EA’s Creative Edge

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Electronic Arts is a company that knows how to get the most out of a franchise, as we’ve seen from various Need For Speed and Battlefield games over the years. Let’s not forget the amazing runs of sports games like Madden and FIFA, either. Yet some critics have wondered if EA and other large publishers are too risk-averse to launch new IPs as development costs continue to rise.

EA also knows how to churn out original fare as well, including the highly acclaimed multiplayer shooter Titanfall, and it looks like that’s not the only new game on the horizon. EA games chief Patrick Soderlund spoke with MCV, explaining that the company has even more ideas up its sleeve, along with some familiar franchises.

“We are working on a new Mirror’s Edge game, and although that’s not a new IP, it is a revival done in a new way. We are developing Star Wars Battlefront, which to us is a new IP, even though it isn’t technically,” he explained. “We have six to eight completely new IPs in the works. The day we stop making new IP is when we go onto life support. We need to incubate new ideas and push creative boundaries.”

It’ll be interesting to see what the company announces over the next couple of years.

Source: MCV

Put The ‘Pro’ In Procrastination

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Game Connection organizers have extended the deadline to enter their 3rd Edition Marketing Awards to September 20.

The awards are free to enter and consider work in a variety of marketing categories executed between January 2012 and August 2013. Winners will be chosen by a panel of senior executives in the game industry and announced at Game Connection Europe, scheduled to take place December 3-5 in Paris.

Entries can be submitted digitally through the Game Connection awards site.

For more insight into these awards, check out our interview with Giulia Palmieri, Game Connection’s head of marketing.

Hirshberg: Activision Takes Risks

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Some have criticized Activision for playing it safe by cranking out new Call of Duty titles every year, but Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg doesn’t believe it for a minute.

“I think there is a false narrative that all Activision wants to do is put out a Call of Duty every year, when in fact we’ve shown some real innovation and appetite for risk,” Hirshberg told CVG in an interview.

During the interview Hirshberg pointed to Skylanders as an example of a massive risk, but one that the media forgets about in favor of Activision’s shooters. “I think that publishers which have wider and ‘more diverse’ slates are far less risky than us, are far less creative. Just because you have a game in every genre does not mean you’re creative. So, what we do is certainly a strategy that’s not for everyone, and it’s not the only way to make good business, but it works for us. It’s something that pre-dates me, it’s something Activision has done for many years.”

Activision certainly took a risk with Skylanders, investing more than $100 million in development for an unproven title with high manufacturing costs for all the toys. The gamble has been a successful one, with Skylanders bringing in more than $1.5 billion at retail since its launch. Coming up, Activision is betting big on Bungie’s new game Destiny, a completely new IP that has potential to be a major hit.

Source: GamesIndustry International

US Game Sales Healthy Despite Dip

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Big business continues to thrive in the U.S. video game market, even if numbers are slightly down from last year.

According to a report from the NPD group, Americans spent approximately $2.88 billion on gaming software during the second quarter. That’s a big number, but, surprisingly, it’s lower than previous years, down three percent from year-over-year. The numbers were unveiled as part of the quarterly Games Market Dynamics: US report.

According to said report, most of the sales – about 61 percent – came from digital games, with $1.77 billion totaled. These include full game downloads, add-on content and mobile/social games combined.

NPD analyst Liam Callahan stated, “The decrease in new physical spending is partly due to the decline in the number of new SKUs released at retail, (with 37 percent fewer new SKUs in Q2 ’13 compared to Q2 ’12) which is to be expected as developers, publishers and consumers alike prepare for the next hardware generation,” Callahan said. “Increases in digital format spending offset nearly all the losses from the declines in physical format spending, with digital full game downloads and downloadable content spending experiencing a combined 27 percent increase (when compared to Q2 ’12). Spending increases occurred across both video games and PC games in the digital format.”

We’ll see how Q3 2013 fares with a number of new releases on the horizon.

Source: GamesIndustry International

Nintendo eShop Embraces Indies

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Though Nintendo’s eShop has been moving slowly compared to Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network, the service will soon see an influx of original digital games and indie-published titles, thanks to a new push from Nintendo.

“We’ve actually been very proactive in helping developers,” said Nintendo’s Dan Adelman, who previously worked with Xbox Live Arcade before moving in to help Nintendo’s digital business. “We probably don’t do as good a job of broadcasting that as we should.”

Indie developers are welcome with open arms on the Wii U and 3DS, according to Adelman. “We have a place where aspiring developers go – it’s wiiu-developers.nintendo.com – where they can sign up to be a licensed developer. We have an introductory program where we’re making it easier for them to get dev kits.”

Those who qualify can get Unity Pro tools for Wii U development, something that will save them $1500 in equipment down the road. Licensing fees are waived as well. The catch They’ll need to use Unity in order to develop their games.

“More and more studios are using Unity as their go-to engine, and the cost associated with supporting Wii U becomes dramatically lower,” says Adelman. “The break-even point is so low that you can afford to do something completely experimental, just a one-off, try it out, and still do well.”

Source: IGN

Xbox One Upgrade Program Detailed

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Microsoft has clarified the details of an initiative first introduced a few weeks back, naming the games that qualify for the “upgrade” program taking effect when the Xbox One releases on November 22.

Through this program, players will be able to trade particular Xbox 360 games for the Xbox One versions, adding just another $10 to get the newer versions. Amazon and Best Buy are already on board, and GameStop is offering a similar initiative as well.

These titles include: Battlefield 4, Madden NFL 25, Need For Speed: Rivals, Call of Duty: Ghosts, NBA 2K14, FIFA 14 and Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. Watch Dogs has also been listed by Amazon and Best Buy, but not confirmed by Microsoft just yet.

The deal will go through December 31, so if you want to upgrade, prepare to do it quickly.

Source: MCV

Wii U Plays TV Tag

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Have you ever had a moment where you really wanted to draw an image during a TV program, John Madden commentator style, which expressed how you felt about a particular character or situation Well, prepare to put those imaginative drawing powers to use.

Nintendo has announced a new feature that will allow users to interact with TV programming through their Wii U and its TVii service. Called the “TV Tag” option, this will let users draw on the GamePad’s touch-screen with their stylus, creating words and pictures to express something that’s happening with live programming.

The program works across the board with various services, including cable and satellite providers, as well as the Netflix and Hulu apps. No additional equipment will be required to take advantage of this, though you will need to be a subscriber of the services to get the programming, obviously. In addition, you’ll be able to share these moments with folks through Miiverse, as well as on Facebook and Twitter.

“TV Tag” is live now through the TVii menu.

Source: Polygon

Scratching The ‘Game Of Thrones’ Itch

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Disruptor Beam’s Game of Thrones: Ascent could be the fix fans of the series need while the HBO show is on hiatus.  The social and browser game, which is available online through Facebook, Kongregate and Disruptor Beam’s web site, is not surprisingly heavily intertwined with the storyline of the massively popular HBO series.  Although the game story initially starts in the books, preceding events in the show’s firsts season, they eventually tie closely to what the TV show has covered over three seasons.

According to Jessica Sliwinski, the game’s lead narrative designer at Disruptor Beam, the authenticity of the game’s narrative comes from a close relationship between the developer, producers of the show at HBO, and author George R. R. Martin.

In this exclusive interview with [a]list daily, Sliwinski and Disruptor Beam community director Katie Postma delve into the storyline and what players experience in the free-to-play game.

The Road Ahead For Games

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At GameStop Expo, a panel of industry insiders gathered to look at the future of gaming. Veteran journalist John Gaudiosi moderated the panel, which included Mark Rein, VP Epic Games; Julie Uhrman, CEO of Ouya; and Eric Oria, director of marketing for GameStop. The panelists didn’t agree on everything, which made for a lively discussion.

“It’s well past its time for the transition to more powerful consoles,” said Rein. “There’s explosive growth in mobile. It feels like a really good time to be a game developer. You can build games of all sizes and weights and find the audience that’s interested in them on the platforms that they have.” He added, “I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about the re-explosion — not like it ever really went anywhere — of PC gaming. We’re seeing great PC games on Steam and other platforms, and the bespoke free-to-play games like World of Tanks and League of Legends.”

Oria is impressed with the quality of the games being shown for PS4 and Xbox One, as well as the latest games for the Xbox 360 and PS3. “I can’t imagine where it’s going to be three or four years from now once developers have mastered these new systems,” Oria said.

Julie Uhrman had a somewhat different take. “My existence on this panel shows the future of gaming is changing, and the future is here,” Uhrman said. “Devices are getting more powerful, game creators are coming from everywhere, and I think every single person is a gamer. Those lines and definitions between what a hard core gamer is and a casual gamer really don’t exist any more because we’re playing on every single platform. In the future we’re not even going to recognize what gaming is — I’m not even sure the word console is going to be a part of it. The future of gaming is freedom for the creators and a great experience for gamers.”

“As a committed graphics whore, I’ll tell you both their answers are right, ” said Rein. “On one tangent we’re going to see amazing new experiences and visuals. Then there’s this whole explosion of the independent developer. Even PlayStation and Xbox are making a big deal about giving developers access. Some of what next-gen is the ability to get experiences that weren’t economical to bring to you from big huge companies, or were too crazy for those companies.”

Rein also gave a nod to the increasing capabilities of browser-based games. “I think now with HTML 5 you’re going to see the ability for us to bring last-generation, say Xbox 360/PS3, console experiences directly to web browsers without any risks or nonsense. Over time I think the PC will continue to make it easier and easier to get games you couldn’t get before.”

Uhrman points out that it’s not all about the graphics. “I think what’s getting lost in all that is the idea that games are just supposed to be fun,” Uhrman said. “Whether it’s a deep, immersive story, or it’s incredibly action-oriented, or it’s visually appealing, games at the end of the day whether you’re spending $60 or trying it out for free they absolutely have to be fun.”

What are the opportunities with the increasing power of smartphones and tablets, and how will they co-exist with consoles “I’m not a big fan of companion apps,” said Rein. “I want the apps themselves. I don’t want something that talks to Halo on my iPad — I want Halo on my iPad. I think that’s inevitable, the power of these devices is increasing so quickly that sooner or later you’re going to be able to deliver really awesome next-gen experiences. I think we we kicked it off on the iPhone 4 with Infinity Blade. The latsest XCom title on iPad is really, really good.”

Gaudiosi brought up the hybrid model between disc-based content and digital content, which sparked some commentary. “I don’t think disc-based is going to go away,” said Rein. “I have Time-Warner cable and I have a 30 GB cap. The problem is as we get the next-generation, and both systems have Blu-ray discs, and now the games creep up in size, it’s going to get expensive to download four of those games a month. We’ll see a lot of improvements and add-ons coming in all the time through digital.”

It’s not all rosy, though, and Rein is worried about one possible future.”It would really suck if the biggest amount of money in the system went to Internet providers,” Rein said. “If they started metering Internet service to homes in the United States, we’d be fucked. I am definitely in the camp of being worried about what the cable companies are going to do to consumers in the long term.”

Now This Is A View To A Kill

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LG is introducing its new Ultra HDTV featuring 4K resolution, and to show just how real the image appears, the company set up this little gem of a prank. Job seekers show up for an interview, but the view out the “window” is not what it seems.  It would have been no fun to be the job seekers in this situation, considering how nerve wracking the process alone can be.

Adweek called the ad “evil and sadistic.”  The general consensus seems to be that it’s yet another case of “prankvertising” and not real.