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'Sonic Mania' is a wonderful balance of nostalgia and novelty
If you've played Sonic the Hedgehog on your phone, Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 in the last half-dozen years, you have Christian Whitehead to thank. In 2009, he created an unofficial proof of concept iPhone port of Sonic CD using a custom-built game engine -- a project that eventually led to Sega hiring him to officially port Sonic CD, Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 to modern platforms. This week, the fruits of that partnership reached a new high point in Sonic Mania, an all-new 16-bit Sonic the Hedgehog platformer that sees the mascot return to his glory days.
The hidden depth of mobile puzzle game 'Where Cards Fall'
We're sitting in a circle on the floor of a decadent San Francisco hotel lobby, crowds of people milling around the couches and stairways. The young men of Snowman, the studio behind Alto's Adventure, watch as Sam Rosenthal sets up a small iPad, preparing to show off his latest game, Where Cards Fall. Rosenthal is the co-founder of the Game Band, a small Los Angeles studio working with Snowman to bring its new project to iOS, Apple TV and Steam this autumn. Rosenthal flips through a slideshow of character designs, explaining the premise as he goes. Where Cards Fall is a top-down, 3D puzzle game that has players build houses of cards to navigate tricky environments. It follows a handful of teenagers over the course of 10 years, from adolescence to college and finally adulthood. The art is cartoonish yet polished, as if the designs of Oxenfree had been transformed into 3D.
'Breath of the Wild' creators explain how they bucked tradition
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild isn't just the series' best game in years, it's also unlike any title in the series -- it's an open-world experience where you're free to find your own solutions to challenges. But just how did Nintendo manage to pull off such a radical change in direction? Don't worry -- it's happy to explain. The Game Developers Conference has posted a talk from Nintendo's Hidemaro Fujibayashi, Satoru Takizawa and Takuhiro Dota that describes how the Breath of the Wild team broke from the highly linear experiences of past Zelda games. It's a textbook example of how to make a good open-world game regardless of the genre.
'Sonic Mania' finally gives its lead character a unique special move
When Sega invited me behind closed doors to get an early look of Sonic Mania at GDC last month, I wasn't expecting much. I'd seen the trailers and indeed, it looked like a grand homage to franchise, but I was surprised to find that the game is more than that. Mania doesn't just bring players back to the 16-bit era with classic graphics and gameplay -- it adds to it. This retro Sonic throwback gifts its mascot with new abilities, new levels and incredibly smooth pixel animation.
The Nemesis System is huge in 'Middle-earth: Shadow of War'
The standout feature of Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor was the Nemesis System. It added a layer of strategy to an otherwise standard action game, allowing players to see the strengths and weaknesses of specific Uruk soldiers before striding into battle. The Nemesis System was like a game of chess superimposed on top of a rich fantasy world, innovating on the genre and tapping into players' desire to command an army rather than simply run around Mordor as a doomed man possessed by the spirit of a vengeful Elf. In Monolith's Middle-earth: Shadow of War, the Nemesis System is bigger, badder and more robust. Players will be able to not only gather information on the enemy armies -- staffed not only by Uruk anymore but also by mountain trolls and other beasts true to JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings universe -- but also to view strengths, weaknesses and personal history of their own armies.
GDC opens up its arms to the trans community
Two weeks ago, the Trump administration rolled back federal protection for transgender students who wish to use the restroom that aligns with their gender identity. The act has drawn criticism for not just discriminating against transgendered people, but also putting them in harm's way. Several Silicon Valley companies have also come forward to decry the rollback, proclaiming their commitment to LGBT rights. At the Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco last week, it was clear that the gaming industry shares the sentiment too.
Razer's new digital currency is both outdated and enticing
The last thing the gaming industry needs is another digital currency system that supplants dollars for an exclusive "points" system -- and yet that's exactly what Razer invited me to see at its San Francisco offices last week. The company's pitch was almost contradictory. Razer zVault is a digital wallet system designed to unify payments across platforms encumbered by a myriad of other fragmented digital wallets. It sounds ridiculous, but it's already moderately successful: over six weeks, the zVault pilot program has already tracked over 370,000 transactions using zVault's zGold currency. That's probably due in part to the fact that zVault boasts a burgeoning rewards program that offers users discounts, free games and a second bonus currency that can be used to buy Razer accessories and laptops.
Tech companies and game devs are gearing up for AR
Last year's Game Developers Conference was ruled by virtual reality. From Sony detailing its PSVR launch plans to Oculus showcasing the first batch of games for the consumer Rift headset, you couldn't swing a Meowth at the event without hitting a VR booth. But perhaps fueled by the success of Pokémon Go in 2016, augmented reality has become the new industry darling. That's not to say VR has been kicked to the curb completely, but at GDC 2017 we saw the emergence of AR as a compelling technology for gaming and beyond.
The tech that makes MMO development easy for indies
SpatialOS is the technical foundation that makes massive, persistent, online world-building possible, even for small video game studios. Think of large, mainstream games like Destiny or Elder Scrolls Online: These are huge universes that support thousands of players at a single time. It typically takes millions of dollars and hundreds of people multiple years to make one of these games -- let alone support it post-launch -- which is one reason it's notoriously difficult to secure funding for the development of massively multiplayer online games. However, SpatialOS puts a spin on this standard. Improbable's computational platform offers cloud-based server and engine support for MMO games, allowing developers to easily create and host online, multiplayer experiences with persistent features. SpatialOS first made a splash at GDC 2015, when it promised to power MMO games with a swarm-like system of servers that switch on as they're needed in locations around the world.
A naked barbarian simulator saved FunCom from bankruptcy
It's easy to disassociate game developers from the success or failure of their titles. The average gamer might not notice if a company's most recent releases aren't selling well, and would be none the wiser if one of their favorite companies was teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. That's where FunCom was before it decided to make Conan Exiles. Despite the popularity of its previous Conan games, critical acclaim for titles like The Park and being the developer behind the LEGO Minifigures Online MMO, the company was hemorrhaging money. "We were basically loaning money from our investors for wages," FunCom creative director Joe Bylos told Engadget at GDC. "We were pretty close to bankruptcy." If its next game wasn't a hit, the company was done for.
Play laser tag in the real world with this smartphone attachment
Playing laser tag is fun, but in order to do so, you have to go to a special venue, get specialized equipment and basically block off the entire day. With Proxy42's Inceptor, however, you don't have to. This little accessory combined with a game called Father.io essentially changes any smartphone into a mobile laser tag machine, without the need for a plastic toy gun attachment.
Here's what happened at GDC 2017
Our time at GDC 2017 has come to an end, and we're already looking forward to next year. Over the course of the week, we covered the latest developments from the gaming world, which included major announcements by Oculus and Microsoft on the alternative-reality front. But that wasn't all: Independent games are always a major part of GDC and this year was no exception, as demonstrated by the massive Indie Megabooth. The show floor may be closed now, but stay tuned because we still have some stories to share with you about trends we noticed at the event.
Backstage with the big winners of the IGF and GDC awards
Every year, the Independent Games Festival and Game Developers Choice award shows bring a bit of glitz and glamour to the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. And 2017 was no different. The two back-to-back spectacles honor the most innovative and important titles of the past year, covering everything from mobile gaming and student projects to mainstream, AAA extravaganzas. We went backstage with the winners directly after they received their awards, capturing their thoughts on the industry -- and their massive smiles.
Watch the first 10 minutes of Fullbright's 'Tacoma'
Tacoma feels a lot like its predecessor, Gone Home, even though its environments couldn't be more different. Rather than leading players on an emotional journey through an abandoned family house, Tacoma places players on an abandoned space station. The feeling of familiarity comes from the game's design and mechanics: Players are encouraged to explore all the nooks, crannies, notes and recordings scattered around the station, while the layout of the winding metal hallways and air locks quietly guides them through a mysterious, dangerous storyline.
The cyberpunk revolution begins with video games
Hey, game developers: William Gibson called. He wants his dystopian sci-fi future back. The annual Game Developers Conference showcases the latest projects from studios around the world, offering a first-hand look at the themes and trends driving the industry forward. And this year, it's all about cyberpunk. Walking among the flashy, flickering and noisy booths of the GDC show floor and its surrounding events, the pattern becomes clear -- a significant portion of these games have a strong sci-fi vibe, many of them dealing with the idea of futuristic corporate overreach and gritty technological espionage.
Fan requests didn't change 'Nioh' too much
In an age where developers seemingly bend over backwards to accommodate fan requests (cough, the Mass Effect 3 ending, cough), Team Ninja decided to buck that for its latest game, Nioh. That's not to say that the developer didn't take feedback to heart for its samurai action title, just not all of it according to a post on the PlayStation Blog.
Bring out your inner 'Calvin and Hobbes' at Alt.Ctrl.GDC
Ah, the Alt.Ctrl.GDC booth. It's the real reason thousands of people flock to downtown San Francisco every year, under the guise of attending panels, networking and showing off their work at the annual Game Developers Conference. Alt.Ctrl.GDC is a collection of games that use experimental controls -- that means no keyboards, no mice and no gamepads. Instead, the booth is filled with things like laser harps, spaceship control panels, giant inflatable dark rooms, DIY bookcases, record players, furry cat hats, cardboard boxes and waist-high, carpeted treadmills.
There are a dozen new ideas at GDC 2017's Indie Megabooth
Indie Megabooth has become something of a haven for gamers looking for fresh experiences and new ideas. It's become a staple event for indie games at shows like PAX, Gamescom and, of course GDC. This year's developer conference is no exception, featuring a dozen games that defy control conventions, make players question their identities and explore possible futures with fun sci-fi settings.
'#Archery' is a quirky VR party game for the HTC Vive
I wasn't expecting to start my day using a bow and arrow to shoot ice cream cones at kids, or riding on the back of a pickup truck slinging newspapers in a suburban neighborhood. But thanks to #Archery, a virtual reality game from indie studio VRUnicorns, I was able to do just that using an HTC Vive headset. The title, which hits Steam Early Access on March 30th for $10, features a handful of main levels and mini games within each one of those. My experience consisted of scenarios like what I mentioned above, where I took charge of a digital bow and arrow to fire different objects at characters around the environment.
There were so many games at GDC's ID@Xbox showcase
Microsoft's ID@Xbox showcase is a staple of GDC, packing a ton of independent video games into a single room and letting players go wild. This year, ID@Xbox featured 20 games across a range of genres, from shoot-em-ups and RPGs to first-person cyberpunk horror. It's impossible to play every game, so we picked four at random: Full Metal Furies, Observer, Moonlighter and Ruiner. And we had a blast.