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Press Start: Aliens sued, Nintendo explains the Wii U game delays and more(Guardian Web Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) A selection of links, hand-picked by the Guardian games writers. Gearbox and Sega falsely advertised Aliens: Colonial Marines with press demos, according to lawsuit | Polygon Sega and Gearbox Software are the defendants in a class action suit claiming the two companies falsely advertised Aliens: Colonial Marines with unrepresentative trade show demonstrations. The suit, obtained by Polygon earlier today, was filed yesterday in the Northern District of California court by law firm Edelson LLC on behalf of plaintiff Damion Perrine. Citing a number of California civil and business codes, the suit claims that Gearbox and Sega falsely advertised Aliens by showing demos at trade shows like PAX and E3 which didn't end up being accurate representations of the final product. It's doubtful this lawsuit can succeed in its current state – seeking damages for every consumer who pre-ordered the title seem unrealistic, and it's likely all the early footage came with a disclaimer. However, if it does go through there could be serious ramifications for the industry. Could we see fewer actual gameplay demos Or will they be followed by several minutes of voice-over disclaimers, like drug ads on US TV It's unlikely however, that many games will anger purchasers quite as much as Aliens... Nintendo explains Wii U game delays | MCV Nintendo miscalculated the development resources required for its Wii U launch titles, the company's president has admitted. Speaking in a financial briefing Q&A, Satoru Iwata said development of some of its titles had required more resources than it had previously expected, and it was then forced to take developers working on other projects in an effort to complete them in time for the console's launch. Erm, oops-a-daisy Seems like a crucial mistake with barely a year's grace before the arrival of the other next-gen machines – although Iwata puts a brave spin on it by insisting that it was the quest for quality that caused the problems. But if Nintendo had difficulty getting team sizes right on the Wii U, it'll be interesting to see how Microsoft and Sony plan things for their own first-party releases. "The next generation is going to be, possibly for the very first time, the next generation of game design" | Eurogamer.net Great interview with Bulletstorm, Adrian Chmielarz, who has had something of an epiphany about game design: "Why is Nathan Drake a mass murderer " Oh I don't know, but it's the question not the answer that's important. It symbolises a seismic shift in attitudes towards games that may mean, 'possibly even for the very first time', that the next generation of consoles also becomes "the next generation of game design". He discusses his latest project, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter: "a mystery adventure game that sounds dark and violent but will have no combat in it." It looks fascinating. Tackling video games' diversity and inclusivity problems at the Different Games conference | Polygon A report from Polygon on the recent Different Games conference held at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University in Brooklyn: In Richard's study, the subjects noted that non-white male characters tended to be stereotypes, while female characters were hypersexualized. Female players had to deal with gendered insults online, while men often received ethnically charged harassment. The men either became accustomed to the abuse, or decided to preclude the harassment by playing with their microphones muted and forming supportive communities with other friends of color. Harassment, Richard pointed out, is an exclusionary practice it seeks to keep gaming confined to a niche audience of self-styled hardcore gamers. Destruction is the new ragdoll, says Havok | GamesIndustry International Love this quote from Andrew Bowell, product head at physics middleware specialist, Havok: "The way that ragdolls became the last generation thing and everything had to be ragdolls, we reckon next generation, everything's going to have to be destructible. It will be no longer acceptable to walk into a room where you can't punch a hole in the wall or break a table and see it splinter." I can just imagine the gaming forums of the near future: "Uncharted 4 is all very well, but when I tried to punch a hole in Drake's dining table, I couldn't – I'm enraged!" Unreal Indie Bundle offers seven games for $20 | VG247 Epic Games is pleased as punch to present a collection of seven highly-praised indie games built on its popular Unreal Engine 3 platform. The Unreal Indie Bundle is available for one week on Steam, and goes for $20/£15/€18. The games include the excellent puzzler Q.U.B.E. as well as dinosaur shooter Primal Carnage, and action RPG Dungeon Defenders. You can follow Press Start at Pinboard. (c) 2013 Guardian Newspapers Limited. |