Zombies, Monsters and Robots! Oh My!

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Why settle for a zombie game or monster game when you can have the best of all worlds That’s the impetus behind ‘Zombies Monsters Robots,’ a new game from En Masse Entertainment which gets a trailer come March 26.

‘ZMR’ promises to be a “third person shooter filled with intense co-op and competitive modes, an expansive variety of maps and enemies, gear customization, and multiple PVP modes,” according to the FAQ on the official site. The game will fully launch in the summer, but an early access phase is slated for this spring. Those interested are encouraged to sign up to have a chance at accessing alpha and a ‘First Blood’ pack with exclusive items.

Decapre Unmasked As Latest Street Fighter

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Capcom recently shocked all of its fans when it announced that the fifth and final new character to be added to Ultra Street Fighter IV would be Decapre, a “doll” controlled by Bison and literal clone of Cammy that was introduced in the Udon Street Fighter comic series. She joins Hugo, Poison, Elena and Rolento as new characters in the already extensive roster for Ultra Street Fighter IV.

 

Xbox One Due In 26 Markets

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The Xbox One has done reasonably well in the 13 regions it launched in last year, but it’s about to expand its reach into 26 more markets.

Microsoft has announced that it will launch the system in these new markets starting in September, including eight that originally didn’t make the cut for its launch. These include Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Sweden and Switzerland.

As for the other markets, they include Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, India, Israel, Japan, Korea, Poland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Turkey and UAE.

No word on pricing has been revealed for these markets yet.

Source: Joystiq

 

‘Gauntlet’ Reboot Hitting PC This Summer

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“Elf needs food badly!” Some old-school gamers may remember these words from the Atari arcade game Gauntlet. Now, Warner Bros. is bringing back the game in an all-new adventure.

The new version of Gauntlet is a “completely modernized action RPG” that is the latest addition to WB Games’ Vault portfolio of digital games. More games based on the Atari/Midway arcade line-up are expected to be announced later on, with Gauntlet taking the forefront for now.

“With Gauntlet, we combined the arcade style of the original game with an entirely new look and feature set that includes emergent, local and online four-player gameplay,” said WB Games digital SVP David Haddad.

In development over at Arrowhead Games, Gauntlet will make its debut this week at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.

Source: Joystiq

New Xbox One System Update Incoming

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Larry “Major Nelson” Hyrb, spokesman for the Xbox brand, announced today that the company will launch a new update for the Xbox One console this April, which will bring a number of updates to the system’s features.

The first is the GameDVR, which will have improved compression algorithms and greater video quality. The update will also improve motion commands and Kinect voice recognition, making it easier to interact with the system.

Friend notifications will also be easier to come by with the update, via pop-up messages that indicate what they’re currently playing.

Finally, game save and app update status notifications will be improved, with a progress bar to show how long it takes for a game to save, as well as what’s currently being updated with new patches or downloadable content.

There’s no word on an exact day for the update, but it will be free of charge.

Source: Joystiq

 

Wal-Mart Jumping Into Used Game Market

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Most stores these days have their own video game trade-in program, including Gamestop and Best Buy. This week, Wal-Mart decided to give it a go.

The store brand has announced that it will begin accepting used games as trade-in for store credit, with 3,100 stores taking part in the promotion starting on March 26. This will allow users to bring in any unwanted games so they can purchase new games – or other goods – with the credit received.

Both gift cards for Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club will be offered, while exchanged products will be “sent to be refurbished and made available for purchase in like new condition starting this summer,” said the company’s announcement.

The store brand has already released an exchange rate calculator so interested parties can see what their games would fetch in value. As expected, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One releases are getting top values, ranging from $35 to $38.

Source: Joystiq

Google Gets Jump On Smartwatch Market

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The era of the smartwatch is just about here – and it’s Google, not Apple, that’s leading the charge.

LG Electronics and Motorola announced on Tuesday that they would begin producing smartwatches that run on the latest version of Google’s Android operating system for wearable devices, in a new line dubbed Android Wear.

Details about the operating system were first revealed in a blog post, with the companies closely working with the electronics manufacturers Asus, HTC and Samsung, as well as chip makers Broadcom Imagination, Intel, Mediatek and Qualcomm. Fashion brand Fossil Group was also involved with the design of Android Wear, which should launch later this year.

The watches are likely to use the Google Now technology, a personal-assistant software that makes recommendations and answers questions from users, as well as predict trends for particular users.

This allows Google to get a huge jump over Apple in the smartwatch market, as it hasn’t announced what its plans are for its own form of the technology.

Source: Wall Street Journal

PlayStation Vita’s New Video Apps

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The PlayStation Vita doesn’t have too many video apps to speak of, aside from being able to purchase movies on the PlayStation Network and stream content via Netflix. However, that’s about to change.

Today, Sony has announced the launch of a number of new video services for the handheld system, including anime-based Crunchyroll, NHL GameCenter and Qello. In addition, other apps will be released this spring, including Redbox Instant, Hulu Plus and Galam TV.

“PlayStation is dedicated to giving our fans the best entertainment options on our platforms; and we’ll continue to bring epic entertainment options straight to you,” said Sony’s Jamaal Moore.

The PS Vita is currently being prepped for a relaunch phase, with a new model of the system, being bundled with Borderlands 2, set for release this summer.

Source: IGN

This Week’s [a]list Jobs – March 19th

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Sometimes career advice can hurt more than help. Take a look at this list of possibly harmful sage advice you should consider throwing out.

  • Activision Blizzard, Associate Manager, Consumer Marketing – Santa Monica, Calif.
  • Sony Pictures, Digital Marketing Manager – Culver City, Calif.
  • Games of Chance, Director of Marketing – Santa Monica, Calif.
  • Cloud Imperium, Director of Marketing – Santa Monica, Calif.

[a]list daily is your source for the hottest job openings for senior management and marketing in games, entertainment and social media.

To see last week’s jobs, click here.