Do you want another Psychonauts? So does creator Tim Schafer. Do you have millions of dollars? Neither does Tim Schafer.
News Blips:
Tim Schafer says he's ready to make a sequel to Psychonauts. During an interview with PSM3, Schafer said making another Psychonauts is just a matter of finding a publisher. "I'm ready to do it. I'd love to do it," he said. "It's really a question of getting a publisher who's interested in doing it." Schafer added that the game's fan base has grown over the years due to the game's availability on Steam and through piracy. "So if all these people were going to buy the sequel it would be a big hit," he said. I wouldn't put my faith in pirates if I were a developer, but it looks like their thieving ways might actually do some good for once. [CVG]
Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime says holiday sales are more important to Nintendo than other companies. Speaking at the BMOCapital Markets Digital Entertainment Conference yesterday, Fils-Aime countered claims that the Wii is having a bad year by explaining around half of Nintendo's hardware sales have been made in November and December in recent years. "The holidays are more important to Nintendo than to other manufacturers," he said. "We have a distinct edge when it comes to gift-giving, and it's no doubt because of the familiarity and recognition of both our brand and key franchises." He also argued against the idea that game consoles are slipping in sales. "Some observers might think that five years ago in the glory days of the PS2, Game Boy Advance…could never be matched," he said. "As good as the good old days were, things could and did get much better. Systems designed exclusively for the primary purpose of playing games are doing just fine." I'm guess he doesn't think systems that do everything will do that well in the end. [GamesIndustry.biz]
Analysis reveals Microsoft's Kinect device costs around $56 to produce. EETimes broke down the camera's components and found it cost nearly a third of its $150 retail price. Allan Yogasingam, a technical marketing manager at UBM TechInsights, said much of the device's technology can be credited to chip developer PrimeSense. "They’ve provided the most innovative portion of the Kinect with their image processor, audio and video interface," he said. Yogasingam added that Kinect's potential is impressive and could be applied to other devices. "I can see this being incorporated into televisions — allowing users to change the channel by waving their hand, essentially replacing the remote control." I'm sure the guy is really tech savvy, but that sounds like a horrible replacement for a TV remote.
Treyarch releases patches for Call of Duty: Black Ops' multiplayer and details future fixes. Today's patches for the PC version of the game improves performance for dual- and quad-core processors, but other fixes for both PC and consoles are for minor glitches and bugs. Josh Olin, Treyarch's community manager, detailed some of fixes on the game's forums, including instances of map clipping and infinite killstreaks. He listed plans for future patches to fix matchmaking and stat-tracking problems as well. "We are listening to you and we’ve been busy working on updates based on feedback from the community," Olin said. "We have already deployed a number of updates, and there will be many more to come." I can understand having matchmaking issues when millions of people suddenly start playing your game, but why were there still clipping issues in the final product?
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