Train2Game News: Adventure Time Game

Adventure TimeD3Publisher and Cartoon Network Enterprises announced, Adventure Time: Explore the Dungeon Because I DON’T KNOW! is now available.

The game, based on the hit animated series, has been published by NAMCO BANDAI Games Europe in the UK and is on Xbox 360 games and entertainment system from Microsoft, and the PlayStation3 computer entertainment system. The game will also be coming on Nintendo´s Wii U system on 6 December, and on the Nintendo 3DS system on the 13 December, 2013.

Adventure Time: Explore the Dungeon Because I DON’T KNOW! is an action adventure game with a completely new storyline from Pendleton Ward, the creator of the Emmy Award-nominated Adventure Time television series, in collaboration with game developer WayForward.

The adventure begins in the Land of Ooo as players help Princess Bubblegum save the Candy Kingdom by exploring the mysteries surrounding a massive Secret Royal Dungeon.  Adventure Time: Explore the Dungeon Because I DON’T KNOW! features the voices of the show’s most popular characters and players can select from multiple fan-favorite characters with up to four players, including Finn, Jake, Marceline, Ice King, and more.  A wide selection of upgrades is available at the player’s disposal and they can showcase a number of attack moves, special abilities, and skills to defeat baddies throughout the dungeon.

“By collaborating with Pendleton Ward, the famous creator of the Adventure Time animated series, WayForward and D3Publisher have put an obvious care into making a brand new entertaining adventure game for fans of all ages.” said Mathieu Piau, EMEA Marketing Director for NAMCO BANDAI Games Europe. “Grab your friends now and share the radical fun of the multiplayer experience in Adventure Time: Explore the Dungeon Because I DON’T KNOW!”

Enjoy the trailer below!

 

Train2Game News: UK Top 20 Games – 18.11.13

Call of Duty GhostsActivision Blizzards’ Call of Duty: Ghosts easily holds the crown for a second week at the top of the All Formats chart. The title adds Xbox One to its list of available formats and it sells strongly despite consumers having to wait another week until the next gen console arrives. Despite assembling an all-star cast Warner Bros. Interactive have to settle for second as Lego Marvel Superheroes makes its debut. However it does become the second biggest week one release for a Lego title bettered only by Lego Indiana Jones: Original Adventures all the way back in Week 23 2008. Nintendo’s Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy moves up to number ten, up three places from its debut last week. The title along with Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask which climbs to number twenty, both benefit from retailer bundling which contributes to 3DS XL hardware sales more than doubling last week’s total.

All formats

Week ending 16 November 2013

POS.  TITLE 

FORMAT

 LAST
WEEK 

1

– 

CALL OF DUTY: GHOSTS

XB360

1

 

2

LEGO MARVEL SUPER HEROES

XB360

 

3

FIFA 14

XB360

4

 

4

ASSASSIN’S CREED IV: BLACK FLAG

XB360

3

 

5

BATTLEFIELD 4

XB360

2

 

6

GRAND THEFT AUTO V

XB360

5

 

7

MINECRAFT: XBOX 360 EDITION

XB360

8

 

8

SKYLANDERS SWAP FORCE

XB360

10

 

9

BATMAN: ARKHAM ORIGINS

XB360

6

 

10

PROFESSOR LAYTON AND THE AZRAN LEGACY

3DS

13

 

11

– 

JUST DANCE 2014

WII

11

 

12

WWE 2K14

XB360

7

 

13

DISNEY INFINITY

XB360

12

 

14

FOOTBALL MANAGER 2014

PC

9

 

15

– 

POKEMON Y

3DS

15

 

16

POKEMON X

3DS

14

 

17

TOMB RAIDER

XB360

16

 

18

– 

LEGO BATMAN 2: DC SUPER HEROES

XB360

18

 

19

ANIMAL CROSSING: NEW LEAF

3DS

20

 

20

PROFESSOR LAYTON AND THE MIRACLE MASK

3DS

 

< previous week

Leisure software charts compiled by Chart Track, (C)2013 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: Icey Monty’s new gaming website

Shooter3dGamesTrain2Game Student Studio, Icey Monty, have expanded their company even further and are now the proud owners of a gaming portal.

John Esslemont and Nick Walker started work for the gaming site last month and have since been hand picking their favourite online titles to be featured on the site. The page already features a treasure trove of shooting games from around the web in one helpful place.

When asked why they decided to start this site Nick said “A client of ours, who owns a few similar sites, suggested the idea to us after we’d finished some work with him. We’d been discussing the idea of moving away from client work to pursue our own development ideas anyway, and with that in mind, the investment in a new website seemed appropriate.”

This is Icey Monty’s first big step from their current client work to developing their own games and ideas. They now have a ready made platform they can publish too without any hassle. In my opinion the guys have made an excellent choice.

You can view the site and enjoy all of the carefully hand picked shooting games at Icey Monty’s new website, www.shooter3dgames.com

Train2Game News: Insomnia50 Indie Gaming showcase

InsomniaMultiplay, organiser of the Insomnia series of gaming festivals, the largest gaming festivals in the United Kingdom are pleased to announce a series of initiatives designed to showcase the best UK talent from the indie scene at Insomnia50.

The Indie Zone, sponsored by GAMDIAS, is a new addition for Insomnia events and is an open invitation to the unique and wonderful games being created across the country by independent developers.

Each developer has access to a top-of-the-range PC station, dedicated time on the Indie stage which will have prime position in the exhibition hall; featuring some of the industry leading retailers, manufacturers and development studios.

This provides the perfect opportunity to connect directly with the gaming community and interact with other developers such as Hypersloth Games (Dream), Dead Shark Triple Punch (Epigenesis), Pumpkin Games (Doppelganger) and many more.

Supporting creativity further is Global GameCraft, who organise game jam events designed to allow game-makers to meet, share ideas, have fun, compete for prizes and most importantly make games! Each day, participants will be set a task, having as little as ten hours to complete, with a judging panel demoing stand-out entries on stage and awarding prizes to the best submissions.

To take part, you must have a ticket to Insomnia so you can reserve your complimentary space for the GameCraft Game Jam. In order to purchase a ticket or reserve your space you can do so at www.insomnia50.evenbrite.co.uk

“Indie games are fast becoming the most original sector in gaming, giving us new ways of playing videogames”, said Craig Fletcher, Multiplay CEO. “We want to support the UK industry and enable developers to show their products off to as large an audience as possible, and to invite future designers to get involved with their peers through initiatives like the Indie GameCraft. Insomnia50 will be the most diverse festival we’ve ever held, in part due to the brilliant response we’ve had from indie developers, and we hope to continue to bring events like this, that support our industry and its talent to future Insomnia gaming festivals.”

If you are a game developer and would like to take full advantage of a free PC ‘station’ and a 45 minute live demo and talk on the Indie Stage at Insomnia50, please register your interest at www.multiplay.com/indie-games

The Insomnia Gaming Festival is not to be missed, with spaces still available and more announcements to follow, head to http://insomniagamingfestival.com/ for the latest event news and up-to-date line-up.

Train2Game News: Star Trek Online Season 8 update

STO_F2P_LogoPerfect World Entertainment Inc. and Cryptic Studios are pleased to announce that Star Trek Online, the award-winning free-to-play MMORPG, is launching its latest content update Season 8: The Sphere today.

In this latest season, players will explore the inside of a massive Dyson sphere, face off in new battle zones, receive new end-game gear, and combat a new ancient alien species. Free to all players, Season 8: The Sphere takes players to newer and deeper parts of the Star Trek universe.

“We’re thrilled to announce that Season 8: The Sphere is ready for you to explore,” said Executive Producer, Daniel Stahl. “With massive new events and our first ever battle zone, The Sphere introduces new types of missions that emphasize strategic thinking and effective coordination. Inside The Sphere you’ll face the Voth with their massive capital ships and mechanized troops, providing significant challenges for even the most experienced Admirals. Season 8: The Sphere is just the latest in a long line of free content updates and players can expect many more exciting seasons to come.”

Star Trek Online is a free-to-play massively multiplayer online game where players can pioneer their own destiny as Captain of a Federation starship. Or they can become a Klingon Warlord and expand the Empire to the far reaches of the galaxy. With its latest expansion, Legacy of Romulus, players can work to rebuild the Romulan legacy as a member of the Romulan Republic. In Star Trek Online players have the opportunity to visit iconic locations from the popular Star Trek fiction, reach out to unexplored star systems and make contact with new alien species.

For more information and to download and play Star Trek Online for free, please visit the official website at: www.startrekonline.com

Train2Game News: New Steam update

SteamThe new Steam update will now allow users to toggle whether they want to be able to download games whilst still playing another game or not.

The update also lets you choose what time of day future updates will occur.

The full list of updates are below:

General

  • Add ability to limit what time of day Steam is allowed to automatically update apps
  • Add option to let other games download while a game is running (this is a per-game setting)
  • Add download regions for Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Ottawa in Canada
  • Add ‘Copy all text to clipboard’ context menu option in the System Information dialog.

Steam client UI

  • Improve downloading status text at the bottom of the main window

Big Picture

  • Added ability to opt into game betas and edit launch options
  • Added Inbox item under Linux if your machine requires a reboot due to OS level updates
  • Fix infinite loop of Cloud sync error dialogs on game launch
  • Fixed mouse cursor being visible during startup animation even if it hadn’t moved

Linux

  • Fix paste pasting stale text.
  • Fix Ctrl+C/Ctrl+V in client-hosted web page text controls.
  • Fix incorrect foregrounding of a blank window in some silent startup cases.

Train2Game News: Unity 4.3 released

unity-logoUnity Technologies have released version 4.3 of the Unity multi-platform engine and development tools.

The important update includes the highly anticipated dedicated 2D development tools, huge additions to the Mecanim animation system, an upgrade to the re-written Umbra 3 occlusion culling, and much more.

While Unity has been used to create thousands of excellent 2D games, Unity 4.3 introduces new 2D development tools and metaphors specifically designed to streamline 2D workflow. Manipulating and optimizing 2D assets is made easier with the addition of a new Sprite Texture import mode, automated atlasing, an optimized 2D rendering, and drag-and-drop functionality for scene creation. Box2D physics have been integrated into Unity for better performance, stability, and smaller game builds. Additionally, polygon collider generation from sprite textures means quicker creation of accurate, but fully editable, physical collider meshes for refined physical response between objects in a scene.

In addition Unity’s signature character animation suite becomes more powerful with support for Blend Shapes, used to accurately and realistically blend complex geometry between model states, giving animators the ability to create, among other things, believable emotional facial animation.

On top of high-end improvements to character animation, Mecanim is now fully integrated with the Animation Window and its new dopesheet functionality. Support for animating simple scene elements, 2D sprite animations, camera settings, and more to make Mecanim an all-purpose animation solution.

The final big update for Unity is that Occlusion Culling in Unity has been rewritten for the upgrade to Umbra 3. Among other benefits, baking is much faster and generates much more accurate and better performing results. Rapid iteration allows for much more sophisticated environments containing highly detailed graphical content.

“4.3 is a huge update in the history of Unity,” said David Helgason, CEO, Unity Technologies. “The addition of 2D tools is an important milestone that will help developers make incredible 2D games, and with major improvements to Mecanim and greatly increased performance, this is a weighty, productive update that we’re thrilled to release.”

You can download Unity 4.3 and start creating games straight away from http://unity3d.com/unity/download

Train2Game News: WWE 2K14 Review

ultimate-warrior-wwe2k14The people at 2K very kindly sent me a copy off WWE 2K14 to review. This was 2K’s first wrestling game since obtaining the license from THQ.

There couldn’t have been a better developer to take over the WWE wrestling game franchise than 2K. They already had great sports game experience with their NHL, NFL and NBA series. So how did they do with their new IP?

Following on with the popularity of the Attitude Era storyline in WWE ’13 it was a smart move to keep the single player in a similar style. This years game saw the player run through the 30 years of Wrestlemania mode. Starting back at Wrestlemania number one with the $15,000 body slam challenge between Big John Studd and the late, great André the Giant all the way up to Wrestlemania twenty nine with the rematch of John Cena and The Rock for the WWE championship.

It was a pleasure reliving all the great Wrestlemania moments through the years and it was a brilliant excuse to play as several of the biggest Superstars through the events history including Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, HBK and of course the Undertaker.

The gameplay and graphics in the game are pretty much the same as they have always been however just with a few rough edges tidied up.

For example when doing The People’s Elbow or the Five Knuckle Shuffle, the superstar on the floor won’t float across the ring to be in the correct position. Much like a real wrestler he will shuffle himself to the right angle for the move and if he is too close to the ropes the wrestler doing the move just simply won’t try and jump over him.

Overall the AI seems to be a bit more intelligent. Previous games have had bad trouble with targeting which can be utterly match changing in some situations, in the new game that happens a lot less but will still occur occasionally.

There are a few more little features included this year such as corner finishers. This makes finishing moves like HBK’s Sweet Chin Music and Edge’s Spear much simpler to do.

My final conclusion for 2K’s venture in to the Wrestling world is that they have smoothed down some rough edges but there isn’t anything particularly new in the game apart from a different enjoyable single player campaign and the updated roster.

Train2Game News: New World of Warcraft expansion announced

wow_wod_logo_hires_m03At Blizzcon this past weekend, Blizzard announced the next expansion for World of Warcraft, Warlords of Draenor.

The fifth expansion to Blizzard Entertainment’s acclaimed massively multiplayer online role-playing game, sends players to the world of Draenor at a pivotal moment in history to fight against and alongside legends from Warcraft’s brutal past.

Across Draenor’s savage jungles and battle-scarred plains, Azeroth’s heroes will engage in a mythic conflict involving mystical draenei champions and mighty orc clans, and cross axes with the likes of Grommash Hellscream, Blackhand, and Ner’zhul at the height of their primal power. Players will need to scour this unwelcoming land in search of allies to help build a desperate defense against the old Horde’s formidable engine of conquest—or else watch their own world’s bloody, war-torn history repeat itself.

“Warlords of Draenor gives players a chance to take a commanding role in one of the Warcraft series’ most crucial conflicts,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “This expansion also includes features that make it easy for anyone to jump right into the action, whether they’ve played WoW at some point in the past or are just setting foot in Azeroth for the first time.”

To help new and returning players answer the call to arms on Draenor, the expansion will enable anyone to instantly boost one character to level 90, including a newly created character, quickly getting them up to speed and ready to enjoy the latest content with their friends.

To establish a foothold on Draenor once they’ve arrived, the displaced champions of the Horde and Alliance will be able to construct their own Garrison, an expandable, customizable stronghold that will serve as each player’s personal base of operations throughout the course of the expansion. As the Garrison grows, players will be able to recruit NPC allies and followers to take up residence, gathering resources and embarking on missions on the player’s orders.

Warlords of Draenor will also introduce fully revamped player character models and animations for many of World of Warcraft’s existing playable races, bringing the orcs, humans, and several other longtime residents of Azeroth up to the visual standards of newer races while still maintaining their iconic style and identity.

Along with these new features, World of Warcraft players will enjoy a wide array of new content on their way to the new level cap of 100, including new Zones, Dungeons, Raids, Scenarios, Battlegrounds, and more. Warlords of Draenor will also introduce questing improvements designed to encourage exploration and add unpredictability to players’ ongoing adventures.

Train2Game News: Xbox One Launch Apps

Xbox OneMicrosoft have announced the apps that will be available for Gold subcribers from Xbox One’s launch.

This first wave of third-party apps will be joined by Microsoft’s Xbox Fitness, Xbox Video, Xbox Music, Internet Explorer, Skype, SkyDrive and Upload services on the Xbox One release date of November 22, 2013.

The list of apps for the United Kingdom are as follows:

4oD
Amazon\LOVEFiLM
blinkbox
Crackle
Demand 5
Eurosport
Machinima
MUZU TV
Netflix
NOW TV
TED
Twitch
Wuaki.tv

There are a few differences in the launch apps for different countries.

This will of course be along side the many Windows 8 apps that are becoming more and more available.