Gamasutra News

EVE Online Reports 45,186 Concurrent Users

Mon, 5 Jan 2009 12:38:00 -0500

CCP's EVE Online has reached a milestone, reporting a record peak of 45,186 concurrent users on its single-shard server. "It is truly a testament to our loyal fans that 5 years into EVE's existence we are still breaking records and more people are flying in New Eden than ever before," said the company, announcing the record via EVE's official blog. EVE Online, which launched in 2003, exceeded 240,000 active subscribers earlier in 2008 as it ...

Xbox 360 Reaches 8 Million In Europe

Mon, 5 Jan 2009 12:17:00 -0500

Microsoft says that Xbox 360's 2008 Christmas sales doubled in Europe over the same period in 2007, marking the console's most successful season yet in the region. According to the company, this brings Xbox 360's userbase to eight million in the EMEA territories (Europe, the Middle East and Africa), and gives the console a one million-unit lead over the PlayStation 3 there. "Christmas 2008 was a resounding success for Xbox 360," says Chris Lewis, EMEA ...

Best of FingerGaming: From Crayon Physics Deluxe to Edge

Mon, 5 Jan 2009 10:51:00 -0500

[Every week, Gamasutra sums up sister iPhone site FingerGaming's top news and reviews for Apple's nascent -- and increasingly exciting -- portable games platform, as written by editor Matt Burris and guest editor Danny Cowan.] This week's notable items in the iPhone gaming space, as covered by FingerGaming, include the debut of Hudson's Crayon Physics Deluxe, the announcement of the IGF entrant Edge's impending release, and a word from indie developer Luc Bernard on future ...

Treasure's Maegawa: Microsoft Asked For Radiant Silvergun On XBLA

Mon, 5 Jan 2009 06:38:00 -0500

Talking to Gamasutra as part of an in-depth new interview, Treasure CEO Masato Maegawa has revealed that Microsoft asked it to remake classic shoot'em-up Radiant Silvergun for XBLA -- though Treasure hasn't yet decided whether to do it. Originally released to arcades and the Sega Saturn in Japan in 1998 Radiant Silvergun was the precursor to Treasure's other revered shoot'em-up, Ikaruga. Though the game never saw a Western release, it has developed its own cult ...

Gamasutra's Holiday News: What You Missed

Mon, 5 Jan 2009 06:13:00 -0500

Gamasutra continued updating over the holidays, following breaking news and providing in-depth articles for those game professionals still working during that time. So, here's the full list of news and interviews run over the two weeks of the holiday season: Industry News - Report: "Free Radical Lays Off 140, Sees Buyer Interest UK Timesplitters developer Free Radical's bankruptcy administration has officially resulted in the layoffs of some 140 staff members, reducing the studio to about ...

Gamasutra's Holiday Originals: What You Missed

Mon, 5 Jan 2009 06:12:00 -0500

Were you out of town for the holiday? Never fear, because Gamasutra is rounding up all the feature-length articles the site posted over the Xmas break, from Yuji Naka and Popcap interviews through Ratchet & Clank postmortems and in-depth design articles. The site continued updating over the holiday, with near-daily features for those game professionals who were still working during that time. So here's the full list of features run over the two weeks of ...

Lionhead's Molyneux Foresees Price Pressure For Games

Mon, 5 Jan 2009 05:22:00 -0500

Lionhead boss Peter Molyneux (Fable II) has joined analysts in suggesting that games might be forced to sell at lower price points in 2009, despite earlier prevailing opinions that games can thrive at current pricing thanks to entertainment hour per dollar. "Everyone says games are good value for home entertainment, despite the relatively high price. I'm not so sure," Molyneux tells the BBC. "I think we're going to see a lot of price pressure put ...

Pachter: Wii Two-Year Sales Soon To Beat PS2's

Mon, 5 Jan 2009 05:19:00 -0500

Life-to-date unit sales of Nintendo's Wii in its second year are now very near the life-to-date sales of Sony's PlayStation 2 at its two-year mark in 2002, says Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter. Through November 2008, the Wii has sold 15.4 units cumulatively, and Pachter says December hardware sales results will show that the pace of Wii sales has surpassed the PlayStation 2's. Pachter foresees double-digit hardware growth for December, and maintains that, since hardware ...

Report: Sony Considering Major Restructuring?

Mon, 5 Jan 2009 04:44:00 -0500

Sony may be about to institute a significant new restructuring campaign that could see job cuts and and reorganizations -- or closings -- of a number of high-profile divisions. Citing only unnamed "company sources", the UK Times Online reports that Sony Group is braced for a 'sacred cow-slaying' that will also include major job cuts. The measures are expected to be announced in detail in February, after the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this month, but ...

Halo 3, Castle Crashers Top Xbox Live, XBLA In 2008

Mon, 5 Jan 2009 02:58:00 -0500

Bungie's Halo 3 was the most popular game played online via Xbox Live during the year, and The Behemoth's Castle Crashers was the most-downloaded Xbox Live Arcade title. Halo 2 remained the most popular online title for the original Xbox. Xbox Live programming director Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb revealed the year's top 20 data on his popular Major Nelson blog. Although the online-play specific charts were based on the number of unique users playing each ...