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Recommended Reading: The genetics of better beer
You Want Better Beer? Good. Here's a Better Barley Genome Adam Rogers, Wired The beer industry certainly isn't hurting for money these days, but a group of scientists are trying to figure out how to make the beverage even better. They're doing so by breaking down the genome of barley, a key ingredient in the brewing process that that turns starch into sugar for yeast to transform into alcohol during fermentation. Wired has the story of how the geneticists could be on the way to improving suds for all of us to enjoy.
'Oddworld' creator on how customer feedback changed gaming
When Lorne Lanning released Abe's Oddysee, the 1997 hit PlayStation and PC platformer, "most people didn't know what 'www' meant." Nineteen years later, the world has changed, and the video-game industry with it. Abe's Oddysee was the first title set in Oddworld, a fictional universe Lanning has devoted his career to. He followed it up the next year with a sequel, Abe's Exodus, and released Munch's Oddysee in 2001 and Stranger's Wrath in 2005. During this time, the internet developed significantly, but developers had yet to learn how to use it to their advantage. Lanning and I sat on the floor of a busy conference center, surrounded by developers, fans, other journalists and "terrible, terrible live music." We were supposed to meet to chat about Soulstorm, a follow-up to 2014's Abe's Oddysee remake New 'n' Tasty. Sadly, we're stuck talking around that piece of news, as just a week before our meeting the decision was made to delay the formal unveiling of the game. Luckily, Lanning is nothing if not loquacious, and we talk about the changing state of the industry over the past two decades.
'Oddworld' goes dark with sequel 'Soulstorm'
The Oddworld games have always had something to say about the world we live in, but despite tackling themes like environmental destruction at the hands of ruthless corporations, the games themselves were pretty bright and colorful. Oddworld: Soulstorm could change that. Soulstorm picks up immediately following the events of last year's New and Tasty remaster of the first game and sees returning protagonist Abe leading some 300 liberated Mudokon brethren through the desert.
New Oddworld game in the works, may be 'years' off
It's been more than three years since we last frolicked about in Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath, but according to Maxis co-founder Jeff Braun a new game set in Lorne Lanning's Oddworld universe is currently in the works. According to Wilfrid Laurier University student newspaper The Cord Weekly, Braun confirmed his involvement with developers Oddworld Inhabitants on the project during a presentation at the school earlier this week.Few details were revealed about the upcoming game, though Braun noted that the title will feature a "revolutionary new 3-D animation system" and "cinematic quality on a '1 to 1 scale' to that of computer-generated motion pictures," adding that the same assets could be used to create both a video game and film version in parallel. This isn't the first time talk of CG features and Oddworld have been mentioned in the same breath, with Lorne Lanning himself refocusing his company in 2005 to create both games and accompanying CG movies, the first of which was announced a year later as Citizen Siege. However, as that title has yet to see the light of day, it doesn't exactly surprise us that Braun admits that the next Oddworld release could be "years" away from seeing retail shelves, and may even be released in an episodic format when it's all said and done.
Citizen Siege: Oddworld studio's new game & CG film project
Lorne Lanning has confirmed that work has begun on Citizen Siege, the new project from his Oddworld Inhabitants studio. "Citizen Siege was conceived as a game and film from the very beginning," Lanning told GamesIndustry.biz, revealing that John H. Williams will produce the CG animated feature, and Lanning himself will direct. The game concept is currently being shopped around to publishers.Lanning is interested in merging the game and film mediums, hoping that Citizen Siege will become a reference point for future ventures. The idea is that both parts are created simultaneously, influencing each other's courses; rather than one providing the basis for the other. While doing so, it will be important for Lanning and has team to create the right distance between the game and movie. If the finished products demand consumers invest in both, Citizen Siege will have lost a huge chunk of its potential demographic; the group that exclusively watches films -- and does not play games.
God of War's Jaffe inspired by Britney vs. Christina
Sure you knew that God of War was inspired by Clash of the Titans and Raiders of the Lost Ark, but did you know that Christina Aguilera influenced its development as well?In an interview conducted by Lorne Lanning for a session at GDC last week, David Jaffe revealed that thinking of (the workplace tension between him and) his lead programmer during a Christina Aguilera song about Britney Spears helped him get the game to work.So identifying with the arguably lesser end of the Christina-Britney rivalry helped Kratos make it out of development hell? Sounds like a surefire way to create a hit game! We also take it then that the song in question wasn't "Genie in a Bottle," 'cause that would've made for one interesting unlockable costume for our marked man. Cameo in the sequel, perhaps?[Britney 'n' Christina pic found via an old BBC MTV VMA story found here]See also: David Jaffe, blogger extraordinaire, WRU?!? God of War 2 GDC video leaked online Budget power from the Gods, under the hood
