Nintendo of America has hired Scott Moffitt as Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing, filling the role that Cammie Dunaway vacated. Before landing this gig he worked at Pepsico and then Henkel Consumer Goods. If I remember correctly Iwata stated Pepsi as an inspiration for his "blue ocean" strategy. If Pepsi couldn't beat Coke in the cola department they had to diversify their offerings to compete, which is exactly what lead Nintendo to success with the DS and Wii. I can't wait to see what Mr. Moffit brings to the table at Nintendo's e3 conference this year, now confirmed for 9a.m. PST June 7 at LA's Nokia Theatre.
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Blizzard's Mike Morhaime gave Diablo fans some great news during Activision's quarterly earnings call. He said had this to say about the status of the long awaited sequel, "We began internal company-wide testing last week," Morhaime confirmed. "The game looks great, and we're currently targeting a Q3 launch for external beta testing." He also said that they wanted to release the game by the end of the year, but lets not get ahead of ourselves. This is Blizzard we are talking about here, we will see the game when it is ready.
Originally announced as an episodic downloadable title, Rayman Origins is now hitting retail this Fall. Game Informer reports that the game features four-player local co-op and will be accessible to players of all skill levels. I am glad to see Ubisoft chancing a retail release, I hate the fact that most gamers equate 2D games to downloadable titles. As New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Donkey Kong Country Returns have shown, you can do quite well if you bring quality 2D games to retail.
Update: Gamestop's release calendar now has Rayman Origins listed for Wii and DS as well. Earlier today there were reports that EA had early development kits for Microsoft's next gaming console and the company was planning to announce it at next month's e3. I didn't bother to post this because it wasn't realistic at all. After all, Microsoft just started staffing for the concept phases a couple of months ago. Jeff Brown, EA's director of corporate communications, told IGN that the story was "a total fabrication -- 100 percent not true." I can see how Xbox fans would hope this news to be true, but it turns out that's all it was- wishful thinking.
Level 22 Expo, the U.S.' first traveling gaming expo, has announced their first tour location. They will be taking Louisville, KY by storm on September 10 & 11 at the Kentucky Expo Center. The expo will bring over 50,000 square feet of exhibitor space with over 200 exhibitors at each tour stop. Another 50,000 square feet of space is dedicated to tournament play. Gamers can suggest which games are played at each stop through the Level22Expo.com website. The tour is also scheduled to come through Philadelphia, PA and Memphis, TN later this Fall, with many more cities planned for 2012. There's a chance I might drop by when they stop in Philly, the event sounds like it could be a really good time. UGO Entertainment, including 1UP.com, was acquired by IGN Entertainment in a deal that creates what is now the largest gaming news network on the internet. I hope this leads to even more excellent reviews like the ones they put out for GTA IV and Dead Space 2. I'm just kidding, those were terrible reviews. In case you are not sure what I am talking about, I suggest you check out IGN's review of GTA IV for gross hyperbole about the quality of its story, and Dead Space 2's review for a prime example of quality writing. Maybe this move will help keep IGN relevant just a while longer, but I doubt it considering how blatant they are about being bought off by large publishers.
Treasure's rare Sega Saturn beat-'em-up, Guardian Heroes, is coming to XBLA this Fall. It will feature HD 2D visuals, online co-op and battle modes, and best of all not cost you an arm and a leg. Treasure has been confirmed as the developer of this port, and it will feature the original Sega Saturn graphics in high resolution.
Atlus has sent out yet another batch of interesting Catherine screenshots. I absolutely love how weird this game is. There is a Deluxe Edition of the game called "Love Is Over" available for $80 that comes with a pair of polka dot boxers packaged in a pizza box. There is also a nice pre-order bonus, an art book and soundtrack CD that is valid for both PS3 and Xbox 360 versions at participating retailers. Look for this wacky puzzler in stores July 26th. More screens after the break.
Techno Kitten Adventure was originally exclusive to the "Xbox Indies" marketplace, but can no longer be contained on one platform alone. Developer Elite Gudz hopes to find a larger fan base by releasing an updated version of the game for iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and Windows 7 Mobile. The game will be available on June 7, 2011, with Android following shortly after. The Xbox version will also be upgraded with the new levels, graphics, music and features available in the mobile versions. Source: Press Release Black Rock Studios, developer of racing favorite Split/Second, will be letting go around 40 employees this morning. The goal is to cut the studio down to a single team. The developer pitched a sequel to Split/Second to publisher Disney Interactive who shot down the project in its early stages. Since then Black Rock Studios hasn't had any projects to work on. Disney Interactive has been showing signs of wanting to get out of the gaming industry entirely, going as far as to cut a number of employees from Junction Point, the developer of the million plus selling Epic Mickey. I hope everyone effected by these layoffs finds work quickly, they are a talented bunch at Black Rock.
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