General gaming news

**BadKarma** · 2012-06-03 17:52

Epic Games to Hire chunk of 38 studios staff, and other studios that have recently gone under

http://epicgames.com/community/2012/...uge-solutions/

Our heart goes out to the people affected by the unfortunate events surrounding 38 Studios and its subsidiary in Baltimore, Big Huge Games. Through it all, the team stayed together in a way that’s been really heartwarming to see. The team kept working, hoping that there’d be a way to secure last-minute funding and save the company. People brought extra food into the office to help those unable to pay their bills. And last week, in bittersweet irony, Big Huge Games was named to Game Developer’s Top 30 studios in the world list.

You may be wondering why I’m writing all this – and it’s because Epic is going to do something to help them, and we want people to understand why we think it’s the right thing to do.

On Wednesday, the ex-BHG leadership team contacted us. They wanted to start a new company and keep together some of the key talent displaced by the layoff, and hoped that they could use an Epic IP as a starting point for a new game. We loved that they all wanted to keep working together, but it was pretty clear they’d have trouble building a demo and securing funding before their personal savings ran out.

In one of life’s coincidences, Epic’s directors had spent the morning discussing how we’d love to build even more successful projects with our growing team, but that we’d need a dramatic infusion of top talent to do so. Which, we all knew, was impossible.

So now we’re planning to start an impossible studio in Baltimore.

It’ll take a while to find space, set up desks and PCs, purchase sufficient Nerf weaponry and Dr. Pepper, etc. But some of these folks have been going too long without a paycheck to wait for that. So, as soon as we can, we’re going to try to get people working down here at Epic headquarters in Cary, NC as contractors.

There’s a million things to work out. How many of the team can we hire? What will it be called? What will they be working on? We don’t know all the answers yet. Please give us some time to figure it out; we hope to have more to share soon.

The way we see it, there’s been a big storm in Baltimore, and we’re taking in a few of the refugees — as are the awesome folks at Zynga East, Zenimax Online, and other southeastern studios. Epic’s in a situation where we can do this, and it very clearly fits with our company values, so we’re going to give it a whirl.

Dr. Michael Capps

**6souls** · 2012-06-03 18:20

Remedy lead writer Sam Lake’s either gone and lost it on Twitter or he’s started teasing a brand new Alan Wake.

He tweeted the following last night: “It’s all true. ‘It will happen again, in another town, a town called Ordinary.’ It’s happening now.”

The tweet contained a link to a short story that basically screams ‘Wake’. This is what part of it says.

“In the dream I was visiting the previous owner of my house at the nursing home, only in the dream the owner wasn’t a sweet old lady, he was a man, and he wasn’t old, he was a young man with a dark hair – very good looking in fact. I remember that he was wearing a funny jacket with old-fashioned elbow patches.

“I was there to find out about the shoebox, but he was very agitated and didn’t listen to me. The place was brightly lit, it was sunny outside, but he was still very anxious and wanted me to turn all the lights on.

“He kept going on about the place being too dark. I remember being certain that all the lights were on already, but that didn’t calm him down. In the end he was screaming for me to turn the lights on. I was also starting to freak out, starting to think that something horrible was coming to take us away, and that’s when I woke up.”

Remedy’s not been shy in saying it’s been looking to continue the Alan Wake series. The studio’s head of franchise development Oskari Hakkinen told VG247 back in February the series’s last installment, American Nightmare, wouldn’t be the last we’d hear of the troubled writer.

“Alan Wake in general, the intellectual property, is ours, and it’s not the last you’re seeing of Alan Wake,” he said at the time of the release of AW.

The original Alan Wake came out in May 2010 for Xbox 360. The previously-announced PC release launched at the start of this year before the release of the bite-sized American Nightmare on Xbox Live Arcade. AW launched on PC last month.

http://www.vg247.com/2012/06/03/reme...lled-ordinary/
https://twitter.com/SamLakeRMD/statu...48041888559105
http://thishouseofdreams.blogspot.co...x-dream-2.html
http://www.vg247.com/2012/02/16/waki...-wakes-future/

**6souls** · 2012-06-03 18:22

Well, the Vita part isn't too surprising, but I thought Homefront 2 was coming to Wii U?

Then again, THQ sort of dropped Metro: Last Light for the system, so it is possible they did this at the same time.

Thanks to Kabouter for the translation.

Originally Posted by Golem IT News:

IGM: Sony's PlayStation Vita has been on the market since February. Nintendo's WiiU is set to follow it at the end of the year. What is Crytek planning for these consoles?

Yerli: We don't have anything planned for either console. For the WiiU there will be games running on CryEngine, but they are from licensees. The PlayStation Vita is uncertain to us as a platform. On a technical level the Vita is appealing to me, without a doubt we could have fun with it. From a business perspective however it's somewhat too late.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost...87&postcount=1
http://www.golem.de/news/interview-c...205-92030.html
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=475913

**6souls** · 2012-06-03 18:37

Todays Walmart ad 6/3/2012 shows the 4GB 360 with Kinect Bundle at a new low price of 269.96 down from 299.96 and the 4GB standalone console reduced to 169.96 from 199.96.

Looks like a $30 pricecut announcement coming

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost...74&postcount=1

Purely rumor as no one can locate the "real" ad.

**Insanecyclone** · 2012-06-04 07:40

http://www.joystiq.com/2012/06/04/at...pc-ps3-and-xb/

Atlus couldn't wait to announce Zeno Clash 2 for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360

[E3 2012] ATLUS AND ACE TEAM JOIN UP TO TAKE VIDEO GAME FACE BASHING TO THE NEXT LEVEL WITH ZENO CLASH II, SEQUEL TO AWARD-WINNING INDIE FIRST-PERSON MELEE BRAWLER, COMING TO PC, XBOX 360, AND PLAYSTATION 3 SYSTEMS WITH FULL COOPERATIVE MULTIPLAYER IN EARLY 2013

The world is bigger, the creatures are wilder, and the punches land harder than ever before!

IRVINE, CALIFORNIA -- JUNE 4, 2012 -- ATLUS, a brand of Index Digital Media, Inc., in collaboration with ACE Team, developer of Zeno Clash™ and Rock of Ages™, today unveiled Zeno Clash II™, sequel to the award-winning indie first-person melee brawler, coming in 2013 to PC, Xbox LIVE® Arcade for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, and PlayStation®Network for PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system.

Building upon the daring visual design and gratifying first-person fisticuffs of the acclaimed original, Zeno Clash II is bigger, bolder, and better in every way. Zenozoik comes alive like never before, an open world waiting to be explored, one rendered with breathtaking splendor. As Ghat, players can fully and freely explore every natural and architectural wonder his world has to offer. In addition to most of the characters, enemies, and items from the first game--all of which return with dramatic visual enhancement--Ghat can also expect to encounter awe-inspiring new sights, jaw-dropping new creature designs, and wildly creative new weapons and items.

Beyond visuals, Zeno Clash II also dares to refine and add to its predecessor's gameplay foundation for success. The game's heralded first-person brawling mechanics are further refined, improving on the integral enemy "Lock-on" function as well as giving the player pinpoint control over where their strikes land. New RPG elements allow players to gain more strength, master defense, or improve in other areas in order to give Ghat and his companion Rimat a better chance of survival.

Lastly, and perhaps of the greatest excitement, the entire game can be experienced with drop-in/drop-out online cooperative multiplayer. Ghat can now be joined by his sister Rimat in battling past the angry denizens bent on stopping them from accomplishing their goal.

"The world of Zenozoik is one of wild dreams and wilder nightmares," stated Andres Bordeu, co-founder of ACE Team. "This is part of the reason we are working on Zeno Clash II, to give players the opportunity to explore Zenozoik with a friend via online cooperative multiplayer, turning those moments of wonder and awe into a shared adventure. We will make certain that going back and forth between solo and cooperative play preserves the consistency and impact of the narrative experience, while still allowing friends easily drop in and out of the game's fulfilling exploration and visceral melee combat."

Zeno Clash II is scheduled to release in early 2013 on Xbox LIVE Arcade, PlayStation Store, and Steam. For more information, visit www.zenoclash2.com.

**6souls** · 2012-06-04 09:00

To further support that Alan Wake article above, Remedy has registered a domain for Alan Wake 2.

http://www.upload.ee/image/2399457/Alana-Wake-2.jpg

**6souls** · 2012-06-04 19:53

http://www.abload.de/img/xxxxxx17kz4.jpg

**6souls** · 2012-06-04 19:55

**6souls** · 2012-06-04 21:44

**6souls** · 2012-06-04 21:52

**6souls** · 2012-06-04 22:23

**6souls** · 2012-06-04 22:23

**6souls** · 2012-06-04 22:55

**6souls** · 2012-06-04 23:03

**6souls** · 2012-06-04 23:10

Spoiler: show

**6souls** · 2012-06-05 20:25

http://www.facebook.com/OfficialOddw...85629388140739

**6souls** · 2012-06-07 15:02

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8154/7...c4edbb68_h.jpg

Spoiler: show

The all new PlayStation Move Racing Wheel transforms your PlayStation Move motion controller into the ultimate racing experience, supporting any vehicle you choose to drive.

Highlighted features include:

- Precise motion tracking for responsive handling of your vehicle
- An innovative folding grip design will allow you to switch between racing a sports bike to a high-octane supercar
- Feel the intense vibration feedback of your vehicle as you trade paint with the competition
- Experience realistic gameplay action using the race car paddle shifters and motorcycle twist throttle controls

Available this fall for $39.99 (MSRP), the PlayStation Move Racing Wheel will support upcoming racing games like Little Big Planet Karting, in addition to PS3 racing favorites like Gran Turismo 5, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, BurnOut Paradise, MotorStorm Apocalypse, and more.

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2012/...ed-at-e3-2012/

**Rokku** · 2012-06-07 16:40

Ugh, I've seen images of that thing floating around on internal documents since around November of last year. I was kind of hoping it was just some sort of shitty mock-up and not something they had intended to take to an actual retail product.

**Kaisha** · 2012-06-07 17:05

No worse than the $59.99 MRSP monstrosity for the other platform.

Thank god both platforms have proper wheels if you MUST have play your game in that manner.

**Insanecyclone** · 2012-06-07 17:14

what the fuck is that

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