Unreal Not On Epic’s Docket Right Now

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Unreal is one of Epic’s best known IPs but the company hasn’t done anything with it for a while. According to Epic president Mike Capps, they’re not working on an Unreal game now, but it’s legacy lives on.

“Unreal and Unreal Tournament continue to have a huge influence on the studio here, even though we’re not currently working on an Unreal IP project,” said Capps. “Unreal and Unreal Tournament continue to have a huge influence on the studio here, even though we’re not currently working on an Unreal IP project.”

“I’m not quite ready to call Gears of War 3 completed yet,” he added. “Epic loves supporting our fans with tons of great additional content, and much of the Epic team is still working on new material for the game. We continue to explore the franchise outside of the console games with great novels, comic books, and the like. Just in the last month we’ve launched a new board game with Fantasy Flight, and HeroClix of Gears characters. So while the trilogy is complete, we’re still working pretty hard on Gears.”

Source: Forbes

Google+ Open To All

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Google has made the social networking site Google+ open to the general public. The site was operating in an invite-only status for its first three months.

Additionally the company has introduced a video “hangouts” feature where up to10 people can chat simultaneously. The feature will be available to all Android smartphones with front-facing cameras, with iOS support coming soon.

This comes two days before Facebook’s annual f8 developer conference, clearly on purpose. It is expected that Facebook will announce integration with music services and there will be more real-time updates of what friends are doing.

Google+ racked up over 25 million members since launching in June 2011 and is expected to reach 100 million members by the end of the year. Facebook, by contrast, has around 750 million active users.

Source: AdWeek

Appy Entertainment Reaches 10 Million IOS Downloads

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Appy Entertainment has announced a new set up stats for their games, most importantly that Appy titles have exceeded 10 million iOS downloads. Revenue has gone up 100 percent in the last twelve weeks since switching to a freemium model.

“We started Appy because we envisioned a smartphone, tablet-driven future away from game consoles and dedicated handhelds. We made sure our games were touchscreen native, ridiculously fun for short sessions but deep enough to challenge grizzled console veterans,” says Chris Ulm, founder and CEO, Appy Entertainment. “With the rise of tablet computing, the paradigm shift to app stores and the upcoming ‘smart TV’ revolution, the social-mobile gaming revolution is just getting started!”

FaceFighter Gold, the Android version of FaceFighter, was downloaded 650 thousand times by Android users, while Trucks & Skulls has managed over 1.5 million downloads. Appy’s games are currently downloaded more than 20,000 times a day.

Find out more about Appy in this interview.

OnLive Preps AAA Games For Tablets

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The use of cloud gaming technology allows tablets to display graphics far beyond their hardware capabilities. OnLive CEO Steve Perlman claims that the service has several prominent titles lined up that are particularly well configured for the tablet market.

“[From Dust] is a great example where they’ve taken an extremely high performance game which you could never possibly run on a tablet, and they’ve made it available on tablets using cloud computing,” he said. “You’re going to see more and more of this. In fact, some of the games that are coming out that are triple-A games and have been announced, they’ve not announced that they’re going to have touch interfaces just for OnLive – and they are going to blow your mind.”

Source: CVG

Flash On 1 Billion Mobile Devices By 2015, Says Adobe

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Adobe is predicting that one billion smartphones and tablets will be able to play Flash content by 2015. This comes as the company unveils Flash 11 and Air 3, the later of which is used primarily for iOS devices and both challenging HTML5.

Right now, 200 million smartphones and tablets are Flash enabled. 70 percent of browser games utilize the technology, while 98 percent of desktop computers have Flash installed.

However, Adobe has to deal with the face that IE 10 ‘Metro’ will not have plug-ins, Flash included. “We are going to keep the pace of innovation on Flash,” said the director. “Microsoft was clear that the use case for Flash is on the desktop. Flash will run just fine on the Windows desktop.”

IPhone 5 May Be Coming Late October

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Rumors are that Apple will hold a major media event on October 4 to unveil the iPhone 5. The roll-out of the device is expected to come a few weeks after this revelation.

“And while the iPhone 5 is a much-anticipated handset, the event itself has a lot more importance for Apple than many previous ones,” writes John Paczkowski. “That’s because it will be newly installed CEO Tim Cook’s first big product introduction, and the place where the public will get a first lengthy impression of him that may well set the tone for Cook’s new role. So, like his predecessor, and as Jobs’s right-hand man and chosen successor, Cook is expected to be the main presenter at all big Apple media events going forward. That said, according to sources, he’s sure to have help from Apple lieutenants, such as marketing head Schiller, iOS chief Scott Forstall and Eddy Cue, recently named SVP of Internet Software and Services.”

Source: All Things D

Magic Of Ni No Kuni

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Ni no Kuni is coming to the U.S. and here’s a sample of it in action. Take in the bright animation and the richness of the musical score – it’s truly a wonder to behold.

Assassin’s Creed: Revelations On PS3 Packs Original Adventure

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Ubisoft has announced that Assassin’s Creed: Revelations for PS3 will include a copy of the original Assassin’s Creed. This bonus will be available for the initial shipment of the game.

The multiplayer beta has already been rolled out for Assassin’s Creed: Revelations on PS3. However, despite the addition of the first Assassin’s Creed, Ubisoft confirmed that it will not have trophy support added.

Source: Joystiq

Angry Birds Launched At Starbucks

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Reports are that Rovio Entertainment is partnering with Starbucks. They’re looking to possibly offer virtual goods and feature electronic leader boards in stores.

“It’s tying in the real world with the virtual world,” said Wibe Wagemans, a senior vice president at Rovio. “Retailers get new customers who’ve not been to their stores yet, and repeat customers.”

If there are negotiations, Starbucks isn’t saying. “While we are always looking for great partnerships to better meet the needs of our customers, at this time we have no announcements regarding any work with Rovio Entertainment,” said the Seattle-based company in a statement.

Right now, Angry Birds is available on Google+, but it is believed that a Facebook offering could be coming soon. “I’d definitely predict a big splash,” said Elizabeth Shaw, an analyst at Forrester Research Inc. “It would definitely rev up competition.”

Barnes & Noble has been giving away the $.99 virtual item Might Eagle to all Nook users who come by the store. Tens of thousands have dropped by for the item with 10,000 people spending more than 30 minutes playing at Barnes & Noble locations.

“There are retailers out there who have a lot to gain by increasing the time spent at their location, and increasing the money spent there,” Wagemans said.

Source: Bloomberg