Monthly Archives: July 2014

Train2Game News Your Beautiful Game Shortlist

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After receiving hundreds of nominations via the ‘Your Beautiful Game’ microsite, Turtle Beach has collated the votes and created a shortlist of the community’s favourite games.

The following list contains the top video games that fans have passionately campaigned to be included in the final poll to be crowned the best game of all time.

The Top 15 Beautiful Games

    Borderlands 2
    Call of Duty: Ghosts
    Dwarf Fortress
    Far Cry 3
    FIFA 14
    Final Fantasy X
    Grand Theft Auto V
    Halo 3
    Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
    Pac Man
    Resident Evil
    Super Mario Galaxy
    The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
    The Last of Us
    The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

From now until July 18th, gamers can vote via http://yourbeautifulgame.com/ for the one game in the shortlist that they feel deserves the title of the true “Beautiful Game.”

As an added incentive everyone who votes in the poll will also be in with a chance to win a Turtle Beach gaming headset.

Voting and full terms and conditions are available at http://yourbeautifulgame.com/

Train2Game News Videogames writers guild chair filled

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Steve InceFollowing the Guild’s AGM on Friday July 4 2014, games writer Steve Ince has now taken up the position of chair of the Videogames Committee within the organisation, a position he is proud to take up and hopes it encourages more game writers to join the Guild.

Steve says:
“I joined the Guild two years ago because I believe it’s important to be part of a strong organisation that works in the interests of professional writers and, by extension, those writers who wish to become so.

“As a professional game writer I not only want to help shape the direction of writing within games with the work I do, but also be a part of how game writers are perceived by the wider writing community and within the game development industry.

“With this in mind I put myself forward for the Videogames position within the Writers’ Guild which was confirmed at the recent AGM, for which I’m very honoured.

“As a first step in this new position I’d like to invite all eligible game writers to consider joining the Guild, details of which are on the Guild website.

“Game writers, like most other scribes, can feel a little isolated at times, so being part of an organisation with such a rich history will give you a place in a strong community of creative individuals from every part of the writing spectrum.

“Previous holders of this position have done a fantastic job to date and I hope I can match that, particularly as there’s still a lot to do in respect to what the Guild means for game writers.  By joining or becoming part of the discussion, game writers can help give direction in a field that is evolving faster than all others.

“I welcome comments, questions and suggestions on anything related to the game writing side of the Guild, including membership enquiries, and look forward to hearing from you.

“I hope to achieve something positive for both the Guild and game writing while in this position.”

Train2Game News From Bytes to Boxed

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Sold OutSold Out Sales & Marketing Limited, one of the UK’s leading publishers of boxed titles, claims that many independent developers are missing out on substantial amounts of additional revenue by ignoring traditional routes to market.

The firm – which recently announced a partnership with Team17 Digital Limited to bring its forthcoming digital titles to retail – is now actively seeking new publishing opportunities which can generate an additional tranche of revenue for the developer.

In the case of high-profile digital releases, many mainstream publishers have forecast that their digital revenues may be as little as nine per cent of their boxed income. Microsoft’s decision to keep boxed as part of their Next-Gen strategy indicates that even where a business intends to be primarily digitally focused, retail earnings are still very key in the revenue streams.

“Digital publishing has proved a fertile ground for innovative, lean independent developers – but many are ignoring additional opportunities – which is leaving that cash on the table,” says James Cato, Sales Director at Sold Out.

“Whilst the digital marketplace is undoubtedly convenient for indie developers, we’re able to very quickly and easily open up routes to traditional markets, reaching players who prefer to build physical collections – or those who remain fearful of purchasing online.”

In the latter half of 2014, Sold Out will bring at least seven new titles to retail – including some of the highest-profile digital releases of the year. More information will be revealed at a later stage. These titles will be in addition to Sold Out’s own digital releases across PC and home consoles.

“We’re actively seeking new partners,” adds James Cato. “We’re as simple to work with as it comes: getting your games into shops requires very little additional manpower, and we’re not interested in owning anyone’s IP or digital revenues, all we offer is additional profits and access to a traditional market – literally every sale we make is a bonus to our partners.”

For more information in working with Sold Out, please contact sales@soldout.uk.com / +44 (0)203 405 4585

Train2Game News Tekken 7 announced

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Tekken 7At the Evolution Championship Series (EVO) fighting game tournament held in the Westgate Las Vegas Hotel & Resort, BANDAI NAMCO announced TEKKEN 7, the latest installment of the venerable franchise, powered by the award-winning Unreal Engine 4.

“The power and flexibility means that we can focus our efforts on making TEKKEN 7 the best possible game without worrying about spending time creating a stand-alone graphic engine,” said Katsuhiro Harada, TEKKEN series Executive Producer/Game Director at BANDAI NAMCO. “With Unreal Engine 4, we could rapidly achieve visual quality expected on next-gen platform and go beyond it. Not only is Unreal Engine 4 powerful and easy to use, but it allows us to immediately bring TEKKEN 7 to any platform we desire.”

TEKKEN 7 took center stage at EVO, bringing the competition to a halt with a sizzling trailer hinting towards the ambitious technical feats that Unreal Engine 4 will make possible for Harada and the TEKKEN development team. Working closely with the Epic Games engine group in Japan and leveraging the might of UE4, these two teams are fueling the next generation of fighting games.

“The Tekken franchise is beloved and we couldn’t be more excited to be working with the talented team at BANDAI NAMCO,” said Taka Kawasaki, Studio Head at Epic Games Japan. “This marriage is perfect – the most powerful engine in gaming along with one of the most enduring brands in fighting games. We have no doubt that these forces coming together will yield fantastic results.”

Tekken 7 joins a long line of games that have been announced recently and shown to be powered by Unreal Engine 4. Crackdown, EVE: Valkyrie, Fable Legends and many others round out the rapidly growing list of games using the engine. Developed by Epic Games, the award-winning Unreal Engine is known for its cutting-edge graphics technology, world-class toolset and scalability across PC, console and mobile platforms.  Since its public launch as a $19 per month subscription-based service at the 2014 Game Developers Conference (GDC),  Unreal Engine 4 has been evolving at a rapid pace. Development of the engine has been driven further by feedback from the community and numerous updates from Epic’s team of world-class engineers.

Train2Game News UK Top 20 Games – 14.07.14

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Watch DogsYet another week in the charts with no new games in the top twenty. Watch Dogs has managed to regain the top spot but apart from that there has been very little change.

All formats

Week ending 12 July 2014

POS.  TITLE  PUBLISHER  LAST
WEEK 
1 WATCH DOGS UBISOFT 2
2 SNIPER ELITE 3 505 GAMES 1
3 – FIFA 14 EA SPORTS 3
4 WOLFENSTEIN: THE NEW ORDER BETHESDA SOFTWORKS 5
5 TITANFALL EA GAMES 4
6 – CALL OF DUTY: GHOSTS ACTIVISION 6
7 MINECRAFT: XBOX 360 EDITION MICROSOFT 10
8 MINECRAFT: PLAYSTATION 3 EDITION SONY COMPUTER ENT. 9
9 TOMODACHI LIFE NINTENDO 11
10 BATTLEFIELD 4 EA GAMES 15
11 GRAND THEFT AUTO V ROCKSTAR 13
12 EA SPORTS UFC EA SPORTS 7
13 ASSASSIN’S CREED IV: BLACK FLAG UBISOFT 14
14 THE LEGO MOVIE VIDEOGAME WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE 17
15 2014 FIFA WORLD CUP BRAZIL EA SPORTS 8
16 MARIO KART 8 NINTENDO 12
17 PLANTS VS ZOMBIES: GARDEN WARFARE EA GAMES 20
18 – TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE DARK SPARK ACTIVISION 18
19 – LEGO MARVEL SUPER HEROES WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE 19
20 GRID AUTOSPORT CODEMASTERS 16
< previous week
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 Cliffy B’s new game

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Project_BluestreakBosskey Games plans to partner with Korean online games publisher Nexon to create the title, Bleszinski announced on his Twitter account.

Friends, @BossKey will be working with Nexon to publish a Free2Play Sci-Fi PC arena shooter code named #BlueStreak. #BossKey #UnlockTheFun— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) July 8, 2014

He added that the studio will not release a “fake CG trailer showing ‘Gameplay’ because that’s not how Bosskey does it.”

Guerrilla Games co-founder Arjan Brussee has joined Bosskey as its chief operating officer. Brussee and Bleszinski collaborated on the Jazz Jackrabbit platformer series.

Back in December, Bleszinski told press that he wants to make a “proper” arena shooter. “It will be a PC experience that will harken back to a certain type of game that we cut our teeth on,” he said. “A first-person shooter. It’s in my DNA.

“I want to get funding, I don’t want to do a Kickstarter. I’ve shown [the project] to various parties, and there are nibbles,” he added.

Source: CVG

Train2Game News 2014 Develop Award Winners

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Develop Awards 2014Games development stars from around the UK and Europe descended upon Brighton tonight to honour the winners of this year’s Develop Industry Excellence Awards.

More than 175 companies attended the event – the biggest attendance yet for these awards. The expanded array of 25 prizes went to 20 different companies, with Rockstar North the big winners of the night.

The Grand Theft Auto developer took home the special Studio of the Year prize – one of five new categories – as well as Visual Arts and In-House Studio. There was an extra gong for the seminal GTA V, with Faceware Technologies bagging the award for Creative Contribution: Visuals thanks to its work on Rockstar’s epic.

The full list of winners can be seen below.

Sony also fared well, with the platform holder and its studios picking up two awards – Publishing Hero and New IP (for Media Molecule’s Tearaway) – as well as the Development Legend award for PS4 lead architect Mark Cerny, as announced earlier in the summer.

There were also a few surprises on the night, most notably the special Services to Video Games prize, which was awarded to Lynne Kilpatrick for her hard work in pushing for the UK video games tax credits.

Other winners included Oculus VR, EA DICE, TT Games, Unity, Team17, Vlambeer, Space Ape Games and Abertay University’s Dare to be Digital.

DEVELOP AWARDS 2014: THE WINNERS

NEW GAMES IP

Tearaway – Media Molecule

USE OF A LICENCE OR IP

LEGO Marvel Super Heroes – TT Games

VISUAL ARTS

Grand Theft Auto V – Rockstar North

AUDIO ACCOMPLISHMENT

Battlefield 4 – EA DICE

MUSICAL COMPOSITION

‘Noise Pulse’ (from TxK) – Jamie Hamshere

USE OF NARRATIVE

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons – Starbreeze Studios

PUBLISHING HERO

SCE Strategic Content

TECHNICAL INNOVATION

Oculus Rift DK2 – Oculus VR

TOOLS – DESIGN & CREATIVITY

Maya LT – Autodesk

TOOLS – PRODUCTION

Perforce – Perforce Software

ENGINE

Unity Engine – Unity Technologies

SERVICE

Player Research

QA & LOCALISATION

Testology

CREATIVE CONTRIBUTION: AUDIO

Stafford Bawler – Monument Valley

CREATIVE CONTRIBUTION: VISUALS

Faceware Technologies – Grand Theft Auto V

RECRUITER

OPM Response

TALENT INVESTMENT

Dare To Be Digital – Abertay University

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Team17

MICRO STUDIO

Vlambeer

INDEPENDENT STUDIO

Bohemia Interactive

IN-HOUSE STUDIO

Rockstar North

NEW STUDIO

Space Ape Games

SPECIAL AWARDS
STUDIO OF THE YEAR

Rockstar North

DEVELOPMENT LEGEND

Mark Cerny

SERVICES TO VIDEO GAMES

Lynne Kilpatrick

Train2Game News Artist required for Student Studio

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Train2GameTrain2Game Student Liam Young is on the developer course and is just getting his own studio off the ground but requires an artist.

Liam is covering all the design and development side of the company himself but requires a talented artist to turn some concept art into in game assets and he is prepared to pay the right person for the work they do.

The right person would not be taken on as an employee of the company but would receive full credit for the work that is done for the game further helping the portfolio and CV of the decided on artist.

It is important you be a dedicated worker and reach a mutually agreed upon deadline at a satisfactory level of quality.

If you are interested in helping Liam with his work you can get in touch with him by emailing lyoung536@yahoo.co.uk

You can view the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ZombieBoffinStudioLtd

and the twitter page at https://twitter.com/ZombieBoffinLtd

Train2Game News Personal Pokémon Gyms

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Pokemon Secret BasePokémon Omega Ruby and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire players will be able to create their very own Secret Base, a customisable area that will allow them to show off their individuality by setting up mazes or traps for visitors to encounter, and even creating Pokémon battle rules, transforming their Secret Base into their own Pokémon Gym!

Players will be able to share their Secret Base with other Trainers around the world using StreetPass functionality of the Nintendo 3DS and 2DS systems, or they can create a QR Code for their unique Secret Base, enabling friends to visit it with ease.

When visiting other Secret Bases, players can meet other Trainers in the same base and invite them back to their own Secret Base as Secret Pals. Players can interact and battle with Secret Pals, who have special skills that can support players in their adventures, such as sharing new Decorations, making a Pokémon Egg hatch faster, or raising the level of a select Pokémon by one.

The more Secret Pals players have in their Secret Base, the more special skills will be available to help them in their adventures.

Players can also capture flags while visiting other players’ Secret Bases. Flags are located beside the Secret PC in each Secret Base. The more flags a player collects, the higher the rank earned, which brings rewards like improving the skills of a player’s Secret Pals.

Train2Game News Boss Key Productions

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Gears of War designer Cliff Bleszinski has opened a new studio named Boss Key Productions.

Bleszinski recently teased he was coming out of retirement, with the official announcement of the new company and its debut project due to be announced shortly.

As spotted by Polygon, documents filed to the North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State also list Guerrilla Games co-founder Arjan Brussee as the studio’s chief operating officer.

Another document filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office also suggests the developer will focus on online titles, referencing “downloadable multiplayer interactive computer game programs”.

Bleszinski left his former studio Epic Games in October 2012 after 20 years at the company.