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Zynga Shares Slide After Release Of Two New Games

Joshua Spudic
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Ever since going public, Zynga has seen a mixed performance on the stock market. Lately, they have seen a drop in their shares with the release of their first mobile game Scramble With Friends. It had closed at $8.91, which is near its lowest share price since debuting in mid-December at $8.72. When the company did debut, they sold 100 million shares at $10 per share to raise $1 billion dollars (which is really overvaluing themselves, don’t you think). However, at the back of two new releases (the other one being Hidden Chronicles, another Facebook game), this drop has been seen as unexpected.

Despite the drop and the rough start, the Facebook and phone game development company has been performing quite consistently on the NASDAQ, shaking off the rumours of poor workplace conditions and poor customer support. I do not know how Zynga will survive, however, if the Facebook gaming scene suddenly pops out of existence. Will they shift to a more mobile focus? Possibly, but reliance on Facebook as a platform is quite risky, yet it seems they are getting their reward… for now.

However, after finding out on this particular application (Scramble With Friends), I am appalled with what Zynga has done. The games goes by tokens (you start with sixteen) and you must use one to play one round. After all of those tokens are gone, then you either wait for 15 minutes for more tokens or pay to get more tokens instantly. This is on top of the fact that the ad free version is $2.99. I hope that we do not, as a gaming community, end up using the Zynga model of business for our games, because it holds the player ransom until they cough up their hard earned cash.

Source: Gamasutra

Ys IV Remake To Be Localised?

Joshua Spudic
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It looks like Ys Celestra: Sea of Trees will be close to localisation in English if an interview with Gamasutra is led to believe. Falcom president Toshihiro Kondo was quoted in the interview, saying “We’re hoping the Western audiences will really enjoy our new PlayStation Vita Ys game, Celceta no Jukai, and we’re putting a lot of effort into it.” This means that the game is more than likely already been approved for an English release, which would make Ys fans jump for joy. An early (and probably only) contender for the localisation duties would be none other than XSEED, who has worked on The Legend of Heroes: Trails of the Sky, another Falcom game.

In the same interview, Kondo also revealed that releasing their games into the US market will allow the software developer to better understand which parts of the game are lacking. This is to make sure that the developers can make games that will appeal to both Japanese and Western markets. A word of caution, however, because if it all goes wrong, the developer might end up alienating both the Japanese and Western markets.

New Tales Of Innocence R Videos Released

Joshua Spudic
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Namco Bandai has release three videos concerning Tales of Innocence R, a remake of Tales of Innocence being released on the Playstation Vita. The first video, which you can watch below, is a skills video. The character in question is Ruca and she is performing one of her special attacks, which involves a lot of damage and some nice-looking battle animation:

[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwAwgXWe9l4&feature=youtu.be[/pro-player]

The second video is another skills video. This character is Richard, who wields a rifle with a bayonet attached in order to deal some close combat damage. Just like Ruca’s video, it features some pretty awesome battle animation and some massive damage. You can check it out below:

[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLcki6lfMek&feature=youtu.be[/pro-player]

The third video is not a skills video, but a commercial for the game. This 15 second video features the vocal theme for the game. You can check the commercial out below:

[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUKAsVREkPY&feature=youtu.be[/pro-player]

Would you like to see the game localised in English? Do you plan to import it? You can tell us in the comments section below.

3DS Breaks Enterbrain Monthly Sales Record, Vita Second In Same Month

Joshua Spudic
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Nintendo has reason to celebrate a successful December as its 3DS handheld system has broken the Enterbrain sales monthly record since the start of tracking sales, which began all the way in 1997. The handheld has sold a whooping 1,492,931 units, no thanks to the release of two Mario titles and Monster Hunter 3G, which are immensely popular at the moment. Both Mario games (Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7) have sold over one million copies each in its lifetime, a great accomplishment.

Strangely enough, the Playstation Vita is in fact the second best selling hardware in December, despite only being available since December 17 and pulling in what people call abysmal sales figures (even proclaiming its doom after only three weeks on the market). It has sold 402,794 units in the December period. The Enterbrain tracking for December runs from November 28 through to December 25 and the figures usually differ to the Media Create figures. Looking at that figure, it is quite impressive, seeing that it was only on the market for eight of those days in the tracking period.

Source: Andriasang

 

Dynasty Warriors Team To Make Big Announcement?

Joshua Spudic
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Tecmo Koei might have a massive announcement up their sleeve for the end of the year. A Twitter post from the Dynasty Warriors team was discovered and it is believed to point to an announcement for a big release. Although the post is in Japanese, Andriasang has translated the post. It says:

“Work started yesterday. We’d like to make a big announcement this year… by the end of the year.”

Andriasang had mentioned that each numbered Dynasty Warriors game receives three iterations: the original, the Moushouden (Xtreme Legends) and the Empires. Only two of those three iterations have been released, yet, if it is a big announcement, a reveal of the Empires iteration seems a bit too small. This could be either a completely new game or the next numbered iteration of Dynasty Warriors, which would be Dynasty Warriors 8. Either way, I hope it lives up to the claim that it will be a big announcement. Who knows, maybe it won’t happen.

Source: Andriasang

Amy’s price to be decided on Facebook

J. Bradshaw
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Lexis Numérique  has set a price and release date for their downloadable game, Amy.  The price for the XBLA game is 800 Microsoft Points.  However, the price for the PS3 game is a whole $2.99 more, at $12.99.  As you can imagine, this caused a huge uproar.  So, the developer has decided to open a Facebook poll.  It asks the community to decide whether the price increase is a big deal to them.  So far, 70% of people have decided that the price increase is a big deal to them.  As a result, it seems as though the developer will have to reduce the PS3 version’s price.  Of course, this reduction comes with a price.  The game will be delayed on PSN.  The XBLA Amy will still hit next week.

For more info, check here.

N-Control donates to Child’s Play

J. Bradshaw
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The instant meme PR disaster of N-Control is being avenged.  After firing their PR and relaunching their social media and website, N-Control has also made an attempt o help the community.  N-Control announced that they are donating $10,000 to Child’s Play, as well as well $50,000 worth of Avenger products, including the “Avenger” controller attachment. Many of N-Controls products are designed to help those with disabilities play video games. However, hardcore gamers may be interested in these controllers as well.

In other news, N-Control announced that they are suspending orders for now so that they can focus on fulfilling backorders.

Avoid accidental purchases on Xbox.com

J. Bradshaw
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As many of you may know, you can queue up demos and other content on your Xbox using Xbox.com.  However, it was recently discovered that there is a small glitch in the service.  If you try to add a demo to your queue but are not logged into the site just yet, you might accidentally purchase the item instead.  After you click the “Try Game” button and log in, Xbox.com acts like you tried to buy, giving you a “Confirm Purchase” button.  So be sure to read every button from now on so you don’t accidentally buy one of those overpriced “Games on Demand.”

However, this may not be an issue in a few weeks, as Microsoft has promised that their web team is working to fix the problem.

 

EPIC says NO to SOPA

J. Bradshaw
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SOPA, one of the worst bills in US history, has garnered the support of the Entertainment Software Association (ESA). The ESA supports publishers and developers and is responsible for events like E3.  However, their support of SOPA has made them enemies of gamers, techies, journalists and ANYONE that uses the internet.   After all, SOPA would give governments nearly unlimited power over the Internet if enacted and many are worried that our free speech would go out the window.  Nearly everyone (except for content holders and the ESA) agrees that the bill should be killed. Thankfully, Epic Games agrees that this bill should die.

Although they are a member of the ESA, they have written that: “We do not support the current version of SOPA.  We are members of the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), a trade organization that is working with legislators to refine the bill.  Epic Games supports efforts that would stop overseas websites profiting from pirating our games, but we have to do that in a way that’s compatible with freedom of speech and due process of law.”

In addition, 38 Studios has also spoken against SOPA, writing: “Based on the SOPA bill’s current structure, 38 Studios believes that the bill requires further restructuring and review to ensure it both preserves rights and protects intellectual properties. Please know that we take this issue very seriously.

Trion also has come out against the proposed legislation saying: “We definitely do not support SOPA. We’ll be calling the ESA about this.

Hopefully each of these companies will get the ESA to change their mind and keep this bill from becoming law.

 

Rayman Origins 3DS release date revealed

J. Bradshaw
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1

Rayman Origins was one of the more anticipated and highly rated platformers of last year, and it has already been released on the Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii consoles.  However, the game is also coming to the Playstation Vita and Nintendo 3DS. Now, we have a release date for the 3DS version of the game, at least in Europe.  Ubisoft has confirmed that the game will launch on the portable machine on March 16, 2011.  So far, a North American release date for the game has not been set.  You can pick up the game on Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii right here for 50% off.

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