Microsoft Shuts Down ‘Flight Simulator’ Game Studio
As the rest of the tech world scrambles to assess the implications of the recently announced 5,000 layoffs at software giant Microsoft, news has come in that might potentially spell the end of the company’s nearly 30-year-old Flight Simulator series.
Microsoft confirmed Friday that the software giant has shuttered ACES Studios, the developer of the Flight Simulator series of games, whose latest incarnation is Flight Simulator X. The simulation is considered Microsoft’s oldest product, whose original version first shipped in 1982.
However, a Microsoft spokeswoman said that while the studio has been closed, the software company remains committed to the Flight Simulator franchise, without explaining how future products can be launched without a dedicated software development team backing them.
World of Warcraft fans unite for pilgrimage to Blizzcon
Thousands of gaming fans left a virtual world to unite in the real one and test an update of their obsession. By day they are human, but in their spare time they become mythical heroes such as wizards, dwarfs and blood-elves. At the weekend, in California, 15,000 of them logged out of World of Warcraft, the world’s biggest online game, to gather in a hall the size of an aircraft hangar for the “big nerdfest” that is Blizzcon.
They were drawn to the Anaheim Convention Centre in California by their love of the virtual worlds they inhabit. Blizzcon is part video game carnival, part trade fair and part religious pilgrimage, organised by Blizzard Entertainment, which makes World of Warcraft and the real-time strategy game Starcraft.
Release date set for Manhunt 2
UK gamers will finally be able to buy Manhunt 2 for Playstation 2, PSP, and Wii on 31 October.
Originally released in the US over a year ago, the game was refused a certificate by the British Board of Film Certification in June 2007.
Following multiple appeals and changes to the game, it was granted a certificate in March.
The goriest scenes were blurred out in the American version of the game but have been removed altogether in the UK.
In the game, players assume the role of a mental asylum patient who must escape by any means including attacks with improvised weapons in an effort to discover why he has been imprisoned.
Sony brings visual add-on to PlayStation 3
ATLANTA – Sony Corp.’s U.S. video game division is adding a slick visual program to the PlayStation 3 game system that delivers news headlines, weather reports and webcam views from around the globe.
The new touches come as an upgrade to Folding(at)home, an earlier PS3 feature that benefits Stanford University’s protein research project. Users donate a bit of their PS3′s processing power when they’re not gaming to help researchers study the effects of protein folding on diseases.
LittleBigPlanet turns gamers into creators
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A new videogame allows players to conjure up their own design ideas and create playable content that can be uploaded and shared.
And gamers can do it from the privacy of their own home with Sony Computer Entertainment America’s LittleBigPlanet.
For years, PC gamers have been able to modify games like Unreal Tournament 3 and Half-Life 2 to create playable levels and linear entertainment (“Machinima”).
Nintendo to launch camera, music-capable DS: report
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese video game maker Nintendo Co Ltd plans to launch a new model of its DS handheld machine that can take pictures and play music by the end of the year, the Nikkei business daily said on Sunday.
The move would pit the top-selling portable game gear with Apple Inc iPod and camera-embedded cellphones in general.
Spore hits 1 million games sold, while new Star Wars game hits 1.5 million » VentureBeat
The “Spore” computer game is off to a good start with 1 million games sold at a retail, Electronic Arts said today. The computer game, one of the most ambitious ever made, took famed developer Will Wright seven years to make. It launched on Sept. 7.
The game let’s you create your own creatures and shepherd them through life from single-cell animals all the way up to a galaxy-dominating species. EA said today that more than 25 million creatures have been created and uploaded to the Sporepedia. Players can download those creatures into their own single-player games and have their creatures compete against the downloaded creatures.
Computer games industry threat to downloaders: ‘pay up or we’ll sue’
The computer games industry has launched an unprecedented assault on illegal downloads, demanding payment from thousands of families who obtained the latest releases over the internet without paying.
Five of the world’s top games developers will serve notice on 25,000 people across the UK, requiring each one to pay £300 immediately to settle out of court. Those who refuse risk being taken to court. The companies will target their initial legal actions on 500 people who ignore the letters.
The companies involved – Atari, Topware Interactive, Reality Pump, Techland and Codemasters – make some of the popular games, including The Lord of the Rings,the Colin McRae Rally series and Operation Flashpoint. It is estimated that as many as six million people in Britain share games illegally over the internet. The aggressive action marks a dramatic change in the approach to copyright on the internet. The British music industry, hit hard by illegal file-sharing, has taken action against just 150 people in ten years.
Computer games industry threat to downloaders: ‘pay up or we’ll sue’
The computer games industry has launched an unprecedented assault on illegal downloads, demanding payment from thousands of families who obtained the latest releases over the internet without paying.
Five of the world’s top games developers will serve notice on 25,000 people across the UK, requiring each one to pay £300 immediately to settle out of court. Those who refuse risk being taken to court. The companies will target their initial legal actions on 500 people who ignore the letters.
The companies involved – Atari, Topware Interactive, Reality Pump, Techland and Codemasters – make some of the popular games, including The Lord of the Rings,the Colin McRae Rally series and Operation Flashpoint. It is estimated that as many as six million people in Britain share games illegally over the internet. The aggressive action marks a dramatic change in the approach to copyright on the internet. The British music industry, hit hard by illegal file-sharing, has taken action against just 150 people in ten years.
TC50: Atmosphir – build your own video games
The most promising company to come out of the gaming pitches was Atmosphir, which lets you build your own games by dragging and dropping blocks onto a blank virtual canvas – like Lego for video games, in the words of the creators.
You begin by choosing a theme, say Adventure, and then set about creating islands, bridges, moving platforms and obstacles. Once you’re happy with the geography of your world, it’s time to move onto the politics. Lay down the rules that govern your game, then create some hazards, set some traps and scatter about a few bonuses. The demonstrators created a basic but serviceable game in about three minutes.