More layoffs - Brash Entertainment sacks 20
Lay-offs and cutbacks seem to be the trend in the gaming industry as of late as Brash Entertainment sacks 20 people across the org chart due to “the current tough economic landscape.”
They will, however, hand severance and extended benefits to those who lost their jobs. Brash has put out the following the statement:
Citing the current tough economic landscape, Brash Entertainment has confirmed the company has instituted a strategic cost reduction plan that will see the elimination of over 20 positions across multiple departments
Others who’ve made similar responses to the economy include Electronic Arts, Sony, and THQ is planning to do the same. The times are tough, especially for those who lost their jobs, let’s just hope that at the very least, games still come out good and some measure of good will come from these lay-offs.
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- THQ fiscal report - cost cuts, streamlining, and realignment to come
- RIP EA Casual: EA merges Casual Studios, Hasbro partnership with SIMS label
PSP shell or XMB replacement, it’s cool either way: 0×584d42 Alpha released
French coders BlackDevsTeam (composed of Darkside, Zer01ne, and Spimort) have released an alpha version for their 0×584d42 project. Whether you want to call this a PSP shell or an XMB replacement, then so be it. For the record though, the BlackDevsTeam calls it an XMB alternative, much like Auraomega’s Project4.
Note that this version is still in alpha, and was released to the public more as a proof-of-concept than anything else. For now though, the XMB’s functionalities encompass Recovery, Settings, Photo, Music, Video, Game, and Network.
There are two versions released by the team, one for Time Machine v3.40 (Phat), and another for Despartar Cementerio 7 v4.01 (Phat, Slim). The readme in both archives are included, not as text files, but as comments built into the archive itself. For more info (and to avoid possible brickage), you can head to the QJ.NET forums or the source link below.
Download: 0×584d42 Alpha (TM v3.40 Phat)
Download: 0×584d42 Alpha (DC7 Test v4.01 Phat, Slim)
Visit: QJ.NET PSP development forum
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Sometimes, failure is good too: DJ Max Clazziquai’s health bar shows some skin
If you managed to import Pentavision’s DJ Max Portable Clazziquai Edition, and happen to still have a copy of a previous DJ Max game sitting around, you might have already tinkered with that disc-link feature.
See, Clazziquai has this feature wherein, if you pop in a previous game disc, you get to unlock a new song, some character icons, and the Summer Time Gear. The last of which is a new theme - a new “skin”, if you will; you’ll see why in just a bit - to replace the mobile phone interface to that of a girl holding a beach ball.
This beach girl becomes your life bar. As it fades with more breaks in the beats, well, more skin is shown - and no, the beach girl doesn’t get fully naked. Peep into the video to see for yourself:
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- DJ Max Portable Emotional Sense - Clazziquai Edition details
- DJ Max Portable Clazziquai Edition: trailer and screenshot spree
Four big names on four gaming issues: sex, violence, content ratings, and gaming design
Four of the most creative minds in the gaming industry share their thoughts on the four things that sell: sex, violence, ratings, and gaming design. David Jaffe (Twister Metal, God of War), Peter Molyneux (Populous, Fable 2), Greg Zeschuk (Neverwinter Nights, Mass Effect), and Cliff Beszinski (Gears of War) comment separately on consumer perception and what would make a good game.
Looking at the polls conducted by What They Play, parents would like to see less sexual content on games than violence. Here’s what they said:
Bleszinski: Based on the current state of popular thinking, I wouldn’t touch sexual themes with a 10 foot pole.
Jaffe: Sexuality in games is really hard to express right now.
As far as violence is concerned, here’s their take:
Jaffe: Honestly, I don t know how I feel about it. There are days where I love it, and am grateful for it, and days where I think the level of violence in our culture is spiritually bankrupting us.
Bleszinski: I’ll gladly put a chainsaw in your face, because I think of the violence in Gears of War are slapstick.
Talking about sex and violence, Jaffe says that the ESRB lacks consistency with other media when it comes to giving ratings. “Let s face it, a PG-13 movie would be an M rated video game.” he said. “It really reflects that the ESRB looks at games as toys, or more importantly, that they are worried about being sued or going in front of the Senate.”
The analogy is accurate. If M-rated TV shows like The Sopranos became video games, then they would receive the very nasty AO or “adult only” rating. Receiving such a rating would pretty much banish a game into obscurity. Not only do platform holders Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo have strict AO policies, major retailers such as Target and Wal-Mart also refuse stock AO games.
So how would they go about the designing, given such circumstances?
Molyneux: We know the broad rules”; “If it’s too violent, it won’t sell in Germany. If it’s too sexual, it won’t sell in America. What you end up is avoiding gratuitousness.
Zeschuk: We really believe in the ratings, and it s important that over the course of these huge experiences that the whole game world we re creating makes sense.
Sex sells. Violence sells. It’s sometimes sad that games often turn to those two in order to become “fun.” Not all games, but certainly a big number. Let’s face it - it’s fun. We all thought playing Kratos was totally wicked, and we had fun picking up hos in GTA. I guess it’s a great reprieve for us all that titles like LittleBigPlanet are still out there, proving that we’re not all about the sex and violence.
Related articles:
- Shigeru Miyamoto: developers don’t have to resort to violence
- Zounds! Again with the violence-to-porn connection
PlayStation Store update for October 16
If you haven’t checked it out yet since it went down, the PlayStation Store’s now back online, just in time for its weekly update. Highlights include SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation, more Rock Band (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3) tracks, and an expansion for Eye of Judgment.
Here’s the complete list of new stuff:
PlayStation Store
Downloadable Games
- SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation (US 39.99)
PS1 Classics
- Sno-Cross Championship Racing (US 5.99)
Add-on Game Content
- Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 09 Spyglass Hill Golf Course (US 7.49)
- THE EYE OF JUDGEMENT: Biolith Rebellion 3 (Expansion Set Three) (US 14.99)
- THE EYE OF JUDGEMENT: Biolith Rebellion 2 & 3 Expansion Bundle (US 19.99)
- Rock Band tracks
- Dr. Feelgood - M tley Cr e (US 1.99)
- Kickstart My Heart - M tley Cr e (US 1.99)
- Rattlesnake Shake - M tley Cr e (US 1.99)
- Same Ol Situation (S.O.S.) - M tley Cr e (US 1.99)
- She Goes Down - M tley Cr e (US 1.99)
- Slice of Your Pie - M tley Cr e (US 1.99)
- Sticky Sweet - M tley Cr e (US 1.99)
- Time For Change - M tley Cr e (US 1.99)
- Without You - M tley Cr e (US 1.99)
- Don t Go Away Mad (Just Go Away) - M tley Cr e (US 1.99)
- Dr. Feelgood Album (US 15.99)
Game Demos (free)
- MotorStorm Pacific Rift Demo
Game Videos (free)
- LittleBigPlanet: Making Fun
- MotorStorm Pacific Rift Vehicles Trailer
- SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation Launch Trailer
- wipEout HD Behind the Scenes
- Eternal Sonata Trailer
- Far Cry 2 Who s Who Trailer
- Guitar Hero World Tour Billy Corgan Vignette
- NARUTO: Ultimate Ninja Storm September Trailer
PS3 Themes
- Valkyria Chronicles PSN Theme 01 (free)
- Silent Hill Homecoming Theme (free)
- Eternal Sonata Theme (free)
- SAW Legacy Theme (US 1.99)
PS3 Wallpapers (free)
- Eternal Sonata Wallpapers (x6)
- Silent Hill Homecoming Wallpapers (x4)
PlayStation Store for PSP
PSP Game Download
- DEAD HEAD FRED (US 14.99)
- PQ2: PRACTICAL INTELLIGENCE QUOTIENT 2 (US 14.99)
PS1 Classics
- Sno-Cross Championship Racing (US 5.99)
Game Demos
- LEGO BATMAN: THE VIDEOGAME Demo (free)
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Dead Head Fred and PQ2 on PlayStation Store today
More games from D3Publisher are headed your way via the PlayStation Network today! If you missed out Dead Head Fred and PQ2: Practical Intelligence Quotient 2 the first time around when it was released on UMD, here’s your chance.
According to D3’s press release, these two titles become available as DLC on the PlayStation Store as of today. If so, why not give your new FW 5.00 for a spin, access the PSP Store, and download your games directly into your PSP, eh?
Which ever route you take (via PS3 Store, PC, or PSP), the games cost US 14.99 a pop.
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Chart Track: FIFA 09 still on top, Bat Signal shines on second place
In its second week running, FIFA 09 still manages to keep its score. Electronic Arts’ football game retains the top spot in Chart Track UK’s weekly sales ranking for software, despite it slowing down by 47 in sales.
Last week’s seconder, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, looses its grip and slides down to fourth place, thus giving rise to the caped crusader. Lego Batman: The Video Game debuts this week in second place.
Broken down, Lego Batman’s sales is accounted for by 22 on the Xbox 360, another 22 on the PS2, 20 for Nintendo Wii, 17 for PS3, 12 DS, 6 PSP, and 1 PC.
Here are the top 20 titles in Chart Track’s All Formats chart for week ending October 11:
- FIFA 09
- Lego Batman: The Video Game
- Wii Fit
- Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
- Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway
- Mario Kart Wii
- Wii Play
- Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09
- Family Trainer
- Big Beach Sports
- Carnival: Funfair Games
- Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
- Dr. Kawashima’s Brain Training
- Grand Theft Auto IV
- Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games
- Wall-e
- Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
- Ben 10: Protector of Earth
- Super Smash Bros. Brawl
- The Simpsons Game
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Media Create: PS3 posts worst weekly sales total, handheld titles dominate software sales
Over in Japan, Sony’s PSP console is still pulling down some pretty impressive hardware sales numbers, but the company can’t be happy with how the PlayStation 3 is doing.
The console just hit its lowest weekly sales record last week, moving only 7,232 units. That’s more than a thousand units less than the Xbox 360’s 8,271 units sold. Both consoles actually sold less than the PS2, while all three paled in comparison to the Wii’s 25,330 units sold.
The top two spots in the hardware sales charts from last week were still dominated by the handhelds. The almighty DS Lite is still lording it over everything else with 42,385 units sold, while the PSP is at a distant second place with 26,045 units sold.
The PS3’s dismal showing continues on the software side of things, where there’s no title for the console anywhere in the top ten. Same thing goes for the Xbox 360. The software sales chart is actually an even split in terms of titles for Sony and Nintendo consoles, as you can see below:
- Pocket Monsters Platinum (DS) - 122,000
- Shin Sangoku Musou 5 Special (PS2) - 110,000
- Super Robot Taisen Z (PS2) - 60,000
- Rhythm Tengoku Gold (DS) - 54,000
- Wii Fit (Wii) - 21,000
- Jikkyou Powerful Major League 3 (PS2) - 18,000
- To LoveRu Trouble: Doki Doki! Rinkaigakkou-Hen (PSP) - 16,000
- Ikki Tousen: Eloquent Fist (PSP) - 15,000
- World Destruction: Michibi Kareshi Ishi (DS) - 15,000
- Dragon Ball DS (DS) - 12,000
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- Japan’s first half: PSP reigns king of hardware, Mario Kart tops software
- Sony: PS3 selling 30 percent faster than expected
- Media Create Japan: 360 really didn’t beat Wii; still beat PS3 though
PSP Homebrew - Easy PSP Installer v0.98
This here is for tkj, and it’s the Easy PSP Installer v0.98. What it does is to basically install those cool PSP homebrews for you, with merely the push of a couple of buttons.
It’s fast and nifty, with features such as automatic downloads, extractions, and as mentioned above, installing your selected homebrews. Apart from that, this version also now supports .RAR files, same as with what 0.97 had. The difference now, though, is that this one’s also got an About form.
For feedack or comments, visit our forums for the discussion thread at the link below.
Download: Easy PSP Installer v0.98
Discuss: QJ.NET’s PSP Development Forums
PlayStation Network cards to have expanded availability
SCEA will further expand the availability of its PlayStation Network cards, which will be available at Walmart, Best Buy, and select Sam’s Club outlets by October. It will also be available at Barnes & Noble College Bookstores starting November.
Last June, the cards were pretty hard to acquire seeing as they were mostly available through Meijer stores, which can only be found in certain states (only five states, actually). It was only last month that they expanded this to Blockbuster, Riteaid, and 7-Eleven. Still, the more outlets, the merrier!
PSN cards are available in US 20 and US 50 denominations and can be used to buy games, movies, TV shows, themes, and add-on content from the PlayStation Store for the PlayStation 3 and the PSP.
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Top 10 Best Selling Games
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