Train2Game News: Microsoft launching more apps for 360

Xbox 360Train2Game has discovered that a number of new apps are coming to the Xbox 360 over the winter period.

More than 40 new applications are set to launch worldwide between now and spring 2013, Microsoft’s Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb announced.

Some of the apps the UK are getting are a Sainsbury’s shopping app, a Napster app and a Karaoke app.

While free to download the Karaoke, you then pay per amount of singing time you “rent”. It’s 240 Microsoft Points for two hours, 400 Points for six hours or 800 Points for 24 hours. The service is expected to launch next week and I imagine would be quite a hit at social gatherings.

Microsoft have also launched a SkyDrive cloud-saving service on Xbox 360, allowing you to share your holiday snaps and videos and display them on your TV from your Google SkyDrive.

Some other applications that are being launched from now until the end of January are to the UK are gaming sites Machinima and GameTrailers, anime service CrunchyRoll, arty movie service IndieFlix and sports broadcaster Livesport.tv.

This announcement shows Microsoft’s further push into an all round entertainment platform allowing you to do most things from the comfort of your games console.

Train2Game News: Student Diaries – 13.12.11

There are a few Train2Game students on work placement at DR Studios. Below is some diaries of how they are getting on.

Amanda Blatch week 12

Soooooo…. Diary this week. You know.. I think it’s kind of slipped my mind what I did last week, it passed by so quickly! There was a lot of work to do and that got done as we are sticking more strictly to our deadlines of getting  a new build out every Friday so we had a game to play over the weekend. With the latest build you can really tell the game is starting to come together and a couple of new features have been added into the game that helps move the game along at a speed that would be enjoyable for the player without being too easy. Overall, it’s looking very good atm with all the updates and changes to the game.

On top of that I have had more of a break in my usual UI making process, creating a couple new characters for the game which will form part of an exclusive content pack on release date. The splash screen itself has also had an almost completely new do-over and is much more polished and finalised, ready for promotion.

But apart from that there is not much more I can say, the game is close to being finished, we just need to keep pushing that little bit further to make the game the best we can make it! So, again, till next week.

Craig Moore Student Diary Week 55

What day is it?

It’s been a pretty intensive week here, trying to ensure that two builds go out a week while constantly improving and bug fixing is certainly akin to juggling cars. It’s been a smooth one though with very few hiccups and the build is going from strength to strength, I think our big focus next week will be to crush some of the gameplay blocking bugs that are really getting in the way of heavy play testing.

As with previous weeks I have been working closely with Tim to ensure new features get in to the game, it’s a really effective approach that ensures we are working on the same thing but each to our own abilities and insures rapid iteration and turnaround of features.

It feels like we have had this game under wraps for ages now, and in reality it is, it’s been a good six months and I cannot wait to show it to the world! I feel like we have taken everything that made My Sea Park cool and turned it up to 11 while adding some cool little features that I genuinely have never seen before in games of this genre.

Also don’t fret! This one is coming to both iOS and Android.

Getting this kind of experience and exposure is something I could never dreamed of getting 18 months ago, but here I am. It’s a lot of hard work but I would not change it for the world.

Craig

Matty WS week 53

This week has been quite busy again as usual; I’ve been remaking a few assets here and there and redoing some older animations that weren’t up to scratch. Over the weekends I’ve been playtesting the game as well as other games for ‘market research’. I’m finding Hayday pretty fun annoyingly. I’ve also been playing chess more lately because of Social Chess on the iPad, but before that I used to play a game a day or more sometimes, so now it’s just a case of playing multiple games each day over time. I also caved and bought things on the iPad, Red alert and LSAW (land sea air warfare, tis an RTS). The store is so expensive though! Everything on android is cheap or free, cannot see why it’s not the same for iDevices.

The next project (although still up in the air) is starting to sound pretty awesome now and I really cannot wait for it to start!

MattyWS

Train2Game News: Mid-week round up – 12.12.12

The Train2Game blog has once again been searching the internet and has found some of the biggest news from across the week.

The Rapid2D engine has gone live as of yesterday following its demonstration at the Evolve conference in London. Rapid2D is designed to help developers create apps for PC, tablet and Windows Phone 8 through the Windows 8 Marketplace. The engine uses C++ for scripting, and includes features such as physics, visual effects, sound particle systems, collision control and animated sprites. As well as the free version of Rapid2D, there will also be extra add-ons, upgrades and a pro-version available to developers.

Randy Pitchford, one of the developers behind Borderlands 2 has confirmed that there will be a new character class coming as DLC. Mr Pitchford previously said it was unlikely because of the amount of extra work the Mechromancer class took. The news was revealed after someone tweeted the developer saying “My mate says you won’t” to which Randy replied, “yes – we’re working on another character.” It’s as simple as that.

PopCap, the team behind hit casual games such as Plants v Zombies has announced that they are now working on a AAA title. The news comes following a tweet and job posting from PopCap. The game is a console game, inspired by Team Fortress 2. The job posting confirms that the game will use the Frostbite 2 engine, which is becoming more and more popular.

The final issues of PSM3 and Xbox World have gone on sale today. One of the many features in the last PSM3 magazine is a feature written by editor Dan Dawkins talking about the making of’ PSM3, office secrets, the highs and lows, how things have changed and how the future looks. Meanwhile Xbox World rounds up the biggest, loudest, saddest, funniest, most shocking moments in Xbox history and gives GTA5, arguably the biggest Xbox game of 2013, one final, epic preview.

Rovio has announced plans to release an Angry Birds feature film in the summer of 2016 and it will be in 3D so you can feel what those bad piggies go through. Despicable Me producer John Cohen has signed on as producer for the CG-animated movie, while David Maisel, former chairman of Marvel Studios and executive producer of Iron Man, will serve as executive producer. The movie will be produced and financed by Rovio outside of the studio system, allowing the Finnish company to retain full creative control of the project. Over 100 billion Angry Birds games have been downloaded since the games début in 2009.

Train2Game News: Games Industry Jobs – 11.12.12

Train2Game has searched around to find you some of the entry level jobs in Art, Design, Development and QA.

ART

Job Title Junior Artist
Job Category Art / Animation
Skills Required Graduate Artist
Location Old Street, London, UK & Europe
Job Description Sports Interactive (SI) is the world’s leading developer of football management simulations through its Football Manager series of games, in its twentieth anniversary year. With one of the lowest staff turnover rates in the industry, and regular appearances at the top of the PC, PSP and App Store charts around Europe, this is a chance to join a winning team.

Position Overview
We are looking for an artist to join our graphics team in a junior role, helping with the creation and implementation of assets and graphical content in our games.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Dealing with licensing and asset creation for the game
  • Creating graphical content for the game
  • Assisting in the development of content across numerous platforms.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE  

  • Proficient with Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator
  • Experience creating graphical content for games (either professionally or within a gaming community)
  • Portfolio required

DESIRABLE

  • Basic knowledge of HTML and/or XML
  • Web design experience
  • Strong interpersonal and communication skills
  • Interest in football.

You can apply HERE.

DEVELOPER

Job Title Games Programmer – iOS / Android
Job Category Programming
Skills Required AI / Artificial Intelligence, Tools, Gameplay, Mobile / iOS / Android, Graphics / Engine, Core Technology, UI / Front End, Graduate Programmer
Location Brighton
Job Description Boss Alien are a growing company working on exciting projects with small team sizes. We need programmers who are happy to work in whatever area is required of them – this could change on a daily basis!

We are looking for smart, energetic, friendly people to join us!

Required:

  • 2.1 degree in Maths, Physics, Computer Science or related, or equivalent industry experience
  • Excellent knowledge of C# or C++
  • Excellent knowledge of algorithms and data structures
  • Experience of creating games on desktop or mobile platforms
  • Desire to make great games
  • Great communication skills (verbal and written)
  • Happy to work as part of a team
  • Demonstrable love for some area of game technology
  • A passion for playing games and solving problems
  • Flexible and keen to learn new skills

Great to have:

  • Knowledge of two or more other programming languages (for example Java, Python, PHP, Clojure)
  • 1 or more years of games industry experience
  • 1 or more shipped titles on console, desktop or mobile platforms
  • Strong knowledge of console, desktop and mobile architectures
  • Knowledge of asynchronous engineering techniques
  • Experience of Unity, Unreal or XNA
  • SQL
  • Experience using digital content creation tools (for example Max, Maya, Photoshop)

    Find out more about us at www.bossalien.com

    Junior / Graduate Programmers with relevant demos and a positive attitude are encouraged to apply!

DESIGN

Job Title MMO Game Designer – Celtic Heroes – Groundbreaking MMORPG !
Job Category Game Design
Skills Required Games Designer, Level Designer, Graduate Game Designer
Location Glasgow
Job Description The team behind ‘Celtic Heroes’ are looking for a creative MMO Game Designer to join their team.

As MMO Game Designer you will have the responsibility of designing and evolving the very experiences our players engage in. You must have massive passion in the MMORPG genre and fully understand the successful game mechanics and quest design that equally challenges and rewards the player.

You must be a creative thinker with the ability to rationalise your ideas into practical game play experiences. You must be a strong communicator at ease working within a development team. A strong portfolio of game design examples in the same genre of ‘Celtic Heroes’ is a MUST!

If you have the skills, qualifications, experience and a passion for playing our kind of games, we would love to hear from you. To APPLY direct online simply follow this link http://bit.ly/joinourclan

Set in an exciting medieval Celtic world of combat, magic and mythology, ‘Celtic Heroes’ is a fully 3D MMORPG available for iPhone, iPod and iPad. Play as a customisable warrior, mage, rogue, ranger or druid. Gain powerful new weapons, armour and items as you explore the vast world of castles, dungeons and outdoor environments. Battle fearsome enemies and complete heroic quests!

NOTE: Must be able to demonstrate eligibility and VALID WORKING VISA to work in the United Kingdom and be willing to relocate / commute to the Glasgow area

QA

Job Title Games Tester
Job Category QA / Localisation
Skills Required QA Tester
Location UK & Europe
Job Description Position Overview:

The Games Tester position is a responsible job; reporting bugs and providing quality feedback for our titles in development. These fixed term contracts are for our established Total Warteam, testing our project currently in development.

  • Test games in development for  software bugs
  • Enter bugs clearly and accurately into our bug database
  • Verify and recreate bugs as required
  • Report additional balancing, design and accessibility problems
  • Specific support and general roles available

Essential

  • A clear understanding of QA process
  • A keen enthusiasm for gaming
  • Good communication and  reporting skills
  • Driven and flexible approach

Desirable

  • A clear understanding of QA process
  • A keen enthusiasm for gaming
  • Good communication and  reporting skills
  • Driven and flexible approach
  • Experience of testing one full shipped title
  • A good  understanding of Strategy games (Total War)
  • Games industry related degree (e.g. audio, art, design, etc.) or expertise in a specific  game area is an asset (e.g. audio, technical, PC hardware, design or scripting etc.)
  • Fluent in one or more of the following languages: French, German, Italian or Spanish
  • Strong technical knowledge/skills (e.g. programming, scripting)

You will need to be available to start by December 2012.
PLEASE ENSURE A COVERING LETTER IS INCLUDED WITH YOUR CV APPLICATION

 

You can apply HERE.

Train2Game News: Valve gaming PC in the works

Valve LogoAfter some research Train2Game has found that Valve Software are working on their own proprietary hardware, optimised for gaming.

The recently released Steam Big Picture mode was a first step in this process. The next step is incorporating Linux and making all of that work towards developing a PC package of their own. That means a ready-made PC that comes with Steam and can be hooked up to your television set.

Gabe Newell has shed some more light on his company’s plans. Newell said “I think in general that most customers and most developers are going to find that the PC is a better environment for them because they won’t have to split the world into thinking about ‘why are my friends in the living room, why are my video sources in the living room different from everyone else?’ So in a sense we hopefully are going to unify those environments.

“Certainly our hardware will be a very controlled environment. If you want more flexibility, you can always buy a more general purpose PC. For people who want a more turnkey solution, that’s what some people are really going to want for their living rooms.

“We’ll do it but we also think other people will as well.”

This last sentence indicates that Mr Newell believes this may be the next big move in the games industry. A move like this could truly revitalise living room gaming.

Train2Game News: UK Top 20 – 10.12.12

Only one new entry breached the top 20 this week and that was Sonic & All Star Racing Transformed which came in at number 16. Call Of Duty: Black Ops 2 is still sitting high at the number 1 slot. The biggest change this week is that THQ’s WWE ’13 rose from 15 up to number 10.

Week ending 8 December 2012

POS.  TITLE 

PUBLISHER

 LAST
WEEK 

1

– 

CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS II

ACTIVISION

1

2

– 

FAR CRY 3

UBISOFT

2

3

– 

FIFA 13

EA SPORTS

3

4

JUST DANCE 4

UBISOFT

6

5

– 

ASSASSIN’S CREED III

UBISOFT

5

6

HITMAN ABSOLUTION

SQUARE ENIX

4

7

HALO 4

MICROSOFT

8

8

NEED FOR SPEED MOST WANTED

EA GAMES

10

9

LEGO THE LORD OF THE RINGS

WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE

7

10

WWE ’13

THQ

15

11

SKYLANDERS GIANTS

SKYLANDERS

9

12

MOSHI MONSTERS: MOSHLINGS THEME PARK

MIND CANDY

16

13

MEDAL OF HONOR: WARFIGHTER

EA GAMES

18

14

FOOTBALL MANAGER 2013

SEGA

13

15

THE ELDER SCROLLS V: SKYRIM

BETHESDA SOFTWORKS

16

SONIC & ALL STARS RACING TRANSFORMED

SEGA

17

NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. 2

NINTENDO

19

18

LEGO BATMAN 2: DC SUPER HEROES

WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE

19

F1 2012

CODEMASTERS

20

DISHONORED

BETHESDA SOFTWORKS

12

Leisure software charts compiled by Chart Track, (C)2012 UKIE Ltd

Train2Game News: Trailers from the Video Game Awards

VGAThe Video Game Awards were held over the weekend and a number of new trailers were shown for some of the big games coming next year. The Train2Game blog has rounded them all up for you here.

The first one is for the new South Park game, The Stick of Truth. This game looks stunning and it is going to make a lot of South Park fans very happy. It looks so like an episode it is hard to see where the cut scenes end and the game play begins.

This trailer is obviously 18+. Do Not Watch if easily offended.

Next up is the trailer from Tomb Raider: Survivor. This game is again stunning to look at and looks to be action packed and innovative in it’s adventure. You get to see Lara Croft grow up from a girl fresh out of school to the Archaeologist we are familiar with. I haven’t played many Tomb Raider games personally but I am looking forward to this one, even more so following this trailer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FI7DFJDUsNY

Finally it was revealed last night that a sequel is coming for one of the most brutally difficutly games their has been in recent years. Dark Souls 2 is coming and it is going to be as ruthless as ever

Train2Game News: Art exhibition raises over £21,000 for SpecialEffect

Death of the JokerTrain2game has been told that the London games festival Art Exhibition has raised over £21,000 as the auction enters the final stages.

The art exhibition was held to raise money for the charity, SpecialEffect who help many people with disabilities to be able to play their favourite games with their friends and family.

Some of the pieces of art that are on sale include the stunning Joker’s Death concept sketch from Batman: Arkham City, a fantastic New Super Mario Bros composite, and a huge signed Football Manager 2013 canvass.

As it stands at the moment it looks like the auctions are going to make over £25,000 for the charity which will help them to help more people to play games.

Kirsty Payne, event director of the London Games Festival where the exhibition is taking place said “The response has been overwhelming! The exhibition attracted a huge amount of interest whilst it was being held – but even we have been astonished by the amount people are pledging for these wonderful and rare pieces of art. We’ve just unveiled the final batch of exhibits to go under the hammer, so there’s just over a week left to win a stunning one-of-a-kind exhibit, make someone’s Christmas even more special – and donate to a wonderful charity.“

Mick Donegan, SpecialEffect CEO said “Our huge thanks go to Kirsty Payne, her team and every single artist and software house for making this wonderful idea a reality. It has made an amazing and instant impact on our work. Earlier today I saw a blog from a guy with muscular dystrophy we assessed near Liverpool just a couple of days ago: ‘…Just had a meeting with SpecialEffect fantastic charity – will make a huge difference in the quality of my life – need to raise the funds for my controller and some for others less fortunate…’ Well, this much-needed boost to SpecialEffect’s funds not only means we’ll be able to buy that special loan controller for Lee right now but also for the many of the others he talks about too. Just as important, we’ll be able to take on more specialist time to help with our essential assessment and support work, too. For the people that SpecialEffect help, both right now and into the future, there really couldn’t be a more welcome Christmas present!”

The London Games Festival art auction is running through until December 12 and you can check out some of the art by visiting www.londongamesart.com

You can continue to help SpecialEffect by watching and sharing the video below and help them reach their target of 25,000 views by Christmas day!

Train2Game News: Microsoft opening new Development Centre in London

Tech CityThe Train2Game researchers have found that Microsoft is opening up a new Development centre in the heart of London.

Prime Minister David Cameron today announced a major Government investment in Tech City. The Government will put £50m towards a visionary project to regenerate the Old Street roundabout, which will see it transformed into Europe’s largest indoor civic space, dedicated to start-ups and entrepreneurs in East London. This new civic building will host classrooms, co-working spaces and workshops equipped with the latest 3D printing technology, for use by both the local start-ups and the wider community.

One of the new additions to Tech City will be from Microsoft. They are establishing a Technology Development Centre in the heart of Tech City as part of their commitment to the cluster and will support local technology development. Microsoft’s hope is to work to inspire innovation and provide expertise and guidance to those with new and innovative ideas. They will create packages of support for Developer Apprentices and are working on a new Apprenticeship to support young people in and around Tech City.

Prime Minister David Cameron said “Two years ago I set out my commitment to help Tech City become one of the world’s great technology centres. Today we are seeing it continue to grow and go from strength to strength – and that is down to the talented, creative entrepreneurs who have set up there. The UK is in a global race and I am determined that we as a Government continue doing everything we can to equip the UK to compete and thrive in that race. As well as backing the businesses of today, we are creating an aspiration nation and also backing the innovative, high-growth businesses of the future.”

The mayor of London, Boris Johnson, added “The time is right to lay solid foundations in Tech City for London’s digital revolution, and this list of major new firms committing to the area is a testament to the confidence leading tech entrepreneurs have in the capital. Our new centre will provide not only a vital resource to nurture upcoming technology and creative superstars from around the world, it will drive huge investment into the capital and help create thousands of jobs.”

You can find out more about Tech City at their website.

Train2Game News: Mid-week round up – 06.12.12

The Train2Game team has searched around and found some of the exciting news from this week.

343 Industries, who recently released Halo 4, have said that they are in early stages of developing a new Halo. Frank O’Connor, the franchise development director for Halo, said that “a lot of people at 343 are already prototyping ideas and software and art for future Halo products”. Many within the 343 Industries studio are still working on post launch content for Halo 4.

Sega has revealed a new partnership with Games Workshop which will see Total War developer Creative Assembly making multiple titles set in the Warhammer fantasy universe. Creative Assembly studio director Tim Heaton said: “With this year being our 25th anniversary, it seems fitting for us to embark on such a dream project with such a well-established partner. The incredibly rich and detailed Warhammer world is something we grew up with, and has left an indelible imprint on us as both designers and gamers.”

Sony Pictures Consumer Products has teamed up with Capcom-owned developer Beeline Interactive to produce an Android and iOS Ghostbusters game, targeting an ‘early 2013’ release. The new Ghostbusters will be a ‘freemium’ title based on the popular eighties movies. The players will play the role of “a fledgling Ghostbuster. Who ya gunna call?

UK celebrity, chat show host and film critic Jonathan Ross has opened a new game development studio named Hotsauce Interactive, based in Candem, North London. The outfit is part of Ross’ TV production company Hotsauce, and has already released its debut game, Cacha Cacha Aliens for iOS. It is understood that Hotsauce Interactive is staffed by a number of experienced developers and the studio may look into releasing games on hand-held and console in the future.

Customers of Valve’s Steam digital distribution service can now play their PC games on a TV. The much anticipated Big Picture mode has been in beta for some time, but has only now seen public release. Big Picture is designed to be compatible with gamepads, but also supports the use of a Mouse and Keyboard. To celebrate, Valve has placed over thirty “controller-friendly” games on sale.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 made $1 billion a day quicker than Modern Warfare 3, Activision has announced. That’s $1 billion in worldwide retail sales in 15 days since launch, based on Chart-Track and internal figures. Modern Warfare 3 took 16 days to cross the $1 billion mark. For comparison, James Cameron’s Avatar made $1 billion in 17 days. Since launch, more than 150 million hours have been logged online playing the game on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network.

Kickstarter’s United Kingdom operation has reached £2,069,164 in pledges since its launch late in October. 45,799 backers contributed to the £2 million, with 30 projects having successfully ended their funding drive out of 407 launched. Of those backers, 39 percent came from the UK.