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Stories By Jennie Lees

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Gaming

Gaming By Jennie Lees

UK sales charts, September 9-16: Lego leads the board

Despite entering the charts at number three last week, Lego Star Wars II has proved a popular favourite with the British public, rising to snatch the top spot from Dead Rising this week. The rest of the chart follows in similar vein, demonstrating only a slight shuffle from last week's positions. Several Xbox 360 titles are selling well, but the multiformat nature of Lego Star Wars may have tipped it to the top -- that, and it's Lego, man. 1. Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy 2. Dead Rising 3. Saints Row 4. Cars 5. Test Drive Unlimited 6. Dr Kawashima's Brain Training 7. New Super Mario Bros. 8. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories 9. Lego Star Wars 10. The Sims 2
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TV & Movies

TV & Movies By Jennie Lees

Jackson talks about Halo film

Over at Ain't It Cool News, there's a lengthy interview with Peter Jackson, covering the director, script and visual effects for the upcoming Halo movie. Jackson's enthusiasm shines through, and it's clear he's aiming at something better than your average "video game movie": It is original and new and has not been seen before on the screen. It's not Ridley Scott, it's not James Cameron, it's not what we've seen before, but it's something new and fresh and it's cool.The interviewer suggests the concept of an "adult" Halo movie; fortunately, there's an older interview with director Neill Blomkamp to take your mind off the thought.[Thanks, WebPimp]
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Entertainment

Entertainment By Jennie Lees

Dance and cringe your way to a Pink concert

While dance games don't lend themselves well to online competition, this latest gem from Codemasters UK -- promoting upcoming game Dance Factory -- is enough to make anyone bust a move. Almost. By filming yourself dancing, then uploading the video, you could be voted to the top and find yourself at a Pink concert before long -- if you can survive the site's lurid colour scheme long enough to send in your video, that is. Armed with a terrible cameraphone and a drunken mate called Dave, we'll be shielding our eyes and entering; after all, lightweight fun is what dance mat games are all about.[via Eurogamer]
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Gaming

Gaming By Jennie Lees

MMO golf game tees off

Massively multiplayer golf? Yes, you heard us right. Purporting to already have a million players worldwide, subscription-free MMO golf title Shot-Online hits retail stores this week. The game aims to combine the social aspects of MMO games with a serious golf mechanic, though its cartoony graphic style implies a less-than-serious approach.From an outside view, this just looks like a golf game with a bit of social infrastructure slapped on; rankings, communication and levelling your character make a potentially dull sports game something that's potentially engrossing. It isn't true novelty -- the idea of ranking and progression in sports games, as well as competitive multiplayer, date back a way -- but at least it's not elves.
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Gaming

Gaming By Jennie Lees

Gaming by introverts, for introverts

An interesting tidbit dredged up from Raph Koster's presentation at the Austin Game Conference comes via Wonderland: most gamers are introverts. Pardon us while we gasp in disbelief for a few minutes. Koster claims that most gamers fall into the Myers-Briggs types INTJ, INTP, ISTJ and ISTP. With INTJ being a classic scientist, and INTP a classic programmer, it seems as if games really are designed by nerds, for nerds.As Alice points out, what would a game designed by an extrovert look like? How are those of us who have Myers-Briggs types beginning with E catered for by modern games? Perhaps we're more likely to head off to the pub and pay someone else to level our MMO characters -- perhaps we're more drawn to social or casual games -- or perhaps we just don't play at all.
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Gaming

Gaming By Jennie Lees

Innovative controllers rounded up

This article over at bit-tech.net looks at ten of the more offbeat game control schemes -- from bongos and maracas to cameras and dance mats. It's a nice reminder that gaming isn't all "up up down down" and that sometimes you can have a little fun with the controller as well as with the game.Of course, collecting multiple peripherals, one for each game, quickly becomes a hassle -- will next-gen's out of the box accessories render a cupboardful of controllers unnecessary? Or will we see some manufacturers continue to make third-party peripherals because their games simply aren't possible otherwise? Perhaps it'll be a bit of both -- the thought of playing Guitar Hero with a PS3 joypad, or dance games with the Wii, has us reaching for our plug-in accessories already.
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Gaming

Gaming By Jennie Lees

UK sales charts, September 2-9: Dead Rising to top

The UK's fastest-selling Xbox 360 game yet, Dead Rising has rushed straight to the top of the all-format charts this week. Beating popular newcomers Lego Star Wars II and Test Drive Unlimited to number one, Dead Rising's debut means a drop in position for last week's high-rankers Cars and Saints Row. A recent expansion pack means The Sims 2 is unfortunately still glued to the top-ten list.1. Dead Rising2. Saints Row3. Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy4. Test Drive Unlimited5. Cars6. The Sims 2: Glamour Life Stuff7. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories8. New Super Mario Bros.9. The Sims 210. Dr Kawashima's Brain Training
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News

News By Jennie Lees

The 'death of childhood'? Blame games, say UK childcare experts

An open letter in the UK's Daily Telegraph newspaper condemns "junk culture" -- junk food, junk entertainment and a fast-moving culture -- for its effect on children, with sombre phrases like "ruining our children" and "the death of childhood" weighing down its paragraphs. From the letter:[Children] still need what developing human beings have always needed, including real food (as opposed to processed "junk"), real play (as opposed to sedentary, screen-based entertainment), first-hand experience of the world they live in and regular interaction with the real-life significant adults in their lives.A scathing commentary on the evils of modern life -- and what's more, plenty of readers agree that the hands-off parenting enabled by video games is a big problem for today's youth. Perhaps the high profile given to this complaint (a national broadsheet) will open up some serious debate on the matter, rather than give a platform for rabid anti-gaming propaganda to spread to the UK as well.
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Gaming

Gaming By Jennie Lees

Multiverse becoming popular with indie MMO developers

According to this CNET article, MMO development platform Multiverse is becoming a hit. The "talk of the Austin Game Conference", about 100 developers are already signed up for the beta, and while some potential products seem to be going the sword-and-sorcery route, others look more interesting.However, as a commenter at Wonderland points out, Multiverse isn't the only option out there. With a high-profile investor in James Cameron, and plenty of publicity, it's overshadowing products like HeroEngine -- more options for development mean more diverse final products, but the 'indie MMO' space could certainly become quite exciting thanks to Multiverse and its cronies.
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PC Gaming

PC Gaming By Jennie Lees

Try Guild Wars expansion free ... again

The next expansion in the Guild Wars series, Nightfall, is just around the corner -- but for anyone who can't wait until October, NCsoft are running an open preview event on September 22-24. During that weekend, Nightfall will be free to play for just about anyone, regardless of whether you have Guild Wars already.The previous expansion, Factions, had a very successful preview event, so it's no surprise the idea's being repeated. It makes sense for NCsoft to capitalise on Guild Wars' free nature by, well, making it even freer -- if only for a short while. Those of us already resigned to paying monthly for MMOs may find it a nice change to try a new one without cost, but as every hour spent on a free game is one that we have already paid for on another MMO, it's hard to drag us away.
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Gaming

Gaming By Jennie Lees

Video game BAFTA nominees announced

Part of the London Games Festival, the BAFTA awards for video games will help provide some recognition to gaming that's on a par with film and TV -- at least, in the UK. The nominees, announced today, cover a wide range of games -- from popular favourites such as Tomb Raider: Legend and Oblivion to the more off-beat in Guitar Hero and Katamari.Given the way the UK charts have been looking this summer, the mainstream games may well come out top in most categories, though we'd like to see more recognition for other titles. Fingers crossed; the awards are on October 5th.
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PC Gaming

PC Gaming By Jennie Lees

PC gaming "becoming a niche" -- analysts speak

Three analysts are spilling their thoughts over at Gamasutra, examining the state of the PC gaming industry at the moment. With console platforms offering an appealing piracy-free environment, it's no wonder soundbites like "becoming a niche" and "retail spending ... will decline" are springing readily to mind; however, the overall tone is mostly positive.Will the PC market become one of digital distribution, MMOs and casual games only? Analysts disagree; digital distribution has limits, but offers the opportunity for more revenue and profit. MMOs and casual games are on the rise, but the "Games for Windows" initiative may provide a much needed consolidation and marketing effort for PC games in other genres as well.
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PlayStation

PlayStation By Jennie Lees

Sony keynote at London Games Summit, Games Festival hotting up

This October, the London Games Festival will be hitting the UK's capital with a whole bevy of gaming events. (If you're in the industry, or you want to be, that is.) First up, we have the European answer to GDC, GDC London, for the development types -- sessions range from the excitingly-titled-yet-probably-dull "Combat: The Ninja Way" through to a Molyneux special on design inspiration.More a business sort? The Games Summit is up your street, with buzzword-compliant "hard-hitting business content" for all tastes, from ARGs to -- surprise! -- another Molyneux special, this one on Lionhead. The newly-announced Games Summit keynote will be given by Michael Denny of SCEE, focusing on the networked age and digital distribution, which should provoke some interesting thought.Other events in the Games Festival lineup include the London Game Career Fair and the BAFTA Video Games awards (a British Academy Awards, for games, with more swearing). For those of us interested in playing games, celeb-spotting and the slightly offbeat, events throughout the week of the Festival -- 2-7 October -- will hopefully deliver, with a showcase at HMV's Oxford Street branch and a 'fringe' show which both look to be worth attending.
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Gaming

Gaming By Jennie Lees

Video Games Live hits London on November 25th

Those of us this side of the pond may have been reading the various Video Games Live tidbits with a detached air of mild interest, but finally we'll be able to get in on the musical action. The concert of videogame music will be hitting London's Hammersmith Apollo on November 25th, and tickets went on sale last week. We'll be there, so watch out for the Joystiq t-shirt amidst the crowds; now, if only the concert would do a UK or European tour for those of us aware that London isn't the only city on this continent.
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Gaming

Gaming By Jennie Lees

Gamer's Room 101: the argument AGAINST balance

The concept: During the 'Game Design Room 101' session at Develop, several developers brought out props to represent their pet peeves from games. If you've read the novel 1984 by George Orwell, you'll know where the concept comes from. In the UK, Room 101 is a weekly game/talk show presented by Paul Merton, who invites a guest to come on the show who then attempt to convince him that a certain annoyance in their lives should go in the bin, and never be seen again. This seminar (and series of posts) takes a look at certain elements of games that were nominated by the panel to go in the games designer's bin. Conrad and I are going to take opposite positions in the debate.The point: Jonathan Smith of TT Games brought out a pair of scales to represent his nomination -- balance. Balance, according to Smith, is where a developer expressly sets out to tell the player "you can have this much fun", rationing the pleasure out piece by piece.My stance: Balance should go.Conrad's stance: Balance should stay.You decide.
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Gaming

Gaming By Jennie Lees

Develop: Everything you know about MMOs is wrong - apparently

Thomas Bidaux of NCsoft Europe didn't pull any punches with his presentation at the UK's Develop conference. Instead, the MMO giant's director of product development outlined four major ways in which the MMO world will be turned on its head. Or, rather, the 'online' world -- rather than limit himself to MMOs, Thomas talked about online games as a whole.
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Gaming

Gaming By Jennie Lees

Develop: Game design ideas worth stealing

Game development gets accused of stagnation on a near-daily basis, and yet recent games have all featured innovative steps that can appeal to a variety of players. From minor design choices which somehow redeemed a title, to major decisions shaping the entire nature of a game, it's easier than you might think to make a difference. Margaret Robertson of EDGE gave her top picks from the last year or so's crop of games at the Develop Conference; read on for the lowdown.
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Gaming

Gaming By Jennie Lees

UK sales charts, June 4-10: World Cup fever

Football fanaticism? It must be that time of year. Yes, FIFA World Cup Germany 2006 is back on top -- undoubtedly influenced by the big kick-off. New titles Brain Training, Moto GP 06 and Sensible Soccer 2006 debut in the top ten -- and people are still buying Tomb Raider. 1. FIFA World Cup Germany 2006 2. Hitman: Blood Money 3. Tomb Raider: Legend 4. Moto GP 06 5. Pro Evolution Soccer 5 6. Dr Kawashima's Brain Training 7. Sensible Soccer 2006 8. Half-Life 2: Episode One 9. Animal Crossing: Wild World 10. X-Men: The Official Game
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Nintendo

Nintendo By Jennie Lees

Japanese sales charts, May 29-June 4: Mario on top again

New Super Mario Bros is still going strong at the top of the Japanese sales charts this week. With over 330,000 sales -- well over a million, cumulatively -- the title's dominance has well and truly whipped the rest of the charts into submission, with only a small amount of reshuffling since last week:1. New Super Mario Bros. [DS] 2. Brain Age 2 (Kahashima Ryuuta Kyouju Kanshuu: Motto Nouo Kitaeru Otona DS) [DS]3. Brain Age: Train your Brain in Minutes a Day (Kahashima Ryuuta Kyouju no Nouo Kitaeru Otona DS Training) [DS]4. Metroid Prime Hunters [DS]5. World Soccer Winning Eleven 10 [PS2]6. Tetris DS [DS]7. Animal Crossing: Wild World [DS]8. Eigo ga Nigate na Otona no DS Training: Eigo Duke [DS]9. Jikkyou Powerful Major League [PS2]10. Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy in Itadaki Street Portable [PSP]
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Gaming

Gaming By Jennie Lees

Why games suck

When games suck, we tend to blame the developer. This piece by David A. Rodriguez over at Buzzscope tries to shed some light on the development process behind bad games -- helping us figure out why they suck.As with many things in life, it's all about the money -- those who wield it have ultimate control, regardless of how unreasonable or impractical their desires. Rodriguez has a neat explanation: developers aren't artists, but they're in customer service. Whatever the customer wants, the customer gets. In this case, the customer is often the publisher, who wants to make more money by releasing a game that will sell. So, next time you think about picking up that copy of Crazy Frog Racer, remember this article -- and don't.[Via Eurogamer]
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News

News By Jennie Lees

McDonald's in serious games hoax

"Today I'm going to tell you the story of a game so serious that it changed the direction of a company."Grave words indeed, delivered at the International Serious Games Event on Monday. However, as Water Cooler Games explores, the delightful speech about games causing environmental change was, in fact, a set-up.Related to the anti-McDonald's game we reported on back in February, the hoax presentation is a subtle and brave attempt at needling a large corporation, although others at the Serious Games Event may disagree with the choice of platform. Regardless of its (lack of) authenticity, the closing remark from the speech is a noble sentiment: serious software can change the world.[Via Wonderland]
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Gaming

Gaming By Jennie Lees

Kicking up a storm: The Escapist on Blizzard

This week's Escapist is fascinating as ever, dealing with the behemoth that is Blizzard Entertainment. While the pieces looking at the rise of Blizzard and its company culture are interesting enough, the real gem is the World of Warcraft article.Of course, no mention of Blizzard would be complete without WoW these days. However, the game's dominance of the MMO genre means that, as the folks at Terra Nova noticed, no discussion of MMOs is really complete without WoW:For better or worse, WoW is the face of the massive genre. In a very small part of the galaxy, it's a gravity well bending light that passes anywhere near it. When discussing PvP, questing, guilds or class balance, commentators now have a lingua franca: the common tongue of World of Warcraft.When on the hunt for a MMO to play that isn't "just another WoW clone", then, bear in mind that many people are looking at what clearly works for inspiration. We will certainly see games with strange and innovative MMO gameplay, but will they attract the numbers necessary to survive?
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Gaming

Gaming By Jennie Lees

UK sales charts, May 28-June 3: Double top for Hitman

This week's UK charts look suspiciously similar to last week's, despite the impending World Cup. Since we English can't walk down a street without seeing at least five St George's Crosses, perhaps all those who would buy football games are already playing them. Noticeable changes this week are merely the slight ascension of The Sims 2 and the new arrival of Half-Life 2: Episode One at number eight. 1. Hitman: Blood Money2. FIFA World Cup Germany 20063. Tomb Raider: Legend4. Pro Evolution Soccer 55. X-Men: The Official Game6. Animal Crossing: Wild World7. The Sims 28. Half-Life 2: Episode One9. Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis10. Championship Manager 2006
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Gaming

Gaming By Jennie Lees

Carnival of Gamers #15: roll up, roll up!

We've followed the Carnival of Gamers for several months now, and its latest stop chez Kim Pallister is, once again, a treat. With articles on topics ranging from "why E3 sucked" to the next-gen console battle, via an assault on "girl gamer" articles, the subjects are as varied as ever. If you have the time, it's worth checking Carnival #15 out for a cross-section of some of the past month's best games writing.See also:Carnival of Gamers celebrates first anniversaryCarnival of Gamers gets n3rfedCarnival of Gamers rolls on to Virgin WorldsCarnival of Gamers gathers under Slashdot's tent[Thanks, Tony]
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Computing

Computing By Jennie Lees

"Mac users aren't really into games"

This Business Week article laments the lack of games available for Mac, and asks "why doesn't Apple try its hand at building good games for the Mac on its own?". Given Apple's support for Windows as its gaming solution of choice, along with hardware that's not appealing to gamers, we wonder why Apple would bother.Given that the article proposes a novel idea -- PC gamers playing with Mac gamers! -- and also claims that "Mac users aren't really into games" (most of the Joystiq staff would disagree), we're not quite sure that it entirely addresses the current state of Mac gaming. However, it's true that one game does not always make a system a decent gaming platform, and the message is clear -- if Apple wants to get its game on, then perhaps it should set the example.
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Nintendo

Nintendo By Jennie Lees

Japanese sales charts, May 22-28: New Super Mario dominates

Last week we saw the .hack franchise dominating the Japanese charts, but it's all change this week as newcomer New Super Mario Bros. flattens all competition. Just shy of 900,000 sales, it's exceeded the sales of the rest of the top ten combined -- and probably the rest of the top forty. 1. New Super Mario Bros. [DS]2. Brain Age 2 (Kahashima Ryuuta Kyouju Kanshuu: Motto Nouo Kitaeru Otona DS) [DS]3. Brain Age: Train your Brain in Minutes a Day (Kahashima Ryuuta Kyouju no Nouo Kitaeru Otona DS Training) [DS]4. Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy in Itadaki Street Portable [PSP]5. Tetris DS [DS]6. KimiKiss [PS2]7. World Soccer Winning Eleven 10 [PS2]8. Eigo ga Nigate na Otona no DS Training: Eigo Duke [DS]9. Animal Crossing: Wild World [DS]10. Jikkyou Powerful Major League [PS2]
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Gaming

Gaming By Jennie Lees

WoW dominates MMO market share

If you were in doubt about World of Warcraft's popularity amongst MMOs, the updated subscriber numbers over at MMOGChart will set you straight. The pie chart above shows the market share, as of May 2006, of subscription-based MMOs; the huge blue slice taking up 50.6% of the market is none other than Blizzard's behemoth.While a number of smaller games have some slice of the pie, the MMO world is dominated by Lineage, World of Warcraft and Runescape -- the latter has been racking up subscribers recently.
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