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With Shank now being published by EA, Klei Entertainment is putting the increased development budget to good use — with a trailer! Well, it’s likely there would be a trailer this week anyway, as this week also marks the hyper-violent XBLA/PSN/PC brawler’s appearance at the Independent Games Festival.

The brutal violence may dominate the trailer, but our eyes were immediately drawn to the acrobatics. There’s so much somersaulting, swinging, hanging, and other exciting-looking methods of movement that they even manage to distract us from the usually thrilling shoot-stab-saw combos on display.

See a cut of Shank gameplay originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Speaking at GDC 2010, 2D Boy’s Ron Carmel discussed the game industry’s typical publishing model, why it doesn’t work for independent developers, and how the newly established Indie Fund will fix it. According to Carmel, publishers offer too much money to indie developers and take too much in return, relegating developers to the role of “tenant farmers,” forced into a constant shift between seeking funding and development “until something goes wrong and you can’t find funding and you go out of business.”

Still, Carmel recognizes that publishers are taking the financial risk on projects, so it makes sense that they would see most of the profits. However, even with the advent of digital distribution, which removes a great deal of risk for publishers, developers still see traditional publishing deals — along with the minimal royalties that come with them.

Asked Carmel, “How do we do for funding what Valve did for distribution?” The answer, according to Carmel, is Indie Fund, which will essentially turn the traditional publishing deal on its head. The Indie Fund aims to differ from traditional publishing deals in a few significant ways. The Indie Fund will offer a transparent submission process, make its standard contract details publicly available and provide a flexible development schedule.

Perhaps the biggest bullet point of all, however, is that Indie Fund doesn’t seek to own developer IPs or exert any editorial control over the IPs it funds. It’s also worth noting that Indie Fund won’t actually publish or market the projects it funds. Those tasks are left up to developers, though Carmel noted that the members of Indie Fund would be happy to share their experience in securing distribution deals with services like Steam.

Indie Fund’s contract details aren’t yet available, though the stated goal is for developers to see a much bigger return on projects than they would through normal publishing channels. According to Carmel, the Indie Fund seeks only to recoup investment costs and receive a slice of profits “much, much, much smaller” than traditional publishing deals.

2D Boy’s Ron Carmel explains Indie Fund originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft took yet another step today in convincing us that Windows Phone 7 will be a legitimate gaming platform. The company just unveiled XNA Game Studio 4.0, which, in addition to supporting PC and Xbox 360, will also let designers make games for the new mobile platform. Besides being great news for indies, it also means that you’ll be able to use your gamertag and Avatar on the phone, as well as unlock Xbox Live Achievements.

You can read more about the technical integration of XNA and WP7 on Microsoft program manager Michael Klucher’s blog. Hopefully we’ll have even more details for you as the tech is rolled out during GDC.

XNA Game Studio 4.0 includes Windows Phone support originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jagged Alliance fans have been waiting since 1999 for a new game in the tactical role-playing series — well, those Jagged Alliance fans that are still fans after all these years, anyway. bitComposer Games has acquired the rights to the series from Strategy First, announcing plans to release Jagged Alliance 3 sometime in 2011. The last time anything newish was released from the franchise was last year’s DS port of the first game.

Though bitComposer has taken over development on the series, the announcement doesn’t make it sound like the new studio plans to make drastic changes to the Jagged Alliance formula: “Jagged Alliance 3 will build on the strengths of its famous predecessors and, set against the backdrop of a gripping story, will again deliver the much-loved combo of turn-based strategy gameplay with roleplay elements.”

[Via Gamasutra]

Jagged Alliance 3 due in 2011 from bitComposer originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Don’t even lie! You’re just as excited as any club kid that boundary-pushing pop sensation Lady Gaga is coming to Rock Band next week. So, in the privacy of your living room, break out the tight-fitting pleather and get your jam on (to the tracks you, publicly, tell everyone you hate).

Of course, you could pretend you “accidentally” bought the Gaga Track Pack, when you actually meant to purchase South Park chubby charmer Eric Cartman’s rendition of “Poker Face.” Yup, that lil’ ditty will also be available. See, now you can cover up that undeniable desire to go goo-goo for Gaga with a veil of irony!

Check out the full release list after the break.

Continue reading Rock Band Weekly: Lady Gaga, Cartman’s ‘Poker Face’

Rock Band Weekly: Lady Gaga, Cartman’s ‘Poker Face’ originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Last night, during the — super awkward — Final Fantasy XIII launch party in San Fransisco, Sony’s Rob Dyer took a big shot across the bow of any Microsoft representatives in the audience by promising a pending announcement of exclusive content for the PS3 version of the game.

Today, on PlayStation Blog, Dyer revealed that the PS3 version includes a “secret in-game item” for Final Fantasy XIV — a similar, or perhaps the same promotion offered in Japan. Additionally, PS3 players can enter for a chance to beta test Final Fantasy XIV, which has only been announced for PS3 and PC.

The in-game item might be interesting (baby chocobo vanity pet, please), but we’re not really enthralled by a “potential opportunity” to get in on the beta. A potential opportunity? So there’s a chance that there’s a chance we’ll be able to get into the beta? Well that’s slightly better than no chance of a chance, we suppose.

PS3 Final Fantasy XIII includes ‘XIV’ bonus item, chance for beta access originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Electronic Arts will publish 38 Studios’ first game — which will not be the studio’s interminably tardy MMO Copernicus — the company announced today. The game has been codenamed “Project Mercury” and is being developed by Big Huge Games, acquired by 38 last year. The mysterious, “epic single-player” RPG is under the stewardship of Ken Rolston, former lead of the last two Elder Scrolls titles.

“Project Mercury” is set in the Copernicus universe, created by fantasy author R.A. Salvatore, with artistic direction by Spawn creator Todd McFarlane. Salvatore is expected to speak later this week at GDC. The game is scheduled for release on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC when it’s done.

EA to publish 38 Studios’ first project, developed by Big Huge Games originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In what’s becoming a GDC tradition, Sony today announced an update concerning the PhyreEngine, a free, cross-platform middleware tool offered to developers interested in creating PS3 games. First introduced in 2008, the PhyreEngine has since been utilized in games like Critter Crunch, Shatter and Flower. Today, SCEA has announced the expansion of PhyreEngine compatibility to the PSP.

“We’re very happy to see the continued popularity of PhyreEngine with the global game developer community,” SCEI senior VP of technology Teiji Yutaka said. “PhyreEngine for PSP was developed in response to requests from the game developer community, and we hope that the release of the PSP version demonstrates our commitment and support for game developers on all our platforms.” The engine will be demoed at GDC this week.

The PS3 version of PhyreEngine has been praised by studios like Capybara and Sidhe. Perhaps the PSP iteration will be met with an equal amount of enthusiasm and help bolster the portable development community.

Sony’s free PhyreEngine expands to PSP originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Anger management simulator God of War III cost $44 million to create, according to director of production development John Hight, which is “right within budget.” Speaking with Giant Bomb, Hight revealed that the team of 132 staff required to finish the third installment was more than double the crew (of about 60) on hand to wrap up God of War II, with the biggest growth occurring in the graphics and art departments.

Considering the ultimate Kratos adventure will likely go on to become a phenomenal sales hit, the $44 million budget isn’t as ridiculous as it might seem. Consider that Gran Turismo 5’s budget, at last count, had reportedly ballooned to around the $60 million mark. On the other hand, Ken Levine previously put the first BioShock’s budget at about $15 million. With such variation in current-gen development costs, in the end, the pirce is just a number — and in the case of God of War III, it was certainly worth the dough.

[Via Edge]

God of War 3 ‘right within budget’ — a $44 million budget originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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