General gaming

General gaming

Deus Ex Tops August NPD Charts as Software Sales Take a Hit Without Madden

Posted: 08 Sep 2011 04:26 PM PDT

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

The NPD Group has released its monthly sales figures for August today, with Deus Ex: Human Revolution being the best-selling game in the month despite being on store shelves for only five days.

NPD tracks new, physical sales at retail in the United States. The tracking period for August includes everything from July 31 through August 27. As Madden NFL 12 came out on August 30, it'll count towards September's sales figures. Its absence had a huge impact on sales during August -- software sales were down 34 percent as compared with last year, from $403.5 million to $264.8 million.

NCAA Football 12 was the second best-selling game during August. NPD analyst Anita Frazier points out that this year's NCAA sold better in August than last year's title did in August 2010, possibly due to football fans opting to pick it up this year with no Madden release to provide their fix earlier in the month.

The 1UP Community Presents: Zombie Alternatives

Posted: 08 Sep 2011 01:31 PM PDT

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The 1UP Community Presents: Zombie Alternatives

Since the undead are boring, our readers have dreamed up what they hope the newest monster craze will be.

By: 1UP Staff September 8, 2011

Let's face it: zombies are everywhere -- fighting in World War II, shambling around tropical islands, and hanging out on the moon for reasons that escape us. It's not hard to see why; as video game enemies, they're dumb as rocks, easy to kill, and travel in hordes, making them the perfect choice for lazy designers who dare not think outside the box. That said, with zombie game saturation seemingly reaching its peak over these past few years, we as gamers demand a change -- or at least, something more interesting to murder. Here are a few select suggestions from our community. Have a suggestion of your own? Post it in the comments, or join the conversation on our message boards.

  • CloudStrife_ca

    CloudStrife_ca

    I would like to see natural environments with everything you'd find in them used more in games like Call Of Duty. For example you're in multiplayer or campaign mode you're quietly making your way through a swamp in South America, trying to stay hidden from your target(s) and out of nowhere you're dealing with a crocodile in its natural environment! no this isn't a new perk to unlock (...release the crocodiles!) it's just a little extra detail in the environment to put you deeper into the game you're playing, offer a new realistic element of danger, not the "filler" zombies have become.

    This wouldn't have to be limited to just wildlife, if you were running through a village in a third world country and people didn't take kindly to your actions in the game, riots could start and not just as background scenery but danger elements you'd have to plan around/ through.

    What if you were playing Uncharted and you were caught in the middle of a Hurricane, not as a scripted moment to add to the storyline's drama, but at random. Deadly weather conditions could also be attached to natural environments depending on your location in or out of the world.

  • estmaddog

Six Blizzard Releases in the Next Three Years Expected by Activision

Posted: 08 Sep 2011 01:20 PM PDT

Diablo III

Blizzard is one of those rare companies that, like Valve, has the luxury of taking as much time as it needs to make its games really good. That doesn't mean it can't have a heavy period for releases, and it's looking like that's exactly what we'll see over the next three years.

Speaking at the Citi 2011 Tech Conference today, Activision Blizzard COO Thomas Tippl said six "proven property" releases are expected out of Blizzard over the course of the next three years, GameSpot reports.

That's somewhat of a surprise for two reasons. One is that Blizzard has released six games in the last eight years. The other is that we only officially know of three games it has in development: Diablo III, StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm, and StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void. There's also its next MMO, Titan, but that's not using any of Blizzard's existing IP, which prevents it from fitting into the category of "proven property" games.

EA's Online Passes Have Generated $10-$15 Million

Posted: 08 Sep 2011 11:27 AM PDT

EA Online Pass

EA set out last May to combat used game sales (or improve gamers' experience) with the online pass system. It's since been adopted by a number of other games: Mortal Kombat, Dirt 3, Resistance 3, and Driver: San Francisco (though that didn't work out so well) are just a few examples. It's been more than a year now and it's yet to bring in a substantial amount of money for EA, though it's not quite so simple.

"The revenues we derive from that haven't been dramatic," said CFO Eric Brown during the Citi 2011 Tech Conference, Gamasutra reports. "I'd say they're in the $10-$15 million range since we initiated the program."

Online passes are included with new copies of games and typically grant access to online multiplayer and other features. Buying a used copy in most cases means you won't have the free code. That means anyone who wants to then play online (or access any locked content) has to purchase the online pass separately through the Xbox Live Marketplace or PlayStation Store. In other words, EA is only getting money from used game buyers who want to access the locked content.

Dead Island "Feminist Whore" Skill Prompts Apology

Posted: 08 Sep 2011 10:18 AM PDT

Dead Island Purna

Update: Techland issued a statement to Tracey John in addition to what's contained below. It reads, "It has come to our attention that one of Dead Island's leftover debug files contains a highly inappropriate internal script name of one of the character skills. This has been inexcusably overlooked and released with the game. The line in question was something a programmer considered a private joke. The skill naturaly [sic] has a completely different in-game name and the script reference was also changed. What is left is a part of an obscure debug function. This is merely an explanation but by no means an excuse. In the end that code was made a part of the product and signed with our company name.

"We deeply regret that fact and we apologize to all our customers or anyone who might have been offended by that inappropriate expression. The person responsible for this unfortunate situation will face professional consequences for violating the professional standards and beliefs Techland stands for."

Original Story: It's been a tumultuous week for Dead Island. The game had a number of bugs that led to developer Techland releasing a day-one patch that could cause players to lose access to their save games, while the version released on Steam was the "incorrect" one. Now a line of code that's been found references a skill called "Feminist Whore."

Zelda Director/Producer Eiji Aonuma Never Finished The First Legend of Zelda

Posted: 08 Sep 2011 09:45 AM PDT

Eiji Aonuma

If you've ever tried to play The Legend of Zelda -- maybe that free copy you got as a 3DS Ambassador -- and found yourself frustrated, you're not alone. Eiji Aonuma, who has led the Zelda series as a director and producer since the N64 installments, has never completed it himself.

"I've never actually finished it," he admitted to Game Informer when asked for his thoughts on the franchise's first game. And it's because of its difficulty, something that has hurt his enjoyment of games in the past. When 1UP profiled Aonuma in 2007, he was asked about how he once said he isn't interested in Mario games. He responded, "I'm just not good at them, that's why! I always fall!"

Explaining exactly what's stopped him from finishing Zelda, he said, "I almost feel like there's still no game more difficult than it. Every time I try to play it I end up getting 'Game Over' a few too many times and giving up partway through. Certainly after playing the original Zelda for the first time, I didn't ever think that I wanted to make a game like that."

ModernWarfare3.com Dispute Ends with Activision in Control

Posted: 08 Sep 2011 08:37 AM PDT

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

A few months ago, it was discovered that the domain ModernWarfare3.com was not owned by Activision. Not only that, it was apparently owned by someone who's not a particularly big fan of the Call of Duty series, and he made sure the website demonstrated that. This prompted Activision to file a complaint in order to secure control of the domain, which it has now been granted.

The domain was first registered on March 26, 2009. For part of this time, it hosted anti-Call of Duty content; for instance, one particular section read, "Modern Warfare is crap. On November 8, 2011, the most over-hyped first-person action series of all-time returns with the copy and paste sequel to the lackluster Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Check out the E3 2011 gameplay demo featuring the Black Tuesday level for a look at the epic fail of the campaign. Pre-Order Call of Duty MW3 Today for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC to secure exclusive bonuses only available online for Modern Warfare 3 fanboys who don't know that Battlefield 3 is the better game."

Other areas reference Modern Warfare 3's biggest competitor, Battlefield 3, as being "the better game." A note at the bottom of the page did make it clear the site isn't official or owned by Activision. The design of the site itself wouldn't make that clear, however, and it's not as if the average website visitor makes a habit of reading the footer.

Posted by Shri Krishna

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