In the wake of a mass shooting or terrorist attack the question of video game violence is raised. Games are often portrayed as little more than drug-addiction meets murder-simulator, and we game makers apologise endlessly. But we are not really being true to ourselves by adopting these apologist positions. In a sense all games are inherently violent. And this is a good thing. → Read More
Most of the talk around games tends to focus on climate. It’s about finding the right customers, funding, platform, business model, partnerships, metric and discovery solutions, technology, route to market and so on. However every always says that the first rule of making games is to make sure that the game is fun. Without a fun game there’s no rule two. True, but what does “fun” mean? → Read More
Gamestop today announced plans to launch 80 new holiday concept stores called GameStop Kids across the U.S., offering kid-friendly shopping experiences. The storefronts will sell video games, but focus on accessories, licensed good like plush toys, and collectibles. Judging by the product list, however, this looks like a store designed not only for actual children, but for anyone with a love of… → Read More
Several people have contacted me and asked whether such-and-such a game would work with crowdfunding, or whole sectors. Could educational games benefit from crowdfunding, for example. Or what about game-like projects, or gaming hardware innovations? The answers to these questions have little to do with the product itself. They are driven by what I call marketing stories. → Read More
The Bay Area is the epicentre of a massive disruption which shook the games industry to its foundation. It erupted through what we call social and mobile games, drew huge audiences and changed the fundamental economics of games and introduced a whole new language of play. It even went beyond games into what we now call gamification.
I call it the San Francisco Revolution. And I think it’s over. → Read More
If you really want to become a hated figure in GamerVille, predict the doom of single player games. This is territory that Frank Gibeau from Electronic Arts inadvertently strayed into this week when he declared that he now only commissions games that connect to the cloud. The gaming press in general read this as EA saying it would no longer make single player games like Mass Effect, and went… → Read More
Amazon CFO Tom Szkutak offered more details this afternoon during an analyst earnings call about the company’s disappointing fourth quarter
When it comes to physical media, Szkutak said the biggest hit to revenue came in the area of video game sales, which includes both console and game sales (but not games sold digitally, say from Amazon’s app store). Even though he didn’t offer specific… → Read More
Japan’s video game industry is the world’s second biggest (after the US), but it’s on a downward streak for the fifth consecutive year. Based on sales, the country’s video game industry has contracted by as much as 8% year-on-year, Japan’s biggest gaming magazine Famitsu is reporting [JP].
Between December 27, 2010 and December 25, 2011, Japanese game companies generated US$5.9 billion in… → Read More
It’s the middle of the year, and the Famitsu [JP], Japan’s (and probably the world’s) biggest video game magazine, decided it’s a good time to release the top 10 of the best-selling video games in Japan in the first half of this year, apart from a list of the top selling titles this week. → Read More
The original Dragon Age was a pretty good game — lots of free roaming, but also precise timelines. It wasn’t uncommon to spend 90+ hours in the main story, but at least the story had substance, just a bit long. Today, Dragon Age 2 released, and continuing on the steam from the first, BioWare has released the game for PC, Xbox 360, PS 3 and Mac OS X simultaneously. → Read More
It’s not the best time to be a gamer in Vietnam. The country’s government, by way of the Ministry of Information and Communication, has decreed that ISPs there block access to online games between the hours of 10pm and 8am. No late-night raiding for you, I’m afraid. → Read More
Everybody panic. The video game industry was down 5 percent this past January compared to January 2010, even if Activision still managed to sell an inordinate number of Call of Duty: Black Ops copies. → Read More
Valve has released the details surrounding pre-ordering Portal 2. The game is available for pre-order right now on Steam (and other retailers), and if you pre-order the game they’ll knock $5 off the price, bringing it down to $45. → Read More
It’s not the first time this has happened, and it most certainly won’t be the last time. A reasonably complete build of Crysis 2 (reports suggest people have already beaten the game) leaked at the weekend, prompting Crytek, the game’s developers, to release a statement saying that it, along with EA, the game’s publisher, was “deeply disappointed by the news,” and that it… → Read More
It would appear that Crysis 2 for the PC has leaked in some capacity. A quick look at some of the more popular sites when it comes to this kind of thing suggests that many thousands of people have no problem downloading Crytek’s unfinished game, which is due for release next month. Well, was due for release next month—who knows how this leak will affect development? → Read More
Now here’s a rumor that will stop many people in their tracks. An analyst at Wedbush Securities, “one of the largest securities firms and investment banks in the nation,” says that he’s “certain to [his] core” that Activision is planning a pay-to-play Call of Duty. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the sound of millions of gamers around the country flipping out. Picture an anime… → Read More
Kudos to Activision for doing exactly what so many people had been predicting for years now. The world’s biggest video game publisher said yesterday that it was going to “disband Activision Publishing’s Guitar Hero business unit,” citing a decline in interest in the music game genre. And what could possibly be the reason for that, hmm? Maybe releasing sequel after sequels after sequel in such… → Read More
Let it be known that 2011 will be the year that console gamers will be jealous of their PC gaming brethren. (As if that matters, but whatever.) Red Orchestra 2, Crysis 2, and the mighty Battlefield 3 will be best experienced on the PC, and if you’re sitting there on your couch, controller in hand, you’re really not getting the full experience. Sorry. → Read More
What do fans of Call of Duty: Black Ops and Mass Effect 2 have in common? One group of fans spends its time playing a pop-a-mole shooter set in outer space, while the other group of fans spends its time playing a pop-a-mole shooter set on earth. Oh, and both groups of fans have been fighting game-breaking bugs for some time now. One such bug, gone unpatched for more than two weeks now, corrupts… → Read More
At the CrunchGear offices, after all our tireless work, we sit around and talk time; watches, clocks, and 2012 occupy our general water cooler discussions. But, when we aren’t talking time, video games is usually next on the list. So combining 1 and 2 would be like the sweet combination of peanut butter to our chocolate. That combination can now be had in a clock called the Wise Clock: our … → Read More
What exciting times we live in, what with word that Sony has plans to subpoena a boatload of Web sites and individuals in an attempt to track down the members of fail0verflow and other PS3 hackers. Good luck with that. But wait, what’s this? Now LG wants to ban the sale of PS3s here in the US of A because of a patent dispute? In the words of Scott Hall, two sweet! → Read More
Last week saw a full-on Mad Catz arcade stick for the upcoming Marvel vs. Capcom 3, and this week we have something a little less conspicuous.(Not everyone wants to store a big arcade stick around the house.) It’s the Marvel Edition Versus Fighting Pad, from Performance Designed Products. If nothing else it looks pretty good, not some slapped-together thing designed to make a quick buck. → Read More
One of the better deals during Steam’s holiday sale was the Stalker series for something like $5—pretty much an insane deal. The games are the definition of the PC shooter (as opposed to console shooter like Killzone or Halo): freedom of movement, no silly scripted sequences, mods all day long, etc. Well now it looks like a group of modders, from Russia, have taken it upon themselves to… → Read More
Sony is apparently going after more hackers than just George Hotz and fail0verflow. Sony is looking to get DMCA suits against all PS3 jailbreakers who share Sony’s source code on Github. Well-known PS3 hackers Waninkoko, KaKaRoTo, Hermes, Kmeaw and Graf_Chokolo have been named in documents to Github requesting all docs and posts from the users, as well as all contact information. → Read More
It looks like there will be a Halo: Combat Evolved re-make after all. So says mighty Joystiq. It’ll be available on November 15, 2011, 10 years to the day after the game’s original release for the Xbox. Oh, happy day! → Read More
Bad news for people who think they’re great drivers because they play games like Gran Turismo 5: you’re not. New research suggests that while playing games may improve reaction time, it also seems to help churn out aggressive drivers. It’s easy to be an aggressive driver in Gran Turismo where damage is minimal (if existent at all), but not when you’re driving down I-95. → Read More
Look at your calendar. That’s right, it’s Chinese New Year. What does that mean? One, fun photos, and two, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for iOS is 50 percent off. The sale lasts until Sunday. → Read More
Still waiting for the PC version of Battlefield 1943? You’re going to be waiting quite a bit longer, I’m afraid—which is to say you’re going to be waiting forever as the game has been cancelled. Dice says it wants to focus on making Battlefield 3, the next game in the popular series, “the best Battlefield ever,” hence the cancellation. No use diverting resources to what amounts to… → Read More
If you’ve ever wanted a different Xbox wireless headset other than the offering from Microsoft, you’ve been out of luck. You see, Microsoft uses proprietary wireless to connect to their headsets, which means no one else is getting a piece of that pie. While that’s nice and all for Microsoft, it hasn’t really offered much for people wanting something more. That notion isn’t likely to change… → Read More
My kingdom for a mouse and keyboard! Sony’s Killzone 3, which I’ve secretly been playing (less multi-player) for the past few weeks, ranks right up there with Halo: Reach as the best example of a console shooter you’re likely to find. People with no time for “console shooters”—rails, scripted sequences, etc.—may as well click away now. And while it’s so very, very painful… → Read More
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