Monthly Archives: September 2014

Train2Game News BlizzCon from home

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BlizzconGrab your most comfortable chair and invite a few friends over to join Blizzard Entertainment’s epic gaming convention from home with the BlizzCon Virtual Ticket, now available to order at www.blizzcon.com.

The BlizzCon Virtual Ticket provides comprehensive live online HD coverage of Blizzard’s Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo community celebration, taking place November 7 and 8 at the Anaheim Convention Center. Available for £ 24.99, the Virtual Ticket grants access to two exclusive channels of BlizzCon content on both days of the show, making it the next best thing to being there live. The BlizzCon 2014 Virtual Ticket includes:

Developer Panels & Exclusive Interviews Get the latest World of Warcraft, StarCraft II, Diablo III, Hearthstone, and Heroes of the Storm news straight from the developers, and witness all of the epic moments as they happen live from the Main and Panel stages. In between, dig deeper into your favorite games in exclusive one-on-one interviews with Blizzard Entertainment designers, artists, and producers.

Community Contests—Hosted by Chris Hardwick Witness the spectacle of the legendary BlizzCon Costume Contest and Talent Contest on Friday night. This year’s festivities will be emceed by stand-up comedian and podcaster Chris Hardwick, host of Comedy Central’s late night Internet-spelunking game show @midnight and creative head of geek-minded media network Nerdist Industries.

Closing Ceremony—Behold the closing festivities on Saturday night, capping off two full days of Blizzard gaming and eSports action—more details to be announced later.

On-Demand Replays—Rewatch epic moments with the Virtual Ticket’s DVR functionality, and catch content you might have missed for up to two weeks after the show’s over.

Epic Bonus Loot Unlock this year’s commemorative BlizzCon in-game goodies for World of Warcraft, StarCraft II, Diablo III, Hearthstone, and Heroes of the Storm (details coming soon). The Virtual Ticket also grants early access to this year’s online BlizzCon merchandise sale, which will run from October 17 through November 11 and feature a selection of commemorative items that will be available for purchase at the show.

Even if you don’t purchase a Virtual Ticket, you’ll still be able to catch plenty of BlizzCon action online. Coverage of the opening ceremony and this year’s eSports tournaments—including the StarCraft II World Championship Series Global Finals, World of Warcraft Arena World Championship, Hearthstone World Championship, and Heroes of the Storm exhibition matches—will be streamed for free in HD at www.blizzcon.com.

More information on BlizzCon 2014 and the Virtual Ticket can be found at www.blizzcon.com.

Train2Game News Indie Game Show and Tell

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BeefJackBeefJack, the creative games company, officially announced Indie Game Show & Tell – an event for which tickets are already shifting fast!

The event, which takes place on the first evening of EGX London, invites developers, journalists and members of the public to pop along to show off their latest project, get industry feedback, and generally have a good old free drink.

Indie Game Show & Tell takes place from 19:00 on Thursday 25th September at the Troubador Gallery on Old Brompton Road – just round the corner from EGX London at Earls Court. Tickets are free, though attendees need to register via the Eventbrite page – http://bit.ly/indieshowandtell

“This is our first event as BeefJack and we’re really excited to see such an enormous response to it only a few hours after we announced it,” said BeefJack’s Lewis Denby. “Already one of our ticket types is sold out – though we’re hoping to have more availability in the run-up to the event.”

BeefJack is a multi-faceted games company, which champions the weird and wonderful in games. It is both a games development studio and a games marketing agency, with a focus on indie, creative and alternative gaming experiences.

For more information on BeefJack, visit www.beefjack.com

Train2Game News UKIE outlines new manifesto for games industry

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UKIE LogoOn Tuesday, Ukie, in partnership with Activision Blizzard and Ubisoft, hosted its largest ever Westminster Political Reception to announce a range of policy recommendations and to celebrate the cultural and economic importance of the UK games sector.

The event, held at Millbank Tower, was attended by more than 200 members, MPs, Peers, policy makers and industry figures from a range of creative industry sectors.

The event saw the launch of the new Ukie Policy Manifesto for the next Parliament that outlines initial plans for how to further grow the UK games sector following the introduction of tax breaks earlier this year, and the introduction of the new Computing curriculum earlier this week.

Created with input from Ukie’s members, the Policy Manifesto calls for action on three headline areas of policy support:

· Support to help UK games companies grow across the UK – including regulatory stability, better infrastructure and a long term roadmap where games businesses can access public funding and support proportionate to the other screen industries

· Promotion of the UK games industry abroad – demonstrating that the UK is one of the leading videogame industries in the world, including a focus on funding, fully supporting and working with industry on trade and investment activity such as trade missions and helping UK businesses to reach overseas marketplaces

· Building a strong and diverse talent pipeline – including supporting the new Computing Curriculum, investing in careers guidance and extending and making permanent the Skills Investment Fund

The reception heard from Justin Tomlinson MP, PPS to Ed Vaizey, on the work that the coalition government has done to support the UK games sector.

Justin Tomlinson MP said: ““The UK games industry is going from strength to strength, recovering some of the ground lost to other countries over the last few years. This growth has been helped very much by the hard work put in by Ukie and the major policy initiatives introduced by this government, such as a new computing curriculum and the recent introduction of production tax relief. However, more can of course be done and in my new role working closely with Ed Vaizey I very much welcome Ukie’s new Policy Manifesto and look forward to discussing its recommendations with Jo and her team in more detail over the coming months.”

The guests also heard from Dr Jo Twist, CEO of Ukie, and Roy Stackhouse, General Manager for Activision Blizzard UK and Ireland, discussing Ukie’s manifesto proposals and the strength of the UK as a place to make games.

Ukie CEO, Dr Jo Twist said: “We were delighted by the introduction of games industry tax relief earlier this year but quickly realised that it is essential that we maximise the opportunities that the new scheme presents. We have therefore spent the last six months speaking to our members from across the breadth of our sector about the measures that they would like to see the UK government introduce to truly put the UK’s games industry on the global map. Our Policy Manifesto outlines our members priority asks and we will be following this up with more detailed papers and briefings to MPs to continue our push to make this the best country in the world to make and sell games.”

UK MD of Ubisoft, Rob Cooper commented on the importance of the Westminster Reception in maintaining a positive view of the UK games sector: “Events like these are vital in showing the significance of the UK games industry, both culturally and economically, to a high profile audience of policy makers and other VIPs. We are delighted to support this year’s event and Ukie’s work generally in giving a voice to UK games businesses of all sizes from multinationals like Ubisoft, to smaller developers, making and selling some of the most vibrantly creative interactive entertainment in the world.”

Guests at the reception had a chance to play some of Ubisoft and Activision Blizzard’s latest titles including Valiant Hearts: The Great War, Just Dance 2014, Diablo III and Skylanders: Trap Team. Charity Special Effect were also there demonstrating their latest innovations to help young people with different abilities enjoy games.

You can find Ukie’s Policy Manifesto for the New Parliament here: http://ukie.org.uk/news/2014/09/ukie-westminster-reception

Train2Game News CODE_n Connecting game studios

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Startups need to be visible to customers and investors in order to find the right partner for the next step in their development.

This is precisely where CODE_n CONNECT (connect.code-n.org) comes in by providing a platform that brings founders and established companies together. CONNECT is the latest element in the CODE_n innovation platform. Worldwide, startups are able to register for matchmaking with CODE_n CONNECT and simultaneously apply for the global CODE_n CONTEST. This year’s theme: “Into The Internet of Things”.

CODE_n has been around since 2012: More than 1,100 applicants from more than 60 countries, 150 finalists, over 50,000 visitors to the CODE_n Hall at CeBIT, thousands of conversations with investors, partners, customers and countless reports and interviews in international media. In brief, CODE_n is the stage for innovative startups. And now it’s digital too: With CODE_n CONNECT, founders have the opportunity to present themselves to established companies and investors all year round, find suitable development partners and network with each other. Simply register, upload a company profile and regularly post updates about your business – and the attention is guaranteed.

Ulrich Dietz, initiator of CODE_n and CEO of the GFT Group, says: “Our CODE_n partners and finalists to date have been inspired by the cooperation opportunities that CODE_n has offered them during the five days of CeBIT. We now want to offer this to our partners and startups all year round – in a centralized, flexible and no-hassle way.”

Startups wishing to take part in the CODE_n15 CONTEST can register for the innovation competition via CODE_n CONNECT. The deadline for applications is November 30, 2014. The competition is open to startups founded in 2009 or later who develop innovative business models relating to the key theme of “Into the Internet of Things” – divided up into the areas of DIGITAL LIFE, SMART CITY, FUTURE MOBILITY and INDUSTRY 4.0.

50 finalists will be selected from the entries to present their company and their business idea at CODE_n, part of the CeBIT fair in Hanover (March 16-20, 2015), free of charge – with their own stand area, a feature in the conference program and much more included. A panel of high-caliber judges will choose the winner from the finalists during CeBIT, awarding them EUR 30,000 in prize money and the CODE_n Award. More information can be found at http://www.code-n.org.

By the start of CeBIT 2015, CODE_n CONNECT will have expanded its functions for established companies. Anyone looking for exciting startups with innovative ideas will be able to set up ‘newsfeeds’ from March onwards. These provide regular information about trends and developments from the digital founder community. These messages allow interested companies to follow all of the startups specifically that are of particular interest to them.

“The digital economy has fundamentally changed the demands on companies when it comes to dealing with innovation. Completely new constellations are arising, new innovation ecosystems,” says Dietz. The interface between young and established companies especially promises tremendous potential. “Startups bring dynamism, courage and new stimulus to the relationship of innovation. The established companies bring expertise, financial backing and professional structures designed to scale business ideas. All of this remains dry theory, however, if they do not learn from each other. And this is where CODE_n CONNECT comes in. This is CODE_n logically thought through and implemented on the next level,” says Dietz.

Train2Game News Marmalade 7.4 update

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Marmalade Technologies Ltd, providers of the free, top-rated cross-platform app development tool, today announced the release of Marmalade 7.4.

The updated SDK includes a wealth of new features to assist developers in deploying their apps to a broad range of platforms, maximizing their potential reach and revenue streams.

Harvey Elliott, CEO, Marmalade Technologies Ltd: “The release of Marmalade 7.4 is yet another milestone met for Marmalade and the fast growing Marmalade Community, which has more than doubled over the past year. By making continuous improvements to our core C++ tool, we give game developers of all shapes and sizes the ability to publish native performance games on the app stores that matter, without expensive reworking and consuming valuable development time.”

Marmalade 7.4 Key Features
·        Windows Phone 8.1 platform support
Developers can now extend apps and games to take advantage of WP8.1 features. For example there is now  no need to pre-compile shaders
·        iOS 8 and Xcode 6 support
Update and submit your Marmalade apps ahead of public release – use the latest Xcode IDE. The release includes fixes which will ensure Marmalade apps continue to work with iOS8.
·        In-app purchase support for Roku
Easily monetise Roku apps
·        Marmalade Web support for Firefox OS
Bring your Marmalade Web apps to the Firefox OS marketplace
·        Facebook Support
Marmalade 7.4 includes updated Facebook SDKs
·        Plus more useful fixes and updates that can be explored further  here.

Train2Game News 1000+ devs sign anti abuse letter

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Peace GamingSeveral developers have signed a letter in an attempt to put an end to anti social behaviour on social media in gaming communities.

EA, Ubisoft, Microsoft, Guerrilla, Epic, Crystal Dynamics, Deep Silver, Double Fine, Lionhead, Bohemia, Blizzard, Infinity Ward, TellTale, Disney, PopCap, Harmonix, Traveller’s Tales, Sony, 2K, DICE, Google, Riot and Apple – as well as dozens of independent developers – are already signed up in an attempt to make the internet a place where your views can be heard without your personal character being attacked.

“We believe that everyone, no matter what gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or religion has the right to play games, criticize games and make games without getting harassed or threatened. It is the diversity of our community that allows games to flourish,” the letter reads.

“If you see threats of violence or harm in comments on Steam, YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, Facebook or Reddit, please take a minute to report them on the respective sites. If you see hateful, harassing speech, take a public stand against it and make the gaming community a more enjoyable space to be in.”

You can read the full letter and all who have signed it here.

Train2Game News Gaming review show coming soon

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Bored Gamers‘Bored Gamers’ launches Friday September 5th at 9pm. Let the games begin.

‘Bored Gamers’ is a weekly 1 hour show premièring on The Latest TV on Freeview channel 8 from September 2014. Taking a humorous and irreverent look at all things gaming – in a British television first – Bored Gamers combines the exciting worlds of video and adult board gaming, to bring the viewer up to date news, reviews, interviews and much more.

Incorporating an easy-going every-man style, presenters, gaming enthusiasts and self proclaimed ‘non-experts’ Jim Devereaux and Greg Marshall review the latest video and board game releases as well as previous classics. Utilising the ‘out of five stars’ reviewing method, Bored Gamers also introduces the ‘Boredometer’, a gauge based tool to review the re-playability and longevity of game play, in short – the boredom threshold.

Alongside reviews, the programme includes exciting feature segments as the Bored Gamers attend conventions, meet manufacturers and designers and much more, to explore every facet of gaming. Each week also features an interviewed studio guest, as we delve into their insights and experiences in the world of gaming and invite them to take the communal guest retro video game challenge, as we monitor each series who has the requisite skills to top the leader board!

In keeping with its technological content, Bored Gamers encourages viewer input via dedicated Facebook and Twitter pages as well as releasing content via various media to supplement the weekly program, including podcasts, web episodes and live Q&A sessions.

Programme producers and presenters Jim Devereaux and Greg Marshall have over 30 years experience between them, both behind and in front of the camera, as well as a plethora of stage and entertainment work.

Let the games begin!

Train2Game News Blizzard hire Hearthstone player

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HearthstoneA professional gamer has been hired by Blizzard to work on updates for the massively popular Hearthstone.

Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft is the card game based on the MMO World of Warcraft. Announced at the Penny Arcade Expo in March 2013, the game entered open beta in January 2014, and was released in March 2014. Hearthstone is available on the Microsoft Windows and OS X operating systems and on iPad and Windows 8 Touch devices. iPhone and Android tablet platform releases are planned for the second half of 2014. As of March 2014, Hearthstone has more than 10 million player accounts registered worldwide.

One of those players, Ryan Materson, has now been employed by Blizzard as an associate designer and is expected to help with balancing the game for the new updates.

Materson, who is known as Realz, was the team leader of professional Hearthstone team, Mana Grind, before they disbanded. He is one of the most respected and talented professional players and this is what caught the eye of Blizzard.

On Reddit Materson said “This is a truly exciting opportunity for me, and (to rephrase from the words of someone I have long admired, who once entered a similar position) I hope my association with the continuing development of Hearthstone will serve to comfort fellow ladder grinders, competitors and players at large that ‘one of us’ is behind the scenes looking out for the interests of the play. I really can’t wait to get started”.

Train2Game News UK Top 20 Games – 01.09.14

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Metro ReduxThis weeks charts sees a new number one. Metro Redux knocks Diablo 3 Reaper of Souls Ultimate Evil down to number two. There seems to be a trend of remastered collected editions of games rejoining the charts at the moment. Lower down the chart Madden NFL 15 enters the chart at number six with the new season starting in just under a weeks time.

All formats

Week ending 30 August 2014

POS.  TITLE  PUBLISHER  LAST
WEEK 
1 METRO REDUX DEEP SILVER –
2 DIABLO III REAPER OF SOULS ULTIMATE EVIL BLIZZARD 1
3 THE LAST OF US: REMASTERED SONY COMPUTER ENT. 2
4 PLANTS VS ZOMBIES: GARDEN WARFARE EA GAMES 3
5 – CALL OF DUTY: GHOSTS ACTIVISION 5
6 MADDEN NFL 15 EA SPORTS –
7 GRAND THEFT AUTO V ROCKSTAR 9
8 MINECRAFT: XBOX 360 EDITION MICROSOFT 4
9 WATCH DOGS UBISOFT 6
10 TITANFALL EA GAMES 11
11 MINECRAFT: PLAYSTATION 3 EDITION SONY COMPUTER ENT. 7
12 THE LEGO MOVIE VIDEOGAME WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE 8
13 FORZA MOTORSPORT 5 MICROSOFT 17
14 TOMODACHI LIFE NINTENDO 15
15 SNIPER ELITE 3 505 GAMES 14
16 TERRARIA XBOX 360 CLASSICS 19
17 BATTLEFIELD 4 EA GAMES 13
18 FIFA 14 EA SPORTS 12
19 ASSASSIN’S CREED IV: BLACK FLAG UBISOFT 18
20 LEGO MARVEL SUPER HEROES WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE 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.