Joystiq

See results of Media Molecule's game jam in Austin on March 7

JC Fletcher — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 20:30:00 EST

When Media Molecule makes a game for real, it's about leading burlap heroes through infinite player-created levels, or interacting with a virtual paper world. The company's PS4 concept was about shaping virtual clay with a Move. So when freed from practical or commercial concerns, we imagine the results are fairly interesting.

Austin residents will find out March 7 at 7 p.m., when Media Molecule will attend the monthly Juegos Rancheros game collective meetup to reveal the results of its first game jam. The team will talk about running an internal jam and how it relates to the company's work, such as the coming Tearaway.

In non-MM news, Deep Sea creator and Antichamber sound designer Robin Arnott will show off SoundSelf, a game that "combines your own voice with evolving fractal graphics and mind-altering auditory feedback."

See results of Media Molecule's game jam in Austin on March 7 originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 27 Feb 2013 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nation of Indies teaches Austin devs how to become indie

Jordan Mallory — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 13:30:00 EST

The folks behind Austin, Texas' Juegos Rancheros initiative have taken it upon themselves to mitigate the damage caused by the absurd number of gaming layoffs that have affected this region over the last year, and they're doing so through education.

Nation of Indies is a free, single-day crash course in becoming an indie developer, with talks on different methods of funding procurement, small business management techniques, software tool investment and long-term sustainability. Indie developers Semi Secret, Tiger Style and others will be on hand, lending their expertise on how to transition from being someone's employee, to running your own studio.

The symposium takes place on Sunday, February 10, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central, and RSVPing is encouraged.

Nation of Indies teaches Austin devs how to become indie originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 02 Feb 2013 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Crytek USA to be headed by former Vigil boss

Alexander Sliwinski — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 16:30:00 EST

Crysis developer Crytek has formed Crytek USA Corp. in Austin, Texas. Crytek notes the Austin studio is its ninth worldwide and will be headed by former Vigil general manager David Adams, who'll oversee a team of "35 experienced developers."

Gamasutra asked Crytek if the new Austin studio was basically a purchase of defunct publisher THQ's shuttered Vigil Games, but Crytek informed the outlet it was "more like a new start for [the team at Vigil]."

Vestiges of Vigil aren't the only thing Crytek picked up out of the THQ bankruptcy, purchasing the rights to Homefront for a half-million.

Update: IGN has confirmed all 35 employees are former Vigil staff.

[Image: Kushal Bose via Shutterstock]

Crytek USA to be headed by former Vigil boss originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 28 Jan 2013 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Starhawk dev lays off 24, 'much smaller studio' to focus on first iOS title [Update]

Jessica Conditt — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 19:40:00 EST

Update: Lightbox Interactive President Dylan Jobe has told Joystiq his company will see "a sizable reduction in staff." Twenty-four staff members have been informed that Friday will be their final day at the Texas-based developer. Jobe added that "all 24 of them are getting a severance package."

"Lay-offs always suck but they are an unfortunate reality of business sometimes. The best we can do is try and treat our people with respect during the shocking transition of a lay-off," he said.

Jobe says Lightbox will become a "much smaller studio" after the cuts as it focuses efforts on the development of its first game for iOS.

Original Story: There are rumblings that LightBox Interactive, the developer behind the PS3 exclusive Starhawk, will lay off most of its staff by Friday. 3D Realms founder (and previous layoff predictor) George Broussard tweets, "Good luck to my buddies at LightBox in Austin. Layoffs and rumors of near whole studio gone by Friday."

Yesterday LightBox Interactive president Dylan Jobe sent out an ominous tweet, reading, "And yeah, its time for another drink...." LightBox artist Jonathan Lindblom tweeted early this morning, "I feel like my brain has been taken out and passed around, I can't think straight, everything is muddled." Associate producer and community manager Pete MacKay tweeted his thoughts today as well: "And so another chapter closes on my life. Let's see where I go next! (taking suggestions)."

We've contacted LightBox Interactive for clarification.

Starhawk dev lays off 24, 'much smaller studio' to focus on first iOS title [Update] originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 17 Oct 2012 19:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Make an Adventure Time game in 48 hours next week

JC Fletcher — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 16:00:00 EST

What time is it? Frantic, sleepless coding time! A last-minute event has been added to the upcoming Fantastic Arcade celebrations in Austin, TX: a 48-hour game jam in which participants will attempt to create games about, based on, inspired by, or otherwise tied into Cartoon Network's wonderful Adventure Time.

The "Game Making Frenzy" from September 14-16 is open to anyone worldwide, with space available in Austin for local developers. "Guys, this is maybe the coolest Adventure Time thing.. for me.." Adventure Time creator Pendleton Ward said on Twitter. "I'm super excited about this." Jake and Finn are also apparently super excited.

Make an Adventure Time game in 48 hours next week originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 07 Sep 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rooster Teeth Expo 2013 bites Austin July 5 - 7

Jordan Mallory — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 01:00:00 EST

Rooster Teeth, the production company behind Red vs. Blue and a slew of other video adventures, has announced the dates for its third annual Rooster Teeth Expo, or RTX. The event will be held at the Austin Convention Center (which also happens to house GDC: Online every year) from Friday, July 5 through Sunday, July 7.

RTX 2012 drew a crowd of 4,000 people with a diverse programming schedule that included as many Halo 4 announcements as it did YouTube panels featuring Hannah Hart of My Drunk Kitchen fame, making it a bit less orthodox than the typical gaming convention. Considering that RTX 2013 expands the event from two days to three, Rooster Teeth must believe its formula is working.

Rooster Teeth Expo 2013 bites Austin July 5 - 7 originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 01 Sep 2012 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Go back in time, destroy warships at Austin's Fantastic Arcade next month

JC Fletcher — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 11:20:00 EST

Fantastic Arcade, the annual independent game showcase attached to the Fantastic Fest film festival, revealed its official selections for this year's event this week. Capy's Super TIME Force, Vlambeer's Luftrausers, and Dennaton's Hotline Miami are on display as the "main competition," along with FTL, Super Hexagon, Unmanned, and McPixel.

An awesomely eclectic variety of games will also be exhibited outside of the competition, including Proteus, Octodad: Dadliest Catch, The Banner Saga, Scale, BaraBariBall, and Realistic Summer Sports Simulator - "A ridiculous multiplayer summer olympics game where the athletes are controlled by giant springs." Fantastic!

Fantastic Arcade runs September 20-23 in Austin, TX.

Go back in time, destroy warships at Austin's Fantastic Arcade next month originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 24 Aug 2012 11:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SXSWi ScreenBurn Arcade to host Street Fighter X Tekken tournament

Jordan Mallory — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:20:00 EST

SXSWi, the "interactive" technology portion of Austin's South by Southwest festival that runs between March 9 and 13, also hosts ScreenBurn, a three-day gaming conference and expo. The ScreenBurn Arcade portion of ScreenBurn is open to the general public, and to kick things off the first day of the Arcade will feature a Street Fighter X Tekken tournament, presented by IGN Pro League.

An exhibition-style tournament, the event will be more of a spectator activity, rather than something that the public can enter and participate in. Still, it'll be a good opportunity to see highly technical play of the game just after its release. Since attending the ScreenBurn Arcade doesn't require a SXSWi pass, Austinites interested in the future of fighting can swing by the Palmer Center between 3PM and 7 PM Central on March 9 to scope out the tourney. If you see a complete dork dressed like Dan Hibiki, come say hi.

SXSWi ScreenBurn Arcade to host Street Fighter X Tekken tournament originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Play GIRP on dance pads, two-player QWOP in Austin this weekend

JC Fletcher — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:30:00 EST

This is going to be really embarrassing, and potentially painful. This Sunday the Austin game collective, Juegos Rancheros, will host the Foddy Winter Olympics, featuring new and bizarre versions of Bennett Foddy's finger-twisting games.

You'll be able to face off against a friend in a race to the ground in two-player QWOP. You'll experience the climbing game GIRP turned into a Twister-like experience in Mega GIRP, a new version by Johann Sebastian Joust creator Doug Wilson that uses four dance pads for the controls. You'll also be frustrated by other Foddy creations, including Poleriders and Winner vs. Loser.

This is going to be the angriest party.

Play GIRP on dance pads, two-player QWOP in Austin this weekend originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fantastic Arcade to keep Austin weird on September 22

Griffin McElroy — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 12:30:00 EST

If you're fortunate enough to live within (or near!) the borders of Austin, Texas, you should clear your schedule for next weekend. Fantastic Arcade will take over The Highball from Thursday, September 22 to Sunday, September 25. The event will play host to 21 indie games, such as the psychedelic Dyad, the audio-only panic game, Deep Sea, the heartwarmingly bizarre Octodad, the perspective-shifting Fez, and the utterly magical Owlboy.

There's also a Starhawk gameplay demonstration from fellow Austin-based studio Lightbox Interactive, and a panel hosted by a whole bevy of PSN developers. Check out Juegos Rancheros for the full lineup, trailers and a schedule of events for the weekend.

Fantastic Arcade to keep Austin weird on September 22 originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 14 Sep 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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'Texatron' initiative bringing indie arcade games to Austin

JC Fletcher — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 03:50:00 EST

The Winnitron arcade machine concept -- that of an arcade machine loaded up with exclusive indie games -- is migrating south. The Austin, TX-based Juegos Rancheros collective announced plans to bring the concept to Austin as the Texatron. Rather than a single machine, the long-term plans involve " a series of arcade cabinets set up around our own fair city showcasing the best indie games from around town and around the world."

But that's in the future. This weekend, the Texatron concept will be introduced at JR's monthly meetup, featuring Winnitron co-founder Alec Holowka and some of the Winnitron's games, including Nidhogg and two-player versions of Super Crate Box and Canabalt. The event starts at 4PM on Sunday, August 7, at the Highball. Go if you want to play games and meet people who also wanted to go play games.

'Texatron' initiative bringing indie arcade games to Austin originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 03 Aug 2011 03:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EA Sports opening up shop in Austin; EA adding 300 jobs across Sports, Games, and more [update]

JC Fletcher — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 13:09:00 EST

We first heard inklings of this deal last month, but it's as official as can be now, having just been proclaimed by EA execs and Texas governor Rick Perry at EA's BioWare Austin campus: Electronic Arts is establishing a new EA Sports operation in Austin, TX.

"We're going to be adding 300 jobs to our operations here in Austin," EA's Frank Gibeau said -- half full-time, half contract. EA Sports COO Daryl Holt revealed that it will build a new team in Austin to support the teams in Florida and British Columbia, focusing on HD platforms and then expanding to "emerging" markets. The announcement was highlighted by a video of a Texas A&M-uniformed Rick Perry in NCAA Football 2012.

Update: The 300 jobs aren't entirely focused on EA Sports. EA Games president Frank Gibeau told me that the jobs would be distributed between EA Sports, EA Games, as well as IT and finance -- with EA Sports being the only new department to move into the two EA buildings currently occupied by BioWare.

EA Sports COO Daryl Holt told Joystiq "I think we'll probably start this first year somewhere around 30-35, just to get the team up and moving, just so they can start building features and working on HD platform development." He said the team could grow "exponentially, however we want," into new IP and "live services." EA has yet to decide which franchises to put the new Austin team onto.

"We're not going to disrupt what's currently going on," Holt said of the existing studios in Tiburon and Burnaby. "Orlando's expanding, Burnaby's expanding, EA's growing," he said, and moving into the sports-happy state of Texas is part of that growth. It will "absolutely not" replace any of the existing studios, which will "remain core to us." "They're growing as well," Holt clarified. "There's job openings and job postings in Florida in Vancouver."

Right now, the growth in Austin is open-ended, "but it's not something that's going to be open-ended while we recruit the team, because we want to recruit the right talent."

EA Sports opening up shop in Austin; EA adding 300 jobs across Sports, Games, and more [update] originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 18 Jul 2011 13:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First GDC Online 2011 summits announced

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Report: EA Sports opening studio in Austin, TX

JC Fletcher — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 13:00:00 EST

Those displaced Ignition Games employees in Austin may have a new prospect. IGN reports that, according to an internal EA memo, the company is looking to expand with an EA Sports studio in the Texas capital, adding a third internal studio to its current lineup of British Columbia and Florida-based operations.

"We have aggressive plans for expansion, and I will be visiting Austin, Texas, this week to assess potential space for a new EA Sports studio location," EA Sports COO Daryl Holt reportedly said in the memo. "Our goal is to attract, hire and retain the industry's best talent." This will be the perfect location to develop games based on college football ... and really slow races run by people in costumes.

We just hope that, if EA does choose to open a studio there, it learns from the past and actually gives its employees time to explore their environs.

Report: EA Sports opening studio in Austin, TX originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 29 Jun 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Juegos Rancheros present The Gunstringer in Austin on May 1

JC Fletcher — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 00:00:00 EST

If you live in or near Austin, Texas, and would like to see Twisted Pixel's The Gunstringer for the first time, you'll have the opportunity this Sunday, May 1 from 4:00 to 6:30PM. The newly minted indie game collective Juegos Rancheros (!) is hosting its first monthly meetup at The Highball, featuring a public demo of The Gunstringer.

This monthly event is intended as a continuation of the Fantastic Arcade festival, which last year featured a selection of indie games in custom-built arcade cabinets. Other games will be on display, as well, including the just-released DSiWare app Inchworm Animation.

Juegos Rancheros present The Gunstringer in Austin on May 1 originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 28 Apr 2011 00:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Twisted Pixel shooting video in Austin for unannounced game

JC Fletcher — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 09:35:00 EST

Austin, Texas residents: Splosion Man/Comic Jumper developer Twisted Pixel needs you to help promote an unknown game! The developer posted a Craigslist ad seeking extras for a "video shoot for Twisted Pixel's newest video game!" this Saturday, January 29.

While it's awesome enough that some people who didn't have anything to do this weekend will get to hang out with Twisted Pixel in the Paramount Theater, this event holds some wider significance: "The game hasn't been announced quite yet so we need to be light on the details until then," the ad reads. Presumably, people attending this shoot will find out what they're promoting, which means the world will know soon after, even before PAX East.

Twisted Pixel shooting video in Austin for unannounced game originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 26 Jan 2011 09:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ignition L.A. studio moving to Austin

James Ransom-Wiley — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 11:00:00 EST

Ignition Entertainment's Los Angeles branch is moving to Austin, Texas, reports IGN. "All business will be continuing as usual," a company representative told the site -- which, for Ignition, means typically unusual business.

While no official reason was given for the closure of the Glendale, Calif. publishing offices, a fresh start in Austin is an unsurprising choice given the city's rich history of game development and the state's business incentives. Maybe the move is simply a matter of consolidating Ignition's two U.S. studios, L.A. and Gainesville (Fla.), and having them meet halfway. The move from L.A. is said to have no effect on the company's current staff or projects, according to IGN, while Ignition still won't confirm exactly what is going on in Florida.

A month ago, the Florida branch was reported to be closed and staff rumored to be forced out to Texas (or to find a new job). The studio's sci-fi FPS Reich was assumed to have suffered the same uncertain fate as Ignition's WarDevil game, which was left in limbo following the closure of the Ignition's London-area development studio in late September. Of course, WarDevil has since been resurrected as "Project Kane" and is supposedly in the hands of a "core team" and on track for a Q4 2011 release.

See? We told you: unusual business.

[Image sources: UTV Ignition; 25or6to4 (Wikipedia)]

Ignition L.A. studio moving to Austin originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 02 Dec 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GDC Online 2010 brought in 3,000 offline attendees

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

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

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

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

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

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GDC Austin dated, name changed to GDC Online

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

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

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

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

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Austin Independent School District makes deal to buy more video games for classrooms

Mike Schramm — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 03:45:00 EST

We've seen educational video games show up in the classroom before, and it looks like one school district is coming back for more. The Austin Independent School District has ordered up another set of edu-games from a company called Tabula Digita that provides 3D, first-person action-based games to teach students how to do basic math and algebra. One sample scenario in the games has students calculating the location of an in-game weather station on a graph, and then using the data found there to make charts and track down alien creatures.

The press release doesn't mention costs, but according to its website, 15 single-user licenses to the games cost the school $1049.25 each, making up a cost of just over $24,000 for the entire 350 student program. The students, who were part of a 10-day JumpStart program and had previously failed a math retest, were allowed to play the games for 30 minutes a day, and, afterwards, 82% of the kids said they had improved their understanding of the concepts. No word on how their k/d ratio came out.

Austin Independent School District makes deal to buy more video games for classrooms originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 07 Jan 2010 03:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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THQ moving Vigil studios to new office

Ben Gilbert — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:00:00 EST

Along with working on two major current-gen games in Darksiders: Wrath of War and a Warhammer: 40K MMO, THQ-owned Vigil Games is packing up its stuff and moving to a brand new 33,000-square foot studio in another part of Austin, TX. Unsurprisingly, in confirming the move to Kotaku, THQ reiterates its desire to attract new employees as development ramps up on the aforementioned titles.

Though the move was likely decided well before UFC 2009 Undisputed hit store shelves -- and quickly went flying right off those same shelves -- the 1.01 million unit sales of the game couldn't hurt the moving situation. Plusher couches at the new offices, perhaps? If it happens, remember: you heard it here first!

Gallery: Darksiders

THQ moving Vigil studios to new office originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Joystiq invades SXSW 2009!

Kevin Kelly — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 23:30:00 EST

If you're in the vicinity of Austin, Texas, then you're probably in town for SXSW - the interactive, music, and film festival. We are too! Both myself and JC Fletcher will be here bringing updates from panels, attending the Screenburn Arcade, and checking out the gaming scene here at the festival. If you're in town, leave us a comment and say hi. Who knows, we might buy you a Shiner Bock. Stay tuned for more SXSW coverage, and check out years past right here.

Joystiq invades SXSW 2009! originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 13 Mar 2009 23:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Austin construction signs warn of zombie attack

Alexander Sliwinski — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 13:00:00 EST

For a few hours on Monday morning in Austin, Texas, it seemed as if the world was coming to an end, as two road signs warned of "Nazi zombies!" KXAN has a full report, but apparently doesn't have any gamers on staff, as it completely missed the Call of Duty: World at War reference. Come on mainstream media, y'all missed a great opportunity to blame games for something.

The "hackers" who changed the signs committed a class C misdemeanor, which in the state of Texas automatically carries the death penalty ... no, that's not true, but we're sure branding is involved. Check out the full news report after the break.

[Thanks, Rick]

Continue reading Austin construction signs warn of zombie attack

Austin construction signs warn of zombie attack originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 29 Jan 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AGDC: The Bruce Sterling keynote - The Future of Entertainment

Kevin Kelly — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, GDC, Business

Bruce Sterling is a science fiction author, a futurist, and one of the founders of cyberpunk. He provided the tent-pole keynote for the Austin Game Developers Conference, although in all honesty it seemed more like a run through of a new short story draft. Several developers were walking out, scratching their heads and going "Wha... huh?" afterward.

The topic was "Computer Entertainment 35 Years from Today," and Sterling came out not as Sterling, but as a time traveler from 35 years in the future and a graduate student of Dr. Sterling's. He provided visual demonstrations of nanotech networks and fiber-based computers, much to the amusement of the audience, and told us how the future might seem surprising to us at first, but it's old hat to someone like him. He bastardized a quote from Sir Arthur Clarke and said, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from garbage." Words to live by.

Read the full text of the keynote after the break. It'll be interesting if web surfers in the future look back on this post and laugh.

Continue reading AGDC: The Bruce Sterling keynote - The Future of Entertainment

AGDC: The Bruce Sterling keynote - The Future of Entertainment originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AGDC08: The Screen Actors Guild wants you to hear its game voice(s)

Kevin Kelly — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 18:30:00 EST

Filed under: GDC, Business

We've seen the Screen Actor's Guild booth at a lot of gaming and interactive events recently, from SXSW to GDC in San Francisco, so we finally decided to stop by and see what they're doing there. Normally, when you think about video game development, SAG isn't the first thing that springs to mind. It turns out that they have contracts that will allow developers with every type of budget to work with their stable of professional actors.

So, rather than having Bob from Accounting (sorry, Bob) record the lines of Beelzebub the Destroyer for your new MMO, you can hire someone who can really sound like something from the depths of hell. We sat down with actors David Sobolov and David Anthony Pizzuto and director of new media for SAG, Mark Friedlander, to find out what why SAG has been appearing at gaming events. Plus, the guys do some of their many voices. Check out the highlights, see a video of a typical day in the booth, and listen to the audio of the interview after the break.

Continue reading AGDC08: The Screen Actors Guild wants you to hear its game voice(s)

AGDC08: The Screen Actors Guild wants you to hear its game voice(s) originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 17 Sep 2008 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AGDC: Blazing The Trail For Hot Game Dialogue

Kevin Kelly — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 06:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, GDC, Business

The Austin GDC is focusing on audio and writing in games this year. While technology has made audio more and more important in making an immersive game experience, good writing has always been key to making a great game. Just travel back in time and ask the guys at Infocom, who had entire games consisting of nothing but writing.

The "Blazing the Trail" panel was meant to provide game writers with the tools that they would need to construct good game dialogue, although it quickly turned into a one-woman show. DB Cooper (not the famous hijacker) is a voice-over artist, actor and producer, and she's also quite a personality. You know the kind of person who could fill an airplane hangar with their voice? That's her. She was joined onstage by Maryanne Krawczyk who has written for television and video games, including God of War, God of War 2, and Area 51. She's also working on the upcoming God of War 3, but she vanished into the ether after the panel so we couldn't quiz her about it.

After the break you'll find out how the panel went, and get plenty of tips and tricks for aspiring game writers. Read on, Macduff!

Continue reading AGDC: Blazing The Trail For Hot Game Dialogue

AGDC: Blazing The Trail For Hot Game Dialogue originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 17 Sep 2008 06:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AGDC: Reset/Play, more gaming inspired artwork

Kevin Kelly — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 05:15:00 EST

Filed under: Arcade, Culture, GDC

Click for more pictures from the exhibit

One of the opening night parties at Austin GDC was held at the Arthouse, which is currently housing an exhibit of gaming related art that ranges from 8-bit inspired to some truly abstract pieces. Reset/Play is showing in Austin through November 2nd, and is well worth a visit. Eddo Stern's Best...Flame War...Ever... (King of Bards vs. Squire Rex, June 2004) is worth the trip alone. It recreates an online flame war between two EverQuest gamers with sound and animation, and runs for about 14 minutes. Truly amazing.

Another impressive piece in the exhibit is Andrew Galloway's How to Play World of Warcraft, which features two huge video images showing closeups of the mouse and keyboard of a gamer, and those are flanked by huge blowup images of ASCII text guides for the game. You can see both of these pieces in the gallery below, or read more about it at the Arthouse main page.

Gallery: Reset/Play - a Party for Texas Games

[Much thanks to Amaze Entertainment's Rodney Gibbs and SXSW's Linday Muse for the invitation]

AGDC: Reset/Play, more gaming inspired artwork originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 17 Sep 2008 05:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Joystiq @ the Austin Game Developers Conference

Kevin Kelly — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 11:30:00 EST

Filed under: GDC, Business

What, you thought GDC only happened in San Francisco? Well, so did we. But we've invaded the land of BBQ, music, and Shiner Bock to bring you the latest from the development-heavy Austin Game Developers Conference. This year the focus is on writing and game audio, so we'll bring you the best of the fest as we sit in on panels and talk to people in the game industry.

Austin is fast establishing itself as a mini-mecca of gaming companies; already places like Activision Blizzard, NCSoft, Vigil, and Sony Online have offices here, with more opening all the time. Texas Governor Rick Perry announced this summer at E3 that Austin would be heavily pursuing game companies and offering them tax incentives to set up shop here, so if you're wanting to work in the industry, you might consider a move.

Joystiq @ the Austin Game Developers Conference originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 16 Sep 2008 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GameFly's Austin center 'officially' open, servicing seven states

Alexander Sliwinski — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 03:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Business

Last month, GameFly was nice enough to drop us a line that it had opened a new distribution center in Austin, Texas. The by-mail rental service's new site wasn't fully operational at the time, but the company tells us the warehouse is now ready to cover seven states. The Austin site will initially service Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and New Mexico. More Midwest states could be added in the future.

Jeff Kawasugi, VP of logistics at GameFly, says the Austin site will allow "the quickest shipping times" to the members in the aforementioned states. Over the years we've seen our GameFly shipment times drop dramatically. Turnaround of two weeks (or more) was normal when the service first started, and now it's down to about five business days. The main issue with the service seems to have shifted from turnaround time to availability of titles as the company has increased its customer base.

GameFly's Austin center 'officially' open, servicing seven states originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 11 Jun 2008 03:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SXSW08: Inside Austin's Developerscape

JC Fletcher — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 02:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, MMO

In this panel, a group of Austin-based game developers set out to discuss the unique Austin game development community, moderated by journalist (and Joystiq contributor) N. Evan Van Zelfden. In the course of the discussion, a bit of neuropsychology and hilarious anti-MMO (and pro-MMO) vitriol also came out, along with a lot of reminiscence.

According to Junction Point's Warren Spector and NCSoft's Dallas Snell, the Austin game development scene, as well as its current MMO focus, have their origins in, uh, Origin. The Ultima developer moved in Austin in 1986 from New Hampshire, and many companies spun off from ex-Origin personnel. Spector was hired at the company after time spent teaching at UT and working at Steve Jackson Games, and then a stint in Wisconsin at TSR. Snell was at Origin during the 1986 move.

Continue reading SXSW08: Inside Austin's Developerscape

SXSW08: Inside Austin's Developerscape originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 10 Mar 2008 02:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EIEIO 2008: One day of concentrated Gamecock weirdness

JC Fletcher — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 06:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Galleries

Last year, Gamecock held their "E3 alternative" EIEIO event in Santa Monica during E3. This year, they moved the party to Austin, and in true Gamecock (read: bizarre) fashion, they elected to hold the event at Stubb's Bar-B-Q. Well, it's not as bizarre as it sounds. Stubb's is a large establishment that serves as a live music venue as well as a barbecue restaurant. Still, it was quite a different environment from, say, the Moscone Center, where GDC was held last month. The only problem with the venue: we were outside a lot, and today was unseasonably cold. And rainy. And also cold.

The morning started off with a breakfast at Jaime's Spanish Village across the street. After that, we were rounded up and sent over to Stubb's, where we broke into groups and rotated through presentations and demos. Descriptions and impressions of actual game content are coming later (Wednesday, to be specific, when I am allowed to post those), but here's what I saw: the downloadable meme-off Pirates Vs. Ninjas Dodgeball, the PC/DS action-adventure game Insecticide, the sentient-mushroom tale Mushroom Men (Wii and DS), the newly-christened WWII stealth game Velvet Assassin, the RTS expansion Stronghold Crusader Extreme, the hacking, slashing Dungeon Hero, the fantasy-monster FPS Legendary, the sci-fi FPS Section 8, and the animal-based political-satire party fighting game Hail to the Chimp. They were in various stages of playability, from "not even pre-alpha" to "shipping." Be sure to visit our gallery and enjoy some of the strangeness of the scene for yourself!

Gallery: EIEIO 2008

Continue reading EIEIO 2008: One day of concentrated Gamecock weirdness

EIEIO 2008: One day of concentrated Gamecock weirdness originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 07 Mar 2008 06:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GameFly opens Tampa, Florida distribution center

Alexander Sliwinski — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 16:15:00 EST

Filed under: Nintendo DS, Sony PlayStation 2, Sony PlayStation 3, Sony PSP, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, Business

GameFly's Tampa, Florida distribution center finally became semi-official this week as subscribers received emails explaining their return mailer may now have a Tampa address. We contacted GameFly for a fuller explanation of states serviced, but the company stated it has no release at this time and will issue something later this month or January.

If the opening of the Tampa site is anything like the one in Pittsburgh, the company will have the center work out the kinks and then announce states served. Now we wait for GameFly's Austin, Texas center to become semi-official, which we actually knew about months before Tampa.

[Thanks to all who sent this in]

GameFly opens Tampa, Florida distribution center originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 11 Dec 2007 16:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Guitar Hero DS details surface at Austin GDC

Alisha Karabinus — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: News

We haven't heard much about Guitar Hero DS since it was confirmed, but Adrian Earle of Vicarious Visions let a few tiny tidbits slip at the Austin Game Developers Conference. The first is really no surprise: the peripheral that was being considered is a go, though the design is not yet completed. Earle only promised that we would "absolutely love it." Perhaps his Magic 8-ball told him so? Or maybe the peripheral is closer to completion than he wants us to think.

The second bit is the one we found more interesting, and potentially either horrifying or fantastic. Graphically, they're planning on keeping the DS installment as true to the look of the Guitar Hero franchise as possible. The series has a pretty distinct look that has grown more and more detailed over time, and we can't wait to get a glimpse of how they plan to translate that to the dual screen experience. It sounds like they've set themselves quite a challenge here, and we hope they can pull it off. After all, DS gamers already have some of the best rhythm games ever made ... our standards are high. But the Guitar Hero series is all about fun, so if done well here, it should fit right in.

Guitar Hero DS details surface at Austin GDC originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 07 Sep 2007 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SXSW: ARG! The Attack of the Alternate Reality Games

Kevin Kelly — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 21:58:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, PC, Microsoft Xbox, Online, Simulations, Competitive Gaming, MMO, Business, Casual

Ever since the success of The Beast, the alternate reality game created to help pimp Spielberg's A.I. back in 2001, alternate reality games (ARGs) have been popping up left and right, most notably the I Love Bees ARG that was used to launch Halo 2. Based on what the panelists were telling us, there are a lot more coming down the pipeline.

However, one of the problems was that the panel promised to help define the term "alternate reality game," but that never happened. Wikipedia calls it "an interactive narrative that uses the real world as a platform, often involving multiple media and game elements, to tell a story that may be affected by participants' ideas or actions." Which is quite a mouthful. But that makes us wonder, does it have to use the web as a medium to be an ARG? When people used to play T.A.G. or Killer on college campuses, that was definitely an ARG ... but where did those games go?

Continue reading SXSW: ARG! The Attack of the Alternate Reality Games

SXSW: ARG! The Attack of the Alternate Reality Games originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 11 Mar 2007 21:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SXSW: Joystiq is here!

Kevin Kelly — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 15:10:00 EST

Filed under: Arcade, Culture, Politics

We've arrived here in Austin, Texas where we'll be bringing you news from the enormous South by Southwest conference. SXSW started as a music festival, grew to include film, and now has an very substantial interactive portion. This year they've beefed interactive up with tons of video game related panels, speakers, and exhibitors. Oh, and nothing huge ... just Will Wright giving the keynote. Zing!

We'll be bringing you coverage from the panels, photos from the show floor, visits to the ScreenBurn Arcade, stopping by to chat with PMS Clan / Frag Dolls, stories from Austin, and of course we'll be liveblogging Will Wright's keynote. With any luck, we'll also follow him to his car and demand a demo copy of Spore. So look for a report on that here, or a photo of us on TheSmokingGun.

SXSW: Joystiq is here! originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 10 Mar 2007 15:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Games vs. popular media: the debate

Jennie Lees — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 19:30:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Business

Gamasutra reports on a panel held this weekend in Austin entitled "Games: the bastard children of popular media". Responding to Roger Ebert's comment last year that video games don't measure up to the standard set by other popular media, the panellists' debate covered movies, youth culture and even the moral situations of Ultima IV, pointing out that:

Games, being interactive, are meant to tell stories in a different way, by giving their audiences a participatory experience. Instead of watching a movie about the horrors of war, a gamer can play Civilization and see what happens to an area of the world.

An interesting point brought up in the report is that of longevity--will we be playing the games we play now in 500 years' time, just as Shakespeare's plays are still studied and performed? It's unlikely; printed paper, unlike today's consoles, probably won't become obsolete. Perhaps what survives of today's games might not be code and sprites, but characters, stories and concepts, with Mario becoming as time-honoured as Hamlet and Macbeth.

Games vs. popular media: the debate originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 13 Mar 2006 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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