Ubisoft targeting Call of Duty gamers with Ghost Recon: Future Soldier

A lot of people play Activision’s Call of Duty games. With the last three CoDs each raking in over $1 billion in sales, it can be estimated that around 999 trillion folks play CoD (OK,OK, maybe 998 trillion). And, you know what? Ubisoft wants those people playing Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, Ubisoft’s upcoming tactical third-person shooter.

Speaking to gaming website GamerZine at a GR:FS event, Ubisoft’s Yann Suquet said that they believe that their next, near-futuristic installment of Ghost Recon, due out in May, will attract CoD customers.

“We’re definitely expecting to get some or most of their (Call of Duty’s) customers interested in Ghost Recon, but we’re not trying to mimic them,” Suquet told GamerZines. “We have a different experience and we definitely hope to interest Call of Duty and military shooter fans, but we’re not limited to them.”

In terms of how GR:FS is different than CoD: “We definitely have some ‘wow’ moments and some of that pacing, but our approach is different. For instance, we’re absolutely not scripted. Those games are scripted, and they’re awesome but they have their limits.”

Suquet added that “They changed something in the shooter market, but we believe we have something that is relevant and has something different to offer.”

[Note: This post was republished from Twisted Junk.]

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Ubisoft eyeing up Call of Duty market with Ghost Recon: Future Soldier [GamerZines, via N4G]

Nintendo’s new online service will be more like XBL, PSN

Nintendo’s current online gaming console service may not be as good as Sony’s PlayStation Network and Microsoft’s Xbox Live, but Nintendo is looking to change things up with its new Nintendo Network.


Revealed during a Nintendo financial briefing, and hinted earlier as a logo on Theatrhythm Final Fantasy’s box art, the Nintendo Network for the 3DS and upcoming Wii U will replace Nintendo’s current online infrastructure as it plays a more integral role compared to the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, reports VentureBeat. The new service will reportedly be similar to XBL and PSN as it offers things like paid downloadable content, Wii U personal accounts, “competitions and online communication” (i.e., presumably better online multiplayer and voice chat systems), and the possibility of downloadable full retail games.

One game that will reportedly take advantage of the Nintendo Network in some capacity is the new, upcoming Fire Emblem for the 3DS, which will offer some kind of paid DLC.

[Note: This post was republished from Twisted Junk.]

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 review

First-person shooters are hugely popular these days and the Call of Duty series is currently the king of FPSs. Other shooters try to copy the CoD formula, but they have never been able to dethrone the king.

Previous CoDs including Modern Warfare 2 and Black Ops have each earned a whopping $1 billion in sales, and with both titles touted as the biggest entertainment launches in history, the next CoD, Modern Warfare 3, has much to live up to. This is especially true with whole MW 3 vs. Battlefield 3 war that raged the last few months, as well as the Infinity Ward departures in 2010 that saw the IW founders/CoD creators fired, resulting in some staffers quitting.

Dark Souls PC petition seems to be working so far

It looks like that online petition for a PC port of Dark Souls has gotten the game publisher’s attention. Posting on Namco Bandai’s official European forums, Namco’s administrator “shoupinou” gives PC players hope that the acclaimed action RPG Dark Souls might be headed their way:

I honestly wasn’t expecting such a massive support. My boss(es) even came to talk to me about this, after it explodes all around the world. If you wanted to have the attention of Namco Bandai Games, now you have it. The future is in your hands, and I hope you will keep supporting this. I make a personal objective to make sure every relevant people in Namco Bandai Games is in touch with this formidable effort. Great Thanks!

Currently, the aforementioned petition just reached over 74,000 signatures. Keep it up guys!

[Note: This post was republished from Twisted Junk.]

Is there a possibility of a PC version? It would be a huge success for Namco and FromSoftware [Namco Bandai Games' forums, via Rock, Paper Shotgun]

Rumor: Xbox 720, PS4 to be revealed at E3

Whoa, how about this for a rumor. According to MCV’s “third-party publishing sources,” Microsoft’s next Xbox and Sony’s next PlayStation home consoles will be unveiled at this year’s E3.

As MCV points out, this could be the biggest E3 ever if The Big Three — Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony — decide to show off their next major gaming consoles at the event. That is, however, a big if.

It’s been speculated that the Xbox 720 and PS4 (as some are calling them) won’t be revealed/released at least until 2013. But perhaps Sony and Microsoft don’t want Nintendo hogging all the E3 spotlight this June?

[Note: This post was republished from Twisted Junk.]

New XCOM RTS game in development

Outcry ensued when folks learned that 2K Marin’s upcoming XCOM reboot was a shooter instead of a real-time strategy game like the original. But, folks can now calm down: an XCOM RTS game is in the works.

It’s titled XCOM: Enemy Unknown and it will be a turn-based strategy game, reveals Game Informer. As if that wasn’t good enough news, the game will be developed by Firaxis Games, the team behind the acclaimed Civilization series. And, not only that, XCOM: EU will be released this fall for the PC and home consoles (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3).

“It’s been a dream of ours to recreate X-COM with our unique creative vision. We’re huge fans of the original game and it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to re-envision a game that is as beloved as X-COM,” Firaxis’ president Steve Martin told GI. “We were careful to keep XCOM: Enemy Unknown true to the elements that made X-COM such a revered game while delivering an entirely new story and gameplay experience for both die-hard X-COM fans and newcomers to the franchise.”

Featuring turn-based combat with a mix of “real-time strategic view,” XCOM: EU will have players controlling a gun-toting anti-alien unit in “destructible tactical environments.”

More details are promised in GI’s upcoming February issue, which is said to hit next week. In the meantime, let’s see what we can do about the Syndicate reboot.

[Note: This post was republished from Twisted Junk.]

Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes officially announced, adds more superheroes

Following rumors/leaks earlier, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment officially announced the sequel to Lego Batman: The Videogame which will see the Caped Crusader and Boy Wonder teaming up with other superheroes from the DC Universe.

Activision ‘experimenting’ with releasing more CoD DLC more often, might not just be multiplayer maps

In a phone interview with Wired last month, Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg said that the company wants to release more downloadable content for the Call of Duty series more quickly, adding that some of the DLC might not just be multiplayer maps.

“The idea of giving people constant incremental playable content and making it so you’re never more than a few weeks away from the next new experience within the Call of Duty universe is part of what we’re experimenting with,” Hirshberg told Wired.

After noting how listening to its fans is important and how players want more DLC, Hirshberg added,  “One of the things that was most appealing when we were researching these ideas with consumers is the idea of breaking up the DLC so that it comes more often and more regularly,” said Hirshberg. “We want to provide DLC to people more often and also experiment with more of a variety in the forms of playable content.”

This experimentation could result in DLC comprising of  “missions or spec-op modes,” and not just multiplayer maps which are always cranked out for CoD games post-release.

[Note: This post was republished from Twisted Junk.]

Activision Will Enhance Call of Duty Every Few Weeks [Wired, via N4G]

Next Xbox might have DVR

Microsoft’s next Xbox home console might include a digital video recorder, according to a Microsoft patent discovered by Kotaku (via GamesRadar).

Originally applied on Jan. 5, 2007 and then granted on Dec. 27, 2011 by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, Microsoft’s DVR patent details the ability for a gaming console to record things like TV programs, music, DVDs, and even video games either locally or online.

With a DVR “application running alongside a television client component,” users would be able to record media content while playing games. This could also be done when the console’s turned off or when doing different things on console like switching between gaming and watching TV.

Whether any of this becomes a reality is unknown, as Kotaku reminds us that patents don’t mean guarantees. But with Microsoft pushing the Xbox 360 as more of a media center, especially after the most recent Xbox 360 dashboard update that provided more video content, DVR functionality for the next Xbox sounds like a good step forward.

[Note: This post was republished from Twisted Junk.]

Valve: Half-Life 3 rumors aren’t true, you were ‘trolled’

Half-Life series developer Valve shot down Half-Life 3 rumors that circulated on the Internet as of late.