Tag: Industry - Page 11
And so Kinect was born
Xbox's new six-part documentary series celebrating the 20 year history of Microsoft's console gaming division has a lot of company secrets and industry insights and one highlight from a Nintendo perspective is a brief segment about motion gaming in Chapter 5. In the holiday 2006, Nintendo launched its new motion-controlled...
News Nintendo Is Investing In Office Space In Japan To House More Game Development
Nintendo HQ 2: HQ Reloaded
Once upon a time, Nintendo was a little playing card company, located in a regular-sized office building in Kyoto, Japan. They're a bit bigger now, and you may have seen their boring-but-iconic Kyoto headquarters before: It's a big white cube covered in windows. But it looks like there's about to be a second big cube...
News The Game Awards GOTY For 2021 Is 'It Takes Two' By Hazelight Studios
Metroid Dread takes out best action adventure game
The Game Awards has just wrapped up for another year and the winner is 'It Takes Two' developed by Hazelight Studios and published by EA. It also took out the best family and multiplayer awards. The GOTY award was presented by Naughty Dog's president Neil Druckmann and accepted by the game's...
Talking Point Are Nintendo's Exclusives Enough To Win A Next-Gen Handheld War?
The 'next Switch' will need to match the current system's all-round strengths
When it comes to the world of entertainment technology, everyone likes to get ahead of themselves. Everything is 'the next big thing', until about a year later, that is, when it's evident that the tech isn't ready yet. Augmented reality and virtual reality are good...
News The Summer Game Fest Returns In 2022
More will be shared at The Game Awards
It's been announced the Summer Game Fest will be returning in 2022...next Summer. There are no other details just yet, but apparently, more information will be revealed during The Game Awards. Geoff Keighley - the host and organiser of both events - shared the following message (below) on Twitter as part of...
News Reggie Fils-Aimé To Lead "Blank Check Company” Focused On Gaming And Digital Media
Designed to support and help companies to go public
Reggie Fils-Aimé recently hosted and chaired a livestream roundtable to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Xbox, which was interesting not only as an insight into the era of its original launch, but to see what some former gaming executives are doing now. Fils-Aimé, for his part, has remained...
News Metroid Dread Developer MercurySteam Announces Its Next Game, Codenamed "Project Iron"
"a third person action RPG set in a dark fantasy world"
If you've been wondering what the developer MercurySteam is up to now that Metroid Dread is available on the Nintendo Switch, it appears it's already got a brand-new game in the works. The Spanish-based studio is teaming up with Digital Bros and its publishing division 505 Games for a new...
News Updated Nintendo Policies Push For Increased Transparency And Diversity
Also expands procedures for dismissal of Directors
Recent weeks and months have brought a lot of attention to allegations of misconduct at Activision Blizzard, with a leaked email from Nintendo of America President Doug Bowser reacting and explaining that "every company in the industry must create an environment where everyone is respected and...
News Nintendo Of America Employee Says Goodbye After More Than A Decade
"I will remain a Nintendo fan and gamer forever"
Last month, a report from Kotaku revealed Nintendo had shut down its branches located in California and Toronto. At the time, it was also confirmed Nintendo of America's SVP of Sales and Marketing, Nick Chavez, would be moving on. Chavez has now taken to social media to thank Nintendo for his time at...
Random Xbox's 20th Anniversary 'Metaverse' Acknowledges The Time It Tried To Acquire Nintendo
And the rest is history
Update: Our friends at Eurogamer have gone an extra step and transcribed part of the letter from within Xbox's virtual museum. The letter was sent by Xbox's Rick Thompson to NoA's business boss Jacqualee Story and attempts to set up a meeting with Nintendo's boss Hiroshi Yamauchi and hardware chief Genyo Takeda. "Dear...
News Epic Games Acquires Harmonix, Makers Of Rock Band, To Work On Fortnite
Rockfort Bandnite
In the latest tale of giant-company-buys-smaller-studio, Epic Games has acquired Harmonix — a "monumental" deal that will welcome the 26-year-old Rock Band developer into Epic's growing stable of studios that also includes Rocket League developer, Psyonix. In a developer blog published on Tuesday, 23rd November, Harmonix...
Random Reggie Fils-Aimé Admits He Bought Xbox Over GameCube As He Hosts 20th Anniversary Panel
"I actually didn't buy a GameCube until I was already part of Nintendo"
Reggie Fils-Aimé has done all sorts of things since he retired from his role as Nintendo of America's president in 2019, and his latest temporary gig is well worth watching if you love learning about the history of the video game industry. The man who made a name for himself...
"They run counter to my values as well as Nintendo’s beliefs"
Update: Nintendo has now officially confirmed this in a PR response to Fanbyte: “We can confirm the content of Doug Bowser’s internal email to Nintendo of America staff is accurate. We have nothing further to share on this topic.” Nintendo of America's president Doug Bowser...
But only if the issues cannot be fixed "with speed"
Activision Blizzard boss Bobby Kotick has said he would be open to quitting his role at the head of the company if the firm's ongoing issues cannot be solved "with speed". Kotick's comments came during a meeting with Activision Blizzard executives late last week, the Wall St Journal reports...
News Playtonic's Original Yooka-Laylee Game Is Getting A Follow-Up Title
A new adventure is on the way
In a bit of a shock announcement earlier this week, Playtonic - the UK developer comprised of former Rare veterans and known for titles such as Yooka-Laylee - revealed Chinese video game giant Tencent had acquired a minority stake in the business. If it's got you wondering what's to come, in an interview with friends...
News Activision Blizzard Employees Stage A Walkout Calling For CEO Bobby Kotick's Resignation
Update: Over 1300 employees sign a petition calling for Kotick to go
Update: More than 1300 Activision Blizzard employees have signed a petition demanding that CEO Bobby Kotick resign in the wake of this week's Wall Street Journal report alleging his failure to act on knowledge of misconduct at studios within the company. At the time of writing,...
News Xbox Boss Phil Spencer Calls For Industry-Wide Support Of Game Preservation Via Emulation
"My hope is as an industry we'd work on legal emulation"
Xbox, as you might have heard, is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary. As part of this head of Xbox Phil Spencer has been doing a lot of interviews with media outlets this week - discussing the past, present and future. In his latest chat with Axios, he's passed on a message to the...
News Phil Spencer: Elder Scrolls 6's Xbox Exclusivity Isn't About "Punishing" Other Platforms
The head of Xbox just wants to deliver a "complete package"
Bethesda, as you might recall, was officially acquired by Microsoft earlier this year for the sum of $7.5 billion. It's naturally raised a lot of concerns about the future of Bethesda games on other platforms, like the Nintendo systems. While we previously heard how future Bethesda titles...
"We are thrilled to democratize these industry-leading tools"
Unity Technologies, the company behind the game engine of the same name, is purchasing the tech assets of Peter Jackson's Weta Digital VFX house, it has been revealed. The two firms have entered into a definitive agreement that will see Unity acquire Weta Digital's proprietary technology...
Soapbox Can We Please Retire The Phrase 'Lazy Devs' Already?
A tough job under difficult circumstances
There’s one magic word that gets trotted out all the time in this hobby, a handy term used to describe all digital ills — lazy. ‘How did this bleh of a game end up on the eShop?’ ‘Who couldn’t be bothered to finish this puzzle / minigame / character’s face properly?’ ‘How much more effort...
Talking Point Switch Is A Juggernaut, But Nintendo Will Still Feel Investor Pressure
Production issues and no 'Pro' will remain topics
Today brought the Q2 Nintendo financial results, which would be easy to miss with the understandable excitement of Animal Crossing: New Horizons version 2.0 arriving a day early. In some ways they're results with two sides, though within Nintendo's boardroom they may feel like they're somewhat stuck...
News EA Boss Says NFTs Will Be An "Important Part" Of The Games Industry's Future
"It's still early to figure out how that's going to work"
Recently, Ubisoft stated that it wants to be one of the key players in the world of video game-related NFTs (non-fungible tokens), and now publishing rival Electronic Arts has noted that it too is looking at how to breaking into "play to earn" market. During an earnings call this week, EA...
News Niantic's Pokémon GO-Style Harry Potter Mobile Game Is Being Shut Down
Was active for just over two years
Niantic has banked an incredible amount of money with its mobile hit Pokémon GO, but it seems it's been unable to recreate this same level of success with the Harry Potter title, Wizards Unite. In an update on the game's official website yesterday, Niantic announced it would officially shut down the game on 31st...
News Sega And Microsoft Are Teaming Up To Make "Super Games"
Sonic the Cloudhog
Metaverses are so hot right now, and it looks like Sega is making the moves to create their own. You might know the concept of 'metaverse' from Fortnite, Space Jam, or Ready Player One — it's basically a hub where you can find all of your favourite brands and fictional characters, all in the same place. Unsurprisingly, with...
News Ubisoft Wants To Be "One Of The Key Players" In Blockchain Gaming
"We think it's going to grow the industry quite a lot"
Last week Ubisoft gave its Q2 earnings presentation for investors outlining its fortunes so far this financial year (not bad) and detailed its outlook for the rest of 2021 and the future. As reported by IGN, the gaming giant is looking to explore the potential of blockchain gaming in a...
News Nintendo Shuts Down Offices In California And Toronto
SVP of Sales and Marketing has also moved on
A report from Kotaku has revealed that Nintendo has shut down its branches located in California and Toronto. Nintendo America's SVP of Sales and Marketing, Nick Chavez, will also be moving on - revealing on LinkedIn he's joined KFC and the Yum! Brand. Nintendo America shared the following statement...
News Flame In The Flood Developer Acquired By CD Projekt Group
Studio already working on "ambitious project" based on CDP IP
The Polish video game company CD Projekt Group - known for titles such as The Witcher III and Cyberpunk 2077 - has acquired the US-based developer The Molasses Flood. This studio is perhaps best known for the survival-building base games The Flame in the Flood, and more recently Drake...
News Grasshopper Manufacture Joins Chinese Video Game Giant NetEase
Suda51 says his company "is now reborn"
Just a day after we heard how the famous video game creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda would love to reboot or remake Nintendo's older IP, he's now announced his development studio will be working under the Chinese video game giant NetEase. Yes, that's right - Grasshopper Manufacturer is ending its partnership with...
News Stardew Valley Creator Reveals His Next Game, Haunted Chocolatier
And it's already "in development"
Eric "ConceredApe" Barone - the creator for the insanely popular farming and lifestyle sim, Stardew Valley - has just lifted the lid on his brand new game, Haunted Chocolatier. It's more formally known as 'ConcernedApe’s Haunted Chocolatier'. After dedicating 10 years of his life "and counting" to Stardew Valley,...
News Get Serious About Fun With A Nintendo Of America Internship In 2022
Hang out with Bowser and friends
We've got to that point in the year (again) where Nintendo of America is currently advertising internships on its careers website. At the time of writing, there are 16 positions listed, and all of them are located at Nintendo of America's headquarters in Redmond, Washington. They'll run from June through to August...
News Metroid Dread Staff Say They've Been Left Out Of The Game's Credits, MercurySteam Responds
"It's a very ugly practice"
Metroid Dread is out in the wild and it's looking like a tremendous success – it's an absolute cracker, for starters, and has just nabbed itself a debut week number one in the Japanese charts. Unfortunately, though, there is a downer on proceedings that's come to light since the game's release last Friday. A number of...
News Monkey Ball And Yakuza Creator Toshihiro Nagoshi Confirms Departure From Sega
Daisuke Sato also leaves in Ryu Ga Gotoku shake-up
The new look Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, looking like they're about to drop this year's biggest arena rock album. Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, Sega's development studio best known for its work on the Yakuza series and the team responsible for this month's Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania, has announced it'll be...
News Konami Competition Tasks Indie Devs With Reviving Its Classic IP
Konami will fund and publish the winner's creation
Konami is currently hosting a Japanese indie game contest (in cooperation with Shueisha Game Creators Camp), asking small team developers to create action and shooting games based on its classic IP. The winner scores 2 million yen (about $18,000 USD) and will be given the opportunity to...
Rumour Konami Reportedly Reviving Castlevania, Metal Gear Solid, And Silent Hill
The game giant pivots back to... games
For a few years now, Konami has been pretty quiet on the premium games front, preferring to focus on their presumably lucrative pachinko content instead. Back in 2015, it all blew up spectacularly with the cancellation of Silent Hills, the removal of spooky and beloved teaser
News Bandai Namco Is Changing Its Logo In 2022
What do you think?
Every now and then, companies like to refresh, change and update their logos for marketing reasons, and the latest company to do this will be Japanese publisher and developer Bandai Namco - known for series such as PAC-MAN, Tekken and Tales. The new logo will come into effect in April next year, and will replace the current logo...
News Super Monkey Ball's Original Announcer Did Not Work On The New Game, According To Sega
He apparently hasn't been involved with the series for "some time"
The original Super Monkey Ball announcer, Brian Matt - who seemingly teased Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania and his own return to the role last June - is not featured in the new game's credits. According to a Sega spokesperson though, he was never actually involved with the new...
News Streaming Giant Netflix Acquires Its First Video Game Developer
Says it wants to deliver a "great collection of exclusive games"
There's been a lot of discussion in recent times about the streaming giant Netflix expanding into video games with its popular service and now it has announced its very first developer acquisition. So, what's the company? It's Night School Studio - known for its debut game Oxenfree...
News Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Voice Actor Stephen Critchlow Passes Away, Aged 54
Was also credited for his work on FFXIV and much more
We've got some sad news today if you're a fan of Xenoblade Chronicles 2. The voice of the character Bana, Stephen Critchlow, has passed away at the age of 54. Critchlow's colleagues at the production company, Big Finish, were the first to share this information. The British talent was credited...
News Sonic And Balan Wonderworld Creator Yuji Naka Is Now Making Smartphone Games
Retirement can wait
One of the most underwhelming releases in 2021 has been Balan Wonderworld - by Sonic the Hedgehog creator, Yuji Naka. This title reportedly had the potential to trigger epileptic seizures, was accused of featuring a
News Microids Signs "Historic" Agreement With Taito To Produce Two New Games
Will be based on the Japanese company's famous franchises
French video game publisher and developer Microids has signed what it's calling a "historic" agreement with Taitos to produce two new games based on the Japanese company's famous franchises. Both games are "already in production" and are scheduled to launch sometime next year in 2022...
News Jet Set Radio Artist And Former Yakuza Director Ryuta Ueda Returns To Sega
As the Super Monkey Ball creator potentially exits
There have been a lot of key figures moving about in the Japanese video game industry in recent times, and the latest individual now making headlines is the art director of Jet Set Radio, Ryuta Ueda. After spending nearly a decade at Yahoo! Japan, Ueda announced in a Facebook post how he returned...
Thanks for the memories
We always get a little teary-eyed whenever we hear someone has left a games company after working there for many years and today is one of those occasions. SoulCalibur VI, Tekken 7 and the Pac-Man 99 producer, Motohiro Okubo, has announced his departure from Bandai Namco after 25 years. In a message on social media, Okubo...
News Nintendo's Share Value Trends Downward As Investor Analyst Gives 'Sell' Advice
Some still expect improvement, however
After a 2020 that combined global challenges with a spectacular boom in its business, some of the narrative around Nintendo's prospects and current value are starting to shift. The last financial year brought unique benefits for the company, with significant numbers of people seeking home entertainment in the...
Guide Gamescom 2021 Conference Times, Dates, How To Watch, Everything You Need To Know
Gamescom 2021 - All the key details
Though some gaming events are tentatively re-opening to the public, Gamescom is going digital once again in 2021. As was the case last year, the event will have multiple live streams, though details are still emerging beyond the major broadcasts. Though Nintendo isn't in 'attendance' and doesn't seem to have any...
News Apex Legends' Ping System Now 'Patent-Free' As EA Announces Accessibility Pledge
Free access to five patents now available to encourage "innovation"
Electronic Arts has announced a Patent Pledge that gives its competitors completely free access to its current accessibility-related technology and innovations without the threat of legal action. Which is nice! The publisher hopes that the pledge, which it says is the first of its...
News Geoff Keighley Shares Opening Night Live "Hype Trailer" Ahead Of Gamescom 2021
Get excited!
This week sees the return of Gamescom and if you're not yet excited about this year's event, don't worry Geoff - the host of Opening Night Live - has got you covered. He's released another one of his trademark "hype" trailers, in an attempt to get fans pumped for what's ahead. On the Switch front, we can look forward to news about LEGO...
News GPD Has Plans For Its Own Switch-Style Handheld Device Powered By Android
A new challenger approaches
Since the success of Nintendo's hybrid device, the gaming tablet market has been flooded with Switch-style products. Most recently, we've seen the announcement of Valve's Steam Deck - a product that admittedly looks quite promising. It seems the Chinese tech company GPD will soon be getting (back) in on the action - with...
News UK Newspaper Comes Under Fire For Hinting That Video Games Are "The Next Global Pandemic"
"It’s disappointing to see pieces like this extensively misrepresenting games"
The health effects of video games have been discussed and debated since the dawn of the interactive entertainment industry way back in the '70s, and while there have been a great many studies that highlight the positive impact games have on people, the ones which focus...
News A New 3D South Park Game Is Reportedly In The Works
Going down to South Park...
Nintendo's known for having a family-friendly image, but over the years it has played host to a number of titles featuring adult-only themes. One that we're often reminded of is Rare's N64 title Conker's Bad Fur Day, but the South Park cartoon series also has quite an extensive history with Nintendo platforms. The...
News Blizzard President J. Allen Brack Is Leaving The Company
Jen Oneal and Mike Ybarra to replace him
Content warning: Please be aware that the following article and the sources linked within touch on topics including discrimination, sexual harassment and assault, and suicide. On July 21st, Bloomberg Law reported that Activision Blizzard — the multi-billion dollar company behind Diablo, Ov