Amazon is getting into the smartphone market with its freshly revealed Fire Phone, the company announced this week.
Engadget reports the phone will pack support for a 3D interface with Dynamic Perspective head-tracking system that can be used in games.
The gadget packs a 4.7 inch Gorilla Glass display with HD resolution screen, a 13 megapixel camera, dual stereo speakers, a quad-core 2.2GHz processor, Adreno 330 GPU and 2GB of RAM.
It also includes Amazon’s free Mayday customer support service, unlimited cloud storage for photos, and Firefly – a feature that uses Fire Phone’s camera to recognize a variety of items, such as games, books, DVDs, CDs, bar codes, URLs, phone numbers, QR codes, and more.
Fire Phone will be priced at $200 for the 32GB version and $300 for the 64GB, but note that’s with a vaild AT&T contract – off-contract the devices will cost an additional $450. Pre-orders can be put down directly through Amazon starting today.
Reports of an Amazon smartphone emerged earlier this year, around the unveiling on new microconsole Fire TV.
REZtron Ltd., are thrilled to announce that it will be part of FISSION MAILED – The Art of Videogaming, Act 1 exhibition at The White Building in London’s creative district of Hackney.
In the last 12 months REZtron’s ‘retrotainment’ has been going from strength to strength catering for the Hospitality industry, Festivals, Corporate functions and Product launches. This will be its first entry in collaborating with the Art world.
FISSION MAILED is a one day interactive gaming art exhibition at The White Building exploring the evolution and creativity of video games and its parallel adoption as an artistic medium.
The pop-up exhibition showcases the interplay of graphics, technology and storytelling through some of the most iconic (and underrated) games ever produced such as Asteroids, Panzer Dragoon, Ikaruga, Rez, Shenmue and Cosmic Smash to name but a few. Alongside these there will also be classic multi-player games open to the public to try out such as Micro Machines, Bomberman, Sonic 2 and Street Fighter II. These will be displayed on projectors and iconic CRT TVs.
Juxtaposed with these iconic and popular games, a parallel history of gaming will unfold through the practices of artists and indie game developers who provide a more pluralistic and subversive approach to exposing the darker underbelly of the gaming industry both past, present and future. Work by some of the most progressive and responsive game developers will be showcased, including work by Anna Anthropy, Merritt Kopas, Ben Eposito and Sophie Houlden.
The first part of the FREE exhibition will take place on Sunday 29th June, 4pm til 10.30pm.Tickets can be booked through Eventbrite.
Mobile Video Advertising network and technology company AdSpruce has announced the launch of a new partnership with Amsterdam based HTML5 games network BoosterMedia. The new partnership will provide game developers with the opportunity to monetize and increase revenue from any HTML5 game on the mobile web.
The partnership provides a new and better way for games developers to get a return on their investment. Mobile video advertising has a proven higher eCPM rate and is a significant improvement on the current banner advertising model widely available in the casual games market.
Founded in 2009, BoosterMedia has become the world’s leading HTML5 games network, pioneering the development and distribution of games on the mobile web. The BoosterMedia game platform boasts an audience of over six million active gamers with 350+ titles currently available to play. Through BoosterMedia, developers are given direct access to millions of gamers in over 50 countries. These games are distributed in app stores and on the mobile web, not only giving developers freedom from Apple and Google but massively increasing the potential audience for any mobile game.
Laurens Rutten, founder and CEO of BoosterMedia comments: “Video advertising is already a proven model for the monetisation of desktop game sites. However, until now, we could not find a good solution to monetise the mobile web. We are therefore happy to work with AdSpruce and bring video advertising to our mobile game sites.”
By partnering with AdSpruce, BoosterMedia has gained access to the “Native Ad Serving Platform” a proprietary technology developed by AdSpruce that can dynamically insert, target, track and deliver a wide range of innovative mobile video advertising formats to the mobile web on over 15,000 different mobile devices. This technology gives game developers the first real opportunity to pursue ad-funded revenue models on the mobile web. The Native Ad Serving Platform allows game developers to monetize their games using a variety of premium video ad formats – from rich media video banners to interstitial video ads and “Watch-To-Access” ads that provide players with targeted, relevant video ads prior to the start of a game.
AdSpruce CEO Ian Mullins spoke in-depth regarding the partnership
“ BoosterMedia is the leading HTML5 games network globally, the clear leader in its field. AdSpruce has the best watch-to-play mobile video advertising technology, so this was a great match and everyone wins. As the casual games model rapidly evolves to ad-funded and freemium, games networks and developers need the best in-game advertising technology and that ’ s where AdSpruce adds real value.
“ We are delighted to be partnering with BoosterMedia, giving their global audience of gamers a better in-game experience and enabling the games eco-system to continue to thrive. In-game video advertising delivers higher eCPMs with minimum disruption to gamers – either for initial access or for access to additional levels and functionality.”
The partnership comes at a time when many of the larger mobile game developers (such as Zynga) are creating new games and porting existing titles to HTML5 amid concerns of rising acquisition costs for app installs and questionable churn rates. Together, AdSpruce and Boostermedia have opened up a clear opportunity for forward thinking developers to create profitable games and apps on the mobile web.
Unity for PlayStation 4 has been fully released for all registered Sony developers.
The new version brings full support to Shader Model 5 and compute shaders, as well as for all DualShock 4 features including the touchpad, vibration, light colour and speaker control.
Developers will also be able to access camera features such as depth detection, hand and face positioning and PS Move detection.
Sony will be making a number of licences available free of charge for approved titles.
Unity also said it was working on full support for integration with Sony’s virtual reality headset Project Morpheus.
UK based video games developer, Red Kite Games has launched Firefly Runner, an action packed, free-running child friendly adventure for Windows Phone and Windows 8 with proceeds going to charity.
Released last week on iOS, Android and Kindle, Firefly Runner can now be downloaded from both the Windows Phone Store and the Windows Store for a one off purchase of 79p with a free trial of the game also being available. Red Kite Games will donate 15% of the revenues generated by Firefly Runner jointly to the charities GamesAid and SpecialEffect thus helping both charities in their work for good causes centred around children and young people.
In the game, players can help Switch the courageous firefly, run, fly, shoot and rescue his captured firefly friends on the stunningly beautiful, yet treacherous, Firefly Island. Players can challenge their reflexes by running, flying and firing their deadly slingshot to take out Switch’s insect foes including grumpy hornets, burping slugs and scuttling spiders. Keep Switch alive and you’ll reach gigantic scores; unlock all the achievements and become the ultimate firefly.
The launch of Firefly Runner has been helped by a series of pro-bono collaborations from games companies including AppyNation, ACE, Carbon Digital, Game Republic, Johnny Atom Productions, Pitstop Productions, PressSpace, Sheridans and Universally Speaking all of whom have donated their services free of charge.
Firefly Runner is now available from the App Store, Amazon Marketplace, Google Play, Windows Phone Store and Windows Store.
The unthinkable has happened. Ubisoft has changed Assassin’s Creed’s long-extant parkour systems for Assassin’s Creed: Unity, reconfiguring the control scheme while introducing a selection of unlockable abilities.
That’s according to game designer Max Spielberg – son of Steven Spielberg – who has outlined the revisions in a blog post for the official site.
“In previous games, you were either running on your feet from object to object, or you were climbing,” he began. “What we did is basically create a transition between the climb system and the navigation system.
“So now, you no longer have to drop down from climbing a wall to an object to continue running. You can, from your climb, perform a transition into a direct run, or swing, or any move possible in the game.”
There are also new modifiers when you’re navigating the city. “There’s the standard Right Trigger control method, where we tried to emulate previous AC games as best we could,” Spielberg observed. “So if you’ve played any previous AC game, you should feel at home with the Right Trigger.
“The A button [Parkour Up] will start trending you upwards. If you are on a façade or have a wall next to you, and there are props along the wall, holding A will use the façade itself – the actual wall – to scramble up to the next object that’s nearest to your current position.
“On the other hand, the B button [Parkour Down] will start dropping you down objects until you reach the ground. This all happens very quickly. In fact, at one point we were toying with the idea of not even needing the leap of faith, because the player can get down facades so quickly with the B (down) option.”
Ubisoft has avoided the “flashier” free-running moves, preferring to focus on ease and efficiency of movement. “Parkour is the fastest way to get from Point A to Point B using the environment, whereas free running is the same concept, except using flashier moves to complete that sequence, like doing tricks with your body.
“We have elements of free running in AC Unity, but we focused more on the parkour aspect of keeping the flow, and keeping some sense of realism. That being said, all these moves are possible since our mocap actors did all of them for us at some point.”
Perhaps most interestingly of all, you’ll now be able to unlock new skills as you progress through the game. “There is a skillset that you learn as you progress through the game. Arno starts out with basic moves and learns more parkour moves along the way. But there are also a few skills that you can purchase, that add some flair to the moves.”
“One of my favourite new moves, and one of the coolest ones I think you’ll see in the game is called the Base Jump,” Spielberg concluded. “The player jumps out, arms outstretched, almost looks like he’s going into a Leap of Faith and then catches a pole right at the last second to swing off. That’s very impressive.”
The game isn’t coming to Xbox 360, but Ubisoft has hinted that another unannounced Assassin’s Creed game will.
You can view a single player demo of the game below which demonstrates the new movement style.
Following my report last week on the charts picking up we have one of the quietest weeks I’ve seen. Watch Dogs retain the top spot and 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil has risen to number two thanks to the start of the world cup. At the other end of the chart Terraria has risen to number twenty with Enemy Front entering the chart at number nineteen.
Leisure software charts compiled by Chart Track, (C)2014 UKIE Ltd
These charts cannot be reproduced either in print or online without obtaining permission from Ukie. If you wish to reproduce the charts in print or online, please contact david.smith@ukie.org.uk for the appropriate license.
The first DS game to hit the Virtual Console service on Wii U is Dr. Kawashima’s Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain?
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata announced in January that the company planned to revive titles from the original DS software catalogue via Virtual Console releases for Wii U, having overcome technical hurdles to bring them to the big screen.
Originally launched in May 2005 and known as Brain Age in Japan and the US, the game is credited with helping bring DS to a wider audience, having sold 19 million copies worldwide.
CVG’s Brain Training review concluded: “Superbly tailored to make the most of the DS’s special bits, the only thing really letting things down in the lacklustre presentation. Ignore that though and you’ve got another unique, absorbing game to whack in your DS.”
The organisers of the Radius Festival have today announced the list of games to be showcased at the inaugural Radius Exhibition next week, 19 – 21st of June.
After a great start to the Radius video games Festival with Loading Bar’s E3 media briefing party, attended by over 200 people, the exhibition moves to White Space Venue, near Leicester Square.
The exhibition will host around 20 different playable titles each day, from developers all over the world, including Tango Fiesta, 0rbitalis, Tap Happy Sabbotage, Timmy Bibble’s Friendship Club, Beyond Gravity, Mighty Tactical Shooter, In Space We Brawl, A Light in Chorus, Fossil Echo, The Kraken Sleepeth, The Marvellous Miss Take, Volume, and many others.
“The creative variety and diversity of the games is amazing”, says co-founder and organiser Georg Backer, “and highlights that Radius is for everyone, from the one person developer to the established studio and to gamers and general public who are curious about games.”
“Radius is a celebration of game design and of the vibrancy of this wonderful industry,” adds co-organiser Keith Stuart. “We set it up in the wake of the major event E3 video games exhibition in Los Angeles, to give gamers a chance to experience and celebrate games amid a period of excitement and hype for the games business.”
The exhibition is free for everyone to attend and runs from June 19th to June 21st. There is £15 Supporter Ticket which includes a free drink and download tokens for two PC indie games: 0rbitalis and Richard & Alice.
During the evenings, there’ll also be the “Radius Show”, a live-streamed Internet show presented by games industry veterans and broadcast on Twitch, featuring developer interviews, guest stars and many surprises. Tickets for the evening show cost £25 and include a free drink plus free digital editions of 0rbitalis, Richard & Alice and Tango Fiesta. The show will be live streamed via www.twitch.tv/radiusfestival
Nintendo’s video games have always had an element that can put great big smiles on people’s faces: it’s that special Nintendo magic.
It’s that certain undefinable something that makes people’s eyes light up, whether they’ve been playing for decades or they’re picking up a game for the first time. At this week’s E3 video game trade show in Los Angeles, Nintendo is showcasing the invention and reinvention of video game experiences – from unique new ways to play to new takes on fan favourite games and franchises.
Interactive figures called “amiibo”, scheduled to arrive this year, can be used with multiple Nintendo games, bringing a touch of Nintendo’s magic to the toys-to-life category. With the addition of amiibo to a solid lineup of games on the way, there has never been a better time to own a Wii U or Nintendo 3DS system.
Further details from E3 can be found in the link below
Amazon is getting into the smartphone market with its freshly revealed Fire Phone, the company announced this week.
The Train2Game Blog 