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Assassin's Creed competitive killing takes a break
The dense history of Assassin's Creed starts humbly in 2007, with polarizing reviews seeing more potential than anything else in the first game. Still, big sales paved the way for Assassin's Creed 2, which took the franchise into 15th century Italy and along an unbroken streak of bigger, annual releases. The addition of competitive multiplayer for Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood drew extra skepticism around the franchise's expansion, but it endured and grew alongside new assassins - until now.
Far Cry 4: Crouching tiger, hidden Blood Dragon
If there's one game that doesn't quite fit into Far Cry's exotic zoo of flammable locales, it's Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon. The standalone spinoff (often confused for DLC) dragged the franchise's jungle-stalking into a neon cyber-parody of 1980s action, stripping off a serious face to reveal a toothy grin and bulging cheek. Players loved it, and some wondered why that couldn't have been THE Far Cry 3. As much as I like what I've played of THE Far Cry 4, I wonder about a full surrender to Shangri-La, the strange, mystical reflection of the game's "real" Himalayan world. These excursions into Shangri-La are absolutely integrated into the main storyline – not DLC – and spread across five unreal episodes. There may yet be another Blood Dragon, but Far Cry 4 comes with weirdness built-in.
Smaller games 'great candidates' for Xbox Games with Gold
Above: Goat Simulator, coming to Xbox One When mind-bender Braid came to Xbox Live Arcade in 2008, it felt emblematic of a curated platform: a boutique in which unique concepts and independent developers could gain exposure. Now the boutique is long gone and independent games are plentiful, mingling with AAA games right there in the living room, for better or worse. Games like the time-stopping shooter, Super Hot, are now regularly shown beneath lit-up Xbox and PlayStation logos at major press briefings, though they're not typically explored in depth. Instead, the presentation format seems to be cramming every confirmed game into a montage and shotgunning them into the audience. In the years since Braid, independent creations have gone from oddities to commodities, and they're "coming to our console first" – that's how the line goes.
You booze, you snooze in Sunset Overdrive
There's little time for rest in Sunset Overdrive, a ridiculous game that whizzes by like a rock star drinking espresso on a skateboard. You must, must remain in motion – bouncing, sliding, flipping, grinding, hurtling and weaving through a rain of rockets and a gauntlet of gnarled mutants. And that's ignoring the visual chaos of your outfit: red pants, a blue flannel jacket, a tall white bearskin on your head and ... is that a tail?
Project Morpheus dev gives tips for overcoming the 'uncanny VR-alley'
You may be familiar with the Uncanny Valley, the idea that photorealistic human images can cause discomfort because they're the little bit off from the real thing. At GDC Europe, Sony Immersive Technology designer Jed Ashforth put forward what he called the "uncanny VR-alley," the thinking that there's a point where virtual reality becomes so immersive that the things that are slightly off are more likely to bring players out of the experience. It's an issue designers, like those on Sony's Project Morpheus team, are working out how to overcome as VR continues to gather steam at great pace. As you'd suspect, given the youthful state of VR development, there are a lot of problems still to be found as well as still to be solved. With that in mind, below the break you'll find Ashforth's six game design principles for VR development, including thoughts on how to avoid the uncanny VR-alley.
Emotions rise as Tomb Raider goes to Xbox
"The recent decision to release the upcoming Rise of the Tomb Raider as an Xbox One exclusive alienates the majority of the fan base and will ultimately lead to the demise of the franchise." For a vocal group of fans it's not just a business move, but a killing blow. Microsoft's claim to Rise of the Tomb Raider, as an Xbox-only game for Holiday 2015, is incurring the sort of backlash and petition-signing flurry (seen above) that's well known to veterans of the infamous console wars. And it's not even the first time a Tomb Raider sequel has been through this – just ask Sega Saturn owners who had to get a PC or PlayStation if they wanted to a keep their streak of unearthed relics.
The good and bad of early access from Arma 3 dev
Arma 3 was one of the first games to launch on Steam's Early Access program, releasing day-one with the service in March 2013, though the game had already been out in alpha form for a few weeks. For developer Bohemia Interactive, making something in the public eye, with most of its bugs and secrets on display, was a double-edged sword. Early access – on Steam and in general – allowed Bohemia to interact with its community, but the service altered the standard expectations of a new launch, turning a hype bubble into a months-long drizzle. Bohemia Interactive Creative Director Jay Crowe described the dark and light sides of early access development during a panel at GDC Europe. The following offers a lineup of Crowe's observations about the way early access affected Arma 3's classic development and launch cycles.
Coveting my neighbor's house in The Sims 4
I played several hours of The Sims 4 and barely uncovered what it has to offer. There's been a lot chatter about what's missing from The Sims 4, but I think there's already a lot to learn about EA's latest round of cheeky life simulation. "We really invested in the Sims," said Rachel Franklin, VP Executive Producer on Sims 4. "They have big personalities." That seems clear: The latest Sims emote in such exaggerated, wonderfully animated fashion that only an alien could fail to read them. Even when Sims don't react as you would expect, it can lead to fun results. For example, one of my Sims was making breakfast and he set the stove ablaze. His roommate came in like a champ with a fire extinguisher, killing the flames while another roommate squirmed in terror. The Sim who set the fire, however, simply watched with an air of calm and annoyance. As if to say, "You're ruining my fire. You're RUINING. MY. FIRE."
PlayStation Gamescom '14 Liveblog on Joystiq
Glum anti-heroes and glamorous automobiles could come together at Sony's PlayStation briefing in Germany later today. Sony has Evolution's glossy new racer, Driveclub, coming up in October, with several more exclusives – LittleBigPlanet 3, The Order: 1886, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End – in the months beyond. We also expect to see a strong showing from Sony's European developers (got anything ready to show, Guerrilla Games?), third-party publishers and the region's talented independent developers. Join us for all the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3 and Vita announcements right here on Tuesday at 7PM CEST (1PM ET, 10AM PT, 6PM UK).
Turn into a bird and save the world in PS4 game 'Aer'
Aer stands out even though it is accidentally, obviously on-trend: It's a low-poly exploration game set on a series of floating islands, it features a giant owl and it's devoid of combat. Some of these aspects appear in recent notable games, including Secrets of Raetikon, BioShock Infinite, Monument Valley and Fez, but Aer remains intriguing. Even in its early stages, it's fascinating and mysterious – it feels fresh, even in a market saturated with its individual components. "It's kind of funny," Forgotten Key co-founder Robin Hjelte told me at GDC Europe. "It's like, when you have a new car, you always start to see all the new cars. It's been a bit of the same thing: First we started off with, 'Yeah, floating islands. That's a cool setting; we want to do something with this.' And then we were like, 'Oh, boy. Everyone is doing floating islands.'" The same thing happened with the low-poly art style, too, Hjelte said.
Xbox Gamescom '14 Liveblog on Joystiq
With Sunset Overdrive, Forza Horizon 2 and Halo: The Master Chief Collection en route to the Xbox One in 2014, Microsoft is set to have a packed media briefing in Germany today. A focus on AAA exclusives is to be expected, though Microsoft may also strike a balance – much like the new and old architecture of the Gürzenich Köln venue – to highlight its ID@Xbox initiative for independent craft, along with promising new games like Ori and the Blind Forest. Join us right here for all the news and announcements on Tuesday, 2PM CEST (8AM ET, 5AM PT, 1PM UK).
The day after day one: Xbox, PlayStation Gamescom shows today
It's time: PlayStation and Xbox have their Gamescom press conferences in Cologne, Germany, today. Xbox is at 2PM CEST (8AM ET, 5AM PT, 1PM UK), and PlayStation is at 7PM CEST (1PM ET, 10AM PT, 6PM UK). We'll have liveblogs and all the hot news from each show right as they happen. Day one of GDC Europe wrapped up yesterday and it's already giving us plenty to talk about: In the shadow of Gamescom: Germany's game scene struggling to grow up The futuristic perks of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Dear game devs: YouTubers want your Steam codes John Romero: 'I haven't made a shooter since 2000, so ...' Super Joystiq Podcast Special: Gamescom 2014 Day 1 Day two is filled with those press conferences and a few GDC Europe panels, so stay tuned to the Gamescom 2014 news page.
Goat Simulator makes big bucks with 'almost 1 million' sales
Of all the many "simulator" games, Goat Simulator stands out as one of the silliest and craziest to catch heat. That's reflected by the game's sales to date of "almost 1 million," as announced by Coffee Stain Studio's Armin Ibrisagic at GDC Europe this morning. It's no surprise, then, that the studio's now working on bringing the game to iOS and Android. To ram those figures home, Ibrisagic said Coffee Stain made back the money it invested into Goat Simulator in "ten minutes." Perhaps crazier, the game generated more revenue in four months than the studio had made in the previous four years. Goat Simulator represents a surreal and unexpected success for the Sanctum studio, which, as Ibrisagic explained, approached the game as no more than a light-hearted change of pace after working on a far more serious tower-defense series for years. The moment Coffee Stain realized it had to make Goat Simulator into a real game was when its debut trailer racked up a million views. The studio diverted all employees to working on it and rapidly started adding content to it ahead of its - no kidding - April 1 release. That extra content included a giraffe - after all, according to Ibrisagic, all animals are goats. [Image: Coffee Stain Studios]
How to (not) make a slumber party video game
When you think of slumber parties and gaming, you might mull over slumber parties involving video games, but you're unlikely to think of the reverse. While there are examples frittered around here and there, like Sleepover Party and the much maligned We Dare on the Wii, slumber party video games represent a genre - if you can call it that - which hasn't been explored properly. At least, that's the feeling of KnapNok Games' Lau Korsgaard, one of the designers of the 2013 Wii U downloadable Spin the Bottle: Bumpie's Party. If you've not played it, the above trailer summarizes Bumpie's Party neatly. Two to eight players take turns to spin a virtual bottle on the Wii U Gamepad, and the players selected have to complete one of many physical challenges. Things like pushing Wiimote buttons with your noses, or holding controllers behind a friend's back while both of you try to jump in sync - you get the idea. If you're wondering what the inspirations for Bumpie's Party's unusual design are, Ubisoft's We Dare was a big influence... but not for good reasons.
Gears dev: Hard data, human wisdom both vital to fine-tuning games
Data analysis is growing into a huge, more readily-available tool for game developers, but Epic Games Senior Designer Jim Brown delved into his studio's past struggles with data to warn GDC Europe attendees about misreading the swaths of information appearing on their screens. "You need to provide that context," Brown said, "which means that you need to have design skills, and in order to get the right answers, you need to ask the right questions."
John Romero: 'I haven't made a shooter since 2000, so ...'
John Romero is working on a shooter for the first time in 14 years. Romero made the announcement on Monday night's recording of the Super Joystiq Podcast Gamescom Special, alongside special guests Mike Bithell and Brenda Romero. Here's how it went down:
Dear game devs: YouTubers want your Steam codes
Mike Rose of industry insider site Gamasutra's "How to Get Your Game Covered by YouTubers" presentation at GDC Europe 2014 held many solid takeaways, but it was the follow-up to the first question he received about paying YouTubers for coverage that held some surprising details. Rose, who surveyed 141 YouTubers for his presentation data, noted that as someone from the written press it's hard for him to admit the sales spikes that come from written gaming articles don't even compare to those caused by top YouTubers. However, he's not out of a job just yet, as the data shows YouTubers with over 5,000 subscribers found the games they decided to cover from video game press sites.
Toy Soldiers: War Chest brings rainbow doom to the diorama
War is an unrelenting gauntlet of hell, I think, watching a band of heavily armored rainbow ponies spill over a grassy field. Bursts of mortar fire end their horror-trotting advance, but the opposing men can't replenish the ammo quickly enough to stop what's next. A shadow crawls over the European countryside, darkening the prospects of all who look up to see a great, looming doom. It's a castle floating on a cloud, primed to end the war with a devastating slash adorable glitter-nuke.
Award-winning Monument Valley recouped costs in one week
Monument Valley, winner of an Apple Design Award and an all-around beautiful brain-buster, made back its development costs after just one week on the App Store, Lead Designer Ken Wong said during a presentation at GDC Europe. Even though it's a $4 app and it launched alongside other premium games, including Hitman: Go, FTL and Leo's Fortune, Monument Valley crested 1 million sales within four months. "Now, that doesn't make us rich by any measure, but we made our money back and it means that the team can stay together and make another creative, crazy project with complete creative freedom," Wong said. "This is all we ever really wanted, not to get rich, but to be sustainable."
In the shadow of Gamescom: Germany's game scene struggling to grow up
Germany hosts the world's largest annual gaming convention, Gamescom, which last year drew 340,000 attendees and 635 exhibitors from 40 countries. Gamescom kicks off again this week in Cologne for what is sure to be an even bigger, sardine-packed public weekend. For these few days, it feels like Germany is the place to be for video game developers – and then the show leaves, exhibitors return home, and German studios large and small face the realities of operating in a country still in game development puberty. Germany's video game industry is finding its footing economically and socially, and there's a quiet undercurrent of discontent among developers. Things are getting better – states in Germany offer a handful of programs for studios to find funding, though these trail behind the support seen in countries such as France, Finland, Sweden, Canada, the UK or the Netherlands. "The German government is clearly not doing enough to support our industry," says Timo Ullmann, CEO of Dead Island 2 developer, Yager. "But our local governments – Berlin, Bavaria, Hamburg – are much further ahead of things and have identified our industry as an important partner. However, there is always room for improvement. There are simply not enough projects being run in Germany to support a greater number of studios and developers. And that is what we would need in order to have a more flourishing scene. Eventually we will get there over time, but I am unsure how to fix it."
