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New Xbox wishlist: Five musts for a fitting successor to the Xbox 360

Mon, 20 May 2013 09:30:00 +0530

The Xbox brand was launched in India in a big way in 2006. Microsoft pulled out all the stops, roping in celebrity endorsements from the likes of Akshay Kumar and Yuvraj Sigh. Seven years on, we’re set to welcome the 360’s successor, and we don’t expect anywhere near that level of marketing spend from Microsoft this time around.

It isn’t required either. The Xbox brand is now far more recognised than it was in 2006; thanks in no small part to Kinect. The Xbox 360 India Facebook page has over half a million Likes and while the console’s install base itself is only a fraction of that, it’s testament to the fact that Xbox is now an established brand in India.

While Microsoft no longer needs the big marketing spends it did in 2006, there are a few things that it can do with the new Xbox to make it more attractive to the Indian customer. So here are the five things that we believe will help the new Xbox stand out in the Indian market.

Complete offline support

Globally, we may well be in the age of digital distribution, but that doesn’t quite apply to countries like India, where high speed internet is hard to find, and where it is available, it’s unreliable and expensive. In such an environment, a console that isn’t fully functional offline would be dead on arrival.

One of the rumours surrounding the new Xbox that just doesn’t seem to go away is that it will be an always-on console, requiring users to be connected to the internet at all times. Industry veterans have talked about it, a Microsoft executive was fired because of it, and there have been countless reports confirming and denying this functionality. If the next Xbox is indeed an always-on console, it’s going to be very difficult to convince even the urban Indian consumer to take the plunge, especially since most of the entertainment features and apps on Xbox Live aren’t available to Indian Xbox Live users.

Xbox 360 backwards compatibility

Prices for new Xbox 360 game have seen a steady rise in India over the years. First-party games started out at a super-competitive Rs 1,895, but they’re now at Rs 2,999. Not too long ago, prices had crept over the Rs 3,000 mark. With games for the new Xbox rumoured to be on Blu Ray discs, we’d expect prices to at least hover around Rs 3,000, if not more. In this scenario, it would be nice to have a range of games that are compatible with the new Xbox but priced at less than half that price.

Microsoft India recently announced re-releases of older popular Xbox 360 games at price points like Rs 699, Rs 999, Rs 1,199 and Rs 1,499. If these games were also natively supported by the new Xbox, it would be a far more attractive proposition for buyers, especially those new to Xbox. Besides, backwards compatibility would give the new console a massive games library for customers to choose from at launch itself; something Sony can’t offer on the PS4, having confirmed that the PS4 will not support PS3 game discs.

More aggressive India pricing

It says a lot that the premium Xbox 360 model was priced at Rs 27,750 at launch in 2006, and is still priced at Rs 24,990 seven years later. While price drops have been a regular occurrence in the rest of the world, Xbox 360 price drops in India have been few and far between, In fact, Microsoft India actually increased the console's price last year. The competing PS3, on the other hand, launched at Rs 40,000 and its top-end SKU is now available for Rs 22,990.

Microsoft is going to have to be more aggressive with pricing this time around, especially because this time, there will be a direct competitor entering the market as well. Microsoft introduced the Xbox 360 in India almost a year before Sony came in with the PS3, so at launch, it was the only HD console on the market. With the PS4 and new Xbox set to arrive at the same time, Microsoft no longer has that advantage. It’s a level playing field, and as is so often the case in India, pricing may well be the differentiator.

Non-proprietary accessories and peripherals

Xbox 360 users have had to come to terms with the console’s absurdly expensive accessories, but consumers won’t take too kindly to having proprietary accessories forced onto them a second time around. With hard drive prices dropping constantly, what Microsoft has been charging for its Xbox 360 hard drives borders on criminal, and there’s no place for accessories like play-and-charge kits for consoles that come equipped with USB ports.

Console manufacturers are going out of their way to make their devices more user-friendly in the face of competition from mobile devices, and allowing the use of third-party accessories and adopting non-proprietary connectivity standards would definitely be a step in the right direction for the new Xbox.

More Xbox Live Silver features

As it stands, Xbox Live is a slap in the face to an Xbox 360 owner with an internet connection but no Gold subscription. Aside from locking away online multiplayer, having a Xbox Live Silver account also means that you’ll get game demos late and you also won’t have access to some of the most basic apps, such as Internet Explorer.

Sony’s PSN has played catch-up to Xbox Live all through this generation, but in PlayStation Plus, it has a premium service that provides good value without taking away core features like online multiplayer and game demos from customers who don’t wish to pay. India is still a country where people don’t like paying for online services, and by making Xbox Live Silver a more attractive proposition, it will get more Xbox users online, giving Microsoft a better shot at selling them on the Gold subscription.

Will Microsoft actually grant us any of these wishes? We could find out tomorrow, when the new Xbox will be revealed at the company’s headquarters.

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Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance confirmed for PC

Sat, 18 May 2013 11:59:00 +0530

Metal Gear series creator Hideo Kojima has announced that Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is headed to the PC.

Kojima made the announcement on the Hideradio podcast, published on the Hideoblog. Platinum Games creative producer JP Kellams then confirmed the news on Twitter.

The hack-n-slash spin-off was released on Xbox 360 and PS3 and earlier this year to a positive critical reception. Revengeance will be Platinum’s PC debut.

No release date has yet been revealed for the PC version of Revengeance.

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Microsoft promises tonnes of Xbox exclusives, world premieres at E3

Sat, 18 May 2013 11:25:00 +0530

Microsoft’s Aaron Greenberg has described the 21^st May reveal of the new Xbox as “laying the foundation” for the new platform, with most of the new games to be revealed at E3.

Speaking on Major Nelson’s podcast (as transcribed by Videogamer), Microsoft's chief of staff at the IEB division said, “So we're going to start on the 21st, and really that's about revealing the next Xbox platform; our vision for the future of games, the future of entertainment.”

"People are going to get a great inside look at the making of the new platform and the team that's brought it to life,” Greenberg said. “To be honest, it's really about the team, the people here. That's why we're inviting people to campus; we're going to bring them behind the scenes a little bit. We've never done this before and so it's really exciting to be able to do that. It's a lot of laying the foundation, probably the best way to describe it, and then just a couple of weeks later we go to E3."

Greenberg said that E3 would be the platform where Microsoft will focus on games for the new Xbox.

"E3 is all about the games. At E3, if you're a gamer, it's going to be tonnes of exclusives, world premieres, and obviously even beyond that, we have a lot to share between then and this holiday."

The new Xbox will be revealed on 21st May at 11:30 pm IST in an event that will be streamed live on Xbox.com and Xbox LIVE.

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Game4u's preorder bonuses for The Last of Us, Fuse, Remember Me

Sat, 18 May 2013 10:58:00 +0530

Game4u has revealed its preorder bonuses for a host of upcoming games from Sony, EA and Capcom.

The most attractive of the bunch is the The Last of Us, which arrives on 14^th June for PS3. Aside from the Sights and Sounds and Survival packs, Game4u is giving away an exclusive The Last of Us heat sensitive coffee mug, which is rather cool (check out the video below).

Insomniac Games’ new shooter, Fuse, is scheduled for release on 31^st May, and preorder bonuses include four Hyperion prototype agent armour skins, four Hyperion prototype weapon skins, and the special Quickdraw team perk. These bonuses, however, are only available for PS3 preorders.

Those who preorder Capcom’s promising new IP, Remember Me, on PS3, Xbox 360 or PC, will get the Combo Lab pack. The game hits stores on 7^th June.

Lastly, preorders on either PS3, Xbox 360 or PC versions of Resident Evil: Revelations will receive the Signature Weapons Pack exclusively at Game4u. That game releases on 24^th May.

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Killzone: Mercenary for PS Vita gets new release date

Sat, 18 May 2013 10:19:00 +0530

Killzone: Mercenary, the PS Vita debut for PlayStation’s most popular first-party FPS franchise, will release a couple of weeks earleir than it was originally intended.

Mercenary was initially scheduled for release on 18^th September, but will now arrive on 4^th September instead. The new date may well have been decided to prevent the game from being completely swept aside by the Grand Theft Auto 5 juggernaut, which arrives on 17^th September.

Killzone: Mercenary is being developed by series creator Guerrilla Games’ studio in Cambridge, England. The Dutch headquarters, of course, is currently working on the series’ PS4 debut – Killzone: Shadow Fall.

The developer also has an unannounced new IP in the works, with rumours suggesting that new trademarks registered by Sony for ‘The Order: 1886’ could well be Guerrilla’s next franchise.

Sony has also announced a couple of preorder bonuses, which can be found on the PlayStation Blog, but we’ll have to wait and see if these will also be available for India.

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The Witcher 3 will be in action for the first time at E3

Thu, 16 May 2013 23:38:00 +0530

CD Projekt RED has just announced that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will be in action for the very first time at E3 in June.

The game will not be showcased to the public though, but will be restricted to behind-closed-doors media presentations. So expect a ton of first-hand previews around E3.

The ambitious open-world RPG is scheduled for release on PC, PS4 and presumably, the next Xbox in 2014, and will be powered by developer CD Projekt RED’s new REDengine 3 technology.

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Move Street Cricket 2 release, Move bundle announced

Thu, 16 May 2013 17:20:00 +0530

Move Street Cricket 2 for PS3 is set to hit stores in India later this month, Sony has announced.

Developed by Mumbai-based Trine Games, the PlayStation Move cricket game will be priced at Rs 1,499.

For those who don’t already own the Move kit, Sony is introducing a bundle in June that will include the PlayStation Move starter kit and Move Street Cricket 2 at the same price as the standalone starter kit – Rs 3,650.

“After the tremendous success from Move Street Cricket, we are confident that consumers are going to enjoy the sequel,” said Sony PlayStation India country manager Atindriya Bose. In this version, the gameplay has been hugely improved for both the bowling and batting levels through motion sensitivity.”

Move Street Cricket 2 promises improved AI, faster gameplay, and improved mini-games. Matches will play out in eight environments, ranging from school yards to apartment building rooftops.

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EA discontinues online pass

Thu, 16 May 2013 10:19:00 +0530

EA is discontinuing the online pass, which required users to punch in a one-time-use code to activate the online offerings of its games.

"It never really caught on. People didn't like it. People told us that they didn't like it and, you know, we went through a cycle and we're about to put out some new games and we just decided not to do that anymore,” EA’s VP of corporate communications Jeff Brown told Game Informer.

The online pass would lock away online features of EA games till users activated the pass online. Each new copy of a game would include the one-time-use pass, thus locking online features away for anyone who borrowed that copy or purchased it second-hand.

Those people who had the game but not the online pass were allowed to purchase it for a fee, which was usually around $10.

The system was first implemented by EA, but since then, several other publishers, including Sony and Ubisoft, have also implemented it.

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Google Play Game Services announced: cloud saves, multiplayer, achievements

Wed, 15 May 2013 22:21:00 +0530

Google has officially unveiled Google Play Game Services at its I/O 2013 developer conference today.

Google Play Game Services adds cloud saves, achievements and leaderboards for games on the Play Store.

The big news, however, is that the service is not only headed to Android and web, but also to the rival iOS platform, giving it a significant advantage over Apple’s Game Center service.

Google Play Game Services also promises lag-free multiplayer, with several top Android game developers already said to be implementing the feature into their games.

An Android update for Google Play Game Services will be available immediately for all devices running version 2.2 (FroYo) and higher.

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Gran Turismo 6 confirmed for PS3 this year; to feature 1,200 cars

Wed, 15 May 2013 21:08:00 +0530

Gran Turismo 6 is official. Series creator Kazunori Yamauchi announced the game today at the franchise’s 15^th anniversary celebrations at the Silverstone circuit in the UK.

The game is headed to the PS3 and will pack in 1,200 cars; that’s GT5’s 1,000 and 200 new ones.

The Silverstone circuit will feature in the series for the first time in GT6, and overall, the game will feature 71 track layouts across 33 locations. Additionally, a new course maker will be included spanning "several tens of square kilometers".

GT6 will boast a completely new physics engine, including new suspension and tyre models. Polyphony has entered into a tech partnership with Yokohama and KW Auto.

The game will also, in some capacity, support connectivity with smartphones, tablets and PC.

It is said that GT6 will have a strong focus on downloadable content and will be supported long after its release.

The game is set for release this holiday season, with more details to be revealed at E3 and Gamescom.

Check out the announcement trailer here:

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Supersike Games announces Catcher in the Sky for iOS

Tue, 14 May 2013 18:38:00 +0530

With its debut game still two days away from release, Delhi-based indie developer Supersike Games is already teasing its next game – Catcher in the Sky.

Catcher in the Sky aims to flip the script on the ever-popular endless runner genre. As the studios describes it, “the game is the journey of a small spaceship called ‘Catcher’ through a stunning and fantastical universe in search of something…”

The twist comes in the game’s controls. “The player has no control over Catcher, and must help Catcher survive by swiping away any obstacles that come in his way.”

Supersike will be in Singapore next week for Casual Connect Asia, where Catcher in the Sky and Yet Another Bird Game are being featured at the indie showcase. So if you happen to be there, drop by and check them out.

Catcher in the Sky is headed to iPhone and iPad, but no release date has been announced. The studio’s debut effort - Yet Another Bird Game – hits the App Store for iPhone/iPod Touch on 16^th May.

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WWE 2K14 release date, platforms revealed

Tue, 14 May 2013 17:08:00 +0530

WWE 2K14 will release on 29^th October, Take-Two announced while revealing its annual financial results.

WWE 2K14 will be the first WWE game in over a decade to not be published by THQ. 2K Sports acquired the WWE games license after THQ went out of business earlier this year.

The series will continue to be developed by long-time WWE games developer Yuke’s.

While Take-Two has said that the game will be available “across all major platforms and distribution channels”, only the PS3 and Xbox 360 have been officially confirmed.

The title and publisher may have changed, but not much changes as far as WWE games availability in India goes. WWE 2K14 will be distributed in India by E-xpress Interactive, which also released WWE games in India under THQ.

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The Last of Us price dropped, possibly due to local replication

Tue, 14 May 2013 11:05:00 +0530

Naughty Dog’s upcoming survival action game The Last of Us will be priced at Rs 2,699 in India, a drop from the usual Rs 2,999 price point for triple-A first party games.

News of the price drop comes from retailer Game4u, and is probably the result of the game being locally manufactured in India, with import and customs duties no longer driving up the price.

Sony had revealed to MCV last month that it had commenced local manufacturing of PS3 games, starting with the Essentials range. Sony had said then that The Last of Us would be the first new release to be locally replicated.

Sony had earlier maintained the Rs 2,499 price point for its first-party PS3 games, and there were expectations of prices once again dropping to Rs 2,499 with games being locally manufactured.

Import and customs duties coupled with currency exchange rates have for long been blamed for high console prices in India, and with games no longer being imported, a more substantial had initially seemed possible.

We’ve contacted Sony for confirmation of the new price and for comment on whether Rs 2,699 will be the new price point for all new PS3 releases.

Update: Sony has confirmed the Rs 2,699 price for The Last of Us, and added that prices of future release will be decided based on currency exchange rates.

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The increasingly blurred line between drawing inspiration and cloning

Mon, 13 May 2013 17:53:00 +0530

The recent uproar around the cloning of Vlambeer’s next game, Luftrausers, has been picked up by every major gaming publication, with both Vlambeer and RubiqLabs, the developers of Luftrausers’s supposed clone (SkyFar), making themselves heard on the matter.

Most of us haven’t played Luftrausers; while it has been showcased at events, the game hasn’t been released yet, and while SkyFar is available for purchase on the App Store, most of the noise that’s been made about this controversy has been based on gameplay videos and side-by-side comparisons.

It would seem then that most of the outrage is due to how similar the two aerial combat games look; the same colour palette, an identical art style, and similar looking gameplay. Unlike SkyFar, Luftrausers won’t be on iOS; it’s a PC/Mac and console game, and so you’d expect far deeper gameplay mechanics than a touch interface would afford.

So it would appear that SkyFar is a strikingly similar looking game that plays nothing like Luftrausers will. That said, if the intention was to clone it to simply to cash in on the hype and not to actually replicate the gameplay experience, the visuals alone would probably achieve that.

It does beg the question though - How far is too far; where do you draw the line between drawing inspiration from a game and cloning it?

SkyFar probably is the clone that we’re all making it out to be, but it doesn’t take a lot these days for a game to be vilified simply on the basis of how similar it looks to another game.

This is something that a lot of up and coming indie developers have had to face of late. Possibly last year’s most notable game release out of India – Yellow Monkey Studio’s HUEBRIX, was also on the receiving end of such accusations.

HUEBRIX-Puzzlejuice

HUEBRIX earned praise for its devious puzzles and clever mechanics, but not all feedback was positive. The game’s minimalist art style was pulled up for bearing a striking resemblance to another puzzle game – Puzzlejuice.

“I think with HUEBRIX, it was more the borrowing of visual elements than gameplay,” says Yellow Monkey Studios co-founder Krishna Israney. “Having played games all my life, I knew we had something unique with HUEBRIX, but the accusations of borrowing visual elements are a bit tricky.”

“While we have nothing but respect for the creators of Puzzlejuice, we had arrived to the visuals of HUEBRIX through our own trials and tribulations and we even cleared it out with the developers (of Puzzlejuice) themselves,” adds co-founder Shailesh Prabhu.

Those weren’t just random accusations being made on forums or social media. The similarities to Puzzlejuice’s art style also came up in reviews on sites like Touch Arcade. It’s the sort of bad press that can hurt a developer's reputation and the game's sales.

“We did our best to make the colours such that they would have high contrast against a background as well as clear readability. Unfortunately, we don’t make fonts; we just buy the license so the elements felt ‘borrowed’. Once we had decided not to go with characters, we just wanted a flat design that would look good,” clarifies Israney.

Circulets-O

Delhi-based Hashstash Studios has found itself in a similar predicament. It is also facing accusations that its new same-screen multiplayer game, Circulets, bears more than a passing resemblance to iPad game, O.

“Some of these people were already claiming that we stole the game and were asking the original developer – Michael Brough, to respond to the allegations,” says Hashstash founder Kinshuk Sunil.

“We did not know about O. We hadn’t seen the game. We had done no research about a similar game existing before jumping into developing Circulets. It was like the beginning of a nightmare, where we would be branded as rip-offs,” Kinshuk added.

“Circulets and O seem similar because both involve two players playing on the same device, and the core mechanic is to collect coloured circles to score points. However, what we think is (we haven't played O yet) that O asks players to think about their moves and reach a definite end (an end score, whoever reaches first wins). In Circulets, there is no such competition. More than a game, Circulets is a toy – an electronic toy,” says Kinshuk.

Circulets

Fortunately for Hashstash, along with the accusations also came inputs from other indie developers who suggested that Circulets may not be the clone it was made out to be.

“Meanwhile, the developer (of O) asked us if we had been influenced by it and we said that we had not. In time, he agreed that the two games were similar in some ways, but Circulets was not a clone,” said Kinshuk.

Brough’s clarification was once again vital in settling the issue as Circulets was dragged into the cloning debate once again after its release. This time, it was high-profile indie developer Adam Saltsman questioning the game’s originality.

Saltsman’s comments came shortly after Circulets was featured on IndieGames.com, which got the game a lot of exposure in a very short time. While the Canabalt developer later agreed, after clarification from Brough, that Circulets wasn’t a clone, the damage had already been done.

Saltsman’s words carried enough weight to prompt IndieGames.com to take its feature down, taking away the exposure, and perhaps sales, that Circulets may have received from the coverage.

“Being featured on IndieGames.com wasn’t about sales or visibility, but it was an achievement for us as a game developer to have created a game worthy of being featured there,” said Kinshuk.

Developer Adam "Atomic" Saltsmans comments on Circulets

“The feature being taken down sent the wrong message and made us look like the guilty party. Our game bears only a visual similarity to O; beyond that, the two are very different games. And after the feature was taken down, there was no medium available for us to clarify our position and we received no audience from IndieGames,” he added.

IndieGames confirmed to Hashstash that the feature was indeed taken offline because it appeared similar to O, which the site had featured months earlier.

Drawing the line

In the case of Circulets and O, both developers agreed that Circulets wasn’t a clone, and those that did question the originality of Circulets, clearly hadn’t played both games. So do visual similarities carry that much weight that a game could be labelled a clone simply based on its aesthetics and how its gameplay appears? Indeed, new games that lift gameplay mechanics from more popular games regularly appear on app stores, but those games don’t get nearly as much negative attention as those that look similar.

So where do you draw the line between drawing inspiration and cloning?

"I think the borrowing of ideas happens consciously as well as subconsciously. You notice parts of a game that you like and have a conversation with yourself, trying to understand what about those things you really like and how can you recreate the feeling in your game. Then there are these ‘what-if’ and ‘it would be cool if’ situations that guide your game in a newer direction,” says Israney.

“I think if your game is not brining anything new to the table - be it gameplay, art, story - it is obviously a clone. I think it’s also a state of mind; if you start out creating a game by saying, ‘Let me create a game exactly like XYZ and change the colours/factors a bit’, you will end up with a clone. Some people create huge businesses out of creating really polished clones of successful ideas. In that case, how far is a question for conscience,” adds Prabhu.

“It is a very thin, narrow line,” says Kinshuk. “I draw that line on the basis of the thought involved. Every game is different and has a different context, so even the same mechanic will be implemented in a different way. In a clone, there is no thought, and this implementation is pretty brainless, which is also why it is not as engaging or rewarding for the end player as it should be.”

It’s a line that’s becoming increasingly blurry. Every accusation of cloning can quite easily be countered with a response of ‘borrowing ideas’ or ‘drawing inspiration’, and it’s an argument that goes nowhere. It’s why despite Vlambeer lodging a complaint with Apple, SkyFar continues to be sold on the App Store.

Luftrausers developer Vlambeer insists that the risk of cloning won't deter it from showing its games to fans before release.

Successful games will be cloned, and developers can only hope that consumers can tell the difference and not opt for the cheap knock off. The other option, of course, is to reduce the risk of a game being cloned early by limiting its pre-release visibility. Here, however, the reduced risk of an early clone showing up comes at the expense of pre-release hype and media coverage that is vital in games PR.

Despite being on the receiving end of cloning accusations, that is a risk both Yellow Monkey and Hashstash are more than willing to take.

“At some level, you are always showing the game off to people you trust. Even with ideas you keep close to yourself, you eventually reach a point where you have to start showing it off everywhere because if you keep the game with yourself, it will never get public attention or publishers,” says Prabhu.

“I need to tell people about the work I am doing and build interest for my game. If the game has to be stolen, it can still be stolen after I have released it,” says Sunil. “I might get a time advantage, but someone with more money and muscle can always outperform me in spite of a time handicap. So no matter how much the stealing will bother me emotionally, I cannot make games without talking about them and showing them publicly.”

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IN PHOTOS: The MCV Pacific Awards

Mon, 13 May 2013 11:48:00 +0530

Following on from our gallery of All Interactive Entertainment Red Carpet shots, we now present photos from the main event itself.

Our sincere thanks goes out to our esteemed hosts for the evening, Steven 'Bajo' O'Donnell and Stephanie 'Hex' Bendixsen from the ABCs Good Game.

Sadly (or joyously, for a lot of you) we don't have any shots of the afterparty at the Ivy Pool Bar, or any subsequent dancing therein.

But I suppose we've learned our lesson for next year.

See you all at next year's awards.

Enjoy the gallery highlights below, or check out the full gallery at the MCV Pacific Facebook Page.

IN PHOTOS: The MCV Pacific Awards 2013 Red Carpet

Mon, 13 May 2013 09:32:00 +0530

Well, the evening has come and gone, so now is the time to share some of the highlights with you through the new medium of photograph.

We've had all our winners collect their awards at what was an amazing night (even if we do say so ourselves), and can't wait to share the results with everyone.

To start with, here's the All Interactive Entertainment entry wall shots, with all of us looking our best before we began the debauchery of the evening.

Thanks to AIE for sponsoring the Red Carpet, and of course to the IGEA for sponsoring the night.

Entry way photos are below, and for the full gallery from the Red Carpet, be sure to check out the MCV Pacific Facebook page!

Reliance announces endless running mobile game tie-in for After Earth

Fri, 10 May 2013 16:47:00 +0530

Reliance Games is currently working on a mobile game that will tie into the release of the Will Smith-starring film, After Earth.

The running game will feature two modes - a story mode, and an endless running challenge mode.

“We are thrilled to work with Reliance Games to bring a high-quality, immersive experience to our fans. The game brings to life lots of the action and suspense of the After Earth universe,” said the film’s producer, Caleeb Pinkett.

While no specific platforms have been revealed, After Earth: The Mobile Game is headed to smartphones and tablets.

“We’re excited about this great opportunity to bring After Earth to mobile by creating a challenging game with stunningly beautiful 3D environments that were inspired by the film,” said Reliance Games CEO Manish Agarwal.

The game doesn’t yet have a firm release date, but is expected this summer close to the film’s 31^st May release date (7^th June in India).

Check out the teaser trailer for After Earth: The Mobile Game:

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Circulets out now for iOS, Android

Fri, 10 May 2013 12:45:00 +0530

Hashstash Studios’ tabletop multiplayer game Circulets is out now on the iOS App Store and Google Play.

Circulets is an easy-to-pick-up causal game for all ages. With two players sitting on either end of a smartphone or tablet, the game tasks them with pulling as many circles, or circulets, of the colour designated to them towards their end of the screen.

The player that collects the most circulets at the end of the stipulated time wins. It’s a simple game, and the simplicity also extends to its minimalist yet elegant art style, but the action can get pretty frantic at times.

Circulets started out as a 1GAM project and is wholly developed in India. Check out the trailer below, and if you like what you see, you can now purchase it for your iOS or Android device for around Rs 55.

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MCV PACIFIC AWARDS: The finalists and winners announced!

Fri, 10 May 2013 11:07:00 +0530

Last night saw the Australian and New Zealand industry gather in force to celebrate the first ever MCV Pacific Awards.

It was an evening of revelry, excitement and flair, with everyone dressed to kill and eagerly awaiting the finalists and winners from an extensive array of categories encompassing the entire games sector.

Those fabulous finalists and winners are:

Marketing Campaign of the Year

Assassin's Creed III (Winner)

Borderlands 2

Skylanders: Giants

Halo 4

PR Campaign of the Year

Call of Duty: Black Ops II (Winner)

Bioshock: Infinite

Assassin's Creed III

Need For Speed: Most Wanted

Best Single Brand Engagement

EB EXPO 2012 (Winner)

Need For Speed Most Wanted Taxi

StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm Launch Event

StarCraft II: Oceanic WCS finals

Sales Team of the Year

Ubisoft (Winner)

Activision Blizzard

Take Two Interactive

Sony Computer Entertainment Australia

Peripherals and Accessories Brand of the Year

Skylanders (Winner)

Turtle Beach

Razer

Astro

Publisher of the Year

Ubisoft (Winner)

2K Games / 2K Sports

Activision

Distributor of the Year

All Interactive Distribution / Entertainment (Winner)

Namco Bandai Partners

Fiveight

QV Software

Agency of the Year

One to Another (Winner)

Bohemia Group

Rinsed

Hausmann Communications

Retailer of the Year

JB HiFi (Winner)

EB Games

Online Retailer of the Year

EB Games (Winner)

JB HiFi

Mighty Ape

Dungeon Crawl

Digital Retailer of the Year

Xbox Live (Winner)

Good Old Games

Sony Entertainment Network / PSN

Apple / iTunes

Star Store

JB HiFi World Square (Winner)

EB Games Swanston St, Melbourne

EB Games, The Galleries

The Gamesmen, Penshurst

Journalist of the Year

Chris Stead (Winner)

Lucy O'Brien

Mark Serrels

Adam Mathew

Print Publication of the Year

Game Informer (Winner)

PC Powerplay

HYPER

Official Playstation Magazine

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Wolfenstein: The New Order headed to PC, current and next-gen consoles this year

Tue, 07 May 2013 19:52:00 +0530

Bethesda has announced the latest instalment in the Wolfenstein first-person shooter franchise, titled Wolfenstein: The New Order, for release later this year.

The new game is being developed by MachineGames, which is comprised of former Starbreeze staff.

Dubbed as a ‘reimagining of the franchise’, The New Order takes place in an alternate 1960s, where the Nazis won World War II and its series protagonist B.J. Blazkowicz’s job to once against take the fight to the enemy.

Gamespot reports that the game will be set in Europe, where players will infiltrate Nazi strongholds and take control of “super weapons that the Nazis have used to dominate earth--and beyond".

Wolfenstein: The New Order is headed to PC, Xbox 360, PS3 and next-gen consoles in Q4 2013. We’re not sure if they’re referring to the calendar or financially year, so expect the game some time between October 2012 and March 2013.

Gamespot has the announcement trailer, which you can also check out below.

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The Sims 4 announced for 2014 release on PC, Mac

Tue, 07 May 2013 17:34:00 +0530

Maxis will release The Sims 4 in 2014 for PC and Mac, EA has announced.

Avoiding any speculation to the contrary, the announcement clearly states that the game will be a “single-player offline experience”, a relief for fans after the teething problems faced by the always-on SimCity.

The Sims 4 promises “new and intuitive tools” along with the ability to let players conveniently share their creations with friends and followers.

As with The Sims 3, the new game too should arrive on other platforms following the PC/Mac launch.

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Splinter Cell: Blacklist preorder, first-run bonuses for India revealed

Tue, 07 May 2013 15:05:00 +0530

The Upper Echelon and Jack of All Trades bonus packs will be available for Splinter Cell: Blacklist buyers in India, distributor E-xpress Interactive has announced.

Preorder customers will receive the Jack of All Trades pack, which includes the elite digital ghillie suit and early access to 416 assault rifle.

The Day One Edition, or in other words, the first run of game copies to hit stores, will include the Upper Echelon pack, which includes the Dead Coast map, a pair of gold goggles and an Upper Echelon suit, all in-game. Preorder customers will also receive this pack.

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist will be out in India on 23^rd August for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.

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Zapak releases kids arcade game Brainbots vs Zombies for Android

Tue, 07 May 2013 14:14:00 +0530

Zapak Mobile Games has released a new arcade free-to-play game for Android, titled Brainbots vs Zombies.

Despite its post-apocalyptic theme, this a game primarily targeted at kids with casual arcade gameplay

The premise involves a herd of zombies plotting its attack on the last settlement of brains. Players must protect the brains by using Brainbots to kill zombies.

“Brainbots vs Zombies is a complete package of adventure and thrill. This game is an addition to our current catalogue which provides highly entertaining and engaging mobile games to casual gamers across the world,” Zapak Mobile Games business head Chaitanya Prabhu at the launch.

Brainbots vs Zombies is out now for free on the Google Play Store.

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Star Wars games from DICE, Bioware, Visceral in new EA-Disney deal

Tue, 07 May 2013 13:02:00 +0530

A month after closing LucasArts, Disney has signed a multi-year publishing deal with EA, through which the latter will create Star Wars games for the core gaming audience (read: console and PC).

EA will rope in the talents of in-house studios DICE (Battlefield), Bioware (Mass Effect), and Visceral Games (Dead Space) to create future Star Wars games.

“Every developer dreams of creating games for the Star Wars universe,” EA Labels president Frank Gibeau said.

“Three of our top studios will fulfill that dream, crafting epic adventures for Star Wars fans. DICE and Visceral will produce new games, joining the BioWare team which continues to develop for the Star Wars franchise. The new experiences we create may borrow from films, but the games will be entirely original with all new stories and gameplay,” Gibeau added.

Gibeau was also quoted by Eurogamer as saying that future Star Wars games would be powered by DICE’s Frostbite 3 engine.

EA has developed Star Wars games in the past, the most recent being the Bioware MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic.

The deal between EA and Disney will extend purely to games for the core audience, with Disney to develop Star Wars games for mobile, social and online platforms.

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Yet Another Bird Game gets a release date, new trailer

Fri, 03 May 2013 19:00:00 +0530

Supersike Games’s debut effort, Yet Another Bird Game, is set for release on the App Store on 16^th May.

Yet Another Bird Game was a runner-up at last year’s Square Enix Game Development Contest India, and since then, the studio has been putting the finishing touches on it for an official release.

The game has also been selected for the indie showcase at Casual Connect Asia, which takes place in Singapore later this month.

Yet Another Bird Game will be priced at Rs 55 and will be playable on iPhone and iPad, and Supersike has also released a new trailer for the game.

If you’d like to learn more about Yet Another Bird Game’s development process, head over to Supersike’s official blog to check out a couple of developer diaries.

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