Tracing back the roots of video games is particularly difficult since not everyone can agree on exactly what defines a video game. One thing we do know for certain, however, is that computers and video games have gone hand-in-hand for many years.
With studio closures seemingly popping up left and right (Iron Lore, Stormfront, Sega Racing Studio, Castaway, Pseudo Interactive, Perpetual Entertainment, to name a few) in this age of massive next-gen budgets and continued industry consolidation, GameDaily BIZ decided to get some perspective on just how tough it really is (or isn’t) on today’s video game developers and discussed some winning strategies for staying in the game.
Square Enix will be giving its biggest Japanese fans a sneak peak at its latest titles this summer. The company announced today plans for the DKΣ3713 event, a summer event that will give players a chance to check out Final Fantasy XIII, Kingdom Hearts and more.
Well, it looks as though Havok has released their tools to PC developers for free. Just fill out the form, download the tools, and you’re good to go. Here is what the Havok site had to say:
Wild Tangent founder, chairman and CEO Alex St John told the Wedbush Morgan Securities annual Management Access Conference that game consoles will soon cease to exist as we currently know them.
“I think you’re looking at the last generation of game consoles, and I think it’s easy to defend that position,” he said.
The eagerly awaited Gears of War 2 footage was released last night to the delight of fans and gamers. What we saw was some great looking action with far more happening on screen than Gears 1. I was floored when I saw the down sampled video. Upon further inspection of the 720p feed though, it appears that Epic isn’t rendering on screen what we might think.
Check out these full 720p direct feed game captures. Jpgs are not compressed.
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It appears that Epic has applied a strong smear filter to the engine. This smear effect is also similar to the median blur in Photoshop. Why is it there? Is it there for effect? Perhaps. But does it make the game look better? Maybe if you’re using lower res textures and lower poly models. View the images and decide for yourself.
You might be noticing a lot more GTA4 adverts in flyers, websites, and stores of late. You can sometimes see GTA4 plastered on the front pages of some online stores, advertising the game. But I’ve noticed something. I’m not sure I’ve seen more than one store, website or flyer that is mentioning that the Xbox 360 version of GTA4 will be getting exclusive content.
Recently I got the chance to speak with Rob Yescombe from Free Radical, Screenwriter on the hot new PS 3 Shooter Haze. I got the chance to play an early version of the game at the Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle, and Rob was kind enough to take the time to update me on what gamers can look forward to from this hot new titles.
Check out some of the awesome concept art from games from last year of 2007. Some of the art included is from Viva Pinata, Lair, Team Fortress, Guild Wars, and more.
“I think PS3 will win this generation when all is said and done,” Ready at Dawn’s president told us in an interview published Friday. “What I’m more curious about is the next one really. Microsoft made a dent this time around and can stand to finally get the upper hand if they stick it out and/or if Sony stays complacent like they did early on in this generation. That’s where the real fight is going to be in my opinion.”
