When Mario’s not jumping around, punching bricks and murdering turtles, he’s a man of sport. Mario fans like it best when he sat in a go-kart, but if there’s a second choice on the ‘Mario Sports Games Worth a Damn’ list it has to be tennis.

Mario Tennis has been excellent since its debut on N64 in 2000, and this new version on 3DS retains that core essence of good, playful fun. Mario Tennis Open may not have all the elements you might hope to see in a Mario sports game – it plays a fairly standard game of tennis – but what is here is solid, fun gaming and a particular treat in local multiplayer.

GAMEPLAY

Mario Tennis has gone portable before on Game Boy and Game Boy Advance (and Virtual Boy for all five you that bought it), and all were great. But given the restricted power of those platforms, they were comparatively cut back and pared-down versions next to their full-fat console counterparts.

Not this one. 3DS gave Camelot more than enough technical grunt to create a Mario Tennis that looks and plays as smooth as it ever has, and on the small 3D screen, the bright primary colors and chirpy locales of Mario’s world are definitely pretty.

And it plays a good game of tennis, too. Camelot has come up with a new power-play system which has you rushing to stand in glowing circles that appear on court and mashing a specific button determined by the color of the circle to return a smash.

This system is great; it’s easy to understand but can be tricky to master as your brain works hard to convert colors into button prompts while maintaining accurate timing and positioning.

To make this easier for casual players, there’s also a gyroscope-controlled mode in which the computer handles your character movement while you concentrate on shot type and direction by tilting the 3DS.

This is fun too but both systems come with issues. Firstly, while the new power plays are satisfying to pull off, they come as a replacement to the awesome character-specific powers we’ve seen in previous Mario Tennis games, which are sorely missed.

And while gyroscope controls are new and surprisingly intuitive, having the computer do half the work does kind of feel like cheating, and more purist hardcore gamers who turn off the assists will find themselves at a disadvantage – particularly in online multiplayer. And this can detract from what is otherwise an enjoyable online multiplayer mode.

MODES

MTO has gone for a fairly straightforward tournament mode for it’s main single-player offering, with stages divided into cups much like Mario Kart. But while this system suffices in Mario’s karting series – which has vastly different tracks in each cup – it feels shallow in MTO simply because the courts, aside from minor changes in ball speed and bounce, don’t offer any varying gameplay.

It’s almost like Camelot forgot it was making a Mario game. Where are the nonsensical courts set on the moon or on the wing of a flying ship? Where are the monkeys crossing the court mid-game spitting watermelon seeds, or Lakitus dropping Spikeys for players to avoid? There’s so much that can be done with the Mario universe, and MTO does none of it. And that’s a huge shame.

To mix things up there are some neat mini games on the side. Super Mario Tennis has you hitting the ball against a projection of levels from the original Super Mario Bros. game. Ring Shot has you aiming to hit the ball through rings, Galaxy Rally features a court with a disappearing floor and Ink Showdown has you swatting black goo spat by Piranha Plants before it hits the screen and obscures your view.

These games are fun and feature a hint of the creativity I hoped to see more of in the main tennis mode, but they are more of an afterthought. Playing them will, however, earn you coins used to purchase gear for your own customizable Mii character, whose stats can be improved as you unlock more equipment.

MULTIPLAYER

Multiplayer in MTO is as straightforward as the single-player. You play tennis either against friends or the public, choosing quick or longer games, and earning coins for winning. Again though, there’s no option to play only against players with gyro-assists switched off, so traditional players will be disadvantaged in public games.

StreetPass also offers some extra value, picking up other players’ custom Mii characters which you can play against or team up with in a game of doubles.

Mario Tennis is still, however, awesome fun when played with friends all in a room and with single-cart multiplayer for up to four people, all you need is a single copy to have heaps of fun.

BOTTOM LINE

Mario Tennis Open is like Jessica Alba with a giant, puss-filled zit right on the tip of her nose. Its flaws are glaring and hard to overlook – a beginner-friendly control system that harms competitive online play for purists and, more crucially, a distinct lack of imagination.

But at its core it’s still beautiful – Camelot has polished its tennis engine over 12 long years and it’s as satisfying as ever to smash the ball around with ridiculous curve and a bright blue trail. It’s also one of the best local multiplayer games on 3DS if you have enough friends to play with.

It’s good, but it could (and should) have been incredible.

7 / 10

I honestly don’t know where to start this review. The Game of Thrones video game is not good. It’s also not bad. Telling you why it’s not good will be very easy (and don’t worry, I will tell you why it’s bad). But it’s a lot harder to explain why it’s not bad; there’s a lot to enjoy here, if you have a hefty dose of patience and a general enjoyment of the property. What the game does poorly is immediately visible on the surface. Anyone walking by your TV will see the awful, dreadful aspects. The good stuff is buried much deeper, beneath all the crap, and you really have to spend some time getting to know the game to really appreciate its successes. Thus, I don’t expect it to be well-received with the masses, but those who take the time might find their time spent worth it after all.

Story

Let’s start with the game’s greatest strength and its biggest weakness: the story. The team at Cyanide has done a great job of crafting a narrative that intersects the plot of the novels just enough to make the game important to the overarching events of the first book, but it doesn’t fall into the mistake of trying to recreate the books event by event, character by character. Instead, you’ll be playing two main characters, with each chapter sending you into the other character’s shoes in an alternating manner, similar to the books’ POV storytelling model. You’ll don the black as Mors Westford, a former noble who joined the Night’s Watch after Robert Baratheon’s rebellion, and the red cloak of Alester Sarwyck, a priest of the god R’hllor and self-exiled heir to the lands and titles of House Sarwyck, a fiefdom loyal to the Lannisters.

Between these two personalities, you’ll experience a tale of intrigue and political machinations that unveils some of the mysteries surrounding Jon Arryn’s murder and the royal children. All in all, it weaves a nice mystery yarn that will pull Thrones fans through the jankiness in the rest of the game. In fact, while Game of Thrones touts itself as an RPG, I disagree with that classification. If anything, the game is a mystery adventure with heavy RPG elements. Many times as I played, I couldn’t help but be reminded of some of the detective elements of L.A. Noire, of all games.

So that’s the good. Now the bad: the story is told incredibly poorly. And I don’t mean the details of the plot are bad, I mean the way information is communicated to you as a player. Dialogue is not only written awkwardly, it’s ponderously long-winded and aimless. In fact, you’ll spend the first 15-20 minutes of the game listening to dialogue before you even have a chance to draw your sword. It also commits the cardinal sin of telling, not showing. You’ll go through reams of character pontifications and world history when all you want to do is accept a damn quest you already know how to complete. It might help if the voice acting was good, but unfortunately, it isn’t (no thanks to the writing the actors were forced to work with). The only performances of any quality are James Cosmo’s Lord Commander Mormont, a role he reprises from the HBO show, and Conleth Hill’s Varys, also from the show.

If you can somehow last through the meandering dialogue scenes, however, there is a decent yarn to be experienced here.

Gameplay

So I was surprised to find that the gameplay in Game of Thrones was much different than I expected. Coming in, I was awaiting a hack-and-slash third person RPG; instead, we’ve got a competent system reminiscent of Dragon Age: Origins. Your characters auto-attack in combat, which is heavily stat-driven like an MMO, and you can queue up special attacks to inflict status effects or interrupt your enemies. It’s challenging, and while it doesn’t quite have the weight I would have liked given the visceral nature of the show, it is fun and satisfying as well.

You’ll get to choose one of three available classes for both of the characters, with each class focusing on a combat style (DPS, tank, or hybrid). What’s even more interesting is that you’ll also get an opportunity to define your character’s past through traits, which add or subtract permanent bonuses to various stats like critical hit percentage, HP, or other aspects. The kicker here is that at the beginning of the game, you have to choose an equal number of negative traits to balance out your positive traits. So you might have Alester be resistant to poison, but he might also have a bad leg that causes his attack speed to suffer in battle. It’s a really interesting system that I’ve not quite seen before, especially in a console game. You’ll also have the opportunity to learn new traits based on how you approach major story points through your dialogue choices. This means that the way you choose to play the characters has a direct effect on gameplay, making those choices all the more impactful. For example, if you choose to torture a wildling foe in the prologue, you’ll earn the expeditious trait for Mors, whereas if you kill him outright, you don’t get anything.

Each of the protagonists also has alternate skill trees for their unique abilities. Mors has his dog, which acts as another party member in battle. But because Mors is a skinchanger, you’ll also be able to take control of the dog and move stealthily through the levels to kill guards or sniff out hidden treasure. Alester, on the other hand, is a Red Priest, and thus has control over fire, which he can use to light up his weapons for extra damage or ignite foes directly.

All in all, the gameplay is solid and fun, and you can’t ask for more than that. It’s the main reason I kept coming back to play the game.

Visuals

I’m not going to lie: Game of Thrones is downright ugly. When I learned that it had been in development since 2005, it made more sense why it looks so awful. That said, the graphics are barely passable for an Xbox 360 launch title.

Environments, however, look great. Wandering around Castle Black or King’s Landing is a real treat if you’re a fan of the property, and some of the lighting effects are really pretty. Most of the time, though, the entire world looks flat and low-res. It’s really unfortunate that the final product looks this dismal, as better visuals could have really helped the atmosphere of Westeros.

Bottom Line

A lesson for all you would-be game reviewers out there: there’s a difference between liking a bad game while knowing it’s bad, and discounting a game’s glaring flaws while proclaiming it to be amazing. Game of Thrones is satisfactory at best, and dreadfully slow and ugly at worst. But there is fun to be had here. Despite all the shortcomings, I had fun, and with video games that’s the most important element for my enjoyment. It’s not for everyone. It isn’t really an RPG, even if the stat-building is solid. It’s kind of a light adventure game, sort of. I really can’t recommend it to anyone who isn’t a Game of Thrones fan already, as the references, characters, plot, and story are all pretty flimsy unless you’re familiar with the property. That said, if you are a Game of Thrones fan, the game does a respect to the source material and should you have enough will in you to get through the initial putrid hours, you might find something in it to like, too.

6/10

In “sweet goodness this looks amazing” news, Uncharted developer Naughty Dog has released an all new cinematic trailer for The Last of Us, a PlayStation 3 exclusive set to launch…well, sometime — our guess is 2013.

Starting off as a quiet, calming trailer oddly reminiscent of Will Smith’s I Am Legend, the video quickly similarly escalates with an “oh snap” moment that makes trailers such a gosh dang effective marketing tool.

It’s relatively brief, so give it a watch — I can not only guarantee you’ll not regret it, but I’m pretty sure it’ll inspire you to add it to your watch list for the next few months.

Released on Amazon today was the official product page for Nintendo’s upcoming tablet/motion-based video game console, the Wii U. The lengthy page includes a bunch of information we already know, but also confirms some previously rumored launch titles.

About halfway through the description of the system and its hardware, the focus switches to software, where the following list of games is displayed, supposedly a sample of launch titles for the system:

• New Super Mario Bros. Mii
•  Darksiders II
•  DiRT
•  Aliens Colonial Marines
•  Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Online
•  Metro Last Light
•  Tekken
•  Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge (working title)
•  And Nintendo Mii-based software yet to be confirmed

Apparently, these are just “a few that players can expect” at launch.

In addition, some slick photos of the system in use were posted to the product page for all to view, and we’ve included them in a super sweet photo gallery for you to enjoy below.

Nintendo has an interesting Wii U-themed show lined up for us all at E3 this year, and we’re sure we’ll get a broader look at some of the titles touched on in the Amazon listing when the show rolls around in June.

Get a bag of popcorn readers, it’s pre-E3 “tornado of rumors” time — and it’s only going to get more interesting from here.

[via Amazon]

The gory, insane, balls-out shooter Serious Sam 3: BFE and the previously released indie spin-off Serious Sam: Double D are headed to Xbox Live Arcade this fall, announced publishing partners Mastertronic and Devolver Digital.

Serious Sam 3: BFE on Xbox Live will be the same experience content-wise as its PC counterpart — but sporting controller controls instead of a mouse and keyboard experience.

Double D: XXL, on the other hand, will come bundled with new missions, weapons, and features, like a co-op mode.

No price tag has been given for either title, sorry folks.

“Xbox Live Arcade gamers are going to get so much insane Serious Sam action this summer it’s going to make their televisions bleed,” mentioned Fork Parker, Devolver Digital CEO.

Lock and load kids, Serious Sam is coming your way with a double load this fall.

More details have been emerging in the situation regarding Kingdoms of Amalur developer 38 Studios. It was revealed this week that the studio has met with the governor and officials from the State of Rhode Island over a $75 million economic development loan they secured in 2010. Their first payment of $1.125 million was scheduled for May 1, and is past due, it turns out—probably what spurred the meeting in the first place. And because of the fun nature of loans, interest, and repayment, if 38 Studios can’t manage to make good on what they borrowed, taxpayers in the State of Rhode Island will be footing a bill for $112.6 million that the studio was supposed to pay off by 2020.

About an hour ago, though, the Associated Press filed a story revealing that Curt Schilling, former MLB pitcher and founder of 38 Studios, is asking the state for even more financial assistance—though how much isn’t yet clear.

Said Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chaffee with regard to the request: “How do we avoid throwing good money after bad?”

After Schilling met with Gov. Chaffee and members of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation yesterday morning, he refused to answer questions from reporters, saying, “My priority right now is to get back to my team.”

As of now, no official action’s been taken by the EDC, who have their next meeting on Monday. The EDC did, however, release this statement today:

“The RIEDC Board of Directors met in closed session to receive a presentation from representatives of 38 Studios as to the company’s confidential financial status and projections. Members of the Board asked many probing questions of the company. After representatives from 38 Studios concluded their presentation, the Board then engaged in extended discussion of confidential financial information. The Board did not take any vote. The company still has the option to cure the existing default by paying the $1,125,000 guaranty fee that is past due. In the meantime, we will continue to talk with 38 Studios and develop additional information, and will resume the Board meeting at our regularly scheduled meeting on May 21. The members of the Board may not discuss the confidential information received and discussed today.”

This is all some interesting—and troubling—stuff. Due to the fact that 38 Studios was unable to make even their first payment, that spells trouble. This situation also echoes news from March, in which it was revealed that Canadian studio Silicon Knights had a dispute with the Ontario Government over $3 million in public funding that was never awarded to the developer, despite the public announcement that it would be.

When questioned about why the government didn’t deliver the funds, we were told that Silicon Knights hadn’t fulfilled one or more of the agreement’s pre-requisites, while Silicon Knights claimed they had. What were those pre-requisites? Totally unknown, as opposed to a full-on fact sheet that was released today about 38 Studios’ situation. But in the end, $3 million never delivered is much, much less than $75 million that was paid…and seemingly spent.

We’ll have more on the situation as it unfolds. In the meantime, buy some extra copies of Kingdoms of Amalur. Like, LOTS OF THEM.

AP and WPRI, via Joystiq

Today, 343 Industries, the studio tasked with taking over Microsoft’s Halo franchise from Bungie, sent out a press release offering all kinds of details about the Infinity Multiplayer mode this November 6′s Halo 4 will offer.

Apparently the game’s multiplayer mode is based on the UNSC Infinity, “the largest starship in the UNSC fleet that serves as the center of your Spartan career.” The ship will be the setting for the multiplayer mode’s story, and based on what you play and how you play it, your on-ship appearance, arsenal, and battlefield role will change accordingly.

In conjunction with Infinity Multiplayer, Xbox LIVE will show weekly episodes of “Spartan Ops,” which will “center on the UNSC Infinity leaders and crew, and a new team of Spartans—Majestic Squad.” These will serve as the basis for each week’s multiplayer offerings and missions, which, frankly, sounds like a really good way to keep players hooked on the experience. The game’s competitive multiplayer mode, known as “War Games,” has yet to really be detailed in the press release, but we’re assured that more will come soon.

The hundred-dollar “Limited Edition” version of the game will include War Games Map Pack Access (which will have nine mpas), early access to six specializations, and some other bonus junk, like unique in game armor and weapon skins, an exclusive in-game emblem, and some avatar stuff (does anyone REALLY care about avatar items?).

But probably most exciting is the “Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn” Special Edition that’s included with the limited edition, which will be a 90-minute cut of the Machinima-exclusive, live-action series we wrote about a few weeks ago. The special edition will come with featurettes and behind-the-scenes goodness.

Now, if you’re not gonna drop a hundred bucks on the game, you’ll still get the chance to watch the episodes on YouTube, which is planned to hit the Intertubes in five episodes in October. Here’s the official description from the press release, because it’s written all Hollywood-snazzy in ways I can’t even hope to imitate:

“Premiering this October on a soon-to-be-announced Machinima channel on YouTube, and on Halo Waypoint, ‘Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn’ is a live-action digital series that takes fans back to the terrifying beginning of the Human/Covenant war,  when the Master Chief inspired a young cadet who would eventually become a leader aboard the UNSC’s greatest vessel: the UNSC Infinity. ‘Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn’ tells a story leading into the events of ‘Halo 4,’ the biggest entertainment event of 2012.”

LOTS OF THINGS. Lots and lots. So, yeah. Halo 4. You’re PROBABLY going to buy this.

Twitter user superannuation has spotted two LinkedIn profiles for employees of Volition, the developer working on the Saints Row franchise for publisher THQ. The profiles, belonging to sound engineer Ariel Gross and artist David Payne, had, apparently, mentioned their work on Saints Row 4 for the current generation of consoles and PC, said superannuation on Twitter.

According to an earlier-published post on Eurogamer, these profiles did in fact mention the game (since any mentions of Saints Row 4 seems to have been deleted, or else I need to see an eye doctor for my apparent loss of vision).

So that’s it. The games are in development (which we pretty much knew…but now we know FER SURE).

No mention on either profile of dildo bats. Alas.

Via Eurogamer

Last week, we posted images from the upcoming Crysis 3 that were revealed by AllGamesBeta. Well, a bunch of those images were OFFICIALLY released by Crytek today. I’ve weeded out the ones posted last week so there are only new (hopefully) images below. Forgive me if we’ve posted them elsewhere already.

But anyway, here again we have more views of what a ruined New York will look like as imagined in the world of Crysis. Looks pretty gorgeous…except for all the death and destruction and everything. Ah, well.

Here you go:

The brightest light casts the darkest shadows—at least, that’s what I learn from reading fantasy novels. But it certainly seems to apply to big-deal video game releases, such as the one for Blizzard’s Diablo III. The game launched yesterday, and since that time there’s been plenty of hiccups and problems reported, from broken servers to game-breaking bugs. It seems the latest complaint is that of vanishing achievements.

In a 23-page (and growing) forum thread over on Battle.net, gamers have been complaining of their achievements inexplicably disappearing from the game. One of Blizzard’s QA guys, Vasadan, responded to the complaints thusly:

“As you can probably imagine, our servers are currently really busy handling all the new players coming into the game.

The achievements server in particular is being hammered, which may be why your achievements are not showing up. It is not that they are deleted, but that there is a (very long) delay in retrieving that data.
We are working on it :)”

Then, later, as the complaints continued, Vasadan issued the following statement to the forums:

“Community is working on a post, please stand by.

Also, asking me for an update every five minutes is not the best way to get my attention. I have over 9 pages of forums to attend to. All of our players need love :)”

Poor Vasadan. Hell hath no fury like a gamer scorned.

Anyone else out there have their cheevos get disappeared?

Battle.net via Eurogamer

With yesterday’s release of Rockstar’s new game, Max Payne 3, some enterprising users have delved deep into the game disc and uncovered quite the Easter Egg: a (possibly complete) list of vehicles that you’ll be able to have fun with in the company’s forthcoming Grand Theft Auto 5. The discovery was first posted on the GTA Forums, and then later partially compiled on NeoGAF.

It’s noted in a post on Eurogamer that GTA data has been found on the discs of other Rockstar games before, such as in Bully and Red Dead Redemption.

So what vehicles have been found? Below is an incomplete list, but you should note that there will be a tank, chairlift, snowplow, and even a fucking monorail’s been found in the code (as seen on the bottom of the first image and the top of the second image below). Yes, a FUCKING MONORAIL. Sorry to drop an F-bomb so early in the morning, but it’s been a while, and I feel like a monorail warrants it. Will you be able to steal it? I hope so. Boy, do I hope so.

The list, with images of the code below it:

Cars

• apc
• bobsleigh
• benson
• biff
• bobcat
• boxville
• buccaneer
• burrito
• brzbus
• casco
• cadge
• car_brzhatchplc
• car_brzsedanplc
• car_brzhatchjnk
• car_brzsedanjnk
• carga
• cavalcade
• cognoscenti
• cs2000
• chavos
• dukes
• dune
• feroci
• forklift
• futo
• furzen
• fxt
• gant
• hauler
• minivan
• infernus
• patriot
• phantom
• prairie
• police
• rancher
• rhino
• schafter
• seinove
• skimobile
• taxi
• vanpony
• willard
• winky
• trash
• railmu
• flatty
• snowplough

Bikes

• enduro
• jz125
• z75
• faggio2
• spike

Helicopters

• autogiro
• bchopper
• annihilator
• bentham
• maverick
• hind
• napalm
• scamp
• heli_vcpf
• heli_tfe

Planes

• cuban800

Boats

• squalo
• bassboy
• chika
• fisher
• fishboat_a
• fishboat_b
• fishboat_c
• fishboat_d,
• marquis
• reefer
• tropic
• gunboat
• sabs_boat
• small_gb2
• dinghy
• p_mi_botfsh
• whaler
• woody
• woody2
• sporto
• tinny
• tug
• contbo
• smug
• edsboat

Trains

• cablecar
• chairlift
• subway_lo
• subway_hi
• train_carg
• trainf_carg
• trainr_carg
• train_int
• lighty

NeoGAF and GTA Forums via Eurogamer

A post on Kotaku from midnight last night (those boys sure do work late) has the scoop on forthcoming downloadable content for BioWare’s Mass Effect 3. The new pack is known as “Rebellion,” and the details were apparently (and accidentally) leaked by Sony’s Hong Kong website, which posted the following description before scrubbing the website completely.

Said the site:

“The Rebellion Multiplayer Expansion opens two new fronts against the Reapers: Firebase Jade’s jungle reservoir and Firebase Goddess on Thessia. In-game reinforcement packs now include three new weapons as well as equipment, consumables, and six new classes: Quarian Engineer and Infiltrator, Vorcha Soldier and Sentinel, Phoenix Adept and Vanguard. The battle continues – hold the line!”

The site had said that the expansion was out in Asia today, but since we know it’s not, and since the information’s been taken down, it’s clear that someone merely fell asleep with their head over the big button that makes press releases go live. That guy is probably out of a job now.

As of yet, neither Electronic Arts nor BioWare have announced the pack—especially since fans are still diligently waiting for the new, revised extended cut DLC that’s supposed to make everyone feel better about the botched ending. So far, only silence…but now that the cat’s out of the bag, expect to hear something more or less official relatively soon.

Via Kotaku

Joining the other members of the “hey, let’s just release next year” group is the South Park RPG from THQ and Obsidian Entertainment. Following the lead of other key titles like Bioshock Infinite and Tomb Raider, the game has been delayed until Q1 2013.

Additionally, another planned-to-be THQ-published title from Ninja Gaiden creator Tomonobu Itagaki, Devi’s Third, is in trouble of not only missing its slated April 2013 release date, but might not come out at all — given a publishing partner isn’t found.

THQ spoke with Kotaku on the matter at hand, saying that they’re “looking at strategic opportunities on the title.”

But they explicitly clarified: “As a project self-funded by THQ, that’s not going to happen.”

Check out the whole story on Devil’s Third over on Kotaku.

[via OXM]

We’ve seen an eyeful of Suda 51′s upcoming quirky zombie-slashing simulator Lollipop Chainsaw over the past year, but we’ve yet to see it like this…on sale that is.

That’s right, you can snag Lollipop Chainsaw on the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 for the grand total of $45. It’s also an applicable purchase for Amazon Prime members, meaning it comes with two-day free shipping.

Great cheerleading zombie-slayers Batman, that’s a great deal!

[via Amazon]

A press release that may as well just contained a giant smug picture of Dave Perry just announced that Internet darling Hawken will be playable through the cloud gaming service Gaikai before its official release on December 12.

I’m sure you have a lot of questions about what that actually means. I do too, because the press release doesn’t go a whole lot further than that.

The game will be playable on the game’s website, and if you want a piece of that action, you’d better sign up for the beta test. Does that mean that Gaikai will be providing the beta test? Will your progress in the Gaikai version carry over into the official release? So many questions.

The reality is that these details probably haven’t even been hammered out yet, so we’ll probably hear about them as soon as the logistics are worked out.

Regardless, this is a pretty cool get for Gaikai, and a very interesting move. To date, they’ve been mostly concerned with game marketing — giving players a demo and funneling them to buy the full game. From the sounds of this, they’re moving into being a full game provider, more like OnLive. While that fit is a little awkward for full retail games, I can’t imagine a better fit than free-to-play games. They often rely on grind and short, in-and-out experiences. That’s perfect for logging on for a quick game at work or on a tablet.

We’ll bring you more news as soon as it’s available.

Yesterday, news broke that Activision has written a check for $42 million to the former employees of Infinity Ward, according to a post on Gamasutra.

The money comes as a result of the conflict between Activision and 40 of the studio’s former employees, the latter of whom are suing the publisher for damages for allegations of fraud. They allege that Activision fired Jason West and Vince Zampella, along with the rest of the employees, in order to avoid paying them royalties after Modern Warfare 2’s smash success.

The check was meant for the former Infinity Ward workers, but not for West and Zampella, says the article. In addition, the money joins another $22 million already paid to them as part of a launch bonus for MW2. The post cites a source close to the case, who says that the new check was written because of a “review of the available evidence leading up to the trial.”

Bruce Isaacs, the attorney for the former employees, provided a statement to Verge regarding the check, which was apparently not a settlement payment:

“I can confirm for you that it happened today. I can also tell you that although it is a meaningful payment it is only a small portion of what we are seeking in litigation. It is outrageous that they made us wait, they obviously knew they owed the money and this just shows that they breached the contract.”

A report on Bloomberg notes that the plaintiffs are seeking damages of $1 billion. That’s “a billion” with a “B.” Yowza.

Via Gamasutra, Verge, and Bloomberg

A post on Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb’s reveals that Mojang’s Xbox 360 version of Minecraft has sold over one million copies in the five days since its release. He also released some “fun facts”:

So far, there have been 5.2 million total online hours, four million multiplayer sessions, and 2.4 million total multiplayer gaming hours. That’s pretty great, and not at all unexpected for this game. In addition, on the game’s first 24 hours of release, it racked up over 400,000 sales, making it the fastest selling game in XBLA history, according to Hryb.

Oh, Notch. Is there any world you can’t conquer?

Major Nelson via Eurogamer

Question: Who doesn’t love a deal? Answer: NOBODY. NOBODY DOESN’T LOVE A DEAL IS WHO.

Because of that fact, I’m happy to report that scads of Ubisoft games and DLC is on sale on the PlayStation Network. Full, formerly retail games like Assassin’s Creed 2, Beyond Good & Evil, and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, as well as AC DLC and downloadable titles like Outland and Scott Pilgrim…so many games are on sale. Here’s the list from the PlayStation Blog today:

• From Dust – PlayStation Plus price $7.34; Sale price $10.49
• Outland – PlayStation Plus price $4.89; Sale price $6.99
• Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes – PlayStation Plus price $7.34; Sale price $10.49
• Beyond Good & Evil HD – PlayStation Plus price $4.89; Sale price $6.99
• Scott Pilgrim – PlayStation Plus price $4.89; Sale price $6.99
• Prince of Persia Classic – PlayStation Plus price $4.89; Sale price $6.99
• Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood – PlayStation Plus price $14.69; Sale price $20.99
• Assassin’s Creed 2 – PlayStation Plus price *$9.79; Sale price $13.99
• Assassin’s Creed – PlayStation Plus price *$9.79; Sale price $13.99
• Far Cry 2 – PlayStation Plus price *$9.79; Sale price $13.99
• Call of Juarez 2 – PlayStation Plus price *$9.79; Sale price $13.99
• Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands – PlayStation Plus price *$9.79; Sale price $13.99
• Prince of Persia (2008) – PlayStation Plus price *$9.79; Sale price $13.99
• Prince of Persia Classic Trilogy HD – PlayStation Plus price $19.59; Sale price $27.99
• Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time – PlayStation Plus price $7.34; Sale price $10.49
• Prince of Persia: Warrior Within – PlayStation Plus price $7.34; Sale price $10.49
• Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones – PlayStation Plus price $7.34; Sale price $10.49
• Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood – Da Vinci Disappearance DLC – PlayStation Plus price $4.89; Sale price $6.99
• Assassin’s Creed 2 – Battle of Forli DLC – PlayStation Plus price $1.95; Sale price $2.79
• Assassin’s Creed 2 – Bonfire of Vanities DLC – PlayStation Plus price $3.42; Sale price $4.89
• Far Cry 2 – Fortunes Pack DLC – PlayStation Plus price $2.44; Sale price $3.49
• Call of Juarez 2 – Old West Map Pack DLC – PlayStation Plus price $4.89; Sale price $6.99
• Prince of Persia (2008) – Epilogue DLC – PlayStation Plus price $4.89; Sale price $6.99
• Scott Pilgrim – Knives Chau Add-On Pack DLC – PlayStation Plus price $0.97; Sale price $1.39
• Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines (PSP) – PlayStation Plus price $9.79; Sale price $13.99
• Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood Complete Edition (includes Da Vinci Disappearance, Animus Project Update 1, Animus Project Update 2 and Copernicus Conspiracy Missions) – PlayStation Plus price $14.99; Sale price $24.99
• Far Cry 2 Complete Edition (includes Fortune Pack) – PlayStation Plus price $11.99; Sale price $19.99
• Prince of Persia (2008) Complete Edition (includes Epilogue) – PlayStation Plus price $11.99; Sale price $19.99
• Scott Pilgrim Complete Edition (includes Knives Chau Add-On Pack) – PlayStation Plus price $4.79; Sale price $7.99
• Call of Juarez 2 Complete Edition (includes Old West Map Pack) – PlayStation Plus price $11.99; Sale price $19.99

That’s pretty good. That’s pretty REALLY good. Fifty percent off for PlayStation Plus members, while a still-solid 30 percent discount for the rest of us mooks. I like it. I’ll probably get at least one of these today (I just got paid, and have poor impulse control). Anything here tickle your fancy?

Via PlayStation Blog

Capcom has been giving additional thought to the criticism surrounding on-disc DLC, the more recently introduced act of offering purchasable content post-launch that technically resides on the retail DVD, but is unlocked via a small download.

Fans are notably upset by this system, despite some of the more technical explanations for its implementation, but Capcom isn’t taking the feedback sitting down.

In a brief post on the Capcom Unity blog, Christian Svensson, Corporate Officer and Senior Vice President of the company, addressed the community at large — letting them know that their voices are being heard, and more importantly taken into consideration.

“We’ve been getting several questions, here and elsewhere about the future of on-disc DLC.

We would like to assure you that we have been listening to your comments and as such have begun the process of re-evaluating how such additional game content is delivered in the future.

As this process has only just commenced in the past month or so, there will be some titles, where development began some time ago and that are scheduled for release in the coming months, for which we are unable to make changes to the way some of their post release content is delivered.”

He goes on to mention that this will apply for the upcoming Dragon’s Dogma, a game that’s been in production for a number of years. Based on the production time, it would be incredibly difficult and expensive to make changes to the final product, especially in the more technical realm of data architecture on discs.

He also mentions that Dragon’s Dogma will release boasting 30-40 hours of main storyline content, and upwards of 100 hours given the player experiences all the side quests and additional activities the game has to offer.

Svensson completes his address by reiterating: “Just wanted people to know in advance the whys, wherefores and where we’re going in the future. You are being heard.”

So by all means, don’t quit clamoring. If you have legitimate concerns for on-disc DLC or any other newly implemented development models, simply express those concerns to publishers– it seems at least one of them is listening.

[via Capcom]