Tag Archives: PC gaming

Train2Game News: A visit to Special Effect

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Kirsty Payne from SpecialEffectI had the great pleasure of going to visit SpecialEffect at its headquarters in Oxford on Wednesday. The charity held a get together to thank supporters for their work during the Art Charity Auction back in December.

As I arrived at the building I was struck by how incredible it looked. I drove up a long road, flanked by trees all the way up to a Manor building where SpecialEffect is housed. I parked around the back and entered the easily accessible building where I was met by Hannah Whittaker, who works at SpeciaEffect.

As I entered the office I was greeted by Gavin Tan, who is a developer for the charity. I chatted with Gavin for a bit about games, that is the reason we are in this industry, and he then showed me some of the controllers they use to help disabled people to be able to play games.

The first controller I tried was the “EyeGaze”. This is a device which tracks your eye movements and lets you do all the things you want on a computer using nothing but your eye movement. Following a quick calibration I got to play racing game, Dirt. To control the vehicle you moved your eyes to the top of the screen to go faster, to the bottom of the screen to brake and reverse and direct your eyes left or right to turn. I am normally terrible at racing games but using the EyeGaze I managed an average time which pleased me!

Following on from the EyeGaze I got to experience voice activated controls in Street Fighter. A control was set up which is used for movement and can be controlled by your chin with a sensitive microphone for the voice commands. The commands were simple like “Punch” for an uppercut, “Kick” for a spinning kick and “Move” to do a Hadouken.

Seeing and experiencing these controllers for myself really showed me how helpful these can be for people trying to get back in to gaming and back playing games on a level playing field. It truly is an amazing thing that the people at SpecialEffect do.

Over the next half an hour several games industry people turned up to the office for the event. There were people there from Sega, Warner Bros, and Take-two. Once everyone had arrived it was time for the main event.

Everyone was welcomed to the event by Kirsty Payne, a Vice President of SpecialEffect, who can be seen in the picture above. She gave a quick run down of the event in December. The art auction featured games art from across the industry and was held at the London City Hall and was visited by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson. The auction managed to raise over £30,000!

The floor was then given over to Dr Mick Donegan, founder of SpecialEffect, who showed where the money will be going and who is being helped.

After the presentation SpecialEffect offered us drink and food. It was lovely just being able to talk with some of the games industry people who do so much for our industry and hearing their opinions on the games industry at the moment.

It was an incredible day and I will continue to do what I can for this amazing Charity! I will leave you with this amazing video of a young man called Alex who has been able to play games again and has used Special Effects help to be able to become a Train2Game student!

Enjoy!

Train2Game News: Games Industry News – 19.04.13

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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.

Train2Game News: FIFA 14 revealed

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FIFA 14EA has revealed details for FIFA 14, including new features and improvements which will allow us to play “just like real footballers”, according to a press release.

Players will now have the ability to adjust their stride before taking on a shot, therefore creating a better angle, with the new ‘Pure Shot’ feature. “Well-hit balls feel more exhilarating and rewarding,” apparently, according to the press release. It continues: “Real Ball Physics now determines the trajectories of balls, enabling players to kick the ball with force from distance, drill low rising shots with accuracy, and blast dipping or turbulent shots, just like real players.”

Teammate intelligence is set to improve, meaning defenders are better able to predict the movements of oncoming strikers. ‘Sprint Dribble Turns’ and ‘Variable Dribble Touches’ will allow for tighter ball control and deft touches, and the ‘Protect the Ball’ feature will  allow players the ability to fend off pressuring defenders whilst dribbling at a range of speeds.

The last, and probably most expanded upon feature is the Global Scouting Network – an improvement on the Youth Academy Scout Network from FIFA 13. “Players now develop and refine a scouting network and search for talent year-round. Scouts can evaluate players all over the world to uncover the attributes and traits of every player in the game, in preparation for the transfer windows,” the press release reads.

FIFA 14 will deliver engaging online features and live services that connect fans to the heartbeat of the sport, and to each other, through EA SPORTS Football Club, making FIFA 14 football’s social network, where fans connect, compete and share with millions of others around the world.

The FIFA games have had a gradual evolution and a steady, yet high, popularity amongst online players. The question is though is this game going to change enough to keep it above the ever increasing popularity of PES?

FIFA 14 is in development at EA Canada and will be available in stores world-wide this fall.

Train2Game News: Injustice: Gods Among Us Heroes

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With the release of Injustice: Gods Among Us, Warner Bros and DC Comics have released a couple of infographics to make sure you know the characters in the DC Universe.

First up is a collection of all the Heroes in the DCUDC Heroes

 

Train2Game News: UK Top 20 Games – 15.04.13

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BioShock Infinite Very little action this week in the Train2Game charts brought to you by Ukie. BioShock Infinite continues to fly high above the rest of the charts.

All formats

Week ending 13 April 2013

POS.  TITLE  PUBLISHER  LAST
WEEK 
1 – BIOSHOCK INFINITE 2K GAMES 1
2 – TOMB RAIDER SQUARE ENIX 2
3 FIFA 13 EA SPORTS 4
4 DEFIANCE TRION WORLDS 3
5 – LUIGI’S MANSION 2 NINTENDO 5
6 CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS II ACTIVISION 7
7 ASSASSIN’S CREED III UBISOFT 8
8 GEARS OF WAR: JUDGMENT MICROSOFT 6
9 LEGO BATMAN 2: DC SUPER HEROES WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE 13
10 FAR CRY 3 UBISOFT 12
11 NEED FOR SPEED MOST WANTED EA GAMES 10
12 TIGER WOODS PGA TOUR 14 EA SPORTS 17
13 LEGO THE LORD OF THE RINGS WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE 16
14 THE ELDER SCROLLS V: SKYRIM BETHESDA SOFTWORKS –
15 SKYLANDERS GIANTS SKYLANDERS 9
16 HALO 4 MICROSOFT 14
17 SONIC & ALL STARS RACING TRANSFORMED SEGA 20
18 JUST DANCE 4 UBISOFT –
19 SIMCITY EA GAMES 18
20 SNIPER: GHOST WARRIOR 2 CITY INTERACTIVE 19
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 – 12.04.13

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Dishonored Knife of DunwallIt is the end of the week which means its time for the Train2Game news round up. There are many trailers for you this week!

Arkane studios has just released a new gameplay trailer for Dishonored: The Knife of Dunwall, the second add-on pack for Arkane Studios’ critically-acclaimed first-person action game. In The Knife of Dunwall you take on the role of Daud, the legendary assassin who killed the Empress, and access his weapons, gadgets, allies and supernatural abilities. After assassinating the Empress, and forever changing the fate of Dunwall, you embark on a search for redemption. You can enjoy the trailer here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHV4R3cseVE

Independent developers and wannabe videogame musicians will be able to quickly and easily create authentic chiptunes when eJay Pure hits iOS and Android later this year –with your help. The 1,000 strong sample pack will mark the first time the eJay series has catered for this booming genre – and illustrates the breadth that Wired Productions is bringing to the core eJay experience. You can support the release of eJay by giving to their Kickstarter at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wiredproductions/ejay-pure

Pokémon X and Pokémon Y launches worldwide in October. Today, the mysteries of the newest Pokémon titles continue to grow with the unveiling of a Pokémon that is strangely familiar to Legendary Pokémon Mewtwo! What is this new Pokémon? How will you encounter it in Pokémon X and Pokémon Y? When will you know more? So many questions! You can see this new Pokémon in the following video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-k1E83_nnU

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Entertainment released an all-new trailer for the upcoming DC Comics fighter Injustice: Gods Among Us – set to launch next week on 19th April – which focuses on the Green Lantern’s role within the game’s story and his struggle to defeat his ultimate foe. A sworn intergalactic defender of the innocent, within the story of Injustice: Gods Among Us, Hal Jordan is forced to clash with a carbon copy of himself. As he summarizes in the trailer, “My oath says that no evil shall escape my sight. So what happens when that evil is me?” You can enjoy the footage of GL here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6jrq2I8OKc

Having just released the amusingly fun BattleBlock Theater, The Behemoth revealed that they’re already working on their fourth game creatively titled Game 4. The studio are also talking about whether or not they would make sequels to any of their games such as Castle Crashers. While there are no details regarding Game 4, Behemoth expressed interest in making fighting and MOBA games. They also have “no problem” making another game similar to CC if “we feel we can make a beat-em-up that’ll take the genre somewhere else,” said Behemoth’s co-founder and art director Dan Paladin.

Train2Game News: New Batman Arkham game announced

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Batman Arkham OriginsGood news for Train2Game Bat-Fans! WB Games have announced the next game in the Batman Arkham Universe.

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Entertainment today announced Batman: Arkham Origins and Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate, the next instalments of the blockbuster Batman: Arkham videogame franchise. Batman: Arkham Origins will be available for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation 3 system, the Wii U system, and Windows PC.  Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate will be available for the Nintendo 3DS handheld system, and PlayStation Vita handheld entertainment system.  Both titles are scheduled to release worldwide 25 October, 2013.

Developed by WB Games Montréal, Batman: Arkham Origins features an expanded Gotham City and introduces an original prequel storyline set several years before the events of Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City, the first two critically acclaimed games of the franchise.  Taking place before the rise of Gotham City’s most dangerous criminals, the game showcases a young and unrefined Batman as he faces a defining moment in his early career as a crime fighter that sets his path to becoming the Dark Knight. As the story unfolds, players will meet many important characters for the first time and forge key relationships.

Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate is a 2.5-D game developed by Armature Studio that brings the Batman Arkham experience for the first time to Nintendo and Sony handheld systems.  A companion game to Batman: Arkham Origins, players can continue the storyline of the console version and discover more details of the Dark Knight’s past.

“Batman: Arkham is a huge triple-A videogame franchise and we are delighted to expand the experience with Batman: Arkham Origins,” said Martin Tremblay, President, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.  “WB Games Montréal has an incredibly talented team building upon Rocksteady’s award-winning gameplay and technology to deliver a deep, immersive, quality experience fans will love.”

“WB Games Montréal is honoured to have the opportunity to create Batman: Arkham Origins, a new chapter in this amazing franchise” said Reid Schneider, Vice President and Executive Producer, WB Games Montréal.  “We are huge fans of the franchise and are committed to creating an experience that offers players more of what they love, as well as the chance to play as a younger Batman within a fresh storyline and expanded world.”

Fans can visit www.batmanarkhamorigins.com for more information about the game.

Train2Game News: Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon release date

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Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon

What some thought to have been an April Fools joke has now been confirmed as reality. Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is being released next month.

The game is set in a dystopian 2007 and Ubisoft describes the game as “an ’80s VHS vision of the future where you must get the girl, kill the baddies, and save the world”. The game will star Terminator and Aliens actor Michael Biehn who will likely voice the game’s eye-patched protagonist Sargent Rex Colt, whose mission it is to defeat a rogue cyborg army.

The title is set to be a stand alone title, you will not need Far Cry 3 to play the game. It is set to be released on Xbox Live Arcade, PC and PSN on May 1 according to previous leaks.

In addition Melbourne electronic music duo Power Glove has posted a series of new tracks that claim to be the Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon official soundtrack.

Far Cry 3’s lead writer Jeffrey Yohalem said earlier this year “I’m working on something now that will be surprising, I think, when it’s announced, but it definitely is a ‘strike while the iron’s hot’ thing, and we’ll see.”

You can enjoy a teaser trailer below, ready for the games imminent release:

You can find out more about the game by going to www.fc3blooddragon.com

Train2Game News: Games Industry News – 05.04.13

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lucasartsIt is Friday so it is time for another Train2Game game industry news round up.

The saddest bit of news this week was that the new owners of LucasArts, Disney, has shut down the company. LucasArts were responsible for making many of the Star Wars licensed games as well as other games such as Monkey Island. A LucasFilm representative suggested that properties such as 1313 and Star Wars: First Assault could still find a home via a third party.

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Entertainment announced that the Injustice: Gods Among Us game is now available on the App Store. Developed from the ground up by award-winning NetherRealm Studios, this free-to-play mobile game delivers stunning graphics and a completely unique fighting gameplay experience. The mobile game features a collectible card mechanic and engages players in 3-on-3 tag team combat that pits many of DC Comics most popular icons such as Batman, Superman, The Flash, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, Aquaman and more against one another. Fans who also own the forthcoming Xbox 360 and PlayStation3 versions will be able to unlock content in the console versions that will be available in the mobile game, and vice versa, by registering for a Warner Bros. ID (WBID) account and playing the game.

Perfect World Entertainment Inc. and Cryptic Studios are pleased to announce that on April 30, 2013, the free-to-play action MMORPG Dungeons & Dragons Neverwinter is heading into Open Beta, allowing millions of players unrestricted access to the game world. Neverwinter is Cryptic and Perfect World’s proof that Western free-to-play games, when built from the ground up, can compete with even the biggest boxed subscription titles. On April 30, the companies invite all gamers to put that claim to the test. There will be no character wipes or restricted access after the start of Open Beta. Players can still become Founders through Neverwinter’s Founder’s Pack Program. Benefits include exclusive access to Beta Weekend 4, permanent in-game items that are unique to Founders, early access to Open Beta, and VIP perks. To take advantage of these benefits and to gain exclusive access to Neverwinter’s Beta Weekend 4, players may visit: http://nw.perfectworld.com/founderspack/

The latest set of downloadable content for Treyarch’s Call of Duty: Black Ops II has been confirmed for an April 16th launch on Xbox Live. The pack will include four new maps as well as a new zombie mode, available for 1200 Microsoft points or free to existing season pass holders. The four new maps are: Magma, a modern Japanese village featuring volcanic eruptions; Encore, taking place in the aftermath of a London music festival; Vertigo, a futuristic high rise building in India and Studio, a Hollywood movie back lot which describes itself as a “contemporary remake of Firing Range” which was found in the original Black Ops. By far the most intriguing addition to the newest DLC is the new Mob of the Dead mode, which sounds interesting enough to breathe life into the unspectacular collection of zombie content available currently. In it you play as a prohibition-era mobster locked up in Alcatraz whose attempts to escape are “foiled by the rise of the undead.”

Finally, creators of the hit game Castle Crashers, have released a new game. Blocks, Cats, Hats, Betrayal! This is how The Behemoth have described their new game, Battleblock Theatre. This newly released game, that is currently only for XBLA, is all about platforming, a “story of geometric proportions”, several modes of online gameplay and a massive amount of replayability. It has over 450 levels, hundreds of unlockables to find, over 300 prisoners to free and The Behemoth is calling it their largest game to date. The Behemoth said they are considering future ports, just like they did with Castle Crashers, but since they are a small studio it would take them quite some time to port if they do decide to bring the game to PC or PS3.