Realizing that it has lost the war on Xbox One's online requirements and its used games policies, Microsoft announced today that it is abandoning them altogether. Microsoft has changed its stance on always online and used game policies to be more like they were on Xbox 360. In a blog post explaining the changes President of Microsoft's interactive entertainment business, Don Mattrick, laid out the changes.
Read more
The Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) today presented Independent Home Entertainment Awards to four video titles for being the best in their respective categories. The awards were given out during EMA’s 2013 Independent Product Market at the Marriott Marina del Rey in Marina del Rey, California.
Read more
Former Microsoft creative director Adam Orth will be giving an ironic speech that explores "toxic online behavior" and why he left the Xbox maker at this year's GDC Next. Adam Orth is best known for his controversial "always-online" and "deal with it" comments on Twitter that angered a lot of gamers and inevitably led to him getting fired by Microsoft. Orth will give a talk titled "Mob Rules: The Destructive Power of Opinion and Online Community."
Read more
A thread on NeoGAF that pokes around in some code from the new Steam Beta reveals some strange strings about game sharing on the popular digital distribution platform. The code refers to a shared game library and a shared license. While the strings have been confirmed as legitimate, Valve has not publicly commented on the data fished from the new client beta. The code in question is below:
Read more
The newly designed Kinect for Xbox One may run afoul of a bill called the "We Are Watching You Act," if it becomes law. The law sponsored by Congressman Michael Capuano (D-MA) and Congressman Walter Jones (R-NC), requires companies to "explicitly" ask consumers for permission to store their data. The device would also have to inform the user how the data is collected and who will see it after it is collected. Read more
Those consumers who were looking forward to buying that "other" Android home console, the Gamestick, will have to wait a bit longer. The release of PlayJam's Gamestick has slipped to August, citing a delay with manufacturing the micro-Android device. The $500 pledge tier - called "Designed By Me" - offered 50 people the chance to advise on the Gamestick UI. However, the prototype units intended for this stage of production were delayed, and the entire project has been pushed back until August as a result.
Read more
According to an in-depth Vanity Fair article chronicling the departure of Jason West and Vince Zampella from Activision and the lawsuit that followed, the duo who helped make Call of Duty a household name were not getting along at their new studio Respawn Entertainment. Last month West left the company to deal with "family issues," but those issues may have had more to do with his work family than his home life.
Read more
After some back and forth from lawmakers in Rhode Island, officials say that they will honor the debt generated from a default on the loan to Curt Schilling's 38 Studios. The state of Rhode Island said that it will officially honor the bonds that financed Kingdoms of Amalur developer 38 Studios after the Rhode Island Finance Committee approved a budget last night that includes an interest payment of $2.5 million, Reuters reports.
Read more
Retailers are embracing digital delivery as consumers migrate their existing disc collections into the digital world, but a new report by the Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) shows that Blu-Ray consumption is on the rise. There was a .25% increase in consumer spending on home entertainment in 2012, the first time in seven years there hasn’t been a decrease, EMA noted at the annual Independent Product Market event.
Read more
As of this writing, PS3 firmware update 4.45 has been taken down from the site and Sony Computer Entertainment has said publicly that they are currently fixing the problem. Users have been advised not to update their PS3s until further notice.
Read more
William Shatner has been honored with a Video Legend Award by the Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) in recognition of his extraordinary career and the popularity of his work on home video, the EMA announced today. The award was presented by EMA during its 2013 Independent Product Market at the Marriott Marina del Rey in Marina del Rey, California.
Read more
According to sales data collected by NPD Group, sales of new videogame products fell 25 percent in May, with game sales of consoles hitting their lowest levels in more than a decade. While NPD and other analysts are chalking this decline up to anticipation for new consoles like the Xbox One and PS4, they fail to mention the dramatic shift to digital sales not covered by the NPD.
Read more
Games for Change has announced that the game concept Safe Sex with Friends is the winner of the 2013 SEXETC.ORG Game Design Competition. The three finalists were Safe Sex with Friends, SexEd Super Task Force, and Check/Mate. After hearing presentations from all three finalists (during the 10th Annual Games for Change Festival) and thoughtful deliberation by jurors (Matt Parker, Lana Dakan, Lucinda Holt, and Naomi Clark,) Safe Sex with Friends was selected as the winning game.
Read more
If you are a PC owner that enjoys playing EA Sports titles like FIFA, then I have some sad news for you: you won't be playing the latest editions of these games. You'll be weeping alongside Wii U owners who also have been told that EA Sports titles are not available to you. The reasoning behind this, according to EA? Most of your PC rigs are just not powerful enough to handle EA's new Ignite Engine - the technology that was touted during EA's E3 press event being used to develop PS4 and Xbox One sports titles. Read more
Humble Bundle for Android 6 is alive and kicking, offering five games for Android-based hand-helds. Most of the games are also available for Windows, Mac and Linux too - and all of them are DRM-Free. The games include Aquaria, Fractal, Organ Trail: Director’s Cut, Stealth Bastard Deluxe, and Pulse (Android only). If you pay more than the average price you can also get Frozen Synapse and Broken Sword: Director’s Cut. You'll also get digital soundtracks from all the games.
Read moreZippyDSMlee: Something I did by hand on my convertiable laptop, http://zippydsmlee.deviantart.com/art/Cotlop-zelda-unfinished-sketch-WIP-finish-373937163 forgot if I posted it befor.06/19/2013 - 7:44pm
|
Conster: Also, I guess The War Z changed its name so they can scam some more people?06/19/2013 - 7:44pm
|
Conster: AE: when even HuffPo makes the same joke, it's not something you want to take credit for. :P06/19/2013 - 7:43pm
|
Andrew Eisen: Hey look! The War Z changed its name to Infestation: Survivor Stories. http://infestationmmo.com/06/19/2013 - 7:23pm
|
Andrew Eisen: You're going to have a lot of company in prison, RedMage. Most of the internet has stolen MY joke. Bastards!06/19/2013 - 7:06pm
|
RedMage: The cover art thing points to an industry trend of only wanting to appeal to teen boys despite the talk of "broadening the appealz"06/19/2013 - 6:17pm
|
RedMage: I'd like to turn myself in for unintentional theft of a joke. Ignorance of the law is no excuse :o06/19/2013 - 6:17pm
|
Andrew Eisen: Remember the fight to get Last of Us's Ellie on the game cover? Check this out: http://cheezburger.com/758618624006/19/2013 - 6:12pm
|
Andrew Eisen: RedMage - Thief! You stole my joke! You're a horrible, loathesome person! Or you simply had the same idea and didn't read my earlier shout!06/19/2013 - 5:35pm
|
RedMage: Maybe they're going to rename it the Xbox 18006/19/2013 - 5:26pm
|
IanC: Bet EA are pissed.06/19/2013 - 5:17pm
|
Andrew Eisen: Ah, James is just a little quicker on the keyboard than I!06/19/2013 - 5:07pm
|
Craig R.: Too little, too late.06/19/2013 - 4:52pm
|
DorthLous: PWAHAHAHAH, the MS spinning sound woke me up :)06/19/2013 - 4:27pm
|
Andrew Eisen: Microsoft's new console shall now be known as the Xbox One-Eighty.06/19/2013 - 4:17pm
|
Andrew Eisen: I imagine we were typing our respective shouts at the same time.06/19/2013 - 4:14pm
|
MaskedPixelante: So Andrew... is there going to be a new poll now? I mean, the one about the XBO DRM is kinda no longer relevant.06/19/2013 - 4:13pm
|
Andrew Eisen: In light of Xbox One's furious backpeddling on its DRM policies, I'm closing the poll for now. I'll probably write a new one later today or tomorrow.06/19/2013 - 4:11pm
|
IanC: Found three people whining about this so far. Saying that its because of cheapasses and that its going to be horrible online now. W T and indeed F.06/19/2013 - 4:09pm
|
Andrew Eisen: Technogeek - I agree but: "After a one-time system set-up with a new Xbox One, you can play any disc based game without ever connecting online again." Why do I need to connect online to set up a system I'm not going to use online?06/19/2013 - 4:07pm
|
