Tag Archives: Android

Train2Game News: Extreme Motion Android Challenge

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Extreme RealityExtreme Reality, the only company to bring full-body motion analysis and control via a device’s native or peripheral camera, today announced the call for submissions for the Extreme Motion Android Challenge 2014.

The contest, open to Android game developers, gives participants a chance to win prizes of up to $8,000, and a meeting with gaming pioneer and the founder of EA Trip Hawkins, for the most innovative uses of motion control in an existing or new Android game.

Games submitted by the deadline of May 20, 2014 will be evaluated by a panel of judges led by Trip Hawkins. The grand prize winner of the contest will receive $8,000 and a meeting with Trip Hawkins and three additional winners will receive $1,000 respectively.

With Extreme Reality integrated into an Android game, all a player needs to do is place their Android device on a table with the device’s camera facing them, take two steps back, and the motion of their body will be captured and analyzed in real-time, enabling their motion to control the game. Similarly, an Android device can be tethered to a larger screen, such as a TV, so a player can enjoy the same level of immersive motion control offered by console systems.

“No longer limited to gaming consoles or other hardware, motion control is adding an entirely new and exciting experience to games on any platform,” said Sarit Firon, CEO of Extreme Reality. “We look forward to seeing the innovations in motion gaming created by participants in the Extreme Android Challenge, from adventure to sports to fitness or dance games.”

Developers can sign up now by submitting their project proposals at http://www.xtr3d.com/android-challenge-2014/. After their concept has been approved, they will receive the Extreme Reality Android SDK that enables them to easily incorporate motion control into their game. The Android SDK will be sent by March 17 to start development until May 20when they will submit the game to Extreme Reality. Evaluation of the games by the judges will begin May 25, and winners will be announced on May 30.
The judges will review the following six aspects in their scoring:

  • Motionization – Best utilization of motion control to enhance the game experience
  • Graphics and Audio – The level of visuals and audio in the game
  • Gameplay – The storyline and mechanics that underpin the game. Is it fun to play?
  • Stickiness – Does it have lasting appeal? Is it addictive? Would you finish the game? Would you play it again?
  • Polish – Is the game ready for prime time?
  • Usability – Is it easy to use with minimal explanations? Is it intuitive?

This would be a good challenged for some Train2Game student studios and give you access to some powerful software. There is also the chance for some healthy prize money and to meet someone who could offer invaluable advice.

Train2Game News: Play to help beat Cancer

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Play to cureA new iOS and Android game allows players to help Cancer Research UK scientists fight cancer in real life.

Play To Cure: Genes In Space is a free game in which the player has to collect a fictional substance dubbed Element Alpha. This represents genetic cancer data, which might underpin certain types of cancer.

By playing the game and collecting Element Alpha, players are actually helping analyse significant amounts of genetic data, which would take Cancer Research scientists hours to do.

The game is actually a cleverly disguised data analysis tool, so by mapping a route through an asteroid field and then collecting the Element Alpha in it (while dodging and shooting asteroids), players are actually sending back data analysis to the Cancer Research labs.

Play To Cure: Genes In Space can be downloaded free on the iOS App Store and the Google Play store.

You can enjoy the trailer for Play To Cure: Genes In Space below.

Train2Game News: Intel CodeFest

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Intel SoftwareOn 6 February 2014, Intel Developer Zone invites developers to come to its Intel CodeFest, taking place in London at Skills Matter.

At the event you’ll get the chance to network with fellow coders as well as hear some great talks from Intel’s engineers and experts on Android development.

The evening will kick off with an Intel dev expert giving you the low down on what Intel is doing in the Android ecosystem, an overview of Intel’s Android devices and an introduction to the range of development options. After that we will dive into the details of Dalvik development, followed by how to get the most out of WiDi and the APIs for a second screen experience.

Up next you’ll find out how to get the best out of Android’s Native Development Kit (NDK) and finally you’ll learn about how to effectively test your applications through both virtual device testing and real device testing – with lots of devices at the event for you to go hands on with.

If that’s not enough, we’ll also have some extra special guests in the form of Intel partner Marmalade, who will be at the CodeFest to reveal all you need to know about getting the best performance out of the Marmalade SDK for games development on Intel-based devices.

All of this and plenty of food and drink – there’ll even be a prize giveaway of a Lenovo K900 as well, so you might come away with more than just Android knowledge!

To guarantee your place, RSVP here!

Train2Game News: New Android testing software

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Intel SoftwareAppthwack is the new software to make testing Android games easier!

You’ve spent hours designing and coding your application and things are looking pretty good. But now you have another hurdle: ensuring your app is bug-free and operational. After all, a good user experience is central to having happy, content and engaged users.

Proper testing can be a challenge, however. There are testing services out there that can take care of this for you, but they usually charge by the minute incurring further development costs (and those costs are further dependent on how many devices you want to test on).

This is where the service AppThwack can be a lifesaver. Thanks to a partnership with Intel Developer Zone, the AppThwack service is provided completely free of charge for testing on Intel-based Android smartphones and tablets.

These tests are run on real, non-emulated devices and mean you can test your app on a wide range of devices you don’t have to own yourself. AppThwack will run a number different test processes including launch, stress tests and uninstalls and then outputs low-level logs, screenshots and performance data to show how well your app has performed on the corresponding devices.

As part of the partnership, the Intel Atom-based Android devices you can test for free on include:

Asus MeMO Pad FHD 10
Dell Venue 7
Dell Venue 8
Lenovo IdeaPhone K900
Motorola Droid RAZR i
Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10

On the Intel Developer Zone there is a handy How-To Guide for AppThwack to get you started, which runs you through how to upload your application’s APK to the cloud service and schedule in your tests, as well as giving you a look at what sort of performance results you can expect.

Now there’s no excuse not to thoroughly test your APKs and ensure they run optimally on Intel hardware!

Source: Softalkblog sponsored by the Intel Developer Zone

Train2Game News: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas out now on Google Play

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GTA San AndreasRockstar Games is proud to announce that Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is now available for select Android and Amazon Kindle devices. Upon its original release, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas took the groundbreaking series to new heights, delivering three detailed cities and an entire state for players to roam.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas features a vast open-world covering the state of San Andreas and its three major cities – Los Santos, San Fierro and Las Venturas. In addition to enhanced visual fidelity and over 70 hours of gameplay, the game has received several technical upgrades and has been specially tuned for use with mobile devices. Upgrades and enhancements for all mobile versions include:

  • Re-mastered, high-resolution graphics, including lighting enhancements, an enriched color palette and improved character models;
  • Context Sensitive Actions: automatically vault over low walls and objects;
  • Full suite of aiming options: auto-aim, free-aim, and touch targeting;
  • Dual analog stick controls for full camera and movement control;
  • Three different touch control schemes and customizable controls;
  • Physical controller support for compatible devices;
  • Cloud save support for Rockstar Social Club Members;
  • Updated checkpoint system.

Five years ago, Carl Johnson escaped from the pressures of life in Los Santos, a city tearing itself apart with gang trouble, drugs and corruption. Now it’s the early 90’s and Carl’s got to go home. His mother has been murdered, his family has fallen apart and his childhood friends are all heading towards disaster. On his return to the neighborhood, a couple of corrupt cops frame him for homicide. CJ is forced on a journey that takes him across the entire state of San Andreas, to save his family and to take control of the streets.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is available for £4.99, and can be purchased on the Google Play Store, Amazon Appstore and the iOS App Store. Coming soon to Windows mobile devices.

Train2Game News: The New Budget priced Tablets

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UbiSlateUK-based company Datawind have released the UbiSlate 7Ci Android tablet which costs just a mere £30.

They certainly work and in reality they are quite good office devices. So if you want to stay in touch, keep up with social media or look at your favourite web site they are a nice pocket sized device.

These budget priced devices started life as a low cost access unit for India and demand just grew and grew. Earlier this year they appeared on mainland Europe and more recently something very similar was on offer in TESCO Europe for €34, around £30.

So here is our first top tip to using one – get the extra memory. You can add up to 32G and it is worth doing it.

Secondly download the Android cleaner App. This one stop App helps move Apps to the extended memory, cleans up the on-board cache and just makes it work better. This highlights a drawback of such devices as the RAM is tiny.

At this point it would be very easy to attach such a device as it’s simply not the same as a higher level spec/cost tablet. However, what can you expect from a tablet costing £30. Certainly it won’t play memory hungry games, but if you are building/testing the next Angry Birds what a great place to try it out.

Where this device shines is the everyday things. You can do email, Facebook, watch Youtube, listen to radio and your music, watch a movie (best only with extended memory card) and play Angry Birds. Installing the free office style package covers excel, word etc.

Consider you are working on a pitch document. Normally, you have to carry your laptop. I don’t know about you but carrying a laptop around always makes me a little nervous. With one of these tablets you can copy the document to the small tablet. You can even put it in your pocket for safety. What’s more, now the cost is just £30 who is going to try and steal it?

Audio is more than acceptable and the video is OK for the everyday things of life. Android has a BBC iplayer App, SkyGo App and there is even a Freeview TV Guide App so it can become a TV when everyone is watching something boring.

So overall it’s a great little device if you use it for the purpose it was designed for. Try and convince yourself it’s a Windows Surface and you will be disappointed.

Train2Game News: Warner Bros mobile game sale

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WB InteractiveIn celebration of the holidays, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announces mobile games priced at £0.69. For a limited time starting today, the following games will be discounted on the App Store:

·  LEGO Batman: DC Super Heroes
·  Batman: Arkham City Lockdown
·  Man of Steel
·  Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters
·  LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
·  LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
·  Harry Potter: Spells
·  Scribblenauts Remix
·  Bastion
·  AdvenChewers
·  Midway Arcade Games
·  Tapper World Tour

LEGO The Lord of the Rings is also available on the App Store for the low price of £1.99.

Additionally, for Android users, Batman Arkham City Lockdown, Man of Steel and Scribblenauts Remix are available on GooglePlay and in the Amazon Appstore for Android for £0.69.

If you are looking for an entertaining game to play over the holiday season you are spoilt for choice!

Train2Game News: Mobile Game Creation App Released

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IMG_0146Independent Polish developer Incuvo have released their innovative game creation app Createrria.

This is the first application that allows players to create and publish their own games, free to download, Createrria is available for iPhone, iPad and iPod with an Android version to follow next year.

Createrria turns the fun and joy of making games in to a game itself. Become an instant game designer by creating the games you always wanted to play or construct your own improved version of world famous franchises! Want to tell a story or create an awesome action game? No problem. Have a great idea for a puzzle game or platformer? Go right ahead. Createrria offers quick and easy tools to create any game you want without any technical or programming skills. With just a few taps you can craft your own games and share them with your friends.

“Nowadays you can create almost anything on mobile devices; Take photos, paint, compose music, even shape virtual pottery – you  name it. But until now there hasn’t really been a good app for game creation. We want to change that with Createrria. And remember, this is meant for players, not developers.” commented Jakub Duda, Incuvo co-founder.

“I often start Createrria early in the morning just to check new crazy game ideas that appeared in the community the previous night. It’s a great feeling when players surprise you with new creations.” said Wojciech Borczyk, Incuvo’s second co-founder.

Want to create that great 8-bit classic? Then the Pixel Art Theme is for you. How about a Grimm fairy tale with a twist? The Fable Theme is what you’re after. Featuring a variety of powerful and easy-to-use tools, all the graphic styles in Createrria comes with its own set of backgrounds, terrain, items and enemies!

Already the recipient of critical acclaim including making the final of the ‘Game Connection 2012 Best Project’ Createrria will unlock the game making dreams of aspiring creators everywhere.

You can view the trailer for Createrria below

Train2Game News: Assassin’s Creed Pirates out on mobile

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AC PiratesToday Ubisoft announced that the next game in the award-winning Assassin’s Creed franchise, Assassin’s Creed Pirates, is now available on iOS and Android.

The year is 1716, the dawn of the Golden Age of piracy in the Caribbean. Players take on the role of Alonzo Batilla, a young and ambitious Captain who is embarking on an epic quest to find La Buse’s legendary treasure. Along his way Alonzo will cross paths with famous buccaneers including Blackbeard, Bellamy and Hornigold and find himself caught in the middle of the ancestral fight between Assassins and Templars.

In Assassin’s Creed Pirates, players will be tasked to manage their crew, upgrade their ship, recruit new crew members and engage in massive and brutal real-time naval battles to become the most feared pirate in the Caribbean.

Ubisoft Paris has developed a brand new mobile engine to bring groundbreaking 3D visuals to Assassin’s Creed Pirates. This engine is responsible for the breathtaking moving waters, lush islands, and gorgeous graphics that set new visual standards for mobile platforms.

This is definitely becoming a trend with the big franchise games to have a smaller mobile game. It shows that the big developers even see the mobile market as a strong and healthy platform.

Train2Game News: Android Intel Xmas Party

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Intel SoftwareOn 3rd December, Intel Developer Zone is inviting developers to a Christmas party near London’s Liverpool Street.

Taking place at The Shooting Star, you’ll be treated to sessions on free Android tools, a testing pod for us to try out Android apps on the x86 platform and the opportunity to rub shoulders with fellow coders.

Intel will lay on a great spread of food, soft drinks and beer to keep those energy levels up as we network, and there will be goodies galore with t-shirts, pins and other keepsakes from the evening.

As well as receiving those Christmas presents, you’ll have the chance to hear Intel application engineer Will Hansford-White give a quick talk on the free tools Intel provides for developing Android apps. Dev expert Sulamita Garcia will then give an XDK demo, giving hints and tips for easily developing in HTML5.

If anyone dropped by the Intel stand at Droidcon UK in October will remember the app test pod. Developers were able to see how their apps function on the x86 platform, which gave them a great insight into creating apps to reach a wider audience in the future. You’ll be given the chance to do the same, and you can test them out on the range of devices Intel will be bringing along. Experts will be on-hand to show you how to port current apps onto x86 as well.

To guarantee your place, please RSVP here.

So on Tuesday 3rd December, get to London Liverpool Street and make the few-minutes’ walk down Bishopsgate and turn off onto Middlesex Street. The party is in the private room downstairs!