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Layoffs at Defiance dev up to 80% of its workforce cut….
Defiance developer Trion Worlds enacted a round of major layoffs today, according to sources speaking with IGN. The site has heard that as much as 80 percent of the company has been let go.
The bulk of the layoffs reportedly came at Trion Worlds’ San Diego, California outfit, where Defiance is in development. A source added that senior leaders may not receive severance packages due to “undelivered services.”
The layoff rumors come a week after SyFy ordered a second season of Defiance the TV show and Trion Worldslaid out extensive downloadable content plans for the game.
Defiance has more than 1 million registered players.
Trion Worlds also has US offices in Redwood Shores, California and Austin, Texas. In addition, the company operates a studio in London, England.
Trion Worlds could not be reached for comment at press time.
Credit GameSpot for breaking this story
EA gets exclusive rights to make Star Wars Games. Is Disney trying to save EA?
Electronic Arts and The Walt Disney company today announced a new multi-year exclusive agreement to develop and publish new games based on Star Wars characters and stories.
As part of the agreement, EA will create new Star Wars titles for a “core gaming audience.” These games will span “all interactive platforms” and “the most popular game genres.” Disney, meanwhile, will retain rights to create new Star Wars games for mobile, social, tablet, and online markets.
“Every developer dreams of creating games for the Star Wars universe,” EA Labels president Frank Gibeau said in a statement. “Three of our top studios will fulfill that dream, crafting epic adventures for Star Wars fans.”
Battlefield studio DICE and Dead Space outfit Visceral Games are currently making new Star Wars games, joining BioWare, which will continue to support Star Wars: The Old Republic. The new games from DICE and Visceral will run on the Frostbite 3 engine.
“The new experiences we create may borrow from films, but the games will be entirely original with all new stories and gameplay,” Gibeau said.
Financial terms of the EA-Disney deal were not disclosed. EA will report earnings tomorrow after market close, where more information about the deal is expected to be divulged.
Looks to me like two big game studios that are in trouble are trying to save each other. But will consumers and fans buy the product? That remains to be seen.
Credit to GameSpot for breaking this story.
Breaking News EA Shuts Down Partners Label. What does this mean for those already in the program?
Report’s have emerged claiming that the EA Partners label–which is designed to bring third-party games to market–is shutting down.
Breaking News Update. We are working to get a statement from EA and 6 of the studios this will directly affect.
In other breaking news, EA is reportedly closing TIBURON in Orlando Florida.
Reports have the studio relocating to Austin, Texas. And have it coming under the EA Brand and no longer using the Tiburon Name.
Stay tuned for more updates and Breaking news
Photos of the Boston Bombers Released
Photos of the persons believed to set off the bombs in Boston.
If you recognize either of these suspects please contact the FBI at 1800 CALL FBI
Suspect Arrested in Boston Bombings “breaking news”
An arrest has been made in the Boston bombings investigation based on two videos showing images of the suspect, a federal law enforcement source told CNN’s Fran Townsend.
[Breaking news update at 1:28 p.m. Wednesday ]
Boston University graduate student Lingzu Lu has been identified by the school as the third person who died in Monday’s bombings at the Boston Marathon.
[Original story, posted at 1:11 p.m. Wednesday]
(CNN) — Investigators believe they have identified a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings, a source who has been briefed on the investigation told CNN’s John King exclusively.
The breakthrough came from analysis of video from a department store near the site of the second explosion. Video from a Boston television station also contributed to the progress, said the source, who declined to be more specific but called it a significant development.
Earlier, a federal law enforcement source with firsthand knowledge of the investigation told CNN that a lid to a pressure cooker thought to have been used in the bombings had been found on a roof of a building near the scene.
While such clues may move the investigation forward, they did not reveal whether the attack was an act of domestic or foreign terrorism.
“If your experience and your expertise is Middle East terrorism, it has the hallmarks of al Qaeda or a Middle East group,” former FBI Assistant Director Tom Fuentes said. “If your experience is domestic groups and bombings that have occurred here, it has the hallmarks of a domestic terrorist like Eric Rudolph in the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics bombings.”
FBI will try to rebuild Boston bombs, Breaking TGP TV News, More Evidence found
On their own, they’re simple household items.
Pressure cookers. Nails. Nylon bags.
But combine them with explosives, and you can get the kind of bombs that investigators now suspect were used to turn the finish line of the Boston Marathon into a bloody nightmare.
Scraps of them found at the scene of the twin bombings are being sent to the FBI’s national laboratory, where technicians will try to reconstruct the devices, the federal agent leading the investigation said Tuesday. Meanwhile, investigators combed through a digital mountain of photos and video clips and asked the public for help finding who planted them at two points on Boylston Street.
“Someone knows who did this,” said Rick DesLauriers, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston office. “Cooperation from the community will play a crucial role in this investigation.”
DesLauriers asked people to report anyone who talked about targeting Monday’s race or showed interest in explosives. He urged anyone who might have heard the sounds of explosions in remote areas — possibly by someone testing a bomb — or saw someone carrying “an unusually heavy, dark-colored bag” around Monday to come forward.
There has been no claim of responsibility, DesLauriers said. “The range of suspects and motives remains wide open,” he said.
The U.S. government has warned federal agencies in the past that pressure cookers — airtight pots used to quickly cook or preserve foods — have been packed with explosives and shrapnel and detonated with blasting camps. A law enforcement official said Monday’s bombs were likely detonated by timers. Read the rest of this entry
NJ task force recommends game regulation “Yes folks it must be games that made them do it… REALLY??”
This is a story that I originally found on GameSpot, And it has relevance in everything that is going on in Games today. While I do not agree with the arguments the State of New Jersey is making, I believe both sides should have a voice, And I will listen as I am doing now before giving my side, Or the other side of the coin.
The New Jersey SAFE Task Force has released a comprehensive report calling on Republican Governor Chris Christie to regulate games sold in the state, increase educational efforts about games, and review violent media overall as a means to help stamp out mass violence.
“The interactive nature of video games, as opposed to other forms of media, may dictate particular regulation of such games,” the group wrote.
The first regulatory action the group recommends is requiring minors be accompanied by an adult when purchasing games with an M or AO rating, as judged by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB). The task force also recommends a “request for identification” for the sale or rental of games with M or AO ratings.
On top of this, the group seeks to require game retailers to “conspicuously” display ESRB ratings at the point of sale. These retailers should also develop, maintain, and display their own policy on selling M or AO games, the group said.
Another bullet point on the task force’s recommendation list to Christie is the removal of violent games from state property, namely highway rest areas. The appropriate authority with jurisdiction over such property should “consider the practicality and feasibility of regulating those video games to ensure that violent games are not made available to children,” the group wrote.
The New Jersey SAFE Task Force also would like to see the state conduct a review concerning whether or not violent media is inappropriately marketed to young people.
“Specifically with regard to violent video games, the Task Force encourages the appropriate agency to explore the question of whether retailers should be required to label video games with stickers, in addition to the ESRB rating symbol, to make clear the appropriate age range for a particular video game,” the group said.
Concerning education, the task force said it recommends that the Department of Education (or another appropriate agency) help educate parents about how to make “healthy” media choices for their children. On top of this, the group said it advises industry associations within the state to conduct a comprehensive public information campaign to bolster understanding of media ratings systems.
“Our recommendations are provided cognizant of the fact that violent media has received a great deal of blame for youth violence in the recent past, but most people agree that exposure to media violence alone does not cause a child to commit a violent act,” the group wrote.
“While several major public health organizations have voiced their shared conviction that exposure to violent media leads to more aggressive attitudes, values and behavior, they have also acknowledged that it is not the sole, or even the most important, factor contributing to youth aggression, anti-social attitudes, and violence,” the statement goes on.
Recommendations for action regarding video games are just one part of the task force’s five-chapter, 83-page report to Christie. Other highlights include calls for new gun control measures, new strategies to combat urban violence, various mental health initiatives, and new school safety guidelines.
Christie is in no way bound to follow through on any of the recommendations, as the report is first and foremost a guide to help the governor prioritize these initiatives he feels are most appropriate and pressing.
One of the report’s recommendations is already being acted upon. Following the publication of the report, assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Middlesex/Somerset/Union) announced plans to introduce a bill that would ban video games containing mature and adult content in public places.
“Games that are meant for older, more mature audiences have no place in places where children can easily access them. Video games alone do not influence violent behavior, but they can play a role. Some of the most prolific mass shootings not just in this country, but in the world had links to violent video games,” Stender said in a statement.
“The longer a child is exposed to video games where killing is the sole objective, the greater the chance that he or she will become numb to this type of behavior and even consider it acceptable. This bill would ensure that video games with graphic adult content would not be available to children who are not old enough to make a distinction between fantasy and reality.”
If signed into law, the legislation would prohibit M- and AO-rated games from public spaces and carry a fine of no more than $10,000 for a first offense and no more than $20,000 for any subsequent offense. On top of the monetary fines, a violation could result in cease and desist orders from the Attorney General, punitive damages, and the awarding of treble damages (three times the amount), and cost to the injured.
Stender’s bill is not the only such piece of game legislation to go before the New Jersey Assembly. Earlier this month, republican state lawmakers Sean Kean and Holly Schepisi introduced a bill that would make unlawful the sale of an M- or AO-rated game in the state to any person under the age of 18 without parental consent. In this case, consent means the purchaser’s parent or guardian is present during the transaction and consents to the sale either verbally or through writing.
The bill specifies that anyone caught selling such games to minors would have committed an unlawful practice, which under the Consumer Fraud Act is punishable by a penalty of not more than $10,000 for a first offense and not more than $20,000 for any subsequent offense. Violators could also face further legal action from the state Attorney General, similar to Stender’s legislation listed above.
Video games have been a much-discussed topic since December’s Connecticut schoolhouse massacre. A reportedly “deranged gamer” killed 20 children and six adults before taking his own life on December 14 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. Most recently, Democratic California Senator Dianne Feinstein argued that violent games can serve as simulators for would-be mass murderers.
