Industry News, Industry Features - Page 3 of 25

Brand names weren't licensed, which has changed in modern games.

With gun control and related violence a topical subject in the U.S. and among interested parties and spectators worldwide, the role of video games has faced its own level of scrutiny. Major publishers had a meeting with vice-President Joe Biden as part of his gun control task-force...

Iwata: "I would like to make this point absolutely clear"

Following the announcement of the latest financial results for Nintendo, Satoru Iwata addressed a number of issues in a subsequent briefing, some of which we've already reported. Naturally, Wii U was a major part of the presentation, with data presented by the Nintendo President that showed...

"We feel greatly accountable for this severe outlook"

Nintendo President Satoru Iwata has hinted that he will step down if goals for the next fiscal year are not met. Speaking in a Corporate Management Policy Briefing, Iwata addressed the thorny issue of two consecutive years of losses and recent financial troubles: We feel greatly accountable...

Former Junction Point chief is proud of the studio's achievements

Yesterday Disney announced that it was closing Junction Point Studios indefinitely, resulting in around 160 people sadly losing their jobs. Warren Spector was the man who headed up the operation at Junction Point, and because of the closure he too has left Disney Interactive. In a...

Nintendo isn't doomed, though

Today Nintendo issued its third quarter financial results, showing where the company stands in terms of profits and sales. To get the positive out of the way and to avoid any confusion, the company is now projecting a net income profit of 14 billion Yen - over $150 million dollars at the time of writing. In summary,...

Wii U sales to date pass three million

Nintendo has today published its quarterly financial results, which cover the nine months up to the end of December. In terms of the baseline figures that concern shareholders the outcome is disappointing if not a disaster, while sales of hardware seem to be in reasonable shape. Wii U is reported to have...

Warren Spector's studio closes its doors

It has emerged today that Junction Point Studios, the developer behind the Epic Mickey series, has closed its doors and in the process made its employees — of which there were around 160 in early 2012 — redundant. Rumours were circulating yesterday about the studio's demise, and now a Disney...

Could do better?

Although those who have purchased the Wii U - us included - are perfectly happy with the system, experts and analysts want cold, hard numbers to prove how well a new piece of hardware is doing. And sadly, in the case of the Wii U, those figure are a little on the depressing side. Eurogamer has conduced its own investigation into...

Troubling tales regarding Warren Spector's studio

Various reports have been circulating around the internet in the past couple of hours saying that Warren Spector's Junction Point has been suffering some problems, with the development studio being closed down by Disney. A tweet originating from Roberts Space Industries sparked the chatter, but it...

A new generation is getting interested

While it's often easy for veteran gamers — some of which are part of the Nintendo Life team — to bemoan the loss of some video game traditions, there are occasions where modern trends are good for those with old-fashioned sensibilities. We see old titles given new life on download platforms, for example,...

A year to remember for Nintendo's handheld business

Media Create, the most trusted source for the weekly hardware and software charts in Japan, has released details of the top selling games in the region for the whole of 2012. As anyone who follows our regular posts on the weekly Japanese chart will know, Nintendo's been having a good time in its...

Tomm Hulett leaves Konami for pastures new

A new director has been appointed at WayForward Technologies in the form of Tomm Hulett, the former Konami producer behind Contra 4, Rocket Knight and the more recent Silent Hill games. Konami and WayForward Technologies have worked together before, with the publisher releasing Silent Hill: Book of...

There's still some hope for Darksiders

This week saw the sad end of THQ, as the publisher sold off its assets at auction and closed its doors for the last time. SEGA, Koch Media, Crytek, Take-Two and Ubisoft all gathered around for the sale, taking with them most of its IPs and studios. One development team that unfortunately didn't get picked up...

Mario is third, but results are only from 1996 onwards

When it comes to the UK software sales charts, FIFA is often King. While some like to pick on Nintendo's fairly regular entries from Mario, for example, FIFA is an annual affair that, from year to year, promises revolutionary improvements to shake up the series. FIFA 13 did represent a genuine...

Beating Apple, Sony and Microsoft

A recent poll has seen Nintendo top the list for best customer service, outranking Apple, Sony, Samsung and Microsoft - among others. The findings were charted by Forrester, an independent market research firm that specialises in the tech sector. 7,500 US participants in the survey were asked: “How well did they...

A match made in heaven?

Yesterday, we reported that THQ's time was up and the company's studios were being sold off to the highest bidders. One of the shocks of the process has been the fact that nobody has come forward to purchase Darksiders II studio Vigil Games. However, it would seem that there are interested parties out there. Platinum...

Sega, Crytek, Take-Two and Ubisoft pick apart troubled company

2013 hasn't had the best of starts for veteran video game publisher THQ. After buying some time at the end of 2012, the firm slid into bankruptcy just a few days later and as the new year dawned found itself in the position of having its assets - the studios and IPs it owns, essentially...

Refers to "electronic child molesters"

After the shocking violence of the Sandy Hook massacre, a lot of political debate in the U.S. has focused on the implications of what happened, along with debates about existing gun laws and the potential causes of such violent behaviour. It's a complex issue with arguments about gun control and mental health...

Predicting releases is getting tougher

Yesterday brought the news that Project X Zone is being localised and released in PAL regions and North America this summer. To many that would arguably be a surprise, as the title has endured a relative failure in Japan, culminating in a major price-cut. Yet recent years have taught us that predicting...