General Gaming News II: Steam Helpdesk Site Leak

**Kalmado** · 2012-11-24 11:25

Actually Jornna, the way you worded it, it does infer you meant the 360. I was thinking the exact same thing.

**Deader2818** · 2012-11-24 11:27

Then i'm sorry if I words weren't concise. I just didn't think people would think I was that stupid to have no idea that a next xbox was coming out. Considering I was responding to an article talking about it.

**Qalbert** · 2012-11-24 11:59

Then you underestimate people's opinion of your stupidity.

**6souls** · 2012-11-26 21:49

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http://dragon2021.sega.jp/

Press release for Syberia III announcement:

French software publisher Anuman Interactive has announced a deal with author Benoit Sokal and confirmed that the game "Syberia III" will be created.

More than three years after acquiring Microïds and few days after unveiling the future "Dracula: the Shadow of the Dragon", software publisher Anuman Interactive has announced a piece of news that video game enthusiasts have been eagerly awaiting: the "Syberia III" project is underway, with Benoit Sokal, who wrote the first two Syberia, and Elliot Grassiano, the founder of Microïds, heading it up.

Benoit Sokal has just signed a deal with Anuman Interactive to write the script of "Syberia III" for 2013, while Elliot Grassiano will oversee, as Vice President of Microïds Unit, the development of new publications under the Microïds label.

Anuman Interactive has taken yet another step forward in its determination to become one of the main international names in adventure games.

“After two long years of waiting for the fans, with Benoit writing the script and Elliot joining our team, “Syberia” has truly entered its production phase. With its incredible feel and the sheer quality of the game, Syberia has carved out a special place for itself in gamers’ hearts. They are more than ever expecting the next instalment. Today, fans of the series and adventure games enthusiasts have at last been rewarded for the patience,” says Anuman’s General Manager, Stéphane Longeard.

Benoit Sokal, who is working as Artistic Director on the Syberia saga, adds : “I’m very pleased to be creating another Kate Walker adventure and working with Anuman Interactive’s teams on the project. I created the first two episodes of Syberia with Elliot, so I’m also really happy to be able to create this new one with him and illustrate the evolution of Anuman as a significant player in the adventure games industry.”

"Syberia III" is a multiplatform game scheduled for release in 2014-2015.

Nearly 90 percent of the games offered at GOG.com now support Windows 8, the online retailer announced today.

The company previously said it was taking a wait-and-see attitude toward adoption of Microsoft's new tablet-accommodating operating system. Today, one month after the Windows 8 launch, 431 of GOG.com games — just under 89 percent of the 486 titles currently available on the site — have been "fixed, tested, and reported to be working properly" on the OS.

According to GOG.com, players won't need to reinstall most games in order to get them to support Windows 8, and some older titles have also been updated with Windows 7 support. In addition, the company said that it will make more of its games compatible with Windows 8 in the future.

http://www.polygon.com/2012/11/26/36...dows-8-support
http://www.gog.com/news/announcement...s_8_officially

As id Software is wont to do, the game developer has released the source code for another one of its products, the recently released Doom 3 BFG Edition. Coming about a year after the original release of Doom 3's source, the updated version is now available for perusal at GitHub.

The source for Doom 3 BFG Edition joins other id Software code releases including Wolfenstein 3D, Quake 3 Arena, Doom for iOS and others.

In addition to releasing the game's code base and making the way for more interesting Doom 3 BFG Edition mods, id Software has released an update for the PC version of the game. According to the Bethesda Blog, here is the list of new features and bug fixes included in the title update.

NEW FEATURES:

All projectiles cast shadows
Texture LOD bias added to menu options
Added option to force v-sync (instead of "smart v-sync")
Adjusted default brightness value
Shadow casting projectiles added to menu options
Allow setting anti-aliasing up to 16x on Nvidia hardware. AMD/Intel cap is at 8x
Adjusted range of vertical sensitivity (allows you to lower sensitivity further than original implementation)
Added option to disable checkpoints
Allow left/right to enter resolution menu
Variable FOV settings options were added into the main menu
Added controller bind options
Added additional anti-cheat measures

BUG FIXES:

Fixed blood splatter effects break after reloading save game
Fixed broken view nodal code that allowed players to see through the world by backing into a wall and looking up
Fixed weapon impact effects break after using the artifact (heart)
Fixed leaderboards to work across languages

http://www.polygon.com/2012/11/26/36...ersion-updated
https://github.com/id-Software/DOOM-3-BFG
http://www.bethblog.com/2012/11/26/s...r-bfg-edition/

**6souls** · 2012-11-27 02:19

Million and Arc System Works updated the Kunio-kun page teasing a new announcement. A new title in the Hot Blooded Tough Guy Kunio-kun series is coming soon. The Kunio-kun series is the basis for River City Ransom, Super Dodgeball, and Nintendo World Cup.

The last Kunio-kun game was a remake of Renegade for the Nintendo 3DS. Arc System Works released the game last year, but Aksys who licenses the Kunio-kun games haven’t said anything about bringing Renegade Special overseas.

http://www.siliconera.com/2012/11/26...s-coming-soon/
http://kuniokun.jp/

Sega didn’t skimp on the "seiyuu" budget for 7th Dragon 2020-II. The PSP game features 40 famous voice actors and players can choose if they want their idol to have Solid Snake’s voice actor.

Akio Ohtsuka (Solid Snake in Metal Gear Solid), Tomokazu Sugita (Ragna the Bloodedge in BlazBlue), Houko Kuwashima (Mei Ling in Metal Gear Solid), Megumi Toyoguchi (Paine in Final Fantasy X-2), and Miyuki Sawashiro (Milla in Tales of Xillia and Momohime in Muramasa: The Demon Blade).

7th Dragon 2020-II is slated for a spring 2013 release in Japan.

http://www.siliconera.com/2012/11/26...-voice-actors/

This last weekend in Tokyo, Square Enix held an open conference centred around its real-time tech demo, Agni’s Philosophy: Final Fantasy. While presenting the technical aspects was paramount in the design of Agni’s Philosophy (as it was meant to showcase the detail and flexibility of Square’s new Luminous Engine), its creators were adamant it feel like a Final Fantasy.

But what exactly makes a Final Fantasy a “Final Fantasy”? To answer this question they put together a list of the five minimum components for a Final Fantasy.

The first item on the list is “magic”, an obvious point on the list given it is a key component in every iteration of the franchise. The second is “summoning”, which has been a staple of the series since Final Fantasy III. The third on the list of needed components is “gorgeous beauty”. This one is interesting as, given the sprite-based nature of the first six Final Fantasies, “gorgeous beauty” didn’t really enter the equation until the PS1 era. Still, no doubt modern Final Fantasies are very much into being visually stunning in both design and graphics.

The fourth thing needed in a Final Fantasy is a little ambiguous: “refinement.” They didn’t specify refinement of what exactly, but each game in the series has at least tried to refine the parts of gameplay that didn’t work in the previous iteration. The same can be said of graphical refinement as there can be no doubt that each Final Fantasy has looked better than the previous incarnation (with the possible exception of the MMOs).

Lastly, they stated that Final Fantasies need “change and challenge”. The “change” part is obvious, with each numbered Final Fantasy taking place in a new world with a new cast. The battle system also changes from game to game as well. As for “challenge”, that is a bit more ambiguous, but it could mean that each world has a challenge that must be overcome. It could also speak to finding the balance in gameplay between tedious grinding and welcome challenge.

So there you have it: what Square Enix thinks are the basic components to a Final Fantasy. For the most part I agree with this list, though I think things like “a world threatening conflict” and “an unlikely group of heroes” are also key components to the Final Fantasy formula… not to mention Moogles. I don’t know about you, but I get really angry if my Final Fantasies are Moogle-less.

http://www.kotaku.com.au/2012/11/her...o-square-enix/

Falcom and Namco Bandai are working together on a new Dragon Slayer game for Japan. Dragon Slayer: Warriors of the Guided Crown is a dungeon crawler with social elements. When you find a crown you can summon a boss. Friends can cooperate with players to defeat it and split the spoils.

Players can get equipment to dress their character up like Adol, Adol from Ys Celceta, Karna, Feena, and other characters.

Dragon Slayer: Warriors of the Guided Crown also has crossover bosses like Melldreybie from Ys Seven and Dark Fact from Ys I & II Chronicles.

Namco Bandai will release the game for free on iOS in mid-December. An Android version will be available this winter. Dragon Slayer: Warriors of the Guided Crown won’t cost a single yen to download, it’s funded by virtual item sales.

http://www.siliconera.com/2012/11/26...-namco-bandai/

A follow up to October’s surprise indie hit Hotline Miami is already in pre-production.

Creator Jonatan “Cactus” Söderström confirmed the sequel on Twitter.

“Working while listening to the sweet tunes of a preliminary Hotline Miami 2 soundtrack that we’ve put together during the weekend,” he said.

Twitter users leapt on the comment immediately, leading to a brief Q&A regarding the soundtrack for the second game, as the first game’s music was extremely well received. Söderström said he’s not sure about the second game’s soundtrack yet.

“Last time we had nine different musicians doing the soundtrack. Looks like a couple of them might do more tracks for the sequel, but we’ve been looking at some other bands as well. Want to keep it fresh,” he said.

Hotline Miami is a 1980′s-styled, top-down murder sim which hit Steam last month and quickly became a critical and commercial favourite.

http://www.vg247.com/2012/11/26/hotl...-in-the-works/
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...quel-announced
https://twitter.com/cactusquid/statu...84286599561216

Three AM2-developed Sega Saturn classics of varying quality are headed to the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade this week – just a friendly reminder.

Fighting Vipers, Virtua Fighter 2 and Sonic the Fighters will arrive on the US PSN update of November 27, before arriving on the European PSN on December 5, according to the Sega Blog.

Microsoft’s Major Nelson tweeted a reminder that the games will also be rolling out across all territories on Xbox 360 this week. Each game will set you back $4.99/£3.69/€4.49/400 MS Points.

Virtua Fighter 2 releaed in arcades in 1994 and was one of the Saturn’s show pieces in 1995; it’s still spoken of fondly. Sonic the Fighters arrived in 1996 and to be honest it’s pretty rubbish, but some fans of the hedgehog seem to like it anyway. Fighting Vipers is another 1996 effort and is a firm cult favourite, introducing interesting concepts like destructible body armour and managing not to look like absolute ballsacks 16 years on – no mean feat.

http://www.vg247.com/2012/11/26/figh...sole-networks/
http://blogs.sega.com/2012/11/20/am2...-xbla-and-psn/
https://twitter.com/majornelson/stat...81958895058946
http://www.psnstores.com/2012/11/seg...ing-next-week/
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost...&postcount=761

**6souls** · 2012-11-27 17:57

I just checked the internal data for our Black Friday numbers and wanted to let you know that over the Holiday weekend:

● Xbox 360 sold more than 750,000 consoles in the U.S. alone –exceeding internal forecasts.
● Three month Xbox LIVE Gold Subscription sales increased more than 50 percent compared to last year’s Black Friday week.
● We saw incredible activity on Xbox over the weekend. For example, on Sunday alone we had more than 14 million people on Xbox LIVE across the world, racking up more than 72 million hours of use in just one day.
● Compared to 2011, we’ve seen a 43 percent increase in U.S. entertainment application hours logged on Xbox LIVE during the week of Black Friday.

http://majornelson.com/2012/11/27/xb...friday-report/

Dark (PC/360)

Spoiler: show

**Souj** · 2012-11-27 18:47

http://www.kotaku.com.au/2012/11/her...o-square-enix/

Instead of "refinement", they should have had "have a character named Cid".
Though they should also get rid of "beauty" and "summoning" since if they weren't in all the FF games, it can't really be a defining characteristic of a FF game...

**Insanecyclone** · 2012-11-29 21:06

http://www.pcgamesn.com/article/time...itters-game%5C

Timesplitters mod given go-ahead by Crytek; “If I manage to get a group together, then they may let us use assets from the original TimeSplitters game!”

Remember Timesplitters developers Free Radical? They were swallowed up along with the rights to their greatest success by Crytek three years ago, saved from financial ruin and rebirthed as Crytek UK. Since, they’ve worked on multiplayer for the Crysis series and on upcoming US invasion complex sim Homefront 2.

What they haven’t worked on is Timesplitters 4 - a fact of which series devotees are vocally aware. But Crytek have just okayed a CryEngine mod made by those same devos.
“I have just had word from Crytek that they are going to permit and support a TimeSplitters CryEngine mod,” says Daniel Wesoly of the 100,000 Strong for Timesplitters 4 Facebook page.

“I am now looking for modders that can handle the CryEngine. If I manage to get a group together, then they may let us use assets from the original TimeSplitters game!"

Wesoly’s plan is to “build a TimeSplitters all-in-one. All the levels, all the characters and all the weapons”. He wants modders to contact him via [email protected] or Cairn_Trenor on Skype.

I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you that it’s incredibly rare for a major developer to proffer such active support for a mod remake of one of their properties. The situation Wesoly’s found himself in is very special indeed.

There’s another way to look at this, though: does Crytek’s willingness to support this mod put paid to any theories of a Crytek UK-developed Timesplitters for the foreseeable future?

**6souls** · 2012-11-30 10:34

http://www.dirtybombgame.com/

**6souls** · 2012-11-30 10:38

Microsoft Game Studios Vancouver renamed to...

Black Tusk Studios is dedicated to creating immersive, AAA games that push the limits of Microsoft's entertainment platforms. Located in downtown Vancouver, Canada, we are part of the Microsoft Studios family, and we are growing. Do you have what it takes to keep pace with the best talent in the industry? Do you want to help define Microsoft's next big entertainment franchise? Let's talk.

Black Tusk has assembled a team of seasoned game industry veterans who are united in their passion to create emotionally engaging AAA gaming experiences.

We hire the best talent from Vancouver and around the world, and our global recruiting effort is reflected in the diversity of cultures and backgrounds on our team.

Our people are talented, creative, fun-loving professionals with a desire to be part of something big. Something really big.

http://www.blacktuskstudios.com/

It's clear that millions of gamers across the US will be spending some quality time with PlayStation during the holidays following sales results for the week of Black Friday.

PlayStation 3 Black Friday bundle sales increased 15%, and total PS3 sales including hardware, software and peripherals, grew 9% over the same period last year. The Ultimate PlayStation Value Bundle, which included a 250GB PS3 and the Uncharted Dual Pack and inFAMOUS Collection for $199, quickly sold out at retailers across the US. In total, more than 525,000 PS3 consoles were sold in the US during Black Friday week.

PlayStation Vita is entering its first-ever holiday season and enjoyed very strong sales during the week of Black Friday. The Assassin's Creed III: Liberation Bundle for $199 sold out at retail, highlighted by Amazon selling through its specially priced inventory in less than five hours. The Call of Duty Black Ops: Declassified Bundle and Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes Bundles for $199, respectively, were also very popular with gamers and sold out at retail during the week. More than 160,000 PS Vita units were sold during the week of Black Friday.

"We're very pleased with the Black Friday sales results, especially the incredible reception for the PS3 and PS Vita bundles. The demand was very strong which quickly depleted our inventory across retailers nationwide," said Jack Tretton, President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America. "The PlayStation brand generated significant revenue and year-over-year growth at retail because of our focus on what gamers love most in combining amazing hardware with great games and digital entertainment."

Consumers also took advantage of the value delivered by PlayStation's subscription service package, PlayStation Plus, which supplies members with an Instant Game Collection of 18 blockbuster games across the PS3 and PS Vita systems, in addition to huge discounts, exclusive beta access, and much more. Sales of PlayStation Plus subscriptions on PlayStation Network increased 259% compared to last year's Black Friday period. In addition, since the Instant Game Collection was introduced earlier this year, customer satisfaction rates for PS Plus are above 95%.

**6souls** · 2012-11-30 17:00

720 is Coming

Microsoft will launch the next Xbox during the holiday season next year, according to a Bloomberg source.

The company is still deciding whether it will unveil the console at an industry event such as E3 or Gamescom, or at a separate event arranged solely for the console, said the source.

The whispers line up with previous rumors, which claim the console will be out by the end of 2013.

Microsoft has not made any announcements about the next Xbox.

http://gematsu.com/2012/11/bloomberg...t-holiday-2013
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-1...ay-season.html
http://gematsu.com/2012/08/ea-labels...t-a-years-time
http://gematsu.com/2012/08/next-xbox...-support-skype

**6souls** · 2012-11-30 19:01

GOTY

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Studio of the Year

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Best 360 Game

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Best PS3 Game

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Best Wii / WiiU Game

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Best PC Game

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Best Shooter

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Best Action / Adventure Game

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Best RPG

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Best Multi-Player Game

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Best Individual Sports Game

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Best Team Sports Game

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Best Driving Game

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Best Song in a Game

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Best Original Score

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Best Graphics

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Best Independent Game

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Best Fighting Game

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Best Handheld / Mobile Game

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Best Performance by a Human Female

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Best Performance by a Human Male

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Best Adapted Video Game

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Best DLC

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Best Downloadable Game

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Best Social Game

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Most Anticipated Game

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Best Character

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http://www.spike.com/events/video-game-awards/

Game of the Decade

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http://polldaddy.com/poll/6725636
http://popwatch.ew.com/2012/11/28/be...ogames-decade/

**Null** · 2012-11-30 20:25

No MGS4 for game of the decade? I reject this list. I reject it!

**Chocobunnies** · 2012-11-30 20:42

Wii Sports for the game of the decade? Really.....?

**6souls** · 2012-11-30 20:42

Entertainment Weekly put in charge to gather the list.

**Null** · 2012-11-30 20:55

Journy over Borderlands 2 for game of the year?

Tomb Raider in most Anticipated game? Does anyone even give a fuck about it?

List makes me sad. Nerd rage all the way.