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Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor leads the pack with 5 nominations at 2015 GDC Awards
The nominees for this year’s Game Developers Choice Awards have been announced and, unsurprisingly, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor leads the way with five nominations, including “Game of the Year.”
Shadow of Mordor will compete for the top prize with other four multi-category nominees including Alien: Isolation, Bayonetta 2, Destiny, and Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. Believe it or not, the next-most-nominated game, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, was actually shut out of the “Game of the Year” category. The Astronauts’ mystery title was nominated for “Best Narrative,” “Best Audio,” the “Innovation Award,” and “Best Debut.”
Alien: Isolation (“Best Visual Art” and “Best Audio”), Destiny (“Best Audio” and “Best Technology”), and Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft (“Best Design” and “Best Handheld/Mobile Game”) are each up for two additional awards while Bayonetta 2 is also up for “Best Visual Art.”
A complete list of the nominees for this year’s Game Developers Choice Awards can be found after the break. And be sure to check back for a look at the winners, which will be announced on March 4 during the Game Developers Conference.
[Source: GamesIndustry.biz] (more…)
Posted in 3DS, Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Alien: Isolation, Bayonetta 2, Destiny, GDC 2015, Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor
This War of Mine, The Talos Principle, 80 Days lead nominees of 2015 IGF Awards
The Independent Games Festival has unveiled the nominees for their 17th annual awards show, which will take place on March 4, just before the GDC Awards during this year’s Game Developers Conference. Leading the way is Inkle Studios’ 80 Days, which was nominated for three awards. 11 Bit’s This War of Mine and Croteam’s The Talos Principle weren’t far behind, as each garnered two nominations apiece.
All three games will be competing for the “Seumas McNally Grand Prize” against Klei’s Invisible Inc., Team Outer Wilds’ Outer Wilds, and Patrick Smith’s Metamorphabet.
You can find a complete list of finalists and honorable mentions for all six awards (including “Excellence In Visual Art,” “Excellence In Narrative,” “Excellence In Design,” “Excellence In Audio,” and the “Nuovo Award”) and the Student Showcase after the break. (more…)
Broken Age: Act 2 will be available this Spring alongside retail version
Double Fine Productions and Nordic Games have announced that they’re bringing both halves of Broken Age to retail stores this Spring. The retail version of the PC adventure will be released at the same time as the digital launch of Broken Age: Act 2. A PS4/Vita version of the game is also in the works, but its release date is still “To Be Announced.”
If you were wondering why Double Fine would release Broken Age as a retail game, would you believe its to protect their game from solar flares?
“I am very excited about the retail version of Broken Age,” said Double Fine President and CEO Tim Schafer, “And also relieved, as having a widely distributed, physical copy of the game will make it more safe from solar flares and EMP bombs and stuff like that. As long as people store their disks in fire proof safes. People do that, right?”
“Not really” replied COO Justin Bailey, “But people who purchase the physical copy can get to playing the exciting conclusion without having to wait for the game to download!”
The retail version will also add a German language option when its released this Spring.
Posted in Mobile, News, PC
Tagged Broken Age
The Walking Dead Season 2: No Going Back Review: Darling Clementine
The two adaptations of The Walking Dead produced by Telltale have been nothing short of amazing. Some of the best storytelling I’ve ever experienced in a video game has come from these titles. That’s why it makes the finale of Season 2 so bittersweet… it means I’ll have to wait another year (at least) to see what happens in Season 3.
Last season, this wasn’t much of a problem: I purchased the full season when it was on sale, but it stayed in my backlog until Season 2 was announced. Then, I blazed through the first set of episodes in a five-day emotional rollercoaster. Once it was completed, I only had to wait a few months for the next chapter in Clementine’s struggle for survival.
But for now, I must wait. And it will be excruciating. Because chapter five of Telltale Games’ The Walking Dead Season 2, No Going Back, marks the conclusion of one of the greatest games I’ve ever played. (more…)
The Interview is now available to watch via Xbox Live and other streaming services
The movie that Kim Jong Un, North Korea’s Supreme Leader, doesn’t want you too see can now be viewed on your Xbox 360 or Xbox One. The Interview, which will open in theaters tomorrow thanks to a successful petition from a group of independent theater owners, is now available to watch through the Xbox Video service for $5.99 (to rent) or $14.99 (to buy). The film can also be viewed for the same price at other streaming services such as YouTube, Google Play, and SeeTheInterview.com (which is hosted by Sony Pictures).
Oddly, the film is not available through the PlayStation Store, which is owned and operated by Sony Computer Entertainment, Sony’s video game division. Apple has also come out and said the film will not be available through iTunes, though that may change in the future.
The Interview was at the center of the recent Sony hacking scandal, which the FBI believes was prompted by the North Korean government’s dislike of Kim Jong Un’s portrayal in the movie. Directed by Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen, the movie stars Rogen and James Franco as two journalists who are recruited by the CIA to assassinate the dictator.
Rogen said on Twitter that “The people have spoken!” and “Freedom has prevailed!”
Telltale teams up with Mojang for Minecraft: Story Mode
After teasing some kind of “super secret surprise announcement” yesterday, Telltale Games has announced that they’re teaming up with Mojang to produce an episodic game series based on Minecraft. They were right, that is surprising!
The first episode of Minecraft: Story Mode will premiere sometime in 2015 and “introduce new characters” to the world of Minecraft whole exploring “familiar themes.” To that end, Telltale has also confirmed that they plan to enlist prominent members of the Minecraft community to help them craft the game’s story.
“People really like the idea of stories about Minecraft, but forcing a narrative into our core game experience would restrict players’ freedom to view the world in their own unique ways. Instead, letting them explore an alternate interpretation via Minecraft: Story Mode, driven by the proven might of Telltale, seems like a no-brainer,” said Owen Hill, the Chief Word Officer at Mojang. “We’re big fans of Telltale Games at Mojang, and we can’t wait to reveal more details on Story Mode soon.”
Minecraft: Story Mode is currently in development for the PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PC platforms (Windows and Mac), and mobile platforms (iOS and Android).
Telltale Games teases a “super secret surprise announcement”
Telltale Games has had a very busy year. They completed development on The Walking Dead Season 2 and The Wolf Among Us over the Spring and Summer before moving on to the launch of Tales From the Borderlands and Game of Thrones this Fall. And both of those episodic titles will be completed in 2015 before the developer rolls right into The Walking Dead Season 3. But they’re not done yet.
According to the Job Stauffer, their Director of Public Relations, the company has plans to make a “super secret surprise announcement” as early as today:
Super secret surprise announcements before the holiday break? Maaaaaybe.
…hashtag #subtle!
— Job J Stauffer (@jobjstauffer) December 17, 2014
Not only that, but Stauffer later said that the announcement isn’t “directly related” with anything they’ve released this year:
I'll also clarify – it's not directly related to anything else we've made in 2014.
— Job J Stauffer (@jobjstauffer) December 17, 2014
So what does Telltale have up their sleeve? Hopefully we’ll find out soon…
Insert Quarter: How Did 2014 Treat Indie Developers?
Insert Quarter is our showcase for some of the best and most interesting writing about video games on the Internet.
It is a precarious time to be an indie developer. Steam’s Greenlight and Early Access initiatives are producing just as many misses as hits and discoverability is still a problem on the Xbox Games Store, the PlayStation Store, and mobile storefronts. Matthew Handrahan examined the squeeze that indie developers are feeling from all sides as part of GamesIndustry.biz’s roundup of 2014’s major stories. The picture he paints is one of gloom and doom, but also one that can be overcome with the right level of talent and a genuinely groundbreaking idea:
So are indies heading towards a “mass extinction event”? Overcrowding is certainly a key aspect of the overall picture, but the act of making and releasing a game is only getting easier, and the allure of development as a career choice seems to grow with each passing month. It stands to reason that there will continue to be a huge number of games jostling for position on every single platform – more than even a growing market can sustain – but there’s only so much to be gained from griping about the few remaining gatekeepers. If the days when simply being on Steam or Kickstarter made a commercial difference are gone, and if existing discovery tools still lack the nuance to deal with all of that choice, then it just shifts the focus back to where it really belongs: talent, originality, and a product worth an investment of time and money.
The full article is available for your perusal at GamesIndustry.biz.