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by Published on September 5th, 2012 22:27- Categories:
- PC News
$100. That is much it will cost for users to register to submit their games on Greenlight.
And it’s proved a very divisive issue.
My opinion is perfectly clear – I think $100 is vastly excessive. Whether you agree with me or not depends completely on which side of the following argument you fall on.
On the one hand, you may see Greenlight as another possible route to market for developer startups akin to iOS or Xbox Live Indie Games. If you’re seriously about establishing yourself a full time (or even part time) games developer then $100 is a tiny investment to kickstart your future.
After all, you’ve invested time in this project. You’re committed. You’re telling you can’t find £63? Get out of my face you joker and leave this to those who are serious, OK?
On the other hand, you might see Greenlight as an opportunity for Steam to tap into and empower a whole new universe of untapped amateur talent. If so, then you’ll likely agree with me – the $100 is killing the potential of the service.
Anyone can invest time. Time is free(ish), and we can all go without sleep and food, right? And we can all find $100, can’t we?
Yes, I can find £63 when my daughter’s school shoes fall apart. Or if the fridge breaks. Or if I get a flat on the car. If we haven’t got the money that month, then I’ll ask the Bank of Mum & Dad. I’ll feel like shit about it and dwell on the fact that at the age of 33 I still can’t independently support my family, but I’m not having my daughter go without.
And don’t accuse me of exaggeration – when I get paid each month the first thing I do is pay the largest of the regular bills. That leaves me with pretty much sweet FA. Mrs Ben gets paid a week later. She pays off the next set of bills. Some months we’re left with a staggering low three figure amount to feed the family and live on as human beings for an entire month.
We have a shared bank account. If I forked out £63 to submit a game for possible publication on Steam she would quite literally have my balls off. London is expensive. She’s been made redundant twice since 2008 and earns well below what her qualifications should entitle her to. Sorry about that.
And I’m sorry if you feel £63 is chicken feed. Lucky you. But newsflash – for lots of us it is not.
Which doesn’t matter at all if you see Greenlight as a business opportunity. But I don’t. I see it is an outlet for all of those ideas that sit bottled up in someone’s brain as they scan items on the checkout, sit it queues on the M25 in an HGV or type figures into a spreadsheet.
And I thought that’s what Valve saw it as too. Obviously not.
I won’t argue that a fee or barrier of sorts will likely improve the service. But what I am arguing is that $100 is vastly too excessive. Would $10 not do it? If you’re some joker then even $10 is going to make you think twice about submitting your Wobbly Cock Simulator. That will eek out the chaff.
Yes, those who are really, really dedicated could save up over many months and maybe scrape the cash together. But why on earth would we want them to do that? Is it prerequisite that submitters must somehow prove themselves? Why not have them subjected to a day’s flogging with an HDMI cable and a Krypton Factor test in which they must construct an accurate representation of a Wheatley out of cabbage leaves? Then we’ll know who REALLY gives enough of a toss.
UPDATE: Readers have asked that I clarify again (as was said in our other coverage) that the $100 fee is donated to charity. Though in my opinion that is completely besides the point.
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/opini...nlight/0102370 ...by Published on September 5th, 2012 21:03- Categories:
- DCEmu
Sony's PlayStation Vita saw a dramatic sales spike in Japan this week, more than quadrupling from 9,751 units the week prior to 46,877. The surge was driven by the release of Sega's rhythm action game Hatsune Miku Project Diva F, which shifted 158,009 units and topped the all-formats software chart.
The scale of Hatsune Miku's feat is further underscored by the sheer number of new releases this week, with the top ten almost entirely refreshed. 3DS title Devil Summoner Soul Hackers came in at number two (with a total of 73,690 units) while MAQL's Senran Kagura Burst rounds out the top three with another 3DS release - only just behind Devil Summoner with 70,569.
Other new entries included Neptune V, Gundam Age, Aqua Pazza,Sengoku Basara HD Collection and Rurouni Kenshin.
The full software top ten for the week ending September 2:
01. Hatsune Miku Project Diva F (Sega, PSV)
02. Devil Summoner Soul Hackers (Atlus, 3DS)
03. Senran Kagura Burst (MAQL, 3DS)
04. New Super Mario Bros. 2 (Nintendo, 3DS)
05. Neptune V (Compile Hearts, PS3)
06. Gundam Age (Namco Bandai, PSP)
07. Aqua Pazza (Aqua Plus, PS3)
08. Sengoku Basara HD Collection (Capcom, PS3)
09. Pokemon Black & White 2 (Pokemon, DS)
10. Rurouni Kenshin (Namco Bandai, PSP)
Hardware sales for same period (and prior weeks figures):
Nintendo 3DS: 67,926 (64,921)
PlayStation Vita: 46,877 (9,751)
PlayStation 3: 12,846 (12,243)
PlayStation Portable: 10,918 (10,676)
Wii: 8,038 (8,476)
Xbox 360: 525 (563)
PlayStation 2: 411 (439)
Nintendo DSi: 279 (311)
http://www.edge-online.com/news/vita...uadruple-japan ...by Published on September 5th, 2012 20:56- Categories:
- DCEmu
Total War Battles: Shogun lead designer Renaud Charpentier has slammed the lack of design focus in today's developers, telling us that 70 per cent of games simply do not pass muster as a result.
Renaud's comments followed an impassioned session at Unite 2012 last month in which he and fellow The Creative Assemblycolleagues Nick Farley and Mattijs Van Delden stressed the value of prototyping early on in a project.
"When you look at the market, probably 20 to 30 per cent of the games are confident, and maybe 60 to 70 per cent are not good enough," he told us at the Amsterdam conference.
"Usually, they run. Most of them don't crash - most are competent technically. Most of them look okay or even good, but they play like shit."
It's a bold statement, borne of Charpentier's frustration with development studios' focus on technological progress over gameplay refinement. Too many developers, he believes, fail to recognise the benefit of prototyping gameplay and game ideas early enough in a project to inform other key areas of the development process.
"Their biggest risk is not on the tech, not on the art, it's on the design," he insists. "You have to front-load that: it has to drive many of the other decisions.
"Hopefully that's something we manage to do at Creative Assembly, and that we managed to do with Battles, but it's still something that I think is lacking [in the industry] and it has to change.
"We can't keep releasing games that anyone can tell are not interesting to play after 30 minutes when 20 or 30 people spent two years working on them. It doesn't make any sense.
There will always be ways to squeeze a little more performance out of hardware, find the extra memory you need or render a game object more efficiently, Charpentier asserts - even late in the day - but no developer can make a "turd into a great game to play" in the final three weeks of production. Despite calling for greater weight to be placed on design, however, he still recognises the need for the tools and efficient workflows that will make early-day prototyping productive.
"Is not about writing a 100-page document of design that is totally useless, no one will read and will be out of date by the time they do," he says. "It's about crafting the game.
"For that you need tech that is ready. I've [faced this problem] in previous teams, where I would have wanted to prototype, but the engineer tells you the animation system for combat won't be ready in four months. What do you do? You're blocked. You can't be absolutely sure that certain timings will work, certain controls."
But despite his experience from inside the industry, perhaps Charpentier biggest frustration is from the perspective of a gamer.
"As a player, I hate going through the burden of downloading a game, installing it, rebinding the controller, going through the tutorial, playing another couple of hours and then realising it's ****ing boring!"
http://www.edge-online.com/news/crea...nt-good-enough ...by Published on September 5th, 2012 20:47- Categories:
- Wii U News
The Legend Of Zelda series will be released for Wii U in 2014, a Nintendo Japan source claims, adding that Link's Wii U debut is being developed by the biggest team ever to work on a Nintendo game.
Speaking to Wii U Daily, the source - who spoke on condition of anonymity but seems reliable, having previously revealed in advance Wii U's achievement system and that Nintendo was working on a social network of sorts, which turned out to beMiiverse - claims that the game's visual style will closely resemble that of Wii swansong Skyward Sword.
"Nintendo is sticking to the core values of Zelda, while trying to appeal to a wide range of gamers, casual and hardcore [alike]," the source said. "They feel they've found the sweet spot with Skyward Sword, and they're continuing this approach with the Wii U Zeldagame."
"Hundreds" of people are working on the game, which will have been in development for four years by the time it appears on shelves. Development is being led by Skyward Sword director Eiji Aonuma.
"It'll end up being the most expensive game they've made to date," the source claims. "It's a huge investment for [Nintendo] in money and manpower - this is Rockstar/GTA territory."
The source puts that claim in context by adding that the first test dungeon Nintendo produced, which was set in a forest and ran on early, buggy Wii U hardware, was "bigger than Hyrule Field inOcarina [Of Time]… Its scope and details are unlike anything you've seen in a Zelda game."
While Miiverse will be used to let players leave hints for one another, online multiplayer was never part of Nintendo's plan; despite Wii U's greater emphasis on online functionality, it is sticking resolutely to Zelda's long-established gameplay template. The principal advances, it appears, will be visual.
"They're using a new, state of the art engine that's being built from the ground up in parallel with the game," the source claims. "It's got the most advanced visual features Nintendo has ever made, and includes a lot of thirdparty tech like Havok for physics and rendering middleware from Umbra."
It's little surprise that Nintendo is also ensuring that Zelda makes convincing and unique use of the Wii U's GamePad controller and its built-in screen. "It'll have some [revolutionary] gameplay. It has stuff that would never be possible on any console, and it's not just one cool feature, it's one cool feature after another.
"Each dungeon will offer a different gameplay experience with the tablet controller. It'll be the most innovative game ever - they've got stuff that will be copied by others for years."
Not much of this is surprising; a Zelda game on Wii U was always a given, and designing it as a showcase of the GamePad's capabilities is a continuation of a strategy Nintendo has had in place since the launch of DS in 2004.
But it's the scale that appeals the most, with a huge development team supported by some of the most respected middleware companies in the business. The prospect of dungeons of such scope and size is intriguing, and the source's claims - if genuine, of course - will do much to reignite interest in Wii U after Nintendo's disappointing E3 conference.
http://www.edge-online.com/news/wii-...-source-claims ...by Published on September 5th, 2012 20:46- Categories:
- Nintendo 3DS News
Ace Attorney 5 is headed to 3DS and will be playable at the Tokyo Game Show later this month, according to Japanese magazine Famitsu.
Andriasang brings word that a 15-minute demo will be on the show floor at TGS, which kicks off on September 19. Phoenix Wright returns as the lead character in a game set one year after the events of Ace Attorney 4 and will be joined, Famitsu says, by a mysterious girl in yellow.
Series director Shu Takumi, however, is not involved - he's busy with Level-5 collaboration Professor Layton Vs Ace Attorney. Motohide Eshiro, producer of DS RPG Okamiden, is the game's producer, with Takeshi Yamazaki serving as scenario director and music by Noriyuki Iwadare, composer on Ace Attorney: Trials And Tribulations and Kid Icarus: Uprising.
http://www.edge-online.com/news/ace-...5-revealed-3ds ...by Published on September 5th, 2012 20:31- Categories:
- DCEmu
President Frank Gibeau confirms he has seen new consoles
EA president Frank Gibeau has spoken about the relationship between the market and the console cycle, revealing that his company has 4-5 new IPs in the works for next generation consoles.
The lack of new IP has appalled many in the industry, who say sequelitis is the sickness unto death in a creative medium.
Gibeau, however, feels this is a natural pattern resulting from greater expectations on new IPs to bring something fresh and exciting to games.
"The time to launch an IP is at the front-end of the hardware cycle, and if you look historically the majority of new IPS are introduced within the first 24 months of each cycle of hardware platforms," Gibeau told Games Industry International.
"Right now, we're working on 3 to 5 new IPs for the next gen, and in this cycle we've been directing our innovation into existing franchises."
http://www.develop-online.net/news/4...s-for-next-gen
...by Published on September 5th, 2012 20:29- Categories:
- PC News
Developer-publisher officially ends unpopular anti-piracy measure
In what can only be described as a victory for consumers, Ubisoft has scrapped its controversial always-on DRM for PC games.
It marks the end of a long and painful saga for the company although some observers will be disappointed that Ubisoft does not concede that aggressive DRM is an ineffective anti-piracy measure.
“We have listened to feedback, and since June last year our policy for all of PC games is that we only require a one-time online activation when you first install the game, and from then you are free to play the game offline,” Ubisoft’s worldwide online games director Stephanie Perlotti told Rock Paper Shotgun.
“Whenever you want to reach any online service, multiplayer, you will have to be connected, and obviously for online games you will also need to be online to play. But if you want to enjoy Assassin’s Creed III single player, you will be able to do that without being connected. And you will be able to activate the game on as many machines as you want.”
http://www.develop-online.net/news/4...ways-on-PC-DRM
...by Published on September 5th, 2012 20:28- Categories:
- PC News
Latest update aims to relieve need for porting mobile to PC
The latest update to Marmalade SDK is taking the cross-platform tool to desktops.
Version 6.1 targets Windows and Mac OS X which means a developer can now reach millions more new players through desktop stores.
London-based SDK provider aims to give developers to means to spread their games further and maximise revenue opportunities without the need to port.
The new release also allows developers to mix HTML5 with native platform code, providing greater flexibility to create rich hybrid apps and games as well as improved desktop graphics support and more intuitive manipulation of 3D assets.
“Marmalade SDK 6.1 opens up a new world in terms of reach and revenue potential for game developer,” said Tony Waters, head of SDK at Marmalade.
http://www.develop-online.net/news/4...indows-and-Mac ...by Published on September 5th, 2012 20:26- Categories:
- Apple iPhone
In the past Apple has staggered big product launches, with China having to wait months following a US debut.
But today, China Unicom employees have claimed that the iPhone 5 will launch on the network by the end of the year.
If these rumours of a 2012 Chinese release are true, the iPhone 5 could see the fastest rollout in Apple’s history.
Apple’s last smartphone launch was the iPhone 4S last October which debuted simultaneously in the US, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Japan and the UK. Chinese Apple fans couldn’t get the handset until three months later in January.
Apple is expected to announce the iPhone 5 at a special event on September 12th and it has been hotly tipped that the handset will become available in the US from September 21st.
http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/read/...history/029096
...by Published on September 5th, 2012 20:18- Categories:
- Windows Phone
Windows 8 phones will have a 4.5 inch display and wireless charging.
In a press conference this afternoon, Nokia unveiled its new flagship smartphone, the Nokia Lumia 920.
The phone has superior specs to the previous Lumia, namely a 1.5GHz dual core processor and Microsoft's new Windows Phone 8 operating system.
The dealmaker here may well be the inclusion of wireless charging. Nokia will make its own charging accessories available, including a Fatboy "pillow" unit (pictured below). The phones are compatible with the Qi standard, which means that there should be more public places to charge in the future. It also appears that the technology is built into the handset itself, meaning no need for a special battery cover.
http://www.mobile-ent.biz/news/read/...fficial/019262 ...- Search DCEmu
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