Tag Archives: Games Developer

Train2Game News Insomnia 54 record breaking attendance

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Multiplay, organiser of the Insomnia Gaming Festival, is pleased to announce that its first event of 2015 Insomnia54 was also its biggest ever with a footfall of over 30,000 across the weekend.

Continuing its incredible growth, Insomnia54 saw the introduction of new areas including a dedicated Esports Stage, and Broadcast Studio, complimenting the huge Main Stage which saw packed live shows featuring globally popular Special Guests from the worlds of YouTube and Twitch. Insomnia54 welcomed brand new exhibitors into its thriving Exhibition Hall such as Sony XDev plus returning exhibitors featuring brand new games such as Jagex’s Chronicle: RuneScape Legends, WB Games’ Mortal Kombat X and Stainless Games’ Carmageddon: Reincarnation. With more Special Guests than ever before, Insomnia once again featured a broad range of activities from across the realms of modern gaming culture providing a unique live gaming experience for fans of all ages and backgrounds.  This was all made possible thanks to the support of Event Sponsors GAME, SCAN & Logitech G.

The post-event coverage of Insomnia also experienced an unprecedented amount of growth, with over 11m combined YouTube views for videos relating to the event and over 2m views of photographs uploaded to the official Flickr account. The event is also set to feature in a segment on BBC’s The One Show, a digital segment for BT Sport, and a series of short online films produced by Channel 4.

Multiplay MD Craig Fletcher said: “Insomnia continues to go from strength-to-strength, with Insomnia54 breaking our previous records for our long-running festival. ” He continued, “We are delighted to have curated such an incredible community unlike anything else in the country, and the plans have already started for Insomnia55 this Summer, set to be a truly unmissable show.”

Tickets for Insomnia55, taking place at Coventry’s Ricoh Arena on August 28th-31st are on-sale now, and available via http://insomniagamingfestival.com/. This summer’s event will bring even more exclusive content than any Insomnia festival to-date, with huge esports tournaments across a variety of popular titles plus popular returning features from previous events.

Train2Game News LEGO Dimensions

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Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, TT Games and The LEGO Group today announced LEGO Dimensions, an all-new entertainment experience that breaks the rules of traditional gaming to merge physical LEGO brick building with interactive console gameplay in a manner only imaginable in the world of LEGO games.

Launching 29th September, 2015, the game will fuse many fan-favourite universes together, including DC Comics, The Lord of the Rings, The LEGO Movie, The Wizard of Oz, LEGO Ninjago, Back to the Future, and many more still to be announced.

LEGO Dimensions, developed by TT Games and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, will be available for Xbox One, the all-in one games and entertainment system from Microsoft and the Xbox 360 games and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 computer entertainment systems and Nintendo´s Wii U system.

For the first time in any LEGO videogame, characters from iconic entertainment franchises join forces and battle in worlds outside of their own. In addition to the game, the LEGO Dimensions Starter Pack will include the LEGO Toy Pad, which allows players to transport special LEGO minifigures and other LEGO objects into the game, bricks to build the LEGO Gateway, three LEGO Minifigures, including LEGO Batman from DC Comics, LEGO Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings and Wyldstyle from The LEGO Movie, plus the LEGO Batmobile.

“When kids play with LEGO bricks, they build beyond the singular brands, intermixing all of their favourite characters and universes, and we have come up with a way for players to experience that in games,” said Jon Burton, Founder and Creative Director, TT Games. “Now for the first time in a videogame, LEGO fans can play in the virtual world and in the real world – combining everything without restrictions. Imagine putting LEGO Gollum from The Lord of the Rings behind the wheel of the LEGO Delorean in New Ninjago City – the creative play is endless.”

“Building on TT Games’ track record for exceptionally popular, engaging games, LEGO Dimensions expands our LEGO videogame franchise with a breakthrough, immersive interactive entertainment experience that will redefine the toys to life games category,” said Jeff Junge, Senior Vice President, LEGO Franchise and TT Games, Warner Bros. Entertainment.  “LEGO Dimensions will bring fans innovative and joyful gameplay with an amazing mash-up of huge brands in both the physical and digital worlds.”

“LEGO Dimensions is unlike anything that we have ever done. It further extends the LEGO play experience into the digital world with all of the characters, humour and action of LEGO videogames now combined with the fun of LEGO minifigure and model building,” said Niels Jørgensen, Vice President, Digital Games for the LEGO Group. “We are thrilled to expand our partnership with TT Games to explore ways in which physical and digital LEGO play can merge in meaningful ways for children.”

In addition to the three minifigure heroes used to start the experience, LEGO Dimensions will allow gamers to customize their experience with additional expansion packs.  Highly collectible Level Packs, Team Packs and Fun Packs will provide new buildable characters, vehicles, tools and gadgets, as well as compelling game content with new mission-based levels and unique in-game abilities.  All expansion packs will feature well-known properties and provide gamers the opportunity to use everything interchangeably, anywhere throughout the game – with no limitations.
    
A small sample of packs available in 2015 include the Back to the Future Level Pack with a LEGO Marty McFly minifigure, a LEGO Ninjago Team Pack with Kai and Cole minifigures, three Ninjago Fun Packs with Jay, Nya and Zane minifigures, two DC Comics Fun Packs with Wonder Woman and Cyborg minifigures, three The Lord of the Rings Fun Packs with LEGO Gollum, LEGO Gimli and LEGO Legolas minifigures, four The LEGO Movie Fun packs with Emmet, Bad Cop, Benny and Unikitty characters, and a The Wizard of Oz Fun Pack with a LEGO Wicked Witch of the West minifigure.  Additional packs to round out the 2015 assortment will be announced in the months leading to launch.  Further waves of expansion packs will be released regularly following the launch of the game and into 2016.

LEGO Dimensions not only offers a bridge between digital and physical LEGO play, but also introduces a digital system of play with great long-term value for LEGO gaming.  One LEGO Toy Pad, LEGO Gateway and the videogame found in the initial Starter Pack will offer endless opportunities to customize a player’s experience for years to come.  Future expansion pack purchases will continue to work with the Starter Pack, even in the fall of next year.  No compatibility chart necessary.

You can watch the LEGO Dimensions announcement trailer on the WB Games UK Youtube Channel at https://youtu.be/fBvr289G3w8

Train2Game News Sega and Ubisoft join Dare to be Digital

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Major international games companies Reflections, a Ubisoft studio, and SEGA Europe Ltd have joined Dare to be Digital 2015 as mentors to the student teams.

The applicants to this year’s Dare to be Digital will receive support from highly experienced games industry professionals throughout development, with a focus on preparing them for prestigious graduate careers and launching their own businesses.

Reflections and SEGA join Dundee-based Denki, Ninja Kiwi and Tag Games, giving the student teams access to globally respected companies who have achieved creative and commercial success.

Dare to be Digital is the world’s leading game design competition for students, run each summer by Abertay University. This year more students than ever are eligible to compete, with game development taking place from any location in the world. Mentoring will be available online for all teams.

Professor Louis Natanson, Head of the School of Arts, Media and Computer Games at Abertay University, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Denki, Ninja Kiwi, Reflections, SEGA and Tag Games as mentors for Dare to be Digital 2015.

“It’s an invaluable experience for a student game developer to be mentored by professionals, often with decades of experience working at the heights of this global industry.

“Being able to share your work in development, get instant feedback and guidance is an integral part of the Dare to be Digital experience.

“And it always helps accelerate the development of original, creative games that are a lot of fun for the thousands of people, young and old, who visit our Dare ProtoPlay festival in Dundee each August.”

Nicola Sharp, HR Director at Reflections, said: “Reflections is a world leading creative studio working on Ubisoft’s major titles like Tom Clancy’s The Division, MMO racer The Crew and the successful Steam title Grow Home.

“We need very highly talented graduates to join our studio to help us make these games, and to develop into our senior staff and team leaders of the future.

“In recent years we have seen that most of our interns and new junior colleagues have taken part in Dare to be Digital. It’s really important for us to support the teams taking part in Dare and nurture the next generation of talented game developers.”

Previously Dare to be Digital teams had just eight weeks to develop a new prototype game from scratch, excluding any student projects or games originally created at an event like the Global Game Jam.

In response to calls from companies and students, the only limit is now that the game must have been in production for less than a year and not have been previously commercially released.

Students keen to take part – and compete for prizes from BAFTA, Channel 4 and others – will this year develop their game at home or their own university, before travelling to Dundee to showcase their game at the UK’s biggest independent games festival, Dare ProtoPlay.

Applications to Dare to be Digital must be made at http://www.daretobedigital.com/73_Apply.html by 5pm on Monday 4 May.

Games industry experts will then pick 15 teams who have the summer to complete their game before travelling to Dundee for Dare ProtoPlay.

Free accommodation will be provided in Dundee from Saturday 8 to Tuesday 18 August to allow all the teams to set their games up for Dare ProtoPlay, which runs from Thursday 13 to Sunday 16 August in Dundee’s Caird Hall and City Square.

For more information, please visit http://www.daretobedigital.com/

Train2Game News Major League Gaming viewers increasing

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Major League Gaming (MLG), today announced first quarter results for MLG.TV, its premium broadcasting network, which has seen viewership increase by 253% year over year and ad revenue jump by 482%.

Video viewership is on the rise for MLG’s 16-month-old live broadcast platform. MLG.tv now has a 70% quarterly growth rate and in the first 90 days of 2015 has already surpassed the number of hours viewed for the prior two quarters – from July through December 2014.

“We launched with a premium, highly-curated programming strategy and the result is a fast growing, engaged millennial audience of millions,” said Mike Sepso, President and cofounder of MLG. “We invested heavily in our ad solution and focused on mobile and OTTV distribution and the results have been amazing for both our advertisers and our broadcast partners.”

The company’s audience growth contributed to a 482% increase in year over year video advertising revenue for the period from Q1 ‘14 to Q1 ‘15 with over 2,600 individual brands. In a significant shift brought on by expanded distribution on mobile and OTTV platforms, a full 50% of MLG.tv’s video ad inventory is now delivered via mobile apps or OTTV devices on Xbox Live, Roku and Chromecast.

“We have proven to be the most successful platform for partners looking to monetize their audience and have been deluged with incoming requests for channels,” said Rishi Chadha, VP of Content Acquisition. “This has allowed us to expand our premium-only programming strategy, while still being highly selective in choosing our partners for MLG.tv. “

Significant growth is expected to continue as recent innovations in MLG.tv’s  data management and programmatic ad platform have met with increased demand and resulted in 20% increase in average CPMs within the quarter.

MLG will expand on the 1000+ hours of original broadcast content it created in 2014. Joining notable programming like the eSports Report and Call of Duty Championship presented by Xbox with expanded competition at ESPN’s X Games and debuting strong newcomers like The Cast Off.

Train2Game News Nethermined event

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The first event of its kind to be held in the north east region of England, Nethermined (netherminded.com) is a family-friendly, unofficial extravaganza offering an exclusive opportunity to meet some of the world’s biggest Minecraft YouTubers.

Not just about gaming, Nethermined is the result of an exuberant Minecraft fan demand for an event in the north east England region, gearing up to be an exciting two days of Q&A sessions, chances to meet YouTubers, live gaming as well as the premiere of the new Nethermined server. The event is scheduled to take place over Bank Holiday Weekend on Saturday 2nd May and Sunday 3rd May 3 at The Park Hotel in Tynemouth NE30 4JQ.

With plenty to see and do for the whole family, Nethermined is delighted to confirm GAME shall be supporting the event and hosting the XBox Zone throughout the 2 days with creative competitions for all ages.

Nethermined will also be supporting – as part of the event organisers’ commitment to charities – the Evening Chronicle Sunshine Fund, dedicated to changing the lives of children with disabilities.

A Facebook Fan Page and Twitter account have yielded unprecedented support for the concept behind Nethermined, ultimately leading to a list of Minecraft YouTubers beyond what organisers were remotely expecting – all dedicated to their fans and proving it by producing videos regularly to entertain them, spending hours on their servers playing games and routinely Tweeting with them.

Further, a “Mine-Crafty family” will be on hand to entertain the younger fans with their craft skills while assisting in other activities throughout the two days, while arts and crafts, YouTubers meet and greets, gift stands and more ensure the Nethermined event is a fun-filled day for all.

Day and weekend tickets are available now on Eventbrite via nethermined.com.

Train2Game News Deus Ex Mankind Divided announced

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Square Enix and Eidos-Montréal, the award-winning studio behind the critically acclaimed, multimillion-selling Deus Ex: Human Revolution, today announced that Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, the next chapter in the legendary Deus Ex franchise, is in development for the PlayStation 4 computer entertainment system, Xbox One, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft, and Windows PC.

The action role-playing game brings one of the most well-known, immersive and discussed worlds to the newest generation of consoles and high-end PCs.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided takes place in 2029, two years after the events of Human Revolution and the infamous ‘Aug Incident’ in Panchaea that resulted in the death of millions at the hands of those who had installed augmentations. This event has created a huge divide between those who have augmentations, and those who do not. Amongst this emotional turmoil are various factions looking to manipulate the public by twisting public opinion of augmentation to further their own agenda and hide the truth of what really happened.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided also continues the story of Adam Jensen, a former biotech company security chief turned super-augmented, anti-terrorist agent playing by his own rules. Jensen has been empowered with all new augmentations, enabling him and the player a greater sense of self-control as they explore all new locations in-game. As social and political tensions reach a major turning point, Jensen and conspiracies surrounding the Illuminati continue toward an inevitable crossroads … and possibly, an epic showdown.

“For 15 years, Deus Ex has been a point of conversation across the games industry and beyond, whether the topic is the franchise’s unique gameplay or topical narrative focused on advanced biotechnology and human augmentation,” said David Anfossi, Head of Studio, Eidos-Montréal. “What began with Deus Ex: Human Revolution goes to a whole new level in Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, diving even deeper into this discussion and, in turn, offering fans an all-encompassing experience, one which will challenge their skills as players and emphasize decision-making based on real world topics.”

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided will also mark a new era in Eidos-Montréal’s technology, utilizing the advanced visual and immersive capabilities of the Dawn Engine, specifically built for the recent generation of consoles and PC. Under the umbrella of the Gaming Evolved program, AMD and Eidos-Montréal have been collaborating on Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, and the game will feature Microsoft’s DirectX 12 support as well as AMD’s TressFX. These features will not only raise the bar in game performance but bring unrivalled visual fidelity to the Deus Ex franchise..

The release date for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided will be announced at a later date.

Exclusive details and developer commentary for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided can be found in Game Informer’s May issue. Visit GameInformer throughout the month for ongoing coverage.

Check out the official trailer below

https://www.youtube.com/?client=mv-google#/verify_age?next=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DsyywnSpIVok&client=mv-google

Train2Game News Nintendo StreetPass Week

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It’s about time for owners of a Nintendo 3DS family system to take to the streets, as Nintendo announces International StreetPass Week between 16th and 27th April 2015.

This celebration of all things StreetPass coincides with the release of two new games for, and a major new update to, StreetPass Mii Plaza. This week-and-a-bit of activity will bring together players’ Mii characters from across Europe, USA and Canada, as well as gifting Nintendo 3DS owners with a special Mii of Nintendo of Europe president Satoru Shibata, and a free, commemorative HOME Menu theme.

By visiting any Nintendo Zone location during International StreetPass Week, Nintendo 3DS owners can  receive up to six international Mii visitors to their system, via StreetPass Relay. From the furthest reaches of south-western USA or northern Canada to the most easterly part of Germany in Europe – and many places in between – exciting and exotic Mii characters will be shared between Nintendo 3DS systems around the western world.

At participating Nintendo Zone locations, visitors can also get a download code for a free Nintendo 3DS HOME Menu theme exclusively made for International StreetPass Week, as well as encounter the special Mii of Nintendo of Europe president Satoru Shibata. To find a Nintendo Zone location simply visit the Nintendo Zone Finder at zone.nintendo.co.uk.

More Mii characters means more puzzle pieces collected, more map locations obtained and more heroes to assist players in the wide variety of StreetPass Mii Plaza games already available, as well as the two exciting new ones releasing on 16th April: StreetPass Fishing and StreetPass Zombies.

In the soothing StreetPass Fishing, players visit islands to try to catch more than 150 types of fish and legendary monsters with bait received from Mii characters via StreetPass. In the action-packed StreetPass Zombies, players receive weapons based on the hobbies of their StreetPass Mii Plaza characters to defeat a horde of zombies. The recently released trailer shows both games in action.

Fans can download an update to StreetPass Mii Plaza, enabling them to customise their greetings, as well as purchase StreetPass Mii Plaza Premium, which adds features such as StreetPass Birthdays and the new VIP room.

StreetPass Communities all over the UK will be holding events during International StreetPass Week, to celebrate StreetPass and the two new games coming to the StreetPass Mii Plaza.

The events across the UK will give Nintendo fans a chance to play the new StreetPass games as well as revisit classic Nintendo 3DS titles including Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Pokémon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire, Kid Icarus: Uprising, and Mario Kart 7.

Fans will be able to access information about their local events via http://streetpassuk.co.uk/. This community run website will be updated in the build-up to International StreetPass week, so be sure to keep checking for new updates and events.

Which international Mii will you meet? Go out there and get that little green light on your Nintendo 3DS family system to blink during International StreetPass Week between 16th and 27th April 2015

Train2Game News CG Student Awards

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£240,000 worth of prizes and twenty five paid internships available to Train2Game Digital Artists in the CG Student Awards

Train2Game students asked to enter CG Student Awards by co- founder of the industry wide Computer Graphics competition. Interview with co-founder exclusively for Train2Game also tells students more about the competition.

The CG Student Awards are an annual independent event created by Games Developers, which showcase and reward excellence in computer graphics from students and recent graduates.

The Awards strive to create a platform for all aspiring digital artists to launch their careers, network with professionals, and connect with other passionate digital artists from around the world. The Awards are a chance to reward those studying Art while putting them in the spotlight of employers. 

This year there are over £240,000 in prizes available and twenty five paid internships, at companies including: Weta Digital, Epic Games, Moving Picture Company, and Double Negative. All entries to the competition receive an incredible software package worth £65. Entries also receive an industry approved rank for their submission and feedback from judges on their entry.

Train2Game spoke with CG Awards co-founder Alwyn Hunt to get his advice on what Train2Game students can gain from entering the competition.

Alwyn Hunt, co-founder, Sales and New Business:  “The CG Student Awards are a great stage for students to be able to compare themselves with their peers. We have some world class gaming studios involved with the Awards that are looking for students to work for them.”

“We created the awards, because we recognised the fact that there was no stage for student to be able to showcase their work. People are genuinely shocked when they see just how good student work can actually be – even we’re amazed each year with the quality coming through. It’s great to see, and that’s what the awards are all about – just showcasing the different talents from around the world and bringing it onto that global stage via the website, www.cgstudentawards.com.”

“The most important thing that students stand to gain is exposure on a global scale.  On top of that every person that enters gets a 1-month subscription to Digital Tutors, a 6-month Creative Cloud license from Adobe, and a 3-month website hosting package from SiteGround! Goodies worth £65.”

“Having something to work towards helps stop procrastination, and you learn so much in the process of getting your entry ready for competitions.  We put a lot of effort into organizing studios to offer internship to the winners.  We have a lot of big studios looking at the students work during the running of the Awards and we have found in the past that even students that don’t win, often get contacted by studios.”

The competition is now open for 2015, enter at www.cgstudentawards.com

Train2Game News EGX 2015 Tickets Selling Fast

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Gamer Network, the world’s leading network of independent video games websites and producer of the UK’s premiere video games events, today announced that tickets for this year’s EGX – powered by Virgin Media – have smashed through the 20,000 sales milestone.

In just two weeks 20,000 – or one quarter – of all EGX tickets have been sold, including 100% of the Virgin Media Early Entry and Saturday and Sunday Early Entry tickets. Tickets of all types are selling quickly (Friday Early Entry tickets are especially limited), with consumers demonstrating their excitement for EGX 2015; the UK’s biggest ever video games event, with the greatest number of playable pre-release games.

With the huge initial publisher support – 2K, Bandai Namco Games, Bethesda Softworks, Capcom, Electronic Arts, Green Man Loaded, Introversion Software, Nintendo, Oculus VR, PlayStation, SEGA, Square Enix, Team17, Ubisoft, Versus Evil and Xbox – gamers know they’ll be getting their hands on 2015’s best gaming experiences before the general public.

Fans have also fully embraced the new venue. Centrally located just outside Birmingham, with fantastic transport routes to the north and south of the country, the NEC provides the ideal space to support the whole of the UK.

For the small number of Londoners afraid to leave the capital (you know who you are) EGX has partnered with Virgin Trains to offer a 25% discount on rail travel (offer also available nationwide). Visit http://www.egx.net/egx/location for more information and join the rest of us at this year’s massive show.

Frozen at last year’s prices, tickets are available from the EGX website (www.egx.net/egx/tickets ), with a variety of day and full event passes available:

●     Day ticket – £17.50
●     Early Entry ticket – £20
●     Four day Super Pass – £60

Stay up-to-date with EGX online, including heads-up on ticket and game giveaways and to purchase tickets visit the  EGX 2015 event website, www.egx.net/egx

Train2Game News GameLoading Rise of the Indies

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Since its world premiere last month at industry events and select regional screenings, the GameLoading: Rise of the Indies feature documentary film has been generating strong chatter in videogame and online circles.

On April 21, GameLoading: Rise of the Indies will release through Steam, Humble, PlayStation, Xbox, iTunes, VHX and Playism.  Today through Friday April 29, early purchasers can place their orders for the film through VHX at a discount at www.gameloading.tv/pre-purchase/

    Standalone Film:     $8.99 (will be $9.99 after April 29)
    Member’s Bundle:   $14.99 (will be $19.99 after April 29)

Includes the film’s soundtrack, supplementary ebook and access to extra content, along with the film.

GameLoading explores the world of indie developers – their craft, dreams, and the ways they are changing the landscape of games culture. Indie games contribute to advancing the medium through their innovative, varied and personal approach. Small teams of passionate and creative developers offer an alternate voice to players. GameLoading captures this amazing time in the industry, where video games are becoming more personal than ever before.  While sharing a wide snapshot of the subculture, GameLoading focuses on a handful of developers; Davey Wreden (The Stanley Parable), Rami Ismail (Vlambeer), Robin Arnott (SoundSelf), Zoe Quinn (Depression Quest), Tale of Tales (Luxuria Superbia), Trent Kusters (Armello) and Christine Love (Analogue: A Hate Story). 

After an early viewing, Cards Against Humanity’s Max Temkin called the film “an incredible and honest snapshot of the indie scene.”

In addition to these figures, the film also captures a wide variety of indie developers behind some of the most important games of the past few years and highlights this diverse, creative community on an international scale.  The film demystifies what goes into making a game, examines the different processes of developers, captures the excitement of industry events like PAX, GDC, the prestigious Independent Games Festival Awards and Train Jam, examines why we play, what success means, and where this medium has come from and where it may be going. 

By film’s end we get a clear and emotional snapshot of this alternate games industry segment that will inspire audiences to seek out new game experiences – or make games themselves!  While video games often carry perceptions of violence and anti-social settings, GameLoading offers a less publicized spotlight. We see how some indie developers are encouraging a dialogue on human issues such as mental illness, relationships, family grief, poverty and war.