He may have left Microsoft-owned Lionhead Studios to form a new independent studio 22Cans, but Peter Molyneux still has a keen interest in the next Xbox. Speaking to IGN, the developer known for Fable, Populous, and a penchant for overly ambitious game concepts opened up about his hopes and desires for Microsoft’s upcoming hardware.
It seems even Molyneux fears that Microsoft may continue to focus on non-gaming features with the new platform. “I think, for me, it’s very simple with the Xbox; I just want the ultimate gaming console,” he begins. “Okay, there’s a lot of things they could shove in that box which are kind of about the living room: Netflix, Facebook, Twitter and stuff like that. Well, I don’t want any of that. I just want the ultimate gamer’s device.”
Molyneux recently told Edge that he was privy to Microsoft’s plans for the new console up until he left the company’s Lionhead Studios in March 2012, although he admits it’s quite possible plans for the next Xbox may have changed considerably since his departure. “I’m going to be absolutely fascinated to see what they finally come out with, because I kind of knew a lot when I was at Microsoft about what their plans were, and plans change and aspirations change,” he said. “I’m going to be fascinated to see what the hardware is and how it will fit into this new world that we’re in now – this new world of hyper-connectivity or super-portability. Or whether they’ll double down and say, ‘You know what? We are the games console, and that’s what we define ourselves as,’ and say [they] don’t really care about hyper-connectivity or hyper-portability.”
According to Molyneux, the so-called battle for the living room between Sony and Microsoft tends to relegate actual gaming to the backseat. “If they focus on [games], I’ll be a happy bunny,” said Molyneux to IGN. “If they get distracted, and overly distracted, by trying to play catch-up with some of the Glass and touch technology that’s out there, not because it makes sense for games but because that’s something they feel they have to do, then I’m going to be miffed.”
Source: IGN and Edge, via Gameindustry.biz
Trusted sources of Polygon have advised the site of some interesting features that may be in store for Microsoft’s next-generation Xbox console. According to these sources, the console will feature some form of anti-piracy protection, media-sharing capabilities, and a new approach to the Xbox 360′s social aspects.
Polygon’s sources claim that the next Xbox will indeed include some form of an always-on requirement. While many of the key features of the next Xbox are understood to require internet connectivity for use, it’s believed that piracy protection is almost certainly driving the requirement. However, it’s not necessarily mandatory; the sources claim that, under Microsoft’s existing guidelines, the decision to implement this Digital Rights Management (DRM) is ultimately down to the individual publisher.
As with Sony’s PlayStation 4, it’s believed that the ability to share captured gameplay videos and screenshots is an important feature of the next-generation Xbox. While Sony has implemented a “Share” button on its revised DualShock controller that enables footage capture once it’s pressed, Microsoft has reportedly opted for a different approach. According to Polygon’s sources, the new Xbox will capture footage automatically during play in a similar fashion to a television DVR, allowing players to revisit the footage at their leisure. The sources also claim that users can upload clips to social-media sites like YouTube.
Polygon’s sources also contend that publishers have more control over achievements with the next-generation Xbox, including the ability to add new achievements without needing to update the title with DLC. It’s believed that this rumored design element is intended to tweak player behavior over the course of a game’s lifetime, such as encouraging the visitation of new areas or unpopular maps. Other rumored changes to the achievement system include seasonal achievements for, say, a weekend event, or contributing to a communal goal such as a combined total of kills over a weekend. It’s also understood that there may be achievements tied to paired accomplishments in unrelated games from the same publisher. Polygon understands that some of these new types of achievements may even be required in all next-gen Xbox games.
The XBLA version of eagerly anticipated heist game Monaco: What’s Yours Is Mine failed to launch on its intended release day due to a bug that caused online disconnections. But according to the game’s official Facebook page, a fix provided by Pocketwatch corrected only half the problem.
“I’m working on another fix now that I’m hoping to submit this week,” reads the post written by designer Andy Schatz. “I’m working on another fix now that I’m hoping to submit this week. Once it’s confirmed fixed, it shouldn’t take long to push it through and get the game out.”
The statement continues that Pocketwatch “can’t promise any particular dates” for the XBLA release of Monaco since the power lies with Microsoft once the studio submits the fix. However, Pocketwatch intends to keep fans posted via the Facebook page.
Source: Official Monaco Facebook page
Twisted Pixel, the Texas-based studio behind the likes of Splosion Man, Ms. Splosion Man and The Maw, has lost one of its veteran designers in Dan Teasdale, who announced his departure via Twitter on Friday. Elaborating further on his personal Tumblr account, Teasdale reasons that “something incredibly unique and amazing a few months ago, and turned into reality soon after that.”
Of course, Teasdale stopped short of actually letting us know where he’s headed, although he contends that it’s “a shift in what I’ve been doing for the past 15 years. It’s exciting and scary, which is exactly the kind of thing I love burying myself in.” Sounds very much like he may have left the game-development field altogether, but we’ll have to stay tuned to know for sure.
Teasdale did mention, however, that he intends to devote a fair amount of his energies into an existing personal project, Super Drake Track 2000 EX: a mobile-phone-based flight-tracking system.
Source: Dan Teasdale via Joystiq
Gamasutra has published its XBLA sales analysis for the month of March, which notes some interesting movement that has shaken up recent trends. Storming onto the charts with a considerable performance late in the month is Re-Logic’s action/adventure game Terraria, which launched on March 27 and posted 127, 944 new players in its first week. According to Gamasutra, it’s one of the first games to unseat the mighty Minecraft from its number one weekly-sales position in quite some time.
Other new games to release in March didn’t perform so well, according to Gamasutra’s report. Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams took second place, although it only achieved a fraction of Terraria’s player base with 2,475 new players in March. Dollar Dash managed only 2,040 new players for the month despite launching on March 6th, and WRC Powerslide fared only slightly better with 2,215 new players.
Many of XBLA’s seemingly evergreen staples continued to post impressive performances in March: Minecraft managed another 286,153 new players for the month, while free-to-play Happy Wars gained 199,055 new players. Long-time XBLA favorite Castle Crashers is still trucking along nicely, picking up 46,079 new players.
Source: Gamasutra
New assets have surfaced that all but confirm the upcoming XBLA release of classic platformer Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse. As unearthed by tipster @lifelower, Sega of America has posted a teaser trailer to its official YouTube channel, and what appears to be the game’s box art has today been hastily removed from Xbox.com.
An XBLA release of the Castle of Illusion, which first appeared on Sega Genesis and the Sega Master System in 1990, has been rumored since March, when the title received ratings from Australian and Brazilian classification authorities. Today’s teaser trailer suggests that Castle of Illusion is likely to release this US summer, although Sega is yet to make an official announcement.
Source: Lifelower
Although CastleStorm is due to release next month, little has been made public about its multiplayer offerings. However, in a recent blog post, Zen Studios has lifted the lid on this unknown quantity, explaining CastleStorm‘s 1. vs. 1 split-screen mode, Survival Co-op and Last Stand Co-op modes.
According to Zen, multiplayer progression will be kept distinct from that of its single-player campaign, with players leveling up and earning experience separately in each. Each of the three new multiplayer modes can be played locally or online, and players can even import their own, custom-made castles into multiplayer matches.
The 1 vs. 1 split-screen mode sees players simply attempting to destroy an individual opponent’s castle — the first to do so emerges victorious. Survival Co-op requires two players to team up in order to repel waves of enemies, with one player manning the ballista while the other assumes control of the ground forces. Finally, in Last Stand Co-op Mode, both players assume control of a single hero unit and must stay alive as long as possible while battling increasingly difficult waves of enemies.
Zen has also released a new gameplay trailer that demonstrates CastleStorm‘s newly revealed multiplayer modes in action.
Fresh screenshots have surfaced for bitComposer’s upcoming arcade-style attack-chopper game, Thunder Wolves. Developed by Hungarian studio Most Wanted Entertainment, Thunder Wolves was originally scheduled to release within the Q1 window, although it was recently bumped to Q2 as we reported earlier in the month.
No new details have been released along with these latest screens. However, so far it’s known that Thunder Wolves allows players to assume control of nine different helicopters with different weaponry and abilities. According to its official website, the game features 13 missions that take place in four different regions with destructible environments. Its missions will vary from “stealth and escort-based objectives to all-out seek and destroy.” No online-multiplayer functionality has been announced, although bitComposer has confirmed that Thunder Wolves will feature a local co-op mode at the very least.
According to Siliconera, Capcom will release XBLA ports of arcade classics Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom and Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow Over Mystara. There’s nothing official from Capcom at the time of writing, although reader @lifelower has tipped a rating for Chronicles of Mystara over at the Korean rating board. Without citing a source, Siliconera expects that the games will feature at the upcoming PAX East show in Boston. Stay tuned to the XBLAFans team hitting up PAX East next weekend for official confirmation.
Tower of Doom and Shadow Over Mystara are side-scrolling beat-’em-ups with RPG elements, and they were first released in 1993 and 1996 respectively. They were both ported to the Sega Saturn in 1999 as part of the Dungeons & Dragons Collection. However, this Japan-only compilation is considered something of a rarity today and can fetch some hefty prices. No details are known regarding price and release dates at this time.
Sources: Siliconera and @lifelower
