blitz-games-studios
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Blitz Games Studios ceases trading after 23 years, 175 laid off
Blitz Games Studios announced it has ceased trading after failing to secure funds to sustain business. The company, founded in 1990 by pioneering British twins Andrew and Philip Oliver, laid off 175 staff members today, the vast majority of the studio's workforce. According to this morning's statement, senior management will form a new company to house two of Blitz's current projects, noted as being financially self-sustaining. The new company is expected to re-recruit 50 of the 175 employees laid off today. Sniper Elite dev Rebellion is also in "close talks" with management to hire those still employed at Blitz. Blitz Games Studios worked mainly on licensed titles across its 23 years, most notably in recent times on Epic Mickey 2 on Vita, The Biggest Loser games, and Puss in Boots. As CVG notes, Blitz was well known for its active role in the UK indie community, and for hiring and training young talent. Last year the studio tried to resurrect the Dizzy series on Kickstarter, but the campaign failed to gain anywhere near the traction required to fund it.
THQ announces Fantastic Pets for Kinect
What good's a pet lizard if it doesn't morph into a dragon? THQ and Blitz Games will perhaps endanger the welfare of real, ordinary chameleons (color-changing? pfft), tempting children to turn away from their terrariums and step into the world of Fantastic Pets, the so-called "first augmented reality game" for Kinect, coming March 2011. While Fantastic Pets might start off as an utterly domestic pet sim -- kids pick out a dog, cat, horse or lizard -- dedicated pretend care will eventually expand the game's genus well beyond the apparently tame Kinectimals kingdom. The lines between reality and fantasy will blur as players are transported into the gameworld through commonplace camera technology, barking orders as they command their beasts through mini-games and talents shows. Can your kid suspend disbelief long enough to reach the "professional ranks" of the vaunted Pet Trainer? "As you discover your pet's personality and become enmeshed within the world, Fantastic Pets becomes more like a personalized adventure and less like a game," says THQ ringmaster Martin Good. But at what point do you break it to the young man? No honey, unicorns ... They've -- they've never been real.
Kinect algorithm updated by Microsoft to better detect seated players
Worried that Kinect won't work when you're not standing directly in front of it, despite the assurances given by developers? Worry not -- Eurogamer has heard that Microsoft has changed the configuration on the body recognition system, switching a node on the body model from the base of the spine to the back of the neck, allowing for players who put their knees above the waist while playing to be more easily recognized. Previously, individual developers could still edit their own recognition systems in (and the previous version of the system worked just fine for most types of sitting), but this is a change to the base recognition system that Microsoft is building. So it can see you even better. In fact, the way we understand it, a skilled developer could even recognize you in that weird position you used to sit in as a kid, where you put your back on the sofa seat, and hung your head upside down to stare out at the TV during Saturday morning cartoons. No idea what they'd use that pose for, but they could do it.
Report: PS3 going 3-D, 4th dimension untapped
As it turns out, stereoscopic 3-D technology isn't just reserved for the fabulously bored ... of making flat, $1.8 billion-grossing Hollywood weepies. No, 3-D, like "put on those big, goofy glasses" 3D, can be the work of mere mortals. Like these two fellers above, from Blitz Games Studios.In what's been billed as an MTBS exclusive (that's: "Meant To Be Seen"), Blitz has reportedly confirmed that Sony "fully intends" to update PlayStation 3 to support stereoscopic 3-D gaming and Blu-ray watching next year (presumably, in time for Ubisoft's 3-D Avatar game). What's more, MTBS suggests that the ability to upgrade to 3-D via a firmware update could be unique to PS3 (the console is a 4D concept, after all) -- potentially leaving current Xbox 360 owners to endure gaming life in a veritable stone age.Blitz, famous for its trio of Burger King Xbox games, has its hands in the forthcoming movement, developing its own "BlitzTech" 3-D engine, which debuted earlier this month at the 3D Entertainment Summit in LA. Well then Blitz, we can't wait to see it in Hell, er, Hall, Kentia Hall -- next June.[Thanks, Heavytoka]
