Multiple sources say Apple to pull back the curtain on new tablet in San Francisco on March 2.
Apple is to officially announce its successor to the iPad at an event in San Francisco next month, according to reports.
All Things Digital cites “multiple sources” in its report, saying Apple will finally lift the lid on the new iPad on March 2. All eyes will be on San Francisco that week anyway – the Game Developers Conference 2011 runs from February 28 to March 4 at the city’s Moscone Center.
Gabe Newell admits current Source development tools are “painful”.
Valve founder Gabe Newell has admitted that the firm’s Source development kit is “painful” in its current state, and has promised his team is working hard to “simplify” the process.
A highlight from our community-written blogs, regarding the nature of fear in videogames.
With Dead Space 2 doing its best to terrify gamers everywhere, Christopher_Anthony considers the increased level of terror that interactive horror can engender over more passive experiences.
Sixteen games to be on shelves alongside new handheld on March 27.
Nintendo has confirmed the 16 games that will launch alongside its new 3DS handheld when the system makes its North American debut on March 27.
Only three of the 16 – or five of the 18, if you see the three different versions of Nintendogs + Cats as separate games – are firstparty, a reflection of the increased focus Nintendo wants placed on thirdparty support.
Design lead on PGR and Blur joins OutRun Online Arcade developer as chief game designer.
Gareth Wilson, former design manager at Bizarre Creations, has joined Sheffield studio Sumo Digital.
PC Gaming Alliance president expects effect of founding members’ departure to be minimal.
Microsoft and Nvidia, two of the highest-profile members of the PC Gaming Alliance, have quit the organisation, according to PCGA president Matt Ployhar.
Ployhar declined to give reasons for the firms departing, telling Big Download he would prefer to let Microsoft and Nvidia explain, which neither has done thusfar. Both firms were instrumental in the alliance’s creation in 2008.
The Indie Fund co-founder on the successes and failures of the programme's first year.
Officials decry present-day setting in Juarez, which has seen 6,000 drug-related deaths in two years.
Legislators in the Mexican city of Juarez have called on federal authorities to ban the release of Ubisoft’s recently announced Call Of Juarez: The Cartel.
While the previous two games in the series were set in the Old West, the latest is set in the present day, described by Ubisoft as bringing “the best elements of the Wild West into modern times with a very gritty and relevant plot.”
New PS3s to be manufactured with new, properly secured encryption keys, source says.
Sony is to block out would-be PlayStation 3 pirates at the manufacturing stage, with the release of a new, hack-proof SKU, according to reports.
Everything HQ cites an anonymous source who claims Sony is already “deep into plans” for an unhackable version of the PlayStation 3, caused mainly by the premature leak of Killzone 3 which has prompted concerns of PS3 piracy going truly mainstream.
Dan Pinchbeck says reaction from mod community has been “really positive”, criticism is “not fair”.
The developer of Half-Life 2 mod Dear Esther has said that the reaction from elements of the mod community to his game’s upcoming commercial release is “not accurate or fair”.
The Eyepet for the Sony PS3 is a resource that the Consolarium team believe has great potential in schools. The promise of an augmented reality Nintendogs type character on the big screen that could be interacted with by groups of children was something that we felt would prove to be a magical experience for young learners. When we first hatched and played with our Eyepet at the Consolarium we experienced for ourselves the power of this technology and we immediately began discussing just what this could bring to teaching and learning. We were enchanted with this beautiful yet vulnerable little creature and after much hand waving in mid-air our Eyepet came to trust us and looking after it became part of our day.
We put Eyepets in a number of schools across Scotland to see how teachers might begin to integrate the resource into their teaching. Cathkin Community Nursery in South Lanarkshire made superb use of their Eyepet and its application in the learning experiences of their learners was commented on favourably by HMIE. We have also spoken with many other teachers who have had similarly positive experiences however we have also had some teachers who have felt that the resource is not for them or for their children because it is too difficult to use. There is a knack to controlling the Eyepet with the card that is supplied (feeding the Eyepet and throwing biscuits for it is really quite tricky when you first start) so maybe this is a training issue for the Consolarium team. The advent of the Move controller for the PS3 has made this aspect of using the Eyepet a lot easier though. This being said there are many teachers in schools that we are working with who are making great progress with the resource as it is.
On a recent visit to Islay I visited Port Charlotte PS where I was introduced to P2-3 teacher Catherine MacMillan. Catherine is one of the teachers in Argyll & Bute who is working with the Eyepet this term. I was introduced to her class, some of whom were working away in the corner about to hatch their first Eyepet. Here they are going through the initial stages of the hatching process:
After the Eyepet had hatched it had to be scanned to see if it was hungry or not. Here we see the children scanning their new Eyepet to see if it requires feeding or not. :
Whenever I have seen the Eyepet used in schools I am always drawn to the look of concentration and involvement on the faces of the children as they play/learn with the resource. Can you see that on the children’s faces here? It also has to be said that the thoughtful and considered application of this engaging resource by teachers really can ‘make learning more creative, challenging and fun.’ This is most certainly the case with Catherine MacMillan because as we talked I quickly saw how she had seen the potential of this resource and just how it could help her deliver learning experiences in Curriculum for Excellence that would offer the challenge, demand and appeal that Port Charlotte PS expects. Her initial foray into making links to other curricular areas was focused on Writing. She saw the perfect opportunity to capitalise on the supportive discussions that were naturally occurring in the children’s groups when they were showing each other what to do with the Eyepet. This instruction giving would be explored further as part of a purposeful and relevant writing activity focusing on instruction writing. One could associate this activity with this Outcome from CfE:
“I am learning to use my notes and other types of writing to help me understand information and ideas, explore problems, generate and develop ideas or create new text.” LIT 1-25a
Have a look at some of the children’s writing:
Here is Catherine talking about how she planned for this activity and how the Eyepet is helping her deliver this aspect of her teaching.
As Catherine and I talked the children played away quite confidently and contentedly and took charge of looking after their new Eyepet. I took the opportunity to continue talking about just what technologies such as games can bring to the classroom. Catherine had clearly given some serious thought to the application and appeal of a resource such as the Eyepet and as we talked she focused on the following aspects as positive reasons to use the Eyepet and also what she had seen for herself in the short time that she had been using the resource:
As you can see from the video, the children still carried on working independently as we chatted. So much so that even when the bell rang it took some encouraging to get the children away from their Eyepet and out to play:
We also discussed how, amongst other things, Catherine and her colleagues are using the Eyepet to aid transition from the nursery class to Primary 1. You can hear our discussion (over the children using the hairdryer to dry their Eyepet) here:
Transcript of discussion with Catherine MacMillan
We will be sharing some more experiences of teachers in Scottish classrooms who are using the Eyepet over the coming months. No doubt we will see some more innovative yet grounded practice from many of the teachers currently using the resource. If you are using this resource in your own setting then please do get in touch and share with us what your experience has been.
At the Game To Learn: Take2! Conference in Dundee on Saturday 19 March Brian McLaren, DHT Clackmannan PS (ex Consolarium Development Officer) will be delivering a seminar in which he will talk about his experience of leading the Eyepet initiative for the Consolarium. Come along to hear what Brian has to say.
*Full transcription of videos to come
*Guest post from Stuart Meldrum at Hawick High School who is involved with our rapid prototyping initiative.
“Cool sir! That looks amazing!…but what is it?”
That is generally the reaction from pupils (and staff) when they first set eyes on the RapMan currently sitting in my classroom. This fantastic monster looks like it has been pieced together with whatever spare parts were lying around the workshop and that isn’t actually too far from the truth. The kit that LTScotland have provided to three schools was essentially a thousand piece jigsaw, where the parts are all standard components like nuts, bolts, and washers, with some laser cut acrylic sheets thrown in. This meant that a lot of my time was spent piecing it all together, this is not a quick task! There is a prebuilt version available for quite a bit more cash.
For the uninitiated the RapMan is one example of a Rapid-Prototyper. This essentially means that it is a machine that can print in 3 dimensions, but instead of leaving a trail of ink the RapMan has a head that can move in two directions and pulls though a filament of plastic, heating it as it moves. The melted plastic is trailled over a bed and a 2D shape is laid out. Then the bed is lowered and the head starts leaving another trail on top of the first. Over time and successive layers the melted plastic fuses together to build up a 3D shape.
For years in Design and Technology departments we have been drawing and designing things in 3D using CAD software but now we have an affordable method or realising these designs. Normally the cost of this sort of machine puts it well out of reach of schools.
Now that our RapMan is up and running in Hawick High School we have loads of ideas as to how we could start to use it in our courses. It lends itself naturally to Product Design where pupils have to create models of their designs, but it fits in all the way down the school too. Also, now that Computer Aided Manufacture is explicitly mentioned in the Level 3 and Level 4 Outcomes and Experiences (TCH 3.13 and TCH 4.15) schools will be increasingly looking to use this technology.
Listen to Stuart’s take on the challenges that he has faced in trying to get the rapid protoyping kit up and running in Hawick High School.
Monthly magazine tie-in with educational social game that boasts over 30 million users worldwide.
Mind Candy, developer and operator of the children’s online social game Moshi Monsters, has launched a UK magazine based on its rapidly-growing brand.
The first issue of the monthly Moshi Monsters Magazine, published by Skyjack Publishing, hits shelves today, as Mind Candy seeks to further leverage the success of its virtual pet MMOG.
After 16 years of development, the Liverpool studio closes today. Ex-staff member creates tribute video.
To mark the closure of Bizarre Creations today, studio video editor, Eamon Urtone, has created a tribute to the developer's output over the past 16 years entitled 'Farewell Bizarre...it's been an absolute pleasure!'
Format: Flash
Developer: Charlie Hoey and Pete Smith
If you’re a fan of F. Scott Fitzgerald and you’re in need of something to pass the time while you wait to see how badly Baz Luhrmann has mangled The Great Gatsby, you could do worse than check the book out in playable form thanks to Charlie Hoey and Pete Smith.
Game Closure development platform and SDK to enable cross-platform multiplayer in HTML5 games.
A group of Stanford University students have developed a mobile SDK that will enable cross-platform multiplayer games.
Game Closure, unveiled yesterday at Stanford startup SSE Labs’ Demo Day, is a development platform and SDK enabling the creation of HTML5 games that support multiplayer across different platforms, starting with iOS, Android and Facebook.
Although we are heavily focused on game based learning and games design at the Consolarium our remit also includes exploring other emerging technologies and how these can impact on teaching and learning. To this end we are currently working with schools in Argyll & Bute, Scottish Borders and Edinburgh City to explore how rapid prototyping kit might be able to play a part in the Design & Technology curriculum.
What this kit allows us to do is create 3D objects that can then be ‘printed’ in 3D form via the Rapman. This could allow you to create piece of jewellery for example on the computer, in 3D form, and for this to be printed out in 3D form.
We purchased three sets of kit from Anarkik 3D that would enable us to begin this work. This kit includes the Falcon 3D Mouse, the Rapman 3D printer and the Cloud 9 software. The Rapman 3D printer can be purchased fully assembled or in flat pack. Obviously the costs are less for the flat packed version.
I visited Islay High School in Argyll & Bute recently where I met with Ian Stuart who is looking to integrate this kit in to the Design & Tech experiences of his pupils. The day that I arrived I saw the pupils using the software and the 3D mouse to create a pendant that could be attached to a necklace. The school is still in the very early stages of getting to grips with this kit and over the past few months it is fair to say that it has faced some challenges particularly in relation to the construction of the flat-packed Rapman printer. Their experiences to date were captured in this chat with Ian Stuart.
Transcript of discussion with Ian Stuart
Even though it is clear that the flat packed option of the Rapman 3D printer does mean an investment of time and effort in order to build it I have to say that what I saw at Islay HS suggests that this kit can really play a part in pupils experiences of Product Design and Computer Aided Manufacture. Some of the pupils’ designs were rather impressive and their feedback about using the Falcon 3D mouse was very positive.
We will follow up and report on the experiences of Islay HS with this exciting resource.
Valve and Red Lynx on what Intel’s new processor architecture means for gamers.
“It's a real game changer for us. This allows for a console-like experience on the PC." Valve head Gabe Newell’s proclamation at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show earlier this year was bold, demonstrating the developer’s confidence in Intel’s new processor architecture, Sandy Bridge.
Multi-year, multi-platform episodic series begins this year for what we’d prefer to call Egg Vs Zombies.
Telltale Games has confirmed that it is working on a videogame adaptation of comic book turned hit TV series The Walking Dead, set for release this year.
Activision shooter still king in the States as retail spend drops 5 per cent year on year.
Call Of Duty: Black Ops was the best-selling game in the United States during January, according to latest figures released by the NPD Group.
Activision’s shooter has dominated the sales charts in the west ever since its release on November 9 last year. Ubisoft’s Just Dance 2 takes second spot and three new entries – LittleBigPlanet 2, Dead Space 2 and DC Universe Online – make the top 10.
We report on how Sony’s ‘PlayStation phone’ feels in the hands.
The Xperia Play doesn't actually carry a PlayStation logo anywhere, but the iconic PlayStation face buttons essentially do the same job. Surely one of the worst-kept secrets in gaming tech history until its announcement on February 6th, Sony Ericsson’s device is less formally known as the PlayStation Phone.
OpenFeint Connect APIs to offer cross-platform leaderboards, friends lists and accounts.
Gaming social network OpenFeint has announced new APIs that will offer cross-platform functionality to developers and players alike.
While not enabling cross-platform multiplayer, OpenFeint Connect will mean unified leaderboards, friends lists, accounts and developer announcements across different devices.
EDIT: Valve has since stated that Portal 2 will not, in fact, feature Move control:
"Unfortunately this quote was "lost in translation" -- Portal 2 does not include support for Sony's motion controller."
ORIGINAL STORY: Motion control joins cloud saving and cross-platform multiplayer “as compensation for Left 4 Dead.”
Valve has confirmed that the PlayStation 3 version of its upcoming sequel Portal 2 will support the Move motion controller.
Sony to take on Apple’s iPad with PlayStation Certified Android tablet, sources claim.
With NGP and the PlayStation phone, Xperia Play, both recently announced, Sony is now reportedly readying a PlayStation tablet.
“We’ll let Nintendo announce their hardware,” THQ president tells investors.
THQ has hinted that Nintendo is preparing to announce a successor to the Wii.
Speaking at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference yesterday – reported by CVG – THQ president Brian Farrell said that the firm did not expect new hardware announcements “any time soon from Microsoft or Sony.”