The Evening Report, November 6th, 2012: Plunging Stocks and Steamy Penguins

The Evening Report, November 6th, 2012: Plunging Stocks and Steamy Penguins

Microsoft is probably making an Xbox Surface tablet

Attention: this is probably not what this thing looks like.

Hot off the heels of the Windows Surface release and today’s SmartGlass release for iOS, The Verge is reporting that Microsoft is actually working on a 7-inch gaming tablet to complement the Xbox line of products. It’ll be running a custom version of Windows, but the focus with this specific tablet is all about the games. They’re also expecting it will debut ahead of whatever the Durango/Xbox 720/Bananamonger ends up being called.

The implications of this are pretty interesting, if you ask me. To start with, seeing Microsoft move into the gaming tablet space, in addition to having standard “workhorse” tablets with the regular Surface models, seems like it might dilute the brand a little bit. Despite that, with how much the market as a whole seems to be pushing towards mobile gaming, it’s not really surprising to see a gaming-specialized tablet come into play here. This could also mean big things for SmartGlass, possibly pointing towards some hefty integration between the next Xbox and this fancy Xbox Surface. I have heavy doubts that it’ll unseat iOS as the reigning champ of mobile gaming, but competition is always a good thing.

[Source: The Verge]

Steam on Linux beta starts today

It’s hard to imagine a gaming environment without Steam, especially from the perspective of someone who spends most of his gaming time on a PC. A select batch of Linux users are now able to get in on the fun as well, as Polygon has noted the launch of a limited access beta for Steam’s Linux client. It’s available specifically for Ubuntu 12.04, with more versions and “popular distros” coming soon. When the beta itself is stable, it’ll be opened up to anyone who’s got a Steam account and wants to tool around in Linux.

I tried to install a version of Linux once and almost broke my brain in the process. While I’m not sure if I’m down with Windows 8 just yet – and if Valve head Gabe Newell’s quotes are anything to go by, it’s not looking like the best place for games – offering more people more opportunities to play some fantastic games that they might not see otherwise is something you can’t argue against. I have to wonder if Steam’s existence as an inherently closed-source program, DRM and all, will jive with the open source community that clings to the Linux Penguin for dear life, but I doubt they’d go to such lengths if there wasn’t some sort of acknowledgment that this wasn’t going to be an “okay thing”.

[Source: Polygon]

THQ stock is a-droppin’ something fierce (50%!)

THQ’s sad and seemingly inevitable decline continues on its disappointing path. As our own Tyler Colp detailed yesterday, the financially-worried publisher announced yesterday that three of its major games – South Park: the Stick of Truth, Company of Heroes 2, and Metro: Last Light – were all delayed to some extent. Joystiq has followed up on this news, taking a look at THQ’s stock to see it dropping a fairly astounding 50% over the course of the day, down all the way to $1.50/share. This decline seems to show no signs of slowing, either.

I don’t know if it’s right to paint a red flag on a company whose business procedures we can’t see for the most part, but it’s kind of disappointing to see THQ under such duress. Between talking with equity dealers, dealing with NASDAQ delisting, and having to sell off licenses, it feels like they’re plugging up a handful of tiny holes in a boat that’s been blasted to pieces. I want to see the company (or at the very least developers like Volition and Runic) make it out of this mess okay, but seeing all this worrisome news makes me wonder how much longer they’re gonna keep treading water. Maybe Jason Rubin’s insight into delaying these new games will prove to be the winning move after all.

[Source: Joystiq]

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Dyl-Questing – The Best Thing I Saw Today: Sir, You Are Being Hunted

Sir, You Are Being Hunted is a mid-Kickstarter stealth/survival game about tweedpunk robots and procedurally-generated British landscapes. It seems like a really nifty idea and the gameplay video makes me want to go for a jaunt in this peculiar world.