News

GDC 2012: Super Mario 3D Land: From adversity to joy
GDC 2012: Super Mario 3D Land: From adversity to joy
In a moving talk, Koichi Hayashida, the director of the first true 3D Mario game, explained how last year's earthquake helped him understand what's truly important when developing games.
March 7, 2012
GDC 2012: Ngmoco's Ben Cousins - the death of consoles is already under way
GDC 2012: Ngmoco's Ben Cousins - the death of consoles is already under way
Pointing out that the entry of bigger players into the console space killed arcades, and that TV killed cinema attendance, Ben Cousins painted a bleak picture of the future of consoles.
March 7, 2012
Critical Reception: BioWare's Mass Effect 3
Critical Reception: BioWare's Mass Effect 3
This week's edition of Critical Reception examines online reaction to BioWare's Mass Effect 3, which reviewers describe as featuring "one of the most intricately crafted stories in the history of the medium."
March 7, 2012
Peter Molyneux leaving Lionhead, Microsoft for new games studio 22 Cans
Peter Molyneux leaving Lionhead, Microsoft for new games studio 22 Cans
Bullfrog and Lionhead Studios co-founder Peter Molyneux today revealed that he will leave Microsoft and Lionhead once development of Fable: The Journey is complete.
March 7, 2012
Ubisoft unveils The Engine Room developers hub
Ubisoft unveils The Engine Room developers hub
Ubisoft has revealed to Gamasutra The Engine Room, a blog where game developers will be able to share insight into various game development practices.
March 7, 2012
NCsoft MMO Blade & Soul utilizing Epic's Unreal Engine 3
NCsoft MMO Blade & Soul utilizing Epic's Unreal Engine 3
South Korean MMO publisher NCsoft has signed a licensing deal with Unreal Engine studio Epic Games, that will see the company utilizing the Unreal Engine 3 in its next upcoming MMO.
March 7, 2012
PCGA: Global PC gaming market saw record $18.6B revenue in 2011
PCGA: Global PC gaming market saw record $18.6B revenue in 2011
Not-for-profit organisation PCGA has published its annual PC gaming report, suggesting that the global PC games market saw a record $18.6 billion in revenue during 2011.
March 7, 2012
PlayStation Suite open beta launching next month
PlayStation Suite open beta launching next month
Sony announced today that the open beta for its PlayStation Suite SDK tools will be released next month, allowing content developers to bring PlayStation-branded content to Android mobile devices and the PS Vita.
March 7, 2012
GDC 2012: Game of death: An impossible design challenge?
GDC 2012: Game of death: An impossible design challenge?
Margaret Robertson, development director for Hide&Seek, explained the insurmountable challenges of designing a game about the real life death of a 37-year-old woman in a GDC talk this morning.
March 7, 2012
GDC 2012: Sid Meier on how to see games as sets of interesting decisions
GDC 2012: Sid Meier on how to see games as sets of interesting decisions
Firaxis' Sid Meier talked about how crafting interesting decisions through gameplay can create a more compelling experience for players -- and how thinking of games as sets of choices helps.
March 7, 2012
GDC 2012: Sheppard on the problem with 'women in games' initiatives
GDC 2012: Sheppard on the problem with 'women in games' initiatives
Metanet's Mare Sheppard explains why she feels "women in games" initiatives are just a band-aid for a wider problem -- and why they may actually further industry segregation rather than address it.
March 7, 2012
GDC 2012: Forget 'immersion' -- player attention is what matters, says Lemarchand
GDC 2012: Forget 'immersion' -- player attention is what matters, says Lemarchand
Words like "immersion" and "engagement" aren't very helpful in evolving game storytelling, says Naughty Dog's Rich Lemarchand, advising developers to learn to think about how human attention works instead.
March 7, 2012