Train2Game News: UK Top 20 Games – 24.06.13

The Last Of UsSony and Naughty Dog’s PS3 exclusive, The Last Of Us, remains at number one for a second week and Nintendo’s big new 3DS release from last week, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, remains at number two. Max Payne 3 re-enters the chart at number five thanks to huge price promotions on PS3 and Xbox360. The only new entry to the top twenty this week is Moto GP ’13 which enters the charts at number number fifteen.

All formats

Week ending 22 June 2013

POS.  TITLE  PUBLISHER  LAST
WEEK 
1 THE LAST OF US SONY COMPUTER ENT. 1
2 ANIMAL CROSSING: NEW LEAF NINTENDO 2
3 FIFA 13 EA SPORTS 5
4 TOMB RAIDER SQUARE ENIX 4
5 MAX PAYNE 3 ROCKSTAR
6 CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS II ACTIVISION 14
7 FAR CRY 3 UBISOFT 7
8 INJUSTICE: GODS AMONG US WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE 6
9 ASSASSIN’S CREED III XBOX 360 CLASSICS 10
10 GRID 2 CODEMASTERS 3
11 LUIGI’S MANSION 2 NINTENDO 9
12 LEGO BATMAN 2: DC SUPER HEROES WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE 13
13 THE ELDER SCROLLS V: SKYRIM – LEGENDARY BETHESDA SOFTWORKS 8
14 DEAD ISLAND: RIPTIDE DEEP SILVER 11
15 MOTOGP 13 PQUBE
16 GRAND THEFT AUTO IV XBOX 360 CLASSICS 18
17 DONKEY KONG COUNTRY RETURNS NINTENDO 15
18 NEED FOR SPEED MOST WANTED EA GAMES
19 BIOSHOCK INFINITE 2K GAMES 16
20 LEGO THE LORD OF THE RINGS WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE 19
< previous week
Leisure software charts compiled by Chart Track, (C)2013 UKIE LtdThese 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: UK Top 20 Games – 17.06.13

The Last Of UsThere is a brand new number one this week with the PlayStation exclusive, The Last Of Us which was released on Friday. Animal Crossing: New Leaf came in at number two, unable to beat the popularity of The Last Of Us. Rugby Challenge 2: Lions Tour Edition also came out this week and debuted at number twelve. Finally, with the announcement of the DLC at E3 last week, The Walking Dead by Telltale Games also made a welcome return to the top 20, coming back in at number seventeen.

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Week ending 15 June 2013

POS.  TITLE  PUBLISHER  LAST
WEEK 
1 THE LAST OF US SONY COMPUTER ENT.
2 ANIMAL CROSSING: NEW LEAF NINTENDO
3 GRID 2 CODEMASTERS 1
4 TOMB RAIDER SQUARE ENIX 7
5 FIFA 13 EA SPORTS 2
6 INJUSTICE: GODS AMONG US WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE 11
7 FAR CRY 3 UBISOFT 5
8 THE ELDER SCROLLS V: SKYRIM – LEGENDARY BETHESDA SOFTWORKS 4
9 LUIGI’S MANSION 2 NINTENDO 8
10 ASSASSIN’S CREED III XBOX 360 CLASSICS 10
11 DEAD ISLAND: RIPTIDE DEEP SILVER 6
12 RUGBY CHALLENGE 2: LIONS TOUR EDITION ALTERNATIVE
13 LEGO BATMAN 2: DC SUPER HEROES WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE 13
14 CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS II ACTIVISION 15
15 DONKEY KONG COUNTRY RETURNS NINTENDO 9
16 BIOSHOCK INFINITE 2K GAMES 14
17 THE WALKING DEAD TELLTALE GAMES
18 GRAND THEFT AUTO IV XBOX 360 CLASSICS 20
19 LEGO THE LORD OF THE RINGS WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE 18
20 REMEMBER ME CAPCOM 3
< previous week
Leisure software charts compiled by Chart Track, (C)2013 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: Xbox at E3

Xbox OneE3 has begun and the first subject I will report on from the event is the Xbox E3 Conference which was on at 5:30pm GMT, yesterday.

The event began with an incredibly stunning trailer for Metal Gear Solid V: Phantom Pain, featuring the voice of Kiefer Sutherland. The trailer displayed incredibly beautiful graphics using the Xbox One system and they are truly jaw dropping. The game play its self looks big, epic and is open world. This new adventure of snake uses interesting stealth mechanics and action to achieve your goals.

It was a beautiful start to the conference.

The rest of the conference was full of the new stunning games for the Xbox One for all audiences and fans.

There was another old favourite game returning to console market, Killer Instinct, the beat-em-up game published by Rare and Nintendo that was made popular in 1994, released as an Arcade machine, then later ported to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Killer instinct was displayed on stage by Double Helix Games, the creators of the reboot.

Games for the younger audience were also displayed. Minecraft: Xbox One Edition looked beautiful some how. I have no idea how the Xbox One has made simple blocks beautiful but they managed it!

One of the more interesting looking games and mechanics was that of Project Spark. You create the game world using the Kinect Voice Recognition, saying phrases such as “Woodland” and the land would be covered in Woodland. You can then go through and shape the world in a way you see fit and give inanimate objects intelligence to fill many roles. The possibilities are truly endless for the game.

Forza 5 was shown at the event and this was one of the most intelligent features I have ever seen in a game. With their feature known as “Drivatar” as you play the game, it will learn what you do and how you race, with what it learns, when you are not playing the game, your friends and people around the world can use your Drivatar to race against. In a way, there is no AI to race against, instead you race against people matched to your level so there is always a challenge through out the game. It is an incredible idea.

With it being an Xbox conference there was of course a few first person shooters.

Battlefield 4 was shown and looked absolutely beautiful, with incredible action and an exciting pace. They didn’t display any multiplayer game play however.

There was also a teaser trailer for the next Halo game that completely blew me away. As I sat there watching the trailer, trying to work out what I was seeing I was shocked and excited to see the Master Chief unveiled, that was one of the best moments of it for me.

There was several other games mentioned through the conference.

The Xbox it’s self was announced to be very heavily integrated with the Smartglass app. Using it from keeping an eye on other players stats to displaying the user interface.

The price was the biggest downfall of the console however. In the UK the console will be £429. A price many aren’t sure is worth it.

Train2Game News: Games Industry News – 07.06.13

Son of NorIt’s Friday so it is time for a Train2Game industry news round up!

stillalive studios celebrated after its Kickstarter campaign, to raise $150k to fund the completion of its debut 3rd person action adventure PC/Mac/Linux title; Son of Nor, was a success, making $151,175 at its close. The team are now putting all efforts into the completion of the highly anticipated game and have announced its launch onto Steam Greenlight and call for support and people’s votes on the platform. The link to this can be found here: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=143053545. During the month long crowd-funding project the studio announced a number of exciting partnerships that will allow players to use integrated hardware such as the Emotiv EPOC; a revolutionary personal interface for human computer interaction, a so called Brain Computer Interface (BCI); the partnership will allow players to control character actions, such as telekinesis, terraforming and magic with the power of their minds and Oculus Rift; that will allow players to immerse themselves in the lore and adventure of Son of Nor deeper than ever before by using this hugely exciting virtual reality device in game.

SpongeBob SquarePants fans can build their very own Bikini Bottom with Nickelodeon’s brand-new city building app, SpongeBob Moves In. Released and available worldwide, SpongeBob Moves In features a stylized 2D design and gives fans a whole new way to interact with the hit animated series. The game is available on iOS and costs £1.49. In the game, players build Bikini Bottom to their own tastes and are tasked with keeping the city’s residents happy by making all their wishes come true. As players advance in the game, they can unlock exclusive-to-the-app, untold stories about how their characters, including SpongeBob, Patrick, Mr. Krabs, Plankton, Squidward and Sandy, first arrived in the town. Written by the SpongeBob SquarePants series writing staff, these stories are told through brand-new animated short videos unlocked throughout the game.

Diablo 3 is coming to the Xbox 360 as well as PlayStation, Blizzard has announced. The action role-playing game launches on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on 3rd September 2013. The game is already announced for PlayStation 4, although that version is without a release date. There is currently new word of an Xbox One edition. If you pre-order the PS3 or Xbox 360 version and you’ll get the Infernal Helm in-game item. You can wear this at level one and gain an experience bonus to boot.

Telltale games have been using their twitter account to tease and excite fans. They have been using the Vine app to show little six second clips showing characters that are drawn in the same art style as The Walking Dead game. It started with the Day 2 trailer, which is interesting as the first episode of Season 1 was Day 1. It shows a missing persons board and someone hanging up a picture of a character called Vince. Vine 2 is titled Day 220, and it’s the same missing persons board with Bonnie being added to it. Bonnie apparently stood outside the White House once. Vine 3 shows a man named Russell, who, by the looks of it, seems to be a recent graduate.

Finally, Masahiro Sakurai took to Twitter to confirm the news today of the brand new Smash Bros. He said (via Google translation): “In Nintendo Direct delivery of 23:00, June 11, New video of “Smash Bros.” will be unveiled for the first time. Simultaneous world, here for the first time! Do not miss.” You can watch it from 3pm UK time. Sakurai is serving as producer on the new Smash Bros. game, which is a Wii U/3DS crossover in development at Namco Bandai.

Train2Game News: Top 3 Game Engines

UDKAcross the past week Train2Game held a poll to see which is your favourite game engine. These are the results!

In descending order the Third most popular games engine for Train2Game Students is the CryEngine 3.  It was originally developed by German studio, Crytek, as a technology demo for Nvidia and, when the company saw its potential, it was turned into a game. That first game developed using the engine was the first Far Cry.

The CryEngine 3 Free SDK, originally called Sandbox Editor, is the current version of the level editor used to create levels for the CryEngine line of game engines by Crytek. Tools are also provided within the software to facilitate scripting, animation, and object creation. It has been included with various Crytek games and is used extensively for modding purposes. The editing style is that of the sandbox concept, with the emphasis on large terrains and a free style of mission programming. The editor can also construct indoor settings.

Recently the engine has been used to create games such as Crysis 3, Monster Hunter Online and Ryse which will be released on the Xbox One.

Second in the poll was the Unity engine. Unity (also called Unity3D) is a cross-platform game engine with a built-in IDE developed by Unity Technologies. Unity is primarily used to create mobile and web games, but can also deploy games to consoles or the PC. The game engine was developed in C/C++, and is able to support code written in C#, JavaScript or Boo. It grew from an OS X supported game development tool in 2005 to the multi-platform game engine that it is today.

The Unity Engine is simple to use and as of this month free to publish to mobiles. It is clear why it is popular among Train2Game Students.

The Unity Engine has been used to create popular mobile games such as Bad Piggies, Slender: The Arrival and it was used to port Temple Run 2 to Android devices.

Finally the number one games engine according to Train2Game students is Epic’s Unreal Engine. Although primarily developed for first-person shooters, it has been successfully used in a variety of other genres, including stealth, MMORPGs and other RPGs. With its code written in C++, the Unreal Engine features a high degree of portability and is a tool used by many game developers today. It was first developed in 1998 for Unreal.

The third and current generation of the Unreal Engine (UE3) is designed for DirectX (versions 9-11 for Windows and Xbox 360), as well as systems using OpenGL, including the PlayStation 3, OS X, iOS, Android, Stage 3D for Adobe Flash Player 11, JavaScript/WebGL, PlayStation Vita and Wii U. Its renderer supports many advanced techniques including HDRR, per-pixel lighting, and dynamic shadows. It also builds on the tools available in previous versions.

In October 2011, the engine was ported to support Adobe Flash Player 11 through the Stage 3D hardware-accelerated APIs. Epic has used this version of the engine for their in-house games. Aggressive licensing of this iteration has garnered a great deal of support from many prominent licensees. Epic has announced that Unreal Engine 3 runs on both Windows 8 and Windows RT.

The engine is free to download and has a small charge of $99 to publish from, as long as you don’t make over $50,000 after which Epic will start to take a percentage.

The Unreal engine has been used in countless games including The Batman Arkham Games, BioShock Infinite, The Borderlands games, Dishonored, The Gears of War series and countless others.

It is quite clear why the Unreal Engine is the most popular engine among Train2Game Students.

Train2Game News: UK Top 20 Games – 20.05.13

Metro-Last-LightIn this weeks UK Top 20, Dead Island Riptide has been knocked off of the top spot! Metro Last Light has debuted at number one. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Infinity has also debuted this week. The Pokémon dungeon crawler wasn’t enough to break into the top three though and sits at number four.

All formats

Week ending 18 May 2013

POS.  TITLE  PUBLISHER  LAST
WEEK 
1 METRO LAST LIGHT DEEP SILVER
2 DEAD ISLAND: RIPTIDE DEEP SILVER 1
3 FIFA 13 EA SPORTS 5
4 POKEMON MYSTERY DUNGEON: INFINITY NINTENDO
5 CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS II ACTIVISION 2
6 TOMB RAIDER SQUARE ENIX 3
7 THE WALKING DEAD TELLTALE GAMES 9
8 INJUSTICE: GODS AMONG US WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE 4
9 ASSASSIN’S CREED III XBOX 360 CLASSICS 7
10 BIOSHOCK INFINITE 2K GAMES 6
11 FAR CRY 3 UBISOFT 12
12 LUIGI’S MANSION 2 NINTENDO 10
13 LEGO CITY UNDERCOVER: THE CHASE BEGINS NINTENDO 8
14 LEGO BATMAN 2: DC SUPER HEROES WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE 15
15 GOD OF WAR: ASCENSION SONY COMPUTER ENT. 14
16 THE ELDER SCROLLS V: SKYRIM XBOX 360 CLASSICS 17
17 GRAND THEFT AUTO IV XBOX 360 CLASSICS 20
18 GRAND THEFT AUTO EPISODES – LIBERTY CITY ROCKSTAR 19
19 SKYLANDERS GIANTS SKYLANDERS
20 DRAGON’S DOGMA: DARK ARISEN CAPCOM 13
< previous week
Leisure software charts compiled by Chart Track, (C)2013 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: Train2Game Radio – Muir Halleron

Muir HalleronI got the pleasure of interviewing a young man named Muir recently who is just coming to the end of section 1 of his course. You may have seen Muir on Twitter or the Train2Game Forum as he is always very active on there. Now you can find out more about him!

You can here the interview here: http://audioboo.fm/boos/1391947-train2game-student-muir-halleron-talks-to-t2g-radio

Or read the transcript below:

Hi my name is Muir, I’m a Games Development student with Train2Game and I live in Widnes, Cheshire.

Hi Muir, how you doing mate?

I’m alright thanks Mark, how are you?

I’m good cheers buddy. So tell me, how did you get into Games Development?

Well, I’ve always loved games. My first games console was when I was like four years old and it was an Odyssey 2, if you can remember back that far! Showing my age. I’ve just been really interested in games going all the way up to Nintendo, Xbox360 and PlayStation. When I saw the Train2Game thing online I went on the website, filled out a form and didn’t think twice about it really.

Was there any particular game that made you want to get in to development its self?

Probably the Elder Scrolls series. I had a play with the Elder Scrolls, Skrim it was, there game engine that they use that they have opened up to allow people to mod the game. I was just absolutely gob smacked by it and everything that goes in to making a game. I’d say that’s probably the biggest series that’s worked.

Yeah. Were you into coding before that or is it something you have learnt through Train2Game entirely?

It’s pretty much something I am learning just through Train2Game. I remember when I was really little, about five or six years old, my Dad bought a home computer and I actually had a go at learning BASIC on that. It got to the point where I could make a really, really simple game on BASIC and that was about it.

So what have you been up to with your games development at the minute?

Well right now I’m nearly finished with Section one in the course and I’ve lately been doing the one game a month challenge that’s online. That’s www.onegameamonth.com

Oh yeah? How’s that going?

It’s going pretty good, this month has been pretty slow, I’ve had a mental block with coding for some reason this month but the last 3 months I’ve made one game a month. The first one was something based on one of the Game Maker tutorials in the intro booklet for the Train2Game course and the other two were ones I came up with, on myself. The last one being completely done in C++. I’m actually really proud of that one!

Nice, so it sounds like you are progressing quite well then?

Yeah and I just recently I’ve also been accepted with Road Hog Games. Doing there student initiative.

Ah very nice and what are you doing with them?

Well right now it’s a group of two developers, two designers and two artists I believe. We are in the process of making a game under the tutelage and support of Road Hog Games.

Finally, What is your greatest ambition for your career?

Well I am hoping eventually to be able to get to a point where I can either work for a well developed gaming company as a developer or go in as an indie dev and make my own games.

Is there any company in particular that you’d want to work for?

Well in this area, just in Widnes, there’s actually Sony Evolution Studios is in Runcorn which is real close to where I live. So I’ve been feeling the waters with them a bit and there’s a few other small gaming companies in Liverpool and Manchester as well.

Excellent. Well thank you very much Muir!

Thank you Mark!

Train2Game News: UK Top 20 Games – 13.05.13

Dead Island RiptideDead Island: Riptide goes one week better than its predecessor by holding on to number one for a third consecutive week, despite a 55% drop in sales.  Bioshock Infinite is the only other title so far this year to record three consecutive weeks at number one.  Competition for top spot comes in the form of an unexpected familiar face, Call of Duty: Black Ops II which climbs four places to number two, boosted by strong retailer price promotions only two weeks after dropping out of the Top Ten for the first time. The Walking Dead from Telltale Games and Avanquest – now available on disc has entered at number nine and Luigi’s Mansion 2 being at number ten keeps this week’s only other new entry out of the Top Ten with PQube’s critically acclaimed Persona 4 Arena having to settle for a debut at number eleven.

All formats

Week ending 11 May 2013

POS.  TITLE  PUBLISHER  LAST
WEEK 
1 DEAD ISLAND: RIPTIDE DEEP SILVER 1
2 CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS II ACTIVISION 6
3 TOMB RAIDER SQUARE ENIX 3
4 INJUSTICE: GODS AMONG US WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE 2
5 FIFA 13 EA SPORTS 4
6 BIOSHOCK INFINITE 2K GAMES 7
7 ASSASSIN’S CREED III UBISOFT 11
8 LEGO CITY UNDERCOVER: THE CHASE BEGINS NINTENDO 8
9 THE WALKING DEAD TELLTALE GAMES
10 LUIGI’S MANSION 2 NINTENDO 9
11 PERSONA 4 ARENA PQUBE
12 FAR CRY 3 UBISOFT 12
13 DRAGON’S DOGMA: DARK ARISEN CAPCOM 5
14 GOD OF WAR: ASCENSION SONY COMPUTER ENT. 16
15 LEGO BATMAN 2: DC SUPER HEROES WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE 15
16 DEFIANCE TRION WORLDS 13
17 THE ELDER SCROLLS V: SKYRIM XBOX 360 CLASSICS 14
18 NEED FOR SPEED MOST WANTED EA GAMES 17
19 GRAND THEFT AUTO EPISODES – LIBERTY CITY ROCKSTAR 19
20 GRAND THEFT AUTO IV XBOX 360 CLASSICS 20
< previous week
Leisure software charts compiled by Chart Track, (C)2013 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: UK Top 20 Games – 22.04.13

AquamanThis week in the games charts BioShock has been knocked off of the number one spot! The game that punched it down to second place is the DC Comics fighter, Injustice: Gods Among Us. The new Fire Emblem game on Nintendo 3DS is the other new entry this week coming in at number three.

All formats

Week ending 20 April 2013

POS.  TITLE  PUBLISHER  LAST
WEEK 
1 INJUSTICE: GODS AMONG US WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE
2 BIOSHOCK INFINITE 2K GAMES 1
3 FIRE EMBLEM: AWAKENING NINTENDO
4 TOMB RAIDER SQUARE ENIX 2
5 DEFIANCE TRION WORLDS 4
6 FIFA 13 EA SPORTS 3
7 CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS II ACTIVISION 6
8 LUIGI’S MANSION 2 NINTENDO 5
9 TIGER WOODS PGA TOUR 14 EA SPORTS 12
10 FAR CRY 3 UBISOFT 10
11 THE ELDER SCROLLS V: SKYRIM XBOX 360 CLASSICS 14
12 LEGO BATMAN 2: DC SUPER HEROES WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE 9
13 ASSASSIN’S CREED III UBISOFT 7
14 SKYLANDERS GIANTS SKYLANDERS 15
15 GEARS OF WAR: JUDGMENT MICROSOFT 8
16 SNIPER: GHOST WARRIOR 2 CITY INTERACTIVE 20
17 NEED FOR SPEED MOST WANTED EA GAMES 11
18 GOD OF WAR: ASCENSION SONY COMPUTER ENT.
19 SONIC & ALL STARS RACING TRANSFORMED SEGA 17
20 SLEEPING DOGS XBOX 360 CLASSICS
Leisure software charts compiled by Chart Track, (C)2013 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: Games Industry News – 19.04.13

Connor AdamsIt is the end of the week so it is time for the Train2Game end of week round up!

The first bit of news this weeks come with the release of Injustice: Gods Among Us, the new DC Universe fighting game. Train2Game student Connor Adams did some of the concept art for the game at the company he works at Atomhawk in Newcastle. Congratulations Connor! You can view some of his art work, which I highly suggest, in the following link: http://crayonmechanic.deviantart.com/

The Pokémon Company International recently revealed a mysterious new Pokémon that looks strangely familiar to Legendary Pokémon Mewtwo. Nintendo have now confirmed that this new Pokémon is connect to Mewtwo! How this connection will play out when Pokémon X and Pokémon Y launch in October is still to be confirmed. You can enjoy a short clip, that makes the connection clear, here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tSVBVQzNMg&feature=player_embedded

Bethesda have recently uploaded a couple of six second long clips to the video sharing site, Vine. These little teaser clips had the internet buzzing about what could be coming. It has now been announced that it is the new game from Resident Evil creator, Shinji Mikami. Mikami’s studio Tango Gameworks will reveal ‘project Zwei’ via a debut trailer set for release at 5:00 a.m. Pacific / 8:00 a.m Eastern. Mikami has previously described Zwei as “a true survival horror” in which the player “confronts and overcomes fear”. Mikami has also said this will be his last game as director.

Activision social media manager Dan Amrich has said he expects 2013’s entry in the Call of Duty series, which is most likely going to be Modern Warfare 4, to be revealed no later than E3 in early June. Amrich noted that the last two Call of Duty games were revealed in May 2011 and May 2012. It has been rumoured that Microsoft are revealing their next Xbox on May 21 so it is likely the new COD will be announced around the same time.

Finally, Microsoft reports that Xbox Live now has around 46 million members worldwide. This, is according to the firm’s Earnings Release for FY13 Q3. It represents an 18 per cent increase from the prior year period. Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices Division posted revenue of $2.53 billion, an increase of 56 per cent from the prior year period. Microsoft sold 1.3 million Xbox 360s during the quarter, which is down 9 percent from the same period but it is still impressive that so many consoles are still being sold, even at the end of this generations cycle.