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Video game industry thread: Trogdor commands you to use the new thread

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Posts

  • AstaleAstale Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    I think they should promote the game by hiring mercenaries to attack North Korea. See if they'll reciprocate.

    There is no such thing as bad advertising! Right? Get that name out there!

    Astale on
  • RoyceSraphimRoyceSraphim Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Vagrant Story and Xenogears on PSN?

    Squenix better hurry up and put Star Ocean 1 and 2 on there. Game over, PS3 for me!

    RoyceSraphim on
  • Undead ScottsmanUndead Scottsman Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Brainiac 8 wrote: »

    Oh Jesus Fucking Chris, this has to stop. (Not Splosion-man related)

    For the past several months, every time I go to gametrailers.com on my tower machine in firefox, it automatically goes to the mobile site, even though I don't even OWN any mobile devices. Now gamestop is doing the same thing. How do I flag my Firefox as NOT MOBILE?

    Undead Scottsman on
  • cloudeaglecloudeagle Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    cloudeagle wrote: »
    Sure, most of those games could be done on consoles... but the fact is, they aren't. They're only available on the DS, and that works to the system's advantage here. Most of the PSP's games either are direct continuations of console games or have direct roots in console games.
    Final Fantasy, Zelda, Mario Party, Big Brain Academy, Animal Crossing, Mario Kart, Phoenix Wright, Tetris, Dragon Quest and Mario 64 haven't been done on consoles? Did you even glance at that list?

    And how exactly are any of those different from Monster Hunter, Valkyria Chronicles or any of the other games you'd probably consider 'console-style games'?

    No, because you still haven't answered my original question: what PSP games offer different experiences than consoles?

    But what the hell, I'll humor you.

    Pokemon: technically can be done on consoles, but hasn't.
    Big Brain Academy, Brain Age: extensive use of touch controls.
    Animal Crossing: Wild World: exactly like the consoles.
    Mario Party DS: Extensive touch controls
    Final Fantasy III DS, Final Fantasy IV DS: Same as the consoles, then again these games have been ported all over the damn place.
    Dragon Quest IX: mostly the same as consoles, though Nintendo is going on and on about how the map-sharing feature was a game changer in recent Iwata Asks.
    Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass: 100% touch controls.
    Nintendogs: Hasn't been on consoles.
    New Super Mario Bros: same as consoles.
    Mario Kart DS: same as consoles.
    Professor Layton: not on consoles, extensive use of touchscreens.
    Phoenix Wright: technically got a Wii port, though before that the game was heavily geared to touch controls.
    Tetris DS: same as consoles.
    Super Mario 64 DS: same as consoles.

    So, going by your own list, we already have a ton of games that play significantly differently on the DS than they do on consoles.

    Now, I'll ask again. What PSP games give completely different experiences on portable than they do on consoles?
    Congratulations! That's a grand total of three examples. The very ones I gave, actually. In the very thread you quoted. Right up above your statement here. C'mon, to disprove my initial thesis, you need much more than that.
    What the fuck? Did you read anything I said there?[/quote]

    Yes. And you still haven't answered the question.
    Yet we were talking about Japanese games here. And again, most Japanese PSP games either are direct continuations or have roots in console games.

    No we weren't, we were talking about how you think Japan likes 'console-style games' on handhelds but the west doesn't. I've been continually pointing out that that ridiculous definition can describe most handheld games, so clearly their popularity isn't limited to just Japan. Plus that it's a pointless term, since they are essentially just handheld games.[/quote]

    And I'm pointing out that DS games offer, on average, a significantly different experience than PSP games do. Which is largely why all those PS2 ports we got at the start of the system's life failed, and is a large part of why the PSP failed in the west. Meanwhile, the Japanese apparently have no problem with console-style experiences on handhelds.
    You... Just seem to be dodging everything I've been saying and continually changed the definition of what you consider a 'console-style game'.

    No, you're dodging the question of which specific PSP games, besides Locoroco, Patapon and the minis, offer differences specifically tuned to portable.
    Before you said they were portables games with the same gameplay as their console equivalents, now you're saying they're portable games that are 'direct continuations or have roots in console games'. On the bright side, they're both similarly vague.

    Um, no. They're pretty much the same thing. God of War PSP plays the same as God of War PS2, even though it's technically a new game. A new game that, by the way, is a direct continuation and has roots in console games. That's different than, say, Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, which (while a Zelda game) has completely different controls that create a new experience than the console Zeldas.

    cloudeagle on
    Switch: 3947-4890-9293
  • Magic PinkMagic Pink Tur-Boner-Fed Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Brainiac 8 wrote: »

    Oh Jesus Fucking Chris, this has to stop. (Not Splosion-man related)

    For the past several months, every time I go to gametrailers.com on my tower machine in firefox, it automatically goes to the mobile site, even though I don't even OWN any mobile devices. Now gamestop is doing the same thing. How do I flag my Firefox as NOT MOBILE?


    I'll tell you but step 4 is Not Touching Yourself For A Week.

    Do you think you can do that?

    Magic Pink on
  • Warlock82Warlock82 Never pet a burning dog Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Brainiac 8 wrote: »

    Oh Jesus Fucking Chris, this has to stop. (Not Splosion-man related)

    For the past several months, every time I go to gametrailers.com on my tower machine in firefox, it automatically goes to the mobile site, even though I don't even OWN any mobile devices. Now gamestop is doing the same thing. How do I flag my Firefox as NOT MOBILE?

    It's not Firefox, it's your User Agent string. Most websites have shit-ass mobile detection, and some programs have shit-ass entries in the user agent header. In my case, it was picking "pda" out of "Creative AutoUpdate" - again, because it's stupid. Do a Google search, there are ways to fix it.

    Warlock82 on
    Switch: 2143-7130-1359 | 3DS: 4983-4927-6699 | Steam: warlock82 | PSN: Warlock2282
  • cooljammer00cooljammer00 Hey Small Christmas-Man!Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Shoot missiles at North Korea with the Homefront logo dude on the side of the casings.

    cooljammer00 on
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    3DS Friend Code: 2165-6448-8348 www.Twitch.TV/cooljammer00
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  • cloudeaglecloudeagle Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    pslong9 wrote: »
    In the "Who the hell thought this was a good idea?" department:
    THQ planning North Korean protest to promote Homefront

    Surprised? Yeah, we're not either. Turns out that THQ is once again planning a North Korean-themed event , though this time it's GDC that the publisher is invading. As reported by the SF Weekly, anti-North Korean protesters (read: hired actors) will be marching across the Golden Gate bridge, through the streets of SF, and ending across the street from GDC at Yerba Buena Gardens. And as you likely inferred from the headline above, the protest is staged in promotion of the company's next game, Homefront.

    This time around, the spectacle intends on decrying "North Korea's human rights violations," and apparently features "speeches by global experts, musical performances, and the launch of 10,000 balloons." We're not sure what the balloons have to do with the forthcoming launch of Homefront, but we're all about decrying human rights violations. So, um, score?

    Eh, who gives a shit about the suffering, oppression and starvation of tens of millions... wait, there's a video game involved? Sign me up!

    cloudeagle on
    Switch: 3947-4890-9293
  • Magic PinkMagic Pink Tur-Boner-Fed Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Shoot missiles at North Korea with the marketing director tied to the side of the casings.


    Fix'd for zaniness!!

    Magic Pink on
  • cooljammer00cooljammer00 Hey Small Christmas-Man!Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Jungle, we hardly knew ye.

    cooljammer00 on
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    3DS Friend Code: 2165-6448-8348 www.Twitch.TV/cooljammer00
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  • Santa ClaustrophobiaSanta Claustrophobia Ho Ho Ho Disconnecting from Xbox LIVERegistered User regular
    edited March 2011
    cloudeagle wrote: »
    pslong9 wrote: »
    In the "Who the hell thought this was a good idea?" department:
    THQ planning North Korean protest to promote Homefront

    Eh, who gives a shit about the suffering, oppression and starvation of tens of millions... wait, there's a video game involved? Sign me up!

    What's going to be worse about it all, is that since it's taking place in San Francisco, if it gets any press, it probably won't be good press.

    Santa Claustrophobia on
  • bloodyroarxxbloodyroarxx Casa GrandeRegistered User regular
    edited March 2011
    bloodyroarxx on
  • cloudeaglecloudeagle Registered User regular
    edited March 2011

    Pffft, this fails for daring to acknowledge those filthy cell phone game things.
    Seriously, that's awesome.

    Am I wrong for thinking this could actually work as a movie?
    Devil May Cry is headed to the big screen.

    Variety reports that Sony's Screen Gems, the distribution outlet behind the Resident Evil film franchise, has purchased the movie rights to the Capcom game series in the hopes of starting the next big game-to-film franchise a la RE.

    Screen Gems has hired Kyle Ward, who also penned the Kane & Lynch movie at Lionsgate, to write the screenplay. The video game's story follows Dante as he hacks and slashes his way through demons in his quest to avenge his mother's murder.

    The first whispers of a Devil May Cry live-action feature film were made almost eight years ago when Tokyo-based film distributor Gaga Communications landed the screen right from Capcom; they had hoped to be in production by 2005.

    Devil May Cry 4 Refrain for the iPhone hit stores earlier this month; you can check out our review of it here.

    http://movies.ign.com/articles/115/1152720p1.html

    cloudeagle on
    Switch: 3947-4890-9293
  • SheepSheep Registered User, __BANNED USERS regular
    edited March 2011
    3DS is gonna use the same web browser as the PSP.

    Sheep on
  • DiamondDiamond Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    cloudeagle wrote: »
    PSP & DS vs console stuff

    In general I often found that the better PSP games had you playing longer sessions than the DS games. They also seemed to use more traditional console style controls.

    You had stylus controlled Zelda on DS and analog stick (Dreamcast-style) 3rd person shooters on PSP.

    Diamond on
  • cloudeaglecloudeagle Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Diamond wrote: »
    cloudeagle wrote: »
    PSP & DS vs console stuff

    In general I often found that the better PSP games had you playing longer sessions than the DS games. They also seemed to use more traditional console style controls.

    You had stylus controlled Zelda on DS and analog stick (Dreamcast-style) 3rd person shooters on PSP.

    That's pretty much the point I'm making. And again, that's not a bad thing. I have no idea when I'll accidentally say something to earn Unco's righteous fury.

    At any rate, the cancer is spreading.
    Zynga wants to get into your pocket. As the publisher of games like, “Word with Friends,” a Scrabble-clone popular on Apple devices and since February, on Android platforms, Zynga, known as the top games publisher on Facebook, is likely trying to reduce its reliance of Mark Zuckerberg and co’s platform.

    “You should play and you should pay,” says David Ko, the former Yahoo executive who moved to Zynga in November to spearhead its mobile push.

    In a recent interview, Ko told Reuters that Zynga’s mobile strategy has two parts: Creating mobile versions of existing Web titles like ”FarmVille” and “Mafia Wars” and, having users play games on their mobile devices before anywhere else, like on “Words with Friends.”

    In the U.S, Ko says, mobile games are growing at a “high clip,” but that the faster growth is in markets like South East Asia where people are turning to games first on their smartphones since PCs are less prevalent.

    “In markets like South East Asia, mobile-first experiences are going to lead the way,” Ko says.

    Next year, users should expect a lot of different types of Zynga mobile games, Ko says. A franchise it could certainly tap is CityVille, which grew to 101 million users in no time but that has no current mobile version.

    “With 250 million people playing our games per month—all of those people should have mobile opportunities if they want to,” Ko says.

    While Zynga had a first mover advantage on Facebook, in the mobile realm,the farm is much more crowded. TinyCo, the maker of the game Tiny Chef received a not-so-tiny investment in the form of $18 million in venture capital funding, led by Andreessen Horowitz and joined by Ron Conway, Keith Rabois, and a handful of other angels investors.

    Hey, at least these dudes are open about what they're up to.

    cloudeagle on
    Switch: 3947-4890-9293
  • SheepSheep Registered User, __BANNED USERS regular
    edited March 2011
    cloudeagle wrote: »

    Am I wrong for thinking this could actually work as a movie?
    Devil May Cry is headed to the big screen.

    Variety reports that Sony's Screen Gems, the distribution outlet behind the Resident Evil film franchise, has purchased the movie rights to the Capcom game series in the hopes of starting the next big game-to-film franchise a la RE.

    Screen Gems has hired Kyle Ward, who also penned the Kane & Lynch movie at Lionsgate, to write the screenplay. The video game's story follows Dante as he hacks and slashes his way through demons in his quest to avenge his mother's murder.

    The first whispers of a Devil May Cry live-action feature film were made almost eight years ago when Tokyo-based film distributor Gaga Communications landed the screen right from Capcom; they had hoped to be in production by 2005.

    Devil May Cry 4 Refrain for the iPhone hit stores earlier this month; you can check out our review of it here.

    http://movies.ign.com/articles/115/1152720p1.html

    Maybe not, maybe.

    DMC fans are very very specific in what kind of Pretty Boy they want to stare at.

    Sheep on
  • cloudeaglecloudeagle Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Sheep wrote: »
    cloudeagle wrote: »

    Am I wrong for thinking this could actually work as a movie?
    Devil May Cry is headed to the big screen.

    Variety reports that Sony's Screen Gems, the distribution outlet behind the Resident Evil film franchise, has purchased the movie rights to the Capcom game series in the hopes of starting the next big game-to-film franchise a la RE.

    Screen Gems has hired Kyle Ward, who also penned the Kane & Lynch movie at Lionsgate, to write the screenplay. The video game's story follows Dante as he hacks and slashes his way through demons in his quest to avenge his mother's murder.

    The first whispers of a Devil May Cry live-action feature film were made almost eight years ago when Tokyo-based film distributor Gaga Communications landed the screen right from Capcom; they had hoped to be in production by 2005.

    Devil May Cry 4 Refrain for the iPhone hit stores earlier this month; you can check out our review of it here.

    http://movies.ign.com/articles/115/1152720p1.html

    Maybe not, maybe.

    DMC fans are very very specific in what kind of Pretty Boy they want to stare at.

    I don't think we'll ever be able to equal what Ninja Theory did with 40-year-old game designer Dante in the movie world. Unless they hired, say, Christopher Walken to be Dante.

    ...actually that would be pretty awesome.

    cloudeagle on
    Switch: 3947-4890-9293
  • UncleSporkyUncleSporky Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Sheep wrote: »
    3DS is gonna use the same web browser as the PSP.

    It's going to be made by the same company, which is not quite the same thing. As one example, there will likely be stylus-based keyboard input.

    You could just as easily say it's the same browser as the PS3. Multiple tabs and all!

    UncleSporky on
    Switch Friend Code: SW - 5443 - 2358 - 9118 || 3DS Friend Code: 0989 - 1731 - 9504 || NNID: unclesporky
  • Undead ScottsmanUndead Scottsman Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Warlock82 wrote: »
    Brainiac 8 wrote: »

    Oh Jesus Fucking Chris, this has to stop. (Not Splosion-man related)

    For the past several months, every time I go to gametrailers.com on my tower machine in firefox, it automatically goes to the mobile site, even though I don't even OWN any mobile devices. Now gamestop is doing the same thing. How do I flag my Firefox as NOT MOBILE?

    It's not Firefox, it's your User Agent string. Most websites have shit-ass mobile detection, and some programs have shit-ass entries in the user agent header. In my case, it was picking "pda" out of "Creative AutoUpdate" - again, because it's stupid. Do a Google search, there are ways to fix it.

    It was my UserAgent string in firefox actually (I.E. was just fine it looks like). Was set to Playstation 3 for some weird reason.

    Undead Scottsman on
  • cloudeaglecloudeagle Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    So, the Game Developers Conference is going on. Microsoft spoke on the quirks of developing/bug-testing/localizing Kinect games.
    There were a number of challenges that accompanied releasing Kinect globally, Thompson said. Time was among the forefront of these, as there were really only two years between Kinect's early design and prototype phase and its global launch. In this brief period, the team was challenged with catering to 12 languages.

    ...

    One other issue the team ran into was the sheer human logistics of testing a Kinect game. A single tester can't be expected to play a Kinect game for 8-10 hours per day, Thompson said, purely from a physical standpoint. Bug capture was also a problem, as players can't log a bug while interacting with the title. The solution here was to bring in two testers--one that plays and the other that logs. The two testers would then swap roles.

    ...

    Edwards then took the podium to speak about gestural issues and the accounting of cultural nuance. The goal is to not force players to use potentially negative gestures to control the unit or to play a game, she said. Hand and body gestures are particularly problematic for localization, because certain gestures, such as a peace sign or a thumb between the fingers can mean different things to different people.

    Dance Central is the type of Kinect game that is particularly problematic, she said, before showing an image of an in-game character making what would appear to be a rock-and-roll hand gesture in the game. In the US, this gesture simply implies rock on, she said. However, in Texas, the gesture also has the connotation of hook 'em horns, thanks to its association with the University of Texas. Edwards also noted that showing someone the bottom of their foot can be quite offensive in some cultures.

    Games such as this are given a gesture review, which involves examining all mo-cap and avatar moves, and then making minor tweaks as necessary.

    ...

    She went on to note that scheduling was a major challenge for Kinectimals, as they only had about four and a half months to complete speech recognition localization. Due to security and confidentially issues, they could not use external vendors, as this was all occurring pre-launch. As such, they had to do all of their testing internally, involving Microsoft employees and their family members.

    Because Kinectimals is targeted at young kids, it was important to collect voice data from many children. However, strict child labor laws complicated this process, she said.

    http://www.gamespot.com/events/gdc2011/story.html?sid=6301169&tag=newstop;title;10

    cloudeagle on
    Switch: 3947-4890-9293
  • CouscousCouscous Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Not every language was supported with the speech recognition and Name Your Animals feature, she said. The team focused in on US and UK English, Japanese, Mexican Spanish, and Japanese.
    Why is Japanese listed twice?

    Couscous on
  • HyperAquaBlastHyperAquaBlast Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Couscous wrote: »
    Not every language was supported with the speech recognition and Name Your Animals feature, she said. The team focused in on US and UK English, Japanese, Mexican Spanish, and Japanese.
    Why is Japanese listed twice?

    One is for actual Japanese translation and the other for weeaboo kawaii Japanophiles.

    HyperAquaBlast on
    steam_sig.png
  • cloudeaglecloudeagle Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    From Chris Kohler's twitter feed, a revelation about iPhone development:
    Infinity Blade panel is interesting. Donald Mustard says they designed gameplay sessions so your legs won't go numb when you play on toilet

    http://twitter.com/kobunheat

    cloudeagle on
    Switch: 3947-4890-9293
  • SpoitSpoit *twitch twitch* Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Ceno wrote: »
    ....because Nintendo would apparently rather go out of business than release a full, classic rpg on a console.....

    hmmm :?

    Spoit on
    steam_sig.png
  • CouscousCouscous Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    cloudeagle wrote: »
    From Chris Kohler's twitter feed, a revelation about iPhone development:
    Infinity Blade panel is interesting. Donald Mustard says they designed gameplay sessions so your legs won't go numb when you play on toilet

    http://twitter.com/kobunheat

    Pffff, everybody already did that for Gameboy games.

    Couscous on
  • UncleSporkyUncleSporky Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    At least they've finally determined the perfect location for playing their games.

    UncleSporky on
    Switch Friend Code: SW - 5443 - 2358 - 9118 || 3DS Friend Code: 0989 - 1731 - 9504 || NNID: unclesporky
  • cloudeaglecloudeagle Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Couscous wrote: »
    cloudeagle wrote: »
    From Chris Kohler's twitter feed, a revelation about iPhone development:
    Infinity Blade panel is interesting. Donald Mustard says they designed gameplay sessions so your legs won't go numb when you play on toilet

    http://twitter.com/kobunheat

    Pffff, everybody already did that for Gameboy games.

    Nuh uh! Only the iPhone gives you a truly unique pooping experience!
    Man, Unco's going to kill me when he gets back.

    Meanwhile, Harmonix is doing.... stuff.
    Despite the recent troubles of the music gaming genre and dissolving of the Guitar Hero franchise, Harmonix is optimistic, as sales for its Xbox 360/Kinect game Dance Central surpass those for Rock Band 3.

    "To date [Dance Central] has outperformed Rock Band 3 at retail," said Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopulos in an interview with video game weblog Destructoid.

    "It's one of the top-selling titles for the Kinect, and the Kinect is one of the most successful products in the entire video game industry right now. So we're thrilled with how Dance Central has performed out of the gate."

    As of January 2011, three months after its release, the standalone version of the controller-free dancing game had sold over 1.2 million copies in North America, according to figures provided by the NPD exclusively to Gamasutra. That number doesn't include Dance Central copies sold with Xbox 360 Kinect bundles or Kinect accessory bundles.

    Despite explosive growth in the music gaming field just five years ago, the genre has suffered recently, as sales for major franchises dwindled and Activision disbanded its Guitar Hero business unit. Shortly after it was sold by Viacom to investment firm Columbus Nova, Harmonix cut 12-15 percent of its staff to meet its product development plans.

    Undeterred by those setbacks, Rigopolus said he's excited about this "new beginning" for Harmonix, revealing that the company's largest single development team is currently working on Dance Central, though he didn't outright admit a sequel. He also said the company has "significant resources" devoted to Rock Band in the near term and far term.

    "We also have significant resources devoted to a number of new IPs and new game concepts in development as well. So there's actually quite a lot of work underway here on a diverse variety of projects," the CEO added.

    http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/33294/Harmonix_Dance_Central_Outselling_Rock_Band_3.php

    That first quote is kind of an understatement, since it's looking like Dance Central sold at least 10 times as many copies as Rock Band 3.

    Also, what the hell does this mean?
    In January, Epic Games and Mad Catz inked a deal that will bring Gears of War 3-themed accessories to retail when the game releases this fall. Now, the accessory maker has partnered with Electronic Arts for a similar deal.

    According to EA's announcement, the deal grants Mad Catz non-exclusive rights to produce and market a "wide range" of PC and console accessories based on the popular The Sims franchise. The announcement did not divulge what kind of accessories Mad Catz will produce for The Sims, but did note that it plans to craft items for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, Wii, DS, and the 3DS.

    The next Sims title due out is The Sims Medieval, which ships for PC and Mac on March 22. The title, the first in a series, will have players create heroes, venture on quests, build and control a kingdom, and play every "Hero Sim" character in the game. Additionally, The Sims Medieval gives players the chance to control persons from all walks of life including kings, queens, knights, wizards, blacksmiths, and bards.

    http://www.gamespot.com/news/6301337.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=newstop&tag=newstop%3Btitle%3B8

    cloudeagle on
    Switch: 3947-4890-9293
  • SkutSkutSkutSkut Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    New EA computer parts! (not compatible with EA products)

    SkutSkut on
  • fragglefartfragglefart Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    cloudeagle wrote: »
    So, the Game Developers Conference is going on. Microsoft spoke on the quirks of developing/bug-testing/localizing Kinect games.
    There were a number of challenges that accompanied releasing Kinect globally, Thompson said. Time was among the forefront of these, as there were really only two years between Kinect's early design and prototype phase and its global launch. In this brief period, the team was challenged with catering to 12 languages.

    ...

    One other issue the team ran into was the sheer human logistics of testing a Kinect game. A single tester can't be expected to play a Kinect game for 8-10 hours per day, Thompson said, purely from a physical standpoint. Bug capture was also a problem, as players can't log a bug while interacting with the title. The solution here was to bring in two testers--one that plays and the other that logs. The two testers would then swap roles.

    ...

    Edwards then took the podium to speak about gestural issues and the accounting of cultural nuance. The goal is to not force players to use potentially negative gestures to control the unit or to play a game, she said. Hand and body gestures are particularly problematic for localization, because certain gestures, such as a peace sign or a thumb between the fingers can mean different things to different people.

    Dance Central is the type of Kinect game that is particularly problematic, she said, before showing an image of an in-game character making what would appear to be a rock-and-roll hand gesture in the game. In the US, this gesture simply implies rock on, she said. However, in Texas, the gesture also has the connotation of hook 'em horns, thanks to its association with the University of Texas. Edwards also noted that showing someone the bottom of their foot can be quite offensive in some cultures.

    Games such as this are given a gesture review, which involves examining all mo-cap and avatar moves, and then making minor tweaks as necessary.

    ...

    She went on to note that scheduling was a major challenge for Kinectimals, as they only had about four and a half months to complete speech recognition localization. Due to security and confidentially issues, they could not use external vendors, as this was all occurring pre-launch. As such, they had to do all of their testing internally, involving Microsoft employees and their family members.

    Because Kinectimals is targeted at young kids, it was important to collect voice data from many children. However, strict child labor laws complicated this process, she said.

    http://www.gamespot.com/events/gdc2011/story.html?sid=6301169&tag=newstop;title;10

    That's pretty interesting. I've read some other decent developer articles, cool when they get specific like that; the device is damned clever and it is so easy to take that hard work for granted given some unusual and specific hurdles developers face.

    The new article on Kinect use in Child of Eden mentions how far they have moved on with subtle hand movement recognition.

    http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-03-01-child-of-eden-hands-on
    How does it play? Brilliantly. Last time I encountered the game, I left with the impression that the serious way to play Child of Eden was with the controller, moving the aiming reticule in precise semi-circles as you paint and release, selecting targets and then shattering them in itchy little sonic bursts.

    The Kinect functionality was still a selling point, but it was there for when you had friends around and you wanted to show them what it was like to stand in your living room and wave your arms around like an inscrutable and all-powerful space wizard.

    Now, however, as Q Entertainment eases into the final stretch of development, Kinect has snapped sharply into focus: the game copes well with even the most minimal of gestures, while the bounding box means that you won't be constantly nudging the camera off its pre-aligned route through each level unless you mean to.

    With the roving reticule responding quickly to sweeps and arcs of your hand, you can enjoy the game as a genuine challenge as well as a fancy display of sound and colour, and yet the controls still retain their stylish tweaks.

    There are two main weapons to choose between – an auto-fire Tracer, and a more standard Rez-styled paint-targets-and-then-unleash setup - and a brisk clap of the hands switches you back and forth between them so quickly that the game's arsenal soon becomes second nature. For particularly tricky moments, a smart bomb – it used to be called the Happy Bomb, and it's now been retitled Euphoria – is triggered by holding up both your hands.

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  • UncleSporkyUncleSporky Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Did you know that Playstation Home has been downloaded 19 million times, and that the average playtime is 70 minutes? They can't tell us how many use it regularly, of course, that requires signing an NDA.

    It's apparently so popular that they're releasing new tools to developers for making more in-Home multiplayer games.
    Sony will release new tools which will allow developers to create real-time multiplayer games for PlayStation Home.

    Version 1.5 of the Home core client is scheduled to launch this spring. According to Sony, it will allow for the creation of "fast-action" online first-person shooters and racing games within Home.

    Such as Sodium 2: Project Velocity, which Sony showed a brief demo of during an update briefing. It looks like a futuristic racer set within desert landscape - WipEout meets MotorStorm, in other words. Expect customisable vehicles, a "pounding" soundtrack and a spring release date.

    The update also features a revamped physics engine, said to allow for more realistic collisions and other physics elements. Plus there are new animation tools for better graphics and improved frame-rates.

    Making the announcement, Sony Computer Entertainment America Executive Jack Buser said the new update is part of Sony's strategy to offer new gaming experiences within Home. "It's evolving from a social network into a world class gaming platform," he added.

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  • MorninglordMorninglord I'm tired of being Batman, so today I'll be Owl.Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Sure it is. Executives. Hah!

    Morninglord on
    (PSN: Morninglord) (Steam: Morninglord) (WiiU: Morninglord22) I like to record and toss up a lot of random gaming videos here.
  • cooljammer00cooljammer00 Hey Small Christmas-Man!Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Why not? There were a bunch of people in there last time I checked.

    cooljammer00 on
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  • fragglefartfragglefart Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    fragglefart on
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  • CouscousCouscous Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    It makes more sense to just release it for both the XBLA and PSN rather than just Home. The main benefit of home would be less competition, but that doesn't count for much.

    Couscous on
  • cloudeaglecloudeagle Registered User regular
    edited March 2011

    It does indeed.

    But... Mrs. 'Splosion Man talks? Awww. I liked the weird babbling 'Splosion Man did. Mmmmm bort bort bort bort!

    cloudeagle on
    Switch: 3947-4890-9293
  • TurkeyTurkey So, Usoop. TampaRegistered User regular
    edited March 2011
    cloudeagle wrote: »

    It does indeed.

    But... Mrs. 'Splosion Man talks? Awww. I liked the weird babbling 'Splosion Man did. Mmmmm bort bort bort bort!

    Splosion Man also talked.

    Turkey on
  • cloudeaglecloudeagle Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Turkey wrote: »
    cloudeagle wrote: »

    It does indeed.

    But... Mrs. 'Splosion Man talks? Awww. I liked the weird babbling 'Splosion Man did. Mmmmm bort bort bort bort!

    Splosion Man also talked.

    Did he? I thought the only coherent thing he ever said was "cake?"

    Edit: Behold, Duke Nukem Forever's official ESRB summary.

    http://www.esrb.org/ratings/synopsis.jsp?Certificate=30650
    This is a first-person shooter in which players assume the role of Duke Nukem, an action hero who must save Earth from invading aliens. Players use pistols, rail guns, shotguns, explosives, and Duke's bare hands to attack and kill the alien enemies. The majority of gameplay involves destroying these enemies in frenetic gun and laser battles in order to move on to the next section. Aliens are often decapitated or dismembered when hit, sending large splashes of blood across the ground, surrounding walls, and players' screen. Some sequences depict more 'over-the-top' instances of violence: aliens getting stabbed in the head or impaled; a human soldier bursting into bloody gibs after being tossed through propeller blades. In one sequence, players have the ability to shoot human characters that are trapped in pod-like alien webbing; bodies explode into pieces upon impact. During the course of the game, players enter a strip-club level and view several topless dancers and receive lap dances. A couple of missions within this level require players to recover sex toys and pictures of topless women. A few sequences strongly imply sexual acts: two women appear to perform fellatio on the central character (e.g., raising their heads from his lap)—though there is no actual depiction of the sex act; Duke moans and leans up against the wall of a bathroom stall (furnished with a hole)—it is implied that a sex act (not depicted) occurs. The game also contains several sexual references and innuendo in the dialogue (e.g., 'I have hungry—you have big egg ro' for me, Duke,' 'If you supply the dancing, I'll supply the pole,' and 'I'll need something naughty to play with.'). Duke's comments range from jokes about colon cleansing to several one-liners about sex and female body parts. Bathroom humor includes the ability to urinate in toilets or urinals and/or pick up feces from toilets and throw it against walls. Players can use both steroid pills and beer as power-ups; when beer is consumed, the screen temporarily blurs. The words 'f**k,' 'sh*t,' 'c*ck,' and 'a*shole' appear in dialogue and on-screen text.

    cloudeagle on
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  • Santa ClaustrophobiaSanta Claustrophobia Ho Ho Ho Disconnecting from Xbox LIVERegistered User regular
    edited March 2011
    But does he shoot [strike]people[/strike] aliens in the balls?

    Santa Claustrophobia on
  • MechMantisMechMantis Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    So the Euro crowd in here should be pretty happy with CDProjekt.

    Scroll down a bit, hit the FAQ button, scroll down a bit MORE until you see "What is GOG.com's Fair Price Package?"

    Copy pasted here for those too lazy to look:
    What is GOG.com's Fair Price Package?

    Gamers in the EU and the UK are generally charged more for the games that they buy than gamers in the US. Even if they're charged the same number in euros or pounds sterling, since the exchange rate favors them over the US dollar gamers in those regions are still paying more. That's not fair, and GOG.com believes that charging the same price worldwide for all customers makes more sense. Unfortunately, we can't just lower our prices on the preorder to be lower than everyone else in those countries, due to legal reasons. So instead, we've come up with a solution that lets us charge a fair price to everyone while avoiding giving the legal team here at GOG a heart attack. Read on below for details!

    I'm an EU citizen. Why do I have to pay more for The Witcher 2?
    Due to licensing and legal reasons the price of The Witcher 2 Digital Premium Edition in the European Union was set at 49.99 euros. The preorder price, being 10% less than that, is 44.99. Due to the favorable euro exchange, that means that EU customers are paying roughly $16 USD more than customers in the rest of the world, which just didn't seem fair to us. We're always trying to get the best value for money to our users, so to compensate our EU customers for the price difference between European Union and the rest of the world, we'll be giving all EU customers a $16 USD credit to spend on anything at GOG.com.

    I'm a UK citizen. Why do I have to pay more for The Witcher 2?
    Due to licensing and legal reasons the price of The Witcher 2 Digital Premium Edition in the UK was set at 35.99 GBP. The preorder price, being 10% less than that, is 31.49. Due to the favorable pound sterling to US dollar exchange, that means that UK customers are paying roughly $6 USD more than customers in the rest of the world, which just didn't seem fair to us. We're always trying to get the best value for money to our users, so to compensate our UK customers for the price difference between European Union and the rest of the world, we'll be giving them all a $6 USD credit to spend on anything at GOG.com.

    While it's just GOG.com credit, it's better than nothing. I don't see anything about Australia though, hopefully you guys don't get hosed.

    MechMantis on
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