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GDC08: Are virtual item sales the way of the future?
With the stigma associated with the term RMT -- or "real money trading" -- companies such as Live Gamer and Ping0 have an uphill battle when selling their legitimized RMT services to many gamers. At GDC recently, Live Gamer's Andrew Schneider and ping0's Steve Goldstein tried to explain to a skeptical crowd why their forms of RMT trading are the future of gaming.Though you hear a lot about WoW gold, all online games have a large secondary market for currency. These services are all operated outside of the publisher's terms of service or EULA and are very inefficient, both for the player and the company. The RMT industry is littered with account and credit card theft -- and when a customer's account has been compromised, they don't call the RMT traders: they call the game's customer support line. It's an immense waste of resources for the game company and a huge hassle for the player involved. (Has your World of Warcraft account ever been stolen? If so, you know it can take weeks to get everything restored.) If game companies don't address RMT issues themselves, they're just going to have problems with black market RMT. Live Gamer seems to offer a, "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" approach with their attempts to run a legitimate RMT business.
We built this city: Age of Conan's constructible PvP city system previewed
During the week of GDC we talked briefly about the mounted combat in Age of Conan, part of the demo run for us by Gaute Godager. There was a great deal more to the demo, though, content very much worth talking about. The event started by reshashing the game's starting point, your rise from slave to adventurer in the wake of a ship wreck. We've discussed that experience, both in our own coverage of the game and in reference to work done by other sites. Probably the most interesting element of the demo, though, was the so-far little seen guild and guild city elements. Essentially a sort of RTS-lite element plopped down in the dead center of the game's endgame PvP, Age of Conan's city construction takes the crafting and housing elements we've seen in other games and explodes them out in some interesting directions. Read on for details on this new way of tackling a well-known game system.%Gallery-16341%
GDC also ponders invite-only model
At the close of the 2008 Game Developers Conference (GDC) this year we heard rumblings that change was in store for the industry event. After achieving a record setting 18,000 attendees, about 1,000 of which were press, event coordinators are contemplating an invite only stance to the media.Speaking with Kotaku, GDC event director Jamil Moledina expressed his fear for the industry learning event, "I am concerned that if we don't focus on what makes GDC work we will face some complications down the road." To alleviate those fears, GDC is considering changes to who will be allowed to cover the 2009 event from the show floor.While other industry professionals lineup to question the validity of press presence, we're reminded of the invite changes made to the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) and Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain (DICE) to streamline the event coverage.
X3F interviews Peter Molyneux about Fable 2, BC, XNA
We've already posted the audio of our interview with Peter Molyneux, but we know not everyone is down with spoken word. As such, we've transcribed the entire interview for your reading pleasure. In this massive interview, Molyneux discusses Fable 2 co-op (he thinks Live co-op is a great idea by the way), the possibility of versus multiplayer (which is also a good idea according to Molyneux), and we even manage to squeeze in questions about Microsoft's new XNA initiative and the ill-fated BC. Find the lengthy and informative interview after the break.
X3F interviews James Silva, creator of Dishwasher: Dead Samurai
The annual Game Developer's Conference played host to something of a Cinderella story this year, plunging a once unknown game developer into the limelight. We're talking, of course, about James Silva, creator of Dishwasher: Dead Samurai and Microsoft's new poster child for XNA Community Games. We managed to catch up with James during the conference and ask him how things have changed since the last time we spoke. We also discussed just how James feels about Peter Molyneux and whether or not he's still considering the "Pulling a Peter Moore" achievement for Dishwasher's guitar segments (see 360 Fancast 044 at around 1:05:00). Find the interview after the break. The audio version of the interview is also available in our latest Fancast.
GDC08: Hands-on with Bangai-O Spirits
One of the first appointments I had when I got into San Francisco for GDC was with D3 Publisher. This appointment was what I was looking forward to most out of the trip, because I was going to get to play Bangai-O Spirits. And play it I did, while gushing unprofessionally at the D3 QA person giving the demo. I did my best to learn as quickly as possible how all the new parts of Bangai-O Spirits work. It's the same as the N64 and Dreamcast games in a number of ways, but it's also very different in a few fundamental ways. Unfortunately, I didn't get to play with the sound transmission feature, one of the most different things about the game. Head past the break for detailed impressions, and be sure to check out our gallery of brand-new screens! %Gallery-16997%
GDC08: ... and that's a wrap!
Wow, what a fantastic week we had. The Game Developer's Conference has come to a close, and with it, the flurry of megatons and other fantastic news you may have gotten used to over the last week. In case you missed it (or were, you know, there), take a chance to get caught up with all of the stuff you either overlooked or were too busy to read.The big stuff: Wi-Fi good news, bad news Extended Mario Kart trailer, remixed music Head tracking easter egg included in Boom Blox Mario Kart Wii in motion Telltale has a mysterious Wii Ware game in the works Fresh screens and a name change for Wii Ware Final Fantasy Ubisoft treated like an internal dev team New Wii Ware title revealed: LostWinds Nintendo sheds more light on Mario Kart Wii Wii Fanboy gets in on the action: Wii Ware FFCC is beginning of new Square Enix Wobbling with Wii Fit Super Smash Bros. Brawl hands-on Monster Lab: it's a lab -- for monsters A collection of SNK collections Other news and items of interest: Europe to suffer the horror of a Brawl-free summer The House Containing Some Dead 2 & 3 Convention associates get their Brawl on The other half of 2D Boy speaks Zombies in space Okami on Wii looks great in 480p Wii Warm Up: What do you want from Nintendo at GDC? No More Heroes soundtrack composer leads GDC panel
GDC08: Sony details latest Home tools
The latest version of the Home Developer Kit was detailed at a GDC session last week and Joystiq has all the juicy details. Finally developers are able to create assets for Home, including trophies, games and environments. This is great news for everyone waiting for the Home open beta; the more content developers create, the sooner a populated and functioning service can be released to the public. The Joystiq article also includes a good number of photos taken during the session. These show various aspects of Home that we may or may not have seen before. Included is a shot showing a stress test of the new Home Items feature, which allows people to use various objects within the world - in this instance we can see a large number of people dancing around their bubble machines. Speaking of the bubble machine, it was one of the added features in the new Home beta upgrade which goes live this week. Between the improved beta and the almost-fully-functional developer tools, it can't be too long until we finally see Home in the flesh. So to speak.
GDC08: SNK shows off some PSP fighter anthologies
We already know 2008 is going to be the year for new fighting games, both 2D and 3D. What we didn't quite expect was the huge display over at the SNK area of classic fighters and their respective compilations also getting a 2008 release. The video details some of the PS2 anthologies, but also goes into some of the PSP versions. If you're a fan of fighting games, new or old, this is your year. Embrace it, buy it roses, but keep it at arms length or it will say you're suffocating it and it needs some time to itself. Then the year will never, ever come back.[Thanks, LeadTester!]
PS3 Fanboy presents: Insomniac music video, director's commentary
Did you watch the Insomniac recruitment video? Of course you did. (Download a higher-res version here.) Here's an exclusive for PS3 Fanboy readers. Ryan Schneider from Insomniac joins us to give a few behind-the-scenes commentary for the video. Find out a few new tidbits about the development team and get a few more hints about this Resistance 2 game they have going on. What was the inspiration for creating a recruitment music video?Well, when you go to things like GDC, everybody has their typical video. In general, everyone has their recruitment video – it's very "been there, done that." We just wanted to do something different. We wanted to create a video that captures who we really are and this video does. It shows that we take our games very seriously but not ourselves. %Gallery-14695%
GDC08: Hands almost-on with Puzzle Quest: Galactrix
D3 Publisher's big surprise at GDC this year was the newly rebranded Puzzle Quest: Galactrix, the sci-fi spiritual sequel to the hit Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords. We weren't able to play the game -- we were forced to sit tantalizingly close as we watched the PC version of the game (also coming to DS and Xbox Live Arcade) being demonstrated. The new game explores the question "What if people didn't have souls?" in the medium of match-three puzzle games. No, we don't know what that means either.Enjoy our gallery of spaceship concept art, screenshots, and this thing, and continue past the break for what gameplay details we could glean from the demo.%Gallery-16886%
GDC08: The Uncharted post-mortem
At Game Developer's Conference, our pal, Richard Lemarchand from Naughty Dog hosted a post-mortem on Uncharted entitled "Amazing Feats of Daring." His talk covered the various challenges the team encountered on their first PS3 project, and the tricks they've learned along the way. The audience was jam-packed, as representatives of gaming's most proclaimed development teams attended the session.
Fancast Xtra: Peter Molyneux interview at GDC08
Don't ask us how we did it, but we managed to corner Peter Molyneux at GDC this year. We subsequently tied him to a chair and forced him to answer our questions about Fable 2. No, no, of course we didn't do that. Peter Molyneux is, in fact, an entirely amiable man -- perhaps too amiable -- and was happy to answer our questions. We learn a few details about Fable 2's newly announced co-op features, the Xbox Live Arcade tie-in, and we even wedge in a question about the ill-fated BC. We've posted the audio from the interview below. The audio will also be delivered to subscribers of the Xbox 360 Fancast. Feel free to download the MP3 using the "Read" link as well. Finally, if you can't be bothered to listen to things -- we know how important you are -- stay tuned for the transcription coming later this week.
GDC08: Dennis Dyack is worried about GDC
During the Game Developers Conference, 1UP.com was able to record interviews with developers in the guise of their weekly 1UP Yours podcast, one such episode was with outspoken Silicon Knights boss Dennis Dyack. In the episode on February 21, Dyack outlined his worries for the future of GDC based on the marketing spin put on the, "once sacred," developer gathering."I worry about GDC [because] how many talks are you learning something versus when somebody is trying to sell you a product?" Dyack asked the crew made up of editors Garnett Lee, Shane Bettenhausen, Bryan Intihar and former 1UPer Mark MacDonald. "Are we calling this the Game Developers Conference [or] are we calling it the Game Demo Convention?"
Spotted@GDC: the PSP GPS receiver
We know GPS is coming to PSP some time this year (in fact, we predicted it). So, when we see the peripheral being touted at GDC at Sony's booth on the show floor, our interest gets piqued. Considering the booth was underground, the device apparently had trouble figuring out a precise location. Oh well.Let's hope for more news on an official release soon.[Via Engadget]
PS3 Poll Police: So, how was GDC 2008?
Another week, another visit from your local precinct's Poll Police. Grammatically unsound, ethically clean, and legitimately insane, we ask you questions that you answer and react accordingly. This past week, the Poll Police were on a trip to the Game Developer's Conference. Through the many sites you undoubtedly visited, you got enough information to have vicariously attended the event. So, what did you think? How was GDC '08? It seemed awesome. Lots of info and announcements. It was pretty good. I heard what I wanted, mostly. I was neither here nor there with it. Nothing major happened. I felt there was a lack of anything exciting happening. It was mostly a waste this year. I am upset. So you're saying there was some kind of gaming event last week? pollcode.com free polls Sony didn't have a very large presence, but we got enough stuff to keep you in the loop. Even if you aren't a Sony fan, there was definitely a lot of great information presented by Microsoft and third party companies to keep you on the edge of your seat. GDC wasn't the biggest announcement center for non-US companies (Microsoft seemed to blow its wad of titles all in one presentation), but it gives us the notion that the Sony Gamer's Day coming up will really let the PS3-related announcements shine bright. Last week's poll result, as always, is past the jump.
GDC08: Lucasarts prioritizing PS3 development for future projects
At a GDC lecture Haden Blackman, the project lead on The Force Unleashed, stated that Lucasarts has now learned a valuable lesson from its development of the game. All future multiplatform projects will prioritize development on the PS3 before being ported over to the 360. This is a direct result of problems and delays during the development of The Force Unleashed caused by trying to port the 360 version to the PS3. The game is now, thankfully, on track, despite these delays. A live demo of The Force Unleashed was also shown and, from what we've heard, it looks absolutely stunning. We can't wait for its release this summer.[Thanks Paul]
The House Containing Some Dead 2 & 3
I didn't see The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return at GDC -- and I looked -- but Gamespot got a hands-on preview of the new release of Sega's light gun classics. Had I been there, I would have asked about the captioning. "Suffer the same way G did?" The audio's the same (from what can be heard on the video) so why the change in captioning? And why just that line?In addition to rewriting Zeal's big line, Sega has added six different crosshair options and online rankings. What hasn't been added, unfortunately, is The Typing of the Dead. How could anyone do this?%Gallery-10506%[Via NeoGAF]
GDC08: The how, what, and why of LEGO Universe
Though anyone who has played the existing LEGO games would understand their charm, from an outside perspective you might be wondering why LEGO needed to go to the massively multiplayer scale. At GDC this past week, Mark Hansen, Director of Business Development for LEGO, explained the ideas behind their MMO to be, LEGO Universe. It's all about playing with LEGOS, of course! Playing and building with LEGOs is a creative experience, an imaginative experience -- and LEGO wanted a version of their product that would relevant for children of the 21st century who had grown up (and are growing up) around computers and technology.%Gallery-16723%
Rumor: Lair analog patch coming, makes the game much better?
You thought you heard the last of Lair, didn't you? While at GDC, a man we will call DugBuzz, states in his IGN blog, seeked out the Factor 5 booth and played around with their new build of Lair that incorporated an analog function. He made a comment about the guy who reviewed the game on IGN after playing the new version: "Greg needs to give them a new score. It was kind of clear that Factor 5 put in the extra effort a little begrudgingly, but the results were amazing. This might push me over the edge into the "must buy PS3" territory."So there you have it. If you haven't played Lair, or rented it and had a bad taste in your mouth, should this analog patch (which also might fix other things -- just an assumption) come out, we'll let you know. It's then your call whether or not to try it out again, but if this guy has decent tastes, it might just make a potentially great game great. Get it?
