Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Layoffs at Harmonix

 Rock Band and Dance Central creator Harmonix has cut a "small number" of jobs, the Cambridge, Mass. studio has confirmed with Polygon.

"We can confirm that a small number of Harmonix employees were let go today," a Harmonix spokesperson said. "This decision was made due to shifting staffing priorities for Harmonix's multiple future projects."

No greater detail regarding why the cuts were necessary was provided. Polygon has heard from sources that the layoffs, described as part of normal business procedure, totaled around 10 people.

Gran Turismo 6 Appears on Another Online Retailer

Of course, that’s only because the VP of Sony Worldwide Studios accidentally revealed the game will be coming for PS3 and not the next generation PS4 in an interview recently. Again, this may be hearsay and the game could very well appear on the PS4. In fact, CVG earlier stated that an announcement on the game’s release is imminent in the coming weeks.

For now, we’ll just keep speculating. The last title in the franchise Gran Turismo 5 was release in November 2010 to above average reviews. It’s best known as the game that featured World Rally Championship, NASCAR and Super GT licenses for the first time in the series.

Sony would 'hate to see all PS4 games being FPS or very photorealistic'

The first officially revealed PS4 exclusive was Knack, a cartoony adventure from Sony's Japan Studio. While Sony could have opted to debut their new console with a bombastic graphics showcase (like they later did with Killzone and DriveClub), their decision to start with Knack was very intentional.

"We were like yeah we hate to see all the PS4 games being FPS or action-adventure or very photorealistic, you know big-budget blockbuster games," Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida said. "You know people like these games but these are not the only kinds of games that people can have fun with."

No new Darksiders in 2013

 
The Darksiders series will remain dormant for the duration of 2013, new owner Nordic Games has confirmed. Speaking with Game Informer, CEO Lars Wingefors said the company plans to speak with partners to discuss the future of the Darksiders brand in the coming week.

"Officially, we haven't talked to any partners. My colleagues in Austria are handling the business development and are handling all those contacts. We'll be sitting down, I think, in the next week to discuss all those options," Wingefors said. "It takes a very long time to make games. You won't see a new Darksiders this year. I don't believe in bringing out a s***** sequel."

People Can Fly thought of a few ideas for Bulletstorm 2

Bulletstorm 2 may never be greenlighted, the studio that developed the first game has revealed that they had a few ideas for the game.

“The thing is, we did want to make Bulletstorm 2, and actually there was a concept and, I think, it would be an amazing game,” he said adding that it would have fixed issues which were present in the first outing,” People Can Fly founder Adrian Chmielarz told Eurogamer.

“I think it was bad. The way I blamed myself for it was I basically enjoyed it too much. Initially I asked can we do it so it sells the game as an action-adventure, a pulp sci-fi rollercoaster, and not do the Bad Company 1-style of campaign of silliness and jokes? And then they showed me some marketing materials and I was laughing and like, ‘OK that’s funny, let’s do this,’ and that was a mistake.”

Social games popularity shrinking

Social games participation dropped sharply recently, according to market analysts. One research firm claims that 10 million fewer people played social games in March than the months prior, a 5% drop. That resulted in the total estimated number of active social network gamers dipping below 200 million for the first time in more than a year.

A study from SuperData Research (via Forbes) showed the drop. SuperData CEO Joost van Dreunen attributes the contracting market to oversaturation.

"The social games industry received a lot of momentum and funding in early 2011 and early 2012, and that essentially led to a very crowded market," he said. "And like all industries, the games industry operates between supply and demand economics. If you have a massive amount of supply, the prices drop, and invested money creativity dries up. People are switching slowly but surely to mobile platforms. This is something the industry is trying to figure out: where their users are going to go next."

Nintendo to post second straight full-year loss

 According to data compiled by Bloomberg, Nintendo will announce a loss of ¥18.7 billion yen ($189 million) tomorrow as part of its earnings report for the 12 months ended March 31. The data is based on the average of 15 estimates put together by the publication.

If Nintendo does post negative numbers tomorrow, it will be the second straight full-year loss for the company, following last year's first-ever annual loss.

Citing lower-than-expected Wii U sales, Nintendo in January cut full-year sales predictions for the platform 27 percent to 4 million. Nintendo has admitted communicating the novelty of the system to consumers has been a "challenge" relative to the original Wii.

Bethesda’s “Endless Summer” Revealed by Australian Classification Board Listing

The Australian Classification Board has a listing for a Bethesda Softworks’ game called Endless Summer. Which we’d find more or less normal if the company hadn’t already announced The Evil Within, headed by Shinji Mikami, just recently.

The description says it has “strong horror themes and violence”, with both having a “high impact”. The game is multi-platform and has been registered on April 22nd 2013 – but by Zenimax Europe. Perhaps this is an alternate name for The Evil Within in Europe?
So far the game is slated to release in 2014, with a more proper release date to be announced. There being no European release date, it somewhat makes sense that Endless Summer could be its name in Europe – especially since it’s releasing in Japan as Psychobreak.

Splinter Cell's complexity held it back, says Ubisoft Toronto lead

Splinter Cell: Blacklist marks another revival, of sorts, after Ubisoft took a different direction in Conviction. Each new entry seems like an attempt to modernize and update the game, appealing to new fans and old. Its old-school sensibilities have proven problematic, according to Ubisoft Toronto lead Jade Raymond.

"One of the things that held it back is despite all of the changes that have happened over the years, it's still one of the more complex and difficult games to play," Raymond told Eurogamer. "Even though we do have core fans who are like, 'Oh, I want to have more of this experience,' when you play any other game that has stealth elements, they're all a lot more forgiving than Splinter Cell. I guess Splinter Cell stayed with the most pure approach to that stealth experience."
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