Tag Archive

VRDC Announces Standalone Conference Slated For November

Posted on June 22, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

VRDC (Virtual Reality Developer Conference) was a successful addition to the 2016 Games Developer Conference this past March and now the organizers behind VRDC have announced a standalone two day conference to take place in San Francisco this November.

Slated for November 2nd and 3rd this iteration of VRDC is poised to not only feature the latest innovations in games & entertainment but also the potential uses of VR and AR in other fields like Healthcare, Travel, Retail, Training, and Manufacturing.

At March’s GDC VRDC offered developers, publishers and other games focused professionals the chance to check out a lot of different facets of this emerging technology. Attendees were able to check out a panel lead by Christina Heller of VR Playhouse – “Women Lead VR: Executives Discuss Creation and Diversity“, Experience Virtual Journalism for the first time or listen to a number of micro-talks on VR Tech and gaming related topics.

I’m a huge proponent of VR, having tried a number of Virtual Reality headsets over the past year – why not ready about my experience seeing 3D for the first time with an Oculus Rift or check out Renee Gittin’s excellent preview of Universal Sandbox from this past GDC.

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GDC 2016: Interview With Nicole Stark From Disparity Games

Posted on March 17, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

Ninja Pizza Girl

An entire family make up the development team over at Disparity Games and I got the chance to sit down with Nicole Stark from the team to chat about her family’s company, representation in indie games and learn a little bit about their first title Ninja Pizza Girl.

Nicole was the recipient of a GDC Scholarship through #IneedDiverseGames and we also had time to chat about what it’s like to travel all the way from Australia to attend GDC for the first time.

Their first game, Ninja Pizza Girl, is already available on Steam. Here’s the official description:

Ninja Pizza Girl is a serious game about self-esteem, bullying and resilience – and pizza delivering ninjas! Its deeply-woven story follows Gemma, a sixteen-year-old girl working as a pizza delivery ninja for her father’s independent Pizzeria.

Check out the video interview in the embedded player below and look out for more coverage from GDC 2016 later today.

[youtube id=”uQZMq7jW-sw”]

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GDC: Everything From The Future of Xbox Development On Windows Panel

Posted on March 17, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

Microsoft held a one hour brief for developers interested in their software development platform for the Xbox One console this morning at GDC. This talk was delivered by the head of the ATG (Advanced Technology Group) and not only served as a recap of some of the major advancements on both the Xbox One platform & Windows 10 Platform but also reconfirmed Microsoft’s vision of a unified development environment with a streamlined pipeline for the delivery of digital games.Read More

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Crytek Announces CryEngine V Alongside New Pricing Model

Posted on March 16, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

CryEngine, the engine, and tool set that power AAA franchises like Crysis, Far Cry and others had a brand new version unveiled yesterday at the Games Developer Conference in San Francisco. Titled CryEngine V this brand new iteration of the development toolkit from Crytek focuses on making game development more accessible for AAA, developers on a budget and indies alike.

How exactly does Crytek hope to make their engine available to more developers? By shifting away from an expensive paid licensing model to a more flexible “pay what you can” model. This means that developers can gain access to the CryEngine source code, toolkit and feature set without paying any royalties to the original developers.

CryEngine V also puts an emphasized focus on emerging Virtual Reality headsets. It will support the development of games for Oculus Rift, PlayStation VR, HTC VIVE and Razor’s Open Source VR Platform.

Like other leading engines CryEngine V will also support the sale of assets through an online marketplace for use in developer’s projects. This new marketplace not only gives developer’s access to thousands of community created assets but also a vast library of objects, sounds & code developed by Crytek themselves. Alongside the announcement of the new structure Crytek and Humble Bundle launched a PWYC asset bundle – so if you want to grab some resources that are engine ready, these start as low as $1!

In a press release issued by Crytek the following features were highlighted:

· C# Enabled: A new API that allows developers who know C# to start scripting in CRYENGINE V right away.
· Reworked Low Overhead Renderer: Significantly increases the performance of today’s hardware in graphically intensive applications.
· DirectX 12 support: Utilize the latest branch of DirectX to take greater control of hardware resources.
· Advanced Volumetric Cloud System: Optimized for VR to give clouds full 3D spatial rendering for higher quality with minimal performance hit.
· New particle system: Create stunning real-time fluid effects, handled almost entirely on the GPU.
· A new launcher and UI: Navigate CRYENGINE more intuitively thanks to a streamlined UI which includes realigned features and new icon groupings.
· FMOD Studio support: Allowing greater flexibility in audio middleware selection.
· CRYENGINE Answers: A dedicated channel where the CRYENGINE community can share questions and answers.

Want to see the new engine in action? CryTek released the following 2-minute trailer to show off CryEngine V.

[youtube id=”wcnrt1pX5XA”]

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GDC 2016 Editorial: We Are The Underdogs

Posted on March 15, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

It is undeniable that the annual Games Developer Conference (or GDC) is a spectacular event. Once a year sharp & inquisitive minds involved in various facets of game development, marketing, business, and journalism converge on the Moscone Center in San Francisco California for a week of hands-on demos, networking and panel discussions. Broken Joysticks is by no means a large player in the games journalism space, so just how did a small scrappy site like ours become the journalism underdogs at this year’s conference?Read More

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Square Enix Unveils GDC 2016 Panel Line-Up

Posted on March 10, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

Square Enix

Square Enix announced their line-up of talks for the 2016 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco California. In total Square has 9 presentations set across the first four days of the conference. Topics range from the use of interactive story mechanics to handle tough issues like suicide, mental illness and loss in Life Is Strange, to the process of optimization that Just Cause 3 developer Avalanche Studios used in conjunction with Iris graphics to make the world of JC3 explode with such fidelity. In terms of franchises, this year’s session line-up from Square focuses on games that have already been released like the two mentioned above or titles that are on the horizon like the upcoming Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. Final Fantasy fanatics looking for more information on FFXV will have to look elsewhere – that title will get its own huge event at the end of the month.

Tomb Raider 2013 005

Staff from BrokenJoysticks.net will be in SF for a portion of GDC and will bring you every video, podcast and article that we can line-up! In the meantime here is a small selection of Square Enix’s GDC 2016 line-up:Read More

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Rumor: PlayStation VR Will Cost $1100+ CDN, Stealth Launch Next Week?

Posted on March 8, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

Could the PlayStation VR, formally known as Project Morpheus, make its’ way to retail as early as next week? According a report filed by the Uk’s Daily Mail Sony has sent out invites to an exclusive event centered around the technology for next Tuesday.  This event which is clearly aimed at the tech enthusiast press just so happens to coincide with the 2016 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.

Citing a retail listing that briefly appeared on Amazon.ca, the Daily Mail estimates that the add-on will be priced at approximately $1125 CDN (or $800 USD). Where things kind of really jump off the rails, so to speak, is their assertion that device will have a stealth launch right after the press event next week.  Not since the disastrous launch of the SEGA Saturn in 1995 has a major gaming company attempted to pull the now famous “and one more thing”, launching a product at the end of a press presentation. While it might work for Apple (repeatedly), would it be the right move for Sony’s fledgling VR technology?

Sony’s major competition in the VR space, the Oculus Rift, launches later this month on the 28th for a suggested retail price of $600 USD. HTC and Valve’s first VR kit, the HTC Vive, will ship a week later on April 5th, and is already available for pre-order at a staggering $799 USD price point. Do you think Sony will beat them all to the punch, even if they launch the PSVR in select markets?

Whatever happens, BrokenJoysticks will be sure to bring it to you. While we have yet to receive an invite for this specific PlayStation event we will have staff on the ground at GDC 2016. VR is sure to be the talk of the show and with just a few short days until the doors open who knows what surprises GDC has in store for us!

PS VR

 

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Nintendo Has Cancelled The Pokemon Go GDC Presentation

Posted on March 3, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

Pokemon trainers looking to get their first real details about Pokemon GO outside of promotional trailers will be disappointed to learn that Nintendo has cancelled the GDC presentation for the game. The official event page on the GDC tittle has simply been updated to include“CANCELLED” in the title.

In a statement issued to GameSpot about the abrupt event cancellation Niantec CEO John Hanke explained that they chose to cancel the highly anticipated event to focus on the Pokemon GO beta.

“We have decided to forego our GDC talk on Pokemon Go in order to focus on getting the product ready for beta test and launch. As much as we hate to disappoint those in the industry attending GDC, we feel our time and energy right now are best spent on making sure every aspect of the product is where we want it to be,”

Pokemon Go is expected to release later this year for Android and iOS devices.

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Game Developers Choice Awards & IGDFA Open Up Audience Voting

Posted on February 12, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

This year at the 30th Game Developers Conference the Game Developer’s Choice Awards & Independent Games Festival Awards will announce this years slate of winners on Wednesday March 16 in San Francisco, California.  Now both organizations are asking their audience for their say – with the Audience’s Choice awards.

Here are the finalist for the Game Developers Choice Awards Audience Award:

  • Alpha Bear
  • Ark: Survival Evolved
  • Bloodbourne
  • Crypt of the Necrodancer
  • Downwell
  • Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture
  • Fallout 4
  • Fallout Shelter
  • Her Story
  • Just Cause 3
  • Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes
  • Lara Croft: Go
  • Life is Strange
  • Metal Gear Solid V
  • Ori & The Blind Forrest
  • Rocket League
  • Splatoon
  • Star Wars Battlefront
  • Super Mario Maker
  • The Beginners Guide
  • The Witcher III
  • Undertale

Read More

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GDC 2016 Survey: VR Support Up, PS Vita Support Nowhere To Be Found

Posted on January 20, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

The upcoming Game Developer’s Conference will be held in San Francisco this coming March and ahead of the conference GDC has released their annual “State of the Industry” survey results. State of the Industry captures the pulse of the development community thanks to over 2,000 participants, the results give developers, students and the media (heh.. that’s us) a sense of what is trending in development circles.

Here are some of the interesting findings from the 2016 survey:

VR’s Popularity Among Developers Is On The Rise

Oculus-Rift-5

Development kits for the popular Oculus Rift have been available for sometime, Samsung has entered the fray with the Samsung Gear line-up of headsets and the consumer version of the Oculus will go on sale for $600 later this year. With all of that providing unprecedented levels of hype for Virtual Reality it is no surprise that 16% of respondents said that they were developing games with VR in mind.Read More

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