Category Archives: games

The Train2Game London Connection 2013 at AppsWorld

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Train2Game exhibiting where the global Apps market meets

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This year Train2Game will hold its London Connection at AppsWorld,  22-23 October 2013, in Earls Court 2 along side 250 exhibitors and over 8000+ attendees including developers, mobile marketers, mobile operators, device manufacturers, platform owners and industry professionals registered for two days of high level insight and discussion.

Jan Telensky, Train2game, said, “For the first time we have moved our annual London Connection to AppsWorld where we hope to meet up with as many students as possible.

“Our move to AppsWorld reflects our strong relationship with Microsoft launching Apps on the Windows 8 platform, including Windows8 phones, both for games and non-games.

“We look forward to a great event, our students gaining even more knowledge, and some fun networking”.

Being showcased at AppsWorld will be both gaming and none gaming Apps showing the wide range of skill sets Train2Game students achieve. Members of Train2Game Student Studios will also attend.

 

For more information about all Train2Game courses including the new Apps courses please visit www.train2game.com

Train2Game News: Early Mass Effect concept art

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Mass Effect Concept ArtVeteran BioWare designer Matt Rhodes has posted an array of Mass Effect concept art from throughout the sci-fi trilogy. This of course includes spoilers!

It is a fascinating look at the early days of the series and some of the initial concepts.

The art, posted on Rhodes’ blog, includes designs dating back to the series’ origins. It covers concepts about Tali and what her face looked like under the mask, an interesting story twist involving Shepard and a creepy looking creation of the Mass Effect 2 boss.

Matt Rhodes said about his role as a concept artist “The role of a Concept Artist is the role of an explorer, tasked with charting a world without sunlight. You start off with your reference and research. These are well established base camps.

“They’re well lit, highly populated and safe. The better your reference the better your bearings will be. The artist’s job is to start at base camp with a bag of torches and run furiously out into the darkness. Every doodle, sketch, painting and storyboard is a torch lit somewhere out in the black. You mostly find weeds and rocks out there. But if you keep pushing you sometimes find a rich landscape that can hopefully become a new basecamp.”

You can enjoy his concept art in the link below including some concept art for Dragon Age as well. It is an interesting look through his process.

http://mattrhodesart.blogspot.ca/2013/07/concept-art-behind-scenes.html

Train2Game News: Microsoft allowing self publishing on Xbox One

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Xbox OneMicrosoft have announced they will allow self publishing for indie titles on the Xbox One. This is excellent news for Train2Game students.

Microsoft have also announced that each console can be used as a development kit, much like the way that Apple devices can be used as such.

Here’s the official statement from Xbox corporate VP, Marc Whitten:

“Our vision is that every person can be a creator. That every Xbox One can be used for development. That every game and experience can take advantage of all of the features of Xbox One and Xbox LIVE. This means self-publishing. This means Kinect, the cloud, achievements. This means great discoverability on Xbox LIVE. We’ll have more details on the program and the timeline at Gamescom in August.”

Whitten also told Kotaku that dev kit functionality will not be available at launch, but will be added ‘at a later date’.

This dispells all concerns of the accessibility and exposure of indie game on Xbox One, Whitten promises they will live on the Xbox Live Marketplace with the major titles.

Whitten explains “Of course there will be different pivots inside of that. There will be everything from what are we curating, kind of like spotlight content, to the normal discoverability stuff like recommendations, what’s trending, what’s got a lot of engagement on the platform. But you shouldn’t think of it as there’s an indie area and a non-indie area.”

With this announcement it opens up an entirely new indie market for Train2Game students and Student Studios with all the features of the Xbox One, allowing you to get creative with features such as Kinect and the Cloud.

Train2Game News: Mad Catz releasing Android MicroConsole

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MoJoConsole peripheral manufacturer Mad Catz is creating an Android MicroConsole to be released by the end of this year.

The system, currently called Mojo, comes bundled with Mad Catz’ own game controller as well as a miniature console with USB and HDMI connections.

Rival Android microconsole Ouya primarily sells games through a bespoke on-console marketplace, Mojo runs stock Android and gives players access to the Google Play, Amazon and Nvidia TegraZone stores.

How well those Google Play games are optimised for televisions and game controllers could be crucial in how well the system is received. Most Android games are not mapped to controllers and are built for smartphone touch-screens.

The official name for the Mojo handset is the ‘CTRL R’, and it’s another gamepad that uses a layout similar to the Xbox 360. Featuring both Bluetooth Classic and Bluetooth Smart 4.0 technologies, the controller is also compatible with Android phones. The latter Smart mode improves latency considerably, Verrey claimed.

Alex Verrey, the global PR director for Mad Catz, said that “not all touchscreen games will work”, though assured the company was working on a solution.

Mojo is registered as a standard Android device, meaning that gamers who have already purchased numerous apps on these stores can simply log on with their existing details and re-download those apps without the need for a second purchase.

“Because Mojo runs stock Android, you have day-one access to literally hundreds of thousands of games and applications,” Verrey added.

“We’re going down a very different road to the competition and believe in being open, honest and fair with the consumer. We’re not offering a walled garden with a small selection of a hundred or so games. We’re not forcing gamers to use our controllers if they don’t wish to, we’re not trying to sell services or software, nor are we forcing the gamers into a walled garden. Our commitment to the gamer is simple: We’re going to deliver the most powerful Android based Micro Console on the market when we launch later this year.

“We are totally open. No walled garden, no small selection of games, no subscription fees. We bring the hardware, gamers bring the games. Buy games from where you want, when you want and how you want”.

Mojo will launch “this holiday” but a price hasn’t yet been confirmed.

Train2Game News: MechWarrior Online pays tribute to young fan

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Jenner MechMechWarrior Online developer Piranha Games has created a custom mech in tribute to a young fan, 5-year-old Sarah Parries of Vancouver, Canada, who sadly passed away from brain cancer in May.

The memorial project originated as a petition from within the MWO community after members learned about Parries’s death and her interest in BattleTech and MechWarrior Online, which she played with her father.

The Jenner—with night vision, medium lasers, and short range missiles—was her favorite, according to MWO community manager Niko Snow. A special tribute version, which can be seen above, can be purchased from the game for $10 which will go directly to the Canadian Cancer Society.

As of 12 p.m. PST on July 23, the charitable Jenner had already raised more than $12,000 and it is still rising.

You can view a video demonstrating the mech in game below

 

Train2Game News: Xbox One’s Kinect Privacy

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Xbox OneMicrosoft have stated that they will take an aggressive stance to any one who tries to use the Kinect to collect data.

With the new Xbox One being bundled with Kinect, many people voiced their objections for fear of it breaking their privacy but Microsoft has said this definitely won’t happen. The company is currently trying to release information on the data requests it has received from intelligence services in the past, but is being blocked from doing so by the US government.

It’s not the first time that Microsoft has sought to calm fears over Xbox One privacy. The company previously promised that Kinect would not record ambient conversation data, and only listened for the “Xbox On” voice command when switched off. In addition the Kinect sensor will have an activity light so you will be able to tell when the device is in use.

A Microsoft spokesperson said, when asked about Kinect privacy, “Absent a new law, we don’t believe the government has the legal authority to compel us or any other company that makes products with cameras and microphones to start collecting voice and video data. “We’d aggressively challenge in court any attempts to try and force us to do so.”

They went on to say “When Xbox One is on and you’re simply having a conversation in your living room, your conversation is not being recorded or uploaded”

Microsoft has asked the US Attorney General to permit itself and other companies to share more information on what data it gives to government security agencies, such as the number of security requests it has received. At the moment it is blocked from releasing this information by the US government.

This is a very clear message from Microsoft that they will respect your personal privacy and fight for it if need be.

Train2Game News: Unity Update includes new platform support

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unity-logoThe Unity engine has just been updated to 4.2 and it now includes support for Windows Phones, Windows Store and Blackberry 10.

In Unity 4.2, all users of the free version of Unity can publish to any mobile platform they wish, including Windows Phone 8, Windows Store, iOS, Android or BlackBerry 10, without any additional charge.

In addition, Unity Pro users will be able to use the Windows Store Pro deployment option, which includes the Windows Phone 8 and Windows Store apps platforms, free of charge.

Unity Pro users will have access to advanced Unity features when deploying their iOS, Android or BlackBerry 10 projects by if they choose to purchase Unity iOS Pro, Android Pro or BlackBerry 10 Pro Add-On products from the Unity Store.

A host of other features have also been added to the game development engine.

In the graphics realm, there’s now OpenGL ES 3.0 support for Android and static and dynamic batching for shadow casters and shadow collector pass.

The editor now has integrated version control support for Perforce, and, crucially, splatform switching, player building and asset importing can be cancelled, bringing greater flexibility to the software. Tweaks has also been made to the shader and texture importers to reduce the time spent switch between them.

Looking to the mobile development side, deferred lighting is now a feature on both Android and iOS, and there have been a number of usability upgrades for both platforms.

There have been improvements to other areas of the tool too, and you can read more about those, as well as more details on the features mentioned above on Unity’s blog page which you can find here, http://blogs.unity3d.com/

The major change for the 4.2 update is support for the new platforms, which means the engine provider has effectively doubled its platform supports.

Train2Game News: Xbox One and PlayStation 4 game capturing

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PS and XboxMore social sharing details have been announced about the Xbox One and PS4. It can be very helpful for creators of “Let’s Play” videos.

Xbox One is able to automatically record the last five minutes of your gameplay, less time than Sony will store on PlayStation 4. PlayStation 4 can record seven minutes.

Microsoft Studios creative director Ken Lobb detailed the exact amount at San Diego Comic-Con while discussing the new Xbox One version of Killer Instinct. Sony Europe’s Neil Brown revealed at Develop last week the amount the PlayStation 4 could record.

“The idea is you’re always recording,” Lobb said of the Xbox One’s game DVR feature, nicknamed ‘Project Upload’. “The last five minutes of any game you’re playing are always being stored on your hard drive.

Like PS4, you’ll be able to edit that footage on the fly, Lobb explained, and add titles, a voice-over or extra footage recorded using Kinect.

For times when you can’t stop playing, such as in the middle of an online session, Microsoft will allow you to capture and immediately save the last 30 seconds of gameplay for editing later.

“Say you’re playing online and you just did the best thing ever – you can’t pause as you’re playing online,” Lobb continued. “You can say ‘Xbox, record that’ and it’ll grab the last 30 seconds of gameplay for you to play around with later.”

Both Xbox One and PlayStation 4 will also let you stream your gameplay online, which should allow for unlimited lengths of gameplay to be captured.

Train2Game News: UK Top 20 Games – 22.07.13

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The Last Of UsThe game charts are out and The Last Of Us is at number one for a sixth week running! In topping the chart again it also matches the unbroken runs of ‘Black Ops II’ and ‘FIFA 12’, an impressive feat as the title is exclusive to just one format. The only new addition to the charts is Dynasty Warriors 8 which has entered the chart at number five.

All formats

Week ending 20 July 2013

POS.  TITLE  PUBLISHER  LAST
WEEK 
1 – THE LAST OF US SONY COMPUTER ENT. 1
2 MINECRAFT: XBOX 360 EDITION MICROSOFT 5
3 – MARIO AND LUIGI: DREAM TEAM BROS. NINTENDO 3
4 ANIMAL CROSSING: NEW LEAF NINTENDO 2
5 DYNASTY WARRIORS 8 KOEI –
6 – FAR CRY 3 UBISOFT 6
7 MAX PAYNE 3 ROCKSTAR –
8 THE ELDER SCROLLS V: SKYRIM – LEGENDARY BETHESDA SOFTWORKS 11
9 FIFA 13 EA SPORTS 4
10 TOMB RAIDER SQUARE ENIX 9
11 CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS II ACTIVISION 7
12 – LEGO BATMAN 2: DC SUPER HEROES WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE 12
13 ASSASSIN’S CREED III XBOX 360 CLASSICS 8
14 GRAND THEFT AUTO IV XBOX 360 CLASSICS 17
15 NEED FOR SPEED MOST WANTED EA GAMES 13
16 LUIGI’S MANSION 2 NINTENDO 14
17 GRAND THEFT AUTO EPISODES – LIBERTY CITY ROCKSTAR –
18 RED DEAD REDEMPTION: GOTY ROCKSTAR –
19 LEGO THE LORD OF THE RINGS WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE 20
20 THE SIMS 3: ISLAND PARADISE EA GAMES 15
< previous week

Leisure software charts compiled by Chart Track, (C)2013 UKIE Ltd

Train2Game News: roll7 hiring Train2Game QA Testers

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roll7roll7 are hiring Train2Game students to be QA Testers at their London based studio. This could be the start of your career!

Due to the response and quality of the students that responded to the first roll7 request for student QA testers, the company are now offering two students an opportunity to get “proper hands on QA experience.”

roll7 are curently looking for candidates that:

  • Are diligent and hard working
  • Can keep attention to detail when performing similar tasks again and again
  • have good written communication skills
  • are SERIOUS about working in the Video Games Industry
  • Must be London based

The position will ideally be fully time between 19 August to 18 October. QA Testers please look out for more opportunities in August and September.

For full details of the positions, London based, please initially email recruiting@train2game.com including your contact and Train2game college details. Full details will be sent to you.

Don’t delay and apply today to start your journey deeper in to the games industry!