Hasta La Gadget!

Whatever value you see in game development schools, it’s clear that few of them tout gaming industry veterans who can lead by example. The University of Texas’ upcoming Denius-Sams Gaming Academy could solve this discrepancy by tapping two executives whose work many of us know by heart. Both legendary designer Warren Spector and Blizzard COO Paul Sams will guide (and sometimes teach) year-long post-baccalaureate certificate programs at the Academy that focus on creative leadership and game company management — yes, that means instruction from gurus behind the Deus Ex and Warcraft franchises, among other classics. The programs will also emphasize that all-important ability to finish a game, rather than mastering skills in isolation. The first students join the Academy’s ranks in fall 2014, although they’ll need to be exceptional to stand a chance of getting in — just 20 spots will be open in the first year.

[Image credits: Nightscream, Wikipedia; Rob Fahey, Flickr]

Filed under: Gaming, Software, Alt

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Source: University of Texas at Austin

Rovio has given Windows Phone users a fresh reason to fire up Angry Birds — something to the tune of 100 vexing new levels. Also unique this time around, the game introduces support for Xbox Live achievements and leaderboards on Windows Phone 8. Rather than an update, however, this is a re-release of Angry Birds; you’ll need to download the new version separately, which is free until May 15th. In other good news, if you own an entry-level Windows Phone such as the Lumia 610, you’ll be glad to know that you can finally join in on the fun, since Angry Birds now supports devices with just 256MB of RAM. All in all, there’s plenty to like about this one. Most of all, the price.

Filed under: Gaming, Software, Mobile

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Via: Windows Phone Blog

Source: Nokia Conversations, Rovio

PlayStation Vita sales in Japan have experienced some good growth since last month, and most of it is thanks to the launch of a new game called Soul Sacrifice. The game debuted on March 7th in Japan, and it sold 105,000 units within its first week. It is estimated to have sold a total of 180,000 units through April 13th. The game was developed by Keiji Inafune, who has told IGN that a sequel is already in the talks.

Inafune stated that he and Sony Computer Entertainment, the company that produced the game, are having discussions regarding a Soul Sacrifice sequel. He states,

“Soul Sacrifice is something I specifically designed for the Vita using the hardware’s specific features. To drive Vita sales even more, I have an idea for a Soul Sacrifice sequel. I’m actually approaching [Sony Computer Entertainment] regarding this project.”

Thanks to the game, PlayStation Vita sales have been on the rise. The PS Vita has been struggling with sales, and Sony had to reduce the pricing of its system in order to bring sales up. While that helped, Sony still needs new games that will make consumers want to purchase a PS Vita. Games like Soul Sacrifice, which is a new IP, is what the company is looking for.

Soul Sacrifice is a 3rd person game that resembles that of the Monster Hunter franchise. Your character is a sorcerer that you can customize in many ways. The character can be a tank, a melee DPSer, or a ranged caster. The game features 4-player co-op, where you can team up with strangers or friends to battle dangerous bosses. You are rewarded experience points and bonus points after successfully winning a fight. The game is strange as it allows you to sacrifice your allies or your limbs in order to cast powerful spells.

Soul Sacrifice is one of those games that Quantic Dream COO Guillaume de Fondaumiere believes will revive the gaming industry. In a recent interview, Fondaumiere stated that game developers needed to be more creative and experimental with their game releases. He told developers that experimental games didn’t have to be “unprofitable” and that sales could reach figures that were once perceived only achievable by well-known IPs. He says that game developers need to develop new IPs, like Soul Sacrifice, in order to get gamers, both old and new, interested in the industry again.

[via IGN]

PlayStation Vita game Soul Sacrifice helps boost sales for the game console is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

At his keynote at Digital Dragons, Quantic Dream COO, Guillaume de Fondaumiere, stated that innovation and experimental games doesn’t always result in unprofitable games. He cited Quantic Dream’s PlayStation 3 game, Heavy Rain, as a prime example of that. He states that it cost a total of $40 million to produce, market, and distribute the game. The game successfully generated $100 million for Sony, making it extremely profitable.

Foundaumiere says that Heavy Rain was highly experimental, and it pushed the boundaries of gaming, but it still became widely successful. The experimental game was not only successful in sales, but also in bringing exposure to Quantic Dream as well. Foundaumiere says that now gamers who loved Heavy Rain will be more likely to purchase the company’s next game, Beyond: Two Souls. Foundaumiere states that the game industry as a whole needs to start taking more risks and being more creative, instead of just creating the same games over and over again.

Fondaumiere also cites ThatGameCompany’s game Journey as an example. While he wasn’t able to release any sales figures for the game, or how much it cost to produce, he says that the game was both profitable for the company as well as Sony. He uses the Tomb Raider series as an example as to why lack of innovation can be deadly to the game industry. The franchise became irrelevant because the game company behind it overkilled it with too many similar sequels. By completely revamping the game’s story and gamestyle, Crystal Dynamics was able to revive the franchise.

At the keynote, Foundaumiere also touched on many other topics, including campaigning for the implementation of tax breaks for the game industry, as well as getting developers to be more responsible when developing their games. He says that children play their video games, and that even an ESRB rating won’t stop them. To make develop games more responsibly, he says that developers should “ban gratuitous violence in our games, that would be one step in the right direction.”

To conclude his keynote, Foundaumiere states that the gaming industry is currently going through a financial crisis. Part of the reason is due to the economy, but he also says that another part of it is the lack of creativity from developers. He says that the lack of creativity is the reason why gamers are “playing less.” He concludes that by offering new IPs and creations, developers will be able to get gamers, old and new, interested in their products once again.

[via Games Industry International]

Heavy Rain proves experimental games aren’t always unprofitable is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The NPD group has just released a list of the top ten best-selling games in March. The sales of the games were monitored from March 3rd to April 6th. BioShock Infinite topped the list, followed by Tomb Raider, Gears of War: Judgment, God of War: Ascension, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon, MLB 13: The Show, NBA 2K13, The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct, and Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3.

The NPD group didn’t release specific sales data, however according to GameSpot, the number 1 game, BioShock Infinite, sold 878,000 copies in March. Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon, which came in 6th place, sold 415,000 copies according to Nintendo. The sales figures for all of the games on the list include the standard edition of the games, collector’s edition, game of the year editions, and bundles, however, games that were purchased in hardware bundles (like the Nintendo 3DS/Luigi Mansion bundles) were not counted.

Total industry sales for March reached $992.5 million. While the sales figure is impressive, it is still a 10% decline year-over-year from March 2012. A majority of the sales were generated by the video games themselves, totaling $602.4 million. However, NPD Group analyst Liam Callahan says that the $992.5 million the game industry made only accounts for about half of what the market really spent in March. He says,

“When you consider our preliminary estimate for other physical format sales in March such as used and rentals at $190 million, and our estimate for digital format sales including full game and add-on content downloads including microtransactions, subscriptions, mobile apps, and the consumer spend on social network games at $670 million, we would estimate the total consumer spend in March to be just under $1.9 billion.”

The month of March turned out to be extremely beneficial to game publisher Take-Two Interactive, who published both BioShock Infinite as well as NBA 2K13. The sales it achieved with both games were the highest sales for any individual company monitored by the NPD Group since it began tracking sales in 1995. Also while sales in the game industry declined 10%, new game launches for last March were still 40% higher than March 2012. Hopefully we see the momentum of March continue on throughout April in the NPD Group’s next report.

[via IGN]

NPD lists the top ten best-selling games in March is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.