Hey there, folks! Welcome once again to another edition of Beyond Co-Op, where Co-Optimus looks "beyond the co-op aspect" and brings you some gaming news that doesn't always revolve around cooperative play. For this week’s take, we have a couple of interesting stories on the gaming industry and how their choices affect us as players, consumers, and even developers!
Minecraft Certification on Windows 8 Won't Happen
Seems like Markus “Notch” Persson”, creator of Minecraft, doesn’t particularly like the new Windows 8 OS platform. Recently heard bashing Microsoft via Twitter, Notch explained that Microsoft sent him an email asking if he would work with them in certifying Minecraft for Windows 8. He promptly replied back with a disgruntled, piercing comment:
I told them to stop trying to ruin the PC as an open platform.
Why the hate from Notch? He believes that the actions of larger gaming companies, such as Electronic Arts, are in fact “destroying” the gaming industry, even though he stated his love of Microsoft earlier this year after achieving a record-setting launch of the Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition on Xbox Live Arcade. "Hey, Microsoft! You might be a big and scary American company that likes secrets and meetings and such, but I love working with you!" Notch stated months back.
The enormous redesign of the platform (launching next month) has accumulated a large amount of attention in the video game industry, but Notch will not be joining them. Since Windows 8 will be a closed platform for developers, he’d rather stick to his guns and people follow right behind him.
I'd rather have Minecraft not run on [Windows 8] at all than to play along," he added. "Maybe we can convince a few people not to switch to [Windows 8] that way.
Source: Gamespot
NBA 13 Live Receives Cancellation from EA
Although the game was aiming to release this fall, EA Sports has decided to scrap this year’s annual pro basketball title, NBA 13 Live. On the game’s official website, Executive Vice President of EA Sports, Andrew Wilson, stated that the developer has decided to trash the game after current builds proved to be “less-than-acceptable”:
Making great games is not easy, and we're just not there yet on NBA Live 13. Having continued to look at the game over the past few days, it's clear that we won't be ready in October. And rather than launch midway through the season, we're going to sit out the full year and stay focused on making next year’s game great.
Despite being “disappointed” that NBA Live 13 will not release this year, he added that EA Sports will remain committed to releasing a worthy product for the next. Game visuals and gameplay tweeking will be a “huge priority” for them as they move the series forward.
This wasn't an easy decision, but it's the right one for our fans," he added. "I hope you'll agree when you're able to play the game next year.
This isn’t the first time EA has cancelled an NBA title either. EA announced that they wouldn’t be moving NBA Elite 11 forward back in November of 2010, thus making Take-Two’s NBA 2K13 the only worthwhile professional basketball game store shelves this season (arrives on October 2nd). Sorry sports fans!
Source: Gamespot
Xbox LIVE Achievement Points Earn Players Rebates/Gifts
Now that lovely number next to your gamertag will mean more to players than just bragging rights. Yesterday, Xbox has announced its plans to offer special discounts and gifts for Gold Members based on their gamerscore. Gamers with a Gamerscore of over 25,000 (cudos to you overachievers!) will get a 2% rebate on future Xbox Live purchases. Moving downward, those with over 10,000 will get a 1% rebate and the rest with over 3,000 will be receiving a “gift” for and on their birthday. Nothing has been announced as to what the gift actually is, but looking at the above amounts of rebates players can get with such a high score, it is likely to be an Avatar Award of some kind.
During this phase of the offer, running through until June 2013, players can maximize their rebate value to 30,000 Microsoft Points (if they literally do nothing else but achievement hunting). To receive your Xbox LIVE rebates or birthday gift, go to this site here and sign up now. Even if your score is abysmal, a little bit of something is better than nothing, people say.
Source: G4TV