Telltale Games Introduces The Wolf Among Us

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Telltale Games, the creators of the stellar multi-episode The Walking Dead game series, has introduced its latest project, and it’s an eye-opener. The Wolf Among Us, based on Bill Willingham’s Fables series, features a number of interesting characters from fairy tale lore put into a contemporary world to deal with problems. The art style is impeccable, and the multi-part series will no doubt be a big hit with fans. The Wolf Among Us will release early next year for both tablets and game consoles.

‘Mad Max’ Games Gets Motion Comic

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Following a stellar showing of the game at E3 a couple of months ago, WB Games has released a new two-part motion comic for its upcoming next-gen action game Mad Max, based on the popular film franchise of the same name. In it, you meet Chumbucket, a dedicated but peculiar mechanic who plays a crucial part in the storyline.

Max Max releases in 2014 for Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

Next-Gen Graphics, Blood And Steel

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The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is easily becoming one of the most anticipated next-gen games for 2014. Now CD Projekt Red, the game’s developer, has released a new cinematic trailer for it where Geralt, the protagonist, fends off a few evildoers in style after accepting payment for a completed mission. The visual style is magnificent and the action, while bloody, is well worth watching. View Killing Monsters and see if you think this delivers on the promise of next-gen graphics.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt releases for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC in 2014.

Ninja PR Advice For Indies

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Developing a mobile game is only the first step in the process of generating revenue from a game. Finding an audience is becoming the most difficult hurdle for small developers who don’t have the advantage of an existing base of fans. Every independent game developer knows how difficult it is to compete with AAA companies with their multi-million marketing budgets, and in order to succeed, they need to work smarter — not harder.

That’s why PRninja was created, to help indies with their marketing and public relations campaigns, and help them break into international markets. PRninja is an interactive guide and tool for the iPad that helps developers and small game studios with the planning, scheduling, and execution of their PR and marketing campaigns. “It guides them through the main rounds of PR for video games, and helps them to get media attention they deserve,” said Maryna Petrenko, developer of PRninja, who spoke to [a]list daily. “I did extensive research on PR and marketing for small developers, and I took all this knowledge and put it into this app.”

The app grew out of Petrenko’s experience working in PR, primarily with video games, and seeing the struggles indie developers had to get their apps noticed. “It’s exceedingly difficult to get reviews, to get anyone to notice your game,” said Petrenko. “Small indie developers from America and Europe were wondering how much our services cost, and most of them could not afford to pay this much money for marketing and PR. So they would decide to go with their own efforts, and sometimes I would wonder how they would go about it.”

The difficulty for indie developers is only climbing. “It’s getting more and more competitive,” said Petrenko. “It’s getting really difficult, even for PR people. It’s really impossible for an ordinary person who doesn’t know how to write a pitch or approach a journalist.”

“You should start working on game marketing before you even sign with a PR agency,” Petrenko advises. “Get your media base, work with your friends and family to spread the word about your game. Do everything you can before the game is actually ready.”

In addition to a variety of helpful marketing tips and tricks, PRninja offers interactive developer and PR/marketing checklists; guides to building your own media bases, and lists of utility tools that every small indie developer can benefit from. The app provides 2, 4, and 6 week game launch campaigns along with the basics of App Store optimization and lists of media to target.

PRninja is now available on the App Store for free download, and more information is available on the website.

 

Xbox One Home Gold Sharing Plan

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Microsoft continues to make big changes with its Xbox One game console. Following the news that the Kinect will no longer be required to run games for it – as previously thought – the company has now introduced a new Home Gold plan that will let multiple players in a family take part in Xbox Live Gold membership.

The post at Xbox Wire features an explanation by Xbox VP Marc Whitten. It allows for a number of people to make use of the Gold-level features for the system, including streaming video services, online multiplayer and Skype, among others, even if the main account holder isn’t logged in to the system. In addition, rather than just being assigned to a specific account, anyone can now play any games downloaded to the system.

There’s no word on what pricing will be for the package, as it previously sold for $100 for four Xbox Live Gold accounts before Microsoft halted the sales. We’ll let you know once an official price is given. The Xbox One game system ships in November.

Source: Xbox News {link no longer active}

Steam’s Jason Holtman Joins Microsoft

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Jason Holtman spent the last eight years helping Valve’s Steam business evolve into the go-to business for online PC gamers. Now he’s about to do the same thing for Microsoft’s Windows store.

Holtman has joined up with the company to help it focus on PC gaming and entertainment strategy. Though he didn’t go too far into detail about the position, he did confirm he joined the company.

“Yes, I have joined Microsoft where I will be focusing on making Windows a great platform for gaming and interactive entertainment,” he said. “I think there is a lot of opportunity for Microsoft to deliver the games and entertainment customers want and to work with developers to make that happen, so I’m excited to be here.”

We’ll see how well Jason does over the next few months. We wish him the best of luck.

Source: GamesIndustry International

Xbox One Delayed For Eight Markets

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Microsoft was hoping to deliver its next-generation Xbox One hardware worldwide upon its release later this year, but, unfortunately, a few of the markets are seeing delays.

According to the company, the console will still ship in November to the United States and United Kingdom, along with Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Spain and New Zealand this year. However, it will have to wait until 2014 in these markets: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Sweden and Switzerland.

The company stated the reason for the delay involved the localization of dashboard and voice command support, as well as readying the right amount of launch content.

“While we wish we could launch Xbox One simultaneously in these markets, there are many factors that determine the timing of specific market launches,” the post stated. “This includes work to localize the Xbox One dash, incorporate additional voice languages, and build partnerships to bring apps and meaningful local content to each country.”

It continued, “We understand this will be disappointing news for our fans in the impacted countries, and we are doing everything we can to bring Xbox One to you as soon as possible next year.”

Source: Polygon

App Spending $75 Billion By 2017

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Apps are quite popular these days on mobile devices, whether they’re practical apps, promotional apps or games that people want to play. Now, we’ve learned that their popularity will mean big bucks down the road. We’re talking a massive market.

Juniper Research reports that games and other apps will account for $24 billion, and the market overall will hit $75 billion by the time 2017 rolls around. Tablets will also continue to sell in their own right, as consumers are likely to spend $7.8 billion a year at this point, growing to $26.6 billion in just four years’ time.

The report also indicates that less than 25 percent of total consumer app spending will come from pay-to-download sites, though some apps will allow developers to monetize players through advertising in their programs – even without a purchase.

Source: GamesIndustry International

New PlayStation 3 Model Rumored

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Sony has a number of PlayStation 3 bundles on the market, ranging from the basic 120 to 250 GB models to more deluxe packages, like the fancy red 500 GB God of War package or Assassin’s Creed model. However, now there’s a system for those who want just the very basics from the system. We mean totally basic, too.

Rumor has it that Sony will ship a new 12 GB — yes, you read that correctly — model of the PlayStation 3 to U.S. retailers starting next week, on August 18th. Selling for $199, the system will include 12 GB of flash memory. That’s fine for watching stream-based services like Netflix and Hulu Plus, but not so ideal when it comes to storing downloaded games. Savvy users can install their own hard drive to upgrade the storage, however.

This system has been introduced in Europe, but Sony stated in the past that it wouldn’t be releasing it here in the United States. Sony still hasn’t given official word on the system’s release, but don’t be surprised if you see it pop up next week.

Source: Ars Technica

Xbox Makes A Follower A King

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How does your favorite brand show you love on social They may say it with words and swag (nothing wrong with that), but yesterday Xbox illustrated that fan appreciation to one follower in a picture (which is worth about a thousand words they say, so roughly 333.3333… “I love yous”).

In a tweet to promote their recent piece of creative #PlayStyles featuring six popular gaming positions with comedic recommendations, the company asked its followers to tweet their favorite way to game.  Enter Travis Vasher. A gamer with a disease called osteogenesis imperfecta (O.I.). The disease causes extremely fragile bones, and because of his condition Vasher lives life seated in a wheel chair – which he seems to deem the perfect throne for late night gaming sessions.

Vasher responded to Xbox, “For me my #PlayStyle is the king! #Xbox360 in my wheelchair but soon it will be #XboxOne.”

The company returned the love with a customized graphic featuring Vasher’s face coupled with a slogan, “@tvasher12, It’s good to be king.”

The resemblance is pretty spot on too. Nice move, Microsoft. Game on, Travis.

 

Thanks to Rachel Weinstein for tipping us off.