Microsoft Exec "Dissatisfied" With Dire Xbox One Sales in Japan

The Xbox One launched in Japan in early September and got off to a poor start, selling a reported 23,562 systems in its first four days--representing a steep decline compared to the Xbox 360 in 2005.

Now, Xbox Japan boss Takashi Sensui admitted in a new interview that he's not satisfied with the current sales pace. At the same time, however, he repeated what other Microsoft executives have said before: this is a marathon, not a sprint.

"It's not as though we're satisfied with the current sales state," Sensui said in the latest issue of Weekly Famitsu (translated by Kotaku). "We hope to continue through taking user feedback and improving [the Xbox One] and offering content that everyone can enjoy. We are also aware that reaching out to let more people know about the Xbox One is vital."

"However, the current console generation has become very long. We hope to lay out a long-term vision and to focus on publicity for our console," he added. "Taking the first step was very important, and as for how to permeate the market from here, we hope to continue to do our best."

Also in this interview, Head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, said he thought it would take some time before the Xbox One could gain popularity and traction in Japan. He also reiterated that Japan as a market, and the game creators in the region, are important to Microsoft. Spencer said in previous interviews that Japan is a "soulful" place for games, and one that is "critical" for Microsoft to support.

Xbox One exclusive D4: Dark Dream Don't Die was developed in Japan by Swery, while Japanese Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance developer Platinum Games is currently working on Scalebound, which will also be exclusive to Xbox One.

Eddie Makuch is a news editor at GameSpot, and you can follow him on Twitter @EddieMakuch

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PSN Goes Down Across US and Europe [Update: Service Restored]

The PlayStation Network has gone offline unexpectedly across numerous countries, limiting access and services on PlayStation 4, PS Vita and PlayStation 3.

Affected countries include the US, the UK, Spain, Italy, Germany, Greece and Australia. How global the problem has become is not yet clear. However, some gamers within these regions say they are not seeing any issues.

In a statement sent to GameSpot, Sony said: "We are aware of some Network connectivity issues this morning. Our engineers are currently investigating and we will update when more information is available."

On PS4 in the UK, gamers can browse the PlayStation Store and download certain apps but accessing a game's server is not possible. In some cases this means digital games cannot be played, as they need to be verified online.

Meanwhile, on PS Vita, the Store is inaccessible. One error code that gamers have begun to report is "8071053D" which is associated with connection problems. The PlayStation App is also inaccessible, and similar network issues have affected PS3.

Update 1: On the games forum NeoGAF, users in Europe have started to suggest the system is rebooting.

Update 2: Sony has told GameSpot that its engineers are looking into the issue.

Update 3: Chris Owen, Sony's EU community manager, has said the issue has been resolved:

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As Its Dominance Wanes, Angry Birds Studio Cuts Staff

Rovio Entertainment, the Finland-founded entertainment studio that shot to global fame with its Angry Birds games, is preparing to cut its headcount by a maximum of 130 people.

This comes weeks after the corporation's chief executive, Mikael Hed, announced he would be stepping down from his role in January. Rovio emerged as a runaway success in 2009 after iPhone users were gripped by its breakthrough iOS game, but its latest financial report showed that annual profits have sunk by about 50 percent.

Hed, writing on the Rovio website, said that the company will now focus its efforts on three key businesses with the highest growth potential: games, media, and consumer products.

"Unfortunately, we also need to consider possible employee reductions of a maximum of 130 people in Finland," he added.

"It is never easy to consider changes like this, but it is better to do them sooner rather than later, when we are in a good place to reignite growth."

If as many as 130 people go, that would equate to a 16 percent workforce reduction.

Rovio expects that its Angry Birds film will be released in July 2016. By January, Hed will be succeeded by former Nokia executive Pekka Rantala.

Rob Crossley is GameSpot's UK News Editor - you can follow him on Twitter here
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Xbox One's D4 "Never" Coming to PS4

Recently released Xbox One game D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die is "never" coming to the PlayStation 4. That's according to director Hidetaka Suehiro, who is perhaps better known by his nickname, Swery.

Responding to a fan on Twitter who asked about the possibility of a PS4 version of D4, Suehiro did not mince words. "Sorry. Never," he succinctly said.

He added: "You can't play D4 on PS4 forever. Sorry. Have to buy [an Xbox One] or find kind friend."

Another fan asked if D4 might come to PC (after all, Xbox One titles do have a history of making the jump), and Suehiro replied with less certainty. He said, "I have to do a lot of [public relations] now" for the Xbox One version. This is currently what's keeping him busy, he added.

This statement leaves open the possibility of D4 coming to PC some day, following the likes of Dead Rising 3 and Ryse: Son of Rome, among others.

D4 was released for Xbox One in September, and GameSpot gave the title a 7.0. Reviewer Kevin VanOrd praised its ridiculous story and atmosphere, while lamenting its stereotypical characters and several slow stretches that bogged down the pace.

Eddie Makuch is a news editor at GameSpot, and you can follow him on Twitter @EddieMakuch

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Dead Rising Movie Is "Indiana Jones With Zombies"; Cast Revealed

The upcoming Dead Rising movie from Warcraft and Godzilla studio Legendary Pictures is aiming to be, tonally, "Indiana Jones with zombies." That's according to the movie's director, Zach Lipovsky (Leprechaun: Origins), who spoke at length about the movie--called Dead Rising: Watchtower--in a new interview with /Film.

"I really like the tone of the game. It's definitely got its dark, scary beats, but ultimately it's an adventure film," he said. "Every time I get scared or laugh while playing, I make a note to add it to the script. Tonally it will be like 'Indiana Jones with zombies.' Fun, scary, dramatic action."

Concerning its story, Watchtower is not a direct adaption of any of the previous Dead Rising games. However, though the game is set during a new zombie outbreak with new heroes, the movie does fit into the canon of the overall Dead Rising storyline, Lipovsky said.

"It takes place between the Fortune City outbreak in Dead Rising 2 and Los Perdidos outbreak from Dead Rising 3," he said. "So it's a part of the greater franchise narrative. Of course some familiar faces show up as well."

Asked which characters might appear in Watchtower, Lipovsky teased that we might get to see Frank West. "I can't reveal too much, but the character has covered wars, you know," he said.

One of the reasons Lipovsky was attracted to Dead Rising was because he says it "brings a lot of new energy" to the zombie genre. One thing in particular is the idea that when you're bitten by a zombie, you can remain human as long as you take medicine every day. This idea is "very interesting and dramatic," he said, likening it to "the social stigma of living with HIV."

Watchtower is skipping a theatrical release and will debut on Sony's Crackle streaming service before coming to other streaming sites and eventually DVD. Some fans were critical of this decision, brushing the movie off because of its smaller scope. But actually, Lipovsky says, with less money comes the freedom to be more experimental.

"Online there is no ratings board, there is no run time limit, there are no rules," he said. "This is an experiment for Legendary (which is producing the movie through its Legendary Digital Media offshoot), and they have been incredibly willing to take creative risks. Every crazy idea I've had has been met with excitement."

Lipovsky went on to say that if Watchtower were to be a big-studio production, with a $100 million budget, many creative sacrifices would have to be made so that Legendary could position it as a film for the masses.

"I have a feeling that if this was the 100+ million dollar version, it would star Tom Cruise and be watered down," he said. "The more money you spend, the greater the audience you have to please. This film is being made for the fans and that's possible because it's a digital feature."

On Crackle, you'll be able to watch the 90-minute movie in its entirety in one shot. But on other platforms, Watchtower will be released episodically, thanks to a script mechanic Lipovsky and his team created to break up each episode. "I think in this day and age you basically have to just let the viewer decide what they prefer," Lipovsky said.

Shooting for Watchtower began this week, though a release date has not been announced. The cast was also recently announced, and you can see it below, per /Film.

• Jesse Metcalfe -- (John Tucker Must Die, Desperate Housewives, Dallas)
• Meghan Ory -- (Once Upon A Time, Intelligence)
• Virginia Madsen -- (Sideways, Candyman, The Number 23)
• Dennis Haysbert -- (24, The Unit)
• Keegan Connor Tracy -- (Bates Motel, Once Upon A Time, Battlestar Galactica)

The Dead Rising movie is one of many video game movies currently in development. Ubisoft has a total of six films in the pipeline, including movies based on Assassin's Creed, Watch Dogs, and Splinter Cell. Meanwhile, Sony is making a Last of Us movie, Konami is moving forward on a film based on Metal Gear Solid, Blizzard Entertainment has its Warcraft movie, and an Angry Birds film is scheduled for 2016. And just recently, the next Resident Evil movie was delayed because lead actress Milla Jovovich is having a baby.

Eddie Makuch is a news editor at GameSpot, and you can follow him on Twitter @EddieMakuch

For all of GameSpot's news coverage, check out our hub. Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com

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Hackers Sold Counterfeit Xbox One After Infiltrating Microsoft

Two hackers have pleaded guilty, and another two have been charged, of participating in an elaborate international scheme to build a counterfeit Xbox One from data stolen online.

David Pokora, 22, of Ontario, Canada, and Sanadodeh Nesheiwat, 28, of Washington, New Jersey have admitted to being involved in a hacker ring which dates back to January 2011.

During that month, the group infiltrated the internal network of Epic Games and stole code for the then-unreleased game Gears of War 3. Then, in September 2011, some of the team illegally accessed Valve's internal network and stole a beta build of Activision's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.

Another two defendants (Nathan Leroux, 20, of Maryland and Austin Alcala, 18, of Indiana) have not pleaded guilty but are charged of acting in the conspiracy.

Escalation

The team is accused of hacking into Microsoft's employee network in August 2012, spending "hundreds of hours" searching for files containing intellectual property on the Xbox One, which at the time had not been revealed to the public or confirmed by Microsoft.

Assembly instructions, software designs, and source code for the next-gen system were found and stolen, which Leroux then used to build a counterfeit version of the system.

That console was then sold onto another unnamed person, who at the time was based in Mahe, Republic of Seychelles. The system was eventually sold on eBay, reportedly for about $20,100.

Then, in September 2013, just a few weeks ahead of the Xbox One launch, two unnamed individuals used Microsoft employee data to break into the company's Redmond campus to steal three beta versions of the Xbox One. The hackers are accused of providing the data to the burglars.

The cost of damages associated with the hacking ring is believed to total more than $100 million in intellectual property and data.

According to an indictment, published on Scribd and unearthed by Kotaku, the team's thefts extended to a whole range of confidential and lucrative software.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell, of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, said "the American economy is driven by innovation. But American innovation is only valuable when it can be protected. Today's guilty pleas show that we will protect America's intellectual property from hackers, whether they hack from here or from abroad."

He added: "As the indictment charges, the members of this international hacking ring stole trade secret data used in high-tech American products, ranging from software that trains U.S. soldiers to fly Apache helicopters to Xbox games that entertain millions around the world."

The full indictment can be found below.

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Civilization: Beyond Earth - Discovery Gameplay Trailer

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Uncharted 4 Concept Art Emerges

Image credit: misstalwyn

In keeping with past games in the series, it appears next year's Uncharted 4: A Thief's End will see Nathan Drake trekking across all manner of exotic and ruined landscapes. Concept art featured in the upcoming The Art of Naughty Dog book and revealed ahead of time on Tumblr shows off what kind of environments Drake might visit in the PlayStation 4 game.

Image credit: misstalwyn

Unfortunately, the images are low-quality. However, the book officially goes on sale later this month, so we may not have long to wait to see these images--and maybe more--in a better light. One image shows a character resembling Drake and some companions driving a boat through a sunken city. Another shows him walking on a beach in the middle of what appears to be a rain and wind storm.

"The PlayStation 4 has arrived, and with it a fresh, incredible set of new possibilities and challenges. Our first full development cycle foray into the wildness of the new hardware will be Uncharted 4: A Thief's End," reads a line from the book.

If you want to see these images in person, you can visit a special art exhibit at the Gallery Nucleus in Alhambra, California, where this art and more from Naughty Dog's 30-year history is on display through the middle of October.

Earlier this week, we got a new look at the character model for Drake in A Thief's End. He looks rugged and somewhat pained.

A Thief's End launches sometime in 2015 for PS4. It may not be the only Uncharted game coming to PS4, as Sony has said that the Uncharted series is a strong candidate for following in the footsteps of The Last of Us in getting a remastered version for PS4.

The new Uncharted game for PS4 will tell a "more personal" story that delves into who Drake is a person. "It's his greatest adventure yet and will test his physical limits, his resolve, and ultimately what he's willing to sacrifice to save the ones he loves," Naughty Dog said in June about the game. The game also promises to be an "edge-of-your-seat" roller coaster ride.

Eddie Makuch is a news editor at GameSpot, and you can follow him on Twitter @EddieMakuch

For all of GameSpot's news coverage, check out our hub. Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com

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PS4 and Xbox One Racer Project Cars Aiming for 1080p/60fps

Project Cars developer Slightly Mad Studios is aiming for the ambitious racing game to run at 1080p/60fps across both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of the title. Creative director Andy Tudor revealed the target resolution and frame rate, explaining in a new interview, however, that the developer is having a tougher time getting to Xbox One version up to 1080p right now.

"On Xbox One it's not quite 1080p at the moment," Tudor told Eurogamer. "But it's not representative of the final quality. We're still aiming to get there. Towards the end of the game you're always optimizing, and during development it's a roller coaster. Sometimes you look at the game and think oh god, that's not working, that's not working. But other days you hit 60fps, and it's awesome."

Tudor went on to say that for racing games, hitting 60fps is "hugely important."

"What people don't know is that the physics underneath runs at 600 times a second," he added. "We measure the input you're doing on the controller 250 times per second. Project Cars does that way more than any other game--they're all doing that significantly lower. The screen refreshes 60 times per second--we're measuring the tires, the physics, the suspension, all that stuff, 600 times."

Project Cars races to market alongside competitors like Microsoft's Forza Horizon 2 and Sony's Driveclub. Both games run at 1080p/30fps, and the developers behind each title have explained why they think that was the right call. You can read Microsoft's thoughts here and Sony's here.

Project Cars launches November 18 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. A Wii U version is also in the works, and is scheduled to launch in 2015. This version is not likely to run at 1080p/60fps, but Tudor said Slightly Mad is happy with the progress it's making on the Nintendo version of the game.

"There are significant hurdles that we've had to get over, and that's kind of expected," he said. "But the fact we can have weather, time of day, a significant number of cars on screen, it's actually really promising."

Publisher Namco Bandai describes Project Cars as "the most authentic, beautiful, intense, and technically advanced racing game on the planet." For more on Project Cars, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.

Eddie Makuch is a news editor at GameSpot, and you can follow him on Twitter @EddieMakuch

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PES 2015 Resolution Superior on PS4

Publisher Konami has revealed that the PlayStation 4 version of Pro Evo 2015 renders at 1080p, as opposed to the Xbox One edition that displays at 720p.

The performance difference was disclosed on Konami's official webpage for the upcoming soccer title, which also showed that both next-gen editions run at sixty frames per second.

PES 2015, which ships on November 11 in the US and November 13 across Europe, was built with Konami's Fox Engine--the same technology behind Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain.

Konami's soccer sim is the latest game to render at a superior resolution on PS4, following similar disparities in Battlefield 4, Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag, Call of Duty: Ghosts, Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes and Metro Redux.

In June, Microsoft announced it had made amendments to the Xbox One's hardware that allows developers to shift resources from Kinect to other elements such as game rendering, potentially allowing better parity in future game releases.

This came several months after Hideo Kojima remarked that the PS4 was notably better hardware for developers than Xbox One.

"I think, between the home consoles available in the domestic market, the PS4 is the best," he said. "It's also excellent for graphics, being able to render 1080p at 60fps with room to spare."

"Since it does it a little better than other hardware, the image quality of the PS4 is the most beautiful. It's the closest to the photorealistic quality we are aiming at."

Click on thumbnails below to view in full screen

Rob Crossley is GameSpot's UK News Editor - you can follow him on Twitter here
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Pro Evolution Soccer 2015

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