Fans of Beyblade have a good reason to be excited this coming fall. That’s when Rising Star Games’ ‘Beyblade: Evolution’ for the Nintendo 3DS is due out. The game is an exclusive release for the 3DS, and makes use of the console’s AR card compatibility and built-in gyroscope.
via New Beyblade game coming to 3DS – Toronto Nintendo | Examiner.com.
Author, graphic novelist, Doctor Who writer – and now video games developer; It seems Neil Gaiman wants to sample every form of creative medium.
The author of Stardust and Amercian Gods has lifted the lid on his first video game project, a puzzle game entitled Wayward Manor.
Gaiman will work with US-based developer The Odd Gentleman, the firm behind XBLA puzzler The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom, according to CVG.
via Neil Gaiman is creating a video game | Games industry news | MCV.
Edge Online: There’s an ongoing debate regarding the depiction of women in games. You see that encouraging players to ogle women via X-ray specs will be controversial, right?
Suda 51: We try to create a world that doesn’t really trace or depict what is considered ‘real’, but what I like to consider a ‘hyper-real’ world. And when you take examples in other pop-culture media… James Bond, especially, which is a big inspiration for Mondo girls – ‘Mondo girl’ is a play on the Japanese pronunciation of Bond girl, in fact. James Bond, after he does a mission, there’s always going to be a Bond girl who will, in between, offer him a moment of relief and relaxation. So I’m depicting something similar here, and I feel that the implementation of it will give the players a kind of beat, a type of rest.
via Suda 51 on originality, videogame sexism and next gen development | Features | Edge Online.
Writing on his blog, Amrich said that Vonderhaar "often gets told he should die in a fire or kill himself or is a horrible person. If anybody thinks for a second that this is okay, it is not. But if the loudest voices in the Call of Duty ‘community’ act like an angry mob instead, guess how the entire world views Call of Duty? Now consider that these Internet Tough Guy rants and demands are not unique to COD, but exist everywhere, in many gaming communities. This is why the world often does not take gaming seriously; this is why gamers are assumed to be immature, whiny a**holes. Because the immature, whiny a**holes are louder."
"The fact that [Vonderhaar] focuses on the useful feedback, puts that intel to good use fixing the problem, and doesn’t irrationally lash out at the immature, whiny assholes is amazing."
via Activision criticises immature, whiny a**holes who threaten CoD devs – GameSpot.com.
Famitsu.com was granted early access to the God Eater 2 demo launching for PS Vita tomorrow in Japan and recorded six-and-a-half minutes of footage.
The game, set three years after the preceding God Eater Burst, begins when members of the “Blood” special forces are sent to investigate a new pandemic called the “Black Plague” caused by “Red Rain” in the Far East Branch.
via Six minutes of God Eater 2 demo gameplay – Gematsu.
"We’re thrilled to debut this new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles video game for our younger Turtles fans," said Nickelodeon’s Sherice Torres.
"Jam-packed with all the ninjas, nunchucks and non-stop action Turtles fans crave, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is set to delight fans around the globe when it launches in time for the holidays."
Nickelodeon’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles debuted in September last year and currently one of the network’s most popular shows with around 24 million viewers per month.
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game will be released for Wii, Xbox 360 and 3DS on October 22 in North America and October 25 in Europe.
via 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' new game announced – Gaming News – Digital Spy.
GaymerX, the Kickstarter-funded renaissance of GaymerCon, is schedule to take place in San Francisco from August 3 to August 4.Billing itself as "the first gaming convention focused on the queer geek culture", GaymerX will feature panels and talks with an eye toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender issues in the modern games industry.Yet alongside talks like Electronic Arts – Why We Think It is Important To Create More LGBT Inclusive Games are panels with a broader scope like So you want to be an indie developer.
Given its premiere at San Diego Comic-Con 2013, this new trailer reveals more about the involving story, exciting action and engaging characters to be included in the forthcoming LIGHTNING RETURNS: FINAL FANTASY XIII. How will you spend your final days?
Namco Bandai are at it again. The publisher has filed trademarks in Japan for Tales of Zestoria, Tales of Creales and Tales of Catastora for use with videogames. (Via: Hachima Kiko)
Now, keep in mind that not all of these are going to be turned into games. While certain Namco trademarks pan out, others like Tales of Floweria, Tales of Floria, Tales of Blessia and Tales of Startear never amounted to anything.
via Namco Bandai File Trademarks For Tales of Zestoria And More.
Ubisoft’s development legend Michel Ancel has said that only the next-generation consoles could handle his ideas for Beyond Good & Evil 2.
The sequel to the acclaimed 2003 title has been teased for years now, and it was confirmed in 2011 that the game would not be coming out on current consoles.
Now the game’s creator has told IGN why.
Players will once again play investigative reporter Jade, but this time Ancel wants to give them the change to actually feel like they’re in charge of their investigation, rather than follow a storyline written by developers.
via Beyond Good & Evil 2 'not possible' before Xbox One, PS4 | Games industry news | MCV.
Square Enix is bringing their smartphone RPG hit, Chaos Rings, to PlayStation Vita. The game will be re-released as a PlayStation Mobile title on July 24 so you can enter the Ark Arena on Vita.
Chaos Rings follows four pairs chosen to fight each other to the death with the promise of immortality as a reward. You choose which pair to play as like childhood friends Escher and Musiea. Escher was born into a royal family, but raised by thieves after he was kidnapped and Musiea was held captive with Escher.
via Square Enix's Chaos Rings Comes To Vita Next Week – Siliconera.
A new online social roleplaying game based on the short-lived sci-fi TV series Firefly is inbound from developers QMX Interactive and Spark Plug Games. It’ll initially be released for iOS and Android devices, but may expand to other platforms later on.
Inspired by both the Joss Whedon series and subsequent Serenity film, you must hire a crew, acquire a ship and then take on missions. You’ll be competing and trading with other players to survive in the Verse, the fiction’s colloquial term for its universe. QMX Interactive promises ship customisation, cross-platform play, and adventures spanning space and planet surface environments.
via Official Firefly game announced | News | Edge Online.
We at oprainfall rarely venture into stories that involve mostly speculation…or things becoming lost in translation…but when one of our Staff saw this a few hours ago, I figured it was worth spending a little time on. I’ve enlisted our two translators, Jodie and Will, to try to make sense out of what’s being reported here.
Intelligent Systems filed trademarks related to “Fire Emblem” and “EMBLEM” respectively on June 24th. These trademarks, meant for “use in home games/toys and media related to home games/toys”, were granted just a short time ago today, July 18th.
via (Japan) Nintendo Trademarks "Fire Emblem" & "EMBLEM" – oprainfall.
Nintendo announced Wednesday that the Wii U eShop title, Pokémon Rumble U, will be released to North America this August while also revealing that the toys for the game will only be available at GameStop.
Pokémon Rumble U will be released to the Wii U eShop on Aug. 29, 2013 for $17.99. The title is the first to use the GamePad’s Near Field Communication (NFC) sensor which will allow players to import the toy characters they’ve purchased directly into the game.
While the game comes with 649 Pokémon characters, the toy figures scanned into the game can be upgraded by using Coins that have been earned. Players can even change moves, add a Special Trait to their NFC Figure and save in-game data so you can take it wherever they go. Some of the 18 first wave of figures include Pikachu, Victini, Deoxys (Normal Forme), Eevee, and Genesect and will be exclusively sold at GameStop for $3.99 each.
Dreamcast owners will likely be all too familiar with an incredibly weird game that centered around conversing with a fish-man creature. Oddly enough, Seaman quickly became a sort of cult hit for Sega’s final gaming console, serving as one of the most strange and unique virtual pet games of all time.
Believe it or not, it appears that Nintendo may be looking to bring back the franchise in some capacity. According to Japanese blog Esuteru, The Big N has purchased the rights to "Mysterious Pet: Legend of the Fish With A Human Face," as well as "Mysterious Partner: Legend of the Fish With A Human Face."
via Could Nintendo Be Looking To Revive Seaman?.
Namco Bandai’s new title countdown site is for Jump Legend Biography, a compilation of Famicom and Super Famicom Jump games for 3DS, this week’s Famitsu reveals.
The current line-up includes:
Dragon Ball: Shenron no Nazo (Famicom)
Saint Seiya: Ougon Densetsu Kanketsu Hen (Famicom)
Saint Seiya: Ougon Densetsu Kanketsu Hen Last Chapter (Famicom)
Sakigake!! Otokojuku: Shippu Ichi Gou Sei (Famicom)
Go! Go! Ackman 3 (Super Famicom)
via Jump Legend Biography announced for 3DS – Gematsu.
Kasumi isn’t the only character crossing over to Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate. Famitsu this week reveals a collaboration with the Atelier series.
Sterkenburg Cranach, from Atelier‘s Arland sub-series, will be a playable character in Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate. He is voiced by Jurota Kosugi.
via Atelier character joins Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate – Gematsu.
Another hint as to Namco Bandai’s mystery Nintendo 3DS title is available today, courtesy of the game’s teaser site.
The initial hints provided by the site, “V 20” and “F 30,” have now expanded into “V 20th Anniversary x F 30th Anniversary”. The “F” is probably referring to the 30th anniversary of the Famicom, which Nintendo themselves have been celebrating.
The former could refer to the 20th anniversary of Shueisha’s V Jump magazine. V Jump began publishing in 1993, which makes this its 20th year. This would mean that the game being hinted at is probably another manga crossover of some sort.
So, where does the Famicom part come in? A quick Google search shows that Bandai once published a crossover role-playing game titled Famicom Jump: Hero Retsuden on the Famicom, back in 1989. The game featured a variety of notable characters associated with Jump magazine, such as Kenshiro (Fist of the North Star), Joseph Joestar (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure), Ryo Saeba (City Hunter) and more.
It’s possible that the new game is some sort of throwback or homage to Famicom Jump: Hero Retsuden. Either way, we probably won’t have to wait too long—Namco Bandai’s teaser site is scheduled to open in three days.
via Namco's Mystery 3DS Game Is Some Sort Of Anniversary Celebration – Siliconera.
The pair were revealed on the full cast list released by Deep Silver. Officially announced in March, Saints Row 4 sees the head of the Saints elected as the president of the United States, leading to an alien invasion. Originally a stand-alone expansion named Enter the Dominatrix, the project later became a full sequel.
via Saints Row 4 adds Neil Patrick Harris, Michael Dorn to voice cast – Gaming News – Digital Spy.
Sega has released a new trailer for Sonic Lost World, showing Sonic’s new and returning power-ups.
Sonic can conquer the sky by transforming into an eagle, unleash the cosmos by creating an enemy-destroying energy field, or master the beat by transforming into a music note. Returning powers from Sonic Colors include drilling and lasering.
via Sonic Lost World ‘Colors’ trailer – Gematsu.
Without question, 2013 has been a great year to be a gamer and it only looks to get better. Those attending Comic-Con this week are in for a gaming treat as Nintendo brings a robust lineup of new software for attendees to enjoy, the company announced on July 15. With over a dozen new Wii U titles and seven all-new 3DS games, Comic-Con is the place to be if you are a Nintendo fan.
Those who stop by the Nintendo booth will be able to play games like Super Mario 3D World, Pikmin 3, Bayonetta 2, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, and The Wonderful 101 on Wii U. Also, an impressive 3DS software lineup is available which includes The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds and Mario & Luigi: Dream Team.
via Comic-Con: Nintendo Wii U and 3DS titles playable, full lineup – National Video Game | Examiner.com.
Ninja Theory are hiring! Have you got what it takes to be our next Ninja? Check our career page for details http://t.co/lcf1iqm923 #gamejobs
— NinjaTheory (@NinjaTheory) July 3, 2013
The studio tweeted the above message on July 3, and has been followed by a string of job ads, each calling for experience in the triple-a market. Swallow some salt and treat the below as rumour until we know more about this unannounced project.
This senior designer job descriptor calls on someone with, “Experience working on a product featuring shooting, melee combat or stealth mechanics,” and, “Knowledge of the game design development process gained from working on multiple shipped titles, ideally of a recognised AAA standard.”
It also asks for someone with, “Practical experience with 3D game editing tools (e.g. Unreal, CryENGINE, Unity).” Desirable experience for the role include, “Experience with Unreal or Unity,” and “Rudimentary animation skills (Matinee for UE3/UE4 or equivalent),” which suggests the game could run on the latest version of Epic’s engine.
via Ninja Theory hiring for new AAA game, Unreal Engine 4 suggested | VG247.
5pb. has released the opening movie and debut video for Phantom Breaker: Extra, its newly announced PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 update to the 2011 Xbox 360-exclusive Phantom Breaker.
The updated fighting game will feature rebalanced gameplay, new characters, new techniques, a new “Extra” fighting style, new stages, renewed background effects, and an online spectator mode. It’s due out in Japan on September 19.
via Phantom Breaker: Extra opening movie – Gematsu.
Atlus parent company Index Corporation has registered the domain persona5.jp, fueling fans’ excitement for the next entry in the calendar-flipping, high school murder mystery simulation series.
Last August, Team Persona series producer Katsura Hashino revealed that the studio was working hard on "the next numbered Persona game," so it’s safe to say that we’ll be hearing about Persona 5 at some point in the near future. Perhaps Tokyo Game Show is a safe bet.
via Persona 5 Domain Registered By Atlus Parent Company.
Namco Bandai has announced a Western release date for RPG sequel Tales of Xillia 2.
The PS3-exclusive RPG will be released in Europe and Australia in 2014. Which – obviously – means it arrives after the launch of PS4 at the end of the year.
Tales of Xillia 2 is the 14th main release in the Tales series and was released in Japan late last year. It continues the events depicted in the first Xillia game.
Furthermore, those with a save file for the first game on their system will receive some additional free in-game goodies when starting the sequel.
via Tales of Xillia 2 getting PS3 release in 2014 | Games industry news | MCV.
In a video interview, Valve’s former head of hardware, Jeri Ellsworth describes and critiques the Seattle-based developer’s working environment, calling it “a lot like High School.”
“There are popular kids that have acquired power,” she adds, “then there’s the trouble makers, and then everyone in between. Everyone in between is ok, but the trouble makers are the ones trying to make a difference.”
In her role Ellsworth was tasked with building a team focused on hardware and in the video chat she expounds on the frustrations of the job. “I was struggling trying to build this hardware team and move the company forward. We were having a difficult time recruiting folks – because we would be interviewing a lot of talented folks but the old timers would reject them for not fitting into the culture.”
“I shouldn’t say the numbers, but there were very few of us in the hardware department,” she says. “We were understaffed by about a factor of 100.”
via Former Valve employee on developer's "weird paranoia" | News | Edge Online.
"Freedom of exploration is something we want to prioritize for Dark Souls 2, even more so than Dark Souls 1," he told Digital Spy.
"In Dark Souls 1, you were able to travel to several areas, but hopefully for Dark Souls 2, there you have more freedom to explore throughout the game."
He continued: "We realize in Dark Souls 1 there were some certain orders, like ringing the bells or going to Anor Londo, which is not necessarily a bad thing.
"In Dark Souls 2, we’re hoping we can provide more freedom so things don’t have to necessarily be done in a certain order.
via Dark Souls 2 to offer more freedom, can start halfway if "brave" enough – Gaming News – Digital Spy.
Reducing the staff count may lower overheads but it also comes at a cost, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has claimed.“If we reduce the number of employees for better short-term financial results employee morale will decrease and I sincerely doubt employees who fear that they may be laid off will be able to develop software titles that could impress people around the world,” the charismatic exec told investors.“I believe we can become profitable with the current business structure in consideration of exchange rate trends and popularisation of our platforms in the future.“We should of course cut unnecessary costs and pursue efficient business operations. I also know that some employers publicize their restructuring plan to improve their financial performance by letting a number of their employees go, but at Nintendo, employees make valuable contributions in their respective fields, so I believe that laying off a group of employees will not help to strengthen Nintendo’s business in the long run.
via Iwata: Layoffs are not the answer to weakening Nintendo financials | Games industry news | MCV.
Last week, we reported that Index Corporation, owner of the video game brand Atlus, will be going through a streamlined version of bankruptcy called “Rehabilitation.” Today, we’ve received a number of new updates as Index continues to move forward.
First and foremost, Index’s application for Rehabilitation has been accepted by the Tokyo district court. The court has given the holdings company four months to carry out the proceedings, which will include searching for a sponsor for business transfers. Investment firm GCA Savvian has been appointed as the financial adviser for the search.
So far, a number of names have been thrown out as potential sponsors. Engadget Japan believes that it could come down to publishers Sega, Marvelous AQL, and GungHo, as well as social gaming companies GREE and DeNA. Remember, nothing has been confirmed; this is just speculation.
via (Japan) Update on Index Corporation's Rehabilitation – oprainfall.
Nintendo has announced (translated via Kotaku) that the Japanese version of its consumer rewards site, Club Nintendo, has been hacked. The company had a large number of access errors on July 2, which led to a full investigation. Nintendo found 23,000 unauthorized log-ins out of 15 million attempts between June 9 and July 4.
Club Nintendo sites in other countries were unaffected, but members in Japan may have had their full names, addresses, and phone numbers compromised. Nintendo is strengthening its security to prevent another intrusion and is asking Club Nintendo members to change their passwords via email.
via Club Nintendo hacked in Japan | GamesIndustry International.
New Pokemon X & Y creature Honedge has been revealed at Japan Expo, with a new trailer showing how the team came up with its design.More importantly, theres Honedge gameplay footage of the new Pokemon in action – have a look and let us know what you think.
via Pokemon X & Y Honedge Gameplay Footage Revealed – NowGamer.
We already knew that ATLUS’s mother company Index Corporation filed for Civil Rehabilitation (the Japanese equivalent of a soft Bankruptcy) a few days ago, and today the Japanese blog Japanimate found the list of the creditors belonging to the animation, video games and publishing industry.
Looks like Index owes money to quite a few partners involved in ATLUS’ business. The numbers are indicated in thousands of yen.
Production IG (44,100)
ASCII Media Works (31,521)
Aquaplus (24,120)
STUDIO MAUSU (17,314)
Nintendo (13,599)
Pony Canyon (12,373)
Shueisha (11,395)
Enterbrain (6,166)
Fuji Television Network (5,525)
M-ON! Entertainment (5,040)
JASRAC (3,528)
GREE (2,506)
SEGA (2,454)
Movic (2,412)
YOMIKO (1,890)
Aniplex (1,862)
WiZ (1,737)
Tomy (1,370)
T.O Entertainment (1,260)
TV Asahi (1,218)
Taito (1,113)
Gakken Publishing (1,071)
Tatsumi Publishing (1,050)
The restructuring isn’t finalized and Ballmer may still shuffle roles around up until it’s officially announced, the people said. Xbox head Don Mattrick had been a contender for the hardware post before left the company to become CEO of Zynga Inc. (ZNGA), a move announced July 1.
Under this scenario, Larson-Green would oversee hardware engineering for all devices, including Xbox gaming consoles and Surface tablets, one person said. Windows Phone software chief Terry Myerson would be given added responsibility for Windows operating system engineering under a group combining both businesses, the person said.
via Microsoft CEO Said to Give Bates Mergers Role in Revamp – Bloomberg.
The Global Link has updated with an notice regarding the Pokémon Global Link. First, the Global Link will open up for a special X & Y version on October 12th 2013, after a 12 day long maintenance from the start of October. However, from October 12th 2013, various Pokémon Black, White, Black 2 & White 2 features will go offline.
Putting a Pokémon to sleep will go offline on December 10th 2013.
The trial version of the Dream World will go offline on October 12th 2013, as will new user registration.
The GTS tracking for Gen V ends on January 14th 2014 and Rating Mode on Random Matchup goes offline on January 14th 2014.
The ability to do WiFi Memory Link in Black 2 & White 2 also goes offline on January 14th 2014.
C-Gear, Musical and Pokédex Skin changing deactivates on January 14th.
Waking up your Pokémon to get items and Pokémon also deactivates on January 14th. You will be able to wake your Pokémon up from the game side at any time, but the ability to do so from the Global Link deactivates on January 14th
However, using the GTS in the games, Free Rating in the Random Matchup and all the other in-game online features will continue. It’s currently unclear what features the new Global Link will have but when we have these details, they’ll be posted
via Serebii.net – Where Legends Come To Life.
Kickstarter backers received a note from Tim Schafer to explain the move yesterday – you can read it in full below.Hello, Backers of Adventure!Those of you who have been following along in the documentary know about the design vs. money tension we’ve had on this project since the early days. Even though we received much more money from our Kickstarter than we, or anybody anticipated, that didn’t stop me from getting excited and designing a game so big that it would need even more money. I think I just have an idea in my head about how big an adventure game should be, so it’s hard for me to design one that’s much smaller than Grim Fandango or Full Throttle. There’s just a certain amount of scope needed to create a complex puzzle space and to develop a real story. At least with my brain, there is. So we have been looking for ways to improve our project’s efficiency while reducing scope where we could along the way. All while looking for additional funds from bundle revenue, ports, etc. But when we finished the final in-depth schedule recently it was clear that these opportunistic methods weren’t going to be enough. We looked into what it would take to finish just first half of our game—Act 1. And the numbers showed it coming in July of next year. Not this July, but July 2014. For just the first half. The full game was looking like 2015! My jaw hit the floor.
In full via Read Tim Schafers note to Broken Age backers in full | News | Edge Online.
Back in 2002 Microsoft forked out $375 million to acquire UK-based developer Rare, which had previously enjoyed a long prosperous period with Nintendo.
Of course that meant all of Rare’s intellectual properties went along for the ride, including Perfect Dark and Banjo Kazooie. However, according to Chris Seavor, former Rare employee and the director behind Conker’s Bad Fur Day, a few Microsoft executives also thought they’d picked up Donkey Kong as well, since the developer had made classic titles such as Donkey Kong Country and Donkey Kong 64.
Speaking on Twitter, Seavor said a few of the top-brass at Microsoft came for a tour around the studios and upon seeing Donkey Kong posters proceeded to get excited about owning the franchise – until Rare corrected them.
via Microsoft Execs Thought They Owned Donkey Kong After Acquiring Rare – Nintendo Life.
