Train2Game student Georgij Cernysiov is on a Train2Game work placement at Caspian Learning. In his latest Train2Game industry experience diary, Georgij writes about his work at the studio, and considers the future. He also teases a game project that’ll soon be launched on the Train2Game forum.
Read Georgij’s latest diary here on the Train2Game blog, or on the official Train2Game industry experience diary website.
Catch up with previous diaries here on the Train2Game blog.
It’s a date that Train2Game students should mark in their diaries as one that could potentially change the future of the industry.
Cloud gaming service OnLive will arrive in the UK On 22nd September, with a launch at the Eurogamer Expo.
As previously reported by the Train2Game blog, cloud gaming could potentially bring Triple-A gaming to anyone, including smartphone and tablet computer users.
The launch coincidences with the Eurogamer Expo – which Train2Game will once again be attending – and OnLive will be giving out thousands of free game systems that’ll work on any TV.
OnLive will utterly transform gaming in the UK,” said OnLive founder and CEO Steve Perlman.
“No discs, big downloads or specialised hardware needed. OnLive gives you the latest games instantly, anytime, anywhere on HDTV, PC, Mac, as well as iPad, Android tablets.
High-performance gaming as accessible as streaming video, with unique social features such as massive spectating with voice chat and Facebook integration.”
And speaking earlier this year, Perlman, as you’d expect, believes cloud gaming is the future for the industry.
“The power of the cloud is definitely the theme this week, displacing what had been assumed to be platforms that could never be displaced,” he said at the E3 app launch..
“The OnLive Player App for iPad and Android shows how with the power of the cloud, the question is not whether cloud gaming will be able to catch up to consoles, it will be whether consoles will be able to catch up to cloud gaming.”
There are however, as the Train2Game blog has previously reported, concerns about latency when it comes to cloud based gaming. A reliable internet connection will of course be needed to connect to servers, which could be very far away.
But is cloud gaming a threat to traditional consoles? As reported by the Train2Game blog, yesterday, Gaikai’s Dave Perry doesn’t believe so.
“We don’t think we’re a threat to console. I think the threat to consoles is actually Apple” Perry told GamesIndustry.biz.
Train2Game students will have the opportunity to check out OnLive and cloud gaming at the Eurogamer Expo which starts on September 22nd.
So Train2Game, are you tempted to try out OnLive? Do you believe it could change how the industry works?
Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.
[Source: Eurogamer]
In his latest Train2Game industry experience diary Laurence Gee writes about building a game with Train2Game forum users, working on his course and what he’s been getting up to on placement.
Read it here on the Train2Game blog, or on the official Train2Game industy experience diaries website.
Train2Game Game Designer Craig Moore starts a Train2Game industry experience placement at DR Studios next week. In his first industry experience diary, Craig writes about what he expects to gain from the work placement at DR Studios.
Read it below here on the on the Train2Game blog, or on the official Train2Game industry experiences website.
Find out a bit more about Craig by reading his interview with the Train2Game blog earlier this year.
Craig also took part in an extensive interview on BBC Radio Oxford in the run up to the Train2Game Game Jam.
Many Train2Game students will be very familiar with Id Software; the game developer is arguably the father of the first person shooter with the likes of Wolfenstein, Doom, Quake and soon, RAGE, coming from the studio.
However, despite the amount of competition in an FPS market – with Call of Duty currently the most successful – Id Software still believe the genre still has a massive future.
“The FPS I feel is the very best genre because it places you, the game player into the experience like no other type of genre does.” creative director Tim Willits told Quakecon.
The comments from Id software echo those made by Irrational Games Ken Levine earlier this, as previously reported by the Train2Game blog.
“It’s one less barrier to the experience,” The Bioshock creatorsaid on the subject of making games immersive through a first person view.
“It’s a strange thing to be in someone else’s shoes. It’s something we do very naturally as children, but it’s something that is much more difficult for adults. I think that games give us enough of a nudge in the right direction to have that childhood experience of play.”
While RAGE will be played from a first person perspective, Id Software’s title will feature driving and RPG elements, and Willits believes this is a positive step for the games industry.
“Even the word genre is a bit too constricting and I think that people should remove labels from games and let games just be games.” He said.
“I’ve always felt that the future is very bright for first person shooters. We have so many fans and there are so many different directions it could take that I believe that in itself, it’ll be around for years and that id software will be around for years too.” Willets added.
RAGE will be helped along by the fact that graphically, the games Art & Animation looks very good indeed, and as reported by the Train2Game blog this week, id Software believe that “graphics will always matter.”
RAGE could provide a great opportunity for Train2Game students, given that modding tools will be available for the PC version.
So Train2Game, do you think the FPS is the ‘best’ genre? Or is genre becoming an obsolete word?
Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.
[Source: CVG]
Train2Game students will be highly aware that social media gaming is one of the fastest growing areas of the games industry. Indeed, it’s an area that could provide Train2Game students with jobs in future.
Activision however, despite being one of the biggest game publishers on the planet, have so far steered clear of the social media gaming race. The reason? They believe people are spending more time playing triple-A titles, such as their Call of Duty games, rather moving towards Facebook.
“Call of Duty has more players who pay-to-play online than any Facebook game and our players pay more per player on average than any Facebook game,” said Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshber, speaking t the 13th Annual Pacific Crest Global Technology Leadership Forum
“They’re also more engaged – the percentage of Call of Duty’s monthly unique players that play the game every day is higher than that of the top three Facebook games.”
Activision are very happy to remain a console specific games publisher, and who can blame them with the biggest gaming franchise in the world under their belt. As previously reported by the Train2Game blog, Call of Duty: Black Ops was the top selling video game of 2010.
“We feel [Activision’s] strategy continues to be very well aligned with the market opportunity,” Hirshberg said.
“Despite all the hand-wringing in our industry right now, people aren’t gaming less. In fact, they’re gaming more than ever. They’re just doing it with fewer games, and they’re spending more time playing those games than ever before.”
“Last year, of the top 10 best-selling games, all 10 of them were based on strong existing franchises, and nine of those 10 were online enabled” he concluded.
The trend of successful Call of Duty titles looks set to continue with Modern Warfare 3, which as previously reported by the Train2Game blog, “will bring the most advanced multiplayer ever”
“The passion and energy of our developers is reflected in everything about the title. From the innovative gameplay, to the cinematic intensity, to the most advanced multiplayer ever, Modern Warfare 3 will raise the bar for this already incredible franchise.” Hirshberg said following the reveal trailer.
See the first Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 trailer here on the Train2Game blog.
So Train2Game, is Activision taking a risk by not investing in social media gaming? Or are they right to keep all of their eggs in the console basket?
Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.
[Source: Gamasutra]
The Train2Game blog has previously reported on cloud gaming, and how some believe it’s the future of the games industry.
However, owner of cloud gaming service Gaikai Dave Perry – who has previously been quoted by the Train2Game blog – doesn’t believe cloud is a threat to consoles. He think the threat to those comes from somewhere else.
“We don’t think we’re a threat to console. I think the threat to consoles is actually Apple” Perry told GamesIndustry.biz
“I think the concern there is that they’re generating hardware so quickly now. If you’re creating and shipping new hardware every 12 months, and during that 12 months you’re also giving pretty impressive upgrades, the features that people want, and you’re giving them those every six months and hardware every 12 months, I think the idea that you would have five to seven years on hardware refreshes is becoming a technical problem.”
And while Perry believes games consoles like the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 could survive thanks to their ability for use as multimedia entertainment devices, he’s not so sure about traditional handhelds.
“I think the handhelds are getting challenged very aggressively by the mobile phones,” he said. “I find myself spending a lot of money on iPhone, and if you look at a handheld today, the ones that people keep making, they still make them as a gaming machine.”
“Kids today… don’t want to carry anything that just does one thing. They carry their phone and it does everything. And so if you make single function devices, then you’ve got a problem. That’s my concern for handhelds, is this single function side of it”
Perry’s comments echo those the Train2Game blog reported Capcom made at the beginning of this year. They argued that smartphones including the iPhone are dragging consumers away from traditional handheld consoles.
And as reported by the Train2Game blog earlier this year, Apple could ‘own’ the games industry, at least according to Former PlayStation executive Vice President Phil Harrison.
“At this trajectory, if you extrapolate the market-share gains that they are making, forward for ten years – if they carry on unrestrained in their growth, then there’s a pretty good chance that Apple will be the games industry,” Harrison told Edge
As Train2Game students will know, the iTunes App store could potentially provide a Train2Game student with a large audience for the games they produce.
So Train2Game, is Apple the biggest threat to the rest of the games industry? Should it be considered a threat at all?
Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.
[Source: GamesIndustry.biz]
EA’s Peter Moore doesn’t believe the Nintendo Wii U is a stop gap between current consoles and the next-generation of consoles.
As reported by the Train2Game blog, the Nintendo Wii was revealed at this year’s E3 conference.
“People will start talking about it being a transitional platform. And I don’t think that’s going to be the case, and here’s why,” EA COO Moore told Industry Gamers.
The Nintendo Wii U’s controller looks like a tablet computer, similar to the Apple iPad, but the EA man doesn’t think its’s an issue
“I think the controller [is huge]. This is not about specs anymore… In the early days of our industry, this stuff was absolutely about how much better the games looked… Now it’s about interfaces. Now it’s about building a community in a rich, powerful way.
“Nintendo’s job, quite frankly, is to build a better mousetrap with regards to the way that we use the controller. So I don’t know what Xbox and PlayStation’s plans for their next platforms are, but it’s not going to be hanging on graphic fidelity. I guarantee you that.”
Moore also added that Nintendo ‘totally gets’ the importance of online multiplayer to modern gamers. Many Train2Game students play games together, often organised through the Train2Game forum.
“It’s critically important to us and we are relieved, if anything else, that they have made a huge [online] commitment that they have presented to us,” Moore said.
“Online certainly was not a factor with the Wii, as you know; although they had capabilities, it just wasn’t there at the level that both Xbox Live and PlayStation had. But I think Nintendo totally gets that multiplayer, building community, co-op play, having the ability to bring games that are deeper – all of these things are now very important.”
As previously reported by the Train2Game blog, Nintendo believe gamers will love the Wii U.
So Train2Game, do you think the Wii U will rival the next generation of software? Or is it going to fall away once the next Sony and Microsoft consoles arrive?
Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.
[Source: Industry Gamers]
Train2Game’s Clive Robert is one of many high profile games industry figures speaking at this week’s Edinburgh Interactive public sessions. The sessions are free and could provide Train2Game students in the Edinburgh area with excellent insider information about the games industry.
Other speakers include Ian Livingstone, Ken Fee, Graham Brown-Martin, Jo Twist and Derek Robertson and Nicholas Lovell. (Industry analyst Nicholas Lovell gave an extensive interview to the Train2Game blog in December last year)
Train2Game’s Clive Robert will take part in a discussion titled ‘Games Industry overview & How to get in to the Games Industry’ at 10 a.m. on Thursday.
He’ll be speaking alongside game industry legend Ian Livingstone and Ken Fee, MProf Programme Tutor and Lecturer at The University of Abertay Dundee.
For more information about the session, see the Train2Game blog.
“This year’s Public sessions are the best Edinburgh Interactive public sessions to date!” said Edinburgh Interactive Event Director, Alexa Turness.
“With such a fantastic line up and calibre of speakers, with such a variety of topics reaching out to a much broader audience, we’re predicting a very well attended couple of days. The public sessions are free, ticketless and on a first come first served basis, so don’t miss out, get to The Radisson Blu early and we will prove that sometimes best things in life really are free”.
The sessions, all of them, could really be of benefit to Train2Game students, so if any in the Edinburgh area are planning to go, they best to The Radisson Blu Hotel early.
For more information, see the Edinburgh Interactive program.
The event “is powered up to showcase the continued popularity, growth and influence of video games”
So Train2Game, are you in the Edinburgh area? Will you go to the public sessions?
Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.
Train2Game students will have seen some huge improvements in video game Art & Animation over the last decade, with the majority of Triple A games released now featuring excellent graphics.
Id software, developers of the upcoming RAGE – which as reported by the Train2Game blog will come with modding tools – believe that despite the improvements in graphics, games with better graphics than their rivals will always have an edge.
“Coming from id – and this is Carmack’s quote – graphics will always matter. And I agree with that 100 percent.” Id Software CEO Todd Hollenshead told VG247.
“I think that there’s a point where you get diminishing returns, obviously. You approach reality until the point that you get there. And then, once you get there – which, we never will – but the curve gets so close that the differences are imperceptible to most consumers.”
And Hollenshead believes the graphics and Art & Animation war is far from over, with more improvements to come in future.
“I don’t think we’re anywhere near there yet. We’re still making graphical trade-offs and working within system constraints. If you gave us twice the horsepower, I guarantee we’d soak up every single bit of it.
“So I don’t think we’re actually getting close to that yet. If every game you could buy was running with every single feature you could have turned on at 120 hertz, then I might say, “It’s pretty much all the same.” But it’s not. I mean, in RAGE, we decided to run it at 60 hertz and put all our elbow grease behind that when most of our competition is running at 30 hertz. And I think it’s a difference-maker.”
As reported by the Train2Game blog, ID Software said their fans ‘sometimes drive them nuts’ with their demands. With their ideas about graphics and Art & Animation in future, how the game looks shouldn’t be a complaint
So Train2Game, will graphics always give games an edge? Or can Game Design and gameplay triumph over Art & Animation?
Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.
[Source: VG247]
The Train2Game Blog 