Continue reading »]]> The results are in, and the annual 2008 PlayStation Awards out of Japan is now a wrap. The handing out of awards commemorates successful titles over the past year. It highlights the best of the best and honors titles that have sold more than 500,000 units with a Gold Award, and those which sold over a million with a Platinum Award.

Unfortunately, only one PS3 title made this year’s list. That being, of course, Metal Gear Solid 4 with a Gold Award. With most of the other major PS3-exclusives releasing in late Autumn, we’re not really surprised by this.

Anyways, congratulations to you MGS4 for the recognition.

Continue reading »]]> Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment are pleased to announce that LEGO Batman: The Videogame has won a prestigious Children’s BAFTA Award for Best Videogame Electronic Theatre Image2008.

Developer TT Games was snapped up by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment in 2007 and has since had a hugely successful 2008 seeing the release of LEGO Indiana Jones and LEGO Batman: The Videogame.

TT Games beat stiff competition from Nintendo’s Mario Kart Wii and Professor Layton and the Curious Village to scoop the top prize at the Children’s BAFTA Awards. Only four titles were short-listed for the award two of which were titles developed by TT Games – LEGO Batman: The Videogame and Guinness World Records: The Videogame.

“We’re absolutely delighted; it’s a very special accolade for the whole team” said TT Games head of production Jonathan Smith.

“To get this acknowledgment, here in our home country of the UK, to be acknowledged by the British Academy for the work that everyone’s done on LEGO Batman, was really thrilling.”

Spencer Crossley, head of videogames UK at Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment said, “We extremely happy for everyone at TT Games. They have brought to life two great brands through fantastic game play and lots of humour which works perfectly for children.”

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Continue reading »]]> Thousands of gaming fans left a virtual world to unite in the real one and test an update of their obsession. By day they are human, but in their spare time they become mythical heroes such as wizards, dwarfs and blood-elves. At the weekend, in California, 15,000 of them logged out of World of Warcraft, the world’s biggest online game, to gather in a hall the size of an aircraft hangar for the “big nerdfest” that is Blizzcon.

They were drawn to the Anaheim Convention Centre in California by their love of the virtual worlds they inhabit. Blizzcon is part video game carnival, part trade fair and part religious pilgrimage, organised by Blizzard Entertainment, which makes World of Warcraft and the real-time strategy game Starcraft.

Almost 11 million people pay £7 a month to play World of Warcraft and dedicated fans have flown in from 27 countries around the world to attend Blizzcon, where they can discuss the intricate details of Blizzard’s games with the game-makers, get the exclusive chance to play new games before general release, dress up as their favourite characters and compete against one another.

At the opening ceremony, in reality little more than a glorified press conference, the atmosphere is intense and the noise deafening. The screams reach a peak when Mike Morhaime, the Blizzard chief executive, takes the stage. He’s a gentle-looking man wearing a blazer — the crowd greets him like a rock star.

“We are on the eve of a historic event next month, and I don’t mean the presidential election,” he says. The packed hall roars in agreement. For this mob, something far more important than electing the leader of the free world is taking place in November — “Northrend will be open.”

Northrend is a new continent in World of Warcraft and forms part of the latest expansion of the game, which goes on sale next month. The release of Wrath of the Lich King will be the biggest event in computer gaming this year. Fans will queue for hours to buy a copy. Gamers expect no less than what Blizzard aims to achieve: the greatest computer game ever created.

The first World of Warcraft game was released four years ago. Today, it is the world’s biggest “massively multi-player online game”, or MMO. It has all the elements of a sci-fi fantasy world you might expect; with dragons, gnomes, orcs and such. It is a knowing homage to the likes of Lord of the Rings and Dungeons and Dragons. Players spend hours going on quests and doing battle with one another in order to build up their character into something akin to a small god. In an ever-evolving virtual world that is illustrated in rich detail and can be explored endlessly.

Paul Sams, a senior Blizzard executive, said the key to the game was its accessibility. “It’s easy to learn but hard to master,” he added.

Walking around the convention floor, there is a certain Blizzcon chic that is noticeable. The crowds are filled with loads of chubby, young, and pale men. They wear black t-shirts, a back-to-front cap, and sport an ill-advised goatee. There are endless queues for everything from nachos to the gift store. Disneyland just down the road won’t see anything like it.

Blizzcon has been growing in popularity since it began in 2005. This year the frenzy to buy tickets caused the online booking system to crash. Once the problem was fixed, the $150 (£90) tickets sold out in 15 minutes.

The longest queues are for the chance to play new games. After hours of waiting, gamers finally get their chance to play at one of the hundreds of computers screens, lined up in banks. The whole event takes place in semi-darkness; natural light is not let in, ensuring that glare does not distract the players from the digital carnage.

Others quietly play fantasy card games with each other, or take part in intense Q&A sessions with the game creators. Some honest fans admit that they main reason they have come is to get hold of the much-wanted Blizzcon goodie-bag. What makes the bag so special? It includes a polar bear mount, an extremely rare character which players can use to ride upon, like a horse or a camel, in World of Warcraft. The mount is valuable, both in the game and in real life. It is already being sold for anything up to $300 on eBay.

On one stage, hundreds gather to watch professional Warcraft and Starcraft matches. Big screens show the action while commentators describe the battle excitedly. Players are locked away from the crowd in sound-proof booths. The action is furious. The contestants tap on their keyboards and click on their mouse about eight times a second. To the outsider, it all makes very little sense.

Meanwhile, there are thousands more watching the proceedings at home, having paid about $40 to view it on pay-per-view television. Critics describe World of Warcraft as the greatest video game creation, a masterpiece in art and engineering. But its genius is that it has evolved to become a deeply social and communal experience.

“Two years ago on Father’s Day, my son gave me World of Warcraft,” says Jim York, 61, from Los Angeles, who was at Blizzcon with his 30-something adult son, who lives around about 350 miles away from him in San Francisco. “Now about twice a month, we go online and go on quests together. It’s become a father-son experience.”

Blizzcon is home for this growing online community. Almost everyone here says they have come out of a sense of belonging. People who have become friends by playing together online meet for the first time at the convention.

This includes James Taplin, 29, from Dorset, England, who met his online friend Nathan, from Birmingham, just before flying to Blizzcon last week. “It’s all about the togetherness,” said Mr Taplin. “We talk to each other for a while about our day, then we put that to one side and go kill some monsters.”

World of Warcraft fans unite for pilgrimage to Blizzcon – Times Online

Continue reading »]]> New titles for new platforms on show at B2B event in Lyon

Anticipation for next month’s popular Game Connection Lyon event is building – and the organisers have offered up a glimpse at what attendees and fellow exhibitors will see at the event.

Connection Events says that  the event "will welcome dozens of companies at the forefront of the new development trends for new target audiences on all platforms" – that’s next-gen formats as well as iPhone, they say, while those exploring or looking to take advantage of new business models will also be in attendance.

The organisers also say that a number of new companies, and media firms looking to expand their games interests, will be on hand at the event, which runs from November 5th to 7th.

Confirmed exhibitors for Game Connection Europe includ: Arkane Studios, Blitz Games, Daedalic Entertainment, Eutechnyx, GSC Game World, Kuju Entertainment, Rebellion, Team 17 Software and Techland.

Apple tells Develop that its digitial download service can boost gaming

Digital distribution platform iTunes can revolutionise the games industry in the same way it has conquered music, Apple has told Develop.

The statement of intent has come from the company – previously a more reluctant player in the games space – following its unveiling of new iPod Touch hardware and booming business of its App Store. Apple’s online storefront continues to challenge traditional retail and now provides a new channel for games developers.

The App Store, the section of iTunes which sells software produced by third-party developers, hosts over 3,000 pieces of software at various price points (from free up to around £5.99 – 70 per cent of the revenue goes to the developer), and games make up 20 per cent of the content on there.

“Some of [the games] are getting pretty fantastic. There is something here for everyone,” Apple CEO Steve Jobs had remarked at the unveiling last month.

iTunes is described by Apple as the ‘largest online content store in the world’ offering also 8.5m songs and 30,000 TV episodes for download. There are 65m user accounts with registered credit cards on the service. All of this has enabled Apple to slowly climb up to become ‘the number one music distibutor in any format in the US’ ahead of traditional retailers like WalMart and Best Buy.

Game Connection Europe offers a glimpse of the future | Game Development | News by Develop

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The 13th annual Tokyo Game Show opened at Makuhari Messe just outside of Tokyo Thursday morning with a record number of game titles on display from a record number of exhibitors.

Visitors to the show, which are expected to total around 180,000 people by the end of its four-day run, have the chance but likely not the time to see 879 games on display. A total of 209 exhibitors from 14 countries are at the show, which is the largest computer gaming event in Asia. The Tokyo Game Show is one of the big three global gaming events alongside the E3 show in the U.S. and the Leipzig Games Convention in Germany.

Games for Nintendo’s DS make up 18.7 percent of all titles at the show — the single largest percentage. They are followed by mobile phone games at 18 percent. The rise of mobile gaming has been much in evidence at the show over the last few years and has helped contribute to a jump in the number of titles and exhibitors attending the expo. PC games come in a close third at 17.5 percent followed by handheld games for the PlayStation Portable, at 7.8 percent, and then Nintendo’s Wii at 7.1 percent.

But much of the attention will be focused on blockbuster titles for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360 consoles.

Sony has a number of unannounced games at the event and plans to unveil them at a news conference later Thursday. Just before the Sony event gets underway Microsoft will be presenting news about its Xbox 360 platform during a keynote at the companion Tokyo Game Show Forum event.

PC World – Business Center: Tokyo Game Show Kicks-off With Record Number of Games