Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com Joystiq http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://www.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2013 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[GDC China returns September 15 - 17]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2013/04/11/gdc-china-returns-september-15-17/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/04/11/gdc-china-returns-september-15-17/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/04/11/gdc-china-returns-september-15-17/#comments GDC China returns September 15 17GDC China's sixth incarnation will take place a few months earlier this year than last, with the conference commandeering the Shanghai International Convention Center from September 15 through September 17. As a result, panel/talk submissions for the event have an early deadline: May 10.

Talk applications can be submitted in either Mandarin or English (relevant submission forms here and here) and can cover topics on "Game Design, Production, Visual Arts, Business and Marketing, Smartphone and Tablet Games, and Independent Games," according to GDC China's official blog. Registration for GDC China is set to begin sometime later this month.

JoystiqGDC China returns September 15 - 17 originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 11 Apr 2013 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>ChinaGDCGDC-ChinaGDC-China-2013panel-submissionssubmissionsThu, 11 Apr 2013 01:00:00 EST<![CDATA[IGDA defines new rules for future industry parties after GDC 'mistake']]>http://www.joystiq.com/2013/04/09/igda-defines-new-rules-for-future-industry-parties-after-gdc-mi/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/04/09/igda-defines-new-rules-for-future-industry-parties-after-gdc-mi/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/04/09/igda-defines-new-rules-for-future-industry-parties-after-gdc-mi/#comments During the week of GDC, the International Game Developers Association threw a party that featured underdressed, dancing women as part of the entertainment, prompting two IGDA members to resign and Executive Director Kate Edwards to issue a statement of regret.

Today, Edwards defined a new set of regulations for future IGDA gatherings, starting with the goal to cut back on "parties" and instead offer more "networking events."

"Building a community and providing networking opportunities are part of our core mission, and we want to create activities that provide that opportunity, and to do that in a way that will be appropriate and enjoyable for everyone," Edwards wrote.

If a specific IGDA chapter wishes to throw a party, it may, but the organization still expects "chapters to uphold the IGDA's values of inclusion and diversity, regardless of the type of event and locale." Edwards said the IGDA will be vigilant when dealing with partners in the future, to provide "comprehensive oversight" of the entire event: The dancing women at this year's GDC party were courtesy of party sponsor YetiZen, which said it hired "avid gamers, who happened to be models." YetiZen said the IGDA approved all aspects of the party, including the dancers.

Edwards outlined a set of actions for IGDA members to uphold while at other industry events, including a "walk out and talk out" policy for any party with content "contrary to the IGDA ideals, regardless of the potential value of being present."

"Our humanity makes us prone to mistakes, but that does not diminish our resolve to be a force of change," Edwards concludes. "I hope the IGDA membership will rise to the challenge, and keep working together to help our industry reflect the reality of our diversity, whether it's at events, in the workplace or in the games we create." Read her full missive here.

JoystiqIGDA defines new rules for future industry parties after GDC 'mistake' originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Apr 2013 20:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>GDCGDC-2013igdakate-edwardsnetworkingpartyTue, 09 Apr 2013 20:20:00 EST<![CDATA[GDC 2013 breaks attendance record, GDC 2014 starts March 17]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2013/04/01/gdc-2013-breaks-attendance-record-gdc-2014-starts-march-17/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/04/01/gdc-2013-breaks-attendance-record-gdc-2014-starts-march-17/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/04/01/gdc-2013-breaks-attendance-record-gdc-2014-starts-march-17/#comments GDC numbers, next year is March 17 21You might still be exhausted from GDC 2013 (or asleep!), but don't forget to mark your calendar for March 17-21 next year just as soon as you can summon the energy to drag your mouse all the way to that browser tab. That's the date for GDC 2014. The call for submissions happens this summer, so you still have time to come up with your talk, or work on the game you want to show off.

Chances are, you'll be able to rant and/or demonstrate to more people than ever. This year's GDC broke an attendance record with approximately 23,000 "industry professionals," up 500 from GDC 2012's record-breaking attendance.

Continue reading GDC 2013 breaks attendance record, GDC 2014 starts March 17

JoystiqGDC 2013 breaks attendance record, GDC 2014 starts March 17 originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 01 Apr 2013 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>gdcgdc-2013gdc-2014Mon, 01 Apr 2013 18:30:00 EST<![CDATA[NPD: Digital game sales growing year-over-year 33 percent]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/30/npd-digital-game-sales-growing-year-over-year-33-percent/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/30/npd-digital-game-sales-growing-year-over-year-33-percent/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/30/npd-digital-game-sales-growing-year-over-year-33-percent/#comments Digital games and downloadable content sales are growing at a rate of 33 percent year over year in the US and Europe, according to data presented by NPD, iResearch and Digi-Capital analysts at GDC. The speakers at the digital games sales talk noted that sales in China are expected to grow over 10 percent every year for the next three years.

According to GamesIndustry International, NPD analyst Liam Callahan told attendees that digital game content sales in 2012 reached $5.9 billion in the United States. Sales in the UK reached $1.7 billion, followed by Germany with $1.4 billion and France with $1 billion. Callahan also said that digital content composes 40 percent of the United States' total spend on games, an increase from 28 percent in 2010.

NPD estimated that 48 percent ($7.1 billion) of the $14.8 billion spent on games in the US in 2012 came from purchases on brand new games at retail. The other 51 percent was from digital games and downloadable content ($2.22 billion), mobile game sales ($2.11 billion), used game sales ($1.59 billion), subscriptions ($1.05 billion), social network gaming ($544 million) and rentals ($198 million). The NPD also reported a drop in used game sales from 2011 by 17.1 percent.

JoystiqNPD: Digital game sales growing year-over-year 33 percent originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 30 Mar 2013 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>digital-distributionDLCGDCGDC-2013liam-callahannpdnpd-groupsalessubscriptionsused-gamesSat, 30 Mar 2013 19:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Path of Exile version 1.0 is six months away, one expansion per year after]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/30/path-of-exile-version-1-0-is-six-months-away-one-expansion-per/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/30/path-of-exile-version-1-0-is-six-months-away-one-expansion-per/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/30/path-of-exile-version-1-0-is-six-months-away-one-expansion-per/#comments Path of Exile plans version 10 in six months, and then one expansion per yearThe free-to-play action RPG Path of Exile went into open beta this past January, and the next step is putting together a version 1.0, Grinding Gear Games co-founder Chris Wilson told us this week at GDC 2013. Starting with about 250,000 registered players, the game has since grown up to around 2 million, with the devs fixing bugs and providing weekly patches since then.

The weekly patches, which have been adding new skills and items to the game, will continue to roll out. But version 1.0 is going to be the game's full release, when the "open beta" tag comes off, and the game "will be reviewable," according to Wilson. The update will add a full story to the game's Act 3, including lots of new monsters and items, and "do the stuff we had to cut corners on" throughout the game's development, Wilson said.

After that, "we intend to do expansions over the next five to ten years," Wilson told us. The team has no set plans for releases, and if they can put a major feature together in less time, then Wilson says they'll do it. The game already had a lot of success with "races," which are special events that challenge players to speedrun the game under special conditions. But in general, he said, given the current player base, "adding a new act to the game is probably a once a year thing."

JoystiqPath of Exile version 1.0 is six months away, one expansion per year after originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 30 Mar 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>action-rpgchris-wilsonexpansionsfree-to-playgdcgdc-2013gdc2013grinding-gears-gamespatchpath-of-exilepcreleaseupdatesSat, 30 Mar 2013 18:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Seen@GDC: Playground games]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/30/seen-gdc-playground-games/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/30/seen-gdc-playground-games/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/30/seen-gdc-playground-games/#comments SeenGDC Playground gamesDie Gute Fabrik lead designer Douglas Wilson is comfortable asking people to make fools of themselves, as he demonstrated during his panel at GDC on Friday, "Three Folk Games To Inspire Radical New Video Games." Wilson emphasized the impact that physical, playground games can have on modern video game development, bringing players together outside of the screen. They certainly influenced Wilson's convention-famous motion game, Johann Sebastian Joust.

Wilson asked for volunteers from the audience to step on stage and play three games that influenced Joust: Standoff, Listelanse and the Danish Clapping Game. See a handful of eager audience members hitting themselves and dueling with wooden spoons in the gallery below, and read more about each game after the break.

Gallery: Die Gute Fabrik (GDC 2013)

Continue reading Seen@GDC: Playground games

JoystiqSeen@GDC: Playground games originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 30 Mar 2013 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Die-Gute-Fabrikdouglas-wilsonfolk-gamesGDCGDC-2013motion-controlmotion-gamingmoveplaygroundplaystationps3Sat, 30 Mar 2013 16:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Diablo 3's missing runestones found at GDC]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/30/diablo-3s-missing-runestones-found-at-gdc/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/30/diablo-3s-missing-runestones-found-at-gdc/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/30/diablo-3s-missing-runestones-found-at-gdc/#comments If you've followed Diablo 3's development for a long time, you might remember the idea of Runestones. They were meant to be actual in-game items that could supplement character abilities in various ways, such as adding a fire attack to a melee hit, or doubling the power of a spell for free. When the game arrived last year, the Runestone system was nowhere to be seen, replaced by the controversial Skill Rune system. So where did those Runestones go? Diablo 3's technical designer Wyatt Cheng said during a talk at GDC that they're still around, in one form or another.

The Runestone system was originally created to add flexibility to character skills, and to give players a chance to experiment and play around with new abilities after they had gained them through leveling up. The original idea had ten different effects that could be added to various abilities, including striking, lethality, efficiency, life-stealing, poison, slowing and so on. But ten was too many, Blizzard decided, and they opted to boil them down into five different stone types (Crimson, Obsidian, Indigo, Golden and Alabaster) that would each affect skills in a few different ways.

Cheng said having actual stones in the inventory worked in a few different ways. It gave the system a sense of discovery, as players enjoyed seeing which stones granted certain effects, and it accomplished the original goal of allowing players to experiment with customization. Managing the stones in the game's inventory was a "nightmare," according to Cheng, and player expectations didn't always match what the stones actually provided.

In the end, the team went with the existing Skill Rune system, which allowed Blizzard to give specific skill and stone combinations more "flavorful names," and let the team make sure that the added effects were appropriate for the skills they matched. But Cheng said the effects were still in there: Some runes still slow opponents or add more damage to attacks, and those were the effects originally conferred by the stones of Indigo and Crimson.

JoystiqDiablo 3's missing runestones found at GDC originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 30 Mar 2013 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>blizzardblizzard-entertainmentcharacterdesigndesignerdesignersDiablo-3gdcgdc-2013gdc2013pcrunesrunestonesskill-runesskillswyatt-chengSat, 30 Mar 2013 15:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Seen@GDC: 'Imagine Dante in a Western movie']]>http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/28/seen-gdc-imagine-dante-in-a-western-movie/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/28/seen-gdc-imagine-dante-in-a-western-movie/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/28/seen-gdc-imagine-dante-in-a-western-movie/#comments SeenGDC 'Imagine Dante in a Western movie'When Capcom tasked Ninja Theory with rebooting Dante, the main character of its classic Japanese franchise Devil May Cry, it wanted to draw a clear distinction. This was a new Dante, a new Devil May Cry, and the series told through a westernized lens.

"Imagine Dante in a western movie," Capcom told Ninja Theory's art team. And so it did. There's Dante above, shooped into a scene from Brokeback Mountain - a very western movie, after all - and below Dante takes a breather with Brad Pitt in Fight Club.

Continue reading Seen@GDC: 'Imagine Dante in a Western movie'

JoystiqSeen@GDC: 'Imagine Dante in a Western movie' originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 28 Mar 2013 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Brokeback-MountainCapcomdantedmc-devil-may-cryfight-clubGDCGDC-2013microsoftninja-theorypcplaystationps3xboxThu, 28 Mar 2013 21:30:00 EST<![CDATA[IGF grand prize winner gives his booth away to 'Howling Dogs']]>http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/28/igf-grand-prize-winner-gives-his-booth-away-to-howling-dogs/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/28/igf-grand-prize-winner-gives-his-booth-away-to-howling-dogs/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/28/igf-grand-prize-winner-gives-his-booth-away-to-howling-dogs/#comments IGF grand prize winner gives his booth away to 'Howling Dogs'IGF Seumas McNally grand prize winner Richard Hofmeier, the man behind Cart Life, vandalized his own booth on the GDC show floor and handed it over to Porpentine, the developer behind text adventure Howling Dogs.

Hofmeier hit up Porpentine on Twitter on Thursday morning, to kindly request he show Howling Dogs at his "booth thing." Oh, you know, just that booth for the awards that Cart Life totally swept last night. No big deal. Porpentine responded in the affirmative, and Hofmeier got to work tagging his own sign.

"IM REALLY EXCITED ABOUT HOWLING DOGS WINNING THE IGF," Porpentine later tweeted. For those at GDC, check out Howling Dogs in the IGF booth roundup in Moscone South. You can't miss it. Everyone else, play it here.

JoystiqIGF grand prize winner gives his booth away to 'Howling Dogs' originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 28 Mar 2013 17:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>cart-lifeGDCGDC-2013howling-dogsigfigf-2013pcporpentinerichard-hofmeierThu, 28 Mar 2013 17:45:00 EST<![CDATA[Cart Life follow-up, Blood of the Ortolan, sets the table in a few weeks]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/28/cart-life-follow-up-blood-of-the-ortolan-sets-the-table-in-a-f/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/28/cart-life-follow-up-blood-of-the-ortolan-sets-the-table-in-a-f/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/28/cart-life-follow-up-blood-of-the-ortolan-sets-the-table-in-a-f/#comments Cart Life followup, Blood of the Ortolan, sets the table in a few weeksCart Life developer Richard Hofmeier wants to launch his follow-up game, Blood of the Ortolan, in the "next few weeks or so" on PC, he told Joystiq during Wednesday's IGF awards. Blood of the Ortolan is, perhaps unsurprisingly, inspired by the humanity behind obtaining, consuming and interacting with food.

"It's about food," Hofmeier said. "It's a food-themed murder mystery in the way that Cart Life is a retail simulation. I haven't said much about it yet because I don't want to over-promise and under-deliver, which I did with Cart Life."

That last part is debatable - at the IGF awards, Cart Life picked up the Seumas McNally Grand Prize, the Nuovo Award for innovation, and the Excellence in Narrative award, for a cash total of $38,000. Blood of the Ortolan streamlines Hofmeier's development approach: It uses only mouse and touch interfaces. Yes, touch, since he has an "explicit interest" in getting Blood of the Ortolan onto mobile devices and consoles. First he'll see if Steam is interested in putting another one of his games on its service.

Blood of the Ortolan, if it flows in Cart Life's vein, will be about food only on the surface, while the true tale unfolds within the interpersonal relationships and emotional, introspective tensions of real life.

"Money is of concern to everyone, much more so than, say, ammunition or military fundamentals or the vocabulary of racing," Hofmeier said. "We all worry about money. Also we all have to eat and we all confront the neuroses of food. It's one of those things that mainly when we're alone we feel that we are especially perverse in our relationship to food and then we find, maybe through catharsis, through art, that other people have these experiences too and maybe we have more in common than we might have thought otherwise."

Don't expect Blood of the Ortolan to take it easy after Cart Life's positive public reception.

"If people put up with Cart Life, I feel like I've gotta try harder to upset them," Hofmeier said.

JoystiqCart Life follow-up, Blood of the Ortolan, sets the table in a few weeks originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 28 Mar 2013 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>blood-of-the-ortolancart-lifeGDCGDC-2013microsoftmobilepcplaystationps3richard-hofmeierxboxThu, 28 Mar 2013 17:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Crawling in the dark in Among the Sleep]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/28/crawling-in-the-dark-in-among-the-sleep/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/28/crawling-in-the-dark-in-among-the-sleep/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/28/crawling-in-the-dark-in-among-the-sleep/#comments My demo of Among the Sleep begins in complete darkness, the sound of rain pattering a window somewhere. A woman informs me that it's time for bed and begins to sing a lullaby. The music stops and I open my eyes. Rising above me are the unmistakeable bars of a crib. I am a child, and my mother is missing.

The next thing I see is my teddy bear slowly moving away from me - by itself. It slides to the back of the crib and up the bars. No, that's not quite right. It's being dragged out of the crib by some invisible force, which proceeds to carry it across the room and out the door.

Gallery: Among the Sleep (Screenshots and Concept Art)

Continue reading Crawling in the dark in Among the Sleep

JoystiqCrawling in the dark in Among the Sleep originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 28 Mar 2013 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>among-the-sleepgdcgdc-2013krillbite-studiopcThu, 28 Mar 2013 15:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Overheard@GDC: 'Absolutely']]>http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/28/overheard-gdc-absolutely/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/28/overheard-gdc-absolutely/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/28/overheard-gdc-absolutely/#comments OverheardGDC 'Absolutely'The PlayStation Vita Development panel featured a lineup of veteran Vita developers, who for an hour espoused the benefits of working with Sony and getting a game on its handheld platform. The panel featured Brian Provinciano of Retro City Rampage, Bobby King of Pinball Arcade, Chris Harvey of Guacamelee and Richard Hogg of Frobisher Says, and it was moderated by Gaijin Games' Alex Neuse.

Neuse was interested in the panelists' answers since Runner 2 is on its way to Vita sometime in the summer. To help set his mind at ease, he asked the developers if their next games would show up on Vita.

"Yes," they all said. "Absolutely," one of them added. When Neuse later asked the crowd who was considering developing for Vita, a sea of hands shot straight up. For those interested in developing for Vita, a Sony representative suggested this website.

JoystiqOverheard@GDC: 'Absolutely' originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 28 Mar 2013 14:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>frobisher-saysGDCGDC-2013guacameleepinball-arcadeplaystationplaystation-vitaretro-city-rampagerunner-2vitaThu, 28 Mar 2013 14:20:00 EST<![CDATA[Metal Gear Solid 5's Fox Engine in pictures]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/28/metal-gear-solid-5s-fox-engine-in-pictures/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/28/metal-gear-solid-5s-fox-engine-in-pictures/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/28/metal-gear-solid-5s-fox-engine-in-pictures/#comments Metal Gear Solid 5's Fox Engine in picturesMetal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain was the big news for Joystiq readers to come out of the Kojima Productions panel at GDC, but the studio also had a lot to say about the engine that powers the game, the Fox Engine. The talk involved a lot of technical terms we won't pretend to understand (linear workflow, something about "light probes"), but the pictures speak for themselves.

Fox Engine allows for some impressive visuals, fueled by some interesting technology. One key component is the ability to scan real-life objects or take pictures of them to easily create in-game models and textures. Kojima Productions created an in-engine mock-up of its own studio conference room, and the result was eerily similar to the real thing. Using an array of cameras, the studio was able to fully scan a little boy into the Fox Engine with surprising fidelity and drop him right inside the virtual conference room alongside Snake and an enemy soldier.

Gallery: Fox Engine panel (GDC 2013)

Continue reading Metal Gear Solid 5's Fox Engine in pictures

JoystiqMetal Gear Solid 5's Fox Engine in pictures originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 28 Mar 2013 11:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>gdcgdc-2013kojima-productionskonamimetal-gear-solid-5metal-gear-solid-ground-zeroesthe-phantom-painThu, 28 Mar 2013 11:15:00 EST<![CDATA[Seen@GDC: The Phantom Kojima]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/28/seen-gdc-the-phantom-kojima/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/28/seen-gdc-the-phantom-kojima/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/28/seen-gdc-the-phantom-kojima/#comments SeenGDC The Phantom KojimaWhen Hideo Kojima unveiled the trailer for Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, he did so while wearing a head bandage like the one worn in the game by the character known as Ishmael. (He took the bandage off later, so we know it was him.) Joakim Mogren, as far as we could see, was not in attendance.

JoystiqSeen@GDC: The Phantom Kojima originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 28 Mar 2013 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>gdcgdc-2013hideo-kojimakojima-productionskonamimetal-gear-solid-5metal-gear-solid-ground-zeroesthe-phantom-painThu, 28 Mar 2013 09:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime preview: Don't die alone]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/28/lovers-in-a-dangerous-spacetime-preview-dont-die-alone/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/28/lovers-in-a-dangerous-spacetime-preview-dont-die-alone/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/28/lovers-in-a-dangerous-spacetime-preview-dont-die-alone/#comments Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime preview Don't die alone"Death may be a given, but at least you don't have to face it alone!"

Despite the deeply morbid implications behind that statement from Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime's description blurb, it perfectly belies the beauty of the game, an adorable neon micro-platformer about rescuing cuddly creatures from bad robots, shooting lasers at metallic jellyfish while flying through space, and dying alongside your partner after all of these ridiculous, futile trials.

Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime looks too cute to be depressing, but in the end, the gameplay is simply a mad rush to delay the inevitable. I played a co-op round with a new friend in GDC's IGF booth, and together we attempted to save planets of birds and rabbits from a hostile robot invasion, while fending off attacks on all sides of our circular spaceship.

The ship itself contains a mini platforming landscape, with myriad ladders and levels that the two lovers must navigate to operate the ship's weapons, its shield and the steering. With a controller, Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime uses two buttons and one analog stick for all of its mechanics: One player jumps into the cockpit and steers the ship by sliding a single thruster around its outer rim, and the other player runs around, operating the shield and one of five weapons systems, whether that be lasers, turrets or superlasers.

Continue reading Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime preview: Don't die alone

JoystiqLovers in a Dangerous Spacetime preview: Don't die alone originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 28 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>asteroid-baseGDCGDC-2013igfigf-2013lovers-in-a-dangerous-spacetimemacpcThu, 28 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Journey sweeps Game Developers Choice Awards, wins 6 of 11]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/27/journey-sweeps-game-developers-choice-awards-wins-6-of-11/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/27/journey-sweeps-game-developers-choice-awards-wins-6-of-11/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/27/journey-sweeps-game-developers-choice-awards-wins-6-of-11/#comments Journey sweeps Game Developers Choice Awards, wins 6 of 11Journey and thatgamecompany claimed six of the 11 total prizes at the Game Developers Choice Awards ceremony during GDC 2013 tonight: the Game of the Year Award, Best Audio, Best Game Design, Best Visual Arts, Best Downloadable Game and the Innovation Award. We have to say, the GDCA has good taste.

The first-ever GDCA Audience Award prize went to Arkane Studios' Dishonored. FTL: Faster Than Light picked up the award for Best Debut, and Telltale's The Walking Dead walked away with the Best Narrative award. Take a peek at the complete list of winners below.

Continue reading Journey sweeps Game Developers Choice Awards, wins 6 of 11

JoystiqJourney sweeps Game Developers Choice Awards, wins 6 of 11 originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 27 Mar 2013 23:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>androidGDCGDC-2013GDCAiosipadiphonejourneymacmicrosoftmobilepcplaystationps3ThatGameCompanyxboxWed, 27 Mar 2013 23:40:00 EST<![CDATA[Papo & Yo sales 'good' on PS3, but didn't cover development costs]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/27/papo-and-yo-sales-good-on-ps3-but-didnt-cover-development-cost/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/27/papo-and-yo-sales-good-on-ps3-but-didnt-cover-development-cost/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/27/papo-and-yo-sales-good-on-ps3-but-didnt-cover-development-cost/#comments Papo & Yo sales 'good' on PS3, but didn't cover development costsPapo & Yo was a top seller when it launched on PS3 in August, and creator Vander Caballero is satisfied with its numbers, even though sales haven't covered all of the game's development costs, he told Joystiq at GDC. Papo & Yo will hit Steam for PC on April 18, and that extra push should cover the gap left by PS3, Caballero said.

"Despite the good sales, the cost of the game has to be covered," he said. "We have covered already parts of the cost of the game, but when it comes out on Steam, we'll make money. Then we'll cover the whole cost of the game."

Caballero was excited about the coming Steam launch, which will begin accepting pre-orders on April 4. Those who buy it between April 4 and 17 will receive a 10 percent discount ($13.50), plus the game's original soundtrack for free. "We're really happy, since all the people who heard about it will actually be able to play it now," Caballero said.

JoystiqPapo & Yo sales 'good' on PS3, but didn't cover development costs originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 27 Mar 2013 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>GDCGDC-2013Indieminoritypapo-and-yopcplaystationps3salesSTEAMvander-caballeroWed, 27 Mar 2013 21:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Seen@GDC: A bunch of indie games in one place]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/27/seen-gdc-a-bunch-of-indie-games-in-one-place/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/27/seen-gdc-a-bunch-of-indie-games-in-one-place/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/27/seen-gdc-a-bunch-of-indie-games-in-one-place/#comments SeenGDC A bunch of indie games in one place
The GDC 2013 Indie Press Mixer kept it bumping and brawling late into the night on Monday, with wall-to-wall indie games, developers and players. The games spanned PCs, laptops, tablets, with Xbox to SNES controllers, and the people covered the various stages of excitement and belligerence.

Some of the games included Steve Swink's Scale, now with updated graphics and mechanics, along with Colorblind's Aztez, Erin Robinson's Gravity Ghost, Escape Goat 2 from Magical Time Bean, Intake from Cipher Prime, Pixelnauts' Lost Orbit, Daniel Benmergui's Storyteller, and tons more, including Matt Thorson's Towerfall, pictured from a player perspective above.

Check out the sweet action in a few pictures below. If any parts are blurry, it's only because a camera can't contain all of that crazy Indie Press Mixer excitement.

Gallery: GDC 2013 Indie Mixer

JoystiqSeen@GDC: A bunch of indie games in one place originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 27 Mar 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>androidGDCGDC-2013Indieindie-press-mixeriosipadiphonemacmicrosoftmobilenintendopcplaystationps3wii-uxboxWed, 27 Mar 2013 20:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Unfinished Swan's scrapped ideas and the future of Giant Sparrow]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/27/unfinished-swans-scrapped-ideas-and-the-future-of-giant-sparrow/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/27/unfinished-swans-scrapped-ideas-and-the-future-of-giant-sparrow/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/27/unfinished-swans-scrapped-ideas-and-the-future-of-giant-sparrow/#comments Unfinished Swan's scrapped mechanics and the future of Giant SparrowThe Unfinished Swan originally had a river-painting mechanic and a playable library full of unfinished books, but Ian Dallas and the team at Giant Sparrow couldn't figure out a way to make these aspects fun, he told Joystiq at GDC. The river-painting tool allowed players to throw paint and create puddles 10 feet deep, and "it seemed cool. We had a whole playable prototype, it worked, it was there," but it wasn't fun, so Dallas removed it.

The library of unfinished books would have been a space with "a million letters everywhere, running around," with tomes that contained the first chapter of brilliant novels, wonderful opening sentences or vague ideas only, nothing complete. While this would have been pretty, Dallas said, it didn't have a place in the game.

The blueprint mechanic almost didn't make it into the final build of Unfinished Swan, but it made the cut, so, "Yay!" Dallas exclaimed.

Giant Sparrow isn't in charge of the Unfinished Swan brand anymore, so if there's a Vita port on the way Dallas isn't aware. Sony isn't obligated to tell him if there's anything in progress, but it's generally up-front about these things; Dallas knew about the Unfinished Swan DLC for PlayStation All-Stars nine months ahead of time.

"I would be ecstatic if there were ports," he said. "If someone wanted to make a port of the game, it's awesome that we don't have to do that. I don't know if there are ports or what the plans are, but that's one of the nice things about having a publisher."

As for that leak about "Edith Finch," Giant Sparrow's purported next game, Dallas can't say much. "We may have contracts, there may be a publisher involved, they may have people with feelings that may get hurt from time to time," Dallas said. "We can safely announce that we have an unannounced game that we're working on. I'm very excited about it."

The publisher that Giant Sparrow "may" have might be Sony. Dallas said other publishers - Nintendo and Microsoft, specifically - are generally open to publish indie games but not fund them, while Sony goes all-in. "We've been so happy with Sony," he said. "It's amazing that Sony can do that and really put faith in these things. God bless Shuhei and Scott Rody and all these people ... They just really want to make interesting games."

JoystiqUnfinished Swan's scrapped ideas and the future of Giant Sparrow originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 27 Mar 2013 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>GDCGDC-2013giant-sparrowian-dallasplaystationps3SONYthe-unfinished-swanWed, 27 Mar 2013 16:40:00 EST<![CDATA[Battlefield 4 screens leak [Update: Trailer]]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/26/battlefield-4-screens-leak/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/26/battlefield-4-screens-leak/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/26/battlefield-4-screens-leak/#comments
A trio of Battlefield 4 screenshots found their way to the Battlefield blog and were picked up by Neogaf member L1NETT. The pictures have since been removed from the official blog, but they come directly before an EA event kicking off tonight, tied in with GDC 2013 in San Francisco.

EA announced Battlefield 4 in July, predicting a fall 2013 launch window; it will be set in modern times. We expect plenty more news about Battlefield 4 tonight.

Gallery: Battlefield 4 (Fishing in Baku)

Update: We now have the official trailer.

Continue reading Battlefield 4 screens leak [Update: Trailer]

JoystiqBattlefield 4 screens leak [Update: Trailer] originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 26 Mar 2013 22:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>battlefield-4EAGDCGDC-2013Tue, 26 Mar 2013 22:18:00 EST<![CDATA[Antichamber 'exponentially recouped' dev costs]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/26/antichamber-exponentially-recouped-dev-costs/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/26/antichamber-exponentially-recouped-dev-costs/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/26/antichamber-exponentially-recouped-dev-costs/#comments Antichamber 'exponentially recouped' development costs, Bruce saysAntichamber, the mind-melting puzzle game that Alexander Bruce had in development for six years, sold more than 100,000 units in its first seven weeks on the market - "You do the math," Bruce tells Joystiq after his talk at GDC 2013.

Challenge accepted: Antichamber costs $20 standard, but was on sale for a week after launch for $15. Without knowing how many copies were bought on sale, we'll take the median of $17.50 and multiply that by 100,000 copies, for a speculative estimate of $1.75 million.

This doesn't automatically mean Antichamber made a profit for Bruce, since it has to be offset by development costs. Bruce estimates he spent $60,000 developing Antichamber, though he made back roughly $50,000 in prize money and government grants; he didn't pay himself a salary, he saved money by living at home, and he streamlined all convention expenses.

"I have absolutely, exponentially recouped all my costs," Bruce says. "Ridiculously, definitely made back all of my costs."

Bruce guaranteed low development costs by working with the Victorian government in Australia to receive grants. For example, during GDC and PAX East last year, Bruce decided it would be easier to stay in the states for six weeks straight, rather than fly back and forth during the interim. He presented this plan to the Victorian government and it said, "That's fine." Victoria covered half of his expenses abroad, meaning if he spent $6,000 on booths and living, the state gave Bruce $3,000, he says.

"This is how I kept my costs so low. I kept my costs absolutely low," Bruce says. "That's why I was able to just be dedicated to quality and make sure that I had it correct."

Antichamber is on sale on Steam now, for $12, through March 29.

JoystiqAntichamber 'exponentially recouped' dev costs originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 26 Mar 2013 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>alexander-bruceantichamberGDCGDC-2013IndiepcTue, 26 Mar 2013 19:30:00 EST<![CDATA[The '101 Gameplay Ideas' behind the Assassin's Creed franchise]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/26/the-101-gameplay-ideas-behind-the-assassins-creed-franchise/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/26/the-101-gameplay-ideas-behind-the-assassins-creed-franchise/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/26/the-101-gameplay-ideas-behind-the-assassins-creed-franchise/#comments During a panel at GDC today, Ubisoft writer Corey May and lead mission designer Philippe Bergeron discussed their "balancing act" in crafting the stories of Assassin's Creed. May is focused on building up the story, making the characters and their relationships important to the player, while Bergeron and his colleagues aim to deliver fun mission gameplay, and stay within the various technical and developmental limitations shared by the entire team.

May and Bergeron both focus on research at the outset of the process. For each Assassin's Creed game, the team has picked an era first, and then looked for potential locations, specific events to portray, major characters, "potential Templar targets," and possible protagonists. While May picks characters, Bergeron's team brainstorms various mission ideas for the game.

May said Ubisoft has an internal document containing "101 gameplay ideas." It has been pillaged and refilled since the first Assassin's Creed game, as designers sample previously unused ideas or add more when concepts don't make the cut during development of the latest game.

Finally, May said, once all the mission plans are completed and his early script scenes are done, he takes the mission design documents and pastes them directly into a file that eventually becomes his finished script for the game. May said this process was "the ultimate expression of our collaboration," and that mission designs created by Bergeron's team are then used as "the skeleton and the backbone that I work off of."

Once the script and designs are all completed, the real work of coding and testing the game begins. May and Bergeron's teams cycle down (or, most likely, move on to the next game in the process).

The talk was a simple look at an undoubtedly complex process, but it did offer some good insight into the marriage of story and mission design in the Assassin's Creed franchise.

JoystiqThe '101 Gameplay Ideas' behind the Assassin's Creed franchise originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 26 Mar 2013 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>assassins-creedassassins-creed-3corey-maygdcgdc-13gdc-2013microsoftnarrativephilippe-bergeronplaystationps3storystorytellingxboxTue, 26 Mar 2013 17:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Day-one Incredipede Steam sales eclipse previous four months]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/26/day-one-incredipede-steam-sales-eclipse-previous-four-months/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/26/day-one-incredipede-steam-sales-eclipse-previous-four-months/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/26/day-one-incredipede-steam-sales-eclipse-previous-four-months/#comments Incredipede SteamWhen Incredipede launched on Colin Northway's site in October 2012, "there were tears. There were all the stages of loss," Sarah Northway told Joystiq at GDC. Colin previously told us that Incredipede sales direct from his site were disappointing, in part because it wasn't yet on Steam.

Incredipede launched on Steam on March 18, and in its first 24 hours, it sold more units than the previous four months of independent sales combined.

"It's really good," Colin said. "I mean, it wasn't good for the four months, but it was good for the one day. And now it's doing well. It didn't just drop off to nothing. It's not going to make us rich, but we're actually going to get paid for the work we did. We have enough money to make another game."

Incredipede secured its Steam deal through an IGF nomination, another piece of advertisement that helped boost the game's sales. The Steam version is technically "1.5," featuring a bunch of updates that streamline the game's difficulty, adding 60 new levels and two more muscle groups that players can manipulate. Incredipede is on sale on Steam right now through March 29, for $10 on PC and Mac.

JoystiqDay-one Incredipede Steam sales eclipse previous four months originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 26 Mar 2013 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>colin-northwayGDCGDC-2013incredipedemacnorthway-gamespcsalesSTEAMTue, 26 Mar 2013 12:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Owlchemy Labs shares its formula to successful indie development]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/25/owlchemy-labs-shares-its-formula-to-successful-indie-development/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/25/owlchemy-labs-shares-its-formula-to-successful-indie-development/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/03/25/owlchemy-labs-shares-its-formula-to-successful-indie-development/#comments Owlchemy Labs Alex Schwartz founded Owlchemy Labs in 2010, and since launch he's built a team of six and has developed a steady stream of indie games across multiple platforms, including Snuggle Truck and the recent release Jack Lumber. He's still in business, with more games on the way. The secret to Schwartz's success is simple: Don't expect your original IPs to make any money.

Owlchemy funds itself by doing contract work that generates concrete revenue in between its original projects. A lot of indie studios attempt this system, but many of them fall into a common trap, Schwartz tells Joystiq at GDC.

"Be aware of contract work. You wake up in the morning and turn on your computer and you have two folders: One is the contract job and one is your original work. Which one are you going to open?" Schwartz asks. "It's always going to be the contract work because upfront gratification, instant money and having a client to appease always comes first."

In order for the contract-original IP rhythm to work, it needs to be steady and studios have to make time for their own projects. Owlchemy has an A-B system: contract, original IP, contract, original IP, rinse and repeat. The two projects never mix and the team stays on the same page until it's completed. Owlchemy is now on its fifth rotation through this cycle.

Diversifying platforms is also key, Schwartz says. Not porting games to Steam, iOS, Android and any other relevant platforms is "leaving money on the table," he says. Owlchemy develops its games in Unity to make this process smoother, and tailors each one to its unique platform. For example, Snuggle Truck is free-to-play on iOS, but costs $5 on Steam (on sale now for $2). Leading by example, Schwartz has a meeting with Sony tomorrow.

JoystiqOwlchemy Labs shares its formula to successful indie development originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 25 Mar 2013 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>androidGDCGDC-2013Indieiosipadiphonemacmobileowlchemy-labspcsmuggle-truckMon, 25 Mar 2013 17:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Kojima to deliver GDC talk featuring FOX engine demo]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2013/02/13/kojima-to-deliver-gdc-talk-featuring-first-ever-fox-engine-demo/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/02/13/kojima-to-deliver-gdc-talk-featuring-first-ever-fox-engine-demo/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/02/13/kojima-to-deliver-gdc-talk-featuring-first-ever-fox-engine-demo/#comments Metal Gear Solid creator and nerdcool icon Hideo Kojima is speaking about the upcoming Ground Zeroes at this year's Game Developers Conference in late March.

Attendees of the San Francisco expo can look forward to "Photorealism through the eyes of a 'FOX:' The Core of Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes," a talk which features a demonstration of Kojima Production's shiny new FOX engine, including discussion of its environmental changes, as revealed last September. Kojima will be joined by Ground Zeroes technical director Junji Tago, lighting artist Masayuki Suzuki, and CG art director Hideki Sasaki.

This is a rare coup for GDC; the last time Kojima spoke at the conference was back in 2009, when we were wondering if Metal Gear Solid 4 was coming to Xbox 360, and what "the next MGS" would be. Four years on, speculation lingers around the celebrated designer's long-running series after the curious reveal of The Phantom Pain. Whether or not Kojima chooses the venue of GDC to spill any stealthily concealed beans, the talk should provide more than a few exclamation marks to enjoy.

JoystiqKojima to deliver GDC talk featuring FOX engine demo originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 13 Feb 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>GDCgdc-2013hideo-kojimakojima-productionsmetal-gear-solidmetal-gear-solid-ground-zeroesWed, 13 Feb 2013 14:00:00 EST<![CDATA[GDC 2013 classic postmortems: Myst, X-COM: UFO Defense, more]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2013/01/29/gdc-2013-classic-postmortems-myst-x-com-ufo-defense-etc/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/01/29/gdc-2013-classic-postmortems-myst-x-com-ufo-defense-etc/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/01/29/gdc-2013-classic-postmortems-myst-x-com-ufo-defense-etc/#comments The classic postmortem sessions at GDC are always good for some fun, inside stories of old-school game development, including the likes of GoldenEye 007, Doom, Maniac Mansion and Out of this World. GDC 2013 will add a few more games to the list, with postmortem panels scheduled for Myst, X-COM: UFO Defense, Pinball Construction Set and Crystal Castles.

Each panel will feature speakers involved with the development of each classic title, and plenty of secrets and anecdotes are bound to come up. You can bet we'll be attending as many of these as we can once GDC gets rolling in March. Who knows, maybe we'll get lucky and stumble upon another game designer's adorable, prescient childhood video.

Continue reading GDC 2013 classic postmortems: Myst, X-COM: UFO Defense, more

JoystiqGDC 2013 classic postmortems: Myst, X-COM: UFO Defense, more originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 29 Jan 2013 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>classic-postmortemcrystal-castlesgdcgdc-2013mystpinball-construction-setpostmortemx-comx-com-ufo-defenseTue, 29 Jan 2013 17:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Game Developers Choice Awards nod to Journey, Dishonored, FTL]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2013/01/24/game-developers-choice-awards-nod-to-journey-dishonored-ftl/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/01/24/game-developers-choice-awards-nod-to-journey-dishonored-ftl/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/01/24/game-developers-choice-awards-nod-to-journey-dishonored-ftl/#comments Game Developers Choice Awards nod to Journey, Dishonored, FTL, moreFinalists for the 13th annual Game Developers Choice Awards represent the broad swath of modern game development, featuring indie and mainstream games side-by-side and in perfect, competitive harmony. Journey, a game that we thoroughly enjoyed, leads the pack with six nominations in Best Design, Best Downloadable Game, Best Audio, Best Visual, Innovation and Game of the Year. Dishonored follows with four nominations in Best Narrative, Best Visual, Best Design and Game of the Year.

The Walking Dead gets three nods, for Best Downloadable Game, Best Narrative and Game of the Year. Rounding out the Game of the Year category is Mass Effect 3 and XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Mark of the Ninja, FTL: Faster Than Light, The Unfinished Swan and ZombiU join Journey in the Innovation category. The Best Debut category features Polytron Corporation with Fez, Fireproof Games with The Room, Humble Hearts and Dust: An Elysian Tail, Giant Sparrow and The Unfinished Swan, and Subset Games with FTL.

Take a peek at the entire GDCA lineup in the press release below, featuring finalists in 10 categories. The awards ceremony is scheduled for March 27 in San Francisco, during GDC 2013.

Continue reading Game Developers Choice Awards nod to Journey, Dishonored, FTL

JoystiqGame Developers Choice Awards nod to Journey, Dishonored, FTL originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 24 Jan 2013 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>3dsGDCGDC-2013GDCAjourneymicrosoftmobilenintendopcplaystationplaystation-vitaps3vitawii-uxboxThu, 24 Jan 2013 15:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Bungie discussing 'Destiny' at GDC 2013]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2013/01/16/bungie-discussing-destiny-at-gdc-2013/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/01/16/bungie-discussing-destiny-at-gdc-2013/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/01/16/bungie-discussing-destiny-at-gdc-2013/#comments Bungie and Activision's new IP, Destiny, will be the subject of a session during this year's Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. Dubbed a "Brave New World: New Bungie IP," the talk will cover the studio's approach in putting together Destiny's original setting, "a place where the next ten years of great Bungie adventures will unfold."

The Destiny leaks last year suggested a "fun and accessible" multi-platform project, set in the future and featuring a large-scale war between man and alien (bearing a strong resemblance, in other words, to Halo). Having been teased with Destiny and its iconography for months now, we expect some insight into just how Bungie's new universe is shaping up.

The Game Developers Conference runs from March 25 until March 29. The time and date of Bungie's panel has yet to be announced.

JoystiqBungie discussing 'Destiny' at GDC 2013 originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 16 Jan 2013 21:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>activisionbungiedestinygdcgdc-13gdc-2013halomicrosoftpanelpcplaystationps3revealxboxWed, 16 Jan 2013 21:15:00 EST<![CDATA[Kate Edwards named IGDA's new executive director]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2012/12/28/kate-edwards-named-igdas-new-executive-director/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/12/28/kate-edwards-named-igdas-new-executive-director/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/12/28/kate-edwards-named-igdas-new-executive-director/#comments Gordon Bellamy stepped down as the director of the Interational Game Developers' Association last July, and the organization has finally named his successor. Kate Edwards will serve as the group's new executive director, after being an IGDA member for 16 years, and founding and chairing the IGDA's Localization Special Interest Group.

Global cultural strategy is Edwards' specialty: She worked for Microsoft as a geopolitical strategist in the '90s, and more recently worked at her own company, Englobe, since 2005. In addition to her other experience with the IGDA, Edwards also helped co-organize the Game Developers' Conference Localization Summit. The IGDA's chairman, Dustin Clingman, says he hopes Edwards will use her talents to help the group "lay a foundation for ongoing international growth."

JoystiqKate Edwards named IGDA's new executive director originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 28 Dec 2012 04:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>directorgdcglobaligdainternational-game-developers-associationkate-edwardspcsummitFri, 28 Dec 2012 04:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Watch the entire GoldenEye 007 postmortem from GDC Europe]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2012/09/06/watch-the-entire-goldeneye-007-postmortem-from-gdc-europe/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/09/06/watch-the-entire-goldeneye-007-postmortem-from-gdc-europe/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/09/06/watch-the-entire-goldeneye-007-postmortem-from-gdc-europe/#comments Watch the GoldenEye 007 postmortem from GDC EuropeWe've already covered ex-Rare developer Martin Hollis' GoldenEye 007 postmortem presentation quite a bit, but the GDC Vault has now made the entire presentation available for free. We managed to note the highlights in our previous piece, but Hollis covered much more ground in the hour-long talk than we could condense into a single article.

The GDC Vault version also features direct feed of all the presentation slides, which include heaps of behind-the-scenes (and in some cases never publicly shared) information about the landmark N64 shooter. If you're a game history buff, or just a dedicated GoldenEye fan, it's definitely worth a look. Find the presentation after the break (note: video will automatically play).

Continue reading Watch the entire GoldenEye 007 postmortem from GDC Europe

JoystiqWatch the entire GoldenEye 007 postmortem from GDC Europe originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 06 Sep 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>gdcgdc-europegoldeneye-007historyn64nintendorareThu, 06 Sep 2012 15:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Submissions open for 15th annual Independent Games Festival]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2012/08/09/submissions-open-for-15th-annual-independent-games-festival/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/08/09/submissions-open-for-15th-annual-independent-games-festival/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/08/09/submissions-open-for-15th-annual-independent-games-festival/#comments Submissions open for 15th annual Independent Games FestivalThe 2013 Independent Games Festival, held at GDC in San Francisco next March, is now accepting entries for the main and Student Showcase categories. The deadline for entries to the main competition is October 17 and the Student Showcase deadline is October 31, both at 11:59 p.m. PDT.

The main competition entry fee is $95, and applicants will be competing for more than $55,000 in prizes: the Seumas McNally Grand Prize of $30,000; Excellence in Visual Art, Audio, and Design, each competing for $3,000; Technical Excellence for $3,000; the Audience Award for $3,000 and the Nuovo Award for $5,000. Each category will have six finalists - except the Nuovo Award, which has eight - and will be announced in January.

Eight games chosen for the Student Showcase will be awarded $1,000 each, with one taking home the title of Best Student Game and an extra $3,000. There is no entry fee for the Student Showcase, though it does have its very own rule set.

IGF 2012 saw 850 entries, with Fez eventually taking home the Seumas McNally Grand Prize - Polytron's second IGF award following an Excellence in Art win in 2008. Alexander Bruce, IGF 2012 winner in Technical Excellence for Antichamber, shares some sage Twitter advice for those entering this year: "Suggestion: Take that IGF deadline as a great thing to work towards, submit the best thing you can, update often, and expect nothing from it."

JoystiqSubmissions open for 15th annual Independent Games Festival originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 09 Aug 2012 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>GDCGDC-2013igfigf-2013Indiemacmicrosoftpcplaystationps3xboxThu, 09 Aug 2012 13:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Warren Spector (note: not 'War Inspector') GDC Lifetime Achievement award video loosed]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/19/warren-spector-note-not-war-inspector-gdc-lifetime-achievem/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/19/warren-spector-note-not-war-inspector-gdc-lifetime-achievem/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/19/warren-spector-note-not-war-inspector-gdc-lifetime-achievem/#comments
During GDC this year, Warren Spector was honored with the Lifetime Achievement award for ... uh ... his life, and Mega64 was there with an amazing video to celebrate as much. Starring Epic Games' Cliff Bleszinski, you'll find out that Spector's name isn't just a guise for his secret job as a "War Inspector." Finally! The truth!

JoystiqWarren Spector (note: not 'War Inspector') GDC Lifetime Achievement award video loosed originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 19 Mar 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>gdcgdc-2012junction-point-studioslifetime-achievement-awardwarren-spectorMon, 19 Mar 2012 14:00:00 EST<![CDATA[James Silva ready to make a third Dishwasher game for Microsoft]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/16/james-silva-ready-to-make-a-third-dishwasher-game-for-microsoft/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/16/james-silva-ready-to-make-a-third-dishwasher-game-for-microsoft/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/16/james-silva-ready-to-make-a-third-dishwasher-game-for-microsoft/#comments
The Dishwasher creator and Ska Studios head James Silva spoke at GDC last week, and concluded his talk with the slide seen above. Fans want a third Dishwasher game, Microsoft wouldn't mind publishing one, and he wants to do one, said Silva, so why shouldn't there be a trilogy of Dishwasher titles out there?

Don't look at us, bud -- you're the game designer. Silva is, of course, currently working on the side-scrolling, punk-flavored beat-em-up Charlie Murder for Xbox Live Indie Games Arcade. After that adventure is all wrapped up, it may be time to wash those dishes yet again.

JoystiqJames Silva ready to make a third Dishwasher game for Microsoft originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 16 Mar 2012 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>gdcjames-silvamicrosoftska-studiosslidestalkthe-dishwasherthe-dishwasher-vampire-smiletrilogyxboxFri, 16 Mar 2012 18:30:00 EST<![CDATA[My first dance with Runner2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/14/my-first-dance-with-runner2-future-legend-of-rhythm-alien/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/14/my-first-dance-with-runner2-future-legend-of-rhythm-alien/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/14/my-first-dance-with-runner2-future-legend-of-rhythm-alien/#comments Runner2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien is easier than Bit.Trip Runner.

I'm saying this up front because I'm guessing the difficulty in Runner turned some would-be fans away, and I want those people to keep reading. If you liked the simple rhythm-platforming gameplay of Runner but hit a metaphorical wall after hitting so many literal walls, this will be more your speed. I think I got through about 8 stages in a row of fast-moving, autoscrolling, jumping, sliding, kicking gameplay without dying.

In fact, a lot of the game is designed to welcome lapsed or new players. The retro look has been replaced by a polygonal style that co-director Alex Neuse describes as "whimsical," with a rounded, cartoony CommanderVideo and cute creatures bouncing happily to the music. Cutscenes in a Saul Bass art style act as both exemplars of a popular style and, as co-director Mike Roush explained, a "stepping stone between the old style and the new style." bridges between the 2D Bit.Trip look and Runner2's in-game presentation. As an XBLA/PSN title, it's also available to people who couldn't play the WiiWare-based Runner. "So this is like, hey everyone, this is our fun little gameplay thing, rhythm music platformer, and we can all play it," Neuse said.

Even if you're a bad enough dude to enjoy the insane difficulty of Runner 1, there's plenty in the sequel to capture your interest. Like choices.

Continue reading My first dance with Runner2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien

JoystiqMy first dance with Runner2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 14 Mar 2012 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>aksys-gamesgaijin-gamesgdcgdc-2012microsoftplaystationps3psnrunner-2runner-2-future-legend-of-rhythm-alienxblaxboxWed, 14 Mar 2012 12:30:00 EST<![CDATA[The Witness cares about you more than you know]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/14/the-witness-cares-about-you-more-than-you-know/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/14/the-witness-cares-about-you-more-than-you-know/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/14/the-witness-cares-about-you-more-than-you-know/#comments Soon after launching his debut hit, Braid, on Xbox Live Arcade in 2008, creator Jonathan Blow issued a cheeky walkthrough tip on his personal site. In so many words, it said "suck it up and don't use a walkthrough" - a statement which many saw as reflective of a perceived "my way" attitude to game design.

Others saw it more expectantly, knowing Blow to be a perfectionist and not one to offer hints on his games. He hates games that hold your hand. "Treating the player like a baby all the time, I don't like that," he told me during an interview last week at GDC.

That's why he's designed his latest game, The Witness, to hold your hand just long enough to find the path. "What I do is I work really hard to not condescend the player and to not treat the player like they're stupid, but at the same time to follow good game design practices. This game has to be learnable, and there has to be tutorialization in it, but it's not patronizing tutorialization."

Unlike Braid's more linear pacing, The Witness is designed as an open world - albeit a very small open world - so that difficult puzzles can either be skipped (not all must be solved to reach the end) or passed by for later on. Blow said this was intentionally designed to respect the time of players. "It's more about crafting a small, heavily interconnected jewel that gives people the highest density experience, respecting their time that way. There's not gonna be a lot of walking around through empty lands in this game."

Though the game is looking more complete than ever, The Witness has no set platforms or launch window beyond PC and iOS, and "some time in 2012."

JoystiqThe Witness cares about you more than you know originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 14 Mar 2012 06:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>braidgdcgdc-2012iosipadiphonejonathan-blowmacmobilepcthe-witnesstheklathekla-incWed, 14 Mar 2012 06:00:00 EST<![CDATA[DICE's future plans go beyond the Battlefield franchise]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/13/dices-future-plans-go-beyond-the-battlefield-franchise/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/13/dices-future-plans-go-beyond-the-battlefield-franchise/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/13/dices-future-plans-go-beyond-the-battlefield-franchise/#comments It's been awhile since the last non-Battlefield game from DICE. Sure, the Swedish dev studio assisted with Medal of Honor's 2010 reboot (multiplayer) and provided some tech backup for Need for Speed: The Run (DICE's Frostbite 2.0 game engine powered the title), but otherwise it hasn't made a separate, original property of its own since 2008's critically acclaimed Mirror's Edge. That may be about to change.

"We also have an ongoing plan that those products should not only be Battlefield," DICE general manager Karl-Magnus Troedsson told us in an interview last week during GDC 2012, referring to the future of his studio. He punctuated his sentence with a quick, "though I cannot say more than that," unfortunately, but it's good to hear that DICE is moving back to development outside of the Battlefield franchise. It'd be nicer to hear that the studio was steadfast in making a sequel to Mirror's Edge, of course, but we'll take what we can for now.

JoystiqDICE's future plans go beyond the Battlefield franchise originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 13 Mar 2012 10:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>developmentdiceeaea-diceelectronic-artsgdcgdc-2012karl-magnus-troedssonTue, 13 Mar 2012 10:01:00 EST<![CDATA[Battlefield 3's lack of DLC: DICE general manager explains]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/13/battlefield-3s-lack-of-dlc-dice-general-manager-explains/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/13/battlefield-3s-lack-of-dlc-dice-general-manager-explains/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/13/battlefield-3s-lack-of-dlc-dice-general-manager-explains/#comments Battlefield 3 launched on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC in late October of 2011. Approximately a month and a half later, the game's first expansion arrived: "Back to Karkand." Aside from a handful of tweaks since, EA's DICE studio has kept relative radio silence. So much so, in fact, that one prominent Battlefield fan site publicly declared its own silence until DICE spoke up (the developer released a missive the following day).

It is with this recent history -- now four months since Battlefield 3's last content drop, and another three months before "Close Quarters" is set to launch -- that we approached a recent interview with DICE general manager Karl-Magnus Troedsson. In short, what in the world is taking so damn long?

"The reason that we haven't followed up with even more content more quickly, there's a couple of practical reasons," Troedsson told us. "Part of that is that we just need to spend a lot of focus getting the game out. The ambition was to get more packs out earlier, but sometimes you have to prioritize between the base product and what you're doing afterwards." Troedsson also argued that DICE's approach was thematic, not "piecemeal" (Call of Duty's approach), which was a deliberate choice on his studio's part.

"If you prefer to have smaller piecemeal packs every now and then, you can go with that. We prefer to do something bigger that has a specific theme, that has maps, weapons, assignments, persistent upgrades, all this kinda stuff," Troedsson said. Could his studio have gotten out this content earlier? "Probably," he said, but DICE ran into its own limitations. "Sometimes we have limitations to what we can and can't do."

But without any other announced projects, and EA's Danger Close taking responsibility for its own multiplayer section in the coming Medal of Honor game (DICE handled the previous game's multi), it's unclear what other responsibilities are keeping DICE from pushing out Battlefield 3 support content more quickly. We'll just have to assume the majority of the studio is head down on a super secret sequel to Mirror's Edge.

Beyond "Close Quarters," DICE has two more content packs announced for Battlefield 3, including "Armored Kill" in fall and "End Game" in winter. And yes, Call of Duty's Elite DLC drops continue monthly.

Gallery: Battlefield 3 (Close Quarters - Ziba Tower)

JoystiqBattlefield 3's lack of DLC: DICE general manager explains originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 13 Mar 2012 09:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>battlefield-3close-quartersdicedlcdownloadable-contenteaea-diceelectronic-artsexpansiongdcgdc-2012karl-magnus-troedssonmicrosoftpcplaystationps3xboxTue, 13 Mar 2012 09:01:00 EST<![CDATA[The Witness is Jon Blow's second shot at all or nothing]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/12/the-witness-is-jon-blows-second-shot-at-all-or-nothing/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/12/the-witness-is-jon-blows-second-shot-at-all-or-nothing/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/12/the-witness-is-jon-blows-second-shot-at-all-or-nothing/#comments When is Braid creator Jonathan Blow's second game, The Witness, going to launch? None of your damn business is when. "When it's good," Blow told Joystiq during a GDC 2012 preview meetup. He's not even sure where The Witness will end up -- beyond PC and iOS, that is. "PSN a year from now? XBLA a year from now?," Blow said. It's possible, but more of a question of if it's worth the expense. The Witness is Blow's second ambitious attempt at crafting a story built around brilliant yet obvious puzzles, but this time it's a fully 3D world. A beautiful and complex one at that. And expenses are adding up.

He hired two new programmers not so long ago. Blow can't continue development forever, of course. "In the case of this game, the answer is also when I run out of money. Which may happen," he said. But wait a minute -- didn't Braid rake in boatloads of money and cost around quarter of a million bucks to make?

"Like I said, I just hired two more programmers and that's expensive. I'm spending all the Braid money on this game," Blow said. That's right: all the Braid money. Right on time, Chris Hecker -- SpyParty dev, hotel room roommate, and good buddy of Jon's -- shouted, "Crazy person!" To temper the jest at his friend's expense, Hecker admonished, "You attain orbit, and then you stay in orbit!"

Continue reading The Witness is Jon Blow's second shot at all or nothing

JoystiqThe Witness is Jon Blow's second shot at all or nothing originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 12 Mar 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>chris-heckergdcgdc-2012iosipadiphonejonathan-blowmacmicrosoftmobilepcplaystationps3the-witnesstheklathekla-incxboxMon, 12 Mar 2012 18:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Harvest Moon creator Wada forms Toybox Inc.]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/12/harvest-moon-creator-wada-forms-toybox-inc/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/12/harvest-moon-creator-wada-forms-toybox-inc/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/12/harvest-moon-creator-wada-forms-toybox-inc/#comments Yasuhiro Wada has had a long career. He's best known for creating the Harvest Moon series at Victor Interactive Software, which later became known as Marvelous Entertainment. Later, he became CEO of Marvelous, a position he left in 2010 to become COO of Grasshopper Manufacture.

Now, Wada is returning to creative work, and has formed his own company, called Toybox Inc., a two-man operation with former Marvelous producer Tomio Kanazawa (who worked on Deadly Premonition when Marvelous published it in Japan). They have three projects in the works -- the PS3 update of Deadly Premonition, and two others they may announce at E3.

Like Mistwalker, the two creators plan to work with development partners on each game. "Toybox is only two," Wada told me. "We are the control hub." The new company will support "all" console and handheld platforms, and Wada plans to make "not so big, but not download" games.

JoystiqHarvest Moon creator Wada forms Toybox Inc. originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 12 Mar 2012 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>gdcgdc-2012tomio-kanazawatoybox-incyasuhiro-wadaMon, 12 Mar 2012 10:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Ibb and Obb: the ten-second preview]]>http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/11/ibb-and-obb-the-ten-second-preview/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/11/ibb-and-obb-the-ten-second-preview/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/11/ibb-and-obb-the-ten-second-preview/#comments
Ibb and Obb is a PSN (for PS3) platformer built around the idea of who characters who can occupy either side of the screen, divided by a line. In essence, they can walk above or below the ground, turning upside down when they pass through certain portals.

Players have to cooperate, sometimes on opposite sides of the screen, sometimes on the same side, in order to pass obstacles -- and when one dies, the other does too.

In the sequence captured above, players each have to run past the three enemies, then jump over the sawblade guy. The first player to get across has to wait, avoiding another enemy, for the second player to arrive, at which point they have to cooperate to boost one up through the portal. Then the enemies can be killed from below.

I watched a pair of GDC attendees work on this sequence for a good five minutes. When they finally got through it, they got up and left, leaving me alone to check out the game for myself. Which would have been great, except I was alone, without a co-op partner. This brief video probably captures the experience better than my own playthrough and writeup would have, anyway.

JoystiqIbb and Obb: the ten-second preview originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 11 Mar 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>gdcgdc-2012ibb-and-obbplaystationps3sparpweedSun, 11 Mar 2012 12:00:00 EST