Jamie Keen worked at Ubisoft Montreal during the development of Far Cry 3, where he acted as lead game designer. This week, some of the gaming press took a look at his LinkedIn profile, and discovered that it lists him leaving Ubisoft Montreal in February 2012 to join up with EA and work on their upcoming Need for Speed title– many months before he finished work on Far Cry 3. Some are suggesting this is a typo, and it means to read “February 2013”. If it does, it means that he left during the development of Watch Dogs, on which he was also said to be lead designer.

If it isn’t a typo and he did leave in 2012, it means he was never lead designer on Watch Dogs and he didn’t finish work on Far Cry 3, which seems unlikely. Why he left the company in the first place is unknown, but we’ll keep you posted if this goes anywhere!

Via VideoGamer

Miyamoto on Wii U NFC, dual GamePads, more regular announcements this year, E3 value

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Podcast Stories, Wii U | 0 comments

The Wii U has been out for a few months now, but there is still one element of the console that remains untapped: NFC. No Nintendo or third-party games have yet to take advantage of the functionality.

When asked about Nintendo’s plans for Wii U’s NFC, Shigeru Miyamoto said:

“With NFC, that’s a feature that everyone that owns a Wii U can take advantage of. So that’s what we’re putting our priorities right now. We’re hoping that in the near future we’ll be able to show you something that will take advantage of the NFC on Wii U and people will be able to enjoy that.”

PETA: Assassin’s Creed IV whaling mechanic is “disgraceful”

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

“Whaling – that is, shooting whales with harpoons and leaving them to struggle for an hour or more before they die or are hacked apart while they are still alive – may seem like something out of the history books, but this bloody industry still goes on today in the face of international condemnation, and it’s disgraceful for any game to glorify it.”

“PETA encourages video game companies to create games that celebrate animals – not games that promote hurting and killing them.

– PETA Statement

PETA is no stranger to criticizing video games– they’ve said themselves that they intentionally blow things out of proportion in order to draw attention to their legitimate cause– and today we get to hear about their opinions on Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, specifically the game’s whaling mechanic.

Whether the criticism is legitimate or not isn’t really up for debate– even PETA would likely admit (behind closed doors, of course) that going after artistic mediums isn’t always wholesome– but the question of whether the game is “glorifying” the action is still completely unknown. Plenty of games have violence, but not all of them glorify it, and we’ll have to wait and see whether this particular mechanic is made out to be a moral positive or simply a fact of life, as it was back then.

Via VideoGamer

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate’s digital versions reconfirmed for launch, file sizes

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, News, Podcast Stories, Wii U | 0 comments

If you want to go digital with Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, Capcom will have you covered. The company has reconfirmed that Wii U and 3DS owners will be able to download the game at launch.

On Wii U, Ultimate is a 6.07GB download. The digital 3DS version is 1.74GB.

Source 1, Source 2

Minecraft “very unlikely” for Wii U

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Podcast Stories, Wii U | 0 comments

Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition was the IP’s first foray on consoles. Microsoft currently has exclusive rights to the franchise, meaning it can’t land on other dedicated gaming devices just yet.

Eventually, Microsoft’s deal with Mojang will expire, and Minecraft could end up on additional platforms. But, unfortunately, Jens Bergensten says that a Wii U version is “very unlikely.”

According to Bergensten:

“Microsoft has an exclusivity deal for consoles. When it runs out we’ll consider Minecraft for PlayStation, but Wii U is very unlikely.”

Source, Via

Disney Infinity Lightning McQueen trailer

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Videos, Wii, Wii U | 0 comments

Ubisoft on Rayman strategy, Legends’ non-used Wii U NFC, Beyond Good & Evil 2, more

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Podcast Stories, Wii U | 0 comments

Ubisoft France boss Xavier Poix answered a whole bunch of questions in a new IGN interview. Topics include Ubisoft’s strategy when it comes to Rayman, Wii U NFC, and Beyond Good & Evil 2.

We’ve rounded up Poix’s comments below.

Lots of Resident Evil: Revelations HD Inferno Mode footage

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Videos, Wii U | 0 comments

Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag dated for Europe

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 0 comments

News leaked out a few days back that Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag will be launching in North America on October 29. Ubisoft officially confirmed the date today, as well as the release timing for Europe. Black Flag will be out in the country just a few days later – November 1.