Monthly Archives: January 2014

Train2Game News: Valve Virtual Reality first look next week

Posted on by

Valve logo Train2Game blog imageValve is just days away from releasing its own virtual reality software development kit, according to studio game designer Brian Coomer.

Speaking to the BBC, Coomer said the SDK would offer developers a standard method to provide an interface for virtual reality controllers.

Valve is expected to showcase the SDK and release it during the Steam Dev Days Conference next week, which takes place between January 14 and 15.

It is believed Valve is working on its own virtual reality technology, but will also support the Oculus Rift.

“There’s also technology in development at Valve based around head-tracking and headset manufacture and design,” he says.

“We are working with other companies right now but we have not made any specific announcements.”

As well as a VR SDK, Valve is expected to release a new toolset to assist developers with the creation of games for its Steam Machines, which uses the SteamOS and a unique haptic controller.

Train2Game News: 2014 Train2Game Game Jam

Posted on by

Train2GameThe registration for the 2014 Train2Game Game Jam is now open! Places are limited so get booking as soon as possible.

This Game Jam will be a bit different as the details for the jam were decided by YOU! A vote took place on the Train2Game forum for how this jam will take place.

As with previous Train2Game Game Jams this will be a Forty Eight hour event and it will take place at the University of Bedfordshire, University Square, Luton, Bedfordshire, from 3pm on Friday 11 April 2014 until 7pm on Sunday 13 April 2014.

Where as with previous Game Jams there has been a specific platform for your games, this year the choice is yours! You can create your game for what ever platform you choose, just remember it must be within your capabilities to finish the game in the time limit!

The teams will have members of four to six and you can either set up a team with your friends or if you prefer allow our match maker service to put you in a team with similarly skilled people. You may bring your own equipment if you choose or there will be equipment provided.

The theme is always an important part of the weekend and there was a dead heat in the voting for how the theme works. At the start of the weekend a draw will be had to decide the outcome.

A small donation of £5 per person will be asked of you when you sign up at the desk on the weekend and all money that is collected will be donated to the great charity, SpecialEffect.

Registration is open now so come along, have fun, test your abilities, learn new skills and help charity! You can register at http://www.train2game-online.com/events/game_jam_april_2014.html

Train2Game News: SEGA announce Alien: Isolation

Posted on by

AlienSEGA of America, Inc., SEGA Europe, Ltd. and Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products announced Alien: Isolation.

A thrilling first-person survival horror experience that will focus on capturing the horror and tension evoked by Ridley Scott’s 1979 classic film. Developed by Creative Assembly, Alien: Isolation is due for release in late 2014 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Windows PC.

On a decommissioned trading station in the fringes of space, fear and panic have gripped the inhabitants. Players find themselves in an atmosphere of constant dread and mortal danger as an unpredictable, ruthless Xenomorph is stalking and killing deep in the shadows. Underpowered and underprepared, you must scavenge resources, improvise solutions and use your wits, not just to succeed in your mission, but to simply stay alive.

“In Alien: Isolation, we have taken the series back to the roots of Ridley Scott’s 1979 movie, the original survival horror,” said Alistair Hope, Creative Lead at Creative Assembly. “Our Alien is a truly terrifying creature, as intelligent as he is hostile, relentless, brutal and unstoppable. This is the Alien game fans of the series have always wanted.”

“Creative Assembly has created a truly incredible gaming experience, capturing perfectly the very core of what has made the Alien franchise remain relevant after 35 years,” said Jeffrey Godsick, president of Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products. “This partnership has led to the creation of a game that is simply outstanding and sets the tone for what is to come this year for the 35th anniversary of Alien.”

Throughout 2014, Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products will be honoring the milestone 35th anniversary with a yearlong celebration marking the beginnings of the Alien legacy by releasing commemorative and fan-favorite products.

Train2Game News: Sony announce PlayStation Now

Posted on by

PlayStation NowSony announced PlayStation Now last night, a streaming game service that will allow people to play PS3 games on PS4, Vita, and Bravia TVs via cloud-based technology.

The service will first be available on PS3 and PS4, which should alleviate some criticisms of Sony’s latest console not being backwards compatible. Streaming games between Sony devices is only the beginning, however, as the company is aiming to expand into third-party hardware.

“Eventually the service will expand beyond PlayStation platforms and Sony devices, allowing users to stream PlayStation games on numerous other Internet-connected devices,” the console manufacturer explained in its announcement. “SCE’s vision for PS Now is to enable users to instantly enjoy a wide range of full games on the Internet-connected consumer electronics devices they use every day.”

The idea is that people will be able to play the same game on all their online devices and it will seamlessly transfer trophies, messages and save data. Intriguingly, Sony noted this service will be used to rent games, though it didn’t go into detail on exactly what the options will be for that.

“Gamers can rent by title for specific games they are interested in, or they can choose a subscription that delivers additional value with the ability to explore and play many games available across a wide variety of genres,” Sony stated.

“PS Now will allow users to engage in the world of PlayStation, whether they’re existing fans or have never owned a PlayStation platform,” said president and group CEO of SCE, Andrew House.

There’s still a lot we don’t know about PS Now but we do know it will increase the popularity of Sony if they can bring their back catalogue to smart phones and tablets as well.

Train2Game News: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas out now on Google Play

Posted on by

GTA San AndreasRockstar Games is proud to announce that Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is now available for select Android and Amazon Kindle devices. Upon its original release, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas took the groundbreaking series to new heights, delivering three detailed cities and an entire state for players to roam.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas features a vast open-world covering the state of San Andreas and its three major cities – Los Santos, San Fierro and Las Venturas. In addition to enhanced visual fidelity and over 70 hours of gameplay, the game has received several technical upgrades and has been specially tuned for use with mobile devices. Upgrades and enhancements for all mobile versions include:

  • Re-mastered, high-resolution graphics, including lighting enhancements, an enriched color palette and improved character models;
  • Context Sensitive Actions: automatically vault over low walls and objects;
  • Full suite of aiming options: auto-aim, free-aim, and touch targeting;
  • Dual analog stick controls for full camera and movement control;
  • Three different touch control schemes and customizable controls;
  • Physical controller support for compatible devices;
  • Cloud save support for Rockstar Social Club Members;
  • Updated checkpoint system.

Five years ago, Carl Johnson escaped from the pressures of life in Los Santos, a city tearing itself apart with gang trouble, drugs and corruption. Now it’s the early 90’s and Carl’s got to go home. His mother has been murdered, his family has fallen apart and his childhood friends are all heading towards disaster. On his return to the neighborhood, a couple of corrupt cops frame him for homicide. CJ is forced on a journey that takes him across the entire state of San Andreas, to save his family and to take control of the streets.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is available for £4.99, and can be purchased on the Google Play Store, Amazon Appstore and the iOS App Store. Coming soon to Windows mobile devices.

Train2Game News: 2014 Classical Music charts

Posted on by

FF7 OrchestraWith a new year comes a new chance to get some of your favourite video game music in to the charts!

Voting in the 2014 Classic FM Hall of Fame is OPEN and once again you can help to see video game scores represented in the World’s BIGGEST poll of classical music tastes by voting for your favourite classical bit of gaming music. You can vote for any orchestral video game score or arrangement – many are in the voting database already but you can also enter your own and the only stipulation is it must be orchestral.

This year many scores are lumped together into one entry, including last year’s #3 (Final Fantasy Series, Nobuo Uematsu) and #5 (Elder Scrolls Series, Jeremy Soule). You get to make three votes and this year we want people to vote for their favourites and get gaming communities they’re part of to vote for their favourites to. We want to see as many pieces of game music in there as possible!

The more game music that can be put in to the charts the better as it will further strengthen Video Games as a form of art in this world.

So what are you waiting for! Go to http://halloffame.classicfm.com/2014/vote/ to vote! And follow what happens at www.facebook.com/classicvgmusic and @classicvgmusic on twitter. Spread the word and lets get our favourite game music to the world!

Train2Game News: Yogscast raises huge amount for charity

Posted on by

YogscastYogscast, the UK’s most watched YouTube channel, announced that its December charity drive has raised an incredible $1,156,799.80 – just over £700,000.

The record haul for the ‘Yogscast Dwarven Dairy Drive’ smashed last year’s £240,568.25 and will be shared between five charities: Oxfam, War Child, GamesAid, Special Effect and Little People UK.

Talent from across the Yogscast family of YouTube channels appeared on Twitch.tv every night during December playing games, taking on challenges and having fun.

Yognau(gh)ts – fans of the Yogscast – who donated more than $25 got an amazing bundle of games and in-game items worth $350, including Napoleon: Total War, Garry’s Mod, Sonic All-Star Racing, Awsomenauts and The Chaos Engine. Those who gave more than $5 get a ‘Heart of Gold’ accessory item from popular title Team Fortress 2.

Yogscast chief executive Mark Turpin said, “We were aiming to reach £300,000 so to get to £700,000 is an incredible achievement and shows how generous gamers in general and Yognau(gh)ts in particular are.

“We’ve had amazing support from the UK and international video games industry supplying the games and items – there is no way we could have raised the money we did without their fantastic support.

“We also have to thank the Yogscast family who gave up their nights every day, except Christmas Day, in December to broadcast live and raise money.”

Train2Game News: Train2Game Winners Launched

Posted on by

T2G WinnersTrain2Game is supporting its students with new website which shows of the achievements of its student body.

The website is a chance to celebrate the achievements of Train2Game students, highlighting the positive work of the people that make up the student community and showing off some of the work it has done. It’s an opportunity for students to describe their achievements in their own words and for Train2Game to show off some of the projects students have been a part of. It’s also a portal for the wider gaming community to see what some of the best and brightest students studying with Train2Game are working on in the games industry.

Follow this link to visit the site http://train2gamewinners.co.uk/

Train2Game News: UK Top 20 Games – 06.01.14

Posted on by

FIFA 14The first chart of 2014 and not a lot has happened yet, understandably being the first week of the year! FIFA 14 still holds on to the top spot. However with many new next generation titles on the way however I am sure the charts will be shaken up soon

All formats

Week ending 4 January 2014

POS.  TITLE  PUBLISHER  LAST
WEEK 
1 – FIFA 14 EA SPORTS 1
2 – CALL OF DUTY: GHOSTS ACTIVISION 2
3 – ASSASSIN’S CREED IV: BLACK FLAG UBISOFT 3
4 – BATTLEFIELD 4 EA GAMES 4
5 – GRAND THEFT AUTO V ROCKSTAR 5
6 – NEED FOR SPEED: RIVALS EA GAMES 6
7 – LEGO MARVEL SUPER HEROES WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE 7
8 MINECRAFT: XBOX 360 EDITION MICROSOFT 9
9 JUST DANCE 2014 UBISOFT 8
10 – GRAN TURISMO 6 SONY COMPUTER ENT. 10
11 FORZA MOTORSPORT 5 MICROSOFT 13
12 BATMAN: ARKHAM ORIGINS WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE 11
13 DEAD RISING 3 MICROSOFT 19
14 WWE 2K14 2K SPORTS 12
15 ALIENS: COLONIAL MARINES SEGA 20
16 SAINTS ROW IV DEEP SILVER –
17 – FOOTBALL MANAGER 2014 SEGA 17
18 RYSE: SON OF ROME MICROSOFT –
19 TOMB RAIDER SQUARE ENIX 20
20 DISNEY INFINITY DISNEY INFINITY 18
Leisure software charts compiled by Chart Track, (C)2014 UKIE Ltd

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: The New Budget priced Tablets

Posted on by

UbiSlateUK-based company Datawind have released the UbiSlate 7Ci Android tablet which costs just a mere £30.

They certainly work and in reality they are quite good office devices. So if you want to stay in touch, keep up with social media or look at your favourite web site they are a nice pocket sized device.

These budget priced devices started life as a low cost access unit for India and demand just grew and grew. Earlier this year they appeared on mainland Europe and more recently something very similar was on offer in TESCO Europe for €34, around £30.

So here is our first top tip to using one – get the extra memory. You can add up to 32G and it is worth doing it.

Secondly download the Android cleaner App. This one stop App helps move Apps to the extended memory, cleans up the on-board cache and just makes it work better. This highlights a drawback of such devices as the RAM is tiny.

At this point it would be very easy to attach such a device as it’s simply not the same as a higher level spec/cost tablet. However, what can you expect from a tablet costing £30. Certainly it won’t play memory hungry games, but if you are building/testing the next Angry Birds what a great place to try it out.

Where this device shines is the everyday things. You can do email, Facebook, watch Youtube, listen to radio and your music, watch a movie (best only with extended memory card) and play Angry Birds. Installing the free office style package covers excel, word etc.

Consider you are working on a pitch document. Normally, you have to carry your laptop. I don’t know about you but carrying a laptop around always makes me a little nervous. With one of these tablets you can copy the document to the small tablet. You can even put it in your pocket for safety. What’s more, now the cost is just £30 who is going to try and steal it?

Audio is more than acceptable and the video is OK for the everyday things of life. Android has a BBC iplayer App, SkyGo App and there is even a Freeview TV Guide App so it can become a TV when everyone is watching something boring.

So overall it’s a great little device if you use it for the purpose it was designed for. Try and convince yourself it’s a Windows Surface and you will be disappointed.