With NBA 2K11 right around the corner, developer 2K Sports has dropped “approximately 30 positions.” 

In order to properly align its resources with its current and future goals, and to continue to develop games as efficiently as possible, 2K Sports has eliminated approximately 30 positions at its Visual Concepts studio.

These reductions will not affect 2K Sports’ ability to create and deliver AAA titles, including its upcoming release of NBA 2K11"

- Alan Lewis, VP of Corporate Communications and Public Affairs at Take-Two

While I’m happy to see NBA 2K11 unaffected by this recent downturn, it’s never good to see those laid off due to the poor economy.  The best of luck to those seeking new employment.

[via Joystiq]

Recently a spokesperson for Codemasters reveiled some rather big news from the studio. The spokesperson begun to speak about recent announcements such as Bodycount and F1 2010, however went on to inform us that the studios are also working on the new installments for DiRT, Grid and Operation Flashpoint.

All three games are said to be using the recent EG0 2.0 engine, while F1 2010 will be using the original engine form. Another title was announced, quoted as their “Massive Title” but Codemasters didn’t go into too much depth about it.

It appears as if the new Xbox 360 Slim has helped surge Xbox 360 sales in unexpected ways.  The recent boost was initially assumed to be because of the redesigned Xbox 360.  However, the numbers show that these are mostly attributed to the discounted first generation 360’s.  Retail outlets have been marking down units in order to make room for the new hardware that is flooding the market and they have been flying off the shelves.

[The] Xbox 360 Slim introduction [was] underappreciated – could accelerate 360 sales more than Kinect. With all the talk and buzz around Kinect, Move and 3DS, we believe the announcement of the new Xbox 360 Slim may have gotten a bit lost in the shuffle. With a $50 price cut on existing 360 systems (Arcade at $150, Elite at $250), and the new Slim on store shelves next week, we believe 360 sales could accelerate meaningfully, much like the PS3 did last fall following its Slim introduction. Since the launch of the PS3 Slim, unit sales are up 71% YoY in the U.S.”

- Todd Greenwald, Signal Hill Analyst

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Audioholics has released a scathing report on the psychophysiological effects of the 3D technology currently rolling out in video games and tv’s. Citing both science, and 3D pioneer Mark Pesce of Sega, the article goes on at length to discuss the effects of prolonged 3D use. The original Sega report concluded, “You cannot give this to kids” – period, and the technology is not really recommended for teens and adults.

Ever do those Magic Eye pictures, where staring makes the 3-dimensional image appear? Basically you’re temporarily forcing your eye into strabismus, or “lazy eye”. Modern 3D glasses produce their effect by guiding, rather than forcing, your eyes into this condition and keeping them there. Which means as long as you have on the glasses, you are training your eyes into a serious vision impairment – for hours at a time.

In the mid-90′s Sega was set to release its Sega VR when the Stanford Research report came out detailing the effects of the technology. Fearing lawsuits, Sega buried the report and the VR. The kernel of the Sega technology, significantly streamlined, is the essence of polarized 3D today (for more on how 3D works, see How Stuff Works).

What are your thoughts? Worth the risk, or will you wait and see how this plays out?

[from Audioholics, via GamePolitics]

Redbox started testing video game rentals in Austin, TX, Wilmington, NC, and Reno, NV, this week. With a mix of Xbox, Wii, and PS3 titles renting for $2 per night, the test indicates Redbox’s interest in expanding from DVD’s into other forms of entertainment.

Industry analyst Eric Wold claims that to be successful, Redbox would need to make more revenue off the games than it would have off the replaced DVD’s. Here’s where I disagree. If the game rentals are successful, Redbox could easily install a second (or, in some cases, a third or fourth) vending machine, so the video game rentals become an addition to, not a competition with, DVD rentals. Furthermore, the DVD business is yielding rapidly to on-demand services, which will force Redbox to a new business model whether it wants one or not; and video games are a natural extension since they can be distributed with the company’s existing kiosk hardware.

As to how the market will pan out, I can only expect it will do well in the short-run. I, and probably most other gamers, would happily pay $4 to play a game for a couple solid days to decide if it’s worth the $60 retail price tag. The real question will be whether Redbox can get the hottest titles at release, or whether it will be forced into a 4-week delay.

In the long-run, video games will continue their migration to DLC and on-demand. Video game publishers can undermine much of Redbox’s appeal by offering longer demos before relase, and that without resorting to EA-style game gimping. I doubt Redbox will find a viable long-term future in overnight video game rentals, but I believe they can make a ton of money in the short-term with it. Now if only Netflix would get into the fray so I never had to leave my home…

If you’ve noticed a few more Fins on Xbox Live, here’s why. Moving high-speed internet from privilege to right, Finland became the first country in the world this week to legally require every household in the country be provided with access.

The law passed last week required internet providers to connect every home in Finland with at least 1MPS (megabit per second) access by July 1, and Finnish authorities are pushing to make 100MPS access available to all by 2015. It further deems high-speed access a “legal right” for citizens, putting in place civil and criminal penalties for disruption of service.

In a BBC interview, Finland’s Communication Minister, Suvi Linden, explained the thinking behind the legislation, “We considered the role of the internet in Finns everyday life….Finland has worked hard to develop an information society and a couple of years ago we realised not everyone had access.”

Linden also addressed the question of piracy on government-mandated access. “We will have a policy where operators will send letters to illegal file-sharers but we are not planning on cutting off access,” she said, in stark contrast to England and France where violators are disconnected quickly and permanently.

England had also planned to roll out a national broadband requisited by 2012, but recent budget cuts have almost certainly postponed, if not doomed, the prospect.

[via BBC News]

It seems Microsoft has had a close eye and a closer ear to what the internet community of gamers has been saying about their new motion capture hardware. According to a highly-trusted source that resides within the Microsoft development team; the Kinect’s manufacturing costs are said to be close to or at about $150.00. Whether this “trusted source” of information is true or not, it seems Microsoft is catching wind of the negative feedback gamers are unleashing on the web about the expensive investment.

It almost seems as if Microsoft is attempting to justify the high price tag by assuring gamers that the company isn’t out for a higher markup but rather taking a hit to provide a new experience to its gamers.

Natal aside, one of the big developments I’m watching from E3 is the future pricing schemes being kicked around by different companies. As Namco-Bandai VP Olivier Compte perfectly put it, “I am convinced that in the future we must change the price of video games – they’re too expensive for the audience. With the cost of development and the retail margins, £40 [$60 US] is a fair price [to the developer], but for the consumer it is too much….From September to December there are three new blockbusters every week, and consumers just can’t afford to buy all that.”

Compte continued, “Games just have one model, the sale of the product either as a box or a digital download. So we need to think about how we can develop a secondary business model.” On the heels of EA’s successful launch of the Online Pass, there’s little doubt about the inference, and Namco-Bandai is not alone in the industry in watching the new trend toward heavier DLC.

While Compte envisions, “A good price of a game should be around £20 [$25 US] – but for this price we can’t make a ten to 15-hour adventure. So for £20 we should offer consumers four to five hours of gameplay, then after that we can make additional money with DLC,” video game retailers seem to disagree.
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Bethesda Softworks, developers of games such as the Elder Scrolls series, Fallout 3, and publishers of the upcoming Fallout: New Vegas, have announced that the company has formed two new offices in Europe, one being located in Frankfurt, Germany, while the other is located in Paris, France. Their responsibilities will be to “directly oversee sales and marketing” of future game titles within their respective areas.

With so many games coming out being published by Bethesda Softworks in the coming years, they’ll most likely be incredibly busy pretty soon. Good luck to them all!

Bungie has just signed into a contract to have Activision Blizzard publish their games for the next 10 years.  This is a rather unexpected move with all the bad press Activision has been getting lately.  However, it can only mean good things for the company after the success Bungie has had with the Halo franchise.  The future is looking murky with the potential fall of the Call of Duty brand lurking, so Activision will require a brand new IP to help keep them competitive.  Especially since the company’s success is linked to only several franchises.

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