EA takes helm from LucasArts, will exclusively develop future 'Star Wars' games[Disney] has announced that it has signed an exclusive, multi-year deal with Electronic Arts to develop games based off the franchise. Game developers DICE, Visceral, and BioWare will work on titles that are based in the Star Wars universe. The three developers are known for titles like Battlefield 3, Dead Space, and Star Wars: The Old Republic, respectively.
EA's Frank Gibeau said in a press release that the games will be "entirely original with all new stories and gameplay," though they "may borrow from films." He added in a separate blog post that the Frostbite 3 engine, which will power next-generation titles like Battlefield 4, will be behind every new Star Wars game. The deal doesn't give EA complete control over all Star Wars video game titles: Disney will hold onto the rights to develop and publish titles in the "mobile, social, tablet and online game categories."
http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/6/4306040/electronic-arts-gets-exclusive-deal-to-develop-star-wars-video-gamesNever touched any of the Battlefield games, so I'm not sure how well that can translate for presumeably Battlefront III. BioWare retaining its pieces should surprise no one.
The Sims 4 announced, always-on netcon not requiredEA?s put up an official announcement post on its website -
?The Sims franchise is fueled by the passion and creativity of its millions of fans around the world. Their continued devotion to the franchise ignites the fire of creativity of the team at The Sims Studio, driving them to continually improve and innovate on one of the world?s most successful simulation game that has sold more than 150 million copies worldwide.?
TheSimsHub, a Sims fan site, has put up an extended version of EA?s announcement which reveals that the game won?t require players to be connected to the internet in order to play it.
?The Sims 4 celebrates the heart and soul of the Sims themselves, giving players a deeper connection with the most expressive, surprising and charming Sims ever in this single-player offline experience,? it reads. ?The Sims 4 encourages players to personalize their world with new and intuitive tools while offering them the ability to effortlessly share their creativity with friends and fans.?
http://www.vg247.com/2013/05/06/the-sims-4-announced/Well this is good news. Not only does it look like they learned their lessons from SimCity, this runs counter to former CEO Riccitiello's idea of shoehorning multiplayer into every future EA game.
Next-gen EA games will skip Wii U due to performance issues with Frostbite engineEA's Frostbite 3 engine, which underpins many of the company's next generation titles, looks like it won't support Nintendo's Wii U. Johan Andersson, Technical Director of the Frostbite project at EA DICE, says the company tested Frostbite 2 on the console and found the results to be "not too promising," to the point where it "chose not to go down [the] path" of porting the next version.
http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/08/ea-frostbite-nintendo-wii-u/Well if you're a Wii U owner, this is shit news. It's beginning to look like the Wii U will be very much like the GameCube where most of the major titles are from Nintendo's own franchises.
