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AIAS Awards and DICE sessions now available on Xbox Live
If you couldn't make it out to Vegas for the DICE Summit earlier this year (and our in-depth coverage wasn't in enough depth for you), worry not -- Xbox Live has your back. By going to the GamerTV channel in the Video Marketplace, you can watch parts of the Academy of Interactive Achievement awards show, as well as highlighted sessions from the summit for free. Interactive entertainment-related sessions from Richard "Lord British" Garriott, the director of Kung Fu Panda, and oceanographer Dr. Dave Gallo are all available for viewing. Not included: the expensive Las Vegas hotel room and overpriced buffet you would have if you were there live. But you can watch the awards show itself, and see some of your favorite games win those AIAS awards all over again.
BioWare says WoW is the touchstone for Star Wars: The Old Republic
When game developers talk about massively multiplayer games these days, World of Warcraft is the proverbial big man on campus. At the DICE summit keynote panel in Las Vegas, Greg Zeschuk, co-founder of Bioware, stated that WoW was the touchstone for standards in the MMO sphere and for upcoming Bioware MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic. Essentially, Zeschuk was saying that breaking rules that World of Warcraft set as industry standards is a bad idea for any up and coming MMO. Zeschuk said: "It [World of Warcraft] is a touchstone. It has established standards, it's established how you play an MMO. Every MMO that comes out, I play and look at it. And if they break any of the WoW rules, in my book that's pretty dumb." What's interesting is how Zeschuk, sitting with Mike Morhaime at the keynote panel, gave WoW the reverence it deserves as the leading industry standard in MMO gaming. Instead of couching his remarks about the specific game he was in the process of making, he discussed how players expect a set of established standards that WoW has provided. Be it a sense of completion of polish, a game mechanic, core concepts, or even art direction and fluidity of art theme, World of Warcraft set the bar very high for other game developers and even Blizzard itself. We know WoW is big, but I think we sometimes forget how important it is as well. Greg Zeschuk and the rest of the video game industry know this and acknowledge that breaking some clear-cut rules is a big mistake.
Mass Effect 2 wins GOTY, RPG, storytelling awards at DICE 2011
Tonight's 14th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards (i.e., the DICE awards) saw Mass Effect 2 cruise off with honors for Game of the Year, RPG of the Year and Outstanding Achievement in Story. However, Red Dead Redemption ended up with more trophies, riding away with wins for Action Game of the Year and Outstanding Character Performance, along with Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction, Art Direction and Gameplay Engineering. The portable and casual categories were filled with rage, as God of War: Ghost of Sparta won the award for Portable Game of the Year, while Casual Game of the Year went to the ferocious fowls of Angry Birds HD. Check out the full list of award recipients after the break.
NPD: Seven reasons to expect industry growth in 2011
DICE 2011 attendees gathered today to hear NPD analyst Anita Frazier present an optimistic snapshot of consumer trends in the future, offering a tidy set of good fortunes that were, unfortunately, not hidden in crunchy little cookies (with just a hint of citrus). There was no crystal ball in sight, either, just a reasonable forecast for coming sunshine on what have been somewhat dark days for the industry as of late. Topping Frazier's list of "reasons why Gaming will grow in 2011" (over 2010) is an improved economy, in which consumers will be looking to spend. Much of the rest of the list is filled out with her expectations for just what consumers will be spending on, including smartphone gaming, digital products (DLC and social games, specifically) and motion-controlled games (with the greater adoption of motion technology). Frazier also expects increased internet connectivity and speeds to generate more impulse buying, and she indicates advergaming as a key non-consumer revenue source for industry growth this year. Frazier's most bullish expectation, however, is how "extremely excited" she is about the Nintendo 3DS, which she proclaims is "an amazing example of how technology is really going to drive an amazing, immersive consumer experience." And print money, she figures.
5th Cell reveals sales for Scribblenauts, Drawn to Life
5th Cell's focus on original IP has worked out quite well for the independent developer, selling millions of copies of its innovative titles. During a DICE 2011 presentation on the studio's development strategy, general manager and COO Joseph Tringali shared that it has sold 3.5 million units in the Drawn to Life series and 2.5 million of Scribblenauts games. We'd known previously that the original Scribblenauts was the fifth best-selling DS title of 2009. The developer is currently working on Hybrid, its XBLA title expected to launch sometime this year. 5th Cell has been incredibly cagey on details, but creative director Jeremiah Slaczka told Joystiq that it'll have its big reveal at GDC next month.
Dragon Age 2 demo no longer available early to GameStop employees
A couple of weeks ago, EA and BioWare offered GameStop employees early access to the Dragon Age 2 demo, due out February 22 everywhere else. That early access has since been rescinded: BioWare posted a terse note on the page formerly used to get to the GameStop demo, announcing that "Due to security reasons, we have decided to delay this offer until the demo publically releases on February 22." During an interview at DICE, BioWare co-founder Ray Muzyka -- who hadn't heard about the demo's removal yet -- told Joystiq that in addition to the security concerns (which weren't explained, but likely involve people disseminating the PC demo before its official release), "Maybe the goal is to release them all simultaneously, because all three platforms are important to us." EA said it will issue an official statement soon; we'll update when we hear it. Update: EA tells Joystiq: "We originally wanted to release a version of the Dragon Age 2 demo to some of our partners early, but could not find a way to keep it exclusive. After further consideration we decided to wait to release the demo all at once on February 22nd." [Thanks, Omar]
AIAS Hall of Fame 'Game Changers' confess pro mistakes
Kicking off DICE 2011, the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences invited Hall of Fame "game changers" to speak on a variety of topics, moderated by New York Times writer Seth Schiesel. Things got introspective when the panel discussed design decisions they wish they could take back, or a plan that didn't work out as well as they thought it would. BioWare's Dr. Greg Zeschuk, who will be inducted into the AIAS Hall of Fame this year with business partner Dr. Ray Muzyka, said that about 10 or 12 years ago he made a pitch video for Five Fingers of Death. It was going to be a kung-fu game set in the Baldur's Gate universe. Cutscenes would have have been too expensive to produce, so Zeschuk spent several weeks re-dubbing old kung-fu movies using his own voice. When the tape went out he recalls several companies laughed them off. If anyone happens to have a copy of that tape, there are several video upload sites we'd be more than happy to recommend.
Blizzard investigating Diablo for consoles
The Diablo is in the details. Blizzard Entertainment CEO Mike Morhaime brought up Diablo for consoles at DICE late yesterday. It's a subject that's received plenty of industry chatter, but the closest we'd previously gotten to it happening (since the 1998 release of the first Diablo for PlayStation) was a report late last year that the company was "exploring a Diablo-related concept for consoles." "I think you could make an argument that a game like Diablo might play very well on a console," the executive noted while discussing Blizzard's preference for PCs due to flexibility. "It's something that we're actually doing an investigation into to see if that could make sense." He concluded that there are a "number of issues" that Blizzard would have to solve in order to bring its games over to consoles, with some of his concerns involving the ability to patch effectively and inevitably add expansions. Asked directly if he thought Diablo would be the Blizzard game that could most easily be ported for consoles, he nodded in the affirmative. %Gallery-111860%
AvP game engine Asura 'fully functional' on NGP
Go ahead and add Aliens vs. Predator to the list of console games that are possible on Sony's next-generation portable. Rebellion has a "fully functional" version of its Asura game engine ready -- and ready to be licensed -- for NGP game development, reports CVG. According to MobyGames, Rebellion has used the engine since 2003's Judge Dredd: Dredd Vs. Death, with the most recent incarnation powering last year's multiplatform FPS AvP. The studio says it has an Asura-based, multiplayer third-person shooter demo running on NGP. "We'll be attending DICE [this week] and GDC to show what we have created and look for business partners," pitched CEO Jason Kingsley. "The technology, design and art teams have worked incredibly well with Sony's newest device," boasted Kingsley. "We have managed to make our engine fully functional and looking great on the hardware in double quick time." Okay -- but does the frame rate hold up in triple time?
Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences' annual Pioneer Award going to Bill Budge
We're not sure why, but every year, the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS) feels compelled to award one prominent contributor to the gaming industry with recognition for their proficiency with wild frontier survival. We're talking about raccoon cap-wearing, log cabin-living souls who, with little provocation, will load up their family's small Conestoga wagon and ship out for parts west, which -- wait, you mean the AIAS Pioneer Award has nothing to do with literal pioneering? We're a little disappointed, if we're being honest. This year's pioneer award (which will be handed out during the DICE 2011 Interactive Achievement Awards on February 10) will go to Bill Budge, an illustrious creator of engines for other people to create their own games and experiences, such as the 3-D Game Tool and Pinball Construction Set -- one of EA's earliest titles. He's also done stints with Sony Computer Entertainment and EA, and he currently works at Google, helping to improve the world of browser-based gaming. Also, he knows the proper way to open and neutralize a rattlesnake bite. We think. Probably.
G4 live streaming DICE awards, broadcasting edited version
The 14th annual Interactive Achievement Awards (i.e., the DICE awards) will be broadcast on G4 this year. The show, hosted again by funnyman Jay Mohr, will air in a one-hour edited format across the television waves on Saturday, February 12 at 4PM ET/PT. However, the show will also be streamed live, and unedited, on the interwebs at G4tv.com/DICE, beginning at 7:30 PT (10:30 ET) on Thursday, February 10. We'd recommend checking out the unedited clips from last year for an idea of the "insider" jokes and stuff that's not likely to make its way to broadcast.
BioWare doctors add 'AIAS Hall of Fame' to credentials
BioWare co-founders Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk will be inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS) Hall of Fame. Muzyka and Zeschuk will be the fourteenth and fifteenth (they can quibble about which is which) members in the hall of fame, which includes folks like Mike Cerny, Mike Morhaime and Dani Bunten. This is the first time the award has been given to a pair. "The Doctors," as they are referred to in the industry, took the leap from medicine to game design and have been more than marginally successful, heading up the studio that created top-tier franchises Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect and Dragon Age. The awards will be presented to the pair by Epic Games prez Mike Capps at the 2011 D.I.C.E. Summit in February. We really hope someone chooses the renegade option when the duo get up to accept their awards.
Joseph Olin steps down as AIAS president, replaced by Martin Rae
Joseph Olin (pictured), president of the The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences, has announced he's stepping down to "pursue new opportunities." Part of his AIAS duties included hosting DICE and the Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, the 13th installment of which took place back in February and was streamed through IFC.com. Taking over the role as AIAS president will be Martin Rae, who will work with Olin throughout the remainder of the year to ensure the 10th annual DICE Summit and subsequent 14th installment in the Annual Interactive Achievement Awards both go off without a hitch. Rae's track record consists of time spent as CEO of Sunleaf Studios, a "virtual world/Internet game company" and time spent at Boss Entertainment, working with both Boss Game Studios and The Electric Playground. For the full press release, head past the break.
