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Trials Evolution leaks onto torrent sites

Miklós Szecsei

Jan 31, 2012

This doesn’t happen every day: RedLynx’s Xbox Live Arcade game Trials Evolution has hit torrent sites across the internet. The follow up to the obscenely popular XBLA title Trials HD is still in development and still only has an official release window of sometime in 2012. This has led people to question how the game got onto the Internet to begin with, and judging by past experience, a lot of people think it was leaked internally.

It wouldn’t be the first time RedLynx has done that; back when the original Trials was released, the development studio uploaded an incomplete PC version of the game in order to create some publicity and potentially drive pirates to purchasing the complete game. This time, however, it’s an Xbox Live Arcade version of Trials Evolution that’s found its way online, and RedLynx is denying they have anything to do with it this time.

Speaking to website Develop, RedLynx managing director Tero Virtala said, “We want to be clear that [leaking Trials Evolution] is not something we did ourselves,” despite having done something similar in 2009. He goes on to, of course, recommend people wait for the final release rather than pirate the game – funny that. That being said, you’d need a cracked or debug Xbox 360 to run it anyway. RedLynx is now owned by Ubisoft, so here’s hoping the publisher doesn’t develop some ungodly DRM to make the lives of Xbox 360 gamers a misery as well.

Source: Develop
Via: Kotaku

Kinect might be built into laptops as well

Miklós Szecsei

Jan 30, 2012

A PC version of Kinect is hitting, well, the PC this week on 01 February. Along with that new PC version comes an upgraded camera that allows Kinect to focus on people sitting closer to it; probably a good idea considering people sit way closer to their PCs than they do their TVs.

According to website The Daily, Microsoft is working with hardware manufacturers to integrate Kinect sensors into laptops. The Daily claims to have actually seen these laptops, which were manufactured by Asus. According the report, the Asus laptops were running Windows 8 and they had “an array of small sensors stretching over the top of the screen where the webcam would normally be”. Then, on the bottom of the laptop screen is “what appear to be LEDs”.

There’s no official word from Microsoft about any of this, so for now take it with a pinch of salt. Would it make sense for Microsoft to get hardware manufacturers to integrate Kinect into all of their laptops? Yes, it absolutely would. You might look like a total jackass sitting in an airport flailing your arms about in front of your laptop, but there’s more to Kinect than motion sensing; such as voice and facial recognition.

Source: The Daily
Via: Eurogamer

Kingdoms of Amalur online pass explained

Miklós Szecsei

Jan 30, 2012

Destructoid’s Jim Sterling has managed to create a bit of a PR disaster for Electronic Arts and 38 Studios’ upcoming action RPG Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. Upon receiving his review copy of the game, he noticed an included voucher that granted him access to the “House of Valor faction quests”, which added seven different quests to the main game.

This raised the question: why is a single player game having an entire set of faction quests hidden behind an online pass? If Kingdoms of Amalur had an online multiplayer component then perhaps it would make sense to bundle an Online Pass, but single player content now as well?

This has caused a bit of a stir online, with the game’s own forums accumulating a 49 page thread in a matter of hours; the thread is entitled “Did you push back at EA at all over this? Quest content gated by online pass.”

Mojang adds new jungle mob to Minecraft

Miklós Szecsei

Jan 30, 2012

A few days ago, Mojang’s Jens Bergensten tweeted a teaser image of a new mob type to be added to Minecraft in the 1.2 update. You can see the new mob in the header image. You can see it can’t you? It’s staring at you; no not the chicken (that’s not even staring at you – try to keep up please), it’s something else and yes it is in that picture.

Ocelots. Yep, Mojang is adding ocelots to jungle biomes within Minecraft. They’ll come in three colour varieties and you’ll also be able to tame them using raw fish. Tame two at once and they might even breed to produce tiny, adorable little pixelated ocelots.

There’s a video of them in action after the jump, which also shows some of the other new features coming up in update 1.2. Check it out and then get ready to tame and breed a million of these little buggers. I’m planning my Great Ocelot Farmyard right now. There’s going to be fish dispensers and everything. Ooh, and little beds for all my ocelots!

Meet Nintendo’s new Nintendo Network

Miklós Szecsei

Jan 27, 2012

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has introduced the company’s new online network during an investor’s meeting. The Nintendo Network will be available on the 3DS and the upcoming Wii U. You can think of it as Nintendo’s answer to Xbox Live Marketplace and the PlayStation Network, as it is to be a structured and branded online service.

According to Iwata, the aim of the Nintendo Network is to “establish a platform where various services available through the network for our consumers shall be connected via Nintendo Network service so that the company can make comprehensive proposals to consumers.”

What sort of “comprehensive proposals”? Downloadable content is one example but it’s unlikely to stop there. There are also plans to offer full-retail games as downloadable, digital versions.

Bitch-slapped: An open letter to my gaming PC

Tarryn van der Byl

Jan 27, 2012

Dear Overmind,

Hi, how are you? Actually, I’m not sure you can even read this, because you’re not plugged in. I know, I know, it’s been about seven months now since I moved into this flat, but there you are, a great black behemoth with no cables to give you life. I think they’re in a cupboard somewhere.

Behind the fish flakes, maybe.

Review: Resident Evil: Revelations

Matthew Vice

Jan 27, 2012

Oh deary, deary me. It seems the poor little 3DS is having a hard time of it, not being able to attract developers with its miscalculated selling point of a glasses-less 3D screen which seems to give more than half of its buyers eye-strain and headaches with any kind of prolonged use. Nobody would blame you if you considered (or actually did) pawn the thing while it was still worth something.

But if you stuck it out on faith that something worthwhile would eventually come your way – something not a rehash or remake of an old title, the likes of which seem to typify the 3DS library to this point – then you’ll be happy to know that Resident Evil: Revelations has finally arrived.

THQ cuts more staff, ex-employees air dirty laundry

Miklós Szecsei

Jan 27, 2012

Publisher THQ is in a bit of a pickle at present. The company’s monumental failure with their uDraw product has resulted in massive financial issues. To put it into perspective, THQ share prices were valued at $30 not too long ago; currently, the shares are worth $0.70. Drastic action is needed in order to salvage the company, and that has resulted in them permanently dropping their children and family game labels in order to focus on core, AAA titles titles like Saints Row: The Third. I’m sure many gamers don’t have a problem with this new strategy.

THQ has just announced further employee layoffs, with those from the administrative and publishing departments receiving pink slips. None of the five internal development studios have been affected, so at present this looks like a structure shuffle for THQ itself and not its collection of dev teams.

How did this all happen? Well, a fairly insightful and venomous explanation can be found in an open letter issued to the THQ Board of Directors. The letter was penned by those THQ staff members who have lost their jobs in this recent restructuring – the ex-employees refer to themselves as “The Formerly Mismanaged”. They’re placing all of the blame on the publisher’s senior management, specifically CEO Brian Farrell.

Street Fighter X Tekken goes to crazy town

Miktar

Jan 27, 2012

That’s right. Pac-Man and “American Mega Man” have joined the roster for the PlayStation Vita version of Street Fighter X Tekken. “American Mega Man” is modelled after the bad box art of the American release of Mega Man, while Pac-Man rides atop a Tron Bonne-style mechanized Mokujin.

You can find a character reveal trailer after the break.

Nintendo’s financial year is looking grim

Miklós Szecsei

Jan 26, 2012

Well, it’s looking grim by Nintendo standards, which is to say that they’re not posting their normal 55 bajillion yen profit. In fact, it’s kind of the opposite, as the Japanese company has just issued its third quarter financial statements for the current fiscal year.

Nintendo has forecasted a much lower annual turnover than initially expected and this is largely thanks to underperforming hardware sales and a stronger Yen, which makes things expensive for foreign countries to purchase Japanese exports.

Initially, Nintendo forecasted a loss of ¥20 billion, which is just over R2 billion. Now, however, that forecast is looking a little grimmer, with the expected loss to come in at ¥65 billion, or R6.5 billion by March 2012.