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Posted in Gaming Xbox 360

Joystiq [Xbox]

“Very aggressive” is the phrase THQ executive VP of Core Games Danny Bilson used to describe his company’s plans for downloadable titles across the Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network and PC platforms during a GDC 2010 interview with Joystiq. With two studios dedicated to the downloadable space — THQ Digital Studios Phoenix (formerly Rainbow Studios) and THQ Digital Studios UK (formerly Juice Games) — Bilson told us THQ plans to release “up to six” downloadable titles within the next year, some based on the company’s biggest brands.

“We’re going to be building stuff on some of our core brands,” Bilson said, noting the plan is to create downloadable titles within the same universe as THQ’s major franchises in order to improve brand awareness. Surprisingly, Bilson’s plans include “giving away” some of the upcoming downloadable games, although he did not specify how this idea would be executed.

Bilson’s theory is that by getting players “involved” in its franchises via downloadable titles, THQ can help drive pre-orders and awareness for their big-budget (in relation) retail counterparts. While he would not specify which THQ franchises would get downloadable titles, we were told the plan is to roll out this strategy on “two or three” of THQ’s biggest franchises (à la Square Enix’s upcoming Lara Croft game from developer Crystal Dynamics).

But the plan doesn’t end there: Similar to the approach taken by Microsoft’s Fable II: Pub Games experiment, downloadable releases based on THQ’s major brands will unlock content within the retail releases, teasing players with potential advantages to purchasing retail releases; retail games will also unlock content in downloadable titles, to help drive players to explore more content within that franchise’s universe. “You’re going to see some of our core brands built out in different kinds of gameplay to get people involved in the brands and drive awareness towards a launch.”

THQ developing downloadable games based on ‘core’ brands originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted in Gaming Xbox 360

Joystiq [Xbox]

That’s right, folks — Harmonix has just revealed that Green Day: Rock Band will be available for all come June 8 on Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii. Up to 6 players (3 mics; 3 instruments) will progress through the career of the trio, unlocking collectible images (more than 100, apparently) and some 40 minutes of “rare and unreleased” footage from interviews, outtakes and performances along the way.

As alluded to above, GD:RB will also sport the same vocal harmonizing feature that made The Beatles: Rock Band such a delight for mic hogs and comes loaded with 47 Green Day tracks, including “Brain Stew,” “Jaded,” “Hitchin’ a Ride,” “American Idiot,” “Wake Me Up When September Ends” and “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.”

Oh, and if you’re looking to export these tunes, worry not: all 47 tracks are fully exportable to a console hard drive and playable in Rock Band, Rock Band 2 and the recently announced Rock Band 3. The export fee is $9.99 via Xbox Live or PSN. The export features is not available for the Wii system. Additionally, if you’ve picked up the six Green Day tunes already available as DLC, you can play them in the new game with added harmonies, “unique” visuals and more “exclusive archival material.”

Green Day: Rock Band will be available as a standalone game for Xbox 360 and PS3 for $59.99, while Wii owners will get a bit of a price break at $49.99. A special edition Green Day: Rock Band Plus will also come to Xbox 360 and PS3 for $69.99 and includes fancy packaging, an “export” feature (we assume, a voucher to export the disc tracks to the hard drive) and the six previously released Green Day DLC tracks.

Update: The GameStop pre-order bonus for the standalone game is an export voucher (for Xbox 360 or PS3). Essentially, pre-order GD:RB from GameStop, and you can export all 47 tracks to your console hard drive for free.

Green Day: Rock Band releases June 8 worldwide originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted in Gaming Xbox 360

Joystiq [Xbox]

Unlike the less than wonderful relations some developers are currently having with their publishing partners, Vigil Games‘ general manager David Adams says things between his studio and THQ couldn’t have been better during the development of Darksiders. “We were pretty lucky, just because our publisher had this weird, insane faith in us that I don’t necessarily think any other publisher would have had … our take was that if we just did really cool stuff, people would see that — they’d want to jump on the bandwagon and support us, and THQ did,” Adams tells GamesIndustry.biz in a recent interview.

Adams adds that his studio is constantly “trying to be more efficient, do stuff quicker, using less money,” so that certainly can’t hurt how THQ feels about Vigil, especially given the last year of “restructuring” the publisher underwent to become financially solvent once again. “THQ went through a lot of pain and restructuring — they took a lot of bullets so we could continue to make our game, and that’s a good indication of their faith in us, and their drive to make great-quality products.” We’d like to point out that, in this situation, we’re all winners because THQ has seemingly become a competitive publisher again, due to producing quality products that we get to play — and hey, tons of people don’t lose their jobs.

Darksiders dev David Adams gushes about THQ originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 02:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted in Gaming Xbox 360

Joystiq [Xbox]

At a pirate-themed party in San Francisco tonight (with special guests Ron Gilbert and Tim Schafer!) LucasArts announced The Secret of Monkey Island 2: Special Edition, coming “this summer” on Xbox Live Arcade, PSN, PC, iPhone and iPod Touch. This isn’t simply the same “special edition” treatment applied to last year’s edition; instead, fans can expect a new control mechanism. “In addition to the point-and-click interface, we’ve added the ability to move Guybrush around, so you feel more connected to him,” said LucasArts’ Craig Derrick, project lead on all Monkey Island products. They’ve also added never-before-seen art from Peter Chan and Steve Purcell and developer commentary (!) for you Monkey Island fanboys out there (that’s you).

Of course, that’s in addition to all the stuff you’d expect from the special edition treatment, including high-definition art, remastered music, full voiceover track, and the ability to swap between original and “special edition” modes. Derrick even said they’ve “reimagined” each character, citing fan displeasure with Guybrush’s hair in the first special edition. Really? We liked his hair …

The Secret of Monkey Island 2: Special Edition announced for XBLA, PSN, PC, iPhone originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted in Gaming Xbox 360

Joystiq [Xbox]

We already broke out the news you’re looking for: Each of the Windows Phone 7 Xbox Live-infused games will offer its players 200 Gamerscore points. You’ll be able to boost your Xbox rep in significant chunks without having to hunker down in front of a big screen for long stretches. You’ll never again have to go so long without hearing that satisfying “Achievement unlocked” sound. The world, as you know it, has changed.

Fortunately, the channel through which you’ll access these on-the-go ‘cheevos looks like it has loads of promise. The handful of work-in-progress Windows Phone 7 games we were shown today at GDC didn’t leave much of an impression — however, the effortless portability of games between the platforms supported by the recently announced XNA Game Studio 4.0 opens up a lot of possibilities for development on Microsoft’s new mobile device.

Continue reading GDC Impressions: Gaming on Windows Phone 7

GDC Impressions: Gaming on Windows Phone 7 originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted in Gaming Xbox 360

Joystiq [Xbox]

Windows Phone 7 isn’t just Microsoft’s attempt to compete against Apple’s iPhone. It’s also the introduction of the first portable Xbox platform. During GDC today, we talked to Xbox Live GM Ron Pessner and XNA Game Studio manager Michael Klucher about how games integrate into the mobile platform and what gamers and developers can expect in the future.

For the purpose of this interview, Pessner and Klucher merged into one entity (they spoke over each other a lot!) to answer our questions:

Microsoft plans to separate games that do and don’t support Xbox Live functionality on Windows Phone. Are there any concerns that this will turn off indie developers?

Pessner and Klucher: The short answer is “no.” The way that we built the Phone and Marketplace experience makes it very easy to search for what you’re looking for. With XNA Game Studio 4.0, you can use the same set of tools to build an Xbox Live game or non-Xbox Live game on the platform. The benefit that developers get for working with Game Studio is everything we just described.

We also are very interested in seeing concept submissions from the indie community, and we’re out talking to a lot of independent developers. Fortunately, we’re working with a lot of these folks in context of the console today, and many of the console titles that have come to us through the Indie Channel or Xbox Live Arcade, we think will also make fantastic mobile titles. So we’re reaching back out to these developers and accepting submissions for ideas as a way to help make those Xbox Live titles. It’s up to the developer in terms of what they want to do on the platform, but we’re really excited with the response we’ve seen so far.

Continue reading Interview: Microsoft on integrating Xbox Live into Windows Phone 7 Series

Interview: Microsoft on integrating Xbox Live into Windows Phone 7 Series originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted in Gaming Xbox 360

Joystiq [Xbox]

In a Japanese press release, Square Enix has announced that Final Fantasy XIII has shipped 5 million copies worldwide. Surprisingly, 3 million of those copies were shipped outside of Japan. Of course, Square Enix isn’t saying how many of those copies have been sold, so bear that in mind when marveling over these impressive numbers.

These 5 million XIIIs, according to the release, bring the total number of shipped games in the Final Fantasy series up to 96 million. How many of those were ports or remakes of the first Final Fantasy, we wonder?

Final Fantasy XIII ships 5 million copies originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted in Gaming Xbox 360

Joystiq [Xbox]

Three delays later, Mafia II looks like it’s finally (finally!) getting ready to launch. It’s been a long journey, and we spoke with 2K senior producer Denby Grace during GDC about the development time and what we can expect from the ambitious crime saga:

We’ve been waiting a very long time for this game haven’t we?

Denby Grace, senior producer: The reason for the delay is polish. You’ll see the game looks great as you play today. It’s just not quite perfect, which is what we at 2K generally strive for. It’s what we want to be known for, the quality of our games. Just having come so long, it would be foolish to release it too early.

Are there any specific reasons for the delay? What needed to be polished?

Technically there are a few things: the framerate isn’t quite on the money yet. It’s just the whole experience. One of the things we’re spending a lot of time doing is focus testing. We’re testing about twenty people a week. And it’s getting that difficulty curve right. We want it to be hard, but we don’t want it to be impossible like Mafia I. I don’t know if you played the first game, but there was one mission when we shipped the game. Literally everyone failed until we released a patch. So we’re really, really conscious about delivering a really balanced, proper difficulty curve. And then it’s just bugs. It’s an open world: ten square miles, fifty vehicles, a hundred environments. There were quite a lot of bugs in it!

Continue reading Interview: Mafia II producer Denby Grace

Interview: Mafia II producer Denby Grace originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 03:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted in Gaming Xbox 360

Joystiq [Xbox]

Here’s a bit of backstory for those of you who don’t follow the hot Baltimore news scoops: Sheila Dixon, once mayor of Baltimore, became the former mayor Baltimore after being indicted for embezzlement earlier this year. One of the main pieces of evidence in her trial was an Xbox 360 prosecutors claimed she purchased with gift cards given to her by local developers, which were supposed to be given to various charities.

The telltale 360 recently appeared in an eBay listing, attracting a number of prospective buyers hoping to get their hands on the game console/slice of Baltimore history. If you’re interested in owning a device which is capable of single-handedly ending someone’s mayoral career, the auction is still running. Its price is significantly higher than a standard console, but you’ve got to pay a premium for all that history.

[Via Baltimore Sun]

Former Baltimore mayor’s telltale Xbox 360 now on eBay originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted in Gaming Xbox 360

Joystiq [Xbox]

Here’s a bit of backstory for those of you who don’t follow the hot Baltimore news scoops: Sheila Dixon, once mayor of Baltimore, became the former mayor Baltimore after being indicted for embezzlement earlier this year. One of the main pieces of evidence in her trial was an Xbox 360 prosecutors claimed she purchased with gift cards given to her by local developers, which were supposed to be given to various charities.

The telltale 360 recently appeared in an eBay listing, attracting a number of prospective buyers hoping to get their hands on the game console/slice of Baltimore history. If you’re interested in owning a device which is capable of single-handedly ending someone’s mayoral career, the auction is still running. Its price is significantly higher than a standard console, but you’ve got to pay a premium for all that history.

[Via Baltimore Sun]

Former Baltimore mayor’s telltale Xbox 360 now on eBay originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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