<![CDATA[[GameRatty] tag: summit]]> http://gameratty.com/tag/summit Mon, 24 Nov 2008 09:00:53 +0000 iRatty Engine http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss <![CDATA[Microsoft optimistic as Xbox 360 has record Euro month; Sony claims overall lead]]> http://gameratty.com/article/3d7fbb6f90beda1d11e3b7b5baa3c0c8 http://gameratty.com/article/3d7fbb6f90beda1d11e3b7b5baa3c0c8 Filed under: , ,

Speaking at the Reuters Media Summit in New York this week, Shane Kim confessed that Microsoft's Magic 8-Ball is as broken as everyone else's magic crystals, bird baths, mirrors and good old wild guesses have been during these volatile times. The VP was optimistic about the games industry in general, though, suggesting that consumers are "still looking for entertainment," specifically, of the stay-at-home variety. Despite walloping Black Friday sales in the U.S. and a record month in Europe, Kim remained concerned about 2009's outlook. "Who knows, maybe flat performance will be considered a remarkable achievement," Kim prayed aloud. Amen?

Meanwhile, Sony shucked word of Microsoft's dominant November and took a thunderous lead in the back-and-forth shouting match for the European crown. "I am confident that in PAL territories our installed base is 300,000 units ahead of Xbox 360," SCEE president David Reeves insisted to MCV, adding, "No we are not going to go down in price; neither are we going to go down in price on PS3 in spring time either." So there.

Source - Microsoft cautiously optimistic about Xbox sales [Reuters]
Source - Xbox 360 enjoys highest sales month ever in Europe [GI.biz]
Source - Sony: We're ahead of Xbox [MCV]

Microsoft optimistic as Xbox 360 has record Euro month; Sony claims overall lead originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 04 Dec 2008 14:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]> Thu, 04 Dec 2008 11:26:00 +0000 microsoft optimistic xbox microsoft xbox sony claims microsoft cautiously optimistic sony microsoft optimistic xbox sales reuters Microsoft optimistic as Xbox 360 has record Euro month; Sony claims overall lead <![CDATA[Activison Teases Guitar Hero 5, Tony Hawk, Modern Warfare 2, and Bond Racing]]> http://gameratty.com/article/30d1b2604c2ef42779b91e5e569d24f5 http://gameratty.com/article/30d1b2604c2ef42779b91e5e569d24f5 burger-king-guitar-1

Activision Blizzard sure knows how to get the speculation ball rolling, and with this latest bit of teasers and confirmations from the company during yesterday’s Massive Inc. event (advertising summit really) what they had to say is really not much of a surprise.

This meeting basically showcases games that would be great vehicles for in-game advertising, and the biggest one mentioned was one called Guitar Hero 5 (working/speculative title at this point) which was revealed as a screenshot featuring a Burger Kings ad next to the scrolling notes.

ActiBliz also confirmed what we already knew about the upcoming Tony Hawk game slated for an October 2009 release when a spokesman stated: “You’re not going to be playing this game with a controller in your hands”. This, however is old news to gamers who have been in the know regarding a “skateboard type” peripheral which is supposed to come with the game.

Confirmed during the event was Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 for Fall 2009, and while no details were forthcoming on the upcoming Call of Duty title, ActiBliz did acknowledged Bizarre Creations’ “Bond Racing” (no tile was mentioned) style game which would be heading to stores sometime in September 2009. The good thing about this Bond game though, is that there is no movie tie-in associated with it and for fans of racing games, another one is in the works which is being hailed as a “Mario Kart meets Forza”.

So there ya have it. A few teasers, a few confirmations and the expectation that in-game advertising will be prevalent throughout each one of them. Hooray for greed and constantly being bombarded with advertising no matter where you look. Formally known as the American Way, it is now just the way of the world.

(MTV Multiplayer)

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]]> Thu, 04 Dec 2008 09:38:06 +0000 style game game tony hawk tony hawk game bond guitar hero in-game bizarre creations bond bond game Activison Teases Guitar Hero 5, Tony Hawk, Modern Warfare 2, and Bond Racing <![CDATA[Next Tony Hawk won't be played 'with a controller in your hands']]> http://gameratty.com/article/e1ae877f8e06612a67a492f267bb3092 http://gameratty.com/article/e1ae877f8e06612a67a492f267bb3092 Filed under: ,


Though we'll leave the exact placement and nature of the controller for you to figure out, Activision is insistent that the item used to beat the Tony Hawk skateboarding franchise out of it stale stupor won't just be any ol' paddle. "You're not going to be playing this game with a controller in your hands," the company teased at a recent, in-game advertising summit.

We've heard mumblings of a new peripheral before (the new DS game already has a confirmed tilt function), but are no closer to understanding just what the device is and how it works. Our highly educated guess? A giant plastic skateboard. For a skateboarding game. Is that pushing it?

Next Tony Hawk won't be played 'with a controller in your hands' originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 04 Dec 2008 09:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]> Thu, 04 Dec 2008 06:55:00 +0000 tony hawk controller hands in-game game giant plastic skateboard tilt function stale stupor exact placement Next Tony Hawk won't be played 'with a controller in your hands' <![CDATA[In case you were worried, videogame consoles arent dead]]> http://gameratty.com/article/ca060bc6d3891ad4af6f35a1ff7cc552 http://gameratty.com/article/ca060bc6d3891ad4af6f35a1ff7cc552

A while back you may have heard somewhere that videogame consoles were going to “die out” in the next five to ten years or so. Well that just isnt’ so according to Shane Kim, VP of Strategy and Business Development at Microsoft Corp’s Interactive Entertainment Business. In fact the 360 will be around for a good long time, thank you very much.

Speaking at the Reuters Media Summit Kim said, ““This console generation will have a long life cycle. I think it’s way premature to say there will never be another Xbox.” However, even Kim isn’t short sighted enough to see that expansion via the web is serious business. “What’s interesting to think about will be what will define the next generation. It is absolutely a possibility where the next generation is defined by what we can do online rather than the hardware. We can reinvent the experience with the magic of software,” he said.

Oh really Mr. Kim? Could you give us an example of software redefining hardware? NXE? Why yes, that was a perfect segway into speaking about how awesome the 360 is. You truly are a master of words. (Note: I don’t actually know how the rest of his talk went, but I’m guessing it probably mentioned NXE about 15 times.)

]]> Thu, 04 Dec 2008 04:44:06 +0000 console generation kim shane kim videogame consoles generation business business development hardware life cycle In case you were worried, videogame consoles arent dead <![CDATA[Xbox division prepping for tough times, says Kim]]> http://gameratty.com/article/e3b42e01f0fca30e5f10420a914a88f0 http://gameratty.com/article/e3b42e01f0fca30e5f10420a914a88f0 Thu, 04 Dec 2008 04:24:21 +0000 tough times reuters media summit microsofts entertainment unit games industry flat performance york level growth yesterday Xbox division prepping for tough times, says Kim <![CDATA[Bizarre making Bond title for '09, new racing IP is 'Mario Kart meets Forza']]> http://gameratty.com/article/9cb2c158406ea7709d67f6eb205cef92 http://gameratty.com/article/9cb2c158406ea7709d67f6eb205cef92 Filed under:

At a summit held by Massive for in-game advertising, Activision confirmed that Bizarre Creations is working on a new third-person Bond title for release in 2009. According to the Twitter feed of Newsweek's N'Gai Croal (trust us, he's legit), the game is being touted as "racing and driving focused." The executive also mentioned Bizarre's new racing IP, describing it as "Mario Kart meets Forza." It's not much (in fact, it's somewhat paradoxical), but it does hint at a departure from Project Gotham Racing's realism -- relative to Mario Kart!

The executive also reportedly said the next Call of Duty Modern Warfare is due out Fall 2009. We're uncertain if that's confirmation of the next COD's setting or just a glib way of saying "Infinity Ward's COD series." We're reaching out to Activision for clarification on all these statements.

Bizarre making Bond title for '09, new racing IP is 'Mario Kart meets Forza' originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 03 Dec 2008 16:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]> Wed, 03 Dec 2008 13:44:00 +0000 mario kart bond title bizarre third-person bond title bizarre creations forza duty modern warfare cod cod series Bizarre making Bond title for '09, new racing IP is 'Mario Kart meets Forza' <![CDATA[Blitz Games Studios Debuts True Stereoscopic 3D TV Games on PS3 and Xbox 360]]> http://gameratty.com/article/4229f50911748db76f59143972c89cf4 http://gameratty.com/article/4229f50911748db76f59143972c89cf4 dlp-3d-tv

Blitz Games Studios achieves a world-first with the public unveiling of its ground breaking, proprietary technology showing true stereoscopic 3D games running on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 at the 3D Entertainment Summit in Los Angeles.

Andrew Oliver, co-founder and CTO of Blitz Games Studios, is the only game developer to be talking at the summit alongside movie industry executives from Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Group, DreamWorks, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Dolby Laboratories and Real-D.

Blitz Games Studios’ in-house technology demonstrates that current generation consoles can replicate the full HD 3D experience seen in 3D movie theaters with the 3D images ‘popping’ out of 3DTV screens and into living rooms for the first time.

Andrew Oliver, CTO of Blitz Games Studios said:

“This is an incredibly exciting and huge step forward for videogames. Our BlitzTech technology will prove beyond all doubt that we are already doing what some industry experts have said is impossible on today’s game consoles. Our highly tuned engine is capable of producing real-time interactive graphics that are close to offline rendered CG movie quality.

Many TV manufacturers are already selling sets capable of displaying 3D imagery and we envisage that these sets will rapidly gain popularity as content in the form of movies and games becomes available. Our technology allows for our games to run in both 2D and 3D in one version - by simply flicking a ’switch’ between them. It really has to be seen to be believed.”

Oliver states that games are already arguably more immersive than films, but when created in true 3D will be even more immersive.  However, he admits that the games industry still needs to understand design issues and learn lessons from Hollywood studios which are now producing 3D movies in volume for release in 2009 onwards.

I guess this means that the possibility of seeing the womanizing antics of Kratos up close and personal in the near future is not so far fetched. Or imagine, if you will, a rallyracer in DiRT coming out of the screen as if to run you over. Sounds like loads of fun.

(Thanks Kezins)

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]]> Tue, 02 Dec 2008 11:02:15 +0000 games blitz games studios games industry xbox true ps3 true stereoscopic blitztech technology technology Blitz Games Studios Debuts True Stereoscopic 3D TV Games on PS3 and Xbox 360 <![CDATA[In-Depth: The Difficult Birth Of EA's Army of Two]]> http://gameratty.com/article/91cc92f51375804b2bdf58086d5e3b80 http://gameratty.com/article/91cc92f51375804b2bdf58086d5e3b80 [EA Montreal's Army of Two had a high-profile delay before its early 2008 release, and as Gamasutra noted, executive producer Reid Schneider was at the Montreal Games Summit recently to talk about it - as Schneider noted: "Your feature list is not a measure of success."]

The production history of EA Montreal's Army of Two is an interesting one, with the company's decision to delay the game just before its release widely covered in the media.

And during a Gamasutra-attended lecture [thanks, Mathew Kumar!] at the Montreal International Game Summit, executive producer and franchise manager Reid Schneider delved deeper into the game's development.

He shared a postmortem imparting lessons on quality, process and execution for the game, which garnered mixed reviews on its early 2008 debut, but has nonetheless reportedly sold robustly.

Refreshingly, Schneider opened his talk not by focusing on his own personal successes, but by describing his biggest failures -- from working on the "first Game Boy Color game to feature partial nudity," Little Nicky, through Batman: Gotham City Racer, which he called "little more than a mod of Dukes of Hazzard Racing, which did not ever need to be modded."

Keeping On Track

On Army of Two, Schneider explained, the actual production phase was dwarfed by the concepting and pre-production phase, which was "not the right way to do things," even when taking into account the extensive polish phase.

Because Army of Two was intended to be a new IP from an untested studio and was to include what was (at the time) the new concept of an entirely co-op-focused story mode, the team did not know "the exact boundaries of what they were trying to do" and therefore spent "way too long" testing them out.

Though iterative design can have its place, Schneider warned that producers must keep a tight rein on iteration to keep projects on track. "When you have too much iteration with too many people, it can get expensive and unwieldy very quickly," he said.

Creating a productive team culture can also sometimes be counter-intuitive. Going into the project, the strategy was to "minimize team conflicts," but Schneider would now advocate potentially conflicting discourse -- even that which can be seen as being disruptive can be good in the long run, he said.

"Hiring 'disruptive' people is a really good thing," he said, clarifying making a distinction between "disruptive" staffers and "crazy" staffers. "Hiring crazy people is only going to lead to conflict and frustration."

Brutal Honesty: Can You Make The Deadline Or Not?

Returning to Army of Two's unusual production schedule, Schneider cited misplaced optimism for the production phase. "The days of honor badges for shipping games in massively compressed schedules are over," he said.

"If you want to make something triple-A, you need to be brutally honest on if you can do it or not. We work in an industry where miracles never happen, so don't expect one to happen to you."

Teams can no longer get away with releasing titles in compressed schedules, he explained, no matter how innovative the ideas, because innovation is not the defining factor that makes a successful game.

"As developers, we tend to live and die on the field of innovation," he said, "but there is no point to innovation without polished execution. Call of Duty 4's story mode was not focused on innovation, but was executed so superbly it outpaced ours by far.

"When we did a feature-by-feature analysis, we had more and newer features than they did, but their execution was way stronger. Lesson learned."

Feature Lists Won't Win Quality Scores

In fact, it was Schneider's standpoint that execution far outweighs innovation when it comes to a frequently-referenced mark of success -- Metacritic scores.

"Your feature list is not a measure of success," he said. "90-plus Metacritic scores are driven by flawless execution and connecting with your customers in the way that they want." And connecting with customers begins the moment you reveal the project you're developing.

Schneider said that while new IP on next-gen hardware generally has a halo of excitement around it, "you only get one chance to make a first impression. Do not talk about, or show, your new IP unless it is very ready. Because you will end up bruised for the experience."

In closing, the producer reflected on the biggest lessons that he felt he had learned the hard way during Army of Two's production -- the need for a creative director.

"Two years ago I was arguing against the position, but now I know that triple-A titles need precision creative focus, and even then they still assume a huge amount of risk," Schneider concluded. "A producer can not do it all. You will have too many factors pulling on you."

]]> Sun, 30 Nov 2008 05:00:16 +0000 production production history unusual production schedule actual production phase production phase army schneider cited schneider schneider noted In-Depth: The Difficult Birth Of EA's Army of Two <![CDATA[2009 IGF Announces Record Entries For Main, Student Competitions]]> http://gameratty.com/article/4a18b432a5cff5b1da37c9e1324d7b6e http://gameratty.com/article/4a18b432a5cff5b1da37c9e1324d7b6e The organizers of the 2009 Independent Games Festival have announced a record turnout for this year's IGF competition, with a total of 226 entries in the Main Competition (an increase of 30% on last year's 173 entries), and a total of 145 Student Showcase entries (up over 15% on last year's 125 entries).

Information on the 226 separate IGF Main Competition entries, including screenshots, descriptions, and links to official game websites, are now available to view on the official IGF website.

Examples of the entries span already announced indie titles, including Jason Rohrer's Between, alternate reality RPG Barkley Shut Up and Jam Gaiden, visually lush point and click adventure Machinarium, and art-game I Wish I Were The Moon, through previously little-discussed titles such as Pieces Interactive's "first walk'em up" Walkie Tonky, new Nifflas-designed title Night Game, and Lexaloffle's "ecological action game" Conflux.

In addition, the 145 IGF Student Showcase entries are also available for viewing on the official IGF website, with descriptions, screenshots, and official website information.

Again, a great diversity of student-made games with original concepts are showcased, with examples including GumBeat, in which you "...blow bubble gum and gather enough supporters to your cause to topple the anti-gum government", High Moon, a "abstract post-apocalyptic zombie western robot romance in 3 acts", and It's MimeTime, in which "you are a female mime artist in Paris, who must earn as much as possible, by miming your way through an invisible maze."

The IGF judges, which currently comprise notable journalists, indie and mainstream game creators, are now in the process of judging this year's titles. with almost $50,000 in prizes to be handed out, including the $20,000 Seumas McNally Grand Prize.

Finalists will be announced in early January 2009, and winners, as picked by the 2009 IGF judges, will be announced on stage at the prestigious Independent Games Festival Awards on Wednesday, March 25, 2009, at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.

The Independent Games Festival Awards are held along the Game Developers Choice Awards, and both award shows are part of the 2009 Game Developers Conference, which also features a two-day Independent Games Summit, with lectures and panels from the best indie developers.

More information and a full list of entrants for this year's Independent Games Festival is available at its official website.

]]> Wed, 26 Nov 2008 05:00:03 +0000 entries entries span official website information indie information indie developers official igf website independent games festival student showcase entries 2009 IGF Announces Record Entries For Main, Student Competitions <![CDATA[GDC Mobile Announces 2009 Focus, iPhone Lectures]]> http://gameratty.com/article/bd72c7e147f8f1e68d4791c9bf06389f http://gameratty.com/article/bd72c7e147f8f1e68d4791c9bf06389f [Another neat heads-up for next year's GDC here, this time on the mobile summit, which includes the IGF Mobile awards and have fun stuff like iPhone and Android to the fore this year, which should make it a bit more interesting for those not already in that niche.]

Organizers for March 2009's GDC Mobile summit have revealed a focus on emerging platforms such as Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android, as well as initial speakers from EA and Indiagames, for the mobile-specific game event taking place on the first two days of GDC 2009.

The GDC Mobile conference (created by Think Services, who also runs Gamasutra) gathers creators, publishers, technology providers, handset manufacturers, and distributors to discuss the future of the medium.

This year's program will cover six tracks encompassing the entirity of mobile gaming: New Platforms, Game Design, Programming, Deals & Distribution, Production, and Original Innovation.

The lectures announced so far include 'The iPhone Bag Of Tricks,' a hands-on session covering the day-to-day aspects of iPhone development, presented by G3 Studios CEO Guido Henkel; and 'Social Games for Android, iPhone, Java, C++ and Objective C? Where do you fit in?', presented by Pick Up And Play president and CEO Paul Foster.

Other notable speakers announced for the event include EA Mobile Europe marketing director Tim Harrison, Indiagames founder and CEO Vishal Gondal, Amplified Games president and CEO Tom Hubina, and School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Tech associate professor Blair MacIntyre.

In addition, the IGF Mobile competition, which is giving out $30,000 to the most innovative independent mobile games, including a new $10,000 Best iPhone Game award, will have its awards during GDC Mobile once again this year.

GDC Mobile 2009 will take place on March 23rd and 24th during Game Developers Conference 2009, which will run from March 23rd to 27th at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California.

For more information on the GDC Mobile summit and other lecture highlights, please visit the official GDC Mobile 2009 site.

]]> Mon, 24 Nov 2008 09:00:53 +0000 gdc gdc mobile summit mobile summit gdc mobile conference mobile igf mobile competition official gdc mobile gdc mobile mobile europe GDC Mobile Announces 2009 Focus, iPhone Lectures