We don't provide the 'easy to program for' console that they [developers] want, because 'easy to program for' means that anybody will be able to take advantage of pretty much what the hardware can do, so the question is what do you do for the rest of the nine and half years? It's a learning process. - SCEI president Kaz Hirai
It's a virus where you buy it and you play it with your friends and they're like, "Oh my God that's so cool, I'm gonna go buy it." So you stop playing it after two months, but they buy it and they stop playing it after two months but they've showed it to someone else who then go out and buy it and so on. Everyone I know bought one and nobody turns it on. - Epic Games president Mike Capps
We have a real culture of thrift. The goal that I had in bringing a lot of the packaged goods folks into Activision about 10 years ago was to take all the fun out of making video games. - Activision CEO Bobby Kotick
Magicka is an action/adventure in which the player takes on the role of a wizard of a decadent ancient order, utilizing a complex game mechanic to let players, in real-time, dynamically combine different elements to create spells or the even more powerful Magicks to exploit the weaknesses of their foes.
Magicka is an action/adventure game currently under development by Arrowhead Game Studios. The concept of Magicka first came to life in 2008 as a submission to the Swedish Game Awards, Sweden's largest game development competition. The game was first visualized in 2D but has since been remade in 3D and uses much more advanced technology. ”The decision was necessary to make development run smoother and also to be able to implement the features we deem important for the game to truly become what we envisioned from the beginning.” says CEO Johan Pilestedt.
CFO Robin Cederholm comments on distribution; ”Digital distribution is the way to go these days and we're primarily looking at Xbox Live Arcade as our main distribution platform, so you can expect easy access when the game is out.”
In Magicka, the player takes on the role of a wizard of a decadent ancient order, utilizing a complex game mechanic to let players, in real-time, dynamically combine different elements to create spells or the even more powerful Magicks to exploit the weaknesses of their foes. The game will feature 15 different levels in 9 different environments, giving the players a huge replayability with unlockable magicks, weapons and challenge levels not found the first time around. Another important aspect of the game is the co-op mode, Johan points out. “Games are about being social, gather a couple of friends and hit the couch. You'll sure to have a blast as you either hurl them off a cliff with a misplaced earth-projectile or successfully bring down a huge mountain troll due to flawless teamplay!” All game modes will be available with up to 4 player co-op.
We don't provide the 'easy to program for' console that they [developers] want, because 'easy to program for' means that anybody will be able to take advantage of pretty much what the hardware can do, so the question is what do you do for the rest of the nine and half years? It's a learning process. - SCEI president Kaz Hirai
It's a virus where you buy it and you play it with your friends and they're like, "Oh my God that's so cool, I'm gonna go buy it." So you stop playing it after two months, but they buy it and they stop playing it after two months but they've showed it to someone else who then go out and buy it and so on. Everyone I know bought one and nobody turns it on. - Epic Games president Mike Capps
We have a real culture of thrift. The goal that I had in bringing a lot of the packaged goods folks into Activision about 10 years ago was to take all the fun out of making video games. - Activision CEO Bobby Kotick
Finally, two years and four revised pitches later, Sparkster is finally returning in a proper adventure: A 2.5D platformer for XBLA, PSN, and Steam, programmed by Climax, with Hulett at the helm. "It was really a matter of reworking the concept -- making the right pitch at the right time," he says. With the success of modern retro recreations like Bionic Commando Rearmed, the proper format for Sparkster's return became obvious, and the game -- tentatively titled Rocket Knight -- is slated for release in early 2010.
Unlike Rearmed, this isn't simply a tarted-up remake of an old game; Rocket Knight is a sequel, set 15 years after the last game in the series, 1994's Sparkster for Genesis. "The idea is that there haven't been any games these past 15 years simply because Sparkster hasn't had any adventures," says Hulett. In a Nakazato homage, the new game's backstory is fairly dense: Sparkster saved the opossum kingdom of Zephyros (and its princesses) back in the day, but found himself disenchanted when the villainous pigs he battled in the first game were allowed to take up residence in Zephyros. He moved away with his family -- and notably didn't marry the princess -- and lived in quiet and peace until he looked up one day and noticed a war raging in the sky over Zephyros. To his surprise, though, his former enemies (the pigs) were fighting on the side of the opossums against an army of wolves; even stranger, his former nemesis, the nefarious Axel Gears, had become the kingdom's rocket knight in his absence. And so Sparkster puts on his gear and launches into the fray.
We don't provide the 'easy to program for' console that they [developers] want, because 'easy to program for' means that anybody will be able to take advantage of pretty much what the hardware can do, so the question is what do you do for the rest of the nine and half years? It's a learning process. - SCEI president Kaz Hirai
It's a virus where you buy it and you play it with your friends and they're like, "Oh my God that's so cool, I'm gonna go buy it." So you stop playing it after two months, but they buy it and they stop playing it after two months but they've showed it to someone else who then go out and buy it and so on. Everyone I know bought one and nobody turns it on. - Epic Games president Mike Capps
We have a real culture of thrift. The goal that I had in bringing a lot of the packaged goods folks into Activision about 10 years ago was to take all the fun out of making video games. - Activision CEO Bobby Kotick
We don't provide the 'easy to program for' console that they [developers] want, because 'easy to program for' means that anybody will be able to take advantage of pretty much what the hardware can do, so the question is what do you do for the rest of the nine and half years? It's a learning process. - SCEI president Kaz Hirai
It's a virus where you buy it and you play it with your friends and they're like, "Oh my God that's so cool, I'm gonna go buy it." So you stop playing it after two months, but they buy it and they stop playing it after two months but they've showed it to someone else who then go out and buy it and so on. Everyone I know bought one and nobody turns it on. - Epic Games president Mike Capps
We have a real culture of thrift. The goal that I had in bringing a lot of the packaged goods folks into Activision about 10 years ago was to take all the fun out of making video games. - Activision CEO Bobby Kotick
Terence Lee, creator of Storm, joins the growing list of independent game developers lucky enough to find a publisher. His game, created specifically for an independent games competition at 2BeeGames.com, will find refuge on PlayStation Network, Xbox Live, WiiWare and iPhone next year via a new publishing deal announced by Zoo Games. We talked with Lee about the indie games scene, and what we can expect from the console version.
What is Storm? How did the concept come about? Storm is a game where you use weather elements, like wind, rain, and lightning, to solve physics puzzles. I had been playing around with some physics sandbox games, like Garry's Mod, and I found that these games were all based on experimenting with mechanical interactions. I wondered if an organic style could also be fun. And what's more organic than a storm? Plus storms bring lightning and every game needs explosions.
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So far, Storm will be available on XBLA, PSN, Wii, and iPhone. There are a lot of exciting possibilities with each platform. We're going to try using Natal with the Xbox version: imagine summoning lightning, arms raised, like a crazed scientist.
We don't provide the 'easy to program for' console that they [developers] want, because 'easy to program for' means that anybody will be able to take advantage of pretty much what the hardware can do, so the question is what do you do for the rest of the nine and half years? It's a learning process. - SCEI president Kaz Hirai
It's a virus where you buy it and you play it with your friends and they're like, "Oh my God that's so cool, I'm gonna go buy it." So you stop playing it after two months, but they buy it and they stop playing it after two months but they've showed it to someone else who then go out and buy it and so on. Everyone I know bought one and nobody turns it on. - Epic Games president Mike Capps
We have a real culture of thrift. The goal that I had in bringing a lot of the packaged goods folks into Activision about 10 years ago was to take all the fun out of making video games. - Activision CEO Bobby Kotick
Remember a while back when Raskulls develop Halfbrick sent out an unusual email asking if we believed in the teapot? Well, looks like the Australian studio is not quite done. Yet another email has been sent, this one proclaiming that we WILL believe in the teapot.
In addition to that message, Halfbrick sent a link to a new teaser site, Believeintheteapot,com, which shows only one image -- some sort of Loch Ness Teapot, photographed in its natural habitat.
We don't provide the 'easy to program for' console that they [developers] want, because 'easy to program for' means that anybody will be able to take advantage of pretty much what the hardware can do, so the question is what do you do for the rest of the nine and half years? It's a learning process. - SCEI president Kaz Hirai
It's a virus where you buy it and you play it with your friends and they're like, "Oh my God that's so cool, I'm gonna go buy it." So you stop playing it after two months, but they buy it and they stop playing it after two months but they've showed it to someone else who then go out and buy it and so on. Everyone I know bought one and nobody turns it on. - Epic Games president Mike Capps
We have a real culture of thrift. The goal that I had in bringing a lot of the packaged goods folks into Activision about 10 years ago was to take all the fun out of making video games. - Activision CEO Bobby Kotick
We don't provide the 'easy to program for' console that they [developers] want, because 'easy to program for' means that anybody will be able to take advantage of pretty much what the hardware can do, so the question is what do you do for the rest of the nine and half years? It's a learning process. - SCEI president Kaz Hirai
It's a virus where you buy it and you play it with your friends and they're like, "Oh my God that's so cool, I'm gonna go buy it." So you stop playing it after two months, but they buy it and they stop playing it after two months but they've showed it to someone else who then go out and buy it and so on. Everyone I know bought one and nobody turns it on. - Epic Games president Mike Capps
We have a real culture of thrift. The goal that I had in bringing a lot of the packaged goods folks into Activision about 10 years ago was to take all the fun out of making video games. - Activision CEO Bobby Kotick
