Nintendo has announced that they will be launching a special Luigi 3DS XL system. As part of the Year of Luigi, the portable console features a green-on-white Luigi silhouette pattern.
The Luigi 3DS XL will have Mario and Luigi: Dream Team pre-installed and will launch in Japan on June 18. While the specially patterned Animal Crossing: New Leaf 3DS XL is coming to the U.S., there is no word over whether this console will come to the West.
InXile Entertainment CEO Brian Fargo says that his team and Obsidian Entertainment have worked closely on their Kickstarter projects together. Fargo has also tweeted out about relevant RPG projects on Kickstarter, and he notes this collaboration among developers is rare among publishers.
“There’s this general feeling among most of the developers that are doing this now that 1 + 1 = 3, helping each other will tend to work out somehow,” Fargo said. “And you can’t imagine that happening on the publishing side.”
Fargo has reached out on the publisher side for supporting more mid-tier development, but he says that most just aren’t that interested. “It’s not like the publishers are worried too much by this; our numbers are not too interesting to them,” Fargo noted. “I read the other day that Tomb Raider sold [over three] million copies and they’re disappointed. If we sold 2 million copies, that means I build new roleplaying games for the next two decades, guaranteed. That’s what that would mean to us.”
The fact that InXile is essentially its own publisher these days has changed the way they do business. “You barely need marketing because word of mouth is everything these days,” Fargo pointed out. “And your sales force is your backers.”
“We used to have to make changes to our content because of what the buyer at Walmart said,” Fargo recalled. “Gatekeepers are out now. The gatekeeper and the audience are one and the same. Now that I have a symbiotic relationship through crowdfunding, my goals are exactly in sync with the customer giving me the money. We are on the same page; all we both want is a great game. When you get money from other people, you think that’s obvious but it’s not. They might have other agendas, which could be their shareholders, or making the quarter, maybe I’m competing with another product of theirs, they want to change it because of that. They often will have different perspectives on the audience.”
Fargo is completely comfortable with Kickstarter because he knows there’s an audience for the game. “Our game certainly has less risk because it’s being pre-ordered,” Fargo notes. “I specifically make the game for that audience, and then I let the chips fall where they may. I think people that like roleplaying games are going to love it. Some people say, ‘How do you make it for the younger generation,’ and I don’t think about that. I’m just going to make something that’s smart and intelligent, nuanced, and the audience will figure it out.”
In the end, Fargo hopes he will continue to be able to make concepts that are interesting to him and his team. “I don’t want to be in a situation where we finish Wasteland II and I have to hurry up and get Wasteland III out the door. I don’t ever want to be in that situation,” Fargo said. “You do a sequel when you have the right idea.”
Whether AAA or not, Fargo respects companies that create the games they want to and know their audience. “Demon’s Souls is a good example. They just know who their audience is and they go for it; it’s not for everybody. They do it without shame, and people love them for it,” said Fargo. “That’s why Valve is such a great company. They don’t rush to get out another version of what they did. That’s why they’re always fresh, and they’re so revered. There is a direct correlation with a developer that has time to do it right that consistently performs. Valve, Ken Levine, Rockstar… they spend the time to get it right every time without having to force it out the door.”
To read more about InXile’s Kickstarter projects, read this exclusive [a]list interview with Fargo.
Source: GamesIndustry International
Facebook Home has been downloaded over 500,000 times. The mobile interface for Facebook launched on the Google Play store April 12.
Facebook Home is available for Samsung Galaxy S III, Samsung Galaxy Note II, HTC One X and HTC One X+ and it comes pre-loaded onto the HTC First. User reviews currently give Facebook Home a 2.2 stars out of a possible 5.
Source: Play.Google.com {link no longer active}
The Binding of Isaac has sold over 2 million copies, according to creator Edmund McMillen. McMillan is currently working on the remake titled The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth.
The remake will use a new engine and not use Flash, allowing for more to happen on the screen at once. Along with an huge expansion to content, it will allow for two-player co-op.
The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth is currently set for release on PC, Vita, and PS3, with 3DS and Xbox 360 releases possible.
Source: Destructoid.com
[a]list daily is now your source for the hottest job openings for senior management and marketing in games, entertainment and social media. Check here every Wednesday for the latest openings!
Here are this week’s [a]list jobs:
FEATURED JOBS:
Ayzenberg Group, one of the largest independent ad firms on the West Coast, is hiring. We’re currently looking to fill these positions: Creative Lead: Visual Design, Game Capture Artist, Lead Web/UI Software Engineer and more. Check out our Careers page to apply.
As expected, social media became the hub for information during last week’s intensive manhunt for the Boston Marathon bombers. At its best, social nets kept people informed with up to the minute information. Yet as the hunt became more frantic and authorities called on the public for help in identifying the suspects, a morass of misinformation began to unfold online. Now people are questioning the role of social media as a viable source of information, especially in an emotionally charged case such as a terrorist attack on U.S. soil.
The most publicized mishandling of information during the manhunt is the case of two innocent high school students misidentified as suspects. Photos of 17-year-old Salah Eddin Barhoum and friend Yassine Zaime made it all the way to the front page of the New York Post with the headline, “Bag men: Feds seek these two pictured at Boston Marathon.” The basis for the connection was an internal Boston law enforcement email which circulated the photo as simply “an attempt to identify the individuals” during the first moments of the manhunt.
The Boston police have since cleared both high school students, but Barhoum has changed his name on Facebook, fearing that some people will still target his account.
In another case, overreaction by a misinformed public turned a missing student into a terrorist on the run, and targeted a family already pained by the mysterious disappearance of their son. The name of missing Brown University graduate student Sunil Tripathi began trending worldwide as he became the focus of speculation after Reddit users claimed to have overheard his name on police scanners. Soon, other social nets jumped on the information and began pegging the 22-year-old as “the man in the white hat” in the photo released by the FBI.
Women’s rights group Binders Full of Women circulated Tripathi’s name as a suspect to hundreds of thousands of its followers on Facebook. News and pop culture site Global Grind decided to play the breaking news game, with news editor Michael Skolnik taking a leap of faith and publishing the missing student’s name as a suspect. Self-styled social media sleuths then took interest in a page that the Tripathi family had set up to find their missing son.
“We started seeing ridiculously speculative traffic,” said Tripathi’s sister, Sangeeta Tripathi. “We froze the page but monitored other social media sites and watched the horrible arc of events unfold.”
Tripathi’s name has since been cleared and many incorrect posts deleted. Unfortunately, Tripathi’s family is still looking for their son.
Journalists have since reflected on the mob mentality that took over the spread of information about the Boston bombers. Numerous news organizations have shamed the NY Post’s rush to judgment, front-page style, in identifying potential suspects.
CNET executive producer Molly Wood has given an exceptionally thoughtful response to what took place. Wood outlined ground rules users can take to avoid spreading misinformation across social channels.
She wrote, “We’re still in the early stages of figuring out how to experience news on social media. I do agree that firsthand reports from witnesses, reporters on Twitter, and those to whom an event is actually happening are invaluable new sources of information. I agree that circulating official “have you seen this person” images on Reddit or anywhere else online is orders of magnitude more effective than the old days of nailing said posters to trees and outhouses. Social media and the Internet have a huge role to play in the future of news — they may very well be the future of news. But right now, they’re making news worse before they make it better.”
Source CNET
Animation group 1A4 Studio out of Russia got their start doing ad work, but now they’re trying their hand at funnier Internet videos. This one is a surprisingly complete version of the original Star Wars: A New Hope done in one minute.
Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami gives a glimpse behind-the-scenes on the making of their survival horror revival, The Evil Within. It’s clear that Tango Gameworks is looking to make a very scary game.
Star Trek The Video Game was written by God of War writer Marianne Krawczyk and has a story that ties directly into the events of the 2009 Star Trek film, with Vulcans looking for a new homeworld and accidentally bringing on disaster. We also have to give credit to Chris Pine for embracing the banter of Kirk in the game and not phoning it in.
Gearbox Software has announced its purchase of THQ’s Homeworld franchise for $1.35 million, pending court approval in late May. Other bidders for the property included Stardock and Paradox Interactive, who were second and third in the bidding for the IP respectively.
“Gearbox Software has prevailed as the highest bidder in the acquisition of the Homeworld franchise from THQ. Brian Martel, Gearbox Software’s Chief Creative Officer, has great love and respect for Relic’s brilliant, fun and innovative game and personally spearheaded the acquisition,” wrote Gearbox PR man Chris Faylor. “Brian intends as first priority to direct Gearbox’s interest to preserve and assemble the purest form of the original acclaimed and beloved games, Homeworld and Homeworld 2, with the intent of making them accessible on today’s leading digital platforms.”
Source: GearboxSoftware.com
