Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2008 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/PS3 head tracking only needs camerahttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/27/ps3-head-tracking-only-needs-camera/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/27/ps3-head-tracking-only-needs-camera/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/27/ps3-head-tracking-only-needs-camera/#commentsFiled under:

Last week, Sony showed off head tracking software for the PlayStation 3 using just the PS Eye camera (via MTV Multiplayer). That's right, no crazy hardware configurations devised by third parties (e.g. Johnny Lee, Electronic Arts), just software that identifies your head and its movement.

A representative said the head tracking software has not been announced for any titles, but we'd love to see it show up soon for pretty much any genre of game. Video embedded after the break. (Note: It doesn't work for users with Canada, Japan or U.K. IPs.) While you're at it, (re)watch Lee's video to get a better idea of the potential of head tracking software (also embedded after the break).


Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>cameraeyegdchead-trackingheadtrackingplaystation-eyeRoss Miller2008-02-27T20:30:00+00:00Highlights from the Game Developers Conference 2008http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/26/highlights-from-the-game-developers-conference-2008/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/26/highlights-from-the-game-developers-conference-2008/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/26/highlights-from-the-game-developers-conference-2008/#commentsFiled under: , ,

The Game Developers Conference has come and gone. Five very hectic days and over 250 posts later, we've still not caught up on sleep (and probably won't until the week before E3). As much as we'd like you to read every single post, one by one, and adding polite comments to each and every one of them, we're pragmatists.

Join us in the next few pages for a primer on all things GDC 2008. Comments can be found on the last page (Update: comments have been turned on for every page, so go crazy!) as well as a very special image for some of our readers who feel a strong infinity with writer Ludwig Kietzmann. Read on as we recap last week.

Gallery: GDC08: The Experience



The Microsoft Keynote

While Sony and Nintendo shared keynote spotlight in 2007, Microsoft was the only console maker to deliver the big speech this year. So what did we learn from the Microsoft GDC keynote (photos)? For starters, the Xbox Live community arcade, offering titles from the XNA community to for play on the Xbox 360 or Zune. More information came from the Blogger's Breakfast later in the week as well as the XNA booth itself, which had a mysterious shroud up until the keynote and was later uncovered to reveal playable versions of Dishwasher Samurai and JellyCar.

Team Ninja's self-proclaimed badass Tomonobu Itagaki took the stage to announce a June 3 release for Ninja Gaiden 2 as well as show off some bloody disgusting (but in a good way) gameplay (photos, video). An Xbox Live tab appeared claiming a NG2 demo was "coming soon," but that turned to be just video of someone playing the demo. Lame.

Lionhead founder and nudist extraordinaire Peter Molyneux presented the latest Fable 2 build (photos), showing himself to be a woman (in-game) whose husband is untimely vanquished as a result of the new co-op mode. Also, monsters will no longer line their bellies with currency and drop gold upon defeat; instead, you'll have to earn your living through trade skills (i.e. jobs) or by gambling in a Fable 2 Xbox Live minigame.

The big reveal of the night came from CliffyB, lancer in hand, announcing Gears of War 2 (surprise!) was coming out November 2008 (photos, teaser trailer). You can watch us try to (unsuccessfully) get some other GoW2 details from Epic's Mark Rein, Tim Sweeney and Cliffy B. We did learn about Epic's new additions to the Unreal Engine, especially Mova's awesome contour facial capture system (interview) and the state of Unreal Tournament 3 mods for consoles (good for PS3, bad for Xbox 360).

Next: Baldur, Big Daddy and cake

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>fable-2gdcgdc08gears-of-war-2microsoftninja-gaiden-2Ross Miller2008-02-26T07:59:00+00:00GDC08 Highlights: Baldur, Big Daddy and cakehttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/26/gdc08-highlights-baldur-big-daddy-and-cake/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/26/gdc08-highlights-baldur-big-daddy-and-cake/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/26/gdc08-highlights-baldur-big-daddy-and-cake/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Playing (and being) Too Human

Elsewhere that day, Silicon Knights' boastful Denis Dyack held a press conference showing off the latest build of Too Human (photos) and, lo and behold, the framerate was consistent and the game looked much improved from previous demonstrations. Our hands-on impressions were decidedly mixed, however; as one commenter aptly put it, "the controls hindered Baldur's gait."

Besides Microsoft, the other keynote of the conference was futurist Ray Kurzweil who, among other mind-blowing points, confirmed that by 2023 we will be injecting ourselves with plasmids. Speaking of which ...

BioShockTacular!

One of the Big Daddies of the conference (yes folks, plenty more puns to come!) was BioShock, with total rock star Ken Levine drawing quite a crowd. Levine et al. showed off early footage of the game, advised to keep story simple, talked Steamworks and even sent a splicer to check up on us.

GDCA and IGF Awards

BioShock was a major winner at the Game Developers Choice Awards (GDCA), walking away with honors for audio, visuals and writing (Ayn Rand woke from the dead to claim the writing award). Also announced that night were the Independent Games Festival awards, with World of Goo winning three nods and Crayon Physics Deluxe earning the Seamus McNally award. Cheer up, World of Goo fans, they already have a distribution deal for the Nintendo Wii. The best part of the award presentations were probably Mega64 and Zero Punctuation's hilarious videos.

Despite three accolades, BioShock didn't win Best Game. That award went to Portal along with design and innovation nods.



Portal: This was a Triumph

Remember last year when Portal was just a bullet point during the Experimental Games session? A lot has changed since GDC 2007, with almost everyone singing the game's praises. The night of their GDCA win, Valve revealed that Jonathan Coulton's Portal song "Still Alive" would be featured in Rock Band. Though we missed that performance (Coulton only hit 95% on vocals), we did happen to catch his concert on Friday where he, along with Leo LaPorte and Mahalo Daily's Veronica Belmont, managed to fail the song live on stage (video).

As one of the last sessions of the conference, designer Kim Swift and writer Erik Wolpaw delivered a Portal post-mortem (photos) for an overpacked crowd (did you see the line to get in?). Among other little details, the duo talked about the origins of the Weighted Companion Cube and the various final levels they tested.

Next: Spore, Street Fighter and Nintendo

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>bioshockgdcgdc08gdcaigfportaltoo-humanRoss Miller2008-02-26T07:57:00+00:00GDC08 Highlights: Spore, Street Fighter and Nintendohttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/26/gdc08-highlights-spore-street-fighter-and-nintendo/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/26/gdc08-highlights-spore-street-fighter-and-nintendo/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/26/gdc08-highlights-spore-street-fighter-and-nintendo/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


The Unified Spore Theory

On the more academic side of the conference, we were treated to a handful of lectures on Will Wright's Spore, including one on procedural music and user-generated content. (We didn't get a chance to write up the music lecture, which was a complex discussion on music theory and their in-house music editor based on Pure Data.) The user-generated content session (photos) provided, among other things, a glimpse at how to make a spaceship that looks like the PS3 "boomerang" controller and a GameCube.

Perhaps the most fascinating talk of the conference was also given at the worst possible venue. Will Wright talked about the importance of worlds, of community ownership and of escapism and the power of science fiction. It was a mind meld of information being thrown out, which you can view yourself here. Unfortunately, the speech was at a club and it seemed like half of the attendees seemed to either not know who Will Wright was or did not care and kept talking loudly over him.

Obligatory Street Fighter IV mention

Yeah, we played Street Fighter IV and walked away impressed. Also check out this interview with producer Yoshi Ono.

Excuse me, Wii're looking for Nintendo

Nintendo's presence was a bit more subdued compared to last year -- not having the keynote speech tends to do that. There were announced dates for Wii Fit and WiiWare (May 19 and May 12, respectively). A lot of information came out about WiiWare, including titles LostWinds, Shantae and a non-Sam & Max episodic series from Telltale. (No promises on demos for any of the titles.) We also learned more about the Wii Menu from Nintendo's Takashi Aoyama, who taught us why the blue LED light glows in a certain rhythm. Aoyama also revealed a potential "Pay & Play" option for developers who want to charge for online (e.g. MMO developers).

In other Nintendo news, NWF writer JC Fletcher managed to sneak into a Smash Bros Brawl tournament for conference helpers (video) and one confused gentleman left his rock and discovered a "new" Nintendo interface.

Next: Sony, Sessions and Telltale

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>gdcgdc08nintendosporewii-fitwiiwareRoss Miller2008-02-26T07:56:00+00:00GDC08 Highlights: Sony, Sessions and Telltalehttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/26/gdc08-highlights-sony-sessions-and-telltale/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/26/gdc08-highlights-sony-sessions-and-telltale/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/26/gdc08-highlights-sony-sessions-and-telltale/#commentsFiled under: , ,


Sony and the In-Shirt XMB

Sony more or less packed up and left early (around 5:00pm on Thursday), but in the interim they did let us hang out in their Bloggers' Lounge (even Xbox 360 Fanboy editor Richard Mitchell) playing Singstar, flOw on PSP and Echochrome. They also held a Buzz! charity event. Outside the lounge they gave us the "in-shirt XMB" shirts -- especially ironic given that they didn't announce the much-hoped for in-game XMB feature.

Elsewhere, Home was mentioned, Sony gurus Insomniac unleashed its source code for development world to peruse. Then there was the Block Party with Q-Tip (video) ... um, yeah. For you, Sony, we dine on Cell chips in Blu-ray dip. Meanwhile, where the heck was LittleBigPlanet?

Adventure Quest(ions)

Whereas we felt really out of place at Sony's party, Telltale threw a zombified soirée attracting some of industry's best adventure game luminaries (many of whom, as it were, happen to work at Telltale). We were even lucky enough to pose a ridiculous adventure game puzzle to legends such as Steve Purcell, Ron Gilbert and Mike Stemmle. There's more to come, if threats on our life (wake up) don't come to fruition.

While not a "party," per se, Emotive did give a few attendees a jolly good time at their presentation, while everyone else just felt uncomfortable witnessing a series of unfortunate disasters.

In Other News

Sessions

GDC holds hundreds of sessions in its five day period. Most of them talk about programming and art techniques, and while we tried our best to attend them all (really, we did), a handful stood out as interesting and fascinating for even non-developers to enjoy. They also happen to be some of the most heavily-attended sessions in the conference. Experimental games? They got you covered. Angry designers and balloon parties? Yep, that too. This year's game design challenge produced a sure-fire hit for the much-coveted bacteria demographic.

Our old friend total rock star Ken Levine had his BioShock honored by a panel as one of the eight best examples of interactive storytelling alongside Ico, Thief, Plansecape and others. Looking to the future, Silicon Knights' Denis Dyack nearly came to blows with Timeshift's Matthew Karch over the relevance of storytelling for games both in the present and the future.

Next: Saying Goodbye

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>gdcgdc08Ross Miller2008-02-26T07:55:00+00:00GDC08 Highlights: Saying Goodbyehttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/26/gdc08-highlights-saying-goodbye/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/26/gdc08-highlights-saying-goodbye/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/26/gdc08-highlights-saying-goodbye/#commentsFiled under: , ,

And now for something completely ridiculous

If you thought our earlier mention of Emotive was crazy, wait until you check out the gaming vest that actually beats you up for playing badly. Or the "luxurious" (i.e. pricey and eccentric) Z-dome. For more aural spats of craziness, how about this bit of licensed irony, a puzzling Slim Jim reference, or some German language lessons.

Joystiq's Ludwig Kietzmann after five days in San Francisco.

Gallery: GDC08: The Joystiq Photobook


Leaving GDC08 Behind

We waded through countless sessions and interviews, attempted to destroy all developers, ate a lot of food and even managed to deplete our bank accounts at the GDC store. So what's left to show you guys other than a timelapse of events and point you to a Joystiq "Team GDC" photo.

Even more pictures can be found on Flickr. Here's a quick reference if you want to look back through the highlights:
We'll still have a few GDC articles rolling up for the rest of the week, but that's pretty much it for this year's conference. Here's to next year!

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>gdcgdc08Ross Miller2008-02-26T07:54:00+00:00GDC08 as retold through foodhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/25/gdc08-as-retold-through-food/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/25/gdc08-as-retold-through-food/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/25/gdc08-as-retold-through-food/#commentsFiled under: , ,


Among the few guaranteed assurances that come with GDC, one is perhaps the most constant: in the precious minutes you have to eat -- assuming you have any minutes at all -- you will cherish whatever sustenance you can cram down your gullet. It is with this in mind that we decided to snap pictures of (almost) everything we managed to eat this week, thus bringing the masses one step closer to really being there. Without further ado, enjoy the various foodstuffs (and the many, many sandwiches) of GDC.

Gallery: GDC08 as retold through food

Lunch: Tuesday, Feb 19Lunch: Wendsday, February 20Dinner: Wednesday, February 20Breakfast: Thursday, February 21Breakfast: Thursday, February 21

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>foodgdcgdc08gdc08-foodRichard Mitchell2008-02-25T15:15:00+00:00GDC08: A time-lapse farewellhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/25/gdc08-a-time-lapse-farewell/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/25/gdc08-a-time-lapse-farewell/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/25/gdc08-a-time-lapse-farewell/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

GDC 2008, we were just beginning to get to know you. After a week of hectic posting, you're already gone.

While we're still catching up with final posts from the show, we bid San Francisco farewell with this time-lapse video. Because nothing captures the bittersweet end of a tradeshow like time-lapse.

Shots include the crowd filling into the Fable 2 and Portal sessions, respectively. Plus, you'll see attendees swarm through the lunch area and might catch a glimpse of your favorite bloggers. For the full effect -- especially if you're trying to spot people in the crowds -- be sure to watch the HD original in full-screen.

Music: "After the Curtain" by Beirut

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>gdcgdc08time-lapsetime-lapse-videotimelapsevideoZack Stern2008-02-25T08:57:00+00:00Overheard@GDC: Defragging the seatshttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/23/overheard-gdc-defragging-the-seats/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/23/overheard-gdc-defragging-the-seats/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/23/overheard-gdc-defragging-the-seats/#commentsFiled under: ,

The pink-shirted volunteers made GDC run smoothly, helping answer questions and usher people to the right sessions. Ten minutes before Peter Molyneaux's scheduled speaking time, attendees filled into the room. Conference-goers often left spaces between cootie-carrying strangers, but this pattern didn't bother a veteran volunteer. He shrugged to another helper, saying, "We really aren't defragging [yet]."

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>defragfablegdcgdc08Zack Stern2008-02-23T05:00:00+00:00GDC08: Watch highlights of (the first half of) the Developers Ranthttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/23/gdc08-watch-highlights-of-the-game-developers-rant/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/23/gdc08-watch-highlights-of-the-game-developers-rant/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/23/gdc08-watch-highlights-of-the-game-developers-rant/#commentsFiled under: , ,

While you're reading our thorough coverage of the Game Developer's Rant (trust us, it's worth it), be sure to check out video highlights from the session courtesy of Mahalo Daily. Unfortunately we only have the first half of the session on film, so you're going to have to read the rest. (Warning: video NSFW)

Gallery: GDC08: Game Development Rant

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>chris-hockingeric-zimmermangame-developers-rantgdcgdc08jenova-chenjonathan-makRoss Miller2008-02-23T04:00:00+00:00GDC08: Six things to take from Game Developers Ranthttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/23/gdc08-six-things-to-take-from-game-developers-rant/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/23/gdc08-six-things-to-take-from-game-developers-rant/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/23/gdc08-six-things-to-take-from-game-developers-rant/#commentsFiled under: ,

It has been one year since Chris Hecker made the headline-catching Duct Tape comment at the Developer's Rant. At GDC this year we were waiting with great anticipation for what other nuggets would come this year. Interested in vulgarity, balloons, excessive drinking and French literature? How about poignant discourse and hope? Keep reading for both!

Gallery: GDC08: Game Development Rant




1. "It doesn't surprise me that the most meaningful relationship we developed in a AAA title this year is with a fucking cube"

First up on the rant was Clint Hocking (Far Cry 2), who may have set a new record for most usage of "fuck" and "shit" in a rant. Prefacing with a comparison to the film industry, Hocking said, "pound for pound we're the most fucking creative industry in the whole world." The focal point of his rant came from something a friend of his said: "dude, it's code ... we can do anything."

Whereas independent games have been able to create an emotional impact, Hocking said, mainstream titles have largely focused on mindless action. "Why can't Call of Duty ... actually be about duty. Why isn't Medal of Honor about honor? Imagine what it'd be worth to you if you could put honor on a box and sell it." Hocking mentions Marriage and Passage that are free to download and wonderful.

Halo 3 made $300 million, but at $50 copy that means it's only making one-tenth of the Lord of the Rings audience. "Do you really think a glowing dagger that can detect Orcs or a fucking +5 rope is what moved people? What people care about is that Frodo trusts Sam ... It doesn't surprise me that the most meaningful relationship we had in a AAA title this year is with a fucking cube." That last comment drew massive applaud and laughter.

Concluding, Hocking repeats his previous mantra: "Dude, it's code ... We can do anything."

Next: Balloons!

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>clint-hockingdevelopers-rantduct-tapegame-developers-rantgdcgdc08Ross Miller2008-02-23T03:30:00+00:00GDC08: Six things to take from Game Developers Rant: Balloons!http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/23/gdc08-six-things-to-take-from-game-developers-rant-balloons/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/23/gdc08-six-things-to-take-from-game-developers-rant-balloons/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/23/gdc08-six-things-to-take-from-game-developers-rant-balloons/#commentsFiled under:

2. Balloons!
Jonathan Mak (Everyday Shooter) has had a lot of memorable moments at GDC. During last year's IGF Awards, Mak gave the most memorable and atypical acceptance speeches. For this year's Game Developer's Rant, he decided not to give a speech at all.

Instead, when Eric Zimmerman announced him, Mak asked everyone to stand up. Just then, a few helpers ran to the front of the stage with black garbage bags. In seconds, the room was filling up with balloons. The entire crowd was bouncing them up and down for what seemed like a long while (actually only about 2 minutes). Each balloon had something different written on it: we noticed "pay with this," "perfect" and a smiley face.

When the crowd finally died down, Portal designer Kim Swift was at the podium in Mak's place. At request, she screamed. She said he has no idea why she's up there. "Uh, yeah, things that are on [the] slide," she said, checking the computer. "Oh, it's got absolutely nothing on the slide. At this point and time, I have absolutely nothing to complain about, so let's take a look at these balloons." She asks if anyone has anything cool written on their balloon. Someone in front shouts "Mine says I'm a misunderstood robot."

Swift smiles and quietly steps down. End of rant.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>balloonsgame-developers-rantgdcgdc08jonathan-makRoss Miller2008-02-23T02:59:00+00:00GDC08: Six things to take from Game Developers Rant: Happinesshttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/23/gdc08-six-things-to-take-from-game-developers-rant-happiness/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/23/gdc08-six-things-to-take-from-game-developers-rant-happiness/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/23/gdc08-six-things-to-take-from-game-developers-rant-happiness/#commentsFiled under: ,



3. "Games are the ultimate happiness engine"

Jane McGonigal was up next. She's not mad at game designers; her rant is about reality. And it's broken. "We are the people who are supposed to fix it," she said.

"When I'm in games I have all the info and feedback I need, I have superhero skills ... it's just better than real life." McGonigal explains she has been spending the last year doing research on happiness, deeming it not a warm puppy. Instead, McGonigal lays out a four-point happiness list:
  1. Satisfying work to do
  2. The experience of being good at something
  3. Time spent with people we like
  4. The chance to be a part of something bigger
"What the hell does any of this better but games? Nothing," she said. "Games are the ultimate happiness engine, and you [the game industry] are in the happiness business." McGonigal noted that it took them until 1930 that soap can be used to kill germs. For depression and isolation, perhaps games can be the same fix. She quotes someone we didn't catch: "Why should we care about games? Because our life is crap."

McGonigal lists five things that game designers could fix today:
  1. Running
  2. Being on a plane
  3. Playing fetch
  4. Commuting
  5. Annoying people
She then hypothesized about how the Nike + iPod shoes can keep track of how far you've run and how that technology could somehow be used alongside a social MMO, noting that gamers would be happy and healthy. Explaining her belief the game designers are the smartest people in the world (with Will Wright on her side, we can't blame her), she asks "Can we fix it? Hell yes. Will we fix it? I have no fucking idea."

Next: Duct Tape, redux

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>game-developers-rantgdcgdc08jane-mcgonigalRoss Miller2008-02-23T01:59:00+00:00GDC08: Explaining 'Destroy All Developers' meta-gamehttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/23/gdc08-explaining-destroy-all-developers-meta-game/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/23/gdc08-explaining-destroy-all-developers-meta-game/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/23/gdc08-explaining-destroy-all-developers-meta-game/#commentsFiled under: ,

This might seem a bit late since the (meta) game is now over, but check out this footage of Mahalo Daily's Veronica Belmont as she interviews Destroy All Developers! organizers on how the game works.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>destroy-all-developersgdcgdc08Ross Miller2008-02-23T01:30:00+00:00GDC08: Six things to take from Game Developers Rant: The Little Princehttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/22/gdc08-six-things-to-take-from-game-developers-rant-the-little/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/22/gdc08-six-things-to-take-from-game-developers-rant-the-little/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/22/gdc08-six-things-to-take-from-game-developers-rant-the-little/#commentsFiled under: ,

5. "We don't need more three little pigs games, we need something like The Little Prince. Makes you try to think about your life"

Jenova Chen (flOw) took the stage next, explaining that he can't just rant as a designer but also as a gamer, one who has been playing less as the years go by and is losing interest in trying the games. Fifteen years ago, he said, he was excited to playing racing games or kill Nazis (e.g. Wolfenstein 3D). Nowadays, though, there's not much interest and what he learns now is not much more than he does from a set of wooden blocks.

"We never say its too old to read books or watch movies or play sports. so whats the difference with games?" Chen notes that books are considered intellectual, movies emotional and sports social. "As grown up gamers, I don't want to see them abandoned because I'm too old." He specifies that there's not much more mature content "for people like us who still want to play games." He notes that he doesn't mean "mature" games like DOAX2 and Manhunt 2. ("We all know who cares about that," he quips, flashing a picture of hyperactive teen gamers.)

Given the average age of gamers is 33, Chen said he wants games more emotional, social and intellectual. Focusing on intellectual, Chen said, "We don't need more three little pigs games, we need something like The Little Prince. Makes you try to think about your life"

Next: Wonderful!

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>3-little-pigsgame-developers-rantgdcgdc08jenova-chenthe-little-princethree-little-pigsRoss Miller2008-02-22T23:59:00+00:00GDC08: Six things to take from Game Developers Rant: Wonderful!http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/22/gdc08-six-things-to-take-from-game-developers-rant-wonderful/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/22/gdc08-six-things-to-take-from-game-developers-rant-wonderful/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/22/gdc08-six-things-to-take-from-game-developers-rant-wonderful/#commentsFiled under: ,


6. "WONDERFUL!"

Daniel James (Three Rings) is up last. We're not sure his part accounts for a rant, but it's interesting nonetheless. James' accompanying slides consisted of a number of interjections.
  • NICE! -- "Isn't GDC wonderful?"
  • BRILLIANT! -- He used to play with LEGOs as a kid, and now you can share that love with the LEGO MMO.
  • FANTASTIC! -- He used to played 1984's Elite on the computer, and now you can share and play together with EVE Online.
  • WTF ... err ... AMAZING -- Similar to the above, the evolution from "You stood on a narrow road between land whence you came" (MUD). Now there's 10 million people that do it in World of Warcraft.
  • TOTALLY. AWESOME. INCREDIBLE. -- The sea change he noted after having dinner with the creator of Facebook.
Although without a direct interjection, James told a story that he got a letter the other day from a grandmother, who said her grandchildren showed her Puzzle Pirates and now she plays it with them online every night. She used to just watch TV every night. We'll add a more subtle "sweet" to that story. Back to interjections.
  • WONDERFUL! -- The domination of television and that story.
And now, he said, he's going to go get very, very, very drunk.

Let's do this again!

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>game-developers-rantgdcgdc08Ross Miller2008-02-22T22:59:00+00:00Ninja Gaiden 2 'demo' hits Xbox Live, just a videohttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/22/ninja-gaiden-2-demo-hits-xbox-live-just-a-video/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/22/ninja-gaiden-2-demo-hits-xbox-live-just-a-video/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/22/ninja-gaiden-2-demo-hits-xbox-live-just-a-video/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Remember that blip on the Xbox Live this week that said a Ninja Gaiden 2 Demo was coming soon? The "demo" has now gone live, and we hate to break it to you, folks, but it turns out that demo really means "video of someone playing the demo." Yep, we're disappointed, too, and a bit angry at the misleading title -- by convention, demo in the gaming world tends to be interactive. (Unless, of course, the game really is just us watching someone else play the game.) Creator Tomonobu Itagaki did assure that a demo is coming "at some point." Ninja Gaiden 2 is out for blood June 3.

Gallery: GDC08: Ninja Gaiden II

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>gdcgdc08ninja-gaidenninja-gaiden-2ninja-gaiden-iininjagaidenteam-ninjateamninjatecmoRoss Miller2008-02-22T15:00:00+00:00GDC08: Game Design Challenge tackles inter-species marketshttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/22/gdc08-game-design-challenge-tackles-inter-species-markets/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/22/gdc08-game-design-challenge-tackles-inter-species-markets/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/22/gdc08-game-design-challenge-tackles-inter-species-markets/#commentsFiled under: ,

The annual Game Design Challenge is our favorite part every year of the Game Developers Conference ... and thanks to errors in understanding our Google calendar, we missed it. (Note to self: remember time zone differences when adding events.) Fortunately, Gamasutra attended and wrote up the session for us to peruse.

This year's theme was to create an inter-species game, one that could be played by another creature. Last year's winner Alexey Pajitnov design Dolphin Ride, a shooting hybrid of the virtual and real worlds that has players working co-operatively with the dolphins. Brenda Braithwaite designed OneHundredDogs, a series of games for dogs (and their owners) to play with and against one another centered around a Facebook-style website.

The winner of this year's challenge was Steve Meretzky, creator of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (the game). Meretzky decided to expand his potential audience early by targeting the largest demographic: bacteria. Thus he created TrayStation, where millions of bacteria in a petri dish will have to fight off "defence microwaves." Those that don't perish would "level up." Said Meretzky, "It's the game that makes germ warfare available to the whole family, the game that puts the fun back into fungicide."

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>designgame-design-challengegdcgdc08zimmermanRoss Miller2008-02-22T05:00:00+00:00GDC08: Hands-on Inchwormhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/22/gdc08-hands-on-inchworm/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/22/gdc08-hands-on-inchworm/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/22/gdc08-hands-on-inchworm/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,


Bob Sabiston, creator of the rotoscoping software behind A Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly wanted to draw and animate on his DS. So he wrote his own application, Inchworm. He says, "[It was] sort of a passion project, something we really want to see on the DS." In between his GDC meetings to find a publisher, I sketched through the latest build of the tool.

Even though Inchworm is closer to Painter than Mario Paint, it's still fun for dabbling. Artists use the stylus to scribble out stills or cels. Top-tier tools that I'd expect in Photoshop even filter down to this level, including layers, opacity settings, alpha channels, selections, and onion-skin animations. Sabiston also intends to add smear brushes to blend paints and sound effects for animations.
As small as the DS screens feel and with so many tools on-screen, I still intuitively navigated through all of Inchworm's options. I sketched on the touchscreen and used the move tool to drag the page for more room. I could also zoom in to tweak blown-up pixels, but I couldn't zoom out past the one-to-one size. The top screen keeps the entire view available at the same time, but a zoomed-out angle for drawing might be added.

Still pictures can be about as big as 1,024 by 1,024, although limits are being determined. Standard DS cartridges have little room to save, although users should be able to keep a handful of those stills and a few 256x192-pixel animations of about 100 frames stored at the same time. But when the room is filled, the DS can upload saved files directly to the Inchworm site. Users can also download files back to a DS for more work.

I was also interested in using full-quality documents in further production on my computer. But Inchworm should be a great art application for people who only want to sketch and animate on a DS. Here's hoping it finds a publisher soon.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>a-scanner-darklyartbob-sabistonds-paintgdcgdc08inchwormmario-paintpaintpaintingsketchwaking-lifeZack Stern2008-02-22T01:00:00+00:00GDC08: Will Wright talks the importance of worlds, community ownershiphttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/21/gdc08-will-wright-talks-the-importance-of-worlds/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/21/gdc08-will-wright-talks-the-importance-of-worlds/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/21/gdc08-will-wright-talks-the-importance-of-worlds/#commentsFiled under:


Tonight had a chance to attend a speech given by Will Wright at the Mezzanine in San Francisco. "This is the first time I've ever spoken to a drunk audience," he quipped. Before the speech, Electronic Arts PR Neil Young warned everyone that this would not be a speech about Spore. That's all subjective, of course -- Wright's talk, spanning everything from social science to pop culture, show an insight into his psyche and drive for Spore better than any video game session could.

The point Wright started out was the negative connotation in the use of words such as franchise, brand and property, instead preferring the term "worlds" (though, we should note, he used franchise and brand a few times). Star Wars is presented as an example of a fractal timeline, with smaller iterative stories adding to fill in the gaps in between and around the major arc originally presented. Other successful worlds include LEGO, James Bond and Godzilla.

Gallery: GDC08: Will Wright party


Wright was not without humorous observations, including disturbing Playmobile toys (e.g. toxic waste recovery), crazy match-ups of 007 vs. Bin Laden, and a story involving Wright's earliest memory, where he saw Godzilla on TV, thought it was real, and ran behind his living room couch until the movie was over. ("The news was black and white, the news is real. Godzilla was black and white, and therefore I thought Godzilla was real." Q.E.D.)

Video games, he said, were our escape. He then pushed himself into a series of real world events and fictional universes that at the time seemed disjointed, only to culminate into his over-arching point at the end. What do the fantasy worlds have in common? A sense of ownership, that fans immerse themselves and give themselves a feeling of unity with the worlds, or even synergy in the sense of LOST. Wright pointed to the three-second blip of the diagram in the Hatch from Season 2, that was quickly picked up by fans and discerned.

"The point I'm trying to make is this: the best stories are inherently deconstructable and lead to the largest variety of play, and those are inherently generative and lead to story. All these elements [story, deconstruct, play, generation] are inherently interdependent." This, of course, is what he calls model building, the fundamental thought of all his games, including The Sims and Spore.

As for the use of fantasy and science fiction, Wright gave a quote from Twilight Zone creator Rod Sterling, who said that his show was the only place that you could deal with reality back in the day. The show could tackle subjects such as civil rights more than any other program. How ironic.

One could argue the accessibility of the games add to the ability to use it as escapism, and that the fantasy setting can tackle issues in way more realistic worlds can't. "Worldview. Filters. Perspective. Hopefully at the end, we can make fun and make communities," he said, concluding his talk.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

]]>gdcgdc08simswill-wrightwrightRoss Miller2008-02-21T23:55:00+00:00