This is an incredibly cute talk taken from TED. The video was brought to my attention by a member of the Train2Game forum.
It is a talk by a Dad and his young daughter about the game they made together at a weekend game jam.
They make some very excellent points together in a heart melting way.
You can enjoy the video below:
Assassin’s Creed 3 has entered the charts right up at number 1 with last weeks number 1, Medal Of Honor: Warfighter dropping down to 6th. WWE ’13 has come in at an impressive number 3. The highest a WWE game has been for a while. My review of WWE ’13 is coming soon. The other new entrants to the charts this week are Football Manager 2013 at number 3 and Need For Speed Most Wanted at number 5.
Week ending 3 November 2012
| POS. | TITLE | PUBLISHER | LAST WEEK |
|
| 1 | ASSASSIN’S CREED III | UBISOFT | – | |
| 2 | – | FIFA 13 | EA SPORTS | 2 |
| 3 | WWE ’13 | THQ | – | |
| 4 | FOOTBALL MANAGER 2013 | SEGA | – | |
| 5 | NEED FOR SPEED MOST WANTED | EA GAMES | – | |
| 6 |  |
MEDAL OF HONOR: WARFIGHTER | EA GAMES | 1 |
| 7 | |
FORZA HORIZON | MICROSOFT | 3 |
| 8 | |
SKYLANDERS GIANTS | SKYLANDERS | 4 |
| 9 | |
JUST DANCE 4 | UBISOFT | 6 |
| 10 | |
DISHONORED | BETHESDA SOFTWORKS | 5 |
| 11 | |
PROFESSOR LAYTON AND THE MIRACLE MASK | NINTENDO | 7 |
| 12 | |
MOSHI MONSTERS: MOSHLINGS THEME PARK | MIND CANDY | 8 |
| 13 | |
RESIDENT EVIL 6 | CAPCOM | 10 |
| 14 | ASSASSIN’S CREED III LIBERATION | UBISOFT | – | |
| 15 | |
POKEMON BLACK VERSION 2 | NINTENDO | 12 |
| 16 | |
THE ELDER SCROLLS V: SKYRIM | BETHESDA SOFTWORKS | 13 |
| 17 | |
F1 2012 | CODEMASTERS | 15 |
| 18 | |
DOOM 3: BFG EDITION | BETHESDA SOFTWORKS | 9 |
| 19 | |
BORDERLANDS 2 | 2K GAMES | 11 |
| 20 | |
LEGO BATMAN 2: DC SUPER HEROES | WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE | 19 |
Leisure software charts compiled by Chart Track, (C)2012 UKIE Ltd
After eleven months in development, Derp Studios game has hit the App Store. The game was made for the Make Something Unreal Live contest in April this year.
Following on from the 2011 Game Jam four teams went on to compete in the Make Something Unreal live which took place at The Gadget show in April. The four teams were the winners of the contest, Commando Kiwi, A team I was a part of, Digital Mage, Indigo Jam and Derp Studios.
From January to April the teams worked relentlessly on their games which were based on the Fighting Fantasy IP of Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson. The books from the series in particular that were chosen was: The Warlock Of Firetop Mountain, Armies Of Death, Deathtrap Dungeon and Citadel of Chaos. The last of these is the book Derp Studios worked on.
The game, Dire Consequences, is a first-person action game by Derp Studios, and sees players take on waves of enemies to collect souls and progress their character for new spells. The game is currently only available for iOS devices.
The Gadget Show Live was a life defining moment for many of the Train2Game students involved, including myself and having to do some research in to the whole event to fill in some gaps in my memory was a lovely journey. I am so pleased one of the teams got their game uploaded as they were all amazing games and the whole event really kick-started our careers.
A massive congratulations to Derp Studios and I urge all those with access to an iOS device to go and download the free game immediately!
This weeks SpecialEffect case is a very special one. One of the young girls in the video is the daughter of the founder of SpecialEffect. The two girls use Kinect to play together, you can see how much fun they are having.
SpecialEffect has almost reached their goal of 25,000 views so lets keep watching and sharing to help them out!
You can hear the interview here:
http://audioboo.fm/boos/1037414-train2game-students-chloe-talks-to-mark-on-t2g-radio
or read the transcript below:
Hello, could you tell me your name please?
Hi my names Chloe Martin
What course are you taking?
I’m currently studying Game Art & Animation
How did you find the experience of the world record winning game jam and how did it feel to win?
I found the experience unforgettable and it has really made an impact on me, rubbing shoulders with a wealth of knowledge. Being thrown into the deep end with people I had never met before and creating a team and a playable game was just overwhelming let alone winning the competition.
After finding out the theme, how did you get the idea for your game, Royal Rush?
We chucked around lots of ideas, mainly focusing on the theme but kept it as simple as possible, taking into account what the platform was and how to make it easy as possible to make within the time we got. We chose the final idea from working out which mechanics would be easy to develop, considering we only had one programmer, and making it as fun as possible. The idea came from an old-school game called Frogger. Trying to avoid traffic with a sense of urgency which gets players really excited.
Some people may know we worked together at The Gadget Show Live after winning the 2011 Game Jam. What do you think makes a winning game?
I think the limited time the Game Jam has, it needs to be as simple as possible but flexible enough to expand if you have time. Make sure the game is easy as possible to understand. However I think the enjoyment is a major factor, you need to grab the players attention, make them excited when playing so they want to come back to it again and again. Let’s not forget having a great time behind the scenes!
Who inspires your art work?
I love fantasy and technical design work. I don’t have a favourite at any one time. I get a lot of my inspiration from fellow students on the Train2Game course.
What is the most dramatic or exciting thing you have done in your life?
I would say probably the Game Jams run by Train2Game. Everyone of these events I have been to has been a great experience and I have learnt so much and met some great people.
What is your reason for getting into the gaming industry and how will the gaming industry change your life?
I just love games, being part of making ideas come to life for people to get enjoyment from the experience in games just gives me such a buzz. It has already changed my life being part of this course, it has opened up so many experiences; meeting people who inspire me, creating games from scratch and seeing people play your game and enjoying it is a great satisfaction that I want to take to the top.
What is your greatest ambition?
My greatest ambition is to inspire people with my work and to be part of the future of gaming.
What’s next for you and your career?
Well I am determined to find a job in the gaming industry in 2013.Successfully finish my course and work on improving the game Royal Rush ready for Windows 8 Marketplace.
What’s your story, what are the past experiences that have shaped your life?
I think the main reason is being brought up with the games consoles and the satisfaction of learning how to play a game and how the game makes you feel when you’re consumed in it. To this day I still think back on the games that made my childhood amazing. Before this I never thought games was a career I guess. I studied and enjoyed art through most of my education and one day just put my love of games and my talent together. It has opened up this path for me. My passion for games has driven me to what I want to become in the future.
Thank you very much Chloe. Good luck with everything you do in the future.
Thank you for having me.
The game Royal Rush will be available on all Windows 8 devices.
Jagex, the team behind RuneScape, have developed a new free-to-play first person shooter that has been described as Minecraft meets Team Fortress.
Jagex, Europe’s largest independent games studio, today formally unveiled details of its previously unannounced innovative shooter, Ace of Spades. Ace of Spades is the latest title from the multi-awarding UK studio behind the leading free-to-play browser MMO RuneScape.
Ace of Spades is a retro-looking intelligent creative shooter that gives players complete strategic freedom over a battlefield they can evolve and built on throughout a game session. Featuring up to 32 players, Ace of Spades destructible environments are only limited by the imagination of the players creating them. The game provides players with all the ‘world-building’ freedom of a voxel-based sandbox, but with the addition of competitive, team-based multiplayer FPS gunplay.
Creativity is key to succeeding in Ace of Spades as the game gives players the freedom to construct anything from simple bunkers to elaborate fortresses and tunnel networks. This adds a new and innovative component to the game giving players unrestricted freedom to plan their own battles, construct purpose-built defences, and adapt the environment in real-time, changing the course of the battle.
Jagex CMO David Solari said, “If you’re tired of the same old first person shooters, coming out year after year with a fresh lick of paint and a hefty price tag, then Ace of Spades will tick all the boxes for you, offering an all action multiplayer featuring up to 32 player FPS combat and a fully customisable environment which will continuously develop throughout your battle.
“Despite keeping this game under the radar during development, it has still proved to be hugely viral with more than two and half a million players entering the prototype phase. Ace of Spades is set to take FPS to the next level, adding evolving tactics and strategy to twitch FPS gameplay. We have blended the artistic style of voxel-based sandbox games, such as Minecraft, with the class based combat of titles like Team Fortress, and added an extra dimension with real-time evolving battlefields to create a game which we firmly believe will appeal to FPS gamers looking for a bigger challenge.”
The game, which has been developed by Jagex and a small team of talented independent developers, has been running a massively successful prototype since April last year which has been downloaded in excess of 2.5 million times and currently has 550,000 active monthly users.
The full version Ace of Spades featuring an improved graphics engine and an armoury of new weapons will be available to download from Steam in December 2012 for a small one off fee.
You can watch the trailer for the game below:
Take-Two boss, Strauss Zelnick, believes that developing for the next generation of consoles could be cheaper.
Despite the jump forward in technological prowess expected for Sony and Microsoft’s next-gen consoles, Zelnick suggests that development costs may actually be lower than the present.
Zelnick said “Do we believe that titles will be a whole lot more expensive to make for next-gen? The answer is we do not
“In many instances, we believe that it may be somewhat easier to make titles for next-gen depending on how the technology comes together.”
Sony and Microsoft are believed to start releasing news on the new consoles next year, hopefully followed by the release of one of them by the end of 2014.
There is still a long road ahead before the next generation so many things may change but as it stands at the moment the future looks bright.
Possibly the biggest news this week is that Disney has purchased LucasArts for $4.05 billion. In doing so Disney now has the rights to everything in the Star Wars vaults. The plan is to release Star Wars episode VII in a couple of years time. LucasArts also makes some of the games in the Star Wars universe so this could mean changes in future games from the company. We will have to wait and see.
Grand Theft Auto V has finally had a release date confirmed. The highly anticipated fifth part of the saga will be coming to PS3 and Xbox360 in Spring 2013. There has been no mention of a PC release as of yet but it is common for Rockstar to release their PC versions several months later.
Another release date has been announced this time for Peter Molyneux’s Curiosity: What’s inside the cube. The release date has been given as November 7 for iOS and Android. The app will be free to download and play.
One of my most favourite games of this year is Borderlands 2 and it has just surpassed five million sales. The sales include retail and digital sales. Take-Two said it has become “one of the most successful releases in [subsidiary] 2K’s history”. In addition Borderlands Legends has been released for iOS today.
The Call Of Duty: Black Ops 2 trailer hit the world on Monday. The trailer was directed by Guy Ritchie and has a cameo from Robert Downey Jr. You can watch the trailer here.
Kickstarter, the most popular vehicle for crowdfunding games development projects, is now available in the UK. Previously UK-based developers could only pledge, but not create projects, now they can seek funding on the platform.
A sequel to the terrifying Amnesia: Dark Descent has been announced with a creepy trailer to get you in the Halloween spirit. Frictional games have always asked for fans to record screams, whimpers and blood curdling shrieks to be put in to the game. You can email your screams to piggies@thechineseroom.co.uk. The trailer can be seen here.
Lastly in more worrying news the terrible storm, Hurricane Sandy, that has hit the US has knocked out Activisions data centers and shut down online play for a number of games including Call Of Duty and Guitar Hero. My best wishes go out to all those affected by the storm.
Art
Jagex Ltd, in Cambridge, a world leading independent Online Games Studio, is looking for a highly motivated illustrator to produce art work to help market our games, including Transformers Universe and RuneScape.
Working within a team of illustrators, you will be responsible for producing highly polished & large scale pieces of creative fantasy art. Working on a large variety of projects including wallpapers, posters, adverts and websites you would have the creative freedom & time to produce outstanding images you can be proud of.
This highly rewarding & creative role will suit an exceptional illustrator with at least 2-3 years experience looking for a new challenge. The successful candidate should have an exceptional online portfolio demonstrating a large variety of art styles.
Key Duties Include:
Essential Requirements:
Desirable Requirements:
You can apply HERE.
Design
Jagex Ltd, in Cambridge, the UK’s largest developer and publisher of online games, is looking for an exceptional individual to play a major role in shaping its world renowned, Guinness World Record holding MMO, RuneScape.
Reporting to the Lead Designer & Design Manager, the successful candidate will be responsible for the design of key game features; guiding the production of their systems and content from original concept, to creation & prototyping, through final polish and community feedback.
This amazing opportunity to be a key contributor to a world class MMO from a successful and stable developer/publisher demands the highest levels of expertise, experience, passion and commitment.
Key Duties:
Requirements:
You can apply HERE.
Developer
| Dubit make Virtual Worlds, Casual MMOs and Games for kids. We’ve created many successful titles built on our own Platform for Cartoon Network, BBC, Dorothy of Oz, Diesel, Monty Python and many more. We are currently working on a number of exciting projects for 2012 and 2013 and we’re looking for team members with the drive, passion and ambition that will help us make those projects the best they can be. The Role: We have opportunities currently for talented Programmers with a passion for games. You will be proficient in object oriented programming and have an eye for detail with experience of working from game design and wireframe documentation and user interface designs. You will also be expected to work on associated gaming websites. Essential Job Functions: (You should have experience in one of more of the following)
Knowledge Requirements:
Demonstrated Ability To:
About Us: We offer competitive salaries, excellent benefits and a generous holiday entitlement. The environment itself is relaxed, friendly and built upon the basis of every team member having ownership and a realisable input into the games we create. We are located in Leeds, just off the M621. If you have a passion for making and playing games, have excellent skills and experience, dedication and, most importantly, the talent we need – then we really want to hear from you. You can apply HERE. |
With the release of Windows 8 and the student games being published on the Store, Eurogamer has done a story on the World Record Game Jam.
You can read the article below
The Train2Game Blog 