Also: Resident Evil: Damnation, Wolf Children, 1st Tiger & Bunny film & live-action Kenshin, Yamato, Lesson of the Evil, Platinum Data, Himizu, Helter Skelter
Read more here: Anime News Network
GREE, the Japanese mobile social game publisher, has released a statement that it has laid off employees at its San Francisco. This is part of a shift in the company in which is wants to operate more efficiently.
“We have recently aligned GREE’s US studio to focus on creating the next generation of mobile social games,” said COO of GREE Anil Dharni in a statement. “This shift in focus has been clearly demonstrated by the success and growth of our games.”
“As part of ensuring that we are operating as efficiently as possible, we have made the difficult decision to reduce our work force. The employees leaving today have made great contributions to our success and we wish them all the best.”
GREE had moved its US headquarters to San Francisco last year and when it closed its mobile social gaming network, OpenFeint, it had laid off 25 employees. GREE did acquire Funzio for $210 million, but there were no reports of layoffs at the time.
Sources have told GamesIndustry International that GREE has laid off about 30 employees at its San Francisco studios.
Read more here: VG Charts
Glu Mobile, the mobile publisher, has confirmed that it is laying off 68 of its employees. The publisher is in a transition period to a games-as-a-service company. According to Twitter jobs have been cut at Griptonite Games in Kirkland, Beijing and San Francisco.
“We believe concentrating resources on fewer titles, with a greater centralized support infrastructure will accelerate revenue growth in Q4 2013 and beyond,” said Glu Mobile CEO Niccolo de Masi in a statement to IGN. “We made over 20 new ‘games-as-a-service’ (GaaS) hires in Q1 and anticipate hiring at a similar rate throughout the year.”
“Our goal is to shift headcount investment out of raw studio team volume and into our centralized GaaS functions. This rebalancing is expected to leave R&D costs approximately flat year over year. A reduction in force was commenced today to promote talent density throughout the studio, as well as fund over 80 new GaaS colleagues.”
“This reduction is equivalent to circa 12% of the year’s starting headcount of 564 employees. Adding back forecast hiring we anticipate finishing 2013 with 582 Gluers worldwide.”
In November of last year closed its Brazil studio and laid off some of its employees at its Kirkland, Washington and San Francisco, California studios.
Read more here: VG Charts
Extended footage shows plenty of dungeon-traversing action
One of the biggest announcements this week was Nintendo’s follow-up to the 1991 classic The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. The 3DS game may not have an official title yet, but folks were able to take it for a spin in San Francisco yesterday. Peep some extended footage past the jump.
Read more here: Crunchy Roll
Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein says if industry continues to make games that glorify guns, Congress could step in.
Violent games are a negative influence on young people, US Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) argued at a recent event. As reported by the Associated Press (via Games Industry International), the policymaker said this week in San Francisco that if the game industry continues to make games that glorify guns, Congress may step in.
Feinstein said these games play “a very negative role for young people, and the industry ought to take note of that.”
Her argument came as part of a discussion regarding potential legislative action that could be taken following December’s schoolhouse massacre in Connecticut where a 20-year-old killed 20 children and six adults being taking his own life.
The shooter was reportedly a “deranged gamer.”
“If Sandy Hook doesn’t do it, if the knowledge of these video games this young man played doesn’t, then maybe we have to proceed, but that is in the future,” Feinstein said.
New legislation over the sale of violent games in the US would face an uphill battle. In 2011, the Supreme Court deemed unconstitutional an attempt to legislate violent game sales in the US.
Feinstein is not the only politician to criticize violent games in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting. Last month, US Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-DW) said the industry must lessen the “obscene levels of violence” in games.
Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
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Double feature of 1st 2 films to air on Neon Alley on same day as screening
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Publisher to “celebrate a new era of Battlefield” later this month at San Francisco presentation coinciding with Game Developers Conference.
Electronic Arts will hold a Battlefield 4 event March 26, the publisher announced today. The event will “celebrate a new era of Battlefield,” the publisher said in an invitation sent to media.
The presentation will take place during the 2013 Game Developers Conference, slated for March 25-29 in San Francisco, California. No further information was made available.
EA announced Battlefield 4 last July, revealing a beta for the game will launch during fall 2013. Those who purchased the underperforming Medal of Honor: Warfighter are guaranteed access to the beta.
Battlefield 4 may not be the only new franchise entry in the works. A report from May suggested series developer DICE was at work on a new entry in the spinoff series, Battlefield: Bad Company 3.
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Last night in San Francisco, at their own press event, NISA announced their localization plans for Summer and Fall 2013 release schedules. The three PS3 RPGs announced were Disgaea Dimension 2: A Brighter Darkness, The Guided Fate Paradox, and Time and Eternity. Notably absent were any plans to release The Witch and the Hundred Knights within the 2013 release schedule, so fans looking forward to that title might have a longer wait than expected on their hands.
Disgaea Dimension 2: A Brighter Darkness
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Source: gamrReview
Anime cosplay photos from AOD
Con season has begun! I visited Animation On Display (AOD) in San Francisco, CA and took photos of cosplayers there. AOD is a family friendly event held at Hotel Kabuki in San Francisco’s Japan Town. Click for photos!
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Source: Crunchy Roll
Publisher’s latest Super Bowl prediction says Baltimore Ravens beat San Francisco 49ers 27-24 on fourth quarter 40-yard field goal.
If Electronic Arts’ latest Super Bowl prediction is right, the Baltimore Ravens will defeat the San Francisco 49ers this weekend 27-24 to claim the Lombardi Trophy for Super Bowl XLVII.
According to the simulation (available below), Ravens’ rookie kicker Justin Tucker made a 40-yard field goal to put the team up 27-24 in the fourth quarter.
The 49ers made a final attempt to stay undefeated in Super Bowl appearances, but an Ed Reed interception from Colin Kaepernick with ten seconds to go sealed the deal for the Ravens.
The EA Sports Super Bowl prediction has been accurate in the NFL’s most momentous game for seven of the last nine Super Bowls. The simulation was two points away from predicting the exact score of the 2009 Super Bowl XLIII matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals.
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Source: Game Spot News
