Tag: Industry - Page 21
News Ian Livingstone: Nintendo Should Have Their IP On Every Platform
"Otherwise a whole generation of young people will miss out on their games"
Industry veteran and Eidos life president Ian Livingstone has once again aired his opinion that Nintendo should develop games for other systems. Speaking at the Bristol Games Hub — a non-profit organisation based in the South West of England — Livingstone warned that...
Also says gamers see tablet and mobile as "perfect substitutes" for 3DS
Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter has delivered his company's latest set of predictions for the video game industry, and the findings make grim reading for Nintendo fans. Pachter feels that with the PS4 and Xbox One looming on the horizon, hardware price cuts are likely across...
News GungHo's CEO Wants To Surpass Nintendo's Sales By His Retirement
"I respect Nintendo"
GungHo Online Entertainment is one of Japan's rising stars, thanks largely to the amazing success of its iOS and Android title Puzzle & Dragons, which has been downloaded more than 14 millon times and generates $3.4 million a day in revenue. When you're a growing company, it's natural to aim high — and GungHo CEO Kazuki...
News Microsoft: If You're Backwards Compatible, You're Really Backwards
Xbox creator claims only 5% of players make use of the feature
Always online. Games tied to a single console. Indie developers can't self-publish. Just when you thought Microsoft couldn't have made a bigger hash of its Xbox One announcement, along comes the company's head of interactive entertainment Don Mattrick to attack backwards compatibility...
News In Q1 2013 More Money Was Spent On iOS Games Than On 3DS And Vita Software Combined
Times they are a changin'
A recent study has revealed that in the first quarter of 2013, more cash was spent on iOS games than on 3DS and PS Vita software combined. This marks a slight change from the previous quarter, where it took iOS and Google Play's combined spend to overshadow dedicated handheld gaming systems. This quarter, iOS alone has...
News Ubisoft Forecasts "Conservative" Sales Targets For Assassin's Creed IV And Watch_Dogs
"We wanted to be prudent on our expectations"
Ubisoft has forecasted that Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag will sell less than its direct predecessor, despite the universal appeal of the new game's nautical setting. Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has high hopes for the new entry in the best-selling series, but has decided to be cautious regarding sales...
News Peter Molyneux: If I were Nintendo, I'd Put Mario On The iPad
Thank goodness he's not, then?
Peter Molyneux and Ian Livingstone are two of British gaming's most influential figures. The former — who has been quite outspoken about the Wii U lately — founded Bullfrog and Lionhead, and is responsbile for titles such as Populous, Fable, Dungeon Keeper and the recent "gaming experiment" Curiosity. The latter...
News Industry Analyst: Nintendo Is "Positioned Perfectly" To Capitalise On Second-Screen Trend
Holiday line-up is vital, says EEDAR's Jesse Divnich
The Wii U isn't selling anywhere near as well as Nintendo hoped, and key titles are either slipping, going multiplatform or being cancelled entirely. Is it time to start pressing the panic button? Not quite, according to EEDAR analyst Jesse Divnich. Speaking to
News PS4 And Next Xbox Could Share Wii U's Teething Troubles, Says Activision's Kotick
"There are still many unknown factors"
Activision CEO Bobby Kotick ruffled a few feathers when he partially blamed the Wii U for his dismal outlook on the second half of 2013, but he's not been exclusively hating on Nintendo's system — in fact, he believes that the problems faced by the fledgling platform could easily impact Sony and Microsoft's...
News Rumours Of The Demise Of Silicon Knights Are Greatly Exaggerated
Founder Denis Dyack joins Precursor full time, but studio is still "alive"
Silicon Knights chief financial officer Mike Mays has refuted claims that the studio is all but dead, telling Polygon that it is "very busy" and "definitely alive". The studio remains embroiled in a legal battle with Epic Games, and insider reports suggest that focus on...
News Activison Anticipating Rough End To 2013, Wii U Partly Responsible
Playing the blame game?
Super-publisher Activision has posted better than predicted financial results for the first quarter of the year, but CEO Bobby Kotick has stated that he expects the latter part of 2013 to be less fruitful — and the poor commercial performance of the Wii U is partially to blame. Net revenues were $1.32 billion during the...
News Capcom Not Turning Its Back On Home Console Development
"Home video game software" is the "core segment" for the firm
Capcom has released its annual financial results, and the figures pretty much match the company's somewhat dismal April forecast. The company posted a profit of £19.42 million, which is down 56 per cent year-on-year. Capcom had previously stated that "excessive outsourcing" had led to a...
News The Force Is Strong In EA's New Star Wars Publishing Agreement
But will Nintendo fans see any benefit?
EA has signed up "exclusive" rights to Star Wars video games following the closure of LucasArts last month. The multi-year deal appears to cover original games, rather than those linked to the forthcoming movies. To confuse things further, Disney has retained the rights to certain mobile, online and tablet...
News Smartphones And Tablets To Be "Primary Screen For Gamers" By 2017
Juniper Research cites falling 3DS and Wii U sales forecasts as proof
According to analyst group Juniper Research, smartphone and tablet devices will be the "primary screen for gamers" by the year 2017, thanks to the increasing dominance of mobile tech and the rapidly-advancing standard of games available. Juniper predicts that a whopping 64.1...
News Reggie: Pace Of Wii U Software Launches Is "Slower Than Hoped"
Nintendo of America boss says E3 will bring new software
Let's face facts — the Wii U's software line-up so far hasn't been as robust as many would have hoped. While the console has hosted some amazing titles since its launch last year, the release schedule has dried up in recent months — thanks to delays and cancellations, as well as
News Cliff Bleszinski Likens The Wii To A "Virus"
Outspoken designer agrees with earlier comment by ex-Epic colleague
Back in 2008, Epic's Mike Capps described the Wii as a "virus" which infected gamers in the short-term but didn't leave any lasting impression. He said: It's a virus where you buy it and you play it with your friends and they're like, "Oh my God that's so cool, I'm gonna go buy...
News Nintendo Stock Rises By 11%
The largest increase since 2008
The Japanese yen has reached a three-year low against the euro meaning many successful exporters are enjoying a rise in stock. Nintendo has seen an 11% rise in stock value, which now stands at 11,850 yen, the largest gain since 2008. The yen has weakened against all 16 major counterparts this year as speculation...
News Deep Silver Has "No Plans" To Support Wii U
"Their audience is not who we reach best"
Deep Silver's desicion to not bring Dead Island: Riptide to the Wii U caused a moderate amount of drama last month — not least because the excuse given was denied by the development team behind the game, forcing Deep Silver to admit that the real reason was that the process simply
Interview Michael Pachter On Wii U, 3DS And The Challenges Facing Nintendo This Generation
"I don’t hate Nintendo at all"
Michael Pachter has been called a lot of things — not all of them repeatable on a family-friendly site such as this — but many of his harshest critics seem to miss the point of what he is actually saying; his job is to ensure that people invest their cash wisely and not to placate over-zealous fans. Nevertheless,...
News LucasArts Shut Down By Disney
Star Wars titles will be licensed out to third parties
It has been confirmed that Disney has shut down LucasArts. The company's publishing and internal development businesses will now close for good. Disney picked up the company as part of its deal to acquire LucasFilm but has since decided to disband it. Star Wars games will still be made, they'll...
News XSEED Details Game Localisation Costs
Just wait until you see the snack budget!
XSEED Games, known for its excellent translations of games like Little King's Story and Unchained Blades, recently spoke with localisation advocate Operation Rainfall about their development process. During the interview it went into detail - sort of - about the various costs that go into localising a...
News Digital Game Sales Growing 33% Year-on-Year in US and EU
Analysts reveal new data at GDC
The digital distribution of games has grown substantially in recent years with an increasing number of titles finding themselves in the Nintendo eShop, PSN, Xbox Live Arcade and Steam. Analysts from NPD, iResearch and Digi-Capital presented data at this week's Game Developers Conference on the state of the global...
News GameStop: Wii U Marketing Strategy Has "Not Broken Through" To Consumers
More first party titles will enable system to "take off"
Earlier in the month, GameStop President Tony Bartel said Wii U sales had been slower than the company had anticipated and that the system would need some great first party titles in order to compete. The games retailer recently had its post-earnings financial call, which has been reported on...
News New Research Claims Wii U Success Hinges On A Price Cut
ABI believes the video game market is set to improve
The video game market has been contracting in recent years. According to research from ABI, sales of video game consoles dropped by around a quarter in 2012 as the big three systems came towards the end of their life cycles. The launch of the Wii U over the festive period was reasonably...
News PAX Australia is Sold Out
No more tickets available for the July event
PAX Australia will be taking place this Winter between 19th and 23rd July in Melbourne and if you haven't picked up a ticket yet you might be a bit disappointed to hear all passes have been sold. This comes from the event's official Facebook page, which stated the expo is now a sell out and no more...
News Tecmo Koei Slices Team Ninja in Two
The company is reorganising after big profits
Tecmo Koei has been doing pretty well for itself recently. Last year it recorded a net profit of $27.9 million (£17.7 million) between the beginning of October and the end of December, which was a staggering 291.7% increase on the previous quarter. Now the company has announced it is reorganising its...
News EA CEO John Riccitiello Resigns
Decision made after poor financial results
Electronic Arts' John Riccitiello has handed in his letter of resignation and will be stepping down from his position as chief executive officer on 31st March 2013 after being in charge of the company for six years. Larry Probst, who was the publisher's CEO from 1991 to 2007, will be the man in charge...
News Nintendo of America Reorganising its Operations
New York employees heading to Redmond
Nintendo is reorganising its operations in North America by moving some of its employees from the Park Avenue offices in New York to those in Redmond, Washington. A much smaller office will soon open up in New York, where a few staff will remain. For those of you who are worried, the Nintendo World Store isn't...
News Former Assassin's Creed Creative Director Patrice Désilets Returns To Ubisoft
Back at Ubi after THQ's bankruptcy
Former Assassin's Creed lead developer Patrice Désilets has joined Ubisoft — the company he left in 2010 — after the French publisher acquired THQ Montreal, where he was employed as creative director. The studio was up for sale following THQ's recent bankruptcy. Désilets was working on two previously...
Talking Point Nintendo's Stock Jump Bodes Well for the Value of Potential
History and pedigree in the industry are vital weapons
This week brought some interesting and, perhaps, unexpected news. Nintendo's stock jumped a little over 7% on the Osaka Stock Exchange, a boost attributed to factors such as a weakening Yen being a benefit against trade in the U.S., while positive economic news from the big N's most valuable...
News Pachter: Wii U Will Sell Between 30 to 50 Million Units During Its Lifetime
Will "Probably" Be Nintendo's Final Home Console
Industry analyst Michael Pachter has been speaking at the ongoing SXSW Interactive 2013 festival in Austin, and has delivered some dismal predictions for Nintendo's Wii U console. During his presentation, Pachter addressed the future of home consoles, and gave some proposed figures for the big three...
News Nintendo's Stock Price Jumps Higher than Mario
Happy shareholders spotted smoking cigars and drinking expensive brandy
Sometimes relatively obscure financial news can bring rather nice vibes for Nintendo and its fans, such as today's confirmation of a fairly meaty jump of over 7% in share price, to 10,330 Yen — roughly $110 / €85 / £73. While it'd be nice to think that this surge in value...
News Pikmin 3 Aims to "Simply Go Deeper" Than Previous Experiences
Miyamoto believes players need to play Wii U before grasping "how fun it is"
As part of an extensive interview that's been published by GameSpot, we've already been given an idea of Shigeru Miyamoto's perspective on Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon's role as "lighter fare" on 3DS. Naturally a big topic raised with the executive producer was an upcoming...
News Ubisoft Is "Optimistic" About Wii U, But Would Like a Price Cut All The Same
"We think that Wii U will find its public at some point"
Ubisoft’s executive director for EMEA territories Alain Corre has added his voice to the those calling for a Wii U price cut. When asked by Edge Online if he would welcome a reduction in price, Corre said: Always. We always want the hardware to be at a low price because we want as many...
News Lead Designer On Watch_Dogs Has Parted Company With Ubisoft
Jamie Keen has joined EA
It has been reported that Watch_Dogs lead game designer Jamie Keen has left Ubisoft and is now working at EA Gothenburg — also known as Ghost Games. VideoGamer.com found the information in Keen's
News Crytek CEO: "The Notion Of A Single Player Experience Has To Go Away"
Wants to see Connected Single-Player or Online Single-Player instead
There's been a lot of talk about what the future holds for the video game industry and how games will be distributed in the coming years. Mobile gaming is becoming more popular, and retail games are starting to become more readily available through online stores. Free-to-play...
News Cliff Bleszinski Sees A Future Where Nintendo Is Out Of The Hardware Business
"It's like the Super Smash Bros. of business right now, and I want to see if Peach or Mario wins"
Ex-Epic Games director Cliff Bleszinski has been reflecting on what he feels could be the future of the video game industry, and has admitted that one day Nintendo may be forced to leave behind hardware manufacturing to focus purely on software...
News Ubisoft "Satisfied" With Wii U Launch, But Notes Low Software Tie-In Ratios
CEO Yves Guillemot talks business with investors
Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has stated that his company is satisfied with the launch of the Wii U and happy with its own market share in both North America and Europe, but also noted the impact of "low tie-in ratios" on software. During Ubisoft's investors call last week, Guillemot had the following...
News Activision's Bobby Kotick Is Disappointed With The Launch Of The Wii U
"We're concerned about the install base for 6-11 year-olds"
It seems that people just can't stop hating on the Wii U. Activision boss Bobby Kotick is the latest to knock Nintendo's new console, suggesting that the machine has been a commercial flop and is struggling to find favour with youngsters - a key demographic in today's market. During the...
News Microsoft Almost Purchased Sega In Order To Compete With Nintendo And Sony
How different things could have been
A former Microsoft executive has revealed that the company was considering buying Japanese video game veteran Sega before it decided to create the Xbox console. Speaking to IGN, Joachim Kempin said: There were three companies at that point in time, I think this was , Sega and Nintendo. There was always talk...
News U.S. Download Sales Increase, But Physical Games Drop in Popularity
Downloads get closer to overtaking physical retail
The times are definitely changing in the video game retail industry, as the latest NPD figures covering 2012 sales in the U.S. emerge. In general the results reflect the trends reported by Nintendo in its financial results, but the figures also show just how vital the download gaming market is...
News Square Enix Laments "Increasingly Difficult" Console Market
5.7 billion yen loss rocks Dragon Quest publisher
Japanese publisher Square Enix has recorded a 5.7 billion yen loss for the nine months ending 31st December 2012. This comes despite the news that sales have risen to 102.7 billion yen. The firm has placed the blame on the tricky nature of the console market, stating that poor game sales were to...
News Nintendo Plans To Make It Easier For Developers To Share Their Assets Between Platforms
Expanding developer capabilities with technology like Unity, JavaScript and HTML5
Nintendo President Satoru Iwata recently held a financial briefing with investors that wasn't exactly brimming with good news for the company. Iwata-san revealed that Nintendo recorded an operating loss of 5.85 billion Yen in the nine month period and spoke about a...
News Latest Figures Show The Video Game Market Is Contracting
Satoru Iwata briefs investors and reveals many challenges for the industry
Nintendo is certainly having a good old time in Japan. The 3DS is dominating hardware sales in the region, so much so it has already surpassed the 10 million sales mark. However, things aren't looking as rosy in the overseas markets, namely the US and Europe, where Nintendo's...
News GoldenEye Creator Explains N64 Title's Role In Bringing "Real" Guns to the Virtual World
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...
News Wii U Price Cut Isn't in Nintendo's Plans
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...
News Iwata Implies That He Could Step Down Over Sluggish Sales Performance
"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...
News Warren Spector: "I'm Sad But Excited For The Future"
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...
Talking Point Nintendo's Lower Expectations Are No Surprise
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,...
News Nintendo's Financial Results Bring Operational Losses But Overall Profit
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...