Grand Theft Auto V Special Edition/Collector’s Edition Detailed

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Rockstar Games has announced that Grand Theft Auto V will have a Special Edition and Collector’s Edition. Also, those who pre-order any version of the game will receive the Atomic Blimp in-game vehicle.

The Special Edition includes a copy of Grand Theft Auto V, a Collectible SteelBook with Exclusive Artwork and a Blueprint Map of Los Santos and Blaine County. For in game bonuses, there’s a boost for the special abilities of Michael, Franklin and Trevor, access to the Stunt Plane Trials aerial challenges, bonus outfits, tattoos and more ways to customize and the Pistol .50, Bullpup Shotgun and melee Hammer for free at weapon stores.

The Grand Theft Auto V Collector’s Edition includes everything in the Grand Theft Auto V Special Edition plus a Grand Theft Auto V Security Deposit Bag with Logo Key, a Grand Theft Auto V New Era 9FIFTY Snapback Cap. A digital bonus will be classic Grand Theft Auto characters to use within the Grand Theft Auto Online Character Creation System.

McDonald’s Does Right By Charles Ramsey

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McDonald’s has announced that it will grant Charles Ramsey free food for the next year. The man has become something of a folk hero after helping to rescue the three Cleveland women held captive by Ariel Castro.

The good-will gesture follows after Ramsey mentioned in several interviews that he had previously gone to McDonald’s before rescuing the women and was carrying a half-eaten Big Mac at the time. The restaurant company will also donate $10,000 to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in the names of Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michele Knight, the three women who were held hostage for years.

Twitter was lit up by requests for McDonald’s to respond after Ramsey namedropped the company in multiple interviews. McDonald’s spokeswoman Danya Proud indicated that they received so many suggestions that the company felt compelled to respond.

What’s more, 14 local Ohio restaurants announced they’ll also give him free burgers for life. Ramsey has been granted a ‘Chuck Card’ for the access at participating restaurants. The Hodges restaurant in downtown Cleveland that Ramsey works as a dishwasher is going even further. The establishment is now offering the Ramsey Burger, modeled after the Big Mac.

Hodges manager Nate Gosselin said they sold 50 Ramsey Burgers the first day they were offered two weeks ago; the restaurant usually sells 20 burgers a day, total. “It’s been wildly popular,” he said. “It’s even on our permanent new menu now.”

Gosselin said that partnering with the other restaurants to give Ramsey free burgers was an easy decision. “It was a really great gesture and something that we want to recognize him for,” he said.

Source: CNN.com

Xbox One Deal Valued At $3 Billion For AMD

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AMD has secured a future for itself since it is providing the chipsets for the Wii U, PS4 and Xbox One. Bob Feldstein, former AMD vice president of strategic development and current Nvidia vice president of technology licensing, gave an example of just how much these deals are worth to the company.

“AMD provided a custom silicon solution to Microsoft for the Xbox One, a game console and entertainment device,” reads Feldstein’s LinkedIn profile. “My involvement was focused on business management and supply agreement negotiations. This required the coordination of multiple functional teams within AMD, as well as regular customer meetings with leadership teams responsible for handling the challenges of complex, multi-year deals. This project is valued at [$3 billion].”

Source: LinkedIn

Xbox Reveal Watched By Millions

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Microsoft has announced that the Xbox Reveal event saw record-breaking viewership, with over 8.45 million people watching the Xbox Reveal event in the first 24 hours. This rivals one of the top-most concurrent streamed events of all time.

“On Xbox.com, we nearly tripled our previous concurrency record — with almost three times as many people watching the livestream at the same time, versus any other major event in Xbox.com history,” wrote Xbox Wire editor Lisa Gurry. “According to our friends at Akamai, our streaming partner, the Xbox Reveal event was among the most watched live broadcasts delivered by Akamai in their history, nearly doubling peak traffic records and eclipsing concurrent viewership high-water marks set by events such as the 2010 World Cup, Royal Wedding in 2011, and 2012 election night.”

Additionally, Nielsen reports that over 1.73 million people tuned into the briefing on Spike TV, and the Xbox Reveal event was the top television show for Men 18-34 at 10 am on May 21. The reveal also generated plenty of buzz; the event was the top non-sports social program across all TV networks and the second most social show on television on May 21, coming in slightly behind the NBA Playoffs.

“During the Xbox Reveal event, the Xbox team showcased how Xbox One puts you at the center of all your games, TV, movies, music, sports and Skype. And how Xbox One is designed to deliver a whole new generation of blockbuster games, television and entertainment in a powerful, all-in-one device. If you missed the briefing, you can see highlights from the day here and a full recap on Xbox Wire,” noted Gurry. “With so much interest in Xbox One, we know there are unanswered questions and a desire for more information on Xbox One. We have many exciting weeks ahead where we will provide more information — including E3, which is just 15 days away. Stay tuned.”

Source: News.Xbox.com

PS4 Newspaper Ad Implies 2013 Europe Launch

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A newspaper ad for PS4 suggests heavily that the system is launching in Europe. The region is very important for both Sony and Microsoft in the coming console war, and it seems likely Sony doesn’t want to give Microsoft a head start anywhere.

“We announced at the PlayStation Meeting event on Feb 20th that PS4 would be coming in 2013,” said a Sony Europe rep. “The adverts are simply re-stating that message. More information about PS4 and all PlayStation Platforms will be announced at E3.”

Source: Edge

Sonic: Lost Worlds – Debut Trailer

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Sonic is back for the next generation, and this time the levels look to better accommodate the abilities of the blue speedster. Check out the new set of enemies Sonic will face and the first glimpse of gameplay!

L.A. Noire Developers Form Intuitive Game Studios

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Former game developers at Team Bondi and KMM have formed a new company called Intuitive Game Studios. The founders for this new studio are L.A. Noire design lead Alex Carlyle and Kelly Baigent, who worked on the game’s storyboarding.

“I really do want to stay in Australia and try and overcome the drive which is leading everyone to Canada or the like,” said Carlyle. “I want to stay here and make games and hopefully be able to sustain a small studio, provide employment and jobs here.”

Source: MCV

Need For Speed Rivals — Teaser

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Need for Speed is coming cross-gen in a big way with Need for Speed Rivals. There’s just a tease of what’s to come here, but expect to see the races against cops like the Most Wanted series mixed with the customization of the aesthetic vehicle customizations of the Underground titles.

Square Enix Points To Kickstarter/Greenlight To ‘Unite Marketing And Development’

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Square Enix senior executive managing director Yosuke Matsuda recently spoke about how platforms like Kickstarter and Steam Greenlight speak to new methods of customer engagement. He also noted that Square Enix’s current development practices don’t involve customers enough and reap benefits over too short a period of time.

“There is a crowdfunding website called Kickstarter, which does not only serve as a method of financing for developers, but I believe should also be seen as a way to unite marketing and development together by allowing us to interact with customers while a game is in development,” said Matsuda. “Valve’s Steam Greenlight and Early Access, are also very interesting, in that they raise the frequency by which we interact with customers, increasing their engagement and reflecting customer needs. We are also looking at what initiatives are possible from this perspective. What should we present to our customers before a game is finished, how can our customers enjoy this, and how do we connect this to profitability, is something we are thinking about implementing, and which can improve our asset turnover in the process.”

“One could go as far as to say that in today’s times, making customers wait for years with little to no information is being dishonest to them,” he added. “We’re no longer in an age where customers are left in the dark until a product is completed. We need to shift to a business model where we frequently interact with our customers for our products that are in-development and/or prior to being sold, have our customers understand games under development, and finally make sure we develop games that meet their expectations.”

Source: Square-Enix.com