Hasta La Gadget!

To celebrate the beginning of the PAX East gaming convention this weekend, Kickstarter has announced that the crowd-sourcing project website has surpassed $100 million pledged towards various game projects. Thanks to over 630,000 backers over the past four years, 1,476 gaming projects were able to meet their goal and turn into a reality.

The Games category on Kickstarter includes video games, as well as table-top board games, the most notable successfully-funded projects being Double Fine Adventure, Faster Than Light, and Organ Trail, as well as table-top games like Sentinels of the Multiverse, Mobile Frame Zero, and Cards Against Humanity. Double Fine Adventures raised the most money out of the bunch, racking up over $3.3 million.

Breaking down the past four years but the amount of money raised each year, Kickstarter says that in 2009, the Games category raised a total of $60,601, with 2010 raising $546,362. In 2011, $3,855,692 was pledged, and in 2012, a record $83,144,565 was raised during those 12 months. So far this year, $22,423,264 has been raised, totaling more than all of 2009, 2010, and 2011 combined.

Back in January, Kickstarter announced that all crowd-sourced projects during 2012 raised a total of over $320 million. The company notes that times sure have changed since 2009. A successful gaming project back then was Kingdom Death, which raised $1,741 from 28 backers, with the same project relaunched in 2012 and raising over $2 million.

Kickstarter sees over $100 million pledged towards games is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

There’s no shortage of browser-based games available to casual gamers, but none are as quite unique as a new project called “World Wide Maze.” The game uses actual websites to build 3D mazes in which players can then guide around a small steel ball, similar to the likes of Marble Madness or Super Monkey Ball.

The game builds the 3D mazes dynamically using the HTML elements of the website, and players use their Android smartphones as a controller for the game, which is played on their computer in the Google Chrome web browser. You simply sync the two devices through Chrome using a unique code, then you can fire up the game and go at it.

Players either tilt their mobile devices or use the on-screen controls to guide the steel ball around, and just the Wii U’s gamepad, your Android smartphone’s display can mirror what’s on the computer screen. The video above shows what the game is all about and provides a quick demo so that you can see it in action. It’s in Japanese, but most of the important stuff is all visual anyway.

You’ll need a fairly decent computer to run the game, even if it is purely browser-based. World Wide Maze works uses the WebGL standard, and it requires at least 1GB of RAM and a 256MB graphics card for hardware acceleration. However, most computers nowadays will be able to handle it. While this may not be a game that you’ll spend hours playing, it’s certainly a cool thing to try out, and it could very well be the future of a new type of gaming.

[via Ars Technica]

World Wide Maze turns any website into a 3D maze in Google Chrome is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Competitive gaming (a.k.a. e-sports), is continuously growing in popularity. Case in point: Major League Gaming held a handful of tournaments this past weekend, and while many people showed up physically to the 2013 Winter Championship in Texas, even more people streamed the events online — 2.6 million people to be exact.

The three-day event featured three tournaments with games consisting of Call of Duty: Black Ops II, League of Legends, and StarCraft II. Thousands of spectators show up at the event, but tons of fans live stream the event on their computer. This year there were 2.6 million fans streaming the event throughout the weekend.

However, this doesn’t break any records, and it doesn’t come close to the numbers of last year’s tournament in June when a total of 4.7 million tuned in to live stream the event. Still, that’s an increase of what the numbers were back in 2011, with only a half-million viewers tuning in to watch some competitive gaming.

The next major tournament coming up is in April, where Call of Duty: Black Ops II will be the main event with $1 million worth of prizes for the top placing teams. That event will be hosted by Microsoft and Activision, and will be presented by Major League Gaming, along with “Xbox.” If you’re not too familiar with e-sports and competitive gaming, PBS aired a documentary not too long ago discussing how it all works.

[via The Next Web]

Major League Gaming reports 2.6 million spectators during weekend tournaments is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Who would’ve thought that letting consumers pay what they think is fair for quality games would prove popular? That’s the concept behind Humble Bundle, and so far, it’s been rather good to developers and charities alike. Now, deals from the company are set to get a whole lot more frequent, as it’s just announced weekly game sales that’ll supplement the monthly bundle offers. You’ll find a new game from Humble Bundle go up for sale each Tuesday, and to kick things off, the company is starting with Bastion, an RPG from Supergiant Games. Just $1 nets you a Steam key to the game, but if common decency isn’t enough of a reason to pay more, you’ll find bonus content and merchandise up for grabs, too. This week’s charities include the EFF and Child’s Play, but you’ve only got seven days to act before another game takes its place. Best start checking it out, and you can start with a demo of Bastion after the break.

Filed under: Gaming

Comments

Via: TechCrunch

Source: Humble Bundle (1), (2)

In what may seem like a surprising move (or maybe not, considering the circumstances), Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello will be stepping down from the big wig position, as well as giving up his position as a member of the Board of Directors. The resignation will go into effect March 30, and Larry Probst will assume acting CEO until the company finds a replacement.

Riccitiello says he takes full responsibility for EA’s less-than-stellar financial results as of late, and says that the company “will come in at the low end of, or slightly below, the financial guidance [EA] issued in January.” He also notes that the company has “fallen short of the internal operating plan” that was implemented a year ago.

Riccitiello says that “EA’s shareholders and employees expect better,” and he is “accountable for the miss.” Larry Probst will assume the day-to-day role as “Executive Chairman” in order to make sure that there’s a “smooth transition.” Probst was actually EA’s CEO from 1991 to 2007, and has served as Chairman of the Board since 1994.

Riccitiello joined EA in October 1997 as president and COO at the time, but he left the company in 2004 to spearhead a couple of projects, including becoming a co-founder and managing director of Elevation Partners, as well as chairman and CEO of VG Holdings. However, Riccitiello returned to EA in 2007 to take on the CEO role. Riccitiello’s full resignation letter can be read below.

March 17, 2013
Mr. Larry Probst
Chairman Electronic Arts

Dear Larry,

I hereby offer my resignation as CEO of Electronic Arts effective with the end of our Fiscal Year 13 on March 30, 2013.

This is a tough decision, but it all comes down to accountability. The progress EA has made on transitioning to digital games and services is something I’m extremely proud of. However, it currently looks like we will come in at the low end of, or slightly below, the financial guidance we issued in January, and we have fallen short of the internal operating plan we set one year ago. EA’s shareholders and employees expect better and I am accountable for the miss.

I have been at the helm as EA’s CEO for six years and served as COO for nearly seven years starting in 1997. I know this company well, and I care deeply about its future success. I leave knowing EA is a great company, with an enormously talented group of leaders and the strongest slate of games in the industry. I could not be more proud of our company’s games, from Battlefield and FIFA, to The Simpsons: Tapped Out and Real Racing 3. We have built many great franchises that will serve the company well in FY14 and beyond. In particular, I am confident that the investments we have made in games for next-generation consoles will put EA in a strong leadership position for many years ahead.

In offering my resignation, my goal is to allow the talented leaders at EA a clean start on FY14. I look forward to working with you in the coming weeks on an effective leadership transition. I’m extremely honored to have led this company and proud to have worked with all the great people at Electronic Arts.

Sincerely,
John Riccitiello

Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello resigns is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.