Train2Game News: Train2Game in 2012- October to December

Train2GameThe last bit of this year has been just as busy as the rest, with Microsoft announcing that Train2Game are one of their sponsors for their new Power Up competition.

Train2Game are also offering a prize for the Power Up competition of a large amount of PR to make sure who ever wins will get a lot of attention from the industry and the public which will highly increase the winners job prospects.

Train2Game also attended this years Eurogamer.

In the Train2Game booth at Eurogamer the public was able to play the winning game from the World Record winning Game Jam, Royal Rush. The player that got the highest score on the game that day won a prize and of course bragging rights.

You can watch the video of Train2Games time at Eurogamer below:

It has been a pleasure to bring you all the news since I started back in September and I do hope you have all enjoyed reading it. I will continue to bring you all the latest news and updates from the industry we love and bring you many more interviews from fellow students and industry professionals.

Train2Game News: Eurogamer 2012 Video

At the end of September Train2Game were at Eurogamer held in London’s Earls Court.

Below is the video from the event which has interviews with several students talking about their experiences with Train2Game and the Microsoft world record winning Game Jam.

Train2Game News: Eurogamer reports on Game Jam

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 Microsoft-sponsored game jam

Train2Game witnesses start of Zombie apocalypse

Whilst Train2Game were at Eurogamer over the weekend, they witnessed the beginning of the Zombie apocalypse.

The link below shows the picture evidence of these nightmare creatures with Train2Game

http://www.facebook.com/Train2GameEuroGamer2012

See everything Train2Game got up to at Eurogamer 2012

Not for the faint hearted!

Train2Game News: A day at Eurogamer Expo: Part 2

This is the continuation of my day at the Eurogamer Expo held in London at Earl’s Court.

The first game I tried in the afternoon was the new Devil May Cry from Capcom. With the main character, Dante, being younger, he is cockier and cooler than ever. I have not played previous Devil May Cry games. It’s a grand display of action in a beautiful demonic world with a good mix of Angel and Demon powers it looks to be attractive with a good pace of action.

I finally got my first play on a PSVita at the show, playing Little Big Planet. The game was enjoyable, it made good use of the touch screen. However I did find the way that I was holding the device meant I was touching the track pad on the back. It didn’t affect the game I was playing but I fear it might when a game uses the mechanic.

I didn’t get to play a WiiU unfortunately. I did however have a look at it. The person I watched was playing ZombiU. The game definitely blows away any worries that it is going to be all family games again like with the Wii. ZombiU looks like a good horror with impressive graphics. It uses the tablet controller in interesting ways, having to hold up the tablet to the screen so that it can disable a jammer in one of the in game areas. My only worry is whether the tablet will be too big in your hands to use comfortably.

After a little shopping trip, buying a Joker shirt and an Assassins Creed wall scroll, I came back to the Capcom stand to play Resident Evil 6. Now you may know I am a big fan of the series, so much so that I have the Umbrella logo tattooed just above my elbow. I was disappointed with Resi 5, I felt that it had lost all of its horror elements. Resident Evil 6 however seems to have something for most people. Playing as Chris Redfield you get a good action paced story, like what it seemed they wanted Resident Evil 5 to be. Playing as Leon Kennedy however you get a good sense of the survival horror similar to the first games of the series. There is a third character called Jake who I didn’t get to try out, my guess would be he is a mixture of the two styles.

As I was playing Resident Evil 6, I turned around to see a zombie who was eyeing up my arm. The guy had amazing make up which was so good in fact he wouldn’t look out of place in The Walking Dead. He then proceeded to give a friend of mine his phone to get his picture taken with a character from Mortal Kombat, that isn’t something you see every day.

I attended the Train2Game stand once more and saw the results of the Royal Rush competition I mentioned in the first part of this blog. The winner got a limited edition silver Xbox360 Controller and it was handed to the winner by The Joker.

The final game I played at the event was the Tomb Raider reboot. The game was absolutely gorgeous and Lara Croft no longer feel likes an immortal woman. She now feels flawed and real as you run around which adds to the immersion of the game. I was doing a hunting mission and my objective was to kill a deer using the Bow and Arrow I had just obtained. My only complaint was the arrows seem far too weak. I shot the deer straight through the neck, thinking that would kill it no problem. It then took an extra six arrows to take it down. The game is still in pre-beta though so I am sure such problems will be fixed by release in March.

Before I set off to drive home I headed in to the Cybercandy store and I bought my self a Zombie survival energy drink to keep me going through the drive home. I had an incredible day and it is very exciting seeing all the games that are soon to be released.

Train2Game News: Microsoft have announced their Eurogamer line up

Microsoft have announced their line up for Eurogamer. They will demonstrate the games they have been working on through out the year.

The games that Microsoft have announced are Halo 4 Infinity multiplayer, Forza Horizon, Fable: The Journey, Gears of War: Judgment and Dance Central 3. Xbox LIVE Arcade and entertainment will all be available for visitors to sample on the show floor.

In addition, Gears of War: Judgment is playable for the first time in the UK, with the new multiplayer mode OverRun available for fans to try.

Franchise development director Frank O’Connor from 343 Industries will open the dev sessions at midday on Thursday 27th September with a presentation of Halo 4. At 4pm on Friday 28th September Ralph Fulton from Playground Games will introduce Forza Horizon to attendees.

Eurogamer Managing Director Rupert Loman said “Microsoft Studios’ line-up for the Eurogamer Expo is one of the strongest offerings from any publisher.

“We’re thrilled to offer so many heavyweight titles for gamers to play before release.”

In addition a Halo 4 partnership with Mountain Dew Energy will also come to life with the Mountain Dew Crew fuelling gamers and keeping energy levels up across the four days.

Train2Game will also have their yearly stand at Eurogamer. You will be able to talk to tutors and ask any questions you may have.

 

Train2Game at EuroGamer with Jason Kingsley CEO and Creative Director Rebellion

Train2Game at EuroGamer with Jason Kingsley CEO and Creative Director Rebellion

Together with younger brother Chris, Jason Kingsley formed Oxford-based developer Rebellion in 1991. Their first published title was Alien Vs. Predator on the Atari Jaguar, in 1995. They gained wider acclaim in the late 90’s with the PC game Aliens Vs. Predator. Following that, Jason bought famed UK comic publisher 2000 AD, gaining access to hundreds of intellectual properties, including Judge Dredd, Strontium Dog and Halo Jones.

The first fruits of the deal came with 2003’s PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC game Judge Dredd: Dredd Vs. Death, while Rogue Trooper, released in 2006 for the same platforms, has been its most successful comic-to-game transition. Rebellion’s development headcount grew considerably with the purchase of Eidos’ Core Design, and Empire Interactive’s Strangelite in 2006, and Ignition’s Awesome Developments in spring 2007.

The Kingsley brothers also set up book publisher Abbadon, currently dormant film production company Fearnort and have a controlling share in Oxford-based motion capture studio Audio Motion. More recently Jason has again enjoyed exceptional success with Fox and Sega with the release of the new Aliens V Predators. In March of this year Jason announced the creation of a social division within rebellion responsible for creating games for Facebook and other social media outlets.

Train2Game at EuroGamer with Duncan Ross CTO Genuine Games

Train2Game at EuroGamer with Duncan Ross CTO Genuine Games

Duncan Ross CTO Genuine Games has12 years of industry experience and 9 published titles, as well as having been involved in around 10 others.

Genuine Games Ltd was incorporated in 1998. Working to deliver innovative mass appeal gaming with a passion and desire to entertain, the industry veterans are the most genuine in the business.

There headquarters are based in the scenic Scottish Highlands (Scotland has the highest proportion of game developers per head of population of any country in the world) offering us a wide range of talent.

Train2Game at Eurogamer with Dave Hawes Lead Programmer at Eutechnyx

Train2Game at EuroGamer with Dave Hawes Lead Programmer at Eutechnyx

Dave has worked in the games industry for many years and worked in many different areas on previous and current generation consoles, He currently manage projects, advise on recruitment and architect new parts of the Eutechnyx engine. Hawes spoke at GDC 2008 on intergrating stackless python into a modern multi-platform console engine.
In 2009 Hawes had an article published in game developer magazine on the same topic.

Train2Game at EuroGamer 2011 with Charles Cecil MBE Managing Director of Revolution Software

Train2Game at EuroGamer 2011 with Charles Cecil MBE Managing Director of Revolution Software

Charles Cecil MBE has worked in the interactive entertainment industry for 25 years. He is currently Managing Director of Revolution Software which has released such hits as Beneath a Steel Sky and the Broken Sword series. Mr. Cecil is on the advisory panel of the Edinburgh Interactive Entertainment Festival, and Develop Conference and regularly talks at events and to mainstream press about creative and commercial aspects of the video games industry. He is also a co-founder and remains a Director of Game Republic, an alliance of game developers, and is a Board member of Screen Yorkshire, a regional agency that supports film, television and interactive entertainment in Yorkshire. In 2006, Mr. Cecil was awarded the status of ‘industry legend’ by Develop, Europe’s leading development magazine