Robert Ramsay is studying to become a Game Artist & Animator with Train2Game. Train2Game Radio caught up with him to find out why he chose to study with Train2Game, and how he’s finding the course.
In part 2 of a 3 part interview, Robert tells us how he’s helping other Train2Game students with their courses. Listen to the interview at www.audioboo.fm/train2game.
Read part 1 here on the Train2Game blog and leave your comments here, on the Train2Game forum.
Train2Game Artist & Animator William Alexander is on a Train2Game work placement at DR Studios. In his latest Train2Game industry experience diary, William writes about his time with Train2Game at the Develop Confernce, which includinf talking to some high profile industry figures. a
Read Williams ’s latest industry experience diary here on the Train2Game blog, or on the official Train2Game industry experiences website.
William also features in the Train2Game industry experience diaries produced by Game Design student Jonny Robinson, which you can see here on the Train2Game blog.
Train2Game Game Designer Darren Price is on a Train2Game work placement at DR Studios. In his latest Train2Game industry experience diary, Darren writes about coding during a sprint, and his time at the Develop Conference.
Read Jonny’s latest industry experience diary here on the Train2Game blog, or on the official Train2Game industry experiences website.
Robert Ramsay is studying to become a Game Artist & Animator with Train2Game.
In first part of a special in depth interview, Train2Game Radio caught up with Robert to find out he chose to study with Train2Game, what he thinks about the future of the industry and a little bit about his personal side project, Mage Listen at www.audioboo.fm/train2game
Read his story below then leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.
Train2Game students, as game developers of the future, may already be thinking about how they can prevent their games from being pirated.
There are various different forms of DRM in PC gaming, with Steam perhaps being used the most by PC Gamers. Blizzard have their own DRM, which has proved controversial in that in order to play their upcoming Diablo III, the player will have to be connected to the internet the whole time.
The idea has caused controversy, because it means if your internet connection flickers for just a second, you’re dropped from the game. Any progress made since the last time a game save is made will be lost.
The DRM also means playing PC games on the move using a laptop goes somewhat out the window. It’s therefore something that may annoy Train2Game students as gamers.
However, while gamers may find the ‘always on’ DRM controversial, it seems to have won over game developers. Indeed, id Software Creative Director Tim Willits believes it’s the best way forward.
“Diablo III will make everyone else accept the fact you have to be connected” Willits told Eurogamer at QuakeCon.
“If you have a juggernaut, you can make change. I’m all for that. If we could force people to always be connected when you play the game, and then have that be acceptable, awesome,”
It isn’t the only comment the id Software Creative Director made at QuakeCon that could be seen as controversial. Indeed, the Train2Game blog reported that he said the FPS is the ‘best genre’
“In the end, it’s better for everybody,” Willets continued on the subject of the DRM, suggesting it has benefits.
“Imagine picking up a game and it’s automatically updated. Or there’s something new you didn’t know about, and you didn’t have to click away. It’s all automatically there. I’m a big proponent of always connected. I’m always connected. Our fans are always connected.”
“There will be a few people who will resent the fact you have to be online to play a single-player game. But it’ll change.” he concluded.
So Train2Game, do you think ‘always on’ DRM is the way forward? Or does it come across as too restricting to regular gamers? Are internet connections reliable enough for it to work?
Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.
[Source: Eurogamer via Industry Gamers]
Train2Game student Georgij Cernysiov is on a Train2Game work placement at Caspian Learning. In his latest Train2Game industry experience diary, Georgij writes about his work at the studio, and considers the future. He also teases a game project that’ll soon be launched on the Train2Game forum.
Read Georgij’s latest diary here on the Train2Game blog, or on the official Train2Game industry experience diary website.
Catch up with previous diaries here on the Train2Game blog.
In his latest Train2Game industry experience diary Laurence Gee writes about building a game with Train2Game forum users, working on his course and what he’s been getting up to on placement.
Read it here on the Train2Game blog, or on the official Train2Game industy experience diaries website.
Many Train2Game students will be very familiar with Id Software; the game developer is arguably the father of the first person shooter with the likes of Wolfenstein, Doom, Quake and soon, RAGE, coming from the studio.
However, despite the amount of competition in an FPS market – with Call of Duty currently the most successful – Id Software still believe the genre still has a massive future.
“The FPS I feel is the very best genre because it places you, the game player into the experience like no other type of genre does.” creative director Tim Willits told Quakecon.
The comments from Id software echo those made by Irrational Games Ken Levine earlier this, as previously reported by the Train2Game blog.
“It’s one less barrier to the experience,” The Bioshock creatorsaid on the subject of making games immersive through a first person view.
“It’s a strange thing to be in someone else’s shoes. It’s something we do very naturally as children, but it’s something that is much more difficult for adults. I think that games give us enough of a nudge in the right direction to have that childhood experience of play.”
While RAGE will be played from a first person perspective, Id Software’s title will feature driving and RPG elements, and Willits believes this is a positive step for the games industry.
“Even the word genre is a bit too constricting and I think that people should remove labels from games and let games just be games.” He said.
“I’ve always felt that the future is very bright for first person shooters. We have so many fans and there are so many different directions it could take that I believe that in itself, it’ll be around for years and that id software will be around for years too.” Willets added.
RAGE will be helped along by the fact that graphically, the games Art & Animation looks very good indeed, and as reported by the Train2Game blog this week, id Software believe that “graphics will always matter.”
RAGE could provide a great opportunity for Train2Game students, given that modding tools will be available for the PC version.
So Train2Game, do you think the FPS is the ‘best’ genre? Or is genre becoming an obsolete word?
Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.
[Source: CVG]
Train2Game students will be highly aware that social media gaming is one of the fastest growing areas of the games industry. Indeed, it’s an area that could provide Train2Game students with jobs in future.
Activision however, despite being one of the biggest game publishers on the planet, have so far steered clear of the social media gaming race. The reason? They believe people are spending more time playing triple-A titles, such as their Call of Duty games, rather moving towards Facebook.
“Call of Duty has more players who pay-to-play online than any Facebook game and our players pay more per player on average than any Facebook game,” said Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshber, speaking t the 13th Annual Pacific Crest Global Technology Leadership Forum
“They’re also more engaged – the percentage of Call of Duty’s monthly unique players that play the game every day is higher than that of the top three Facebook games.”
Activision are very happy to remain a console specific games publisher, and who can blame them with the biggest gaming franchise in the world under their belt. As previously reported by the Train2Game blog, Call of Duty: Black Ops was the top selling video game of 2010.
“We feel [Activision’s] strategy continues to be very well aligned with the market opportunity,” Hirshberg said.
“Despite all the hand-wringing in our industry right now, people aren’t gaming less. In fact, they’re gaming more than ever. They’re just doing it with fewer games, and they’re spending more time playing those games than ever before.”
“Last year, of the top 10 best-selling games, all 10 of them were based on strong existing franchises, and nine of those 10 were online enabled” he concluded.
The trend of successful Call of Duty titles looks set to continue with Modern Warfare 3, which as previously reported by the Train2Game blog, “will bring the most advanced multiplayer ever”
“The passion and energy of our developers is reflected in everything about the title. From the innovative gameplay, to the cinematic intensity, to the most advanced multiplayer ever, Modern Warfare 3 will raise the bar for this already incredible franchise.” Hirshberg said following the reveal trailer.
See the first Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 trailer here on the Train2Game blog.
So Train2Game, is Activision taking a risk by not investing in social media gaming? Or are they right to keep all of their eggs in the console basket?
Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.
[Source: Gamasutra]
Train2Game’s Clive Robert is one of many high profile games industry figures speaking at this week’s Edinburgh Interactive public sessions. The sessions are free and could provide Train2Game students in the Edinburgh area with excellent insider information about the games industry.
Other speakers include Ian Livingstone, Ken Fee, Graham Brown-Martin, Jo Twist and Derek Robertson and Nicholas Lovell. (Industry analyst Nicholas Lovell gave an extensive interview to the Train2Game blog in December last year)
Train2Game’s Clive Robert will take part in a discussion titled ‘Games Industry overview & How to get in to the Games Industry’ at 10 a.m. on Thursday.
He’ll be speaking alongside game industry legend Ian Livingstone and Ken Fee, MProf Programme Tutor and Lecturer at The University of Abertay Dundee.
For more information about the session, see the Train2Game blog.
“This year’s Public sessions are the best Edinburgh Interactive public sessions to date!” said Edinburgh Interactive Event Director, Alexa Turness.
“With such a fantastic line up and calibre of speakers, with such a variety of topics reaching out to a much broader audience, we’re predicting a very well attended couple of days. The public sessions are free, ticketless and on a first come first served basis, so don’t miss out, get to The Radisson Blu early and we will prove that sometimes best things in life really are free”.
The sessions, all of them, could really be of benefit to Train2Game students, so if any in the Edinburgh area are planning to go, they best to The Radisson Blu Hotel early.
For more information, see the Edinburgh Interactive program.
The event “is powered up to showcase the continued popularity, growth and influence of video games”
So Train2Game, are you in the Edinburgh area? Will you go to the public sessions?
Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.
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