Category Archives: mobile

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: Firefly game announced

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FireFlyTrain2Game students who are fans of the SciFi series, Firefly will be happy to know that a game based on the cult series has been announced.

Firefly Online was announced for Android and iOS at the San Diego Comic Con by Fox Digital Entertainment. The game will be released in summer 2014.

The game is in development at QMXi and Spark Plug Games, which handled the iOS port of Puzzle Quest 2.

When announcing the game, Fox said “Firefly Online will let players take on the role of a ship captain as they hire a crew and lead missions, while trading with and competing against millions of other players like themselves.

“Much like the crew of Serenity, the Firefly-class transport ship featured in the original show, players must do whatever it takes to survive in the Verse: find a crew, find a job and keep flying.”

Once you have assembled a crew, you can customise your ship, take part in space and planet-side missions, use “unique social features” to interact with fellow Firefly fans and make use of cross-platform, cross-device support.

You can enjoy the trailer, which was shown at the San Diego Comic Con, below

You can sign up for updates on the game at Firefly Online’s official website, Keepflying.com.

Train2Game News: SuperAwesome launches Kids Mobile Network

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Kids NetworkThe team behind Box Of Awesome and Swapit; SuperAwesome, yesterday launched the Kids Mobile Network.

The service is designed to offer mobile content creators a new way to work with mobile ads.

“Not all content creators in the kids sector are comfortable using in-app purchases as a revenue model on mobile and tablet,” said CEO Dylan Collins, whose track record includes card battling game, Fight My Monster and Jolt Online Gaming.

“Our premium ad network will provide another monetisation tool which is appropriate and effective. Ultimately, our philosophy is about creating a safe environment for kids with a sustainable model for brilliant, inspiring content to make them smile.”

SuperAwesome was founded in December 2012 and is home to Box of Awesome, The Kids Network, Swapit and Swapit Research, and is a discovery platform aimed at UK children aged between 6 and 16.

“As the go-to expert in the kids market, we’ve had growing numbers of our clients asking us to support their games, apps and other content on mobile and tablet so we’re delighted to formally announce the Kids Mobile Network. We only work with approved content creators who are fully compliant with all marketing standards and legislation,” added head of sales Lee Veitch.

Train2Game News: Icey Monty score a direct hit with archery game for Strongbow

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Icey MontyTrain2Game student studio, Icey Monty, designed a game to launch Strongbow Berry at Victoria train station last Friday.

John Esslemont, Nick Walker and Domm Young, joined forces with Frank PR in an initiative to launch Strong Bow’s latest flavour. The Icey Monty crew were part of a team that created a vending machine which had members of the public using Microsoft Kinect to shoot berries on the Icey Monty designed game. Players with enough skill to hit the berry were rewarded with ice cold cans of new Strongbow Berry to enjoy on what was another scorching day in the capital.

You can enjoy a video of Nick being interviewed below

Train2Game News: Unity supports Xbox One and Windows 8

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unity-logoMicrosoft has entered a partnership with the makers of the Unity game engine that will add tools and support for Windows 8, Windows Phone 8 and Xbox One.

The deal, unveiled at Microsoft’s Build Conference in San Francisco, brings yet another set of tools to reach Microsoft’s new platforms and will see the two companies collaborating to make Windows 8 and Xbox One even more approachable for Unity developers.

Xbox 360 and Xbox One developers who have their games published by Microsoft Studios will be given free access to Unity tools.

“Our vision is to democratize game development and provide opportunity for all developers, from individuals to massive teams,” said Unity CEO David Helgason.

“Our collaboration will help further these goals by empowering our community to create games across Microsoft’s powerful platforms. Their vision to provide the best outlet for games to be enjoyed parallels our own vision to build the best platform for games to be developed and we’re excited to work with them to shape the future of the industry.”

Unity’s support for the Xbox One includes many next-generation features like Kinect gestures and recognition, multiplayer matchmaking, SmartGlass, and the console’s cloud features.

The Windows 8 support includes a Windows Store Add-on that will be available for free to Unity Pro 4 licensees once it’s launched this summer. The add-on will support both Windows Store apps and Windows Phone 8 apps.

“Unity has established itself not only as an incredible development toolset and engine, but as a significant force for creative freedom and innovation in the games development community,” said Microsoft’s Steven Guggenheimer.

“With Unity’s commitment to support Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, Xbox One and Xbox 360, Microsoft’s gaming ecosystem will benefit from the wealth of ideas and imagination flowing from the Unity games development community.”

This should be great news for Train2Game students who enjoy creating with the Unity engine. It opens bigger, wider markets to get your work out in to the world.

Train2Game News: Games Industry News- 05.07.13

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Xbox360 DashboardIt’s Friday so it is time for the end of the week games industry news round up!

Microsoft has begun inviting Xbox Live members worldwide to participate in the public beta for its 2013 Xbox Live Update for Xbox 360. The update will include improvements to overall performance and the ability to conduct transactions with local currency, as Microsoft Points will be retired later this year. To join, interested 360 owners should look for the Xbox Beta Program tile on the home hub of the Xbox Dashboard and once the places are filled the beta will be closed to the public. You will be required to sign an NDA for security reasons.

In celebration of summer, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announces that all its mobile games in the App Store are priced at £0.69 this week including Man of Steel, LEGO Harry Potter Years 5-7, Batman Arkham City Lockdown, Scribblenauts Remix, LEGO Batman DC Superheroes, Midway Arcade and Bastion. Man of Steel, Batman: Arkham City Lockdown and Scribblenauts Remix are also available on Google Play at the same low price.

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced the Mortal Kombat Komplete Edition is available for PC from Steam and other digital download portals. Originally developed by NetherRealm Studios, led by Mortal Kombat co-creator and creative director Ed Boon it has been adapted for PC by High Voltage Software. If you have always wanted to try your hand in Mortal Kombat, now is the time.

2K unveiled the WWE 2K14 cover art featuring WWE Superstar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. The official reveal, which took place during an episode of Monday Night Raw, showcased cover artwork designed in partnership with “The People’s Champion.” The cover art reflects The Rock’s physicality and signature in-ring pose. To further celebrate, 2K recently launched a consumer contest for the opportunity to create alternate cover artwork to be included with WWE 2K14 retail copies. “I am exceptionally grateful to be chosen for the cover of WWE 2K14 and serve as the first cover Superstar under 2K’s leadership,” said The Rock.

Square Enix has released a new Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII trailer dubbed “The Divine Task”. The latest video reveals more about the game’s story, including the appearance of supporting character Hope. Lightning Returns was revealed at the Final Fantasy 25th anniversary event in 2012 and is billed as the last entry in the “Lightning saga”. The Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII’s release date has been confirmed as February 11, 2014 in North America and February 14 Europe on Xbox 360 and PS3. You can enjoy the trailer, here.

Train2Game News: Heavy Metal comic book game

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Eternal DescentLondon-based PLA Studios, have created a mobile game which sees Heavy Metal music and comics join together.

Eternal Descent: Heavy Metal Heroes is the brainchild of British guitarist and comic creator Llexi Leon. Llexi is the guitarist of the band Eternal Descent that the game and comics are based on.

Eternal Descent: Heavy Metal Heroes is an action-packed 3D scrolling endless brawler. Carve a path through hordes of daemonic minions and fight your way to Hell – all to a killer soundtrack. Set in a fantasy universe where lost souls lurk in every shadow and darkness veils sinister designs, heavy metal could be the key to salvation… or the gateway to destruction!

In addition to a cast of original characters, the game will feature appearances and original performances from Joe Satriani, Arch Enemy, Wayne Static, Periphery, Andrew W.K., and many more rock/metal music acts appearing through regular updates. Numerous real-world instrument brands such as ESP, Jackson and Dean Guitars have endorsed Eternal Descent: Heavy Metal Heroes, allowing the game to accurately portray cameo musicians with their signature instruments for real shred guitar action.

Eternal Descent: Heavy Metal Heroes will be available in July on iTunes for £1.99, with a series of updates and expansions planned throughout the year. Android, PC and home console versions of Eternal Descent: Heavy Metal Heroes are planned throughout 2014.

Llexi Leon is not the first person to go from music to comic book writing. Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance has written a couple of comics and Corey Taylor from Slipknot and Stone Sour has also started his own series.

Llexi is the first musician to have his comic developed in to a game however and I am incredibly interested to see how this game turns out.

To find out more about the game, band or comic, visit http://www.eternaldescent.com/

Train2Game News: Games Industry News – 21.06.13

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PS4It’s Friday which, of course, means it is time for the games industry news round up.

Mark Cerny, the lead system architect on Sony’s PlayStation 4 console, will deliver the conference keynote at Develop in Brighton, which takes place at the city’s Hilton Metropole from 9-11 July 2013. Cerny’s keynote, Changing the Game: Developing into the Next Generation, will see the industry legend take delegates through the journey he has been on to bring the console to reality, looking at the lessons learnt from previous console generations, the future vision for PS4 and how embracing the Indie community will have a key role in fulfilling that vision. To find out more about the event, go to http://www.developconference.com/

Gamers competing via the Xbox Tournaments with Virgin Gaming app on Xbox 360, now have a new way to win cash and show off their gaming skills. With the new update, available today, players can now enter buy-in tournaments and head-to-head challenges using their own money. Since launching nearly two months ago, Virgin Gaming has awarded Xbox 360 gamers nearly $100,000 in cash prizes, while also allowing players to seamlessly browse, enter, challenge, play in and track tournaments for their favourite games directly from Xbox Live. Gamers that are not already using the app can register for an account at http://virgingaming.com/xbox and download the app from Xbox Live.

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced LEGO Legends of Chima: Laval’s Journey will be available for the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita handheld systems in Europe on 21st June. A Nintendo DS version will follow this Autumn, as will a free-to-play online world, LEGO Legends of Chima Online. The new games all complement a line of branded products and TV content based on the LEGO Legends of Chima action packed world ruled by eight animal tribes that tells the classic story of good and evil, friendship and family.

Magic The Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers 2014 will be releasing on Xbox LIVE Arcade, PC/Steam, PlayStation Network, iPad, and for the first time on Android tablets next week. As with previous years Wizards of the Coast are rolling out the release of the game over two days across the myriad of platforms. The game will be released on June 25 for iTunes, Google Play and Amazon App Store. The following day will see the release on PC, Xbox Live and PSN. Associate Community Manager Sean Gibbons gives the community a first look at the new Sealed Campaign and deck editor in the upcoming Magic 2014: Duels of the Planeswalkers, which you can enjoy here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEQVZf8qxYo

Finally, some good news for those of you who are looking forward to the new Thief game. You won’t have to buy a next generation console for the game. Eidios Montreal has confirmed that the game will also be coming to Xbox360 and PS3. No word yet on a WiiU release. Senior Producer Stephane Roy acknowledges that the developers “have to be smart” in transferring the demands of the software to consoles at the end of their life cycle – suggesting that the breadth of the world may be scaled down to accommodate present-day hardware.

Train2Game News: Games Industry News – 07.06.13

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Son of NorIt’s Friday so it is time for a Train2Game industry news round up!

stillalive studios celebrated after its Kickstarter campaign, to raise $150k to fund the completion of its debut 3rd person action adventure PC/Mac/Linux title; Son of Nor, was a success, making $151,175 at its close. The team are now putting all efforts into the completion of the highly anticipated game and have announced its launch onto Steam Greenlight and call for support and people’s votes on the platform. The link to this can be found here: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=143053545. During the month long crowd-funding project the studio announced a number of exciting partnerships that will allow players to use integrated hardware such as the Emotiv EPOC; a revolutionary personal interface for human computer interaction, a so called Brain Computer Interface (BCI); the partnership will allow players to control character actions, such as telekinesis, terraforming and magic with the power of their minds and Oculus Rift; that will allow players to immerse themselves in the lore and adventure of Son of Nor deeper than ever before by using this hugely exciting virtual reality device in game.

SpongeBob SquarePants fans can build their very own Bikini Bottom with Nickelodeon’s brand-new city building app, SpongeBob Moves In. Released and available worldwide, SpongeBob Moves In features a stylized 2D design and gives fans a whole new way to interact with the hit animated series. The game is available on iOS and costs £1.49. In the game, players build Bikini Bottom to their own tastes and are tasked with keeping the city’s residents happy by making all their wishes come true. As players advance in the game, they can unlock exclusive-to-the-app, untold stories about how their characters, including SpongeBob, Patrick, Mr. Krabs, Plankton, Squidward and Sandy, first arrived in the town. Written by the SpongeBob SquarePants series writing staff, these stories are told through brand-new animated short videos unlocked throughout the game.

Diablo 3 is coming to the Xbox 360 as well as PlayStation, Blizzard has announced. The action role-playing game launches on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on 3rd September 2013. The game is already announced for PlayStation 4, although that version is without a release date. There is currently new word of an Xbox One edition. If you pre-order the PS3 or Xbox 360 version and you’ll get the Infernal Helm in-game item. You can wear this at level one and gain an experience bonus to boot.

Telltale games have been using their twitter account to tease and excite fans. They have been using the Vine app to show little six second clips showing characters that are drawn in the same art style as The Walking Dead game. It started with the Day 2 trailer, which is interesting as the first episode of Season 1 was Day 1. It shows a missing persons board and someone hanging up a picture of a character called Vince. Vine 2 is titled Day 220, and it’s the same missing persons board with Bonnie being added to it. Bonnie apparently stood outside the White House once. Vine 3 shows a man named Russell, who, by the looks of it, seems to be a recent graduate.

Finally, Masahiro Sakurai took to Twitter to confirm the news today of the brand new Smash Bros. He said (via Google translation): “In Nintendo Direct delivery of 23:00, June 11, New video of “Smash Bros.” will be unveiled for the first time. Simultaneous world, here for the first time! Do not miss.” You can watch it from 3pm UK time. Sakurai is serving as producer on the new Smash Bros. game, which is a Wii U/3DS crossover in development at Namco Bandai.

Train2Game News: Deus Ex: The Fall coming to iOS

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Deus Ex The FallFollowing the news of a Halo mobile game that Train2Game announced yesterday, comes the news that a Deus Ex game is hitting the mobile market.

The internet was teased with a Deus Ex announcement yesterday and when it was announced as Deus Ex: The Fall, a mobile title, fans were not pleased, referring to the game as Deus Ex: The Fail.

Fans were anticipating a ‘normal’ sequel for consoles/pc, and this can certainly be read as trying to appeal to a different market altogether than the ‘hardcore’ Deus Ex fans.

Executive producer David Anfossi and Jean-Francois Dugan go in to more detail on the game in the video below, describing and demonstrating the game.

In my own opinion the game looks interesting with some good ideas and nice graphics. It is a shame it is only on iOS devices but I am getting used to games heading straight their instead of Android as well.

With this and the new Halo game on mobile, it may start a new trend of developing big AAA spin off’s as mobile titles.