The Formation And Evolution of CyberConnect2

Japanese independent developer and .hack creator CyberConnect2 has made an enduring company and franchise, even while adhering to much stricter 'quality of life' than many Japanese developers. In a rare, personal interview, companypresident Hiroshi Matsuyama explains the firm's founding and how work/life balance became so important to him.

CyberConnect2 Boss Talks 'Quality Of Life' For Japanese Developers

Talking to Gamasutra, CyberConnect2 president Hiroshi Matsuyama (.hack) has been discussing why stressing quality of life and instituting core hours at the Japanese developer has helped its focus and success. The comments came as part of a longer interview with Gamasutra tracing the evolution of the Fukuoka, Japan-based independent developer. The studio started working on games such as Silent Bomber in a former incarnation, before creating the .hack RPG series and a number of titles ...

July's Top 25 Facebook Games Topped By Zynga, MindJolt Titles

Zynga's Texas Hold'em Poker and Mafia Wars were the two most popular titles on Facebook this past month, according to Inside Social Games' new chart, with the former claiming some 14.2 million active players. Mafia Wars, which yesterday boasted receiving 4 million daily users across multiple social networks and sites despite launching last June, enjoyed 12.4 million actives in the same period. Off to a fruitful start on Facebook, Zynga's Farmville debuted as the eighth ...

Round Up: Gamasutra Network Jobs, Week of July 3

In this round-up, Gamasutra highlights some of the notable jobs posted in its industry-leading game jobs section this week, including positions from Blizzard, Microsoft Game Studios and more. Each position posted by employers will appear on the main Gamasutra job board, and appear in the site's daily and weekly newsletters, reaching our readers directly. It will also be cross-posted for free across its network of submarket sites, which includes content sites focused on online worlds, ...

Analysis: Mapping Gamer Dialect

[Examining the relationship between language, culture and video games, columnist Daniel Johnson examines a lexicon of gamer-native lore and terms in search of the mystical 'gamer dialect'.] A few weeks ago, just after my last column, the Global Language Monitor, a company specialized in tracking new English words, declared "Web 2.0" as the millionth word in the English language. "Web 2.0" was running in competition alongside other contemporary words such as "slumdog", "Jai Ho!" and ...

DS Plugin to Help Diabetic Kids Keep Consistent Readings [Diabeetus]

Pharma firm Bayer has created a DS plug-in built on the idea that diabetic kids typically lose track of no-fun things like glucose meters, but rarely lose fun things like gaming handhelds.

No, the "Didget" isn't a kind of Vitality Sensor; it goes into the DS/DS Lite's Slot-2 and rewards players giving consistent readings with points in a game that can be used to buy items or unlock levels. It doesn't sound like the game itself has anything to do with diabetes or testing, it's just the vessel through which the Didget rewards a player's consistent monitoring.

I'm not in a household with a diabetic child, but I was in one with a recently diagnosed adult; I can testify that testing yourself can be a real bitch, and doing it consistently requires some discipline, which younger kids may not have. The Didget sounds like a helpful peripheral, although some might think buying a video game attachment rewards, rather than corrects, a kid not taking responsibility for himself. I guess it depends on the age. One thing, however, since this requires Slot-2, it's not DSi compatible.

Nintendo DS Glucose Reader Plugin for Kids with Diabetes [Boing Boing

DLC Bound for Bound in Blood [Call Of Juarez: Bound In Blood]

Techland, the developer of Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood, announced three pieces of DLC are on the way but few other details. Two will be multiplayer map, the third is for the singleplayer mode.

No price points or release dates just yet. But the content will be available for all versions - PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

Techland Announces DLC for Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood [VG247. Original article, in Polish, from Polygamia.]

LucasArts Announcing New Old Game On Monday [Lucasarts]

LucasArts Games promsies to unveil a new and exciting game based on an existing franchise on Monday.

"Amazing news coming Monday! Super excited! You have no idea how tough it is not to start yelling about it! But it's secret! Until Monday!"

The game, they say, will be "awesome news for old school fans."

While it's possible, with the upcoming rerelease of The Secret of Monkey Island, that this could be another reimagining of one of LucasArts classic adventure games, my money is on something more modern.

When Free Radical gave up the ghost last year, concept art for some pretty spectacular Star Wars Battlefront III ideas shook loose.

What I hope happens is that a new developer is named for the Star Wars shooter, one that can bring dark Obi to life.

LucasArts Tweet

inFamous Defeats Prototype in Cross-Dressing Playoff [Medium Risky]

In a recent Zero Punctuation review, Yahtzee couldn't declare which blockbuster game "about super-powered assholes" was better, but would give the honor to the studio that best drew the rival game's protagonist in drag.

Astoundingly and to their everlasting credit, both Radical and Sucker Punch participated. First up, Radical sent in two submissions, but that monstrosity takes the cake - Cole McGrath with Vegas showgirl peacock tail, a Marilyn Monroe birthmark and ... oh God are his pubes showing? NEXT.

Here's your winner: Alex Mercer, who shapeshifted up some heaving bosoms thanks to Sucker Punch, in a tableau that "could be the cover of a romance novel." Per Yahtzee's award citation:

It's a close call, but I'm going to declare Sucker Punch the winner by one lovingly-rendered pair of breasts. Also their unicorn is a much prouder, mightier steed, and Alex's expression is delightfully coquettish. Therefore InFamous must be the better game. Buy InFamous. Prototype's still good, though. Buy it as well.

Yahtzee's Prototype vs. Infamous Challenge [The Escapist via Joystiq]

Valve: PS3 Orange Box Players "Got the Stepchild Version" [PS3]

In an interview with CVG, Valve's Doug Lombardi says the experiences of putting Half-Life on PS2 and Orange Box on PS3 have put them off Sony development for the near future.

He doesn't complain about the differences in developing for one console, or PC, over another, but does say the PS3 versions of Valve products have been inferior to the original releases, and so the company's not interested in doing anything on that console again unless and until they can put something out that gives Sony players the same experience as PC and 360 users.

We look at it as if we were customers of this product, how would we want to be treated and what sort of product would we want out of it?

We've run a couple of experiments over the years of PlayStation in general; we did Half-Life on PS2 with an outside company and then we did Orange Box PS3 with an outside company. We weren't able to deliver the same type of product on PS3 and PS2 for that matter that we were on the 360 and PC.

[...]

Until we have the ability to get a PS3 team together, until we find the people who want to come to Valve or who are at Valve who want to work on that, I don't really see us moving to that platform.

We've kind of learned a lesson in that again, if we were customers of that product on PlayStation, we'd feel like we sort of got the stepchild version of the product while the guys on the PC and the 360 got the sweet version of it.

Translated, what it really means is there is no one inside Valve with any interest in PS3 development, and the company on the whole isn't interested in outsourcing any more ports after the experience with The Orange Box on PS3, which suffered some bad load times and framerate issues.

Still No PS3 Interest From Valve [CVG via TheSavePoints, thanks Meredith B.]