Format: Xbox Live Indie Games
Release: Out now
Publisher: Hermitgames
Developer: In-house
Direct Marketplace link
The Japanese publisher behind the popular gaming magazine Famitsu has revealed total life-to-date sales of both Wii and PlayStation 3.
According to the fourth annual State of Media Democracy report, based on a survey of the media habits of Americans, 60 per cent of households now own a video game console.
Sony has launched a new online digital comics service via the PlayStation Store.
Grace Chen, senior manager of the PlayStation Store,explained, “PlayStation Network launched a new digital comics service for the PSP system today. As you already know, PSP firmware update v6.20 included a Digital Comics reader application that is accessible under the Extras icon on the XMB.
Bonfire Studios, the independent studio made up of former Ensemble Studios’ employees, has added Dave Pottinger to its staff count. He will serve as the company’s director of technology.
Over the last wee while I have been visiting schools to see the impact of some ongoing projects. I visited Tullos Primary in Aberdeen where a class of primary 6 children have been undertaking a Wild Earth African Safari. I popped in to see a primary 3 class in Dingwall Primary working on a Nintendogs project and then off to Alvie Primary in Kincraig near Aviemore where a composite p 3/4/5 were taking on their own African Safari.
In Tullos Primary the teacher undertaking the project spoke about her experience at an InService day and the rest of the staff were so impressed by the potential that they will be purchasing gaming technology of the
ir own so games based learning can be extended throughout the school.
In Dingwall primary the children have been using their Nintendogs to enhance and improve literacy. Both management and class teacher have been amazed by the impact and how the desire to write and reach an audience outside the school, through their blog, has moved the learning of all the class forward.
From Alvie Primary the teacher has tied the whole experience together as an enterprise Activity and will showcase the work for parents in a Safari afternoon. She also reckons that when the wii is returned to the Consolarium it will have a whole class of children attached to it who will not let it go!
In all classes I was met with enthusiasm and engagement and a joy about learning. In the Guardian newspaper last week Professor Stephen Heppell comments that ,
“Play is something that ICT has been bringing into learning from the very beginning. ICT in learning holds the potential to bring back playfulness and engagement…”
The Games based learning approach taps straight into this potential and, for those of us working in the Consolarium, we are lucky enough to see practical examples of the impact of this everywhere we go. Share the joy! If you and your class or school are using games based learning then please let us know and share your good practice.
Sheffield Hallam University and University Of Abertay Dundee take total list of accredited courses to eight.
Sheffield Hallam University's MSc Games Software Development is a general course which tackles 3D graphics, platform architecture, game design and project management and is sponsored by Codemasters, which pays the fees of up to five British students each year.
Infinity Ward's shooter claims its fourth week at number one, despite experiencing an 11 per cent drop in sales, while Zelda: Spirit Tracks debuts at 12.
GfK Chart-Track's top 10 selling games in the UK is very similar to last week's - the only fresh entry is Ubisoft's Just Dance for Wii, which climbed from position 30 to eight, presumably off the back of heavy marketing. FIFA 10 dropped down from two to five with a 15 per cent reduction in sales from last week.
In 2008, Susan Falconer – Computing teacher at St Augustines High School embarked on a Games Design project with S1 pupils using Neverwinter Nights. Judy Robertson from Heriot Watt University took the Neverwinter Nights game and lead the development of the Adventure Author and Fridge Magnets plugins.
Using the fantasy adventure theme in Neverwinter Nights as a contextual hub for learning, pupils engaged in a 6 week, interdisciplinary task involving a number of departments. The following departments contributed to the project in the following ways
The 2008 S1 cohort, now in S2, are continuing the Games Design theme with more subject areas taking part. Susan and the rest of the team are planning to roll the project into S3 next year.
This small slide show will give you a taste of the project.
I had the opportunity to speak briefly with Susan about the project.
Tell us about the project objectives
The aim of Curriculum for Excellence is to enhance pupil learning. By engaging pupils through the use of computer game modelling software, this projects aim was to inspire their work through an interdisciplinary approach, initially in Computer Studies and English, bringing relevance of aspects of their learning in the different departments to pupils.
In order to promote literacy, you engaged with the English department. Can you tell us about that particular link?
In English, the focus was on narrative devices used in story-telling, particularly in the Fantasy genre, improve their appreciation of the writers skill and improve their own imaginative writing. In particular, to look at setting, characterisation, plot and dialogue.
The focus in the Computing department, was to further develop their ideas and create a fantasy game with Neverwinter Nights using the setting, characterisation, plot and dialogue written in English as inspiration and guidance. Pupils developed a rich variety of new skills and enhanced their ability to learn from each other.
What was the impact of the project?
The pupils loved it. They worked without realising it and were inspired.
Attainment was raised
The pupils experienced a variety of familiar and unfamiliar challanges
What makes the project special?
We put learning and fun hand in hand. Pupils were given a worldly business experience where they had to create a product from inception to marketing, linking disciplines from many departments, showing the relevance of each.
The cross curricular project was highly commended in the recent HMIE inspection and is a fantastic example of how Games technology can really enhance the curriculum and engage with the CfE outcomes.
Look out for a more detailed look at the project, including videos, in our sharing practice section.
Naughty Dog, Double Fine, Visceral Games and Jon Blow to feature at March's Game Developers Conference.
Naughty Dog co-lead game designer Richard Lemarchand will post-mortem Uncharted 2's development, while Double Fine's lead platform programmer Peter Demoreuille and VFX artist Drew Skillman will look at how they created the visual effects of Brutal Legend.
US District Judge denies Bethesda's attempt to block Interplay from selling Fallout games.
Gamasutra reports that Interplay will be able to continue selling Fallout Trilogy, a bundle of Fallout, Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics, along with the titles on an individual basis. Interplay will also be able to continue work on its Fallout MMO.
Activision has announced that its True Crime franchise is making a comeback on PS3 and 360 in 2010. A teaser trailer for the new title was unveiled at the Video Game Awards this weekend.
No further details were given about the franchise’s comeback, other than the setting which is believed to be Hong Kong-based. Developer Luxoflux had developed the previous two titles in the series; True Crime: Streets Of LA and True Crime: New York.
Atari has announced that it has replaced David Gardner with new chief executive officer Jeff Lapin.
Lapin joined as chief operating officer in May 2009 after having been a director of the company since December 2007.
According to a report from technology research firm iSuppli, a drop in PS3 component costs could see Sony begin to break-even on the console’s manufacturing costs.
In 2008 iSuppli’s analysis of the console’s component costs estimated that the then-$399 console was losing around $50 per unit. The most recent report estimates that design costs behind the recently launched 120GB PS3 Slim model are now around $336, with the console selling for $299 in the U.S.
Rock Band Green Day is to be the next standalone title in the franchise, following the release of The Beatles: Rock Band earlier this year.
Warner Bros. Has announced that a sequel to Batman: Arkham Asylum is currently in development with Rocksteady Studios.
“We are thrilled to build a global game franchise from Batman: Arkham Asylum, which is receiving an incredible response from gamers and Batman fans around the world,” said Martin Tremblay, President, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. “Rocksteady has taken Batman to a new level in the video game space and we are committed to delivering a sequel the fans will love.”
MIT Media Lab PhD students create BiDi, an LCD screen-based multi-touch and motion detecting interaction system.
Natal's camera-based approach to sensing depth and motion struggles to detect motions close to the screen itself. BiDi, on the other hand, features light sensors as part of its screen, allowing more direct control. It was created by a team consisting of Matthew Hirsch, Henry Holtzman and Ramesh Raskar from MIT Media Lab, and Douglas Lanman from Brown University.
GameStop has reported that new software sales were up 15 per cent across its stores in November.
The positive results bucked the US industry trend last month, when software sales declined by 3.1 per cent year-on-year.
Wii sales have fallen for nine consecutive months in the US, but Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime has said that he expects the industry to rebound.
“Our read on the consumer is very strong,” the executive told Bloomberg. “What we are seeing today is a strong momentum for hardware and software.”
Games always seem to end with three dots rather than one. A climax can be as decisive as the fall of a tyrant, or even an empire, but its last beat will suggest continuation rather than closure. The root of evil will always remain intact, poised to bring new troubles upon the world and new missions for the returning, cash-starved hero. In industry terms, it just doesn’t make sense to choke a potential revenue stream once it’s open. Yet while no one believed the PR back in 2003, Irem had that very goal in mind: to bring its flagship series to an end, full stop.
Norway-based Funcom has established a new casual MMO-focused subsidiary, SweetRobot.
Its first act will be to publish the upcoming social MMO title Pets vs. Monsters. Aimed at a younger demographic, specifically children aged eight to twelve, it will go into public beta testing later this month.
Sony’s PS3 has edged out Microsoft’s previously dominant Xbox 360 to finish top of Metacritic’s first annual Game Platform Power Rankings.
Review aggregator Metacritic said that the Power Rankings combine a number of factors, including the quality and quantity of titles released for each of the major platforms during 2009.
Developer: Wouter Visser
Format: Flash
www.addictinggames.com/gimmefrictionbaby.html
Sony has expressed its satisfaction with the European launch of the PS3 and PSP video delivery service.
“We can’t reveal any specific numbers yet, but I can say that we are very pleased with the performance of the service so far, and that it has indeed surpassed expectations,” SCEE product marketing director Mark Hardy told us.
Platform holders Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony have responded to last month's US games industry sales results, which were the second-best on record for the month of November.