Tag Archives: PC

Train2Game News: Introversion Software developer session confirmed for Rezzed

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Introversion Software, developer of games including Uplink, Defcon and Darwinia will be hosting a developer session at Rezzed, the PC and indie gaming show in which takes place in Brighton next month.

It’ll take place at 1pm on Saturday 7th July and will see Inversion Software discussing their upcoming title Prison Architect, in a session which is sure to be interesting to Train2Game students. Prison Architect will also be available to play on the show floor for the whole two days.

“We’re really looking forward to showing off Prison Architect to a wide audience – it’s at a time when feedback from gamers will be really helpful,” said Introversion director and co-founder Mark Morris.

“We also think they’ll be a lot of questions about what happened to Subversion and we want to clear it up once and for all!”

Get a taste of Prison Architect in the preview video below, here on The Train2Game Blog.

There are plenty of other developer sessions taking place at Rezzed, including one from The Creative Assembly where they’ll be taking an exclusive first look at the future of Total War.

Rezzed takes place in Brighton on Friday 6th and Saturday 7th July with tickets available here. Keep reading The Train2Game Blog for the latest news as Rezzed approaches.

Are you a fan of Introversion Software? What would you like to find out from their developer session?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Train2Game News: The Creative Assembly to make Total War announcement at Rezzed developer session

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Shogun 2 Total War

Total War studio The Creative Assembly will be hosting a developer session at PC and indie games show Rezzed, which is sure to be of interest to anyone on a Train2Game course.

The presentation will celebrate the studio’s 25 year history and will feature an exclusive first look at the future of Total War.

“This year, The Creative Assembly is celebrating a quarter of a century making games,” said Total War lead designer James Russell.

“I’ll be at Rezzed giving a talk on the making of the Total War series, and showing a sneak peek of what we’re doing next. Exciting times – see you there!”

The Creative Assembly recently released a free map editor for Shogun 2: Total War.

Rezzed takes place in Brighton on Friday 6th and Saturday 7th July with day the price of day tickets £12, or £20 for both days. There’s more information here.

Other games available to see at Rezzed include Aliens: Colonial Marines, Borderlands 2, XCOM: Enemy Unknown and more, in addition to a number of developer sessions.

Keep reading The Train2Game Blog for the latest updates about Rezzed, while there’s more from The Creative Assembly here.

Will you be attending Rezzed? If so, what are you most looking forward to?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Train2Game news: Tribes: Ascend passes 1 million downloads in less than a month

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Train2Game Blog readers may have read this post at the end of April, about free-to-play shooter Tribes: Ascend reaching 800,000 players in its first weeks of release.

Well, the growth didn’t stop there, with developer Hi-Rez revealing Tribes: Ascend has reached 1.2 million downloads since its release on 12th April.

“We’re thrilled that over 1 million gamers have discovered the fast-paced and skill-based gameplay of Tribes,” said Hi-Rez Studios COO Todd Harris. “It is truly the player support of the title that has driven the population growth and fuels our team to deliver updates.

“We see the community expanding primarily thru positive word of mouth. Since release we’ve already recognized seven players who have each individually referred over 500 new people to Tribes: Ascend.”   he continued.

“The game’s success allows us to give back to the community through free DLC updates, tournament events and expansion into new markets in coming months.”  Harris added.

As previously reported by The Train2Game Blog, the Hi-Rez COO believes free-to-play is the best business model for both studios and gamers.

There’s more on the rise of free-to-play here.

Are you playing Tribes: Ascend? What are your thoughts on the success of the game?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Train2Game Gadget Show Live interview: Overclockers UK on how to build gaming PC and more

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Train2Game News visited Overclockers UK stand at The Gadget Show Live in the Birmingham NEC. While there, we spoke to Overclockers UK’s Mark Purdy, who told us a bit about what the company do, how to build your own PC and much more.  As usual, leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum. 

First of all, tell us a bit about Overclockers UK?

We are a high end gaming components and computer seller, an online retailer based in Newcastle-Under-Lyme. Visit us at www.overclockers.co.uk. At The Gadget Show we’re showcasing a range of gaming systems that you can come and try, we’ve got one that’s running Batman: Arkham City, one that’s running the Diablo 3 beta, and two that are running Battlefield 3. We also have a racing simulator with our own branded racing seat running Project Cars, and we have a flight simulator running Microsoft Flight. We have our show system, Ultimate Mammoth, which is a £6000 machine featuring brand new NVIDIA GTX 680 graphics cards.

We have stock for sale, which you can come and purchase. We also have a free shipping code on flyers that you can come along and grab. We are running daily competitions, doing build demos so you can learn to build your own computer, and also have our time on the main stage where we’re giving out bags full of goodies.

Building a computer is something many people will look at and think of as a tough task, but is it actually relatively simple to do?

I’m going to compare it to building Lego; putting in each component in the right place is just like slotting in pieces of Lego, as long as you know where it goes and can connect it up properly, and test it.  That’s what we’re going to be showing.

So, if someone wanted to build a high-end PC, what would you recommend they start with? What are the key parts they’ll need?

Look at the games you’re going to be playing, and make sure you build a system that’ll run the games nicely. There’s no point spending too much money on a system you’ll never use all of the full potential of the power.  Always get a system which you’re comfortable with, which will run the games nice and smoothly and won’t cost you too much. There are so many people who’ll go out and buy a few thousand pound machine and never actually use the full potential of it. You could spend £700 to £800 on a machine that’ll do your games running at high definition, while you play it nice and smoothly.

Where can people get more information about this, or Overclockers?

We have a Facebook page which people can go on to, which we update every day. We have a Twitter account where people can ask questions on. We have one of the UK’s largest forums as well, with over 100,000 members, where people can ask questions about hardware. If they’re not sure what to buy they can just go on and talk to our members and get information; if they have a budget and they’re not sure what to spend it on they’ll get recommendations.  And it’s just for general chit-chat, so we have a general discussion area where anything can go, a PC games section where people talk about the latest releases, and latest news and deals where we o do special deals just for the forum.

The forums are a key part of a good community then?

Yes, a very key part of the community. The business is built almost around the forums, the forums really helped the business take off back in 1999. So it was one of the best additions it could’ve had for marketing, especially for new products, it’s absolutely fantastic.

Thanks for your time.

Visit OverClockers UK  http://www.overclockers.co.uk/. As usual, leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum. 

Train2Game news: PC is best platform to begin making games for says Bleszinski

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Train2Game students looking to kick start a career in making indie games should develop games for PC. That’s according to Epic Games design director Cliff Bleszinski, who gave advice to the game developers of tomorrow at a panel session at GDC.

“Xbox Live and PSN, skip both of them because you’re at Sony or Microsoft’s will as to what’s on the dashboard. iOS, maybe, but you have to have Apple’s approval, there’s too much piracy on Android, no one has a Windows phone, Kickstarter’s wonderful, go Tim Schafer. I would go with the PC.” he said.

It’s not the first time Bleszinski has given advice to aspiring game developers, with the Train2Game Blog previously reporting that the Epic man suggests game developers need to make themselves stand out.

“First and foremost, make a great game but also have a personality. Be the guy with the hip glasses, with the one gauge earring and the gamer tattoo all the way to the sleeves with a skateboard. Stand out.” he said.

Keep up with Cliff Bleszinski here on The Train2Game Blog.

Train2Game and Epic Games are working together to host Make Something Unreal Live, a contest taking place at The Gadget Show live which will see one Train2Game student team walk away with a licensed Unreal Development Kit.  Find out more here on The Train2Game Blog.

So, what are your thoughts on Bleszinski’s advice? Do you agree that the PC is the best platform for indie devs to begin with?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.


Train2Game news: Games industry should adopt one console as standard says Bethesda Exec

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The games industry should move towards adopting a single console.

That’s according to Bethesda Softworks game director Todd Howard whose view is likely to split Train2Game students.

“I’d like there to be only one platform. It’s a lot of work to make the games look good on ever platform you’re on,” said Howard told PSM3.

He compared it to being able to use DVDs and Blu-Rays with multiple outlets.

“I often equate it to DVD or Blu-Rays. Once I’ve bought a DVD I can use it in my TV, in my computer, in my car, here, whatever. And I think it would be good for gaming if it was like that,” he said.

However, Howard admits his wish is rather unlikely.

“They spend billions of dollars selling consoles at a loss for years, but then make the money back with games,” he commented. “It’s not like the industry is hurting, we’re doing really well. But if I had one wish, you know, we would have better games for a single platform.”

The idea of one console certainly raises an interesting prospect, and not just because it’d mean the death of console exclusive titles! But it could potentially make games easier to develop and allow them to get to a wider audience; both are things Train2Game students are likely to approve of!

On the other hand, the idea of a single console does seem to overlook the PC, which as the Train2Game blog reported last month, has ‘shot by’ consoles according to Epic.

“We’re at the stage in the life of the consoles where the PC has shot by them in terms of capabilities.”  said Epic Games VP Mark Rein

“With the PC you can simulate the future – you can put enough hardware in a PC to show you what a future console will look like.” he added.

The Train2Game blog has previously lavished praise on the PC for being the best platform for Train2Game students.

So Train2Game, is the idea of a single gaming device too farfetched? Or could you see it happening in future? How could it benefit developers?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: CVG]

Train2Game student lesson for the future? id Software’s fans ‘sometimes drive them nuts’

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All Train2Game students are gamers, and they’ll all have different ideas about various games with some even voicing opinions on the Train2Game forum.

Of course, not all comments about games are positive with gamers demanding various things that for one reason or another won’t be in a particular game.

The upcoming RAGE from ID Software contains shooting, driving and RPG elements, but creative director Tim Willits believes that fans of the game will still find problems with it, things that they believe should be added.

“The worst thing is that everyone wants the kitchen sink and everything else too,” he told Xbox World 360 Magazine.

“For Rage, we’re doing all these things and yet people are like ‘Well I can’t blow up these boxes’, and I’m like ‘Are you serious? We have driving, racing and all these cool characters!’ ‘But in this other game I can blow up boxes’, and I’m like, ‘This other game doesn’t have any racing in it!’

“It’s crazy. Fans: I love them but sometimes they drive us nuts!” he concluded.

Train2Game students probably have criticised certain games, and they may even find fans demanding things from their own games in future!

As previously reported by the Train2Game blog, RAGE will be released with mod tools potentially allowing the community to add the things they believe should be in the game.

As Train2Game students will know, modding is also a great potential path to a full-time role in the games industry.

Rage is scheduled for release on October 7th for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC

So Train2Game, how important is fan input into game development? Would you accept it for your games?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: CVG]

PC gaming hardware sells double that of consoles

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Reports of PC gaming’s demise have been greatly exaggerated, and it is in fact stronger than every current console combined. That’s according to a report by the PC Gaming Alliance

Among the key findings of the Horizons Hardware research report, was that volumes for the PC Gaming hardware market in 2009 were over two times larger than the combined Wii, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 console units shipped in the same period.  Revenue from ‘PC’s capable of gaming’ totalled $54.6 billion during last year, and the alliance expected this to grow to $61.3 billion by 2014.

The report also estimates the worldwide number of consumers gaming  on their PCs – which includes both Desktop and Notebooks – to be 212.6 million for 2009 and expects this to grow to about 322 million by 2014.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, it’s the Asia Pacific region which has the highest percentage of PC gamers with 33% using desktops or laptops.

PCGA Research Committee Chairman Matt Ployhar says gamers are moving away from bulky desktops and towards more mobile laptop systems.

“One of the biggest trends I’m seeing in the 2009 Horizon’s hardware report indicates a strong demand for more capable mobile based systems by PC Gamers.”

“PC Gamers are playing a central role in fuelling healthier margins, and driving innovation in this space worldwide”.

Meanwhile, research manager at IDC covering PCs Richard Shims says PC gamers are more willing to spend large amounts on their systems than console owners.

“PC gaming is the highest profile and most mature example of a new era of computing systems based on usage”

“These new usage-based systems are hardware configurations optimized for an improved user experience. Consumers are often willing to pay more for such an experience. In the case of gaming PCs, up to 25% more as compared to a mainstream system.”

Of course, saying PC gamers are more mature than other gamers won’t start a flame war at all. There’s also no mention in the report of gaming on Macs, with Valve in particular pushing more games onto the Apple system. Of course, if you’re unfamiliar with PC gaming, you can read how it could be the ideal platform for Train2Game students in this blog from the archives.

So Train2Game, are any of you PC gamers? Do you think the PC is a stronger system than consoles? Or do you think the PC Gaming Alliance might just be trying to push their vested interested in the system?

As usual, you can leave your thoughts here or on the Train2Game forum.