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Double Fine made this bizarre and hilarious prototype for a Kinect adventure game
Double Fine's Tim Schafer was the guest of honor last evening at New York University's Game Center, joining Zynga New York's creative director (and NYU professor) Frank Lantz for an "Inside the Gamer's Studio" conversation. Schafer, however, brought more than just good conversation. He showed off two separate versions of a prototyped game that Double Fine ended up shelving. The prototype, for no reason at all, is dubbed "*Specs."In the first video (seen above), rudimentary concepts for the game are introduced. Two convicts sit in a prison cell, a shiv on the floor between them. The player character isn't one of the two convicts, or even the shiv, but instead a possessed amulet that's using its power of influence to guide the actions of those around it (inanimate objects included). As it turns out, one of the two convicts has said amulet in his hand when the prototype kicks off.The two emotions that the amulet can produce – love and hate – are represented by blue and red cursors on-screen, each mapped to one of your hands. With just two emotions, a handful of set pieces to interact with, and a Kinect, a variety of potential outcomes with varying levels of hilarity ensued.*Double Fine senior gameplay programmer Anna Kipnis explained the name via Twitter. "We name prototypes after Chinatown bars at DF (running out of bars now)," Kipnis said, in reference to San Francisco's Chinatown. "Psychonauts was Li Po. Brütal Legend was my favorite bar in Chinatown, Buddha Bar." So there's that! This is "Specs."
New York University introduces MFA in 'Game Design,' starting fall 2012
New York University's Game Center, already a bastion of game development in the Northeastern US, announced this week that it will open a Master of Fine Arts program for "Game Design" in fall 2012. The Game Center's blog revealed the new program this week with a tentative description of the program's offerings and faculty, pinning names like Frank Lantz and Eric Zimmerman to the staff. The two-year program is said to focus on "game design, game programming, visual design for games, and game criticism." Wait, "game criticism?" According to the MFA program's website, students can focus on criticism for the game design degree, "which means writing about games with a focus on game design and player experience." The site further adds, "A student with this focus will be well-prepared to become a game journalist or critic, a theorist or researcher, or a scholar or historian." There is no mention, however, of the crushing debt you'll be unable to pay with a game journalist's salary. We kid! Regardless, between creating individual projects and working in groups, the NYU MFA program intends on educating future game devs in a wide variety of disciplines, across a varied spectrum of virtual platforms (from social to console, and everything in between) -- even game journalism, it would seem. Interested parties can find out more info through NYU's graduate program portal, but you'll probably want to read this FAQ first. That thesis sounds like a doozy!
Watch Valve's Erik Wolpaw lecture on Portal 2 development, nixed ideas
If you missed Valve writer Erik Wolpaw's talk on Portal 2 at New York University's Game Center lecture series event last Thursday, don't worry -- we've got you covered. NYU has uploaded the entirety of Wolpaw's massive, hour-plus talk and the Q&A session that followed in video form (which we've embedded below the break). Grab a drink and relax -- you can put that notebook away. There won't be a test or anything.
Free film series at NYU Game Center kicks off tonight
If you live in the New York City area and still haven't visited NYU's Game Center for one reason or another, well, we're very disappointed in you. Luckily, several upcoming opportunities to head down and geek out amongst colleagues were announced on the Game Center's blog, starting tonight with a screening of short film "Play!" at 7PM EST. Subsequent film screenings -- in the theme of gaming, as you might imagine -- are scheduled to follow in March and April, with "I Got Next" closing out the film series on April 14. If the screenings themselves aren't enough, some of the films will feature a Q&A with that night's director. And hey, if that still isn't enough, there may be free refreshments. But you don't wanna be that guy, do you? A full listing of the film series can be found after the break.
Drop7 dev Area/Code becomes 'Zynga New York'
New York City-based developer Area/Code Inc. is the newest part of Zynga's growing family. The studio will henceforth be known as "Zynga New York." Zynga chief game designer Brian Reynolds announced as much on his Twitter account, welcoming the new studio into the fold: "Introducing Zynga New York! Welcome to the family Area/Code!" A piece on Area/Code's website celebrates the acquisition, also confirming that Frank Lantz will stay on as creative director and Demetri Detsaridis as general manager -- co-founder Kevin Slavin seems to be out of the picture, with a comment stating he "remains nearby but focused on other new ventures." A statement from Zynga on its website echoes Area/Code's excitement."We recognize great talent, and Area/Code shares our passion for building lasting games that bring family and friends together for fun," it reads. Allow us to ask the first logical question, if you will -- when will Drop7 appear on Facebook?!
SpyParty dev details his Blizzard-inspired 'depth first' approach
Speaking to a packed room at New York University's Game Center last week, developer Chris Hecker -- a man perhaps best known for giving ... impassioned rants -- detailed his "depth first, accessibility later" approach to development of his latest project, SpyParty. The game is a twist on the Turing Test: one player is "the Spy" while the other is "the Sniper." The Spy must complete a set of objectives without being spotted, while the Sniper looks on and tries to pick out who the Spy is from a group of NPCs (and then murder that Spy) before the time runs out. How does the sniper spot the spy? By paying attention to a variety of "tells" -- from the subtle (a human Spy's order of actions may differ from an NPC's) to the "hard" (catch the Spy covertly slip an object to an NPC). As Hecker is keen to point out, SpyParty is a game about human interaction. "You have to decide where you're going, go there and don't look back (basically). Of course, I also make the NPCs fidget occasionally, just to fuck with people," Hecker revealed to a laughing audience. "And that's interesting -- that interplay ... I mean, it's an inverse Turing Test at a certain level." %Gallery-107897%
NYC: Come play SpyParty with Chris Hecker at NYU
Back at PAX, game developer Chris Hecker had his innovative project, SpyParty, on hand for showgoers to try out. Justin loved it, and now those of us in the Northeast who couldn't make it to Seattle earlier this year will be able to get our hands on it, as Hecker is holding an open play session today at New York University's Game Center (not to be confused with Apple's virtual Game Center). From 1–7PM, Hecker will host the hands-on session in the Game Center's Open Library at 721 Broadway, followed by a talk about the game wherein he'll ask for player feedback and discuss development. He'll also be interviewed by Game Center director (and Drop7 creative lead) Frank Lantz. Hecker says this will be "the last playtest for awhile," so we'd suggest jumping on the chance while you can. And if all that wasn't enough to entice you, yes, refreshments will be served. Head past the break for all the specifics (and the gorgeous full-size art for the event).
Witness 'The Metagame' in action, thanks to MTV
It ran at GDC 2007; we reported on it, but you didn't get to see it. Now, MTV has hosted a special edition of The Metagame game show, as part of their "Gamer's Week" Coverage, and Stephen Totilo has posted the highlights for mass consumption.The Metagame, designed and hosted by Frank Lantz of area/code and Eric Zimmerman of Gamelab, pits two teams against each other in a battle of video game smarts. Each round, teams move pieces on the game board to form comparative statements between two games (such as "Halo would make a better movie than Half-Life," or "Virtua Fighter is sexier than Super Mario 64."), and argue these statements to earn points. Vying for victory this time are MTV's Stephen Totilo and Tim Kash, versus Newsweeks' N'Gai Croal, and fellow journalist Heather Chaplin, author of Smart Bomb.The debate is heated, hilarious, and only the slightest bit pretentious. We'd definitely enjoy watching more designers, developers, and press-members argue the semantics and specifics of the industry's most influential games. Any chance of picking up the show full-time, MTV?Update: Due to silly legal restrictions, the video posted above is not viewable in the UK or Canada. Apologies for any confusion or irritation this might cause.
