Tag Archives: Microsoft

Train2Game News: Unity free for Xbox One Developers

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Xbox OneMicrosoft has partnered with the maker of the popular Unity kit to secure free access for all ID@Xbox members to the Xbox One add-on, which is planned for launch next year.

Announced at Gamescom earlier this year, ID@Xbox will allow independent developers to self-publish on Xbox One without fees. Registered users will not be required to pay certification or title update fees, though currently developers “with a proven track record” are being prioritised for registration. Microsoft also said in July that every Xbox One console can be used as a development kit, though the functionality will not be available from launch.

“When released in 2014, the Xbox One add-on for Unity will be available at no cost to all developers in the ID@Xbox program, as will special Xbox One-only Unity Pro seat licenses for Xbox One developers in the ID@Xbox program,” confirmed Microsoft’s ID@Xbox director Chris Charla.

“We want to make sure the dev who’s working away in Omaha, or Coventry, or Chiba will have the same shot to realize their vision on Xbox One as one of my developer friends we hang out with in Seattle or at a trade show like GDC or Gamescom.

“The Unity add-on for Xbox One supports every element of Xbox One, from Kinect to SmartGlass to the impulse triggers of the new controller,” Charla added. “Using Unity, developers will be able to take advantage of all aspects of Xbox One, which is rad. More importantly, Unity is available for Windows and Windows Phone too (and yes, the add-on is available at no cost to developers for Windows Phone and Windows 8 store games). So from one base game, developers can ship their games across all Microsoft platforms.”

Unity Technologies CEO David Helgason has said that while the dev kit will support high-end features that will make use of Xbox One’s additional power, its established toolset will simplify deployment for familiar developers.

Train2Game News: A Gallant Journey Part 3

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WP_20131027_023GallantCloud’s Wayne Campbell discusses the team’s current project A Knights Tail and the bustling UK development scene.

Hi everyone this is Wayne from Gallant Cloud at the helm of this week’s blog and what an awesome week it has been for the team! We started this week’s project entitled A Knights Tail.

So far building this project has been amazing since we as a team are loving every part of the process. It’s hard work for sure, but we all love what we are doing and we are also meeting some really influential people in the gaming industry and beyond.

We are all absorbing things really fast and as we are halfway through the Microsoft Ventures UK accelerator, this is where we all turn things up even more! We assigned our individual tasks through the new system to keep track so that everyone is up to speed on their task. We have the daily scrum to make sure everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet which has been working brilliantly so far. Everyone has been supportive of one another and pushed each other to achieve their best.

We are all very excited about the things we are doing and planning on doing the future and are very fortunate to be right in in the middle of the melting pot of the game developing world. Earlier this week several of the team members went to the Bossa event, where they were showing off some incredible new things that were happening with the Oculus Rift and it was brilliant to meet some really passionate people.

That is one of the greatest points about being in tech city. There are so many incredible events going on all of the time and so many great people. We have found that joining the community has been like becoming part of the family. All I can say in the words of Ben Cooper: it’s “absolutely awesome.”

We all came from different backgrounds and put together simply with the same vision to make absolutely mega games. I come from South London where it can be kind of tough if you don’t have any direction or will power. I personally would like to make some kind of difference in my community and show that anything is possible if you work hard enough for it.

This weeks event highlights: we had another great session around funding and giving us more direction on where to focus our attention for the business side of the company. There was also a session with the incredible Ben Nunney from Twilio on telling a coherent brand story. We attended a user experience workshop within Central working and had a pitching practice session to get a feel of what to expect later this year. We then had a meeting with Professor Bernie Good, a Cyber-psychologist. It is always a pleasure to talk to her and she has some incredible knowledge and views on video games and their gamers.

This week we also had our monthly start-up meeting. This was a brilliant chance for all of the start-ups on the program to give feedback on how they feel the accelerator has been so far. The Microsoft Ventures UK team really have been brilliant in helping each of the teams realise their full potential and constantly work hard to give our businesses the best chance possible.

Thanks for reading guys and don’t forget to check us out on our website, Facebook and Twitter and obviously our blog each week for new updates on what we are doing!

One love, Wayne

Train2Game News: A Gallant Journey Part 2

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WP_20131027_029GallantCloud’s Paul Rayment discusses how the early stages of the Microsoft Ventures UK Accelerator Programme have gone so far.

GallantCloud, the team of five Train2Game students merged together to create a new and upcoming games studio, are now on Week 4 of the Microsoft Ventures UK Accelerator Programme.

With our mentors onboard, ranging from members of existing high profiled games studios, Microsoft resources, and many others lending their expertise, GallantCloud now have a vast quantity of resources to make use of.

The team and mentors have worked hard and have created a game development curriculum that is unique to GallantCloud and will work alongside the overall curriculum that all Microsoft Ventures UK Accelerator teams are working to.

The GallantCloud curriculum is very geared towards making the most of the teams time in getting ideas out there and filtering those ideas to a smaller number which the team will develop further. To accomplish this we are using a physical whiteboard for those in the office, and then everything is transferred to the digital whiteboard for future analysis.

Everyone on the UK Accelorator Programme has just been really helpful as well as informative. GallantCloud have been granted access to hardware and software that wouldn’t have been possible going it alone. Great things were happening, but now they are happening with greater tools for the job.

Of course it isn’t all work (well it is, but it’s fun!), the Eurogamer Expo that took place in London Earl’s Court was a fantastic opportunity not to be missed.

Being that GallantCloud were all Train2Game students, at the allotted time we took our positions within the GamesIndustry/fair section of Eurogamer in the Train2Game room to talk of our experiences whilst on the Accelerator Programme to train2game students. Day two also saw GallantCloud standing up front talking again. After a great overview of the UK accelerator programme a thunderous applause erupted!

Eurogamer was a great experience and we certainly had fun and took away a lot from it (not just the free loot and photos with cosplayers!). GallantCloud managed to take part in the mass energy and excitement that buzzed throughout the building, gathering ideas and intel on ways to create, present and expand on everything there is to do with getting a game created from the simplest to the complex of ideas.

Technological advances such as eye tracking systems to drive cars with your eyes only (or slice fruits in Fruit Ninja!) were brilliant to witness and experience each piece of innovative technology adding to the way we think about our game ideas.

We invited our followers to join us in our Eurogamer experience, with a constant stream of pictures and updates to our Facebook and Twitter, and received loads of new support and great feedback!

We have achieved a lot and have so much more ahead of us to accomplish. We continue to move forward, each step a discovery.

If someone were to ask us how we feel things are going with the UK Accelerator Programme, things are going incredibly well. There is something happening every day, whether it be a talk from an external party coming in to give insight in to how they got started with their product, or a quick chat with a mentor, a meeting with Microsoft to give updates on our milestones, or actually getting some games created, there is always productivity taking place.

 

Train2Game News: A Gallant journey Part 1

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Gallant CloudThe GallantCloud Games team chronicles their journey through the Microsoft Venture accelerator

Hello ladies and gents and welcome to GallantCloud Games!

We are a brand new start-up game company and are in the privileged position of working with the Microsoft Ventures UK team on their accelerator pilot.

The team is made up of five guys who have wanted to make games since getting their podgy little fingers on their first Gameboy, console or computer. We are all Train2Game students, working to create beautiful little games from the safety of our bedrooms and garages when we escape work (or the kids).

We entered a competition that popped up one day on the Train2Game student world, and after phone calls, meeting and deliberations we, the lucky few, were put together.

We then had a bit of a mountain to climb. We needed a name and with a name a logo.

This proved to be harder than anticipated, with all five members contributing to create a very unhelpful list of a hundred names, all of which weren’t quite perfect.

After many late night Skype calls and much cursing we had it! Now… just to create a logo.

So there we were on September 9th. Five chaps who hadn’t met as a team before got together at Central Working to meet the other brilliant teams who had a place on the Microsoft Ventures UK pilot scheme.

After the initial meetup and layout the hard work began. We jumped in at the deep end, having to pitch a so far non-existent game to a panel of industry professionals in just two days time.

After a shaky start and some incredible training from the Microsoft team and its partners, we managed to pull off a pitch. The rest of the evening involved chatting and sharing a drink with some great people about our new company and how we should go about forming what we are doing.

Following some great advice, we organised a game jam for our team. Held at Central Working and with the theme of sound, we took over several desks for 24 hours and went about creating our game ‘Monster Night’, finding out how well we worked together as a team and learning where each others strengths and weaknesses lay.

The next week brought some more excellent training and more ideas of how to structure the company and made us think about what we want to deliver to our customers. It also brought some new ideas for potential games that the team felt passionate about and that we put in the ‘to do’ design pile.

We were also invited to take part in the Develop Quiz. Aside from from the dodgy ‘reversed songs’ round It was an absolutely brilliant night and GallantCloud went head to head with some extremely talented game developer teams, with some brilliant stories shared and yet more great advice for the team! We decided not to show all of the other teams up and positioned ourselves a sly third from the bottom on the scoreboard…

We managed to get some more design and concepts done throughout the rest of the week, even managing to create a rough prototype of one of the games, sparking ideas for how it will work and what type of things we could add to make it AWESOME.

The first two weeks have been incredible for the team and we have an exciting time ahead of us. We would love for you to follow our journey through our blogs!

Train2Game News: Gallant Cloud Video

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Gallant Cloud 01A Train2Game start up games studio named Gallant Cloud games have been invited to be a part of a Microsoft Accelerator Programme.

Microsoft described the Accelerator programme as an intensive chance for start-up businesses’ focused on anything from games to new social media ideas to break into the big time. Microsoft will be aiding the start up as much as they can to help them.

Gallant Cloud was interviewed whilst on a recent trip to the Train2Game head office in Luton about their experiences so far and you can watch the video below.

Train2Game News: Jonathan Ross joins Microsoft

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'The Jonathan Ross ShowMicrosoft have announced that TV presenter Jonathan Ross has been brought in to the company to be a consultant.

The announcement was made last night at an Xbox One event held last night in London, Ross will function as a consultant, advising various Microsoft teams in the UK. What projects Ross will be helping with however is yet to be announced.

“We wanted to change our thinking,” said Microsoft corporate VP Phil Harrison following the announcement.

“We wanted to do was to bring in new talent that would challenge the way we build games and the way we think about what an audience is, to think about what is entertainment, and broaden the concept of gaming to maybe blur the distinctions about what is a traditional game is and what a traditional television programme or what is a traditional linear media.”

Jonathan Ross is no stranger to the video game world having previously released Catcha Catcha Aliens on mobile devices with his own gaming company, Hotsauce.

I look forward to what Jonathan Ross will be bringing to Microsoft in the near future.

Train2Game News: Nokia Lumia 2520 Tablet

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Nokia Lumia 2520Nokia has announced their very first tablet. The Nokia Lumia 2520 which runs Microsoft’s Windows RT 8.1

The Nokia Lumia 2520 is ideal for life on the move, with high definition 1080p, 10.1-inch screen is made using Gorilla Glass 2 for toughness, and has been made to give less reflection than other tablets in the marketplace, a superior brightness range to see your content in different lighting environments, as well as a wide-viewing angle, for sharing or presenting.

The components, including the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, were selected for flawless performance from the touch-screen OS, without soaking up the battery. The system is designed to selectively cut down power consumption when it’s not needed.

While it’s running a full computer operating system, the Lumia 2520’s battery is capable of such feats as playing video for ten hours non-stop without a charge. The battery also offers a quick start with its ultra-fast charging time. It can go from zero to 80 per-cent charged in an hour.

On the back, there’s a high quality 6.7-megapixel camera with ZEISS optics and an f1.9 aperture that delivers great low light performance. This is supported by two new apps from Nokia – Storyteller and Video Director, which will help you make the most of the media you capture and create. On the front, a secondary 2-megapixel camera allows for crystal clear video calls.

The Windows RT 8.1 operating system offers a complete Microsoft Outlook and Office experience, preinstalled, at no extra cost. Also, from Nokia, you’ll find a new version of HERE Maps, making this the first tablet with a true offline mapping capability. There’s also Nokia Music onboard, for free streaming and offline Mixes.

The Nokia Lumia 2520 is estimated to be £399 and be released this quarter but nothing has yet been confirmed.

Train2Game News: Games with Gold offer extended

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Xbox 360Microsoft have announced that the Games for Gold initiative on Xbox 360 has been extended past 2013.

It was announced at E3 in June this year as a limited-time promotion, Games with Gold gives Xbox Live subscribers two free games to keep each month, with new titles made available on the 1st and 16th.

Since then Microsoft says over 120 million hours have been played with Games with Gold titles. These have included Fable 3, Defense Grid: The Awakening, Assassin’s Creed 2, Crackdown, Dead Rising 2 and DR2 prologue Case Zero, Magic 2013, Rainbow Six Vegas, Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes and most recently Halo 3.

Despite switching focus to Xbox One in the run-up to the console’s November 22 release, Xbox chief marketing and strategy officer Yusuf Mehdi said in September that the company will continue to support Xbox 360 for years to come.

“If you look at Xbox 360 that platform has lasted for seven to eight years and it’s going to go for another three years. It’s incredibly profitable now in the tail,” he said. “We are going to continue to invest in Xbox 360 and the two devices can work in concert. So it isn’t just like the day we ship Xbox One, Xbox 360 won’t work, we will continue to support it. In fact, we are going to ship over 100 new games on Xbox 360, so you will still be able to play your games, just not on the same exact box.”

So for all those not wanting to go next generation from release you should still have at least three years with your Xbox 360.

Train2Game News: Marmalde SDK helping Windows 8 developers

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MarmaladeMarmalade, in partnership with Microsoft is giving you the opportunity to get a free 3-month Marmalade license extension and a Free Windows Phone 8 Device when you get apps approved on the Windows Developer Center.

When you sign up for this program you will receive a free Windows Developer Center token. You’ll need this token to submit your beta app and get your free Windows Phone and activate a free one-year membership for the Windows Developer Center.

After registering at the Windows Developer Center, you can submit your beta WP8 app and then tell Marmalade.

You have 30 days to submit your app in beta mode to the Windows Developer Center. Beta apps are reviewed to ensure that they are suitable for listing on the App Store (once complete) and that they are made with Marmalade. It doesn’t matter if it is not 100% complete, just as long as it shows how your app works. If you are porting an existing app, make sure to mention that.

Once your beta app is submitted on the store, letting Marmalade know can flag it for priority review by Microsoft.

When you’re ready, submit your final working app to the Windows Developer Center and inform Marmalade of the live URL, so they can issue your free Marmalade license or extension, and you can keep your Windows Phone 8 device.

The offer closes on the 31st December 2013 so make sure your app is approved on the Windows Developer Center by then!

To get in contact with Marmalade and start this great opportunity you can visit http://www.madewithmarmalade.com/wp8-hub

Train2Game News: Microsoft Executive comments on Cross-platform gaming

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MicrosoftPhil Spencer, executive of Microsoft, has recently commented that cross-platform between Xbox One and PC makes a lot of sense.

Spencer was asked in an interview with AusGamer, whether Windows 8 and Xbox One could host cross-platform play between their respective platforms.

“I’m not allowed to leak things,” Spencer replied, “but I think what you’re talking about makes a lot of sense.”

Mr Spencer then went on to mention past attempts at cross-platform and how it was received.

“If you go back to Shadow Run on Xbox 360, something I worked on, we had PC players playing against Xbox 360 customers. We didn’t have tremendous success with that, but we learnt a lot from it.

“Then earlier this year we released Skulls of the Shogun, which was a game we launched on all three platforms on the same day, and you could start on one platform and then save the game to the Cloud and play across any of the screens and progress. And then Halo: Spartan Assault has some links between Halo 4 and Spartan Assault, even though they’re very different games.”

The executive went on to comment on how important Xbox Live will be in developing for cross-platform.

“This connected ecosystem across all the different devices is definitely where I think the future of gaming is going; you don’t have to do it as a developer, but you have the capability and I think a system like Xbox Live across all those screens where you know who someone is and who their friends are, what their Achievements are and their progression is really critical to that.”

The Xbox One releases next month so it won’t be long before we can start seeing how this next generation console will evolve over the coming years.