Console Club

[dronology]

The unannounced Virtua Fighter eSports for PlayStation 4 has been added to PlayStation Store in Japan with the ID CUSA20138. The listing is not yet publicly available.

It is unknown whether Virtua Fighter eSports is the unannounced previously rated Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown, which was recently rated for PlayStation 4 in Korea. (Update 9:55 a.m.: These projects are likely one in the same. The Korean rating for Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown lists the original title as Virtua Fighter eSports.)

Virtua Fighter eSports for PS4 added to PlayStation Store in Japan

[paul]

Castigatorii D.I.C.E. (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Awards 2020:

Game of the Year
Hades

Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction
Hades

Outstanding Achievement in Game Design
Hades

Mobile Game of the Year
Legends of Runeterra

Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game
Hades

Immersive Reality Game of the Year
Half-Life: Alyx

Immersive Reality Technical Achievement
Half-Life: Alyx

Online Game of the Year
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout

Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year
Microsoft Flight Simulator

Sports Game of the Year
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2

Role-Playing Game of the Year
FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE

Racing Game of the Year
Mario Kart Live

Fighting Game of the Year
Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate

Family Game of the Year
Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Adventure Game of the Year
Ghost of Tsushima

Action Game of the Year
Hades

Outstanding Technical Achievement
Dreams

Outstanding Achievement in Story
The Last of Us Part II

Outstanding Achievement in Audio Design
Ghost of Tsushima

Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition
Ghost of Tsushima

Outstanding Achievement in Character
Miles Morales – Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales

Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction
Ghost of Tsushima

Outstanding Achievement in Animation
The Last of Us Part II

24th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards - Winners Revealed

[dronology]

[paul]

Zvon:

It’s been revealed to us by sources close to Disney that Alien: Isolation 2, the video game, is now in the works.

We were also told that it looks like Disney is currently looking for developers to make the game.

Alien: Isolation 2 Video Game In The Works At Disney | Small Screen

[paul]

1. Negociere intre Sony si Epic Games in 2018 pentru cross-play.
2. SIE cross-platform revenue share.

[razvanrazy]

Asta nu era o negociere. Era un mail dat de un cocosel, probabil de bossu Epic, de care toata industria stie ca-i prea plin de el si nu stie sa vorbeasca (ca sa nu folosesc alt termen aici) in care cerea chestii si...doar atat.
Destul de penibil si deloc profesional. Daca primeam eu acel mail, cu adresarea aia, il trimiteam direct in trash.

[paul]

Cum sa nu fie negociere? Se doreste cross-play ("many companies are exploring this idea"), unii ofera ceva (lista de la Epic Games), Sony nu sunt convinsi ("and not a single one can explain how cross-console play improves the PlayStation business"). Mentin legatura, ca au mai vorbit ("Open to your thoughts if Epic has ideas on this since we all last talked").
Mailul e de la Joe Kreiner, vice president of business development, nu Tim Sweeney.

Update: Sunt 4 emailuri:

[razvanrazy]

Da, am vazut de la cine era din alta stire, dar nu este negociere in sensul ca tipu e prea cocky si prea agresiv si cu atitudinea aia nu obtii nimic, niciodata, decat daca merge intimidarea. Si se vede din raspusul de la Sony, care este super frumos scris si formatat, ca nu a mers intimidarea cu Sony.

[dronology]

Apsulov: End of Gods - Console Announce Trailer

Apsulov: End of Gods first launched for PC via Steam in August 2019. It was a recipient of the Epic Mega Grant and won DreamHack’s “Best Horror” award.

“We worked incredibly hard to create a rich, atmospheric world for , and the response we’ve had from PC players is a great source of pride for us,” said Angry Demon Studio CEO John Kalderon in a press release. “It’s always been our aim to bring the game to consoles, so we’re thrilled that it’s finally happening and console owners will soon get a chance to discover the secrets of Yggdrasil for themselves.”

‘Future Viking horror’ game Apsulov: End of Gods coming to PS5, Xbox Series, PS4, Xbox One, and Switch this summer

[dronology]

Electronic Arts has patented some new technology that would allow it to gauge the difficulty of a video game during development. This would potentially allow EA to utilize this technology during beta testing of its games and hone each game's difficulty more closely.

There has been a lot of discussion about video game difficulty over the last decade. With the release of Demon's Souls in 2009 and Dark Souls in 2011, the concept of difficulty in RPGs shifted, and the acceptance of challenge as an aspect of design took more mainstream prominence. "Souls-like" games such as Nioh and Code Vein started to crop up, continuing on the path that FromSoftware had opened up. More recently, questions about the difficulty level of rogue-like games such as Hades and Returnal have sparked up the great difficulty debate again.

EA's new technology aims to use artificial intelligence to quickly simulate the experience of playing the video game and then determine the difficulty level of the game based on a number of metrics. While looking for extreme levels of difficulty in games is a prominent aspect that the AI will look for, the patented technology looks at difficulty in a number of ways. Notably, it not only looks for high and low levels of difficulty, but also large spikes or drops.

Specifically, text in the patent suggests that "inconsistent difficulties among various aspects" of a game could cause players to lose interest, and that if a level is much more difficult than other levels in the game, a "vast majority" of players could fail to complete it and "lose interest in the whole video game" as a result. While much of the conversation around games like Demon's Souls and Returnal is about high levels of difficulty, EA's patent also looks at low difficulty as an equally important issue, suggesting that users lose interest when the difficulty level is too low.

This patent by Electronic Arts could certainly revolutionize the way developers not only deal with difficulty settings in video games, it could also see a new streamlining and automation of beta testing. The patent suggests that beta testing is often inaccurate on account of a "small sample size" and that users who are much better than the average gamer may be skewing the developer's assessment of the game's difficulty during this period. While using artificial intelligence to gain a more intricate understanding of video game difficulty may be a great testing tool, it does seem somewhat ominous for those working as professional video game testers.

EA Patents New Tech for Analyzing How Hard a Video Game Is

[paul]

EA Play Live 2021 pe 22 iulie:

Ubisoft:
- pana in martie 2022: Far Cry 6, Rainbow Six Quarantine, Riders Republic, The Division: Heartland, Roller Champions
- aprilie 2022-martie 2023: Skull & Bones

[razvanrazy]

Si de Beyoond Good and Evil 2 inca nimic...

[paul]

Doac ca lucreaza la el. Si la Avatar, Star Wars, etc.

De asemenea, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Remake se lanseaza pana in martie 2022.

Pentru EA, noul Battlefield e Q3, adica octombrie-noiembrie-decembrie 2021.

[razvanrazy]

Doac ca lucreaza la el.

De asemenea, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Remake se lanseaza pana in martie 2022.

Da, dar au anuntat atat de mult in trecut si au o pauza urata de mai bine de 1 an.

Referitor la PoP, efectiv de cand l-au amanat pana il lanseaza vor trece mai bine de 1 an. E clar ca-l refac complet, de la 0, pentru ca oamenii nu erau multumiti de ce au vazut.
Asta nu e amanare de 2-3 luni pt finisare...

[sexbobomb91]

"Ubisoft says it’s changing strategy to focus on more ‘high-end free-to-play’ games"
https://www.videogameschronicle.com/...to-play-games/
Cool ...
Daca le-ar pasa de jocuri single-player (fara live-services sau micro-tranzactii) probabil am mai vedea un Splinter Cell, un Rayman sau poate un Prince of Persia ca lumea facut.

[razvanrazy]

Eu cred ca piata este dictata strict de bani si cum banii vin din jocurile free to play, iar cele SP/Co-op nu mai aduc la fel de multi bani...e cam no brainer.

Cand ai un joc SP dezvoltat in 3-5 ani care aduce profit 20-30 mil $ (no idea, ipotetic vorbind) vs un joc free to play dezvoltat in 2-3 ani care aduce profit 100 mil sau 1 miliard, e destul de clar spre ce anume te indrepti.

Eu sunt dezamagit. Fac parte din oamenii carora le plac jocurile si povestile lor. Sper sa continue cu ele, in palalel cu cele free to play.

[dronology]

Ce așteptări am de la Ubisoft:

să nu f*** franciza Prince of Persia (să își vadă de Assassin's Creed în continuare),
să facă update la UNO și să rezolve problemele cu online-ul (de la început a fost un chin partea de online),
să continue colaborarea Mario + Rabbids, și
să ajungă Just Dance mai vândut decât FIFA.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game e disponibil (din nou) pentru popor așa că în rest pot să facă ce vor, chiar și jocuri “high-end free-to-play”. Brawlhalla e chiar simpatic și merită mai multă atenție (dar mai puține tranzacții în joc).

Ok, mai mult decât serios, Ubisoft să facă bine și să investească în servere pentru că la partea de online (și de imagine publică) mi se par lamentabili.

[paul]

Almost all of our internal Control developers have now moved on to work on other Remedy projects, including a new, exciting early-phase project.

The Crossfire team is finalizing the single-player operations for Smilegate’s CrossfireX and Crossfire HD. With both of these games launching in 2021, this is a significant year for Crossfire.

Remedy’s AAA game project with Epic Games is soon moving into full production, and the second, smaller-scale game continues in full production mode.

With Vanguard, our free-to-play co-op game project, we have now defined many of the core elements of the game. Development progresses at a good pace, internal playtesting continues, and we are starting the next phase of closed external gameplay testing.

Q1 2021 Business Review | Remedy investors

[paul]

A group of former Epic Games and Blizzard Entertainment developers today announced the formation of their new studio, Lightforge Games.

The remote-working studio is working on a cross-platform game with social elements, with CEO Matt Schembari saying the intent is "to combine elements from Minecraft or Roblox with tabletop RPGs to form a new way to play role-playing games."

The studio has received $5 million in backing from a number of investors, including Galaxy Interactive, NetEase Games, Dreamhaven, Maveron, and 1UP Ventures.

"Lightforge is creating a game in a new space that has a ton of potential," said Dreamhaven CEO and former Blizzard president Mike Morhaime. "The team is full of veteran developers, and I'm excited about their vision."

The founding team consists of Schembari, studio director Nathan Fairbanks, engineering director Dan Hertzka, art director Glenn Rane, and product director Marc Hutcherson, and the studio's website emphasizes "a culture of empathy, honesty, and growth."

Lightforge has hired another five developers on top of the founding team, brining the total staff to 11.

"We're building a studio for the long haul where empathy for players and developers alike is at the core of everything we do," Schembari said. "Building a fully remote company allows each team member to live wherever is best for their life situation."

Blizzard and Epic vets form Lightforge Games | GamesIndustry.biz

[dronology]

Xbox Game Studios and Timi Studios, the Tencent-owned developer of Call of Duty Mobile, have announced a strategic partnership.

According to a Google translation of the official announcement, the companies will “jointly create excellent game content and bring brand-new game sensory experience to players”.

Further details about the partnership will be publicly announced later this year.

Xbox partners with Tencent’s Call of Duty Mobile studio for ‘new game experiences’