Valve Confirms Hardware Development

A job listing on Valve’s site confirms that the company will begin developing hardware. A listing for an industrial designer says “Valve is traditionally a software company. Open platforms like the PC and Mac are important to us, as they enable us and our partners to have a robust and direct relationship with customers. We’re frustrated by the lack of innovation in the computer hardware space though, so we’re jumping in.”

The post continues, adding that Valve is interested in creating new user experiences. “Even basic input, the keyboard and mouse, haven’t really changed in any meaningful way over the years,” it says. “There’s a real void in the marketplace, and opportunities to create compelling user experiences are being overlooked.”

The post specifies that the position will add “expertise in product design and manufacturing, ergonomics, usability, aesthetics, and surfacing.” Candidates are also expected to have “6+ years of professional experience shipping world-class, high-tech hardware products” and “a thorough understanding of product design principles.”

Speculation about Valve’s entry into the hardware market has been flying since March, when rumors suggested Valve was working on a Steam Box console. Valve later debunked the rumors, commenting that the world is “a long way from Valve shipping out any sort of hardware.” Later, a listing for an electronics engineer to work on "platform hardware" emerged, as well as a blog post discussing wearable computing.

We’ve reached out to Valve for comment about the job listing and will update with any additional information we receive.

Thanks to CVG for the heads up.

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.

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Borderlands 2 DLC discounted 25% for those who commit to four-pack

After Gearbox Software's Borderlands 2 releases on September 18 this year, four story campaign add-ons, featuring more missions, enemies, weapons, and locations, will begin trickling onto online distribution platforms at $9.99 a pop. But, those who are planning to pick up these four add-on packs are in luck. 2K Games announced today that it will be offering a Borderlands 2 Season Pass, which will get players all four upcoming campaign DLC packs at a discounted price of $29.99.

2K Games did not delve into the specifics of these add-ons. However, the publisher did say that those who purchase the Season Pass will be able to download the add-ons through the PSN, Xbox Live, or PC as soon as they become available. The Season Pass can be purchased alongside the game when it launches next month.

For more on Borderlands 2, check out our Borderlands 2 video preview or our impressions on the Borderlands 2 co-op.

Source : gamesradar[dot]com

Borderlands coming to PS Plus users for free

Sony announced a partnership with Gearbox Software today that will bring the original Borderlands to PlayStation Plus subscribers free of charge (other than, y'know, the price of PlayStation Plus.)

Borderlands will be coming to the Instant Game Collection feature which will allow subscribers to download the game instantly. The promotion is being timed to coincide with the upcoming release of the highly anticipated sequel, Borderlands 2 which will be arriving next month on September 18, 2012.

The free-Borderlands deal will be unlocked for PS Plus users on September 4, so make sure to clear some space on that hard drive. The only thing we're not too sure about is how many PS Plus players still haven't played Borderlands three years after release. Then again, PS Plus players tend to be the social mavens of the gaming world, shapers of conversation. So even if it just inspires some players to play through it again, it'll likely be worth it for Gearbox.

Source : gamesradar[dot]com

Nintendo reportedly controls 70% of the Japanese gaming market

For the past couple years many people have been chanting the mantra that Nintendo needs to give up the hardware business and transition into a software-only business releasing games on other consoles as well as the iPhone.

However, new numbers shine a bit of a light onto why Nintendo might be a little reluctant to leave their position as a hardware manufacturer. In short: the Japanse games market may be slowly flagging, but Nintendo's killing it. In the latest sales charts from Japan, games on their consoles represented 70% of the Japanese gaming industry. Though it's unclear if those numbers included mobile and PC games.

Nintendo's New Super Mario Bros. 2 on the 3DS is leading the charge with nearly 150,000 sales during the past week, aided in no small way by the success of the 3DS which Wired notes has been at the top of the Japanese charts for quite a while now.

Nintendo's success in the West may be more up for debate, however it hardly seems like it's time for Nintendo to abandon ship and layoff their entire hardware department. They've clearly got a lot more gas left in the tank. That said, the stakes get higher and higher every time Nintendo launches a console, and the whole industry will be watching when they launch the Wii U later this year. 

Source : gamesradar[dot]com

Gearbox: Why Borderlands 2's Story Won't Suck

Gearbox Software knows where the first Borderlands fell short, and in working on Borderlands 2, Lead Writer Anthony Burch can pinpoint precisely why. 2009’s role-playing shooter “feels comparatively lonely because you just don’t have a lot of dialogue pushing you forward and explaining why you’re doing what you’re doing,” Burch says. “Every time an objective changes in Borderlands 2, somebody’s there saying a line of dialogue, explaining why you should care, telling you what you should do next.”

Consequently, the script for Borderlands 2 is five times larger than the first.

Burch is positive about the original Borderlands – a game he had no creative involvement in – but says “there were lots of cool stories that could have been told.” Players responded well to a lot of the side characters, like T.K. Baha, but without reading each piece of mission text they’d never get a full understanding for the substance or subtle humor surrounding them. “There was a lot of good stuff there, but maybe it wasn’t delivered to the player as obviously as it could have been,” says Burch. With a laugh, he continues. “Plus, the ending sucked, and we’ve admitted that a bunch.”

So what’s in that gigantic new script that makes Borderlands 2 so much better?

“Pretty much every new character we have,” he says, giving nods to Tiny Tina and Ellie. “We gave them three to five sidequests to say what their backstory is, what their personality is.” This is especially true of the returning characters – in particular, the Vault Hunters from the first game. “You spend a significant amount of the main plot getting to know who they are now,” says Burch. The Borderlands heroes were about their class, not their character, and most players remember their skill trees more than their personal qualities.

“We have this scary opportunity to give them personalities and have them play off one another,” he continues. Burch and Gearbox spent “a great deal of time” considering “what are their relationships like with each other? How do they treat each other? What have they been up to since the first game ended?”

Communicating with the player using these character interactions, audio logs, radio transmissions, and environmental storytelling is crucial to strengthening Borderlands 2. “It makes you feel like you’re part of a story rather than checking off a bunch of things on a shopping list that are free of context,” Burch explains.

Ultimately, though, Burch would be totally content if you ignored the story and just enjoyed the game. “There's sort of two types of audience member that I have in mind, that I want to satisfy in different ways,” he explains. One of course, is someone who has an emotional response to Borderlands 2. Ideally, that’s awe during an epic scene or laughter at the lighthearted and comedic bits. Burch mentions the recent run of Doctor Who as the touchstone for what he wants to accomplish.

The other audience member “doesn't give a s—t about the story, never gave a s—t about the story in the first game, still continues to not give a s—t about the story. I hope he can go through the entire game, ignore every single line of dialogue I've written, come out at the end of this thing and say, ‘Wow, that game was awesome.’

As long as they don’t “come out saying, ‘Wow, that story ruined the game and I was doing stupid things because the story was taking precedence over the game,’” Burch says, “Then I'm happy.”

Mitch Dyer is an Associate Editor for IGN's Xbox 360 team. He’s also quite Canadian. Read his ramblings on Twitter and follow him on IGN.

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How Sony Won Gamescom Before It Even Started

Microsoft should be afraid of Sony. Before the PlayStation publisher’s pre-Gamescom press conference this week, Sony’s foreseeable software future seemed weak. The PlayStation Vita seemed only to have a handful of promising titles for the remainder of 2012 – LittleBigPlanet PS Vita, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, a Call of Duty game we knew next to nothing about, a Persona 4 remake, and a poorly timed Assassin’s Creed tie-in were the PlayStation brand’s best and brightest. But after displaying a strong lineup of exclusive games on both PlayStation platforms, a brilliant new business strategy, and confidence in risky game ideas, Sony’s future couldn’t look better than it does now.

Gamescom will be Sony’s show. This is bad news for Microsoft, who didn’t even bother to show up.

Sony’s Cross Buy announcement undoubtedly earned it a great deal of gamer goodwill. Buying Battle Royale, the new Ratchet & Clank, and Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time on PS3 scores you a free Vita copy. This is an incredible move for Sony. These are three of its most popular and promising titles, and you can play them anywhere, any time, for one price. Cross Buy puts PlayStation fans ahead of the curve, and rewards them for purchasing PS3 games they were likely to buy anyway. It looks amazing on the back of the box, it’s something people will tell their friends about, and it makes a Vita worth owning for every single PlayStation fan. That’s just smart marketing.

“

Cross Buy puts PlayStation fans ahead of the curve

Until Dawn, Rain, and Puppeteer all represent something astounding about Sony’s initiative toward supporting innovative ideas. Following Papo & Yo, Journey, and many other clever concepts, this trio of games look unlike almost anything you’ve played. Each of them certainly has a niche appeal, but Sony’s willing to risk a limited audience if it means putting exclusive, original games on its platforms. Add in the casual mentions of Beyond: Two Souls and The Last of Us during the conference, and you’re looking at a large stack of Sony-only goods. Oh, and let’s not forget Media Molecule’s cute and creative Tear Away, either.

For the first time since I bought it, I want to play my Vita. A quirky indie game like Sound Shapes reassures me that more great stuff is on the way, and Sony really came out of the corner throwing haymakers. I want Black Ops Declassified because it looks like a true Call of Duty game. Killzone Mercenary is the Sony sequel I want most on the platform I’m aching to play.

Before I came to Gamescom, I played my Xbox more than any other platform. That changes the moment I get back to my living room. All of a sudden, the future of gaming in my life is dominated by a platform I traditionally ignored for my Xbox 360. The level of imagination and accessibility in these original, exclusive games is so much more interesting to me than another Halo game. Make no mistake: I’m thrilled about Halo 4, but it’s the one and only Xbox exclusive I plan to play this fall; the only other two exclusives I can think of in the next few months are Gears of War: Judgment and Fable: The Journey – of those, I only have faith and interest in the former.

Microsoft missed a great opportunity at Gamescom to tell the world about why it should care about Xbox 360, Xbox Live, the fall update, and how it all connects to Windows 8. More importantly, maybe, just maybe, it could have given us a game worth thinking about, investing in emotionally, or getting excited to play with on Surface, Windows Phone, Windows Live, or any other gaming platform it may have on the way. I love my Xbox 360 -- I just want as much a reason to play it as I now have for my PlayStation devices.

Gamescom belongs to Sony, as does my heart. This is a brilliant sign of things to come, and it was all done before the show had even begun.

Mitch Dyer is an Associate Editor for IGN's Xbox 360 team. He’s also quite Canadian. Read his ramblings on Twitter and follow him on IGN.

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Team Fortress 2 Adding Co-op

Valve Software is adding cooperative play to Team Fortress 2. Called Mann vs. Machine, this mode allows teams of six to see how long they can survive against waves of robot enemies who seek to plant a bomb. The craziest part about the announcement, though? That it's coming out for free this Wednesday, August 15th.

The enemy robots you fight are mechanical takes on the Team Fortress 2 crew. For instance there's the Minor League Scout, a bat wielding robot who tries to temporarily stun you. Or there's the Heavyweight Champ, a headgear-adorned take on the Heavy that attempts to beat you down and, per the official website, "attacks in large groups."Additionally, players will have to deal with walking bombs who set out to destroy emplacements as well as gigantic, gun-wielding robots.

The human team, referred to as mercs, will be able to "take advante of breaks between waves to upgrade [their] abilities and weapons." The cooperative mode will include a number of new maps specifically designed to take advantage of Mann vs. Machine.

Anthony Gallegos is an Editor on IGN's PC team. He enjoys scaring the crap out of himself with horror games and then releasing some steam in shooters like Blacklight and Tribes. You can follow him on Twitter and on IGN.

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