Tag Archives: Disney

Train2Game News: Games Industry News – 05.04.13

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lucasartsIt is Friday so it is time for another Train2Game game industry news round up.

The saddest bit of news this week was that the new owners of LucasArts, Disney, has shut down the company. LucasArts were responsible for making many of the Star Wars licensed games as well as other games such as Monkey Island. A LucasFilm representative suggested that properties such as 1313 and Star Wars: First Assault could still find a home via a third party.

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Entertainment announced that the Injustice: Gods Among Us game is now available on the App Store. Developed from the ground up by award-winning NetherRealm Studios, this free-to-play mobile game delivers stunning graphics and a completely unique fighting gameplay experience. The mobile game features a collectible card mechanic and engages players in 3-on-3 tag team combat that pits many of DC Comics most popular icons such as Batman, Superman, The Flash, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, Aquaman and more against one another. Fans who also own the forthcoming Xbox 360 and PlayStation3 versions will be able to unlock content in the console versions that will be available in the mobile game, and vice versa, by registering for a Warner Bros. ID (WBID) account and playing the game.

Perfect World Entertainment Inc. and Cryptic Studios are pleased to announce that on April 30, 2013, the free-to-play action MMORPG Dungeons & Dragons Neverwinter is heading into Open Beta, allowing millions of players unrestricted access to the game world. Neverwinter is Cryptic and Perfect World’s proof that Western free-to-play games, when built from the ground up, can compete with even the biggest boxed subscription titles. On April 30, the companies invite all gamers to put that claim to the test. There will be no character wipes or restricted access after the start of Open Beta. Players can still become Founders through Neverwinter’s Founder’s Pack Program. Benefits include exclusive access to Beta Weekend 4, permanent in-game items that are unique to Founders, early access to Open Beta, and VIP perks. To take advantage of these benefits and to gain exclusive access to Neverwinter’s Beta Weekend 4, players may visit: http://nw.perfectworld.com/founderspack/

The latest set of downloadable content for Treyarch’s Call of Duty: Black Ops II has been confirmed for an April 16th launch on Xbox Live. The pack will include four new maps as well as a new zombie mode, available for 1200 Microsoft points or free to existing season pass holders. The four new maps are: Magma, a modern Japanese village featuring volcanic eruptions; Encore, taking place in the aftermath of a London music festival; Vertigo, a futuristic high rise building in India and Studio, a Hollywood movie back lot which describes itself as a “contemporary remake of Firing Range” which was found in the original Black Ops. By far the most intriguing addition to the newest DLC is the new Mob of the Dead mode, which sounds interesting enough to breathe life into the unspectacular collection of zombie content available currently. In it you play as a prohibition-era mobster locked up in Alcatraz whose attempts to escape are “foiled by the rise of the undead.”

Finally, creators of the hit game Castle Crashers, have released a new game. Blocks, Cats, Hats, Betrayal! This is how The Behemoth have described their new game, Battleblock Theatre. This newly released game, that is currently only for XBLA, is all about platforming, a “story of geometric proportions”, several modes of online gameplay and a massive amount of replayability. It has over 450 levels, hundreds of unlockables to find, over 300 prisoners to free and The Behemoth is calling it their largest game to date. The Behemoth said they are considering future ports, just like they did with Castle Crashers, but since they are a small studio it would take them quite some time to port if they do decide to bring the game to PC or PS3.

Train2Game News: Mid-week round up – 16.01.13

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Valve logoIt is that time of week for the Train2Game mid-week round up!

Valve has announced plans to to discuss a port of Team Fortress 2 to virtual reality goggles. The first talk will be programmer Joe Ludwig’s ‘What We Learned Porting Team Fortress 2 to Virtual Reality’ and it will explore the efforts of several employees over the last year to get the game to run in virtual reality goggles. In addition, Valve’s Michael Abrash will discuss the hardware challenges that lie ahead and possible solutions for virtual and augmented reality in ‘Why Virtual Reality is Hard (And Where it Might be Going).’

Square Enix have launched a new website to tease all fans of an upcoming iOS game. More information is to be released on January 17. The site has an image of what looks like a front end menu for the game which is called, Final Fantasy: All The Bravest. You can check out the website for yourself here: http://www.jp.square-enix.com/ff_atb/

Since Activision brought out Skylanders it has done very well and now Disney has seen it’s potential. They are now doing their own version with the announcement of Disney Infinity. Infinity will work in the same way as Skylanders, needing action figures and a “toy box” base to give players access to different worlds. Disney fans will recognize plenty of familiar faces, like Captain Jack Sparrow, the cast of the Incredibles, and Sully from Monsters Inc.

Surreal game creator Suda51 has revealed details of his next game, Killer is Dead. The game stars Mondo Zappa, a 35 year old American executioner that abides by a strict suit-and-tie policy and his left hand is a gun that can also transform into a drill and is used primarily to absorb an enemy’s blood for an “Adrenalin Burst” attack. The game’s antagonist is Victor, who can manipulate emotions through song. He’s appropriately styled to look like classic composer, except has a green face and glowing eyes.

Online and mobile are spearheading the game industry’s growth to a potential total valuation of $83 billion by 2016, according to new research. Conducted by Digi-Capital, the global games investment review states that online and mobile could have a revenue share of $48 billion in 2016, 55 per cent of the entire game industry. The biggest driver in mobile and tablet app revenue meanwhile will be free-to-play, which could deliver 55 per cent of revenue in the sector and account for 93 per cent of app downloads by 2016.

Train2Game News: Mid-week round up – 31.10.11

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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.

Train2Game News: Disney’s outside the box idea

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Roger A. Iger has said that Disney may be going in to developing their own console. Disney has had trouble utilising the internet to date and this could be the next step.

Their new product is an ambitious and unannounced gaming initiative that is code-named Toy Box which has been described as a game console with extensive mobile and other online applications in which various Pixar and Disney characters will interact with each other for the first time.

Recently detailed was The Walt Disney Company’s struggles as it pertains to mastering the internet. The company’s online components, as well as their gaming and mobile divisions, have posted 15 consecutive quarters of losses.

The company as a whole is doing very well with ventures such as earlier this summer with the big screen phenomena that was The Avengers, which earned over 1.5 billion dollars for Marvel Studios, which is now owned by Walt Disney Pictures.

Its inability to make much headway on the internet and with games however is becoming hard to ignore and given how the importance of such outlets will only increase as time goes on, now might be time for Disney to do something particularly drastic or bold.

There are several other initiatives now under-way, to help turn the online tide. One idea includes another massive redesign of Disney.com, their third in five years.

Given Disney’s long time ties with Pixar, which is also connected to Apple who certainly have aspirations of their own, we could see the rise of an under dog in the next generation.

Train2Game News: Epic Mickey 2 video discusses Oswald the Lucky Rabbit

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Learn about the origins of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and what Creative Director Warren Spector wants to achieve with him in Epic Mickey 2 in a new behind the scenes video from Junction Point and Disney.

Spector discusses planning the game around Oswald, how he’s a great character and how Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two can have Oswald and Mickey’s relationship develop like it hasn’t before.

The video also features Walt Disney Archives Director Becky Cline who discusses the history of Oswald. She shows footage of the character that’s over 80 years old and discussing how this has been used to give him certain abilities for Epic Mickey 2.

Watch Epic Mickey 2 – Meet Oswald the Lucky Rabbit below, right here on The Train2Game Blog.

The Train2Game Blog recently reported how Warren Spector struggled when trying to make Deus Ex perfect.

There’s more about Epic Mickey 2 here, while be sure to stay tuned to The Train2Game Blog for developer diaries which take you behind the scenes of game development.

What are your thoughts on Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and his role in Epic Mickey 2? What does it say about video games in being the medium to bring it back?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or here on the Train2Game forum.

Train2Game News: Go behind the scenes of Epic Mickey 2 in developer diary from Junction Point

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Train2Game students can get behind the scenes of Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two in a brand new developer diary from Junction Point.

Creative Director Warren Spector and the rest of the team discuss subjects including making a game “worthy” of the Disney name, how introducing co-op with Oswald changes Epic Mickey, the advantages of now building the game for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and much more.

Watch the Epic Mickey 2 The Power of Two developer diary below, right here on The Train2Game Blog.

There’s more about Epic Mickey here .

What are your initial impressions of Epic Mickey 2? What do you think are the challenges of building a Disney game?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Epic Mickey ‘The Anatomy of the Animation’ trailer

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Epic Mickey Mouse

Disney has released an Epic Mickey video that is a must see for Train2Game Artist & Animators.  The Epic Mickey ‘The Anatomy of the Animation’ video, shows the amount of effort the animators have put in to make the game characters look and move like authentic Disney characters.

Warren Spector says it’s Mickey Mouse in motion that “makes Mickey” and that the way he moves is “critical.” Which is why the Epic Disney animators spent so long analysing Mickey cartoons from when he first appeared along with more recent motion pictures. Spector says they have all of the Mickey Mouse Cartoons and all of the Oswald the Rabbit cartoons and the team spent a lot of time watching them!

The video shows that Junction Point are very aware they’ve needed to make Mickey perfect, and they even consulted with the likes of Pixar and the Disney animators about how to make this so in Epic Mickey.  Warren Spector claims that in his 30 year career he’s never seen animators who go into as much detail as those at Disney.

So, how is the animation of Disney shaping up? You can find out for yourself by watching the Epic Mickey Anatomy of Animation trailer below.

Epic Mickey is scheduled for release on November 30th for the Nintendo Wii

So Train2Game, how good you think the animation of Epic Mickey is? Have the animators nailed the authentic Disney look? And who is looking forward to Epic Mickey?

You can leave your thoughts on Epic Mickey here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

To infinity… and beyond! Toy Story 3 tops UK charts.

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The chosen one

Toy Story 3 has rocketed to top spot in the UK software charts, providing Disney with their first Number 1 since 2007. The game launched last week and achieved a respectable 5th place, but the release of the film last Monday – with Toy Story 3 just happening to having already become the second highest grossing movie of 2010 – helped boost game sales. It’s Disney’s first number 1 video game since Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End in June 2007.

Crackdown 2 held the top spot for two weeks running, but the Microsoft exclusive sandbox shooter has now dropped all the way down to tenth place.  Meanwhile, Red Dead Redemption is still selling strongly with the Rockstar title climbing one place to take second. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11, Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Just Dance have all climbed up the chart this week while Dance on Broadway, Lego Harry Potter and 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa have all dropped a place each.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has dropped out of the top 10 for only the second time in 37 weeks. Will it re-enter next week, or is the momentum behind Activision Blizzard’s hit title finally slowing down?

There was only one new entry into the top ten this week, with Square Enix/Nintendo’s DS title Dragon Quest IX debuting in the ninth place.

So, Train2Game students, is it a well deserved top spot for Disney? Should Dragon Quest have entered at a higher position? And is it all over for Call of Duty? As usual, leave your comments here or on the Train2Game forum.

The full top 10 chart for the week ending July 23rd is:

01. Toy Story 3 (Disney)
02. Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar)
03. Dance On Broadway (Ubisoft)
04. Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 (Warner)
05. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 (EA)
06. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Nintendo)
07. 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa (EA)
08. Just Dance (Ubisoft)
09. Dragon Quest IX (Square Enix)
10. Crackdown 2 (Microsoft)

Crackdown 2 retains chart lead

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Crackdown 2: Still top gun.

Microsoft’s title Crackdown 2 has claimed top place in the UK sales charts for the second week running.  The sandbox action title fended off competition including Disney’s Toy Story 3 which debuted at Number 5 – and is the only new entry to break into the Top 40 this week.

The biggest mover in the Top 10 this week is Ubisofts’ Dance on Broadway which jived up from forth to second place.

Hit titles including Super Mario Galaxy, Red Dead Redemption and FIFA World Cup South Africa all dropped one place, while UFC 2010: Undisputed has been knocked out of the Top 10. The full top ten reads:

01. Crackdown 2 (Microsoft)
02. Dance On Broadway (Ubisoft)
03. Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 (Warner)
04. Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar)
05. Toy Story 3 (Disney)
06. 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa (EA)
07. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Nintendo)
08. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 (EA)
09. Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Activision)
10. Just Dance (Ubisoft)

Have you bought any of these titles this week? What do you think? As usual, leave your comments here or on the Train2Game forum.