Warp Zoned Presents
Author: Andrew Rainnie - UK Correspondent
Retro and Monolith Soft hiring… What does Nintendo have planned?
Two of Nintendo’s shining subsidiaries, Retro Studios and Monolith Soft, have both been busy advertising to fill several positions this week.
First up, Xenoblade Chronicles developer Monolith Soft (translated by Siliconera) is urgently seeking a Game Planner, Town Planner, and Battle Algorithm Planner. The advert also called for people with experience in A.I. programming, as well as seeking battle animation designers. These roles are presumably for the Wii U title X, which seems to be related to the Xenoblade world. However, that game has a tentative release date sometime this year, so if the posts are for that project, it may mean that Monolith Soft is gearing up for crunch time or, more worryingly, that the RPG will be delayed. However, if you like your glass half full, it could mean that Monolith has something other than X in the works.
More recently, Zach Works, a recruiter for Nintendo, tweeted about a hiring spree at Retro’s Austin based offices.
Hey gang, #RetroStudios is hiring in Austin. Apply through the Nintendo job board: http://t.co/PjEQlI2il6
— Zach Works (@Zach_Works) January 9, 2014
While the company is still tweaking Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, that game is due out on February 21, so any hiring now would have to be for a completely new project. Could it be that Retro is returning to the Metroid series? Or will the company be moving on to another franchise in Nintendo’s massive library?
Two words: Star Fox.
We can but dream.
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Xenoblade Chronicles X
Who Will Play Agent 47 in the New Hitman Film? The Frontrunner and 4 Alternate Picks
With the sad passing of actor Paul Walker in November 2013, many were curious how Universal would handle his character’s disappearance from Fast & Furious 7. After a brief hiatus, it looks as though a combination of methods will allow the character to retire gracefully, in memory of the actor. However, the future of the gargantuan car chase franchise overshadowed the fact that Walker was due to don the suit and red tie of Agent 47 to play the assassin in a rebooted film version of IO Interactive’s Hitman. As the world moves on, as it must, we thought we’d have a look at which actor would be best to take on the title character. (more…)
Atlus tells players “Don’t Look Back” in new Daylight trailer
Atlus has released a new trailer for its upcoming procedurally-generated horror game Daylight. The PC and PS4 game is in development at Zombie Studios and both publisher and developer have warned “Don’t Look Back” as you watch.
The trailer shows the female protagonist waking up in a derelict hospital and being taunted by her mysterious captor, as well as other spooky voices. It certainly sells the creepiness and feeling of isolation, thanks in part to the graphics powered by the Unreal Engine 4. In addition to the randomly generated levels, the game’s main character will have to fend off the evil within using the magic of their mobile phone, which ingeniously helps players light their way through the level while also showing a map of the area. The above video also shows the main character wielding other items such as scissors and a Holy Bible.
Daylight is expected to be released in the first half of 2014, but no date has been set. When it does hit, expect it to send shivers down your spine.
Square Enix Montreal’s Hitman game has been canceled
Square Enix Montreal opened in 2011 and its first mission was to create a new game in the Hitman series for next-generation consoles. It looks like that mission is a failure as VideoGamer has surmised that the project has been terminated.
According to the LinkedIn profile of Senior Game Designer Richard Knight, the new Hitman game was to be a “re-imagining” of the character, going back to the roots of the first game, echoing what happened with the new Tomb Raider. However, the news does not mean the end for the bald and barcoded Agent 47. Square Enix Montreal is still in business and has shifted its focus to the mobile games market. And one of their mobile projects is an as-yet-untitled Hitman game that will soon be making its way to a smartphone/tablet near you.
As for a next-gen Hitman game, Square Enix has handed the reins back to IO Interactive, the company that created he franchise. The company plans to focus “resolutely on the future vision for the Hitman franchise” and is already “in pre-production on a new AAA Hitman project.” However, it’s unclear whether that title is the same one that Square Enix Monreal scrapped, or if it’s something completely different.
Wii U: The Little Engine That Could (and Should)
Ever since the launch of the PS4 and Xbox One, game journalists have pushed out editorial after editorial asking, “What can be done about the Wii U?” Brenna Hillier of VG247 says “Nintendo needs to reach beyond its catalogue to save [the] Wii U.” VideoGamer asked, “Is this the end for the Wii U?” And Gamenesia ran with a fanboy-baiting title pointing to the fact that the Wii U was outsold by the Vita in Japan, despite the release of a new Mario game. Yet looking at the sales figures in the same article, we can see that the margin the Vita outsold it by was a massive 42 units. Not only that, but the article fails to mention that the 3DS XL sold more than the Vita, the Wii U, and the original 3DS combined. The most ridiculous figure in that list is that the Xbox 360 sold 342 units in one week. The original Wii beat that with 457 sales.
But I digress. Hillier’s article is filled with vast generalisations quoting “the Twitterati.” Worse, she stuffs words in Nintendo’s mouth by using inverted commas as if the company has somehow uttered them, or, at the very least, thought them (“We’re Nintendo, and we do what Nintendo does.”).
Reading this article made me angry for a number of reasons. One, she is absolutely right – yet she has written this piece with a pessimistic crudeness – “Nintendo knows it bollocksed the Wii U marketing” – that also reeks of a self-aggrandising attitude toward the product itself. “It’s no longer fashionable to believe in the Wii U,” smirks the subheader.
And that made me even angrier, because this is where she is dead wrong. Why? Because it’s never been fashionable to believe in the Wii U. Ever since it was released, it has been a target for fanboy journalistic hooligans who would take shots at the console like Melissa Bachman would a sleeping lion. (more…)
EA describes Battlefield 4 lawsuit as “meritless”
Beleaguered uber-publisher Electronic Arts has hit back against claims contained in a series of lawsuits that are currently being explored by multiple law firms including Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd and Holzer Holzer & Fistel on behalf of the company’s investors. EA’s official response, delivered to Polygon by a spokesperson for the company, is that these lawsuits are frivolous:
“We believe these claims are meritless. We intend to aggressively defend ourselves, and we’re confident the court will dismiss the complaint in due course.”
However, there may be more merit than EA is letting on, especially given the fact that Robbins Geller is the same law firm that took on the Enron class action lawsuit. Their lawsuit accuses EA executives of being able to sell “artificially inflated” shares prior to the release of Battlefield 4 due to releasing “materially false and misleading statements highlighting the purported strength” of the game. In other words, the lawsuit is claiming that EA executives were aware of the defective state of Battlefield 4 and purposely raised expectations surrounding its release to inflate share prices.
The law firm has until February to find someone brave enough to stand as the lead plaintiff in the case. If they do, and the case goes to court, it may set a precedent that prevents developers and publishers from releasing products with game-breaking bugs. But there’s also the long-standing concept of “caveat emptor” (or “buyer beware”) to consider. A ruling against EA in this case would likely make it open season on content creators.
UPDATE: A third law firm, Brower Piven, has announced plans to challenge EA is court over their Battlefield 4 statements.
BioWare has a playable (and beautiful) version of Mass Effect 4
Mass Effect 4 exists in playable form (though it hasn’t been officially announced) according to a tweet from BioWare General Manager Aaryn Flynn. He calls the game “Ambitious. Beautiful. Fresh but recognizable. And fun.” Given that he works for BioWare, his opinion is just ever so slightly biased, but we can but hope that it is an accurate description:
Great time playing the next Mass Effect game in Montreal. Ambitious. Beautiful. Fresh but recognizable. And fun! pic.twitter.com/xHlHFGtVKM
— AaryN7 FlynN7 (@AarynFlynn) December 18, 2013
The new title in the sci-fi franchise is utilizing the Frostbite 3 engine that can currently be seen crashing a lot in EA’s Battlefield 4. Hopefully BioWare is not experiencing the same issues that DICE seemed to.
The “fresh” approach Flynn alludes to confirms early reports that the game would shift away from Commander Shepard and his motley crew, although we hope that some familiar faces pop up in the final game.
Posted in News
Tagged Mass Effect: Andromeda