Category Archives: games

Train2Game News UK Top 20 Games – 27.10.14

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Fifa 15FIFA 15 remains in the number one spot for another week andBayonetta 2 makes its debut at number seven. Towards the bottom of the top twenty, the Borderlands Collection has come in at number sixteen, Civilation: Beyond Earth is number eighteen and Just Dance 2015 is number nineteen.

All formats

Week ending 25 October 2014

POS.  TITLE  PUBLISHER  LAST
WEEK 
1 – FIFA 15 EA SPORTS 1
2 MINECRAFT: PLAYSTATION EDITION SONY COMPUTER ENT. 9
3 THE EVIL WITHIN BETHESDA SOFTWORKS 2
4 DESTINY ACTIVISION 7
5 MIDDLE EARTH: SHADOW OF MORDOR WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE 4
6 BORDERLANDS: THE PRE-SEQUEL! 2K GAMES 3
7 BAYONETTA 2 NINTENDO –
8 FORZA HORIZON 2 MICROSOFT 5
9 ALIEN: ISOLATION SEGA 6
10 SKYLANDERS TRAP TEAM SKYLANDERS 11
11 DRIVECLUB SONY COMPUTER ENT. 8
12 MINECRAFT: XBOX EDITION MICROSOFT 13
13 DISNEY INFINITY 2.0 DISNEY INFINITY 15
14 SUPER SMASH BROS. NINTENDO 12
15 F1 2014 CODEMASTERS 10
16 THE BORDERLANDS COLLECTION (1 & 2) XBOX 360 CLASSICS –
17 WATCH DOGS UBISOFT 11
18 CIVILIZATION: BEYOND EARTH 2K GAMES –
19 JUST DANCE 2015 UBISOFT –
20 PLANTS VS ZOMBIES: GARDEN WARFARE EA GAMES 17
< previous week
Leisure software charts compiled by Chart Track, (C)2014 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 Marmalade Event

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Marmalade#include is a cosy, informal winter meetup in London for indie developers to share in the magic of mobile game development.

Marmalade have pulled together an interesting lineup of speakers who want to share their knowledge and experience with you, helping you make your projects better and your games fly.

#include is split into 2 parts – Making Games and Selling Games. The event will be taking a close look at what makes games successful, from tech to toolkits to platforms, analytics, services, and discovery on stores. Confirmed so far are speakers from Amazon, Microsoft, Nomad Games, Lemon Moose Games, GameSparks, Ukie, Develop Magazine, and many more to come.

Attend #include for a great day of listening, learning and knowledge sharing with the indie dev community. Win great prizes in the #include challenge (theme ‘Bah! Humbug!’), enjoy a free lunchshare and then some beers at the end of the day!

Sign up here: http://bit.ly/10mJnU0 Tickets are £10 which is fully refunded at the event.

Train2Game News Micro Machines Returns… Sort of

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Toybox TurbosCodemasters have announced Toybox Turbos will bring a new world of retro table top racing to Windows PC from Steam on 12th November priced at £11.99 and will be coming soon to the Xbox Games Store for the Xbox 360 games and entertainment system from Microsoft and to the PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system from the online store.

Featuring gameplay that reflects Codemasters’ fondly remembered miniature racing titles of the ‘90s, Toybox Turbos delivers a pick-up-and-play arcade racing extravaganza as gamers take a nostalgic tour of 18 obstacle and short-cut filled circuits inspired by childhood locations. Players will speed past spilt sticky jam on the kitchen table, dodge flaming Bunsen burners as they take their opponents back to school and zip past the runaway train in races around a railway set and more.

Bursting with classic retro racing fun, Toybox Turbos includes four-player local and online multiplayer options, perfect for turning friends into foes with one-more-go gaming sessions that race into the night. Whether playing locally or online, or with a mix, Toybox Turbos brings alive the glory days of multiplayer score-settling competition with rapid-fire rounds designed for all-action racing.

Toybox Turbos features 35 vehicles to collect and customise, ranging from sports cars and dragsters to emergency vehicles, taxis, ice cream vans, construction vehicles, milk float, moon buggies and more!

Each can be raced in six super-charged game modes; players sprint for the line in Classic Races, set their best time in Time Trial, pass as many turbocharged toys as possible in Overtake, avoid getting wiped out by the tide in Escape, beat the clock in Countdown and take down bosses in Elimination mode. To gain the advantage, gamers can collect and use a range of power-ups spread liberally around each circuit, including, but not limited to, machine guns, mines, electronic pulses and, of course, giant hammers!

Gamers can find out more about Toybox Turbos and keep up with all the latest updates straight from the studio, by speeding over to www.toyboxturbos.com and www.facebook.com/toyboxturbos or by following the team at www.twitter.com/toyboxtu

You can enjoy the trailer for Toybox Turbos below

Train2Game News Video Game Mentoring Network Scheme

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UKIE LogoAfter the success of the first cohort of the Video Game Mentoring Network scheme, which saw eight games businesses start the programme earlier this year, Ukie have once again partnered with Nesta to match businesses with experienced games industry mentors.

The scheme aims to advise and nurture games businesses with an appetite for growth and mentoring will officially start in December. Businesses who join the Games Mentoring Network will receive:

· One-to-one business mentoring in the form of 10 two-hour sessions over a 6-12 month period

· An induction workshop at the start of the programme to get the most out of your mentoring sessions

· Workshops and events designed to meet other members of the wider creative Network

· Coaching support – in addition to mentoring

Ukie and Nesta want businesses of all sizes to apply to be mentored, from start-ups who have been established for less than two years, to established and high growth potential business who are looking to scale. The minimum criteria for applying are simply that you must be a registered business that:

· Has made or sold a game in the UK in the last 12 months or have a game ready to bring to market in the next six months.

· Or you can also be a business that has launched a product or service in the UK that supports the creation and selling of games within the last 12 months.

· Being a Ukie member automatically qualifies you to apply.

Ukie CEO, Dr Jo Twist said: “Building on the success of the first wave of games mentoring, our partnership with Nesta will give even more games businesses an amazing opportunity to get first hand expert advice from people with proven track records in the games industry. Mentoring is invaluable for both mentees and for mentors and they learn a great deal from each other throughout the process.”

Ukie and Nesta are inviting games businesses to apply for mentoring by contacting mentoring@ukie.org.uk.

Train2Game News Former CEO of EA takes over at Unity

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unity-logoUnity Technologies announced today that Co-founder David Helgason has stepped back from his role as CEO and welcomed John Riccitiello, former CEO of Electronic Arts, into the position. Helgason will continue at Unity as Executive Vice President in charge of strategy and communications.

John Riccitiello steps into the role of CEO of Unity Technologies having served on the Board of Directors from November 2013. Previous to his work with Unity, Riccitiello served as the CEO of Electronic Arts and co-founded investment firm Elevation Partners. He has also served as advisor to, and invested in, several startups including Oculus VR and Synertainment.

“I’m so proud of everything Unity accomplished in the last decade but now it’s time to look forward to an excellent future. Our mission is an important one, so I’m incredibly happy that John has agreed to lend his formidable experience to the role of CEO at Unity,” said David Helgason. “We’ve had the chance to work together over the last year-and-a-bit and come to recognize how similar our views are on the importance of the democratization of development to a thriving developer ecosystem and healthy games industry. We’re in great hands.”

“Unity has been a hugely positive force in the games industry for years. Now it’s my incredible fortune to have the opportunity to help guide Unity going forward.” said John Riccitiello. “Unity is more than a great engine or packages of services, it’s an amazing and diverse community of developers, many of which are changing the way we think about game design and production. Unity’s mission – to democratize development – is an important one that I’m very happy to help drive forward.”

Train2Game News Halloween Hackathon

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WewanaPlay is going to show you how to make a game quickly by challenging coders to make a game in just 30 hours with their Halloween Hackathon which is supported by big name companies such as Unity.

WewanaPlay, an innovative Birmingham based gaming startup is now turning startup creator. This weekend WewanaPlay is offering a fantastic chance to see how a Hackathon works thanks to their Halloween themed event which will take place in their head office and will also be streamed live on Twitch for everyone to follow along.

The Hackathon will be streamed at http://www.twitch.tv/wewanaplay

The stream will be live between Sat 25th Oct, 9am until Sun 26th , 4pm UK time, supported by the tens of thousands of users of their smartphone application. WewanaPlay was actually started on a weekend hackathon and now they want to give back that experience to new gaming companies.

Talented individuals making up 3 or more teams will be tasked with developing a working Halloween themed game in just 30 hours. The teams are free to use whatever software they wish and develop for whatever chosen platform.

The event is being live streamed on Twitch and is open to anyone who wants to view it. If you are interested in seeing what games can be produced in 30 hours and how it can be done, come watch.  The WewanaPlay team will be there to welcome you!

WewanaPlay hopes this event will show how fun coding can be and hopefully show how within a short time, someone with coding experience can create something which the whole world can enjoy. Well… that’s the aim anyway! Remember Flappy Birds was said to have been made in just 3 hours.

WewanaPlay would love you to follow the event on the live stream and even challenge you to take part from your own homes.  If you think you can produce an awesome game in the same time frame as them, either on your own or as part of a team, then join virtually!

All you have to do is send a tweet to @Wewana_Play along with regular updates and perhaps even your own live stream. It will be interesting to see what games are made and remember there is a year subscription to Unity3D Pro up for grabs for the winner.

The teams will also be wanting feedback from those who just love to play games, so be sure to tune in and play test some awesome new games.

Train2Game News eSports app on Xbox One

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ESL, the world’s largest independent eSports brand, today announced the release of its ESL app on Xbox One, which enables competitive console players – initially from Europe and North America – to connect directly through Xbox Live.

Launching on Oct. 21, the application will allow gamers to compete across an expansive list of game titles in a variety of ESL cups and tournaments. With matchmaking acting as the core feature, the ESL app on Xbox One eliminates the need for extra devices and browser windows, thereby streamlining the gaming experience for users.

“ESL stands for the best eSports experience in the world and our goal is to deliver that experience on all platforms. By launching our own app, we want to bring that unique experience to the Xbox One and its lineup of multiplayer games. The app will allow players of all skill levels to easily participate in our tournaments. This is just the start for us – we are working hard to bring major eSports tournaments to consoles and integrate them flawlessly into our app so everyone can get involved.” said Marcel Menge, Managing Director at Turtle eSports Technology.

“At Xbox, we’re dedicated to providing gamers with the experiences they ask for and we know competitive gaming is a growing category,” said Larry Hyrb, Xbox Live’s Major Nelson. “With the addition of the ESL app on Xbox One, we can deliver a wide range of tournaments for some of the best games on the platform all with the functionality our community craves.” The main feature of the application is to enable users to find, sign up and submit results for ESL cups and matches on Xbox itself. An extension of this allows the gamer to stay on top of the competition and track his/her progress within both past and present ESL competitions. Additionally, opponents can be found, viewed and challenged (via gamertags) with the latest eSports news available from eslgaming.com.

For more information click here.

Train2Game News GameCity 9

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GameCity 9GameCity is throwing a giant housewarming party at its main festival venue in the middle of Nottingham town this coming Saturday 25 October to celebrate moving in and taking it over for the week.

Located at 24-32 Carlton Street, just one minute from the Lace Market tram stop, the GameCity venue covers five floors, has three galleries of brilliant stuff and will be full of like-minded video game fans.

For the whole of the opening weekend, the GameCity venue will be the place to be to make and play games in the Open Arcade, eat cake, make a tribute to your favourite game character to be displayed on the Wall of Game, build a cardboard arcade machine and generally have a brilliant time. Did we mention eating cake?

Most of all, this is an opportunity to put yourself into GameCity. Bring along something to stick on the walls – an old game magazine, manual, or your own artwork – and help us turn it into a colourful world of relentless brilliance.

Be there at 10am on Saturday 25 October and you can literally start a festival. To find out more go to http://gamecity.org/festival/gauntletsignup/

Train2Game News Live Game Board

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logo_title_wbAfter months of hard work the Live Game Board has been announced, the first Augmented Reality gaming platform, released to both players and developers.

Live game board comes with 5 games you can enjoy playing in Augmented Reality. All are available for free for Android at http://www.livegameboard.com/apps/.

“Live Game Board is a platform for games and educational applications. That means you can play many games and apps on one single board. Augmented reality way of playing games makes things look much more real and part of your real world. Gaming is also more social, similar to classic table games with Live Game Board you can play the games together with your friends or family.” Stan Kuhn, Founder.

Although it is possible to download Live Game Board for free for self printing, it is recommend to order larger and better quality boards at http://www.livegameboard.com/shop/. Boards are available as hard paper or water resistant plastic banners. There are 3 available sizes to maximize AR experience, remember size of the board dictates the size of the game in real world. Smaller boards are better for table play, larger boards are best to use on a floor in your room.

Together with publishing Live Game Board there is also a developer section with tutorials and SDK for Unity3D to help developers to easily add Augmented Reality play mode into their games. All game developers are welcome to get the SDK for free and publish their games for all Live Game Board players. The developer section is available at http://developer.livegameboard.com/

Enjoy the video of the Live Game Board in action below

Train2Game News Google Play Games adds multiplayer

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Google Play GamesGoogle has rolled out an update to its Google Play Games development toolkit that allows for local multiplayer matchmaking. Prior to that, the service supported only online multiplayer.

The toolkit, which offers a raft of services to devs, and to players functions as a game network similar to Xbox Live or Apple’s Game Center, can be implemented in iOS, PC, and Android titles. More info is available at Google’s developer portal, here.

Google Play Games’ Greg Hartrell said earlier this year about the company’s aspirations for the service and tools.

“Our game services are there, and our game network is there, to bring together this concentrated network of people who love playing games — to make it easier for someone who is a game creator to reach that highly valuable audience,”

The Google Play Games service is designed to help developers create mobile games for both Android and iOS devices, as well as browser games.

You can find out more information at Google’s developer page.