Gamasutra News

Rock Band Drags On Viacom Margins, Beatles May Only Break Even At Holiday?

Wed, 4 Nov 2009 07:17:00 -0500

Rock Band is losing money, and the profitability challenge confronting the high-cost Beatles iteration is steep, says MTV parent Viacom. In its most recent fiscal quarter, the company saw sales reach $463 million, an increase of about $62 million year-over-year thanks primarily to its cost conservativism and its Paramount Pictures division, although overall profits were down 3 percent to $3.3 billion. However, company CFO Tom Dooley said the company's video games were no help: "Rock ...

Iwata: Wii's Momentum Loss In Japan 'Urgent'

Wed, 4 Nov 2009 06:22:00 -0500

Wii sales in Japan have fallen below 50,000 units per week, a situation Nintendo president Satoru Iwata says "cannot be defined as healthy." The company has been able to motivate occasional sales spikes during the summer, but has been unable to sustain them, Iwata explained during a briefing with investors that came as the company warned of its first full-year profit decline in six years. Lagging Wii sales are the primary reason Nintendo's forecasts are ...

Moore Delighted' With FIFA 10 In Japan, Details Market 'Frustrations'

Wed, 4 Nov 2009 06:19:00 -0500

EA Sports head Peter Moore says he's "delighted" to see FIFA 10 making strides in Japan, having been challenged in the past by the insularity and specific tastes of the Japanese market. He calls Japan "the cradle of our industry," praising the continued creativity of the country's developers even in an era when Japanese design sensibilities appear to be suffering a business decline -- but on his official blog, Moore writes candidly about "frustrations" he ...

GameStop Establishes Digital Business Group, Appoints Exec Freeman

Wed, 4 Nov 2009 06:13:00 -0500

GameStop may dominate video game retail, but the question of how the company, which makes its revenues on new and used packaged goods, will adapt to increasing digital distribution has been something of a question mark. The retailer is clearly poised to try to address the issue, though, today announcing it's created a new executive role with oversight for digital business. Shawn Freeman has joined GameStop as senior VP and GM of Digital Business, where ...

Analysis: The Season's 'Recession-Proof' Games, Bad Timing For Left 4 Dead 2?

Wed, 4 Nov 2009 05:39:00 -0500

[In the latest tracking study provided to Gamasutra by OTX's GamePlan Insights, analyst Nick Williams examines the games that look poised to resist the recession's impact on the consumer, from Modern Warfare 2 to New Super Mario Bros. and more -- plus the role loyalty plays in sequel purchases.] Looking ahead to the remainder of 2009, there are four primary console releases that are primed to battle with already released titles for holiday market share. ...

Critical Reception: EA/BioWare's Dragon Age: Origins

Wed, 4 Nov 2009 05:30:00 -0500

This week's edition of Critical Reception examines online reaction to BioWare's Dragon Age: Origins, which reviews describe as "the best RPG of the year -- and maybe the best of the HD era." Dragon Age currently earns a score of 91 out of 100 at Metacritic.com. 1UP's Jason Wilson gives Dragon Age an A grade. "Championed as the 'spiritual successor' to Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn (widely considered one of the best fantasy role-playing ...

Interview: The Melancholy Of Keita Takahashi

Wed, 4 Nov 2009 05:41:00 -0500

Keita Takahashi sits alone, six thousand miles from home, in a damp, vacant house set within the grounds of an autumn forest somewhere in the middle of England. He wears a puffer jacket, huddled next to an electric fire for warmth. With slow, meticulous movements he wraps a length of string around the short, rounded sword he's fashioned from a bent coat hanger. Aside from an intermittent cough, the house is otherwise empty of all ...

Interview: Floex And The Music Of Machinarium

Wed, 4 Nov 2009 05:28:00 -0500

[We catch up with Czech musician Tomas Dvorak, composer of the soundtrack for Amanita Design's IGF-winning adventure Machinarium, for an interview on the music of the game.] Czech musician Tomas Dvorak, who also goes by Floex, is the composer of Amanita Design's new game, Machinarium. Previously he composed for Samorost 2 and used audio from the game in the creation of an award-winning original soundtrack album. Machinarium is an adventure story surrounding a world of ...

Opinion: Why DJ Hero Can't Save Music Games

Wed, 4 Nov 2009 05:48:00 -0500

[Industry watchers say DJ Hero should give the declining music genre, dominated by band game sequels, a much-needed refresh -- but Gamasutra's Leigh Alexander suggests it can't possibly have the same appeal.] Fatigued of the music genre yet? Some people must be -- sales of The Beatles: Rock Band and Guitar Hero 5 didn't measure up to predictions, and some analysts think consumers are getting tired of plastic instruments. Industry-watchers have suggested that what the ...

Funcom Receives Grant For Online Winter Sports Game

Tue, 3 Nov 2009 13:28:00 -0500

Developer and publisher Funcom has been granted NOK 1.5 million (US$260,000) by the Norsk Filminstitutt to develop On the Edge of the World, an online free-to-play sports game which will, in part, promote Norwegian winter sports, starting with snowboarding. At launch, snowboarding will the the title's main focus, although Funcom and the Norsk Filminstitutt hope the game will be heavily modular, allowing a variety of sporting events to be eventually represented. According to a Norwegian-language ...