Gamasutra News

Critical Reception: Activision/Infinity Ward's Modern Warfare 2

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:30:00 -0500

This week's edition of Critical Reception examines online reaction to Modern Warfare 2, a Call of Duty 4 sequel that reviews describe as delivering "an even more satisfying, more intense experience." Modern Warfare 2 currently earns a score of 96 out of 100 at Metacritic.com. Giant Bomb's Jeff Gerstmann gives Modern Warfare 2 5 out of 5 stars. "The big draw in Modern Warfare 2 is its competitive multiplayer," he explains. "Online, up to 18 ...

Q& A: Sands of Destruction Team Talks Battle System, Story Creation

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:20:00 -0500

Sands of Destruction is a new DS RPG from Sega and Image Epoch, titled World Destruction in Japan. The game is notable primarily for its scenario writer, Masato Kato, who also wrote the scenario for Chrono Trigger, and for composer Yasunori Mitsuda, who wrote most of the music for Chrono Trigger, and Chrono Cross, and has completed a number of other highly-acclaimed scores. The scenario surrounds a young man with the power to destroy the ...

Analysis: Meeting the Badman

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:49:00 -0500

[Writer Quintin Smith examines two versions of harried, squeaky-clean PSP title Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman!, and how the panic it creates helps players feel every bit the bumbling villain.] There's been an odd glut of tongue-in-cheek Japanese games based on 16-bit RPGs recently, games like Half Minute Hero and 3D Dot Heroes. I've already picked my favorite. I like it because it's about PANIC. I love panic in games. That icy pang of realization, ...

Opinion: The Lion's Gate - Majors And Indie Publishing

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:45:00 -0500

[In this opinion column, designer and Divide By Zero founder James Portnow lays out why major publishers need an indie arm, addressing the major factors that make it both a necessary and feasible model.] I hear a lot of bitching that innovation is dead in America. That's a lie. The problem is that we have two industries at odds, neither of which is really equipped to present innovations to the masses. First off, we have ...

Top-Grossing iPhone Apps: JellyCar 2 Overtakes Rock Band

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:53:00 -0500

Every week, sister iPhone site FingerGaming rounds up the top-grossing iPhone and iPod Touch applications, as current that day in the iTunes App Store, and this chart is now available on Gamasutra. This week's U.S. iPhone revenue charts see Disney's JellyCar 2 overtaking Rock Band in its debut week, as ngmoco's microtransaction-supported Eliminate Pro enters the top ten for the first time. This relatively recently-added chart allows end users to see who is making the ...

Penny Arcade Scholarship Program Awards $10,000 to Game Design Student

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:03:00 -0500

College student Kyla Gorman was awarded $10,000 by the Penny Arcade Scholarship Program, which she plans to dedicate to pursuing a game design degree at the University of Southern California. The annual Penny Arcade Scholarship, established in 2006, recognizes one standout college student who exhibits the potential to positively impact the gaming industry. "I'll be forever thankful for the opportunity the PA Scholarship has given me to attend USC, one of the world's best game ...

Nielsen: Heavy Marketing, Quality Expectations Drive Modern Warfare 2 Buzz

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:24:00 -0500

Online pre-release buzz for Infinity Ward's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which releases this week, has far outstripped that of its successful 2007 predecessor, says tracking firm Nielsen, which says gamers expect an unusually high level of quality out of the game and have been exposed to significant amounts of advertising. According to Nielsen's latest regular gamer survey, significantly more gamers were aware of Modern Warfare 2's release than of other games, and of ...

American Council on Exercise Charts 'Underwhelming' Wii Fit Health Benefits

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:12:00 -0500

The American Council on Exercise (ACE), a leading fitness authority and training organization, has released the results of a study that tested the effectiveness of Nintendo's exercise tool and balance trainer Wii Fit. The study, conducted in cooperation with the University of Wisconsin La Crosse Exercise and Health Program, found that Wii Fit produced "underwhelming results," in terms of exercise intensity. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin tested the Free Run, Island Run, Free Step, ...

Penny Arcade Launches 2009 Child's Play Charity Drive

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:15:00 -0500

The creators of popular online comic Penny Arcade have opened donations for this year's Child's Play charity, which has contributed over $5 million in games and toys to children's hospitals worldwide since 2003. In its inaugural year, when it was founded in part as a response to negative coverage of video games and gamers in the media, Child's Play raised over a quarter-million dollars for the Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle. Since ...

GCG Design Challenge Results Showcase Photographic Interpretation

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:31:00 -0500

In its latest Game Design Challenge, Gamasutra sister site GameCareerGuide asked its readers to create a game design based around a photograph -- and now you can see what they came up with. The photo, seen here, depicts a firefighter scaling the face of a clock -- an image that's wildly open to interpretation and re-interpretation. The best entries, as chosen by the GameCareerGuide staff, are listed below: Will Armstrong and Jonathan Tavaris, Burning Man ...