Tag Archives: UK Games Industry

Train2Game News UK Top 20 Games – 04.08.14

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the_last_of_us_remasteredAfter several weeks with no new games we finally have a new number one for the game charts. The Last of Us Remastered has knocked Watch Dogs down to the second spot and sits at number one. At the opposite end of the charts Need For Speed: Rivals has re-entered the charts at number twenty.

All formats

Week ending 2 August 2014

POS.  TITLE  PUBLISHER  LAST
WEEK 
1 THE LAST OF US: REMASTERED SONY COMPUTER ENT. –
2 WATCH DOGS UBISOFT 1
3 FIFA 14 EA SPORTS 2
4 THE LEGO MOVIE VIDEOGAME WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE 5
5 MINECRAFT: XBOX 360 EDITION MICROSOFT 3
6 – MINECRAFT: PLAYSTATION 3 EDITION SONY COMPUTER ENT. 6
7 SNIPER ELITE 3 505 GAMES 4
8 CALL OF DUTY: GHOSTS ACTIVISION 9
9 BATTLEFIELD 4 EA GAMES 10
10 GRAND THEFT AUTO V ROCKSTAR 7
11 TITANFALL EA GAMES 8
12 TOMODACHI LIFE NINTENDO 11
13 – ASSASSIN’S CREED IV: BLACK FLAG UBISOFT 13
14 – LEGO MARVEL SUPER HEROES WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE 14
15 – PLANTS VS ZOMBIES: GARDEN WARFARE EA GAMES 15
16 – MARIO KART 8 NINTENDO 16
17 WOLFENSTEIN: THE NEW ORDER BETHESDA SOFTWORKS 12
18 – EA SPORTS UFC EA SPORTS 18
19 – TERRARIA XBOX 360 CLASSICS 19
20 NEED FOR SPEED: RIVALS EA GAMES –
< previous week
Leisure software charts compiled by Chart Track, (C)2014 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 Game Jam 2014 winner released

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Nom Nom, Nom, Nom…

Game jam winning title from Train2Game student studio 1HPLeft soon to be available on: Google Play, Windows and iOS

Touch screen title that has you avoiding getting ‘Nommed’ by other fish will soon be available to buy on all major mobile gaming platforms. ‘Nom’ really impressed at this year’s Train2Game Game Jam and was judged the best game of over twenty submissions. Judges including Jon Hare, gave it the top prize, giving the development team the impetus to get the game out there and make it available for gamers to buy.

The game is beautiful in its simplicity and completely addictive game play. The characters are designed to have instant personality and help to immerse players in a wonderfully playful environment. Much like popular titles currently available, the game drops the player straight into play and challenges the player to hit a high score in never-ending gameplay.

Controlling a fish with a finger using touch screen technology, players pull and push a character around the screen, eating to get bigger and collect points, while avoiding other fish looking to take a bite out of them. The longer you stay alive, the higher your score will be. But beware you will get bigger and more Nom fishes will arrive on screen to take a bite out of you as your score gets higher. Pick up power ups to improve your survive-ability while whizzing your finger around the screen to avoid your attackers.

The team have promised more updates to come and lots more additions to keep improving this wonderfully playable title.

Train2Game News Visual Effects and Animation Festival

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BFXVisual Effects and Animation Festival returns to Bournemouth UK for 2014
The BFX Festival returns to Bournemouth this summer to celebrate British talent and creativity in animation, computer games and visual effects and inspire the next generation of people to enter the booming industries.

Last year’s BFX Festival was a fantastic celebration of visual effects, animation and games and this year’s event is aiming to build that success, with experts and enthusiasts from across the UK and beyond presenting an amazing selection of material and leading a range of Festival activities that will appeal to all.

Tickets are now on sale for the Festival, which will take place across four days from 24-28 September 2014, hosted at the Bournemouth International Centre.

Talks featuring movie titles such as The Lego Movie, Gravity, Maleficent, Godzilla, Guardians of the Galaxy and The Edge of Tomorrow will be on offer, giving delegates an insight into the range and quality of visual effects needed to create such blockbusters. Legendary computer games, such as the new instalment of Elite from Frontier Developments, called Elite: Dangerous will also be presented.

As well as talks from industry experts on some of this year’s best VFX and animation there will also be a large concept art exhibition direct from the vaults of Walt Disney Animation Studios and Walt Disney Pictures; featuring concept artwork from the movies Sleeping Beauty and Maleficent.

A series of workshops will be available for those wishing to explore animation and VFX techniques further and a number of family activities are also on offer, including children’s animation workshops and public cinema screenings. Talks and workshops have been created with all levels of expertise and knowledge in mind, and the Festival is open for all members of the public to attend.

The Festival is being organised by the International VFX Hub; a collaboration between the award-winning National Centre for Computer Animation (NCCA) at Bournemouth University and the Faculty of Media and Performance at the Arts University Bournemouth (AUB).

Sofronis Efstathiou, Senior Lecturer at Sofronis Efstathiou and the BFX Festival Director said, “We are delighted to be hosting the second BFX Festival this year and to celebrate the best VFX and animation in the world. There is truly something for everyone; from industry experts to hobbyists, animators to technical directors. Come and learn more about this amazing industry and the hard work that goes into creating some of your favourite movies and computer games.”

Companies such as Animal Logic, Framestore, Double Negative, The Mill and MPC will be speaking at the Festival, along with Festival partners The Foundry, Chaos Group, Next Limit and AMD.

At the heart of the Festival is the BFX competition – where students from around the country will be competing to create the best animation and visual effect from a selection of briefs and screenplays given to them. The competition, which is held on Bournemouth University’s and Arts University Bournemouth campus, replicates a film studio with participants working in groups of up to six to create a short visual effects or animation sequence. Teams are mentored throughout by industry practitioners, with a panel of industry judges picking the winning team and awarding prizes.

The competition is currently underway, with teams from 10 higher education institutions taking part, competing for a variety of award and prizes across a number of categories, with winners due to be announced during the Festival itself.

Tickets for the BFX Festival can be purchased on Eventbrite with Early Bird discounts available.

More information about the BFX Festival (including ticketing), and the BFX Competition, can be found at www.bfxfestival.com.

Train2Game News 500 studios in the UK

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Develop has compiled a list of more than 500 British games development studios as part of Game Source 2014, a new directory for the UK’s games agencies.

The list was compiled by the Develop team, and is an updated version of last July’s Develop 100, which ranked to the top 100 UK studios and included a list of hundreds more.

Game Source’s studio directory features the company names and website links for more than 500 studios found throughout the UK, ranging from indie start-ups and one-man studios to publisher-owned behemoths and other triple-A games developers.

You can view the book for free, either in your browser or by downloading the iPad edition.

Presented by MCV, Game Source is the UK directory of leading games industry service companies, featuring creative and promotional agencies, digital distributors, accessory and hardware firms, logistics and payment companies and much more. The guide showcases the leading players across each sector, offering a snapshot of the resources on offer, plus client history and contact details.

Train2Game News UK Top Twenty games – 28.07.14

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Watch DogsAnother week another chart of very little activity. Watch_Dogs has remained at number one with Terraria and Pokémon Black coming back in to the top twenty numbers nineteen and twenty respectively.

All formats

Week ending 26 July 2014

POS.  TITLE  PUBLISHER  LAST
WEEK 
1 – WATCH DOGS UBISOFT 1
2 – FIFA 14 EA SPORTS 2
3 MINECRAFT: XBOX 360 EDITION MICROSOFT 6
4 SNIPER ELITE 3 505 GAMES 5
5 THE LEGO MOVIE VIDEOGAME WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE 12
6 MINECRAFT: PLAYSTATION 3 EDITION SONY COMPUTER ENT. 7
7 GRAND THEFT AUTO V ROCKSTAR 11
8 – TITANFALL EA GAMES 8
9 CALL OF DUTY: GHOSTS ACTIVISION 3
10 BATTLEFIELD 4 EA GAMES 9
11 TOMODACHI LIFE NINTENDO 14
12 WOLFENSTEIN: THE NEW ORDER BETHESDA SOFTWORKS 4
13 – ASSASSIN’S CREED IV: BLACK FLAG UBISOFT 13
14 LEGO MARVEL SUPER HEROES WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE 16
15 PLANTS VS ZOMBIES: GARDEN WARFARE EA GAMES 17
16 MARIO KART 8 NINTENDO 10
17 TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE DARK SPARK ACTIVISION 15
18 – EA SPORTS UFC EA SPORTS 18
19 TERRARIA XBOX 360 CLASSICS –
20 POKEMON BLACK VERSION NINTENDO –
< previous week
Leisure software charts compiled by Chart Track, (C)2014 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 Train2Game Student Studio game going big

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Deuxality1000 Doors, 6000 downloads. Successfull release of quiz game equals more features for fans

Indie Quiz game from Train2Game student studio reaches thousands of downloads in first few weeks of its release. To celebrate the successful release with fans, the team have added a new feature where players can submit questions to be included in the game

An ingenius and addictive title from a two man studio is taking the games market by storm. 1000 doors: The Quiz, developed by a student studio from Train2Game, has had huge success reaching this massive milestone of downloads and shows no signs of its success dwindling. To celebrate 5,000 downloads, the game got a new feature which allows the player to create and submit their own questions. The game currently consists of 1,016 separate general knowledge questions with more being submitted all the time by users and the developers at DeuXality Games.

In 1000 Doors: The Quiz, play takes place in a room with four doors and a key floating in the middle. Players tap the key and are presented with a question, four potential answers then appear above the doors. The player has to pick the right answer to move into the next room, if they choose the wrong door they lose one of their five lives. The player can swipe the screen to look around the room, they then have fifteen seconds to make a selection and choose their door. If when the player moves through a door it fades to white then they are safe, if it goes to red they lose a life. As the player gets more questions wrong the room starts to degrade, as they pick correct answers the decor improves. When a player loses all their lives they are greeted with a brick wall stating game over and told how many doors they succesfully navigated.

Both the developers of 1000 Doors: The Quiz, are members of distance blended learning service: Train2Game, an educational body which offers bespoke distance learning courses in games development. The gameswas released on June 26, 2014 on WindowsPhone and Android (with a July 18, 2014 iOS release) As of 23/07/14 the game has been download over 6,000 times on three main platforms: WindowsPhone: 2,700 approx, Android: 1,000 approx and iOS: 2,400 approx. The team have further features planned for the future, including: Facebook integration, HighScore Sharing, Hidden/Discoverable items, Trophies, In game hints/ability to purchase hints, Ability to have players own device stored music play in the background, More categories and Language selection.

To find out more visit the official website: http://www.games.deuxality.com/DeuXality_Games/, go to www.train2game.com or alternatively download the game for free at theses links: iOS, Android and Windows Phone

Train2Game News Women In Games Conference

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Women in GamesThe fourth annual European Women in Games Conference is to take place on Wednesday September 10 at London South Bank University.

The programme will feature a range of current topics including setting up your own games company, games industry career advice to how to encourage more school children to consider a career in the games industry.

As in previous years the day’s conference will comprise a mix of keynote speeches, panel discussions and the European Women in Games Hall of Fame Awards. The line-up of speakers and panellists will reflect the diverse talent that exists in the games industry. Key note speakers will include Emma Mulqueeny, the founder of Rewired State and Young Rewired State and a Commissioner for the Speaker’s Commission on Digital Democracy and Andrew Webber, Marketing Director – Audience Acquisition at Microsoft. More speakers and panellists will be announced over the coming weeks.

The conference has steadily grown in popularity since its inaugural event in 2011. This year’s event is expected to have the greatest attendance yet helped by the early bird ticket price of £20 per person.

This makes the conference much more accessible to students and entry level games industry professionals. In addition the organisers are keen to stress that this is an inclusive event and male delegates are equally very welcome.

Announcing the details of the conference organiser David Smith said, “The European Women in Games Conference has steadily grown over the past four years. The 2014 event will help all industry professionals’ progress their careers and we are making it accessible to everyone. I’d like to thank London South Bank University for hosting the conference and making it possible for us to offer attractive ticket prices for a first rate and pertinent programme both for existing industry professionals as well as those hoping to join our industry.”

For further details about the conference and to buy tickets please visit http://ewigconference2014.eventbrite.co.uk

Train2Game News Train2Game launch new online radio channel

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Train2GameA new radio channel created by Train2Game is best described as: Inspirational, Informative and Advisory. Train2Game Radio brings you voices from both the Games Industry and it Students.

The new radio station has been created to guide those already on the course and tell others more about the company. The channel hosts material created by the Train2Game team but also other programmes featuring Train2Game from commercial and public radio.

It features radio programmes from many renowned individuals and organisations, shows include: City and Guilds say Train2Game are doing it PROPERLY, CNS Group coaching Train2Game Students LIVE, JuiceFM Mike Gamble from Epic on Train2Game, Microsoft’s Andy McCartney Future of Gaming and shows from the BBC.

Hear more at the newly launched channel at: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/train2game-radio

You can view the programmes in the file below

http://www.scribd.com/doc/234771842/Train2Game-Radio-Summer-2014-Highlights

Train2Game News UK Top 20 Games – 21.07.14

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Watch DogsOnce again the charts are irritatingly quiet. The only change this week is that Football Manager 2014 has once again breached the top twenty by squeezing in at number twenty.

All formats

Week ending 19 July 2014

POS.  TITLE  PUBLISHER  LAST
WEEK 
1 – WATCH DOGS UBISOFT 1
2 FIFA 14 EA SPORTS 3
3 CALL OF DUTY: GHOSTS ACTIVISION 6
4 – WOLFENSTEIN: THE NEW ORDER BETHESDA SOFTWORKS 4
5 SNIPER ELITE 3 505 GAMES 2
6 MINECRAFT: XBOX 360 EDITION MICROSOFT 7
7 MINECRAFT: PLAYSTATION 3 EDITION SONY COMPUTER ENT. 8
8 TITANFALL EA GAMES 5
9 BATTLEFIELD 4 EA GAMES 10
10 MARIO KART 8 NINTENDO 16
11 – GRAND THEFT AUTO V ROCKSTAR 11
12 THE LEGO MOVIE VIDEOGAME WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE 14
13 – ASSASSIN’S CREED IV: BLACK FLAG UBISOFT 13
14 TOMODACHI LIFE NINTENDO 9
15 TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE DARK SPARK ACTIVISION 18
16 LEGO MARVEL SUPER HEROES WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE 19
17 – PLANTS VS ZOMBIES: GARDEN WARFARE EA GAMES 17
18 EA SPORTS UFC EA SPORTS 12
19 2014 FIFA WORLD CUP BRAZIL EA SPORTS 15
20 FOOTBALL MANAGER 2014 SEGA –
< previous week
Leisure software charts compiled by Chart Track, (C)2014 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 Roundish Squarish looking for staff

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Rounded SquarishA Train2Game student studio is looking for a Developer to join their team to take the studio to a new level.

Rounded Squarish have been together for 3 years and have taken the plunge and decided to make a go of turning the student studio into a professional one. The company are now fully registered through companies house and are now currently looking for a talented and enthusiastic programmer to join the team.

The studio are currently working digitally and this, for now at least, is going to be where all of the work is done. They do intend on meeting in person and after a few Skype meetings intend on organising this.

The first project that would be worked on with the new team member would be a small title called ‘Slinger: Monsters of the West’. This is an RTS Turret Defence type game with a splash of Rounded Squarish thrown in!

The player is placed into a world where the mythical land of monsters and the legendary era of the spaghetti western collide, fighting to defend their town and take back the west.

Development of the game is already under-way and several screenshots can be shown to give the potential staff an idea of what the studio is aiming to create.

They are initially looking to take it through to an early alpha stage within a short period of time and, following feedback, will look to persue it further, or continue onto other projects in the pipeline.

Ben Cooper of Roundish Sqaurish said “We are looking to this game as a way of getting to know the coder and see if they like working with us, and vice versa, and to find out if they share the same passion and enthusiasm as we do. That’s definitely the most important thing for us. We need to get on well with them and also to be able to rely on them. We also need to assess their abilities to ensure that they are at the right stage for where we want to take the games. We don’t want them feeling over (or under) whelmed by what we are trying to do.

We very much appreciate the early stage that we are at right now and that we may not get everything right and would love for any prospective team mates to appreciate this also. Unfortunately it does mean that, for now, the position is unpaid but we are really pushing to change this in the months to come!”

If anyone does want to get in touch, they can email Ben at:

ben@roundedsquarish.co.uk

You can follow the studio on Facebook at

https://www.facebook.com/RoundedSquarish