The team at SpecialEffect would like to wish everyone a very Happy Christmas and a big thank you for all the help the charity has received this year.
They put together this heart warming video to show their appreciation
Don’t forget you can continue to help SpecialEffect in the new year by signing up to be a part of their GameBlast in February!
In celebration of the holidays, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announces mobile games priced at £0.69. For a limited time starting today, the following games will be discounted on the App Store:
· LEGO Batman: DC Super Heroes
· Batman: Arkham City Lockdown
· Man of Steel
· Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters
· LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
· LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
· Harry Potter: Spells
· Scribblenauts Remix
· Bastion
· AdvenChewers
· Midway Arcade Games
· Tapper World Tour
LEGO The Lord of the Rings is also available on the App Store for the low price of £1.99.
Additionally, for Android users, Batman Arkham City Lockdown, Man of Steel and Scribblenauts Remix are available on GooglePlay and in the Amazon Appstore for Android for £0.69.
If you are looking for an entertaining game to play over the holiday season you are spoilt for choice!
The pitch at the Microsoft Ventures demo day that Train2Game Student Studio, GallantCloud, gave is now available to view. The guys did incredibly well and their game, Ether, sounds great!
Enjoy the video below
This is the final game charts for the year from Train2Game and it is one of the quieter charts of the year. The only new game in the charts this week is Angry Birds Star Wars which has entered at number seventeen. The only other new entrant is a return of Football Manager 2014. Call of Duty: Ghosts is still at number one.
All formats
Week ending 14 December 2013
| POS. | TITLE | PUBLISHER | LAST WEEK |
|
| 1 | – | CALL OF DUTY: GHOSTS | ACTIVISION | 1 |
| 2 | – | FIFA 14 | EA SPORTS | 2 |
| 3 |  |
LEGO MARVEL SUPER HEROES | WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE | 6 |
| 4 |  |
BATTLEFIELD 4 | EA GAMES | 3 |
| 5 | |
ASSASSIN’S CREED IV: BLACK FLAG | UBISOFT | 4 |
| 6 | |
JUST DANCE 2014 | UBISOFT | 7 |
| 7 | |
NEED FOR SPEED: RIVALS | EA GAMES | 11 |
| 8 | |
GRAND THEFT AUTO V | ROCKSTAR | 5 |
| 9 | |
WWE 2K14 | 2K SPORTS | 14 |
| 10 | |
GRAN TURISMO 6 | SONY COMPUTER ENT. | 8 |
| 11 | |
KILLZONE: SHADOW FALL | SONY COMPUTER ENT. | 9 |
| 12 | |
MINECRAFT: XBOX 360 EDITION | MICROSOFT | 13 |
| 13 | |
SKYLANDERS SWAP FORCE | SKYLANDERS | 12 |
| 14 | |
BATMAN: ARKHAM ORIGINS | WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE | 10 |
| 15 | – | FORZA MOTORSPORT 5 | MICROSOFT | 15 |
| 16 | |
DISNEY INFINITY | DISNEY INFINITY | 15 |
| 17 | ANGRY BIRDS STAR WARS | ACTIVISION | – | |
| 18 | – | DEAD RISING 3 | MICROSOFT | 18 |
| 19 | |
FOOTBALL MANAGER 2014 | SEGA | 17 |
| 20 | |
TOMB RAIDER | SQUARE ENIX | 16 |
| < previous week |
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.
This week on Thursday 12th December, Train2Game’s Harry Cole interviewed Edd Hardy and Andy Smith, auditors at CNS Group www.cnsgroup.co.uk.
The conversation was in-line with previous interviews where Train2Game get expert insight from people working in the games industry and employment areas of interest to our students.
Harry was joined by Train2Game students; Muir and Chris, who were on the call to ask questions directly to the experts. Students were also encouraged to submit questions ahead of the interview which Harry asked on their behalf.
Points discussed include: firewalls, layers of security, potential pitfalls with different types of technology, facial recognition, global satellite positioning and advice about best practice.
Please make sure to have a listen to the interview and let us know what you think. If you have any questions or would like to be involved in future discussions then please get in touch with Harry via the forum.
In the interview Harry requested a best practice list for the students, which he will post when it becomes available. We have further interview planned for next year, with games developers and cloud solution providers, so make sure to stay tuned.
You can hear the interview here: http://www.spreaker.com/user/train2gamestudentradio/train2game-interview-cns-group
This year Microsoft started their Acceleration Programme and one of the teams involved was a Train2Game Student Studio.
The studio, GallantCloud, was made up of Train2Game students trying to get their foot in the door of the games industry and this has certainly helped them do just that. As a result of the initiative the team were put in touch with the wider gaming industry.
They attended games industry events and conferences. The team were mentored by Train2Game and Microsoft experts. They also received further tutoring from members of the gaming and business community.
Coverage of the initiative was extensive, with placements on: The Microsoft Accelerator Website,numerous mentions in games industry trade publication – Develop and on Gallant Cloud’s own official website. Train2Game also covered the scheme extensively with videos and content on Train2Game’s official YouTube, Twitter and Facebook, accounts.
In the link below, you can view all of GallantClouds story as this leg of their games industry journey has come to an end.
http://train2gamewinners.co.uk/downloads/Gallant-Cloud.pdf
Good luck from all of us at Train2Game for everything you do in the future guys!
The week before demo day has just begun. What happened with the time?
It seems to accelerate before a crucial deadline like this. We had the amazing opportunity to go to Lionhead Studios and refine our pitch and our game with Gary over the whole week.
As always we felt very welcome by Gary and his generous support for us and our game was invaluable. I can’t stress how important it is to have a mentor on board who has 28 years of game design experience. It makes a huge difference.
The demo day at the Level 39 in Canary Wharf has finally arrived.
This is what we are working so hard towards the whole 12 plus 1 weeks. As always there are thoughts of how things might go terribly wrong, but practising the pitch on stage a few times made us more confident and it became more a routine over time. Keeping focused on delivering our passion and excitement for our game helped a lot.
I brought my Oculus Rift along to demonstrate that we have a cutting edge game that is ready for the future next year.
The pitch and the demonstration of our game went very well and we where all relieved that it was finally over. Time to celebrate and enjoy the successful demo day with Microsoft!
It has been a great journey indeed.
I highly recommend this accelerator experience to anyone who wishes to move on the fast track and learn very fast and likes challenges.
Train2Game have launched an exciting new website where we get to show off the great accomplishments of our students.
Train2Game Winners is a place where students who have achieved great things in the games industry will be celebrated. We thought it was high time to show the world just how successful our students can be.
The website features testimonials from students in their own words about how they feel about Train2Game and the support they have received.
We are proud of each and every one of our students and hope that we will be adding to this site with more new achievements from students in the near future.
Visit www.train2gamewinners.co.uk to view the new site.
In the lead up to Christmas now and the new console launches over, the charts have become very quiet. CoD: Ghosts has retained the number one spot and the only new entry to the list is Gran Turismo 6 which comes in at number eight.
All formats
Week ending 7 December 2013
| POS. | TITLE | PUBLISHER | LAST WEEK |
|
| 1 | – | CALL OF DUTY: GHOSTS | ACTIVISION | 1 |
| 2 | – | FIFA 14 | EA SPORTS | 2 |
| 3 | – | BATTLEFIELD 4 | EA GAMES | 3 |
| 4 | |
ASSASSIN’S CREED IV: BLACK FLAG | UBISOFT | 5 |
| 5 | |
GRAND THEFT AUTO V | ROCKSTAR | 7 |
| 6 | – | LEGO MARVEL SUPER HEROES | WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE | 6 |
| 7 | |
JUST DANCE 2014 | UBISOFT | 9 |
| 8 | GRAN TURISMO 6 | SONY COMPUTER ENT. | – | |
| 9 | |
KILLZONE: SHADOW FALL | SONY COMPUTER ENT. | 4 |
| 10 | – | BATMAN: ARKHAM ORIGINS | WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE | 10 |
| 11 | |
NEED FOR SPEED: RIVALS | EA GAMES | 8 |
| 12 | |
SKYLANDERS SWAP FORCE | SKYLANDERS | 11 |
| 13 | |
MINECRAFT: XBOX 360 EDITION | MICROSOFT | 12 |
| 14 | |
WWE 2K14 | 2K SPORTS | 17 |
| 15 | |
DISNEY INFINITY | DISNEY INFINITY | 16 |
| 16 | |
TOMB RAIDER | SQUARE ENIX | 19 |
| 17 | |
FOOTBALL MANAGER 2014 | SEGA | 20 |
| 18 | |
KNACK | SONY COMPUTER ENT. | 13 |
| 19 | |
THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: LINK BETWEEN WORLDS | NINTENDO | 17 |
| 20 | |
SUPER MARIO 3D WORLD | NINTENDO | 14 |
| < previous week |
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.
This is officially the last week on the Microsoft Accelerator Program. Can’t believe that it is almost over already. The demo day is coming fast as it is scheduled for the next week. We have made some great friends over the last 12 weeks. It is quite a shame that it is over soon.
We had the German State Minister of Economics Affairs (Labour and Transport) Olaf Lies in the office this week and he was quite impressed with our game. He left a delicious traditional ‘Baumkuchen’ cake for the whole Microsoft Accelerator program. A great treat for the start of the week I would say.
The last Pitching Doctor session this week was located at the L39 boardroom in Canary Wharf. It was an amazing location to practice our pitch and soaking up the banking and start-up atmosphere. Practice makes perfect as we know and refining our pitch after every presentation and genuine feedback really makes a difference.
Later that evening we had some great Wine tasting and talk by Naked Wines and our office farewell toast with Pizza.
Next day it was time for two more pitching rounds in front of ‘friendly investors’ and we got some good feedback from them too. This is all very encouraging as it seems we are on the right track with our game and pitch.
As it is still November we formed a team at the begin of the month for ‘Movember’ and raised some money from people in the Co-working office. Growing a moustache for a whole month is quite a high maintenance as well. Also it makes you feel like a cool dude, but the people around you look suspiciously at us and very likely to make some funny comments. I think I heard them all by now, but I am strong and resist the temptation to shave the fur off between my nose and lips. One of our team members actually was getting rid of his one, so we had to give him a fake moustache for a while. It was all great fun!
The final day at the Accelerator arrived and we making best us of it by polishing our game and doing more pitching practice for another event in front of hundreds of people.
The last week has past so quickly, it is unreal. One more week to go before the demo day.
It is going to be a crazy week ahead!
This is officially the last week on the Microsoft Accelerator Program. Can’t believe that it is almost over already. The demo day is coming fast as it is scheduled for the next week. We have made some great friends over the last 12 weeks. It is quite a shame that it is over soon.
We had the German State Minister of Economics Affairs (Labour and Transport) Olaf Lies in the office this week and he was quite impressed with our game. He left a delicious traditional ‘Baumkuchen’ cake for the whole Microsoft Accelerator program. A great treat for the start of the week I would say.
The last Pitching Doctor session this week was located at the L39 boardroom in Canary Wharf. It was an amazing location to practice our pitch and soaking up the banking and start-up atmosphere. Practice makes perfect as we know and refining our pitch after every presentation and genuine feedback really makes a difference.
Later that evening we had some great Wine tasting and talk by Naked Wines and our office farewell toast with Pizza.
Next day it was time for two more pitching rounds in front of ‘friendly investors’ and we got some good feedback from them too. This is all very encouraging as it seems we are on the right track with our game and pitch.
As it is still November we formed a team at the begin of the month for ‘Movember’ and raised some money from people in the Co-working office. Growing a moustache for a whole month is quite a high maintenance as well. Also it makes you feel like a cool dude, but the people around you look suspiciously at us and very likely to make some funny comments. I think I heard them all by now, but I am strong and resist the temptation to shave the fur off between my nose and lips. One of our team members actually was getting rid of his one, so we had to give him a fake moustache for a while. It was all great fun!
The final day at the Accelerator arrived and we making best us of it by polishing our game and doing more pitching practice for another event in front of hundreds of people.
The last week has past so quickly, it is unreal. One more week to go before the demo day.
It is going to be a crazy week ahead!
The Train2Game Blog 