附带一提,IMAGEEPOCH 最后一款经手开发的游戏 NINTENDO 3DS《星光闪耀(ステラグロウ)》尚未发售,将在 6 月 14 日由 SEGA 发行。
Imageepoch Have Begun Bankruptcy Procedures
While there still hasn’t been any word on the disappearance of Imageepoch CEO Ryoei Mikage, it’s been revealed that the company, alongside their affiliate company Smile Online Games, filed for bankruptcy earlier this month, according to a report from corporate research provider Teikoku Databank.
The report indicates that Imageepoch and Smile Online Games began bankruptcy procedures on May 7th at the Tokyo District Court. The case will be administrated by a lawyer named Tsuyoshi Nakano. The two companies will have until June 4th to report their credit, and are scheduled to have a property advisory meeting on July 30th at 10am JPT.
Since its founding as a development company in 2004, Imageepoch have produced titles such as Time and Eternity, 7th Dragon, Black Rock Shooter: The Game, and more. The developers boasted a 1.7 billion yen of profit, which was revealed during their annual income back in September 2011.
In two years, the company saw a significant drop in profits, as the annual income figure dropped down to 400 million yen by September 2013, largely due to problems regarding high development costs and sales not going as expected.
Without being able to make a recovery, Imageepoch have stopped a substantial amount of their activities. At the moment, Teikoku Databank reports that Imageepoch are in a debt of around 1.1 billion yen that is owed to about 43 different creditors. Meanwhile, affiliate company Smile Online Games is in debt of 3 million yen owed to five creditors. Together, they’re in a debt of 1.103 billion yen between the two companies.
While this isn’t a confirmation by any means, it’s safe to assume that Imageepoch’s vast debt has something to do with the company CEO Ryoei Mikage’s sudden disappearance. You can read more about that in our earlier report.
ARK: Survival Evolved Confirmed for June 2 Early Access Release
ARK: Survival Evolved Confirmed for June 2 Steam Launch Date With Bonus TSL Bling Gift
Studio Wildcard confirmed today that the island of ARK: Survival Evolved will open its gates Tuesday, June 2, onto Steam’s Early Access, merely three weeks after announcement of the game. The veteran team at Studio Wildcard is working fervently to make the immersive open-world dinosaur survival game that has been dreamed of for so long by so many gamers. Will you join us on ARK?
From the 70-plus species of prehistoric creatures roaming the island, five new ARK dinosaurs and their abilities were revealed today: Dilophosaurus, Sabertooth, Titanoboa, Coelacanth, Pteranodon. We've added new screenshots and a special TSL bling shot, too!
ARK Digest #2 with game content updates and commentary on the dinosaurs is now live on the ARK Steam forums here.
In celebration of ARK: Survival Evolved’s public opening on Steam, Studio Wildcard is giving a special invitation to all Steam players who were stomped on by The Stomping Land. As a way of saying welcome to their new dinosaur home on ARK, all owners of TSL will automatically receive an exclusive "Stomped Land Bling Shades" cosmetic accessory for riding around in style on their Tyrannosaurus Rex, something that Stomped players have been waiting to do for a long time. [For the record, no Studio Wildcard dev had anything to do with that game! Just sympathetic ;)]
Powered by Unreal Engine 4, ARK: Survival Evolved takes on the survival genre with a unique blend of emergent multiplayer cooperation and competition. Players awake naked and starving on the beach of a mysterious island called ARK among a herd of other confused humans. They must then hunt, harvest, craft, research technology, and build shelters to protect against scorching days, freezing nights, volatile weather systems, dangerous wildlife, and potential enemies. Tame and ride one of 70-plus amazing dinosaurs and other prehistoric beasts, including gargantuan creatures on a scale never before seen in video games! Fly a Pterodactyl squadron over snow-capped mountains, race through the deep jungle with your pack of trained Raptors, tromp through a fortified enemy base along a convoy of gigantic Brontosaurus, or chase down prey on the back of a raging T-Rex.
ARK: Survival Evolved will launch in 2016 on PlayStation 4 with Project Morpheus support, Xbox One via the ID@Xbox program, and Steam, including Oculus Rift VR support and a thorough integration of Steam community features such as Steam Economy and Steam Workshop for custom maps and mods. Players will also be able to host private/LAN servers, and have access to a custom-built version of the Unreal 4 Editor for creating mods. The world of ARK is designed to be player-oriented and ever-expanding!
To join our tribe of growing ARK: Survival Evolved survivors, journey over to the Steam page for detailed feature list and weekly reveals of new dinosaur dossiers, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, subscribe to us on YouTube, visit the Website at playark.com and watch us tame and train leviathan dinosaurs on Twitch.TV.
Pac-Man 256 Announced for Smartphones, Coming Summer 2015
Crossy Road Makers Partner with Namco for Pac-Man 256
Famed publisher and developer, Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe, announced its latest project: Pac-Man 256! Developed by Hipster Whale (Crossy Road) and Bandai Namco Studios Vancouver, this free-to-play game will be available for smartphones and tablets in summer 2015.
Pac-Man 256 allows players to enjoy a brand new genre of Pac-Man games; the iconic character created by Namco in 1980 will star in an endless maze chased by the infamous “256 Glitch”! Hipster Whale and Bandai Namco Studios Vancouver have perfectly recaptured creator Iwatani Toru’s original Pac-Man universe for a modern day mobile experience. Players can expect to encounter plenty of Pac-Dots, Power Pellets, and the notorious ghost ensemble: Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde.Pac-Man 256 will also feature coins, power-ups and more to spice-up the thrilling pursuit.
“The gaming industry keeps on growing massively on a daily basis and we, at Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe, are proud to be pioneers of this with some of the biggest licenses out there! This year, we are celebrating Pac-Man’s 35th Anniversary and we couldn’t miss such an opportunity: we decided to create a brand new exciting game with Hipster Whale and Bandai Namco Studios Vancouver. This results in a stirring game based on some elements that made history. Join us in celebrating Pac-Man’s anniversary!” said Tatsuya Kubota, Head of Mobile & Web Gaming at Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe.
“We are thrilled to be working with the creators of the huge hit Crossy Road in creating a new Pac-Man game for his 35th Anniversary. We’re already seeing incredibly strong, hooking gameplay in the early prototypes, and cannot wait to share this experience with everyone!” said Daisuke Hattori, Project Manager of Pac-Man 256 at Bandai Namco Studios Vancouver.
Hipster Whale Director, Matthew Hall, who was just five years old when Pac-Man was born, shared his enthusiasm about Hipster Whale collaborating with Bandai Namco on 256. “Playing Pac-Man in a seaside arcade in 1980 is one of my earliest memories. It is an incredible honor to be able to contribute to one of the most iconic video game franchises in history. Our game, Pac-Man 256, takes the infamous ‘glitch’ level of Pac-Man and builds upon this to become a unique game that retains the retro spirit of the original.”
Greetings, amigos! This is Crystal here coming at you from not-so-sunny Melbourne, Australia to bring you the latest Wander update. The first bit of exciting news is (drumroll…) our release date! Those of you who are overcome with desire to explore the lush forests, beaches, and ocean of Wander will be thrilled to know that it launches on PS4 June 4th.
Next up is something we’re all pretty excited about, and that is our newest trailer! Featuring all four of the forms players can discover in the game — including the beautiful and agile hira, who is being introduced here officially for the very first time — as well as eye-popping shots of the vast and majestic scenery players can explore.
While we were at it, we’ve added a little bit of narration as well just for good measure. Feast your eyes on this, and get ready to wander!
Since our time is nearly at hand, we’ve been working hard to develop tons of awesome new features, such as polishing the griffin flying experience to a high-gloss sheen. Anyone who thinks flying will simply be a matter of just pressing a button to get from point A to point B is in for a pleasant surprise, as it will require a little bit of skill and practise to master.
Luckily, practicing flying is ridiculously fun, as I can’t think of too many things more satisfying than successfully locating and gliding towards a thermal to have it lift you triumphantly into the air! Just keep your eyes open for downdrafts or you could find yourself grounded, your triumph rapidly turning into a sad trombone noise.
Another thing we’ve come up with is a very cool idea for a menu system that doesn’t involve a menu at all! This non-menu will allow the player to manage the map, review their communication glyphs, and change into other forms they’ve found. On top of that, it looks fantastic, too!
Now, you all might be thinking: “Glyphs? What is a glyph and what does it have to do with me?” Well, my lovelies, if you want to communicate with other wanderers, it’s not simply a matter of walking up to them and introducing yourself. You’ve got to learn how, just like in real life! You could be talking to someone who speaks a completely different language than you do, after all.
Thus, while traversing the rainforest you will come across stones that teach you how to draw symbols, which will allow you to speak to other players. This also makes use of the PS4 controller in a very cool and innovative way, by drawing symbols on the touch pad. So basically, the more you search, the more you can say! Do with this knowledge what you wish. You could become the most helpful person in Wander, using what you’ve learned to help new players find useful and interesting places, lorestones, etc. You could become a legend among wanderers. Or, you could just make some friends and then let them figure things out on their own. Your call.
Another cool new feature, for those who really want to take advantage of the vast environment available to them, is skydiving. If you’re a hira, you can request a ride from a griffin buddy by using the helpful new “hop on” feature, fly up as high as you can go, and then plummet spectacularly and gracefully to the ground. You can even land on a griffins back in mid-air, if you’re really talented. I know some of you will look at the floating island and your first thought will be that you’re dying to jump off of it. Well, you can, and in an artistic way, no less.
In addition to this, there is also a Wander PS4 theme! So, if you just can’t get enough of the glorious ambiance and rainforest sounds in the game (And let’s be honest, who can?), you’ll be able to enjoy it on your PlayStation dashboard as well.
That’s it from me for now! If this little taste of what you will experience while immersing yourself in the world of Wander has got you intrigued, then be sure to get your hot little hands on a copy on June 4th.
For my friends on the southern hemisphere, what better way is there to deal with the gloom of winter than by escaping into a sunny, tropical paradise? And for the rest of you, where else can you be a tree, a sea creature, or a griffin?
Crystal Flinn - Writer & Character Designer, Wander