Tag Archives: games

Train2Game News Mobilize your games

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iQU Group today announced the launch of its new outfit, Mobilize, focused exclusively on the mobile games market to help developers self-publish successful mobile titles, engage players and operate profitable games.

In a crowded, confusing market, Mobilize gets involved in the development process early to offer a holistic, bespoke go-to-market and growth strategy with scalable products and solutions. Led by mobile games guru, Oliver Kern, the Mobilize team is already working with established developers such as Hutch Games, Mind Candy and more… and will be rolling out additional services in the coming weeks.

“In today’s saturated mobile games market it’s very important for developers to not only make a great game but to also create a viable strategy to soft-launch, launch, run and monetize their game properly”, said Oliver Kern, the group’s VP and Chief Mobilizer. He continued “There is a lot of noise with too many companies claiming to provide the silver bullet in terms of player acquisition or analytics or some other such service. However, a game is successful when many factors work in harmony. In a nutshell, our goal with Mobilize is to help developers understand all the levers of launching a successful game and maximizing their opportunity when self-publishing their titles. We want to start working with them early on in a project to help create a cohesive strategy for launch, promotion and live operation that will benefit the life and commercial viability of the game”.

iQU Group’s founder and board member, Reinout te Brake, said, “We are very proud to announce the launch of Mobilize as a new addition to the group. For over 5 years, iQU has been helping games developers and publishers increase the value of their games by providing solutions that extend and maximize the player life-time and value of their marketing spend. The current games landscape is extremely complex, with small teams having to master technical, creative, analytical, tactical, marketing and industry knowledge to be successful. With Mobilize we have brought together an experienced, world-class team to help clients navigate this landscape and increase their probability of success.”      
                       
Mobilize services include campaign management, soft-launch management and data analysis, channel expansion to help mobile developers reach every relevant channel, regardless of studio size, and country management to execute international marketing campaigns in French, German, Russian, Spanish, Dutch, Italian and English.

For further information on Mobilize, please visit: www.mobilizemygame.com

Train2Game News Student creates Online Gaming and Development platform Plasis Games

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Train2Game student creates gaming platform www.plasisgamesportal.com which now hosts 30 free to play games and will distribute larger titles in the future.

Train2Game student Sean Brady, 27, from Dublin, Ireland, enjoyed learning to make games and created a few titles of his own while studying with Train2Game. After searching for Distribution he was unsatisfied with the options available and decided to create his own platform for releasing titles.

He has now created Plasis Games, an independent Game Development / Publishing Studio based in Dublin, Ireland.  Initially the portal was envisioned as the central point for the game development studio and publishing platform of Plasis Games. But it has now expanded into hosting online games and plans to distribute externally created games in the future.

Plasis Games plans to provide games for both the casual and hardcore market which is why it has opened up various channels of games distribution, to bring different types of games to different types of Gamers.

Interview with Sean Brady
“I have been a gamer since I was 6 six years of age and still play games religiously to this day. My regular day job includes a combination of Technical Support and Systems/Network engineering. My main role is that of a NOC (Network Operations Center) Engineer.”

“From the very moment I started playing games like Ghouls and Ghosts and Broken Sword of the age of 6, the games provided with such joy and fun that I seeked to create more of it in the world. From my own perspective, games are the best medium for fun, interest, storytelling and expression. Nothing in my life has encompassed all my concentration to same level. They are pure bliss…”

“My dream is to enter the gaming industry in a full-time capacity and have my own development studio, online arcade and publishing house for games. I also want to integrate digital/physical media publishing for all industries as they all use the same mediums.”

Creating Plasis
“Once I achieved a level of competent Game Development, I looked for an appropriate Distributor for my games. Each publisher has its own guidelines that must be adhered too and imposed restrictions. After extensive research and by utilising my skillset in the networking domain, I knew I could create a better platform with better guidelines/features for myself and others in a similar situation.”

“The team is just myself at present. Another developer would just taint my vision. I have made the sacrifices to learn all disciplines involved to action such an endeavour. I will initiate it, implement it and finalise then there will be room for expansion with myself at the helm.”

The Platform
“I have been working on this portal, developing contacts, sourcing games and developing games internally for the studio of Plasis Games since May 2014. I have developed a number of small games internally and college projects outside the time of Plasis Games. For Plasis Games, I am still developing one 2D point and click horror adventure game and one survival horror game. The site has 30 from free flash game providers (with another 2500+ to process – not monetised) 30 from a HTML5 game development company – PlayCityInc (with 30 to process and more to source when needed – all monetised)”

“The publishing platform/online arcade has been implemented to a small degree with a collection of 60+ games added. 2500+ flash games have been collected for processing and addition; time is limited due to life circumstances. Also 30 of the games on the site at present have been provided by another partnering company called PlayCityInc or PlaytoMax. I have another 30 to upload then I can request more when necessary.”

“The website has been designed, uploaded, tested and verified. It is functionality but the user interface and graphical transitions between all pages will be revised and improved over time with significantly better art and sound. No development studio portions have been added but prototype of game levels and functionality have been created internally.”

Train2Game
“I enjoyed the course in Train2Game a lot as it provided all the fundamentals for developers to establish a base skill level before progressing. I had done art, design and programming before and the course from Train2Game was a course provided to me through an educational initiative. The quality of the content and guidance provided surprised in actuality. If you need to get started in game development, Train2Game is the first resource I would direct people too…”

Train2Game, bringing City & Guilds to the Games Industry

Train2Game is a proud supporter of www.plasisgamesportal.com

Train2Game News WeWanaPlay writing competition

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If you have ever dreamed of becoming a Games writer then WewanaPlay have a great challenge which could give you the exposure you desire.

The Wewana:Readit challenge will give you the opportunity to writeabout something you love and help you gain recognition for it too.

The challenge aims to bring together gaming’s best new writing talent in a unique competition that encouraged creativity and originality as you can write about anything within the world of video gaming. The challenge was launched on the 10th of February and has already been well received within the industry.

Ghostwriters for many well-known gaming publication already write for and support WewanaPlay as they gain the recognition and exposure that they don’t get anywhere else. As WewanaPlay CEO, Deepak Pathak explained: “It is notoriously difficult to break into Gaming Journalism and it’s perhaps why so many talented writers already support us. We decided it’s time to increase the scale of what we are doing, help new gaming talent to be seen and of course encourage the 48% of our app users who are female to begin being better represented in games writing too.”

Although the competition is mainly aimed at students there is a category for non-students too. The categories include Secondary school pupils, College, University and of course a non-student category.

Each entry must be between 500 and 1500 words long, be related to gaming and be an original piece of work written solely for the competition. Submissions must be submitted by 7th April whereafter screening the shortlisted finalists will be published on the site from the 10th April for the public voting process. From these awesome articles he winners will be announced on the 30th April.

Full details of how to get involved (either as entrants or supporters) can be found on the dedicated event page: http://wewanaplay.com/events

Train2Game News Slammed wrestling

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Choice of Games announced today that their text-based pro-wrestling RPG, “SLAMMED!” is now available on Steam.

The game is entirely text-based-without graphics or sound effects-and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.

SLAMMED! is a 250,000-word interactive professional-wrestling novel by Paolo Chikiamco, where your choices determine how the story proceeds. The game is entirely text-based-without graphics or sound effects-but driven by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.

In SLAMMED!, you’ve always dreamed of becoming pro wrestling’s biggest star…but the wrestler’s world is fraught with hardship and betrayal, in and out of the ring. Become a powerhouse, a technician, a high-flier, or focus on your promo skills. There’s more than one road to success.

But none of those roads will be easy. This is a world where your biggest fans are your harshest critics; where the front office is more dangerous than the squared circle; where friends can become enemies with a single heel turn; where, sometimes, the only way to win is to lose, spectacularly.

This is professional wrestling. And you’re about to change it, forever.

“Paolo Chikiamco has written an epic,” said Dan Fabulich, co-founder of Choice of Games. “His story conveys love for professional wrestling in a way that even non-fans can appreciate. In pro wrestling, even if the outcomes are scripted, the athletics-and the risks-are real. No one has complete control of what happens, and that’s where wrestling’s mystique lies. Someone might get really angry and turn a scripted match into an unscripted ‘shoot.’ Somebody might get hurt. SLAMMED! is about the blurred lines between reality and ‘kayfabe,’ the industry term for portraying scripted matches as genuine.”

There’s never been a professional wrestling game like this, a game where the outcome of your final match, your choice of opponent, and your relationships affect the ending. When’s the last time you played a pro-wrestling RPG with a “kayfabe” stat?-or where your trash-talking “promo” ability is as important as your core strength and wrestling technique?

                • Enjoy a 250,000-word personal tale of friendship, competition, and revenge.
                • Develop not only your physical abilities, but a favored wrestling style.
                • Become a heroic face, or a villainous heel-or even turn heel.
                • Turn a scripted match into a real fight-and vice versa.
                • Decide when to keep kayfabe, and when to break it.
                • Play as male or female, gay or straight.

It’s available for 26% off during launch week and can be obtained in the following link

http://store.steampowered.com/app/343370/

Train2Game News Free Developer Event in London

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Amazon will be hosting an event for indie developers in London next week, offering a mixture of free drinks and info on developing for Amazon platforms.

The ‘free happy hour’ will be held at Loading Bar, located in Dalston, London on the evening of Monday, January 12th.

Attending will be Amazon Developer Evangelist Jesse Freeman, who is looking to meet indie developers and share information on how they can get their games onto Kindle devices, Fire TV and Amazon App Store. He is also footing the bill for the drinks all night!

Devs are invited to show off demos of their game – although you’re also welcome to keep your secrets, if it’s just info you’re after. There will also be giveaways on the night.

All you need to be eligible is have a game or something in development that you’d be tempted to port over to the Amazon Fire platform.

The event kicks off at 7pm at the bar with details at http://loadingonline.co.uk/

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 In app purchases for charity

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Multiple leading developers will be donating all money generated by microtransactions to charity for the next two weeks.

The initiative is part of the Apps for Red drive, which is supporting Product Red, the organisation founded by U2 vocalist Bono and activist Bobby Shriver. The money raised will go to the Global Fund fighting HIV, AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in Africa.

Many of the mobile games involved have rebranded to highlight the campaign, with the money spent on any in-app purchases going straight to charity, reports Polygon.

Slogans supporting the movement include Angry Birds’ “Fling Birds. Save Lives” and Clash of Clans’ “Raid Friends. Save Lives”. Monument Valley has even released a brand new chapter named Ida’s (Red) Dream to help raise money.

The games involved include:

    Angry Birds
    Bubble Witch 2 Saga
    Clash of Clans
    CSR Racing
    Cut the Rope 2
    Despicable Me: Minion Rush
    Farmville 2: Country Escape
    FIFA 15: Ultimate Team
    Frozen Free Fall
    Kim Kardashian: Hollywood
    Monument Valley
    Puzzle & Dragons
    Rayman Fiesta Run
    The Sims FreePlay
    Threes!

Source: Develop

Train2Game News Warframe support Movember

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In honor of the Movember Foundation’s annual Movember campaign, Digital Extremes, creator of the AAA Free-to-Play title, Warframe is calling on its players (“Tenno”) to set a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title by encouraging players to display their facial hair in-game for a good cause on Friday, November 14th between 3pm and 4pm EST.

Earlier this month Warframe released a variety of virtual mustaches players could equip in-game.  As new Movember donation levels were met on the official site – www.warframe.com/movember – a new in-game mustache was released.  To get players in the spirit, this video shows off the in-game ‘staches in full swank.

Now, to further raise awareness for men’s health, Warframe will set the world record for The Largest Gathering of People Wearing False Mustaches Simultaneously in a Video Game.

Warframe is asking its players worldwide across PC, PS4 and Xbox One to gather online wearing their virtual mustaches, Friday, November 14th from 3pm – 4pm EST to help set the world record.  The record setting hour will also be aired live on the Warframe Twitch channel at www.twitch.tv/warframe for all to see and participate in the hair raising festivities.

“Our Tenno have already shown strong support through their contributions and the variety of Movember activities they’ve participated in so far,” said Meridith Braun, VP, Publishing at Digital Extremes. “Setting a Guinness World Record as part of our continued awareness efforts takes it to a whole new level and we hope it pays off by shining a big spotlight on a great cause.”

To ensure the record is officially reached by Guinness World Record rules and standards, Digital Extremes is turning to an impartial third party, Michael Katchabaw, an Associate Professor at the University of Western Ontario specializing in computer science for games, to track the record setting statistics.  In addition, members of the Warframe gaming community will help establish proof of the feat by sending in screenshots of their mustached Warframes and teammates as they join in the record attempt.

The Movember Foundation is the leading global organization committed to changing the face of men’s health.  Once signed up on Movember.com, men, also known as Mo Bros, grow a mustache for the 30 days of November, raising awareness and funds for men’s health programs as friends and family donate to their efforts. Since 2003, the Movember community has raised over $574 million and funded over 800 programs in 21 countries.

Warframe is a free-to-play fast-action PvE action game available on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One that is often described as MMO-Lite.  Squads of four players band together to advance their characters and battle the oppressive forces throughout the Solar System.  Introduced to the game as newly awoken Tenno warriors, players are thrust into a universe at war and armed with ancient exo-skeletal technology only they can operate. These Warframes bring unimaginable power and skill to the Tenno and provide players with unique offensive and defensive powers to explore and master.

Train2Game News TopLoaded Rewards Skilled Gamers

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TopLoaded.com, www.toploaded.com,  is an innovative online community that rewards video game enthusiasts for playing their favorite video games.

TopLoaded.com is the first website, built from the ground up for gamers by gamers that is designed to showcase the skills of its members. TopLoaded.com allows gamers to show they indeed have game by rising to the top of the leaderboard in their game of choice – from FIFA 15 to World of Warcraft to Call of Duty Advanced Warfare. Games are played on any platform, then gamers upload a photograph of their best score to receive points. If they post a score and earn one of the top three places for a given competition, points are added to their profile, as well as a cool custom badge showing their skill level – recognizing gamers at the top of their game.
 
Once gamers have enough points, through competitions or through a variety of means to earn points, they can unlock challenges, the next level of achievement, with eight new challenges released each week. After completing the challenge, gamers upload a photo proving it has been completed, with the first person completing the challenge winning prizes such as gift cards, gaming gear, games, and entertainment packages. TopLoaded.com is mobile friendly, allowing gamers to upload a picture of their score pics using cell phones, tablets, as well as desktop and laptops. TopLoaded.com has no ads and is fully integrated with social media tools like Twitter and Facebook, allowing members to share in even more gamer glory.

Unlike other websites that host tournaments, there is no waiting period to play any of the weekly competitions and challenges. The entire TopLoaded.com experience encourages gaming skill enhancement.  Competitions and challenges are designed so that they’re hard enough that not everyone can accomplish them. They provide gamers incentive to keep improving in their chosen game.

“We live and breathe games, and we wanted a site to challenge our members and to give them an opportunity to be recognized for their skill through badges, prizes and other incentives because no such site existed,” said TopLoaded.com CEO John Phillippe. “We wanted to create a community for gamers by gamers that, had an easy barrier of entry, and provided them a chance to have fun through a community of like-minded people.”

Gamers have the option of using the site for free or by paying for an Elite membership. Free and Elite members can earn points for customizing their profile, as well as by completing competitions, posting comments to the forum, submitting game play videos, winning special forum contests and winning special Twitter contests. Points can also be added to a gamer profile by purchasing Top Paks.  Top Paks allow free and Elite members to add points to their profile without having to do the competitions.

TopLoaded.com is community-driven, meaning Elite members vote on the competitions and challenges for the next week. At the end of each week, highlights from the different competitions, gamer interaction, and site news are seen in the Weekly Wrap Up video on the Elite page, providing additional exposure for gamers.

In only a few weeks of operation, TopLoaded.com already has distributed thousands of dollars in gift cards and rewards.

Tain2Game News Android Retro Gaming Tablet

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The JXD S7800b has introduced itself as the ultimate Android retro gaming tablet. Capable of playing PS1, Dreamcast, MAME, N64 (and pretty much everything before it) the handheld has quickly become a favourite amongst the retro gaming scene.

Built on the Android operating system, the system is user friendly and intuitive, enabling you to navigate around your favourite retro games with ease using the touch screen or game controllers.

With 8GB internal memory the console is capable of holding thousands of your favourite retro games right out of the box. A Mini-SD slot enables you to expand the memory with up to an additional 64GB.

The HDMI port gives you the option of playing your games on your TV.

    Multiplayer using local Wi-Fi
    Play on your TV using HDMI
    Save and load your progress
    Add your own games via USB or downloading via the web browser
    Assign keys to your favourite touch screen games and use the controller
    Connect a USB controller for even easier use (including Xbox 360 controllers)

The full list of supported consoles/systems currently on the Android platform are: PS1, MAME, Dreamcast, N64, NeoGeo, Atari, NES, SNES, Gameboy, Gameboy Colour, Gameboy Advance, SEGA Master System, SEGA Mega Drive, CPS1, CPS2, Amiga, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum and many more!

The JXD S7800b is available now at Europe’s Number One Gaming Destination, Funstock.co.uk.