X-Men-Destiny
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Joystiq Streams: X-Men Destiny wrecks both future and past [UPDATE: Relive the stream!]
Much as Activision, Marvel's licensing department, and the scattered members of the studio once known as Silicon Knights wish they could, they will never be able to send Wolverine back in time to prevent X-Men Destiny from being made. The 2011 X-Men role-playing game isn't nightmarish-apocalypse-world-ruled-by-manhunting-robots bad, but it's bad. It's short, though! As Joystiq put it at the time: "Its concision almost comes back around to being a virtue, because at least you can quickly move onto something more pleasurable, like selling X-Men Destiny to a stupid friend you hate, or burying a beloved family pet." Oh dunk! Were that sentence a mutant, it would be Iceman. Given our excitement for the release of X-Men: Days of Future Past, our love of spectacularly bad games, and Destiny's merciful brevity, Joystiq is left with only one choice this Memorial Day weekend: we must stream Destiny and attempt to beat it. Starting at 3:30 PM EST, Joystiq's very own Xav de Matos will enroll in Xavier's school for the gifted and attempt to complete X-Men Destiny. The rest of the Joystiq crew will pop in and out of the stream to offer moral support and answer your questions. We may even give away some games. Why not? Joystiq Streams regularly broadcasts on Tuesday and Thursday at 4PM EST. Sometimes, when we get squirrelly, we broadcast bad games on Friday.
Activision pulls several Marvel games from Steam, XBL, PSN
Activision began the new year by removing several Marvel-licensed games from digital storefronts, including the six-months-young Deadpool. The departed Marvel assortment includes Spider-Man games Edge of Time, Shattered Dimensions, Friend or Foe, and Web of Shadows, as well as X-Men entries Destiny, Origins: Wolverine, and The Official Game. It's unclear what prompted the removal from Steam, Xbox Live and PSN, although it was in the works back on December 21, when it was noted on the Facebook page for The Amazing Spider-Man game. Curiously, The Amazing Spider-Man remains on the storefronts, and Activision is still publishing the follow-up tie-in for The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Activision Community Manager Dan Amrich confirmed the removal yesterday, but he didn't provide a reason for the superhero games going up, up, and away. We've reached out to the publisher for more details. The expiration of a licensing agreement between Activision and Disney-owned Marvel is one possible explanation. Upon acquiring the comic book giant for $4 billion, Disney CEO Bob Iger noted his company was considering moving towards self-produced and published games in the coming years. "As these licensing deals expire we have the luxury of considering what is best for the company and the products," Iger said during a 2009 investors' call (via MCV). When Disney closed LucasArts last year, it then turned to EA with a multi-year exclusive agreement to license out Star Wars games.
Denis Dyack speaks up on X-Men: Destiny mismanagement allegations
It may not be the timeliest response, but Denis Dyack is speaking out against allegations that the very poorly received X-Men: Destiny was the result of catastrophic mismanagement on the part of developer Silicon Knights. Dyack recently left his role as the head of Silicon Knights to join Precursor games, developer of the coming Eternal Darkness spiritual successor, Shadow of the Eternals. As Precursor is seeking crowdfunding for the project, and Dyack is serving as its chief creative officer, it seems the company believes he has some 'splaining to do. The allegations sprung from a Kotaku article penned by freelance writer Andrew McMillen last October. In a 30-minute YouTube response, Dyack categorically denies statements made in the article, saying that "there isn't any hard evidence whatsoever besides non-credible anonymous sources." Dyack added that Silicon Knights refused to submit any comments for the article in question, as it would have appeared to lend credence to what he sees as untrue allegations. Dyack then reads a letter he alleges was written by McMillen to an anonymous source. The letter states that McMillen's article was initially refused by Wired games editor Chris Kohler, who cited a lack of facts and documentation, apart from the comments from anonymous ex-employees. Dyack goes on to say that "not only did Silicon Knights not divert funds from X-Men: Destiny to our other projects, which I can't talk about, we actually put more money into X-Men: Destiny than what we were paid." Dyack says he and Silicon Knights worked with Activision and Marvel to make Destiny as good as it could be and, while he's sorry for how it turned out, he says, "We put nothing but our best efforts" into the game. Dyack also admitted to saying some things he "shouldn't have said in the press" regarding X-Men Destiny, adding, "I've learned my lesson." The same mistakes won't be made again, he says. The video goes on to address other concerns, such as Silicon Knights' relationship with Nintendo, and Dyack has also posted a litany of related references on Precursor's forums.
X-Men: Destiny destined for unsure lifespan on Games on Demand
X-Men: Destiny is available from today on Xbox Live Marketplace as part of the Games on Demand program, priced at $39.99. That's despite Silicon Knights being ordered by the US court to recall and destroy all unsold copies of its products using Unreal Engine 3, of which X-Men: Destiny is one. The company was also ordered to cease producing and distributing games using Epic's technology.So what exactly's going on here? Well, the ruling in the Silicon Knights vs. Epic Games case dictates Silicon Knights notifies the US court by December 21 of its compliance with the injunctions ordered. This is presumably to give Silicon Knights adequate time to carry out the required actions; recalling and destroying every unsold copy of X-Men: Destiny and Too Human.So the game newly appearing on XBLM might not contravene the injunctions, at least for now. It should also be noted that Too Human is also currently available on XBLM, while GameStop, Target, and Best Buy all have new copies of X-Men: Destiny listed as available.
Silicon Knights ordered to destroy all unsold games using Unreal Engine 3, award to Epic Games doubled
Silicon Knights is being ordered by the US court to recall and destroy all unsold copies of games using Unreal Engine 3, including Too Human and X-Men: Destiny. The new ruling on post-trial motions for the case between Silicon Knights and Epic Games also saw Epic's jury award upped from $4.5 million to over $9 million.The ruling, dated November 7, also orders Silicon Knights to cease using Epic Games's "Licensed Technology" and remove it from the company's game engine. Furthermore, Silicon Knights has until December 10 to destroy any code built using Epic's technology; the court order includes Too Human, X-Men: Destiny, Siren in the Maelstrom, The Sandman, and The Box/Ritualyst. Silicon Knights must notify the court by December 21 and again on February 21, 2013, concerning all injunctions ordered, and they are to be carried out at the company's expense."Epic Games appreciates the court's careful consideration of the motion and is gratified by the order," Epic Games told us when reached for comment.The Box/Ritualyst represents an open-world horror game initially pitched to Sega but cancelled by the publisher in 2008. As for Siren in the Maelstrom, it was rumored to be upcoming after being outed by a Canadian cultural agency's list of newly funded projects. It's unknown if The Sandman is a project connected to the DC Comics series of the same name.The case began with Silicon Knights suing Epic Games in 2007 for allegedly breaching the companies' agreement over Unreal Engine 3 licensing. Epic in turn filed a counterclaim, alleging Silicon Knights developed its own engine and games other than Too Human illegally by using Unreal Engine 3. In May this year, the court ruled in favor of Epic Games, ordering Silicon Knights to pay Epic $4.45 million in damages.This week's ruling adds a further $4.7 million to be awarded to Epic, with $2.30 million in prejudgment interest, $2.09 million in attorney's fees, and $278,000 in costs.
Report: Eternal Darkness 2 demo part of X-Men: Destiny's woes
According to a report by Andrew McMillen, Silicon Knights was working on an Eternal Darkness 2 pitch demo that distracted the team from X-Men: Destiny during its development.McMillen writes on Kotaku that there were a litany of problems around the terrible X-Men: Destiny, including a lack of direction, technical and publisher issues with Activision, and problematic management from studio founder Denis Dyack."SK didn't take the development of XMD seriously the entire time I was there," says an anonymous former Silicon Knights employee. "It seemed more like a job to get us by, until ED2 could be developed and sold to a publisher - which never happened." Another unnamed source says "SK had about 60% of the development team working on XMD and the other 40% working on ED2," which caused staffing problems and allegedly lowered the quality of the final X-Men release.The piece also alleges that Silicon Knights earned the Activision contract and other contracts by "talking about Eternal Darkness endlessly," so if this is all true the very franchise that got Silicon Knights the X-Men project was the one that helped sink it. Given how certain Dyack has been in the past about an Eternal Darkness sequel, this might be one of several answers as to why X-Men: Destiny didn't get the focus it needed.
Silicon Knights confirms layoffs of 45 employees [update]
Silicon Knights has confirmed the layoffs that were reported earlier this week, though the company has reduced the lost headcount from a rumored 72 employees to 45. Company CFO Mike Mays told the Financial Post this morning that "just under 40" people are still currently employed by the studio, and that the sudden layoffs were the result of a canned project the studio was working on for X-Men Destiny publisher Activision. "We just finished a project with [Activision] that got completed," Mays said. Apparently, the developer had another project that was already "in the works for months" when an unnamed publisher pulled out, but Mays said it directly caused the layoffs. "That resulted in us having too many people so we had to do a layoff," he explained. Mays also noted that SK is in the process of negotiating new projects, and that if things work out, he's hoping to rehire as many people as possible. Update: This post originally stated that Activision was the publisher cited as canceling a project with Silicon Knights, as reported by Financial Post. The source has since altered its text from "We just finished a project with [Activision Blizzard Inc.] that got canceled," to "We just finished a project with [Activision Blizzard Inc.] that got completed." We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.
Report: Silicon Knights cuts staff by nearly 75 percent, from 97 to just 25 [update]
X-Men Destiny and Too Human developer Silicon Knights may be in dire straits, with a report today stating the company is down from 97 employees to just 25. 1UP cites "two credible independent sources" as telling the news site of the massive layoffs over this past weekend. The report seemingly flies in the face of a $3 million Canadian government grant given to Silicon Knights this past July, intended at the time to "create 80 new jobs and protect 97 existing positions." It was also supposed to make SK into a self-published dev house -- something that company head Denis Dyack has continually pushed for. As of this publishing, representatives from Silicon Knights had yet to respond to request for comment. Update: The company has since confirmed layoffs, although the number is lower than originally reported in this piece.
X-Men Destiny review: Destined for failure
Sometimes you read about a canceled game and think, "Oh, that's too bad, that could have been fun. I wish they'd just release what they had finished so I could check it out." Do me a favor. The next time that thought should happen to flit across your mind, remember X-Men Destiny. Because when someone has a cool idea and releases it unfinished, this is exactly what it looks like. %Gallery-130861%
X-Men Destiny launch trailer needs a decision, pronto
We know you've been putting off deciding whether you want to be an evil mutant or a good mutant for a while now; however, judging by the X-Men Destiny launch trailer posted above, you're going to have to make your decision sooner rather than later. (We'd go with evil. Their coffee's better.)
X-Men Destiny trailer encourages choice in your mutanthood
While some folks in the X-Men universe didn't have much of a choice in their particular mutation, the characters of X-Men Destiny seem more than happy to forfeit their boring old humanity for a taste of the wild side. That very choice becomes yours when X-Men Destiny launches next month.
X-Men Destiny preview: Designer genes
Silicon Knights founder Denis Dyack is happy to hear that X-Men Destiny looks unlike many of the games already based on Marvel's mutant universe. "We've been collaborating with Marvel and Activision to do things very differently," he says. In most X-Men games, you pick a familiar hero, like Wolverine or Gambit, and then explore the world from his or her point of view. In X-Men Destiny, however, Dyack and his team have been given free reign to separate powers from characters. Your custom-built hero can play through the RPG-driven side of the game by equipping powers as you would gear. You could combine Cyclops' eyebeams with Juggernaut's charge, or Wolvie's healing factor, all while finding a place in the campaign somewhere between the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants. Unfortunately, while there are a lot of interesting touches in the story and powers system, X-Men Destiny's core game struggles to hold the higher ideas up. The graphics look only marginally better than those leaked screens, and even in the short demo I played the game's combat and enemies teetered on the verge of becoming notably repetitive.%Gallery-128867%
Activision reveals April launch for Prototype 2, September for X-Men Destiny
Kicking off its San Diego Comic Con announcements, game publishing giant Activision today revealed two solid, very different release dates for two hopefully solid, very different games. First up, Prototype 2 will surf victims' bodies into retail on April 24, 2012. A new trailer for next year's sequel is available just below the break, fresh from San Diego. Additionally, a new trailer for X-Men Destiny was released, which puts a September 27 launch date on the next project from Silicon Knights. Given the origin of both pieces of info, SDCC attendees should be aware that X-Men Destiny will be playable at this week's show, while "15-minute live stage presentations" for Prototype 2 will be going off at the Activision booth. Still here? Both trailers are just below -- follow us!
Dress up in the Spider-Man: Edge of Time and X-Men Destiny pre-order bonuses
Clinging to walls? Shooting energy beams out of your eyes? The ability to eat all forms of matter? Boring. Anybody can do that stuff. The important question, of course, is "How did you look while you were doing it?" Knowing this, Activision is offering some fancy duds to those who pre-order Spider-Man: Edge of Time or X-Men Destiny at GameStop. If you want to see them, we've built the fine galleries below. If you want to know what they are ... well, let's just say the Surgeon General has rated that information "Too nerdy to put before the jump." %Gallery-128289% %Gallery-128288%
Nintendo of Europe release list reveals 3D Xevious this month, MotoHeroz in Q3
Nintendo of Europe sent out its schedule for the summer and fall on 3DS, Wii, and DS, and most of the news to be found is related to downloadable games. For example: the 3DS's "3D Classics" version of Xevious is due to arrive on the eShop this month, as is a 3DS Virtual Console release of Mario's Picross. There's a DSiWare version of Jagged Alliance due in Q3, and RedLynx's WiiWare stunt racer, MotoHeroz, is given a Q3 release window here. Nintendo also predicts a September release for X-Men Destiny on Wii and DS, which would suggest that the other versions are due for release at that same time. Peruse the list for yourself after the break.
X-Men Destiny grants Grant new powers
The latest screenshots of Silicon Knights' X-Men Destiny show off some new mutant abiilities, including some kind of earth-shaking punch, rock arms (identified as "density control") and ... some blue sparkles or something. They're modeled by "Grant," a college kid who just wants to play for Berkeley's "Varsity Squad" but instead finds himself destined to have awesome superpowers. Looks like he's going to skip the Varsity Squad and go straight into the Major Leagues of beating up henchmen. The perks of this new lifestyle include a private jet and being called "bub."%Gallery-124229%
Silicon Knights' Denis Dyack still wary of game previews, hints at studio's self-publishing goal
During GDC this past March, I met with Silicon Knights head honcho Denis Dyack under the condition that he wouldn't be discussing the studio's upcoming action-RPG, X-Men Destiny (pictured above). The game is slated for release this year, yet we know relatively little about it -– and we've seen even less. Save for OXM UK, no outlet has published a preview (nor been offered one, as far as I know). I asked Dyack about his outspoken views against the preview process. "In my view, the ultimate model requires our industry to not show games until they are ready," he told me, echoing his past sentiments. "I'm not saying get rid of previews, because previews are a good thing," he clarified. "What I am suggesting is that our industry should not do previews until the game's completed."
Silicon Knights' Dyack on Too Human: 'we do plan on finishing the trilogy'
During the Game Developers Conference nearly two months ago, Silicon Knights head Denis Dyack met with me in a hotel overlooking that week's event at the Moscone Center. He wasn't there to show off his studio's next game -- X-Men: Destiny -- to press, but for unspecified "meetings" with unnamed folks. Spooky. And while we touched on the subject of XM:D during the half hour, the first questions I had for Dyack were about his studio's last major release, Too Human. Primary among them: Is the Too Human trilogy dead? "No, not at all," Dyack told me. "It is still on the table and we do plan on finishing the trilogy." When it came to other questions about Too Human, however, Dyack was far more verbose. With the intention of setting the record straight, as it were, Dyack outright denies that Too Human was in development for 10 years. "It is true that an earlier version of the general 'Too Human' concept was first shown on the PlayStation in 1998, but that was a completely different game than what was released on the Xbox 360," he said. "Among other things, the original concept was a single-player, third-person action/adventure game based on a detective called John Franks trying to discover who had killed his partner." It's a far cry from the Norse mythology-based dungeon crawler we played in 2008.
X-Men Destiny's new character has the power of petulance
Aimi Yoshida is an all-new mutant created for X-Men Destiny by developer Silicon Knights. According to her bio, she "feels only the bitterness and anger of abandonment." She also feels the need to dress like Gogo Yubari from Kill Bill. See what we mean in these new screens.
X-Men Destiny screens leaked (a bit too early, by the looks of it)
We got a bit of background information on Silicon Knights' upcoming Marvel Comics RPG, X-Men: Destiny, last week via OXM UK -- now what are said (and appear) to be screenshots from the game have made their way online. Gamekyo has the shots at the source link, which originated from a slideshow which can still be found on YouTube (until Activision has it pulled, at least). We can't imagine this is the first impression of the game its developer or publisher would like the public to have; it just frankly doesn't look very good at all. Then there's what appears to be one of the new characters created specifically for players to control. He apparently has the mutant ability to look like a model for Ed Hardy. Hopefully the official reveal will cast the game in a better light -- and reveal a better cast.
