Since Turok: Dinosaur Hunter first released on the Nintendo 64, the game franchise has been something of a B-list hit. Known for its creative weapons, excessive gore and (naturally) dinosaurs, the game served as an introduction for many console gamers to the FPS genre. It spawned three sequels, and many of us thought it had all come to an end with the bankruptcy of publisher Acclaim and the poor reception to Turok: Evolution.
A few years later, it was revealed that the Turok franchise would not suffer the ignominious fate of obliteration. A new game was being built from the ground up to reflect more modern conventions in FPS games. The result thus far has rejuvenated a franchise many wrote off years ago.
We caught up with Josh Holmes, Vice President and Studio General Manager for internal Touchstone developer Propaganda Games, and talked about hunting the most dangerous prey of all... the Giganotosaurus, what did you think?
That's quite a prize there...
According to the NPD, Turok on Xbox 360 was the eighth best selling title for the February period. The game was the fourth best selling game on the Xbox 360 platform and third best selling on the PS3. Overall, Turok sold slightly under 200,000 copies during the February period on the Xbox 360 alone.
"We are very satisfied with Turok's performance in the month of February," expressed Holmes. "We knew that we had delivered a game that would resonate well with shooter fans and our sales goals for the product were set high as a result. The game has so far exceeded those goals and we are thrilled with both the sales of the game and the reaction from fans."
In addition to this, Disney's Touchstone label announced that Turok has now shipped over one million units and has new downloadable content available for purchase. "Turok has captured the imagination of video game players throughout the world," said Craig Relyea, senior vice president of global marketing for Touchstone in a statement.
This ain't your dad's dinosaur hunt
Like any modern shooter, Turok has both the technically advanced engine running under its hood and extensive online multiplayer options. The former is provided by the Unreal Engine 3, which let the team create some of the most detailed dinosaurs ever seen in a game. The latter, which features both competitive and co-operative play, has been complemented by throwing hostile dinosaurs into the mix that all players need to contend with.
"Cutting edge graphics and sound were a focal point in the development of Turok and play a big role in bringing the world to life. The Unreal Engine 3 gave us a strong foundation to build from when creating the game," said Holmes, adding, "The AI controlled dinosaurs are a unique part of Turok's multiplayer experience and help distinguish the game from other first person shooters. Having to worry about a vicious third party roaming freely through the environment really takes the online element to the next level. A variety of different online modes and maps offer plenty of options to complement the single-player campaign."
Turok is a complete reboot of whatever had been offered in the franchise before it and that goes for the story, characters and setting. The Propaganda Games developed title was ultimately given a grittier edge than its previous incarnation, and the project was further enhanced with voice work from Hollywood actors such as Ron Perlman, Timothy Olyphant and Powers Boothe.
"Turok has always been about three things - a Native American protagonist, cool weapons, and dinosaurs. We think we delivered a game that incorporated these features well with the new updated set-up and fans of Turok past and present were very happy with the results" commented Holmes. "Great story and characters help take a game to the next level. Leveraging world class talent like Ron Perlman, Timothy Olyphant, Donnie Wahlberg, William Fichtner and the legendary Powers Boothe really helped the story and the characters come alive."
Oh, its already been brought.
The Turok series has always been about gratuitous thrills, and the TV spot captures that well. It shows a herd of raptors charging towards Joseph Turok as he's drawing a bow, then a T-Rex charges into view and Turok whips out dual sub-machineguns and utters a throaty "Bring it." It does a good job of encapsulating what the franchise is all about: dinosaurs, guns and Turok himself.
"There were many memorable moments throughout the promotional campaign for Turok. One was our sponsorship of UFC Ultimate Fight Night on Spike TV," detailed Holmes. "We held a multiplayer event in San Francisco where we turned one of the ballrooms at the Hotel Nikko into a lush jungle environment. Our CG TV spot has run for quite some time on major networks and drew in existing core shooter fans and others. We also received some great attention online for the Awakening the Giants: The Making of Turok documentary series that was released during the lead-up to the game's launch."
While no details are available yet for a Turok sequel, it's hard to imagine that this game won't spawn a continuation of the renewed franchise. Game companies typically don't create a game with this level of story detail and intend it to be a "one off." As long as players still have an affinity for stalking dinosaurs, we'd imagine that there'll be demand for more Turok.
Tuesday-March-25-2008
Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) today announced the details of the North American soundtrack for Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. The songs in the game will be a mix of indie dance rock, electronica, classic rock and new remixes by artists such as Weezer, Mars Volta and DJ Shadow. The game will also feature a new version of the Gran Turismo theme song Moon Over The Castle.
"The Gran Turismo 5 Prologue soundtrack gives fans the perfect audio accompaniment to high-octane racing from Daytona to Eiger Nordwand," said Jeff Reese, director, software marketing, SCEA. "The edgy variety of music complements the pure adrenaline rush fans experience as they eclipse 200 miles-per-hour in the most authentic driving simulator around."
Gran Turismo 5 Prologue North American Soundtrack:
Exclusive Tracks to North America
Weezer - Automatic (LA Riots remix)
The Mars Volta - Goliath (EL-P remix)
Justice - Let There Be Light
SebastiAn - Dolami
Kavinsky - Testarossa Autodrive (SebastiAn remix)
DJ Shadow - LOVE LOVE
Does it Offend You, Yeah? - With a Heavy Heart (I Regret to Inform You)
The Earaches - Not the Kind of Man I Am
Thin Lizzy - The Rocker (Richard Evans Mix)
The Klaxons - Golden Skans
Friendly Fires - On Board
Pride Tiger - Let 'Em Go
International Tracks also on the North American Soundtrack
Masahiro Andoh - Moon Over The Castle (Gran Turismo 5 Prologue version)
Nittoku Inoue - Road Star
Nittoku Inoue - 100,000 R.P.M.
Nittoku Inoue - Get Away
Nittoku Inoue - V12
Nittoku Inoue - Kill Switch
naomee - Vanish From Angel
naomee - Sky High Mountain Breeze
naomee - Twieky 4
Daiki Kasho - Surv1v3
Daiki Kasho - Edge of the World
Daiki Kasho - Flow
Goose - Check
Goose - 3T4
Goose - Everybody
Backdraft ft Tor - Off The Wall
Alloy Mental - We have Control
Reverend & The Makers - The Machine
Majesco Entertainment Company today announced that it has signed a deal with Humongous. Under terms of this agreement, the game publisher will bring Freddi Fish, Pajama Sam and SPY Fox to the Wii system. These three popular children's properties will release on Nintendo's console in mid-2008.
"For more than a decade, Humongous has continued to create some of the most memorable and successful interactive entertainment properties for children," said Jesse Sutton, CEO of Majesco. "Their characters have demonstrated both tremendous staying power and widespread consumer appeal, and we think this kind of family-friendly content is well-suited to the Wii system."
"My goal is to contribute to the success of the Humongous properties by facilitating the distribution of these Wii titles with Majesco in the United States and Atari Europe overseas, thus paving the way for future development and new products for this highly recognized franchise," said Frederic Chesnais, General Manager of Interactive Game Group, LLC.
Monday-March-24-2008
Today, Global Games Media announced that the International eSports Conference (ESCONF) will take place May 27-28, 2008. Electronic Arts will be the main sponsor of the ESCONF for the second year in a row, with the event taking place at the EA campus in Cologne, Germany. More information can be found at esconf.com.
"The Electronic Arts building is a perfect venue for the ESCONF and EA will provide their state of the art meeting rooms for the participants of the ESCONF," stated the Director of Global Games Media, Frank Sliwka. "The EA Sports Bar will be used for the networking activities and the entire conference will be in view of the scenic shore of the Rhine."
"We're happy to welcome the ESCONF on our premises," said EA's Head of Product Marketing, Dirk Schulgen. "We're positive that our newly built facilities will provide for a successful event for all participants."
Rainbow Six Vegas 2 Ships One Million Units in U.S.
Post by ：Galen 21:15:18 Source： gamedaily Editor：Galen
The latest in Ubisoft's popular Rainbow Six shooter franchise, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2, has already shipped over one million units in the U.S., according to the most recent investor research note on the publisher from Wedbush Morgan Securities' Michael Pachter.
The game hit store shelves only one week ago and has been garnering positive reviews (over 83% on GameRankings.com), including a solid 8-out-of-10 from GameDaily.
Pachter previously estimated that 1.7 million units of the game will ship for the current quarter, and he acknowledged that these early results for the game "compare favorably" with his estimate. He also noted that Ubisoft's U.S. retail sales are up 26 percent quarter-to-date compared with the company's guidance for a revenue decline of 18 percent in the current March quarter. "We expect the upside in Rainbow Six to offset weakness caused by the strong Euro and lighter performance of its other releases (notably LOST) during the quarter," Pachter said.
The Tom Clancy games continue to be a big driver for Ubisoft's business, and the publisher recently made sure the brand stays with Ubisoft indefinitely, locking up all rights to the Tom Clancy name, including books, movies and merchandising products, in addition to games of course.
Electronic Arts announced today that Chief Financial Officer Warren Jenson is departing the company. This comes only a week after John Pleasants was hired to be President of Global Publishing and Chief Operating Officer for EA.
"I want to thank Warren for the leadership he has provided in the past six years," said EA CEO John Riccitiello. "He has built a first class Finance Department and has been a contributor to our growth and strategic initiatives."
Jenson has served as CFO since 2002. He will stay with EA to help with the fiscal year-end close and financial reporting process and has consented to help transition his successor (which EA promises will be announced shortly) into the role.
"My tenure at EA has provided me with many good friends and memories," said Jenson. "It's time for me to write the next chapter in my career – and I wish EA the best in the dynamic period ahead."
Capcom Interactive announced today that M:Metrics has named them one of the top five publishers of mobile games. This is based on a three-month average of the mobile industry research group's November - January data, with a market share increase of nearly three-fold from January '07 to January '08. Main contributors to this success have been titles like Mega Man II and Street Fighter II along with games based around game shows, like Who Wants To Be a Millionaire titles and Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?
"A year ago I went on record stating that within the year you'd see Capcom Interactive breaking into the top five," said Midori Yuasa, president, Capcom Interactive, Inc. "Today that prediction became a reality thanks to the dedication of the people in our organization, and the incredible support of our partners. With our amazing stable of original intellectual property and licensed casual entertainment brands, Capcom Interactive is poised for even greater success in '08."
"Capcom Interactive's impressive rise in the gaming charts is further evidence that we are entering a new more dynamic phase in mobile gaming in the U.S.," said Seamus McAteer, Chief Product Architect and Senior Analyst, M:Metrics. "By delivering a compelling casual gaming experience based on strongly branded content Capcom demonstrates that it is possible to grab a strong share in a market that had been dominated by a handful of incumbent titles."
Harmonix and MTV Games today announced that it will be bringing Rock Band to Wii on June 22, 2008. The game will be released as a Special Edition bundle that has the game, drum controller, wireless guitar controller and a microphone for $169.99 with stand alone instrument controllers sold separately. Rock Band on Wii will have 63 songs, which includes five bonus songs, but no mention was made of DLC being made available.
Wii Wanna Rock! Look for the Wii version of Rock Band in June.
"The Wii's success among casual and core gamers of all ages makes it an ideal match for the cross-generational appeal of the music featured in Rock Band," says Bob Picunko, Vice President of Electronic Games and Interactive Products, MTV
"The social interaction and addictive nature of the Rock Band experience is a perfect fit for the Wii and will undoubtedly be fun for the entire family," says Steve Singer, licensing VP from Nintendo.
Sunday-March-23-2008
[20 March 2008, Hong Kong] One of the leading game developers and operators in the PRC, NetDragon Websoft Inc. ("NetDragon" or the"Company", with its subsidiary collectively the "Group"; Stock Code: 8288.HK), today reported its annual results for the year ended 31 December 2007 (the "year under review"), in its first annual report since being listed on the GEM Board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited ("SEHK") on 2 November 2007.
In the year under review, NetDragon took advantage of rapid developments within the online game market and grasped opportunities created by strong market demand to actively develop its business, in the process delivering an excellent profit performance. For the year ended 31 December 2007 the Group's revenue was approximately RMB 645,214,000, an increase of 428.6% over revenue for the previous year. Gross profit and net profit attributable to shareholders were RMB608,351,000 and RMB374,837,000 respectively, representing increases of 448.6% and 772 % over 2006. As a result, the Board of Directors recommends payment of a final dividend of RMB0.4 per share for the year ended 31 December 2007.
Explaining the Group's excellent performance, Chairman of NetDragon Mr. Liu Dejian said, "During the year under review, the growth in our total revenue was mainly due to significant increases in revenue from our existing games "Conquer Online" and "Eudemons Online". Revenue from "Conquer Online" for the year was approximately RMB135.2 million, an increase of approximately 164.8% over RMB51.1 million the previous year. Revenue from "Eudemons Online" was approximately RMB448.6 million, an increase of approximately 545.6% as compared with RMB69.5 million for the previous year. Our new game "Zero Online", which was launched in April 2007, recorded revenue of approximately RMB58.8 million, while "Tou Ming Zhuang Online", launched in December 2007, brought in revenue of approximately RMB1.8 million."
During the year under review, the Group achieved a major breakthrough with the establishment of an exclusive cooperative relationship with renowned film-making company China Film Group Corporation. The two parties together developed a new online game called "Tou Ming Zhuang Online" based on the theme, content and plot of the film "The Warlords", which was launched at the same time as the film's premiere. In addition, the Group established cooperative relations with two portal websites, namely Beijing Sina Information Technology Company Limited and Shenzhen Tencent Computer System Company Limited, as a way of expanding its business channels. The Group is also developing three new MMORPG games, to be called "Heroes of Might and Magic Online", "Way of the Five", and "Tian Yuan".
Its dedication led to the Group winning various awards and recognitions during the year. NetDragon was recognized as one of the "Outstanding Employers of 2007" by Fortune. "Zero Online" was described as the "Most Anticipated Online Game for 2007" by QQ.com, while "Heroes of Might and Magic Online" was featured as the "Most Anticipated Online Game for 2008" by the Publishers Association of China. NetDragon (Fujian), meanwhile, was honoured as the "Best PRC New Game Developer for 2007".
As the PRC's online game market continues to flourish, the Group's prospects for further development are bright. According to the China Game Industry Survey Report for 2007 released on 16 January 2008, the number of online game players in China in 2007 reached a record high of over 40 million, half of whom were paying online game players. The number of online game players in China is estimated to double to around 84.6 million by 2011, by which date revenue generated from online games in China is predicted to amount to US?3.05 billion, according to an IDC Report.
NetDragon announced its financial report for year 2007, which was alsos the first NetDragon published its financial report after listing. According to the report, for the year ended 31 December 2007 the Group's revenue was approximately RMB 645,214,000, an increase of 428.6% over revenue for the previous year. Gross profit and net profit attributable to shareholders were RMB608,351,000 and RMB374,837,000 respectively, representing increases of 448.6% and 772 % over 2006.
After publishing the financial report, Mr. Liu, Chairman of NetDragon, commented on the Chinese game industry: "We anticipate that the predominant model for online game operations will evolve into a free-of-charge model, with users paying for value-added services. As for the types of online games we plan to develop, we are looking to attract players by boosting the amusement and excitement of our educational and intelligence games while at the same time improving the aesthetic appeal of the graphics. By improving our core game development capabilities, boosting our operating revenue and expanding our product portfolio, we believe the Group will be able to continue benefiting from the huge market opportunities. "
He also revealed that NetDragon have closed a deal with BVIG, "We will strive to achieve even stronger capabilities in our core game development, for instance by cooperating with international institutions in the future. Our cooperation with BVIG (part of the Disney Group) is a good example. We are engaged in a content development and distribution agreement with BVIG to develop an intelligence game featuring Disney cartoon characters in leading roles, which we plan to officially launch in 2009."
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