In the past bands would announce upcoming singles or albums by promoting it on radio or television. However given that we now have many ways of entertaining ourselves: smartphones, tablets, social media, and so on, musicians have started to become creative and have adapted to the way we consume content.
Linkin Park is one of those musicians who have embraced technology and have recently released a music video that was created using Microsoft’s Project Spark. (more…)
Have you heard about Project Spark before? It is basically a tool where gamers who think that they do have some latent talent in programming their own game can give a go, where using Project Spark, one will be able to develop some simple titles such as RPGs and platformers among others on the Xbox One. Of course, you will first need to run on the Windows platform on your computer, where you can then unleash your creativity while incorporating Kinect directly. This particular sandbox/game creation tool was first made available for Windows 8.1 users in December last year, so it is nice to see that the tool has now entered its beta phase on the Xbox One, which means those who are rocking on the Xbox One will be able to give it a go.
Have you ever played a game and gave so much criticism about it, so much so that others around you have chided you for being so negative and asked you to create your own game? Well, perhaps you might not have had the relevant background to do so in the past, but now now. Project Spark happens to be a game creation suite which is now in open beta, and it enables gamers to create their own games such as platformers and RPGs among others on the Xbox One. As long as you happen to be using Windows 8.1, you will be able to try and sign up, no promises on whether you will be accepted though.
Project Spark has been described to be a kind of adventure that never ends, and just about anything and everything happens to be customizable. Imagine being part of an open world sandbox, where you can conjure up your very own movies, stories and games, before sharing your effort with the greater scope of humanity. Being a free digital download, it could very well be a secret weapon on Microsoft’s side to harness the imaginative power of their customers to come up with the next big thing. What do you think of such a tactic?
Microsoft has recognized that people appreciate the chance to make their own stuff, possibly due to the success of PlayStation exclusive LittleBigPlanet, and that’s why it created Project Spark, previewed back in June at E3. Spark is an even more free-form game creation engine with a focus on simultaneous game playing and building, which also encourages sharing among friends and family.
The beta for Project Spark kicks off today on Windows 8.1, which means if you’re one of the still quite small crowd on that latest desktop OS, you can take part – so long as you’ve also signed up for the beta over at the Project Spark website. The closed beta will extend to Xbox One users beginning in the new year, however, and that’s where I expect the software to really start to shine, given Microsoft’s sizeable user pool based on early sales numbers of the next-gen console. Microsoft also says cross-platform support is coming eventually, too.
Microsoft is touting Spark as a way to create collaborative, effectively unending games with your friends and connections, which is an interesting take on gaming as a social medium. Games have always had social aspects, to be sure: alternating turns or watching your friend who was lucky enough to own a PS1 play through Final Fantasy is no doubt an experience common to many of my particular vintage. Then of course came split-screen gaming, culminating the pure joy that was Goldeneye 007 for the N64, and the modern era of shooting and tea-bagging that is the Call of Duty series.
Now, Microsoft wants you to do something even more participatory, creating worlds as you explore them. At its most basic, Spark does most of the heavy lifting for you, with you specifying simply a scenario, setting and character before being thrown into a randomly generated game provided by the engine. But you can get much more granular, building different genres of games, using various different inputs including Kinect and the Xbox One controller, and even incorporating motion capture and voiceover using the Kinect for custom animations and dialogue. The Spark engine seems insanely flexible, so it’ll very interesting to see what a legion of brand new amateur game devs can do with this in their hands.
Grab the Spark beta app from the Windows Store, but you might have to wait a little while to use it if you haven’t yet got a beta key, and it’s not going to be available in all regions immediately. This is potentially the most interesting thing Microsoft has done for a long time, so it’ll be great to watch how this progresses, even if you’re not that interested in becoming an auteur yourself.
Here at Gamescom — as you might expect — you’re gonna see a lot of games. Not all of them are finished, but even the beta versions come with complex worlds, and shiny new physics engines. Amongst all of these creations, jostling for our attention, was something a little different. Something we heard about back at E3 initially, and something we’ve been itching to see in action ever since — Project Spark. We made sure we got to have a look at how it works, and some of the new features. So, click past the break if you want to know too.
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