Hasta La Gadget!

For the moment, Sony and Microsoft seem content to stick with the current generation of consoles instead of rushing the next generation to market. Some players love the idea of a longer console generation and some don’t, but lately we’ve been seeing publishers and developers join the call for a new line of consoles. Square Enix is the latest publisher to do so, saying today that Sony and Microsoft are making a “big mistake” by trying to extend the life of current generation machines.

Speaking to GamesIndustry International, Square Enix worldwide technology director Julien Merceron said that since this console generation has been so long, developers who have experienced difficulty in developing for Xbox 360 and PS3 have now moved on to mobile and browsers, whereas in generations past, they would simply wait for next generation consoles to arrive:

They found web browsers, they found iOS, they found other things and a lot of them won’t come back to the hardware platforms. So you could look at it that thanks to Microsoft and Sony and the length of this generation, it helped the emergence of other platforms and helped them get strong before the next hardware comes out.

Last month at E3, Square Enix revealed a tech demo for the next generation (seen above). It’s certainly impressive, but with Microsoft and Sony refusing to talk about their upcoming consoles, it seems that it will be quite some time before we’re playing games that look like this. Naturally, there have been plenty of rumors and speculation, but unfortunately it all comes down to the decisions made by Sony and Microsoft executives, so the next generation doesn’t appear to be any closer despite player and publisher demand.

[via GamesIndustry International]

Square Enix: Sony and Microsoft making a ‘big mistake’ by sticking with current gen is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

A handful of details briefly slipped out about the project earlier, but now it’s here: the Ouya, an attempt not just to delve into the cutthroat world of TV game consoles but to try and shift the goal posts. At its heart, the design sounds more like a smartphone than a gaming rig with a quad-core Tegra 3 and 8GB of storage running Android 4.0. The upscale, RF wireless gamepad’s standout is a built-in trackpad for playing mobile games alongside the familiar sticks and buttons — clever, though not entirely new. But with completely open hardware and software, an emphasis on free-to-play gaming and an all-important $99 price, the system is a gamble by a handful of game industry luminaries that at least a subset of players are frustrated with the status quo enough to want a real break. Read on for the full details, including a Kickstarter project as well as added details from our chat with Ouya (and Jambox) designer Yves Behar.

Continue reading Ouya’s Android-based, hackable game console now official: we chat with designer Yves Behar

Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment

Ouya’s Android-based, hackable game console now official: we chat with designer Yves Behar originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Jul 2012 07:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony has announced that the online beta of Sackboy’s newest adventure, LittleBigPlanet Karting, will be available on July 10. Only a select number of people who signed up through the online registration form will be tapped for the opportunity to give the game a free test run. The beta will be available through the end of the month.

LittleBigPlanet 2 was supposed to be the game that let players create any kind of game they wanted. So, arguably, if you wanted a customizable LittleBigPlanet kart racing experience, you’d be able to create that already. But not everyone has that much time on their hands, so Media Molecule and development partners United Front Games will be bringing Karting to the PS3 as the next LBP entry. LittleBigPlanet is also making its way to the PlayStation Vita platform as well, so the series is still going strong.

A post on the PlayStation Blog described the new game, saying, “Our goal with LBP Karting has been fairly simple – provide a fast-paced experience that captures the best of classic karting gameplay, married with the unbridled creativity of LBP. This new adventure will be accessible to players of all ages and have all of the variety necessary to satisfy both the hardcore and more casual players.” Further details, including release date information, will be released at a later time.

[via PlayStation Blog]

LittleBigPlanet Karting beta goes live on Tuesday is written by Mark Raby & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

There’s a new Aliens video game in the works, and it will feature an all-male cast. Brian Burleson, a producer on the upcoming game Aliens: Colonial Marines, said in a recent live chat with fans that there will be no playable female characters in the game. This is of course at odds with the storied “Aliens” legacy.

Gearbox’s Randy Pitchford wrote on the official Sega blog when the game was announced that Aliens “inspired a generation. We can see all around us the clear and profound impact the films have had on our popular culture and our collective image of science fiction.” He admitted that the release of the movie Prometheus – by the same man who created Aliens – made the alien mythos alive and interesting again, making the new Aliens game even more relevant.

“Our vision is for the game to be fully featured with an exciting, suspenseful, thrilling and action packed narrative campaign that can be played alone or cooperatively combined with a robust competitive game where human players can take on the roles of Colonial Marines or Xenomorphs and do battle online,” Pitchford continued. Apparently, though, the team was not very concerned about keeping true to the film franchise, in which there are plenty of integral female characters. There is now an online petition to get Sega to reverse course and add a strong, playable woman character to the game. It was set up with a goal of 1,000 signatures and already has received more than 2,000.

[via Examiner]

Sega’s Aliens: Colonial Marines to scrap female characters is written by Mark Raby & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Retro games being rebooted for today’s platforms are something of a trend at the moment, and SEGA is bringing back one of the most-loved Saturn titles, NiGHTS into dreams. The relaunch will see the graphics given an HD update, with the title arriving through Xbox LIVE Arcade for the Xbox 360, on the PlayStation Network, and for Windows as a digital download in the fall.

“The SEGA Saturn offered many unique gaming experiences, and NiGHTS into dreams stands out as one of the most recognizable titles that found a home on the system,” Chris Olson, Vice President of Digital Business at SEGA said of the re-release. “We’ve gotten a lot of requests about this game over the years, and are very happy to be able to give both former Saturn owners and new players a chance to play it in its most beautiful form to date this autumn.”

NiGHTS into dreams was originally released in 1996 and sees players enter a 3D dream world, flying or performing acrobatic stunts to reclaim “Ideya”, or the personalities of sleeping humans. SEGA’s new version of the title will keep the gameplay, but upgrade the graphics to HD and 16:9 to suit modern TVs.

Since social is now important in gaming, there’ll also be support for leaderboards, trophies, and achievements. Best of all, if you’re feeling really old-school, you can turn off the fancy new HD effects and switch back to the original Saturn Mode.

No word on how much NiGHTS into dreams will cost when it arrives in a few months time.

SEGA reboots NiGHTS into dreams for Xbox, PS3 and PC is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.