Report: PS4 Dev Kits Surface, Details Inside

A new version of the PlayStation 4 dev kit is currently being distributed to developers with the final version expected next year, according to a new report.

Anonymous sources have reportedly told VG247 that new versions of the Orbis kit are winging their way to developers, replete with Blu-ray support and housed in the humble cases of normal PCs.

This is apparently the second iteration of the dev kit; the first, which appeared earlier this year, was in essence just a graphics card, while this version is now a "modified PC". The report asserts that the next update will come in January, when it'll be close to final specifications, with the ultimate version landing with devs next summer.

The shipping of the Orbis kit apparently follows a series of meetings held by Sony in the US this week, where the company explained what the machine was designed to do and how to get the most out of it. Interestingly, at these meetings it's been claimed that Sony didn't refer to the machine as "the PlayStation 4" at all, instead opting to use the "Orbis" title at all times.

The dev kits are apparently based on the AMD’s A10 APU series and come with either 8GB or 16GB of RAM, as well as the Blu-ray drive already mentioned and a 256GB hard drive as standard. This is to ensure that the console will be able to run 1080p60 games in 3D.

The Orbis kits have both Wi-Fi and Ethernet connectivity, as well as HDMI out slots; so pretty much exactly what you'd expect to find on your current PlayStation 3. However, the big reported difference comes with the UI, which has been designed to be more fluid and allow extensive navigation anywhere on the system simply by pressing the PS button mid-game. This was demoed to the assembled masses by purchasing DLC from the PS Store without quitting the game.

No details were leaked about the system's controller. IGN reached out to Sony for comment, but were told the company "doesn't comment on rumour and speculation."

If you're looking for more info on the Orbis, we've dissected the reported components that make up the dev kit before, as well as what it could mean for Sony's prospects in the next generation of consoles.

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Editorial Assistant and lifelong PlayStation owner. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com

Amazon Posts $274 Million Loss in Q3 Earnings Report

Amazon announced a Q3 $274 million net loss in an earnings report today. The poor quarter is no surprise to anyone who followed the LivingSocial meltdown - which contributed to $169 million of that $274 million.

But perhaps the big news is how Amazon used the opportunity to slam the iPad Mini as an inferior device. Starting the section "Highlights" is a lengthy bulletlist, which compared both models of Amazon's Kindle Fire HDs to the iPad Mini.

While there's no hard and fast rule on how a company must report their earnings, starting their quarter highlights by taking a competitor's product to task seems like a weird choice. Why not celebrate the Kindle Fire HD's general release and reception? Also odd: where's the Kindle Fire HD's other competition on that list? Or are they genuinely not worried about the Nexus 7 as a competitor?

What do you think? Should Amazon stick to their own numbers, or is this a classic case of turning lemons into lemonade?

Nic is the Editor of IGN Tech. He loves technology almost as much as the SF Giants, Dogfish Head iPA, and Freelance Whales. You can follow him on Twitter @nicvargus and IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Rumor: 7.85-Inch iPad Mini Enters Production

Make way for the iPad Mini: Apple's smaller tablet has entered mass production in Asia, according to a report at the Wall Street Journal. The new iPad's display will be 7.85 inches diagonally, slightly larger than the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD. It will probably be slightly more expensive than those tablets too; we're betting $300 to $350.

The WSJ reports that the iPad Mini will have a lower resolution than the most recent iPad's 9.7" display, which makes perfect sense, though we'd be surprised if Apple gave it a non-Retina screen just to keep costs low.

Will Apple announce its down-sized tablet this month, in lieu of its customary October music event? And if it does, will you buy one? Let us know in the comments.

Jon Fox is a Seattle hipster who loves polar bears and climbing trees. You can follow him on Twitter and IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Report: Nexon and NCsoft Trying to Acquire Valve

UPDATE: We've just received the following quote from NCsoft, which seems to quash the claims raised by this report.

The company has told IGN that "There is no truth to this rumour."

ORIGINAL STORY: A new report is claiming that two Korean game publishers, Nexon and NCsoft, are currently raising money to try and buy Valve.

According to a report on Korea's JoongAng Ilbo, the companies are generating funds through stock sales and real estate deals after CEOs from both companies met in September to plan an acquisition of the Portal maker.

In June, Nexon bought a $685 million stake in NCsoft, becoming the company's largest shareholder. It's this that the report, which comes from an anonymous industry source, cites as evidence along with Nexon's decision to sell off real estate that the company is amassing cash for something big; supposedly, the acquisition of Valve.

We reached out to NCsoft for comment but were told the company "didn't comment on rumour and speculation."

Earlier this month, reports surfaced that EA had tried to acquire Valve only for Valve co-founder Gabe Newell to share his view that the company would "disintegrate" should it ever be bought.

"It’s way more likely we would head in that direction than say, ‘Let’s find some giant company that wants to cash us out and wait two or three years to have our employment agreements terminate,'" he said.

Thanks, Polygon.

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Editorial Assistant. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com

Report: Kingdom Hearts 1.5 Coming West Next Year

Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix may be coming West in the second half of next year, according to a new report.

Though Disney has yet to confirm the repackaged version of the original Kingdom Hearts and Chain of Memories will be localised, comments made at Goldman Sachs' Communacopia Conference suggest this may be about to change.

“

We start the year right out with a big title "Epic Mickey 2," and another big title that hasn't been announced yet, but coming mid-year, and continuing to grow in the social space.

According to Business Insider, Disney Interactive's CFO Jay Rasulo explained that next year would see two big releases, one of which hadn't been announced yet.

He said, "We start the year right out with a big title "Epic Mickey 2," and another big title that hasn't been announced yet, but coming mid-year, and continuing to grow in the social space."

While Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix has technically been announced, it hasn't been for the West and Business Industry definitely seems to think it's the most likely candidate given that none of the studio's upcoming movie slate really carry enough weight to justify the "big" prefix in terms of game tie-ins.

With Epic Mickey 2 out November 18, it seems Rasulo is referring to the company's financial year which runs from October 1 to September 30. So this means whatever the title is, it should be launching sometime after next March. Which is when Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix arrives in Japan. Coincidence? Time will tell.

Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix was announced for Japan last week at the Tokyo Game Show, and will be released exclusively for the PS3.

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Editorial Assistant and has missed Sora, Goofy and Donald. Bad. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com

Report: EA Sought to Acquire Valve

Electronic Arts was apparently prepared to pay up to $1 billion in order to acquire Valve, according to a new report.

The New York Times claims to have seen a report which lists the various opportunities Gabe Newell has had to sell the company in the past.

"Valve has been pursued over the years by Electronic Arts, which would very likely have valued Valve at well over $1 billion had the talks progressed that far," it explains.

The article goes on to say the claims come courtesy of "two people with knowledge of the discussion who spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks were private".

Why said talks broke down isn't clear, especially given that EA's COO Peter Moore recently voiced his support for the company, describing them as being "on the cutting edge of the future of this industry". It may have something to do with Valve co-founder Gabe Newell, who has apparently long been convinced that the company would "disintegrate" if it was ever bought by another company.

"It’s way more likely we would head in that direction than say, ‘Let’s find some giant company that wants to cash us out and wait two or three years to have our employment agreements terminate,’ he said.

Had the deal gone through, EA would have gotten quite the bargain; Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter estimates that Valve would today be valued at around $2.5 billion, mainly thanks to its Steam digital distribution service. The company is also believed to make far more money from Steam than it does from actual sales of its own games.

This number only looks set to go up, especially with the recent news that the company will be "jumping in" to hardware development.

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Editorial Assistant. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com

Activision Blizzard Sale ‘Still Under Consideration’

A new report suggests that Vivendi is still interested in selling its majority stake in Activision Blizzard. According to CVG, a credible source says the sale "absolutely remains under consideration" and that Vivendi is exploring its options.

CVG also reports that negotiations between Vivendi and Microsoft, who was once considered as a buyer for Activision Blizzard, “have not advanced,” while Sony “immediately ruled out” the idea of a purchase.

Vivendi owns a 61% stake in Activision Blizzard, which it acquired in 2008. Activision Blizzard’s value is currently estimated at $13.4 billion, making Vivendi’s stake worth approximately $8 billion. Due to Vivendi’s current debt, it’s been considering a sale since early June, but was later said to be finding “little enthusiasm” from buyers including Microsoft, Disney, Tencent and Nexon due to the massive amount of cash required to make the purchase.

Later reports suggested that Activision could partner with investors to buy itself back from Vivendi. Activision has only publicly commented on the sale during its second quarter 2012 earnings call last month, when CEO Bobby Kotick said “While we're unable to comment on Vivendi's behalf, we continue to remain focused on strong execution, the delivery of great games and the provision of superior shareholder returns as we have for over 20 years. Our strategy has served us very well in the past and will position us very well for the future.”

The future of the sale is uncertain for now, but while we wait for concrete information to emerge, read our thoughts on what would happen if Microsoft bought Activision Blizzard.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Capcom President: New Strategy Ahead

Capcom's annual financial report has been released, and it contains some interesting information concerning how the company will make games going forward.

In the report, Capcom president and COO Haruhiro Tsujimoto said:

"We launch sales of popular series titles held by the Company approximately every 2.5 years. This is because the development of a single major title usually requires 3-4 years; in the event that there are few hits, it will be difficult to create a series title every year and earnings will be adversely impacted.

"For this reason, it is important either to maintain a large number of popular titles or shorten the sales cycle to ensure stable earnings. Among the multitude of major titles held by Capcom - such as Monster Hunter, Street Fighter, Resident Evil, Devil May Cry, Lost Planet, Dead Rising and many others - we will promote shortening of the sales cycle in pursuit of further earnings stabilisation and growth."

Tsujimoto went onto to describe how this increased productivity will be achieved. Firstly, Capcom will limit development teams to 100 members, with "multiple sequel titles [being] developed at the same time". The Japanese publisher will additionally strengthen its in-house development, increasing its staff by 100 graduates each year. It will also attempt to increase the number of titles released in a single year, "using a hybrid development model whereby the core portions of the project aredeveloped in-house by Capcom and the process-work is outsourced to outside development companies".

While he didn't have much to say about the next generation of home consoles, Tsujimoto did say that Capcom will be allocating around "20 per cent of development investment " into creating new products, including a "new popular next generation franchise".

So we'll get more Capcom games each year, and there will be less time between sequels for its more popular titles.

Are these announcements something to be happy about or do they inspire a creeping fear that quality standards could slip? Capcom seems to be making the right noises, reassuring fans that's its strengthening in the areas it needs to in order to execute this new strategy. But let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Daniel is IGN's UK Staff Writer. His development cycle was roughly nine months. Follow him on IGN and Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com

Report: Details of New Modern Warfare Leak

A possible new Modern Warfare title in the Call of Duty series has been revealed thanks to a leak from Neversoft.

The report, which appeared on Se7enSins, doesn't make it clear whether the game would serve as Modern Warfare 4, or instead slot elsewhere in the series as a prequel.

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It’s another MW game. There’s something called, ‘Drone Survaillance’ [sic]. They’re working on ‘HALO’ jumps (High Altitude; Low X.) There is a level under ice. There is cloaking tech. Something called a ‘Dominator UAV’.

It's also important to note that the report is completely unverified and should be taken with a huge pinch of salt.

Despite this, the Neversoft source has made notes on what they saw, explaining, "It’s another MW game. There’s something called, ‘Drone Survaillance’ [sic]. They’re working on ‘HALO’ jumps (High Altitude; Low X.) There is a level under ice. There is cloaking tech. Something called a ‘Dominator UAV’."

Though it's not a lot to go on, if we don our speculation hat for a minute there's a fair amount to be gleaned. Drone Surveillance seems to tie in with the technology on show in Modern Warfares 2 and 3, especially in the storyline of the latter. HALO jumps are fairly common set-pieces in games these days, but could point to a mission where we're tasked with going behind enemy lines. The fact there's a level under ice really doesn't tell us much... other than one mission could take place anywhere from Russia to Canada.

An alternative to this is it's set during nuclear winter and the game isn't a Modern Warfare title at all, instead moving even further into the future after Black Ops II. The last reported item, a cloaking device, lends credibility to this idea as we've certainly never seen invisibility in the Modern Warfare series so far.

Remember, all of this is just speculation based around an unverified report at this stage, though it's interesting to think what it could mean for the series if true. We've reached out to Activision for comment, and will be sure to update the story once we hear anything.

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Editorial Assistant. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com

Diablo III Has More than 10 Million Players

In its second quarter earnings report today, Activision Blizzard confirmed that as of July, more than 10 million people have played Diablo III. This is up four million from the figures announced after the game’s launch and supports the game’s continued success at retail.

According to an Activision Blizzard earnings call that followed, the company said that Diablo III is the best-selling PC game of the first half of 2012 and once again reiterated that changes are coming to the game in the future. Elsewhere in the earnings report, Activision Blizzard also revealed that World of Warcraft subscriptions are down by more than one million.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Aussie Billionaire Wants a Real-Life Jurassic Park

Notorious Australian business man (and potentially crazed mad scientist) Clive Palmer is said to be attempting to develop a real-life Jurassic Park -- like, with actual dinosaurs.

According to the report from Business Insider (via Sunshine Coast Daily), the controversial and eccentric billionaire has been in serious discussions with the people who successfully cloned Dolly the sheep to work the same magic from dinosaur DNA. Palmer's endgame, naturally, is to let this scaly abomination roam free in a Jurassic Park-type sanctuary at his Palmer Resort in Coolum.

This isn't Palmer's only outlandish project currently in the works. He's also planning to build a 21st century replica of the Titanic. Whether these wild escapades will ever see the light of day remains to be seen, but in any case you've got to admire the man's sense of scope.

So far, Palmer has refused to comment on the rumors of his Hammond-esque aspirations, but if I were you I would definitely stay tuned.

Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love on Twitter and IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Battlefield 3 Premium Passes 1.3 Million Members

EA has announced that more than 1.3 million people have signed up for Battlefield 3 Premium. The news comes as part of EA’s first quarter earnings report for its 2013 fiscal year, and represents an increase of half a million members since EA announced that 800,000 people had signed up during the service’s first two weeks.

Battlefield 3 Premium was announced during E3 and offers all five of Battlefield 3’s expansions for a one-time purchase of $49.99. Premium players also receive unique in-game weapons, priority servers, double XP weekends and new dog tags.

Add-ons featured as part of Premium include December 2011’s Back to Karkand, June’s Close Quarters, Armored Kill in September, Aftermath in December and March 2013’s End Game. All content is available one week early on PlayStation 3.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Report: TomJam & Earl Coming to PS3

SEGA Mega Drive cult classic ToeJam & Earl (1991) and its sequel ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron (1993) could be coming to PlayStation 3.

According to a report on Siliconera,  the games will be released as part of a forthcoming SEGA Vintage Collection.

This would be in keeping with SEGA's recent drive to re-release its back catalogue in HD. Recently, the publisher announced that Sonic Adventure 2 HD and NiGHTS Into Dreams will be coming to Xbox Live Arcade and PSN later in the year.

If you've never played ToeJam & Earl read IGN's twentieth anniversary retrospective of this much-loved game.

Daniel is IGN's UK Games Writer. You can be part of the world's worst cult by following him on IGN and Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com