Train2Game News: UK Top 20 game charts – 25.02.13

Crysis 3Crysis 3 knocks last week’s number 1 Aliens: Colonial Marines down to number 5, debuting ahead of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance which begins life at number 2. Two new entries at number 1 and 2 is a first for 2013. Four out of the eight UK All Formats number 1’s so far this year are represented by 3 different EA titles.

All formats
Week ending 23 February 2013
POS.  TITLE  PUBLISHER  LAST
WEEK 
1 CRYSIS 3 EA GAMES
2 METAL GEAR RISING: REVENGEANCE KONAMI
3 FIFA 13 EA SPORTS 3
4 CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS II ACTIVISION 4
5 ALIENS: COLONIAL MARINES SEGA 1
6 DEAD SPACE 3 EA GAMES 2
7 FAR CRY 3 UBISOFT 5
8 NEED FOR SPEED MOST WANTED EA GAMES 7
9 ASSASSIN’S CREED III UBISOFT 6
10 HITMAN ABSOLUTION SQUARE ENIX 11
11 JUST DANCE 4 UBISOFT 8
12 THE ELDER SCROLLS V: SKYRIM BETHESDA SOFTWORKS 12
13 SONIC & ALL STARS RACING TRANSFORMED SEGA 9
14 SKYLANDERS GIANTS SKYLANDERS 13
15 LEGO BATMAN 2: DC SUPER HEROES WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE 15
16 HALO 4 MICROSOFT 10
17 LEGO THE LORD OF THE RINGS WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE 16
18 GRAND THEFT AUTO IV XBOX 360 CLASSICS 20
19 THE SIMS 3 EA GAMES
20 FORZA MOTORSPORT 4 MICROSOFT

Leisure software charts compiled by Chart Track, (C)2013 UKIE Ltd

Train2Game News: SimCity Closed Beta

SimCityFan excitement for the release of SimCity has been growing. In order to give even more fans a taste of the game before its March launch, Maxis is proud to announce that it will be holding a second SimCity Closed Beta.

The franchise that laid the foundations of the city building simulation genre is back, empowering players to create the world of their imagination! Electronic Arts Inc. today announced that SimCity is breaking new ground in 2013. SimCity for PC, a brand new entry in the franchise is currently in development at Maxis Emeryville, and was revealed at GDC early last year.

Lucy Bradshaw, Senior Vice President of EA’s Maxis Label said “We’d like to thank the millions of fans who have helped make SimCity synonymous with the city-building genre. This is a franchise that means the world to us at Maxis and we’re happy to be bringing it back home where we are re-imagining it for an entirely new generation of players. Using our proprietary GlassBox Engine, SimCity for PC will equip players with the tools to play the most sophisticated simulation of its kind. We are dedicated to making sure the experience – no matter the platform – has the fun, flavor and playability that has been intrinsic to the franchise since its birth.”

The second SimCity Closed Beta will be running from 1400GMT on February 16 to 1400GMT on February 17 and will feature an enhanced version of the one-hour slice of gameplay that delighted fans in January. Fans who haven’t already signed up for the beta can do so at www.SimCity.com/beta. Hurry, sign-ups end at 1400GMT on February 11.

To whet fan appetites even more, Maxis today unveiled a new trailer showing off the Limited Edition exclusive content, which can be seen below

SimCity has been rated PEGI 7. To stay up-to-date on the latest regarding SimCity, and to pre-order now, please visit www.SimCity.com.

For a full list of conditions, please visit www.SimCity.com/betadisclaimer

Train2Game News: UK Top 20 – 22.10.12

In the charts this week Skylanders Giants has come in at number two, leaving FIFA 13 still sitting pretty at the top for week number four and Bethesda’s Doom 3: BFG Edition has come in at number five.

Week ending 20 October 2012

POS.  TITLE  PUBLISHER  LAST
WEEK 
1 –  FIFA 13 EA SPORTS 1
2 SKYLANDERS GIANTS SKYLANDERS
3 DISHONORED BETHESDA SOFTWORKS 2
4 JUST DANCE 4 UBISOFT 6
5 DOOM 3: BFG EDITION BETHESDA SOFTWORKS
6 POKEMON BLACK VERSION 2 NINTENDO 3
7 RESIDENT EVIL 6 CAPCOM 4
8 –  BORDERLANDS 2 2K GAMES 8
9 POKEMON WHITE VERSION 2 NINTENDO 5
10 XCOM: ENEMY UNKNOWN 2K GAMES 7
11 F1 2012 CODEMASTERS 9
12 007 LEGENDS ACTIVISION
13 THE ELDER SCROLLS V: SKYRIM BETHESDA SOFTWORKS 10
14 –  ROCKSMITH UBISOFT 14
15 PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 2013 KONAMI 12
16 NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. 2 NINTENDO 15
17 SLEEPING DOGS SQUARE ENIX 11
18 LEGO BATMAN 2: DC SUPER HEROES WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE 19
19 FORZA MOTORSPORT 4 MICROSOFT 13
20 GRAN TURISMO 5 ACADEMY EDITION SONY COMPUTER ENT. 16

leisure software charts compiled by Chart Track, (C)2012 UKIE Ltd

Train2Game News: UK Top 20 – 15.10.12

On Monday mornings I will now be posting the top 20 UK games chart from UKIE to keep you all updated.

 
Dishonored has come in as the highest new IP this year at number 2 but nothing can knock FIFA off the top spot for the third week running. It is interesting to see that Skyrim and Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 are still in the top 20.

Week ending 13 October 2012

POS.  TITLE  PUBLISHER  LAST
WEEK 
1 –  FIFA 13 EA SPORTS 1
2   DISHONORED BETHESDA SOFTWORKS
3   POKEMON BLACK VERSION 2 NINTENDO
4 RESIDENT EVIL 6 CAPCOM 2
5   POKEMON WHITE VERSION 2 NINTENDO
6 JUST DANCE 4 UBISOFT 4
7   XCOM: ENEMY UNKNOWN 2K GAMES
8 BORDERLANDS 2 2K GAMES 3
9 F1 2012 CODEMASTERS 5
10 THE ELDER SCROLLS V: SKYRIM BETHESDA SOFTWORKS 8
11 SLEEPING DOGS SQUARE ENIX 10
12 PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 2013 KONAMI 9
13 FORZA MOTORSPORT 4 MICROSOFT 11
14 ROCKSMITH UBISOFT 7
15 NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. 2 NINTENDO 12
16 GRAN TURISMO 5 ACADEMY EDITION SONY COMPUTER ENT. 13
17   CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 3 ACTIVISION
18 NBA 2K13 2K SPORTS 6
19 LEGO BATMAN 2: DC SUPER HEROES WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE 14
20 DEAD ISLAND GOTY EDITION DEEP SILVER 16

 

Train2Game News: GameCityNights coming to a place near you

The GameCityNights festival is going nationwide. The event annually held in Nottingham it is now hitting the road.

The festival celebrates everything from the game world with previous keynote speakers from Crytek UK, Harmonix music systems and Sony London Studio.

This years event is sponsored by Edge Magazine, SimCity, Maxis, EA and more. Previous years the festival has had no financial support so to get such big names is a big step forward.

“After three years of Nights gigs in Nottingham and loads of brilliant guests and audience members, it seemed like a good time to share the love,” says Iain Simons, director of GameCity. “The one thing we love more than doing GameCityNights events is driving – so this really is the ideal combination for us”

More details of the event are soon to come – it’s guaranteed to feature many playable games, intimate talks and panels with industry icons. There’s also the GameCity Arcade: a free space for indie devs to put their games. All the games will also feature on Edge’s website.

“So if you’ve got something to say or a game to show, get in touch,” says Simons.

If you have been working on a game lately and are looking for a place to show it and get feedback from the public, this is a good time.

Dates and locations are below:

November 13: National Media Museum, Bradford
November 20: BFI Southbank, London
November 21: Dublin Science Gallery, Dublin

January 24: Antenna, Nottingham
January 29: Arnolfini, Bristol
January 31: Junction, Cambridge

February 5: MAC, Birmingham
February 22: Animated Exeter Festival
February 23: GEEK2013, Margate
February 25: Carriageworks, Leeds
February 26: FACT, Liverpool

For more details on the event go to nights.gamecity.org

Train2Game News: Mid-week Round up

Train2Game student Fiona Stewart has been featured in The Sun. She talks about how she moved from traditional art to digital art and how it has affected her life. The Sun also featured an article about Daniel Gent, a disabled student of Train2Game who uses a voice activated computer.

Microsoft are bringing Atari’s extensive back catalogue to tablets and browsers. The new portal is called Atari Arcade and it’s opening with eight titles: Asteroids, Combat, Centipede, Lunar Lander, Missile Command, Pong, Super Breakout and Yar’s Revenge. The rest of the games are set to be released over the next few months.

343 Industries and Microsoft are releasing eight different pre-order incentives for Halo 4. Depending on where you order the game from you get a different in game item. The in game items include: Different Armour sets, Avatar Items and multi-player Emblems.

Humble Bundle Six has been released. The Humble Bundles are great for picking up some of the top indie games whilst helping charity at the same time. You pay what you want for the bundle but need to pay a minimum amount to get the game Dustforce. Other games included are: Rochard, Shatter, S.P.A.Z, Torchlight and Vessel.

Sony are releasing two new thinner PlayStation 3s. These new consoles are 25% slimmer than the current models and one boasts a 500GB hard drive the other is a 12GB flash memory model but a 250GB hard drive will be available.

Sony are also launching PlayStation Mobile in October. It is a new store for games to be released for mobile devices. An SDK for the store will be released in November opening up a new market for games developers.

Nintendo has come to an agreement with Unity. Developers can use the engine to create games for the Wii U. Unity users will have to pay for a license to develop for the Wii U, just like with the other platforms.

EA will support the very first GaymerCon. The convention is for the LGBT community to come together through their love of gaming. Their website says its purpose is to educate and inform “the gaming community of the presence of sexuality in our digital lives and promoting acceptance and social change through gaming.”

Finally a big congratulations to the winning team at the weekends world record winning Game Jam. RetroMetro won with their game, Royal Rush. I hope you enjoy your prizes and I hope everyone who attended the Game Jam had an excellent time!

Train2Game News: Games industry speculation about ‘spectacular’ new consoles

GAMESTOP CEO Paul Raines expects a next-gen console next year with another to follow in 2014.

On top of that EA – one of the largest games companies in the World says we should look forward to the gaming future.

Paul Raines speculates that Microsoft’s Xbox 720 and Sony’s Playstation 4 will not both be coming out in 2013 like previously thought. One will be released in 2013 with the other following in 2014.

Which comes first remains to be seen.

Mr Raines said “This week, I’m getting a lot of rumours that are very interesting about 2013 but we have not been expecting two more consoles in 2013.

“We’re expecting Wii U this Christmas, another console next year, and another one in ’14. These rumours change every week, but we’re hearing more about next year.”

EA Labels president Frank Gibeau has said the number of gamers has raised exponentially. 10 years ago there was an estimated 200 million worldwide. Now the number is estimated at almost 2 billion.

He added that EA has several new IPS in the works ready for launch with the next-gen consoles.

Mr Gibeau said “The time to launch an IP is at the front-end of the hardware cycle, and if you look historically the majority of new IPS are introduced within the first 24 months of each cycle of hardware platforms. Right now, we’re working on three to five new IPs for the next gen.

When you launch a new IP it needs to do something really, really remarkable, and that’s easier to do when you have a new set of technology that gives you novel capabilities.

I’ve seen the machines that we’re building games for, and they’re spectacular.”

Train2Game News: EA announce Battlefield 4 beta spots for Medal of Honor: Warfighter pre-orders

Battlefield 4 will enter beta in autumn 2013 with exclusive places for those who pre-order Medal of Honor: Warfighter, which is set for release in October this year.

The official announcement of Battlefield 4 comes from EA and DICE following news of the beta leaking on EA’s Origin store. Both games are powered by EA’s Frostbite 2 engine.

“Though Battlefield and Medal of Honor Warfighter each offer players a completely unique experience, they are united by their underlying technology base – Frostbite.” said EA Labels president Frank Gibeau 

“These are two of the hottest shooters, coming together to deliver a one-two punch of action, intensity and shooter entertainment.”

Battlefield 3 went through open beta ahead of its release last year, with DICE making changes to the shooter as a result of testing.

There’s more about Battlefield here on The Train2Game Blog, while there’s plenty of information about the importance of beta testing, and opportunities to get involved, here.

What are your thoughts on EA’s decision to announce a the Battlefield 4 beta over a year before it begins?

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

Train2Game news: UK Charts – Sniper Elite V2 takes No.1

Train2Game students see Sniper Elite V2 by Oxford based studio Rebellion topping the charts in its first week on sale.  Get an insight into how the sniping based shooter was made in a developer diary here on The Train2Game Blog.

Last week’s No.1 Prototype 2 drops to No.2, with FIFA 12 once again a non-mover at No.3. FIFA Street drops two to No.4, while fellow EA title Mass Effect 3 slips one to No.5.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13 moves up one to No.6, leapfrogging Kinect Star Wars which drops two to No.7. Mario and Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games moves up to No.8, switching positions with Battlefield 3 which is No.9.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 completes the top ten, after re-entering it from No.14. As reported by The Train2Game Blog, the next instalment in the series, Call of Duty: Black Ops II was announced last week.

Saints Row The Third and The Witcher 2 leave the top ten, falling to No.13 and No.16 respectively.  The PlayStation Vita version of Mortal Kombat only manages to reach No.33 in its debut week.

The UKIE Gfk Chart-Track All Formats Top 10 for the week ending 5th May is therefore as follows:

1. Sniper Elite V2 (505 Games)
2. Prototype 2 (Activision)
3. FIFA 12 (EA)
4. FIFA Street (EA)
5. Mass Effect 3 (EA)
6. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13 (EA)
7. Kinect Star Wars (Microsoft)
8. Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (Sega)
9. Battlefield 3 (EA)
10. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (Activision)

Releases this week include StarHawk for PlayStation 3.

What are your thoughts on Sniper Elite V2 taking No.1? Have you played the game? And which title do you think will top the charts next week?

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

Train2Game news: UK Charts – Prototype 2 leaps to No.1

Train2Game blog readers see Activision Blizzard take their first No.1 of 2012, with Prototype 2 taking top spot in its first week on sale. Radical Entertainment’s open world action game reaches No.1, despite failing to match the debut week sales of 2009’s original.

FIFA Street is a non-mover at No.2, with fellow EA Sports title FIFA 12 also remaining in the same spot it occupied last week at No.3. Mass Effect 3 and Kinect Star Wars both move up one position each to No.4 and No.5 respectively.

After reaching top spot last week, The Witcher 2: Assassin’s of Kings drops five to No.6, with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13 slipping one to No.7. Battlefield 3 drops to No.8, while Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games is once again a non-mover at No.9.  Saints Row The Third moves up two places and complete the top ten.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyim and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 both drop out of the top ten, slipping to No.13 and No.14 respectively.

The UKIE Gfk Chart-Track All Formats Top 10 for the week ending 28th April 2012 is therefore as follows:

1. Prototype 2 (Activision)
2. FIFA Street (EA)
3. FIFA 12 (EA)
4. Mass Effect 3 (EA)
5. Kinect Star Wars (Microsoft)
6. The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings (Namco Bandai)
7. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13 (EA)
8. Battlefield 3 (EA)
9. Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (Sega)
10. Saints Row: The Third (THQ)

Releases for the week ahead include Sniper Elite V2 and Tera.

What are your thoughts on the charts this week? Will Prototype 2 hold onto top spot this time next week?

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