BAFTA has revealed plans to take its successful Games Awards to the US as part of a major push to grow its presence and membership across the Atlantic.

The charity, whose film awards are recognised as the British Oscars, plans to launch its US games branch in Hollywood on June 5, at an event celebrating the career of Sims creator and Academy Fellow Will Wright.

Speaking exclusively to GamesIndustry.biz, BAFTA COO Kevin Price said: "Having grown our Video Games Awards year on year in the UK since 2006, we now plan to take these Awards to a truly international audience.

We will expand our events programme to the US and then take the Awards, either in part or in their entirety to the US
Kevin Price, BAFTA
"The first step in this journey is to invite video games members from the US into BAFTA. We will then expand our events programme to the US and then take the Awards, either in part or in their entirety to the US".

The Awards are currently an annual event in the UK, with this year's ceremony held in March at London's Park Lane Hilton.

In a release issued this morning to announce the US launch, BAFTA further confirmed it would form an LA-based video games committee to "represent its activities in America and feed directly into the London-based committee".

Will Wright will be interviewed for BAFTA: Life In Pixels, the first in a new series of events reflecting on the lives on gaming greats. The event, due to take place 5pm PST at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood, is supported by IGN and Best Practices Laboratory, and has been timed for E3 week to boost the charity's new membership drive.

Price added: "With a 64-year history and global recognition as an international awards body, BAFTA is perfectly placed to set the global benchmark for creative excellence in video games".

A limited number of games industry tickets are available to the Life In Pixels event by contacting [email protected].

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...rds-head-to-us ...

A new survey by Goo Research has found that concerns over price is the primary reason for low sales of the 3DS in Japan, followed by current satisfaction with the DS/DSi.

Although the 3DS initially broke records in Japan, weekly sales quickly began to drop and the hardware currently sells approximately half that of the best-selling PSP format. Sales in the West appear to show a similar drop-off.

According to a translation by website Andriasang, the new survey polled 1,110 people - with a 60.5 per cent split towards females - and asked them why they had not yet bought a 3DS.

The number one reason given was that the price is too high or that they are waiting for a price drop. The second most common reason was "satisfied by DS/DSi", followed by "worried about eye strain", "worried about getting sick from the screen", and "few launch titles".

The sixth most common reason was "will buy once a game I want is released", followed by "satisfied by cell phone and smartphone games", "satisfied by PSP", "the battery is weak", and "it's heavy and I don't feel like carrying it with me".

All of the most popular reasons are commonplace complaints for the system, but Nintendo has given no indication of any possible price drop. A number of new titles are expected to be announced at E3 next week though, at which point the online features, including the eShop, will also be activated.

A previous survey by Goo Research in March, just after the 3DS's release, asked the question "What game system will you buy next?", with the 3DS beating the NGP by 14,668 votes to 5,200.
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...-claims-survey ...

Middleware company Tapjoy has complained that Apple's ban of "pay per install" promotions is adversely affecting its business and that of a majority of iOS developers.

Despite talks between Tapjoy and Apple the ban was put in place over concerns that developers were paying Tapjoy, via its propriety monetisation platform, to boost their game's ranking in the list of top 25 apps.

With a pay per install app a user is incentivised, usually with the promise of in-game currency, to install another unrelated app. The developer then shares the revenue with the original app that promoted the use.

Tapjoy's argument, that incentivised promotions are commonplace and that they allow developers to create a more stable and predictable business, were not accepted by Apple.

According to website VentureBeat, an attempt by Tapjoy CEO Mihir Shah to institute a compromise, where a cap prevented developers from unfairly breaking into the top 25, was rejected by Apple.

Publisher Glu Mobile has also voiced concerns that its business model could be severely affected, with eight times more developers reporting a decrease in usage following the policy change than those that experienced an increase. This ratio increased to 15 to 1 in terms of revenue declines.

A Tapjoy survey of developers also showed that almost half had begun to receive large numbers of complaints from customers at the sudden inability to earn in-game currency from installing other apps.

The ban of promotions is part of Apple's ongoing attempt to improve the fairness of app rankings. Although actions such as the re-weighting of chart algorithms have generally occurred without comment or explanation.

A dependence on a single format has also caused problems with other casual developers, with Applifier admitting that an over reliance on Facebook has caused problems, while even Zynga has been criticised for not expanding beyond its primary platform.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...n-hurts-tapjoy ...

As much as 40 per cent of activity on the Xbox 360 is related to non-game entertainment according to Microsoft, as the company plans to reposition the Xbox as a more general entertainment brand.

Writing on the official Microsoft Blog, corporate vice president Frank Shaw claimed that the console saw an average of 30 hours of "video consumption" per month.

Although the figures are likely to relate only to North America, and are primarily due to the Netflix service, Shaw uses the examples as evidence that "Xbox = entertainment".

"The vision for Xbox is straightforward: all of the entertainment you want. With the people you care about. Made easy", says Shaw.

"That is why you'll see Xbox marketed more as an entertainment brand this year. And that is why we're investing so much in natural user interface technologies (speech, touch, gestures) to make the entertainment experience that much easier-and more fun," he adds.

"With Kinect, we've made NUI real for millions of people, and we've only begun to scratch the surface of what's possible."

Microsoft is widely expected to focus on the Kinect motion controller at E3, with games for both core and casual audiences.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...tainment-brand ...

NATO leaders have been warned that Wikileaks-loving 'hacktivist' collective Anonymous could pose a threat to member states' security, following recent attacks on the US Chamber of Commerce and defence contractor HBGary — and promise to 'persecute' its members."
From the article: "In a toughly-worded draft report to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, General Rapporteur Lord Jopling claims that the loose-knit, leaderless group is 'becoming more and more sophisticated.' and 'could potentially hack into sensitive government, military, and corporate files.

http://politics.slashdot.org/story/1...cute-Anonymous ...

Researchers have identified a second large batch of apps in the Android Market that have been infected with the DroidDream malware, estimating that upwards of 30,000 users have downloaded at least one of the more than 30 infected apps. Google has removed the apps from the market. There are at least 34 applications that researchers have found in the Android Market in the last few days that had a version of the DroidDream malware dropped into them. Once a user installs one of the infected applications, the malicious component, which researchers have dubbed DroidDream Light, will kick in once the user receives an incoming call. The malware then gathers some identifying information from the phone, including its IMEI number, IMSI number, packages installed and other data, and then sends it off to a pre-configured remote server."

http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/11/...Android-Market ...

E3 is, unfortunately for most of you, an industry-only event, but Sony seems to be making every effort to bring the show to you.

The platform holder has confirmed that it will stream its entire press conference via a "special screening room within PlayStation Home".

As Sony explains: "The press conference, which will be the first ever live streaming press event in PlayStation Home, will show Jack Tretton, President and CEO of SCEA, on stage as he unveils exclusive, never-before-seen footage of new titles across Sony Computer Entertainment's suite of platforms and reveals all of the major announcements the company will make at the E3 expo, taking place June 6 through 9 at the Los Angeles Convention Center."

The show kicks off on June 6 at 5 p.m. PT (1am BST, June 7).

PlayStation Home users will also be able to have a look around a detailed virtual replica of Sony's inevitably enormous E3 show floor booth. "At the start of the show on Tuesday, June 7 at 12 p.m. PT, when users login to PlayStation Home, they will be invited to visit the virtual booth," explains Sony.

"Once inside, users will be able to tour a detailed replica of PlayStation's E3 booth earning exclusive virtual items at each area as they check out the content showcased on the show floor, including a 3D render of PlayStation's Next Generation Portable (NGP)."

There's more: "Once their tour is complete and all virtual items have been unlocked, users will be awarded access to the upstairs VIP area that will showcase specific PlayStation Home content, including the first level of the never-before-seen upcoming Scribble Shooter game as well as a virtual item package that features companions, furniture and ornaments."

So you'll be right there with us when, we pray to the heavens, Sony reveals that the NGP's real name is NOT Rita Sulliva... we mean 'Vita'.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...VG-General-RSS ...

Darksiders II has made its first official public appearance, via the cover of US retailer mag Game Informer, which features cover art drawn by comic book luminary Joe Madureira.

"Fans of the first Darksiders are already familiar with Vigil's fiction - the eternal war that rages between the forces of Heaven and Hell," the mag says. "With Darksiders II, Vigil looks to deliver a richer experience as players explore more dungeons, talk with a variety of NPCs, and experiment with a detailed loot system.

"The horseman War has been sidelined, so it's up to his brother, Death, to travel through the world of the Abyss and attempt to restore humanity after its destruction during the Apocalypse."


Speaking to CVG earlier this year THQ core games boss Danny Bilson suggested that Darksiders 2 will be bigger than the first.

"[Darksiders] did about twice as much as Red Faction," he said. "It's done pretty well. I believe that franchise building isn't about a zillion units out of the gate, it's about building a fan base, building a community of people that dig it, listening to them, doing what you think is good...

"The second one will be twice as big as the first one and the third one you get to big numbers. That's my strategy."

More details on the THQ sequel should arrive at E3 next week. Stay tuned.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...VG-General-RSS ...

New version of popular engine promises to deliver console quality on Sony handheld
Trinigy has made the NGP version of its Vision Game Engine available with immediate effect.
The tech, which its makers have staked a claim to as the first available game engine for NGP, offers a modular architecture, and lets users work with the same tools and workflow they use to develop titles for all other Vision supported platforms and services, such as PS3, Xbox 360, Wii and Windows.
The Vision Game Engine for NGP also includes a wealth of new tailoured features for the Sony handheld that harness its GPU cores, as detailed below.
"With the Vision Game Engine, developing a graphically rich, highly immersive game for NGP is no different than building a game for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, or PC," said Dag Frommhold, managing director at Trinigy.
"Because of the Vision Game Engine’s flexibility, developers can use the same tools environment, the same asset types, the same game code, and many of the same graphical effects, which is an incredible advantage in an environment with so many different development platforms."
As detailed in a statement to the press, key Vision Game Engine for NGP features include:
• Familiar editing environment and toolset – access the same tools, the same asset types, the same game code and many of the same graphics effects across all supported platforms
• Optimised character skinning system for NGP – allows for efficient rendering of detailed characters with very high polygon and bone counts
• Full support for cross-platform and platform-specific texture formats – offers a straightforward workflow and easy porting of existing content, while providing high-loading performance and platform-specific content optimisations, where required
• Multithreading system – takes full advantage of NGP’s CPU cores for animations, mesh deformation, particle simulation, physics, visibility determination, and more
• Highly efficient rendering – efficient rendering system minimises CPU load
• Optimised shader/shader constant handling – includes full cross-platform compatibility
• Comprehensive support for NGP’s user interface – includes multi-touch as well as support for dual analog sticks
• Fully featured graphics technology – includes normal/parallax maps, specular maps, dynamic lighting, post-processing effects and more

http://www.develop-online.net/news/3...ngine-released ...