Epic Games Releases September 2010 Unreal Development Kit Beta

Epic Games, Inc. has released the September 2010 UDK Beta, the latest version of the Unreal Development Kit (UDK), the free edition of Unreal Engine 3 that provides uncompromised access to the award-winning toolset used in blockbuster video games, 3D visualizations, digital films and more.

Epic is committed to providing the UDK community with regular software releases at no charge, and the latest beta is available now at www.udk.com/download.

Are you creating something great with UDK? Drop us a line in the Project Show-Off forums, where links to tech demos, gameplay videos and screenshots are always welcome.

We have a new UDK architecture forum. Are you using UDK to create 3D visualizations or simulations? Drop in and meet others who are using Unreal Engine 3 tools for similar purposes. Scaleform UI creation also gained its own forum.

It’s easy to sign up as a commercial UDK developer online. Our FAQ can help you determine which type of license is right for you.

This month’s build of UDK features significant additions, including:


UDK users now have access to the gameplay profiler tool.
Matinee’s movement tracks can now be split into individual translation and rotation components.
Users can bulk edit texture properties within the Content Browser.


Upgrade Notes


Due to changes in PhysX you should re-save all of your content.


UDKGame


Fixed leaning during jumps in UDK.
Fixed UDKVehicle crash.
‘AllowNVidiaStereo3D’ is false by default for UDK.
Switched UDK maps over to use precomputed visibility.
Resaved UDK maps for updated PhysX changes.


Profiling


Gameplay profiler tool now available in UDK!

‘GamePlayProfiler’ is a tool that allows digging deeper into time spent in gameplay code.
Read more:

http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/GameplayProfiler.html






Matinee


Allow movement tracks to be split so that translation and rotation components can be individually manipulated.

Read more:




http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/MatineeUserGuide.html#Separating Translation and Rotation



 


You can now disable the audio radio filter effect in Matinee Kismet blocks.


Particle System improvements


Now supports multiple ribbons per emitter.
New ‘RandomSeed’ module in Cascade helps particles play back more consistently.
Random size and lifetime can now be specified per ribbon in an emitter.
Particle spawn rates are now clamped to prevent negative spawn rates.


Rendering


Added ‘ImageGrain’ to ‘UberPostProcess.’
Improved post processing.

Uses less memory.
Better CPU/GPU performance.
Improved quality and consistency.
New features such as HDR scale and film grain.


Optimized distortion pass.
Fixed multiple split-screen issues causing color leaking.
‘F5’ key now enables shader complexity mode by default.


Animation


Added support for rotating Joint Bone to ‘SkelControlLimb.’
Animation compression improvements.

With automatic or the ‘CompressAnimations’ commandlet.

Savings of 30% over the previously compressed size are typical.
Can be much higher on some animations or with adjustments to the compression parameters.






Scaleform GFx


Integrated fix for sRGB handling with fonts from Scaleform.
GFx now supports Distance Field and RGBA UFonts.
Added a sample GFxUI.int to Engine/Localization/INT/.


DCC Tools (Max/Maya)


ActorX for Maya and Max 2011 is now supported.


PhysX


‘PhysXDestructible’ has been removed.
APEX destructibles are replacing them.


Other Improvements:


Workflow enhancements (e.g., find all materials using this texture, support for local collections to the Content Browser).
Fixed hitches during gameplay caused by long processing times for zero length linechecks.
OBJ mesh export now can generate a diffuse, specular and normal texture from the material.
Alternate mesh bone weight import tool has been much improved and supports both low->high and high->low bone count swapping.
Streaming texture stat enhancements including the new STAT TEXTUREPOOL command.
Landscape editing improvements.
The new color picker is now integrated into the mesh paint tool.
The mesh paint tool now supports flood fill.
Gamma can now be used even if the tonemapper is activated.
Texture properties can now be edited in bulk via the Content Browser.




UDN Pages


New 


http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/UDKTrademarksAndLogos.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/CapturingCinematicsAndGameplay.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/GameStatsVisualizerReference.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/CreatingGameStatsVisualizers.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/InstrumentingGameStatistics.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/HitMask.html


Updated


http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/UDKProgrammingHome.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/UDKContentCreationHome.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/UDKLevelCreationHome.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/UDKCommunityLinks.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/DevelopmentKitFAQ.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/DevelopmentKitFirstScriptProject.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ContentBlog.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/AnimSetEditorUserGuide.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/KismetUserGuide.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/AssetConsolidationTool.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/MaterialEditorUserGuide.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/PostProcessEditorUserGuide.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/SoundCueEditorUserGuide.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/PhATUserGuide.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/AnimTreeEditorUserGuide.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/StaticMeshEditorUserGuide.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/MaterialInstanceEditorUserGuide.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/SceneManagerReference.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/TaskBrowserReference.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ColorPicker.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ViewportToolbar.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/SCCIntegration.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ImportingSkeletalMeshTutorial.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ImportingAnimationsTutorial.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ImportingMeshesTutorial.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ExportingMeshesTutorial.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/PhysicsConstraintReference.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/Scaleform.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ScaleformWorkflow.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/SettingUpVehicles.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/VehiclesTechnicalGuide.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/SettingUpWeapons.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/WeaponsTechnicalGuide.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/CameraTechnicalGuide.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/PrecomputedVisibility.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/TextureDefinedSpecularReflection.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/SoftMasked.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ColorGrading.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/UnrealScriptReference.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/CommandLineArguments.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/CommandletList.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ActorX.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/Eat3D.html

Community Links
UDK Forums: www.udk.com/forums
UDK Developers on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2493123
UDK on Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/UDK/183744733429
Epic Games on Twitter: www.twitter.com/EpicGames

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Fans to Decide the Fate of Carmine in ?Gears of War 3?

The fate of Carmine lies in your hands! For the first time in franchise history, Epic Games and Microsoft are giving fans the chance to decide the fate of a character in ?Gears of War 3.? By purchasing avatar gear on Xbox LIVE Marketplace, fans and gaming communities around the globe will decide the destiny of the newest Carmine brother set to appear in ?Gears of War 3,? with all the proceeds going to the Child?s Play Charity.

Keeping with the series? tradition, Clayton Carmine will be introduced in the trilogy?s final chapter, and like Anthony and Ben, the newest rookie brother runs the high risk of meeting an early death. However, unlike in the previous games, the Xbox community will choose whether Carmine lives or dies by purchasing special ?Gears of War 3? avatar gear on Xbox LIVE Marketplace. Starting July 29 two new avatar t-shirts will be available on the Avatar Marketplace on Xbox LIVE ? one shirt reads ?Save Carmine? and the other reads ?Carmine Must Die.? By purchasing the ?Save Carmine? shirt, you?re casting your vote to let Carmine live in ?Gears of War 3.? Conversely, purchasing the ?Carmine Must Die? shirt means you want to see Clayton follow in the fate of his brothers.

Fans attending Comic-Con International in San Diego this week will also be able to cast their votes early by purchasing real life limited edition ?Save Carmine? or ?Carmine Must Die? t-shirts at the NECA booth (#3145) for $20.00. ?Gears? fans can also visit the Xbox 360 booth (#5153) to be amongst the first to play ?Gears of War 3? Beast Mode throughout the show. Finally, the team from Epic Games, including design director Cliff Bleszinski, executive producer Rod Fergusson and lead writer Karen Traviss, will be signing Comic-Con exclusive posters at the Xbox booth on Saturday, July 24 at 12:00 p.m. PDT.

Child?s Play is a community-based games industry charity dedicated to improving the lives of children around the world. Through their network of more than 60 hospitals and through the generosity of their community of donors, Child?s Play raises millions of dollars each year to donate games, consoles and toys to sick children. The proceeds from the sales of the ?Save Carmine? and ?Carmine Must Die? avatar gear and limited edition NECA t-shirts will go to Child?s Play, so cast your vote, donate to charity, and get cool ?Gears of War? gear! Fans can get up to date information about the fate of Clayton Carmine by visiting http://www.gearsofwar.com.

Published by Microsoft Game Studios and developed by Epic Games, the ?Gears of War? franchise has won over 30 ?Game of the Year? awards, sold more than 12 million copies worldwide and redefined the third-person shooter genre for this console generation. The ?Gears of War? series is exclusive to Xbox 360 and its riveting multiplayer action makes it one of the most popular titles on Xbox LIVE. The trilogy finale, ?Gear of War 3,? will release on April 5, 2011, only on Xbox 360.

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IndieCade 2010 Finalists: Solace (One Man Down)

Not many more IndieCade 2010 finalists for us to look at! Next up is Solace, a bullet hell shmup that explores the five stages of grief. The game is available to download from the Solace site.

Created by a team of students at the DigiPen Institute of Technology, Solace uses dynamic audio in an attempt to capture the moody tone that the team were looking for. The game was also a PAX 10 finalist, so obviously there's something about it that is catching the judges' eyes!

Give it a download and see what you think.

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Review: DoDonPachi Resurrection

Price: $8.99 (Download full game or free Lite demo) Version: 1.0.2 Official Site: Cave My Touch gets warm when I play DoDonPachi Resurrection. Seeing it in motion, I can understand why. It?s mind-melting — a sensory overload of electric bullets, shiny bronze medals, and neon lasers unleashed in relentless waves of hellish madness. It will [...]

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Marcus Fenix Epic Scale Busts Available For Pre-Order From TriForce

TriForce Sales, LLC announced today that it has finalized work on its ?Gears of War 2? Marcus Fenix Epic Scale Bust and the exclusive Gold Lancer edition Marcus Fenix Epic Scale Bust available only at the San Diego Comic Con and http://www.projecttriforce.com.


The piece was sculpted and art directed by Erick Sosa. Paint work handled by Jordu Schell. The Epic Scale bust is a highly detailed likeness of the winner of the Embry Star and hero the COG army. Marcus is presented from the stomach up, in his right hand he holds his Lancer and clinched in his left fist are the COG tags of fallen comrades. From the bottom of the base to the top of the Lancer the piece is an impressive 32 inches in height. The Marcus Fenix Epic Scale Bust will feature LED effects through out the entirety of the piece including the signature COG Lancer Assault Rifle being held. The Marcus Fenix Epic Scale Bust will retail for $350.00 USD and will be limited to a run of 500 units. The Marcus Fenix Epic Scale Gold Lancer Edition Bust will retail for $400.00 USD and be limited to 100 pieces available exclusively at the San Diego Comic Con and http://www.projecttriforce.com.



?When deciding which character to create for our new Epic Scale Bust line, we knew it had to be Marcus Fenix. The facial expression, armor, and Lancer were all sculpted with the utmost attention to detail. We knew we wanted our Epic Scale line to tell a story with each piece. The base itself depicts destroyed beauty and the cherub head from the iconic ?Mad World? trailer are all part of the storytelling aspect created by our design team,? said Drew Seldin, of TriForce. ?We are looking forward to seeing what fans think! The TriForce team is proud to present this to all the millions of Gears fans out there. We hope Gearheads will proudly display Marcus as they take on the Locust Horde.?

?TriForce shares our vision for the Gears franchise, and they realize what we’re going for with each piece they create,? said Epic Games Art Director Chris Perna. ?The attention to detail is second to none and their love for this project shows. The ?Gears of War 2? Marcus Fenix Epic Scale Bust is simply amazing and working with TriForce has been a pleasure, once again.”

The Marcus Fenix Epic Scale Bust and Marcus Fenix Gold Lancer Edition Bust will be on display and for sale online and at our San Diego Comic Con booth number 2601 starting Wednesday night.

About ?Gears of War?

Published by Microsoft Game Studios, the ?Gears of War? franchise has won over 30 ?Game of the Year? awards, sold more than 12 million copies worldwide and redefined the third-person shooter genre for this console generation. The game has also inspired a full line of toys and collectibles, apparel, an upcoming film, graphic novels and a book series by New York Times best-selling author Karen Traviss. The ?Gears of War? series is exclusive to the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system and its riveting multiplayer action makes it one of the most popular titles on Xbox LIVE. More information can be found at http://www.gearsofwar.com.

About TriForce

TriForce Sales, LLC based in New York, NY is a high-end creator of officially licensed 1:1 scale replica from some of the most recognizable video games, feature films, animation, television and comics. TriForce uses state-of-the-art process, equipment, materials and techniques to create the most realistic products available on the market today. To view and purchase products or learn more about TriForce visit us on the web at http://www.projecttriforce.com

About Epic Games

Epic Games, Inc., based in Cary, NC and established in 1991, develops cutting-edge games and game engine technology, including the multiple million-selling, award-winning ?Unreal? and ?Gears of War? series, and the industry leading Unreal Engine 3 game engine, a four-time winner of Game Developer magazine?s Best Engine Front Line Award and Hall of Fame inductee. More information about Epic Games can be found at http://www.epicgames.com.

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PlayStation Move moves early to take on Wii

Retailers nationwide began selling Sony's new motion-control system ? PlayStation Move ? on Friday, two days ahead of schedule.






Nintendo - Sony - PlayStation 3 - Wii - PlayStation Move

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GDC 25: Behind The Scenes Of GDC Lecture Submissions

[As Game Developers Conference approaches its 25th anniversary next February, a series of posts will give insight into the process and history behind the show. This time, organizers take a look at the Main Conference submission process, as first-round acceptances are sent out.]

Although there's still plenty going on around other GDC shows -- with GDC Online taking place in a couple of weeks and GDC China still on the agenda for December, organizers are well into the process of picking talks for GDC 2011.

The 25th annual Game Developers Conference -- celebrating a quarter-century of existence giving inspiration and practical take-away by developers for developers, is being held in San Francisco's Moscone Center next February 28 through March 4, 2011.

Last year, then-board member Simon Carless discussed the background of how talks get picked for GDC, explaining at the time:

"One initial point that is worth making strongly. I know that in some conferences (both outside the game industry and in), the Advisory Board can take a much smaller role in actually directly picking the content.

But one of the reasons that Game Developers Conference is so well respected, I believe, is that all of the talks are either empirically chosen from submissions, or carefully and specifically invited by the official GDC Advisory Board. The GDC organizers don't pick your talk -- key members of your own peer group pick your talk.

So rather than being hands-off 'advisors', multiple Advisory Board members grade every single submitted talk. They also discuss submitted and invited talk specifics via email, phone, and during the course of multiple in-person meetings. Finally, they coach and mold conditionally accepted GDC talks into a better end product."

We're doing the same this year, and after submissions that ended in August, GDC 2011 lecture selection has again been extremely competitive -- with more than 800 submitters vying for the opportunity to present at the next Game Developers Conference.

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IndieGames.com Podcast #2: Minecraft Special With Markus Persson

Since this is only the second IndieGames podcast, we're still experimenting quite a bit - hence you'll find that this week's is rather different to podcast #1, as we cut the news out and simply throw our guest indie developer many, many questions.

This week's guest developer is Markus Persson aka Notch, creator of the insanely popular Minecraft. We spend the first half of the podcast grilling him with our own questions on Minecraft, the Universe and Everything, then throw a bunch of readers' questions his way. There are three ways to listen - you can find it here, or you can download it from iTunes, and finally if you jump below the cut, you'll find it down there too.

Also below the cut, you'll find a bunch of links to everything we discussed, so you can find out what the heck we're actually going on about! Next week's podcast will most likely be completely different again, as we try to work out what is the best form to take. If you have any suggestions for topics, features or indie developers you'd like to see on the show, let us know in the comments!

Podcast Links

Official Minecraft site
Mojang Specifications

Dwarf Fortress
Infiniminer
Hayden Scott-Baron (Dock)
Tumbledrop
Hilarious Minecraft Fire
The Riksdagshuset (Swedish Houses of Parliament) Christmas gift
Portal in Minecraft
Minecraft Free Weekend
Paypal Issues
2D Boy's World of Goo Birthday Sales
Paul Eres: Minecraft is outselling Starcraft 2
Markus Visits Valve
SeaNanners Talks About Minecraft
C418's website

Thanks again to Souleye for the most awesome intro/outro music.

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Two Tribes to Port Edge, Frenzic, Swords & Soldiers to New Platforms

Toki Tori developer Two Tribes announced that it will bring a pair of App Store hits to new platforms later this year. The Iconfactory’s Independent Games Festival finalist Frenzic will be the first to get a Two Tribes port, with an enhanced version of the puzzler set to arrive for Nintendo’s DSiWare service this fall. [...]

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Softkinetic's iisu Middleware Adds Linux Support, New UI Tools

3D gesture recognition software developer Softkinetic has updated its iisu middleware, adding a variety of new features and support for the Linux operating system. Linux support bolsters iisu's existing compatibility with the Windows NT, XP, Vista, and Windows 7 operating systems. Version 2.5 of issu also introduces Interaction Designer, a new tool allowing serious game designers to prototype gesture recognition in existing applications. Other new features include a complete UI development framework, a new plugin ...

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Giant Robot Hosting Come Out & Play Weekend In San Francisco

After five years of running the street games event in New York City, organizers for Come Out & Play are bringing the festival to San Francisco! From October 22-24, the Giant Robot store in San Francisco will host what it promises are "some of the best games and game designers from the Come Out & Play Festival."

The free weekend "mini-festival" will include 11 games, which will be played through the streets of Haight-Ashbury, The Panhandle, and Golden Gate Park. There will also be a pinata making session (used when playing Pigeon Pinata Pummel later) and picnics.

The featured games include previous Come Out & Play favorites like Circle Rules Football ("An action packed team sport played on a circular field with a giant yoga ball") and Humanoid Asteroid ("Jump in your ship, man your lasers, and get ready to fend off waves of human asteroids in this dance/game mashup").

You can see the list of games and Come Out & Play's schedule so far here. The event's organizers encourage people to visit the Giant Robot Store for more details about the weekend festival.

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Castlevania II: Mega64's Quest

Comedy skit video group Mega64 produced another one of its silly drop-a-video-game-character-into-the-real-world bits, this time with Simon Belmont from Konami's classic NES release Castlevania II: Simon's Quest.

Here, the 8-bit hero explores the streets of San Francisco, asking confused villagers for clues (questions taken verbatim from the game) and fighting Dracula's minions with a whip. Thankfully, he has access to a few power-ups that will help him

The video even has Castlevania IIs annoying "What a Horrible Night To Have A Curse" night/day transitions, which bring out the monsters and an unscripted dancing boss!

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Video: ?Halo Reach? stronger, harder, faster

Better game play, a darker story, and no more loose ends. Msnbc.com?s Todd Kenreck gives the game a 9 out of 10.�(MSNBC)






Halo Reach - Msnbc.com - Game - Video Games - Sports

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Disney Interactive President Resigns

Steve Wadsworth, president of Disney Interactive Media Group resigned yesterday, ending an 11-year tenure in the role as the overseer of titles including Disney Epic Mickey and Club Penguin.

DIMG has wide-ranging remit within Walt Disney Co., creating and marketing video games as well as providing technical support to other Disney operating units.

"For many reasons now is the right time for me to move on," Mr. Wadsworth said in an email to staff announcing his resignation. ?While it is difficult to leave a great company, an exciting business and a wonderful group of people, my desire and excitement to pursue other opportunities is too great to ignore.?

?Our recent reorganization and acquisitions have put in place all of the elements needed to build a large, high growth, profitable business across multiple interactive media categories," he wrote.

"There remains much good work to be done, and there is great opportunity ahead, and I can leave with the knowledge that the business and the organization are on a great path.?

Wadsworth added that he is "confident that the business is well-positioned for continued significant growth."

During Wadsworth's stewardship of DIMG, the group has seen dramatic shifts in strategy with varied results. The launch of an interactive online simulation of Disneyland, Virtual Magic Kingdom, was soon followed by its closure while the acquisition of preteen social gaming network Club Penguin, and Facebook-game developer, Playdom have been more successful.

"During his long tenure, Steve has transformed our Disney digital business in a rapidly changing landscape," Walt Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger said in a statement. A successor to Wadsworth's role is yet to be announced, although there has been widespread speculation that Playdom chief executive John Pleasants will assume a senior role.

During the quarter ended July 3, Disney Interactive's revenue grew 74 percent to $197 million, while its operating loss narrowed to $65 million from $75 million in the year-earlier period.

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GDC Online Debuts Blizzard, Koster, Bigpoint Track Keynotes, Pre-Deadline

A day before the GDC Online early deadline, the major October 5th-8th Austin-based event has added track keynotes from Blizzard's Greg Canessa (on Battle.net), Playdom's Raph Koster (on social mechanics), and Bigpoint's Heiko Hubertz (on the rise of Europe in online gaming).

The Austin, Texas based GDC Online conference -- formerly known as GDC Austin -- is sharply focused on the development of online games, including free-to-play titles, social network games, and traditional MMOs, with a veteran online game industry advisory board evaluating and selecting the lectures.

There are now more than 120 panels, lectures and tutorials currently scheduled for the October 5th-8th event -- and following the announcement of a keynote from Civilization II designer and now Zynga chief game designer Brian Reynolds (FrontierVille), three track keynotes are debuting.

The brand-new track keynotes across the GDC Online Main Conference, which takes place from Wednesday October 6th to Friday October 8th, and for which majorly discounted passes are only available until Wednesday, are:

- In a production track keynote called 'Battle.net: A Postmortem', Blizzard's Battle.net project director Greg Canessa and technical director Matt Versluys will present an extremely rare lecture from the World Of Warcraft and Starcraft II creators, "sharing lessons learned from building and launching the new iteration of an online game service that connects and powers all Blizzard titles."

- Playdom's VP of creative design Raph Koster -- a stalwart of online game design from Ultima Online through Star Wars Galaxies to his current work in social games -- presents a design track keynote, 'Classic Social Mechanics: The Engines Behind Everything Multiplayer'.

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Study: Subscription MMO Revenues To Reach Nearly $2 Billion In 2014

Though many online titles are adopting the free-to-play model, market analyst firm Screen Digest says revenues for subscription-based MMOs in the West will grow to nearly $2 billion by 2014.

The group's latest report, "Subscription MMOGs - Mixed Fortunes in High Risk Game", says the subscription market for massively multiplayer online titles in North America and Europe was worth $1.4 billion in 2008 and $1.6 billion in 2009.

Screen Digest's study expects a compound annual growth rate for subscription consumer rates of 4.9 percent in the next five years, while the number of subscription accounts in the West will expand to 13 million by the end of 2010.

Despite those favorable estimates and Screen Digest's confidence that subscriptions will "continue to play an important role" in the MMO sector, the company's report notes a few troubling trends, such as the nearly 10 percent drop in average revenue per user last year, due to the "popularity of cheaper premium subscription services".

The firm also describes the market to be "very fragmented" at an operator level, as a large number of services are finding it difficult to break the 200,000 subscription level and compete with much bigger competitors.

Activision Blizzard, the biggest operator in the subscription-based MMO space with World of Warcraft, controlled a 56 percent share of consumer revenues in 2009, though that was down from the 60 percent it had in 2008.

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Column: The Blue Key: On Legacy

[?The Blue Key? is a bi-weekly GameSetWatch exclusive column from Connor Cleary that explores the wide arena of gamer culture ? where it's been, where it is now, and where it might be going. This week, he discusses the strengths and weaknesses of games that have a lofty title to live up to, and the emotional impact these games can have on gamers.]

Your shiny game mag of choice shows up in your mailbox, you flip through and find a preview for, let's say, Zelda: The Skyward Sword. Your brain quickly skims through the hours and hours that you've spent in your lifetime playing various other Zelda games. Understandably, you become giddy with anticipation.

What is it about a new installment from a beloved series that makes our hearts beat a little faster? That makes us feel like a little kid again, running down to the game store with a pre-order receipt and butterflies in our stomach? There are many legacies in the video game world, some have retained their status as juggernauts, while some have fallen from grace and continue to limp along in the periphery. But in either case, we often still feel a surge of emotional nostalgia when we hear about a new title from one of these legacy series.

But as much as a legacy title can be a huge cash-cow for developers, it must also be handled with care. Because of gamers' highly emotional attachment, a disappointing iteration can cause gamers to become extremely bitter, as if the developer has just profaned a sacred memory. In other words, its greatest strength ? the emotional attachment of gamers ? is also its greatest potential weakness.

This poses an interesting challenge for developers. They must find a way to keep a series interesting and original, while simultaneously remaining true to the series' traditions. If the new installments lack any innovation gamers might feel ripped off, like the same game was thrown in a new package and sold to them a second time. On the other hand, if the studio strays too far from tradition they risk losing the essential elements of nostalgia and familiarity.It seems that when it comes to the game series there are two poles on either end of the development philosophy. On one hand, you have games that adhere very tightly to their canon and mechanics that evolve very very slowly ? and are sometimes forced to make a leap due to advances in gaming technologies ? this is a pole that I will call the ?Direct Descendant.?

Meanwhile, the polar opposite to this theory is the nearly complete reinvention of a game series with each installment ? which I will call the ?Spiritual Successor.? To further explore this spectrum we will look at examples from each extreme. Needless to say, there are too many legacy franchises in gaming to address them all, and what follows will be a necessarily and admittedly incomplete analysis of only a handful of juggernauts.

Our first example remained squarely seated for a long time on the ?Direct Descendant? pole before slowly starting to branch out: This is, of course, everyone's favorite blue robot, Mega Man.

This is a series that, with barely any alterations or additions, managed to remain extremely fun through its first ten installments. Of course things like the Rush Jump and Rush Jet were slowly added in, and each game included a new set of bosses and respective weapons, but the overall experience was still nearly identical.

Even through the next evolutionary leap in the series, the Mega Man X titles still relied on the same basic framework, adding somewhat minor elements like permanent upgrades beyond those acquired through boss fights, and occasionally large additions like new playable characters to choose from. The repetitive nature of the early chapters in the Mega Man series were not a hindrance because ? much like the Mario games ? the mechanics were so undeniably enjoyable that they didn't require much tweaking to remain relevant and fun.

Slightly further down the spectrum we find the quintessential poster-child for the video game legacy, the ubiquitous Mario Mario from gaming legend Shigeru Miyamoto. Taking spin-offs like Yoshi and Wario games into consideration, the humble Mario Bros. was the progenitor for over 200 games. (Accepting, of course, Mario's first incarnation as Jumpman opposite the fierce title villain Donkey Kong.)

To this day, a new Mario game will be invariably met with extreme anticipation, and decent sales figures are essentially assured. The most recent incarnations of the mustachioed plumber being Super Mario Galaxy 2 and New Super Mario Bros. Wii, the latter of which seems to have outsold the former in its first few days on sale. These numbers are especially interesting because the larger sales went to the more traditional, retro-style title.

The Mario games have continued to be successful despite often repetitive mechanics and almost invariably similar storylines for a few reasons. Nintendo has skillfully retained strong ties to the Mario canon by never brushing aside fixtures like Peach, Bowser, Toadstool, Stars, Goombas, Koopas, and so on, these assure the gamer will have a positive association with the game world. They have managed to balance perpetual evolution of gameplay with retention of trademark mechanics. But most importantly, they are always fun.

Our next example also comes from Mr. Miyamoto: The iconic hero-in-green, Link and his perpetually distressed damsel, the princess Zelda. Much like Mario, The Legend of Zelda games set gamer hearts aflutter the world over. It is series which manages to be simultaneously fiercely adherent to its predecessors and completely innovative and unexpected with each installment.

With the exception of the N64 duo, each adventure has set players in a brand new world with an original storyline. (However, the argument can and has been made that there is a persistent world and timeline underlying Link and Zelda's many incarnations.)

Whether you suddenly find yourself running around as a deku scrub, or a wolf, or jumping through time and dimensions, or sailing over a water-covered world on a talking boat, you can never quite be sure what to expect from a new Zelda game. But much like our next example, you can always expect great music, great gameplay, and an engaging story.

Leaping now to the most extreme tip of the ?Spiritual Successor? pole, we find the beloved Final Fantasy series. The unusual formula that defines the FF series was, oddly enough, the product of a fortuitous fluke. The original Final Fantasy was a last-ditch effort by creator Hironobu Sakaguchi to save the budding game studio Square that was facing potential bankruptcy.

The success of the title saved the company, and led to the decision to create a sequel. However, because of the very real prospect that Final Fantasy would in fact be the final game for the studio, the storyline had not left itself open to a sequel. So Square decided to take a risk that would come to define the massively successful series: They created an entirely new game, with a new storyline, new characters, new mechanics ? new everything ? it was connected to its predecessor essentially in name only.

The ties between the initial FF games were extremely tenuous, as they shared only a handful of traits. Similar classes (white and black mage/wizard, thief, warrior, etc) similar magic systems (fire/ice/lightning 1, 2, and 3, bio, cure, etc), and similar status effects (poison, darkness, petrify, etc) were some of the only things one could point to that united the first few installments. Of course things like Moogles, Chocobos and Cactuars eventually became staples as well. However, they also shared similar themes and settings ? usually a fantasy-influenced setting, and themes involving elements and crystals and prophecies. In this way, they managed to evoke a sense of familiarity in the gamer without creating a Direct Descendant.

More recent installments, of course, have broken from even those small traditions. But it must be noted that the series has also retained a fairly consistent group of creative leads, which contributes to a feeling of cohesion throughout the various worlds the games explore.

These days, Square Enix is able to boost sales of entirely new games based solely on the renown associated with the name. One could argue that what unites the games nowadays is that gamers can count on a game named ?Final Fantasy [Roman Numeral]? to include great music, great storytelling, and lovable, dynamic characters ? in essence, the name has become synonymous with ?High-quality RPG.? Final Fantasy is a great example of how studios can gradually evolve a series, and the traits we associate with them as well ? as in ?Fire 2? becoming ?Fira,? or summons becoming ?Espers? then ?Guardian Forces? then ?Eidolons? then ?Aeons? etc. ? without losing the emotional attachment of their consumers.

However, the giant scope of the Final Fantasy series also includes several cautionary tales for anyone bold enough to follow in those massive footsteps. Through extended-universe installments like the ill-received theatrical release of Square's first movie, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, or the much-lamented PS2 title, Final Fantasy: Dirge of Cerberus we see that there are limits to even the most malleable name in gaming.

Finally, the numerical installment Final Fantasy XI ? the infamous attempt at a MMORPG ? we see that developers must fulfill the expectations they have set for themselves in the minds of their consumers, to assign the lofty badge of a roman numeral on this game was a big mistake in the eyes of many. There is little doubt in my mind that there would have been significantly less nerd-rage flying around if they decided to make XI a side project named Final Fantasy Online instead. Only time will tell if Final Fantasy XIV is a repeat of the XI fiasco. Additionally, The Spirits Within was not a terrible movie, but managed to infuriate FF loyalists because it felt like a shameless attempt to cash in on the name without providing any modicum of Final Fantasy-ness.

There are lessons and cautionary tales for developers to take away from each of these legendary series. But the most important thing is that studios understand that a new legacy title can have a powerful effect on the emotions of veteran gamers ? even if many of them won't admit the truth of this ? and as such should be approached with extra care. Attempts at evolutionary leaps and experimentation should probably remain in the realm of the new title, because a poor attempt to cash in on a name has the potential to turn away otherwise loyal fans.

[Author's Note: Clearly there are more gaming legacies that deserve to be plotted on this spectrum and have their lessons or tales of warning heard, so feel free to comment on any you feel would make a good addition to the discussion.]

JDS UNIPHASE JDA SOFTWARE GROUP JACK HENRY & ASSOCIATES IXYS

Column: The Blue Key: On Legacy

[?The Blue Key? is a bi-weekly GameSetWatch exclusive column from Connor Cleary that explores the wide arena of gamer culture ? where it's been, where it is now, and where it might be going. This week, he discusses the strengths and weaknesses of games that have a lofty title to live up to, and the emotional impact these games can have on gamers.]

Your shiny game mag of choice shows up in your mailbox, you flip through and find a preview for, let's say, Zelda: The Skyward Sword. Your brain quickly skims through the hours and hours that you've spent in your lifetime playing various other Zelda games. Understandably, you become giddy with anticipation.

What is it about a new installment from a beloved series that makes our hearts beat a little faster? That makes us feel like a little kid again, running down to the game store with a pre-order receipt and butterflies in our stomach? There are many legacies in the video game world, some have retained their status as juggernauts, while some have fallen from grace and continue to limp along in the periphery. But in either case, we often still feel a surge of emotional nostalgia when we hear about a new title from one of these legacy series.

But as much as a legacy title can be a huge cash-cow for developers, it must also be handled with care. Because of gamers' highly emotional attachment, a disappointing iteration can cause gamers to become extremely bitter, as if the developer has just profaned a sacred memory. In other words, its greatest strength ? the emotional attachment of gamers ? is also its greatest potential weakness.

This poses an interesting challenge for developers. They must find a way to keep a series interesting and original, while simultaneously remaining true to the series' traditions. If the new installments lack any innovation gamers might feel ripped off, like the same game was thrown in a new package and sold to them a second time. On the other hand, if the studio strays too far from tradition they risk losing the essential elements of nostalgia and familiarity.It seems that when it comes to the game series there are two poles on either end of the development philosophy. On one hand, you have games that adhere very tightly to their canon and mechanics that evolve very very slowly ? and are sometimes forced to make a leap due to advances in gaming technologies ? this is a pole that I will call the ?Direct Descendant.?

Meanwhile, the polar opposite to this theory is the nearly complete reinvention of a game series with each installment ? which I will call the ?Spiritual Successor.? To further explore this spectrum we will look at examples from each extreme. Needless to say, there are too many legacy franchises in gaming to address them all, and what follows will be a necessarily and admittedly incomplete analysis of only a handful of juggernauts.

Our first example remained squarely seated for a long time on the ?Direct Descendant? pole before slowly starting to branch out: This is, of course, everyone's favorite blue robot, Mega Man.

This is a series that, with barely any alterations or additions, managed to remain extremely fun through its first ten installments. Of course things like the Rush Jump and Rush Jet were slowly added in, and each game included a new set of bosses and respective weapons, but the overall experience was still nearly identical.

Even through the next evolutionary leap in the series, the Mega Man X titles still relied on the same basic framework, adding somewhat minor elements like permanent upgrades beyond those acquired through boss fights, and occasionally large additions like new playable characters to choose from. The repetitive nature of the early chapters in the Mega Man series were not a hindrance because ? much like the Mario games ? the mechanics were so undeniably enjoyable that they didn't require much tweaking to remain relevant and fun.

Slightly further down the spectrum we find the quintessential poster-child for the video game legacy, the ubiquitous Mario Mario from gaming legend Shigeru Miyamoto. Taking spin-offs like Yoshi and Wario games into consideration, the humble Mario Bros. was the progenitor for over 200 games. (Accepting, of course, Mario's first incarnation as Jumpman opposite the fierce title villain Donkey Kong.)

To this day, a new Mario game will be invariably met with extreme anticipation, and decent sales figures are essentially assured. The most recent incarnations of the mustachioed plumber being Super Mario Galaxy 2 and New Super Mario Bros. Wii, the latter of which seems to have outsold the former in its first few days on sale. These numbers are especially interesting because the larger sales went to the more traditional, retro-style title.

The Mario games have continued to be successful despite often repetitive mechanics and almost invariably similar storylines for a few reasons. Nintendo has skillfully retained strong ties to the Mario canon by never brushing aside fixtures like Peach, Bowser, Toadstool, Stars, Goombas, Koopas, and so on, these assure the gamer will have a positive association with the game world. They have managed to balance perpetual evolution of gameplay with retention of trademark mechanics. But most importantly, they are always fun.

Our next example also comes from Mr. Miyamoto: The iconic hero-in-green, Link and his perpetually distressed damsel, the princess Zelda. Much like Mario, The Legend of Zelda games set gamer hearts aflutter the world over. It is series which manages to be simultaneously fiercely adherent to its predecessors and completely innovative and unexpected with each installment.

With the exception of the N64 duo, each adventure has set players in a brand new world with an original storyline. (However, the argument can and has been made that there is a persistent world and timeline underlying Link and Zelda's many incarnations.)

Whether you suddenly find yourself running around as a deku scrub, or a wolf, or jumping through time and dimensions, or sailing over a water-covered world on a talking boat, you can never quite be sure what to expect from a new Zelda game. But much like our next example, you can always expect great music, great gameplay, and an engaging story.

Leaping now to the most extreme tip of the ?Spiritual Successor? pole, we find the beloved Final Fantasy series. The unusual formula that defines the FF series was, oddly enough, the product of a fortuitous fluke. The original Final Fantasy was a last-ditch effort by creator Hironobu Sakaguchi to save the budding game studio Square that was facing potential bankruptcy.

The success of the title saved the company, and led to the decision to create a sequel. However, because of the very real prospect that Final Fantasy would in fact be the final game for the studio, the storyline had not left itself open to a sequel. So Square decided to take a risk that would come to define the massively successful series: They created an entirely new game, with a new storyline, new characters, new mechanics ? new everything ? it was connected to its predecessor essentially in name only.

The ties between the initial FF games were extremely tenuous, as they shared only a handful of traits. Similar classes (white and black mage/wizard, thief, warrior, etc) similar magic systems (fire/ice/lightning 1, 2, and 3, bio, cure, etc), and similar status effects (poison, darkness, petrify, etc) were some of the only things one could point to that united the first few installments. Of course things like Moogles, Chocobos and Cactuars eventually became staples as well. However, they also shared similar themes and settings ? usually a fantasy-influenced setting, and themes involving elements and crystals and prophecies. In this way, they managed to evoke a sense of familiarity in the gamer without creating a Direct Descendant.

More recent installments, of course, have broken from even those small traditions. But it must be noted that the series has also retained a fairly consistent group of creative leads, which contributes to a feeling of cohesion throughout the various worlds the games explore.

These days, Square Enix is able to boost sales of entirely new games based solely on the renown associated with the name. One could argue that what unites the games nowadays is that gamers can count on a game named ?Final Fantasy [Roman Numeral]? to include great music, great storytelling, and lovable, dynamic characters ? in essence, the name has become synonymous with ?High-quality RPG.? Final Fantasy is a great example of how studios can gradually evolve a series, and the traits we associate with them as well ? as in ?Fire 2? becoming ?Fira,? or summons becoming ?Espers? then ?Guardian Forces? then ?Eidolons? then ?Aeons? etc. ? without losing the emotional attachment of their consumers.

However, the giant scope of the Final Fantasy series also includes several cautionary tales for anyone bold enough to follow in those massive footsteps. Through extended-universe installments like the ill-received theatrical release of Square's first movie, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, or the much-lamented PS2 title, Final Fantasy: Dirge of Cerberus we see that there are limits to even the most malleable name in gaming.

Finally, the numerical installment Final Fantasy XI ? the infamous attempt at a MMORPG ? we see that developers must fulfill the expectations they have set for themselves in the minds of their consumers, to assign the lofty badge of a roman numeral on this game was a big mistake in the eyes of many. There is little doubt in my mind that there would have been significantly less nerd-rage flying around if they decided to make XI a side project named Final Fantasy Online instead. Only time will tell if Final Fantasy XIV is a repeat of the XI fiasco. Additionally, The Spirits Within was not a terrible movie, but managed to infuriate FF loyalists because it felt like a shameless attempt to cash in on the name without providing any modicum of Final Fantasy-ness.

There are lessons and cautionary tales for developers to take away from each of these legendary series. But the most important thing is that studios understand that a new legacy title can have a powerful effect on the emotions of veteran gamers ? even if many of them won't admit the truth of this ? and as such should be approached with extra care. Attempts at evolutionary leaps and experimentation should probably remain in the realm of the new title, because a poor attempt to cash in on a name has the potential to turn away otherwise loyal fans.

[Author's Note: Clearly there are more gaming legacies that deserve to be plotted on this spectrum and have their lessons or tales of warning heard, so feel free to comment on any you feel would make a good addition to the discussion.]

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Sony PS3 to show 3-D movies, get wand

Sony's PlayStation 3 game console will work as a Blu-ray disc player for 3-D movies and music videos, not just 3-D games, with a software update download starting Sept. 21.







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'Halo: Reach' sales hit $200 million on first day

Microsoft said its new videogame "Halo: Reach" racked up $200 million in global sales on its launch day, the biggest launch of any game or movie this year.






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Nintendo DS Sees Large Sales Boost With Pokemon Launch

Nintendo DS sales saw a significant boost this week, strengthening the platform's lead on the Japanese hardware sales charts. For the week ended September 19, the Nintendo DS line sold 85,770 units, more than double the 39,749 units it sold last week, reports tracking firm Media Create. The DSi received the most significant sales jump, with 47,379 units sold, compared to last week's 16,345 units. The sales spike correlates with the release of Nintendo's Pokemon ...

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Armor Games' SHIFT Extends To Minis

The incredibly popular flash game SHIFT, which was released for iPhone late last year, will now be making its way over to the PlayStation Store as a PSP Minis title.

The game is quite ingenious actually -- in a black and white world you're able to visit both "polarities" in order to get to the exit. The new game will be published by Zallag and developed by Fishing Cactus -- and will contain double the content from the iPhone version.

Check out in in Q4 of this year.

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Click to play the game Daria the Mermaid now. We offer the best free games and add 10 new games every day of the week.

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Atari Hires New Digital Strategy Boss

As it aggressively pursues a digital and social strategy, Atari has hired a new exec to oversee its PC and casual distribution in North America. Former business development consultant Alex Chung has been hired as the company's senior director of digital strategy and distribution.

"Alex joins Atari as we continue to drive our business into the online market," says Atari president Jim Wilson. The publisher has been turning to the online business as its primary revenue strategy after a period of sales declines, and by the end of its first fiscal quarter this year, it grew online revenues 320 percent to account for 43.5 percent of its sales.

"His strong background in casual and social digital distribution and strategic partnerships will reinforce and expand those revenue streams," Wilson says of Chung, who will report to him directly.

Currently the publisher still depends heavily on traditional releases, however -- its most significant upcoming PC release is CD Projekt Red's The Witcher 2, although the company plans a series of titles for console downloadable platforms.

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CAPCOM Licenses Epic Games? Unreal Engine 3 for ?ASURA?S WRATH?

Japan-based CAPCOM Co., Ltd. has entered into an agreement to license Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 3 for its upcoming action game “ASURA’S WRATH,” developed by CyberConnect2 Co., Ltd. for Xbox 360� and PlayStation�3. The game was announced at CAPCOM’s Tokyo Game Show press conference last week. This is the third licensing agreement between CAPCOM and Epic, representing CAPCOM’s commitment to providing its customers with an unparalleled gaming experience.

“Unreal Engine 3 was a huge factor in making ‘ASURA’S WRATH’ a visually stunning and exciting game,” said Kazuhiro Tsuchiya, producer at CAPCOM. “Unreal Engine 3’s integrated development environment helped us ramp up production speed and create a clear vision for the game at the initial development stage. From there, it was easy to share the game’s concept among a large development team, making Unreal Engine 3 an essential collaborative tool with the teams at CAPCOM and at CyberConnect2.”

Seiji Shimoda, game director of CyberConnect2 Co., Ltd., known for its “.hack” series and multiple “Naruto” games, used Unreal Engine 3 to overcome challenges in the development and creative processes.

“At CyberConnect2, we have our own development process and know-how gained from years of development. But this time we decided to reconsider our process to achieve higher quality and efficiency. We tried a lot of different options and determined that Unreal Engine 3 was a perfect solution. Our developers were able to review the game in real time, and they continue to be productive throughout the process. I know we will deliver something amazing to the gaming world, and along the way, we will provide a showcase that will help show Japanese developers how to master the powerful functionality built into Unreal.”

Taka Kawasaki, territory manager for Epic Games Japan, said that the game is a triumph for the Japanese game industry and solidifies CAPCOM’s motivation for using Unreal Engine 3.

“CAPCOM and CyberConnect2 are two companies that are employing the very best of Japan’s creative minds today,” said Kawasaki. “It’s rewarding to support their creative development through the use of our technology. I have no doubt in my mind that they will create titles like nothing we’ve seen built with Unreal to date.”

Established in 2009, Epic Games Japan is a wholly owned and operated business unit based in Yokohama, Japan. The subsidiary provides licensing services and support resources to development teams using the Unreal Engine. To learn more about Epic Games Japan, please visit http://www.epicgamesjapan.com.

About Unreal Engine 3

The award-winning Unreal Engine is known for its cutting-edge graphics and best-of-breed toolset. Unreal Engine 3 maintains those features in addition to multi-core processor support, Xbox 360� and PlayStation�3 optimizations, massive world support and a highly mature tool pipeline. Unreal Engine 3’s consistently evolving toolset is designed to accelerate developers’ productivity for PC and console games, mobile games and applications, training simulations, visualizations and real-time 3D animation. Additional information on Unreal Engine 3 can be obtained through the Unreal Technology website at http://www.unrealtechnology.com.

About Epic Games

Epic Games, Inc., based in Cary, NC and established in 1991, develops cutting-edge games and cross-platform game engine technology. The company has created multiple million-selling, award-winning titles in its “Unreal” series, including “Unreal Tournament 3” for PC, PlayStation�3 and Xbox 360�. Epic’s “Gears of War” franchise has sold more than 12 million copies worldwide and won more than 30 Game of the Year awards. Epic’s Unreal Engine 3 is the four-time winner of and Hall of Fame inductee for Game Developer magazine’s Best Engine Front Line Award. Unreal Engine 3 has also been recognized as the number one game engine by Develop magazine. Additional information about Epic can be obtained through the Epic Games website at http://www.epicgames.com.

About CAPCOM

CAPCOM is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment for game consoles, PCs, handheld and wireless devices. Founded in 1983, the company has created hundreds of games, including best-selling franchises “Resident Evil,” “Street Fighter,” “Mega Man” and “Devil May Cry.” CAPCOM maintains operations in the U.S., U.K., Germany, France, Tokyo, Korea and Hong Kong, with corporate headquarters located in Osaka, Japan. More information about CAPCOM can be found on the company web site, http://www.capcom.com.

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Best Of GamerBytes: You're Looking Radiant Today

[We round up the week's top news and new digital releases from console digital download site GamerBytes, featuring new information about Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, WiiWare, DSiWare and PSN Minis.]

Some interesting announcements debut this week -- the Tokyo Game Show has provided us with some quite interesting titles coming up to the plate, including a second Dead Rising chapter, the return of Fire Pro Wrestling, and Radiant Silvergun finally coming to consoles not called the Sega Saturn!

Also debuting on various console digital download services -- the previously feted Space Invaders: Infinity Gene, alongside Worms 2 on PSN and the slightly odd fighter-shooter crossover King Of Fighters: SkyStage on XBLA.

XBLA Update - Sonic Adventure, Space Invaders: Infinity Gene, King Of Fighters: SkyStage

XBLA Game Room Update - Flak Attack, Kitten Kaboodle And Some Thoughts

NA PSN Store Update - Space Invaders: IG, Worms 2, Soviet Strike, Tumble And Deals A'plenty

EU PSN Store Update - Flight Control HD, Space Invaders: Infinity Gene And More

NA Nintendo Update - Castle Conqueror, Crazy Pinball And More

EU Nintendo Update - Adventure on LOST ISLAND, Petz And More

Analysis And Interviews

Interview: Going Back To Oddworld

In-Depth: Radiangames On Finding Success in $1 Increments

Top Stories

Trailer: The Undergarden (Vitamin-G / Artech Studios) (XBLA / PSN)
Bring the garden back to life.

Trailer: The Haunted: Hell's Reach (Hell's Reach) (XBLA / PSN)
Left 4 Dead in Hell's Reach?

Teaser Trailer: Dead Rising 2: Case West (Capcom) (XBLA)
Frank is back!

Trailer - Radiant Silvergun Coming To Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA)
Classic Saturn shmup is on its way.

Fire Pro Wrestling Gets Avatar Treatment (XBLA)
Buff up your Avatar with this handy fake muscle shirt.

Trailer: The Level Creation Of Mega Man Universe (XBLA / PSN)
Bad box art man finally get his dues.

Teaser Trailer: PixelJunk Lifelike (PSN)
Wait, what?

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3D Stereoscopic Games Summit At GDC Online Debuts Line-Up

Taking place alongside next month's GDC Online event in Austin, TX, the 3D Stereoscopic Games Summit has revealed speakers from Disney, Sony, Blitz, Crytek and more on the rise of 3D gaming.

The Summit, taking place on Tuesday, October 5th and open to GDC Online All-Access Pass holders, as well as Summits & Tutorial pass-holders, will be the first GDC event to explore the world of 3D stereoscopic gaming in depth.

With 3D-capable movies such as Avatar and Alice In Wonderland topping the worldwide box office for multiple weeks and engine companies and console manufacturers alike touting the rise of 3D in gaming, we'll be gathering industry experts to explain and demonstrate the latest advances in the area.

Should you be building 3D support into your games now? What are the key hardware penetration and technical barriers to 3D becoming a defacto standard in the video game industry?

Speakers and advisors led by Blitz Game Studios' Andrew Oliver (Dead To Rights: Retribution) will be exploring these questions in the 3D Stereoscopic Games Summit. Some of the session highlights for the one-day Summit include the following talks:

- The lecture 'Implementing Stereoscopic 3D in Disney/Pixar's Toy Story Midway Mania' sees Walt Disney Imagineering and Schell Games creators examine the work done to create the motion ride and Wii-exclusive 3D game. Along the way, "...stereo rendering issues will be discussed such as ghost-busting, eye point issues, off-axis projection, and the creation of (and iteration on) content for a 3D stereo rendered attraction."

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Video: ?Halo Reach? stronger, harder, faster

Better game play, a darker story, and no more loose ends. Msnbc.com?s Todd Kenreck gives the game a 9 out of 10.�(MSNBC)






Halo Reach - Msnbc.com - Game - Video Games - Sports

COMMSCOPE COMMUNICATIONS HOLDINGS COMPAL ELECTRONICS COSMOTE MOBILE TELECOM.

2010 IGF China Competition Reminds On Pan-Pacific Festival Deadline

The Independent Games Festival China, which runs in conjunction with Shanghai's GDC China this December, is reminding that September 15th is the final entry date for the pan-Pacific indie games festival -- which allows entries from any Asian or Australasian independent game.

Following on from its 2009 success, the Game Developers Conference China -- part of the UBM TechWeb Game Network -- will continue to host the three main elements of IGF China, including the Independent Games Summit, which provides valuable conference sessions specializing in the challenges of independent game development.

These include the Independent Games Festival China Pavilion, an onsite exhibition of the very best in local indie games, and the Independent Games Festival China Awards, which honors the work of the talented pool of local independent game developers.

The 2010 IGF Main Competition will give out awards in five categories, including Best Game, Mobile Best Game, Excellence in Audio, Excellence in Technology, and Excellence in Visual Arts. Finalists in all categories will receive VIP and expo passes to attend GDC China and the IGF awards ceremony on December 5, 2010.Finalists -- who will compete for RMB 20,000 ($3,000) will be chosen
by a panel of expert jurors including Kevin Li (CEO, TipCat
Interactive); Monte Singman (Main Coordinator, IGDA Shanghai Chapter);
Xubo Yang (Director of Digital Art Lab and Assistant Professor; Shanghai
Jiaotong University's School of Software), and jury chairman Simon
Carless, IGF Chairman Emeritus and Global Brand Director of the UBM
TechWeb Game Network.

Last year's event saw more than 200 entries for the Main Competition
and the Student Competition, including entries from China, Hong Kong,
Taiwan, the Philippines, Israel, Japan, Singapore, Pakistan, Australia,
South Korea, India and more. Winners from last year include titles like
acclaimed Best Game winner Captain Forever (Farbs - Australia), Donovo (Magic Day Studio - China) for Excellence in Art Direction, HurricaneX2 (You Yun Tech - China) for Technical Excellence and Armor Valley (Protege Production - Singapore) for Excellence in Audio.

Key dates for IGF China include:

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IMVU Adding Social Games To 3D Avatar Platform

Online community IMVU announced partnerships with developers Viximo, Heyzap, and OMGPOP to bring their casual and social games to its 3D avatar/chat platform.

Launched in 2004, IMVU has more than 50 million registered users and more than 10 million unique visitors per month. The online community allows users to create and customize 3D avatars to chat, play games with each other, design clothes/furniture/rooms, and buy virtual goods from a catalog of more than four million items.

IMVU is making its first foray into the casual and social gaming market with these new partnerships, which will allow members to play over 75 titles from the three developers. The games will be integrated into the platform, so users will be able to purchase virtual goods in them with IMVU credits.

Gamers will not only have the ability to customize a variety of OMGPOP titles with IMVU-specific virtual goods, but also integrate their IMVU avatar profiles and add friends within them. Viximo has created an IMVU-branded version of its Photo Market game called Top Modelz, too.

"IMVU offers great entertainment value by adding games to our 3D social experience,? says IMVU CEO Cary Rosenzweig. "From a business perspective, games combined with our social networking and virtual goods economy is the natural direction to take IMVU to the next level of growth."

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NA PSN Store Update - Blade Kitten, Sonic Adventure, DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue And More

No minis this week, but a huge week for standard PSN games with three big titles -- Krome Studios' Blade Kitten is now available for $14.99, HotHead's DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue, the sequel to the original for $14.99, and Sonic Adventure for $9.99. Both BK and DS:TOV both have demos, and if you grab DeathSpank this week you'll also get the Snowy Mountain Dungeon and Tankko the Warrior multiplayer add-ons for free.

For DLC, we have Planet Mini-Golf 's Stronghold Island DLC for $2.49, and Sonic Adventure has an "upgrade" download for $4.99 which adds the Mission mode from the Gamecube version, and the ability to play as Metal Sonic. Funny thing though -- you have to still get all emblems regularly to unlock Metal Sonic! how ridiculous.

We also have some interesting new PSOne Classics -- Monkey Paw Games have grabbed the rights for several Japanese PSOne games to be released in the American store -- Cho Aniki ($5.99) and Gaia Seed ($5.99) are now available.

And for those with PlayStation Plus accounts, you can get Zen Pinball for free, Halfbrick's Echoes minis for free, Early access to Swords & Soldiers, which is available next week for everyone for $9.99, and exclusive early DLC for the High Velocity Bowling Move Compatibility Add-On

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3D Stereoscopic Games Summit At GDC Online Debuts Line-Up

Taking place alongside next month's GDC Online event in Austin, TX, the 3D Stereoscopic Games Summit has revealed speakers from Disney, Sony, Blitz, Crytek and more on the rise of 3D gaming.

The Summit, taking place on Tuesday, October 5th and open to GDC Online All-Access Pass holders, as well as Summits & Tutorial pass-holders, will be the first GDC event to explore the world of 3D stereoscopic gaming in depth.

With 3D-capable movies such as Avatar and Alice In Wonderland topping the worldwide box office for multiple weeks and engine companies and console manufacturers alike touting the rise of 3D in gaming, we'll be gathering industry experts to explain and demonstrate the latest advances in the area.

Should you be building 3D support into your games now? What are the key hardware penetration and technical barriers to 3D becoming a defacto standard in the video game industry?

Speakers and advisors led by Blitz Game Studios' Andrew Oliver (Dead To Rights: Retribution) will be exploring these questions in the 3D Stereoscopic Games Summit. Some of the session highlights for the one-day Summit include the following talks:

- The lecture 'Implementing Stereoscopic 3D in Disney/Pixar's Toy Story Midway Mania' sees Walt Disney Imagineering and Schell Games creators examine the work done to create the motion ride and Wii-exclusive 3D game. Along the way, "...stereo rendering issues will be discussed such as ghost-busting, eye point issues, off-axis projection, and the creation of (and iteration on) content for a 3D stereo rendered attraction."

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Are video games the 'devil's flute'?

As the Supreme Court gets ready to look at a case that pits the state of California against the video game industry, some say this is simply history repeating itself. California wants to ban the sale of violent video games to minors but others say this far from the first time a new form of media has inspired moral panic and attempts to violent First Amendment rights.






Video game - Supreme Court of the United States - Video game industry - California - Supreme Court

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Gameloft Exceeds 20 Million App Store Paid Downloads

Paris-based mobile games publisher Gameloft (Let’s Golf, Modern Combat) announced that it has sold more than 20 million games in the iTunes App Store since Apple launched the service in 2008. Gameloft, a major player in the mobile games marketplace, notes that 42 of its 47 App Store games released in 2010 have ranked as [...]

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Interview: Going Back To Oddworld

[Just Add Water CEO Stewart Gilray tells our own Kris Graft about remastering the 2005 Xbox game Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath for PSN, and reviving a dormant franchise for a time in which "a hell of a lot has changed."]

Dormant for five years, the Oddworld series of games just might be odd enough to find an audience in today's crowded video game market.

This month, UK-based Gravity Crash developer Just Add Water (JAW) announced that it is working closely with American game designer Lorne Lanning's Oddworld Inhabitants on a remastered downloadable version of the quirky 2005 Xbox game Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath, exclusively for PlayStation Network, due in 2011.

Since the debut of the original platform-puzzler Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee on PlayStation in 1997, the series' "Oddworld" moniker has always been fitting -- the franchise wears its oddness like a badge of honor (Abe's flatulence even served as a notable game mechanic).

The fictional Oddworld and its inhabitants were more reminiscent of a DreamWorks film than a video game, and the unique universe attracted enough fans to warrant four installments over eight years.

But the franchise's appeal in today's market is an unknown. "Oh, a hell of a lot has changed," admits Stewart Gilray, CEO of JAW, which employs just six people. "That's part of the reason why we chose to make these digital release titles. A packaged or disc-based release is a much larger risk. Things have changed.""Maybe the market [for Oddworld] isn't there anymore," he says. "So we didn't want to say, 'Here's a $50 or $60 game, go buy it.' That's something no one would buy because they want to spend $60 on something else like Modern Warfare 3 or whatever comes next."

Gilray met Lanning at Game Developers Conference 2009 last year in San Francisco through a mutual friend, and talks about bringing Oddworld back began there. Gilray says a "symbiotic relationship" started and over the next several months, Oddworld and JAW talked about bringing multiple projects to multiple systems.

Stranger, the first project from the partnership, is a game that combines third-person action elements with first-person shooting. The titular character Stranger is a crossbow-sporting bounty hunter that is like a cross between Clint Eastwood in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, and maybe an ape and a camel -- quite different from a bald space marine.

Gilray says that Oddworld and JAW decided to release Stranger first for a few reasons: "One, it's the most up-to-date game out of the four. It'd be the quickest one to get to market." He explains that 2001's Xbox game Munch's Oddysey was done with third-party Gamebryo middleware, for example, and would be a "whole can of worms" to remaster. Stranger utilized a proprietary engine created by Oddworld, and JAW is able to have access to all of its tools, virtual assets and source code. "It seemed like the lesser of four evils, choosing Stranger," he says.

That's not to mention that Stranger, originally published by Electronic Arts, was well-received by critics, earning an 87 percent average on GameRankings.com. And the game's first-person shooter mechanics, Gilray believes, are more marketable and relatable to today's gamer, as opposed to the 2D platformer puzzle-solving gameplay of earlier Oddworld titles.

He also says that Oddworld and JAW could use Stranger's market performance as a sort of a barometer for the series' commercial viability: "There's a whole bunch of genres out there [on PSN, XBLA and Steam] that have got some decent recognition and done very well for themselves. We think the Oddworld brand will do very well in that space."

Gilray says he'll be visiting Oddworld Inhabitants in October for a few days to work out what's next for the Oddworld series -- if all goes as planned, Stranger won't be the last we'll see of the unique universe.

Apart from JAW's work on Stranger and other unannounced projects, Oddworld is still working on converting all four Oddworld games to release on PC as a digital download package called "Oddbox," expected to launch this year (the first two games are already on Steam). And while he wouldn't confirm an Xbox Live Arcade version of Stranger, Gilray only says "I can't discuss that yet."

And Abe, the "Mudokon" who helped start it all with Abe's Oddysee, could make a return in a brand new game.

"Right now, I don't want to get too speculative about the relationship [between Oddworld and JAW]," he says, "but we all look at Abe as a sort of mascot for Oddworld. So to assume that we're going to do something new with Abe is probably a good idea. I can't wait to think about it. But have we thought that through completely yet? Not completely. So we'll see what happens."

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Round-Up: Gamasutra Network Jobs, Week Of September 17

In a diverse week for new job postings, Gamasutra's jobs board plays host to roles across the world and in every major discipline, including opportunities at Blizzard, Bungie and more. Each position posted by employers will appear on the main Gamasutra job board, and appear in the site's daily and weekly newsletters, reaching our readers directly. It will also be cross-posted for free across its network of submarket sites, which includes content sites focused on ...

FIDELITY NATIONAL INFORMATION SVCS. FISERV GOOGLE GRUPO IUSACELL

GDC Vault Adds Free Guild Wars 2, ESA Talks, 65 New Lectures For Subscribers

GDC Vault has debuted both free and subscriber-only videos from August's GDC Europe event in Cologne. Free-to-watch talks feature ArenaNet's Guild Wars 2 and notables from the ESA, Remedy and Crytek on building grassroots political support for games.

Following the successful Europe-wide developer event that ran alongside Gamescom last month, organizers of the Game Developers Conference series of events are making specially recorded versions of the talks available -- while also archiving all of the GDC Europe content in video form for future use and study.

These new free talks debut alongside an update making available over 65 lecture videos from GDC Europe for subscribers at the GDC Vault website. The site features video technology that allows users to simultaneously view a presenter's slides alongside video and audio of their presentation.

The two free GDC Europe-related videos currently debuting on the site are as follows:

- In 'Designing Guild Wars 2's Dynamic Events', ArenaNet's Guild Wars 2 lead designer Eric Flannum and lead content designer Colin Johanson outline how the industry's attitude to content in games in the MMORPG genre has evolved over time.

The duo discuss the inspiration for -- and the implementation challenges of -- their Dynamic Events system in the much-awaited PC MMO, "with the goal of creating an exciting, living, breathing online world that encourages social interaction between players."

KINGSTON TECHNOLOGY COMPANY KEY JDS UNIPHASE JDA SOFTWARE GROUP

No poop to scoop when your kid's first pet is digital

My son wanted a pet. I didn't want another critter to clean up after. Sony's new "EyePet" game came to the rescue.






Sony - EyePet - Shopping - Pets - Dog

NINTENDO NOKIA NVIDIA ORACLE

Epic Games Releases August 2010 Unreal Development Kit Beta

Epic Games, Inc. has released the August 2010 UDK Beta, the latest version of the Unreal Development Kit (UDK), the free edition of Unreal Engine 3 that provides uncompromised access to the award-winning toolset used in blockbuster video games, 3D visualizations, digital films and more.

Epic is committed to providing the UDK community with regular software releases at no charge, and the latest beta is available now at http://www.udk.com/download.

Are you creating something great with UDK? Drop us a line in the Project Show-Off forums, where links to tech demos, gameplay videos and screenshots are always welcome.

You can see many of the top UDK games and applications at http://www.udk.com/showcase. This month we would like to congratulate Teotl Studios on their upcoming commercial release for The Ball.

It?s easy to sign up as a commercial UDK developer online. Our FAQ can help you determine which type of license is right for you.

This month?s beta release includes many upgrades, such as:

* Scaleform pipeline improvements
* Improved motion blur
* New detail lighting view mode
* Recompile materials directly from Content Browser right-click menu
* New character indirect lighting controls
* Better hair lighting


Plus, new documentation like the Scaleform workflow, introduction to FaceFX and camera technical guide will be helpful to those getting started with UDK.

Here?s the full list of improvements in detail:

Scaleform GFx

* Scaleform GFx 3.3.85 is now merged in and all UDK UI is GFx-based.
* Made many improvements and fixes to the Scaleform import pipeline.




Point Light Shadows

* Whole scene shadows for point lights are now supported.




Precomputed Visibility

* Precomputed visibility allows occlusion on platforms that don't support hardware occlusion queries.


Motion Blur

* The quality of Motion Blur has been significantly improved without a performance loss.




New Detail Lighting View Mode

* Replaces diffuse and specular color but keeps all other material parameters like normal map, opacity mask, two sidedness, etc.
* Useful for viewing lighting without material diffuse color influence.
* Lighting-only view mode is still useful for looking at lightmap artifacts and compression.






Character Indirect Lighting

* Added new controls for fine-tuning runtime indirect lighting settings on characters.
* Added distinct controls for both lit and shadowed environments.




Hair Lighting

* Implemented a new, single-pass technique for translucency lighting.
* Previous technique relied on multiple passes, which over-brightens on multilayered objects, such as hair.
* The single-pass technique uses about half the number of shader instructions as multipass lighting, so hair will be much cheaper.




Normal Maps, Indirect Lighting & Lightmaps

* Normal maps are now taken into account for indirect lighting with simple lightmaps.




Other New Stuff

* Can now recompile materials directly from the right-click menu in Content Browser.
* New texture streaming system saves memory and prioritizes textures more effectively.
* Added limited support for importing non-power-of-two (NPOT) textures into the editor. MIP maps are not allowed, and image dimensions must be divisible by four for DXT compression.
* Vertex normals are now correctly saved with static meshes exported as OBJ files.
* Terrain export now supports holes.
* New ContentComparison commandlet helps optimize content.
* Lightmass static shadows now have texture space filtering on by default, which smoothes out aliasing.
* Material editor Undo and Redo are now much faster.
* Added multiple camera offset support for particle modules and camera offset support for mesh emitters.
* Spawn at bone/socket now allows rotating mesh particles to the orientation of the bone/socket.


New Documentation
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/CameraTechnicalGuide.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ScaleformWorkflow.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/EditorConsoleCommands.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ContentAuditCommandlet.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/PrecomputedVisibility.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/RadialBlur.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/MovieTexture.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/IntroductionToFaceFX.html

Updated Documentation
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ContentBlog.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/DevelopmentKitBuildUpgradeNotes.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/DevelopmentKitGettingStarted.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/DevelopmentKitProgramming.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/DevelopmentKitContentCreation.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/UDKProgrammingHome.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/UDKContentCreationHome.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/UDKLevelCreationHome.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/UDKCommunityLinks.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/UDKCustomCharacters.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/Scaleform.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ScaleformImport.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/CreatingCinematics.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/UnrealEdUserGuide.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/CascadeUserGuide.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/AnimSetEditorUserGuide.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/StaticMeshEditorUserGuide.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/TaskBrowserReference.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ContentBrowserReference.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/TextureStatsBrowserReference.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ReferencedAssetsBrowserReference.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/AttachmentsBrowserReference.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/GroupsBrowserReference.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/SceneManagerReference.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/LevelBrowserReference.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ActorsBrowserReference.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/FractureTool.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/SettingUpTerrain.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ModularEnvironmentCreation.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/MeshPipeline.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ColorPicker.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ColorGrading.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/VisualizeTexture.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/TranslucentHairSorting.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/Lightmass.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/MotionBlur.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/VisibilityCulling.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/PhysicalMaterial.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/MaterialsCompendium.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/MaterialsTutorial.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/NavigationMeshTechnicalGuide.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/PostProcessTechnicalGuide.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/UnrealScriptReference.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/StringsInUnrealScript.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/CompilingNativeClasses.html
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/CommandletList.html

Community Links

UDK Forums: http://www.udk.com/forums
UDK Developers on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2493123
UDK on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/UDK/183744733429
Epic Games on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/EpicGames

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