Log on:
Powered by Elgg

Feed detail

July 13, 2011

Google revamps Android Market

Google has given its mobile marketplace a thorough overhaul, promising to make it "faster, easier and more fun to discover apps and games." The revamped UI streamlines the discovery and purchase process, and the app details page now includes a link to a fullscreen video of the app in action. More top charts have been added, many filtered by country, and the service now offers movie rentals - which can be downloaded for offline viewing - and e-books.
http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2011/07/new-android-market-for-phones.html
Google


Video: Tim Schafer's Sesame Street pitch

When Schafer announced Double Fine's next project, Sesame Street: Once Upon A Monster, at E3 last month it was widely assumed that it was the studio's legacy of playful humour that got it the gig. Instead, as the below video shows, Schafer actually had to endure an arduous pitch meeting with one of the toughest executives in the business. And, as if we didn't already over-identify with Cookie Monster, we also zone out when we play with those executive toys.
http://www.onceuponamonstergame.com/
Once Upon A Monster


Opinion: Better games through playtesting

But the process can be tough. Graham McAllister charts the five stages of grief playtesting can put developers through.

Good games are created through playtesting. These are not my words but those of legendary game designer Jesse Schell, as stated in his excellent book, The Art of Game Design. He goes even further by saying that playtesting is not only good for a game, it’s necessary in order to make a good game. 

read more


Opinion: Better games through playtesting

But the process can be tough. Graham McAllister charts the five stages of grief playtesting can put developers through.

Good games are created through playtesting. These are not my words but those of legendary game designer Jesse Schell, as stated in his excellent book, The Art of Game Design. He goes even further by saying that playtesting is not only good for a game, it’s necessary in order to make a good game. 

read more


Microsoft, Zynga and Facebook face off in StarCraft II tournament

StarCraft II shoutcaster Sean "Day[9]" Plott has formed the After Hours Gaming League, which will see some of the most high-profile tech companies in the world face off in an eight-team tournament. The idea came from an in-house StarCraft II tournament at Facebook to which Plott was invited, after which Facebook suggested it be expanded to include other companies. Amazon, Dropbox, Google, Microsoft, Twitter, Yelp and Zynga are all on board, with the $5,000 grand prize donated to the winner's chosen charity. The tournament began on July 5, and the grand final, at Facebook's Palo Alto campus on August 19, will be streamed live on Justin.tv, Day9.tv, and Facebook Live.
http://afterhoursgaming.tv
After Hours Gaming League


Sony fixes PlayStation Plus issues

Sony has confirmed that issues affecting the free one-month subscription to PlayStation Plus that formed part of its Welcome Back programme have been resolved. The free period was not expiring, leaving those who had opted to purchase a full subscription unable to access the service's content. "The issue with free memberships not expiring on time has been fixed," writes PSN product manager James Thorpe on the PlayStation Blog, "so anyone that upgraded to a paid Plus membership will now have access to all the Plus content on the Store." Sony has also added The Behemonth's Castle Crashers to this month's list of free Plus content, and Thorpe also hints at a day-one Plus discount for Limbo, which is set for a PSN release on July 20.
http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2011/07/13/playstation-plus-1st-anniversary-treat-and-welcome-back-problem-fixed
PlayStation Blog


Metacritic drops publication over "corrupt practices"

CVG reveals that Marc Doyle, co-founder of reviews aggregator Metacritic, has dropped one publication from his listings after uncovering evidence of corruption. "On one occasion I did discontinue my coverage of a publication's reviews because of what I considered to be corrupt practices," he said. "There are many reasons why I would drop somebody. There's corruption - people can be bought, absolutely."
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/311363/video-games-review-scandal-metacritic-uncovers-drops-crooked-publication
CVG


Computer reads manual, wins Civ

New machine-learning technique could greatly improve AI design process, researchers claim.

A group of researchers have developed a computer system that learns how to play Civilization, using only the game's manual and onscreen feedback to develop a strategy that saw it win 79 per cent of its games - a development which could greatly aid the videogame AI design process.

0

read more


Hitman: Absolution preview

Our blow by blow account of the demo that charts Agent 47’s return to work.

This is the first in our three-part series of articles on Absolution. Here's our second, an examination of IO's more controversial introductions to the series, and our third on the challenges of building AI for stealth games.

read more


Game Dev Story 2 to be more social

Kairosoft, Japanese developer of iOS life-stealer Game Dev Story, has revealed that its upcoming sequel will contain more social elements, including leaderboards and the ability to share your employees with friends. The studio has been in business for 14 years, and says on its Facebook page that it plans to "slowly release [our] games around the world...in the order from oldest to newest Japanese games." Social elements are to be expected in this day and age, but we're warning you now: you're not having Bubbles Morgan, our level 4 hardware engineer, no matter how close a friend you are.
http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/Multiformat/Game+Dev+Story+2/news.asp?c=31419
Pocket Gamer


Game Dev Story 2 to be more social

Kairosoft, Japanese developer of iOS life-stealer Game Dev Story, has revealed that its upcoming sequel will contain more social elements, including leaderboards and the ability to share your employees with friends. The studio has been in business for 14 years, and says on its Facebook page that it plans to "slowly release [our] games around the world...in the order from oldest to newest Japanese games." Social elements are to be expected in this day and age, but we're warning you now: you're not having Bubbles Morgan, our level 4 hardware engineer, no matter how close a friend you are.
http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/Multiformat/Game+Dev+Story+2/news.asp?c=31419
Pocket Gamer


Deadly Premonition GoD pricing error fixed

Last week Rising Star Games took the unusual step of urging gamers not to buy Deadly Premonition from the Xbox 360's Games On Demand service due to a pricing error. Said error has now been fixed, and the game is now available at the correct £14.99. Product manager Yen Hau said: "Working with Microsoft we've managed to resolve these issues. We'd like to thank everyone for their patience."
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-07-12-deadly-premonition-xbox-live-price-fixed
Eurogamer


Region Specific: Why develop games in Finland?

Finland’s most successful game developers discuss their reputation for polish and clarity, and hatred of pigs.

One indicator of the close relationships enjoyed by Finland’s various studios is that the exchange of business cards which usually takes place when we gather developers together for Region Specific discussions doesn’t occur. Everyone here knows each other and all are welcomed to RedLynx’s premises as old friends, not just guests.

read more


Region Specific: Finland's gaming scene

From origins in the vibrant ’90s demoscene has emerged one of Europe’s most creative dev centres.

Bring almost any game to mind and more often than not, you’ll be able to stick a pin into a mental map marking where it came from. Be it Lionhead’s resolutely British Fable series, for example, Activision’s all-American Call Of Duty titles or even the esoteric output of defunct French studio Delphine, games evoke a sense of origin. But despite its prolific output, most would be hard pressed to identify many games heralding from the Nordic country of Finland.

read more


Studio profile: RedLynx

Making addictive games isn’t a trial for this Helsinki developer.
  • Founded 2000
  • Location Helsinki.
  • Employees 45
  • Key staff Antti Ilvessuo (creative director), Tero Virtala (CEO).
  • URL www.redlynx.com
  • Selected softography Trials HD, Trials 2 SE, DrawRace, Monster Trucks Nitro, Reset Generation, Pathway to Glory.
  • Current projects MotoHeroz (WiiWare), 1000 Heroz (iOS), DrawRace 2 (iOS),

read more


Studio profile: Housemarque

From its roots in the Amiga demoscene, this developer is focused on the future.
  • Founded 1995
  • Location Helsinki.
  • Employees 30
  • Key staff Harri Tikkanen (co-founder and creative director), Ilari Kuittinen (co-founder and CEO).
  • URL www.housemarque.com
  • Selected softography Super Stardust HD, Dead Nation, Outland.
  • Current projects Unannounced iOS game.

Housemarque is no stranger to 
adaptation.

read more


Studio profile: Remedy Entertainment

A developer with the ambition and drive to consistently break new ground.
  • Founded 1995
  • Location Espoo.
  • Employees 50
  • Key staff Matias Myllyrinne (CEO), Markus Mäki (CTO),  Mika Reini (CFO), Sam Lake (creative director), Sami Vanhatalo, (lead technical artist).
  • URL www.remedygames.com
  • Selected softography Death Rally, Max Payne, Max Payne 2: The Fall Of Max Payne, Alan Wake.
  • Current project Building technology for an unannounced game.

While its presence on the ground flo

read more


Studio profile: Frozenbyte

The Peter Pan of Finland’s developers, Frozenbyte refuses to grow up.
  • Founded 2001
  • Location Helsinki.
  • Employees 35
  • URL www.frozenbyte.com
  • Selected softography Shadowgrounds, Trine, Shadowgrounds Survivor.
  • Current projects Jack Claw (a crowd-sourcing project for PC), Trine 2 (360, Mac, Linux, PC, PS3), Splot (iOS, Mac, Linux, PC).

With an average employee age somewhere on the south side o

read more


Studio profile: Futuremark

A leader in the benchmarking field expands into game development.
  • Founded 1997
  • Location Espoo.
  • Employees 30
  • Key staff Jukka Mäkinen (CEO), Jaakko Haapasalo (director of Futuremark Games Studio), Joonas Palmgren (lead designer), Jussi Markkanen (lead programmer), Jussi Jokijärvi (lead artist).
  • URL www.futuremark.com
  • Selected softography 3DMark, PCMark, Shattered Horizon, Hungribles.
  • Current projects Two unannounced games in progress, as well as continued support for 3DMark, PCMa

read more


Studio profile: Rovio Mobile

This growing company’s ambitions don’t stop at one monster-sized hit.
  • Founded 2003 as Relude, rebranded in 2005.
  • Location Espoo.
  • Employees 60
  • Key staff Mikael Hed (CEO), Niklas Hed (COO), Petri Järvilehto (SVP console development).
  • URL www.rovio.com
  • Selected softography Angry Birds, Angry Birds Halloween, Space Impact: Meteor Shield.
  • Current projects Nine other unannounced games in progress; cross-media expansion of Angry Birds.

Despite having released over 50

read more


Region Specific: Why develop games in Finland?

Finland’s most successful game developers discuss their reputation for polish and clarity, and hatred of pigs.

One indicator of the close relationships enjoyed by Finland’s various studios is that the exchange of business cards which usually takes place when we gather developers together for Region Specific discussions doesn’t occur. Everyone here knows each other and all are welcomed to RedLynx’s premises as old friends, not just guests.

read more


Region Specific: Finland's gaming scene

From origins in the vibrant ’90s demoscene has emerged one of Europe’s most creative dev centres.

Bring almost any game to mind and more often than not, you’ll be able to stick a pin into a mental map marking where it came from. Be it Lionhead’s resolutely British Fable series, for example, Activision’s all-American Call Of Duty titles or even the esoteric output of defunct French studio Delphine, games evoke a sense of origin. But despite its prolific output, most would be hard pressed to identify many games heralding from the Nordic country of Finland.

read more


Mass Effect lead joins Riot Games

Christina Norman, lead gameplay designer on Mass Effect 2 and 3, has taken up a lead designer role at League Of Legends developer Riot Games. "I am thankful for my experience working on the Mass Effect series at BioWare," she told Gamasutra. "I'm looking forward to working with Riot on innovative new approaches to game design and game development in the rapidly-changing videogame market." Preston Watamaniuk, lead designer on the first two Mass Effects, has taken up Norman's former role at BioWare.
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/35594/Former_Mass_Effect_2_3_Lead_Gameplay_Designer_Joins_Riot_Games.php
Gamasutra


Ancel wants UbiArt middleware to be free

Speaking to Develop, Michel Ancel said the UbiArt Framework used in his visually striking current project, Rayman Origins, will eventually be made available to the development community for free - but that the industry's reticence to share technology is holding it back. "UbiArt has been built to be shared," he said. "If the guys who invented the paintbrush only kept it for themselves then fine art would be ephemeral. I want [UbiArt] to be open source, I want it to go out and be shared and evolve. If you look at the best artists at Disney, they create incredible books and artwork and share their processes...that whole medium has evolved on the basis of sharing ideas. But in games we lock it all in a black box and keep it to ourselves. We need to be more open. I don’t believe that keeping the technology to yourself is interesting."
http://www.develop-online.net/news/38204/Ancel-wants-UbiArt-tech-to-be-free-for-all
Develop


Michigan caps games tax relief

Rick Snyder, governor of Michigan, has signed legislation which puts a $25 million cap on the state's previously unlimited tax incentives available to game developers, as well as TV and film companies. The relief, previously applicable to 42 per cent of expenditure, is now subject to negotiation. Brad Wardell, CEO of Livonia-based Stardock, recently told Gamasutra the process was already bogged down with red tape, saying: "The compliance requirements were just way beyond what we were willing to do based on the amount of money we would get."
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/35831/Michigan_Puts_Cap_On_Game_Dev_Tax_Breaks.php
Gamasutra


<< Back Next >>