General Gaming News II: Steam Helpdesk Site Leak

[6souls]

Rumor: 2K Mairn (Bioshock 2 & The Bureau: XCOM Declassified) to close, layoffs confirmed

The Bureau: XCOM Declassified and BioShock 2 developer 2K Marin faced several layoffs today, 2K Games has confirmed.

“We can confirm staff reductions at 2K Marin,” 2K Games said in a statement (via Polygon). “While these were difficult decisions, we regularly evaluate our development efforts and have decided to reallocate creative resources. Our goal to create world-class video game titles remains unchanged.”

But according to Rock, Paper, Shotgun sources, 2K Marin is “‘essentially’ done for.” What will happen to the development team is unclear, but “multiple sources” of the site suggested 2K will likely give first-in-line privelages to 2K Marin employees who apply to work at Rod Fergusson’s new studio in the San Francisco Bay Area.

One Rock, Paper, Shotgun source, however, suggested otherwise.

“A couple of weeks ago, the new 2K team in Novato (the one Rod Fergusson is leading) interviewed and made offers to a small number of 2K Marin team members,” the source said. “I don’t know exactly how many, but it wasn’t a lot. It sounds like everyone who was not offered a position on that team was let go today.”

http://gematsu.com/2013/10/2k-marin-...s-claim-demise
http://www.polygon.com/2013/10/17/48...rgoing-layoffs
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013...d/#more-173109
http://gematsu.com/2013/09/former-ge...-new-2k-studio

[Insanecyclone]

http://clickingbad.nullism.com/

welp

[Insanecyclone]

Leaked Gamestop black friday ad.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...5649506&type=1

[Merovingian]

Damn bf4 and ps+ for 29.99.. Tempted to wait for black friday and buy bf4 ps3 version then upgrade it for ps4

[Callisto]

I was thinking of doing that for CoD

[Hitoshura]

looks like I am going to have to step on some fat kids for the Zelda 3DS bundle.

[Ratatapa]

fuck canada

[Merovingian]

I was thinking of doing that for CoD

Only prob with cod is that is only $10 less and in the end you end up paying the same and also with a digital version that you cant trade in

[Ratatapa]

Only prob with cod is that is only $10 less and in the end you end up paying the same and also with a digital version that you cant trade in

wut?

[Merovingian]

wut?

Dont you have to pay $10 to upgrade and still need the ps3 disc to play it?

Edit:
My apologies i think i'm mixing the gamestop upgrade offer with sony upgrade offer

[Krazy]

More Capcom news about them being in the shitter.

http://gaminrealm.com/2013/10/20/cap...t-gen-fighter/

More bad news regarding Capcom. When asked by a fan if the company would be bringing Ultra Street Fighter IV to next gen consoles, Yoshinori Ono responded with a very grave statement:



Earlier this year we reported (through GameIndustry) that Capcom had a very minuscule amount of cash in the bank. The company is currently in financial disarray. Then the news surfaced that Capcom of Europe is planning to cut more than half of its staff members. Combining those two older reports with Ono’s recent remark, it’s clear that Capcom is seriously, undeniably in trouble.

Not to mention that fighting games aren’t necessarily as resource-heavy as say adventure or 3D action games. The fact that the company cannot afford to make a fighting game, or even port a fighter is devastating news.

As I stated in our earlier reports, I personally cannot feel sorry for the company. What goes around comes around. This is what happens when you betray your fans and kill off beloved franchises.

I certainly won't lose any sleep if they end up going belly up after that bit of Breath of Fire news awhile back. Is that petty? Probably, I don't care though.

[Kuishen]

Good to see that a company that has continually taken a dump on almost every IP they own with only the odd new IP having a measure of success is finally starting to feel the effects of having only made mostly terrible games for the past few years. I hope other companies learn from this.

[Insanecyclone]

Much as I hate what capcom has done to it's franchises(DMC etc) I would rather not see them fade away. I really do want to see them come back strong but they really need to rethink things. If they have to go mobile to recover then that's fine but don't include a FUCKING NUMBERED TITLE OF A FRANCHISE IN IT.

[Callisto]

More Capcom news about them being in the shitter.

http://gaminrealm.com/2013/10/20/cap...t-gen-fighter/



I certainly won't lose any sleep if they end up going belly up after that bit of Breath of Fire news awhile back. Is that petty? Probably, I don't care though.

I think this story is kind of making implications that aren't there; the 'resources' don't have to necessarily be financial. It is assumed that at this point that Street Fighter 5 is already in the works so the team who would work on the port is already tied up, and porting even the newest version of a game that will be 5 years old when next-gen consoles are in stride makes no sense at all. Fighting games aren't exactly played for the graphics, there would be no benefit at all to moving SF4 to the new platforms in terms of gameplay and it would be a huge gamble that people who already buy Ultra on current gen would shell out for the game again on next consoles rather than just waiting for SF5, which will sell millions of copies.

Not to say that I don't think Capcom has made some retarded moves, but I think this particular article is pretty dumb.

[Krazy]

I think this story is kind of making implications that aren't there; the 'resources' don't have to necessarily be financial.

It doesn't, but with how low their bank account is currently I wouldn't discount it.

[6souls]

Other than SFIV not coming to next gen being old news, Ono and Capcom have stated that they are interested in the F2P model model for a fighting game. At the time of that statement they wanted to see how Tekken Rev & DoA5: Core would turn out. Tekken Rev has turned out to be sort of a testing ground for new content while DoA5:C is.. idk. Recently Katsuhiro Harada (Tekken) & Yosuke Hayashi (DoA) did an interview for Famistu about their F2P games.

Tekken and Dead or Alive have both recently shared the experience of testing out the free-to-play market for the first time. In a recent interview with Famitsu, Tekken series producer Katsuhiro Harada sat down with Dead or Alive producer Yosuke Hayashi to discuss their thoughts on the free-to-play market.

Famitsu starts out by asking what gave them the idea to release their games games in the form of free-to-play titles.

“While there are various factors, one of them is because the genre of fighting games has been maturing, but it has been struggling to reach out to new players,” says Harada. “Maybe if fighting games were a little cheaper, more people would buy them, meaning it could possibly increase the competitive population and make it more lively? So, assuming that is the case, we decided to go all out and make it free.”

“Perhaps if we can further reach out fighting games, which have somewhat matured too much with a rather enthusiastic crowd, we can spread them to a wider audience, giving them another chance to try the out. This could be the connection for something better next time around,” he elaborates.

Harada also explains that Mobile Suit Gundam: Battle Operation’s success was also one of the reasons for making Tekken Revolution available for free.

“As for Dead or Alive, Ultimate came out after 5, which makes it harder to sell more than the latter,” Hayashi offers. “For this reason, there are less online opponents. Since we put a lot of effort into developing the online play, we’d like to have many people enjoy it. The idea is to throw in players of the free version as possible opponents.”

“Again,we collect data of those who’ve been playing Dead or Alive 5 online everyday, and they’re all very good,” he continues elaborates. “It has come to the point where it could become a game with only good players; however, fighting games are always more fun to play with others who are closer to your level. For this reason, we aim to use the basic free version as a way to have both good players and beginners enjoy it all at once.”

Harada then points out that they originally expected the average play time for the free version of Tekken to be roughly between 30 minutes to an hour, but was surprised to see it stand at three hours.

According to Harada, Tekken Revolution was a trial to see what it would be like to have a virtual arcade center, that is much cheaper than the 100 yen per-play, and his team was able to gather interesting data from the experiment.

Famitsu then asks about how their respective companies saw the idea of making some of their biggest IPs into F2P versions, and whether they were against it and had to be persuaded, or if it was the other way around.

“For us, the company didn’t really make us do anything at first,” Hayashi says about Tecmo Koei. “After making a presentation saying ‘I have this kind of dream, and I’d like to be able to do it,’ they understood. Of course I explained things such as ‘This is how much it is being played online’ and ‘This is how much the DLC is being downloaded,’ but for Tecmo Koei, it will be the first free-to-play game, so it will be something like a touchstone for the company.”

Harada starts out by explaining that the idea of F2P can’t be bundled into one. While they both share the common goal of wanting to make more of a profit, it varies for each title. As he points out, the rival franchise Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate has the goal of getting more people to purchase the full game.

While agreeing, Hayashi also points out that Tekken Revolution is a way to increase the competition, by adding a new dimension that allows players to raise their own characters to test them out against veteran players of the series. He says that due to Dead or Alive 5 being the first main numbered game in a while, they would like to have as many new players possible, while further expanding the series.

“Tekken has been steadily releasing on arcades and home consoles, so it has its ground,” says Harada. “While there are many veteran and core players, the question is ‘What do we make them do?’ which I believe is the difference. However, Ono-chin [note: Capcom’s Yoshinori Ono] did say ‘Hayashi’s methods are better’ or something like that, but I thought, ‘That’s just your opinion’.”

“All he ever does is complain about, ‘So when is Tekken x Street Fighter coming out?’ and such,” Harada adds with a laugh.

“I met him during E3, and ‘Hayashi, I like your way of doing it best,’ was the first thing he told me,” says Hayashi with a laugh.

Harada responds, “Oh, come on, Ono! You’re the most [editorial restraint by Famitsu] How about that? [laughs]”

http://www.siliconera.com/2013/10/16...alk-free-play/
http://www.famitsu.com/news/201310/04040718.html

[Insanecyclone]

http://www.destructoid.com/tales-of-...4-264057.phtml

Tales of Symphonia Chronicles heads west in February 2014

Tales of Symphonia Chronicles has set a course to land in North America on February 25, 2014. The PlayStation 3-exclusive HD collection will arrive just a few days later in Europe and Australasia, launching on February 28 in those territories.

The bundle includes cosmetically enhanced versions of Tales of Symphonia and its successor, Dawn of the New World. The extolled role-players initially released several years ago for GameCube and Wii.

Also coming to the aforementioned regions is the title's collector's edition. The limited release includes a pair of figures, a novelization, a multi-disc soundtrack, ornate packaging, and the games themselves.

[Qalbert]

wasn't really sure where to put this, but if it's true it's pretty bullshit
http://puu.sh/50K0N.png

[Odin'sLaw]

wasn't really sure where to put this, but if it's true it's pretty bullshit
http://puu.sh/50K0N.png

TheCreature's were on about this a few weeks ago (might be a month or more) and was saying how some games companies for next gen are really happy to have them doing reviews and play throughts for them, other companies have already sent them legal paper work telling them they will be sued if any of the games are put on youtube, what a weird world we live in

[BaneTheBrawler]

If I were the reviewer's editor i'd just announce a new policy of my own: if companies won't allow us to review their games unsupervised, we won't review their games until they are available for retail. We also won't run their ads on any of their media.


Two can play that game.