Servers excessively strained as relaunched MMO fails to predict how many people would be interested in the game.

Square Enix has offered players of relaunched MMO Final Fantasy XIV Online: A Realm Reborn an additional seven days of free play time to compensate for the problems caused by the game's excessively strained servers.

The revamped MMO has been rendered unplayable for many players since its launch last week, as Square Enix misjudged how many people would be interested in playing the game.

Players yet to redeem their trial will be eligible for the additional seven days if they register before September 9, Square Enix adds.

The beleaguered servers will be taken offline from 17:00 PDT on September 3 to 03:00 PDT on September 4 for Square Enix to perform maintenance. The company says the work will increase the amount of available Words, increase the amount of logins available on each server, and reduce stress on its Duty Finder servers.

"Because login and character creation restrictions have hindered our ability to provide quality service, all Final Fantasy 14 service accounts will receive an additional seven days of free play time," Square Enix said.

"Furthermore, users who have yet to enter their registration codes will receive an additional seven-day trial should they register before 11.59 pm (PDT) on September 9, 2013. Moving forward, we will continue monitoring the servers to ensure that quality service and support are provided in a timely manner."

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

Cloud service technology set to roll out across America in 2014, but poor broadband in Europe is causing Sony problems.

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe boss Jim Ryan has discussed the challenges in bringing streaming service Gaikai to Europe.

Gaikai is due to roll out across North America in early 2014. In an interview with Edge, Ryan reiterated the idea behind the cloud technology. "So the plan is to begin with North America next year and the plan is to provide a streaming service that will allow for PS3 content initially to be streamed to firstly PS4 then PS Vita and then PS3," he said.

Ryan added that the challenges of high-speed broadband in Europe were causing problems for the company.

"Now, and I touched upon these issues of broadband in Europe during the [Gamescom 2013] presentation," he said, "Europe is of course on the roadmap for that service to be deployed at some point in the future, but for reasons outside of our control we don't yet have a timeline for it."

Explaining why Sony didn't mention Gaikai at all during its Gamescom 2013 press conference, Ryan said that he didn't want to discuss the service at a European show without more details.

"At a show which is now pretty global in its reach but primarily aimed at a European audience, we didn't really want to start talking about the virtues of this great cloud-based service without knowing exactly when it'll come to Europe.

"We've got a roadmap, there's just a few bumps along the road that need to be ironed out."

During Sony's Gamescom 2013 press conference, Ryan announced that Sony was creating partnerships with European internet service providers to allow PlayStation services uninterrupted bandwidth.

Sony purchased Gaikai in 2012 for $380 million.

The PlayStation 4 will launch on November 15 in North America for $399, and on November 29 in Europe for €399/£349.

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

Cloud service technology set to roll out across America in 2014, but poor broadband in Europe is causing Sony problems.

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe boss Jim Ryan has discussed the challenges in bringing streaming service Gaikai to Europe.

Gaikai is due to roll out across North America in early 2014. In an interview with Edge, Ryan reiterated the idea behind the cloud technology. "So the plan is to begin with North America next year and the plan is to provide a streaming service that will allow for PS3 content initially to be streamed to firstly PS4 then PS Vita and then PS3," he said.

Ryan added that the challenges of high-speed broadband in Europe were causing problems for the company.

"Now, and I touched upon these issues of broadband in Europe during the [Gamescom 2013] presentation," he said, "Europe is of course on the roadmap for that service to be deployed at some point in the future, but for reasons outside of our control we don't yet have a timeline for it."

Explaining why Sony didn't mention Gaikai at all during its Gamescom 2013 press conference, Ryan said that he didn't want to discuss the service at a European show without more details.

"At a show which is now pretty global in its reach but primarily aimed at a European audience, we didn't really want to start talking about the virtues of this great cloud-based service without knowing exactly when it'll come to Europe.

"We've got a roadmap, there's just a few bumps along the road that need to be ironed out."

During Sony's Gamescom 2013 press conference, Ryan announced that Sony was creating partnerships with European internet service providers to allow PlayStation services uninterrupted bandwidth.

Sony purchased Gaikai in 2012 for $380 million.

The PlayStation 4 will launch on November 15 in North America for $399, and on November 29 in Europe for €399/£349.

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

Marianne Krawczyk says "dissonance" between game Kratos and movie Kratos would be jarring for viewers already familiar with the action franchise.

A gamer-approved God of War movie would be a challenge to pull off because players already have expectations for how Kratos should act and sound, according to series writer Marianne Krawczyk.

Speaking today during a PAX Prime panel, Krawczyk recalled that when she was younger she very much enjoyed the Garfield comic strip and was looking forward to the TV show. However, when the show debuted, she heard his voice and it "completely threw" her. She never watched the show again.

Krawczyk said a God of War movie could suffer, at least for fans of the series, for the same reason.

"And I think, if [Kratos] ever makes it to the big-screen, there will be that similar dissonance," she said. "The player has a personal experience with him, and then he's going to be embodied by a different actor, he's going to have a different voice, he's going to say a lot more words."

"So I think it will be hard to get that across," she added. "But I hope they will someday. We don't know."

Universal Studios is currently producing a God of War movie with a pair of Saw writers, not Krawczyk.. According to the latest version of its draft, the big-screen take on the series will improve on films like Clash of the Titans and Immortals by taking a step "in a more bold direction."

The current status of the God of War movie is unknown.

Krawczyk also offered a critique of the recent Disney-produced Prince of Persia movie, 2010's Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. She said had the film not been rootedin source material people were already familiar with, it would have stood a better chance to be more commercially successful.

"I think if it was just a movie called Prince of Persia starring Jake Gyllenhaal, and it didn't have source material, it probably would have been fine. I saw it [and] it didn't suck," Krawczyk said. "But I think it was received poorly because the player already had a relationship with who they thought the character was and it was actually a different story than the Sands of Time game. And the Sands of Time game had a better story. I had that to compare it to. But if I didn't, I'd say it's a fine popcorn movie."

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

Microsoft reveals next-gen console will support double the number of connected controllers as Xbox 360; will have 30-foot wireless range.

According to an updated Xbox.com product page (via Videogamer), up to eight Xbox One controllers can be connected to the system at any point in time. This is up from four on the Xbox 360.

It was also revealed that Xbox One controllers will have a 30-foot wireless range.

Sony has not yet said how many DualShock 4 controllers can be connected to the PlayStation 4 at once. The PlayStation 3 supports seven controllers simultaneously.

Microsoft previously announced that infrared LEDs in the Xbox One controllers will allow the console to detect, via Kinect, which user is holding the input and then match profile information. One Xbox One controller is included with every system, while additional pads can be purchased for $60.

The Xbox One launches in November. Microsoft said this week at PAX that it believes the console is worth $100 more than the PlayStation 4.

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

"I know that this isn't what you were hoping for, but we appreciate your support of our products now and in the future," says Nintendo.

Nintendo of America has said the company will not introduce an ambassador program for the Wii U, following the announcement of a price cut to the console last week.

Nintendo introduced the 3DS Ambassador Program to soothe customers who bought the handheld console for $249.99 before its $80 price drop in August 2011, and allowed eligible customers to download ten NES and GameBoy Advance games for free.

In an e-mail sent to Wii U daily, a Nintendo representative confirmed that "there are no plans for a similar program for Wii U."

"I know that this isn't what you were hoping for, but we appreciate your support of our products now and in the future," said Nintendo's Helena Toledo.

Last week Nintendo announced a $50 price cut for the Wii U Deluxe, roughly nine months after the console first launched, dropping the price of the 32GB console to $299.99, and also offering a bundle from September 20 with The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD included.

Following the Wii U price cut, the 8GB Wii U Basic model will be phased out.

The Wii U has sold 160,000 units worldwide between the start of April and the end of June, bringing its total to 3.61 million units overall.

Nintendo recently dated many of the console's upcoming titles, including Super Mario 3D World for November 22 and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze for December 6.

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

By Sara Morrison LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - President Obama addressed the nation on Friday to discuss his plans for the country's intervention in Syria following revelations that the country used chemical weapons on its own citizens. Obama said last year that Syria's usage of chemical weapons would be a "red line," forcing America and other nations to intervene. With evidence that Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's administration killed more than 1,400 people and injured thousands more with some kind of chemical weapon, Obama said there would be a response from the United States. ...