Tag Archives: games industry

Train2Game News Films on twitch

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Devolver Digital, the Austin-based independent video game and film distributor, today announced plans to air a weekly series of live screenings of video game related movie titles on  Twitch, the world’s leading video platform and community for gamers.

The series kicks off on January 9, 2015 with a new airing each Friday through February 20. Each film will air at approximately 2:15pm at  www.twitch.tv/twitch and will feature live chatting with the respective filmmakers. 

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_uE3-OKWC0

The series will begin with a  screening of the Devolver-produced documentary  Stream Dream. This film chronicles the rising influence of gaming video content creators using Twitch and other video platforms to reach their worldwide audiences. Devolver will preface Stream Dream with a premiere of its new Winter Releases Trailer which features upcoming movie releases from the indie publishing and distribution house.

2015 Schedule:

• January 9:  Stream Dream and Winter Releases Trailer
• January 16:  Pixel Poetry – A games-as-art documentary
• January 23: (no broadcast)
• January 30:  Angry Video Game Nerd – The movie adaptation of the popular comic web series
• February 6:   Gaming in Color – LGBTQ gamer documentary
• February 13:  Super Game Jam: The Movie – Game development becomes entertainment
• February 20: To be announced

“Twitch represents a new frontier for filmmakers looking to connect with an audience who is passionate about video game culture,” said Ben Goldhaber, Director of Content Marketing, Twitch. “Devolver Digital is the perfect example of a studio who understands the appeal of Twitch’s social video format by both documenting our brand in Stream Dream and scheduling broadcasts of half a dozen gaming films on our platform.”

All of the films will also be available for rental and download on digital VOD platforms including Amazon, GOG, Google Play, Playstation, Vudu, Xbox, VHX, Vimeo on Demand, and Gumroad.

Train2Game News Sounds of Peasants Revolt

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SyrinscapeSyrinscape, developer of the app that creates custom, movie-like soundscapes, effects, and music for the tabletop gaming experience, today opens the worldwide call for game fans to contribute their own sounds to be included in the forthcoming Peasants Revolt SoundSet.

Syrinscape developer and Dicestormers co-host Benjamin Loomes asks fans to submit their own self-recorded sounds, including wooden crashes, shattering glass, screams, yells, group chanting, and other sounds players associate with the “peasants revolt” theme. Everyone who contributes a sound will receive the final Peasants Revolt SoundSet for free, as well as a name credit on the product page.

The sounds can be recorded via smart phone, a handheld recorder, or professional studio, and submitted directly to Loomes via email, via Facebook, or a file sharing service, such as Dropbox. Additional details on how and what to submit can be found on Syrinscape.com.

In celebration of the launch of Syrinscape’s SoundSet Creator later this month, Loomes will use the revolutionary new app to build a community-sourced Peasants Revolt SoundSet from the fan-submitted sounds. The process of turning the random sounds into a rich and engaging SoundSet will be documented via a series of YouTube videos, to serve as tutorials for players wanting to create their own environments.

The SoundSet Creator is an easy to use sound toolset, which gives the user the power to create and customize fantastic sound environments to be used in their tabletop games, and is slated for a January 28, 2015 release.

Syrinscape SoundPacks and SoundSets add a new dimension to the gaming table. In addition to creating the officially licensed SoundPacks for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Syrinscape creates general-purpose fantasy and sci-fi themed sounds that bring the soundtrack of gameplay to life.

The Syrinscape Fantasy and Sci-Fi Players are free to download, including two free SoundSets, and are compatible with a wide range of devices, including PC, Mac, Android Tablets, and iPads. For more information, the free download, or to subscribe, visit syrinscape.com.

Train2Game News Open Platform VR Gaming

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osvr-logoA group of industry leaders, alongside with Razer, a leader in connected devices and software for gamers, and Sensics, a leader in high-performance VR, today announced the Open-Source Virtual Reality (OSVR) ecosystem, a new standard in VR gaming to push the VR gaming experience forward.

Razer will support the venture with the OSVR Hacker Dev Kit, a virtual reality device and open-source software that enables programming for any variety of VR technology.

OSVR provides both hardware and software support at every level of virtual reality gaming. Starting with some of the most popular game engines, including Unity and Unreal Engine 4, OSVR also works with device plugins from hardware market leaders like Bosch and Razer and the latest from Sixense and LeapMotion. Moreover, OSVR is designed to support all VR devices, including the Oculus DK 2 and Vrvana’s Totem headset.

Engineering teams from all over the world developed a standardized interface for virtual reality gaming. The open platform will allow third parties to design and build their own apps and hardware across any operating systems, including Windows, Android and Linux.

“Gaming is moving towards the virtual reality platform and this poses huge benefits and challenges to gamers at every level,” says Min-Liang Tan, Razer co-founder and CEO. “OSVR brings game developers, gamers and hardware manufacturers together to solve those challenges and make virtual reality gaming a reality for the masses.”

Says Sensics CEO Yuval Boger: “OSVR’s open-platform approach accelerates innovation and provides consumers the freedom of choosing the best combination of hardware and software components. We are excited to partner with Razer and other industry leaders to build OSVR together.”

In line with the OSVR vision, the OSVR Hacker Dev Kit hardware design is both affordable and open source to encourage developers to take advantage of the program. To make software development even easier, the OSVR HDK includes high-quality, low-distortion optics that practically eliminate the need for color and distortion correction, thus minimizing the amount of additional development work required for OSVR compared to other VR devices. Anyone can download 3D files and create their own set of VR-Glasses. For more information on how that works, visit www.osvr.com.

“The OGA is committed to an open ecosystem for the gaming industry, and is pleased to support the efforts of the OSVR,” said Drew Johnston, president of the Open Gaming Alliance. “A free, open source VR development solution supporting multiple headset manufacturers, diverse game engines, and multiple platforms is exactly what game developers and publishers need to accelerate VR gaming adoption.”

Train2Game News Xbox One CPU Increase

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Xbox OneAs I am sure you are all well aware some irritating people hacked Xbox Live and PSN however some good has come from it.

Whilst the Xbox One was being hacked a number of development tools to be used by game studios were revealed, including Microsoft’s generous gift to developers – the use of an extra CPU core.

There are eight in total within the Xbox One’s case, two of which have so far been reserved for running the background operating system. Now Microsoft has opened up the use of 50 to 80% of the seventh CPU, meaning that games will run faster and smoother.

The use of this seventh CPU will necessitate the ditching of Kinect – custom, game-specific voice commands, the infrared and depth sensors won’t work. Even worse, basic console commands – “Xbox Go Home”, “Xbox Go To…” will snatch back 50% of the CPU usage.

Microsoft have recognised the flaws and limitations of their seventh CPU in the documentation that goes alongside the development tools, and they are aiming to fix it at some point in the future.

Train2Game News UK Top 20 Games – 05.01.15

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Call of Duty Advanced WarfighterA brand new and the first charts to get us going! Unsurprisingly it is the usual suspects at the top awaiting the next big game to knock them down. The only new game in this weeks charts is Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker from Nintendo at number sixteen.

All formats

Week ending 3 January 2015

POS.  TITLE  PUBLISHER  LAST
WEEK 
1 – CALL OF DUTY: ADVANCED WARFARE ACTIVISION 1
2 – GRAND THEFT AUTO V ROCKSTAR 2
3 – FIFA 15 EA SPORTS 3
4 FAR CRY 4 UBISOFT 5
5 ASSASSIN’S CREED: UNITY UBISOFT 4
6 – THE CREW UBISOFT 6
7 DESTINY ACTIVISION 11
8 WWE 2K15 2K SPORTS 12
9 DRIVECLUB SONY COMPUTER ENT. 7
10 MINECRAFT: XBOX EDITION MICROSOFT 8
11 MINECRAFT: PLAYSTATION EDITION SONY COMPUTER ENT. 9
12 LEGO BATMAN 3: BEYOND GOTHAM WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE 10
13 MIDDLE EARTH: SHADOW OF MORDOR WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE 16
14 FORZA HORIZON 2 MICROSOFT 18
15 THE EVIL WITHIN BETHESDA SOFTWORKS 14
16 CAPTAIN TOAD: TREASURE TRACKER NINTENDO –
17 LITTLEBIGPLANET 3 SONY COMPUTER ENT. 13
18 HALO: THE MASTER CHIEF COLLECTION MICROSOFT 19
19 ASSASSIN’S CREED: ROGUE UBISOFT 17
20 – SUPER SMASH BROS. NINTENDO 20
< previous week
Leisure software charts compiled by Chart Track, (C)2015 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.

Train2Game News Far Cry 4 Review

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Far Cry 4The lovely people at Ubisoft sent me over Far Cry 4 to review and it has taken me this long to get round to writing the review!

This game is huge! I ended up with a 74.9% completion and it took me about 34 hours to get there. I did the very minimum to get the achievements and it still took me a long time to get through it. However this being said it doesn’t feel repetitive.

I didn’t get the pleasure of playing through Far Cry 3 my self but I did see my flatmate play through it. From what I could gather the story is more in depth and interesting in the third game but the antagonist Pagan Min is an excellent character and amused me throughout the game.

The game is breath taking to look at and just travelling around the land of Kyrat is a pleasure in its self. The scenery is stunning and the map has many ways to get around which brings me on to my next point.

There are many additional features in this game compared to Far Cry 3. The addition of the Buzzers are helpful, they are one man flying vehicles and one of the most helpful things I found was being able to throw bait in to a base and watch as a wild animal tears across leaving you with one maybe two to take out.

Over all I would say this is just a larger feature filled version of Far Cry 3 with less of a story to go with it.

Train2Game News Motivation by Muir Halleron

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Muir HalleronIt is, once again, that wonderful time of the year.
A time of peace, giving, and holiday cheer
when you hang up the stockings, put on your cap,
then eat loads of food ’til you take a long nap.

The children are happy, with all of their toys
whilst the adults wear earplugs because of the noise.
Your schedule is hectic, your waistline is tragic
with all the food arriving as if by magic.

Some alone time is highly improbable,
As for your coursework, well, it’s impossible
to get anything done this time of year.
Put it aside and be of good cheer.

After the hustle and bustle is done
you can sit yourself down and continue the fun
of modules and TMAs,
and lessons plans on dreary days.

Getting back into things may seem a chore,
but plough on through despite the bore
of sitting and reading, not getting much done.
Try to remember the past battles you’ve won.

The challenges you’ve faced, the pits you’ve hurdled,
while staring at the screen until your sight curdled.
Remember the feeling when completing a task
that you had thought was too much to ask?

Hold on to that hope, that joyful soul stirring,
the feeling of pride and know that you’re winning.
You’re one step closer than you’ve ever been,
So open that book and let the games begin!

Train2Game News UK Top 20 – 22.12.14

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Call of Duty Advanced WarfighterIt is the final chart of the year and Call of Duty Advanced Warfare has retaken the number one spot before Christmas. It has been a quiet year this year as it was the first year of the next generation consoles but with many new exciting games scheduled in 2015 I am sure things will get shaken up a bit!

All formats

Week ending 20 December 2014

POS.  TITLE  PUBLISHER  LAST
WEEK 
1 CALL OF DUTY: ADVANCED WARFARE ACTIVISION 2
2 FIFA 15 EA SPORTS 1
3 – GRAND THEFT AUTO V ROCKSTAR 3
4 – FAR CRY 4 UBISOFT 4
5 ASSASSIN’S CREED: UNITY UBISOFT 10
6 THE CREW UBISOFT 11
7 DESTINY ACTIVISION 9
8 MINECRAFT: XBOX EDITION MICROSOFT 7
9 MINECRAFT: PLAYSTATION EDITION SONY COMPUTER ENT. 8
10 LEGO BATMAN 3: BEYOND GOTHAM WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE 5
11 JUST DANCE 2015 UBISOFT 6
12 DRIVECLUB SONY COMPUTER ENT. 13
13 WWE 2K15 2K SPORTS 12
14 THE EVIL WITHIN BETHESDA SOFTWORKS 16
15 ASSASSIN’S CREED: ROGUE UBISOFT –
16 SUPER SMASH BROS. NINTENDO 15
17 MIDDLE EARTH: SHADOW OF MORDOR WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE 20
18 DRAGON AGE: INQUISITION EA GAMES 17
19 ASSASSIN’S CREED IV: BLACK FLAG UBISOFT 20
20 LITTLEBIGPLANET 3 SONY COMPUTER ENT. 18
< previous week
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.

Train2Game News Game of Thrones Episode one review

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Game of ThronesTelltale have been very lovely people again and they sent me the first episode of the Game of Thrones episodic to play through.

The first thing I have to mention is that Telltale are true experts at catching the feel of an IP. Borderlands, The Walking Dead and now Game of Thrones have the exact feel as they show, comic, game or book it represents.

The art style is beautiful and slightly different to the normal comic book style we see from Telltale. This has been done more in an oil painting style which suits the game. I played the game on Xbox One and as you’d expect it is a crystal clear image.

The choices you have to make through the game are very Game of Thrones style and are incredibly difficult to make, you often move on wondering if you have made the right choice and questioning, what if?

As with the Borderlands game this can be played if you have never seen the show or read the books as the story stands on it’s own. However if you are a fan of the series the inclusion of characters from the show will increase your enjoyment, or fear in some cases.

I highly recommend picking this up and look forward to playing through the rest of the Game of Thrones series.

Winter should definitely come to your console!

Train2Game News Final Symphony

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Final SymphonyFollowing the unprecedented, sell-out success of its FINAL FANTASY video game concert series, Final Symphony, production company Merregnon Studios is pleased to announce that it is working with celebrated composer Nobuo Uematsu and the world-famous London Symphony Orchestra on a brand new digital album recording of the concert for release in early 2015.

Published by leading digital music distributor, X5 Music Group, Final Symphony the album represents a new benchmark in video game music production. Befitting both the composer and orchestra behind the album, Final Symphony will be completely recorded, mixed and mastered at London’s legendary Abbey Road Studios, with Nobuo Uematsu on hand to personally supervise the album’s production. Also featuring the talents of conductor Eckehard Stier and solo pianist Katharina Treutler, both of whom delighted audiences during the award-winning tour, Final Symphony is sure to enchant music fans when it launches globally next year.

In another exciting announcement that continues to reinforce video game music as one the most electrifying and fastest growing genres of classical music, UK radio station Classic FM, the biggest classical music radio station in the world, will exclusively broadcast part of the Final Symphony recording as a world-premiere before the album’s launch next year.

“It is always an honour to hear my work being performed live on stage, but in bringing Final Symphony to Abbey Road Studios I hope that many more people will now be able to enjoy the outstanding arrangements that Merregnon Studios has become famous for,” said Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu. “To work with the London Symphony Orchestra in a studio that has played host to many of my own personal, musical heroes will be a very special experience.”

“For me, this album marks the ultimate video game music production,” commented Merregnon Studios’ Thomas Böcker, producer of Final Symphony. “It was an absolute musical privilege to work with the London Symphony Orchestra on Final Symphony last year – the orchestra’s first ever live performance of music from a video game – and to have them back in the same room as Nobuo Uematsu at Abbey Road Studios is like hitting the video game music jackpot. This album will showcase video game music at its very highest quality and I can’t wait to share it with the world.”

Final Symphony is an officially licensed series of concerts featuring symphonic music from the video games Final Fantasy VI, VII and X, with exclusive arrangements penned by Masashi Hamauzu, Jonne Valtonen and Roger Wanamo. First performed in May 2013, Final Symphony has enjoyed sell-out success in Germany, United Kingdom, Japan, Denmark, Sweden and Finland, featuring the virtuoso talents of some of the world’s leading orchestras and soloists.

The album also marks the second collaboration between Merregnon Studios and X5 Music Group, following the recent digital launch of Symphonic Fantasies Tokyo, a concert featuring music from Final Fantasy, Secret of Mana, Kingdom Hearts and Chrono Trigger/Chrono Cross and is available to purchase now from all leading digital music retailers.