So much anger and confusion...

We live in increasingly digital world. Steam, iTunes, Origin, Google Play, and Windows Store are just some of the digital storefronts which will gladly sell us digital-only games with next to no rights for re-selling those games, getting your money back for an unsatisfactory purchase, or sharing your games with your peers. And we have all been gobbling it up to the point where this way of selling games has become a truly massive success. So massive in fact that EA's own Peter Moore expects the revenue from EA's digital sales to outdo that of their retail sales within a few years. With digital sales growing while retail sales are slumping, it's clear that consumers are increasingly taking to games that don't come in a box. Combined with the higher profit margins this gives developers and publishers, it's clear that digital game sales will play an increasingly important part of the industry going forward.

However, Microsoft knows that a digital-only route for consoles isn't viable yet (not to mention that some consumers, on the whole, still prefer buying their games physically). With retail games shipping on blu-ray discs, games can potentially take up to 50 GB of space, which is way too much in a world of small bandwidth caps and an average bandwidth of 2.9 MB/s (more detailed stats here). But rather than build a system that is rooted in the ways of yore, Microsoft has taken a hybrid approach that is prepared for the growth of digital. All your games are therefore now treated as digitally managed ones, it's just a matter of whether the game data was retrieved from a server or a disc.

Your games are on the other end.

This is an excerpt from the full story which was originally featured on gamrReview, read the full version here - The Why and Where-to-Now of the Xbox One - Article

The official Nordic Game Jam 2013 poster

At the time of writing, the Nordic Game Jam is the biggest single game jam in the world (a title which it competes with the Toronto Game Jam for each year), with the 2013 edition reaching 470 attendees. That's a lot of creative power. And with a typical team consisting of four people, that's also a lot of games created in one weekend. But while there was no shortage of ideas and manpower, it was clear from the games that made it to the finals that the experienced teams had an edge. Some of the most impressive games to come out of the jam include 3:15 AM, Stalagflight, and Buddy Builder, and the curious reader can run through all the games here.

To find out more about the what and why of game jams, I spoke to Jesper Taxbøl, one of the key volunteers running the Nordic Game Jam. Jesper has worked in the video game industry for five years, has been to the Nordic Game Jam every year since it began in 2006, and has volunteered for it since 2008. He believes there are several aspects that make game jams attractive propositions. Some of these everyone can appreciate. For example, jams are meant for experimentation and fun; it's an environment that doesn't frown upon failure. Jams are here to allow you to grab a beer with a few peers, take some crazy idea, and run with it. Even if it doesn't become a good game, you're (hopefully) all the wiser for it, and also had some fun along the way.

Winner of the grand prize: Spaceship With A Mace

This is an excerpt from the full story which was originally featured on gamrReview, read the full version here - Going to a Game Jam - Article

Kinect Party is a free game that comes with a handful of minigames. These minigames aren't worth much on their own; they're rather simple and shallow. The concept here is that you are taken through these minigames, playing each one in turn for no more than a few minutes. You can choose to play individual games for longer, but the game rotation is important for keeping things interesting. So how do you add more games to keep repetition from setting in? Well if you already own Double Fine Happy Action Theater then all of the minigames from it will already have been added to Kinect Party, boosting the total amount of minigames to 21, but you'll still want something new. Fortunately an additional 14 minigames are up for sale, which brings the overall total to 35.

It's a special kind of science!

The game is set up as a TV experience; you're a channel surfer and each minigame is a channel of its own. Regardless of whether you own Double Fine Happy Action Theater or not, you can buy additional channels for 80 Microsoft points a piece. Owners of Double Fint Happy Action Theater can buy all of the channels they don't have for a flat 400 points, while those who don't own it can buy all of the channels for a total of 800 points. I bemoaned the pricing when I originally reviewed Double Fine Happy Action Theater, and this is definitely a turn for the better. But Kinect Party also brings with it other improvements that make the offer a bit more tempting. For example, it's now easy to take pictures of what you're doing and share the craziness with your friends on Facebook. There's also a photo editor for those who are so inclined to play around with their pictures, but it's rather rudimentary. The voice commands are also a nice addition, making it easier to navigate the channels than before.

This is an excerpt from the full story which was originally featured on gamrReview, read the full version here - Kinect Party (X360) - Review

I was a programmer on team one, the team behind Horizon. The team consisted of 16 people from all around the country. None of us had next to any experience in the game industry. To make things easier for us, the team included roles like the game director - who was responsible for the vision of the game - and the project manager - who was responsible for managing the team. We started the semester in September with a focus on teambuilding and learning about each other's disciplines to improve our communication. Then, after a few weeks, we were put through our first test: a five day production to create a small game. As it turned out, we still had a lot to learn.

To play the 2012 DADIU games, visit this website.

Because we all came from different educational institutions, October saw our teams being split up and sent out to fulfil various requirements made by our educators at home. But when November came around, we were brought together again and our leading team members had come up with a concept that we could get to work on immediately. This was our big DADIU game - a six week production where we had a chance to show what we could do, and maybe even impress a future employer or two.

This is an excerpt from the full story which was originally featured on gamrReview, read the full version here - Preparing the Next Generation of Developers - Article

"Goooo SKYJACKER!"

Hopefully the success can be kept up, and developers are keen to bring their ideas to fruition, so all that's needed is for us to keep the support coming. Which is why it's important to remember that Kickstarter isn't the only site where developers can try to gather support, and why we're highlighting a game on Indiegogo in this edition.

If you're unfamiliar with the process of these crowdfunding sites you can read on, but otherwise you can safely skip to the games.

”Is my support needed?”

You might be cautious about supporting projects, and that's not without reason. You have no guarantees that your investment is going to result in a game you will enjoy, after all. But in reality, it's not much different from buying a game as you normally would. There are no guarantees there either, and many of the projects allow you to receive a copy of the game as a reward if your pledge is large enough.

But how do you know there will be a finished product? Again, there's no guarantee that a project you pledge money to will succeed, but most developers will know what kind of funds they need to finish their game or will be able to snag additional funding from other sources. There's a target sum of money they want the community to meet, but if the target isn't met, no supporter will be charged anything. In other words, your money isn't going anywhere if the developer can't actually secure enough funds to finish their project.

But what about when that target has been met? Is there any point in funding projects beyond their target? Absolutely! The target that is set for the project is a minimum target; the amount that needs to be reached in order for the developer to keep the promises that have been made with that target in mind. But every project that has managed to go over has provided additional value to the community, by making the game bigger or developing it for more platforms, for example. So your money isn't wasted just because the target has already been met.

Meet the projects

And here come the games, starting with a game listed on Indiegogo:

Coma: A Mind Adventure (Windows, Mac)

Pledge required to receive the game: $10
Funding ends: July 16th

This is an excerpt from the full story which was originally featured on gamrReview, read the full version here - Kickstarters to Watch - June Edition - Article

If you're going to play Datura with a Dualshock, the answer is a resounding “no”. If you do a little research on Datura, you'll see that the game is apparently playable with the Dualshock, but that's not really true. The controls are generally bad using the Dualshock, but certain sections of the game are completely broken, to the point where progressing is down to dumb luck. As such, this review will be based on the Move controls. To Dualshock-only users - you've been warned. I'll get back to the Move controls, but let's start with what Datura is really about: morals.

The story in Datura revolves around you. You find yourself in a dark forest. It's a mysterious place, and you're thrown into several stories outside of the forest where you must make a moral choice. The choices you make are then reflected in the game's atmosphere and determines the grimness of your experience. Very few aspects of the story are actually explained though, and the game simply expects you to suspend all disbelief and go along with it. The experience can actually be intriguing enough to warrant the required suspension of disbelief, but the game has a tendency to throw frustrations at you, ruining whatever immersion you might have achieved.

This is an excerpt from the full story which was originally featured on gamrReview, read the full version here - Datura (PS3) - Review

• Diamond Trust of London
• Drifter
• Kitaru
• Legend of the Time Star
• Carmageddon: Reincarnation

I hope you found a project you want to support.

This is an excerpt from the full story which was originally featured on gamrReview, read the full version here - Kickstarters to Watch - May Edition - Article

The main story is pretty decent and it's told in a fashion which leaves many parts untold. It's a risky way of doing storytelling, but Ubisoft Shanghai pulls it off nicely; it gives the story some good depth while still keeping focus on the present. There are some cliffhangers, but it's not really clear if the story actually builds towards a sequel or if they're simply a part of the storytelling being used. The upside to this storytelling is that it engages the player in a way that makes everything all the more believable. You don't know everything and you can't fix everything; all you can do is to try and make the best of it, starting by trying to find your family. And that's the same for every character you meet; everyone is powerless to do anything about the devastation, it's just a matter of dealing with the situation as best as they can.

This is an excerpt from the full story which was originally featured on gamrReview, read the full version here - I Am Alive - Review

Wasteland 2 - Made possible by the community
 

”Is my support needed?”

You might be cautious about supporting projects, and that's not without reason. You have no guarantees that your investment is going to result in a game you will enjoy, after all. But in reality, it's not much different from buying a game as you normally would. There are no guarantees there either, and many crowd funded projects allow you to receive a copy of the game as a reward if your investment is large enough.

But how do you know there will be a finished product? Again, there's no guarantee that a project you pledge money to will succeed, but most developers will know what kind of money they need to finish their game or will be able to snag additional funding from other sources. There's a target they want the community to meet, but if that target isn't met, then no money will exchange hands. In other words, your money isn't going anywhere if the developer can't actually secure enough funds to finish their project.

But what about when that target has been met? Is there any point in funding projects beyond their target? Absolutely! The target that is set for the project is a minimum target; the target that needs to be reached in order for the developer to keep the promises that have been made for that target. But every project that has gone over that target has provided additional value to the community, by making the game bigger or developing it for more platforms, for example. So your money isn't wasted just because the target has already been met.

This is an excerpt from the full story which was originally featured on gamrReview, read the full version here - Kickstarters to Watch - Article

 
Skill and choice in the flesh

But that isn't something that can't be done with Kinect, so why are many core gamers sceptic about it? Based on my observations, many of the reasons for this are based around two big misconceptions about what Kinect can, will, and should do, and I want to clear those up before we move on.

Misconception #1: Kinect is an attempt to replace physical controllers.

Every controller has its strengths and weaknesses. Traditional dual analogue controllers put a range of options at your finger tips, but it's not widely regarded as the best option for camera control in a first person shooter, for example. Kinect, on the other hand, is very good for mapping in-game actions to real world equivalents, but it's limited by the player's stamina and physical environments, for example. As such, Kinect is simply bound to different limitations than other controllers are. And for some games, those limitations are deal breakers, and it would never make sense to have that game on Kinect.

As an example, imagine an action game like God of War or Devil May Cry, where you must be ready to respond to enemy attacks in the blink of an eye. With a physical controller, pressing a button or pushing an analogue stick is quick and responsive, but on Kinect, going from an attacking motion to a defending motion will take too long considering the speed these games are playing at. Whether Kinect will stick around is one thing, but it won't be able to replace physical controllers as we know them even if it does.

This is an excerpt from the full story which was originally featured on gamrReview, read the full version here - What Kinect Offers the Core - Article

This is an excerpt from the full story which was originally featured on gamrReview, read the full version here - Journey - Review