Sunday, August 4, 2013

News::AMD Never Settle Forever Bundle Arrives This Month Could Include Battlefield 4 and More=

In an interview with VR-Zone, AMDs VP of channel sales Roy Taylor revealed that they are planning to release their new Never Settle Forever bundle in August. This means that AMD would extend the longevity of their HD 7000 series cards by offering more value to the consumers who buy them.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1325713/amd-never-settle-forever-bundle-arrives-this-month-could-include-battlefield-4-and-more

News::Rise of the Triad Review | Digital Chumps

Digital Chumps: "Rise of the Triad is a must-have for fans of the original ROTT or for those that enjoy 1990's FPS gaming. At $15, it's a great value, too."



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1325659/rise-of-the-triad-review-digital-chumps

News::12 Games That Need Official English Localizations

BT writes: In this day and age, fan translations exist for just about every video game worth playing. Emulation is bigger than ever, even going so far as to support an entire console with only the promise of illicit ROMs. English speakers exist in a constant state of choice overload. Yet I am not satisfied. There are still plenty of titles that I would love to see given proper, official localizations in North America. Im sure many of you would rather support talented translation team like XSEED Games as well, so lets take a moment to highlight the gems that Japan continues to keep to itself.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1325811/12-games-that-need-official-english-localizations

News::Rise of the Triad Review: Old School Shooter in a New School World | Spiderduck Network

Have you ever woken up one morning and thought to yourself, what ever happened to all those games I grew up on? THOSE were quality games, not these Call of Duty clones that kids are forced into playing these days. I know that's what the people over at Apogee Software and Interceptor Entertainment thought. Me? I am cynical and do not have the reverence for the past that many in the gaming industry do. It is my opinion that if a certain type of game went out of style then there is probably a good reason for it. So call me skeptical when I first heard about the revival of Rise of the Triad.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1325822/rise-of-the-triad-review-old-school-shooter-in-a-new-school-world-spiderduck-network

News::Bigger, Better, Bolder; PAYDAY 2 Hands-On (Beta keys giveaway!) - Ordinary Gamer

The Ordinary Gamer team had the privilege of getting an early access for the PAYDAY 2 beta. It stood out in so many ways, that it looks set to be THE textbook example of making a sequel to a game.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1325638/bigger-better-bolder-payday-2-hands-on-beta-keys-giveaway-ordinary-gamer

News::SOE Live 2013: Five of EverQuest Next's classes announced

Massively: "While yesterday's big reveal showed us what races are confirmed as playable so far in EverQuest Next (Dwarf, Human, Ogre, Elf, Dark Elf, and Kerran), only two classes were highlighted during the demonstration. We also discovered that characters will be able to learn more classes -- and there are more than 40 of them -- as they adventure. But what are all the classes and which ones can players choose when they first embark on their next Norrathian exploits?"



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1325650/soe-live-2013-five-of-everquest-nexts-classes-announced

News::Cheating More Than Death in Dark Souls

USgamer: "How unscrupulous modders and hackers are destroying the Dark Souls online community."



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1325643/cheating-more-than-death-in-dark-souls

News::Looking for Trade

USgamer: "Let's talk about Steam Trading Cards. Is it a fun little metagame or just a means to make you spend more money?"



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1325640/looking-for-trade

News::ADG Short And Simple Review: Zeno Clash II

ADG breaks down Zeno Clash II in a Short And Simple Review.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1325633/adg-short-and-simple-review-zeno-clash-ii

News::Rocksmith 2014 puts callus on our fingers again | Gaming Trend

Gaming Trend: "As a percussionist, I have never had a big desire to pick up the bass or guitar. My father-in-law plays both, so at family gatherings I spend my time behind the skins. Well, Ubisoft released Rocksmith a while ago, and my wife gave me a nice starter guitar from Excel that looks not unlike a Gibson. Ive spent a little time behind the strings, but admittedly the steep learning curve had me playing the same tracks just one too many times. Ive not given up, but Ill say that my pace has slowed. When I saw at the Ubisoft Press Event that Rocksmith 2014 was on deck, I knew that I had to take another run at it."



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1325632/rocksmith-2014-puts-callus-on-our-fingers-again-gaming-trend

News::Safe Gaming on Your PC

Join Chris in his latest article for Zero1Gaming, as he takes a look at some of the steps PC gamers can take to keep their gaming rigs safe.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1325607/safe-gaming-on-your-pc

News::Steam Purgatory

With the Steam Summer Sale over, Chris takes a look at some games you may have bought that you really shouldn't forget to install and play.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1325566/steam-purgatory

News::XCOM: Enemy Within announcement at Gamescom, coming to PS3, Xbox 360, and PC

In late 2012, 2K Games along with Fireaxis resurrected the XCOM franchise with the release of XCOM: Enemy Unknown on PS3, Xbox 360, and PC. Winning numerous awards and being crowned as one of the best titles of 2012, it was clear that the XCOM series was back and better than ever.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1325525/xcom-enemy-within-announcement-at-gamescom-coming-to-ps3-xbox-360-and-pc

News::Crytek takes four websites offline due to suspicious activity

Crytek has announced some of its websites have been breached, so it has taken four offline. Users will be asked to changed their passwords once Crytek.com, Mycryengine.com, Crydev.net, and MyCrysis.com are back online.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1325515/crytek-takes-four-websites-offline-due-to-suspicious-activity

News::Kentucky Route Zero Act 1 Review - Zero1Gaming

Joseph Butler-Hartley reviews the first act of the indie surrealist adventure game, Kentucky Route Zero.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1325508/kentucky-route-zero-act-1-review-zero1gaming

News::The Walking Dead: 400 Days Review - Zero1Gaming

Michael reviews DLCF for Telltale's The Walking Dead for Zero1 Gaming



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1325505/the-walking-dead-400-days-review-zero1gaming

News::Bioshock Infinite - I Just Can't Let Go (Contains Spoilers)

Drew discusses his spoiler laden obsession with Bioshock Infinite



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1325494/bioshock-infinite-i-just-cant-let-go-contains-spoilers

News::Deadpool Review - AGR

An interesting game with too many flaws to make it to mainstream. Shame as the humour is brilliant throughout the game, if it doesn't get a little tedious nearer the end.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1325485/deadpool-review-agr

News::Game x Movie: G.I. Joe: Retaliation

"PL has a few game suggestions that will help enhance your G. I. Joe experience. The Joes are in a constant struggle with the evil Cobra army. Metal slug's soldiers engage in battle with a terrorist squad ran by General Morden." -Play Legit



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1325480/game-x-movie-g-i-joe-retaliation

News::ADG New Marvel Hero Card For Human Torch Release And Patch 1.1. Info

ADG's New Marvel Hero Card and his personal thoughts on the state of the game and Human Torch.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1325471/adg-new-marvel-hero-card-for-human-torch-release-and-patch-1-1-info

News::Military- Review: Company of Heroes 2

MT:Company of Heroes 2 is still a top-shelf RTS with an outstanding presentation and incredible depth. However, the missteps in variety, multiplayer grinding, and pointless campaign are disappointing. The off-putting DLC strategy, which seems nakedly geared to soaking fans for money rather than providing more options to players who choose to invest in the game, is insulting. The original Company of Heroes shares many of the sequels positive attributes, and offers a lot more variety for a lot less money even if its missing the fancy new line-of-sight model and breakable ice.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1325792/military-review-company-of-heroes-2

News::Bit Tech- Company of Heroes 2 Review

BT:The original Company of Heroes rewrote the rulebook for RTS games, ditching the sprint for resources and formulaic base-building and replacing it with genuine tactical warfare. Fights were up close and personal, resources were limited and your attachment to your troops was palpable. It was this drastic change of style combined with a great single-player campaign story that made it so refreshing and so successful. Now, six years later, we finally have a sequel in the form of Company of Heroes 2, and although it still delivers this core gameplay fun, that same sense of something refreshing and interesting is sorely lacking.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1325784/bit-tech-company-of-heroes-2-review

News::Impulse Gamer - Wargame: AirLand Battle Review

Impulse Gamer - Wargame: AirLand Battle is an RTS set in 1985, towards the end of the Cold War. If you are expecting something akin to the Command and Conquer series, you might be better off looking elsewhere. This RTS has a pretty steep learning curve and can be quite unforgiving if you dont keep an eye on your units.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1325544/impulse-gamer-wargame-airland-battle-review

News::Impulse Gamer - Leisure Suit Larry Reloaded Review

Impulse Gamer - I remember playing this game when I was a kid, back in 1987 and hoping to see some virtual nudity or sex on the PC. It was a challenge that I vowed to break and funny enough, none of this existed in the game but rather, it was one of the funniest games that I ever played.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1325536/impulse-gamer-leisure-suit-larry-reloaded-review

News::Impulse Gamer - R.I.P.D. The Game Review

Impulse Gamer - Movies and their tie-in video game counterparts have never had a steady relationship; its all about the promoting of a film which leads to the video games becoming rushed and unloved products. Rest in Peace Department: the Game is sadly a perfect example of this. While I cannot comment on the quality of the movie itself (as I have not seen it), I can certainly comment on the game, although I wish I didnt have to.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1325532/impulse-gamer-r-i-p-d-the-game-review

News::Atomic Gamer - Rise Of The Triad Review

Atomic Gamer - ATI vs Nvidia. Intel vs AMD. Sega vs Nintendo. Quake vs Unreal Tournament. Doom vs Rise of the Triad? It sure felt like that back in 1994, when id Software had triumphantly released Doom with its high-end tech and then these guys at Apogee made use of id's older Wolfenstein to make something completely ridiculous as some kind of competition. The end result was Rise of the Triad which was originally intended to be a sequel to Wolfenstein, but when that fell through halfway through development, the creators went crazy, riffing on a genre that barely even existed at that point and doing all kinds of crazy stuff. They added floating pads in the sky that players could walk on because the engine couldn't support floors of varying height, and they piled on the enemies and content because they knew they couldn't beat games based on the newest tech with graphical beauty. (Admittedly, at this point, ROTT was still ahead of the curve when you look at all gaming; most gamer...



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1325524/atomic-gamer-rise-of-the-triad-review

News::The Evil Within 6 things you need to know

GameHulu writes: Time to get scared again Its been a little over three years since Shinji Mikami left Platinum Games to form Tango Studios, and weve been waiting patiently to see what his team has been creating. Formerly known under the codename Zwei, The Evil Within was recently revealed Mikami via an IGN preview and it looks like a fittingly unpredictable return to survival horror. Our first look at the game indicates its bloody, off kilter, and out to truly frighten the player. But what really is The Evil Within? Heres what we know so far.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1325707/the-evil-within-6-things-you-need-to-know

News::Damned Preview The Haunter And The Haunted | The Indie Game Magazine

9heads Game Studios's upcoming multiplayer scarefest, Damned, takes the well-known rule about horror being a necessarily solitary experience and tosses it straight into the thresher.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1325690/damned-preview-the-haunter-and-the-haunted-the-indie-game-magazine

News::Laruaville - Review | AACG

Laruaville is surely welcoming for all Match 3 fans, whether young or old. While it is not super innovative, it is challenging, addicting and very beautiful.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1325688/laruaville-review-aacg

News::Wolfenstein: The New Order Preview BJ Blazkowicz, Warrior Poet | Game Front

Game Front: "BJ Blazkowicz never struck me as a talker; more the strong, Nazi-killing silent type."



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1325663/wolfenstein-the-new-order-preview-bj-blazkowicz-warrior-poet-game-front

News::Rogue Legacy: The Next Generation 06 - Pixels for Breakfast

Pixels for Breakfast writes: Were six days into my Rogue Legacy: The Next Generation experiment, and Im already considering a career change.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1325306/rogue-legacy-the-next-generation-06-pixels-for-breakfast

News::Organ Trail - Batman, Jill Valentine, Dr. House, Gordan Ramsey and I

Joseph Butler-Hartley whimsically recalls his adventures playing Organ Trail.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1325541/organ-trail-batman-jill-valentine-dr-house-gordan-ramsey-and-i

News::Grim Tales: Bloody Mary - Review | AACG

Grim Tales: Bloody Mary might not be the best Grim Tales game but it certainly an amazing game to play! It is suspenseful, exciting and well-crafted...Grim Tales fans should not be disappointed.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1325689/grim-tales-bloody-mary-review-aacg

News::Cloudberry Kingdom Review | Gamnesia

Pack in a few extras such as customizable characters, free play, and the level customization and youve got a heaping ton of fun. As a whole package its a great game thats well worth your money. Each level may be 10 seconds short, but youll find yourself with dozens of fun-filled hours.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1325721/cloudberry-kingdom-review-gamnesia

News::A Punching Beta Review: Penis Avalanche

Probably one of the better games to have come out of Game Jolt, Penis Avalanche, an action-indie game, proves itself to be a worthy contender in the gaming industry, rivaling the likes of COD, Beyond Good and Evil and even The Last of Us. With its intricate detailing in design, as well as the sagacious application of physics to the overall gameplay, Penis Avalanche is definitely a game to have come out at the top.



via N4G: pc news feed http://n4g.com/news/1325718/a-punching-beta-review-penis-avalanche

News::Very quick tips for Pikmin 3

Miyamoto may have created Pikmin to be a "carefree experience," but that doesn't mean it lacks depth. With the addition of a particularly creative set of local multiplayer modes, Pikmin 3 has a ton of gameplay related nuances that may be lost to the void if you aren't careful.


Here are some tips to help you acclimate yourself to the wonderful, cute world of Pikmin.


Very quick tips for Pikmin 3 screenshot


Read more...



via destructoid http://www.destructoid.com/very-quick-tips-for-pikmin-3-258936.phtml

News::Region Specific profile: BetaDwarf


BetaDwarf is a co-op-focused studio with a colourful history. Its two co-founders spent seven months squatting, penniless, in a disused university classroom before being discovered, subsequently moving to a shared house in the countryside and expanding to 15 staff in the process.


A successful Kickstarter campaign for debut game Forced allowed the group to move back to Copenhagen, and the game is now doing well on Steam Greenlight. The studio was also named Danish Developer Of The Year at the 2013 Spilprisen game awards, organised by the Danish Producers Association. CEO Steffen Kabbelgaard Grønning reflects on BetaDwarf’s modest beginnings.


Congratulations on Forced’s funding success. What’s the game about?


Thanks! Forced is a one- to four-player co-op arcade adventure with puzzle and tactical elements. Players are cast as slaves in the toughest fantasy gladiator school of them all, condemned to fight as a gladiator and eventually win their freedom. You’ll face deadly trials and huge creatures, but you’ll have a Spirit Mentor called Balfus to guide you on your gladiatorial journey.


Your other game, Armies Vs Champions, puts FPS and RTS characters together. Reto-Moto and CCP are blending genres, too – do you think this kind of gameplay will become more prevalent in the future?


I think a lot of genres have already been determined, and many designers go around thinking, ‘What if I blend this genre with that genre?’ I think such questions lead to design challenges that, if solved, will result in very interesting videogames and communities. The obvious one is still up for grabs – blend FIFA and Modern Warfare and you’ll have world domination.


E3 was defined by networked, multiplayer experiences. Do you see this as the next major area of innovation?


More studios than ever are focusing on experiences that will get the players to stay for as long as possible, and a great way to increase longevity is by including other players. I’m not sure how healthy that is for the industry, as it leans towards a market with more monopolies where only the biggest survive.


Your Kickstarter campaign for Forced was heading for failure for a time. What do you think caused that, and why did it turn around so abruptly?


I think we were an unknown team with a new IP that wasn’t directly aimed at being a retro remake people could relate to, and then UK devs charged in with like 15 cool projects, rendering the fight for press an equal challenge to playing Demon’s Souls with permadeath turned on. So we tried to target something other than the games press, and made an image that conveyed the idea of living in a cardboard box with a laptop in the pursuit of a dream. It spread virally and we got the funding.


The post Region Specific profile: BetaDwarf appeared first on Edge Online.






via Edge Online http://www.edge-online.com/features/region-specific-profile-betadwarf/

News::Region Specific: Copenhagen


Copenhagen’s low skyline is pierced by a series of elaborate, austere spires. The Old Stock Exchange is crowned by four dragons, their entwined tails rising to 60 metres above the ground, while the black-and-golden corkscrew that sits atop The Church Of Our Saviour can be scaled thanks to an external staircase that winds around it. But these striking appeals to higher authority are somewhat at odds with the local development scene, one that is defined by its informality and deliberate drive to keep any hierarchies as squat as possible.


That informality is mixed with a forward-thinking mentality. We exchange hardly any business cards during our time in the city, most of the people we meet surprised when we offer ours rather than wait for the inevitable LinkedIn invite the following day. Job titles mean less in a culture where everybody’s ideas carry equal weight and the CEO sits with everyone else for a communal, company-funded lunch every day.


Perhaps this laid-back openness is inevitable in what one local employee described as the Mediterranean of Scandinavia. The city sits on the eastern coast of Zealand, one of the Danish islands, separated from Malmö and Sweden’s southern Scania region by the Øresund Strait, a stretch of water known as ‘The Sound’ in English. Copenhagen’s 17th-century architecture is peppered with public squares, waterfront walkways and those looming spires. There’s an unhurried cafe culture here, enjoyed by a friendly, multicultural population. The internationalism of the city means that almost everybody speaks English, which makes it easy for the outsider to fit in – even in the face of the high denominations of krona required for a cup of coffee.


But perhaps more striking than even those spires is the sheer number of bicycles on the road. Copenhagen is one of the most bicycle-friendly cities in the world, an achievement naturally supported by its flat terrain, and the city’s roadways have been designed with bikes in mind – cyclists will often outnumber cars at red lights, and there’s rarely any congestion, even during rush hour. There’s the metro system as well, and for longer journeys Copenhagen Airport, the largest in the Nordic region.


Even if developers here are more easygoing than most, there’s no evidence of a dip in quality when it comes to their output. But the throughline here – at least up until recently – is tech. Copenhagen’s game development industry grew out of the ’90s demo scene – the same one that so famously catalysed Finland’s vibrant industry – and demonstrates remarkable technical aptitude and independence as a result.


Io-Interactive has helped define the stealth genre with its globetrotting Hitman series, and in Kane and Lynch created two of the most intriguing videogame antiheroes in recent memory. But, crucially, it has built its powerful in-house engines – the most recent being Glacier 2, which powers Hitman: Absolution’s beautiful, decaying world – from the ground up. Reto-Moto – a reborn version of the company that created Io-Interactive in a past life – has taken on the daunting task of building a crossplatform war game in Heroes & Generals that will allow FPS and strategy players to interact in real time across PC and mobile devices. It’s built the complex back-end in-house too, naturally.


And let’s not forget PlayDead, which placed so much import on getting Limbo just right that it built an engine that’s so bespoke it can only render in black and white. It might be using Unity for its next project, but it’s currently tweaking the source code to its taste too. Full Control, a self-professed creator of hardcore games, has built on Unity too, with its TX Engine, a reusable framework for turn-based games.


Which brings us to Unity’s creator, Unity Technologies, a tools company whose rapid success has begun shifting developers’ attentions away from tech – both in Copenhagen and the rest of the world – and helped it support the growth of indie developers such as BetaDwarf, a group of graduates who spent months squatting in a university classroom before finding their feet.


MovieStarPlanet, meanwhile, is dedicated to games in a very different way, producing a social network aimed at ‘tweens’ (eight- to 13-year-olds) that not only provides a portal for playing games but is also a way of teaching kids how to behave online. And Press Play, a recent addition to the Microsoft Studios family alongside the likes of 343 Industries, Rare and Lionhead, declares on its website that it creates “games for geeks, moms & extraordinary people”. The small studio behind charming physics platform puzzler Max & The Magic Marker tries to make games that appeal to childhood memories, and the Pixar-esque trailer for its latest game, Max: The Curse Of Brotherhood, captures that sentiment perfectly.


The game industry here is supported by a number of organisations dedicated to attracting talent to the region, including Copenhagen Capacity and WorkinDenmark, which both seek to boost the local scene by working closely with international companies and individuals. On the education front, too, the region is bolstered by the IT University of Copenhagen’s progressive approach to game courses and close links to local studios. And despite the game industry’s relatively small size, Copenhagen’s proximity to Malmö – a short train ride or drive across the Øresund Bridge – promotes close links between the cities, with many people commuting in both directions.


Diverse, ambitious and sporting an attitude towards development that’s quite unlike any other scene, Copenhagen’s game industry is undoubtedly growing. Its expansion is limited by a lack of domestic investment expertise when it comes to larger companies – a problem discussed in more detail over the page in our roundtable conversation – but with Square Enix and Microsoft already showing the way, it’s surely only a matter of time before more foreign investors cotton on to the opportunity.


You can read our roundtable discussion with key members of Copenhagen’s development community here.


The post Region Specific: Copenhagen appeared first on Edge Online.






via Edge Online http://www.edge-online.com/features/region-specific-copenhagen/

News::Region Specific profile: Unity Technologies


You’ll probably have heard of Unity Technologies: despite being founded just nine years ago, the company’s mantra of democratising game development has seen Unity grow from a focused OS X game creation tool to one of the most widely used engines in existence today. The most recent figures claim 1.9 million registered developers, with a monthly active number of 400,000. We talk with development director Erik Juhl, who explains how the company is preparing for the next generation, and the importance of grassroots support.


How do you think your European conference, Unite Nordic, went?


We think it went very well. David [Helgason, co-founder]’s keynote address got people excited when we announced that basic mobile deployment is now free. But it may surprise you to hear that Unite China has practically become our main Unite event now, just in terms of numbers and interest. I think we saw something like three times the attendance in Shanghai than we did in Amsterdam last year, and San Francisco the year before.


How are you preparing for next-generation development?


We’ve taken the guys who are already supporting 360, PS3 and Wii and built teams around them to support Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony’s new consoles for the foreseeable future. And we’re going to become much more modular: because of all these different platforms, we want to do platform-specific updates that don’t require the full editor download. The other major change is how we’re growing internally. Obviously we have more people, and more people means we have to figure out how to maintain this flat structure and global communication.


Other than The Butterfly Effect, Unity tends to avoid showy demos. Do you think that air of pragmatism has contributed to your success?


That’s an interesting observation. You’re right, we do tend to err on the side of pragmatism, but at the same time we’ve also tried to address the needs of those who need to see something a little showier. So we did The Butterfly Effect demo to showcase DX11, but what we generally value is more direct feedback. It comes back to pragmatism – we like to provide a demo and tech examples for people, to say this is how you use Unity to do this, and start a conversation with developers. That being said, we’re also now building up a demo team in Stockholm because we’ve heard from our users that it makes it much easier for them to get their studio heads to accept Unity if they can show what it’s capable of!


We can’t imagine that appeals like those happen so much with Unreal Engine or CryEngine.


No, it’s usually the other way round. It’s the studio heads coming in and going, “This technology is for everyone.” I used to be at Midway Games in Chicago, and it was decided that every game would be made using Unreal 3. That was really difficult because at the time it didn’t even run on PS3; and we had a bunch of sports titles that had to run at 60fps, and Unreal didn’t run at 60fps. A lot of times we hear stories of guys going home from their day jobs at EA or Activision or whatever and firing up Unity to tinker around with their own game ideas and prototyping. Then for the next project at their company, they say, “Hey, why aren’t we using Unity?” And it just goes from there.


The post Region Specific profile: Unity Technologies appeared first on Edge Online.






via Edge Online http://www.edge-online.com/features/region-specific-profile-unity-technologies/

News::Region Specific profile: Playdead


Despite its modest size, Playdead is one of the most recognisable studios in the region, having shot to prominence – and financial independence – with its haunting, monochrome XBLA adventure Limbo. The expanding team has recently moved to larger offices and is currently working on the follow-up to its wildly successful debut, a platform adventure simply known as Project 2 at this point. A small contingent of the team has spent the past year working on an iPad port of Limbo, too. We talk to the founders, creative director Arnt Jensen and studio director Dino Patti, about the challenge of porting a game that helped define one platform to another, and the importance of taking your time.


The iPad version of Limbo feels like a natural fit. Was it difficult to get the controls just right?


AJ: Getting the controls right has been the challenge. We’ve been talking about doing the iPad version more or less since we launched Limbo, but I was really scared about having to use virtual controls. We only got started when I had an idea for how we could make an intuitive touch control scheme, but we talked about it for a year before we decided to make that a priority.


DP: The other issue was getting the graphics right.


AJ: At some points we’ve got 70 layers going on, and this can be a challenge for any platform!


So is it running on the same engine as the Xbox version?


AJ: It’s still our engine but we’ve been optimising it constantly.


DP: That engine maxed out the 360 and ran at 30fps. But we got it running at 60fps on the iPad in the end.


That sounds like a lot of work to port a relatively small game.


DP: We always want to make a proper port. We hate it when others do it poorly.


AJ: If it didn’t sell, we would start blaming ourselves for not doing a proper job – and that would be the worst thing. We always wanted it perfect. I don’t think people know how much effort we put into our stuff because every time that we did a relaunch on a platform, the people expect us to have done more levels and extra content, but it would take us forever to do that. We were working for half a year just to get the controls right!


You’ve switched to Unity for your new project. How did you find the transition from bespoke engine to prefab?


AJ: There are good and bad aspects. We have the source code for the engine so we’re making a lot of modifications to make our pipeline easier and faster, but it has been really great to have this huge fundament for every console. We don’t have to think about anything – we almost just push a button and then it’s out on Xbox, PlayStation or whatever. That’s pretty cool, I think.


DP: We’re still at the mercy of Unity’s decisions, which is scary from a business perspective, but I’m pretty sure that if they don’t make something we need we’ll make it ourselves.


AJ: I think in the long run it’s a good decision for us, especially with such a small team, because it’s a really big effort to make your own engines.


The post Region Specific profile: Playdead appeared first on Edge Online.






via Edge Online http://www.edge-online.com/features/region-specific-profile-playdead/

News::Region Specific profile: MovieStarPlanet


MovieStarPlanet is a name shared by both the studio and the child-focused social network it has built. Among other distractions, the website allows users to create their own movie star avatar, write and direct short films in which they can cast their friends, and play a selection of minigames.


It’s built on robust educational foundations, and driven by a deeply rooted concern for the online safety of its players. We talk with founder and CEO Claus Lykke Jensen and communications manager Helene Towers to discuss the delicate art of making money while acting responsibly.


How many players does MovieStarPlanet have right now?


CLJ: We’ve just reached 100 million profiles. That doesn’t mean 100 million kids playing, but we really do have a lot of users. In the western world we are the biggest social site for this age group. Moshi Monsters is bigger in the UK, but we are much larger across the rest of Europe.


How do you convince protective parents that you can provide a safe environment for their children?


CLJ: Safety is our main priority, so we encourage parents to get involved – not just in our game, but in games in general and other social networks. Just like you have to teach kids how to cross a road, you also need to teach them how to

act on the Internet. Not every parent gets involved, of course, so we see it as our responsibility to do what we can – just like schools should be doing. It’s a joint effort, but we are a very important part of that.


HT: We were awarded PosCon membership status this year. It’s a European ’thematic network’ of 15 organisations that produce safe online content for kids.


CLJ: Our head of safety, Vernon [Jones], is actually a former social worker and has been working on Internet safety for over ten years for organisations such as Save The Children.


How do you square responsible practice with micro-transactions and the need to turn a profit?


CLJ: Because we’re targeting the kids market, as well as safety, we also think about spending money. We really want to be a responsible company, we don’t want to be one of those that exploits players – because we think it’s both wrong and a bad business decision in the long run. We have spending limits, so kids can only spend a certain amount within a given timeframe. If we want parents to know us as a safe and responsible company, we can’t ask too much.


So you actively avoid whales?


CLJ: We don’t want them at all! We’re probably one of the few companies who doesn’t! Because we have so many users, if we can get a lot of them to spend a little then we don’t need to have them spending thousands.


There’s an industry snobbery towards kids’ games – does that bother you?


CLJ: I remember once we walked into a class where the teacher hadn’t told them we were coming. These 30 kids were sat on the computers, and there were five of us going there to get feedback. When the teacher said, “These guys are from MovieStarPlanet,” they started screaming like we were celebrities! We just want to make the best products we can, that kids will enjoy the most.


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News::Region Specific profile: Press Play


Press Play was founded by three graduates who had the noble ambition of fixing what they saw as a gimmicky Flash scene. “Turned out we needed clients,” co-founder and studio director Rune Dittmer laughs, “so we did what everybody else did anyway: advertising games for ice cream and TV shows.” Fortunately, that wasn’t the end of the dream – advergame fatigue spurred the team on to create WiiWare game Max & The Magic Marker, which got the studio noticed. Last year it was acquired by Microsoft and is now working on Max: Curse Of Brotherhood, a spiritual successor to its breakthrough release.


How’s life under Microsoft ownership treating you?


We’re enjoying it a lot. I think the general concept of being independent is a difficult one: if you don’t have any money to do the games you want to do, that’s not independence at all. I think we’ve got very good terms when it comes to creative freedom, and Microsoft has been very hands-off. My boss is in Redmond, so that’s a nine-hour time difference and at least 15 in travel – there’s no microadministration! We feel really free. I guess originally being work-for-hire, then switching to our own IP, we were never afraid of working with partners – we published on iOS with EA, for example, and had all kinds of deals for localised versions of Max. We needed all the funding we could get. With Microsoft that part of it has become easier; the rest has pretty much stayed the same.


In terms of presentation, at least, Curse Of Brotherhood looks like a significant step up from Magic Marker.


The voice acting for the game was done in LA, but we did all the animation here. It was kind of a focus for us a few years back to raise our game, and our graphics, and I’m very glad we succeeded with that. There was a marked difference in terms of interest in the company and job applications once we released the Curse Of Brotherhood footage. It’s kind of like, ‘Oh, they’re a completely different studio than I thought they were…’ For us, we’ve been that studio for two or three years, so the change hasn’t felt that rapid here. We’ve got at least three projects on the go right now – that’s a lot for such a small team.


Multiple projects? Is this easier under Microsoft’s ownership?


Before Microsoft acquired us, it was a necessity to work on more than one title in order to negate risks. Now it’s more a preference for us. And if we’re going to have a constant staff level of around 25 people, we can’t have only one title in the very early stages, because then we’ll have to scale back to five. In order to have a culture where people have job security and enjoy being around, you can’t go back and forth in terms of team size. The challenge is how we do that as games become more service-orientated. We’re just getting started on viewing our games like that. We’ve been focused on shipping dates, and after the shipping date there might be a patch, but the product is done.


How have you found working with Xbox One?


We not really taking the ’what can we do with all this power?’ approach, we’re more interested in what we can do with Kinect. I’m pretty amazed by it, actually, it seems to have a very high fidelity, and compared with what we did with the old Kinect it’s almost latency-free.


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News::Region Specific profile: The IT University of Copenhagen


The IT University of Copenhagen was among the first wave of institutions to offer game-focused courses, and currently runs a two-year Master Of Science in Games that includes both theoretical and practical aspects. We talk with the head of the games study programme, Miguel Sicart, to find out what the university offers, and what defines game education today.


What makes ITU such a success?


We’ve consistently attracted world-class researchers to work with us, both as permanent faculty and as guests. And that focus on research excellence has been paired with a close dialogue with the local industry – we have always been open to the feedback the industry can provide, and how we can better cater for their changing needs. We do this on two levels: firstly, open communication with the local community, hearing what they have to say about our programme and adapting as much as we can. On a more practical basis, we try to incorporate local devs into our teaching. We see our role in the Copenhagen community as a focal point where students can meet the industry.


Which includes game jams?


Yeah, throughout the years we’ve tried to establish a hub for videogame culture in Copenhagen, arranging game jams and other events. Right now, we’re preparing a ’reboot’ of this idea, with a focus on installation-based and local custom-made multiplayer games.


How is the MSc structured?


There are three different subprogrammes: Analysis, which focuses on researching games and their sociocultural impact; Design, which looks at the intersections between game and interaction design, with a focus on playful design and interactions; and Technology, a subprogramme centred on artificial intelligence, procedurally generated game content and game design. We offer other game courses, too – about 20 in all.


In terms of its growth and relevance to the industry, where do you think game education stands right now?


That’s a complicated question. I think we are living in very challenging times for game education. Are we vocational training schools for a particular industry, or is the study and making of games a new area of knowledge? To me, the latter is obviously true, but there’s pressure both from developers and politicians to make education more ’practical’ and labour-market orientated. I think this is a mistake if we really want to harness the cultural potential of games and develop them as a medium – we cannot just cater for an industry. We need to think deeper and harder about why games and play matter, researching these questions from a wide variety of perspectives, from computer science and philosophy to the practical art of making games.


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News::Region Specific profile: Workindenmark


Set up to advise and facilitate individuals and organisations in Denmark on recruiting from abroad, Workindenmark provides help at every stage of the process from initial recruitment to helping new employees – and their families – settle in to their new life. Applicants interested in relocating to the country can post their CVs on the government agency’s website as well as browse vacancies at Danish companies. In addition, the website provides a comprehensive guide to living and working in Denmark, from information on taxes and living arrangements to recommended language courses and advice on the effects of relocating your family. We talk to recruitment consultant and Eures advisor Søren Vester Kibsgaard about the help and advice the organisation is able to offer.


Why should developers consider relocating to Denmark?


Denmark is known for being among the world leaders in a number of fields of production and services, and Danish business culture is characterised by a horizontal structure and open dialogue between management and employees. Much is done to ensure a good working environment: Danish companies offer good working conditions, modern facilities and high-quality technical equipment. Personal development is highly prioritised and most workplaces regularly offer continuing education to their employees.


What about their families?


Previous studies have shown that the majority of foreign national workers in Denmark felt that their quality of life increased while living in the country. This is the result of various factors, but many highlighted the positive balance between family and career here. A lot of respondents felt that Danish companies were respectful of their employees’ families’ lives and praised the country for being a good place to raise children. And it’s worth noting that foreign nationals who come to Denmark often cite safety and security as the country’s most important characteristics. Children walk to school alone, and even well-known leaders in the business community don’t have to surround themselves with bodyguards. The country’s parliament, the Folketing, is open to everyone and it’s not unusual to see a government minister cycling through the city. Denmark has one of the lowest crime rates in the world.


Is it easy to integrate?


As a foreign national, it’s possible to get by easily in Denmark without speaking Danish from the start. Danes typically speak many different foreign languages and welcome the opportunity to put these skills to use! Nearly all Danes speak English, many speak German, and one out of ten Danes speaks French. Some also speak Spanish or Italian.


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News::Region Specific: Copenhagen – roundtable


The HQ of Io-Interactive plays host to today’s discussion, our meeting table flanked by a row of super-deformed Agent 47s standing watch on shelves along one wall, and life-size statues of Kane & Lynch – apparently engaged in a dispute – on the other. Aside from the menagerie of game characters, IOI is represented by general manager Hannes Seifert and gameplay director Christian Elverdam. Martin Munk Pollas, who helped to found both IOI and Reto-Moto, is here too, along with Unity CTO Joachim Ante, Press Play studio director Rune Dittmer and MovieStarPlanet CEO Claus Lykke Jensen. PlayDead director Arnt Jensen and CEO Dino Patti round out the group. After seeing off a stack of sandwiches, we set about the benefits of informality, Copenhagen’s close relationship with Malmö, and why international investors should be taking a serious look at the region.


For you, what’s great about Copenhagen?


Hannes Seifert: What I really like about it is it’s size. It’s quite a small city, but it feels very metropolitan at the same time. For me it’s the epitome of the modern city when you consider its public transportation, its accommodation of bicycles, the mix of modern and old architecture. People here know how to party, but they also know how to relax. Overall, it’s a combination that’s hard to find anywhere else in the world.


Joachim Ante: When you live here it’s normal, but the number of bicycles is a beautiful thing. I almost had to cry when I first came here and saw these big queues of bicycles at the lights that are bigger than the queues of cars. That’s how it should be.


Martin Munk Pollas: I spoke to some of our foreign employees before coming here today, and it looks like they agree with all of that. They noted the quality of life here in general, and said that local people were very friendly and helpful. And of course almost everybody speaks English.


HS: That’s a really good point. I think I’ve met fewer than four people in my past four years here that did not speak English.


And what would you say characterises the development scene here?


Dino Patti: It’s small!


HS: I personally like the mix of talent here. There are a lot of extremely creative people here, and there’s a lot of technical talent too. Both can be found elsewhere, of course, but the combination at this level is rare. I think that comes with being a smaller country: you think beyond your borders.


Claus Lykke Jensen: There’s very little hierarchy in companies here; we all have very flat structures. I think this means people take more ownership of the task, and that gives better results. Because everybody contributes to where the company’s going, it’s not just one person directing everything.


Christian Elverdam: If you look at the quality of what’s produced compared to how many people are here, I think the standard is pretty incredible. Normally you’d attribute that kind of work to teams of hundreds of people. But one big US studio could almost be equivalent to the entire Danish scene!


JA: It seems to me that the proportion of small startup companies and really small productions is very high in Copenhagen, which makes for an interesting indie scene. It’s very strong – especially considering there aren’t that many bigger studios. I mean, there’s basically… IOI. [Laughter.]


HS: There was a core demo scene in the ’80s and ’90s, which I come from, and that’s still felt. I encounter people all the time that I met sending disks or letters to in the past. Many of these people stayed in the industry and I think that is perhaps one of the reasons for this mix: because it required you to be very technical – it was all about showing off – but also to be creative.



Is that a contributing factor to many older studios’ focus on in-house tech here?


HS: I think we like to push boundaries. And to push boundaries you sometimes have to produce your own tech. I’m not religious about using our own technology, but wherever you can make a real difference with it, you should.


MMP: I think there’s also a tradition that many products here started life as tech: you’d make the tech and then figure out what to build around it. I’m not saying that’s the right way to go about doing a game, but that happened quite a lot!


CE: And I think that still happens today. I mean, look at us: we’re very open to the fact that some guy could invent something, and then that could turn into a game feature if we find the right application for it. The crowd system in the Hitman games started just as a mental challenge: how many characters can we render? It didn’t have any real AI, if you look back at Blood Money for instance, but then obviously it became a tech challenge to try to build crowds on a new level. Those kind of evolutions come about partly because it’s close to the core fantasy of what we do, but also partly because there are people here who really like the intellectual challenge of tackling a problem like that. And I think that goes across every company – you have people that are deeply invested in the technology.


Rune Dittmer: The short answer is that Danish coders really like a challenge! But I’d like to challenge your initial observation a bit: I come from a very non-tech company and we’ve been based in Unity from day one. And I think the majority of companies our size – 25 and under – are using licensed tech now. I think these companies are being founded by younger people than IOI was, perhaps, coming out of ITU [the IT University of Copenhagen] or other universities who weren’t part of any demo or tech scene, and they have a different perspective on technology. There’s a lot of focus on design in education, and I think many of the younger Danish companies are design-driven rather than tech-driven now. We definitely count as one of those.


CLJ: We’re also not particularly tech-orientated, instead focusing on experience and users. We really don’t want to have to invent any tech, we just want to invent gameplay and games. And we have had a lot of people come to the company from ITU, which attracts people from all different kinds of backgrounds: some are programmers, some are nurses, some are engineers. They come to the MSc in Games with bachelor degrees from so many other paths and that gives a really broad knowledge. I think that builds upon what we had with the demo scene in the old days, creating a much broader audience – not just the core, but other people who are interested in making games. It’s fantastic that we have ITU in Denmark.


HS: On that point, it’s worth noting that Denmark is much more equal opportunities-orientated than many other countries, which I think is also part of the reason why there’s so much talent coming from all directions. As a society we’re very equal. Diversity allows you to make internationally appealing games for a broad audience and you need different inputs otherwise you can’t shape and polish your games.


So do studios get involved with ITU’s courses?


CE: We have a lot of guys from ITU – I’m one of them myself! At the moment we have a great programming and technical Masters team that are doing procedural content studies that we think are interesting. What ITU really understands is how to integrate business and education without being overly commercial in its thinking


RD: But to answer your question more directly, we do feedback as well. For example, participating in guest lectures and activities around that. And I personally try to play through the projects each semester to keep an eye on up and coming talent.


HS: I think it’s important in our industry to follow academic trends. Because sometimes they’ll be research that might not be applicable today, but it points to where you can be in five years and that’s really interesting.


CLJ: We value kids’ safety highly – it’s one of our top priorities – so we actually have somebody at ITU researching how we can improve online safety in our games. How can we better prioritise our moderators? So it’s not just game design, but also infrastructure and content management. And, as a company, we also started in ITU’s incubator.



Considering the ever-increasing importance of middleware, has it been a boon having Unity on your doorstep?


CLJ: While we’re not using Unity ourselves, I think a lot of companies locally have gained from that proximity. Some of the companies already had close relationships, of course, and that helps Unity to know what devs want, too.


JA: We’re much more globally orientated than we used to be, of course, but we still do a lot of talks in Copenhagen. We get involved in local game jams too, for example.


DP: Actually I think we used that closeness quite a lot – we had a programmer visiting us regularly. Unity’s so big now, though, that it’s getting hard to get special features put in! [Laughter.]


JA: Yeah, but with PlayDead there’s some features that you guys are working on – you actually have access to the software and there’s some features that go into Unity, as far as I know?


Arnt Jenssen: Sometimes, yeah! It’s a pretty close collaboration.


JA: We meet up with studios and often get ideas. But a lot of that is also coming through mailing lists because obviously we don’t want to only cater to Copenhagen. It’s very important for us to be global. We have a pretty big field engineering team whose members are located all over the world, but since a lot of engineers are actually in Copenhagen and they don’t spend that much time going around the world themselves, in that sense there’s a slightly different connection to studios here. Engineers working on features not only talk directly to studios but also know developers personally. I know some of the guys working on Unity today helped PlayDead ship Limbo, and we’ve got some former IOI employees too, so there’s a big mixture.


There’s a surprising informality to the way studios work and interact here. Where do you think that comes from?


RD: You’re right, it’s very open compared to other scenes. I have five to ten game executives that I will share basically everything with. From everything I hear – and most of that is from other Microsoft studios these days – that is very unique to Copenhagen, that we are so open with so many potential competitors. I think as a people we Danes enjoy informality almost to the point that it gets a bit complicated when we try to integrate with the rest of the world! [Laughter.] I think we celebrate it, and personally I think it’s a very positive thing, but it makes it difficult for us sometimes to have foreign employees coming in, or to interact with other organisations like publishing partners and whatnot. If we see something that’s even slightly formal, we get a bit scared, and I think it’s something that we need to work on: to not let the informality become impolite, because I think it does that sometimes.


HS: I know what you mean. Sometimes, perhaps when you interact with Asian business partners, for example, you need to be a bit different, but overall I think it’s a very good balance. One of our foreign employees once said that the Danes consider themselves the Mediterranean of Scandinavia, and I think that shows in the culture.


CE: I think some level of informality is generally the case in this industry, right? But I think it’s surprising to others that it’s also like that at the corporate level here. It is informal but it’s not always that way – especially when you meet people from other countries, for example.


CLJ: But the really positive thing about it is that it’s all to do with the fact that there’s much less hierarchy in companies here. So I think what that really means is that people feel they can say whatever they like to anybody in the company without having to go through a chain of people. And I think that makes more ideas come out. Ideas that might not surface in other countries maybe have a higher chance of being produced here because of this informality and lack of hierarchy.


CE: I think because of this culture, on an individual level people expect influence, and to be heard no matter what function they might have in the company. And a significant part of how we organise ourselves is around that. Obviously we need to make decisions and do all sorts of other official stuff, but to some people it’s a real culture shock: that not only do a lot of different people express their opinions on a lot of different matters, but also that they are required to do so themselves to some extent. So if you’re very silent and just expect to get told what to do, then people might look at you strangely and ask if you’re OK! Here, people demand to be heard and to be able to express themselves. It’s perhaps more acute in the creative industry, but it’s also throughout society in general, I believe.


DP: It’s important to me that people can wear slippers if they want. [Laughter.]


RD: We’ve had employees borrowing formal shoes from each other when they had to go to funerals, because they didn’t have any of their own!


JA: That’s really interesting. I always thought ensuring people had a lot of input on a lot of things was a Unity thing. It’s a massive culture shock for the people we employ from the States. When they come from a US perspective, they’re like, “Why is one of my developers, who doesn’t know anything about business, telling me how to do this thing? What the fuck?” I always thought that was Unity culture, but I now see that it’s perhaps a wider Denmark thing, that we have this very open culture where ideas can come from anywhere, and the best ideas survive.



Do you think your proximity to Sweden offers any benefits?


RD: I think for this feature we could have considered inviting studios from Malmö as well, because I think there are a lot of developers going across the bridge, commuting either way. To that extent, even though we say the Copenhagen scene is rather small we could easily include the Malmö scene in that – which adds a Ubisoft studio of a few hundred devs! [Laughter.] I think the two cities are pretty integrated. I mean, I don’t have any Swedish executives that I hang out with or discuss business secrets with, but I think on an employee level they do.


HS: We have quite a few employees that commute. There are two currencies, of course, and things like that, but there are a lot of agreements between the countries – it’s a pretty fluent relationship.


CE: If you take the Malmö region even outside of the game industry it’s very connected because obviously it’s a smaller city right next to a capital city, right? It makes sense. If you define the Copenhagen area, in a way, Malmö should be included, because so much is exchanged.


HS: Copenhagen airport is actually halfway between Copenhagen and Malmö, too!


Does the government provide much financial support for game developers here?


RD: I think, looking in from the outside, it appears more involved than it actually is. There are schemes available, and we’re well aware that not everywhere is as lucky. But I think the fact of the matter is that the schemes are rather small. They’ve definitely had an impact on the number of small studios that are able to put forward ideas, but I still think we should ask for better, and more extensive, schemes.


HS: My impression is that it’s mostly involved in incubation, focusing on startups and training. That’s obviously a good thing, but as you get larger you grow out of these benefits. There’s nothing here that compares with, say, Canada

or Finland.


RD: I think an important distinction to be made is that the schemes that do exist are all arts schemes, so nothing like the Finnish and Canadian ones that are thought of as business or industry aid. The Danish schemes all revolve around culture and art and are about ensuring that Danish games are being produced here, but not necessarily about growing the industry.


CE: I completely agree that it lacks ambition and an understanding of how big an industry gaming really is. We are reaching out globally, and in that sense it doesn’t really fit the bill right now.


RD: It would be awesome if we had something like Finland’s Tekes fund, something that’s not necessarily driven from an art perspective but is still benefiting a broader industry. I think we should be happy there’s a European arts grant in Denmark, but from my perspective it’s more important to attract more private investment. And, at least for the first few years, they’ll have to come from outside because I don’t think there’s a great deal of games investment expertise in Denmark.



Could your close links with Malmö provide a possible answer?


RD: I’ve been in meetings where that has been discussed, but I’ve yet to see it happen.


HS: I think in Europe it’s still very difficult to work with a national institution across international borders. I’ve seen successful programmes on the European network, but I think when it comes to cross-country co-operation it’s usually more successful when it’s not driven by a national government. It’s no different in the UK – some of these schemes have to be driven more centrally to work. I think there’s still a long way to go. Funding and subsidies should never distort business, but I think they’re distorting it to our disadvantage in some areas right now. There’s a lot of things around, especially in terms of Copenhagen’s infrastructure and all the benefits, that people take for granted – many things are cheap compared to other countries or even free, not least our education! That’s very good here, but there are other areas too. I think that’s good to know when you’re considering this city. And when it comes to investment, I think it’s worth pointing out that Denmark is the least corrupt country in the world!


MMP: A general problem when it comes to investment in games in Denmark is that companies and organisations here aren’t willing to take a risk with bigger setups – two people making a huge success is what they want to invest in.


RD: But if you look at the smaller successes here, like Limbo or Subway Surfers [an endless runner created by Kiloo Games, based in Denmark’s second largest city, Aarhus], you’ll have either Fund Cat [a venture capital fund established as part of the CAT Science Park] or public funding. So in all of those successes, local investment played a role at some point – often at the earliest stages.


MMP: Yeah, but my point is that it would be nice if they were willing to take a bigger risk and not get scared off by, say, a 20 million krona budget or something like that.


How can that be addressed?


DP: We need to make more successes, of course. But we also need to find money internationally.


HS: I think that’s a much easier solution.


RD: I think for European investors in general, and especially UK-based companies, there’s a real opportunity here because the Danes lack that expertise. I think many of the companies are ready for it – they’ve been pretty well prepared and I think they would thrive with private funding. And you could probably get them at a bargain price right now! [Laughter]


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News::Deadly Premonition and Twin Peaks comparison

PP writes: The similarities between the Twin Peaks and Deadly Premonition have been much discussed, particularly during the game's early development. As a huge fan of both the TV show and game respectively, I felt it was time for me to do a detailed analysis of the Twin Peaks quirks that might have made it into Deadly Premonition's final form. What is clear though is that - although both Twin Peaks and Greenvale share some ideas in common - what the creators did with these similar settings prove to be very different overall and of equal and commendable merit.



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News::Turbo: Super Stunt Squad | Biogamer Girl Review

Turbo: Super Stunt Squad is a fun game on consoles and a surprisingly fun game for gamers that have ever enjoyed the Tony Hawk game series.



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News::AMD Phenom IV X12 170 Baeca 25nm CPU Leaked Has 12 Cores, 6 GHz Core Clock

Codenamed Baeca, the Phenom IV X12 170 processor is built on a 25nm process. AMD has never mentioned plans to use 25nm process in its 2013-2014 roadmap, the only 28nm process designed Steamroller arrives in 2014 with the Kaveri APU. So this is a false assumption, furthermore the Phenom IV X12 170 processor would outdo the 8 core FX-series featuring 12 cores and a 6 GHz base clock speed. All of this within a 75W TDP package. The CPU would also feature a L3 cache of 24 MB. Sure seems alot no?



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News::Shadowrun Returns Review -SentralGamer

Sentral Gamer reviews the PC game Shadowrun Returns



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News::American Mcgee's Alice: Otherlands Kickstarter Meets Its Goal

American McGee's and Spicy Horse's Alice: Otherlands Kickstarter Meets Its Goal



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