[GameSetLinks is GameSetWatch's daily link round-up post, culling from hundreds of weblogs and outlets to compile the most interesting longform writing, links, and criticism on the art and culture of video games.]

A sad day for EGM, then, and our commiserations to everyone at Ziff Davis affected. So we shall have to continue with a few GameSetLinks, headed up with Noel Llopis discussing the state of the independent developer in 2009, which does seem pleasant, if still a work in progress.

Also in here - some randomness about those Furry Animals, the MST-related Darkstar craziness, a little whining about Examiner.com, and some leftover Games Of The Year fun and hilarity.

Yah yah nah:

Games From Within: 2009: The Year of The Indie Developer?
Noel Llopis on indie hopes - to which I say that I think the indie is winning, but at much lower personal income levels than most regular game industry folks are used to. Doesn't stop the scene being awesome, though.

Music 4 Games -- 'In The Studio With Hitoshi Sakimoto'
Vagrant Story composer Sakimoto (who is speaking at GDC, btw): 'I would love to compose for a First Person Shooter game. It’s actually my favorite game genre. But unfortunately FPS games are rarely created in Japan, so I haven’t had a chance to fulfill this wish yet.' Now that would be neat...

Super Furry Animals@Everything2.com
Just completely randomly, cos I've been loving the Super Furry Animals 'Best Of' DVD, and was Googling around about them: 'The video for the single Play it Cool featured the band playing as themselves in the Wales football team in the Playstation game, Actua Soccer. There was also a cheat embedded in the Actua Soccer game itself to allow you to play as the Super Furry Animals..'

Satellite News - The official Mystery Science Theater 3000 fan site » “Darkstar” Update
The infamous MST3K-related sci-fi adventure CD-ROM game, in development for seemingly ever, will be done... soon now?

Idle Thumbs - Gamse of the Year.cx
My colleague Chris Remo and his Idle Thumbs friends continue to monopolize weird URLs for good game writing - this time with their podcast creators and readers picking the best titles of last year.

games08
I have no idea whose top list of 2008 this is, but Mister Raroo recommended it on Twitter, and it's got some fun discussion of Japanese Xbox 360 shooters, soooo....

source:examiner_com gamesetwatch - Google News
Hey, Examiner.com, you cheeky so-and-so-s, stop reprinting chunks of GameSetWatch for page view 'borrowing' reasons. (It's 'legitimate' in the sense that they're not reprinting everything, but honestly, they're doing it for sites like RPS, too.)

Posted by Simon Carless at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

['Game Mag Weaseling' is a weekly column by Kevin Gifford which documents the history of video game magazines, from their birth in the early '80s to the current day.]

The report's been a-going around for a little while, originally being rumored way back in December -- Ziff Davis selling the 1UP digital network to the Hearst Corporation, owners of UGO.

The deal was reported on earlier today by paidContent.org (in an article that since got taken down but has been mirrored elsewhere).

But the thrust of it has since been confirmed by sources in and around the company itself. In addition to GSW sources broadly agreeing, ex-Ziff editorial supremo John Davison has noted that "details will be forthcoming as to the validity of the story by tomorrow morning." So we'll find out officially then.

[UPDATE: The EGM closure/1UP sale announcement is now official, and Gamasutra has it, plus the CEO email to staff, for those interested.]

Electronic Gaming Monthly, the last print publication Ziff produces after PC Magazine closed last month, is not going along for the ride, putting an end-point on nearly two decades of publishing and a print outlet that, at one point in 2004, had six titles published monthly at the same time.

The closing of EGM is the latest in what's become a common refrain in print media, one that's affected enthusiast publishing as much as any other genre. Ziff closed its Official PlayStation magazine in early 2007 and Games for Windows: The Official Magazine in April of 2008, leaving EGM and 1UP as the company's sole game assets.

The remaining American consumer game-mag titles in print -- GameStop's Game Informer, IDG's GamePro, Fusion Publishing's Play, and Future's PC Gamer, Nintendo Power, PlayStation: The Official Magazine and Official Xbox Magazine -- all face looming challenges in 2009, including dwindling ad pages, high paper costs, and an audience that increasingly sees less value in print magazines.

The January 2009 issue of EGM, shown above, is reported to be the last one to see print. The February issue is complete, and its content is slated to be distributed digitally, either in PDF format or in the form of articles on 1UP.com.

Undoubtedly this will be discussed in more detail by myself in my Game Mag Weaseling column this weekend.

Posted by Kevin Gifford at 4:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

[GameSetWatch sister publication Game Developer magazine has revealed the winners of the eleventh annual Front Line Awards for game tools, and we reveal 'em here. Neat stuff - watch for the full article on the awards to be posted onto Gamasutra soon.]

The editors of Think Services' Game Developer magazine have named the winners for the 2008 Front Line Awards, honoring the best tools used to make video games.

This is the magazine's much-revered eleventh annual evaluation of the year's best game-making tools in the categories of programming, art, audio, game engine, middleware, and books.

As well as the regular award-winners, revealed below, the magazine has chosen the Unreal Engine series, Epic Games’ popular multi-platform game engine, as this year's inductee to the Front Line Awards Hall of Fame.

Each year, the honor, which makes that product ineligible for regular categories in that year, is bestowed upon a product that has made an outstanding contribution to the game development industry for five years or more. Previous inductees have included Autodesk's 3D Studio Max and Microsoft's Visual Studio.

The complete list of winners of the 2008 Game Developer Front Line Awards, derived from a Game Developer/Gamasutra reader poll of this year's finalists, is as follows:

Continue reading "Game Developer Reveals Front Line Award Winners, Unreal Engine To Hall Of Fame" »

Posted by Simon Carless at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

['Diamond In The Rough' is a regularly scheduled GameSetWatch-exclusive column by Tom Cross focusing on aspects of games that stand out, for reasons good and bad. This week, Tom explores the new Prince of Persia game, and why it sets a new standard for creating characters you care for.]

It’s not exactly a secret that I’m a fan of games with strong narratives, and am often willing to sacrifice a certain amount of gameplay and interface quality in the pursuit of interesting characters, stories and dialogues.

When I started playing the newest Prince of Persia, I suspected that I’d found one of those rare games that was completely willing to subject itself to the rigors of actual storytelling and narrative substance. I was correct, and had one of the most enjoyable experiences I’ve ever had playing a game.

Imagine my surprise, then, when it became apparent that most of the gaming press disagreed with me. People have criticized its emphasis of “style over substance,” a demerit that I can’t believe people are still using, seeing as it relies on some extremely problematic assumptions concerning the definitions of the words “style” and “substance.”

Continue reading "Column: 'Diamond in the Rough' : Caring About The Prince" »

Posted by Thomas Cross at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

[Every week, we sum up sister iPhone site FingerGaming's top news and reviews for Apple's nascent -- and increasingly exciting -- portable games platform, as written by editor Matt Burris and guest editor Danny Cowan.]

This week's notable items in the iPhone gaming space, as covered by FingerGaming, include the debut of Hudson's Crayon Physics Deluxe, the announcement of the IGF entrant Edge's impending release, and a word from indie developer Luc Bernard on future iPhone possibilities.

Here are the top stories:

New App Store Release: Crayon Physics Deluxe
"Hudson has released the iPhone version of Crayon Physics Deluxe. Winner of the Grand Prize Award at 2008’s Independent Games Festival, Crayon Physics challenges players to create freehand drawings in order to solve physics-based puzzles."

Top Free App Downloads for January 2nd
"The winter-themed Crazy Penguin Catapult Lite has remained a consistently popular download throughout the holiday season, but it remains to be seen whether the title will keep its top ranking for much longer, now that the new year is upon us."

IGF Entrant Edge Coming to App Store Next Week
"Edge is entered in the inaugural Independent Game Festival Mobile competition, and is nominated for the Excellence in Gameplay award at the International Mobile Gaming Awards."

Review: Squish Squash
"Squish Squash is a game that pits you, a hapless cookie-lover, against an army of marauding vermin. Alternately, you play the role of a sadistic bug-killer, luring hundreds of unassuming insects to their squishy end."

Cricket Game Premieres in App Store
"The iPhone has yet to host a proper simulation of the sport of cricket, until now. Enter Cricket Game, a rather nice-looking 3D title that gives all the willows, googlies, and yorkers fans would expect (?) from the sport."

Luc Bernard Announces iPhone Debut
"Independent game developer Luc Bernard, designer of the PC platformer Eternity's Child, has announced the formation of a new company focused on iPhone and WiiWare software development."

Posted by Simon Carless at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

[Continuing this series of Todd Ciolek interviews for GameSetWatch, a personal pick of mine - an engaging chat with pinball veteran and game design genius Pat Lawlor, the creator of classic pinball machines from Fun House to The Addams Family and beyond.]

Few people have defined the modern era of pinball like Pat Lawlor has. In the late 1980s, he emerged as a leading designer in the industry with innovative Williams titles like Earthshaker and Whirlwind.

In 1990, Lawlor and Larry DeMar hit it big with FunHouse, a pinball game in which an animatronic head named Rudy taunted players and dominated the playfield. Lawlor and DeMar went on to create The Addams Family for Bally and watched as it became the best-selling pinball machine in history.

Lawlor’s design work continued throughout the 1990s, as he unveiled such pinball titles as No Good Gofers, Red and Ted’s Road Show, Safecracker, and a richly complex take on The Twilight Zone.

After leaving Williams, Lawlor founded his own design firm, where he has since engineered Stern Pinball offerings based on Monopoly, NASCAR, Family Guy, and other familiar properties.

He also can be seen in Tilt: The Battle to Save Pinball, a recent documentary that digs into the story behind Pinball 2000, Williams’ failed franchise that promised to revolution the genre by mixing pinball and video games. We recently tapped Lawlor for his opinions on past projects, the state of pinball, and what can make a regular silverball machine into a classic.

What do you consider the most important step in getting a pinball machine's game flow, its kinetics, just right?

There are obviously many aspects involved in kinetics. Every designer has differing goals for the "feel" of the game. Usually these goals are a result of the kinds of games the designers like personally.

Things to consider are, in no particular order:

1) Middle shots are easier for beginners.
2) How to mix stop and go shots with nice return flow shots.
3) How fast is the overall game? Very fast games are very difficult for beginners.
4) When a shot is missed, what happens to the ball? Is it a bad, clunky thing? Does the ball come back in my face?
5) Are these shots just "there,” or do they represent something from the theme?

How do you go about deciding what special features to put into a pinball game?

The features are generally driven by the theme that has been chosen. Sometimes those choices are fairly obvious such as putting Thing into The Addams Family. Sometimes those choices are fairly obtuse, such as what to put in Family Guy.

I knew I made the right decision on that one when I presented my idea to the Family Guy folks in a meeting. When I suggested a small "Stewie" pinball machine in the big machine they loved it. It's always a big moment when folks "get" what you are up to in the arcane world of pinball.

Continue reading "GameSetInterview: 'Rudy's Father Speaks - The Pat Lawlor Interview'" »

Posted by Todd Ciolek at 4:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

[From now until early January, our sister site IndieGames.com: The Weblog will be counting down the best indie titles of 2008, and we'll be reprinting the best here on GameSetWatch for your viewing and playing pleasure.]

The seventh of the 2008 Best Of Features here on the IndieGames.com blog, we're proud to present twenty of the best freeware shoot 'em ups released in 2008.

Fans of Galaga, Space Invaders, Warning Forever, and Everyday Shooter, step right up. Only a courageous pilot would stand any chance of saving Earth from being enslaved by an invading alien race, once again. Leave your Zero Wing quotes behind, because you will need every ounce of your arcade skills to make it through our picks for the best twenty freeware shoot 'em ups of 2008 alive.

Here's the top freeware shoot 'em ups of the year:

Best Freeware Shoot 'em ups 2008

  1. Alien Assault
  2. Nobody Shooter
  3. Debrysis
  4. Harpooned
  5. Pasta Master
  6. Nanosmiles
  7. Armed Generator Doom Machine
  8. Hello Panda
  9. Ceramic Shooter
10. Made in Wired
11. The Hordes
12. G:plus
13. War Bus
14. Self Destruct
15. Artificial Nature
16. The Last Canopy
17. Attack of the Meeplings
18. 41st Reality
19. Areas
20. pararalyzer

[Got feedback? Reasons to disagree? Post a response and we'll do a special 'best of reader comments' round-up at the end of our chart countdowns.]

Posted by Simon Carless at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

['Game Mag Weaseling' is a weekly column by Kevin Gifford which documents the history of video game magazines, from their birth in the early '80s to the current day.]

Happy post-holiday malaise! I'm feeling it in full force, and so is my postmaster, apparently, because he only gave me three mags to write about in this installment. Let's get straight down to business, the three mags that hit newsstands in the past two weeks:

PC Gamer February 2009 (Podcast)

Cover: Diablo III

Staff-shuffling time at PC Gamer! EIC Kristen Salvatore is stepping down (but apparently "moving to a different spot on the masthead"), and in her place is coming Gary Steinman, formerly of PlayStation: The Official Magazine and also, coincidentally, my ex-boss at Newtype USA. Joy! I look forward to tormenting him endlessly about PC topics instead of PS3 topics in the future.

A pretty basic 2009-preview issue, one spiced up by MMO Extra, a four-page advertorial that I presume replaces Future's occasional cell-phone section. There's also a very nice bit on the Russian game development scene, not unlike the one PC Zone did a bit ago...or was it PC Gamer UK? Either way, it's written by UK freelancer Jim Rossignol and pretty fun to read.

Continue reading "COLUMN: 'Game Mag Weaseling': Mag Roundup 1/3/09" »

Posted by Kevin Gifford at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

[GameSetLinks is GameSetWatch's daily link round-up post, culling from hundreds of weblogs and outlets to compile the most interesting longform writing, links, and criticism on the art and culture of video games.]

Spooling out of the weekend and in to a week that's sure to be busy (with Game Developer Front Line Award winners and IGF Main Competition finalist announcements from us alone, blimey), this set of GameSetLinks continues to noodle around some of the more alternative 2008 'best of' and 2009 'going to be best of' charts, thanks to Steve Gaynor and Auriea Harvey respectively.

Also in here - Six To Start's Dan Hon gets a little inflammatory, Jason Scott pokes around in Adventure International's mail order catalog, and Erin Hoffman talks about what makes a game designer a game designer.

Fabulous prizes:

Adventure International - Taking Inventory
Jason Scott: 'When people think “text adventure company”, a lot of people think Infocom, but others also think of Adventure International, which was not only the first company to sell text adventures, but one of the first companies to sell computer gaming software at all.'

Tale of Tales» Blog » Games I’m looking forward to playing in 2009
ToT's Auriea identifies some interesting alternative games she's anticipating this year - and a worthy alt.list ensues.

Six To Start: Everything you know about ARGs is WRONG
Dan Hon with some very smart points on ARGs: 'Do you want a game that’s going to get lots of eyeballs, or lots of engagement? Those two things may well require two different and mutually exclusive optimisation strategies.'

The Saturn Junkyard: Dezaemon 2 Shmup Galore - Part 2!
Ooo, it's 'the Dezaemon 2 Save Game Manager Volume 2! Oh my, what a feast. This thing opens - once again - the world of Dezaemon 2 user made shmups to you and your Saturn.'

Determined to foment a rebellion - What Game Designers Actually Do
Erin Hoffman: 'There are certain focal points that certainly lend to the notion that "game designer" is a "type", beyond the vague ways they're often described -- "jack of all trades", "wide interests", "multitaskers" -- though all of these things often have to be true as well.'

Fullbright: MOTY 08
2K's Steve Gaynor: 'I started putting together a list of my favorite games of 2008... and then realized that gaming for me this year wasn't defined by individual titles, but by memorable moments from lots of different games.'

Posted by Simon Carless at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

[Continuing with a series of GameSetWatch-exclusive interviews exploring alternative looks at gaming, Jeriaska sits down with Arcade Mania author Brian Ashcraft to look at his and Jean Snow's new book about the Japanese arcade game scene.]

A new generation of console games equipped with internet connectivity has allowed for the return of a key feature of the arcade game experience: joining in a game with another human being you’ve never met before. Combine this phenomenon with the thriving retro game scene and there could hardly be a better time for an overview of the past and present of the arcades.

Enter Arcade Mania!: The Turbo Charged World of Japan’s Game Centers, a book by Brian Ashcraft with Jean Snow. While out in Japan since October, care of Kodansha International, the book arrives this week in English-language territories.

What many who grew up frequenting arcades in North America and Europe will notice in Mania! is a brew of the nostalgic and the not-so-familiar. There are trips down memory lane with racers like Out Run, light gun titles like The House of the Dead, and 2D hop-and-bops like Bubble Bobble. Then there are glimpses of gaming experiences that may be altogether new---through sticker pictures, pachinko parlors, past mahjong tiles and collectible card games.

Here to offer us a walkthrough of the book’s trip through Japan’s game centers is author Brian Ashcraft, editor for Kotaku, whose writing has appeared in Popular Science, Metropolis Magazine and Japan Times. The discussion offers both an introduction to the action-packed read and some insights into the making of Arcade Mania! .

Continue reading "GameSetInterview: 'The Turbo-Charged Making Of Arcade Mania'" »

Posted by jeriaska at 4:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)