EA Sports is giving its embattled NBA franchise another go, and has announced that Cleveland Cavaliers star point guard Kyrie Irving might be its cover athlete.[Exerpt]

“We couldn’t imagine an improved cover athlete for our game than the dynamic, explosive Kyrie Irving,” said Daryl Holt, VP and GM of basketball for EA Sports. “Kyrie is among the best ball handlers within the league, and with our next-generation technology we will arm players having the ability to replicate his impressive on-court feats, in addition to the fantastic signature styles and talents of different pros in NBA Live 14.”

The “hopefully” on this story headline, needless to say, refers to EA’s recent difficulties releasing its basketball titles. With both NBA Elite 11 and NBA Live 13 cancelled, the corporate hasn’t successfully launched a hoops game since October of 2009 when NBA Live 10 came out.

Our Take:
Kyrie Irving is a smart choice for the quilt of NBA Live 14. While he doesn’t have the global recognition of rival NBA 2K14’s Lebron James, basketball fans do know him as probably the most sports rising young talents. And let’s accept it: there is no topping Lebron. The selection of Kyrie is additionally perhaps symbolic. Just because the Cavaliers try to rebuild from the aftermath of Lebron’s high profile departure, NBA Live is making an attempt to revive this once great franchise after many years within the development wilderness. Regardless of who’s at the cover, just shipping a basketball game of any kind this year could be a win for EA.

The Xbox One launch lineup continues to be a piece in progress, as evidenced by a brand new delay that may push Kinect Sports Rivals from day one into 2014.

The website Polygon broke the scoop, receiving official word from Microsoft that Kinect Sports Rivals was delayed and won’t available for launch. Some retailers (including Game Informer’s parent company Gamestop) have been selling bundles of Xbox One launch units packaged with Kinect Sports Rivals, so it’ll be interesting to look how those orders are filled.

The game, developed by Rare, might be shown on the upcoming Gamescom convention in Germany and should be playable on the show.

Our Take:
I’ll be honest; i am not exactly losing sleep over the delay of this game. However, I do think it is a loss for the Xbox One launch lineup. By including Kinect in every system, the corporate is largely forcing people to purchase a Kinect, and – in my mind – it can be a superb move to have as many titles available that utilize the peripheral as possible. Also, i’m intrigued by one of the crucial game’s new activities, especially wake racing.

In a brand new interview, Ouya head Julie Uhrman revealed numbers that confirmed the reports that – thus far – Ouya owners aren’t inclined to pay for games.

In an interview with The Verge, Uhrman said that “Monetization on Ouya is so far better than we expected. It takes time to construct what traditional consoles have had decades to construct.”

However, the sales numbers she provided seemed fairly bleak. Based on Uhrman, only 27 percent of Ouya owners have paid for content, with most choosing to exploit the system without charge-to-play games, demos, and illegal NES and SNES emulators.

The games that Uhrman cited because the system’s most successful, TowerFall and Hidden in Plain Sight, have earned $21,000 and $4,381 respectively. This will have something to do with TowerFall creator Matt Thorson’s recent announcement that he is bringing the sport to PC.

Uhrman also talked of increased developer interest within the system. There are actually over 21,000 registered Ouya developers. To boot, she said the systems rate of upgrade from free to paid version (8 percent) is truly incredible within the free-to-play market.

Source: The Verge

Our Take
While Ms. Uhrman can spin the numbers any way she likes, the truth that your system’s breakout game (TowerFall) has only earned $21,000 is bad news. On the grounds that the sport sells for $14.99, that’s only around 1,400 paid downloads. Which, simply stated, is pretty pathetic for a game pretty much as good as TowerFall. Between PC, mobile platforms, and next-generation consoles from Microsoft and Sony in an effort to be even more indie-friendly, small developers have loads of options. If Ouya desires to succeed, it is going to should convince the industry that it is a place where companies could make money.

The Neverwhere writer is creating Wayward Manor, a macabre puzzle/adventure game developed in partnership with the indie studio The Odd Gentlemen.

The author, who’s favorite in comic and fantasy circles for lots books including Neverwhere, American Gods, and the classic comic book series Sandman, was a lifelong gamer and is now trying his hand at making them. Inspired by early 20th century farces like Arsenic and Old Lace, Gaimen envisions Wayward Manor – which casts the player as a ghost looking to scare people out of an old mansion – as a hybrid of the puzzle and adventure genres.

We’ll leave it to Neil himself to offer you the pitch inside the video below. While the sport isn’t doing a Kickstarter, they’re raising money through tiered pre-orders that include perks (essentially a Kickstarter not on Kickstarter). One of many pre-order bonuses is dinner with Gaiman himself, for under $10,000 (though you need to provide your personal travel). Whadda guy.

Our Take
While Neil Gaimen seriously isn’t a game developer by trade, he’s certainly landed with an efficient partner: The Odd Gentlemen, who created the great The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom, among other games. Their offbeat, old-fashioned visual vibe perfectly suits Gaiman, and their skill as a developer will never be in question. Their expertise coupled with Gaiman’s writing generally is a superb combination.

After a 3 day deliberation, a Californian jury awarded Robin Antonick – the unique designer Madden NFL – greater than $11 million dollars in damages after EA didn’t pay the programmer royalties for the series.

Earlier this year, Antonick filed a suit against EA for using software he had programmed after which failing to pay him royalties on successive releases of Madden. EA tried to downplay Antonick’s role within the series, but a Californian court didn’t feel the identical way, and now EA should pay Antonick over $11 million dollars. Antonick also has the choice to continue to pursue EA for royalties on games that were published after 1997 – games with significantly higher revenues and possible damages.

In the case, Antonick claimed that he had signed a chain of publishing and development contracts with EA, culminating in a 1986 agreement that stated that EA would pay Antonick royalties on any derivative works relating to the unique EA Madden, which Antonick had developed.

The jury determined that several of EA’s Madden games, published between 1990-1996, were similar enough to Antonick’s original that that EA must play back royalties. A future phase of the trial might be held to find out whether EA is accountable for paying Antonick for games published after 1997.

An EA Spokesperson told us, “While we’re disappointed with the jury’s verdict and may appeal, this has always been a case about games from the early 1990s, and it has no impact on today’s Madden NFL franchise.”

Our Take
Lawsuits suck, but so would not getting paid for something which you frolicked engaged on. Game Informer’s Mike Futter thinks, “Here is the most important step for Antonick, or even if EA proves victorious within the second phase of the trial, the funds awarded to Madden’s original developer and the popularity from this suit should give him some peace. If he’s in a position to reach the second one phase. Things may be very interesting. A victory regarding newer titles would put EA in a troublesome situation and sure incentivize a whole overhaul within the development of future football titles. The second one phase is ready greater than money. It’s in regards to the culture of Madden and its fans.”