Anyone who’s been following industry news remembers the disastrous tale of Curt Schilling and his game development firm, 38 Studios, and how it went catastrophically bankrupt shortly after releasing its only game. According to Schilling, it’s the most devastating thing he’s ever been through…yet he’s still here, and he’s got some advice for other entrepreneurs…and inventors.
During an earnings call earlier today, Nvidia’s Senior IR Director Chris Evenden had some very interesting things to say about the state of the PC games industry. According to him, the PC gaming market is going to crush the console market this generation – even after the Xbox One and PS4 are released. The question is, does his stance hold water?
Good news, everyone! Preorders are now open for the Virtuix Omni Natural Motion Interface. For those of you who haven’t been paying much attention, it’s an omnidirectional gaming treadmill which, when paired with a headset such as the Oculus Rift, effectively offers full virtual reality.
That, my friends, is downright incredible.
If you’re a fan of the Saint’s Row series – I mean REALLY a fan. You need to have an unhealthy obsession bordering on Tom Cruise levels of insanity – publisher Deep Silver’s just released something you’ll find to be quite the treat: a super-special copy of Saint’s Row IV. It’s called the Super Dangerous Wad Wad Edition…and it’ll run you a cool mil.
To be fair, it does come with some pretty awesome stuff.
It’s been only a few months since the Oculus RIft devkits shipped out to developers, and we’ve already seen some positively mind-blowing stuff, from remote-controlled drones equipped with cameras to full-motion VR simulations. Today, I came across what might be the most fascinating demo yet: a cover-based shooter so realistic that the developer has cautioned players not to get too absorbed, lest they try leaning against something that isn’t there.
Seriously.
Turns out, Valve Pipeline isn’t the only initiative out there designed to teach kids the basics of coding and game design. Yesterday, while fumbling about the Internet, I came across a video game known as Gamestar Mechanic. To put it simply, it’s designed to teach the principles of game design through gaming.
It’s not just for kids, either.
In the wake of the Newtown shooting, the United States Congress proposed a bill that would fund research into violent video games and their connection with violent behavior. For most of us, this isn’t terribly surprising. What happened at Newtown was the worst sort of atrocity – people need to find a reason for it.
Video games aren’t it, and The Entertainment Consumers Association is stepping forward to make that clear.
EverQuest Next isn’t just a rumor anymore, folks. It exists, and it looks downright incredible – enough that it could well completely deep-six the linear spectrum on which MMOs currently exist. It’s got intelligent monsters and NPCs, procecurally-generated quests, and a fully-destructible, dynamic world. In short? It’s downright incredible.
I’m sure most of you have heard phrases like "free market" and "free economy" before. If you’ve ever done business online (or spent any time online, really), you’ve at least experienced it. The open nature of the digital world has changed something fundamental about what it is to be a consumer, about what it is to do business.
This has, in turn, caused a revolution in the games industry. Let’s talk about that.
It should come as no great surprise that breaking into independent game development is no easy task. After all, you’re trying to accomplish something which is ordinarily left to massive corporations employing teams of artists, designers, and programmers. You’re trying to market a game without the aid of press agents or a PR department. It’s going to be a long, hard – and probably expensive – road, but the destination is more than worth it…right?
Maybe not.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
