Author: admin

Clothing company DC, CodeMasters, and distributors Epicsoft are teaming up to host the DiRT Showdown Asian finals tournament in Singapore.

Winners of the past DiRT Showdown tournament held since last July in Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Malaysia will be flown to Singapore to compete in the grand finals from August 24 to August 26.

The tournament will be held at the I12 Katong mall. The winner will get a cash prize of S$1,000, a DC gift voucher worth S$200, an exclusive Pro Spec 3.0 pair of shoes autographed by Ken Block, and DC-branded Ken Block apparel, and an accessories set.

Players will need to compete head-to-head in Gymkhana mode and score the most points in the shortest time possible. The overall winner of the tournament will win a prize bundle that includes DC clothing and shoes, an autographed Ken Block poster and a few titles distributed by Epicsoft.

The DiRT Showdown tournament first started in Thailand in late July. For more information on the game, check out GameSpot’s review.

Resident Evil 6 will launch this October with a free Web-based statistic tracking service called ResidentEvil.net, Capcom announced today. The free website tracks various data pulled from the new shooter, including proficiency with weapons, types of enemies killed, and Mercenaries mode scores.

Additionally, ResidentEvil.net will allow users to compare their progress with those across the world, and to take part in online challenge events. One example Capcom provided was a challenge that tasks gamers with killing 10,000 zombies. Those with a ResidentEvil.net account can take part in the challenge, and stand to receive points that can be redeemed for a “variety of goodies” like in-game costumes.

Gamers can also link their ResidentEvil.net accounts with social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter to receive real-time notifications when a score is broken.

Resident Evil 6 joins the likes of the Call of Duty, Battlefield, and Halo franchises in offering a Web-based statistic tracking service. The official official ResidentEvil.net website is now live, though it is not yet functional.

Resident Evil 6 will deploy on October 2, more than a month ahead of its original November 20 release date. It is currently planned for release on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

For more on Resident Evil 6, check out GameSpot’s latest preview.

Dead Space 3 has a due date, as Electronic Arts today confirmed a February 5 launch for the game in North America, with a February 8 European debut.

Officially announced during this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo, Dead Space 3 sees series hero Isaac Clarke team up with the newly introduced John Carver for drop-in, drop-out co-op shooting action. Working together, players will battle Necromorphs on a new ice planet called Tau Volantis.

Players who preorder the game for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, or PC will receive the “Limited Edition,” which grants instant access to two new suits and two new weapons. The First Contact gear bundle includes matching gold-plated armor and “Negotiator” weapon, while the Witness the Truth bundle includes an insulated suit and “Evangelizer” assault rifle-shotgun combo.

For more on Dead Space 3, check out GameSpot’s previous coverage.

Gamers who have held out on picking up Battlefield 3 may want to wait a little while longer. Electronic Arts today announced the Battlefield 3 Premium Edition, a bundle for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC that includes all of the game’s planned and released downloadable content and more for $70.

Due out on September 11 in North America and September 13 in Europe, the Battlefield 3 Premium Edition packs in all five digital expansion packs, including the already released $15 Back to Karkand and Close Quarter expansions. Additionally, the premium bundle will include upcoming add-ons Armored Kill, Aftermath, and End Game.

A similar offer is currently available via the Battlefield 3 Premium service. For $50, players who already own the base game can grab all previously released DLC for Battlefield 3, as well as early access to upcoming add-ons. More than 1.3 million have already purchased Battlefield 3 Premium.

The Battlefield 3 Premium Edition also includes a “head start” kit for the game’s multiplayer component. This collection includes 15 multiplayer unlocks.

EA calls the Battlefield 3 Premium Edition an “unbeatable value” at $70, noting if gamers were to purchase all content individually, the cost would exceed $100. If pricing patterns hold for the future add-ons, the total would actually be $135.

The lion’s share of Electronic Arts’ revenue will stem from digital products in the coming years, company COO Peter Moore told Reuters in a new interview. The executive said the firm will increase digital revenues to surpass its boxed gaming business by looking to Internet-based and mobile device games.

“There will come a point, whether it is two or three years from now, when we say, ‘We are doing more in digital media now than we are in physical media,’ and it’s clearly…not far away,” Moore said, mentioning EA’s record $1.2 billion in digital receipts for its latest fiscal year.

Moore said EA has 41 social mobile and free-to-play games “on the slate,” and potentially has additional games in the development pipeline that have not yet been announced.

Elsewhere in the interview, Moore claimed that investor confidence in EA is returning.

“Investors are starting to understand our strategy, are starting to see light at the end of the tunnel, starting to see growth rates in the areas we have invested in and in the industry as a whole starting to attract attention again,” he said.

Lastly, Moore made clear that gamers who enjoy physical products will always have that more traditional optional available to them.

“We will never abandon physical media,” he said. “As long as the consumer wants to buy something on a disc, we will be there to offer it.”

There was no movement at the top of the UK sales chart last week, with official Olympics tie-in London 2012 holding firm at number one, Lego Batman 2 still at number two, and Mario & Sonic London 2012 Olympic Games still at three.

Fourth place also goes unchanged, with Batman: Arkham City fending off The Amazing Spider-Man, which rose from number seven to number five thanks to the 15 percent boost in sales that accompanied the launch of the PC version.

The scarcity of new releases meant London 2012 retained the top spot even with a 9 percent decline in sales. Sales of Mario & Sonic’s Olympic tie-in likewise sank 9 percent , while Lego Batman 2 sales dipped 20 percent.

The UK All-Formats chart for the week ending August 11, 2012:

1. London 2012: The Official Video Game
2. Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes
3. Mario & sonic London 2012 Olympic Games
4. Batman: Arkham City
5. The Amazing Spider-Man
6. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
7. Battlefield 3
8. Assassin’s Creed: Revelations
9. Dead Island: Game of the Year Edition
10. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier

Development on next year’s Gears of War Judgment will continue without its creative director. A statement provided to Kotaku today confirms that People Can Fly co-owner and creative director Adrian Chmielarz has quit the Warsaw, Poland, studio, alongside senior artists Andrezj Poznanski and Michal Kosieradzki.

“Adrian Chmielarz, Andrezj Poznanski, and Michal Kosieradzki have parted ways with People Can Fly and Epic Games in order to pursue other opportunities, which they will announce of their own accord,” Epic Games president Mike Capps said.

Chmielarz’s departure from Epic Games comes the week after director of production Rod Fergusson announced he had left the Gears of War house. Fergusson has joined Boston area BioShock Infinite developer Irrational Games, where he now serves as executive vice president of development.

It was also revealed today that Epic Games now wholly owns People Can Fly. Speaking to Joystiq, Epic Games vice president Mark Rein explained that it formerly held a controlling stake in the company, but not the entire outfit. It was not mentioned how much Epic Games spent to acquire the remaining stake in People Can Fly, and the company declined to comment.

The gaming industry’s summer swoon was deeper than usual this year, as the NPD Group today reported that total US retail game sales for July only amounted to $548.4 million, a 20 percent slide from July 2011. Making the decline worse is the fact that July 2011 was already the single worst month for the industry since October of 2006.

Electronic Arts’ annualized amateur pigskin sim NCAA Football 13 was the best seller for the month, and was the only new release to make the top 10. Super hero games performed well, with Lego Batman 2 the runner-up and the movie tie-in The Amazing Spider-Man finishing the month in third place. With one exception, the remaining games on the top 10 were all released in 2011. That exception was Call of Duty: Black Ops, Activision’s 2010 entry in the first-person shooter series.

Game hardware sales were particularly soft side, down 32 percent to $150.7 million. While there wasn’t much to crow about, Microsoft did announce that the Xbox 360 was the best-selling current-generation console for the 19th straight month, selling 203,000 units for July.

Accessories were the lone area of improvement for the industry, up 8 percent to $136.9 million. According to NPD analyst Anita Frazier, that number was bolstered by points and subscription cards, as well as Skylanders action figure packs. The NPD Group believes more than 25 million Skylanders figures have been purchased by customers since the game launched last October.

Frazier also cautioned anyone against expecting a miracle recovery for the industry in the back half of the year. “Based on year to date sales, and taking into account the release slate for the back five months of the year as well as the anticipated launch of the Wii U, annual sales for the new physical channel should come in around $14.5 billion for the year,” Frazier said. That would represent a drop of nearly 15 percent from the NPD Group’s 2011 US retail sales total of $17.02 billion.

JULY 2012 US GAME SALES
OVERALL DOLLAR SALES
Total consumer spend (rentals, used sales, digital estimates included): $1.1 billion
Total retail sales: $548.4 million (-20%)
Non-PC hardware: $150.7 million (-32%)
Non-PC software: $260.7 million (-23%)
Total software: $278.2 million (-23%)
Accessories: $136.9 million (+8%)

TOP 10 GAMES FOR JULY 2012
Title (Platforms) – Publisher
1. NCAA Football 13 (X360, PS3) – Electronic Arts
2. Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes (X360, PS3, Wii, Vita, 3DS, DS, PC) – WBIE
3. The Amazing Spider-Man (Wii, X360, PS3, 3DS, DS) – Activision
4. Just Dance 3 (Wii, X360, PS3) – Ubisoft
5. Batman: Arkham City (X360, PS3, PC) – WBIE
6. Call of Duty: Black Ops (X360, PS3, Wii, PC, DS, PC) – Activision
7. Assassin’s Creed: Revelations (X360, PS3, PC) – Ubisoft
8. NBA 2K12 (X360, PS3, PS2, PSP, Wii, PC) – Take-Two
9. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (X360, PS3, Wii, PC) – Activision
10. Dead Island (X360, PS3, PC) – Deep Silver

Nearly a dozen years after its Dreamcast debut, Jet Set Radio returns to the airwaves next month. Sony today detailed September release dates and a $10 price point for the downloadable game on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

PS3 owners will get first crack at the game, with PlayStation Plus subscribers able to download it September 11. The rest of the PS3 installed base can find the game in the PlayStation Store beginning September 18. Jet Set Radio will launch for the Xbox 360 and PC (on Steam) September 19.

The game is also coming to the PS Vita, although owners of Sony’s newest handheld will have to wait until October 16 to download it. In addition, Android and iOS editions of the game are set for release this summer, although Sega hasn’t announced pricing or exact release dates for those just yet.

Jet Set Radio–known as Jet Grind Radio in North America–shipped in 2000 for the Sega Dreamcast. The game stars Beat, the leader of a graffiti gang, who zips around the futuristic city of Tokyo on inline skates. Rather than settling gang disputes with violence, players steal turf from opposing crews by tagging the city with graffiti art.

For more on Jet Grind Radio, check out GameSpot’s review.