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The Last of Us, GTA5 lead 2014 BAFTA nominees
The nominees for the 2014 BAFTA Awards have been announced and… drumroll please… The Last of Us and Grand Theft Auto V both racked up a ton of nominations.
Both games will be competing for the coveted “Best Game” award against Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, Tearaway, Super Mario 3D World, and Papers Please. Due to its British origins, GTA5 is also competing in the “British Game” category against Tearaway, The Room Two, Lego Marvel Super Heroes, Gunpoint, and DMC: Devil May Cry.
In addition to “Best Game,” The Last of Us was nominated for nine awards including “Artistic Achievement,” “Audio Achievement,” “Game Design,” “Original Music,” “Story,” “Action and Adventure,” and “Multiplayer.” Two “Performer” nominations (one each for Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson) round out the game’s honors. As for GTA5, it received seven additional nominations including “Audio Achievement,” “Game Design,” “Game Innovation,” “Story,” “Action and Adventure,” “Multiplayer,” and “Performer” (for Steven Ogg as Trevor Phillips).
The 2014 BAFTA Awards will be awarded on Wednesday, March 12. The complete list of nominees can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Grand Theft Auto V, Papers Please, Super Mario 3D World, Tearaway, The Last of Us
Disney Infinity 2 in the works after Infinity 1 sells a ton
Disney Interactive had a 38% revenue growth (to $403 million) and a 600% quarterly operating income growth (to $55 million from $9 million), according to their quarterly earnings call, which took place last week. Chairman and CEO Bob Iger attributed the success primarily to Disney Infinity. Hopefully this means that last week’s rumor about layoffs was just that: a rumor.
But wait – there’s more great news. Iger confirmed that there would be additional entries in the Disney Infinity series, saying, “On the interactive front, there will be new iterations of [Disney] Infinity.” The executive also said that Disney Interactive would explore more mobile possibilities – could Infinity be coming to mobile platforms as well?
The company plans to focus more on licensing their iconic characters (for example, their deal with EA for two Star Wars games) instead of publishing when it comes to console – with the exception of Infinity. Iger also said they are “tracking what we are seeing in the industry” and “moving off of some of the more traditional platforms into mobile-to-mobile space, mostly for social games and for other casual games.”
With how much I see little kids stealing their parents’ phones to play Minecraft and other games, putting more Disney games on mobile would be sheer genius.
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360
Tagged Disney Infinity, Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes
Skylanders 4 is in development and set for release this year
Activision is incredibly proud of the financial success of the Skylanders series. Since its debut in 2011, the publisher has released three titles in the franchise (Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure, Skylanders Giants, Skylanders: Swap Force) and it appears a fourth is on the way. Toys For Bob, the developer behind Spyro’s Adventure and Giants, will take the reins on the currently untitled Skylanders 4 after allowing Vicarious Visions to handle Swap Force.
This news comes courtesy of a recently released infographic by Activision (click it to see a larger version), which also touts the franchise’s massive revenue stream of more than $2 billion. A release date for Skylanders 4 (or any other information, for that matter) is currently unknown, but an October release seems likely.
Also, allow me to also speculate that Skylanders 4 will likely appear on every platform imaginable including the 3DS, PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
Rumor: Disney developing Marvel and Star Wars expansions for Disney Infinity
Nestled into an incredibly depressing Wall Street Journal article about upcoming layoffs at Disney Interactive was this comment:
New versions of [Disney Infinity] featuring characters from Disney’s Marvel superhero unit and the Star Wars universe it acquired along with Lucasfilm in 2012 are being developed.
Disney Interactive – which has about 3,000 employees – will be letting go of several hundred of them. “The cuts at Disney Interactive, which has undergone multiple rounds of layoffs in recent years as it struggled to reach profitability, are expected to begin after the media giant releases its quarterly financial results Wednesday.” Disney Infinity’s success “was considered critical for its continuing videogame efforts after a number of failures.”
While it’s exciting to hear about possible Marvel and Star Wars expansions, it’s difficult to hear about more layoffs in the industry. Hopefully the layoffs are just a rumor.
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360
Tagged Disney Infinity, Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes
Grand Theft Auto V is the best-selling (and most wanted) game of 2013
The NPD Group previously declared Call of Duty: Ghosts the best-selling game of December 2013, but Activision’s military shooter fell a bit short in the full-year competition. With Ghosts in second place, you might have guessed that Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto V was the best-selling retail game of 2013… and you’d be right.
Sequels and sports games dominate the list, but the universal appeal of Disney allowed Disney Infinity to crack the top ten at #10. At #9, the retail version of the mighty Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition also made the list.
Here’s the complete top ten of 2013’s best-selling retail games:
Best-Selling Retail Games of 2013
1. Grand Theft Auto V (Xbox 360, PS3)
2. Call Of Duty: Ghosts (Xbox 360, PS3, Xbox One, PS4, PC, Wii U)
3. Madden NFL 25 (Xbox 360, PS3, PS4, Xbox One)
4. Battlefield 4 (Xbox 360, PS3, Xbox One, PS4, PC)
5. Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (Xbox 360, PS3, PS4, Xbox One, Wii U, PC)
6. NBA 2K14 (Xbox 360, PS3, PS4, Xbox One, PC)
7. Call of Duty: Black Ops II (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U, PC)
8. Just Dance 2014 (Wii, Xbox 360, Wii U, Xbox One, PS3, PS4)
9. Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition (Xbox 360)
10. Disney Infinity (Xbox 360, Wii, PS3, Wii U, 3DS)
[Source: Joystiq]
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Battlefield 4, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Call of Duty: Ghosts, Disney Infinity, Grand Theft Auto V, Just Dance 2014, Madden NFL 25, Minecraft, NBA 2K14, NPD
CoD Ghosts and Xbox One are December 2013’s best-selling game and console
The NPD Group has delivered their monthly report on the state of the retail game market and December 2013 was another blockbuster month. According to Joystiq, consumers spent $3.28 billion on video game products last month, an increase of two percent over December 2012. And thanks to new consoles, hardware sales were way up, totalling $1.37 billion (versus $1.07 billion last year).
And speaking of next-generation consoles, NPD is reporting that the Xbox One can lay claim to the US sales crown for December. Though Sony still holds a slight edge in total worldwide sales.
As for the games, Call of Duty: Ghosts and Battlefield 4 pulled off a repeat atop the retail sales chart. They were followed by the usual assortment of holiday season bestsellers and you can find last month’s complete top ten after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Battlefield 4, Call of Duty: Ghosts, FIFA 14, Grand Theft Auto V, Just Dance 2014, Lego Marvel Super Heroes, Madden NFL 25, NBA 2K14, NPD, Skylanders Swap Force
The Last of Us leads 2014 DICE Awards with 13 nominations
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences has announced the nominees for this year’s DICE Awards. This year, The Last of Us leads all games with 13 nominations, including “Game of the Year.” It will compete against four other games for the honor: Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, BioShock Infinite, Grand Theft Auto V, and The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds.
Each of this year’s “Game of the Year” nominees has a chance to collect multiple awards as Grand Theft Auto V (seven), BioShock Infinite (six), and Assassin’s Creed IV (five), and A Link Between Worlds (three) were all nominated in multiple categories. With five nominations, Tearaway is also up a huge number of awards. All told, 61 games received nominations in 24 categories this year.
The 2014 DICE Awards ceremony will take place on Thursday, February 6 during the close of this year’s DICE Summit. A complete list of nominees can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, BioShock Infinite, Grand Theft Auto V, The Last of Us, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
CoD: Ghosts, Battlefield 4 march to the top of November 2013’s best-selling games chart
With the PS4 and Xbox One now available in stores across the country, the NPD Group is ready to talk about the financial health of the video game industry with their most recent monthly report. Total sales of $2.7 billion fueled the game industry in November, an increase of seven percent over November 2012’s sales numbers. The next-generation had a lot to do with the inflated number, as hardware sales were listed at $1.3 billion for the month, a 58% increase year-over-year.
But what about the games? Well, new releases Call of Duty: Ghosts, Battlefield 4, and Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag marched to the top three spots. Below that is a trio of non-November releases (Madden NFL 25, Grand Theft Auto V, NBA 2K14) and below that is a trio of family-friendly titles (Skylanders Swap Force, Just Dance 2014, Disney Infinity). FIFA 14 rounded out the top ten.
The top ten brought with it an interesting comparison between the two next-generation consoles and there seemed to be no clear-cut winner. According to Joystiq, the PS4 versions of Call of Duty: Ghosts, Battlefield 4, Assassin’s Creed IV, Madden NFL 25, NBA 2K14, and FIFA 14 outsold their Xbox One counterparts. But the Xbox One can claim sales superiority with Skylanders Swap Force and Just Dance 2014 among multiplatform releases.
Finally, it was a bad month to be a platform-exclusive game as major releases like Super Mario 3D World, Killzone: Shadow Fall, Forza Motorsport 5, and The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds failed to crack the top ten.
You can find the complete chart of November 2013’s best-sellng games after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Battlefield 4, Call of Duty: Ghosts, Disney Infinity, FIFA 14, Grand Theft Auto V, Just Dance 2014, Madden NFL 25, NBA 2K14, NPD, Skylanders Swap Force