers are confirming that decision. But we’re still not sure if Move is big enough yet for us. I hope it will be, because my dream scenario is not to be partisan in any of this, it’s to have available a bigger audience.”

The Wii is also on the radar for the casual game developer. “We have Wii capability here,” Eades revealed. “It is a platform we’re looking at. We find it slightly more difficult because we think we’re a bit late to the party, if you like, on Wii. There’s a lot of good, solid games out there that are sufficiently supplying our audience, our market. So it’s a bit harder for us to come in and compete there.”

Source: Eurogamer

Bulletstorm: Michael Capps Wades Into Controversy

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Bulletstorm has attracted some attention for its bevy of mature content and kill with skill system. Michael Capps, president of Epic Games, is taking it all in stride.

“Bulletstorm has been definitely getting some attention in the press for being a violent game. It s got more descriptors on the back of the box in the rating than I think any other video game has,” said Capps. “But that s the whole point. There are descriptors on the back of the box where we say very clearly, ‘Yeah, there’s alcohol use in this game.’ If you don’t want to play a video game with alcohol use or if you don t want your kids to, you shouldn t get this game for them. And that s absolutely fine, right It s just like the movie industry, except honestly, we give more detail than the movie industry does. It s a game for adults. It s got a big M on the front. It s a Mature game, but it s a goofy, silly, 26th century romp while you re killing space cannibals. That s what it s about and it s a lot of fun.”

“We’ve gotten some criticism from the traditional press that maybe isn’t as informed on video games, he added. We talked about how do we defend ourselves, but we haven t had to because the gaming press and other game development studios have been standing up for us and saying, ‘Hey guys, it s a Mature game. They ve told you it was, it s fun as heck, what s the problem ‘ And that’s great.”

Source: wraltechwire.com

Justin Bieber’s Final Justice

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It seems like you can’t turn around these days without running into Justin Bieber, whether it’s performing on the Grammy’s, getting the MVP at the NBA Celebrity All-Star Game… or appearing in CSI. Clearly showing he has a sense of humor, here are his final moments as a villain on the popular cop show.

{video link no longer active}

 

Music Industry Looking To Social In Wake Of Guitar Hero Passing

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The music industry was lifted by the rise of the music genre of gaming, particularly Guitar Hero. Now, with Guitar Hero on what seems to be permanent hiatus from Activision, the music industry is saddened by the loss, but still looking to the future.

“In today’s music market, the decline of any revenue source is not to be taken lightly. It s a bit like when a retailer closes down. But record companies aren t about to shut up shop because this one channel isn t there, said Music Week’s digital specialist Eamonn Forde. There are other areas for these companies to move into, be that social gaming or apps for mobiles. I think we may see some music games that aren t based on dance make use of Move and Kinect next year. I also believe you will see a whole new wave of games for iPad and other touch screen devices.”

“There s a huge opportunity for music companies to get in front of millions of customers via social games, without the player needing to shell out 40 pounds or more to do so,” he continued. “These games are a lot cheaper to develop and you can get them in front of a mass audience quicker. Guitar Hero did a good job for established artists like Aerosmith and Metallica, but it didn t quite do the job for emerging artists.”

Source: MCV

Epic Talks Hardware, Marketplace Fragmentation For Android

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Epic Games has openly praised the App Store platform and the iPhone, but have been cooler to Android so far . While Epic is starting to consider the Android platform, they say there’s still some roadblocks for it compared to iOS platforms.

“One of the problems with the Android marketplace is hardware fragmentation, that s a really big issue. The other thing is marketplace fragmentation, there are so many different appstores out there,” said Epic Vice President Jay Wilbur. “The Android marketplace is a little more difficult [to develop for] because there is less control. I think the Android marketplace is robust I find it very easy to buy things on it, it s just that Apple has very tight control. So anything in the Apple world is perfect. It’s just perfect. We like that, we like that a lot. We know that it’s just gonna work.”

Source: slowdown.vg