DIGITAL= f) andyagemeinlormercom ‘al Andyae ‘was one of the lucky ones who got to see Tho deme camewth a John Carmack’s virtual reality {VR} demo ina back room at E3 in 2012. This ‘s where Carmack ashe discussed the ‘Carmack reignited the virtual realty ciscus- ssion using a then-unknawn Palmer Luckey's ‘Oculus Rift head-mounted display to play a shortcoming of where VR was, but you could hear the ‘uetement nfs voce she fexplained the challenges and ‘custom version of Doom 3: BFG Edition, where kt as going. Many of ‘Carmack, ot cours, s est known for [being a programming genie, ocket ‘cles, and father ofthe ts-person ‘hoote. He ano hs compatriots at i Software released the evokrtionary ‘Wollenstain 80 in 1992, and 20-plus years later FPS stl Goriates te charts ‘2zound the globe. Neecless 1053), whan ‘Carmackie givngaa VR demo, you go. those chalenges are sti not solved today, but you could ee! the mine ff Carmack cranching the data. While ‘lise, the answers could be Townes {rae hoard he story betore of how YR wes gong to change the worl, 50 as uit muen trepsdstion tat | attached 3 ‘ducted bax to my fc. rary nes fd Carmack to make sure | did fl over fe | ckseornected rom the real word ardaut yt but ts Wotferstan 30, | cau be cri a wire fa visionary ks Delos nf you cart he but take note st gamelnfornr com dl fre es and tet edord, CF PCIE METER MeO SITE NEM sc trom Srmcnsinns rade: industry? Readers also discuss underused time periods in video [IA MSrenememninie sam PC CCC EeePC Cm CES Cate inte ook ot the development PC ae oe Rocce fon Metal Gear, including a video imervow with Shinkaws, heed Contact Us eedbaegameormercon| thoroughly enoyed the "Watching People Pay” erice neous 251, For ‘long me, been wonderng when Lote Players waule get he spat ligat nhs gaming magazine. | grew up playing video games, specttcaly Nintendo games, 0 never realy played PlayStation o xbox games. twats ony ‘few years aga that | realy begen to Watch Lats Pay videos. Beceuse of Achioverant Hunter | grew to love Xbox {games, PC games, ana much mor. Yeu oul ay that i thane to the Lae Pay Communty that | raadened my fast in vdeo gamas as a whole; m now wiling to ty new games, cling ones that | never woul have thought to ty before. Heve's tote future of Let's Pay Rebecca Lucas via emall just wanted to applaud you guys for your aricle about Lets Players, ws & rice bres of reeh ait hear about al bt the people wo play games ard nave fun tothe entertainment ofa ice alc nes, I's vay of raminding us a het vdeo games te mest 1 Be fun test and foromact. Tanke foe puting he payers the spotignt! ake Rasmesen vis email Who said you have to play video games to enjoy them? Thanks to Let's Play videos, millions of people row enjoy video gamos without oven picking up a controller. They may be ‘missing out on the interactivity of the medium, but iit rings more people Into video games, then we're all fori gona Kt? rat obvious, uy i at are yotau2" ‘We're prety sure it fas someting 1 80 ‘with Caresa, at woud tha fo dot get amagenne? Pease re ‘Subscribing would be good stat. jue we contre gamesIdentity Crisis Wen realy enioy 8 game, | do my best to emmorse mycotin every aepect off may avon spend a fow hours resaarching ‘torent apocts of one om 3 seat oy gue, Whether is which combe tan af vigor isha most face, or # Off “The Grit fe more viable toast pork than Incog, lam aly looking a move my jing experience. may oven buy a tant {0 proclaim my love tora game. Gxt what bout people who play games justo pass the time? You know, the person at epens fe hour paying Sxytim and deosn't com: Plate single quests hs person “rel ‘jamer?” treo tat real game st find moet not alo he ar her deny in (games and gaming cure | thought you al Ccouie give me come caricaton, 11 Klemmeck via mall Deriving *most or all of your iden ‘ity" from video games isn't just Unhealthy ~ Ht sounds insufferable. The real question ic why gamer= spend 20 much time coming un with ways to exclude people who share 20 Intorest in their hobby baced on thelr perceived dedication. For more thoughts on the changing definition of gamer," check out Matt Hel opinion plees in this sue The Loneliest Number ‘Am 1 a dying breed of gamer? It seems: that more mulplayer-focised games are ‘being made, and Tim beginning to worry. m the kind of gamer who prefers to sit ‘alone in @ dar room and enjoy all the wondertul things games have to offer. The story the character development, the music and sounds ~ so much efforts poured into 2 game anv | feel tke having a gay seaming through 3 headset dampens ‘the whole experience. Don’t get me wrong; stil enjoy getting the guys together for some Madden or Mario Kar, but 80 peroent ofthe time prefer tobe alone, Tocused om the screen with the sound up high. Maybe that’s because I prefer ood ld single-player RPGs over tist-person shooters, but with more games belngy ‘ade without dedicated single-player campaigns, 'm bergnning to wonder and ‘worry how long before the single-player experiance ls yone altogether? Bobby Vaicels: ‘Queens, NY ‘Don’t worry, Bobby. Gamers have becn lamenting the death of single-player ‘adventures for years, but we're still no closer to such a bleak future coming ‘to fruition, While games like Evolva, Destiny, and Fortaite are built with ‘multiplayer in mind, other games recently festured on GI's caver like Metal Gear Solid V, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor, and The Order: 1886 are still ‘single-player affairs. Plenty of players preter their adventures to be solo ~ ‘enough that the game industry isn't going to ignore them. 120% Host We seo Sane Sets 18% NewGen ‘era Gen 18% Canny Sever es 114% Hel Gear Sula Ester 10% Lots Pay Lavek wou Fk to thank Kimberley Wallace for her revew of Dagarrorpa: Tigoee Happy Havoc. hed been looking fora (92nd Ves game, and it gata tony eos Score of 85. Aterreading hor review, | was so-ntigued iat | went out tat day and baught the game. twas just what was blonds The Hunger Games and Phocri Wing oom of which love). # nade boon for her evi, weld have fund thee mantorpines, ie Lautan ‘ia ematl snk you for eavereg mere smartphone and tablet games recent | especialy ‘est Mabie Gamos of 2013 aie 50825. | love playng games on con- soles and FC bute found mse gaming ‘orton my Pathan any ofr plat {orm over the past year of $0, Freely ‘cited to see what diction thie bench ofthe ncutry goes in the nt fen pase Whenever tabiet game graces te caver fof on of your ft este, probs) Brad Chix via emat Even with Microsoft and Sony's pow- erful new consoles on the market, interested next triple-A action game. Luckily, they don't have to cheoce - welll Keop doing our bast lo eover every warth- busters to the smallest indie ites. Ir et sure yu precio tis, but | uanted 10 shave joke my 11-year-old daughter ity maxon. Here gone: Your ‘mama ss0 ugh that when she plays Mori Kombat, Scorpion says, “Stay over ave Pease let ma know ft made you laugh ‘Suaanne Garrett, ‘ia email That's actually pretty funny. With wisecracks lika that, your daughter ‘may be the frst pre-taen we don't ‘mind getting insulted by on Xbox Liv.History Lesson Delmas pe ateteaee eacteceg ar psipolieay rere eal aati ee eee Bet cee ley ae er oe sree ea oe pn Secon: ‘would love o see the Ancient Chinese Dynastic Period. in paroular the Qin Dynasty. This time period as led by a ruthless emperor name Qin Shi Huang, and he was ‘0 powerful that te foros countess citizens to make terra cota warriors of clay to fight for him in the aterife, Forget the Warring States period; that makes it too easy to create astory. Grant Coscia [would lke 1 08 a video game sot in Judea A.D, 30. Why? I's never been done, and Lwrote an 800-page stipt fri ‘Tim Larkin Dinosaurs! Wel, that’s not entirely comet I guess the ‘Triassic or Jurassic ime petiod ~ but we need more gamnes that have dinosaurs mn tem. Don" get me wreng, aliens, ‘monsters, and zombles are get, but ifs time for dinosaurs to have their 15 minutes of fame. Romie Garza [would just like to soe seasons: I hawe never played a game ‘hat depicted the seasons of a plane, W's like every game ‘world [visit jst sts stl and rotates for day and night 1 ‘Want to see a trie nuclesr winter and swimsuit swmmer hhights in the same game, Picture ling otf hordes of une~ bugresque iets and then a snowman any that plagues the Land ithe winter Dave Lamoureux ‘Diack it mae ret Pouptson eal game He periods rireeedPeete oeTHROUGH NEW EYES A wide field of pioneers looks to turn the virtual-reality fad into industry fixtureust a few months ago, only a few names were syrorymous with the curent virual-ealty renaissance. Folowing hs successful Kiekstarer, Ocutus has been the champion ofthe movernert, but ‘thers lke Valve have chown interest in furthating the technology. ‘Most recent, number ot smaller hopefuls ave cropped up with ‘theirown head-mounted display prototypes. Sony revealed ison device called Project Morpheus, and Oculus inked a 2 bill deal ‘ith Fecabook, potentially changing the compettive landscape in the burgeoning medium. ALGDG in San Francisco, Ocul nounced fs secand Rit cavalo kit "The DK2" ie the most achanced vital: realty headset wove saen, featuring a 1080p ciepiay and had tracking tat surpasses Oculus! “Grystal Cave" wit fon spiny st CES in Jann Instead of exposed LED tacking cots, 1K? s easier a nando thank to 8 piece of iifared-pormaabia plastic cov fing the tort of he device. Oculus has Tacked in th tworpioce system, which includes a camera, aa the heec-rackng mectaniem that wil be aresort inthe frst consimer version ofthe even ‘Along with the new developer ks, uhh it vaabie for pre-order now and antcipated for celery this surrner, we {red three demos, inthe earliest day fe Oculos Fit he company vere 3 vival vila called the Tuseany demo 10 how off the technology, We revit that space, only now we were able to lean around coenors an over the bal cy, Tha head eeking ade aera piece of irteractivty ta elevates va by Me Puttar reality beyond simply beng a tell Vining 20 nage, ‘We asa experianced Oculus’ test aitlompt al virtual avatar, Wie the Tanneauins ae admittedly crue, the Couch Kright em put us in ving room envranment siting kity-comer from our opponent. The Masa cking transite ant the in-game bac, ere sting a sense that you se sitting next to a pefson rather than astand-e, I's cay bt the trajectory of the technology has ‘eat proms. ‘The goal ofthe game porton isto use bal The effect of bang a vet house wit tiny rights batting on th eotee table, floor and even each other Bans 0 understanding of augmented realty with our tadtonal eoneaptuaizstion ot beng an immersive, vital space, ‘Oculus alco showcased Pow thee: por son snd cverhasd-perspective tes can work The nal dome vine a rimentary tomer defence game in which the action takes place 09 nse, tablet er vironment. Leaning ito the play space fly 220m i, showeg the patertial oltacteal expererene ina vital space. Imagine commanding your si ram above the alta of shouldert- Shouider th your ope, or sting fommancis to. eet of space ears soaring aru you,“Those experiences aren rea0) yet, Michel says. “Beyond ou core coment vinruat nEALITY butnethers teharaware. Botn have ty, weexpected t would be positive. don"t pErorrows time o mature. The second devel. irk we exoncted ft Beso negative As oper tsa ge leap toa grat peopl bepn to dgest tabi and ink Bout you can see thal Twiter and Res Pessstenoe of esion ine Ibe say. t's rota the way hor. K's it a swinging back the opposite drecton. concept tat alts us to not what we baleve is good enough for The onus son us to educate peopl, and ‘watch vdeo footage at 24 rass-matal consueras.” wo wt o share eveything we're doing” ‘anes pet soon witout ibe, who admis tthe sone of he" Ealy nega sao permeated the ateoing srios of nid most VF-senstive poopie at the compsry, developer commurity. Mest stably, ‘a mages Our ans soy Boteves tt @ consumer model mist Minacraft creator Markus “Noto Pors- towing pct, creating stand upto requir long-temuse We son anneuread he was breaking off clans ‘he appeazance of fy, wart peopl © be realy comborable n- 10 adapt Mojang’s why popular sanbox ‘ius eat, when our brains Scl."he sys. “We want SO minutes. 45 game orth Rit saying “Facebook creep ‘Alin the Dini x ence 2 nites, anheurto goby and youtaket — meodt” ‘mneaing or “screen door ef ff and say, "Yoel gat. The awesome. "For Ocuis, the new resources uniock ea, especialy while moving want © goo more” potential tr te company’s test consumer cour heads. Onan. Soy, and ‘vice and beyond. "Thre wore aot caesar string for avery Doors Open For Oculus ‘of tings we wanted oo with the Ft dow perston by aisplay- Following Acquisition a wh vetual ety in general” Oculus tng unages fo shane pen ‘Att GOC, news broke that Facebook had founder Palmer Luckey tat us. “Wehad a sin ten ating a S008 archaped te once frcoly independent Isto things we wished we could do that mage as wo ‘pan’ sound arup fo S400 maionnexsh and ap-_wererit nancy posste that we are abe am erprtenee, Prosmately$1.6bionin stock Te day '0.donow" Presece tensed inter ‘ere areouncemert, Facebook stock Facebook's investment opens ors changeabiy with “maneron’) {Spd ovr sx parent, revealing Vpida> for Ocukia that wero prevualy bare Js deserved a3 sense of be tonamongst investors. The crrent developer ts and pre-buy- ing somewhere ole. ince the “The it's fghy anticipated by the cut pring caled fr existing fow-cost, ‘iirenaisant, inde deseo gaming conmunty,endthere's alotot wer scaled mable phone techobgy. xs have ben experienting Intcest tor devlopesin balding fortis Now, resources ext to cOnmssn CUS: wih variety of epenenoes, ‘warning hw Io gel srs to gio thomsolvos over to ‘ne isto, ‘andware manuloetaress ‘are ave tat there vl be ‘emand for eaveational ana casual oxperoness in add tion to entertainment options Patton. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Saidina sateen explaining the accu Sen "Wise going to focus on helping (cits bald out the product and develop parnerships to supper mere games, {us wl cmt operating indepen ory wha Facabock o seve thes” “Te onthusiate Ok commerity had a.sharp rcponse to the news "We a ‘isin fo tne cre ganing Sued Ua ne reaction wou be nagay__ purchases and commitments and being ‘at Th emul ae he the. expecally for our core communy,” able to ce te cot down and make a Jon of via tour of e- Cite vee presdont of proguctNate lower margin. ‘semen simula Hike {bear Regardless when putty ono neoe- mounted oe ee oe «itchal says the company has tw important,” Marks says“ you dn’ road maps, and prior tothe Facebook have tt, It would be a cltleed mess fequlstion, one ve beled impasse, inside your bain ‘A ofa sudden, we can do ll the stu” Mikal tals us tat Morpheus fon the mpoestle oad map pluie more,” can emule mee, anc he eam has Inve seys. “Tho Ceuius Rift ust became pushed the number to over 120 speak the zero compromises’ product. Is the re. This unc Wadia vel sur bstpossble thing thatcan happen.” round cound processing that mimics sie fo eight speakers. Ounng a dem that Sony Steps Into The Ring plc ue on the surace OF Mare thanks \When Sony packed analin San Fran- tovdsta captured bythe Curly rover, fear Moscone Genter fora an-— we tured aroun, knelt an the ground houncement af is aun, there sas itle and walked ih dient rections. With Surpice its to revesia vituabrealty each move, the sound naturally flowed device. Rumors of the prose peppered around ane above us, even through a tech and gaming biogs or weeks n—Slock par of hesdphanes. It Works Well, advance, but wase't any/lss exct- oven at this early stage, ing when presitent of wordwie sti- ‘ae Shunel Yoshida took the stage Songside engineers Richard Marks and Anton Mawnan "Vital eal s the next imovation from PlayStation” Yoshida sa as he Undaled fe sleek davies. The white headset features alight inthe ont, with two adtona rackeng gts on the rear af the unt, conveying compat Tbity with a more mabio exporionee Dept te clan lines and rished form factor, Project Morpieus st ‘ary in doveloprent. Th display is urrentiy 1080p, wh a atesh rate of BoB. Moving quickly while wearing the device events that tnere a mare work to be done a improve persistence Audio i as important to a sense of presen ae the vieual expererce, and Sony is ahaad af ater VR hopetul Projet Morpheus curently euistes 60 speakors n an aay around tho wearer. Haveg ‘spacilzed! sound i reallySEU ‘A GROWING FIELD OF ENTREPRENEURS Wile cus and Sony ofeed the most compeling VR expericnoes at GDC, others are atempting to solve the pinbiem in ther own wave. We tied Reade: tm cther companies Roping to ceste#sutae consumer product and get to market soon ‘The strongest ofthis second group ss eel-contined unt called the Gametace, Tha prototype ie paw ered by an Nila Toga 4, with an upgrade to the Tegra KI eportedly 15 dimes as power a Pah Sation 3 planned. Gameface hopes o cit the cord, suppoing Buctcah heaoets,dxecto-devie on ‘eat losing and wireless charging. The company i targeting an on-the-go make, maling a dilrent propeeition than the Rit or Frojes Morph, We algo epent tie on our fet The Salon Cotex claims to ceat 4 Yhlodeck Uke" experience. It wae ‘@uconcerting using the device, which uses an Android phone asa alide-in seen, while mowing, Weh top-meunted sensor nay, Cortex maps the rom, but Sun hast aived the presence problem yet, mak- ing movement an awkward experiance We leo sed an Oca Rt im conjncion wih the Vix Oma VR “eadmal. le Teaching oar salves how to walk onthe concave surface in special shoes was challenging. The biggest hurdle i that ‘he Omnis slabity eles ona consumer VR pro, whic i el months of ‘The Future Of Virtual Reality And Challenges To Surmount (Ceutis and Sony hve more work to do corte to final aprecctsutabio fr con Sure’ purchase and theres no space (92. Cost ie seo a union, hough bath (Ceulis and Sony ervisen people use thehead-mounted displays tor home rather than having to go os destration ike In order fo understand corn of he long term potent and chlenges, we spoke ah Mark Bolts, a USC arsseit pre fori the School of Cinematic Studies irteractive Mec sel Game Desi pr (gem Bolas alen saves os the cretor of the Mixed Reaity Lab nthe nti for restive Tectnoinges, which empiayed Lickey for bout a year Note: Boks! com any, Fakespace Lats, minority older in Oxi) has the opportunity to stan th vor pensive and power vtusl ealtysolrions rd ety stale tack in eorice of tng vihat Gola elle "escent elements, or vat might otnerice be considered arin mum spec, Academia ads Sesign of roto ‘yas and evertualy consumer modes. For feteree, lb est deter Sets of i of 80100 dgrose, ln sh the at and Project Morpheus USC hs worked ith te Unies States Naw, explorng the concept of virus Drdges tor seatazeg esos. The banat would be caling upon perce wth highly “peciaaed shi when they are cede without comming them ta a single oho, inorder to accomplish ns, Gos boievos that eaneial presence” ling fe natal ‘terpersanal communion = ncSS eeet—~s~—O——SCiCS Conran i xa ‘The most anasng virual-tealty hesdse till won't be westh anything unles there are games and other experiences to ‘omsune, Roth Ges and Sony reeegnie the importance of 4 thrking inte scene. Yet that ge pier ‘option wil be shower thn tha of small developers, because ‘big Gompaies neod conidence In a wing cost bas. “Te indi quys aes passouae and the creator isthe business uy that they make the deson by themselves ‘osha offer a canta, “Abo, nts dont want to com pate with big companies. Tey are goed at coming up with emerthing a which they can excel, Ike a new concept. Tha really goed approach VR. Indie guys ae so open-minded.” “Wt for VR" content, he GOP’ Eve: Valkyrie, willbe rial, but we expect pots 2 games to aso reach vial ‘paver Bides Monteal esta a spesal bul of Tht or Soay's Project Morphews ane Sigh Mad Susie announced ‘hat Prec: CARS wil support the devin, Sueoos wl ogune a cial mas of games when consim- er devi are ready, Both Deus and Sony have alg way to goto ensue thee libraries ae feshed ut Avatars ar more developed tran those our nthe Oeutss Couen Knight domo ‘canbe coated using a Knock ard highty ‘ecuraterackeg tocheology made By 2 compar ealed Phasaspace fccurat ‘milmetore within the labs 3.200 quae oo space. Bolas says that Phasmspace's ‘eohnniogy ean be senlod to cover the ‘uole body or just select pars tke hands ‘Skulael oman, using tet speech, anc sgortvms fe Sais exes lone and gestures have asa bem ‘Cowelopec. Tho combination ef vita human avatars and emulated anes open ap the Poesy or mstipayer gaming ‘Sxpenences, itn EG party inorsting ‘wah NPCs, ‘Wen we sooke with Luckey and Michel st Gamescam 23, oom of he Suse Oculus was eoconting is the problem of ‘siulatorsicknass." This S the mverse-of motion sickness and caused when yourbady has the eee ‘ton of mation «ue tothe ws work wihout seul moving. Inadtion, Bolas cautions that come experiences wil rot translate wal tothe ‘rua epace bocase of conte." dont ‘hin that tst-person shooters can have the level of vole tay cure have,” be says. "Ibe oo mah. Fight naw, {fe someunstabetractad by being on a screen, but when realy # tinge [span cro things fo peop, Im ‘gong 10 fel abt of personal agency fy both crectons Boles cal elements ike personal space “nuggets.” Theco crc oles {re cimiarraratve devices in fim that havea great deal of over he fash ‘backs “We'w ying fo fred what that sn ‘he reas errronment” he expans. Heh social presence, and sense of eat are toe ofthe other power {ul eementsn vtuel elf, ana olas suggests thal ura thom propery ‘ey tobelevabie and immersive expec ceneas. He also has 3 solution fr tactile feedback ma vtual vor tat he ele nsssvahaptes* ia real faney tom for touching somthing nthe eal word and wo make ‘atmake sense," he expiins, “So wo put veal fat panel splays aroun you mn tea wal envionment al oe Seplays mth ral ord ara ust apiece ‘ot plywood. yu ty and okt ith the Reads mounted depay at ouch itwith your fngetps. you think youre looking sts touchscreen dsp, Youre geting feedback o yourhards, and it foean' cost us a dma” Some users ‘could certary set this up in ther homes, but an arcade would baa more accra taland logeal envronment to axa once VA witha tatla eorpenent a5 bolas cescrbas, “This pat of an input canard that Lucky deserted 1 us fa recent Interview. "You don't want ust an input evi,” he says, “Something ikea inact or muse, they are vary much Input devices. You ao making something happen inthe veal woe, but resting Iscomeg bac out. What you realy weet Is something ike tho headset talons you tomanpulte tha vetal wrk! ana {ee sonations tom ard have good hap ‘fe eenastions rom she vole ‘Wi ts mense resources, USC's Maced Realy Lab ic cong work tat Cutis, Sony. and ater: st to op late na eoetofectve manner Ae consumer wus rai nears tion, ‘hose hacadarna conte 1 pees the fed lorverd, Fer Soa, that procace sat-perpeluaing, ashe docs? soe 2 let onthe possi of what ean be donaina vita space. “Ihaven' read ‘scince-fcton hook yet sean a eens ctor mave about vt really ‘hat has came up vith something don"t ave cou happen.” Watch a video of Sony's unveuing of Project Morpheus cnine +CCP’S EVE ONLINE create the game world. Politic, diplomac intigue, and ls one of few games out there in which game Gecisions and choices bleed over into real large-scale space battles shape the world of the game itself. Many aspects of the game are player-eontolled and player-policed, from the giant guilds ‘known as corporations to the player-hunling pirates and mercenaries. EV other mediums, and have recently spawned a comic series, EVE: True Stories, that will be tory arcs have yet to be eis scheduled to move into olher modiums with a TV show production. hardcover collection in June, Thin EVE univ lapsed clam on terior resulted in 21-hour contct swoWvng 7.5 bate recited in around 11 tlion SK (game cureney) n damages - hich ‘ransiatas to reughy $300,000 USD. EVE Online's maeeie singis-rver MMORPG space lends seta 3 don't stop there: Wh ship. At the ime this sory toak placa, Ot hardcore gameplay to sec “By most people's standarés, Lord i an excellent feet commas says Mark Thompson, AKA tans ‘com caldar anda corparatin-mate fof Lag Raven atthe ime, “He wae 's stories lend themselves to allable in a led down, the uge trades, ske atta, players ‘ard cleka button to hand of 900d. There's a whole thid-party matt have aared reputation by handling igh-end traces, Lord Rativin didn't g0.ith ane! thoes, an chaee {o.use his awn month of eurency buy atin from a rusted source sta ee 10 good 1a be tue. “The finde wore transterectothe Inciveual n Pandemic Lagan, ard Thompson. “Since the offender was In Pandemic Logon ane af the top Corporations a he tims hero was th one tien gone and a consi crabs ancun of ne sn rary Seloned and set of once apan ‘one of these prized ships. During this ime some changes happered with ‘corporations, as Rawtin spat ste eoleing fer eurency a ot lacing operatios, and Ravhin’s corporation was essential rod into larger one.‘ras going io ba on the corporation ator tha tan was compistes. and ince he was tapping ta corporate recourone, the sacetenip hod other plans. Ravnin showed up to ealct his ae, ec wae et staring pace asa corporate lead ew off For those looking for 8 quick tak: {ton amg that rested ina Kane cf space dist. contacter, ping inarseanie Guiding Hand Social CL, ve probably let at eat $200,000, In hips over bs cure ofthe gam vith my chosen path” says Erarsson We ae merears, grits, risves sensing uo hod one huge hoist st put us.on the map. and since then rarason has mutiple characters ‘ana personas enrenches ino varius ooking ar someting te ere Heated ace? Checkout Stab oie comorations, He is able 0 9 ‘on ha ins,” ard has actualy played dractr ta major skirmishes Fis oun actual crow proting onthe Foitics, positioning, and initraton fo atlarcas allay a huge role ccarying ut the goats othe Guiding et Sool uD, Assaesinating fark 1 attempt to grt them aut ff the gama is just one of tho many thon engages in. Nat surpenghy, playing EVE ths way comoe with was massively betrayed by sor fr, ani ture out ho ue hosing ‘grudge for our years belo he ‘decked to strike back. sometimes ‘comes back on you. never ely repercussions. val EVE ther fg held in ostnel,” eaye Eraresen, vio sil aval fr i. &Things We Legally Can’t Call Mechs Let's face it: None of us will ever get the chance to pilot a giant mechanical war suit in the real world, However, Stee! Battalion’s absurd Vertical Tank simulations the next best thing. The game's $200 super controller sports two control sticks, three pedals, a {gear lever, and more buttons than a NASA Space Shuttle, which brings the hulking machines to life,arse eit ete mL) going to see that gay protagonist in Feels) coe Wer tte Not for a while, I suspect, because Com (hema st las tet impact sales.” was ; fea wee Dee TO) Beer hcire rele stek ieee Loai Re ane ee are St eet eC Lem ty Se oa teasSeen) a Vier AL Omics De mee me a ue Ce tr ae eT aes Peer rey ee any Pr een Perr in acm ene eae Sees eee eas hier Patent os Pees Peak al enue Serer mrt Preeti Circo rien perreri Seen eae Seon Eichex, Anger. Hato. Sufloring. This he trans eee eae tg eee er cro See tere ieee Pec ee ae eer ce eet eee teers eee tee ae ee es ener etna cen ee ae ee een) ee eect) ree etal Pome ued ee eed Pe ee ee Su Rn ee eects Se Eee oe een Ceo neni eee eens ee ee ee ae ee Ee ee ec See ee eee rend Se ee ee ee ee Les CO eee ee ea ee te ee eer) ee ee ee eee ee eet Cte ers ee ele ane ee ee eee ae ee eee een ees ee ee es Sire ey ern TT Codie ye eur ec eC este nce Rect ate cei eae nnSe eee ees abe en een eee ate eet eee ements ea oe ets nner Pere eee a Cee ae ne een ee ree re eee ee es en) Poon nee err ire Poteet eke ut Ce eee es ere ark cea eae ie ee ne ee erent Ne ected Perr ee eared eet Ce eee td Ce ee er eet es Rent eke eter or ae ee en esis el eee oe Bee ur ee eras Ce cueaacad ee ae eee ers create reer erences Oe ae ete) Serene er eee ec Rae ee ey rte ea Pee a earn s eee Pree tet ere ea ee eee ee ee coe cy re ee ie etCe eee ey Pe eee ee eee oer retort metas re ee re a a re eee ete Cally You guys start working on ideas, start working on dornos, Pe eae ee eee eer) een eae eas err eee ent as Cee ee ee ed peer ere ere er eee ret eee ees pect tee! ne Seed Det eta eee een eee a cae pease tenance eee ent te need eee ree eet ne ee ed eee eae ena ete cise Ce ee eee eee eee ey rr men tae Ce ee ee er a en ae eta Fe ee eed ere er er eer eee es Seu ee et re et eee rr ed ae ae sen tretn Ce er ne CR are en ete er telen eet ar ee retetnay eeu reece tener falen through = due largely fo Nintendo not maeting financial Se ee ea Cee ee ee cree re poate ere nennenerec nomena aerator ue Rloy Cee ee et a eee) poten ei eee eee ee Poe Deer enna ESsmisrtr tier) corer See ee ee Lente ‘50 Wo ust started making a game mstead, which was kindof ti ee ee ed Perr cert eee eer Ce eee Le Cee) Pence eee es een ee a eer ets ee ae eee Peete na CoresEli Roden ca) hn ee ae ee eee ae ee cea De eee et et Petit teberereteetiaeneae econ eee ree etna ee ee aor een ee ere een ten eae beter ie pee een te eee rere Soe eae ear neta eae oe ee ee ed pre erento tiers CeO eet ee ee eee a ee er a ere eer ee ea nn Crean Set ee eae ue Fee eae eae ac ee ond ced See eaten enor Ce eee ee eee eee eae rene reer See ee ee oc Beet eet Rerioietet ae cee one ce Se eee eer ee road Oona Stereo ce ates Pe een eh eect net eet ar net ee) eee ieee rey fererrenrenrienniy mete a Nbtrne Ninh Dee eee ete cece Pie a nee ey ee eae ere peo ee ees Caen ne en es Cee ey Ce ames See eee aSe oe Cero ae te et eee etter omnes Eero Tete ees rae rete ee eee renee test pone iene ntiara bce eee er ees Cee ome ener ec) ee ene iret eet een er et ees Sa ee ee ey Pena ere ee retry Co ee een paper eee ee er te ae cc a reas te uk ed Cee en eee nd oe eee eto Serene ee nae aera pee eree oere eta en eiaca peer nent ent er ee tr ns See eee ed ee ere eae ened Lease er een ee eer Cee ee ee ees eee et Sree eee ee ene ee etn es ee eter eet as Bren tee ee era en nl eo SO ea uot aie eee rere en any Bee ee ee ect) fecnearesen iment chavs a meerSe ee a nd Pe eee ey ee oe ee ee eer ee ane ee ee Peet ee ern enema eee terra eee ens Emerton oeonmineeeretrernnn Lei et ee need pe eee eee ea ee aeten oi Tenet es peer eee Perce eet Str ers Ce eer eee en ees te enc re “The Red Fi eam et the meeting, which rn fo roughly tee emer etme Poised Weer eec erate mere See ee Role ee ed Se ee one oer id Cee eee eee eee er On es SE egg pea eterna a ere tee) Patereeerarnt wrt cee ceiarnecrinnr nete ee er rele eee ee Pee eee ete eee eee ee eee neg ea eee tea Pees ee ee Grae etcetera CO eae ad eee ert ro ee etd Perens Beno eae enya ofletincoring laser fr, whieh isnot that ficult” remembers et eee ee eee oats direct it back, and contra t while not breaking combat or using ee Perea reer ny eer ne ee een oe nee eat) pomeranianDDaspite the great efor in devoting proot of concep, reece et eet e ar corr rta rn ee eet Sn ee er ve fultime concept artists designed naw Stormitoopors, Sith, Pee ee teceten oe eee peer) eee ne ee er ey Ce er ere ke eee cnn To ee See ee) Peer ieerier era See eet eae a acre Poe eee eee eee retreat merken imei airs Se ee eed elena creel neniereni aor Se eee ee ea tate es So ee cae er eae ee erent tet eee) cree ene eos Pes eat hore errant eee eee ea een eon ere Pec een ete Ce ee ae ae Renee ee eee Serre Coc te ie oad ee ee ete Po rere een eneote erate had eect teet teal terol reat ketaal Pe ume ee hg cee reine tas eer rr tren i) eee era aon rere met Pee et ee Lee ee een ena cue ea tnd {he Force. stare shooting out into many deren drectons ote ers Cte ee tea aaCe eta eee Ded eas sere tee Rare ee ccc eet neu ee Co ae Ne eet ee es ren oie ee et ey et eee Perec ee eee ey reer es stopped communicating wth the team See Ce ae ey ‘An whon | say no vers, man soshng, We ied to contact thom See Ee aT are st Snr net See ee ee nn a relate Rr ea tar ea Cee nen nee Peotone Mier eit Se or aaa area er Oe et i COrnCe en eerie ete Coe he eT any eee eee Po eet perenne re ety Se ee ee er Pee ec een ett em Cee ee eee ees EN ecu tee ean eet ode eect) ee er er as ee ee er Se ee eg ee Seer ere eee a eer Poreeople buy games because they like to play them, but those games don't always get played. ‘With a glut of entertainment on the market, its impossible to take it all in. Even gamers with the best of intentions sometimes neglect great titles sitting on thelr shelves. Using Sony's trophy data to measure gaming habits, we compiled some gameplay statistics for several of last year's big-name games. Let's see how quickly players abandon a game in favor of something else ators ote: This sta ely oes not ae ino account players who do ot bring thee systems online, or track payers who start playing online bot ish & ‘gan afineOnly 446 percent of players actuaty fishes Game Iformer’s Gane ofthe eer on any afoul, 338 percent of eyes eames te trophy for beating he game on normal, while & mere 77 percent of players eared the trophy for beating the game on hard. How ray people Dotbered to complete & ‘nw ga pls pleytrough on the Raa Aieuty? Only two percent LEGO MARVEL SUPER HEROES TT Games’ atorale supemero avenue i great or players of any ‘gc, and its not a chaeging game to complete, Even 9, ony 88.5 tof players have reseved the Sand Cerra Staton Wophy, ‘chs the toh ou receive after beeing te it ve ofthe game ‘mast fou percent of players crop of atta comgleting the trst level, because only 843 percent of players received a trogty for ‘aroleting ther st sk de, srsetting hat happens immediately atl the st vel Players continue to ase intrest nthe game, an by level 15 the fra vet) only third of the people ar sit plying ~ ony 32.3 par ‘ant of players have this The Good The Bad an the Hungry trophy,(Ca of Duty fe one ofthe bagest rochises on the marke aay, ut do most consumers spend ‘haiti vith the gare’ mlipayer? Only 60.4 percent of leer eceed the erst rg for bing hist enemy n Ghosts campaign, Tis means thal neal 40 percent of Ghosts players ‘ether never layed the camino played i or les han te minutes, .—ce cautor bets mAs plait iuamreens |} como wtz0: soon PAL ¥ we A taco sieenienoes © verveure watev F wane monet . e ee FOR SPeED: VALS heck at mor intrsting shes with ts one Cal of Duty iaforaphicWorld ry —_ roo eet Preis (eda) The slow-motion shooterPeete eee ee een eee a Cee ee oak Chet en are Caer ence. It’s not a straight port of the PC game, but was rather built using the studio's proprietary development engine for release on oC Getta Ce ee CeCe oes Peer oe eer a Cree De nea Pee ee Cee nee Steerer at Pee ae tno eee eee nea ee eed ee ett) Dee ee eee ree aera erent ee ee ery Paerieresr erro a Sar tet) een Steers See reacts Paneer eres eee) ramps insted, they are the moments whan ose ee ny De ee eet Serre ee ae ete eee Ceti ‘ments are intaneo an exeing Pee! Pert ner re kts Ce CeO eas eee Peeren area eat ee ee Steg ety Pe einer pas ET ie ial Dene udet heat eee eres Ler eniueneee Cee peer eee beets nee eed ee ay See ae) ee errant) eee ret ctr a Pa Snes ‘of pope are playing, but few are commit a Seder unset peer See ened eer naan Pee penetra ane perenne antesec eee ree nist Se arenes Peet] Parbernmeenalnue siren ee pores oeeneee eerie ee eer earns eect tae PetCo oe eer ena Ce ral Ces [one eee ern oun ne fore Relea ec i ee rnd eet rere Lene te erence ent Peet Cen et ne rea oven Teco eo Pee SUS eatery Coreen arenes Geren peomeeral ee ete Seen) Paar eer Renner ic ee eet Srna Pees Eeiienive seeone ie poet tetas peer eieti end Gace ta ence eee ee ne eet Ce ed pee etre Pere nr ee eared coer cated ‘The PC version’ hr yoarhead-stat Cee eee ta eed ee ete Penton crt te tert Re eure Lori rein airman Cee eter coer ceeerne = Cee ec Cee ede re aber apie eer oti Ce eee oe aRe eee hte nee eerie) Sere re erence rer iat Gece Po ee Se ce ee eee ears Cet Bee epee Cr iadPortable Ops rs People around the world are getting in shape, making friends, and travelling thousands of miles in the name of Niantic Labs’ cyberpunk experience Ingress. {his year's GDC, vital enlty vas that concep, some people ae using tech Operation Ursa Major art Operation Sie fontha minds of mary. The ea that nobgy nota late herealvas orn the Whlo.Vieicame tothe word of Ingres. players cou sap on a headset anc! werd around hem, tutto enhanc it was ally designed as mach a an ‘ntact vith a computengenerated werd s They're bandieg together lege gouns thing toprovdea ile ea mp 1.90 ‘reemtsi ta everyone fom Ceuta and iaveing the gobo cna walk, gotyour ke out to the park and Sony. Pesta ‘courketaiance ta to pul ofigh-ech on have st enough of giene to nave tt pul tit” say under John Hank of Nite Lat, a satu within Google i's baen sur [esing forme oe the iv ol carsmiment {hat ome peop have to the game tsa In ingress" tion, the work tied with portals often tec fo at and ather ports Df interest ~ hich ofa ink toa myst bus extra-cimonsional energy souce, XM, ‘Some poopie, he eo-caled Enightonad, oe i as a stepping-stone toward the next Stage in human evolution, The Resketance S0e't citerenty, and ae working to keep marty fe fom th infueics of XM ad the Shapers. an alionntligance berind Al. The story tle tough comies, nov be, anc a serne af pote ne Broad casts on tha Ingest YouTube chan 1 is cre, Igrocs © a simple game. Using the GPS en an Aree emariphone, players interact with paras that ave eat {trod taghout the real word, Hare’ the cater: you Rave tobe within 2 certainie deel a portals: Once you'r within range, you have several optons dependeg fn the poca stats. If the oppaseg fc ton hae area} climed i you ean atack it lta member of your facien has clarmed ic you con help boost ica in thee ci rant afk in batveen them tht ap tures allo he mind units a scoring nt tin that aren hat tangle or your fc tin.” Hanke says, “The whole metagame le bout making hese triangle Battsen the twa teams, Ofer, paola ar ying toma thoes inks between hundres of thousands of mies, so they'be traveling Yi massea_< wsmons botween people ram another country 10 1 ky from the portal you want fo make a nk to order fo make these long inks ars yes have to ge he key atthe porta That means yu have to ether vit tet 1 gett or som key and than shut body nas to get Those kde tard canbe a 8 fen lae to cru to @ regneerng a jan up wha sage erg planes. The game hae more than ‘heh i ey only crease as an 05 natn odo with yourratonaty” Hanke ‘he Noe East, vera these Enightoned ‘gens fram Sy, lal ane Cyprus were crossing some of yet, hey'e on the samo realy postive theg.” pt nes row at the Google Pay ap stareIM A WW PRESENT, E < a 9 2 Q E b a ) Y y Lu as — aa =) ee{this year’s Game Develo ference, Gaune Informer w the rare opportunity to three of the most influential PlayStation history: Sony Entertainment founder Ken| Ithe crestor of the PlayStation), SCEA president and g Andrew House, and PlayStation 4 lead architect Mi ‘iho is CEO of Cerny Games. We spoke to these three vi about matters ranging from the company’s humble Jn-video games tothe future of thePlayStation 4, Tht give insight into the business and development philos has governed PlayStation’ past, and will guide its fa ee How dificult was itto get the original PlayStation vision through Sony, which had 3 completely diferent perspective fon gaming? Ken Kutarag: [They taught at he begining that a viceo game vine a kind o oy. Once they released ny frst Sony gadget for eds, mary people al Sony dic not ko the dee] Df fo th the Seny brand name. But thought] computers hada teemencous abity to handle reat timo antariainmont nthe ture, Were nota toy business, so we wanted to intraduce cutting-edge technology inte PSY, PS2, anc an toexpand the game market nto the mainstream entertanmant market, Fight now, ths indusry is ane of the iain entertainment industries: Do you ever getto one of those board meetings now and ny, “Oh, look atthe income forthe video ‘game division?” ‘Andras Houses don’ tin ve tle this sory Before, But when Yok mp former boss at Sor that | was going 10.90 work for Ken, his ts reaction was, “Butts a toy! How ean you go work on ay?" said that rough has move patent than tht, But that was exacty the reaction, KW tied to call he "computer tntertsinment” duty bt many people had the mage ofthe ved fame asa boys tay, [When] Sony Bought te move operation worn Clumbin anc Th Stay, ay arid it "Sony Petre Entertainment” The music was "Sony Music Entertain ‘ent Tt was ane ofthe reasons we coated Sory Computer Ent tainment as division. Sometimes, Hormer GEO Norio} Ohga-san suggested that, "Sony Computer Entrainment waa auch @big name, why are you using hat ~ auch a (grand name = fora video gare? Bul | personal beloved computor tentertainment wouic! becom big Industry all around tre ward, in the future, Mar Gey: you recat when we Tet mot? Ihave actualy never tld ‘his sty. We st met 1995..When you Fad your T-Rex dem, he dino eur come you were taking aroucd, ‘Maybe was surener CES 93, You ‘wore cng your tour to gat develop fs ua ta speed on the naraeare, fan hac this vorytechrieal question Wehich ie, because had ban Work Ing with 300, and 300 wousd tke retangies ar kd ftv them 9 rake thom 30-lke, but you wer just keg of crmng ines. My question nae: "Ie PlayStation the fret hardoare was "Wel of course t can” The est Ishistony. It] changed ry How has competition changed within the industry, whether with Sirect competitors in the console ‘space or forms of other enteriain- ‘mont? What was itike to com- ‘municate to 3 eancumer base that was stl fairly young versus today’s ‘more mature, more educated, ‘more connected audience?‘AHL That’ a wory big question, (CD-ROMs were gang a ranstorm not wing tarethink that orto fee! You had a great launch for Ink thatthe ndseape forme the business. na. very typical Somewhat treataned by t, where PlayStation 4. Didi go. has shied dramatealyin one way, quickie presentation, he sad, the true goal shouldbe to relainae you plannes? but carta key things reman true. “This s how retails gong to rich lity you can ‘AH: i's cortanty gone very nicely ‘The dieet compattors we nave change; this & Not dowslopment "Me idle game marke and our wit- | thnk tat the most encouraging now oid no exit when we fret going 0 chango,” and [Bught Ingress or ur vory hearted 49 thing forme around te Pay Station + Sarg auton thissourmey, On the retained that autook cbt reach to anevecommuniy of launch has been the agree o player ther hard, think what's avaye network distbutio, What is Sowlopers is another aspect af that, and consumer engagement When we been tue and | thnk Mark fake fundamentaly done -ints best ‘fnew alot = emerging from mobile, view revswing the teroca for he tocthc vary eloquently is that the slanceis ge consumers ote why wouldn't you welcome tha nia. PlayStation 4 snd the degre to which incuctry’s health ie rier ty create Hex and more choice 1 console envronment? vas a heavily netvered doves, talent Regardless of wha the plat- often ind mysoltin debate with form holders ar, i's about really analysts ~las ight, for example — mT] ‘tying to soe whore that gaming talking about froo-to:play Maybo {slentie coming tom, where those 4 sounds aveey optimistic, bt any create mpulses are coming from, of thecedtnbution metas are listening, and tryeg to dalver the viable, as long as consumers are best centve plete to allow that responcing 10. Our oles to Deas ‘accome to expression. Idoritthink fonbie as possibile. So we tnd to ‘that's fundamentally changes. design PlayStation 4 1 be the can | hk what isnteresting in terms sole that was most welcoming tthe ofhowthenetworklas changed free-to-play model, because ~ i con things ¢ Wt wove realy just dong sumers are saying at's one way in in atferet form what Ken pie- which they want to purchase contant eered with te orginal PlayStation, or intract with content ~ we need Tremember ane ofmy st mactings Yo embrace The rig at you itn Kon was where he ak outow gat ted imo an older model and are My question was: ‘Is PlayStation he first hardware that can do real 3D?' And the answer was ‘Well, course it can.’ The rest is histo: [It] changed my life.” ~ Mark Corny‘AH: That’ a vary big question, "yank that te lnscape for m8 has shed dramaticaly in one ay, but contain key things reman tru. The rect compettors we have now od nt exit whan weft Saree out an this jaurmey. On the ther hard, think what's aways been rue i= and think Mark as tats vary eloquery is that the incur heath ceiver ty ereatve talent. Regediass af wna the plat- form holders ar, its about realy ‘ying fo ne wharo that gaming talents caming trom, where those Creative impulses are coming rom, listening, and tryng to deliver the best eesive palette to allow that te come to expression. | don't think ‘that's fundamentally changes. "he what interesting infers of haw tha network Fas changes {hinge i thal were realy pst dog — in oerent form wnat Kenpo oered with te orginal PlayStation. Trememser ane ofmy eet mastnge wth Ken vine where out Pa My question v the first hardwea. SD?" And the of course it can." ] changed my life.” (CD-ROMs were going to transform the business. Ina ery ype! ire presentation, he si “Thee how ret is going 0 cehange: hess hoe development 's going to change, and | Bought ‘n.lretained that outook about patiwork dsinbutlon, What its tundamentaly done - ints best fslarce ~e gve consumers more Aenilty and more choice. "often tnd json debate with analysts ~nst right, or example — {alkng about froo-o:play. Maybo A sounds overly optimistic, but any of theca disinuton methods are abla, as lng as consumers are responding ot. Our role is o bea flonbi as possble. So we trod to ‘design PlayStation 4 1 te the con not wile to rethink that rtf! Semewhat testaned by 4, where the true goal should be Yo retain as ‘much flexibly as you can. "The mle game mare and ou wl ingness or our very heart desire to reach aut to. new! commun developers is another aspoct ofthat. I now talent is merging ror mab, why wou you weleorne that ia 4 coneole environment? ‘You had a great taunch for PayStation 4. Did it go a you plannec? ‘Ad's certainty ge wery nicely "hin thatthe most encourage ‘hing for me around te PlayStation launch has bean the degrao of paver and earsumer engagement When me ‘re revving the rterace forthe PlayStation 4 and the degre to vbich ‘was a heavily netwerked doves, I" sole that ve mast welcoming 10 the ‘nee-io-play model, because Hf con- sumers are saying thats one way in ‘anieh they want o purchase cartnt for itoract with content ~ we need to embrace t. The k's tat you (get ted into an older mec an are vas: ‘Is PlayStation re that can do real answer was ‘Well, The rest is history. = Mark Coryhesly depercent on pple bang en (gaged and connected wth eachother, FES, "Winat we thr the pty snc no one shows up?” They reassured ‘met was all garg tobe fine. Forunately, here tis unote community at there tht hae eon very engaged withthe pation from day one, brondeasting tele (gameplay, sharing ther experiences, roadeastng themseives very atten Lusing Payooe, using these things me a planned as an opportunity 19 have ‘9smes connect people a cterent ‘way than pertaps they had betes ‘Seeing how paople have rospondod fe milons, eeeing he tatest ‘ramp-up of ary lauren we've seen on ‘eansol, has rely blown us ay When we talked atthe launch, your {goal was five milton by March 31, ‘and you've blown that out of the water. Looking back, was that ‘contervatve estimate? AH: Hindsight i 2020" t0 queto ‘he old pias. easy no 10 lnk back asa, “Oh thoy were Being so conservative about "Hea vastly changes landscape than when we launched pronous consoles. Con sums ae engaging wth 3 mach broader array of devices for gaming and connectivity than ever bere ‘nk that we ted to fake a reasonable vow of whore wa thous markt ‘would be. tink some tings took Us by surprise We underestimated the dagen of whch camera azapton ‘would be abig, big part of te cary {dopton of such. We urcir fected the power of sometwng the Payroom, W-tok te slap of bund 1g tat ito every snglaunt we rad ‘weet, bt we id think woul (endup bang a broadcasting pat {or users to comet wth each ether ‘X: Peesonally, | was so amazed. So any gam payors have Been wat fg fr the PlayStation 4. Everyone fs business sayeg,"Ok.-rext” They say they making emer panos lor semething, but the ea is mittons of peopi9 are waiting for PS¢ ard curentyenioyig paying PS games, sharng gameplay, and thats such an fcteg fing] forma. had nate 0 ‘40 wis any of Wat, but asthe father of PleyStaten, am hap. IMC: Ken, when you wore ceatng PlayStation, think you were ooking tthe potential of powertul easton traphics hardvaro, powerul custom Systems, athe than off te shot [pareve So thor i technolo fal cream atthe cove of wt wa beng rested. When we worked o% PlayStation 4 hero was, of couse, ‘ectnology there, but also we were thinking about now a device could connect people nd how people Hardwere is vary important, but | ‘ink acay t's a salir part af over allt we are trying to creat thar pemans uhat twas many years age. wai playir exciting [thing] to do. with any of g PS4 games, and that i ‘Now that you've gotten it out of the door is there anything you see you ould have done diferent? ‘Av dont mean to sound ca flacent, ut with se many aspects Paving esansted 30 wel sd fick on carta things tat one woul Fave done diferent. was take ‘ith Mark yest an! we tke 2a few kay ports where the dec ‘couple of them. [There were] memory ‘choles tat we mace, That ae he ube of very long and deen debate ‘ith the team. Mark's ering, Decause he snd | were a ga part fof gong back and forth and making ‘that decision, fumed auto be ane ‘that was absolutly correct. nota ‘major ove, but as a big advocate {or he PayStsion camera and that & ‘was going tobe a bigger part o the Landscape than we were anticipating Noto be crtcal of sme folks m our ferganizaton, but ink there was 2 ople are PS4 and currently enjoying such an for me. I had nothing hat, but as the father Tam so hapr = Kon Kutaragibit of conventional wisdom tt eid “if you lok at most console aurches and loka he acorn rates of core pera thy ton tobe very tom" thinka okt aor of exbecréo to that ile Bt Asa esi, we under esteratos the potential that aea, Bias lead ear, tbe eral thing inthe rw enue with connec: ‘ed consumers i your ably, once you see he product nthe market, sto hil strategy and respond very euick Iy tothe things hat arerasonsing moet wih your payor, 2s eppases to having something that coat stone IG: On the decison to have BSE [ot RANI, was emang because fur roles are very competitve. 'm supposed io look a the araware ne tlk to the developers. |r not business guy. Tere is an organica~ tion Andy runs, whicn the buses organuation. So you don't want to peak Up foo soon you spaak up Sollrs we ae talkng about Mark te\gond vith te bt andthe by ts bt he dost understare! ths whole business thing” I very ntentonaly sae. Thy asked, "What 60 you thine Mari” ea, “Wl ets ‘eacback tor te developers” cd not speak up unt the wer fal ree ing on tho topic, and thon | sai, Youneld that ace. You sald “If lam ‘going to win one argument this {going tobe the one at tho end NIC: Nox 60 nek int exress & casual opinion, APL: Rohe diet express a casual ‘opinion, because when ha fly did (athe apnon, pe had 2 PowerPoint presentation propare, at of toed- back tom developers wth reasoning Dehn this, He coranly made a esse lwmenhe mada his ease, aed fae ‘good one, and we were gravitating fora that deceon, MG That was biggee nts impact ‘han | thought would have baer AH | ink Pe be mien nok ma tioning seme of he decisions the ‘competion was making atts time ‘round tho ways that thy envisioned ‘he consumer engaging with te net- ‘Work o aroun hp ies of ud (games. We are proud of he fact hat, Al the heart of PlayStation 4, we had ‘a manta; "Consumer focused and Sdoveoper inspired” Tat sounds the a great slogan, but was realy atthe heart of what we dic We used ae ‘2 guiding pon to guide us on these key decisions. Beng more facble on how we sau the consumer engag- 'pg wih the retiork, that was part of bang consumer focused and tok ‘rue to what we were tying to Being ‘ath the device Looking atthe way in which we engage with games, how {does PlayStation Now change the relationship? It sooms lke a shift=intalcing with developers ‘and talking with publishers ~ {rom a monetization perspective, in the way consumers engage ‘with product and changing the Without wishing to sound critical, other industries ‘e of the current wisdom and prote that tried to be too current distribution models suffered as a result...the onus is on u to ensure that doesn't happen here. ‘ownership proposition ‘APL ight ave two thugs on that sea, One sat, n my ven, the reason that we are engaged! wit PPayStaton Now is 2 relzaton ofhow theretwork is going almost con ‘iualy shit dstbution models. ts sited music, im entetarmet, and telorion, with a streaing model as beng a much mora prominent part ot thelanelseape. sense tat hat coud walle a nw matnod af ceicon Dr eteration with games, “The ky for me, ough hat Im excited about PlayStation Now because ts gorg tobe boratical to ‘the ndusty Ht romoves bars to Ie becomes adie tothe markt vera. What mean by tat i, you an afar the kinds of vel of expe- fence without the need fora ced cated davies, then that does create an opportunity to bring in new uses, as a business ~ Andrew House “Tat’s gol to bea good thing forthe eat ofthe industry avera fair and euitable way whore thes value exchange, where the con- ‘sumer paying for something that ‘thay fechas value ané the pubisher ‘andthe developer ae [tl equa ‘compensated around that. That's or (Sta morkaut ae abusingss and an industry. But the point is we ctve the usr forward by axpermartaton ‘and ty tying to challenge these ne ‘rodels and ehatenge the current thinking, noe by trying to igor ‘ard say that change will never come. \Witnout wisnig to sound erica, fotherincusines tat Wed 1 Be 160 Brotective a the cron vedo ard ‘irent Gsrbution moctle eutored 84 reslt of tha. Bink te ere ‘Sonus ae a business and ae an elite to oraz that oes rappen here,tread that whenit got down to the final decision an industrial design of P54, you got two physical copies ofthe final design options {and looked the twa over to make ‘AH: | actualy i choose the design of the consol, and ost aleep over ‘hat decision, The fal etary wae that the orignal design ~ with al due respect 4 [PS dusts signer Tetsu] Sumivsan - was not al hat happy wits at alco Isat hm Back to the ewig bore, | gave her 3 ‘en tgs was looking fox. One ne that [neadad io be} a design tat ‘as te tthe PayStation DNA. To his erect he eame back wth not, Dutactualy half dozen designe tat at'de ful the mt, They were in Sketch format sad, "love tee two, but you have mock hem bath up, Beeauee ‘yea! fbjoc) I cat make a det Sion! Serna chd that, and then tok ‘he two may Ou of be mesg foo, put her in my ofc, ae hen they Sat there for about a week. kept looking at them and kept coming ‘book them. One of aur execurive ‘aim membre wha | vas ting to tor nivice sai, “Contale decisions tnd dosgrs ean ene persona) Issue” Sohne was moce or ese sy, "You's on your own!” Laughs] Once the design was fhe Kan cama the ttce sed tke atthe design, but he Shot tet me wnat he hous Did he make the right choice? ‘RR That up for you ea deci). [Laughs Certainty, naving 2 suecosstul Blast year was important, but "would say this year's ESis even mor important. ‘AME Thanks Ancrew, jst pile on the pressure. Laughs] [Weil this ie whore the: rubber hits the foad, right? This is where the ‘software really comes and the developers havo to show what the hardware can da. Obviously there have been some impressive games ‘early on, but it's dificult to make {Games in that early timeframe, (What do you need to do at this year's £3? IMC: Andy agree, thie the haan Andy House at 5 2014 where the nar nits the road” ‘APL Aik youre night, the second Year na coneoe Me cycle etic ‘nd shout delivering nthe content Dromise that's is out around the vison of he pation. [thnk that, or ‘re, we'e aieady on a good path ook fo the comparison chart of ‘pravous ptt Ife cycles, and the ‘Gogree to which outstes or ther publenars are lurching major ne 1, ‘na t's goad story an Playstation 4 Whether its Wath Dage, Destiny, ‘or The Order, were seeing areacyn the early part ofthe le eycle people ‘ot ust delverng erations of great franchises, whieh s hugely mparant {or the heath of the business as We Dut also branching out and wanting {over very ambitious and new ‘experiences. | think welll havea very (ood story to tll about that at ES. ‘check cu avr one wee Itai ‘ith Mark Cemy in which ne dscussos is egendary ging career“George [Lucas] had simple rules for us: ‘Stay small, be the best, and don't lose money." aly das 0 Lukin “When you create a Kickstarter toa certain degree yau are cashing in on people's goodwill and belief in you. If you breach or violate that you can't go back. Seale ca-rator Ste Sink sorol page to view quotesThree Intriguing Indie Fantasy Gameshe literary genres of fantasy and science fiction have been inextricably tied to video games since the medium’s inception ~ no doubt because so many developers grew up as big fans of authors like Tolkien and Asimov. With the recent renaissance underway in indie game development, it's great to see many studios continuing to embrace the long tradition. This month. we take a look at three exciting new projects that aim to transport players to another world.ve enjoyed ever ene of Deion Stns gare ‘clung te Tales From Space series about alen blebs, ‘ermoee. Ths month the nin team gave us an meus look at tne nact big project en ts Parzen ~a farang ctl FPG calles Severed. *Sovered ica very Goren gare rom our provios ones. says antratr and concept are, Augusto Gu fro. "ttooke cute dren nos snot a ado scroll, Inston, Soierd i pljod entos roma re-porson perspective, wth fouch-based eontls that are use ta xpos a diearike wort ec combats many dentene "The ain charactor sa ditraught warrior” uno says. “She elastin thle sural place snd 2 upto ths player to gure oul what happening. The world blonde ‘he pact nd the present as the payer paces the sory togstner" Ae she expores, ha proves er abies aloe presorbed path. "Over the caus of Bae game your characters bast sats grow, butts PPG: more akin to Leger of Zales ~ you're not stopping ‘gameplay to mera-maninge every tee your charactor ‘proves, say lead designer Greg Lesky. “The gos) player acid sense of growth an eo ‘gression witout forcing then ta allocate ime to. ehones ploation areas tht canbe investigated any order {Wile ese areas can be tackled when the payer de sires, seme afer more changing exerios better uted forsterite. The sea ikene she combat to games lke #y Bide, vio uch baced swipe ae bed fo bring cars your oes. Her 9 Severe pie enemies ean be eontonac st ane tne, "We weried ‘he contol to eo itu.” Lacy say,“ val com ‘at stustons wher surrounded by mute ener, a= yout need ta acl sbuteges and attack enemies wie Sony Xperia Zi S , \ sox pasts panes tony, sterle 24 Sin and you find a ponertt Ite Gove win aa of paming pote Sony’ waterproat pera Zi features & 2.26Hr quat-core Snapsragon B00 peo tester and 268 of RAM and 2060 of Internal storage, which makes ita boeze ruven Android 442 Joy Bean, You can pa a PSS controler tothe phone ae play (real games sch as Swi Galaxy, Ue ot Pol, and Cinpact wa Sor Payton Mobile app. The json ety 3,000 mah tary haeps the one charged though 2 day of use, od a of te pices ‘wo took using the 207-mogapal camera look fantastic onthe phone's er ve loch HO semen. Unirtunatey, the Xperia 21 Sie 2 TMobile excuse, bul conse: ing its pees, we hope Sony wil ing this ne oe ta ote providers soon. Staring a $508" sanmmobilezom “Pre varie based on contract > Xbox One Media Remote I yute ted of yling at your Xoo four oF fe 2 times beter it pauses your move, hen Mizasot’s ‘8St oficaly Kcensed med rencte forthe Xbox. One might save your vole. Th romot's mat, seen fish {eal gat, anda gyroscopic sensor igh pte face but {ons — which shan whan you're fuming forthe remote ‘nthe srk Unlorturatey, the skm droga sas tthe ee nein essa, t0 you wo find any numbered buttons (bor One canoer face butions ants device, wich ima aps ke YouTube impossietuse. Tacky, he ‘emote sil trtaes wet with ther seaming services uu and Netix. The Mbox One Mada Remote is tandy fox media payback, but users may wart to walt for amore ‘uy featured rerote ‘smposer Mana fons ta Gabe comp Kops Yamagishi, Spey CcaMe oF THRONES: Aeop-p cube ‘To WESTENOS sequenceThe Changing Definition Of “Gamer” Ce re See em) SON ee cera Cities. During our last show, we got a call rom a young listener which gat me thinking about how the term *gamer" now means something very diferent than it did when | grew up. FOr et nea ee ete ete ae ee ‘questions in the second half ofthe show. This past Tuesday, we got a call from a nine-year-old gir (the Rn ee eet a eet Sa eaCe ee eee rors Cente eo ae ee ee a eee eee ete ee eee er oe eee en ee] ean ee) eee eee eed eid ease int as te eee ae een ee etree Sec ear a nen See tee ere eet) een Met eee tenet) eee ee ee = ee ene) ee ee eee ee ee ed er ete ee ents Se ee eect Ce ee Se nee tke tele uy Pee eee ey nese Poe tear pantera yor enter ee re ees eee ee pee eran) Le en) ee et earn ened Pau ea eae eget pr eee ee noan corer io nei eee eee ea | Steet our he etah tee {abiet or phone. Tie generation might embrace cancales or PC pee er ey touchscreen devion of some ear. Same wil move onto mare peniechete nape pecunesntn ner AT eer eee eer tet Pee ea ea ern ec ee Ce ane Sto ere eee ee peau ee een ea cuter cence oa eet ae ines Wen speaking with Warshaw Pe eed ea ee entire Ce ag Peyenete peed ee ee Cees aren ae re paereeetriraeren ees Sere oes Peedi aked eae Cee tat ee eee Peery ea ents eter Seat etna eres panier Cec us ce eee Cee ents CeCe eae ee ee ee) ee ee ee ees eee ene eee a er td eee ee etl pinaesteme steers es cea rier aint eee “ha pot is: There & no one definition at “gamer anc thers Ca eee es Cea) ee er een ee traEve Online Fanfest 2014 Shores of wpe wars ang universe Aefiing maments have come fut at Be Onto, Bu We hax a 39 some ofthis games best staieg camo ath fanfost, starting toy in Rei, Iceiand. thou away any noton at is tree-Say expo being roth og foe then gamers stig fen ft caput. The vents ncude a pub cra wit dow, lus Lago hangover par, concerts rd of course nage PAP laumainnt Stunfost 2014 ening anual since 2005, Stunfestsavieo game gather. ng held in Rennes, ance Home ‘oe “bigest iahting games competion in Europe,” attendees an soak up mst though arcade machines and events ‘aerng v t0 gaming, This oe ‘vent rns fr thee ays New Releases » iro Tipe Dele (308) ‘Spider-Man 2 For The Second Time Tobey Meguie mst have mae same powerful aenpe use. Halymoad's pus erase him ‘ror aur memories cates ‘oxay with The Amazing Spor- Mar 2. We bese naw tag ‘man Andrew Gard wit sezn bi replacing Tey inter high- rofl rebate ke Plessannie 2015, Sentscit Fans Again ad The Amazing Citor Howse PeCen st ac ett) ‘consoles thanks to its successful Gears of War series and the Widely adopted Unreal Engine 3. As it moves into a new era of Pea ace Ee a en tioning back to its PC roots with a newfound focus on creating ee ee ee cn = SD Femnte:surtcing Me Siorm || Teepe transition LE De ee ce aa ae ns paced action the studio is known for, Epic hopes to create a eee urd Choc Prarie ose teenie ca Re One este en ees See eae seeee ee eee Peter eee is Pe eter ne re eee ea always focused on white-knuckle action, aeereen ce ray een) slaughter of Gears of Wat. For its next pee es ——amrom —lnaits wealth of shooter | ede 2 Pe aes ee iene ts ee eee ceo ee ee es ec ears eeepeople cresting a makeshtt shite Beto mantrs arwved at night. Gamers woren't sxacty sure what to make oft which ie fting consider Epic had yet %0 ‘deca on many erica element of the game tee The feveloper had recenty sifted frm a mace serious art style anc tone, but the lease format and pricing snc ry to be determine, The tam okt know rr to play We recent spent sarificant tre with he game at Epic's North Caroina headquarter, and fan tna at exactly players can expect to be ing in word. etm fea ie he primary aragon —_—__ omuch 0 that the development team simply rls ts setting as “the in the efor to s The ony thing hat players krow at tho cute i ha tho world i bt fous storms that ominously appear and spawn a wide vanety of moe 4 Forte, ned Epi en wae riage by mys ars via ighning bots. ing time wth angthy evtecenee Wt wil fee rapt fxplaring ts mobvation ard backstory Taso storms car ba kop at bay By closing poral-ike gates perspecive of Fart With a dovie krown as an Ale. Upto players to erect and proteetthece devices, but take when Building some rare han an ereanalof guns a take down ta nvnding crestres. Upto four players can in orces doing req them # a proce impressive aoc Mn the word, and each stage places iy ganeraied envirmeant with 27 ity Fans of Gore of ona ch youl beAA hs heart, Forte revolves araund exploring the environment and harvesting mers man efor trom the storms monsters. Varstions of this ferrules appear in dierent gare modes, Bul thas Je for bulking game fret and foremost. Praparation Ig kay # you want to close the gates, curve another ‘ny and begin the process of ebuiding te word tat incressed harvesting speed Ts Heol thet can be use to ert defen Giles alerant whenever mt fort, such as batter ng 8 pickaxe takes te, bul & pa ‘outa whieh can ba used to pick rocks ‘ear, and rmich more. The envanmer 0 Nee ‘ute diveree, with roling his, canyons, caves, and centers that can be explored #0 find materise ‘and treasure chests that gt you new weapons and the occasional schematic ~a borin that allows you ‘to bulk] an imprassiva tool er weapon afer you Rar vest the appropriate resources, With just a board and we eventually leveled won't fight through the same set of ccm < fee and time again. The logih of the ca 19 can bo akared atthe sta, with Ep ox the three cutent variations to take approxenately 10, ond (Campaigns incusa = Proceckraly generat word map made Up of hexagon Determining where your effort is ertical in ‘off greatly Inthe form ot rtures le rl “han bulaing your ye. you's are wall aed, ging weapons and we clicksSrRKING YOUR CLAD [A the weapons in the we keep players alve without shatter, 20 an extensive busing ‘int ots. Hyou'te one of ho millons 10 play Mnecaft. you're farilar nthe idea of placing together & futsde world, Forte wan't incids opting ol of mcromanagement 4 more general approach je practcalty and quick: ness of use ver granularity ccan be made out of any ofthe threo Stone, and metal. Alt make, you ean toggle between the button. Batere placing a wal, you ‘ily designed, k makes the final predict ook better than a layerade jumble of Individual blocks invasion attempt a daddy as for enemy mansters. Ay player-bull surace can Be outed ‘oF rectly int caling spkes. you want some auto 1 senity guns around the perimeter of your fortress around afe 280 In tho works, although we dint soe them ‘uring ovr der, SSS‘Once the storm comes, payer efforts shit rom har vesting the environment to fighting off enemy waves vise keeping ther Bsn intact. When you 260 the crm ous etude formng, doesn" take long for ener res {ores known ae huske ta mppear via hghinieg Bos and bbeaine tare your ft Islay that other grout of enemies willbe present the tal game, But husks were ‘he only creatures we eau during our rp to Epic, These fren'tmindless monster, as the game spawns the cea lies based specially on what naoded 6 breach your wal. the or lavel of your tert consis of wxtorcod Bo, ths. ereter wort vast tis throwing waves Gt woak baby husks to their doom, Instead Ite more key to spawn fingers that tose smaller husks towards your upper levels fr deaaty smachers that ean burst through your walls ike @ wrecking bal 'As your for peeds tobe stationed araunl the gale to stand a chance, you wort aimays have the tury of Ket ora, We Fan into ore gate that was i a caver of ors, Butrowed below the ground level 70 ‘compensate for iis award placement, we had to bull a series of stirs lead ‘ut of Randeloee the cavern af to provent husks from aasty hoppig down and taking out our Atlas device Powored by Unreal Engine 4, Forne's enemy Al. ie advanced enough to smarty navigate around geometry and determine the bast eu to get into your bace. Because of fis, foresight isa Fequirement you want o keep your fr staring, Some gate locations actualy benetted ox tea, fSoch as one that vine placed near a ce kner that fe storm vas coming om the direction of the clifscrop-af, co we focused our traps on that side and launched husks +o thee doom within seconds of their spawning, A we watched the varus enemies get eat up in OM spike traps \wo stayed safe in aur elevated pation and rainnd buts down on the haps Foes. Eventual our teams rina had to jump down a ground lve! to Keep Puke bay as thay bagsnto work tel ay ‘though ot wale, Despite thnkeng our plan was fonpreok. we were sil surprised and impressed tthe enemy A that managed to avertualy break trough our death pang begin thew assault on ‘ur Rot wih an ove neraseng amount of monetors‘CRAFTING A uRNivoR Beore fining the fay, players Select rom ane of flr starting classes avalable at taunch, and can custome their charactors ta the Hing by secting gender vty tome, and upgradable tat lunfock as you level up. “We've hited a tf guys tam the RPG space that add a whole diferent Tavor tothe Epc DNA” Colum says. "Forte gong tohave the acttional Epc pont-and-s00, {un tight. and quick action, but they'l also got progression and the other things that peope Ske shout RPGs. It's very neat and very etterent ‘The ary lvels we played followed the standara build at day, ten! at right” structure, tt we sau more vanaion ence we moved eu of the eal rounds. One was less eonsicied By ime, as the stom areal wouldn't tigger untl we actively engaged the Alas device placed on the level's [ite Anether sated ae an oscont mission efore the base defence elements Bogen aking us wth Betending a walling racar bot unt t reached a particular spot an the map. Once ft arved, we had to bud a radar toner anc ootond unt the storm subsided Progressing tyough stages clears the fog of war fram the havagenal world map, aloweg you to chonee wich path to take in your effort to reach the tinal goal tie. Even though each stage —__ Proceduraly generated, plyers encounter a. variety Of biomes as they push the storm Back. Loves feature thames suchas mourtans, rsstands, suburbs .eustal ‘eas, and possi even seasonal aeas near the hoy Each map is assembled upon entering the lov though the procedural generation ie past pat of the ary, Epie developers have traditionally handerated ver portion of ther games! stages, and heir expen fence eit going to waste, Many larger struclures and Sections of the map are pre-bull by the team. but thor Foeation within the weeks ss determined by a complex system thal ensures that thor placement makes sense. You won't soe a large industrial area on th sido of = rmountaln, or example,There's boon a riod whara wa hed to make t wore botore people started to elieve if could work, Because Dfecurse ve kno a a co sorted content os com. pany says Ente vce president of product development PaulMeogan. “We had people who were relly exports at rating tat carey crated moment to moment. There tras atnist ts! phase where everody zor of hd %0 say, We're going fa da this and wel goin fo make # ark took tee, but the fundamentas ofthe game were always good so twas easier to allave that we would get there because we can't have to salve the fun problem. Overtime, emerge and stare! to become evden that hee i ths realy nice midcle ground where there are element that are craed and sculpt and yet theres «Page ‘companent = probably 80 to 89 percent thats procedural. Si exploration, discovery, that eeing ‘ot possbiy, hse ar all big pars of the game and the upside for He player is huge” This impressive level of procadurally ganeratad contnt is mada possi largely tanks to Epic's new engre. "Forte demorstraies alt of mporian eng capable," cae lead Sasgner Daren Sugg. "Fst of al hanieg many thousands of dyrame objec ‘Ferrite precocial gonad ard can be dastioyed, so here are ready valuable combinations of technology there. You know the an style et rely reise, butts ‘ushing he endorng fectmoigy Some imeresing Waru all : 4 y rs BLOC ALIL b> Meare paelnel te tL eeanannal pon eneneerorein Sto tts rete pralernper ert St heminaetd pronaimeenett 7 teh eles cond renege mee apron remanent ben emeey SWOME IMPROVEMENT Plajors can take part in mote than one campaign st 2 Ime, and alo ther bxpersence goes towards the Dverall account level that spane across the entire ‘pame. Forinite can be played alone but has clear focus on community and multiplayer 29 Epc te making ur that the itaructure supports easy crop-n ard ‘%09-ut e609. If you're work on a eampagh by yoursellnotifeations appear to let you know when Your buddies are avaiable. Hopping into thei gore haul be simp, and you bring along allot yeur ena ‘ctor: upgrades and chematics wher you ara ach player has a home base, which is curently planned fa facture an iometrc view (hough the cave ‘opment team has discussed the possibilty of a 30 version that can be expierad in thid:percon, Hore, players construct buikcings wing dfleent resources than the in-game for, such as uel anc machine parts. "You overall account ave cstates when balding you have accace fo ui, Options ieiide an army oe Pts lumber mi, command center, dja, and mare. "You sot your varus lass charactors nto these bald ings. and thir ove wilmpart statistical Benes ike reased harvesting ates and reload tmes 0 you and {our tesiow players white questing in he warld, Making ura the appropriate cass goes into the appropriate Stucture & mporant, as a commando inthe sory fe more effective than the eame character in a do} ‘As tha classes max aut atthe relatively eary level 20, ing buildings seo ges your voteran characters & purpose whila you work on upgrading new one. Gutliting your home base greatly benaiis your team ~ 2 himbor mil stated by skied consinctore boosts the hole crew's wood harvest rat, and plac- ing high-seve ninjas nthe ao neroases your eqund's rrelea damage. With hie eystem, Epic hopes to avoid Balaneing sues brought about by haung players ff diferent love: tearing up. A level 20 command lwor't maw trough enemies in a level fue comman- ‘do game, but he or she bring the benofts of thoi ‘experience the home Bae is susctanaly upgradedA FOCUS OW THE FaWERSE ne construction and exploration aspects of F sat apart tram many of Epes prewous tr buts biggest de tile ke Goars of Ws c pia. The todo ae never shied avy om rly moves, ana theyre conident that they ean embrace the naw format uthout alenateg fans with unpopular methods ke “pay ta win" and aggressive prompte to get thei out again "We haven't igure out al the deta, but come ofthe things we lookng at are the way Rt ad Valve dt Maegan says. “Acard pack model woul! be one example, were # you want to play the {omen eiscover ange an nd lot and buicup your sentry and create your home ase anc Upgrade averting tough tine, you can, utd you want fo Buy eard packs you might get more 235 player. Those ae avaliable for purchase if you don't have the ime or you want to calect things cover tilPare EMA |: Cee pee te Herne pene ero! pave eer Heer ones Palen es peer beeen crac eoeee tai eee aCay peesMove rom the Xbox 360 ora to a row generation, Epic had every right to be complacent. Over the course ofthe ast ght years, the private company ereated a agthp anche for he Xbox 360 Gare of Wir, which sold more than 22 mln urs aver he couree of four gare, and lominated the engine icensing busrass with Unveal Engna 3. But daspte thece ture, when the console ‘ransiion slated ramping up, Epc lil conducted an honest assessment of whether or pat was Stillen a grown nectory “par of cur DNA naw to expact that avery decada we're gang to need te make some dramatic changbs foadapto the naw couree of the icity. Swoon says." you look at the averal ds ty, thre ae very fw companias who are 22 yan old of more. Most of hase campanias val do wel for 3 whe, ard bu ther! be some ses change inthe wat the eclusty Operates and tey" be Unprepared frit and thoy ator go away or bo taken over by anothar publisher or lca rlevanc. Wire constanty paranox of hat pass a ie Instaad of staying the course, Epic Lndernent a se-myposed varstoera: tion that reputed a complete over hal of Re company ports, I ia ‘a urge monty stato of te Buerese to Tencent, the Chinese web services ‘company that donates gaming fs home country. Several of the figure headewha came te deine Epic Gama ‘ave he cose of the lst decade let ‘he company. Perhaps most cramatc ‘atl, tha eomparty few ts Old game doveiopment playbook out the weed, ‘abandoning the tractional publisher ‘doveinper modelo embrace the feo ‘o-payleanes-a-service approach panies Ike Riot Games (League ot Legends) and Vave (eam Fortoss 2 ola2} Epic I 60 longer invested in making ccomrdor base, highly septed games bulk around narrative ates. is new ‘approach is much more open ended focuend on building a comping Irteractve experiance that wil kaep gamers coming back Mot for hours But for years to come, The games ‘re no longer about the stones they tel you: they're about the stres yo create trough gameplay experences. Farita is Epic's frst tite to adopt this approach. TE CHAMELEON CoMPRMY Epic is no stranger to change. In 1881, when Tim ‘Swooney started ine company out of his parent's house (than eallad EpieMRogaGames), peated as a shave Ware business mocn lke id Software, 30 Rasims, and Ambrosia Softuara. The ecarame rade feed players 4 chance to tra section, of “epoch” ofthe game for free, and purchase only ater they dotarined it was ori the many 10 complete the experence ey‘We began 2 an early business where you'e seling arena games ike the popular Unreal Tournament sere. ‘games directly to the custome, and there's absokitely In 2004, Epc foresaw the concnie market growing dramatcaly, spect wih egants tothe 30, fo chanca of success unless people love one part of the shooter gorre the carpany had honed an experice in over th last haf decade. Song 2 growth fame and wari more,” Sweeney 28. ‘opportunity, Eps partnered vith Microsoft to deiver Gears of Wer, one of the Nagship tanehises of ‘with he ersten af Urrea in 1668, tne compar tra the fledging Xba 360. 6 the ergo he generation, Epic had made for sueceestl Gears gars sitioned ini the traconal etal PC space, calverng ‘But asthe Xbex 860 aa winded down, Epc found teal a part of a much afferent lancscapa tran both single-payer focused experiences and munipinyer saw seven years pri. Mobile games increased in beth qual and prominonce, Inaie gaming hod given the PC pilatisem a remigorating ik of mamantum, and sare bol! fame developers the Valve and Riot were now focused on developing tre-to- Biny,onnio-baced titles that continue fo receive now content rather than shipping bored products and jumping ftom projet fo project. At the same time all ts ‘outward grin wae cecurring, came at Epie wendored the ams race af bigger budgets and gant stats nthe high-end concol space could evantualy pre out dependent companies, ‘One the in common with all ths tiple procs is that thay almost all developed imernaly at publshers,” Sweeney says. I thnk the scanamics sre @ fart ofthat, We also a he sare time saw a cool ransition nthe industry toed realy accessible games len Fotis dong wit League of Legends = very plyer: Irenly genes tat have ion barriers a ety andar be played by abo. ere realy avacied to that mode, We ought that could be a grt out for Epic {he ax generation, Benging our combnation of ile production values end eur gime development sense toa market that was raspy emerging, Tin Scaney ‘a TuMuLTuoUE TaawsrioN ‘round 201%, the sc leadrehip began weighing Hs opstors. Not everane inthe ‘company agread iat Ep should abandon te ml entrenched coraoe expertae ‘nd wade nto the reo-o-Psy sens. Some advocated for courting a move Wa tional ane permanent pubisning panne which Epc sie explored ‘le chatted with 4 number of diferent companies as kind of explorng the possi,” Seeney says, "We talked to some pubishere n haps that there Could be some sort of arrangement where we could contol our destiny but 'As they conte to analyze th options, Sweeney kept retuming 10 Tencent. A ‘eatve unknown fo North American ad European gamers, tse Chinese company hed sity rose to promnence ae one a the proemnent inert companies Aci. With avast aay of businaes interests ranging from web porlals sed sell networking to e-commerce and rultpleyer cnine games, the company bgger ‘han Facebook, valued at mor han $100 bitenin 2013. Two of ts Chipase ganas CGrassFive and Dungeon Fighter Onno, place urtercne ar thre respectively ‘he woruide rankings of nine gana revenues. Number two? League of Legends, \whase parent company, lot Games, sada marty stake to Tencent n 20,“Tencent stickies company that ral thnks end operates like we do at 12) might be a $160 bilon compar, but he founae Ma Husteng ad the ope executive vel folks the, they’ pt a bunch of operating an bus ‘ye ho want to da te right thing for their customers. They want 1 support bulding grest games ard they're veny honest about wnt ‘shee to suceaedn tat Busnace. Ie not a marketeg-eentre business, Customer eatitaction take Precedonca. It looks alot mere tke a Fit or Amazon al hose realy gonetoUs proactive Compa: fas than amore radanal tal publishing marking outa." In une of 2012, he two companies snuck deal Tencent agree to puchase a 46.8porcent stake In Epic Games for $330 millon. equating to 40 percent of total Epic Capital nclsive of Bath stock fn employee stock options. The unprecedented windlal changed the ves of alot of Epic Games voters, and cemented the cornpany’s change of decton. ‘Over the next year. Epic started hemorraging talent, mary of them the public taces ofthe Bust eas. n Agus, tractor of production Rod Fergusson, who played a Koy role n the Gears of War ores, lft 10 hep rational Games wrap up BioShock infvta. He evertualy lf atonal, elped forma new 2k Games studo Se Francco, and now tds himeet back withthe Gears of War ‘rancrige afer Mictaeat purchases the canes from Epic ant had him fo oct the n= gam. People Gan Fly's Adean Crmelars and ye ether founders f Epe's Polahpartnar stud ine cre tod Guietstorm an! worked claeaWy wth Epic an Gears of Shure called The Astronauts In Octobe, Ci Bleszinsk announced hi departure tom Eple Games. Ove his 20 years at Ep Blcszrck playedan inctumentalolen the devolopment of both the Urreal and Gaars of Wa saree. Fp also Became arguably the mast welie qe designer mainstream entartanment, wth appear neces on the lle righ eivion crcut and serving ae a proie subject for The Now Yorker. fo ‘monte later, president Mike Caps reelgnet as wel, Cap salsa wel egacac across he cust, ‘Strung on the boar of decors lr ta the Entertaiment Software Assecalion (ESA) an Academy of Irtractve Arts and Scirces (AAS) \inen tis many people eave at once, it's essy 1 speculate that something is amiss within the company Allor all many of hese big names eu thir eet on making acttonal gaming experienc tke Ureea! anc Gaara perhapa thay werent on board wth the new roadmap? But Sweeney ay thare vant ane apace reason or decision that drove ech of them to lave the caesar. “Thee were diferent factors,” Swemnoy cays. "When we di rat deal with Fence, twas tho ft time Epic's 21-year history tat wre has taken an oUt investment a that erded Up being & Merchanging event for come ray longtime membors who whore sharohlaers in Epic, Tht give —_—_—_—_—_————, fa odgmnet. ot fo stata now io eveyone sn opportunity to eevaluat what hey ware todo. Everyone une in aeitloret tuner ‘ff had bean wih Epc for 20 years. He worked exvemely hard dung that ime and sccompished sn fnarnous smaint, and at that tine he hac jst gotten Imariod al he realy wanted some tine to thnk about his future and to gue ut the next chapter in hie He Ana he ‘ot that vould be a good tmeto move an. think Is ely awesome he was al Epi for 20 years starting st age 17. When Cif decid he was gong to move fn, fe got up infront af tha campany ancl gave a get talk He lakod about te things he had eared and gave some adves to tha guys fr the future. was really a touching. clssy way 0 90"WHY GAMES RS SERVICE To ease Epic Gams transtton into. new mode of gam development, Sweeney hred a famiar face, Paul Meogan, to take over as vice prasident of product developmant Prior to becoming president of Lica ‘Over tho cour tour years overseeing engine lensing desis n Sushea Asa, Megan had font row saat to wate the games as-sérvce modal develop toa success plato, Par of Meogan's jab was helping wary Epic staff membars ‘soe te potential of ts new approach “The change ic hard” Mesgan says. “Dont get me wrong; there was alot of heartburn, We've had tf 8 sSscussions and company meetegs to work vaugh what means 1 rent Epic a over agan ant ‘move to the next chapter the history of the company. R's taken a huge amount of energy todo Bu people are ike, ‘Okay, C00, Tins sili Hes stl the pila ofthe company. For Sweeny, the move to garnes as service dint seam so unconventional eonscking How the fet tat would prove a realy teresting rekam to eur ots” Sweeney says. “Anybody can try Ihe gare], and you Tike t we have a means of earning money rom, Going rectly to custemars without gang to the plant rata launch cycie and marketing - going back oa word whers our game's tuccess ia slely determined by how much hn vaers are having fd nat by markling budget and fetal channel management ang ofr compl factor he tat The laceahip foup understood that could combine ks coniserable game development tant snd apply that to bis new economic model. Had the potential font only sunive, but Hie. New Seter studio Riot Games ganerated $624 milla n revenue just last year fom League of Legend, secordig to SupeData ~the prot potential was there Win both studios being partly Under he Tencent umbrella, Epic now had the uy to concut with Rot onal the new faces tothe business tr would have to loam te bing Fornds tothe market* Breve eirANCas Unreal Engine 4 Daring the fst console generation, peter erne tres aarp Seen es Beemer Prepereeeetn econ peepee os marpenperiearneerr mn bern ser beter ieopeetineren tis repre a Pores een nreenenmeewene i peoniariererer tr potaen penne stetat cod pererenitc renin Pierre err Pepper preperer rai ee ere ete ar npebieetecs =——O ‘Leeenine THE RaPES Ele may know game desig, tut befor stertng Forti, trey ad to wor about the inate fire sureuncing ts games: Gans of War ran on Mcrosof servers, and Xo Live sree pro vided most ofthe othe serdces racessary forthe game. Foe Forte, Epie would Need to Bud the lochnoiogy to dea! wih webete management, necaunt creation. bing, casterr corre, staging for game undsts, fends lets, natwe VOI, matchmaking ~ n short, had ta lar several entry Far a game company 10 get ino the heavy infasinictuma operation busines, thera ace a lot of ehallenges, whereas there are aueseme companies ho have berg doing ht ora decade who can chieve a mich higher reliability” Sweeney admits Toaid in tn cause, Epic has gone ena itr spree, bringing in experience fom cutie the com: pany to rrak ets eaves vou op Devberg scunc Raetoray i slmoet a ky toma tha game an accommodating experiance as the actual gameplay, Hye have unwoly mans, Bod matchmaking, oveinaced servers, ad poor customer sari, players may just walk any. Epic's linatriing phiacophy ae roles to theta technological challenges simp “Weve all gamer, 20 we ook att trom the perspective of people who play games an Wa tink wat woul we wari and foe would Wwe want tobe Wested?” Meagan says. “How would we want fo pay for games? How would wo want fo daal with community and events? eometheg goes wrong wth our bling, how auld we want fo be trent? Would we vat the cable TV experience where ls nearty Impossible to cancel your sorvico, oF would Wwe vant tobe abit have a vay of reaching fut and easly conecting wth the company ane hang the right thing happen” ths sounds dauning, ts because i “itis more riety and fie harder” Meegan says." We went reaugh the process of dec Ing the i what were going Ya do, and we all know that things do go wrong in those modes ard you don't have te aby 0 ay, ‘Okay thas behind us, now we move on. You have to actually own i and fof. You have toc ts righ thing forthe peop at pay the ga ‘Than thare ig the tcky nature of naling sw the eccnomics of ese tyes of games, nic is aware of tho shraud and bordorine fl aces soene game designers mpoy £0 extract money from is user tacos, and it wants nothing 10 co with hota aggressive appraachos. Tencontagroae “In every meeting we have with ther, thay say, LOO, wo row Wola $100 bilion company, but mst us, don't be grec, Just doh right hing if you cathe ight hing very te oor the long term, K pay of” Masgan aye “Thats what we're tryna to do. You see a compary lke Flot which nas taker att of that novation an! applied it hore. The coo! thingies moda hat ent exposvo land tian tuncementaly about tran hacking and haveg pay We about ekanging the way You lk at ere Ing value are proving games fr people. Witworks and thay are enthusiastic bout, yea, they can gat more oop involved:Grand Theft Auto Onine, and NBA 2K, Epic wens to take It slow on purpose, ink the lesson that Weve learned fram looking at whats happened wen other companies have old ext ‘amos that i ea! you ear haven grail approach to sealing a game.” Meagan says. instead of having & fetafocused big monolithic lunch even! where ouhave ane or two or hee rien people show up ona day. wae theng how can we gradually Brig people on and only fepand the game as we can give people 8 good exer lance. That way we can fh problems 3: wel, wo Want to avoid Wat acause I ean ba hustratg. Even though people want to have access to a game as soon as they fan, thy also dort want fo be Broken ard they deat want to have tho kins of problems that have plage realy great games here the cv team proba) dd il the rlght things, But problems dont emerge uti you ip the swe, ‘Another element Epic wants to get right etoce launches Forint to he masses she payer eppenenec In coneuting with Tencent tinged that when you's making. game of hs magnitude that you envison ext ing aver the course. a decade or maybe pre, you na to nal the core gameplay forma betore you lunch The game needs to prove some value mmedataly you Want to bre someone back “One oF the tings they've educated us on is he se lence of payer retention Sweeney says “Thay say tat they dont want to lunch a game unl the ierral beta achieves aceriain pocentage of retertion of players tom month te month because thas the absolutely abective, Cpinion-fee way of measuring whether or eat people sre really happy with your gare. Bo thoy keep coming back and playing fH you got to a carain port where most ‘THE provine PERIOD 1 them do, then yourcan be very excosesful you doe Cree the course of the next Sow month, Epie will get achive that, then thera is something wrong with your game ar you nee to deny that are 10 ie fret tete of nening a gama asa conice. Fortnts ic fit. Its vey Haatve races. They've sways viewed gare auch sz ut the stating pot for Staring wth imi closed pra, andthe developmen burg on layers which em complete shit ram aur philosophy developing ares ike Goars of War tam plane fo gradually Grow the tect usor Bago as the The naman we go feednack we hac vay ite we could daira than ncremertal tweaking ot anne systems allcome onine. Tiss s smart move vinen you play because the game has boon developed and i's done: Consider the lta of games that have shipped recently To hap the davelopment team understand what works and what csr’, Epic bul a user expo With skotehy enine performance, inclideg Sattefelé 4, ence lab ns Ral, Noe Civolns heaquarirs. These srt af tests are cormon i the Nous, ee eebut typically hanced by a publishing partner The hard pat sat # you get the advice ot Sor As ie a Rez} inthe core out of te gat, the tarstion fl speed ahead, we could ‘Coming tom the outside a we wart todo and this is what here's rely ths sense of saying ThsRe BONUS CONTENT jameinformerMurdered: Soul Suspect Paranormal in® click for to finda route sereen gallery lake thern out. De click click to watch ‘nine video iro the denon and expose their being killed something reseenbing a eoinning ofthe ‘ama cine Wp ck ane dag to view sereens