Nintendo’s Miyamoto Reassessing Role In Nintendo

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Shigeru Miyamoto has been the head of Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development for a number of years now, being involved in numerous large projects. However, the man behind Donkey Kong, Mario and Legend of Zelda says he wants to work on smaller titles, with the first starting in 2012 that can be show that year; Nintendo has come out and said this doesn’t mean him stepping down and that there is a misunderstanding.

“Inside our office, I’ve been recently declaring, ‘I’m going to retire, I’m going to retire,’” Miyamoto remarked. “I’m not saying that I’m going to retire from game development altogether. What I mean by retiring is, retiring from my current position. What I really want to do is be in the forefront of game development once again myself. Probably working on a smaller project with even younger developers. Or I might be interested in making something that I can make myself, by myself. Something really small.”

“The reason why I’m stressing that is that unless I say that I’m retiring, I cannot nurture the young developers,” he added. “After all, if I’m there in my position as it is, then there’s always kind of a relationship. And the young guys are always kind of in a situation where they have to listen to my ideas. But I need some people who are growing up much more than today.”

Source: Wired

Xbox Live VP Writes Letter To Users Prior To Update

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Xbox Live corporate VP, Marc Whitten has written a letter to the Xbox 360 community ahead of the release of the new Xbox 360 dashboard. In the letter, he talks about Microsoft’s dedication to evolving the experience that all people have with the Xbox 360; he notes the community enjoys 2.1 billion hours of entertainment each month.

“You’ll find a number of features designed to make your Xbox experience more personal, social and effortless,” wrote Whitten. “The dashboard has an entirely new look and feel and a completely re-imagined interface that makes your entertainment accessible through simple voice commands. Now, using voice search with Bing on Xbox, you can find and play the programming you want across multiple entertainment providers without having to search for a remote control. In the mood for The Office Just say ‘Xbox, Bing, The Office,” and Xbox will display all episodes available from various entertainment apps across the console.”

“We’re also bringing you Beacons and Facebook sharing, further integrating social into your Xbox experience,” he added. “Before jumping into an episode of The Office, you can activate a Beacon to let your friends know that you want to play, say, Gears of War 3. Then, sit back and relax with the Dunder Mifflin crew. The Beacon will let you know when a LIVE friend is available for a round of Horde in Gears. After the game, use Facebook Sharing to tout your achievements and showcase your in-game accomplishments through direct posts.”

Google’s Galaxy Nexus Reportedly $299

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Reports are stating that the Galaxy Nexus will be priced at $299.99. The anticipated flagship phone for Google’s next version of Android is price around where Verizon also priced the Droid RAZR and HTC Rezound and does not have a release date.

The Galaxy Nexus is expected to compete with the iPhone because of its suite of abilities and the ability to run on Verizon’s 4G network. The smartphone will have features like the ability to unlock it using facial recognition and an NFC chip that will let users exchange information by tapping their phones together, though Google Wallet is said to not be included.

Source: Washington Post

South Park RPG Not Holding Back Mature Content

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South Park has developed an infamous reputation from not shying away from controversy, from violence to swearing and sex. According to Feargus Urquhart, CEO of Obsidian, the new South Park RPG will embrace everything that makes the animated series what it is.

“The first thing is this needs to be South Park, it needs to be outrageous, it needs to have crazy crap in it, it needs a lot of swearing, it needs a lot of children dying,” said Urquhart. “Things that happen are just crazy.”

“I’ll be honest, we’re not exactly sure how the ESRB is going to react to a lot of these things. The first thing is we’re not going to worry about it. The first thing is this needs to be South Park,” he added. “If we have problems, then we’ll deal with them. The goal is, let’s not restrict ourselves right now. Let’s make it South Park, make it nuts, then, as they say, cross that bridge when we come to it.”

It’s an unusual if famous license to be working under, but as it turns out, it was something Trey Parker and Matt Stone approached them over, not some middleman. “We were actually contacted directly by South Park. Normally that’s not how it works. Usually a publisher calls us and says ‘Hey, we have a license, we want you to make a game.’ This time it was the license holders themselves,” said Urquhart. “South Park as a license is kind of an interesting thing because normally when we’re working with a license it’s sort of ‘Here are a bunch of books, here are some films, here are some ideas, here’s a book that tells you what’s right, what’s wrong when it comes to licensing.’

“With South Park it’s very different because it’s Matt and Trey. It is Crispy, who was the art director on the show for ten years. It’s talking to the guys that actually do it and still do it every day. I mean, they’re still making the show after 15 years,” he detailed. “I think it’s going to make it really interesting for us making a South Park game – it’s not a re-imagining of stuff that already exists… it’s like this is yet another extension to everything that is South Park because it’s coming directly from Matt and Trey.”

Source: GameInformer

StarCraft II Helping Study On Cognitive Process

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A SkillCraft project has been launched using 3,500 StarCraft II replay files to determine how humans respond to several dynamic problems and variables simultaneously. RTS games like StarCraft II can seriously tax a players cogitative functions, with high level players performing 5 to 6 actions per second.

“I can’t think of a cognitive process that’s not involved in StarCraft,” said Mark Blair, a cognitive scientist at Simon Fraser University and project lead. “It’s working memory. It’s decision making. It involves very precise motor skills. Everything is important and everything needs to work together.”

“From the perspective of the cognitive motor system, StarCraft is the most interesting thing you could do online,” Blair said.  “What we’ve got is a satellite view of expertise that no one was able to get before. We have hundreds of players at the basic levels, then hundreds more at level slightly better, and so on, in 8 different categories of players.”

Source: Scientific American

Be A Pizza Hero

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A new iPad app from Domino’s teaches fans how to make top quality pizzas by kneading dough, spreading sauce, sprinkling cheese, placing toppings and more. Race against the clock and rise through the pizza-making ranks to become a true pizza hero! Learn how to make pizzas by hand like Domino’s at Pizza prep school. Play through all 11 levels and see if you can survive the never-ending flow of orders on the busiest night of the year. Frequently asked question: does Domino’s really make pizzas by hand? Answer: Yes!

Unlock The Secrets Of Hugo

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Academy Award winning director Martin Scorsese invites you to join him on a thrilling journey to a magical world with his first-ever 3-D film, Hugo, based on Brian Selznick’s award winning, imaginative best-seller, The Invention of Hugo Cabret. The free iPad application {link no longer active} allows you to use the unique iPad functionalities to bring you into the world of Hugo. Special scenes from the film come to life as you touch and move your device. The more the user engages with the application the more exclusive content that will be unlocked giving a first look at the film.