Activision has announced Call Of Duty XP, a two-day event based on its enormously popular shooter, to take place in Los Angeles in September.
Set in a 12-acre space, Call Of Duty XP will give 6,000 attendees a first chance to lay hands on Modern Warfare 3’s multiplayer and co-op modes, as well as the first full glimpse of the Call Of Duty Elite subscription service that Activision announced last month.
Anthony Gowland is a ten-year industry veteran responsible for designing games including Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars and Red Dead Redemption. Joining Rockstar Leeds as a mission scripter, Gowland was quickly promoted to senior designer after just three months and has spent the past six and a half years overseeing the studio's output. Last month, however, he decided to strike out alone, leaving big-budget development behind and setting up mobile development studio Mainly About Games.
Anthony Gowland is a ten-year industry veteran responsible for designing games including Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars and Red Dead Redemption. Joining Rockstar Leeds as a mission scripter, Gowland was quickly promoted to senior designer after just three months and has spent the past six and a half years overseeing the studio's output. Last month, however, he decided to strike out alone, leaving big-budget development behind and setting up mobile development studio Mainly About Games.
Organisers are promising a “record amount” of game development content at this year’s Siggraph conference, which takes place in Vancouver in August.
Heading the list is a two-part course looking at recent advances in realtime rendering. Among those taking part in the course - which is intended to foster links between the development community and the field of 3D graphics research - are staff from Bungie, EA, Sony, Treyarch, CCP and Avalanche.
I met Fraser Christie, PT Computing at Braeview Academy in Dundee, at a game design CPD event we held a few months ago. During the event, we started talking about various aspects of technology, computing and CfE in the classroom and got on to the subject of Arduino. I have previously written about Arduino here. After our discussion, Fraser expressed an interest in trying out the rapid prototyping toolkit in his school. I managed to send up a few kits from the Consolarium up to the school and last week I managed to grab a few minutes with an S2 pupil, Paul, who had been using the Arduino kits at lunchtime and after school.
Paul quickly gave me a demonstration of the Arduino toolkit and managed to very quickly create a simple circuit. During his demonstration, Paul clearly demonstrated a firm understanding of electrical components their purpose. The video also demonstrates the possibility of using Arduino kits to address some for the science experiences and outcomes, such as SCN 4-09c : ‘engineer an electronic system to provide a practical solution to a real-life situation’ and others within the Electricity E’s and O’s.
Paul later demonstrated how the Arduino can be programmed using the Processing progamming language – again, demonstrating an understanding of the code, in this case, how to change the speed of a servo. This has significant links to the Computing E’s and O’s, in particular TCH 4-09a – ‘By learning the basic principles of a programming language or control technology, I can design a solution to a scenario, implement it and evaluate its success’.
Paul is obviously interested in electronics and computing, and makes a number of references to using online videos to develop his understanding of the circuit making and coding, all in his own time, taking responsibility for his learning. At the end of this video, Paul talks about building a real device – a hidden gumball machine and goes on to talk about the need to not only design/build the circuit and create the program, but to physically build the housing for the device. Within a school context, this could offer links with Design and Technology in order to physically build the object.
I spoke with Fraser after Paul had left us, and he talked about his hopes for the Arduino kits in school for next term. Already he has a rising number interested pupils like Paul who are keen to get hands on with the kits at lunchtimes and after schools, but he intends to use the Arduino kits with his 15 Advanced Higher Computing pupils (pupils are from various schools, but being hosted at Braeview next session) and hopes to inspire them to use the technology as part of their AH projects. He has also made connections with Dundee University and is hoping to work with them next session in order to develop Arduino in school.
It is also worth noting that if delving into the processing programming language seems a bit too much at the start, then there is an alternative. Using the Scratch application framework, the folks over at Citilab have created S4A – Scratch for Arduino. This allows user to use a Scratch like environment to program the Arduino.
Anthony Gowland, a former senior designer at Rockstar who worked on Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars and Red Dead Redemption, believes that attempts by the likes of Nintendo to keep the price of games at their current level despite the continuing rise in popularity of low-cost, downloadable games is misguided, and that the ultimate value of videogames is decided by consumers, not the industry itself.
Offering the player a choice of controls is a good thing, right? It means that all players can choose a method of interaction to suit their own preferences. On many iOS or Android games it’s common to see a range of control schemes available which, broadly speaking, can be split into several basic forms: tilt-based controls and the varying forms of touch – direct manipulation, virtual D-pads, steering wheels and twin-sticks.
The most horrific thing about FEAR 3 is what a series purist might say about it. The closest it has to a bogeyman is the all-corrupting Call Of Duty, with its power to inflict dual weapon slots and recharging health on all in its wake. The only real terror it knows is its own – the hell of the console preowned shelf, upon which dwell the story-based shooters with wide fields of view, modest gun models and action that feels like its own reward.
Consumers in the United States will spend $21.6 billion on videogames in 2011, down from $24.6 billion last year, according to market research firm Newzoo.
The study predicts that 2011 will, for the first time, see mobile, online and downloadable games account for more than half of the total amount of US consumer spending on videogames. Sales of console games are to fall 20 per cent, with those of boxed PC and Mac games falling seven per cent.
Mick Hocking, head of Sony's worldwide studios stereoscopic 3D team, says current technology will enable the company to bring to market immersive virtual reality gaming experiences “in the not too distant future”.
"Another thing that's coming back, which I'm very excited about, is the notion of virtual reality," the executive told btween3d in a video interview.
New entries took the top three places on the Japanese software chart during the week ended June 26.
PS3 role playing title Atelier Meruru: Alchemist Of Arland 3 debuted at number one, ahead of new PSP releases Steins; Gate and Gundam Memories: Memories of the Battle, Andriasang reports.
Last week's top two, Little Battle Experience and The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time 3D, placed fourth and fifth respectively.