DigitalBattle.com

Namco Bandai posts $66m loss in 1H 2009

Publisher/developer Namco Bandai has posted some rather dim results for the first half of 2009.

The company lost $66 million, while it posted a profit of $14 million during the same period last year, so it’s quite a decline, mostly attributed to lack of decent titles during the period. The company still expects sales to reach $94 million this year, fueled by Tekken 6, of which 2.5 million copies have already been shipped.

Unreal 3 Development Kit launches

Epic Games has launched a free edition of their massively popular Unreal Engine 3, called Unreal Development Kit. The kit includes access to the Unreal Engine 3, the Unreal Editor, which comes with a whole suite of development tools, and the ability to distribute games on their own, for free, with no additional software required.

Obviously, it’s only intended for games that are free, similarly to mods, since the “real” Unreal Engine 3 costs upwards of $900,000 for a commercial license.

You can find the Unreal Development Kit at www.udk.com, and where you can already download games build with the new kit.

Top 10 upcoming DirectX 11 games

Digg this article!

Windows 7 is out, and with it is the latest version with DirectX — DirectX 11. The new graphics API is an evolution from DirectX 10, but it doesn’t only include more features, it’s faster than the previous version (unlike the DX9 to DX10 transition). Among the new features is Tessellation, which increases the amount of visible polygons, and multi-threaded rendering, which takes advantage of multicore CPUs a lot better than previous DX versions.

While only ATI’s 5000 series of graphics cards support DX11, Nvidia will join the club later this year, when new games which support the standard will emerge as well. We’ve picked top 10 games that are confirmed to include DirectX 11 support when released.

10: Battleforge (EA Games, out now)

Battleforge is the only game that’s currently available that supports DirectX 11. While it’s a card-based RTS with out much action to fully shocase the new visual features, the game was patched with DX 11 goodies, which provided smoother gameplay and better visuals. While it’s still not a Crysis-caliber game, it’s officially the first game to support the new API.

9: The Lord of The Rings Online (January 2010)

While LOTR: Online was released a few years ago, the game has received visual overhauls over the years, and it’s no different with DX 11 — the upcoming LOTR: Online patch will include DX 11 features, and will be developed in cooperation with AMD.

8: DIRT 2 (Codemasters, December 2009)

DIRT 2 was released on the Xbox 360 and PS3 a few months ago, but the PC version was delayed until December so Codemasters could implement DirectX 11 features into the game, with an added investment into the game by AMD (makers of the only DX11 available graphics cards on the market). And it appears the wait will be worth it for PC gamers, as DIRT 2 for PC will support tessellation, delivering more fluid crowd, particle and water animations.

7: F1 2010 (March 2010)

Codemasters not only have a rally game with DX11 support, the developer/publisher is also working on a new F1 racing game, which will used an enhanced version of the DIRT 2 engine, and will include even more DX11 features. Look for F1 2010 when the new F1 season starts next March.
More »

QuickDev16 card offers SNES homebrew

The Quickdev16 card, which plugs into an SNES, offers quick and easy access to SNES homebrew — the cartridge packs an Atmel AVR ATmega644 chip with a boot loader, a USB connection with which to upload a ROM, 16 megabits of SRAM, plus an RS232 converter (whatever that is). Who whole (tiny) package can be had for only $120 — cheap, when considering we’re talking about “game development” here. If you’re up to it, there’s more details about the card here.

Miyamoto’s secret hobby? Measuring things!

In another episode of Nintendo legends Shigeru Miyamoto and Satoru Iwata’s chats, this time about Wii Fit Plus, Miyamoto revealed, to Iwata’s surprise, his affection with measuring things.

Says Miyamoto-san:

“I’ve always enjoyed guessing the lengths of objects, which is why I carry a measuring tape around with me. For instance, I might guess that the table in front of us is about 1.2 metres long. Then I’d actually measure it with the measuring tape to check. If I got it right, I’d think: “I’m on form today!” But if I missed the mark by a long way, I’d think: “I’ve been slipping a bit recently!”

Interesting. No really, interesting.

CryEngine 3 in action

Yesterday we wrote about the release of Crytek’s CryEngine 3, an now we have a video to back up the claims made about “Beauty, Speed, Interaction” (Crytek’s words). The video shows the engine in action, on all three major platforms; PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.

CryEngine 3 hits the scene

Crysis and more importantly CryEngine 2 has been known as one of the most graphic intensive game engines on the market today. That’s all about to change as Crytek has just come forward to let us know that CryEngine 3 has officially launched which means we should be seeing a whole slew of titles using the engine.

One of the most important features of CryEngine 3 is that it allows for painless mutliplatform development so if you can make something for the PC, chances are it will convert to PS3 code almost effortlessly.

Below Crytek head honcho Cevat Yerli comments on the engine’s release:

“With its scalable graphics and computation it is next-gen-ready and with new features like CryEngine 3 Live Create the best choice for game developers and companies developing serious games applications alike. It is the only game engine solution that enables real-time development and can ensure teams are able to maximize their own creativity, save budget and create greater gaming experiences.”

via joystiq

China bans foreign investments in games

Following the ban of dozens of online games, the Chinese communist regime has bannedall foreign investments in games, whether they are through joint-ventures with Chinese firms, or wholly owned companies. The Chinese General Administration of Press and Publication, which put in the ban, estimates that the Chinese online game market is worth $4 billion annually. No reason to give parts of that to pesky foreigners, apparently. What’s even more ludicrous, is that foreign technology companies are banned from even exporting their tech to China, for instance, game engine makers. So if you were looking for some Unreal Engine 3 powered Chinese games, you’re outta luck.

Tripwire defends Steam

Gearbox recently made headlines by criticizing Valve’s Steam for not only giving developers a bad deal, but also for being in a conflict of interest between Valve and its Steam content delivery platform. Now Tripwire — developers of the Red Orchestra series — boss John Gibson thinks otherwise, saying that the company wouldn’t exist without Steam. Gibson said, “…Is Valve exploiting independent developers? In short: absolutely not. Without pulling any punches, I can say with certainty that if it weren’t for Steam, there would be no Tripwire Interactive right now.”

Gibson goes on to further praise Steam contract, saying “the first one we had seen that didn’t have any land mines in it”. He did mention the conflict of interest, but noted that Valve does a good job handling it.

Windows 8 to support 128 bit?

While Windows 7 isn’t even out and is still coming out in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions, rumors are circulating that Microsoft’s next operating systems Windows 8 and Windows 9, would support 128-bit. While 64-bit still hasn’t caught on, and with some applications and drivers still not available in 64-bit versions, it seems like too soon a time for 128-bit, even if it’s a few years into the futures. Not to mention that we’d first need CPUs that support 128-bit.

PSP firmware 6.10 gets pushed out

Today, Sony has announced that version 6.10 of the PSP firmware is now ready to be installed on hand held consoles everywhere. This update includes several big features such as SensMe which chooses songs stored on your PSP based on different moods you select.

Another interesting feature of 6.10 is the ability to tether a PSP Go with a Bluetooth capable cellphone for internet connectivity anywhere you can go.

That’s about it in terms of exciting features so get downloading!

Fable II: Game Episodes volume 1 available now

If you were still looking to get down on Fable II but haven’t been able to due to the game’s price tag now is your chance to do so for free. It was announced today that the first volume of Fable II: Game Episodes is now available to download.

If you haven’t heard of Fable II: Game Episodes before, it is essentially the full retail Fable II game split up into 5 episodic releases in the sense that it will include the exact same content including achievements and co-op game play. This first release  is a free one in which you will take your character from being a child to a young adult.

If you find at the end of the first volume you want to adventure on, you can just purchase additional episodes. Quite a brilliant idea, if I do say so myself.

via kotaku

Nintendo pushes out Wii System Update 4.2

If you booted up your Wii today you may have noticed that  version 4.2 of the Wii menu is now available for download. Don’t expect any amazing features from this update because, well, there are none. Unless you consider “behind-the-scene fixes” that will work to “improve overall system performance” amazing features that is.

Of course, for you homebrewers out there this, this update disables the use of unauthorized saved files but fret not as the dedicated community is probably already close to releasing a fix.

DirectX 10 vs. 11 comparison images

The upcoming STALKER: Call of Pripyat is one of the few games that will support the new DirectX 11 API, and developer GSC Gameworld has already revealed a few screenshots comparing the two. While you can’t see much difference, as it’s still early and the first few games don’t utilize the new software the best way, there’s still noticeable improvements.

In the screenshot above, the left side is DX 10.1 while the right is DX 11. Notice the gas mask and how the air filter is properly round instead of angular. FiringSquad has a lot more screenshots here.

No multiplayer PSP Minis

We first heard of the iPhone app-esque PSP Minis back at Gamescom but other than the fact that they would be small downloadable games, we don’t know much. Today, however, recent reports bring us news that the PSP Minis will be single player only and will not feature support for downloadable content. So, those of you who hoped to play a Tetris PSP Mini remake with your buddys over the internet will have to seek alternative options.

Then again, iPhone apps are generally single player with DLC compatibility added only recently and they still sell like hot cakes. We’ll have to wait and see if the PSP Minis share the same success.

via kotaku