The results of a recent survey of iPad owners conducted by Resolve Market Research seems to indicate that the tablet is taking a notable chunk out of the handheld gaming industry share. According to Mashable, 28 percent of respondents claimed that one of their main uses for the iPad was gaming, while 23 percent said between the iPad, smartphones and portable gaming devices, the former is "the most enjoyable for playing games."

Most evidential of the iPad's effect on the market is a question inquiring what mobile device respondents had no interest in purchasing after owning an iPad -- 38 percent answered portable gaming device. Of course, these same respondents may have had no interest in buying a handheld before purchasing an iPad -- still, Sony and Nintendo are likely sweating these harrowing percentiles.

Survey reveals 28 percent of iPad owners use it mainly for gaming originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 09 Jul 2010 22:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Though the gameplay video for Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded posted below is awfully lo-res (look how tiny the original version is!), it shows us what we need to know. There will be classic locations from the series first installment. There will be Heartless. There will be ... Cubes!

Continue reading Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded video goes back to the roots

Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded video goes back to the roots originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 09 Jul 2010 21:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Yesterday, it seemed like the only thing people could talk about on TV, the radio and Twitter was Lebron James. For the uninitiated, he's one of the greatest basketball stars playing today. Wrapping up a lengthy stay in Cleveland with the Cavaliers -- where he's been for the past seven years, since age 18 -- James had finally become a free agent, able to go wherever he wished. As we learned last night, he chose to join the Miami Heat.

With 2K Sports set to launch the latest iteration in its NBA 2K series, NBA 2K11, on October 5, we got in touch with Chris Snyder, director of marketing for the label, to get his thoughts on the situation. While he admitted that 2K Sports was "not at all" worried about the recent events surrounding James stealing the spotlight from Michael Jordan's signing as this year's cover star, he did admit that James and the teams affected by his decision haven't had their stats finalized in the game just yet.

"It's too early to tell, as the Heat have to fill out the rest of the roster," Snyder said. "The Heat definitely will be improved, and the Cavs will definitely take a hit, but we need to see where everyone else lands before we can determine who is the number one ranked team." (Sports experts currently predict a Celtics-Heat Eastern Conference showdown for the foreseeable future.)

Finally, 2K Sports offered us a lone screenshot (above, click to enlarge) which provides us with our first glimpse of James in a Heat uniform. We know it's painful to see, Cleveland -- but it's all a part of moving on.

Lebron James' move to the Miami Heat and how it'll affect NBA 2K11 originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 09 Jul 2010 20:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

On the eve of E3, Patrice Désilets, creative director of the Assassin's Creed franchise, unexpectedly left his position, just as Ubisoft prepared to woo the media with the first in-depth look at this November's Brotherhood sequel. Looking to quickly bury the distraction, Ubisoft called Désilets' departure a "creative break" and said that his work on Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood was "essentially done."

While we still have yet to hear from Désilets himself, his close colleague, associate producer Jean-Francois Boivin, was not surprised by the creative director's leave. "I totally got where he was coming from because he's been talking about taking a break for a long time," Boivin told UK-based GamerZines.

"In regards to Brotherhood, he did everything that he needed to do," Boivin assured, echoing Ubisoft's initial statement. "Patrice is a very public figure for the franchise, and he's very much the visionary for the Assassin's Creed license, but he's not the only visionary. It wasn't Patrice who did game design necessarily, and we have over two hundred very talented and creative people that work on the license."

"We know what we're doing," Boivin insisted, addressing concerns that the series would be lost without Désilets, who had shepherded it for six years. "I'm not at all afraid of the future quality of Assassin's Creed games." Earlier this week, the producer was also not afraid to admit that the franchise could use a break after Brotherhood's release this fall.

As for Désilets plans? "Right now he's watching the World Cup," Boivin said. (The World Cup ends following Sunday's final.) "Who knows what the future will hold for him."

Assassin's Creed producer not surprised by Desilets' departure originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 09 Jul 2010 20:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

The promoters for the Dead Space franchise are at it again, not content to encourage the purchase of a new installment without announcing a prequel to the sequel in the form of Dead Space Ignition. Before everyone’s favorite interstellar handyman even makes it to the massive Sprawl station featured in the main game, a Necromorph outbreak occurs that will spiral into the surely disastrous events which will mark the beginning of Dead Space 2.  Combining a comic book-esque story with three unique hacking based mini-games, Dead Space Ignition will challenge all comers with puzzle and twitch based gameplay.

“Dead Space Ignition is the first of many exciting game extensions we have planned for the launch of Dead Space 2,” said Steve Papoutsis, Executive Producer on the Dead Space franchise. “The interactive comic-style game will give Dead Space fans a unique perspective on the events leading up to Dead Space 2, and will also introduce the storyline to a brand-new audience of gamers.”

The Xbox Arcade title will feature Hardware Hack, Trace Route, and System Override challenges, but as to what these will actually mean, play, or look like are still unknown. Supporting a “Choose-Your-Own-Adventure” format, Ignition can be played out in various ways, which should encourage a fairly high replay value if done correctly. To help with any narrative speed bumps, Antony Johnston (New York Times bestselling author of video games and graphic novels including Daredevil, Wasteland, and the previous Dead Space comic series) has been brought on board to pen the terrifying tale. Upon completing each of the game’s four unique endings, players will be rewarded with transferable unlocks including an exclusive suit for Isaac’s escapades in Dead Space 2.

Do you think a prequel is necessary, or will the inclusion of unlockable content that can be used in the sequel be enough for the price of …dare I say…”Ignition“? Regardless, you can pick up the game this Fall, but be prepared for even more pre-launch scares before Dead Space 2 hits stores January 25, 2011.

The promoters for the Dead Space franchise are at it again, not content to encourage the purchase of a new installment without announcing a prequel to the sequel in the form of Dead Space Ignition. Before everyone’s favorite interstellar handyman even makes it to the massive Sprawl station featured in the main game, a Necromorph outbreak occurs that will spiral into the surely disastrous events which will mark the beginning of Dead Space 2.  Combining a comic book-esque story with three unique hacking based mini-games, Dead Space Ignition will challenge all comers with puzzle and twitch based gameplay.

“Dead Space Ignition is the first of many exciting game extensions we have planned for the launch of Dead Space 2,” said Steve Papoutsis, Executive Producer on the Dead Space franchise. “The interactive comic-style game will give Dead Space fans a unique perspective on the events leading up to Dead Space 2, and will also introduce the storyline to a brand-new audience of gamers.”

The Xbox Arcade title will feature Hardware Hack, Trace Route, and System Override challenges, but as to what these will actually mean, play, or look like are still unknown. Supporting a “Choose-Your-Own-Adventure” format, Ignition can be played out in various ways, which should encourage a fairly high replay value if done correctly. To help with any narrative speed bumps, Antony Johnston (New York Times bestselling author of video games and graphic novels including Daredevil, Wasteland, and the previous Dead Space comic series) has been brought on board to pen the terrifying tale. Upon completing each of the game’s four unique endings, players will be rewarded with transferable unlocks including an exclusive suit for Isaac’s escapades in Dead Space 2.

Do you think a prequel is necessary, or will the inclusion of unlockable content that can be used in the sequel be enough for the price of …dare I say…”Ignition“? Regardless, you can pick up the game this Fall, but be prepared for even more pre-launch scares before Dead Space 2 hits stores January 25, 2011.

Did you really expect any less? Of course Halo: Reach is getting a full line of toys ... er, action figures, with which you can tastefully decorate your abode. Also, those of you attending the upcoming San Diego Comic-Con will find an "exclusive" figure only available there (or until it's decided that it gets sold everywhere else). We've got a full list of the wares just after the break, and pictures can be found over on Spawn.com.

Continue reading Halo: Reach getting plasticized by McFarlane Toys

Halo: Reach getting plasticized by McFarlane Toys originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 09 Jul 2010 19:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Spec Ops: The Line deserves your attention for trying to provide players a tricky blend of tactical military combat and complex dramatic narrative. Part Call of Duty and part Heart of Darkness, the developers at Yager are striving to embroil players within a very deep and darkly provocative world while delivering satisfying combat that appeals to hardcore shooter fans. Most games normally plow you through elaborate set pieces at the expense of character development or deeper narrative, but with the publishers of the Thinking-Man’s shooter Bioshock on board, I’m expecting a serious display of dramatic prowess. What I’ve seen of Spec Ops is thought provoking and at the very least looks fun to play.  Third person gunfights with some basic squad control and a wide assortment of deadly weaponry set in the haunting ballrooms and clubs of an abandoned near-future metropolis, I was definitely intrigued by the potential of the title and even more curious about what else the game has in store considering Yager still have a hefty development cycle ahead of them.

The game’s protagonist is one Captain Martin Walker (voiced by industry veteran Nolan North if my ears didn’t deceive me), leader of an elite Delta Force unit sent into the sparkling metropolis of Dubai after the city has been ravaged by some sort of massive calamity. Abandoned by law and order and buried beneath the dirt of countless ensuing sandstorms, this Dubai is a decrepit shadow of the wonder it once was. Looters wander the streets while rebel elements do battle with some shadowy military force currently vying for power in this desolate landscape. Walker and his team have been tasked to retrieve a soldier named Gould, who was in turn ordered to locate one Colonel Konrad, whose entire force has fallen off the grid. Over the course of a recent demo, Walker slowly began to realize that Gould may have gotten into some serious trouble with the rebel elements found in the city, not to mention the fact that Konrad might not actually want to be found, and will go to incredible lengths to remain so.

With an atmosphere comparable to the undersea dystopia of Rapture, the locales of Spec Ops are a chilling amalgamation of modern extravagance and ominous despair. The rolling dunes of sand which bury all but the tallest of sky-scrapers hide a fairly alien world of trendy bars, apartments, and clubs that the squad will venture through in pursuit of their objectives. One such location is the lobby of an abandoned five-star hotel, the air hanging heavy as Walker lights the way with his flashlight while the unit wanders past rooms that seem frozen in time, tables still set and baggage still awaiting the return of their owners. Windows are clogged with mountains of sand,  bringing to mind the confines of Bioshock while providing a possible tactical advantage or pitfall depending on whether Walker or his enemies take advantage of the shifting terrain first. Bury enemies in the dirt or instantaneously trigger a natural barricade; for now the possibilities of sand seem limited to pre-determined moments within the game’s main campaign.

The eerie silence of the abandoned building is soon shattered as gunfire pours from the sky, blasting the fragile skylights and flinging an unfortunate bystander down several stories and into a bloody heap on the lobby tile. Walker and his team shoot out a nearby window, flooding the floor with sand but more importantly forming an impromptu exit. Back out on the city streets, we glimpsed the seedier side of this dying city, overturned cars and bombed out storefronts litter the area while graffiti stained stairwells (should Saudi graffitti be written in large English letters?) allow access to a nearby overpass. The darkness of the tomb-like interiors provide an incredibly intense contrast to the highly saturated outdoors as the desert sun reflects off mirrored sky-rises and shifting sand. This battle-ravaged city was once a billionaire’s playground, and the dichotomy of the war-zone and glitzy escapism brings a unique flavor to an area of gaming cluttered with third-world slums, military installations and alien ring-worlds.

Things get pretty gruesome at times, with a helicopter nearly careening into our fleeing squad before bursting into billowing flames, hundreds of bodies hanging by their necks from lamp-posts and a group of civilians being herded together and executed for sport. One chilling moment saw the sky turn white as a military force fired phosphorus mortars into a crowd of fleeing looters. Walker and his unit stared on in horror as  the artillery burned through the flesh of its unarmed victims, and soon the unit was forced to crawl through the horrific aftermath in order to flank a small gaggle of soldiers firing rounds into the shrieking stragglers. Spec Ops: The Line will also have key story moments where a player is forced to make hard decisions which will have dramatic consequences on narrative and mission difficulty; save civilians while risking the attention of numerous enemies lying over the next hill or let the innocents die to preserve your covert position? There are no win/win scenarios, and players will never feel like they got off scotch free.

Later on in the demo, the squad enters into combat with rebel forces and our heroes jump into the fight. Players can enter and exit cover at will, a staple of third-person combat nowadays but nonetheless important. Not content with shooting around concrete and other obstacles, the developer showed Walker firing through a wrecked automobile’s cabin, made possible by the blown off doors. I hope to see more such opportunities to get creative with the terrain in the finished product,  as I can only take so much of the whack-a-mole mechanics of most cover-fire systems. In addition, Walker was able to issue commands to his squad to take up forward or rear positions while also deciding to either push his unit forward or hold back them back while he took out a bus full of infantry. Cycling through his weapons, Walker settled on a sticky grenade that blasted out the bus’s windows and painted the interior with buckets of enemy blood, and later on he sniped through a glass partition, splattering a rebel’s innards across the windows; very visceral stuff!

Other interesting aspects of Spec Ops: The Line include seamless automatic saving as well as a focus on scavenging weapons found throughout the environment, leaving it up to the player to weigh the pro’s and con’s of both old and modern weaponry. The Delta Force has access to some pretty impressive state-of-the art guns, but they will probably find ammo for such artillery hard to come by while an old fashioned AK-47 might prove a bit more prevalent thanks to rebel commandos. There are no controllable vehicle portions in the current build of the game, but the developers are admitting that vehicles do play an important role at certain points in the campaign. Cooperative play will be supported, but not within the main story (not sure how it will end up being integrated then) while multiplayer is along for the ride with a focus on team-based combat modes. A beta for the multiplayer is definitely on the horizon, so be sure to check back here for more info on that and any other ensuing developments as Spec Ops: The Line continues its way to a release in 2011.

Spec Ops: The Line deserves your attention for trying to provide players a tricky blend of tactical military combat and complex dramatic narrative. Part Call of Duty and part Heart of Darkness, the developers at Yager are striving to embroil players within a very deep and darkly provocative world while delivering satisfying combat that appeals to hardcore shooter fans. Most games normally plow you through elaborate set pieces at the expense of character development or deeper narrative, but with the publishers of the Thinking-Man’s shooter Bioshock on board, I’m expecting a serious display of dramatic prowess. What I’ve seen of Spec Ops is thought provoking and at the very least looks fun to play.  Third person gunfights with some basic squad control and a wide assortment of deadly weaponry set in the haunting ballrooms and clubs of an abandoned near-future metropolis, I was definitely intrigued by the potential of the title and even more curious about what else the game has in store considering Yager still have a hefty development cycle ahead of them.

The game’s protagonist is one Captain Martin Walker (voiced by industry veteran Nolan North if my ears didn’t deceive me), leader of an elite Delta Force unit sent into the sparkling metropolis of Dubai after the city has been ravaged by some sort of massive calamity. Abandoned by law and order and buried beneath the dirt of countless ensuing sandstorms, this Dubai is a decrepit shadow of the wonder it once was. Looters wander the streets while rebel elements do battle with some shadowy military force currently vying for power in this desolate landscape. Walker and his team have been tasked to retrieve a soldier named Gould, who was in turn ordered to locate one Colonel Konrad, whose entire force has fallen off the grid. Over the course of a recent demo, Walker slowly began to realize that Gould may have gotten into some serious trouble with the rebel elements found in the city, not to mention the fact that Konrad might not actually want to be found, and will go to incredible lengths to remain so.

With an atmosphere comparable to the undersea dystopia of Rapture, the locales of Spec Ops are a chilling amalgamation of modern extravagance and ominous despair. The rolling dunes of sand which bury all but the tallest of sky-scrapers hide a fairly alien world of trendy bars, apartments, and clubs that the squad will venture through in pursuit of their objectives. One such location is the lobby of an abandoned five-star hotel, the air hanging heavy as Walker lights the way with his flashlight while the unit wanders past rooms that seem frozen in time, tables still set and baggage still awaiting the return of their owners. Windows are clogged with mountains of sand,  bringing to mind the confines of Bioshock while providing a possible tactical advantage or pitfall depending on whether Walker or his enemies take advantage of the shifting terrain first. Bury enemies in the dirt or instantaneously trigger a natural barricade; for now the possibilities of sand seem limited to pre-determined moments within the game’s main campaign.

The eerie silence of the abandoned building is soon shattered as gunfire pours from the sky, blasting the fragile skylights and flinging an unfortunate bystander down several stories and into a bloody heap on the lobby tile. Walker and his team shoot out a nearby window, flooding the floor with sand but more importantly forming an impromptu exit. Back out on the city streets, we glimpsed the seedier side of this dying city, overturned cars and bombed out storefronts litter the area while graffiti stained stairwells (should Saudi graffitti be written in large English letters?) allow access to a nearby overpass. The darkness of the tomb-like interiors provide an incredibly intense contrast to the highly saturated outdoors as the desert sun reflects off mirrored sky-rises and shifting sand. This battle-ravaged city was once a billionaire’s playground, and the dichotomy of the war-zone and glitzy escapism brings a unique flavor to an area of gaming cluttered with third-world slums, military installations and alien ring-worlds.

Things get pretty gruesome at times, with a helicopter nearly careening into our fleeing squad before bursting into billowing flames, hundreds of bodies hanging by their necks from lamp-posts and a group of civilians being herded together and executed for sport. One chilling moment saw the sky turn white as a military force fired phosphorus mortars into a crowd of fleeing looters. Walker and his unit stared on in horror as  the artillery burned through the flesh of its unarmed victims, and soon the unit was forced to crawl through the horrific aftermath in order to flank a small gaggle of soldiers firing rounds into the shrieking stragglers. Spec Ops: The Line will also have key story moments where a player is forced to make hard decisions which will have dramatic consequences on narrative and mission difficulty; save civilians while risking the attention of numerous enemies lying over the next hill or let the innocents die to preserve your covert position? There are no win/win scenarios, and players will never feel like they got off scotch free.

Later on in the demo, the squad enters into combat with rebel forces and our heroes jump into the fight. Players can enter and exit cover at will, a staple of third-person combat nowadays but nonetheless important. Not content with shooting around concrete and other obstacles, the developer showed Walker firing through a wrecked automobile’s cabin, made possible by the blown off doors. I hope to see more such opportunities to get creative with the terrain in the finished product,  as I can only take so much of the whack-a-mole mechanics of most cover-fire systems. In addition, Walker was able to issue commands to his squad to take up forward or rear positions while also deciding to either push his unit forward or hold back them back while he took out a bus full of infantry. Cycling through his weapons, Walker settled on a sticky grenade that blasted out the bus’s windows and painted the interior with buckets of enemy blood, and later on he sniped through a glass partition, splattering a rebel’s innards across the windows; very visceral stuff!

Other interesting aspects of Spec Ops: The Line include seamless automatic saving as well as a focus on scavenging weapons found throughout the environment, leaving it up to the player to weigh the pro’s and con’s of both old and modern weaponry. The Delta Force has access to some pretty impressive state-of-the art guns, but they will probably find ammo for such artillery hard to come by while an old fashioned AK-47 might prove a bit more prevalent thanks to rebel commandos. There are no controllable vehicle portions in the current build of the game, but the developers are admitting that vehicles do play an important role at certain points in the campaign. Cooperative play will be supported, but not within the main story (not sure how it will end up being integrated then) while multiplayer is along for the ride with a focus on team-based combat modes. A beta for the multiplayer is definitely on the horizon, so be sure to check back here for more info on that and any other ensuing developments as Spec Ops: The Line continues its way to a release in 2011.

Microsoft's assault on the "expanded audience" begins in earnest, with Kinect demo stations being set up in one of the least GameStop-like retailers imaginable, Macy's. People who go into stores in 13 cities across the US, looking for Martha Stewart furniture or the like, will have an opportunity to experience the controller-free gaming ... experience starting July 15. The retailer will also give away one Kinect per day at macys.com between August 12 and September 10.

The locations are much more spread out than the other Kinect demo locations (Microsoft Stores), so you have a better shot at being able to find one near you -- or you could just go outside and start waving your arms, in the hope that one of the Kinects will notice. We don't know how good those cameras are. You can see the list of stores after the break.

Kinect demos available next week at Macy's originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 09 Jul 2010 19:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments