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This is the future of video game development
The Girls Make Games initiative aims to encourage young women to dive into the rich industry of video game development, and it seems to be doing the trick. This year at the Independent Games Festival awards ceremony, nine young ladies from Girls Make Games collected the ID@Xbox Rising Star award for their work on The Hole Story. It's a top-down RPG featuring an archaeologist named Wendy who digs a portal to a fantastical dimension in her backyard. Yeah, it's pretty neat. We caught up with the winners right after they collected their prizes and had one question for each of them: What do you want the future of video games to look like?
Insomniac's CEO on the challenges of making games for VR
As the Founder and CEO of Insomniac Games, Ted Price is responsible for esteemed console games like Ratchet and Clank, Sunset Overdrive and Fuse. Then there's Song of the Deep, a gorgeous 2D platformer that's slated to release this summer with GameStop as the publisher. But for Insomniac and other developers, virtual reality's arrival onto the scene has opened up a world of new possibilities in game-making. And Price's team is already dipping its toes in VR, with projects such as Edge of Nowhere, an insane third-person adventure designed for the Oculus Rift. To that end, I sat down with him at GDC 2016 to talk about developing for virtual reality, the promise of PlayStation VR, Oculus and the relationship between Insomniac and GameStop.
'Below' is hiding more mysteries than you think
Capybara Games made a classic mistake in the middle of developing its latest game: announcing the release date too early. Capy unveiled Below, a moody and mysterious exploration experience, back in 2013. A year later, the team revealed plans to release it in 2015 on Xbox One and PC. And then, 2015 came and went. "Microsoft gave us a really good opportunity to show it for the first time a long time ago," Capy Creative Director Kris Piotrowski explained during GDC this week. "Then we went home and kind of realized the game was like 100 times bigger and more complex than we anticipated."
Head of Xbox Phil Spencer apologizes for sexist GDC party
The technology and video game industries have been unwelcoming to women in a variety of ways for years now, with the "booth babe" at big events being a prime example. Despite an ongoing backlash against such exclusionary tactics, Microsoft seemed to think it was appropriate to have a party last night at GDC featuring scantily-clad women as some form of entertainment, and the backlash has been swift -- so much so that head of Xbox Phil Spencer just released a statement apologizing for the event.
The world of weird video games at Alt.Ctrl.GDC
Video games aren't all about fancy graphics on HD televisions and high-end PCs. Back in the day, innovation relied partially on building better cabinets, ramps, buttons, joysticks and all manner of arcade-based hardware. This aspect of the industry hasn't disappeared -- the third-annual Alt.Ctrl.GDC exhibition at the Game Developers Conference is packed with outlandish new games that use wild, wacky and weird input methods. We tried out a few of the games on display, such as Crank Tank, a two-person base-race game where each player controls a vehicle with a giant, wooden crank machine. There's also Hello, Operator!, which takes place at the helm of a refurbished telephone switchboard from the 1930s, and Please Stand By, a game that exists inside of a 1951 Capehart television, bunny-ear antennae and all.
ICYMI: Spinal Cancer solution, self-lacing Nikes and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-750693{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-750693, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-750693{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-750693").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Nike will sell widely-available self-lacing shoes by the Holiday season, though we have no idea how much they will cost. Researchers at the Mayo Institute developed a polymer that will let bone regrow on it after a spinal surgery. And Playstation VR will come to the masses in October, for $400. It's been a big week in tech news with SXSW and GDC. And of course, Apple has an announcement next Monday, so be prepared with our story, here. As always, please share any great tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
'Hellblade' takes real-time motion capture to the next level
Yesterday, during the Epic Games keynote at GDC 2016, Ninja Theory showed off a live motion capture demo for Hellblade, its upcoming AAA indie title. The results are absolutely stunning. Tameem Antoniades, Ninja Theory's chief creative director, described the real-time animation performance as historic, and people at the event seemed to validate his excitement. Interestingly enough, the game has been renamed Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, paying tribute to the main character in this combat-heavy story. But you're probably here for the video, so have at it -- we promise it doesn't disappoint.
A VR experience transported me to a live soccer game
The virtual reality space is still a work in progress. While there are already many use cases for it, from gaming to education, developers continue to find new ways to fiddle with the technology. A pure example of this is Virtually Live, a startup designing immersive VR experiences for live sports. Here's the gist behind its project: Once you've strapped on a virtual reality headset, you can follow games in real-time and feel like you're close to the action.
The late Satoru Iwata honored by Game Developers Choice Awards
The video game industry lost one of its most passionate members last year when Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata passed away. He's been honored before, but there really isn't such a thing as paying tribute to him too many times. During tonight's Game Developer's Choice Awards the governing body debuted a heartfelt animated video touching on various aspects of the legendary game developer's life including the conception of the Nintendo DS, the Wii Remote and Nunchuck and much more. Iwata may be gone, but his legacy will live on for a very, very long time.
Watch the 2016 IGF and GDC Awards live right here!
Now that the GDC show floor is officially open to attendees, it's time for the routine trophy ceremonies. It all starts with the Independent Games Festival Awards at 6:30PM PT/9:30PM ET tonight, followed directly by the Game Developers Choice Awards. And because we care deeply about you, our readers, we're embedding a livestream of the back-to-back events in this post. We'll also be talking to the 2016 winners as they come off the stage -- more on that soon.
How a startup is making it easy to build virtual reality worlds
My most recent virtual reality experience was created by a 9-year-old. That's according to Martin Repetto, CEO of Voxelus, a platform that lets you build, share and play your own VR games. As I roam through this Minecraft-like world, steered by a Gear VR headset, Repetto tells me that a kid is the one who designed what I'm seeing. But for Voxelus, which launched last year at the Oculus Connect 2 conference, there's a clear goal: to let anyone, young or old, make VR games without a single line of code.
A few insider thoughts on the future of virtual reality
Virtual reality is here to stay. That's the resounding cry here at GDC 2016, and it's no wonder, seeing as the conference actually had to move certain VR-related panels to bigger rooms due to the increased demand. That sentiment was certainly shared at the Oculus Game Day event where we mingled with developers, designers and executives and talked to them about the future of the medium. Check out our video above to find out what they had to say.
The challenges of creating games for virtual reality
Virtual reality games are fun and immersive, but making them exciting and interesting can be a challenge. This is especially so for traditional game developers who have had to learn a new way of creating games that demand a whole new set of skills and user design. We had a chance to ask a few developers just what those challenges are at an Oculus Game Day event recently. Check out our video above to find just what they are and how they hope to get better at it.
Watch the Epic Games GDC 2016 keynote right here!
Although plenty of announcements have already come out of this year's Game Developers Conference, the main Expo doesn't officially begin until today. And Epic Games is kicking off the festivities with an opening keynote, led by none other than its founder Tim Sweeney. It's unclear what we should expect from the Unreal Engine creator, but the company did say the GDC 2016 event will be newsworthy. You can watch it live starting at 9:30AM PT/12:30PM ET, via the embedded stream below.
The nostalgic joy of playing 'Pinball FX2' in VR
I associate pinball with family, partly because my father convinced me it was cool when I was a kid, just like he did with The X-Files, Mystery Science Theater 3000, ping pong and a handful of other quasi-nerdy necessities from the '80s and '90s. Plus, one of my uncles had a room packed with pinball machines -- yes, he had the Addams Family table -- and as a pre-teen I'd revel in playing them late into the night every New Year's Eve. Now that I'm an adult, it's my turn to show these family members what's cool (or simply how to use Gmail), and virtual reality is absolutely on that list. I'm not saying VR will take off commercially or change the world, but it is definitely a cool thing. And now, there's a clear way for me to introduce it to my dad, uncle or anyone with an affinity for those rapid-fire flippers: Pinball FX2 VR on the Oculus Rift.
The first Oculus Rift games bode well for the future of VR
I hid behind a stack of wooden crates in the saloon, trying to dodge the bullets flying at my general direction. Panicked, I frantically reached for the pair of revolvers by my side, pointed them at my assailant and fired repeatedly. She went down, but so did my ammo. Soon, her partner showed up to take me out and without even thinking, I grabbed the dynamite that magically appeared in front of me and threw it at him. Boom. Unfortunately, my first victim came back to life, and before I could take aim again, she lobbed something at me and I was blown to smithereens.
'Harry Potter' meets 'Zelda' in a fantasy action game
Mages of Mystralia is a fantastical romp through a mystical world, starring a young woman named Zia who discovers she has powerful magical abilities -- though this isn't necessarily a welcome development. Zia accidentally burns down her house and is forced to flee her homeland, and as she journeys across the countryside she meets other exiled mages who help cultivate her powers. Eventually, it's up to Zia to save Mystralia from certain doom. Mages of Mystralia combines elements from some of the most popular fantasy franchises in recent memory: There's a special, magical child like in Harry Potter, whimsical yet creepy woodland creatures as seen in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and a determined, red-headed young warrior like the star of the Disney-Pixar movie Brave. All of this is bundled into a cohesive narrative by a star of Dungeons & Dragons lore, the creator of the Forgotten Realms world, Ed Greenwood.
'Star Wars: Trials on Tatooine' VR experiment revealed
Last week we got an inadvertent early peek at a new Star Wars VR experience from Industrial Light & Magic, and now the full trailer has been revealed. RoadtoVR has the Trials on Tatooine trailer in its full glory, and it's even better in motion than the stills could reveal. You no longer have to take our word for it, this HTC Vive-linked "experiment" is way better than the Jakku Spy app that came out for Google Cardboard last year.
We're live at GDC 2016!
SXSW Interactive isn't the only tech event happening this week. Over the next few days, we'll also be in San Francisco, bringing you the latest news from the Game Developers Conference 2016. The 30th edition of the show will feature more virtual reality than your brain can handle, as well as plenty of other stuff from the traditional gaming world. While the official GDC Expo doesn't start until March 16th, there are already panel discussions happening today, and Sony's big exhibition is tomorrow. PSVR launch date and pricing, anyone?
Sony is hosting a PlayStation VR event next month
Despite what GameStop has in mind, Sony might actually still make its promised "first half of 2016" release date for PlayStation VR. That the company has sent out invites for a special media event just ahead of the annual Game Developers Conference only adds to that suspicion. When you consider PlayStation has used the trade show for the setup's debut in 2014, announcing a release window and upgraded innards last year, it only seems more likely we'll get a hard release date and price on the helmet.
