News

Self-styled "game director and alleged psychopath" David Jaffe has kicked off Twisted Metal's marketing campaign in typical style, inviting players to fire an automatic weapon from the comfort of their desks. "I'm here to tell you about the epic return of gaming's most sick, depraved franchise," he says. "It's Twisted Fucking Metal on PlayStation 3, and it's back, bitch." More >

Blizzard Entertainment has requested that the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) block Valve's application for the Defense Of The Ancients (Dota) trademark. In its filing, Blizzard opposes the entire scope of Valve's filing, arguing that Dota, a mod of Blizzard's Warcraft III, has been "used exclusively by Blizzard and its fan community" for seven years, and that Valve's attempt to secure the mark ahead of the release of Dota 2, which is due this year, should be refused. More >

Namco Bandai's earnings and profits rose during the final three months of 2011, despite the strong yen hurting other Japanese videogame companies' finances. While the likes of Sony and Nintendo have blamed losses on the appreciation of the yen, Namco has reaped the rewards of being far less dependent on exports. The company was named the most successful Japanese publisher of the middle six months of 2011, with a market share of over 18 per cent. More >

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim won in five categories at last night's AIAS Interactive Achievement Awards in Las Vegas. Bethesda's sprawling fantasy epic was named RPG and game of the year, and also won awards for outstanding achievement in story, gameplay engineering, and game direction. More >

Hasbro has announced a partnership that gives the company rights to make toys and games based on Zynga's social games. The deal, announced in a press release, will also result in dual-branded merchandise based on both companies' properties More >

This year's Call Of Duty game will bring "meaningful innovation" to the series, according to publisher Activision. The claim comes from Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing, who was speaking during an investor call following the release of the publisher's fiscal results. More >

Bethesda's long-awaited patches for the console releases of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim have been released. The updates fix a host of quest-specific issues, and address the PS3 version's crippling framerate problems. More >

Double Fine's Kickstarter project has raised $1.2 million, three times the amount the studio originally sought from fans to fund development of a PC graphic adventure. The project raised a million dollars within 24 hours of launch, and has more than trebled its funding target with 32 days to spare. More >

California-based Activision Blizzard has posted better-than-expected results for its fourth fiscal quarter and full year ended December 31, 2011. More >

Casual gaming company Big Fish Games has announced an expansion of its Cork office as it seeks to make its catalogue of over 2500 games available on multiple platforms via the cloud and become the Netflix of games. More >

Resident Evil Revelations is the new number one on the Japanese chart, rising one place as last week's number one, Armored Core V, drops to fifth. In between are three new entries: Soul Calibur V at number two, followed by PhotoKano for PSP and Vita title Ragnarok Odyssey. Just sneaking into the chart is Dragon Age II, published in Japan by Spike, at number ten. More >

The Super Mario Bros. X Converse One Star Ox shoe (we're not entirely sure why Mario All Star didn't make the cut) comes in white or black and red with a pixelated Mario sprite and inset yellow star. More >

A modder has made a machinima battle scene using more than a thousand characters in The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim. YouTube user Tyrannicon put together the below video, which features 500 Draugr, 200 skeletons, 500 Dwarven Warriors and a dragon, using mods and console commands. More >

BAFTA has announced the ten games shortlisted for its Game Award, the only one of its annual videogame awards that is selected by public vote. Those that vote for their favourite from the list below can enter a prize draw to win a limited edition Star Wars Xbox 360 with Kinect. More >

Epic Games has announced that it has secured the rights to the Fighting Fantasy series for its iOS development contest, Make Something Unreal. The deal means that the four teams selected to take part in Make Something Unreal Live, a game jam to be held at the Gadget Show Live 2012 in April, will be based on the beloved series of role-playing books created by Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson, specifically The Warlock Of Firetop Mountain, The Citadel Of Chaos, Deathtrap Dungeon, and Armies Of Death. All four games will be released on the iOS App Store. More >

Eric Brown has resigned from his position as chief financial officer of Electronic Arts. Gamasutra reports that Brown will leave the publisher on February 17. He will then leave the videogame industry, joining communications company Polycom as COO and CFO. More >

Tim Schafer's Double Fine studio is financing its new project through crowd-funding website Kickstarter. Double Fine seeks $400,000 for its game, a classic point-and-click currently titled Double Fine Adventure, and has already raised over $300,000 from over 6,000 backers. In return, the studio promises to develop it "in the public eye." More >