This is why ‘Prince of Persia’ has the legacy it does

Ubisoft’s Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time defined how the company looks at its properties. But before the publisher began pumping out annual sequels with a startling cadence at rapidly diminishing returns, there was just the Prince and his snazzy ability to rewind time while jumping, wall-running and shimmying from stone column to stone column. And it’s the latest episode of DoubleFine Productions’ “Devs Play” series that focuses on that seminal game and finds its director, Patrice Desilets, explaining what went into development.

Desilets admits that when doing background research for 2003’s incredible, genre-defining Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time that he’d only played an hour of Jordan Mechner’s 1989 original. Honestly, his explanation of what he took from the game when making Sands sounds a lot like Square Enix Montreal’s approach when it makes mobile AAA games: he took the “essence” of the original and translated it into new approach. “There was no rewind in the first one, but maybe there should have [been],” Desilets says with a hint of bravado.

Comparing it to the original, Desilets mentions that game development isn’t about animation when making a platformer, it’s about the transition between short animations and long ones. You know, they type of idiosyncrasies that give a character’s movement weight and, well, character. “Animators are more behavior crafters than animators in the movies,” he says early on. “It’s really important that you’re always there and your character feel alive and credible.

“That’s one thing: I don’t want people to go back into their living room, right?” he asks DoubleFine’s vice president of business development Greg Rice. “That’s why they play; they want to be out of there. And if your character isn’t fluid enough, the suspension of disbelief will be gone.” All that to say, it’s up to a skilled animator to keep the player present in the game and not looking at their phone or other distraction.

Like previous episodes in the series, this one isn’t short by any means, but the hour-long video offers a wealth of insight into one of gaming’s touchstones that you likely won’t get outside of the annual Game Developer’s Conference.

Source: DoubleFine Productions (YouTube)

GAME takes a hit as Brits stop buying for PS3 and Xbox 360

The video game business can be cruel at times, as British retailer GAME knows all too well. After weathering a complete collapse and returning to the London Stock Exchange in recent years, the company has reported mixed success as consumers gets to grips with newer consoles like the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. In its latest financial results, however, GAME has been forced to admit that its sales and profits have been heavily impacted by a “challenging” UK market, one that has finally begun moving away from older hardware.

In the 21 week period ending on December 19th, the company says revenue fell 6.7 percent to £466.8 million. It blames the “reduction in low margin console sales,” which were down 20.3 percent, as demand for older Xbox 360 and PS3 games fell through the floor. Sales of PlayStation 4 and Xbox One games did rise, helped by better-than-expected Black Friday trading, but UK consumers aren’t switching to next-gen consoles quick enough to make up the difference.

The retailer now believes its half-year earnings will reach £30 million, compared to £43 million in 2014. “The switch over from the older gaming formats to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One software has impacted profitability across the UK market,” says GAME CEO Martyn Gibbs. “The extent of the impact of this switch over has only become apparent in December which has been compounded by lower year on year high street and shopping centre footfall.”

At the beginning of the year, GAME admitted it was killing itself by pricing console bundles lower than the competition. Hardware sales rose by more than 25 percent but takings were still down compared to previous holiday sales. With the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One continually falling in price, the retailer knows that console margins are thin and games are where money can be made. However, digital sales and online competitors can impact game sales too, which means GAME has some very tough times ahead.

Source: GAME PLC

‘Battlefield 4’ hides an incredibly elaborate Easter egg

You’ve probably seen some clever gaming Easter eggs in your day, but few of them are likely to be this… involved. Gamers playing Battlefield 4‘s new Dragon Valley map have discovered an Easter egg that requires a massive, multi-step sleuthing campaign to complete. How massive? Well, it starts with translating Belarusian Morse code and moves on to hidden objects, logic puzzles and audio editing. The kicker is that this isn’t repeatable — even if you pay close attention to the video below, you’ll have to do some of the hard work yourself.

The effort might be worth it if you’re a hardcore fan. Besides hearing nods to Battlefield fan videos, you’ll unlock a special uniform that’s otherwise available only to DICE’s Los Angeles team. You’ll be the talk of any server you play on, at least among in-the-know veterans. This isn’t the first Battlefield Easter egg (creator Julian Manolov is known for them), but it might be the series’ most legendary prize before long.

Via: Shacknews

Source: Jackfrags (YouTube)

Razer brings Ouya gaming content to its Forge TV set-top box

After quietly acquiring Ouya earlier this year, Razer’s now folding some of those assets into its own gaming platform. Enter the Cortex Game Store, a digital shop for the Forge TV that has more than 240 titles available for purchase, with many of these being ported over from Ouya’s defunct marketplace. In June, when we found out Razer had purchased Ouya, it wasn’t clear what the company planned to do with the failed, Kickstarter-hit-wonder startup, but this is a starting point.

As part of its promise to double down on Forge TV, Razer says it wants developers to create content for it using the original Ouya publishing tools, noting it’s an easy way to get their games on multiple Android TV streaming devices all at once.

Via: Android Central

Source: Razer

10-year-old kid becomes first Minecraft National Champion

eSports are here to stay. And as part of this growing culture, Super League Gaming, a firm that sets up tournaments in theaters across the world, recently launched the first ever Minecraft National Championship. The eventual winner? A 10-year-old-kid named Julien Wiltshire, who beat more than 1,000 other players in the US — many of which were in high school and “far more experienced,” according to Super League Gaming. Over the course of a six-week season, the Minecraft tournament tested participants from 40 US cities on their creativity, critical thinking and teamwork in a series of custom game mods.

Wiltshire, also known by his moniker SuperKraft11, now gets to take home the coveted Super Bolt trophy and a $5,000 scholarship. Most importantly, he’ll always have the memories and bragging rights of being crowned as Minecraft boss at such a young age.

Source: Super League Gaming