Evolve developer Turtle Rock Studios considers Early Access for future projects
I'm old enough to remember a time when alpha and beta testing was something game makers did before they released their creations to the paying public, and so I find "Early Access" to be a particularly interesting phenomenon. It was initially promoted as a way for indie developers to maintain themselves through much-needed infusions of funds, but now the big boys are giving it a look and they seem to like what they see. DICE recently said that it's looking at Early Access for upcoming Battlefield games, and Evolve developer Turtle Rock Studios would like to do the same thing.
No Man's Sky E3 preview: a "Han Solo simulator"
Since the latest demo reel for No Man's Sky was highlighted during Sony's E3 press conference, I've heard lots of talk about it on the show floor. Talk like "What is it, anyway?" and "It looks awesome, but what do you do? Do you just fly around and look at things? How is that fun?"
After seeing a little bit of No Man's Sky in action and chatting up the developers at Hello Games (previously of Joe Danger fame), I can answer some of those questions. I can't say if the game is fun, but it certainly sounds that way.
Dragon Age: Inquisition interview: the world, party, and how BioWare's biggest Dragon Age plays on PC
Dragon Age: Inquisition was one of our favorite things at E3. After checking out EA's generous gameplay demo on the floor, I inquired with Dragon Age's Creative Director, Mike Laidlaw, about how party members will influence story decisions, how Inquisition plays on PC, and a few other things I was curious about.
Lucky's Tale interview: Paul Bettner on crafting a 3D platformer for the Oculus Rift
The most surprising, charming game I played at E3 was on the Oculus Rift, but it wasn't bullet-dodger Superhot or fright factory Alien Isolation. It was platformer Lucky's Tale, which looks and plays a whole lot like 3D Mario. But man oh man, does VR make a difference. The sense of depth it adds is immediately helpful and immersive, and I knew immediately VR would have been a killer feature in a game like Super Mario 3D World on the Wii U. But Lucky's Tale will be a PC, Oculus Rift exclusive, launching alongside the consumer version of the Rift at an unannounced future date. The demo was so exciting, I had to find out more.
In my last E3 appointment, I spent 30 minutes talking with creator Paul Bettner about how his studio stumbled onto the idea of doing a traditional platformer in VR, the technical challenges of nailing the VR camera, and the future of Oculus hardware.
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