Ultima creator Richard Garriott believes what's holding the game industry back is a dearth of talent. In an interview with PC Gamer, the designer and space traveler said some proficient designers exist, but the difficult nature of the skill is why the examples are so few.

"I think there's really very few great game designers," Garriott said. "I think Chris Roberts is one of them, Will Wright's another, Peter Molyneux is another. They clearly exist, but on the whole, I think that the design talent in our industry is dramatically lower than we need, as an industry. It's a very hard skill to learn."

Garriott continued, saying that he has yet to come across a single game designer as skilled as he is, with the exception of Wing Commander creator Chris Roberts.

"But other than a few exceptions, like Chris Roberts, I've met virtually no one in our industry who I think is close to as good a game designer as I am. I'm not saying that because I think I'm so brilliant. What I'm saying is, I think most game designers really just suck, and I think there’s a reason why."

He explained that unlike the art and programming components of game development, it is very difficult to receive a formal education for design. This, Garriott argued, is why unqualified people end up as designers, in turn leading to poor design in games.

"So we're leaning on a lot of designers who get that job because they're not qualified for the other jobs, rather than that they are really strongly qualified as a designer," Garriott said. "It's really hard to go to school to be a good designer."

Garriott's latest project is an "Ultimate RPG" called Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues for PC. The game's Kickstarter campaign successfully attracted its $1 million funding target in 10 days. The final product is expected to release in 2014.

Digital Extremes has "soft launched" its third-person shooter Warframe into open beta, complete with a massive update.

The new patch for the shooter features new weapons and new warframes for combat.

The patch, called Update 7.0, has brought in new warframes for players to try out: the saryn and banshee. The former has corrosive attacks that dissolve both organic and synthetic material, while the latter has sonic-powered offensive and support capabilities.

The update also introduces a new snow-themed stage called the Corpus Outpost that features an open-ended environment. New weapons in the update include the Paris hunting bow, the Viper full-auto light pistol, and the Fang daggers. Players can also try out a new mission type called endless defense where players have to defeat waves of enemies and survive as long as possible for big rewards.

Concerning balances, the mod system now does not allow the same mods to be stackable onto the same weapon. Existing warframe powers and weapons have been fixed. For more information, check out the full list of changes on the official forums.

505 Games has announced that Ashes Cricket 2013 will be released on the PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii U on June 21 this year.

The game will feature a new engine with 360 degree control over shot placement, as well as a new line and length bowling system.

Dynamic gameplay will require players to adapt to varying and altering pitches, and changing weather forecasts will also alter the course of matches. The game will include options for intelligent automatic field placement.

"We are delighted to be able to announce some of the key features for Ashes Cricket 2013," 505 Games general manager for UK and export Ralph Pitt-Stanley said in a statement. "This game has been created with real cricket fans and players in mind. The new engine allows players to mimic a cricketer's most important attribute--technique."

Ashes Cricket 2013 will include the complete Ashes Series, with official England and Australia teams, as well as limited overs tournaments and leagues from around the world.

The game is due out for the PC, Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii U on June 21 this year.

New Zealand developer Sidhe has announced that the sequel to its 2011 title Rugby Challenge, Rugby Challenge 2: The Lions Tour Edition, will be released later this year on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC.

The sequel will include an expanded multi-year career mode, online multiplayer with support up to 4v4 via PSN, Xbox Live and Steam, and refined gameplay that adds quick taps, lineouts, interceptions, contesting ball at the breakdown, number 8 scrum pickups, and dynamic in-game team strategies.

According to Sidhe, the game will feature over 100 teams and 50 stadiums from around the world, including official team, competition, and special match licenses for the All Blacks, the Qantas Wallabies, the USA Eagles, Bledisloe Cup, British and Irish Lions 2013 Tour of Australia, Barbarians FC, Combined Country, Super Rugby teams, Aviva Premiership Rugby, TOP 14 Orange, and Ranfurly Shield.

Rugby Challenge 2: The Lions Tour Edition will also add more options to create or customise players, teams, and competitions, change game rules and behaviour, as well as a revamped sound and commentary system, with real-time commentary from rugby commentators Grant Nisbett and former All Black Justin Marshall.

"It has been a wonderful opportunity to build on the foundation we established with the original game to create a deeper, more engaging, and higher quality experience," Sidhe technical director Tyrone McAuley said in a statement. "Tighter controls, smoother animation, and smarter AI improve the title moment-to-moment, while additions such as significant new Northern Hemisphere content create a more global and well-rounded game."

The game will be released as Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge 2 in France, All Blacks Rugby Challenge 2 in New Zealand, and Rugby Challenge 2: The Lions Tour Edition throughout other territories.

Rugby Challenge 2: The Lions Tour Edition will release worldwide for the PS3, Xbox 360, and PC in mid-year 2013.

A new update for SimCity released today fixes a range of traffic issues related to congestion and emergency vehicle driving tendencies, among other problems.

Update 1.7 for the record-setting city-building game applies the following:

’ Traffic Improvements: Tuned traffic congestion and fixed some intersection traffic issues.
’ Traffic improvements: Emergency Vehicles will drive in empty lanes to get around traffic at intersections.
’ Traffic improvements: Emergency and Delivery vehicles get priority over regular traffic when leaving garage.
’ All units and buildings can now be demolished using the bulldoze tool.
’ Performance improvements for low spec systems.
’ New Server: Asia 2 will be released Tuesday afternoon (PDT)

Last week, SimCity lead designer Stone Librande posted a blog pledging to fix the game's traffic issues.

SimCity launched March 5 in the United States and was beset with server woes that left the game unplayable for many. Many of the game's issues have since been remedied and the title has gone on to sell 1.1 million copies in its first two weeks.

Capcom today detailed the features exclusive to the Wii U version of upcoming zombie-shooter Resident Evil: Revelations. The Wii U GamePad will can be used as a mini-map as well as a means to manage weapon inventory, Capcom said.

In addition, Resident Evil: Revelations for Wii U will tap into Miiverse. Players will be able to post messages and leave tips for other players about how to successfully navigate a certain area or anything they wish. In addition, gamers can write messages for monsters (pictured).

The game also supports off-screen play through the GamePad.

On top of Wii U-specific news, Capcom announced that all versions of Resident Evil: Revelations will include Rachel as a playable character in the game's Raid Mode. This is in addition to the previously announced Hunk. Both new characters will be playable this weekend for those attending PAX East in Boston, Mass.

Lastly, Capcom announced that all versions of Resident Evil: Revelations will feature two new enemies: the Wall Blister and an unnamed creature.

Resident Evil: Revelations launches for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii U, and PC on May 21.

Responding to a recent report that the Sandy Hook shooter was a "deranged" gamer, United States senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) said the industry must tone down the "obscene levels of violence" in games today.

As reported by the New York Daily News, Rockefeller said this week it is "unrealistic" to think parents can control the content their children see and hear in the modern, media-soaked culture.

"In today’s world, where kids can access content across a variety of devices often without parental supervision, it is unrealistic to assume that overworked and stressed parents can prevent their kids from viewing inappropriate content," Rockefeller said.

"The only real solution is for the entertainment industry to reduce the often obscene levels of violence in the products they sell," he added.

The New York Daily News on Monday published a report claiming the Sandy Hook shooter had a spreadsheet detailing the names and number of people killed and the weapons used in past mass shootings. It was described as a "score sheet" because the shooter was reportedly attempting to "out score" past attackers.

"This was the work of a video gamer, and that it was his intent to put his own name at the very top of that list," a source said. "[The Connecticut State Police] believe that he picked an elementary school because he felt it was a point of least resistance, where he could rack up the greatest number of kills."

Rockefeller is currently sponsoring the Violent Content Research Act of 2013, which directs the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and the Department of Health and Human Services (HSS) to jointly call on the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a comprehensive study into the relationship between exposure to violence games--and other programming--and harmful effects on children.

Rockefeller argues that current and emerging characteristics of games have a unique impact on children due to their interactive nature. The bill has five co-sponsors, including Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Tom Coburn (R-OK), Dean Heller (R-NV), Mike Johanns (R-NE), and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN).

Following the record-setting SimCity launch, Electronic Arts' Origin service has crossed 40 million members, a new milestone for the platform. EA confirmed the new membership figure today, which is up from 39 million at the end of 2012.

This is not the only milestone Origin has reached recently. The service recorded 1.3 million peak concurrent users following the SimCity launch.

By comparison, competitor Valve's Steam virtual platform has 50 million members as of September 2012. There are 4.6 million members logged on right now, with a peak concurrent user record of 5.7 million.

To mark the new membership milestone, EA announced today its first-ever Player Appreciation Sale. Beginning today and lasting one week, gamers can grab more than 200 titles through Origin at markdowns of as much as 70 percent.

The Origin Player Appreciation Sale is available to users worldwide and includes PC and Mac downloadable titles and expansions, in addition to packaged products for consoles. Some highlights include Crysis 3 ($30), Dead Space 3 ($30), Mass Effect 3 ($10), Battlefield 3 ($12), and all five Walking Dead episodes for $10.

Researchers recently discovered an Origin exploit that allows hackers to remotely highjack a user's computer to load malicious code instead of a game. EA said it is investigating the issue.

Shadows of the Damned director Massimo Guarini's new studio Ovosonico today announced a partnership with Sony Computer Entertainment World Studios Europe for development on a new intellectual property.

In a statement, Guarini said Sony is the "perfect partner" for Ovosonico's new project. No concrete details on this game have been divulged, though the developer said in May that the title will be a movie-length project that aims to be "emotionally challenging."

Guarini founded Ovosonico last year. Before that, he directed Suda51's Shadows of the Damned, as well as Naruto: Rise of a Ninja for Ubisoft. His production credits also include several titles in the Rainbow Six and Splinter Cell franchises.

"It is through working with creative minds such as Massimo Guarini that ensures that the best exclusive games are only available on PlayStation and we firmly believe that this relationship will result in something special," said Sony senior vice president Michael Denny. "This is the first studio we have worked with in Italy and due to the growing talent in this country; we believe the first of many."

Bastion developer Supergiant Games today officially announced its next project, a science-fiction-themed action role-playing game called Transistor. An early build of the game will be playable this week during PAX East in Boston, Massachusetts.

Transistor casts players as a young woman who wields a powerful weapon that was at one time used by a group of assailants in an attempt to kill her. Players must fend off this squad of attackers, as they attempt to recapture the weapon.

The game is due for release in early 2014. Platforms for Transistor have not been announced, nor has a publishing partner for the game.

Supergiant Games previously partnered with Warner Bros. on Bastion, which originally launched on Xbox Live Arcade in summer 2011, before spreading to a host of other platforms, including PC, Mac, and iOS. It has sold 1.7 million copies to date.

The Uncharted 3 free-to-play multiplayer client has been downloaded more than 350,000 times since launch late last month, Naughty Dog announced today through the PlayStation Blog.

The free-to-play version of Uncharted 3 multiplayer launched February 26, allowing gamers to play to level 15 for free. After that, gamers must pay $5 to raise the cap to 25 or $20 to remove the level cap altogether. Players can also spend money on a variety of items and map packs.

Naughty Dog did not divulge any information regarding how much revenue the 350,000 new Uncharted 3 players have brought in.

To support the Uncharted 3 free-to-play client, Naughty Dog announced today that it will release new paid downloadable content for the game every month through June 2013. This begins today with Oddball-themed character parts, which are based on the unofficial March 20 "Extraterrestrial Abductions Day."

A full list of all paid Oddball-related items is available at the Uncharted 3 free-to-play page.

Saints Row IV publisher Deep Silver wants to create a collector's edition for the upcoming open-world action game, but needs to make sure it's "worth buying." To achieve this, the publisher has created a public survey that asks fans to weigh in on what they would be interested in seeing included with the premium bundle.

Some of the options included are a T-shirt that reads "Department of Homeland Saintcurity," an auto-tune device, a dubstep doomsday button, a wood cigar box, or a "ridiculously amazing glass display case with lights," among other things.

Survey participants are asked to denote their level of interest on a scale of 1 (HELL NO!) to 5 (AWWWW YEAH!). In addition, the survey asks if fans have a console preference (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, or PC), how many collector's editions they purchased in 2012, and if they play mainly alone or co-op with a friend.

Saints Row IV is due out on August 20 in North America for current-generation consoles, but not the Wii U. It is in development at series creator Volition Inc. and will be published by Deep Silver, which purchased the franchise and the developer during the THQ bankruptcy auction in January for $22.3 million.

An Origin exploit has been discovered that allows hackers to swap games for malicious code, the BBC reports today. Researchers at security company ReVuln found the loophole, which stems back to the way the service launches games.

"Like many other programs, Origin uses a web-like syntax to keep track of the places games are found on a computer so they can quickly be started when people want to play," the BBC wrote. "The two researchers found a way to subvert this syntax to make it point to malicious code instead of a game."

EA confirmed to Ars Technica that it is investigating the exploit, though there is no evidence that the loophole has been manipulated by hackers.

"Our team is constantly investigating hypotheticals like this one as we continually update our security infrastructure," an EA representative told the site.

ReVuln researchers demonstrated the hack during the Black Hat Europe conference recently, showing off a Windows PC running Crysis 3 that was subsequently taken over by the attack code.

SimCity's record-breaking launch this month helped push Origin to a new concurrent peak user milestone of 1.3 million. The service has 39 million members as of December 31, though this figure is actually over 40 million when SimCity's 1.1 million sales are factored in.

Gamers will be able to complete upcoming next-generation action game Thief without performing a single kill, developer Eidos Montreal has confirmed.

"You can complete the game without killing anybody," the developer explained on its blog. "Garrett is a master thief, not a killing machine!"

According to Eidos, players will have multiple ways to approach objectives throughout Thief. Depending on the path players choose, they will encounter unique sets of challenges, as well as looting opportunities.

In addition, the developer confirmed that difficulty options in Thief will be scalable, allowing players to select a more traditional and hardcore experience or a newcomer-friendly option.

Thief is due out for the PC, PlayStation 4, and "other next-gen platforms" in 2014.

Update: A Techland representative has told GameSpot that Dead Island: Riptide's engine would not need to be rewritten or adapted to run on the Wii U and that the decision to not release the game on the Wii U was not down to the engine's capabilities.

"Wii U compatibility was coded, created, and tested months ago, back in 2012. There's no 'rewriting' needed to make it work on Nintendo's latest console. So the bottom line is that there were no plans to create a Wii U version but that decision had nothing to do with Chrome Engine's inability to run on that platform," said Techland.

Original Story: Current-gen open-world FPS Dead Island: Riptide won't be coming to the Wii U, publisher Deep Silver has said.

Speaking in an interview with Digital Spy, creative producer Alexander Toplansky said the development team at Techland would have either rebuilt the engine to work on Nintendo's latest hardware or simply ported the game. "One of the opportunities we had for Riptide was to continue the development of the engine, and really improve it and make a lot of refinements," said Toplansky.

"The things that are required to bring something to a new platform, you need to either really get to be integrating it deep into the engine, or you've got to [do] a port."

"Neither one of those was a satisfactory outcome for us, so we decided to do what we got platform-wise and just make sure that we can deliver the best experience we can."

Toplansky also confirmed that the studio wasn't actively planning to support the Wii U in the future, but wouldn't rule out the idea completely. "It's not something I would categorically rule out, but it's not something that's planned," he said.

Dead Island: Riptide is being released for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on April 26 in Europe and on April 23 in North America.

The original Dead Island has now sold over 5 million copies since its launch in 2011, Deep Silver parent company Koch Media announced in February.

"While others focus on ever-increasing development budgets and driving brand messages via ballooning marketing expenditures, Deep Silver stands for hitting the zeitgeist, innovation and fresh gameplay," said Koch Media CEO Klemens Kundratitz at the time.

Remember Me developer Dontnod Entertainment has revealed that while trying to secure funding for the action game, some publishers were wary to sign on because of its female lead character named Nilin.

"We had some that said, 'Well, we don't want to publish it because that's not going to succeed. You can't have a female character in games. It has to be a male character, simple as that,'" creative director Jean-Max Morris told The Penny Arcade Report.

"We wanted to be able to tease on Nilin's private life, and that means for instance, at one point, we wanted a scene where she was kissing a guy," Morris added. "We had people tell us, 'You can't make a dude like the player kiss another dude in the game, that's going to feel awkward.'"

Morris said this kind of thinking is holding the medium back in terms of maturity.

"There's a level of immersion that you need to be at, but it's not like your sexual orientation is being questioned by playing a game," he said. "I don't know, that's extremely weird to me."

Earlier this month, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag game director Ashraf Ismail said a female Assassin's Creed protagonist "wouldn't be surprising," despite all previous core entries featuring male leads.

Before that, Epic Games art director Chris Perna said in February that female lead characters for the Gears of War series could negatively impact a game's sales potential. "If you look at what sells, it's tough to justify something like that," he said at the time.

Remember Me launches June 4 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC and is published by Capcom.

2K Games and Gearbox Software today announced a partnership with the Academy of Art University for a project that will see students create an animated short set in the Borderlands universe.

Under the guidance of professors and with resources from 2K and Gearbox, students across all disciplines with have the chance to take part in the Borderlands Cooperative project. The film is expected to be finished by the end of 2013.

During the Academy of Art University's spring semester, teams of students will create short stories set inside the Borderlands universe. A panel of university officials, along with 2K and Gearbox judges, will choose one story, and the team behind it will have an opportunity to interview for an internship at Gearbox.

These interns will then begin full production of the film in the summer, before releasing the project sometime in the fall. According to 2K, this real-world experience will give students an inside look at the challenges of working with others and meeting deadlines.

The Academy of Art University is located in San Francisco, California.

Gears of War: Judgment offers players a range of microtransactions for player customisation and to boost the rate at which they earn in-game experience points.

For 80 Microsoft points, players get double XP for their next 10 multiplayer matches. 320MSP nets the same but for 50 matches, whereas 560MSP provides double the experience for 100 matches.

The biggest microtransaction, which is being sold for 800 Microsoft points, confers two times the experience for 200 matches.

The game's 1,600MP VIP pass, which was detailed in February, also offers up a permanent double XP bonus on selected playlists solely for players with the VIP pass.

Gears of War: Judgment also comes with 16 purchasable weapon skins and 22 purchasable armour skins.

Weapon skins are sold individually, with Microsoft asking for 240 Microsoft points per static skin and 320 Microsoft points per animated skin. Static armour skins cost 320 points, with animated armour skins going for 400 points.

Skins can also be bought in bundles. The Epic Weapon Skin pack, which contains all of Gears of War: Judgment's animated and static weapon skins, is being sold for 1,600 Microsoft points. The static weapon pack on its own goes for 1,200 points, whereas the animated pack will set players back 800 points.

All of the static armour skins can be bought together for 2,000 Microsoft points. Buying the static and animated armour skins together costs 2,800 Microsoft points.

The Total Skin Pack, which contains every weapon and armour skin in the game, costs 4,000 Microsoft points.

Gears of War: Judgment is the latest full-priced console game to offer in-app purchases to customers, with the game joining the likes of Dead Space 3, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, and Mass Effect 3.

GameSpot's Gears of War: Judgment review is in the works.