Warp Zoned Presents
Author: Melissa Niedringhaus
Netflix releases “Just For Kids” viewer on PS3
Now Netflix makes it easier for you to find something for your little brother or sister to do while you’re trying to play Pokemon.
“Just For Kids” is a selection of instantly watchable kid-friendly TV shows and movies designed for children 12 and under. Titles are organized in easy to understand genres like superheroes, princesses, dinosaurs, and girl power, and kids can search by main character and read simple plot descriptions.
Movie selections were made using Common Sense Media, which is a non profit that does independent reviewing of movies, in an effort to help parents feel comfortable letting their kids make their own choices.
Some of the titles available include Jonah: A Veggie Tales Movie, Wallace &a Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death, “Fraggle Rock”, “Inspector Gadget”, and Thomas & Friends: Calling All Engines.
Netflix “Just For Kids” is already available on the PC and Mac, Wii, and Apple TV. The service will be available on Xbox 360 and other devices later this year.
“The Art of Video Games” opens in March at the Smithsonian American Art Museum
Starting March 16th, the Smithsonian American Art Museum will be showcasing the forty year evolution of video games as an artistic medium, with a focus on visual effects and technology. It will feature some of the most influential artists and designers in the industry, and games for twenty gaming systems.
Chris Melissinos, the curator of the exhibition, worked with the public and an advisory group of people from varying fields within the video game industry to select the 80 games included in the exhibition.
Five games will be featured to show player interaction with virtual worlds, and highlight design innovations that set the standards for the games that came after them. These games are Pac-Man, Super Mario Bros., The Secret of Monkey Island, Myst, and Flower.
The exhibition will start with “Game Fest”, a three-day festival which will feature panel discussions, movie screenings, and live bands.
“The Art of Video Games” will run from March 16th through September 30th, and will travel to ten cities in the US following it’s presentation in Washington DC. For more information, visit the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s web site.
Posted in Etcetera, News
Tagged Flower, Myst, Pac-Man, Super Mario Bros., The Secret of Monkey Island
Independent Games Festival announces fourteenth annual awards winners
The Independent Games Festival, hosted by the Game Developers Conference, today announced it’s award recipients for 2012.
Fez, the unique “perspective-shifting” platformer, was the big winner, taking home the Seumas McNally Award for Best Independent Game and the $30,000 grand prize. Phil Fish, the lead developer on the game, was the central focus of the documentary Indie Game: The Movie, which was shown at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and screened earlier in the week at GDC.
Daniel Benmergui, developer of the game Storyteller, earned the Nuovo award and a $5,000 prize. The Nuovo Award honors abstract, short form, and unconventional game development, and Storyteller’s unique comic strip narrative format fit the bill.
Other award recipients include Dear Ester, by thechineseroom, which won for Excellence in Visual Art, and rightfully so- the idyllic landscapes remind me of Myst when it first came out and blew everyone away. Technical Excellence went to Demruth’s Antichamber, a psychological Escher-esque puzzle game, Excellence in Design to Mossmouth’s Spelunky, which creates levels as you play, and Excellence in Audio to Amanita Design’s Botanicula, which features a soundtrack created by Czech alternative band DVA.
Best Mobile Game was snatched up by Simogo for Beat Sneak Bandit, a rhythmic stealth/puzzle game, Best Student Game went to CMU Entertainment Technology Center/Coco & Co for Way, an online cooperative game focused on cross-cultural communication, and finally, the Audience Award went to Mode 7’s Frozen Synapse, a simultaneous-turn-based tactical game.
Finally, Capy Games took home the first XBLA Prize, a contract with Microsoft to publish a game on the Xbox Live Arcade. The Sword & Sworcery developers subsequently announced Super T.I.M.E Force for Microsoft’s download service.
Robotics teams ready to rumble with Kinect
At the FIRST Robotics Competition in New York City, which is part of a larger celebration of science and technology, more than 60 robotics teams will be competing to earn a chance to go on to a global competition and qualify for scholarship money.
What does this have to do with gaming, you ask? Each team has an “alliance” of robots, and this year, they have the option to control one using an Xbox 360 Kinect instead of an autonomous routine. The Kinect controller will read the team member’s movements and translate those to the robot, creating a “hybrid” between man and machine. All very science fictiony, don’t you think?
Check out the video above of how the Kinect will be used to control robots at the competition!
The FIRST Robotics competition will be held March 16-18, 2012 at Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York. For more information about the New York City FIRST, or the competition, visit their website at NYCFIRST.org.
Eye-controlled arcade cabinets: What the future of gaming could “look” like
Tobii Technology, a leader in eye tracking and gaze interaction technology, and SeeFront, developers of a unique glasses free 3D technology, have joined forces to create the world’s first eye-controlled arcade game, Tobii EyeAsteroids.
When these two cutting edge technologies are combined, they allow consumers to use their gaze to interact in a 3D environment without needing to wear clunky glasses or hold any devices, creating unparalleled immersion.
As cool as destroying asteroids with your eyes is, this technological breakthrough doesn’t just apply to gaming. Other applications include use in training simulation, navigation, vehicle safety systems, and even communication for people with special needs.
Henrik Eskilsson, CEO of Tobii Technology, is excited to “make high fidelity glasses-free 3D a reality,” and “expects to see high-volume applications using Tobii’s gaze and eye position technology in many other industries very soon.”
Tobii EyeAsteroids in 3D will be showcased at CeBIT in Hannover, Germany, March 6-10.
Posted in News
Nintendo sells 4.5 million 3DS systems in first year
As production of the 3DS nears the one year mark in America, Nintendo was proud to announce that the handheld has sold 4.5 million units in the US. A side-by-side comparison with the launch of the DS shows that the 3DS had stronger numbers in every category, including total units sold (more than double the DS numbers, actually), software sales, and overall sales.
Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime seemed to attribute this to the amount of software available and the addition of Netflix and 3D video services, saying: “With a massive lineup of first- and third-party games and more on the way, a budding library of entertainment options and an engaged and growing installed base, Nintendo 3DS has an incredibly bright future.”
The numbers certainly seem to support this theory. It took only 8 months for the 3DS to surpass first year sales of the DS, and games like Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 were the fastest-selling games in their franchise.
This trend looks like it will continue into 2012, with good third party support from Capcom, Sega, and Konami, and a new installment in the popular Kid Icarus series.
Digital publishing gets a little more Unreal thanks to Reverb
Reverb Publishing, a company that offers digital publishing services on PSN, XBLA, PC, and mobile devices to independent game developers, announced today that they have entered into a licensing agreement with Epic Games to provide full source code access to Unreal Engine 3 and technical support along with their publishing program.
The Unreal Engine is known for its high end graphical capability, mature toolset, and scalability across multiple platforms, and is designed to help productivity, so developers don’t have to create their own game engine from scratch.
Reverb believes that by adding the Unreal Engine to their menu of services, they can now help development studios of any size with every step of the process, from production to marketing and public relations.
For more information on the full list of tools and services available from Reverb Publishing, check out their website!
The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences offers sneak peeks at PAX East
For those of you that have been living under a rock, PAX East is a a three-day game festival for gamers of all stripes. For its debut at the show, The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS) will present two sessions from the D.I.C.E. Summit, and give attendees early access to seventeen pieces from the 2011 Into the Pixel art exhibit.
On Friday April 6th, Richard Hilleman, chief creative director of Electronic Arts, will present his session titled: “Games as a Language”, and on Saturday April 7th, Cliff Bleszinski and Mike Capps of Epic Games will answer 10 questions from their fans, and talk about the past, present, and future of the studio with AIAS President Martin Rae.
The Into the Pixel exhibit features scenes from popular games like Mass Effect 2, BioShock Infinite and Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, and will be displayed in the South East Lobby of the convention center.
For more information, or to check out more stuff going on at PAX East, visit the official website.
Posted in Etcetera, News
Tagged PAX East 2012