Tag Archives: Video Games

Game Pitches – A useful tool for Train2Game students.

Posted on by
Reply

The pitch for Fallout 2 is one of many available

So, as a Train2Game student, you’re learning new skills and you’re well on your way to becoming a Games Designer, Games Developer or Games Artist & Animator.  Perhaps you’ve got together with other students, formed a studio and have a great idea for a game, but  you don’t quite know where to start when it comes to designing and pitching it…

Never fear, Game Pitches is here to help you! What is Game Pitches you ask? Well it’s About page answers that better than we can;

“Welcome to Game Pitches! This site serves to be a free resource to game designers offering them the web’s largest single collection of game design documents and game pitches. Be they famous or obscure, big or small, successful or not, this site is intended to be a resource for learning how better to design and pitch games in the spirit of sharing information and improving the state of the art through freely available knowledge. Let’s make great games”

It certainly sounds useful doesn’t it? And there are some rather interesting design documents on the site which were used to pitch what became successful titles. One of the more recent examples is the original pitch document for Bioshock, but the website also contains useful design documents about older, classic games such as Fallout 2.

Game Pitches really does make interesting viewing as it’s evident that so much effort just has to go into design and artwork just for a pitch document, let alone the job of actually developing a game!

So take a look, do you think Game Pitches will be useful? What do you think of the design documents for other games?

As usual, leave your comments here or on the Train2Game forum.

iPhone 4G out today

Posted on by
Reply

With the much anticipated iPhone 4G having been released today, we’ve had the seemingly usual scene of hundreds of Apple fans queuing up in order to get their hands on a shiny new product as soon as possible.

Seeing as the iPhone 4G is at the forefront of technological minds right now,  it makes sense to point Train2Game students in the direction of a previous blog: The iPhone 4G could provide a Train2Game student with their big break.

You can read it, I’m not going anywhere…

On the Train2Game forum, students reacted very positively to the iPhone 4G blog and many Games Developers, Games Designers and Games Artist and Animators do see it as a way into the industry.

So then, which one of you is going to produce the first one then?

Digital distribution – The Train2Game students best friend?

Posted on by
Reply

Digital and pre-owned games constituted one third of the United States market last year, with US consumers spending over $4.5 billion dollars on them according to research by the NPD Group.

It wasn’t so long ago that discs, or cartridges, were the only way for the consumer to purchase a video game. But thanks to the wonders of the internet, it’s now so easy to buy games without even leaving the house.

Of course, there’s the standard online shopping which allows consumers to buy the latest Call of Duty or FIFA through just a few clicks, but even then they’ll have to wait a few days for the postman to deliver what they want. So the gamer might be happy about not having to leave the house – because let’s face it, if we can avoid moving we will – but less pleased about not instantly receiving the game.

Digital downloads almost entirely bypass this issue. When purchasing a game, then downloading it, the consumer doesn’t have to wait long at all before they can play it. Of course, Train2Game has previously examined the discs vs. digital debate, but over the weekend I saw for myself just how easy it is for us download games – games that we may have had no intention of actually buying in the first place!

I like to relax – if relaxing can be defined as bellowing instructions to teammates down a microphone – by playing Team Fortress 2. Now, in order to play Team Fortress 2 I need to log into Steam, Valve’s content delivery system. When I logged in, a special offer popped up saying the Mass Effect games were on offer over the weekend only, with a whopping 75% off the RRP. Having never played a Mass Effect game, and having heard how great they are, I decided to buy the first Mass Effect title for the grand total of £3.24. If I could have afforded to, I would have bought Mass Effect 2 for £12.99 too.

So, having signed into Steam to play Team Fortress 2, I find that I’ve parted with my hard earned cash and soon have a shiny digital copy of Mass Effect installed on my hard drive.

This is why digital downloads are ever-increasing their share of the consumer games market – it’s just so easy to download a game! The thought of buying Mass Effect hadn’t even crossed my mind before I logged into Steam on Sunday afternoon, but a few hours later the game had been added to my collection.

Of course, the knock down price played a massive part in my decision to make the purchase – which is probably why pre-owned games are doing so well too – but the fact is I parted with my cash and bought a game that is two years old through digital distribution.

Train2Game students should take heed of how powerful the digital market has become in recent years, and strive to take advantage of it. A Games Developer, Games Designer and Games Artist & Animator can get together and make a game yes, but ultimately in order to become successful in the industry their creations will have to sell. For Train2Game graduates just starting out in the industry, digital distribution would be by far the easiest way to do this, be it through a standard PC download, Steam, the PlayStation Network or Xbox Live.

There’s a consumer market out there, who with the right incentives will buy new games at the drop of a hat. What will you do to market yours? As usual, freel free to leave your comments here or on the Train2Game forum.

The iPhone 4G could provide a Train2Game student with their big break.

Posted on by
1

June 24th 2010 is a big day for mobile video games, phone applications and Apple fans in general. Why? Because on that day the iPhone 4G is released, and not only will it continue to revolutionise mobile communication, but it’ll also continue to expand the opportunity for playing quality, well developed, video games on the iPhone.

The iPhone 4G will introduce a number of enhancements over previous models, including “improved camera system and battery life, as well as an updated version of the iOS operating system, designed to provide more flexibility for developers.”

That last bit is likely to be most appealing to Train2Game students, be they a Games Designer, Games Developer or a Games Artist & Animator, as the continued advancement of the iPhone technology means it’s easier than ever to get a video game published. Apple themselves say they approve 95% of Applications within a week.

iPhone games are getting more and more popular, especially with old classics such as Final Fantasy and Monkey Island now available for the handset. Twenty years ago you would have needed a state of the art games system in your room in order to play these. Nowadays you can enjoy these almost legendary titles wherever you are, be you on the train, at the park or *ahem* in the bathroom.

The choice and quality of games available for the iPhone can only improve, as according to Apple, “4G’s gaming applications will be superior to previous models due to the addition of a three-axis gyro, which will allow for a wider array of motion control options.”

Many of the biggest gaming news websites have already taken note of the potential of iPhone games, including GamesRadar who run an ‘Iphone game of the day’ feature’ which showcases a variety of games that people can easily go onto download from the iTunes store at generally low prices.

The advantage for developers – like the Train2Game students – is  iPhone games can be developed for a relatively small amount – and bought for as little as 59p – but if the game proves popular it can really jumpstart a career in the games industry. There are a number of tales out there about iPhone game developers who have been very successful through this medium. Perhaps a Train2Game student will one day a make a name for themselves in this way.

So, who’s excited about the iPhone 4G? And who’s ready to attempt to developer a game for it?

As usual all comments are appreciated. Either leave them here or on the Train2Game Forum.

Why aren’t you buying my games?

Posted on by
Reply

So, let’s imagine that you’ve completed your Train2Game course and a small group of you have formed your own little independent studio with a Games Developer, a Games Designer and a Games Artist and Animator. You make a game, a great game that you feel is amazing, but due to the competitive market, your title doesn’t sell as well as you’d hoped. What do you do?

Give up? No, don’t be silly! When did Train2Game ever teach you to do that?

Work on another project and just hope that it sells a bit better? Hmmm, maybe.

Send out a questionnaire asking people why they’re not buying your games?

That last one sounds a bit farfetched doesn’t it? Well, not necessarily because that’s what one independent developer has done.

Positech Games is a UK-based one man games company run by Cliff ‘Cliffski’ Harris, who last year released a title called Gratuitous Space Battles which has generally received favourable reviews. Now in the name of self-improvement, Cliffski is asking ‘“Why didn’t you buy Gratuitous Space Battles?” He says:

“I am NOT complaining. I am NOT moaning about sales. I am NOT unhappy with sales, I am not whining or anything like it. I just like making games that people enjoy, and I don’t know why the people who didn’t buy it, didn’t buy it. I’d like to know. The answers may well make it a better game for everyone, if I fix those reasons (if they make sense). It will make the game attractive to current fence-sitters, better for current owners, and more sales for me and my cats.”

Anyone, including you – yes, you – can email Cliff and tell him why you didn’t buy his game. Responses so far range from ‘I have too many games to play’ to ‘I don’t like strategy games’ to even ‘Before reading this I’d never heard of your game’ Hopefully this information has been useful to Cliffksi and he’ll benefit from it as a independent developer.

However, it isn’t the first time he’s asked the general population on the Internet about issues relating to his games. Two years ago, Cliff asked ‘Why do people pirate my games?’ and the responses he got led to the removal of DRM from his games.

Positech games may be a tiny developer, but he has allowed the general gaming public to have a say on his company’s products and this has had had an impact on sales. This could be an important lesson to any Train2Game students trying to break into the industry – you need to listen to your audience – their attitude towards your games could essentially make or break them.

Would you consider asking people who haven’t played your game why they didn’t buy it?