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Sega Saturn Digital Downloads Might Be In The Cards
Jul 1st
Sega has been mining their extensive back catalog to provide digital downloads on Virtual Console, Xbox Live Arcade, and PlayStation Network. Players can replay classic Master System, Genesis, and Dreamcast titles across many platforms. Unfortunately Sega’s ugly duckling, the Sega Saturn, has been absent in this recent digital push. In an interview with Impress WatchYosuke Okunari, producer of the Dreamcast remakes, says that there’s still hope for Saturn remakes.
“When you look globally,” Okunari replied, “the Genesis and Dreamcast are well known, but Saturn is unknown. During that period, PlayStation and Nintendo 64 were a success overseas, but to be honest Saturn was not a success. Because of this, we decided on Dreamcast.”
“It’s not that we’re ignoring Saturn I think you can see this, considering that we ported Nights Into Dreams and other titles,” he said, referring to the 2008 PlayStation 2 version of Nights Into Dreams.
Okunari points out that Saturn remakes would stand as a separate project from the Dreamcast titles like Sonic Adventure and Crazy Taxi. “What we announced this time is a project where we will have consecutive releases of titles that were debuted on Dreamcast. Separate from this, we’re of course thinking about ports of Saturn games,” he said. “It’s the same as how Sega Ages and Virtual Console were separate existences. It’s not that we have no intention of porting Saturn titles, so please share your requests.”
Sega Working Hard On Another PS3 Yakuza
Jul 1st
Sega is pumping out those Yakuza games at a rate that would make most developers blush. Black Leopard: New Yakuza Chapter for PSP is still under development, but the team is also working on another Yakuza game for PlayStation 3. Yakuza producer Toshihiro Nagoshi spoke to Famitsu about the upcoming game.
“While I can’t give a release time frame yet,” Nagoshi told Famitsu, “we’re working to deliver it at a time Yakuza series fans will want.” There was no clarification on what time frame that is.
Nagoshi says this title will feature Goro Majima as a playable character. The eyepatch-clad gangster has a long-standing feud with series protagonist Kazuma Kiryu. Playing as crazy Goro should give players a new perspective on the entire series.
Image Metrics Acquires Character-FX
Jul 1st
Image Metrics, a leading facial animation technology provider for video games and film (which recently animated over 100 characters in Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption), has announced today that it is expanding its scope by acquiring Character-FX, an avatar creation company founded by 3D animation pioneer John Riggs. Character-FX is a toolset for use with Autodesk’s Maya and 3DS Max (two very commonly used tools at game studios). The toolset “helps to create character facial rigs using a proprietary automated weighting transfer system that rapidly shifts a character’s facial motion for incredibly life-like movements.”
Image Metrics intends to merge the Character-FX tech into its FACEWARE animation suite. The integration will improve believable character animation while minimizing avatar creation time. The joint technology was already used to animate a “photo-real recreation” of hailed basketball coach John Wooden in a recent NCAA commercial.
“The Character-FX rigging process was designed to create a highly flexible character model, in a way that fits with any production environment,” said Riggs. “As Image Metrics’ unique animation technology is the perfect platform for animating Character-FX avatars quickly and believably, the integration of Character-FX with Image Metrics’ performance-based animation software will produce characters whose expressions and movement resonate with audiences and gamers.”
“It takes a great computer-generated character and a great performance driving it to make a scene feel real and believable. To create facial animation that features these elements, Image Metrics has developed a unique technology for capturing the soul of an actor’s performance, and the addition of the Character-FX technology will massively accelerate our ability to create and animate great character models,” said Image Metrics CEO Michael Starkenburg. “Image Metrics is dedicated to providing our customers with the technology they need to efficiently and cost effectively create incredible character performances. This acquisition allows us to take another step in that direction.”
Image Metrics will also appoint Riggs as Director of Avatar Development.
BioShock Movie Still Coming, Facing Budget Constraints
Jul 1st
The BioShock movie has long been in development. With delays and budgetary concerns, there is worry that BioShock might go the way of Halo. Gore Verbinski, however, remains optimistic about the project. Verbinski, producer on the project recently sat down with IGN to discuss the movie.
“We’re working trying to make it. The problem with BioShock was: R-rated movie, underwater, horror. It’s a really expensive R-rated movie,” he said. “So we’re trying to figure out a way working with [director] Juan Carlos Fresnadillo to get the budget down and still keep so it’s true to the core audience, you know? The thing is it has to be R, a hard R.”
The recent release of a somewhat mediocre Prince of Persia movie does little to dissuade Verbinski. Does he think Persia will affect BioShock? “No, I think BioShock’s a rare one because it’s actually a great story,” he says. “Me? I don’t want to make movies based on video games, butBioShock’s the one Oedipal, crazy kind of – it’s just got really good bones, and we’re really trying to figure out a way to make it work.”
“We don’t want to dumb it down, we don’t want to make it PG-13. We want to keep it really edgy, and it’s a huge bill,” Verbinski insisted.
Halo Team Is Looking For Squad
Jul 1st
Microsoft is not going to let the Halo brand die just because Bungie has jumped ship. The software giant established 343 Industries to handle all things Halo. This includes the extension of the franchise into novels, comic books, and anime. Well now, 343 Industries is looking to fill the gap left by Bungie’s departure.
The studio is on a hiring spree at the moment, having posted 24 jobs in the past three weeks. The positions include a number of senior-level slots, including Lead Environment Artist, Senior Producer, Senior Software Development, Senior Concept Artist and Senior Business Manager. The postings also include some mid-level positions that are key to early development like Systems Designer, Storyboard Artist, and Mission Designer.
The game is obviously still a ways off with this many senior staff still unaccounted for. Until then, player will have to tide themselves over with Bungie’s swan song on the series. Halo: Reach will be shipping on September 14, 2010.
Jul 1st
Sony: We’d Like to Work with Nintendo on Promoting 3D Message
When it comes to 3D gaming, Nintendo and Sony would seem to be at odds with each other. While Sony has a corporate-wide 3D initiative with TVs, glasses and pushing 3D on the PS3 console, Nintendo is simply focused on its 3D, glasses-free handheld, the 3DS, which impressed just about everyone at this year’s E3.
Sony, however, would like it if Nintendo would embrace the overall 3D industry. Sony Worldwide Studios President Shuhei Yoshida has commented that he’d like to cooperate with Nintendo, rather than seeing the company “bash” the 3D experience seen through glasses. He wants to see Nintendo have a “broader perspective on 3D.”
Speaking to IGN, Yoshida remarked, “When you listen to what they are saying about the effect of 3D perspective to the games, they are saying the same message we are, but they don’t have to bash some small part of what the other company is doing. I think as an industry we should preach this new perspective, from a very large cinema screen to a small portable, because that helps advancing the games and the game industry. We’d like to work together to promote 3D.”
Yoshida noted that the glasses have become more comfortable to wear recently too. “If you really want a big theatre experience, of course you have to wear glasses. With the latest technology, the glasses are light and you kind of forget you’re wearing them after awhile,” he said.
DJ Hero 2 Brings Friends Together For a Digital Rave
Jun 9th
Activision has finally announced the sequel to 2009’s music-mixing DJ Hero. DJ Hero 2 brings an entirely new track list to the party and a host of new multiplayer modes. In celebration of the announcement, Activision is also offering DJ Hero owners a sneak peek on the game’s new track list with a new downloadable mix. The mix features Lady Gaga’s “Just Dance” and Deadmau5’s “Ghosts ‘n’ Stuff,” in honor of Deadmau5 joining DJ Hero 2 as a playable character. The new mix will be available for a free download June 8 to 14 on Xbox Live and PSN.
“DJ Hero was the best music game of 2009 and with DJ Hero 2 we’re delivering a new easy to pick-up, challenging-to-master experience that all players can enjoy together,” said Guitar HeroCOO David Haddad. “With new social game modes, the inclusion of full microphone support, all-new levels of creative freedom and an amazing soundtrack, DJ Hero 2 is the ultimate mixer of music and friends.”
The game will feature new modes, including DJ vs DJ Battles and jump-in/jump-out Party Play. There will also be a new single-player Empire Mode, telling the story of the player’s rise from a nobody DJ to the world’s greatest music mogul.
“We’re improving upon all the gameplay elements from DJ Hero that gamers loved with the all-new freestyle gameplay and a host of new multiplayer game modes,” said Jamie Jackson, Creative Director of DJ Hero developer FreeStyleGames. “But we’re not stopping there either as the award-winning soundtrack is getting bigger songs from hotter artists that our talented crew of DJ’s is spinning into hits that fit the gameplay flawlessly.”
DJ Hero 2 will be available this fall for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, or Wii. You can pick up the game in either the Party Bundle, which will include the game, a microphone, and two turntable controllers, or the Turntable Bundle for DJ Hero owners, which will have the game and a single turntable controller.
Gibson Settles Rock Band Patent Case
Jun 9th
Gibson Guitar Corp has settled its patent suit against Viacom and Electronic Arts over Rock Bandfiled in 2008. Gibson alleged at the time that Viacom and EA’s Rock Band games violated a patent related to “using a musical instrument to take part in a simulated concert.”
This road has been traveled before, with Gibson having previously sued Activision for the same issues relating to Guitar Hero. That case began when Gibson attempted to get Activision to license their patent, and led to a suit and a countersuit, both which were dismissed following a settlement in April 2009.
The companies told the judge that they had “reached a full settlement” on June 4 and look to move for dismissal of the case by June 14. Terms of the settlement have not been released, andBloomberg was unable to meet any of the parties for comment.
Gibson retains patent infringement complaints against retailers who stocked both games, including Target, Wal-Mart, and Amazon.
Xbox 360 Sees Best Attach Rate in U.K.
Jun 9th
The PlayStation brand has always been historically strong in Europe and Japan, but Microsoft remains committed to both markets with a continued focus on the U.K. Chris Lewis, Microsoft’s VP of Interactive Entertainment Business spoke with MCV about Microsoft’s drive in the U.K.
“We don’t break out figures by country, but the U.K. continues to be a very strong market for us with the highest attach rate in the world,” Lewis remarked. “In the face of price drops, new form factors and massive marketing expenditure by the competition, Xbox 360 still grew full-year market share in [Europe, the Middle East, and Africa] from 2008 to 2009.”
Lewis notes that the attach rate makes the 360 a lucrative platform for publishers in the U.K. “In November, we also celebrated selling 10 million consoles into customers’ homes in [Europe, the Middle East, and Africa]. Our games attach rate remains the highest in the industry, by an increasing margin, which makes us both an enviable platform and a great partner for publishers and retailers alike.”
Sega’s Yakuza 4 Coming To North America and Europe Next Spring
Jun 9th
Once Yakuza 3 had hit a half million units sold in Japan, Sega promptly gifted western fans with a localization of the title. Well, it looks like history is set to repeat. Yakuza 4 crossed 526,000 units sold in Japan as of April 2010, and today Sega has announced a release for North America and Europe. Western Yakuza fans can expect the game, exclusively on PS3, in the spring of 2011.
Unlike previous installments, instead of focusing on one protagonist Yakuza 4 allows players to experience the story through the eyes of three main characters. Each character has a different fighting style and personality, but all three are related in some way to Yakuza’s classic protagonist Kazuma Kiryu. Die-hard fans have already waded through PSN’s Japanese branch in order to play the demo, which remains up there if you have the patience.
