Friday, November 23, 2007
A Sleigh is so Old Fashioned…
1:00PM Flynn De Marco | Jeff Rubenstein, Social Media Manager for SCEA has posted a little holiday video greeting from Polyphony Digital, the folks who created the Gran Turismo. It features Santa who has turned in his sleigh for a fancy sports car. Is it an attempt to make his Christmas duties faster or just a sad mid-life crisis? You be the judge! Seasons Greetings from Gran Turismo [Playstation Blog] [Thanks, Jon] More »
The Ken Levine Acceptance Speech You Didn’t Hear
11:00AM Flynn De Marco | The folks at 1Up were able to pin down Ken Levine to speak with him a bit about the aftermath of BioShock, his upcoming projects and he thwarted GOTY acceptance speech at the Spike VGAs. When asked what he was gong to say on that momentous occasion, Levine had this to say: I had a tireless, amazing team who was on a mission to make BioShock great. We didn’t have 300 people or five years. We had an insane amount of passion. I’d like to thank the people who made it with me, the families that patiently waited while we did our thing, the publisher with the guts not to make us change it, and the fans who showed that gamers have a much broader range of interest and intellect than anybody in certain parts of the media or the political space is comfortable giving them credit for. It’s a relatively short article, but there is some great stuff in there regarding his thoughts on BioShock’s weaknesses as well as his pick for 2007 GOTY. A nice bit of weekend reading for your early morning coffee or late night holiday booze binge. Ken Levine Talks BioShock [1Up] More »
Ugly Halo 3 Kicks to Kick Things With
9:00AM Flynn De Marco | So, apparently these things have been out since October but this is the first I’ve actually seen their hideousness them documented. That’s right, custom Halo 3 branded Nike Dunks! Now you can carry your love of Halo with you wherever you go just in case that Xbox, controller, RSS reader, Mountain Dew soda, cap, man purse and twenty three different t-shirts weren’t enough. Wear the cap, shoes, t-shirt and bag all at the same time to unlock the Uber-Dork achievement! Halo 3 Dunk Low Custom [nikeskateboarding.org] [Thanks, Vinh] More »
News
On Academic and Industry Collaboration
7:00AM Maggie Greene | It frequently seems, when looking at the academic research side of things and the ‘real world’ applications, that never the twain shall meet – academics are notorious for floating about in their own little world (it’s practically part of the job description some days …), while everyone else wants to know how academic research can be applied to real world situations. There’s an interesting post up on Game/AI – especially the comments – talking about the problems of bridging the industry/academic gap in gaming. Are we all too beholden to our institutional obligations? Is there any way to bridge the gap? Will academics ever get their heads out of the theoretical clouds? Will designers ever start thinking academics have something to offer beside star gazing? More »
Rock Band DLC Available Next Week on XBLA; PS3 Has to Wait
6:00AM Flynn De Marco | In a post on the Rock Band Forums, Harmonix Developer hmxsean reaveals that there will be Rock Band DLC next week over the holiday. No announcement what the tracks will be yet, but we do know one thing: PS3 owners will have to wait. There will be DLC next week. An announcement will go out today or Monday. Sony’s offices are closed next week and the DLC will be postponed for a week until they come back (but they’ll be back on schedule the following week when they get a double-dose of DLC awesomeness). It will go up in the Xbox Marketplace as regularly scheduled. Nothing like waking up the day after Christmas to find yet another gift under your tree, especially one that will keep you rockin’ through the new year. If you have the 360 version that is…. More »
China GDC ‘08 Moving to Beijing
5:00AM Maggie Greene | There’s just no love for Shanghai these days – the 2nd annual China Game Developers Conference (like the American one, just in China for the Chinese market) is moving to Beijing for the 2008 conference, to be held 24-26 September at the Jiuhua Spa and Resort. Faaaancy. The full press release is after the jump – if I weren’t avoiding the Mainland like the plague in ‘08, I’d love to go. The China Game Developers Conference (GDC), now in its second year, will take place September 24-26, 2008 at the Jiuhua Spa and Resort in Beijing. CMP Technology, presenters of the largest global event dedicated to videogame creation, the Game Developers Conference, have once again partnered with leading technology, media and events company, IDG, and now with Beijing Howell International Exhibition Co Ltd, producers of the immensely popular China Joy, to present China GDC 2008. The event builds on the success of the 2007 event, which exceeded expectations with more than 2,000 attendees. China GDC will once again feature content programmed by an advisory board of Chinese developers who share a commitment to promote and support their country’s game industry. More »Patapon CES Trailer
4:00AM Flynn De Marco | Man, CES isn’t for another two weeks and yet here we are with our first trailer for the upcoming rhythm game Patapon. A certain luck Editor got a preview copy that he is even now probably playing on his way to his festive holiday festivities. The design on this one looks great and ties in very nicely with Japan Studios’ highly addictive and eternally cheerful Loco Roco. You can definitely tell they are part of the same family yet completely different in their gameplay. Considering how much I loved Loco Roco, this will be a must-have for my PSP. More »
