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Photos of Blizzard Headquarters from the inside [Pics]

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 22:32:47 GMT

Ever wonder what the inside of a dream gaming job look like? Well, it's basically what you probably already imagined. A workplace filled with toys, whiteboards that aren't used for productivity, video games, and overall awesomeness. Check out all 106 pics of photos from Blizzard HQ.

Free wi-fi coming to a McDonald's near you... again

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:37:27 GMT

McDonald's is going to slash their usage charges for wi-fi access to the low, low price of absolutely free. McDonald's restaurants currently charge $2.95 for two hours of wireless Internet access, fries, and a coke (fries and coke not included).

What's interesting about this news is that McDonald's had offered free wi-fi in the past, back in 2008 to be more specific. It was only after they saw how much people "abused" it by hanging out and not buying anything that they decided to start charging for access.

Kotaku- BioWare On The Decline Of The JRPG

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:07:27 GMT

Kotaku- Final Fantasy aside, Japanese role-playing games simply don't command the respect (or sales) they once did in the West. You may have an opinion on this! That's great. So do BioWare.

With Mass Effect and Dragon Age both leading the way as far as Western RPGs are concerned, they're a company well-placed to know what's good, and what's not so good, about the Japanese entries in the field.

Modern Warfare 2 Is UK's Christmas Number One

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 11:10:22 GMT

Activision's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has taken the coveted Christmas number one spot in the UK all format chart.

The Japan Preview: 12/20 Edition (FFXIII Attaches to 1/3 of PS3s)

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 07:56:33 GMT

It was a big week, as FFXIII sold 1.35m units (1.25m standalone, ~100k bundles), hardware rose across the board, and alot of big older Wii & DS titles saw big rises. Wii, PS3, & DS are near 200k.

N4G Radio 12/21/2009

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 07:32:57 GMT

The special holiday episode is here complete with personal Top Ten lists and overall Game of the Year Awards, plus the guys bring in a special guest from Texas.

Games Covered:
Gran Turismo 5
ModNation Racers
Battlefield Bad Company 2
God of War Collection
Assassin's Creed 2
PixelJunk Shooter
Alien Breed Episode 1
Tekken 6

2 Futuremark Employees Leave, Possibly Due to Poor Sales

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 22:57:50 GMT

What an awesome Christmas season this is turning out to be. Two Futuremark employees, Petri Jarvinen (Level Designer) and Nick Renqvist (Audio Designer) have posted on the official Futuremark forums that they are no longer working for the company. As you might know, Futuremark recently released Shattered Horizon, a multiplayer-only FPS-Z for just $20 on the PC(digital download only). While it's unclear why they're no longer with the company, one did mention that the game didn't sell too well and "that has it's effects."

LTD, YTD NPD hardware sales

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 04:43:20 GMT

Check out the life-to-date and year-to-date hardware figures for the PS3, 360, Wii, DS, PSP, and PS2 updated from the most recent NPD sales report.

UK EA Store sells MOH:Airborne and Battleforge for Free

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 01:01:29 GMT

Bugs aren't hard to come by on the EA store and considering the Mirrors edge, Mercs 2 and Dead Space fiasco, this isn't the first, and is probably isn't the last time it will happen. The lowdown is that a bug in the EA UK Store is basically letting people buy Medal of Honor Airborne and Battleforge for free.

Analyst: FF13 Japan Sales "May Exceed FF12"

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 23:23:56 GMT

Final Fantasy XIII looks to be more popular than Square Enix expected, with analysts saying that it is likely to outsell Final Fantasy XII sales in Japan.

Uwe Boll directing Mass Effect film? BioWare says no.

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 23:12:26 GMT

"When you sit down for a chat with two of the top gaming developers in the video-game industry, there is no telling where the conversation might range. From the upcoming, and highly anticipated, Mass Effect 2, to the world of developer consolidations and who might play Sam Shepherd in a Mass Effect movie – if there is one – the topics were varied.

GameZone's Dakota Grabowski had the opportunity for a sit-down chat with Dr. Ray Muzyka - CEO and General Manager, BioWare & Vice President, Electronic Arts, and his BioWare partner Dr. Greg Zeschuk - President and General Manager, BioWare & Vice President, Electronic Arts during the Edmonton event."

Microtransactions, Here We Come - Sony's Home Launches First Freemium Game

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 08:04:07 GMT

Marking the very first anniversary of the Playstation Home allowing a micro-transaction supported game, and a key point in the PS3's legacy - remodels itself to become a force to sustain a social networking system. Sodium, a game similar to those you may have been accustomed to on internet social networking sites such as Facebook,is the first game to be offered free through the Playstation home since it once introduced to the public.

NVIDIA: AMD's DirectX 11 leadership "insignificant"

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 05:35:58 GMT

NVIDIA expressed last week at an investor event that their rival's short-term leadership in DirectX 11 was "insignificant" in the broader picture.

Microsoft Patent Targets Fat Gamers?

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 02:04:12 GMT

A new patent filing from Microsoft appears to be targeting the overweight gamer. Details outlined in the patent suggest limiting game time and reflecting avatar appearances in games based on data either supplied by the gamer or some kind of health database among others.

Take-Two CEO thinks Grand Theft Auto 4 DLC was late to the party

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 18:23:57 GMT

Fielding a question on today's quarterly investors call regarding the performance of Grand Theft Auto 4's DLC double-header and the accompanying retail bundle – The Lost and Damned, The Ballad of Gay Tony, and Episodes from Liberty City, respectively – Take-Two CEO Ben Feder admits, "Both we and Microsoft believed there was a big market for GTA 4 episodic content and some factors affected their performance." Calling the two companies' relationship "a historic, strategic partnership" – remember this? – and calling the episodes themselves "profitable contributors to the company," Feder nevertheless offered some insight into what his company could have done to make them even more profitable.

Amazon: top 10 best-selling games of the decade

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:45:15 GMT

Wii games and hardware take up eight of the top ten highest-selling items in the website's video games department, with the console itself at the top of the list.

New Advert confirms Sony PSP 4000

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 14:13:26 GMT

The Lost Gamer writes "The advert, from Accessories4Gamers Ltd., details that it is suitable for 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000 and PSP Go models too… wait… 4000?! Uh oh, seems like someone has maybe confirmed recent rumours too soon!"

BioWare: We Haven't Peaked On 360

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 13:12:15 GMT

BioWare reckons there's still "a lot more power" its future releases can get out of the Xbox 360 hardware.

Cho said that he believes Mass Effect 2 will represent "one of the first games of the second generation," and that the lifespan of the Xbox 360 is "at least a few more years".

Take-Two suffers huge losses; Borderlands sells 2 million

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 03:52:28 GMT

As warned earlier this month, Take-Two's yearly revenue took a huge hit. As warned earlier this month, take-Two's yearly revenue took a huge hit. Although the losses were no worse than expected they still did have a year-end net loss of $137.9 million and a Q4 net loss of $22 million.

Media Create hardware sales (12/7 – 12/13)

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 01:57:51 GMT

Media Create has published the latest hardware sales figures from Japan.