Tag Archives: Peter Molyneux

Train2Game at Gadget Show Live 2012 – The Digital Mage Story (Video)

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Train2Game student team Digital Mage were one of four to take part in last month’s Make Something Unreal Contest at Gadget Show Live, with the task of building an iOS game based on the prestigious Fighting Fantasy series.

Now, you can see the progress they made through Make Something Unreal Live in a new video from Train2Game! It features industry figures including Cliff Bleszinski, Jon Hare, Peter Molyneux and Ian Livingstone providing advice to Digital Mage as they developed their game.

Watch it on the Train2Game YouTube channel, or here on The Train2Game Blog.

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

Train2Game at Gadget Show Live 2012 – The Derp Studios Story (Video)

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Train2Game student team Derp Studios were one of four to take part in last month’sMake Something Unreal Contest at Gadget Show Live, with the task of building an iOS game based on the prestigious Fighting Fantasy series.

Now, you can see the progress they made through Make Something Unreal Live in a new video from Train2Game! It features industry figures including Cliff Bleszinski, Jon Hare, Peter Molyneux and Ian Livingstone providing advice to Derp Studios as they developed their game.

Watch it on the Train2Game YouTube channel, or here on The Train2Game Blog.

Leave your comments here, or on the Train2Game forum. 

Train2Game at Gadget Show Live: The documentary

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Train2Game students recently took part in Make Something Unreal Live, a game development contest co-sponsored by Epic Games which took place at The Gadget Show Live in April.

Four teams received mentoring from high profile industry figures as they completed games based on the iconic Fighting Fantasy series. The winning team, Commando Kiwi walked away with a fully licensed Unreal Development Kit for i OS, while all four games will be published on the App Store through Appynation.

Now, here’s a 15 minute Train2Game documentary about Make Something Unreal Live. The video features all four teams that took part – Commando Kiwi, Digital Mage, Derp Studios and Indigo Jam – talking about their experiences.

Not only that, but industry figures including Unreal’s Mike Gamble, Epic’s Cliff Bleszinski, Peter Molyneux, Fighting Fantasy creators Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson.

Watch it on the Train2Game YouTube channel, or here on The Train2Game Blog.

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

Train2Game news: “It’s a really interesting time” to be a game designer says Molyneux

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peter-molyneux-train2game-blog-imageTrain2Game students are looking to enter the industry at what’s an especially interesting time. At least that’s the case if you believe Peter Molyneux’s comments in an interview with Game Informer.

“I think it’s a really interesting time. We as game designers now have to really put our thinking caps on, because there’s a lot of stuff that we need to get our teeth into.” said Molyneux, who recently left his positions with Lionhead and Microsoft to concentrate on new projects.

He singled out cloud gaming and free-to-play as some of the most interesting issues for game designers.

“We have to get into all the cloud stuff, we’ve gotta get our teeth into monetizing and the digital relationship with customers.” he said.

“The difference between retail and free-to-play and how that’s gonna evolve, we’ve got multi-device play, we’ve got totally new ways of interacting with the experience.” said the respected game designer, adding that it’ll take some time for game designers to work through all the different developments.

“All of that has to be solved, designed, and delightful experiences have to be made. It’s going to take us quite a long time to get through that lot.” he added.

“On the horizon, I predict that we’ve just started looking at different devices. I’m sure there’s going to be a lot more input devices coming along, and I just think it’s a really interesting, fascinating time in the industry.” Molyneux concluded.

Train2Game students can read the full, fascinating, interview with Peter Molyneux over at Game Informer.

There’s more Peter Molyneux news right here on The Train2Game Blog, including his advice on how to get into the games industry.

Of course, Train2Game offers a course in game design, which you can find out more about here. 

What are your thoughts on Molyneux’s views? Do you agree that it’s an especially interesting time to be a game designer?

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

Train2Game news: Former Sony Exec Phil Harrison joins Microsoft

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Train2Game Blog readers will have seen that Peter Molyneux left his positions at Microsoft last week, but the Xbox 360 manufacturers have moved quickly to announce a new employee,  former Sony Executive Phil Harrison.

Harrison has over 25 years worth of experience in the games industry, who has spent a large portion of his career with Sony. Among other things, it was Harrison who discovered Media Molecule, this securing LittleBigPlanet as a PlayStation exclusive title. He also championed Killzone, SingStar and EyeToy.

His new role will involve mobile and social elements and growing Xbox developments in Europe, in addition to overseeing UK developers Lionhead, Soho Productions and Rare.

“I am excited to be joining the senior team at Microsoft at a pivotal time for our industry,” said Harrison. “

I am really impressed with the company’s long-term vision for growing the market for interactive entertainment globally and also with the incredible wealth of talent, technology and resources the company has available to succeed.”

President of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Businesses, Don Mattrick, welcomed Harrison on board.

“Phil has played an instrumental role in shaping modern console history through his keen insights into both hardware and software strategy,” he said.

His addition to our leadership team will impact our global business in innumerable ways, as he aligns our studio development and growing portfolio of entertainment experiences in Europe to drive our continued growth worldwide.” Mattrick added.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on former Sony executive Phil Harrison joining Microsoft?

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

[Source: Major Nelson]

Train2Game news: Peter Molyneux leaving Lionhead and Microsoft

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peter-molyneux-train2game-blog-imageTrain2Game students will be aware that Peter Molyneux is one of the most respected figures in the industry…and he’s just announced he’s leaving Lionhead of Microsoft.

Despite leaving the studio he co-founded and parting ways with Microsoft, Molyneux will still finish his upcoming Kinect title Fable: Journey.

“It is with mixed emotions that I made the decision to leave Microsoft and Lionhead Studios, the company that I co-founded in 1997, at the conclusion of development of Fable: The Journey” Molyneux told Kotaku.

“I remain extremely passionate and proud of the people, products and experiences that we created from Black and White to Fable to our pioneering work with Milo and Kate for the Kinect platform.

“However, I felt the time was right to pursue a new independent venture. I’d like to thank the team at Lionhead, as well as our partners at Microsoft Studios for their support, dedication and incredible work over the years.”  said the influential game developer.

Molyneux is to set up a new company, 22 Cans, alongside former Lionhead CTO Tim Rance. Lionhead will now be run by Molyneux’s fellow studio co-founder Mark Webley.

“As co-founder of Lionhead and an integral part of Microsoft Studios, Peter was the creative visionary behind the blockbuster Fable franchise, and one of our most passionate and influential developers for the Xbox 360 platform.” said a statement from Microsoft.

“He has made an indelible mark on the games industry and we wish him all the best of luck in his future endeavours.” it added.

The Train2Game Blog has previously reported that Peter Molyneux belives the industry should put more focus on up and coming talent. There’s more wisdom from the now former Lionhead man, right here.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on Peter Molyneux leaving Lionhead and Microsoft? What are your favourite Molyneux moments?

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

Train2Game students MUST read this! Molyneux reveals wacky sources of game ideas

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In a Gamelab talk that should provide a lot of interest to Train2Game students, Peter Molyneux has revealed what inspirations lie behind some of his games, and some of them are a little…odd.

For example, Train2Game students may find it strange to hear that Black & White was inspired by a time when Molyneux had a pet hamster at the age of 12.

“I spent the first three months of my hamster’s life teaching it tricks,” he told the Gamelab.

“Now, sadly, hamsters aren’t clever animals. So eventually I ignored him. One day I came back and, after ignoring the hamster for a month, I found it in its cage and realised it had been dead for two weeks.”

“It was the shame of letting this cute creature die that inspired me,” Funnily enough, Black And White is a game where neglecting your character has consequences.

Molyneux also revealed that the inspiration for Dungeon Keeper came from watching Bond film ‘You Only Live Twice’

In this film, James Bond single-handedly takes out an entire base from an evil villain by pressing one button. I thought this was incredibly unfair. What about the bad guys?” he said

“They’ve spent years building this entire base and it is completely wiped out when James Bond presses a single button?! We never know about what happens to the bad guy,”

“I decided to embrace the dark side, so Dungeon Keeper is all about being evil.” He added.

His main point is sure to be useful to the Train2Game Game Designers.

“Nurture your ideas. Care for them. Don’t criticise them. Think about the reasons why they excite you. I obsess about the reason why my ideas excite me,” Molyneux told Gamelab

“And be prepared before you tell other people about them. As soon as you present your idea you’ll have to answer to the negativity. Start with the people who will believe in your idea. Eventually, you’ll need to be prepared to change your mind as well.”

Useful advice for Train2Game students if there ever was any.

Peter Molyneux often offers advice to up and coming developers, and as reported by the Train2Game bog, he believes they should be getting more support. And as also previously mentioned on the Train2Game blog, he’s offered advice on how to get into the game industry.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on Molyneux’s inspiration and advice? Have you had game ideas in odd situations?

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

[Source: Develop]

Molyneux: lack of buttons for Kinect causes problems

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Peter Molyneux has admitted that there are problems with motion control, in comments that may be well supported by Train2Game students.

“I’ll admit that Kinect has got some problems. As an input device it has some real problems.” He told Gaming Union.

“Without a thumb stick, navigation is a real problem. You haven’t got any buttons, so ordering the player to do something can be somewhat of a problem” he continued. It’s a fair point that Train2Game Game Designers may have thought of too.

“But what Kinect does have is a great sense of freedom and emotion. So that’s what we’ve tried to do with Fable: The Journey.It started about seven months ago when Microsoft came to us and said, ‘Look we want you to do a [Kinect] experience for the core gamers” Molyneux added.

“So we sat down and thought through the problems with that, and the first thing was figuring out how we can make Kinect more engaging, more engrossing, and more emotional than any control-based game or any Fable game has ever been before.”

Microsoft are very keen to push Kinect, and as reported by the Train2Game blog, the motion controller featured heavily in their E3 presentation. Earlier this month, the Train2Game blog also reported that Microsoft say all first party titles will come with Kinect support in future.

Train2Game students may also like to be reminded that earlier this year, Molyneux stated that up and coming game developers – which of course includes those currently on Train2Game courses – should get more support from the industry.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on Molyneux’s comments about Kinect? Does it show that the traditional controller still has a lot to offer?

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

[Source: Gaming Union via Develop]