Posts tagged sxsw-2011 
First look at Rocksmith, straight out of SXSW
If we were Ubisoft, we would have picked Austin's South by Southwest event as the location for the first demonstration of Rocksmith as well. During that week in March, it would have been impossible to find a person who wasn't totally thrilled about anything involving a guitar. So keep in mind ...
Ubisoft's Chris Early on Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy and other 'companion games'
Ubisoft's VP of digital games, Chris Early, delivered a talk last week at SXSW Interactive on the rising phenomenon of "companion games"; small, downloadable or web games that use the same IP as and link in some way to a larger retail product. These games include Dragon Age Legends and Ubisoft's ...
Interview: EA2D's Mark Spenner on going 'browser and beyond'
EA2D is Electronic Arts's small-team, small-game studio, which just launched Dragon Age Legends on Facebook (today!) and has Fancy Pants Adventures for PSN and XBLA in the wings. We spoke to Mark Spenner, VP and GM of the studio, about these two very different projects. How, we wondered, do these...
The Super Mario Bros. movie that should have been
Attendees of SXSW were privy to a trailer promising a more dramatic version of the tale of the brothers Mario. Now said trailer is online for all to see and we'd be remiss not to bring it to your attention. Joe Nicolosi's take on the Mushroom Kingdom is not only irresistible, it's pretty hilariou...
GameStop, Sony, Ubisoft on the growth of retail in the age of downloads
"We are looking for ways to make money," Sony's senior vice president of publisher relations, Rob Dyer, said at an SXSW Interactive panel about the rise of digital distribution. "We are not looking for a system -- whether it's iPhone, Android, whatever -- that is this wonderful socialist idea...
Ratchet & Clank All 4 One preview: For all
Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One isn't "casual" in the sense that makes gamers cringe. It's not a microtransaction-based minigame collection with friendly avatars. It's "casual" in the universally accepted way: It's fun for anyone who feels like dropping into it, with minimal startup time. All 4...
Angry Birds downloads soar past 100 million across all platforms
During a panel at this past weekend's South by Southwest Interactive conference in Austin, Rovio exec Peter Vesterbacka told attendees that the company's bird-flinging pig terrorizer, Angry Birds, has been downloaded over 100 million times. As Vesterbacka revealed during GDC, more than 30 million...
GLiD wins Independent Propeller Award at SXSW
During an awards ceremony on SXSW's Day Stage, hosts Meredith Molinari and Adam "Atomic" Saltsman revealed the winner of IndiePub's Independent Propeller Award -- GLiD, also an IGF Student Competition finalist. The creators received $50,000 (in novelty check form) and a publishing deal from spons...
Ratchet & Clank All 4 One features 3D
During a SXSW Interactive demo event, Sony let us know that Insomniac's co-op action platformer Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One, will add new depth to its Lombax-tossing action by featuring stereoscopic 3D visuals. You know, as first-party Sony games tend to do. It's like your eyes are playing in ...
Interview: Click here to learn more about Insomniac Click
Insomniac Games made the surprise announcement at SXSW Interactive that a new division would make games for Facebook and other social gaming platforms. The newly hired team is already at work on an unannounced project based on a new IP. I wrangled the two Insomniac panelists, marketing directo...
