Apple Expected To Sell 1.5 Million IPad Minis First Weekend

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Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray believes that Apple will sell between a million and 1.5 million iPad minis over the tablet’s launch weekend. This is a modest number should be increased when when 4G version of the tablet releases later in November.

Munster believes consumers will appreciate the ability to use the iPad mini with one hand and the enhanced portability the smaller form factor offers. “Consumers will gradually realize the benefits of the smaller form factor, which will drive adoption, although it may not take form in lines for tomorrow’s launch,” Munster wrote.

Source: AppleInsider.com

Assassin’s Creed Creative Director Talks About Series’ Future

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Assassin’s Creed was initially conceived by Ubisoft to be a trilogy of games that would presumably finish during this generation of consoles. However, with the success the series has wrought, it will continue as a franchise for the foreseeable future and Assassin’s Creed III creative director Alex Hutchinson has a general idea for how it will go down.

“We know the beats. There was an ending planned, but the success of the series affected that a lot. You can get screwed by too much success or too much failure,” said Hutchinson. “If you’re successful then you want to keep going. But if you come up with this big epic story with a great ending and you don’t succeed to start then you don’t get to make that ending.”

Hutchinson described the series in terms of Star Trek in how it will perpetuate itself. “What we’re really trying to do now is start and end narrative arcs. The way I pitch it to people is that this is Star Trek: The Next Generation,“ he said. “Someone is going to make Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and that’s fine. But we need to have a satisfying conclusion to this storyline and this part of it.”

There’s a delicate balance between expanding on a franchise and running it into the ground and Hutchinson acknowledges this issue. “So we ended Ezio’s storyline. And I think we’re getting better at beginning and ending other parts of the game. As we move on you’ll see new storylines come up, other storylines end. I hope we get to do these games for a long time, but we’re trying not to draw things out for too long anymore,” Hutchinson said.

Source: The Financial Post

Microsoft Considering Surface Phone – Report

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Microsoft is reportedly looking into creating a Surface phone. They have started working with component manufacturers in Korea and China to finalize the hardware with a possible 5-inch screen.

Windows 8 Mobile is designed to better integrate their PC OS with a mobile counterpart. The Surface phone could be a back up plan if offerings from HTC and Nokia prove to be unpopular.

Source: WSJ.com

Dreamfall Sequel Will Be On Kickstarter

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Ragnar Tornquist has founded Red Thread Games to make a sequel to The Longest Journey and Dreamfall. While the studio has secured a grant from the Norwegian Film Institute to fund pre-production, the company will shift to crowd funding after that.

“We will be doing a Kickstarter,” he said. “Not right now, but we will be doing it in the near future . . . In order to fully develop Dreamfall Chapters we’re going to need more money and we will be going to Kickstarter.”

Meanwhile, he will continue to work with Funcom while he maintains Red Thread Games as a separate entity. “I’ll still be contributing a lot to the story side [of The Secret World], advising Joel [Bylos] and the team,” Tornquist continued. “I’m working on the master story document at the moment, making sure all the threads are coming together and we know where we’re at. I want to make sure the team are as independent as possible but I have no plans to leave. The Secret World is very dear to me and I plan to stay on as long as possible.”

Source: Rock Paper Shotgun

Raptr Launches Desktop App

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Raptr announced that it is launching a Desktop App that serves as an in-game gateway to the web. This will make sure that players no longer have to disrupt their games in order to communicate and access web content, share experiences, and access Raptr tracking and reward tools.

“We are completely obsessed with serving players a richer game and community experience,” said Dennis Fong, CEO, Raptr. “Through our new Raptr Desktop App, we are delivering a seamless in-game experience to players with the power to play games and simultaneously tap into their favorite web services and destinations, community discussions and content. Gamers can say goodbye to alt tabbing.”

Check out the Raptr Desktop App at raptr.com/download.

38 Studios Sued By Rhode Island

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The Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation announced it is filling a suit against 38 Studios. The suit relates to the company’s $75 million in loan guarantees given to the developer, and the suit accuses the managers of 38 Studios and anyone who signed off on the deal of fraud, negligence, conspiracy, larceny, and more.

Essentially, the suit says that 38 Studios’ directors and executives deceived the state about the risks, helped by the RIEDC’s own lawyers and financial advisers. Rhode Island claims that they should have known the $75 million was insufficient to relocate the company’s offices to the state and complete Project Copernicus.

“Litigation is often long and tedious. The filing of this complaint is only the beginning. I know therefore there still will be many unanswered questions as the legal process continues and if and when other information comes to light it will be appropriately addressed,” wrote Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee. “My message to Rhode Islanders is this: I know that you work hard for your paychecks, and for your tax dollars to be squandered is unacceptable. The Board’s legal action was taken to rectify a grave injustice put upon the people of Rhode Island. You have my commitment that I will continue fighting to protect the interest of all Rhode Islanders every day that I am Governor.”

Tablet/Laptop Ads Square Off

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It’s the holidays, which means that every and all companies are launching their new devices to market in order to win the hearts and minds of consumers. We have the frenetic Surface commercial, the understated Macbook Pro and the populist Chromebook.

 

Nintendo Says Smartphones Inspired By DS

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Many are worried that dedicated portable gaming consoles are losing out to smartphones and tablets. To Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata, he thinks that “no dedicated gaming systems are worthy of existence unless our games give consumers unparalleled fun.”

Quality is the best way to combat cheap prices of iOS and Android apps, according to Nintendo. Iwata says that Nintendo survived the initial advent of cell phone gaming and will do so again.

“When i-mode for cell phones started in Japan, many people said that, as application software including games worked on cell phones, everyone would play games only with their cell phones because they are practical items they always carry, which would eventually eliminate handheld gaming devices,” he began. “We were asked about this matter many times and answered that we would try something that cannot be done on cell phones. After that, we were able to see the positive result of the Nintendo DS system.”

“On the other hand, it can be said that the fact that Nintendo DS was able to demonstrate the new potential of touch screens, and as a result, created our new rivals called smart devices, I really feel that history is repeating itself,” said Iwata.

Source: CVG