/// EPISODE 105
Below are the news stories that may not have made the headlines today but are worth reading!
Gamers never die…..
Just like the Games of Our Lives…
/// GAMES FEATURED
►Shadow Realms
►World of Warcraft
►Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D
►Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate
►Kirby and the Rainbow Curse
►Battlefield: Hardline
►Bravely Second
►Deus Ex Universe
►Homefront: The Revolution
►Persona 5
►Halo: The Master Chief Collection
/// BioWare Cancels Online RPG Shadow Realms!
While the team did amazing work on the game concept and we got lots of great feedback from our fans at events and through other game testing, right now there are other projects for the team to work on within the BioWare studios for the coming year and beyond. We’ve got an incredibly talented team here at the Austin studio, and they are excited and already deep on new projects within the BioWare family, ones that will make some great BioWare games even better.
These include additional ongoing enhancements to the award-winning Dragon Age: Inquisition, as well as the next game in the Mass Effect series and other new IP.
But the biggest focus for our team in BioWare Austin will be on Star Wars™: The Old Republic™. As every Star Wars™ fan knows, this is a massive year in the Star Wars universe. We have some great plans for expanding this epic game this year, and look forward to sharing the news about those plans with our players in the coming weeks.
For all the people that registered for the Shadow Realms Closed Alpha, we’re working on a way to say thank-you for signing up. To all those players that gave us feedback at Gamescom and PAX, and those that shared their thoughts and impressions in the past months, we thank you for being part of the conversation.
Jeff Hickman – General Manager, BioWare Austin
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/// 15 years ago at GDC 2000, Bill Gates Announced Xbox!
On Friday, March 10, 2000, between 10:30-11:30 A.M. PST, in the San Jose Civic Auditorium, Bill Gates gave the Opening Address at GDC 2000, where he discussed Microsoft’s ongoing commitment to the entertainment market and announced Xbox.
The keynote can be viewed at GDC Vault
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/// World of Warcraft’s Next Patch Adds Racing Mini-Game!
The race’s final version will be added to the Darkmoon Faire island, WoW’s ever-growing, mini game-filled theme park. This one, however, looks a bit more complex and fun than tossing rings on turtles.
The main goal is to hit three posts with a special racing mount as fast as possible. Sprint boots, leaping gear and a “jump to banner” button could speed up things, while randomly placed electrical wires can stun you for a few seconds. Add the effects of some buffs and toys, and other people trying to attack you, and things could end up in a chaotic Mario Kart-like way.
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/// Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D x Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate New 3DS XL commercials!
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/// Wii U – Kirby and the Rainbow Curse TV Commercial!
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/// Battlefield: Hardline Beta Had Over 6 Million Players!
We’d like to take this opportunity to thank the community one more time. We love the two way dialogue we’ve established. And now that you’ve driven millions of miles in Hotwire, you’ve stolen billions of dollars in Heist, and you’ve continued to show mad love for Conquest, we can’t wait until you get a chance to play the whole package. We have seven multiplayer modes, nine diverse maps and a full single player campaign that’s like nothing Battlefield has ever seen before.
[Source]
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/// Square Enix Trademarks ‘Holey Heroes’ in North America!
[Source]
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/// Bravely Second Subtitle Revealed!
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/// Capcom Currently Working On Over 10 Online Titles!
On the topic of Dragon’s Dogma Online, Ono says that Capcom will begin service starting with Japan, as it’s where most people currently support the company at the moment. As for the market outside Japan, including other Asian countries, he says that it’s a trial-and-error process at the moment, but that certainly doesn’t mean the game be won’t released outside Japan.
Meanwhile, Sugiura adds that there are currently over 10 unpublished games in development, and that the company is taking its time with them. Following that, the two discuss two of the titles that are expected to release this year.
“Firstly, we have Dragon’s Dogma Online,” says Ono. “As for deep down, we’re quietly working on it, so please wait a little longer. We might be able to show off something big sometime this year.”
Sugiura adds, “deep down is a title that will take on challenges for the next 15 years, so we can’t release it in its current graphical state and say that it’s at its best. This might sound extreme, but the productivity required [to make the game] takes about five to six times more effort than Monster Hunter Frontier G.”
Finally, the two touch upon the subject of Breath of Fire 6, which is an online web-based game for browsers and smartphones.
“We’re currently making it so that it can please the older fans and those who’ve yet to try the game,” says Ono.
“I believe that 2015 will be the year that Capcom will release the most online games ever,” says Sugiura.
[Source]
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/// Nintendo Tried to Secure the Rights for the Harry Potter Books!
In 1998, Nintendo of America’s internal team, Nintendo Software Technology developed a pitch to lock down exclusive access to the Harry Potter rights. Had it been successful, Nintendo would have secured the rights to produce all adaptations of the book series for the indefinite future in video game form; potentially preventing the eventual movie adaptations from being created altogether. [Source]
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/// Deus Ex Universe to be Shown Off at GDC 2015 with AMD TressFX 3.0!
In this talk, engineers from Eidos and AMD detail the TressFX 3.0 solution used in Dawn Engine which will be the cornerstone to the development of the Deus Ex Universe projects at the studio. We show how Eidos graphics engineers built upon TressFX to break new grounds and deliver a realistic and scalable hair solution in the Dawn Engine for PC and consoles. With a focus on game requirements such as artistic control and animation support this talk will cover the practical considerations of a full TressFX pipeline, from authoring to rendering. In addition, for simulation, we address topics such as collisions, shape preservation, stretching, and wind. For rendering, we discuss how to blend strands with traditional hair meshes, antialiasing solutions, and translucency sorting techniques. We will also cover the latest TressFX 3.0 advancements from AMD, including skinning and fur support, an open source Maya plugin, and new rendering options for optimum scalability. [GDC SCHEDULE]
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SECOND HALF
/// Homefront: The Revolution ‘will not be vapourware’, Deep Silver Promises!
Posting on NeoGAF, community manager Maurice Tan confirmed that “Homefront: The Revolution is still in development, now under our wing at Dambuster Studios (formerly Crytek UK).
“Sometimes we get questions from fans if it’s going to be another Prey 2 or Duke Nukem Forever. But rest assured that the team at Dambuster is still working hard on the game and it’s not going to be vapourware.”
Homefront: The Revolution initially started life at Crytek UK under THQ, but was sold outright to Crytek following the publisher’s closure in 2013.
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/// Persona 5 Details on the Protagonist and More!
►The protagonist is a second-year high school student, who transfers to the city during the spring (around the time of the start of a new school year in Japan.) He’ll move into a coffee shop owned by acquaintances of his parents.
►The game starts out in Shibuya, but the stage is set in various parts of Tokyo.
►This is a vague hint, but for what it’s worth, the protagonist has some sort of problem that will lead to trouble down the line if he doesn’t fight it. The part of the recent trailer that showed him imprisoned was a symbol for a “prison of mind”.
►The dungeon that was shown in the trailer was not automatically-generated, and the story will have various main places that are suitable for a challenge to a phantom thief with all kinds of stages and gimmicks. However, this doesn’t mean there won’t be any auto-generated elements in game.
►There will be some sort of Social Link-like feature in Persona 5.
►The protagonist’s first exclusively usable Persona is named “Arsène”. This is likely derived from the famous phantom thief, Arsène Lupin.
►In previous titles, the Persona summoning scene had the Japanese onomatopoeia of “カッ” (kka) which is something often used to depict a flash or clicking sound. In Persona 5, it’s “ブチッ” (buchi) which is a snapping sound (either physically or mentally).
[MORE]
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/// PlayStation Plus Multiplayer Open Weekend 2/13-2/16/15!
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/// Halo: The Master Chief Collection Patch Betas Cancelled!
“After further evaluation, the team has determined that that final testing for the content update will be completed internally, and we will not be conducting a beta test for the next CU,” 343′s Andy Dudynsky said.
“Also, it was determined that the additional time and work devoted to the beta would’ve actually postponed the public availability of the content update. Lastly, there were some added challenges surrounding the CU beta – including an extra series of required updates and rollbacks – that made us take a step back and reexamine the CU beta.
“Ultimately, this plan will allow us to deliver the smoothest possible experience, and ensure that the next content update becomes available as soon as possible.”
343 still doesn’t have an ETA on the next patch, which is focused on improvements to matchmaking and party systems. [Source]
