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Seen@GDC: Rain's handmade pamphlet
Ken Suzuta, associate producer on Rain, put in the extra effort to convey his game's mechanics at a glance for GDC attendees: Suzuta created numerous pamphlets for the game by hand. Above, you can see the inside full of glossy cut-outs of game art, while just past the break is the other side, featuring an origami umbrella and the words, "A tale only the rain knows..."
DICE+ opens pre-orders, developer kits also available
We just checked out Game Technologies' DICE+ in the opening hours of GDC 2013, which should be available today for retail pre-order and as a developer kit package. The device is an electronic die with LED displays that developers can integrate with their games. The die can be used for its obvious application as a randomized generator of numbers 1-6, but it also has a built-in accelerometer and touch-senstive sides, which Game Technologies hopes other developers will explore.Game developers can now order the $99 developer kit, which includes shipping worldwide, providing them with a die and software for incorporating the product into games (or building a game from the ground up using the device).Game Technologies' DICE+ currently supports seven games, with a few more planned by the hardware developer's recent acquisition of a game developer.From what we saw, the product is certainly still in its prototype phase and not ready for primetime. The device's anti-cheat system requires a two-second roll time which is way too long (that can be cut down). The die also is not particularly fond of soft surfaces, since it needs that initial impact to register the roll, something the team discovered last night when they were product testing in the hotel room.The retail version is also available for pre-order for $39.99. The DICE+ is expected to launch this summer, with an official launch celebration at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany in August.
Owlchemy Labs shares its formula to successful indie development
Alex Schwartz founded Owlchemy Labs in 2010, and since launch he's built a team of six and has developed a steady stream of indie games across multiple platforms, including Snuggle Truck and the recent release Jack Lumber. He's still in business, with more games on the way. The secret to Schwartz's success is simple: Don't expect your original IPs to make any money.Owlchemy funds itself by doing contract work that generates concrete revenue in between its original projects. A lot of indie studios attempt this system, but many of them fall into a common trap, Schwartz tells Joystiq at GDC."Be aware of contract work. You wake up in the morning and turn on your computer and you have two folders: One is the contract job and one is your original work. Which one are you going to open?" Schwartz asks. "It's always going to be the contract work because upfront gratification, instant money and having a client to appease always comes first."In order for the contract-original IP rhythm to work, it needs to be steady and studios have to make time for their own projects. Owlchemy has an A-B system: contract, original IP, contract, original IP, rinse and repeat. The two projects never mix and the team stays on the same page until it's completed. Owlchemy is now on its fifth rotation through this cycle.Diversifying platforms is also key, Schwartz says. Not porting games to Steam, iOS, Android and any other relevant platforms is "leaving money on the table," he says. Owlchemy develops its games in Unity to make this process smoother, and tailors each one to its unique platform. For example, Snuggle Truck is free-to-play on iOS, but costs $5 on Steam (on sale now for $2). Leading by example, Schwartz has a meeting with Sony tomorrow.
DC Universe 'Infinite Crisis' MOBA announced by Warner Bros.
The week of Game Developers Conference announcements kick off with Warner Bros' Infinite Crisis, a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game by Turbine, featuring the characters of the DC Comics universe.Infinite Crisis is set in the DC Multiverse, offering players the option to play as "Nightmare Batman" or "Gaslight Catwoman." It's not clear yet if you're just playing Batman or Catwoman in a MOBA with different (premium) skins.The free-to-play game featuring a league of legends is scheduled to launch on PC this year. Beta sign-ups are available now, but there's no mention of when that will begin.%Gallery-183722%
Katamari creator Takahashi meets the Tenya Wanya Teens
Tenya Wanya Teens is a new game from Katamari Damacy and Noby Noby Boy creator Keita Takahashi and his wife Asuka Sakai. Their studio, Uvula, is creating Tenya Wanya Teens in collaboration with UK outfit Wild Rumpus and indie game site Venus Patrol, the latter which describes the game as "a coming-of-age tale about love, hygiene, monsters and finding discarded erotic magazines in the woods."Tenya Wanya Teens was originally set to be unveiled during GDC, as a party game for two players using massive 16-button controllers. Game designer Robin Hunicke posted this image of the prototype controllers onto Instagram recently, and Wild Rumpus is currently working on the final controllers that will be unveiled alongside the game next week. Plans are also in motion for an actual release to the gaming public at large, ridiculous controller and all.
The Phantom Pain bizarre interview points to FOX engine, GDC reveal
The Phantom Pain is all but confirmed to use the Konami-built FOX engine. The news comes via screenshots of the game displaying the engine's logo, as shown during what some would call an interview, and others... not so much.GameTrailers' Geoff Keighley sat down to talk about the abstruse game with its alleged creator, Joakim Mogren of the alleged Moby Dick Studio. As you can see, Mogren was covered in bandages because of "an accident," but he'll apparently be healed in time for GDC (two weeks time) where he'll unveil a revelatory Phantom Pain trailer.Mogren revealed nothing else beyond that, except for some screenshots that oh so subtly displayed the big fat FOX engine logo in the corner. We'll give the man credit: when the eagle-eyed Keighley pointed out the FOX logo, Mogren's shock (cough splutter) was a thing of beauty (see after the break).In completely unrelated news, Hideo Kojima is giving a talk at this year's GDC, and it'll feature a demonstration of the FOX engine.
Spin the Bottle points to May 2013 release
Spin the Bottle, KnapNok's Wii U party game that issues physical challenges to its players, will be released on the Wii U eShop this May, the developer told us this morning. If you happen to be attending GDC, you can find Spin the Bottle at GDC Play Kiosk 39, and make a fool of yourself (along with 2-7 others) on the show floor. It was named one of the 8 "Best in Play" games by GDC organizers.The new video released this morning doesn't show off gameplay – almost all of that takes place offscreen anyway – but it does offer a look at the wiggly visuals, designed by Swedish studio Redgrim.
How indie creature feature Incredipede stumbled onto Steam
In October, Incredipede developer Colin Northway introduced us to the Offspring Fling process of submitting an indie game to Steam:"Apply to Steam, be rejected, release without it, get popular, be noticed by Valve, release on Steam."Steam has since overhauled its submission process with Greenlight, a crowd-sourced method of voting games onto the service. Now from a developer's perspective, the indie submission system needs a related makeover and a new name. We suggest the Incredipede process:"Post on Greenlight, be rejected, release without it, get popular, be noticed by the IGF and through an award nomination get a deal to release on Steam without Greenlight at all, haters."It's a little more complicated and relies on a smidgen more luck, but the Incredipede process is one of many new ways to get an indie game on Steam. No matter the system, the goal remains the same – a Steam launch can propel an indie game from "hobby" to "day job," or change a sales outlook from "disappointing" to "happy.""More and more Steam is the place to be for indie games," Northway tells me. "If I had $15 for every time I heard the comment, 'I would buy this if it was on Steam,' then I'd be much happier with the sales. Which is why I'm really looking forward to the Steam release."Through its own convoluted yet successful process, Incredipede is coming to Steam for PC and Mac on March 18.
GDC 2013 survey marks rise of the indies, low Wii U support
The Game Developers Conference published an interesting survey of its attendees ahead of next month's event. The poll, which covers over 2,500 developers who attended the conference last year and/or plan to attend this year, shows a marked preponderance of indie developers, with more than half of the respondents identifying themselves as such. Perhaps the most surprising stat, though, is the lack of support for the Wii U.Although it should be noted that the survey includes developers who attended last year's conference but aren't going to this year's, just 4.6 percent of those polled are working on a Wii U game at the moment, while 6.4 percent are making their next game for the console.That compares to 13.2 and 13 percent currently working on Xbox 360 and PS3 games respectively, and 14 and 12.4 percent developing for the respective platforms next time around. Meanwhile, 11 percent are making their next game for the PS4, and the same figure for Microsoft's next-gen platform.Also relevant to these stats are the number of indie developer respondents, which comes in at 53 percent. That may well explain why 55 percent said they're bringing the games they're currently working on to smartphones and tablets, and 48 percent to PC/Mac. On the other side of the extreme is handheld development, although surprisingly the Vita tops the 3DS here. 4.2 percent are currently working on a game for Sony's portable, while less than half of that are working on a 3DS game at just 2 percent.Perhaps the most revealing stat of all relates to crowdfunding. 8 percent of respondents said they've worked on a project funded by such platforms, but a whopping 44 percent said they plan to do so in the future - just in case you thought Kickstarter was a fad.
Keita Takahashi unveiling new multiplayer game during GDC
Keita Takahashi, creator of the Katamari Damacy series and Noby Noby Boy, is currently working on a new multiplayer-focused game. Takahashi will unveil his new work during the joint Wild Rumpus/Venus Patrol party on March 27 during GDC in San Francisco.Wild Rumpus and Venus Patrol both collaborated with Takahashi on the new project, and promise all parties involved will reveal more on the lead-up to GDC at the end of March. Takahashi's last collaboration was with Canabalt creator Adam Saltsman, late last year when the two contributed to the LA Game Space Kickstarter campaign.
Kojima to deliver GDC talk featuring FOX engine demo
Metal Gear Solid creator and nerdcool icon Hideo Kojima is speaking about the upcoming Ground Zeroes at this year's Game Developers Conference in late March.Attendees of the San Francisco expo can look forward to "Photorealism through the eyes of a 'FOX:' The Core of Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes," a talk which features a demonstration of Kojima Production's shiny new FOX engine, including discussion of its environmental changes, as revealed last September. Kojima will be joined by Ground Zeroes technical director Junji Tago, lighting artist Masayuki Suzuki, and CG art director Hideki Sasaki.This is a rare coup for GDC; the last time Kojima spoke at the conference was back in 2009, when we were wondering if Metal Gear Solid 4 was coming to Xbox 360, and what "the next MGS" would be. Four years on, speculation lingers around the celebrated designer's long-running series after the curious reveal of The Phantom Pain. Whether or not Kojima chooses the venue of GDC to spill any stealthily concealed beans, the talk should provide more than a few exclamation marks to enjoy.
BioWare doctors to receive GDCA Lifetime Achievement award
The Game Developers Conference announced BioWare co-founders Drs. Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk as the winners of this year's Lifetime Achievement Award. At the GDCAs on March 27, the doctors are to be honored with one of the industry's most prestigious prizes, won previously by such luminaries as Shigeru Miyamoto, Will Wright, and Hideo Kojima."The BioWare doctors are truly a unique breed," said Meggan Scavio, General Manager of GDC events. "Not only have they created some of the most emotionally-engaging and beloved games ever made, they are two of the most passionate, engaging, just all-around nice guys anyone could be fortunate enough to meet... There's no denying the deep footprint Ray and Greg have made, and how much their dedication and leadership will be missed in our industry."18 years ago, the two recently graduated Canadian doctors, along with Augustine Yip, forged a studio that went on to shape Western role-playing games for nearly two decades. Under their leadership, BioWare transformed from a close-knit studio of dozens into a worldwide force of hundreds. That's largely been down to the consistent quality and popularity of the games they've made, including the likes of Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age, and Mass Effect.We caught up with Dr. Zeschuk recently to see what beers he'd pair with particular game genres. We're sure he'll have a certain tipple in mind for when he and Dr. Muzyka celebrate their award, and whatever that proves to be, it'll certainly be well deserved.
GDC 2013 classic postmortems: Myst, X-COM: UFO Defense, more
The classic postmortem sessions at GDC are always good for some fun, inside stories of old-school game development, including the likes of GoldenEye 007, Doom, Maniac Mansion and Out of this World. GDC 2013 will add a few more games to the list, with postmortem panels scheduled for Myst, X-COM: UFO Defense, Pinball Construction Set and Crystal Castles.Each panel will feature speakers involved with the development of each classic title, and plenty of secrets and anecdotes are bound to come up. You can bet we'll be attending as many of these as we can once GDC gets rolling in March. Who knows, maybe we'll get lucky and stumble upon another game designer's adorable, prescient childhood video.
Game Developers Choice Awards nod to Journey, Dishonored, FTL
Finalists for the 13th annual Game Developers Choice Awards represent the broad swath of modern game development, featuring indie and mainstream games side-by-side and in perfect, competitive harmony. Journey, a game that we thoroughly enjoyed, leads the pack with six nominations in Best Design, Best Downloadable Game, Best Audio, Best Visual, Innovation and Game of the Year. Dishonored follows with four nominations in Best Narrative, Best Visual, Best Design and Game of the Year.The Walking Dead gets three nods, for Best Downloadable Game, Best Narrative and Game of the Year. Rounding out the Game of the Year category is Mass Effect 3 and XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Mark of the Ninja, FTL: Faster Than Light, The Unfinished Swan and ZombiU join Journey in the Innovation category. The Best Debut category features Polytron Corporation with Fez, Fireproof Games with The Room, Humble Hearts and Dust: An Elysian Tail, Giant Sparrow and The Unfinished Swan, and Subset Games with FTL.Take a peek at the entire GDCA lineup in the press release below, featuring finalists in 10 categories. The awards ceremony is scheduled for March 27 in San Francisco, during GDC 2013.
Bungie to talk up Destiny at GDC 2013
CVG has sussed out what could be one of the more interesting presentations at this year's Game Developer's Conference. The annual San Francisco-based event will see Bungie writer and design director Joe Staten and art director Christopher Barrett talk up the firm's super secret Destiny project. The title, which has at various times been rumored to be an MMO, a Halo spin-off, and a cure for various types of gaming cancer still hasn't seen an official reveal, though Bungie did acknowledge the validity of some leaked assets late last year. If you're curious about Destiny, and anxious to "get a glimpse of the brave new world that has been built, a place where the next ten years of great Bungie adventures will unfold," stay tuned to Massively this March as we'll have multiple reporters on-site to bring you the scoop.
Bungie discussing 'Destiny' at GDC 2013
Bungie and Activision's new IP, Destiny, will be the subject of a session during this year's Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. Dubbed a "Brave New World: New Bungie IP," the talk will cover the studio's approach in putting together Destiny's original setting, "a place where the next ten years of great Bungie adventures will unfold."The Destiny leaks last year suggested a "fun and accessible" multi-platform project, set in the future and featuring a large-scale war between man and alien (bearing a strong resemblance, in other words, to Halo). Having been teased with Destiny and its iconography for months now, we expect some insight into just how Bungie's new universe is shaping up.The Game Developers Conference runs from March 25 until March 29. The time and date of Bungie's panel has yet to be announced.
Valve's two talks at GDC 2013: VR is hard, Team Fortress 2 in your head
Valve will be giving two talks at GDC 2013, one to discuss porting Team Fortress 2 to virtual reality goggles, and the other focused on hurdles in developing for virtual and augmented reality.Valve programmer Joe Ludwig will lead the TF2 talk, titled "What We Learned Porting Team Fortress 2 to Virtual Reality," and Valve research and development man Michael Abrash leads the second talk, called "Why Virtual Reality is Hard (And Where it Might be Going)." Abrash will focus on head-mounted displays. Not "displaying mounted heads" – that's at the Big-Game Developers Conference.GDC 2013 is at San Francisco's Moscone Center from March 25 - 29. Other notable talks include a postmortem on FTL: Faster than Light, a talk from Capy on paid apps, one on The Walking Dead's art, and talks on mainstream games such as XCOM: Enemy Unknown, Assassin's Creed 3, Spec Ops: The Line, Hitman: Absolution, Mass Effect 3 and more. Peruse the list here.
GDC Next coming to LA in 2013
Game Developers Conference organizers have announced that this October's GDC Online will soon be replaced by a new event: GDC Next. The conference will debut alongside the newly created App Developers Conference (ADC) to take place at the Los Angeles Convention Center from November 5-7, 2013. GDC Next focuses on gaming development related to smartphones and tablets as well as social and cloud gaming. The new ADC is dedicated to app technology and development. Attendees will be able to sign up for the individual conferences or take advantage of a special price to attend both. More information can be found on the official sites.
Submissions open for 15th annual Independent Games Festival
The 2013 Independent Games Festival, held at GDC in San Francisco next March, is now accepting entries for the main and Student Showcase categories. The deadline for entries to the main competition is October 17 and the Student Showcase deadline is October 31, both at 11:59 p.m. PDT.The main competition entry fee is $95, and applicants will be competing for more than $55,000 in prizes: the Seumas McNally Grand Prize of $30,000; Excellence in Visual Art, Audio, and Design, each competing for $3,000; Technical Excellence for $3,000; the Audience Award for $3,000 and the Nuovo Award for $5,000. Each category will have six finalists – except the Nuovo Award, which has eight – and will be announced in January.Eight games chosen for the Student Showcase will be awarded $1,000 each, with one taking home the title of Best Student Game and an extra $3,000. There is no entry fee for the Student Showcase, though it does have its very own rule set.IGF 2012 saw 850 entries, with Fez eventually taking home the Seumas McNally Grand Prize – Polytron's second IGF award following an Excellence in Art win in 2008. Alexander Bruce, IGF 2012 winner in Technical Excellence for Antichamber, shares some sage Twitter advice for those entering this year: "Suggestion: Take that IGF deadline as a great thing to work towards, submit the best thing you can, update often, and expect nothing from it."
GDC 2012 welcomes 22,500 attendees, 17% increase from prior year
The 2012 Game Developers Conference broke an attendance record with 22,500 souls spending some amount of time inside San Francisco's Moscone Center. The show saw a 17 percent increase in admissions from the previous year, and hosted over 300 exhibitors and sponsors, along with the 14th Annual IGF and the 12th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards."The continued growth of the conference is a great indicator of a healthy and exciting industry," said GDC general manager Meggan Scavio. " We are very proud to provide the forum for game makers to connect, dialogue, showcase, and learn in sessions, summits, expos and pavilions every year."GDC is already locked and loaded for a return trip to San Francisco from March 25-29, 2013, which means Joystiq already has reservations set for a return trip to the Sausage Factory in the Castro.
