However, I think there’s something to do with allowing different media to do what each media does well. When I think of games as an art form, they start with being transportive. Because they’re interactive, because you are more involved in the experience than in any other form of entertainment, it all starts with being transported. And obviously a natural place to want to transport people is into an experience they can’t have in their everyday lives. Sometimes that’s driving a fast car, sometimes that’s being a professional athlete, sometimes that’s being a rock star, sometimes that’s being a hero or going into a fantastical future
“I think this is inherently what games do best and so I’d expect that to be the basis of games for a long time to come. I don’t know if romantic comedy fits that model. I think that’s something that movies and TV do well. There’s this strange desire to morph games into movies or have them behave more like movies; I don’t share that desire. Games are wonderful as they are and do different things better than other forms of media.”

Via VG247

More: Activision

Mark Rolston (Shawshank Redemption, Halo 4) is voicing Deathstroke in Batman: Arkham Origins

Posted on 11 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in General Gaming, News, Platforms, Wii U | 0 comments

Revealed during an AMA on reddit earlier this week, actor Mark Rolston– who played roles in films like The Shawshank Redemption, and games like Halo 4 and Injustice: Gods Among Us— will be voicing the antagonist ‘Deathstroke’ the Terminator’. “”Wow, there have been so many people chasing that one,” mused the game’s creative director Eric Holmes during the chat with fans.

Via Gamespot

More: top

GAME issues statement breaking street dates, says it “undermines the work” of game creators

Posted on 11 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in 3DS, General Gaming, General Nintendo, News, Platforms | 3 Comments

“We take compliance with all industry standards and regulations very seriously. It was extremely disappointing to see a number of competitors break street date over Thursday and Friday on Nintendo products across both online and store environments.”

“We are seeing street date breaches occur on a frequent basis and this undermines the work which goes in to creating exceptional launches. We’ve worked very closely with Nintendo in the run-up to launch in order to make them as successful as possible. We have worked with them on every decision taken.”

– GAME category director Charlotte Knight

This comes in response to multiple retailers allowing folks to purchase Pokémon X/Y early, which greatly upset Nintendo and may have caused fines to be issued in certain cases. GAME has been guilty of breaking street dates before, however– just not with such colossal franchises.

Via MCVUK

Ubisoft expects Assassin’s Creed IV to sell 10 million units across all platforms

Posted on 11 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in General Gaming, News, Platforms, Wii U | 3 Comments

Their figures for Watch_Dogs are (a bit) more conservative, but with Assassin’s Creed IV Ubisoft is expecting sales figures to hit the double-digit millions. 10 million would put the game ahead of most this holiday season, but it’s worth noting (thanks, VideoGamer!) that Assassin’s Creed III actually sold even more than that, clocking in at 12.5 million.

Assassin’s Creed IV will be out on October 29th for Wii U.

Via VideoGamer

Ubisoft share price falls up to 32% amidst game delays

Posted on 11 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in General Gaming, General Nintendo, News, Platforms, Wii U | 2 Comments

Understandably, Ubisoft’s stock took a hit this week after they announced the delay of two of their biggest titles this holiday season: Watch_Dogs and The Crew. Both games were pushed into 2014, and shortly thereafter the company’s shares fell by the biggest margin they’ve seen since they debuted on the stock exchange all the way back in 1996. On top of that, we recently reported that the company said Rayman Legends and Splinter Cell: Blacklist sold below expectations, which probably contributed to their troubles.

Via Gamespot

Ubisoft says Watch_Dogs delay allows for “far bigger potential”

Posted on 11 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in General Gaming, News, Platforms, Wii U | 1 Comment

“In fact, we play-tested the game until the last minute. With the most relevant information in hand, the decision was the most relevant to take. What we saw in the play-tests is that we were very close to the quality we wanted, but not exactly at the level. We thought that with more time we could give it a far bigger potential, so we think the best way to take care of this brand is to make sure it has everything it can be supplied to the customers that are expecting it.”

– Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot

Watch_Dogs was delayed until early 2014 earlier this week.

Via Gamespot

[EVENT] Extra Life 2013 – The 24-Hour Gaming Marathon for Charity LIVE!

Posted on 11 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in Features, General Gaming, Site updates, Videos | 1 Comment

Donate Dollars
Vote on Games

Ah yes, it is that time of year again– time to start preparing and setting up our participation in Extra Life 2013! Last year we participated for the first time ever and managed to play video games for 24 hours straight while people watched us live over the internet. This year, it’s going to be the same deal only BIGGER, BADDER, and BETTER than ever! So, here’s the low-down:

What is Extra Life? What have you gotten yourselves into this time?

Extra Life is a charity organization that is most famous for setting up a global 24-hour gaming marathon that has gamers attempting to play any game– board game, video game, card game, etc– for 24 hours straight without stopping. Anyone can participate, and your fundraising goal can be any amount you want– don’t hesitate to sign up yourself if you think you can get a few friends or family members to pitch in a couple bucks.

100% of the money goes to the charity, and it’s used to purchase video games and consoles for kids who are chronically ill or otherwise have to stay in hospitals for extended periods. The games are meant to help take their minds off of what they may be going through, which I’m sure many of you who have spent time in a hospital can relate to!

More: highlight

Mega-Man/Mighty No. 9 creator Keiji Inafune says “if any creator has not played Mario, then they’re probably not a good creator”, shares fondness for the series

Posted on 11 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in 3DS, General Gaming, General Nintendo, News, Podcast Stories, Wii U | 15 Comments

“If any creator has not played Mario, then they’re probably not a good creator. That’s something I can say with 100 percent confidence. Mario is, for game creators, the development bible. There are so many hints about good design, about cute characters, about innovation in using an existing gameplay system. It’s something you have to constantly look at and examine and take hints from as a game creator. It’s the anchor that grounds almost all games.”

“I have total respect for Miyamoto, to the point where… It’s very strange that there are national cultural treasures – they’re traditionally sportsmen. I think it’s very strange that somebody as famous as Miyamoto hasn’t been designated one of those people. He’s talked about in all different countries. Lots of people know him. He’s pushed forward Japanese culture and interest in Japan all over the world. He’s somebody that deserves everyone’s ultimate respect, and a lot of that is due to being able to create Mario. And Super Mario Bros. 3, of course, within that, was a fantastic game.”

– Keiji Inafune

This quote comes as part of a large Super Mario related feature that IGN is putting together where many gaming-industry personalities– Greg Miller, Cliffy B, and Ted Price, for example. You can check that out here.

Via Gamespot

Oddworld Inhabitants speaks on the possibility of new Oddworld games, says there are “two different possibilities”

Posted on 11 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in General Gaming, News, Wii U | 0 comments

“[There are] two different possibilities. I don’t want to say what they are, because we’ve talked way too many times and not actually delivered a title. Now, we’ve talked about Hand of Odd in the past, we’ve talked about Brutal Ballad of Fangus Klot; we started production then we stopped it. Those were the two that got out there and people didn’t really see anything new.”

“Most of my time today is going into designing new product, but our bandwidth is stretched. So I’m designing a lot of things – two major things. Now I’m not sure which will get started first. If we have the success of New ‘n’ Tasty … let’s say if we can do a million units of New ‘n’ Tasty – I don’t know if that’s completely unrealistic or not because we don’t have advertising money, we don’t have a big publisher pushing it. I think Sony will help us expose it. I think it will be a quality game, but it’s not trying to be Destiny, right?

– Oddworld co-founder and president Lorne Lanning

Via Joystiq

61% of UK citizens believe that games cause an increase in aggression, old people are more likely to link the two

Posted on 11 years ago by Austin(@NE_Austin) in General Gaming, News | 2 Comments

A poll taken by YouGov asked UK citizens if they believe that playing video games can cause real-life aggression to bubble up. Respondents were only able to answer “yes” or “no” to the poll, as no “sometimes” or “maybe” answer was provided. Here are the results:

– 61% of respondents said “Yes” when asked if games increase real-life aggression
– 57% said that games are a good way to let out frustration
– Old people/those who haven’t played games think worse of games than young people/those who have played games

Don’t read too far into this– it’s just one study.

Via Eurogamer