Monthly Archives: May 2012

Train2Game News: Aliens: Colonial Marines delayed until 2013

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Train2Game News recently reported that both Tomb Raider and Bioshock Infinite have been delayed until 2013, and now Gearbox Software and SEGA’s Aliens: Colonial Marines has suffered the same fate.

The game based on the classic film franchise was previously delayed from a spring release date to autumn, and now until next year. It’ll be released on February 12th 2013.

“I am thrilled to announce the definitive launch date for Aliens: Colonial Marines,” said President of Gearbox Software Randy Pitchford. “Aliens: Colonial Marines is the culmination of a life-time of inspiration from the films and relentless passion and drive from the exceptionally talented development team behind the scenes.”

“We knew this game would be incredible from the moment Gearbox began developing Aliens: Colonial Marines,” said  SEGA Senior Vice President of Marketing for Gary Knight,  “Now that the title is in its final stretch of development, we can confidently release the exact date that gamers will finally get to experience this blockbuster thrill-ride.”

Aliens: Colonial Marines is scheduled to appear at PC and indie gaming show Rezzed in July.

There’s more from Gearbox Software here on the Train2Game Blog.

What are your thoughts on the Aliens: Colonial Marines delay?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog or on the Train2Game forum.

Train2Game News: Reminder – Blitz Games ‘meet the experts’ live stream tonight

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Train2Game students can get advice from experienced industry professionals when Blitz Games host a live ‘meet the experts’ web chat at 6:30 p.m. this evening.

“Two of Blitz’s experienced programmers from our BlitzTech and R&D teams will be sharing their knowledge on a variety of topics aimed at aspiring newcomers to the industry as well as experienced coders looking to further their career in a new field or specialism.” reads the announcement on the Blitz website, suggesting that this session will be of particular interest to Train2Game game developers, who’ll be able to watch it here.

Will you be tuning in tonight?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Train2Game News: XCOM: Enemy Unknown developer diary discusses ‘modernising a classic’

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Train2Game students can get behind the scenes of XCOM: Enemy Unknown in the latest developer diary from Firaxis and 2K Games.

The new video, entitled ‘Modernising A Classic’ sees lead programmer Casey O’Toole speaking about developing XCOM: Enemy Unknown and how they’re bringing the classic strategy title into the modern age.

Watch the developer diary below, right here on The Train2Game Blog.

There’s more about XCOM: Enemy Unknown here.

What are your thoughts on the developer diary?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Train2Game News: UK Charts – Max Payne 3 beats Diablo III to No.1

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Train2Game Blog readers see Max Payne 3 take top spot of the UK charts this week, with Rockstar’s action title beating off competition from fellow debutant Diablo III for No.1.

It’s the first time a Max Payne title has debited at No.1, with Max Payne 3 outselling its 2003 predecessor by almost ten to one.

PC exclusive Diablo III therefore has to settle for No.2 on its first week on sale, despite being the 12th fastest selling PC game of all time. FIFA Street drops to No.3,  former No.1 Sniper Elite V2 drops to No.4, while FIFA 12 slips to No.5.

Prototype 2 is No.6 this week, one spot ahead of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 which re-enters the top ten.  Battlefield 3 and Assassin’s Creed: Revelations are up one spot each, while Mario and Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games completes the top ten.

The UKIE Gfk Chart-Track All Formats Top 10 for the week ending 19th May is therefore as follows:

1. Max Payne 3 (Rockstar)
2. Diablo III (Blizzard)
3. FIFA Street (EA)
4. Sniper Elite V2 (505 Games)
5. FIFA 12 (EA)
6. Prototype 2 (Activision)
7. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (Activision)
8. Battlefield 3 (EA)
9. Assassin’s Creed: Revelations (Ubisoft)
10. Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (Sega)

New releases this week include Dragon’s Dogma and DiRT Showdown.

What are your thoughts on this week’s charts? Which game do you think will claim No.1 next week?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Train2Game news: Unreal Engine 4 unveiled by Epic Games

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Train2Game students can get a first glimpse at Unreal Engine 4 from Epic Games in a huge feature published by Wired.  It contains the first details about the engine that’s hotly tipped to appear alongside next-gen consoles.

“There is a huge responsibility on the shoulders of our engine team and our studio to drag this industry into the next generation,” said Epic Games’ design director Cliff Bleszinski, who last month provided advice to Train2Game students during Make Something Unreal Live.

“It is up to Epic, and Tim Sweeney in particular, to motivate Sony and Microsoft not to phone in what these next consoles are going to be. It needs to be a quantum leap. They need to damn near render Avatar in real time, because I want it and gamers want it—even if they don’t know they want it.”

It isn’t the first time Bleszinski has called for Avatar like visuals for PlayStation 4 and Xbox 720 consoles.

Epic Games founder Tim Sweeny is more reserved, but hints that they’ll have a hand in suggesting the performance for next-gen consoles.

“We’re much more in sync with the console makers than any other developer is. That means we can give detailed recommendations with a complete understanding of what is going to be commercially possible.” he said.

Read the huge Unreal Engine 4 feature and see images of what it looks like over at Wired.

There’s more Unreal Engine 4 news here on The Train2Game Blog.

What are your initial impressions of Unreal Engine 4? What do you think it needs to bring to the table?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or here on the Train2Game forum.

Train2Game at Gadget Show Live 2012 – All 4 documentary films

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Train2Game student teams took last month’s Make Something Unreal Contest at Gadget Show Live, with the task of building an iOS game based on the prestigious Fighting Fantasy series.

Now, you can see the progress each of the four made through Make Something Unreal Live in a new video from Train2Game! It features industry figures including Cliff Bleszinski, Jon Hare, Peter Molyneux and Ian Livingstone providing advice to Train2Game students as they developed their game. Links to each of the 15 minute documentaries are below.

Train2Game at Gadget Show Live 2012 – The Commando Kiwi Story 

Train2Game at Gadget Show Live 2012 – The Derp Studios Story

Train2Game at Gadget Show Live 2012 – The IndigoJam Story 

Train2Game at Gadget Show Live 2012 – The Digital Mage Story

They’re also all available, with much more, on the Train2Game YouTube channel.

As usual, leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Train2Game news: Free-to-play “the only sustainable option” for MMOs say Turbine

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Train2Game Blog readers will have noticed how many MMOs have switched from being subscription based to a free-to-play model, including Turbine’s Lord of the Rings Online and Dungeon and Dragons Online.

And Turbine has told games.on.net that free-to-play might now be the only sustainable model for MMOs.

“The great thing about F2P is that it makes it a lot easier for players to check out the game or even come and go from another game,” said the unnamed interviewee.

“We continue to have hundreds of thousands of players in DDO every month and I doubt that could be the case if we were in a classic subscription model. It also allows different players to spend more or less in the game and everyone can contribute to the community in different ways and we can focus on improving the service for everyone. Overall it was and continues to be a great change for our game.”

“Is it sustainable? We would argue that it might be the only sustainable option.” they added.

Of course, the launch of Star Wars: The Old Republic and the continued success of World of Warcraft suggests there’s still some life in subscription MMOs yet.

There’s on free-to-play here on The Train2Game Blog.

What do you think is the future for MMOs? Will everything end up free-to-play? Or will there still be a demand for subscription based games?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Train2Game News: Watch BAFTA young game designers workshop LIVE at 1pm

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Train2Game students can tune in to watch industry experts give advice to BAFTA young game designers when their Bradford Workshop kicks off at 1pm today.

BAFTA Young Game Designers is a competition for 11-16 year olds that gives them the opportunity to make their own games.

The Bradford Workshop will see Senior Designer at Evolution Studios Hal Sandbach, former Head of Design on Worms John Dennis and Curator of New Media at the National Media Museum Tom Wooley offering advice to the BAFTA young game designers.

With the talk aimed at those aspiring to get into the games industry, there could be some great advice for Train2Game students in there.

You can watch the BAFTA young game designers live stream here from 1pm.

Keep reading The Train2Game Blog for the latest news from BAFTA.

Will you be watching?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

BAFTA’s public events and online resources bring you closer to the creative talent behind your favourite games, films, and TV shows. Find out more at www.bafta.org/newsletter,www.facebook.com/bafta or twitter.com/baftagames

Train2Game News: Go behind the scenes of Epic Mickey 2 in developer diary from Junction Point

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Train2Game students can get behind the scenes of Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two in a brand new developer diary from Junction Point.

Creative Director Warren Spector and the rest of the team discuss subjects including making a game “worthy” of the Disney name, how introducing co-op with Oswald changes Epic Mickey, the advantages of now building the game for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and much more.

Watch the Epic Mickey 2 The Power of Two developer diary below, right here on The Train2Game Blog.

There’s more about Epic Mickey here .

What are your initial impressions of Epic Mickey 2? What do you think are the challenges of building a Disney game?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Train2Game News: New Batman: Arkham City video focuses on sound design

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Train2Game students can get behind the scenes of Batman: Arkham City’s audio design in a new developer diary from Rocksteady Studios and Warner Brothers.

Making Batman Arkham City : Inside Rocksteady Studios. ‘Sound Effects’ comes ahead of Harley Quinn’s Revenge Pack being released at the end of this month.

The video features Game Director Sefton Hill, foley artist John Roesch and Audio Director Nick Arundel discussing  how sound was created for Batman: Arkham City. Discover things like how the sounds of Mister Freeze being punched in the face, or that of gunfire, were produced to sound as realistic as possible.

Watch the video below, right here on The Train2Game Blog.

There’s more about Batman: Arkham City here.

What are your thoughts on the work behind sound effects in Batman: Arkham City? How important is sound in game design?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.