Train2Game News: Avenged Sevenfold releasing mobile game

Posted on December 10, 2013 by Train2Game Blogger Team

Following a number one album release and a world tour, Avenged Sevenfold, are developing their own animated series and mobile game.

The five piece from California released their album Hail To The King back in late August and have since been touring the world to great reviews. I had the pleasure of seeing them on Thursday night and was blown away by the stage show they put on.

The band is well known for always evolving and trying new things. Their new adventure has lead them to create a Hail To The King animated series which is being produced with help from Jon Schnepp who has previously worked on Metalocalypse for Adult Swim. The series will be shown this holiday season and is a prequel to a mobile game the band have been involved with, Hail To The King: Deathbat.

Lead Singer of Avenged Sevenfold, M Shadows said “Two years ago while touring in South East Asia I looked around the bus taking us from the airport to the hotel and noticed everyone was on their phones and iPads playing different types of games. We had a discussion and decided that it would be fun to create one of our own. The problem was that we didn’t feel passionate about doing a full on typical music game. We wanted to do something different. Something inspired by some of our favorite games. So we came up with the idea of turning some of our songs and art work into a living, breathing, evil world. We wanted to bring the story of the Deathbat to life and allow you to control its destiny.”

Through the game you will be able to unlock 16 pieces of never seen before artwork from all of Avenged Sevenfolds albums. There will also be 7 new Cam Rackam paintings available in the game. He is the artist responsible for creating the Deathbat logo.

The band have also recorded 7 new songs for the game. These aren’t metal songs, they are theme songs for each level and are done in an old school video game fashion with a new school twist. There will also be reimagined versions of some of the bands older songs.

The trailer for the game will be released with the Machinima “Hail to the King” series on December 15th with the game scheduled for an early 2014 release.

You can enjoy a teaser trailer for the series below. Be aware there is some graphic cartoon violence. MUST BE OVER 18 TO WATCH.

Avenged Sevenfold will be headlining Download Festival this summer.

Train2Game News: Train2Game Winners site live

Posted on December 9, 2013 by Train2Game Blogger Team

Train2Game have launched an exciting new website where we get to show off the great accomplishments of our students.

Train2Game Winners is a place where students who have achieved great things in the games industry will be celebrated. We thought it was high time to show the world just how successful our students can be.

The website features testimonials from students in their own words about how they feel about Train2Game and the support they have received.

We are proud of each and every one of our students and hope that we will be adding to this site with more new achievements from students in the near future.

Visit www.train2gamewinners.co.uk to view the new site.

Train2Game News: UK Top 20 Games – 09.12.13

Posted on December 9, 2013 by Train2Game Blogger Team

In the lead up to Christmas now and the new console launches over, the charts have become very quiet. CoD: Ghosts has retained the number one spot and the only new entry to the list is Gran Turismo 6 which comes in at number eight.

All formats

Week ending 7 December 2013

POS.		TITLE	PUBLISHER	LAST WEEK
1	–	CALL OF DUTY: GHOSTS	ACTIVISION	1
2	–	FIFA 14	EA SPORTS	2
3	–	BATTLEFIELD 4	EA GAMES	3
4		ASSASSIN’S CREED IV: BLACK FLAG	UBISOFT	5
5		GRAND THEFT AUTO V	ROCKSTAR	7
6	–	LEGO MARVEL SUPER HEROES	WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE	6
7		JUST DANCE 2014	UBISOFT	9
8		GRAN TURISMO 6	SONY COMPUTER ENT.	–
9		KILLZONE: SHADOW FALL	SONY COMPUTER ENT.	4
10	–	BATMAN: ARKHAM ORIGINS	WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE	10
11		NEED FOR SPEED: RIVALS	EA GAMES	8
12		SKYLANDERS SWAP FORCE	SKYLANDERS	11
13		MINECRAFT: XBOX 360 EDITION	MICROSOFT	12
14		WWE 2K14	2K SPORTS	17
15		DISNEY INFINITY	DISNEY INFINITY	16
16		TOMB RAIDER	SQUARE ENIX	19
17		FOOTBALL MANAGER 2014	SEGA	20
18		KNACK	SONY COMPUTER ENT.	13
19		THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: LINK BETWEEN WORLDS	NINTENDO	17
20		SUPER MARIO 3D WORLD	NINTENDO	14

< previous week

These charts cannot be reproduced either in print or online without obtaining permission from Ukie. If you wish to reproduce the charts in print or online, please contact david.smith@ukie.org.uk for the appropriate license.

Train2Game News: Assassin’s Creed Pirates out on mobile

Posted on December 6, 2013 by Train2Game Blogger Team

Today Ubisoft announced that the next game in the award-winning Assassin’s Creed franchise, Assassin’s Creed Pirates, is now available on iOS and Android.

The year is 1716, the dawn of the Golden Age of piracy in the Caribbean. Players take on the role of Alonzo Batilla, a young and ambitious Captain who is embarking on an epic quest to find La Buse’s legendary treasure. Along his way Alonzo will cross paths with famous buccaneers including Blackbeard, Bellamy and Hornigold and find himself caught in the middle of the ancestral fight between Assassins and Templars.

In Assassin’s Creed Pirates, players will be tasked to manage their crew, upgrade their ship, recruit new crew members and engage in massive and brutal real-time naval battles to become the most feared pirate in the Caribbean.

Ubisoft Paris has developed a brand new mobile engine to bring groundbreaking 3D visuals to Assassin’s Creed Pirates. This engine is responsible for the breathtaking moving waters, lush islands, and gorgeous graphics that set new visual standards for mobile platforms.

This is definitely becoming a trend with the big franchise games to have a smaller mobile game. It shows that the big developers even see the mobile market as a strong and healthy platform.

Train2Game News: 32 developers announced for ID@Xbox

Posted on December 4, 2013 by Train2Game Blogger Team

Microsoft has revealed thirty two teams have signed up for their independent publishing programme, ID@Xbox.

Head of ID@Xbox Chris Charla announced the list of thirty two developers today with studios from all over the world including big names like Double Fine and Team 17 all the way down to smaller first time studios developing for Microsoft like The Men Who Wear Many Hats and Iron Galaxy.

Microsoft claims to have shipped over 50 SDKs to independent teams working on Xbox One projects, and intends to enable retail Xbox One units to be used as a dev kit in the near future.

“Bottom line, we’ve been blown away by the interest in the ID@Xbox programme, and we can’t wait until the games start shipping so players can experience the amazing titles that the independent developers will be bringing to Xbox One,” said Charla.

Iron Galaxy’s Dave Lang, makers of Divekick, added: “All developers care about is being able to make the games they want and get them into the hands of as many people as possible. Now, thanks to ID@Xbox, Iron Galaxy can bring Divekick to a Microsoft platform for the first time. We’ve been working on Xbox One games for a while now, and because of that you can bet Divekick will take advantage of all the platform’s unique capabilities.”

Microsoft are certainly stepping in the right direction to help the little studios get their foot in the door and get their games seen by a wider audience.

If you are interested in joining the current list of developers visit http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/developers/id

Train2Game News: GallantCloud blog – Week 12

Posted on December 4, 2013 by Train2Game Blogger Team

This is officially the last week on the Microsoft Accelerator Program. Can’t believe that it is almost over already. The demo day is coming fast as it is scheduled for the next week. We have made some great friends over the last 12 weeks. It is quite a shame that it is over soon.

We had the German State Minister of Economics Affairs (Labour and Transport) Olaf Lies in the office this week and he was quite impressed with our game. He left a delicious traditional ‘Baumkuchen’ cake for the whole Microsoft Accelerator program. A great treat for the start of the week I would say.

The last Pitching Doctor session this week was located at the L39 boardroom in Canary Wharf. It was an amazing location to practice our pitch and soaking up the banking and start-up atmosphere. Practice makes perfect as we know and refining our pitch after every presentation and genuine feedback really makes a difference.

Later that evening we had some great Wine tasting and talk by Naked Wines and our office farewell toast with Pizza.

Next day it was time for two more pitching rounds in front of ‘friendly investors’ and we got some good feedback from them too. This is all very encouraging as it seems we are on the right track with our game and pitch.

As it is still November we formed a team at the begin of the month for ‘Movember’ and raised some money from people in the Co-working office. Growing a moustache for a whole month is quite a high maintenance as well. Also it makes you feel like a cool dude, but the people around you look suspiciously at us and very likely to make some funny comments. I think I heard them all by now, but I am strong and resist the temptation to shave the fur off between my nose and lips. One of our team members actually was getting rid of his one, so we had to give him a fake moustache for a while. It was all great fun!

The final day at the Accelerator arrived and we making best us of it by polishing our game and doing more pitching practice for another event in front of hundreds of people.

The last week has past so quickly, it is unreal. One more week to go before the demo day.
It is going to be a crazy week ahead!

Later that evening we had some great Wine tasting and talk by Naked Wines and our office farewell toast with Pizza.

The final day at the Accelerator arrived and we making best us of it by polishing our game and doing more pitching practice for another event in front of hundreds of people.

The last week has past so quickly, it is unreal. One more week to go before the demo day.

It is going to be a crazy week ahead!

Train2Game News: GamesAnalytics report assess GTA Online

Posted on December 3, 2013 by Train2Game Blogger Team

Predictive analytics specialists GamesAnalytics, has today published a special report which explores the Free-2-Play (F2P) potential of Grand Theft Auto Online.

The latest release of the game took Rockstar’s blockbuster franchise in an ambitious new direction, with a multiplayer world and in-game economy and the Benchmark report assesses whether GTA Online would also make a successful standalone F2P game.

The report has been produced using GamesAnalytics’ evidenced based research methodology, where 50 game design aspects across six main categories including Monetisation, Retention, Engagement and Virality are assessed against industry best practice F2P game design from over 80 F2P titles.

The report found that GTA Online surpassed the best in genre scores for categories including Retention, Game Mechanics and Engagement. However, if the game was released as a standalone F2P title then the report identifies mechanics that it would benefit from improving key mechanics to achieve high levels of Monetization and Virality.

Based on the reporting findings, GamesAnalytics highlights five recommendations in the report to help achieve best practice F2P design:

1. Improve the currency structure with first / second payment structure
2. Introduce a VIP structure to fast track progress and reward members
3. Develop a trading mechanism to help increase community aspects
4. Utilise no lose gambling mechanics
5. Build in reward mechanics for social sharing

Mark Robinson, Co-founder and COO GamesAnalytics, commented on the report: “GTA Online is clearly a quality bestselling premium game and this Benchmark report shows its F2P potential as a standalone game. The assessment does however highlight when designing F2P games all areas of Player Relationship Management need to be taken into consideration in particular mechanics that maximise virality, monetization and retention.

F2P game design is evolving across multiple platforms and genres. GamesAnalytics’ tools and services help publishers and developers understand best practice game design and integrate learnings upfront in the design and development process.”

These could be helpful suggestions to bear in mind for your own F2P game if you choose to take that route.

Train2Game News: Insomnia coming to Coventry

Posted on December 3, 2013 by Train2Game Blogger Team

One of the UK’s biggest gaming festival will be staged in Coventry for the first time in 2014, when the Insomnia gaming festivals takes place at Coventry’s Ricoh Arena.

The Insomnia series attracts tens of thousands of gamers from across the UK to compete in the UK’s most competitive eSports tournaments and see the best games first, while millions watch events unfold online on Twitch.TV.

The first Insomnia festival at the Ricoh Arena takes place over Easter Bank Holiday weekend, Friday, April 18 to Monday, April 21 2014.

Insomnia will take over the Ricoh Arena to give visitors the chance to sample new games, watch live product demonstrations, buy the latest products and merchandise or watch the eSports tournaments unfold.

Offering the same unrivalled atmosphere as previous Insomnia events, visitors will be able to camp in their thousands across the weekend, bringing their own PCs and consoles with camping facilities and security on-hand.

Craig Fletcher, chief executive officer of Multiplay, said: “At Multiplay, we’re always looking to grow our business, and choosing a location that gives the Insomnia festivals strategic growth opportunities is of paramount importance to us, as well as our loyal community that attend our events.

He continued, “We’ve worked closely with the passionate staff at the Ricoh Arena and Coventry City Council to deliver a new home for Insomnia. “We are also delighted to be able to welcome back the Easter weekend dates which we haven’t been able to secure since Insomnia 42. “It’s incredibly exciting to be able to hold an Easter weekend extravaganza full of new content and awesome activities.

“We’re really pleased with the commitment and drive shown in bringing the UK’s largest gaming festivals to Coventry, and it’s a partnership we’re excited to move forward with in 2014.”

Jacky Isaac, Interim CEO at the Ricoh Arena, said she was thrilled one of the biggest dates in the calendar for gaming fans was being held in Coventry.

“It is the first time we will have held a gaming festival at the Ricoh Arena and this is great news for the venue and for the city,” she said.

“This is a festival for gaming in all its formats and is due to attract over 10,000 visitors from around the country.”

Tickets are available online now at www.insomniagamingfestival.com

Train2Game News: Yogscast and Humble Bundle raising money for charity

Posted on December 2, 2013 by Train2Game Blogger Team

Yogscast have teamed up with Humble Bundle to raise money for several different charities this Holiday season.

People who donate $25 to this Humble Bundle will receive over $200 worth of games including; Torchlight, Chivalry: Medieval Warfare, Shank 2, Magicka: Wizard Wars (Early Access), Sonic All-Star Racing Transformed and Napoleon: Total War. With this Bundle not only will you receive all those games but even a couple of bits of DLC, including an exclusive Yogscast War of the Vikings Hat.

The money raised by this Humble Bundle will be used to support great charities like; Oxfam, SpecialEffect, Little People UK, GamesAid, and War Child.

Yogscast have created this video to explain what they are doing in more detail:

If you want to donate and get some great games visit https://www.humblebundle.com/yogscast

Train2Game News: UK Top 20 Games – 02.12.13