A selection of links, hand-picked by the Guardian games writers.
Amazon Developing Android Console For Release By End Of 2013 | GameInformer
An intriguing rumour from US magazine, Game Informer:
Sources have approached Game Informer with an interesting bit of news from one of the world's largest retailers. Amazon is developing an Android based console for release by the end of this year, most likely by Black Friday.
According to those we spoke with who have knowledge of the in-development hardware, Amazon will be leveraging the titles already available on its platform. Each day, the company offers one productivity or game app for free and stocks a healthy library for its own devices, like the Kindle Fire. The console will also have its own, dedicated controller.
Of course, the Android console market is becoming rather crowded, with Ouya, Game Stick and Project Shield all in various states of release. However, Amazon has a vast distribution network and a large customer-base that already uses its Kindle devices.
Xbox exec on Crackdown 3: "I'm going to bite my tongue"
In a new OXM interview, Microsoft Game Studios corporate vice president Phil Spencer was asked about the possibility of Crackdown 3, to which he replied, "I'm going to bite my tongue."
The interviewer commented, "We still believe!" and Spencer added, "I do too. I do too."
I heard an amazing rumour about this last night, but I can't repeat it – just yet...
A history of (muted) violence: The present and future of Adults Only games | Polygon
A typically lengthy Polygon future on adult content – or the lack of it – in video games. Get yourself a cup of tea and dive in:
"If creative freedom is of the utmost importance, any developer or publisher is free to distribute their game online where marketplace constraints would not be in a position to influence their artistic vision. It's up to the developer or publisher to generate the demand for their product. And it's up to the market to respond. But freedom of expression doesn't guarantee the right to earn a living through one's art."
PES 2014 preview: Why I'll be making the switch back this year | Eurogamer.net
It would appear PES has its mojo back:
It's the sharpness and rhythm of the passing, the weight of the players as they receive and turn with the ball. It's the balance, that impossible-to-articulate synchronicity between the game's most fundamental aspects that just somehow 'clicks', and immediately draws you in. Despite playing for about two hours, I could happily have sat for two or three times that length trying to build up attacks and find new ways to score.
A Nintendo F2P game that lets you bargain for better prices | Gamasutra
Interestingly little story on a possible new kink in the controversial F2P mechanic:
Darumeshi Sports Store is a free-to-play title found in Nintendo's Japanese 3DS eShop. It works like a lot of free-to-play titles do: it costs nothing to download and relies upon in-game microtransactions to extract revenue from players. However, Darumeshi comes with a twist: players can bargain with the system for lower prices.
Through a combination of in-game item collection (a familiar idea) and doing favors for the in-game shopkeeper (a more novel concept), Darumeshi players can shave off more than a quarter off the retail price of the title's minigames. It may even be possible to get the games for free.
The game is only available in Japan, but as the article points out, Nintendo is experimenting with F2P concepts and could well roll out its bartering model to global digital releases.
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