Monday, August 30, 2010
Developer and publisher of the Megami Tensei meta-series to be absorbed by parent company and merged with fellow subsidiary October 1st.
Another Japanese developer has been dissolved today. Following developers such as Cavia and Feelplus comes word that Atlus, developer of Shin Megami Tensei, Etrian Oddysey, and Trauma Center, will cease to exist as an independent developer as of October 1st. Parent company Index Holdings, whom acquired Atlus in 2006 following their very successful RPG/Social Sim hybrid Persona 3, announced that the current staff will be merged with another of Index Holdings's subsidiaries, mobile developer Index. The dissolution of Atlus and its fusion with Index is said to best "leverage" the stable of properties Atlus has created over the last two and a half decades, as well as the Atlus brand name itself.
Given Index's focus on mobile games and the recent announcement of Persona 3 Social, a mobile spin-off, one could assume this will lead to an increased number of such games featuring Atlus's intellectual properties. Details beyond that are scarce at best, however. While the Atlus brand name will continue to be used for publishing, there's been no word on how this will affect day-to-day operations and future projects. Speaking with Gamasutra, Atlus USA Public Relations and Sales Manager, Aram Jabbari, declined to comment on how this may affect the North American publishing branch. Gamasutra reports that we can look forward to an official statement soon, however in the meantime the "Atlus Faithful" are sure to be on pins and needles.
Source: Index Holdings, via Gamasutra
Thanks to m4tt for the heads-up!
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Posted by Warp on 08/30 at 09:47 PM
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Sunday, August 29, 2010
Blizzard will be adding a patch in the upcoming month to address multiplayer balance issues in Starcraft II.
A number of changes will addressed in an upcoming patch from Blizzard in order to balance the multiplayer in Starcraft II. Many players feel that Terran are overpowered, while Zerg are extremely hard to master and at times, underpowered. Blizzard hopes to fix this by changing the following things:
-Increases in Zealot build times
-Increases in Reaper build times
-Decreases in Siege Tank Power
-Decreases in Battlecruiser attacks vs. ground units
-Decreases in Ultralisk damage
Read the full patch notes below:
Source: Blizzard
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Posted by Spiner202 on 08/29 at 12:50 PM
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Thursday, August 26, 2010
Metroid: Other M is a single player shooter for Wii that takes the beloved Metroid franchise into uncharted and exciting new territory. Set between the events of Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion, the game features unprecedented access to the backstory, thoughts and in-game interactions of the usually closed off heroine of the series, Samus Aran. Developed jointly by Nintendo and the celebrated Japanese development studio, Team Ninja, the game also features exciting play options, including the ability to switch between first-person and third-person perspectives, pointer and sideways Wii Remote controller orientation, stunning in-game cinematics and a classic blend of Metroid action and puzzle-solving gameplay.
Posted by Al on 08/26 at 03:25 PM
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Tuesday, August 24, 2010
A statement by THQ employee Cory Ledesma says that buying used games is cheating publishers out of money.
The popular used gaming market was called out by a THQ employee who claims that buying used games is cheating. Understandably, developers and publishers don't gain any revenue from used games, but it is an inevitable part of any market. Developers have begun taking away incentives to buy games used (such as giving 1-time codes for online play, which go to whoever purchases the game new) in response to this problem. Cory Ledesma says;
"[I]f used game buyers are upset they don't get the online feature set I don't really have much sympathy for them"
While Ledesma (among others) is understandably upset, it is a bit arrogant to assume that the video game market is safe from used games. It is interesting to see how far publishers and developers will go before fans begin to boycott games.
Source: Kokatu
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Posted by Spiner202 on 08/24 at 08:03 PM
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When it was announced that Modern Warfare 2 would not have dedicated servers, there was a strong backlash from the community. While this backlash did not disrupt sales of the game, it obviously turned some heads. Treyarch has announced that Black Ops, the new Call of Duty game, will feature dedicated servers. Furthermore, Treyarch is working hard to allow mods for PC so that there is continued interest in the game and any future developments. Treyarch comments,
"We plan to open the game up for modding sometime post-launch. We do not know yet to what extent you will be able to mod the game. There are some purely technical issues related to engine and internal tool enhancements that do not easily fit the modtools paradigm"
Source: ars technica
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Posted by Spiner202 on 08/24 at 07:46 PM
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