Setting
– Developers considered different types of settings like medieval Japan (main character would be a samurai) and modern day (main character would be a high school boy)
– Team chose Scandinavian mythology instead of Greek mythology
– There was a lot of trial and error with character designs, devs did motion capture for some characters before the design was finished
– Giants took a long time to create
– Sandlot found making a natural landscape difficult since they had experience mainly with cities
– Dev team researched Scandinavian nature
– Script more than 10 cm thick when piled up
– Over an hour of cut-scenes
THQ SPRINGS INTO ACTION WITH THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF ALL STAR KARATETM, CURRENTLY IN DEVELOPMENT EXCLUSIVELY FOR WiiTM
Latest Title in All Star Franchise Becomes First Video Game on Wii to Integrate Karate-Based Play
AGOURA HILLS, Calif. – Feb. 8, 2010 – THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI) today announced that All Star Karate™ is currently in development exclusively for Wii™ and is scheduled for release this spring. All Star Karate, the first extension in the company’s All Star franchise, which debuted with the All Star Cheer Squad™ cheerleading video game in 2008, will challenge players to punch, kick and chop their way through the game with play features based on real karate moves. With optional Wii MotionPlus™ compatibility, the game offers a true full-body experience by allowing players to experience the life of a karate trainee who is under the guidance of a wise, but humorous sensei, and is on the path toward attaining a black belt, the highest achievement level in karate.
About All Star Karate
In All Star Karate, players will follow the life of a young, martial arts novice whose noble attempt to save an elderly man from a pack of ninjas brings him face-to-face with a true karate master. The sensei, a cantankerous old-timer, offers his services and teaches his new protégé the proper techniques and disciplines of karate and guides him toward achieving the black belt. In single-player, Career mode, players will execute and master various karate moves utilizing the Wii Remote™ and Nunchuk, or two Wii Remotes, in order to attain the seven different colored belts or achievement levels in karate, including the black belt. Additionally, players can show off their hand, kicking and blocking techniques by sparring with a friend in Challenge mode or by creating their own move sequences to perform with the Kata Editor.
– Bozon is leaving IGN
– The IGN editors didn’t see it coming, unlike people on the message boards
– Matt had another child
– Bozon has no hard feelings
– Bozon is moving on to a competitor
Epicenter
– They made Real Heroes: Firefighters, which was actually a good title for Wii
– Working on a new game
– Showing Craig on Tuesday
– Craig knows the idea behind it, but doesn’t want to say yet
– “Uniquely controlled”
It looks like two of the bigger Nintendo magazines – Nintendo Power and the Official Nintendo Magazine – have something special in store. Both are teasing some surprises for their next issues. It’s worth mentioning that Japanese publication Nintendo Dream is also set to unveil a surprising new title in a popular Nintendo series later this month. Perhaps these latest teases are related.
“You want creative? You want innovative? Then get ready for next issue. Our in-depth WarioWare D.I.Y. feature will tell you everything you need to know about this groundbreaking game. Plus, we’ll celebrate the 20th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. – one of the most successful games of all time – and deliver the verdicts on titles such as Red steel 2, Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver Versions,and Infinite Space. And, of course, there’ll be a few surprises.” – Nintendo Power
“That’s right – I suggest you mark 12 March in your diaries now, as we have something very special lined up. That’s all I can say for now, so until then, enjoy the mag!” – Official Nintendo Magazine
Thanks to SuperHero1 for the news tip!
This game will be released in North America sometime in March.
This information comes from the Q&A portion of Nintendo’s latest financial briefing…
“In recent video game software market, there is a huge gap between what sells very well and what sells very badly and this is a challenge for the whole industry. Some people criticize that Wii business has been driven only by Nintendo’s great hits and there is little benefit for third parties, which in fact is not true, as the situation is similar even on non-Nintendo platforms, when we compare per-title sales figure like this. Adding to these facts, when we actually consider which platform owns more major titles of third parties, that criticism again loses the basis. But once people assume a fact they can hardly pay attention to the contrary bases. So I believe we need to ask foreign software companies for their cooperation by asking them to pay close attention to these facts and by explaining the business opportunities on our platforms, in order to build a cooperative relationship. I must admit we did not make enough effort to solve the bias or misunderstanding between third parties and us. I believe we have to make effort to make them understand that we can build a win-win relationship on Nintendo platforms with their good software titles that hold plenty of opportunities.” – Satoru Iwata
The situation with third-party sales on Wii is tricky. Some titles do quite well, but on other hand, there are a number of high-quality products that really should see better sales. It’s also interesting to consider that some Nintendo-published games have disappointing sales, like Excitebots: Trick Racing. Something tells me that Disaster: Day of Crisis performed poorly in Europe, too.
Thanks to Nathan P for the news tip!
This information comes from Netflix Vice President of Corporate Communications Steve Swasey…
“26 million homes in America have a Wii. That’s a whole lot of folks…We think that the desirability of watching movies instantly on the Wii via Netflix is a wonderful opportunity for Wii homes. And so we think it’s going to be very well adopted…PS3 and Xbox users have 1 in 17 titles available in HD, and it’s streamed in 720…it’s not in 1080, and it’s not in 5.1 surround sound or anything. So, the HD experience at Netflix Instant Watching isn’t that overwhelming. It’s a little bit underwhelming. So the Wii folks aren’t going to miss that much.”
Thanks to Ian M for the news tip!
#1 Packaged Goods Publisher in North America and Europe Fiscal Year-to-Date
Digital Direct Revenue Increases 30%
FIFA 10 Sells Over 9.7 Million Copies Since LaunchREDWOOD CITY, Calif., Feb 08, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) today announced preliminary financial results for its third quarter ended December 31, 2009.
Fiscal Third Quarter Results (comparisons are to the quarter ended December 31, 2008)
GAAP net revenue for the quarter, which includes the impact of deferred net revenue adjustments, was $1.243 billion as compared with $1.654 billion for the prior year. During the quarter, EA had a net revenue deferral of $103 million related to certain online-enabled packaged goods and digital content as compared with $88 million in the third quarter of the prior year. This $103 million deferral will be recognized in future quarters.
LONDON, UK – 8th February, 2010 – LucasArts and TT Games today announced the development of LEGO® Star Wars™ III: The Clone Wars™. The next chapter in the award-winning LEGO® Star Wars videogame franchise, LEGO® Star Wars III: The Clone Wars will combine the best elements of all previous LEGO® games while adding brand new gameplay to make it the most action-packed LEGO® videogame to date. Developed by the same team at Traveller’s Tales that created the critically acclaimed LEGO® Star Wars and LEGO® Indiana Jones™ series, the game will ship on the Wii™, Nintendo DS™, PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system, and Xbox 360®videogame and entertainment system from Microsoft and Windows in the Autumn of 2010.
“LucasArts continues to set the bar for next-generation family entertainment,” said Darrell Rodriguez, president of LucasArts. “The LEGO® Star Wars franchise is a massive hit with fans, bringing in sales of over 20 million units worldwide. We’re thrilled to extend this experience to LEGO® Star Wars III: The Clone Wars, delivering the humour and fun players expect from this award winning franchise.”
