Category Archives: game

Train2game News Broadband Genie Download Research

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UK broadband comparison website Broadband Genie has today released research revealing game downloads and patches discourage many (55%) gamers from a purchase due to long download times, with 22% saying anything over 10GB is too much.

Many recent triple-A games have been as large as 46GB to download, whilst expansions and patches can be anything from a few MB to more than 15GB.

The average broadband speed in countries such as the UK, US and Germany is around 13Mb, while many other countries around the world fall far below that. On a 13Mb connection a 40GB game will take around 7 hours to download assuming the connection runs at full speed the entire time, but in reality the actual download time could be much longer due to other activity on the connection and network congestion.

Rob Hilborn, head of strategy at Broadband Genie, says: “Games have exploded in size in the past few years, yet broadband speeds across the world are struggling to keep pace. With exclusive digital deals and more games coming with day-one patches and regular updates, gamers have to suck up the long wait times or be excluded altogether.

“This is only going to get worse for those on slow connections as games continue to bloat and become increasingly reliant on fast broadband. Some gamers will be excluded from access to good deals, expansions and online multiplayer. But unfortunately there’s no easy fix for consumers as the onus is on governments and providers to speed up the rollout of fast broadband.”

The survey also revealed PlayStation gamers are more likely to take advantage of its digital store (54%) than Xbox users (41%). However the majority (72%) still think physical copies provide the best value, but digital has the advantage of offering faster access to games and a wider range of titles.

Rob continues: “ The digital stores on the current generation of console are much more user friendly than their predecessors, so it’s no surprise to see users taking advantage of them. Only the other day we heard Fallout 4 sold more digitally than through retail on day one, which is amazing.

“Unfortunately, unlike Steam on the PC, the Playstation Network and Xbox Store have fewer big sale events and charge full price on new releases for the convenience of being able to download them, which means in most cases you’re still better off buying a boxed copy if you want the best value.”

Train2game News Jay and Silent Bob Game Funding

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Jump into the shoes of Lunch Box and Mr. Snoogans! The team at Interabang Entertainment is making a Jay and Silent Bob video game, called Jay and Silent Bob: Chronic Blunt Punch!

Longtime fans of Kevin Smith’s Askew-niverse, the Interabang team is creating a game that captures the satire and irreverence of the movies and brings back the tone of the gone-before-its-time Clerks cartoon series. To kick off the project, Interabang Entertainment and Fig Publishing are giving fans a chance to get involved through a rewards and investment crowdfunding campaign for Jay and Silent Bob: Chronic Blunt Punch on the Fig platform (www.fig.co ).

In Jay and Silent Bob: Chronic Blunt Punch, players get into a tag team combo fight fest and wreak havoc on their foes with fists, feet, and the magic of self-esteem-destroying jibes while embarking on a mission to find their long-lost pot customers trapped in an Orwellian mega super shopping mall. The mall turns out to be a Utopian labyrinth with apartments, restaurants, hospitals and everything that a post-World War II nuclear bunker would contain—with a candy coating of fun.

Jay and Silent Bob: Chronic Blunt Punch is a colorful side-scrolling 2.5D, over-the-top multiplayer tag-team brawler whose action escalates as the player travels deeper into the mall of purgatory. The team is creating the narrative through environment, design, combat and a new conversation combat system called the Convo Combo mode. This mechanic changes the dynamics of enemy showdowns through cutting insults combined with an intricate facial animation system that bonds dynamic fighting with timed phrase matching. This delivers a completely different kind of storytelling experience. Jay and Silent Bob: Chronic Blunt Punch also includes co-op play, where players finish each other’s combos, and create havoc in the world’s largest mall.

“People have asked me for years why I never made a Jay and Silent Bob video game,” said Kevin Smith.  “Now I can tell them I was waiting for Justin Woodward from Interabang Entertainment and our own Elias to bring it together.  Couldn’t be happier to hand our characters off to folks who know them as well as I do.”

“Kevin Smith’s films have long inspired our team,” said Interabang founder Justin Woodward.  “During development for our first game, we’d take breaks to watch them back to back. The iconic characters, hilarious dialogue, and sheer surrealism of the Askew-niverse got us through rough patches during development and life’s struggles. We kept coming back to thinking about how amazing it would be to see Jay and Silent Bob in a game like the ones we design, and we’re amazed that we have this opportunity now.”

“The first time I heard about Justin creating a game based on Jay and Silent Bob, I wanted it to be a Fig campaign. I mean, Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes in a Castle Crasher style brawler, fighting with fists, feet and insults – what’s not to like?!” said Justin Bailey, CEO, Fig. “This campaign will provide traditional rewards, and accept accredited investment as well as unaccredited reservations which will be collected once they are re-confirmed after the SEC filing process is complete.”

Beginning today at 9AM PT, anyone can help fund the project at Fig.co, the only video game-centric funding platform that offers investment and rewards-based crowdfunding. Fig.co provides game studios and their fans with a more balanced and sustainable approach to game development that helps unite fans, investors and developers.

The Fig campaign funding goal for Jay and Silent Bob: Chronic Blunt Punch is $400K and the campaign is open to investment (through Game Shares to be offered by Fig Publishing) and rewards (being offered by Interabang). Rewards range from premium digital goodies and new action figures based on designs from the game, to signed custom Kevin Smith-style jerseys and a walk-on in Kevin Smith’s next movie!

Train2game News The Division Beta Success

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Today, Ubisoft® announced that 6.4 million players participated in the Beta for Tom Clancy’s The Division™, making it the biggest beta ever for a new IP on current generation platforms.

The Division launches for PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, and Xbox One and Windows PC on March 8th. 

On average, players spent 4 hours and 52 minutes as an activated sleeper agent, journeying through The Division’s pandemic-stricken New York City. More than one third of that time was spent in The Division’s unique and challenging player-versus-player (PVP) environment, the Dark Zone, with more than 2.5 million players going rogue.

The Beta was an opportunity for Ubisoft to test its online infrastructure as well as changes and updates made to the game. It also served as a chance for millions of players to try the game for the first time and provide their feedback to Ubisoft. With record breaking participation and engagement, Ubisoft is now looking ahead to The Division’s official release next month.

“We want to thank the millions of people who joined in on The Division’s Open Beta,” said, Magnus Jansen, creative director. “We hope everybody enjoyed playing, and we think the beta is going to help ensure a great launch for the game. We’re looking forward to everyone getting their hands on the full game when The Division is released on March 8th.”

The Division team thanked fans and offered more details here: http://tomclancy-thedivision.ubi.com/game

Train2Game News UK Top 20 Games – 22.02.16

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cod_blackops3This weeks number one is still Call of Duty Black Ops 3 but we have a new number two with Street Fighter V. Lower down the chart is Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon at number nine.

All formats
Week ending 20 February 2016

POS.  TITLE  PUBLISHER  LAST
WEEK 
1 – CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS III ACTIVISION 1
2 STREET FIGHTER V CAPCOM –
3 – FIFA 16 EA SPORTS 3
4 LEGO MARVEL AVENGERS WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE 2
5 GRAND THEFT AUTO V ROCKSTAR 4
6 STAR WARS BATTLEFRONT EA GAMES 5
7 FALLOUT 4 BETHESDA SOFTWORKS 8
8 TOM CLANCY’S RAINBOW 6: SIEGE UBISOFT 6
9 POKEMON SUPER MYSTERY DUNGEON NINTENDO –
10 – MINECRAFT: STORY MODE TELLTALE GAMES 10
11 ASSASSIN’S CREED: SYNDICATE UBISOFT 9
12 JUST CAUSE 3 SQUARE ENIX 7
13 WWE 2K16 2K 20
14 MINECRAFT: XBOX EDITION MICROSOFT 13
15 DESTINY: THE TAKEN KING ACTIVISION 11
16 LEGO JURASSIC WORLD WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE 12
17 MINECRAFT: PLAYSTATION EDITION SONY COMPUTER ENT. 14
18 NEED FOR SPEED EA GAMES 17
19 FORZA MOTORSPORT 6 MICROSOFT 16
20 DISNEY INFINITY 3.0 DISNEY INFINITY 18
< previous week
Leisure software charts compiled by Chart Track, (C)2016 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 Student working with Theory Studios

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Ezekiel Morris gaining valuable experience by volunteering with studio and working on film projects.

Student Ezekiel Morris is working with animation collective Theory Studios to gain valuable experience as he embarks on his games making journey.

Ezekiel is working as a concept artist for the US team and not currently employed. He has been working on film projects and hopes the experience will be another string to his bow as he looks to gain full time employment in the future.

Theory Studios is an award-winning studio with a team based around the world, producing: commercials, cartoons, and high-quality visual effects.

Ezekiel Morris, Train2Game student: ‘I’m working as a Concept Artist for the Theory Studios but not employed at this time. I am finding it alright actually.  The people are friendly, down to earth; they have a lot of passion and respect. I’m learning some new stuff, it’s a new opportunities with new people.’

‘I’m experiencing good things. My ambition is to break my own records to outpace my yesterday by being better today, to do my work with more force and power now more than ever. I got the position by networking and volunteering. My advice for others is start networking, volunteering and collaborating on small projects.’

‘Studying with Train2Game I’ve learnt how to use different modelling techniques in 3Ds max to speed up my workflow. I am concentrating on other projects at the moment so my work on the course has slown down.’

‘I’m not working on any games at the moment just Film Animation. But I can’t tell you what the projects are, watch this space.’

http://theorystudios.com

www.train2game.com

For more information contact mark@train2game.com
Train2Game, bringing City & Guilds to the Games Industry

Train2Game is a proud supporter of www.plasisgamesportal.com and www.gamatier.com

Train2game News Mobile Fraud Prevention Suite

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At the San Francisco Mobile Growth Summit, adjust announced a major product addition to their mobile attribution and analytics system with the Fraud Prevention Suite.

With today’s product release, app developers and marketers will be able to leverage a comprehensive suite of tools that analyze and intervene in hundreds of millions of user acquisition workflows to prevent fraudulent activity from claiming payouts. Early beta results of the Fraud Prevention Suite indicate a substantial improvement in campaign activity with an estimated $1.7 million USD identified within 17 days, based on recent CPI rates of fraudulent charges.

Paul H Müller, adjust’s Co-Founder and CTO, said: “The Fraud Prevention Suite gives our clients a completely new way to proactively mitigate potential fraudulent charges and optimize their user acquisition spend across their entire user acquisition stack. We’re uniquely positioned to offer this kind of solution in the market because our technology is directly embedded in all the advertising our clients run – so we can analyze every interaction as it happens, and change how that data is interpreted on the fly. This is unlike reactive, after-the-fact analysis tools that are unable to prevent corrupted datasets and illegitimate payouts.”

adjust’s Fraud Prevention Suite specifically targets three typical approaches by fraudulent publishers:

● Anonymous IP Filtering is the first implementation to actively reject pay-outs for simulated traffic originating from data centers or other illegitimate locations.
● Purchase Verification synchronously vets and verifies purchases, allowing app publishers to block cost-per-acquisition payouts or revenue shares from faked purchases.
● Click Spam Distribution Modelling analyzes the aggregate distribution of users acquired to rapidly prevent apps from faking background “clicks” and thereby claiming organic traffic as paid.

In January, adjust ran initial beta tests of its product suite with customers, like San Francisco-based HotelTonight, by sampling a traffic flow that included more than 400 million installs to generate an overview of fraudulent activities. This initial test targeted only the portion of paid user acquisition from major US and European brands which were generated from so-called “anonymous IPs” – a strong indication that the traffic had been tampered with or falsified. Starting today, all customers have the opportunity to access adjust’s product suite for protection from fraudulent activity and charges.

Brian Han, Head of Growth at HotelTonight, said: “Controlling the quality of our traffic, and thereby preventing fraudulent activity, is a key concern for us. adjust’s Fraud Prevent Suite is the first solution we’ve found that is able to proactively intervene, and we’re really excited about using adjust for that purpose.”

Additionally, to provide deeper understanding and insights to customers and partners, adjust is hosting the first-ever European mobile fraud conference, called “Mobile Spree”, on June 2 in Berlin. Initial confirmed key speakers for the conference include Spotify, Zalando, Delivery Hero, GetYourGuide, and HotelTonight. Interested parties can learn more at http://mobile-spree.com.

Train2Game News Scottish Games Industry Growth

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The SNP has today pledged to support the continued growth of the computer games industry after five ‘exceptional’ years for the industry.

The number of computer games companies operating in Scotland has increased from 15 in 2010 to 100 in 2015, with 95 of those businesses registered in Scotland – an increase of over 600% in five years.

Between 2010 and 2013, the last year for which figures are available, turnover increased from £38.1m to £67.6m.

Scottish computer games companies include Rock Star North, producers of the Grand Theft Auto series, and 4J Studios, involved in the production of Minecraft.

Previous SNP action to support the industry includes:

    Successfully lobbied the UK Government to introduce tax incentives for the computer games industry

    Funding 40 post-graduate places for a new masters programme in Computer Games Development at the University of Abertay Skillset Media Academy

    Financial support for Scotland’s first digital skills academy CodeClan

Commenting, SNP MSP Joe Fitzpatrick said:

“Computer games are a massive success story for Scotland and the growth since 2010, both in terms of established companies and in turnover, has been exceptional.

“This is an industry that drives exports and makes a huge cultural and economic contribution to Scottish life.

“The SNP want to ensure that this sector continues to grow as a key part of Scotland’s creative industries.”

Train2Game News Sinclair smashes Crowdfunding Record

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Sir Clive Sinclair Smashes His Previous Crowdfunding Record in Less than 3-days

The Vega+ comes complete with 1,000 licensed games built-in.

Sir Clive Sinclair has smashed his previous Crowdfunding record of £155,677 in less than 3 days  – having achieved his initial target of £100,000 within 48-hours, the campaign to produce a 2nd games console,  called the Vega+ now exceeds the sum raised during the entire  2-month campaign last time round to fund the original Vega console. Contributors now have a further 38 days during the current Indiegogo campaign to pledge to secure a Classic Black Vega+ or a limited edition version – available in red, white or blue, of the new pocket size, fully mobile games console or a number of other perks from as low as £5.

The Vega+ is based on his hugely successful Spectrum products of the early 1980s. The Vega+ is the only games console that exists with 1,000 licensed games already included and with an LCD for you to use on the go. This launch follows the huge public and media support of the initial Vega product last year, and is the next step in the evolution of the Vega.

The Sinclair ZX Spectrum Vega+ to give it its full name takes advantage of major advances in technology to achieve big cost savings by replacing most of the electronics in Sir Clive’s earlier computer products. Instead the Vega+ uses a low cost micro-controller and some clever software to enable the Vega+ to run all of the games, 14,000 or more of them, developed during the years when some 5 million of the original Sinclair Spectrum were being sold.

The Sinclair ZX Spectrum Vega+ is being marketed by Retro Computers Ltd, the Luton-based start-up in which Sir Clive’s company Sinclair Research Ltd is a shareholder. The development and marketing of the Vega+ is under licence from Sky In-Home Service Ltd, who inherited the intellectual property rights to the Spectrum computers from Amstrad.  Development of the product is complete, and a fully-functioning prototype is ready to go into production.

The Sinclair ZX Spectrum Vega+ is as simple to use as any of the popular games consoles, but far less expensive. It has a colour LCD so the user can play it anywhere. Additionally, it can be connected to a TV so the user does not need a computer monitor, and it comes complete with 1,000 licensed games built-in. The user will also be able to download additional games free of charge from the thousands that are available on the web, so there is no need for users to pay any more than the cost of the basic product, which will be in the region of £100 from the company’s web site and from various online retailers and High Street outlets.

The Vega+ has been developed by Chris Smith, who is the world’s leading expert on Sinclair Spectrum technology and author of the definitive technical book “The ZX Spectrum ULA: How to design a microcomputer”. The design concept of the Vega+ is by Rick Dickinson, who was responsible for the design of all of Sinclair’s ZX computers in the 1980s.

Paul Andrews, Managing Director of Retro Computers Ltd, is a lifelong fan of Sir Clive’s products, and has himself worked within the games and media publishing market for many years.

David Levy, the company’s Chairman, is President of the International Computer Games Association and has been responsible for the development of more than 100 consumer electronic products since the late 1970s.

Sir Clive Sinclair says that the success of the original Spectrum was due to the fact that: “it was adaptable, approachable, very easy to program, and simple to use”. Of the Vega+ Sir Clive says: “The present surge of interest in retro products inspired me to plan the Vega+ as a handy games console which can be played anywhere.”

Retro Computers Ltd has today launched its financing for their new product via the Indiegogo crowdfunding web site. The funding will be used for the UK manufacture of the first production run, which will be for sufficient numbers of the Vega+ consoles for all those supporters of the Indiegogo campaign who choose the Vega+ as a perk, and to prepare us for the second production run. A range of limited edition Vega+ consoles and other related exclusive items are being offered on the site, including some special edition Vega+ consoles with red, white and blue bases, which will only be available during the Indiegogo campaign.

Indiegogo: http://igg.me/at/vegaplus/x/9227470

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqXhtTYj7Oc

Train2Game News Stone Carved PS4

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Today, Ubisoft Entertainment has released a range of stunning photos of a hand-crafted Sony PlayStation®4 and DUAL SHOCK ®4 controllers, to mark the upcoming launch of Far Cry Primal on February 23rd, 2016.

Working free-hand, accredited master carver and stone mason, Nick Roberson, was commissioned to intricately replicate these items from stone, to showcase the Stone Age era that the franchise moves to in the latest installment.

In addition to the PS4 console and controllers, Nick Roberson was also commissioned to craft an entire gaming den from hand-carved finest Fletcher Band sandstone. The den was also kitted out with a stone television, pizza box, beer can and an impressive carved coffee table.

The result is a stunning image of a prehistoric take on the contemporary items of today, as regularly seen in modern gaming pads across the country.  

Footage of the main pieces being chiseled can be viewed here in the official video feature: CLICK HERE

“This project was undertaken to highlight the vast landscape and rich setting of the Stone Age era in Far Cry Primal,” comments Tom Goldberger, Senior PR Manager at Ubisoft. “Nick has managed to immortalize, in stone, the beautiful, elegant designs of these iconic items with unbelievable accuracy.”

Stonemason, Nick Roberson, who has over 20 years of experience, which has seen him take on commissions for Hollywood movies, comments on his involvement on creating the man cave; “This project was a great challenge for me and I really enjoyed seeing the modern and techy items come together in this natural form. The buttons of the controllers were certainly tricky but I’m delighted with the final results and the fantastic way they’ve been collated for the shoot.”

Far Cry Primal is available to own on February 23rd on the Sony PlayStation® 4 computer entertainment system and Microsoft Xbox One®, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft, and will be available on Windows PC on March 1st, 2016.

For more information regarding Far Cry Primal, visit:
https://www.ubisoft.com/en-GB/game/far-cry-primal/