Used market proof games are too short, lack replay value – Just Cause dev
The size of the second-hand games market is proof that games are too short and not replayable enough, says Avalanche Studios’ Christofer Sundberg.
The studio CCO told Edge that Just Cause 2 still attracts “hundreds of thousands” of players every day because it offered a decent amount of replayability.
“If you’re offering little variation, then there’s no motivation for the player to keep that game, unless they want to have a nice bookshelf,” said Sundberg.
“That’s why we answered that with Just Cause. I go into game stores each week and I always go to the used game boxes – I usually don’t find that many [copies of Just Cause].”
“When you can play a game through from eight to 10 hours, I would return the game too, because there’s no reason for players to play it again.”
Shadowrun Returns delayed another month
The release of Shadowrun Returns has been delayed until July 25, developer Harebrained Schemes has announced.
The game was initially expected in January but was delayed until earlier this month.
“We know we’ve been saying June for some time, but now that we’ve reached this final stage of development, and although our Kickstarter funding was spent some time ago, we've decided to invest additional time in bugfixing and polishing the game,” said Harebrained in an update on the game’s Kickstarter page.
Sony not expecting third-parties to employ DRM on PS4
2
Although it’s possible for third-parties to implement DRM measures on the PlayStation 4, Sony is not expecting anything serious to surface.
Speaking with Polygon, PlayStation executive Scott Rohde said that the appearance of heavy DRM measures from outside companies would come as a shock.
"Quite frankly it would be pretty surprising to me to see a third party come up with some way to set a new set of DRM rules," he said.
Fruit Ninja and Wild Tangent devs to headline NZGDC
Fruit Ninja and Jetpack Joyride producer Jason Harwood and and former Microsoft GM and Wild Tangent founder Alex St John will be the keynote speakers at this year’s NZ Game Developers Conference.
The conference will cover technology, art, business, and marketing topics, but also feature a number of game launch post-mortems from the likes of Grinding Gear Games’ managing director Chris Wilson (Path of Exile) and Rocket Jump Games’ Anthony Blackett (Major Mayhem).
More than 200 game developers from around New Zealand will be in attendance, and representatives from local studios PikPok, Gameloft, NinjaKiwi, Grinding Gear Games, Cerebral Fix, Majic Jungle, Minimonos, Rush Digital, Runaway Play, RocketJump Games, Flightless, and many more will speak.
We don't care what other companies are doing – Nintendo
Nintendo’s Wii U was overshadowed by its competitors at this year’s E3 and is rapidly losing third-party support, but the company doesn’t seem particularly worried.
Speaking with CNN, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said that Nintendo wasn’t concerned about other next-gen consoles as the Wii U’s strategy was completely unique.
"We just don't care too much about what other companies are doing or are trying to do," said Iwata.
Remote Play, cross-game chat built-in on PS4
2
All PlayStation 4 games will support Remote Play on the Vita because the function is baked into the console, Sony has announced.
"On PlayStation 4 , it just happens. You just make a PS4 game, it supports Remote Play," Sony Worldwide Studios head Shuhei Yoshida told Engadget.
"The single biggest issue, why there are not many PlayStation 3 games that support Remote Play, was that it was optional – the system didn't do much.
Microsoft is "over-delivering value" with the Xbox One – Mattrick
23
Microsoft has defended the Xbox One’s price, claiming that the console will be better value than any competing devices on the market.
The company's interactive entertainment business president Don Mattrick told Bloomberg TV that the console’s NZ$749 price tag was “a lower number than some of the analysts had forecast".
"We're over-delivering value against other choices I think consumers can get, said Mattrick.
State of Decay sequel likely as game crosses half million sold mark
2
Although State of Decay is the fastest-selling original game in Xbox Live Arcade history, developer Undead Labs is still waiting for its sequel to be given the go-ahead by IP holder Microsoft.
An open world zombie sandbox title, State of Decay has sold over half a million copies since its launch on June 5, with half those sales occurring within its first two days on the market. That makes it the fastest-selling XBLA original game in the platform's history.
The proposed follow-up, codenamed Class4, would be an MMO according to Undead Labs.
IO Interactive halves staff to refocus on Hitman
9
Almost half of IO Interactive’s staff have lost their jobs as a result of the studio cancelling all development not related to its Hitman IP.
The job losses have seen three-year production director Hannes Seifert named as the new studio head.
"We are making significant changes at IO Interactive as we align our business against a changing and challenging market," said an IO spokesperson.
Dota 2 will be out in early August
4
Dota 2 will launch proper in early August, Valve has confirmed.
Speaking with Gamespot, Valve VP of marketing Doug Lombardi said that the full game would be available before this year's The International championship, which begins on August 7.
The International’s top prize is US$1 million, and this will be the tournament’s third year.
Wednesday 19 June
We don't care what other companies are doing – Nintendo
Used market proof games are too short, lack replay value – Just Cause dev
Tuesday 18 June
Microsoft is "over-delivering value" with the Xbox One – Mattrick
State of Decay sequel likely as game crosses half million sold mark
Wicked Paradise is a virtual sex game for Oculus Rift
Monday 17 June
Civilization V: Brave New World - Featurette 4: World Congress & Diplomacy video
Shorter production cycles, Xbox Live brought Sunset Overdrive to XO
Sunday 16 June
Friday 14 June
E3: Xbox One online checks will require “kilobytes, not megabytes”
Subscribe
Don't miss a thing - get the top gaming stories delivered to your inbox every day.