GAMES

[Flickr user Kossy@FINEDAYS] If you guys like mathematical equations — and, since you’re a regular reader of the Japanese hardware sales feature, we’re guessing you are — then you’re going to love this little ditty we whipped up earlier today: “A blogger flies west across three time zones at 450mph for five hours. Upon his arrival, he covers a week-long gaming convention. On his return trip, the blogger takes a red-eye with a connecting flight east across three time zones at 475mph for six hours. Daylight Saving Time goes into effect while the blogger is in the air. On the first ..read more

That Game Company’s Jenova Chen and Kellee Santiago, saw their team’s game Flower nominated for several Game Developer’s Choice Awards, winning for Best Downloadable. We talked about their future, Pokemon, and, since they made motion-games for the PS3, PlayStation Move. More »

Huge week at retail also sees launches of Command & Conquer 4, Metro 2033, Dragon Age expansion, new Pokemon for DS, and Resonance of Fate. Kratos has been yelling about vengeance since he first appeared in 2005, and he’s finally on the verge of getting it. After years of anticipation, God of War III hits the PlayStation 3 this week, its arrival preceded by critical acclaim. However, the Ghost of Sparta isn’t the only draw in what is shaping up to be a huge week at retailers. ..read more

Earlier this month, Take-Two announced the potential movement of one of the titles planned for release in its fiscal fourth quarter, extending from August to October. The choices were: LA Noire, Mafia 2, Max Payne 3, or Civilization V. During our demo of Mafia 2 on Wednesday, we were told the game would make its Q4 release, removing it from the list of potentially delayed titles. If we were the betting type, we’d be looking at one of those two Rockstar titles; after all, we’ve seen Civilization V at this point while LA Noire and Max Payne 3 remain shrouded ..read more

Two of the creators of PC darling Torchlight won the Best Debut Game trophy at the 2010 Game Developer’s Choice Awards. Backstage after winning, they explained how to succeed on PC, considered Torchlight 2, and … I got Pokemon tips. More »

GDC 2010: Lead gameplay designer Christina Norman talks about amping up the intensity with heavier emphasis on real-time combat in BioWare’s sci-fi RPG. Who was there: As the 2010 Game Developers Conference entered the home stretch, BioWare lead gameplay designer Christina Norman reflected on the changes made to the company’s latest sci-fi franchise in “Where Did My Inventory Go? Refining Gameplay in Mass Effect 2.” ..read more

GDC 2010: Rob Pardo, Ray Muzyka, Jason Holtman join Zynga’s Brian Reynolds and Nexon’s Min Kim to advocate the importance of community in game design. Who was there: “The Connected Future of Games” panel at the 2010 Game Developers Conference featured some of the biggest names in the online business. On hand to deliver their thoughts on the impact of the connected experience in games were Blizzard senior vice president of game design Rob Pardo; BioWare RPG/MMO group and senior vice president of EA Ray Muzyka; Zynga chief game designer Brian Reynolds; Valve director of business development Jason Holtman; and ..read more

The GDC 2010 Microtalks session was a frazzling experience in many ways. The format of the event essentially assures it. Ten lecturers — all from different sectors of the game industry — each spoke for five minutes and each were allowed to use 20 different slides. Naughty Dog’s Richard Lemarchand set the stage for the speakers, announcing the theme of the talks as “come play with us.” The goal of the microtalks, said Lemarchand, was to help game creators capture the “radicalizing exuberance” of games and give them the energy to “transform the world” through the power of play. The resulting ..read more

[UPDATE 2] Uncharted 2 tops Game Developers Choice Awards with five trophies; PlayStation Move debuts; write-ups of Meier, Pardo, Molyneux, Pitchford, Muzyka, Sakamoto, Yamaoka, Toriyama, and Schafer talks also on tap; full run-down of event and new Deus Ex trailer inside. SAN FRANCISCO–The 2010 Game Developers Conference began today with the Independent Games Summit kickoff, a session on “guerrilla” development, and a (very) brief talk by Caleb Arseneaux from Scribblenauts developer 5TH Cell. ..read more