Games

Words power Gears of War: Judgment

Gears of War: Judgment has turned at least one aspect of game creation on its head, according to a behind-the-scenes video about the upcoming game for Xbox 360.

The 7-minute video sheds light on how the shooting game's co-developers, Epic Games and People Can Fly, integrated the two lead writers early in the game's creation -- instead of adding dialog and conversation later in the process.

Rob Auten and Tom Bissell, the lead writers for the fourth iteration of the game, spent a year creating 20,000 spoken lines for Judgment, which they estimate clocking in somewhere near 100,000 words. There are only about 17 minutes of cinematic cut scenes, so a lot of the dialog occurs during gameplay. Players can also increase the difficulty of levels in Judgment, and these experiences contain different script material for enhanced replay value. … Read more

Ouya ships to Kickstarter backers by end of March

Oh yea. Ouya is on its way to the Android open-source gaming console's original Kickstarter backers.

Developer kits went out to hackers and programmers a few months ago, and now the rest of Ouya's tens of thousands of crowdfunders who are primarily interested in getting their game on get their turn. The startup says it will begin shipping consoles to those folks on March 28. … Read more

This just in: Parents impact kids more than video games do

Editors' note: The following is a response to Jim Kerstetter's commentary, "Why do we blame games for real-world violence?"

I have fond memories of the hours lost playing Medal of Honor on PlayStation 2 and even the original GoldenEye on Nintendo64.

It was immersive and exciting, and to me it was entertainment. Now as a parent I have a different perspective: I wonder if such games are actually bad for my own kids. That's why I found Jim Kerstetter's article "Why do we blame games for real-world violence?" an interesting read, and also … Read more

Playfish co-founder leaves EA to go back to startups

Kristian Segerstrale, Playfish co-founder and executive vice president of Digital at Electronic Arts, is moving on.

TechCrunch published an internal memo sent by EA chief John Riccitiello yesterday announcing Segerstrale's departure. In the letter, Riccitiello said that the Playfish co-founder has "elected to return the world of startups where we first met him."

Segerstrale confirmed the news on his Twitter feed yesterday, but declined to say where he might be headed.

Segerstrale was one of the founders of Playfish, the social-game developer that EA acquired in 2009 for $400 million. He stayed on at EA, helping the … Read more

PS4 is 'gigantic leap for the industry,' EA exec says

Sony's PlayStation 4 is a major step forward for the games industry, according to an Electronic Arts executive.

Speaking yesterday at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media, and Telecom Conference, EA Chief Technical Officer Rajat Taneja said that the PlayStation 4 has "8 to 10 times the power" of current-generation consoles, making it a "gigantic leap for the industry."

Polygon, a PlayStation news site, attended the event and reported on Taneja's comments.

Sony unveiled its PlayStation 4 last week. The company said the console will offer a gaming experience superior to current-generation devices, thanks to … Read more

Why do we blame games for real-world violence?

The headline on stories regarding a new Harris Poll survey would seem to say it all: "58 percent of adults blame games for violent behavior."

But that doesn't address what those adults are doing about it. Dig into the Harris survey and you'll see the answer is not very clear. About one third of the 2,278 U.S. adults interviewed said they allow their children to play any sort of video game, violent or not. About two in five say they know little or nothing about game ratings, though 66 percent say they do, in … Read more

Zynga Boston team starts new mobile-gaming studio

Five senior members of the Zynga Boston office, which the gaming company closed in October, have picked up the pieces and started anew.

Senior members of the Zynga Boston team announced today that their new mobile-gaming studio, Proletariat, is open for business. To commemorate the launch, the company announced its first title, Letter Rush.

According to Proletariat, Letter Rush will launch next week for the iPhone and iPad. The title will provide arcade-like gameplay on "the classic word-find mechanic." The title will support both single- and multiplayer gaming.

Zynga, which has been going through its fair share of … Read more

Poll: 58 percent of adults blame games for violent behavior

A new Harris Poll survey has found that 58 percent of adult Americans believe video games are a contributing factor to violent behavior in teenagers.

In addition, 38 percent of survey respondents said they were unaware of the ratings service provided by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB). On top of this, 33 percent of adults queried said they allow their children to play whatever they want.

Harris culled the data from interviews of 2,278 U.S. adults. Venturebeat obtained the results of the independent survey, which Harris ran without funding from outside corporations or interests. … Read more

Nintendo Wii Mini lands in the U.K. on March 22

Nintendo's Wii Mini is on its way to the U.K.

The company announced today that it'll start selling the smaller Wii on March 22. It did not divulge any price details. Nintendo unveiled the Wii Mini last year, and at the time said that the $100 device would be available only in Canada.

The Wii Mini, which is a smaller, redesigned version of Nintendo's original Wii, allows gamers to play over 1,200 Wii titles. However, the console does not support backward compatibility with GameCube games. The original Wii, on the other hand, supports GameCube titles. … Read more

Myo gesture-control armband uses muscle power

From "Minority Report" to the Kinect, we've been on a tech quest for touchless gesture control that frees us from the shackles of mice and old-style controllers. We want to get in on the action and use movement to command our digital devices.

Myo from Thalmic Labs takes that gesture-control desire and builds it into an armband you wear on your forearm.

The Myo uses a combination of motion sensors and muscle activity sensors to track gestures. When you snap your fingers, wave your hand, or point your finger, it translates that movement into a gesture based on the muscles used. An ARM processor and rechargeable batteries power the armband, which communicates with devices using Bluetooth low energy. … Read more