Sony’s Kevin Butler To Appear In PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale

An actor listing has outed actor Jerry Lambert as contributing to PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, meaning that his alter ego Kevin Butler might be in the game. He is listed beside Nolan North, voice Nathan Drake from the Uncharted series and David Hayter, the voice of Metal Gear star Solid Snake, which would make him the first third-party character confirmed for the game.

PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale will not be lacking for characters. Already confirmed are Kratos, Sly Cooper, Killzone‘s Mael Radec, Sweet Tooth, Fat Princess. Parappa and Cole McGrath.

Source: IMDB

Kids Access Free Apps 88 Percent Of The Time

The NPD Group released the results of Kids and Apps: A New Era of Play, showing that there are an average of 12 apps on mobile devices that kids have access to, with 88 percent of those apps being acquired for free. Additionally, children spend approximately five days a week using mobile devices such as a smartphone, tablet or iPod Touch, with an average session generally lasting just under one hour.

There are an average of 6.5 gaming applications on a device, making gaming the most popular type of app used by children, followed by listening to or downloading music and taking pictures. Gender also plays a role in app usage, with boys being significantly more likely to be game players than girls (87 percent vs.  80 percent), while girls are more diversified in the apps they use on a device and are likely to have more types of apps than boys.

“The wide variety and sheer volume of free entertainment content available for app devices is clearly having an impact on kids and the way they play,” said Anita Frazier, industry analyst, The NPD Group. “While there are a number of engaging and entertaining apps available to kids, many are used and abandoned after a short time, so it’s important to get a clear, factual picture of the role that apps are playing in kids’ lives.”

While gaming applications are paid for 35 percent of the time, making them the most frequently paid for, they are followed closely by educational game and movie apps. Most of the apps downloaded to devices are free and even those apps that are purchased are relatively inexpensive.

Those parents that let their child use a device are likely to be influenced by unlimited data from their carrier, the availability of more educational apps and, of course, the free games. As for those who already own a device but don’t let their child use it, they would allow their child to do so if more educational apps were available or if the devices were durable enough to withstand the child’s use.

Video Game High School – Ep. 1

BrianD is just a regular guy who likes to game online. However, when top gamer Law randomly drops into his game, BrianD opens up the possibility of going to Video Game High School.

Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power Of Two – An Introduction

Take an exclusive behind the scenes look at the making of the Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two video game. Meet some of the key people behind the creation of the game, and get a deeper understanding into the core gameplay features, mechanics and storyline.

 

Nike & Sonic — My Time Is Now

Nike has unleashed its new spectacular soccer ad featuring Chicken by Eighties Matchbox B-line Disaster, but there’s something even more spectacular on Nike’s official Youtube channel. Not only can users find out more about certain players, but they can also play a Nike-branded Sonic game focusing on Nike’s “Vapor” soccer shoes!

 

Tekken Prequel Movie in the Works

According Crystal Sky to CEO Steven Paul, they are looking to do another Tekken movie. The movie will be a prequel to the Tekken movie that was released on video in the U.S. in 2010.

The movie will be helmed by Ong Bak director Prachya Pinkaew. They’re looking to have a theatrical release, and while it will not have notable stars it “will have actors who look like the characters in the video games.”

Source: THR

Elder Scrolls Online Director Welcomes Criticism

The developers of Elder Scrolls Online have had to endure criticism from the devoted fanbase of the single-player games that spawned the franchise. Game director Matt Firor, far from biting back against the criticism, welcomes the feedback.

“Having been in MMOs for a very long time, I know and understand that community very well. And that is a very vocal community – a lot of the time vocal critics of what you’re doing,” said Firor. “But those people who take the time to pick your game apart, and sometimes they tell you things that you didn’t know was wrong with the game – those are the people you want playing your game, because they’re the people most invested in your game, because they care enough about it to complain.”

“The worst situation for a game community to be in is where no one posts on the boards because they don’t care,” he added. “If they post on the boards, they care. Even if they’re not being so polite about it. But that’s a fact of life: you’re an internet game, you’re on the internet, you have an internet community. And the internet community is always very vocal. So what you do is learn from it. You make sure you do the best job to deliver the best game that you can and then you go from there.”

Source: GameInformer

EA Grants Free Origin Hosting For Crowd-Funded Games

Electronic Arts has announced that it will offer free distribution on its Origin platform for any game that has been successfully crowd-funded. EA will grant 90 days of free publishing time to developers that meet the criteria.

“The public support for crowd-funding creative game ideas coming from small developers today is nothing short of phenomenal,” said David DeMartini, senior vice president of Origin at EA. “It’s also incredibly healthy for the gaming industry. Gamers around the world deserve a chance to play every great new game, and by waiving distribution fees on Origin we can help make that a reality for successfully crowd-funded developers.”

“I have had a long relationship with EA and it is great to see them recognize and support the crowd-funded games model,” said Brian Fargo, CEO, inXile Entertainment. “Having Origin waive their distribution fees for 90 days for fan funded games is a major economic bonus for small developers. We look forward to bringing Wasteland 2 to the Origin audience.”

Find out more at Origin.com/publishing

Conquest 2 Gets Kickstarter Support

Peezocker have announced that they are looking to raise $675,000 for a Conquest 2: The Vyrium Uprising Kickstarter. Contributors will be able to have access to the developers’ meetings, might have their likeness and voice in the game and attend a personal LAN party provided by the dev team in the contributor’s home town.

“We are huge fans of the RTS genre and we worked on the original game and witnessed its successful launch 11 years ago,” said Eric Peterson, the game’s producer. “But in recent years the support for great RTS games has declined at the publishing level.

“Instead of paying a one-time fee and getting infinite replay ability, players now have to pay for small add-ons or micro-transactions. This can cost gamers hundreds of extra dollars for content that used to come with the original purchase. And while that may be good for the publisher’s bottom line, it feels like a rip-off to us,” said Peterson. “We have been working on the sequel to Frontier Wars and just need a little help to finish it. Kickstarter offers a unique opportunity to raise the money and as an added bonus, gets our fans more directly involved with project development and ultimately the final product.”

In Conquest 2: The Vyrium Uprising, players build and command a vast armada of ships, and fight to become the dominant force in the universe, using resource management and strategic use of forces like most RTS games. Team Peezocker is made up of developers who have worked on more than 20 titles on multiple platforms including Wing Commander, Ultima, Starlancer and Conquest: Frontier Wars.

Source: Kickstarter

Borderlands 2 Special Edition Bonanza

Borderlands 2 is launching with two special editions in Deluxe Vault Hunter’s Collector’s Edition and the Ultimate Loot Chest Limited Edition. The first, the Deluxe Vault Hunter’s Collector’s Edition includes a copy of Borderlands 2; authentic Marcus Kincaid bobblehead ; Inside the Vault: The Art & Design of Borderlands 2 hardbound book; collectable sticker set; map of Pandora; digital comic download code; and bonus downloadable in-game digital content for $99.99.

Meanwhile, the Ultimate Loot Chest Limited Edition includes all of those items, plus a collectable scaled replica of the red loot chests found throughout Pandora in Borderlands 2; steelbook case; Creatures of Pandora wide-format ID chart; lithograph postcard set; field notes from Sir Hammerlock; cloth map of Pandora; and a numbered certificate of authenticity for $149.99. Fans who pre-order any edition of the title (including the standard edition) from participating retailers will get access to the ‘Borderlands 2 Premiere Club’, featuring other bonus in-game items.