Gamasutra News

CyberConnect2 Boss Talks 'Quality Of Life' For Japanese Developers

Fri, 3 Jul 2009 09:22:00 -0400

Talking to Gamasutra, CyberConnect2 president Hiroshi Matsuyama (.hack) has been discussing why stressing quality of life and instituting core hours at the Japanese developer has helped its focus and success. The comments came as part of a longer interview with Gamasutra tracing the evolution of the Fukuoka, Japan-based independent developer. The studio started working on games such as Silent Bomber in a former incarnation, before creating the .hack RPG series and a number of titles ...

July's Top 25 Facebook Games Topped By Zynga, MindJolt Titles

Fri, 3 Jul 2009 08:29:00 -0400

Zynga's Texas Hold'em Poker and Mafia Wars were the two most popular titles on Facebook this past month, according to Inside Social Games' new chart, with the former claiming some 14.2 million active players. Mafia Wars, which yesterday boasted receiving 4 million daily users across multiple social networks and sites despite launching last June, enjoyed 12.4 million actives in the same period. Off to a fruitful start on Facebook, Zynga's Farmville debuted as the eighth ...

Gamasutra Expert Blogs: From Weapons To Frustration

Fri, 3 Jul 2009 02:37:00 -0400

In our weekly Best of Expert Blogs column, we showcase notable pieces of writing from members of the game development community who maintain Expert Blogs on Gamasutra. Member Blogs -- also highlighted weekly -- can be maintained by any registered Gamasutra user, while the invitation-only Expert Blogs are written by development professionals with a wealth of experience to share. We hope that both sections can provide useful and interesting viewpoints on our industry. For more ...

Round Up: Gamasutra Network Jobs, Week of July 3

Fri, 3 Jul 2009 05:36:00 -0400

In this round-up, Gamasutra highlights some of the notable jobs posted in its industry-leading game jobs section this week, including positions from Blizzard, Microsoft Game Studios and more. Each position posted by employers will appear on the main Gamasutra job board, and appear in the site's daily and weekly newsletters, reaching our readers directly. It will also be cross-posted for free across its network of submarket sites, which includes content sites focused on online worlds, ...

Analysis: Mapping Gamer Dialect

Fri, 3 Jul 2009 05:25:00 -0400

[Examining the relationship between language, culture and video games, columnist Daniel Johnson examines a lexicon of gamer-native lore and terms in search of the mystical 'gamer dialect'.] A few weeks ago, just after my last column, the Global Language Monitor, a company specialized in tracking new English words, declared "Web 2.0" as the millionth word in the English language. "Web 2.0" was running in competition alongside other contemporary words such as "slumdog", "Jai Ho!" and ...

Namco Bandai Gets Dragon Ball Game Rights

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 12:25:00 -0400

Namco Bandai Games America has attained the North American rights to publish official games for all platforms based on the popular Dragon Ball anime and manga series. The company says its new five-year agreement supersedes publisher Atari's prior Dragon Ball rights contract. In 2007, distributor Funimation claimed breach of contract against Atari, providing a challenge to the latter's battle to extend its rights to Dragon Ball. Although NGBA's contract doesn't officially begin until 2010, the ...

Warner's $33M Midway Acquisition Approved By Judge

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 11:39:00 -0400

Warner Bros. can proceed with its proposed buyout of beleaguered publisher Midway and its assets, following approval granted by a bankruptcy judge, reports the Chicago Tribune. The $33 million deal will close within 10 days. First proposed in May, it was the only offer made to acquire Midway. While most of Midway's assets are being picked up, Warner left a few studios and properties on the table. Midway San Diego and Midway Newcastle have 60 ...

Feature: Game Design Essentials - 20 RPGs

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 06:44:00 -0400

In the latest in his popular Game Design Essentials series, which has previously spanned subjects from Atari games through 'mysterious games', 'open world games', 'unusual control schemes' and 'difficult games', writer John Harris examines 10 games from the Western computer RPG (CRPG) tradition and 10 from the Japanese console RPG (JRPG) tradition, to figure out what exactly makes them tick -- and why you should care. Fittingly, Harris introduces the piece with a discussion of ...

NBA 2K9 Sells 2 Million Worldwide

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 05:36:00 -0400

2K Sports' basketball game NBA 2K9 NBA 2K9 has hit the two million-unit mark, and Take-Two will publish a special "anniversary edition" of 2K10 in North America this fall to celebrate. NBA 2K10: Anniversary Edition will launch packaged in a "sports locker" in which players can store their games, and will include a McFarlane Toys figurine of the LA Lakers' Kobe Bryant, a poster of the athlete, plus a retrospective video covering 10 years of ...

Social Game Mafia Wars Hits 4 Million Daily Users

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 05:32:00 -0400

The web-based social game Mafia Wars attracts 4 million daily users one year after debuting on social networking sites, developer Zynga said Thursday. The game launched in June 2008, and according to Zynga, doubled the number of daily players in the last three months. The game, available on sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Tagged, and Yahoo, also launched in iPhone in April this year. Mafia Wars lets players start a mob family with their friends ...