→ Gamasutra News | 10 Mar 2010 | 10:50pm GMT
At GDC on Wednesday, Electronic Arts COO John Schappert took a break from talking about the continuing importance of disc-based product in order to express disappointment with the legal battle between Modern Warfare developer Inifinity Ward and its parent Activision. "I would just say, I'm sure there are two sides of the story," said Schappert. "[But] I'm disappointed on a couple fronts. ... To think [former Infinity Ward heads Vince Zampella and...
→ GameSetWatch | 10 Mar 2010 | 10:00pm GMT
Released last week on Xbox Live Indie Games by developer MagicalTimeBean, Soulcaster combines three great ideas, hoping to catch your interest with at least one of them: 8-bit graphics, Gauntlet-style top-down dungeon crawling, and tower defense mechanics. As you explore dungeons, discover treasure, and encounter a variety of enemies, your wizard deploys a collection of archers, warriors, and alchemists (each with their own strengths and weakn...
→ Gamasutra News | 10 Mar 2010 | 9:46pm GMT
Ninjabee's art director Brent Fox shared a top ten list of development lessons learned from releasing games on Xbox Live Arcade and other platforms, offering useful advice for other indie developers during his lecture at GDC's Independent Games Summit in San Francisco. Based in Orem, Utah, NinjaBee is best known for creating A Kingdom for Keflings, a kingdom-building title that allowed players to drop their Xbox 360 Avatars into the game as playa...
→ GamesIndustry.biz - News | 10 Mar 2010 | 9:40pm GMT
For this year's GDC 2010 event, taking place all this week, we're using a new system for our coverage which is taking the form of an event blog. Every time we hear something interesting - either formally or less so - we'll post it here, with the latest updates at the top. Updates will include interesting snippets from lectures and panel sessions, any announcements we get wind of, plus the general buzz on the show floor - what people are talking...
→ Gamasutra News | 10 Mar 2010 | 9:26pm GMT
In the rush towards motion control and other intuitive forms of game inputs, we could run the risk of "throwing away our entire history," warns longtime designer Warren Spector. "I think it's kind of weird...that we've sort of said, 'We've go 20, 30 years of people learning how to do this -- sitting on their couch and having a good time, and knowing where the buttons are -- and we're saying 'You've got to stand ......
→ Gamasutra News | 10 Mar 2010 | 9:18pm GMT
The word "gamer" is constantly used as a lifestyle-defining marketing term, with products and services pitched directly to gamers, but that term may well be counter-productive, say IGN president Roy Barat and EA chief creative director Rich Hilleman. "The self-selected 'gamer' tag is a limiting moniker," Hilleman said during the Gamasutra-attended 'lunch with luminaries' event during Game Developers Conference in San Francisco this week. Barat re...
→ GameSetWatch | 10 Mar 2010 | 9:00pm GMT
[In a GameSetWatch-exclusive set of blog posts for the week of GDC 2010, Magical Wasteland blogger and Game Developer magazine columnist Matthew Burns continues his journey through the show. Previously: Part 1.] It’s the first real day of GDC. The surging crowds are at first seemingly counterintuitive to the oft-repeated phrase that the industry is a small place. Just how tiny it is, though, becomes fully apparent as I stand in a hallway seein...
→ Gamasutra News | 10 Mar 2010 | 8:21pm GMT
Microtransactions are still considered an emerging business model in the West, but EA Mobile's Oliver Miao argued that in a couple years, microtransactions could be a necessity for the most successful iPhone games. "Make microtransactions core to your game," Miao said at GDC this week. "Going forward, I think most games are going to need to have them." Miao is speaking from his own personal experience. Miao and Centerscore's mobile game, Survivin...
→ GamesIndustry.biz - News | 10 Mar 2010 | 8:12pm GMT
MySpace has told GamesIndustry.biz that it hopes that its concentrated push into games will emulate the success it's already achieved in the music business. Speaking in an exclusive interview published today, co-president Mike Jones said that his goal is to have up to 60 per cent of users playing games on the social networking site within a year....
→ GameSetWatch | 10 Mar 2010 | 8:00pm GMT
[In the latest of an occasional series of demoscene-related posts on GameSetWatch, AteBit's Paul 'EvilPaul' Grenfell presents a multi-part retrospective on 2009's best demos - continuing with the best 'wild demos' - some of the more out-there efforts from the scene last year. Previously: best demos, best 64kb/4kb intros, and best oldschool demos.] After a bit of a break, I'm back with more of my favourite demoscene productions from 2009. This t...
