Skyrim Players’ Preferred Platform Is PC

BY

MCV recently polled 6,751 users about Skyrim, of which 443 said they had had played it in the last six months and 220 said more about the game. The most popular platform was the PC with 42 percent of players on that platform, 24 percent each to PS3 and Xbox 360, with 15 percent having paid for additional content, compared to the two percent for the average game.

Germany saw the highest play rate at seven percent, with Italy and the U.K. following at six percent and five percent respectively. Germany and the U.K. have the highest brand awareness rates with 30 percent and 29 percent.

While the game has a 15+ age rating, 26 percent of players reported playing under the age of 15. While 70 percent of players are males, the 20 to 24 age group has more female players than the average game.

 

Dark Souls ‘Not Over Yet’ Says From Software

BY

Dark Souls managed to capitalize on the fan base born from its predecessor Demon’s Souls and become something of a hit for Namco Bandai. While there’s been some doubts over a direct sequel, From Software’s R&D head Masanori Takeuchi indicated that Dark Souls 2 is likely in the cards.

“Of course, it’s not over yet,” said Takeuchi. “We’ve always been enamored by dark fantasy action RPGs. That’s just been our core DNA and I think we’ll continue to utilize that.”

While Dark Souls has generally appealed to a certain subset of gamers, From Software’s executive producer Eiichi Nakajima wants to reach a larger audience with their next game. “We’ve always been about making games for the core gamer, and they weren’t necessarily games that did well financially, which is too bad,” he said. “The success of both Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls, which have each sold over a million [units] per title worldwide, has made us shift our thinking internally to not just core gamers, but to globalize our products, that they can be successful on a worldwide scale. That’s now one of the key pillars we consider when we develop games in the future.”

Source: GameTrailers

Nielsen: Gamers Increasingly Playing Across Multiple Screens

BY

According to a new Nielsen survey, “U.S. Gaming: A 360° View,” over half of households (56 percent) own at least one current generation gaming console as of January 2012, up from 50 percent last year. Also, gamers increasingly play across multiple screens, with 24 percent playing on two or more of a console, a PC or a mobile / tablet device, which is up from 17 percent in 2009.

Also, competition and overlap in the mobile / handheld / tablet gaming space is increasing, as 66 percent of households with kids ages 6-12 that own a Nintendo DS or Sony PSP also reported having an Apple iOS device. Android OS gaming is done most among adults 25-34, while iPhone gaming is distributed more evenly across age segments.

Not surprisingly, the Internet is more important than ever for advertising, with gamers spending more time on the Web outside of gaming and ad spend is shifting from print to digital for top games and consoles. E-commerce was an increasingly popular way to purchase games, up 3 percent over last year, while other channels experienced declines.

Consoles are also increasingly becoming entertainment hubs, with 65 percent of consoles now located in the living room, led by the Nintendo Wii (75 percent). That said, Kinect for Xbox 360 is helping to shift that platform toward communal spaces. Roughly four out of five of those interested in any Next-Gen console are current console owners, even though much remains unknown about future consoles.

Source: U.S. Gaming: A 360° View survey

Games Face ‘Cancerous Growth’ Says Assassin’s Creed Creative Director

BY

The AAA gaming industry is driven by large marketing budgets and flashy graphics. However, Assassin’s Creed creative director Alex Hutchinson thinks if games don’t entertain and take an artistic approach, they will simply be outdated.

“We think about this as a kind of cancerous growth,” said Hutchinson. “I think that will leave the triple-A blockbusters as nothing more than the last of the dinosaurs.”

He also said that games shouldn’t just be focused on analytics and making money. “In my mind video games need to have the goal of educating people, entertaining people, or at least being artistic,” he said. “If you’re not pushing any of these things, then I think we’re in for a rough patch.”

Source: Develop

Zynga Platform Nets Konami, Rebellion

BY

Konami and Rebellion have announced that they have signed up for the new Zynga Platform. This move could bring core properties to Zynga’s platform, including Metal Gear Solid and Castlevania.

“This new partnership accelerates Konami’s continued success as a top global social games developer and underscores our commitment to provide high quality gaming experiences to the ever-growing social space,” stated Konami’s senior VP Kazuhiko Uehara. “We are thrilled to partner with Zynga to bring Konami games to the heart of the gaming audience on Zynga.com and Facebook.”

Gaikai Adds Turbine MMO To Service

BY

Gaikai has announced that it will offer The Lord of the Rings Online via streaming without needing to download the game’s client. Another Turbine game, Dungeons & Dragons: Online, will be available soon on the service.

“MMOs have always been one of the key genres that we’ve wanted to deliver via the cloud – never before has it been possible to play MMOs in this way,” said Robert Stevenson, executive vice president at Gaikai. “And we couldn’t be more pleased to showcase Gaikai’s technology by streaming Dungeons & Dragons Online and The Lord of the Rings Online, which are both fantastic multiplayer gaming experiences with legions of loyal fans.”

DmC Director Denies Dante Designed To Look Like Him

BY

Tameem Antoniades, chief creative ninja and co-founder of Ninja Theory has been criticized for numerous elements of the Devil May Cry reboot. A rather unique conspiracy is that Antoniades pushed the character design of Dante to look more like himself, which he denies.

“What can I say He’s a decade and a half younger than me, way better looking . . . The only thing he’s got is black hair. And he’s male,” he said. “I didn’t design the character. I didn’t go to our designers and say, ‘I think it’s a really good idea if we make the new Dante look like me, because I want to be in the game.’ They’d laugh at me. They’d throw me out the window.”

The original character design, he notes, was close to how Dante traditionally looks, but Capcom considered that too safe. “Capcom said something which they’ve said to us often, which is, ‘if it was going to be the same as the old DMC, why would we give this project to you guys The reason is to surprise us, to come up with a reinvention,” detailed Antoniades. “To create something we couldn’t have conceived in Japan.'”

Source: PSM3

Asura’s Wrath Draws Hindu Consternation

BY

In what might be a world first, Capcom has offended Hindus with their latest game. Rajan Zed, the president of the Universal Society of Hinduism, said that Asura’s Wrath trivializes the religion with the liberties it takes with Hindu mythology.

Pictured: Not Hindu cannon.

“No faith, large or small, should be plundered,” Zed said, noting that Hindu scholars, “would gladly provide genuine seekers from [the] videogames industry the resources they needed for their study and research regarding Hinduism.”

Street Fighter X Tekken Addictive TV Remix

BY

Street Fighter X Tekken is all about timing and skill, and that’s just what was required to make this remix!  Street Fighter X Tekken Addictive TV Remix takes sound effects from the game and makes a song, even matching it up with the corresponding in-game actions!