Train2Game Game Design student Jonny Robinson’s latest industry experience diaries.

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 Train2Game Game Designer Jonny Robinson is on a Train2Game work placement at DR Studios.

In his latest industry diaries, Jonny discusses what he considers the less positive aspects of working in the games industry, and reveals that his time at DR Studios has been extended.

The Train2Game Game Design student also writes about PR in the games industry and the Dead Island cinematic reveal trailer in particular.*

Read Jonny’s latest industry experience diary here on the Train2Game blog, on the Train2Game Scribd site, or on the official Train2Game industry experiences website.

*The Dead Island trailer contains graphic images not suitable for all viewers. Train2Game cannot beresponsible for the language contained in comments made about this trailer

Train2Game news: Ubisoft see a ‘bright future’ for Kinect

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Train2Game students may have mixed opinions on the future of Kinect, but Ubisoft believe it has a bright future.

The publisher is behind a variety of motion control titles including Your Shape: Fitness Evolved, Just Dance and Fighters Uncaged, and SVP of sales and marketing Tony Key believes the system will only continue to grow.

“Well, when the install base gets big, it becomes a more attractive business model for publishers to say all right, I can make money making a Kinect-only game.” he told Gamasutra.

“So I think you’ll see more and more Kinect titles coming next year, which is going to support more and more hardware sales. So I see a bright future for Kinect.”

Key also predicts that there will be a much higher number of Kinect titles released next year.

“What kinds of products, I can’t say. But I do think the system will continue to grow, and I also think that the amount of games coming out in 2012 will be much higher than the amount of games coming out in 2011.”

Ghost Recon: Future Solider is one of a number of Ubisoft titles scheduled for release next year that’ll be Kinect compatible, find out more in the Train2Game blog interview with the developers. 

The Ubisoft SVP of sales and marketing also told Gamasutra that Just Dance has been crucial to bringing women to Kinect.

“We think that Just Dance is a huge game changer for the Kinect system in terms of bringing more females into the Kinect space.” he said.

“Microsoft is spending a lot of time, resources and strategy around bringing more families in, bringing more females in. Because they have the male, they’ve got him nailed. So to really really grow they know they’ve got to get those people in there.”

“I think Just Dance 3 is an awesome opportunity where we could have a Kinect game with more females playing than males. And that would be a first for Kinect as far as we know.” Key added.

So Train2Game, what do you make of Ubisoft’s predictions? Will Kinect become more popular in 2012? Are they right to rely on the success of Just Dance?

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

[Source: Gamasutra]

Train2Game news: Hogrocket’s Tiny Invaders available for free

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Train2Game blog readers may recall our interview with Ben Ward of Hogrocket about life as an indie iPhone game developer.

The studio got a pleasant surprise when their debut game, Tiny Invaders, featured in front of millions of people during Apple’s iPhone 4S announcement to help showcase the new notification features of iOS 5.

To celebrate, Tiny Invaders will be available for free for a limited period of time. Train2Game students can download it from the iTunes App store here. It’s a great example to Train2Game students of how to produce a great mobile game with just a small team of game developers.

To find out more about Hogrocket, the development of Tiny Invaders and how you can get into developing iPhone games, read the full interview with Hogrocket’s Ben Ward here on the Train2Game blog.

The insightful interview is also available to read on the official Train2Game website, or you can listen to it via Train2Game radio.

Have you played Tiny Invaders, if so what are your thoughts? Is it a good example of iPhone game development?

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

Train2Game news: Bioware exploring ‘experimental’ mobile market

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Train2Game students will know that iPhone gaming as a whole has become big business with a number of publishers plotting a long term mobile strategy.

And while the Train2Game blog has previously reported that EA has detailed plans for mobiles, Bioware, who publish the Mass Effect and Dragon Age series’ under the EA, don’t have any specific plans for mobile, but it’s something they’re looking into.

“We’re doing more stuff. EA as a whole is doing more mobile games, and at BioWare we’re looking at mobile extensions for our franchises as well,” BioWare founder Dr. Ray Muzyka told Industry Gamers.

“Nothing to announce specifically right now, but mobile’s going to be one of the dominant platforms going forward.” added co-founder Dr. Greg Zeschuk

And he believes mobile will become as strong as traditional consoles.

“It’s going to be right up there with anything else – it already is in a sense. In terms of dollar share, maybe not yet, but we’re just starting down the hill on free-to-play on mobile devices. That’s a big thing right now. So yeah, we take mobile pretty seriously.”

As previously reported by the Train2Game blog, free-to-play games generate a majority of App store revenue.  And Zeschuk believes the  free-to-play is a low risk environment to test out new ideas, with the prospect of failure not a catastrophe.

“One thing we’ve learned is that you need to lead with gameplay – making sure the core gameplay is really tight”

And another thing is just understanding the platform well enough that you really are state of the art in terms of what you’re delivering relative to what’s there.” said the Bioware co-founder.

“And sometimes it’s just experimental too, and on mobile with something of that scale it’s actually a lot safer to explore ideas,” he added.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on Bioware looking into mobile? Is it a good area to experiment with?

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

[Source: Industry Gamers]

Train2Game news: Unreal Engine 3 comes to Flash

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Train2Game should find this very impressive; Unreal Engine 3 can now run in Flash.

The move was unveiled by Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeny with a demonstration of Unreal Tournament III running in flash during a keynote address at Adobe’s MAX 2011 event.

Unreal Tournament III was released in 2008 for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. What it means for Train2Game students is they’ll be able to play games with current generation graphics in web browers, TV’s with internet connections and social networks.

With UE3 and Flash, games built for high-end consoles can now run on the web or as Facebook apps, reaching an enormous userbase,” said Sweeny.

“This totally changes the playing field for developers who want to widely deploy and monetise their games.”

Indeed, Unreal’s move to Flash provides another avenue for Train2Game students to potentially develop games for.

“We’re excited that Epic Games is tapping into the latest capabilities in Adobe Flash Player 11 to power its Unreal Engine 3.” added, group product manager at Adobe Gaming Solutions Emmy Huang.

“As the console of the web, Flash is delivering immersive gaming experiences across screens and we’re thrilled to have Epic Games using Flash Player to deliver its blockbuster, premier 3D games on the web.”

As reported by the Train2Game blog, the Unreal Development Kit has received only one million downloads since its release.

Train2Game students will also get the opportunity to work with UDK at the Train2Game & Epic Game Jam next month. For more information, see the official Train2Game & Epic Game Jam website.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on Unreal running in Flash? Is it an area you’d be tempted to work in? See Unreal running in Falsh for yourself below.

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

[Source: Edge]

Train2Game students can get behind the scenes at Epic with ‘Unreal Insider’

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Train2Game students on all courses should be interested in this; Epic Games has set up a new blog that’ll give readers a behind the scenes look at the work that goes on at the studio.

The first ‘Unreal Insider’ blog post sees Vice President Mark Rein writing about their success with Gears of War 3 and a milestone number of Epic’s Unreal Development Kit.

“The Unreal Development Kit has been installed on over 1,000,000 unique machines. Yes, that’s ONE MILLION unique installs,” he said.

As reported by the Train2Game blog, it was only in June that the UDK passed 800,000 downloads.

“This isn’t a download count nor does it count users who installed a new version of UDK over an old version, or reinstalls” Rein continues. “This means there are more than one million different computers on to which the UDK has been installed”

“With this massive install base there are countless stories to tell about what those developers are doing with the technology.” the Epic Vice President added.

Of course, Train2Game students will get a chance to use the Unreal engine to create new stories at the Train2 Game & Epic Game Jam next month. For more information, see the official Train2Game & Epic Game Jam website.

Regular Train2Game blog readers will also be aware of the benefits of modding, perhaps using UDK, could bring.

At Eurogamer, Valve’s Chet Faliszek told the Train2Game blog that modding was a great way to get noticed, while  at Gamescom,  id Software’s Tim Willits also praised modding as a good way to get into the games industry.

Could Train2Game students find useful information on getting into the games industry on Epic’s blog in future? It’s a possibility…

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on this move by Epic? Will you be reading their blog?

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

[Source: Unreal Insider] 

Train2Game industry experience diaries from Game Designer Craig Moore

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Train2Game Game Designer Craig Moore has been on a Train2Game work placement at DR Studios. In his latest industry diaries, Craig discusses the importance of QA testing and how life in a game development studio is treating him.

Read what Craig has to say about his Train2Game work placement here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game Scribd page.

Train2Game placement student employed full-time at game development studio

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Train2Game student Laurence Gee has been given a full-time job by independent studio Brain in a Jar following a successful Train2Game work placement.

Read his thank you post below, or on the Train2Game Scribd page.  You can also read Laurence’s previous Train2Game student placement diaries. 

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

Train2Game news: Telltale Games – iPad ‘obvious place to focus’

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Train2Game students will be aware of the significance of the iPad and how Apple has changed the games industry.

Not only has it provided indie developers with the opportunity to release games, but bigger, more established studios are also seeing its benefits.

Telltale games are one such studio,  last month seeing 30% of their revenue come from the sale of iOS titles, and now CEO Dan Connors says they’re planning to focus more resources on iPad game development.

“The tablet is super interesting to us because we believe the style of content we build is perfect for the form factor,” he told Gamasutra.

“The fact that Apple has been able to get such a powerful tablet out there with a big install base makes it the obvious place to focus.”

Telltale games available in Apple’s app store include episodic titles Back to the Future, Sam & Max, Monkey Island and Hector: Badge of Carnagae.

And the studio CEO praised Apple’s global appeal and commented that the App store is an excellent way of getting games in front of a wide audience.

“What we’re seeing is you have access to a worldwide audience. There seems to be a real proliferation of these devices across the world,” he said.

“And the app store is so easy for people to purchase from. You can get your products to market really quickly and get them in front of people really quickly. There’s a good diverse audience – which is really good for the content that we do.”

Train2Game student Georgij Cernysiov has already seen his own iPad title released through the app store, while Train2Game student team Horizon Studios released Postal Panic for iPad earlier this year.

Train2Game students have also contributed to the development of DR Studios’ Bug Wings for iPhone and iPad. All of these show that producing iPad games could potentially be a great way for Train2Game students to get their games on the market.

And as previously reported by the Train2Game blog, Apple could potentially continue to revolutionise the games industry.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on Telltale’s move towards more focus on iPad development? Is it something more developers will do? Would you focus on developing games for Apple devices?

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

[Source: Gamasutra]

Train2Game news: Uncharted 3 – ‘we do make up a lot of it as we go along’ reveals lead designer

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Train2Game students will no doubt be familiar with the highly successful Uncharted series for PlayStation 3.

Now, with game number three on the horizon, Naughty Dog look to be pushing towards the release of yet another technically impressive and critically acclaimed game.

And while Train2Game students may expect the Uncharted 3 to have been meticulously planned before development starts, it appears it isn’t the case.

“We start with a short description, but then we do make up a lot of it as we go along. I think that’s very important.” Uncharted 3 Lead Game Designer Richard Lemarchand told GamesIndustry.biz during an in-depth interview.

He revealed that Uncharted 3 uses a storyboarding technique similar to Toy Story and Cars creators Pixar, which doesn’t begin with a script, but animation.

“I attended a story seminar by one of the story artists at Pixar last year, and he told us that Pixar make their films in the same way: they don’t have a script when they start; they do lots of brainstorming, and they work up ideas, and they do lots of drawing, and they start to make animatics, which are like little rough-cut movies.” said Lemarchand.

The Naughty Dog game designer explained that the story evolves from this system, which is flexible enough for things to change if needed.

“So they discover the key moments of their movies that way, and over time the detailed structure of what they’re making emerges.”

“It kind of appears by them working at it and working at it. That’s good, because it means you don’t over commit to something that might be wrong, or not entertaining or interesting enough.” he said.

Train2Game students interested in how Uncharted 3’s script is written  and performed should check out this behind the scenes look on the Train2Game blog.

Uncharted 3 for PlayStation 3 is set for release on 2nd November, with the Train2Game blog previously reporting that Sony believe it’ll ‘show a new level in 3D gaming’

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on the production behind Uncharted 3? Are you surprised it isn’t precisely planned? And how do you go about planning to build games?

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

[Source: GamesIndustry.biz]