Category Archives: Games Artist and Animator

Train2Game news: UK Charts – FIFA 12 still dominating

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Train2Game blog readers saw FIFA 12 storm to the top of the charts last week, with a record breaking performance. And while it may not have sold as many copies this time around, FIFA 12 has still had the 13th highest ever weekly sales for a game in the UK and remains at No.1.

It means that RAGE from id Software debuts at No.2, with another new entry in the form of Dark Souls following at No.3. Xbox 360 exclusive and former chart topper Gears of War 3 slips down to No.4, with F1 2011 at No.5 having dropped two places.

Zumba Fitness continues to feature in the top ten, following a long spell at No.1 during the summer, and is at No.6 this week, one spot ahead of another former No.1, Dead Island.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution slips to No.8, LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean is No.9 for the third week in a row, while Resistance 3 climbs up three places to complete the top ten.

NBA 2K12 reaches No.12 in its first week, while El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron debuts in the top 40 at 39, a month after its release.

The UKIE Gfk Chart-Track All Formats Top 10 for the week ending 8th October 2011 is therefore as follows:

1. FIFA 12 (EA)
2. Rage (Bethesda)
3. Dark Souls (Namco Bandai)
4. Gears of War 3 (Microsoft)
5. F1 2011 (Codemasters)
6. Zumba Fitness (505 Games)
7. Dead Island (Deep Silver)
8. Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Square Enix)
9. LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean (Disney)
10. Resistance 3 (Sony)

Releases this week include PES 2012, Forza 4 and Just Dance 3.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on FIFA 12’s continuing success? Will it be dislodged by any of this week’s new releases? And have you been playing RAGE or Dark Souls?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: UKIE Games Charts©, compiled by GfK Ch

Train2Game news: Behind the scenes of Batman: Arkham City

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Train2Game may be aware that Batman: Arkham City is released later this month. If early reviews are to be believed, the follow up to the highly successful Arkham Asylum from British studio Rocksteady looks to even more impressive that it’s predecessor.

Of course, developing Arkham City was far from a simple process and Game Director Sefton Hill has discussed some of the challenges.

“Creating Arkham City has been a tremendous technical undertaking.” he told Eurogamer.

Hill described down developing the title required an immense effort from everyone at Rocksteady.

“Our engine teams, optimisation teams, art teams and design teams have had to do a phenomenal amount of work to get this game to run and optimise it and run at a solid 30 frames a second throughout, while creating such a richly detailed city. So it’s definitely not easy.” said the Batman: Arkham City Game Director.

He praised the technical team in particular for doing a great job, doing whatever the rest of the team needed.

“Huge credit to the technical team, who said, look, we’ll make it happen. You design the best game you can think of and we will work hard to make that happen.” said Hill.

“Those guys did a phenomenal job with that. All credit to them because there are a lot of technical achievements in there we’d never done before and taken on.” he added.

Train2Game students can get an insight into the game design process behind Batman: Arkham City here on the Train2Game blog.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on the work behind Arkham City? Is a game that you’re looking forward to?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: Eurogamer]

Train2Game student Fabiano Dias video diary No.2

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Train2Game student Fabiano Dias has posted his second Train2Game student video diary. In this installment, Fabiano talks about passing his first exam and gives us an insight into his course. He also discusses some of the challenges of the Train2Game Art & Animation course and offers advice to other Train2Game students.

Watch Fabiano’s latest Train2Game student diary on the Official Train2Game YouTube channel, or below here on the Train2Game blog.

See Fabiano’s first Train2Game video diary here.

Train2Game news: Apple’s Steve Jobs dies age 56

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Apple founder Steve Jobs has died at the age of 56 after suffering from cancer.

Train2Game students will be very familiar with Apple products thanks to the emergence of the iPhone and iPad  as gaming platforms.

Both mobile devices have had a significant impact on the world of games and game development, with the Apple App store providing an effective way for small teams to publish games.

Indeed, in a recent interview with the Train2Game blog, indie studio Hogrocket told us the reasons why they’ve chosen to publish games on iPhone after leaving Triple A development.

But it isn’t just mobile gaming where Apple had an impact on the industry. In 1984, the release of Apple’s Macintosh saw the inclusion of something essential to PC gamers today, and that thing was the mouse. Before inclusion with the Macintosh came along, home computers were operated by text only interfaces. It’d be difficult to imagine PC gaming even existing without the mouse.

Meanwhile, iTunes and the idea of paying for digital data paved the way of Steam, Xbox Live, PSN and Online to set up their own digital distribution services.

Jobs only stepped down as Apple CEO a few weeks ago, his replacement paid tribute to the company founder in an email to staff.

“Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor,” said Cook. “Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.”

Cook also praised Steve Jobs as a ‘a visionary and creative genius.‘

U.S. President Barak Obama led tributes to the Apple founder, “Steve was among the greatest of American innovators – brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it.” he said.

Train2Game students can leave their own tributes to Steve Jobs on the Train2Game forum, or on the Train2Game Facebook page.

Steve Jobs 1955-2011

Train2Game news: Ninja Theory – Triple A doesn’t let developers take risks

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Train2Game blog readers may have seen a post last month in which Ninja Theory Creative Chief Tameem Antoniades praised the ‘digital revolution’ and the creativity it brings.

Perhaps understandably, he also believes that the traditional Triple-A retail model is in fact harming creativity in the games industry.

“If you’re paying 60 bucks for a game, you want it to give you everything under the sun,” Antoniades told Gamasutra.

“It seems like Hollywood’s got much more diversity than the games industry has. And I don’t know exactly why this is, but I suspect it’s the publishing, retail model of 40 pounds, 50, 60 bucks a game doesn’t allow players to take chances with their money.

“It doesn’t allow publishers or developers to take risks. And the only way you can be sure to sell to someone is to sell them something familiar.”

As previously reported by the Train2Game blog, Ninja Theory’s Enslaved: Odyssey to the West was critically well received, but failed to make the impact needed at retail. As a result, the game won’t be getting a sequel.

However, the Ninja Theory chief believes that innovative games do sell, but the current retail and publishing model makes it difficult.

“I think that ultimately innovation does sell, and messaging is needed,” he said.

“But somehow there’s not enough diversity, I think, in our business models to create interesting, alternative games. At least on the triple-A side of things, the top end market. You’re not seeing very high end innovation happening.” Antoniades concluded.

Yesterday, the Train2Game blog reported that Bioware believe mobile games do let game developers take risks.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on Antoniades comments? Is the traditional retail model and the need to be successful stifling creativity in the games industry?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: Gamasutra]

Train2Game news: Bioware exploring ‘experimental’ mobile market

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Train2Game students will know that iPhone gaming as a whole has become big business with a number of publishers plotting a long term mobile strategy.

And while the Train2Game blog has previously reported that EA has detailed plans for mobiles, Bioware, who publish the Mass Effect and Dragon Age series’ under the EA, don’t have any specific plans for mobile, but it’s something they’re looking into.

“We’re doing more stuff. EA as a whole is doing more mobile games, and at BioWare we’re looking at mobile extensions for our franchises as well,” BioWare founder Dr. Ray Muzyka told Industry Gamers.

“Nothing to announce specifically right now, but mobile’s going to be one of the dominant platforms going forward.” added co-founder Dr. Greg Zeschuk

And he believes mobile will become as strong as traditional consoles.

“It’s going to be right up there with anything else – it already is in a sense. In terms of dollar share, maybe not yet, but we’re just starting down the hill on free-to-play on mobile devices. That’s a big thing right now. So yeah, we take mobile pretty seriously.”

As previously reported by the Train2Game blog, free-to-play games generate a majority of App store revenue.  And Zeschuk believes the  free-to-play is a low risk environment to test out new ideas, with the prospect of failure not a catastrophe.

“One thing we’ve learned is that you need to lead with gameplay – making sure the core gameplay is really tight”

And another thing is just understanding the platform well enough that you really are state of the art in terms of what you’re delivering relative to what’s there.” said the Bioware co-founder.

“And sometimes it’s just experimental too, and on mobile with something of that scale it’s actually a lot safer to explore ideas,” he added.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on Bioware looking into mobile? Is it a good area to experiment with?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or here on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: Industry Gamers]

Train2Game news: Unreal Engine 3 comes to Flash

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Train2Game should find this very impressive; Unreal Engine 3 can now run in Flash.

The move was unveiled by Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeny with a demonstration of Unreal Tournament III running in flash during a keynote address at Adobe’s MAX 2011 event.

Unreal Tournament III was released in 2008 for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. What it means for Train2Game students is they’ll be able to play games with current generation graphics in web browers, TV’s with internet connections and social networks.

With UE3 and Flash, games built for high-end consoles can now run on the web or as Facebook apps, reaching an enormous userbase,” said Sweeny.

“This totally changes the playing field for developers who want to widely deploy and monetise their games.”

Indeed, Unreal’s move to Flash provides another avenue for Train2Game students to potentially develop games for.

“We’re excited that Epic Games is tapping into the latest capabilities in Adobe Flash Player 11 to power its Unreal Engine 3.” added, group product manager at Adobe Gaming Solutions Emmy Huang.

“As the console of the web, Flash is delivering immersive gaming experiences across screens and we’re thrilled to have Epic Games using Flash Player to deliver its blockbuster, premier 3D games on the web.”

As reported by the Train2Game blog, the Unreal Development Kit has received only one million downloads since its release.

Train2Game students will also get the opportunity to work with UDK at the Train2Game & Epic Game Jam next month. For more information, see the official Train2Game & Epic Game Jam website.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on Unreal running in Flash? Is it an area you’d be tempted to work in? See Unreal running in Falsh for yourself below.

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or here on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: Edge]

Train2Game students can get behind the scenes at Epic with ‘Unreal Insider’

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Train2Game students on all courses should be interested in this; Epic Games has set up a new blog that’ll give readers a behind the scenes look at the work that goes on at the studio.

The first ‘Unreal Insider’ blog post sees Vice President Mark Rein writing about their success with Gears of War 3 and a milestone number of Epic’s Unreal Development Kit.

“The Unreal Development Kit has been installed on over 1,000,000 unique machines. Yes, that’s ONE MILLION unique installs,” he said.

As reported by the Train2Game blog, it was only in June that the UDK passed 800,000 downloads.

“This isn’t a download count nor does it count users who installed a new version of UDK over an old version, or reinstalls” Rein continues. “This means there are more than one million different computers on to which the UDK has been installed”

“With this massive install base there are countless stories to tell about what those developers are doing with the technology.” the Epic Vice President added.

Of course, Train2Game students will get a chance to use the Unreal engine to create new stories at the Train2 Game & Epic Game Jam next month. For more information, see the official Train2Game & Epic Game Jam website.

Regular Train2Game blog readers will also be aware of the benefits of modding, perhaps using UDK, could bring.

At Eurogamer, Valve’s Chet Faliszek told the Train2Game blog that modding was a great way to get noticed, while  at Gamescom,  id Software’s Tim Willits also praised modding as a good way to get into the games industry.

Could Train2Game students find useful information on getting into the games industry on Epic’s blog in future? It’s a possibility…

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on this move by Epic? Will you be reading their blog?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: Unreal Insider] 

Train2Game industry experience diaries from Game Designer Craig Moore

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Train2Game Game Designer Craig Moore has been on a Train2Game work placement at DR Studios. In his latest industry diaries, Craig discusses the importance of QA testing and how life in a game development studio is treating him.

Read what Craig has to say about his Train2Game work placement here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game Scribd page.

Train2Game placement student employed full-time at game development studio

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Train2Game student Laurence Gee has been given a full-time job by independent studio Brain in a Jar following a successful Train2Game work placement.

Read his thank you post below, or on the Train2Game Scribd page.  You can also read Laurence’s previous Train2Game student placement diaries. 

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.