NEWS In Brief
SEGA: The publisher has announced Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformedis in the works. It’s due for a boxed release on consoles by the end of the year, and will be download-only on PC.
UBISOFT: Developer Michel Ancel and Ubisoft Montpellier are currently working on Rayman Legendsfor Wii U. A leaked video shows Skylanders-style toys being placed on the Wii U controller for extra features.
HMV: The retailer’s Oxford Street store will host the official UK launch for long- awaited RPG Diablo IIInext week. The game will go on sale at 11pm on May 14th – one hour early.
MICROSOFT: Joy Ride Turbo, the sequel to Kinect Joy Ride, will not use Microsoft’s motion controller. It will be exclusive to XBLA and is due in “just a few weeks”.
BETHESDA: The Skyrim publisher will release the new survival horror title from Shinji Mikami, creator of Resident Evil. The project is codenamed ‘Zwei’ and will be Mikami’s first game since 2010’s Vanquish.
EA demos blockbuster line-up in London Battlefield, Medal of Honor and Crysis headline publisher’s release slate
by Christopher Dring
ELECTRONIC Arts took to London last month to show the press its upcoming triple-A blockbusters. And alongside the core console shooters, it demonstrated its latest PC, Facebook and iOS titles. The biggest games on display were shooters including upcoming modern day blaster Medal of Honor Warfighter(October 23rd). EA also fully revealed the upcoming sci-fi sandbox shooter Crysis 3, which isn’t available until spring 2013. PopCap unveiled special retail bundles for Bejeweled 3at the event, too. The DS
Crysis 3 (above) and Medal of Honor (above right) were big games on show
version features Bejeweled 3only (and will also be available over the Nintendo online store as well), while the PC, 360 and PS3 retail editions come bundled with different PopCap games. For example, Zumaand Peggleon PC and Zuma and Feeding Frenzy 2on PS3. There were a number of major digital properties showcased at the event for
Alongside the core console shooters, EA demonstrated its latest PC, iOS and Facebook titles.
“ by Christopher Dring
THE LATEST 2D shooter from specialist developer Cave will reach UK shelves on Friday, May 11th.
Sponsored By
It is the third game in the niche genre brought to these shores by Rising Star Games, following the arrival of Deathsmilesand DoDonPachi Resurrection last year.
Originally an arcade release, Akai Katanais an Xbox 360 exclusive and features the original arcade version in high definition. “Cave is world renowned for creating the biggest and best arcade shooters around,” said Rising Star MD Martin Defries. “And we’re delighted to add Akai Katanato that list, come May 11th.”
by Michael French
CHECK OUT THIS WEEK’S VIDEOS:
Diablo III
Sniper Elite V2 Call of Duty: Black Ops II
Videos are available within the free iPad Edition of MCVon iTunes and the free Browser-based Digital Edition, which can be accessed at
MCVUK.com
PAY ATTENTION. One of the most popular online ‘teen hangouts’ says digital games need to fight harder to battle brief attention spans. The man in charge of Habbo says that the migration of games to the web is inevitable, but makes fighting for consumers’ time more difficult.
www.mcvuk.com
“10 years ago, in online games, the assumption was that people spend all their time looking at their computer screens,” CEO Paul LeFontaine told MCV. “But today all of us spend less time looking only at a computer screen. We’re also looking at our phone screens and our tablet screens. “So we have to adjust our product to match the time
people have for us, when they use our service around TV, radio, online or other devices.” Each month over 10m 13 to 15-year-olds log on to Habbo’s user-generated and branded chat rooms, which play host to browser games and celebrity ‘appearances’. The firm also recently launched a new mobile app. “Fortunately we’re used to dealing with a segment that
console, Facebook, iOS and PC, too. The Battlefield 3: Close QuartersDLC (June 2012) was revealed at the showcase, as were mobile versions of Need for Speed, Battleship, Burnout, Shaun the Sheepand Mass Effect. The customary new FIFA game must be due a reveal soon, too.
EA: 01483 463000 Cult 360 shooter Akai Katana due May 11th
“No other arcade shooter offers the same explosive entertainment and wanton destruction as Akai Katana, and we can’t wait to let this loose on the public.” A special dedicated microsite for Akai Katana‘s release has also been put together over at
Akaikatana.com. Rising Star Games: 01462 860 009
Habbo: Online firms fighting short atten––
has a very short attention span, so we always think in terms of short interactions. For us, thinking about mobile is natural because short attention span is very much the audience we have. “But attention span and time is probably the largest challenge for any media company wanting to move from one platform to another.”
www.habbo.com
May 4th 2012 7
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60