GDC: 'Lack of stimulation can enhance game experience'

March 9th, 2012, 23:44 Posted By: wraggster

'Too much intensity can kill the atmosphere', says Dear Esther indie Dan Pinchbeck

A lack of stimulation in a game can enhance the user’s overall experience, claims Dear Esther creator.
Speaking at GDC, The Chinese Room’s Dan Pinchbeck said quiet moments in a game and less handholding can create a bigger atmosphere than all-out action.

"For a long while I believe we have been fooled into thinking that dead or empty space in games is a bad thing, like dead time on the radio or something," said Pinchbeck, as reported by Gamasutra.
"In reality, a lack of stimulation does not equate to a lack of experience. In fact, a lack of stimulation allows for other experiences to grow. You can’t feel rage slowly and you can’t feel loss fast. In Dear Esther, we found that the less hand-holding we did the more the experience intensified."
The unique indie-fund backed game has surpassed 50,000 sales since release last month, and has received positive reviews for its atmosphere and style.

http://www.develop-online.net/news/4...ame-experience

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February NPD: Hardware sales up over January, everything down year over year

March 9th, 2012, 02:07 Posted By: wraggster

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One Piece Pirate Musou outsells rest of Japanese top 20 combined

March 9th, 2012, 01:56 Posted By: wraggster

PS3 title crushes opposition, but 3DS remains best-selling hardware
One Piece Pirate Musou has outsold the rest of the Japanese top 20 combined in its debut week, shifting 655,774 copies on PS3.
The #1 spot marks another good week on home turf for Namco Bandai, which last week dominated with several new releases in the top ten. However, despite tripling PS3 sales, One Piece's release couldn't knock the 3DS from the top of the hardware chart.
In second is Mario & Sonic at London Olympics, selling less than ten per cent of the One Piece figure with 43,155 units. The only other new entry in the top ten is another Namco title: Great Battle Full Blast in fourth.
All figures are courtesy of Media Create, via Andriasang.
Japanese software chart, February 27 - March 4. Figure in brackets is lifetime sales.

• [PS3] 01. One Piece Pirate Musou (Namco Bandai): 655,774 New Entry
• [3DS] 02. Mario & Sonic at London Olympics (Nintendo): 43,155 New Entry
• [3DS] 03. Harvest Moon Hajimari no Daichi (Marvelous AQL): 27,378 (108,509)
• [PSP] 04. Great Battle Full Blast (Namco Bandai): 24,289 New Entry
• [3DS] 05. Theatrhythm Final Fantasy (Square Enix): 21,540 (99,532)
• [3DS] 06. Mario Kart 7 (Nintendo): 18,945 (1,546,212)
• [PS3] 07. Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Generation (Namco Bandai): 17,917 (83,675)
• [3DS] 08. Super Mario 3D Land (Nintendo): 16,142 (1,386,318)
• [3DS] 09. Monster Hunter 3G (Capcom): 15,836 (1,283,511)
• [PSP] 10. Tales of the Heroes Twin Brave (Namco Bandai): 12,358 (97,668)
• [3DS] 11. Doraemon Nobita and the Island of Miracles (Furyu): 12,228 New Entry
• [PS3] 12. Asura's Wrath (Capcom): 7,795 (38,103)
• [3DS] 13. Resident Evil Revelations (Capcom): 7,444 (251,560)
• [PS3] 14. Binary Domain (Sega): 6,775 (95,364)
• [PS3] 15. UFC Undisputed 3 (Konami): 6,198 New Entry
• [WII] 16. Just Dance Wii (Nintendo): 6,043 (555,149)
• [PSP] 17. Samurai Warriors 3Z (Tecmo Koei): 5,224 (30,527)
• [PSP] 18. Monster Hunter Portable 3rd PSP the Best (Capcom): 5,156 (207,523)
• [PSP] 19. I Don't Have Many Friends Portable (Namco Bandai): 5,142 (62,111)
• [PS3] 20. Gran Turismo 5 Spec II (Sony): 4,922 (53,096)

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Chart-Track reports shrinkage of 29% in February UK market

March 9th, 2012, 01:53 Posted By: wraggster

UK retail tracker GfK Chart-Track has reported that the UK games market in February lost 29 per cent of its sales compared to the previous year. Those lost sales represent a 25 per cent drop in value.
A report from MCV highlights the figures, which show Final Fantasy XIII-2 to be the month's best performing game, followed by Konami's Metal Gear Solid collection.
However, Chart-Track's figures are still largely focused on boxed sales, with efforts to include digital retail thwarted somewhat by the closed systems of Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony, and Valve. How much of that shortfall is compensated by sales of DLC and downloaded titles remains a mystery.
The period covered is January 29 to February 25, which includes a week of Vita sales but few major releases. Overall, the body recorded 2,314,424 games sold during the month, resulting in revenues of £55 million.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...uary-uk-market

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GDC 2012: Time running out for Japan, says Inafune

March 9th, 2012, 00:28 Posted By: wraggster

At the Game Developers Conference, a day after Fez creator Phil Fish responsed to an audience question with "modern Japanese games just suck," renowned ex-Capcom developer Keiji Inafunedelivered his own damning judgement of the modern Japanese videogame industry.
Speaking through a translator, Inafune bemoaned what he sees as a lack of innovation in the nation's output: "What happened to Japanese games? Where are they going? Will they continue to go downhill? What are the Japanese creators of today thinking and where are they heading?"
At the 2009 Tokyo Game Show, Inafune stated that the Japanese games industry was "over", and today he discussed the negative reaction and shock he got from the Japanese industry for these remarks. "'How dare you say our industry and our games are dead?' they said."
However, in the years that followed, Inafune has observed many of his critics coming around to agree with him. "They’re in a situation where they realise perhaps my prediction was true," he said.
For Inafune, who was still at Capcom at the time he made the remarks, Capcom was the only Japanese developer keeping up with the Western creations at the time. "[We] thought on a global level," he said. "We were able to see our own industry through an unfiltered lens." This understanding of the 'global level' is what Inafune believes most Japanese developers are lacking: "So I want to light a fire under Japan before it is too late."
Inafune explained how he became "a little ashamed" when he travels overseas because these days, "Japanese games are becoming a blast from the past." Just like "The Beatles were great!" or "Steve McQueen was a great actor!" Japanese games are now merely "great, great memories."
But just as The Beatles will never release a new album, and Steve McQueen will never act in a new film, Inafune thinks the Japanese games industry is damaging itself by an over-reliance on brands popularised in previous decades.
"I feel like we rarely see new creations from Japan anymore," he said. "We just stick to our memories and we re-release HD versions of games. That is the upper limit of what we are showing to our users today and that is not what our users want."
However, Inafune admits that even he is guilty of sometimes falling back on the pre-existing brands for support. Just yesterday, he explained, a fan asked him for a signature and he immediately, without thinking, scribbled a doodle of Mega Man.
But there is a middle ground, Inafune believes, where the past can be respected and remembered, but does not become a crutch. "I don’t want to get carried away," he said. "You may never see another Mega Man doodle from me after today."
Japan has become slothful on its own successes, believes Inafune. But he understands that this is just human, "We as humans don’t want to take the hard route." After decades of success, it was all too easy for Japanese developers to use the existing brands as a crutch. But, Inafune insisted, Japanese developers must start forcing themselves down the hard route if the country's videogames are to improve.
Inafune gives the example of the first Resident Evil; many within and without Capcom thought it would fail, but the studio, determined, worked on and created a massive success. He contrasted this with his own work on Mega Man Legends - a Mega Man game just trying to be another Mega Man game - and how it was an utter failure.
Inafune says this taught him a priceless lesson: "Establishing a brand takes a lot of work, but at the same time you cannot rely too much on that brand." Inafune compared the state of the Japanese games industry to Apple. "If Apple tried to stick to the glory of the old days with their old computers, they probably wouldn’t be around today," he said. "But Steve Jobs chose to develop the brand and not just maintain it."
This was Inafune’s main plea, that he repeated several times. "Japan must understand the importance of rebuilding our brands, and we must do it now," he urged. "It will be too late when our brands hold no power.
"Time is running out, and we should have realised this when I made that bold statement a few years ago."

http://www.edge-online.com/news/gdc-...n-says-inafune

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Raspberry Pi Production Delayed By Factory's Assembly Flub

March 9th, 2012, 00:14 Posted By: wraggster

The first shipment of Raspberry Pi devices has been delayed, after the factory manufacturing the cheap educational computer used non-magnetic jacks instead of ones with integrated magnetics. The problem is already nearly fixed, but new jacks need to be sourced for subsequent shipments, so those could be delayed slightly. 'It's inevitable, isn't it — you're freewheeling along perfectly happily and then you get a puncture,' said spokeswoman Liz Upton, apologizing for the delay."

http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/1...-assembly-flub

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GDC: 'Consoles will die out in face of new platforms'

March 8th, 2012, 21:51 Posted By: wraggster

Market share will be 'significantly' reduced as customers abandon systems for smartphones and tablets, claims Ben Cousins

Consoles are set to die out and be replaced by tablets and smartphones, claims NgMoco’s Ben Cousins.
As reported by Gamasutra, the former EA and DICE exec said that the sea-change was already underway and that new devices would steal a ”significant” amount of market share from home consoles.

“I believe that mobile devices and mobile platforms are the disruptive technologies that are going to cut a slice through the Western market,” said Cousins.


One example he gave was THQ’s failure with its uDraw tablet, which drew poor sales that he Cousins says reflects the move by children to mobile games.
He highlighted the fact that more convenient and in many cases less powerful technology seemed to prevail throughout history. He cited the move from arcades to home consoles, and in some respects with Cinemas to TV.

http://www.develop-online.net/news/4...-new-platforms

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Interview: Raspberry Pi

March 8th, 2012, 21:44 Posted By: wraggster

Time travel to the 1980s, when leg warmers were cool, the mullet was attractive, everyone was doing the ‘Thriller’ dance, and most importantly, kids were into programming. Now skip to 2012, leg warmers only get an outing at 80s discos, mullets are a no-no and well, we all know what happened to poor ol’ MJ...
Fear not, the 80s will make a come back, as the Raspberry Pi Foundation is planning to change the way we think about our modern-day computers by taking us right back to the roots of modifying, programming and generally messing around with technology.
Raspberry Pi wants to see a return to the level of interest and engagement in programming in kids that was seen twenty-odd years ago. It plans to do this by manufacturing a pocket-sized personal computer for under £20.
Liz Upton, Raspberry Pi spokesperson, tells PCR why she thinks people have lost interest in programming: “One of the things that has made programming so inaccessible to kids is the absence of a platform that they can be let loose on. The family PC is where Mum and Dad keep their work documents and do their banking. It’s an expensive piece of kit and it’s essential for the running of the family, so in many homes a kid can only use it in a very supervised way.”
SO WHAT EXACTLY IS THE RASPBERRY PI?
The Raspberry Pi is a credit card sized PC with an ARM GNU/Linux box, which can be plugged into a TV and keyboard. Its system-on-chip is a Broadcom BCM2835. Powered by a 5v micro USB lead or four AA batteries, the Raspberry Pi has the ability to handle spreadsheets, word-processing, games and Blu-ray quality video playback.
The Raspberry Pi stores data on an SD card, which makes it impossible to ‘break’ – if something goes wrong, all you need to do is reflash your SD card.
“We feel the price point encourages experimentation. You can power the Raspberry Pi with your phone charger, plug it into your television to use as a monitor, and use the SD card that came with your camera. So with that little overhead, parents are much more relaxed about letting their kids do what they want with a machine,” explains Upton.
The foundation has made sure that the PC has excellent multimedia capabilities, meaning it may become desirable as a very cheap way of getting yourself a media centre. “We hope this means that a lot of kids who aren’t necessarily attracted by programming will want to own one. Once it’s in their hands, we know that some of them will get sucked into doing a bit of coding on it too,” comments Upton.
The Raspberry Pi’s initial goal was to target the UK with the idea that computers should be affordable and easy for every single person. The attractiveness of the price along with the endless modifying possibilities has attracted some surprise attention, Upton tells us: “The press interest has been worldwide, and we’ve had a huge amount of correspondence from the developing world, where NGOs, universities, schools and businesses are asking us about using the Raspberry Pi as a desktop replacement machine.”
There are currently two models available: Model A costs around £20 and Model B, which comes with Ethernet, more memory and one extra USB port, costs under £30. The foundation is currently in negotiations with regards to the PC becoming available to retailers and resellers in the UK. PCR recommends keeping an eye onwww.raspberrypi.org for any further developments.

http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/read/...erry-pi/028060

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DCEmu News - Rebuilding News

March 8th, 2012, 03:19 Posted By: wraggster

Recently we have been updating and bringing back sites from the dead, its so important in the homebrew scene that we do not lose all our heritage, over the next month im going to bring back the remaining DCEmu UK sites like Psmonkeys site, PSPDemon, Plynx, Hamsterburt and also the interviews site.

Moving on from that my long term projects are to bring back to life the old DCHomebrew Site, i lost the domain name years ago but getting the site back with all the downloads is of importance to me and after that maybe looking at bringing back other lost sites of the homebrew community.

Homebrew isnt the same as it was 5 years ago when the PSP Scene was gigantic and now the companies are much better at protecting their consoles and added to that the fact that most coders now release on the Iphone and Android, it makes even more sense to ensure the history of homebrew across all sites.

Anyways thats my little speach, time for sleep.

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GAME and Gamestation having a "firesale" on pre-owned stock

March 8th, 2012, 00:31 Posted By: wraggster

GAME and Gamestation are having a "firesale" on pre-owned stock.The struggling high street shops, owned by GAME Group, are heavily discounting pre-owned games.Gamers at HotUKDeals.com have compiled a list of pre-owned games with eye-catching prices, including Forza 3 for £1.98, Bulletstorm pre-owned for £2.98, and Brink pre-owned for £2.98.GAME is selling Killzone 2 pre-owned for 48p. Gears of War 3 pre-owned is £12.98.Catch them while you can.Why has it done this? Eurogamer has been told by a source close to GAME that stores have put pre-owned on sale "to shift stock".Last month GAME managed to convince its syndicate of lenders, led by Royal Bank of Scotland, to relax its debt covenant. But sources "close to the State-owned bank" told The Express it was running out of patience.GAME Group was last week forced to issue a note to shareholders in an attempt to calm concern over its ability to stock new games. Its current stock issue with EA, which means it won't sell Mass Effect 3, FIFA Street, Tiger Woods 13 or The Sims Showtime, is "temporary", and both parties are working to make sure it doesn't happen again, GAME said.GameStop was reported to be ready to buy GAME, but Eurogamer was told by a source that the US giant is one of several interested companies, buoyed by GAME's recent success with the launch of PS Vita in the UK.GAME is apparently seeking more money to help it continue trading, but if fails, its banks will seek a buyout rather than a closure.GAME Group is a PLC, and so is legally required to declare to the stock exchange any serious discussion regarding a potential buyout.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...re-owned-stock

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Golden Joystick TV launches

March 7th, 2012, 23:05 Posted By: wraggster

Our friends at Gamesmaster have launched Golden Joystick TV, a new video portal hosting gameplay footage, reviews, trailers, guides, interviews and more.
The videos are produced in collaboration with the various videogame publications here under Future Publishing's banner, including CVG, Official Nintendo Magazine and PC Gamer.
Click the source link below to visit the site and be bombarded byMass Effect 3 videos.

http://www.edge-online.com/news/gold...ck-tv-launches

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One Piece tops Japanese chart

March 7th, 2012, 22:59 Posted By: wraggster

Namco Bandai's PS3 action game One Piece: Pirate Warriors is the new Japanese all-formats number one.
With enormous launch sales of 655,774 units, Namco Bandai's game storms straight in at the top of the chart ahead of another new entry, Sega's Mario & Sonic At The London 2012 Olympic Games, which takes second spot with 43,155 sales, according to Media Create data posted on NeoGaf.
There's just one other new entry in the top ten, and it's another Namco Bandai title; PSP's Great Battle Full Blast enters the chart at number four.
One Piece's launch sees sales of PS3 hardware rise from last week's 27,111 units to 65,116, though 3DS was once again the week's best-selling hardware. Vita sales fell 10 per cent week on week to 10,023 units.
01. One Piece: Pirate Warriors (Namco Bandai, PS3)
02. Mario & Sonic At The London 2012 Olympic Games (Nintendo, 3DS)
03. Harvest Moon: The Land Of Origin (Marvelous AQL, 3DS)
04. Great Battle Full Blast (Namco Bandai, PSP)
05. Theatrythm Final Fantasy (Square Enix, 3DS)
06. Mario Kart 7 (Nintendo, 3DS)
07. Naruto Shippuden: Narutimate Storm Generation (Namco Bandai, PS3)
08. Super Mario 3D Land (Nintendo, 3DS)
09. Monster Hunter Tri G (Capcom, 3DS)
10. Tales Of The Heroes: Twin Brave (Namco Bandai, PSP)

http://www.edge-online.com/news/one-...japanese-chart

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Get the lowdown on Raspberry Pi in the March issue of PCR

March 7th, 2012, 21:43 Posted By: wraggster

The digital edition of the February edition of PCR Magazine is now available to be downloaded, read online or on an iPad.
In this issue, we talk to the Raspberry Pi foundation about their groundbreaking new micro-PC, VIP's Dave Stevinson and Alicia Shepherd talk about the distributors consumer retail plans and we discuss high-tech research with Joep van Beurden, MD of Cambridge-based Bluetooth specialists, CSR.
We have coverage from Europe's premier retail networking event, Distree 2012, as well as analysis from HP's Global Partner Event and in-depth analysis of the impact of tablets on the wider market from GfK.
Our Mystery Shopper visits Bristol in search of networking equipment and we talk to the Gibraltar-based retailer, Netgear, about the trials and tribulations of operating in an overseas territory.
You can download a PDF, read the online version or download the iPad app, all sponsored by VIP Computers.
To access, browse or download this content, please go to:
http://www.pcr-online.biz/digital-edition

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Molyneux: "is Call of Duty all this industry really is?"

March 7th, 2012, 02:33 Posted By: wraggster

Lionhead's Peter Molyneux has spoken out about the need for a core Kinect game - and how it's the core that needs Kinect more than anyone else.Touting Fable: The Journey, the new Kinect exclusive game from Lionhead, Molyneux addressed questions whether there was any need for a core title on Microsoft's motion controller."Of course there is," Molyneux told Eurogamer at Microsoft's Spring Showcase. "Those are the people that need new experiences more than anyone else. I get crazy passionate about this - if we're not careful, we're going to bore our core gamers to death. How much bigger can our explosions get to entertain them?""We're doing the same thing that Hollywood's doing with action movies. We're inventing a formula, and we're repeating it over and over again, and we're grabbing every penny from our consumers and not bothering to think about something different. And they're the people that need something different."They're our fans, and this is their hobby, man! We can't be lazy! We can't back away from creative inventiveness now, just because it costs a bit more money. Now's the time to double down on that."Is Call of Duty really it? Is that all this industry really is? If it is, then you should just shift me off to the mental asylum now."Molyneux also addressed questions about the recent job posting for someone with MMO skills - a posting that's fuelled speculation that a Fable MMO could be imminent."I don't know what you're talking about - that scares me," replied an untypically coy Molyneux. "It's not relevant to the Journey, but it could be relevant to something in the future."Lionhead used Microsoft's Spring Showcase to reveal Fable Heroes - a smaller game that arose from an in-house creative day. Molyneux was non-committal when asked whether Lionhead would, like Double Fine, look to making further smaller games - although he alluded to to an imminent big year for both Microsoft and Lionhead."We try and have a creative day every year, but it's hard to have a creative day when you've got a launch year," he told Eurogamer. "Everyone's so obsessed. I've got to be careful with what I say, but at the moment we could be close to a l

aunch year for certain titles."

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Demand for Raspberry Pi 'at 700 per second'

March 7th, 2012, 01:43 Posted By: wraggster

Credit card sized computer garners interest from Middle East

Demand for the innovative tiny computer Raspberry Pi is currently running at 700 per second, claims one of the system’s main UK distributors.
Speaking to The Guardian, chief exec Harriet Green of UK re-seller RS and Farnell said that demand was “20 times greater than our supply”, and added that the price would not be raised to take advantage of consumer interest.

The device, which looks to revolutionise computer science for young students, launched last week selling at £22, and sold out of its initial 10,000 units, crashing the re-seller's website in the process.
Green claimed that the device had attracted interest from a country in the Middle East looking to issue a computer to every schoolgirl to improve career prospects.
“The inclusion of girls is very important,” she said.

http://www.develop-online.net/news/4...700-per-second

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Dota 2, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive support Razer Hydra PC motion controller

March 6th, 2012, 00:33 Posted By: wraggster

Upcoming Valve games Dota 2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive will support the Razer Hydra PC motion controller.Motion gaming support has been added to over 250 of the most popular games on Steam, including Left 4 Dead 2, Half-Life 2 and Team Fortress 2, via creator Sixense's MotionCreatorTM 2.0 software.Steam users will get motion control updates for current and future titles automatically from now on. A new in-game overlay lets you view control maps for the Razer Hydra as you play.The Razer Hydra uses an electromagnetic field, via a base station, to track hand movements as you hold two motion-sensing controllers, both complete with thumb sticks.We first heard of the Razer Hydra Valve love affair early last year, when we discovered those who owned the Razer Hydra were entitled to exclusive Portal 2 content.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...ion-controller

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Express: GAME directors might "pull the plug"

March 6th, 2012, 00:15 Posted By: wraggster

A report in yesterday’s edition of The Express has claimed that the directors of struggling retailer GAME are considering “pulling the plug” on the entire business.
This is because many at the highest levels of the chain now fear that “insolvency has become inevitable” as it continues to negotiate deals with major publishers on a title-by-title basis.
And should further big releases follow Mass Effect 3’s lead in skipping the retailer, lenders might lose patience completely.
“There is a real risk that Game’s directors will pull the plug because they can’t be sure that the company can survive through the next trading season, and then insolvency becomes inevitable,” a source ‘close to the situation’ is quoted as saying.
“They are in discussions with their legal advisers about whether to shut up shop rather than rack up more losses.
“The immediate response from RBS will be to push for more store closures, but the tipping point for the directors and the lending banks will come when the stores don’t have products to sell,” said an industry source.
“This could happen if more suppliers follow suit.”
With a proposed buyout at the hands of GameStop seemingly in the balance thanks to a disagreement about the purchase of GAME’s Australian stores, it is perfectly possible that a pre-pack administration deal with GameStop positioned as the buyer is in the works.
“Suppliers pulling their products is a stepping stone to administration, but the problem for RBS pulling the plug is that it will be an expensive and complex administration because GAME has 1,274 stores across Europe and Australia,” a further source added.
“Lending banks will only want to consider a pre-pack administration, where there is a pre-arranged buyer, but who would want to buy GAME?”

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/expre...he-plug/092227

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SSX lands UK number one with Mario Party 9 in third

March 5th, 2012, 23:58 Posted By: wraggster

Uncharted Vita slips to four whilst perennial FIFA up to second
EA's SSX reboot has taken first place in the UK software chart on its debut, the first time that a game in the series has hit the top spot in its release week.
Last week's number one, the Vita exclusive Uncharted: Golden Abyss, has slipped to fourth place. EA regained second position with a resurgence for FIFA 12, while Nintendo's Mario Party 9 entered at third, despite not being stocked by under-fire UK retailer GAME.
No other new entries hit the chart this week, although Batman: Arkham City and Uncharted 3 make re-entries at 12 and 19 respectively. Wii RPG The Last Story has dropped from the top 20, with FIFA Football for Vita dropping from second to eighth.
All chart data is courtesy of Chart-Track.

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EA redirecting UK consumers to alternative retailers after GAME crisis

March 5th, 2012, 23:53 Posted By: wraggster

Publisher reassures customers, says situation is "unfortunate"
EA is actively redirecting UK customers to alternative retailers after the GAME Group's credit crisis resulted in the publisher's forthcoming titles being removed from GAME's stock schedule.
The official websites for Mass Effect 3, FIFA Street,The Sims 3: Showtime and Tiger Woods PGA 13 have all been updated with alternative sources for customers to purchase the boxed titles, none of which will be stocked by GAME.
"It's unfortunate that GAME is having challenges with its suppliers, however consumers have many alternatives both in-store and online," reads a quotation from EA's press department. "Our first priority is to inform our consumers of the many other retailers carrying our games. We don't anticipate any delay in getting our titles to market."
"We don't anticipate any delay in getting our titles to market."

Last week, GAME and EA confirmed that SSX will be the last EA title stocked by GAME until the company's financial situation allows it to re-negotiate terms with the publisher.
Mass Effect 3's removal from GAME's inventory will undoubtedly have the biggest impact of the games affected, on both company's fortunes. Some analysts estimate that it will cost the retailer around £2.5 million.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...er-game-crisis

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GitHub Hacked

March 5th, 2012, 23:26 Posted By: wraggster

Over the weekend, developer Egor Homakov exploited a gaping vulnerability in GitHub that allowed him (or anyone else with basic hacker know-how) to gain administrator access to projects such as Ruby on Rails, Linux, and millions of others. GitHub uses the Ruby on Rails application framework, and Rails has been weak to what's known as a mass-assignment vulnerability for years. Basically, Homakov exploited this vulnerability to add his public key to the Rails project on GitHub, which then meant that GitHub identified him as an administrator of the project. From here, he could effectively do anything, including deleting the entire project from the web; instead, he posted a fairly comical commit. GitHub summarily suspended Homakov, fixed the hole, and, after 'reviewing his activity,' he has been reinstated. Homakov could've gained administrative access to the master branch of any project on GitHub and deleted the history, committed junk, or closed or opened tracker tickets."

http://it.slashdot.org/story/12/03/0.../github-hacked

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