Legendary filmmaker behind “The Thing” and “Big Trouble in Little China” wants to bring Isaac Clarke to the big screen

Video games don’t always translate well to film, but recent survival-horror franchise Dead Space seems to be one of the few video games best-suited to a movie adaptation. At least, sci-fi/horror director John Carpenter seems to think so–find out what the Escape from New York director thinks about making a Dead Space movie after the jump!

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Publisher says big-budget shooters “came in below our forecast” despite topping charts during release month.

Big-budget shooters Crysis 3 and Dead Space 3 did not meet Electronic Arts’ sales expectations, despite topping sales charts, the company revealed today in a post-earnings financial call.

EA CFO Blake Jorgensen said sales of these titles “came in below our forecast.” Specific sales figures for the games were not divulged.

Dead Space 3 sold 605,000 units and was the top-selling title in the United States during its February launch month, according to NPD data.

Crysis 3 was also released in February and was the month’s third best-selling game in the US, moving 205,000 copies, according to the research group.

Crytek founder Cevat Yerli previously said that Crysis 3 is “so far, our masterpiece.”

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Electronic Arts has come to an agreement with The Walt Disney Company for exclusive publishing rights to Star Wars video games in the future.

The multi-year deal is set to give EA domain over Star Wars titles aimed at the “core gaming audience,” which will span “all interactive platforms and the most popular game genres,” while Disney will still make Star Wars games aimed at mobile, tablet, and social gaming audiences.

This news is surprising yet unsurprising at the same time. Following their purchase of Lucasfilm (and thus the Star Wars license) back in Fall 2012, Disney seemingly all but abandoned their Star Wars gaming well, closing down famous developer/publisher LucasArts just last month. It makes sense that Disney would end up giving the rights to someone else, but it’s somewhat surprising (yet, again, unsurprising) that the license ended up with EA, the biggest publisher in the business.

Despite trepidations many have against EA, the announcement that Visceral Games (Dead Space) and DICE (Battlefield) are working on new Star Wars is incredibly exciting, as well as the announcement of the return of BioWare to the franchise.

This is an excerpt from the full story which was originally featured on gamrReview, read the full version here – EA Signs Deal to Exclusively Make Star Wars Games – News

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Insomniac Games also reveals a demo for upcoming shooter will be available ahead of launch.

Insomniac Games has confirmed that its upcoming team-based shooter Fuse will not have an online pass or microtransactions. As part of a FAQ on the game’s website, the developer urged consumers to purchase a new copy specifically because there are no micropayments.

“You should still buy it new to support us because there are no microtransactions to make up for it, though,” the developer wrote.

Online passes and microtransactions have become commonplace with big-budget titles. Recent high-profile release like Gears of War: Judgment, Tomb Raider, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, and Dead Space 3 all offer microtransactions.

Insomniac also revealed that a public demo for Fuse will be available on Xbox 360 and PlayStation closer to the game’s release on May 28.

The story for Fuse goes that the United States government has spent many years experimenting with a secret alien substance called fuse, which when combined with earthly materials, is used to create devastating weaponry. A rogue paramilitary organization elects to steal the fuse technology, and a task force (the player) is called in to track it down.

The game was announced during the 2011 Electronic Entertainment Expo, when it was known as OverStrike.

For more on Fuse, check out GameSpot’s previous coverage.

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Ubisoft reveals it thought about removing unique feature of zombie shooter multiple times; writer claims “real” survival horror titles a “rarity” today.

During a panel today at the 2013 Game Developers Conference, Ubisoft Montpellier story design director Gabrielle Shrager revealed that ZombiU‘s permadeath component was nearly scrapped on multiple occasions.

“After rebooting the game’s setting, we nearly killed the permadeath…a couple of times,” Shrager said, referencing the game’s transition from Killer Freaks From Outer Space to ZombiU.

Also speaking during the presentation was ZombiU writer Antony Johnston, who claimed “real” survival horror titles have become rare in today’s market.

“We thought these elements through, we assessed their impact, and we focused on what was unique[...]especially in the current market, where real survival horror has become such a rarity,” Johnston remarked of the game’s permadeath component and “slow” gameplay.

This is not the first time Johnston, who also wrote the original Dead Space, has bemoaned the dearth of “real” horror titles. He claimed last month that Dead Space 3‘s action focus was a “necessary evil” for the franchise in order to broaden the player base.

For more on ZombiU, check out GameSpot’s review.

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Electronic Arts has announced that its online service Origin service has passed 40 million members. This is up from 39 million at the end of 2012. The service also reached set a new record for the peak concurrent user following the release of SimCity. There were 1.3 million players logged on at the same time.

Electronic Arts is celebrating this milestone with the services first “Player Appreciation Sale.” More than 200 titles will be on sale, with up to 70 percent off. The sale started on March 19 and will end on March 26. Battlefield 3 Premium, Crysis 3, Dead Space 3, and FIFA 13 are among some of the titles are 50 percent off.

To compare, Valve’s Steam service passed 50 million members in September 2012, according to Gamespot. Also the peak concurrent record is currently 5.7 million members online at the same time.

Read more here: VG Charts

Electronic Arts has announced that its online service Origin service has passed 40 million members. This is up from 39 million at the end of 2012. The service also reached set a new record for the peak concurrent user following the release of SimCity. There were 1.3 million players logged on at the same time.

Electronic Arts is celebrating this milestone with the services first “Player Appreciation Sale.” More than 200 titles will be on sale, with up to 70 percent off. The sale started on March 19 and will end on March 26. Battlefield 3 Premium, Crysis 3, Dead Space 3, and FIFA 13 are among some of the titles are 50 percent off.

To compare, Valve’s Steam service passed 50 million members in September 2012, according to Gamespot. Also the peak concurrent record is currently 5.7 million members online at the same time.

Read more here: VG Charts

Despite launch marred by various server issues, EA’s latest city-building game is “biggest SimCity launch of all time.”

SimCity has sold over 1.1 million copies since its rocky launch March 5, publisher Electronic Arts announced today. Sales at that level make this year’s entry the “biggest SimCity launch of all time.”

Of the 1.1 million SimCity sales, about 54 percent were digital copies purchased through Origin or other download services, EA said. Origin digital sales alone made up 44 percent of all copies purchased.

“SimCity is one of the storied brands in gaming, and Maxis delivered a game re-envisioned and engineered for the online age,” EA chief operating officer Peter Moore said in a statement.

Some may contest that claim, as SimCity server woes made the game unplayable for many during the game’s North American and European launches earlier this month.

As recompense for SimCity’s hobbled launch, EA announced earlier today that gamers can download one free PC digital copy of any of the following titles if they have a registered copy of the game by March 25: Battlefield 3, Bejeweled 3, Dead Space 3, Mass Effect 3, Medal of Honor: Warfighter, Need for Speed: Most Wanted, Plants vs. Zombies, or SimCity 4: Deluxe Edition.

SimCity’s arrival helped Origin set a new record for peak concurrent users at 1.3 million “and rising,” according to EA. By comparison, competitor Valve’s Steam service has 4.8 million concurrent players right now and a peak concurrent userbase of 5.7 million.

EA also revealed several other SimCity statistics for the game’s first two weeks. Since launch, players have logged more than 15 million hours of online gameplay and built more than 5.7 million original cities. In all, players have created 780 million buildings and SimCity mayors together have built enough road and railroad tracks to circle the globe 40,000 times, EA said.

SimCity will launch on Mac later this year. For more, check out GameSpot’s review of SimCity.

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List of games being given away by EA includes Battlefield 3 and Dead Space 3.

EA has detailed the list of Origin games it will offer to customers affected by the disastrous launch of SimCity.

All copies of SimCity registered on Origin before March 25 will give applicable customers a chance to pick one free game from the following list: Battlefield 3, Bejeweled 3, Dead Space 3, Mass Effect 3, Medal of Honor: Warfighter, Need for Speed: Most Wanted, Plants vs. Zombies, and SimCity 4: Deluxe Edition.

The games provided, with the exception of Sim City 4, are all standard edition.

EA will roll out the redemption process across its three territories in waves, starting in North America by 5pm PDT on Wednesday March 20, before reaching Europe by March 21, and then Asia and South America before the end of March 22.

Games have to be claimed by 11:59 PDT on March 30.

“Our SimCity Mayors are incredibly important to the team at Maxis,” said a statement on the EA website. “We sincerely apologise for the difficulties at launch and hope to make it up to you with a free PC game download from Origin.”

“Starting today,” continued the apology, “every player that has activated their copy of SimCity will receive an email that will give directions on how to redeem this offer, and you can also find more information on our FAQ. We’ll be opening up the redemption portal country-by-country so some of you may see it a little sooner than others.”

“The portal will be live worldwide for everyone to select their game by March 22. We don’t want any of you to miss out on your free game, so please note that you must register your copy of SimCity before March 25, 2013 at 11:59 PM PDT and you must claim your free game by March 30, 2013 at 11:59PM PDT.

“At Maxis, our studio values dictate that we innovate and create something that is quirky, complex and challenging. Sometimes this bites us in the butt, but our servers are green and we’re seeing record numbers of players all online and having a great time.

“Here is the list of games that you will be able to choose from once you are able to redeem. It’s a great list of games across the whole EA portfolio, so pick one and add it to your Origin library on us!:

“We’re getting great feedback from our fans and know that many of you are having fun and exploring this whole new expression of SimCity,” the developer continued. “We’re humbled by your patience and passion for the game. Thanks for building something very special with us, together.”

For the latest on SimCity, check out GameSpot’s previous coverage.

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Deep Silver confirms upcoming open-world action game won’t release on Nintendo’s new console.

Saints Row IV is not coming to Wii U, a Deep Silver representative confirmed with Polygon today. The publisher did not provide a rationale as to why the Wii U was skipped over.

As announced today, Saints Row IV will release August 20 for PC and unspecified current-generation platforms.

Other big-name games that skipped over the Wii U include Far Cry 3, Resident Evil 6, Dead Space 3, and Crysis 3.

Additionally, Fallout and Elder Scrolls publisher Bethesda has said it presently has no plans to support the Wii U.

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