Hasta La Gadget!

Ever wanted to stop by Valve‘s offices and have an early look at the studio’s upcoming games? Swinging by Valve Towers for a visit may seem like a pipe dream to most, but now the company is actually giving ordinary players the chance to do just that. In an announcement on the Steam forums, Valve invited players to fill out its new playtester survey. If you’re selected, you’ll get to drop by Valve’s offices and test out the studio’s upcoming games and hardware prototypes.

No, we’re not kidding. Since the playtest involves a trip to Valve’s offices, the company is specifically looking for people in the Seattle/Bellevue area. However, even if you have the misfortune of living anywhere else in the country, you’re not entirely out luck. Valve is inviting anyone who lives in the United States to fill out the survey, as it says it may want to conduct remote playtests in the future.

At the moment, the playtest survey is only open to those who live in the United States. That may not be the case forever, though, since Valve says it’s looking to “add international support in the future.” We’ll be keeping an eye out for more details on that international roll out, but sadly, Valve fans living outside of the United States can probably expect to be left waiting for a while.

Valve likely won’t let you leave its offices without first signing an NDA, so now you have to ask yourself: if you get selected to stop by for a playtest and you get to play an early build of Half-Life 3, can you keep that yourself? We have a feeling that some Valve fans would struggle with that one. In any case, this is a great move by Valve, and one that’s sure to net it even more points with the gaming community. Who’s ready for some playtests?

Valve seeking playtesters for new games, hardware is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The indie game world has undergone a metamorphosis over the past few years, transforming from an often overlooked niche into as much a staple of the game industry as once-every-year blockbusters like the Call of Duty series. It’s that fast-rising side of gaming that PBS’ Off Book has explored in a succinct documentary. As both developers and game journalists explain, the small and more flexible nature of indie teams lets them delve into game concepts, art and sound that major developers typically avoid — you probably wouldn’t get Bastion, Fez or Super Meat Boy out of a company focused mostly on hitting its quarterly revenue targets. Crowdfunding and internet distribution methods like Steam and Xbox Live Arcade have similarly removed many of the barriers that either kept these games from commercial success or forced uncomfortable deals with large publishers in the past. Accordingly, the indie sphere that PBS sees in 2012 is less about trying to become the next Activision or EA and more about experimentation and personal expression. If you’ve ever wanted an elegant summary of what makes Spelunky feel so special, the whole Off Book episode awaits after the break.

Continue reading PBS mini-documentary explores indie game creation, shows what they do that majors can’t (video)

Filed under: Gaming, Alt

PBS mini-documentary explores indie game creation, shows what they do that majors can’t (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Oct 2012 03:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Skyrim‘s second serving of DLC, Hearthfire, launched on PC today, meaning that eager homebuilders can get to work constructing their dream house (or at least something resembling their dream house). Hearthfire costs the same on Steam as it does on Xbox 360 – $5 – and for that paltry amount, you get to buy up plots of land, collect raw materials, and then use those materials to build a house, which could potentially include things like a greenhouse or an armory. You can also move your spouse into your freshly-built home and, if you really want your Skyrim experience to mirror real life, adopt children.

That’s all well and good, but while Xbox 360 and PC players are enjoying both Dawnguard and Hearthfire, they’re still nowhere to be seen on PS3. Unfortunately, it looks like that will remain the case for a least a while longer, as Bethesda VP of PR and marketing Pete Hines says that there isn’t anything new to report as far as PS3 DLC is concerned. “I don’t have any info on Hearthfire, Dawnguard, or DLC in general for PS3,” Hines said on Twitter. “We’re still on it. Will share update when I have one.”

Bethesda’s issues with Skyrim on PS3 have been well documented. First, there was that particularly nasty save bug that bloated save files to the point where lag made the game unplayable on PS3, and now, the studio is having some issues porting its Skyrim DLC to the console. Bethesda stays away from specifics when talking about its DLC problems on PS3, so we’re not sure exactly what the studio is dealing with, but we do know that the problems are severe enough that Sony had to step in to lend a helping hand.

Sadly, it’s looking increasingly likely that PS3 players won’t get any Skyrim DLC at all. Bethesda said that it won’t release Dawnguard or Hearthfire on PS3 in a broken state if it can’t solve these issues, and the lack of significant updates suggests that progress is slow-going at best. We’ll be keeping our fingers crossed and watching for more updates from Hines and Bethesda, so keep it tuned to SlashGear for more information.

Skyrim: Hearthfire now on PC, no new updates on Dawnguard PS3 is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Epic Games design director Cliff Bleszinski announced today that he will be leaving the company. This is a surprising announcement to be sure, but it doesn’t sound like Bleszinski will be leaving Epic for another company. Instead, Bleszinski says that he needs a break from the fast-paced games industry after working for Epic for the past 20 years.

His departure was announced in a post on the Epic Gamers blog, where a number of Bleszinski’s colleagues at Epic said their goodbyes. “In 20 wonderful years with Epic, Cliff Bleszinski has grown into a true design luminary, and his contributions to the ‘Unreal’ and ‘Gears’ series have helped shape the game industry into what it is today,” said Epic founder, CEO, and technical director Tim Sweeney. “Cliff leaves Epic with our gratitude for his many contributions, and our wishes for continued success in the next chapter of his life!”

Epic also shared an excerpt from Cliff’s note to his co-workers, in which he says that he’ll miss working with everyone at the studio. Have a look at it below:

I’ve been doing this since I was a teenager, and outside of my sabbatical last year, I have been going non-stop. I literally grew up in this business, as Mike likes to say. And now that I’m grown up, it’s time for a much needed break.

I will miss the projects, the playtests, the debates, and most importantly, the people. Epic only hires the best of the best, and it has been a joy working with each and every one of you on a daily basis, whether you were hired weeks ago or decades ago. I have been fortunate enough to collaborate with a variety of disciplines, from code to art to marketing and PR – it’s been one big, rewarding learning experience. I’m confident that each project that is being built, whether at Epic, Chair, PCF, or Impossible will be top notch and will please gamers and critics alike.

Bleszinski, believe it or not, has been working at Epic for more than half of his life. Those who have been fans of Epic from the start will remember one of his earliest efforts at the studio creating Jazz Jackrabbit. Bleszinski also worked on the Unreal series, which took the PC gaming crowd by storm in the late ’90s. He’s always been an outspoken and active member of the game development community, and was widely known as “CliffyB” for a number of years before dropping the persona a while back and going by his actual name.

More recently, Bleszinski served as creative director on the Gears of War series, a franchise that made Epic a household name among console gamers. He was working on Gears of War: Judgment when he announced his departure from the company, which is scheduled to launch on Xbox 360 in March 2013. Bleszinski will certainly be missed at Epic, but we’re definitely looking forward to seeing what he does once he decides its time to come back to the games industry. Stay tuned.

Cliff Bleszinski announces departure from Epic Games is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

For Mojang, Minecraft is the gift that keeps on giving. Perhaps it would better to call it the cash cow that keeps producing that sweet, sweet money, but whatever you want to call it, it’s safe to say that it’s one of the most popular indie games ever created. That’s evidenced in the latest sales numbers for the Xbox 360 edition: 4 million sales less than 5 months after release. That, ladies and gentlemen, is a success.

It would be considered a success by most studios putting out triple-A retail releases with a $60 price tag, never mind a smaller studio putting a port of an indie game on Xbox Live Arcade. Some were saying prior to release that Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition‘s $20 dollar price was too steep for an Xbox Live Arcade title, but it seems that the fans don’t mind paying it. It’s fun to wonder, however, if Mojang would have enjoyed more sales if it had priced Minecraft at $15.

But no matter, because Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition is still raking in the cash. By comparison, Minecraft.net shows that sales of the PC version are sitting right around 7.5 million, but given Minecraft’s popularity, it probably won’t linger there for long. Combined, both the Xbox 360 and PC versions of Minecraft have sold just over 11.5 million copies, and that isn’t counting sales of Minecraft Pocket Edition on iOS and Android, which are probably equally as impressive.

Those who have been eyeing the PC version might be pleased to know that Mojang is now offering digital download cards for Minecraft at retailers in the US. The cards cost $26.95, the same price as a digital download directly from Minecraft.net, and are available at Target, Walmart, and Best Buy locations across the country. If you haven’t yet experienced what Minecraft has to offer, it sounds like now is the perfect time.

Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition hits 4 million sales is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.