Scottish computer games designers have picked up three BAFTAs at a prestigious awards ceremony in London.
A team of students from the University of Abertay Dundee has won the very first BAFTA “Ones to Watch” Award.
Team ‘Voodoo Boogy’, comprising five students on Abertay’s computer games technology and computer arts degree courses, picked up their award at the British Academy Video Games Awards in London last night (23 October).
And in a remarkable night for Scottish success, Dundee-based computer games firm Realtime Worlds also picked up the BAFTA awards for Best Use of Audio and Best Action and Adventure for their Xbox 360 title ‘Crackdown’.
Voodoo Boogy are one of the three winning teams from Abertay’s Dare to be Digital competition this year. The three teams were the sole nominees for the BAFTA ‘Ones to Watch’ award, instituted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in association with Dare to be Digital.
The team members of Voodoo Boogy are: Malcolm Brown and Robert Clarke, graduates in computer games technology; Peter Carr and Finlay Sutton, graduates in computer arts; and Lynne Robertson, currently in her fourth year of computer arts.
Voodoo Boogy were competing for last night’s prize against a team from Edinburgh University and another composed of Chinese students.
Realtime Worlds was founded in 2002 by David Jones, who is a graduate of Abertay and now a Visiting Professor of Games Design and Technology. The company employs about 170 people in Dundee, plus a further 30 in Korea and Colorado. David Jones and other team members have created some of the world's best selling video games, including the global hit franchises 'Lemmings' and 'Grand Theft Auto'.
The international computer games industry is predicted to be worth around $42-44 billion annually by 2010.
Teams website
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
The SIMS On Stage - Karaoke Online
New SIMS online community launched by EA
The Sims on Stage is like the mutant offspring of The Sims, YouTube and Myspace. Billed as a creative community, the site allows people to create avatars through which to sing and record their favorite songs, write and perform comedy sketches, poetry, and stories. They can even create movie montage by mixing their own performances with movie clips from The Sims 2 game.
All sponsored by Ford
Hellgate video game explain in game adware
EULA (End-User License Agreement) Explained
We just made some big announcements about Hellgate: London, and it’s been great to see all of the excited comments regarding what we have in store for our players on day one and onward. On the flip side, we’ve also heard grumblings about the EULA that went out with our DX9 single-player demo.We want to make something very clear. We are in no way scanning your computers for your personal information or taking any personal information without your knowledge. The only time that Flagship or Ping0 would collect your personally identifiable information is when you actually decide to give it to us. Examples are when you create an account for Hellgate: London online or when you provide us your personal information when you enter a contest.
The language in the portion of the EULA that has been cited is actually fairly standardized language that is used in the vast majority of EULAs for recent on-line software. It was unfortunately also somewhat broad in scope and potentially ambiguous in nature in an attempt to keep the legalese at a minimum.
This catch-all statement was included so that we have the ability to determine if someone is using hacks, unauthorized mods or other abusive applications while playing the game which spoils the gameplay for everyone else. We also use this catch-all to protect other parties offering technical support, such as our online provider, Ping0.
This is a completely legitimate function and other leaders in the MMO space do it in an effort to stop hackers and provide better technical support. In order to stop hacks and cheats, as well as attempts at outright fraud, we may need the ability to scan our player’s computers for applications running at the same time as our game.
This paragraph was designed to be able to allow for such functionality. It is also important to point out that EA does not determine what we do in regards to online and offline for our game security.
Violent video game maker forgiven
BBC WebsiteChurch leaders at Manchester Cathedral have "forgiven" Sony for not asking permission to use images of the building in a violent video game.
Sony's PlayStation game Resistance: Fall of Man, uses the historic church as a backdrop to a violent gunfight.
The game was nominated, but failed, to win an award at the British Academy Video Games Awards on Tuesday evening.
The company has apologised for using the graphics, but said it would not be withdrawing the game from sale.
The awards, organised by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), took place at Battersea Evolution, in Battersea Park, London.
More from the BBC
Pokemon for sore throats...
Even when you've got a sore throat, Pokémon is there for you. Yes, this is Pocket Monsters nodo ame (throat lozenges), which comes in two fruity flavors: Orange and grape. They even have Vitamin C in them. How about that? And if this wasn't enough (it really isn't), there's Diamond & Pearl SPACE JUICE. Well, it's not really space juice. Pokémon space juice would be absurd. Rather, it's mixed fruit juice in an astronaut-style squeezy pouch that's often used for energy jelly drinks in Japan.
Source: Kotaku
Okami for Nintendo's Wii
I thought the PlayStation 2 epic "Okami" was the best game of 2006 - but most of you were too busy chain-sawing aliens in "Gears of War" to take a look at this masterpiece from Capcom's now-disbanded Clover Studio. Well, here's your second chance: Capcom is digging up this buried treasure and will be republishing it for the Wii.
"Okami" always felt like a Wii game anyway. Throughout the game you're required to use a "Celestial Brush" to draw spells or solve puzzles. On the PS2, you had to hold an awkward combination of buttons to use the brush; the Wii, presumably, will let you draw by simply pointing the remote at the screen.
Since the Clover team has separated, the Wii translation is being handled by Ready at Dawn, the studio behind the PSP game "Daxter." I almost wish I hadn't played "Okami" already, because it's sure to be one of the best Wii games of 2008.
18,000 attend E for All Expo in LA
The video-game industry deserves some credit for reaching out to fans with the E for All Expo, held last weekend at the Los Angeles Convention Center. And the inaugural event drew 18,000 gamers - not bad for the first time, but less than half the attendance of the fan-created Penny Arcade Expo, which attracted 37,000 people to Seattle in August.
"We are thrilled with the attendance, and we are pleased that we delivered the event we aimed for, which was a celebration that truly was for the entire game community," said Mary Dolaher, the CEO of IDG World Expo, which mounted the event. And for gamers who got their first chance to play Konami's "Metal Gear Solid 4" and Nintendo's "Super Smash Bros. Brawl," the trip seemed to be worth it.
Still, IDG needs to get Sony and Microsoft on board if it expects more players to show up. And it needs to rethink its schedule: Next year's E For All is slated for the last weekend of August, the traditional dates for Penny Arcade Expo.
Play Free Climate Change Computer Game
Want to learn about climate change in a fun way? Take the hotseat as the President of the European Nations for the rest of the 21st Century, and see if you can meet your CO2 targets whilst maintaining popularity and ensuring enough resources for the people.
Climate Challenge, is available to play for free on the BBC Science and Nature website. It's aimed at adults, and let's you be President of Europe for 100 years, making decisions about CO2 and also other important resources, like energy, food and water. You can play it here
Operation: Climate Control (Second game), is aimed at 16 year old school kids and is available to play for free over the Internet. It was sponsored through Defra's Climate Challenge Fund. You can play it here
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
HMV to open specialist PC gaming centre
Trocadero store in partnership with Gamerbase.com
High Street retailer HMV is teaming with Gamerbase.com to open a dedicated PC gaming centre in the heart of London.
Located at the Trocadero centre in Piccadilly Circus, the store will boast 80 multiplayer PCs allowing users to try games ahead of release, as well as take part in tournaments and promotional events.
"This represents a tremendous opportunity for HMV to further develop its specialist credentials as a destination store for games and for gaming," offered Tim Ellis, head of games for HMV.
"I'm optimistic the Gamerbase gaming centre will meet with a very positive response, which would then allow us to consider extending the concept to other stores in the chain in the not-too-distant future."
The Gamerbase gaming centre will operate on a concession basis within HMV's Trocadero store, which occupies 2300 square foot of trading space.
One of the founders of Gamerbase, former ELSPA boss Roger Bennett, says that publishers are already keen on the set up, which will allow them to trial games and gain real consumer feedback ahead of a titles release.
"This is the first centre to combine the entertainment aspect of a consumer gaming experience with a retail solution where customers can try gaming titles before they buy," he said.
"Games publishers are keen to work with us to allow HMV customers to play the newest games before anyone else, and then pre-order the titles at the HMV games retail store just a few feet away from the gaming centre.
"Never before have we been able to track gaming directly with purchases. Now we will be able to see what gamers play, how long for, and how this influences their purchasing habits," he added.
Gamerbase marketing director and professional gamer Sujoy Roy reckons the centre could also act as a talent spotting operation to find some of the UK's best games players, who could then go on to enter professional events.
"This is the first time that a PC gaming centre has been built in conjunction with a major High Street retailer, and we look forward to providing a true consumer experience that will hopefully find the UK’s next top gamers to represent our country at Worldwide competitive events," he said.
Last week HMV opened a dedicated console gaming environment in its Edinburgh store, with Microsoft supplying over 25 Xbox 360 consoles and Samsung hi-def TV screens.
Access to the Trocadero centre will be via a membership scheme, with doors due to open next month.
Source: Games Industry
NARUTO Wii Ramen Noodle Eating Championship
Top Pro Eaters Compete for $5,000 in Cash Prizes
On October 27th, the world’s hungriest competitive eaters will gather for the first-ever NARUTO™ Clash of Ninja™ Revolution World Ramen Noodle Eating Championship, the culmination of a multi-faceted launch event for the new Wii™ video game. Major League Eating have initiated a mandatory chopsticks rule for the competition, in keeping with the traditional method of consuming ramen.
The contest will feature not merely an all-star cast of competitive eaters, but a virtual cornucopia of interesting characters to boot. The focus will be on 4th-ranked Tim “Eater X” Janus of New York City, the face-painting tiramisu champ who recently ate 20 pounds of grits in ten minutes. Nipping at Janus’ heels will be his roommate and training partner, Crazy Legs Conti, a man who once ate his way out of an 96-cubic foot box of popcorn, earning the nickname, “the Evel Knievel of the Alimentary Canal.” Arturo “Grande” Rios, the 13th-ranked pigs’ feet-eating champ from New Jersey, will be fending off best friend duo Eric “Steakbellie” Livingston and Micah “Wing Kong” Collins, as well as 18th-ranked Justin Mih, a Harvard graduate student and chopstick specialist.
The contest will be the cornerstone of an entire day’s worth of activities surrounding the launch of the most exhilarating fighting game yet for the Wii™ home video game system: NARUTO: Clash of Ninja Revolution from TOMY and D3Publisher of America. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., the Nintendo World® Store in New York’s Rockefeller Center will be filled with gaming stations and collectible card game areas. The first 1500 fans to arrive wearing a NARUTO headband will receive an exclusive free gift. Also involved will be card games, Q&A sessions, mini-tournaments with prizes, and a raffle for a one-of-a kind NARUTO DS!
Based on episodes from VIZ Media’s hit anime series SHONEN JUMP™ NARUTO, NARUTO: Clash of Ninja Revolution ships to stores on October 23rd, 2007.
Major League Eating (MLE), the world governing body of all stomach-centric sports, conducts more than 70 events annually, including the Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July
International Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island, N.Y. The competitive eating community, which numbers more than 8,000 veteran and rookie athletes, travels the nation in search of top titles and the glory that they provide.
With U.S. headquarters in Santa Ana, California, TOMY Corporation is one of the worlds’ oldest and most endearing toy companies. For more than eight decades, TOMY has developed and manufactured a broad portfolio of exciting and educational toys, games and video games for children of all ages.
Headquartered in San Francisco, CA, VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), is one of the most comprehensive and innovative companies in the field of manga publishing, animation and entertainment licensing of Japanese content.
D3Publisher of America, Inc. is a subsidiary of D3, Inc. with headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. D3Publisher of America’s strategic focus is on licensed and original titles from leading third-party developers that appeal to mass-market consumers or gaming enthusiasts.
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