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Xbox 360 deals: BioShock Infinite, Modern Warfare 3
Today is the final day of Microsoft's Xbox 360 Ultimate Games Sale, and it's going out with a bang, a burst of speed and an "Ode to Joy." First, the bang: BioShock Infinite is 67 percent off ($9.89 / £6.59 / €9.89) today on Xbox Live, joined by Modern Warfare 3 at 60 percent off ($19.99 / £19.99 / €27.99) and Painkiller Hell and Damnation at 80 percent off ($5.99 / £4.99 / €5.99). Two racing games are discounted through Xbox Live today: NASCAR 14 and Split Second. Eutechnyx's NASCAR 14 is 58 percent off ($20.99) and Split Second is 75 percent off ($4.99 / £2.99 / €3.74). The best way for the Xbox 360 Ultimate Games Sale to close is with an Ode to Joy provided by Peggle 2, the lone discounted XBLA game in today's sale. PopCap's popular peg-destroying game is half-off today ($11.99 / £9.99 / €9.99). Remember, the final day's sales are joined by other ongoing deals, which also expire at the end of the day. [Image: 2K Games]
Such livery, very race: Dogecoin car to join NASCAR '14
In its quest to accurately recreate the thrills of NASCAR, developer Eutechnyx has revealed plans to distribute Josh Wise's car in an upcoming NASCAR '14 DLC release - a car that just so happens to bear the confusingly endearing face of doge. Unfamiliar with doge? We don't how that's even remotely possible at this point, but as a quick primer, the online humor researchers at Know Your Meme describe doge as "a slang term for 'dog' that is primarily associated with pictures of Shiba Inus (nicknamed "Shibe") and internal monologue captions on Tumblr." Over the past year, doge has grown into such a beloved Internet fixture that fans of the Bitcoin cryptocurrency developed Dogecoin, a similar virtual currency that bears the adorable, mischievous smile of doge in place of the Bitcoin logo or the face of a long-dead politician. That brings us to earlier this year, when teenaged NASCAR fan Denis Pavel was watching a race and noticed a black Ford with no sponsorship livery to speak of. Given that most NASCAR entrants are equal parts automobile and rolling billboard, this machine stuck out like a sore thumb, prompting Pavel to rally members of the NASCAR subreddit to raise the $50,000 necessary to cover Josh Wise's car in a full-body Dogecoin ad. The livery proved immediately popular, especially among younger NASCAR fans. Seeing this, NASCAR '14 developer Eutechnyx decided to add the vehicle to its racer in an upcoming DLC pack. "As the company behind the NASCAR video games and mobile games, we love to see more technology-oriented partners getting involved in NASCAR," Ed Martin, executive vice president of Eutechnyx, told CNN. "I think it will bring NASCAR to the attention of a lot of people that haven't been exposed before." So far there's no specific date for the DLC release, but we've attempted to contact publisher Deep Silver for further information and will report back when and if we hear anything. [Image: Eutechnyx]
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PSN Tuesday: Awesomenauts, Dead Nation on PS4, South Park on PS3
The PSN update this fine Tuesday includes Awesomenauts Assemble and Dead Nation: Apocalypse Edition for PS4, as well as South Park: The Stick of Truth, Master Reboot and NASCAR '14 for PS3. Vita gets Hatsune Miku Project Diva F, and PS3 owners can now enjoy dragons, prohibition-era crime and the ultimate pessimistic detective with the HBO GO app. We learned about Awesomenauts Assemble late in January, and it includes seven new characters, a new map and "improved" controls, Ronimo Designer Fabian Akker said. It goes for $10 on PS4. For PS3, Master Reboot is a neon-covered, sci-fi horror game dealing with death and computer viruses, and it's $15. South Park is $60, and it speaks for itself.
NASCAR 14 developer lays off 12, cites 'restructuring'
Eutechnyx, the British developer behind NASCAR '14, has dismissed a dozen employees, according to a report by Develop. As Develop points out, this is the second such round of layoffs to hit Eutechnyx in the last 12 months. In June, "about 10" people were released across a number of different divisions. Later that month, Eutechnyx closed its London office. CEO Darren Jobling regrets having to let people go, but states that these dismissals are a necessary part of the studio's ongoing restructuring efforts. "On Friday, we made unfortunately 12 people redundant. It was part of restructuring at the company," Jobling told Develop. "We've made no bones about the fact we wanted to move away from being a work-for-hire developer on consoles to publishing our own titles, so it's highly regrettable that we did have to make 12 people redundant." If there's one silver lining to this story, it's that NASCAR fans need not fear for the sake of NASCAR '14. Eutechnyx had finished development on the racing game long before these layoffs struck, and NASCAR '14 is still slated to reach the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC today. [Image: Deep Silver]
NASCAR '14 revs engines for online leagues, a series first
Just because the cars don't turn any direction but left in a real-life NASCAR race doesn't mean the NASCAR games can't change things up every now and again. NASCAR '14, developed by Eutechnyx, will be the first in the series to allow for players to form an online league. Up to 16 players can form a league and race through the Sprint Cup, according to Sports Illustrated's Extra Mustard. "Without question, this was the most requested feature," Eutechnyx Executive VP Ed Martin told Extra Mustard. "We expect hundreds of thousands of people to be running their own season." Unfortunately, none of those 16 people will be racing on next-gen consoles. Martin said there aren't enough consoles out in the wild yet to justify development costs. "The nail in the coffin was when a guy from Sony talked about Gran Turismo, and how their new game was launching on PS3. He said something like, 'Why would we put Gran Turismo on a console that has zero units in the market when there are 150 million PlayStation 3s out there?'" "It costs us about $6 million to develop a next-gen version of NASCAR. You have to sell an awful lot of copies in order to meet the development costs, on top of all the licensing," Martins noted. "We own the rights, and we absolutely have plans, but it won't be later this year."
NASCAR '14 circling toward Xbox 360, PS3 and PC on Feb. 18
UK developer Eutechnyx has announced NASCAR '14, a new game based on the 'as American as apple pie' stock car racing series license, will launch on February 18. The racing title will arrive for $50 on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. Apart from the standard (or automatic) career mode and licensed everything, NASCAR '14 features a "Highlights" mode, that recreates events from the season right down to exact weather conditions and racer placement. And then you drive in circles, I guess, I'm assuming that's the majority of what the gameplay is, but I'm Canadian, so what do I know? Previously a franchise handled by Activision (and EA before them), the NASCAR licence is now in the caring hands of zombie and dildo-slinging publisher Deep Silver. With Activision out of the picture for distribution, Eutechnyx said it would self-publish the next game in its NASCAR series before Deep Silver jumped on board as publisher.
Deep Silver publishing NASCAR 14 in early 2014, starts cover vote contest
Deep Silver will publish the next iteration of developer Eutechnyx's licensed racing game in early 2014, NASCAR 14. Coming to PS3 and Xbox 360, the game will feature drop-in, drop-out online multiplayer races for up to 16 players as well as online league play with challenges, rankings and "dynamic statistics" support. Players can also play through the game's career mode, acquiring sponsorship and building their cars up to win races. NASCAR 14 is the first entry in the series published by Deep Silver, as Activision handled the distribution of the series since the 2011 release of NASCAR: The Game 2011, which followed EA's cancellation of the series in September 2009. Eutechnyx announced plans to self-publish the series in June, prior to Deep Silver picking up the game's publishing rights. Deep Silver launched a Facebook app to allow fans to vote on NASCAR 14's cover driver. The winning driver will be announced in early December.
