SAN FRANCISCO: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves stole the show at the Game Developers Choice Awards.
The high-octane PlayStation 3 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog won five trophies at the Game Developers Conference ceremony Thursday, including game of the year. Uncharted 2, which casts players in the role of globe-trotting treasure hunter Nathan Drake, was also honored Thursday evening for best writing, audio, technology and visual art.
"It"s one thing to have an idea," said art director Robh Ruppel, "but you really need a great crew to make a game."
Uncharted 2 foiled fellow game of the year nominees Rocksteady Studios' "Batman: Arkham Asylum," Ubisoft Montreal's Assassin's Creed II, From Software's Demon's Souls and BioWare's Dragon Age: Origins. The unstoppable PlayStation 3 exclusive previously nabbed three prizes at December's Spike TV Video Game Awards, including game of the year.
Selected by a jury of game creators, the Game Developers Choice Awards honor the best games of the past year. The 10th annual ceremony was hosted by Deus Ex and Epic Mickey lead designer Warren Spector. The show was capped off with the debut teaser trailer for Deus Ex: Human Revolution, the third installment in the futuristic role-playing game franchise.
Other winners at the Moscone Convention Center ceremony included 5th Cell's word-happy puzzler Scribblenauts for best handheld game and innovation, Rocksteady Studios' stealthy Batman: Arkham Asylum for best game design, Runic Games' fantasy outing Torchlight for best debut game and thatgamecompany's free-flowing "Flower" for best downloadable game.
"Think about what you can do to affect the people around the world, not just for entertainment or distraction but something that's deeper and more meaningful," "Flower" designer Jenova Chen told the crowd of game makers during his speech.
John Carmack, the id Software co-founder and lead programmer of such games as Doom and Quake, was awarded the lifetime achievement award. Gabe Newell, Valve Corp. co-founder, won the pioneer award and used his speech to tease the upcoming sequel to Portal. Jerry Holkins, Mike Krahulik and Robert Khoo of Penny Arcade received the ambassador award.
Earlier in the evening, several trophies were handed out at the 12th annual Independent Games Festival Awards. Pocketwatch Games' "Monaco" won the top honor, taking home the $20,000 Seumas McNally grand prize for best independent game as well as the award for excellence on design. Other indie winners included Cactus' Tuning and PlayDead's Limbo.
LOS ANGELES, CA – March 10, 2010 – Capcom®, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, today released Street Fighter® IV for the iPhone and iPod touch onto Apple’s App Store. The hotly anticipated fighting game has been rebuilt from the ground up to take full advantage of the iPhone platform while still remaining true to the legendary series' high-action arcade roots.
Featuring eight classic characters from the console blockbuster including Ryu, Chun Li, Able, Blanka, M. Bison, Dhalsim, Guile and Ken as well as seven environments, Street Fighter IV offers players the most advanced fighting experience on the platform. Veteran players will instantly recognize Street Fighter IV‘s robust move sets including Unique Attacks, Special Moves, Focus Attacks, Super Combos and Ultra Combos. Newcomers to the series can get on the path to becoming a world warrior by completing the game’s new “Dojo” mode which provides simple to advanced lessons on dominating the game.
No fighting game is complete without multiplayer and Street Fighter IV doesn’t disappoint. Players can battle head-to-head in “Versus” mode via Bluetooth bringing the excitement of the arcade to the palm of their hand.
The controls in Street Fighter IV are managed using a unique “Visual Pad” system created specifically for the iPhone. By activating “SP Move Assist” players can trigger their character’s Special Moves with a tap of a button and a directional input. Hardcore players can disable the feature and enter the complete command manually if they so choose. Additionally, players can fully customize the interface by repositioning controls anywhere on the screen as well as setting the level of transparency.
Coming this spring is a revamping of the classic Tecmo Bowl franchise. Not many details are known about Tecmo Bowl Throwback, but the following came in a release:
-Online Multiplayer: Find your old buddies online and challenge them to matches just like back in the day
-2D + 3D Graphics: Experience all new 3D graphics with the ability to switch to the classic 2D style!
-Customizable Teams and Rosters: Play as any of the 32 teams with customizable team names and rosters in full seasons
-Online Leaderboards: Compare your stats in a wide array of online leaderboards
-Classic Game Modes: Battle it out with your friends and kick off a game in Preseason, Season or Pro Bowl modes
Have a pile of games you never play? Take them to GameStop this week. For every game you bring in to trade, the store will give you 50 percent more trade-in credit.
So lets say you're trading in a game and get $20. This week you would receive $30 for it.
And it gets better if you're a GameStop Edge club member. With the card, you'll get an additional 10 percent. So that $20 trade would turn into a $32 trade. Pretty great.
No, GameStop didn't buy this post. This is just a really, really good deal.
Browns special teams ace Josh Cribbs has made little secret that he's a video game player. Like most football players, he's a Madden junkie. But Cribbs is also a Modern Warfare 2 addict.
Here's a portion of his interview with Jon Robinson of ESPN.com.
Jon Robinson: Growing up playing "Madden," did you find that the game actually taught you anything about the sport that you were then able to use on the field?
Josh Cribbs: Believe it or not, that's how I learned to play football, through games of "Madden." When I started out playing ball, I was just doing what I was told. In school, I was never told why we played nickel on third-and-long or why these different formations would work against different defenses. We were just told to run the play, but we were never given the understanding of why they worked. Playing "Madden" and actually getting to control the players and see the outcomes, that helped me learn the why. When you're a kid and you're only 65 pounds, they just want all the speed guys to get in on third down so they could throw deep, but you're not really learning the finer points of the game. Through playing "Madden," you're learning a lot about the sport and you don't even realize it.
Castle Crashers is one of the best games ever made. There, I said it. The team behind it, Behemoth, has kept its newest game under wraps for a while. Some gameplay has been shown, as well as plenty of screenshots.
But the game never had an official title. Earlier this week, it was announced that the developer's third game will be called BattleBlock Theater. Check it out:
Video games have obviously become mega profitable this century. But the hottest market in gaming may be paying for downloadable games.
The Xbox Live Arcade is the most popular means of game downloading. Last year, according to research group Forecasting and Analysing Digital Entertainment (FADE), XBLA generated $103.4 million of revenue for 2009. That is a 34-percent spike from 2008.
FADE’s complete top ten for estimated XBLA sales in 2009:
* Battlefield 1943 (EA Dice) – $12.5 million ($15.00)
* Castle Crashers (The Behemoth) – $7.3 million ($15.00)
* Trials HD (RedLynx, LTD) – $7.1 million ($15.00)
* Shadow Complex (Chair Entertainment / Epic Games) – $6.1 million ($14.38)
* Family Game Night (Hasbro) – $4.2 million ($9.53)
* Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (Capcom) – $4.2 million ($15.00)
* Magic: The Gathering (Stainless Games) – $2.8 million ($10.00)
* Worms 2 (Team 17) – $1.8 million ($10.00)
* Peggle (PopCap Games) – $1.8 million ($8.86)
* Turtles in Time: Reshelled (Ubisoft Singapore) – $1.7 million ($10.00)
This trend should only continue to grow. Personally, I own five of those. And as a casual to regular gamer, that speaks volumes about the success of downloading games.
