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Live from Nintendo's GDC 2011 keynote (Update: It's over!)
Update: And it's over – head on past the break to relive the excitement. 8:12AM PST: We're currently in line for Satoru Iwata's GDC 2011 keynote. We'll fill you in on all the megatons, scoops, megascoops, scoopatons and scegapoops as they come in. Which should be in about 45. Join us after the break and follow along at home! Original: Nintendo prez Satoru Iwata is back, delivering the GDC keynote just like he did in 2006 and 2009. This title of this year's talk is "Video Games Turn 25: A Historical Perspective and Vision for the Future." With a title like that, you can bet Iwata's going to be talking up Nintendo's illustrious 25-year history, but also making some prognostications for the future. Glasses-free 3D anyone? Stop back to this post later today for all the news, straight out of GDC.
'Super Mario' 3DS teased with tail logo
During Nintendo's GDC keynote today, president Satoru Iwata teased the previoulsy confirmed Super Mario Bros. game for 3DS with a logo. Does that tail look familiar? The game is being developed by the Super Mario Galaxy team, and while Iwata wouldn't offer any more details, he did promise more would be revealed at E3.
Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword gameplay shown to GDC attendees
If you've been following along with Satoru Iwata's GDC keynote, you'll know that he showed some new gameplay footage from Skyward Sword. Here's your chance to see it.
3D video recording coming to 3DS
Speaking at Nintendo's GDC 2011 keynote, company president Reggie Fils-Aime announced that the 3DS will eventually feature the ability to record live video in 3D, a feature previously hinted at by Iwata. The feature will be added in an future update. Fils-Aime didn't reveal any details or release date, though he noted that Nintendo is "enthused" about the feature.
Netflix and 'short-form video service' coming to Nintendo 3DS
Why should the 3DS' futuristic screen be relegated to games only? Nintendo has announced two media services for the upcoming handheld. First, Netflix is coming to the 3DS, allowing you to watch a movie on the go ... and then finish watching at home using your Wii. In addition, Nintendo will offer a "short-form video service," which will offer "curated" (i.e., in 3D) content, such as comedy shorts, music videos and movie trailers. These features won't be available at launch, but will be available via a system update in "late May."
Nintendo's US gaming demographics: Let us show you them
During Nintendo president Satoru Iwata's GDC keynote today, the ex-Hal Labs head recounted more than just his personal history in the game industry -- he also showed off detailed statistics of the US gaming populace's growth from late November 2007 through October 2010. Specifically, he revealed that, according to Nintendo's studies, the US has seen tremendous growth in the "active user population," going from just 45 percent in late 2007 to 62 percent by the end of 2010. Put as headcounts: That's 135 million gamers by the end of 2007 versus 201 million in late 2010. Moreover, the female gaming demographic has expanded almost as rapidly as the male one in that time; though the stats also indicate that people game less and less as they get older -- corroborated, anecdotally, by our own parents' proclivity for CBS Sunday Morning over Super Mario Bros.
PS3/PC/iOS/Android cross-platform multiplayer achieved in Dungeon Defenders
It's news when two different platforms are linked for multiplayer gaming. But four? Trendy Entertainment has managed to bring cross-platform multiplayer to its Unreal Engine-powered, action-RPG Dungeon Defenders on PS3, PC, iOS and Android. The developer has even implemented cross-platform matchmaking and buddy lists across the devices. The experience is made possible through GameSpy's online tools, suggesting that cross-platform multiplayer will not only become a reality, but a common feature down the line. Trendy utilized GameSpy Open, a new program that enables start-up and indie developers to use the company's online tools for free. Trendy and GameSpy plan to showcase a demonstration of the cross-platform experience at GDC later this week. Dungeon Defenders is currently available on iOS and Android; PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 versions are planned for release later this year.
Magicka Vietnam to launch 'in about a month,' Arrowhead CEO says
If there's one thing that Arrowhead Game Studios has proven with its accident-prone wizardfest Magicka, it's that they can make me laugh. But is that an appropriate reaction in Magicka Vietnam? Arrowhead Game Studios CEO Johan Pilestedt suggested that we'll find out "in about a month."%Gallery-115067%
Battlefield 3's executive producer, on balancing realism in Frostbite 2
It's been over five years since Battlefield 2. Although DICE has had concepts for a sequel in mind since then, the real work could only begin once the team had the tool Battlefield 3 demanded: a new engine. Why? "The short answer is this: No other engine can build a Battlefield game." "If you don't have the right tech, you can't build the right experience," DICE executive producer Patrick Bach told us. Unlike other engines, which are meant to be repurposed and packaged for third-party licensors, Frostbite's reason for existence is singular: "The Frostbite engine is solely created to make Battlefield games." Battlefield 3 is unnervingly beautiful. The GDC presentation is one of those rare moments where you see a new graphical benchmark being defined. Bach claims they are the "first ones in the next generation." Seeing the game running on a souped-up PC, it's hard to disagree.
GDC 2011: Checking in with UTV True Games
Casual, colorful and comical: That's the effort that UTV True Games is putting into its growing portfolio of MMOs. From Faxion Online to Mytheon, UTV has quite a few things cooking on the stove, and we happily taste-tested new visuals and info from this year's Games Developer Conference. First up was the PvP-centric Faxion, pitting the good-smelling forces of Heaven against the sulfur-sprayed armies of Hell. Faxion is currently prepping for its second closed beta test, and we've been intrigued by what we've seen so far. The devs released 10 new images for the game, which you can see below: %Gallery-113832% For more previews of UTV's Mytheon, Sky Legends and Planet Crashers, hit the jump and pray you have a chute!
GDC 2011: Halfbrick's Machine Gun Jetpack
Halfbrick Studios is one of my favorite developers on iOS. While they've released games on other platforms before (including the PS3 and the Nintendo DS), here at GDC 2011, they told me that "iOS development is always our focus." They've found a huge hit with Fruit Ninja, but they're not resting on their laurels. Fresh off Monster Dash (my favorite Canabalt-alike on the App Store) Halfbrick is going to return to the running genre with a new game called Machine Gun Jetpack. If you've played Monster Dash, you'll know that's one of the special weapons from the game -- a machine gun pointed down that allows you to hover in the air. And the Machine Gun Jetpack game lets you do just that. As hero Barry Steakfries runs along, he has to jump up and hover past obstacles and enemies, adding a vertical component to the Canabalt setup. Just like Monster Dash, things get fast and furious, though unlike Monster Dash, you haven't got much room for error -- one hit and it's game over (unless you're lucky -- read on).
TUAW's Daily App: Infinity Blade
Odds are that you already know what Infinity Blade is, and you might already have it on your iOS devices, too. But just in case you don't, we're spotlighting one of the best iOS games of last year, which happens to be available on the App Store right now for the sale price of US$2.99 -- for this game, that's a steal. If you haven't picked up this big-budget example of how experienced developers can do iOS games right, today's your chance. The game's already received one content update, and another big update is coming soon. Even if you already have Infinity Blade, you can check out Joystiq's fine writeup of how the game was made, straight from the floor of GDC 2011. Chair Entertainment talks about how they had tons of game ideas (from a physics puzzler to a card game -- I'd like to play either of those), but eventually boiled down what worked on a platform like the iPhone to what they came up with in Infinity Blade. It's a great game at a great price, so definitely grab it as quickly as you can.
3DS producer reveals Wii-based, arts-and-crafts 3D prototype
Previous "Iwata Asks" interviews have brought up several previous 3D prototypes from Nintendo, including GBA and GameCube-based versions. During his talk about the 3DS's development, hardware producer Hideki Konno revealed another prototype, designed before the 3DS was even a glimmer in Nintendo's collective eye. Nintendo wired up a glasses-free 3D display to a Wii, and set it up on a cart to wheel around the company for demonstrations. And then, because it wasn't hacky or impractical enough, the team hooked a proof-of-concept version of the 3D depth slider to a Nunchuk -- with hot glue.%Gallery-118279%
Infinity Blade in finite time: How ChAIR made its iOS hit in five months
Released late last year, Infinity Blade ushered in a new era of graphical fidelity in mobile phone games and delivered on Epic's promise to turn its "Epic Citadel" tech demo into an actual game. The Salt Lake City-based team at Chair Entertainment – led by brothers Donald and Geremy Mustard – delivered another hit for Epic on another digitally distributed platform, opening doors for more Unreal Engine licensees all the way. At last year's GDC the brothers Mustard delivered a panel on their XBLA hit Shadow Complex and this year it's Infinity Blade, titled "Infinity Blade: How We Made a Hit, What We Learned, and Why You Can Do it Too!" "We got a call from Epic saying there's this opportunity," Donald Mustard told a packed GDC auditorium. Epic told him, "Mobile games are really taking off and we've secretly had part of the engine team getting the Unreal Engine to work on mobile devices over the past year and it's ready to go [...] and we really want to get a game out this year that really shows it off. Do you guys want to participate in that?" Mustard replied, "Absolutely." But there was a catch.%Gallery-118057%
InFamous 2 preview: User-generated chaos
Before presenting the latest milestone in the development of InFamous 2 at GDC today, Sucker Punch Productions development director Chris Zimmerman told his captive audience, "What we saw as the biggest problem with InFamous was that, at some point, it ended." That won't be an issue in this sequel, thanks to user-generated content. Zimmerman says that the developer has planned to integrate user-created missions from the outset, keeping the feature secret for two years. "That's hard to do," he said with laugh. Players will have access to "All of the good guys, all of the bad guys, all of the props that we built for the game -- vehicles, weapons and other stuff -- and then a whole bunch of special stuff we built just for making user-generated content," he confirmed. " We figured we'd throw that all out there and let people create, because we think there are lots of people out there that dream of being a game designer, and this is our opportunity to give them the opportunity to share what they can do. To take all of this content we've built over the past two years and putting it together to make something we never thought possible."%Gallery-118056%
GDC 2011: The future of Imangi Studios
The husband and wife team of Keith Shepherd and Natalia Luckyanova make up Imangi Studios, the iPhone developer behind line-drawing hit Harbor Master. We've been following the duo for a while now, and we last talked to them at WWDC, when they were pretty far along in development with a game called Max Adventure, a dual-stick shooter with a plucky kid with a laser gun for a hero. Max Adventure was released last December (and has since been updated), and Imangi tells me at GDC that the launch went well -- mostly. "It was the best launch we've had on our own," says Shepherd, adding that both the ratings and sales numbers were great after the game released in mid-December. "But then...," says Luckyanova, trailing off. Then, it turns out, came the EA sale, filling the App Store charts with 99-cent sales of premium EA titles, and Imangi's carefully crafted Max Adventure got "crushed" in the Christmas rush. But the best part of the story is what happened next: a little while after Imangi had a blue Christmas, EA called them. The company liked Imangi's games and wanted to talk about a possible publishing deal.
Minecraft developer Mojang announces new game 'Scrolls'
Mojang hasn't technically finished its first game, Minecraft, but it's gone ahead and revealed another one. Scrolls is a digital collectible card game/board game designed by Markus "Notch" Persson and Jakob Porser -- with story help from Penny-Arcade's Jerry Holkins, and art by famous "demaker" Jnkboy. According to the newly launched website, Scrolls "offers a new and unique game play where you fight to outmaneuver your opponent on the battlefield [a chess-style game board] using the destructive powers in your collection of magical scrolls [cards]." Scrolls will become weathered with use, giving visual indication of your preferred tactics. Of course, you'll be able to augment your deck with new packs. A limited free alpha will be available later this year, offered initially to some Minecraft alpha purchasers; a public beta willfollow. Both will be free and used to balance the game.
Klei Entertainment on 'The Journey to Creating Shank'
Klei Entertainment was pushed to the verge of bankruptcy during the development of its ultra-violent, Desperado-inspired action game, Shank. Studio founder Jamie Cheng described some of the more tumultuous periods in the game's development at a GDC panel on Tuesday morning, admitting that stress even managed to crack his normally calm demeanor. In order to remain afloat and complete Shank, Klei introduced temporary (and optional) employee wage reductions with interest, and Cheng himself took out a bank loan against his house in January 2010. The studio was offered a lifeline from an unnamed publisher, but it declined the offer and opted for a fairer, less constrictive deal with EA Partners. "We kept the IP, we kept the creative freedom; it was the good stuff," Cheng said.
Seen@GDC: Homefront's free lunch
THQ's literal Homefront marketing machine, the "Korean taco"-peddling Pyongyang Express, has made its scheduled appearance at GDC 2011. Its "Subsidized Good Food for a Better America" is being (orderly) distributed free of charge -- although consuming it is, technically, eating away at freedom.
Infamous 2 lets you play, create, share your own missions; public beta coming soon
And just like that, inFamous 2 joins Sony's "Play, Create, Share" suite of games by allowing players to make their own missions. Developer Sucker Punch unveiled the surprising new feature at GDC. Using the new creation tool, you'll be able to create "any" kind of mission. Creators have "access to the same set of characters, creatures and props" that the designers have. A "limited" public beta will be available in April. Details on how to get in will be announced on the game's official website in two weeks, on March 14th. Update: A video, after the break!%Gallery-118056%
