First

The First Big Free to Play iOS Game Comes Full Circle: ngmoco’s ‘Eliminate’ Shutting Down on 5/25

by Salat on April 30, 2012 · 0 comments

2009 was a weird time for the App Store. Free to play games were building steam on other platforms, but the way Apple originally structured the in app purchase mechanic prevented it from being used on anything but paid games and apps. This policy was reversed in mid-October, and only a few hours later ngmoco announced that their (then) upcoming online first person shooter Eliminate would be free.

The game was released a few weeks later, and we posted an extensive guide on it. In a nutshell, Eliminate was a four person first person shooter with a free to play twist. In order to earn credits to buy armor and weapon upgrades, players needed to use their energy supplies. Energy depleted as you played, and, obviously, an in-game store sold all the energy that players could ever need if they didn’t wait to wait to recharge.

Being among the first free to play games available, and actually being the first gamer-centric freemium game on the App Store, Eliminate seemed to spawn a massive community of players overnight. In fact, the Eliminate thread on our forums is still amongst the most popular TouchArcade threads of all time, running closely behind the Street Fighter IV Volt thread and the Pocket Frogs trading thread.

A TouchArcade reader sent a tip in over the weekend that not only had Eliminate been pulled from the App Store, but launching the game now results in the above popup. On May 25th, 2012, Eliminate is going offline. It’s sad to see not only this game, but also ngmoco as a company coming full circle. We’ve been covering ngmoco since their inception, as it seemed to many (myself included) that they were the most promising contender to be the premiere iOS-exclusive game developer.

In early 2010 the company then picked up some additional financial steam and bought Freeverse, which was yet another incredibly promising iOS developer that has since vanished. Later that year, Japanese social gaming giant rolled ngmoco up into their proverbial katamari at the potential price of $ 400m… Then things started to take a slide.

The Epic Wars series of games were the first projects to be shut down by ngmoco, leaving faithful players (who potentially invested heavily into the game) in the cold. News of games releases, or really, any activity from the company dried up until earlier this year we heard the company was hit with layoffs. Inside Mobile Games even suggested that they missed the financial targets of the $ 400m buyout, putting the bulk of that purchase price in jeopardy.

If nothing else, the shut down of Eliminate is yet another reminder that the money you spend on these server-centric free to play title is buying you things that only persist as long as the developers keep the game online. If you’ve dumped cash into Eliminate, be sure to get your money’s worth playing the game before it goes offline next month.

Thanks Payam!

Source: Touch Arcade

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It’s Official: Nintendo Posts First Ever Annual Loss

by Salat on April 26, 2012 · 0 comments

The signs have been evident for some time. Diminished Wii Sales, their first ever quarterly earnings loss, not to mention the disappointing performance of 3DS. No wonder Nintendo lowered expectations last year, predicting they’d be posting their first ever net loss for fiscal year 2011. About those lowered expectations? Yeah, that was the right decision. Today, it became official: Nintendo has posted their first ever annual loss.

The wobbling giant reported $ 534.6 million losses on the $ 8 billion in revenue it pulled in in 2011. To put that in perspective, in 2010 they pulled in $ 960.5 million in profits on earnings of $ 12.6 billion. EEOUCH. There is a silver lining, however: Nintendo’s original forecast was much bleaker, estimating $ 804.3 million losses. Unfortunately, they also predicted $ 8.2 billion in sales. So you lose some, you lose some slightly less humiliatingly.

After the glory of the previous decade, Nintendo’s financial setbacks come as a mild surprise. The Wii remains the best selling console of the current generation with 95.85 million units sold, and the DS is the second best selling gaming device of all time, with 151.52 million total sales. However, Wii’s success was in capturing the casual gaming market, and that has changed considerably in the era of smartphones. No doubt Nintendo plans to reverse this with the upcoming Wii U, which so far looks like Nintendo going after core gamers again. We’ll find out at E3 whether or not it’s anything to shout about.

Via the LA Times.

Source: Gaming Today

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First Crysis 3 gameplay video does the rounds

by Salat on April 24, 2012 · 0 comments

Get it below.

Source: VG247

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Next Call of Duty to premiere May 1; first teaser images

by Salat on April 22, 2012 · 0 comments

Activision has launched a countdown to the global reveal of the next Call of Duty – which rumours have pegged as Black Ops 2.

CallofDuty.com promises the new game will be shown off during the May 1 basketball playoffs on US cable channel TNT.

The teaser site is dotted with “classified” logos, most of which are scheduled to unlock over the next few days. One yielded an image, which I’ve dropped in below.

The image in the background of the site, also viewable below, shows a fizzy silhouette in a similar pose to that used to promote 2010′s Call of Duty: Black Ops, which fits nicely with predictions that Treyarch’s effort will be the new series complementing annual Modern Warfare releases.

Most tellingly, the timing of the reveal ties in almost perfectly with a promotional image spotted last week, promising a “return”.

Call of Duty: Black Ops outsold 2009′s Modern Warfare 2, and analysts believe it has out-performed Modern Warfare 3 so far.

Source: VG247

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First Legends of Pegasus Gameplay Trailer Released (VID)

by Salat on April 20, 2012 · 0 comments

The first trailer for the 4X space game Legends of Pegasus has been released, and it’s looking pretty good. The video showcases key elements of the game, from custom ship design to terraforming and deep space exploration.

Legends of Pegasus mixes real-time and turn-based strategy, allowing players to expand their civilization in the galaxy by colonizing new planets, building factories, laboratories and shipyards, researching new technologies and designing new spacecrafts to keep on exploring new galaxies. The game will offer both a singleplayer campaign and multiplayer with either human or AI opponents, as well as numerous modding options.

Check out the trailer:

Did they just take a shot at Sins of a Solar Empire with that “Forget your sins” line?

Legends of Pegasus will release for Windows PC in summer 2012.

Source: Gaming Today

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Medal Of Honor Warfighter – First Gameplay Trailer

by Salat on April 13, 2012 · 0 comments

The first official trailer for Medal Of Honor Warfighter has been released. Powered by the Frostbite 2 Engine and being touted as the “most authentic shooter” to date, Warfighter is inspired by actual events across the globe and written by real Tier 1 Operators while deployed overseas.

Check it out:

I have a great deal of respect for the men and women of the military worldwide, and have always considered special forces teams cooler than any superhero, action movie star, or video game character. I applaud games that seek to realistically capture the struggles of these individuals.

Medal Of Honor Warfighter releases on Octover 23rd, 2012 for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC.

Source: Gaming Today

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Camouflaj Kickstarting iOS stealth game ‘Republique,’ see the first trailer

by Salat on April 10, 2012 · 0 comments

The first project from Ryan Payton’s Camouflaj is Republique, an iOS action/stealth game of sorts in which you control a network of cameras, lights, and everything else electronic to keep a woman named Hope safe from pursuers. It’s like a serious Night Trap.

“Last year, I decided I was going to stop complaining about the lack of real games on mobile,” Payton said in the above trailer, “and start making one.” For help making that real game, Camouflaj has turned to Kickstarter, because it’s 2012.

The developer is seeking $ 500,000 from backers, with bonuses including the game, a fancy journal designed as a “game companion,” and, for the truly wealthy, your likeness in the game and a trip to Camouflaj HQ.

Camouflaj Kickstarting iOS stealth game ‘Republique,’ see the first trailer originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 10 Apr 2012 09:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: Joystiq

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inXile Reveals First Wasteland 2 Concept Art

by Salat on April 9, 2012 · 0 comments

Could we be any more excited about the proposed Wasteland 2? Sorry, did I say proposed? I mean upcoming, because this is a thing that is happening. No seriously, they needed $ 900,000 to make the development official, and as of right now they’re at $ 2,222,677. Better still, just over a week ago Obsidian announced they wanted in on the action; their minimum threshold was 2.1 million. So yeah, we’re getting Wasteland 2, brought to you by the original team, + the people who brought us New Vegas. Awesome.

So, now we’re at the stage in which we’re actually seeing the first real, tangible creative work for Wasteland 2; the first bit of concept art, revealed over the weekend in a post to inXile’s official blog by Brian Fargo. That post is also a great read; starting with a discussion of the recently signed JOBS Act, Fargo talks about what the success of their Kickstarter drive means for them, and what the ability for companies like them to utilize Kickstarter means for the American economy. “[S]eeing the news today about this Jobs Bill reminded me of some of the real impact this Kickstarter will have on the lives of the people that will be working hard the next 18 months to make the game.”

“While the bill is not just about Kickstarter,” he says, “it is about small companies, like inXile, turning to the internet to get funding that they need to grow and create jobs.” That’s damn right, people. Of course, the more funding they can get, the better the final game will be, which is why Fargo is encouraging people to spread the word about the Fundraiser. A goal we support. And to answer the first question we asked: No, we could not be more excited. I am this close to hyperventilating about playing Wasteland 2. So consider this my guilt trip to the rest of you.

Via Kotaku.