Category Archives: Uncategorized

Pretty Sweeede: MachineGames joins ZeniMax

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Ja, we have big news! Sweden-based MachineGames, established by founders of Starbreeze Studios (known best for The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay and The Darkness), are the latest developers to join ZeniMax.

So what’s the team working on? We can’t lift the curtain yet, but we can say that they’re working on a project using id Tech 5: the same engine being used for RAGE.

For more on the news, check out our press release below.

ZENIMAX MEDIA ACQUIRES EUROPEAN STUDIO

MachineGames™ Established by Starbreeze Founders to Develop
Multi-Platform Titles for Bethesda Softworks

Creators of High-Scoring “Chronicles of Riddick” Game will Use id Tech® 5

November 11, 2010 (Rockville, MD) – ZeniMax Media Inc., parent company of noted game publisher Bethesda Softworks, today announced it has acquired a European development studio, MachineGames™,  based in Uppsala, Sweden.

Established in 2009 by the founding members of Starbreeze Studios, the creative team behind the award-winning title, The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher’s Bay (Metacritic score: 90) and the highly-regarded game, The Darkness, MachineGames is working on an unannounced project for ZeniMax publishing subsidiary, Bethesda Softworks, that is being built on id Software’s revolutionary id Tech® 5 engine technology.

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Planet Elder Scrolls Hall of Fame

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Wanted to give a shout out to the recent inductees to Planet Elder Scrolls’ modding hall of fame. Today we look at the mods added for the months of August and October.

Morrowind Mods

Oblivion Mods

Congrats to the modders are their fine work!

Around the web

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Time for another adventure through various reviews, features, interviews, and more. Check out the latest below…

Over the past couple months, we’ve let you know about the Schwarzenegger v. EMA case. Today’s the big day, as the Supreme Court has begun hearing the case. In preparation for the hearing, the The Wall Street Journal featured an article about the case, which actually features our very own Pete Hines.

For more details on the case, visit here. Kotaku already has a writeup on today’s oral arguments.

More news from around the web after the break…

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The Bethesda Podcast Episode 4: Let’s Tango

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The fourth episode of the Bethesda Podcast may not tell you how to beat New Vegas, but it will certainly help a little!

To kick things off, we welcome a new member studio to the growing ZeniMax family. Then it’s on to a long talk with Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide writer David Hodgson, who divulges plenty of hints and tips for would-be wastelanders.

You can now grab the podcast via any of the following methods:

Download Link
iTunes
RSS
Streaming

Tango Gameworks, led by Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami, joins ZeniMax

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Welcome, stranger! Nick here with more extremely exciting news to share. Fresh off the announcement that Arkane Studios has joined ZeniMax comes this crazy bulletin: Shinji Mikami, legendary game developer and creator of the Resident Evil series, has followed suit with his new studio Tango Gameworks.

Mikami’s credits are long and distinguished. Fans will know him best as the creator and longtime steward of the Resident Evil series, which he founded in 1996. Mikami supervised the franchise until directing his final entry, Resident Evil 4, widely considered to be a masterpiece of game design.

Tango will be working on AAA, multi-platform video games, and Mikami will be acting as creative lead on each project. But don’t take my word for it — check out the release below:

CELEBRATED GAME DEVELOPER SHINJI MIKAMI
JOINS ZENIMAX MEDIA

Creator of Resident Evil Will Develop Titles for Bethesda Softworks
Mikami’s Tango Gameworks acquired in latest deal for ZeniMax

October 28, 2010 (Rockville, MD) – ZeniMax Media Inc., parent company of noted game publisher Bethesda Softworks, today announced acclaimed game designer and director, Shinji Mikami, has joined ZeniMax in a deal where ZeniMax acquired Tango Gameworks, the development shop founded and run by Mikami. Best known as the creator of the Resident Evil series, Mikami is a 15-year veteran of the industry who has developed numerous award-winning titles.

“It’s refreshing to find a publisher who understands, trusts, and supports the development of blockbuster games and works to make it a collaborative effort,” said Mikami. “The library of AAA franchise titles ZeniMax owns speaks for itself. We are very excited to be joining ZeniMax and working with a company that is dedicated to creating the best games ever made.”

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News Roundup: New Vegas

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We’re six days away from the release of Fallout: New Vegas, so here’s a look at some of the final previews, features, and interviews you’ll see before you have a chance to play the game for yourself.

At Gamespot, there’s a new feature revealing some of the new Perks for New Vegas — including comments from the team at Obsidian. Above, you’ll see the awesome image for the Cowboy Perk — not to be confused with the Commando Perk. Come on Bennett, let’s party!

Meanwhile, tomorrow at Best Buy’s video site, Live @ Best Buy, they’ll be doing a livestream of New Vegas from an LA Best Buy — where project director JE Sawyer will be playing the game and answering your questions. If you’d like to submit a questions, sign up for our forums and post here.

If Josh doesn’t answer your Q’s during the livestream, you can always ask them to Talking About Games, who will be chatting with Pete Hines on Friday. If you’d rather just read fan interviews TheGamersHub and Gamer’s Guide to Life already have community interview ups. And elsewhere, Planet Fallout’s Blinzler recently interviewed Sawyer. Here’s an excerpt…

What’s the expected playtime of New Vegas – with and without sidequests?

I generally only give my own experiences as a reference point since I don’t want people to be disappointed by a generic game length number. On my last playthrough I spent seventy hours doing the main quest and a large number (maybe thirty five) of the side quests. It’s a big game.

More New Vegas updates after the break…

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Hunted Roundup

Continuing with roundups on coverage, we switch gears to Hunted.

There’s a pair of new interviews with Game Director Maxx Kaufman– courtesy of Coin-Op TV and Sarcastic Gamer (shown above).

And for more on Hunted, check out these links…

As we have more news on Hunted, we’ll let you know. In the meantime, if you have questions on the game, feel free to post them in our fan interview thread.

Watch clips from tonight’s X-Play special

Did you miss the debut of X-Play’s Fallout: New Vegas Special? Whether you were preparing for Monday Night Football or fighting through rush hour traffic, we’ve got you covered. G4TV.com put all six segments up on their website, and just for YOU, we’ve got them here on the blog.

In the video above, Chris Avellone discusses New Vegas’ story with Morgan Webb. And after the break, check out the other five videos –  covering the game’s Setting, Features, Art, Weapons, and Characters.

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