Joystiq

'Sensus' case adds even more touch surfaces to iPhone

JC Fletcher — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 16:00:00 EST

Devices to add more inputs to the iPhone are nothing new; there are a variety of keyboard peripherals, arcade sticks and game controllers to enable additional interaction with apps. But a peripheral that adds additional touch surfaces... that's new.

A company called Canopy has developed this unlikely device, in the form of a case called "Sensus" (the one above is a transparent prototype). It's designed to enable touch controls on the back of the phone - like the Vita's rear touchpad - as well as the sides.

"The sensors can handle up to ten independent responses," marketing coordinator Ian Spinelli tells me at GDC Online. These inputs add to the screen's six, enabling play for "multiplayer or mutant." The idea isn't so much about getting more fingers on the phone, but rather taking fingers off the screen, to avoid obscuring the game.

Spinelli offered examples of possible interactions, including swiping the edge of the case to strafe and tapping to pull a trigger.

"Right now we're doing a private SDK." In the future, developers will be able to download the SDK to add more touchiness for free, though Canopy has yet to determine if the actual developer hardware (a test unit of the Sensus) will also be free.

Update: Canopy informed us that dev kits and the SDK will be free to developers.

'Sensus' case adds even more touch surfaces to iPhone originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 10 Oct 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Obsidian's Avellone on new Black Isle: 'I have no idea'

JC Fletcher — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 16:00:00 EST

Interplay mysteriously resurrected Black Isle Studios, touting the previous iteration's goal "to make the world's best RPGs." Obsidian creative director Chris Avellone worked at Black Isle as a senior designer, but tweeted shortly after that neither he nor anyone else at Obsidian is involved.

I asked Avellone today if he'd learned any more about the new Black Isle. "I have no idea," he said. "I do not know. I'm very curious." He then leaned in and added "I would like to know more." Avellone is pragmatic about the announcement, putting the proliferation of his favorite games above his own concerns about the use of the name. "If it means more RPGs, great. I love RPGs."

I'll have more from my interview with Avellone soon.

Obsidian's Avellone on new Black Isle: 'I have no idea' originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Oct 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How to write Fallout: New Vegas DLC

JC Fletcher — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 14:30:00 EST

In a narrative-focused presentation at GDC Online, Obsidian Entertainment creative director Chris Avellone outlined the considerations that went into the development of the four Fallout: New Vegas DLC packs. For one thing, "We had the rare opportunity to know we were actually going to do four of these," unlike most game projects where sequels are not guaranteed, he said.

However, they couldn't carry storylines over. "Each one was a very self-contained short experience" by design; each storyline and setting had to exist in isolation from one another, because the team could not assume that any player would own all four packs. That "short experience" adds up to just 10,000 lines of dialogue across all four, Avellone said - a hard maximum. As a result, Avellone and Obsidian had to pad out the dialogue with "trickery" including mute characters who spoke in hand gestures. "We were only able to get away with that for so long," he added.

Continue reading How to write Fallout: New Vegas DLC

How to write Fallout: New Vegas DLC originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Oct 2012 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First GDC Online 2011 summits announced

Jordan Mallory — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 23:45:00 EST

Despite the brutal, anti-nerd reality that is Texas weather, Austin has become a major hub for development houses that produce MMOs and casual/social online titles. BioWare, NCSoft, Blizzard, SOE, heck, even Zynga; they've all got offices in Austin and collectively they're responsible for a sizable growth spurt in the city's already impressive technology sector. It makes sense, then, that GDC 2011's "Online" chapter should return to the Lone-Star State's capital city.

GDC has, historically, been a conference "for developers, by developers," meaning that it's probably not the sort of show Jimmy Halo and Ricky Killzone want to spend their tuition money on. However! If you're in the industry, or just really, really into game design, you just might find something worthwhile at one of GDCO's recently announced summits.

The Game Narrative Summit, for instance, returns for its 6th year of lectures and dissertations with Eidos Montreal's Mary De Marle giving a talk on "Building the Story-driven Experience of Deus Ex: Human Revolution," and Volition's Steve Jaros hosting a roundtable discussion of development mistakes and war-stories in "Sins of the Past." PopCap's Giordano Bruno Contestabile will be contributing his knowledge of pocket-sized, casual gaming to the Smartphone and Tablet Games Summit, and while the GDC Virtual Items Summit has been announced, no specific session details have been listed as of yet.

If extremely-inside-baseball discussions really are your bag, baby, then summit lectures will be open to GDCO attendees with "All Access" and "Summits & Tutorials" badges during the first two days of the conference's October 10-13 run at the Austin Convention Center.

First GDC Online 2011 summits announced originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 03 Jul 2011 23:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GDC Online 2010 brought in 3,000 offline attendees

Alexander Sliwinski — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 01:30:00 EST

Filed under: Weird But True, Opinions, New In Pop Culture

GDC Online -- formerly known as GDC Austin, but still held in the Texas town -- welcomed 3,000 attendees interested in online and social gaming this year. The show will return to Austin, Texas on October 11-14, 2011, at which time it'll be known as "GDC Zynga" -- kidding, maybe.

Highlights of the convention included the inaugural Game Developers Choice Online Awards, along with some revealing revenue details from MMO developer Turbine and the 3DS's ability to use the Unreal Engine. Check out more from GDC online by following this: handy-dandy GDC Online link.

GDC Online 2010 brought in 3,000 offline attendees originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 12 Oct 2010 01:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First Game Developers Choice Online Awards to be held in October

Griffin McElroy — Thu, 27 May 2010 11:49:00 EST

Creators of online games, be they MMOs, addictive social networking applications or anything in between, will soon receive recognition in the form of impressive statuettes. GDC Online (formerly titled GDC Austin) will play host to the Game Developers Choice Online Awards on the evening of October 7. According to the event's announcement, awards will be distributed based on "excellence in live services, technology, game updates, online game design, and more."

In addition, one lucky online game visionary will receive the Online Game Legend Award, and one "all-time classic online game" will be inducted to the GDC Online Awards' Hall Of Fame. Finally, anyone can nominate and vote for their favorite titles in the Audience Award category. As soon as the FarmVille nation finds out about this, it should become number one with a bullet, so get your votes in while things are still even.

First Game Developers Choice Online Awards to be held in October originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 27 May 2010 11:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GDC Austin dated, name changed to GDC Online

Alexander Sliwinski — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 23:00:00 EST

GDC Austin is dead ... long live GDC Online. Dated for October 5-6, 2010, the convention formerly known as GDC Austin will take on the name of what has always been its prominent theme: Online. With locally based MMO developers Origin, BioWare Austin and Sony Online Entertainment, the change certainly makes sense.

In its eighth year, the conference will focus on emerging topics in the online space, including social network games, virtual goods, design and business-like money-making stuff. Official event information and submissions will begin in late spring.

GDC Austin dated, name changed to GDC Online originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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