Sorry fanboys

An interview with Tetsuya Nomura is included in Famitsu’s anniversary feature of Final Fantasy 7 this week.

He stated that although they wish to do a Final Fantasy 7 remake, priority is given to developing new titles and it is hoped that these new titles will be able to match or top Final Fantasy 7.

He also said that he believed that the true successor to the Final Fantasy series will be Yoshinori Kitase. Some FF7 trivia was also included in the interview, such as Yuffie was originally planned to be a wanted person. There would be wanted posters all over Midgar with different faces and the last poster the player sees will be the face of Yuffie when she joins the group.

Nomura’s focus is on new titles, not Final Fantasy 7 remake

Dragon's Dogma will ship with on-disc DLC

Hearing the words Capcom and DLC will most definitely make many gamer’s heads explode, however Capcom will be evaluating its on-disc DLC strategy according to senior vice president Christian Svensson.

In a post on the Capcom Unity blog, he said, “We’ve been getting several questions, here and elsewhere about the future of on-disc DLC. We would like to assure you that we have been listening to your comments and as such have begun the process of re-evaluating how such additional game content is delivered in the future.”

“As this process has only just commenced in the past month or so, there will be some titles, where development began some time ago and that are scheduled for release in the coming months, for which we are unable to make changes to the way some of their post release content is delivered.” the post continued.

One of those titles will be Dragon’s Dogma, as it will be shipped with on-disc DLC as it is believed to be the most efficient way stated the post.

The controversy started when Street Fighter X Tekken was discovered to have on-disc DLC which contained 14 additional characters that was planned to be unlocked at a later date for a fee. Many players believed that they were paying to play with something they already paid for.

Capcom is re-evaluating on-disc DLC practices, but Dragon’s Dogma launching with on-disc DLC

Assassin's Creed Brotherhood

From today until May 22, a huge number of Ubisoft titles will be going at 50% off for PlayStation Plus subscribers and 30% for normal users. If some of these games have been on your radar for awhile, this is definitely the time to pick them up. With titles like the Assassin’s Creed series to the classic Beyond Good and Evil, there is something for every type of gamer here. Check out the full list below:

• From Dust – PlayStation Plus price $7.34; Sale price $10.49
• Outland – PlayStation Plus price $4.89; Sale price $6.99
• Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes – PlayStation Plus price $7.34; Sale price $10.49
• Beyond Good & Evil HD – PlayStation Plus price $4.89; Sale price $6.99
• Scott Pilgrim – PlayStation Plus price $4.89; Sale price $6.99
• Prince of Persia Classic – PlayStation Plus price $4.89; Sale price $6.99
• Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood – PlayStation Plus price $14.69; Sale price $20.99
• Assassin’s Creed 2 – PlayStation Plus price *$9.79; Sale price $13.99
• Assassin’s Creed – PlayStation Plus price *$9.79; Sale price $13.99
• Far Cry 2 – PlayStation Plus price *$9.79; Sale price $13.99
• Call of Juarez 2 – PlayStation Plus price *$9.79; Sale price $13.99
• Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands – PlayStation Plus price *$9.79; Sale price $13.99
• Prince of Persia (2008) – PlayStation Plus price *$9.79; Sale price $13.99
• Prince of Persia Classic Trilogy HD – PlayStation Plus price $19.59; Sale price $27.99
• Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time – PlayStation Plus price $7.34; Sale price $10.49
• Prince of Persia: Warrior Within – PlayStation Plus price $7.34; Sale price $10.49
• Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones – PlayStation Plus price $7.34; Sale price $10.49
• Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood – Da Vinci Disappearance DLC – PlayStation Plus price $4.89; Sale price $6.99
• Assassin’s Creed 2 – Battle of Forli DLC – PlayStation Plus price $1.95; Sale price $2.79
• Assassin’s Creed 2 – Bonfire of Vanities DLC – PlayStation Plus price $3.42; Sale price $4.89
• Far Cry 2 – Fortunes Pack DLC – PlayStation Plus price $2.44; Sale price $3.49
• Call of Juarez 2 – Old West Map Pack DLC – PlayStation Plus price $4.89; Sale price $6.99
• Prince of Persia (2008) – Epilogue DLC – PlayStation Plus price $4.89; Sale price $6.99
• Scott Pilgrim – Knives Chau Add-On Pack DLC – PlayStation Plus price $0.97; Sale price $1.39
• Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines (PSP) – PlayStation Plus price $9.79; Sale price $13.99
• Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood Complete Edition (includes Da Vinci Disappearance, Animus Project Update 1, Animus Project Update 2 and Copernicus Conspiracy Missions) – PlayStation Plus price $14.99; Sale price $24.99
• Far Cry 2 Complete Edition (includes Fortune Pack) – PlayStation Plus price $11.99; Sale price $19.99
• Prince of Persia (2008) Complete Edition (includes Epilogue) – PlayStation Plus price $11.99; Sale price $19.99
• Scott Pilgrim Complete Edition (includes Knives Chau Add-On Pack) – PlayStation Plus price $4.79; Sale price $7.99
• Call of Juarez 2 Complete Edition (includes Old West Map Pack) – PlayStation Plus price $11.99; Sale price $19.99

Ubisoft having PSN sale starting from today, up to 50% off

He's waiting for you

Update:

The servers are back down again for maintenance after it was up for only a short while after an emergency maintenance.

Original Story:

The latest update on Blizzard forums has stated that the North American servers for Diablo 3 are now back up after it was brought down for emergency maintenance. There was a number of problems the game was experiencing, even a game breaking bug when changing your Templar follower’s equipment. The servers should be fine for now so get your butt back in there and start looting.

Diablo 3 servers are back online [Update: and they're back down again]

Another heart breaker for Team ICO fans

The Last Guardian have had its fair share of development troubles which includes losing its lead designer, Fumito Ueda. Now Sony is refusing to say if the game will be making an appearance at E3.

Game Informer news editor Jim Reilly tweeted, “Sony: “The Last Guardian continues to be developed, however we have no news to share at this time with regard to the franchise and E3.”

The last time the game made its way to a trade show was at Tokyo Game Show in 2010.

No news on whether Sony is showcasing The Last Guardian at E3

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2

In an interview with One of Swords, Treyarch boss Mark Lamia said that the Infinity Ward engine that is powering Black Ops 2 has been tinkered with in order to improve the graphics and said that the age of the engine will not hinder them from accomplishing that goal.

Lamia said they focused on two particular areas, namely graphics and lighting in which he said “a pretty significant amount of work” went into those two areas.

“I think what people are asking for is for us to push. They want us to make a better-looking game; they want things. I don’t think those are things people can’t ask for. We asked ourselves that very same question” he said.

“The answer may not need to be an entirely new engine, but you might need to do an entire overhaul of your entire lighting system. The trick is, we’re not willing to do that if we can’t keep it running at 60 frames per second — but we did that this time. So this is the Black Ops II engine.” he continued.

Lamia compared it with remodeling a house, where you make changes but the foundation is left intact. You can listen to the entire interview at One of Swords (it starts at the 20-minute mark).

Treyarch: Graphics are a focus for Black Ops 2

Eerie Canal is a new indie studio founded by two former employees of Irrational Games and Harmonix. Their first game is Dreadline, an RPG/RTS hybrid game where players control monsters that travel back in time to kill people who are about to die in disasters; the teaser above showed the monsters going back to when the Titanic was about to hit the iceberg.

The game has been in development for six months and is hoped to be released in the first half of 2013 for the PC.

Play as time travelling monsters that kill humans in Dreadline

Diablo III

Diablo 3 is finally here, after a 12 year wait since Diablo 2 came out in 2000; Blizzard fans can at last enjoy the latest sequel while waiting another 12 years for the next one. Diablo 3 is only for the PC and Blizzard is considering bringing it to consoles.

Max Payne 3 is also being released this week for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC. The game is published and developed by Rockstar Games taking over from Remedy Entertainment after selling the rights to the game.

Another notable release this week is the Game of Thrones: The Game, developed by Cyanide and is based on the books and not the television series. The game took seven years in the making and features two protagonists each with their own skills.

Other releases this week includes Battleship for the Wii, DS, 3DS, PS3 and Xbox 360, PixelJunk 4am for the PSN and Dragon’s Lair for XBLA.

Diablo 3 and Max Payne 3 highlights this week’s releases [14-20 May 2012]

While this is not a full game on its own but rather a mod for ArmA 2, it could still be the best zombie experience ever. I think using the word ‘realistic’ is the best way to describe this game. ArmA 2 is highly praised for its extremely realistic gameplay and DayZ continues that theme, only this time its with zombies.

Played out on a 225 square km open world, its a multiplayer online game where each server will only support 50 players at a time; you might walk for hours without actually meeting anyone. Players start with absolutely nothing, not even a map; scavenging is rule number one in DayZ. Group chat functions are available and can lead you to meeting another survivor and helping each other out, or a bandit tricking you into your untimely demise.

Its an extremely brutal game, with the average player’s life expectancy only at around 4 hours and zombies aren’t the only thing that can kill you, you need food and water to survive and other survivors that has decided to become bandits is also a constant threat. On a positive note, you can always leave a game and continue at the same spot with all your equipment.

The objective of this game if it wasn’t clearly stated above, is not about scoring the most kills; its about survival and the interaction between players when everyone is gunning for the same thing. You can download it here, you will need a copy of ArmA 2 to play it. Its still in its alpha stage so expect quite a few bugs.

DayZ is the best zombie game you’ll ever play

Delayed to 2013

The Tomb Raider reboot by Crystal Dynamics has just been delayed to the first quarter of 2013. It was scheduled to be released this fall.

Crystal Dynamics head Darrell Gallagher announced the delay on the official Tomb Raider blog. He stated that the delay is to ensure the quality of the reboot as they are doing new things with it.

“We’re doing things that are completely new to Tomb Raider in this game and the additional development time will allow us to put the finishing touches into the game and polish it to a level that you deserve.” Gallagher said.

The above screenshot was released to apologise for the delay which is also hinting at the content we might be seeing at this year’s E3. Head on over to the game’s official blog to read Gallagher’s full statement.

Tomb Raider delayed to 2013

Tales of Xillia

Famitsu has reported that the latest Tales of game will be a Mothership title (flagship) and not an escort title. The latest mothership titles in the series includes Xillia and Graces. Meaning its not a remake or a game that is considered side-stories of the series. Namco Bandai will be announcing the game on June 2 at the Tales of Festival event. Tales members can watch it live and commercials for the game will be aired on 21st and 28th of June.

The latest “Tales of game will be a “Mothership” title

Kyoto by Illogical Tree

Illogic Tree is an indie studio headed by Eddie Lee of Q-Games who are responsible for the PixelJunk series. One of their latest games is called Kyoto which is described as an “interactive ambient musical visualizer”. It is a hypnotic experience which can’t be put into words, to understand it you have to try it for yourself. Luckily, Illogic Tree has released a Kyoto build that is almost complete and its free; so there is no excuse for not trying out this “half audioreactive experiment and half tech sandbox” experience for yourself. You can download it here.

Illogic Tree releases almost complete build of Kyoto for free!

Watching Netflix on Xbox 360 has become the norm

According to a study done by online-video ad company Freewheel, the Xbox 360 is the most popular among all non-PC/Mac devices used to watch online videos. Freewheel measured professional videos only, these are videos that has ads thus the study is more to researching the amount of online video ads we watch. The study looked at companies such as NBC, Vevo and ESPN and didn’t measure Netflix or Youtube videos.

The Xbox 360 accounts for 28% of viewership, followed by the iPad at 27%. It is well known that the Xbox 360 is hugely popular for its entertainment functions compared to any actual gaming purposes, which Microsoft themselves announced. The study also stated that despite the high viewership for the Xbox 360 and iPad, the two devices are still behind the PC/Mac in monetization rates.

You guys are using the Xbox 360 to watch video ads, a lot of video ads

A scene in GTA V

The world’s biggest online retailer, Amazon (UK division) seems to get ahead of everyone in the gaming community after the retail page for the Grand Theft Auto V pre-order disc has stated the release date of the eagerly awaited and highly anticipated blockbuster from Rockstar Games. While it does not pinpoint a specified release date, fans can rest assured it will not be next year.

According to Amazon, the release date section of the Xbox 360 version of GTA 5 now reads Dec (December) 2012. If this is true, Rockstar now has 2 big titles this year after the expected release of Max Payne 3.

You guys can take a closer look at the screenshot of the listing below, just in case Amazon brings it down. Last year, Amazon had point out several release dates such as the PlayStation Vita which turned out to be accurate.

The title is an upcoming open world action-adventure video game being developed by leading developer Rockstar North in United Kingdom and published by Rockstar Games. The game will be the first major title in the Grand Theft Auto series since the release of Grand Theft Auto IV in 2008, which started the fourth “era” in the series.

Retailer leaks GTA 5 release date

Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings

CD Projekt; the makers of Witcher and Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, is currently hiring for an unannounced role-playing game “in a brand new setting.”

Their blog post stated, “We’re looking for people who would rather work on an entirely new and different IP – a vast RPG for which we want to assemble the best possible staff. It represents an opportunity for you to create a grand new project from the ground up!”

A separate job posting is hiring for an RPG set in a dark fantasy world which should be referring to the Witcher setting and is highly likely that the RPG set in a brand new setting is a totally different IP.

Witcher developer hiring for new RPG IP