EA’s 
biggest game of the year is broken, and the publisher is taking extraordinary steps to get it fixed.
Players of military shooter Battlefield 4 have reported several big issues with the game, including a bug that applies damage from a single bullet multiple times, killing the player instantly (quickly dubbed the “one-hit kill” by players). As a result, EA has said it will not work on any planned expansions to the game until the core product is running smoothly.
The 
relationship between Hollywood studios and videogame publishers is evolving, but gamemakers at Thursday’s 16th annual Dice Awards in Las Vegas say there’s still a distance between the two.
“I don’t think they’re completely separate, but I think there are a lot of challenges between the two,” Capcom’s Christian Svensson said at the event, which serves as the Oscars of the vidgame biz, produced by the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences. “The sheer difference between times of development … is a very hard thing to reconcile. And I don’t know if anyone has really figured out how to make it collaborative. We’ve still got a ways to go.”
The 
best videogames of 2012 weren’t found on store shelves, but they could be downloaded.
Thatgamecompany’s “Journey” was the big winner at the 16th annual D.I.C.E. Awards, capturing eight awards, including Game of the Year, Outstanding Innovation in Gaming, and Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction. “The Walking Dead,” an episodic downloadable game based on the Robert Kirkman comic, captured four awards, including Adventure Game of the Year and Downloadable Game of the Year for Telltale Games.
Any console going up against Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft faces an enormous challenge. And no one knows that better than Ouya founder Julie Uhrman.
The Ouya console, an Android-based console videogame system that will sell for $100, is looking to shake up the gaming biz by eschewing the growing world of mobile to focus on the television as its primary platform. While some have questioned the plan, Uhrman said there was never any doubt from the company which raised nearly $8.6 million from Kickstarter.
The videogame industry might have taken in nearly $15 billion in the U.S. last year, but one of the industry’s more controversial developers thinks the industry needs to reinvent itself if it wants to ensure long-term success.
David Cage, founder of the Quantic Dream development studio and creator of 2010’s Heavy Rain and the upcoming Ellen Page starring game “Beyond: Two Souls,” accused the industry of having a Peter Pan complex during a seminar at this year’s D.I.C.E. Summit — and offered his own vision for the future.
When Glen Schofield looks for inspiration, he often turns to Hollywood, the co-founder and general manager of Sledgehammer Games told an audience in a Wednesday talk at this year’s D.I.C.E. Summit in Las Vegas.
Schofield, whose studio co-developed “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3” and created the “Dead Space” franchise, discussed the art of inspiration — which, he noted, can come from a variety of sources, ranging from ear-piercing sounds on the subway to vacation pictures.
The 
videogame industry takes its franchises even more seriously than Hollywood.
New games — or at least digitally downloadable content — are expected every year by a voracious audience, with billions in grosses potentially at stake. One misstep can turn a popular game’s most ardent evangelists into its loudest critics.
It’s 
easier than ever for gamers to get their fix, whether playing “Words With Friends” on a plane, “League of Legends” for free online or the latest “Call of Duty” on Xbox or PlayStation consoles.
Figuring out how to maximize revenue on these platforms is a lot more challenging. Last year, the overall videogame market declined again, despite blockbuster launches of “Call of Duty: Black Ops II” and “Halo 4,” surging digital sales and the arrival of Nintendo’s next-generation Wii console for the holidays. Microsoft and Sony are expected to follow suit with new consoles before the end of the year, potentially splintering the market further.
Chris Morris: Journalist 