Category Archives: Games Developer

Train2Game students entering a “fundamentally changed” games industry

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Many Train2Game students are waiting in anticipating to hear news of the next generation of games consoles, but EA’s John Riccitiello believes the traditional console cycle is over.

While speaking to investors, the EA CEO argued that the games industry has “fundamentally changed” in recent years.

“Most of us recognize that the industry has radically changed and the pace of change has accelerated dramatically,” he said “Gone forever is the four-to-five year console cadence that gave developers ample time to invest and retool for the next big wave.

“Consider that just 18 months ago, there was no iPad, Google was just experimenting with Android and most big games were limited to a single revenue opportunity at launch. Consider that each of the major consoles now has a controller that encourages users to get off the couch and get into the action.

“On smartphones and tablets like the iPhone and iPad, the top paid apps are all games. Recognize that the fastest-growing revenue streams for console, PC, smartphones and tablets are all digital, and that EA is partnering with its retail and platform partners to help jointly grow these digital revenue streams.

“While the game industry has fundamentally changed, games are reaching a far larger audience base than ever before.

The Train2Game blog has previously reported that EA are committed to digital games, with John Riccitiello stating at the start of the year that digital distribution is set to overtake traditional retail this year.

Last month, the Train2Game blog also reported that Riccitiello believes the future of the games industry is already here

Train2Game students will surely agree with the EA CEO in that the games industry has fundamentally changed in the last couple of years, but has the traditional console development cycle come to an end?

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

[Source: MCV]

Train2Game Game Design student Jonathon Robinson speaking to Train2Game Radio at Develop

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 Train2Game  featured prominently at this year’s Develop Conference, with a stand promoting students on the courses. Jonathon Robinson is on the Train2Game Game Design course, and helped promote Train2Game and also got an insight into the games industry.

The Train2Game blog caught up with Jonathon at the event to find out what he gained from the experience. Listen to the interview at www.audioboo.fm/train2game  Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog or on the Train2Game forum.

 

 

Train2Game students can help indie devs and charity with Humble Indie Bundle 3

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Train2Game students have the opportunity to check out five great indie games and donate to charity at the same time with Humble Indie Bundle 3.

The scheme runs in exactly the same way as Humble Indie Bundle 2, as reported by the Train2Game blog in December last year.

The indie games available – which could all potentially provide inspiration for Train2Game students – are Crayon Physics Deluxe, Cogs, VVVVVV, Hammerfight and And Yet It Moves.  They’re available for Windows, Mac and Linux.

If the games were bought separately, it’d cost around $50 (or around £30) but you have the opportunity to get them for much less as you pay what you like. You can also choose how your payment is divided between the game developers and the two charities; Child’s Play and EFF.

At the time of writing Humble Indie Bundle 3 has raised over $400,000 after 90,000 purchases. The biggest contributor appears to be Notch, developer of Train2Game student favourite Minecraft who donated over $4000.

Train2Game students can check out Humble Indie Bundle 3 on its official website. The trailer is also available to watch below, here on the Train2Game blog.

So Train2Game, is this good cause a good way for indie developers to gain publicity? Would you use the ‘pay what you want’ model for your games?

As usual, leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Thanks to Vampire Duck on the Train2Game forum for the tip off]

Train2Game Art & Animation student William Alexander speaks to Train2Game Radio

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William Alexander 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, how he’s finding the course and how he balances it around the rest of his life.

Listen to the interview at http://audioboo.fm/train2game

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

Train2Game students (and everyone else!) could pay subs for EA Sports games in future

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Train2Game students may have to pay subscription fees to play EA Sports titles in future. That’s according to label Vice President Andrew Wilson who believes there will “absolutely” be a time when plays will want to “access” EA Sports games via subscriptions.

It’s a statement that may initially not go down well with Train2Game students, but it could help them make more revenue from games in the future.

“If we look at what consumers have pushed other industries for: if we look at what consumers forced the music industry to provide, if we look at what consumers have driven as a result of television and movie subscription” Wilson told Eurogamer.

“If you look at us – there’s absolutely a time somewhere at some point in the future where the consumers say, ‘Hey, this is how we want to interact with you: we want to give you a monthly or annual subscription and we want access to everything you make,'”

“They get to drive the time and place for it, and a lot of it is technology dependent, but absolutely we can see a future where that might be the way we deliver games.”

Wilson added that it isn’t current gen consoles that are holding this model back, but internet connections.

“It’s less about the generation and more about internet infrastructure,” he said.

“The thing about consoles [is] that’s a lot of content: six, seven gigs of information. Right now there are some places in the world where you can move that size of information around relatively seamlessly; there are a lot of places you can’t.

“Right now the consoles themselves could facilitate it,” he added, “but there are other barriers to entry that make getting it from Game or GameStop a viable proposition, at least today.”

That last part sounds somewhat familiar, with as reported by the Train2Game blog, Sony previously stating that they want to sell PSN content – currently only available digitally – at traditional retail.

Of course, the games industry already has many subscription based services, with World of Warcraft being the most high profile. As previously mentioned by the Train2Game blog, World of Warcraft has over 12 million subscribers, showing that if people like a game, they’re more than happy to pay a subscription fee.

Therefore, in the future, working on a subscription based game could potentially be lucrative for Train2Game students.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts? Are subscription fees for all games inevitable? Would people pay?

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

[Source: Eurogamer]

Train2Game’s Clive Robert to speak at Edinburgh Interactive

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Train2Game‘s Clive Robert will be part of a panel discussion  about how to get into the games industry at Edinburgh Interactive next month.

The summary of the talk as stated on the Edinburgh Interactive website states:

“Whilst big UK teams producing huge ‘AAA’ games are most certainly in decline, the future is still incredibly bright;

Micro teams, new business models, new analytics, low barriers to entry and improving games education are all great news for graduates and whomever else that want to be a part of this great industry. Those who are driven and prepared to show a little entrepreneurial flair have many more options than just cutting, pasting, tweaking and mailing their cv’s.”

Clive Robert will be speaking alongside game industry legend Ian Livingstone and Ken Fee, MProf Programme Tutor and Lecturer at The University of Abertay Dundee. The session, Games Industry overview & How to get in to the Games Industry, takes place on Thursday 10th August.

It’s the first in a whole host of talks that could be very useful to any Train2Game students who can confidently get to the free, public event in Edinburgh.

“The Public programme will take place in the Great Scottish Hall at The Radisson Blu Hotel on the 11th & 12th August.  Seats are limited so we recommend getting to the venue early where seating will be on a first come, first served basis.” is the advice on the official website.

For more information visit the Edinburgh Interactive homepage.  More information about Clive is available on the Train2Game official website.

As usual, leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Train2Game students are probably sick of hearing this…Zumba Fitness No.1 again

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Train2Game students must be waiting for the summer lull to end,  but in the meantime Zumba Fitness continues to the dominate the UK charts with a sixth consecutive No.1. The dance game has spent a total of nine weeks in the top spot.

Call of Juarez: The Cartel enters at No.2, despite a plethora of negative reviews, while poor ratings also have no effect on Harry Potter: The Deathly Hallows Part 2 which rises from No.7 to No. 3 in its second week in the charts.

LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean moves up one to No.4, switching places with Call of Duty: Black Ops which drops to No.5. in its 35th week on sale. The Train2Game blog previously reported that Black Ops was the top selling game of last year, and more than six months on its still going strong.

Price cuts see Dungeon Siege III re-enter the top ten at No.6, while Dirt 3 drops  four spots to No.7. Movie tie-in Cars 2 debuts at No.8, FIFA 11 re-enters the top ten at No.8, while LEGO Star Wars III: The  Clone Wars drops to No.10.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon and former No.1 – as reported by the Train2Game blog – Brink, both leave the top ten.

The UKIE Gfk Chart-Track All Formats Top 10 for the week ending 23rd July 2011 is therefore as follows:

  1. Zumba Fitness (505 Games)
  2. Call of Juarez: The Cartel (Ubisoft)
  3. Harry Potter: The Deathly Hallows Part 2 (EA)
  4. LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean (Disney)
  5. Call of Duty: Black Ops (Activision)
  6. Dungeon Siege III (Square Enix)
  7.  Dirt 3 (Codemasters)
  8. Cars 2 (Disney)
  9. FIFA 11 (EA)
  10. LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars (LucasArts)

There are no major releases this week.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on this week’s chart? What does the fact games with low review scores are doing so well?

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

[Source: UKIE Games Charts©, compiled by GfK Chart-Track]

Train2Game Course Director Tony Bickley speaks to Train2Game Radio at the Develop Conference

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Train2Game featured prominently at this year’s Develop Conference, with a stand promoting students on the courses.

Towards the end of the show, the Train2Game blog caught up with Train2Game Course Directly Tony Bickley to find out how successful Train2Game’s time at Develop 2011 had been.

The interview is also available to listen to at www.audioboo.fm/train2game

 

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

Train2Game students could see L.A. Noire tech in Grand Theft Auto V

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Grand Theft Auto V could feature the extremely impressive facial art & animation techniques originally used in L.A. Noire. (Train2Game students can remind themselves about the motion capture here on the Train2Game blog)

That’s according to  Team Bondi co-founder Brendan McNamara in an interview with PSM3.

“Yeah, I think they’re looking at it for every game. As much as LA Noire is a huge game, Grand Theft Auto is incredibly huge, so you’ve got all the problems of how big the cast would be and how many lines would you have to record and all that kind of stuff.

“Obviously we’d like them to, and they’re more than welcome to use MotionScan, but if they decide it’s not right for that and want to use it for another game, then that’s fine too.

“I think it brings a level of humanity to the experience that means people will – in the first few minutes – start relating to the characters on screen. They don’t have to make that decision about ‘whether I like this guy’ or ‘do I actually believe them? – but they can make all the like or dislike decisions based on the actor’s performance.

“Rockstar will make those decisions. They generally make the right decisions in terms of what they do for their games.”

The prospect of motion capture in Grand Theft Auto V is no doubt an intriguing prospect, both to Train2Game Art & Animation students, and everyone else.

There has been no official announcement regarding Grand Theft Auto V, but increasing rumours suggest that we’ll glimpses of it in the not too distant future.

Indeed, as previously reported by the Train2Game blog, analysts believe Grand Theft Auto V will arrive next year.

So Train2Game, do you think GTA V could benefit from motion capture? Do you believe it’ll be in the game?

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

[Source:  Develop Online]

Train2Game Art & Animation student Piers Duplock from Leamington speaks to Train2Game Radio

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Piers Duplock 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, how he’s finding the course and how he balances it around a job at Codemasters.

Listen to the interview at http://audioboo.fm/train2game

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